Posted by Jody Raines
Social Media marketing is about sharing and transparency. I met with a client today who is concerned about identity theft as well as sharing too much. When is sharing your information about what you are doing too much?
Should you hide your identity?
Much has been said about privacy and Facebook, as well as privacy and social media in general. This week, Facebook launched Places - another way to check in while you are out.
It's a narcissistic way of sharing with the world all the neat places you've been to - Kind of like a "don't you wish you were here" for cyberspace friends.
When you note where you are in Fourquare or Facebook Places or Gowalla, can this lead to stalking issues? Robberies? Or worse?
Is Facebook Places Annoying?
Just yesterday, I posted a question on Facebook: Do you find Facebook Places annoying?
100% of the respondents said "YES", and they also had concerns about burglaries due to sharing where they are on Facebook Places.
But you can learn some interesting things by following the stream of posts on Facebook. One of my male "friends" on Facebook apparently has a great nightlife! He seems to know a lot of clubs and restaurants! As the evening goes on, you can track exactly where he is... and it's kind of funny... another friend (female) is checking into the same places at the same times! But, wait, they are married - but not to each other! So much for keeping that affaire a secret!
Too much sharing?
I worry about the ramifications of too much sharing, and pictures that others can post. Pictures that may not be the most flattering, or portray the best situations. Especially for my friends who are job seekers, what does this mean for their chances of employment. We know that employers are Googling us or Binging us or Yahooing us. No doubt there have been hiring decisions made based upon what was posted on Facebook.
What's the solution?
I am not sure there is a solution - other than be careful what you post and monitor what is said about you. Check your privacy settings often and be careful... That being said, I found this video to be absolutely appropriate, and while humorous, it does point out some of the scarier downsides to social media. Thanks to my friend Glenn Gabe for sharing this on his Facebook wall!
Are you going to change your name, have your face surgically altered or self-delete? LOL! What do you think?
Posted by Jody Raines
Social Media marketing has adopted Facebook with great passion,
and this week, the announcement of Facebook Places was eagerly greeted with equal enthusiasm.
What’s all the excitement about Facebook Places? (and why should you care?)
If you have a business located at a “brick and mortar” location (a location that your customers can visit) you really need to understand Facebook Places and how it can help your business...Why? Because most likely your competition will understand it, will begin to use it, and your customers will be using it!
What are places? Places is a “mobile application” that allows users to check in and say where they are. It’s a lot like FourSquare, only it’s connected to Facebook and therefore there is a built in audience of potential visitors to your location. As part of your Internet Marketing strategy, it's a good idea to know what Facebook pages is all about.
To see whether your business is listed you should use the most recent version of Facebook application for iPhone or touch.facebook.com. Other mobile devices and the web will be added as Facebook continues to roll out the program.
You can also access Places through your device’s web browser by following these steps:
- Point your browser to http://touch.facebook.com.
- Tap the Places tab.
- When you are prompted to share your location, tap "Share Location."
According to the Facebook FAQ, here’s how to ‘claim’ your place: “To claim your Place, search for your business name on Facebook via the normal Search bar. If your business’s Place already exists on Facebook, click on it to visit its page. At the bottom left side of your Place there will be a link that says "Is this your business?" Click on the link and you will be directed to a claiming flow.
Facebook will ask you to verify that you are the owner through a phone verification process, or you may be asked for document verification. Once your claim is confirmed, you will own your Place on Facebook.”
Whether you list your business or not, chances are that it will be listed by a patron, so it’s better for you to “claim” your business up front. By “claiming” your business, essentially you are registering your ownership with Facebook... and you can then assure the accuracy of the information and use Facebook to promote your business location.
Will claiming your business assure your Internet strategy of success? Not really. Will it mean you will have more customers? Possibly. Bottom line: You don't have to bother claiming your Place. But, if it's going to be there anyway, you may as well at least manage and maintain the basic details. By claiming the Facebook Place you are able to edit the address, business hours, profile picture, contact information, and other settings such as designating admins authorized to alter the Places page.
The neat thing about Facebook is that for the most part, users tend to cluster geographically and then spread out. It makes sense because most of the people you interact with on a consistent basis are local. And the power of a referral to your business or about your business can resonate with other, like-minded people.
If your Facebook Place doesn't exist yet, you can use the smartphone Facebook app to check-in at your business to create it. Once your business has a Facebook Place, there is a link at the bottom that says "Is this your business?" Click that to begin the verification process.
It’s not difficult to claim your place, but you will need to send Facebook some evidence that you are the owner... such as your Federal EIN (Employee Identification Number), a scan of official documents such as your articles of incorporation, certificate of formation, local business license, or Better Business Bureau accreditation.
After you submit your documentation, you will receive an email confirmation, and your submission will be reviewed.
Note: The Places application is still being rolled out, so you may not be able to access it yet. Check The Facebook Blog for updates on product launches and other Facebook-related stories.
Posted by Jody Raines
Feeling a bit vulnerable these days? Are your "privates" exposed?
Whether you have a personal page or a business page on Facebook there are some critical things you need to
be aware of. Recent privacy changes have created the utter chaos and groundswell of discontent that is impacting Facebook.
Recent changes to the privacy settings DO affect you, especially when you think you are 'safe', or 'private'.
In a nutshell, you are not.
Consider, Facebook has a track record of 'adjusting' their privacy settings periodically. Every time the Facebook privacy settings change, your profile is at risk of being exposed.
By continuing to use Facebook, (per the terms of service) you are agreeing to the new terms of service.
Add to this: whatever pictures and content that you've shared, even if you decide to discontinue using facebook and 'deleting' your profile, the content and pictures are still part of the data base that Facebook has become.
A database? Not a social network? Yes, believe it or not, the information that you have voluntarily supplied is now part of a super database that catalogues your 'likes' and interests, your friends, their 'likes' and interests, your family and relations, activities, television shows, movies... the amount of personal information that is now being shared about you is very robust and available to be harvested.
So, how do you protect yourself and what should you look for?
1. Evaluate how you use Facebook. Keep in mind that EVERYTHING is not private and once you put your information on Facebook, it's no longer just "yours". Use this as a guide for what you should post.
2. Protect yourself from Facebook scams! Accept friends judiciously. Facebook is not a race to the person who has the most friends. Each friend brings a vulnerability. Due to new Facebook privacy settings, anything you enable your friends to post about you is public, regardless of whether you restricted that information to 'friends'.
3. Understand that you need to OPT for privacy. The default is now set to open sharing. The New York Times reports how to adjust your Facebook privacy setting to make sure that you have them set for privacy... for now...
4. Consider the value you get from Facebook and whether it's time to shut down the floodgates. Some of the most influential technorati are concerned about the 'amoral' use of private information and have begun to close their Facebook accounts.
5. Review your account privacy settings. If you haven't recently, you may want to review these ten common Facebook Privacy mistakes.
Facebook is still a huge opportunity to market your company and to connect with others... but be wise, use caution and arm yourself with knowledge.
If you use Facebook Business Pages to promote your business, as a Social Media Advocate and Social Media Marketing Consultant, I'd still advise you to continue to do so. This article is to caution regarding personal information. To the extent that the 'abuse' of information persists and the impact of the groundswell of closed accounts impacts the fashionability of Facebook to attract an audience, it may be in the near future that Facebook goes the way of MySpace...
In addition, you should listen to our latest podcast from "Addicted To Social Media" A2SM.com which is available either on iTunes, or by clicking the podcast to the right side of this blog.
Posted by Jody Raines
Are you listening to your customers? Do you know what's being said about your company - good or bad? Are you Tweeting? On Facebook? Linked in? What's the last story you thought was Delicious?
The scary fact - a viral derogatory message can be shared across the Internet faster than a 140 character re-tweet!
Case in point: consider the recent viral Facebook trend where bra colors were suggestively referenced in several women's profiles. The fun part of the post - no one said why or what it was, simply a color. Staggeringly, some men, who didn't understand what was going on also posted "nude" or "eggshell" without a clue what they were referencing. As more and more people jumped in on the action, random bra colors started ranking in the top ten Google searches!
What does this mean for your business? You don't sell bras? Imagine that it wasn't bra color, but something about your business that was being shared. Something unsavory. That you are not happy about. Being Tweeted. Facebooked. Virally.
Who would have thought bra colors would be so viral?
And of course, you remember the Domino's Pizza incident - where a couple of renegade employees posted a derogatory video that went viral and caused the company an incredible amount of damage - lost sales and lost customers.
Unfortunately that scenario is not farfetched.
In a time when Social Media is measured by your Twinfluence and Facebook has over 400 million subscribers, not understanding the tools is risky business.
Social Media Marketing (SMM) has become a necessary tool for marketing today's business. Utilizing the principals of inbound marketing a social media marketing consultant can help you increase the effectiveness of your website by complimenting it with Social Media Marketing. The Internet as an effective way to reach an audience through "Inbound marketing" has evolved where it becomes a tool to level the playing field between big business and smaller businesses.
Rutgers University is hosting a Roundtable on Social Media Marketing to be held on Tuesday, March 23rd at 8:30 am. I'll have the distinct pleasure of speaking to a group of Family owned and privately held businesses about the power of branding through the Internet and how to harness it's power to speak with your customers. (there are still openings, and you can still register)
Small, privately held companies have an advantage when it comes to Social Media. A dynamic small business can be responsive to their customer and can effectively create an online presence or respond to an online menace. Especially because the decision cycle is shorter than the large conglomerate, the small business owner who grasps the strategy is way ahead!
The group at Rutgers will learn secrets and strategies to effectively use Twitter, Facebook, blogging and LinkedIn in conjunction with their website to position their business, achieve greater visibility through search engine ranking, and tips on how to make their website a lead generation magnet.
Registration for Rutgers' University Social Media Forum featuring Jody Raines, WebMarCom
Rutgers University
Family Business Institute
Waterfront Technology Center
200 Federal Street
Camden, New Jersey 08102
March 23rd, 2010
8:30AM-10:30AM
Conference Room B
Posted by Jody Raines
Search Engine Optimization is important for every website. It's the art and science of positioning a web site to be found in the search engines for specific keywords. Everything else being equal, the authority that your site builds through incoming links will differentiate and elevate your site in the ranking race.
So, what is the best way to build links? According to Matt Cutts of Google, there are ten ways you can effectively build links. He doesn't recommend all of these, but they all work:
1. Original Research. This can be as simple as keeping a diary of how effective your outbound email is, and what seems to get more opens or click throughs.
2. Newsletter. Information that you share in the newsletter is a great source for inbound links.
3. Social Media. Participating in the conversation in Twitter, Friendfeed and Facebook (among others) is excellent for link building. Get to know your customer and spend time where your customer is.
4. Get a blog. Establish yourself as an authority. Build up your blog to become a resource of information. Post great content or things that you find interesting or humorous.
5. How to's or Tutorials. Share information on how to do something and others will link to your info.
6. Build a resource or service. Open source applications that are posted have many inbound links and traffic. Do the work once, and they will come.
7. Good site architecture. Make sure your site can be crawled and indexed. Make it easy to get to your pages and be bookmarked.
8. Make a few videos. These can be simple as talking, but they are effective for generating inbound leads.
9. Controversial posts. This is not recommended, but it can be effective. Posting something controversial can get a conversation started.
10. Lists. Building lists of resources is also not recommended but can be an effective way to build incoming links.
To hear more about effective link building, here is Matt Cutts of Google explaining his thought on how to be effective:
Posted by Jody Raines
Wow. One more inch and we'll have a new record! After 27 inches of snow on Saturday, why is Mother Nature adding another snow/rain mix for us?
So, what's a snowed in business owner to do? Bemoan the weather or be proactive? Here's a list of 5 things you can do to promote your business while snowed in!
1. Sign up for Twitter. Connect with people you've not had a chance to connect with. Yes, it's frightful out side, but you are not the only person who is snowed in! Plus there is a whole part of our nation where the weather may be sunny and warm. If you haven't started, try downloading my podcast- How To Tweet Like A Master. It's full of ideas for managing your Twitter account as well as how to develop a Twitter following, how to connect with others, what to say on Twitter, how to say it, and how to create a custom background for your Twitter profile.
2. Create a Facebook Page for your Business. It's not a difficult thing to do, but it can be confusing. Today is the day that you can take the time to work through your Facebook Page setup. If you already have one - post some comments. Your Facebook page should be informative and helpful.
3. Use YouTube. It's the 2nd most popular search engine. Take a video of your snowfall and post it on YouTube. It's not difficult. If you have a video record function on your mobile phone, you can take the video on the go... Today's a great day to learn how to use it! For a fun exercise, try uploading pictures to animoto.com and select from their music to create a custom thirty second video. Then upload the video to YouTube. Here's an example of one that I did.
4. Explore Live Streaming video. I love UStream and it has some neat functionality. One of the best users of this technology is Adam Sokoloff and the team at Sunrise Signs. They took live streaming video of a vehicle wrap, and they are adding new content on an ongoing basis. Check their stream out: http://www.ustream.tv/channel/sunrise-signs-live
5. Set up your blog. A blog is a great way to add new content to your website. As a Hubspot Certified Partner, we are always looking for methods to improve conversion and generate leads. A recent Hubspot study shared the following:
"A study of 2,168 HubSpot customers shows that businesses that published at least 5 blog articles in the last 7 days draw 6.9 times more organic search traffic and 1.12 times more referral traffic than those who don't blog at all."
So after you've done your first round of shoveling, take a few moments and enjoy exploring Social Media Marketing and Inbound Marketing with some of these neat programs. As always, please add comments or thoughts, and start today, while you are snowed in, to take your business to the next level...
Posted by Jody Raines
Argh. Are you tired of Cold Calling? Another week of rejection on the phone?
Recently, when I attended the Voorhees Business Association lunch, one of my business acquaintances was sharing his frustration with making fruitless calls. It occurred to me, something is wrong with that picture...
Wouldn't it be a wonderful world if the leads came to you instead of doggedly pursuing them? Imagine a business where potential clients volunteer their contact information and even request you call them when they are ready to buy! Even more exciting, imagine that there are so many of these leads coming in that you barely have time to respond to them.
What's a sales person to do?
If your company is smart, they'll get on the band wagon of a new wave of Internet Strategy called inbound marketing. Inbound marketing in a nutshell, is positioning your website in a way that it becomes a lead magnet... But let me explain...
As an "Internet Strategist" my role is to help businesses take advantage of the power of the Internet to get found. How? The method I use is not really a secret, and I'm happy to share this with you.
Formula for inbound success on the Internet:
1. Develop your website with correct architecture. If your links are broken or your code is 'funky', you risk Google or Bing or Yahoo spidering your site and penalizing it. Make sure that your website is constructed correctly, and if you are not sure, try using our website grader. You can find this at www.websitegrader.com
2. SEO is important, but content is KING. Do you have a blog? Are your pages optimized? Is someone checking to be sure that you are being found in searches? What terms would your customers be using?
3. Are you posting comments and articles? Using Social Media? When did you post on Facebook last? How is your Linked In account holding up. Has your business created a Linked In business profile? Are you Tweeting on Twitter and if so, are you tracking the clicks on the shortened URLs?
4. Once you've been found, do you have a call-to-action that is compelling? Are potential customers sharing their contact info with you?
5. Who does your lead nurturing? What is the system you are using to follow up when someone submits their info?
SO much to do, so little time.. but if you consider that most people will search the Internet before making that large purchase, it makes sense to be found, and it makes sense to connect.
In closing, keep us in mind if you'd like a plan to help put an Internet marketing and strategy program together for your business. In the meantime, put your rap hat on and enjoy the video...
Posted by Jody Raines
Well, it's only a few weeks into the New Year and I've managed to break my resolution for blog articles! I wanted to post two each week, but last week definitely got away from me. With Social Media and Internet Marketing it's important to be consistent. By posting on my blog and also reading and posting on other's blogs, I am able to grow Internet Presence and help my cause with the search engines such as Google, Bing and Yahoo.
So, here we go, with part III, the rest of my resolutions for 2010.
9. Facebook Is Important. Facebook, which started as a platform for College students to communicate has now become a platform for the over 30-somethings to re-connect with friends and family. Even more important, however, is the presence that Facebook poses for businesses. With over 350 million subscribers who are incredibly loyal (over 50% log on every day and the average user spends more than 55 minutes per day on the site), the power and visibility for businesses who use Facebook is enormous. Interesting - that Facebook user profiles are generally not google-able, but Facebook pages (which are great for businesses) are! Today there are over 700,000 local businesses who have a page on Facebook.
I do have a Facebook page, which, when it reaches 100 fans, I can customize with a vanity URL. (I'm close, so please become a fan!) I use the page to post updates on Social Media and Internet Strategy for friends, fans and family. My resolution is to continue to use my page, and to post more often.
10. Read And Post. Repeat. There are some fantastic blogs that share wonderful thoughts and information on this rapidly changing landscape that we call "Social Media" or "Social Media Marketing". I learn from my colleagues and as I do, I try to post a note with a thoughtful response to their article. Again, it's a great way to network and communicate. And that's what it's all about. Isn't it?
The Internet has become the required instrument of communication. If you aren't being found and you aren't using the tools, your business may suffer. Join me in utilizing the tools - it takes some time and there is a learning curve, but the benefits in fast-forwarding your business for SEO, being discovered on the Internet, capturing leads, interacting and communicating through social media marketing is wonderfully enriching.
Start your 2010 right, and join me on your Social Media and Internet Marketing regimen!
Posted by Jody Raines
Like many other people, I start my New Year with resolutions - usually these are personal lists of things I feel I could do better. I've decided this year that in addition to going on a diet and exercising more, I am going to make some business resolutions.
These are thoughts and ideas that I have that I feel would improve my Internet presence and which will help position my business on the Internet.
For example, I have a blog. Blogging is very important. A blog is very important to help boost SEO (Search Engine Optimization). Therefore, if I am not posting, I am not helping myself get higher ranking in Search Engines, like Google, Bing or Yahoo!
My exercise for my business is goal oriented. I am a new business and many of my connections (and future connections) may not know that I exist or what I do. Therefore, it's critical for me to get the word out and establish some "buzz" around my business. In fact, whether my business is new or established, the goal should really be the same - to keep my name in front of my audience and develop the reputation as an expert for my field.
So, here is my list. Please feel free to borrow my list and make it yours as well. And... if you need help with any of these, this is what WebMarCom does, so give me a call! I'm happy to help with your New Years resolutions as well!
NEW YEAR RESOLUTIONS FOR INTERNET MARKETING:
1. Blog (at least twice a week) - Blogging improves SEO. In fact, each blog article is a new page. Especially important to optimize each blog article for a keyword or keyword phrase that can help boost placement in the search engines. This acts as new content and also, like having lottery tickets, assures that you have more 'tickets' to win (be found) on search engines, like Google, Bing, or Yahoo.
2. Tweet daily (on Twitter) - Tweeting is a relationship based exercise. If I am not responsive to the Tweets that other's send my way, then they eventually will stop tweeting me! I want to connect with more people and develop new relationships. These relationships add value and I learn tremendously from the information that I receive. I think of Twitter as a newspaper - I scan the headlines and every now and then I want to read the article. That's the way I use Twitter. The articles are the blog postings and links to information that I may not have seen any other way! Twitter is also great for promoting things that I've posted to my blog! Or new services that I've added to my website. It's only effective that way, if I have relationships, though. So, I also resolve to use Twitter wisely!
3. Web analytics (evaluate and improve keywords and pages) - Every day the Internet is changing. There are new articles posted and new websites being created. Just in the Philadelphia and South Jersey marketplace, there are dozens of listings created. In order for me to continue to improve my Search Engine Optimization, I need to evaluate how my pages are performing and work to optimize my site. Again, this is an ongoing process. Using Google Analytics is one way that I can see where traffic is coming from, and I can see what my bounce rate is for each page. If the bounce rate is high, then I have to determine why. Only by continuously examining my success and failures am I able to improve my Google rank and my placement in search results.
4. Lead nurturing - Every time someone asks for information on my website, I should have an auto-response that goes to the potential client and I should also have an auto-response that goes to me to alert me. I also should be pro-active at following up these requests. After all, that's why I have my website set up as a lead generation tool. So, my goal is to set up a 'drip' campaign of information that helps to keep my name in front of my potential clients, and also is a value. This means that I will provide great information that my potential clients will find useful and therefore they are more likely to read it. This is a one time exercise that I need to set up in my website.
5.Outbound Email Marketing Campaign - In addition to the people who find my website, I have a rich list of connections that I've met at various networking events. These connections may have need for the services I provide. Yet, I don't want to hammer them with sales information. Instead, I want to share knowledge with them in the hope that something I mention may spark the glow of interest. In the outbound email campaign, my goal is to have a link to at least one landing page with a call-to-action which is focused and directed at just one offer. This will encourage my potential clients to request more information and therefore be an opportunity for me to address this request with them. My goal is to offer these emails at least once a month.
Stay tuned for Part II - I have more resolutions that are incredibly useful to optimize your business!
Posted by Jody Raines
The world has changed. From the perspective of a marketing geek, it’s amazing to me how much technology has impacted the way we reach our audiences. The days of traditional marketing are gone and the days of social media and tracking brand identity are here.
Regardless of whether your business is located in Cherry Hill, New Jersey or in Philadelphia, or whether your product is web design or selling widgets, understanding the nature of the Internet and Social Media is critical to business health and success.
No longer is it safe to put your advertising for the product on television, radio, newspaper, magazine… then sit back and wait to “monitor” the results in sales. No longer can we identify our demographic in broad strokes, such as females 18 to 35. There is just too much information available to and from our customers for advertising agencies, publicists and marketers to take that dangerous approach.
If we are not monitoring our brand – what’s being posted or said about us on the Internet, we run the risk of negating any paid advertising that we do. In fact, the example of Pizza Hut, where a couple of employees created a video that disrupted our concept of the brand, brings to light the accessibility and availabilty ‘new media’.
So, what’s a marketer to do?
First – be aware of channels where the brand can be mentioned, either positively or negatively. In the case of Comcast. there is a team involved to monitor customer complaints, and take quick action to respond to them. Other companies are jumping on that bandwagon. Can you afford not to?
Second – take advantage of new media opportunities. Are you on Twitter? Do you have a business page on Facebook?Are you writing articles about the company? Does the company have a blog?
Third – Join communities and monitor the conversations. Join in the conversations. Humanize the company.
The days of faceless giant corporations are coming to a close – those are the dinosaurs that face extinction; much like taking the corporate jet and asking for taxpayer dollars. Today the customers are vocal and they want to be heard. They want to interract, and they want their opinion to count.
Can you afford not to listen?