No More Talking About Google

in Internet Marketing  by iqmadmin 0 comments

Listen, we talk about Google so much because, as business owners, we know the power Google has over our livelihoods. From gathering targeted customers to publicizing our accomplishments, to simply making sure we stay in touch with all the people we need to keep near, it is the world’s information hub.

We concentrate so hard on creating media and marketing our material in a way that keeps us in Google‘s good graces. To us, Google is that little something that we keep in our minds as we check how our clients are being seen, or how they’re being found, or as we SEO every paragraph that leaves our desks; or if we have something that needs to be shared. It occupies a small but constant space in our minds.

From Shatara, our Internet Marketing Director:

Increased productivity, international presence with a local feel, a professional necessity: those are some of the things that come to mind when I think of Google. Having the world at your fingertips (literally) makes it much easier to manage both personal and professional relationships in this age of informed shoppers. You can’t help but do your best to have a strong presence on Google, to ensure that your potential clients find your brand instead of your competitors.

Worth a Thousand Words — Well, More Like Billions

That’s why, sometimes, it’s a valid mental exercise for us to step back and see things like Google for the great social forces that they are. Knowing, in aggregate, what people are searching on Google is a sociological study in itself. Every year, Google Zeitgeist gathers information about all the billions of searches that were conducted over the year, and they’ve done it again “to capture the year’s 10 fastest-rising global queries and the rest of the spirit of 2011.” We’d like to step back for a minute and just hear what Google is saying through the power of video.

iQuarius Media has had a stellar year. Now that the end of the year is approaching, we’re all starting to look back at the year in review.  We think this video is a great little reminder of the wonders and weirdness of 2011. It also keeps us humble knowing that there are things that are bigger than us; it’s a fitting celebration for the coming holidays and of our wishes for you, our clients, and ourselves for an amazing 2012.

Zeitgeist 2011

Web Video Production

in Audio & Video  by iqmadmin 0 comments

There is nothing like the power of video for communication, and the Internet is more effective a vehicle for delivery than any other outlet out there.

Web video is prevalent, pervasive, persistent …whatever you want to call it. It’s everywhere! Think about it — when you go to a webpage, and there’s text and a video box, where does your eye go first? It’s human nature. You see the video.

One of the reasons it’s so powerful is that you can jam-pack a lot of information into one web video. Two minutes of web video can say more than two giant walls of text. And, the point is, no one’s going to sit and read a wall of text, let alone two of them.

Why iQuarius For Web Video Production?

Of course, web video production brings with it certain format and time constraints. It has a specific standard for maximum effect that differs from traditional media. From our professional video and audio recording capabilities (including green screen production and on-location shooting) to our award-winning post-production teams, we have a handle on all your video production — whether you have an existing message or whether you’re starting from scratch.

Don’t let the small size of our company fool you – we’ve got big ideas. Let’s get together and talk about how to get your company’s message across with web video.

 

Basic SEO Strategies

in Internet Marketing  by iqmadmin 0 comments

If you don’t plan on using the services of a specialist or establishing a budget for your Search Engine Optimization (SEO) practices, you definitely ought to, at a bare minimum, make a few modest changes to your website.

Small details can have a powerful effect on search engine results and you will get far more website visitors if you understand what you’re doing and why. You don’t have to be an expert to get started. You just need a a little time for researching and a few days for executing the important changes to your website.

Keyword and Key Phrase Research

The most significant component of SEO is keyword research. You will need to determine which key phrases will drive visitors to your website and start composing a handful of posts that contain those keywords. There is a fine line between providing useful content for your users and publishing an article simply because you want your website to be keyword-rich. You have to concentrate on your users, and you should not position keywords and phrases in any other sentence just because you are seeking to boost your search engine ranking.

Link Building and Development

Another significant element of SEO is link development. If your website’s hyperlink is found on numerous pages, search engines will undoubtedly recognize it. Preferably, you will receive this recognition by submitting top quality subject matter and insightful articles and observations.

Stay Real and Natural

One of the most frequent errors website owners make in SEO when attempting to strengthen their search engine positioning is going too far. You may often notice content that does not make sense because a keyword is used in every sentence; or you may notice websites that have a list containing dozens of links as a result of link exchange. You don’t have to submit your website to thousands of article directories,  and you should not concentrate on adding your links everywhere on the net. This can work against you. A single valuable link is worth more than 1,000 links on new websites, so try turning your focus to quality, not quantity. If you think about what your visitors want to see on your website and figure out a way to keep them engaged.

Keep Going.

After that, it’s a matter of keeping fresh content coming so you can get in — and stay in — Google’s sights. Preferably, you’ll push out new content every few days. If you’re a company or individual that everyone’s talking about in their blogs, in the news, in magazine articles, in interviews and reviews, that counts as fresh content. However, most of us don’t set the Internet abuzz like that on a regular basis. We need to send out our own material and toot our own horns to get Google and the other search engines to take notice. And all this content needs to be tagged, keyworded, and promoted. Fresh content every few days — or more frequently, if you have the time.

On second thought, do you have the time? Don’t you have a business to run?

Our phone number is (407) 362-6503. Or, if you prefer, message us here.

Pay Per Click (PPC) Campaigns

in Internet Marketing  by iqmadmin 0 comments

Pay Per Click(PPC) advertisements are the sponsored links that appear above or to the right of search page results. Pay Per Click created the revenue stream that built Google as it stands today.

As part of your integrated marketing strategy, Pay Per Click campaigns can be the quickest way of increasing your visibility and reach. It can mean first-page search engine exposure.

When you enter the game, you’re up against hundreds of competitors. Do you know who is targeting the keywords that YOU want? How many companies are competing for the same, qualified traffic? We can help you find out. It can help you narrow in on opportunities that your competition is missing out on — that you can capitalize on. Pay Per Click campaigns entail bidding on the keywords you want and that are relevant to your brand. With our sophisticated techniques and intensive research, we can help you identify the best possible keywords that are being used by your target audience to seek out services and products that you offer. Careful targeting can mean customer conversion — more sales. Take advantage of our experience in bid management and optimization, as well as our understanding of the technology — and technique — that drives Pay Per Click advertising.

Social Media is Here to Stay | Supplement Your Business Website

in Internet Marketing / Social Media  by iqmadmin 0 comments

social media marketingIf  you have been reading blogs about marketing businesses,  you’ve  been bombarded with talks about how social media marketing can strengthen your marketing efforts and how it is important to find the right social media company to represent your business.  While many website owners and business owners understand the influence of social media,  many businesses don’t think they need social media marketing to strengthen their chances of landing clients. Many business owners think that this is just another expense on their part. Truth be told, social media marketing is the most cost-effective method to market and promote your business. Hiring a good social media manager is the fastest way to dominate social media channels.

Having a social media strategy is imperative for survival in today’s evolving global market.

Once you are getting regular quality traffic, there’s a small possibility you could  stay visible using traditional SEO methods. The problem is, your competitors have already found an inexpensive and effective marketing resource and are using it.  Time to consider getting on board.

Once you’ve decided to hire a social media consultant and have created a foundation with different social media sites, you have started the journey. It’s a great way to send traffic to your website.  But, it’s way too much for one person to handle. It takes a team of talented professionals to deliver your message and all that you want it to convey. So don’t delay. Do your research and ask questions. Take note of the word on the streets. Find a social media company that you feel is right for you and your business. (We know where you can find a good one, you know.) Good luck.

Pixar’s Next Movie Gets A Mysterious Photo Blog

in Internet Marketing / Social Media  by iqmadmin 0 comments

Pixar is known for its long development cycles: the Emeryville, California-based company can take years to churn out a new animated movie. Now fans will be able to get an oblique sneak peek inside the studio’s next film — thanks to a new blog started by Lee Unkrich, a director and member of Pixar’s creative team.

The blog, simply called “Lee Unkrich,” will feature one image a day for the development cycle of the new, untitled film. That could mean a lot of updates. Unkrich already guessed, via his Twitter account, that he may be chronicling for up to four years.

Right now, the blog only has two entries. The first is captioned “The starting line.”  The opening image — a close-up of a Mac keyboard — doesn’t give away many clues. The second entry is titled “My standard lunch” and shows a bowl of broccoli and a sandwich. In other words, the blog looks like it will touch on things both central to the film and charmingly off-topic.

The blog is a nice way to share exclusive content with Pixar fans, but we’ll see if Unkrich can actually keep up a photo-a-day for the entire development process.

Is this Lee Unkrich feeling the attraction of engaging with fans on a daily basis? Because, if so, we know exactly what that’s like.

The Cyber Monday Myth

in Internet Marketing / Social Media  by iqmadmin 0 comments

Cyber Monday is a myth. Let’s put that a little more accurately: Cyber Monday was a myth. It started as a marketing ploy by an e-tailers’ association that encouraged its members to create special ads for a Monday in 2005. Sales were good, but not the best – and they haven’t been the best.

Until last year.

In 2010, Cyber Monday became the first online shopping day to surpass the $1 billion mark, exceeding all expectations. It was a marketing campaign turned self-fulfilling prophecy.

There’s more.

The next two weeks or so after the initial Cyber Monday sales brought on the second, third, fourth, and fifth heaviest sales days of the entire year:

  •  Green Monday (12-13-10) brought in $954 million
  • 12-6-10 did $943 million
  • Free Shipping Day did $942 million
  • and 12-16-10 rounded out the top 5 with $930 million

Local businesses (with Small Business Saturday, for example) as well as the big retailers are going so far as to cut into their profit margins to market for Cyber Monday and Cyber Week. For many retailers who make upwards of 40% of their entire year’s sales during this period, the cost of not getting in on the action is steep.

The rules are simple.

  1. Join the fray. Create the discounts for your store or services and start marketing. It means nothing to do one without the other. The discount can be simple, and it doesn’t have to be for everything.  Saturating social media with “Cyber Monday this” and “Cyber Monday that” and that without having a deal to back it up is not a good idea. Not that a lot of retailers don’t do it – but consumers are also especially wary of that kind of thing during this season.
  2. Don’t put all your eggs in one basket. Think of Cyber Monday as a kicking-off point. Use the momentum to fuel the rest of December’s sales.
  3. Keep Internet marketing content fresh, and keep it coming. Consumers – and while we’re at it, Google – is looking for mentions of Cyber Monday of THIS year. Tag, link, blog, etc., accordingly.
  4. Stay real. Seriously. Being too sales-y will just get you lost in the noise – there are thousands of retailers out there spouting sales copy, and the trick is to not sound like them.
  5. Get help. It’s exhausting enough being a shopper during this season, let alone a business. Hire an Internet marketing team, or load up your existing team with work.

Black Friday doesn’t have the numbers to back its claims up as the busiest shopping day of the year. Cyber Monday does. Get marketing. Can you afford not to?

It's A New World and Social Media is Here to Stay.

in Internet Marketing / Social Media  by iqmadmin 0 comments

At iQuarius Media, we speak and interact with company owners, as well as marketing and advertising professionals, on a daily basis about things such as social media, web marketing, online video marketing, email marketing, and even text message marketing. It’s an exciting field to be involved in. Without exception, every business owner wants to solve the same dilemma: how do I get the absolute most bang for the buck out of my advertising and marketing budget? It’s a tight economy today and maximizing resources is an important component of business if one wants to attain — and maintain — success in the marketplace.

Cue internet marketing and social media.

Where else does one tap a potential client base as large as the Internet for pennies on the dollar? Nowhere. If you’re not taking advantage of this precious opportunity to advance the growth of your business, you may want to move into the right lane because passing is in the left lane. If you’re not utilizing this cost-effective means of promoting your business and/or website, you risk losing your loyal clients, as well as a vast well of potential clients, to those entrepreneurs who have the foresight to understand that social media is not just a trend. Social media is a new way of life.

Before you get started…

Once a business owner has decided to make use of the social media platform to help their respective business progress, there are a few things they should keep in mind.

  1. Definitely do some research and ask some questions about the company you are considering hiring. Hire a reputable and well liked company that has some experience and tact. The company you decide on could make you or break you.
  2. Make certain to negotiate a contract before venturing into business together, so that both you and your social media company are legally protected.

Those are the basics. Now we  can move on to the main purpose of this article: to accentuate the benefits of having a social media presence to make your business more effective and far-reaching.

Social Media is global.

Building a social media campaign is THE most cost-effective method of online advertising and promoting. Think about it: Facebook, LinkedIn, YouTube, and Twitter are free. In addition, there are literally hundreds of other less popular websites that can help your business get the exposure it deserves.

All of these networks have a reach that spans the globe. Why not attempt to reach out to this global market? A perfect example of this is Twitter, where one can log in at any time of the day or night and see real-time tweets from Japan, England, France, and India, to name a few.

Social Media is the new momentum.

Social media enables you to join groups of people with the same interests and goals. On LinkedIn and Facebook, one can join groups on yachting or interior design or web design. The possibilities are limitless. Think limitless when you think of all of the potential clients out there in this massive world of ours. The ability to have direct contact with people who have the same interests and hopes and dreams as yours is amazing. So get on board the greatest momentum shift to happen in eons. You have no excuse not to.

So Why Social Media Marketing? Why Bother?

in Internet Marketing / Social Media  by iqmadmin 0 comments

Based on a current Razorfish Consumer Experience Report, 49% of Internet users now buy something according to suggestions they acquired via a social media site. Yet, only 25% of companies employ a Facebook page. Is it just us, or are the numbers a little off here?

Social networking online communities are breeding grounds for connections. Consumers are discussing your products, your services, as well as your organization itself, on social media sites such as Facebook. It’s inescapable. Are they going to understand how to locate you? Social media networks are where the PEOPLE are.

Let’s say there was an expo taking place in which 300 million people would be attending, and we offered you a totally free presentation area. Would you accept it? Of course you would. Facebook, for instance, keeps growing at a rate of 600,000 new users a day. Attention spans continue to keep getting shorter and trust in advertising and marketing will continue to deteriorate. The only real option you’ve got is to take part in the already occurring conversation. You probably know this. We trust our friends a lot more than those overly pleasant folks in commercials. You could be the voice on television that gets ignored, or you can befriend your customers on Facebook, or Twitter, or the ever-expanding Google Plus. The call is yours.

Mastering

in Audio & Video  by iqmadmin 0 comments

This is the final quality-control step that takes your audio as a whole and ensures that:

  • It sounds natural and balanced
  • Has definition
  • Is optimized for the format it’s going out on

A little mastering skill and artistry from the audio department at iQuarius Media can give your audio that major-label, professional sound. We can be the difference that takes your mix from OK to good, or from good to great.

Any studio can have quality mastering gear (which we do). Our brand of experienced ears, however, can’t be duplicated. Since the mastering stage creates the definitive copy of your recording that reaches the end user — we think it should be perfect. We have the tools, training, and patience to create the highest standard of quality for you.

407-378-7817