Though the announcement by NetSuite was a bit unnecessary, it does point to something more important to us as a fellow Software-as-a-Service company: Google has now really emphasized cloud computing, web applications and SaaS.  I am currently using Chrome on SalesForce, the king of all SaaS web applications.  What Chrome gives me, is the ability to run SalesForce sans a traditional browser.  I have previously experimented with Mozilla Labs’ Prism but, Chrome’s ease of use trumps the Mozilla model.  Through the use of Chrome’s software application mode, I can easily and quickly “tear away” a tab from the browser and create a desktop shortcut.

What this means to us here at Adapt is that our clients, if using Chrome, can now actually generate a desktop shortcut specific to our web application instead of having to save it as a favorite link or continually type in the web address.  Google even generates a cool little icon based on you favicon.

While being thoroughly aware that Chrome is a direct assault on Microsoft and its software strangle-hold (they are pushing not only Google Docs, but also Google Apps for Business which recently blew past the 1,000,000th user mark), we still applaud them for making the user’s life easier in companies that utilize SaaS solutions in their day-to-day operations - whether that be SalesForce, NetSuite or Adapt SEM.

It should be noted that Chrome, while it appears to be a great consumer and features browser, has yet to be thoroughly tested within the enterprise realm over any substantial period of time. There have also been some rather sobering revelations on security flaws and it is not fully compatible with all websites, including those using Active-X controls.  This is however understandable as it is labeled as a beta release. Some caution should therefore be taken when using it to surf the web.  That being said, I still think it is a great first release.

Oh and by the way, I think this post is Google Chrome compatible as well.

Above and beyond that, I have been in the advertising/marketing space in one way or another for the last 10 years.  I have had many jobs, but working here at Adapt has brought me to a nexus of things that I am truly passionate about: SEM, the web, technology and above all, the ability to help businesses and marketers of all sizes succeed in this new electronic medium.

My position here at Adapt has grown over my tenure, as it commonly does in most start-ups, and now includes blog contributor.  I am honored to have been asked, but I am sure it has more to do with me leaving work early for those “Web2.0/SocialMedia” events and the need for a reckoning.

So please sit back as I try to make PPC automation and optimization interesting, sexy and fun.  I have my work cut out for me, though I think they couldn’t have picked a better guy.

Cheers!

Let’s start with what’s new this week for the Adapt SEM PPC management software!

Tomorrow at 3pm (PT), we will be rolling out the first phase of the Adapt SEM Agency Client Report Center.

The Adapt SEM Client Report Center for agencies now enables you, the account manager, to customize the data you need to show your customer. You also now have the option to automate the scheduling and emailing of your reports, in pdf format, to your named recipients and customers.

The Client Report Center is yet another customer driven enhancement from Adapt SEM to make your life easier!

Not an Adapt SEM customer? Request a FREE DEMO to see what we are about or take a FREE TEST DRIVE.

117 E. Colorado Blvd.
Pasadena, CA 91105

Our existing fax and phone numbers stay the same. (Fax 626-628-0336, phone 626-304-6500)

You can now sign up for a 7-day trial version of the software so you can explore all the features and see the kind of optimization recommendations it makes for your PPC campaign and goals. That’s right - YOUR goals. Unlike other trial/test drive software versions out there, you enter your own Google and/or Yahoo login credentials so the software can retrieve historical account data, and what the goals are for those campaigns. Adapt SEM then provides specific recommendations based on those goals.

I encourage anyone who’s interested in getting their proverbial hands on the wheel, to try out the Test Drive! You can sign up yourself by registering here.

Alternatively, if you want to learn more about the features we’re offering in the software, sign up for our free weekly Webinar to get a demo for yourself, or explore the product pages on our site.

Look forward to seeing you soon!

In January, we launched SEM-in-a-Box. Premiering with a free version that provided a taste of the features and recommendations that could be used to help them improve PPC campaigns, we quickly saw hundreds of search marketers sign up and try it out.

We debuted the Campaign Converter tool as a feature within our PPC management software platform in March. This handy tool allows subscribers to take existing campaign data from Google, and within two steps, transform it quickly and efficiently to the Panama platform and drop it right into a Panama account.

In April, we exhibited at our first Search Engine Strategies trade show in New York. The show, packed with thousands of search engine marketing professionals hungry for knowledge and tools, gave us a great opportunity to introduce ourselves and our PPC management software to the industry. And if you were there, you’ll remember our booth - featuring a fun competition with a Whac-a-Mole game!

I spoke at the Direct Marketing Assoc. of Southern California’s “Internet Marketing Day” in May, providing insights on PPC optimization. Download a copy of my presentation here (1.02MB pdf file.)

We didn’t rest during the summer either - with extensive product enhancements in June, the launch of an Agency platform in Beta in August, and capping off the season with another fruitful visit to Search Engine Strategies in San Jose (Flickr photostream, YouTube video).

In September, Chris Upkes spoke at PPC Summit in Los Angeles on how to deal with the challenges of managing PPC.

October was a milestone month - we launched the new $199/month Small Business tier of our PPC management platform, specifically for helping smaller marketers with budgets of less than $5000/month.

We capped off the year with our third appearance at Search Engine Strategies, with Chris Upkes presenting on the panel titled “Managing PPC for Multiple Clients,” in which he addressed the ways SEM agencies could improve their service offerings by leveraging technology. We also had the opportunity to speak with both Brandy Shapiro-Babin from WebMasterRadio.fm as well as Sage Lewis from WebMarketingWatch.

Phew! What a year… we’re looking forward to 2008, as we have many more conferences to attend and lots of new product enhancements on the road map, including these events just in the first few months of the year:

• offering a free trial version of Adapt SEM
• attending PPC Summit Dallas (Feb 4-5, 2008) - get 10% off your registration when you use code ADAPT1 at signup
• releasing support for managing PPC ads on MSN
• exhibiting at >SES New York, (March 17-20, 2008)
• improving the recommendations queue for easier management of campaign optimization

We’re looking forward to a productive year, and hope you and your family are enjoying the holiday season.

SEMPO (the Search Engine Marketing Professional Organization) maintains a comprehensive list of online marketing events at their site.

As we’ve noted in the past, we usually attend or present at a number of these events. Here are just a few of the upcoming conferences we’re attending. An added bonus? Get great discounts, noted below!

- PPC Summit San Francisco, Nov. 15-16, 2007. The PPC Summit is focused solely on pay-per-click marketing education and best practices. We presented at the LA event, but even attended some of the sessions ourselves- getting some great tips and tricks from our fellow PPC marketing experts. Interested in attending the SF event? When registering, use the discount code ADAPT1 for a $100 discount on two-day registrations and $50 on one-day.
- Search Engine Strategies Chicago, Dec. 3-6, 2007. A thorough overall conference about SEM, covering all aspects of search engine marketing, including SEO, PPC, and social networking, among others. Chris Upkes will be discussing his presentation “Managing PPC for Multiple Clients” at this conference, plus Adapt will have a booth. To save 20% on a full conference pass, use the code 20ADA upon checkout.

We also attend online marketing events in Los Angeles, such as seminars and networking opportunities offered by the Direct Marketing Association of Southern California and thinkLA.

If you’re interested in expanding your online marketing education, or just meeting fellow marketers, the opportunities are out there!

Today we launched a new product for small businesses, and restructured our product line and lowered our prices so that everyone can afford PPC help!

We don’t usually use this many exclamation points, do we? Well, here’s why. Check out our restructured product line and pricing:

• Small Business Tier: Priced at the low monthly fee of $199, this tier serves marketers with click budgets of up to $5000 per month who only need essential bid management tools.

• Professional Tier: Need more analytical muscle and competitive research tools? This tier includes everything in Small Business, too. Including unlimited support, this tier is just $299 per month!

• Agency Tier: For our agency customers. The first three accounts start as low as $199 per month (minimum three accounts), with volume discounts!

For an at-a-glance comparison of these tiers, check out our comparison chart.

Get a full tour of SEM-in-a-Box when you register for a personal demo or one of our weekly webinars. Or if you want, call us directly at (626) 304-6571. We’d be happy to answer your questions.

As we’ve mentioned before, SEM-in-a-Box is continuing to evolve on a regular basis. We’re rolling out new features and enhancements that we hope will make your experience more enjoyable and efficient.  Here’s what’s been happening:

Ad Optimization Testing Now Includes Yahoo Ad Groups

When you check out the recommendations on your Ad Optimization page, youll note that we now test both your Google Ad Groups and your Yahoo Panama Ad Groups.

You probably won’t notice the other enhancements we made this week, which is exactly the point! We’re always working to enhance the system’s performance to continue the ease of operation youve come to expect from SEM-in-a-Box.

PPC Summit - Speaking Out

Chris Upkes, our Director of Sales and Client Services, will be speaking at the PPC Summit  in Downtown Los Angeles, (held at the Omni Los Angeles Hotel at California Plaza) on Sept. 24-25.  He’ll be discussing how agencies are meeting the challenges of PPC management. You’ll hear the best questions to ask prospective PPC management agencies to gauge the level of service you can expect from them.

Also, Adaptees will be running live demos of SEM-in-a-Box at the event, so stop by and say hi, and bring along a friend. Save $100 on your two-day registration when you use our special discount code “ADAPT1.” 

Ongoing - More SEM-in-a-Box Live Demos

If you’re not available for the PPC Summit but would still like to see a demo of SEM-in-a-Box or introduce it to a friend or colleague, now there are more ways!

Join us every Tuesday at 11am PST for our weekly product walk-through Webinar or schedule a private demo for yourself. We’ll show you how to make the most of all the SEM-in-a-Box features.

Sign in to see these updates live. Or, if youre not yet a subscriber, do you need help managing and improving your PPC campaigns? Learn More about SEM-in-a-Box!

Our team is always available to answer questions or provide help with an account! Just email us or call  626-941-0220, extension 1.

Thanks for using SEM-in-a-Box!

I would like to see more of these offerings for PPC campaign managers. At the Search Engine Strategies shows, they have a session for “site clinics” - which is basically a high-level review of sites from an SEO perspective (e.g. how “friendly” is a given site to a search engine spider). In addition, they have a “landing page clinic” to review & critique landing pages. But as far as I know, there isn’t a full pay-per-click campaign review session offered. Obviously this would be way more time-intensive than a simple site or page review, largely due to all the different components that need to be assessed in an SEM campaign. So, maybe not practical for a session. (However some enterprising online marketing consultants have launched campaign reviews as lead-gen efforts for their own services, going for the upsell after the review!)

I am, however, proud to say that we offer a comprehensive account review service for all our SEM-in-aBox customers - we’ve dubbed it Smart Start. When a subscriber joins us, we perform a full account review, including campaign structure, goals, keyword selection & grouping, and a review of specific account settings in Google & Yahoo. Our goal is to help our clients squeeze even more performance from their campaigns, by making sure their accounts are ready for management & optimization by SEM-in-a-Box. Another the side benefit is, getting a campaign in peak condition for SEM-in-a-Box management is actually applying existing “best practices” for campaigns that typically help performance even if a campaign analysis & optimization tool is not being used.