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How much would you pay for all of your friends to see one of your posts on Facebook?

Facebook is currently testing out a paid highlighted post system.  This feature allows users the ability to pay to have their posts highlighted at the top of the timelines of their friends and fans.  This is obviously a HUGE shift on both the future of Facebook for the users and how organizations market on Facebook.

Facebook ads already exist as a way for companies to encourage people to find their products and their page.  Even with the addition of highlighted posts, this will still exist as a way to attract new users to a page.  The ability to highlight posts expands the reach a company can have once they have gotten a fan to like their page.  This change is pretty huge, because in the past the amount a user would visit a page after they liked it would be pretty low.  Highlighting posts will lead to much higher levels engagement and retention of fans, which is great for businesses. 

Facebook has been aggressively pursuing new and different products before their upcoming IPO.  With the purchase of Instagram and Glancee, and now the addition of paid highlighted posts, they are making moves to position themselves in a stronger role in the social media marketplace.  They are improving the experience for personal users (the purchases of the two companies) and for businesses (highlighting posts) to keep users on and more engaged within their site. 

Highlighted posts are going to push Facebook into a different direction, with paid posts becoming a tool for companies to keep fans on the line once they are hooked.  Imagine a company that posts a link to a special sale only in a highlighted post.  They will be able to drive traffic through their Facebook page to their website and generate sales leads that they could not have before.  Users need to get ready for highlights, because it is going to shake up how everyone uses Facebook.

With Facbook acquiring social discovery app Glancee, there is a huge discussion now on the future role of social networks and social discovery.  Social media is evolving into different areas and social discovery is one that will be huge for users that are looking to connect with new people.

Social discovery is hot new phrase in the social media world; it is going to be the next generation of social networking.   Social discovery is defined as a social networking apps and websites to connected users based on interests or other factors.  One of the biggest social discovery networks on the web is Tagged.  A recent study has shown that it is the most engaging social network on the web.  It is second in both visits and time spent on the website of any social network.  Tagged is designed to introduce users to one another, users can both play games and meet others based on their likes and interests.

An important difference to think about between a traditional social network and a social discovery website is that social discovery is less built around connecting with your friends and learning about their life, and more about finding users to connect with.  Facebook is about keeping in touch with your friends and connections, social discovery sites are more about finding the people that are interested in the same things you are.

Within traditional networks, there exist social discovery tools for users.  The most common one is one that everyone sees when they log into Facebook, is the People You May Know function.  Based on your friends and interests, Facbook recommends with accuracy people that you know that you are not currently friends with.  Another popular social discovery tool is Twitter hashtags.  By looking at #tigers you can meet other people that are Detroit Tigers fans.

Social discovery is not going to be about connecting users the way that Facebook and Twitter do, but it could provide users a chance to find businesses within an area.  If you are able to manage a page within a social discovery network, then users will find and connect with you, leading to potentially more customers down the road. 

Social networking is going to begin to blur with social discovery in the future.  Instead of using social media to stay connected with friends, more and more new connections will be made.  This is a huge change that will impact how people and businesses connect in the future.

Marvel’s The Avengers made an astonishing $200.3 million in its opening weekend, making it the largest opening weekend ever and smashing the previous record held by the final Harry Potter film.  The Avengers was a geek’s fantasy with director Joss Whedon, of Buffy the Vampire Slayer and Firefly fame, and a full cast of Marvel superheroes filling up the screen.  This gigantic success emphatically says one thing: anything niche can now go main stream.

Social media and the internet are both pretty important in making this happen.  More than just with geek culture, niche media has been able to build on momentum from social media to grow.  TV shows like Community and Mad Men were able to capitalize on buzz from Twitter, Facebook and critical support to come back from hiatus with some of their highest ratings ever.  Both of these shows have pretty cult followings and their recent successes are a huge signal that the new king is quality.  No matter how niche your show or product is, if it is great then people will find it and show others.

With the rise of social media and the internet, anyone can find anything.  Obviously this is well known, but now it is becoming profitable and major corporations like Disney and NBC are seeing that working with niche culture will pay off for them.  This change means a lot for everyone, not just those in the media industry.  Think about how you can make the success of the “geek culture” work for you in your business.

This is big to think about.  You don’t need to have a cool product, or be a cool company.  Simply find your niche and grow from there.  Attracting a small and core group of rabid fans that will push you out front is huge.  Apple has done this to great success.  Despite having a tiny part of the market share for computers, they are able to appeal to people who want to be considered hip.

 You don’t need to try and latch onto everyone, just your little group.  The internet allows little niches to survive while competing against major corporations.  With global access and shipping you can be focused on a hyper-specific product in a small area and still be able to make money as long you can successfully appeal and sell to your niche.

What is Inbound Marketing?

A hot new advertising company?  Using a basketball player to sell products?  That moment during TV shows right before they cut to commercial?

Surprisingly it is none of those things.  Inbound marketing can basically be summed up as marketing through content creation and media.  Traditional, or Outbound, marketing includes creating commericials, telemarketing and sending out mail, inbound marketing is designed to use the web to bring people into you, instead of reaching out to them.  Using your own content, this allows you the opportunity to post content on a variety of social media websites that will get people to share and promote your content for you.

Through white papers, blogs, videos and podcasts companies can reach customers by providing excellent resources about their products and their field.  Imagine you are an auto shop, maybe a podcast about cars and car care would attract people to come in if you show you are knowledgeable; if you are a restaurant posting a recipe or a how to cook for a popular dish would help out people who are into your food.  Whatever you want to do, there is one thing that is important to remember above all else: QUALITY IS KING!  Users don’t want bad products and they don’t want bad content.  Even if it is only once a week or once a month, creating some kind of quality content for the web will help build your company’s reputation and build sales.

With inbound marketing you can reach customers globally that you couldn’t reach with a traditional ad campaign.  Additionally it is much more cost effective than buying ad space on TV, in newspapers, or on billboards.  People have been trained to just tune these things out, so why would you continue to spend money on them.  Instead you can provide a product that advertises your business and your own products.

Obviously inbound marketing is a relatively new term and will take a little bit before it is more recognized and understood by the mainstream public and by companies, but it is pretty obvious how a company can use it (hint: think about what you are doing as you read this sentence).

Everyone knows that companies are trying to utilize Facebook and Twitter.  But there are plenty of other social media networks that companies can utilize to build their brand and to encourage their customers to shop with them. 

Youtube

Youtube lets you share videos of your company in action.  Letting people see what you do is much better than telling them about it.  If you are out there doing things in the community then shoot some video of your latest community event.  People know the effectiveness of TV commercials; Youtube allows users to take the commercial, expand on it, and do more to promote and celebrate their company and products.

Youtube can be used for customer acquisition by showing your customers who you are, what you do and how you do it.  Being open and honest with customers is a great way to engage them.  Sharing and connecting people with videos is a huge piece of what Youtube does.  If a video goes viral and you can get people to share it, you are getting word of mouth buzz while effectively promoting yourselves.

Pinterest

The newest social network allows users to share images and links to their fans and followers.  Pinterest encourages users to create visual collections of products through “pin boards.”  This is a huge avenue for growth for companies that are looking to stand out because it is a relatively untapped market. 

The key for companies to realize with Pinterest is that unlike most other social networks and will not work for everyone.  While most social networks are good at connecting companies, no matter how abstract their products are with customers, Pinterest works best tangible products.  A software company is not going to be able to utilize Pinterest to the best of their ability, because they don’t have things they can show off.  The best companies for Pinterest are apparel, restaurants, designers, and artists.  A restaurant could have pictures of everything on their menu or a clothing store could post pictures of their latest designs. Designers and Artists can post pictures of their latest creations. 

Pinterest can be used for customer retention as well.  You can use it to retain customers by showing off new products or by sharing things from others on Pinterest that you find interesting.  It is a great place for people to branch out to and could pay huge dividends if it is used correctly.

Google+

The key to getting the most out of Google+ is not in doing things with promoting your brand or cool images.  Google+ users have personal search results and if you are connected with them, you will appear higher in their personal Google results.  This is important, because it allows you the opportunity to leverage a huge advantage you already have, these people already support you and an inflated search engine rank among them to keep them coming back to you as customers.

Obviously, this is a great tool to retain customers.  If you are continuously appearing on their search results whenever they search for products like yours then obviously it is much easier to keep them coming back for more.  If you can get ten customers to buy your products a second time, it is just as good at getting ten new customers to buy your products a first time.

The world of social media is constantly evolving and companies are still trying to find their way in the world.  It is hard to keep track of all of these different outlets, but utilizing new and different ones is a way you can stand out in the crowd.

So, how is your company utilizing all the "other" Social Media networks?

There are a lot of browsers out there and users have plenty of decisions.  People are not as tied to the browsers that come with their computers as they had to be in the past.  So why do users choose to live in the past?

Internet Explorer 6 was once the cutting edge of internet accessibility.  IE6 drove the browser market in a time when no one knew what an iPod was.  Now even the creators of IE6 are trying to get people to stop using the browser and upgrade to something from this decade.

The issue with IE6 and older browsers is that they do not always render modern websites correctly.  This is a nightmare for web designers and their clients.  The accessibility of the website is much lower, the layout becomes harder to use for older browsers and overall the website is just looks like it is lower quality.  It takes a lot of work for designers to program their website to be able to function the same way with both IE6 and modern browsers.

Users can easily upgrade to other web browsers and even upgrade to newer versions of IE.  In addition to the issues of old Internet Explorer, there are issues with the current Internet Explorer rendering CSS and other code.  It is important for users to recognize that there are going to be display issues with IE or any other browser that people use.  If your website does not display correctly in one browser, alert your designer, but then look at it in a different browser to make sure it works for you. 

Users have plenty of free third party options that are significantly better than Internet Explorer.  Google Chrome, Mozilla Firefox, and Opera are all fine options that anyone can download and use.  Pick any of these options and you will have both an up-to-date browser and with that the ability to actually handle most modern websites.  

LinkedIn has 150 million registered users and is one of the top 5 most visited social networks.  BranchOut is a Facebook app, with 25 million users.  Why should LinkedIn be afraid?  Well, BranchOut has just raised $25 million and is rapidly expanding to take on the social networking giant.

BranchOut was started because of a simple issue within Facebook.  All of your friends list where they work and what they do, but you can’t search them.  BranchOut solves that problem.  By installing the app, users can network professionally on Facebook.  They can see where their friends work, search for businesses and see their connections within those places.  Along with the users, BranchOut is creating tools for businesses on Facebook to alert fans of potential career opportunities within their business.  All in all, BranchOut is increasingly challenging LinkedIn’s ability to connect job seekers to jobs.

In an interview with Forbes, BranchOut president Rick Marini said this about the two, “LinkedIn is focused on the white-collar segment, but this is only 10% of the market.  We’re providing a professional profile for the Facebook generation. That’s not only senior executives, but also recent college grads to nurses, teachers and cashiers.”

This puts LinkedIn in an awkward position.  They are currently six times bigger than BranchOut and still offer great networking opportunities for professionals both young and old.  But the huge advantage BranchOut has is the ability to tap into more than 850 million registered Facebook users that are just waiting to connect with others professionally and to tap into the part-time job or minimum wage market.   

Is this an Instagram/Facebook situation brewing?  LinkedIn is the leader in online professional networking and has the advantage of having its own website and network, but BranchOut an up-and-comer attacking some of the holes that LinkedIn has (LinkedIn is not well integrated within Facebook connections/not very effective for young professionals or low skill businesses) while offering the same kinds of jobs and opportunities.  LinkedIn users might decide they don’t need a LinkedIn account when they can just use BranchOut within their Facebook to do the same things. 

LinkedIn has to decide if they want to try and compete with BranchOut or if they want purchase BranchOut.  By buying BranchOut they can increase their positioning on Facebook and better provide for their younger users.  If they compete they can try to incorporate the things that BranchOut is doing on Facebook while improving their own offerings within their website.  The online professional networking market is getting more crowded, will LinkedIn step up and try to branch out in new ways or will they link BranchOut in to their services.

With most universities winding down for the semester and students running around trying to find internships for the summer, here are a few tips from one intern to future interns at other places.

DO: Find somewhere you will enjoy

WHY: Having worked at a few places, I have found that the key to a good internship is to find an environment where you want to work and will enjoy coming into work.  You will learn more and get more out of the experience if you find a workplace where you aren’t dreading coming in every day.  This sounds self explanatory, but I have heard of several people taking internships where they are miserable just because “It will look good on my resume.”

DON’T: Be afraid of doing something you don’t know how to do

WHY: If you only take internships where you are doing things that you already know how to do, you won’t actually learn anything or improve your skills.  Obviously, you shouldn’t take a computer programming internship if your background is in kinesiology, but take an internship somewhere that will allow you to do new things.  It is important to use internships as a learning experience and to build upon the skills you already have.

DO: Treat this like a real job

WHY: You are working in an office and are a member of whatever company that decided to hire you, even if it is only in a temporary role.  This isn’t class where you can just sit in the back surfing Facebook and ignoring what is going on (not that any college student does that).  Show up on time and dressed professionally.  Act like you are a member of the company while you are there, no matter how small your role is.  Finally, contribute like a normal employee; you have deadlines, keep working and take care of your business.

DON’T: Ignore unpaid internships

WHY:  There are plenty of paid internships out there for people who need money and want a professional work experience to go with it.  But don’t just ignore a position because it is unpaid.  You can get just as much, if not more, from a position that is unpaid than a paid one.  In an unpaid internship, the company is a more likely to let you latch onto specific projects that interest you, instead of focusing on one because they hired you specifically for a position.  This will keep you in involved and interested because you will be doing things you are interested in and also able to do new things.  Also, doing several unpaid internships can build to a larger position down the road.

DO: Make connections and keep in touch

WHY: Take advantage of your time within a company by making connections and building contacts.  More and more people are moving around to different companies throughout their career, so maintaining connections is important and highly valuable for you.  With any luck, your internship with one company could lead to connections with two to three additional companies so you can hear about open positions in those companies as well.  Especially keep in touch with other interns that you work with, since they will be in the same phase of their careers as you are and can help out later.

DON’T: Waste an opportunity 

WHY: Internships are an opportunity to apply theoretical knowledge and skills in a practical setting.  You can take what you already know and get feedback on how to improve from your bosses and co-workers.  Reach out and take on more projects.  When you finish with one thing, move on to the next one.  No matter how well you have done in classes, until you have succeeded in a professional setting you haven’t done anything.

While you're here...why not apply for an internship at UZoom Media?! Just click HERE and you will have taken step one towards interning at the coolest office in Lansing! Did we mention we have a slide?! 

In the era of social media, users give their instant reaction to plot points on TV shows, movies and books.  But more and more, users  are able to watch things whenever they want.  For those that are trying to watch things after they are on the screen, spoilers are always a concern.  How would people remember Citizen Kane if the two weeks prior to seeing the film, the biggest trending topic on Twitter was that Rosebud was his sled?

Social media is bringing fans of shows, movies and books together like never before.  Fans don’t need to wait until the next day to discuss shows at the water cooler with co-workers and friends.  Now fans are discussing what is happening in real time with others from around the world in ways that never existed before.  Fans that are one step behind need to quickly catch up while avoiding potential spoilers.

It seems like a process that is easier said than done.  Celebrities, members of the cast, bloggers and even friends will be posting about the show.  Ignoring your Twitter or Facebook until you catch up is one method, but leaves you disconnected from what else is going on.  You can try and catch up whenever the episode goes live, but that involves either staying up late or waiting it out.  It is an even bigger issue on the West Coast where shows on the East Coast have already aired three hours earlier.  So if you are waiting on a show, you might need to just bite the bullet and see a spoiler or two.

Interestingly, companies are trying to using spoilers to capitalize on social media.  Paranormal Activity used Facebook and social media aggressively to force a wider release of the film.  The film engaged viewers to tell their friends about the movie and encourage horror fans to call for a wide scale release.  NBC TV show Community, engaged their users to try and drive up viewers and help get the show back on the air after it was put on hiatus.  Cast and crew members interacted with fans, using lines, jokes, and giveaways from previous episodes of the show to encourage fans to promote the show to their friends.

In the digitally connected age that we are in, it is practically impossible to avoid spoilers.  You cannot blame your friends for spoiling things, simply because you have not seen something doesn’t mean that no one can have a public conversation about it.  It isn’t even hard to legally catch up, with streaming services like HBO GO or Hulu.  So next time you get mad about a spoiler, know that it is just a part of the discussion around the show for you to get involved with.

So you needed a website and your brother in-law offered to help.  He isn’t a web designer or a graphic designer or a professional, but he is nice, you like him and you don’t want to upset your sister.  Or you have your niece helping you with your Facebook page because she is in high school, so she has to know how to manage a Facebook page right?  But then your business starts to grow and your family members don’t have the time or the knowledge to help you actually manage your web presence so you want to hire professionals.  How do you let your family know you are going to fire them?

• THANK THEM - Thanking them for their help is important.  Just letting them know you appreciate what they did for you is going to make them feel better.  Explaining how what they did had helped in the past and how you are building from there is important.

• EXPLAIN THE SITUATION - Calmly and reasonably explain that you want to grow your business and make sure they understand that it is not their fault.  Be reasonable and patient with them and do not get confrontational about the situation.

• EXPLAIN WHY YOU ARE PICKING THE PROFESSIONALS - You want your family members to understand your reasoning with what you are doing.  This decision cannot be made without a serious commitment and preparation. 

• BE FIRM - Obviously once you have made a decision and told it to them, you cannot change your position.  It is important to stay consistent and don’t give in to them. Yes, they are family, but once you have made the decision, stick with your decision.

Bringing in web design professionals to improve and manage your web presence does not have to be a bad thing.  Being able to have a positive and professional website is more than just a free Google or Wordpress site.  You can build on what your family member did and go from there!

What can a billion dollars buy you these days?

First off, you can buy an entire photo sharing social media network.  With Facebook’s purchase of Instagram, for the Dr. Evilesque sum of 1 billion dollars (imagine Mark Zuckerberg living in an underground lair as evil genius/mad scientist, it doesn’t seem that farfetched)  the social media world has been turned upside down. There is a huge question of what they are trying to do?  Is it just about squashing potential competition or are they looking to integrate Instagram into Facebook as a tool to expand the photo aspect of Facebook.

The creation of Timeline in Facebook feeds put a much greater emphasis on photos, so in this way purchasing Instagram makes sense.  Now Instagram photos can more easily and readily be added to Facebook while also building on the social networking aspect Instagram.  Everybody wants to share the photos of their life and Instagram lets them do it in a fun and unique way. 

With the move to Android, Instagram had 1 million downloads the first day and can easily reach 100 million users.  Facebook made the move now, before Instagram became stronger and higher valued with the rise in Android users.  Every single user was going to drive the cost for Facebook up, so grab them while they can afford to.

Unlike other previous Facebook acquisitions, this is the first time they have targeted a competitor that could potentially challenge them in the photo market.  Facebook’s mobile platform was a noted area of weakness, so grabbing up one of the best mobile photo apps that was beginning to take off has to be seen as a victory.

Facebook had a chance to flex their muscles as leaders in the social networking world.  They snapped up their competition and can use them to fill a huge hole in their product offerings.  It is hard to imagine that they added any users by bringing in Instagram, but it isn’t hard to see how adding Instagram will make their users happier.

So you have Facebook; and Twitter; and Tumblr; and you just got Instagram for your Droid; plus, you really like to check in and show all your friends on foursquare where you are at; but not after you post the latest pair of shoes that you want on Pinterest; and it is sooooooooooo easy to link your social media networks together.

DON’T

Social media has allowed people to let everyone know everything all the time.  But tying them all together is frustrating and leads to a loop of posts that will drive your followers crazy.  You have all of your various followers and fans and you probably even have at least a little crossover between the two of them.  They don’t mind when they see something come up on every social network.  The issue comes when your posts from one start to ruin a different network.

Say you take an awesome picture with Instagram and uploaded it to both Twitter and Tumblr.  But you have your Tumblr linked to post updates to your Twitter account.  So on your Twitter, you are double posting this picture and blowing up the feeds of your followers with the same image.  Or you have your Facebook and Twitter linked together and post a status on Facebook that then gets Tweeted on Twitter.  Unfortunately, it was longer than 140 characters so there is simply a link back to your original status update, preventing from people from really using their Twitter to actually follow you.  All of this can drive fans away rather than engaging them.  Overload and spam are annoying and really irritate your fans.  Ruining your relationship with your fans is worse than failing to keep your accounts up to date.

So next time you decide to post something, think about all of your followers that will see it.  Do you really need to have all of your accounts linked, so every single person of your life can get a glimpse of what you are thinking at that very moment?  

Hosting a giveaway on Facebook is a great way to engage with your fans and community, but it is very important to follow the legal guidelines set forth by Facebook in their guideline policy.  The guideline policy is available here for you to read, but here are some important highlights from the guide that you need to first consider when running a giveaway.

• Acknowledgment that the promotion is in no way sponsored, endorsed or administered by, or associated with, Facebook and Disclosure that the participant is providing information to [disclose recipient(s) of information] and not to Facebook.

This is the most important thing to remember when creating a giveaway using Facebook.  You cannot show any kind of relationship between your giveaway and Facebook.   

• You must not use Facebook features or functionality as a promotion’s registration or entry mechanism. For example, the act of liking a Page or checking in to a Place cannot automatically register or enter a promotion participant.

This means that you cannot simply tell people to like your page to enter your contest.  It has to include some kind of other action or some other way for people to register.  It can be a capture form on a tab or an external link to your website to register for the contest, but it cannot require people to like your page to enter.  These are better anyway, because you can use it to capture leads and for future promotion.

• You must not condition registration or entry upon the user taking any action using any Facebook features or functionality other than liking a Page, checking in to a Place, or connecting to your app. For example, you must not condition registration or entry upon the user liking a Wall post, or commenting or uploading a photo on a Wall.

This goes along with the previous bullet, but you cannot force people to interact with your page to enter your contest.  Like the previous comment, the basic policy is that you cannot use your contest to artificially use your fans to promote your contest and page.  If they like your page or post it will notify their friends and from their friends will see your contest. You can tell them to share posts and updates about your contest, which is perfectly fine and will help you drive traffic to your page.

After reading those few guidelines, almost all Facebook users can find several giveaways that they participated in that break these rules.  Following the rules is professional and builds your brand with your users.  Make sure to read the full list of guidelines to avoid overstepping your bounds and violating Facebook’s giveaway policies.  

It isn’t hard to comment on your own Facebook Business Page or like the statuses that you are an Administrator on.  Unfortunately, Facebook is set up by default to prevent you from doing this and doesn’t make it obvious how to change it.  If you are interested in personally communicating with fans, it only takes a couple clicks and you can change your set up.

1. Go into the page that you wish to change your settings for.
2. Click on edit settings (or if you are using the new Timeline for pages, you need to click on manage and then edit page to open up this setting)
3. Now that you have done that, click on Your Settings (shown below)
4. Once in your settings uncheck the first box for Posting Presence, this will turn off the default setting of the posts you make on your page always being from your page

So now you are all set able to talk and interact with your fans as yourself.  The advantage of doing is that you can have more personal and interactive reactions to questions and issues that people raise.  It is perfect to do this if you are the owner of your business or are involved in the production.  This way you can still manage your page and address concerns as yourself.  In the past people would remove themselves as admins so they could answer questions as themselves. 

You still want to have your postings to come from your page and not from you, because that will prevent your stories from popping up in your fans’ newsfeeds.  Take advantage of the ability to be yourself only when you need to, such as dealing with one person on your page, but be your page when you are trying to interact with all of your fans.

In this economy, businesses are conscious of every dollar they spend.  Therefore they need to know the return on investment for Facebook and Twitter.   This is not as hard as it sounds.  Here are a few simple tips and tool to use when trying to calculate and improve your ROI.

It is not hard to make sure you are getting the most out of your dollars.  You can easily track if your followers and fans are growing, and with several tools you can track whether your Twitter and Facebook accounts are bringing visitors to your site.  Even simpler, if you have not noticed and increase in sales or traffic to your site clearly your social media is probably not working.

To maximize your brand, you need to monitor and use analytics for Facebook.  You have information and feedback from visitors and fans; choose to ignore it at your own peril.  It is like having the answer sheet for the test, and you are refusing to study it.  You can see what works, so you can continue to do projects and outreach that is effective and discontinue outreach that is ineffective.  Any kind of feedback is good feedback.  Not spending $50 on continuing a campaign is just as good as making $50 off of a campaign.

The other key is to continually maintain and engage your fans on Facebook.  This way, you will still be able keep them interested in your product and message.  If you fail to keep them engaged they will lose interest and any future Facebook campaign that you do will fall on deaf ears.  People are not going to Facebook to go shopping, they are trying to connect with people, so acting like a person and connecting with them will make a better impression than simply acting like a business.

Tracking Twitter ROI is a little harder, but it is also more easily visible.  Simply put, you can track how many people are retweeting your messages to their followers, and from there you can calculate how many eyeballs are reading your message.  It isn’t hard to figure out; if you are getting a lot of retweets you are getting a positive return. 

There are also several different programs and websites designed to track the effectiveness of your Twitter account.  You can use Klout, TweetStats or TweetEffect to track how many of your tweets are being retweeted and the impact they are having on the community at large.  You can also see what your message is saying through hashtags and frequent words.  This is an excellent way to see what your tweets are saying about you and what you are actually saying that is getting picked up on.

It is important to track your ROI on social media just as much as it is on any kind of advertising campaign.  If you were spending money to promote your company in the newspaper or on the radio, you would want to know if those dollars were being spent effectively.  This is just as true for social media.  Social media advertising is the future of advertising and connectivity for businesses, make sure you are getting the most on your investment.

Google has so many tools for businesses to utilize that is hard to keep track of them all.  However, one of the easiest (and free) tools they have that can help you monitor your brand is Google Alerts.  Google Alerts notify you of new results based on a search term that you want.

If you have a Google Account (also free) you can put in your term and the kind of content to receive.  If you want articles, blogs, videos or just everything at all, it is one simple click away.  You can also set how often you want to receive emails with these links and from there the information comes to you. 

The easiest way to monitor your business with Google Alerts is to have them set to search for information directly about your company.  If you make an alert with your company name, your URL or your product, you can see the conversations that people are having on your product.  With that information, you can understand what people think about you and can address issues that bloggers raise with you. 

It is also good to use it to monitor your competitors.  Analyzing what people are saying about them or seeing what they are doing online lets you adjust your strategy.  You can capitalize on their issues and put yourself in a better position in the market place.  Knowing your brand is important, but knowing your competitors brands is just as important because you can stand out among the crowd.

Along with those two, it is important to set a generic alert for whatever you sell.  These could be an almost overwhelming amount of information, but there is no need to read all of it.  Simply following some of the trends in the field and knowing what topics are popular allow you to be prepared for anything that customers have to ask you. 

Lastly, you can use Google Alerts to protect your company from plagiarism and outright theft.  You can put in important search phrases and keywords from articles and your website.  This can allow you to be proactive against people stealing your content.  Also it can show you if people are quoting you or are linking to your stories through phrases in their articles.

Google Alerts are a small tool that can help keep you informed and engaged with the conversations happening about you and your business.  Harnessing Google Alerts to help you find your company as people talk about them can put you into a position where you can aggressively monitor and respond to potential issues within the community and with your customers.

Sally Field has 12,911 fans on Facebook, but like everyone, she is trying to convert those likes into business and interest.  If you have likes on Facebook, it is extremely important to get value out of them.  This is an audience that is already interested and engaged with your product; why not take advantage of it?

These fans already like and are interested in your product, so turning these people into sales leads is doable.  You can entertain while informing and selling your product to your fans.  They are in the door so you can turn them around into something bigger.

The most recognizable way a company can get value out likes is posting status updates and links.  By posting engaging statuses and links to content, both your own and others, your page generates a huge amount of interest which can turn into sales leads.  This provides a fun and enjoyable way to show your fans that you like what they like.  People identify with companies that think the same that they do, so they know they are buying from people like them.

In addition to status updates, posting simple fun questions that anyone can answer is a great way to keep people involved and interested.  A simple “Pick between A or B” style question or even a “What are you doing this weekend” kind of question.  These are fun and easy that keep your fans involved and talking to you about what they think.  Even if it is less than relevant to your business, it shows that you care about what your fans have to say.

Another great way to reward fans and turn get your fans to return is to offer a prize or some kind of contest.  Facebook has very specific rules about contests and giveaways so be sure you know all of the rules before you offer one.  People love getting free value from things, why not add Facebook to the list.  Plus, they will tell their friends to check out your page so they can also have a chance to win something.

One last helpful thing you can do to get more value out of your Facebook page is that you can use it to drive traffic to other social media networks like Twitter, Youtube or Foursquare or even back to your website.  By doing this, you can engage them in different mediums and keep in their ear and on their mind, no matter where they go.  You can give your fans more chances to get informed and connect with you.

Likes are the first step to getting leads, so it is paramount to capitalize on them when you can.  It can take you from being background noise on Facebook, to front row center entertainment.  Taking advantage of your likes will make for a better experience for your fans and lead to more business for your company, which is what everyone is looking for.

YES!

There are hundreds of web hosting companies and the process to choose one is important.  Picking the right company to host your website can help take you from good to great.  You have so many different options and with a little searching, you can find the perfect option.  There are things to consider outside of cost though.

Features are obviously important to picking the right web hosting company.  Between domain names, e-mail accounts, and bandwidth allowances, every company offers slightly different packages.  You need to pick the package that best fits your needs.  A giant international company is going to have different requirements than a local startup.  You can easily compare different services across plans and companies by going to their website and looking at their packages.

When examining features, you have to consider cost as well.  If you can find two plans that are about the same, you can then compare costs and weigh the benefits of the two more easily.  Obviously it is important to stick to your budget and not spend too much, but picking the cheapest option simply because it is the cheapest is not the best solution.  Shop around until you find a company that will host your website for approximately what you want and maximize your dollars to get the best host you can possibly get.

Customer service and support are important factors to consider as well.  Having a host that can deal with the technical issues of websites as they come up is important.  Support and feedback when issues arise can be the difference between having a website down for one or two days or one or two hours.  WebHostingGeeks.com provides reviews of all of the major webhosting companies and features common issues their users have had, so you can be better informed of potential pitfalls when doing business with a company.

Finally, security and reliability are important to consider when making your decision.  These go along with features and service, but they are extremely important for your business’ image and customer relations.  If your website is constantly getting hacked or going down, it reflects poorly on your company.  If your website is always down or being attacked, customers will lose confidence and be nervous about their safety when visiting your site.

It is easy to just pick the first web hosting company you see after doing a Google search.  You might even be ok if you pick them and their basic package.  But, you would be wasting money and might not get the best partner for you to do business with.  If you shop around you will be able to find someone for the perfect price, with the right features and right services.  So make sure you pick the perfect company to host your website, since as you can see it really matters.

The internet is no longer a series of tubes, but has moved into the air.  Mobile internet traffic is a rapidly emerging and expanding market.  By 2014, more web traffic will come from mobile devices than PCs.  Companies need to figure out how to reach out to their consumers through mobile apps and websites.  Both options are acceptable but, are perfect solutions for different situations.  The question is, which one should you choose to use and when?

Mobile websites are exactly that, websites optimized for mobile platforms (iPhone/iPad, Android, Blackberry and so on). These are important and relevant area for companies to capitalize on, as search and web traffic moves to mobile devices. The cost to design and build a mobile website is much lower than that of an app. It is much easier to maintain, not requiring a major update to redesign things. The reach of a single mobile website is much greater as well. The website can be accessed by all types of phones unlike apps that can only work on one operating system. Finally, mobile websites are easier to use as well.  People already know how to use and understand a website, where there could still be a learning curve for a mobile app.

Mobile apps are downloaded to someone’s phone and can be accessed any time by the user.  These allow for increased interactivity and functionality. Games or utility apps (think Shazam or Instagram) are resources for people to have access to whenever they need them. The ability of apps to work offline and do not require constant interaction with the web makes them better suited for jobs that are for getting information for users personally. The biggest edge over websites is that most websites cannot quite compete with apps in terms of functionality and utility. As the web shifts to better understand and focus on mobile platforms, this position will start to slip.

Apps and websites both have specific uses and businesses within any industry can utilize either of them for an advantage. Having a high quality mobile website makes users who are searching for you have a better and easier experience when out and about. When someone is looking for somewhere to eat, they are going to Google restaurants in the area; they are not going to just go download apps until they download yours. Providing the best web experience may not swing someone to go to your place, but it isn’t hard to lose a customer because they could not easily get information from your website. Meanwhile, if you were a larger chain of restaurants (such as Applebee’s or McDonald’s), you could create an app that allows users to finds the nearest chain wherever they are.

If you can maximize the efficiency of your mobile presence, people will be able to connect to you whenever they need to, a very powerful proposition. The companies who can optimize this will win moving forward.

Well, you don’t need a blog. This is a truth that people don’t know about blogging. It’s a closely guarded secret in marketing. You don’t really need a blog.

You just need content. Content that is frequently updated, relevant, and interesting. It has to have a lot of keyword (or other search parameter) depth. So as a business owner, you’ll be spending time creating graphics and pictures and games and music…

…to make up for the value of content that a blog can give. Content is king!

Without it, you can’t build your brand. No one will know you, how to get to you, or most importantly how to buy from you. Building brand equity takes time, effort and a lot of time. The same is true for an online brand. If you aren’t providing information on your products, the industry you are in, and how that benefits people…someone else will. They’ll either provide the information people are searching for, or even worse: Someone will dump on your brand online. This can cause a lot of problems for your reputation…and a lot of headache trying to clean it up.

So it’s up to you to provide the client with information that might be of importance to them. Not to you…they couldn’t really care less what’s important to you. They are here because you have something you can provide them.

This will build the trust you need in order to get an online transaction. No one will commit money to a purchase if they aren’t sure the legitimacy of the operator. If you have a human voice, a persona and an identity for your brand, you will be successful.

Blogs aren’t the only way, they are just the most efficient use of your time.