Website Promotion Strategy

In contrast to the doom-and-gloom forecasting in the media, Microsoft recently announced the results of a study of more optimistic small business owners (many of whom, we assume, engage in Internet marketing and advertising). Commissioned by Microsoft Live Small Business and Elance, the study found:

“…nearly 60 percent of small-business owners believe that 2009 will be as good or better than 2008, while 37 percent are worried about 2009 but believe their businesses will weather the current economic storm. Despite it all – and staying true to their entrepreneurial spirit – 86 percent of business owners state that they are happier running their own business over working for someone else.”

The ears of Internet marketers and advertisers perked up when Microsoft recently announced it had inked a deal with Verizon to deliver mobile search and advertising. The agreement, which runs for five years, will hit the consumer market in a few months via Verizon Wireless feature phones and smartphones.

According to the company’s press release:

The addition of Microsoft’s mobile search and advertising services enhance the long-standing strategic Verizon-Microsoft relationship. Under the five-year agreement, Microsoft will manage search and display advertising on Verizon’s Mobile Web service, creating a one-stop integrated way for advertisers and ad agencies to reach mobile consumers.

There was no word about the terms of the agreement, but the press release went on to say:

Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer said, “Mobile search and mobile advertising offer tremendous opportunities for innovation and growth, and Microsoft is in a unique position to deliver a fully integrated, voice-enabled solution for Verizon’s customers. We are confident that our advanced mobile search and mobile advertising technologies will help consumers get the most out of their mobile computing experience and help advertisers reach consumers who are on the go more effectively.”

Some who follow Internet marketing would say that former Yahoo CEO Jerry Yang overstayed his welcome, but it looks like he’s finally vacated the chair for good. Yahoo! recently announced that Carol Bartz will take over the CEO spot. She comes from Autodesk, where she was Executive Chairman and, prior to that CEO. In a statement issued by Yahoo, Chairman Roy Bostock said:

“We are very excited to have Carol Bartz leading Yahoo! into its next era of growth. She is the exact combination of seasoned technology executive and savvy leader that the Board was looking for, and we are thrilled to have attracted such a world-class talent to Yahoo!. She is admired in the Valley as well as on Wall Street for her deep management expertise, strong customer orientation, excellent people skills, and firm understanding of the challenges facing our industry. Carol meets all of the criteria we set for the search and is the only person to whom we offered the job. The Board is united in its view that her energetic and decisive leadership style, coupled with a proven track record of driving growth, operational excellence and shareholder value, is exactly what Yahoo! needs to get back on a path toward achieving its full potential.”

We’ll see where her leadership takes the company, and wish her well.

If you have an ecommerce site and engage in Internet marketing efforts, then you know that the holiday season was fairly brutal for etailers as well as for retailers. comScore (www.comscore.com), a company that specializes in online metrics, recently compared online holiday spending to retail holiday spending (as reported by MasterCard), and found a number of interesting trends.

Overall, online spending showed significant year-over-year increases in three categories: sport and fitness (up 18%); video games, consoles, and accessories (up 14%); and apparel and accessories (up 4%). This is especially interesting in light of an overall decrease in apparel spending of 19% to 21%.

According to a comScore press release:

“For an online holiday shopping season that recorded a disappointing 3-percent decline in sales, a positive note is that e-commerce trends outperformed overall consumer spending in several product categories, which is to say that e-commerce continued to capture an increasing share of consumers’ wallet,” said comScore chairman Gian Fulgoni. “Clearly, 2008 was an extremely challenging time for many retailers, and the beginning of 2009 may not be much better. But when the consumer economy eventually does rebound, e-commerce is poised to benefit from its emergence as an important consumer sales channel.”

Those interested in Internet marketing always have their ears to the ground when it comes to anything having to do with Microsoft. Over the past week, rumors have been flying that the giant will be laying off 17 percent of its workforce – or about 15,000 people – in the coming year. It now appears that the layoffs are just that – rumors – although the word is that contractors are receiving notices of non-renewal.

Microsoft is scheduled to release its second quarter financials on January 22, so it’s safe to assume that any drastic plans will be announced around then.