We received an unusual (but really cool) holiday gift from one of our clients over the weekend.

It was created by someone on Fiverr, a website where you can find just about anyone doing just about anything for $5.

If you’re looking to kill some time over the holidays, head on over to Google and search with the keywords “let it snow“.

When your monitor gets chilled over, try pressing the defrost button.

The new Target.com launches today.

According to one of their employees, this was the largest e-commerce project in the US last year. Apparently it’s been two years in the making.

We like it, and we love the use of white space. It’s interesting that it feels so “casual”; they use lower-case everywhere except on brand names and products.

New Plus One Button experiment coming to a search result listing near you.

Google added another accessory to their endless arsenal of search goodies by opening up the lab for Plus One testing.

The actual iconic button reads +1.

By delving into the thumbs up game that Facebook has made into an industry, Google hopes to spread this mini-approval format to include websites and online content of all stripes.

It’s a big social idea but it is Google dependent.

To activate +1, you need a Google Account and a Google Profile (nice recruitment ploy) where all those thumbs up records are kept.

Then the +1 button system shows up on the results of your Google searches. To give your digital approval, simply click on the button.

Next, Google looks at your social connections to determine who to show your +1′s to and which +1′s might be useful to you. Your social connections include the following contacts:

* People in your Gmail (or Google Talk) chat list.
* People in your My Contacts group in Google Contacts.
* People you’re following in Google Reader and Google Buzz.

Seems like Google desires to start a web-wide social marketing phenomenon. And, they have the skills to do it.

But what about the user experience?

If the raw feel and starkness of Gmail and Google Sites are any indication, this may be challenging.

But could this be the new Web standard of social marketing standards?

That’s also difficult to say. This kind of open sharing of your Google profile info may prove to be a tough row to hoe.

With Apple’s recent iPhone geo data-trapping secret vented to the public, privacy concerns have taken a new turn.

Add to that Sony’s PlayStation Network data theft event, and it’s enough to make any netizen nervous.

The Googlees are telling us that “No doubt your website will be sporting a prominent +1 button as soon as it’s available.” With the promise of the +1 button eventually offering preferences, sharing, trends and other indications—helping feed the Google info monster, the Googlees may be right.

And you guessed it, naturally all this juicy data will influence Google AdWords, socially targeted messages, click-through rates and overall search results ranking.

So it really gets back to search – brilliant.

My Take-Away:

I can see the appeal and social marketing value of this, yet I my gut feel is, this is a me-too gizmo that’s a little late to the party.

But I do always appreciate the way Google tries things in the market to gauge success. And this could be another big thing.

It needs a marketing strategy that incorporates social media elements instead.

I’m not the only marketing guy who thinks that way, just for the record. Consider this insightful quote from Chris Kirubi, for example:

You don’t need a social media strategy. You need a brand strategy that leverages social media.

Who is this “Kirubi” guy, you might ask?

Well, he happens to be the Chairman of Coca Cola Nairobi. I suspect he may very well understand quite a lot about what it takes to establish, implement and maintain a successful program aimed at brand awareness.

Kirubi made the comment in an interview with Tim Sanders, the well-known best-selling author of Love is the Killer App. During the interview, Kirubi went on to say that it’s important not to lose sight of a bigger-picture brand strategy just because there’s a new channel to carry it through.

I couldn’t agree more.

From a brand awareness standpoint, social media marketing is little more than a means to an end rather than the end itself. Put another way, it’s no more integral to a branding strategy than a 50” flat screen TV or the best car radio Bose can possibly produce. Social media is merely a vehicle for delivering your marketing and brand awareness messages, just like TV, radio, or any other media channel in the arsenal of available digital-age weapons.

Another great point that Kirubi made centers around staying on the “plot” of your brand, rather than letting the “tail” (technology) wag the dog (which is your marketing strategy).

Once again, I couldn’t agree more.

So, how does a company committed to a better ROI from its marketing efforts apply this kind of thinking? Well, for starters, it’s important to understand the difference between a “brand strategy” and a “social media strategy.”

You don’t have to take it from Kirubi, and you certainly don’t have to take it from me. Spend a few minutes clicking around and doing your research; take a hard look at how companies like Coca Cola, Disney, Starbucks and even a fresh avalanche of B2B firms are handling their brand strategies these days.

Sure, you’ll see social media activity. But I’ll bet you my last dollar you’ll see a whole lot more, too.

The growth of Chicago-based Groupon has been nothing short of phenomenal. With at least 20 million subscribers in 29 countries receiving the Web company’s free daily e-mail, Twitter and Groupon app offers, this is the fastest growing online business in recent memory.

And no wonder. With their unique format, local businesses sign up to be featured in one of their daily specials that go out to subscribers — all neatly divided into 350 local areas.

These offers are unique and feature very attractive, discounted price points. But there’s a brilliant caveat, a certain number of subscribers must buy the Groupon or the deal is off. And that rarely happens, because Groupon brings social marketing to a bizarre new state of online collectivism that is often too tempting to pass up.

From Lasik surgery to yoga lessons, Groupon has become an expert in the art of the unusual deal. The kind of deals that send hundreds, if not thousands of new prospects to a local business. Oh yes, Groupon gets 50% of the deal for themselves – no wonder they may be worth $1 billion by next year!

But I want to offer a bit of warning and advice to eager Grouponees.

A story about a local dentist caught my attention recently. By offering a $231 check-up exam, cleaning & x-rays for just $49, the small business was overwhelmed with 768 requests in one day! Could you handle 100 calls an hour?

Read the complete story here.

Since Groupon splits revenue 50-50, this dentist was only getting about $25 per offer. In reality, most businesses plan to lose money with a Groupon deal. But the hope is that they will gain so many new customers who will return again and again.

That’s a nice idea in theory, but businesses planning a Groupon should have some understanding of what they may be in for and how to best prepare for it. So here’s some prep…

Three things to consider before Grouponing

1) Get a Teaser Mentality.
Remember the premise of this kind of online promotion is to get attention with a sensational teaser offer. So treat it that way. Try not to set your business up for a disaster by giving away your product or service with the best profit margin. Lure potential customers with something that give them a good taste but wanting more.

2) Prepare and Then Prepare Some More.
Be ready for what could be the fire hose effect — many people demanding your offer in a short time period. So be prepared for an influx of calls. Maybe hire a short-term phone service to take calls you can’t get to because you don’t want to disappoint and have those folks bad-mouth your business to everyone they know!

3) Take Names and Numbers.
It’s critical to develop a list to make this effort pay-off. So track all calls, categorize your new customers and then immediately follow-up with another offer to bring those initial trial people back for additional business.

Parting shot: There are smarter, less explosive options to Groupon. Try a simple text blast to existing customers inviting them to bring a friend or neighbor in for a special deal or use Facebook to drive a special offer. There are many ways to share a great deal.

Mission Accomplished: The new Voyageurs Retreat website showcases Northern living, outdoor adventure and the rich history of the Iron Range.

About Our Client: Situated just three hours north of the Twin Cities, Voyageurs Retreat is a community of single family homes in the heart of Minnesota’s North Woods. Whether you’re raising a family, looking for a place to retire, or simply trying to relax over a long weekend, Voyageurs Retreat eagerly welcomes you home.

A weekend visit to Voyageurs Retreat was an adventure in itself. 2,000 acres of land, miles of shoreline, trees, trails and parks awaited us on site. Located across from Giants Ridge Resort, Voyageurs Retreat provides access to a variety of year-round outdoor activities, including golf, skiing, snowmobiling, fishing, kayaking, and canoeing. Fortune Bay Resort and Casino is within a 20 minute drive.

The staff at Voyagers Retreat wanted to create a website that captured the entire essence of Northern living, but was also easy to update and manage. We delivered a website for the ultimate Northwoods destination: unparalleled homes and home sites, recreation and adventure at Giants Ridge, and rich local history – featuring 11 cultural communities, museums, mining tours and several historical sites.

In order to keep the adventure outdoors, we incorporated a WordPress content management system to deliver their message. WordPress allows our client to independently update content – such as text, photographs and images – in a seamless and timely manner.

In addition, we optimized the Voyageurs Retreat website for high-visibility in the search engines. Gaining higher rankings in Google makes it even easier for our client to call their new place on the web – home.

Dear Business Owner:

We recently searched online for specific keywords relating to your business and found that your company’s website is buried in the search engines. If you would like to improve your search engine ranking and be seen on the top of Google, please contact us to be connected to one of our web-marketing experts.

Thank you!
Jessica
www.thegreatestcompanyever.com

Sound familiar? Very often we receive questions regarding how to respond to these pesky emails and whether to address them. Our answer? Delete. But before you do, consider why you received this sort of spam in the first place.

“Search Engine Spam” is nothing more than a solicitation. Companies use automated software to ‘scrape’ the top few hundred results on Google for specific keywords, and then generate email addresses associated with those listings. A mass email is sent, hoping to motivate recipients to respond because their company isn’t getting the search engine rankings that they need.

For starters, any good web marketing or SEO company will analyze the effectiveness of a company’s website first, before making suggestions on how to direct more traffic to that website. If you have, on average, 500 visitors to your website every month and no results – no phone calls, sign-up’s or opt-ins, or registrations – chances are your outcome will be the same with 5,000 visitors. So the first thing to always consider before increasing your traffic is the destination.

Second, good web marketing and SEO companies shouldn’t need to ‘scrape’ the results of Google for new clients. A good company can generate its own clients using its reputation for success, client referrals, and most importantly, its own creative marketing efforts. Would you really want to hire a company to manage your online marketing who has to scrape listings off of Google to generate its own clients?

Simply delete unwanted search engine spam and don’t bother responding to it. If you’d like to study your website’s effectiveness you can use Google Analytics for free before reaching out to a web marketing company to improve your rankings.

Mission Accomplished: A clean, social-friendly web presence for Mother Network Guardians!

About Our Client: Since 2004 Mother Network Guardians has been the Chicago-land area’s leading outsourced IT provider. They enjoy partnerships with well-respected industry leaders like McAfee, Microsoft, Cisco, Dell and Symantec.

Working with Mother’s executive team was delightful. Thanks to Rebecca, Dave and Keith for making this project such a refreshing (and eye-opening!) experience for us.

Even though we consider ourselves “above average” when it comes to being tech-savvy, sometimes working with IT professionals can be a bit intimidating. They brought us into their world and explained the business on a very down-to-earth level that we could easily digest.

This is the same philosophy we have for planning and building websites so we were immediately appreciative of their refreshing approach.

One of the many benefits Mother has to offer is their free IT assessment for small and medium-sized businesses. These assessments offer incredible insight. Best of all, if you’re interested in any of Mother’s unparalleled services, the assessment can be done at no cost.

To compliment their go-forward web initiatives we designed a website that’s incredibly easy to navigate, boasts high visibility in the search engines and features an easy to manage blog for publishing weekly updates on the latest IT strategies.

We also helped to consolidate their blog and social media efforts across LinkedIn, Facebook, YouTube and Twitter.

If you’re looking for an outstanding IT provider in the Chicago-land area, simply visit Mother’s website to learn more about the many benefits they have to offer.

Or, if you’re feeling savvy today, search Chicago outsourced IT and find them at the top of Google

Mission Accomplished: A new, yummy website for YoYo Land Frozen Yogurt!

About Our Client: YoYo Land produces fine frozen yogurts for health-conscious consumers.

Located in downtown Wheaton IL., they offer fun, self-serve yogurt and an array of delicious toppings. Their yogurt contains high levels of beneficial live and active cultures to ensure a tasty and healthy experience.

Building their new website was tons of fun – and very tasty. Since we prefer to really get to know our clients before working with them, we made it mandatory to taste all 8 delicious flavors of yogurt. They passed our improvised and imaginary quality-control test and the rest is history.

Whether it’s changing store hours for different seasons or updating the most recent nutrition facts, YoYo Land now enjoys an easy-to-maintain content management system to support their online initiatives.

If you’re in the downtown Wheaton area shopping, taking a nice walk or enjoying a good dinner at one of the many fine restaurants, be sure to stop in and visit YoYo Land to enjoy some delicious frozen yogurt.

Trust us, you’ll be glad you did.