The Web Strategies Podcast

I began updating the dozen or so websites I maintain for myself and my business and realized that along the way I had launched some new sites without following through with a few important steps.

We all want to know how many people are visiting our websites and we want to know that even if we are not on top of the search engines we have registered our websites properly. In this episode of the Web Strategies Podcast we take a look at installing Google Analytics and using Google’s Webmaster Tools.

I also talk about MindManager, software I use to keep my websites and workflow organized. The program is also a preview of my upcoming book “The Strategic Internet”. It does not have much content as of this posting, but if you would like to visit the companion website to the book click here.

The Strategic Internet [ 11:36 ] Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

This is the second in our series featuring “The Digital Brand Review Board”. I believe it will interest you to see the how we film the sequences for Digital Brand Review, a joint Internet Marketing venture I am involved in with Robin Segbers and Chandler Turner. The edited middle portion of this video podcast is also available on our website and YouTube channel – but without the extra conversions at the beginning and end. Compare the two to learn a little more about how these segments are planned and produced.

The video posted below is optimized for delivery through iTunes and it’s not actually set up for streaming. Whether you watch online or through iTunes will probably take a couple of minutes to download.

As always I welcome your comments and questions.

The Ah-Ha Moment [ 10:13 ] Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

This episode of the Web Strategies Podcast takes the show in a new direction. As one of the first Internet Marketing pod-casts available on iTunes, the show was originally designed to be formatted as an audio file. The user would download and listen to the program on an iPod as if it were a radio talk show. But – as it always does – the Internet has evolved. The way we use iTunes and pod-casts has evolved.

Tom Anthony, Robin Segbers, and Chandler Turner

From this episode on we will present in video. Here is the first of eight programs in a series on “The Digital Brand Review” filmed in July 2011 – with more scheduled to arrive in late august. While the show is not as highly produced as some pod-casts it does take a little time to edit, mix, transcode, test, and upload. The plan is to release them all as completed – but there will probably be a few days to a week in between each.

We take you for a “behind the scenes” visit to the production day of a series presented in edited form on YouTube. For this first broadcast set I used three cameras – two of which which are used only for the podcast audience. I thought it would give you, the viewer, a better sense of being in the room during filming. The intention is to let you see how we use this medium as an Internet Marketing Strategy.

The video posted below is optimized for delivery through iTunes and it’s not actually set up for streaming. Whether you watch online or through iTunes will probably take a couple of minutes to download.

As always I welcome your comments and questions.

Digital Brand Review Board - Episode One [ 12:00 ] Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

This past weekend I took a few days to travel to the Blue Ridge Mountains in western North Carolina to experience the fall foliage up there. That is truly God’s Country!

While I was away I got a call from a long time colleague of mine – Chandler Turner – who has been a guest more than once on this podcast. He let me know that the presenter of a scheduled seminar on LinkedIn had to cancel because of a family emergency and wanted to know if I could deliver this two hour master class. I knew I could come up with the material of course, but this is a fee based class – the folks attending had to pay to be there.

After considering it for a while I felt convinced I could deliver a value to the attendees even on that short notice… and well I guess I’ll let you be the judge of that … here is the unedited audio track from a video I recorded at the event. I intend to post an edited version with the slides I am referring to in the seminar in a few days here on the podcast companion website.

By the way if you would like to view my profile on linked in you may find it here: http://www.linkedin.com/in/tomanthonydotcom

LinkedIn - The Crash Course [ 59:49 ] Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

Our guest is Robin Segbers, who is a principal of Segbers Brand Health based in Virginia. Robin is the former Smuckers Product Manager who launched Simply Fruit who went on to work with names like Nestle, Goodyear, Jared Jewelry, Pfaltzgraff, and Sherwin-Williams to name just a few. Join us for this fascinating look at branding and how if you are not paying attention you can get blindsided by social media.

Smuckers Simply Fruit

Blindsided by Social Media [ 37:39 ] Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

Toward the end of the interview with Robin I mentioned a story about an awful experience I had at Olive Garden and how quickly an unfavorable review was found by a twitter user group. I mis-spoke in the interview and called the group “Hate Olive Garden” it is actually @olivegardenhate if you want to see the tweets there.

Chandler Turner makes a return visit to the podcast to discuss the impact of accurate business communications.  It is not just what you say, but how you say it. In many cases we say far too much, in an overly technical or jargon riddled way. This is a really good interview packed full of interesting and validated concepts for business communication.

When I reviewed the interview for this podcast I realized there is room for tweaking on my own business websites. I think when you first get a web site to where you are O.K. with the content it tends to be intimidating to try and tweak it further out of fear of going backwards on the project.  While one must face their fears, I am as guilty as anyone in the case of my own business websites.

I hope you will take a moment to log into your iTunes account and review our program. Any comment – good OR bad – helps tell iTunes the Web Strategies Podcast is relevant.  Thanks for listening!

Accurate Business Communications [ 38:37 ] Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

My guest today is a fixture on the LA radio scene, Rich Boerner (pronounced “Burner”) . I first met Rich many years ago when we did a web site for his voice-over business. he recently called me looking for an air check of a show he hosted for pay-per-view in Philadelphia that featured an Ozzie Osbourne concert. To give you a hint – it was likely one of the very “first ever” pay-per-view concerts. The air-check was also an example of very early internet video, and that’s why I had it originally… it was included in that website I did for him years ago.

Anyway… we got to talking and I discovered that Rich has transcended the air waves and taken his radio chops directly to the folks over the internet. Seems media giant CBS decided it would be better to cut expenses by changing from a Hot Talk format to a Hot Music format. Sadly it actually makes sense as you will hear in this fascinating story of innovation which I hope you will enjoy as much as I did.

Internet Killed the Radio [ 41:01 ] Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

To listen to Rich Boerner online visit HotTalkLA.com or the 2 Guys and a Mic website.

Rich Boerner is featured on HotTalkLa.com

In a true case of irony this podcast about WordPress as a Content management System was delayed because the WordPress database on my server was compromised by a SQL injection trojan, a type of computer virus. WordPress is the software platform that makes up the back end – the area where you log-in and upload blog posts.

It was not just the Web Strategies Podcast site – but hundreds of sites housed the the vast Rack Space server farm – that’s the company I lease my server from. To be fair Rack Space has completed steps to fix the hole in the security flaw – and as I understand it, that flaw was inherent to earlier versions of WordPress. I just upgraded to the newest version of WordPress which came out earlier today (3.0) and changed the necessary passwords to keep this from happening again.

Brian Walker - Warp 10 Media

My Guest today is a former co-worker and current technology partner; Brian Walker of Warp 10 Media. Our relationship is a fun one – Brian is a regular wiz at PHP programming, an intellectual giant, and like me a huge fan of Science Fiction and fantasy films. So he is sometimes really serious and sometimes just a Star Trek geek like me… I think you will find this conversation fascinating – in a Mr. Spock kind of way
In a true case of irony this podcast about WordPress as a Content management System was delayed because the WordPress database on my server was compromised by a SQL injection trojan, a type of computer virus. WordPress is the software platform that makes up the back end – the area where you log-in and upload blog posts.

It was not just the Web Strategies Podcast site – but hundreds of sites housed the the vast Rack Space server farm – that’s the company I lease my server from.

To be fair Rack Space has completed steps to fix the hole in the security flaw – and as I understand it, that flaw was inherent to earlier versions of WordPress. I just upgraded to the newest version of WordPress which came out earlier today (3.0) and changed the necessary passwords to keep this from happening again.

Brian Walker – Warp 10 MediaMy Guest today is a former co-worker and current technology partner; Brian Walker of Warp 10 Media. Our relationship is a fun one – Brian is a regular wiz at PHP programming, an intellectual giant, and like me a huge fan of Science Fiction and fantasy films. So he is sometimes really serious and sometimes just a Star Trek geek like me… I think you will find this conversation fascinating – in a Mr. Spock kind of way.

WordPress as a CMS [ 33:12 ] Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

In this podcast I catch you up on what has been happening in my company, and talk to a former radio colleague of mine, Andy Hilton about his new site called recruit757.com.

Players at Bayside High School are glued to recruit757.com

In real estate that has one meaning, in business another… at least in this century. And for me it has still another – as in – “what!? Did you fall off the face of the earth??” My business – IMS Strategic Internet Marketing – has been really busy over the past year – and being a relatively small operation – well up till now a miniature operation – I was just running out of steam before getting around to updating my Facebook, LinkedIn, or Plaxo – never mind getting out my first tweet!

Andy Hilton - Owner recruit757.com

In the past few weeks I brought Amy Whitley into the business to help with project management and billing and it has taken a lot of pressure off of my schedule. Amy will be working her way through school helping me make sure IMS’s clients are happy. That’s a win-win-win – I love working with Amy, the clients all love her – and she actually gets around to doing the billing where I found it hard to make time to deal with it. Amy makes a cameo in this podcast.

Besides that, what have we been up to?  A few projects that you will not see because they are not for the public side of the Internet – and a few that you will.  One that you will is called Recruit 757 dot com, and is the brain child of a former radio colleague of mine, Andy Hilton.  You’ll hear an interesting – although kind of noisy – interview I did today in a Sushi Restaurant in Norfolk Virginia.  A shout out to Local TV LLC – the company that owns WTKR TV in Norfolk, and provider of Andy’s “real” job on the sales team there.  As always thanks for listening!

Location, Location, Location [ 27:41 ] Play Now | Play in Popup | Download