Web Content and Social Networking Experts

Writers use the word correlate all the time, but sometimes, it just doesn't correlate.

 

The definition of correlate at Dictionary.com states: to place in or bring into mutual or reciprocal relation; establish in orderly connection: to correlate expenses and income.

Correlation means that things are related positively (mutual), negatively (reciprocal), or not at all. Writers use the word, correlates, to mean a positive relationship. Meaning that when one thing doing this, it causes the other thing to do that. Using the word "correlates" this way is sort of right. So, it's also sort of wrong.

Why? Well because all things correlate. Correlation is expressed in numbers from minus one (-1) to plus one (+1). That number is a measure of how just related those particular things are.

A Correlation of Minus One (-1)

A correlation of minus one (-1) means that the relationship is reciprocal. If you compare two things X and Y. When X goes up, Y goes down. They move in opposite directions, a reciprocal relationship.

A Correlation of Plus One (+1)

A correlation of (+1) means the correlation is directly related. Here's an example. Let's say that we have two things. We'll call them A and B. When A goes up, B goes up. That's a correlation of (+1) because when A moves B moves in the exact same way.

A Correlation of Zero (0)

Now, consider two other things, totally different from the examples above. Let's use a boat and a teaspoon. When the boat is tied to a dock. The spoon is in ice cream. Correlation is zero. They have absolutely no relationship between them because what the boat does does not affect the spoon and vice versa.

See for Yourself

Correlation = (-1)

Correlation = (0)

Correlation = (+1)

Here are three graphics for you. They are from the Neag School of Education at UCONN on the Follow this link for an interactive Correlation Coefficient graph. At the destination of the link you will see an interactive graph where you can change the correlation coefficient. The three graphics you see here are from that link. There, you can watch the data reorient itself as you change the correlation coefficient. Wow, is that cool or what? From a geek perspective, of course.

This link opens in a new window, so you can keep this post and the graphic on your desktop at the same time. Now, use your mouse to change the correlation number.

• As the correlation number changes the data (the dots) becomes more and more related.
• At (-1) the data runs from upper left to lower right, "downhill."
• At a correlation of zero, the data are scattered. There is no relationship.
• At (+1) the data runs from lower left to upper right, "uphill."

So, when you say that this correlates to that, what are you saying? Not much.

The only correlation that really maters to us writers is the correlation between our words and the understanding of your readers. When that correlation is (+1), you're golden. Yes you are. Factoring in your check book doesn't hurt either.

View our videos on YouTube.com/WebContentRx/ Listen to us most Friday's on The Business Buzz, 4 p.m. - 5 p.m., WESU 88.1 FM with Jeffery Sherman.

Facebook is building a server farm in the arctic. Why? It's cold up there.

Facebook's first server farm to be outside the United States may be on the arctic circle to take advantage of the temperature. In the town of Lulea, in northern Sweden a serber farm that will use more power than a town of 50,000 people. Some power will come from sustainable resources on the Lulea river, which makes more power than the Hoover Dam. That's a lot of power, believe me.

Believe it or not, locating server farms near, or in, the arctic is an ongoling trend. Microsoft was rumored to be looking into a server farm in Siberia, but nothing came of it. however, Google began a server farm in Finland in 2009.

Is the future of server farms to be the arctic? Look's like it.

Steve Jobs will be missed.

Steve Jobs was a inventor, thinker, innovator, and true visionary. While his technical and business acumen were superb, perhaps his greatest skill was the  extraordinary ability to bring superb products to market.

Steve will be missed by family, friends, and by many who never even met him. We send our condolences to Steve's family and dear friends who saw him through the illness that took his life.

Negative comments are the dark side of customer feedback. Use them to your advantage. Here's how.

It finally happened. Someone has put a negative comment online about you or your company. If the comment is justified admit it. There is nothing wrong with making a mistake. Admitting it makes you stronger. Trying to cover it up or gloss it over is a big mistake.

Do not ignore this sort of thing. Take these comments on and respond to them. Keep in mind that you are writing for the reader who is only aware of the complaint. Do not write for the complainer. Write to the uninformed third party. That's important because those are the people you want to be informed by your side of this situation.

Certainly consider the complainer, but you must consider your employees, investors, and everyone who sells your products. They people need the ammunition you will provide to deal with the negative comment(s) that will be coming their way. Provide them with the facts necessary to deal with your competition's comments, and those of their customers.

Now, you can see why these comments cannot be ignored. As the man said, "There's a lot of hair on that dog." He was right.

What to do

Have your response approved, or better yet written, by senior management. Do not farm this out to a low level employee or to a paid blogger. This must be written by and approved by management.

Be sure that the response is well written, and addresses the negative comment specifically. Do not, ever, write in a snide, insulting, derogatory, or in a corporate-speak tone of voice.

You must keep the sympathy of the reader. Not the complainer, but the reader of your response. Remember, the reader does not know the situation. Writing as though the response comes from a caring person is mandatory. Companies don't care (they can't they are not human), but people do. Be sure your response cares, or you will end up looking even worse than you do already.

Some things to keep in mind.

1. Always keep the sympathy of the reader.
2. Edit ruthlessly. A typo will make the company look inept. People will forever say, "Did you see their response? Shows how much they care. They can't even spell." And they will be right. Your competition will love it. You won't.
3. Write your response in easy to understood language using simple words, short sentences, and short paragraphs. Write with a minimum of punctuation and without jargon. I know you're smart. I get that. What you need to get is that smart people write so that their message is clear. Show the world how smart you are.
4. Don't make excuses. It is what it is.
5. The reader does not know the situation, only the complaint. So, explain it. The short version, please.
6. Tell the reader, specifically, what you did to address the situation.
7. Stick to the facts. When unfairly maligned, or the victim of an outright lie, explain that dispassionately.
8. If the comment is not justified because the complainer is simply unreasonable and refused everything you did to satisfy him or her. Well then, all you need do is show the reader, not the complainer, what you did to satisfy the complainer. Let what you did, the actions you took, show the reader that it is the complainer who is being unreasonable, not you.
9. One last thing do not e-mail anything to anyone regarding this situation that you do not want to see published in the public domain. Should an e-mail accidentally get out of the company the damage will result in more to explain. Worse, you will now have to explain you very own words. Carve these words on rock, "Don't send anything that I don't want to see in headlines." Whenever you are tempted to violate those 11 words, hit yourself in the head with the rock.

To watch the net for comments, Google Alerts is a good choice.

Negative comments are the dark side of customer feedback. Use them to your advantage. Here's how.

It finally happened. Someone has put a negative comment online about you or your company. If the comment is justified admit it. There is nothing wrong with making a mistake. Admitting it makes you stronger. Trying to cover it up or gloss it over is a big mistake.

Do not ignore this sort of thing. Take these comments on and respond to them. Keep in mind that you are writing for the reader who is only aware of the complaint. Do not write for the complainer. Write to the uninformed third party. That's important because those are the people you want to be informed by your side of this situation.

Certainly consider the complainer, but you must consider your employees, investors, and everyone who sells your products. They people need the ammunition you will provide to deal with the negative comment(s) that will be coming their way. Provide them with the facts necessary to deal with your competition's comments, and those of their customers.

Now, you can see why these comments cannot be ignored. As the man said, "There's a lot of hair on that dog." He was right.

What to do

Have your response approved, or better yet written, by senior management. Do not farm this out to a low level employee or to a paid blogger. This must be written by and approved by management.

Be sure that the response is well written, and addresses the negative comment specifically. Do not, ever, write in a snide, insulting, derogatory, or in a corporate-speak tone of voice.

You must keep the sympathy of the reader. Not the complainer, but the reader of your response. Remember, the reader does not know the situation. Writing as though the response comes from a caring person is mandatory. Companies don't care (they can't they are not human), but people do. Be sure your response cares, or you will end up looking even worse than you do already.

Some things to keep in mind.

1. Always keep the sympathy of the reader.
2. Edit ruthlessly. A typo will make the company look inept. People will forever say, "Did you see their response? Shows how much they care. They can't even spell." And they will be right. Your competition will love it. You won't.
3. Write your response in easy to understood language using simple words, short sentences, and short paragraphs. Write with a minimum of punctuation and without jargon. I know you're smart. I get that. What you need to get is that smart people write so that their message is clear. Show the world how smart you are.
4. Don't make excuses. It is what it is.
5. The reader does not know the situation, only the complaint. So, explain it. The short version, please.
6. Tell the reader, specifically, what you did to address the situation.
7. Stick to the facts. When unfairly maligned, or the victim of an outright lie, explain that dispassionately.
8. If the comment is not justified because the complainer is simply unreasonable and refused everything you did to satisfy him or her. Well then, all you need do is show the reader, not the complainer, what you did to satisfy the complainer. Let what you did, the actions you took, show the reader that it is the complainer who is being unreasonable, not you.
9. One last thing do not e-mail anything to anyone regarding this situation that you do not want to see published in the public domain. Should an e-mail accidentally get out of the company the damage will result in more to explain. Worse, you will now have to explain you very own words. Carve these words on rock, "Don't send anything that I don't want to see in headlines." Whenever you are tempted to violate those 11 words, hit yourself in the head with the rock.

To watch the net for comments, Google Alerts is a good choice.

Read my article, published today, at SiteProNews. It went from idea, to publication in less than 24 hours.

Here is the power of the online world, of social networking, of the reality that is today. Yesterday morning I visited the SiteProNews Web site and viewed their author guidelines. I then put together an article and author biography and uploaded them.

In the afternoon, I was notified that my article would be published today. Think about that. Article uploaded in the morning. In the afternoon I'm notified that it will be published the following day. That was unheard of ten years ago. Twenty years ago it would have been outlandish to even consider it.

Gone are the days of querying an editor and waiting and waiting for a response. Many times there was no response. Those days are gone.

We are in a new world of communications. Take advantage of it. Make it yours. The benefits are real and here, now, today for your career, your company, your organization, your club. Never in all of human history has the ability to publish unfettered existed. Today it does.

Use these tools. Don't pass up on the advantages that the Web and social networking offer you. The Web and Social networking work, if you have any doubt, follow this link, and read my article Nine Steps to social Networking Success at SiteProNews. Yesterday the article did not exist. Today it's published.

Watch our videos at YouTube.com/WebContentRx/.

 

Read my article, published today, at SiteProNews. It went from idea, to publication in less than 24 hours.

Here is the power of the online world, of social networking, of the reality that is today. Yesterday morning I visited the SiteProNews Web site and viewed their author guidelines. I then put together an article and author biography and uploaded them.

In the afternoon, I was notified that my article would be published today. Think about that. Article uploaded in the morning. In the afternoon I'm notified that it will be published the following day. That was unheard of ten years ago. Twenty years ago it would have been outlandish to even consider it.

Gone are the days of querying an editor and waiting and waiting for a response. Many times there was no response. Those days are gone.

We are in a new world of communications. Take advantage of it. Make it yours. The benefits are real and here, now, today for your career, your company, your organization, your club. Never in all of human history has the ability to publish unfettered existed. Today it does.

Use these tools. Don't pass up on the advantages that the Web and social networking offer you. The Web and Social networking work, if you have any doubt, follow this link, and read my article Nine Steps to social Networking Success at SiteProNews. Yesterday the article did not exist. Today it's published.

Watch our videos at YouTube.com/WebContentRx/.

 

Failure is not the end. It's the beginning. Use failure to your advantage and learn from it.

Ever heard of Hershey Chocolate? They went broke six or seven times. You've likely heard Rush Limbaugh on the radio. His show is one of the top radio programs in the country. Rush, too, went broke more than once. Look at General Motors, the largest corporation in the world, and Chrysler they both went belly up and had to be bailed out.

Business failure hits everyone.

Many successful people, and successful companies, have business failure in their background. It's part of the game. A hard part, but failure can lead to success. So, should your business fail; learn from it. Be instructed by what you did, what you did not do, what you could have known, or should have known. And then do, or don't do, those things next time.

Whatever you do, don't give up. Failure paves the road to success. To your success.

 

View our videos at YouTube.

 

Failure is not the end. It's the beginning. Use failure to your advantage and learn from it.

Ever heard of Hershey Chocolate? They went broke six or seven times. You've likely heard Rush Limbaugh on the radio. His show is one of the top radio programs in the country. Rush, too, went broke more than once. Look at General Motors, the largest corporation in the world, and Chrysler they both went belly up and had to be bailed out.

Business failure hits everyone.

Many successful people, and successful companies, have business failure in their background. It's part of the game. A hard part, but failure can lead to success. So, should your business fail; learn from it. Be instructed by what you did, what you did not do, what you could have known, or should have known. And then do, or don't do, those things next time.

Whatever you do, don't give up. Failure paves the road to success. To your success.

 

View our videos at YouTube.

 

Writing to sell, influence, attract clients? They are all similar. More so than you might like to think.

What do you not like?

What do you love?

What do you hate?

What, or who, do you promote?

What, or who, do you work against?

What are you afraid of, or afraid for?

What are your hot buttons? You don't know them? Yes, you do. You know them very well. And you know what? I do too, or I can find out. Not about you personally, of course, but of your demographic. And that knowledge can be used to appeal to you, frighten you, promote you, scare you, for many things by people like me because I know something that you probably don't know. I know how to use words. You might want to think about that.

You might also want to read my September 7, 2011 post on this blog. I published two that day, I refer to "Web content, like understanding, is a three edged sword. Learn to use it well because your competition is."

Writing to Sell

How to sell something has been around as long as people have. Being a good salesman or saleswoman is a survival skill, make no mistake. People who can write text that motivates you to buy something are sought after, respected, and highly paid. Best you hope that they are also honest. Like anything else, some are and some aren't. There is a quote in my bookWeb Content Rx, a Quick and Handy Guide for Writers, Webmasters, eBayers, and Business People, on page 27, "Words are like loaded pistols." - Brice Parrain.

Believe me, that is true. Have you heard the old saying that the pen is mightier than the sword? That too, is the absolute truth. Those who can use words to promote their point of view, product, or ideology are people that can have serious impact on your life, your country, your wealth. You've heard the old saying, "Figures don't lie, but liars can figure?" That holds true for words as well. The post I refer to above has more on this.

Be careful what you put into your head, my friend, be very careful because words really are like loaded pistols with one exception. Pistols are only dangerous till out of ammunition. Words are dangerous as long as people espouse them; that can be forever.

Writing to sell, influence, attract clients? They are all similar. More so than you might like to think.

What do you not like?

What do you love?

What do you hate?

What, or who, do you promote?

What, or who, do you work against?

What are you afraid of, or afraid for?

What are your hot buttons? You don't know them? Yes, you do. You know them very well. And you know what? I do too, or I can find out. Not about you personally, of course, but of your demographic. And that knowledge can be used to appeal to you, frighten you, promote you, scare you, for many things by people like me because I know something that you probably don't know. I know how to use words. You might want to think about that.

You might also want to read my September 7, 2011 post on this blog. I published two that day, I refer to "Web content, like understanding, is a three edged sword. Learn to use it well because your competition is."

Writing to Sell

How to sell something has been around as long as people have. Being a good salesman or saleswoman is a survival skill, make no mistake. People who can write text that motivates you to buy something are sought after, respected, and highly paid. Best you hope that they are also honest. Like anything else, some are and some aren't. There is a quote in my bookWeb Content Rx, a Quick and Handy Guide for Writers, Webmasters, eBayers, and Business People, on page 27, "Words are like loaded pistols." - Brice Parrain.

Believe me, that is true. Have you heard the old saying that the pen is mightier than the sword? That too, is the absolute truth. Those who can use words to promote their point of view, product, or ideology are people that can have serious impact on your life, your country, your wealth. You've heard the old saying, "Figures don't lie, but liars can figure?" That holds true for words as well. The post I refer to above has more on this.

Be careful what you put into your head, my friend, be very careful because words really are like loaded pistols with one exception. Pistols are only dangerous till out of ammunition. Words are dangerous as long as people espouse them; that can be forever.

Give yourself away to reach your business goals. Contradictory, but true.

Whatever it is you do, find a way to give it away for free. give lectures, provide samples, speak at business groups, consult for free. Find a way to get into the groove of doing things for no money.

Sounds crazy. It's not. You use this as a loss leader. That's business speak for something sold at a low price to get people into the store. That's really what you're doing. You are becomming better known, gathering a following, getting knowledge of your professional skills and products out into the world.

Follow this up with a press release, use Facebook to notify your friends of the event. Do the same on LinkedIn, Manta, Referral Key. whatever sites or publicity functions you are using now, continue to use them.

The advertising and public relations you gain, the fun you will have are well worth the effort. Not to mention, that you will be exposing yourself to lots of additional customers, clients, buyers. So, you can also include the cost of what all that free advertising would have cost you as well.

Still think this is crazy? go to my YouTube page and see how many views my free lecture has gathered.

Give yourself away to reach your business goals. Contradictory, but true.

Whatever it is you do, find a way to give it away for free. give lectures, provide samples, speak at business groups, consult for free. Find a way to get into the groove of doing things for no money.

Sounds crazy. It's not. You use this as a loss leader. That's business speak for something sold at a low price to get people into the store. That's really what you're doing. You are becomming better known, gathering a following, getting knowledge of your professional skills and products out into the world.

Follow this up with a press release, use Facebook to notify your friends of the event. Do the same on LinkedIn, Manta, Referral Key. whatever sites or publicity functions you are using now, continue to use them.

The advertising and public relations you gain, the fun you will have are well worth the effort. Not to mention, that you will be exposing yourself to lots of additional customers, clients, buyers. So, you can also include the cost of what all that free advertising would have cost you as well.

Still think this is crazy? go to my YouTube page and see how many views my free lecture has gathered.

What is a Facebook impression?

I participated in a panel discussion Thursday, August18, 2011 at 675 Pike, a networking group held at The Hawthorn Inn, in Berlin, Connecticut. I was a last minute replacement for Suzi Craig, Director of Marketing at Fathom, as she was unwell. While I was pleased to speak, I was saddened that Suzi was not feeling well and hope that she recovers soon.

One of the topics we talked about was Facebook Impressions, so I thought a definition of what an impression is and what it's not might be helpful.

An impression is the number of times that your Facebook post appears on users browsers. Facebook says this, "These insights are aiming to help Page administrators understand more about the time of day, day of week, and type of content is most effective for delivering information to a fan base."

Here is a quote from from Facebook under the title of Introducing per post analytics for Pages.

"... the number of impressions measures the number of times the post has been rendered on user’s browsers. These impressions can come from a user’s news feed, live feed, directly from the Page, or through the Fan Box widget. This includes instances of the post showing up below the fold."

Source Facebook.com.

Read the entire post here.

Wayne English
Web Content Rx
blog.WebContentRx.biz
WebContentRx.biz
Social Networking Initiative.com

What is a Facebook impression?

I participated in a panel discussion Thursday, August18, 2011 at 675 Pike, a networking group held at The Hawthorn Inn, in Berlin, Connecticut. I was a last minute replacement for Suzi Craig, Director of Marketing at Fathom, as she was unwell. While I was pleased to speak, I was saddened that Suzi was not feeling well and hope that she recovers soon.

One of the topics we talked about was Facebook Impressions, so I thought a definition of what an impression is and what it's not might be helpful.

An impression is the number of times that your Facebook post appears on users browsers. Facebook says this, "These insights are aiming to help Page administrators understand more about the time of day, day of week, and type of content is most effective for delivering information to a fan base."

Here is a quote from from Facebook under the title of Introducing per post analytics for Pages.

"... the number of impressions measures the number of times the post has been rendered on user’s browsers. These impressions can come from a user’s news feed, live feed, directly from the Page, or through the Fan Box widget. This includes instances of the post showing up below the fold."

Source Facebook.com.

Read the entire post here.

Wayne English
Web Content Rx
blog.WebContentRx.biz
WebContentRx.biz
Social Networking Initiative.com

What is a Facebook impression?

I participated in a panel discussion Thursday, August18, 2011 at 675 Pike, a networking group held at The Hawthorn Inn, in Berlin, Connecticut. I was a last minute replacement for Suzi Craig, Director of Marketing at Fathom, as she was unwell. While I was pleased to speak, I was saddened that Suzi was not feeling well and hope that she recovers soon.

One of the topics we talked about was Facebook Impressions, so I thought a definition of what an impression is and what it's not might be helpful.

An impression is the number of times that your Facebook post appears on users browsers. Facebook says this, "These insights are aiming to help Page administrators understand more about the time of day, day of week, and type of content is most effective for delivering information to a fan base."

Here is a quote from from Facebook under the title of Introducing per post analytics for Pages.

"... the number of impressions measures the number of times the post has been rendered on user’s browsers. These impressions can come from a user’s news feed, live feed, directly from the Page, or through the Fan Box widget. This includes instances of the post showing up below the fold."

Source Facebook.com.

Read the entire post here.

Wayne English
Web Content Rx
blog.WebContentRx.biz
WebContentRx.biz
Social Networking Initiative.com

What is a Facebook impression?

I participated in a panel discussion Thursday, August18, 2011 at 675 Pike, a networking group held at The Hawthorn Inn, in Berlin, Connecticut. I was a last minute replacement for Suzi Craig, Director of Marketing at Fathom, as she was unwell. While I was pleased to speak, I was saddened that Suzi was not feeling well and hope that she recovers soon.

One of the topics we talked about was Facebook Impressions, so I thought a definition of what an impression is and what it's not might be helpful.

An impression is the number of times that your Facebook post appears on users browsers. Facebook says this, "These insights are aiming to help Page administrators understand more about the time of day, day of week, and type of content is most effective for delivering information to a fan base."

Here is a quote from from Facebook under the title of Introducing per post analytics for Pages.

"... the number of impressions measures the number of times the post has been rendered on user’s browsers. These impressions can come from a user’s news feed, live feed, directly from the Page, or through the Fan Box widget. This includes instances of the post showing up below the fold."

Source Facebook.com.

Read the entire post here.

Wayne English
Web Content Rx
blog.WebContentRx.biz
WebContentRx.biz
Social Networking Initiative.com

Your Web site is the crown jewel of your social networking campaign. Is it business ready? Want to find out?

 

• Is it simple?
• Is it easy to navigate?
• Is it pertinent to the needs of your customers? To their lives? Does it provide what business folks call, "Value added?" Not to you, not to your sales staff, or employees. To your customers. Don't know? Ask.

One of the most successful Web sites is the Drudge Report. It is not pretty. Yet Drudge has millions of unique visitors every month, drives twice traffic to news sites, top news sites, as Facebook, and seven times as much as Twitter. Why? Content. The content at The Drudge Report is superb, timely, targeted to the needs of the reader.

So, please don't be deceived. Content is king. Without superb content you have nothing. And, no matter what anyone tells you, flashing lights and whiz-bang technology mean nothing without superb content.

Give your customers what they want and lots of it on a regular schedule. And they will reward you with their patronage. Remember this, carve it on a rock somewhere, you are selling your social networking campaign for something more valuable than money; time. you can always get more money. You can't get more time.

Make the time your customers spend with your content very valuable. You are competing with everything from videos to family to games for time. Do that successfully and you're the egg that laid the golden goose. Perhaps that's the other way around? . Don't do that and your goose is cooked.

Your Web site is the crown jewel of your social networking campaign. Is it business ready? Want to find out?

 

• Is it simple?
• Is it easy to navigate?
• Is it pertinent to the needs of your customers? To their lives? Does it provide what business folks call, "Value added?" Not to you, not to your sales staff, or employees. To your customers. Don't know? Ask.

One of the most successful Web sites is the Drudge Report. It is not pretty. Yet Drudge has millions of unique visitors every month, drives twice traffic to news sites, top news sites, as Facebook, and seven times as much as Twitter. Why? Content. The content at The Drudge Report is superb, timely, targeted to the needs of the reader.

So, please don't be deceived. Content is king. Without superb content you have nothing. And, no matter what anyone tells you, flashing lights and whiz-bang technology mean nothing without superb content.

Give your customers what they want and lots of it on a regular schedule. And they will reward you with their patronage. Remember this, carve it on a rock somewhere, you are selling your social networking campaign for something more valuable than money; time. you can always get more money. You can't get more time.

Make the time your customers spend with your content very valuable. You are competing with everything from videos to family to games for time. Do that successfully and you're the egg that laid the golden goose. Perhaps that's the other way around? . Don't do that and your goose is cooked.

Your Web site is the crown jewel of your social networking campaign. Is it business ready? Want to find out?

 

• Is it simple?
• Is it easy to navigate?
• Is it pertinent to the needs of your customers? To their lives? Does it provide what business folks call, "Value added?" Not to you, not to your sales staff, or employees. To your customers. Don't know? Ask.

One of the most successful Web sites is the Drudge Report. It is not pretty. Yet Drudge has millions of unique visitors every month, drives twice traffic to news sites, top news sites, as Facebook, and seven times as much as Twitter. Why? Content. The content at The Drudge Report is superb, timely, targeted to the needs of the reader.

So, please don't be deceived. Content is king. Without superb content you have nothing. And, no matter what anyone tells you, flashing lights and whiz-bang technology mean nothing without superb content.

Give your customers what they want and lots of it on a regular schedule. And they will reward you with their patronage. Remember this, carve it on a rock somewhere, you are selling your social networking campaign for something more valuable than money; time. you can always get more money. You can't get more time.

Make the time your customers spend with your content very valuable. You are competing with everything from videos to family to games for time. Do that successfully and you're the egg that laid the golden goose. Perhaps that's the other way around? . Don't do that and your goose is cooked.

Your Web site is the crown jewel of your social networking campaign. Is it business ready? Want to find out?

 

• Is it simple?
• Is it easy to navigate?
• Is it pertinent to the needs of your customers? To their lives? Does it provide what business folks call, "Value added?" Not to you, not to your sales staff, or employees. To your customers. Don't know? Ask.

One of the most successful Web sites is the Drudge Report. It is not pretty. Yet Drudge has millions of unique visitors every month, drives twice traffic to news sites, top news sites, as Facebook, and seven times as much as Twitter. Why? Content. The content at The Drudge Report is superb, timely, targeted to the needs of the reader.

So, please don't be deceived. Content is king. Without superb content you have nothing. And, no matter what anyone tells you, flashing lights and whiz-bang technology mean nothing without superb content.

Give your customers what they want and lots of it on a regular schedule. And they will reward you with their patronage. Remember this, carve it on a rock somewhere, you are selling your social networking campaign for something more valuable than money; time. you can always get more money. You can't get more time.

Make the time your customers spend with your content very valuable. You are competing with everything from videos to family to games for time. Do that successfully and you're the egg that laid the golden goose. Perhaps that's the other way around? . Don't do that and your goose is cooked.

Pottermore, the newest addition to the Harry Potter empire. Is it the future of social networking? Yes it is.

"Pottermore is a free website that builds an exciting online experience around the reading of the Harry Potter books."

To support this project, J.K. Rowling has written extensive new material about the characters, places, and objects in the Harry Potter series.

"An online reading experience," here author and reader create the story in this "safe and unique experience." Also it is the exclusive place to purchase digital audio and eBooks. Pottermore is open to all in October, 2011, but a few will help shape the experience. See more here, http://www.pottermore.com.

You will also find links to: Shop, Diagon Alley, Gringotts, Great Hall, Common Room, Spells, Potions, Trunk, Friends, and Favorites.

this project takes advantage of the major tenets of social networking.

• It has a vast fan base and capitalizes on that.
• It offers fans new material on their favorite character, place, and object.
• It incorporates online sales, into the mix so that fans can purchase right on the site. It is interesting to note that Sony products and services related to Pottermore are specifically listed.

See Pottermore here, http://www.pottermore.com/

Pottermore, the newest addition to the Harry Potter empire. Is it the future of social networking? Yes it is.

"Pottermore is a free website that builds an exciting online experience around the reading of the Harry Potter books."

To support this project, J.K. Rowling has written extensive new material about the characters, places, and objects in the Harry Potter series.

"An online reading experience," here author and reader create the story in this "safe and unique experience." Also it is the exclusive place to purchase digital audio and eBooks. Pottermore is open to all in October, 2011, but a few will help shape the experience. See more here, http://www.pottermore.com.

You will also find links to: Shop, Diagon Alley, Gringotts, Great Hall, Common Room, Spells, Potions, Trunk, Friends, and Favorites.

this project takes advantage of the major tenets of social networking.

• It has a vast fan base and capitalizes on that.
• It offers fans new material on their favorite character, place, and object.
• It incorporates online sales, into the mix so that fans can purchase right on the site. It is interesting to note that Sony products and services related to Pottermore are specifically listed.

See Pottermore here, http://www.pottermore.com/

Pottermore, the newest addition to the Harry Potter empire. Is it the future of social networking? Yes it is.

"Pottermore is a free website that builds an exciting online experience around the reading of the Harry Potter books."

To support this project, J.K. Rowling has written extensive new material about the characters, places, and objects in the Harry Potter series.

"An online reading experience," here author and reader create the story in this "safe and unique experience." Also it is the exclusive place to purchase digital audio and eBooks. Pottermore is open to all in October, 2011, but a few will help shape the experience. See more here, http://www.pottermore.com.

You will also find links to: Shop, Diagon Alley, Gringotts, Great Hall, Common Room, Spells, Potions, Trunk, Friends, and Favorites.

this project takes advantage of the major tenets of social networking.

• It has a vast fan base and capitalizes on that.
• It offers fans new material on their favorite character, place, and object.
• It incorporates online sales, into the mix so that fans can purchase right on the site. It is interesting to note that Sony products and services related to Pottermore are specifically listed.

See Pottermore here, http://www.pottermore.com/

Pottermore, the newest addition to the Harry Potter empire. Is it the future of social networking? Yes it is.

"Pottermore is a free website that builds an exciting online experience around the reading of the Harry Potter books."

To support this project, J.K. Rowling has written extensive new material about the characters, places, and objects in the Harry Potter series.

"An online reading experience," here author and reader create the story in this "safe and unique experience." Also it is the exclusive place to purchase digital audio and eBooks. Pottermore is open to all in October, 2011, but a few will help shape the experience. See more here, http://www.pottermore.com.

You will also find links to: Shop, Diagon Alley, Gringotts, Great Hall, Common Room, Spells, Potions, Trunk, Friends, and Favorites.

this project takes advantage of the major tenets of social networking.

• It has a vast fan base and capitalizes on that.
• It offers fans new material on their favorite character, place, and object.
• It incorporates online sales, into the mix so that fans can purchase right on the site. It is interesting to note that Sony products and services related to Pottermore are specifically listed.

See Pottermore here, http://www.pottermore.com/

Facebook, Apple, and Google Offering Video Phone

Facebook announced on Wednesday, June 6, that they will offer your video phone capability in partnership with Skype. Video phone has been around since the 1939 World Fair, so its nothing new. It is ,however becoming the battleground between Facebook and Google as the tech giants angle for our business. Who will win? Who knows? the world will have to wait and see, unless there is enough business for everyone, which is likely the case.

This breaks little new ground as free video via IM, AIM, and Gtalk have been around for years. so, the news from Facebook is the simplicity of the technology and that they are putting the capability into the hands of hundreds of millions of people. That is key, now your video phone call is literally only a click away. Look for video phone to get a lot more popular. You do not need a Skype account. Talk about easy.

Apple released FaceTime, which allows you to make video calls via WiFi along with the iPhone4.

Google is rolling out Gmail Video and Voice video and voice capability for the chat function in Gmail. Now, it provides bare bones conferencing services, but its simple to install and a terrific addition to Gmail. It's not Skype, so don't look for it to be. To get started visit, google.com/videochat and your off and running.

Facebook, Apple, and Google Offering Video Phone

Facebook announced on Wednesday, June 6, that they will offer your video phone capability in partnership with Skype. Video phone has been around since the 1939 World Fair, so its nothing new. It is ,however becoming the battleground between Facebook and Google as the tech giants angle for our business. Who will win? Who knows? the world will have to wait and see, unless there is enough business for everyone, which is likely the case.

This breaks little new ground as free video via IM, AIM, and Gtalk have been around for years. so, the news from Facebook is the simplicity of the technology and that they are putting the capability into the hands of hundreds of millions of people. That is key, now your video phone call is literally only a click away. Look for video phone to get a lot more popular. You do not need a Skype account. Talk about easy.

Apple released FaceTime, which allows you to make video calls via WiFi along with the iPhone4.

Google is rolling out Gmail Video and Voice video and voice capability for the chat function in Gmail. Now, it provides bare bones conferencing services, but its simple to install and a terrific addition to Gmail. It's not Skype, so don't look for it to be. To get started visit, google.com/videochat and your off and running.

Facebook, Apple, and Google Offering Video Phone

Facebook announced on Wednesday, June 6, that they will offer your video phone capability in partnership with Skype. Video phone has been around since the 1939 World Fair, so its nothing new. It is ,however becoming the battleground between Facebook and Google as the tech giants angle for our business. Who will win? Who knows? the world will have to wait and see, unless there is enough business for everyone, which is likely the case.

This breaks little new ground as free video via IM, AIM, and Gtalk have been around for years. so, the news from Facebook is the simplicity of the technology and that they are putting the capability into the hands of hundreds of millions of people. That is key, now your video phone call is literally only a click away. Look for video phone to get a lot more popular. You do not need a Skype account. Talk about easy.

Apple released FaceTime, which allows you to make video calls via WiFi along with the iPhone4.

Google is rolling out Gmail Video and Voice video and voice capability for the chat function in Gmail. Now, it provides bare bones conferencing services, but its simple to install and a terrific addition to Gmail. It's not Skype, so don't look for it to be. To get started visit, google.com/videochat and your off and running.

Facebook, Apple, and Google Offering Video Phone

Facebook announced on Wednesday, June 6, that they will offer your video phone capability in partnership with Skype. Video phone has been around since the 1939 World Fair, so its nothing new. It is ,however becoming the battleground between Facebook and Google as the tech giants angle for our business. Who will win? Who knows? the world will have to wait and see, unless there is enough business for everyone, which is likely the case.

This breaks little new ground as free video via IM, AIM, and Gtalk have been around for years. so, the news from Facebook is the simplicity of the technology and that they are putting the capability into the hands of hundreds of millions of people. That is key, now your video phone call is literally only a click away. Look for video phone to get a lot more popular. You do not need a Skype account. Talk about easy.

Apple released FaceTime, which allows you to make video calls via WiFi along with the iPhone4.

Google is rolling out Gmail Video and Voice video and voice capability for the chat function in Gmail. Now, it provides bare bones conferencing services, but its simple to install and a terrific addition to Gmail. It's not Skype, so don't look for it to be. To get started visit, google.com/videochat and your off and running.

Who Will Conduct Your Social Networking Campaign? Setp 2 in Your Nine Steps to Social Networking Success.

When you consider who will actually be conducting your social networking campaign and creating its content, you have three choices:

1. do the work yourself
2. task an employee
3. hire a contractor.

You may not want to take the time to conduct your social networking campaign. There are lots of reasons for this, of course, but the most pressing is that you have a high paying career and your hourly rate precludes from doing anything but your job. Or, you may just not like writing or appearing in videos. Speaking of video, if you are want to hire someone to be appear in your videos, look to local theater groups, or colleges that teach acting.

Should you give this job to an employee, please give the time and resources as well. If you don't your social networking campaign will end in failure. This takes time and it takes ongoing commitment. Remember, you’re in this for the long haul.

Hiring a contractor solves your problems, at a price. If you hire someone, be sure to provide information on your company to your writer, and to approve the material before it is placed online. We recommend that you read all content written by your contractor, or employee, before allowing it to be placed online. Remember, you are responsible for the material.

Okay, you're on your way. Stop reading and get going. Action is Required.