websense

You heard right! We are still looking for a few talented folks to fill some available positions here at TKG.
TKG has a lot to offer the right talent! We have a pretty laid back environment, friendly atmosphere, and the ability to wear jeans to work everyday. And if that weren’t enough, we also have a competitive pay scale, great benefits, and some advantages you won’t find anywhere else!

We are currently hiring for two positions:

IT Customer Support
and
Graphic Design Manager

The IT Customer Support person we are looking for needs to really enjoy people and communicating with them as much as they enjoy all things tech. We try to provide our clients with the best possible customer service, so this part is even more important to us than your technical skills.

TKG is also looking for a Graphic Design Manager who wants to be a part of a team. You need to have at least two years experience designing for web and print. If you’re interested, we’d love to see your stuff, so pass along your portfolio when you submit a resume.

Benefits include medical insurance, life insurance, 401k, paid vacation and holidays, a bonus system, great team members, and the occasional game of pool, foosball or darts! More information on both of these positions can be found at the links above or inquire with Stacy Hoffman. We look forward to making you part of the ever growing Karcher Group!

guest blogger: Megan Jeffery

If you have been following my series on mommybloggers, you will recognize the name Loralee Choate. She was recently invited to the White House to discuss her views on health care, based on several posts on the topic she had written for her blog.

Mrs. Choate has an interesting blog post on Self Promotion. Even though she is a mommy blogger, I felt that some of the tips she gives can be applied to any blog, even business related.

Promoting your blog can take a lot of time and effort, especially if it is a blog related to your business. Deciding which venues best suit your business blog, such as Facebook (which many companies do), Twitter, or just being active in the ‘blogosphere’ can be tricky. You don’t want to come across as pushy or obnoxious, so take your time. The best self promotion, or business promotion on a blog is just to write quality posts. Interact within your online community, and people will return the favor. If you have customers ask a question on your blog, be prompt in answering. A business blog should be there for the benefit of your clients, so make yourself available to them.

A blog may not lend itself easily to every business site, but if you do have one, don’t neglect it, as it is a great way to find new clients, and make sure the ones you have are happy with your product or service.

Seven or eight years ago, no one had ever heard the word “blog” or even “weblog”, to turn a phrase from the past. Now, everyone’s a blogger. I blog, TKG has several blogs going, I am sure you blog, or know at least a few people who blog. Some people start blogs as a way to market or enhance their business. Others want to dialogue about politics, religion, parenting, sports, Jeeps cars, or whatever is important to them. All of these are valid reasons to start a blog. Anyone can do it, but not everyone create a great blog.

Starting a blog can be tricky, and gaining followers is not an easy task, especially if you don’t happen to be particularly funny or have great writing skills, but that doesn’t mean it can’t be done. I’m sure you’ve read a blog or two where the writing was not always top notch, but you were interested in what was being said, so you overlook the horrible spelling or grammar little flaws. Knowing your audience, or at least who you think your audience is likely to be, will help you create blog worthy content.

Here are a few pointers to get you started, or moving in the right direction:
1. Know your audience- write for them, not for the whole world.
2. Be honest, if you aren’t, people will call you on it, and then never return to your blog.
3. Be a good tribe member, visit other blogs with related material, follow the ones you really like and join the conversations.
4. Realize that a blog is not going to just be you writing, hopefully you will begin conversations with your readers, so be sure to moderate your comments regularly, or they’ll get bored and leave.
5. Try to be concise, don’t waste your words. Use bullets when it makes sense.
6. Images help, and good photographers tend to really gain followers, as photos bring a blog to life.
7. Create interesting headlines and subheads to attract readers’ attention. I know when I am reading comments on a blog I will quite often click an interesting headline in one of the comments.
8. Practice and refine your writing skills.
9. Post often, readers will check back for more info, more story, whatever, if you have captured their interest. You’ll lose them if you don’t have…wait for it! Oh yes – FRESH CONTENT!
10. Be yourself.

Put these simple rules into practice and you will be an active blogger, which is good for your business, and hopefully, your bottom line. If You’d like more information, there is a great article over at WebProNews. Check it out…

Through the years TKG has provided web services for several auto dealerships. I think many dealers caught on right away to the benefits that a web site could provide, and wanted to maximize that potential. Many auto dealerships say they have sales people solely to service web sales. A lot of them credit web sales with their survival of the recession. And a lot of them say they maximize the benefits of the web, but never really want to spend the time or money to make it feasible.

Because any vehicle purchase is a big deal, it means a lot for consumers to have the ability to shop, research and compare prices before they buy. Especially for an auto dealer, a web site has a very high ROI, especially when compared to more traditional marketing such as print, radio and television ads. Back at the beginning of the year,Mike Sachoff over at WebProNews had some good stats on auto dealers if you are interested.

As we are moving past mid 2010 and getting ready for 2011, TKG has implemented a new marketing budget, and of course ours has been and will continue to be heavy on the web, search and social media marketing. It just works. It’s cheaper than traditional media, and it’s focused – targeted right to the folks we know are looking for the services we provide. It appears that our country is just beginning to rebound. With the 2011 tax changes coming, now is the time to capitalize on whatever momentum we can find. That means making your marketing budget stretch as far as it can, while getting the best results possible.

I talked about marketing budgets a lot last year, and it continues to be a major factor in the success of any business. People won’t buy from you if they don’t know who you are, where you are or your products and/or service.

Consider your ROI for your current marketing budget. Are you getting everything you need out of it? If not, take note, especially if you are an auto dealer or maker. The changes in the auto industry, especially for Chevy and Chrysler (may as well throw Toyota in there), mean that letting your customers know you are doing everything you can to produce a quality vehicle and put people back to work, is vital. Paying off the American Tax Payer is vital, too. You know what the web has been able to do for you, and how desperately the auto industry, and the economy need it to happen now. Make the right choices with your marketing dollars, get the best ROI, make the web work for you!

Very interesting post on Web Pro News discusses the possibility that Facebook and Twitter could threaten the News Industry.
I’ve pointed out several times on this blog when Twitter or Facebook was the first or only source of news of a certain event. I think this will continue to happen just by the very nature of mobile media. When the people involved or near a news worthy event, they are going to Tweet it or put it on thier Facebook status. This happens millions of times a day, and yes, I can see this as something of a threat to the traditional news industry. Especially in places like Iran when traditional media outlets have been blocked from the country.

While I can totally see social media networks being the fastest at reporting, I don’t think they yet have to greatest capability for getting news out to the masses. Yes, news items, especially hot topics will be tweeted and retweeted, and word can spread very fast, but they’re not going to replace television crews any time soon. Nor will they replace newspapers for some of the more mundane local happenings. Newspapers still serve a purpose when it comes to local news, at least and will for the time being. As social media grows up, I do see national events being reported and sought after more on social networks than in actual paper copies of any newspaper.

Another aspect of this is credibility. Whatever opinions we may have about mainstream media, we do have good reason to expect some level of accuracy and fact checking. There are standards for this that newspapers, for instance, live by. However, with Social, there is no such requirement. I think this will slow the pace at which we actually believe significant news that we receive via Social Media.

There is a debate going on over at Web Pro News, pretty interesting… check it out. But tell me, do you think Social Media is outpacing traditional media in terms of first reporting to the masses? Personally, I still like the “paper” paper.