Small Business Commando News

Kelsey Group Blogs » Universal Search Paves the Way for Local Video

Michael Boland of the Kelsey Group has a point on post discussing the impact of video syndication and universal search.

The point he makes is that some companies (usually traditional publishing companies) are fighting against publishing video through syndication.

Syndication means uploading the videos on YouTube, MySpace, DailyMotion and other video sharing sites.

On the one hand, you lose control when you syndicate the video.  It resides on someone else’s servers, and they control the surrounding page.

On the other hand, the video will be seen by many more potential customers.

At Weblistic, I’m thrilled to have played a part in the development of local video saturation.  We regularly push local videos to dozens of sites in an effort to generate leads for our clients.  Our clients relish the leads they receive because the customers have a better understanding of the products and services being offered.

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I’m a serious fan of the conferences put on by the Kelsey Group, and ahve attributed much of my success to connections that were made or strengthened by attending.

The programs are filled with top drawer speakers, but for me, the benefit is the networking time with the Presidents, CEOs and Senior VPs of the top companies in local media.

Check out the discount rates for early registration.

The Kelsey Group’s Interactive Local Media and Search Engine Strategies conference begins this Wednesday in Los Angeles.

This is the largest turnout for any of their conferences since the heyday of the Internet circa 1999.

Local online advertising and media has never been more important, and this is where all the movers and shakers will be.

Personally, I’ve found that the networking opportunities at the Kelsey Group’s conferences make everything highly valuable for me.

My friend, Peter Krasilovsky has been organizing the event, and he’s a master of asking tough questions, pulling relevant information and uncovering the hidden gems.

Kelsey Group Blogs – Yellow Pages and Local Media:

One of the really interesting things I saw at the Drilling Down on Local 2007 conference was a private presentation of Yellowbot.com by Erron Silverstein.

Erron is justifiably exhuberent about his approach toward Internet Yellow Pages , social networking and web 2.0 (how’s that for a trifecta of buzzwords?)

I am one of the most jaded users of Internet Yellow pages (having run WorldPages.com for half a decade).

However, Yellowbot.com showed one of the most seamless integrations of easy consumer input with structured directory content.

Erron is (and I say this with much respect) a mega-geek.  He’s nitpicked pieces of various properties and layered the most interesting features on top of the Localeze enhanced local business database.

In a way, it reminds me of MojoPages.com, a San Diego based start up that hopes to accomplish much of the same. (fabulous user generated content with structured data).

YellowBot is more likely to be a technology provider to an existing sales force or media publisher.  Erron’s strength is not in creating a local sales force.

But if you want to see the future of IYP, take a look at yellowbot and mojopages.

I received the following email today from a contact back east. Can anyone with inside information shed some light on this?

Hi Dick,

When I heard your webcast the other month about the growing internet “yellow” pages I thought for sure the next Verizon book would be thinner than last years. It sure seemed like everyone was piking the end of the yellow pages in the mp3. To my surprise the Verizon book 49% larger…that’s right 49% larger than last years.

Last year’s yellow pages (Verizon in Lancaster, PA) was 509 pages. This year’s yellow pages are 757 pages! Whoa! (The book arrived on my door step today.)

I can’t believe how many advertisers upped their full page ads to 2 full pages. I also can’t believe how many lawyers grabbed 4 full page ads (instead of 2 pages).

Since you’re an industry insider did Verizon run some kind of special to get all these companies to buy bigger ads? Or is Lancaster, PA just 10 years behind the times (I used to live in L.A. and when i moved here a few years ago…it sure felt like I’ve moved back in time) and don’t know any better…that they should be putting all their bucks into internet advertising? Searching for a plumber online locally is a fruitless effort.

Wishing you the best of health.

Vic K

In a recent article, Entrepreneur Magazine quoted a Kelsey Group study predicting a significant decline in print Yellow Pages usage among teens.

According to the study, 28% of teens said that they would use the print Yellow Pages to find local business information. 47% said they favored search engines. Only 44% of respondents between 18 and 34 favored the printed Yellow Pages.

I’d like to know where they found ANY teens that use the printed phone books instead of search engines. I certainly don’t know any.

In my quest for knowledge, I found some college students who swear by the printed phone books.

Your Commando Marketing tip of the day:

If you’re marketing to young people, it’s probably best to buy a cover position.