I’ll start with a disclaimer: this blog will be part working through my thoughts, part venting, and part offering you some internet marketing tips. Bear with the back story – I’ll pull it together. Here goes.

"Hello. My name is Paige and I’m an internet marketer who values relationship, organization, and checking off my to-do list while quickly sipping a cup of coffee, chasing a toddler, and checking Facebook…all while enjoying life’s demands as a writer, wife, and mom."

Wouldn’t it be great if when we met each other we’d have thought bubbles like this above our heads? We would know so much more about each other from our initial interactions. It would make our jobs easier too. How? Keep reading today’s internet marketing tips to find out. But first, answer this question:

You come in contact with a variety of people day in and day out, would you know your buyer personas if you met them? 

Here’s a one question quiz for you:

What is content marketing?

a.) a blog article

b.) an episode of The Bachelor

c.) a Facebook post

d.) a YouTube video of dancing cats

e.) all of the above

You already experience native advertising, you just don’t know it. If you’ve been researching this whole internet marketing thing for your small business you might have come across the term “native advertising.” It’s what we like to call a “fuzzy” term, meaning it’s used a lot, but the true meaning is not always fully known or understood. Today’s internet marketing tips will help explain native advertising and why it may or may not be a good advertising source for your small business.

What is Native Advertising?

Are you a reflector or forgetter? With 2013 coming to a close do you find yourself reflecting on the past year or just wanting to forget it and move on to whatever is in store for 2014? I’m a reflector. I love looking back on the year to see what’s been learned, achieved, overcome and enjoyed – both personally, professionally, and socially in the world. It’s been a year since we’ve started blogging about internet marketing here at Half a Bubble Out, so it’s only appropriate I take the time to also reflect on our past blogs and recap the most popular internet marketing tips we wrote about in 2013.

You better watch out

You better not cry

You better not pout I’m telling you why

Google bots are crawling around

It’s making a list and checking it twice

Gonna find out who’s naughty or nice

Google bots are crawling around

It sees you when you’re blogging

It knows you want to rank

It knows if links are bad or good

So be good for goodness sake!

At Half a Bubble Out we sometimes make up our own words – known as “seussing” (think Dr. Seuss). A couple of examples include: using the word “funner” in a tagline for a client; and combining the words “simple” and “uncomplicated” for another client to create “simplicate,” helping explain how their business helps people easily navigate the health insurance industry.

Internet marketing uses its own vocabulary too, and new terms are popping up constantly. So we decided to look up some of the terms we frequently heard in 2013 to understand exactly what they mean.

You’ve heard the phrase “it’s better to give than to receive,” and while this may be true when it comes to the well-being of our souls, it may not be the case when it comes to content marketing. St. Francis of Assisi said, “For it is in giving that we receive” and the same can be said for giving away free content to consumers – because offering quality, custom content that they find relevant and helpful could help you get new business. Here are some internet marketing tips for why you should offer free content.

Engage on Social Media

Do you know a good blog when you read one? There are a lot of good blogs out there and I wish I could read every single one, not just because I think reading is good for you, but because other bloggers have great ideas that can trigger a new idea for one of your own blog posts.  But the reality is blogging takes a lot of time and energy, something we all seem to have a lack of, especially during the holidays. So in the spirit of Thanksgiving I’m going to share 10 resources I’m thankful for as a blogger.

I like myself some eye candy. I'm not talking about David Beckham in boxers or Justin Timberlake bringing sexy back. I'm talking internet marketing eye candy -- graphics, images, videos, graphs, and infographics. They add some sex appeal if you will to any blog post, ebook or webpage. They show a different representation of the information, which in turn reaches your different business personas.