Cshel Chicago SEO, PR and Web Development

Ecom Phenom: Social Media and eCommerce

Posted on 17. Mar, 2009 by Carolyn Shelby.

Brian Mark and Robert Garcia, hosts of Ecom Phenom on BlogTalkRadio, had me on as a guest this past Sunday to discuss the role of social media in e-commerce — specifically Twitter and how it can (and should) be used by retailers to monitor buzz, build brand and relationships, and most of all, increase conversions and sales.

Podcast Recap
Before I join the podcast, Brian and Robert covered a pretty extensive array of e-commerce topics:

• Twitter “Help Engines”
• A lengthy discussion of Magento Commerce, prompted by the announcement that Brian is converting his properties from his own custom-built ecommerce platform to Magento (which speaks volumes about how impressed Brian is with the features available — it’s not like he hasn’t just built his own platform when he needed features existing programs didn’t offer).
• Robert Garcia (Rumblepup) is now offering e-commerce and SEO consulting.
• There was fairly in-depth discussion of the evolution of social media — from the days of BBSs and Usenet News through to all the “new” Web 2.0 social media options.
• Brian and Robert also discussed a number of social bookmarking and social shopping sites that retailers should definitely be paying attention to…. specifically mentioned were:
  • ThisNext
  • Kaboodle
  • HonestBargain
  • Dealigg
• Finally, they wrapped up by talking about must-haves for every e-commerce website: “Add This” buttons to enable customers to easily submit products to the aforementioned social bookmarking and shopping sites, product reviews, and forums for customers to discuss services and products, as well as get support.

So then….
Whew! Still with me? Okay :) This is where I joined the conversation… I just returned from PubCon South in Austin, where Twitter was discussed *incessantly*. I shared with Brian and Robert some of the major points that were discussed, what software is most popular for using and monitoring Twitter streams, and some best practices for retailers on how to use, but not abuse one’s Tweeple.

I’ll warn you, this is a 95 minute long episode, so make sure you’ve either got a long drive ahead of you, or have a comfy place to sit before you begin :)

Popularity: 32% [?]

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SEO 101: Competitive Intelligence

Posted on 18. Dec, 2007 by Carolyn Shelby.

In this episode (#102 by our count) of SEO 101, Brian Mark, David Brown and I discuss competitive intelligence and ways you can keep tabs on your competition as well as how to protect yourself and your company from snoopy people who are up to no good.

This episode is based on my liveblogging notes from the Competitive Intelligence session at PubCon Vegas 2007. There are a lot more details and links to resources in my write-up over at search engine roundtable, so I encourage you to pop over there and check it out. Our discussion veered a little more into protecting your stuff by making sure you’re not making it completely simple and easy for bad people to do bad things to you, which isn’t entirely SEO but I think it’s valid and important business stuff to know. My notes from the conference had more detailed information on gathering intel on your competitors via various tools that are available online.

Important Points Covered:

1. Vendors are chatty. Make sure (1) that YOUR vendors are not chatty about YOU to your competitors and (2) that you take advantage of chatty vendors who have info about your competitors. If they’re not blabbing to you, they’ll just blab to someone else, you may as well benefit.
2. Sometimes people aren’t entirely honest when they call. Make sure that you, your family, your employees, etc. know to not discuss business with “unauthorized” people. Loose lips sink ships.
3. A google a day keeps the crisis away. Search the web regularly for info, media mentions, blog mentions, etc. about your competitors, their products, their key personnel, as well as YOUR company, YOU, YOUR key personnel, YOUR products, etc. You might be surprised by what you can google up.
4. Shredding isn’t just good, it’s good for you! Sure shredding is fun, but did you know it’s also a great way to keep your account numbers and other sensitive personal information out of the hands of ne’er-do-wells? Invest in a decent cross cut shredder and use it often.

Fun Items to Listen For…

In this episode, I share an interesting story from Vegas about some of the… um… “people” who were… um… “working”… at the Wynn. I also manage to make a relatively not stupid sounding football reference after I mispronounce Brett Favre’s name, and I worked in a Star Wars reference for good measure.

Popularity: 63% [?]

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SEO 101: Obligatory 100th Episode Outtakes and Bloopers

Posted on 14. Dec, 2007 by Carolyn Shelby.

Brian Mark put together a clip show featuring all of our screw-ups, funny stories and miscellaneous other stuff from the first 99 episodes of SEO 101 (that we told him to not record) and released it to publicly humiliate us celebrate SEO 101’s 100th episode. So this episode is a little light on the SEO 101 education, but rife with me, David Brown and Brian Mark sounding like tards :)

Enjoy!

Popularity: 74% [?]

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