Now I’m convinced the higher ups at WVU and in West Virginia State government are reading my blog and attending our Next Generation Marketing conferences.

I’m not going to go through the whole spiel again, but be aware that this article is written in a non-biased fashion meant to take a deeper look at the Heather Bresch pr crisis from an academic standpoint. Careful readers should be able to learn several ways to combat their own bad press.

For organizations with robust search engine reputation management and online pr crisis response needs, please contact us to discuss your options and develop a plan. We accept checks and all major credit cards and operators are standing by. Plus, call within the next 15 minutes and receive a free genuine ginsu link building plan.

You must understand two things:

1. You cannot bury your head in the sand. The conversation will happen. The question is: do you want to join it?

2. It is a million times easier to respond to pr crises with a proper plan in place before the dynamite goes boom.

Paid Search in Online Reputation Management

In my first blog post on the WVU MBA degree scandal, I discussed the issue from an online reputation management standpoint. As an aside, I pointed out that WVU – through its Google AdWords content match search advertising program – was advertising its MBA degree on the very same online articles that announced the record keeping discrepancies and questioned how it would impact the value of MBA degrees at West Virginia University.

A couple days later the ad was gone.

Email Marketing to Reach Advocates

Also in that blog post – and in my “Engagement & Dialogue” sessions in Huntington and Charleston, I mentioned that the Governor has often used email marketing very effective and what a powerful tool it can be. With RichRod, I received an email within 4 hours of his announcement about leaving for Michigan. Yet, I received not one email on the issue of Heather Bresch’s MBA degree.

Until a few minutes ago. I’ve copied and pasted the full text at the bottom for you to read. You’d think with all this help, we’d have a new contract with the state by now.

So come join us in Morgantown this Thurday and find out what free advice I’ll be giving out next. Oh, and if you represent the State of West Virginia, Mylan Corporation, or West Virginia University, please feel free to give me a call. I’ll set aside 3 ginsu link building sets in the meantime.

Note bene: Wrong – at least on the WVU front. They’re still advertising there. I may call some of my WVU contacts.

Click on the picture to open up a larger version you can actually read.

Copy of Governor Manchin’s Email

——– Original Message ——–

May 19, 2008

STATEMENT FROM THE GOVERNOR
REGARDING CONTINUING DISCUSSION
OF WVU E-MBA DEGREE REPORT

Contact: Lara Ramsburg, 304-558-2000

CHARLESTON, W.Va. – Gov. Joe Manchin today released the following statement about the continuing discussions regarding the report from the independent panel examining the E-MBA program and his daughter’s degree at West Virginia University.

“As a father, I must admit that I was hoping that the controversy surrounding my daughter’s E-MBA coursework at WVU would eventually resolve itself and subside. However, as a Governor, I recognize that is not realistic.

“In both roles, it has been extremely difficult for me to watch this controversy unfold. As governor, my natural instinct in a crisis is to do my very best to dive in and help bring all sides together to find a resolution. However, because of my family’s involvement in this particular situation, I feel that this is one time in which I am not in a position to follow that instinct, because it is likely that one side or the other would be inclined to question my ability to remain objective.

“WVU holds a special place in the hearts of both Gayle and I not only because we are proud graduates of WVU, but because it is also the place where we met, fell in love and started our family. From our perspective, this controversy all started because our daughter sincerely believed that she had her degree, because of a meeting that everyone admits took place with the program’s director in 1998, and when she contacted the university last year, she was simply asking them to find the records that she believed would confirm that.

“Had they told her that after looking through their records they didn’t have the proper documentation on file, we honestly believe that while she may not have liked that answer, she would have accepted it and moved on with her life.

“At no time would she have asked anyone to either ‘guess’ as to her records or to fabricate grades on those records. As a result, Gayle and I are both angry, in particular, at the fabrication of grades that took place, because it unfairly damages our daughter’s reputation as much as it does the University’s. It was absolutely wrong and, in my mind, completely unacceptable.

“Although I remain confident in President Garrison’s ability to follow the recommendations of the independent panel’s report, I am also fully aware of the concerns that have been raised by the faculty, staff, students and alumni of WVU and recognize that they must be addressed in some meaningful manner. WVU needs to find a way to begin to heal the wounds that have been created over these last few weeks, and it will take all parties working together to achieve that goal.

“To that end, I have seen it stated many times by individuals and the press that because I appointed certain members of the Board of Governors, they must be following my orders as to what to think and say regarding President Garrison and the independent panel’s report. This simply is not true.

“The Board of Governors is made up of extremely bright and accomplished people who were not given this responsibility lightly and who I trust to do the job assigned to them to the best of their abilities. While many members are appointed by a governor, they do not serve at the will and pleasure of a governor. They may act as they wish during their four-year terms as long as it is within legal and ethical reason.

“Therefore, the WVU Board of Governors members are not under my control and remain free, as they always have been, to make their own individual and collective decisions on this or any other situation. As I said previously, I am not in a position to make a recommendation to them in this instance even if I wanted to because, regardless of what it might be, it would not be viewed as being made objectively – and I absolutely understand and accept that.

“As a result, I consider this matter one that should be decided by the members of the Board of Governors based upon their own insights and beliefs and information, and as governor, I will continue to support whatever direction they believe is in the best interests of WVU both now and in the future.”

# # #

Justin Seibert

Justin Seibert is the President of Direct Online Marketing. He regularly speaks on search engine marketing, social media optimization, and online reputation management. Follow him on twitter. Why not check out the company on facebook while you're at it?

Statement from WVU President Mike Garrison

My responsibility as President extends to the entire University, and I accept full and total responsibility for failures that led to the award of unearned credits and grades to a former student. I am personally very sorry that this situation has occurred.

Over the past several days, I have had the opportunity to thoroughly review the report of the panel that investigated this matter. I have also read the notes of the statements given by individuals to the panel; I have spoken with each of the individuals in the President*s Office who are noted in the report; and have spoken with the Chairman of the panel. As I stated last week, I take both the panel findings and recommendations, as well as my charge from the Board of Governors, very
seriously. I agree with the panel*s findings and accept the report in its entirety.

I have also accepted the resignations of Provost Gerald Lang and Dean Stephen Sears. Both of these individuals are honorable men, and both have taken responsibility for their decisions in this matter. I want to state unequivocally that I did not ask any person, either directly or indirectly, to award any credit, grades, or degree in this case or any other case. I will never do so and would not accept interference from others in the evaluation of the students that I teach.

I do not believe that it is acceptable to assign credit or grades to a student without consultation with the faculty member assigned to a class. Like the members of the panel, I believe that the decision that was made in this in this matter was wrong. Like every member of the University community, I reject the idea that we should award any degree or credit not earned by the student.

Let me say again: My responsibility as President extends to the entire University. I accept full and total responsibility for this matter. I am personally very sorry that this situation has occurred during my tenure as President, and I apologize to the entire University community.

Justin Seibert

Justin Seibert is the President of Direct Online Marketing. He regularly speaks on search engine marketing, social media optimization, and online reputation management. Follow him on twitter. Why not check out the company on facebook while you're at it?

If you receive an email from Google that says “Account Reactivation” or “Update Your Billing Information” or anything along those lines, DO NOT CLICK ON ANY OF THE LINKS. It is a scam.

If you hover over the links, you will see that it doesn’t actually go to Google AdWords, but rather a page on the site djieh3.cn (no links – burn in hell jerks). They want you to enter in your information to presumably (I didn’t actually go to this site) try to get your financial and personal information. It’s also possible they have set up a trojan horse or other malware that can infect your computer or add a keylogger (that monitors information you type) just by clicking on the link.

If you want to check it out just to be sure – and this is good advice for emails you receive from your bank, eBay, or anywhere else – open up a new Web browser and log in to the appropriate site directly. Never, never, never click on those links from emails. Otherwise you’re writing a blank check to some entrepreneurial youths in Nigeria.

Quick story – I was talking with a woman from Washington County, PA about a year ago who runs a small windows shop. She had problems running a credit card and called the person to verify the address. When she asked for the city and state, he said, “Columbus O-H” (as opposed to “Columbus, Ohio”). Very funny (okay, maybe not laugh-aloud-funny, but kind-of interesting-funny. No?) , although it wouldn’t have been if she would’ve gotten scammed.

Read emails and process credit cards safely, friends.

Justin Seibert

Justin Seibert is the President of Direct Online Marketing. He regularly speaks on search engine marketing, social media optimization, and online reputation management. Follow him on twitter. Why not check out the company on facebook while you're at it?

So when we had to wake her at 7:30 we figured this wouldn’t be the year. And when we asked her if she wanted to go open presents, she replied, “no.” Definitely not 2007.

But a funny thing happened on the way to the fireplace. As we started going through stockings and taking off decorative paper from those boxes, she started to realize that presents, heretofore just more ornamentatio, contained wondrous things for her to read or play with. The big smiles and screams came out and at the end of each stop (our house, my folks, my Aunt’s), she kept using her sign language and asking for more presents.

By the time the night ended, we became certain that she now ‘gets’ Christmas. Well at least the part Charlie Brown fretted over, if nothing else (and we’re fairly sure nothing else since she ahem persuaded her brother not to play with some of her haul).

By the way, our son is 16 months and doesn’t get it at all. Parents with newborns – don’t fall into the trap of buying them presents. They don’t get it before they’re at least 2+ if not 3. Save your cash and get boxes. Maybe a ball they can throw without damaging anything. Incredibly sexist statement: I’m talking mainly to the dads here. Women are nicer and most cannot help but fall prey to buying gifts for the kids. Stay strong in your cheapness practicality, fellas.

What You Sell is Great – Congratulations

So you have a great product or service. La-di-frickin-da (scroll down for the Matt Foley video on a great tribute from 100% Injury Rate). It’s a great start, but it doesn’t matter if no one knows about it. Do you think Apple invented the ipod and its ilk? Guess again.

Can you market it? Can you sell it? Those are the real questions.

The books and snowman Weeble (see, if I put “books” first and don’t mention other toys, I seem like a good parent) were always great and something my daughter would love. But she couldn’t see behind the wrapping paper and cardboard. With no past experience, she didn’t know what that meant and could have cared less.

Is the inundation of advertising today acting as a cardboard shield to your products? Can people see past the wrapping paper of competition to realize just how much they need your services? Or worse, are you not even trying to get the word out about your “presents.”

Human instincts are the same whether your 30 months or 30 years. Don’t scoff – don’t you still bicker with your siblings? Well maybe you don’t tear their blankies, spit on them, hit their knees with a clicker, put make up on them, or do any of the other awful things my sister did to me – without cause, I might add – when we were little. But I’ll wager you still play a verbal version of “I’m not touching you.”

So as 2008 falls upon us, think about how you can get your message out and explain the benefits of what you offer in the New Year.

Marketing Ideas for 2008

While you’re brainstorming about new ways to help your sales efforts for 2008, make sure you’re spending some time thinking about the following internet marketing ideas in addition to traditional ad efforts:

• Starting a corporate blog to interact with your clients more personally and increase customer loyalty
• Using paid search and search engine optimization to reach people looking for what you sell…or things related to what you sell
• Enhancing email efforts to improve lifetime values of the clients you already worked so hard to attract
• Using any of the new or newish Web 2.0 technologies (the stuff those wacky kids do that you haven’t quite figured out yet) to work for your business. Do traditional radio advertising? Could you take what you’ve already done and turn it into a podcast? Use social media sites like facebook to get your message spread virally (i.e. no ad costs)?
• Redevelop your Web site to convert more visitors

They all have their pros and cons. These things may not be right for you, but you’d be foolish not to do a little investigation. Don’t make it so hard for your clients to unwrap your “presents.” Let internet marketing and other forms of promotion act as the parent that persuades them to take a look at something they might love.

Happy New Year everyone!

Update: My wife just called me to say that she was recapping Christmas day with our daughter in the car. “Did you have a good Christmas?” “Yes.” “Did you like your presents?” “Yes.” “What was your favorite present?” Long pause. “Dada. Dada hug.”

I don’t expect anyone reading this to care about this last bit, and maybe she didn’t really understand the question, but my chest is sure going to be puffed out for awhile and I can always come back to this post for a smile.

Justin

Remember, for better or worse, whatever you put out on the Web will stay out there.

Justin Seibert

Justin Seibert is the President of Direct Online Marketing. He regularly speaks on search engine marketing, social media optimization, and online reputation management. Follow him on twitter. Why not check out the company on facebook while you're at it?

Yesterday as I was half-watching the Steelers game yesterday while hanging wreaths, an announcement scrolled across the bottom of the screen on a ticker usually reserved for school cancellations or Presidents being shot. WTRF announced shortly before ESPN got onto it that Rich Rod (as WVU’s football coach Rich Rodriguez is popularly known) was bolting for the University of Michigan. Check out the WVMountaineerSports.com blog (where I stole appropriated that picture from) for a taste of fan reaction as long as profanity doesn’t offend your eyes. Remember that people are NOT in a good mood. By the way, I’m voting for the Boise St. head coach as the next head coach in their poll – not that I think that’s what necessarily will happen, but what I’d like to see. Who do you think should / will be the next coach?

This is bad news for West Virginians, who generally hold WVU athletics fairly sacred – even those of us who went to another school or have never stepped foot into a higher education facility (or attended courses online – gotta love distance learning!). Rich Rod was very close to getting WVU into the national championship game. To put that in perspective, the Mountaineers have never won a national football championship (or any team national championship outside of rifle shooting, I believe) and, in fact, are the winningest program never to have done so.

Email to the People

So unless you’re a Marshall fan, this was big news. So big that the governor has already put out 2 related emails in response. I’m not sure what that says about our state and whether that’s a good thing or a bad thing, but if you want to read more about the good things in WV, I encourage you to check out the Create WV and A Better West Virginia blogs for a couple perspectives.

But there is one good thing that the actual sending of the emails says about our state – we’re using a really powerful piece of technology effectively. Sure, email’s been around for awhile, but it is THE single most underutilized piece of technology in the business world.

I received two messages from our Governor:

Dec. 16, 5:49 PM (or within 3 hours of the announcement and more than 12 hours before the official press conference) – Statement from the Governor regarding WVU Football Coach Rich Rodriguez’s resignation

Dec. 17, 12:05 PM – Governor encourages Mountaineers fans to attend Fiesta Bowl on Jan. 2

See the very bottom of this post for full texts.

How incredible is it that the governor can hear something, write an email, and send it out to concerned citizens within a matter of hours or minutes? The power of email. Sign up for your notifications at his official Web site.

The only thing I’d offer up as a suggestion is that I’m very interested in general announcements, those that affect business, and ones like this, but less so in announcements about holiday parties. All that can be done fairly simply through segmentation.

We’re Open for Business

Mr. Manchin, if you’re tracking your stats and reading this post, you should know that we offer email campaign systems that offer list segmentation (allowing people to receive only the messages they care about) while not breaking the collective banks of you, me, my business, and all of our other fine tax paying citizens and institutions. Plus we’re a registered state contractor. I’ll bring this up the next time we chat.

For everyone not named Joe Manchin, III, we offer a lot of internet marketing services that can help business make money and sometimes save money as well for your organization, too. The best value may be email marketing as it almost always does both and incredibly effectively at a very low price point.

A Quick Note about Buying & Renting Email Lists

To be clear, I don’t believe in buying email lists (if they’re selling them to you, chances are the addresses are garbage and that you’re in violation of can-spam) or renting them (in about 90% of cases – sometimes this can be effective). Utilizing recommendations or advertisements on outside email newsletter lists can offer great rewards, however. But the best application for existing businesses is to email to your own subscribers.

Real World Examples of Email Campaign Systems

Let me give you two real world examples from among our clients:

1. An industrial manufacturer. They were spending thousands upon thousands of dollars on catalogs to send to their clients and prospects in printing and mailing costs. They sought an email campaign system primarily save on costs. When they found out they could customize their lists in order to easily send out only relevant messages, they knew they could increase revenue, too. All at no cost per email sent.

2. A non-profit arts group. While this group has a member list that skews older than many other types of organizations, they recognized younger members all relied on email and that many of the older members were starting to use it, too. While their mailing costs for monthly newsletters wasn’t high, they had no practical way of targeting folks. Now they can jump right in to sending out emails to their list at no cost per time sent, all in a standard, attractive format.

Again, even though email’s been around for a long time, it’s still under- or improperly used by many businesses.

Free Advice

If you don’t have a big subscriber base, what are you waiting for? Whether you’re a new organization or a 100-year-old firm, start collecting emails today. Give people a reason to submit their email addresses (important news, money saving coupons, product updates, etc.) and start collecting. You can begin sending out basic text messages through Thunderbird, Outlook, or whatever email client you use. As your list grows, you’ll know the power of email marketing and you can easily transition into a new system or service.

My two biggest recommendations for traditional organizations not heavy into Web sites or internet marketing: start putting your Web site on everything (business cards, advertisements, newsletters, email signatures, hold messages, etc. – heck get it tattooed on your forehead) and collect email addresses. Email lists could quickly become your most valuable piece of property if you nurture it right.

Governor Emails:

Dec. 16, 2007

STATEMENT FROM THE GOVERNOR
REGARDING WVU FOOTBALL COACH RICH RODRIGUEZ’S RESIGNATION

Contact: Lara Ramsburg, 304-558-2000

The last seven years that Rich Rodriguez has been football coach at West Virginia University brought great excitement to our fans and tremendous and positive notoriety to our state, and I am truly sad that he has made the decision to move on.

I have known Rich for most of his life, from a boy whose only wish was to play football at WVU to a young man whose only wish was to coach at WVU. His dreams came true, and he brought back with him to West Virginia a love and a loyalty for our state that I thought would never change.

But, unfortunately, over the last two years, I have seen Rich become a victim of a college coaching system driven by high-priced agents that has turned those dreams into just another back-room business deal. Something is wrong with the profession of college coaching today when a leader’s word is no longer his bond, and it does not bode well for the student-athletes who entrust these coaches with their futures.

I wish Rich and his family nothing but the best, but I challenge everyone in our state and across this country to start looking more closely at the system that we’ve allowed these agents to create, because in the end, it serves no one well but them.

I can’t say enough about the WVU fans and financial boosters who have made such tremendous commitments to this football team, and I commend President Garrison and Athletic Director Ed Pastilong for having a program that is truly worthy of the national spotlight. I also trust them and the WVU Board of Governors completely with the coaching search that now lies ahead.

In the meantime, I encourage the people and fans of West Virginia to continue to show their support and respect for our tremendous student-athletes as they prepare to compete in front of a national audience in the Fiesta Bowl.

- Gov. Joe Manchin III

# # #

Dec. 17, 2007

GOVERNOR ENCOURAGES MOUNTAINEER FANS
TO ATTEND FIESTA BOWL ON JAN. 2

Contact: Lara Ramsburg, 304-558-2000

CHARLESTON, W.Va. – With many good seats still available as part of WVU’s official allotment for the Fiesta Bowl, Gov. Joe Manchin is encouraging every West Virginian who is able to buy a ticket and attend the game in support of the Mountaineer team to please do so.

“These student-athletes have given so much to our state, and we need to join together and encourage and support them in every way possible,” Manchin said. “They are competing in one of the most elite and well-respected bowls in the country in front of a national television audience, and I believe that selling every ticket allotted to WVU and being there in person to cheer them on is one very special way that we can say thank you to them for all of the excitement and prestige that they have brought to West Virginia this football season.

“So, let’s join together and show these fine young men our true Mountaineer spirit by selling out the game and filling the stadium with blue and gold.”

Tickets may be purchased by calling the Mountaineer Ticket Office at 1-800-WVU-GAME or online at www.WVUGame.com.

# # #

Justin Seibert

Justin Seibert is the President of Direct Online Marketing. He regularly speaks on search engine marketing, social media optimization, and online reputation management. Follow him on twitter. Why not check out the company on facebook while you're at it?

Today also sees my mum coming to America for the first time. In fact, this is the first time she’s stepped outside the British Isles and only the second time she’s ever flown. The first time involved some twin-propeller affair on a trip to the Isle of Man – a curious little island between Britain and Ireland that has its own parliament, no traffic lights, cats with no tails and is a low tax economy. Offshore banking anyone?

Although, I’d rather have her here asking me daft questions every half hour rather than ringing me constantly asking how much money she should bring and how she should split her travellers checks and cash in her fanny pack. Should she bring a coat? Should she bring me a coat? Do I want her to bring any cheese/chocolate/HP Sauce/Branston Pickle [delete as applicable].

But this Saturday’s phone call using her very own grandchildren as pawns in a game of Christmas emotional blackmail, really took the biscuit. My mother is something of a Christmas extremist. Her year revolves around it and its planning and execution. Military campaigns have been run much, much worse. And, after finding out Steph might be working over Christmas, and her thinking this meant we won’t be going to Blighty for the festive season sparked ‘Operation Festive Goose’.

My eldest two nephews and niece, aged eight, six and three respectively (I think) spent the night at my mum’s on Saturday. After returning from a truly entertaining shopping expedition with my dear wife, we had a message on our phone. It basically consisted of each of them saying hi, telling us they loved us, and how they can’t wait to see us at Christmas. It would’ve been cute; almost heart-rending had you not been able to hear my mother’s prompting in the background and the hum of a cattle prod to remind them not to stray too far from the script.

So, if two weeks of decent cooking, cleaning, getting somebody to iron my shirts and 24/7 emotional blackmail wasn’t exciting enough, today also sees the inaugural get together of the young professionals group for the Ohio Valley, OVConnect.org. The emphasis here is on the young (under forty). I suppose the professional aspect means having a job as opposed to being adept at something. I’ve known a few professional slackers in my time if truth be told.

It’s a group to keep young professional types in the loop and to help keep them connected with one another whether they’re native to the area or newcomers. The response so far seems to have been brilliant, and is testimony, yet again, to Justin’s organizational gusto. Where he gets the time and energy I’ve no idea, but I get tired thinking about half the stuff he does. Still, that’s what comes with me nearly being at the cut-off age. I can almost see a little implant in my palm flashing along the lines of Logan’s Run.

But, it just goes to show that offline networking is still alive and well. And this is the point, us youngsters might spend all our time messing about online, but it’s only because it’s an extremely cost effective method of keeping connected. For example, sending out a simple email invite to everyone didn’t cost a bean and only took the time of writing the one and sending it to everybody’s email address. In the good old days you’d have to ring round everybody, either at work or at home, and waste an inordinate amount of time doing so.

Email is simply priceless in this day and age of organizing and informing groups or customers. Here are just some of the benefits of email marketing according to good ol’ wikipedia:

• The advantage of a mailing list is clearly the ability to
  
• Compared to other media investments such as direct mail or printed newsletters, it is less expensive.
• An exact return on investment
  “track to basket”) and has proven to be high when done
• It is instant, as opposed to a mailed advertisement, an email arrives in a few seconds or minutes.
• It lets the advertiser “push” the message to its audience, as opposed to a website that waits for customers to come in.
• It is easy to track. An advertiser can track users via web bugs, bounce messages, un-subscribes, read-receipts, click throughs etc. These can be used to meaure open rates , positive or negative responses, correlate sales with marketing.
• Advertisers can generate repeat business affordably and automatically
• Advertisers can reach substantial numbers of email subscribers who
• Over half of Internet users check or send email on a typical day.
• Specific types of interaction with messages can trigger other messages to be automatically delivered.
• Specific types of interaction with messages can trigger other
• Green – email marketing is paper-free

And the great thing? You can’t hear anybody in the background telling you what to say even if you do get somebody else to do it for you.

Paul Woodhouse

Paul looks after the SEO side of things here at Direct Online Marketing as well as trying to work out the best social media strategies for our clients.

The main conference site has been up for a while and contains all the
speakers, topics, conference agenda and registration information.

However, today finally sees the conference blog let loose into the

Speakers at the Online Marketing: Innovations That Work

Steve Colon, WebTrends
Jeff James, Microsoft
Jose Mallabo, eBay
Jeff Ostiguy, g8wave
Lindsay Patross, iheartpgh.com
Justin Seibert, Direct Online Marketing™

And what
’ll be talking about is:

• How businesses are improving their customer relationships

• Cutting edge Web techniques to enhance public relations
• The best uses of – and uncommon tactics for – search marketing
• The differences in mobile and other forms of online marketing
• How you can track campaigns across different channels
• How to maximize your ad dollars for total efficiency

And who should attend:

Internet Marketers

So if you happen to be one of the above then why

At $99 (including breakfast and lunch) if you register before
^th it certainly beats the living daylights out of having to

Hopefully, I’ll see you there.

Paul Woodhouse

Paul looks after the SEO side of things here at Direct Online Marketing as well as trying to work out the best social media strategies for our clients.

Back when the future Mrs. Seibert and I were engaged, my then-fiancée – no not her – told me she wanted a house, kids, and a dog. I told her I wanted a spider monkey. She tried to laugh it off, but eventually caved. Perhaps she thought I could never complete the trifecta. (Weird – Word doesn’t recognize “trifecta” – apparently Bill Gates doesn’t employ enough degenerate gamblers.)

Well, this Friday, we’re getting a golden retriever. So now it’s time to pay up. I don’t care if my wife’s right and Mr. Giggles does throw his own leftovers. Now I just have to find an importer. If any one knows where I can get a spider monkey, please email me. I will keep your information confidential as having them for pets may be illegal or at least against my neighborhood covenant. We will welcome the spider monkey into a warm and loving home. Believe me when I tell you there will be absolutely no harming of mammals in my household.

It’s not my fault my wife now regrets the deal. I’m sure the Pittsburgh Pirates regretted signing Derek “Operation Shutdown” Bell, but tough noogies.

The point is that it’s a lot harder to renegotiate or get out of a contract than making changes up front or not entering into one at all. Be sure that you can live up to your end of the bargain and are willing to work for or accept payment for the terms outlined.

Also, basic advice I know, it’s always preferable to have legal look it over for you first. Although the best lawyers usually can find work, if you’re in a tough monetary position, keep in mind that there’s a pretty big glut of attorneys in the U.S. Maybe you can find a competent one (make sure they have a background in contract law) to give you advice on the cheap or even do a little quid pro quo as your Roman friends would say. But that’s only if you’re in a really tough financial spot – you usually do get what you pay for.

And if you’re entering into a contract with an internet marketing company, make sure you know exactly what you’ll be getting. Do they just send you traffic, or will they help you convert it? Where is the traffic coming from? Are they sending you people that have already been contacted by your competitors?

For Web site design work, what happens if you need changes in the future? Will you have to pay for it? Are there ongoing fees for “maintenance”? Is search engine optimization a part of their work?

For email campaigns, are you going to get blacklisted as spam? Where do the lists come from? For search engine optimization, will you get blacklisted as “black hat” SEO? What techniques will they use and are there any potential conflicts now or in the future with the search engines?

Be sure you know all this before you sign the dotted line. Remember, “knowing is half the battle”.

If you’d like a Free Quote and Consultation from your Real American Online Marketing Heroes, give us a call at 1-800-979-3177.

Justin Seibert

Justin Seibert is the President of Direct Online Marketing. He regularly speaks on search engine marketing, social media optimization, and online reputation management. Follow him on twitter. Why not check out the company on facebook while you're at it?

I was originally going to write about a different topic today until I heard Manic Monday on the radio on the way into work. That was the 80’s hit by my former fiancée, Susanna Hoffs*. The reason she’s my former fiancée* is that I decided to break it off^ after she disregarded my advice and committed career suicide by leaving the Bangles. History’s on my side: two #1 singles, two #2’s, and a total of 8 singles as good as her top selling solo work.

In Manic Monday, she sings, “I wish it were a Sunday.” Note the bolding of “were”. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve heard singers say “I wish I was.” Maybe we wouldn’t be in this position if Schoolhouse Rock ever did a song about the subjunctive mood. Sure, sure, I’m uptight about this kind of stuff. Blame my mom – heaven forbid I ever answered the phone, “This is him.” (Although Mr. Morton did teach us about subjects and predicates, he never went into predicate nominatives.)

Then I started thinking about email correspondence. Proper grammar is crucial in any type, including: client correspondence, auto-responders to potential client inquiries, email newsletters, internal memos.

Email Communication Grammar Tip #1:

If you don’t have a grammar – and spelling! – editor associated with whatever email client or service (e.g. Thunderbird, Outlook, Hotmail, etc.) you use, try typing your emails in Word first and then copying over to the email before you send. Word’s not perfect, but it’s a lot better than trying to do it blindly.

Most people won’t bust you for misplacing a comma (at least I hope not – Mrs. Knox, Ms. Hofreuter, Mrs. Sprague, Mr. Fischer, and more all tried unsuccessfully to teach me those rules), but you’d be surprised how many people will take note of misspelled words or blatantly wrong uses of punctuation and other forms of grammar.

You wouldn’t send out a resume with a typo, would you? I have done a fair bit of hiring and will tell you that bad grammar on a cover letter will usually be used to weed out candidates.

Email Communication Grammar Tip #2:

If you don’t know and don’t have your high school English teacher locked in a cage at your office, use search engines! Look up rules. Remember sites that gave you good, easy to understand advice and use them again in the future.

I’m far from the only one advocating this adherence to grammar in email communications. Internet managers for GM’s dealerships are told several times in their training that although prompt replies are crucial to the success of lead closure, they should never be sent out carelessly. They state, “Furthermore, some people may be insulted by the errors and choose to discontinue dialogue with you. They may feel that it is careless and indicative of the way you conduct business.”

Email Communications Grammar Tip #3:

Use auto-responders and email templates. You should spend a reasonable amount of time checking these for typos in the beginning so that you don’t have to sacrifice time with actual responses sent. Do the work upfront and you don’t need to worry later about anything other than the limited information you manually added into the email.

Think I’m off base? One attorney recently remarked that he was impressed that all my emails were grammatical error-free.

Why risk turning potential business away with sloppy grammar in your emails? It ain’t not werth it.

* crush.**
^ blatant lie. Although the picture is real.^ (That’s called a perpetual loop.)
** filer of stalking charges against me. I still think her trash should be considered public property and that I’m entitled to check in it for started but never finished love letters to me even if said trash is located in her master bedroom and I have to sneak into a locked house to find it.

Justin Seibert

Justin Seibert is the President of Direct Online Marketing. He regularly speaks on search engine marketing, social media optimization, and online reputation management. Follow him on twitter. Why not check out the company on facebook while you're at it?