Leading Brands to Speak at Social Media World Forum and Apps World New York. - MarketWatch:
'via Blog this'
Wednesday, October 19, 2011
Tuesday, October 18, 2011
SEO - Is your company executing the job?
On SEO. SEO stands for Search Engine Optimization. SEO is an action that makes your product or services website more visible in the search engines. The higher the ranking, the more likely the potential consumer will go with your product or service because they have found you first due to SEO.
It really depends on where you are looking to have your company found, and what key words, meta-tags and phrases you would prefer people are looking up to find your company. To answer your questions in a general sense:
Q: How long should it take to optimize a website for SEO? Is 6 months really a stretch, or is that standard?
A: It usually takes at least two months for a websites SEO to become effective. Depending upon how much you have spent, and if you have paid for strictly organic SEO, or PPC ad campaigns, I would say that you should re-evaluate your contract with the company or firm that you hired to do SEO for you.
Q. Many people seem to promise "#1" or first page ranking. Who really is effective in doing this? Wouldn't this smell a little of scam?
A. You are absolutely right, I would say that at least 90% of the SEO companies that you come across promise #1 on the first page ranking. But the company's that are actually effective in doing this are the ones that a great track record, and are willing to show you a portfolio of at least 5 previous (recent) SEO projects that were actually executed in a timely fashion.
Another thing to factor in; Local SEO as opposed to whether it be national, or international. This is also a big difference. Usually, local SEO is much easier to execute getting a company on the first page, and sometimes the first slot of a search engine. National page rankings would depend on what your competition is in your target market. Maybe your product is not like the others? But do you offer the same service of product? This is when it can come complicated. And the same goes with international SEO. The more area that needs to be covered, the more competition there usually is.
Friday, October 7, 2011
Press Release - Hip Hop Artist Pays Homage to Drake and Yields Over 5 Million Views
Press Release - Hip Hop Artist Pays Homage to Drake and Yields Over 5 Million Views:
October 7, 2011
19-year-old hot new artist Nick Carter Green debuted his remix to Drake's "Headlines" to explosive views on the highly trafficked www.worldstarhiphop.com, on Sunday, October 2nd.
CHICAGO, IL, October 07, 2011 /24-7PressRelease/ -- As a tribute to one of the most influential hip hop artists today, 19-year-old, hot new artist, Nick Carter Green, debuted his remix to Drake's "Headlines" to explosive views on the highly trafficked http://www.worldstarhiphop.com/, on Sunday, October 2nd.
The two minute, black and white video, utilizes mirror image technique set against a Chicago Skyline backdrop to show a brief, introspective look into the budding talent of this hardworking young artist. Released at 1:30pm CT, Nick Carter Green's video exploded in viewership, garnering 1 million hits within the first few hours. Less than forty-eight hours later, Nick Carter Green's remix of "Headlines" reached a surprising 5.3 million views.
Nick Carter Green recently released his mixtape, XIX, a creative blend of pop, hip hop, and R&B, which serves to show the diverse range of talent and broadness in his music ability. A hungry young artist with an appetite for success, Nick Carter Green recorded and mixed XIX. "Don't Wanna Lose," a single from XIX, was released to radio prior to the official mixtape release. As a featured song on Chicago's WGCI's Download or Delete segment, "Don't Wanna Lose" received a 98% download request from area listeners.
Backed by hard hitting tracks and an infectious lyrical style, Nick Carter Green is set to carve out his own niche in hip hop as previous Chicago rappers, Common, Kanye West, and Lupe Fiasco have successfully done.
As a thank you to the millions of viewers who watched the "Headlines" remix video on World Star Hip Hop, Nick Carter Green will be releasing a video for "Ghost," a single from XIX, on http://www.worldstarhiphop.com/. XIX is currently available for download at http://www.nickcartergreen.com/.
Contact:
Roosevelt Allen, III
Zuma Entertainment Corporation
688 N. Milwaukee
Chicago, IL 60642
Phone 312-733-3630 begin_of_the_skype_highlighting 312-733-3630 end_of_the_skype_highlighting
Fax 312-733-3631
rallen@zumarecords.com
Hip Hop Artist Pays Homage to Drake and Yields Over 5 Million Views
19-year-old hot new artist Nick Carter Green debuted his remix to Drake's "Headlines" to explosive views on the highly trafficked www.worldstarhiphop.com, on Sunday, October 2nd.
CHICAGO, IL, October 07, 2011 /24-7PressRelease/ -- As a tribute to one of the most influential hip hop artists today, 19-year-old, hot new artist, Nick Carter Green, debuted his remix to Drake's "Headlines" to explosive views on the highly trafficked http://www.worldstarhiphop.com/, on Sunday, October 2nd.
The two minute, black and white video, utilizes mirror image technique set against a Chicago Skyline backdrop to show a brief, introspective look into the budding talent of this hardworking young artist. Released at 1:30pm CT, Nick Carter Green's video exploded in viewership, garnering 1 million hits within the first few hours. Less than forty-eight hours later, Nick Carter Green's remix of "Headlines" reached a surprising 5.3 million views.
Nick Carter Green recently released his mixtape, XIX, a creative blend of pop, hip hop, and R&B, which serves to show the diverse range of talent and broadness in his music ability. A hungry young artist with an appetite for success, Nick Carter Green recorded and mixed XIX. "Don't Wanna Lose," a single from XIX, was released to radio prior to the official mixtape release. As a featured song on Chicago's WGCI's Download or Delete segment, "Don't Wanna Lose" received a 98% download request from area listeners.
Backed by hard hitting tracks and an infectious lyrical style, Nick Carter Green is set to carve out his own niche in hip hop as previous Chicago rappers, Common, Kanye West, and Lupe Fiasco have successfully done.
As a thank you to the millions of viewers who watched the "Headlines" remix video on World Star Hip Hop, Nick Carter Green will be releasing a video for "Ghost," a single from XIX, on http://www.worldstarhiphop.com/. XIX is currently available for download at http://www.nickcartergreen.com/.
Contact:
Roosevelt Allen, III
Zuma Entertainment Corporation
688 N. Milwaukee
Chicago, IL 60642
Phone 312-733-3630 begin_of_the_skype_highlighting 312-733-3630 end_of_the_skype_highlighting
Fax 312-733-3631
rallen@zumarecords.com
Thursday, September 15, 2011
Social Media Strategic Tactics: Which are the most effective?
It is always great to have something to refer to when confronted with the difficult task of gauging the effectiveness of social media strategies, and ranking overall expediency. I found this really enlightening piece which does just this, and the chart and the points the author makes are illuminating and great to keep on hand, and in mind:
Hard work pays off
For those of you who have not brushed up on your statistics lately (as I just brushed up a moment ago) I will note that a positive correlation between two factors means that as one factor increases, the second factor increases. For example, there is a positive correlation between my consumption of ice cream and the temperature outside.
Looking at this chart, it’s clear that the most effective social marketing tactics are also the most difficult, and vice-versa. Blogger relations — the most effective tactic reported — is also the only tactic to break into the 70%-range in terms of marketers reporting it as “very” or “somewhat” difficult.
You’ll also see that the three most-effective tactics — blogging, SEO for social sites, and blogger relations — are known to require significant amounts of time and effort before results are shown.
Every tactic is somewhat effective
Take a look at the scale on this chart’s Y-axis (level of effectiveness). Those listed percentages correspond to the number of marketers who reported a tactic as “very” effective. What they do not include are the marketers who reported a tactic as “somewhat effective.”
Looking at the chart, you might guess that adding social sharing buttons to emails is a waste of time — but don’t be too quick to write this tactic off completely. Only 10% of social marketers reported it as “very effective,” but 55% rated it as “somewhat effective” (found deeper in the report). With a total of 65% of social marketers reporting at least some effectiveness, these buttons might be worth the small investment they require.
Also, since adding social sharing buttons bottoms-out the Y-axis here, every other tactic listed has more than 65% of social marketers reporting at least some effectiveness. Here are some examples:
- Social sharing buttons on websites: 69% say at least “somewhat” effective
- Advertising on social sites: 73%
- Microblogging: 75%
Monday, August 8, 2011
The Importance of Website Overseeing
Image by Sean MacEntee via Flickr
One of the worst assumptions a company can make about their website is: “The site is up, whew, glad we have that done!” This idea stands in stark contrast to best web practices and most web savvy business people know it.
However, the more dangerous assumption is that updates and changes only need to happen once in a while, quarterly or bi-annually. Though this belief edges closer to the ideal, it falls short. In reality, your brand and user experience are tied in part to how up-to-date your content and design are.
While instructing, I use the following analogy for my students: maintaining a website is much like maintaining a home. Noticing the big things – a wall that needs repainting, a lawn that needs new seed or a kitchen you want to expand – is simple and obvious. But, what would your home look like if you failed to dust, vacuum or clean the counters? These weekly or, often, daily tasks keep a home usable and a pleasure to be in. The same is true for your website. Content often becomes outdated in a matter of weeks, time-sensitive information becomes useless overnight. So ensuring this content remains accurate and current will add credibility to your brand.
Maintenance supports other goals
The focal point for every website’s post-launch activity is maintenance. Content edits are certainly simple and easily executed tasks a company can complete. But consider other activities which expand your site and offer the visitor additional features of interaction which keep them on-site longer, thereby exposing more of your brand to them:
- Adding a “search” box – This allows your visitors to complete their missions without incident, associating the positive experience with your brand.
- Incorporating dynamic directions – Adding the ability for a visitor to map their way to your business does two things simultaneously. First, it keeps the user on your site (which is extremely important). Secondly, it enhances the experience. By keeping the visitor away from Google or Yahoo! Maps the experience remains clean and simple – two recurring words visitors use when describing sites they like.
- Start blogging – Use this as a forum for announcing business strategies, relationships and decisions. Share some industry standards and tricks alike with your visitors to help them become more knowledgeable. ( such a good idea, I think we should do that! )
- Is your clientele bi-lingual? – How about creating a version of your site for the non-English speaking audience? Providing your content in a different language may expose your brand to a new demographic that until now never considered your company for lack of comprehension.
A mental block site owners have to be conscious of is, as visitors to our own sites, we become blind to the errors or the staleness of content and imagery. Those who come to our sites to find information (especially current information) want to be there and experience the new aspects of the site. So, don’t be lackadaisical in giving it to them.http://www.bostoninteractiveblog.com/?p=39
Why a Website is a Must in the first place:
By having a web presence, you expand your market significantly. You make yourself available to people in other time zones and even across the globe rather than the limited market audience you can reach in your local geographical area. And at a fraction of the cost! With a website there is less need to send out expensive mailings to purchased mail lists that are often unreliable. Even those mailings that do make it to the target audience are thrown away without ever being looked at.
Internet advertising is more targeted to a specific audience. The clients who visit your website are there because they have a specific interest in your company’s product or service, which you can use to your advantage. You can allow customers or potential customers to sign up for a newsletter or sales flyer, which you can send to them via e-mail. By collecting e-mail addresses from willing visitors to your website you can stay in contact with them without having to pay for printing or postage. At IPWatchdog, we use GraphicMail.com to help us maintain our e-mail subscription list and to send newsletters. There are other services you can use, such asConstant Contact, which is very popular. GraphicMail.com is less expensive, but they do not offer the number of features that Constant Contact does. Another advantage of Constant Contact is they offer a free trial. If you are an computer novice, Constanct Contact would likely be a better choice because it is an all in one solution.
The morale of the story is this – whether you are a small business owner, inventor, entrepreneur, artist, author, musician or band, you need a website. In the world we live in increasingly people are turning to the Internet to find information, and if you don’t have a presence on the Internet you will not only be making it more difficult for people to find you, but you will be sending the wrong message.http://ipwatchdog.com/business/the-importance-of-having-a-website/
Related articles
Tuesday, July 12, 2011
GOOGLE + : The innovative social media network for businesses
Image via Wikipedia
Google + is a new social networking service by Google, which takes an innovative approach to social media and social networks.
With the creation of circles and "huddles", Google has tapped into the potential of social media to enhance corporate and business networking.
Still in its inception, Google + is slated to become a rival of Facebook, and poised to surmount it as the social media network for online business profiles. (See:
From Mashable:
Image via WikipediaGoogle + is a new social networking service by Google, which takes an innovative approach to social media and social networks.
With the creation of circles and "huddles", Google has tapped into the potential of social media to enhance corporate and business networking.
Still in its inception, Google + is slated to become a rival of Facebook, and poised to surmount it as the social media network for online business profiles. (See:
Google Plus: Poised to Reach 10 Million Users Today, Further Mounting It's Challenge to Facebook
From Mashable:
Google+, which begins rolling out a very limited field test on Tuesday, is the culmination of a year-long project led by Vic Gundotra, Google’s senior vice president of social. The project, which has been delayedseveral times, constitutes Google’s answer to Facebook.
The search giant’s new social project will be omnipresent on its products, thanks to a complete redesign of the navigation bar. The familiar gray strip at the top of every Google page will turn black, and come with several new options for accessing your Google+ profile, viewing notifications and instantly sharing content. The notification system is similar to how Facebook handles notifications, complete with a red number that increases with each additional notice.
At its core, Google+ is a social network. The first thing users are introduced to is the Stream. It’s much like the Facebook News Feed, allowing users to share photos, videos, links or their location with friends.
Tuesday, June 28, 2011
Why does your business need Social Media to stay ahead?
A: Let us help you understand how it can help your business
Social Media Marketing (SMM) is an effective way for you to interact with new and existing customers and provide value for your brand.
With new competitors emerging daily, your brand must keep customers engaged. Today, social network use is one of the top 4 online activities.
Social media marketing is an unobtrusive marketing platform that allows buyers to interact with your brand at a personal level.
By tracking comments and feedback on social networks your company can determine if customers are happy with your products and services.
This vital, direct-from-consumer data will help your company predict and track emerging buyer trends. If you haven't yet considered this type of marketing, you're already behind the competition.
visit the MMCG website for more help with your social media needs
Wednesday, June 8, 2011
Logos design: The Key to successful Branding and Social Media Strategy
A Logos design for your business or company name is a key aspect of successful social media strategy and branding:
A Professional Logo Design can Build a Successful Business
A logo design helps to build a successful business in many ways. Since a business logo represents your business, it must to be professional, attractive, eye catching and simple. It has to be created in a way that will grab the attention of the audience and leaves a lasting impression. When customers see your logo, they should be able to know who you are and the services you provide without seeing the name of your business. Always design a logo design in a way that it leaves a lasting impression on potential clients and make them eager about your business and services. These are extremely important aspects to remember while creating and designing your business logo.
A logo design is for attracting more customers but an unattractive business logo design that does not grab the attention of potential customers will not be successful at increasing business revenues.SOURCE
Tuesday, June 7, 2011
Why Does Your Business Need a Website?
A website is like a businesses online “store front”. It is important for consumers to be able to visit a place on the internet to read about what your business has to offer. A simple website helps customers find you, and what you are about.
The simplest possible Web presence is a website that tells people how to find your business in the "real" world. It should include a good Web Address that relates to your company name and business. Your business address, complete with directions and a good map. Your business phone number, along with fax numbers if relevant. A clear and enticing description of what your business offers to customers. Now of days, this is what a business needs to have in order to stay in the race of the ever-evolving business world.
METRO MEDIA CONSULTING GROUP LLC offers basic website design, and maintenance. We are ready to help get you started, and we will maintain your website for you. This service allows you to focus on the daily operations of your business without having to worry about updating your website.
The simplest possible Web presence is a website that tells people how to find your business in the "real" world. It should include a good Web Address that relates to your company name and business. Your business address, complete with directions and a good map. Your business phone number, along with fax numbers if relevant. A clear and enticing description of what your business offers to customers. Now of days, this is what a business needs to have in order to stay in the race of the ever-evolving business world.
METRO MEDIA CONSULTING GROUP LLC offers basic website design, and maintenance. We are ready to help get you started, and we will maintain your website for you. This service allows you to focus on the daily operations of your business without having to worry about updating your website.
Social Media Savvy and Marketing your Business
METRO MEDIA CONSULTING GROUP: Strategic Social Media for the 21st Century
Excellent article from Mashable - one of my all-time favorite blogs - about how social media know-how can really give your business maximum exposure and search engine optimization for the 21st century. Excerpt and link below:
Here at Metro Media Consulting Group, we have the savvy and the expertise to help put together strategic social media packages which include professional writing services.
It is easy enough to understand that social media venues such as Twitter, Linked-In, and Facebook can help with your online business profile and getting the word out, but for a truly strategic social media campaign, experts at MMCG are eager and willing to give you that extra comprehensive and well-thought out package which will give your enterprise the advantage and edge.
1. Facebook
Facebook offers exceptional, low cost marketing opportunities for small business. Facebook now has over 300 million users, and while that seems like an outrageous number for small businesses to be targeting, Facebook offers a very powerful platform on which to build a presence. If you’re not already active on Facebook; you should get started right away.
Basic Strategy: If you haven’t signed up for Facebook yet, you absolutely should as soon as possible. Once you’ve signed up, you should also consider securing your company’s username. Be aware, however, that if you reserve your company name for your personal account, you won’t be able to use it for your Business Fan Page (more on those in the Advanced Strategy), so you may want to create a Page before registering your company’s name. Fan Pages have special rules regarding usernames, which you can read here.
You should do one other thing: search for your competitors and evaluate their Facebook presence. What types of Pages have they built? How many fans or “friends” do they have? Spend 15 minutes (per competitor) looking at their posts, photos and/or videos to understand how they’re using Facebook.
Advanced Strategy: You may already have a personal Facebook account, but how do you extend that presence for your business? You have several options. You can register a Business Account – which is designed for a very simple presence on Facebook. There are many limitations on such accounts (read the FAQ here), however, so you’ll most likely prefer to have a Business Fan Page. A Business Fan Page lets you create a page where customers or fans of your business can register as a “fan” — expanding the presence of your business (because your updates will also flow to their pages). You might also want to consider running hyper-local ads on Facebook.
2. Twitter
Twitter has grown tremendously over the past year. For some small businesses, it offers an incredible marketing platform. BusinessWeek’s recent profile of 20 ways businesses use Twitter might give you some ideas about how you can leverage Twitter for your business.
Basic Strategy: If you haven’t signed up on Twitter yet, you should sign up today and reserve an account in the name of your business. While you might ultimately tweet in your own name, you’ll want to have the option to tweet from a business account. More importantly, you don’t want your competitors to register your business name. Twitter has put together a simple guide to help you understand what Twitter can do for business. You can also check out Mashable’s Twitter Guide.
Next, you should spend 15-30 minutes on Twitter’s homepage, doing basic searches to become familiar with the type of content available on the service. For example, if you are operating a small gift basket business, do some searches for various terms and phrases such as “gift basket,” “gifts,” “gift basket business,” etc. You should also search for the names of your competitors to see whether they’re on Twitter and if they are, how they’re using it. And don’t forget to search for your small business name – your customers may already be talking about you! Once you become comfortable with the content that’s already available and how your competitors are using Twitter, you can begin thinking about a strategy for how you’ll leverage Twitter for your business.
Advanced Strategy: To truly leverage Twitter, you’ll want to learn and use a few more advanced tools. This includes desktop and mobile Twitter clients like TweetDeck, Seesmic, and Tweetie. Desktop clients give you more flexibility and more control over your Twitter strategy than you’ll have on the Twitter website. Among other things, you’ll be able to pre-define searches (so that you can monitor certain keywords, including your business name) and group people you follow so that you can minimize the noise and focus on the real content. You might also consider using a web tool like Twitterfall, which will allow you to define (and color-code) various custom searches that you can review from time to time, and also to follow trending topics. For example, I use Twitterfall to identify helpful graphic design and industrial design resources to share with the crowdSPRING community.
3. Company Blog
Although there’s more attention focused today on social networks than on company blogs, blogs continue to offer great value for small businesses.
Basic Strategy: At a minimum, you should consider reserving a domain name for your blog – if you don’t already have a custom domain for your business. If you’re comfortable enough to set up your own blog, that’s generally the best way to proceed – although this requires a bit more technical knowledge (many hosting providers offer a 1 step easy setup for blogs that will automatically install WordPress for you). You can also setup a blog directly at WordPress.com (it’s easier to do, but you don’t have full control over everything that you would on your own site).
One easy alternative is to set up a simple blog at Posterous – a place to post stories, photos, videos, MP3s, and files. There are pluses and minuses to all of these options – you should take some time to compare them and do what makes sense for your business. I caution you only about spreading yourself too thin.
Advanced Strategy: Now that you’ve decided to start or improve your small business blog, how do you build an audience for it? It all starts with great content. Decide on a focus for your blog, and write awesome content that people will enjoy. For example, some months ago at my company, we decided that we wanted to write more about small business issues, so we’ve been writing original posts focusing on issues affecting small businesses. Think about your expertise and more importantly, think about the things that you’re interested in writing about. A blog requires a long term investment of time (and resources), and you don’t want to be stuck writing about things that bore you.
You’ll also want to consider how you can make it easier for your readers to help promote your content. For example, install helpful plug-ins, such as a TweetMeme button, which makes it easy for people to retweet your posts on Twitter. Don’t be afraid to experiment with plugins to add to the functionality of your blog, but keep it simple. You want to keep the blog focused, and easy for your readers to use.
4. LinkedIn
LinkedIn is a business oriented social network for professionals, and it’s huge, with nearly 50 million users from over 200 countries.
Basic Strategy: Once again, you’ll want to at least reserve your business name (or your personal name) so that others can’t use it. Similar to the way you might start exploring Facebook and Twitter, you should look around on LinkedIn to see how your competitors are using the service. You might also look up your customers and connect with them.
Advanced Strategy: LinkedIn has some powerful features that most people don’t use. For example, you can encourage your customers, clients or vendors to give you a “recommendation” on your profile. Recommendations are useful because they’ll make you and your business more credible with new customers. If you’re a roofer, for example, ask your customers to recommend you after a successful job. You’ll find such recommendations useful – particularly since your LinkedIn profile will come up high in search engine results. I recommend that you read Chris Brogan’s post from last year discussing the elements of a good LinkedIn recommendation.
Another strategy involves the many subject matter groups on LinkedIn. Find some groups that have a connection to your small business and become involved in the conversations. Answer questions when you can, and help to establish yourself as knowledgeable about specific topics related to your business. There are many small business and general marketing groups that will be very useful resources for you, and if there isn’t a group that interests you, consider starting one. READ MORE @ http://mashable.com/2009/10/28/small-business-marketing/
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