July 2010 Linkedin Poll: What do you think is the next big thing for Social Media?
For July 2010, I thought it was appropriate to create this Linkedin Poll. It’s anyone’s guess as to the future of Social Media…or is it? I’ve heard in some social circles that as Social Media becomes more and more mainstream, it will be difficult NOT to have some form of Social Media at your side at all times. Others have said the complete opposite, that Social Media will morph into something else completely different. Of course you’ll always have dinosaur-like nay-sayers with tiny Tyrannosaurus Rex arms that say Social Media isn’t important and will fade away.
From what I’ve seen transpire on the web over the last year and a half, has been nothing short of unbelievable. The amount of businesses now that have a twitter or facebook like button has exponentially grown. How people can downplay or hate on Social Media is beyond my comprehension. The truly amazing thing about Social Media is that for the first time in history a business can start with next to nothing and immediately be in touch with their customers. I am constantly looking on the Internet for new forms of Social Media and Social Networking sites. A really great site to use as a reference is: Mashable
Bottom line is that Social Media is here to stay. Whether or not it will morph into something even more ubiquitous remains to be seen. So if you happen to be on Linkedin, take the Poll and let me know what you think. Or leave a comment here. Either way, let’s talk about what is possible.
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Super Simple Social Media Marketing Strategies for Small Businesses
Small businesses are the backbone of all successful economies. They have been pushed by the economic downturn and are struggling to figure out a way to survive. The ones that adapt are the businesses that will grow and evolve, the ones that do not, risk going under or worse becoming irrelevant. Small businesses that embrace Social Media are creating new realities for not only themselves, but a way to communicate and interact with their clientele. For years Social Media marketing has been an “Ace Up The Sleeve” of many savvy marketing connoisseurs. But, with the advent of higher band-wdith access and the mainstreaming of Social Networks like Twitter, Facebook, and Linkedin, the business of doing business has changed the way we all think about commerce and communication. Just because you have and update your Twitter / Facebook accounts daily about how much the guy standing next to you smells bad, doesn’t necessarily equate more qualified followers and/or potential customers. The following is a simple strategy for an aspiring small business that most likely has some sort online presence, but really has no clue of what to do next.
You have 12 Seconds…
They say that you have 12 seconds to capture someone’s attention online. I agree, you literally have SECONDS to get your point across or people will bounce off your site or profile. Put yourself in the shoes of a site visitor…would you want to meander around a site and waste your time with meaningless content or images? No, you would want to get what you need and then get off the site. Over the 33+ years I’ve been blessed to be alive on this planet, I have realized that the most precious commodity is Time. We never have enough of it and you can NEVER get it back. To put it simply, you need to make an effective impact immediately.
A super quick way to get noticed by your consumer base and site viewers is interacting with them with on a multimedia level. Having a picture of your business is “nice” and passively “safe”, but having a video of employees at work or the boss giving an update on the company’s footing in a weak economy is thousands of times over more palpable. The entire concept of video in my opinion is not being utilized the way it can be. There are a bazillion video uploading sites like; YouTube, Revver, MetaCafe, etc., which are all great. There is one however, that you almost NEVER hear about: 12seconds.tv
12seconds.tv is similar to many other video social networking sites with uploading and video replying, but very different in the sense that they literally limit the video time to just, yup you guessed it; 12 seconds. You can record a video about whatever you want and then share it with everyone else in the 12seconds community. You can also link up your Twitter and Facebook accounts to spread your video message to many places at once, instantly. Granted most of the 12second community tends to be teeny boppers, but for a small business owner this is a PERFECT solution. Why do I say perfect with CAPS ON? I’ll tell you why…
With the ever expanding and intertwining nature of Social Media and Social Networks and connectivity, your last paying customer can now become your next brand spokesperson in a mere 12 seconds. Here is a scenario…You just finished selling an item to a customer who just loves your business and is excited. Historically, what’s the next step in the chain of sales from that point…have them fill out an email flyer with some room for their Facebook or Twitter account? You have a vital resource that at that moment NO other business has…which is the paying customer standing in front of you. The future of your business is literally right in front of you! You provided a service for them in some capacity or another. Hopefully, you have elated their spirits and retained your name in their short term memory. Why not use that moment to have them give you a positive review of your business on the spot…impromptu…in just 12 seconds. (My suggestion is to use very simple questions like: What was your experience like? What makes keep coming back? etc…) The best part of using this kind of service is that you do not have to worry about editing and sequences or dubbing.
This isn’t going to be a super high tech experiment requiring you to learn a foreign language. You don’t have to a Geek Paladin Level 71 to grasp the concept. This isn’t rocket science, but it is an ingenious way to use a medium that will benefit your business. All you need is an internet connection, a laptop and a camera. (or if you have an iPhone there is a 12seconds App in the iTunes store called: 12UP)
Just sign up, create an account, make sure your internet ready camera is on…and you are ready to change your small business into a smart business. When you finish uploading your video you then can take the code (if your slightly tech savvy and embed it onto your blog on your site.) See? Social Media Marketing isn’t THAT hard…you just need to think a little outside the box. Oh, did I forget to mention the best part? Oh…just that ever aspect of what I just wrote about is 100% Free? Yeah…that got your attention…in less than 12 seconds!
Here is a link to my 12 seconds of fame: http://12seconds.tv/v/CFFQI
Posted via email from The Baron Bytes Back! Posterous
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Something that has been on my mind…Prevent Internet Scams
There are so many scams out there when it comes to Social Media.
I found a website, the name is escaping me at the moment, but it looked very, very similar to a well known Social Networking site. As soon as you hit the site, they ask you to log in using your account name and password from the other Social Networking site. Scary to say the least. Obviously, it was a fake to me, but how many people look at a website like I do? There are so many people out there that would just type their user name and password in like it were no big deal.
These days, in this desperate economy we find ourselves within, you can’t be careful enough. Here are a couple of really important tips to remember when surfing sites.
1. Always double check the URL bar to make sure you are on the correct website. If a link takes you away from the original site, make sure you have a pop up blocker working.
2. When closing a window on a PC, NEVER click the little red “X” in the upper right hand corner! Always go to the boxed window in your bar at the very bottom if your screen and right click and close that particular window. The reason for this is because some hackers change the parameters of what certain functions on a popup can do. They could change the red “X” to open a separate program or another pop up window, instead of closing the original window.
As always I’m available for free advice.
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April 2010 Linkedin Poll: Has the use of Social Media sites like Twitter, Facebook, and LinkedIn increased sales for you?
For April 2010, I chose to create this Linkedin Poll as a way to remind you all that Social Media can be an incredibly powerful tool to all businesses, but at what cost? Many people take Social Media and Social Networking for granted. A huge misconception about Social Media is that it’s only for tweeting what you just ate or posting a cute photo of your kid’s first steps. Can it be used for these purposes? Of course. You can technically do whatever the heck you want…it’s your profile and your space. Here’s the real question, “Is anyone listening to you?”
If your Social Media campaign is not bringing in sales…you are doing something wrong. Keep in mind, this should be seen as a long term project…unless you have a brand name that people already know. It doesn’t matter if you sell high end jewelry, a live chat service, or whatever. If it’s not done properly or orchestrated to a certain degree, then all the time you spent was a complete waste of time. I have personally seen so many of my clients come to me and ask me what they are doing wrong and usually it’s as simple as; content creation, post frequency, and content relevance.
You can’t just post photos all the time. I’m sure they are nice to look at, but Google, Bing, Yahoo, etc. just can’t read the context of a photo. They may say a picture is worth 1000 words, but not to search engines. (of course if you tag your photos correctly, then that is a different story…of which is for another article.) You need content and lots of it. Posting only once a year in not the way to gain followers or fans and posting every 5 seconds will most likely mark you as a Spammer. And no one likes a Spammer now do they? Most importantly in my opinion is relevance. Your content should be about your business and should use keywords or phrases that relate to what you do or sell. Using your Facebook business page to chatter about what you did last night is not going to get you more customers…unless that is what is relevant to your business and people follow you for your perspective on night clubs or something.
Basically, think of your profile as a unique website that you have to optimize so that other people who think like you will be able to connect to you. This is why so many companies are not getting the response they are looking for with Social Media. The most important thing to do when starting in Social Media is just listen. Read the tweets. View the profiles. Look for patterns in how people communicate. Your audience is out there and they are looking for you. Are you sending out the right message and is it effective? Is your time being spent wisely. If not, then you need to re-evaluate, revamp, and reconnect.
Take my poll and let me know what you think.
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Internet Marketing Consulting: Knowing when you have the right ingredients for Internet success.
It’s been a couple of weeks since I have written my last post. I’ve been so incredibly busy with work and planning for meetings for meetings on proposals…blah, blah, blah. I’ve been thinking for some time about what to write about on this post. Should I write about yet another Live Chat software development? Should I write about yet another blog post of the importance of Social Media, with emphasis on Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn? Or should I write about something bigger, yet more focused on how I can help others? Each idea I kept coming up with, made me think of something else and then that lead me to something else. You get the picture…in other words…the ultimate villain of creativity: PROCRASTINATION.
Whenever I bump into friends or speak to people, they always ask me, “Hey Andrew…what do you do for a living?” I usually say, “Well…I do this, that, the other thing with Social Media. I write and create blogs about Live Chat and other website technologies…yada, yada, yada…” I talk about evolving small businesses into lean, mean fighting machines of commerce and service, but there has to be a way to succinctly put everything together without losing the message. That being said, I’m glad to say that I have come to an epiphany of some sorts with the help of a long time colleague and friend. I hadn’t spoken to him in some time and it was good to reconnect and catch up on basics, regarding our unique lives, careers, families, etc. During our conversation, it dawned upon me, from his perspectives and intuitive knowledge of just about everything that I knew about Internet Marketing that I had been looking at myself myopically.
I always think of others before I think of myself. I always try to help everyone I know with my experience and knowledge base. I’m always trying to think of a better way for others to become better at what they do. My problem was that I wasn’t seeing the bigger picture: Where do I fit into the picture? What is it that I am doing…and why? My friend told me that he thought my blog was a great place for me to share my knowledge and experience with others. That is just the surface of it all. I realized that I am not just an Account Executive at LiveChatAgent or a Social Media Consultant or any other piece of the puzzle. I was sum of their total. I am an Internet Marketing Consultant.
What does an Internet Marketing Consultant do, you may ask? Good question…
Well, a good way to think of it is like this: When you bake a cake you need all the right ingredients from the flour all the way to the icing. Internet Marketing is just like that. The difference is that, unlike grandma’s delicious marble babka cake that always used the same ingredients, mixed in the same manner time and time again, Internet Marketing’s recipe is constantly changing. You need to figure out the proper recipe for each client. Not every client is going to need an SEM campaign. Not every business is going to need a Live Chat agent based upon site traffic. Not every business is going to need a new site. Not every business could benefit from Social Media as much as others could. Etc…etc…etc…
An internet marketing consultant knows how pick and choose from a wide variety of tools and ingredients to bake just the right cake for internet success for a business. No two businesses are the same. The approach and follow through have to be organic and contoured to that business.
I already do what I love, which is helping businesses realize their true potential, but now with the bigger picture of adding all of the components of my experience, knowledge, connections and creativity in mind as well. I knew all the ingredients were in the kitchen. I knew what the finished cake would look, feel, smell, and taste like. I just needed a good timer to know WHEN to mix it all together or to put it simply, connect everything seamlessly and convey it succinctly. I’m proud of myself, knowing that I have always been a true maverick and it’s good to know that others out there see the same thing in me.
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Google Wave: Got My Wave Finally!
Yes! After months of waiting and waiting and waiting, I finally got officially invited into Google Wave. Not sure why it has taken months for that but I’m very excited.
I’ve been messing around with Google Wave for a few minutes or so and it seem promising. It’s difficult to gauge the true power of it all when you really don’t have an entire network to share with. All of that will change in time. I have patience and friends that will be added.
Initially, I thought that it was too simplistic in its design, but after a few minutes of pondering it now makes sense WHY they have made it this way. Understanding Google is like looking at crystal ball sometimes and your sitting on the other side of the table without the foresight.
Google’s intent with Google Wave will no doubt be direct competition with Twitter and other similar networks. How this application will change the Social Media world has yet to be seen, but the possibilities are pretty much endless. Something that immediately came to mind was how can live chat companies integrate this new technology into their current program or software?
Good question, but answers are still illusive at best…
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