Last month, Google announced the release of its updated social search results integration. This update took your social network connections into account when serving results in the Google search engine. As a result, when you look at a search engine results page, you can see relevant results as well as recommendations and shares by your network, including your Twitter followers and Flickr buddies. It’s easy to see how an individual can benefit from Google social search inclusions – but do businesses get any value?

In a word: yes. And marketers need to pay attention to what Google has done.  This blog post discusses why, based on iCrossing’s deep knowledge of search and Google.

A quick refresher

Back in 2009, Google began integrating social results in its search engine results pages, but the results weren’t in the same location, nor were they necessarily the same content. Back then, if someone in your network had created content, the mention would appear at the bottom of the search engine results page or if you clicked on the “Social” link on the left-side panel. Now, if someone in your network shares the content, it will be displayed right underneath the Google result itself. Pretty cool stuff, huh?

The why and what of Google social search inclusions

So why were these updates made? What purpose do they serve?

• Google wants to be the most relevant. The basic premise of Google is to ensure that its search results are The Best.  And because they are full of “teh brainz” over at Google, Google knows that social media is a huge deal right now, with everyone and their grandma (literally) sharing information in social networks. Google wants to give people the best, most relevant search experience so that you remember it positively, and keep coming back.

• Google wants you to feel connected. Don’t think of Google as being “boring” or “lame” just because Google is a lowly search engine and not the end-all, be-all of social networks. Google knows how important your social network is to you, and wants you to feel connected and at home when you’re searching for a local movie theater or the latest product reviews.

• Google wants to keep you on the search engine results pages longer. It’s one of the most basic website marketing principles – the longer you stay on a website, the more likely you are to take a look around and complete the desired action. And what does Google really want you to do? Why, click on its ads, of course! This is how Google makes money. So it only makes sense that Google will want to keep more and more people coming to its results and sticking around for a while.

You may be thinking that a lot of these benefits are focused on the individual searcher, and they are. Individuals are the ones performing the searches. But how can these social search inclusions help from a business perspective? Can local and global businesses use these inclusions in Google to boost their authority in the search engine results pages and gain additional traffic and sales?

Absolutely.

Here are three steps you can take now to take advantage of Google social search inclusions:

• If your business hasn’t done so yet, create a Twitter account, a Flickr account, and get active in various social bookmarking sites. You need to have these profiles before you can start networking on them, and they can be great for connecting with your current and potential customers.

• Now that you’ve got your accounts created, use them. You can’t just “set it and forget it” with social media. Start communicating with people on Twitter. Build out that network of followers, friends and fans. The more people you connect with, the more people you have that can potentially share your content to their own networks. This is what will give your content a boost to future Googlers.

• Utilize your internal network to share and fave your content online. Doing so not only gives content a boost from a social standpoint, but your content is then going out to their networks right away. If I know a friend of mine works at a company, and his social share shows up in one of my search engine results pages, I am more likely to click on the result for his company versus another.

Whither Facebook?

One thing that you may have seen missing from these results is Facebook. It’s been almost a month since this new update was released, and Google has yet to integrate Facebook “Likes” in with their social search functionality. Google’s official stance is that they are going to be doing more to “improve the comprehensiveness of Google Social Search,” which makes it seem like this update is right around the corner.

I would love to have these “Likes” placed in my results – mainly because I use my Twitter and Facebook accounts differently. On Twitter, I surround myself with people who tend to share trustworthy, valuable, professional content. While I do also follow some pretty hilarious Twitter accounts, the majority of my Twitter network focuses on online media and professional connections. My Facebook account, however, is mainly made up of my friends, and only my friends. It’s true that between these profiles there is some overlap, but I purposefully keep the majority of my connections separate.

So you can see how, depending on my search query, I’d like to view “shares” and “Likes” from different networks of people. When I have a craving for Thai, I would love to see that my best friend from college likes a restaurant in my neighborhood. And when I’m looking for an up-to-the-minute blog post from PubCon or SMX, those that are shared by my Twitter network are going to get my attention much faster.

Of course, I can always go over to Bing to see these results, huh?

A better experience

It seems like Google is really working hard lately to provide its users with the best search experience possible. Who doesn’t want a better, more personalized search experience? Well, okay, some people don’t like the continuous personalization. That is an entirely different argument.

But being able to listen to the recommendations of your friends, your network and the people you trust? And then act on them? That seems pretty darn valuable to me.

How can Google improve its social search functionality to be of greater benefit to you? What tips do you have for businesses to improve their results through social search?

Dana Notman is an SEO strategist at iCrossing.

As with any type of marketing, you want to make your direct marketing campaigns the best they can be. You want to write the best copy, design the best pieces, send to the best list and achieve the best results possible.

With all of these requirements for an outstanding direct mail campaign, how do you know if you.re doing it right? Here are our direct mail best practices to help guide you through the process.

1. Develop and maintain your database
   Before you even think about creating a direct marketing campaign, make sure your CRM database is up to date. You should have processes in place to add new contacts, manage all contacts and update contacts as necessary. If you don’t have these processes down, your direct marketing efforts to these contacts may be wasted.
2. Target the right mailing list
   Make sure that the people you are targeting with your direct marketing campaign are the best people for your message. If you’re a chiropractor promoting women’s health, make sure your list is mostly women within your local area. Also, if you’re having problems creating a list on your own, there are great online options for list services providers that will help you develop a great targeted list. Sometimes the biggest influence on the success of a campaign is the list that it is sent to.
3. Get creative with copy
   Your direct mail copy doesn’t need to be dull to get the point across. Have a little fun with copywriting. Use examples, analogies, quotes and other exciting text to gain the attention of your recipients. Also, try not to include too much copy either. Try to make your recipients interested enough to want to read more, then point them in the direction of your website for more detailed information.
4. Include an offer
   One of the best ways to attain responses from your direct marketing efforts is to offer something for a response or sale. Whether it be an upgraded product, a free product or an informational packet, as long as it benefits the recipients, they will be more likely to convert on your marketing efforts.
5. Design for your audience
   With the ability to target your audience and write for your target audience comes the ability to design for your target audience. You can customize the design of almost everything you send out in the mail, so make sure it will be pleasing to your target audience when it’s sent. For example, don’t send a postcard of war images or weapons to a young mom who may just be concerned about keeping her child safe.
6. Test and re-test
   Direct marketing is one of the easiest forms of marketing to measure and test. Once you send out one campaign, keep track of conversions and other results. Then, try to improve by changing one or two things in your next campaign. Try a different list, sending on a different day, a different message or a different offer and see what happens. Then keep track of these results, and test all over again to keep improving.

By creating the best direct marketing campaign, you’ll see greater results for your marketing efforts. Your customer response rate will increase, as will your sales, and you’ll feel great knowing that your marketing campaigns were executed effectively.

Trying to find the right balance between traditional and internet marketing can be a challenge. Old school, direct marketing tactics still work, but when everyone is turning to the web, it’s important to be where the customers are.

For some, it’s best to have all marketing done online. For others, it’s best to only target prospects directly in their homes. There is nothing wrong with either approach, but if you’d like to get the biggest bang for your buck, you may want to try integrating your marketing tactics.

Businesses – especially local businesses – see a huge benefit and ROI from local direct marketing and direct mail tactics. As a way to drum up new business, there are few tactics that can produce such consistent results. If this sounds like the right avenue for you, you will first want to identify a direct mail solution. For its ease and cost-effectiveness, Splash Postcard Marketing is a great choice. Splash will help you design a direct mail postcard, target the best list for your card, and ship it out easily for you. And it’s really affordable.

Once you have your postcard marketing solution identified, you’ll want to figure out a few ways to integrate your direct marketing with your online marketing. Here are a few tips.

1. Consistent messaging – If your online marketing messaging says your company is “outstanding”, your direct marketing messaging should not say that your business is “small and personal”. While both of these may be true, it’s always a good idea to use the same messaging across the board to keep your brand consistent.

2. Consistent launch dates – Make sure your direct mailer will hit in homes the day you distribute an online press release, or the day you update a new coupon offering on your website. If this isn’t thought of, you may only confuse your prospects.

3. Include online presence on mailers - It is definitely okay to include your website URL on your postcard mailer. In fact, it’s usually preferred. And if you’re on Twitter, or you have a blog, add those links on the mailer as well. This way, offline recipients can jump online to gather more information about your company and your services.

4. PURLs – One of my favorite ways to make the customer feel special is with a PURL. Similar to placing your website URL on the marketing postcard, a PURL (Personalized URL) will direct the recipient to a personalized webpage just for them. They can be pre-populated with the person’s name, address and even interests. By using these, your conversion rates will skyrocket!

With increased integrated messaging, your direct marketing will help benefit your internet marketing – and vice versa. Your brand presence will also remain consistent, and you’ll be able to build a stronger customer base with wide-spread marketing.

Not only is Liana ‘Li’ Evans a super genius in the worlds of social media marketing and internet marketing, she is one of my friends and great colleagues in the internet marketing space. And, she is also one of my favorite people to learn from and follow in social media.

So when Li sent me a copy of her new social media marketing book “Social Media Marketing: Strategies for Engaging in Facebook, Twitter & Other Social Media” I sat right down and began reading. And I was not disappointed.

By reviewing everything you need to know to develop an effective social media marketing strategy, “Social Media Marketing” can be somewhat of a Bible for those interested in the social web. From the basics of social media to putting it all together in a quality integrated marketing strategy, this book is perfect for those just starting out in social media marketing and those looking for guidance along the way.

What this book DOESN’T do, which I love, is give a step-by-step guide on how to actually perform all the tactics mentioned in the book. Li provides great insight on which great social media tactics are out there, why marketers should engage in them and what types of benefits to expect from these tactics. There are also many fantastic real-world examples of companies engaging effectively in social media. However, Li does not spoon-feed the audience by giving them any “secrets to success” or specific timelines to follow to achieve that success. If you want to be a successful social media marketer, you need to do the heavy lifting yourself.

The main point of social media, of which Li does an outstanding job explaining, is to actually be social. Listen to what others are saying and respond accordingly. Just as you won’t attend a dinner party shouting about how fantastic you are, you shouldn’t jump right into a social network and start promoting your business. Learn what others are talking about and what they care about. It’s about the conversation, after all.

If you want to read this awesome book (and you should), you can buy it from Li’sSocial Media Marketing Book site, or at any online or in-store book retailer. And follow Li on Twitter @storyspinner for great marketing updates, news from industry conferences and stories about her adorable dogs.

In today’s business world, communication is key. There is nothing more important than a strong foundation for business communication, and processes that facilitate this open environment are crucial to the success of the company.

There are, however, some businesses that are still working in the “dark ages” of traditional management, closed-door policies and top-down project dictation. While these methods can be effective in some situations, we are seeing more and more businesses thriving on open communication styles. These benefits can mean the difference between a happy team and a burnt-out team.

Here are some of our favorite benefits of improved workplace communications.

Increased Transparency
Gone are the days of closed-door policies in the office. Having open communications and greater awareness as to the ongoing activity inside the company gives each team member the chance to understand how their work is making an impact, and can encourage them to work harder toward their goals.

Increased Innovation
Improving the communications inside the workplace can enhance brainstorming sessions, and allow for teammates to bounce ideas off one another every day, which increases innovation for the business.

Increased Team Building
A closer team yields a more productive team. Allowing for stronger communications between team members increases their relationships and their ability to work well together, thus providing you with a more tightly-knit team to build your business.

Increased Project Completion
When you open the doors to communication inside your business, and your team is working together on their projects, their productivity will inevitably increase. They will be able to chat around each project and task, and work together to build the best ideas for each project and task, and their work will be completed better and faster.

Increased Business Success
With all the benefits outlined above, you can easily see how improved workplace communications can increase the overall success of your business. A stronger, more innovative team that is working hard together will help bring your business into the future with a solid foundation based on effective communication.

If you’re still unsure how to increase your workplace communications, or aren’t sure you want to experience all the benefits it has to offer, start by opening discussions with your senior team members. Then, work together to build out a communicative and collaborative culture in your business today. You won’t regret this decision when you feel the great impact of improved communications in your business.

Online team collaboration is a hot topic of discussion, and managing communications in the cloud is something many businesses are looking into and implementing these days. There are a great many benefits to online collaboration, but do these benefits really help? Will they replace the traditional forms of communication?

Will we all end up typing, IMing, emailing and tweeting so much that we lose the ability to speak? Will we be able to function in a face-to-face meeting?

Here are a few popular, more traditional, communication methods that can be enhanced by effective online team collaboration.

Phone Calls
Collaboration Pro: Have you ever been on a phone call, with so much being talked about that you feel you’ve missed a great deal of information after the call? Or perhaps you spaced out a bit and didn’t hear an important part of the conversation? An effective online collaboration tool can help you manage these communications to make sure they are stored and able to be reviewed later.

Collaboration Con: When reading text, it’s hard to gauge someone’s expressions, and you may miss the nuances of communication, and misinterpret what the other is saying.

In-Person Meetings
Collaboration Pro: By connecting your team members, prospects and clients inside an online collaboration tool, you no longer have to spend the time and money to travel for face-to-face meetings. You can also start working with virtual teammates by finding the right person for the job regardless of where they live. Now, your business can expand and service a greater distance without running up a huge travel bill.

Collaboration Con: You may never get to meet your out of town teammates or customers, and in certain situations, in-person meetings are crucial.

Emails
Collaboration Pro: There are so many improvements an effective collaboration solution can make to your email communications, it’s difficult to list them all here. Now, when your information is managed more effectively, you can communicate with team members without CCing them on everything, you can find relevant information more easily without having to sift through thousands of emails, and your inbox won’t be clogged up by large files traveling back and forth. Not to mention the fact that your files will be managed much better, and your team will be able to handle current file versions in an orderly fashion.

Collaboration Con: Every single person you communicate with each day is not inside your collaboration solution, so you will still have to deal with email from those people.

Our recommendation is to find the right balance for managing all communications and collaboration in your business and work with a team to figure out what makes sense for your processes. Use a collaboration solution to enhance your communication style, and help propel you in a positive direction for the future.

The concept of cloud computing seems to be getting more and more popular lately. Why? Because businesses are realizing what it can offer. When executed correctly, cloud computing is able to enhance the way the business is run, the way employees behave and the way information is managed.

Because of certain advancements in cloud computing, businesses are now able to better manage many of their processes. No longer will past documents be stored on dusty external hard drives that could crash without warning. No longer will employees need to dig through unorganized files on different drives and machines just to find an outdated file. No longer will team members need to travel to meet face-to-face with prospects or virtual teammates. No longer will quick conversations have to happen over the phone, without the ability to record and store communications. There are better ways to manage these common business occurrences.

There are many businesses turning to advancements in cloud computing to help their business run more smoothly. With greater advancements in technology come greater advancements in business practices, and this is the new concept that is helping businesses improve overall efficiency and effectiveness.

Here are a few ways in which cloud computing can help improve your business’s efficiency.

Secure Storage
Businesses are now able to store their information “in the cloud”, meaning they don’t need file cabinets and old backup drives to keep their information stored securely. Your business isn’t going to have to worry about who will access their information – quality cloud storage options will keep out unwanted guests. With so many enterprise-level security options for the cloud, this type of storage is a sure bet for any business looking to keep documents and information managed safely.

Organized Information
By creating a process of storing all business information through your new cloud computing practice, you are establishing a location in which all information can be found. Work on organizing your storage location so information and documents can easily be placed in appropriate places and thus, found again later. This way, when an employee is no longer with your company, you still have access to their information, and you know exactly where to find it. This type of organization increases business efficiency for all team members.

Increased Collaboration
If you’d like to improve team collaboration in your business, you’ll have to find a way to keep your communications as organized as your documents. Finding a cloud collaboration solution can greatly increase your ability to connect and communicate with your teammates, and allow you to keep track of all conversations for future reference in a safe, secure, organized location.

Each day we are seeing more enhancements to cloud computing. It’s no surprise that businesses are leaning this way to improve their business efficiency. With all the benefits cloud computing can provide, it’s surprising that so many are still learning about it. We just have to watch and see how it all unfolds, and use the best new features and solutions to benefit our business as well.

We’ve all heard by now that effective team collaboration can greatly impact the productivity and success of the business. In a recent study, over 80% of businesses stated that collaboration was the key to future success. This sounds great, right?

Absolutely! But there are many businesses who are hesitant to jump on the collaboration bandwagon because they aren’t sure exactly how collaboration will benefit them. A big concern is that the new collaboration process may not be as productive or beneficial as they want it to be.

In all honesty, there is a learning curve with collaboration processes and tools, as there is with almost everything else in the business world. The key is to agreeing to get around the curve as gracefully and successfully as possible to begin enhancing the communication and collaboration in your business.

So then, how exactly can we get around that curve and increase the productivity of our team collaboration?

Begin With An End In Mind
Understanding that you are collaborating on an idea, a project or a goal is important for successful collaboration. Make sure that you are working together to achieve that goal, and don’t let distractions derail your collaborative process.

Organize Communications
When working with others, your communications will be about many different topics in a variety of locations. Make sure you are organizing your notes and communications in a structured way for easy reference and to increase the flow of your collaboration.

Invest In An Online Collaboration Solution
There are many online collaboration solutions that engage team members and facilitate communication in a secure online environment. Utilizing one of these solutions in your business will organize your communications and encourage continued use among your people.

Schedule Collaboration Time
Staying on top of discussions and collaboration, just as with email, can actually be a productivity drain. Schedule time each day, perhaps at 8am, 10am, 1pm and 4pm, to check on the status of your collaborative environment. This is when you should review notes, offer suggestions and make updates. Constantly checking every 5 minutes disrupts your productivity time and can slow down all projects.

Collaborate On The Go
Take your collaborative environment with you! Utilize your collaboration solution’s mobile version to stay on top of communication and updates happening between your team while you are out of the office.

Slow Down
This sounds counter-productive, right? On the contrary, slowing down your thoughts and communications can actually increase collaboration productivity. Take time to think of your responses and actions. This can save a lot of backpedaling and rework later.

Escape The Office
There may come a time when you need a break. Take your team on an outing or have a fun afternoon cocktail hour. Getting out of the office encourages communication and can help get the creative juices flowing, so their collaborative efforts are doubly effective when they get back into the office.

Recognize Collaboration Effort and Success
Is your team kicking butt on one of their projects? Recognize that success in an upcoming team meeting, or by rewarding them with a morning coffee. This type of recognition and appreciation for hard work can go a long way toward increased productivity and employee happiness.

Create Collaborative Spaces
If your office isn’t laid out in an easy-to-communicate way, try rearranging things to offer collaborative spaces for your team. Place couches or beanbags in a corner for comfort during a brainstorming session. Find a funky-shaped meeting table and brightly-colored “whiteboard” for your meeting room. Efforts to make collaboration fun will only encourage future collaboration.

De-Clutter
Who can concentrate with clutter on their desk or desktop? Tidy your workspace once a week to organize documents, trash notes and give it a general shine so you can concentrate on your work more effectively.

Have Fun!
Collaboration doesn’t have to be all work, work, work! Find fun things to collaborate on, such as your annual holiday party or upcoming team event. Even hold contests for the wackiest ideas brought up in a project collaboration session. Making collaboration fun keeps your team happy and keeps them working together!

By following simple steps to increase the productivity of your collaboration efforts, you’ll see an increase in the productivity of your people and your business. Customers, clients and team members will be happier and more successful by being more connected and getting more done, together.

If you think that vacations are unproductive wastes of time, you are dead wrong. There are many benefits to taking a great vacation, and if anyone knows these benefits, it’s small business owners. You work harder than most and you want your business to be successful. However, sometimes the key to making your Phoenix small business successful is to give your team members a break.

And with the 4th of July coming up this weekend, I am willing to bet many people are already out on their summer vacations, planning on enjoying barbecues, fireworks, and holiday festivities.

So if you’re upset that your team has taken vacation and is looking forward to thinking about anything but work, don’t be. It will all improve their performance in the long run. Here are a few benefits to employee vacations.

1. Relaxation – Even you as a small business owner needs a break sometimes, right? Allowing your business team more vacation days per year and giving them the opportunity to take them means they will feel more relaxed and refreshed when they get back into the office.

2. Time to de-stress – Sometimes the stress of the workday just gets to us. Unfortunately, this stress can cause some serious issues. A study in the Wisconsin Medical Journal found that women who take infrequent vacations sleep less, stress more, become more tense and can even develop depression. If you keep your employees happy and healthy, you’ll keep your business on the right track.

3. Can spark inspiration – By walking away from a project, issue or complex problem and jumping into a new situation, you are forcing your brain to work in a different way. This could spark some creative inspiration as well as helping figure out the problems at the office.

4. Improve relationships – When your employees take more to spend with their families and less time in the office, they are happier. It’s that simple. And happy employees are productive employees.

5. Live longer lives - A State University of New York survey found that men who took annual vacations reduced their risk of death by 20 percent. Men who didn’t take any vacations in five years had the highest death rate and incidence of heart disease than any other men surveyed. So, men, get out there and enjoy the 4th of July weekend this year. Your life may depend on it.

6. Improve productivity - Yes, it seems counterintuitive, but when employees are planning 2 weeks of vacation throughout the year, they will work harder to get all their work done in the remaining 50 weeks of the year.

By allowing your employees to feel relaxed and to take breaks every once in a while, their attitudes will also become more positive, leaving you with a pleasant work environment, and happy, productive employees. So just sit back and watch your small business success increase along with the smiles and suntans.

It was announced today that a Phoenix-area restaurant has added a burger to their menu made out of lion meat. Reportedly this meat comes from lions raised on a farm in Illinois, which is legal, but nevertheless the announcement of these new lion burgers has caused some controversy.

And a lot of online awareness.

The restaurant, Il Vinaio, is a popular restaurant in the Phoenix area and has received many positive reviews on online sites. The news of these burgers has thrust the restaurant into the spotlight – both positively and negatively.

But what does this have to do with small business? Everything.

The kind of reaction seen around the web because of these lion meat burgers is exactly the kind of reaction you want to see in any of your small business marketing campaigns. You want to be picked up by online news sites. You want to be linked to from hundreds of blog posts. You want to be mentioned constantly on Twitter and other social sites.

This is also a clue to you, showing you that controversy can draw a great deal of traffic to your site, as well as increase your inbound links and build awareness about your small business and product offering.

And while there are people angry about the use of lion meat in these burgers, there are many other people who are intrigued enough to travel to that restaurant and try one, as well as many other delicious items on the menu.

Take this as a hint for your small business marketing campaigns in Phoenix. To increase your traffic, links and awareness immediately, find something outrageous, unique and interesting to market. Find your lion meat burger.