If we’ve said it once, we’ve said it 100 times… Social Media Works! (But only when used correctly.) There are many things you can do to reverse the effectiveness of your social media efforts. Today, we will go over a few of those things.
Over Posting/Over Tweeting
There was a particular musical group I was following on Twitter for a while, one morning, they tweeted over 30 times in 30 minutes (more than once a minute). I “unfollowed” them and have never checked out their Twitter feed again. Now, while this might be a bit of an excessive story, the point is: don’t be obnoxious.Some basic guidelines to follow for this (keep in mind that there are rare instances where guidelines need to be broken): 1. Don’t post more than once an hour.
2. Don’t post more than 3 times in a day. (Try to keep it to once in the morning and once in the afternoon, if you can.)
Who Cares?
Don’t talk just to hear the sound of your own voice. In other words, don’t tell your followers and fans things they don’t care about. Make sure when you’re posting it’s something relevant. And never be afraid to ask your followers/fans what they want to hear about!
The Hard Sell
Your social media should primarily be used to connect with customers and potential customers. By doing this, we obviously hope that you will generate more loyal as well as new customers. But would you like to know a good way to not generate more loyal and new customers using social media? Constantly try to sell them on your product! Tell them every day to buy your product because it’s the best. You’ll lose followers/fans faster than you can say “Buy my product.” Now, pictures, fantastic. Informing them about your product, that’s fine. Letting them know when you are running a special, they’d love that! Just do it in a way that’s not an in-your-face sales pitch. They don’t want to hear it.
Preventing Interaction
I went to a page a couple of weeks ago to post something and realized they had the page set so that fans could not post. In our eyes, that basically defeats the purpose. Social media is about interaction. While there are times censor your page, it’s typically good to see the feedback, both good and bad.
So, there you have it! Some of the most common mistakes made on social media! Unfortunately, that doesn’t even begin to cover them all. We didn’t even get into… having the wrong type of page (This needs to be it’s own blog in order to cover everything that needs to be covered) Not giving enough variety in your posts, not encouraging interaction, and so many others.
Sunday, 29 July 2012
Thursday, 26 July 2012
The Knowledge of How to Make iPhone Apps
The knowledge of how to make iPhone apps could make you financially free if you work hard to create applications that people would buy like sweets. But you need to know how! Currently there are over 34 million iPhone sold world wide. And the good news is this number by the end of this year will be much higher.
The market for iPhone apps is about over 34 million user world wide and the application is still not enough to feed such a huge number of users!How to Make iPhone Apps Creating iPhone applications is not that hard once you have the right tools. Tools what you will use to create apps what you will sell to people. You can find tools on the internet for free and use them to do the job.
However if you are serious about creating iPhone applications you may be better if you invest a little.Apple has a developer program which is offering you two packages. The first one is a Standard Program the second one is Enterprise Program.
For more information I recommend to visit Apple's website. They are offering a lot of tutorials and more information how to develop apps for iPhone.If you get the knowledge of how to make iPhone apps you could make some serious money even while you are sleeping.
I have know a guy who has created an app which is sold for so many people and the guy made thousands on it. The app made fart effects. Yes he's farting application made him a revenue.Now is your turn to join the market with your application. You never know what you miss out if you will never try to develop iPhone apps.From know is just up to you if you want to take action and start creating apps for the huge $4 Billion market. Imagine if you sell an application to over 34 million iPhone users (we didn't talk about iTouch and the new iPad which are also using apps) and charge no more than $0.01 for it.
The market for iPhone apps is about over 34 million user world wide and the application is still not enough to feed such a huge number of users!How to Make iPhone Apps Creating iPhone applications is not that hard once you have the right tools. Tools what you will use to create apps what you will sell to people. You can find tools on the internet for free and use them to do the job.
However if you are serious about creating iPhone applications you may be better if you invest a little.Apple has a developer program which is offering you two packages. The first one is a Standard Program the second one is Enterprise Program.
For more information I recommend to visit Apple's website. They are offering a lot of tutorials and more information how to develop apps for iPhone.If you get the knowledge of how to make iPhone apps you could make some serious money even while you are sleeping.
I have know a guy who has created an app which is sold for so many people and the guy made thousands on it. The app made fart effects. Yes he's farting application made him a revenue.Now is your turn to join the market with your application. You never know what you miss out if you will never try to develop iPhone apps.From know is just up to you if you want to take action and start creating apps for the huge $4 Billion market. Imagine if you sell an application to over 34 million iPhone users (we didn't talk about iTouch and the new iPad which are also using apps) and charge no more than $0.01 for it.
Thursday, 19 July 2012
Mobile Apps For Business - The Power Is in the PUSH
Thinking about launching a Mobile App for your business? If not now, when?Now is the time to ride this wave of opportunity.We all know as Entrepreneurs and Business Owners that in order to stay competitive in today's marketplace, you need to position your business to take advantage of emerging trends. Mobile Marketing is NOT in the future, it's NOW!
Did you know that statistics show mobile consumers have their phone or mobile devices within 3 feet of them 23 hours a day? Just think about the opportunity you have before you to have YOUR business on your clients or prospects mobile device 23 hours a day / 365 days out of the year? Now that my friends is what I call OPPORTUNITY! I don't know any other marketing medium that has the same power to instantly get the attention for your target market.
What do you think the average response or open rate is today with email marketing? Unless you have a super responsive and active list, you will only see 4% - 9% open rates within the first 24-48 hours of you pushing the send button. Mobile push or text messages are seen and opened 97% of the time within the first 4 minutes. Now that is impressive! Just think about your own mobile behavior, or heck just look around you.
Consumer expectation is that every "Brand" has an app they can download and access on their mobile device.
We are often asked the question, "Why should I have a mobile app?" Here are just a few reasons why you should have one:
i)Builds customer loyalty. Everyone likes to feel included in something special, so make customers feel like VIPs by offering discounts, coupons, and promotions just for using and downloading the app.
ii)Creates a viral buzz. Encourage customers to use the mobile app to quickly tell all of their friends about the business using the built-in sharing capabilities of Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, your blog, SMS, and Email.
iii)Grow customer lists. A mobile app can gather names and email addresses from directly within the app and easily export them into the top email marketing campaign services to be used in additional emails.
iv)Get instant feedback. Mobile apps allow customers to leave feedback on fan walls, share photos, and send comments in a variety of ways.
What is an App? An App is an application that has to be downloaded and installed on a mobile device, rather than being rendered within a browser. Users visit device-specific portals such as Apple's App Store, and the Android Google Play Market in order to find and download apps for a given operating system. An app provides an interactive engagement with users and works more like a computer program than a website.
The app may pull content and data from the Internet, in similar fashion to a website, or it may download the content so that it can be accessed without an Internet connection.
It is expected that by mid-2012 more people will be accessing the internet on their mobile devices than on PC's. With that in mind, it cannot be emphasized enough the importance of having one's business or service seen properly across all the different mobile platforms otherwise you will lose business.
What better way for your business to stay in touch with your customers than with your own customized mobile application!Do you have clients and customers that you want to communicate and stay in touch with? If so, what is the best way to do that and get responsive results? The clear choice is through Mobile Apps.I've put together my top ten tips to ensure your app success:
1. Determine your ObjectiveAre you looking for sales, brand awareness, social media engagement or to stay in constant contact and in front of your clients and prospects?As Entrepreneurs and Business Owners it's easy for us to get distracted and become overwhelmed with all our responsibilities and otherwise great ideas. Be sure when developing your mobile marketing strategy that it aligns with your core message, and resonates with your viewing audience.
2. Integrate Social Sharing FeaturesWe all know and understand the power of social engagement, and social sharing features of our information. All of your social sites can be integrated into your Mobile App which will insure and increase your brand awareness.
3. Keep Your App and its content up to dateJust as important as updating a blog, your app must be updated with relevant and engaging content. You need to keep the end user engaged, or just as quickly as they downloaded your app, they can remove it.
4. Integrate interactive and events featuresProvide up-to-date information about all of your business events and specials by creating an events calendar. Whether you conduct live events or virtual events online, you will want to keep your new users engaged and in-the-know of what you're doing, where you're doing it, and how they can participate. We are social creatures by nature, and want this information available at our fingertips..literally!
5. Create Loyalty / VIP ProgramsYou will want to incentivize your subscribers, and give them a reason not only to download your app, but to also keep it on their mobile device. It's very simple to create Loyalty or VIP programs, and your clients and prospects will LOVE you for it.
6. Develop an effective Mobile Marketing StrategyIt's not if you build it they will come... You need to prepare your marketing plan prior to the launch of your new App in the App Stores. This will include, but is definitely not limited to:Be sure to send an email notification to your subscribers with URL links to the Apple and Android (Google Play) Marketplaces. So they can download it. Don't forget to incentivize them in some way for doing so!Create QR Codes that link directly to your App (QR Codes are 2-dimensional black and white squares that contains a url or specially coded message that your phone's camera along with QR Scanner Software will decode for you.)Social Network promotions... oh this can be a great tool!!!Keyword research for your App is just as important as for your website. As you build your App, or have a developer do it for you, determine what your keywords will be as well as the description for your App. These are both extremely important as they are two of the more permanent features of your App and will immediately assist you in generating new clients and leads when done correctly.
7. Create Raving FansIt's very important to create an opportunity for your App users to feel as though they are part of your community. Remember the Social Sharing feature? Well this is just as important. What if at your next event, you gave your App users the ability to upload their photos from the event, or even write on your App fan wall? We have seen it time and time again on Social Networks how important this is, in fact it's a must!
8. Track your progress with in-App AnalyticsYou want to be sure you have a way to track the downloads of your App in the App Stores/Markets. Tracking the number of downloads is important as you prepare for future promotions, as well as revenue streams from advertising opportunities. The more downloads you have, the more valuable you are to advertising partners. This is a great way to help monetize your app!
9. YES... The Power IS in the PUSH!!!!Here's the most important feature of all... PUSH Notifications! This is very similar to sending out an email notification, but is much more effective. Remember you will have a 97% open rate within the first few minutes of sending it. You can send out notices immediately, or schedule them to go out on a particular day, and time you set.The push notification will show up on a mobile device just like a text message would. These are delivered to everyone who has downloaded your app on their mobile device. They are displayed on smartphones and iPads/Tablets. The message will be displayed on the home screen of the phone or tablet literally the moment you press "Send".One word of caution though... Do NOT over use the Push Notification feature. This can be interpreted at SPAM, so please don't abuse it. Treat your new App Subscribers just like you would your email list and provide value first, then create the hunger and desire for your products and services and the sales will naturally follow.
10. Promote, Promote, Promote!Once your App is completed and published in the App Stores, you will need to get busy promoting your new marketing tool! Your app will not download itself to other mobile devices, so you will need to be proactive in the marketing and promotion of your new App. Now is the time to get in front of potential clients and customers.Enroll the help of marketing partners to promote your new App, and yes even your friends and family, and most importantly don't forget about your existing client base. They are already your RAVING FANS!In order for your App to be successful and provide you a great new way to market to your audience, you must be willing to follow the steps listed above.Don't forget the golden rule of marketing: People buy from People, and those they Know, Like and Trust! Having a mobile app for your business will help expand your "Brand!"Isn't it time to share your expertise and reach your mobile consumers before your competition?
It's your responsibility to make it easy for them to connect with you!The possibilities for your Mobile App are endless.
Did you know that statistics show mobile consumers have their phone or mobile devices within 3 feet of them 23 hours a day? Just think about the opportunity you have before you to have YOUR business on your clients or prospects mobile device 23 hours a day / 365 days out of the year? Now that my friends is what I call OPPORTUNITY! I don't know any other marketing medium that has the same power to instantly get the attention for your target market.
What do you think the average response or open rate is today with email marketing? Unless you have a super responsive and active list, you will only see 4% - 9% open rates within the first 24-48 hours of you pushing the send button. Mobile push or text messages are seen and opened 97% of the time within the first 4 minutes. Now that is impressive! Just think about your own mobile behavior, or heck just look around you.
Consumer expectation is that every "Brand" has an app they can download and access on their mobile device.
We are often asked the question, "Why should I have a mobile app?" Here are just a few reasons why you should have one:
i)Builds customer loyalty. Everyone likes to feel included in something special, so make customers feel like VIPs by offering discounts, coupons, and promotions just for using and downloading the app.
ii)Creates a viral buzz. Encourage customers to use the mobile app to quickly tell all of their friends about the business using the built-in sharing capabilities of Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, your blog, SMS, and Email.
iii)Grow customer lists. A mobile app can gather names and email addresses from directly within the app and easily export them into the top email marketing campaign services to be used in additional emails.
iv)Get instant feedback. Mobile apps allow customers to leave feedback on fan walls, share photos, and send comments in a variety of ways.
What is an App? An App is an application that has to be downloaded and installed on a mobile device, rather than being rendered within a browser. Users visit device-specific portals such as Apple's App Store, and the Android Google Play Market in order to find and download apps for a given operating system. An app provides an interactive engagement with users and works more like a computer program than a website.
The app may pull content and data from the Internet, in similar fashion to a website, or it may download the content so that it can be accessed without an Internet connection.
It is expected that by mid-2012 more people will be accessing the internet on their mobile devices than on PC's. With that in mind, it cannot be emphasized enough the importance of having one's business or service seen properly across all the different mobile platforms otherwise you will lose business.
What better way for your business to stay in touch with your customers than with your own customized mobile application!Do you have clients and customers that you want to communicate and stay in touch with? If so, what is the best way to do that and get responsive results? The clear choice is through Mobile Apps.I've put together my top ten tips to ensure your app success:
1. Determine your ObjectiveAre you looking for sales, brand awareness, social media engagement or to stay in constant contact and in front of your clients and prospects?As Entrepreneurs and Business Owners it's easy for us to get distracted and become overwhelmed with all our responsibilities and otherwise great ideas. Be sure when developing your mobile marketing strategy that it aligns with your core message, and resonates with your viewing audience.
2. Integrate Social Sharing FeaturesWe all know and understand the power of social engagement, and social sharing features of our information. All of your social sites can be integrated into your Mobile App which will insure and increase your brand awareness.
3. Keep Your App and its content up to dateJust as important as updating a blog, your app must be updated with relevant and engaging content. You need to keep the end user engaged, or just as quickly as they downloaded your app, they can remove it.
4. Integrate interactive and events featuresProvide up-to-date information about all of your business events and specials by creating an events calendar. Whether you conduct live events or virtual events online, you will want to keep your new users engaged and in-the-know of what you're doing, where you're doing it, and how they can participate. We are social creatures by nature, and want this information available at our fingertips..literally!
5. Create Loyalty / VIP ProgramsYou will want to incentivize your subscribers, and give them a reason not only to download your app, but to also keep it on their mobile device. It's very simple to create Loyalty or VIP programs, and your clients and prospects will LOVE you for it.
6. Develop an effective Mobile Marketing StrategyIt's not if you build it they will come... You need to prepare your marketing plan prior to the launch of your new App in the App Stores. This will include, but is definitely not limited to:Be sure to send an email notification to your subscribers with URL links to the Apple and Android (Google Play) Marketplaces. So they can download it. Don't forget to incentivize them in some way for doing so!Create QR Codes that link directly to your App (QR Codes are 2-dimensional black and white squares that contains a url or specially coded message that your phone's camera along with QR Scanner Software will decode for you.)Social Network promotions... oh this can be a great tool!!!Keyword research for your App is just as important as for your website. As you build your App, or have a developer do it for you, determine what your keywords will be as well as the description for your App. These are both extremely important as they are two of the more permanent features of your App and will immediately assist you in generating new clients and leads when done correctly.
7. Create Raving FansIt's very important to create an opportunity for your App users to feel as though they are part of your community. Remember the Social Sharing feature? Well this is just as important. What if at your next event, you gave your App users the ability to upload their photos from the event, or even write on your App fan wall? We have seen it time and time again on Social Networks how important this is, in fact it's a must!
8. Track your progress with in-App AnalyticsYou want to be sure you have a way to track the downloads of your App in the App Stores/Markets. Tracking the number of downloads is important as you prepare for future promotions, as well as revenue streams from advertising opportunities. The more downloads you have, the more valuable you are to advertising partners. This is a great way to help monetize your app!
9. YES... The Power IS in the PUSH!!!!Here's the most important feature of all... PUSH Notifications! This is very similar to sending out an email notification, but is much more effective. Remember you will have a 97% open rate within the first few minutes of sending it. You can send out notices immediately, or schedule them to go out on a particular day, and time you set.The push notification will show up on a mobile device just like a text message would. These are delivered to everyone who has downloaded your app on their mobile device. They are displayed on smartphones and iPads/Tablets. The message will be displayed on the home screen of the phone or tablet literally the moment you press "Send".One word of caution though... Do NOT over use the Push Notification feature. This can be interpreted at SPAM, so please don't abuse it. Treat your new App Subscribers just like you would your email list and provide value first, then create the hunger and desire for your products and services and the sales will naturally follow.
10. Promote, Promote, Promote!Once your App is completed and published in the App Stores, you will need to get busy promoting your new marketing tool! Your app will not download itself to other mobile devices, so you will need to be proactive in the marketing and promotion of your new App. Now is the time to get in front of potential clients and customers.Enroll the help of marketing partners to promote your new App, and yes even your friends and family, and most importantly don't forget about your existing client base. They are already your RAVING FANS!In order for your App to be successful and provide you a great new way to market to your audience, you must be willing to follow the steps listed above.Don't forget the golden rule of marketing: People buy from People, and those they Know, Like and Trust! Having a mobile app for your business will help expand your "Brand!"Isn't it time to share your expertise and reach your mobile consumers before your competition?
It's your responsibility to make it easy for them to connect with you!The possibilities for your Mobile App are endless.
Sunday, 15 July 2012
Ways To Earn Money Online Without A Blog
There are literally millions of articles in the blogosphere showing us how to make money online. Even people who’ve never made any substantial money on the Internet are writing about how to do so. This is getting slightly old for many of us. We’ve read enough of those articles and still can’t find any real ways we as individuals can make money online. We’ve done the ‘click here’ scenario which outlines how a ‘stay at home’ mum made $5,000 online in her first month. Yet, here we are, broke and wondering how we’re going to get a bite of the online money cake, especially since we haven’t even got a blog.
Here are some real ways people have been making money on the Internet and you can too.
Sign up with Fiverr and advertise your services to earn money
Fiverr is a website that allows you to sell any talent you have for $5.00. Can you sing a jingle, write a song, write love poems, cry on cue, and tape yourself laughing silly over any random joke? Can you take pictures of the pandas living next door to you? Do you live in a city everyone wants to visit (you can take pictures of this and sell to them).Can you photoshop any picture? Can you paint your face blue and recite happy birthday? The possibilities are endless. Once you describe what you’re willing to do, and your gig is approved, do a good job and get your gigs rated highly. Once you start receiving ratings, your gig could potentially become one of the biggest on the site. It’s possible to get multiple orders each day.
Sell on e-bay to earn money online
Have you got vintage toys you no longer use? Do you live in the UK where Dr Who toys are available cheaply? US collectors will buy them for higher prices. Whatever you have you can sell on e-bay. As long as you develop a track record of delivering good–quality stuff, well within the time stated, you’ll demonstrate that you can be trusted. You can work from home selling on e-Bay, making a great additional income from this extra online service – and there’s no blog in sight!
Design e-book covers to earn money online
If you’re artistic or have experience with graphic design you could potentially set yourself up (if you’ve taken time to build up your network and your platform) as a designer for e-Book covers. E-Book writing is an unusually popular and profitable business these days. Most bloggers have written one in order to get people to sign up to their sites (they give them away for free to each subscriber).Each of these books has to have a cover. This is where you come in. With practise, you could become extremely good, if you’re not already there. Bloggers you’ve designed for will obviously have their books displayed prominently on their sites. All you have to do is ask them to credit you as the designer (perhaps in exchange for a small discount). They will be doing your promotion for you.
Design websites to earn money online
We’ve already mentioned how the website business has come a long way and is a very profitable industry to get into. You don’t have to have a blog to profit from one. If you have knowledge or experience in html or coding, you can sell your services to bloggers. Millions of people potentially need your services out there. Again, ask to be credited on their blogs (perhaps in exchange for a discount) and watch your business take shape because of all those people, in different parts of the world who are promoting and marketing your services for free.
Here are some real ways people have been making money on the Internet and you can too.
Sign up with Fiverr and advertise your services to earn money
Fiverr is a website that allows you to sell any talent you have for $5.00. Can you sing a jingle, write a song, write love poems, cry on cue, and tape yourself laughing silly over any random joke? Can you take pictures of the pandas living next door to you? Do you live in a city everyone wants to visit (you can take pictures of this and sell to them).Can you photoshop any picture? Can you paint your face blue and recite happy birthday? The possibilities are endless. Once you describe what you’re willing to do, and your gig is approved, do a good job and get your gigs rated highly. Once you start receiving ratings, your gig could potentially become one of the biggest on the site. It’s possible to get multiple orders each day.
Sell on e-bay to earn money online
Have you got vintage toys you no longer use? Do you live in the UK where Dr Who toys are available cheaply? US collectors will buy them for higher prices. Whatever you have you can sell on e-bay. As long as you develop a track record of delivering good–quality stuff, well within the time stated, you’ll demonstrate that you can be trusted. You can work from home selling on e-Bay, making a great additional income from this extra online service – and there’s no blog in sight!
Design e-book covers to earn money online
If you’re artistic or have experience with graphic design you could potentially set yourself up (if you’ve taken time to build up your network and your platform) as a designer for e-Book covers. E-Book writing is an unusually popular and profitable business these days. Most bloggers have written one in order to get people to sign up to their sites (they give them away for free to each subscriber).Each of these books has to have a cover. This is where you come in. With practise, you could become extremely good, if you’re not already there. Bloggers you’ve designed for will obviously have their books displayed prominently on their sites. All you have to do is ask them to credit you as the designer (perhaps in exchange for a small discount). They will be doing your promotion for you.
Design websites to earn money online
We’ve already mentioned how the website business has come a long way and is a very profitable industry to get into. You don’t have to have a blog to profit from one. If you have knowledge or experience in html or coding, you can sell your services to bloggers. Millions of people potentially need your services out there. Again, ask to be credited on their blogs (perhaps in exchange for a discount) and watch your business take shape because of all those people, in different parts of the world who are promoting and marketing your services for free.
Sunday, 8 July 2012
Facebook and Twitter feed anxiety
A poll of those using the technology found more than half of those surveyed said the sites had changed their behaviour - and half of those said their lives had been altered for the worse.Most commonly, those who suffered a negative impact from social media said their confidence fell after comparing their own achievements to those of friends online. Two-thirds said they found it hard to relax completely or to sleep after spending time on the sites.And one quarter of those polled said they had been left facing difficulties in their relationships or workplace after becoming confrontational online.In total, 298 people were polled by Salford Business School at the University of Salford, for the charity Anxiety UK. Of those, 53 per cent said the launch of social networking sites had changed their behaviour - and of those, 51 per cent said the impact had been negative.
The research also demonstrated the addictive powers of internet, with 55 per cent of people saying they felt "worried or uncomfortable" when they could not access their Facebook or email accounts. More than 60 per cent of people said they felt compelled to turn off electronic gadgets in order to have a break, with one in three of those surveyed saying they switched the devices off several times each day.The findings about behaviour changes after using social networking sites came from smaller in-depth research which was then carried out by Anxiety UK.Nicky Lidbetter, the charity's chief executive said: "If you are predisposed to anxiety it seems that the pressures from technology act as a tipping point, making people feel more insecure and more overwhelmed."She said the charity was surprised by the high proportion of people who found that the only way to ensure a break from the demands of their devices was to switch them off, as they were not capable of simply ignoring their mobile phones, BlackBerry devices and computers.Dr Linda Blair, a clinical psychologist said many people suffered increased anxiety because they failed to take charge of the demands being placed on them. She said: "I think one of the key things is that people have begun to behave as though technology is in control of them, instead of the other way round. We can switch the gadgets off but a lot of us have forgotten how to".Last year, a global study found that turning off mobile phones, avoiding the internet and tuning out of the television and radio can leave people suffering from symptoms similar to those seen in drug addicts trying to go "cold turkey". Scientists asked volunteers from 12 universities around the world to stay away from computers, mobile phones, iPods, television and radio for 24 hours. They found that the participants began to develop symptoms typically seen in smokers attempting to give up. The majority of those who enrolled in the study failed to last the full 24 hours without demanding their gadgets back.
The research also demonstrated the addictive powers of internet, with 55 per cent of people saying they felt "worried or uncomfortable" when they could not access their Facebook or email accounts. More than 60 per cent of people said they felt compelled to turn off electronic gadgets in order to have a break, with one in three of those surveyed saying they switched the devices off several times each day.The findings about behaviour changes after using social networking sites came from smaller in-depth research which was then carried out by Anxiety UK.Nicky Lidbetter, the charity's chief executive said: "If you are predisposed to anxiety it seems that the pressures from technology act as a tipping point, making people feel more insecure and more overwhelmed."She said the charity was surprised by the high proportion of people who found that the only way to ensure a break from the demands of their devices was to switch them off, as they were not capable of simply ignoring their mobile phones, BlackBerry devices and computers.Dr Linda Blair, a clinical psychologist said many people suffered increased anxiety because they failed to take charge of the demands being placed on them. She said: "I think one of the key things is that people have begun to behave as though technology is in control of them, instead of the other way round. We can switch the gadgets off but a lot of us have forgotten how to".Last year, a global study found that turning off mobile phones, avoiding the internet and tuning out of the television and radio can leave people suffering from symptoms similar to those seen in drug addicts trying to go "cold turkey". Scientists asked volunteers from 12 universities around the world to stay away from computers, mobile phones, iPods, television and radio for 24 hours. They found that the participants began to develop symptoms typically seen in smokers attempting to give up. The majority of those who enrolled in the study failed to last the full 24 hours without demanding their gadgets back.
Wednesday, 4 July 2012
7 Social Media Strategies for Small Business Owners
Investing in free social media tools is one of the most cost-effective things a small business owner can do to increase brand recognition and awareness, and yet fewer than 20% of SMBs currently have websites that link to popular social media networks like Facebook and Twitter. Why the disconnect? A 2011 survey by Hiscox, a small business insurance agency, found that 24% of SMB owners say they don’t have time to participate in social media marketing, while 14% say they don’t even know where to begin. Here are seven tips from experts in the social media marketing industry about how business owners can take advantage of the social media tools available today.1. Start measuring immediately. It’s important for small businesses to know how they’re doing when it comes to social media — including which tweets are getting the most re-tweets, which Facebook posts are getting the most ‘likes’, and which Tumblr posts are getting the most reblogs. By choosing some metrics that are important and keeping track of those measurements early on, businesses can generate benchmarks that they can look back at to see how they’re faring over time.
2. Timing is everything. When it comes to social media strategy, business owners should make sure they are tapping into the right channels during the optimal time of day. For example, restaurants may benefit from tweeting specials during lunchtime. The best days to send messages are on Tuesdays, Wednesdays, and Thursdays, since Monday is a catch-up day and Friday is too close to the weekend. Also, businesses will get the most traffic by scheduling their messages according to Eastern Standard Time.
3. Use the right platforms. Each social media site has its own particular quirks, and the messages that work on one site won’t necessary work on another. Photos are great on Facebook, Tumblr, and Instagram, but they don’t have the same impact when posted on Twitter. Business owners should experiment to learn which types of content work best on which platforms, and then do more of whatever produces the greatest results.
4. Treat social media as a two-way street. Social media networks like Facebook and Twitter aren’t just a one-way street. Business owners should ideally be writing posts and responding to customers regularly, both as a way to keep customers engaged and to promote social sharing. Industry estimates show that most people have an average of 250 friends on Facebook. Businesses can tap into that network for free when they engage customers in conversations about their products online.
5. Offer exclusive deals and discounts. One of the main reasons why customers follow their favorite brands online is to get access to special deals and offers. Businesses that share special promotions, social-specific deals, and exclusive content on their social media pages are not only giving customers a reason to follow their companies, but also providing an avenue to generate sales via social media.
6. Get smart about check-in sites. Check-in sites like Foursquare provide an excellent opportunity for cross promotion. Businesses can tweet at customers checking-in to thank them for visiting, and then ask those customers to leave their feedback on sites like Google Places and Yelp. Foursquare is also a great place for customer acquisition, since businesses can actively reach out to people checking-in at competing establishments with special offers or deals meant to bring those people in.
7. Integrate social media into other business systems. Social media doesn’t exist in a vacuum. By integrating social channels with existing systems like Google Analytics and Omniture, and using a social media management system, companies can connect the dots and see the role social media is playing in their overall marketing efforts. Business owners should track the traffic that social media networks are driving to their websites and find out whether social media is converting certain activities into pre-defined goals, like sales or customer acquisition.
2. Timing is everything. When it comes to social media strategy, business owners should make sure they are tapping into the right channels during the optimal time of day. For example, restaurants may benefit from tweeting specials during lunchtime. The best days to send messages are on Tuesdays, Wednesdays, and Thursdays, since Monday is a catch-up day and Friday is too close to the weekend. Also, businesses will get the most traffic by scheduling their messages according to Eastern Standard Time.
3. Use the right platforms. Each social media site has its own particular quirks, and the messages that work on one site won’t necessary work on another. Photos are great on Facebook, Tumblr, and Instagram, but they don’t have the same impact when posted on Twitter. Business owners should experiment to learn which types of content work best on which platforms, and then do more of whatever produces the greatest results.
4. Treat social media as a two-way street. Social media networks like Facebook and Twitter aren’t just a one-way street. Business owners should ideally be writing posts and responding to customers regularly, both as a way to keep customers engaged and to promote social sharing. Industry estimates show that most people have an average of 250 friends on Facebook. Businesses can tap into that network for free when they engage customers in conversations about their products online.
5. Offer exclusive deals and discounts. One of the main reasons why customers follow their favorite brands online is to get access to special deals and offers. Businesses that share special promotions, social-specific deals, and exclusive content on their social media pages are not only giving customers a reason to follow their companies, but also providing an avenue to generate sales via social media.
6. Get smart about check-in sites. Check-in sites like Foursquare provide an excellent opportunity for cross promotion. Businesses can tweet at customers checking-in to thank them for visiting, and then ask those customers to leave their feedback on sites like Google Places and Yelp. Foursquare is also a great place for customer acquisition, since businesses can actively reach out to people checking-in at competing establishments with special offers or deals meant to bring those people in.
7. Integrate social media into other business systems. Social media doesn’t exist in a vacuum. By integrating social channels with existing systems like Google Analytics and Omniture, and using a social media management system, companies can connect the dots and see the role social media is playing in their overall marketing efforts. Business owners should track the traffic that social media networks are driving to their websites and find out whether social media is converting certain activities into pre-defined goals, like sales or customer acquisition.
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