Ironvine Search Marketing

ChannelAdvisor Lays off 19% of its Workforce

Sad to say, I was one of them. Apparently there were 32 Employees let go in the US offices.

http://www.auctionbytes.com/cab/abn/y09/m01/i23/s04
http://onlinesaleschannels.wordpress.com/2009/01/22/my-liquid-lunch-with-ex-ca-employees/

I look at this as a good thing though as I was the only member of the Seattle office left on staff after they vacated the office building in Oct 2008. (Yes, no more west coast office). I have had to work out of my home office since then. It will be nice to be able to get back into traveling to work and getting to talk to other people, sharing and learning new things.

If anyone knows a company looking for a Search Marketing guru feel free to contact me at steve @ ironvine.com!

My condolences to all the other employees that were let go this week I wish you all the best, and to my former co-workers it was a great 2 years. Take care!

Below is the latest press release from ChannelAdvisor about the securing of a new round of venture capital funding.

CHANNELADVISOR SECURES $20 MILLION IN FUNDING
Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) Leader in E-commerce Channel Management Accelerates Path to Profitability

Research Triangle Park, NC – September 04, 2008 – ChannelAdvisor, the leading provider of e-commerce channel management solutions, today announced it has received an additional $20 million in funding to accelerate its growth. The funding round was led by New Enterprise Associates (NEA) with participation from current ChannelAdvisor investors Advanced Technology Ventures, Kodiak Venture Partners, eBay and Southern Capitol Ventures.

Additionally the company plans on implementing a restructuring plan that will both streamline operations and accelerate the company’s path to profitability.

“We continue to be increasingly impressed with ChannelAdvisor’s superior technology, significant traction in the retail sector, and leadership in the software as a service e-commerce industry,” says Patrick Kerins, General Partner of NEA. “We’re not only excited that the company continues to grow rapidly, but will also be able to do so profitably.”

During the past year, ChannelAdvisor’s revenues have grown over 55% and gross merchandise value (GMV) has grown over 45%. Additionally, the company has experienced significant customer growth, now boasting more than 100 top internet retailers from the prestigious Internet Retailer magazine’s Top 500 list.

With several acquisitions over the past two years, ChannelAdvisor has expanded its paid search offerings, distanced its leadership in the online marketplace space and most recently entered into the rich media segment with the acquisition of RichFX.

“ChannelAdvisor has grown rapidly over the last two years, both organically and via two material acquisitions, and has strengthened its leadership position in the e-commerce channel management space,” says Scot Wingo, CEO of ChannelAdvisor. “With the additional financing and restructuring of the company, we are excited about accelerating our path to profitability. We have reached not only a revenue scale that very few Software-as-a-Service companies have achieved, but also outstanding growth and profitability metrics.”

The following ChannelAdvisor leaders will take on expanded roles as part of the restructuring:

David Spitz, Vice President of Operations, is responsible for global products, services, and finance operations.

Michael Jones, Vice President of Business Development, Marketing and Strategic Partnerships, currently leads ChannelAdvisor’s global marketing, business development, corporate development and acquisition strategies. Jones will be expanding his role to include global sales and revenue responsibilities.

Scott Alridge, Vice President and General Counsel, will be expanding his role to include human resources operations.

About ChannelAdvisor Corporation
ChannelAdvisor Corporation provides technology and services that enable leading online retailers to maximize their products across multiple ecommerce marketplaces such as eBay, Amazon.com and Overstock.com, comparison shopping engines such as Shopping.com, Shopzilla, Nextag and Google Product Search and search engines such as Google, Yahoo! and MSN. In 2007, ChannelAdvisor managed over $2.1 billion in gross merchandise value (GMV) on behalf of its customers. ChannelAdvisor solutions combine best practices, on-demand software and integration technology to help retailers sell more products, faster, by automating labor-intensive, manual functions so they spend less time optimizing campaigns and more time solving marketing and business issues. ChannelAdvisor has expanded its retail technology and services by acquiring Rich FX media solutions. MyRichFX™, RichImage™, RichCatalog™, and RichCircular™ are now part of the ChannelAdvisor rich media technology and service solutions that ChannelAdvisor offers. ChannelAdvisor’s customers include Wal-Mart, GSI Commerce, Brookstone, Abebooks and Motorola. ChannelAdvisor Corporation is headquartered in Research Triangle Park, NC with offices in Atlanta, Seattle, New York, the United Kingdom, Australia, Ireland and Germany. For more information, visit http://www.channeladvisor.com/.

Contact:
Ashley Jones
ChannelAdvisor Corporation
Ph: 919.349.4177
ashley.jones@channeladvisor.com

As I posted last week over at SearchMarketing.com, Yahoo has done a good bit to give more insight into what it is doing to combat click fraud.

While there is not a lot of everyday usefulness in the update, they are making a good faith effort to combat the very controversial topic.

Technorati Tags: Yahoo, Search Marketing, Click Fraud, Ironvine

Erin wrote a nice reminder about getting your paid search accounts ready for Mother’s Day. This is typically a great period for female demographic targeted sites. My typical advise is to give holidays a 1 month lead time in marketing (more for larger holidays). Don’t wait for those last minute shoppers!Pump Up Paid Search for Mother’s DayThis week is the time to start preparing your paid search campaigns for Mother’s Day if you have an applicable product or service. Trend reporting for popular Mother’s Day gifts show a historic spike in traffic starting around April 15th thru May 9th.written by Erin Gordon — erin.gordon at channeladvisor.com Technorati Tags: SEM, Marketing, Mothers Day, Ironvine

Here is a first look at a new visual search engine at searchme.com.Searchme does look good, resembling a mashup of Google with Apple’s popular Cover Flow three-dimensional graphical user interface used on its iTunes service, with a little of Ask.com’s categories thrown in.For now, Searchme is only going into private beta, adding users by invitation only.To create the page-riffling effect, Searchme has been working with Adobe. The top screen, after a search term has been entered, then creates a stack of pages to represent the page links on a list below.Technorati Tags: Searchme, Searchme.com, Search, Engine, Google, Apple, Ask, Ironvine

Here are some tips from the MSN adCenter blog about using ‘Brand’ in your ad copy. I thought they were worth making note of, especially as we move into Q4 holiday sales season.

The Power of Brand Names

The creation of a strong brand identity is important to every company, large and small, all around the World. Brands built with care can say a multitude of things in just one word such as: hip, secure, quality, trendy, established, reliable, cutting edge, energetic, leadership and trustworthy. Advertisers go to great lengths to strengthen and protect their brand identity through traditional advertising mediums. We believe that it is just as important for this to extend to paid search advertising. Please read on to find out why.

Live Search and Brand Popularity

Approximately 35% of the top searches in the UK, USA and France are brand related, which gives you an idea just how brand focused our Live Search users are. If your brand is strong (and strong brands come in all shapes and sizes) include it in at least in one of your ad titles and try to get it in the descriptions too! We have often seen click through rates (CTRs) increase when brand names have been included effectively.

Smart Use of Space & a Great USP!

One might argue that space is at a premium in the world of search advertising ad copy but if your brand is strong, it will say more than a thousand words! Strong brands can also be a very powerful unique selling point as some users may prefer to buy or use a trusted source instead of a unknown one.

The use of ‘Official Site’

Using ‘Official Site’ in your ad title (when appropriate) will further help you to stand out from the crowd. This works best when you own a big brand, are selling a unique product or when you are dealing with multiple affiliates. A good example of this is the vacuum cleaner manufacturer, Dyson, who offer their products directly to the consumer as well as through resellers. They could incorporate ‘official site’ in their ad text to attract customers that need more information about Dyson in general, or who feel more confident buying directly from the manufacturer.

Technorati Tags: MSN, adCenter, PPC, Search, Paid, Marketing, SEM, Ironvine

Inside AdWords blog posted another reminder that Q4 holiday shopping is right here with tips on how to be prepared and make the most out of holiday shoppers online.

Their recommendations revolve around the Keyword Tool, ad text testing, and their optimization tips.

You can read the details at http://adwords.blogspot.com/2007/09/just-three-more-shopping-months.html

Technorati Tags: Google, AdWords, PPC, Holiday Shopping, Paid Search, SEM, Keywords, Ironvine

Last Friday MSN adCenter updated their interface to include several new features including faster editorial reviews, a hew home page dashboard, and faster ways to copy and edit keywords and create campaigns. You can review the update notice below.

Microsoft adCenter will upgrade on Friday, September 7. The tools and functionality in this upgrade will include significant improvements in editorial efficiency, campaign creation, and campaign management.

During this upgrade, adCenter will be temporarily unavailable for up to 8 hours on Friday, starting at 6:00 P.M. Pacific Time. Your ads and keywords will remain live and continue to run as usual, during this time.

After this upgrade, reporting will be delayed for up to 72 hours. To see when your data was last updated, check the timestamp on the bottom of adCenter Reporting tab.

Upgrade highlights:
Save time with fast and thorough editorial reviews for new ad groups.
Create campaigns with ease by quickly importing campaigns directly from other paid search programs or by copying existing ad groups within adCenter to a new campaign.
Instantly navigate to specific accounts, campaigns, or ad groups with the new adCenter home page dashboard, a one-stop-shop for all of your daily campaign management tasks.
Update keyword bids in bulk and view keyword performance on the same page.
Visualize your campaigns’ targeting settings with Microsoft Virtual EarthTM map integration for geographical targeting.
For details on how to use these adCenter improvements view the Feature Release Guide. In addition, the adCenter Blog will highlight detailed feature reviews after the upgrade occurs.

If you have any questions, please contact our adCenter Support Team.

Sincerely,

The Microsoft adCenter Team

Technorati Tags: MSN, Microsoft, adCenter, PPC, Paid Search, Online Marketing, Ironvine

I was reading the SEW news daily and they had a headline link to a Search Engine Land blog post about creating compelling ad copy. It is pretty basic steps on the makeup of ad copy but I thought it was a good refresher to help as we go into busy season.

http://searchengineland.com/070904-150912.php

Technorati Tags: Search, Marketing, Ads, Ironvine

Here are some GoDaddy Promotion Codes for April 2007.

Because we all work on the internet having your domain name secured, or purchasing new domains and services is an important part of everyday business. I hope these promo codes help. Check out the latest special - Register, renew or transfer TWO .NET domains for just $10!

gdm0405b: Save $10 on your order of $40 or more at GoDaddy — Expires: 4/9/07

gdm0312: Get 6.95$ .COM registration at GoDaddy — Expires 4/9/07

gdm0323c: Get GoDaddy’s Traffic Blazer at 50% off! Get your Web Site listed today on Google, MSN, Yahoo, and more! — Expires 4/15/07 - NEW

gdm0315k: Get 20% off a .COM registration at GoDaddy — Expires 4/15/07

gdm0412c: Register, renew or transfer TWO .NET domains for just $10 at GoDaddy — Expires 4/30/07 - NEW!!

Find more active GoDaddy promo codes at the dedicated GoDaddy promo page including non-expiring codes!

Technorati Tags: GoDaddy, Promo Codes, Codes, Promo, Promotion, Coupons, Domain, Hosting, Ironvine

The new Google AdWords Pay-per-Action is in beta but has conjured up quite a bit of discussion about whether the pay-per-action model will be an efficient and effective way of marketing online.

Today Inside AdWords posted a Q&A with some of the questions that have popped up about the Pay-per-action ads and marketing.

If you are interested in trying out this new model you can sign up on the AdSense referrals beta site.

Last week, we announced the launch of our pay-per-action beta test for selected US advertisers. Since that post went live, we’ve received a number of questions — and wanted to answer the most popular ones (paraphrased for brevity) in a quick follow up post:

Do pay-per-action ads show on Google.com or on sites in the search network?
No. Pay-per-action ads are not eligible to show on Google.com or in the Google search network. They’re only eligible to display in the Google content network.

I am an advertiser using My Client Center (MCC) and am interested in the pay-per-action beta test for my clients, as well as for my own business. What are my sign up options?
We’re only adding individual AdWords accounts to the beta test, so if you are an advertiser managing multiple accounts with an MCC, you can add the individual accounts that you believe will benefit from pay-per-action, including your own.

Is it possible to set a cost-per-action (CPA) value (i.e. the amount I’d like to pay for a specific action) as a percentage of the amount of the purchase rather than as a fixed amount per purchase?
We don’t currently offer the option to set a CPA value as a percentage. The cost-per-action value must be a fixed amount.

I am also an AdSense publisher and would like to participate in this test. How can I sign up?
Please visit the AdSense referrals beta site, on which you’ll find a ‘Sign Up’ link.

I am not a US advertiser, and wonder when pay-per-action will be available in my country?
Although we plan to extend the pay-per-action beta test to advertisers outside of the US in the future, we don’t currently have a date for when this option may become available in other countries.

Although I am not a US advertiser, my campaigns do target US customers. Can I participate in the beta?
At this time, we’re only accepting advertisers who have a billing address located in the United States.

Want to learn more? Please take a look at our frequently asked questions regarding the pay-per-action beta.

Posted by Sarah and Blake, Inside AdWords crew

–
Posted By Inside AdWords crew to Inside AdWords at 3/29/2007 01:35:00 PM

Technorati Tags: Google, Google AdWords, AdWords, Pay per action, Online Marketing, Search Marketing, PPC, PPA, Ironvine, Beta

As we announced back in January and February, the ChannelAdvisor Catalyst conference happened last week. I have heard exciting things from the people here that went. While I was unable to attend this year’s ChannelAdvisor Catalyst due to my being away here is a wrap up from Scot Wingo posted on his eBay Strategies blog site. I look forward to being their next year!

Catalyst wrap-up.

We had a great time this week hosting over 400 customers, partners and merchants at our Catalyst conference.  On the eBay side, we had lots of content:

1. Bill Cobb (eBay) came and gave everyone an update on eBay.   This was covered in AuctionBytes here.

2. We announced a partnership with Overstock to enable sellers to sell there for the first time. (note this is not overstock auctions).  Announcement is here and auctionbytes coverage is here.

3. In my talk I covered some of the opportunities in challenges in the rapidly expanding world of online ecommerce channels.  Auctionbytes coverage is here and you can download the slides here (Download Catalyst_SW_ecomm_trends.pdf)

Additional ebay content was covered in the Fraud panel (Rob Chestnut came but was very sick - Rob we hope you are feeling better!), the Wall Street Panel and if you count shopping.com, the Comparison Shopping Engine Panel.

It was great seeing all of our customers, partners and friends at the conference and everyone at ChannelAdvisor came back fired up about our new offerings.

Technorati Tags: ChannelAdvisor, Catalyst, eBay, Online Marketing, Seller, Auction, Ironvine