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The History of YouTube [Infographic]

May 17, 2013 by
history of youtube

We continue to marvel at the phenomenal growth of social media as if it is unstoppable but when you look at infographics like this one, it certainly seems plausible. The history of YouTube is an incredible example of how social networks are taking over the Internet and our attention with no sign of stopping in the future. The history of YouTube begins in 2005 when three former PayPal employees came together with the hopes of creating a video-sharing website. They envisioned a platform that would allow users to upload, share, search and view videos online…a primitive idea by today’s standards but a daunting challenge in that era of the Internet. The first video was “Me At The Zoo” (shown below), a rather bland kick-off to what would become one of the biggest websites on the Internet. History of YouTube: A Boom For Online Business The history of YouTube for business has been fruitful so far. Studies have shown 46% of people say they’d be more likely to seek out information about a product or service after seeing it in an online video. (Source) In a previous article we outlined 10 great ways businesses can use YouTube to promote themselves online: [...]

Filed Under: YouTube Videos and Video Marketing Tagged With: , ,

10 Easy Ways To Write Better Blogs

May 13, 2013 by
Image of a hand with a pen writing 10 easy ways to write better blogs.

In this content-driven age, we need to constantly find new and exciting ways to keep our blog posts new and exciting for readers…and it can be quite challenging. In my quest to simplify the process, I aimed to encapsulate a few of the most reliable blogger tips in a short list along with their benefits. Before you can really determine a process, you need to identify the goal. A few common goals of blogging are: Increase traffic to website (SEO & social signals/sharing) Position yourself as a credible authority on your topic Increase awareness of your product, service and brand Obviously there are many different reasons you will be maintaining a blog with the ultimate purpose being to generate more sales. Despite this, you can’t go into it with selling, as your main goal.I’m sure you know by now, this simply does not work. Content perceived as “too salesy” works the opposite of what you want to achieve and actually repels people. Scroll down for the text-based version of this graphic showing my top 10 favorite blogger tips! 1. Draw From Real Life Situations/Ask Your Clients! If you want content that is relevant and relatable for your audience, strive to [...]

Filed Under: Social Media Marketing

5 Simple Tips For Increased Social Media Productivity

May 10, 2013 by
social media productivity

Social media productivity is somewhat an elusive term for most business people, frequently getting sucked into the notorious black hole of time. Let’s face it…we all want to spend less time doing stuff and more time on the beach. If you can increase your efficiency on tasks you’re already doing, that’s the best first step in the right direction! Here are a few tips for more effective social media productivity: 1. Set A Timer Chris Brogan is a big proponent of the classic egg timer on the desk and I have to agree…it can be very helpful and necessary! Every marketing activity needs to have a time limit. It’s way too easy to get distracted and begin to drift, especially on social media. Get on and get off whichever social media tool you are using according to your plan. If you don’t have a plan then this next step is for you… 2. Have A Plan! Wandering aimlessly in the digital world is the biggest hurdle towards social media productivity. Decide exactly what you plan to do on a day-to-day basis with social media and stick to it. This is where a good old checklist comes in handy so break [...]

Filed Under: Social Media Marketing

5 Proven Ways To Build Credibility Online

May 7, 2013 by
social proof

This is the second part to a two-part series on the importance of social proof in online marketing. Go here to read the first one to get a background on exactly what social proof is if you are unsure. I’ve spent a lot of time talking about social proof and now I want to show you some examples of exactly where you’ll find it and how you can leverage it. 1. Social Media & Blog Mentions If you aren’t saving all your great social media and blog mentions for later, you are already under-leveraging social proof that’s already available to you. Tools like Sprout Social have built-in archiving features that allow you to easily save great social media moments. On Twitter, you can simply favorite any tweet for it to be stored inside the Favorites section in your account. Using Twitter’s embedded tweets feature is an excellent way to display your best customer tweets because they link back to that person’s profile (so they know they are a real person).   @meloniedodaro Thank you for that amazing LinkedIn webinar today. A great experience and invaluable information. #LinkedIn #socialmedia — Joanna Lo (@JoannaLo88) April 29, 2013 2. Customer Reviews & Testimonials [...]

Filed Under: Social Media Marketing

Social Proof: The Glue That Holds Social Media Marketing Together

April 29, 2013 by
social proof

When a new prospect encounters your business or marketing for the very first time, there is one factor that will always give you unparalleled influence: social proof. This can come in a variety of different ways like product reviews, client testimonials, video testimonials, videos of you speaking in front of large crowds or on stage, showing how many Facebook fans and Twitter followers you have, etc. Giving a new prospect the ability to see real world examples of satisfied customers who have spent their money with you is a huge asset in the sales process. Quite often, this makes or breaks the sale because of the perceived elimination of risk. If more people have purchased your product and appear satisfied with their purchase, your new prospect will feel much more comfortable about becoming a buyer. Social Proof: What It Is & Why You Need It According to Wikipedia, when a person is in a situation where they are unsure of the correct way to behave, they will often look to others for cues concerning the correct behavior. Basically, we seek external validation on subjects we are unsure of from people we trust or that seem trustworthy. If you think about it, [...]

Filed Under: Social Media Marketing

5 Ways To Get More Traffic From Pinterest

April 26, 2013 by
pinterest marketing

After all her blogger friends kept telling her how cool it was, Melissa Taylor finally decided to get on Pinterest and managed to obtain 1 million+ followers (now nearly 1.5m) in only 9 months. How did she do it? Her advice to brands is simple: Focus on being awesome, not getting followers. Shortly after she hit the million-plus mark, Melissa published a book called Pinterest Savvy: How I Got 1 Million+ Followers so she definitely has a thing or two to say on the subject. The most influential people on Pinterest are bloggers and social media influencers – also known as tastemakers. Brands can learn a lot from how they grow and maintain their followers, who’s numbers continue to swell as the platform steadily increases its user-base. Learning from people like Melissa Taylor, Brittany Cozzens, and Joy Cho (still reining supreme at 14.5m followers) are useful case studies for brands looking to generate sustainable returns from their Pinterest marketing. Here are 5 useful tips from successful bloggers, and brands, on Pinterest: 1. Pin During Peak Times Studies show most people are on Pinterest in the afternoons (14:00 – 16:00 EST) and evenings (20:00 – 01:00 EST). Aim to schedule content [...]

Filed Under: Pinterest Tagged With: ,

Buying Social Media Followers Online: Should You Do It?

April 24, 2013 by
buying social media followers online

By now you have probably heard about the perils of buying social media followers online, maybe you’ve even considered the option for yourself. Do a quick Google search and you’ll find an overwhelming amount of options nearing 1.4 billion results. Some promises you’ll see include: Generate 100% real targeted fans, followers or views in a single order No fake accounts or bots Special techniques that broadcast your site to millions of online users 100% money back guarantee First off, there is one thing I find very alarming that throws up an immediate red flag. There is absolutely no approval process for social media accounts to pay to receive fans. Meaning that no matter who you are or what you sell, these people can just sell you fans and followers in denominations of your choosing.  It is an insult to your intelligence that someone would even blatantly promise this to you without knowing anything about your business. The Shady Business Practices of These Companies One of the more disturbing things I found was coming across two separate websites (results #1 & #2 on Google) that were duplicates of each other with the name changed and the homepage video done by two [...]

Filed Under: Social Media Marketing Tagged With:

Can Facebook Graph Search Make You Money? [INFOGRAPHIC]

April 19, 2013 by

With Facebook Graph Search starting to roll out to profiles worldwide, it won’t be long until businesses will start to ponder how to monetize it. Like most new developments, the opportunity is usually glaring right at us until some ‘innovator’ comes along and shows us all how it’s done. Advantage Capital Funds just released an excellent infographic to help illustrate the functional value of Facebook Graph Search and it’s impact on businesses both large and small. Those who read our first article on Facebook’s new enhanced search platform already know that the potential for local businesses is enormous…but exactly how big are we talking? Facebook Graph Search: The Back Story Any marketer that has ever explored advanced search options on virtually any other social network can admit that Facebook search has always left more to be desired. Surely there must be a better way to make use of this Fort Knox-sized data goldmine than the disgraceful excuse that was Facebook’s old search system. Enter Facebook Graph Search. Finally you can find out how many of your female friends between the age of 24-37 in the UK like the Young & The Restless on Facebook! Despite the sarcasm, it’s actually pretty [...]

Filed Under: Facebook

Choosing Social Media Automation Tools That Works For Your Business

April 15, 2013 by
social media automation tools

It is important to maintain a constant social media presence in order to keep your potential customers engaged and active with your organization. While automating 100% of your social presence is a bad idea, there are certain social media automation tools that can help you maintain a daily schedule and keep content relevant and timely to your audience. Hootsuite Yes, you have likely already heard about Hootsuite but you may not realize how much it has improved over the years. For those of you who don’t know, Hootsuite is a set of social media automation tools that allow you to schedule posts across multiple platforms, including Twitter, Facebook, and Google Plus. It is one of the few automation platforms that has Google Plus support, making it ideal if you want to a “one stop shop” to manage your social media. The program also includes a robust set of tools that are great when it comes to social media for business, such as tracking brand mentions and analyzing social media traffic for each post. Recent Feature Update: Auto-post scheduling (a wonderful timesaver)  Buffer Buffer provides simple social media automation tools that allow you to handle multiple accounts even on the same [...]

Filed Under: Social Media Marketing

LinkedIn Endorsements vs. Recommendations

April 9, 2013 by
LinkedIn Endorsements

The power of third-party credibility is undeniable and social media is it’s biggest champion. LinkedIn provides two basic ways for people to showcase the third-party credibility others have given them on the network: Endorsements Recommendations LinkedIn endorsements are similar to Facebook’s “Like” system, where a single click shows a form of approval. LinkedIn recommendations have a bit more substance to them but tend to be less common. So what is the difference between a LinkedIn endorsement and a LinkedIn recommendation? LinkedIn Endorsements: Is One Click Enough? LinkedIn endorsements are a one-click process that allows a user to publicly endorse specific skills or expertise right on a profile. In general, the process functions very much like Facebook’s “Like” function or Google Plus’s “+1” option. You simply navigate to the area that you want to endorse and click on the appropriate button to complete the process. Because endorsements are a one-click process, people tend to hand them out like candy compared to recommendations. However, you should keep in mind that the less effort something takes, the less likely people are to put stock in it. An endorsement might be a great way to get new users to view your profile, but it [...]

Filed Under: LinkedIn
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