"The Joneses," with the tagline “They’re not just living the American dream, they’re selling it,” is an interesting concept for a movie scheduled for release in April. The storyline is that the “perfect family” move into an upscale gated community and become the envy of their neighbors. The twist in the plot is that they are not a family, but employees of a stealth marketing company who through a combination of try-vertising, branded content and viral marketing get others to buy what they have.

OK, so it's Hollywood and the premise is exaggerated, but it does point out that anyone in business needs to think outside convention to get people's attention. I'm looking forward to this one -- of course, having Demi in it doesn't hurt. The trailer is below.

So, have you heard about the new video business directory website that Double O Radio is working on? You may know them better as KSIS, BOB FM and KIX Country, but they are all owned by the same company. Anyway, Dennis, the GM, sees the potential for these two media, radio and Internet, to compliment each other, using the DJs and in-house promos to drive people to the web and offering their advertisers the power of video. There they host video promos of local businesses, cooking videos and other vids of interest, and offer banner ad space in an organized YouTube-esque interface. It's very cool! You can check it out here.

This new undertaking is just one of many being considered by a lot of media; newspapers are adding video content to their websites. Online video is here to stay and will only grow as Google and others reconfigure their algorithms to search for video and other dynamic content. And having video on your own site will definately improve your search rankings.

Dennis, I think this is a great idea and may be the next thing in local online promotion. It may take a while for the idea to catch on, but consider this:  They have the vehicle to promote this new site at little or no cost, giving their listeners the opportunity to engage with them and other area businesses. And engagement is the key to converting web visitors into brick-and-mortar customers.

What do you all think? Would you visit such a site? Would you advertise there? Let me know your thoughts.

For my clients who will begin receiving a weekly Google Analytics report, I thought I oughta tell ya how to read it! The first page, or "Dashboard," gives you an overview of what's going on with traffic on your site and really gives a great deal of information. Using the screenshot below I'll explain what those numbers mean to you.

The Graph: Shows the number of visitors per day for the date range listed. Above, you see a steady incline -- this is a good thing!.

Visits: The total number of visitors on the site, both new and returning. This number may vary dramatically for your particular type of business.

Pageviews: The total number of pages viewed on the site. For example, you first go to the “home page,” then you click on “about us,” then you click “contact us.” This is 3 pageviews from 1 visit.

Pages/Visit: The average number of pages all your visitors have viewed per visit. This number is good to know to see if people are actually using your site or if you’re losing their interest too quickly.

Bounce Rate: A “bounce” means the visitor went to your home page and left. Usually indicates they didn’t find what they were looking for either not at all or not quickly enough. A good bounce rate ranges between 20% – 50%. You can’t keep everyone, but if you can keep the interest of more than half your visitors, you’re doin' OK.

Avg. Time on Site: Shows the average time spent on the site. A higher time on site means you have their interest and, maybe, their business.

New Visits: The percentage of total visits that are brand new. The impact of this number depends on what you need from your website. In the example above we see 65% of visitors are new; this is a good mix because we're pulling in more visitors all the time increasing our branding, yet we have a decent amount returning indicating brand loyalty.

With that quick look at the dashboard you have a pretty good idea of what's happening on your site and some areas to look at if the numbers give you some concern, like a particularly high bounce rate.

There is a lot more information in your report like browsers used, connection speeds (DSL, cable, etc), and user locations (countries), but understanding the dashboard tells you in a second the important info.

While I see the need to utilize social marketing in a comprehensive marekting strategy, I don't want to inundate my friends with marketing tips they don't care about. Finding a balance has been a challenge for me, but I may have stumbled across a system that will work for me...and maybe you.

I saw this article in USA TODAY this morning and had to share it. Big advertisers know the importance and high ROI of online and social marketing. Here's how Bruce Horovitz describes the strategey:

"Super Bowl XLIV advertisers are giving the game itself a serious run on the hype-o-meter. Desperate to rebound from the recession — and sensing glimmers of hope for the economy — the nearly 40 advertisers that bought ad time in the CBS broadcast are serving up supersized self-promotion. There is almost nothing they aren't trying to get the game's massive audience to watch their Super Bowl ad — then click on the brand's website and share the brand's message on Twitter, Facebook and other social networks."

Driving viewers to their websites where they can give more information and have that so-important interactivity with prospective customers is what these advertisers are hoping to do, realizing that if you get someone involved in conversation you're that much closer to the sale. And that's the power of online and social marketing. Here's more:

""They've deputized an entire population via Twitter and Facebook to spread the news of these ads," says Robert Thompson, director of the Bleier Center for Television and Popular Culture at Syracuse University. "Folks do it absolutely for free. It's astounding."

Success at that is now how many marketers justify spending $2 million to $3 million per 30 seconds of the Super Bowl's traditional TV commercial time.

"It's almost as though the Super Bowl is the last Tyrannosaurus roaming the Earth," says Thompson. Its TV commercials "have become traffic signs to herd you into other digital places where the price is a lot cheaper."

This will be the Super Bowl where everyone measures everything to see if they got their money's worth. Advertisers will count tweets. They'll count the number of folks who visit their Facebook pages. They'll count visits to the brand, with some adding extra incentive to come with the lure of free stuff. They'll measure the "buzz" factor online — seeking a running tab on how often their company or their Super Bowl ad gets mentioned.

"Coming from recession to recovery, advertisers are looking for bang for the buck," says Jo Ann Ross, president of network sales for CBS, which sold out its ad space Monday."

The beauty of this is that small business can take advantage of this effective and efficient medium on a local level and for pennies on the dollar in terms of their return.We're all coming from recession to recovery and your online presence really can give you that bang for the buck. Your website is not just an online brochure -- it's one of your most powerful sales tools; social marketing is not just a fad -- it's a powerful and inexpensive means to build your brand. Serious consideration should be given to your marketing plans for 2010 with an emphasis on developing your new media strategy.

Read all of Bruce Horovitz's article here.

It happens all the time -- I ask a small business owner for their email address and I'm given something like TheirBusiness@yahoo,com. "But I thought you had a website," I'll say. "I do," they respond. Alrighty, then. Now, a Yahoo account is fine for keeping up with the family, forwarding stupid emails, and using for registration sites, but it's not for business. Neither is gmail, hotmail, rocketmail, msn or aol. And it's not good marketing.

If you have your own URL you should be using it for your email -- period. Most hosting companies offer email accounts and if they don't...well, that's just dumb. Here are 3 important reasons to have email address be you@yourdomain,com:

1. More Professional Using your domain just looks better. You're not using a the same service as your 14 year old and you don't have to be joe1267@msn,com because there are already 1,266 joes ahead of you.
2. Establishes Connection They have your name and they have your company -- it helps connect you to your business and vice versa. People do business with people, not companies. We want to put a face and a name to a business, it keeps us feeling human. You know when you call your cell phone carrier and you can't get a person to interact with? Yeah, that feeling of being an account, not a person -- we don't like that.
3. Keeps You Organized Having a business email account helps keep things tidy. When I check my email it all comes into one place with seperate folders -- my personal accounts, full of interesting news from family and friends, and idiotic forwards that I will only delete.

Now, most hosting providers offer 2 ways to use your email account: Web-based, where you can access your account online from anywhere; or POP3, when you use an email client like Outlook or Thunderbird. It's no different than your Hotmail account, but makes you look oh, so much better!

If your web designer/developer didn't offer or suggest setting up email accounts, they did you a disservice. Rolling your Internet presence into a cohesive package is important for building your brand on the web. Helping you get the most out of your investment should be part of the job, but so many just build it and leave ya hangin'. Maybe it's time to shop around.