Over the last decade, the Internet has become increasingly more interactive for its users by the year, by the month and even, by the day.  New innovations are happening constantly and it would be impossible to stay updated on them all on a regular basis (another good reason to read the IMI blog everyday!).  Today, I want to mention a relatively new phenomenon that is taking off like wildfire- website applications that allow user personalization.  And I don’t just mean custom forms that allow people to search the value of their old cars like on KelleyBlueBook.com or something; I mean true personalization with digital imagery upload- something that really hits close to home for our population’s more visual users.

So let’s start with something seasonal: Has anyone ever checked out ElfYourself.com?  On this website, users are allowed to upload pictures of themselves and four additional friends.  After the upload is complete, each of the head shots are inserted onto elf bodies, which then sing and dance to holiday themed songs.  Whereas two years you could only select one standard song, this holiday season, users have the option to select from country, disco, hip hop and more.  And now, when you’re done, you can embarrass yourself and your friends by sharing with Facebook!  It’s truly phenomenal.

But, if you’re already over the holidays and you’d prefer a blast from the past, check out YearbookYourself.com.  This website allows you to upload a head shot and after you’re done, it will place you in a persona from yearbooks of the past.  For some reason, whenever I try it, it has an uncanny ability to make me look identical to my mom.  Anyone else getting the same results?

My latest find in the interactive web arena is a site called MorphThing.com.  It would probably behoove you to check it out everyday for a good laugh when you’re in need of a smile because you never know what new morphs will be featured.  Today’s best morph was a cross of Marilyn Manson and Barack Obama.  Other featured morphs include: Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie entitled “Brangelina,” Ben Affleck and Jennifer Lopez entitled “Bennifer,” Jessica Simpson and Dane Cook, Ashley Olsen and Mary Kate Olsen, and the list goes on.  Users can also make custom morphs and even baby morphs, which could be a very useful tool in marriage preparation (and might send some people to counseling).  Use these tools wisely!  Enjoy.

Last Saturday, on December 12th 2009, Internet Marketing Inc.’s New York City office launched its first holiday party ever.  With little under a year of existence, IMI NY has won a strong book of business and surpassed many milestones these last few months.  Partner and President, Todd Soiefer, invited the team to a holiday party to celebrate this success and ring in the new year “Internet Marketing” style.

The party was a huge success, with the attendance of several staff members- interns, developers and all.  A surprising guest appearance was made by the CEO of Internet Marketing Inc., Brent Gleeson, who is based in the San Diego office.  His arrival not only added an element of surprise, but also much entertainment as well.

The party involved a champagne toast and then a sushi dinner at New Ashiya in downtown Manhattan.  It was hard to even hear normal conversation over the continuous ruckus of laughter that practically usurped the night.  I am honestly surprised anyone had time to eat.

So you may ask: what’s my point?  It’s the small things that count.  Having a holiday party for your employees really inspires good cheer and let’s them know how much they truly are appreciated when it really counts.  If you don’t already do it, I suggest you make it your next New Years resolution- not only will good memories be shared but the team bonding is priceless.

A week ago ended the last SES Chicago scheduled to occur in December as it will move to October 18 in 2010.

Although mid December is not technically Winter it was wintry enough especially compared to a much more Fall like mid October date starting next year.

The 2009 SES Chicago started on December 7th with a dusting of snow outside as Jeff Jarvis kicked it off with his interesting keynote on the link economy being part of the greater Google economy the online space is currently in.

The sessions that followed had a predominant SEO theme versus the growing social media focus of Pubcon & SMX conferences in my opinion.

Although the Google Real Time Search did evolve into a hot topic near the closing of SES as Rae Hoffman was furiously writing a great post in the speaker lounge on the real time search spamming potential.

I was particularly surprised there wasn’t much focus to online mobile marketing, beyond one session, which is sure to be a greater focus in all of the major Internet Marketing conferences in 2010.

Matt McGowan & Mike Grehan were generous enough to have me speak on a site clinic with Tony Wright & Elisabeth Osmeloski before I had to quickly take the shuttle through the snow to Midway Airway where my flight back to San Diego encountered chronic delays.

The wet snow & flight delays at this recent SES Chicago will be a distant memory when SES comes back to the United States here in San Diego February 2010.

Also this is my last post here on the Internet Marketing Inc Blog as I will be joining Resource Nation as the SEO Director there going into 2010 but be sure to check back here for the latest Internet Marketing news as well on Android at my personal site GoogleAndBlog.

Several managers from IMI will be in Las Vegas this week for Pubcon, a large internet marketing show. There is a poker tournament on Thursday night at The Mirage and our President Brandon Fishman will be playing.  Any winnings from this event will go towards The Naval Special Warfare Foundation which provides financial support to the families and children of SEALs killed or injured in combat.  Recently we lost several of our Navy SEAL heroes:

On 13 SEP LT Dan Cnossen lost both legs below the knees when he stepped on an IED during a combat operation in Afghanistan.  He is at Bethesda Naval Hospital undergoing treatment for his wounds.  You can learn more at his website.

On 24 SEP Ryan Jobe a SEAL who last eyesight in both eyes when he was wounded in Iraq in 2006 underwent a major operation that unfortunately resulted in a complication that caused him to lose his life.  Since he was wounded Ryan had been a spokesman for the NSW community.  His wife is pregnant with their first child.

For more information on this charity, go to the website here:   http://www.nswfoundation.org/

For more info on the Pubcon Poker tournament  http://www.purposeinc.com/pwp/2009/11/02/poker-tourney-blog-to-register

Internet Marketing Inc will be represented at the Search Engine Strategies Conference in Chicago on December 9th, 2009.

Search Engine Strategies or SES for short, is a leading global conference and training series focused on search engine optimization and search engine marketing put on by Incisive Media which includes ClickZ & Search Engine Watch.

I will be hosting a site clinic at SES Chicago from 4pm to 5:15pm on December 9th, 2009 at the Chicago Hilton.

In this session I will provide feedback to improve the sites provided from the audience mostly from an SEO point of view.

I will speaking as well at the upcoming PubCon in Las Vegas on several sessions including a Site Clinic at 10am on Wednesday November 11th and then at 1:30 I will present on SEO Design & Organic Site Structure at the Las Vegas Convention Center.

If you are going to PubCon in November or SES Chicago in December please let me know so we can make time to meet each other.

,Michael Martin

Last Thursday, on 10/15, Internet Marketing Inc.’s New York City office hosted a “Cocktails and Conversations” event for industry insiders, clients and friends.  More than 60 attendees enjoyed wine, hors d’oeuvres, and a quirky presentation by seasoned sales expert, Lisbeth Calandrino, who recently released a new book called “Red Hot Customer Service.”  The event was scheduled to end around 8 p.m., but the last slew of guests didn’t actually leave until after 10 p.m.  If that isn’t a metric of a success, I’m not sure what is!

For those who missed out, check out our video presentation below AND stayed tuned in for next time!

Many thanks to our fabulous speaker and generous sponsor, Select Office Suites.

For more information, please view Lisbeth Calandrino’s blog.

Internet Marketing Inc. is gearing up for the Search Marketing Expo in New York next week!  Our very own SEO Director Michael Martin will be speaking on the panel covering “Mobile Search Apps and Opportunities”.  Michael will be on a panel with Scott Dunlap, Rachel Pasqua, and Matt Siltala.  This session will look at popular search apps and different devices, how they gather data, and the Internet marketing opportunities they offer. 

The team from the New York office will also be in attendance all week.  We are looking forward to learning new things and meeting new people.

Normally we don’t write self promotional blogs but this story is too interesting!

For those of you that are fans of Ceci Harkins and the “All Things Online” video blog series, we have some great news!  The next episode will have a very interesting topic.  Internet Marketing Inc. attended a taping for The Price is Right yesterday in Los Angeles.  We took most of our San Diego office so we had about 21 people granting us group status.  Group Status means that they guarantee at least one person from your group will be called up to play. 

As luck would have it, Ceci was called up to play!  And play she did…she won the entire Showcase Showdown!  Ceci won about $44K worth of prizes.  The whole group ran up on statge to celebrate!  The episode is set to air on October 22, 2009. 

We are very proud of her.  Be looking for next week’s “All Things Online” video about this great experience.  They will be talking about the episode and more about social media of course! 

The topics will include:

• Video optimization marketing
• How to incorporate your company’s assets, experiences, and recognitions into your social media

More to come!

San Diego Internet Marketing Company

The Internet Marketing Inc. blog is all about education.  We want our clients, future clients, and industry professionals to be able to read, learn and comment on all things related to Internet marketing – and with this dynamic industry it is up to all of us to stay current on new developments.

I would however like to take the opportunity to educate our readers a bit on Internet Marketing Inc. as a San Diego based online marketing firm that specializes in website design & development, search engine optimization, pay per click advertising, social media marketing, media buying, and brand consulting.

So what makes Internet Marketing Inc. Different?

Experienced Professionals:  The company is owned and operated by professionals who have founded and run many successful Internet marketing related companies.  This has provided the opportunity to play the role of the service provider AND the client.  Having had the opportunity to work with many of the most successful firms in the industry as a client, we have been able to develop practices that enhance the overall client experience.

Education & Communication:  Internet Marketing Inc. educates every client before engaging in their campaigns.  We do this for serveral reasons.  Education builds trust.  We want our clients to know that we know what we are talking about.  Addiontionally, we want them to understand what it is that they are paying for and what to expect.  This helps us manage expectations and gives the a valuable experince as opposed to just paying for another service they hope works.

ROI:  Internet Marketing Inc. is run by “business minded” individuals who approach all projects with business development methodologies.  We are not just a design firm or a San Diego SEO company.  We are a full scale solution designed to help companies grow through improved online exposure.  They is no point in having a  great website unless people can find it.  They is also no point in having a great website unless it is set up to foster conversions and increase business.

Conversion Optimization:  This is part of every project we take on.  It doesn’t matter if we are simply designing the front end of a website or doing organic search engine optimization – every strategy has “conversions” in mind.  The definition of conversions will differ for every company.  Defining the goal of the online marketing campaign is usually the first step.

International Experience:  Many Internet marketing companies in San Diego focus on local companies and brands.  Internet Marketing Inc. services clients from Southern California to Europe…and everywhere in between.  We employ multilingual project managers fluent in Spanish, French, and Italian and we can perform multilingual SEO and PPC campaigns.

Traditional Media Buying:  Though Internet marketing is becoming more popular and cost effective than traditional media, most companies at some point in time need both.  It is crucial that both the online media and offline media support and compliment one another.  Internet Marketing Inc. performs full-scale media buying and brand consulting.  Our media buying division is powered by Americas Media Group out of Miami. We have competitive buying power as one of the largest international media buyers for luxury brands in the world.

Client Diversification:  We have experience in a wide range of industries.  We work with luxury real estate developers all over the world, pharmaceutical companies, the United States military, e-commerce companies, health and wellness companies, and many more!

And best of all we support our local community, charitible causes, the United States military and we have an officially certifed “GREEN” website!