QR codes

This will be a short post, but I am sure you have been seeing these "QR codes" all over. Bus stops, newspapers, direct mailers, fast food cups.. you name it. So what are they? QR stands for Quick Response, the codes consist of encoded information that when scanned can lead to.. website URL, youtube videos, Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, FourSquare, iTunes link, Plain Text and multiple more options. Here are a few sites that offer free QR code generators, just follow the directions enter your information and download the file.

http://goqr.me/

www.qrstuff.com/


delivr.com/qr-code-generator


I have included 3 QR codes at the bottom of my resume leading to my Facebook, LinkedIn and Twitter page. I have also seen many professionals put a QR code for their LinkedIn account on their business cards.

Make sure to double check your QR code to be sure it bring you to where you want it. On your smart phone search the App store or the Market for QR code scanner or QR code reader, there are many free apps and they have worked fine for me.

Google For Advertisers: Old Dogs Can Learn New Tricks

       I have never heard of Google For Advertisers before so I was very interested in this weeks assignment. The first aspect I explored was Insights For Search. By using this tool you can track and compare search terms to see when people are searching those specific words and where they are located, worldwide and local. This can be a useful tool for personally and for your businesses. I performed two searches one for myself, advertising jobs vs. marketing jobs, and one for my internship. I narrowed my search by region and then by city, then I was provided with a scale of traffic volume for the two search terms. On the side of the scale there was a list of articles that were recently in the news about the search. Which lead me to this article (good news for NMDL students), Help wanted: Looking for a few good social media pros.

Another interesting tool on the Insights tab is the Google Alerts and Google Blog Search. I think these tools are extremely important to succeed in digital marketing for your company/brand. Here you can keep an eye on your competitors; track news stories and keep tabs on your brand. It is important to know what is being said about your brand good and bad. Google Blog Search is also a useful tool to hear and know what your competitors are saying about your company or brand as well as the "little people".

These are just a few things that I have come across while exploring Google For Advertisers. If you haven't explored this tool yourself I highly recommend it!

Optimize Yourself via Blogging

       How to optimize yourself through your blog. After reading this weeks assigned chapter for my New Media Driver's License class, taught by Michal Lorenc and Derek Mehraban through Michigan State University, I really began to think about how to optimize the words in my blog to better market myself and my ideas. I think SEO is a tool that everyone and anyone can use to better their position in their market and/or market them self/product/business. I believe SEO is mainly about knowing what you are talking about and choosing the correct words to drive more traffic towards you, your site, etc. I think many people choose to start a blog and just start writing, throwing out some technical jargon and attempt to drive traffic in that way. However, if you don’t have the information and resources to back up your jargon than visitors will realize this and leave your site and potentially not come back. I actually came across this article, Better B2B SEO Through Jargon, which actually helps you better understand how to use that jargon correctly to your advantage.

Another way to optimize your blog is to understand your market and how they work and think: What would they search? How would they word it? The best way to reach your customers is to put yourself in their shoes. The chances are if your market is just as passionate about your product as you are, you already think similar, you just have to hone in on those thought and optimize them.