{Facebook} + {Eventbrite} = Publish Your Event on Facebook

[pic via here::special thanx]

Eventbrite is a wonderful online event site that allows event planners to, among other things, create, schedule and publish their planned events at a cost that leaves a (giant) smile on their faces.  There are lots of other valuable tasks that this service offers, one of which is, the ability to publish your events directly from the Eventbrite site onto your Facebook Fan page.  No cutting/pasting needed!  You have, in the past, been able to publish your Eventbrite events to your Facebook wall...which means that eventually your event information will scroll right off of the page. 

Do you have an upcoming event that you want to let your Facebook community know about?  Create, schedule and publish it on Facebook, with a few (very few) points and clicks of your mouse.  What? You're familiar with this affordable service?  Check it out.  I love it!

What social media communities do you use to publicize your events?  Have your efforts on this/these site(s) been successful?  Are you already using Eventbrite to create, schedule and publish your events?

Lets Talk....

Strategy:: Content Marketing

#5    

Make it easy for your audience to transition from learning from you to buying from you.

Information is key.

Thoughts?

If I Tweet in My Blog... Does that make it a Twog?

Have you been dying to learn how to incorporate your tweets into your blog posts?  Well, I certainly have been flapping my wings pondering the process.  Email to the rescue!  Yesterday, this great tutorial landed in my E-mail - Embedding your favorite tweets into your blog.  Can I say that it's arrival was right on time?  The process seems a little daunting, so it will be a minute before I take on the task. 

So, here is my initial question - "If I tweet in my blog....does that make it a Twog?"

What's your thoughts?  Are you presently including tweets on your on blog? 

Let's talk....

Cultivate an Active Social Network in Five Steps

[infographic via here::special thanks]

Link Sharing

I follow quite an amazingly well-educated, well-rounded, intelligent group of social media gurus.  These experts have their finger on the pulse of the latest trends, issues, best practices and resources that make their way down the social media pike.  And, although many of them have made the topic of social media their 'way of life', they never hesistate to pass on many of their pearls of wisdom.  Such is the case of Colin Welch over at Silicon Beach Training.  He has made available a pretty comprehensive link list of  "social media tips, guides, plugins, platforms, analytics, tools, apps and other great resources.  This list was original meant only for attendees of his Social Network Training and SEO Training course.  But by his own admission, "... but it would be mean of us not to make it available to everyone. Enjoy…"

And without further ado... THE LIST .... thanks, Colin

Search Engine Optimization:: Three Do's

[photo via here::special thanks]

Web marketing - Oh what a tangled web we weave!  The road to mastering the strategies that drive traffic (read-clients) to your site can be a seemingly endless trek.  Each strategy, has its own unique elements that create its own set of challenges.  This can definitely be said about Search Engine Optimization (SEO).  SEO requires that you think about the signals that the content and the structure of your site sends to your audience.  For most of us, this a different way of thinking.  In order to get human searchers to your site, your site must speak the language that search engines value and understand.

In an attempt to have your site found by 'the humans', here are three SEO Do's::

DO Speak Your Audience's Language
Make certain that the 'tags' that you use, are in the language of the human searching for your site.  Your site has a brand that you are marketing.  Your brand represents the style, or way of talking about your product/service.  The language of your audience should be mimicked in the tags that you use on your site(s).  The closer that you match the language of your site(s) with your audience, the easier you will be found by them.

Do Remember that Google can 'See' You
Because search engines have access to a infinite amount of information.  From URL's, registration and hosting information.  Search engines can see every domain, especially when they are linked to one another.  That being said, steer clear of attempts to use CSS code to hide keyword-rich SEO content.


          

                                                                                                                                                         

Do Design 'Crawable' Navigation

Search engines can not 'see' site content that appear on your site as images, video and/or flash.  What they do 'see' is plain text and HTML.  Javascript, cookies, filtering drop-downs, forms or CSS are unrecognizable. If the search engine can not understand the information on your site's page(s) and/or how to navigate through the site the pages do not 'crawl'.  Inability to 'crawl' ultimately results in no traffic to your site.

The tags that you choose to use to brand your site(s) send strong signals to the search engines.  The closer that your tags mimick the language of your audience, the easier it will be for them to find you.  Give your site/page the best chance of being found by remember that language is key.

What SEO strategies are you using?  What has worked?  What has not?
Share your successes and challenges.  
Let's talk...

Social Media Success Summit 2010

[More Info & Registration Here]

 If you're like me, you're looking to choose your social media activities wisely, without getting consumed by all the options. You simply want to know what works best.

Announcing an online event designed to help marketers and business owners quickly achieve social media success—Social Media Success Summit 2010. Twenty-four of the world's most respected social media experts have come together to share their strategies (see the great line-up on the right). They'll reveal all the latest techniques and proven business-building tactics you need to know to immediately benefit from social media.

WHERE:

At your home or office! You attend this live event using your computer

WHEN:

Starting May 4, 2010 (spread over a month)

Smart Quotes...

"Before you can pick a social-media strategy, you have to think of your customer and what the value proposition is for them. Social media is a way to engage customers, not to give your business a 'shout out.'"

         --Carol Roth, author of the Unsolicited Business Advice blog, 

                                                                 writing at SmartBlogs 

Baseball Goes Viral

[link here][original video here::special thanx]

What's Your Thoughts about Spam?

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

Where's My Audience?

After finishing this recent post, one of my colleagues in the Event industry,  sent me an E-mail that consisted of two things: a great compliment on the article and a very thought provoking question that resulted from this same post.  It seems that her efforts in actively participated in social media communities had been quite successful in netting her an audience of other like-minded business owners.  Although understanding the importance of  the B2B relationship, her question was:  "Where do I find my consumer audience"? 

My first response to this was an introspective - "... hummm.  What a great question!  And, what a even greater blog post this will make!"  The reality of it is that the answer to this question maked for great fodder for many blog posts.  I will attempt to give a shortened version - touching on just a few tactics...

The process and strategy for finding your audience on social media sites is much like the research that goes into target marketing.  To effectively locate (and market) to your audience, you must put in the time/research required to be able to succinctly discribe 'who your customer is'.  The ability to successfully locate your audience in the world of social media, goes far beyond understanding the usual demographic and geographic description.  It is imperative that you understand what psychographic and generographic characteristics motivate your audience.  That is to say, what is their communication style ?,  what devices do they utilize to access their platforms of choice? and what sites warrant the attention?  In general, what are their interests?

 

You can start your search in a number of ways.  You may want to start your search by asking trusted industry colleagues, who share your target audience, the above questions.  By soliciting the assistance of a colleague who does not share your same geographical territory should decrease the competitive factor.

A second source of locating your audience can be found in your industry publications.  Industry publications are invaluable resources for ascertaining, not only general information about your audience, but also, providing statistical profiles of  factors that influence their buying motivation, convey their concerns and interests, how they spend their time, what issues they are facing, with whom do they associate and what their aspirations are. 

Once you have created a general outline of your audience, you can more easily select the social media channels to target. 

What tools and/or strategies have you successfully used to locate your audience?  Let's talk about what has worked for you?

Information as a Commodity

The power of the internet is turning information into a commodity. Because of this, it’s becoming more about your ability to use information to solve your target audience's challenges.  Providing relevent and insightful information helps to increases your business' value and brand equity. 

As the infographic demonstrates,  the ability to useyour insight and information to solve the issues of your target audience is key to setting your business apart from your competitors.  Engaging your audience through transparency and accessibility is key to building a strong brand.  

What are your thoughts?

Let's talk....

BAM! ... Your on the Internet...Now What?

[original video here::special thanx]

Still Think that Social Media is a Trend?

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

Nobody's Ever Heard of You...

[original video via here::special thanx]

Social Media Landscape

[enlarge]

[via here::special thanks]

If the social media landscape could be segmented into four main usages (expressing, sharing, networking, playing) and is structured around social platforms, this is what it would look like.  Decide how you want to use your marketing efforts then plug into the communities that will best benefit your needs.

Facebook Can Get You Fired...

A 2009 survey conducted by The American Management Association and The ePolicy Institute, twenty-seven percent (27%) of companies have policies that directly address what their employees can post on their personal social networking page.  like to think that what they do on their own time is their own business, but that's not always the case.  According to the survey, two percent of companies have discharged employees based on the content of their social networking pages.  Businesses that boast having a social media/networking policy should be certain to apprise employees of the policy, its content and consequences.  That way they can't cry 'foul play!'

What are thoughts?
Does your company have a social networking policy?
I this too much 'Big Brother' for you?

Let's Talk...

Diet:: Day 33

[click for enlargement] [infographic via here::special thanx]

Diet:: Day 32

Twitter Does PR

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

How to Leverage the Internet for Your Events

[slide via here::special thanx]