Google Hangouts remain something of a mystery to most people – that is until you get to grips with them and start to see the potential. I would guess that Google sees them as a major tool to move users across to their Google+ account where several other benefits are available.
Rather as we expected, our first members Hangout last night was something of a car crash as we blundered around discovering how things worked and several members having difficulty joining – easily resolved by resorting to the good old telephone – but I suspect that would be considered cheating.
Any situation where the ability to have face to face communication as well as the ability to demonstrate or 'show and tell' using video, presentations or any other sort of screensharing will benefit from Hangouts.
We'll definitely be taking Hangouts further in Smart Marketing Warriors. So watch this space.
Filed under Audio & Video, Marketing Strategies, Meetings, Teleseminars by 
Synergy – Together our output is greater than the sum of our individual parts.
Sign up and get yourself along to the next Smart Marketing Warriors Meetup event on 23rd June in London and create some synergy with the other attendees. Those people who sign up, pay and attend will get one months free trial membership of the Smart Marketing Warriors membership site.
So, back to your meeting. We want to make this networking event as engaging and as interesting as possible and create the synergy mentioned above.
Spend a few minutes preparing so you can tell us:
- What have you discovered that might be of use to other people starting, building or bringing a business on line?
- What obstacles have you overcome?
- What obstacles stand between you and your objectives?
- Have you discovered something that challenges the established wisdom?
- Polish up on your elevator pitch so you can practice.
Laurie will give a 10 minute update on last months Google Adwords for Local Business and is more than happy to discuss Adwords, Adsense, Analytics and Places.
Register NOW and remember those who sign up, pay and attend will get one months free trial to the Smart Marketing Warriors membership site.
See you Upstairs at the Red Lion in London on 23rd June at 12:30.
Filed under Internet Marketing, Meetings by
The new rules affecting your use of cookies on your websites came into effect on 26th May. So if you have not already done so then you need to get to grips with what is involved.
Although the ICO (Information Commissioner's Office) is more likely to go after the big guys for non-compliance it only needs one complaint about your website to potentially trigger a review. So now is the time to deal with it.
First off, it would be a good idea to visit the ICO website and download the guidance that has been made available at www.ico.gov.uk/guidance_on_the_new_cookies_regulations.ashx
There is also a report written by econsultancy.com and available at http://econsultancy.com/uk/reports/the-eu-cookie-law-a-guide-to-compliance
Then check what cookies you are using – probably unknowingly because they will often be generated by some 3rd party services that you are using.
Ghostery (http://www.ghostery.com/) is free software that tracks what is put onto your computer when you visit a site. The information pops up in a small window and Ghostery keeps a directory of known services good, bad and indifferent. From there users can accept or block cookies individually.
The most useful feature at this stage is to install Ghostery and then take a look at your own sites to see what is active.
Now you know what users are experiencing on your sites you can put this information together with the guidance from the ICO and update your Privacy policy accordingly.
Then you need to make your website visitors aware of what you are using and why. There are a number of solutions available.
Cookie control – is free software including a WordPress plugin – visit http://www.civicuk.com/cookie-law/index
Cookie OK – http://cookieok.eu/ – uses a banner at the top of the page and is also available as a WordPress plugin
The Cookie Collective is a supportive service found at http://www.cookielaw.org/
As always, there is no point in re-inventing the wheel and it is useful to visit various major organisations to see how they are dealing with the situation.
The BBC
BBC cookie control
The Daily Telegraph
Telegraph cookie control
The Guardian
The Guardian cookie control
Related articles about the EU cookie law and implementation in the UK
Continuing last month’s theme of “local” we will look at how you can use Google Adwords to target local consumers of Products and Services.
Book your seat NOW at 
http://www.meetup.com…
We will concentrate specifically on those things that you should do to improve the efficiency of your campaigns whilst at the same time avoiding wasted clicks.
You can use this information for your local business or setting up campaigns for your clients’ local business.
Book your seat NOW at http://www.meetup.com…
We will cover:
- Setting up your account
- Setting up your campaign
- Who can see your Ads (location) and when
- Keywords – match types
- Negative keywords – when would you use them
- Ad Layout
- Testing
- A couple of useful reports
Book your seat NOW at http://www.meetup.com…
Filed under Internet Marketing by
Well, Saturday's combined meeting and conference call went rather better than I was expecting, pessimist that I am.
The prime objective of being able to deliver the content was achieved even though the meeting was in London while I was sitting in Leeds.
3G teleconferencing
There were some inevitable hiccups as we expected. Apart from the venue being double booked so that our group had to shuffle to one end of the bar while the interlopers worked at the other, the 3G dongle connection in London was not really up to the task of carrying live video at the same time as maintaining a decent audio connection. So visitors were saved the sight of me sitting at my desk at home after I killed the video feed.
But, despite this, the presentation delivered good quality viewing onscreen for those who decided to attend in the flesh and get the benefits of the networking opportunity.
All we need now is someone to find a low cost venue (that's code for 'free', by the way) for us which has a reliable, wired internet connection and we shall be in seventh heaven.
You can find the recordings on Local Search Marketing in the members area. There's about 80 minutes of valuable information for local business owners as I show the methods I am using to get local businesses onto Page 1 of Google for their keywords.
You might be interested to read more about why Local Search Marketing is so necessary for local business.
- Local Search Marketing for Small Businesses (pbsmartessentials.com)
Filed under Local Search Marketing, Marketing Strategies by
For the physical meeting in London |
RSVP through Meetup |
To book for online conferencing |
Do you have a local business where customers visit your business to buy? Or do you deliver goods and services to your customers?
If the answer to either of those questions is 'Yes' then Local Search Marketing is the most important marketing strategy for you over the next 5 years and beyond.
Effective use of your Google Places page – and learning how to promote that page to ensure you appear on Page 1 of Google is the most important thing you need to know.
Discover how to do both this Saturday 28th April with Smart Marketing Warriors.
RSVP now on this page to attend the Meetup meeting. Price is a measly £10 cash on the door.
Outside London – or can't make the meeting? Join our new conferencing facility through the big red Eventbrite logo up above. Limited seats available for this innovation so sign up now.
Filed under Local Search Marketing by
Smart Marketing Meetup is an opportunity for Meetup members to participate with members of the Smart Marketing Warriors site.
This week is going to be an informal, low key event where you can concentrate on sharing your online marketing experiences and problems with like minded business owners, internet marketers and entrepreneurs.
It's another free meeting where you can meet new people and learn at every stage. Whatever might be holding you back, every person you meet could have the key to unlocking the solution to your problem.
To misquote a certain popular TV show of the moment: 'No meetey, no learney!'
Click here now to RSVP and make sure you meet the people who could make the difference to your future.
http://www.meetup.com/Smart-Marketing-Warriors/events/49527002/
Filed under Events, Internet Marketing by
Do you want to get into online marketing?
- Part or full time?
- For yourself?
- From home?
- or for your business?
Whether it is for your hobby, your passion or your business, online marketing can reach the parts that other marketing methods cannot reach.
We've been preaching the gospel of online marketing since 2007. And now, at the start of 2012 we need to know what YOU want and need to help you with your online marketing efforts – however big or small they may be.
We want to deliver what you need in the way that you want it. So come along on Saturday and tell us.
We'll still be asking questions. What are your plans and objectives; what have you already done about it and what are the difficulties you are facing?
Odds are there will be someone in the room who has experienced the same problem and can contribute a suggestion or even a solution. You'll never know if you don't come along.
Starting at 10:30 we'll be asking everyone to contribute just a little of where they are, what they want to achieve and how you think we might be able to help. We've got all day (after all, the bar is right outside!) so don't hold back because what you say will help us to plan what we do this year.
Saturday the 28th. Click here to RSVP now.
Filed under Internet Marketing by
Tom Mackenzie (centre) with Bruce & Laurie
A great presentation on Wordpress Security from our guest speaker, Thomas Mackenzie, gave us an insight not only into the foibles of Wordpress and how to fix them but also into Application Vulnerability.
For most marketers the security of many of the tools we take for granted is a given. But Tom is one of those whose job it is to break into websites and to expose their vulnerabilities. Fortunately, he's one of the good guys. The bad guys who do the same thing for fun or profit are called hackers and can be the bane of your life if they decide to have a go at your site.
Tom shared much of his professional expertise and his knowledge of how to protect your Wordpress installation from hackers in his presentation.
The recording of Tom's presentation will be available for members shortly in the members area together with links to the various tools he referred to.
Filed under Blog, Blogging For Business, Building Websites, Guest Speakers, Internet Marketing, WordPress by
If you’re using Wordpress and have:
- consulted with a security expert
- implemented his recommendations about
- installation
- backup
- site management
.. and are happy that the bad hacker guys are not going to get into your site and that your work is safe and secure …then you can stop reading now.
If not then:
- Does your Wordpress wobble..?
- Can the bad guys Wriggle into your Wordpress?
- Or have you Whacked the Wordpress security question into touch in the hope that it won't happen to you?
Sorry, got a bit carried away with the W's there.
RSVP for this important meeting now
Wordpress is a great site building tool for users with no technical knowledge. And it's those same people, (maybe you?) that our next session about securing your site against the bad guys is for.
Last month we showed how even new users can have a Wordpress site up and running inside 10 minutes.
That's great! But it's precisely because Wordpress is so popular that it also attracts the hackers who just take pleasure in screwing up other peoples lives by messing up their websites.
And don't think they won't be interested in your site. They have no reason for what they do – so if you make money with your site or not, whether it is of interest to them or not – none of it matters. They just like messing up websites.
So you need to understand the possible pitfalls that exist and more importantly find out how to avoid them.
Wordpress Security- be safe!
Image by Nikolay Bachiyski via Flickr
Our guest speaker will be Tom Mackenzie who is an Application Security Consultant. That means he actually gets paid by website owners to hack into their sites. Fortunately, he's one of the good guys who then advises them how to secure their site, their business and their peace of mind.
Tom is a regular speaker at internet security industry conferences and guest lectures on application security and vulnerability management at a number of UK universities.
It what Tom's got to show you about your Wordpress site isn't valuable information freely available then I don't know what is!
So if you want to:
- discover the common security problems that exist for all Wordpress installations
- and, more importantly, watch a demo of how you can scan your own Wordpress website to find any security issues with it
- Find out, step by step, how you can fix them quickly and easily
then you need to be at our next meeting on 26th November.
Register here to secure your seat.
Whether you are a new user or a Wordpress afficionado, Tom is a leading expert in his field and you're sure to learn something not only new but distinctly useful about securing your Wordpress site.
Related articles
- Get A Security Makeover For Your WordPress Site With WebsiteDefender (makeuseof.com)
- Wordpress – the new platform for spreading malware (philipramsey.blogspot.com)
- Security Alert: WordPress Timthumb Hacker on the Prowl (journalxtra.com)
Filed under Blogging For Business, Building Websites, WordPress by
