id33b1: 25 New Social Articles on Business 2 Community

joi, 20 decembrie 2012

25 New Social Articles on Business 2 Community

25 New Social Articles on Business 2 Community

2013 Blueprints: Social Media Marketing

Posted: 20 Dec 2012 02:25 PM PST

Social media is still evolving every day. But the line in the sand has been crossed when it comes to both public and brand adoption. Social media is now a mainstay in the marketing plan, and it's not going anywhere soon. So getting involved is essential for success.

But just getting involved doesn't give you the best chance to succeed. There are some shifts taking place in social media marketing that you will want to pay attention to as you develop your strategy for 2013. Below are five trends that you can include in your plans to stay ahead of the game next year.

  1. Narrowing of Focus – It's been common for companies in the past to show up across many different networks, attempting to have a presence everywhere with no real plan for integration. In 2013, the key will be picking a few key areas and putting a strategy behind them. I'd recommend Facebook, Twitter, and YouTube. There may be other players in the niche you occupy, but the point is not to try to do it all. Focus on the large networks that will have the biggest impact.
  2. More Facebook Options for Advertisers – Facebook is the #1 social network for brands. And that status will only be solidified as they continue to roll out new options for advertisers in an effort to improve shareholder value. Stay up to date on their announcements and take advantage of all the new options they roll out to see if you can improve the effectiveness of your efforts on their network.
  3. Integration – Yesterday, I mentioned how in 2013 it will be more important to integrate social communities into your website. Your social marketing and web development team need to connect on this topic and see what can be done to incorporate feeds and conversations from various networks onto your website. All social promotions should be given space on your website as well, so you can give them as much exposure as they deserve.
  4. Contests – One of the most proven social marketing strategies are contests. Build at least one into your marketing plan for 2013. Find partners, offer prizes people will get excited about, and have your developer (or a team like Wildfire) build a sleek contest page for you. This is an opportunity to get leads, gain brand awareness, do some PR, and follow up with people who are interested in your offerings.
  5. Offers – The second proven social marketing strategy you need to consider adding to your 2013 plan is a special offer specifically to your social community. Facebook now has an "offers" tool that makes this easy to test. You can offer a discount to people who Like you on Facebook. Give it a try.

Social Media Training is Now Mandatory: 5 Tips to Help You Do it Right

Posted: 20 Dec 2012 02:20 PM PST

Social media is now everywhere, it's gone beyond our personal lives to now playing a significant role in our professional lives as well. It was only a short while ago where official corporate social media training was considered an added "bonus" to the job. However, today it has now become a mandatory aspect of the employee onboarding process. Companies like Unisys, PepsiCo, Adidas, HP, and Sprint are making social not only part of the company's core training curriculum, but also a key element in their recruiting message, stressing the employee benefit of receiving social media literacy training.

One painfully obvious reason why companies are now developing and rolling out social media training programs is to avoid the social media disaster. Remember what happened to Domino's Pizza? Three years after that awful video was posted to YouTube, when you Google search Domino's Pizza it's still the fifth result. As a result, companies like Unisys, Sprint, and HP are creating social media training programs to avoid these types of social media headaches, as well as show employees how leveraging social media can be a valuable business tool which can increase their performance and productivity.

In a recent interview with Forbes Sprint's social media manager, Sara Folkerts, elaborated about how today's employees are "often confused about how to properly use the company's internal social network." According to Folkerts, in some of her experiences with the company's own internal social network, Sprint Space, she noticed "that employees seemed to lose sight of the standard rules of engagement one they got online." She points out that some employee's "social-media blind spots" became pretty apparent, particularly as they were typically called out for inappropriate behavior. As a result, Sprint realized that they need to establish a specific set of social media guidelines.

Guidelines, however, are only the first step. What companies really need today is the existence of a formalized social media literacy program writes Meister. "Offering social media training creates a team of advocates who are equipped to represent their employer online," says Gloria Burke, Director of Knowledge and Collaboration at Unisys. "When you give them the training, you're empowering them to be more confident and effective in what they are sharing," says Burke. This said, implementing a social media training program isn't a walk in the park, so luckily Meister supplies five guidelines to help you do it right:

1. Start early

"At Unisys, new hires are briefed on social media policies practically before the ink on their contracts is even dry," says Meister. The company has intentionally made training start on day one of a new hire's time at Unisys. "We start at the very day of hire with our social media policies and will soon be incorporating a new video on how to engage with social media into the new hire process," says Gloria Burke. Establishing this type of training sends new hires a message that the company's emphasis on social media is not just lip service; it's a legitimate focus for all employees and needs to start on day one.

2. Establish a branded program for training

"Employees will aspire to amazing things when they feel aligned to a brand. This includes the company brand as well as the brand associated with employee training," writes Meister. At Sprint, the company has dubbed their internal employee social media training program Sprint Ninja. Sprint employees who volunteer for the Sprint Ninjas program complete a two-hour workshop in order to receive their Ninja certificate, but the training does end with the workshop. Graduates then enter into a community that is continuously engaged in discussion about how best to use social media to advocate for the company.

3. Be specific and explicit about what you want

"For many people, the thought of fusing 'social' with 'work' conjures a hazy gray area intimidating in its impreciseness," points out Meister. This was the case at Sprint. Even after the company created the Ninjas, some of its employees still wonders what exactly to say and share. So Meister suggests helping them out a little bit. Sprint does this by posting suggested tweets and status updates regularly through its internal site's blog, which the Ninjas and other employees can access throughout the day. Additionally, "when employees tweet on behalf of the company, they are encouraged to use the disclaimer 'donating my status to sprint' ahead of the tweet," says Meister. This helps reassure employees, as it helps them mix social with work while keeping them distinct. It helps them feel secure that they are doing the right thing when they pass along information to their friends and family.

4. Gamification to engage and reward employees

Even though we all enjoy social media, it does represent another level of responsibility for employees. So managers must try to encourage employees to stick with it. They must consider how gamification can be used to help engage, recognize, and reward the achievements of those who complete, and subsequently use, their social media training. Hewlett Packard's Social Media & Digital Content Lead, Alex Flagg, believes the success of HP's social media training is owed in large part to its use of gamification. "The addictive nature of gamification, with badges, points, a leaderboard and ways to share all of this inside and outside the company, is highly motivating and quite honestly needed to encourage our employees to compete this type of mandatory social media training."

5. Continual improvement

Just as its important to school employees in social media, it's as important to for businesses to expand social media training into a social media community that engages continuously through an online platform. That way, training doesn't end with the workshop, but continues organically as a collaborative process. "Management must listen to employees' experiences with what is and isn't working in the social realm and what customers are saying about the product or service. And they must be willing to adapt based on that feedback," says Meister.

Social media training has quickly become a top priority for companies. Millennials are already accustomed to the ease that social media brings to collaborative work – from group projects using Google +, sharing documents in Google Drive, to discussing topics in private Facebook groups. In other words, they are using these tools anyway and forward-looking companies must recognize and that stay ahead of that trend.

Titling: Eye-Catching vs SEO-Friendly

Posted: 20 Dec 2012 02:15 PM PST

So you’ve come up with a great blog post idea. You’ve done any research that needs to be done, carefully crafted content that is both informative and engaging, and now you're stuck on the line that has stumped writers for years – the title. When it comes to writing for the internet, the title decision is a conundrum between eye-catching and SEO-friendly. Can you have both? Should you have both? Let's take a look.

SEO-Friendly Titles

At it's most simple, an SEO-friendly title is one that includes your targeted keywords, which will then be repeated in the body of the text. That sounds easy enough, but depending on your topic or targeted keywords it can actually be a little tricky. Coming up with titles about Industrial Pumps is not fun, believe me. So why should you spend the time to craft an SEO-friendly title? Because it's SEO-friendly! The intent of any content is to be found, and use an SEO-friendly title certainly contributes to that. In addition, if you craft a title that is an exact match for a search term, you greatly increase your chances of the post being found in the search results (though it's certainly not a guarantee).

So if having an SEO-friendly title is so helpful, why doesn’t everybody do it? The truth is that most people do in fact use SEO-friendly titling for their blog posts so that they will show up in the search engines, but that doesn’t mean there isn’t another approach to titling.

Eye-Catching Titles

An eye-catching title is one that makes you laugh, cringe, shake your head, and generally just sticks in your mind. Several websites use titles like this, my personal favorite being the wine blog Swirl Sip Snark, and while these titles aren’t SEO-friendly in the traditional sense, they do tend to stay with the readers, even encouraging them to return, share with their friends and online social circles, something that Google does take into account.

Also, while the blog title itself may not be SEO-friendly, which can impact its ability to show up in the SERPs, thanks to most blog software giving you the ability to customize Meta Page Titles, you can still present the search engines with SEO-friendly content.

Choose Your Title

So which approach should you take when writing titles? Some of it will be determined by your topic and your goals with the content – drive visitors, drive conversation, or make a statement, as well as the tone of where the content will be hosted. Also, that's not to say you can't combine methods. That SEO-friendly title I used for this could have been an eye-catching title along the lines of "Battle of the Title Styles", but I could go another route and combine them – "Eye-Catching vs SEO-Friendly Titles: Battle for the Title".

Ok, admittedly not my best work, but it makes the point. Either way, be sure to consult with your SEO company about which method could work best for you and your blog posts.

Is Your Thumbnail Image Costing You Business?

Posted: 20 Dec 2012 01:55 PM PST

How much time did you put into picking your thumbnail picture? You know . . .

. . . that little picture of you or your business that appears on your profile or beside your comments and updates;

. . . the one that is on sites like Triberr, Twitter, Google+, Facebook, LinkedIn, and appears beside your blog comments and on Google search engine results pages (Google Authorship);

. . . the one that actually represents you and your brand across the web and is often your best opportunity to make that all important positive first impression?

It seems like such a minor detail, yet in reality, it can often influence whether people read and share your content, click on your search engine results listing, or ever do business with you.

How Influential Can It Really Be?

I know that your thumbnail seems like a small thing, it is only one element of your online brand or persona, but it is often part of the doorway into the rest of your content. If I don't open that door, I never get to see how great you really are, or find out all of the ways that you could help me.

Right or wrong, you have at most seconds, realistically probably fractions of a second, to convince someone to click on your link, update, or post.

In that short time, the visitor or searcher will see the title of your post and your thumbnail picture and decide to click through or share, or to disregard and move on.

A Thumbnail Experiment

This past August, Cyrus Shepard did some testing with the profile picture that he used for his Google Authorship image (the image that appears on Google Search results beside his material).

He measured the click through rates using different pictures. He tried

  • different images of himself
  • wearing glasses vs. glasses free
  • different amounts of white space around the photo
  • different colored backgrounds

. . . and tracked it all through Google analytics.

Thumbnail Images

Results

The photo that he finally settled on – the red one in the top left, showed an increase of 35% in the click through rate of his search engine results page listings (vs. the initial photo on the bottom right).

Although what is acceptable and appropriate will change within industries, and around your individual goals and personality, generally speaking:

Thumbnail Don'ts

  • use a picture of you with your kids or family
  • don't have a picture of you when you were a kid
  • use a picture of your pet
  • use a moving or flashing image
  • use the platform's default image (i.e. Twitter's egg)
  • use an image that's so small (far away) that you can't be seen or recognized
  • use an image that looks too casual or unkempt (i.e. like a college student during finals week)
  • use significantly different images on different platforms. I agree that this is more creative, but from an engagement perspective, you want to make sure that the person that loves your blog posts on Triberr, recognizes you on Twitter and other networks as well.
  • use your company logo. I know that this is sometimes the best answer and I have used it on some of my accounts and for some of my clients, however, know that engagement is usually lower with a logo than a picture of a person.

Thumbnail Do's

  • smile
  • be warm, not stiff
  • show some personality
  • casually professional is a good look for most industries
  • have fun with it (i.e. change it to celebrate special holidays or occurrences)
  • use good lighting
  • close up picture
  • update it occasionally so people can still recognize you when/if you meet off-line.

I know that the people that engage with you may eventually want to know you on a more personal level, and that the business world, especially online, is becoming less formal than it once was, however the thumbnail picture is often your first impression – your first (and maybe only) opportunity to let people know what you're about. What does your thumbnail image say about you – does it show someone that you would want to do business with?

What are your thoughts on thumbnail pictures? Do you agree or disagree with these guidelines? Are there do's and don'ts that I should add to the list?

As always, your thoughts and comments are welcomed and appreciated.

Facebook Nearby: Tips for Local Business

Posted: 20 Dec 2012 01:25 PM PST

Facebook is getting into the local mobile search game, with the recent announcement of a new feature called Facebook Nearby. This Foursquare-like function built into Facebook's iOS and Android mobile apps lets consumers find, rate, and recommend local businesses within the Facebook mobile app. Users can access Facebook Nearby from the left-hand sidebar to access the ability check in, recommend (or review), and give businesses they've visited a star rating, as well as see businesses that their friends have checked into or recommended. Consumers can also search for a local business by name or category, and Nearby will display nearby businesses and other places ranked by various criteria.

Since Facebook has over 543 million mobile users, this makes this new feature a critical part of your mobile and local marketing strategy. So, here are a few tips for making the most of Facebook Nearby for your local business.

Claim, Create & Merge Your Pages

To make sure potential customers are finding your business and seeing the right information about you when they search on Facebook Nearby, you'll need to claim or create both your Facebook Place and Business pages. Then, add your business details, such as your category or categories, physical address, hours, website URL, contact information, photos, and more. Once your page is created and optimized, customers who check in at your location can also rate it, thus improving your placement in the Facebook Nearby search results when someone searches for a local business like yours.

Claim Your Place
A Facebook Place page for your physical location may already exist. But, to get the most out of this local business feature, you need to claim your Place. Claiming your Place not only gives you control over the information visitors see about your business, but it also lets you see the activity on your Place, like check-ins and recommendations from people visiting your physical location. Here's how to find or create your Place.

Create Your Page
Even more important than your claiming your Place is having a Page for your business on Facebook. This public Facebook page, once you have filled it with keyword-rich information about your business, can be indexed by Google to provide a key place for prospective customers to learn about your business. Plus, when people "like" your page, you can share quality content like photos, videos, special offers, interesting stories, helpful tips, and more with them. And, having a Facebook page for your business means you can merge this page with your place listing, which can help you get more out of Facebook nearby by offering even more robust business information to Facebook Nearby users.

Merge Your Pages
Once you have both a Place and a business Page, you may be able to merge your pages. At this time, Facebook has not rolled out the merging feature to all businesses, so check your page regularly to see if yours has this feature yet. Once you can access the merging feature, Facebook recommends merging your Place and Page if you are prompted to do so by the site when you log into your Facebook page and if you have just one physical location. If you have more than one physical location, it's best not to merge at this time. While multiple locations are not supported at this time, Facebook says a solution for merging multiple locations to a single Page will be available in the future. Once you have merged your Facebook Place and your Page, local consumers searching for you on Facebook Nearby will see in their results your business photo and other details from your business page. Plus, now, when they "like" your business from the Facebook Nearby feature, they will also like your Page directly, which enables them see content from your business in their Facebook feed.

Encourage Check-ins, Star Ratings & Recommendations

Because Facebook Nearby results are ranked by criteria such as star ratings (from 1-5 stars), check-ins, likes, and text recommendations, it's important to drive this kind of engagement from your customers and fans on Facebook. These cues from local consumers tell Facebook which businesses to display when someone searches in the app.

To get the most out of these new features, encourage fans to not just "like" and recommend your business, but to more importantly check in at your location and give it a star rating (only customers who have checked in can give your business a star rating). To drive this type of engagement from your customers, you could leverage in-store signage, Facebook posts to your existing fans, emails, and more to ask your customers to take action when they visit you. Plus, you could even offer an incentive similar to what you might on Foursquare, such as a request to check in on Facebook and show your server your check-in to receive free a appetizer.

Facebook says that as Facebook Nearby becomes more popular with consumers and the ability to merge your Facebook place with your page rolls out to more businesses, recommendations will become more personalized to each user as their friends check in, rate, and recommend more businesses.  While the ability to write lengthy recommendations, add photos, and other features offered by other review sites or location-based services appear absent from Facebook Nearby at this time, Facebook's already massive user base may lead to widespread use of the feature, making Facebook Nearby a hit with both local consumers and businesses.

What do you think of the new Nearby feature on Facebook? How will Facebook Nearby factor in to the way you use other local business services like Yelp and Foursquare? Let us know what you think in the comments!

How Businesses Wield Social Media for Better (& Worse)

Posted: 20 Dec 2012 01:10 PM PST

Social media is huge these days with businesses; 94% of businesses who trust a marketing department utilize social media. However, not all companies utilize social media with good intent. There are some who use it only to spam their followers, which doesn’t get them very far in a world where people are tired of being bombarded with sales pitches. Here are a few of the companies who have used social media in different ways.

Jenny “The Bloggess” Lawson

she blogger
Image via The Blogess

Jenny Lawson, commonly referred to by her fans as The Bloggess, is a blogger with a colorful personality and a heart as big as her home state of Texas. A regular on the Twittersphere, Jenny got an idea back in 2010 when many of her followers spoke about their inability to provide Christmas gifts to their children. When she asked her fans to donate small gift cards to families in need, she had no idea it would turn into $40,000 in donations and gifts.

Followers with enough to share came together to assist followers who had lost jobs and were drowning in a pile of bills. Jenny kept track of everything on a spread sheet and because of the high response, she has organized the same type of opportunity for the last two years.

GiantNerd

giantnerd
Image via blog.GiantNerd

GiantNerd is a company that offers up outdoor supplies for hikers, athletes and others. They have a wonderful grasp on how to utilize social media to connect better with their customers. For instance, when customers “like” their Facebook page, they receive a code for a 5% discount that is exclusive to Facebook followers. They also offer additional discounts for individuals who sign up to their mailing list and make their social media links available nearly everywhere on their website.

Kentucky Fried Chicken

KFC
Image via Flickr by Waleed Alzuhair

While there are companies and personalities like Giant Nerd and The Bloggess who get social media right, there are also companies that get it wrong. For instance, as individuals in Thailand waited to find out whether they would be in the path of a giant tsunami, KFC used the opportunity as a way to market their products.

They offered it as the perfect “news watching” snack and when individuals became upset, KFC apologized and deleted the post. Using social media to spam followers and take advantage of disasters is never a good idea.

Kenneth Cole

Kenneth
Image via Flickr by rachelbinx

Another company that spammed customers using a disaster situation was Kenneth Cole. As individuals in Cairo experienced uprisings that were no doubt terrifying, Kenneth Cole’s twitter account posted the tweet, “Millions are in an uproar in Cairo. Rumor is they heard our new spring collection is now available…” This was a big no-no, and as individuals became extremely upset at the post, it was removed and an apology was issued.

All in all, it’s important that businesses learn to use their social media accounts to better connect with customers and to actually make a difference. In the same way that PETA saves animals using their social media accounts, other businesses can make a difference in the world and do some good; it’s better advertising than hours worth of ads.

Why SEO Has Become TDO (Targeted Discovery Optimization)

Posted: 20 Dec 2012 12:55 PM PST

"I want what I want when I want it." No, this isn't a quote from my three-year old (though it just as well might be); this is a snapshot of our thinking very time we use a search engine or mobile app for needs discovery. Whether it's a keyword search for "the capital of Djibouti," or a voice query for "best brew pub in Minneapolis," we are not asking Google's search engine or Apple's Siri to shoot us an eMail or text with the answer sometime later on- far from it. In each of these instances, we are engaging in a highly targeted discovery action through which we expect to fulfill an immediate need or a want. We do this with search engines, social search queries, social-mobile apps and more. In such a fragmented needs discovery environment, brands and digital marketers must optimize for targeted discovery. Move over SEO, we live in an age of TDO.

As search engines like Google move to context-based algorithms that favor content over process, SEO will slowly morph into user-intent-driven targeted discovery. The proliferation of specific-use social mobile apps, socially-generated content (user-generated reviews), and predictive recommendations will upend the traditional search process, ushering in a new era of targeted discovery.

HOW WE GOT THERE

In tech terms, the transition from SEO to TDO has been a relatively gradual process. Consumer empowerment through widespread Internet, social and mobile adoption, coupled with the shift of search engines like Google to favor fresh and original content are probably the most relevant factors at play.

The rise of mobile especially has forced marketers and digital strategists to rethink search. Shunning the laborious process of typing in a search query on their smartphones, consumers, always looking for simplicity and convenience, are opting for specific-use mobile apps for needs discovery. Many prefer social mobile apps like Yelp and Foursquare, with their user-generated reviews and promoted local offerings, over traditional search engines.

With a majority of social users accessing their favorite social networks via mobile devices, there has been a gradual uptick of internal "social" searches on platforms like Facebook. This trend partially explains Google's longstanding obsession with pushing its truly social search platform, Google+.

User generated reviews from friends and family add more immediacy to the social search experience for many mobile social users. Recognizing that affinity breeds trust and promotes action, the big social networks are baking in recommendations from social review/ratings sites (think Zagat), as well as from members of one's own social following.

Into the mix one must add highly sophisticated, big-data generated initiatives such as ad retargeting (provides tailored ads based on previous browsing history) and predictive recommendations (shows ads of products you should like based on your online profile). Each is a high-sophisticated form of needs discovery attempting to fulfill a consumer want or need immediately after, or even before, it is consciously realized.

WERE WE ARE NOW

In this increasingly complex and fragmented consumer needs discovery environment, the term SEO (search engine optimization) describes only one element of the mix. SEO, social search, social mobile apps, ad retargeting, and predictive recommendations all have one thing in common: they're trying to address or fulfill a specific query that was at some point instigated by a consumer engaging in the process of needs discovery, of saying, "I want what I want when I want it."

Targeted Discovery Optimization (TDO) is, in fact if not in form, what marketers are really trying to facilitate. So why not call it that?

5 Ways to Make Your Blog Better in 2013

Posted: 20 Dec 2012 12:10 PM PST

If there’s one thing that unifies the Internet, it’s change. Whether we’re talking about technological developments or content trends, stagnation doesn’t have much room to flourish.

But still, sometimes content creators get stuck in ruts.  We stick with what we know, perhaps unwittingly.

As you prepare to change your calendar from one year to the next, it’s a great time to perform an honest, big-picture assessment of what you did in the past year. Then, think over what types of changes you could make in the coming 12 months to make your blog better.

Of course, blogs have different styles, audiences, and goals, and so the changes that bloggers will have to mull over will be varied. Beneath specificity and customization, however, there are a few general ways most bloggers can make their blog better in 2013. Here are five of them.

Repeat past success

You may be forward-thinking, but that’s no reason to discredit the lessons of your past. Which posts are your best? Which had plenty of shares, or perhaps more comments than average? And why were they received so well? Pinpoint these factors and use them as a foundation for new posts.

Keep an eye on breaking trends

Readers’ tastes change. What may have once attracted and retained plenty of readers may elicit halfhearted shrugs years later.  By keeping an eye on trends, you’re better prepared to see which topics are dying out and which are heating up.

Accept (good) guest posts

Quality control is important here, but having at least a few high-quality guest posts can add variety to your blog. It also gives your blog a new level of sociability. In other words, you’re not just talking to people; your community is speaking up, too.

Diversify your content

Content takes on many forms online — videos, infographics, PowerPoint presentations, just to name a few. Try breaking out of your comfort zone once in a while to create content through an unfamiliar medium, but one that you think your visitors will appreciate.

Go responsive

Let’s face it: mobile has arrived. More people than ever have mobile devices, and so visitors will be interacting with your site from products with varied screen sizes. If your website isn’t designed to accommodate the new wave of mobile technology, you could alienate visitors who want to check out your site, but ultimately abandon it because it’s too difficult to navigate and read through their phone or tablet.

If you maintain a blog, what would you like to accomplish in 2013? And what actions do you plan to take in order to get there?

How Can I Help You? A Look At Social Media In Customer Service

Posted: 20 Dec 2012 11:50 AM PST

Nowadays, with social media being so prevalent, it’s obvious businesses are going to start turning to social sites to provide better customer service. About 47% of social media users “actively seek” customer service through social media and 30% say they prefer that method to the traditional phone call. By the end of 2012, 80% of companies plan to use social media for customer service. Customers who have engaged with companies via social media spend 20 – 40% more money with those companies. Also, when receiving positive customer service through social media, 71% of consumers recommend the brand.

Customer service through social media is gradually increasing, and customers are already used social media for customer service issues. Last year, 32% of Americans said that social networks influenced their buying decision; however, this year we have seen a major increase with 64% of Americans using social network to influence their buying. Facebook is a huge social site and 47% of respondents said that this is where their greatest purchasing impact stems from. Also, nearly 1/3 turn to branded social pages on Facebook to ask product questions as well.

There are different industries for customer service that use social media. Some of these industries include health insurance, cable/telco, retail, and utilities. There are 76% of respondents who went online looking for information on health insurers this past year and 21% of those say that their social media friend’s comments influenced their opinion about health insurance. In 2010, Time Warner launched @comcastcares and now has more than 45,000 followers and a team of more than half a dozen staffers. This Twitter handle has become the gold standard in online customer support. Also, by the end of 2017, more than 624 million utility customers worldwide will use some form of social media to engage with their electricity providers.

Poor customer service results in a loss of sales. Of those surveyed, 800 out of 1,000 said they did not make a purchase because of poor customer service. So, whether you’re running a business or purchasing from a company, be sure to incorporate good customer service with your social media- it could mean big sales.

ClickSoftware Service Management Software
ClickSoftware service management software

Facebook Privacy Fails [Infographic]

Posted: 20 Dec 2012 11:45 AM PST

Lately Facebook has been going through quite the changes, but how are their users adjusting? Not just with the way Facebook looks, the social networking site has changed their privacy terms and conditions as well. Part of Facebook’s mission statement is to, “…make the world more open and connected.” However, do we really want that?

The first privacy fail was in 2009 when Facebook reset their privacy settings without warning. This change exposed your “about me” page, friends list, and posts such as status updates, links, photos, videos, and notes to the public for anyone to see.

The next failure was when Facebook manually switched privacy settings to “friends only” mode. This did not prevent all personal information from being shared with third party applications or friends of users signed up with third party applications. Seventeen percent of users still use no privacy settings at all and 13 million U.S. Facebook users have never opened their privacy settings. The consequences of unknowingly posting private information publically was a feed at weknowwhatyouredoing.com that allows Facebook updates of individuals to be seen with no privacy setting.

In 2010, Facebook was caught giving user info to online giants. The user information is being used to “recommend” their products to show up on other sites. However, contracting Facebook’s own privacy policy section 5, it states, “We do not share your information with advertisers without your consent.” Fail.

Once Facebook released the timeline feature, people reacted in different ways. Only 7.96% of users said they liked the new timeline layout, however, there were 51.29% who said they were worried about the timeline. The Facebook timeline changed the whole fabric of Facebook, it unearthed material from years prior that made many users feel uncomfortable. Not to mention, once the timeline was turned on, you could not turn it off.

Facebook then focused on making money, at the expense of it’s users. In May 2012, Facebook went public with an initial public offering of $38 a share on the first day, they traded. By September 2012, the value of a Facebook share lost 47% of it’s value, bringing the cost to $18 a share. However, the current value is $27 per share of Facebook stock.

To learn more about Facebook’s privacy fails check out the infographic below presented by topwebdesignschools.org.

Facebook Privacy Fail
Image compliments of Top Web Design Schools

On the Lookout: Five Social Media Hoaxes That Went Viral in 2012

Posted: 20 Dec 2012 11:15 AM PST

As if we needed any reminder, as we countdown to the End of Days—and stock our "doomsday" bunkers with non-perishable food items, bottled water and a lifelong supply of batteries—there's no such thing as baby-snatching golden eagles.

The internet's most recent tomfoolery gone viral soared into many of our Facebook newsfeeds and Twitter timelines Wednesday morning, feeding our friends and followers to the latest social media prank. The video had nearly 17 million views on YouTube by Thursday morning.

Admittedly, I was among the many to share the video—despite some glaring signs of illegitimacy, such as the nonchalant, "Oh shit" as the baby gets scooped up, or the sheer fact that the chances of this ever happening, let alone in a city like Montreal, are slim to none, right?

According to bird expert Kenn Kaufman, the "golden eagle is a scarce visitor in the Montreal area, but the bird in the video is not a golden eagle, nor anything else that occurs in the wild in North America. This was clearly a setup."

The CBC later reported that the feathered kidnapper was in fact created by students at Montreal's 3D technology school, Centre NAD.

And that's that. Yet I (I mean, we) should have known better. Then again, these social media firestorms happen far too often. Sadly, this type of misinformation is churned up during natural disasters or even during the horrific events that took place last week in Newtown, Conn.

As the story unfolded, news outlets referenced the Facebook page of Ryan Lanza, the name initially linked to the brutal murders. Those with the same name were also thrust into the unwelcoming spotlight on Facebook and Twitter. Authorities warned that those spreading false details about the shooting were subject to arrest, according to CNN.

On a lighter note, however, there has been a fair share of Twitter and Facebook rumors that have spread like wildfire long before they were appropriately debunked. Therefore, it's only fitting that before we're treated to false pictures of mammoth tsunamis, catastrophic meteor showers and countless natural disasters, we're reminded of some of the most infamous social media hoaxes in recent memory.

 

1. Morgan Freeman's "real reasons"

In the wake of the Newtown tragedy, a throng of celebrities voiced their support via Facebook and Twitter for those adversely affected. Among other things, plenty expressed their concern about the number of unspeakable massacres that have taken place in the United States since the shooting at Columbine.

Faux Morgan Freeman got in on the act by chiding the media for its mishandling of several erroneous reports, while also citing America's gun policies and mental health care as part of the problem.

Courtesy of inquisitr.com

The quote was subsequently reposted on Facebook and mentioned all over Twitter, even after a Freeman spokesperson released a statement refuting the comments. According to Inquisitr, the quote was originally posted by a Vancouver man on Facebook and then attributed to Freeman as a joke.

Like Abraham Lincoln once said: "don't believe everything you read on the internet."

2. The $1 million Facebook share

When the record Powerball Jackpot reached more than $587 million, a frenzy of millionaire hopefuls headed to their local convenient stores to play the lottery. After it was announced that two people—one in Arizona and the other in Missouri—had won and were going to split the massive prize, a couple of pranksters decided they would trick Facebookers into a shot at claiming a $1 million share of their own.

Nolan Daniels and Sokhavy Hilton both took to Facebook to post pictures each boasting one of the winning tickets, soliciting shares by offering one random person $1 million.

Courtesy of Daniels' Facebook page

Daniels' post garnered nearly two million shares and 60,000 likes, while Hilton's picked up merely 310,000. Nonetheless, that's a lot of stupid people. Both photos were poorly photoshopped, with the winning numbers modified on the tickets. According to CNN, Daniels' post may be the most shared item ever on Facebook.

Some people are just desperate, I guess.

3. Countless Hurricane Sandy photos

After Hurricane Sandy unleashed her wrath along the Atlantic coast, including the most populated region in the United States, our Facebook and Twitter feeds were inundated with countless, eye-popping photos—from underwater airport runways, to stray seals and wandering sharks pictured in flooded New Jersey suburbs.

Source

One of the more common photos that wowed people across the globe is the photo pictured above, depicting an impressive storm closing in on the Statue of Liberty (not as bad as this photo, though). According to TheWeek.com, the storm clouds were actually taken by a storm chaser in Nebraska in 2004.

Fortunately, this photo was revamped by several clever pranksters, like in the image below:

Courtesy of @dmataconis

4. Facebook privacy statement

In November, a few of my friends on Facebook attached a pointless copyright notice in a misguided effort to protect their privacy rights on the now publicly traded social network. By posting the rather long statement, the contents of your profile were deemed "private and legally privileged and confidential information," thus making the violation of such personal and private information to be "punishable by law."

As stated by popular rumor-debunking site Snopes, "Facebook users cannot retroactively negate any of the privacy or copyright terms they agreed to when they signed up for their accounts nor can they unilaterally alter or contradict any new privacy or copyright terms by posting a contrary legal notice on their Facebook walls."

Facebook then issued a statement that basically said Facebook users own and control the content that they post via their privacy settings, which has always been the case for the social media site.

5. Kara Alongi "kidnapped" on Twitter

Instead of discussing the multitude of celebrity death hoaxes that spread on Twitter and Facebook—such as that of Bill Cosby, Adele and, of course, Morgan Freeman—there was more bizarre and believable ruse that sent local police in New Jersey on a wild goose chase for an apparent missing teenager.

Source

Kara Alongi, a 16-year-old from Clark New Jersey, posted the Tweet pictured above, igniting a frantic search for the supposed abducted teen. Soon after the hashtag #HelpFindKara was circulating on Twitter to assist in the search.

Police, however, revealed that the teen was presumed on the run and not the victim of the abduction after authorities found that she had called a cab around the time the cryptic Tweet was sent and nearby surveillance cameras spotted her waiting at a New Jersey train station. Two days later, the teen called police roughly 100 miles from home and she was then reunited with her family, according to the L.A. Times.

Alongi, though, faced "possible charges" for stirring up such commotion. This type of nonsense is what makes Twitter dangerously powerful. Without any type of context, how are we supposed to determine what's legitimate and what isn't?

What are your favorite social media hoaxes of the year? Feel free to tell us in a comment below.

(View the original post at Mainstreethost’s Search Marketing Blog)

Should You Really Be Focused on Social Media?

Posted: 20 Dec 2012 10:50 AM PST

How much time and money to invest in a social media campaign is a question that every business must address. What does your business do? How do you do it? Where do your customers come from, and how do they find you? These are all questions that give parts of the answer to the bigger question as to whether social media is for you. Let's explore a few aspects of what a business might consider before putting capital and time into the world of social media.

Social Media Can Be Unnecessary

The need for the use of social media is specific to each and every individual business. In my business, it's not necessary. Even though I'm using Facebook and Twitter, and have already established a large community, it's not what we need. Since we are liquidation and wholesale liquidator, most of our buyers demand privacy and would never join our Facebook page and let the world and their competitors know we are the supplier.

As in most businesses, you have to determine not what you want, but what your customers want. Do they want to find you in the social media sphere, or do they prefer your relationship to be private and strictly professional? Answer that and you'll know whether or not you need social media in your corner.

Improve Without Being Social

You can improve sales and increase clientele without social media. No matter what the trend is today or tomorrow, nothing gets people into your brick and mortar store more than location and visibility. If you have 5,000 Facebook likes, but no one can find your store or see your sign, likes are meaningless.

For a business that sells a product or service that services clients over a large distance, I would recommend focusing on SEO (search engine optimization) and SEM (search engine marketing) or email marketing.

Analyze the Results

When you open a social media campaign, make sure to have landing pages, and use Google analytics. It will give you the details of all the traffic your site receives. Also, by using A/B testing you can see the conversion for your email requests.

When I started my Facebook campaign I dedicated capital and time. I tested my conversion rates by using a new phone number, email, and landing pages. This way, I was able to track sales calls, emails, and online sales using the landing pages. After a month, I had all my numbers to check if the campaign was worth it or not. I then used this information to decide to change the process, improve it, or scrap it all together.

Benefits of Refraining from Social

As I said earlier, the benefits of social media are specific to the type of business you're in. If I sell TV's online, social media may be my best option for advertising because people would love to recommend a good deal on a TV. But, if I sell whole sell TV's with a minimum sale of $50,000 worth of merchandise, the social media campaign would be restricted to unique set circle of people who don't necessarily want to share this information.

By refraining from social media circles, we show our clients that we are willing to offer them a certain amount of anonymity. They know that if they work with us that their business will remain private.

Social media is a powerful tool for many businesses, but it isn't pertinent to the success of all businesses. For some businesses it's their main conduit of advertising and promotion, for others, it's simply a space for people to read about what they do. Define what is best for your customers and your business before putting time and money behind any social media campaign. Find new ways to meet your customers and clients. It will be social, but it may not need social media.

Social Media Success Secret Tip #1 – Find Your People

Posted: 20 Dec 2012 10:40 AM PST

Congratulations on deciding you too want social media success! You're reading the first, in a series of tips to finding out how and to developing your own:

Social Media Success

Everyone wants to know the secret to social media success. They want to know the magic secret shortcut to take them from nobody online and no sales to a respected thought leader in the industry generating sales all day long.

But wait…it's not that simple.

It's not that easy because there is no magic secret short to social media success. There are a combination of factors and actions that you need to implement on a daily, weekly and monthly basis to truly build social marketing success. It doesn't happen overnight. For many of the people who are successful, it took them YEARS of being dedicated to living a social media lifestyle where they built themselves, their company and their brand.

Are you willing to do the work and make the sacrifice?

Here's the first in about 10 or 12 tips…

Social Media Success Tip #1 – Find Your People

One of the biggest hurdles to social media success is the lack of eyes on your content. Whether it's your own blog, Twitter, Facebook, Google+, Pinterest or wherever you set up your social media outpost, you need people checking out what you're talking about, what you're sharing, and at some point, what you and/or your company offers.

But you just can't have any ol' people looking at what you offer, so don't go out there and just start randomly adding people on Twitter, "friending" people on Facebook just to have ego-inflating numbers of followers…they need to be targeted individuals who would be interested in what you have.

100, 500, 1000 targeted followers in your niche is far more profitable in the long term than 10,000 random people who may not even care about what you're sharing.

You need a community of people that are interested in what you're interested in, what you and/or your company want to talk about. A group of people that you can share your passion, your excitement, your company with.

If you don't find people who want what you offer then every single other social media success tip will not help.

This is only the beginning, but it is the foundation to social media success. Find your people…if you don't know how, ask me how.

Be on the look out for the next social media success secret…engagement.

How Real Names Will Change YouTube for the Better

Posted: 20 Dec 2012 08:36 AM PST

How Real Names Will Change YouTube for the BetterWith Google's anonymity-altering move in July, asking YouTube users to reveal their real names, a new wave of reason seems poised to strike the comments section of a variety of channels.

The World Before

In the past, YouTube was known for its less-than-witty commenters, with comments ranging from monosyllabic taunts to long, multi-post diatribes on how incorrect a creator's opinions were.

As the Huffington Post pointed out in their article on the changeover back in July, there is even a blog dedicated to "Stupid YouTube Comments." The push to make people stand up and identify themselves by name and, by extension, Google+ profile, is definitely a much-desired one in the web creator community.

A World Without Comments?

I'd been previously in awe of a post from the ANIMAL blog, written in April of 2012 before the YouTube changeover, called "Comments are Bad Business for Online Media," in which writer Joel Johnson describes comments, not just from YouTube, but from the Internet as a whole, as being utterly useless.

Johnson found that blog and website comments don't generate revenue, they don't provoke discussion, and that "people who actually read comments are a small fraction of one percent of [a site's] entire readership."

The people who leave comments are a larger percentage than the people that read comments. This means that there are people who comment without reading the previous discussion.

YouTube and Comments

YouTube has a higher apparent percentage of people interacting with comments, voting them up or down, or even replying to them. Some of those replies can be something as simple as an insult to the original commenter's intelligence, but the potential for a conversation to start is higher than you might find on a blog or other website.

In addition to my work at Content Equals Money, I work as a web creator and co-host of my own web series, Geek Crash Course. The show, a weekly educational series based on geek topics, is often besieged by inane comments on my female co-host's anatomy, minor errors in information we discuss, or even the dreaded "FIRST" – a comment born of the last vestiges of flag-planting inanity that leads to dreams of empire and world-spanning war.

There are other web creators, like toy reviewer CCLemon99, who also try to avoid some of the comment shenanigans. CCLemon99 will close the comments section of a new video entirely after it is up for a week. His explanation, drawn from five years of experience on YouTube, is simple: "Nothing of use will EVER be left in the comment section after the first week the video has been published." (Emphasis by bolding is his.)

But maybe the key isn't to just get rid of comments, as Johnson did in his ANIMAL blog post on the subject. Maybe the key is to foster a higher class of comment by attributing a human name to the words posted.

I don't have illusions that attaching a proper name to something will make it instantly better. We may live in an increasingly surveillance-heavy world, but that doesn't mean that a single person among 7 billion other people still can't feel secure in their anonymity on a massive video service like YouTube.

There is, however, a slightly more impressive potential driver for people to think about opinions and start real conversations.

The Shape of Things to Come?

While we wonder how the opt-in choice to use a real name and associate a YouTube account could change the comments sphere, Google might have a push in mind to make the change mandatory in the future.

Back in November, Google made real names mandatory on another of their services, Google Play.

Google Play works as an answer to iTunes, operating in the cloud and storing a user's music, movies, and podcasts, and allowing that user to buy new material for their entertainment.

While devoid of a comments section or a real social component, there is the potential for impending Google+ connections to create the sort of atmosphere of a YouTube comment feed. Google seems to be nipping this potential in the bud, placing real names and faces to the people talking.

Wild Predictions and Possible Futures

Could the mandatory nature of the name-display change be the first step in a move making the similar name-display change on YouTube mandatory?

With modifications to allow brands to show the name of the brand instead of a person's name, the idea could work. The potential now exists to make the commenter sphere a lot more conversational and reasonable.

The is also potential for a slew of fake-names (or worse, co-opted names from stolen profiles) to continue posting asinine comments to the world, but just the idea of making commenters think before they post could really change the game for a lot of web creators, and inspire a more interesting field of conversation.

Would you like to see the display of real names become mandatory on YouTube?

How To View Any Profile On LinkedIn

Posted: 20 Dec 2012 08:32 AM PST

I'm sure it has happened to you too. You look someone up on LinkedIn only to find they are a third degree connection (or not even!) and you get a profile page with basically no information.

LinkedIn profile access is even more restricted, today you now need a premium account to view third degree connections.

Of course, you can solve this with a premium membership, but here is how to view the full public profile without a premium account.

Here is an example using Eric Cantor, a Congressman from Virginia that I don't share any groups with and isn't a connection. Searching in LinkedIn, this is all I was able to see of his profile:

Limited profile available for 3rd degree connections

1. Search On Google

Don't start with LinkedIn. Instead, use Google and include LinkedIn in your search (or even start the search with site:linkedin.com to limit your results to just LinkedIn).

You are looking for a search result that goes directly to the individual, not a LinkedIn search results page. Here is what it should look like. Notice the title and location indicate it's a result for an individual profile.

Eric Cantor Google Result

Particularly if its a common name, adding a title, company, location or other info to your search will help to narrow the results and find the right person. In this case, I searched for site:Linkedin.com Eric Cantor Majority Leader.

2. View the Cached Profile

Mouse over the search result, you will get a chevron to the right of the result. Mouse over the chevron and you will see a preview of the page and a link to view the cached version of the page.

The cached page is your ticket. This is the profile Google sees and indexes.

Click to view the cached version, and viola, you will see the full public profile. Here is Eric Cantor's full public profile (click to see it full size).

If you are identifying contacts, researching prospects or just spying on a competitor, now you can access any profile on LinkedIn.

Troubleshooting

If you cannot easily find the profile using Google, view Google's cached version of one of the LinkedIn search results pages. You will get the full name, headline, title and both current and past companies. Add the title or headline to your search and you will get directly to the right person.

For Eric Cantor again, here is the cached search results page, showing significantly more information than the typical LinkedIn search results page offers.

Eric Cantor Search

Similarly, if you are searching for a contact by title at a company, start by searching for the company plus title on Google and limiting your results just to LinkedIn. By viewing the cached results, you can identify the person and get their full name, even if you are not connected to them at all.

Your Turn

Do you have favorite LinkedIn tricks you have discovered? If so, please share them in the comments below or with me on Twitter (@wittlake)!

The History of Social Media

Posted: 20 Dec 2012 08:07 AM PST

There's nothing new under the sun?

There's an assumption that, just because social media keeps evolving and we start to use new tools, that 'social media' is a new phenomenon. Nothing could be further from the truth.

This informative infographic tells the story of how people have been social on the internet, from the birth of email and Usenet to up-to-date tools like Pinterest and Google+.

A History of Social Media [Infographic] - Infographic

Like this infographic? Get more content marketing tips from Copyblogger.

The post The History of Social Media appeared first on Brightfire Blog.

3 Vital Social Channels for 2013

Posted: 20 Dec 2012 07:53 AM PST

"2013's emerging trends will focus on how to measure, analyze, and engage audiences effectively on social networks." – Search Engine Journal.

As social media continues to increase its presence in accordance with search, businesses are often left wondering which networks are most valuable. Each poses different opportunities depending upon brand audience and goals, but there are three in particular that should be universally optimized heading into the New Year. Keep reading below to find out what the networks of note are for 2013.

  1. Google+: The ground-breaking combination of search and social intertwined in this network provides much room for growth and future adaptation. The SEO benefits alone yield reason for all businesses to jump on board, and the social features continue to roll-out and improve. It is important to build a strong presence on this channel as we move into the upcoming year. After initially creating a page, you should reach out to influencers, post content daily, and take advantage of the offered opportunities – hangouts, communities, circles and more.
  2. Pinterest: As the fastest growing social network this past year, Pinterest has revolutionized image-based social media. With roughly 11 million users, the site is slowly but surely beginning to cater more toward businesses (as evident in the launch of Pinterest for Business). So far, it has proven to be quite successful in converting pins to purchases for e-tail, and the addition of features such as price-pointed pins and gifts will only continue to expand effectiveness. Pinterest also recently added support for Twitter Cards, a strategic move in cross-promotion.
  3. Twitter: After Instagram declared "war" and removed the option to optimize images for tweets, Twitter responded by creating their own picture app to incorporate in the channel. With filters available – as shown here – and an open API, 2013 can only mean more positive changes for the channel. The site now claims over 200 million monthly active users and reigns #2 amidst social giants such as Facebook and LinkedIn.

2013 will be an interesting time in the digital sphere, with even established networks looking to stand out among the rest. To further improve ROI, sales and customer acquisition by way of these increasingly important social channels, contact us for a social media optimization audit!

WordPress Security Warning: Pingback Vulnerability & Temporary Fix

Posted: 20 Dec 2012 07:45 AM PST

Affects ALL Present Versions of WordPress

This article is courtesy of WPSecurityLock's security pro, Regina Smola. (Thanks Regina!)

A WordPress pingback vulnerability has been reported that could put your site's security at risk for a distributed denial-of-service attack (DDoS) attack.

Many WordPress bloggers use pingbacks and trackbacks to get notifications when someone links to their posts. I am one that likes to use them as well. But unfortunately, this new pingback vulnerability puts all our WordPress sites at risk.

A big thanks goes out to Bogdan Calin at Acunetix for his article "WordPress Pingback Vulnerability" to alert the public. He stated somebody posted on Redit about a WordPress scanner that is taking advantage of this new WordPress vulnerability. And even if you disable trackbacks, the threat still exists.

Which version of WordPress is affected?

While reading through comments on Bogdan's article, it seems that even WordPress 3.5 is at risk. So it looks like all versions.

guly
actually in my overnight tests i found that a blog post where trackbacks are disabled isn't vulnerable. disabling it worked as a fix for my test installation, of course YMMV.

Bogdan Calin
That's not my experience. In my case it worked even if trackbacks were disabled. I've tested on WordPress 3.5.

Source: http://www.acunetix.com/blog/web-security-zone/wordpress-pingback-vulnerability/#comment-33097

How do you protect your WordPress blog from this pingback vulnerability?

According to Bogdan, there is no current fix but it has been reported to WordPress and will probably be fixed soon. In the meantime, you can disable your pingbacks and trackbacks from your WordPress Dashboard as follows:

  1. Settings > Discussion
  2. Uncheck "Allow link notifications from other blogs (pingbacks and trackbacks)." Note: This will only disable trackbacks and pingbacks for future posts (not existing posts).
  3. Scroll down the bottom of the page and click the "Save Changes" button.
  4. You can then either visit each of your old posts and manually disable trackbacks on each, or you can forcibly disable all at once using CPanel.

Note from Kim: This patch is a "necessary evil" for the time being. I generally never recommend disabling this. However, at this time, it's critical that you do so. Just re-enable it as soon as WordPress patches this vulnerability

Important! Then as a safety precaution, Acunetix suggests renaming your xmlrpc.php file to something else.

How to rename WordPress xmlrpc.php file

  1. Log-in to your hosting server via SFTP through Filezilla or your favorite FTP program. Or through your cPanel > File Manager.
  2. Open your home directory (usually public_html) or where your WordPress is installed. (Tip: This is where your wp-activate.php file exists.)
  3. Find the xmlrpc.php file and Right-click then rename the file.

Until there is a WordPress security patch, I strongly suggest you follow the steps above to protect all your WordPress sites from this pingback vulnerability.

Note from Kim: If you do this, any tool that connects by xmlrpc will no longer work. Most likely this does not affect you but if you connect to your blog remotely using Windows Live Writer, etc… you will not be able to do so if you make this change.

Leave Your Feedback

Have questions or concerns? You can either leave them for me (Kim) below or you can visit with Regina at her site and ask her there!

Be sure to share this article with friends and colleagues so we can all help keep our sites safe.

Why You Will Never Succeed With Your Blog

Posted: 20 Dec 2012 07:36 AM PST

Many people think of blogging as a 'get rich quick scheme'. They think all they just need to do is to set up a button and ‘PAM’, they have a blog and their business is up. They don’t want to invest their time, money, and energy.

If you’re not ready to give all it takes for the growth of your business, please stop reading this article. I don’t mean to be rude but, I don’t see any reason why you should read this article if you’re not ready to give what it takes to grow your blogging business.

I've been doing business online now for close to 2 years, counting my fails and it’s a question of the power of endurance.

The thing is, if you keep at it, you will make it!

Blogging is not for lazy people. It is for people who are ready to work hard and are passionate about the needs of people. Most people think running an online business is like A.B.C.  Getting an online business up there is real hard work, but many people are not ready to give it all it takes (money, time, resources).

If you’ve not half success with blogging, it means there are something's you’re doing wrong.

Look deep down into yourself and see why you fail at blogging:.

Here's why your blog is not growing:

1.      Your writing sucks

This does not mean you have horrible English. What I mean is, you’re not able to write in a funny and interesting way. If you’re passionate about a topic, it will shine in your writing and your readers will refer more of their friends; but if you suck at writing, then don’t consider starting a blog (it will never work out) or even if you want to start a blog; hire a professional freelance blogger to help you create quality content.

2.      You’re not patient

You think blogging is a get -rich-scheme. You think building an email list takes days. Don’t deceive yourself. You’ll probably never get the kind of visitors you wanted in your first or third month but with patience and persistence, you will get the amount of readership you’ve always desired.

There are times you will feel discouraged and depressed to continue but don’t give up–don’t give in. Don’t allow the things you see determine the success of your business.

The things you see now are just temporal, but the things that are to come are eternal.

Pro tip: Be willing to put more work even when it seems like nothing is happening.

Don’t give up–maintain your faith!

3.      You give up too soon

Building an internet business takes time and you’re probably not going to reap the rewards until after several months or even years.

Well, I can’t blame you for giving up too soon; after all, it is normal to expect immediate results from anything you do (that is the nature of humans). However, you need to know that building a blog takes time  but the reward will be great if you stick to a 'MASTER PLAN'.

4.      You don’t know where to start

Without a plan, you can’t go far with blogging.

The reason why most blogs fail is because they don’t have an ultimate plan.

If you really want to build a profitable business blog, you must have an ultimate goal in mind. You must have a master plan and you must learn to dream big.

You need to know where to start–that’s the secret of building a successful blog.

5.      You’re scared of failing

Huh! You amaze me.

If you’re afraid to fail then you can’t achieve much success with blogging. Don’t be scared to make mistakes. Take up the plunge and start a blog; you'll learn on the job.

Nobody is perfect; we all are working towards perfection.

What do you think?

Do you desire success or failure?

Your choice.

Look deep down into yourself and figure out where you're lacking. Capitalize on your deficiencies and ensure you work on these tips.

Five Cheap Facebook Tricks (That Audiences Sometimes Love….)

Posted: 20 Dec 2012 07:23 AM PST

five cheap Facebook tricks..

This post is coming to you courtesy of inspiration from the funniest and most feared (by marketers) page on Facebook – Condescending Corporate Brand Page.

They do a great job of bringing together the most wince-inducing examples of Facebook marketing, proving the old adage that the road to corporate embarrassment is paved with a desperate need for Likes.*

Painful though they may be, most of the posts highlighted are just extreme forms of techniques that many businesses use, to some extent, and some definite themes emerge over time.

So just for you, here is our roundup of the top five Facebook Cheap Trick techniques.

*you've not heard that one? Yeah, it's old as the hills. Honest.

1: The Lowest Common Denominator

This is the Facebook equivalent of those ridiculous phone "quizzes" at the end of TV shows. You know the ones, those with the oh-so-tricky questions to ensure that nobody in possession of a phone is ruled out from picking it up. The "What's the capital of England, is it A)California, B) London, C) Fish" variety.

Only on Facebook, we have the space to be more creative, and that's how we end up with posts like this:

facebooktricks1

Ooooh Walkers, we don't know. It's a toughie.

2: The Awkward Piggyback

Desperate for engagement, any engagement, the poor Facebook admin jumps on any subject which they know will get people talking. No matter how irrelevant it is to their brand. The usual example of this involves neatly-scheduled Saturday evening questions about the X Factor.

Sometimes, they get away with it, and sometimes the post falls foul of the slippery slope from irrelevant to actively inappropriate. Controversial current affairs are particularly dangerous territory here – of which more later.

3: The False Dichotomy

This is a concept that we first saw coming out of the US, where unsavoury characters were using it to scare kids into the equivalent of the old email chain letter forward. A scary horror-movie style grisly ghoul image with text along the lines of "share if you're scared, like if you're very scared – do nothing and she's under your bed". You have two, and only two, choices – you can Like, or you can Share.

Never let it be said that marketers don't spot the zeitgeist…..

facebooktricks2

(with bonus points for the use of kittens, obviously). LIKE or COMMENT or SHARE but for the love of God, doing nothing is not an option!

4: Stating the bleedin' obvious

A variation on the above, where the longsuffering audience is asked to click Like in response to something that pretty much everyone on the planet would agree with.

The go-to here is "Click Like if you're happy it's Friday", but we've also seen "Click Like if you believe we should stop killing {insert endangered species here}".

It's only a matter of time until "Click Like if you're a fan of breathing!" comes along.

5: The Current Affairs Hijack

As mentioned above, this is seriously, seriously dangerous territory. It's a post about that thing that's dominating the news right now. Yes, it's topical. Yes, everyone's talking about it. But unless you have something genuinely witty or insightful to add, maybe just count to ten before hitting that Post button.

Shoehorning (pun intended) your own brand into the mix is particularly risky, as illustrated by the gem below in response to the recent school shooting in the US:

facebooktricks3Ouch. Seriously, guys??!

What do we learn from this?

Here's the thing, though – despite the (hilarious) snarkfest over on CCBP, the numbers on these posts speak for themselves. Often, that brand's Facebook audience (or at least, some part of it) love that stuff. No matter how banal, ridiculous or even borderline offensive some of these tricks may seem, thousands of customers will happily chat back or click the Like button just as they've been told to.

And everytime a punter clicks like, that activity feed tells all their friends, and on we go. This stuff works – for now, and for a certain demographic.

And for all Facebook marketers, there are useful lessons here about the psychology of engagement. Don't demand too much thought or effort of your audience. Talk about stuff they're interested in, even if you're not. Be playful. There are ways that most of the cheap tricks above can be refined into valuable party pieces, if you give them enough thought.

Backing Up WordPress – An Overview Of Available Options

Posted: 20 Dec 2012 07:15 AM PST

Backing Up WordPress

Backing Up WordPress is an essential part of website ownership today.

You need to ensure you are performing a FULL backup before you do upgrades, as well as a database backup at frequent intervals between upgrades.

If all of this is new to you, be sure you pick up my WordPress Video Training Library.

For the type of backup we need before an update… a FULL backup is in order.

This means we need to ensure we have both the database (the text part of your posts/pages) and the contents (your theme and your graphics and images).

Too often, novice bloggers make the mistake of only backing up their database and losing all of their thumbnails, featured images, embedded graphics and more. Trust me, you don't want to ever experience that!

Option #1: CPanel Backup: On the "very complete, but non-automatable" end of the spectrum, a full CPanel backup will do the trick. See the "Backup" icon in your Cpanel dashboard and select Full Backup. Be sure to download it from the server or it doesn't count as a backup.

This backup has the added bonus of including your domain based email account and more. However, it's not a backup that you yourself can actually do anything with. It's only useful to a hosting company.

Option #2: BackWPUp: WordPress plugins are my usual solution to this task and BackWPUp is a free plugin that for the most part gets the job done. Definitely work looking into if you need a free solution.

An upgraded version of this is included in WP Pipeline and is what I use on sites where I have been hired to do the backups/upgrades. Want to just forget all of this headache and let someone else take care of it for you? Contact me.

Option #3: Backup Buddy: Perhaps a childish name, but this plugin is "best of breed" many times over. Backup Buddy combines ease of use, with great support, and plenty of tutorials available.

It also includes a number of tools you won't find elsewhere such as free off site data storage and tools to help you migrate from one hosting account to another. Nothing tops this wonderful plugin and it will give you incredible peace of mind. Check out Backup Buddy.

This is a current summary of what is available and working well. If you used my prior tutorial for backing up WordPress, it's important that I state that those plugins do still work. However, they are getting some age on them and have not been updated (particularly the content backup plugin) and I do suggest upgrading to spare yourself any heartache down the road.

Happy WordPressing!

PS: Between update cycles, a database-only backup is generally sufficient unless you change your site dramatically. Fortunately, all of the above options can easily accomplish that so no other tools are needed.

Mythbusting in the Social Media Echochamber

Posted: 20 Dec 2012 07:15 AM PST

Marketing Directions: There is more than one right choiceAs a marketer it may be difficult to believe, but marketing is not a business objective.

Marketing must maintain or advance the business in order to be valuable and there is no single right way to do this.

Unfortunately, when ideas need to be encapsulated in 140 characters or forced into a list post template, marketers end up talking about a path instead of how to select the right path or uncover new innovative solutions.

Here are three recent examples that have been widely shared in B2B and social media discussions. Add your own in the comments below!

The Social CMO

Just because successful businesses have CMOs with strong social media profiles doesn't mean the social media engagement and knowledge of the CMO is the reason for their success.

  1. Correlation is not causation. Arguing that businesses with Social CMOs are more successful just establishes correlation.
  2. Who really wants to hear from CMOs that are not successfully moving their company forward?

In most cases, the business success and profile of the company is the likely reason for the CMO's influence or recognition in social media, not the other way around.

Do you want a social CMO or a CMO that moves your business forward?

The Social Business

According to the social media echochamber, every business must become a social business. If you are not a social business, soon you will be out of business.

The business that will be out of business soon is the one that cannot generate cash, does not have sufficient cash in the bank and cannot restructure its business to begin generating cash.

Can a social business model help your business do this? Maybe. But it isn't the solution, it is just one of many possible paths.

Many investors and executives that specialize in turning around struggling companies take the opposite path. They come in as company dictators and make drastic changes in order to drive dramatic improvements in results.

Do you want a social business or a successful business?

Engagement

Every brand needs to engage the audience? I don't want to engage with Coca-Cola, despite some of the great things they are doing in content marketing, and a certainly don't want to engage with Charmin or Crest.

In order to deliver a message or make an impression, you need attention. Engagement is just one of many possible ways get attention. More obnoxious and disruptive billboards on the side of the highway can also get your attention. Great television ads can get your attention (anyone remember Betty White's ad for a candy bar in the Super Bowl?).

Do you want to engage or do you want to change your audience's perception of your category, company or solution?

Summary

Innovation requires breaking the mold. As the social media echochamber positions a solution as if it is the ultimate destination, we miss the opportunity to break from the mold, refocus on the real objectives and discover a new path.

So step back for a moment, identify your ultimate objectives and reconsider the assumptions you have about how to get there. There is always more than one path.

Your Turn

What other advice from the social media echochamber positions the path as if it is the ultimate destination? Share your favorite examples in the comments below or with me on Twitter (@wittlake).

Photo credit: The road more traveled by Simon G on Flickr

7 Best Social Media Moments of 2012

Posted: 20 Dec 2012 06:20 AM PST

As 2012 is coming to an end, let us look at the top 7 social media moments of the year.

1. Gangnam Style Wave

Gangnam-Style

Gangnam-Style by PSY

Gangnam Style by PSY has been crowned as the most viewed video of all time in Youtube history. It has closed to 1 billion unique views which means that 1 in 7 people in the world actually sees the video.  The easy to remember horse riding dance steps makes history overnight by making people all around the world into action. "Oppan Gangnam Style" has also become one of the famous quotes of 2012.

2. Jackie Braun of Krispy Kreme

jackie braun of krispy kreme

Jackie Braun of Krispy Kreme

Amidst the many social media disasters happening to many brands and their embarrassed executives that are virally spread in the world today. Jackie Braun of Krispy Kreme did something extraordinary. Her deeds in making the special Olympic shaped donut for Jia Jiang during his quest "100 Days of Rejection Therapy", shows the good side of social media.  When the video of her deeds is uploaded on Youtube, her story suddenly become widespread in social media as well as both online and offline media.

Her story tells marketers like us that showing good customer service is the most important key to success in social media.

3. The Golden Tweet

Four more years - Barack and Michelle Obama

Four more years – Barack and Michelle Obama

This photo, "Four More Years,  of Obama winning the US election, is first posted on Barack Obama official twitter account; instantly the tweet has become the most retweeted tweet in 2012, with a record of 327,452 tweets per minute. Because of that, Twitter name it the Golden Tweet of the year.

4. Breathing Linsanity

The power of social media and the Internet is phenomenon.  In less than a week, Jeremy Lin becomes the most popular NBA basketball player in the world. Things are very fast today especially with social media, anything can happen in split seconds just like Linsanity.

5. Redbull Stratos Space Dive

The most incredible jump of the year

The most incredible jump of the year

Felix Baumgartner's world record space jump from an altitude of 39,045 meters, has become one of the most talked stories and most watched videos on Youtube; Felix just make us believe that nothing is impossible if we believe we can do it. Quoted from first man on the moon, Neil Armstrong, "That's one small step for a man, a giant leap for mankind"

6. Mark Zuckerberg's Status Update

In May 2012, when Mark Zuckerberg tied the knot with his long-time girlfriend, Dr. Priscilla Chan; he changed his Facebook timeline status to "Married". Within 48 hours of the change, that particular update breaks the 1 million Facebook likes record. Thus becoming one of the most memorable status updates in the history of Facebook.

7. Facebook Hits reaches one Billion Users

Credits: Techblessing.com

Credits: Techblessing.com

Another happy moment for Facebook this year 2012 is when it announces their achievement of their first billion active users. This has eventually become a great breakthrough in the history of social media. Quoted from Mark Zuckerberg, "Helping a billion people connect is amazing, humbling and by far the thing I am most proud of in my life."

Are you Ready for 2013?

Brace yourself for another great year ahead; as you can see that anything can happen and with the help of fast pacing social media, anyone could become an overnight sensation instantly. These things happen unexpectedly so we could control how we want it to happen.

However, most importantly of all is to be yourself and do something extraordinary with an unwavering passion; be happy with where you are now and make someone's day brighter.

All the best for the year ahead!

When It Comes To Social CEOs One Group Is The Clear Winner

Posted: 20 Dec 2012 06:10 AM PST

There are many – myself included, who believe in the adage “it starts from the top down” when it comes to leadership in a company or business. I don’t care if it’s a professional sports team or a business that has just a few employees. How the leader of that company acts, thinks and carries his or herself on a daily basis goes a long way to ensuring the overall success or failure of that company.

And when it comes to the use of social media - or lack thereof,  it appears one group of CEOs is not doing their part or carrying their load or whatever catch phrase you happen to prefer.

As a follow up to their report done earlier this year on CEOs and social media, Domo and CEO.com just released the findings of another report or study. However, unlike their earlier report which focused squarely on the CEOs of Fortune 500 companies, this one was “designed to compare and contrast social media habits among leaders of America's largest companies (Fortune 500) and America's fastest-growing companies (Inc. 500).”

They call it the 2012 Social CEO Showdown. Sounds like a great name for a weekly reality show or perhaps an ABC After School Special. Ok, showing my age now.

As to which group of CEOs came out “the winner” as per my title:

  • 79% of Inc. 500 CEOs have a social presence on at least one network
  • 30% of Fortune 500 CEOs have a social media presence

Now before you social media non-believers come out, you know who you are, consider the following results of survey done by BRANDfog which revealed:

  • More than 82% of respondents are likely or much more likely to trust a company whose CEO and team engage in social media
  • 77% of respondents are likely or much more willing to buy from a company if a leader is involved in social media

So you can you see why I apply the “winner” tag to one group over others. It’s clear to me why social media is so important when it comes to CEOs. And I am not alone for people like Josh James the CEO of Domo who, in writing about the findings of his initial report in an article for Forbes entitled CEOs Afraid Of Going Social Are Doing Shareholders A Massive Disservice, said “CEOs who shun social media risk losing touch with some of their most lucrative customers, prospects and influencers.”

To build upon what Josh said I refer you to a Forbes piece done earlier this year by Mark Fidelman, who in his article IBM Study: If You Don’t Have a Social CEO, You’re Going to be Less Competitive wrote about (you’ll never guess) the results of a study of CEO’s – over 1,700 to be exact.

The key takeaway?

“… using social technologies to engage with customers, suppliers and employees will enable the organization to be more adaptive and agile.”

Mark also said something that ties very nicely back into my opening remarks “CEOs and their executives set the cultural tone for an organization. Through participation, they implicitly promote the use of social technologies.”

Then there’s David K. Williams, who, in his piece Why CEOs Should Care: How Social Media Drives Business,  echoed the same sentiments of both James and Fidelman.

Below is the obligatory infographic – and I don’t use the “obligatory” in a negative way by any means, I merely mean infographics are now the norm and I happen to love them – about the findings of the Domo and CEO.com report which spell out in detail across the specific social media networks the differences between Fortune 500 CEOs and Inc. 500 CEOs.

When it comes to social media, Inc. 500 CEO’s in comparison to Fortune 500 CEOs are:

  • 7.6 times more likely to be on Twitter — and 12.9 times more likely to be active on Twitter
  • 5.3 times more likely to be on Facebook
  • 3 times more likely to be on LinkedIn
  • 15 times more likely to be on Google+
  • 4.8 times more likely to blog.

And as previously mentioned, 79% of Inc. 500 CEOs have a social presence on at least one network compared to only 30% of Fortune 500 CEOs who have a social media presence.

The Bottom Line

The bottom line is, well the bottom line. Obviously every CEO, CMO, and every employee in every company wants to increase revenue, move products… make money for the company. At least they should.

And in today’s completely transparent world, where no pile of sand is big enough to bury one’s head in and where consumers are completely in charge, CEOs need to realize the importance of “being out there” among those who ultimately control their fate. They need to take full advantage of this golden opportunity that social media affords them that their counterparts of years past did not have.

Sources: Domo, CEO.com

How-to: Reputation Management SEO

Posted: 20 Dec 2012 05:30 AM PST

reputation management

So long Webster and my know-it-all neighbor – we had a great run, but now I have Google!

As the search engine that's taken over every inquiry, Google is the go-to when it comes to the unknown. It's become commonplace for users to research everything online, from potential purchases to ancestry, and for the most part, the information provided is trusted. So what happens when it's harming your business?

If anything negative results when you type in your business name or associated terms, you need to incorporate reputation management into your marketing strategy. As the majority of consumers will first search for your products or services online, you will lose valuable customers and opportunities by not monitoring your digital reputation.

A generic "client" example is shown below:

reputation management

The reputation management SEO strategy is a matter of understanding brand publicity and influence. Not limited to false information, reputation management works to suppress any bad reviews, negative press or competitor harassment – often factors out of your control.

"85% of companies will face a crisis that negatively impacts their brand during the next five years," according to Oxford-Metrica.

By organically pushing positive or neutral content up, reputation management subsequently moves less desirable content down in search engine results, enabling you to better improve perception of your company. Tools for managing negative SEO include keyword optimization, existing and new content creation, and link building.

Keyword optimization focuses on all words and phrases that could possibly link to you. The main objective is to have positive results when any of your products or services are searched. Internal content should be the first aspect examined, as it is a direct reflection of your brand.

The quality of your site content, as well as comments and reviews, should be carefully crafted. Before blaming anything else, ensure you are putting out the best. This requires optimizing both existing content, as well as creating new content that will positively set up your company in the future.

Then, take a look at outside links and other negative influences. If a site is posting blatantly false content surrounding your brand, ask them to take it down. In other cases, you just have to create positivity to push down the negativity; this can be done by way of blogging and linking from sites out of your domain. Also, avoid free-for-all sites like Wikipedia.

Search Engine Watch credits link building as a crucial part of an overall SEO strategy. Keeping your information fresh is crucial, along with updating company pages and participating in current conversations. This is where the concept of white hat vs. black hat linking becomes especially relevant. Read more on this subject here.
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