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Social media is not about direct sell

February 9, 2010 Social Networking Comments

www.optimizingtheweb.com – If you go into a bar and try to sell SEO services how do you think people will react? If you go in a park and stop people that jog to present your product how do you think theyll react? If you see a group of people sharing stories about their latest vacation and you interrupt them to promote your service how do you think theyll react? These kinds of actions based on interruption are the worst things you could do on any social network. You may think that since so many people use social networks for business its natural to expect a direct sell interruption. Wrong! Indeed many people use social networks for business but the word social makes all the difference. The idea is to interact, build relations, let people know what you do by using your bio. When they go out to scout for new clients people are interacting first and present a business card later. When a person enters a company office or visits a business blog, there is the place where they expect to see direct sale. You dont have to tell people what you do. They can read your bio, visit your blog, see what you tweet or post on Facebook or what kind of videos you create. The only thing you have to do is think about how to establish a connection. How to gain their trust? How to build authority around you? How to brand yourself?

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All about Building MLM Business Online

January 24, 2010 Social Networking Comments

If you’re in the process of building your MLM business online, you’re in the right place. I’ve been in your shoes before. Trying to breakthrough in an MLM business is tough until you learn this one simple secret to building MLM business online–branding attraction marketing.Attraction marketing has become a coined term in online marketing. It represents a movement towards selling yourself rather than your business. By presenting yourself as an expert in videos, social networking websites, forums, and content writing, you’ve just learned the key to promoting yourself as a leading expert in your field. In today’s market, people aren’t spending money as freely as they used to, and you’ll need to have a reputation and credentials to stand by. Once you do this, your prospects become automated. There are a million of different MLM systems to choose from. I chose MLM Lead System Pro because they have the success rate to back themselves up. It’s the most affordable system out there. You’ll be set up with 11 of the best affiliate marketing programs and the keys to make them work for you.It also has a personalized autoresponder email list that you can take with you if you decide to end your subscription. Training your distributors will no longer be an unending process because MLM Lead System Pro gives you the tools to set up a training program that can be used by all your prospects. You’ll teach your distributors how to generate positive cash flow in under 3 months.For more details contact:- http://centech21.mlmleadsystempro.com/

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Dashal Interviewed About Advertising Agency’s Use Of Social Media

January 23, 2010 Social Media Comments

Dashal was recently interviewed by Victoria Colon, a media consultant in Miami, Florida regarding social media and advertising firms. Here is the interview below.

By: Victoria Colon

Social Media is the name of the game. We have been featuring this medium in recent articles on the Blog and Newsletter. Some ad agencies have been able to embrace this medium successfully. We recently interviewed Nick Harrison, Creative Director at Dashal.com, a web development and online advertising firm in Los Angeles about the future of advertising in today’s economy and Social Media boom.

1.How do you see the future of advertising?

Good question. When you look at the overall history of advertising you will notice that it has always evolved with the latest medium it had access to. Over the last three years however with the gigantic boom in social media, a lot of firms have been slowly realizing the true power of social media when used wisely. The most effective ad agencies realize that it is not just about buying ad space, especially with this troubling economy, it is about being smart and realizing how to take advantage of the non-costly avenues that are available to you.

2. How will ad agencies stay ahead of the curve?

Staying ahead of the curve or in this case, staying “with” the curve, is what it has always been about. Advertising has always been a war between your client and theirs. Who knows more about the war, the government bureaucrats or the soldiers and officers who are in the “shit”? To be successful in Web 2.0 and advertising in 2009 and beyond, you have to be knee deep. You have to not only be up to date with the latest mediums, you have to use and embrace them yourself.

3. What is the difference between large publicly traded agencies versus smaller medium size firms?

Besides the enormous price tag? The larger publicly traded advertising agencies (media conglomerates), their focus is wide, but not deep at a traditional firm. they can’t specialize in “everything” that’s a huge part of the problem. they are trying to be everything to everyone. that strategy does not work in today’s market and they are “always” steps slower than younger vibrant firms. The youth does not make the smaller firms vibrant. it’s the lack of silos in a huge corporate behemoth (leo burnett has plenty of 23 year-olds on staff). They are just starting to grasp the importance of social media hence the “slowly realizing the true power of social media.” The management of large firms are stuck in their separate offices and separate floors and usually have no clue of what is “really” going on in the world of technology. Traditional ad executives have no idea how technology works, much less how to leverage it to the strategic advantage of their clients). Larger agency’s management usually consists of executives who have just figured out how to use their Blackberry or iPhone. A medium size ad agency usually has a big warehouse type space that is “open”. The management teams work in the “trenches” with their employees versus behind closed offices so that they are able to “see” what is really going on versus reading a report about it.

4. How do you think agencies can continue to innovate when shareholder value is their main concern?

Well, they have to or they are going close their shop. Clients are scarce now and it doesn’t matter how much money a firm has, it has to do with your client’s budget and how effective you can be with it. This economy will force firms and companies to use social media and other mediums that are less inexpensive and shifts their advertising dollars from technology to people. It is the only way that advertising agencies can meet customers’ expectations that can and do change in step with technology and the marketplace. There is resistance though, Veronis Suhler study shows that 40% of consumers time is spent on Internet/Digital Channels while only 10% of spend is going to this media.

The one caveat to the massive layoffs and job freezes in advertising land is that advertising agencies can pick and choose their talent. Top talent is just lucky to even have a job. It allows agencies to have the best of the best. This is if they don’t go off and start a competing agency. Non-compete clauses have been deemed to be anti-competitive practices leading firms to eliminate them, thus opening new avenues to the talent pool.

5. Which would you say are the top agencies in social media and digital video?

Omnigroup, Focus Media, WPP Group, Ogilvy to name a few.

6. How do you use social media to its full potential?

To use the true power of social media it isn’t about that perfect ad. It isn’t about that catchy slogan, it is about building relationships. You need customers to “want” to follow you on Twitter and sign up to your Facebook page because you are engaging them, engaging them in dialogue, conversation, humor and not a product or service push. How do you do this? Be creative! How about having trivia games, perhaps your Twitter followers can get 10% off during a small period of time, etc. You have to communicate with your customers and treat them like your friends, not just your targets. If you provide rich content and you make yourself interesting, your customers will spread the word for you. That is the true difference between social media and buying ads. Social media is about interaction and friendship, other mediums like print and TV are about pounding ads down someone’s throat until after seeing that Carl’s Junior commercial ten times you now have to have the Jalapeño Burger.

7. What are some practical strategies for positioning yourself, your work, and your clients as an agency?

In regards to your own advertising agency, I would say try to stay as lean as possible and get back down to basics. Make use of interns and I would suggest a reduction of salaries before layoffs if at all possible. Re-train existing staff to understand new media or hire young guns to get you started. In regards to your clients, you have to remember that there are significantly less of them due to this economy and the few that are left are struggling and have small advertising budgets, but need big results. A few years ago you could whip out an ad and throw money publicizing it and you were done. You didn’t have to actually “work”. You and your client can both be successful in these times, but you have to take advantage of social media, SEO and other none traditional mediums. Take the time to know your clients, their target audience and what inexpensive mediums, which are available, and your agency and client will be all right.

“The ideology behind social media is simple – PAY IT FORWARD!” Nick Harrison

Interview By Victoria Colon http://www.victoriacolon.com

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Why Search Engine Optimisation is the Last Thing you Need to Worry About When it Comes to Internet Marketing

January 22, 2010 SEO

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“Why Search Engine Optimisation is the LAST thing you need to worry about when it comes to internet marketing”
By C.S. Thompson – Internet Marketing Consultant
Usually one of the first questions clients ask when I start working with them is “how can I be number one on Google”. How then, can I say that search engine optimization (SEO) is the very LAST thing you need to worry about in the game of internet marketing?
Allow me to illustrate. Imagine that you are opening a new restaurant, and you spend thousands on marketing and advertising – you take out radio and tv ads, a full page spread in the national daily newspaper advertising your new restaurant and the great opening specials you have. Opening night comes, people respond in the hundreds to your promotions, there’s just one problem… you weren’t ready to cater for hundreds. Your new staff are not confident in their training and make mistakes all night, taking orders to wrong tables, and forgetting some all together. You payment system hasn’t been tested and it doesn’t cope with billing. People wait more than an hour for their food, if they get it and thousands of dollars walk out the door in unpaid bills. Worse than all that, all those people you spent money getting in the door walk right out of it, never to return. Each one tells of their terrible experience the next day to their friends at work. The bad publicity spreads like a virus and within weeks you are wondering what went wrong.
What is wrong with this scenario?
Getting a high ranking for popular keywords on search engines is only useful if your site has all of the necessary systems in place to take full advantage of the opportunity being presented. You have probably experienced this for yourself when searching online, a process that can often be frustrating. You may search a topic, and click on the first site that comes up. If that site is not what you are looking for, or doesn’t appeal to you, you are hitting the ‘back’ button within seconds, moving onto another site.
Further, a week later when you try out the same search, it is likely that all the sites you have already visited are highlighted, your computer has registered that you have already been there. Will you click on that link again? Probably not! Because you already know that you have been there and not found what you were looking for.
It is imperative that if you can get someone to visit your site, you want them to find it useful and appealing. You want them to stay, check out all of your offerings, and more than that, have some way of collecting their information so that you can market to them.
Things you need to implement before commencing an SEO campaign may include:
• A well presented, professional and functional website.
• Relevant, useful information about your field or industry. Something to hold their attention and show that you are knowledgeable in your industry.
• In depth content to make you stand out from all the other millions of sites in competition with you.
• Detailed information about your company, products and multiple methods of contact.
• A free offer in exchange for a prospects permission to market to them, such as a newsletter, competition, special offer or survey.
• A way for prospects and customers to provide feedback, comments and interact with you on a personal level.
• If relevant to your business, a way for customers to view your products and make secure, automated purchases.
Having such strategies in place on your site will enable to you appeal to prospective customers, hold their attention, and collect their contact details for later promotions and interaction. It is at this level of preparation that effective SEO can turn your traffic into revenue.
For more information about improving your online communications, contact us – info@thompsonmarketing.com.au
You can view more great articles and get in contact with us via our site at http://www.thompsonmarketing.com.au

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Do you know these 5 things about Social Websites, your children and online predators?

January 22, 2010 Social Networking Comments

If you haven’t heard of Twitter, MySpace, Facebook or You Tube then you can be sure your children have. These are Social Networking sites where children can create a page of their own and allow friends and others to look at it. It’s important your children are made aware of the dangers of giving out too much information about themselves on these sites and the tips in this article can help them stay safe.

Your children are precious and you want then to enjoy their childhood. But you already warn them of the dangers they may face on the streets and you need to warn them of the dangers they might also face on the internet. Don’t scare your children but do make them aware that there are people on the internet who will try to rob them of their innocence.

1. Never reveal passwords. A friend could use your password and log in pretending to be you in a chat room. It might seem like a harmless prank but could lead to major problems for your child. Someone who is mad at your child could use their profile and say or do bad things.

2. Always tell the truth. Teach your children to be honest. If, for example, they pretend to be older than they really are, they may attract a predator interested in their false age group.

3. Don’t talk about sex. Most online predators will not start by talking about sex. They may simply ask what your child looks like. Can they see a picture? As soon as the conversation does turn to sex tell your children to let you know and to stop communicating with their new ‘friend’.

4. Your children should agree not to meet with any online friends without parents present. It’s almost impossible to catch the predator if they arrange to meet your child outside the home and your child agrees without telling you. If your child says they want to meet someone they’ve met online make sure you go with them.

5. Do not give out personal information to anyone else. Meeting new people on a Social Site can be very exciting for a child. But how will they know if this new ‘friend’ (as they are called) is a sexual predator or not? The online predator only needs a little information in order to find a child. Just the name of a school, which they will gently coax out of your child, may be enough. You don’t want your child to become a victim so teach them to be safe on the Social Sites.

And, finally, you will want to know all the answers to the questions you’re likely to be asked by your child so get a free copy of “Online Predators FAQ” http://stoppingonlinepredators.info/main.html

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