Media Collective Social Media Marketing Mindshare

Lost Rank What The Heck?

2010-09-06T14:00:00.001-07:00

Professional SEO's, webmarketers or the inhouse do it yourselfer have all experienced a sudden drop in website ranking at some point in their carrier or website life.

What Do You Do About Your Website Plumenting In Rank? Well have a plan Stan!

You just launched a couple of months ago and woo hoo, its bright up here at the top, now I'm no where to be seen and in the shadows of dispair. This is a typical sceneiero in new site launches, the engines index them, you enjoy a temporary boost in rank only to find it gone. There are annomolies that maintain their rank especially if they bought an older domain off of the resale market, or they are highly focused, low competition niches or lastly have a hughe budget and team of seo's, link builders and expert writters to provide a consistent growth in content.

a. This is normal
b. Keep on a forward moving path, adding quality keyword topic related content on a reguar basis - that means shoot for once a day for the first couple of months.
c. Guest comment on related blogs, make sure to use your url in the comments ie link building
d. You do use your FREE google webmaster tools right?
e. Take advantage of building up your social profiles across twitter, facebook, posterous, foursquare and also flckr (name your images with keywords please)
f. Join Targeted communities, if you sell bike shorts, well you should not be spending your time and effort in the cooking forums - it's about focus

Established Sites:
If you have a backup contigency budget to implement a ppc or other paid traffic generation. Think of it as a rainy day fund. Set asside a reasonable budget for a 60 day period of paid for inclusions, ppc or cpa advertising. This will give you a generous amount of time to address what may be causing your sudden decline.

What is reasonable? Well there are many tools on the market that help tell you what your "keywords are worth as well as what is the average spend on those words. Knowing what this is gives you an idea of your target rainy day fund. (check out google webmaster tools, or browser plug in seoquake )

Both Rainy day funded and no/low budgets

Have a "what the heck" reason finder method in place to discover why the sudden loss in ranking favor could put you back on the road to recovery.

a. Check to see if there has been any algorithm changes within the search engines you have been ranking in.
b. Back track any changes, seo or other wise that you have done to your website, including any new backlinks that look suspicious.
c. Of course you have been monitoring your competition, check out to see if your vertical in industry competitors have made, which also can change your ranking.
d. Check your servers and your error logs. Maybe tech changes have created slow loading or errors on pages, these can cause rank plumeting especially if a site wide issue.
e. Be honest, have you gotten complacient in adding content, link building of low/no quality? Re-energize your site with some fresh content and get back on a pro-active publishing schedule.
f. Check your inbound links. When is the last time you proactivly adding high PR value inbound links to your interior content?
g. Mentioned above, check your webmaster tools and other Free search /webmaster tools many have evolved since the last time you were there.
h. Take advantage of some of the free PR release services, create a press release and submitt it. Also if you dont have one add a News & Press Release Section on your site.
i. Gust blog, or post off of a complementary to your industry website, make sure you get linked credit.
j. Utilize your established relationships and your mailing lists, create a buzz worthy newsblast to your advocates.
k. Diversify your online exposure!!!!!!!!!! Don't be dependent on any one source of traffic for a bulk of your business. Start creating multiple channels that way blips in algorythems will just be a annoying misquito vs. having your wallet dissapear.

Lastly don't panic, be patient and take practical purposful steps to rebuilding rank

Posted via email from Media Collective -Social Marketing, Advertising And Nerdy Things MindShare & Beyond

Wait Dont Wash That Dirty Window!

2010-08-20T19:59:00.001-07:00

See and download the full gallery on posterous

Posted via email from Media Collective -Social Marketing, Advertising And Nerdy Things MindShare & Beyond

SEO Friendly Tweet Aggregating You Into A Blog! You will be assimulated!

2010-08-03T09:03:00.001-07:00

Checking out twylah.com - Turn your twitter stream into a SEO friendly blog
I'll Bite, findings, screen shots, and seo eval.

Go Ahead Aggregate - Features

My Blog - Its a twitter aggregator, shows what your talking about seems to pull freq. tweeted topics and #" (if you use them=cool for keeping up on chat groups or #'ed topics)
My Stream - See what the people you're following are talking about (not sure if it soly pulls mutual friend/follow or just follows) by keyword, topic or group. Neat way to find out, maybe better connect via popular topics of Your Stream vs. whole twitter topics, if your interested in building your conversation with your community.
My Mentions - Shows you your mentions and where they come from, interesting is if you participate in chat groups it pulls those popula rt. into organized tabs, also shows your "popular word rt triggers". This is great because you can see if the groups you participate in are really conversational/ give value Plus, by orginizing mentions into top level "word" rt. shows you what is it that You talk about that warrents rt. also what doesent.
Lists: Twylah can pull your lists and you can get the same incites as the above, ie. topics, terms and more.
Some Screen shots (combined)

Is it SEO friendly? A Geekette Under The Hood Look.

Header Area:
Is there full meta data? no but there is the "title tag" : for full seo should at least have a discription meta tag too.
(<title> MediaCollective's (MediaCollective) Tweets </title> )
Code imbedded? - good job here, there is no heavy scripting in the header area, all is stored in a outside script and called in.
On To The Body - Whats displaying?
css type menu that displays the links in a list format - what I find is that to generate the menus its pulling via how they propeagate your various menu's. For example in "My Blog" menus made via. "active topics & tweet cloud" . The links are seo friendly without a "no follow" tag. Seo friendly or You on twitter, while seo friendly some words used as "Link text" may not add value example: I participate in topic/interest twitter chats, well wgbiz or sm63" don't add value to my SEO or link weight but "facebook & social media" do.
In the stream content:
In your content stream it does show content in <p> tags with urls in <no follow> urls to the content it pulls = good for the blog because if it gets indexed it is not passing pr weight to the aggregated content, but from the ( @) content provider being pulled in it is not adding link weight to their material.
It does not display <b> bold or <h> header tags in content which is another good SEO standard.
All in all for what twylah is and does the seo claim is basic but beyond other comprable services.

Going to give it a use test to see

Does it help me to communicate with in my community, giving better value to my followers
Help me to manage multiple aspects of my twittersphere.
Help to build richer twitter relationships?
Help me to discover conversations and topics that might be getting lost?
At a glance to see if what I say and do on twitter is what I think it is vs. what the tool says
Do the tabs it creates change if a common word is entered over a period of time (will this help as well for search engines that are aggregating twitter streams = topic association) .

Posted via email from Media Collective -Social Marketing, Advertising And Nerdy Things MindShare & Beyond

Helping out a friend with header fun

2010-07-25T07:35:00.001-07:00

See and download the full gallery on posterous

Posted via email from Media Collective -Social Marketing, Advertising And Nerdy Things MindShare & Beyond

Cheeky or Gross? AD Lost In Translation

2010-07-05T10:44:00.001-07:00

Regional brands that are appearing on world wide networks should take care in cultural meaning differences.
Cheeky or Gross?

Opinion:
In area's not familiar with brand or product what you may think as edgy can totally impact your products ability to get adopted in other countries should you choose to expand.
If OK where your brand lives, than limit the venues to where brand is known & adopt a alternate version for territories unknown.

This reminds me of a AMX promo for the Black Cards.
A few years ago, a couple of mine in Mexico were sent a beautiful high gloss black box with a fancy red ribbion on it, (of course inside was the card promo)

Did it get opened?

No it created quite a bit of havoc with the more mature wealthy Hispanic demographic.
On receipt of such a "beautiful black box" their take on what it was, It was a death announcement. They were quite upset when they realized it was a promo item.
Needless to say, what would work here in the US did not translate well in Mexico.

Likewise, this ad might work in its country of origion but here it implies something all together different as well as creates a perception of what the product tastes like.

Posted via email from Media Collective -Social Marketing, Advertising And Nerdy Things MindShare & Beyond

The Next Great Ad Network? California Considering Digital License Plates

2010-06-24T10:02:00.001-07:00

Broke California Senate Passed a bill SB1453 vote of 25-0 to give the DMV authority to investigate the use of electronic license plates on cars that will at stops of longer than 4 seconds will become a digital advertising display to raise revenue for the state.

The State would become a Mobile Ad Network,, watch out google, facebook and others who monetize via ppc or cpm or even display. If they opt to do this and begin generating income, don't you think other states will follow ?
Ok I'll admit it, I reside in the Sunny So. Cal area. We have a lot of awesome things here from spectacular weather, beautiful beaches, easy going life styles, we love the arts and green things BUT,
I see a problem with this:

Citizens already pay license & registration fees - sudo forced employment w/ no benefit, nor is there mention of credits to drivers for use like solar grid systems do.

Forcing cars to display advertising on private property- constitutional issues?

Privacy with the plates ability to track vehicles to serve ad's they are in effect attaching a state controlled device to monitor your driving behavior, where you are and what you are doing.

Would it interfere with law enforcement? Hey if I stop they cant see my license number?

How about ad's displayed totally disagree with your values, or are brands you don't advocate for or embarrassing ads

I dont know of any man 40+ that wants to drive a car with a license plate flashing about Viagra.

How about a woman in a car" - Traffic getting you a little aggravated? You might need a Midol.Vote For Bob Blunderer For Congress because the other guy xx$%."
Of course they push, we can use it for amber and emergency alerts, but in reality people will become accustomed to dialing out aka not paying attention.
So, what do you think?

See this Amp at http://amplify.com/u/76e6

via Amplify.com

Posted via email from Media Collective -Social Marketing, Advertising And Nerdy Things MindShare & Beyond

To Digest Later - Collection of Articles by Clay Shirky

2010-06-24T06:02:00.001-07:00

To Digest Later - is my to read and explore catagory
Here Comes Everybody Author's site with a collection of articles that lead to the authoring of the book, Here Comes Everybody: The Power of Organizing Without Organizations.
The collection of articles are nicely organized into topics on one page ( topic headers I clipped to investigate) www.sharky.com
Amplify’d from www.shirky.com
Clay Shirky’s Writings About the Internet
Economics & Culture, Media & Community, Open Source
My new book, Here Comes Everybody: The Power of Organizing Without Organizations, is coming out in February 2008, from Penguin Press. Here Comes Everybody is about what happens when people are given the tools to do things together, without needing traditional organizational structures.
It's coming out first in the US and the UK, and can be pre-ordered at booksellers everywhere. (Later this year, there will be a Dutch, Portuguese, Chinese and Korean translations.)
Along with the book, I am launching a Here Comes Everybody blog, designed to both chronicle and extend the themes of the book. I'm delighted to finally have to book out, and to be able to begin blogging about it. In addition, this site collects many of my older writings, from which many of the themes of the book arose.
Thanks, as always, for reading,
-clay

Popular

Globalization and The Internet

Network Economics

Media and Community

Read more at www.shirky.com

See this Amp at http://amplify.com/u/7677

via Amplify.com

Posted via email from Media Collective -Social Marketing, Advertising And Nerdy Things MindShare & Beyond

Is Your TweetFace LinkedIn?

2010-06-23T17:37:00.001-07:00

Am I wrong but I use twitter for discovery, twitterchats and beginning a relationship - a first date so to speak. Facebook profile has a mix of family, friends and people whom I know from events, classes etc. - LinkedIn is for known well connections or people referred by someone I know that is accepted as a contact . So the question is are they not each respectively different conversation streams, do you want your grandma auto following you on twitter but posting her do you remember when you ate that bug on your LinkedIn feed? http://amplify.com/u/75r5

Posted via email from Media Collective -Social Marketing, Advertising And Nerdy Things MindShare & Beyond

Fish In A Barrel?

2010-06-23T12:59:00.001-07:00

Value in the wall of friends who what when where and why's of you. http://amplify.com/u/75n2

Posted via email from Media Collective -Social Marketing, Advertising And Nerdy Things MindShare & Beyond

Untitled

2010-06-23T12:44:00.001-07:00

Heavy Day in Politics today, Your Out! of a long standing military leader because he does not agree with O'Biden strategy & says so ( rolling stone article), and rumor mill of "illegal immigrant to deferred status push through via Executive order (this bypasses Congress etc.) I think I need some chocolate or new tech toy now. http://amplify.com/u/75mo

Posted via email from Media Collective -Social Marketing, Advertising And Nerdy Things MindShare & Beyond

Second Chance 15 yrs. Later For Rival HS Football Teams To Untie The Score

2010-06-22T12:26:00.001-07:00

A promo winner in the Cannes Advertising Festival. http://amplify.com/u/74mu

Posted via web from Media Collective -Social Marketing, Advertising And Nerdy Things MindShare & Beyond

Likely Like's Vs. Least Likable

2010-06-22T12:04:00.001-07:00

Interesting report on Facebook Pages - will this report influence your decision on time & money invested in page building especially if your not in the entertainment genre (must also be famous not local) What do you think? Are you surprised? http://amplify.com/u/74mg

Posted via web from Media Collective -Social Marketing, Advertising And Nerdy Things MindShare & Beyond

Untitled

2010-06-22T11:45:00.001-07:00

Amplify Wish List, one thing that would be very useful for me is a power user option. Meaning as a advertising agency we manage our clients networks, ad spaces, websites etc. Would be nice to have a Multi-Amp profile manager where each account is available via a dash board or just a drop down with all its id specific associations in tow. http://amplify.com/u/74lu

Posted via web from Media Collective -Social Marketing, Advertising And Nerdy Things MindShare & Beyond

Map Out Your Connections - Free MindMap Tool

2010-06-22T11:08:00.001-07:00

http://amplify.com/u/74kb

Posted via web from Media Collective -Social Marketing, Advertising And Nerdy Things MindShare & Beyond

Map Out Your Connections - Free MindMap Tool

2010-06-22T11:05:00.001-07:00

http://amplify.com/u/74kb

Posted via web from Media Collective -Social Marketing, Advertising And Nerdy Things MindShare & Beyond

Playing with maps

2010-06-22T10:58:00.001-07:00

Using a Free MindMap tool to begin to map out visually the social sites and connections.

Beginning drawing to be used as a demo to clients to show how all the gobblie gook I talk about is connected.

Posted via web from Media Collective -Social Marketing, Advertising And Nerdy Things MindShare & Beyond

Beyond Tweetface Poviding A Win-Win Exchange

2010-06-11T11:41:00.001-07:00

Normal 0 false false false EN-US X-NONE X-NONE MicrosoftInternetExplorer4 Twitter and Facebook are great real time tools for tapping into your market place wants and needs but why not add a little value exchange to the mix by taking that information and creating a win-win for you and your market place.

Spurred by an article "Build Utility" in Target Market, I'd like to share an example of a Win Win exchange by adagio teas.

The Win-Win Exchange is basically both the business and customer are giving something to get something .

Win-Win offerings should be

Relevant to your business.
Creates value for your customer.
Helps to lead through the sales cycle and increase retention rates.
Facilitate continued interaction or customer incites
Help build brand loyalty.

Win- Win Exchange Number One - Offer That Converts vs. Something For Free

In the below example note the Follow Us On Twitter & Get $5 off your order!

Point: We have all seen the freemium or not relitive to business incentives campaigns. Do these typically convert to a true customer or advocate?

Win-Win: Company is receiving measurable value by going beyond 140 characters and incentivizing followers into buyers that is relevant to their business. Customer is receiving a value discount.

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Normal 0 false false false EN-US X-NONE X-NONE MicrosoftInternetExplorer4

Win - Win Number Two - A Tool To Address Customer Needs

What do you think Adagio Teas learned from listening to their customers that lead to this statement?

"Don't let your teas over-steep. Download our complimentary tea timer and enjoy a perfect cup of tea every time"

Point: Offering a tea timer is relevant and useful to the tea lover/ brewer. Adagio Teas got it right by listening within their social spaces and conversation streams. By doing so they created a tool to address customer sticking points, difficulties and questions.

[[posterous-content:pid___1]] Normal 0 false false false EN-US X-NONE X-NONE MicrosoftInternetExplorer4

Win-Win for Adagio Teas is that they created a useful tool for their customers that compliments their product line.

Secondly they get valuable insight on the timer users preferences through the sign up process. They they will be able to build a focused list to offer rewards to "customers" or incentives to "not-yet-customer", timer users

I wonder if they take the timer one step further by tracking which tea types are being timed and by whom, creating further "by customer" intelligence to offer customer specific incentives, suggestions and offers based on their tastes?

Any Industry Can Maximize A Win-Win Exchange

A little creative thinking, listening to your customer wants and needs and knowing the value of a engaged customer you can move beyond unfocused Tweetface conversations that create difficult to measure results and create a Win-Win Exchange that adds bottom line value for you and your marketplace.

Examples:

Athletic shoes & the app - how about a pedometer app (iphone/android) that tracks time and foot falls and posts it to a brand community site. Shoe wearer could have a profile that tracks progress, allows them to interact within brand community. Brand could continue to engage user by offering relevant tips, hints and support for their stated goals.

App could lead to repeat business. With footfall awareness at XXXXX total foot falls or distance; brand could offer app user a discount on a new pair of shoes the next time the logged into their app or put it in their community inbox?

Oil Change - How about if you utilize lists within twitter or facebook and segment your social customers by month Tweet/FB them reminder oil change is due that month with a discount offer. Or follow us offer like Adagio Teas. How about building relationsips with other close by businesses that would offer complementary to you both offers that can drive business.

Example: Reward Loyality, this is your fifth visit, we'd like to say thank you for your continued support by giving you a gift certificate to have your car detailed at XYZ car wash. - XYZ carwash sells you the certificate at a discount, yet receives value from exposure to a new potential customer. Carwash customers receive are presented with discount coupons to your Oil Change Shop.

Restaurants- Go beyond the Mayor reward - listen in, if live time check-in occurs how about direct @ tweeting offering a free drink, complementary desert or a next time discount? These folks are giving you Free WOM advertising to their followers and followers followers! In this case many who participate in this activity have hundreds if not thousands of followers & friends who see this message. How much would a newspaper ad cost you to reach that many eyes?

In the above examples, you should know the dollar value of each customer from the first time visitor to repeat customer. Knowing and tracking this value allows you to create the approperate incentive for that customer.

Example of knowing your customer value in relation to Win offer for example
Oil Change example: My car costs $75 for each oil change. 5 oil change visits means I have been a customer for over 1 year and have spent at least $375.00 on oil changes. A negoiated car detailing rate from provider for $37.5 is simply a 10% discount off of gross oil change income.

The goal of this article is to hopfully help inspire you to go beyond the simple tweetface engagement.

Look for ways to add win value to your social marketing investement that helps to convert followers into fans that buy.

Create best in trade or customer experience and service by implementing a WIn-Win Exchange Minset And Method

Posted via web from Media Collective -Social Marketing, Advertising And Nerdy Things MindShare & Beyond

Beyond Tweetface Providing A Win-Win Exchange

2010-06-11T11:38:00.001-07:00

Win-Win for Adagio Teas is that they created a useful tool for their customers that compliments their product line.

Any Industry Can Maximize A Win-Win Exchange

Examples:

The goal of this article is to hopfully help inspire you to go beyond the simple tweetface engagement.

Look for ways to add win value to your social marketing investement that helps to convert followers into fans that buy.

Create best in trade or customer experience and service by implementing a WIn-Win Exchange Minset And Method

Posted via web from Media Collective -Social Marketing, Advertising And Nerdy Things MindShare & Beyond

2 Brain Feeds, 2 Tool Resources & 1 Cloud = 5 Twitter Favorites This Week

2009-12-04T09:56:00.001-08:00

Information & Brain Food

@MikeLizun Using GoogleWave To Engage The Public http://regator.com/?u=3pim2x (Flip the Media)

This is an informative post on experiment with public GoogleWave via Seattle Times that lead to "exploding" wave ie out of control & subseqent tips before creating a hot topic public wave.
Mike is a valued source of information and Philly-based Communications Exec. Strategic, Integrated, Earned Media. His Moo Card (networks) http://card.ly/mikelizun
lol just learned something else with this post Moo.com for virtual business cards

@LaurenBan The Awareness Scale: How Social Media, PR & Advertising Now Work Together http://bit.ly/4n7Rik (via @TDefren)

With social media and community networks the worlds of PR , Advertising & Marketing agencies are getting closer together in task, duties and services article is a nice piece to foster collaboration vs. friction between industries and how to work together for client, brand and productivity common good.

Tools Shared

@Prsarahevans 5 NEW online tools for PR pros http://bit.ly/5E1GoX

Good check it out for PR's but also effective tools for marketing and advertising, Sara is founder of Monday evenings #jounchat and owner of Sevans Strategy a Chicago-based public relations.

@BenjaminTurpin HootSuite :: Add-ons for Firefox http://ow.ly/HW0v - cool tool for Firefox users that also use HootSuite its the best I have found :)

Benjamin's Bio: Speaker, Trainer, Author, Consultant Specializing in Enthusiasm Tapped into the Source.

For Incite on you and your twitter pattern and history:

@rupertmike I just generated a #TweetCloud out of 3 months of my tweets. Top three words: nice, love, people - http://w33.us/4ea0

Interesting thing to do with this tool:
Tool offers time periods from a day, week month to a year,
To see if you are what you tweet.

Make a series of clouds across a timeline.

Are you seeing words that relaite to you & what you do?

How has your pattern evolved?

Would yours change the way you tweet or the words you use?

Posted via web from Media Collective -Social Marketing, Advertising And Nerdy Things MindShare & Beyond

Rockem Sockem Google vs. Facebook Who's Going to Connect

2009-12-03T07:22:00.001-08:00

In this corner its Google Friend Connect who's coming out a tweeting

In the other corner is Facebook Connect squaring off shouting Yahoo

It's a square offs between Yahoo and Google for the champion connector belt.

Did you notice that the sign ins for respective connect networks?

Yahoo and Facebook aligned for a single point of "friending" and that Google and Twitter did the same thing?

Given the growth of the Facebook network vs Twitter network, do you think Yahoo finally made contact and is saying

Take that Googlebird! Yahooface is going to knock your block off!

Posted via email from Media Collective -Social Marketing, Advertising And Nerdy Things MindShare & Beyond

The Ridiculous Offer - Common Bond PR, Ad Agency & Developers

2009-11-15T06:22:00.001-08:00

Has this happened to you?

Posted via web from Media Collective -Social Marketing, Advertising And Nerdy Things MindShare & Beyond

Are The New Facebook Advertising Rules - A Duck & Cover?

2009-11-13T06:54:00.001-08:00

Continuing story...

At announcement the Facebook advertising rules changes seemed harsh and prohibitive leaving you to wonder why.

For many small and large businesses running value promotions through the Facebook platform incentives, rewards and contests were a effective method to draw in, reward and to create viral buzz. Facebook recently changed its advertising rules which alters the method and ease in deploying these commonly used methods.

Basically forcing any incentives, name collection into third party apps and prohibiting the perform a Facebook action to enter contests.

The Duck

Recent post by TechCrunch maybe shining a little light onto the reasonings for these changes.

The ScamVille Lawsuit, which in a nutshell is a class action lawsuit against Zynga, RockYou, Offerpal Media SuperReward and others and guilt by association include Facebook, Myspace. The suit claims that users of the online games or promotional landings were encouraged to complete offers in exchange for points or contest prizes and rewards.

Well, some offers, were not as transparent as they seemed leaving some with unexpected charges on credit cards for dubious services or products that they felt mislead into accepting

And Cover

Enter in "3rd party Application" collection terms as well as the new rules disallowing any "post to wall to win or Fan our Facebook to.." language use. Basically removing any language that utilizes the Facebook name as a condition to win, receive an offer or perform a interaction with.

Facebooks new advertising terms language seems to be a liability disassociation from 3rd parties utilizing Facebook in ways that may leave them open to situations such as the ScamVille Class Action.

It's Sad

That the ad networks in this case did not take the time to evaluate the advertisers offers within their networks. By not taking the time to do so, they it cost them their creditability and brand image but potentially financially as well.

Ad networks that don't take the time to week out the "dubious offer-ers" could experience a DUCK & COVER from their legitimate, transparent advertiser.

I for one would not place any client ads nor recommend that they do so within a network known to allow questionable ads that could possibly be associated or within proximity of their offer or brand .

Companies with bogus offers, hidden charges and intent just alienated potential clients and effected the legitimate advertisers within their network.

Even Sadder

Ad networks and incentives can be a value tool in helping business attract and interact with their market place and also reward their client base for loyalty.

Facebook provided a venue for businesses to interact, engage and reward customers in a open social format that equalized the "its affordable to do" for many small, medium and even large business in todays challenging economy.

Now because of a few bad eggs, the Ducks are now covering, making marketing, customer service and traditional drives to increase fan base on the Facebook network more difficult as well as effecting user trust and engagement within facebook as well as with ad network offers.

What do you think about this whole situation?

Posted via web from Media Collective -Social Marketing, Advertising And Nerdy Things MindShare & Beyond

Facebook Advertising Change & What's with the No Dairy, is Facebook Lactose Intolerant?

2009-11-10T08:01:00.001-08:00

Facebook has provided a vehicle for many brands large and small to engage, reward and encourage "fanning" in a level playing field and for free fan, post to the wall or simply win by being a fan to win.

Now the rules have changed.

Regardless If its a Facebook move to limit their liability or diminish spam advertising, these restrictive rules with dire consequences to your page if you don't adhere to the rules - Page removal.

I think that there are additional motivations behind the "Changes" and that is "Income" Facebook has been working on deriving a revenue, so with the" Approval By Representative" could this mean a FEE, CPA or cost to interact or Imbed application FEE?

The hardest hit by these changes will be the small businesses that have built a presence on Facebook whom might not have the depth of pocket to develop their own applications. Also impacted the Fans of pages themselves.

Why?

Fans of non spamming legitimate brands and services, love to be rewarded, they love their name in lights and sometimes they do see or find you though a promotional "Fan me for a Chance to Win" or Thanks for being a Fan were giving you a free or a coupon etc. standard business is it not. just like client appreciation

Now all advertising has to go through a "Approval Process" with a "Representative" Disclaimers added to text and common up to now methods for fan attraction and rewards are no longer allowed on the wall, or drives off of outside sites. Such as Fan Us to Win post or contests on your blog. No public stream notifications of winners, nor encouraging of post to wall as terms of entry. All Advertising has to occur within the Box Tab or a developed third party app

More so if contest is administered off the Facebook Platform your not out of the woods "However, we may remove any materials relating to the promotion or disable your Page or account if we determine that you violate these Promotions Guidelines, the Statement of Rights and Responsibilities or any other of our policies.

Prohibitions

You may not publicize or administer a promotion on Facebook if:

2.1 The promotion is open or marketed to individuals who are under the age of 18;
Interesting as there are many brands that cater to the teen demographic music, clothing, gaming.

2.2 The promotion is open to individuals who reside in a country embargoed by the United States;
OK where's the list? Also, with ability to be anonymous in IP plus would be easier all around if this is Facebooks stance for them to simply block all "Embargoed" pages and profiles from even appearing within the US displayed pages.

2.3 The promotion, if a sweepstakes, is open to individuals residing in Belgium, Norway, Sweden, or India;

2.4 The promotion’s objective is to promote any of the following product categories: gambling, tobacco, dairy, firearms, prescription drugs, or gasoline;

Can see the gambling, tobacco firearms, drugs or gas but Who knew Dairy was an issue???

2.5 The prize or any part of the prize includes alcohol, tobacco, dairy, firearms, or prescription drugs; or

Again the Dairy,,, what? so no wine & cheese or Artisan Cheese & Cracker gift basket set if your a legitimate retailer?

2.6 The promotion is a sweepstakes that conditions entry upon the purchase of a product, completion of a lengthy task, or other form of consideration.
Can see the purchase the product to win but whom decides task length, does this knock out the mom-penures who have blog & me warming campaigns?

Facebook Advertising Can's & Can Not's

Can Not's	Can	Thoughts
Condition entry in the promotion upon a user providing content on Facebook, such as making a post on a profile or Page, status comment or photo upload.	Use a third party application to condition entry to the promotion upon a user providing content. For example, you may administer a photo contest whereby a user uploads a photo through a third-party application to enter the contest.	What this means is no uploading to page wall via the photo button in status area Tip: flicker or other photo account could work esp. if you feed into your FB page.
Administer a promotion that users automatically enter by becoming a fan of your Page.	Only allow fans of your Page to access the tab that contains the third-party application for the promotion.	You'll have to develop or utilize a application embedded in your application Tab box \|FMBL\|
Notify winners through Facebook, such as through Facebook messages, chat, or posts on profiles or Pages.	Collect an address or email through the third-party application for the promotion in order to contact the winner by email or standard mail.	If you have a email marketing system such as Constant Contact which you can embed in a FMBL tab, to collect email addresses to use as notification method
Instruct people (in the rules or elsewhere) to sign up for a Facebook account before they enter the promotion.		Really don't know what to say about this, because either they are avoiding profile to enter creation that never get used outside of the contest entry or shot foot because FB has grown due to its users & page "join" referrals.

Facebook Promotions Guidelines Nov 4 2009

So what do you think? Good move? Another quick to jump regulation change that could result in backlash like the privacy issues?

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Newspaper "Paywalls" Is it Jack be nimble Jack be quick Jack jump over

2009-10-24T07:49:00.001-07:00

The Paywall

Newspapers are struggling and scrambling to recoup lost revenue's from decrease in physical paper subscribers to the free online consumption of their news.

Solution is the "Paywall" (Paywall meaning that you have to pay to get over the wall to see whats on the other side.) And the drive in the industry is to attempt to get other news papers to add their bricks to the wall.

Jack be nimble, Jack be quick, Jack jumps over, around or jumps off, The Paywall,
A visual point to the issue, see Jack & the wall (newswallers),

Example from Newsday.com home page:

Those who are not customers of Optimum Online or the newspaper - both owned by Bethpage-based Cablevision Systems Corp. - will have to pay a $5 weekly fee. However, nonpaying customers will have access to some of newsday.com's information, including the home page, school closings, weather, obituaries, classified and entertainment listings. There also will be some limited access to Newsday stories.

Newsday self coins it as "pioneering Web model" Yea right, a horse and wagon trip to grandma's I say.

"We are excited about this model because in addition to a unique ability to immediately reach about 75 percent of Long Island households, we believe the hyper-local approach is right for Long Island," said Debby Krenek, Newsday managing editor and senior vice president/digital.

The wall model solution shows why they are struggling to push their revenues over the wall of info seekers and creating friction with the people whom their trying to attract let alone creating bad press for themselves.

So Join the Wall If Your Goal Is To:

Turn away potential new readers- stagnate
Decrease the viral, buzz and spread-ability of their news - become a island
Less exposure for their advertisers as their page views plummet. Page-views and exposure is what create value for the advertisers. So decrease your views, decrease your value. Loss in ad revenue.
Lose talent to open news innovators which help to build their talent recognition & increase income.

Jack Be Nimbles (non"paywall" joiners)- Opportunity is knocking

Get ready for increased traffic from a open format due to the void created by "paywall" papers
Innovate with revenue models - create a collaboration with other open see's -
- Idea: set a one price to see all in news network subscription - keep price point reasonable think volume (network revenue share)
- Idea: pay to feed streams to feed into news or topic sites (network revenue share & individual paper revenue) Meaning, if I run a Green
  Gardening Site, I could subscribe to all green gardening articles across the news network (one feed),But, I run a local geographic based business I could subscribe to the local papers business feed only - non network shared revenue
- Idea: create a membership option to allow localized citizen journalists or businesses to blog off network (think dynamic ad pages) + this could help create loyalty and vested interest, paper or network.
- Idea: hire talent away from the "Pioneers" in their horse & wagon- it takes them to long to get anywhere - Position Sell: Journalists would have option to write for the network meaning that their article would be spread across the network, more exposure & name recognition and because the increase in paper revenue they get higher pay + a residual on their feed subscriptions. (like music or actors do)

So in the end it will be interesting to watch the fallout, see the innovation and possibly a change in which we all consume news.

What will Jack see when he jumps over the wall?

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What's Wrong With This Picture

2009-10-23T11:47:00.001-07:00

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How To Create A PR Crisis - Your kid's too fat, too small DENIED

2009-10-23T09:36:00.001-07:00

In the forefront of the Nations mind is the Health Care issue so, now is the perfect time to create a PR nightmare not only for the companies involved but the industry as a whole.

Quick and easy way to bad PR
Pick on some babies and demonstrate a lack of common sense, a process to review and correct glitches in the system.

Your Kids To Big

Your Kid's Small & Off The Curve - Denied

Even though in the end both babies were "approved" (after their national media exposure) for coverage the damage is already done.

It is a PR nightmare for these companies and insurance industry as a whole because they added fuel to the publics disillusionment with the health care system, its costs, control over care or lack there of.

What do you think?

Did the two companies approval of coverage was enough to correct their PR nightmare?

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Facebook/Twitter Use May Now Mean More for Google/Bing Rankings | WebProNews

2009-10-23T05:58:00.001-07:00

via webpronews.com

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Riding the Wave Will I Still Need a Surf Board

2009-10-15T07:47:00.001-07:00

Metaphor for Google Wave My Invite just came in and from this little video will riding the wave bring in all communication channels into one swell? And will it mitigate the need to surf to the respective channels for what ever it is that we do?

now having to scower the web for how to's of waving

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Relationship Centered Collaboration Strategy vs Ad Hoc Implementation

2009-10-15T07:13:00.001-07:00

Circle the wagons of Web 2.0 technologies to form a strategic implementation of the technologies that is supportable in your CRM and internal business goals, through the use of people centered collaboration.

If you and your business are on the social platform curve (have facebook, participated in webinars, broadcasts and are linked up in Linkedin) you now have a powerful tool set to innovate, communicate and problem solve and collaborate. Implementing a method in the application of the social tools will increase the benefits of your companies asset its employees, outside contributors and complementary businesses in to the collective think and process tank.

Externally the tools provide the resources to support sales, customer relationships, market speek and more. Here too you need a plan and process to utilize the tools effectively. While facebook might be good for some businesses and brands if goal is for opening communication with your audience knowing where they speak, what platforms they have adopted will focus you in on productive Web 2.0 platforms and meet your market where they are vs. standing in a field talking to yourself.

Time = Money, Participation in process = less glitches, Inclusion = fosters ownership & affinity in task or product success.

A tweet, fan a page, share a wiki all while broadcasting via ustream while on a webinar, do you have a method?

Image Source: Arc Advisory

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Branding Your Business or Yourself Is More Than A Hot Iron Meets Skin

2009-10-12T07:19:00.000-07:00

Personal Branding

View more documents from Ted Murphy.

“Three Rules of Work

2009-10-10T20:31:00.001-07:00

Out of clutter find simplicity;
From discord find harmony;
In the middle of difficulty lies
opportunity.”

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Big Hands & Small Dogs - A Visual Metaphor Of A Effective Social Network

2009-10-08T08:05:00.001-07:00

Social Networking, I like this image as a metaphor representing what happens when you, businesses & brands
engage in social stratosphere the right way.

The kid in the blue suit represents you on social media:

You adding value in a genuine and transparent way. If your selling something say so the bait & switch technique of teaser information that results in a squeeze landing page full of your friends video testimonials that takes a week of scrolling to get to the "OK How Much Is It" frustrates most and discourages future engagement with you. If you add value your network is more likely to help, participate and create the viral buzz or engagement that you seek.
You engage your audience in two way conversation This means that you listen and respond especially if your spoken to directly because if you don't it will soon become evident that engagement is more of a "me" situation rather than a "we" resulting in a "why bother" attitude of your audience. Good example of "we care about what you say" is @Zappos they are a big brand yet they manage to genuinely respond to their networks engagement with them.
You provide support and solutions to your audiences needs. Think of this as the relationship builder. Is your goal to build a one time sale, contact or are you looking to build brand loyalty, repeated business? People buy and are more prone to brand loyalty and advocacy when you develop a knowing, trust and a affinity for you and your business. This results in future growth, a sustainable businesses and a repeat market. Because businesses are run by people, people buy from those whom they know and trust.
You participate outside of your box and engage with businesses big, small and just starting out. Form relationships with the major communicators within your niche these alliances can help to pull you up (note the hands in the image) add value to your knowledge base and network and could potentially pull you to your next level of growth. Yet, don't discount the smaller customer, alliances or businesses engagement either.
Loose the mindset that the small business, solo-penure's with in your demographic, segment or mindset may not add value or are worth focus. Collectively if your focused on complementary businesses, audiences and networks relative to what you do or whom your trying to reach and serve - adds value to your bottom line ( note the puppies gathering to push) too.
Often times the collective village adds greater value and sustainability. In your business, you want to create a network and or customer base that is not dependent on any one source there by reducing risk to your bottom line or communication channel.

With the understanding that social media for business is virtual networking and like in person networking and relationship building as the image represents,

It's a give and take, big and small, push and pull, when joined together creates a powerful force to help you, your business and your message get on its feet and stay there on your path to growth and success.

And that's the purpose right?

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Is this You on social media?

2009-10-07T08:33:00.001-07:00

Social Media and connectivity is a two edged productivity sword.

Hatch video award winner says it all.

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Here's your sign

2009-09-29T12:04:00.001-07:00

The first form of twittering? Church style

See and download the full gallery on posterous

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Unpaid bloggers not protected by Shield Law

2009-09-25T07:05:00.001-07:00

By Andrew LaVallee
A recent amendment to the federal shield bill being considered in the Senate will exclude non-”salaried” journalists and bloggers from the proposed law’s protections.

Associated Press

Sen. Charles Schumer

The law, called the Free Flow of Information Act, is intended to prevent journalists from being forced to divulge confidential sources, except in cases such as witnessing crimes or acts of terrorism. The amendment, introduced by Sen. Charles Schumer (D., N.Y.) last week, limits the definition of a journalist to one who “obtains the information sought while working as a salaried employee of, or independent contractor for, an entity–

a. that disseminates information by print, broadcast, cable, satellite, mechanical, photographic, electronic, or other means; and

b. that—
1. publishes a newspaper, book, magazine, or other periodical;
2. operates a radio or television broadcast station, network, cable system, or satellite carrier, or a channel or programming service for any such station, network, system, or carrier;
3. operates a programming service; or
4. operates a news agency or wire service.”

Journalism organizations noted the narrower scope of the bill, which appears to exclude journalists and bloggers who are not paid for their work by a separate entity. “The amendment is a sharp departure from Schumer’s previously preferred definition, which focused on the covered person’s engagement in the practice of journalism rather than employment status,” wrote Cristina Abello, a legal fellow at the nonprofit Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press.

Nieman Journalism Lab’s Zachary M. Seward, who previously noted the House’s different definition of journalist, also expressed concern. “The shield law obviously needs a definition that limits its scope, but the professional definition, which now seems inevitable, would exclude student journalists as well as bloggers with a day job,” he wrote.

It’s not over yet: The Senate Judiciary Committee delayed its vote amid concerns from both Republicans and Democrats.

via blogs.wsj.com

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Seth the Blogger Guy jumps on his sword for the good of AT&T

2009-09-08T18:05:00.001-07:00

via brandfreak.com

In a world of instent communication this is a good example of customer service on a national scale, Where obviously social media negative or complaint comments prompted the same format media to deliver a message back to its market community.

Before twitter, facebook, friendfeed or others many customers felt like they were in a vacuum of a half full glass.

Not anymore
As this example shows, an individual does have a voice and combined together via the social speak stream, companies will notice.

Companies glass half full
While some companies are intimidated by the social speak others see it as an effective opportunity to quickly engage their markets concerns, service issues and to let their customers know that there voice had been heard.

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Snapple shakes up its under-the-cap 'Real Facts' info-nuggets

2009-09-03T15:58:00.001-07:00

« Disney/Marvel deal gives birth to some truly amazing creatures | Main

September 02, 2009

Snapple shakes up its under-the-cap 'Real Facts' info-nuggets

Snapple's marketing people have been dealing with a conundrum of late: How to update the brand without losing its essence? The solution is to pick and choose aspects of Snapple that make sense. So, out goes Wendy the Snapple Lady, but the company's under-the-cap "Real Facts" not only get a reboot, they now have the inevitable Web tie-in as well. Snapple, which is now owned by the Dr Pepper Snapple Group, introduced "Real Facts" in the late '90s. The idea, according to Bryan Mazur, vp of marketing, was to take a gulp of Snapple, read the cap and then relay the bit of info to the person next to them. A decade later, dedicated Snapple drinkers may have come upon many of the 672 "Real Facts" before (No. 1: "A goldfish's attention span is three seconds"), so Snapple is phasing out the old "Real Facts" in favor of new ones, which it will be unveiled every day on Facebook and Twitter. (No. 885: "Vultures can fly for six hours without flapping their wings.") You can't do any kind of marketing these days without some Facebook or Twitter component. It's a fact.
—Posted by Todd Wasserman

Published on September 2, 2009 | Permalink

Comments

Snapple shakes up its under-the-cap 'Real Facts' info-nuggets

Snapple's marketing people have been dealing with a conundrum of late: How to update the brand without losing its essence? The solution is to pick and choose aspects of Snapple that make sense. So, out goes Wendy the Snapple Lady, but the company's under-the-cap "Real Facts" not only get a reboot, they now have the inevitable Web tie-in as well. Snapple, which is now owned by the Dr Pepper Snapple Group, introduced "Real Facts" in the late '90s. The idea, according to Bryan Mazur, vp of marketing, was to take a gulp of Snapple, read the cap and then relay the bit of info to the person next to them. A decade later, dedicated Snapple drinkers may have come upon many of the 672 "Real Facts" before (No. 1: "A goldfish's attention span is three seconds"), so Snapple is phasing out the old "Real Facts" in favor of new ones, which it will be unveiled every day on Facebook and Twitter. (No. 885: "Vultures can fly for six hours without flapping their wings.") You can't do any kind of marketing these days without some Facebook or Twitter component. It's a fact.
—Posted by Todd Wasserman
View the entire comment thread.

via brandfreak.com

While brands need to constantly innovate to retain customer engagement a second thought should be considered when altering a "expected" within the product brand or of the physical product itself.

Snapple in its forward movement is phasing out the "Snapple Lady" where this character is part of the media mix consumers are used to "spokes people" changing and the "Snapple Lady" is not so closely identified as "Jack" is for Jack In The Box.but Snapple is also removing the in cap "Factoid" to move those factoids to online social venues such as Twitter & Facebook. The reasoning being is consumer attention span..

Snapple consumers are used to digesting the "Factoid" with a twist of the cap.
Snapple trained its consumer to look for the tid bit there , the consumers engagement happens within a matter of seconds. From a marketing prospective removing such a "Expected" is akin to Cracker Jack removing the in box surprise. Also this is a unique identifier and use of the cap and Snapple was the first to contain in cap facts.

"Attention span" reasoning by Snapples marketing is not only altering a "expected" by the consumer but also loosing a possible opportunity to marry the physical and virtual interaction of its consumer base.

Why? Not all consumers are connected at time of consumption, nor most likely a majority of Snapples market regular tweeters or facebookers (as much as we would like them to be) they are losing the immediate contact & engagement that has developed.

Instead of removing the message they should continue to engage their audience at every opportunity, don't remove channels of engagement just re-purpose them. to accommodate the new added channels
For example:
Run a twitter campaign, "Get A Lid On Your Tweet" run a contest to post a winning tweet on the inside of the lid (surrounding the lid w/ twitter id & fb page)

How about whats under the lid event, where consumers have to create a "made up story" with factoid sentences on the inside of the lid. Then post it to facebook to win? think "mad libs"

It will be interesting to see what happens with Snapples decision, hopfully they will reconsider removing the facts from inside the lid as I for one enjoy them, and from a marketing, engagement standpoint I think removing instead of using it int combination with their new direction is a huge missed opportunity.

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6 Social Marketing, Nerdy, Tech, Idea's And A Laugh from Twitter This Week

2009-08-28T10:08:00.001-07:00

Note not implying that this is all but I picked some of my fav.'s

Social Marketing:
5 ways to engage your Twitter followers - Summry is a common sense list of mindset / activities . In theory it is the same as if you were seeking to form a relationship either personal or professional. Engage in language that is relevant & useful to the situation be a 50/50 within those relationships (not a all about me communicator) share and help your friends (RT) give kudos for things that help you or find usefull (the equivalent of saying Thank You) ( via @ShermanHu)

King of Chocolate ~ chipping away @ success good Q&A on starting small & growing - also a lesson in enotional detachment from business to actually make it grow (Wall Street Journal)

Nerdy Tech
Wapple Architect Mobile Plugin for WordPress -
Allows you to mobilize your blog in minutes for mobile devise readers. Any theme you've installed and have styled for web will be carried across to mobile giving you a consistent look and feel for each and every one of your visitors. ( via: @mobilewebjunkie)

Screen Caster's
Ez on line screen casting with either http://screenjelly.com (3min) http://screenr.com (5min) - I have played with screenr.com and I love it. It is very ez to use, plus you can auto tweet it, plus, after made you can also auto post it to your YouTube or get code to embed in a post. Plus, it has its own social component too and creates a volg channel for you. I have used this to give kudos to valued service provider as well as make brief tutorials for clients with it. ( via @AlexKaris)

Twitter Archiving Make tweets permanent with http://BackupMyTweets.com I use- Tweetake - lets you save by segment ie followers, favorites, etc.

Interesting Idea's

Definitive Guide to Backing Up and Ditching Your Discs (Lifehacker)
plenty of reasons to ditch your physical media. Hard drives are cheap; here are our recommended methods of saving, selling, and trading your CDs, DVDs, and video games. (via @MikeLizun)

Netvibes launches drag & drop widget website Designer | som big brands using for micro sites http://ow.ly/lz4D

How the Synnd Community Works FOR you - Appears to be some sort of system similar to a torrid where they network subscribers computers in which the application runs to auto bookmark. Each member earns credit points to use within their own campaigns based on their participation within the network. Sounds interesting but, for me the problem is that network auto run tasks off of users computer not - confident about security- potential liability- tasking computer with unknown entities & performances.

Made me Laugh

How Facebook Can Ruin Your Relationships

What are your favorite things you learned this week within the spaces you travel?

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Do You Pass The Kiss Test or Are Your Customers Kissing Monkeys ?

2009-08-24T10:06:00.001-07:00

A Funny virial video is a good example to think about transparency in your business and meeting your markets expectations.

For this example the annology correlates to:
Pranked = Your customer
Presenter = Business

Pranked (customer) had certain expectations right?
The presenter (business) led them to believe once set of circumstances correct?
Presenter blind folds Pranked = trust to meet expectations and what was told to the customer.
Bate and switch occurs. (via the business giving the customer false expectations)
Pranked (customer) engages with the presenter (business)
Pranked realizes that presenter was not accurate nor truthful in their message or engagement and their expectations are dashed out the window

Note the expression, the same would be true for your community clients or customer base if you engaged in "Kissing Test" method of marketing or engagement.
What this means is within your media, how you engage with your clients and your product/service offering always,

Be accurate & truthful in what your offering,
Understand what your customers/market or community expectations are when engaging with your or your business.
Respect the trust that your customers are affording you, once lost it takes a long time to rebuild that trust if ever.
Deliver what is expected.

Don't leave your customers Kissing Monkeys.

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5 Reading & Exploring To Do's - Swirling the Media Mind This Weekend

2009-08-23T09:55:00.001-07:00

Turning Bad Buzz Around By Quick Thinking And Beyond The Expected - Church of the Customer Blog

Public Relations Best Books, Websites & Trades List - Paroose the listed for new source finds - Examiner

5 Features Of Really Strong Communities You Can Embrace - FeverBee

Who Are Your Best Customers - - Groundswell

Watch Martin Lindstrom Interview 2 Seth Godin - Advertising Age - Are marketers' selfish?

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Testing out Screen Casting software Social Media Sharing Tip

2009-08-20T14:16:00.000-07:00

Was testing out online screen casting application screenr.com pretty nifty screen capture with audio.

While recording I decided to make my first ever, yep I was a screen casting virgin so this was a terrific test. As I always say to myself, self, you have to be able to do the things you except others to do.

How To Become A Master Of Conversations

2009-08-20T13:11:00.001-07:00

This is Day 8 of the 30 Days to 3,000 Fans program. You can learn more about the program here.
Want to have highly engaging conversations on your Facebook page? You better get good at mastering the art of the social media conversation. How is a conversation within social media any different than a normal conversation? It isn’t! If you are going to build a following on Facebook let alone any other site on the internet, you are going to need to put in the time necessary to build relationships with others. Whether it’s posting follow-up comments or reaching out to people that have asked valuable questions or have even posted criticism, it’s important that you build an ongoing dialogue with your fans.

The Personification Of The Brand

Want to really thrive in the world of social media? Imagine your brand as a person who has a life similar to its customers. Prior to the internet, brands were organizations which spoke directly at their customers. While there was a number on the back of a cereal box asking for your feedback, there really wasn’t a two-way conversation for the most part. Thanks to the internet and new social technologies, you have the opportunity to engage your existing and potential customers directly. So what types of conversations are most effective at building an engaged fan base?

Ask Questions

Any good conversation involves questions and answers. Facebook Pages present an amazing opportunity to learn about your existing customers and potential ones. Not until recently was it possible to directly interact with your customers on an ongoing basis, especially if you were representing a large brand. People love to talk about themselves so ask them questions that are also related to your company. I happen to write about Facebook so I tend to ask users about their experience with the site and what their favorite and least favorite aspects are. Additionally you can simply ask general questions such as “what are you doing over this summer weekend?”

Respond To Questions And Comments

As you build your fan base, fans will begin to regularly post comments as well as questions. Take the time to engage with them. Any time you take to interact with the fans is always time well spent. Many of the questions and comments will be extremely easy to respond to, only requiring a few seconds of your time. If you end up with an extremely popular brand however, selecting which questions to respond to will become important. That’s a great problem to have though! Make sure you take the time to reply to your customers and you can just about guarantee continued growth.

Be Supportive Of Your Biggest Fans

Are there fans that continuously post on your Facebook Page? Take the time to recognize them and continue to foster a relationship with them. Your biggest fans can become extremely valuable. These fans will take the time to promote your business for you. They’ll reply to other fan comments and do a lot of your work for you. Building relationships with these individuals is extremely important. One way to help build these types of relationships is to promote those that have helped you build your business. Give a quick shout out to the person as a comment and they’ll typically be extremely grateful. Support your biggest fans and they’ll help support you, helping you taking your business to the next level.

Daily Task

Post a conversational update to your Facebook Page. This should become a daily habit and not a one-time event however. Make sure that you remember to stop by your Facebook Page at least once a day (if not more) to post an update.

via allfacebook.com

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Bulldog Reporter - Daily Dog | Previous Stories | Is Pay-Per-Click the New Free? More Newspapers Shifting to Paid Web Models

2009-08-20T12:50:00.001-07:00

When the Financial Times started charging readers for access to its website in 2002, the move was considered "freakish," said the paper's chief executive in a recent interview with the New York Times. And now, with visionaries like Wired's Chris Anderson still recruiting parishioners in hordes to the Church of Free, charging for content on the web is blasphemous. But that may all be changing—and fast. A number of other publishers are now joining the Financial Times in undertaking paid-content strategies. "It was pretty lonely out there for a while in paid land," quipped John Ridding, chief executive of the Financial Times, in an interview with the New York Times last week. "But it has become pretty clear that advertising alone is not going to sustain online business models. Quality journalism has to be paid for."
News Corps chief executive Rupert Murdoch said this month that the company intended to charge for all its news websites. That plan would have the company's major newspapers in the United States, Britain and Australia joining their sister newspaper, The Wall Street Journal, which already charges for access to most of its site.
Even executives of The New York Times have said they are re-considering ways to get readers to pay for online access. In 2007, the Times website abandoned a pay wall for some content, concluding that it was restricting the potential for online advertising, despite the site's having attracted 227,000 paying customers, the paper reported.
While it's still too early to call, the next big web battle cry you hear may be "pay," not "free." And it might just "pay" off: Ridding told the New York Times that revenue for subscriptions to FT.com have risen 30 percent.
Skeptics claim that while readers are willing to shell out dough for specialized financial news, they won't pay for general news. Ridding disagrees: "I sometimes think there's too much fatalism around—people throwing up their hands and saying it's not possible for general publishers to charge," Mr. Ridding said in an interview with the New York Times. "I think it is possible, and necessary, for them to charge."

via bulldogreporter.com

News and content portals considering a pay to read model might be good for specialized content access, as in training, ed and closed portals. This might not only damage their total reach but decrease the value within their advertising space because of less viewer exposure. So, are advertisers willing to pay for less impressions to a smaller audience and what increase in paid subscribers is necessary to make up for the loss in ad revenue.

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Bulldog Reporter - Daily Dog | Previous Stories | PR Should Put Down the Megaphone: Six Tips for Listening to Attract a Loyal Following

2009-08-20T10:21:00.001-07:00

By Vicky Hastings, Managing Director, Maxwell PR
Rushing to have a presence on Facebook and Twitter, some communicators are surprised to find that instead of their organizations being popular at the social media party, they are either shunned or ignored. If that's happening to you, perhaps you're applying a traditional marketing mindset to interactive communications channels designed for two-way conversations—and damaging your PR career in the process.

Market or "sell" to members of social networks at your own peril. Instead of blasting self-serving messages, companies that listen and respond to fans' comments and questions, share inside scoops and perspectives and energize existing communities with relevant and useful content are experiencing increased consumer loyalty.

Yes, you can choose not to engage at all, but with minimal investment, social media is a powerful way to deepen consumer connections and prevent losing customers who won't tolerate not being heard.

If you've been puzzled by the lack of success of your social media program to date, take a step back and think through your objectives to determine why you've joined the conversation. Identify who else needs to be involved (customer service, marketing, leadership) to make your online presence authentic and engaging.

And apply these tips for effectively building community:

1. Be a good conversationalist. While it may be tempting to constantly push out marketing messages, you'll be more effective at engaging consumers and inspiring loyalty if you foster dialog rather than monolog. It's what social media platforms are made for. Listen and respond to consumers' comments, and shaping perceptions of your organization while addressing their interests and concerns. Talk about what the community cares about.

2. Be committed. Social media marketing isn't an endeavor you turn on and turn off at will. Once you begin communication programs encouraging people to talk about, try, believe in and care about your products, services and causes, you need to invest in them continually. Make this ongoing commitment and you'll be rewarded by lifetime relationships with a loyal community of consumers who may be willing to pay price premiums, recommend your products and even defend the brand, if necessary.
Be transparent—if your company intern is tweeting, that's OK, just don't try to pass him or her off as the company president. Consumers want real conversation with a real person, no matter who it's with, so be honest.

3. Be a helpful resource. Provide information from a variety of sources that keeps consumers informed including meaningful news, comments and observations about other brands you enjoy as well as issues and nonprofits that matter to the organization.

4. Be patient. Building a community can take time but speeding the process can decrease a brand's ability to make a lasting impact.

5. Be human. Social media is not the place for marketing speak, so find your brand's voice and use it to show your personality.

6. Be flexible. Social media is always changing, so part of jumping in is preparing not to fight the current.

Right now these communities and conversations are living on Facebook and Twitter. Next year, the platform may be something entirely different. The important thing is to ride the wave and be ready to adapt when the tide turns. Stay engaged, assess shifts and be ready to adjust strategy and approach when needed.

Social networks enable you to find out what others are saying about your organization, keep an eye on positive and negative experiences and be alerted to potential red flags or hot topics—all tasks you as a PR professional should be performing every day. If you're not bringing that type of insight to your organization, start doing so immediately or run the risk of getting pushed aside in favor of someone else who does.

Remember, social media is part of integrated communications efforts, not a stand-alone initiative. Draw on your PR talents and skills to lead this effort for your organization—and for your career.

Vicky Hastings is managing director of Maxwell PR, a Portland, Ore., PR firm specializing in brand communications that strengthen consumer engagement and loyalty.

via bulldogreporter.com

Nice article on integrating PR and Social Media Mindset

Posted via web from Media Collective -Social Marketing, Advertising And Nerdy Things MindShare & Beyond

Posterous’ new iPhone app could make citizen journalism and lifestreaming the norm – The Next Web

2009-08-20T09:29:00.001-07:00

Posterous’ new iPhone app could make citizen journalism and lifestreaming the norm

16 comments
By Zee on 20th August 2009

Posterous, the blogging platform/lifestreaming service that really can be used for almost anything, has released an iPhone app.

The app, called PicPosterous, is focused primarily on media rather than blogging as such, but as you’ll soon discover, they’ve released some very clever features.

As Posterous describes, “PicPosterous is an entirely different way of posting photos and video to your Posterous site. Instead of posting photos from an event once, at the end, PicPosterous PicPosterous “>is designed to let you post photos live, as you take them. PicPosterous can replace the built in Camera app on your iPhone, and publish your photos and video online live.”

Lifestreaming done right.

So say you’re at a wedding party. With PicPosterous, you can take photos and video throughout the day and have them automatically uploaded – as you take them – for your friends who couldn’t make it, to see. You don’t have to stop and wait either, just carry on taking photos and video and PicPosterous will work in the background.

You don’t even need to login to get started, just start snapping/recording away and if you already have an account, Posterous will automatically transfer everything over whenever you login.

You can manage multiple sites, create private albums and auto-post to your Wordpress blog, Twitter, Facebook, Flickr, YouTube and FriendFeed stream.

Breaking News

What’s really exciting is the potential in news to break faster and with more information than every before. Sure, with Twitter, news has been known to break fast and with the odd image linked from within the Tweet too. With PicPosterous however, you’ve got video and images being immediately uploaded and shared across all the viral hubs (Twitter, Facebook, YouTube etc..).

The next step would obviously be to bring live video into the picture. Something which Apple seems to be preventing at the moment.

Limitations

As Robin Wauters on Techcrunch quite rightly points out, there are a number of limitations.

“First, when you send pictures or videos to your Posterous blog, it’s impossible to add any kind of text or link from within the app (something I was able to do when I simply e-mailed in photos I took with my iPhone camera using the mail application).

Second, when you add multiple pictures to one album you can’t delete individual pics afterwards, leaving you only the option to clear all your albums and start over.

Third, you need to use your iPhone camera in landscape mode when you want your pictures to come out right on your blog, something that’s not indicated anywhere and you need to find out yourself.”

and fourth, which wasn’t mentioned, video only works on iPhone 3GS.

Despite the Limitations

The ability to be able to relive precious (and the not so precious) events and share them immediately with others using photo and video brings a whole new dimension to the iPhone.

The immediate photo and video uploading, along with Posterous’ signature slick and easy autoposting functionality also means news could break and spread faster than ever before. Despite the simplicity and limitations, the potential here is big, trust me.

Try it out here (iTunes link), it’s Free.

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Written by Zee , Editor in Chief at The Next Web, Principal at WeDoCreative.
Based in London, Zee is Editor in Chief at The Next Web and Principal at online marketing and new media agency WeDoCreative . A prominent tech blogger, he is also a design & marketing connoisseur, social media devotee & web application fanatic.

via thenextweb.com

Posted via web from Media Collective -Social Marketing, Advertising And Nerdy Things MindShare & Beyond

ReTweet.com Launches, Sure Looks A Lot Like TweetMeme

2009-08-19T14:23:00.001-07:00

via feedproxy.google.com

Posted via web from Media Collective -Social Marketing, Advertising And Nerdy Things MindShare & Beyond

Bing A Google?

2009-08-16T09:37:00.000-07:00

Why you might want to pay attention to Bing
This is a dual treat post.

1. Google Reader amps up what your doing and sharing. This post is an example of a newly added feature, at the bottom of your reader posts called "Share to" this feature allows you to send what you find interesting, relevant to multiple social networks and services that you use.
You can send article links to twitter, your Facebook page or in this case your Blogger blog.
How cool is that?

2. For search or even if you are search marketing and looking for categories or vertical ideas, the Bing search engine might present you with a whole slew of keyword, category or related ideas that are searched for within your marketplace or niche.

This article share from DailySEOblog.com explains nicely through screen shots the relevancy of search on the Bing engine.

DailySEOblog.com

5 Humble Reasons why I think Bing is actually better than Google !: "

Okay, lets shake off Google from our “perception” that there could be nothing better than it. We love it, and we knew nothing can get better than Google. But, though its hard to digest, Bing is actually bringing cracks on the wall. Let me not go to the extent saying that Bing outdoes Google..no. Bing performs better than Google in some areas, and that’s a reality. Let’s check.

1. Bing’s Related Search gives you more insight about your original search, its very friendly.

Which is very smart. On Google, you have the related search popping up at the end of the page, but I rarely see them because I’m more focused on the information I’m looking for, so I stay on the top area, and I rarely go down to the end.

Where as in Bing, the related search (which by the way is very relevant) shows up right on the left hand side, unobtrusively, and readily serves my purpose.

Google Screenshot: Showing the related search towards the bottom, which are often not found.

2. Bing gives me more options to choose from when I search for a product, Google doesn’t even bother.

Most of the time, Bing is really good when I search for products. It somehow “detects” that I’m looking for a product. And we all love product comparisons, and Bing shows me all the possible options, saving me a few clicks and time.

Google, on the other hand fails to detect products that I’m searching for, and gives me less options when compared to Bing. It shows images only when it detects a familiar query related to images or when I use strings that relate to images in my original query.

3. Many a times, Bing is more intelligent than Google if not powerful.

Have you noticed it ? Even though I’ve found that Bing does not give you precisely relevant results, it understands your query better than Google. Look at the following screenshot, where it gives me relevant results based on my original query.

And now, see what Google gives me.

Wait..I know what you’re thinking. They are relevant indeed, but if you think of it from a end user perspective, I’d relate more with terms suggested by Bing, than Google when I’m searching for “Buy Nikon D 80” right ?

4. Bing has a cool advanced search menu, don’t even think of using the Google Advanced search !

If you’ve tried Bing you’ll know what I mean. First off, clicking on Bing’s advanced search menu won’t take me to another page with a huge form to fill up (I know it’s not a form but it looks like one, that’s enough to scare me). That itself is a big turn off for me, when using Google advanced search, so I don’t use it at all.

On the other hand Bing has this cute little advanced search menu tucked in at the top neatly, that its a pleasure using it. It doesn’t have anything too technical there, just asks for your search preferences. The site/domain is the only thing at least a little bit “technical” here.

Check out the Google advanced search “panel / page”

If I knew how all this advanced AND, OR thing worked, I would’ve found the site – bought the camera already. I’m trying a basic..simple search, this is too technical.

5. Bing saves me a lot of time and energy. Google is sluggish.

You know the crux of an efficient search engine would be to deliver the best result in the lest possible time, right ? In that case, Google is sluggish. Bing has this excellent site preview tool, that saves me loads of time, because I don’t have to actually visit the site and make another judgement about the site is trustworthy or not.

In Google, it only points me to the site / sites and leaves the rest to me. I have to visit each site, and find out if the guys is trust worthy or not. Takes away lots of my time.

Bing on the other hand is like this friendly guide who says – “Mani, here are these 3 sites which are about the thing you searched, and here’s a preview of them, don’t waste your time going through, I know that this guy on the top is really good – check him out! ”

And I gladly would go for his recommendation, saves a lot of time and energy (and clicks).

So, there you go. Five reasons why I think Bing could be a better search engine than Google. I agree that Google is bigger, better index, powerful and all that but sometimes, being big isn’t enough. There are these seemingly small things that might make a big difference.

P.S – I took my SEO hat off while writing this, if you know what I mean.

Bing appears to really be a "thinking engine" Interesting thought to consider for your websites and communication materials:

1. Could it be that if you rank in Bling that it is an indication to good content, search friendly but most importantly a Understanding of What your audience Wants?

2. From the above, is a top ranked Bling, interperated as high quality in google for the same terms? It appears that Bing does put slightly more weight on domains with keywords, and inbound link weight, (bigger commercial vs. small site) as well as frequency of term & variation in title.

3. For super sluths note when you roll over a result - to the right a line appears - rollover that. Its a nice freebie for checking out keyword frequency and related terms for top rankers within their on site metas and page discriptions.

3. If you own a website you might want to take the time to submitt your site to Bing if as reported more users find search results more relevant than in google (which is what made google popular in the first place) indexed early is a good thing rather than waiting for them to crawl your site.

So Do You Think Social Media is A Time Waster?

2009-08-12T08:16:00.000-07:00

Going to save myself a ton of time explaining the value of social media when it is so well done in this YouTube Video

Megan Stands Off Against Laptop Hunters

2009-05-14T05:16:00.000-07:00

In this round of the Mac vs PC Ad Tit for Tat Continuum its Mac responding to PC's Laptop Hunter series of commercials with a laptop hunter named Megan.

Meeting Consumer Triggers In Messaging

The Laptop Hunter series address tigger points such as price point, available options, variety in choice even touches on the "are you a follower or ego purchaser" in the initial commercials. Now with the latest entry in the below clip the Laptop Hunter is touching on a large segment of Mac users, the artist, movie and media production segment.
Note the desired list of features, you will see these in the response message from Apple, with the difference being price point which Mac avoids.

Enter In Megan

Character Megan is looking for a laptop with no virus, crashes, fast processor, large screen and no headaches - sound familiar?

The Differences

In the Laptop Hunters they utilize perceived real people. With $2,000 in hand to buy a computer (any brand) Laptop Hunters are turned loose in computer store to shop for a computer that satisfies their desired list of features wanted. They also get to keep the change from their $2,000 allotment. End message is, value and savings with all bells and whistles.

Megan Mac Ad Response - Is Megan perceived as a real person with real issues? Response is in a studio setting and follows the Mac vs PC brand commercial presentation. Megan runs through her want list and the PC choices dwindle down to nothing upon "no virus" statement.
The missing piece is price point value and affordability in product or mac unique features & functionalities.

Similarities

Both brands neglect to touch or address their particular consumer friction points or operational difficulties nor address solutions.

In this commercial series, the professional graphic or media group is targeted. What is not communicated is, that many within this segment have had exposure to both Mac & PC systems and often own both a Mac and a PC for their individual strengths and/or functionalities.

So the question is
Does the messaging in this round of Mac vs PC address the more educated in product segment? (pro or savvy media production users)

Thoughts:

I think PC hit the mark on showing the options customizations and features available and price point.

PC failed to mention that you can add/customize processing speed & memory and address virus issues with software. PC could have also addressed functionality benefit, that on a PC you don't have to allocate memory to individual apps to run and user can operate multiple apps at the same time with out "mac freeze"

Mac commercial:

I like Mac's but feel at this point within the sequence instead of reactionary would like to see them talk more about Mac benefits rather than PC "virus or crash" because they too get virus and have crash/freeze issues.

Mac failed to talk about all the applications Mac specific that make life & job easier for this market segment, freeing up production time which would address the Money/Savings issue from the PC commercial.

The What's your Time Worth response - Show what Mac does to make work, tasks and media easier, faster simpler to do. Resulting in time savings = money and over life of ownership the professionals initial investment in purchasing a Mac will result in bigger savings or more time for the pursuit of happiness, because of ease of production.

What Do You Think?

Setting aside Mac or PC preference's and looking at just the message presentation its self which, do you feel communicates to the audience in a more believable way?

Should the Laptop Hunter series also address or feature buyers asking the questions such as virus or processing speed and show solutions?

Do you think Mac seems reactionary and should focus on their benefits vs talking PC problems or mirroring their commercials?

See the other Tit for Tat Mac vs PC commercials

Blogs Loosing Their Authority? Change How Authority Is Measured

2009-03-11T20:15:00.000-07:00

Thoughs on post by TechCrunch
Are Blogs Losing Their Authority To The Statusphere?

Basically, measurement of authority is via link weight or on page read and engagement, and article is about loss of on blog participation due to social applications, services like twitter, friendfeed and others that allow realtime engagement.

I think that the bar for measurement should just be looked at differently.

Authority if measured by reach/influence, if you used the simple analogy of distribution, Ex: Crest is a brand it distributes to multiple stores, does it lessen its influence or brand/product affinity?

The same would be for blogs, Author is the brand, blog distributes through multiple channels both on site by use of widgets to pull in live stream social network conversation as well as push through syndication.

Measurement would then be adjusted to the impression value, are people seeing them or a total picture of their social world as well as on site measurement combined. So not just the link or on blog commenting but by re tweets, likes, friendfeed engagement ... etc.

Facebook and Social Network Terms - Read The Fine Print

2009-02-16T04:46:00.000-08:00

There is value in social applications such as Facebook, myspace and others but take the time to read the fine print an terms so you fully understand what your cost to play is, where an how your materials and interactions could be used and what you are granting blanket permissions to by participating within those networks.

Facebook changes some terms

Facebook has changed its terms policy and is now anything that you publish on facebook, by doing so you are granting rights to facebook to utilize your material, information and even your likeness without renumeration (pay) nor permission by you.

The second know point is the third party applications that you connect with on your site. You are not only granting permission to post that plant or gift but also access to your profile, friends and more.

TIP: I removed all gift, best friends and other "fun" applications from my profile as I do not want to give third party access to my friends nor do I want these applications to access their information nor mine beyond what the application function was for.

Licenses
You hereby grant Facebook an irrevocable, perpetual, non-exclusive, transferable, fully paid, worldwide license (with the right to sublicense) to (a) use, copy, publish, stream, store, retain, publicly perform or display, transmit, scan, reformat, modify, edit, frame, translate, excerpt, adapt, create derivative works and distribute (through multiple tiers), any User Content you (i) Post on or in connection with the Facebook Service or the promotion thereof subject only to your privacy settings or (ii) enable a user to Post, including by offering a Share Link on your website and (b) to use your name, likeness and image for any purpose, including commercial or advertising, each of (a) and (b) on or in connection with the Facebook Service or the promotion thereof. You represent and warrant that you have all rights and permissions to grant the foregoing licenses.

Third Party Applications and Connect Sites
If you authorize an Application or allow a Connect Site to connect with your account on the Facebook Service, you agree that such Application/Connect Site can (a) access information on the Facebook Service related to you (including your profile information, friends and privacy settings) and (b) generate and publish news feed and other stories about actions you take on such Application/Connect Site without any additional permission. If you want to change the information that Applications/Connect Sites can access, you may modify your privacy settings. If you no longer want these news feed or other stories to be published, you can disable this feature by changing your application settings.

Don't Publish Proprietary Materials On your Profile, Pages or In Groups

Take care if you post, share or distribute be it personal or business information that would be considered non transferable, a trade secret or is monitiz-able to you or your business know that you are granting permission to utilize this information. I would think that these above terms even apply to private suscribe groups within the platform.

In closing
In a business or personal if you are utilizing the platform would suggest not posting any proprietary information or materials that you don't want blanket permissions granted.

TIP: If your using these social sites to draw attention to your ideas, products, services and knowledge would suggest the method of posting a intro blip with a link to your material hosted on your own site, or blog and not within the social platform its self if you wish to keep and control the rights to your materials in tact.

Love To The Media Collective Twitter Friends

2009-02-05T11:50:00.000-08:00

Media Collective is all a twitter passing on the love and to give thanks via a neat little app called Twitter Mosaic.

Get your twitter mosaic here.

2008-11-14T11:22:00.001-08:00

50 blog RSS tips http://ping.fm/e3F2z
Tks: Tips from twitter land @websuccessdiva

5 beginner tips for social media marketing

2008-11-06T06:37:00.001-08:00

A Media Share Post:

This HubSpot article is a brief synopsis of 5 elements to think about in the Social Media Marketing Space.

In the article incites on the following topics
1. Identify Your Market & Listening
2. Engaging in the party and getting involved.
3. Give to the community, its not a Me world.
4. Learn the tools and dress for the party
6. Measure your success, know what works for you

Good basic things to think about when going social in your advertising, marketing and pr spaces.
http://ping.fm/cbs1G

Shhhh Social Media The Secret Builder- Are You Talking?

2008-11-06T05:51:00.000-08:00

Shared from twitterverse this video reinforces that as a small business you are positioned to compete with the big players within your community space.

What is it going to cost you to compete?

Time & Passion thats it

So while the big guys buy static space ads, yellow pages, and are standing alone and talking to a empty room, and are slow in adopting trends and communication methods, if your investing in talking within your communities... well

Watch the video, I could not say it better than Gary ok I would a little more cleaner in language but that aside

Warning there is some strong language

Social Speaking Green business market landscape

2008-11-01T09:59:00.001-07:00

Much of corporate landscape believe that green business policies have sweeping benefits—for the environment, competitive and financial position.

Read the below corporate survey results by By Robbin S. Goodman

* Markets and consumers are overwhelmingly concerned about climate change and its potential impact on the quality of life for future generations (80%);

* Pro-environmental policies improve corporate or brand reputation (75%), make business more competitive (73%), strengthen sales and ROI (67%), and improve employee recruitment and retention (58%);

* Actions taken by corporations can, in fact, effect positive change in the environment (61%).
--- survey end ---

As world mindsets are going green they are also more savvy to "green washing" by companies and products just to capture buzz. A challenge for marketers, or ad agencies that are asked to implement a campaign that is in actually a "green wash"

Keep in mind that there are very passionate green consumers and if the discover the "wash" they will be very vocal within their discovery and this ill will can spread up to 80% of the market. It is our duty to avoid these circumstances as the results could not only cost the client but your agency reputation as well because you are willing to blur the lines. (todays market is about trust factor)

Communicating these forward thinking policies or utilizing them to build brand, loyalty or perceived value in product and company requires thoughtful implementation, transparency and accuracy in behaviors. How this can be done is through provable neutral reports, research, certifications from creditable sources to back up marketing claims. For internal business mindset, do you have a documented "green plan" had it evaluated by a eco consultant or LEED expert. What is really green about your business, there is a world of difference between a little green vs totally eco friendly environments for employees or products.

So when "going green" be able to walk the walk, talk the talk and back it up with facts.

The future is bright for the "Green Market Place"
On the consumer/employee side if perception in "green value" is there projected green business futures are brite as according to Environmentalleader.com projected consumer spend is estimated to reach $500 billion (findings from the 2007 ImagePower Green Brands Survey)

What this means to green marketing agencies, pr and advertising agencies is that there is an increased need to help the green industry communicate their brand message, product or services, making being green truly green for all those involved.

Socially Speaking Mac vs. PC Messaging Tactics And Advertising Exploration.

2008-11-01T06:41:00.000-07:00

Reputation, value and market share wars between Microsoft's PC and Apple's Mac platforms is like an ongoing tv drama. Intrigue, affairs of the heart, calamities and finger pointing and suspense.

The Story Backdrop

Bill & Steve at onset were at two different points with the markets they were targeting with pc servicing the business use and Mac servicing creative but the path in the distance was set to converge as consumers did not want to be restricted to one box. Business's wanted to be creative and creatives wanted to do business.

Without going though the long history of the two systems I'll use the analogy of ice cream vanilla vs chocolate. Now the two platforms systems and perifreals that drive them are now like a scoop of each in the same cup, pc's can be creative and Mac's can mean business. They have reached the point of convergence - a cup of mocha.

No where is it more evident that neither of them want to share cup or path. So how do they differentiate, saga style of course.

Let the advertising wars begin

To date the story each antagonist(pc & mac) has told runs the gamut of emotions all played to the channel watchers mindsets. From ego to frustration, love and dislike, inclusion to exclusionary each is turning up the volume and enlisting the aid of their viewers, seeking to create loyalty, identification. Enter in divide and conquer.

This said, I would like to explore the current Ad campaign "The Mac vs PC" I would like your opinion and incites beyond the surface. To do this below are a few of the stories being told via their commercials.

Thoughts to ask yourself:

Is the message accurate and does it influence choice in brand?
Which just based on commercials addresses wants, needs problems & offer solutions?
Is public display is more entertainment in nature and does it influence choice?
Does messaging create conflict in market mindset.
Is there a reverse effect? Meaning does it divide and conquer or just create awareness for both?
Messaging more ego based than value, feature or price based?
Which communicates to a larger segment mindset?
Given choice, at point of purchase, both options have the same features but price differential which brand would be chosen? (did commercials influence choice)
From a social media standpoint who's commercials engage their audience - is one more of a two way conversation than the others?

To begin see some of the previous commercials 15 shorts:

Now See Others Entering the mix upis this format diluting the brands reach by copycat style?

Format Opens up to other opinions Negative: messaging creating a divide in mindsets - do they bare weight or influence?

Mac Killed this guys inner child

Tit for Tat - Were these evident to market.

Restart - pc crashing is a thread within the mac ad's - truth in comparison?

Tribe engagement - in the below two videos Microsoft is engaging its audience with upload your I'm a pc ad's also, notice no mention of other brand, creating a singular focus.

Social Identification & participation - is this format effective for identification with brand, engaging and loyalty building? Back to beginning paragraph notice messaging addresses the convergence factor of doing business & being creative.

What will be Mac's response? What do you think would be effective? Should Mac drop PC exposure from its follow up ad's?

Should Mac change its direction to appear more friendly? Most ad's are entertaining but outwardly focused on PC fault finding. Should they position to a Mac & Me mindset communicating to their audience directly?

The story continues: