For those of you who want to learn as much as possible about search engine marketing and online marketing in general I highly suggest that you take the time to go through some of the blogs on the BigList of Search Marketing. The list is maintained by the folks at TopRank Online Marketing.

This list is the most comprehensive that I have seen on the net and the blogs listed are truly the best of the best. Go check out the list and I am sure that you will find some blogs that will interest you and answer many of your questions about marketing on the Internet.

In case you haven’t been told there is a “new” domain name extension out there called .mobi for “mobile”. I put new in parentheses because it has been available for use since 2006 and has yet to catch on. Today, I and Mark Barrera noticed an article in a magazine extolling the virutes of .mobi domains and we both met it with a yawn, here’s why.

The entire point of a .mobi domain was for what would amount to “sister sites” for companies to have a “mobile version” of their websites. Sites that would be optimized in size, shape, form and function to appear properly on mobile phones and other devices. The concept was developed because many sites look really jacked up on early smart phones like my Blackberry that I refuse to upgrade, for instance. Then last year something happened that made this all pointless. One word – iPhone!

If you have used an iPhone you know that the internet on the iPhone looks, acts and is just about as close to the regular PC/Mac based internet as a phone could ever be. With the iPhone, no one needs a “mobile” only website. They only need a regular website which most companies already have. The iPhone effectively kills the entire purpose of the .mobi domain. “Wait”, I hear you saying at the screen in front of you, “not everyone has an iPhone or will” you continue. Well, I agree but it simply does not matter. You see the iPhone took on such dominance that every other phone maker is out now building their own truly smart phones and phones are going to get smarter, not dumber.

It will be a year or two at the most when 90% of new phones (even cheap or “free” ones) have excellent browsing capabilities and can access the web with no big issues that require a “special” domain. So what does that mean to you? Simple, do not waste company resources, money and/or time making special websites just for mobile users to access. Instead focus on local search marketing (local SEO)because that is the growth sector that will be most affected by the growth in mobile internet users.

Mobile users are often deep into the need/buying phase of things when they search, they are looking for something now and something close to them. As their phones will soon see the same internet as their PCs, so marketers should address their need. The need is not special websites, it is finding your website when they are in your area. The key to that is local search marketing so my advice is expend resources on developing that area and don’t worry about .mobi or developing websites specifically for the mobile user.

It’s that time again for the Fort Worth Business Assistance Center (BAC) to  pride itself on hosting the largest Entrepreneur Expo  in not only Texas, but across the country! To be exact, it’s the Lockheed Martin and Chase  Entrepreneur Expo 2008, and it will be held at the Fort Worth Convention Center this coming Friday, February 8th.

This year’s theme is “Opening Doors for Business”…and many small business owners and aspiring entrepreneurs will fill the exhibit hall and visit with the more-than-300 exhibitors to learn how to build their business and  increase sales.  The BAC has done a fantastic job listening to the exhibitors and small business owners, and this year introduces three new “zones” at the Expo: the Procurement Zone, the Opportunity Zone and the Technology Zone.

Franklin-Spirko will be on hand in booth # 233 in the Technology Zone (we’re just one row in when you come into the exhibit hall…next to the CyberCafe!) talking about our newly launched Internet marketing services designed for the small business owners. Our new products include the Google Pay-Per-Click (PPC) Advertising Starter Package  and Local SEO Package. As Jack (Spirko) says, our services “are designed to help small businesses not only open those doors to new customers, but build their company, and increase their overall sales quickly and easily.”

The Expo  only runs for one day, so make sure you come by and visit not only Franklin-Spirko, but all of the other great vendors at the event! Exhibits are open from 9:00 am – 11:30 am and 1:00 pm – 4:30 pm. There are also seminars at the Expo that will help small business owners learn more about marketing, sales generation, business management, and more.

~Deb