June 2011 LinkedIn Poll: What Social Media or Social Networking site has performed best for you so far?

For June 2011, I chose this question for my LinkedIn Poll: What Social Media or Social Networking site has performed best for you so far?

For so many businesses figuring out the healthy balance of attention to which Social Media or Social Networking site is almost a roadblock in itself. For some Twitter is amazing lead generating tool. For some it’s a complete waste of time. Same thing goes for Facebook and LinkedIn and other networks. Each Social Media outlet has it’s own personality and followers there within. The culture and behavior between networks varies quite a bit.

The best advice would be to see how people communicate within a certain network. Once you have a better understanding of HOW others communicate in a particular network you can look at your business and figure out how you want to be perceived to each of these outlets. (Note: Just because you blast your information to somewhere doesn’t mean it’s going to be received in the desired way.)

Context and content are always king.

As a Social Media Consultant, it’s paramount for me to understand that balance of attention and performance. We all have finite time to work on something; might as well make it worth it, right?

Byte Back!

Tags: Facebook, LinkedIn, linkedin poll, SMM, social, Social Media, social media marketing, Social Media Posts, social networking, Twitter
Posted in: Facebook, LinkedIn, Social Media Marketing, Social Media Posts, social networking, Twitter |

Comments: 4 Comments

Into_Now (iPhone App Review)

Into_Now, has to be one of the most incredible iPhone apps I have ever used. It works like magic. In a nutshell the application when activated will listen to your television and with seemingly 100% accuracy, tell you what you are watching. You then can let your fellow Into_Now friends, Twitter followers, and/or Facebook friends know what you are watching within seconds!

With an incredible algorithm of past and present airing logs of television shows, Into_Now dynamically changes how we use Social Media. I’m all about geosocial and other types of cool apps, however the nefarious and ironic side of Social Media is that it takes time to checkin to places or type a message. This makes you “THAT ANNOYING GUY WITH THE IPHONE”.

I have to say that with Into_Now, I’m no longer, “THAT GUY”. I can continue interacting with the people around me as I hold the iPhone close to the television. Social Media can be really amazing at times, and yet (sigh) can be the very thing that pulls people away from each other. How many times have you gone to a party or a bar and there are at least 5-10 people with their faces in their iPhone or other SmartPhone device? It’s annoying…and yes admittedly, I used to be one of those people.

Into_Now’s network of users creates a microcosm of like minded people that you can connect to, in less than a heartbeat! At the time of writing this post, I have 135 friends on their network! I’ve only been using the app for a few days now! That is incredible, no matter how you look at it! So many people like to connect because they know that I have something in common with with them, that they love or enjoy watching.

As a Social Media Consultant, I would highly recommend this app to local & national television advertisers to help analyze the real-time data and the impact within various demographics of particular television shows. The best part is that it’s FREE! Enjoy!

Kudos to Into_Now! Download it now! Into_Now

Byte Back!

Tags: iphone, iPhone app, SMM, social, Social Media, social media marketing, Social Media Posts, social networking
Posted in: Facebook, iPhone App Reviews, Social Media Consulting, Social Media Marketing, Social Media Posts, social networking, Twitter |

Comments: 2 Comments

November 2010 Linkedin Poll: Is MySpace still relevant for a Social Media Marketing campaign for a Business?

For November 2010, I chose this question for my Linkedin Poll: Is MySpace still relevant for a Social Media Marketing campaign for a Business?

Earlier today I read an article on Mashable, written by Adam Ostrow, about Facebook‘s latest integration with MySpace…and that got me thinking. Who still uses MySpace?

Since the dramatic rise and almost omnipotent like reach of Facebook and Twitter, the utter decline of MySpace was all but immanent and clockwork. Looking back on the last few years, one has to wonder if certain Social Networks really were as important or relevant as people say they were.

I, for one, never really liked the overall look and feel of MySpace to begin with. My reasoning has always been quite simple: 1. It was always WAY too much customization available to the end user. There was never any consistency to accounts. So you never really knew what you were getting yourself into when visiting someone’s profile. 2. Along these lines comes, SPAM, Viruses, Malware, and every scam under the sun was readily hidden behind phony images and links. The amount of SPAM that plagued MySpace was epic in scale. 3. Most importantly, it was never really relevant to my life, or lifestyle. I’m not 13-18, where music means everything to me anymore. I love music, but I’m not about to share important images via a Social Media Network like MySpace to express them.

When considering relevance in today’s (SMM) Social Media Marketing landscape, individuals and/or businesses, MySpace really doesn’t have much to offer. (unless you are a musician or work within the Music Industry itself.) I suppose it’s important to have a profile on there for the SEO/SEM purposes, but other than that, it’s really a niche community that is limited in it’s potential growth and usefulness.

The real questions in the near future should be, “How soon will MySpace be bought out? And by whom?”

Byte Back!

Tags: SMM, social marketing strategy, social media consultant, social media marketing, Social Media Posts, social networking
Posted in: Facebook, Internet Marketing Consulting, LinkedIn, SEO / SEM, Social Media Consulting, Social Media Marketing, Social Media Posts, social networking, Twitter |

Comments: 2 Comments

October 2010 Linkedin Poll: Would you allocate any portion of your Internet Marketing budget towards Twitter’s new proposed advertising plan?

For October 2010, I chose this question for my Linkedin Poll: Would you allocate any portion of your Internet Marketing budget towards Twitter‘s new proposed advertising plan? With Twitter’s pending advertising platform in the near future to be unveiled, will anyone use it?

This sort of reminds me of the early days of PPC (Pay-Per-Click) advertising through Google and Yahoo. SEM (Search Engine Marketing) firms sprouted up left and right, as businesses didn’t want to or didn’t know how to properly control any aspect of their online budgets. The SEO (Search Engine Optimization) industry was relatively small and unknown. However, as time went on more and more businesses woke up from their PPC Crack-pipe reality. (imagine: a crackhead trying to get off crack. Now imagine a business that has been duped into believing their PPC campaign is driving all their online traffic to their site. That’s the PPC crack-pipe.)

Many realized that SEM firms would skew the numbers and making obscene profits from overcharging. From this chaos, sprouted the SEO industry full force, and carried with it many disenfranchised former SEM clients as the PPC Crack-pipe alternative.

Here’s a twist for you…Who is to say that something similar to this can’t happen within Social Media, within Twitter to be precise? This parable could totally be applicable to SMM (Social Media Marketing). Could these paid and sponsored tweets give rise to yet another sub-sub-industry that is within the SMM sub-industry? Are you confused yet? Am I using to many three-lettered abbreviations beginning with the letter S?

To simplify…think SEO for SMM. What would this sub-sub-industry be called? I think: OSM (Organic Social Marketing) Sounds odd right? Paying a company to tweet out “seemingly” organic statements and links, instead of ‘in your face’ sponsored ads? You know what? I’ve seen and heard of stranger industries.

There is an industry for anything, especially online marketing.

With that as a possible perspective, would you do a paid advertising campaign through Twitter, like a PPT (Pay-Per-Tweet) kind of marketing? Or would you go with an organic approach with an OSM firm?

(Please note that not all SEM firms are guilty of price gouging, but speaking as a former client that hired quite a few firms over the years…it’s safe to say a hell of a lot of them did and still do.)

Let me know what you think. Byte back!

Tags: internet marketing, online marketing, Paid Search, pay per click, PPC, search, search engine marketing, search engine optimization, SEM, SEO, SMM, Social Media, social media marketing, Twitter
Posted in: Google, Internet Marketing Consulting, Online Search, Organic Search, Paid Search, SEO / SEM, Social Media Consulting, Social Media Marketing, Twitter |