And yes… in case you are wondering – we have a 404 set up too. Ask us to help you with yours!

Although it might sound simple, that’s some of the best social media marketing device you can ever get. There are two good ways to put in action:

Don’t beg for friends, connections, and followers. Like a nightclub that has a line going out the door, your business’s social profiles should be open, but not too open. Granted, this is a tough balancing act to follow, but simply realize that having endless numbers of requests for people to “like” your company sends the wrong message. Instead, encourage them to join in, but don’t be overbearing about it.

Treat your friends like friends. We all know how valuable it can be to have a relative, former roommate, or other close acquaintance to call upon in certain industries. Make it so that the customers in your social circle feel the same way. Give them discounts, advice, and other benefits that they couldn’t get anywhere else. In other words, treat them like close friends and family. Not only will this build brand loyalty and grow your list of social contacts, but it will help further the feeling that they are “insiders” getting a better deal than other customers are.

At a time when so many small businesses are treating social media marketing like an opportunity to simply shout offers as often as possible, being a little bit exclusive is a great way to grow your influence and your profitability all at once.

It only takes a fraction of a second for Google to return a Search Engine Response Page (SERP) based on keywords you type in, but there’s a whole lot more happening in the background. You can learn more about search engines and how to be found in them @Google.com, or you can just ask us.

Here’s one of them: When it comes to your online marketing content, stick to a regular publishing schedule.

That is, set a time when your blog posts, press releases, social media updates, and other materials should naturally come out, and then make sure to abide by it. That might sound like an antiquated idea, when a new tweet is never farther away than your smart phone, but you get two big online marketing benefits out of the discipline:

First, it gives customers a reason to come back to you regularly. Assuming that you’re producing high-quality content (and you really should be), then your readers and customers are going to look forward to receiving the material. By giving them a specified time to look forward to it, you can draw predictable amounts of traffic to your site at regular intervals. This is great for your online marketing, but also for your website update and maintenance schedule.

Secondly, it keeps you and your online marketing team on track. Have you ever noticed how hard it is to work on web marketing content when you have a dozen other things on your plate? Writing a blog post, or updating your Twitter account, is always something that’s easier to put off until tomorrow. By having a regular schedule, and one that people know, you can fight off the temptation to procrastinate on your online marketing.

If you want to bring some consistency to your online marketing efforts, not to mention results, sticking to a regular editorial schedule is a pretty good place to start. Give it a try and see what it can do for your business website.

In December 2011, Pinterest reached 7.2 million visitors and has been growing exponentially ever since. Users of the clever site pin still-images or film that he or she finds beauty and meaning in to virtual pin-boards. The images are then layed-out, organised and curated as a collaborative visual presentation, to which friends and followers can re-pin, add to or simply admire. It’s not hard to see why Pinterest is an excellent tool for driving traffic to your site; the pictures that appeal to our identity, to our lifestyles and to our ideals include a link back to the original source, high in SEO value, which means users are browsing your content and relating to your brand.

Notably, Pinterest is still in Beta and therefore requires an invitation to join, but invites are easy to acquire and an e-mail fired off to Pinterest will yield an invitation without much wait.

So what are the Pinterest essentials and how do you leverage this hot social forum to boost your business? You can start by adding a Pin It Button to your home page. The Pin It Button encourages individuals browsing your site to pin your content to their own Pinterest accounts. This is also a great way to show your clientele that you’re active on Pinterest.

A smart, initial, setup step is to link your business Pinterest account to your business Twitter account. This way, your followers will learn when you post fresh material and also allows you to pass off the reigns for future social sharing. Unfortunately, Pinterest will not link kindly with your business Facebook page; the option is only available for individual user accounts at this time.

Once you have conquered your preferred account logistics, the real success to Pinterest is in posting relevant and quality content that captures the eye of everyone. But what if your business sells a service and not a product? Don’t worry; this doesn’t mean Pinterest is off limits. Consider creating a Pin-Board showcasing your staff, your values, the charities you support or individuals using your service and how your company contributes to their pleasant and luxurious lifestyles.

Second to the “Content is King” concept, allow yourself dedicated time to stay on top of posting new material. Plan to spend ten minutes on the site and you’ll soon see you’ve spent an hour. It’s captivating! We are creatures of the moment, always turning our attention and shifting our gaze to the next exciting, uncluttered and aesthetic shot. Besides that, the point of the site is to be social. Get involved, make friends, comment on the images you think reflect well on your brand and be creative in selecting your own material, all of which take dedication and manpower.

Lastly, we’ve all heard about failed social media campaigns or worse, the online horror stories. While controversies can be of great interest and often “go viral,” social etiquette applies more than ever when communicating on the web. In the words of Bertrand Russell, “Let your interests be wide as possible and let your reactions to the things and persons that interest you be as far as possible friendly.”

When it comes to Internet marketing – which can take up so much time and money – that’s simply not good enough. To judge your progress, and know what you’re getting for your investment, you have to have some hard indicators to look at. Here are three good ones to start with:

The number of new customers gained since you began. In some ways, this is more important than total revenue, since the lifetime value of a new customer (in most industries) far exceeds the value of an initial sale. In other words, finding a new buyer today grows your revenue a lot more in the future.

The size of your email or newsletter subscription list. This is another early indicator of success, since a lot of people will willingly sign up to keep hearing from you long before they’ll actually buy. If you find that your reach is growing with every passing week and month, it’s probably only a matter of time before your new sales figures catch up.

Your return on investment over a fixed period of time. Of course, for your company to stay in the black, someday has to come sooner or later. Keeping track of your return on investment for a given period of time – say six months or a year – is a great way to judge the ultimate success or failure of your online marketing plan.

Is this a perfect or complete list of ways to judge Internet marketing success? Of course not. But, by keeping track of these numbers, you can put some numerical figures with the success of your online marketing plan. And then, you don’t just have the basis for judging how you’re doing, but also the ammunition you need to be even more profitable in the future.

Sources:

http://www.chilipepperweb.net/domain-name-fraud.html
http://www.directoryone.com/domain-fraud-information.htm
http://domains.canadianweb.com/fraudsquad/faq.shtml

1. What is Fraudulent Invoicing for Domains?
We want to help you prevent your domain name registration from being moved to another company by being tricked into renewing with another provider.  If you receive mail that appears to be an invoice, which is in fact a solicitation for business, you may be the target of a fraudulent or false invoicing scheme.

2. Which companies are making these solicitations?
There are a number of domain registration companies looking to grow their businesses by stealing business from other companies.  Others maintain clients through simple inaction when registrants try to regain control of their domain.  While we welcome fair competition in the marketplace, some companies believe the best way to win business is to deceptively solicit existing domain name registrants from other companies. Wherever possible, these companies will target registrants with deceptive e-mails or postal mail, and trick them into moving their domain registration business.

Some companies recently reported to have been involved in this type of activity are:

Domain Registry of America (DROA) – click here to read about the court injunction filed against DROA by the Federal Trade Commission
Domain Registry of Canada (DROC)
Brandon Gray Internet Services, dba Namejuice
Verisign/Network Solutions
Register.com

3. What should I do to avoid being tricked into transferring my domain away from my current provider?
The best way to combat this is to simply IGNORE all communications regarding your domain name that do NOT come from your current provider.

NOTE TO ICONA CLIENTS:  If you are not sure about an invoice you may have received – be sure to contact us BEFORE paying anything.

4. What can I do if I’m already a victim?
The first thing you should do is contact the payment authority. In all likelihood, these transactions will not be processed if the company is not able to secure payment for the transaction. If you have already sent money to one of these companies, we suggest contacting your bank or credit card company immediately regarding your options to have any payment you may have authorized either stopped or reversed.

Major Credit Card Company Contact Numbers:
Visa Global Customer Assistance: 1-800-847-2911
Mastercard USA: 1-800-MC-ASSIST (1-800-622-7747)
Mastercard Canada: 1-800-307-7309
American Express: 1-800-528-4800
Diners Club USA: 800 2 DINERS (1-800-234-6377)
Diners Club Canada: 1 800 363 3333

5. How can I help make sure this doesn’t happen to anyone else?
Report the incident to your current provider and the appropriate authorities!!  Proactively combating these sorts of unscrupulous business practices is the only way to ensure these companies are stopped.  This will not only help you, but all registrants, to enjoy the freedom to choose your provider and to be free from solicitations designed to deceive or trick you.  It will also help us aid you in the recovery of your domain.

Please report all incidents of solicitation to: icona inc.

6. How can I combat an incident of solicitation?
Incidents of solicitation should always be reported to your current provider.  Additionally, the following resources can be used to help combat these practices in general:

In Canada:
Businesses and consumers who believe they have been misled should contact the Competition Bureau toll free at 1-800-348-5358 or visit their web site located at: http://www.competitionbureau.gc.ca/epic/site/cb-bc.nsf/en/home


Report your incident using the Competition Bureau On-line Complaints form here: http://www.competitionbureau.gc.ca/epic/site/cb-bc.nsf/en/h_00130e.html

RCMP
Scams Protection – A Student Practical Guide: http://www.rcmp-grc.gc.ca/scams-fraudes/student-etudiant-guide-eng.htm

Competition Bureau of Canada
Monday – Friday 7:30 a.m. to 8:00 p.m. Eastern Time
50 Victoria Street
Gatineau, Quebec
K1A 0C9

E-Mail: compbureau@cb-bc.gc.ca

Toll free: 1-800-348-5358
Phone: (819) 997-4282
TDD (hearing impaired): 1-800-642-3844
Facsimile: (819) 997-0324

http://reports.internic.net/cgi/registrars/problem-report.cgi

Governing Bodies
Internic
ICANN


7. What other kinds of scams are out there?

“Another company is trying to register your name”
The first type of domain scam often involves a company phoning or faxing you claiming that someone is trying to register an alternative version of your domain name. Usually this is your domain name with a different country code extension, such as China (.cn). They will offer you the chance to register that domain name at a high price to “prevent the other person from taking your domain name”. They will often give you a short time limit, a few days or even a few minutes if it’s a phone call, to decide whether you want to register that domain name and prevent someone else from taking it. Popular scare tactics include the use of terms like “domain pirates”.

The people allegedly about to register the other name rarely, if ever, exist, although there have been instances where the alternative domains have been registered by “the other person”. If this happens, it is most likely that the domain scammers are “the other person” and have registered the domain name themselves.

Our advice is not to register any domain names with any company making such claims. If you feel the domain name is important to you, register the domain name online with us or another provider at much lower prices. You may be able to do this even while you discuss matters with the domain scammers.

Other Schemes:
If you have your own domain name and/or website, you can expect to receive a large number of “special offers” related to your domain.

The most common ones are:

Web Hosting: Offers to have your site hosted more cheaply and reliably than your current provider.
Search Engine Submissions: Offers to increase your site’s traffic through search engines.
Site Updates: Offers to improve your site’s design.
Marketing: Ways to advertise your site.
Bulk Email: Ways to target lots of people through mass emailing.
Except for bulk emailing (aka spam) each of these things are genuine measures you can take to increase your site’s performance… if they are undertaken by a genuine professional. However, no genuine professional worth talking to is going to send you an unsolicited e-mail touting their services, so you can safely assume that when you receive such offers, no matter how personalized they may seem, that millions of other people received exactly the same offer.  This is spam, and you should delete it without further consideration.

For more information about domain name fraud and scams, contact us directly. (403) 255-9767

“Customers who watch a product video are 85% more likely to purchase” – eMarketer

The web site required the inclusion of aerial photography, video, layered site maps and interactive building renderings that would evolve over time as the business park implemented its staged development. In addition, the web site was required to function on hand-held devices (including Smartphones and tablets) in order that commercial real estate brokers could effectively showcase the project’s attributes to clients in the field.

In addition to the design and interactive build and site hosting – our team provided project management and writing services.