Today’s Leading eFAQs HEADLINES . . .

• Online Holiday Shopping: Cyber Mondays Earn Big
• Long Tail Search: It’s the Little Words that Count
• brandUNITY Friends in the News:
  Kathleen Macferran, Strength of Connection, LLC
  Dale Terwedo, Terwedo Financial Services

ONLINE HOLIDAY SHOPPING: Cyber Mondays Earn Big

What Black Friday is to the Malls, Cyber Mondays are to the Internet.

This online holiday spending phenomenon was formally acknowledged in 2005 by the National Retail Federation. It is the spike in online buying that occurs each Monday following Thanksgiving, up until the Monday before Christmas.

Research at the Direct Marketing Association (DMA) reveals that Cyber Monday buying spikes continue to grow at a significant pace year after year. Out of convenience, and possibly lack of time, people are buying online, while at work. Full Story at DMA Direct…>>

Long Tail Search: It’s the Little Words that Count

A search phrase we’re hearing a lot lately is  "the long tail of search," a term first the topic in October 2004, and later released a book with the title. At the recent DMA07 conference in Chicago search marketers were vocal in using “long tail” in their discussions about best search optimization practices in 2007.

What’s a Long Tail?
Long tail keywords are terms that are less popular, so less competitive, but when used consistently over-time, they can be responsible for driving significant levels of website traffic, equal to that of the most popular, competitive keywords.

Long tail phrases are multi-phrase search queries used by visitors to find your website. These seemingly less-valuable words are much more targeted than general keywords and because of their specificity, they are more representative of buyers nearing the purchase stage of their buying process.

In fact, buyers arriving at your site as the result of a multi-phrase search term have been shown to have higher conversion rates, buy more, and buy at higher prices: MORE>>

brandUNITY
FRIENDS IN THE NEWS:

Though the holidays bring family members together, communication challenges are sometimes never more apparent. If you’d like to move through this season with greater ease than previous years, consider taking a holiday communication workshop from Kathleen Macferren, a leading non-violent communication expert.

Kathleen Macferren, founder of Strength of Connection, LLC, is an in-demand keynote speaker and seminar leader who travels around the world, addressing community groups, prisons, churches, and hospitals. She focuses on integrating personal development with social change to bring about constructive exchange and conflict resolution.

She will be offering several workshops for individuals, families, and youth, beginning November 30. The first workshop, "Communicating Across Difference," addresses the dimensions of diversity. Two other trainings offered in December are for adults and youth, creating connection and mutual respect through proven, non-violent techniques.

To learn more, or to register for the workshops, visit the Strength of Connection website.

Dale Terwedo of Terwedo Financial Services, one of brandUNITY’s trusted advisors at Vistage, writes a regular financial column for the Snohomish County Business Journal.

In his recent eNews he reports that despite the slumping housing market, rising oil prices and a weak dollar, the U.S. economy will not slip into recession, according to University of Michigan economists. Experts report that there is enough resilience in the economy to keep output expanding. The Fed’s actions to contain credit crises are lending support to economic activity.

That’s great news for Q1 2008. comScore, Inc. (NASDAQ: SCOR), a leader in measuring the digital world, released the first in a series of twice weekly holiday season e-commerce updates, revealing that the first 18 days of the holiday season saw more than $7 billion in online retail spending, a 17-percent gain versus the corresponding days last year.

Here’s to all of us wrapping up 2007 strong! We here at brandUNITY wish all of you a happy and prosperous Q4!