Tornadoes, Memorial Day, Ex-President Bush’s Balls and Tigers Millions: What your business can learn from online videos, social media, twitter and weekend sales
Posted by Salem Global on May 25, 2011
Lots goi
ng on in the world this week. But the weather rules over all. In New York we have been complaining about the fact that it has been raining, cloudy or overcast (ruining my weekly softball games) but of course today it is bright and sunny. My next game is tomorrow so of course don’t forget your umbrellas. Either the rain is directly linked to my softball game schedule or to the arrival of my interns from France this summer? Thoughts? Do you have interns from France? Did you hear them say anything about the “rain dance” on America?
In all seriousness though, before we begin today, our hearts go out to the victims of Mother Nature’s latest natural disaster. Here is a page and video from KSDK and the Red Cross how you can help: http://www.ksdk.com/news/article/260091/3/Joplin-tornado-donations
In much lighter news, Tiger Woods recently donated one million dollars to his own foundation as a result of a media prank (sort of). He injured his leg somehow and before a press conference (I think having to do with the fact that he makes more than any other athlete in the world right now but hasn’t been playing so well) he stated that if no journalist asks him about his leg, he will donate $1mm to charity. But of course as “real” journalism goes, the first question was indeed about his injury. http://twitter.com/#!/TigerWoods
Speaking of balls, you have got to see this:
http://www.myfoxorlando.com/dpp/hot_video/052411-video-foul-ball-lands-near-president-bush
Former President George W. Bush at the White Sox vs. Texas Rangers game almost gets hit by a foul ball. I like what the announcer said – catcher probably said “just trying to protect you Mr. President.” What I want to know is why the secret service didn’t catch it?
Finally, this weekend is Memorial day weekend. First let us wish the best to those of you who have lost loved ones fighting for or protecting the United States of America (and its allies.) Now - Time for car sales! (see http://www.garyromehyundai.com/ and get a great deal on a new Hyundai!) Besides promoting my own clients though 
Check out all of the sales going on in brick and mortar establishments as well as online. One of the first things I always advise companies and organizations on is the calendar. It can become a sales frenzy. Use what is going on in the world to your advantage. Have a Memorial Day sale and promote it everywhere….on the internet and off.
Well that’s it for today. Want to know more about how to get more donations for your non-profit organization? How to use twitter? Online video? Promote a sale? Call Raphi Salem at 212-222-3292 or email him at info@salemglobal.com .
Tiger Woods Spits on Golf, Google Secrets, How JC Penney Got Their Site To The Top: What your business can learn from the Tiger and JC Penney
Posted by Salem Global on Feb 15, 2011
Befor
e I begin this week, I want to point out one of the funniest clips I have ever seen on the Internet. My friend Simon Feil (http://www.simonfeil.com/index.htm) stars in this clip from the Onion News Network: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9NDPX4RYH-g&feature=player_embedded. So the opposite of the various Sunday morning yell at each other what’s your opinion democrat vs. republican BS that is spewed. “Your logic is flawless!” “I couldn’t agree with you more!” Straight out of Leslie Neilsen writing and comedy.
And here is something NOT funny. Tiger Woods spitting on the putting green. Golf has reached an all time low. Ewwwwwwwww. Tiger Woods hocked a lougie and left it near the 12 hole. Come on man. That’s just gross. And irresponsible. I really hope that Tiger can get his act together. Why did OJ kill his wife and then continue to do bad things when cleared of the charge. Burglary in Las Vegas of Sports memorabilia? Michael Vic and dog fighting? Come on guys. You have talent. Raw talent. Talent and skills that you have honed throughout your young lifetimes. To make history, fame and fortune. What the heck is wrong with you? Can’t you just accept your success and live gracefully. Tiger. Get it together and keep your saliva in your mouth or in a tissue. Then throw it in your caddy’s bag and play to win. You are better than that http://sports.yahoo.com/golf/blog/devil_ball_golf/post/Tiger-Woods-spits-on-green-golf-world-splits-in?urn=golf-321079
As for companies who are better than that, a number of people had asked me if I had seen the NY Times article on “The Dirty Little Secrets Of Search” (http://www.nytimes.com/2011/02/13/business/13search.html?pagewanted=1&_r=1&hp) When you are an individual and famous like Tiger Woods, Brittany Spears or Lindsay Lohan, your face and your name are your brand. Now seriously. Who is going to want to buy a Lindsay Lohan necklace after her latest fiasco in California? One of the most famous books out there is by Mark McCormack, “What They Don’t Teach You at Harvard Business School.” As head of one of the largest sports and celebrity representation companies, he was all about what you do today to make money and glorify your brand so that in the future you can ride those coattails. (See Jerry Maguire – SHOW ME THE MONEY!) Do good on the field and then you can do well after the game is over. Give to charity today and watch them honor you later on in life.
JC Penney is one such company. A good company that makes VERY good money. According to the NY Times article, they made $17.8 Billion dollars in 2010. Not bad! They also spent $2.46 million in paid search ads. Definitely worth it. But they also used a digital marketing and SEO firm to broker some bad black hat practices for them. As a result, they were at the top for many Google searches when they shouldn’t have been. Apparently Google didn’t catch it and only busted them after they probably raked in millions as a result of being at the top of the organic listings. So this stinks for JC Penney, but it also stinks for Google, the world of search and all of the small guys who should have been at the top for various keywords when they were not.
The good news that I glean from all of this is that I am right! I said that Google was going to downplay links coming from 3rd party outside sources and websites and that content was going to reign supreme. They had paid for thousands of non-relevant links and it paid off in the short term. But now they are being punished so that’s too bad. I am guessing a few possibilities.
1) JC Penney might not have known what their search engine firm was doing for them.
2) Some people might not have known. Others who didn’t know didn’t care or weren’t paying attention. After all, online doesn’t compare to offline for them so it probably slipped under the radar.
3) JC Penney did know but didn’t care.
4) JCPenney knew and so did Google. But because they spend so much they were willing to overlook it.
This can be a nasty business sometimes considering click fraud and the amount of money Google and other search engines charge. But supply and demand drives the market.
In conclusion, I believe in testing, reporting and monitoring. Not everything is going to work at first. But if you can find an honest way to market yourself, you are going to benefit in the long run.
Want to know more about the tiger woods or how search engines work? SalemGlobal can help you get more leads than you ever thought possible through the Internet. Call Raphi Salem today at 888-578-6732 or email info@salemglobal.com and we can talk about it.
Internet Marketing, Cigar Guy? Phillies Roy Halladay No-Hitter, Yankees Sweep, Giants Jets Win!: What your business can learn from the unexpected
Posted by Salem Global on Oct 12, 2010
So Tiger Woods is playing golf when all of a sudden some Indian guy with a Turban and a huge fat cigar appears out of nowhere. Sounds like a joke right? But it wasn’t. Here is the original picture: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/golf/article-1319238/Cigar-guy-revealed-We-man-stood-Tiger-Woods-internet-sensation.html
And here are some of the hundreds of doctored photos: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/39522903/ns/technology_and_science-tech_and_gadgets
“Cigar Guy” turns out to be a 30-year old investment analyst from London named Rupesh Singaida. He actually isn’t wearing a turban at all. It’s a hair piece that he is wearing to show support for another golfer named Miguel Angel Jiminez, one of the star European players who just happens to be famous for his long hair and cigar smoking.
In other sports news, Philadelphia Phillies Roy Halladay made history with his No-Hitter, the 2nd in playoff history and his second of the season. http://www.philliesnation.com/archives/2010/10/roy-halladay-throw-no-hitter and the New York Yankees have done it again by sweeping the Minnesota Twins and advancing to the next round in the American League Championship Series (ALCS)
In Football, the NY Giants are on a 2 game winning streak while the J-E-T-S JETS JETS JETS won on Monday night.
So what I have learned this week is that sometimes the out of the ordinary truly gets the most promotion. Before that photographer captured Tiger Woods golf ball in mid-air, Cigar Guy was just another Indian living in London. But now the Cigar Guy is known all over the world. Oh and more famous but less promoted is Miguel Angel Jiminez which should give him a boost of confidence. The Yankees are as close to a sure thing as any other team. They have the budget, the players, the plays and the strategies. (And maybe the correct amount of steroids?) The Giants and Jets aren’t a sure thing but their fans keep them going.
What about your business? Do you have the budget to buy as many domain names as possible? Do you have many “fans” or happy and satisfied customers who are rooting for you? Those clients’ customers and patients who are very happy with your practices and services should be jockeying for you. They should be writing testimonials for your website, your LinkedIn and on Google and Yahoo local.
Need help with Internet promotion for your business? We have been helping companies and businesses strategize online since 1997. Call Raphi Salem at 212-993-5828, email info@salemglobal.com or check out www.SalemGlobal.com for more information about how to get your own “Cigar Guy” to make YOU famous.
Internet Marketing New York City, Golf Masters Tiger vs. Mickelson: What organizations can learn from world sports, winners and hype
Posted by Salem Global on Apr 13, 2010
More people have been following the Tiger Woods saga in the US and around the world than actually understand and follow the world of golf. I will never forget the first time I learned that soccer or “futbol” is actually the most popular sport in the world. According to Answers.com, golf ranks #8 according to this list:
1) Football/Soccer: 3.3-3.5 billion fans (Europe, Africa, Asia, Americas, etc.)
2) Cricket: 2-3 billion fans (India, UK, Pakistan, Asia, Australia, etc.)
3) Field hockey: 2-2.2 billion fans (Asia, Europe, Africa, Australia)
4) Tennis: Around 1 billion fans (Europe, Americas, Asia)
5) Volleyball: Around 900 million fans (Asia, Europe, Americas, Australia)
6) Table tennis: Around 900 million fans (Asia, Europe, Africa, Americas)
7) Baseball: Around 500 million fans (US, Japan, Cuba, Dominican Republic)
8 ) Golf: Around 400 million fans (US, Canada, Europe)
9) Gridiron (American football): 390-410 million fans (US mainly)
10) Basketball: Not more than 400 million fans (US, Canada mainly)
You have to put things into perspective. Golf is a rich person’s sport. Football (not the American Gridiron kind but the global kick a ball around kind) is the sport of the masses. Think about it. You basically take a ball, any ball, (and sometimes even a can or a plastic bottle if you are that poor), and kick it with your leg. That’s it. No other equipment necessary. Maybe you get a few more players and set up teams. Maybe you even make up goals. Between that tree and that rock. Or just throw down four shirts or pieces of cardboard in a large rectangle on any surface, dirt, grass, Astroturf, and BAM, you’ve got yourself a soccer field. Oh – and the rules are… um, kick the ball into the other sides goal. Now that’s a sport!
On the other hand, golf requires acres and acres of land. But not just any land. Land with 18 holes drilled in. But not just drilled in randomly, but designed behind wood, rough, dirt, grass and water. Golf courses cost millions of dollars to design and then millions more to landscape and construct. Then of course you need to buy golf clubs and golf balls. Golf tees, golf clothing and accessories. So only the wealthy are playing golf. And only the wealthy are really watching and following the sport. It’s the sport of kings because only kings had the money, time and land to make it all happen.
Joel Osteen (who I have been reading and listening to lately because he is an incredibly positive attitude preacher and not an over the top evangelist) tells the story of the king who invited a famous golfer to his country for a few days to play with him. The golfer accepted and they played and had a great time for a few days. When the golfer was about to leave, the king told him he would like to give him a gift. This was in addition to the healthy fee that he had already paid him. He said no thank you but the king insisted. So the golfer says that he collects golf clubs. After a few weeks, the golfer gets a letter in the mail. The king sent him a deed to a 500 acre golf club.
Ok – back to Tiger Woods and Phil Mickelson. As I understand it, Phil Mickelson is a great golfer. Though he will not win as many green jackets as Jack Nicklaus or Tiger Woods, he is known to be an all around swell guy. So when Tiger made his return to golf after five months of scandal to this seasons Masters at Augusta National, Tiger was the celebrity everyone was talking about, not Phil. Unfortunately, Tiger temporarily ruined his reputation by succumbing to his vices. As did Pete Rose, the baseball great, and his gambling and betting habit. As did the immature decision of Michael Phelps to hang out at college parties and get caught smoking from a bong. (See Will Ferrell as President Bush referring to the tiger Woods guy. http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2008/10/23/will-ferrell-back-as-bush_n_137399.html)
The point is, you can be the best and get credit from it. But the challenge is to make it to the top and then stay there. The hype is only part of the equation. You need to put in the time and the effort and keep it clean.
The same applies to businesses and organizations that get to the top of the search engines. You have to make sure you don’t do anything to upset the powers that be. Too many pages and too many links created all at once throws red flags at the Google chief scientist. SalemGlobal took a hit recently because we started building our http://www.MarketingDirectories.comperhaps too fast and with too many links back to our homepage. Whereas we used to be #1 for “website marketing,” now we are in the #4 position. As for “internet marketing,” we have fallen off the charts completely. On a positive note, we have remained in the #1 position for all keywords related to Internet and website marketing “NY” and “New York.” So the message is to keep it slow and steady. In this game, consistency wins the race, not the sprint.
If you would like to know more about NYC website or NY Internet marketing, sports, linking strategies and getting higher up and staying on the top of the search engines, please call me at 212-993-5828, email me at raphis@salemglobal.comor check out www.SalemGlobal.comfor more information. Oh and a final note and plug for #1 in local search for Dr. John Frank of http://HairClinicUSA.com. Do a Google search for “hair transplant ny” and you will see what I mean.