Many people seem to be either shocked or aghast that Google would actually run a Super Bowl ad. There are some who think that it is a sign of weakness or fear that there is a chink in the great Google armor. There are those that just figured that Google should never need to advertise because they are, after all, Google. Well, I think that the Google ad was a smart move and one that was done in typical Google fashion: low cost, no fanfare (except for jittery industry types) and strong impact.

The “ad” has been on YouTube for several months so it’s not like Google ran out and threw together a Super Bowl ad and spent gazillions on it. It was essentially already out there. On Google’s official blog, Eric Schmidt posted the following

If you watched the Super Bowl this evening you’ll have seen a video from Google called “Parisian Love”. In fact you might have watched it before, because it’s been on YouTube for over three months. We didn’t set out to do a Super Bowl ad, or even a TV ad for search. Our goal was simply to create a series of short online videos about our products and our users, and how they interact. But we liked this video so much, and it’s had such a positive reaction on YouTube, that we decided to share it with a wider audience.

If you like it too, we hope you’ll watch the others. Enjoy.

Here’s the “ad” in case you missed it:

Now that was the entire post and quite honestly, I don’t get the surprise or the issue. Considering Google’s advertising budget can probably take a $3 million hit pretty easily (do they even budget for marketing ?). Couple that with no other search ads and you have a simple opportunity to win kudos for an “ad” that tells just what people use the search engine for: their life.

Hats off to Google. I hope they advertise more because maybe people can take the hint that simple is better, demeaning any man’s capability to think is lame and the whole idea of seeing regular people in their underwear will not sell product (who did those stupid ads anyway?). Thank God the game was a good one because the rest of the show wasn’t anything to really talk about.

I have spoken here at Frank Thinking about how it seems that SMB’s just don’t get it when it comes to Internet marketing and social media. Too much chasing rabbits and too little chasing reality.

Well, I am real happy to say that I am seeing a shift. I am not ready to say that all SMB’s get it because that would not be realistic. I am seeing, however, more businesses that are willing to talk the language of planning as it relates to the Internet. I have talked to many small businesses as of late who understand that SMB’s absolutely need to do their Internet marketing homework before they dive into the online marketing game.

Maybe there is a sense of optimism but I don’t think that is the only factor. I don’t see these SMB’s saying that things are turning around. They are too smart. They don’t believe politicians of any stripe any more. What they do believe is that if something is going to happen it is up to them. I raise my glass to this attitude because this is the only thing that will break the current economic cycle. No promise of money going anywhere will guarantee it lands with any particular business. Instead I think that SMB owners believe that they need to pull themselves up by their own bootstraps and get it done. I appreciate that. The free market and sheer determination will beat anything that comes from other sources.

This willingness to invest in research before the tools of Internet marketing also has several common variables such as:

• Fed up with the Yellow Pages – Whether it is online or in print I have not been able to hear one positive story about this option unless it is a testimonial from the YP or IYP providers themselves. What I have heard is that these people are tired of long restrictive contracts and monthly costs in the thousands of dollars for no measurable results. Good for them!

• Realization that Internet marketing is not automatic – These SMB owners are also seasoned enough to know that while Internet marketing (in particular organic search and optimization of local online marketing opportunities like Google Maps) is attractive it is not a “set it and forget process”. It takes work. Now they want to know just what they need to do so they do not throw good money after bad recommendations. They are too smart. Good for them!

• Recognition that social media is daunting – Social media is not rocket science. Social media is not expensive. Social media is, however, extremely time intensive (which carries a dollar cost by the way) and it is the one resource they little extra of.

• Admission that it’s OK to seek help – I am seeing real smart business people admit that their own efforts at Internet marketing, while well intentioned, were misguided. In other words, they don’t have the expertise and they need help. Amen! I call a plumber because I don’t know squat about what they do. I watch them do it and I think “I could have possibly done that” but I quickly realize that it would have taken much longer and it would have likely been done in a sub-standard fashion.

So here’s to the SMB’s that get it. To the one’s who know that their business’ future is in their hands and that they have options. Good options. Options that require some help but that’s fine. I will hopefully share some of their stories with you in the near future. These are stories that need to be heard to encourage others to step away from wasteful marketing practices and move toward the future with confidence, even if it requires some help.

Today the buzzwords in the social media space are around community. Everyone is interested in creating community and for good reason. Community is at the heart of human social interaction whether it is online or in the place you live. People do not thrive alone in most cases. There is a need to be connected to someone or something that is more basic than most of us ever admit. It’s an emotional thing which also makes it an elusive thing.

Internet marketers look at community as the holy grail of their efforts. How many thousands or millions of times is it said around a conference table full of marketing people that “If we could only create a sense of community we will gat more business”. I think that the theory of that is good. It makes sense. It is rational. It’s a common sense thing.

The reality of it, however, is something much different. Why? Well, it’s hard to do. I think many people, including myself, are coming to grips with the fact that common interests are not enough to create any community of real benefit. It’s not enough to put together a Ning site and expect that people will flock to it. Why is this?

I think the reason that real online community is so elusive is due to several factors:

• You can only know people so well online – All this means is that no matter how much you share with someone in the online space there is always the chance that the other party is ‘embellishing’. Heck, you may be embellishing. Either way people are able to best size up another person for real when they look in their eye in the same room at the same time.

• People SAY they want community but few participate – In order to have a community that appears to be very active you need a lot of people because the reality is that activity in an online community sticks pretty close to the 10/80/10 rule that spells out a normal bell curve. 10% of the people will be active participants and advocate the community. 80% will sign up and be almost ambivalent in their commitment to it. The final 10% think the community is dumb and wonder what attracted them in the first place.

• It takes a real leader to pull the community together – Ever really wonder why we have leaders? Couldn’t everyone just be themselves and do things out of their own desire to get the job done? The answer is a resounding no. Most people don’t know where to go next and need guidance. They may not admit it but it’s the truth. In an online community which is an area where the rules of engagement change regularly it is critical to have someone leading the flock and helping people to get the most from any communal vibe the online group has. It’s not an easy task.

• It takes patience and money to do this – People often say that the low cost of social media is enticing and the reason that many companies are turning to it for reaching their existing customers and coming up with new ones. The ones who think it is cheap and easy are ignorant of the reality. They have read some things and have a cocktail party level knowledge of social media. The reality is much more mundane and sounds like just about everything else in business. You need to be patient and you need to invest in the community with all resources available. It’s neither quick nor easy.

• Once you’re in, you’re in – If you start a community then decide to take your ball and go home you will tick off those who are rooted in the group. At that point your strongest advocates could turn into your biggest nightmare. Why is that? They are more savvy in the social media space thus they can now go out and complain like no one else that you left them high and dry.

So community is always important because we are human. Just don’t expect that a community online and offline will look anything alike. They can’t. As a result, learn just what the business requirements and applications of social media are so there aren’t so many people wondering what in the world they got themselves into.

I know I harp on this subject but I do it for a reason. I have seen far too many SMB’s (small and medium business) run out full speed and headlong into the brick wall of Internet marketing without a helmet. You know what the result of that is? Pain and confusion. Why put yourself through that? There are options to help make the move into effective online marketing activities that are best suited for the particular market and the SMB’s capabilities. These options require some things that are sometimes in short supply with SMB’s: patience, investment and planning.

So is there some magic potion that the SMB should be taking to magically transform their business from a Yellow Pages mindset to that of the online world? Nope. There’s nothing magical at all. In fact, it’s just practical. It’s called research.

Now, if you are an SMB yourself reading this I will tell you to stop saying you don’t have enough time. We got that already. It’s an old tape that is wearing thin. In fact, it has moved from being a fact to a whine. No one wants to hear it. Get over yourself and your busy life.

If you are a service provider you need to listen too because this is one area that Internet marketing services providers are woefully deficient in. Doing considerable up front research will keep you from having ticked off clients. When you “cookie-cutter” Internet marketing offerings because you are trying to scale your business the big loser is the client. If you can’t customize a delivery to fit a client’s real needs you should not take the business. It’s that simple.

I am going to talk more about the research aspect of Internet marketing in upcoming posts. This is an important topic and it needs to be addressed in a real fashion. Otherwise you just get more of the same: SMB’s looking for a silver bullet and Internet marketing service providers shooting blanks.

I have been in the Internet marketing industry now for the past 5 years. I guess many would consider me a newbie in some ways. I love reading all of these people who say they have been optimizing websites since 1994. In other words, back in the day they could keyword stuff with the best of them. While that’s interesting it literally means nothing today. In fact, I am trying to decide what is exactly important in today’s world of Internet marketing. Anyone can study what used to work and see how it was abused and eventually devalued by Google and other engines. What means something now is what works now and what might work in the future.

I have been putting some thought into this and I keep bumping up against the local business listing every time. I am finally starting to understand just how valuable and underutilized the local listing is especially in the B2B market.

For years this local listing has been something that is relegated to the restaurants, plumbers, electricians and other genuine local businesses. I say genuine in that there has been little consideration given by larger companies to this search factor. I think those days are over because if you are a large business with local offices around a region, country or whatever and you have not completely optimized your local listings in the major engines you may be leaving money on the table.

So should IBM, Cisco or any other large company really care about these listings? ABSOLUTELY! Here’s why.

• Social means local – While everyone is excited about how social media allows for contact between the little ol’ customer and the big ol’ company it is still not what seals a deal. After the contact is made and everyone gets their happy social media face on those ‘feel good’ moments could easily be fumbled once the lead is put into the machine of the big company. Now, if that big company has a local presence that could be the contact point for that lead (especially when they do a search for the company locally) the social aspect gets even stronger. Why? Because there are people that could possibly shake hands with the prospect. Today that is more powerful than ever.

• Local implies trust – This is a classic ‘perception is reality’ situation but it is powerful. People like to deal with someone on a local basis even if it is a representative of a Fortune 500 company. It’s how humans work and that will not change much in the foreseeable future.

• Local is a surprise – Have you ever done a search and in the Google Maps 10 pak you see a big company listed? There is a measure of surprise there and it is usually followed by “I didn’t know that” or “Wow, that’s neat.” If you are familiar with that big company and you do that search and they are not there it doesn’t really matter, right? Wrong? The companies that ARE there now move up in the pecking order and the big guy? Well, he’s still big but he’s not local.

What other aspects of local do you feel all businesses can benefit from? Should big guys even care about their local listing?

I was having a conversation with a friend of mine and the subject of newsletters came up. I chuckled a bit because I have not been a fan of newsletters even since the days that receiving printed material was a more acceptable practice. Now, of course everything is online and I still get “newsletters” and requests to sign up for them. Honestly, I am still not a fan.

I say this of course when one of the biggest names in the industry, Chris Brogan, does send an e-newsletter for his New Marketing Labs company. It seems a little weird to get it since there is SO much content generated by someone like Chris already that I wonder what else can it tell me? As a result I put reading the newsletter below other forms of communication that Chris and his company produces.

Does this make me right? I don’t have a clue. In fact, I was wondering if an informal poll at this point isn’t the worst idea. How do you feel about newsletters? Do you still get any paper ones? Do you read online ones? Is it an effective medium any more?

In this case, my personal preference may be contrary to the market preference. I honestly don’t know. I do know though that with all of the stuff I get I don’t read a large percentage of it. I don’t have the capacity. As a result I am trimming down what I will even consider as a channel to receive new information.

My personal favorite is the good old-fashioned e-mail subscription to a blog. If I decide to let something else into my e-mail these days it’s because I am interested in what that party has to say. My mind can’t manage the RSS feed way of life. Everything blurs together there for me.

If I get an e-mail subscription from a blogger that I like, I read it because it fits my routine and my style. Maybe I am different but I am seeing more and more information saying that if you have someone subscribing to you content via e-mail you are likely to have someone who is more engaged. I don’t have the facts or the science to back that up. That’s part gut feel and it’s part remembering that I read something to that effect somewhere.

So newsletters for me, whether they be paper or digital, are dead. One man’s opinion and experience. What’s yours?

What happens when someone is desperate? They will often hear what they WANT to hear rather than what was actually said. This happens in business all the time. It is happening at an alarming rate as it relates to the SMB (small and medium business) and social media.

What is being said by the people in the marketplace that actually understand social media (not the legions of so-called experts who are just desperate to make a buck) is that the correct use of social media provides opportunity. Notice the use of the word ‘correct’. Not just the use of social media but the CORRECT use of social media. Oh and it provides opportunity, not automatic sales and revenue.

It may even be more accurate to discuss the correct expectation of social media especially in times when SMB’s are squeezed with no credit and limited cash flow. Desperate times have caused many to hear that the use of social media will bring sales. That creates an unrealistic expectation that if you just engage in social media then you will see your business flourish. If only it were that easy. The truth is much more involved and actually has a potential downside. That’s right, I used the term ‘social media’ and ‘downside in the same sentence. How dare me!

I started thinking about this as it relates to the SMB marketplace after reading one sentence from Jon Swanson’s blog post from February of last year. Jon is a pastor of a Christian church and he is apparently very good at what he does. People like Chris Brogan recommend him even if there is no Christian side of their life. Swanson said the following about prayer but it applies perfectly to the plight of the SMB in the social media space.

Before any requests are made. Before any apologies are offered. Before any transactions are begun, relationship is established.

Amen, Jon. It is for this very reason that many small business people are being led astray by social media charlatans who tell them to ‘just do it’ and success will follow. That’s simply not true.

Putting yourself out there as a business in the social media space is the means and not the ends. If you are there to sell your service as your primary goal I can tell you right now you will have limited success. In addition, the success you do have will be short-lived when it is discovered that the transaction was your focus and not the relationship. Sounds mushy doesn’t it? It is and it is the truth.

So all of you ‘hard closers’ out there don’t get closed on the idea that just because you are participating in social media activities that your cash register will ring. Your desire to sell rather than build a relationship that may lead to a real sale will make you stick out like a sore thumb. If that happens you are done.

So for the SMB’s that are being bombarded with the message that social media will save the day for your business I ask you to be very cautious. Don’t buy the line that social media is a magic pill. The line you should be buying is that of Jon Swanson.

Before any requests are made. Before any apologies are offered. Before any transactions are begun, relationship is established.

Thanks, Jon, for the reminder.