Customers are always the core of any business. However, in 2012, customers will require more personalize attention than ever before. Luckily, businesses can easily accomplish this by embracing analytics and new technologies that will help them build unprecedented relationships with their customers. Here are Truaxis’ top ways to increase sales in the new year while giving your customers exactly what they need, when they need it. 10 Ways to Increase Sales in 2012

I’m not a sports guy… you may not be either. I seldom get excited about any college or professional sports game unless it’s a good Stanley Cup. If you don’t appreciate sports but you love numbers, statistics and analysis, you should still read this book. Paul Depodesta (his character is Peter Brand in the movie played by Jonah Hill) is the brains of the operation… working from statistics to identify target players based on their on-base percentage. It doesn’t matter if it was a single, double or even a walk. Billy Beane is the muscle… the General Manager that bets his team and his career on using the stats (as well as an aggressive trade practice that yields more funds for talent) to take the Oakland A’s to a historical winning streak.

I won’t ruin the story for you, but here’s an overview. The Oakland A’s have a third of the budget of most teams to buy talent. In order to compete, they needed something else – analytics. The baseball industry is just like any other industry, as it has grown in age, size and wealth, institutional knowledge runs deep. The problem is that the institutional knowledge is wrong… very wrong. Games are statistically won and lost on hits and runs, not on errors, home runs or won by beefy, square-jawed athletes. Think about your own business and the assumptions you make because it was always done that way.

The problem in Analytics industry is two-fold. While our marketing tactics have evolved beyond our site and user interaction has changed dramatically (mobile, video, tablet, social, etc.), when you log in to your web analytics you pretty much see what we saw a couple decades ago. The other problem is that institutional knowledge has poisoned the very foundations of the industry. All of the latest analysis and measurement tools that are helpful are being developed outside the industry.

Marketing professionals’ success is often gauged on bounce rates, page views, fans and followers… when they may have absolutely no statistical impact on actual business results. It’s true that errors and homeruns can change the course of a baseball game, just as a high influx of pageviews could influence business… but the question is whether or not it’s a performance indicator you can directly influence.

What ultimately matters to every business are both leads and conversions. Think about how you set up an analytics account. The first question is what domain your analytics will be installed on?! That’s the wrong question altogether, the question should be how do you obtain customers? Then the news question should be where do you obtain them from. And how many you wish to grow by. At that point, the analytics platform should help capture every stat and help you understand which ones matter and which do not.

Every analytics professional should read Moneyball and reshape their understanding of how businesses drive results online – whether it’s an ecommerce site with direct sales, a web publication that gains revenue through advertising revenue based on visits, a service company that needs to drive appointments, a technology firm that needs more web demos, or a company simply trying to impact the sentiment and reach of its brand.

Web analytics is a one-trick pony… trying to fit an antiquated toolset into all these new scenarios. We need a new toolset that starts with the scenario and show us how to measure the success across any medium or platform.

As recent as yesterday, I’ve received complaints from trolls. What’s a troll?

In Internet slang, a troll is someone who posts inflammatory, extraneous, or off-topic messages in an online community, such as an online discussion forum, chat room, or blog, with the primary intent of provoking readers into an emotional response or of otherwise disrupting normal on-topic discussion.

I would add a couple other characteristics… trolls are typically cowards and hide under anonymity. And on this blog, trolls often try to do damage to the companies that we’re writing about.

I’ll try a few times to respond to a troll, but when I see them resort to calling names and ignoring the facts, I stop talking to them. I let the business know that they’ve been criticized. If the business tries to resolve the situation and can’t (which is typical due to the anonymity), I’ll remove the comment.

Why? Isn’t that giving a company a pass? Is it intellectually dishonest?

I don’t think so. When I interview a company, get screenshots, and describe their application, I’m not trying to make a purchasing decision for you. I’m writing a brief blog post based on the company’s marketing, feedback or product specifications and am sharing what the tool is and how I believe it can help a marketer. Those companies worked hard to get a product launched and take a huge risk by putting themselves out there for criticism.

Some people simply hate companies (we’re seeing a lot of that lately). I have a sweetspot for them because I’ve worked for so many young startups. I’ve seen the sacrifices – in money, time and family – that people make to try to take something from an idea, to a dream to reality. That takes a ton of work… and most companies don’t actually succeed. I don’t want companies to collapse… watching founders and employees lose everything. No one should.

A single negative comment can put a company on the defense. I saw it happen to one of the companies that I worked for… someone criticized the business online and they never recovered since the post went viral and wound up being in every sales conversation for the next year. It was rough… and unnecessary. It’s not just leaders that have the ability to do it anymore, either… one simple content could start a spark that drives a business under.

So, I feel I have a responsibility to both readers and companies by giving people the benefit of the doubt. If a commenter wants to come out of the shadows and constructively criticize a company – that’s a great conversation to have. But when a troll hits and bombards the post anonymously, I’m simply not going to put up with it. I’ll respond once or twice and then the conversation is done. If they continue, I’m not going to give them any more opportunities.

There are plenty of companies that I’ve lost respect for over the years… but I’m not going to try to destroy them. I simply don’t provide them any attention on this blog. That’s the opportunity I have – promote great companies and ignore the ones that need to go away. If you want to challenge me on one of my posts, I welcome the criticism! But if you’re just going to scream and call names, I don’t have to listen to it.

I look forward to our continued conversation!

We are happy to announce that we will be having Jason Falls of Social Media Explorer and Erik Deckers of Professional Blog Service on our Marketing Tech Blog Radio Show this Friday, August 19, at 3 p.m. EST. On our show, we will be talking about why more businesses don’t use social media, who should be in charge of a company’s social media efforts, and why they picked the name of No Bullshit Social Media for their new book, which will be released in mid-October.

Jason Falls is a consultant, speaker, strategist, and thinker in the world of digital marketing and social media. He is the owner of Social Media Explorer, a social media consulting service, as well as Exploring Social Media, a learning community. He works with corporate clients, developing and managing their social media and PR strategies. He is a highly sought-after speaker, traveling around the country to speak to various trade associations, conferences, and corporate groups. No Bullshit Social Media is his first book.

Erik Deckers is the co-owner and vice president of creative services of Professional Blog Service, a ghost blogging and social media agency. His company works with both small businesses and large corporations. Erik has been blogging since 1997 and he speaks widely on social media topics for personal branding, business, crisis communication, and citizen journalism. He is the co-author of Branding Yourself, and helped write Twitter Marketing for Dummies. No Bullshit Social Media is his latest book.

You can also join us in the DK New Media office on Friday for the show by registering here. We are offering 12 tickets, so get your ticket before it is too late!

As a personal and professional blogger, I have trouble pumping out a blog post every day due to my work load and other time constraints. But if you want to be successful as a blogger, whether it be personally or professionally, you have to encompass three things: timeliness, relevance. To incorporate each of these elements, it is imperative that you have a plan. Here are 3 quick tips to helping you blog more efficiently:

1. Create a content schedule.

Decide which days you want to post on your blog and keep producing content on these days. When readers know when to expect content, they will be more likely to read your posts on those days. Also, try to post at least three times during the week. It keeps your business top of mind, and it helps with SEO, marketing and brand development.

2. Create a content plan.

Most of the time, the problem is trying to figure out what you want to blog about. Look at your calendar – if you’re going to a relevant event soon, plan to write about it the next day. Having a plan of what to write about makes it easier for you to complete your blogging task for that day.

3. Timing is important.

Write about things that are timely and promote your posts in a timely manner. If you’re writing about a hot topic, make sure you share when it is most advantageous from an SEO and marketing perspective.

Taking the time to plan your blog for the next month or next week will save you time in the long run. But don’t forget to improvise when necessary!

We’re happy to announce that Douglas Karr is the special guest for Kuno Creative’s webinar this Thursday, June 30, at 12:30 p.m. EST on how blogging impacts your business. As co-author of Corporate Blogging for Dummies, Doug and Chris Knipper, President of Kuno Creative, will give insight on successful strategies and tactics for corporate blogging.

Webinar highlights include:

• Actual results and historical data on the impact of blogging
• Blogging tips for search engine optimization (SEO), and what to avoid
• Social Media and its impact on blogging
• Understanding Calls-To-Action and Landing Pages for Blogging
• Growing your Blog Audience & Subscribers

Blogging is a great way to increase traffic, give a “voice” to your company, and produce SEO results. Sign up for the webinar today so you won’t miss out on these great tips:

We are happy to announce that we will be having Lisa Sabin-Wilson of E.Webscapes Design Studio on our Marketing Tech Blog Radio Show this Friday, June 24, at 3 p.m. EST. On our show, we will be talking all things WordPress, blogging, design, and social media.

Lisa Sabin-Wilson is the founder of E.Webscapes Design Studio (founded in 2000), a blog and web site design and development company specializing in premium WordPress themes, made to order to your specifications. She has designed and developed over 1,000 personal and professional WordPress web sites.

Lisa is the For Dummies brand (Wiley Pub) franchise author on all things WordPress and is the author of WordPress For Dummies and 3 other WordPress-related titles for Wiley Publishing; having worked with WordPress since 2003, she has extensive experience and knowledge on the platform and shares it in her several WordPress-related books. She is also a regular public speaker on topics such as: WordPress, blogging, design and social media.

You can also join us in the DK New Media office on Friday for the show by registering on Eventbrite. We are offering 10 tickets, so get your ticket before it is too late!

When we’re marketing, a lot of times, we think solely about the results. I want to convert this many prospects, we want people to be aware of Product X, I want this many retweets/shares, etc. Don’t get me wrong, it is definitely important to track these things in order to know if our marketing message are working. However, I have found that when I haven’t had a specific purpose in my marketing messages, I have had the most engagement or results.

Think about it: have you written a post that was more like a rant or an opinion-based blog as opposed to “10 Steps on How to Optimize Your Blog”? What was the feedback/engagement level on that post? I am willing to bet that it was a bit more than the standard “value-add” post about inserting meta tags.

Next time you have something to say that might be more opinion-based than value-add, write it. Give your opinion. Even if people don’t agree, you can still start a meaningful conversation that people will enjoy and share.

Here’s a great video explaining Tynt’s service:

Tynt speaks to the power of the link with regard to SEO. If someone pastes the content and publishes, you’ve got a nice link back to your site. I suppose this is okay – but I actually see more value in the fact that a link is provided for readers to click in emails and other locations.

In the last month, Tynt has detected that my content was copied 703 times, and the resulting number of visitors was 4. An additional 330 new links were created for the content – in email clients, browser toolbars, and other documents (not all to the benefit of SEO… but perhaps a few!). These stats aren’t enough to go wild over, but it’s plenty for this simple service. At the minimum, I love the fact that I’m getting credit when folks copy my content and send it to their network.

Tynt also provides some detailed reporting on what content was copied and pasted – this could be invaluable as you begin to research what content on your site is popular. Test it yourself – copy some content from this post and copy it into an email.

One last note… I can’t remember how I found Tynt… but I’m sure one of my friends or readers told me about it and I forgot who! If it was you… let me know and I’ll update this post with some credit.

[Client Name] is expanding its international business and services by acquiring a UK-based multimedia service provider next week, further strengthening its global footprint and reaching new markets.

Through this acquisition [Client Name], known for producing unrivaled multimedia experiences for brands worldwide, will launch into the European market to strengthen the company’s regional client support in Europe, the Middle East, Africa and India. Currently supporting entertainment media initiatives in-stores, online and on device in 70 countries, [Client Name] serves clients such as Starbucks Coffee®.

For more information, please see the Business Wire press release [Link].

Would you be interested in writing about [Client Name]’s newest acquisition?

Time for a rant dear public relations professional:

1. First… technically this SPAM violates the CAN-SPAM act. You’re soliciting me and you’re providing no unsubscribe method in your email (since you disguised it as a personal email). I don’t have any business relationship with you, nor have I ever had a relationship with you.
2. I have no idea who your client is or why I should write about them. Just writing their name doesn’t give me any insight into their company, their products or their services.
3. You didn’t tell me who they are buying. What service provider? Why is it relevant to my audience?
4. Don’t send me a link to seek additional information. My time is valuable. Tell me why this news is specifically relevant to my blog and its audience.
5. Tell me what you’d like me to write about and write it for my audience.
6. Provide links that you’d like me to share with my readers that will provide them with additional information.

Stop being so lazy and you may get some better results. It’s fairly obvious that your email was simply a cut and paste that you’re automatically sending to dozens of bloggers. Stop it.

However, one of the most difficult aspects of blogging can be getting ideas. Blog ideas can come from many sources, including customer interactions, current events, and industry news. However, another great way to get blog ideas is to simply use Google’s new instant results feature.

The way to use this is to start typing in keywords that are related to your industry, and then see what Google fills in for you. For example, lets say you run a food blog and you are looking for ideas. Here are some examples of searches you could do:

By simply typing “eating out” on the search box, you are presented with some long tail keyword options that could turn into blog topics. Here is another example:

By simply starting your search with “food”, you get some instant ideas that can turn into great titles. For example:

• “Food network recipes: what they don’t tell you on TV”
• “Food pyramid guidelines: an interview with three local nutrition experts”

By starting your blog title with these search terms, you are aligning your blog topic with phrases that people are actually searching on, which increases your chances of being found via a Google search.

If you get stuck and can’t come up with a topic for your next blog, head over to Google and throw some words at it that are related to your industry. You may find some great ideas that could also improve your SEO.

Of course they can compete! Great content will always rise to the top, regardless of how crowded the space is. Different techniques you can apply are:

1. Be fast – If you’re the first site or blog to repeatedly capture a topic, you’ll get noticed more.
2. Be on top – Understanding search and its impact on your content will help you garner search engine traffic.
3. Be social – Utilize social media to amplify your blog and integrate social media into your blog so others can amplify it for you. Sharing buttons, retweet buttons and announcements on Twitter, Facebook and LinkedIn are a must.
4. Be remarkable – When there’s something to talk about on your blog, people will talk and more people will come.
5. Be consistent – Writing content and growing readership requires momentum and regularity. Don’t think one great post is going to do it for you… every post adds value incrementally.

Great content will always bubble to the top… and fully leveraging all the tools to promote your content and make it easily findable are absolutely key.