"Social media marketing is here to stay" could very well be chalked up as the understatement of the year. Social media marketing has been on the rise for the past several years. Even so, there are still a lot of small businesses and corporations who continue to drag their feet on "getting social".
 
It is a new age where corporate reputations can be transformed in an instant, as consumers harness the power of social media to expose wrongdoing and vent their disapproval in enormous numbers. BP is just the latest in a string of global corporations who had to face social networking ire.
 
Others, such as Toyota and Goldman Sachs, have been forced into overdrive to repair damage resulting from perceived wrongdoing-often at immense cost and significant damage to their reputations. What makes these crises different today is that corporations are fighting to protect their reputations on all fronts, particularly online, and the challenge is getting more complex as millions more people sign up for Twitter, Facebook and the next generation of social media services.
 
The example of the month for Internet reputation management problems is British Petroleum. Their massive oil spill off the coast of New Orleans, an already-embattled city in a struggling state, has caused a reputation problem the likes of which have not been seen since Enron.
 
Twitter and Facebook continue to be the most used social media marketing tools by marketers, according to a new survey. Recent research shows one in four adult users of social media is now willing to lash out at companies online.
 
Twitter appeals to people due to its informality.  Facebook has now passed the 500 million mark and although it is popular, it's popularity in business application remains to be low. However, many business leaders are still failing to make the connection between protecting their reputation and being prepared to actively engage with their customers online.

More than ever before, people are using social media as a game changer to create major tremors across the corporate landscape. Whether it is to lobby Apple for its failure to respond adequately to the iPhone 4 product quality issues-which led to $9.9 billion being wiped off the company's value-or to ridicule BP for its ongoing problems in the Gulf of Mexico, social media's impact on corporate reputations and business strategy is increasing.

As a small business owner, isn't it time to jump on the bandwagon?
 

Ok so on Twitter, of course I'm following more strangers than I'm following friends. Maybe because some of my friends aren't on Twitter. Maybe because I don't want to follow friends on Twitter, I want to follow others who will become friends. But Twitter seems to think that instead of following strangers, people will find tweeting more fun if they can find their friends on Twitter. So they added a Find Friends feature which allows you to find Facebook and LinkedIn friends to Twitter.

You can find which of your friends are on Twitter using the Twitter Facebook. You can follow them instantly or add them to a list. Of course you can also post tweets directly to Facebook's pages when posting to your Twitter profile.

Twitter LinkedIn shows you which of your Linkedin connections are on Twitter. You can follow them and also post tweets on Linkedin.

Ok so! If you are my friend, now I can be your friend also on Facebook, and connect on LinkedIn, AND follow you on Twitter.

Uh but why do I NEED to connect with my same friend everywhere???

I call Social Networking, Social Brandcasting. Brandcasting means simply “casting” your brand out there in the social networks, period!

However many businesses are still not able to see the value of Brandcasting.

Brandcasting on Social Networks has the following key benefits
•    You can reach more people through popular sites like Facebook & Twitter due to the sheer volume of users each of them has

•    You can continuously promote your services and company events without spending any money on printing collateral, direct mail pieces, etc.

(Note: Although social networks are “free”, social networking is not free, but that’s a topic for another blog)

•    You can brag about yourself and your products or services and no one will think less of you.
You can do "horizontal" brandcasting which is to everyone and everywhere across the board, same message, same positioning. In horizontal brandcasting, you would use common messaging to promote generic messages about your brand or products and services.

Then you can do the "vertical" brandcasting where you position different messages on different platforms. In vertical brandcasting, you use different methodologies to reach different audiences. You may choose to reach a specific age demographic or you may target market using geographic area, etc.

The other important aspect of Brandcasting is the need to balance quantity (number of followers, fans, connections) with quality (what you say, how you say, and the persona you create of yourself or your company online, etc.). Quantity AND quality matter and don’t let anyone tell you otherwise.

Brandcasting is a powerful strategy and social networks are the vehicle for executing that strategy to get visibility for your company or products and services. Isn’t it time you got started on your Brandcasting campaigns?

There are a lot of social networking sites out there. Facebook is right up there in my eyes (and in the eyes of about 500 million others) in terms of interactivity, ability to share content, comment on other people’s statuses, etc. etc.  LinkedIn is pretty good too and although it's getting a bit crowded with every recruiter and outsourcing company from India, it overall offers quality content in the form of connections and interactivity. I'm pretty opinionated so blogging fulfills the need I have to opine on things.

Then there are other platforms which I off and on play on; Google Buzz, Digg, Stumble Upon, et. all.

But Twitter is my absolute favorite networking site. Twitter provides:

• total interactivity with multiple conversations all going at once
• access to those companies or people that I want to reach now
• global promotion of any content that I publish, period!

But know that I'm not "tweeting" just for fun! It's a business tool that we use to promote ourselves and our clients. Yep, you as a prospective client will love to hear about our "hassle-free campaign management services. But I digress.

What I want to convey here is that you as a business owner need to get on Twitter, now. 

Why?

Because Twitter allows you to:

• Brag/showcase/share as much information as you want: We'll prove to you that it is the most “COST-EFFECTIVE way you can generate global visibility for your company
• Engage with prospects and customers: If you have a customer service component, this is the best way to be “agile” and “responsive” to your customers. For all companies Twitter can be leveraged to reach those who are not as easily accessible through normal channels
• Streamline the business development process: I mean how often in the past could you have direct access to the local governor, the top celebrity, the top TV show host, or the CEO of a company?
• Identify alliance partners. Since everyone's talking about what they do and what they sell, what better way to identify alliance partners than browsing Twitter to find prospect alliances?
• Create a referral network: Let's not forget the need for referrals. When people interact and form a "trusted" relation, referrals are just a step away.
• Promote brand awareness: Yep, tell everyone who you are and what you do and why you believe in some cause and how you are a good corporate citizen. People want to hear this from you. By posting it on Twitter, everyone gets to read what you do and who you are.

Don't get me wrong. Facebook is wonderful. Twitter though is totally "now". Chat with multiple people all at once. Promote one message to thousands with just a simple click of the button. Request the forwarding of your message and voilà, several followers jump up to fulfill your request.
 
Twitter is fun; Twitter provides engagement galore; Twitter is good for business! It may be just my opinion but it's validated by millions!

I keep getting these spam messages telling me how I can quadruple my Twitter followers in minutes. And a Google search reveals numerous websites giving you the option of BUYING Twitter followers. And all I can say is Really???

It's ludicrous and totally pointless to "Buy" followers. What would the point be again? Does anyone really believe that growing followers inorganically by paying for them will provide any value?

The whole purpose of social networking websites is having the opportunity to network with others online. Leveraging your network to spread your company mission, product and service information, and bragging about how good you are, are all relevant only when there's someone willing to listen, engage, and take some kind of action. When you buy followers, you see a growth in the number of followers but the end benefit is completely missing.

You wouldn't "buy" networking connections in a face to face networking session would you? Well then don't do it online either. There's no purpose to it. Be a smart social networker. Engage and pour your sweat and blood (not literally of course) to get noticed organically. Establish credibility through dialog and an exchange of ideas. Then and only then social networking will make sense AND provide a return on investment.

Search Engine Optimization (SEO) means preparing your website for Search Engines. With Search Engine Optimization,a company website can be found in the "organic" or non-paid rankings of search engine results for various keywords. Not all keywords will result in your website being on the 1st or 2nd page of leading search engines like Google, Yahoo, and Bing.

I say that a website without Search Engine Optimization is like a car without gasoline. It's dead in the middle of the Internet superhighway, going nowhere, bringing no one to it, and doing nothing of much. When a website is optimized, it becomes the gasoline that allows the website to run on the world wide web.
 
Social Media Marketing on the other hand is a strategy used to share content, invite interactions, and communicate key messages about your company to get visibility. With Social Media Marketing you get a "buzz". Popular websites like Facebook and Twitter allow quick sharing of content which drives traffic and brand visibility.
 
To get succesful online, you cannot choose one or the other. When done properly, Search Engine Optimization and Social Media Marketing can help you maximize your online investment and increase your visibility.

Businesses doing only one or not doing anything with their websites have no chance of being found.

Business owners ask me which is better; Facebook or Twitter. I tell them that ideally they need to be on both. Here are the top three reasons your business needs both, Facebook and Twitter:
 
Twitter:

• Very good viral marketing tool
• Allows you to quickly share information
• Content can be found in Google's search results
• Increases brand awareness
• Drives traffic to website when links are used
• Distributes time-sensitive information fast and furious

Facebook

• Good for brand recognition, especially for recognized
• Allows sharing a variety of content including photos,  links, videos, and more
• Allows large number of followers and fans to market product and services.

A presence on both networks allows you to optimize your online presence. Don't settle for one or the other. Leverage both; Twitter and Facebook to get the biggest bang for your marketing dollars.

Google's CEO says newspapers will find a new way to make money. Not everyone agrees. We all know what's happening with the newspapers. They are losing advertisers and circulation has dropped year over year. So many journalists are out of work and are trying to find a new career for themselves. 

Along with Google, social networks like Facebook, popular blog sites, and others are taking the lions' share of advertising dollars that used to be spent on newspaper and magazine advertisement.

Google's CEO (at the annual American Society of News Editors conference) said that "newspapers are vital to democracy". I agree to that statement totally. I also feel that the pleasure of sitting at the kitchen table on Sundays with the papers cannot be replaced by sitting in front of the computer reading the online news. It's just not the same.

But what I don't see is how newspapers can revive themselves with the popularity of online media and the continued migration of more and more advertising dollars from print to digital media. Google's CEO thinks there will be a way for newspapers to survive with a new business model.

For the sake of my journalist friends and peers I hope that someone figures out a way to do so soon.
 

So Twitter's growing and recent statistics show that over 60 percent of Twitter registered accounts are from outside the US. Not surprising if you've been playing on Twitter and have seen the growth in your own non-US followers.

In addition to the fact that Twitter is available in several languages such asFrench, German, Italian, Japanese and Spanish, I think that it's growth can be attributed to it's simplicity and accessibility.
 
If you are a US business owner, you are wondering how this can help you if over 60% Twitter users are outside your "target" market.
 
So then let's take a look at the numbers.

Assumptions:

1. Twitter has 50,000,000 (50 million) users
2. Twitter has ~ 60% users outside of the US so US based Twitter users = ~ 20,000,000 (20 million)
3. Twitter's active users are approximately 21% so US active* Twitter users = ~ 4,200,000 (4.2 million)
   *Active users are those who follow at least 10 people, have 10 followers, and have at least tweeted 10 times

Based on the above assumptions as a US business owner, you have access to 4.2 million users through Twitter. Agreed that every state has a different number of Twitter users.

But let's just assume that each state had an equal number of Twitter users.

That means that if you want a "local" audience, you have access to 84,000 Twitter users in your state alone. Drill that down further and especially if you are in a metro-area, you can safely assume that your audience is at least 50% of the 84,000.

Now think about how much money you are spending on the "local" yellow pages, direct mail, and local advertising campaigns. Then compare the "cost" of those traditional methods and then compare the cost of doing online marketing using experts (like us).

Have you arrived at the same conclusion that Ford, Dell, and other companies have arrived at?

It's a fact! Social networks provide GREATER REACH at LOWER COST.

It's time to move beyond the excuses like "no-time", "no-money", "no-skills" and it's time to outsource your social media campaigns to companies like ours who provide hassle-free management, lower cost implementation, and results. We've got your Internet Marketing needs understood and have finessed solutions that work.
 

I read today that a 16 year old filed a "hacking" complaint against his mother. Apparently, this 16 year old from Ark forgot to log off the computer and his mom decided to log in and check into what he was doing as well as allegedly wrote things on his wall which could be "slanderous".

Hmmm….How many things are wrong in this story?

In the first place, what's apparent is that there's no trust between the mother and her 16 year old son. If there was trust, there would be no need to "hack" in. Also,if the kid forgot to log out, is that really called hacking?
 
So parents shouldn't check up on their kids because that'd be a violation? What if the 16 year old, MINOR, was being cyber stalked? Next thing you know, kids will begin complaining about that phone that allows parents to geotrack their kids. And why would the kid need to go to the courts is totally beyond me.

And as far as the mother goes, why any mother would have to resort to breaking in is beyond my comprehension. And even if she had to do "secretive" monitoring, why would she herself post something that would be slanderous to her own child?
 
Yes, I know this blog is not on a "business-related" topic but as a parent AND a social media practitioner, this news item really really bugged me and I wanted to report it so that other business owners who are parents take note and know their rights…..