25 New Social Articles on Business 2 Community |
- Are You Using The Right Images On Your Blog
- Your FIRST LOOK at the Facebook S-1! (Infographic)
- Facebook and the Art of Discernment
- Facebook Reaches Out to Assist Military Organizations with Social Media
- How to Make a Good Blog Great – 9 Tips
- Commenting as a Writing Conversion Strategy
- Obama Uses Google+ to Hangout with Americans
- All I Really Need To Know About Social Media Marketing I Learned In High School Physics
- Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn — Social Media Table Stakes. Are You Prepared to be Bold?
- Social Media for Financial Services: Wedbush Securities Firm-Wide Social Media Use
- StumbleUpon Primer for Bloggers, Part 1
- It’s a Sign! Social Media and the Art of Awareness and Gentle Reminders
- Social Media for Lead Generation: Experts Weigh In
- The Right Social Media Focus
- Social is as Social Does
- Google Key Word Tool – the Most Important Weapon You Can Have in Your Blogging Arsenal
- Are These Really the 10 Best Intranets of 2012?
- 7 Tips for a New #Intranet Manager
- 20 of the World’s Wittiest Twitter Bios
- Blogging For Your Brand: 3 Factors To Consider
- Become a Pinterest Pro in 5 Easy Steps
- Hooked on Pinterest
- NBA Sentiment: Examining the Social Media Buzz Surrounding NBA Teams (Interactive Infographic)
- Cyber-Bullying and Internet Trolls: Is Your Child a Victim?
- Join the Google+ Revolution Now
| Are You Using The Right Images On Your Blog Posted: 01 Feb 2012 03:00 PM PST Running a blog is not always as easy as you might think, you have to do more than just write. Most bloggers will spend a lot of time writing great blog posts, adding cool new affiliate products and even sending out dozens of emails every month, but most bloggers don't spend enough time finding the right images for their blog? How much time do you spend looking for the right image for your blog? If you simply type in a few words in Google and pick the first thing that looks halfway decent, then you are probably not choosing the right images for your blog. What most people don't realize is that every image will say something different and that is why you have to choose the images wisely. Trust me, spending a little more time choosing the right image for your blog will be well worth your time now and in the future. Did you know that most people are the visual type?The reason you need to know this is because if you don't have a great title for your article, then maybe the image will help get people to read it. Have you ever looked at an image next to a post and wondered what it is about? This is what a lot of people do, I know this because I do this, my friends do this and a lot of other bloggers have said that they do this. We all know that content is what people will read but the image is what most people will look at before they even read a word on your blog. Just do yourself a favor and add the right images to your blog. How To Determine The Right ImageTest Different ImagesIf you write a post about "Article marketing" one month, then I would recommend writing another post about "Article marketing" the next month but use a different image. What you will see from doing this is which image is better received by your readers. Sometimes it makes a difference as to how much color is in the image and other time it is a matter of the size. Without testing you won't be able to see which image works best and why. Ask Your ReadersSomething that a lot of bloggers are starting to do now is to simply ask their readers what images they like the best. The benefit of asking your audience as to which images they like the best is that you won't have to bother testing as much and you will get an inside peak into what your readers really want to see. Watch The Big BoysIf you are not following some of the bigger blogs like Copyblogger, Problogger, Johnchow and Smartpassiveincome, then you need to do that now. When you watch some of the images that these guys post on their blog you will start to see why they get so much traffic and make so much money. Sometimes the image is what people refer to and the content is just there to help them understand. The A-list bloggers spend a lot of time dissecting every aspect of their blog so use what they are doing to help you learn a thing or two. When it comes to using the right images on your blog there are a lot of things that you need to think about such as; color or non-color, paid images or free images and large images or small images. Whatever you decide to use just know that if it doesn't work out, then you need to move on and try something different. I've personally been using Fotolia now for a little over two years and love the selection, simplicity, and service I get from them!   | ||||||||||||
| Your FIRST LOOK at the Facebook S-1! (Infographic) Posted: 01 Feb 2012 02:25 PM PST You can actually see the words here. I just started reviewing and will post my thoughts as soon as I can. UPDATE: Here's a preliminary look at Facebook's financials. Source: SEC   | ||||||||||||
| Facebook and the Art of Discernment Posted: 01 Feb 2012 01:50 PM PST I love social media. I really do. And I love Facebook. But sometimes the ease of posting things on the platform is enough to make me run the other way. And I often have to stop myself from ranting at my friends for the stupidity of what they post. There. I said it. Sadly, as we approach another presidential election, I might just have to turn my blinders on. You see, in many ways my group of friends on Facebook is rather diverse. I'd say that on the political spectrum my group of friends is pretty even dispersed from far left to far right. And those on the farthest left and farthest right seem to have one thing in common: they post all sorts of political statements, often in the form of images or graphs, as if they are gospel. Case in point. This image is among the many I've seen making the rounds the past few days. A lot of the pictures I see are juxtapositions like this, designed to prove a point. At first glance, it looks as though Mitt Romney is getting his shoes shined, while President Obama is giving a knuckle-touch to a cleaning guy. The implication is that Romney is privileged, wealthy, and out of touch, while the President is a man of the people. And whether or not you believe that is true, that's not what is happening in the picture. In the first picture, Romney is actually on an airport tarmac, having his shoes scanned with a wand as part of an airport security check. A very different story. There was no shoe shine. You see, pictures, video, sound bites, statistics…they all can mean a lot of different things when taken out of context. What we see presented as fact on Facebook, or any other social channel is merely a snapshot; a moment in time, possibly captured out of context. And now, a lot of what is being shared on FB is what normally gets sent through those email forwards that drive everyone nuts. Don't people check around or check Snopes or Google anymore before posting content? Just because something seems believable, and seems to bolster your cause, doesn't mean it's real. When you post things like that, I think it cheapens your cause. If you can't stand on truth to post things that support your particular political or religious stance, then don't post anything. It's no better than an unreasoned rant. Here's another one: My friend Andi were talking about this the other day, and she shared this one with me, presumably it was originally created and shared by someone from a more conservative political bent, as a way of showing why capitalism is better than socialism. But really? Couldn't you come up with something better? Let's break it down. Are the pictures really from the cities and dates that are shown? And even if they are, the left side pictures and right side pictures aren't from the same location over time. And do you mean to tell me that all of Havana or all of Hong Kong looks like that? I'm betting I could go into either city and find pictures of both opulence and poverty to illustrate just about anything. I could take shots in either city to show that socialism works better than capitalism. And yet we see things that seemingly support our opinions and beliefs, and we share them. Without checking. Why let the facts get in the way of a good story, right? And this can be done without even photoshopping and image. Add a little manipulation and we can improve on the story. Massage a few statistics and throw them in, and you've got yourself a convincing "proof" of your point of view. Does this really enhance and create dialogue surrounding issues? What is the source of the information? Is it reliable? Do they have an agenda,even if it's the same as our own? Is there any real context? We need to learn to ask these questions as we see things around the web, and certainly before we share them. By sharing them we are rubber-stamping them and lending credence to the source. We are saying, "I believe this to be true and it's important enough for me to share." Goodness knows we have enough negativity out there, why can't we promote our beliefs with some positivity, rather than seeking to tear others down to make ourselves look better? Oh, and I've got at least one more good political rant in me, but that can wait until closer to the election… Think before you share. Think before you comment. Take some time to Google to find out if someone, somewhere, is playing hard and fast with the truth.   | ||||||||||||
| Facebook Reaches Out to Assist Military Organizations with Social Media Posted: 01 Feb 2012 01:00 PM PST
Military Guidance, Doctrine, Policy & SOPsAs discussed in How the U.S. Air Force Constructs Social Media Policy, after the DoD opened the network the individual branches had to deploy their own guidance, doctrine, and policy. Here’s what the U.S. Marine Corps’ social media policy looks like. After that, the individual units and bases had to develop standard operating procedures (SOPs) for social media. Once the SOPs were in place the units were free to utilize social media as a communication channel directed by Command. Lack of Unit Level Social Media AdoptionLack of adoption by some individual military units is not caused by the absence of guidance or doctrine. Instead, lack of adoption by units is caused by the absence of perceived value, strategy and/or technical know-how. Recognizing this, Facebook released their Building Your Presence with Facebook Pages: A Guide for Military Organizations in November of 2011. Facebook’s SolutionThe guide is a 10 page how-to white paper that addresses the value of Facebook to the Military and any perceived technical or strategic challenges. The assumption is that Facebook wishes to increase its use by individual Military units and bases. According to Facebook, "This guide is designed to give you the knowledge you need to set your strategy, create your Page, build and grow your audience, and optimize your message." They communicate this in five steps:
Facebook's whitepaper is not only a good guide for Military organizations, but it's a great starting point for small to medium sized businesses wishing to utilize Facebook as a marketing channel. It's complete, clear and concise, and does a good job of explaining Facebook's value proposition. For more help with Facebook download our Facebook Marketing Cheat Sheet. Image: west.m   | ||||||||||||
| How to Make a Good Blog Great – 9 Tips Posted: 01 Feb 2012 11:00 AM PST Only 7% of a speech's meaning is communicated by the words that you speak. Thirty eight percent is conveyed through your vocal tone and a massive 55% by your body language. OK, so before you ask what the heck does this have to do with How to make a good Blog great, let me ask you a question: does the quality of a blog's content only account for 7%? No, it doesn't. If it did then everybody who ever uttered the phrase content is King, me included, would be talking absolute rubbish. You might have the flashiest blog or website on the internet, all the bells and whistles, the latest and greatest flashiest plugins; but what sort of reaction do you think you would get if you published a blank post? Muted, a few comments letting you know you have published a post with nothing on it… Design and navigation are also incredibly important, however it comes back to the content that you produce and the message that you deliver. With that being said here are; 9 Tips on How to Make a Good Blog Great!
There you have it 9 Tips on How to Make a Good Blog Great I trust that you will find the content valuable and in keeping with Tip 7 – Give a call to action, I would like for you to do the following: Leave a comment below to share with me tips that you use to engage your audience. Then secondly use the share buttons, Twitter, Facebook, Google +1 to share this post with your followers.   | ||||||||||||
| Commenting as a Writing Conversion Strategy Posted: 01 Feb 2012 10:00 AM PST
Let's get the ball rolling with why writing conversion is more important than traffic. Yes, blog comments are great traffic generators but would you really care if you had a million site visitors if none of them converted? Well, maybe you would care a little, but not much. The point of selling online is to sell online, not show off your website. That's why I want to delve into 4 ways to use commenting as a writing conversion strategy. 1 – Complement Your HostThough it is only proper etiquette to compliment your host, make sure that when you are blog commenting you are also complementing. For example, if you are commenting on a blog that sells running shoes you should complement their post with more information about running shoes. And if you happen to be selling a related product (running socks or gels) you can mention them as well. It is in bad taste to promote your own product if it is in direct competition with the author. 2 – Use Your 15 Seconds WiselyChances are your blog comment will be the very first impression many people will have of you and your business. This means those 30 words can spell the difference between a new potential lead or nothing at all. I wouldn't stress about every single comment like it was your Master's thesis, but be mindful that your comment will be a single snapshot of your entire brand. 3 – Be TransparentThe world is much more savvy than ever before and your customers are getting sharper each day. Don't try to trick them by leaving comments that will just make them mad later on. If you are inserting a shameless plug inside a well written comment then be honest about it. Chances are, you will get more clickthrus and a lower bounce rate. 4 – See The PainA core tenant of good copywriting is identifying a pain point and then providing an answer. This is an especially powerful tactic when blog commenting. If you are reading a post that leads naturally to another issue, identify it and answer it. Chances are high that the author will write an additional post and might even link back to you due to your comment. And if the author isn't that on top of things, you still have the opportunity for other readers to get to the same problem and then see your conclusion. Blog commenting is great for a lot of things, including conversion. It's all about being intentional about who your audience is and what they are thinking about at the time. The way I see it, as long as you are putting in the effort to leave meaningful comments you might as well leverage them as much as possible.   | ||||||||||||
| Obama Uses Google+ to Hangout with Americans Posted: 01 Feb 2012 09:55 AM PST Barack Obama is no stranger when it comes to social media. During the 2008 election he was one of the first politicians to incorporate social media into his campaign strategy. Now looking for re-election, Obama is turning to social media yet again to connect with American voters. This past Monday, Obama took part in a Google+ Hangout that was simultaneously broadcasted on YouTube. Americans were encouraged to participate in the event by submitting their own questions and voting on which ones Obama should address. In total, more than 227,000 people participated, five of which were invited to 'hangout' with Obama. The Google+ Hangout is a great example of how social media can facilitate real-time, two-way conversations between people who would otherwise never have the opportunity to engage with each other. Traditional political communication initiatives (the State of the Union, debates, political rallies) fail to include the voting public. If anything, I think that using social media to give 'real' people the opportunity to ask a presidential candidate 'real' questions makes for a much more democratic election. Not to mention, watching people react to Obama's answers, and even go as far as to interrupt him, definitely made for some interesting viewing.   | ||||||||||||
| All I Really Need To Know About Social Media Marketing I Learned In High School Physics Posted: 01 Feb 2012 09:10 AM PST Back in the 1980s, Roger Fulghum inked All I Really Need To Know I Learned in Kindergarten. Do you remember reading it? It was very basic life principles put forth such as "share everything, play fair and don't hit people." I came across it painted on a plaque in a store recently and it made me wonder what other lessons from my school days could be applied to my world today. High school physics, for whatever reason, came to mind. For a right-brained individual, physics was not easy, but my teacher Mr. Miller had a way of aligning life lessons with the laws of the universe. Three lessons from his class come to mind as a thoughtful reminder about how to good approach to social media marketing.  Social Media Physics Social Media Marketing, Lesson 1 This lesson is completely unrelated to the curriculum of Mr. Miller's physics class, but a recurring theme in class discussions and serves as a great starting point for putting all three of these tips into practice. Mr. Miller would carry around in his pocket, a piece of scratch paper, always recycled. On it he would scribble his daily to-dos. Mr Miller felt it was imperative to teach 9th-graders the importance of organizing our day to day life. (I've kept a list ever since Mr. Miller, you'd be proud) My point here is this, no social media success will come without jotting down a plan to keep reminding you to act. Plan your approach, put it down on a calendar and commit to doing it everyday you can. If the idea of list keeping stresses you out, I'll share Mr. Miller's secret. The first item on his list everyday was: to make a list. That way everyday at least one thing was crossed of that list and he felt productive. Give it a shot; let the list be your guide. Ashley Zeckman from Top Rank Marketing has a great post about effective social media planning. Social Media Marketing, Lesson 2 There are very few laws I recall from my physics class, sorry Mr. Miller. However, when it came to Newton, his laws of motion are on ready recall for me. Newton's first law, perhaps the most recognizable states that a body in motion tends to stay in motion. The same holds true for social media marketing. You have to get it in motion. Get it going and keep it regular. Once you do, it'll be hard to stop your exponential growth and returns. So make your list, and start executing the list. Tina Cook is a champion of this law in her post on social media marketing consistency. Social Media Marketing, Lesson 3 Newton's second law of motion is a bit less recognizable but perhaps the biggest take away from this little exercise. It states that the acceleration of a body is in tandem with the amount of net force. Ultimately, this little lesson works great in all avenues of life stating simply: you get out what you put in. The more force, or effort you put into social media marketing, the more return you'll see. In a nutshell, here's what I learned about social media marketing (and really any marketing effort) from my high school physics class.
Thanks Newton and Thanks Mr. Miller, I was paying attention. How about you? Any lessons you can tie from your school days to executing good online marketing tactics today?   | ||||||||||||
| Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn — Social Media Table Stakes. Are You Prepared to be Bold? Posted: 01 Feb 2012 09:05 AM PST Some might say that social media has reached an inflection point. Companies are now staffing social media roles. They have shifted from inaction, to hiring consultants, to making social media part of their day-to-day activities. If a company is just getting into social media now, it has to do more than just catch up. Establishing a presence on Facebook, Twitter, and/or LinkedIn is a given. Some of the early adopters and bolder organizations have tried to establish a competitive edge by setting themselves up on Google+, Instagram, and Tumblr. If President Obama has made the leap to Tumblr and Google+, what does that mean for everyday folks? Facebook, Twitter, Google+, and Twylah are all focused on offering enhanced brand pages. Additionally, there has been increasing discussion about Path and Pinterest in relation to brands as companies try to figure out a way to stand out. It's the wild, wild West and they are staking a claim on any emerging social platform that might become popular. It is hard to know which "latest thing" will become prominent. If history tells us anything, it is that people's relationships with social media can be fickle and unpredictable — just ask MySpace, Bebo, and Plancast. So what is a company to do? They must establish a presence on the current, predominant platforms: Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, and Google+ for good measure. In addition to that, they need to stay abreast of what is garnering the interest of their customers and where they are spending their time. It can't hurt to establish accounts and squat on them to, at a minimum, avoid brandjacking until they figure out what they want to do. It sounds like a lot of work, and it is. Beyond the major players, these niche networks have loyal and highly engaged followers. If target customers are spending increasing amounts of time in these niche networks, then brands need to consider reaching them there — but they need to tread softly. As with the other networks, people are not there to be sold. Brands need to approach them through sharing and engagement, leaving the selling for later. In short, brands must decide where to focus their attention, and they have to figure out how to staff up for the increased effort required to maintain and grow a social media presence across a growing list of platforms.   | ||||||||||||
| Social Media for Financial Services: Wedbush Securities Firm-Wide Social Media Use Posted: 01 Feb 2012 08:30 AM PST
This is why I was interested to read that Wedbush Securities, a privately held financial services and investment firm based in USA, has announced that they will give the "green light" for firm-wide adoption of social media. With 100 offices across the United States, employees at Wedbush Securities are now free to craft their own networks and conversations, and so can move away from "canned responses". It's certainly a bold move – but one that I'm sure will be viewed closely by those in the financial sector. Handing over the brand's reputation to the entire firm could be a very problematic move, but Wedbush Securities has clearly thought about their overarching social media strategy and are taking a variety of precautions:
These steps will simplify Wedbush's ability to monitor the accounts, which will undoubtedly aid with compliance. Having separate accounts for personal and professional use means that staff can be clear who they are representing at any given time (although it pays to be prepared for mistakes such as tweeting from the wrong account). Personally, I wonder if Google+ would have been a better choice than Facebook at this stage – while Facebook is of course the larger network, I would consider the social search benefits of Google+ and benefits of separating contacts into Circles to be better suited to a professional social networking. While the Wedbush Securities accounts will clearly be professional, presumably the accounts they interact with will be personal, and perhaps Facebook is not the environment where investment decisions are influenced. However, as a starting point, Facebook certainly offers the largest audience and an already familiar interface for many, if not all, of the 1,000 Wedbush Securities employees.   | ||||||||||||
| StumbleUpon Primer for Bloggers, Part 1 Posted: 01 Feb 2012 07:50 AM PST 1. Let thyself be known(We'll likely follow you and accept your shares, like your stuff too)Complete your profile, include links, see mine for an example. Click the blue "more" under my profile picture, upper left side of http://osakasaul.stumbleupon.com Note that you can include html code and include links to your blog and network profiles where you would like people to connect with you. Check that now and then, and see that there are no dead links or profiles on networks where your activity has tapered off greatly. As an example, there was once a wonderful profile and content aggregator called "Retagrr" that was light years beyond Xeeme for ease-of-use, connectability (with those who visited), and visual image. Retagrr went the way of the dodo, alas. I have been scrambling to remove the link to my Retaggr from SU and other sites. You don't want to be sending people to dead links. Set your Topics so that when you Stumble, relevant stuff comes your way. Hint: make the topics as specific as SU will allow, though you are constrained to existing word strings. StumbleUpon topics that could serve my needs:Bad: "Japanese woman" (far too vague; where I live, in their natural habitat, its as if they're breeding them over here) Better: "bored horny married Osaka woman" (but this might be too specific, and actually, "bored" is not a must. Also, moving to a topic I should probably be focusing on more, even "community manager sakai city" is not available from the explore box) Yet Better: "community manager seeking"  StumbleUpon "Explore" search: to Stumble from and for SU-reviews and SU-comments (for tags) Best: "seeking online community manager japan" (but this winds up being too specific and leads me to "online community manager," so perhaps StumbleUpon is not a great place to look for job leads. Or eager women leads. Live and learn…? "Online community manager" is the closest StumbleUpon topic I could find). I'll Stumble that. And I might use Online community manager as a tag in StumbleUpon reviews; we need to use StumbleUpon topics, rather than self-determined terminology for SU Reviews and Comments – since they connect with what Stumblers have set as their followed interests. 2. Power-follow, and unfollow, tooStumbleUpon allows you to only follow 500 Stumblers (people). Make them count, and refine who you follow from time to time. Follow people you know, to start, but understand that it will take some time to understand how they are going to use StumbleUpon. I get better and better at looking at a Stumbler's number of likes, the recency of likes and what they like – and decide if the Stumbler is going to appreciate what I share to them, perhaps "SU-like" on occasion, and maybe not share tons of odd stuff to me. From Profile > Connections > Followers (or Following or Visitors, from the pull-down menu) > click on someone. When I see that someone's latest likes and shares are very different from the topics I blog about and take guest posts for, I tend to unfollow them or do not follow back, though I see they are following me. Example below: I can't guess why this person followed me, but can pretty much be assured that they wont like my blog being shared to them and I don't need their stuff either (and thus, I'll unfollow someone who SU-likes/shares nothing but stuff that's all off-brand for me):  This Stumbler's recent "Likes": Arts, Video Games, Bizarre/Oddities, Heavy Metal (not so great for me) Follow those who generally support you, say, in LinkedIn, Facebook, etc., and then send them a message through StumbleUpon to let them know you followed them, welcome their shares, and appreciate their reviews, likes, and shares of your content – especially of your blog articles. 3. Can you hear me knockin'?Don't let your "visitors" get away without a look-see. You have visitors! Don't let them escape without at least a look-see.Every couple days, from Profile > Connections > Visitors, from the pull-down menu, see who you don't already know (they could be people you are already connected to who simply looked at your likes most recently), and see what their stats tell you. What do they like? How often, and when was the last time they shared content? If they shared content similar to what you blog on, there's a high liklihood that they will like and/or share your stuff, and appreciate what you might – on occassion only – share with them. I look at these factors before following them. If I do so, I typically send them a message; this let's them know that I probably actually use StumbleUpon. You'll find, in time, that people jump on and sometimes fall off the SU frequent-user train.   | ||||||||||||
| It’s a Sign! Social Media and the Art of Awareness and Gentle Reminders Posted: 01 Feb 2012 06:30 AM PST
So since I bug her a lot, she informed me yesterday, "I got a thing in the mail for a special deal from Comcast. I think it's a sign!", as it were some cosmic message from on high. And presumably she will now be getting Internet in her home, after all, you don't want to go against the signs! (You can't see me now, but I'm NOT holding my breath). So, while she was joking (kinda), for her, that direct mail piece was a sign to take action. Which also means she'll be stocking up on Depends, purchasing a Miracle Ear, and ordering that commemorative plate of Elvis that is "guaranteed" to become a collectible. Because after all, it's a sign. Actually, the reason the direct mail "thing" from Comcast worked this time around is because it came to her at a time when she was actively searching for an Internet provider. It served as a reminder. If it had come at any other time, it would have ended up in the trash. But that's the beauty of using social media. Many of the purchases and actions we take are because the right businesses find us at the right time.
This is how inbound marketing works. If you start using Facebook, Twitter, or other social channels hoping for rapid returns and a spike in sales, you'll most likely be disappointed. But if you stick with it and connect with people online, your updates and tweets will serve as gentle reminders to your followers. You are building awareness, and you'll probably save some money. DON'T SHOUT. DON'T USE ALL CAPITAL LETTERS ON TWITTER AND FACEBOOK. IT WILL JUST ANNOY PEOPLE. LIKE LOUD COMMERCIALS AND TELEMARKETING PHONE CALLS DURING DINNER. Instead, take your time. Use social channels regularly. Consistently. Often. Be helpful. Provide useful information. And perhaps you'll catch folks at just the right time. Sometimes just seeing your business name will be all it takes to get them to take action. So now I know that all I really need to do is go on Facebook and start talking about Internet providers. My friend will see it and have those constant gentle reminders, and know that she has to follow through. Hey, Jackie: Got Internet? How do you approach social media with your content? Are you shouting? Or have you mastered the art of gentle reminders?   | ||||||||||||
| Social Media for Lead Generation: Experts Weigh In Posted: 01 Feb 2012 06:00 AM PST Many small businesses are still not capitalizing on the opportunities available by embracing social media. Social media cannot only help with brand building and customer relationships but also lead generation. To help you sort through it all, we've reached out to a panel of small business experts and asked them all a single question: "How should small businesses use social media for lead generation?" Below is a collection of their thoughts and perspectives: Jason FallsLead generation is all about the offer. You have to give something to get that contact information. Maybe it's a free white paper or report. Perhaps its a free webinar. Maybe it's even a coupon or discount. Whatever it is, the offer has to be compelling enough, and your business has to be interesting enough for people to say, "Yes. I'll give them my contact info." And that applies to big or small businesses. Jason Falls is one of the most in-demand speakers in the social media, public relations and marketing fields. Jason co-author's and edits Social Media Explorer and recently completed his first book, "No Bullshit Social Media". Ann HandleyPublish a blog, and optimize it to generate leads. A lot of companies have blogs, of course, but so often they are sadly under-used. They don't create the necessary momentum and traction. So how do companies do that, specifically? Here's some specific advice: http://www.entrepreneur.com/article/220244. Ann Handley is Chief Content Officer of MarketingProfs and the co-author of "Content Rules" Mike WeinbergLess than two years ago, I was effectively ignorant and illiterate about social media. Mitch Joel's great book Six Pixels of Separation served as a loud wake-up call and practical "how to" guide to get started. Today, I am blown away by the number of significant relationships I have solely due to social media – friends, mentors, colleagues, clients and even my book deal, all came from social media activity. Specifically, I would suggest small businesses use social media to connect with thought leaders and experts within their industry. For the most part, industry leaders who are active in social media tend to be gracious and generous in lending support to others. A lot of social media behavior is driven by an interesting combination of ego, reciprocity and benevolent desire to add value to the community. Follow thought leaders on twitter. Reply or retweet some of their helpful tweets. Visit these expert's blogs and add a comment. Before you know it, these leaders will be returning the favor and promoting your value-adding content. I have an out of town client that found me because a very popular sales trainer and best selling author used twitter to point people to a blog post of mine. One of her followers read my post and reached out to me for help. Today, that firm is a significant client of mine and I credit 100% of that revenue to my social media investment. Mike Weinberg leads The New Sales Coach consultancy. He is on a mission to simplify sales and his specialty is new business development. Mike coaches CEOs, sales executives and sales reps for mid-sized companies. Clients engage Mike for sales force turn-arounds and to improve their effectiveness at acquiring new clients. Mike blogs at http://newsalescoach.com and his first book, published by AMACOM, will be released in the fall of 2012. Gini Dietrich1. LinkedIn. Do you have a list of five to 10 companies you'd REALLY like to work with? If not, do that exercise right now. Just list three to five and do it in five minutes or less. Now go into LinkedIn and type in the first company name in the search bar. Make sure you click on "companies search" because it's automatically set on "people search." Click on the company name and scroll through current and recent employees. Is there anyone listed that is two or three separations from you? Likely there is more than one person. Click on a name and see who you know in common. Then call that person and ask if he/she wouldn't mind introducing you to the person at your target company. It's an automatic referral into the company you're dying to work! 2. Twitter search. Stop what you're doing and go toTwitter Search. Click on the Advanced Search option (or just click that link) and create a saved search designed to pick up 'sitting ducks'. For example, if you're a local mechanic, you may want to set up a search for [brake job], [car inspection] or [oil change]. Set the distance for 25 miles from your place of business and then save the search. Now any time someone in your local area tweets about needing a brake job, a car inspection, or an oil change, you'll be notified. And then you can reach out to that person. You can also create searches for you competitors and try to steal those conversions away. 3. Twitter Application. Open TweetDeck (if you don't already use it, download it now – it's free) and click on the big gray + sign at the top (add column). A box opens and the first in the list is "search." If it's not already checked, click on it and, in the white bar, type a competitor's name, and hit "search." Now a column pops up and anytime that competitor is mentioned on Twitter, your column is automatically populated. 4. Google Alerts. DO THIS NOW! This is not an option. It is the one thing everyone should have for their business, for their name, for key employees, for competitors, and for the industry. Gini Dietrich is the founder and CEO of Arment Dietrich, the author of PR and marketing blog Spin Sucks, the founder of the soon-to-be-launched Spin Sucks Pro, and a co-author of the forthcoming Marketing In the Round. Steve GarfieldThe way the question is phrased, makes it sound like you want to put posts on every single social media site you can find, yelling "hey I've got this stuff, come buy it!" But that's not what social media is all about. Social media is people. If you are starting every Twitter post with a number like, "5 ways you can improve your business" or "7 steps to writing better blog posts" you are going to get some people who are interested in learning those things, but are they learning about you? I think the question should be phrased, "how should small business use social media to get to know people." It goes both ways. Make-believe it's a laid-back environment, like a pub, on a Friday night. You're there to meet some people, see what they're all about, and let him know what you're like. Then, one day they might have a need some help, and remember, oh, I met that guy at the pub, on a Friday night, who likes dark beer, and travel, and can also help me put video on the web. I'm going to call him because I think he's pretty cool guy. Steve Garfield is the author of Get Seen: Online Video Secrets to Building Your Business, founder of Boston Media Makers, and blogs at OffOnATangent.com. Leanne Hoagland-SmithSocial media is a multifunctional marketing vehicle and requires alignment to the overall strategic plan and specifically an integrated education based marketing plan. Use those social media platforms where you believe your ideal customer will be. Provide value for your target market by consistently engaging and interacting first. Leave the selling to after the relationship is firmly established. Remember, people (think your sales leads) buy from people they know and trust; buy on first on emotion and buy on value unique to them. Leanne Hoagland-Smith is Chief Results Officer for ADVANCED SYSTEMS and author of Be the Red Jacket in a Sea of Gray Suits, the Keys to Unlocking Sales Success. She supports forward thinking leaders who want a new status quo, but have trouble leaving the current one. Call Leanne at 219.759.5601 CST or visit www.increase-sales-coach.com Charles GreenSocial media alone won't generate leads for you; but they can play a critical role. Two critical roles, in fact. One role is to offer a sample of your wares, to let people test-drive whatever it is you do. The second role is to comment on other people's samples, and in some ways that is even more important. Of course your content has to be good; but commenting on other people's content shows that you recognize, respect and care about them. That is a powerful aid to awareness, recognition and lead generation. Charles Green is founder and CEO of Trusted Advisor Associates He specializes in commercial relationships and sales working as a consultant since 1976. Charles is the author of the "Trusted Advisor Fieldbook" and "Trust-Based Selling" David BrockEvery business needs to make sure its customers and prospects are aware of their products and services. Businesses must make it easy for customers and prospects to find you. To do this, you have to 'hang out' where your customers hang out, you have to intercept them where they are, These days, customers and prospects are hanging out on the web, so we have to hang out, engaging them with meaningful content, participating in discussions, and building a community. We also need to recognize social media is just one channel in which we engage our customers and prospects. They may be leveraging other channels, we need to meet them there as well. Lead generation needs to be multi-channel, multi touch, all in a way that constantly builds value for the customer or prospect. Dave Brock is a consultant and recognized thought leader and is featured in many leading publications, including Selling Power, CEO Express, ThinkSales, Forbes, the Wall Street Journal, and other journals and publications around the world. His blog, Partners in Excellence, is syndicated in a number of sites globally, and appears in several languages. Denise O'BerrySmall businesses should use social media as an indirect route to lead generation. That means building one-on-one relationships in addition to driving prospects to a value added online resource or providing a downloadable white paper that will help the prospect solve a problem. Part of the lead generation process should include tactics for capturing the prospect's email address so a long term relationship can be built with them. It's important to remember that people buy from people, not companies so using a long term approach to lead generation will yield a bigger pay off for small business. A small business owner since 1996, Denise O'Berry understands the challenges facing small business. She's lived them herself and helped hundreds of clients work through the frustrations, fears, and joys of owning a small business. The enthusiasm and ability of small business owners to overcome huge obstacles inspires her. She is continually amazed by all the things small business owners manage to accomplish. Derek Halpern"When you want to attract leads to your business—or just plain build an email list—social media should be the last place you go. Especially when you're first starting out. Instead, you're better off writing high quality content, reaching out to bloggers who may like that content, and asking them to publish it on their site. That's a much better source of traffic." After building several successful websites in various niches (entertainment, fashion, humor, and more) over the last 5 years, Derek Halpern refocused on what he loves most: Building and Marketing Businesses. He blogs at Social Triggers. Hank TrislerIn my view trying to use Social Media for lead generation is short-sighted and wrong-headed. There. I've said it. If your only purpose in sharing your thoughts through the internet is to get people to call you, you'll likely be doomed to disappointment. Those ploys are hopelessly transparent. If, on the other hand, you tell people precisely what you think, and if other people agree with your point of view, they might be inclined to seek you out for further discussion/consultation. Hank Trisler is a recognized sales strategist author of "No Bull Selling" and "No Bull Sales Management"   | ||||||||||||
| Posted: 01 Feb 2012 05:45 AM PST
Facebook vs Google+ What's the Best Social Network This article looks at these two heavyweights and compares their features. It is interesting to see the comparison of the two products next to each other. You may agree/disagree with their findings. It is a pretty good article and lists some good reasons why one platform is better than the other. Stop what you are doing and look at the next two statements. Look at each category and ask yourself the following question How do I maximize my time and effort to make Facebook and Google+ the best network for my company Self-Evaluation Design – Is your information that you are sharing on your information tab cluttered? Have you thought about the information you want to present? Look at design from your company's perspective and see if people would be interested in your company or not. Posting – Are you sharing interesting content? Are you including media like videos and pictures? Are you commenting on other people's/company's pages. Sharing Media – Are you sharing good media like informative videos or pictures of your processes or company activities? Are you taking advantage of the functionality included with Google+ and Facebook regarding video air-play and picture resolution. Managing Friends – Do you have a plan for adding friends on Facebook and Google+? How effective are you at attracting the right friends on these platforms. Entertainment – Is this really important to you and your company? Mobile – Are you thinking about keeping your message short and concise for mobile users? Do you have a mobile strategy? Lessons Learned It is easy to read articles like this and base your judgement on some criteria that someone else has developed. The real key to success on Facebook and Google+ is "YOU" Take the time to learn how you can be effective in these areas mentioned above. You do not have to be 100% in all of these areas to have success. Each one of these areas take time and require monitoring, use your time wisely.   | ||||||||||||
| Posted: 01 Feb 2012 05:05 AM PST Recently I co-wrote a chapter in WOMMA's upcoming book on measuring word of mouth and social media. In the process of writing this, it became obvious to both me, as well as, the book's editors that there was no clear definition for what social engagement is. This was especially troubling given the fact that both brands and agencies everywhere had become intensely involved in either the discussion of social engagement's benefits, as well as, attempting to implement programs that drove social engagement. This is the image that comes to mind when I contemplate that interesting fact.
That said, let's try not to screw up social engagement like we did Six Sigma. Whenever we have a new shiny thing, this tends to happen in large part because we don't think about how to apply it, only that it needs to be applied. A tactical approach to a strategic problem. Everybody wants to get in the Social Engagement line. Why? Because it is what everyone else is doing. Maybe being in the social line is the right thing but you still need to define why it is the right thing before you hop in line. So let's try to define what social engagement is or is not. When working on the chapter, the closest definition we could find for this concept came from Brian Solis, a well-respected authority on CRM. In a November, 2011 post, Brian makes the point that the deeper you drill into an organization's structure and ability to execute and support ongoing engagement; which requires coordinated interaction between business teams and departments, the less you find until you are faced with the fact that for many, truly supporting social engagement is a 'meaningless platitude'. Since we are early in the growth of social, I am more willing to give businesses a mulligan here. Change and evolution do not occur overnight. Heck, Groupon that little start-up that began on a laptop in a coffee shop in suburban Chicago a short time ago has today grown to be a massive organization with thousands upon thousands of employees in a myriad of organized departments churning out miles of bureaucratic red tape. I imagine that for them, adapting to social engagement might not all that different than say Fed-Ex. However, if at the heart of your organization, dot-com or otherwise, customer engagement (not social) is in your DNA and is part of how you measure your performance, social engagement isn't a big leap. Ask some of the standard bearers for customer service like Southwest, Zappos and Intuit. Today, I'd even add SAP, EA and Verizon to that list of rapidly evolving to incorporate social engagement into their corporate culture. So back to defining Social Engagement. What is it…exactly? In the book, we define it as 'the direct integration of a brand's internal business functions with external customers and stakeholders. Strategic business imperatives are linked to business actions such as R&D, quality, customer retention management, marketing and sales initiatives. These business actions are pushed outward from the organization to allow individuals with an interest in the brand or the initiative, but often no direct affiliation, to directly participate in the planning, development and deployment of programs which then have a direct and measurable impact on the brand experience.' Let that soak in for a second. If that is social engagement, and there are a number of smarter people than me who think this defines it pretty well, then if you are in line for social engagement are you sure you are in the right line? Do you really want to commit to that? Think of it like this. Imagine that the line you are in is full of excited people. You hop in assuming it is for something good. Well for some in the line it is. Say you discover that you are in line to join The Marines. Ok, that is a pretty life altering commitment. Is that want you want or were you hoping for a new cell phone? Being able to define something and understand its impact on you determines how you act. You might be interested in joining the Marines but need to get into shape before you sign up and hit boot camp. You want it, recognize the impact and commitment but make a choice to prepare before engaging. In the end, social engagement requires a solid and sober organizational understanding of what it includes and requires, as well as, a collective commitment to execute it. If you are not ready for that, hop out of the line and go get yourself a double caramel macchiato latte.   | ||||||||||||
| Google Key Word Tool – the Most Important Weapon You Can Have in Your Blogging Arsenal Posted: 01 Feb 2012 04:45 AM PST Google Key word tool and the knowledge of how to use it is without doubt the most important weapon you can have in your internet marketing kit bag. Let me explain: In order for you to understand why the Google key word tool is so important I need to explain, in very basic terms, how a search engine works. A search engine, or for the purposes of this article, Google, is like a giant indexing system or a library if you will. Every new piece of information that is published is given to Google and then Google indexes that information in the place where it feels will hold most value to the searcher. Are you with me so far?If you have written a piece of content about how your business provides purple drain covers in Colorado, then you might assume that Google will index that piece of content under drain covers. Well it might, but the truth is unless you tell Google specifically how you want the piece of content to be indexed then Google will index it for you. This could mean that it could get filed under J for junk or A for the abyss where no one, meaning your potential customers, will ever find it unless they type in word for word the title purple drain covers in Colorado. Think how your local library works. The books are ordered into similar categories, it could be by type and then alphabetically. Each book is then given unique identifiers so the librarians can find that book if and when they need it. A Real World ExampleWhen a new book arrives at the library the librarians decided on the next place to index the book, based on the title, the blurb, the topic. They will then give the book an identifier, log that on the system and place the book on the shelves. That way the book can always be found and searchers can be directed to exactly where in the stacks it is. Google uses the information given when indexing to store and direct searchers to the information. Using the Google Key word tool gives you information as to the best possible way to catalogue your information so you can make it easy for Google to store your information in the place where your targeted users will find it. Google key word tool – How do I get access to it?Well here is the best part; the Google key word tool is absolutely free. All you need to do is go to Google and type in the keyword phrase "Google keyword tool" and click on the result. In order to get more than a maximum of 50 results and to avoid having to enter a captcha every time it is best to login with your Gmail account. If you don't have one just sign up to get one as it will make the process a lot easier. One thing to bear in mind with Google keyword tool is that the results that it provides will also include results based on its ad network so the search quantities can vary and should be taken with a pinch of salt to some extent. What benefits will the Google key word tool have for me?Now you have access to the Google key word tool you can start using it to find low competition keywords that will drive targeted traffic to your website or blog. Without a consistent stream of traffic running towards your blog you will not even be able to begin the process of converting those visitors into leads, paying customers or long term business partners. How do I use the Google Key word tool?First off, even before you start searching for your website or your niche, to start seeing how many searches per month there are you need to understand the difference between the different search terms; such as keyword, key phrase, long tail key word phrase, exact or broad searches. Understand your customer.Start thinking about your perfect customer. What do they do? What do they like? What problems do they have? By asking yourself these types of question then you will get an insight into the way they think and be able to use the key word tool to really drill down and find targeted keywords. Find long tail KeywordsIf you have a flower shop, then the chances of ranking No1 in Google for the term flowers, are slim to none unless you are willing to invest a lot of money and time to do it. You need to use knowledge gained in the understanding your customer piece to get more targeted. For example, "small pink carnations" might not have as many searches and as a result there should be less competition to rank against for that term. Assess the competitionImagine "purple drain covers" gets 1000 searches a month but ranked in the first place in Google search is "the purple drain cover company" do you think that you can get that first spot? What about any one of the spots on the first page? The point is if you don't hit the first page for your search term then you will get very little traffic. So before you start writing and going through all the blog promotion tactics you need to be able to discover whether it truly is possible to rank for that term else you could be wasting a lot of time. Keyword placementOnce you have the keywords that will provide you with the traffic you are looking for, you need to know how and where to position these keywords so Google can index your content for your targeted searcher to find them. As you can see, the Google key word tool is a very, very powerful asset for getting your business found online. Without it, and more importantly, without the knowledge and skills on how to use it, you will find that your content is just lost in the black hole that can be the internet giving your potential customers no chance of finding you.   | ||||||||||||
| Are These Really the 10 Best Intranets of 2012? Posted: 01 Feb 2012 04:15 AM PST This month saw the publication of Neilsen Norman Group's intranet design annual. Over the past 12 years, this annual snapshot has charted the evolution of intranets from the unloved stepchild of the web family to business-critical tool. Intranetizen takes a look at some of the key findings in this year's publication and finds the conclusions challenging. Continuous improvement One of this year's winners, Staples, brings home the award for the second time, joining an elite band of multi-award winners. NNg argues "these organizations recognise that intranet design is never "set and forget"… Instead of perpetually sustaining their first winning designs, these companies continued to progress". However, I don't entirely agree with NNg's conclusion. Staples won in 2006 and hasn't troubled the top ten in the intervening six years, while each of the other multi-award winners had a gap of four years or more between wins. This doesn't demonstrate continuous improvement at all, but is instead indicative of the 'intranet as a project' problem. That is, that the intranet is seen as a tool to be developed over the course of a few months, then left to stagnate for years until it becomes such a problem that something needs to be done about it, when it gets an upgrade, and the cycle starts again. While Staples are to be congratulated for their efforts to make their intranet world-class, it's only when we see winners retaining a top spot in successive years that they can truly say they strive to remain the best. NNg do provide some great advice: Firstly, that your business is continuously experiencing change, and so the intranet needs to change too. Secondly, that intranets are perceived in the context of employees' experience of other websites. The continuous and noticeable improvement of websites which employees use all the time creates expectations of the digital workplace, which all too often leaves employees disappointed. Social The 2012 annual finds a growth in enterprise social networking. This is hardly a surprise, since it's been the focus of pretty much everything written about intranets in the past year and many predict it will be on intranet wishlists in 2012. But just what does social mean on an intranet? This year's winners seem to have as widely varying ideas on this as the rest of us. The annual gives well-deserved props to winners for making co-worker information richer and easier to find. Examples include mouse-overs on names; people information appearing before you've even finished typing a name in the search box; and advanced knowledge and people maps. People are the heart of (almost) every business, and connecting them is vital to success. Profiles are increasingly being integrated with Facebook style wall feeds, and these in turn are becoming more sophisticated. What would be useful to know is what this social information and functionality actually delivers for the business. Does it result in less silo working? Do employees feel more engaged? Has it got a measurable impact on, say, R&D? Social intranets need to prove their worth and there's little in the report to demonstrate their real value to the company. There's some useful food for thought here and we'll write more on social intranets in a future intranetizen post. Mobile isn't gaining traction Optimistic predictions that this would be the year mobile really gained ground turned out to be incorrect; just 10 per cent of this year's winners have a mobile version. NNg put this down to budget and resourcing, particularly the difficulties in designing for multiple devices. As Intranetizen's Luke found recently, many organisations are stuck on the intranet mobile roadmap. We find this a hard conclusion to support. Many enterprises have in-built mobile intranet support through content management tools such as SharePoint and mobile intranets need not be hugely complex or costly. Getting a mobile intranet site right is hard work and that, combined with the availability of fully paid-for, ubiquitous enterprise smartphones are probably the real reason that we're not seeing a greater incidence of mobile intranets amongst this year's winners. As people increasingly switch to smartphones and tablets as their primary device for accessing the web at home, they'll start to demand the same at work. We'll wait and see what 2013 brings. Smaller companies = better intranets? One of the more controversial findings in this year's annual is the pronouncement that "smaller organisations are designing better intranets this year, and have been for the past 3 years." Criticism from intranet specialists has been vocal, with many questioning NNg's methodology. This finding, like all the others in the report, is based not on all entries, but on the ten winners alone. Is it possible to draw any meaningful conclusion from such a small sample size? It would be interesting, then, to compare findings with that in NetJMC's Digital Workplace Trends, or the Worldwide Intranet Challenge, both of which base their findings on hundreds of entries. But questionable methodology aside, the conclusions are believable. As I argued in my earlier post on scalability, form-fit tools designed for specific tasks and audiences make for better intranets. It's far easier to do this in a small company with a clear mission that in is in a large, complex and diverse organisation. But if smaller organisations have better intranets, is it fair to conclude that if you work in a big organisation, your intranet destined to be rubbish? This is one area which is ripe for further study. If smaller companies are able to better fit their intranet to the needs of their business, perhaps bigger organisations should think like smaller ones, and start diversifying their intranets. Moving away from the one-size-fits-all monolithic intranet towards an ecosystem of sites and tools which more closely meet user need could be the answer. It's certainly an area I'd like to see explored in future editions of the annual. Team Size The annual found team size, relative to company size, is up. The average winning team includes 15 employees, or roughly one for every thousand employees. Again, the methodology is open to criticism because it's based on such a small sample size. As Andrew Wright remarked on LinkedIn: "Considering there are probably over a million intranets in the world, using only a sample size of 10 to draw any conclusions about the changing size of intranet teams is ridiculous." Muddying the waters still further is that the report doesn't clarify what's meant by 'intranet team'. People with some intranet responsibility seem to be included, but it's hard to define what that means; IT support? Testing? Or just those managing site structure and content? Comparison with previous editions again shows some kind of trend upwards, but to make any real conclusions about team size a quantitative study would be better. Look out for the forthcoming Intranetizen series on intranet teams. ROI NNg notes, as we all do, the difficulty in measuring return on investment on intranet developments. The report lists different metrics which the winners use to demonstrate ROI. The problem is, very many of them are contradictory. A couple of winners measure decrease in page views while hunting (which indicates better IA), while other winners claim increased use shows ROI. All too often, statistics show what you want them to. Increased page views either means your content is hard to find, or that people are using it more. Increased on-page time either means people are engaged with your content, or they can't understand it. It is all too easy to selectively pick statistics to demonstrate to stakeholders that your project was a success. But ROI, as Jonathan points out, is about outcomes, not outputs. What would be useful (perhaps from a future NNg report) is a comprehensive and standardised ROI measurement method for stats which enables people to compare apples with apples (and less able to bullshit their budget-holders). Summary Much of the criticism of the NNg design annual is based on its methodology; results are presented as if it were a scientific, quantitative study, when in fact the findings are based on the small sample of ten winners. This is unfortunate, as the findings are actually very useful. It provides a snapshot of emerging trends in functionality, design and management of intranet sites, giving intranet professionals some inspiration for the year ahead. There are a number of quantitative studies out there, and perhaps NNg would do well to set themselves apart from these; this report uses meticulous study of a small number of intranets, looking particularly at usability, in order to deliver detailed recommendations. The methodology is different, but still valid. No one doubts the selected winners are really good intranets. With the thorough analysis provided by their report, NNg give us all some great examples to learn from, and the knowledge we need to implement changes on our own intranets.   | ||||||||||||
| 7 Tips for a New #Intranet Manager Posted: 01 Feb 2012 04:10 AM PST New Year, new job? The start of the year can often bring a new professional challenge and maybe yours is a new venture into the world of intranets. If you're the new head honcho of intranets at Anywhere Inc., or maybe you just want to take a long hard stare at the role you've been doing for a few years, here's our top 7 tips for intranet managers. Other Tips for New Intranet Managers are available and are also well worth a read. Tip 1: Listen to — and watch — your users Any product manager anywhere — except, famously those at Apple — should listen intently to their users. As an intranet manager, your users are your fellow employees and you should invest great efforts in listening to their needs, their gripes, their likes and their wishes. Listening will elicit the problems they are aware of, watching will help you understand how they really ' use' things. Take time to walk the office and observe. This is the kind of thing you can't learn from metrics; seeing what people avoid using the intranet for gives you a far more valuable insight into where you need to improve than studying user journeys in Analytics will. Create the structures to ensure that listening is an active and continuous process, such as online surveys, focus groups and feedback forms. Ensure that you tour your offices, talk and listen. Ultimately you want your intranet to be used by your colleagues. You want them to be active participants and it's your objective to deliver something they need and will use. Don't forget to watch your users too because what people say they'd like and what they actually like are often very different things. Try spending one morning a month sitting with a 'real' end user watching their intranet usage, noting a few key snipets of information.
Tip 2: Build a vision of the future and inspire others If you don't have a destination, there's no point thinking about the journey. Step Two's James Robertson advises intranet managers to keep a list of the six things you want to improve on your intranet in the next year. A roadmap setting out where you want the intranet to be in a year, two years and beyond will help engage stakeholders with the potential it has to offer, and will help you make the case for investment. Publish this vision on our intranet and open it up for employee comments. Tip 3: Make good friends with your IT teams Ah, ok, sometimes it'll feel like you're sleeping with the devil! Truth be told, IT are the enablers in this co-operative and you'll need to work with them to get stuff done. The only exception to this is if you're in a situation when your intranet is perfect and you have no plans to change it. In a discussion with a Head of IT for a global company, we learned that IT departments don't want to be viewed as blockers but often they aren't told of projects early enough. Befriend key people within the department and ensure the lines of communication are constantly open. They will thank you for it. Tip 4: Build the right team For success, you'll need the right team of people around you to assist you in delivering intranet excellence. There are three types of intranet team — an operational day-to-day team, a developmental intranet enhancement team and a broader governance structure. Each of these will the the topic of a future intranetizen post, but for now, take great time to understand the strengths and skills of the people around you because you'll need them to get anything done. Tip 5: Measure everything you can about your intranet Facts are friendly. Take time to review your analytics as it will give you great insight on how your intranet ticks. Is it well visited? Where do people go? What are the results of their visits? For some further thoughts on intranet measurement, see our post on intranet outcomes. Tip 6: Get clued up legally There are lots of laws covering your corporate intranet and it's wise to get clued up on these before you go too much further. See the ever-popular 10 intranet laws post for more details. Tip 7: Join the intranet networks Being an intranet manager can be a lonely place. Given that most companies have just one intranet, you'll likely find that you're one of a kind. No one else to bounce ideas off. No-one else to kvetch with. No-one else who really understands the real you. Bit lonely isn't it? Don't worry, you'll find that the intranet manager community is very large, vocal, knowledgeable and in the large part, really helpful. There are lots of great intranet networking ideas here   | ||||||||||||
| 20 of the World’s Wittiest Twitter Bios Posted: 01 Feb 2012 04:00 AM PST I know you LOVE these funny Twitter bios. Yes, they're real and they're fabulous. Here we go!@organising @Newtoblogging @danecook @maurastl @SALJmum @fiona_mca @ankurtz @Maya_Abeille @DudeGurlz @webbrd @mdvaldosta @bargold @andrealown @gabrielfoley @phampants @carlosbenevides @jasondill @grbinder (Greg) @marcmack @oldfox004 @pathfinderpat BONUS CONTENT! Sometimes you just run into a Twitter bio that is so bad that it's funny! Here are some clunkers:
… well, thanks for stopping by today. If you keep reading, I'll keep "racking" up those funny bios! Illustration: I just made that lion thing up because apparently I have too much time on my hands. Previous funny Twitter bio editions: 20 of the world's most clever Twitter bios 20 of the all-time funniest Twitter bios (part 2!) 20 of the all-time best Twitter bios Mark Schaefer is a marketing consultant, author and college educator who blogs at {grow}. You can also follow him on Twitter: @markwschaefer.   | ||||||||||||
| Blogging For Your Brand: 3 Factors To Consider Posted: 31 Jan 2012 05:50 PM PST
If you're an avid blogger or looking to begin, consider thinking about these three factors that could lead your blog to an untimely end. Making your blog a diary. A great personal brand will tread the line between professional and personable – and the rule holds true for blogging. Your content should definitely reflect your uniqueness, but it shouldn't reflect if you're having a bad day at work. If you think writing about really personal endeavors can make a connection to your audience, it may backfire and repel readers from the blog they're used to reading. Not being aware of your content. Along with the benefits of blogging, I also wrote an article about how to identify your blogging niche. Regarding your content, you must remain aware of what you write and how you will be perceived, so that you won't put yourself in a bad light. For example, if you're applying to XYZ company, yet have posted criticisms about their products, you probably won't get past the screening process. Blogging allows you to have an opinion, but carefully choose what you want to make public. Not staying flexible. Though it's important to create a plan, schedule, or even an editorial calendar for your posts, embrace variety in your blog. Trying to keep every post the same will not only limit your creativity, but also drive readers away from the monotony. Blogging remains to be a great tool for personal branding. Stay relevant by watching out for these blogging mistakes. Do you agree with these blogging factors? How do you keep your blog relevant to readers? Author: Heather R. Huhman is a career expert and founder & president   | ||||||||||||
| Become a Pinterest Pro in 5 Easy Steps Posted: 31 Jan 2012 05:45 PM PST  One of BBB Systems' Pinterest boards With the amount of press it's gotten lately, you've most likely already heard about Pinterest, a new – and increasingly popular – social networking site. Pinterest is unique in that you aren't sharing pictures or status updates about your life — you're sharing images you find around the web. The Pinterest site describes themselves as a virtual pinboard. The site explains, "Pinterest allows you to organize and share all the beautiful things you find on the web. You can browse pinboards created by other people to discover new things and get inspiration from people who share your interests. People use pinboards to plan their weddings, decorate their homes, and share their favorite recipes." But where do brands fit into the mix? While Pinterest is slowly starting to attract more and more brands, it still has a predominantly female user base… which is great if that's your target audience. Still, there are quite a few users interested in a variety of topics, from technology and gadgets to architecture and gardening, as well as geek humor and funny images in general. The way your brand can garner attention from Pinterest users and hopefully get some linkbacks to your website or blog is by pinning interesting, funny, eye-catching, newsworthy, (you get the idea), images to different boards you create. The key is to pin a mix of images, some from sites you find around the web and some from your own blog or website to ensure you're receiving linkbacks and exposure, without alienating Pinterest users. Ready to get started? Check out the five simple steps to mastering Pinterest below: Sign Up – At the moment, Pinterest is still invite only. Visit www.Pinterest.com and click on "Request an Invite." It took me under a week to receive my invite, so you'll be pinning in no time at all. If you simply can't wait, (and you're nice) leave a comment below and I can send one to you. Once you've been invited to Pinterest, you'll be able to send invites to friends too. Create Boards – Ready to start pinning? First you'll need to create some boards. Click 'add' from the top right menu and then click 'Create a board.' Give your board a name and select the category it best falls under. For example, my current boards include, "Custom QR Codes," "News for Techies," "Nerdy Delights," "Tips and Tricks," and "New Client Spotlight." Most of my boards fall under the "technology" category. I've tried to create a mix of boards; some to highlight our business and clients, others just for fun and tech news. Pin Images – Now that you have your boards created (you can create more boards at any time), it's time to start pinning. To simplify things, add the 'pin it' button to your toolbar. You can find and download it from the 'About Us' section in the top right menu. Once it's been downloaded, you can hit 'pin it' any time you find an image online that you want to share. You won't be able to pin from social media sites like Facebook, though. You can pin from any other websites and blogs. Use SEO Descriptions – When you hit 'pin it,' you'll be asked to describe your pin. It's best not to just put "haha" or "love this!" in this location. Bryan Laurienti, co-owner of BBB Systems, advises, "Don't forget that SEO is a powerful tool and can be used in conjunction with all of your social media efforts." Be descriptive and use strong keywords to help your Pinterest page get found on the search engines. Even if you're pinning something unrelated to your business, use keywords because the more people who find your page, the more chances you have for people to learn about your brand. Engage with Users – Pinning images to your boards is easy, fun, and addicting, but it's not the only aspect to mastering Pinterest. As with all social networking sites, you have the opportunity to find your target audience and reach new users. Be sure to follow people and boards (you have the option for both) and you can also repin, ‘like,’ and comment on other users' pins. All of these are great ways to grow your own Pinterest page and help you to become a valued member of the Pinterest community. Be sure to check out our Pinterest page and follow a board or seven!   | ||||||||||||
| Posted: 31 Jan 2012 05:15 PM PST I heard about Pinterest in the fall, and my initial reaction was similar to many others: "I don't have enough energy to start another social media account." A few months passed, and during the holidays, I overheard two relatives talking about using Pinterest for classroom ideas. Being teachers, they are both sensitive to using social networks, yet they felt comfortable having profiles on Pinterest. It started to intrigue me more, but I still didn't put it high on my priority list. Then, while on Twitter, I stumbled across a Pinterest contest from one of my favorite brands – Lands' End. I was lured not only by the chance to win a gift certificate but also by the offer for (what seemed like to me) an elusive "invite" to join Pinterest. I asked for (and received) an invite, set up my account and got pinning. My mom side was immediately engrossed. This was going to make me a better cook, crafter, PTA parent and Girl Scout leader! Look at all these ideas waiting for me: I pinned a recipe, an idea for homemade Valentines and a cute printable for selling cookies. Fun? Yes. But instead of actually implementing any of the ideas I'd found, I was searching for other things on Pinterest. It is a great (addictive) place to browse, and when I came across the Real Simple boards, I was definitely hooked. My marketer side wanted to research brands on Pinterest, so I created my board for the Lands' End contest. I admired the retailer's creativity in developing an engaging way for users to interact and create boards promoting its products. I thought it was a smart effort, and as one of the first brands to do a promotion using Pinterest, it also generated a lot of buzz for the retailer. I think Pinterest presents a lot of promotion potential. I can see companies driving in-store visits through games and scavenger hunts, for example. What I like best about the site is the ability to browse freely, and I find the lack of personal information refreshing. I don't need to read status updates or act quickly to get the latest deal. I can simply look at pretty pictures. If I'm interested in something that requires more attention, I can pin it and come back to it. As a user and a marketer, I'm concerned that as more people and brands join, it will stop being a place of inspiration and turn into an online garage sale. However, I'm hopeful that brands will respect Pinterest's user-inspired culture and DIY feel. In fact, they may have to in order to be successful on the platform, which seems to be the tool de jour for brands with heavy visual appeal. It will be really interesting to see how these companies use Pinterest — and if they can turn pictures into profits.   | ||||||||||||
| NBA Sentiment: Examining the Social Media Buzz Surrounding NBA Teams (Interactive Infographic) Posted: 31 Jan 2012 03:52 PM PST The NBA lockout is over and basketball season is well under way, but the shortened season hasn’t kept fans from sharing their passion for their favorite teams. As a result, your favorite social media sites are certain to be filled with all of the of NBA cheering, jeering, and smack-talk that you know and love. Sure, you might have a pretty good idea of what the locals are saying about your home team, but do you know where they stand in terms of national sentiment? Below is a look at the social media buzz surrounding all of the NBA teams and the breakdown of positive, negative, and neutral sentiment. Be sure to check back to see how things progress. This interactive infographic is brought to you by Mantis Pulse Analytics. Mantis Pulse Analytics helps you find the conversations that matter to your business, measure the sentiment, and engage and influence the outcome. Pulse Analytics transcends basic social media monitoring to provide measurable and actionable marketing intelligence, brand awareness and brand protection. Your executive, marketing, customer service, product management and public relations organizations can all benefit from this simple and powerful SaaS solution. For more information, visit Mantis Pulse online and follow Mantis Pulse on Twitter and Facebook.   | ||||||||||||
| Cyber-Bullying and Internet Trolls: Is Your Child a Victim? Posted: 31 Jan 2012 03:05 PM PST I have served as a panelist on several school industry advisory councils. One topic frequently raised is social responsibility and the cyber-bullying epidemic, which continues to grow. Cyber-bullying is when a child or teenager is harassed, humiliated, embarrassed, threatened or tormented using digital technology. This is not limited to the Internet; cyber-bullying also encompasses bullying done through such things as text messages using cell phones. What astounds me most is the lack of awareness parents have regarding this issue, and it is more prevalent in older generation parents that do not use technology nor understand the social networks. Let's face it, verbal bullying isn't new. It's been an ongoing problem where children pick on other children, tease them and make them feel horrible. In your adolescent days, you probably watched it happen, or even were the victim of it. So, it's no surprise that bullying still goes on. Let's fast-forward 20 years, and thanks to technology, it has become much worse. When someone is bullied through the social networks, humiliation is broadcast for the masses to see, and since the Internet never sleeps, the bullying posts are instantaneous and can become viral more quickly. Before I get into statistics, let's take a look at these young people who have taken their own life due to being cyber-bullied: Tyler Clementi – Hidden Web Cam Broadcasts Sexual Relations
Phoebe Prince – Cyber Mobbed
Megan Meier – MySpace Fake "Friend"
Alexis Pilkington – Internet "Trollers"
It's hard to think that something could be so horrible that it would provoke a person to take their own life, but it is an epidemic that exists and must be addressed. It is important to note that cyber-bulling can only happen between minors. When an adult is harassing children or teenagers, it is known as cyber harassment or cyber stalking. This would include co-workers, ex-lovers, family members, friends, neighbors and even politicians. Sarah Palin was a great example of someone being cyber-harassed during the 2010 presidential election. Cyber-bullying can take many forms:
The following statistics are adapted from the youth research compiled at CyberBullying.us:
There are many ways to help identify and prevent cyber-bullying. Here are just a few great resources for parents: Top 10 Ways Parents Can Protect Kids From Cyberbullying (Fox News), What Parents and Adults Can Do (National Crime Prevention Council) and Cyberbullying: Identification, Prevention and Response (Cyberbullying Research Center). The statistics and the untimely deaths of these young individuals shed light on the disturbing trend of bullying and teen suicide. It is crucial that parents, educators and lawmakers see this epidemic as a serious issue and create stricter anti-bullying guidelines and laws. Our way of communication has changed, and so must our laws, guidelines and policies.   | ||||||||||||
| Join the Google+ Revolution Now Posted: 31 Jan 2012 03:00 PM PST
Start with a clear understanding of the features that make Google+ different from other social networks like Facebook and Twitter. Open a Google+ account and try it out. I recommend starting with a personal account before you create a business brand page. Chances are, you are already one of the 800 million active Facebook users. But, the choice between Facebook and Google+ is not mutually exclusive—you can do both. Of course, a natural overlap will exist between Facebook and Google+ users, just as the majority of my Twitter followers also use Facebook. You can be assured that your customers and prospects are debating over similar choices. More and more people will adopt Google+ because of its unique benefits. Also, since your competition may not have established a presence on Google+ yet, doing so now can pay dividends later. What are the Strengths of Google+ for Small Business? A few unique advantages to this new social platform are highlighted below:
Helpful Links to More InformationTo read more about the benefits of using Google+ for your small business, read the links below:
Dell: One of the Early Google+ Brand Page PioneersTake a look at Dell's Google+ page. Dell was involved in the June, 2011, Google+ beta test, making the company a pioneer in the brand page space. The Official Dell Corporate Blog describes Dell's Google+ brand page as a "centralized place to get updates from all of Dell across all our businesses." The page provides something of value whether "you are a home user, an owner of a small or medium business, or someone who is responsible for implementing technology in a global corporation." Observing how major brands use their brand page is a great way to give you ideas for your own page. In this way, Google+ helps level the playing field for brands of all sizes. Small Businesses' Top New Year's ResolutionAccording to the latest Intuit Small Business Survey [November, 2011] reported in the Huffington Post, "More than half (57 percent) of small businesses' top New Year's resolution is to expand marketing to attract more customers. Intuit created this Infographic with some of the survey results. My recommendation is to establish your Google+ brand presence now. As this new social network grows, more and more of your customers and prospects will join. Experimentation will give your small business a leg up on your competition and help energize your small business marketing initiatives in 2012. Start Your Own Circle of Trust [Video]This post was originally published on AT&T's Networking Exchange Blog.   |
Historically, the U.S. Military, branches, units and bases have been slow or resistant to integrate fads, trends and new societal norms. However, social media has been swiftly adopted and utilized as a communications tool for community outreach, crisis communication and recruiting. This happened because the U.S. Department of Defense (DoD) took the lead by releasing a directive (
Blog comments are crazy popular with traffic builders. If you are brand new to blog commenting, check out this post from SEOmoz about 
Social media use in the financial service industry is a tricky area given the issues around 
I have a friend who has yet to get Internet in her home. (In her defense, she recently moved to a new place). I've told her over and over again that she needs to do so for both business and personal reasons. She can only do so much on her smart phone.
We cannot doubt that social engagement is the important to happen to brands since advertising. Given the fact that Google Analytics has deployed 
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