Last night we recorded the year-end episode of the IMTW Podcast, and discussed 2010 predictions.
That episode should be available at the site or in your feed very soon, so keep an eye out for it. In the meantime, I'll share some of my predictions for Internet Marketing as we head into the New Year...
1) 2010 is going to see a huge need for consultants and service providers to bring small businesses online so that they can engage with their customers.
There will be a lot of opportunities in this field as small business owners need to be educated on how to best reach their markets online. They'll need web development services from people who understand the current state of online marketing and social media communication. They are also going to need ongoing social media services, project management, and content development...
While 2009 saw a rise in this offline business model for educated Internet Marketers, and several have jumped on the opportunity and are doing very well with it, the market has barely been tapped - and desperately needs help in understanding the best ways to make use of new media opportunities.
The opportunities are there both for people who want to work directly with the small business owners in their local area - and for those that want to offer virtual services to the consultants that are working with them.
2) We're moving strongly towards Mobile Web & Social Media
The mobile web is growing by leaps and bounds, at a more rapid speed than the internet ever did. The growth of the smartphone market has put the internet - and your websites - in the hands of consumers 24 hours a day, from any location.
This means two things: Your websites and media need to be mobile friendly, and you need to be strongly engaged via Social Media services.
Going into 2010 and beyond, you'll need buzz and info-bites. Quick, small, fun ways for your target market to get engaged with your brand and your offers. It needs to be fast, and it needs to be share-worthy. Hit that mark and you have the potential for viral marketing like never before.
We're ultimately moving towards the expectation that if you can't find it online, or on your mobile, it simply doesn't exist. At least not to the point that it matters.
This is important for both online and offline business owners, as a large part of the smartphone capability is to easily and conveniently locate local business - and also complete online transactions.
“As mobile data consumption rises, we expect local marketing to be a big winner,” said Michael Boland, program director, Mobile Local Media (MLM), The Kelsey Group. “There is a strong correlation between local search and the mobile use case, which will cause a good portion of the ongoing mobile application boom to focus on local.” source
3) Being a Market Leader in 2010
Three things stand out to me as we head into the New Year: Brand, Community & Social Media Mastery. Those that become community leaders, and build a strong social media reputation will become the market leaders in their niche.
It will be the authors, merchants, affiliates, service providers and website owners that actually engage in conversation with their target market that thrive online. Not only with their customers directly, but also with the entities that have the power to rank or tank them online - such as Google.
Now more than ever, going into 2010 brand and community are going to be very important aspects of any online marketing strategy.
On the podcast I mentioned that "It's a come to us market, because we’re not coming to you anymore." From a marketing perspective, this means catering to the consumer - and being readily found in any medium from any device.
2010 is going to be the year that offline businesses have to get on the bandwagon, and cater to the technology that is changing the way their customers want to do business with them: easy, convenient, fast, and efficient.
The Online Economy
One of the things I've found interesting about all of the economy talk in 2009, is that while the offline world has seen sales tanking and they're closing up shop, the online world is absolutely booming. And it's only going to continue to grow in a positive direction.
Offline sales are dropping, while online sales are rising. And why not? As a consumer myself, it only makes sense. Why would I fight traffic and spend hours shopping at the mall in the nearest city when my teens can hop on my mobile anytime anywhere and order a new pair of converse shoes... and have them delivered right to the front door the next day?
Merchants need to be positioned where & how consumers are now shopping. Period.
Now is a great time to get serious about your online business. While some people will complain that it's too late, the truth is that the early pioneers have paved the way for you. We're only in our 2nd decade of ecommerce, and the market is more ripe than ever for smart entrepreneurs.
Make sure you tune in to the IMTW Podcast and check out the 2010 Predictions Episode for more insight from Ed Dale, Paul Colligan and Michelle MacPhearson to hear the things we're excited about as we head into the New Year...
Best,
p.s. If you're not yet on board with Twitter, or still confused about how to best use it in your marketing plan, see: Twitter Marketing and specifically the Twitter Marketing Strategy section.
About Lynn Terry
Every word makes sense.
Keep it short, keep it real and keep it coming!
Dan
I really need to get my websites mobile friendly.... thank you for the reminder!
As one who provides services to offline consultants, as well as being an offline consultant myself: I absolutely agree and support your prediction that 2010 is going to be huge for those who choose to serve the offline market.
Lynn, can you expand on how you can make your site mobile friendly?
I am researching it myself as well. We'll have to start a thread on the SSWT Forum and share resources 😉
Excellent piece, Lynn. So right on, in so many ways...
For converting WordPress sites to mobile, we have tested mobile on over 200 business websites and found that WordPress Mobile Edition plugin is compatible with the widest variety of mobile devices -- important if you're trying to reach the widest audience of customers. 😉
There are now over 3 billion mobile Internet users worldwide (far more than desktop Internet users), so it's an important part of what we bring to our clients; we have found that mobile Internet use in the US lags behind Japan and elsewhere worldwide, but it's catching up rapidly.
Plus, with over 1 billion local searches every month... and 98% of those searches ending on page one... it's an urgent task to get local business online and ranked on page one of Google, Bing and Yahoo. There is only so much prime real estate, and the size/index of search engines (the number of pages in their databases) is increasing exponentially.
That fight for the top 10 will only intensify; local businesses moving online needed to do it yesterday, and do it in a COMPREHENSIVE manner to insure top ranking going forward. Your overview really illuminated the task at hand for local business.
Thank you John - appreciate the resource & link!
Local & Longtail will definitely be the target more so than ever in the coming year. Searchers are more savvy than ever in regards to search, and finding exactly what they want online in record time.
I have always focused on the Top 10 only for rankings, and don't even look at the number of actual results for any given search. The only "competition" I see is those first 10 results - period. 😉
How true about the Top 10 -- it is the only 'competition' that matters.
A buddy encoraged me to read this website, nice post, interesting read... keep up the nice work!
Great post. I agree it's not too late! Sometimes I kick myself for not getting into this field a decade ago, but there's no sense looking back. I believe 2010 will be a great year! Oh, and very cool comments plug-in - I had to come try it out. Thanks!
Lynn, strong statements here, and I agree with every one of them. This is exactly what I've been telling business owners in my area. They're finally starting to get it! 🙂
Lynn,
I have to say that I love IMTW and I am looking forward to listening to the year end podcast. I am sure it is waiting for me in my iPhone now.
I really enjoy your commentary on the podcast as well. I think you bring a real down-to-earth, practicality to the podcast.
I hope you are correct about your predictions -- that will mean great things to come in the next decade. Keep up the great work!
Russ Henneberry
Thank you Russ! 😀
Interesting read to say the least... I have been focusing more on Social Media myself lately but really need to learn more about mobile applications and how to benefit from them... lots to learn... 😉
Anyone wishing to move forward in the new year should be inspired by this post.
Well done Lynn.
Merry Christmas.
Regards
Norman
Thank you Norman - Merry Christmas to you! 😀
Hi Lynn,
I have been trying to justify the purchase of an iphone. I was just looking for an excuse to dump the unnecessary excessive movie expense from Comcast and getting screwed for being a loyal reliable customer. This really has the wheels spinning.
Thanks
I can't get iPhone service (AT&T) in my area, but I have a Samsung Omnia smartphone with mobile broadband that I love. Verizon also has an app store, and the touchscreen omnia is very similar to the look & feel of the iPhone. That said, a friend of mine has the Google phone and it really appeals to me as well - and I hear that the iPhone may become available through Verizon in the near future...
Lynn,
I'll be anxious to see how we can make our blogs more mobile friendly without compromising the web version. Also, you can add your blog to Kindle's subscription service for folks who don't want or can't fire up their computer while at home or traveling.
Kindle is a good move. It's important for us to make our content available & convenient in as many mediums as possible...
thanks, Chris, for that WPTouch plugin recommendation. I just installed it and it works beautifully! I like that it gives the visitor the option to turn the mobile view on and off.
If you don't start now developing your content for all forms of social media, you will become a marketing dinosaur in very short order. Everything is heading that way. People will use their phones to read your content very soon.
Hi Lynn, Mobile web and social media are like a foreign language for this central Oregon cowboy. There are places out west where shopping online has become essential to getting what you need since a store can be hours away. I'm sure you're right on the mark with your predictions so i guess it's time to learn to tweet and go mobile.
At the very least you want to be active on Twitter & Facebook. See my link at the end of the post on Twitter Marketing for a head start on that.
I have been shopping online for years now for that very reason. It's a 2 hour round trip into the city for me, and that's with no guarantee they'll have what I want or need. I love the convenience of shopping from home or my mobile and having it delivered right to the door! 😉
Lynne thanks for sharing your predictions for 2010, this post sure has made me realise I need to get much more 'mobile' focused! Looking forward to hearing the podcast.
Have a great Christmas.
PS I'm attending Ed Dale's Coming Home 2, are you really going to be there?! It would be great to chat to you if you are! As a mum of two young children sometimes I just wonder 'how to do it all', you keep me inspired that it's possible. 🙂
Hi Michelle,
I have it penciled in and am planning to be there, barring nothing unexpectedly pops up between now and then. I was actually just searching for a good flight this morning. Hope to see you in February!
It looks like the competition for prime internet space will be even more intense in the future. After all people scarcely look past the first few listings in the SERPS-what about the other 400 billion websites? Looks like it is even more critical to get an established web prescence now while it is still possible.
The majority of the "other 400 billion websites" for any given search are pretty much irrelevant anyway. That's nothing new. It's super important to be easily found - wherever your target market is looking for you, or discussing your topic. Going into the future, social is just as important as search. In fact, they practically go hand in hand as we head into 2010...
Thanks, Lynne. One of the things I love about internet & social media marketing is that it is ever evolving, and one of the most challenging things is that it's ever evolving. =) You are an amazing person and resource, and I always find incredible value in all the information you share. You're a gem. Thanks for all you share.
Thank you Kate 😀
I love the challenge as well, and have really enjoyed following the trends over the last 13 years. It's amazing how far we've come, and even more amazing what we can expect in the future - both as marketers and as users. Love every minute of it!
Lynn, you are really an inspiration for me and I'm reminded that
I should spend more time in your forum!
Your post about being ready for increasing development of social
media in 2010 and mobile web is a wake-up call for me! I need to
get up to speed on all that...
Thanks Lynn,
Fran 🙂
Fran
We'll be discussing it more in the forum, Fran. I look forward to that, sharing resources and ideas. I'll see you there 😉
Thank you Lynn - with you and the click newz it makes it much easier for us to evolve and stay on top of the trends too. Truth be told-I had been ignoring mobile. Now, thinking I should get with it. I'd bet all your predictions are right on.
It has been an interesting week listening to various predictions for 2010 but once again Lynn you have the marvellous way of talking to us all and making everything easy, convenient, fast and efficient. You sum everything up in one neat sentence: "It's a come to us market because we're not coming to you anymore."
The mobile Internet in 2010 is going to be a roller coast ride. Get on there now.
Festive Season everyone.
I think your predictions are spot on! The writing on the wall is loud and clear.
BTW Lynn, I would love to know what plugin you are using to get these easy to read tiered comments?
ok...I just got your email, thank you!
The plugin is called KeywordLuv.
Gonna go install it on my blog. Thanks!
Most welcome - I am liking this plugin a lot as it looks a lot less spammy and still gives everyone the option to get a keyword link into their comment.
Definitely a preference over CommentLuv which just pulls the latest blog post. This plugin gives you a lot more control over your preferred link & keyword phrase.
Check out the WPtouch plugin. I tried it on one of my websites and it worked great. Made the site load really fast on my iPhone and the theme made it easier to read and I saw no difference with the regular website.
There is also an option to add Adsense & Google Analytics code.
Awesome - Thanks Chris for this plugin recommendation. Off to install it and give it a try. I love that visitors can click a link in the footer to switch between the WPTouch theme and your site regular theme.
Hey Chris - I've installed the WPtouch plugin, but since I don't have an iPhone, nor do I use the web from my cell, can you check my site to make sure the WPtouch plugin is working: http://genesisblogging.com is where I installed it. Thanks!
Traci -- it worked perfectly. It took 2 seconds for your site to load.
Thanks Chris!
You can use Safari Developer User Agent to simulate iPhone so you know what your site looks like.
As usual excellent advice. Thanks for mentioning the mobile market. Since I really don't use the Internet from my cell at all, I tend not to think about that market that much at all. Guess I know what I need to work on for 2010.
I have just started using my mobile to access the web more and more this past year myself. I absolutely love that convenience!
The mobile web is growing at an exciting rate, much faster than the internet ever has. Going into 2010 I see this as being a primary focus. It pays to look into apps if that is relevant for your site or offers, and at the very least to make sure your content (video, audio, text) is viewable on the mobile web. Social Media will play a big part as well, as that is where a lot of people are 'plugged in' via mobile - particulary Facebook and Twitter.
Your predictions are probably right, there is an increase in the numbers of people starting up home businesses.
That's true as well, but even more so - there is an increase in online shopping, which is great news for internet marketers, whether you're a merchant or an affiliate.
Interesting predictions! Thanks for sharing!
Yes the coming of the Mcommerce age is here. It will be bigger than the Ecommerce age for sure. So every smart entreprenuer should jump on the bandwagon quick.
Debating whether to get a BB, but I do use my cell to keep up with my daily email and social networking sites and it's making a huge difference in my ability to stay on top of things!
I am not using mine for email (yet!) but definitely love it for personal use (online shopping, reading, getting directions, etc) and for social media updates. It's nice to be able to update Twitter & Facebook on the fly - especially with photos too.
Thank you for some nice information on market of 2010, well I think it will be tough more for market online as competitor is increasing.
I see competition... as opportunity 😀
So we are heading to a new age of online marketing through social media and mobile web..
Nice and Informative post,.. I should have concentrate more on social media marketing ..
So we can say the New Year is coming with some new concept and theme of online marketing .. seems interesting.
Merry Christmas to Lynn and to all commentators 🙂
It's never too late to get started, and Social Media Marketing is definitely where you'll want to focus in the coming years in addition to your usual online marketing strategy.
There are places out west where shopping online has become essential to getting what you need since a store can be hours away. I’m sure you’re right on the mark with your predictions so i guess it’s time to learn to tweet and go mobile.
A cool read on that topic:
http://www.clicknewz.com/1919/creative-uses-for-twitter/ 😉
Hi Lynn,
Great post! I've been sort of bouncing back & forth with how much I want to (and have time to) work with local small businesses and finding the right balance between that an my online work. Local businesses need A LOT more one on one and education about taking their business online. Figuring out the best way to be of service and manage everything is a big process for me right now!
LOVED the Blog Boost pdf and will be sharing it with my list this week.
Merry Christmas- and thanks for the great content.
Kim
@kimdoyal
Thank you Kim - glad you enjoyed it! I am really looking forward to the New Year, and working hard on my plans and goals as we close out these last couple of weeks in '09 😉
Honestly I've been avoiding the social media thing for a while.I just don't get how you make all the time to form relationships on so many social platforms and write a blog, write articles, run your business etc. I know there are some twitter tools which make things more efficient and faster, but still I would really be interested in knowing how you make being on multi-social platforms work smoothly.
I stick to Twitter and Facebook as my preferred social media properties, and honestly it only takes a few minutes to make updates. Other times I invest more into starting discussions or engaging in topics - but always with an objective, and always a good ROI.
I outsource many of my "run your business" tasks, which frees me up to focus on content, marketing and getting engaged with my target market.
Hi Lynn,
Thanks for this futuristic report. 🙂
"The opportunities are there both for people who want to work directly with the small business owners in their local area – and for those that want to offer virtual services to the consultants that are working with them."
While you're in 2010 planning mode, do you think you will be blogging about this and/or providing resources to achieve this business model? I'd be most interested in the "offering virtual services to the consultants portion of the sentence." What is the best way to accomplish this?
Thanks for all you do & Happy Holidays to you & your family!
Thank you Linda 😀
A good start is the Job Board and the Special Offers sections at the SSWT Forum. I often tweet those opps out to my Twitter list, and it's a great way to get or find work.
There are other forums you can do this as well, and forum networking (as well as Twitter) is a great way to find jobs & clients.
Interesting post, Lynn. Thanks for sharing this informative blog.
Merry Christmas.
Making my websites mobile friendly is something that I've had at the back of my mind, because I knew this was coming. Thanks for the reminder 🙂
In addition to our sites & blogs, we have to make sure all of our media is mobile friendly - especially videos and audios, as people like to take those on the go, so we have to make sure we make that easy for them to do!
Hi Lynn
First time on your blog, but what a read this blog post is. Great!! Wondering what resources you and all here can recommend for mobile marketing, mobile advertising, mobile web design, etc. I guess I´m still not sure were and what areas within mobile marketing to start with. Better yet what business models are ripe and ready to go for and what models will be born in the coming years, that rely on mobile. Were to invest yourself if building from scratch?
Thanks
Henrik, Sweden
Lynn, I can certainly get behind your comment about the online economy going up while offline stores are tanking, i.e. shoe sites. People ask me all the time, "Who buys shoes online?"
Shoe site sales have never been better on the web 😉