We are being reminded multiple times a day of how tough times are and how much tougher they will get. Unemployment is expected to rise even into the double digits during 2009. The Auto Industry is in an unimaginable mess. Our banking and financial systems are dysfunctional, not even trusting each other to lend between themselves. The federal government seems to lack planning, direction or even the understanding of how to deal with and address these issues effectively. Talk of recession, the worst one since the Great Depression, and even talk of another Great Depression are all part of the daily discussion. For business owners, large and small, marketing executives and managers , sales executives and representatives, these are formidable forces to be reckoned with and are the everyday challenges being faced in conducting business, particularly in the areas of planning and execution with precious sales and marketing budgets.

We are in the midst of a frightening and deepening financial and economic crisis worldwide. The world is making huge adjustments to correct many flawed policies, processes and practices including the use of real estate equity to fuel a worldwide buying binge, highly leveraged global gambling casino-style betting on the success of highly risky credit in the name of Credit Default Swaps. The process is called “deleveraging” but really what this is the process of liquidating hard and soft assets to pay off what can be paid off in the face of never-before-seen lost bets on incredibly risky investments. As someone first said, “This too shall pass.” But what will the world look like? In this writing I will focus on marketing and the lessons we can learn.

The internet gets more and more competitive each year. More and more businesses are realizing the opportunities of having a website and addressing an endless number of consumers through the online market. It’s no question that only the websites with great design, wide functionalities, and the right tools will make it to the front of the line.

First, what is a “Long-tailed keyword”? It is a keyword phrase that has 3 or more words in it. I prefer to rank higher for long-tailed keyword phrases versus generic keyword phrases for one reason: profitability. Also, the competition is most likely not paying attention to them.

When it comes down to it, I would rather have targeted traffic versus just traffic. Most logical people will. But what most web owners actually target is basic traffic. They do campaigns to increase traffic to their site, which in return wastes their time and money.

If you are looking for a Search Engine Marketing Company, you must know by now that there are many to choose from. However, if you think through your goals and objectives, your “Search” for an SEM Company will become focused very quickly. Consider what your goals are; asked yourself the following key questions:

Google and Yahoo both have local search services but many businesses are unaware of this and their potential benefits. Many people do not know that they are free to register and can have huge positive results for their businesses. Once you get your business listed in local services, you will start showing up on their map features like Google Maps and Yahoo Maps.

The turn of the century brought a lot of new technology to the world and with that it brought the Music Industry a whole lot of problems. To deal with declining sales and continuous losses, record labels are finding new ways of raising money by focusing on different aspects of their business such as online marketing and consumer feedback rather than basing everything on CD sales.

At the time of this writing, the country is facing real and growing fear … on Wall Street and on Main Street. The Congress, without shame, has passed the bailout plan along with a whole bunch of pork. In other words to get enough votes, individual members of Congress traded their “conviction” for their pet projects designed to do what … get more votes and insure their own political longevity. This is Democracy?

SEO (Search Engine Optimization), professionally executed, accomplishes an important piece of a very valuable puzzle towards a truly successful and profitable website marketing strategy. Using strong research for the best keywords, insightful competitive research, onsite and offsite optimization using great content and careful management using sophisticated website statistics are key elements towards high organic rankings for targeted keywords relevant to your business. Being easily found for these highly popular and competitive keywords generates huge amounts of traffic to the website. Although all of this is a great accomplishment, page 1 Google rankings by itself doesn’t put a thin dime into your bank account. So we have reached an important milestone; but now what? How do we generate business from all of this traffic?

Theoretically, anybody could start an Internet Marketing / Consultation Company. All it takes is an office, few employees, few computers and a website. However, not all these companies can be successful. Only those firms with a solid execution process that is client and ROI-focused will ultimately be successful. It comes down to “Taking Care of our Clients.”

During these crazy times, it is clearer than ever that those owning and operating businesses of all kinds and sizes must maintain their focus on their business. While grossly under-reported, business loans are still very obtainable as long as you have the same things you have always had to have to obtain a business loan from your community or area bank i.e. solid business plan, collateral, etc. In other words, capital is still available to entrepreneurs as long as you aren’t relying on smoke and mirrors.