Pittsburgh SEO – SEM – SEA | Internet Marketing and Website Design | Blackball Online

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Think about it. People “brand” every day, either consciously or unconsciously. We’re hardwired for it. And that’s because it gives us a mental “shortcut” via the storing of one primary attribute relevant to ourselves which simplifies things. It makes the journey between association-to-recall easier. This works for us by way of storing a mental snap-shot which is clear, memorable and distinct.

It sometimes goes like this; “oh yeah, I remember that guy, (or girl) he had that crazy laugh” and so on - you get the picture. We meet somebody that ignites a bit of interest in us, (good or bad) we then mentally and automatically distill the individual down to a single “stand out” attribute unique to them, which in turn gives us the best chance for recall down the road if needed. It helps us cut through the clutter.

Let’s use a restaurant example; you’ve been asked if you know of any good restaurants around here, you say I know this place that has great pasta, now, they may also serve great seafood, salads, and other stuff, but you’ve instinctively “branded” the restaurant by taking that one attribute about the restaurant which was relevant to you personally enabling a clear transfer of info to someone else.

The person who is the recipient of your “branded” information transfer may not be the pasta type, but they may think well hey, even though I’m not into pasta, and this individual (who seems credible) says they have great pasta, so maybe they’ll have other dishes that I’ll like which are great too.  One way or the other decision making for the restaurant seeker has been made easier via branding. Just like taking a shortcut.

Now, to really seal-the-deal about branding being a part of our DNA, let’s take the most powerful, prolific and the most well-known brand in human history; Jesus Christ. Jesus Christ contained a multitude of unique attributes; He was a carpenter, born of a virgin, preached, helped people, performed miracles and a whole lot more. (I’m sure there weren’t a lot of complaints about the water into wine thing.) But what is His relevant brand, or His relevant brand promise that stood out from everything else about Him? It was and is Salvation. (Talk about consistency in a message.) And what made His brand relevant? Well I guess you could just ask any Catholic priest on Easter Sunday, or any Sunday for that matter.  (And you thought I was going to say The Beatles.)

So, a brand which incorporates focus, relevance and follow-through has a good shot at cutting through the clutter and maybe “becoming somebody.”  And with the endless onslaught of messaging overload consumers are hit with through traditional advertising streams, the Internet and its Social Media offspring, “cutting through the clutter” is more paramount today than ever. Besides, it’s in our DNA.

Sounds simple doesn’t it?

A huge talent pool exists for Social Media that is not being leveraged. Senior citizens and baby boomers who have retired or partially retired offer an amazingly vast array of skills that are not being recognized by the Social Media community. Blackball Online Marketing understands that business is really all about people: how we think, how we respond, how we interact with other people.

So, we decided to list the benefits of recruiting retirees in a Social Media setting:

1. People skills - Most successfully retired people offer amazing people skills. It goes without saying, seniors are very seasoned, savvy and a have a desire to pass their experiences on. (We’ll call this wisdom.) Add to this a lot of seniors are still hungering for a new challenge to keep active and participate in something that they could enjoy, contribute to, have fun with, and talk to their grand-kids about.

2. Communication skills – Remember when communication didn’t involved mostly acronyms? I think you get the point here.

3. Attitude – Maybe it’s the retirement, not having to do the daily 9 -5 grind every day, but we find most retirees have a great attitude and are looking to stay involved under the right conditions. Isn’t this something all businesses could use?

4. Cost – Most seniors have their benefit packages in place already. This decreases the cost of enlisting them to help your social media campaigns. Pay rates are also more flexible. Seniors give you more for less.

5. Stability – If you’ve made it on this orb long enough to be called a senior, that says something for your stability right there.

6. Consistency – Let’s face it, the work ethic and standards were much higher in the past.

7. Experience & Variety – Many Seniors are retired master tradesman, vice presidents, upper management, office administrators, HR people, the list is almost endless.

8. Contacts – Folks that have been in business in certain fields have a built in contact list they bring to the table. Why not utilize this? Did you ever see some seniors email contacts list? – it would make a phone book jealous.

9. Values – without going into a diatribe about the decay of modern society, seniors have a core value system that would be a welcome addition to any Social Media endeavor.

10. Credibility – Along with Values, Stability, Consistency, and of course Experience.

11. Peers – Seniors trust seniors. Need I say more?

12. Logistics – The ability to work remotely via the Internet. More and more seniors are getting Online every day and participating in Social.

Now mind you we’re not talking about seniors replacing someone at lower cost or taking jobs from those in their prime working years. We’re talking about leveraging the retired/senior experience in a support capacity that’s convenient, flexible, enjoyable and contributory for seniors and for the enterprise itself. Seniors have done their 9-5 for 40 years and probably not much interested in a “round two.”

We consulted various seniors in the process of writing this post. All were in agreement that this post was overdue. We hope you feel the same way.

Have any more strengths we missed? Please sign up and leave a comment on this Pittsburgh Social Media Marketing post.

Google’s Move To Goggles – A Shift Towards Mobile Search

Out with the maps and in with the Goggles. Google has eliminated the Maps listings for Online Marketing categories such as Pittsburgh SEO, Pittsburgh Online Marketing, Pittsburgh Internet Marketing, and some other search phrases related to Internet Marketing. Is this the first of many categories to be removed? We see this as a possible emerging trend or shift in Google’s Map endeavors. Is Google making an attempt to scrap the often spammed Maps listings? Let’s look further…

Google has introduced Goggles, formerly titled Google Visual Search in the development phase. We see this as a possible replacement for Maps altogether. It aligns itself perfectly with Google’s move towards mobile computing in a big way. First, the Android Operating System, and recently the Nexus phone release all seem to be aimed at Google’s strategy towards focusing on Mobile Search Technology. Add to this Google’s Cloud computing initiative and the signals become stronger. (Pun intended)

As previously mentioned, this may be the beginning of Google's attempt to curb the rampant spam problem that plagues their maps. Bing has a more stringent verification requirement and their maps algorithm is less spammy because of that. Sometimes being first to market has its drawbacks as companies submitted multiple bogus listings in an effort to be found. Bing learned from this and only allows for Direct Mail registration as opposed to Google’s phone verification option which allows businesses to register from anywhere.

Pittsburgh is the home of Blackball Online Marketing so I can only speak to this issue from our point of view. As a small Pittsburgh Online Marketing Company we cater to Pittsburgh businesses only. It would be nice to have a very pretty maps listing for Pittsburgh SEO again. It would also be nice for Google to share its decisions and be transparent about this selective omission. But Google is Google and that's that.