Google’s Focus on Quality and the PostRank Acquisition
This is an excellent & useful post from SitePoint clarifies the changing state of SEO & social media marketing. My take aways: 1. quality content rules 2. social media really does matter. 3. It’s the conversations, connections & relationships that matter most. Are you listening?

Why is Authenticity a Crucial Component of Internet Marketing?
As I’m re-grouping for the “next generation” re-invention of NewMarU.com, I was discussing with a friend, this ten-minute edited video conversation (linked above) with Robert Rabbin that came out of NewMarU’s first “guest” webinar. I LOVE what we said here and would really like more people to hear it. I sincerely believe that this is important information/perspective re marketing in the age of social media.

3 Smart Strategies for Book Promotion
Here are just a few smart ways that authors can promote their books with social media and PR. Practical steps any author can use for book marketing via SlideShare.

The “Talk Radio” Approach to Effective Email Marketing
I like the way that this CopyBlogger article underscores my core value that “it’s got to be fun.” Yes! In content marketing et al, FUN makes all the difference. Don’t you agree?

12 Awesome Facebook Stats, Charts & Graphs
Are you taking Facebook seriously as a marketing channel? If not, maybe you should check out these 12 stats via a nifty little Hubspot SlideShare presentation…

Learn How Your Website Can Be The Center Of Social Network Attention
My recent video comments on TheTVNews re social media marketing and a new solution that lets more active brands aggregate various social media conversations onto their website so it’s more of a “home base.”

How to Combine SEO and Social Media for Maximum Impact with Lee Odden
This is a good overview video interview that covers something I’ve been talking about a lot lately. It’s very important to understand the relationship between social media, SEO and content creation in order to produce effective marketing in today’s online environment. This is a valuable 5 minutes, IMHO.

Your feedback is encouraged. I’d love to hear any comments you may have.

6 Steps to Uploading Pro Quality Videos to the Web
As a long time video pro, I get lots of how-to questions about best practices for producing video clips for marketing. This post has a concise list of key must-do steps. A well done post.

At YouTube Boot Camp, Future Stars Polish Their Acts
And, yes, there is a business “there” there. As this NYTimes article illuminates, even YouTube itself is offering bootcamps to help small businesses succeed.

For Some, Blogs Also Pay the Bills
A passion and sustainable focus are key components of a successful online business. OK, they are a critical component of ANY business. Without a significant time commitment and determination—let’s tell the truth—you are doomed. This is another insightful NYTimes article that includes some modest (and some not so modest) success stories.

Five minutes with Steven Pressfield, author of ‘The War of Art’, ‘Do The Work’ and ‘Gates of Fire’
And, speaking of a sustainable commitment, Steven Pressfield is one of my absolutely favorite authors because of the clarity of his inspiration. His latest book, “Do the Work” is a must read, in my opinion. Amazon affiliate link is below. Enjoy!

We’ve just published the March, 2011 edition of the ComBridges “It’s a Wonderful Web” enewsletter which includes Internet marketing insights focused on the importance of authenticity, updates on the new webinars at NewMarU.com, my upcoming keynote adventure to New Zealand, ideas & suggestions for WordPress enhancements & maintenance, the latest on Facebook marketing, and more.

Click here to read “It’s a Wonderful Web” on the Web…

And speaking of NewMarU, we start tomorrow, March 18th at 11am PT with our latest installment of webinars on Internet marketing and online PR. There’s a lot more coming soon too.

Please click here to visit the NewMarU courses page to check out our latest online programs…

Thanks in advance for your interest and I look forward to hearing from you. I hope you can join us at NewMarU and please share this information with your friends and colleagues if you are so moved. Thanks!

1. We’ve just launched the ‘beta’ site for our exciting new venture, NewMarU.com, New Marketing University. Please check it out.

2. I’m on a plane this AM to Hong Kong to speak at “Web 3.0 Asia”

Details about both are in our last “Wonderful Web” enewsletter.

Catch ya on the flipside.

A Professional Research Perspective of Brand Engagement via Social Media
Highly recommended, Engagementdb is a very interesting resource, even for smaller companies who are interested in social media brand engagement. I especially recommend their excellent FREE PDF Report. It’s nice to see “engagement” made measureable at the highest level. Clearly, relationship/engagement is at least as important (and probably more important) than simply the gross number of “eyeballs”/visitors. The focus on these kinds of results is shifting appropriately from volume or quantity of “hits” to quality of engagement (at minimum, some kind of “conversion”). Are you tuned in to your organization’s quality of engagement? Click here to check it out.

Fast-paced Video Illuminating ROI for Social Media
Despite the annoying music, this video offers useful content if you still doubt the business-savvy economic value–in the vernacular, ROI (return on investment)–available from investing your time INTELLIGENTLY in social media.

A Peak Behind the Curtain of a Major Brand’s Social Media Command Center (VIDEO)
More mainstream social media… pretty cool music VIDEO too promoting Gatorade’s social media team, er, I mean “COMMAND CENTER”! Can your sports drink do this? Visit Gatorade’s Command Center to see more.

“It’s about the PEOPLE, silly.”
Via Seth Godin. As a business owner, I know that there is nothing more important than the highly capable, talented members of my team. Read valuable insights & perspective.

“Every company is now a media company.”
A great reminder, via Adam Ostrow & John Battelle

Great Graphics, Visual View of Social Media Today
You gotta love good Infographics. Especially when they tell a story. In this case, big companies are adopting social media. More are using Facebook and Twitter than blogs, but it’s a big majority who are involved. See what these charts tell you.

Influence vs Fame
I’d call it “Influence vs Eyeballs” but being clear about what it means to develop influence in today’s social media world makes this short ProBlogger piece well worth reading, IMHO. And in a related short blog post, Seth Godin reminds us that “If all you are doing is increasing number of digital spectators, you are unlikely to earn the conversion that you deserve.” Read more about “Fans, Participants and Spectators.”

Stay tuned and please comment and send feedback. Thanks!

My high hopes are that the following list of lists (and grand perspectives) will help you make 2010 the best yet:

5. Super Geek David Pogue’s Pogie Awards
My favorite NYTimes tech writer’s picks for gadgets, apps & such include the killer Firefox extension READABILITY and a very funny (to me) iPhone app that let’s you safely text while walking, by using the iPhone’s built-in camera.

4. Google’s 2009: A Glimpse of the Web’s Next Decade
At least at the moment, as Google goes, so goes the Web. And, if you haven’t noticed, Google is hardly standing still. In fact, they have been innovating their butts off. So, if you’re not tuned in, you should be; and this post by Mashable is packed with eye-candy charts that help make staying up to date more fun.

3. YouTube Is the Top Social Media Innovation of the Decade
Also, via Mashable, and also not technically a Top Whatever list, I’m including this post because I think the importance of YouTube is about as important as it gets. For one thing, YouTube is frequently omitted from lists of social networking sites. Come on! This thoughtful article explains why I’m going to be posting a whole lot more video in 2010 and why I think you should too.

2. 8 Things Every Geek Needs to Do Before 2010
This post is beyond practical, it could literally save your life (technologically speaking). No kidding. Have you backed up lately? Have you edited your privacy settings and pruned your feeds? This is important stuff (via leading tech blog ReadWriteWeb) that can help make your whole year better.

1. 2000s Decade Recap – Business and Technology (video below)
Originally called to my attention by the TechCrunch post Video: A Decade Of Tech Highs And Business Lows, the 3:22 video below puts the past unprecedented decade in perspective, and given the magnitude of the changes, from the dot-bomb implosion through ground-breaking iPhone innovations and social media explosions, I think it’s worth taking at least 3 minutes or so to reflect. Don’t you?

As the Grateful Dead sang, “What a long strange trip it’s been.”

May the Tech Highs continue, and the Business Lows not so much.

I’m writing not only to make this shameless plug, but also to share a new resource that I just found that aggregates the opinions of an impressive selection of experts in order to indicate which of the various factors carry the most weight (according to these experts). As something of an expert myself, I found this interactive page to be informative and useful. Thus, I recommend to you:

SEOmoz’s Google Search Engine Ranking Factors V2

Enjoy.

I cover the basics in my internet marketing ebook, and today’s New York Times covered how Microsoft is trying to catch up with Google in this arena. This is a good article packed with perspective.

At one point, this NYT article emphasizes how advertising-supported free media is winning out over subscription models by pointing out that, “In recent days, two prominent news Web sites — The New York Times and The Financial Times — said they were scaling back attempts to charge subscription fees for some of their content.”

And then Microsoft CEO Steve Balmer says, “As much as people sometimes like to pick bones with advertising, people much prefer an ad-funded experience to one that they pay for.”

Hey, isn’t this the guy who runs a software company that sells more software (and software upgrades) than any other company on earth?

He continues: “Even the basic software that we’ve delivered for so many years — if it can be ad-funded in the way it gets delivered to consumers, it probably will be ad-funded.”

In other words, free ad-supported digital media will rule, and digital advertising will blossom into channels of humongous proportions… proportions that make Google as it exists today seem small.

Bottom line, they all agree that it’s ALL going digital and this will change everything. Personally, I’m interested in building an advertising “on-ramp” for small businesses… A web application platform that would guide small business users so that they could leverage the advantages of the new media & advertising world. This is seriously needed by millions of small companies.

Like I’ve been saying for years, we need communication bridges spanning the grand canyon gap between people and technology… Anyone want to play?

http://www.wilsonweb.com/email/sugarman-subject-1.htm

The ConstantContact.com service’s learning center also recently published a two-part series of articles on this subject.

Meanwhile, my ebook on Internet Marketing should be completed “real soon.” Stay tuned.

http://seoclass.com/blog/7-homework-items-to-complete-before-any-seo-class/

(FYI, my e-book on internet marketing for small business is coming “real soon”)

BTW, heads up for NonProfits… The organization who created the tips linked above, SEOClass.com is offering its workshop FREE for nonprofits only, this month only.