ShrimpTank Productions

Who’s looking at you kid?

// April 30th, 2010 // 2 Comments » // SEO, marketing

One of the best thing I like about Wordpress, besides its ease of use, is all the neat little plugins that you can install. I think my absolute favourite, and one that I have on all of my sites is the Visitor Maps.

It’s not publicly visible on all my sites, but it is in the dashboard of each. I know that there are other analytics tools out there. I have Google analytics installed, and I occasionally pop over to previous employer, Pear Analytics to use their site juice tool. But, there’s something nice about the visitor maps. Maybe it’s because I don’t have to go somewhere else to see the information. Maybe it’s that I’m a very visual person, and I like seeing the actual map. I like that it tells me how many times a visitor has been there before. It also tells me if they were referred from another site.I can see what term they were searching for in Google that brought them to me. When I send out a tweet with a link back to my blogs, I can see how many people actually clicked on that link and went to read it.

I guess I’m just amused by small things, but I really like this plug in. Even if you have, and you should have, another analytics tool installed, I’d get this one, even if it’s just for the fun of it.

Looking at the visitor maps on the Sarah Monahan website, I’m amused by how many people come to the site just by searching my name. Guess it’s an inside joke though. Ryan at the Pear made fun of my old site for not being properly SEO’d. He said it was only SEO’d well for “Sarah Monahan” and nobody would be searching for that.  Over 39k hits in 4 weeks for “Sarah Monahan” ain’t bad Ryan.

No matter what tool you’re using, make sure that you’re using something. You want to know who your visitors are and why they’re looking for you.

Social Media and the Haiti Earthquake

// January 13th, 2010 // No Comments » // social media

The earthquake that hit Haiti yesterday was terrible and we’re still not too sure how bad the devastation is yet. What we have seen so far on CNN and FoxNews has all come from people’s use of Social Media. People in Haiti are using Twitter and Facebook to let people see images of how badly damaged the country is.

Facebook already has pages up to let people post photos of missing loved ones, in the hope that people will respond and let them know if they are found. The couple of videos on CNN last night and this morning came from user videos posted to YouTube.

So while people may scoff at Social Media as merely a time waster, in this tragedy in Haiti, Social Media proves once again that it can be a powerful tool. Just like in Iran, the first messages out, before reporters can fly in, are coming from Twitter and Facebook. The images that we’re seeing are actual eyewitness accounts, from locals on the ground. We no longer need to wait for Anderson Cooper to get his bearings in a new country, we can be fed the news almost immediately, by those most affected by it.

I predict that Social Media will only continue to grow into a news force. Sure, people will still use FaceBook to play Farmville, but when dister stikes, they’ll also use it to get their important message out.

Hopefully, with the use of the internet and Social Media, people will be able to find their loved ones quickly.

Happy New Year

// December 31st, 2009 // No Comments » // SEO, social media, video production

Can you believe it’s already New Years Eve?

Where did the year go? It seems every year just goes faster and faster! I did a lot this last year. I started off with Matt up in Iowa, freezing my butt off. We headed to Tampa for my birthday/Easter and to take a break from the Iowa cold. We were also seriously considering moving to Florida, so it was also a scouting trip. Then Matt got a new job in San Antonio. So we came back home to our nice house. It seemed so big after that little corporate apartment in Iowa.
I got a job teaching acting classes and working for a SEO firm. I was also going to do a bunch of filming and diving, but the jobs got in the way! So, after a work trip to New York City, which was also a first for me, I finished with that company and added SEO services to ShrimpTank. The beauty of the web is that I can work from anywhere, so now if I have a weekend shoot, I can take my laptop with me and work on the road. It’s probably much less distracting than working in an office where everyone is playing Wii tennis anyway.

So I’m looking forward to doing a bunch of stuff in 2010. I hope we’ll get several more episodes filmed for Going Down. I’d like to see a few more cities I haven’t been to yet. I’d like to get healthy and back into shape. I hope this is the year my folks finally visit me from Oz.

What are you hoping the New Year brings?

Here’s wishing you Health, Prosperity and Good Times. I can’t help you with your health, but if you need support for the Prosperity or Good Times, give me a shout. We can work on your SEO and Social Media campaign over a cold beer!

As Seen on TV

// November 13th, 2009 // No Comments » // caveat emptor, marketing, social media

The Importance of Celebrity….

In today’s culture, being on TV is king. Everybody wants to be famous. So, it’s absolutely huge when someone says “As Seen On TV” right? Well, that depends…

How many times have you been standing in line at Wal-Mart and they have a bunch of stuff that has the “As Seen on TV” label on it. You know, stuff like the Snuggie. Or that thing that cleans your windshield. Or any other bunch of stuff that you’ve seen on an infomercial at 3am. In this case, just because it was on TV doesn’t make it good. They just bought airtime.

The same can be said for companies. You can buy airtime on the news. You can also buy a slot on somewhere like Great Day SA. You might also get on TV for free if you do something special or silly enough. So when someone posts on their website, “As Seen on TV”, you might investigate further. What were they on TV for? Was it free? Was it paid publicity? Did it have anything to do with what they are doing now? Was it even for doing something good?

I could post on here “As Seen on Channel 7″. In fact, I do. I disclose that I have been on TV in my About Me page. In my case, I’m giving a general history of myself, not trying to sell anything in particular. Some places will advertise a As Seen On… on their website, but it doesn’t have anything to do with what they’re doing now. They’re just trying to add credibility.

Here’s an example from another company in San Antonio:

Whilst it’s true that they were mentioned on all the above sites, they’re advertising is still a little ingenuous. You see, what they were on all of these sites for has nothing to do with what they are currently advertising their services as. They are currently selling a web based SEO tool, whilst all the “Mentions” were for a “twitter study”. Most of the mentions weren’t even very flattering.  If you’re going to hire someone based on all the so called credibility of being famous, ask them to show you copies of all their mentions. See if it’s even good publicity. Bernie Madoff, if he were to ever be released from prison could start working as a broker again and state that he was seen on CNN and Fox News. He’s not lying. It just doesn’t mean that he was on there for the right reasons.

So always do your research. On Google, it’s easy. Type in the company you’re thinking of hiring, then do a news search. See if the news search matches up with what they’re saying. After all, you’d hate to send your kid to some summer camp because they said they were featured on TV, only to find out they were on the news because they failed their health inspections or a bunch of kids went missing on a hike….

Caveat Emptor.

Follow through is Key

// October 28th, 2009 // No Comments » // SEO, social media

It doesn’t matter how great your site is SEO’d, if your product or service sucks.

During my long years of working, I’ve seen some great companies and some really crappy ones. Some had a great concept, but lacked follow through. Others only had a so-so product, but such great customer service, people stayed loyal to them.

Social Media is a great way to improve your customer service. It gives you a chance to interact with your clientele. You can see what people are saying about you, and it gives you a chance to address any questions or concerns. For example, I tweeted out that I was having issues with putting wordpress on my GoDaddy hosted server. I got a Tweet back from GoDaddy with a link to instructions on how to resolve my issue. I was impressed. I went from listening to co-workers diss GoDaddy to defending them. On the other hand, I once worked for a company that was spending a bunch of money to launch a product at at Trade Show out of town. After spending many thousands of dollars, the product wasn’t ready. They weren’t ready for the launch and all they did was upset a whole lot of potential customers.

While you’re working on the Search Engine Optimization for your website, make sure you’re also working with your employees on customer service. It doesn’t matter if you show up number one on Google if you can’t follow through with your service.