Does everybody know what a blog is?

I will get into a definition of what it is, like I said, I’m not going to get technical on you, but I want to keep it as simple as possible about what a blog is. It is a huge topic. You could probably spend three days just doing a talk on blogs. There’s a lot of technical data involved, search engines and RSS feeds and Keywords and Social Networking and Web 2.0… All these things are associated with blogs. If you want to know any of that stuff, talk to this fella right here. Doug (Lampi), he’s a technical guru – that’s his field, he know’s all about how to make your blog.

I’m also not going to get into any debate with anybody about which is better, wordpress or blogger, and I know there’s another couple other ones out there. I use blogger. I’m familiar with it and it works fine for what I want it to do.

Ok. I’m going to try to make my little conversation so that your blog will become effective, as apposed to just sayin’ “put this widget over here, put that picture over there”… just how to promote some of your stuff

The Internet Is Changing

The Internet Is Changing and most of us have web pages. The web pages started out as a static brochure. They didn’t change very often. So what happened is somebody would go on your website, then they go on your website a month later – it’s the same thing, a month later it’s the same thing, a month later… a year later… it’s the same thing, it’s the same pictures – nothing was changing. It’s like you had the guy your brochure and he just keeps pulling it out of the cupboard and keeps looking at it.

— Like what you’ve read? Get the whole series! –

You’ve likely heard it already.

You already know that 2/3 of travelers
ONLY use the Internet to plan their vacations.

From mapping the driving route or booking the airline tickets, booking transportation, accommodations and event tickets, to browsing pictures and menus to find local restaurants before they start their vacation – today’s travelers are captivated by a relationship that BEGINS and grows online.

Today, it’s easier to market online.

It’s true.

And tourism marketing stands to gain the most.

New Social Media sites like Facebook have made it easy and compeling for millions of people to register and connect with dozens, sometimes hundreds of family and friends.

Match this up with the fact that, on a personal level, most Tourism Operators have also used Social Media sites to connect with their family and friends online – and it’s like peanut butter and chocolate!

Now, more than ever, travel and tourism business owners can target and build a relationship with their ideal client, while both people are at home, without the cost of traveling to Sport Shows

Remember – your ideal client now logs into Facebook or eMail daily…
but, they attend Sport Shows annually…

Douglas Lampi takes the guess-work out of Tourism Marketing,
by teaching the small business owner Social Media
strategies that build lasting, measureable results.

Save time, go directly to the most effective strategies. Learn to protect your personal privacy while boosting your business connectedness. Doug can show you how to spend just one hour each evening online through this winter to build online relationships with new prospects – and especially with people who have booked a vacation with you, now, or in the past.

With Social Media Marketing prepared in advance for next season, then you can REALLY maximize the power of word-of-mouth adversiting from your current guests with real-time, online exposure before your client’s entire friend networks.

If you can see how fast and big this can be, then you know your business has to be a part of it.

Visit www.douglampi.com, join the Newsletter, and see how Doug makes it simple for your business to Go Social!

Over the past few days I’ve had the delight of speaking with over 100 Travel & Tourism Business Owners in “My Backyard”, Northwestern Ontario, Canada.

I’ve come to realize that Tourism entrepreneurs are some of the most Web Savvy business owners in our region. Almost all of them have been through the experience of creating a website, and are experienced with answering email, and managing pictures and documents online as a matter of daily business.

However, oh yes, here it comes…

Out of the 180 calls I’ve made, I’ve left messages on 80 answering machines.

And, out of the ONE HUNDRED business owners I spoke with… not one single business owner asked where I had found their contact information!

NOBODY was seeking to find out what marketing was making their phone ring!

’nuff said… gives me some ideas for my email list.

Cheers,

Doug

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Hi everybody and thanks for tuning in to the Internet Guru Watch Podcast by ipmal.com. I’m your host, Doug Lampi. My website can be found at ipmal.com.

When you get a moment if you haven’t already, sign up for my free tips newsletter where I cover more information on this same topic, and where I answer your questions on the Internet Guru Watch. Also, as part of my tips newsletter I give out exclusive resources that have been bookmarked by the top Internet marketing gurus and you don’t want to miss out on those.

You never know when I am going to talk about something that may help you. So go to your computer. Go to ipmal.com and sign up for the free tips newsletter now.

You know you are in great company of people from all over the world who are listening to the Internet Guru Watch. Our top listening countries are Canada and the United States. But this podcast is being listened to in all corners of the world. It’s just amazing. And it’s just amazing to get emails and success stories from people everywhere.

Thank you for listening to the Internet Guru Watch and for passing it along to all your friends and colleagues. Truly the Internet is such an amazing tool that anyone can use to share their passion and connect with similar minded people.

OK. So let’s get the show going. In each Internet Guru Watch podcast I introduce one new successful Internet marketer. We look in on their current projects and I collect any of their RSS feeds on ipmal.com so we can easily keep updated on their latest activities.

PART ONE

In this, the premier edition of the Internet Guru Watch, I’m going to feature one of the most consistent sources of cutting edge marketing strategies there are – Michael Campbell. For 136 months Michael Campbell has been publishing the Internet Marketing Secrets website and email newsletter.

In September of 2007, Michael started podcasting his newsletter. I highly recommend that you visit iTunes right now, search for Internet Marketing Secrets and subscribe to Michael Campbell’s podcast.

The last two podcasts by Michael Campbell were particularly interesting. In response to his recent survey, Michael has conducted a series of interviews to uncover the best traffic generation strategies, the biggest marketing pitfalls to avoid and some little-known tactics that most people underestimate.

Maybe you have heard of some of these heavy hitters that Michel Campbell interviews – Dr. Neil Shearing, Colin McDougall and Ginette Degner in the first podcast and Jerry West, Mike Liebner and Sherman Hu in the second podcast.

Each of these successful marketers that Michael interviews offers a unique and different approach to making money online. The first time I listened through these podcasts I was traveling in my car. The second time I listened, I was sitting at my computer, and I was able to implement the specific strategies as I listened through.

Just one week later, I’ve already received over 1000 unique visitors from new traffic sources that I set up in less than 30 minutes.

One of the reasons I have remained a loyal subscriber to the Internet Marketing Secrets newsletter is because Michael Campbell always provides real-world examples and he is enthusiastic about sharing statistics that demonstrate what really brings traffic.

But the biggest influence – his most important lesson – is that you should focus on gaining traffic for keyword phrases that people use when they are in the ‘buying’ frame of mind.

I recommend the Internet Marketing Secrets newsletter and podcast for three main groups of people – first of all for a business owner who contracts a web designer to do their website, second of all, for web designers and third of all, for the work-at-home entrepreneur.

PART TWO

In the second part of this inaugural Internet Guru Watch podcast, I’m going to feature a lesser known Internet marketing expert from Ontario Canada by the name of Todd Lucier.

Todd is a motivational speaker who has become an Internet marketing expert by jumping into the trenches and promoting his own tourism business.

He has given workshops and seminars for tourism-based businesses across Canada, from the Yukon to Newfoundland. Recently Todd completed another series of workshops that has become an annual event across northern Ontario. The participants in this sold-out venue learned about more than just website technology. In just a few hours we were introduced to a full range of various media that one can use to market online.

In his live, hands-on workshop Todd had us create a Gmail account and a blogger blog. We registered with Picasa and uploaded 12 to 15 sample images that we had been asked to bring along. Then we registered at animoto.com and used our images from Picasa to create an animated video with music.

Todd demonstrated how the video could be easily embedded into your blogger blog by copying and pasting a small bit of code. Starting from nothing, Todd showed us how easy it could be to create some pretty amazing content in just a few hours.

And to demonstrate just how far blogging technology has come, Todd snapped a picture with his cell phone and made a voice phone call. He spoke his message and hung up his phone and continued on with the seminar. A few minutes later, he refreshed the web page of his blog. And there was the photo of our seminar. In addition, his voice message had been transcribed to text and was included in the blog post.

Todd introduced us to Really Simple Syndication, or RSS feeds, and showed how travelers can subscribe to the RSS feed of your blog with a feed aggregator, such as iGoogle.

The two-day seminar was chock full of dozens of important and useful marketing technologies and strategies that could be used for tourism businesses. One of the biggest media types that Todd introduced – and that I had overlooked – is that of Google maps. But more than just publishing, Todd shared studies that helped shed insight on the shopping behaviors of people who are searching for a vacation.

While it’s easy for everyone to agree that a word-of-mouth referral is the single most powerful method for gaining new clientele, Todd pointed out a new opportunity to use social networking sites to connect with your customers and gain some new, free exposure with all of your customers’ friends and family.

You can find more information about Todd Lucier’s most recent workshops by visiting tourismkeys.ca.

You’ll also find that Todd is an active blogger. It’s part of my morning routine to look over Todd’s shoulder, so to speak, by checking his RSS feeds to which I have already subscribed. Visit tourismkeys.ca and click on the ‘blog’ link to follow along with this great marketing instructor.

With all the publishing media available online today, a typical search result page in Google can include a video from YouTube, a PDF document on scribd.com, a social bookmark on StumbleUpon, a listing from Wikipedia, and maybe a tag page from Propeller or WordPress.com.

It seems like marketing on the Internet has become more and more complex, and organizing and managing all of the various media forms can seem like an overwhelming task.

But the truth is, it’s easier to market online today than it has ever been before. All you need is a coordinated sequence of RSS feeds and you can power an entire content distribution network from one single source.

For example, you could use your digital camera to record yourself giving a brief tour of your facilities. With just one post, you can syndicate your video on over a dozen video sharing sites and automatically post your video to your network of blogs and update your Facebook page all at once. Your video is also converted to an audio podcast and transcribed into text that can be added to your blog later to gain even more natural search engine traffic.

Now, the process of setting up this network of sites so that you can power your videos on YouTube, your podcast on iTunes, your text, your blog post, your social networking sites and your opt in email newsletter all from one source, is easier than it might sound. However, it is a rather tedious process, and it does require a thoughtful organization of the various services that make it possible to tie everything together so neatly.

If you want to learn more about coordinating your online publishing, visit ipmal.com and click on the ‘Build Me a Network’ link.

Well that’s it for this episode of the Internet Guru Watch. Thanks for listening to this podcast and a special thanks to those who have shared this podcast with your friends and colleagues.

OK. The question I’m going to leave you with today is a bit of a survey. You can answer these questions in your head or you can visit ipmal.com, click on the ‘Survey’ link and see how your answers compare. Check off all that apply:

My website provides the following ways to connect with people:

• an email newsletter
• an RSS feed for subscribers
• a Facebook page or MySpace profile
• social bookmarking links like del.icio.us, StumbleUpon or Reddit
• a free download in exchange for contact information

So, how did your website compare in the survey? Did your website provide all of those five ways to connect with people and bring them back to read your marketing message a second time?

If your website isn’t performing the way you want, don’t worry. You can start today and in no time, you can start bringing new traffic and building relationships with new potential customers.

You can make this happen. I know you can.

So keep checking in on ipmal.com as I have been adding new Internet Gurus that you have suggested and a variety of services and products that could help you on your quest to have the better website marketing that you really do deserve.

I would love to help you out in any way that I can, and it might be something you would be interested in if you have listened your way through this podcast.

I’m now offering an exclusive marketing opportunity for tourism businesses in Canada. Visit ipmal.com and click on the ‘Build My Network’ link where you will be presented with two options. You can opt to have your own network of sites organized so you or your staff can manage your content distribution across the full range of media types, all from one post.

Or two, you can opt to test out the waters and have your content distributed across my network of 17 video sharing sites and 12 blogs and a one-year listing on five fishing lodge directory websites for a single one-time fee.

So, go to my website. And if you haven’t already, sign up for my free email newsletter. It’s free, and it provides a list of hot resources that have been bookmarked by the Internet gurus we watch.

Thank you so much for joining in today. Please pass this podcast along to friends and colleagues and thanks to those of you who have already passed it on. You are helping to make the Internet Guru Watch a worldwide phenomenon.

Until next time, remember: creating content is fun. Creating content is easy. It’s taking pictures. It’s shooting video clips. It’s just talking about the benefit of your product or service the same as you do every day.

Podshow PDN {podshow-043f449c62de2fc078f8ec663f7590f5}

The Tourism Keys Seminar in Thunder Bay last week resulted in an explosion of research, here at Quetico Internet Marketing.

The comprehensive view of utilizing all the various forms of media opened a full set of doors, all at once. Producing your content in the form of Video, photos, audio, pdf and text can provide your visitors with your information in the form they prefer. This strategy is literally Super-Powered by using RSS feeds in both directions!

But other forms of media exist where data and information are pooled and accessed by millions.

The Marketing Keys Tourism Marketing Seminar also explained the astonishing leverage that the connectivity in social networks can provide to help get your message out. For example, if your business has a Business Page Listing in Facebook, people can join as a ‘Fan’ of your business. If they comment on your Wall, all of their friends are notified about this comment – and your word can spread far and wide, very quickly.

(profilactic.com provides a central service collecting over 120 social networking websites.)

After some research, I found a WordPress plugin that will update your Facebook account via RSS feed whenever you post to your blog… excellent… that saves me one step of updating my content in to many places. After I set this up, I’ll test and see if my Facebook Notification RSS Feed includes these updates – so I can pull the Facebook RSS feed and link to myself three levels deep, automatically.

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Then Marketing Keys introduced yet another bombshell. A form of media that takes the entire world into scope, in every detail. Maps. Particularly Google Maps.

Todd Lucier, the creator and presenter of the Tourism Keys Seminars, introduced us to the simple, but detailed, process of adding your business data to the Google Maps database. But further, Todd demonstrated how travel providers can utilize these maps to create detailed trip guides, such as canoe routes. Travel routes can be mapped and points of interest can be flagged. Each map entry can be tagged with descriptions, images, audio, video, podcasts, links to further resources… you name it!

Todd showed us an amazing virtual canoe trip in Algonquin Park using Google Maps RIGHT ON HIS OWN WEBSITE! Using a simple embed code, Todd demonstrated how you can add your own custom Google Map to your blog or website – in a few simple steps.

Follow-up Research into Google Maps resulted in some completely unexpected discoveries.

By following the Google Maps embed code backwards, searching for RSS related information, I uncovered a deeper layer to the internet. I have found myself another step closer to accessing the ROOT of the largest databases in the world. I feel like I’ve exposed a part of “the machine” where only Heavy Mechanics work – it’s called GOOGLE DEVELOPERS API’s.

If an RSS feed lets me pull the last 20 posts from a news source, the Developers API’s will let me write a query that lets me pull every post that was ever made… If my picasa RSS feed pulls the last 20 images, the API feed query can pull ALL the images, all the YouTube Videos and on and on.

I figure that, if I’m just learning about it, someone else already knows AND they already have applications built around it… and yes, after some searching I’ve found some powerful examples of how people have pulled API’s from several sources to create very useful Niche services!

Next – I’ll share the list of WordPress Plugins that I have collected to pull images from picasa, videos from youtube, niche-specific social bookmarking activity, news from Google, weather from environment Canada, events from Google Calendar, podcasts from iTunes, and Social Feeds from multiple sources – all this content comes to your site automatically!

Everything you need to provide amazing content FROM everything Web 2.0 and become interconnected INTO everything Web 2.0 – and at the same time, utilizing every one of the various sources of Media and connection between people.

Thank you Fednor, for bringing Todd to us.

Todd Lucier is a dynamic speaker who is teaching cutting edge internet marketing strategies to Tourism Outfitters and other forward-thinking Businesses from Thunder Bay, North of Superior and Atikokan.

Tourism Marketing Seminar

My brief notes on the Tourism Keys Seminar cannot share the passion that Todd feels about the potential for creating meaningful business contacts through a full range of online spaces that can instantly provide exposure to established audiences who share a common interest.  I hope this wee video clip gives you an idea of the information we received on the first day… this clip is only 30 seconds long – and Todd kept the information flowing that fast for hours!!  I can’t wait for day two! 

In this video clip, Todd Lucier is explaining how you can be found in the search engines through various forms of media.  Take your content and re-produce it in all the various media forms.  Include RSS feeds and email notification options for you visitors.  Todd points out a nice mix of Web 2.0 sites that make it easy to promote yourself.

Todd quotes – 2/3 of people ONLY use the internet to shop for travel.  He suggests that 2/3 of your marketing budget be spent doing online marketing.

Take a Tourism Marketing Workshop From Home

Join Tourismmarketingvideos.com for access to over THIRTY HOURS of Tutorials, Seminars and Workshops that cover all aspects of Tourism Marketing – Including: Blogging as an Effective Marketing Tool, by Brad Greaves of Ignace Outposts!

As I’ve been carefully targetting a narrow set of niche keywords, I’ve been monitoring the resulting changes in the top 30 ranking websites.

Just as before, I’ve been able to quickly grab several of the top placements for my keyword phrases.  Results are showing up where I own four of the top 10 and fifteen of the top 30 searches on my phrase – because I’m using a series of five blogs on WordPress.com, a series of five indepenantly hosted websites and a blog on LiveJournal.  In addition, I’ve been posting summaries of my blog posts to three document and news release websites. 

After all these co-ordinated posts are completed, I’ve been following directions and bookmarking the articles and the article summaries with ten or twelve popular social bookmarking sites.

I started to see by blog posts appear in the top search results first. Soon these listings are overtaken by the new release sites – and I’ve been enjoying several of the top 10 placements.  After a day or two, my hosted website pages begin to show in the top 20 to 30.  To my delight and suprize, within another day or two, I begin to see even more top rankings because of the “Echo Effect” of Social Bookmarking.

The ‘Echo Effect’ occurs when the RSS feeds from these Bookmarking sites are picked up by other sites and blogs around the internet.  Google is indexing these feeds, giving my campaign more top rankings and more links back to my original article, resulting in an echo effect of even more website traffic.

Of course… this gives me lots of new ideas…