TMC is a global, integrated media company helping clients build communities in print, in person and online. Its Website, TMCnet, is the leading communications and technology site in the World and attracts 2 million visitors every month on average. TMC’s annual trade show, ITEXPO, was named #3 on the Fastest 50 list of fastest growing trade shows of the year.

Launched in 2008, TMCnet Videos includes daily online news coverage of the technology markets plus interviews with leading industry executives.

TMC is looking for summer interns for its editorial, production, Web design, marketing, client services and IT departments.

News Anchor/Reporter Intern will be involved in selecting stories, scripting and reporting from the TMCnet Newsroom as a news anchor. Must have a professional appearance and journalism background. If available, please provide two writing samples and/or short video demo.

Production intern is needed to assist in-studio daily newscast productions. Candidate will be involved in camera operation, tricaster/editing, lighting, audio, teleprompter, graphics and post-production duties including posting newscast to TMCnet Video. Knowledge of Adobe Premiere and Photoshop helpful. Please provide demo video if available. Other responsibilities as needed.

Web Design Intern will assist busy Web design team. Must be a team player with good communication skills, proficiency in current Web technologies and willingness to go the extra mile. Proficiencies must include HTML and the Adobe graphic suite. Other desired skills include Javascript, Flash, CSS, SEO, XML/XSL.

Editorial Intern will assist busy Web editorial department with assignments covering breaking news and copyediting in the high-tech telecommunications industry. Computer skills essential. Looking for talented, enthusiastic, hardworking, aspiring journalists. Please provide two writing samples if available.

Marketing & Sales Intern will assist team with marketing creative campaigns, magazine circulation and advertising projects, updating sales materials and media kits, business development and CRM database management.

Marketing & Barters Intern will be instrumental in researching opportunities for business development, outreach and negotiation for barter agreements.

Social Media Marketing Intern will assist team with social media initiatives including use of Twitter, Facebook Linked-In, Webinars and blogs. Computer skills are essential.

Event Marketing Intern will assist team with event coordination assisting with list and registration updates, mailings, preparing materials, social media announcements and updates.

Product Marketing Intern will assist with growing online communities including assisting with creative campaigns, tracking, reporting, creating and updating sales materials and other projects. 

Client Services Intern will assist client services team to generate status reports, update database and create analysis. Requires good organization, communication and analytical skills.

IT Intern will assist with help desk support assisting with troubleshooting problems, computer set up, printers, phone system.

Computer skills essential. Other responsibilities as needed.

Current juniors and seniors in communications, marketing, TV/film, journalism or comparable majors are encouraged to apply, but all are welcome. Recent grads welcome. Please note which intern position you are interested in, i.e. “News Anchor Intern” or “Production Intern” or “Web Design Intern” or “Editorial Intern” or “Social Media Marketing Intern” etc.

Internships are unpaid, but will provide college credit. Requires a commitment from May through August. Part-time (2 days per week).

Positions are located at TMC headquarters in Norwalk, CT.

Send letter and resume to Jan Pierret, jpierret@tmcnet.com.

Follow me:

Follow me:

TMCnet Launches New Logo for Online Community Program - Mar 21, 2011

Lots to do, little to spend? Integrate your marketing initiatives with an Online Community! - Mar 17, 2011

Low SEO Getting You Down? - Mar 22, 2011

St. Patrick's Day and "Lucky" Online Communities - Mar 17, 2011

Sponsored by the Call Center Outsourcing Community & the Virtual Contact Center Outsourcing Community

Follow me:

TMCnet Launches New Logo for Online Community Program - Mar 21, 2011

Lots to do, little to spend? Integrate your marketing initiatives with an Online Community! - Mar 17, 2011

Low SEO Getting You Down? - Mar 22, 2011

St. Patrick's Day and "Lucky" Online Communities - Mar 17, 2011

Sponsored by the Call Center Outsourcing Community & the Virtual Contact Center Outsourcing Community

Follow me:

St. Patrick's Day and "Lucky" Online Communities - Mar 17, 2011

Lots to do, little to spend? Integrate your marketing initiatives with an Online Community! - Mar 17, 2011

TMCnet Launches New Logo for Online Community Program - Mar 21, 2011

Sponsored by the Call Center Outsourcing Community & the Virtual Contact Center Outsourcing Community

Today is an exciting day for us here at TMCnet. As we continue to grow, and invest in, our Online Community program, we are proud to present our new Online Communities logo.

Available for any company, any industry and B-to-B/B-to-C purposes, our Online Communities are powerful, content-generated, information portals that position companies as the leading, go-to resource for their industry group.

We are also hosting a Webinar on Wednesday, March 30th at 2:00pm EST which will outline some best practices, research and data we've gathered on successful Online Community building. We hope to see you there.

Here's to making powerful connections!

Anna Ritchie

Product Manager, Online Communities

Follow me:

Lots to do, little to spend? Integrate your marketing initiatives with an Online Community! - Mar 17, 2011

St. Patrick's Day and "Lucky" Online Communities - Mar 17, 2011

Sponsored by the Call Center Outsourcing Community & the Virtual Contact Center Outsourcing Community

Shamrocks, pots of gold, green beer and bagpipes: The signs of St. Patty’s day are abound today, and everyone’s feeling a little “lucky”.

Some people think that an Online Community needs luck to be successful; that if you follow the steps to build one and cross your fingers, it will rank highly and receive thousands of followers immediately. A recent study called “The Social Break Up” found, however, that luck has nothing to do with the success of such a site. The study, conducted with over 1,500 Twitter and Facebook users, found that “internet users who unsubscribe, unfan, or unfollow brands on social networks do so because of irrelevant, too-frequent or boring marketing messages.”

The study also points to what makes Online Communities “work” well; Communities need specialized, targeted content that visitors can actually use and learn from. By neglecting to nurture your Online Community in the right ways or by “overcrowding it”, it’s likely that the site will fail to attract visitors and ranking.  

Online Communities, like social networking sites, should also not be used primarily for marketing or advertising messages. The study showed that “41% unsubscribe or un-follow a brand because their newsfeed is overcrowded by blatant marketing overtures.” Building trust with your Community audience is key (as discussed in our recent Podcast, “No One Buys Without Trust”) and consumers are getting pickier about how and where they receive marketing messages. A social site or Online Community that positions itself as an informational resource on a specific topic is not the place to promote a brand too overtly.

You can cross your fingers all you want, but getting your Online Community ranked is going to take more than that. Lucky for you there are ways you can learn how to build a Successful Online Community, like attending educational Online Community- building Webinars or reading Case Studies to learn best practices and tips.  To learn more about what makes an Online Community successful, you can also contact us.

Top O’ the Rankings to Ya!


Anna Ritchie
Product Manager, Online Communities

Follow me:

Low SEO Getting You Down? - Mar 22, 2011

Lots to do, little to spend? Integrate your marketing initiatives with an Online Community! - Mar 17, 2011

TMCnet Launches New Logo for Online Community Program - Mar 21, 2011

Sponsored by the Call Center Outsourcing Community & the Virtual Contact Center Outsourcing Community

Follow me:

TMCnet Launches New Logo for Online Community Program - Mar 21, 2011

Low SEO Getting You Down? - Mar 22, 2011

St. Patrick's Day and "Lucky" Online Communities - Mar 17, 2011

Sponsored by the Call Center Outsourcing Community & the Virtual Contact Center Outsourcing Community

Follow me:

Lots to do, little to spend? Integrate your marketing initiatives with an Online Community! - Mar 17, 2011

Low SEO Getting You Down? - Mar 22, 2011

TMCnet Launches New Logo for Online Community Program - Mar 21, 2011

St. Patrick's Day and "Lucky" Online Communities - Mar 17, 2011

Sponsored by the Call Center Outsourcing Community & the Virtual Contact Center Outsourcing Community

So you tweet, Facebook, blog, and write articles. You create pages and groups and blog a little more. You have all the content you could ever need.

Now what?

You need content curation- or a way to pull all your content together into one, cohesive environment.  This is also something you probably know, as tools for content Curation are becoming increasingly popular. In a recent article, “Content Curation: Shaping and Influencing your Social Reputation”, Rich Karpinski provides a brief overview of some of these popular Content Curation tools. According to Karpinski, these tools allow you to “express thought leadership, juice SEO rankings, streamline content marketing efforts and even attract and nurture leads.” That’s a tall order for some of these tools, which can certainly act as content-management systems, but sometimes stop there without providing a lot of interactive opportunities, innovation or visual appeal. 

Managing a content-curation tool can also be a time-consuming and budget-eating endeavor that can sometimes distract from other important company initiatives. And, these tools don’t create they curate, meaning that you still need to spend time creating new content to supplement what’s being pulled from other resources.

Online Communities can serve as content curation tools if developed and deployed correctly, and if you partner with a third-party company you can receive a few additional perks that you won’t get with a standard content-curation tool.

First, you’ll have the ability to leverage best practices in content sharing, social media integration, thought leadership and branding so you can have a site that actually integrates your different marketing initiatives successfully, with little time or effort actually required by you.  Plus, if you partner with third-party with expert writers who actually create content for you, you will further build the credibility of your site by adding original outside content and objectivity- both huge factors in building trust with your audience. This allows you to be viewed as a thought-leader and positions your Community as a comprehensive resource, rather than another advertising vehicle that holds your re-purposed marketing messages.

Most importantly, however, is that you won’t lose the personal touch that matters more and more these days, as content turns to clutter and audiences seek for the most trustworthy sources. Unfortunately, tools alone cannot add that connection. Communities can.

Follow me:

St. Patrick's Day and "Lucky" Online Communities - Mar 17, 2011

Lots to do, little to spend? Integrate your marketing initiatives with an Online Community! - Mar 17, 2011

Low SEO Getting You Down? - Mar 22, 2011

TMCnet Launches New Logo for Online Community Program - Mar 21, 2011

Sponsored by the Call Center Outsourcing Community & the Virtual Contact Center Outsourcing Community

Follow me:

Lots to do, little to spend? Integrate your marketing initiatives with an Online Community! - Mar 17, 2011

TMCnet Launches New Logo for Online Community Program - Mar 21, 2011

Low SEO Getting You Down? - Mar 22, 2011

St. Patrick's Day and "Lucky" Online Communities - Mar 17, 2011

Sponsored by the Call Center Outsourcing Community & the Virtual Contact Center Outsourcing Community

At TMCnet we believe that with the new direction Google is taking with its algorithms that the outlook is a bit more positive for new companies. Google has stated that it will be rewarding websites with high-quality content with higher rankings. We also know from experience that partnering with a third-party media company like TMCnet, who has been building successful Online Communities for over 10 years, experiences millions of unique visitors per month and produces high-quality content, can give any company, old or new, the chance to rank well and get found at the top of major search engine results with our Online Community program.

Follow me:

TMCnet Launches New Logo for Online Community Program - Mar 21, 2011

St. Patrick's Day and "Lucky" Online Communities - Mar 17, 2011

Lots to do, little to spend? Integrate your marketing initiatives with an Online Community! - Mar 17, 2011

Sponsored by the Call Center Outsourcing Community & the Virtual Contact Center Outsourcing Community

Take the J.C. Penney story.  Recently, the popular chain retailer had been enjoying tremendous rankings on Google due the efforts of its SEO consulting firm SearchDex. A wide range of search terms, from luggage to clothing to furniture, all provided to same results on Google -- J.C. Penny was listed at the top each and every time.  Suspecting something was awry, the New York Times investigated, sending the results of their research straight to Google. The article exposed that this SEO agency was using black hat link-building techniques which are frowned upon by Google.  As a result, Google immediately took “manual action”, and J.C. Penny not only received a tremendous amount of negative publicity, but its rankings on the search engine immediately began to plummet significantly according to the New York Times.

According to J.C. Penny, they were not aware their SEO firm was posting links back to their company website from thousands of low quality pages on the web. And as a result of hiring a search firm and not being aware of what practices were being employed, they have found their future search results will potentially suffer greatly online. According to the article: “One moment Penney was the most visible online destination for living room furniture in the country. The next it was essentially buried.”

In the past, BMW’s German site was banned from Google due to the use of doorway pages (pages that exist solely to provide links that drive SEO) which the search engine frowns upon. While at this point Google has not banned J.C. Penney, individual product results plummeted over 70 spots in two hours.

The Lesson Learned? While focusing on SEO is obviously important, the use of black hat techniques such as paying for links or hiring people to place links on blog comments can get your company in a lot of trouble.  Companies should be careful about the firms they hire to help boost SEO, and consider alternative ways to drive traffic, such as utilizing quality, relevant content via an independent Online Community.

If you’re found and reprimanded by Google, your SEO will suffer, as demonstrated by the J.C. Penny event. And since almost everyone goes to a search engine when they want to find something, if your company isn’t showing up on that search engine, you may be difficult to find. As we all know, ranking highly on search engines is imperative. In fact, 34 percent of Google’s traffic goes to the No. 1 result, about twice the percentage that goes to No. 2, according to the New York Times.

How to Build Trusted Traffic Online:  This incident has shined a bright spotlight on the traditional link-building practices employed by SEO professionals. So, going forward, the traditional methods of building traffic and leads will likely not work as well as in the past as companies like Google will be less and less permissive of such techniques and will keep a close eye on those they suspect are utilizing them.

A much safer way to build trusted traffic, generate leads and boost thought leadership online is to partner with a respected company who builds highly ranked Online Community websites legitimately and provides relevant and useful content that attracts a targeted audience, which subsequently causes it to rank highly on search engines, organically.

TMCnet has been building these for over a decade for hundreds of customers by attracting a targeted audience via related content. The result? A majority of our sponsored communities rank high, even # 1, on major search engines. If you want to learn more about how your company can benefit from a TMC Online Community, contact us.

Follow me:

Low SEO Getting You Down? - Mar 22, 2011

Lots to do, little to spend? Integrate your marketing initiatives with an Online Community! - Mar 17, 2011

TMCnet Launches New Logo for Online Community Program - Mar 21, 2011

St. Patrick's Day and "Lucky" Online Communities - Mar 17, 2011

Sponsored by the Call Center Outsourcing Community & the Virtual Contact Center Outsourcing Community

Follow me:

TMCnet Launches New Logo for Online Community Program - Mar 21, 2011

Lots to do, little to spend? Integrate your marketing initiatives with an Online Community! - Mar 17, 2011

St. Patrick's Day and "Lucky" Online Communities - Mar 17, 2011

Sponsored by the Call Center Outsourcing Community & the Virtual Contact Center Outsourcing Community

Mythbuster facts: If you currently purchase, or are planning to invest in, a search term from a search engine, you might want to think again. Online Communities offer a more credible, cost-effective and comprehensive targeted marketing product that will give you stronger results and consistently high, organic rankings on online search engines like Google and Bing. 

What’s an Online Community?

Chances are you already participate in a social Online Community: Fan of a certain TV Show Page on Facebook? Member of a professional social meet-up group through LinkedIn? Then you already know some of the benefits of having a go-to-resource for a certain topic you’re interested in.

Companies are starting to see the benefits of applying this Online Community concept for their own products or industries, and as such an Online Community becomes a news-generated, information-rich portal that positions a company as the leading “go-to” resource for a particular industry group. And, what we’re finding is that most companies are learning that they can use this Online Community concept to drive SEO, generate leads, enhance their social networking initiatives, promote their brand and much, much more. 

Pay-Per-Click Ads alone just don’t cut it anymore.

It used to be thought that a PPC Ad on a popular website meant that people who searched for topics related to your Ad word (or “keyword”) would be exposed to your company and click on the ad to get connected with you. If you participate in this program, you’ve probably learned that this simply isn’t the case.  According to a recent article in the Wall Street Journal companies are finding that in addition to being costly and competitive (oftentimes your keyword will be “sold” to the highest bidder), click ads experience a 15-30% fraud rate, and non-targeted placement in web searches are causing them to lose thousands of dollars- up to 10% of their budget – without providing qualified leads. Every click counts as a charge against you and they can be made by disgruntled and past employees as well as competitors who knowingly drive up your marketing costs.  Even worse, studies show only 15-25% of people actually click on search ads meaning advertisers are missing out on 85% of the market.

So, how is an Online Community better?

A highly-ranked Online Community will get you seen when someone searches for a topic related to your keyword, but instead of being on the side of the search results with diminished value, you’ll be in them. This is what is known as organic search results, meaning the powerful content on your Community is positioning you as the expert in your industry and pushing your branding to the top of search engine and news search rankings.

We’ve found that most people who have an Online Community with TMCnet rank in the top 10 of search engine rankings organically- around 80% of the time.  Plus, they are offered for a predictable fixed fee with full transparency), and once you purchase the keyword, it’s yours to keep. And let’s face it, Online Communities look more appealing, attractive and credible than search click ads; they are surrounded by your branding, populated with relevant content from expert editors and designers, and can be found at the same location on TMCnet at any time, every day. That’s more than you can say for a click ad, which may or may not show up in your results depending on location or time of day.

There’s simply no comparison between a click ad and Online Community.  Click ads are a thing of the past, and an Online Community gives you a way to integrate all your marketing initiatives, including SEO and social networking, into one place.

 Contact us now to get started building your own Online Community on TMCnet and choose your exclusive keyword before a competing company does!

Anna Ritchie
Product Manager, Online Communities

Follow me:

Low SEO Getting You Down? - Mar 22, 2011

Comments on this Entry:

(Deven Pravin Shah on Feb 15, 2011 2:47 PM)

Anna, well said.

On-line community brings real stories and experiences. Hard to achieve that with other channels.

And, when done right, it brings a lot of relevant content organically, that helps SEO as well.

I have one question - what do you suggest for ideas, topics that will attract people to join an online community?

Thanks for writing this post, I enjoyed reading it.

-Deven

(Anna Ritchie on Feb 15, 2011 3:36 PM)

Deven,
Naturally the possibilities are endless when it comes to promoting an Online Community and encouraging others to join. A successful practice we've seen is distributing a regular eNewsletter that gets distributed, highlighting new content and discussions happening on a site. This way, people will view the Online Community as a place of action, where new ideas are posted and shared on a daily basis, and will bookmark it to return again and again. Other ways we've seen Communities be successful is by promoting the site as a place that offers exlusive promotions or information that you can't find anywhere else.
Again- the list could go on and on, but these methods are some of the many which we've seen drive success for Community owners. Thanks for your comment!

Anna

(türk dili on Mar 7, 2011 4:25 PM)

A lot of SEO techniques. Google's strategy is continually revised. Companies in the race with each other. I need to heed these groups to take part in this market. Thank you for sharing

Sponsored by the Call Center Outsourcing Community & the Virtual Contact Center Outsourcing Community

Follow me:

Sponsored by the Call Center Outsourcing Community & the Virtual Contact Center Outsourcing Community