Bing's Early Lead Over Yahoo Not End of Race

After two days of Bing being launched, Bing.com is already the No. 2 search engine in the US and worldwide, with 16.28% share of the market. Bing is Microsoft's new search engine that they have launched to compete with Yahoo, Google, and the other search engines. CEO, Steve Ballmer's goal was to be the #2 search engine within five years, and if this is any indication, Microsoft may reach this goal sooner than later. The primary thought though is that the hype may be based on the the initial "novelty and promotion" of Bing. So, will Bing.com be able to continue the high traffic volume, or not? Sure, they have become the #2 search engine very quickly, but it will be much more difficult to maintain this, as many have been using Yahoo for a long time.

The company is promoting the engine in a different way that Google promotes their search engine, with a stronger focus on helping people better organize search information, and also to help people find what they're looking for more quickly. Microsoft is throwing between $80 and $100 million into the new marketing campaign, so the initial interest and buzz could be just that, and may not last.

It also seems as though Bing may be a greater threat to Yahoo than it is to google due to the nature of the engine. Yahoo has always been the type of search engine that organizes search results based on past results and what others have found helpful. The article refers to this as the "concierge" approach. This is the same approach that Bing is taking. Their primary focus is to let the consumer know that with Bing, you can get your search results much more quickly and easily. The difference between this and Google's approach is that Google's is a more simple approach that doesn't focus as strongly on finding the most popular result.

Regardless, for Bing to reach the #2 spot after two days is quite the accomplishment. Will they stay there? Probably not at this point, but through innovative marketing and through continuing to try and separate themselves from Google and Yahoo, Bing will most likely continue to pick up steam. Once they do become #2, I'm sure the sights will be set on Google. As for now, I do think Bing will overtake Yahoo, but it will take a lot to catch up to the monster that is Google.

Twitterview...

This week I had a difficult time getting responses from individuals on Twitter to get an interview, although just today I did get a response from Paul Kim, the VP of Marketing at Mozilla. I have e-mailed him a few questions and should hear back very soon, so that is exciting. I did have the opportunity to have an email conversation with Aaron Wall, CEO of SEObook.com. A brief history of the company, as listed on the website is as follows:

The site offers marketing tips, search analysis, online business tips, and general commentary on the evolution of the web.
Launched in 2003, we have one of the oldest standing SEO sites that is still regularly updated. The site originally was designed as a blog that offered DIY SEO tips and helped sell the leading SEO ebook, which had sold well over $1,000,000 in volume.
Search is the most powerful marketing medium ever created because it is demand driven. We don't see that changing anytime soon, and we help our clients leverage search to grow their businesses to their full potential.

Aaron Wall currently has 7,289 followers, and it is obvious from his posts that he uses Twitter very often with regards to marketing his company. I asked the following questions in an e-mail to Aaron.

When did you begin using Twitter for your business?

In 2007, but it has picked up steam in the past year or so, as Twitter continues to grow.

Is Twitter a part of your overall marketing plan?

Yes, Twitter, Facebook, and LinkedIn are all an important part of our marketing plan. They provide a medium for us to speak on our area of expertise, and to reach a large group of people we wouldn't have access to. We also see a large amount of our website traffic coming from Twitter, as the link to the site is listed on my page.

How often do you update your page?

I update the page very often, and I work hard to answer any questions in a very timely manner.

Looking ahead, do you seem Twitter as something that will continue to grow?

I think the "idea" of Twitter will continue to grow, but it may be through other social networking sites, or someone may come along with a better Twitter.

Palin Forces America To Become Aware of Her Once Again

http://nymag.com/daily/intel/2009/06/palin_forces_america_to_become.html

On June 8th, David Letterman came out and did his monologue just as he has for years. Then he moved into his top ten list focusing on Sarah Palin, and this is where everything went awry. David Letterman cracked a joke implying that Palin's daughter got "knocked up" by Alex Rodriguez at the Yankees game during the seventh inning stretch. Now, it is obvious that this joke is directed at Palin's 18 year old daughter, Bristol and well, she was kinda "knocked up" last year. So, it makes sense and it's funny. The crowd laughs, everyone enjoys the joke, and we move on to the guests. The next day is when the backlash begins. It seems one of Letterman's joke writer's had one small detail confused. The Palin daughter that was at the game was Palin's 14 year old daugther. Oops.

Now, to me this is an obvious mistake. And, it is the kind of thing that could be easily forgotten and we could all move on. Now, what we need to realize is that Sarah Palin is trying very hard to stay relevant, and not be forgotten. This is one of the most difficult tasks for a politician who has visions of being in the White House. How does a vice presidential candidate who created a lot of buzz during the campaign stay buzz worthy for four years, until the next campaign. Well, one tactic is to make something out of nothing and get some free PR from a prominent late night host's joke that was not thoroughly researched. Palin did exactly that and now she is back in the forefront of our minds and the political and entertainment worlds are talking about her once again. When you google "Letterman Palin", you see things like "Letterman vs Palin", likening this situation to a high profile boxing match. Palin and her team have engineered an ingenious PR move here. They have likened David Letterman to a pedophile who promotes the rape of children. Really? He doesn't right his jokes. This is clearly a situation where the proper research wasn't done, and David Letterman was obviously referring to the 18 year old daughter.

Sarah Palin released a statement on Wednesday, after going on a radio talk show and calling David Letterman "pathetic". That statement is as follows.

"Laughter incited by sexually-perverted comments made by a 62-year-old male celebrity aimed at a 14-year-old girl is not only disgusting, but it reminds us some Hollywood/NY entertainers have a long way to go in understanding what the rest of America understands — that acceptance of inappropriate sexual comments about an underage girl, who could be anyone's daughter, contributes to the atrociously high rate of sexual exploitation of minors by older men who use and abuse others."

Her husband, Todd, relased the following statement.

"Any "jokes" about raping my 14-year-old are despicable. Alaskans know it and I believe the rest of the world knows it, too."

A few things to notice in the statements are that Sarah Palin made a point to state that David Letterman is a 62 year old male. She basically says that his comments are contributing to pedophilia. And then, Todd Palin takes it to another level by using the word "rape". They are taking the assumption that Letterman was talking about their 14 year old daughter, and taking an innocent joke to a whole different level. The Palin family has not even acknowledged the idea that it may be a mistake and that Letterman was referring to their 18 year old daughter. By doing this, the feud would lose a little steam, and the media would begin to forget about her, and they do not want this.

David Letterman has since apologized and also invited Palin onto his show, to which she has declined.

The other side of this that is being talked about is how Letterman's ratings are benefiting from the PR, during a time when the late night focus was on Conan O'Brien taking over the Tonight Show. This has taken the focus off of the Tonight Show and shifted it to The Late Show on CBS. Either way, it looks like we may have two winners here in the world of PR.

Becky McCray - Publisher - Small Biz Survival

I interviewed Becky McCray through Twitter. She is the Publisher of Small Biz Survival, an online publication / community which was created to help small business owners. Her Bio on Twitter states the following:

"Small town entrepreneur. That includes an odd mix of liquor store owner, grant and project consultant, and cattle rancher. "

She has nearly 4,000 followers on twitter and has enjoyed much success, especially in marketing her online publication. Becky was kind enough to answer a few questions for me as to how she uses Twitter as a marketing tool. Please read from the bottom up!


BeckyMcCray@bradm4l You're welcome. All the best on your grad work.26 minutes ago from TweetDeck in reply to bradm4l

bradm4l@BeckyMcCray Thanks so much, Becky! Your help is very appreciated!27 minutes ago from web in reply to BeckyMcCray

BeckyMcCray@bradm4l A large portion of my online business success is due to twitter. My tweets are a mix of both business and personal.29 minutes ago from TweetDeck in reply to bradm4l

bradm4l@BeckyMcCray How much of your success / growth do you attribute to social networking? Also, are your tweets more personal / business or mix?37 minutes ago from web

BeckyMcCray@bradm4l I think Twitter will continue to grow. I also use Flickr, Facebook, FriendFeed, and a few others.42 minutes ago from TweetDeck in reply to bradm4l

bradm4l@BeckyMcCray Looking ahead, do you see Twitter as something that will continue to grow? Also, any other social media outlets you use?about 1 hour ago from web in reply to BeckyMcCray

BeckyMcCray@bradm4l Yes, for my businesses that rely on online connections.about 1 hour ago from TweetDeck in reply to bradm4l

bradm4l@BeckyMcCray Thanks! Is Twitter something that is part of your overall marketing plan?about 1 hour ago from web in reply to BeckyMcCray

BeckyMcCray@bradm4l I've been using Twitter since 2006. It has been very effective at networking and connecting outside my local area.about 1 hour ago from TweetDeck in reply to bradm4l

bradm4l@BeckyMcCray How long have you been using twitter, and how effective has it been for you? Feel free to get back to me via DM if thats easierabout 1 hour ago from web in reply to BeckyMcCray

How FireFox gets Grass Roots Marketing Right

Mozilla FireFox is the name of the application. It is a browser that is on our desktops here at St Bonaventure, usually right along side of Microsoft Internet Explorer. Actually, you may be using it right now as you read this post. But why? Why did you click on Mozilla Firefox instead of Internet Explorer when deciding to browse the web? Actually, with the competing browsers being from such giants as Microsoft, Apple, and Google, how did Mozilla end up on every computer in this lab to begin with? Something fishy seems to be going on.

Mozilla Firefox makes up for 22.51% of the market, and is the second most popular browser behind Microsoft Internet Explorer. I, personally have been using Mozilla Firefox for about five years now. I don't truly recall when I started using the program, but I know why. It was, and continues to be very simple to use. Also, I didn't have to worry about as many annoying toolbars that would just pop up as I experienced with Internet Explorer, and I liked this. But the question remains, how does a browser that has to compete with some of the biggest and most valuable brands in the world succeed and become the second most popular, without using any traditional forms of advertising?

Mozilla Corp. has been very successful using the power of grass roots marketing, which the article points out has recently become the topic of conversation, as Barack Obama's presidential campaign relied heavily on grass roots marketing. Paul Kim, Mozilla's VP of Marketing, was interviewed and spoke about Mozilla's marketing efforts. They are as follows:

SpreadFirefox.com

This is the core of Mozilla's marketing efforts, and there are three main components:

1. Users can join the community to participate in projects, and they can also communicate with other members of the community via message boards.
2. They can become part of an ongoing global project such as "Come up with and execute campaigns around '100% organic software' messaging"
3. They can help spread the word. This allows them to join the Firefox affiliate program by posting buttons.

Mozilla Labs

Mozilla Labs is a very interesting community that people can become a part of. It allows members to preview, play with, and provide feedback of new features. The fun part of this is that it allows users to provide feedback to the team working on new programs and features, and really allows a user to become part of the process.

Mozilla's Community Store

This site allows members to submit a Firefox T-shirt design, submit it to the site, and browse from the 124 user submitted available designs to purchase.

Mozilla Campus Reps

A big part of Mozilla's early success was their strategy to target and reach out to college students. They created a campus reps program which helped with word of mouth marketing as well as popular college mediums such as Facebook and Twitter.

FastestFirefox.com

To help launch Firefox 3.5 , Firefox launched this site with was meant to solicit user created videos. It allows people to have their own video posted, as well as serving to be a very creative way to market the product.

Mozilla also has future plans to continue the grass roots marketing that has proved to be so successful for them. As you can see by the explanations above, almost all of Mozilla's marketing is to encourage participation from the online community. Their marketing is focused on bringing their consumer into their brand, and creating a feeling ownership. All of this obviously creates strong brand loyalty, and goes along with the brand image Mozilla was striving for from Day one, when they created their open-source browser. They want the consumer to feel a connection with the product and company, whether it is viewing the source on how they created the product, or giving personal opinions on how they can improve the product.

In this day and age when internet marketing is so crucial to a company's success, Mozilla seems to be doing everything right. Their marketing team realizes that banner ads and the traditional advertisting methods are no longer working like they once were, and it seems as though they figured this out long before the competition has.

The PR Campaign: A four-point plan for Vick

I find the topic of Michael Vick’s return to the NFL very interesting. The man has been in prison at Leavenworth for the past 19 months due to him being convicted for his heavy involvement in a dog fighting ring. Vick was once seen as one of the top quarterbacks in NFL, and people loved watching him and cheering him on.

2007 was not a good year for Vick as he had a few highly publicized run-in’s with the law. The first came in January of 2007, when he was arrested at an airport for having marijuana in a water bottle. Not the smartest thing for a high profile professional athlete to do, especially when looking at the increased security in airports. But, that’s something we can get through. Shortly after, he was found to be very actively involved in the dog fighting ring, after looking NFL Commissioner, Roger Goodell, in the eye, stating that he had no involvement whatsoever in such a ring. While awaiting sentencing, Vick tested positive for marijuana in September of 2007. All and all, you might say it was a rough year for the Falcon’s QB. Obviously the dog fighting conviction is the most crucial, but the incidents with marijuana are a couple nice cherries to top of 2007 for Vick.

Now, here we are in 2009. Michael Vick has been released by Leavenworth, and his return the the NFL is inevitable. But, the question here is how does a man who was so heavily involved in something such as dog fighting, which can be seen as the pinnacle of animal cruelty, win the love back of the NFL fans, the country, and the NFL commissioner. Before he is reinstated, Goodell must give his blessing. Roger Goodell has already stated that if Michael Vick wants to be reinstated, he would need to convince him that he is “genuinely remorseful, has learned from his mistakes and is prepared to be a positive influence.”

This article was written by Kevin Sullivan. Kevin was the White House communications director under George W Bush, and also worked as a communications executive with NBC Universal, NBC Sports and the Dallas Mavericks.

Personally, I believe that we are about to see somewhat of a PR miracle. It won’t happen immediately, but Michael Vick will once again return to good graces, and people will most likely forgive, and slightly forget about his behavior, and incarceration. Kevin likens this situation to Kobe Bryant’s sexual assault charge in 2003. He was not convicted, and the case was settled before it went to trial. For a short time, this did impact Kobe Bryant’s popularity, but not for too long. He became the Kobe Bryant we now see in the NBA Finals, and put of incredible numbers, and for the second time in the past three years, the Kobe Bryant jersey is the top selling jersey in the NBA. Was he guilty? All signs pointed to yes. If you ask someone if they remember when Kobe Bryant was accused of rape, most will say yes. But, is this thought in the fore front of their mind when they are watching him play? Not at all. He has been forgiven by the fans, and the NBA.

Kevin Sullivan came up with a 4 point plan PR plan for Michael Vick. It is simple, but states what Michael Vick must say and do to begin getting back in good graces. The plan is as follows:

Be genuine:

Vick must speak and act in a genuine fashion, without statements prepared by his publicist or anyone else. It must be obvious that he is speaking from the heart. Sullivan says that he must talk about his remorse, and how apologetic he is, and how it feels to be a felon for life.

Be humble:

Sullivan states that Vick must be extremely humble, as he will always be the “guy who killed dogs.”

· Don’t shout back at protesters.

· Don’t be defensive.

· Pass on reality show pitches.

· No bling.

· Stop talking about himself in the third person.

Be accountable:

How will Michael Vick live his life differently?

· Commit to ongoing counseling.

· Commit to specific public service in the new hometown.

· Partner with the Humane society and the anti-fighting and cruelty campaign, and work diligently with them.

Be generous:

Sullivan also stated a few things Vick must do to show his generosity.

· Reinstate his charity foundation

· Pledge to donate tickets to youth groups.

· Speak with youth groups every game on how we went from the “Pro Bowl to a prison cell”.

· Focus on helping kids not make the same mistakes that he made.

It is not an easy task by any means, turning a “dog killer” into an NFL hero again, but it can be done. Sullivan states that if Vick can do all of this, then he will have shown the fans and everyone else that he has done everything he could possibly do to deserve a second chance. Some people will never forgive Michael Vick, but he needs to show that he has strong character and has learned from this experience. And, by all means, he can never be in trouble with the law again, after something like this. All I can say is get yourself ready for a Michael Vick PR miracle.

Class

So, I'm realizing after this first class that although I focus a lot of my efforts on networking within the community, I do nothing with regards to business networking over the lovely interweb. I have a website, but people don't visit it. I have a Linked In account, but I always thought it was a waste of my time. With regards to social networking sites such as Facebook and Twitter, well... I play on them. That's all. With my business being so reliant on expanding my personal network, one would think that I would have fully explored these options before. One might say I feel semi-foolish.

Twitter and LinkedIn, in particular are applications that I could use for my business, that I don't at all. So, I think I have made this decision. Next time I make the decision to waste a good 45 minutes at work browsing status updates, looking at some cute girl's new picture album, or seeing what T.O. is up to on Twitter, I may choose to take some time instead to see what potential these social networking outlets may have, with regards to helping me with my business.

Anyway, this is my blog. It's pretty.. It's cute, and it can move mountains, feed a small village, and nurse a calf back to health. I look forward to learning more about ways to increase my business through this fancy internet thing the kids are always talking about.