I just got back from my trip to South Beach a few hours ago and I’m welcomed home to the office with snickers of anticipation for me to see this Christmas surprise Morgan has in store for me.
This is the email I received upon landing in Long Beach:
Everyone:
I was looking at the CKMG corp. site and I noticed something very strange.
While I’m not exactly sure what happened, but I think elves attacked us.
Seriously, are there elf hackers? Doug, look into that.
Honestly, I don’t know how to explain it… check it out for yourselves HERE.
Morgan
My first thought was that we’d been hacked and how perfect the timing was… but when I clicked the link, saw the stockings and read the title “Akmg CkmgHRISTMAS STORY,” I knew I was in for a treat. Take a moment to read when you have a chance, it’s a great read… Looks like we need to get some poetry clients now.
-Tom
Our Anticipation of Google’s Universal Search ReinFORCEes our Philosophy re: SEO
Wednesday, May 23rd, 2007
The premise of Google’s new search initiative is that they are doing what they’ve promised they’d do…
“Consistently Improve their Algorithm to Pull the Most Relevant and up to date Information for Users”
You may come across long winded pontifications about what this
update means and how it will affect the search engine optimization
world but the skinny of the matter is this.
Address your consumers needs and get granular with your search engine optimization approach.
Every piece of content within your site needs to be optimized. If it
makes sense for you to integrate video or audio content into your site
because it will help you to convey your message to users better — DO IT
& optimize them individually by keyword/s.
With Google’s algorithm becoming more granular with the way they are
pulling search results they are simply forcing marketers to become more
serious about optimizing their online brands.
The key to a successful Search Engine Optimization initiative is in the PLANNING, EFFICIENT SYSTEMS and EXECUTION.
It’s imperative to address the following questions to decide how much
of this initiative you will take in house and what you will contract
out:
- Is our offering one that requires a major initiative to establish
authority within the search engine results? Paid & Organic?
- How do we architect a site to address the needs and concerns of our company’s broad and niche demographics?
- How can we make ourselves unique in comparison to our competitors and what will our competitive advantage be?
- What forms of media will we need to include to ensure we are
providing the most relevant information for our primary, secondary and
long tail keywords?
- Who do we build a custom content management system that will allow
a small team of editors and writers to integrate, update and optimize
content on a daily basis?
- How do we ensure the content management we use will allow us the
ability to optimize each type of content placed within the site: Video,
News, Local, Books, Audio, Images, Articles, Social Posts, Blog?
- How do we monetize each type of unique content and which forms of monetization should we initiate first?
The bottom line to this post is that “SEO” like the Search Engine
Algorithms is ever-evolving. The mantra within your company should be,
“Plan, Systemize, Execute, Assess, Improve… Plan, Systemize, Execute,
Assesss, Improve…”
Don’t be a “Wagon Jumper”… Just because you read a new article
headlined within the latest issue of iMediaConnection doesn’t mean you
should ditch your website to launch a Branded Desktop Application
(BDA). Focus on what’s best for your ideal consumer and develop your
own ideas of how to target them. Get real with your audience and be
honest. Chances are you’ll make the right decision and chances are the
folks at Google will be doing the same thing.
Tom Elliott, Co-Founder & CEO CKMG
Wikia — Google’s Worst Nightmare?…
Tuesday, April 10th, 2007
Like many of you I’m a loyal subscriber to Fast Company. The April 2007 issue showcases Jimmy Whales, the eclectic founder and front man of Wikipedia — the largest free-content encyclopedia on the Internet with over 2,000,000 articles and still growing…
The headline is great, in big bold letters it says, ‘Google’s Worst
Nightmare’. My attention like yours now was piqued and I dove into the
Alan Deutschman article over my morning cup of drip.
“Last Summer, Sir Richard Branson, the entrepreneur behind the
Virgin companies, invited a few of his friends-luminaries such as
Archbishop Desmond Tutu, Jimmy and Rosalynn Carter, Peter Gabriel, and
Google cofounder Larry Page to be his guests at Necker, his private
island in the caribbean, for a few days. Branson also summoned Jimmy
“Jimbo” Wales, the creator of Wikipedia, the free and wildly popular
online encyclopedia that’s open to anyone to rewrite and edit.”
Of course… doesn’t it seem that most articles these days seem to start out with Sir Richard Branson throwing a party at Necker? I can’t wait for my invitation to crush some people while playing his character building games in and around the island.
Anyhow, the article goes on to talk about a brief competition
between Larry Page of Google and Jimmy Whales of Wikipedia both taking
turns kite surfing around Necker which is the perfect preliminary round
of what some feel will be an all out assault on Google’s search market
share with the launch of Jimmy’s new search engine, Wikia.
Here’s how the search world currently stacks up according to comScore Media Matrix, Hitwise & JP Morgan:
The SEARCH Market
Unique Visitors in December of 2006 Source: comScore Media Metrix
- Google: 47.3%
- Yahoo: 28.5%
- Microsoft: 10.5%
- Ask: 5.4%
- Time Warner Network: 4.9%
- Other: 3.4%
Search Volume in January of 2007 Source: Hitwise. Data Based on sample of 10 million U.S. Internet users.
- Google: 63.1%
- Yahoo: 21.4%
- MSN: 10%
- Ask: 3.5%
- AOL: 0.5%
- Other: 1.5%
Revenue (2007 estimates) Source: JP Morgan
- Google: $8.6 Billion U.S. & $7.1 Billion International
- Yahoo: $3.2 Billion U.S. & $1.1 Billion International
- Ask: $450 Million U.S. & $50 Million International
How is Jimmy Whales and his army of volunteer editors going to tackle Google and the other search players listed above?
He managed to build Wikipedia through the volunteered efforts of
thousands of editors across the globe so one assume he already has a
network of resources to tap into on this quest for search supremacy.
His holistic approach of cleaning up search to offer a better
solution for internet users is attractive due to the following
statistics provided by Convera, November 2006:
- Only 21% of Professionals always feel that search engines understand their queries
- 10% ALWAYS find EXACTLY what they want on the FIRST ATTEMPT
- … BUT without a viable alternative, PEOPLE BANG their HEAD against THE WALL and 93% of USERS tend to search again using a new Query with similar meaning at the same Search Engine rather than switch to a new one
I admit that I am one of the ‘Head Bangers” as I’ve been a loyal
Google searcher for the last couple years and have never NOT found what
I was looking for. Often times I do need to drill down to a more
targeted keyword phrase and this is purely because there is so much
more content on the web these days. Online marketers have become more
proficient with promoting their information causing searchers to be
more specific with what they’re looking for. Something I feel keeps us search engine marketers on our toes by forcing us to continually improve our content.
At the end of the day, the article on Jimmy and Wikia was great.
It’s another great example of how traditional publication when done
right can still create a powerful buzz and even if he doesn’t have a chance of toppling Google, people will still cheer him on as everyone loves an underdog.
:) Tom Elliott
Who said Baby Boomers were Cranky?
Saturday, February 3rd, 2007
Recently
I’ve been doing some research within the Baby Boomer Marketplace
searching for hidden opportunities and remembered reading about a new
search engine that was launching geared towards the Baby Boomers of the
world.
CRANKY!
Upon first glance of the Top 10 searches today that are updated regularly it doesn’t seem that they are too cranky at all. 
1) sex
2) make new friends
3) & 4) jobs after retirement - (not sure why it lists the same search twice)
5) brain builders
6) romantic escapes
7) travel
8) discounts
9) work from home
10) wallpapers
I went ahead and clicked on Make New Friends and
it pulled up a very clean search page. It offers the user a chance to
narrow or expand their search with 4 options for each which is pretty
cool. There were the typical sponsored links… search engines are of
course “for profit” business models and they also provide a link
labeled Eons LifeDreams: Make New Friends.
As a first time user of this site and someone that is naturally
curious I decide to click this link. Upon first glance I see that it’s
a tool that Cranky/Eons has put in place to help connect people within
the search usership. Good Concept… I’m not sure how it will do with
the user base but I’ll be the first in line to see a case study
developed.
I do like how it provides relevant content to the topic that was
searched and ties it into other areas of the site. You are able to join relevant groups, respond to relevant blog postings and develop your own list of “LifeDreams” once you set up an account of course…
I think the coolest part of this site is that it allows you the
option of increasing the font size to a remarkable Font 16. I will
definitely recommend this new search engine to my not so savvy family
members that just happen to fit the demographics.
Good Stuff Cranky… Keep it up!
Thanks to all in attendence. I had a great time sharing information with everyone; hopefully each of you walked away with at least one helpful gem of knowledge. I mentioned a few SEO tools in the Presentation that I mentioned I’d list for those interested.
Advanced Web Ranking Tool: Caphyon offers a free 30 day trial which allows you plenty of time to decide if you are going to purchase a license.
Some of the Features I enjoy -
Keyword Generator: Build robust keyword lists starting from words you provide. It will provide you with all possible keyword solutions.
Customizable Web Ranking Reports: These reports can be customized to your every need. I mentioned in my presentation that it allows you to query more than 800 international and local search engines to identify where you Web sites are currently ranked within the SERPS.
Lou Fabiano brought up a good point that I wasn’t 100% sure of that I wanted to follow up on. He asked if running these reports would hinder your progress within the search engines for checking rankings too often.
Advanced Web Ranking is written in such a way that its operation is indistinguishable of a web browser. The application will never send your website to the search engines. It will only send a query, and when the data is received, it will locally look for your website in the returned results. 100% Friendly to run querys for your websites 
Keyword Progression Reports: The advanced web ranking tool also allows you to monitor the progress of your sites by storing previously queried information. It makes life easier when you are pro-actively optimizing more than one site.
I’ll add a complete presentation recap when I get back to the states for those of you that wanted to see all the major application points.
The upcoming event in the UK is shaping up to be a hit. It’s the first Annual CasinoAffiliatePrograms.com European conference. Warren Jolly of AP.com has done a tremendous job leading the organization of the show.
CKMG will be on the panel discussing SEO marketing in Europe along with a few other talented authorities. I’m looking forward to receiving different perspectives of how to posture a site for massive amounts of european traffic.
There will be some of the best affiliate marketers in the world in the event attendance so the networking should be stellar.
Poker Tournaments, Parties, Late-Night Lounge discussions and much more…
My first event in the Online Gaming world was in “The Dam“ early last year and the people involved in the Gaming space are by far some of the most fun individuals I’ve ever met.
Looking forward to seeing all my friends!
More to come on this post as we move closer to launch.
At the end of each year I spend time analyzing company goals, personal goals and the obstacles that developed on the route to them.
I thought it would be cool to list some of the lessons learned both by the company and personally in 2006:
1) Be willing to adapt your plan. In order for us to hit our revenue goal we had to develop some new streams of income for the company that weren’t originally part of our goals in January.
2) Keep your ear to the tracks. Throughout the course of the year we were able to take advantage of opportunities purely because we were postitioned properly. If we weren’t constantly trying to learn more about this industry we would of missed the train.
3) Learn to let go. Steven and I enjoy getting our hands dirty, so much so that we stunted some of our growth this past year by keeping training wheels on bikes that didn’t need them. It’s important to empower your team with important responsibilities where your only guidance is the initial project overview.
This lesson was imperative to learn in 06 because for us to hit our revenue goals in 07 it’s imperative that we scale our most valuable resource - human capital.
4) Surround yourself with Winners. We are just as picky choosing our clients and partners as our clients are choosing their agency. What we’ve learned in 06 is that we are on a path to becoming the best comprehensive search solution for our clients. Because we invest so much time an energy improving processes and our product clients or partners that aren’t on a similar path with their business do nothing but impede progress.
5) Clients and Partners are our biggest asset. We’ve been fortunate to partner with some truly stellar online marketers this year. So much of our 2006 business has come from within our network of agency alliances. I read a book a few years back called “Love is the Killer App” by Tim Sanders and I must say it truly is. This lesson and principle has been emphasized by going above original expectations; by spending additional time on our clients we’ve developed innovative solutions that bring more value to all future campaigns.
6) Personal Fitness is mandatory if you are to perform at a high level each day. I’ve been working out all my life and if I was to time line my life you’d see different reasons for my strenuous workouts. The lesson I learned in 2006 is that my performance at work is directly correlated with how many times I was able to fit a work out in during the week. I’m so much more productive when training on a regular schedule.
-Tom
It’s almost the end of the year and I’m starting to analyze the deals that have been fruitful and the deals that have fell short of their expectations. I do this to prevent making the same mistakes twice with deals, unique business relationships, etc…
What I’ve realized is that it wasn’t always about the deal as much as it was all about the people involved and their understanding of what it means to “execute”.
Main Entry: Execution
Part of Speech: noun
Synonyms: accomplishment, achievement, consummation, fulfilling, doing, completion, realization, performance, implementation
Why does Google seem to be in the right place at the right time all the time?
The moment someone within Google brings up a new idea, concept or strategy they are making moves to see that idea, concept or strategy to completion. They are always one step ahead of their competitors by being proactive with their business. Yes they make mistakes but they hit more home runs by taking action than by freezing at the pitch.
The only reason I am bringing this up is because as our company grows I am seeing how pronounced this truly is. It starts at the top. Leaders must continue to push and inspire their company’s to break comfortable molds.
- Be Innovative with your Marketing
- Analyze the risks so you can manage them properly
- Develop the action plan
- and EXECUTE.
If you don’t someone will and more times than not, that someone will be your competitor.
-Tom Elliott
Streamline your Content Projects with a Killer CMS
Wednesday, December 13th, 2006
Over
the last 12 months CKMG has been producing 100’s of unique articles on
the low end and 1,000’s of unique articles on the high end for various
clients.
The biggest thing we’ve seen this year is that companies are in dire
need of new content management systems. A killer CMS can mean the
difference of having one person manage multiple sites exceptionally
well and having 5 people manage one site poorly.
Companies that have a cleaner method of managing and optimizing the
content on their site have a leg up on their competition. This allows
them to pull ahead of the pack with content investments when others are
worrying about how to organize their pages.
Obviously the CMS will not be the ”end all, be all” but it
will provide your Site Editor the tools necessary to stay on top of the
site’s daily content improvements.
Your website should be improving every day and with a Killer CMS there should be no excuses…
(Recommended CMS Links coming to a CKMG Blog Post near you)
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