When Jerod came to me as a new employee with the idea of creating a sports blog so that he could have a testing ground for his passions around both social media and SEO, I said, sure.  What is amazing is that this blog has grown from an experimental project to a heard voice in online sports.  18 months later, the site has accomplished more than either of us would have imagined in our wildest dreams.  With Jerod’s leadership, this sports blog dedicated to Midwest sports has reached the 2 million page view mark, has over 16,000 total pages and 3,614 hand written posts, was in the Top 100 most popular sites on Digg.Com for February of 2010, has been featured on ESPN, referenced by hundreds of newspapers, featured on the front page of The Huffington Post, and has more front page appearances on Digg for this month than Yahoo Sports, CNN, and ESPN.  In 2009 it broke the Top 50 sports blog list.

MidwestSportsFans.Com has been hitting on all eight cylinders ever since the Spring of last year.  With only 6 months of traction as a blog on the Internet, Midwest Sports Fans was a prominent source of Internet information for March Madness 2009.  The single highest source of page views on the blog was last year’s March Madness preview post having over 60,000 page views.  This weekend, Jerod set out to break records as he posted the March Madness 2010 preview post on MidwestSportsFans.Com.

March Madness is always a crazy time of year and it is evident from the search and interactivity online.  I’m excited about our preview coverage on MidwestSportsFans.Com and am looking forward to keep with the content that Jerod creates!

Jerod congrats on your accomplishments with Midwest Sports Fans and at Orangecast!

(Oh, and did I mention that in 18 months he went from “employee” status to having an equity stake in the business?  The power of blogging. . . .)

I just recently wrapped up a project for a client that is launching a new silk bridal bouquet business.  When I took a look at the project, I immediately new we’d be teaming up with Carol and Joe over at Prism Web Media as this type of site was right up their alley.  What was uncertain was how I’d go about positioning the site from an online marketing perspective.  That is when I decided to check out the competition.

There are certain industries that are notorious for having terrible websites.  The wedding industry IS NOT one of those industries.  That is why when I got out and started looking at the silk wedding flower sites, I was shocked as they were terrible!  Though I don’t have near the eye or experience that web designers like Prism has, I do think like a marketer and am going to share 4 key points to any online product site:

Represent The Experience - If you are selling sporting tickets, make your clients feel like they are in the stands.  If you are selling wedding goods or services, have a site that is representative of the event and the emotions.  Take a hard look at your site and ask yourself if you are happy?  Does it represent you in the industry.

Show Off Your Products – If you are claiming that you have great products, then show them off with high quality pictures that capture the product in context.  This is especially true when you are asking someone to trust you since they are buying online and can’t walk into your store to evaluate them in person.

Busy Sites Are Confusing Sites – Each of the sites I looked at in the industry had 25 things taking place on the front page.  Sites should be complete providing product information, product catalogues, testimonials, and more.  Still, it all doesn’t have to be on the home page.  Give your visitor a peaceful experience and get them to your products with ease!

Don’t Chase Away Potentioal Customers – Of the sites I visited, many of them had auto play music and videos as well.  Let’s see here. . . .when do brides “to be” shop?  While they are at work!  If they hit your site and music goes off when they hit your site, they are going to hit the back button as quickly as possible.  Don’t do that!

At the end of the day, I am a search and social media guy and do not pretend to be a designer.  However, I have a life on the other side of the equation as a consumer.  Take a look at your website.  Does it do what you want it to?  Orangecast site has some short comings.  We know it and it is on the priority list.  If your industry or competition has poorly designed sites, capitalize on it!

Let’s look at the facts:

• Unemployment in America is staggering
• This Week Obama Recognized Small Business Needs Help
• Google dominates the market (aka – no need for brand marketing)
• 2010 Super Bowl ads went for 2.6 milion for 30 seconds
• You can be an idiot and still derive value from Google.
• The Super Bowl Has Little Significance outside of North America

Super Bowl 44 provided sports fans what they expected.  Sunday February 7th gave viewers nail biting sports drama, nostalgic music, and a line up of commercials for all to enjoy.  One of those commercials was the first Super Bowl commercial ever produced by Google.  Upon its airing, Twitter lit up with energy and the blogosphere proclaimed that Google had produced the greatest commercial of Super Bowl 44.  The problem is that Google failed America.  Here’s why.

Google dominates the Internet.  So much so that they can actually entertain an action that no American business has ever considered–pulling out China.  While Americans are being displaced from their homes in the largest foreclosure market to hit the United States in decades and small business owners struggle to operate in the worst credit conditions since The Great Depression, Google employees are bathing in stock options and bonuses that were last seen in the dot.com bubble.  Don’t get me wrong as I think it is great that Google is doing well as a business and that the careers of their employees are secure.  Still, when you decide to spend 2.6 million dollars, you would think that Google would make some sort of attempt to connect with the reality in this country.  It is a Web 2.0 kind of thing to do.

Google’s Super Bowl ad accomplished the equivalent of a “How To Use Google” in the context of finding services in Paris, France.  Let’s work through the facts again:

• Paris has nothing to do with the Super Bowl and Americans really can’t afford to go Paris this year.
• People use Google by default and with suggested search they need no additional help
• At .44 cents per stamp, Google sent letters to every small business in the country trying to explain their Local Business service.

Let’s skip forward to the last point.  Google had the opportunity to highlight its Local Business service during Super Bowl 44.  The 2.6 million dollars it would have cost to accomplish this would have been a fraction of the price tag it cost to “snail mail” letters to every small business owner in the United States.  In doing so, they could have inspired small business owners to update their listings and at the same time educated consumers as to how to search for local services.  They could have also focused on searches, products, and services that were relevant to the Super Bowl’s host city Miami.

The Super Bowl has historically been the advertising platform for advertisers to mark their place in brand and creative history.  With a brand that is as solid as “Kleenex” and creative that is becoming of a company full of mathematicians, one has to ask what Google’s Super Bowl 44 advertisement accomplished.  A naysayer would quickly point out that they are filthy rich and that 2.6 million dollars is a drop in the bucket.  My response would be that their approach was very Web 1.0.  Google shouted at people versus providing them with information that they needed.  Somewhere in New Orleans there is a small family owned business who is faced with an invoice from a telephone company who is trying to impress upon them that the phone book is their avenue to connecting with customers.  In their Sunday afternoon attempt to take a break from the reality of business in a tanking economy, Google could have provided them with insight that could have changed their small business course tomorrow morning.

Google Marketing, you failed America on February 7, 2010.

One of the most amazing things I find about being a professional in Dallas is who comes and goes in this city and no one knows.  While our mainstream media is fixated automobile accidents and the latest twists of 20 year old city hall battles, some amazing people come to Dallas without much recognition.

The first time I realized this is when The Indus Entreprenuers (TIE) organization brought Ram Shriram in as a keynote speaker to a yearly event they hold.  I sat there in the audience of roughly 250 and listened to a speech that literally changed my career.  I actually got a chance to speak with him after his keynote which was an added bonus.  Who is Ram Shriram?  He’s the guy that listened to the founders of Google when no one else would.

We have actually had a couple of those opportunities since then.  Most recently Brian Clark, a.k.a. The Copy Blogger, spoke to a very small crowd a the Dallas-Ft. Worth Search Engine Marketing organization (DFWSEM).  If you’ve missed those and are kicking yourself, you don’t want to miss the opportunity to hear Chris Brogan.  Chris Brogan and Julien Smith co-authored the NY Times best seller Trust Agents.   The book unveils many insider secrets to success in the world of social media by two pioneers in the industry.   Trust Agents is one of the most responsible books I have read on Web 2.0 to date.

Chris’s appearance is brought to us by a relatively new professional organization in the DFW area called Social Media Club Dallas.  The club is one of the most approachable professional organizations I’ve engaged with in a long time.  If you are a traditional marketer, you really should not miss this event as it is a great opportunity to hear one of the thought leaders in social media speak as well as engage with a great local professional organization that is open to marketers of all walks.

For more information visit the Social Media Club Dallas presents Chris Brogan on Event Brite.  The event is on Thursday, January 21 and will be held at the Angelika.  The address is: