Sunday, November 11, 2012

Controversial Statements

Thought I'd make a couple of controversial statements and see how they are taken.

But first let me give you a link and tell you NOT to click on it --> Group Medical Insurance

Instead Google "Group Medical Insurance in Memphis" (I work in Memphis). The above link should be at or near the top of Google's generic unpaid listing.

FIRST CONTROVERSIAL STATEMENT:

People with something to sell don't need websites !

I have been designing and hosting websites since Al Gore invented the Internet - so even reading the above statement, much less writing it, makes me nervous.

Websites can, of course, be very beneficial. But they can cost sales. A visitor to your site has to see only one thing he doesn't like and you will never hear from him.

We have decided to develop one page "web ads" custom designed to be found on Google when a prospect is looking for a service or product and custom designed to get the prospect to contact the seller (in the above  case, an Insurance Agent).

SECOND CONTROVERSIAL STATEMENT:

Be willing to tell a prospect they shouldn't want what they say the want !

I am not sure about this one, but I started thinking about it after recently talking to a prospect. She said she wanted search to work with SIRI (Apple's Voice Recognition Search Software) - in the above case, you would say "Group Medical Insurance in Memphis" and SIRI would respond with her name and address.

I didn't have a good answer for her - I knew we could do it, but the real question was it worth the time and cost to her to do it. My initial reaction was "No". Later, after I thought about it, I was even more negative. A couple of many reasons - (1) Google's Android system has a similar product and they have a larger market share;  (2) I can see people using their phone to find a restaurant, not so much to find an insurance agent.

My point is everyone has limited funds for sales and marketing - you have to carefully choose where you invest those funds.

Tuesday, May 15, 2012

Saturday, April 21, 2012


One of the strongest, mostly negative, responses I have received from an internet posting was when I expressed one of my Five Percent Views.

Ninety-Five Percent of your views and values are substantially the same as everybody else's. It is the other Five Percent that make you interesting and unique. Unfortunately, this Five Percent also leads to much of the conflict in the World (think Religion and Politics).

We search for definite answers – if you do this, something good will happen; if you do that, something bad will happen. And somewhere, there is an Expert that knows the right answers.

What is your opinion of Experts?


Mike Stewart

Sunday, April 1, 2012

Monday, March 26, 2012

Daily Stuff

Talked to a web designer, Chris Magee - has an interesting site at fuse9

Promoting Tomsin Steel (Check out for Steel in Memphis)

A few changes for SBOX Storage (If you need a Portable Construction Office)

Thursday, January 26, 2012

Managing Emails

We have used and promoted Ratepoint for managing Email Marketing. They have a great product, but they are going out of business (some say as a way to get more money out of their customer base? - additional information can be found HERE).

Constant Contact is the industry leader in this field and has most of the tools offered by Ratepoint. We have been impressed by their service and products.

For additional information, please visit Constant Contact.

Monday, January 9, 2012

Three Billion Years and Counting

Science thinks that Life has been around for a little more than 3 billion years.

Life seems to be pretty complex - showing that God is very smart or Nature working for 3 billion years can accomplish a lot. Or both.

How long is 3 Billion Years?  Imagine that you had a magic car (a Delorean ?).

Putting this car into Space Drive, it would be a normal car. You could start at the Atlantic Ocean near New York City and drive about 3000 miles and arrive at the Pacific Ocean near Los Angeles. If you averaged 60 miles per hour, the trip would take 50 hours.

But now imagine that time stretches continuously back from present day LA to New York City as it was 3 Billion Years ago, and that you have switched your magic car to Space/Time Drive.

You could then start where New York City and the Atlantic Ocean will someday be and drive westward toward the future. Outside your magic car, your speed in space would be as before - 60 miles per hour; but each mile you traveled would move you a million years into the future.

The first 2400 miles (40 hours) of the journey would be pretty boring. No land animals or plants large enough to see would exist.

About 230 miles from the Pacific Coast, we might see our first Dinosaurs. They would abruptly disappear just before we begin the last hour of our trip.

When we are a thousand feet from the Coast, we know modern man has developed in Africa.

Ten feet from our destination, you might look up to see the Star of Bethlehem as Jesus is born.

If we stopped one foot from our destination, the Revolution War would be underway back on the East Coast. World War II starts about four inches before we touch the Coast. Everyone alive today appears in the last six inches of our Journey.

ENJOY YOUR INCHES !!!

If I have made you think, please support our clients - Like Tomsin Steel Processing on Facebook.

If you need insurance, visit bhpmemphis.com







Wednesday, December 28, 2011

Kindle Fire and Search Engine Optimization

Well, got a Kindle Fire for Christmas.

Now I can carry our best websites in my coat pocket (at least an old coat). Or I can quickly show how our clients rank high on Google.

If you are not in the Insurance Industry, buy me a cup of coffee and I will show you how we can probably help you.

If you are in the Insurance Industry, call me and I'll buy you a cup of coffee and show you how we can definitely help you.

Please like our clients on Facebook - for example, Tomsin Steel Processing

Saturday, November 5, 2011

Will Facebook and LinkedIn Last?

The answer is "YES" (the number of users of both has increased about 60% in the last year), but why did I ask the question?

I recently join a couple of LinkedIn Groups ( Steel Manufacturers and Processors - 6000 members - took some time to be approved, and Steel Professionals - 3500 members). Groups put you in contact with people who have similar interests and I was interested in promoting a client (  Tomsin Steel - Click Here to Like their Facebook Page ).

From one of the Groups, I was able to get 25 new LinkedIn Connections - well worth the effort if LinkedIn lasts - Thus the question above.

Internet Marketing requires you integrate your use of Facebook, LinkedIn, and Twitter. We also use Ratepoint for effective email marketing and control.

Wednesday, October 12, 2011

Steel and the Memphis Economy

‎10 Reasons to Like Us and our Clients - #1 - It's Free! #2 - You can follow our marketing efforts and gain valuable insight, #3 - Follow the steel industry for a better understanding of the Memphis Economy Like Tomsin Steel , #4 - I'll come up with other reasons later, but #1 should sell you.

Monday, June 20, 2011

High on Search Engines - What does that mean?

Everyone wants to be high on Search Engines, but what does that mean? A website does you no good if no one ever sees it. If you are in a competitive or popular business, it is hard to get ranked high. To be ranked high means that when a prospect wants your service and does a Search, one of the first entries he sees points to your website.

Guessing what your prospects will enter is the first step (most people realize this) and Search Engines are very sensitive (most people don't realize this). A personal example will illustrate this sensitivity.

One of our services is website design. Today, if you enter "Memphis Website Design" into Google, Deluge Studios is number 1 on the first page. We (Esearchfor.com) are number 2.

If, instead of  "Memphis Website Design", you enter "Website Design Memphis", we fall to number 3, while Deluge Studios falls to number 4.

For other search terms that I believe are important, our company is ranked #1. Since it is a competitive world, everything is visible on the web, and my competitors are technically savvy, I won't mention these terms in my blog.

Friday, June 3, 2011

Google's Email Problems

Since this blog is supported by Google, do they monitor it for statements critical of Google? Just Wondering.

Noticed that gmail has been hacked recently. Just another reason to talk to me about how and why our clients have better email (this is just one of many reasons you should be one of our clients - it is not even a reason we stress).

Mike Stewart

(901) 881-2017

Friday, May 20, 2011

Does Google Hate Facebook?

My User Name on Facebook is "Kenneth.M.Stewart". Google doesn't list me (on the first page) if I search using "Facebook Kenneth.M.Stewart". Using the same search on Bing and Yahoo, I come up as the first Entry.

Does Google hate Facebook?

Monday, May 9, 2011

Don't be A One-Legged Centipede

The Marketing Plan of most big businesses is like a hundred leg centipede. They have infinite money and can use it in a hundred ways to get your attention.

You can think of each marketing strategy as a "leg". Some examples of legs are:

(1) Run Newspaper Ads.
(2) Get High on Search Engines.
(3) Advertise in Magazines.
(4) Use Email Marketing.
(5) Use Social Networking for target marketing.
(6) Develop a website.
(7) Advertise on TV.
(8) Develop an "air of expertise".
(9) Use Twitter.
(10) Use Text Marketing.
(11) Integrate multiple websites.
(12) Promote Facebook Business Pages.
(13) Use outdoor (billboard) advertising.
(14) Stress Referrals (paid, unpaid, online, offline).
(15) Use the latest "new thing".
(16) Collect and display references.
(17) Use Guerrilla Marketing techniques.
(18) Advertise in one of the "Yellows" - Yellow Book, Yellow Pages (In my opinion, a bad idea).

Legs need to work together. Big business often has trouble coordinating their legs. Big business takes a long time to implement the latest "new thing" - creating opportunities for the more nimble small business.

Different businesses need different legs. Selecting the right legs for your business can give you a leg up (pun intended) on your competition. A business with these legs can run to success.

Our business is to help a few local small firms choose and use the right legs.


Friday, April 22, 2011

Websites and Twitter

Been figuring out how to tweet from a website. I'm sure one of my subcontractor is up on all of this, but I love to program (or whatever the modern term is). Twitter should be one part of any comprehensive marketing plan.