25 New Social Articles on Business 2 Community |
- What Twitter’s Rate Limit Changes Mean to You
- Klip.in, A Social Layer On Your Online Buying [Review]
- Four More Social Strategies For Increasing Social Engagement
- Adventures In Social Networking
- 5 Recommendations For New Social Media Pros
- Is it Always Right to Like? A Look at the Facebook Button
- How to Optimize Your Whiteboard Video for SEO
- 4 Ways to Earn a Gold Medal in International Social Media
- 3 Ways to Not Suck at Personal Blogging
- Facebook, Josh Constine and Stomach Cramps
- The Automotive Sector Navigating Social Media
- Content Marketplaces: Making It Easy for Businesses to Connect With Content Writers
- Twitter Changes API, Angers Many
- Taking Stock of Facebook’s Potential Growth
- 3 SEO Methods to Avoid
- The Friday#: Mitt Romney’s Dog
- Measuring Influence – Social Mention Is Better Than Klout
- On Twitter, Obama Barely Edges Out Romney On Immigration
- Losing The Content Battle? Follow These 12 Simple Steps To Effectively Engage Fans And Followers
- Do CEOs Scavenge Social Media Accounts of Job Candidates?
- New Klout – An Innovation Strategy?
- The Five Funniest Twitter Accounts
- Do Indian Brands Need To Evolve Upon Twitter Hashtags
- 42 Lessons I’ve Learned From my First 10,000 Tweets
- Why Your Video Needs More Words: A Case for SEO
| What Twitter’s Rate Limit Changes Mean to You Posted: 17 Aug 2012 01:50 PM PDT Twitter recently announced new rate limits on how many "hits" to the API it will allow. Now before your eyes glaze over wondering what that means, let me put it into English. When an application like Hootsuite, Tweetdeck or a mobile Twitter app like Tweetbot checks your account on Twitter, it's what is called an "API Call". This does NOT include the number of messages you send through these tools, only the number of times the tool hits the Twitter server to check for more. Twitter is changing the number of times the application can do that from 350 per hour to 60. There are a lot of complicated issues here, and if you're not a developer you probably don't care about those, so I'm not going to explain the differences between Rest API limiting and Feature-base limiting, you can learn all you want about that in Twitter's docs. In this diagram taken from the Twitter developer blog they break Twitter's ecosystem up into 4 quadrants. They want to continue to encourage people who use Twitter for business, to draw out analytics and integrate with media, but discourage the applications that syndicate or are traditional Twitter clients. Those are the apps in the upper right quadrant of the diagram. Unfortunately for me, they specifically called out some of my favorite apps like Tweetbot, Storify and Echofon as examples by name. ) :/
What this means to you To put that even more into perspective, when Usain Bolt (@UsainBolt) of Jamaica won the gold in the 200m sprint there were more than 80,000 Tweets per minute (according to Twitter) If @UsainBolt's team were monitoring mentions of his account on an application he would have missed anything after 350 Tweets in that hour after he won. Now he'd miss all after the first 60. Why are they doing this? They also said " … developers should not build client apps that mimic or reproduce the mainstream Twitter consumer client experience". Which I take to mean they have to do something with the data, not just copy Twitter to their own app. They want to hold all the cards. Really, the vast majority of users do just that. They use Twitter online or the Twitter application on their smart phone, so for the average user this isn't such a big deal at all. So who cares?
What can I do? OR. You can just move your fine social network over to Google+. #JustSayin |
| Klip.in, A Social Layer On Your Online Buying [Review] Posted: 17 Aug 2012 01:10 PM PDT Shopping is a social behavior. We always wish for some more money so we could go out every weekend and check out the latest outfit or gadget. Shopping is a fun activity. Today the destination of shopping is moving onto online with the increase in the percentage of online visitors. But is it a social activity? Do we have fun in doing it even though we are promised with good deals? Not all have realized this feature but Klip.in promises to give you the same feeling. Klip.in, which acknowledges that shopping is not at all about buying, promises to enhance your entire online experience. These words were enough for me to play around with Klip.in and see how it is redefining the e-commerce model of buying. How does Klip.in work?The site which uses Facebook login helps you to join the site quickly. Once you have done that, the site has clear instructions in terms of what should be done further. As a user you can perform the following actions: 1. Shop: The site has listed categories such as Books, Electronics, Movies and Fashion for users to have a better shopping experience. If you like a product either you can choose to buy it at the same moment or you can 'Klip' the item. Kliping of items is nothing but making wish boards or involve in a better informed purchasing behavior. The site also provides associated content such as who are the 'People who are having similar Klips' or 'The related Klipboards' or the 'Related Groups'. All the three options allow you to expand your network on Klip.in.
2. Trends: Trends show you what the people on Klip.in are looking for. In other words, the page tells you the most klipped, bought and reviewed product along with keeping your self updated too. Trends can be sorted by Most Klipped, Most Purchased and Most Reviewed items on the page. Additionally, you can also buy the trending products or Klip them into your boards as shown in the below screen grab.
3. Groups: Before you make a purchase, you would always love to have a discussion or get a frank opinion from your friends who have either used it or using it. Klip.in provides that and it allows you to form groups with like-minded people and have discussions regarding it. As a user you can either create a group or join a like-minded group. 4. Leaderboard: One of the interesting features of Klip.in is that it awards active users with credits which you can redeem as discounts. Points are awarded when you do any kind of activity on the site and more the points, the higher you go on the Leaderboard. Once you have performed some of the activities on the site, I am sure your profile must be a better one as I have now.
How good is it and can it more effective?I was not disappointed by Klip.in as it has made it clear from the very beginning that it is providing a social layer over your online shopping experience. So it is not a social commerce product entirely but could very well turn into one. Perhaps it can also think of taking the route of social buying with like-minded people and avail better rates. A route that has been already taken by Wishberg. Klip.in has some good features such as Groups and Leaderboard which can be exciting going further. However, it would be great if Klip.in can fetch interests of users with the help of the Facebook API so that the associated products are shown based on their interests. This might be interesting for the users who will be likely to spend more time. Along with this, I wish that Klip.in invests on building mobile apps considering the fact that Indians are spending more time on mobile. At present Klip.in is bit more than online shopping but it would be great if the platform provides a complete social experience to the users. After all shopping online or offline – both are social activities! |
| Four More Social Strategies For Increasing Social Engagement Posted: 17 Aug 2012 01:05 PM PDT
Tactic #1: Curate Content from Other Social Platforms Tactic #2: Combine "Call-to-Actions" with Current Events Tactic #3: Relevant Photos Need not be Product- Centric Similarly, Wrangler Western recognized that it doesn't have to share content about its clothing to appeal to likers. In fact, that's not even the type of Facebook posts that excite the brand's fan base. Instead, Wrangler Western asked its fans to name their favorite Western TV shows (and accompanied the request with an image of the classic Gunsmoke cast). Facebook fans from all over the country chimed in on the popular update. Tactic #4: Tap into Fans for Inspiration Think you have what it takes to top the RSJI? Check back daily for updates or talk to us to see how your brand can amp up its engagement! |
| Adventures In Social Networking Posted: 17 Aug 2012 12:56 PM PDT Speaking of the Hollywood industry, legendary screenwriter William Goldman (Butch Cassidy & the Sundance Kid, Princess Bride, Misery) once said, "Nobody knows anything." Although the now-celebrated quote is often mistakenly used to suggest that studio executives are stupid, Goldman really meant that, prior to a release, Hollywood has no idea which film is going to be a hit and which won't.
As Web 2.0 continues its gold rush, and as social platforms forge ahead, steering the way we interact, one may be tempted to say that it holds true in the realm of social media—not only because the channels are continually changing and expanding, but also because that slippery social landscape keeps morphing on us.
So, how do you determine the best course for your company to get into Social Media Marketing? As in Hollywood, it appears the best and only way (after studying the landscape and applying some old-fashioned intuition) is to simply do it. Luckily, there are some ruts in the road we can follow to "get there" faster. Content is the Real Estate of SMMContent is the terra firma of a social media campaign—and I mean quality content. Good, entertaining, informative content is oceanfront property. Some businesses have taken the approach of carpet bombing blogs, forums and platforms with bland fortune cookie advice, boring photos, flat product descriptions and ham-handed rewrites of other people's work. That's landfill. Don't let that be you. Whether it's about your company's products, services or news, your primary goal is to engage, entertain and educate the reader. Put some personality in it; develop a genuine voice. Then, once you've created the content, there are several ways to distribute it: on your site (such as interest or how-to pages), writing a blog, or submitting it to influencers (bloggers, reviewers, journalists) and other sites that would take an interest in your subject matter. Only then will you get the "likes," "shares"and "follows"– not to mention a growing fan base that will carry your message to others. Also, as with any SEO, make sure the content is search-engine-sticky and rich with carefully-placed placed keywords that are important to you, and links that will take them to your front door. Start a BlogThe fastest way to find an outlet for your content is to create it yourself. A blog is the ideal format for generating informative, outreaching copy because you can write as much—about as much—as you want without annoying anyone, you can edit articles later should you decide to make corrections or additions, and (most importantly) you can find your "voice." The Beatles performed live in Hamburg, Germany over 1,200 times from 1960 to 1964; before that, they were known in club circles as "that bum band." Sure, you may not be churning out Sgt. Pepper, but as Stephen King always said, a good writer writes. But writing isn't even the hardest part about blogging—it's getting an audience. It's going to be a long, arduous process, involving the use of Facebook, Twitter and other channels, loitering and commenting in a lot of other blogs and forums, submitting guest posts on other sites, and more. Be sure to post viral content like striking photos and videos, and fresh, different perspectives on familiar topics. Invite guest bloggers from widely-followed sites, and make their audiences yours. Eventually, they will share your posts with others, the viewership will climb, and now we got a whole new ball game. Also, remember to include Facebook, Twitter and Pinterest buttons on your blog template. InfluencersInfluencer Marketing is probably the most powerful part of social networking. An "influencer" is an already-established voice with a significant following, and the ones you need to connect with are the ones talking to your audience. There are four steps to successful influencer marketing: a) Identifying the Influencer: Google the topics, products or services your company is involved with. Are there predominant editorial, blog and forum sites, or names of advocates that come up in the search results? That's them. b) Marketing to Influencers: Visit those sites, register with and follow them, comment frequently on them, become familiar and reach out to the site owners and/or editorial advocates. Write a blog article about a topic on their sites and invite them to comment. Usually they'll link their site to your article. c) Marketing through Influencers: In addition to getting them to link to your articles, develop relationships with the influencers and look for ways to have your business mentioned on their site—perhaps by announcing an event, promotion or issue. d) Marketing with Influencers: Invite influencers to write contributions on your blog and post your articles on their sites. Perhaps even persuade them to write about you on their site. Obviously, the most valuable result of creating relationships with influencers is, their followers become your followers– at least a portion of them—and this will exponentially expand your network. Social Networking SitesFacebook, Twitter, Pinterest and other like channels are the easiest, fastest and most obvious methods of social networking. For example, with an email campaign to existing customers, and a Facebook button on all your site pages and promotions, you can rack up followers relatively quickly. Then, with their 'likes' and 'shares,' it takes off from there. Remember, the more interesting content you can provide, the faster it will go: photos, videos, links to your blog, polls, sale and coupon announcements, etc. Just be aware, most of your followers won't be as engaged as you'd like. It's a numbers game, and you have to get a LOT of numbers here to make a noticeable dent in your business. The most effective way to use any of these sites is to network them with each other as well as your blog and, possibly, forum. Other Social Marketing ChannelsDepending on time and resources, there are other avenues to take to establish your social network campaign, and as I've mentioned earlier, new ones keep coming. I'd like to address two: a) The Forum: This is my favorite social outlet, for a couple of reasons. First, it generates the most interaction and engagement from the audience. Forum members provide most of the content, communicating with the site and each other. It's a front-row view to what the audience is thinking, what their concerns and interests are, etc. Second, it forges the most loyalty and trust, and it becomes a hangout for members of the core audience. If you want a message received, this is the place to go. Unfortunately, a forum isn't exactly a set-it-and-forget-it kind of medium. If it starts generating the kind of numbers you want, it will require a lot of attention and administration. But, if you can get it running, it will be invaluable in getting your brand out there and sending people to your business. b) How-To and Interest Pages: If there's an opportunity to add DIY or subject/category interest pages, to your site, do it! Not only does it further engage your target, but it's great SEO material. For example, for the how-to pages, whether it be recipes, computer troubleshooting or steps to fixing a leaky pipe, the right quality content (making sure to include your product or service, and links to your site) will earn you a growing readership, rising search rank and, eventually, real customers. The same goes for interest pages. If , for example, someone is looking for ideas about something related to your product—for example, planting a garden or planning a trip– your article could be a threshold to new business. Defining Success In Social NetworkingSo, what exactly is the value of a "like" or a "share" or a "follower?" What qualifies as engagement? What do we do with it? How do you measure it? How do you attribute conversions to it? The truth is, there is no sanctioned scale as of yet, although there are some colorful attempts at gauging the numbers. Some have implemented tracking methods such as planting promo codes in articles and Facebook posts to follow sales. Some like TinyPrints and Feeding America have used Twitter to drive traffic from search engines and directly from Tweets, respectively. Such experiences move the needle in the quest for measuring ROI from social networking. Social networking is a valuable, cost-efficient way to expand your target audience, brand awareness and customer base, and by NOT engaging it as part of your marketing plan, you run the risk of giving your business to the guys that did. Obviously, this is a broad-stroke explanation of social networking, created to make you aware of what options are out there. I hope this helped. In the future, we will address one or more of the social platforms in greater detail, as well as looking at the competition and figuring out what ideas to pattern, what to dismiss and what to tweak. If you have any questions, feel free to contact me at bronxzoodave@gmail.com or @HFTDave. |
| 5 Recommendations For New Social Media Pros Posted: 17 Aug 2012 12:46 PM PDT Many readers of Personal Branding Blog have demonstrated a keen interest in working in social media and some have already joined the ranks of this forward-looking profession. I would like my first message to the newcomers to be a warm welcome: we need the best professionals to make our world go digital and anybody motivated by a desire not only to build a worthy career for themselves but also to add value with their work is most definitely in the right place. This is one of those lucky cases (at least for now) of 'the more the merrier'! Motivated by a sincere and deep-rooted desire to meet you at the top, I'd like to share a number of recommendations that have been instrumental in my success and that I have done my best to apply with almost invariably excellent results. Please remember: success leaves clues, and even when we are called to be ourselves and build a distinct personal brand by opening new paths and becoming trailblazers, it would be shortsighted and plain wrong to ignore the lessons from those to trod before us and unnecessarily repeat their mistakes. I am convinced that very soon it will be your turn to add to this pool of time-tested advice and pass it on to others! So here we go:
2. Learn from the best. Nothing has been more helpful in my personal and professional development and has saved me from so many cul-de-sacs and senseless waste of time and effort as using to the full the incredible power of role-modeling. The right role models are beacons that show us the way (I insist once more that this does emphatically not mean that we should become mere imitators, ignore our intuition or forsake our right to be different), but how do we choose the right ones as our referents. It's actually not as difficult as it sounds: identify those who are already achieving the goals that you have set for yourself; study in-depth their methods, tactics, techniques and the skills and abilities that allow them to implement them so successfully. Once you have considered that, look at yourself dispassionately in the mirror until your limitations and mistakes are revealed and work patiently with determination and faith until they are overcome. Sooner rather than later, you will be becoming the role-model for others to focus on. 3. Defend your (new) job. Even when social media acceptance is fast becoming widespread, there are still layers of the population (and especially some in high-ranking positions I have dubbed '1.0 dinosaurs') who do not understand – let alone value – the work we do. It will be your job to act as a 2.0 champion and inform, explain, defuse criticism, at times rebuke and often accompany many in the digitalization process in a way that dignifies our community by following laudable practices and values. Our responsibilities extend not only to those who have hired us but to our clients and the overall community in which we operate as well, a community not always up-to-date with the day-to-day realities of what we do or how we do it. Let us break any barriers and kill all mental 'monsters' that prevent people from making full use of burgeoning online opportunities for their businesses and brands! 4. Resist the temptation to become a self-proclaimed 'guru'. Newcomers are especially at risk here, since it is incredibly tempting when you work in a job that offers visibility and that not many thoroughly understand to quickly present yourself as an expert, 'guru' and the like. While I don't doubt for a minute that there are experts in SEO, web analytics and related areas, social media are by their nature in a constant flux of change and this makes any claim to social media expertise to have to be taken with a pinch of salt (as some facetiously say, we are Facebook 'experts' until their next upgrade). Let others (most notably the media, as it happened in my case) tag you as an expert if they so wish, but as far as you are concerned remain objective in the description of your record and expertise and resists the siren songs of 'guruism' and do not envy those who fall into that trap. Sooner or later, just as the myth of Prometheus proves, they will pay the price for their vanity. The harder they fall… 5. Become a resource. One of my College students once asked me: 'Which is the surest way to make it in the Web 2.0?' My almost instant and electric, gruff reply was: 'Work harder than the rest in adding value to others'. I would like to invite you to ponder on this: many of the pros we look up to as referents are those who add more to the community by sharing their talent and knowledge with creativity and inspiration in the form of apps, posts, videos, infographics, presentations, books, conferences and many more. Perhaps you do not have such aspirations, but if you have far-reaching goals for your career, become a resource and it will be others who will propel you to success animated by a personal brand based on adding value. Give first if you want to receive later. We are seeking the best talent so that our companies, organizations and personal brands achieve their goals and the online becomes an essential ingredient of every marketing and communication strategy worthy of that name. If you have just joined us, be welcome! Do not let unfounded criticism derail you and I truly hope that these recommendations are instrumental in motivating you to give the best of yourself in this exciting endeavor. For nothing short of that will do. Author: Oscar Del Santo is a lecturer, consultant, key speaker, blogger and populariser of online reputation and inbound marketing in Spain. He has been extensively featured in the Spanish and Latin American media and is included in the 'Top Social Media Influencers' and 'Best Marketing Tweeters in Spanish' lists @OscarDS. He is the author of 'Reputacion Online para Tod@s' and the co-author of 'Marketing de Atraccion 2.0'. |
| Is it Always Right to Like? A Look at the Facebook Button Posted: 17 Aug 2012 12:45 PM PDT
Liking What You LikeI "Liked" companies or products that I—not shocking—actually liked. But then, one day, a friend shared a post from an organization’s viewpoint I didn't particularly agree with, and for the first time realized that I had to "Like" the organization in order to follow along with what it was doing on Facebook. I hesitated. Did I really want all my friends, who know my personal interests and beliefs, seeing that I "Liked" a counterpoint? Backlash from the LikeA recent CNN article explained the negative effect "liking" something could have. In 2009, Daniel Ray Carter, a deputy sheriff in Virginia, "liked" his boss' opponent's page during election time and was later fired when his boss won and found out. A Federal Judge ruled against Carter's wrongful termination suit citing, "a Facebook 'like' isn’t protected speech, in part because 'likes' are not 'actual statements.'" Facebook's legal team has since offered a brief for Carter's appeal, which is slated to win. What’s the Answer?So if someone disagrees with something an organization is saying, is there another way for him or her to follow a page’s content on Facebook without "liking" it? For the time being, the answer to the latter question is no. There have been suggestions to change the actual word "Like" to something more neutral, like "Follow," so it can appease people who are simply interested in a page's posts. However, that would be a huge overhaul in terms of marketing. Think of every company or article, on every site or any piece of advertising element that utilizes the "Like" button; all would need to be updated. Not to mention the effect Facebook's terminology has on society even in everyday conversations. I mean, who knew the simple term "Like" could cause such headaches? What do you think? photo credit: catspyjamasnz Free Facebook Marketing Cheat Sheet Download
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| How to Optimize Your Whiteboard Video for SEO Posted: 17 Aug 2012 12:30 PM PDT
To understand why this is so important, we first need to look at how the search engines operate. Every search engine – including Google, Bing, Yahoo and a host of second-tier companies – maintains an "index" of all the web pages its automated programs have discovered on the internet. Then, when users enter search queries into their browser windows, these engines must parse through their indexes to determine which results to show, using algorithms that weight more than 200 factors when choosing the best possible results. If your whiteboard video is selected as one of these top results, it will be listed on the first page of the search engine's natural results area (as opposed to the sponsored results area). Achieving one of these top rankings is especially important when it comes to building traffic to your website via SEO, as few search users take the time to navigate past the first page of results. With this in mind, if you plan to use your whiteboard videos to build free traffic to your website, you'll want to adhere to the following guidelines in order to optimize your content correctly for SEO: Step #1 – Know your keywords Search results pages are created in response to the queries – also known as keywords or keyword phrases – that search users enter into the engines. As a result, getting your video included in these listings means that you need to be aware of the particular search phrases your customers are entering into the search engines, as well as which keyword combinations you'd like your video to appear in the search results for. Good keyword research involves understanding two key components – search volume and competition. Ideally, you want enough people searching for your chosen keywords, as it doesn't make sense to try to rank for phrases that receive no search volume. At the same time, targeting highly competitive keyword phrases (for example, "auto insurance," "lose weight" or "make money online") may be so difficult to break into given their existing competition levels that they aren't worth pursuing. Plenty of other resources exist online detailing how to choose the right keywords for your SEO campaign, but for now, it's enough to know that you'll want to have these target phrases identified before you begin the video creation process. Step #2 – Add your keywords to target video promotion areas Once your video is created, you'll want to incorporate your target keywords into your videos in different ways. As an example, if you choose to upload your video to Youtube, you can include your keyword phrases in your file name, your video title, your video description and your video tags. Doing so will help the search engines to understand what your video is about, though you should be careful not to over-optimize. Making each of the elements listed above appear natural (while still incorporating your keywords into these valuable places) will help to prevent the search engines from labeling you a spammer. Step #3 – Use your keywords in your video's content Finally, if you plan on uploading your video to Youtube, be aware that this service automatically creates a text-based version of your video's audio content for use in its accessibility services. Because these text files are also stored in the Google index, including your target keywords in the content of your video can give you an extra opportunity to inform the search engines as to what your content is about. |
| 4 Ways to Earn a Gold Medal in International Social Media Posted: 17 Aug 2012 12:00 PM PDT
With the Olympics front of mind right now, being hip to various cultures is today's rave scene. The Games brings together more than 200 countries and 180 languages. Social media is abuzz with 2012 Games frenzy. So for some, it's not exactly a huge Olympics-caliber pole vault leap to start considering international social media. Yes, your plate is already heaped with social media duties. And yet, expanding your social media playground into foreign territory is hard to ignore, especially since so few are doing this. And when they do, it seems like problems abound. Here are a few tips to help you snag a gold medal in global social media. Perform a staffing capacity reality checkMaybe you're one of two people at the helm of the company's social media program—or maybe you're the lone coordinator bobbing along in a sea of interactions. Whatever your situation, it is imperative that you make sure your team has the bandwidth—or can acquire it—in order to scale to a larger program. Info-dump overload is already a daily risk when you're prowling through your social media avenues in your native language. Imagine how this gets compounded when you dip a toe into Japanese, Brazilian or Russian social media territory in addition to your home base program. So to help you succeed, gather input from all stakeholders on who should handle which duties and whether you need to augment your team. If one post goes viral, who will monitor the interactions? The stream of conversation will probably be unpredictable from week to week; social media users might be relatively quiet in the U.K. but positively raucous in India. Without a firm plan in place for staffing, good luck planning your work week and workday—or rather, sticking to it. The need for speed with your responses poses a risk to your company's brandBe aware that translating your social media content quickly still requires you to be consistent in your messaging. You already risk getting swept up in the usual tidal wave of social media tweets, posts and pins. Now it's going to increase exponentially by appearing in multiple languages in real time—at the speed of Michael Phelps. Your followers can potentially generate content a lot faster than you can translate and respond in an unfamiliar language. And you can't spit out just anything using a free online translator because an inaccurate translation could offend your followers—and hit your brand in the gut. Another option is machine translated social media content that is reviewed and edited by actual humans. Since people are reviewing machine-generated translations to make sure they don't totally confuse readers, the quality will be a lot higher. Of course this means laying out more money, something that may not be feasible. You need to plan a separate engagement strategy for each marketThe good news: Recent research by Forrester says emerging markets like China and India are in love with social media. The somewhat "meh" news: Age isn't much of a factor, so trying to typecast your user base will be a challenge, if not impossible. First, figure out which markets you already enjoy the highest engagement with using web analytics. Where are most of your fans coming from? Which social media platforms do they use and prefer? What types of content does each audience favor? Images, phrases and campaigns in general all need to be carefully researched and planned since standards and expectations differ in each culture. Communicating with users under close government scrutiny requires caution and forethoughtFor certain audiences who lack the freedom of choice, you need to think about what not to say. You absolutely cannot entice your followers into saying anything that may get them into trouble or open up a discussion that could lead them into dicey political waters. A post like "Hey, how lame is censorship?" on Chinese platform Renren would not end well. Seems like a no-brainer, but those of us who are used to speaking our minds on everything may find it difficult to think before posting. Endurance, speed and strategy—all key for Olympics athletes looking to score at the Games. And they also happen to be your ticket to snagging a figurative gold when going global with your social media program. Is social international expansion on your radar? Have any of your own coaching tips? Chime in below! photo credit: Lim CK |
| 3 Ways to Not Suck at Personal Blogging Posted: 17 Aug 2012 11:50 AM PDT It's been awhile since my last post, and here's why. Justin Brackett has been cracking the whip here at SHIFT Digital lately, so you can blame him. We've been been busy creating our new website (which we'd love your feedback on too). I've been burning the midnight oil churning out website content, and it's coming all together thanks to our amazing team – Amen! All of this writing has got me thinking about how I've sucked at blogging. Do you find that when you're busy writing client and business related content, your personal blogging efforts suffer? I love to write my own, somewhat quirky, content and miss doing so tremendously. Writing is therapeutic to me and it's one of my favorite things to do. So, i"ve made a personal goal to write at least one post per week on the Shift | DIGITAL blog. Please hunt me down if I'm not here next week okay? Here's 3 Ways to Not Suck at Personal Blogging:1. This tip comes from one of my favorite people, the extremely smart Lindsay Bell-Warner. I was wining to her on Facebook about not being in the mood to write content, sort of like a depressed, uninspired artist. She responded, " Yeah, but sometimes you have to *force* yourself to be in the mood – then once you start writing it starts happening, you know?" Lindsay is 100%right, Tonight I forced myself to sit down at my computer and write. I minimized everything else on my screen, and made sure my kids were in bed, and the words starting flowing. On a side note, If you don't follow Lindsay online, start now. You can find her on Twitter at @belllindsay. 2. Create a simple editorial calendar for your personal blog. I advise all of my clients to keep an editorial calendar to maintain a consistent blogging schedule. Your editorial calendar should include a realistic frequency of posting. For example, if you're new to the blogging realm, start off with once per week. Once you get used to that, build from there. Keep this schedule and don't schedule other tasks during your designated writing time. 3. I love it when I'm in the mood for writing. The words flow and blog posts practically jump from my fingertips. If you find yourself in a mood like this, write as many blog posts as you can so you have a few in the queue. This way, when you have days where you can't find the time to write, you won't be up the creek. Having this backlog of posts will keep your blogging routine consistent and your readers will thank you. This sort of goes against point #2 but stuff happens! All in all, maintaining your personal blogging is very important to meeting your business objectives. Your blog is where potential clients get to know the "real" you. It's also where they do their due diligence. Give them lots of fresh content by maintaining a blogging schedule. You'll be thanking me later! |
| Facebook, Josh Constine and Stomach Cramps Posted: 17 Aug 2012 11:40 AM PDT I made a mistake yesterday by reading Tech Crunch shortly eating lunch. Their financial whiz Josh Constine advised Facebook to stay the course despite the stock taking a nose dive. His advice to Zuckerburg was not to take actions to please investors and to remember that "Facebook was founded to accomplish a social mission to make the world more open and connected". I almost lost my lunch.
This group didn't get past the chapter in their "How To" books that taught how to raise a ton of money from investors using smoke and mirrors. They learned that chapter well.They never read the chapter dealing with the importance of making a profit and striving to meet supporters expectations These companies, Wall Street and the Investment Bankers could learn from “Cowboy Ethics” written by James P. Owen Live every day with courage; Take pride in your work; Finish what you start; When you make a promise, keep it. The promise to investors seems to be forgotten the day after the IPO money is in the bank |
| The Automotive Sector Navigating Social Media Posted: 17 Aug 2012 11:35 AM PDT The automotive world is no stranger to innovation, with one of the first models built in 1894. Though, we are far beyond the days of steam-powered vehicles. In fact, it was estimated that in 2010 the number of automobiles rose to over 1 billion vehicles, compared to the 5 million reached in 1986. In this Automotive Sector Report we provide insight into what social media means for the automotive industry. Navigating online consumer behavior, leading brands and the key issues surrounding them. Brandwatch Sector Report: Automotive Sector and Social Media While car companies continue their advancements so do the individuals buying vehicles. The use of social media has jolted not only the automotive industries marketing tactics but consumer recourses when shopping and researching for their next car. Making the decision to buy a car isn't something many people take very lightly. Consumers on the hunt for a new ride aren't all relying on the speed and popularity of Twitter to have their vehicle conversations. Forums accounted for the largest conversations (38%), revealing that consumers desire to have more than 140 characters when discussing their in depth car discussion. Twitter may not be enough characters for most auto consumers but it's not too far behind online forums with 31% in auto exchange. What's helped certain car manufactures is high profile tweeters. Brand recognition from high profile celebrities and news accounts with so many followers can help create awareness and credibility for those brands. We gathered conversation about 48 major car brands across the social web using Brandwatch. Unlike other sectors, the automotive conversation is driven by consumers themselves, rather than the brand activities. Our analysis revealed a few of the following key insights: • Electric cars are the most talked about type of eco car • Conversation about eco cars is divided, but positive overall • Initial cost proved to be a more common reason for not purchasing a particular brand While brands advertising and stories within media drive a significant discussion. It is clear in this sector the consumers are smart, diligent and driving full steam ahead. |
| Content Marketplaces: Making It Easy for Businesses to Connect With Content Writers Posted: 17 Aug 2012 11:05 AM PDT In the competitive world of ecommerce, effective SEO and inbound marketing is essential to making a business successful. Because it can be difficult to produce the quantity and quality of content necessary to maintain ideal SEO, many companies are beginning to outsource their copy writing. However, it can be difficult to track down freelancers that mesh well with the kind of content you want to produce. Content Marketplaces provide a solution by making it easy to find writers and content by connecting brands with writers.
The content marketplace connects businesses with independent writers and bloggers in a fast, easy and affordable way. Companies can go to websites such as Blogging.org and post an assignment in the relevant category with explicit specifications (word count, rank of writer, tone, etc.) for writers and bloggers to complete and submit to the company for review within two hours. Once they submit the piece to the client, the client receives an email notification and can review the piece in a non-downloadable or copy-able format in order to protect the writer from plagiarism or theft of their intellectual property. Following review, the client can choose to accept, rank and purchase or reject and comment on the work. If the client chooses to purchase the work, they simply approve it and a window pops up asking in what format you would like to download it. If the work is not what you're looking for, you reject the work and are given the opportunity to provide an explanation as to why the work was not acceptable, which is helpful for the writer. When you do purchase someone's work, you have the opportunity to rank the quality of the work on a scale from 1-5 stars. The ranking system makes it easier for clients to find the kind of content they're looking for, but is not limiting for the writers. Because exceptional writers take time to move up through the ranks, even if a client specifies that they are only looking for Premium-ranked writers for a given assignment, anyone can submit their work to the client and have their work purchased. Additionally, if a client purchases your writing, you won't have to wait long to receive your money – blogging.org writers are paid weekly. Also, clients don't have to worry about losing any of the content they purchase – purchased content is stored on your project dashboard for easy access. The content marketplace provides a safe and reliable resource for freelancers to find work and for clients to affordably acquire articles for their sites. Websites like Blogging.org provide a thoughtful, organized way for writers and companies to connect with one another and improve SEO and inbound marketing efforts, resulting in more site traffic and new customers. How are you getting your content? |
| Twitter Changes API, Angers Many Posted: 17 Aug 2012 10:25 AM PDT
But Twitter also has another side to its existence: the user experience. With 500 million other registered users, one thinks that Twitter must tread lightly to avoid the ire of millions. Most of the time they do, but late last night they definitely announced changes that upset quite a few people. Changing Guidelines to RequirementsLast night, Twitter announced some of the upcoming changes for its API. An API is an Application Programming Interface. Basically, API is an interface for software to communicate with other software. Developers use Twitter's API to create third party apps for Twitter. Some examples are CoTweet, Twaitter, TweetFunnel, and HootSuite. The changes are not boding well for these third-party developers. Mashable reports that the "changes in Twitter API V 1.1 are all designed to foster 'a consistent Twitter experience.'" But the problems many people are having with the changes involve developers. "The new rules start by transforming the fuzzier 'Display Guidelines' into 'Display Requirements.'" That means what was once a recommendation is now a hard rule. People don't like rules. Most of the rules are pretty technical, but for the most part they set limits on how third-party apps can interact with the Twitter service. They also implement strict interface requirements. On top of that, Mashable also reports that "all of these apps have to be certified by Twitter before pre-installation (say prior to consumer delivery). Failure to do so could result in application key revocation." To make matters worse, if an app grows "200% of [its] current size, they'll need to get the okay from Twitter to grow further." Don't meet the rules? Your application rights will be revoked! Ouch. Power Grab or StreamliningAs The Register writes, "The changes seem designed to make it easier for the blue birdy biz to manage its publishing system and cut costs by establishing greater consistency." Consistency is almost always good for a user experience. But, at the same time, many developers are crying foul and the web—as well as Twitter—is in a mini-uproar. Many users see the move as akin to a power grab. One developer, Aaron Levie, tweeted "'Twitter's API has more rules than North Korea.'" I'm not sure where I stand on the power grab argument, but Twitter is making some big changes. Big changes almost always cause issues, especially in a world where people can voice their gut reactions instantly, instead of taking some time to see how things pan out. Usually, moving from less control to more control is bad on a medium like the internet where open source flourishes. But at the same time, it is Twitter's service. They have a right to do as they please with it. Backlash Imminent?Despite the initial uproar the announced changes have caused, I don't think anything will be done about them. Twitter is still growing and still a very influential and useful platform on the web. The apps people make for the service are a big part of its success. But developers and users are playing on Twitter's court, not their own. I think people—especially developers—need some time to absorb the changes and see how things work out. They have six months to adjust to the new rules. If I'm completely wrong and there is a mass exodus from Twitter, I'll be quite surprised. But I just can't see that happening. Sure, a few people and developers might leave, but that won't impact Twitter at all. That blue bird is going to keep going for a long time to come. Do you use any Twitter Apps to keep track of your business' activity on Twitter? |
| Taking Stock of Facebook’s Potential Growth Posted: 17 Aug 2012 10:20 AM PDT
Disclaimer: I am not an investor or trader. I don't know much about stocks. I don't own stocks. Well…there are those 3 shares of a stock I received for my bar mitzvah. Wonder if my shares are worth anything today… The day FB debuted on the stock market, I heard the following in the same conversation: "Within 6 months they'll be worth less than half their IPO price of $38." "The stock price will hit $120 within a year." "It's Facebook. Everyone uses it. You're crazy if you don't buy stock." "It's not a product. They have nothing tangible to sell. It's a fad. Stock will tank." As polar opposite as can be. They argued about the product, is social media stock viable, is Zuckerberg off his rocker and more. And that's when I joined the fray: "Gentlemen, Wall Street analysts and traders care very much about the bottom-line: Revenue. Right now, yearly revenue is in the area of $4 billion per year. That is gonna go up, way up, in the next 5 years. And here's why…" Many months ago I had a Twitter conversation with Andrew Gossen, a social media strategist who works for Cornell University. We were discussing how many users Facebook had and the potential of reaching a ceiling in the near future. Gossen correctly pointed out that they're nowhere near: in Africa, India and third world countries around the globe, people are just now joining the mobile revolution- and connecting to each other via Facebook. The numbers certainly support this:
The biggest challenge for Facebook is their mobile app which, in the words of everyone I know, stinks. Mark Zuckerberg acknowledged this when the quarterly report was released. If they can create a more user-friendly app and global expansion continues to rise, revenue from ads will skyrocket. And when revenue goes up- and not just in small increments- the stock price will rise. I don't think the price will rise and rise- this is more of a short term thing, say over the next five years. The world's population is 7 billion but there is a ceiling to how many users Facebook will eventually have. Right now, with mega-growth possible in Africa, India and other third-world countries, Facebook's short-term future looks bright. Yes, there could be competition down the road. Other social platforms, specialized social platforms created just for people in specific countries or continents and any of a million things. I may not be a trader or analyst but one thing stands out: Facebook is nowhere near its ceiling when it comes to users and revenue. Will I be buying stock in the near future? Nope. But do I think investors will see a profit in a few years from investing in Facebook stock now? I definitely do. Then again, in the words of Warren Buffet: I never attempt to make money on the stock market. I buy on the assumption that they could close the market the next day and not reopen it for five years. |
| Posted: 17 Aug 2012 09:20 AM PDT SEO is not as complicated as what most people think, because there are a lot of things that you can do in order to get better results from it. However, there are also a lot of things that you need to avoid in order to be sure that your search engine optimization campaign will be successful. If you want to get better results when using SEO, you need to make sure that you are going to avoid three things:
If you are going to use these things a few years ago, we can say that these will help you improve your search engine rankings. However, the changes in the algorithm of search engines caused these methods to be obsolete and outdated, which mean that you won't be able to get the same advantages when using these methods. In fact, it could even ruin the standing of your website in the eyes of major engines that people are using nowadays. Automated SEO Software There are people who think that "push button SEO" do exist, and this is the reason why they are using different automated programs. There's nothing wrong with it if you are going to use it a few years ago, but now, SEO is more focused on the quality of the links and the content that you have inside your website. If you are going to use automated programs, you won't be able to monitor the methods that are being used, and you won't have the ability to assess the results that you can expect from it. Spam Links on Unrelated Sites Link building is a vital part of any SEO campaign, and you need to make sure that you are going to get your links from websites that are related to what your content is. For example, if you are going to talk about real estate on your website, you need to make sure that you will be placing your links on a website that talks about real estate. The reason why use of automated SEO programs is not advisable is because these programs are only meant to build links. I won't care whether the links are placed on related websites or not. Spun Content This is probably the worst thing that you can do if you are going to do SEO for your website. Search engines are focused on the quality of the content, and how can you expect your spun content to have good quality? Again, it all comes down to the belief that building links at will is the best way to optimize a website. But the truth is that you need to focus more on creating new and informative content that will provide everything that your readers would like to read. If you really want to get the most out of your SEO campaign, you need to make sure that you will be building your website based on quality and the relevance of the links not on the quantity. |
| The Friday#: Mitt Romney’s Dog Posted: 17 Aug 2012 08:45 AM PDT This Week's Issue: The Sizzle: Twitter change. The Fri-Up: Mitt Romney's Dog. The Sauce: Poodle Your weekly round-up of the hottest stories worldwide, served with a slice of topical social media analysis and a dollop of Friday fun
The Sizzle:
The Fri-Up: Mitt Romney's dog It has re-emerged this week that Mitt Romney drove for twelve hours with his dog Seamus strapped on top of his car in a kennel. Romney's admission and defence of the action regularly appeared in negative media coverage during the 2008 presidential election. It continues to 'dog' him during his campaign for the 2012. This week, previously forgotten punk band Devo have reignited the anger releasing a song in tribute to Seamus 'Don't Roof Rack me Bro'. Obama hasn't been without his share of negative dog press. He revealed memories of sampling dog meat in South East Asia (where dog meat is a common delicacy) in his autobiography. However, unsurprisingly, far more has been made of Mitt Romney's cruel carriage of his red setter than of Obama's story. Fig 1. History graph of mentions of Mitt Romney in conjunction with his dog Seamus.
The spike on August 15th, when the single was released shows how Devo's sympathy with Mitt Romney's dog has afforded them unaccustomed pick up across multiple news networks and potentially access to a new generation of dog lovers. Fig 2. Wordcloud for Mitt Romney and his dog Seamus.
The wordcloud above shows how the story of Seamus and his terrifying journey continues to creep into issues surrounding Mitt Romney's policital career nearly 30 years after the unfortunate event.
Something for the weekend:
Hope you enjoyed the Friday#, have a great weekend. |
| Measuring Influence – Social Mention Is Better Than Klout Posted: 17 Aug 2012 08:40 AM PDT
I know I have been. Yes, Klout is the cool tool and it promotes engaging among people and I am sure if you are like me you have received a +K from someone and have also given out a few to some of your best friends. Yes, Klout allows you to compare yourself with your peers Yes, I believe Klout is getting better since its inception Still..I think there is a tool that is better. Social Mention – Measure Influence in a more powerful way. Social Mention is an advanced search tool! I measure influence where it should be with respect to search. What is the power of your brand? Try typing in your name, Twitter id, Company Name See what people are saying about you in the last 24 hours, over time, Search keyword terms – Is there a particular term you would like to be associated with? Check and see where you stand with respect to these terms. Find a particular niche keyword term. Search Blogs, Videos – See where your competitors are. What social media platforms are popular for these terms. Hint -for more than one keyword, place it in double quotes Free Tool – Really free You do not have to give your id away. The tool is made for you to use the information that is pertinent to you. You are in control. Social Mention Relevance I really like the % indicators in the upper left-hand corner. These %'s should be taken with a grain of salt and not literally. I do like the passion %. This is my focus – I want advocates for my brand. Google+ relationship Social Mention is a good indicator as to how you use Google+ and how it can help create better influence for your brand and reputation. All marketers need to see how Google and Google+ are creating a different type of social Summary Everyone needs to find a way to gauge social influence. I prefer a way that ties-in search results like Social Mention. I really like the power of seeing a variety of information summarized on one page. Social Mention has helped me see first-hand how powerful engagement can be. Sometimes, I don't think about it as often as I should. Again, it is another tool and I am not saying Klout is a bad tool. I just think Social Mention serves my needs better with respect to analyzing influence and presenting information in way that meets my needs as a Marketing Director. photo credit: gagilas via photo pin cc |
| On Twitter, Obama Barely Edges Out Romney On Immigration Posted: 17 Aug 2012 08:26 AM PDT This post is part of an ongoing series of social media analyses of social sentiment and social media engagement regarding the 2012 U.S. Presidential Election. This election year, immigration discussion is divisive and relevant: Arizona's controversial anti-immigration law was recently upheld by the Supreme Court, and President Obama's recent policy shift in support of immigration legislation that allows undocumented immigrants to work in the United States. To get a better idea of who's the public would be more inclined to support, we conducted a ForSight analysis of nearly 7,900 opinions regarding each of the candidates their positions.
At 33%, Twitter believes the President's plan for immigration is more agreeable than that of Governor Romney. But with Romney at 32%, the President doesn't have a wide margin of favorability. While the President's plan calls for allowing undocumented youths to work in America and Governor Romney has said he'll work toward "legal immigration", neither has a definitive long term solution to the existing problem. While it may marginalize some of their constituents, each candidate stands to benefit from sharpening their rhetoric's focus, if only to prove that they're doing more than posturing. Do you support or oppose the President's policy shift? If not, do you find the Governor's alternative viable or is there a solution that has yet to be discussed? Let us know below or tweet us @crimsonhexagon. Want to learn how your market, brand or product could benefit from leveraging the Crimson Hexagon ForSight™ platform for social media monitoring and analysis? Request a Live Online Demo. |
| Losing The Content Battle? Follow These 12 Simple Steps To Effectively Engage Fans And Followers Posted: 17 Aug 2012 08:23 AM PDT A steady flow of relevant, credible content is the currency of the social Web. Companies must focus on ways to listen and keep their brand in the social conversations. If you are a social media marketer, you need to keep a consistent dialogue online. Without maintaining a rhythm and flow of content, you risk losing your audience's attention. Content curation enables social media marketers to share meaningful information that will effectively and efficiently engage in more online conversations. Done correctly, curation enhances your brand and its value to your target audience. Content curation also allows you to continue to update your web site with a balance of relevant, reliable information easily and effectively. Whether you are new to curating or a pro, you'll find the 12 simple steps, outlined below, lead you to success in delivering more engaging content online. For more details see the full report, Best Practices for Content Curation. 1. Define Your BrandUse your social channels and the content that populates them, to define what you do. Let your social presence provide customers with a sense of transparency. This transforms you from a faceless business to the actual people behind the brand. 2. Build a TeamCreate a team to oversee and support your efforts. Look for talent that is knowledgeable about your market and target audience. They should be intellectually curious and able to spot and shape trends. 3. Define Your Content StandardsConsider variables including what language and content is appropriate. Be specific with your standards to ensure consistency across platforms. 4. Choose a Distribution ToolPremium content aggregation and distribution services are designed for businesses. Make sure that the tool you choose offers desirable content for your market, partners with top-notch sources and delivers the content with all appropriate rights secured. 5. Identify Key Credible SourcesCuration is only as good as the content that feeds it. Your audience needs to count on you to share relevant content they can depend on. 6. Build a List of Key Search TermsFigure out what to look for and work with your SEO provider to find words and phrases that drive people to your site. 7. Set Up Social Media Accounts to Monitor Industry ExpertsGauge trending topics in your market and follow experts on Twitter, Facebook and other social channels. 8. Post Full Articles Whenever PossibleAvoid sending your audience away from your site to read a full article by looking for a service that offers licensed full-text content. This way, you can legally post complete articles on your site with all necessary permissions secured. 9. Share the Best Content Across All Social Media ChannelsDifferentiate by channels, while keeping in mind the typical audience for each. Keep an eye on relevancy even if tone may change across platforms. Time your sharing to get the most effective reach. 10. Don't Be Afraid to Repeat the Best PostsThe social web is fast and ephemeral. If you have great content that didn't get the response you wanted, try it again. 11. Be Aware of Fair Use Practices: Link and Tag CorrectlyDepending on the syndication tool you choose, your content may be delivered to you already tagged, linked and ready to go. If not, make sure you add the correct tags and insert all necessary links for attribution. 12. Explain YourselfDon't expect your audience to understand why you chose to post what you did. Defining what you post will make your brand and content memorable and personal. Brand visibility, thought leadership and deeper audience engagement are all the result of content curation done correctly. Companies across all industries need to put a concerted effort into finding and sharing relevant, credible content and posting it to their website and social channels. With these simple steps, you can win the content battle and engage more fans and followers. For more explicit details see the full report Best Practices for Content Curation. |
| Do CEOs Scavenge Social Media Accounts of Job Candidates? Posted: 17 Aug 2012 07:00 AM PDT As CEO, be honest — do you look at potential employees' social media accounts? If yes, what is it you expect to see from someone you WOULD hire?The following answers are provided by the Young Entrepreneur Council (YEC), an invite-only nonprofit organization comprised of the world's most promising young entrepreneurs. The YEC recently published #FixYoungAmerica: How to Rebuild Our Economy and Put Young Americans Back to Work (for Good), a book of 30+ proven solutions to help end youth unemployment. 1. Positive and Professional Whenever we are vetting new team members, we tend to do a little Internet sleuthing to find out more about the person. Social media accounts are a huge part of that. We will look at Twitter and Facebook accounts to get a feel for their communication style and attitude. A positive attitude and professional communication give us confidence that their interaction with clients will be the same. 2. Part of the Application I ask for links to all social media accounts right on the job application, and always check them out before contacting the person for an interview. The reality these days is that all of your employees represent your company, and they need to be aware that what they do and say is public. If I see a Twitter account or public Facebook page filled with angry, negative rants, that person is out! - Laura Roeder, LKR 3. Don't Actively Look I don't actively browse people's accounts because I don't want to see what they do in their private life; that's not what I am hiring them for. However, if candidates send me their profiles for me to learn more about them, I click. If nothing is hidden, it's a downside because they come across as taking privacy lightly. I prefer to get a link to a well-maintained résumé site or a LinkedIn profile. 4. Both Potential Employees and Current Employees I regularly monitor social media accounts of my employees. Negative things that I watch out for are excessive profanity, inappropriate photos, and explicit and/or suggestive conversations. It gives you a window into who somebody really is as a person. Every single one of my employees represents my brand. Therefore, I want people who present themselves in a way consistent with our image. - Richard Lorenzen, Fifth Avenue Brands 5. Let Yourself Shine Online Definitely. I personally maintain a private Twitter list of potential hires and monitor them over time, for example. But I'm primarily looking for familiarity with social media, a sense of humor, and a true passion for what our company is doing. Consistent negative updates are usually a deal-breaker. 6. A Quick Glance I will look at the social media account of anyone I'm considering adding to my team — because of my field, I need to hire people who are already web savvy. But I also expect to need to give them some training and guidelines on what I expect to see on their accounts in the future. These are new tools and people aren't always aware of what's appropriate initially. - Thursday Bram, Hyper Modern Consulting 7. It's Part of Your Brand Absolutely, I do. The first thing I look at is a potential hire's LinkedIn account and who I know that's connected to him or her. We work with our clients to make sure their LinkedIn profile displays their professional brand in a positive way, and I expect the same from a potential employee. - John Hall, Digital Talent Agents 8. Very Valuable Tool I want to know that they fit the job description. For some positions social media is not relavant, but for some, I want to know if they are who they say they are and if they would fit my company culture. Social media is a great way to connect with anyone and also find out information about anyone. It is a tool, so use it as such. - Louis Lautman, Young Entrepreneur Society 9. In the Age of Transparency Sure, I check them out; I like to see leaders and influencers. I stay away from shy people. We are in the age of transparency, and I want the members of my team to feel comfortable sharing their details online. - Alexander Torrenegra, VoiceBunny 10. Absolutely Not! I see little to gain by snooping on prospective employees personal social media accounts. I would fully expect to find them engaging in completely unprofessional activities outside of work as they should be. I'm more concerned about what kind of game face they can put on when the suit up in the office and judge them on their professional performance alone. - Christopher Kelly, NYC Conference Centers 11. Social Media Doesn't Lie! People tend to always interview really well, and sometimes that means they choose to withhold certain information that prospective employers wouldn't want to hear. Every employer should look at a potential employee's social media to see how they truly behave as a person. as we've found this always does play into their work ethic and character in the workplace. - Warren Jolly, Affiliate Marketing 12. Time and Frequency Yes. During the interview process, we consider social media use in the context of time and frequency. If an applicant is consistently active during working hours, that is the only real red flag for our business — unless they are managing company social media accounts. For a social media specialist, online presence is a job requirement; otherwise, it's a distraction. - Nick Reese, Microbrand Media 13. Smile on Social Media In our business, we work with the public. Smiling and being friendly is important. I expect to see potential employee smiling in photos and socializing. If I see potential employees not smiling in any photos or posting photos of inappropriate behavior, I would not want that person serving my customers. |
| New Klout – An Innovation Strategy? Posted: 17 Aug 2012 06:20 AM PDT "You have eyes: Plagiarize!" – Product Development at Salomon Brothers (Liars Poker) "Good artists copy, but great artists steal." – Steve Jobs Borrowing ideas from your competitors has a long and esteemed history in innovation, as noted in the quotes above. Therefore it should not necessarily negative to note that Klout's ballyhooed new version and business model seems to be lifted entirely from a competitor, Kred. When I summarized popular, retail influence-measuring services to my SMM class last semester I noted that Kred had created some buzz and excitement about its pledge of transparency and noted several differences from Klout including:
Of course differences remain, but substitute "moments" for activities, "90 days" for 1000, "+K" for +Kred, and "automatically" for has an "option" in these four former differences and you have the key innovations Klout just announced! Kred seemed to be getting some traction, so Klout said "I can be like them." Is this a winning innovation strategy?? In fairness, Facebook has been using this strategy successfully to thwart competition from Google+. However I am reminded of another example… Coca-Cola reformulated its product, dropping the vanilla and adding sugar, to make it taste more like Pepsi in reaction to the Pepsi taste test promotions. The "New Coke" was a near disaster until management pivoted and went back to the historical formula. Is Klout just tactically fending off Kred or is it endangering its service by introducing "New Klout" – what do you think? [I will discuss my thoughts and your ideas in my next post…] |
| The Five Funniest Twitter Accounts Posted: 17 Aug 2012 06:12 AM PDT Twitter is a bit crowded. There are over 465 million Twitter accounts. Eleven new Twitter accounts are created every second. Weeding through the noise on Twitter, i.e. the endless amount of tweets featuring ridiculous Trending Topics such as "#TweensForOneDirection," is challenging. Yes, Twitter has a search query, but this isn't necessarily a catch-all for what it is you're looking for. One of the unfortunate things about this social media noise is that it drones out those humorous and hilarious Twitter accounts. There are a lot of these accounts out there, but not all of them are well-known. It's difficult to discover these accounts, unless someone you follow happens to retweet or mention them. That's why I'm creating this list of the five funniest Twitter accounts. Following these accounts is kind of like watching an episode of your favorite Comedy Central show (syndicated 30 Rock episodes for me, please). Matt Cutts once said, "When you've got five minutes to fill, Twitter is a great way to fill thirty-five minutes." So fill five minutes by reading this blog post, and then thirty-five minutes perusing the timeline of these hilarious Twitter accounts. #1 Pictureless Pinterest (@PicturelessPins)Pictureless Pinterest offers "the best of Pinterest without having to look at the pictures." The tweets are verbal descriptions of those cliche pins that become incredibly popular on Pinterest. The idea behind the account is essentially: Pinterest has become a site so filled with overused, cliché pins that people don't even need to look at pins anymore. They can just read descriptions and they've got the gist of the site. The timeline for Pictureless Pins is short, but it's filled with hilarious tweets. If you're a Pinterest user, you'll understand the humor. All of the tweets are laugh-out-loud worthy.
To give you a sense of just how accurately Pictureless Pinterest captures the essence of Pinterest, consider this: A Pictureless Pinterest tweet:
A pin from one of my boards:
The only con to Pictureless Pinterest: it's making it more and more difficult for me to maintain my blissful ignorance to the fact that I'm a Pinterest cliché. #2 Jen Statsky (@jenstatsky)Jen Statsky is, according to her biography, a writer for Late Night with Jimmy Fallon (true) and "lead singer, Train" (false). It's safe to say that I retweet every single one of Jen Statsky's tweets.
#3 Damien Fahey (@DamienFahey)I'll point this out for those of you who didn't rush home after school to watch TRL (aka the show that billed itself as a music-video countdown but that only showed about five seconds of each music video): Damien Fahey was once an MTV VJ. Now, he's a comedian who does improv and writes for someecards.com. He's also one of the funniest people on Twitter.
#4 Morgan Murphy (@morgan_murphy)Morgan Murphy is a stand-up comic, writer, and according to her Twitter biography, a "performer person for the tv." She has written for Jimmy Kimmel Live and Late Night with Jimmy Fallon, and she's currently a writer for 2 Broke Girls. She's also a comedic genius.
#5 Michelle Wolf (@michelleisawolf)I actually discovered Michelle Wolf when someone whom I follow retweeted her. Her Twitter biography simple says "Comedian. Wolf." So, it was only through Google that I found out that Michelle Wolf is an improviser and comedian in NYC. She tweets on politics, celebrities, and random musings, and all of them are hilarious.
Narrowing down this list to five accounts was difficult, because there are so many funny Twitter accounts out there. My next blog post: "The Five Funniest Twitter Accounts Part II." (view original post via Mainstreethost Search Marketing) |
| Do Indian Brands Need To Evolve Upon Twitter Hashtags Posted: 17 Aug 2012 06:00 AM PDT Triggered by a recent debate on whether brands can hijack hashtags to promote their own messages, this article looks into where the industry is headed – a war of ethics or an urgent call for innovation. Almost the whole of last year, we came across various hashtags in the trending topics on Twitter, and wondered about the brand that must have started it. Surely, the whole of India cannot be tweeting about #ReplaceMovieTitleWith****. This has to be the handiwork of some 'uncreative' agency. But this year, there has been a significant change in the trending topics created by brands – trends have become malleable and can lend themselves beautifully with organic conversations on Twitter. Brands now 'push' their messages disguised within such smart, organic trends. Lets look at an exampleA generic hashtag like #SistersAreFun can be leveraged to gel with the RakshaBandhan celebrations by a brand. Let's suppose a popular jewellery brand is doing this on Twitter and while they are at it, #SistersAreFun starts trending in a few hours, due to its sheer connect on RakshaBandhan day. Looking at #SistersAreFun at the top, another popular brand dealing with cosmetics jumps into the foray and starts 'pushing' its own message. So what does one make of this? Is the cosmetics brand wrong in basking in the glory created by the jewellery brand or is it fine since #SistersAreFun is not owned by the jewellery brand. Twitter defines hashtags as a means for users to categorise their messages and does not state the creator to be the owner of the hashtag; anybody can click a hashtagged word and see all tweets marked by it. Hence, it is just a matter of ethics within the industry. Yesterday, a popular bike oil brand that leverages social media towards building a bikers community, started a trend with #YouAreABikerIf with the below tweet:
Soon another brand that delves in comedy dived in and employed the same hashtag to market itself, which it does often with popular hashtags.
Now this has stirred a debate in the industry that whether it was right for the comedy brand to use another brand's hashtag that was specifically created by them for their contest. We bring you both sides of the debate and what we think about this commonly occurring phenomenon on Twitter. Brands should not replicate propertiesOne school of thought revolves around the idea that any brand can participate in an interesting trend whereas another takes an opposing view to this and even goes as far as to term this as 'social pimping', because the said trend, #YouAreABikerIf in this case, was a property of the bike oil brand. One may argue upon the ownership of hashtags but we are of the opinion that no brand can own a hashtag even if it is created by it for a contest. However, for an ethical functioning of the digital industry, it is a good practice for brands to cash in upon their own hashtags. Brands should steer clear from picking on trending hashtags that some other brand has strived hard to trend. Brands should instead indulge in creating/using generic hashtags to 'push' their messages innovatively. I am reminded of a Twitter campaign done a few months back by Reliance to create buzz for its 'Be Blue' campaign on Twitter. The campaign employed a generic hashtag '#FeelingBlue' without associating Reliance with it. The main strategy behind the Twitter campaign was to capitalise upon mundane Monday mornings and then progressively create a brand connect. Initially, #FeelingBlue caught on with twitteraties as it seemed to be an organic trend on a Monday morning. But then came in other brands to capitalize upon #FeelingBlue as it was trending at the top. Brands often do that since nobody really 'owns' the hashtag. It trended due to its strategic execution on a Monday and everybody in the digital space promoted their stuff, including regular users. In this case, I believe it is ok for other brands to employ #FeelingBlue since it wasn't revealed to have originated from Reliance until then. A generic hashtag is everybody's property on Twitter.
Image courtesy: AllWeLike.com Brands should not sell followersAnother part of this argument relates to the approach by the comedy brand. It not only opposes the offering of #FFs to the tweeters but also questions the relevance of '#YouAreABikerIf' to the comedy brand. We believe that comedy can be associated to anything, hence the question of hashtag relevance does not hold here. Besides, I have seen the comedy brand doing some kind of promotions on the trending topics quite often. But offering users with #FFs is not the best way to approach this. You need to give value to your community who likes comedy. This could be done either in terms of giving a #FF only to the funniest tweet around the hashtag or just appreciating it. Remember your followers appreciate comedy and would need a strong reason from you as to why they should follow whoever you recommend. We believe a little creativity would help here and that's not tough for a comedy brand! Ending thoughtsAll said and done, it is a fight between ethics and greed at the end. While greed might give you the numbers, ethics will earn you respect. But innovation will take you places. Twitter has immense potential for creativity. I would particularly like to cite the campaign for the movie 'Gangs of Wasseypur', where the agency recreated one of the main characters from the movie on Twitter. This was well complimented by the community that went on to recreate the remaining characters on Twitter! So if we are questioning that Indian social media is not innovating then it's not true. It is a medium that is still developing and in this development stage, we will find experiments which would be questioned. However, the onus lies on the bigger brands to set innovative as well as ethical benchmarks. P.S. Article produced with inputs from Prasant too! |
| 42 Lessons I’ve Learned From my First 10,000 Tweets Posted: 17 Aug 2012 05:45 AM PDT Twitter is many things to many people.
As I encounter the 10,000 Tweet milestone, I wanted to share a few of the things I've learned about Twitter over the past few years. What is Twitter?1. Twitter is one of the most social of the social networking technologies. I've met dozens of people on Twitter that I might not have ever encountered anywhere else. 2. Twitter is like being at an always-on, trade conference where you can eternally talk shop and chit-chat in the hallways with interesting folks between sessions. 3. Twitter is epitome of the Thank You economy where giving, helping and showing gratitude rules the day. 4. Twitter has completely changed news reporting and most folks in the media are catching on. 5. Twitter is completely changing marketing and public relations, however most of the traditional practitioners in this space haven't figured out what to do about it yet. 6. Since Tweeting is largely conducted in public by individuals, Twitter is implicitly a personal branding activity. Ignore this fact at your peril. 7. Twitter is contributing to shortening our attention spans, but there are lots of other contributing factors. 8. Twitter matters to us because it helps us understand what we're thinking. What to Tweet?9. Twitter is for sharing what you know — both professional or technical knowledge, as well as wisdom and life lessons. 10. Twitter is for sharing what you like — people you know, communities (real and virtual) in which you live, products and services you use. 11. Twitter is also for sharing how you feel and how you think. 12. Don't be a hater. Express criticism on Twitter as constructively as possible. 13. Treat every Tweet as a social object.
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| Why Your Video Needs More Words: A Case for SEO Posted: 17 Aug 2012 05:30 AM PDT Back in July, we did a post about social media marketing tips. One of those tips was about search engine optimization (SEO). Essentially, when doing a general search, people tend to look at descriptions more than they look at titles or URLs, making the work that goes into building that text one of the most important parts of a page, which is where SEO comes in. However, the discussion on SEO specifically for video is a new one happening around conference room tables. While using it gives you the opportunity to tap into a visibility that your competitors may not yet have, many people overlook it.
At the most basic level, SEO helps identify the search terms that your audience is using. You can then incorporate those words into the text and description of your page. Easy enough. Yet, when uploading a video, many people may leave the description blank, forgetting that the actions and words spoken within the video are not translated into written terms for search. Take YouTube, for example. You have the options of entering a title, description, tags and/or category along with your video.
While a title is pretty necessary, some people leave the description and tags blank or extremely vague. Doing so may be the difference between five views and 500 views. How will anyone find your video if there are no search terms associated with it? These two videos, both on Gabby Douglas' performance in the women's gymnastics all-around competition at the 2012 Olympics, were uploaded on the exact same day by two different news outlets. One has over 1.1 million views, while the other has just over 130,000. The major difference is in their use of descriptions and tags. (Note: the names of the news outlets have been removed from the photos.)
You'll notice that the video with more views has a longer description and uses a good number of tags, while the one with fewer views has a vague, one-sentence description and uses a small number of unclear tags. This is just one of the many examples of how SEO benefits video. There are many videos with quality content that aren't being viewed, simply because they lack proper descriptions. The moral of the story is this: when deciding on a video as part of your digital strategy, do not limit yourself to uploading it, crossing your fingers and hoping for the best. A smart approach to SEO is one of the ways to ensure that it rises to the top of the vast sea of videos on the internet and is found by your target audience. |
Five brands dominated the top spots on Media Logic's 
Oh the Facebook "Like." Users have complained for years about updates or new additions Facebook makes to its site without much warning. And yes, I too have been confused many times after logging onto my page to discover some new feature that wasn't there the night before. However, I personally liked the "Like." I thought it was clever and, dare I say, cute to be able to give a little thumbs up to my friends' statuses or wall posts. But of course, I was immediately bombarded with group requests and petitions demanding for a dislike option. I always assumed people just wanted the thumbs-down option so they could disagree with what someone else posted … that is until I started diving into the world of Facebook pages.
If you're creating whiteboard videos for public consumption, properly optimizing your videos for discovery and prioritization by the search engines using SEO best practices is an absolute must!
Constine represents the mindless approach to business that infects many in Internet related businesses. He doesn't understand that those investors are owners not missionaries. Facebook has a responsibility to reward their support with sensible operations that will give them a financial return on their investment. Social missions run on contributions not on Public Offerings. Mason of Groupon, Pincus of Zynga and Zuckerberg of Facebook share a unique talent. They are each were able to create a public hysteria that reached a climax with people giving them barrels of money to run a business that has little chance of long range success.
Twitter is one of the internet's prized companies. Few people thought that the service which allows you to send 140-character messages to followers would take off the way it has. Now it's an influential powerhouse in its own right. Twitter plays a strange role compared to other social media companies. In some cases, it is as much an influence online as it is in the real world. Many people credit the company's services with a beneficial role in the revolutions of the Arab Spring, as well as other movements across the globe.
Facebook's quarterly report came out a few weeks ago and to every Wall Street analyst I say: Simmer down!
To some, it's a powerful networking tool and great way to stay informed. To others, it's a disrupter of established business models in many sectors, particularly media and communications industries like marketing and public relations. And for others, Twitter is a colossal waste of time.
How to Tweet?
When to Tweet?
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