Web Content and Social Networking Experts

The biggest marketing mistake you can make, and how to avoid it.

Yesterday, we mentioned a forum we joined that treated potential clients like they were stupid. Unbelievably, they did even worse than that. What could be worse? They did not tell us what the product does, what benefit's it offers, and why we should buy it. That's what.

What they did instead was use a long list of testimonials. So, what's the problem? None of the testimonials told us what the product does either. All they contained was how much they liked it. which is what they are supposed to contain. Bottom line? No help there in the sales cycle.

Testimonials

Using good things said by others about your product is a fantastic marketing tool. However, that does not relieve you from showing potential customers what your product does, why they need this to be done, and why your product is the product of choice to accomplish that.

to be successful, you must, tell your audience what your product will do for them. Nothing, absolutely nothing, takes the place of that, superb product description, and answering this question: What's In It For Me?

Tell Your Audience

Always tell potential clients why they need your product in clear, concise terms, written in every day words. Do that and you succeed. Don't and you won't.

Are you treating clients and potential clients like they're stupid? You just might be.

People are not stupid. Certainly your clients, and potential clients are not stupid. So, don't treat them that way. Let's say that you offer a subscription service, or product, for $60 per year. If you bill monthly, then advertise the monthly price. If you do one time billing list that.

What Not To Do

A forum we just joined advertises a product at $60 per uear, and then go on to say that works out to five dollars per month. That just abuses readers. Do they think we can't determine the monthly cost ourself? Why not give the cost in days? How about cost per hour?

Mixing The Message

The idea, of course, is to reduce the apparent cost by using a lower number over a shorter time frame. We get that, and have no problem with it because it's a good business tactic. Just don't tell potential clients what the math "works out to." We're smart enough to earn the money to pay the fee,so we're smart enough to to the math.

Do you need to do market research? LinkedIn Polls may be just what you're looking for.

There's nothing better than knowing that you are doing the right think in your marketing efforts. to gain that peace of mind and confidence there is only one thing to do - ask your audience what they think of what you're doing.

Here's How With LinkedIn Polls

Asking is polling. So what better than a tool that specifically does that.

• You will need to install Polls to your LinkedIn account, this link will do that Install Polls. On the right side of your monitor you will see a button titled, Update Settings. You can select the check box, if you want, to display on LinkedIn homepage. Up to you.
• Next you actually create the poll. href="http://help.linkedin.com/app/answers/detail/a_id/1206">Create Poll by following this link.
• Your poll allows you to ask a question and pose five answers.You can share it on LinkedIn, Twitter, and Facebook.

This is a fantastic tool that will do wonders for your marketing. Now you can test what you think will be effective to find out is it is or not. Now you make changes and test again. What's better than that?

Your Cost?

There is no cost. This terrific tool is included in your basic membership. If that great, or what?

Want Free and excellent tools? Here's a list to some of the best on the net.

    Usually we've discuss Facebook, marketing or other things of great wonderfulness. So, its time for a change. Here's a site we stumbled on just moments ago. And, yes, we like it.

The Jive Wall - A list of really great free software you should be using

Many of the tools, software, utilities that you find here we've used before and many we have not used. Having said that, this is well worth your time if you have a problem because you just might fine a free of charge solution here.

If that's not enough incentive for a quick look, we don't know what is. The link above takes you to the specific post, not to the main page. We wouldn't do that to you.

Is Facebook finished one way or the other?

As we blogged yesterday, Facebook is in trouble. Real trouble, but enough of that. Should Facebook, like Humpty Dumpty, take a great fall. Who will put Facebook back together again? We know who won't help. Google+, Twitter, Pinterest, MySpace. No help there. That's for sure.

 The online world moves fast. It moves at the speed of what's hot now. And when you are no longer hot, people move on. And what do they take with them? Their money. Their accounts. Their time. Hey, online you're hot, or you're not.

So, Facebook has a window of opportunity to get it together. They have got to get this class action suit settled, got to get advertisers, absolutely must get the cash flow into the black. Question is, can they do it in time?

The Competition is Moving

Facebook's competitors won't stand idly by while this gets this straightened out. You can bet that senior staff at FB's competitors are meeting on how to take advantage of Facebook's woe's.

And The Question Is?

Whether Facebook is exonerated of all charges, and gets it stock price back is no longer the question. Those things take time. Time that the competition will put to good use. So, even if Facebook wins, they lose.

What do your think?Is this the end of Facebook. Share this. What other people think is important.

              

Facebook's in trouble. And you may be too, if it's integral to your success.

    We were telling our friends in the business of developing Facebook ages to get put in place a back-up plan in case Facebook goes under. Well, things are looking worse and worse every day.

    There is a class action suit going forward because, we read, Facebook may have hid weakened growth forecasts ahead of it's Initial Public Offering (IPO).

    A business friend and colleague gets calls, almost daily, from Facebook wanting him to to sell 10,000 dollar per week advertising. This is a tough sell because of the price and because General Motors ended their Facebook advertising program. If it doesn't work for GM, why would it work for you?

   Should Facebook and advertising there work for you, that's fine. However, if you have not yet taken the leap to use it in your social networking mix, we recommend you wait and see how the class action suite plays out.

    Having said that, we hope this ends well for everyone concerned, and that very much includes Facebook. 

    For more in the class action suit,read this story at the Los Angles Times.

    For a story on information supposedly being hidden from investors, read this at  Reuters.

 

 

 

 

 

Want a free education? Khan Academy is your online, free place to increase your skills.

There is little more valuable to your professional career and to "the inner Man" (not an insult ladies, I refer to members of Mankind, not the male gender). So where is this post going?

Do you want to know about binary numbers, algebra, calculus? How about Euclid, the father of geometry?

Khan Academy

Khan Academy Here you will find videos on these topics and many more. These courses are your totally free of charge.

• Math
• Philosophy
• Astronomy
• computer Science
• Credit
• Currency
• Economics
• Finance

Please share this with your friends, this resource it far too valuable to keep to yourself.

 

Google blows away Facebook as an advertising platform. This from Business Insider.

Google versus Facebook for your advertising dollar is an interesting and pertinent question. Below is a link to an article at BusinessInsider.com that you should read before you lay down your hard earned money. In it you will find proof in black and white that Google is a better platform for advertising than Facebook.

 Google Totally Blows Away Facebook On Ad Performance.

That Facebook is an excellent tool for advertising and social networking is beyond dispute, but it just might be that if you want to advertise only, Google is better for your needs. Online and offline, what you want to achieve is the critical question that drives all answers. As we've said here before, social networking in not a one-size-fits-all affair, and we believe advertising fits that description as well.  

So, What's The Message?

Use the tools that get you where you want to be, not what's convenient, what you happen to be familiar with, or what's recommended. Online, as in life, what works for someone else may, or may not, work for you.

Want to sell a million books?

So, you want to sell a million books. Here's how. Do your book project backwards. Yes, you read that right. Don't write the book and then try to sell it. Here's how it works. Well, in thumbnail anyway.

• Research the topics that sold a million books over he last five or ten years.
• Pick one you like and that has not been done lately.
• Create a new slant, a new opinion, something new and fresh is what you want on a proven theme.
• Research the market viability of the idea. If it looks good.
• Get a agent on-board and get the idea fine tuned. If this is to be un-agented get together people in the business you trust and do the same thing.
• Complete these profiles of your buyers:
  • Demographic
  • Psychographic
  • Geographic
  • Behavioral
  • and Preference Study
• Start researching the book.
• Start thinking about marketing and advertising.
• Fulfillment. How will you get the product to the customer if a paper book. If an eBook this is not a problem.
• Obtain testimonials and recommendation for the back cover, your Website, online, and inside the book as well. Get people known in the field directly related to your book or people known to the public.
• Start writing the book.
• Get going on prepublication publicity and marketing.  
• Finish the book and get it to the printer / agent / publisher.
• Publish the book.
• Ramp up your marketing efforts with
  • article marketing
  • online marketing
  • the book's Website
  • the book's Facebook page
  • socially networked press releases are ready. Send your press release to
    • bloggers
    • libraries
    • newspapers
    • television
    • radio
    • and other pertinent media outlets.
• Continue to market online, schedule personal appearances, put together a book marketing tour, and anything else you can dream up.

That should do it. We said this was done backwards. By starting with the end in mind, you create a book project with a high probability of achieving the one-million seller list. Which is the whole point.

Are you a Facebook consultant? Facebook's future is uncertain. It's time to diversify.

Facebook's future is far from certain. For several reasons all of which are real. so, if your income is ties to Facebook, it is a good idea to diversify.

• Mark Zuckerberg has stated that he's not interested in money. He is interested in changing the world. Those sentiments won't help him run a one billion dollar corporation.
• One of the risk factors identified in a recent financial analysis of Facebook is Mark Zuckerberg. He's only 28 years old, and his business acumen is considered a risk factor in Facebook's success.

So, it's up to you. Facebook won't fold or fail anytime soon, but be advised it is always a good idea to have a diverse occupational resume.

What is the greatest predictor of success in your Facebook posts?

When you write a post on Facebook it will be judged as good, or not, depending on it's relevance to your brand. So, when we say content is king. We mean content is king to the reader when it is relevant to the reader, and to your brand. Your brand is already relevant, or the reader would not be reading about it.

Do you see a pattern here? Is the word "relevant" starting to get repetitive? What have we been saying here for almost three years?

1. Write for the reader.
2. Target your content to the needs of the reader.
3. Write in crisp, clear language that the reader understands.
4. Don't write fluff.

So, the bottom line here is simple. If you want readers to read your Facebook posts make the content relevant to the reader and be about your brand. They want to read about you and your products. They do not want to read touchy-feely, small talk, or cute, but irrelevant, material. They want solid, related, well written content.

Give them what they want and you will be successful. Here is a quote from, Facebook to Brands: You're Posting Stuff Wrong

"By far, the biggest predictor of engagement was that the post was on a topic relevant to the brand," said Sean Bruich, head of measurement platforms and standards at Facebook. "It impacts everything, from lightweight likes to more invested shares. It's actually one of the most important things a brand can do. People are seeing the content because they liked the brand, and it makes sense that content about the brand will get them engaged." "

Whether you are on Facebook, a blog, writing a newspaper article, or a book. It is the content and it's relevance to the reader is the currency of success. When your content is relevant, it's king. When it's not, you and your social networking campaign suffer the consequences.

Write relevant content. Don't fight it. It is what your audience wants.

Is your social networking campaign a failure? Not worth the effort you say? Be careful! It may doing just fine.

Lots of people are "numbers people." They want to see in black and white the return on investment (ROI) of their time. That's a good thing we intent no disrespect to that point of view. But (you knew there was a but coming) what is being measured?

• Are you measuring Website hits, and don't see an up tick?
• How about blog hits, and see not a lot there either?
• Ditto for Twitter and Facebook?

Take heart, you may well be very successful online and see no great shakes in any one place. While, it may well be true that no single measurement is what you would like it to be. Be very sure that you consider this in the aggregate. Carefully consider retweets, mentions on Facebook, how new clients are "first hearing" about you. How do your know that? You ask them. Don't just say, "Where did you hear about us?" Ask, did you find un online? Where? Did someone tell you about us? This begs the question where did that person hear about you.

Look Deeper

Do some digging, we think you'll find that your online and offline social networking activities are doing just fine on your behalf.

When it comes to social networking. One size does not fit all.

On Saturday, May 12, 2012 I spoke at the Connecticut Authors and Publishers Association (CAPA) yearly conference CAPA-University. My talk was on social networking. One of my first comments was that social networking is an individualized endeavor. What works for you may not work for another business or organization. Why? You have different products, different customers, different needs, different goals, and a different end game.  

Goals? End Game?

Goals are meant to be reached and left behind. Your end game is what you are always striving for. Goals are tactical, your end game is strategic.

The interesting thing about your end game is that you may never reach it, and have no intention of reaching it. This is true when your end game is to run a successful business that is an enjoyable place to work. This is something you work at every day. Your goals, in contrast, are short term. They are designed to be attained.  

Goals Are Stepping Stones

Don't do any social networking without a goal. As your goals are 90% or 95% complete, start working on your next goal. This way, you never run out of content because it is your content that moves your social networking campaign forward. And that, my friend, is the right direction. No matter what your end game.

Games, gaming, fun, training, making money add games to your social activities website for sexy sales & dollars

We've been talking about content for years here. In that time we've mentioned games and gaming only rarely. So, we're over due for more on this popular topic. People just love games, and games can be used for far more than having fun.

So, when you think of games being used in your social networking activities, your company or organization, hospital, your military unit, etceteras, keep an open mind.

Games and Healing They can help kids with cancer get better faster. the children know more, so they are less afraid. Best of all, they pilot a ship thought the human body and laser zap cancer cells. More children survive. Powerful stuff gaming.

Games as Training

Still think games are only for fun? They most certainly are not. They can be used to train people. Who? How about United States Combat Troops? Yes, games are used to show our fighting men and women on how to enter a building under fire, how to search rooms without getting shot, and much more.

You can use games in your training programs as well. Use some creativity, make learning fun. Then place the game online so it can be accessed from anywhere anytime for a refresher, or for new hires.

Types Of Games

Not all games are shoot 'em up, or throwing stuff at other stuff games. Not at all. Consider role playing games where players assume an identity and play as that character. Then there is Second Life SecondLife.com/ where you create an avatar and interact with other avatars - people.

Talk to your people, get a game developer on-board, and make your training effective and fun. Having fun is the best way to train anyone on anything.

Your Game is Saleable, Use It to Make Money

After you get your game - training successful, you can sell. Yeah, you can make a profit on fun. Does gaming look better to you now? Thought so.

The future of digital photography? An image in which you can focus anywhere by clicking in it? Yes. This is truly unbelievable technology.

Here, we usually writing about content, the Web, and social networking. Well pictures can be thought of as content, and besides we used to do professional photography, write a m0nthly column for a photo magazine, and tough it for years. so, there is a real soft spot in our heard for all things picture taking.

Forever in Photography

Never has a photographer been able to take a picture that focused on more than one single distance from the film plane, or chip plane in digital cameras. Until now that is. With his, "plenoptic" digital camera Ren Ng has changed that.

See for Yourself

Follow the link below, and scroll down to the image of the flowers. Now place you mouse anywher in the picture and click there. That portion of the image will come into sharp focus. Move to another locatin and do the same thing. It too, comes into focus. Unbelievable, but true. You can actually have sharp focus anywhere in the image that you want it.  

Tryly Astounding Technology

The next digital image revolution? at Yahoo! News

Here's how to create superb content. Watch this video by Jeffrey Gitomer.

Jeffrey Gitomer has been one of my favorite professional for some time. His videos are always excellent. The one you see below, breaks the ceiling. In a couple of minutes he tells us how to write content for LinkedIn, your blog, and more.

If you have not heard of Jeffrey Gitomer, he is a sales guru, superb speaker, and businessman. You can learn more about Jeffrey at Gitomer.com/.

This video is truly superb, let me hear what you think about it by clicking in the title of this post and leaving a comment.

 

 

 

 

 

Time for a change. Johnny Nogood. Short fiction with a delightful twist.

We've been talking tech on this blog for for almost 900 posts. All related to the net, the Web, content, social networking, and other things of interest to businesses and geeks.

 It's time for a break. For something that's just plain fun.

 So, here's 200 words of short fiction that's sure to make yo smile. You can read it in less than a minute. It's safe to say that the ending will surprise and delight you.

If you like this sort of thing, let me hear from you.

 

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Johnny Nogood

 by

Wayne English

 

No one liked Johnny Nogood. Cheat his mother out of a her last dime. That kind of a guy. Johnny was out walking. You know? Looking for action. Looking to make a buck. When he saw the kid. Maybe eight, nine years old.

As Johnny got closer he heard the kid crying and carrying on something awful.

“Please let me find it. Please God.” He wailed, face all streaked with tears and dirt.

“What’s-a-matter-kid?”

“I lost a twenty dollar bill, Mister. My sister’s medicine. A brand new twenty. Please Mister, please help me find it. It’s late, the store’s closing. Please, Mister, she’s real sick.”

“Tough luck kid.” Johnny was already walking away.

The kid watched, a look of surprise and shock on his face. What a loser, the kid thought, a real zero.

It was late, that much was true. The kid, too smart to walk back to the shelter with a couple dozen twenties on him, hailed a cab.

 

---

 

If you like Johnny Nogood, you'll love Shift World. Where your dark future is  just around the corner. 

Don't waste time following the net, use ifttt, and the net will follow you.

This must be our week for new tools. Well is a good one. How would you like to be notified every time someone on Twitter mentions you? That got your attention, didn't it? Oh yeah, we use ifttt to email us every time there is a mention of @WebContentRx. And is that ever easier than having to check this tool and that tool. Yes it is.

You see, we are much in favor of proactive solutions to problems. Any solution that puts you in control is vastly preferable to a passive solution. So, iftttworks the way we do. No more hunting for mentions. and this is only the beginning ifttt will do a lot more than that.

And, yes, ifttt is a free tool. We do not recommend anything that we do not use and try very hard not to recommend pay for play tools because we don't know your business, customers, and needs. This way you can check our recommendations out for yourself without having to pay for the privilege. When we recommend a tool that you must pay for we tell you up front.

We like ifttt and think you will like it as well. Please let us hear from you. What you think is important to our success, and to other who follow this blog. So, don't keep your opinions to yourself.

Are you using Google UTM Tags to track your links? You should be.

Here's another acronym for you. As if you need another one. UTM. Short for Urchin Tracking Method. What this means to you is that now you can literally track the links that you send in email, CPC, a banner add, etceteras. The website, Destination URL Builder, will actually write the link for you. All you need do is cut and paste.

UTM Tags allows you to add information to links and then track the effectiveness of those links in Google Analytics under Traffic Sources.

The short and sweet message here is that this is worth the time it will take you to use it. Especially if you want to track things that have been difficult or impossible to track until now.

How We're Using UTM Tagging

We created a Campaign Medium (Campaign Medium is explained in the Destination URL Builder link) for email. This way every email we send contains the tag so we can track how many times our emails result in a clickback to our Web site.

To use a simple form to set up UTM linking, visit ROI Revolution, Google Analytics Destination URL Builder .

A few minutes reading and filling out the form will get you started on your way to tracking, and determining, the effectiveness of your links. Always a good thing.

One last thing, you will need a Google Analytics account. Now to worry, it's free, as is UTM tracking.

For more information on UTM tracking, Google Analytics: UTM Link Tagging Explained

Still writing press releases the old fashioned way? Include social media in your next press release. Here's how.

Are you still writing your press releases in black and white? Those days are gone. Use email to send a press release enhanced with social media tools. Include:

• links to your social networking campaign
• a link to your Web site
• an entire Web menu, just like you would place on your web site
• a video
• your blog. Yes! Your entire blog.

Want to See One?

Here's a press release we wrote for our book. It is now part of our Website. You may find it by clicking, Services --> Press Releases --> Social Media Enhanced Press Release at WebContentRx.biz. To see our blog simply scroll the the bottom of the page.

Note: what you see by following the link below is for demonstration purposes, so our clients may see what's possible. You may not want to include everything we have here.

See Our Social Media Enhanced Press Release

Want to get the most from your videos? Don't keep them to yourself.

Some time ago we uploaded two videos to YouTube on how to use statistics in your Web content, and on how to get the most from Twitter.

Statistics

When used well, statistics are an excellent tool to make your point. When done wrong, they will hurt you and hurt your marketing efforts - a lot.

Using Twitter Well

Twitter is an excellent tool, of that there is no doubt. The trouble is that many people just can't see how anything with a 140 character limit can be so effective. So, this topic is a natural for anyone in the social networking field and for anyone who uses or wants to use Twitter.

Do Not Keeping Things to Yourself

The title of this blog is automatically sent to Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, and our blog at Amazon. Further we send keywords to Technorati Tags as well. In addition to the fact that YouTube is the number two search engine in the world. That translates to a lot of eyes. Now, we've uploaded the videos to Facebook as well.

See what we've done? Our videos are getting wide spread dispersal. The message here is to take your social networking campaign into proactive mode. Do not be passive. Put your content into the world and then tell the world it's out there.

Here is our video on statistics. Below that is a second video that will also be on Facebook soon. It shows you how to get the most out of Twitter.

Statistics Can Be Dangerous, Here's How to Use Them Well



How to Get The Most Out of Twitter

The biggest marketing mistake you can make, and how to avoid it.

Yesterday, we mentioned a forum we joined that treated potential clients like they were stupid. Unbelievably, they did even worse than that. What could be worse? They did not tell us what the product does, what benefit's it offers, and why we should buy it. That's what.

What they did instead was use a long list of testimonials. So, what's the problem? None of the testimonials told us what the product does either. All they contained was how much they liked it. which is what they are supposed to contain. Bottom line? No help there in the sales cycle.

Testimonials

Using good things said by others about your product is a fantastic marketing tool. However, that does not relieve you from showing potential customers what your product does, why they need this to be done, and why your product is the product of choice to accomplish that.

to be successful, you must, tell your audience what your product will do for them. Nothing, absolutely nothing, takes the place of that, superb product description, and answering this question: What's In It For Me?

Tell Your Audience

Always tell potential clients why they need your product in clear, concise terms, written in every day words. Do that and you succeed. Don't and you won't.

Online do not think marketing. Do think relationship marketing.

Online don't sell. Get to know people. Make a relationship first. the marketing comes later. The selling comes not at all. Sounds strange, we know. You are thinking, "What a waste of time, I need to sell stuff." We know. We get that.

We are not saying don't do business online. Far from it. What we are saying is that online you can be easily tuned out. No one is going to read, listen to, or watch your beautiful sales spiel. No one. Online people don't much care what you're selling until they know you, and know your products. Then your selling will just happen because you are known to the buyer and have credibility.

Take time to get to know people and let them take time to get to know you. Humanize yourself by telling them about you and your company and your products. Build relationships because it is the relationships that will sell your goods and services.

Listen to their comments. Can you use them to better your brand, company, or products. There is no better way to make friends than by being a friend.

So, get to know people. Get yourself online. If you out there people will get to know you. They will find you. That's what networking is all about whether its online of offline.

Are you treating clients and potential clients like they're stupid? You just might be.

People are not stupid. Certainly your clients, and potential clients are not stupid. So, don't treat them that way. Let's say that you offer a subscription service, or product, for $60 per year. If you bill monthly, then advertise the monthly price. If you do one time billing list that.

What Not To Do

A forum we just joined advertises a product at $60 per uear, and then go on to say that works out to five dollars per month. That just abuses readers. Do they think that I can't determine the monthly cost myself? Why not give the cost in days? How about cost per hour?

Mixing The Message

The idea, of course, is to reduce the apparent cost by using a lower number over a shorter time frame. We get that, and have no problem with it because it's a good business tactic. Just don't tell potential clients what the math "works out to." We are smart enough to earn the money to pay your fee, so we're smart enough to to the math.

Are you treating clients and potential clients like they're stupid? You just might be.

People are not stupid. Certainly your clients, and potential clients are not stupid. So, don't treat them that way. Let's say that you offer a subscription service, or product, for $60 per year. If you bill monthly, then advertise the monthly price. If you do one time billing list that.

What Not To Do

A forum we just joined advertises a product at $60 per uear, and then go on to say that works out to five dollars per month. That just abuses readers. Do they think that I can't determine the monthly cost myself? Why not give the cost in days? How about cost per hour?

Mixing The Message

The idea, of course, is to reduce the apparent cost by using a lower number over a shorter time frame. We get that, and have no problem with that as it is a good tactic. Just don't tell potential clients what the math "works out to." We are smart enough to earn the money to pay your fee, so we're smart enough to to the math.

Interested in using Pinterest? Here are some good demographics of who is there and how it's growing.

Pinterest, the social photographic pin board, is growing very nicely. So much so that it is one of the social networking sites that you will want to consider for your needs. To that end, here is a short but informative article on just who is on Pinterest. If this demographic is important to you, give close consideration to adding Pinterest to your social networking campaign's mix of sites.

Be advised though, that here you will need high quality digital photography as that is what Pinterest is all about.

Pinterest Demographics

Want to make money? Here is a way to make $50 per referral.

SocialOpp.com will actually pay you $50 for every friend who joins when they list you as the person who referred them.

Yes, You Read That Right

So, if you have a lot of friends you have the potential to earn a lot of money. Check it out. Oh, one thing though, it costs $99 to join. So, you will find out right quick who your friends are.

Want your blog to be a happy blog? SSTTP is the answer.

Want your blog to be happy, well liked, and well read? Silly question. Who doesn't?

Short Sweet and To The Point

Yes, my friends, as with most things in life the answer lies in simplicity.

• Short. Keep your blog posts to less than 600 words. Shorter is better. Use 600 as your absolute maximum.
• Sweet. Write in crisp, clean, easy to understand words.  
• To the Point. One issue per post. State it. Deal with it. End it.

Follow this simple guide and you won't be sorry.

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"If you don't pay attention to the needs of your audience, they won't pay attention to you."

              

Short Fiction at its Best.

Does your in-house communications need improvement? Consider Enterprise Social Software.

Social networking tools are not only for reaching out to clients and others. When you need to improve inter-company communications they may just work for you there as well.

Enterprise Social Networking

These tools are collaboration tools. Have you got a team spread across town or the world? Do they have problems in communicating with each other? Look into these tools, one may be right for your needs. For a list of products follow this to a link at Wikipedia.

What is social networking? Why is it in the best interest of your business or organization to use it? The answers may surprise you.

You hear people saying all the time that social networking is sales; it's marketing. Quite correct, but let's get closer to the nitty gritty.

The Telephone

Lets first talk about something you've used all of your life: your telephone. It offers you two vast benefits, and I'll bet you a cup of coffee that you've only thought of one.

1. It provides real time voice to voice communication.
2. It provides a medium in which your message can not be altered, changed, or edited in any way.

Think about number two, and what that means. Your message is delivered without intervention by anyone. There is no newspaper editor, no book agent, publisher, no one stands between the message you send, and the message received. No one.

Enter Social Media

Social networking offers you number 2 on a vast scale. If you have ever used a press release, an article, book, or any other traditional method of communication this is literally a priceless way to communicate. You receive these vast benefits for the cost of using social networking tools.

Social networking is the most significant advancement in communications since the invention of the printing press. Never in human history have you, your company or organization, had this ability. And because social networking is still new, it is misunderstood, still changing, evolving, and will continue to do so. What it will not do is go away.

Social Networking is a Tool

Like any tool, you need the right one for the job. Many people choose a social networking tool first, and they try to make it do their bidding. That's not the way to do this.

First, do your homework. What do you want from social networking? What do your customers, clients, employees, vendors, manufacturers, suppliers, shippers, advertisers want from your social networking campaign? Answer those questions, and many more, then pick the tool. Then create the content. Then tie your Website and social networking campaign together, then tell the world.

Then it will work for you.

Don't stay in the dark on this. Social networking is to your business what a Website was years ago. Social networking, and your Web site, will only grow in importance to your success.

Let us hear from you.

Email marketers. Here is a real time tool from Yahoo to help you avoid spam engines..

    In our last post we talked about email marketing and how to protect your email from being removed by spam filters.  Here is a tool from Yahoo that we like.

    We like this tool because it shows you good words and spam words in an ongoing display. It's good stuff.  http://visualize.yahoo.com/mail/