Marketing Sherpa is easily my favorite resource for reliable online marketing research. I have been a follower of this online resource for many years and it never fails to impress and educate me with its in-depth results.

Today I noticed that the Sherpa has announced a free teleseminar for December 19th where Sherpa Researchers Stefan Tornquist and Tim McAtee will be providing tips based on the results of their latest email marketing study.

I just received my confirmation for my signup. The seminar is titled: “Email 2008: Top 10 Research Findings and Practical Ways to Increase Email Performance.”

I never know what kind of marketing gems I will learn from these seminars but I am looking forward to finding out. Email marketing is definitely a science and I have lots to learn.

Andy Beal’s Marketing Pilgrim has a great article today by Janet Meiners that discussed a couple of winning sales approaches that are definitely worth sharing:

1. An offline social shopping experience at Bloomingdales that was chosen by Time Magazine as one of 2007′s best inventions. Created by IconNicholson this innovative concept highlights the use of text messaging, shared video, and virtually trying on clothes to aid shopping in the real world. This concept is extremely very interesting and I imagine there are ways to apply this concept to many different offline marketplaces. If you think of a way to adapt it to yours please keep me (ross at stepforth dot com) informed; I would love to see how it turns out for you.
2. The article also noted some recent research from SellPoint that suggests audio/video tours of products can increase time spent on site and ultimately translate into more sales. SellPoint happens to sell services offering audio/video tours so I would take this info with a grain of salt, however, as a consumer I have to admit I am a huge proponent of these types of interactive product tours so I feel this data is worth passing on.

So there you are… just a couple of notes I thought I would share before I account for a couple of great seminars I attended at PubCon Las Vegas last week. Have an excellent evening!

Last week I wrote how Google had removed literally thousands of malware sites from its search results. (see Google Results Malware Free?)

Shortly after that post, Google had put out a request to its users to help them fill in the gaps and completely rid the results of dangerous websites. Google posted the request last week in its Online Security Blog Read more…

Google and the state of Florida are collaborating to implement new search features for Floridians, and really anyone looking for government services online, according to a press release issued Monday on Florida Governor, Charlie Crist’s website.

This public-private partnership is an innovative way to improve the accessibility of state information for all Floridians,” said Governor Crist. “I am grateful for this chance to join with Google to further develop Florida’s leadership in delivering open government services to the people of Florida. By empowering Floridians with the tools they need for easier access to state agency Web sites, we are allowing them to truly take ownership of state government”

This new partnership will allow Google to work with the state to gain access and index data otherwise not visible to the search giant. Much of the content searched for by users can not be reached by search engines due to the method used to store information within the database.

Ad-Butterfly, an online ad services, allows more control over ad placement, providing marketers with the ability to choose which blogs to post there ads to, and allowing bloggers to choose which ads get posted to their site, according to a BusinessWeek article published Wednesday morning.

The world of online advertising continues to grow at phenomenal rates, but certainly, in the big scheme of things, it is still in its infant stages. The control given to AdWords advertisers and AdSense publishers has grown over the years, but Ad-Butterfly offers almost total control.

Ad-Butterfly works similar to the first tier PPC platforms of Google and Yahoo, using algorithms to automatically pair up ads and websites, but it offers a more advanced means of controlling which ads are displayed, for those who want total control.

Bloggers are given total control on which ads they will display on their site and also offers the ability for comments to be placed along side of the ads. Registered bloggers will also soon have the ability to request ads from other site.

The service is available in Japan and so far only 2,000 bloggers have signed up, but this form of paid ad placement is certain to grow over the very near future. Perhaps Google will even by them out it its quest for total control over online advertising. If you are fluent in Japanese feel free to visit the Ad-Butterfly website.

Last week I took part in a teleconference with Anne Holland (Content Director) and Tim McAtee (Senior Analyst) at MarketingSherpa. The call, “Top 5 Tests to Raise Landing Page Conversions” offered insight on how to get the most from your website and drive visitors towards completing your desired goal. Both a PDF and full MP3 of the call have been made available on the MarketingSherpa website.

The teleconference brought to light a number of great tips for increasing the conversion rate of your landing pages, whether from PPC or organic search. Here are 6 tips I found to be of interest. Read more…