A Guide to Etiquette on Social Networks

Social media marketing is a very useful tool in generating awareness about your business. Social networks have become one of the most indispensable tools for any business to have an online presence. There are a number of social networks on the web today, each with a character of its own. It is important that you understand the character of these social networking sites and understand the etiquette that each of these sites require. Some of the accepted standards of etiquette will be discussed in the paragraphs below.


Twitter
One of the most popular social networks on the web, Twitter is used by individuals and businesses alike. Posts in tweeter are available for viewing by a large section of users and an inappropriate post can harm one's reputation. When creating a page for your business, it is important that you do not post text that is irrelevant to your business. You must also remember that tweets made cannot be deleted, so write your words with utmost care.
Another very important tip while using twitter is to refrain from making personal posts using your business page since it can make your business look unprofessional. While including facts relevant to your business or industry is accepted, indulging excessively in self promotion can create a poor image not only of the business but also of its owner. Also make sure your posts do not expose confidential business information and data.
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Facebook
Facebook is also an increasingly popular choice for business to promote themselves online. Entrepreneurs can create an exclusive page for their business and the more "likes" a business gets, the more it strikes a chord with its customers. The site also has its own advertising service, where businesses can post ads about their business. This service works in a similar way to the Pay-per-Click (PPC) campaign of Google.
You can use your Facebook page to create posts articles, links, video and pictures, so make sure you make efficient use of them. It is advisable to refrain from posting pictures and links that have little to do with your business or are pure spam. The same policy should also be followed while posting text- such behavior can reflect poorly on your business.


LinkedIn
It must be known that LinkedIn is quite different as a social network from Facebook and Twitter. While the other two are casual social networks, LinkedIn is an out-and-out social network for

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

3 Types of Content to Boost the Quality of Your Blog

After you've been working on your business blog for a while, there are a number of great things that you can do to give it a boost. When you were first getting started with blogging, your primary concern was probably just getting content shipped on a regular basis so you could generate your initial momentum and begin to build an audience and readership. But after a few months of regular publishing and generating growth, it can be beneficial to give your readers some variety by creating and publishing different types of content in various formats to help your blog grow and keep the content exciting. There are many possible ways to do this, and today we'll cover three of them: integrating video content, incorporating interviews, and incorporating weekly posts covering lighter topics.

1. Integrate Video Content

You can switch up the feel of your blog and help people stay engaged for longer periods of time by using different forms of content like video. Your first video post could be something as simple as introducing yourself and the kind of topics you'll be covering. This way, you can quickly gauge your audience's reactions to video content and become familiar with the mechanisms for creating and posting video on the web. Don't shoot for anything too fancy right out of the gate. Just record something simple.

Once you've recorded your first video, establish a basic YouTube channel that is tied to your business, upload your first video, and embed it into a blog post. Include a short summary of the video for those readers who may prefer text over video. Don't worry if your video isn't of the utmost quality. Start simple and lean, learn from the experience, and build up your video marketing efforts from there to achieve maximum effectiveness.

2. Conduct Interviews

Once you've gotten the hang of creating video content for your blog, consider conducting an interview with someone, either on video if you're both comfortable with that or just in text format. Consider other thought leaders, industry experts, or even your customers as interesting interview candidates. One of the tricks for conducting a great interview with someone is to avoid scripting all of your questions beforehand and sending your interviewee a comprehensive list of questions in advance. While scripted interviews are faster to produce, they aren't as interesting to read or watch, and they limit the discussions you can have. Instead, schedule a time to talk to the person you're interviewing, and run it as a conversation.

To conduct a great interview, bring 3-4 interesting questions, and then ask 2-3 follow-ups to each one instead of just running through the drill. Done this way, you will end up with a real conversation about each topic, which is always much more interesting and insightful than shallow question and answer session. With video interview (perhaps over your webcam using Skype?)

My Top Six Link Building Strategies For Beginners

In this article I want to cover off back links, what they are, why you need them and how to get them. Now if your just starting out you’ll have heard of these but certainly I know for Sam & I when we first started out in internet marketing there’s so much info to take in, it blows your mind so I thought a brief explanation, beginners guide if you will might be handy, so here goes…

What are Links?

Broadly speaking Links are a ‘link’ between your site and another, so as an example you may find a site in the same niche as you links to you because you are not the same but complementary to one another – that’s the basics. You then get ‘one way links’ & ‘back links’- now stay with me on the detail here because One-Way links are also termed back links.

But the unique thing about one-way links is that they do not return a link to the website linking to them, in other words they are not reciprocal. One-way links convey a message to the search engines that the website is so interesting or useful that the other websites had to tell people about it. One way links are the preferred back link for any website owner, so hold onto the concept as we move on.

How Do You Get a One-Way Link?

One way links are achieved is when your website is deemed to have great information and unique content that other websites believe is worthy enough to be referenced by them and shared elsewhere – hope that’s clear and everyone understands it.

Bear in mind also a website will naturally link to another that has content that will consolidate its own site standing. Here are just a few ways you may be able to get or acquire a one-way link status. They are:

Top Tips for Obtaining Back Links

1. Submitting your site to the major online search engine directories such as Yahoo! and Dmoz.org. When you have your link in these websites, your site value will automatically increase.

2. Submit articles to articles directories. There are so many article directories you can submit your article to which will provide you with a back link to your website. Again, as I’ve commented before, if you are submitting manually, still stick to the key directories – that’s where the traffic and ultimately the links will come from.

You can be sure that if it contains quality content someone will click and link back to you. Also

How the Buying Cycle Affects Your Keyword Research

Keyword research may be the single most important factor contributing to your online marketing and SEO success. The keywords you select will determine who can and can’t see your site for any given search. Incorporating the right keywords into your content helps increase your online brand presence, drives targeted traffic to your site, affects what search phrases your site ranks for and more. Missing out on important keywords, or putting the wrong keywords on the wrong pages, means missing out on potential clients and customers. If your site isn’t ranking for the right keyword, you might as well be invisible online.

Sites need to choose keywords on a page-by-page basis based on two things. First and foremost, you have to choose keywords that accurately reflect the content on the page. Search engines rank individual pages, not sites as a whole. Secondly, you have to choose keywords based on the intent of your target audience. That is where the buying cycle comes into play.

When a searcher is at the beginning of their buying cycle, they are usually in research mode. They’re just “shopping around,” bouncing from site to site to gather information from numerous sources, which they will use to influence their future purchase. For instance, first time parents might spend a couple weeks researching baby cribs for their new nursery. Who are the big crib manufacturers? How much do their cribs cost? What kind of reviews have their products received? What kind of crib is best for newborns? First time parents have a lot of questions, so they turn to friends, family and the search engines for answers. They might use search phrases like “baby crib styles,” “top rated baby cribs, “nursery furniture” or “nursery design ideas” to get them started. These are informational searches.

Depending on the kind of information someone is looking for, they may or may not be looking to make a quick transition from research to buying. For instance, someone scrolling through Yelp reviews, trying to decide where to eat lunch that day is going to make a quick decision. Someone looking to make a big purchase (like cars, electronics, furniture, etc) might spend more time researching their options.

As consumers move through their buying cycle, then tend to search using more long-tail keywords. Instead of searching for “baby crib,” the first time parents search for “portable folding crib bedding set.” These searchers have a better idea of what they are looking for and are searching for a specific thing. They might search for a company or product by name or include buzz words like “buy” or “order” in their search phrase. As consumers near the end of their buying cycle, your chance for converting them goes up. They are looking to make a final decision.

So what does this all have to do with your keyword research?

You have to decide what kind of visitors you want finding your site, and then put yourself in their