Diet:: Day 10

Sharing Content on the Web

[infographic via here::special thanx]

Diet:: Day 9

[infographic via here::special thanx]

Diet:: Day 8

The Journey of Your Tweet...

[infographic via here::special thanx]

Diet:: Day 7

[infographic via here::special thanx]

Guest Work

The ultimate compliment that one blogger can give to another blogger is, an invitation to guest blog on one'sblog.  In addition to giving the ultimate compliment,  there are several advantages to this act of courtesy.

For the Blog Owner::  the owner has the opportunity to get a fresh perspective on their blog topics.  Consider this a 'mini' vacation - an chance to take a blog stroll to your guests blogger's site; as well as, the sites of your followers.  What a fantastic way to continue activity on your blog while offerring your readers an opportunity to be heard in a community that they are comfortable and that they respect.


For the Guest Blogger:: an opportunity to add relevant information on a blog that you respect.  An opportunity to provide that 'fresh' perspective to a new audience.  An opportunity to draw traffic to your blog.  A great opportunity to build your community.

For the Reader::  a fresh view on a familiar topic.  An opportunity to 'meet' and interact (via comments) with someone new, that shares their interests.  An opportunity to get involved in a new community.  An opportunity to be invited to guest blog. 

What is your experience with being a guest blogger?  Would you accept an invitation to guest blog on another blog site?  This is thed way that I see it - How do you see it?

Let's talk

Diet:: Day 6

The Engagement Pyramid...

[infographic via here::special thanx]

Diet:: Day 5

Word of Mouth is not Dead!

[click to enlarge][infographic via here::special thanx]

Diet:: Day 4

133,000,000 Blogs in the 'Sphere'... and growing

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[infographic via here::special thanx]

Diet:: Day 3

Yes Dorothy...a Social Media Program can work for your company...

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[infographic via here:: special thanx]

Diet :: Day 2

Generation to Generation ::
    Are you where your audience is?

[click to enlarge
 via Google Ad Planner::special thanx]

Does Your Landing Page Have Curb Appeal?

(pic via here::special thanx)

Visitors are great, but leads are better.  An effective landing page is essential to changing your 'Followers' to leads/clients.   It is the first point of contact for your potential clients.  Is your page's content a logical extension of the advertisement or link that initially brought potential clients to you site?  Is the page optimized to feature specific keywords or phrases (for indexing by search engines) ?  Does your page allow for interactions that a useful and pleasant experience for potential/actual clients?  Is it structured to appeal to your target audiences?


Information on your landing page should be relevant to the visitor.  If your landing page functions as reference type of page, then your marketing goals is to focus on lead generation and interaction with the visitor.  Effective landing pages meet the objective of the publisher with its success being measured by the revenue value of the advertising that is displayed on them.

Trying to persuade your visitor to respond and/or complete a transaction?  The goal of this type of landing page, referred to as transactional, is being the immediate or eventual sale of your product and/or service. 
If information is to be captured, the page will usually withhold information until some minimal amount of visitor information is provided, typically an email address and perhaps a name and telephone number as well – enough to "capture the lead" and add the prospect to a mailing list..


The overall goal of your landing page is to improve the percentage of visitors to your website that become sales leads and customers .  Frankly, to convert more visitors into sales leads or better still - clients.

33 Days of the Social Media Diet :: Infographic style

Day 1

As defined by wikipedia, infographics are visual representations of information, data or knowledge. These graphics are used where complex information needs to be explained quickly and clearly, such as in signs, maps, journalism, technical writing, and education. They are also used extensively as tools by computer scientists,mathematicians, and statisticians to ease the process of developing and communicating conceptual information.


Happy Birthday Facebook!

[click to enlarge::
image via mashable::special thanx]]

Social Media Trip Ups

photo via here::special thanx

We've talked about some things that you have learned about your business presence on social media platforms.  With lots of  great "to do's",  it begs to ask, is there anything off limits?  Well, yea!  Here are some common mistakes to avoid when building your social media presence.  Oh. Yes.  These mistakes have been made by others, so they are - tried and true.

• 
  
  Using the same strategy on every site:: Every social networking site is different in its purpose and ultimately in how you should use it to promote your business brand. Because of these differences, you should  create a different strategy for each site you decide to engage in.  Your strategy should be customized to that each site’s specific rules and code of conduct.  Running a one-size-fits-all approach will limit your ability to be successful anywhere.
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  Fake Friending/Following/Linking:: aka Social Media Dilution.  You are selective and discreet in who you allow into your professional network.  In the best case scenerio of an effective networking event, there are a select number of contacts that do (and should) leave the event with your contact information.  This same practice should be exercised on the social media sites. Rock solid, quality relationships take precedent over meaningless accumulation of sheer quantity. Seek out the people who will be most vocal about you- those are your ambassadors. Then, reciprocity becomes the order for the day. Help them. Connect with them. Build real relationships. Put them in front of individuals/businesses/situations that will be advantageous to their business brand. This is how social media becomes powerful.  The reality of fake Friending/Following/Linking aren’t going to click your links, visit your site, purchase your products, or sing your business/brand praises. They actually won’t do anything for you. Be choosy with your online relationships.  It's your business.
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  Creating profiles everywhere:: claiming your username for the purpose of instantly securing your brand across social media sites is a definite 'do'.  Setting up a profile account on every social media community is a marketing strategy faux pas, not to mention, a total waste of your time.  Your business/brand presence should be front and center in the arenas where your users spend their time and energy, where they’re interacting most, and where your business brand will be most embraced.  Your visibility on these target sites will help to focus your efforts.
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  Not completing your profile::  a completed profile says that you are an active member of the community who is committed and genuinely become part of that network. A completed profile helps you attract like-minded businesses/members and gain some easy trust points- by letting those in the network that you are here to stay.  Tell and show people who you are. Yes, social media is where your customers are, but you have to give them a reason to want to engage with you. Put yourself out there in order to benefit from real conversations down the road.
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  Selling to everyone, immediately:: people are more likely to purchase from those that they know and trust.  If you immediately arrive into a social media community and start selling, no one is going to listen. You’re going to be ruled a spammer and you’ll not only receive a negative response, but you run the risk of permanently damaging your brand. Although direct marketing in social media communities is not impossible, to do so means that you have taken the time to learn about the community, to 'meet' the people and only offer your products/services when it makes sense.Most people do not want to be sold to.  Take the time to build trusting, reciprocal relationships.
• 
  
  Not measuring it:: before you get into social media, know why you’re there and what you plan to get out of it. What are you looking for? Increased buzz over a product? Better brand awareness? Blog subscribers? Traffic? How are you going to measure these goals? Whatever your metrics are, make sure you’ve identified them before you throw money into programs you’re not tracking.

These are just a few that I've seen.  What faux pas have you seen?  Let's talk about it....

   

Is it Working?

You've been finding 'friends' on Facebook, 'connecting' on LinkedIn and amassing 'followers' on your Blog.  Your 'tweets' have reached the four digit amount, taking backseat only to the five digit 'follower' list.

You've optimized up the ying-yang!: your profile, your labels, your backlinks, your comments....  And somewhere in the back of the forefront of your brain, you keep thinking, "When am I going to know that all of this is working"?

When you're questioning if all of this 'engaging' is paying off,  this is your 'success' barometer.    

{Sundae}

(pic via here::special thanx)

Field of Dreams?

...so I built it?  When will they come?

(pic via here::special thanx)

So you've  monetized your blog?   So you think, "If I build it, they will come".  NOT!  It should be that easy.  How about trying this mantra on for size? 'First I build it, then I help them find me'.  This is the second step in successfully monetizing your blog.  You've made certain that your blog is focused, targetting a specific demographic.  A specific niche.  Good.  First half of the game - won.  Now to the second half of the game. 

If one word is to describe the theme of the second half, that word is 'diligence'.  From this point forward, it will take diligence, on your behalf, to put your blog in front of the audience that will make it possible to earn revenue.  Be it book/magazine publishers, sponsors, affiliate marketers, advertisers or/and businessess willing to pay for posts, every concerted effort at this point is to 'optimize your blog'.  Make it shine.  Shine like a beacon guiding its charge into shore after a long journey.

Getting in front of the businesses that pay for the audience that you have carefully groomed through the content of your blog, can be accomplished in several ways.  If your blog successfully reaches your intended audience, it is safe to say that you have a grasp of the techniques used to optimize your blog.  Let's go through a few. 

Appropriate use of 'tag' words.  Without boring you to tears, the wizards behind Google Analytics have devised a method of ranking web/blog sites on their search engine.  The ranking is driven by an intricate number of factors, one of which is the use of 'tag' words.  The word(s) that the average individual, doing a web search, would use to find web-based information - tag words (aka, labels, keywords).  All blogging platforms have templates that allow the blog author to put tag or labels.  Make your tags/labels/keywords descriptive of the blog post that it is highlighting, minus the industry jargon.

Link Building.  The inclusion of rich anchor text that references or/and gives credit/kudos (or just plain ole' shout outs) to another source - reciprocity.  Quality links, placed appropriately in your posts, allow interested readers (read:: potential monetizing agents) to add your blog to their site's blogroll, allow them to 'follow' your  posts,  becoming evangelists for your blog and ultimately monetizing agents.  Links help to optimize your blog by  allowing search engines to follow the links to your site.  Some sites will always give you 'link love', while others will not. 

Increase the amount of traffic to your blog.  Increase in traffic flow to your site is a direct function of truly knowing your audience and then providing them with relevant, pertinent, useful and valuable  information.  The greatest challenge in doing this is refraining from 'selling' to your followers.  Increased traffic, naturally, draws the attention of those who share a common audience with you. 

Remember that the use of strategically used tag/keywords/labels, appropriately placed links and relevant posts is about making quality connections.  Thinking in terms of offering content that is of value to your audience will, eventually come to the attentions of those monetizing agents who, also, have the best interest of their audience at heart.

Show Me the Money...

...aka How do those companies make money from their blogs?

(pic via here::special thanx)

You've seen them.  The fantastic blogs that you 'follow' regularly for their unique, up to date content, cutting edge information.  More and more you've noticed the amount of advertising and sponsorship that appear neatly incorporated into the site's wallpaper (almost as though they are just  subliminal suggestions and not actual ads).  If you're like me, you have- on more than one occasion- scratched you head while wondering, "how do they do that'?  The 'that' in this instance is, attracting and retaining well-known, innovative, familiar advertisers and/or sponsors.  After all, the sponsorships and ads must add a bit more credibility to your blog.  Monetizing your blog can be done either, directly or indirectly.  And it appears that one might have greater successful monetizing a business blog versus a 'personal' blog.

With direct monetizing, your blog is making money.  The blog generates revenue through advertisements, sponsorships, paid posts and/or affiliate marketing.  Although, this method is generally seen with business blogs, there are several blogs - whose focus is the event industry (ie, Kelly De Luca, Abby Larson and Maria Cooke) - that have been successful with  implementing this method of monetizing.

Indirect monetizing, the more popular method, serves double duty.  Not only can it be lucrative means of generating revenues,it is a valuable means of branding. yourself.  This method involves you, (the blogger)  leveraging the success of your blog to generate revenue.  Revenue sources, often times flow from speaking engagements, workshop, book proposal, article writing and the like.  Rebecca Grinnals, Liene Stevens, and Katasha Sherrie Butler,  are a few of the event industry gurus who have parlayed indirect monetization of their blogs into a handsome business 'up' sale. 

Your business has a focus.  A target audience. Your blog represents your business focus- your niche.  And selling to advertisers is much easier when you have a niche.  Suffice it to say, advertisers fully understand niche marketing.  Advertisers know who their audience is, and,  if your blog caters to that audience, then it has value.   

Whichever path that you chose to travel toward monetazing your blog, directly or indirectly, be sure to keep your blog 'valuable' by posting content that is  focused and true to your audience.  First you build it.  Then you help them find their way to you.

I'm a Nonprofit...How can Social Media help Me?

{pic via here::special thanx}

For organizations that depend on the generosity of interested supporters, social media marketing is a natural fit.  Organizations that are deeply connected to their audience and memberships, (ie, theatres, musuems, 'relief and aide services', family focused organizations) have a tendency to have strong contact information on which to establish content and experiences.  This solid connection makes it far easier to generate social media  'conversation'.  The central points of nonprofits often times are the volunteer efforts and/or donor support of these strong contact.  People taking an active interest in what they do is the lifeline of nonprofit organizations.  So what are the challenges in marketing for nonprofits?

The for-profit sector is filled with products that we either need and/or want.  For example, people know that they need footwear.  Most people turn to manufacturers that they have had a desireable past experience.  Support for and the use of these products/services that are familiar to us is assured (at some level).

In the world of the nonprofit, it's not quite that easy!  Services such as The Red Cross aren't appreciated until and unless one finds themselve in some disaster situation.  Theatre &  musuems are not necessarily high on most lists of "Things that I can't do without".  The challenge to these organizations to maintain high level of community participation & visibility is grounded in their ability to consistently drive awareness and keep people passionately involved.

Because of all of its challenges, the use of social media platforms are an invaluable marketing tool for nonprofit organizations.  Because the success of, both, nonprofits and social media marketing is rooted in an active community, and is consumer driven- production is very low.  The basic principle of social media is that, 'if you have a product and/or service that is being used/consumed by customers-some is talking about your business.  Whether your business is a for-profit or nonprofit organization/business is not the issue as much as maintaining an awareness of what people are saying.  This is the common challenge for any business/organization servicing a market.  Social media platforms are the equalizer.

Do you have an experience in using social media marketing practices as a nonprofit organization?  What's your take?

Facebook can Help My NonProfit

As established in this post, the success of, both, nonprofits and social media marketing is rooted in an active community, and is consumer driven-production is very low.  Too often businesses equate effective use of social media marketing as setting up a Facebook page and other social media platforms and using them to 'talk' to each other.  Just as your other marketing plans utilize the basic marketing methodology-- business objective, audience, strategy, metric for measurement and the use of tactical methods.
Let's look at the use of some of these basic elements as they relate to the social media platform Facebook.

One of the beauties that Nonprofits have for using Facebook as a marketing tool is their unwavering support of willing, interested and actively involved community.  Nonprofits have solid contact information on which to build and have the capability to create, both, content and experiences that your audience finds talk worthy.  Being able to rely upon this audience to take an active interest and participation is the secret for Facebook success.

Establish your objective for your presence on Facebook.  Are you using it as an outreach to members (via use of  Facebook Group feature)?  Trying to reach the audience who are not yet Facebook users (use Facebook Business Pages - these pages can be viewed by those without a Facebook account)?  Facebook Groups are also useful in organizing community members; as well as, facilitating internal conversations.

Be certain to implement a measurement of goal success.  Are you looking to grow your group, increase conversations among community members and/or increase traffic to another site?  Be certain to have clearcut, measureable goals.

Refrain from the tempting practice of using Facebook as a direct response mechanism.  Facebook, like other social media platforms, should not be used as forums for direct advertising.  General rule of thumb with marketing to those who 'FAN' you on Facebook is that any marketing message sent to them should be sent through the Facebook inbox.  Contact with Facebook 'Fans' via email or other such avenues should be used when your organization has established a trust with that Fan.  At that point the Fan will usually request to be contacted by some other means (ie, phone, email, direct mail).

With society's shrinking attention span, be sure that your Facebook content is relevant, timely and 'digestible'.

One of the many reasons that Facebook is so useful is, it 'alerts' your community when you have made 'status' changes.  Take advantage of this feature.  Publicize new members (aka Fans) and relationships (ie, groups that your organization is actively following).  Post photos relevant to any campaigns that you may be airing.  Create a 'RSVP' page for your organizations events.  Useful information will be shared, not only with those in your 'community' but also with any/every one that you have authorized to view your Facebook page.

As you become increasingly familiar and comfortable with using Facebook for your Nonprofit, be certain that all of the group pages, fan pages and applications are interlinked.  Prominent navigation back to your main Facebook page reassures that your organization's brand message remains front and center of your audience.

How do you use Facebook for your business/organization?  What Facebook strategies have been successful for your business?  Let's talk about it...

WTF is Social Media: The Basics...PG Edition

{Sundae}::

Who Invited the FTC into My Bed?

{photo via here::special thanx}

You've heard about them. You know...Them...The rumours floating around on how the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) has become bedfellows with those of us in the blogosphere (like it or not).  What rumor, and when they get in bed with me?  Here's the scoop.  After twenty-nine years, last October 2009, the FTC has effected several new guidelines that will forever guide all of us 'professional' and/or serious bloggers.  The guidelines concerns "...the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising, which address endorsements by consumers, experts, organizations, and celebrities, as well as the disclosure of important connections between advertisers and endorsers.who receive advertising testimonials, endorsements and/or sponsorships".   And...rumor has it that there is some astronomical fine attached for those who are noncompliant...
Whoa!  What was that!

Here is the simple 'keeping it real' version:

Those *lovely* client testimonials that are posted on our blog/web sites, must be a reflection of what a client will  'typically' experience with your product or service.  No more use of the infamous fine printed disclaimer of, "results not typical"

"Material connections" (ie, payment for or receipt of free products/services) between, you - the blogger any product/person/service that is endorsed (on your blog), but, not expected by the 'listening' consumer - must be disclosed.  The guideline reads, "...the post of a blogger who receives cash or in-kind payment to review a product is considered an endorsement.  Thus, bloggers who make an endorsement must disclose the material connections  they share with the seller of the product or service".

Fortunate to have some celebrity ties?  Well, listen up.  Because this is what the guidelines have to say about the use of celebrity testimonials/endorsements.  The "...celebrities have a duty to disclose their relationships with advertisers when making endorsements outside the context of traditional ads, such as on talk shows or in social media". 

Richard Cleland - Assistant Director of Advertising Practices at the FTC, clarified FTC’s expectations for disclosure, as it relates to bloggers as - “the FTC’s main criteria is the degree of relationship between the advertiser and the blogger. . .If there’s an expectation that you’re going to write a positive review, then there should be a disclosure.”  Further, he had this to say about receiving sample products versus being paid for a review:

“That’s going to depend on the circumstances. If we’re talking about getting one free product or something sent to you and you happen to write about it on your blog, that’s not the type of relationship that has to be disclosed. But if you’re part of a network and you’re consistently receiving products to test and blog about, then that raises the implication that these gifts are quid pro quo and that’s why you’re writing the positive reviews.”

You might be asking yourself, does this new guideline effect my Facebook and Twitter presence?

What About Twitter and Facebook?

The guidelines hold true for bloggers who receive paid endorsements (read: tweets) and/or Facebook 'Fans' of products/services and then share those fan pages or/and tweets with friends.  Safe rule of thumb - whenever their is some type of payment or/and compensation (actual and/or in-kind), the 'guideline' flag should go up.  Here is how the guideline may be applied to use on Facebook:

“[A] celebrity or other prominent figure with loads of friends on Facebook receives free hotel stays from Hotel Chain X in exchange for running Hotel Chain X ads on his or her blog. If that person then signs up as a Facebook fan of Hotel Chain X–which, remember, could mean that the person’s name can show up for his or her Facebook friends alongside Hotel Chain X display ads on the social network–he or she could be held liable by the FTC.” (info via here:: special thanx)

As for Twitter, the expectation is that, somewhere in that 140 character limit, you must include your disclosure statement.  In other words, "if you can't make the disclosure, you can't make the ad"

How is the FTC going to keep track of ALL of the Blogs in the blogosphere?
Great question!  When the guidelines were first made public, through a series of interviews, Cleland offerred clarification of the guidelines; as well as, an explanation of how the guidelines are to be applied and monitored.  In one such interview, Cleland stated that the education, of the individuals/companies that is effected by these guidelines, of what is expected of them as it relates to the new guidelines is primary and key.  He indicated that "the FTC would be 'looking primarily at the advertisers to determine how the relationship exist'".   In an interview with CNN,  “Richard Cleland . . . admits there will be no new team to monitor all the blogs, and that enforcing these guidelines would be a ‘game of whack-a-mole’ given the numbers involved... The new guidelines are viewed as more of an educational tool than any kind of requirement, and geared at advertisers more than bloggers. If numerous complaints are filed regarding a blog, the FTC is likely to investigate that the advertiser has properly advised the blogger of these guidelines.”
Further,  Cleland goes on to say, “…in the bigger picture, we think that we have a reason to believe that if bloggers understand the circumstances under which a disclosure should be made, that they’ll be able to make the disclosure. Right now we’re trying to focus on education.”


Do you have to go back to previous posts and add a disclosure for gifts/payments received prior to this new guideline?  One suggestion offerred by Lisa Stone, founder of Blogher.com, is that "...you update your “About" page with your blog policy about payments and review your blog for the current year and disclose any gifts or payments. For previous years, I think you can disclose on your “About” page the date on which you began your disclosure practices. We are not your lawyer, but as a a general practice we recommend that bloggers disclose any kind of payment at the top of every post written because of a payment of cash, goods, or services.”

So what does this new 'partnership' offer as a penalty for noncompliance? 

Can You Spare $11,000 Dollars?

What's to the (rumor?) of the $11,000 per violation for noncompliance?  Trusted news sources were reported  that bloggers who don’t disclose payment will be fined $11,000 per violation.  The updated FTC regulations don’t mention an $11,000 fine at all. None of the original articles with erroneous information had been updated to reflect the lack of this exhorbitant fee. 
To the credit of the majority of bloggers - we are doing the right thing already.  That being said, the level of vigilance lies in the hands of each blogger to remain within the bounds of the regulation guidelines.  The rest is relatively simple.  Write your own disclosure policy/statement and post it clearly on your blog. Need help in writing that disclosure.  This site will assist you in generating one.

Has the new FTC regulation effected the way that you maintain your blog?  How so?  Have you included a disclosure statement in your blog?  Let talk about it...

HAPPY

...2010!!!

{pic via here::special thanx}