Here’s a good read on how to look at competing sites and analyze traffic using Compete.com and Google Trends. According to the author of this blog post, the real story is that Alexa is worthless. I’ll have to agree. It’s not very reliable. But for small business owners who want to analyze traffic trends and make decisions for their business based on real, and real helpful, data, I’d suggest the story here is that Google Trends is the tool to use.

One could conclude that it’s an either/or situation: Compete.com, since it is every bit as accurate as Google Trends, is just as viable a choice as Alexa or Google Trends. Except for one thing: Both Alexa and Google Trends are free.

Compete.com has a free version, but it’s very limited. If you want to get the kind of reporting that Daily Blog Tips is referring to then you’ll need to spring $199/month for the upgraded version. Otherwise, you’re stuck with free tools. As a free tool, Google Trends provides enough information for most small businesses to analyze their competition and get a leg up. While the data is never 100% accurate (but neither is Compete.com’s or any other tool’s, for that matter), Google Trends will give you enough of a broad overview that you can make competitive decisions about which keywords are most valuable and compare yourself to your biggest and most challenging competitors. If that’s your goal then you might as well go free.

Need a competitive analysis report?

Just when you thought you had a handle on Generations X (people born between 1965 and 1980) and Y (people born between approximately 1980 to 1994), Gartner comes along with a new “Generation” that actually makes a lot more sense to me than X or Y ever did … Generation V, for Generation Virtual.

According to Gartner Research, Generation Virtual doesn’t apply to a particular age group like Gen X and Y do. Rather, Gen V:

“is based on demonstrated achievement, accomplishments and an increasing preference for the use of digital media channels to discover information, build knowledge and share insights. Generation V is the recognition that general behavior, attitudes and interests are starting to blend together in an online environment.”

Gartner defines what they call “four levels of engagement within Generation V, addressing both the extent to which customers will engage with other customers, as well as the level of engagement needed from businesses to enable the community. The four levels of engagement include: creators, contributors, opportunists, and lurkers.”

Since I’ve never felt happy with the label of “Generation X” (I’m right in between being a “Boomer” and a “Gen X’er”), I’m happy that there is now a Generation I fit perfectly within - Generation V. Reviewing the 4 levels of engagement above, I tend to flow between them, depending upon the topic, and I suspect many people are like me and do the same.

Gartner’s numbers demonstrate that only 3% are “creators” - I think this number is low, based on what I know from working with business owners every day, but I don’t have scientific research to prove my point. One thing I do know for certain is that as technology becomes increasingly easy to use, making “creation” easier and easier, this number will grow exponentially over the next few years.

Which category do you fall into? And how will you ensure your business is ready to serve all four levels of engagement of Generation V on the new (and developing) Social Web?

Caroline
Small Business Mavericks
More about the Social Web

From Brian Clark:

I’d say most people do not want to converse with companies, and if a bunch of people desire to tell a corporation something, it likely has a public relations disaster brewing.

But the people who do want to interact with your company are important despite their relative tiny numbers. You can glean potential buying objections from their questions, and consider changing practices based on complaints (but be careful there—the vocal minority often fails to reflect the views of the rest of the audience).

Brilliant insight, but what are we to make of it?

Brian Clark’s insights into social media marketing are important for a number of reasons:

1. He’s Brian Clark - If you don’t know who he is then you do read many blogs. Copyblogger is one of the most popular blogs online, meaning he is a social media maven.
2. Social Media Marketing is still new - There are no rules yet, which means they are still in development; that means there can hardly be said to be right and wrong ways of doing it (effective and ineffective, yes)
3. The future is bright - The best social media marketers have yet to arrive
4. The conversation is just getting started - Conversational marketing is really nothing new, but not all conversations have been going for any length of time

Seth Godin is the most prominent person to have discussed conversational marketing at any length. Back when the Web was in its commercial infancy it seemed that conversational marketing was on its way in and traditional marketing was outbound. But as Brian Clark says, you can’t change human nature.

Not everyone will engage with you about your products and services. They don’t want to talk, the just want to use. If you have a product worth buying, they’ll buy it. And they’ll happily (and quietly) use it. Some people will never let you know what they think until something goes wrong. Id’ imagine that Coca Cola didn’t hear much from many of its customers until it changed its formula - then all you-know-what broke loose!

The take away from this: Listen to those few voices who are telling you what they think about it all, but don’t take their opinions as gospel. They don’t talk for all of your customers. And sometimes you have to go out into the marketplace and mingle.

Brick Marketing recently wrote on the Search Engine Optimization Journal blog about a company called Goldline Research. There are several things that strike me as odd about this company and its way of doing business.

First, the “out of the gate” contact with this company, according to the writer of the blog post, was that they were working on a “research study” that will subsequently be published in the popular business magazine Inc. So far so good. Except that later, after spending at least an hour of Brick Marketing’s time on the phone conducting their “research” the company then drops a big bomb - they want $5,500 from Brick Marketing before they can proceed. What a chin dropper!

I’ve got to say, this is not how research companies work and it certainly isn’t the way a journalist who is publishing an article in a leading magazine would work. Big red flag there!

My regular readers know that I spent years working in the marketing department of a Fortune 500 company and so I have a unique perspective on these types of encounters. If any company ever asks you for money in order to be included in a market research study or a magazine article, run - don’t walk - the other way. And, better yet, call the Better Business Bureau and report them. That’s not only bad business practices, but it’s unethical.

Now, I don’t know Goldline Research and all I have to go on is Brick Marketing’s blog post. I am getting the facts second-hand, but I definitely never recommend doing business with any company that engages in such practices. If you are ever contacted by a company claiming to be conducting research in your industry or wanting to write a magazine article then I suggest you do the following before you agree to be included:

• Verify the company’s credentials - Check with the BBB and other professional organizations to see if they have a history or background of complaints and ethical business practices. Are they a new business? If so, chances are they are not what they seem. While it isn’t entirely impossible, new businesses generally don’t get publishing contracts with leading national publications unless they have other things going for them.
• Ask lots of questions - The No. 1 question you should ask is “Will this cost me any money?” If they ask for a fee, say “No” and move quickly to the nearest phone to report the company to the BBB and your state’s scam hotline. Every state has a chain letter division and an attorney general’s office who can lead you in the right direction. Also, if the company is claiming that an article will be published in a certain magazine then ask whose name will be on the article as the byline. Companies don’t write articles. People do. If they don’t know who will be the author of the article then ask them to call you back when they do.
• Call the magazine - If, as in this case, you are given the name of a particular magazine in which an article is scheduled to be published, call the magazine to verify it. If they’ve never heard of the company conducting the research or say that they have no such scheduled article then let them know that someone is out there misrepresenting them and their legal department can handle it.
• Don’t get too excited - While good opportunities do present themselves from time to time, be wary of anything that sounds too good to be true. Brick Marketing’s enthusiasm at the outset may have contributed to their big letdown in the end. While I am not saying they are totally to blame for their own misinterpretation of the original call, if a legitimate opportunity does arise for you and your company then it is a cause for celebration, but don’t get too excited about it and lose your head.

Leading magazines do from time to time conduct studies like this one, but they generally have a staff write do it. Third party research firms do not ask for money when conducting research of this nature. Don’t let the wolves at your door and if by any chance you open the door to see one smiling and licking his fingers, slam the door in his face - otherwise, you may find yourself eaten out of house and business. Or just eaten.