Unless you’ve been hiding under a rock for the past month, you’ve probably heard about the oil spill that had caused a fair amount of damage to the Gulf of Mexico and to British Petroleum’s reputation. In order to “rectify” the situation, BP has released a number of press statements over the past couple of weeks that have not satisfied an overwhelmingly disgruntled public. In response to BP’s lackluster statements, a man, who has dubbed himself as Leroy Stick, decided to take matters into his own hands; he created a Twitter account, cleverly named @BPGlobalPR, which pokes fun at how BP executives are dealing with the current situation. According to Stick, he started @BPGlobalPR because he believed that BP did not offer anything to ease the nation’s concerns. As a result, @BPGlobalPR has already accumulated over 150,000 followers since May 19, and it continues to grow on a daily basis. Leroy also supports the campaign that sells “bp cares” t-shirts to fund the activities of the Gulf Restoration Network, and his team recently made a $10,000 donation to the charity. All in all, he has become a celebrity within the social media community overnight and has molded BP’s brand into the punch line of his own joke.

His popularity or humor, however, is not what has captured my attention; it’s his message. Leroy Stick felt the need to create an entire web based strategy with @BPGlobalPR because BP wasn’t responding to the general public with urgency, sincerity, or solutions. Instead, Leroy argues that BP has been doing whatever it can to maintain a positive image and to keep making money. In other words, the executives are paying Internet marketing and PR representatives to promote a positive brand image that has been destroyed by employees of the company instead of trying to fix the problems at hand!

“So what is the point of all this?” Leroy asks. “The point is, FORGET YOUR BRAND. You don’t own it because it is literally nothing. You can spend all sorts of time and money trying to manufacture public opinion, but ultimately, that’s up to the public, now isn’t it?”

This is exactly what marketers do not want to hear, but it’s the truth. Companies can pay agencies tons of money to create marketing campaigns that represent integrity, quality, service, etc. But at the end of the day, none of this matters unless the client perceives the company (or the point of contact) as such.

So what does this have to do with me? Well, as a project manager for Fusework Studios, I am charged with providing my clients with the best service possible in order to create a positive brand image for the company. I will be a point of contact for clients, and I have to face the truth that Leroy Stick presents. Despite this challenge, I am excited to take on the responsibility of embodying the brand of Fusework Studios while maintaining my own values. Regardless of whether it is a global, multibillion dollar company or a small Internet Marketing and Website Design Company (with offices in Indianapolis and Muncie, Indiana), the point is to represent your values by making ethical business decisions and providing your clients with the best possible solutions; something that both the public and Leroy Stick feel BP is lacking.

As a result, I am even more motivated to practice what I preach in response to Leroy's skepticism. So, thank you, Leroy Stick, for encouraging me to face this challenge.

Jenn Lisak is a new Project Manager for Fusework Studios, and obviously, we're excited to have her join our team! Look for more posts from Jenn soon.

Want to learn more about Internet marketing? Do you have burning questions about how to use social media and blogging tools effectively for your business?  If so, join us for some great food and a short presentation from 11:30am to 1:00pm on Thursday, April 8 at Scotty's Brewhouse downtown.

Sign up now for the Lunch and Learn!

Fusework Studios' President, Bruce McClain, will start off with an overview of Internet marketing, discussing the importance of strategy in your marketing objectives. He'll cover a range of tools and tips in social media, business blogging and much more.  Then the CEO of Compendium Blogware, Chris Baggott, will share how to use corporate blogging to change your business and search results....for the better!

Feel free to bring along a friend or two and spend your lunch break learning information that you need to know!  We promise you'll leave with a new found knowledge of what Internet marketing can do for your bottom line.

Your ticket price includes your lunch at Scotty's Brewhouse!

Original article by Indiana University Kokomo: http://www.iuk.edu/news/?naid=19&ncid=.

Kokomo, Ind. - Indiana University Kokomo has launched a new and improved Web site, www.iuk.edu, featuring easier navigation, online video, vibrant flash images, and socia media integration.

"The new site will allow us to share IU Kokomo in a more engaging and dynamic way. It brings with it a content management system that allows us to better manage updates and changes, as well as the ability to implement analytics that measure site usage and give us the tools to make constant improvements that better serve our users," said Katrina Janes, director of the Office of Communications and Marketing at IU Kokomo. "The redesign and launch of a new university Web site is a huge undertaking, and we are very excited to unveil this new Web presence to the students, campus and community that we serve."

The site, developed by Indianapolis-based Fusework Studios, provides easier navigation for the user, improved search functions, and a consistent look, design, and feel. The first step in the redesign was an audit of the old Web site that included an evaluation of its strengths and weaknesses. This evaluation enforced the need for IU Kokomo to clearly indentify and match target audiences with specific marketing objectives, as well as the need to transform the site from a static information source to a dynamic and engaging marketing tool.

This direction is supported by a recent TeensTALK®survey of high school sophomores which found that 74 percent of the respondents conducted general college research on the Web, and 67 percent visited a specific college Web site. It is clear that higher education institutions are positioning their Web sites as a primary marketing tool and relying more on electronic communication tools. The average Web user today is highly skilled and able to communicate through many technological formats, from text messaging to IM to Twitter. This is particularly true for prospective and current college students.

"This was a huge project and encompassed two years from vendor selection to launch. Every unit on campus participated," said Paul Nowak, vice chancellor for external relations. "A special recognition is due to our marketing and IT departments, and especially Rudy Kizer, our campus Web manager, and Katrina Janes."

Indiana University Kokomo serves a seven county, primary service area in north central Indiana. The campus offers more than 40 academic programs including four graduate degrees.
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Fusework Studios provides service in Business Blogging, IT Services, SEO Indianapolis, Indiana Website Design, Indiana Website Development, Web Based Strategy, Social Media Marketing, Indiana Video Production, Email Marketing Strategy, Corporate Blog, Internet Marketing Indianapolis, and much more.
 

• Domain Name - The value of a great keyword domain name is huge.  Consider registering a domain name that includes keywords for the services you provide and putting a microsite behind that domain name.  We recently employed this strategy with one of our microsites which can be found at InternetMarketingIndianapolis.com.
  
   
• Title Tags - The page title or title tag absolutely cannot be overlooked.  This is a chance to include keywords relevant to the content on that specific page in one of the areas that search engines are looking at as a top priority.  Using the same title tag for every page or only including one word (such as "About") is not going to help.  Take some time when assigning a title to your new page.  We recently changed our title tag on the Fusework Studios TV website and are now ranking very high for Indiana film and video production.   
  
   
• Headings - Pay attention to the headings used at the top of your web pages.  Avoid the standard "Welcome" to our website trap.  Instead, use this heading to include keywords related to your services.  When launching our new Fuseworkstudios.com website, we were able to include Internet marketing within our heading.  This is much better than "Welcome to our new web site."
  
   

• Know how you make money - Your value as a company doesn't come from the ads you sell, but rather the people (customers) who are willing to look at the ads you sell.
• Don't Lose Focus - Don't alienate your most loyal customers in pursuit of success.
• Keep Creating a Great Product - Figure out a way to keep your Cash Cow the best in the business, or at a minimum relevant.  There's no rule that says you can't innovate.  Give the cow some extra udders, or make a goat with 4 horns or something (speaking in analogy of course)
• Provide Excellent Customer Service - Back in the day newspapers had a whole network for customer service representatives.  Newspaper Boys.  These days some may say Newspapers don't need a customer or subscriber service function.  I don't believe any business can make the mistake of believing that.

• Creating/Redesigning websites using our unique approach to web strategy consulting - Ever heard us talk about the Billion dollar marketing banana?
• Developing a social media and marketing plan with real, results-driven advertising calls to action
• Producing video and flash content using an award-winning story-telling interactive strategy
• Designing print and other supplemental materials to optimize brand awareness
• Managing IT infrastructures so our Indianapolis and Muncie clients are safe and secure

1. Find a good marketing firm that lives Search marketing. (Like Fusework)
2. Brainstorm terms that you want your product, service or company to be known for
3. Identify through which avenues people will learn about your product.  (your web site, your blog, social media, print media, word of mouth, email marketing, press releases, etc...)
4. Create a rough list.
5. Using a keyword research tool (there are many!) refine the list pulling out the keywords that generate the highest level of traffic but have the smallest amount of competition.
6. Refine the List
7. Repeat steps until you're satisfied
8. Incorporate keywords across all relevant media
9. Track Results
10. Repeat steps 4-9 on a regular basis or until you are satisfied with the results.

• WordTracker
• Google Ad Words Keyword Tool
• SEM Rush
• AdCenter plugin for Excel

Social Media in Indianapolis has just taken off in the past three months. The local marketers and Internet geeks have been at it for a while, but the other guys have caught on. I first heard local weathermen, radio DJs, and even Bob & Tom talking about starting a Twitter account a couple of months ago. 

Several Indianapolis celebrities are using Twitter to its full potential. The always trying to be funny meteorologist @PaulPoteet, from the Indianapolis ABC affiliate RTV6, caught on a little earlier than most and really gets how to use social media in Indianapolis. He posts Indianapolis weather updates, funny thoughts, personal videos, and RT's (retweets) other Twitter weather updates from around the State of Indiana. I sent a message (tweet) on Twitter to Paul Poteet about hail in Fishers and he sent a message back saying, "thanks for the tip Kevin...I used it in TV Land this morning." My weather update was used on the news broadcast?!? How cool is that? This little bit of social media effort has changed my viewing habits when watching the Indianapolis news.

So who do you think my favorite weatherman in Indianapolis is? The social media Indianapolis weatherman king . . . Paul Poteet.

Let's translate this to social media for Indianapolis business:

• Who do you want your customers favorite Twitter supplier to be? The other guy or you?
• Who do you want your potential customers to begin conversations with? The competitor using social media in Indianapolis?