There are plenty of web hosting services out there that want you to believe that you need five gigabytes of space and terabytes of bandwidth for a simple WordPress-powered blog that you just started. In reality, most personal websites, even business websites, need nowhere near this capacity. Even so, bandwidth and space are becoming cheaper every year from web hosts and even E-mail services. It’s a feature which seems to take precedence over some of the more important aspects of finding a good web hosting service provider. What could happen if you run out of bandwidth? Running out of bandwidth is one position you don’t want to find yourself in. As a website matures and gains more users, it’s natural that your space and bandwidth requirements will grow. As such, you should keep an eye on the trends of your website and try to anticipate the need for more bandwidth or space before you run out or you will be faced – Read the full article
What if you could control and monitor your image across all social media? What if you could sign up for all the important social media sites out there and hear all the conversations being made about your business or brand? It sounds like a lot of work, but not if you’ve heard of KnowEm. A few months back we wrote a post that focused on this extremely useful social media service, which, as a kind of username detective, basically helps small business owners, startups, or even enterprises and larger companies check for the use of their brand, product, trademark, personal name, or username instantly on over 400 popular and emerging social networks or social media sites – including Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, Foursquare, Multiply, WordPress, MySpace, Formspring, Blogger, Posterous, and many more. KnowEm is a great brand management tool, too. You can grab your name and secure your brand before someone else does – someone who doesn’t have the authority for – Read the full article
Something big is going to happen this October 14 to 16 in Las Vegas. It’s called the BlogWorld & New Media Expo, the first and only tradeshow, conference, and media event created for the rapidly growing industry of blogging and new media. We here at Lakeshore Branding are going to attend the event, but if that’s not enough to convince you to come and join us (it should be more than enough to convince you, though!) then here are the top six reasons why BlogWorld & New Media Expo is a can’t-miss. Money? Influence? Or both?: If you’re a small business owner, Internet marketer, e-Commerce store owner, corporate executive, online journalist, podcaster, broadcaster, or personal or professional blogger who has some form of stake in the web, then surely you’ll have plenty to gain by attending the event and learning more about the top strategies, tools, and technologies used in developing content for the web today. BlogWorld 2010 is where – Read the full article
A few weeks ago marked the onset of major changes in the landscape of social gaming: Google announced plans to launch its own social gaming service and Disney purchased social gaming company Playdom for $763 million. Playdom is currently vying for second place in the social gaming industry, battling with Electronic Arts and other competitors. Industry leader Zynga is the developer of FarmVille, the wildly popular Facebook application that is set to bring in $500 million in revenue this year. Another factor that could have a major impact on social gaming is the possibility of a repeal on the ban of online gambling. At the end of July, the House Financial Services Committee voted 41-22 in favor of new guidelines that would regulate, but not outlaw, some forms of online gambling. If legalized, the federal government could bring in a great deal of revenue by heavily taxing online gambling. Real money gambling could increase opportunities to generate revenue for social – Read the full article
These days it’s not just enterprises, global brands, and small businesses leveraging the power of social media – non-profit organizations are getting involved, too. Social media has indeed sparked new ways of giving: take Twitter, for example. The massively popular microblogging site has been used time and again to raise funds and support charities and other worthy causes. Not only is Twitter an innovative avenue for fundraising; it’s also a pretty effective one, too, provided you follow these great tips. Engage with people who can help The key to fundraising on Twitter is connecting with people who can help and keeping them upbeat throughout your whole fundraising campaign. You may be able to get a random group of people to read your tweets, but if they’re all twelve-, thirteen-year-olds who’d rather buy the new Justin Bieber CD than make a donation, you might not be able to hit your targets. So start by using the Find People or Twitter Search – Read the full article
Twitter has finally caught up with Facebook – at least in terms of popularity. In terms of usage, however, Facebook – with over 400 million active users – is still leading over the massively popular social networking / microblogging site. These are among the most important findings from a new report released by Edison Research and Arbitron Internet and Multimedia Series. Conducted last February and entitled “Twitter Usage in America: 2010”, the research study presents three years of tracking data from a nationally representative group of 1,753 Americans ages 12 and above. Results show that 87 percent of Americans – compared to 5 percent in 2008 – are now aware of the microblogging platform, which is virtually equal to the percentage of the population – 88 percent – who are aware of Facebook, the world’s most popular social networking site. However, Twitter still trails Facebook in terms of usage, as only 7 percent of Americans actively use Twitter, compared to – Read the full article
Social media can be pretty confusing to individuals, businesses, and organizations who haven’t adopted – and who aren’t used to adopting early – to online trends and technologies. While some may have taken Facebook, MySpace, Twitter, and other social media sites as an indelible part of their lives, others are left to wonder how and where to start. There’s just too much clutter, too much noise, and without proper guidance, successful adoption may seem out of reach. And now Google Buzz has been added to the mix. While as a business owner you may have heard a thing or two about how critical social media is to one’s business strategy, you may still find it next to impossible to keep up – especially with all these new social media sites appearing and growing all at once, like mushrooms. “So how is Google Buzz different from Twitter?” “I need a Google profile to use Google Buzz?” “Oh, I already have a – Read the full article
It’s one thing to get a lot of followers on Twitter; it’s another to be able to retain them and keep them engaged and interested. To be followed is not enough, especially if you’re a small business owner looking to maximize the long-term value of the social microblogging site for your company or brand. You’ll want people to eagerly await your tweets, and to have them “retweet” whatever you have to say. You’ll want them to keep asking you for more. Of course, this doesn’t mean you should suffer from tiny little panic attacks whenever someone decides to un-follow you. But retaining followers on Twitter can be one of the most crucial parts of your social media strategy. So here are the top 7 tips on how to keep them once you have them: 1. Quality over quantity Twitter users follow you not because they want their home page cluttered with meaningless minute-by-minute updates, but because they assume they’re going – Read the full article
