Social Frosting, Google Plus, and SEO – a Conversation
This is a recent podcast about Google Plus by Eric Schwartzman @EricSchwartzman who provides online social media training, social media strategy and social media policy governance. His new book “Social Marketing to the Business Customer” with Paul Gillin about B2B social media marketing is available now. Social media and content strategist and President of Convince and […]
Diversifying Yourself Into a Platform Business
Guest post by Phil Simon, a technology expert and the author of three books. You can back his latest project here. My forthcoming book is about the platform as an important and relatively new business model. I have learned from personal experience that building a platform is not only beneficial, but also imperative for many […]
Calculate Your Blogging ROI in 9 Steps
Blogging isn’t free. Creating and sustaining a good blog for yourself or your company is a highly labor-intensive proposition. The people (maybe you) working on the blog could be doing something else that helps the company make money, save money, or both. Thus, blogging presents a serious opportunity cost to the company. Smart organizations methodically […]
Guy Kawasaki, Cristal, and 19 Facebook Webinars
Facebook best practices change about as often as Sean Combs/Puffy/Puff Daddy/P Diddy/Diddy/Diddy Dirty Money monikers, and keeping up on Facebook for business can be a significant time investment. Lots of newsletters, blog posts, and case studies to consume. But now you can get the straight scoop on what’s happening on Facebook for your business, and […]
Content Without Advocacy is Just Words and Google Bait
Mike Stelzner knows a little something about building a successful company from thin air. He’s the founder of Social Media Examiner, currently ranked the #8 marketing blog in the world on the AdAge Power 150 (we’re lagging at #19 here at Convince & Convert). In just one year – from a standing start – SME […]
The Hitchhiker’s Guide to Tracking Website Engagement
Guest post by Petri Darby, APR, the director of brand marketing & digital strategy for the Make-A-Wish Foundation of America. In Douglas Adams’ “The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy,” a computer known as Deep Thought spent seven and a half million years contemplating the great Question of Life, the Universe and Everything. Seventy-five thousand generations […]
Does QR stand for Quasi-Ridiculous? (an analysis)
I understand QR codes are the new “it” thing, the Taylor Lautner of calls-to-action. And indeed, given the increasing ubiquity of smart phones (41% in the U.S. according to new research by my client ExactTarget), many of your potential customers have the capacity to interact with your QR code. But whether they will or not […]
Popularity and Reciprocity are the Enemies of Connectivity
As I spend increasing amounts of time playing with Google Plus (see my analysis of it here), I’ve come to recognize that the success of social networking eventually brings about its demise. Twitter originally felt a lot like Google + does today, where you recognized most of the people in your stream, interactions were more […]
The 3 Building Blocks of Social Business Evolution
Guest post by Michael Brito, Vice President at Edelman Digital. He writes the Britopian blog, and wrote the new social business book, Smart Business, Social Business: A Playbook for Social Media in Your Organization (available July 26) Building a business is easy. Start with an idea. Find a wicked developer who is willing to work […]
SunButter Succeeds in Social Media Step-by-Step
Guest post by Libby Hall, digital strategist at the Flint Group of agencies. Here’s an example of strategic social media in action for our client, SunButter. SunButter sunflower seed spread is like peanut butter, but totally peanut-free and made from sunflower seeds, so it’s perfect for people with peanut allergies. It’s also delicious, as fans […]
Did This National Restaurant Chain Put Too Much Love Into the Like?
I’m glad that more and more companies are putting significant effort into their social media programs. Really, I am. But, we can’t let enthusiasm obfuscate reality, and that seems to be occurring with alarming regularity these days in all corners of the social Web. The most recent example to cross my inbox is from restaurant […]
Why Google Has the Hammer To Make Businesses Use Google Plus
Everyone’s all abuzz and atwitter about Plus, the new social network from a search engine company with which you might be familiar. I won’t break down all the features and how-tos and what-ifs, as other folks are better at that, including Jason Falls and Chris Brogan. My initial, abbreviated take is that Google’s new social […]
The Fallacy of Round the Clock Social Media
Guest post by Chris Hall an interactive content specialist at Off Madison Ave who specializes in writing for humans, not robots. It’s 11PM and the world around you is getting ready for bed. As a mobile obsessive, you instinctually check your Facebook, Twitter and all the rest of your social media accounts while you brush […]
When a Picture is Truly Worth 1,000 Words
Guest post by Aaron Strout, head of location-based marketing at global agency WCG. He blogs at Citizen Marketing 2.1. There is a lot of excitement these days about the potential of location-based services among marketers and social media professionals. For anyone that doesn’t know what a location based service is, it’s an application or website […]
The 12 Key Messaging Strategies for Email Lifecycle Marketing
Guest post from Chris Sietsema, who teaches and trains small to medium-sized businesses and non-profits in the disciplines of search, social media, email marketing and online analytics. Chris owns Teach to Fish Digital, a one-man consultancy in beautiful Mesa, Arizona. He also created the infographics for The NOW Revolution. A common challenge for us is […]
Secrets of Social Media You Learned in High School
Guest post by Bill Murtha, President and CEO of Roberts Communications, a leading independent advertising agency with offices in New York and Minnesota. Everything you know about social media you probably learned in high school. In full disclosure, a lot of our social media strategy flows out of the work we do with Jay Baer. […]