It happens to the best of us- you write, write, and write some more, and still your blog analytics are rather dismal. Maybe you don’t have a lot of views, or maybe your post is not boosting your social media traffic very much. Don’t worry- your blog will not be friendless forever. A few social media management lessons will help youincrease blog traffic and transform your blog into a social butterfly. (photo: blog.srssoft.com) Take a look at these Four Top Mistakes In Social Media Management- aka, The Four Reasons Your Blog Has No Friends.  You are not being an active responder. Like most other [...]

You’ve probably heard of Wikipedia. The collaborative online encyclopedia is one of the top-ranking search engine results for a huge variety of subjects, and its user-generated content platform has generated a lot of debate. What you might not know is that the same technology behind Wikipedia can be usedstreamline your business’ content management systems. Wikipedia is simply the most famous example from a long line of wikis- user generated content management systems that have become a booming trend in the online business world. Basically, wikis are simplified webpages that allow multiple users to edit and curate content. On Wikipedia, any user can [...]

  You’ve spent so much time making your business computer-savvy and Internet-friendly. You’ve developed a sophisticated website, built up some SEO credit, and optimized all of your content. Surely all of that hard work will transfer to someone’s smartphone, right? Wrong. Making businesses mobile friendly is an entirely different ballgame, and its one that your business should not sit on the bench for. By 2013, more users will access the Internet via mobile devices than via desktop or laptop computers. This means that, in the very near future, most of your business could be coming directly from smartphones. So, what’s the difference between making businesses [...]

As many of you know, Amanda and I just returned from a roadtrip adventure to Austin, Texas for SXSW. We created a mobile marketing agency in an RV with a hot spot, a ton of power converters, two dogs, and a load of diet cokes and sour patch kids. Over the last few years, South by Southwest has grown in magnitude and size, becoming a petri dish for innovation, launches, and where to go if you are anyone in technology/interactive and music (film is still not as big). In past years, SXSW was the venue for the launches of Twitter (well, it really caught [...]

When you hear the phrase “Old Spice”, you might not immediately think about innovative online campaigns. In fact, you probably think of deodorant, body wash, and those commercials with the shirtless man. However, Old Spice took the 2011 Webby Awards by storm, winning the awards for Best Use of Social Media and Viral Marketing. And yes, the shirtless man did have something to do with it. We give Old Spice a gold medal (or 12) Photo: Old Spice After a string of successful television advertisements titled “The Man That Your Man Could Smell Like”, Old Spice decided to adapt that [...]

  There are simple ways any business can improve their online standings and search engine optimization is the perfect place to begin. By implementing a few changes, you can begin to generate more leads and increase conversions. Each element of SEO is a piece of a larger puzzle to help your business succeed as a whole. Not sure where to start? Below are three guidelines to begin improving your on page SEO.   Content is important Your business is presented through text on a screen and if isn’t neat and clean then it’s probably not going to leave a good impression on the reader. [...]

  The time has come… Timeline for Brands has arrived. You have probably noticed all of the personal Timeline pages popping up around Facebook. But, have you thought about how those pages could effect your business’s Facebook marketing results and social media strategy? At its recent conference in NYC, Facebook rolled out the red carpet for its next round of major changes, including a signficant overhaul of Facebook’s business formatting. (Photo: SEO Web First) Facebook For Business: Timeline Formatting Changes Following this year’s rollout of personal timeline pages, Facebook has announced Facebook Timeline for Brands, with new features and post formats designed to [...]

Let’s be honest, there are a lot of reason to love fashion retailer H&M. Awesome clothes… even better prices… hundreds of store locations… and they’re even good at social media! With Google+ on the rise as a business and social media engagement tool, H&M’s Google+ page provides a great model for successfully utilizing Google Plus for business.   Google+ For Business: What H&M Does Well H&M does a great job of keeping its Google+ page very visual. Instead of overwhelming the viewer with text, they provide a string of images designed to tell a specific story, with a link to a longer article in [...]

Last week, we gave a brief overview of how to host a successful webinar for your business, BUT before you get to host the actual webinar, you first have to pick a site to use. This may seem simple, but there are a plethora of webinar-hosting sites out there, and they are not all created equal.  Some are free, some charge, some put limits on the number of attendees, and some allow you to record meetings while others do not. There’s a lot to think about when choosing the best site, and it can take quite a bit of time to research [...]

You should hear Amanda and Alexandra talk to the OttoPilot team about their upcoming road trip to the 2012 SXSW Interactive Festival: “And then we’re going to visit the Minister’s House—“ “—What?” “The World’s Biggest Treehouse.” “Oh… nice…” “And THEN we’re going to visit the Salt and Pepper Shaker Museum…. And I didn’t even tell you the best part. We’re taking an RV.”   Silence.   Although judging from the dialogue you may think the two captains of OttoPilot Media are well into at LEAST their sixth decade, Amanda and Alexandra are young and fashionable—not the type you’d expect to get excited about rolling up [...]