Jean Touboul Blog

I just launched my new SEO blog, http://www.smart-seo.comwith links to a new SEO solution for small businesses. Check it out

I heard and read a memo from an employee of Google explaining how G+ is a failure because Google does not get platform. This is the probably the most ridiculous statement I’ve seen yet (and it originated from a Google employee no less – Astounding)

Google+ is nothing more than a copy-cat of Facebook with a couple of things added but nothing significant to distinguish it (as a matter of fact it has a lot less when it comes to game and fun space).  It is obvious that Google is trying to catch up and this is not the kind of game they are very good at playing. Google seems to have forgotten the golden rule of their own success. Find out what your “customer” wants and deliver it better and faster than anyone else. Why is Google+ not linked to their magnificent search, combining Facebook and Yelp into one for instance or taking it to a much higher level of association using search/interest/communities…  Google dominates searches on the Web, yet you would not have guessed it if you looked at G+. It looks to me like a poor attempt to chip away at Facebook’s success, and not even in a very convincing one for that matter.

Google has built some of the most impressive apps and interfaces that I’ve seen in the business. Adwords for example has become a standard, and is copied by pretty much anyone who wants to launch an ad platform (yes platform). Analytics could certainly be more user friendly but, by god, it delivers what most would want to see in a manner that is more than acceptable and the number of users is proof enough.

Google would certainly “gets platform” if it was focused on its core business/competency and had a purpose within these parameters and not simply try to imitate. G+ does not.

Tags: blog, business, internet, jean touboul, jtouboul, marketing, online marketing, social networking, touboul

http://jtouboul.com/blog/

Interesting event that explores all the basics of social networking.

Social Media, Social Business, Social CRM Brochure

As a marketing professional are you increasingly challenged by social technology and its impact on your organization? Just as you’re comfortable with social media marketing…are you now confronted with “Social CRM?” Even after you’ve put in the effort to understand Facebook, Twitter and blogging, are you struggling to measure the impact of your work, to show a true ROI, to make sense of the social conversations, and to get the rest of your organization aligned with your social media programs? You’re not alone. Social media—the way many customers now expect to be able to interact with the firms behind the brands they love—has fundamentally changed the relationships between businesses and customers. And as a marketer you are now caught in the middle of the power shift that is rolling through a marketplace near you.

Social Media, Social Business and Social CRM takes you beyond the basics, beyond a starting marketing presence on the social web. This two-day workshop is about “what’s next”, about what to do with the conversations and relationships and suggestions…and the complaints, too…that are now pouring in through the listening tools you’ve installed. If your organization is looking at you and saying “fix it!” this workshop will give you the tools and skills you need to not only respond but to bring key additional stakeholders—operations, legal, customer support and HR–into the game to help you leverage the power of the social web.

Learning Objectives

· Social Media Marketing: Learn how—and why—to develop a cross-functional, multi-disciplinary approach to building your social media program. Master the best practices in measurement, strategy, and design to create an efficient, business-based social media implementation that drives measurable results;

· Social CRM: Understand the powerful connection between social media, marketing, and the operational units within your business, and learn to use social processes to build brand advocates.

· Social Business: Create a working strategy and roadmap for your company-wide effort around social media, one that provides you with performance assessment and program enhancements that pay benefits long after your initial turn-on date by connecting your business, your employees and your market.

Who Should Attend?

Anyone responsible for social media marketing who has already started down the path and put the basics—Facebook, Twitter, a company blog and a support site—in place: This workshop is for those interested in the design and implementation of a social technology program as well as key executives serving alongside. This program is ideal for teams representing a single organization: For example, a marketing director, an operations manager and an HR supervisor or legal officer at or near the executive levels should all attend together.

Where it is Happening:

Courtyard San Francisco Downtown
299 Second Street, San Francisco , CA 94105
11/15/2011 8:00 AM – 11/16/2011 5:00 PM

Register by 10/18/2011 12:00 AM for early registration fee

Register Now – Click Here

Tags: social business, social marketing, social networking

Here is something to remember Steve Jobs by:

“No one wants to die. Even people who want to go to heaven don’t want to die to get there. And yet death is the destination we all share. No one has ever escaped it. And that is as it should be, because Death is very likely the single best invention of Life. It is Life’s change agent. It clears out the old to make way for the new. Your time is limited, so don’t waste it living someone else’s life. Don’t be trapped by dogma — which is living with the results of other people’s thinking. Don’t let the noise of others’ opinions drown out your own inner voice. And most important, have the courage to follow your heart and intuition. They somehow already know what you truly want to become. Everything else is secondary.”

Steve Jobs

I know that Bill Gate is a computer/software giant and a great businessman but never thought that Bill Gates would be such an elegant speaker/writer. His quote on the passing of Steve Jobs sums it all so brilliantly: “The world rarely sees someone who has had the profound impact Steve has had, the effects of which will be felt for many generations to come. For those of us lucky enough to get to work with him, it’s been an insanely great honor. I will miss Steve immensely.”
— Bill Gates

Check out my Posts on WordPress at jtouboul.wordpress.com

After a few months of hiatus thinking of the format and approach on how to best organize my time I decided to combine my blog and Newsletter into one, and use WordPress web environment as the platform to do that.  However, in order to circumvent the limitations of WordPress.com, I am using the WodPress’ web management platform available from WordPress.org that I am hosting on my own server.  As a result, these will be available via www.jtouboul.com/blog/

So, without due, some updates on what is going on with my ventures and highlight on my October newsletter that is available here.

News and Updates

A bit of exciting news as a result of the new Google Panda algorithm (which by the way was updated a couple days ago with version 2.5). Some of the web properties that I managed have directly benefited from Panda thanks to my strict adherence to playing the game in a fair and smart way.

Here are a couple of examples: Buy-California-Wine.com is now listed on the first page of Google under the key-term “buy california wine” with  over 55 million results competing for the same keyword.  A very exciting change. Click here to visit the site!

In the same manner, the property EveryDayNetbargains.com is now listed in one of the top 5 positions on Google when a search using the term “every day bargain” with 166 million results competing for the same keyword.  Click here to visit the site!

Needless to sat that I love the new Panda algorithm and I’d be happy to share some of my knowledge and experience with Panda with you.

Of course, I also intend to continue studying updates and new release to insure that the properties that I manage sty on top of the Google searches.

My October Newsletter: click here to read the Newsletter

From Marketing Profs, an article by Sandra Rand about Three New Ways to Market Your Small Business… Click here to read the article!

From ZDNet, an article by Rich Harris on Google+, Google+: Source code reveals unannounced features?.. Click here to read the article!

From iMedia an article written by Scott Meldrum: How the “new Facebook” impacts news feed optimization. Click here to read the article.

An article by Chris Crum about a new webmaster tool from Google : Google Launches Important New Tools for Webmasters. lick here to read the article.