EQUTE — John Chow has a great article about how to get featured in traditional media, something that can propel a company, blog, individual to bigger news sources and smaller alike.

In a blog entry , Chow gave some pretty good tips about how to go about getting into a traditional newspaper.

His first point was have a story to tell, it’s an obvious first step, but thinking hard about your own story is essential. Don’t just say what your company, blog or site does, make sure to insert the human element — it’s what local newspapers want to see.

Which brings him to his second point, start locally but aim high:

Generally, the bigger the news outlet, the easier it is for them to find content because they’re bombed with story ideas all the time from people or companies wanting to get coverage. Your best bet is to start at home with your local papers and magazines. Once you’ve been featured locally, you can leverage it to get featured nationally and internationally.

Shooting for a big local paper makes sure you can get coverage, but also make sure that other news outlets will see the story.

His third step is to sell your brand. Make sure that your story hasn’t already been done, newspapers don’t want to rehash news.

With one newspaper story, your company can get great placement, find your way to bigger outlets and move laterally and across the blogosphere within your industry or niche.

EQUTE — New research shows again that Microsoft users have a better click through rate for advertisers.

According to Chitika, a survey of 135 million impressions showed 1.05 percent of clicks came from consumers browsing with Internet Explorer — 40 percent higher than Firefox users (0.66 percent), 50 percent more than Safari users (0.50 percent) and 80 percent higher than Chrome users (0.21 percent). By operating system, Chitika found that 0.92 percent of its clickers were using Windows vs. 0.52 percent using Mac OS and 0.46 percent tooling with Linux.

Gavin Dunaway, of Adotas, had some interesting insights into why this might be.

Some of this I believe goes to the branding — Google is getting an increasingly snotty rep — similar to its mobile competitor Apple. It’s smarmy kids that dress like Justin Long who are Googling on their iPhones (Droids?) — a stereotype for sure, but one that is continually propagated by the media. Microsoft has long been a media punching bag — can you be more condescending than calling Microsoft users gullible?

Microsoft, as much as a misnomer as this may be, seems to appeal more to common people, something it’s shot for increasingly in its ad campaigns — and those would be who advertisers are shooting for.

Even trying to partner with the animated TV series “Family Guy,” which definitely falls toward the low end of middle brow, for the Windows 7 launch was an attempt to appeal to the masses. A friend sent me an unironic video for how to host a Windows 7 installation party — I laughed, but at the same time realized how stuck up I appeared. (I should note I’m a Mac user and a Googler, and I’d like to believe my preference is about function rather than intellectual snobbery.)

As Microsoft continues to be rolled out with new systems as normal, Bing ad clicks will keep on going up, after the holidays would be a great time to get ads going on Bing if you haven’t done so and take advantage of all those new computers.

EQUTE — Twitter is getting even more business friendly with co-tweets.

This is a wonderful addition to any tweeting company, instead of having one master account and a dedicated “tweetologist” or passing around the Twitter login (unwise).

Now people can be invited to tweet under the company Twitter account along with a byline. The benefits are endless in news organizations, segmented companies, blogger networks where there are many people involved in content that don’t necessarily interact. By allowing them to tweet under the company account it gives the account more depth, and if someone on a newspaper’s politics beat is tweeting great stuff, they will get their own followers and fans.

This neat trick could also scale to huge companies or franchises, allowing project leads or franchise managers tweet their hot sellers, or interesting stories — giving transparency, internal communication and valuable, personal information to followers.

On a grassroots level, the trick could be used to run a neighborhood watch or even a apartment twitter party.

Anamitra, of Twitter, described the feature (currently in beta) in the Twitter blog

The feature we are beta testing is called ‘Contributors’ — it enables users to engage in more authentic conversations with businesses by allowing those organizations to manage multiple contributors to their account. The feature appends the contributor’s username to the tweet byline, making the business to consumer communication more personal; e.g. if @Twitter invites @Biz to tweet on its behalf, then a tweet from @Twitter would include @Biz in the byline so that users know more about the real people behind organizations.

It’s the next step beyond lists, giving tweeting organizations control of what their fans see beyond lists that still feature the ubiquitous “I like sandwiches and beer” comments.

One can only hope the feature is rolled out to the general public sooner than later.

EQUTE — With SES in Chicago in full swing, there are a lot of great SEO ideas floating around and coming out to the tip-hungry public. But it was a state of mind rather than a tip that was one of the most interesting things to come out of SES so far — how to look at social media.

WebProNews has a good write-up about small business social media use, but the thing that stuck out the most was what Jennifer Evans Laycock, Search Engine Guide’s editor-in-chief, said.

[Laycock] prefers to think of it as a dating experience - “social media dating for small business marketers,” if you will — and went on to explain why.

Laycock believes there are seven common rules. First, people must listen. They must learn to be romantic (using what already exists for their own benefit), and not expect sex on the first date (think patience and persistence). It’s also important to be yourself (look at how Blendtec embraced its identity), to make yourself available, to seek out the right match, and to value long-term relationships.

This is the heart of social media marketing — it’s not a sure way to conversions, but joining the conversation where your readers or buyers live is the first step to meeting them and their friends or followers.

It’s hard to track social media, it reaches people at their most comfortable, where they are intrinsically not seeking advertisements. So build trust, spring for a dinner and a movie — even a peck on the cheek (a retweet or unsolicited shout out) can mean a lot online.

EQUTE — Pizza Hut is making Twitter a full time job.

Pizza Hut has hired their ‘Twintern’ on to a full time position and asked fans what to call her.

“As Pizza Hut’s Twintern, I’ve been able to connect with so many interesting people who share an affinity for our pizza, pasta and wings,” Alexa said. “I’m excited that I’m now a member of the team and that I can continue to support the conversation around Pizza Hut®. I’m proud to be a part of such an important priority for the team at Pizza Hut’s offices.”

Alexa was offered the job back in October, but her naming contest lasted until the eve of December. Pizza hut followers eventually decided on Tweetologist.

I am happy to report that Alexa is no longer an intern with Pizza Hut, but has been offered a full-time job with the company. The marketing team at the company naturally took that as an opportunity for another promotion which allowed submissions for what would be Alexa’s new job title. After more than 200 submissions, the company is happy to report that Alexa Robinson is now Pizza Hut’s Tweetologist.

There were some other good names from pizza fans out there, including: “Sultan of Sauce,” “Twitteroni,” “Champion of Cheese,” “Tweetza Chef,” “Tweety Pie,” “C Tweet O,” “Personal Pan Tweetza,” and “Social Media Delivery Driver.”

EQUTE — Twitter said it will soon offer big brands premium accounts that include enhanced features and analytics tools.

The announcement comes after many big brands jumped to be a part of Twitter analytics services and other news that Fortune 100 companies really didn’t use Twitter much.

A Weber Shandwick study shows that Fortune 100 companies are lagging far behind 15-year-old girls when it comes to Twitter.

The Weber Shandwick study showed that 73 percent of Fortune 100 companies registered a total of 540 Twitter accounts. However, about three-quarters (76 percent) of those accounts did not post tweets very often, and more than half (52 percent) were not actively engaged.(This was measured by engagement metrics such as numbers of links, hashtags, references and retweets.)

In addition, 50 percent of the Fortune 100 accounts had fewer than 500 followers, a small number in relation to the size and reach of a major corporation. Another 15 percent were inactive; of those, 11 percent were merely placeholder accounts — unused accounts to protect corporate names against so-called brand-jacking on Twitter — and 4 percent were abandoned after being used for a specific event.

In response, Biz Stone said that the site would charge for the new premium accounts.

“We want to present to [businesses] a layer of features to help make them better at Twitter, and share some of the analytics,” he said.

EQUTE — Ad.ly, a new way to make money via Twitter could be the ideal way to promote your brand and make real connections with your followers.

The service was designed so that power tweeters could make money by allowing advertisers to insert a link into someone’s Twitter stream, but it can also make money for a favorite charity putting a good face on your brand and helping your favorite charity at the same time.

Each tweet will get you a few cents to a few dollars, but giving that directly to a charity is a great way to do a little philanthropy without worrying whether it will affect your bottom line.

Users with real followers that are actually interested in their links will make the most for their charity as advertisers can see the CTR, ROI etc.

So choose a charity and get tweeting for them and for your brand.

EQUTE — A new poll from the National Cyber Security Alliance shows that online shoppers are quite concerned with safety this holiday shopping season.

A staggering more than 63 percent of respondents reported that they did not complete a Web site purchase because of security concerns. Here’s why:

The poll found that shoppers are so concerned that just over 75 percent of those polled said their likeliness to use a service or make a purchase would not be affected if a Web site required an additional process to verify identity above and beyond the basic username and password.

“Americans are extremely focused on protecting their personal information and their identities,” said Michael Kaiser, executive director of the NCSA.

Marketers should take note of these and advertise their safety, and site owners should take extra care to stay secure and make sure that shoppers feel secure while shopping. Some of those 63 percent might be turning away from your site in lieu of other sites.

EQUTE — Internet marketers and advertisers spend a lot of time thinking about conversions, ROI, click through, sales, rankings etc. that they forget to have a little fun.

Within the industry there have been a few chuckles form the SEO blogosphere.

When the FTC unveiled new payola regulations, Jonathan Volk put out an open letter to advertisers to send him their weight loss and exercise products.

PPC.bz made a tongue-in-cheek long-form letter about the ultra-tacky but somehow popular “three-wolves” shirts.

But online advertisers often forget to put humor into their own work. It’s no secret that ads that affect emotions work the best. It’s one of the first rules of advertising. But instead of trying to scare people or shame people into buying products, advertisers should look to humor.

Remember the Panama monster? A simple ad saying “Don’t Date A Free Site Monster” plastered over a picture of that thing would get people to your eHarmony site a lot faster than the countless breasty and beefy models plastered all over Facebook.

Article marketers would do well to think more about humor. The tired, dull articles stuffed with keywords will help with SEO with some work. But a funny keyword killer could burn up the social media networks without any work.

A funny video for your SEO client is going to get a hell of a lot more views and build the brand, making your client happy and making a great name for yourself.

So the next time you’re tapped out of ideas, don’t just rehash some old ideas — at least not your own. Even if you’re not funny, finding a funny picture isn’t hard, and reenacting a funny scene from a movie on video is pretty easy.

So watch a few funny movies this weekend or read a funny book or just look for some funny ads, it could be a big boon for your business.

EQUTE — An adviser to the European Union’s top court says Google does not infringe on trade marks by selling trademarked keywords.

Several brands have been in a legal battle with the search and advertising giant because their official ads were forced to compete with any rabble with a higher bid than them.

Louis Vuitton, for example, was fighting to boot manufactures of knockoff designer goods using their brand name out of search advertising.

“Advocate General Poiares Maduro considers that Google has not infringed trade mark rights by allowing advertisers to buy keywords corresponding to registered trademarks,” the European Court of Justice said in a statement.

Though the court has yet to make the ruling, the court’s decisions typically fall in line with their court advisers.

Google’s lawyers said the likely ruling came because consumers are smart enough to know the difference between real and fake ads.

“We believe that selecting a keyword to trigger the display of an ad does not amount to trademark infringement, and that consumers benefit from seeing more relevant information,” said Google lawyer Harjinder Obhi wrote in a statement. “Consumers are smart and are not confused when they see a variety of ads displayed in response to their search queries.”

The decision also hinges on the fact that Google doesn’t directly make money from the trademarked name.

Google argued that they make money by Internet users clicking on the keyword, and the decision to click or not belongs to the user.

The decision could end a seven-year fight — Google is appealing a unfavorable decision brought against it by a French court in 2006.

Google’s trademark policy varies across the world. In some countries, mainly in Europe, Google blocks names from being chosen as keywords once it’s received proof that they are protected trademarks — not so in the U.S.

The decision could mean that blocking trademarked keywords could soon end around the world.