TomCworld Blog

With the proliferation of YouTube and the millions of video sharing sites, videos online have become a huge marketing tool (Viral Marketing). They are, in some cases, very inexpensive to produce, compared to a TV commercial; however, not all videos that get posted go viral. To ensure your video goes viral I have compiled 10 tips that may aid you along the way.

1. Make it funny, entertaining, interesting, risky, and/or topical. Keep it simple and ensure people will want to talk about it.
2. Integrate the brand ever so often so that your views will also remember what it was for.
3. Make it relevant for your targeted audience.
4. Make it easy to distribute.
5. Ben very creative and don’t underestimate your audience.
6. Don’t make your views feel like they are being sold to.
7. Set a realistic budget for your production and distribution.
8. Choose the appropriate seeding sites / partners.
9. If possible, host the content on your own site or servers.
10. Make sure you test  final product intensively before going live.

Rebranding is often a difficult stage in a company’s life cycle when they realize a change in their image is necessary for future successes.

Intel, one of the world’s largest chip makers has recently decided to undergo rebranding after a 37 year run with its well-known “Intel inside” logo/ slogan. They are trying to shift their image of being a PC chip producer to emphasizing the whole company, “leaping Ahead in Consumer Products.”

The Change wont be easy, especially after the enormous success they have had in the past with the the “Intel Inside” tageline. However Intel felt that it was necessary for them to establish themselves in the consumer products market, which they are already penetrating into. The real growth in the next five years are in cell phones and mobile devices so I believe Intel is extremely wise in differentiating themselves from AMD (their major competitor in the chip manufacturing industry) early and focusing on platforms rather then individual chips .

To ease the process of rebranding Intel have said that a marketing program will be produce to retain the the tagline of “Intel inside” to help PC manufactures advertise products that use its chips.”

Expect Chief Executive Paul Otellini and the Intel family to unveil the new campaign during Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas next week…

For more information Visit Intel on the web

It’s been spotted on Gisele Bundchen’s Website that she has taken part in a recent Apple Project, an ad I’m thinking…

It specifically states : ‘Gisele fotografa campanha para a linha de computadores da Apple, MAC (Macintosh), nos Estados Unidos.’

From my 3 years of Spanish in High School I’m guessing that translates into ‘Gisele has been photographed for an ad campaign on Apple’s line of computers MAC (Macintosh), in the United States.’

It’s just amazing what Apple has done in that last few years. Its gotten to the point that Super Models are associate with Geeks. I love that kind of world!, I’m a Geek rightfully in my own mind and who doesn’t want a super model.

Blogging is an effective tool for businesses or simple minds alike that want to draw attention to a subject matter. Whether it be an idea, a product, a service, or a brand it’s up to the publisher of the blog itself.

A blog is easy to start even if you’re not familiar with technology and it cost little or nothing at all. Yahoo, and Google (blogger) provide a platform that’s free of charge and very easy to set up. It takes just a matter of opening an account, choosing a template and providing the content. At the basic level there’s really not much more to it then that. For advance users I would suggest Word Press (What I am using at the moment), it’s the blogging platform by choice, its easy to setup and what it can do is endless.

One thing to keep in mind is to promote your blog. Just like anything else it needs marketing in the beginning, and soon after it can serve as marketing tool. One way to promote blog is by engaging in the use of tags. By registering with a tagging service such as Technorati.com you can easy build traffic. A tag is basically a label you give your blog or post. Anyone that subscribes to that tag will receive your blog or post thus generating more exposure for you, the publisher.

In keeping with good practice, a blogger should update their blog regularly, especially if you’re a business. A dedicated writer is preferred, or at least a constant voice between several contributors. And you should never hesitate to solicit information, remember that is the whole point of a blog to spread your ideas and get user feedback.

Check out Apple’s new line of Ads that compare the PC to a Mac. It really does makes sense to switch from a PC to a Mac. The results speak for itself. Check out all of Apple’s at at there official website.

Tags: Apple, Apple Ads, PC vs Mac

Apples new marketing campaign is brilliant! It tells users truthfully what a Mac is capable of out of the Box, which is largely more then what Windows has to offer.

They have begun to push the campaign through the use of TV spot Advertisements, and instore Printed Ads starting with their employees (New Apple Shirts)…

Apple helping customers explore their products and become experts on just about everything in no-time

Tags: Apple, Apple Ads, Apple New Shirts, Apple Marketing

What’s the fuss over Podcasting you may ask? It’s a growing form of media that is replacing the radio. Users get to listen to what they want, when they want, and at little or no cost. It’s a quick and easy way to stay up-to-date on the things that really interest you. For me personally it’s extremely convenient to have tech news, weather reports, sports scores, market info, and headlining news synced onto my iPod at beginning of the day for use, whether it’s at home, on a drive out or a train commute. I have control of what I’m listening to that’s awesome

But in retrospect Podcasting is bringing out a whole new form of potential for businesses and marketers as a form of media that can create some huge returns.

“Promoting your business just got easier. Create a podcast with GarageBand, post it to iTunes in minutes, and reach customers, clients, and partners in a whole new way. Chefs are sharing recipes. Maternity store owners are giving the lowdown on diaper bags. And other professionals are airing business discussions, marketing new products and services, and keeping people informed.” - Apple

All you need is an idea that you want to get across. Weather its business or personal podcasting is a quick and easy away to be heard. Best of all it’s easy to target your listeners using keywords, tags, and categories.

You don’t need to be a tech Geek to podcasting, its quite simple, and it couldn’t be easier with the new Apple Garageband. So what are you waiting for there is a whole world of potential laying right in front of you… Discover it!

Tags: Podcasting, Apple Podcasting, Apple, Garageband, Yahoo Podcats

Stamps.com’s partnership with the United States postal service to offer customized stamps is not only fun for friends and family, but yet another channel for marketing. Yup that’s right, it stands out, grabs attention and could build you that brand awareness you’re looking for. The service comes at a premium of almost 40cents extra per parcel. That’s a small price for some marketing in my opinion. For more information about customized stamps visit Stamps.com

So why are Inbound links so important you might ask

Think about it!

Inbound Links are a webmasters key to getting notice on the web, traffic to your site, and a way to get indexed on todays popular search engines.

But how does getting links from other sites generate traffic?

Direct Traffic, Links from sites that share your target audience will provide a important source of traffic for your site. Test have stated that internet traffic from this kind of linking ranks as high as 21% of total traffic. The Idea here is to get as much relevant links as possible on pages your targeted audience would be likely to visit. Consider engaging in Link Exchange programs.

Search Engines, Need to be impressed.”Most search engines use the quantity and quality of your inbound links to evaluate the importance and relevance of your site to specific keywords.” So the more links you have that relate to your Keywords the higher the ranking you will achieve on search engines when used.

1. Get high rankings on search engines
   1. Good use of Keywords and key phrases (Don’t over stuff or do more damage than good, use only ones that actually reflects the site
   2. A good number of incoming links from quality sites
2. Create a Buzz (word of mouth)
   1. Offering something new and exciting can often draw attention to your site. Think about how you can differ your work from others.
3. Retain your visitors
   1. Don’t let any visitors get away. Offer a unique product coupled with a ease of use can often appeal for visitors to return.
   2. The web is Interactive so Provide an interactive expericance
4. Pay Per Click Engines
   1. Wont bring you a whole lot of traffic but if done properly, it can offer a strategic advantage
   2. Ex:If you are bidding $0.30 for the keyword ‘pencil’, each sale of a box of pencils brings you $10 profit, but if only 1 in 100 clicks for the keyword ‘pencil’ brings you a sale, you are spending $30 for each sale of $10, which is losing you a large amount of money.
5. Strategic Linking
   1. non-reciprocal over reciprocal Links
   2. Article/ Entry submission, where other sites reprint your content on their sites.
   3. Use of an Affiliate Program, offering others an incentive to carry your link on their sites