Facebook. Twitter. MySpace. Tumblr. Hundreds and hundreds more. For individuals trying to find out where they have signed up for among social media networks is probably like trying to find a specific scroll in the Library of Alexandria. The sheer size of where you have to look – much less update – is intimidating. It’s the same for businesses. Do you know where your brand, product, trademark, or even company name is being used in all these popular and emerging social media websites? You might be surprised to find that it’s being used unofficially – a classic case of brand identity theft. You lose control. Your online reputation isn’t secure. Thanks to something called KnowEm, representation across all social media has become a lot easier. KnowEm is a service that lets you discover where your name, brand, trademark, or product is available on social media networks. It also lets you know where it has been stolen. Developed in April 2009 – Read the full article
“Retweetable tweet”? Okay, we’ll be the first to admit it’s a silly title. Five years ago no one would have had any idea what we’re talking about. But if you’ve been keeping up with what’s happening on the web, chances are you have heard of the many positive, non-silly things social media can bring to the table. Take for example Twitter: businesses, celebrities, entrepreneurs, Internet marketers, and even celebrities are now leveraging the microblogging platform to enhance their presence online. So should you! One of the many useful features of Twitter is the ability to “retweet” someone else’s tweet (text-based post). If you post tweets that your Twitter followers would find compelling enough, and worthy enough of being shared to their own followers, then they can simply “retweet” your post – and effectively extend the reach of the message you’re trying to get across. Naturally, anyone who wants to succeed and stand out on the web will want to support – Read the full article
An E-mail marketing campaign is a great, cost-effective way to communicate your messages to a target audience – but only, of course, if you get them to actually open the E-mails that have come from you. Which isn’t guaranteed: sometimes you spend hours crafting a message for your campaign and when it finally gets to the inboxes of your mailing list and subscribers, they just delete it without ever reading. The wasted effort! The lost time! The missed opportunities! Don’t worry. There is a solution, and it comes in the form of a great, irresistible subject line. While it’s easy to think that your recipients will hardly care about it, the text you write out in the subject line is one of the single most important factors in the success of your E-mail marketing campaign. It separates the kind of E-mail that goes straight to the trash bin and the kind of E-mail that grabs the attention and tickles one’s – Read the full article
intern Genevieve’s first day introduction*
One of the more interesting trends in Internet marketing today is the idea of outsourcing content creation and copywriting. Here’s how it works: you run a small business, you become too busy with work, and on top of that – as though your calendar wasn’t crazy enough, as though you actually had time – you find yourself having to refresh your website or company blog with new, engaging content. You have to meet the demand for new, diverse information about your product, your brand, your industry. And you’re not even a writer by profession. One can only do so much, right? If only you can leave the writing to those who do it for a living. Enter your team of freelance writers, eager to develop content and copy for your site. They may be regular readers of your blog, looking to contribute their own content; they may be freelancing neighbors from just around the corner; or they may come from – Read the full article
Internet marketing gurus have said over and over that “content is king” – but some people seem to think that in order to be crowned as royalty one only needs to dress up their website with blocks of text here and there. This isn’t the case. The content and copy on your website may be a product of good writing, but it’s important to recognize that good writing doesn’t necessarily translate to a better, more engaging website. So be vigilant not just of what you write for your website, but also of how you present it to your readers and visitors. Avoid these common mistakes that suck the life out of your website copy. Website design makes the text hard to read Colorized text. A diverse range of font types and sizes. Embossed letters and sentences with shadow or “blinking” effects. They’re all pretty tempting, and all those colorful text editing tools on the dashboard don’t make it easier for – Read the full article
The recent release of the Apple iPad tablet computer has set the world abuzz – and not just the technology world. Industry experts say that the iPad is a game-changing device that can revolutionize the way we live, play, consume media content, and use the Internet. In other words, it’s not just for tech lovers and Apple fans; it’s also for regular people who aren’t exactly savvy in gadgets. Furthermore, many marketers are already pointing out the iPad’s potential impact on the eCommerce industry. The eCommerce industry is already pretty big right now, but it’s about to get bigger: online sales are projected to reach $335 billion by the year 2012 – and that’s in the U.S. alone. With the arrival of the Apple iPad, it’s safe to assume that new trends, technologies, and platforms supporting the online retail industry will continue to emerge. Here’s why. Same Channels, Richer Experience The Apple iPad is a state-of-the-art media consumption device that – Read the full article
More and more brands are using Facebook to create Fan Pages – and for good reason, too. A Facebook Fan Page is a great online channel for sharing and promoting brand identity, as well as for engaging and interacting with audiences in a community-driven setting. SEO experts will also note that a Fan Page on Facebook can improve a brand’s online authority, thus making it friendlier to search engines. However, there are dangers that come along with the benefits of social media – dangers that can hurt a brand and a company’s reputation. Brand identity theft, for example, has taken on many forms on the Web, and we see many cases of it happening on Facebook. There are a number of companies who’ve made the mistake of letting fans take over Facebook Fan Pages of their brands. It may simply be that they trust their fans enough to let them have administrative control. Or it can be a case of – Read the full article
