Groggy from the Holiday festivities the night before … I wake up today to some real refreshing news about online sales…   While Retail Sales is down horribly, online sales are down just modestly for the 2008 holiday season.  Now it’s only one day after Christmas, and we DO still have 6 more days to close out the year, but I wouldn’t bet my life savings on this seasons’ retail sales increasing within the next day or two.   Even with incredible after Christmas day savings of 75% off as I have seen around town.  Here are the lastest numbers for this holiday season:

OFFLINE RETAIL SALES:  Luxury Goods DOWN 34.7%,  Electronics DOWN 26%,  Clothing DOWN 19%      <  ONLINE SALES (Overall)  Only DOWN 2.3%  !

My prediction for 2009 -  more advertising dollars will contine shifting to online for several reasons: 

1– It’s trackable and accountable.  2 –  It is more cost effectiive   3–  More online ad networks are moving towards the CPA method.  (cost per action)  -shifting the risk back on the publisher. 

Happy Holidays to all and to all …  Good ONLINE SHOPPING !

Peter Stein is Founder and President of Stein Digital Media.  A full service online marketing firm.  Since 1998 Stein has exceeded expectations of blue chip internet brands such as eBay, Staples, Hotels.com, American Express, AT&T Wireless, Diamond.com and many more.  To contact Stein Digital or Peter Stein, call 877.89.STEIN (  877-897-8346  ) or email peter@steindigital.com

Lots of buzz about a recession, advertising pulling back, budget cuts… etc.  NOT SO or SEO.  Search Engine Optimization is largely recession proof for many reasons.  First, it is the most cost effective advertising that your company can do.  Second, only those interested in buying your product or service are searching to find you exactly when they get to your landing page. With the right call to action and some good tracking, your ROI can get increasingly better.  We would like to hear what you think.

By 2010 online marketers will spend $7 Billion dollars on Paid Search. That’s a whole lot of money compared to just a few years ago. Now more than ever, it is important to manage your paid search accounts properly.  A good PPC Management firm can save companies upwards of 50% or more in real dollars and create efficiencies (ROI) of 200% or better.  When does the market just say – OK I just cant pay tat much for this campaign?   Do advertisers really know if they are making money or losing money on PPC?   We would love to hear from you – what are your thoughts?  

Alright, so I am writing this story on behalf of someone else and I am really not sure if THEY would say that SEO “saved their life” But one thing I know for sure … SEO has made them a lot of money.    Here’s the brief (but true) story of someone who I know. 

One day I met an older gentlemen at a cocktail party.  I asked him what he did and he acknowledged that he was “between things” and “looking at opportunities.”  I asked well, what did you do before this?  He said, I worked for a high end department store as men’s clothing buyer.  I worked there for 15 years.   I wanted to slow down to spend more time with my grandchildren, he said.  So recently I resigned.  As we spoke further, he told me about his aspirations of selling men’s clothing online.  “I know all about men’s clothing, I know all of these vendors, but I know nothing about computers” He continued: “I hardly know how to send an email” After I shared with him what I did for a living, he asked me for my help.  In fact, when we left the party he told me that there was a reason that we connected at this cocktail party and we are going to do business together.  I thought little of it until the next day when I got a call from him and he was as enthusiastic as the evening before.   After building a website, setting up his online marketing and spending nearly a year optimizing his site, his dream of becoming an internet entrepreneur was a reality.  He moved into a 5000 SF warehouse space and works about 10 hours a week (mostly online, from home) checking his web stats and order logs.  I am pleased to say that his little business is grossing over $800,000 per year and still growing.    We still talk about the day that we met, (and yes – about how many times he asked me if it was the left or right side of the mouse that you click to copy and paste), but internet dreams do come true thanks to a little SEO, and help from someone who I have to say has really become my friend.

Peter Stein is Founder and President of Stein Digital Media - a full service online marketing firm.  Since 1998 Stein has exceeded expectations 500+ clients including blue chip internet brands such as eBay, Staples, Hotels.com, American Express, AT&T Wireless, Pricegrabber.com, Diamond.com and many more.  To contact Stein Digital or Peter Stein, call 877.89.STEIN (  877-897-8346  ) or email peter@steindigital.com