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Posts Tagged ‘Social Media’

How to Use Facebook to Promote Your Business?

posted by Web_University @ 8:00 AM

Friday, October 21, 2011

How to Use Facebook to Promote Your Business?

Today one of the most popular ways to market any business online is using Facebook. Facebook allows you to put your business in front of thousands of people using different tools and if done properly you can establish a relationship and credibility with a large number of people who in turn will visit your website and purchase your products and services.

* Facebook Marketing Begins with Your Profile

The first thing you need to look at when you start marketing on Facebook is your profile page. Does it look professional – at least to your professional contacts? If you are using Facebook as a social site as well then you can use privacy lists to determine who sees what and so still ensure that your professional contacts see a professional profile. It is from here that most of your other Facebook marketing techniques will flow.

* Using Facebook Pages to Promote Your Business

In addition to your profile page you can also have a number of ‘Facebook Pages’ which are specifically for advertising your business and building your list of professional contacts (or fans). Facebook pages can generally include more advertising as it is all about your business.

For starters you should have your business name as the title, information about your business (such as what you do, when you started, etc.) and some contact details and your website address.

As with Facebook profiles you can also add applications that further extend the usefulness of these pages for marketing.

* Facebook Groups

Once you have set up your profile and pages you may want to consider either joining a few Facebook groups or setting these up yourself. The advantage of joining groups is that they already have a membership that you can advertise your link to. The benefit of starting your own is that you will have more flexibility in how the group is run. Whichever way you decide to do it, Facebook groups are useful for promoting your website and business. Facebook Ads

Facebook Ads are the new Google Adwords. They are a PPC form of advertising that is quickly gaining popularity and holds a number of advantages over Adwords such as better targeting based on information entered into people’s Facebook profiles.

* Facebook Connect and Integration

Integrating your website with Facebook and using the Facebook Connect features can also help to improve your visibility on Facebook and also make your website easier to join and more exciting. Allowing your visitors to comment on Facebook using your website or to share links from your website on Facebook can help to spread your message virally.

* Facebook Applications

Another popular tool you will find people using to promote their business (or even as a business in itself) are Facebook applications. Creating an application can allow you both to make money through the application itself as well as sending people to your website. Depending on the application you create and how you market it this can become very popular and even create a viral marketing effect.

Facebook is an incredible internet marketing tool and you should consider using it to promote your business using Facebook profiles, pages, groups, ads and their integration features and applications.

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The 5 Steps to a Social Media Avalanche of Customers

posted by Web_University @ 8:00 AM

Tuesday, October 18, 2011

The 5 Steps to a Social Media Avalanche of Customers

1) Connect

Connection with people is where success in social media starts. Connect with people on Twitter, on Facebook, on LinkedIn, on Youtube, on Orkut, or every other niche site out in the social sphere that matters. You must connect.

Here’s a little tip:

Connect to those who are looking for you. They will find you if you are visible, and accessible to connect to.

2) Conversation

This step is where the conversation with people starts. You talk about the prospect and where they want to go. You talk about what they want to talk about. You study their profile, pictures and videos on their social sites as you can learn a lot just by paying attention.

Then make sure that you stay in touch and listen when they are communicating with you. If you do that, they will want to stay connected to you.

3) Value

This step is where you bring in the magnet to pull them towards your message. Show them value they can obtain with your message in their life. Show them how your message can help expand, increase, enlarge and improve their life. You do it through tips and how to’s in videos and blog posts and podcasts, as well as tweets and twips. Show them how you can make their life easier and show them how to do something they want to learn. You show them how to be or do something. If you can increase the size of their dreams, you can get them as a customer.

The more value people perceive you have for them the more likely they will walk through the “Doorway.”

4) Doorway

This is the doorway to conversion where you convert them to a customer. You must convert prospects into customers if you are going to have any kind of business. That is simple to do.

Give them an offer where “No” is impossible to say. That is the secret. Give first and then make the offer so compelling they cannot say “No.” We do it all the time. We just ran a social media special on our training products and it blew the roof off our shipping department. It has created a flood of new customers and new orders for us. All we did was give them an offer that was difficult to turn down.

The secret of success we experienced can be found in the word “Give.”

Give away something they must have, and something that will improve their life, and they will get it.

5) Customer

This final step is where they purchase your message, products, or webinar or event. This is the beggining of your relationship though- not the end.

Here you must start building the relationship between you and the customer even more.

Give more than they expected and throw something in for free they were not expecting. Give them a free download or ebook and let them see a Private video collection as a special.

Encourage more. Make sure that you send a note of encouragement and stay in touch with them.

Thank them more. Make sure they know you are thankful for their business and connection. We send out free downloads all the time to say thanks that some people paid $$$ for in the past. Thank them in everything you do and they will come back for more.

Get your customers addicted to your Value, Message and Emotions. They will become more than a customer. They will become a loud speaker for you and tell everyone you know you are the best at what you do

That is what you want to happen in your home business or traditional business in social media marketing.

Tags: Social Media, The 5 Steps to a Social Media Avalanche of Customers

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Beginner’s Guide on Social Media

posted by Web_University @ 8:00 AM

Sunday, October 16, 2011

Beginner’s Guide on Social Media

Social media has been practiced now as a means for small business to establish their brands online without having to spend much. Unluckily, many are also fearful on the tasks that lies ahead. You may learn easily or in a difficult way, that depends on how secure you are in using web and technology generally.

You don’t have to apply a full-fledged method immediately though. It takes time to get momentum going. In the meantime, here are some tips you should keep in mind when starting out:

* Start Small While Thinking Big

It would be foolhardy to jump into every trend you see without looking into its relevance for your business. Try out a couple of social media sites first and create profiles there. Regularly add friends, fans, and followers by contacting both regular customers and prospects. It is important to update your profile regularly with new content and fresh information. If you see results from the first few endeavors, it is time to expand your social media coverage.

* Place a Widget on Your Blog

One of the best ways to get a solid following is to make it easy for people to recommend your site and service. Widgets provide both of those. Get notice to those popular social media sites like Facebook, Twitter, and Digg among others.

* Test the Effectiveness of Widgets

Different audiences will have varying response and characteristics. For example, there are blogs that may have lots of Facebook fans but receive barely any recommendations on Digg. Just as some blogs may get many Retweets but doesn’t make an impact at all. Identify which tools should be kept and which tools to drop in your blog.

* Don’t Go for the Hard-Sell

It might be tempting to bombard your followers with offers, discounts, and marketing materials on a daily basis but this tactic hardly ever works. People appreciate exclusive offers now and then. But if they think that they are forced too hard by your company to be able to get sales, they will not really like it. It might be more helpful to provide industry news articles and reports. Answering their questions and concerns is also important.

* Look at the Strategy of Others

Are you wondering why a certain company is getting so many regular followers? If so, look at their social media strategy. Through this, you can be able to dig up their secrets, the tool they are using and how were they able to establish a strong following.

Tags: Beginner’s Guide on Social Media, Social Media

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Social Media Marketing Tips

posted by Web_University @ 8:00 AM

Thursday, September 29, 2011

Social Media Marketing Tips

Social media marketing is a relatively new marketing concept that involves increased social interaction on websites and has gained enormous popularity over the last year or two. There are a number of different types of social media sites but all of these have in common that their users can participate on the website by sharing comments, posting their own content or making friends online. If you are still new to social media and need a few marketing tips, read on:

* Use as Many Social Media Marketing Tools as Possible

The first tip is to use as many social media marketing tools as possible. There are many different types of social media and within this there are also many different websites. Registering for as many of these as possible and then using them correctly is a great way to boost your website traffic.

Some of these social networking and social media websites that allow you to interact with others online include Facebook, LinkedIN, and Twitter, as well as social content sites such as HubPages and YouTube. All these websites allow you to either create contacts through their website or else add content of your own to the website (such as articles to HubPages or videos to YouTube).

* Link Your Social Media Accounts

If registering for many different social media websites seems overwhelming at first, don’t worry. A great way to reduce the amount of time you need to spend on each of these websites is to link many of them together. For example, many social networks allow you to integrate with Twitter so that when you update your Twitter status it is also shown on your social network accounts or when you update your social networks you can perhaps send this to Twitter.

* Social Content and Social Bookmarking

Many business owners have used article marketing to promote their business, but have you used social content? Social content holds a number of benefits over article marketing while still being a similar concept. Put up a social content page on Squidoo or Hub Pages and then bookmark these with Digg, Stumbleupon, etc.

Social content websites are like the old article marketing websites in that you can add articles you have written but differ in that you can also add other elements such as graphics, YouTube videos, and interactive elements such as polls, comments, etc. that allow your readers to interact with your article. They also allow people who like your articles to ‘follow’ you which shows that they are interested in the articles you post and they can also subscribe to them.

Social bookmarking allows you to save a list of your favorite websites on another website where people can see them as well. These websites also allow you to make friends with people who find the websites you are listing interesting and want to know when you add other websites.

* Automate What Can be Automated

Fortunately some aspects of social media marketing, such as updating your Twitter status, can be automated so that you set it up once and can then forget about it (at least for a while). Make use of this, especially if you are short of time, as it will greatly reduce the amount of time you need to allocate to social media marketing.

* Encourage Visitors to Use Social Media

Another way you can use social media marketing is by encouraging visitors to your website to use it. Put up share buttons on your website pages that allow visitors to quickly and easily bookmark your pages on their social bookmarking accounts. Connect your website to Facebook and Twitter so that people can share links from your website on their Facebook or Twitter accounts, update their statuses through your website, etc.

* Make Lots of Friends

Another important social media marketing tip is to make as many friends or followers on these websites as possible.
The more connections you have, the more people will see your updates and marketing messages.

* Use Social Media Marketing Tools

Since the increase in popularity of social media a number of websites have come out that are not social media sites themselves but that give you the tools you need to use the social media sites, such as Twitter and Facebook, more effectively.

Social media marketing should be a part of every internet marketer’s arsenal of tools. Use as many of these websites as you can and link them together and encourage your visitors to use them too; automate the process and use other tools to help you become more effective at social media marketing.

Tags: Social Media, Social Media Marketing Tips

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Facebook Traffic System

posted by Web_University @ 8:00 AM

Monday, September 26, 2011

Facebook Traffic System: The Next Marketing Opportunity?

To be hyper effective at marketing in any business, you need to laser target your marketplace. It is very possible to get hyper amounts of targeted traffic to your business when you know where to look.

* Traditional Means of Communication

Traditionally, marketing communications were conducted via print, broadcast and such traditional media through disruptive advertising, where advertisements appear in between the content of interest for the customer.

Traditional media does give a large reach to a marketer with its programming of mass appeal. However, the wastage is equally high, since a large portion of the audience would belong to a different segment than the one that is to be targeted by the marketer.

* Enter Social Media and the Internet

The revolution stirred by the internet as a medium took place because of the fact that it is highly personalized and provides more content on-demand than any other available medium. Social sites proliferated far and wide in their usage for a few simple reasons:

The power of creating and distributing products and content is endless these days regardless if you are a newbie or not. In the earlier forms of media, that power rested with the editorial staff of the channel or the advertiser, but hardly ever with the user. The medium is completely personalized, and a user can create or join groups and further create content based on what he/she likes. Opinions are free and fair. This is one reason why social media is of utmost concern to marketers, since buying decisions are no more influenced as much by advertisements. The traditional word-of-mouth marketing approach is nearly a thing of the past as it has morphed into an automated marketing giant these days through social networks.

* Facebook – At the Center of Social Media

With 500 million (and growing) unique users worldwide, Facebook is the number one social networking site in terms of activity and subscriptions. What started as a garage initiative by Mark Zuckerberg has now become the biggest phenomenon on the internet.

A user interface that allows for quick communication and the ability to create fan pages and groups at the click of a mouse button are what make Facebook extremely popular.

Another important reason for its immense popularity is the wide variety of social applications that have been developed and made available within the Facebook environment.

These applications provide endless possibilities for users, which is why they continue to be so popular. People can do joint activities like playing games that run endlessly, sharing photos, videos, and web links, and many more.

* How does this help a marketer?

Traditionally, media plans were drawn to include television channels, publications, or any other media that can grab maximum eyeballs and effectively reach a selected target audience. The science of segmentation and targeting has become only more accurate in the case of social media.

Facebook provides a wide variety of avenues to communicate with your target audience, which opens up a completely new and exciting world of vast possibilities for you to have fruitful dialogue with customers. Some of these methods used popularly by marketers are:

* Advertising

The first opportunity, which is the most obvious one, is advertising on Facebook. The difference, however, is the fact that you can create your own advertisement in a matter of minutes and also specify the details of your target group in terms of demographics and types of discussions where you want your advertisement to appear. Fan Pages: Facebook allows every brand, as well as individual users, to create fan pages for their favorite celebrities and their own homegrown businesses. Large brands have also created their official pages on Facebook that have a huge, immediate fan following around the world.
Don’t underestimate the power of a fan page. It has the power to immediately provide feedback and give first hand information about your brand and customer emotions.

* Branded applications

One of the most effective ways to engage a user toward your brand is by creating an application; this could be a game or a contest, with your branding coming across subtly through it.

What makes Facebook even more exciting is the way it allows you to target your communication sharply just to the customer segment you want to attract. It also provides analytics and page insights that give good highly targeted feedback with an instant measurement on the activity done.

The options provided by Facebook can be creatively explored and used judiciously for bringing about maximum benefits to any brand.

However, you need to be aware that customers always have equal say and have the ability to respond immediately to any of your actions with a thumbs up or a thumbs down.

Availing the service of a social media consultant to work out a social media strategy may be required so that your efforts will not be in vain.

Tags: Facebook Traffic System: The Next Marketing Opportunity?, Social Media

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Promote your Business with Twitter Hashtags

posted by Web_University @ 8:00 AM

Saturday, September 24, 2011

Promote your Business with Twitter Hashtags

If only there was a way that you could watch your marketing message instantly hit number one in the search results. You didn’t even have to worry about how competitive your key phrase was. All you had to do is submit it and then instantly see that you hold the top place. Well you absolutely can do this!

Alright so maybe I lied a little. I didn’t say WHAT search engine or for how long right? Twitter has a handy feature called a “hashtag” that lets you do just this. Utilizing this to promote your new product, web page or blog post can get you that coveted #1 spot (at least until someone else tweets using the same hashtag).

* What is a Hashtag?

A hashtag is a short concatenated word or phrase prefixed with the hash symbol. These hashtags when used in a tweet and clicked by a user will force a twitter search for the term. The resulting search result page will be a list of all tweets that contain the hashtag listed from most recent to oldest.

A couple things happen as a result of using this hashtag:

- Anyone who reads this tweet and clicks on the now hyper linked hash tag will be re-directed to a search result page for it.

- Your tweet will be at the very top of this search result page until someone else tweets with the same hashtag.

Twitter users add hashtags to their tweets as a way to be added to a search result page that people check to see what’s new on that particular topic. Most Twitter users have a list of saved searches they use to check in on topics that interest them. People can hold open forum style conversations in this way without having to follow or be followed by the users in the conversation.

* How can I use Hashtags to Market my Website Content?

This is where the real power of Twitter as a business marketing tool comes into play. Let’s say you wrote a new blog post on Widgets. You could take the following steps to make sure that your tweet promoting this new post reaches the most number of readers as well as the most relevant:

- Go to Twitter and use its handy search function to find tweets on Widgets.

- Look for authorities in the field of Widget production in the search results. Follow their tweets back to their profile and see what hashtags they commonly use.

- Click on their hashtags to see if there is an active conversation that relates to your blog post about Widgets. Do the people using that particular hashtag seem like the ideal audience for your blog post?

- If so add the hashtag to your tweet promoting your post.

When Twitter users look at the search results page it will be your tweet at number one!

This system is a perfect way to place your tweets, links and message in front of the exact type of user you would deem ideal for your content. You can also use as many hashtags as 140 characters will permit.You may find that there are a few popular tags people use when talking about your Widgets. Its possible they use #widgets to talk about Widgets in general and #acmewidgets to talk about Widgets made by the ACME corporation. Go ahead and use both if it makes sense.

Using hashtags can expand the reach of your tweets far beyond the wall of those who follow you. It is also a great way to increase the number of followers you have as it will be exposing your words to people interested in the topics that you love to write about.

Tags: Promote your Business with Twitter Hashtags, Social Media

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5 Ways to Market your Online Content

posted by Web_University @ 8:00 AM

Thursday, September 22, 2011

5 Ways to Market your Online Content

You now have a finished piece of content on your website. How can one go about getting the most visitors to the new piece? Having faith that users will magically gravitate to your new page is extremely optimistic. The following contains 5 actionable tips for marketing your website content.

* Pretend it’s for Print

It all starts with the quality of your content. Treat the piece that your writing as if it’s not easily changed after you’ve put it out there. Publishing content on the web has made us all a bit lazy with this. Knowing that we can just go back to fix or tidy up after the fact puts a little less pressure on us to produce perfect content. Remember that people are taking time out of their lives to focus their attention on you. Make it worthwhile.

* A Dash of SEO with that Please

After you’re happy with the content take a once over for the search engines. Don’t bastardize it. But if you want to get the most long term exposure for your content try to align your web page’s message with your website’s search engine optimization strategy.

You could adjust:

-Your page title and meta description. Remember that these are the only two elements that search engine users see on search results pages. Try to have it read like a newspaper headline.

-The name of your post. If you can have good keywords here by all means do so.

-The permalink. Adjust your URL to be relevant to your content, keep it void of unnecessary words like “and, the, or” and include keywords.

-Your on-page headlines and actual copy. Skim through all of this for keyword opportunities that will ADD to the quality of your piece.

Just make sure that you are covering your bases seo-wise. If you set up your page properly you will give your writing every chance possible to be picked up by search engines down the road.

* Remember Email Marketing?

If you’ve built an email list over the years then send out a quick campaign about the article. I wouldn’t suggest that you copy all of your post content into the email. I would use the email as a teaser. Give the email recipients reason to visit your website and read it there. My reasoning for this is that there are many more viral opportunities if the content is digested on your website vs in the email itself. Be sure to give enough useful information in the email itself though. This way if they don’t click through they wont feel their time has been wasted.

* Feed the Birds

After you’ve done this go share your post on your favorite Social Media Channels like Facebook and Twitter. Be careful not to sound too sales-like here. People can get easily turned off by this. Ask for reciprocal links in a non demanding way. Saying things like “The most brilliant post on widgets EVER!” will get you no-where fast. If a comment is left make it a priority to respond.

* Make it Easy to Share

Be sure that you give your readers every chance possible to share your content with their tribe. This is where the real potential of Social Media Marketing begins to shine. Someone sharing your post with all of their community has just exponentially increased your articles reach. It’s free marketing! Most content management systems have ways to add this functionality to your posts and if you aren’t using a CMS it’s not hard to hand code. Take a look at the bottom of this post for an example and feel free to try it out .

There are many more venues for reaching out than what I’ve described above including Pay Per Click Advertising, Article Distribution marketing and Direct Mail to name a few. Following the steps above is a sound strategy and a good starting point for giving your work the help it needs to be seen.

Tags: 5 Ways to Market your Online Content, Social Media

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SEO & Social Media Marketing To The Rescue

posted by Web_University @ 8:00 AM

Wednesday, August 31, 2011

SEO & Social Media Marketing To The Rescue

Now that the website is live, we just sit back, celebrate at the launch party with a bottle of bubbly and wait for all that traffic and recognition, right? Dream on!

Internet marketing and online promotion require ongoing attention and acute care. The good news is that this part of the “web-dev” process can be the most fun and bring the most joy – both emotionally and financially. Checking your website stats and seeing that you have ten times the traffic increase when compared to last month, and having to hire additional help to respond to all of the contact form submissions can be very exciting times for any online business. (Yay! #success) Where do I start then?

A properly crafted website well on it’s way with this.

During the website development phase great care and attention was taken to lay the ground work for a sound SEO (search engine optimization) foundation. Well thought out page titles, meta tags, keyword sensitive copy-writing and a solid interlinking system should have all been in place. Having these items in place will greatly help in increasing your relevance in the eyes of major search engines. Web directories and Search engine submission

One of the first steps after launching the website should be submitting your site to the top web directories and search engines. Getting listed can sometimes cost a nominal fee and at times can be a long process, so it’s important to get the ball rolling.

Getting your site known and listed on directories can help in numerous ways:

People who use these directories can find your site

Lets the search engines know that your website exists

Provides links back to your site from some top page ranked sources

* Link building

Link building is another important step in promoting your website. Having in-bound links listed on highly reputable and relevant websites is probably at the top of Google’s long list of criteria for determining your pages rank. Make sure that your approach with link building is ethical.
(Not-so-good practices such as using link farming services can quickly make your site disappear in the eyes of the major search engines.) The Best practices of getting your links listed on websites that are relevant to yours can direct visitors to you as well as making search engines say: “Hey if that top ranking website thinks that your site has reputable and relevant information then it must be so.”

Best practices for link building include (but are not limited to) the following:

Writing articles for websites or blogs and including a link back to your site in your authors bio

Writing articles and submitting them to article publication services

Adding a link on your site to a website you hope to get your name on, contacting them and asking for a reciprocal link in return

Having content on your website that is actually inbound link worthy

* Keeping your content fresh

A very large mistake many people make after launching their website is never adding new content or updating existing pages. This hurts your visibility in numerous ways. If there is never anything new to see visitors will never feel the need to return. The same is true for search engine spiders – they want to eat up and index all of your new content.

Top experts also feel that search engines give more importance to sites with frequently updated content as the info must be time relevant. Spiders keep track of how often new content is added to your site and determine the frequency of their trips back to you based on this data.
The more content you produce, the more visits you’ll have from all your friendly neighbors on the net. Harnessing social media.

Using social media channels like Facebook and Twitter can help keep you in touch with your fans, tribe and client base. Social Media is a great avenue for building upon old relations and creating new ones as well. The viral nature of social media marketing also provides huge potential for exposing your website to an exponential number of people, friends of theirs and their friends’ friends, and so on ad infinitum.

There are many ways to market your website and get your name out there so that your people find you.

Tags: marketing, Search Engine Optimization, SEO & Social Media Marketing To The Rescue, Social Media

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Automate Marketing In Social Media Through TweetAdder

posted by Web_University @ 8:00 AM

Saturday, August 6, 2011

Automate Marketing In Social Media Through TweetAdder

There is little doubt that most believe that one of the most effective forms of marketing today is through Social Media. Twitter, Facebook and LinkedIn normally provide opportunities that you will not be able to take advantage of any other way. Primarily, that is in getting the word out to people who are reading your messages. Social media is almost entirely ‘instinct’ based, if you post something of quality, chances are that people are going to be curious enough to take a look as soon as they see it. However, one of the downsides of social media marketing is the problem that many people encounter with the amount of time that it takes to post updates, manage followers, retweet messages and send out messages. In these cases, it might be helpful to take a look at some of the automation tools that are available to automate your social media marketing One such tool is TweetAdder.

TweetAdder is maybe one of the most cheap automation tools that is available. They are one of the few paid tools that do not require you to pay a monthly fee. You pay a one time fee (money back guaranteed) and you will be able to set up your Twitter, Facebook and LinkedIn account and update them using your existing files. This isn’t to say that TweetAdder isn’t without it’s faults, it definitely has some problems. Let’s take a look at the pros and cons of TweetAdder.

* Pros

The biggest benefit of using TweetAdder is that you only pay a fee one time. It does not have a requirement that includes payment each month to continue using the software. Most other programs charge between $25 and $50 per month (or more) to use the software. The one time fee is $55 for a single user license. This includes lifetime updates for the software.

TweetAdder is also very simple to learn to use. Unlike some other programs that require a lengthy learning curve, TweetAdder is very straightforward, and you can learn how to use it very easily. One of the downsides however is that when updates are made to the program, they can be all encompassing. A recent article “Using Tweetadder” for automation which was published on May 17, 2010 is no longer valid, at least for multiple accounts. The changes that were made in Version 10 of Tweet Adder were sweeping, changing many of the features. The upside is that many of the previous database errors have been corrected in this version.

* Cons

There are two primary downsides to TweetAdder. The primary one being that your computer must be running in order for it to operate properly. This means that if you are prone to shutting your computer off at night, your version of TweetAdder will close down with it. This isn’t an issue if you intend to only run TweetAdder during working hours.

The other “downside” of TweetAdder is that there is no way for you to view your time-line within the program. For most users that means they must have another program such as TweetDeck, HootSuite or log into their Twitter accounts to re-tweet or to read messages.

* Summary

For what it will accomplish successfully, TweetAdder is a great program. It is even better if you are only managing one Twitter account. The low cost of TweetAdder makes it ideal for someone who is just getting started with automating their Twitter and other social media accounts.

Tags: advertising, Automate Marketing In Social Media Through TweetAdder, marketing, Social Media

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Social media’s rampacious herd of gadgets, madness and crowds

posted by Web_University @ 8:00 AM

Thursday, July 28, 2011

Social media’s rampacious herd of gadgets, madness and crowds

In Babbage’s column this week, Virtual Lemmings, he argues that humans are a gregarious lot, which gives rise to herd mentality, while Will Self writes of superficial advances that provide us with more disposable time we just fill it up fiddling with iPhones.

First, let’s look glance through a few headlines in today’s Mashable. One talks about how many texts an average teenager sends per month, another that Obama was answering tweets during a town hall event and, one that caught some sense of my imagination, was by Jessica Faye Carter on why Twitter influences cross-cultural engagement.

In Wilfred Batten Lewis Trotter (no relation of Del Boy) was known for his studies on the herd instinct, which he outlined in two papers in 1908. Trotter argued that gregariousness was an instinct in line with bees, sheep and packs of wolves, while William James proposed a little earlier that the impulse of an instinct is of such axiomatically obviousness that any idea of discussing its basis is ultimately foolish.

Elaborating upon this, Professor Lloyd Morgan defined instinctive behaviour as: “that which is on its first occurrence independent of prior experience; which tends to be to the well-being of the individual and the preservation of the race; which is similarly performed by all the members of the same more or less restricted group of animals; and which may be subject to subsequent modification under the guidance of experience.” Social media would not quite fit this criterion, perhaps.

But it’s to this millennium I turn and who better than “The Madness of Crowds: Gadgets”, by Will Self. In his column he talks about how he often succumbs to: “one of the great delusions of the modern world: namely that a gadget or device will allow me to do something I’ve been doing for years faster and more efficiently, thereby gifting me more of the kind of time I so desperately need: down time.”

He describes in some detail about “gizmos” that do nothing for him and yet when confronted with an advert or hear some “Twittery spiel of some deranged early adopter”, he flies off into some imagined computer-generated fantasy of “techno-adequacy”, when really “we yearn to dabble for ever in the rock pools of juvenescence”.

Satnav, he argues, “has to be the ultimate useless gizmo when it comes to saving time. I’ve lost count of occasions I’ve had to deprogramme a minicab driver and persuade him that just possibly I know a better route across town than his dash-mounted white pebble, as I’ve lived here my entire life.”

But getting back to Jessica Faye Carter, she believes that” “We might be intrigued by a comment we see in the Trending Topics, and we visit the person’s profile to see if it’s someone we want to follow [herd mentality]. Or we see a Trending Topic we’ve never heard of and want to know what’s going on…

“But even without the third party apps, there is a universality of shared experience that underlies interactions on Twitter. Nancy Perez, CEO of Social Media Wired, sees Twitter as a place of shared human experience, noting that ‘the interests, behaviors, thought processes, speech patterns and daily commonalities of life translate [Twitter] conversations into the universal language of humankind.’” Or, how Will Self would have it: “How mad is that?”

In “The Dynamics of Crowd Conflict” it states: “As human beings, we have a natural tendency not to want to be alone in what we think. If we have a thought, opinion or view that we thought no one else had, we might compromise that view in order to fit in somewhere. Human beings are social creatures and fear nothing more than being alone. Adolescents get pinned with having more of a ‘herd mentality’ than adults, but I would argue that the bandwagon psychology is rampant even among the most mature adults.

“The bandwagon psychology, or the ‘herd mentality’, is the process of a person joining a group of people that believe in something, even though that person might not believe in it themselves…Human beings are more connected than they think according to the bandwagon psychology.”

The has been weighted to be typically cynical, so I’ll introduce James Surowiecki, who thinks us lemmings are in fact “often better than could have been made by any single member of the group”. In the “The Wisdom of Crowds: Why the Many Are Smarter Than the Few and How Collective Wisdom Shapes Business, Economies, Societies and Nations”, he breaks down the advantages he sees in disorganised decisions into three main types, which he classifies as cognition (thinking and information processing); coordination of behaviour, which alludes to optimising the utilisation of a popular bar and not colliding in moving traffic flows; and cooperation (how groups of people can form networks of trust without a central system controlling their behaviour or directly enforcing their compliance.

Surowiecki also studies “rational bubbles” in which the crowd produces very bad judgements, and argues that in these types of situations their cognition or cooperation failed because “the members of the crowd were too conscious of the opinions of others and began to emulate each other and conform rather than think differently”.

“Crowds collectively swayed by a persuasive speaker, is the main reason that the reason why groups of people intellectually conform when that system for decision-making has a systematic flaw.” And he asserts that this can lead to “fragile social outcomes”. Also, emotional factors, such as a feeling of belonging, can lead to peer pressure, herd instinct and, in extreme cases, collective hysteria.

In the Economist, Dr Reed-Tsochas and Dr Onnela are quoted as having “duly discovered that the social networkers’ herd mentality was intact, with popular apps doing best, and the trendiest reaching stratospheric levels…What did come as something of a surprise, though, was that our inner lemming only kicked in once the app had breached a clear threshold rate of about 55 installations a day. Any fewer than that and users seemed oblivious to their friends’ preferences.”

At some level then, virtual lemmings as described, we all seem to be.

Tags: madness and crowds, Social Media, Social media’s rampacious herd of gadgets

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Facebook: A New Way to Communicate

posted by Web_University @ 8:00 AM

Sunday, January 9, 2011

Facebook: A New Way to Communicate

- Social media marketing is here to stay

It is the new way of communicating for both businesses as well as individuals. With all things, there are fans and there are cynics. However, there is no denying its impact. A crucial tipping point in how the world communicates has been passed. Online social media is now mainstream. Nearly everyone has some method of social media be it Twitter or Facebook. Facebook and Twitter have certainly become the main tools by which small businesses and the upwardly mobile engage the outside world.

From the rise of Facebook a new method of marketing has developed. Social Media Marketing is now one of the primary means of relating new products and services to the world. Social media is perfect for getting the word out. It is fresh, fast and free. Sure, there is some effort to it after all, you have to Tweet or write on your wall several times daily, but it’s free. Let’s say it again. Free.

Facebook allows you to freely contact your friends, family, potential employers and potential customers. You can market yourself or business by establishing an engaging online profile. You have the potential, if you are clever and savvy, to reach out to and influence a wide customer base. Friend people, Write on their walls, Create events that will post to their walls, Comment on someone’s status, Review a movie, Play games, Having fun is now work—how awesome is that?

- Games and Pay Per Click

Companies create games now as a means of advertising their product. For a grand and a half you can create a viral game that reaches literally millions of potential customers. Users may also choose to use affiliate sales links to earn a little extra cash from Facebook.

You also have the option to create a Facebook PPC campaign and create an ad that will be run according to keyword searches. Facebook offers you the opportunity to advertise to a broad demographic, and create a series of social actions that will enable you to grow your business across the community of millions. Facebook makes it easy enough for a beginner to set up with its easy walk through and tutorial. However, if you are uneasy about starting a campaign yourself there are companies that will help you select the appropriate keywords and demographics.

Pay per click is an effective advertising method because you only pay per click, not per view. This is a different approach than say a commercial that people can forward past or leave the room during. You pay for the direction action, or curiosity, of your web user.

Whether you want to use Facebook to stay in touch, get a new job, or grow your business customer base, Facebook has the capacity to fulfill your needs if you can just learn your way around a few kingdoms.

Tags: Facebook: A New Way to Communicate, Social Media, The Web University

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Do You Have a Twitter Strategy?

posted by Web_University @ 8:00 AM

Wednesday, December 29, 2010

Do You Have a Twitter Strategy?

A young adult asked: “I need help with regard to Twitter. Any advice on how I can attack this in a productive manner will be much appreciated.”

First, it’s impressive that this young adult realized that a productive plan is needed to use Twitter for business. Second, I like the phrase “attack this in a productive manner.”

Why do I like the phrase “attack this in a productive manner”? Because using Twitter effectively is similar to planning a battlefield strategy. Now, of course, our purpose is not to crush the other people on Twitter. But we do want to figure out how to engage in a way that they pay attention to what we’re doing.

First I recommended reading my Twitter business articles whose links are at the bottom of my bio at Site-Booster.com — http://www.site-booster.com/blog/2009/09/phyllis-zimbler-miller-profile/

Then I said the next step would be to write a bullet point list of what the person would like to achieve on Twitter, including which areas of interest to focus on.

Let’s say the person is interested in restoring antique cars. Now will this be a hobby or a business? First, as we’ve discussed before in terms of Twitter profiles, the Twitter profile should reflect this primary focus and whether this is a hobby or a business.

We’ll say for now it’s a hobby that you would like to turn into a business.

So you do a search (using Twitter search functions as well as third-party search applications) on words related to restoring antique cars. And we’ll say you find recent tweets from five different Twitter users with keywords relating to restoring antique cars.

The first thing is to follow these five people and then to engage with them in conversation about antique cars. For example, one of these people might tweet a question about needing help finding a part. If you know the answer, you would send a public tweet reply with the answer.

And if you are on Twitter every day engaging in conversation on this topic, you will be drawn into a wider conversation as you follow other people who engage about antique cars with your first five antique car Twitter users.

By sharing in this conversation you are beginning to establish yourself as someone with knowledge on the subject as well as someone who is wiling to share this knowledge.

When you are ready to take the next step, you get a website that supports your planned business of restoring antique cars and you put the link to your website on your Twitter profile. Now at your website you collect email addresses by offering a compelling freebie such as “5 Tips You Should Know Before Restoring an Antique Car.”

And every so often on Twitter you can tweet about this freebie report. You can also tweet that you’ll answer questions on Twitter about antique car restoration. Also, you can create your own Twitter list of antique car aficionados.

While you may tweet about other things to demonstrate you are not a one-dimensional person, your battlefield strategy for engagement on Twitter will center around taking part in antique car conversations.

With attention to detail as in any good battlefield plan and staying focused on the prize, you should be able to carry out a productive business strategy on Twitter.

Tags: Do You Have a Twitter Strategy?, Social Media, The Web University

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Top 13 Must-Have Facebook Applications For Business

posted by Web_University @ 8:00 AM

Wednesday, December 22, 2010

Top 13 Must-Have Facebook Applications For Business

It’s now or never if you want to secure your business real estate on Facebook. Fan pages for business are quickly catching on for all types of industries; however, not all fan pages are maintained effectively thus missing valuable traffic and engagement with fans AKA potential customers and clients.

Facebook and other social networks are all about people and relationships. A business owner would want to build their reputation, so that they become trustworthy, credible and knowledgeable about their audience to provide them with the products or services they need.

Social networks work the same way. Who is your company’s audience and what do they want from you? How are you going to attract more people to your page’s network?

Two ways to increase your network and reputation on a Facebook Fan Page: consistent updates and applications.

Post often on a fan page, allow more than one person to manage a fan page, to provide the valuable information and expertise that your business prides itself on. The second way to establish a reputation and engage with your network is through Facebook applications. These add-ons will both visually enhance a fan page much like adding special features to a Web site and stimulate engagement, conversation and ongoing interactions with your fans.

Once a business creates a fan page the standard applications include Photos, Video, Notes, Events and Discussion; however, these are only the basics. In order to really add uniqueness to a Facebook page as well as your social media marketing strategy, you’ll need one or more of the following Facebook applications:

1. Reviews

The reviews app is perfect for those who have specific products and services they provide. Customer reviews is one of 2010′s marketing strategies that has taken the online shopper and business owner to a new level of providing better customer service. More customers are reading reviews online about a particular service, product or business and are making specific buying decisions based on such reviews. Now your fans can give a review right on your business fan page.

2. Polls

There are a few different poll apps that you can use for a business fan page or profile. One of the most recognized social media polls is Polldaddy which is widely used both as a social media marketing and customer engagement strategy. Create a poll for your page: ask a question, provide two to four answers, and post. Check the results and post them on your page. This social media marketing tool can jumpstart a new campaign or give you ideas about future sales or promotions.

3. Networked Blogs

Does your business maintain a blog? Add the Networked Blogs app to your business page and profile so your fans and network receive immediate updates every time a blog is posted. There is a little bit of coding that needs to be installed on your blog so ensure you’re able to access your blog or ask your blog developer to do this. Want to keep informed of other blogs in your industry or track trends? Sign up for their blog feeds too by using this Facebook business app.

4. RSS Feed

If you have a blog, news site or other feed that you’d like to see updated on your business fan page, then there are a couple worthy RSS apps you can add. One all-in-one app is Social RSS which can be configured to automate updates from any type of RSS feed that creates a post on a business page on a tab at the top of the page or on your wall. Although many fans in your network prefer authentic posts from a company, this is one method to consistently update a fan page.

5. Slideshare

This site’s application has gone to the next level for attracting business on Facebook. Install Slideshare’s app to share presentations & documents with your network including conference chats, PDF’s, PowerPoint (PPT, PPS and PPTX), MS office documents and more. Impress fans with this app’s savvy marketing strategy to attract more customers and clients. Create a dynamic social media triad by linking your account with Facebook and LinkedIn. What is good for one is good for another.

6. Constant Contact

You’ve got email (marketing)! Now let your fans and friends in your network sign up to receive the latest news from your business directly from Facebook. As long as a business uses Constant Contact, they can also add this app.

7. Static FBML

If you’re familiar with Hyper Text Markup Language or HTML, this is Facebook’s version for adding bling to your business fan page. Companies like Nike, Ford and Twilight the Movie all have this feature on their fan pages. Add a “box” to your page for better fan engagement and interest. With a combination of FBML features a fan page can be transformed into a mini website. This wow factor can also be added to your sidebar that includes images from your website or blog, links and ads.

8. YouTube

Video as a social media marketing strategy is receiving more rave reviews and traffic than other traditional media advertising. With YouTube’s easy upload, a business can produce and publish a very affordable video campaign that will reach millions. Add the YouTube for Pages app to your tabs – you’ll have to sign up for a free Involver account. Choose your settings and you’ll have something that other large companies have – added value.

9. Twitter

Maximizing the power of any business social media strategy is to link as many social networks as possible. Facebook has several Twitter apps that you can link a fan page to a company’s Twitter feed. The social network mogul allows third party developers to add their own apps, so be sure to check out which Twitter app works best for your business’s needs and feed. Applications include Twitter for Facebook, Selective Twitter (update your fan page from Twitter with the hashtag fb), Twitter and mobile applications too.

10. Promotions

What do you have that your competitors don’t? A sizzling contest, giveaway or other promotion to attract more people to your website or storefront. Add the Promotions app as a social media marketing strategy to get fast results and traffic to your page. Sign up for a free account on the WildFire web site to get started; just follow the instructions with this application and soon you’ll be attracting more business than before. Offer something “free” and you’ll have your fans hooked. Just be ready to make good on your promotions!

11. Payvment eCommerce Storefront

Import your e-commerce’s products right on a business’s Facebook fan page. Download the free app from Facebook. This social media app supports more than 20 currencies worldwide.

12. Coupons

Another feature of signing up with Wildfire is the ability to add coupons to your fan page for your fans to use for purchasing products or services. Track with special coupon codes just for Facebook fans and remind customers to provide a review of your company on the Reviews tab you just added.

13. LinkedIn Contacts

Create a tri-fecta social media presence online with the top 3 social networks by adding this app to either your business profile or fan page. Share and connect with a LinkedIn network on Facebook too. Fans and friends can see your qualifications and join your network all in one place.

Tags: Social Media, The Web University, Top 13 Must-Have Facebook Applications For Business

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How to Participate in a Tweetchat

posted by Web_University @ 8:00 AM

Tuesday, December 21, 2010

How to Participate in a Tweetchat

You can get to know people on Twitter in your area of interest by participating in a tweetchat on a related subject.

* What is a tweetchat?

It’s a stream of tweets on the same topic in real time. Imagine it as a gigantic instant messaging free-for-all on a stated topic.

First let’s talk about participating in one. Then we’ll talk about how starting one can help you market on Twitter.

Let’s take this scenario:

I announce that a tweetchat on #ficbkmkt (hashtag for fiction book marketing) will take place on a specific date and time. (I make sure to state what time zone in the U.S. this is.) I tweet about this ahead of time and get others to also tweet the topic, time and date.

At the specific date and time I use a third-party application to participate in a tweetchat in real time. This way I can follow the tweets of people I’m not following yet and people who are not following me yet can see my tweets on the subject.

While there are other third-party ways to participate in tweetchats, I like tweetchat.com the best. Just know that you can change the speed of how fast you get the new tweets. I’m a fast typist so I choose to get new updates every five seconds (the fastest). For others that may be too hard to follow and you’ll want to leave it at the 10 seconds default or even increase to a longer interval between tweets.

At the date and time I go to tweetchat.com and enter my Twitter username and password. Then in the room prompt I enter #ficbkmkt and I’m part of the conversation.

When I tweet from inside this “room” the hashtag #ficbkmkt will be automatically added to my tweet (which is why I don’t have the full 140 characters in a tweet).

If people not participating in the chat are following any of the people in the chat, these outside people can see in their regular Twitter stream the tweets with the hashtag of the people they’re following. And the outside people can respond from their regular Twitter stream but must manually add #fictbkmkt to their tweets so these tweets will show up in the tweetchat room.

Tweetchats are usually for an hour or more. Some are the same time every week and others are for a special event.

The regularly scheduled tweetchats may have a specified topic for each chat or they may be an open exchange of information. The tweetchat organizer decides the format.

I will admit that the tweets can fly fast and furious. Leaders of well-organized tweetchats often have a series of questions and ask people to put the question number before the reply to make it easier for people to follow the conversation. Thus a tweet reply inside the tweetchat that answers “How do you search on Twitter?” (which has been designated as question 4) may look like this:

Q4: There are numerous applications that allow you to search Twitter by different criteria. [hashtag of tweetchat automatically attached]

Now let’s say you want to host a special event tweetchat or start a regularly scheduled tweetchat:

Why would you do this? To establish yourself as a leader in a specific niche. To be known as someone who truly contributes to the conversation in this area. To help out someone.

For example, when getglue.com was new, I offered to host a special tweetchat with a representative from getglue so that he could explain to book authors how getglue could be used for book marketing. The tweetchat afforded book authors the opportunity to learn from the getglue representative and also share tips with each other.

Now I admit I offered to do a tweetchat for getglue for a self-interested reason: I wanted myself to understand how getglue could be used for book marketing. But I did put effort into promoting the tweetchat ahead of time plus I edited the transcript from the tweetchat and put it on my FictionMarketing.com blog so that others who didn’t participate in the live tweetchat could benefit from the advice.

This I utilized the Twitter marketing strategy of providing valuable information for others while learning information for myself.

One other hosting tip: Because many people on Twitter don’t know what a tweetchat is, when I sponsor a special event tweetchat I create an announcement through twitwall.com. This way I can have a headline about the tweetchat (which becomes the tweet) and then a link to the twitwall announcement with instructions about how to join the tweetchat.

P.S. And if you’ve added good information as a participant or host of a tweetchat, you’ll discover that a lot of people from the tweetchat who weren’t following you before will now be following you.

Tags: How to Participate in a Tweetchat, Social Media, The Web University

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Do You Need a Social Media Newsroom?

posted by Web_University @ 8:00 AM

Saturday, December 18, 2010

Do You Need a Social Media Newsroom?

Curriculum vitae, work experience, references, skills inventory, resume: all describe a source of information where people can condense the vital information about themselves into a single document for interested parties to examine. The idea is giving people an overview they can sort through in order to weigh your merits and strengths against their needs, as well as to get an idea of how you present yourself.

This concept has been adopted for the web in a number of ways, but none more unique than the social media newsroom. A combination bulletin board and press collection, the SMNR is a one-stop location for people to find out critical information about you. Whether you have a new book you’re promoting, a lecture tour you want to draw attention to, or a business plan you wish to propose, the SMNR is the place you gather all the information about your venture together into a clear, concise summary.

* SMNR Basics

As implied in the name, a newsroom is a page where you compile relevant press (your own and others’) about the relevant topic. It lists the basic information, quotations, summaries and news stories in question, but then it also goes a step beyond the basics.

In previous articles we’ve discussed the advantages of integrating your audience into the brand, and taking advantage of the web’s powerful communication abilities to bring their influences into the picture. The SMNR doesn’t just present good press, it includes communication venues for people using Facebook, Twitter, Linkedin, Digg and more. It includes a comments section for added communication, and options for instant messaging or blog connectivity. In short it is more than just a static page, and is an active communications hub.

* Do You Need One?

Any organization interested in creating and maintaining a vital web brand will find the SMNR an incredible, vital tool toward this purpose. If you have any good press, such as a positive review or mention from a SM group, consider putting up an SMNR page to centralize further promotion efforts.

The value of the SMNR lies in its convenience for your audience. As we have discussed, the web has allowed people to develop an incredibly short and discerning attention span. If you centralize your relevant information so that people can browse easily, they will be more likely to stay and peruse your content than if they had to hunt down the information themselves. Instead of looking for reviews of your company’s quality, they can find it all right at hand in your SMNR.

* Which Social Media?

Given the sheer variety of social media networking sites, there is no one design of SMNR that will work in every situation. There are of course the broad guidelines already discussed, but these are not specific to any situation and for good reason. Applications such as Twitter or Digg are fairly universal, serving as conduits rather than direct sources of information. However services like Myspace and Facebook have differing user bases, and one may be more appropriate to your organization than the other. You must do the research to see what suits your business needs.

The most important piece of advice is to make your SMNR its own distinct element. We have discussed the importance of giving your online marketing efforts their own focus, rather than simply getting to them as you have time. The SMNR is no different. It will not replace the draw of a good blog or video series, just as an author’s webpage does not replace the act of actually reading his books.

Instead, find the social media networks that tie most organically into your usual web branding efforts, and build from there. If you’re focusing on a smaller audience, include instant messaging service so people can drop into the page chat room for quick input. If you’re going for a wider audience, Twitter is still an excellent way to quickly link your newest article or bit of press.

* The Press Release

An integral part of any newsroom is the press release. This is not strictly speaking a traditional news story so much as it is a formalized announcement using the news style. As an illustration of the difference, a news story is when a journalism organization covers an event and relays the information. A press release is when the organization itself gives out information they feel is important, usually through a news channel. A good press release keeps to the basic facts, and is short and punchy.

The press release is therefore an outstanding tool for any SMNR. Brief and concise, it explains why your newest venture or change in policy deserves attention. It can be linked through your preferred social media tools and disseminated quickly, bringing people to your page for the full story. From there they can be directed to other materials, and you have your audience at hand.

* Extra, Extra

Once again, the focus of the SMNR is as much about drawing in user commentary as it is about distributing information. Take the time to analyze the comments and usage figures from your newsroom against your chosen metrics. Listen to what people are saying, and engage them about these comments. Many good ideas have been lost simply for lack of communication, so take advantage of the fact that your audience is literally right there, in the newsroom with you, and ready to have a dialog.

Tags: Do You Need a Social Media Newsroom?, Social Media, The Web University

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7 WordPress Twitter Plugins to Spice up Your Blog

posted by Web_University @ 8:00 AM

Wednesday, December 15, 2010

7 WordPress Twitter Plugins to Spice up Your Blog

Although I have been involved with Twitter from shortly after it’s launch there is so much to learn. People come up with different ways to use Twitter to market and develop a community of people and this is one great area of Twitter to follow. The other area of Twitter that is equally as great is all the plugins and hacks that are developed to make the entire Twitter experience more and more unique.

I want to list a number of WordPress Twitter Plugins that you should know about for your personal Twitter experience:

1. Tweet Meme

You are possibly familiar with the little graphic that shows the number of tweets a blog post has and then you see a green button under that number that says retweet. This is the Tweet Meme plugin for WordPress and it makes it easy for your visitors to tweet your blog to their Twitter feed.

2. Tweet backs

With the explosion of blogging and Twitter this WordPress plugin will import Tweets about your post as comments. You can display the tweetbacks nested in other comments on your blog or display them separately. The more comments you have on your site the better ranking your page can get in Google since it shows activity and value.

3. Twitter Tools

Twitter Tools is a plugin that creates a complete integration between your WordPress blog and your Twitter account.

4. Twitt twoo

Twitt-Twoo is a simple little plugin that will allow you to update your Twitter status right from your blog’s sidebar. AJAX takes cares of the hard work, and means that your page doesn’t even have to reload, allowing for quick and easy status updates. Displays your latest Twitter status, and when it was last updated.

5. Twitter Updater

The Twitter Updater automatically sends a Twitter status update to your Twitter account when you create, publish, or edit your WordPress post. You can specify the text for the updates, and also have the option to turn the auto update on/off for the different post actions in the admin panel.

6. Twittar WordPress Plugin

This WordPress plugin will try to load the twitter avatar of the person leaving a comment on a blog post. It will try to match the email address in the comment to the Twitter account. If this cannot be done it will attempt to use the Gravatar. There are a number of other style settings you can use for customization.

Tags: 7 Wordpress Twitter Plugins to Spice up Your Blog, blogs, Social Media, The Web University

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Twitter: A Playground for Email Marketers

posted by Web_University @ 8:00 AM

Thursday, December 9, 2010

A recent post from the official Twitter Blog tells of how much the number of tweets has grown in the past years, minus spam. From 5,000 tweets daily in 2007, to a sudden leap to 300,000 the following year, and a huge 2.5 million messages in 2009. The bottom line today: an average of 600 tweets every second!

While there are no conclusive breakdown of figures to explain that immensity, one is left with a feeling that if the law of statistics and probably do not exclude Twitter, then this social media behemoth is indeed a rich goldmine just waiting to be tapped by savvy e-mail marketers.

With all the world using social media, it’s an easy step for e-mail marketers to integrate their campaigns with Twitter. Despite its 140-character limitation, and the low-key “thin” APIs, the elements are already in place that allows e-mail marketers to wage a successful campaign here.

* Wearing Two Marketing Hats in Twitter

Unlike traditional email campaigns, many marketers may still be in the dark of how to go about integrating email campaigns in the Twitterdom. They may scratch their heads because of the alien nature of the social media service when compared with traditional email systems.

After all, the messaging system here is a far cry from traditional email. There are short tweets instead of multi-paragraphed messages. There are text-based posts rather than graphic-rich communications. Subscriptions here are of the form of followers and following. And most importantly, messages here are sent and received in “real-time”.

The last characteristic is an important difference when conducting the marketing campaign, because it urges e-mail marketers to evolve in order to tap into Twitter’s immense customer base. The nature of communication in Twitterdom is more suited for customer relationship-building — it is active and two-way. Users participate through questions and feedbacks, contrary to emails which simply park the message on inboxes and wait for what happens. As such, marketers must learn to “listen” to customers to deliver the campaign suited for their specific preferences.

* Integrating Twitter with E-mail

E-mail marketers must go the roundabout way in the Twitterdom to conduct their campaigns. It’s all about luring customers with interesting tweets that link to email sign-ups, and emails that link to Twitter. Here are some ways to do this:

1. Create useful tweets with links to the full article’s landing page. In the landing page, there can be an option to sign up to get the full version of the information. If the information is valuable enough, Twitter followers can be made instant email subscribers in this manner.

2. Create Twitter pages for every products or services offered, for fine-grained user segmentation that allows delivery of better-targeted campaigns.

3. Dedicate an account solely for customer support, and man them with qualified personnel to handle customer questions, requests and feedbacks.

4. Promote the Twitter account on other marketing channels, for example, as a signature in e-mail campaigns, a footer in newsletters, or a website link, or by quoting customer tweets in other social media accounts.

This unique nature of real-time social media services like Twitter urges e-mail marketers to re-think their ways and perspectives in order to come up with cross-channel marketing campaigns. Failure to do so is a big loss and a denial to tap into a huge customer base all ripe for the picking.

Tags: Social Media, The Web University, Twitter: A Playground for Email Marketers

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How to Use Twitter Like the Pros?

posted by Web_University @ 8:00 AM

Sunday, December 5, 2010

How to Use Twitter Like the Pros?

For those that haven’t heard, Twitter is a super-sweet medium where folks can glance into your life to see who you really are. This being said, it’s a good idea to post “Tweets” about things that are going on in your life daily, as well as what you’re doing and thinking about. Now, I’m not saying you need to document your entire life’s story, but simple let people know when something worth posting surfaces. I recommend Tweeting articles and videos that are comical in nature or regular things that allow someone to look into your world.

The tweets that you post daily are very revealing about yourself and basically tell others if you have things in common or if you’re just plain crazy! I’ve met several people that are interesting in outdoor sports, internet marketing, and people that have the same type of dog I do. It’s pretty incredible with whom you can connect with in this form of social media

When navigating on Twitter, pay attention to what people are saying. If there is a question someone has posted, go right ahead and answer it. I know, at first it may feel like eavesdropping, but I assure you everything is fine. When viewing a Tweet that you want to comment on, don’t think, just do it.

This is a short-list of reasons to use Twitter every day:

1) You can easily establish connections and meet new friends

2) You get fresh, minute-by-minute insight as to what is happening in peoples lives

3) You get access to links to articles folks have read and particularly enjoyed

4) It’s the perfect place to ask legit questions and obtain answers

5) You can connect with people in your local area

6) You can get loads of new business

Twitter is actually pretty easy to understand, you just have to begin today and get familiar with it. I would rate it much simpler than many other social networks that I’ve discussed in the past. Keep in mind that you always want to add value to a Twitter conversation. This is very basic. If you contribute something of value, individuals will thank you and be inclined to remember you. Some my decide to also follow you in return. In its basic form, though, you’ll have gotten someones attention.

The first thing to do once you get on Twitter is to get yourself a user name. I chose @MatthewLoop, so feel free to follow me so you can stay up-to-date on the newest social media happenings and strategies. Decide which of the examples below you want to mimic. If you want, you can alter the names later, but makes sure you think ahead. In a local niche, review these hypothetical listings below for ideas:

- Plummer & your Name = @PlummerJack

- Attorney Related = @AttorneyLady

- Name & Area / Location = @JaredMI

- Brand-Name = @FreeCreditBen

Do yourself a favor and set-up an account on Twitter today. I can promise you it’s just as fun and addicting as Myspace, YouTube, or Facebook. In the coming days I will also be putting up a video on one of my YouTube channels so keep your eyes posted as well. Continued success!

Tags: How to Use Twitter Like the Pros?, Social Media, The Web University

(2 Comments )

Issues on Privacy Concerns on Facebook

posted by Web_University @ 8:00 AM

Wednesday, December 1, 2010

Issues on Privacy Concerns on Facebook

It seems that you can barely log into the internet today without finding dire warnings about the privacy of your FaceBook account. Hundreds (and possibly thousands) of users have declared May 31, 2010 as “Leave FaceBook Day”. Since the dawn of the internet, privacy has been a concern. However, if you put a google search in for “Facebook Privacy Concerns” it returns 17,400,000 results while Twitter returns 15,500,000 results and LinkedIn at the bottom of the pile returns 667,000 results.

In a viewpoint, Facebook is approximated to have the largest number of users among the three. And truthfully, the three (although often lumped together) are really different and have different audiences. With that said, how concerned should you be about your FaceBook security?

Well, like anything else that’s on the internet, it’s not hack-proof. Even the strongest privacy policy isn’t going to protect you if someone really wants to get at your information. Changes on the privacy policy on Facebook however seem to be on a craze and they don’t really mind how many protests they receive, it is more like a “woops” to them. Then there is the audacity of Facebook founders to tell you that having multiple “online” identities is displaying unethical behavior? He’s simply letting you know that your account for business and personal account on Facebook must be one and the same or you don’t have the ethics. And the answer to that?

Probably not – most of us tend to like to keep our “personal” and our “business” lives (especially online) separate as much as possible. I mean seriously – do your children really care if the company that you are promoting has already reached 1000 blog readers? Do those people who follows your company really need to know that your grand daughter is a part of a cheerleading tournament? Probably the answer to both of these is “not so much”.

Given the number of issues that have come around you’ll find hundreds of articles including a very interesting one from the New York Times where they referred to FaceBook privacy options as “A Bewildering Tangle of Options”. Unless you are willing to spend the time to verify all of these potential options, you might just want to rethink your FaceBook account. However, keep something else in mind – deleting your FaceBook account borders on amusing and is certainly confusing for most.

* Words of Caution:

- Disabling your Facebook account and deleting it are NOT the same thing!

- Links shared by other users after you posted them don’t get removed

- Photos that you shared who others shared don’t get removed

- There are other restrictions that can still cause you privacy issues.

- If you get through the delete process and don’t stay out of Facebook it negates the entire process!!

* With that here are some options to help:

- A 33 slide show on how to lock down your privacy at Facebook

- Video instructions on how to delete your Facebook account

- Make sure you read some of the information and make an informed decision.

Tags: Issues on Privacy Concerns on Facebook, Social Media, The Web University

(1 Comment )

Can You Afford To Miss Out The Twitter Traffic Train?

posted by Web_University @ 8:00 AM

Monday, November 29, 2010

Can You Afford To Miss Out The Twitter Traffic Train?

Twitter Traffic is an outstanding way to drive targeted traffic to your Website. You shouldn’t forget about other traffic sources but using Twitter is completely free and will definitely get a few more targeted visitors to your Website.

You got me right, I said „free targeted visitors” in the last sentence. A never ending stream of visitors will make your pockets full of money. There are lots of ways for you getting free traffic to your Website. But there is a big difference between free traffic and targeted traffic.

You might have heard about offers sending out thousands of visitors to your Website from several traffic generating Websites. These offers are good to give your traffic stats a push but you won’t actually generate a sale or find a prospect for your product. Visitors sent to you by free traffic Websites will usually leave your Website within seconds.

Targeted visitors instead are interested in the product or information you are offering on your Website, ready to break out their credit card! With my article I show you the Twitter strategy, getting targeted visitors ready to take action. It’s easy to do and is not even time consuming.

First thing you will have to do is to create a twitter account. I recommend not using your personal twitter account. If you have different niche Website create a single twitter account for every niche Website you have. Please don’t leave the default twitter avatar and background, choose an avatar and background image that fits your product or info best, because it will show your followers that you care about your account.

The next thing you will have to do is to deliver content – niche relevant quality content. Most of the content you will provide is created by others and will never include references to your own stuff. This may sound counter productive, but here’s why we will do it.

We want to supply as much quality content as we can to our followers and unless you create lots of crappy content or outsource your content creation you just don’t have the time and money to create all that quality content on your own in a short period of time. You will look like a spammer when you tweet only your own stuff every time. People will stop following you when you act like a spammer. By the way, „The short messages you send out with your Twitter account are called “tweets”.

Second thing of the process is to build a landing page or helpful blog post about your niche. This part will be the most important and you really do need to make sure to provide high quality content. But where do you find your niche relevant content ? Simply google for RSS feeds for your niche content, copy the link of the feed and paste the link of the RSS feed to your landing page or blog post. Make sure to select high quality RSS feed content. That will make your followers trust you. To click your links in the future it’s very important that your visitors trust you. The links you place in your landing page or blog post is the source to monetize the traffic you are getting from Twitter. The Most Important idea behind is that you place links to your products or information you want to share or sell. The text in the displayed link should contain a strong anchor text that will call to action and make them click the link that will lead them to your „money site”. Here you offer your product or information you want to sell or share.

So, the most important thing is to put a link to your money site at the end of your landing page or blog post. Make sure the link contains a strong call to action. The last part of this process will be to collect an email address from your visitors or to get in touch through a contact form or to even make the sale. Because now you are having a targeted visitor on your Website seeking for information. To catch their email address offer a free niche relevant ebook or report through an optin form. Once you have your visitors email address you can add it to your email list and feed them with any information or products of your choice any time you like. Only imagination can make you stop. To automate your info or product emails simply use an autoresponder of your choice. Your email list will be growing and growing.

Every tweet you are posting will be of very high quality and will make your followers to trust you. When people trust you enough they will make your tweets go viral and at this point magic happens.

So, the most important thing is to put a link to your money site at the end of your landing page or blog post. Make sure the link contains a strong call to action.

That pretty much is it. Getting started won’t cost you a dime. Once you get used to the process this shouldn’t take more than about 20 minutes a day. Give it a try, it’s an excellent way to drive targeted traffic to your Website.

Tags: Can You Afford To Miss Out The Twitter Traffic Train?, Social Media, The Web University

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The 5 Steps to a Social Media Avalanche of Customers

posted by Web_University @ 8:00 AM

Sunday, November 28, 2010

The 5 Steps to a Social Media Avalanche of Customers

“Build it and they will come” the saying goes.

Not. You can build a blog or video site and you can still be lacking connections.

Connection is the nuclear core of social media. But you must make an effort in order for that to happen.

Whether you have a social media home business, traditional brick and mortar business, or an online business, you must get into the social trenches and connect and converse. It is that simple and that plain.

It is all about connecting and creating a magnetic conversation with people that draws them towards you.

But why are people in social media not doing that?

Maybe they do not know this powerful 5 step “Avalanche Process” for getting new customers and keeping them in social media.

The first thing you must do is connect with the social media culture. It is what marketing is about in social media. Some people think that they can be anti-social in social media and think they can broadcast their message and people will still come.

That simply is not going to happen. Not in social media. You do not build ‘it” but instead, build relationships that can become doorways and then eventually become customers.

Here is the “Avalanche Path” you can follow:

1) Connect –> 2) Conversation –> 3) Value –> 4) Doorway –> 5) Customer.

Let’s take a quick look at each step:

1) Connect

Here’s a little tip:

Connect to those who are looking for you. They will find you if you are visible, and accessible to connect to.

2) Conversation

Then make sure that you stay in touch and listen when they are communicating with you. If you do that, they will want to stay connected to you.

3) Value

The more value people perceive you have for them the more likely they will walk through the “Doorway.”

4) Doorway

This is the doorway to conversion where you convert them to a customer. You must convert prospects into customers if you are going to have any kind of business. That is simple to do.

The secret of success we experienced can be found in the word “Give.”

Give away something they must have, and something that will improve their life, and they will get it.

5) Customer

This final step is where they purchase your message, products, or webinar or event. This is the beggining of your relationship though- not the end.

Here you must start building the relationship between you and the customer even more.

Give more than they expected and throw something in for free they were not expecting. Give them a free download or ebook and let them see a Private video collection as a special.

Encourage more. Make sure that you send a note of encouragement and stay in touch with them.

That is what you want to happen in your home business or traditional business in social media marketing.

Tags: Social Media, The 5 Steps to a Social Media Avalanche of Customers, The Web University

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Facebook Claims Messages on Facebook Regulated by Can-Spam

posted by Web_University @ 8:00 AM

Saturday, November 27, 2010

Facebook Claims Messages on Facebook Regulated by Can-Spam

Last week Facebook sued affiliate network MaxBounty making a wide variety of claims. An outsider looking at this would assume that this is just a simple case of another marketer doing something unethical and annoying Facebook users. However, when one takes a close look at the complaint, it becomes very apparent that Facebook is asking the courts to extend the law in ways that have never been done before. While many parts of the complaint are questionable, one specific part, in relation to CAN-SPAM stands out. If Facebook prevails in this case, it could affect how any marketer does business not only on Facebook, but other social networks, message boards and even AIM and Twitter. Every marketer needs to read this now.

A quick rundown on what Facebook alleges is in order. According to their complaint, they say that MaxBounty and its affiliates engaged in a scheme where they had users install a “dislike button” application, and as part of this, the application asked users to answer questions, fill out survey, showed them offers and then asked them to promote the program to their friends on Facebook. As part of this, Facebook is making a slew of allegations but the part that really caught my eye, was the claim that the viral method of promoting the product was a violation of CAN-SPAM. This is where they are asking for a ruling that could affect the industry significantly.

CAN-SPAM specifically address the emailing of messages between users . In CAN-SPAM there is a provision that allows Internet Service Providers (ISPs) to sue for violations of CAN-SPAM. In this case, Facebook is asking the courts to assume that they are an ISP because they are a service that allows users “to access content, electronic mail or other services offered over the internet…” This is a very strange request, because according to this interpretation, a great deal of websites, including most blogs and boards that require registration and allowed user to communicate with each other, could be classified as an ISP. This should be highly disturbing to any marketer reading this.

On top of that, not only is Facebook asking to be a classified as an IPS, but then pointing out that MaxBounty violated CAN-SPAM by not providing an opt-out mechanism for users from ever receiving a commercial message from MaxBounty again via Facebook. As part of this, Facebook is also alleging that there was not a proper address in the messages, as required by CAN-SPAM. They are asking that any message sent via Facebook, whether it’s mail message between users, or a post to a wall, if it has a commercial nature, to be governed by CAN-SPAM.

Not only is this unreasonable in its application of Facebook, but if we were to assume what Facebook was saying to be correct, any commercial message on a message board, a forum, or even a blog would have to have an unsubscribe link that would prevent a user of that forum from ever receiving another message, plus include the full address and other pertinent information of the advertiser. While email has one communication structure and email addresses are uniquely identifiable by their very nature of being unique email address, this would be an impossible task to accomplish on every board, message system, instant messenger and twitter.

Still, if Facebook got its way, and was considered an ISP and that wall posts should be regulated by CAN-SPAM, as an industry we could have a serious problem. Can you imagine tomorrow that Twitter is called an ISP and we have to all create opt-out mechanisms for our business, and include in any message our full address (that would use all the characters). The industry needs to look closely at this case and really question Facebook’s intentions in this specific part of the case. Why are they being asked to be classified as an ISP, what other ulterior motives do they have that could affect the industry?

Tags: Facebook Claims Messages on Facebook Regulated by Can-Spam, Social Media, The Web University

(1 Comment )

Twitter As A Sales Tool: Tweak Your Sales through Tweets

posted by Web_University @ 8:00 AM

Thursday, November 25, 2010

Twitter As A Sales Tool: Tweak Your Sales through Tweets

With the advent of Web 2.0, the virtual world took a turn to the best. Yet, when it comes to employing Web 2.0 in internet marketing, nothing can be as effective as social media. However, despite the many options available for e-Marketers, Twitter proves itself to be one of the best solutions to get promotional messages across consumers all over the world.

This is where you, the internet marketer, come in. By tapping into any of these sources, you can easily provide a lot of exposure to your products. However, of these methods, social media, especially Twitter, is the best way to shine the limelight on what you have to offer.

* Why Twitter?

Here are some statistics that will help you understand why Twitter is the tool for you:

- Twitter has more than a 100 million registered users.

- The social media website is growing by 300,000 users per day on average.

- Aside from Twitter’s users, about 180 million unique visitors hit the site on a monthly basis.

These numbers sure do make your mouth water, don’t they? Just picture at least 1% of Twitter’s users heading in your direction i.e. 100,000 users. Of these, even if 1% of that amount (100 users) buys what you are selling, you will be able to have a considerable amount of profits by the end of the month.

Besides that, managing and using twitter is a simple process. All you will need to do is tweet your promotional message whenever you want to. Compare this to writing long blogs and having to put your writing skills to the test – tweets surely take a load off your mind, don’t they? Besides, you won’t need to pay a single dime! You can message the whole world and pay nothing at all!

* How Twitter Can Increase Your Sales

There are so many ways that Twitter can boost your sales. One of the first ways Twitter does that is by providing traffic to your website. Imagine tweeting a message with a link to your website, and then having at least a hundred followers re-tweet it onto their profiles. Your URL will spread online like a rocket ship at take off. In addition, with many people visiting your website, your search engine ranking will increase. Thus, you will be visible to those who aren’t using Twitter. Two birds with one stone!

Another way of increasing your website’s traffic (which in return leads to sales) is by tempting your followers. Everyone loves free things and will do anything to get them. By tweeting a competition or a sale, you will have many users try to fight their way through the online crowd to get to your website before everyone else.

You can also boost your sales by getting feedback from your followers. From time to time, you will have devoted followers provide you with constructive feedback. By using that, you will be able to assess your product’s weaknesses and strengths. Hence, you will be able create a solution to solve the weak points and focus on improving the strong points. This can ensure you of having more people like your product and eventually buy it.

There are also so many other ways such as following other Internet marketers in order to promote one another, and finding people who can help join your network to advertise your product. Regardless of what you choose, you can rest assured that you will have a thick wad of cash enter your pockets in a very short time.

So, if you’re interested in simplifying the already easy process of network marketing, all you will need is a Twitter account and a few effective promotional messages. After getting these, simply let the blue birdie take care of the rest.

Tags: Social Media, The Web University, Twitter As A Sales Tool: Tweak Your Sales through Tweets

(2 Comments )

The Importance of Privatizing Your Facebook Page

posted by Web_University @ 8:00 AM

Monday, November 15, 2010

The Importance of Privatizing Your Facebook Page

Caution: What information you provide on your Facebook page, MySpace, LinkedIn, and Twitter could cost you money that you deserve in your personal injury case.

Although most people use social media websites such as Facebook, Twitter, Linked In and My Space as a way of reconnecting with old friends and keeping up with current friends, these websites are also used for purposes other than relationship building.

What you may not know is that insurance companies also use social internet sites and other internet sites to learn about your life and gain access to your personal information. Insurance companies know that they can glean an abundance of personal information about accident victims through their social networking sites. In order to try to damage your accident case, they will search the internet for any and all information that could make you look bad.

Insurance adjustors, claims adjusters, investigators and defense attor-neys scour the internet, aware of the vast amount o information offered freely by people online. Whether on a personal web page, blog, or other website such as Facebook, MySpace, LinkedIn, or Twitter, to name a few, the information to be found can be a goldmine for building a case against claimants.

This technique of surfing online for information on an accident victim is “internet surveillance.” The information on the sites may be relevant to litigation, especially in the context of a personal injury claim.

They will view:

Pictures you post; pictures friends post of you; videos you post; activities you talk about; your work activities; any relationships that you may have.

Your accident case could potentially be ruined by the information that you provide on social media sites, video sites, and photo sites.

If you have been in an accident, you need to be aware of what you and others put on the internet about you before you bring a case against the person responsible for the accident. Even if you think your posts are perfectly innocent, insurance companies will take bits and pieces of information about you and use it to try to build their case against you. In addition to being aware of what you post and what others post about you on the internet, it is also a good idea to increase your privacy settings so that insurance companies and other people who you may not want seeing your private and personal information do not have full access to your profile.

Tags: Social Media, The Importance of Privatizing Your Facebook Page, The Web University

(0 Comments)

How You Can Build A Great Facebook Profile

posted by Web_University @ 8:00 AM

Thursday, November 11, 2010

How You Can Build A Great Facebook Profile

Facebook is the best social network and one of most favorite internet sites these days that persons of all age ranges are getting involved with. In case you really do not currently have a Facebook account, I highly recommend that you just go and register now. If you already have an account, it’s time to start out employing it for your advantage. Facebook is not just a place where you’ll be able to connect with your close friends, it can in fact be employed to further your individual brand and career. Here is how you possibly can use Facebook to its full potential:

a) Never stay inside your circle

You ought to get away from just communicating with your high school or college friends and begin interacting with persons within your business or other businesses that you desire to have into. An simple method to do that is to join groups that appeal to you as properly as make buddies with individuals that you would like to have to know.

b) Fill out your profile (fully)

The most effective profile on Facebook is often a complete one. This doesn’t mean you should submit your name and contact details, it just means you have to complete all of the fields available.

c) Do not be shy

The purpose of Facebook should be to connect and socialize with other members, so really do not be shy! Coomunicate back with other members by writing on their wall, commenting on images, asking your good friends questions, and most importantly telling all your good friends happy birthday. Performing all these tasks will enable others to have to understand who you actually are instead of just knowing your name.

d) Spice up your profile

Facebook Applications lets you spice up your profile by adding details that appeal to your interest. For example, Which places you’ve been before? Who are your top close friends? etc …

e) Create it, and they won’t come

You basically need to market your self on Facebook to turn out to be popular. In most cases this can be carried out from interaction, which I noted above, but you can also do things like including images of your self and other Facebook users. Whenever you do this the other persons that you just tagged inside the picture will get emailed, thus growing the number of individuals who see you on Facebook. Some from the other things to take into account are generating a group or a page on Facebook as nicely as generating your own application, which could be sent out to all your pals.

f) Retain your profile up-to-date

In the event you do not maintain your profile up-to-date it’s going to commence dying down. By keeping it up-to-date it will acquire far more traffic and additional men and women will get to recognise you.

Tags: How You Can Build A Great Facebook Profile, Social Media, The Web University

(1 Comment )

What to Include in Your Social Media Marketing Strategy?

posted by Luigi_M_Scollo @ 8:00 AM

Wednesday, August 4, 2010

What to Include in Your Social Media Marketing Strategy?

Creating a “buzz” around products, services, businesses or
an event is a requirement from all clients. There is no social
media marketing wand that someone will wave and a target
audience will automatically start coming to your site. And
what works for one brand may not work for another.

The process of creating buzz doesn’t start from creating a Blog
or creating a video, it’s a social media strategy that
encompasses social media and word-of-mouth marketing. We have
compiled a list of social media tools that companies use to
build their social media marketing mixes.

1. Blogs

Blogs have become a great tool for social media marketing. First
because, if optimized correctly, they can be used to
drive traffic to a website. A good blog will help in creating
internal links, fresh content, active community, or non-search
engine traffic.

Examples of popular blogs where you can create your account are:
Wordpress, Blog.com, Bloggers.com, Typepad, etc.

2. Microblogging

Like blogs, microblogs offer huge opportunities for business
promotion. That is both through content consistency and good
optimization. Two of the most used are Posterous and Twitter.

3. Online Video

The importance of online videos has rapidly increased during the
last few years. To read more on this topic, have a look at our
blog on The Growing Importance of Online Video
(http://www.syscomminternational.com/blog/
growing-importance-of-online-video/). Popular video
sharing websites include YouTube and Vimeo.

4. Photosharing

Social media is all about sharing! Therefore, there are numerous
platforms that allow photo sharing with your friends. Some of
them are: Flickr.com, Memeo.com, and Photobucket.com.

5. Podcasting

Podcasting is part of the new media tools that are offered to
both promote your brand and your products/services. Check out
Blip.fm or RadioPodcast.fr.

6. Presentation Sharing

Another great way to put your brand’s name in the spotlight is
by offering presentations on topics of interest for your
audience on presentation sharing websites. They are
increasingly gaining in popularity nowadays. Some of them are:
SlideShare.net, MyPlick.com, Scribd.com, or AuthorSTREAM.com.

7. Social Networks: Applications, Fan Pages, Groups, and
Personalities Social networks are the place to present and promote
yourself aswell as to keep in touch with your targeted audience.
You can read a list of the most popular on our blog on Top Social Media
Network Sites (http://www.syscomminternational.com/
blog/top-social-media-network-sites)!

8. Crowd Sourcing/Voting

Crowdsourcing is an effective model because it can be used for
developing programs, marketing efforts, research, and education.
For example Dell has used Crowdsourcing as a distributed
problem-solving and production model and has reduced costs and
increased their efficiency. Also look at the Grand Challenge for FNIH
(http://www.fnih.org/) to see a crowd sourcing campaign.

9. Bookmarking/Tagging

Social bookmarking is a method for Internet users to share,
organize, search, and manage bookmarks of web resources.
Examples of popular social bookmarking websites: delicious.com,
Digg, Diigo, Fark, Mixx, MyBlogLog, Newsvine, Propeller, Reddit,
Slashdot.org, StumbleUpon, Yahoo!, and Buzz.

10. Discussion Boards and Forums

Online forums are a great way to market your products/services
and interact with other professionals or your audience. Engaging
your audience in your niche forum can bring high value to your
site and brand too.

11. Content Aggregation

Content aggregation offers you the chance to bring all news and
feeds around your online community accounts in one place. Some
say this is the future of social media. Emerging content
aggregation websites: Bloglines, FriendFeed, Lifestream.fm,
Lijit.

12. Brand Monitoring

Social media is also offering a variety of tools that help
businesses understand the positioning of their brand. Popular
examples are: Buzzlogic, Radian6, or ReputationDefender.

13. Ratings and Reviews

The best way to find out where your website stands or how your
brand is perceived by others is through ratings and reviews. See
Yelp, or GetSatisfaction.

14. Widgets

For those who are trying to promote their own brands, they
can create personalized badges, using interesting widgets on
Facebook, Twitter, and other networks or by simply using
WidgetBox or SpringWidgets.

15. Wikis

Wikis are our online encyclopedia. A short list of wikis:
Wikipedia.org, Citizendium.org, AboutUs.org, Pbwiki(PBworks.com),
or Wetpaint.com.

Along with all the new ways of publishing your content on
networking sites, it is important to publish your articles on
publishing sites like EzineArticles, eHow, Google Docs
(docs.google.com), IdeaMarketers, Yahoo Articles Group
(groups.yahoo.com) and submit your press releases on important
specialized sites like i-Newswire, PR.com,
PressReleasePoint, and PRLog.org.

Social Media Marketing can be very confusing at times. There are
lots of networks and channels to choose from. Creating a presence
on all the channels is very time consuming and randomly choosing
a network is not a good social media strategy. Companies are
struggling to understand what social media marketing mix they
should use to make their brand successful in the online world.

We suggest it is important to identify which channels are
suitable for your business depending on your target audience.
Businesses must plan a step-by-step online marketing strategy
and brainstorm ideas with their online marketing agency that
will work for their products/service.

Tags: Social Media, Strategies, Strategy, Web Marketing, Web University

(0 Comments)

5 Must-Do Strategies for Dominating Social Media Marketing

posted by Luigi_M_Scollo @ 8:00 AM

Monday, August 2, 2010

5 Must-Do Strategies for Dominating Social Media Marketing

Social media marketing is an essential tool for any business.
Sites such as Twitter, Facebook and LinkedIn are among the
most popular sites regularly visited on the internet and can
generate large numbers of visitors and new sales leads.

Many businesses are already utilizing social media marketing as
part of their ongoing business strategy, but a large percentage
of these are not aware of the essentials required to fully
maximize social media to its full potential.

Here are 5 important criteria that need to be addressed in order
to run a successful social media campaign.

1. Search Engine Rank Awareness

Social media profiles now make regular appearances in search
engine listings. The major search engines are placing greater
importance on these profiles as they tend to possess regularly
updated topical content and provide quality information that
search engine users are looking for.

Any social media profile should be created with search engine
placement in mind. Ensure that relevant keywords are placed in
titles, and content, and that any links use keywords (located
within the anchor text). Brand names should be clearly visible
to increase the likelihood of search engines displaying a social
media profile for brand-related search queries.

Having a social media profile appear in SERP listings will
increase traffic to that profile and could subsequently lead to
additional traffic to the main business website via that
profile.

2. Additional Site Traffic from Social Media Posts

Search engines now index and display individual social media
posts in their search results. The search engines consider these
posts topical, relevant and useful to their users – 3 of the
main criteria search engines look for when ranking a page (or
submission).

Posting quality submissions on social media sites and including
links back to a main website, or webpage, within these posts can
seriously increase website traffic – if the posts are indexed
and displayed in search engine listings.

Social media bookmarking sites such as Digg, StumbleUpon and
Slashdot have been known to drive thousands of visitors to
websites. Submit blog posts – and website content – to these
sites and there is a good chance that these submissions will
capture the interest of readers and result in increased website
traffic.

3. Use Social Media for SEO-Based Links

Links back to a main website can be placed in most of the social
media profiles. These are useful links from high authority
websites and good quality backlinks influence where a website is
ranked within a search engine.

Many social media bookmarking sites now apply the NOFOLLOW
attribute to links due to abuse, but there are still some major
platforms that continue to use the DOFOLLOW attribute. At the
time of writing, these social bookmarking sites still allow
DOFOLLOW links:

* FriendFeed
* Furl
* Slashdot
* Digg
* Mixx

Even if a bookmarking site applies the NOFOLLOW attribute, links
within posts can still pay dividends. Regardless of their
SEO-based backlink power, people will still follow these links
back to a main site and this means increased traffic and greater
site visibility.

4. Target Specific Markets

The simplicity of creating a social media profile allows for the
creation of multiple campaigns. A good business strategy should
run a main social media profile and then look to create smaller,
laser-targeted profiles that cater for very specific niche
markets related to the main business interest.

If a business sells a wide variety of products, it should look
to create individual profiles that target the different
categories of products sold. This tactic allows the business to
concentrate on each subset of product, as well as the potential
customers searching for these specific products, or type of
products. By breaking down social media campaigns, a business
can provide relevant, topical information that caters for very
specific individuals.

Where other businesses try to capture all potential buyers in
one huge net and can only offer generic information to a wide
scope of readers about the entire range of their products – the
clever business, with their niche market profiles, will reach
out to each subset and be able to offer them exactly what they
are searching for.

5. Improved Brand Recognition

Many businesses fail to realize the importance of social media
profiles when it comes to increasing brand recognition. These
social media platforms have millions of daily visitors and
provide an unequalled resource for rapidly promoting a brand, or
product.

Having a main website ranked high in a search engine for that
particular brand name is great – as long as enough people are
performing search queries using that specific brand-name
keyword. Social media provide an easier solution for promoting
brand recognition and this factor should be forefront in any
social media strategy.

Make sure the brand is clearly visible in a profile – include it
in the profile title and bio; promote the brand discreetly in
sporadic posts and if there is a brand-related business logo,
this should be placed on the main profile page.

It has been suggested that a person needs to see, or hear, a
brand name seven times before they consider becoming a customer.
Social media offers a business the best solution for reaching
the largest potential audience.

By utilizing social media marketing and concentrating on these 5
important criteria, any business can potentially increase
website traffic, sales leads and easily reach targeted customer
bases. Social media marketing is starting to become very
competitive, but not everyone has learned to optimize their
campaigns and fully utilize the power of social media marketing.
The business that learns to adapt its strategies and play to the
strengths of social media is the one that jumps ahead of the
competition.

Tags: marketing, Social Media, Strategies, Web Marketing, Web University

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5 Steps to a Social Media Avalanche of Customers

posted by Luigi_M_Scollo @ 8:00 AM

Saturday, July 31, 2010

5 Steps to a Social Media Avalanche of Customers

“Build it and they will come” the saying goes.

Not.

You can build a blog or video site and you can still be
lacking connections.

Connection is the nuclear core of social media. But you must
make an effort in order for that to happen.

Whether you have a social media home business, traditional
brick and mortar business, or an online business, you must
get into the social trenches and connect and converse. It is
that simple and that plain.

It is all about connecting and creating a magnetic
conversation with people that draws them towards you.

But why are people in social media not doing that?

Maybe they do not know this powerful 5 step “Avalanche
Process” for getting new customers and keeping them in
social media.

The first thing you must do is connect with the social media
culture. It is what marketing is about in social media. Some
people think that they can be anti-social in social media
and think they can broadcast their message and people will
still come.

That simply is not going to happen. Not in social media. You
do not build ‘it’ but instead, build relationships that can
become doorways and then eventually become customers.

Here is the “Avalanche Path” you can follow:

1) Connect –> 2) Conversation –> 3)
Value –> 4) Doorway –> 5) Customer.

Let’s take a quick look at each step:

1) Connect

Connection with people is where success in social media
starts. Connect with people on Twitter, on Facebook, on
LinkedIn, on Youtube, on Orkut, or every other niche site
out in the social sphere that matters. You must connect.

Here’s a little tip:

Connect to those who are looking for you. They will find you
if you are visible, and accessible to connect to.

2) Conversation

This step is where the conversation with people starts. You
talk about the prospect and where they want to go. You talk
about what they want to talk about. You study their profile,
pictures and videos on their social sites because you can
learn a lot just by paying attention.

Then make sure that you stay in touch and listen when they
are communicating with you. If you do that, they will want
to stay connected to you.

3) Value

This step is where you bring in the magnet to pull them
towards your message. Show them value they can obtain with
your message in their life. Show them how your message can
help expand, increase, enlarge and improve their life. You
do it through tips and how to’s in videos and blog posts
and podcasts, as well as tweets and twips. Show them how you
can make their life easier and show them how to do something
they want to learn. You show them how to be or do something.
If you can increase the size of their dreams, you can get
them as a customer.

The more value people perceive you have for them the more
likely they will walk through the “Doorway.”

4) Doorway

This is the doorway to conversion where you convert them to
a customer. You must convert prospects into customers if
you are going to have any kind of business. That is simple
to do.

Give them an offer where “No” is impossible to say. That is
the secret. Give first and then make the offer so compelling
they cannot say “No.” We do it all the time. We just ran a
social media special on our training products and it blew
the roof off our shipping department. It has created a flood
of new customers and new orders for us. All we did was give
them an offer that was difficult to turn down.

The secret of success we experienced can be found in the
word “Give.”

Give away something they must have, and something that will
improve their life, and they will get it.

5) Customer

This final step is where they purchase your message,
products, or webinar or event. This is the beginning of
your relationship though – not the end.

Here you must start building the relationship between you
and the customer even more.

Give more than they expected and throw something in for free
they were not expecting. Give them a free download or ebook
and let them see a Private video collection as a special.

Encourage more. Make sure that you send a note of
encouragement and stay in touch with them.

Thank them more. Make sure they know you are thankful for
their business and connection. We send out free downloads
all the time to say thanks that some people paid $$$ for in
the past. Thank them in everything you do and they will come
back for more.

Get your customers addicted to your Value, Message and
Emotions. They will become more than a customer. They will
become a loud speaker for you and tell everyone you know you
are the best at what you do.

That is what you want to happen in your home business or
traditional business in social media marketing.

Tags: customers, Social Media, Web University

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Size Really Does Matter When it Comes to Twitter

posted by Luigi_M_Scollo @ 8:00 AM

Tuesday, April 6, 2010

Back in the days when newsletters first hit the Internet, they were usually published in text format because many email clients did not support HTML email just yet. One of the problems many publishers faced was long URL’s being split in half and not being clickable to the reader. To solve this problem, shortening services started to spring up that would take a long URL and cut it down to a reasonable size.

With the popularity of Twitter and the confines of 140 characters, URL (link) shortening services are in high demand once again. When you have such a small amount of space to work with, no one wants a long URL cutting into that precious real estate.

There are a variety of shortening services to choose from, each having their own specific features and benefits. Most of them do work hand in hand with Twitter, allowing you to Tweet the link once it’s been shortened. If you’re an avid Twitter user this is a useful feature to have.

Some only provide a basic shortening service, but many allow you to view stats and metrics on your newly shortened links if you register. If you’re doing any form of social media marketing, it’s nice to be able to see if anyone’s actually clicking on all the links you’re sending out to the “Twitosphere”, or posting on Facebook and other sites. Tracking will give you an indication that you’re being heard and that people are actually paying attention to what you have to say.

Another important thing to look for is whether or not the shortening service uses 301 redirects. This is the most search engine friendly, and forces the search engine to look at the destination URL, not the domain of the shortening service itself. A 301 stands for a permanent move, not temporary. What this means is, you want the links you’re sending out to be given acknowledgment by the search engines, not the shortening service itself. Make sense?

Many allow custom URL’s, which allows you to use your name or company name in the links you create. This is great for branding purposes. Think of it as a vanity license plate. Instead of being just a regular URL it’s your special creation.

Let’s review a few options:

1) http://TweetBurner.com – A bare bones tracking service which allows you to shorten any link and then share it instantly with your Twitter followers or Friendfeed. Basic stat tracking is available so you can see how many people clicked on your link.

2) http://Cli.gs – A shortening service which includes full analytics. You can create links that include your brand in them. Free to use. It’s easy to send your links to Twitter with one click.

3) http://Bit.ly – This is Twitter’s default shortening service and used by Tweetdeck.com. It allows you to track performance of your links in real time. Easy to share generated links on Twitter, Facebook, even Gmail. It also offers many extra tools and plug-ins such as a browser bookmarklet and browser sidebar.

4) http://MyTwitterToolbar.com – Free to download and comes complete with a massive list of URL shorteners as well as over 50 Twitter tools. Also includes 100 Twitter tips.

5) http://www.TwitClicks.com – A fairly simple service that allows you to shorten a URL immediately and tweet it. Can also see complete stats. Detailed stats show percentage of browsers used and locations of those who clicked. Check out a short video on how to use it at www.youtube.com/watch?v=i1ScPeCd6X4.

6) http://www.ExpandMyUrl.com – This service takes a shortened link and gives you the true URL that it points to. Perfect for the paranoid individual who wants to know where the shortened link will send them.

7) http://www.TwitPwr.com – A short URL service which also includes analytics and stats. Their home page shows the top 25 users with the most TwitPwr and also a “hot URL” list of those URL’s that get the most clicks. Free to use.

http://1link.in – A multiple link shortening service. Simply type in a list of links and get one link back for all. If you click on the newly shortened link it goes to a page showing details of what sites that link points to, and asks if you want to open them all. If you answer yes, multiple windows will open for each site.

9) http://Go2.me – A different type of link shortening and discussion service which creates shorter links which also contain a chat window to exchange comments with your readers. It’s also easy to share on Twitter, Facebook or email with one click.

10) http://Tw.itter.me – You can customize the shortened link with your name or company name. From what I saw no stats are available.

11) http://budurl.com – Another popular service which shows you a real time view of your inbound clicks. This free service allows you to track up to 250 Budurl’s. They provide 3 pay levels of service from $4.00 a month to $49.00 a month. There is a 21 day free tríal on any paid service. You can start out free and upgrade your account at any time.

12) http://Tr.Im – Trim those long URL’s and instantly share them on Twitter. If you want stats, you’ll need to register. Offers many different tools and extensions to make for easier sharing, such as a Firefox extension that allows you to view your tr.im stats and tweet your new links quickly.

13) http://short.ie – Keeps all your shortened links in one place. Tracks clicks and allows you to instantly share your list with friends. It can also be connected to your Twitter account for more features. Customization of URL’s also available.

14) http://hootsuite.com – Not really a URL shortening service, but has the ability built-in. Hootsuite is a “Twitter Toolbox” loaded with features which are all free. They use ow.ly as their built in link shortener.

If you haven’t tried a url shortening service, you’ll want to find one that fits your needs and start to really utilize it in your marketing activities. Finding out who’s clicking on your links, time of day, where they’re from and other information will be very valuable in your ongoing efforts as an Internet Marketer.

Remember, when it comes to social media marketing T.M.I (too much information) is a good thing, unlike when your Aunt Ethel wants you to sit with her and go over every detail of her latest vacatíon [grin]. One is helpful, the other just downright painful.

Tags: Social Media, Social Network, social networking, twitter, Web Marketing, Web University

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You Aren’t George Clooney – Get Your Social Networking Act In Gear

posted by Luigi_M_Scollo @ 8:00 AM

Thursday, April 1, 2010

When George Clooney was recently asked about his take on Facebook at the Toronto Film Festival, his response was short: “I’d rather have a prostate exam than a Facebook page.”

Now, that’s probably understandable when movie studios (his potential clients) have his number on a speed dial, and pesky paparazzi (freebie seekers and unqualified prospects) chase after his every move.

But unless you already have more prospects and high quality clients than you and your business can handle, your approach to Social Networking should be drastically different.

Frankly, a little over a year ago I considered online networking a total waste of time. Fortunately, I was able to recognize how wrong I was. And I wasn’t the only one that had a change of heart on this.

After Dell revealed they generated a cool million dollars in extra sales in 2008, (ahm, make it a cool $3 million by June’09!), many other companies large and small started paying attention to this social networking “fad”!

Just consider a few of these facts:
• Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, and other social networks initially considered online hang-out places for kids and teenagers are now attracting a much more demographically diverse crowd.

• Big brand names, like Ford, WholeFoods, Comcast, IBM, Dell, Southwest Airlines, and many, many more are establishing a strong presence on social networking hubs like Twitter and Facebook.

• Facebook membership has just passed the 300 million mark (that’s nearly the population of USA!) and Twitter is marching towards 18 million users by year’s end! That’s a lot of potential customers!

• Although, started with college kids in mind, over 50% of Facebook’s members now are over 25 years old, over 55% are women (the new buying power), 51% have an annual income of $75K, with 33% claiming to bring home $100K or more.

• Finally, Facebook has become one of the most trusted companies in America, and people spend three times more time there than on Google!
Got your attention now?

Good, let me give you just five basic tips on putting this massive connection power to your advantage.

1. Get Started! Open an account on every social media and social networking platform you come across. Even if you are not actively using all of them, (which you won’t) you should reserve your name, the name of your company, your brand, or your key products, because those are like real estate locations – once the prime spots are gone, they are gone! For example, I have the vanity url facebook.com/adamurbanski – but there are at least six other Adam Urbanskis who won’t ever be able to grab that link! I also have twitter.com/adamurbanski, youtube.com/adamurbanski and many more like this – are you getting the point?

2. Get Involved! Just opening the accounts won’t do anything for you. You must be actively involved. Choose the best three platforms for you – where you can find the largest population of your ideal clients and it’s the easiest to connect with them. Each platform provides search tools that enable you to find people you already know, current customers, as well as hubs where most of your ideal potential clients already hang out, so you can become visible to a lot of them very quickly. And start connecting and talking! But first…

3. Listen, Listen, Listen More The most important thing you must remember is that social networking is NOT ABOUT YOU! It’s ABOUT THEM! So don’t listen twice as much as you talk (I mean “post”), listen 10 times as much! Find out what the current topics are. What people are concerned about, what information and solutions they are looking for. Then make your posts relevant to other people’s needs! Here is a hint – nearly all of the social networking services and tools, at least the basic version of them, is free! So don’t go out there pitching your high-priced wares. Give, give, and give some more first! If your focus is on getting and taking, you will get a big fat NADA from your networking efforts. But if you focus on giving, you’ll be abundantly rewarded in return.

4. Get Attention! Following all the rules is for sissies! So don’t be a social networking pansy – have an opinion (in fact, have lots of opinions on everything!) and voice it loud and often! People admire people with opinions – even if they don’t agree with you, they will stick around to watch what will happen next. Social networking experts are quick to dispense all their “must not break” rules (heck, I’m doing it right now!), but the fact is, this is such a new media that most of the effective approaches are still to be discovered. And the only way to do so is by stepping on some toes and breaking some norms.

If you want a “safe” way to practice this, follow my PET formula: polarize, entertain, teach!

- POLARIZE. Whether you piss people off or make them love you, they will pay attention. If they are indifferent, they will leave!

- ENTERTAIN. People will always choose fun over education. If people laugh w/ you, they like you… Plus, when they laugh – they learn!

- TEACH. Gary Veynerchuk says “give good s#!%.” And he gets how PET works, because that phrase rubs some people the wrong way, it entertains, and it teaches! Peeps love good tips they can use right away – so share some!

5. Automate! The purpose of social networking is to CONNECT WITH PEOPLE on a very personal level. Still there are some tools that can help you impress your fans with your “omnipotent online presence” and get more networking done in less time.

RSS blog feeds, FriendFeed.com, Ping.fm, TwitterFeed.com, SocialOomph.com, TweetBeep.com, and TubeMogul.com are just a few of a plethora of tools and services – most of them free – that will kick your online socializing into high gear!

Here is my final take on it. And I really want you to get it! In April of 2008, from a stage at one of my boot camps, I called people who use Twitter “lazy idiots with no life” (yeah, how is that for polarizing, huh?) But at the same boot camp earlier this year I had my Twitter networking activities to thank for clients from Australia, Singapore, Netherlands, Spain, England, Hungary, and a few other countries. Needless to say, I changed my tune. I’ll leave it to your imagination as to what I now call professionals and entrepreneurs who refuse to recognize the client attracting power of social networking. Better yet – stop wondering, and if you aren’t involved yet – get started now!

Tags: Facebook Page, George Clooney, Social Marketing, Social Media, social networking, Web Marketing, Web University

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12 Ways to Use Twitter for Social Media Marketing

posted by Luigi_M_Scollo @ 8:00 AM

Wednesday, March 31, 2010

Twitter is a wildly popular microblogging service. It involves writing Tweets, which are short updates of a maximum of 140 characters that tell your followers what you are up to. Although your Tweets are technically supposed to answer the question, “What are you doing?” Twitter has moved far beyond that. Tweets are used to share stories, link to photos, promote content, break news, and a whole lot more. Twitter has also become an incredibly important tool for social media marketing professionals. Here are 12 ways in which Twitter can be used in your social media marketing campaign.

1. Sharing Links to Items of Interest

As soon as you read something online that you think is interesting, it is easy to share it on Twitter with all of your followers. Twitter is highly effective in this manner because it is such a quick way to be able to reach a large group of people. You can also get a lot of great ideas for blog posts from Twitter since many new ideas and stories are floating around that haven’t even made it to the blogosphere and definitely not to mainstream media.

2. Building Your Network

Using Twitter is a great way to build your network because it allows you to find and follow people with similar interests. You can use Steeple to find people who live in your geographical area. You can also use other tools that help you find new people to follow based upon who your Twitter friends follow.

3. Build Relationships within Your Current Network

People in different networks often use Twitter to connect with their contacts instantly rather than using instant messaging for that purpose. Furthermore, many people use Twitter to connect with their network during events like conferences.

4. Re-Distributing Content from Your Blog or Website

Twitter can be used to redistribute content from your blog or website. However, you should take care to do this thoughtfully since many of your Twitter followers may already read your blog. For that reason, you may want to avoid using a blog plug-in that automatically Tweets your posts. Your best bet is to Tweet your content manually and customize each Tweet so it doesn’t get old.

5. Get Involved in Live Tweeting Events

Twitter launched at SXSW last year, catapulting microblogging conferences to fame. Live Tweeting events are great because they are a form of citizen journalism that allow you to connect with several new people in your niche while making active and valuable contributions to current discussions in your community.

6. Pitching Stories to Journalists on Twitter

You can send a direct message to a journalist who is following you on Twitter to pitch a story idea.

7. Communicating with Your Team

You can use Twitter as a company intranet that connects all of your employees. Twitter can be particularly useful in this regard if you have a virtual business with employees in different geographical locations. You can set your updates to private for security reasons. Anytime you are working on group projects, you can stay in touch with your team members using Twitter.

8. Brand Monitoring

Stay up to date with any mentions of your business on Twitter. If there is anything negative, you will be able to counter it quickly. You can also use Twitter as a way to receive feedback from your customers and improve your business. Just ask your followers to give their opinion on something. For example, if you designed a new website, ask your followers what they think about it and get their constructive criticisms so you can make your site design even better.

9. Acquire More Votes on Social Media Websites

If you have submitted a story to Digg, Reddit, StumbleUpon, or any other social voting website, tweet a link to that submission to try to score more votes from your followers. If your followers like what they see, they are sure to vote for your content.

10. Hiring People

Looking for a programmer, designer, or writer? Whatever type of professional you seek, try finding them on Twitter. Simply send your followers a tweet telling them you are looking for someone for a job. They can either recommend someone to you or offer themselves for the job. Using Twitter in this way is ideal for finding qualified freelancers. It is much more convenient than putting out a classified ad.

11. Build Your Personal Brand

When you use Twitter to talk about things as mundane as what you ate for breakfast or how you are going to sleep early tonight, you make your followers feel like you are casual and approachable. Even those running a company that has a cold, corporate brand image could create more appeal and build a unique personal brand using Twitter.

12. Streamline Electronic Communications

When you use Twitter, you’re likely to find yourself using IM, email, and other electronic communication methods less. Twitter not only provides public chatting through Tweets, it also allows you to send direct messages. Twitter will help you streamline your electronic communications, allowing you to scale back online.

Tags: Social Media, Social Network, twitter, Web Marketing, Web University

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Is Social Media Worth Your Time?

posted by Luigi_M_Scollo @ 8:00 AM

Monday, March 29, 2010

Every one – from politicians, businesses, musicians, celebrities and many other groups of people – uses social media such as Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn or other social networking outlets to spread their message, build their businesses and connect with others.

Do they know something we don’t?

Networking, whether online or offline, is a great use of time when done properly. As with anywhere you spend your time, knowing why you are doing it, how you will measure success and having a plan is the best approach.

With that said, I jumped in with both feet last year with the guidance of a social media expert, and I have found clients, joint venture partners, speaking engagements and other great connections through various social media outlets. I am a member of more social media outlets than I can count, but I currently focus on Facebook, LinkedIn and Twitter. While I am not an expert in social media, here are five reasons to take some time to learn the benefits of social media.

1. There Is No Direct Cost

There is no direct cost unless you opt for an upgrade, if one is offered. I haven’t paid for an upgrade and have steadily increased my list to include over 1000 followers between just three social media outlets, and without much effort.

2. Build Your Business by Connecting With Peers

Are you interested in finding joint ventures, affiliates, guest experts or other peers you can bounce ideas off of? In the last few weeks alone, I have located one large joint venture partner and have had several other partnership opportunities cross my desk. Business owners just like you are using social media to connect with others who are interested in using your articles, hosting you as a guest expert on teleseminars, webinars and live events, and even creating projects together!

3. Build Your Business by Following Reporters You Are Targeting

Would an article written by a certain reporter make your year? Follow them on Twitter or Facebook and see what is of interest to them and what they are writing about. You don’t know what golden nugget you’ll find by following them online that may open the door at the right time. Follow them and invite them to follow you as well! Or with LinkedIn you can find out how many degrees you are from them. You may surprise yourself by being only one or two degrees away from your target!

4. Showcase Your Expertise, Build Your Platform and Attract New Clients

Social media is an interesting animal. While many people use it to grow their businesses, you must be mindful about outright promotions. Generally speaking, heavy marketing of your products and services on these sites is a big no-no. Here’s how I do it. I’ll post something like this: “Just got off the phone with social networking guru Nancy Marmolejo. Now I’m off to finish writing my sales page for the Business Breakthrough Series.” People who are intrigued will check you out and may end up deciding to follow you and … bingo! They have just entered your world!

5. Reach Large Audiences

The world is your oyster in social media. There are only a few businesses that are truly limited by geographic boundaries, especially if you are in the information marketing business. Being active on social networking sites eliminates geographic boundaries and allows you to reach a vast number of people from all over the world. If you have products and services that can be purchased by anyone in the world, being active in social media is an absolute must for you. I recently held a teleseminar with people from over 10 countries in attendance, all from the comfort of my home office! And my sweat pants!

So, is social media worth the time? It depends. Social media is absolutely the wave of the future, and you will need to know something about it at some point. However, whether you work it into your plan for 2009 depends on your goals. If you have a goal of increasing your reach to prospects either locally or internationally, you can do that quite effectively through social media. However, if you can cannot and will not commit to learning how to “tweet” on Twitter or communicate on Facebook or use your connections on LinkedIn, it will not be worth your time.

My advice to clients when they are just starting out is to select one social media outlet, whether it’s Facebook, LinkedIn or Twitter, and master it before jumping into every outlet possible. You obviously need to schedule time for connecting, so select the social networking outlets that will benefit you the most.

Now that I am experiencing the financial results of my online efforts, I understand why this is such a great use of my time and I’m hooked!
About The Author
Meredith Liepelt, President of Rich Life Marketing, offers a free report called “101 Ways to Attract Ideal Clients, Build Your List and Raise Your Profile,” which can be downloaded immediately at www.RichLifeMarketing.com .

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How an SEO Consultant
Could Help Your Sales Take Off
By Paul Marshall (c) 2009
Starting out it can all be so overwhelming. But it doesn’t need to be.

We have to get our products or services exactly right. Then we have to figure out how to explain them to others through our website.

We understand the reasons people should buy what we are selling. But can we successfully explain that to our website visitors in convincing language they relate to, instead of jargon and lingo related to our industry?

Finally, we have to develop an action plan to market online and within our budget, which is often limited when first starting our business.

And how do we develop that marketing plan? Where do we get the information necessary to formulate marketing techniques that will actually work for us? The number of sources out there is simply overwhelming!

This is when getting feedback from a professional outside our own industry can be valuable. You can turn to an affordable Internet Marketing Consultant or an affordable SEO Consultant who understands and specializes in small businesses and new business start-ups.

What about Getting Internet Traffic to Your Site?

Some start by using pay-per-click marketing, like Google AdWords. It’s GREAT for sales lead generation.

The trouble is that AdWords can get expensive quickly. And it takes a LOT of time to set up and manage over time.

Starting out it may make sense to use AdWords. Plus, it can be a great way to test your keyword search phrases to find out which ones convert best. You can use AdWords for this purpose before beginning search engine optimization (SEO).

But ultimately…sooner or later…you’ll need to optimize for the search engines (SEO).

Tags: Social Media, Web University

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Top Ten Ways to Use Twitter for Marketing

posted by Luigi_M_Scollo @ 8:00 AM

Sunday, March 21, 2010

Twitter is a micro-blogging site that asks you a basic question, “What are you doing?” It allows anyone with an account to write up to 140 characters in a text field as a means to update, comment, promote or communicate to others who are “following” you. When people follow you, they see what you’ve recently contributed when they login. They see your “tweets”, which are the messages you leave.

And of course you can follow others who tweet about the things that interest you. As an Internet marketer you may want to follow other Internet marketers, for example.

Like anything, and this is especially true of working with social media, the more you give, the more you get. In other words, the more often you tweet the more activity you’ll generate. Some suggest that you tweet a few times a day, every day. Not every tweet needs to be profound. But they should all be useful.

It’s important that you don’t abuse Twitter for marketing and promoting your products, services or affiliate links. Most of your tweets ought to be about offering your followers useful and valuable information. Only once in a while should you try to use Twitter to promote something. Otherwise you’ll be perceived as a spammer, and no one wants that tag.

Imagine if you had a large number of people following your tweets? Some people have tens of thousands following them. If you had something to promote and you had a large following, you could quickly and efficiently alert a lot of people of your promo. It acts sort of like a mass emailíng blast to your house email list, but it’s a heck of a lot easier and faster. This is the power of Twitter.

One thing that I’ve noticed with Twitter is that it can seem overwhelming at times. The sheer information on Twitter, the ‘how-to’s', tutorials and all the other ubiquitous advice on how to use and take advantage of it can seem hard to understand and implement. So here’s an easy-to-understand list of the top ten ways in which you can use Twitter to market yourself, your business and your website.

The Top 10 Ways To Use Twitter for Marketing:

1. Use it to promote new pieces of content you or your company create to drive traffic to your site. From online articles to blog posts or from videos to webinars, each time you add something to the Web that is of value, tweet about it and include a link. (Most people on Twitter use www.TinyURL.com to take a long URL and make it short.)

2. Use it for learning new marketing ideas, strategies and techniques. If you follow the right people, and you have to be picky about who you follow, you’ll get pointed to a good amount of useful tutorials, videos, e-zines and other things that teach you about marketing.

3. Use it to get new customers. Use Twitter’s search to find people who may be interested in your product or service. There are many ingenious ways to search for people on Twitter. For example, if you sell red widgets you could go to http://search.twitter.com and find people who have tweeted specifically looking for red widgets. To do this, type the following into the search box: red widgets?

• You’ll notice a lot of the results will be of others selling red widgets. These ones will all obviously have links in them to direct people to the site they’re selling red widgets on. To weed these people/tweets out, use the negative sign like this: -http red widgets?

• Since every link has ‘http’ in it, using the negative sign in front of it will cause your search results to not include any tweets with links in them.

4. Use it to build your email list. Use Twitter’s search to find people who may be interested in the monthly newsletter you send out to your house email list. Invite these people to join.

5. Utilize Twitter plugins or add-ons such as TweetMyBlog or The Twitter Updater, which both automatically make tweets of every new blog post you publish. Also check out TwitThis. When visitors to your website click on the TwitThis button or link, it takes the URL of the Web page and creates a shorter URL using TinyURL. Then visitors can send this shortened URL and a description of the web page to all of their followers on Twitter. Finally, look at TweetLater, a service that allows you to write lots of tweets at once and then schedule them to go out over time.

6. Use it to build buzz about an upcoming product or website launch.

7. Use it to better brand yourself or your business. Remember, when someone wants to learn more about you or your company, they are increasingly using sites like Twitter for research. You could easily use Twitter to establish yourself as an authority in your field.

8. Use it to update followers on breaking news regarding your company. If your company is mentioned in a new article, tweet about it and include a link to the article. Or if you’re at a conference or trade show, you could tweet what you’re doing and invite people to visit you in person.

9. Use it for business networking, master-mind groups (see Napoleon Hill), and getting yourself seen by high-profile people in your industry.

10. Use it as an instant messaging system to keep you and your team on the same page during projects. This is especially useful for those who work with teams spread out in different cities or countries.

You should note that this top 10 list is not in order of importance or in any particular order. I suggest that you give Twitter a try if you haven’t already. See if you can apply a few of these techniques and tactics to help you take advantage of Twitter as a marketing tool.

And one more important thing to remember is that there is no silver bullet in marketing. You should always be trying and implementing numerous tactics when marketing your business. Don’t only rely on Twitter or any other one thing. Instead, use Twitter (or any other Web 2.0 site) as simply one more tool in your entire social media and marketing toolbox.

Tags: Social Media, Social Network, social networking, twitter, Web Marketing, Web University

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7 Social Media Tactics for Explosive Results

posted by Luigi_M_Scollo @ 8:00 AM

Sunday, March 14, 2010

First, let’s define the term Explosive Results for our usage.

A standard social media campaign helps spread the word about you and encourages other people to as well.

An explosive social media campaign has inherent viral exposure, inspires community driven communication, helps make the web a better place, and even brings joy to people, however fleeting.

When you share in social media, if your goal is just to get more people to see your links, you’re on the right track, but at the same time, you’re limiting your potential. You may think that getting explosive results from social media will take more time, energy and money, but this doesn’t have to be the case.

If you’re a business owner, you know that working harder doesn’t necessarily mean better results – what if you’re working hard on the wrong thing?

Sometimes the remedy is working smarter. Here are a few small changes you can make to your social media approach that can propel your social media results from lukewarm to smoking hot.

Explosive Social Media Tactic #1 – Hot Content

The cornerstone to any social media campaign is the content. If you get this component wrong, it doesn’t matter if all other elements are perfect. Study what’s going hot in your targeted topic and find a unique angle to tailor your content into what people already like, without stealing their ideas.

Explosive Social Media Tactic #2 – Niched Network Nuances

The more tightly focused your submissions to social media sites are, the more likely they are to go viral, whether they are links you share by other people or yours. Here’s the logic.

People follow other people with similar interests. They’re on sites like Google, Yahoo, StumbleUpon, Delicious and Digg actively looking for new content. Put those two things together and you have a whirlwind of clicks happening. The only question is, will it be your link that gets clicked or passed over?

Having 5000 connections on Twitter or Facebook is useless if you are connected to people who don’t want your broadcasts, and you’re just as useless to them if you don’t want theirs. If my interest is in improving my existing business and you’re trying to get me to sell your network marketing products, it doesn’t matter how many times you ask me. If I’m not interested, your continued broadcasts will be ignored, or worse yet, blocked completely.

It’s about the perfect balance of quality AND quantity.

And if I’m not paying attention to you, I can’t and won’t spread your message. If you are in network marketing, why not go after people who love the network marketing concept but can’t seem to find the right company? That’s a perfect match, and can dramatically cut down your search for the right partners and prospects.

Explosive Social Media Tactic #3 – Simplify Sharing

It amazes me how many people miss this one.

You’ve got great content. You’ve got a massive, niched network.

Why feed them content that’s hard to share? Does that report have to be in PDF format? If so, does it have to be behind an opt-ín wall if you’re spreading it among people who have Already opted in? Anyone connected to your business through its Facebook page, or your Twitter stream is also part of your opt-ín list. Yes, it would be best if they were on your email newsletter list, but what faster way to get them there than to show them you don’t need to hold them prisoner there?

If your whitepaper is of such high value that you don’t want it to spread, well, that’s something different. But if you’re sharing it so other people will spread it, make it easy for others to share.

Send your su.pr link so all they have to do is click the Thumbs-Up button.

Put a few sharing links on your page.

Make it easy for them to Retweet.

The easier it is for them to share, the more likely they are to do it.

Explosive Social Media Tactic #4 – Consistency

And now we come to the area I fail at the most. It’s one of the things I know I need to do, but I haven’t quite gotten the hang of how to brainstorm, create and distribute quality content consistently, and still give the best possible service and support to my customers and clients. I always err on serving people who have bought from me, figuring that next blog post can wait until tomorrow.

Then at some point, I noticed a decline in return traffic – people weren’t coming back because they’d already heard everything I had to say. The solution? I got help for my content creation process. The ideas are still mine, but I was able to barter help for research, transcribing, and editing. I am also able to get audio and video polished much less expensively than I thought, though I don’t always use this option due to time constraints.

The other thing that helped a lot was getting over my perfectionism complex. Release your content as soon as you can. I can’t tell you how much money I’ve left on the table from my old fear of the typo and grammar police. Not to mention the fact that I felt like I was leaving my audience hanging.

You subscribe to something because you want to get regular updates. If your favorite daily news show started coming on once a week, you’d probably switch channels. If you’re inconsistent without explanation, your audience numbers will drop and your network will fade.

Explosive Social Media Tactic #5 – Think Engagement

Measuring your results by page view alone is a thing of the past. When the web was mostly text and images, it made some sense that how many pages a visitor viewed at your site was a true measure of engagement.

Nowadays this isn’t the case. You want to look instead at how long people are at your site. The exception, of course, is when customers are coming to your site to buy, and the order processing system takes them off your page. But if people aren’t leaving your site because they’re ready to buy or subscribe, you truly must look at why they aren’t paying more attention to your content, and what changes you can make to get them to stay.

This is critically important in understanding which content will go viral naturally. What posts are people staying on your site to comment on? When do they take a few extra seconds to retweet? Are they watching your videos all the way through?

Tags: advice, results, Social Media, tactics, Techniques, tips, Tricks, Web University

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How You Use Social Media Can Kill Your Business

posted by Luigi_M_Scollo @ 8:00 AM

Saturday, March 13, 2010

The social media movement has expanded the number of people we can reach and connect with on a personal level. The new relationships and connections we create with people all over the world can have a profound effect on our personal and business growth. We learn about cultures and nations that we were, perhaps, previously ignorant of. None of this is a new concept, but what may be is how quickly you can destroy your business by using social media incorrectly.

Transparency is a Utopian Concept

Not too long ago, Michael Fortin wrote an article titled Don’t Be Transparent, Be Authentic Instead. That article is an important read for any social media wrangling business blogger and you can search for it online.

That article is the tip of the iceberg in the concept of ‘transparency’ being too Utopian to work within the jaded confines of our society. Of course, true transparency is ideal. Many things about a perfect world are. Unfortunately, as a group, most of the world isn’t ready or willing to accept true transparency without penalty.

When Transparency Fails

Let me give you a couple of examples of transparency failure we’ve seen.

Failure 1: We had a copywriter who was posting on Twitter about the work he was doing. He made several posts within a few hours which were ugly complaints about a client and how ‘stupid’ he felt that client was. We obviously considered this unacceptable and immediately removed him from our list of subcontractors, but think about this: If he was hoping to use Twitter to get more client work – how many potential clients just read that and thought… “I’m not going to risk being badmouthed on here, I’ll find someone else.” Everybody gets frustrated, but what if the client he was working on read that? Put it this way, if you wouldn’t say it to your client directly – don’t post it either.

Failure 2: We had a designer who was a day late returning her design phase work. When we contacted her, she said she had a family emergency the night before and was unable to send in her work because she wasn’t home. A quick check on Facebook showed that she was actually out at a party that night and posted multiple times while drunk talking about how much she was drinking and even hinting at wanting to bring a man she met there home with her. Obviously, we relieved her of the design work, handed it to another designer who caught up on the time schedule, and didn’t again work with her. In this case, people are allowed to have a life, we understand that. But if you cannot get your work done and have to lie about why – it’s a problem. If you do not have enough class to not post details about your ‘wild nights’ to everybody on your social networks — that’s also a problem.

How We Monitor Social Media Conversations

My business has been around for over a decade and is very focused on client satisfaction and excellent treatment of our web design clients. We have a network of hundreds of copywriters, designers, and coders who work with us on projects. However, even with screening of those experts when they come on board with us – you don’t always know someone until you have observed them over a long period of time.

That’s why we monitor what they say online.

How do we do that? Well first we get as many of their social profiles as we can. Usually, we ask for a list of them. We’ve also found that most people won’t provide them all. We then Google search the usernames of the ones they have given us because most people use the same usernames over and over. We also monitor blogs, and check for listings of social networks on those.

We have a system set up to consolidate all their social media comments into one master feed. That master feed can then be browsed directly to see what they’re up to, but that’s a lot of things to read each day. What we do is take the master feed, run it through a filter that creates two sub-feeds based on certain things we think are important to monitor. The first sub-feed is created by running the master list through a keyword & synonym filter that pulls out words related to business – for instance, “client” “business” “work” etc… The second sub-feed has a filter that runs their posts through a check for foul language and words like “sex” “drugs” “drunk” etc… There are hundreds of words in each filter.

Seem a bit ‘big brother’? It probably is – but reputation and client treatment is very important to us.

Here’s the thing: If we can read it and you can lose work with us over it… how many POTENTIAL clients did you lose also?

7 Ways to Edit Yourself

We’re not suggesting you stop having a life and stop making mistakes. You can post about those things and it simply makes you a more interesting person to read about. Just use common sense:
• If you wouldn’t say it to a client or boss – don’t say it where they can read it either.

• If you wouldn’t say it to your grandmother – don’t say it on your public posts.

• If you wouldn’t say it to a police officer – don’t post it on your social networks. For that matter, don’t do it either.

• If you plan to lie to your boss – don’t put the truth where they can see it.

• If you plan to go out and get drunk and know you have a tendency to post while drunk – give your phone to a friend to keep for you.

• Learn how to use privacy settings and understand how visible your posts are on different social networks.

• If you want a place to vent – create a completely different identity for yourself to do that. Name no names in your posts, and make no connection to your other profiles or email addresses.
Consider it all part of Internet Etiquette. Social networks are great to hear more personal things about someone and we encourage people to share a bit of themselves online (using normal cautions etc..). In the long run, full transparency is too Utopian for our modern world to handle well. We’re still at a point in our societal growth that when someone seriously calls a client an idiot – they tend to get a bit upset about it.

Tags: Business, Social Media, social networking, Strategies, Strategy, Web University

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Social Media and Conan O’Brien

posted by Luigi_M_Scollo @ 8:00 AM

Monday, March 8, 2010

The way I see it, NBC has little chance of survival in the next ten years. They’ve proven themselves so caught up in the normal TV schedule way of thinking that they fail to understand their audience, what little of it is left.

Their lack of knowledge about social media, how it’s formed and how it can control the conversation is part of their failure in this situation and may very well be part of their failure as an organization.

Conan O’Brien on the other hand was able to harness the internet and social media to make a stand and, in the end, become more famous than he ever was before.

I’m going to explain this slowly, for the folks at NBC, if they are reading this. Let’s think of Conan O’Brien & Jay Leno as a brand, and that the internet is the next big media thing, where there will be millions and millions of Americans making decisions about their life based on what they read on the internet. When people run a search on this website called GOOGLE, they get thousands of pages of choices that they can read about the topic in which they are interested. That perhaps in the future, someday, consumers and people who watch television (aren’t they the same?) will be able to type in “Conan vs Jay” and get real time results that help shape their thinking about the subject, and therefore create brand identification and/or brand alienation depending on what happens.

Now for the rest of us, who understand Search Engine Marketing, Search Engine Optimization and a bunch of other three word phrases with Affiliate, Marketing, Search and Interactive in them, here is some more high level explaining.

NBC, as a company, is still very much focused on Television being the predominant source of entertainment in the next ten years and hasn’t done much thinking beyond that. Despite paying people like Jay & Conan ridiculous amounts of money, their audience base plummeted each year as more and more people turned to independent internet entertainment. So they did not consided exactly what might happen, if they started to make changes in their schedule, move Jay Leno back to his previous slot and basically kick Conan to the curb.

Jay Leno, as funny as he might have been, isn’t exactly a representative of a modern, fast-paced, growing generation. He might get some people to stay up and watch the news before falling asleep during his monologue – but on the whole, no one can say he has his finger on the pulse of… well… anything.

You say, and perhaps the executives of NBC say, “we need to prop up our affiliates and their news shows, before we lose them.” So what? Television as a medium is on the way out, or at least changing. I don’t know anyone who actually watches the news at 11, let alone cares that Jay or Conan are right after it. The news has no relevance, since most of us have already learned about it 6 hours earlier from some blog or websites. As for humor and jokes, we’ve already spent most of the day on YouTube instead of doing our job, watching some kid falling down five flights of steps while eating a cheeseburger. Jay Leno isn’t going to keep our attention for more than one minute, while we wonder what his chin would like in 3-D.

So, what does this have to do with marketing? First of all, Conan O’Brien has managed to come out looking cleaner than a toothbrush at a Palin family reunion. When you google results regarding his dispute with Leno, you find tons of commentary and articles supporting him, putting him out there as the champion of the people, the underdog, the teabagger of comics.

While it’s more than likely he will just appear on another network, there is also a chance that he will take this momentum and create something completely unique on the internet. Anything he does on the internet will immediately be covered with millions of links, tweets and AIMs – all pointing to his new project. With the NBC money that he is walking away with, he could easily just make his own website, his own comedy channel, his own comedy network and become very wealthy on just the buzz surrounding his name.

I sincerely believe that Conan knew exactly what was going to happen, and used the internet to his advantage. Many of his writers and publicity team are very modern, having grown up on the internet. They knew that if they needed good publicity they would only have to turn to the internet in order to get the point across.

They used social media to covertly create “I’m with CoCo” groups while at the same time constantly making sure there was new “buzz” to pass around on twitter. From posts on Craigslist of Conan selling himself to the highest bidder for favors to late night tweets from the writing staff to their fan base, they knew that they could always win the war with an audience – that frankly is a lot more internet savvy than the Leno fan base.

Anyone engaged in social media marketing, needs to look closely at how Conan did this, how he made it seem to be organic and natural and then allowed it to seemingly take its own course. He knew how to create buzz, but more importantly content for internet buzz fodder. He knew that the one-liners that could be posted on Twitter were a thousand times more powerful than any ten minute monologue that could be spoken by …urhmm… that other guy.

Tags: Conan Obrien, Social Media, social networking, Web Marketing

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20 Tools for Tracking Social Media Marketing

posted by Luigi_M_Scollo @ 1:29 PM

Thursday, January 14, 2010

20 Tools for Tracking Social Media Marketing
By Merle (c) 2010 MerlesWorld
(http://MerlesWorld.com)

Social media websites such as Facebook and Twitter make it easy
for people to come together and share opinions, experiences and
thoughts on a number of topics. Smart companies understand this
and are using the power of social media to connect and inform
their customers, and potential customers. Referred to as “Social
Media Marketing”, it’s a smart way to open the lines of
communication between you and your prospects.

Social media activities run the gamut from Blogging, micro
blogging sites such as Twitter, social networking communities
such as LinkedIn and Facebook, video and music uploading sites,
discussion forums, photo sharing and more. With so many
different sites and ways to participate, it can be difficult to
keep track of all your efforts.

Participating in social media doesn’t take a lot of money, but
it is very time consuming and businesses want to know that all
of this investment in time is paying off. Before launching a
campaign, you should have a firm grasp on what it is you’re
trying to accomplish. Is it increasing website traffic? Getting
more ezine subscribers? Having more people download your free
ebook or whitepaper? Or maybe you just want to work on your
company’s brand image. Whatever it is, you need to have a plan.
As the old saying goes, “If you don’t know where you’re going,
you’ll never get there”. Have your game plan intact before
getting started in marketing yourself, or your company with
social media.

There are many different forms of social media, so it’s
impossible to use them all. Pick three or four, and funnel the
majority of your efforts there. Even if you won’t be working
them all, at the very least you should claim your name or
company name on as many social services as possible. You don’t
want to find out later that someone has the user name that you
want. If you need to see if your chosen user name is available
try http://Namechk.com which checks dozens of social media
networking and bookmarking sites all at once to see if it’s
available. Claim your name now so you won’t end up being sorry
later.

So how do you monitor all the buzz? How do you monitor your
brand and protect your hard earned reputation? I thought you’d
never ask. There isn’t one fool-proof method but there are many
services and tools out there that will make it easy to see who’s
talking about you online. Some are free and others will make you
pull out your wallet.

These “online reputation management” tools, as they’re often
referred to, will help you to define keywords or phrases you
wish to track and then watch for any mention of your company
name, products, or services. It’s important to defend and monitor
your online reputation. Similar to High School reputations,
protecting your image online is the name of the game, and just
as in real life, everyone has one to maintain.

Let’s take a look at some of the measuring and tracking tools at
your disposal:

1) http://BackTweets.com : A search engine for Twitter. See
who’s tweeting your links and more. Can also sign up for email
alerts of new findings.

2) http://Addictomatic.com : A little different than the others,
you type in a keyword, topic or phrase and out it goes searching
the top blogs, news sites, Google, Technorati, Ask, YouTube,
Flickr, Digg, Topix and more. You’ll be given a personalized
results page to bookmark with everything it finds related to
your topic.

3) http://Buzzoo.net : All about Internet buzz, it tracks
several different websites to bring you what’s “hot” right now.

4) http://Surchur.com : Search for the latest and greatest on
topics that are popular right now. Type in a keyphrase and it
searches blogs, social news sites, photo and video sites for
your chosen topic.

5) http://Commentful.Blogflux.com : This service watches for
comments on blog posts, Digg, Flickr, and others and notifies
you of any findings.

6) http://AlertRank.com : A better way to organize and sort
Google alerts. Get a daily report emailed to you in a
spreadsheet format of what it finds.

7) http://BoardTracker.com : A search engine for forums only.
Monitor discussion boards and be notified by email when a thread
matching your search terms is discovered. Free to use.

http://www.google.com/alerts : I’ve been using this “secret
weapon” for years. Simply type in your name or company name and
receive daily emails of results found. They do the work, you
receive the links. Free and nice.

9) http://BrandsEye.com : An online reputation management tool
with a real-time, concise overview of your online reputation.
Multiple levels of services and pricing available. Starting at
$1.00.

10) http://Twazzup.com : Another Twitter only search engine.

11) http://SiteMention.com : Type in your url and find out
what’s being said about you. The results returned are gathered
from Google Blog Search, Twitter, FriendFeed, YouTube, MySpace,
Digg, Delicious and many more.

12) http://Brandwatch.net: This service tracks your brands,
companies, even the competition. Sign up for free weekly updates
on any brand. Their detailed reports break down what sites like
you, your most talked about features, weekly summary of all
blogs and forum activity. Very similar to the old “press
clipping” service.

13) http://Trackur.com : A tool that scans many websites,
including blogs, news, image and video sites, forums and
notifies you of any mention of your brand, products/services.
Easy to use and affordable. Prices vary depending on need, a
personal account is only $18.00 a month, corporate account
$88.00 a month with other options also available. Try a
“personal” account free for 14 days.

14) http://FiltrBox.com : This one searches online news sources,
Twitter and others to find out what’s being said about you or
your company. Pricing is based on the number of users, but there
is a free version that provides “5 filters” and 15 days of what
they call “article history”.

15) http://SocialMention.com/alerts : Just like Google Alerts
but for social media. Enter your keyword phrase and email address
to be notified of any new findings. Searches blogs, microblogs
like Twitter, bookmarks, comments, events, images, news, videos
and more.

16) http://BlogPulse.com : A search engine that searches only
for data posted to blogs. Enter your keyword, hit submit and
off it goes to gather results.

17) http://BackType.com : Billing itself as a “conversational
search engine” they index millions of conversations from social
networks, blogs and other social media.

18) http://sm2.techrigy.com : Industry insiders claim this to be
the leading social media monitoring solution online. Choice of
free or paid version. Free is limited to five searches and 1,000
results. There are three paid professional levels: Gold, Diamond,
or Platinum.

19) http://ReputationDefender.com : This paid service finds out
everything there is to know about you online, and if negative
information is found they try to have it removed. Different
types of plans are available such as “My Reputation”, “My
Privacy”, starting at only $14.95 a month.

20) http://Topsy.com : Topsy will track your tweets that have
been retweeted so you can find out who’s been sending you all
that “link love”. Type in your Twitter user name and you’ll be
amazed at what you find.

If you’d like to track incoming traffic from your various social
media profiles, an easy way to do it using Google Analytics can
be found here http://Tinyurl.com/kuc9rL

Just as there are many ways to market your company using social
media, as you can see, there’s a multitude of tools and services
at your disposal to track and see if all of that hard work is
paying off. Smart companies realize the importance of social
media in their marketing efforts and are utilizing it on some
level. How smart are you?

Tags: 20, marketing, Social Media, Tools, Tracking, web

(1 Comment )

Link-Building Strategies

posted by Luigi_M_Scollo @ 8:00 AM

Tuesday, November 3, 2009

Link-Building (Backlink) Strategies

Welcome to the Link-Building portion of Web University. Link-Building is an extremely important, fast paced, quickly changing approach to raising your websites reputation and of course ranking on all major search engines. Although some strategies such as ‘Press Releases’, ‘Anchor Text’ and ‘Directory Submissions’ don’t carry the same weight (power) they once used to, all major search engines still use the number of Backlinks to your site as a sign of how popular your website is on the Internet. You’ll find this to be very similar to a High School popularity contest, the more friends you have, the more popular you become.

General Directories:

Directories give a website their first ‘authority’ links and they are also the second fastest way for search engines to find and index your website’s pages. The following directories are the major players you want to submit to:

· DMOZ (Open Directory Project) www.dmoz.org = Free

· Yahoo! Directory www.yahoo.com = $299.00/year

· Best of the Web = $99.95/year

· Business www.business.com = $299.00/year

· GoGuides = $69.95

· JoeAnt = $39.99

If your competitors are in these directories, you should be too; if they are not, this will help you rank higher in the Search Engine Results Pages (SERPS).

Niche Directories:

Niche directories are directories that specialize on a specific industry. Search the web for directories in your particular industry and submit each of your pages to them; this type of directories may yield more valuable links than general directories. Niche directories will typically allow you to submit “Text Anchor Hyperlinks” which are much more powerful than their image counterparts. This is a fantastic way to outperform your competitors as they may not have taken the time to research and submit their web pages to them.

Social Media Profiles:

Social media is one of the most powerful methods to quickly get your link onto the screen of hundreds if not thousands of users. Creating a Social Media profile is easy and LinkWebServices.com will provide you with an advanced template containing all of the most popular questions they will ask you so when you start creating your profile all you have to do is copy and paste from your template.

http://www.linkwebservices.com/downloads/Link_Web_Services_Social_Network_Integration_Profile_Template.pdf

Secret Strategy: create three profiles: 1. Company Name, 2. Your Brand, 3. Your Individual (Personal) Profile. This will triple the number of people you can reach and multiply the number of backlinks to your website.

Most media sites DO NOT pass on Google Page Rank, but some of them do (i.e. Meetup.com); always keep an eye open for a stronger backlink opportunity with a site that allows anchor text and passes Google PageRank to your links.

SERP (Search Engine Results Pages) Link Building:

How do I get ahead of my competition? Easy! Do a Google Search for the top keywords you want your web page to be found by, take a look at the top ranking sites, find out who is linking to them and get them to link to you. Also, see if the top ranking sites for your keywords would be willing to include a link to your site on their high ranking pages. Take a look at their websites and find out if they have a “links” or “resources” page you can add your link to or just give them a call and ask them. Remember, always create value for the other person before you ask for something (Anthony Robbins); brainstorm some ideas of things you could contribute to their site, a blog post, an article, a reciprocal link.

Blogging:

Blogging is powerful, efficient and fast! Once your blog is created and a few posts have been added, search the web for “Blog Directories” (another good place to search is Website Magazine) and submit your blog to them. You MUST make absolutely sure you add your domain or sub-domain link to the post or your efforts will be for nothing; when the blog directories include your blog, that hyperlink becomes a powerful Backlink to your site. To maximize the blog’s potential, make sure your blog provides an RSS feed people can subscribe to. If you don’t have the time to blog, consider a Ghost Writer or Freelance writer to take care of your posts for you; a great place to find them is at Elance.com. Make sure you promote every single post through your Social Media Profiles and you’ll see people start to follow you on Twitter, Facebook and all other major Social Media Networks available.

Articles Targeting Social Media:

Articles are a fantastic way to create backlinks while it has the wonderful side-effect of advertising you as the expert in your field. Articles can be time consuming and some people may consider them hard work, to whom I would recommend hiring a Ghost Writer or Freelancer to write your articles. For this particular portion of Link-Building, it is best to already have your Social Media Profiles created and an active Friend/Follower network already in place. The idea here is to create content that is appealing to the people in the social media networks, thus, your topic has to be social media related. Not all articles will return great results, but once one does, not only will it make up for the others, but it will give you a better idea of what people are interested in.

Link Farms:

Avoid them at all cost.

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