Month: August 2012

It’s somewhere between $900 billion and 1.3 trillion dollars.

No small change.

Yet some of the world’s richest people are not Tweeting: the CEOs of the world’s Fortune 500 companies. Only 20 of them own a Twitter account. And those that have one only use it sporadically, if at all.

The resistance to tweeting keeps many businesses behind in social media gains such as new business and technology.

It is costing them around $900 billion to $1.3 trillion in potential value.

Read more:

The $1.3 Trillion Price Of Not Tweeting At Work

Google Plus has long been an underused resource. Now Google will combine it with Google Apps, which corporations buy to track information via calendar, document, and spreadsheet service.

The integration is designed to make office flow much smoother. One of the many positives is the streamlining that will result from Hangouts, a video chat service that utilizes calendars and allows everyone to coordinate virtually.

Read more:

Google Plus Goes to the Office

Is blogging on weekends worth the effort? That depends on what you write about.

Writing a business blog means that many readers will read it during the week to keep up with trends or breaking news. It has become a part of some workers’ daily routine to read a blog on their lunch break or to search for needed info during work hours. If this is your audience, you need to keep them updated Monday-Friday.

But if your blog covers travel, nightlife or selling any number of things that people need on the weekend, then it makes sense to blog. Lots of people work on the weekend and can use the info. Let’s say you run a blog on theater. Concierges need your info to remain current.

Track your posts to see what gets the most hits to know better who is following your blog when.

Many companies operate blogs that do little to improve sales or even generate interest. They barely register a click in most respects.

But there are four blogging tips that can significantly increase site traffic:

-Get company leadership behind the blog -Let everyone in the company participate -Hire a talented content officer -Make your blog a worthwhile read

Blogging can radically improve your online presence – if you do it the right way.

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4 Blogging Tips to Double Your Site Traffic

Building a valuable social media following requires one thing: Giving the people something worth following.

If your social media only talks about buying this or that, people tune it out very quickly. That’s because they already know of about a million other pages that do that.

Well, maybe a million is overstating it, but still… it’s common. And common doesn’t stand out in a common crowd .

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Social Media: How to build a large, valuable network

All web masters need to establish trust.

Offline, trust develops from a strong handshake and eye contact. A customer learns to trust the business whether it’s through body language or decor or tangible accomplishments, such as displayed awards. Offline, customers usually behave with decorum that allows a relationship to build.

Customers don’t to do that online. They can leave a website even quicker than they can leave a store – you need to build a relationship with your web visitors that is built on trust and that grows over time.

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Do You Trust Me?

Want to become a leader in your industry? Here are some steps you can take to become a player in your niche:

• Give 100% of your energy, and not just to things that make you comfortable.

• Fix the problems that need fixing without blaming other people or elements out of your control, like the down economy.

• Set high customer service standards rather than settling for just being “average”.

• Set fees that reflect your expertise, not that reflect mere averages.

• Listen, but also form and voice your own opinions.

• Lead.

All of this requires stepping outside your zone of comfort. Doing so is one of the surest pathways to success in any business.

Google is now utilizing a geographical targeting option for Adwords. This includes 11 countries and plans for more along with Canadian postal code targeting. In the U.S. market, this will affect urban areas as they will no longer be targeted. Designated marketing area (DMA) targeting is the new goal, and Nielsen media markets will be designated.

If advertisers use both online and television, they will be able to reach the same people by targeting the same DMA on both.

Despite the changes, Google expects advertisers to experience few problems.

Content marketing specialists often make the mistake of only posting about themselves and their brand. This generally leads to an output of boring content that no one wants to read.

Great content creators understand that readers crave interesting content, and that using techniques like topic bridging to write about interesting topics related to your business can grow an engaged following and help you build your brand in the process.

To be a content marketing success, your content can’t only be about your company, it must be compelling.

Read more:

Secrets of Content Marketing World: Agent Julie Fleischer, Kraft Foods

2012 marketing trends reveal that consumers are rapidly becoming device-agnostic, which means that you must be everywhere your customers go, from their home computer to their mobile phone. There are also other issues that should affect how your company appears online.

First of all, it’s time everyone realized that social media is here to stay. Adults use it, too. It is the number one Internet activity for just about everyone. All companies benefit from strong social media marketing.

Content marketing creates brand value. It allows your service to stand out from competitors in an engaging way. Make sure the content is viable and relevant.

Keep open communication with your customers. Emails counts. They like to feel valued and connected one on one. Targeted communication in addition to social media builds business and loyalty.

Real time means that you need to get real serious about crisis management. Keeping on top of trends and tracking how prospects connect can help prevent a marketing crisis, but if one occurs a crisis management team can prevent an even bigger disaster.