Archive for the ‘Social Media’ Category

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What’s on my mind? Branding.

Thursday, March 19th, 2009

“What’s on my mind?” Branding.

Well, branding is not the only thing on my mind. I think a lot about optimization, how SEO is not only about techniques to improve traffic from search engines but also about the people who read the content – the study of usability and conversion. (But that’s for another discussion…)

I think a lot about the importance of listening and engaging people (online & offline). Conversation and how people are treated is a big deal, to me. I think about the ways Social Media and SEO fit hand-in-glove, if planned right. (Such is a subject for another discussion…)

What about right now?

“Branding” is on my mind!

Facebook recently changed their status prompt to:

“What’s on your mind?”

Facebook: What's on your mind?

I wonder how my friends would perceive my thoughts if I put “branding” or “personal branding” or “rebranding” in my status update.

(Note to self: Update Facebook status once this post is published.)

So, I’m using Facebook’s status prompt question to share what’s been on my mind for a while…

I’m Re-Branding!

(more…)

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Posted in Social Media | 2 Comments »

“What are you doing?” Boycott

Wednesday, March 11th, 2009

This is an unofficial boycott of status updates of “What are you doing?” (The word “Boycott” does flow well with the “Universal No” symbol.) Boycott - What are you doing?

I am not, however, updating Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn with answers to the question, “What are you doing right now?“

A better title for this post could be…

Why I am on Social Media

My Social Media participation began in 2007 to the need to stay current with rapid changes in Internet Marketing vocabulary and how Social Media ties into SEO. People in this industry were many of the first to gravitate to Social Media. So I started the long learning curve.

LinkedIn

LinkedIn was a given. It’s a professional networking site. Connections made through LinkedIn have opened possibilities and resulted in work relationships numerous times already. LinkedIn is pretty incredible from a business approach.

Facebook

Facebook was a learning ground. To date, I’ve only uploaded a couple photos and realize I’m missing out on much this platform has to offer for networking socially. I started connecting with people in the search marketing industry, joining groups and conferences, etc. Now, people from high school, cycling and other aspects of life are on Facebook. (I’m also connected with people I don’t personally know and no longer accept such invites.)

Twitter

Twitter became a text messaging and networking steroid for connecting with industry peeps and staying staying current with latest news. It’s often my RSS and email replacement. Twitter gets credit for building relationships and serving as my “go to” resource for news, resources and help for technical questions.

My “friends” connections grow daily along with my quest and thirst for information about search and social media marketing. The majority of people I follow are business contacts or are people “in the industry.”

Twitter is also a customer service portal for posting questions to businesses. It’s the one social network I couldn’t do without. But I’m now using it in moderation.

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Posted in Social Media | 11 Comments »

Happy Birthday, Facebook: You turned 5!

Saturday, February 7th, 2009

A birthday card to wish Facebook a Happy 5th Birthday:

Happy Birthday, Facebook!

You turned 5 years old February 4, 2009, and your influence on the world grows exponentially as your age grows linearly. You have received a lot of “Happy Birthday, Facebook” greetings, yet I couldn’t let the week pass without sending my own birthday wish to you.

Happy Birthday, Facebook

Facebook Happy Birthday Application

Facebook, you have had a tremendous impact on many people.  I didn’t really understand your magnetism at first. When you opened your doors to more than college students, masses flocked to network onto your social platform. Over 150 million people around the world share their lives on Facebook to date.

You offer a safe place for people to connect. New friendships are formed and strengthened and old friends and high school buddies are reconnected, thanks to you! You have many applications, even providing ways for people to wish each other “Happy” Birthday on Facebook.

Businesses, non-profit organizations, various causes and political campaigns are able to share their products, services and efforts with Facebook users. Millions of dollars in social media advertising are invested into your tightly-controlled ad system. Facebook “Causes” has made a difference to help people and campaigns that would have been impossible without this social utility.

My comprehension of the “power of Facebook” for search marketing has grown in the past year. You are an important factor for search engine optimization and social media marketing. I was surprised to see you with a booth at Affiliate Summit in Vegas in January, and that “Advertising on Facebook” was the topic of a HOT session. You may argue it was standing-room-only because Shoemoney was on the panel, but you were the royal guest of honor.

Thank you, Facebook, for providing a social network for us to engage in conversation in ways unavailable before your birthday 5 years ago.

You should be proud that you have fulfilled and continue to expand your mission:

“Facebook was founded in 2004 to give people the tools to engage and understand the world around them.”

I’m going to spend more time with you building relationships in the coming years and look forward to many more birthdays! It will be exciting to see how you mature.

Happy Birthday, Facebook!

Posted in Social Media | 2 Comments »

Internet Marketing Geek Speak

Thursday, January 29th, 2009

Online marketers have a code, culture and vocabulary that is a foreign language to people who don’t live and breath Internet marketing geek speak.

A search marketer’s daily lexicon includes words about tactics and actions for sharing and virally spreading messages, building brands and helping rank websites on the front pages of search engines. Geek speak represents daily life online, our Internet marketing jargon and lingo used while participating in online communities.

Internet Marketing Geek Speak

Geek Speak for Tactics

Geek Speak relating to methods, or tactics,  for marketing and positioning a company’s products and services include some of the following:

Search Engine Optimization (SEO), Pay Per Click (PPC), Search Engine Marketing (SEM), Blogging, User Generated Content (UGC), Social Media Marketing (SMM), Social Media Optimization (SMO), Email Marketing, Affiliate Marketing, Social Networking, Reputation Management

Does online marketing have more acronyms than government work?

Translate and learn some of this lingo at MarketingTerms.com, an Internet marketing terms reference.

Geek Speak for Actions

Internet marketers, as well as customers and non-marketing types who surf the Web and/or buy products online, are all part of the process. Our actions become part of the marketing message. You may not know the word or term for what you are doing when you’re online, but when you are speaking about a product or service, your language becomes part of that company’s brand.

Geek speak for daily actions through which we share include:

Tweet, Stumble, Thumb, Sphinn, Digg, Post, Tag

  • Tweet - a message less than or equal to 140 characters posted on Twitter
  • Thumb - the act of giving a thumbs up or thumbs down to cast your vote on a website post, article, photo on StumbleUpon. People who look through StumbleUpon then Stumble upon sites for which others have voted.
  • Sphinn - voting approval or disapproval (desphinning) submissions made on Sphinn, the site where many in search marketing hang out to share stories
  • Digg - another “vote” of approval to say you like an article
  • Post - creating an article for a blog, a blog post
  • Tag - adding a keyword to posts or inserting words into a tweet or bookmarking a site with tags (Delicious)

These terms relate to participation on social networks, also known as “socnets.”

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Posted in Social Media | 9 Comments »

Social Media – Wheels for Remarkablogger

Saturday, December 13th, 2008

Social Media helped Remarkablogger get new wheels! Yes! Remarkablogger paid it forward to those who contributed to his car accident fund. As I posted earlier this week about contributing and paying it forward, I learned about his totaling his car and need on Twitter, a microblogging platform in which people share with friends. It’s like a group chat with posts, called “tweets,” that are less than or equal to 140 characters. He tweeted from the hospital!

Many people donated to his car accident fund. Michael was able to put a down payment on a 1998 Saab today, 12.12.08. That’s 4 days after his accident in which he flipped over and walked away! The generosity of his online friends’ donations brought him to tears!

How was this possible? Social Media gave him wheels again!

Paying it Back – Free Blogging Webinar

Michael Martine held a free blogging webinar on Ustream as his way of “paying friends back” for paying it forward to help him in a crunch.

Remarkablogger Free Blogging Seminar

He announced he was going to offer the webinar as a “thank you” to those who donated. He also opened the session up to anyone who wanted to join on Ustream. Requesting money for a car may be an unusual request, especially in hard times when so many people are in need. Asking, in itself, is difficult and humbling for most of us. Michael combined his understanding of technology and Social Media to provide a value and give something in return for his donation request.

He explained:

I’m doing this because… well, because I didn’t die today. Like I said, I’m in a bind and need to raise fast cash. I want to offer you something of intense value in exchange for your donation, and I hope you think that’s fair.

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Posted in Social Media | 2 Comments »

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