This afternoon he just emailed me to let me know that he’s hosting a small-group word of mouth marketing seminar in Chicago on July 30 and September 4, which is a cool opportunity for you to spend a day learning from an expert. It’ll be a small class too: max of 50 people.

He describes it thusly:

• Master the five steps of word of mouth marketing
• Construct an action plan that your company can start using the very next day
• Get the same training that big corporations (Microsoft, TiVo, eBay) have received — for a fraction of what they paid
• Know how to translate word of mouth marketing into real ROI
• Participate in an active, intense day of practical brainstorming (not boring theory)
• Learn from Andy Sernovitz, the guy who literally wrote the book on word of mouth marketing

Andy promises that attendees will learn a repeatable, proven marketing framework that is easy to execute, affordable, and provides measurable results within 60 days.

If I were based in Chicago, I’d definitely attend, but since I’m not, maybe you would be interested in going instead? You can learn more at events.gaspedal.com.

Oh! Andy’s extending for a $250 discount for readers of my weblog, which is a nice additional perk. Just use discount code weloveintuitive when you register.

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Sure it is easy to earn yourself a quick $40 or whatever by promoting it, by dropping text links all over the place such as this one:-
Kindle: Amazon’s New Wireless Reading Device

Or you can use some other creatives such as a nice sidebar widget (might not show in a feed reader)

Amazon’s Success Is At Least In Part Their Affiliate Program

For years affiliates have been driving traffic to Amazon. They don’t get the benefit of recurring or lifetime commissions, the affiliate program is effectively make a sale on the visit or get nothing, but because the products were mass market, some people made a fair amount of money from Amazon, and many still do.

Will Kindle Kill Affiliate Sales Of Books?

If it is successful, it could certainly have an effect.

People who buy Kindle will be the mass consumers of information, the people who buy a lot of books, especially people who have taken training to read faster such as I did at Rich Schefren’s Acceleration 2 Seminar, assuming Kindle has the features to allow faster reading.

These aren’t your "one book for Christmas" types, these are people who buy 20 books because they are going on a trip somewhere, or researching a specific topic over a few days.

Kindle Is A Direct To Amazon Sales Cycle

Amazon is cutting out the middle man. Just because you might make a $40 sale now, those people who buy the device for $400 are quite possibly no longer going to generate affiliate revenue.

It is quite possible that such people go to Amazon direct, but they are also the kind that might be influenced by a review of one book somewhere on the web, go to Amazon following an affiliate link, and buy 20 related books.

I have been monitoring the discussion around Kindle, I know Robert Scoble has mentioned making money from people reading his blog on Kindle (30% ?) but that seems like it might be only a select few. We are not going to see "Subscribe On Kindle" buttons on the vast majority of blogs any time soon.

• I would have expected Amazon to provide a lot more information on Kindle to Affiliates and what it means to them if there was a money making opportunity (not just selling the device).
• I would expect residual earnings for selling a device which will provide a residual income for Amazon.

How does this launch affect other players in the ebook market such as Clickbank?

I keep reasonably close tabs on the affiliate marketing industry, and I haven’t seen anyone rejoicing the introduction of Kindle. Have I missed something?

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*Originally published at AndyBeard.eu

• URLs vs Name Brand: the big advertisements are more often recommending prospects search for their name online rather than provide a URL. This is because a high percentage (sorry can’t remember the #) of prospects cannot remember the URL later but have little problem remembering the brand.
• Cover Your Assets: When advertising offline make certain to buy paid placements for the many potential misspellings from your campaign. This recommendation also includes purchasing the applicable misspellings of the campaign URL for those that use it. If you fail to cover these gaps you can lose a substantial number of potential buyers.
• The Special K Campaign: One of the speakers noted a branding campaign that many of us likely witnessed during the 2006 Christmas/New Years season by Kellogs. The concept of the popular TV commercial was that Special K wanted to help you in your bid to become healthier. The crossover to the Internet occurred when anyone typed in "Special K" into Yahoo (who was a participant in this campaign) they were provided with a co-branded customized search result page that provided targeted routes for users. One such route was to a forum area where users could get help and ask questions about their bid to get healthier. The other was a co-branded tips section where there was plenty of advice on snack eating, associated diets, food myths, etc.

  So what does this branding campaign demonstrate? Special K took an approach that is now the spirit of social marketing; they were not directly asking people to buy Special K but they were building credibility for their brand by partnering with their prospects in their bid to get healthier. Brilliant!

• A Funny Bit About Contextual: I have never been a big fan of contextual advertising so when the search agency representatives on the panel were asked how they felt contextual worked into their marketing plans I perked up. What I heard made me grin ear to ear… the panelists seemed a bit perplexed for a moment and then in their own turn essentially said contextual advertising was only considered with any money that was left in a campaign. In other words…. forget about it unless you have some pennies to spare and you want to really blanket the world.
• How will the growth of universal search affect paid search marketing?: I was surprised by the answer to this question. Essentially the agency panelists agreed that universal search could be bad for paid advertising. The reason they cited was the more accurate organic search becomes the less likely it is that searchers will act on paid advertisements. I was surprised more by their candor than anything. In my opinion they are entirely correct which is why I firmly believe that organic search engine optimization is a key component to every online marketing campaign.
• Yahoo Universal Search: Yahoo representative Kelly Graziadei noted that Yahoo is currently testing various forms of universal search within its results. One such example can be seen by searching for "Transformers". In this instance Yahoo has decided to keep the top 10 organic rankings intact but they have preceded them with a graphic enticing viewers to check out the movie trailer to the popular movie or see reviews and find show times in their zip code.
• Local Better than International: Scott Linzer, Director of Search Marketing at Universal McCann loosely noted that the campaigns which made the more time consuming foray into creating locally targeted campaigns experienced a better bang for their advertising dollar in contrast to the more common national approach.
• PPC and Organic are a Logical Pairing: both of the agency advocates noted that even after achieving a #1 ranking for a specific term there are direct benefits to continuing with a paid campaign for the very same term. To back this up they stressed the benefit of multiple locations for branding but they made an additional point that I thought very logical: the content within paid advertisements are easier to control and to revise to improve clickthroughs than organic rankings currently are.
• What is a Reasonable Conversion Percentage?: I asked Scott Linzer this question and his response was that 2 percent was a reasonable conversion expectation for a paid campaign. Any lower than 2 percent requires serious scrutiny and continued testing. Of course, I expect no one ever stops testing. I should note that the company Scott works for, Universal McCann, handles a great deal of Microsoft’s paid advertising so I was happy to get his opinion on this question.

There you are ladies and gentlemen. I will have more to come on Wednesday. For now I am signing off and preparing for the next day of fun. All the best, Ross Dunn.

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• Which types of videos resonate on YouTube
• How to improve search engine rankings
• Use Google AdWords to reach an already interested audience
• Google Alerts to stay on top of news for your candidate or topic
• Google Analytics to provide data on visitor behavior
• Get campaign materials on YouTube’s YouChoose chanel
• Read John Battelle’s The Search as a guide
• Integrate keywords into your website

A recap of the seminar is at the conference blog.

Naturally, Google is hoping to gain some of those campaign advertising dollars. Online advertising in the last presidential election was practically meaningless, just $12 million out of $4 billion spent in 2004, but with that expected to double to over $8 billion in ‘08, Google is hoping to show campaigns their money is better spent online, and hopefully, on Google.

Google signs were everywhere during the two-day event this month. A Google Lounge with lava lamps and rock music offered attendees free use of half a dozen Web-connected laptops. Schrage delivered the keynote address. And at its seminar for consultants, “Making the Most of Google in 2008,” the company offered, next to the free travel coffee mugs, copies of a two-page “Google Product Guide for Politics.”

“The Google network allows you to do very interesting things with targeting, with messaging, etc., in a way that you could never pull off with a 30-second TV spot,” Derek Kuhl, who is leading a New York-based political sales team that will have three or four people, told the group.

The consultants scribbled notes as they sipped coffee, then peppered the Google employees with questions, seeking details such as the average length of videos on YouTube and the length of the approval process to buy ads on search results.

“They were out essentially selling a product: Use us,” David Haase, a consultant with Mindshare Interactive Campaigns in Washington, said afterward. “They’re trying to become the gold standard.”

More at TechMeme and SEL

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One of the key processes in achieving Thematic Consistency, which is a prime objective of the One Web Principle, is what is called Adaptation. Adaptation of content to render it suitable for mobile devices is the current recommended practice. Andrea Rus of MobileAware in a presentation, ‘Embracing Device Diversity‘, at a W3C Mobile Web Seminar in November 2006 at Paris, France had a very good representation of that.

Since mobile devices have much less screen real estate, it makes sense to reduce the content and even remove items that cannot be displayed such as large images. If this is done ‘neutrally’ then who could object. However what may seem fair use to one observer may be regarded by another as breaching copyright.

The One Web principle may be attractive in theory, but here is another serious hurdle to its practical acceptance. For any website owner wishing to be visible on the Mobile Web, the only guaranteed fail-safe method of operating is to maintain distinct web pages for large screen devices and for small screen devices. Although it would be great if this could be achieved with style sheets, these are sometimes ignored by some browsers. It also is a technically challenging approach even if it worked all the time.

So think of your visitor and present the information the way that works for them. Being visitor-centric is the only sensible way to go. That means having separate web pages that the visitor is directed to or can choose that will give a satisfactory user experience.

Matt Bailey reinforced himself as one of my favorite speakers and I recommend that you travel to wherever it is that he’s speaking next to learn about analytics and usability. If nothing else, you can enjoy his Star Trek “red shirt” hypothesis.

Jill covered technical issues and writing for the search engines as well as an overall recap – all great info. Christine Churchill did two excellent presentations, one on keyword research and one on paid search that I’d like to get recordings of. Karon Thackston did a session on copywriting that focused on SEO as well as persuasion and branding, which I think a lot of SEO copywriters miss out on. I had not seen Scottie Claiborne speak before and her session on link building was very thorough.

I received some good feedback on the “UnGoogle Your Search Marketing” presentation. I had to cover a lot of material in a short amount of time so we could still have time for questions. Topics ranged from blogging to press release optimization to social media. I think the most valuable segment was explaining the notion of how channels of distribution (besides standard search) as well as a holistic approach to search marketing can provide distinct competitive advantages.

Here are a few more photos from the High Rankings seminar, with a few more here:

Of course the best photos would have come from the ClickTracks sponsored reception, but I had to catch my flight here to Chicago for Bulldog Reporter’s Advanced PR Technology conference with Greg Jarboe.

Day two of the High Rankings seminar is more workshop oriented, like a site clinic session from a SES, and will allow attendees to get more specific and personal examples of SEO/SEM tips.

Thanks to High Rankings for bringing your event to the Twin Cities. I’m sure by the end of the day today, the local search marketing community will be much wiser.

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Danny Sullivan has started his SMX event (is that name a subliminal play on Search Marketing Sex?) starting in Seattle this summer as well.

There’s also Elite Retreat with a $5,000 price tag that includes: Guy Kawasaki, Aaron Wall, Lee Dodd, Darren Rowse, Jeremy Shoemaker, Kris Jones and Neil Patel. The marketing is getting slick on this one along with the all-star speaker lineup.

Today I read about seodays with Dave Naylor, Greg Boser and Jennifer Slegg which is offering one day site reviews, 2 day seminars and customized seminars. It looks like the first one will be in London or maybe somewhere in Canada.

There are many other regional seminars, but recently there have been more high profile SES/Pubcon speakers getting into the game on a smaller scale.

Are these smaller conferences/seminars competition for SES and Pubcon? Yes and no. SES runs multiple conferences world wide and I believe there will be just one Pubcon conference this year in Las Vegas. Bigger conferences are attractive to companies that want to send their people to a venue with a broader selection of topics and others enjoy them for networking and prospecting.

There’s a tremendous demand for SEO/SEM education these days and staffing is an issue as well. Big conferences are useful the first 1-2 times, but after that, the information may seem redundant to more experienced search marketers. A smaller, more hands on event with legitimately top practitioners could be very appealing.

For conferences like SES and ad:tech, the speaker selection process is an interesting alchemy that uses a combination of popularity/friends/expertise and I think many repeat attendees are tired of the sales pitches and lack of practical, hands on information. Plus there’s no food in the morning!

You know what’s coming next right? A pitch for the Mpls seminar of course!!

Speaking of practical, hands on information, the early bird discount for the Minneapolis High Rankings Search Engine Marketing seminar ends tomorrow, 2/22/07 so get yourself registered. Be sure to use the discount code TOPRANK for another 25% off for Online Marketing Blog readers. That’s about $900 for two days with some very talented SEO/PPC trainers, but only until tomorrow. After that the prices goes up.

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Since there hasn’t been a "how to" SEO/SEM seminar in Minneapolis anytime recently, we wanted to make sure everyone in the Twin Cities web development and marketing community had the chance to hear about and sign up for the High Rankings Seminar. So Jill has agreed to extend the early bird discount ($200 off) for registrations placed by February 22nd.

We’ve reached out and connected with a variety of local organizations to promote the event including: MIMA, local AMA, local DMA, IABC, MHTA, JJ Hill Library, NAWBO and several others with a great response.

Unlike other SEO/SEM related conferences, the High Rankings Seminar is based on a sequence of sessions, each building upon the previous session. Topics range from technical issues to keyword research, copywriting, usability, social media, blogs, online PR, pay per click and web analytics.

The seminar also includes a full day workshop with practical, hands on and actionable advice that allows attendees to get specific questions answered about their own web sites or web marketing projects. The seminar is kept small, so there is a small instructor to attendee ratio and there are ample networking opportunities as well.

Another difference between the High Rankings seminar and other search marketing related conferences is that the people presenting are not only leading subject matter experts, but they are also excellent trainers. They are not there to sell you anything other than how to use powerful SEO and PPC strategies and tactics. Instructors include: Jill Whalen, Christine Churchill, Scottie Claiborne, Matt Bailey and Karon Thackston. I’ll be joining for the Minneapolis seminar.

Does it seem like I’m being awfully enthusiastic about promoting this seminar? Yes it does. I’m very motivated to promote something that has such a practical impact on advancing SEO and PPC knowledge in our market. The more marketers that can appreciate the unique knowledge and expertise it takes to excell in this industry, the more successful our local search marketing community will be.

For readers of Online Marketing Blog, we’ve been able to make it even easier to attend. There’s a 25% discount if you register and use the code TOPRANK.

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About the Author

Lee Odden is President and Founder of TopRank Online Marketing, specializing in organic SEO, blog marketing and online public relations. He’s been cited as a search marketing expert by publications including U.S. News & World Report and The Economist and has implemented successful search marketing programs with top BtoB companies of all sizes. Odden shares his marketing expertise at Online Marketing Blog offering daily news, interviews and best practices.

I’ve traveled 4,000 miles to give a detailed, day-long seminar, only to get that sagging feeling you get when someone asks a really, really easy question that could have been cleared up in an email, or pretty much by reading the title of the seminar (that is, if the seminar title was – “Keyword Meta Tags Are Not THE ANSWER”).

But Keri Morgret’s post takes us to a new level of unpreparedness: the kind that can get you, as a seminar participant, in hot water. It’s not so bad if some of your fellow audience members will laugh at you (hey, that’s impolite)… it’s the idea of exposing illegal tricks to search engine reps who are sitting right there in the audience. (Sorta similar to my previous post, I guess.) Your source code full of hidden text? You probably don’t want that up on the big screen.

Keri’s longer list of basics to fix would be good advice for anyone. Not all of them are so basic.

And oh yeah, Keri, I’ve seen these too. The classic was repeated yet again at SES London last year in a Q&A following the “Meet the Crawlers” session. After a lengthy question exploring
various theories for why a site wasn’t being indexed, the Yahoo rep calmly viewed the source code and revealed – you guessed it – the robots.txt exclusion. Have I already told this story?

On the flipside, some of the level of detail covered in these sessions is a bit intimidating. It looks to me like some panelists make assertions rather than pointing to certain areas as testing points or debatable points. Some SE-friendliness rules of thumb are not literally rules; they’re pieces of the puzzle that need to be weighed against creating an overall compelling user experience and business plan. To beef up these sessions, I’d love to see examples of sites and pages that “seem to suck,” but rank anyway. That’d be food for thought.

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Andrew Goodman is Principal of Page Zero Media, a marketing consultancy which focuses on maximizing clients’ paid search marketing campaigns.

In 1999 Andrew co-founded Traffick.com, an acclaimed “guide to portals” which foresaw the rise of trends such as paid search and semantic analysis.

The jaded observer might be deluded into believing Google gets so much attention, it could not possibly need to go out and promote itself, and certainly not in an offline manner. That is what Google plans to do with the AdWords Seminars, coming soon to four more cities: Chicago, New York City, Miami, and Boston (sessions in Los Angeles and San Mateo were held in late September.)

Vivian at the Inside AdWords blog wrote about the program in a recent post:

Two people have been conducting the seminars on Google’s behalf. Brad Geddes is probably best known for his work moderating at Webmaster World, while Anastasia Holdren serves as vice president for information technology company Sitening in Nashville.

Google also dangled a $50 AdWords credit to people who sign up 14 days in advance for a seminar. That credit must be used within 14 days of attending the seminar, so even though Google said the seminars are not sales pitches, that small window of eligibility does provide a little nudge toward signing up for AdWords.

We see them as something much more important, as it pertains to local search. The local online advertising market in total could hit $7.7 billion in 2007, according to Borrell Associates, and search marketing will be a significant contributor to that figure.

Google has competition for the paid search side of local advertising. Microsoft and its AdCenter plan to push hard for local clients, the idea being to build up that client base with a high volume of smaller budget-wielding businesses.

Yahoo’s forthcoming search advertising upgrade, Project Panama, has been touted as one that will improve its paid search ad display relevance for advertisers. Ask.com launched an update to its Sponsored Listings service, which debuted in 2005.

Plenty of other Internet players want to cut into the search advertising pie. Since Google dominates such a big piece of it, gains others can make could have an impact. A little knowledge, or in this case education, could go a long way for Google, and it is surprising to see the AdWords Seminars debut on such a small scale.

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David Utter is a staff writer for WebProNews covering technology and business.