June is shaping up to be a busy month for the WRIS team.  A quick rundown of where we’ll be and when:

June 2: WIRE-net Rountable on Social Media
Led by WRIS Web Marketing Manager Carmen Fontana

• Description: LinkedIn. Twitter. Facebook. YouTube. Among the many choices for social media marketing, what makes sense for manufacturers? This workshop will help you identify appropriate social media outlets and develop a strategy, as well as expose you tools to make the process simpler and less time-consuming. Part of WIRE-Net's Roundtable Series presented by US Bank, this event has been designed with the manufacturer in mind, so don't miss it!

• Location: Summers Rubber Company, 12111 Berea Road, Cleveland, OH 44111

• Registration Info: http://bit.ly/mOM5pL

June 8: Columbus Chamber of Commerce Business2Business Network Expo
Make sure you stop by our booth and pick up our legendary GROW kits!

• Description: Connect with the Columbus region's top businesses, see their products, services and innovations, and learn how you can do business with them.

• Location:
  Greater Columbus Convention Center
  Battelle Grand
  400 North High Street
  Columbus, Ohio 43215

• Registration: http://bit.ly/iwwojJ

June 26-29: International Society for Technology in Education (ISTE) Conference
Meet up with WRIS Client Services Director John Strathern

• Description:
  The International Society for Technology in Education (ISTE) is the premier membership association for educators and education leaders engaged in advancing excellence in learning and teaching through innovative and effective uses of technology. ISTE is the trusted source in education technology for professional development, knowledge generation, advocacy, and leadership for innovation.
  ISTE’s annual conference and exposition, formerly NECC, is one of the world’s premier education technology events. ISTE is also home to the NETS, education technology standards that deliver a roadmap for global digital-age learning skills for students, teachers, and administrators.

• Location: Pennsylvania Convention Center, Philadelphia

• Registration: http://bit.ly/8ZvPbN

Full Name: Anthony Weiler  

What is your favorite…?

• Color:  Cobalt Blue
• Movie:  Braveheart
• TV Show:  Friends
• Season:  Spring
• Food:  Chicken 65 (spicy Indian dish)

Where were you born?  Akron, Oh

Music/Band/Artist/Song:   DC Talk/Toby Mac, Jason Mraz

What is your greatest accomplishment?  Designed an item for my company in LA and it earned them $1,250,000

What personal or career Goal are you working towards in 2011? Doing the best I can to get my marriage off to a good start

If you were an animal, what would you be and why? A dolphin- because it always looks like they’re having so much fun!

If you could go anywhere in the world, where would it be and why?  Jerusalem- because of its history.

Are you a morning or a night person? Night person

What are your pet peeves or strange dislikes?  When I’ve ordered an ethnic food dish and am told which spices I shouldn’t eat AFTER I’ve bit into them

Do you have any hidden talents? Drawing caricatures

What was your favorite subject in High School?  Drawing/painting/drama class

What are two things that you are good/bad at? Good at brainstorming- bad at fixing cars.

Have you ever won a trophy? If so, for what? Yes- for Tae Kwon Do

What is the best vacation you have ever had? Going to Puerto Rico where I proposed to my girlfriend. She said Yes!

What do you think the secret to a good life is?  Secret- huh? I’d have to say it has something to do with prayer.

Now that we know the functional differences between pay-per-click advertising on Google/Bing, LinkedIn and Facebook  (And if you don’t, go back and read Part 1: Which pay-per-click advertising is right for you?), let’s talk about how to determine where to spend your money.

Even in a perfect world where you have unlimited time and money, you probably would not want to advertise on all three.  Why?  Because they have different objectives and target audiences.
Which leads to the main question you want to ask before you spend a single dime – Who am I trying to target?

If you answer the question with:

•  “Anyone looking to buy red shoes”, then go for Google and/or Bing.  Their pay-per-click advertising targets search phrases.  Advertise on phrases such as “red shoe stores” and “where to buy red shoes in Iowa”.
• “Women who like fashion”, then go for Facebook.  Their ppc is based on demographics.  You can not target people specifically interested in red shoes, but you can choose women 25-34 who live in Iowa and like to watch “Project Runway.”
• “Companies that make shoes,” then go for LinkedIn.  Like Facebook, their ppc is based on demographics.  However, they target someone’s professional interests instead of personal.  So you can show your advertisements for anyone who works at “Nike” or within the “Consumer Goods/Apparel & Fashion” industry.

While you may never have the need to advertise on them all, you may want to consider advertising on one search (Google or Bing) and one demographic (Facebook or Linked).

For example, if you manufacture agitation equipment for the chemicals industry you may want to:

• Google & Bing: Run ads on search terms such as “Agitation equipment for chemical processing”
• LinkedIn: Run ads targeting people working in the Chemical Manufacturing industry

Next installment, we will discuss hints and tips for PPC.

What is your favorite…?
Color: Black (more like a lack of color, but still my favorite)
Movie: Star Wars (the original, not the new junk)
TV Show: LOST
Season: Summer
Food: Tie between pizza and Tai food

Where were you born?
Northeast Ohio (Garfield Heights specifically)

Music/Band/Artist/Song:
No favorite really, but love 80’s music.

Who is your Celebrity Crush?
Jessica Alba

What reality show would you be on and why?
Jersey Shore.  Reason… ahh, to be in my 20’s again would be awesome!

What is your greatest accomplishment?
Starting and running my own DJ business.

What personal or career Goal are you working towards in 2011?
To take my technical background to a new level.

If you were an animal, what would you be and why?
Any type of bird.  The ability to fly would be pretty cool.

If you could go anywhere in the world, where would it be and why?
Australia, never been.

Are you a morning or a night person?
Morning.

How would your friends describe you to someone you don’t know?
Need any help with a pc problem or want to know something about music, then Brian is the guy!

Do you have any hidden talents?
3D character modeling.

What was your favorite subject in High School?
Girls.

Have you ever won a trophy? If so, for what?
Won a “best costume” trophy a few years back at a Halloween party for dressing like an 80’s Heavy Metal guy (zebra spandex and everything), yes I can admit that.

What is the best vacation you have ever had?
Went to England a few years back, would love to go back again.

 What do you think the secret to a good life is?
Don’t sweat the small things and just get the most out of every day that you can!

There are many ways to spend your money advertising on the web.   Display advertising, directories and pay-per-click campaigns are three of the most popular methods. 

Today we’ll focus on pay-per-click campaigns, and specifically, the differences between variants of PPC advertising. 

PPC functions basically the same across the board, no matter if you are on Google, Bing, Facebook or LinkedIn:

1. Write your ads.
2. Determine your criteria (more on this in a bit).
3. Your ad shows only to potential customers who meet the criteria.
4. You only pay when someone clicks on your ad.
5. When a person clicks on your ad, they are redirected to a location of your choosing (website, Facebook page, etc).  From there they can read up on all the wonderful things your company does/makes and hopefully be persuaded to spend thousands and thousands of dollars with your company.

The most important thing to note is that you can set a budget for your advertising campaign.  Basically, when your budget is up, your ads don’t run.  Thus, if you set your budget to $100 per day, you can expect to spend no more than $100 per day.  (It’s actually a tad more complicated than that, but we’ll save that discussion for another day.   But the principle remains the same – no crazy cost overruns)

So that’s the similarities of PPC on Google, Bing, Facebook and LinkedIn.  Now, let’s talk about what’s different – criteria.

Google and Bing use query based criteria.  They match a user’s search query to your target keyword list.  If there is a match, your ad shows.  For example, you pre-determine that you want your ad to show for anyone searching for “red shoes”, “red boots” and “red sandals”.  Sally Searcher comes along and types in “where to buy red boots” in Google.  A match!  Your ad displays.  Next, Sally Searcher types in “where to buy blue loafers”.  Not a match!  Your ad does not display.  Pretty simple.

Facebook and LinkedIn use demographic based criteria.  They match a person’s personal profile with your pre-determined profile criteria.  For example, you pre-determine you want your ad to show for anyone who lives in the Midwest and likes pets.  Sally Searcher’s profile on Facebook indicates that she lives in Ohio and loves her pet cat Fluffy.  A match!  Your ad displays.

Facebook allows you to pinpoint demographics based on location, gender, age, interests, college and major among other things.  LinkedIn allows you to pinpoint demographics by location, employer, job title, and industry among others.

Next installment we’ll talk about how to determine which method is best for you.