Social media can be an effective tool for connecting with other Internet users and to promote yourself and your business online. If you don't put some strict limits in place, you can find yourself spending far too much time on sites like Twitter, Facebook and LinkedIn. To get the benefits of these sites and continue taking care of business, you need to effectively manage your social media time.
1. Set up a schedule (and stick to it).
Once you start checking out tweets and status updates online, it's very easy to lose track of how long you have been on these sites. By all means respond to comments on your pages promptly, but you may find it helpful to set aside a particular time of day for these activities and to limit the time you spend doing it.
2. Decide what you want to accomplish and make a plan.
You won't be able to reap the benefits of using social media sites if you don't have a clear idea of why you are using them. Make a list of sites that you would like to use and determine exactly what results you want to generate from each one. Make sure that you are setting measurable goals for your social media efforts so that you can track how well this strategy is working for you.
Ads by Google
3. Set up a checklist to keep you on track.
Once you know what you want to accomplish with your social media time, make a list of exactly
* "Only connect. . ." E.M. Forster, Howard's End
Showing posts with label Google. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Google. Show all posts
Tuesday, October 11, 2011
Tuesday, October 4, 2011
CUSTOMER IS A DIRTY WORD
I am not a customer. I am not a user. I might be a client. I might be a member. I may even be a loyalist. But don’t call me a customer. “Customer” is a dirty word.
JEFF BEZOS CALLED ME A NAME!
I saw that graphic above when I logged into my Amazon account, my “I use it pretty much every day for one thing or another” Amazon account, my “don’t you see my name ALL OVER THE FRICKEN SCREEN????” account. Jeff Bezos called me a “customer.” In that really great letter where he spends my time telling me all about how awesome he is, Bezos calls me a customer. Nothing more. A cheap number. Not a loyalist. Not someone who buys quite often from one part of the Amazon empire or another. Just. A. Customer.
WORDS MATTER
For instance, when you send out email marketing, never let the default be “colleague” for when it doesn’t know my name for sure. Make it anything but that. “Colleague” is right up there with “comrade” and the like.
I’m not even fond of “users.” At Kitchen Table Companies, we have members. We have
Sunday, August 7, 2011
How to unplug from Facebook, Twitter and Google+
The three popular social networking sites each offer ways to tune out or turn off accounts. Facebook and Twitter users can opt to take a break or deactivate. Google+ users can hide, downgrade or delete accounts.
Tired of being friended and poked on Facebook? Just not that into your followers on Twitter? Google+ making you feel less than totally happy? Here's how to unplug from three popular social networking sites.It's the most popular social networking site on the Web with more than 750 million users. There are three ways to tune out or turn off Facebook.
•Take a break
If there's a chance you might make up with Facebook, this is a good temporary option. Turn off email notifications, remove the Facebook app from your phone, take the website out of your bookmarks and generally cleanse your online existence of all unwanted reminders of Facebook.
How to do it: Go to "account settings" under the account menu. Select the "notifications" tab and remove the check next to the alerts you don't want to receive. The downside: Your friends may still tag you in photos, write on your wall or send you messages and, when you don't respond, may think you lack basic social skills.
•Deactivate
If you are not sure you want to quit Facebook forever, you can deactivate your account. You will disappear on Facebook immediately. People will not be able to search for you or view any of your information. But Facebook will save all of your wall posts, photos, messages and other personal information in case you have a change of heart.
How to do it: Go to "account settings" and select the "security" tab. The last option at the bottom of the page is "deactivate your account." Click on the link. Be forewarned: Like a jilted lover practiced in the art of emotional blackmail, Facebook will try to talk you out of leaving by showing you pictures of close friends who will miss you. To reactivate your account: Log in with your email address and password.
•Delete
If you want to scrub every last detail of your existence from Facebook, you can permanently delete your account.
How to do it: Unlike deactivating, deleting is not an option under account settings. Instead, click on "Help Center" from the account menu. Type "delete" into the search box. Select the option: "How do I permanently delete my account?" Scroll down to "submit your request here." Or you can type in this link: http://www.facebook.com/help/contact.php?show_form=delete_account.
Click on the link and you will get a message asking you to verify that you want to delete your account. Click the "submit" button. Facebook will ask for your password and will perform a security check. Facebook will not delete your account for 14 days. During that time, it will email you to verify that you are the one deleting the account, not an impersonator trying to wreak havoc on your social life.
After 14 days, all of your information will be permanently removed from Facebook. Some of your
Thursday, August 4, 2011
New Facebook Analytics Tool Digs Deeper Than Insights
A webpage owner has seemingly unlimited choice in products that slice and dice information about those who visit his or her page. Real time? Personal? With a heat map? No problem. Facebook page managers, however, don’t have it as easy.
The Google Analytics of Facebook is called “Insights,” and for someone who is dealing with the typical Facebook fan page, it’s a sufficient meat-and-potatoes analysis tool. PageLever, a Y Combinator startup that launched Wednesday, is a more elaborate version of Insights for brands that want to get a bit deeper in their analysis — a group of users that so far includes YouTube, Microsoft, Mint and Kayak.
PageLever shows impressions (any time a story loads in a browser, whether on your page or not) for any date range, not just month or week. It separates unique impressions from repeat impressions so that you can see your true reach, and it shows when and where fans “unliked” your page. You can also look at what type of content — photos, video, text or flash — your audience responds to best.
The Google Analytics of Facebook is called “Insights,” and for someone who is dealing with the typical Facebook fan page, it’s a sufficient meat-and-potatoes analysis tool. PageLever, a Y Combinator startup that launched Wednesday, is a more elaborate version of Insights for brands that want to get a bit deeper in their analysis — a group of users that so far includes YouTube, Microsoft, Mint and Kayak.
PageLever shows impressions (any time a story loads in a browser, whether on your page or not) for any date range, not just month or week. It separates unique impressions from repeat impressions so that you can see your true reach, and it shows when and where fans “unliked” your page. You can also look at what type of content — photos, video, text or flash — your audience responds to best.
Tuesday, August 2, 2011
Is Social Networking Your Business' Priority?
Let's say you own a small business, would you consider investing on social networking for your business? Some business owners may think it is not clever to bank on social networking efforts but according to numerous business surveys, a good number of small businesses are ready and more than willing to spend money in pursuing their endeavours. If you are one of these risk-takers, then it could be that you are already enjoying the benefits to your business or maybe you're just starting to build a website of your own to pursue this business priority. If you are one of those who decided social networking is not worth your time, money and effort then maybe it is high time for you to re-consider your decisions.
The truth is, social networking as a means of business marketing is very effective and cost-efficient. Numerous reports and figures have told us that between advertising in Facebook and advertising in Google Ads, there are more positive marketing results in the former than the latter. This is one of the many reasons why many businesspeople would spend money just to advertise their products and services there and some even went the extra mile by building a website for their business. These custom-made social media sites may not be as complex and thorough as Facebook but as long as it is able to provide the owners all the tools that they need to interact directly with their customers and provide them all their needs as well as the information that they need to enhance their products and services and therefore provide more satisfaction to their customers, it is good to go.
Joining the social network bandwagon and building a social network website for your business though requires careful planning from your end. You will have to list down every data that you need and how you wanted these data to be gathered, analyzed and transformed into something useful for your company. All of these can be addressed through hiring a good developer who can assist you in your efforts, or better yet, you can start shopping for different software available online and try it yourself. The latter choice will be advantageous for you if you wanted to have complete control over your social networking site and learn a lot of new things along the way. If you don't have much time to spare though, it may be wiser to tap someone to do it for you. Whichever is which, be assured that creating your very own site for your business is but a great decision that you will never regret.
Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Nico_Kurniawan
Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/6428811
The truth is, social networking as a means of business marketing is very effective and cost-efficient. Numerous reports and figures have told us that between advertising in Facebook and advertising in Google Ads, there are more positive marketing results in the former than the latter. This is one of the many reasons why many businesspeople would spend money just to advertise their products and services there and some even went the extra mile by building a website for their business. These custom-made social media sites may not be as complex and thorough as Facebook but as long as it is able to provide the owners all the tools that they need to interact directly with their customers and provide them all their needs as well as the information that they need to enhance their products and services and therefore provide more satisfaction to their customers, it is good to go.
Joining the social network bandwagon and building a social network website for your business though requires careful planning from your end. You will have to list down every data that you need and how you wanted these data to be gathered, analyzed and transformed into something useful for your company. All of these can be addressed through hiring a good developer who can assist you in your efforts, or better yet, you can start shopping for different software available online and try it yourself. The latter choice will be advantageous for you if you wanted to have complete control over your social networking site and learn a lot of new things along the way. If you don't have much time to spare though, it may be wiser to tap someone to do it for you. Whichever is which, be assured that creating your very own site for your business is but a great decision that you will never regret.
Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Nico_Kurniawan
Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/6428811
Saturday, July 30, 2011
Online Marketing Through Social Networking Sites
Social networking online is one of today’s hottest trends. Many, however, wonder how social networking can help their careers or businesses and exactly how to get started with this online marketing technique. Here in part 1, I will help you get started. In part 2, I will explain some techniques for expanding your presence and building a quality network of online contacts.
What is Online Social Networking?
From a conceptual standpoint, online social networking is no different than traditional networking and socializing. You meet people and get to know them by sharing information about each other. Those you like and/or share interests with become part of your “network.” The marketing magic kicks in when those in your network start talking about you. Your reputation spreads by word-of-mouth.
The Internet and related technology have taken networking to the next level, expanding each individual’s reach and exposure through online marketing. Where traditionally people gather in person to network–at the same time and place as others–members of online networking groups are not limited by time or geography. Each group member can interact 24/7 from any location worldwide. Consequently, online networking techniques are very different from in-person networking.
How To Interact Through Social Networking
Ways to interact are numerous. The first order of business is to decide what your marketing goals are with respect to social networking. While “finding new friends” is a sufficient personal reason for social networking, business marketing goals need to be more specific. Are you an individual looking for a job or freelance work? Do you want to gain exposure for your product, brand or company? Are you looking for potential employees or contractors? Do you want to get prospects interested enough to visit your Website or contact you? Your goals will dictate what you put on your profile and social networking home page, as well as who you look for to become part of your network.
After you’ve decided on your purpose for online networking, choose which social networking Website(s) you will participate in.
Where to Network Online
You can find a comprehensive list of social networking sites here, at Wikipedia. I am familiar with those listed below. They will give you an idea of the range of opportunities you will find at social networking Websites:
Yahoo! 360 (360.yahoo.com): Yahoo!’s social networking site is in beta as of this writing. The unique feature here is your Yahoo! 360 space is cross-promoted with other Yahoo! products, such as with your reviews on Yahoo! Local and your Yahoo! Groups. Like many social
What is Online Social Networking?
From a conceptual standpoint, online social networking is no different than traditional networking and socializing. You meet people and get to know them by sharing information about each other. Those you like and/or share interests with become part of your “network.” The marketing magic kicks in when those in your network start talking about you. Your reputation spreads by word-of-mouth.
The Internet and related technology have taken networking to the next level, expanding each individual’s reach and exposure through online marketing. Where traditionally people gather in person to network–at the same time and place as others–members of online networking groups are not limited by time or geography. Each group member can interact 24/7 from any location worldwide. Consequently, online networking techniques are very different from in-person networking.
How To Interact Through Social Networking
Ways to interact are numerous. The first order of business is to decide what your marketing goals are with respect to social networking. While “finding new friends” is a sufficient personal reason for social networking, business marketing goals need to be more specific. Are you an individual looking for a job or freelance work? Do you want to gain exposure for your product, brand or company? Are you looking for potential employees or contractors? Do you want to get prospects interested enough to visit your Website or contact you? Your goals will dictate what you put on your profile and social networking home page, as well as who you look for to become part of your network.
After you’ve decided on your purpose for online networking, choose which social networking Website(s) you will participate in.
Where to Network Online
You can find a comprehensive list of social networking sites here, at Wikipedia. I am familiar with those listed below. They will give you an idea of the range of opportunities you will find at social networking Websites:
Yahoo! 360 (360.yahoo.com): Yahoo!’s social networking site is in beta as of this writing. The unique feature here is your Yahoo! 360 space is cross-promoted with other Yahoo! products, such as with your reviews on Yahoo! Local and your Yahoo! Groups. Like many social
Sunday, July 17, 2011
See a Video of Photovine, Google’s Mysterious Photo Sharing Service
After appearing merely in the form of a short description and a support page, Google’s upcoming photo sharing service Photovine now has a little bit more to offer: a registration form and an official teaser video.
The registration form currently accepts invite requests, and the confirmation email claims that Photovine will be “slowly rolling-out invites starting later this month.”
The video (below), however, tells us a little bit more about how Photovine works. A user starts out a theme or a topic with a photo – in the video, the topic is called “warm and fuzzy” and starts with a photo of a dog that fits the description. Then, other users chime in, and after a while you get a lot of “warm and fuzzy” photos, which explains Photovine’s motto: “Plant a photo, watch it grow”.
The service seems incredibly simple to use, but there’s a lot we don’t know: how do you manage your friends on the network, how do you share photos on social networks such as Twitter, Facebook and Google+, and so forth. We’ll have more as soon as we try it out.
The registration form currently accepts invite requests, and the confirmation email claims that Photovine will be “slowly rolling-out invites starting later this month.”
The video (below), however, tells us a little bit more about how Photovine works. A user starts out a theme or a topic with a photo – in the video, the topic is called “warm and fuzzy” and starts with a photo of a dog that fits the description. Then, other users chime in, and after a while you get a lot of “warm and fuzzy” photos, which explains Photovine’s motto: “Plant a photo, watch it grow”.
The service seems incredibly simple to use, but there’s a lot we don’t know: how do you manage your friends on the network, how do you share photos on social networks such as Twitter, Facebook and Google+, and so forth. We’ll have more as soon as we try it out.
Monday, July 11, 2011
What Google Images are Associated with You?
Nowadays, the power of Google cannot be denied. Everyone is "Googling" everyone else to find out information. When you apply for a job, when you meet someone new, when you connect with someone, when you're a potential client, business partner or suitor, people are typing your name in Google Search and reading all the information that's associated with your name.
Though you may have Googled yourself recently and looked at the top websites coming, when did you last look at what Google Images are associated with you? What pictures come up when you do a Google Search for your name?
A picture is worth a thousand words and one reputation
As important as the top websites in Google when you do a personal search, the top images are almost as crucial.Think about this – if you applied for a position in a company, and the employer Googled your name, and the first images that come up are drunken pictures of you in wild parties, do you think that may affect his first impression of you as a potential employee?
It might. It may even come up during the interview, and you'd find yourself scrambling for an excuse or a story to explain away those drunken pictures.
Mistaken identities belong to you, too
It could also be that the first images to come up aren't pictures of you, but pictures of a person with a similar name. It may become the case of mistaken identity if people assume that's you even when it's not.
Though you may have Googled yourself recently and looked at the top websites coming, when did you last look at what Google Images are associated with you? What pictures come up when you do a Google Search for your name?
A picture is worth a thousand words and one reputation
As important as the top websites in Google when you do a personal search, the top images are almost as crucial.Think about this – if you applied for a position in a company, and the employer Googled your name, and the first images that come up are drunken pictures of you in wild parties, do you think that may affect his first impression of you as a potential employee?
It might. It may even come up during the interview, and you'd find yourself scrambling for an excuse or a story to explain away those drunken pictures.
Mistaken identities belong to you, too
It could also be that the first images to come up aren't pictures of you, but pictures of a person with a similar name. It may become the case of mistaken identity if people assume that's you even when it's not.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)