Featured Site: Dublin Convention & Visitor’s Bureau, “Irish is an Attitude”

“Irish is an Attitude” is the motif for the Dublin, Ohio, convention and visitor’s bureau website, launched this month by the Oxiem team — just in time for St. Patrick’s Day celebrations. From the old-Irish style wood frames, to the lucky shamrock background, a distinctly Gaelic charm permeates throughout the site’s branding and feel.

The site targets consumers, event planners and group tours with attractions and events, the largest of which includes the annual Dublin Irish Fest, the biggest Irish festival in the country and the PGA Memorial Golf Tournament.

The city’s marketers are active users of social media tools, so incorporating those new media outlets was vital. They also wanted to display great photos and have plenty of ad space to feature attractions, tours, hotels, places to eat and things to do in Dublin. The site is ultimately successful because it uses a carefully orchestrated architecture, which creates opportunities for visitor conversion and blends everything under one brand voice.

Aggregating & Sharing Local Social Content

One goal of the site was to take advantage of local businesses actively using social media to market restaurants and shops, maximizing resources and keeping the most current news and events coming through on consistent conduit. To achieve this, Oxiem worked with the CVB staff to create the “Dublin Live” page. This page is designed to reference bulletin boards at classic Irish pubs, and streams social content from Flickr, YouTube, Yelp, Twitter and blogs.

Each stream of social content aggregates automatically, pulling in tweets, restaurant reviews and photos from contributing businesses in the city.

“Dublin Live is innovative because it helps us serve the community and visitors through one consistent Web location,” said Mary Szymkowiak, communications specialist with the CVB. “We maximize the time we spend interacting through social media and encourage our local business partners to share their Dublin experiences.”

Interactive Tourism & Business Directory Solution

Another feature of the Dublin site is the city map and business directory that uses the Google Maps API to display a customized map of Dublin. To create a custom feel, Oxiem used unique icons to represent different attractions.

When a user clicks an icon, an info bubble displays a photo of the venue, plus contact information and a link to a full directory listing for each business, including description, contact information and map with driving directions.

When it comes to local Irish flavor, the CVB’s blog says it best: “And, remember one more thing. You don’t need Irish in your blood. Just in your soul.”

Or in your website, we say. Thanks to Mary and everyone at the CVB for all their hard work and collaborative (Irish) spirit.

Search Marketing 101: The basics of getting your business found

Join us March 18 at an educational session at the DEC

Note: Thanks to everyone who participated in the session! You can find all the slides at the bottom of this post.

Where do you go first for information? Google? So do your customers. What are they searching for when they need a product or service like yours? Harnessing the search stream and catching people during their decision-making process is key. Learn the basics of search marketing with the experts from Oxiem Marketing Technology, at this fast-paced session that will help you understand the world of search engine marketing and website optimization.

Come on over to the Dublin Entrepreneurial Center on Thursday, March 18 from 11 a.m. – 12 p.m. Register and get directions on the Meetup Page for the event or by e-mailing colig(at)oxiem.com. The session is complimentary, and you can grab some free lunch from Buffalo Wild Wings on your way out!

You Will Learn:
•    What search engines see and care about when they are on your site
•    How to link your business to relevant sites and directories
•    How to improve your site to gain more traffic – and how to know if it’s good, quality traffic.
•    What kind of content you should put on your site
•    How to integrate marketing efforts, including social media, into an online strategy
•    Basics of pay per click advertising strategies
•    Tips on developing keyword lists and key phrases

It’s a “Jelly” coworking day at the DEC, so you are welcome to stay the whole day, as well, and network with other professionals in casual setting. The full schedule for the day’s events can be found here.

About the Presenters:

Bill Sterzenbach
Bill is co-founder of Oxiem and is the company’s technology director. His professional career spans web site architecture, online marketing, technology application, website development and hosting for a range of B2B, manufacturing and consumer clients. With more than 20 years of IT leadership experience and a decade’s worth of online marketing expertise, he’s a recognized expert in search marketing and search engine optimization, specializing in driving real, measurable business results through savvy and insightful search strategy.

Crystal Olig
Crystal Olig helps Oxiem’s clients through the web development and search campaign planning process, and has expertise in online content management, marketing communications, editorial strategy for blogs and publications, public relations, social media, branding and design. Crystal was previously the Marketing & PR Manager for Event Solutions magazine, conference and tradeshow and has a strong background in event planning, PR and journalism.

Questions? Email colig(at)oxiem.com or tweet @sparklegem.

Wayward Seed Farm Selected as Winner of Oxiem’s Digital Launchpad Giveaway

The Wayward Seed Farm, an organic method farm with a passion for providing fresh heritage and heirloom vegetables to the people of Central Ohio, is the winner of the Oxiem Digital Launchpad Giveaway. They will receive a $20,000 package including a new website, a search marketing kickoff package and social media strategy help.

“We saw an opportunity to not only help burgeoning entrepreneurs and a new company, but to impact the community at large with a commitment to health and locally produced food,” said Billy Fischer, Oxiem’s business development manager.

The Wayward Seed Farm was started in the late spring of 2006 as a farm-to-restaurant project that now provides a Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) program for Central Ohioans. As part of the CSA service, entrepreneurs Jaime Moore and Adam Welly hope to expand the membership base, provide increased resources for members, and educate the community about healthy eating, organic living and responsible agriculture.

“CSA brings us closer to the community and unites people under the umbrella of local food,” says Moore.

Stay tuned for more information about the growth of this project and the great partnership between Oxiem and this very deserving local organization.

Featured Site: Fresh French Floral Boutique

Fresh French Floral Boutique is a modern floral design shop in Grandview Heights in central Ohio. Oxiem helped owner Trace Kingham and his team create a site that embodied the business – elegant, well-presented and smart.

While many national floral providers try to create an e-commerce experience that jams options in front of you, hoping you choose something, anything, Fresh focused on presenting arrangements in a careful, orchestrated way. Organizing by occasion and price point makes it easy for users to really see what they are purchasing and fit their budget.

“Fresh was a great client because they focused on presenting their capabilities in a creative way. By working together, we found ways to always drive that creative presentation back to a purchase opportunity for the user,” said project manager Angela Trego (Side note: She’s working on planning her own wedding right now, so we’ll forgive her for poring over the “Wedding” site section again and again for ideas!).

Combining photos with content like client testimonials, team background and credentials, partners and press mentions – all sprinkled with a dose of French phraseology for added panache – helped fill the photo-driven site with relevant text.

“Oxiem knew that I needed a web presence that married beauty and functionality. Our passion for modern, attention-seeking floral arrangement is perfectly conveyed in our new site,” said owner Trace.

“The team helped me walk through the process, challenging me to think through what was best for the business and what would work for my customers. It was a great experience and I’ve gotten rave reviews in just the few weeks that the site has been up – and orders are flying in at light speed!”

Generating Leads Using the Web Training Session

In partnership with TechLife Columbus and the Dublin Entrepreneurial Center, Oxiem’s Billy Fischer and Bill Sterzenbach will host a training session on web lead generation tools and tactics on Thursday, February 11 at 12:30 p.m. at the DEC.

Come support us, and learn a little something, too! RSVP on the Meetup page.

DEC Presents…Generating Leads Using the Web with Oxiem

Just having a website isn’t enough anymore. Having an online presence for your business is crucial – but once you’ve got it, what do you do with it? How do you make it work for you? From search engine optimization and web marketing to converting visitors to lead and capturing names, you’ll walk away with 10 things you can do to generate leads online.

In this session, Oxiem Marketing Technology will demonstrate how to use the web to:

* Get more leads
* Generate new business
* Maximize exposure to target customers

About the Presenters

Billy Fischer is the business development manager for Oxiem Marketing Technology and leads the social media practice area. He’s a frequent speaker on social media tools and tactics for community and business organizations. His expertise in marketing and PR spans health care, franchised businesses, the restaurant industry and community organizations. Prior to joining Oxiem, his experience includes time at advertising agency Buchanan & Associates and the Columbus Zoo. He also leads the company’s expanded presence in Columbus, heading up a new office based in the business community of Dublin, Ohio.

Contact Billy

bfischer(at)oxiem.com
614.448.1809 office
937.408.2133 cell
@billyfischer on Twitter

Bill Sterzenbach

Bill is co-founder of  Oxiem and is the company’s technology director. His professional career spans web site architecture, online marketing, technology application, website development and hosting for a range of B2B, manufacturing and consumer clients. With more than 20 years of IT leadership experience and a decade’s worth of online marketing expertise, he’s a recognized expert in search marketing and search engine optimization, specializing in driving real, measurable business results through savvy and insightful search strategy.

Contact Bill

937.206.3920
Email Bill
@bsterzenbach

Starting a Blog for a Small Business: Tips, Ideas, How-To

Blogging is one of the most effective ways to provide new content and give people a reason to come back to your site. It also can immensely help continue to optimize your site with the right keywords and relevant content related to a topic you want to rank for.

But, like any web 2.0 tool (or is a blog 1.0? I’ve lost track), the time cost of blogging is what really gets you. All small business owners struggle with the perpetual question: How to run a successful business while still finding time to market and grow it.

I come from a print journalism background, and what we used to call “editorial strategy” is quickly becoming “content management strategy,” and it includes not only topics, scheduling and interviewing, but has evolved to include community engagement, search engine optimization (seo) and branding.

When I talk to business owners, I remind them that it doesn’t take more than what you do every day. You find time to browse magazines, read up on your competition and watch message boards for updates and discussions. Blogging is just finding time to consider what you’re taking in every day, and putting a little of that back out with your own spin on it. Think of it as something you’d forward in an e-mail a colleague or peer in the same industry – “Look at what I saw in Gourmet magazine today. Do you think we could mass-produce? Here’s how I’d change the menu and ingredients to make it cost efficient for a big group…”

Here are a few great tips for kicking off your small business blog:

Start with a list of topics and key words.
Build them into your site structure as categories and/or tags. For example, an event planner might want to include topics like weddings, parties, and corporate events plus trends like colors, menus and flowers.

Carry out your branding graphically.
Picking a generic template from a free site (WordPress, blogger) is temptingly free, but it’s better to spend a little once to get a custom design. If you just can’t, at least take the first step of picking a blog that allows for a custom header. Make a banner and possibly some little graphics to sprinkle into your blog to make it your own.

Choose custom colors.
When you’re searching for blog templates, check if you can change colors of links, lines and backgrounds. Pick something legible first, and then what relates to your brand. Pull colors from your logo, then find complementary colors. Use hex codes to ensure you’re being true to the same purple every time.

Schedule, schedule, schedule.
Helping people know when to look for updates ensures they’ll be back regularly. Do whatever it takes to consistently post. Don’t start off with a three-page post and wonder why you can’t do that every time. Make a point to take 45 min. once or twice a week to write a few paragraphs. It’s tough. You’ll hate it sometimes. Keep in mind that you are marketing, not just blabbing – think of how much money you’re saving in advertising by advocating for yourself.

Stock up on ideas and posts.
Keep an ideas folder of articles, photos or links that made you think. If you have time one weekend morning, delve into it and crank out a few posts – then you can place one a week. People want to hear what’s cooking in your brain, what makes you and your business unique. It’s not just finding the trends, it’s your opinion and use of them that makes your posts unique.

Comment and respond.
You can’t have a garden without seeds. Comments on your blog and on others’ blogs are the seeds that help grow traffic. Responding is important, because it establishes credibility, makes you a voice in the space and adds to the engagement factor.While you’re starting out, just link your comments feature to your email. Responding to posts and comments will just become part of your checking e-mail ritual and eventually part of your blogging patterns. Try and find a few relevant blogs – friends, competitors, potential customers, anyone – and make a point to comment and include a link back to your blog.

Be yourself.
While your first priority should be building your image as an expert and professional in your industry, people want to know you as a person, too. Sprinkling in personal notes, images or feelings can help your blog feel authentic and give it personality. If it’s just the random creative juices spewing out of your brain, great.

Create a voice.
If you talk in a certain way – lots of exclamation points! Always very excited! Ready to rock! – it’s ok to reflect that online. While journalistic detachment and non-biased writing was at one time required, now it’s better to speak and write in a way that is memorable, and in keeping with your brand image.

Strategically place keywords.
Use keywords in places like your text, headlines and title tags (the text that shows up at the top of the browser window of the page).

–
We’ve been trying to practice what we preach over here at Oxiem… and writing what we’re thinking isn’t always easy for us either. But we’re doing it — and you should too. If you need someone to just ask about how you could blog for your business, I’m your girl. I’m @sparklegem on Twitter, or you can e-mail me at colig(at)oxiem.com or call 614.448.1812. Happy to chat.

Using Yelp to Connect with Customers

A lot of small businesses are jumping on the bandwagon and using Facebook and Twitter to promote their business and connect with consumers. I think that’s great. However, I’ve noticed that Yelp is one of the most under utilized sites on the web. If your a retail brand, here is my case for why you should consider using Yelp to market your business.

Growth
Yelp has seen continued growth over the last couple of years. In 2009, the site saw a 60 percent increase in unique visitors! The site has also seen adoption from mobile users and is thinking ahead by launching one of the first Augmented Reality iPhone apps.

With all of this traffic, chances are your business is already being reviewed on Yelp. I’d recommend looking right away.

Yelp Business Accounts
Most businesses I talk to are surprised to hear that you can create a business account on Yelp for free. This feature alone makes Yelp a great tool.

As explained above, creating a Yelp business account is very simple. All you need to do is click on “get a business owner account” and your on your way to claiming your business. Once you’ve claimed your business, you’ll have the ability to take full control of Yelp. At minimum, make sure you update the information for your business. This will help with local listings on the search engines. Below is a quick capture of just a few other things you can do once logged in.

Using Yelp to Interact with Customers
The best part of having a Business Account is the ability to interact with customers. Once you’ve followed all the sign-up steps, it’s time to utilize these tools. Here are a few things you should be doing:

1. Special offers
   What better way to capture a potential customer that is checking out your reviews than giving them a special offer? Try to add some exclusivity to the offer (i.e. “Yelp Members Special”). These are the type of visitors that are going to come back to Yelp and give you a review following a great experience, so make sure you capture them when you can.
2. Respond to reviews
   Make sure you respond to both positive and negative reviews. You can choose to send a public or private message to anyone that post a review. Try to change a negative reviewers perception with an offer to make things right, on the house. And thank your positive reviewers, perhaps with a free meal. These are the influencers that are going to spread the word about you, so take advantage!
3. Ask for reviews!
   Don’t be afraid to ask for reviews from your best customers. Once you have enough reviews, Yelp will send you signage that you can display in your storefront.
4. Watch Analytics
   The business account comes with analytics so you can see how many people are viewing your page. It will be interesting to watch this data and see if there is any connection to page visitors and sales. A great way to measure your success.

Hopefully this is enough to convince you that Yelp can be a powerful business tool. Good luck!

The Power of Free – Have you Considered Craigslist?

Small Businesses – Use the Community Tools Available to You

Everybody has heard of Craigslist, but I find few have really tried to leverage it for their business. You would be surprised at the level of traffic Craigslist can bring to your website when it’s used by the book and cleverly. With so many categories and geo-locations, you can almost always find a perfect fit for your product or service that will bring many new visitors clamoring to your site.

Example Traffic Volume

Here is an example of a site that uses Craigslist for recruitment.  As you can see that traffic is nearly flat until the Craigslist ad runs. The site goes from just a handful of visitors each day to over one hundred visitors. Granted, this is a recruitment ad, but we’ve seen nearly as impressive spikes when used for promotion as well.

Spike Resulting from Craigslist Posting

Ok, But How is the Traffic Quality?

The quality of Craigslist traffic can rival that of any other source. Our test case generally sees about a 40% abandonment rate from their combined sources. The spike in traffic brought with it a decrease in overall abandonment (38%) resulting in net increase in traffic quality.

The quality of traffic actually improved

How Can You Use It?

There are many ways that you can leverage the power of Craigslist. You can do things that are clever (see best of craigslist cursed coffee mug), or you can simply promote your site using the tools they provide. Be very careful to follow the rules however, because they do not tolerate nonsense if they detect it.