12 New Social Articles on Business 2 Community |
- 7 Examples Of SOPA’s Damage To Private Online Communities
- Social Media Marketing – Create Outposts to Drive Inbound Traffic
- Google+: Don’t Let Your Content Fall at the First Circle
- Adding Pinterest to Scrolling Social Sharebar
- LinkedIn Intranet Groups Help to Inspire
- Connect Employees to Management with a Social Intranet
- Social Media: Who is Actually Writing Your Content? [VIDEO]
- How Social Should You Be?
- Why Blog Marketing Works Regardless of Your Industry
- Why Social Media Will Disappear
- Look Out. Twitter is Way Cool Again.
- 7 Keys to an Effective Blogging Strategy
| 7 Examples Of SOPA’s Damage To Private Online Communities Posted: 19 Jan 2012 01:16 PM PST You may have been one of the millions of people who experienced first-hand one of the most effective political protests of our generation yesterday. Due to the courage of companies like Wikipedia, Google, Reddit, and WordPress, if you didn't know already, you now know what SOPA (Stop Online Piracy Act) and PIPA (Protect Intellectual Property Act) are. They are the bills in front of the US Congress right now that could drastically change the way that organizations of all sizes use the Internet. SOPA would allow the US Department of Justice, as well as individual and corporate copyright holders, to seek court orders against websites accused of enabling or facilitating copyright infringement. There are three main points that membership and marketing professionals who are managing or planning an online community should know about regarding SOPA: Fact: Online communities promote social interactions, user-generated content, and collaboration. Fact: In most private social networks, users control what they publish, not the community-sponsor. Fact: Unlike large public social networks, companies or associations that provide private online communities for customers or members do not have the resources to police and verify every post. While originally intended to stop the online piracy of copyrighted content and other intellectual piracy by foreign websites, the law is structured in a way that would impact large search engines and social networks, as well as smaller association-based or company-based online communities. Here are 7 examples that apply to both businesses and nonprofit membership organizations:
While online piracy is a problem, congress must find a way to crack down on illegal piracy while leaving the value of private online communities and social networks intact. Here is an excellent explanation of the problems with SOPA and PIPA and what you can do to help stop them in their current forms.   |
| Social Media Marketing – Create Outposts to Drive Inbound Traffic Posted: 19 Jan 2012 10:45 AM PST  Inbound Marketing - Social Media Pillar Social media has evolved into a key marketing channel for small businesses wanting to gain visibility, drive traffic to your website and generate new leads. The next step in your inbound marketing effort is to:
Understanding which social networking sites are right for your business and how to take advantage of them to generate leads is usually a challenge for many small businesses. There are too many social networking sites to choose from to cover them all. It is far better to do a great job on a few relevant platforms than spread yourself too thin across too many. Determine which social networking sites are the best for your business by choosing those that provide the most direct access to your target audience and the most value for your particular business. In addition, your social media marketing strategy includes not only the where you will engage with your audience but also what you will do to provide value on each social network. The best way to illustrate successful social media marketing is to use a couple of examples:
Why create and optimize your social media outposts?When you create your presence on relevant social networking sites and optimize them for your major keywords, you:
As part of your inbound marketing strategy, your social media outposts such as Twitter, Facebook, YouTube and LinkedIn create important communities that encourage conversations and build trust for your brand. This makes your content more visible to your target, more readily found through social search and increases your chances of prospects spreading your content further throughout their own social networks. Which social media outposts will you be using as part of your inbound marketing strategy?   |
| Google+: Don’t Let Your Content Fall at the First Circle Posted: 19 Jan 2012 10:05 AM PST
So, of course, this throws Google+ circles well and truly into the limelight. The number and type of people you have in your circles and, more importantly, the quality of the content you share amongst your circles, is going to play a significant role in how well your website ranks in Google search results. Put simply, if your content isn’t interesting, people won’t share it and Google will assign less priority to it in its search results. How do the circles work? OK, so before we talk about why the type of content you publish is now of paramount importance, let's just clarify for anyone new to Google+ how the circles work. Google+ allows you to group your contacts into different circles eg. friends, colleagues, family etc. Every time you post something, you can choose which circle(s) receive that post in their stream. How do the circles impact on Search, Plus Your World? Say, for example, you are a travel agency and you publish an article called '10 things to do in Paris'. You share it amongst your circles. John, in one of your circles, thinks it's a great article and shares it amongst his 'friends' circle. His friend, Pete, receives it in his stream but doesn't necessarily read it as he's not planning on going to Paris. However, 3 months later, he decides he wants to take his girlfriend to Paris so searches on Google for 'things to do in Paris'. Due to the social connection which previously took place through John, your article will be given priority in his search results. He clicks through to read it on your website and whilst he's there, checks out your flights. Your content must make it past the first circle The crucial element in the example above is that John deemed your content interesting and valuable enough to want to share it. If he hadn't, it is very unlikely that Pete would have found your article when he did his Google search. So this brings our focus to the type of content that you need to publish: it must be valuable, entertaining, educational and inspire people to share it. Going back to our travel agency example, if you had published an article called "We've been shortlisted in the 2012 travel awards" would John have shared it with Pete? Very unlikely and, even if he had, it certainly wouldn't have appeared in Pete's search results when he was looking for 'things to do in Paris'. If Pete books his flights through your website, you can effectively attribute that revenue to the high 'shareability' of your content. That makes content marketing an extremely powerful marketing tool.   |
| Adding Pinterest to Scrolling Social Sharebar Posted: 19 Jan 2012 09:05 AM PST Modifying plugin code is just about as fun as having a root canal; it all comes down to where you're adding the plugin, and what social media platform your using. Lucky for you, I am obsessed with modifying plugins and I'm here to make your life easier. Pinterest is the fastest growing social media network to date. Businesses (like yours) should take advantage of this new found fame by incorporating the Pinterest sharing widget to their blog and/or website. Without further ado, here's how to add Pinterest to Scrolling Social Sharebar. Let's Get Started!
Let us know how it worked for you and, as always, contact us or leave a comment below if you need any help adding Pinterest to the Scrolling Social Sharebar. Now get pinning!   |
| LinkedIn Intranet Groups Help to Inspire Posted: 19 Jan 2012 08:50 AM PST I love reaching out to like-minded individuals on LinkedIn. It's so lovely that a person can join a group that interests them and instantly post a question or comment to that group. It's an open collaboration platform that allows you to expand your online networks so that you can learn and connect with one another. I am a member of a variety of groups, some of the groups that I belong to are related to marketing but I also enjoy reading the incredibly influential posts on the TED and Harvard Business Review group pages. When it comes to the world of intranets there is an abundance of quality LinkedIn groups like the Worldwide Intranet Challenge, Ragan.com, and IntraTeam (to name a few). I tend to devote Friday's to connecting and sharing online. This way I can spend some time starting discussions and asking questions that people will be inspired to respond to. I felt very motivated by responses to three LinkedIn discussion posts that I recently started, and I wanted to share it with our blog readers to encourage people to give their feedback on sites like LinkedIn. At Intranet Connections, we love to hear how people use their intranet to find out what inspires their employees. I reached out to the members of the Internal Communications group to find out how they do this and here's their feedback: People love to share stories about one another, so I asked the members of the Intranet Professionals discussion group: How are you using your intranet for STORYTELLING? Thanks to all of the LinkedIn members that responded to my discussion posts over the past few months. Your feedback is greatly appreciated as it will encourage intranet managers to use their intranets for employee inspiration and storytelling.   |
| Connect Employees to Management with a Social Intranet Posted: 19 Jan 2012 08:15 AM PST How well do you know the CEO of your organization? Are they frequently on the road or are they in an entirely different office? A social intranet is a great tool to connect employees to management. An executive can use the social intranet to set the cultural tone of the company and to inform employees about organizational plans. The CEO has the power to be social and share social things. Put a face to a name and make an executive presence on your intranet. Open yourself up to questions and comments from employees. They are the ones working for you, after all. An executive can use the intranet to announce new clients and mergers, share information about product releases and expand on important internal updates from various departments. Here are 5 ways an executive can promote employee adoption and engagement on your intranet:
Get your CEO connected with social tools on your intranet so they can use it as a platform to portray their vision of what the company is working towards. Takeaway: Remind employees about the goals of your organization using your intranet. Build trust within workplace communities on your intranet and share the information with the social tools available to you. How are your executives involved in encouraging the use of your intranet?   |
| Social Media: Who is Actually Writing Your Content? [VIDEO] Posted: 19 Jan 2012 08:05 AM PST Are you trying to get your executives to tweet? Contribute to a corporate blog? This isn't the best way to go about it. Instead, you should have a writer who writes, and use your experts and executives as sources of information. Watch the video above to learn how the two sides of social media content development should interact for best results. Learn how you can reach the pre-IPO market >> Source: OpenView Venture Partners   |
| Posted: 19 Jan 2012 06:30 AM PST It seems like everywhere you turn someone is making the case for having a social media presence for your business, but keeping up with every new network out there is a pretty daunting task. You have to be selective because each one you engage with is a time and resource commitment. And when it really comes down to it, not every social network is right for every business. Even Facebook. So, how do you know which ones you need to be
Who are you looking to engage with? If your target audience is other businesses, investing your time and energy into a social network that is full of consumers may not be your best bet. Do your research to figure out if a particular social network is right for you. Use the search feature to dig around (search on keywords that are a good representation of your offerings) and get a sense of whether the people on the site are the people you want to reach. How much time can you devote? While the whole point of social networking is to be consistently engaged, some social networks can require more effort and attention than others. If you are selecting networks that require a constant watch or interaction, you'll want to factor that in to your decision. Also, it's important to think realistically about the sustainability of your effort. There's nothing less social than getting to a page and seeing it hasn't been updated for months or that it has been abandoned. More often than not, having no page is better than having a dated page so if you're getting into a social media network make sure you have the resources to go all in. What goals are you trying to meet? It's important to think about your goals and what you expect to get out of your social media participation. There are so many different reasons to build a social media presence. Perhaps you want to use it as an avenue for lead generation or you'd like to show your expertise and thought leadership in your field. Maybe you just want to show a different side your business and give an 'insider' look to your daily happenings. Whatever your reason for becoming part of the social media universe may be, there is a social network out there designed to fit your purpose. Who are you representing? While it can be tempting to combine our personal and professional selves on social media as a way of streamlining our lives, there's a big caveat that comes along with doing so. Your professional contacts are probably not interested in the great deal you just scored on a new winter jacket or what you watched on television last night, and your friends and family might not want to hear the twelve biggest gripes public relations folks have with journalists. Know your audience, keep focused on delivering content that they are most interested in and make it a priority to add value to the community. When it comes to social media, it's always worth mentioning that once something is posted, it's out. Even the ability to delete doesn't ensure that what you've posted will disappear, so it's always a good policy to read twice before you hit the post button. And most importantly, even though social media can be a great way to make new contacts and build your identity, keep in mind that it will never take the place of face-to-face, real-life networking. A smile and handshake trump tapping away at a keyboard every time.   |
| Why Blog Marketing Works Regardless of Your Industry Posted: 19 Jan 2012 06:00 AM PST
They are intrigued by the blog, but often don’t see how it can possibly benefit them because “that’s not how people in our industry work.” You can point out all the benefits a blog brings to their marketing efforts, from establishing expertise to improving the company website’s SEO – all of which are important to attracting prospects, leads and customers – and often times they just can’t see the value. Especially if no one else is doing it. I recently stumbled across a blog on ProBlogger by Dominick DalSanto of Baghouse, a California company that sells industrial dust collection systems that illustrates our point. He was a doubter when his company decided to invest in online marketing efforts that included a blog. His company lacked experience with the web and blogging, faced stiff competition from some Fortune 100 companies and, at least from his vantage point, had a very limited audience of industry professionals. Now, after some learning and adaptation along the way, his company ranks #1 for five of the best keywords in the industry when it comes to search results, and Baghouse has seen an overall increase in traffic, qualified leads and conversions. Here are the lessons he says can help you do the same:
DalSanto and Baghouse succeeded because the Internet is now where people start their search for solutions, whether it’s a consumer looking for a new product, or an industrial engineer looking to reduce dust particles in emissions. By regularly blogging and working on its SEO, Baghouse was able to establish itself as a leader in both its marketplace and the search rankings. Need more? Read Tami Wessley’s post on why manufacturers should be markting online in 2012. Not sure how to get started or what to write about, we have some great tips here:
The bottom line: your business can benefit from a blog even in the toughest of industry niches. And if it happens to be a market space where no one else is making these efforts, wouldn’t you want to be first?   |
| Why Social Media Will Disappear Posted: 19 Jan 2012 05:20 AM PST In the 1960's the "Madmen of Madison" Avenue were challenged as the age of television forever changed the advertising and marketing landscape. The arrival of color television in 1961 was rapidly becoming an integral part of the family home and engaged millions of people with captivating television shows, news as it happened and movies. The advertising agencies had to reinvent themselves as the new technology became widespread and by 1979 over 300 million televisions were occupying the corners of peoples living rooms. 50 years ago the choices of media were simple compared to today with essentially only a few media types.
In 2012 we have a smorgasbord of media including CD's, podcasts, blogs, online video, online photos, iTunes, satellite radio, mobile phone, tablets, email, Internet, TiVo and video recorders. Just to name a few! The Age of Media ConvergenceIn 2012 if you want to view a video, listen to the radio or send an email, SMS or Tweet you only need one device, your mobile phone. Your smart phone offers you one platform where you can view News, music, videos, GPS, News, Weather, Twitter, Radio, Television, Watch, Magazines (blogs) The challenge for traditional media is that it:
Coca Cola has decided that is time to move beyond the 30 second movie commercial as social media and tradional media converge to become "media". "Liquid" and "Linked" content excellence is now the Coca Cola Mantra! You only have to see the success of the Old Spice marketing campaign to realise that the convergence of media has arrived. Video that can be viewed anywhere and any time and is eminently searchable and not just on a commercial spot on TV. Channels of Convergence1. TelevisionNow we have the three screens, TV, Computer and Mobile. Making media available for all 3 formats is vital. There are rumours Apple will bring its design and branding genius to transforming TV, just as it transformed the music industry and the mobile industry – Disrupt! It has the ecosystem the content the platforms and the technology and marketing savvy. TV and Twitter are being used in unison as live television shows invite audience participation in real time with tweets. Online video and television advertising is now part of the same advertising campaign with media published to both. 2. FilmsFilms can now be viewed on demand on any screen, if they have been converted to an online format instead of being buried in film archives and cabinets. 3. Newspapers"Citizen Journalism" has emerged as blogs are now being accepted as a mainstream channel for industry news and events. Blogs are appearing as part of mainstream papers. User generated content provides feedback and interactivity that allows traditional newspapers to become more responsive to changing trends. 4. Traditional RadioRadio and music can be listened to any time and anywhere, digital streaning radio, Apple iTunes, Spotify, Last FM and more! 5. MagazinesTraditional print magazines are quickly being challenged by Blogs, RSS technology and online magazines. This includes fashion and food blogs along with other topic categories such as politics, entertainment and technology. 6. Traditional EmailSocial media and email continue to head towards integration as social sharing buttons are integrated into email platforms and templates with hyper links make sharing fast and easy. 7. Photos and ImagesPhotos and images have traditionally been kept for publishing in magazines and are often buried and forgotten on computers. Platforms such as Facebook (the largest photo sharing network on the planet),Flickr, Picasa, and Pinterest are providing platforms that socialize the previously static and traditional world of photography. 6 Takeaways in the Age of Social and Mass Media ConvergenceSocial media "is" becoming media and any media that doesn't provide sharing capabilities and time and place portability will disappear. So how do you plan for converging media?
So the thinking has to continually be… How can I integrate social into my traditional media so I can make it easy for the crowd and tribes to share my content and brand? It is time to let your content be "free" and "searchable". As traditional media becomes social, all media will just be "media."   |
| Look Out. Twitter is Way Cool Again. Posted: 19 Jan 2012 04:30 AM PST Hello readers! It has been too long and I've missed you! I've been a bit busy graduating from college, moving to New York City, starting my job as a professional event planner and writing my own blog that has nothing to do with social media. But now I've had some time to breathe, so time to write! As I have immersed myself in this new "young-professional" role, I've been noticing some social media trends among my twenty-something peers that you might find surprising. What's hot? What's useful? What do we not give a crap about? Here are some intelligent and good-looking opinions on the platforms that we loathe and love: Twitter: Among young professionals, Twitter is becoming the holiest of holy. The exclusive and elite. The smart and creative. You can be witty, you can be hip, #YouCanComeUpWithHashtagsThatAreSoBrilliant. And best of all, grandma — who is all over Facebook — doesn't know about it. Twitter is the world without the politics and drama of Facebook and it is the coolest of the cool right now. LinkedIn: Every day I receive new notifications from my classmates. FINALLY. Hop on board friends. It's been a realization for my group that not only is this a tool we need while looking for our jobs, it's also necessary to keep movin' on up. Facebook: No, we're not leaving Facebook. My generation will never really let go of Facebook. We've gone through too much together. Too many photos, too many exes to stalk, too much history together. But we have also trudged through all of the constant change Facebook has put us through and frankly, it's exhausting. Among my peers, there are two classes of people on Facebook — those on Twitter and those who aren't. Those who are "Twitter-less" continue to post their lives, their trials, their tribulations on FB. But those of us on the 140 character machine, bitch openly on Twitter and "family-friendly filter" on Facebook. Twitter is the conversation. Facebook is just a place to archive photos and post lame jokes. We can have Facebook open at work because we'll never post anything incriminating there. Twitter is where the juicy stuff lives. Google+ In a word, FAIL. Seriously. We don't give a crap about our impact on SEO. I joined and built my "circles" and there have only been two updates ever … and one is from my mother saying, "great , something else I need to update. " Everything that is cool about Google+ can be found somewhere else and we're already happy and comfortable with those other platforms. Now, let's talk about a hot social media site for the young professional crowd and you probably have never heard of it: OK Cupid. Yep. A dating site.
Many of my friends are now spending more time on OK Cupid than Facebook. They are finding it fun to socialize, share restaurant recommendations, chat about music and books, etc. with new people who have similar interests. Of course there are other social sites but I'm over my word limit and Dad is ringing the bell. What do you think about these observations? Any surprises?   |
| 7 Keys to an Effective Blogging Strategy Posted: 19 Jan 2012 04:10 AM PST Do you have an effective blogging strategy that guides your blogging and keeps it focused on building your personal brand? Or, are you a "reactive" blogger, working harder than you need to, always looking for topics to blog about at the last minute? Authors blogging to build interest in their upcoming books and small business owners using their blog to attract qualified prospects both need an effective blogging strategy to guide their way to personal branding success. An effective blogging strategy differs from tactics, such as keyword optimization or headline engagement formulas, in that strategy takes a "big picture" view of everything associated with your blog. Why an effective blogging strategy makes a difference
Successful strategies provide guidance and direction, helping you make the day-to-day content choices and writing decisions needed to keep your blog filled with relevant and consistently updated information. When blogs written to build personal brands run into trouble, it's usually because one, or more, of the following has been ignored:
Analyze your blogging strategyHow would you rate your blogging strategy in the following key areas?
Share your blogging strategyShare your experiences creating your own blogging strategy. Tell us why you created it, what's included, and what you'd do different if you were starting over from scratch. And, if I've overlooked from this post, please share it as a comment, below. Author:Roger C. Parker is an author, book coach, designer, consultant who works with authors, marketers, & business professionals to achieve success with brand-building books & practical marketing strategy. He helps create successful marketing materials that look great & get results, and can turn any complex marketing or writing task into baby steps. Visit his blog to see how he can help you or to ask a question.   |
As I'm sure you've already heard with the plethora of 'for' and 'against' opinions floating around, Google announced a significant update to its search algorithm last week called 'Search, Plus Your World'. It integrates social media into its search results, making them more personal to you. So now, when Google performs a search, it will give greater priority to content which has been shared within your online social-sphere, particularly on Google+. The reasoning behind this update is supported by research carried out by Nielson which states that whilst 42% of people trust search results, 90% prefer results from people they know.
a part of to help meet your goals? Here are some things to consider as you plan your social media strategy for the coming year.
One of the challenges we face at Weidert Group is convincing clients in industrial and manufacturing segments just how valuable a blog can be.
But there is something very interesting going on here. Once I got past the initial "creepy" factor of realizing that I'm old enough to be on a dating site, I discovered an exciting new social networking model emerging here. It's kind of like a combination of Facebook and Twitter for people you don't know — people who are not currently your friends but who might become your friends, or in Cupid-terms, an "adventure buddy."
An effective blogging strategy operates "behind the scenes." It's influence is felt, rather than directly visible.| You are subscribed to email updates from Social | Business 2 Community To stop receiving these emails, you may unsubscribe now. | Email delivery powered by Google |
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