Free is always good right? Not necessarily. So there is no free lunch right?  That's not always true either.  So what am I babbling about?

A practice quite common in the online media world is giving out free banner impressions. Publishers do this for various reasons. Sometimes they are not able to sell all banner inventories to advertisers and rather than running self promotion banners, it looks better on the properties if ads from real advertisers are shown. Other times they just like to under promise and over deliver so every time advertisers and agencies think they are getting a good deal.

So what's wrong with this you say?  What's the harm in getting more exposure if it's free?

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Knowing your target audiences' search behaviour is extremely important in PPC advertising.  It affects your click costs, advertising message, bidding strategy, and of course the campaign's ROI.

Besides keyword research tools and historical data from campaign and site analytics, another useful but not often mentioned tool is Google Trends.

Trends allow one to enter multiple keywords and compare historical search 'trends' of those words in Google. Therefore one can easily see the dynamics between marketing/news and search behaviours. (at least of Google users)

To illustrate, let's pretend I operate an online video games export web site and am looking to use PPC in Google to promote my products to the China market.  (in this case Google might not be my only vehicle as their penetration of the Chinese search market is not substantial)  I got a list of keywords using Google's keyword research tools, have a set budget, my maximum cost per acquisition calculated but I am at a lost as to how popular each platform is in this market.  Since I am new to the market, I am also not sure which city has the highest demand.

So I call up Google Trends and type in a few popular keywords.  (click on the image below) 

From the result page, I am able to tell there are more people searching for "PSP" and of those searches, most of them came from the city of Shanghai.
This means that I'll most likely exert more efforts in targeting the PSP crowd and will also geo target Shanghai.  Of course I might discovered that bidding for PSP related keywords might be fierce and those searching for the popular keyword might not turn out to be a customer.  But at least now I have more insight into the market and can plan my campaign strategies more effectively. 

I think Google Trends still have a lot of room to improve, eg: can't compare results between countries, geo info not always accurate as it relies on IP tracking, limited database prevents research into less popular keywords, 4 months lag in data, etc. but it does show promise and is a good visualization tool for assisting in campaign research.

* Google Trends is also available in Simplified Chinese

I found out recently close to 1000 application letters came through for two openings I had in my team. Although our human resources department filtered out most of them I still remember seeing tonnes of applications in the past two months. Having been on both ends of the job application process, I thought I'll share some of my insights here.

You might have the best skills and be the best fit to the openings you are applying for, but if you are not even getting your foot into the door how are you able to land the perfect job?

Resume is a sales brochure in essence. No matter what they teach you in school (or not teach you), it has one significant function - to help you land an interview!

Tip #1: Always use your own formatting if given a choice

• Career sites will ask you to fill out a standard form, do it if that's required but make sure you attach your own document if given a choice.
• MS Word has nicely formatted resume templates, never use them without changing the layout!

Why not take the easy way out? Because you want to get noticed and you want an interview! MS Word resume templates are extremely easy to recognize (read: boring) and standard forms are designed for HR to process your applications more efficiently, not help you land a job. Take a chance, get noticed and use your own layout!

Tip #2: Don't try to be a designer (unless you are one)

Don't try to impress your future employer with fancy design unless you are a trained designer. Try and write your resume with three things in mind Simplicity, Readability, and Clarity.

Busy managers will not have time to read your resume in detail. Often an impression of you is formulated in the first minutes of reading your resume. So make sure you don't have any spelling or grammatical mistakes, at least not noticeable ones. Your document should be simple, easy to read, and to the point. Always remember the K.I.S.S. rule - "Keep It Simple Stupid".

Tip #3: Make it memorable!

Make your resume memorable but in a positive way. Give your viewer something more than just a name to remember. Try using a photo (if you think it works to your advantage), visual cues such as a different way of displaying your name, etc. Again, make sure it's tastefully done; when in doubt ask a friend (with taste).

That's all the tips I have for now. Resume writing is one of those important things people often overlook. Put yourself in your future employer's shoes. What will catch your attention if you have to read 50 resumes in one sitting? Which resume will give you a good impression? All the best with your job hunt!