social media | Review Crushers - Social Media and Internet Marketing

15 Time-Saving Techniques For Social Media

With so may people increasingly reliant on the web for business. It would be disastrous spending any large amount of time on messaging, tweeting and facebook activities. For this reason, this post is going to list 15 time-saving techniques for social media.

Use of internet marketing software for link building.

This is ideal as the period used to finish daily responsibilities becomes shorter. However, this strategy should be applied with caution. Some companies tend to ban accounts when a discovery is made.

Installation of automatic posts facilities.

Many followers will often send inquiries when they are interested in additional information. It may be realized that some questions are repetitive. You can set up your system to identify the area of interest and give a standard answer promptly.

Be focused on your priorities.

Decide right at the outset the messages to reply to. All posts are worth your attention. This does not mean you should not engage in social vents and family activities.

Limit your involvement.

There is always the risk of being drawn into endless conversation. This is avoidable if you decide the number of hours to spend online.

Join a management agency.

You may have so many responsibilities and spare moments are just difficult to create. An agency can help to deal with any in coming messages and send out replies on your behalf.

Attend to core issues first.

Blogging is fun. It is nice to chat about birthdays and weddings. However, you are online to do business. This is supposed to be your priority.

Block email notifications.

Every email that comes into your account deserves an appropriate response. It is therefore quite crucial to reduce the workload. Installing a mechanism that can block unnecessary alerts is important.

RSS links to blogs.

If each moment some contact is noted you have to get back to the sender, you will spend the rest of your life doing this and nothing else. You only need an automatic replies system . This way, you do not have to inform your friends that you have a new post.

Hire experienced assistants.

If there is simply too much in your hands, it would not be out-of-order to employ qualified assistants. They will be available whenever work that requires attention is available.

Outsource some of your work.

Whoever said that delegation is a good management practice was right. Identify a person who can handle some of your messages in competent manner.

Go for bulk SMS.

There are companies that can help to send out any number of SMS simultaneously. These are worth your consideration. It is obvious that a lot of time would be saved.

Search for ideas online.

Innovations are bound to come up all the time. You should keep searching for new and faster techniques. The internet is a valuable resource point.

Purchase a media marketing system.

Technology to aid in the management of social communication is available. You can look for the very best solutions online. Always be sure to understand how it works before you buy.

Ensure you have the latest apps.

Your phone is a mobile office. You should not wait until you get back to the office. Use the gadget to communicate at all places if needed.

Similar handle for different accounts.

Different social networking accounts can have the same handle. Your followers will easily recognize you when this is done. And ultimately will save you more time requiring less work on your behalf.

Challenges Facing Marketers who use Social Media

9:44 am by Kathy Baka 1 Comment

When the idea about networking on the internet was introduced, the world was full of talk about this being the ultimate solution to mega business profits. Many participants even started to imagine that they have hit the jackpot. Soon after every entrepreneur was trying to learn how to produce profits by sending emails, tweets and Facebook updates. Much time has gone by and with it much hype…so lets consider taking a look at some challenges facing marketers using social media.

The fact that the entry-level position is basically unregulated makes anyone including scammers join in on a highly popular advertising game. Some may not be familiar with sales techniques but could eventually learn with the right information. The expectations of clients simply fail to be realized because many amateurs are involved.

Millions of people are online at any given time. Each of them is trying to sell an idea. The promise is that recipients are going to buy goods and services. The question that arises is whether there are ever any significant results from these spirited efforts. An investor must not buy into the strategy if concrete proof has not been provided.

Conversations and real marketing are two different things. Quite often, much of what flies around through the internet links is never original. Members will just send something that is already in circulation. There is an assumption that the more people engage in online chat, the order for goods will similarly increase. This approach may not be of much help to anyone. Goals can only be achieved when business fundamentals are integrated into internet activities.

Among the challenges facing social media marketers using this platform has become very difficult to separate facts from rumors. If a person in one corner of the world posts an idea, it may reach millions of other browsers in several countries. The speed at which this happens is quite amazing. Since the web facilities have no mechanism to verify the details, wrong information can always see the light of day.

Is any research actually carried out before potential customers are bombarded with tempting offers? This is a vital question to those who are after profits. In the absence of data to prove that persons who are sent numerous offers are reliable buyers, the activity will continue to sound like a pipe dream. The only way to solve this problem is to conduct a detailed analysis.

The networking can run the risk of being labeled much to do about nothing. The reason this is likely to happen is that activities are largely not targeted at a particular market segment. The participants are faceless and so are the recipients. Human nature is that messages from anonymous sources are normally dismissed. Until proper identification on online forums is provided, the bet is that many people will continue to treat advertisements with a lot of contempt.

The open door policy adopted by many internet sites may complete the list about challenges facing marketers using social media platforms. Registration is often free of charge. The high number of members can only lead to low-income. Only by hiring professionals can significant change be established.

Filed Under: social media and internet marketing Tagged With: entrepreneur, network marketers, networking, social media

How To Post Content To Google Automatically in 2012

8:55 am by Kathy Baka 5 Comments

Currently, the only method that answers your questions on how to post content to Google automatically is using OnlyWire. Using this application, you can post to more than fifty social media networks, which includes some of the most popular of these social networking sites. Using the OnlyWire WordPress or Submitter plug-in is the only option presently available if you want to post content on Google.

Using a single button you will be able to submit your content to your profile page and to one of your other Google pages. This submission will include the title of your post and provides a link, which is a unique link for your page. You receive a free trial offer three hundred submissions to allow you to test the suitability of the program for your requirements.

After you sign up for this service, you will need to install the OnlyWire Submitter on to the hard drive of your machine. The next step is to set up the social networking services along with the installation of bookmarks and share button on your web site. After successfully completing this procedure, you can commence posting your unique content using the submitter.

The application can be downloaded for all operating systems, which include Windows, Mac, and Linux. Additionally, you can take advantage of the official WordPress plug-in provided by this application. Using the bookmark and share button, your visitors are able to either bookmark or share the articles available on your website.

Using the services section enables users to login to the different social media networks where they want to submit their information. The history section allows you to review the current status for your various submissions on each of the social media networks used. In case one or more of these submissions fail, you can choose the option to manually submit these posts on the relevant networks.

Under the My Account section, you are able to view your monthly usage. Each submission implies one post submitted to a single social media network. With this check on the monthly usage, you can ensure you do not exceed the number of submissions available under your chosen monthly plan.

Users can choose from a wide range of monthly subscription plans to meet their personal requirements. The cheapest plan is available for approximately $13 per month, which makes this service affordable to almost any user. The Plan subsection under the My Account section allows you to manage the number of submissions every month and allows you to manage your information efficiently.

When searching for relevant results, search spiders from Google provide a great deal of importance to the keywords. Therefore, it is recommended you write original and unique content that is rich in relevant keywords to increase your rankings. However, the quality of the content is given more importance than the quantity, which is something webmasters must be aware about.

Creating inbound links through article submission or commenting on blogs and forums is an excellent method to increase your ranking. Again, you need to focus on the quality of the originating source to ensure relevance is provided by the search engine spiders. Using the above mentioned tips on how to post content to Google automatically can be beneficial in driving more traffic to your web pages (but word of caution with googles new update). There may be multiple updates regarding keyword stuffing, content & auto-submitting (you can view the google penguin update here).

Filed Under: google, social media and internet marketing Tagged With: auto post content, onlywire, social media

Facebook Aims to Raise Organ Donors in the US

5:28 am by russel.browne 3 Comments

Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg recently uncovered an initiative that aims to multiply the number of organ donors in the US. His aim is to use the platform and other market leading social networks such as Twitter and LinkedIn to link donors with persons who require organ transplants. While unveiling the initiative, Mark Zuckerberg became the first user to register on Facebook as a potential organ donor.

What this means is that registered users on Facebook in both the US and UK can now point out on their timelines that they are organ donors. What’s more is that, in case they are not yet donors they will be able to locate links that will direct them to the certified organ donation registry where they will be able to enlist as organ donors.

Mark Zuckerberg’s Interest in Organ Donation

While launching the initiative, founder Mark Zuckerberg stated that the network is not just about communicating with others and narrating interesting stories. He went on to state that users on Facebook and other social networks can be handy in spreading awareness in regards to organ donation by participating in it and involving their friends. This in turn will assist in solving the looming crisis of organ donor shortage.

Mark Zuckerberg stated that he was driven to unveil the initiative by some of the conversations he had with his girlfriend. Interestingly, Mark’s girlfriend is a medical student and was a dear friend to Steve Jobs, the co-founder of Apple, who managed to live longer on this planet as a result of liver transplant.

How the Initiative Works

To make the program simple, Mark stated that all that a person has to do is state the state or nation they are from and they will be automatically directed to certified registries. There is already a health and awareness segment on the network where users can effortlessly record their standing as potential organ donors. They can also utilize the same tool to clarify to their friends the choice they have taken in a bid to increase awareness in respect to the need for organ donors.

Why You Should Become Part of the Initiative

According to a recent statistic, it was found that there are roughly over 150,000 people in the US and millions of others around the world who are in dire need for a heart, liver, lung and kidney transplant. Mark stated that these lives can be saved if only people were to make themselves available as potential organ donors. During the launch which was also attended by Facebook Chief Operating Officer, Sheryl Sandberg, it was stated that approximately 18 persons die each day because of shortage of accessible organs.

Donate Life America, an NGO in the United States that is partnering with Facebook on this initiative extended their gratitude to founder Mark Zuckerberg for seeing that there is a need for organ donors and taking a step in making it happen. They went on to state the tens of thousands of lives will be saved as a result of this noble initiative.

Therefore, you too can today become an organ donor by taking some time off to update your timeline. All you have to do is enroll as a donor and share your choice with colleagues, friends and family members. By doing so, you will be giving hope to millions of people who are in need of an organ.

Filed Under: facebook, Guest Blogging Tagged With: Mark Zuckerberg, social media, social networks

Social Media for Financial Websites

10:29 am by John Abrena 6 Comments

Setting up accounts on social networking sites is not confined to solely establishing personal connections anymore. Owing to the digital age, more and more companies are seeing the benefits of creating an online presence. In fact, even financial organizations are now jumping into the fray of social media marketing.

It took a while for financial companies to take advantage of social media. Unlike other companies, those under the financial sector need to abide by laws and regulations governing online communications. In the US, for instance, the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority requires financial companies venturing into social sites to comply with the regulations detailed on Regulatory Notice 10-06.

With the legal fronts cleared, financial companies can now make the most of the advantages of social media, which includes:

Higher exposure.

The idea of social media marketing is to boost a company’s online reputation. Social media allows financial companies to reach a wider audience, as studies show that there is a significant number of investors who are active online.

Social media is a great tool for online campaigns, be it on various blogs, Twitter, Facebook, or Google+. Customers can browse through a company’s complete set of products and services, as well as learn about company-led events. For example, finding the best stores to purchase something like cheap checks is now a click away. It gives customers—both the regular and the potential ones—convenience and quick information.

More interaction, easier communication.

Less than a decade ago, clients raise their concerns through phone calls, official letters, or emails. Social media now makes it easier for both the company and the clients to create an atmosphere of respectful and open dialogue. The new Facebook Timeline, for one, allows their business-related pages to send and receive private messages from customers.

This works both ways: The financial company can reach out to potential customers, while customers now have an easier avenue to give their feedback to the company.

More improvements for products and services.

Once customers have given their feedback, financial companies now have the option to act upon the comments of their customers, whether these are positive or negative.

Financial firms can capitalize on online comments. Analyzing feedback from customers can be another strategy of financial enterprises to create more personalized products and services that will cater to customers’ specific needs. Companies can improve or completely remove products and services that are no longer working. As with every business venture, satisfied customers translate to higher revenues.

Peer-to-peer recommendations.

Social media thrive on numbers. Take a look at these statistics: by the end of 2011: Facebook has 845 million monthly active users; by March 2012, Twitter has 140 million users; and by January 2012, Google+ has 90 million users. Imagine the potential of tapping into this massive number of networks online.

If a financial company provides quality services and products, customers are more likely to share good stories to their online contacts. Aside from word of mouth, social sites have features that can make sharing information a lot easier, such as posts and tweets, likes, re-tweets, etc.

Interactions with other companies in the financial sector.

There are various online communities that provide an area for open discussions between other companies and thought leaders in the financial industry. Financial firms can participate on topics they can relate to by sharing their website contents. They can also trade information, connect with other companies, and learn new tips and strategies.

Technology also brought many changes to the financial sector. Although there may be risks in adopting social media strategies, these advantages can undoubtedly bring more business value to various financial companies.

Filed Under: Guest Blogging, social media marketing Tagged With: online presence, online reputation, social media, social media strategies

Guidelines to Social Media Resumes

9:12 am by ThomasStone 2 Comments

Part of the idea behind a social media resume is having potential employers come to you, instead of you going to potential employers. Some of its advantages over traditional resumes are that it can be searched, shared and distributed. Additionally, it can include multimedia elements, which can make it a compelling portrayal of your talents. In setting up your social media resume, you have different options. Here are some tips and guidelines to keep in mind for each one.

Build a website for your resume.

Set up a website devoted exclusively for the purpose of marketing yourself. If you don’t want to invest the money in web hosting fees, free websites are available. When you buy your domain name, use your own name. You can put this URL on your business cards and in your social networks.
In constructing your site, divide up your content, putting a different aspect of your resume on separate pages, making it easy for an employer to navigate. For example, one page could showcase your education and training, as well as additional learning such as workshops and seminars. Another page could delineate your job experience, while a third page could provide bio information. Use at least several pages, so the site can be as complete as possible.

Make your online resume come alive with multimedia components. Include job related photos and videos, along with audio testimonials from colleagues or clients.

Link to your social networks, particularly Twitter, Facebook and LinkedIn, but be careful that your postings contain no rudeness, sarcasm or anything that would be a poor reflection on you. An employer will look at your social media activities, so use this opportunity to display your interpersonal finesse, and also your interest in the industry.

Construct a Pinterest social media resume.

Given the skyrocketing popularity of this site, it’s a good idea to put your resume on a pinboard. Use PowerPoint slides, exported as images to showcase important text, such as your qualifications, credentials or LinkedIn recommendations. Include a great photo of yourself, in addition to some You Tube videos.
Showcase any accomplishment in the form of a photo. If you’ve written an eBook, include a copy of the eBook cover. Above all, include a link to your contact page on your personal website, so an employer can reach you. Invite the viewer to get in touch with you, choosing a call to action that sounds professional.

Put the most essential components of your resume on the top row of your board, so they can be seen without scrolling down. Design your board in such a way that it is clean, uncluttered and easy-to-scan.

Social media has become an integral part of many modern-day business operations, so the fact that you have this type of resume tells an employer you have the Internet skills needed to function in this realm. Also, the ability to add sensory elements, such as audios, photos and videos, add vibrancy to your resume, making it a nice augmentation to a traditional one. It may give you an edge over other applicants competing for the positions you are interested in, making the difference in your job search success.

Filed Under: branding, Guest Blogging, how to use social media Tagged With: building your brand, pinterest, social media

Best Free Apps Every Freelancer Should Have

9:30 am by Broadband Genie 2 Comments

It’s one thing being a freelancer and working from home or an office somewhere, because you’ll generally have all of the modern desktop software, social media and marketing solutions available at your fingertips. These days though, many more of us freelancers are going mobile and, thanks to the wealth of portable gadgets, we can stay productive no matter where we go.

Central to this is the sort of software that you choose along the way, and there is an endless supply of portable apps and software that can get the all important jobs done, no matter what kind of task it is that you’re working on.

Essential apps

Everyone needs to get day-to-day administration chores done, no matter what kind of freelance route they are currently taking. In which case, you need a software program that can take care of everything from word processing files through to spreadsheets. In that respect, it’s hard to imagine getting by without Open Office Portable. This is a complete suite of productivity tools that can meet any kind of need and it’s a breeze to use too.

Graphics are another area that many freelancers have to deal with on a daily basis, so a fully functioning app such as Gimp Portable is perfect for this task. The desktop version of this software is supremely powerful, while also having an interface that is quick and easy to master. The portable version does the same job, but condenses the work area for more mobile minded gadgets. The result is a one-stop graphics shop on your device.

Files, folders, photographs and much more… can also require quite a lot of time to manage, although if you install a version of Dropbox that’s suited to your mobile gadget then you’ll find things are more efficient in an instant. This software works awesome and allows you to gain access to vital files no matter what the location, add files to your favorite’s lists for instant viewing and also upload pictures and video with amazing simplicity. What’s more, you can share data with colleagues, friends and family too.

Get social

Of course being a freelancer means that you’ll need to get smart at the art of self publicity and marketing your business and the simplest way forward with that is to get the latest mobile apps that allow you to social network. WordPress for the mobile platform is certainly one way to get a blog up and running in next to no time. Again, following on from the ever-popular desktop version, you’ll find that the mobile incarnation of WordPress offers sophisticated blogging options and the opportunity to create a great looking blog from the ground up.

However, being mobile and a freelancer will also require you to take a look at the likes of Tumblr, Blogger, LiveJournal and Posterous Spaces; all apps that will help get you the exposure in an area of freelancing that’s rapidly becoming an essential place to be.

Filed Under: Guest Blogging Tagged With: business, marketing, portable apps, portable gadgets, productivity tools, social media

What Is Social Media Optimization?

10:54 am by Kathy Baka 7 Comments

Search engine optimization is considered to be a great art for websites or blog performance over the internet and practiced well by many people all over the world. Today, lets take a look at its controversial sister SMO or Social Media Optimization. SMO is all about the creation of increased visibility for a website in the social media world through a custom search engine like Technorati.
Listed below are five important steps that should be considered for effective optimization of your social media efforts:

1. Link-ability

This is the first and foremost part of the social media optimization for a website. Most websites will be with static content or data and it will hardly experience any changes or alteration. Here, it is essential to depend on link-ability through increasing it to a maximum extent. Blog updating is perfect choice for this aspect, which will result into regular content coming from your website. This constantly updated content will result into a good link ability platform for your website which is a perfect SMO practice. This can be explained in other terms as aggregating the content that is already existing somewhere through converting into a helpful format.

2. Bookmarking & Tagging

Tagging and bookmarking is essential aspect for the entire SMO practice. Here, tagging task should be accomplished through adding quick buttons such as “add to del.iciou.us” and some more. It is essential to tag the webpages over the popular social bookmarking sites. This is an ideal way to gain attention from the social media successfully for your website.

3. Inbound Links (Rewarding)

Inbound links have always been a successful approach for effective SEO. In social media, it is essential to reward these inbound links using permalinks through recreating similarly, and provide list of the recent blogs that are linked to you as a reward of visibility.

4. Content Travel

It is essential that your content gain more mileage through reaching other relevant sites through content travel. Your content that is in the form of videos, pdf, audios and some other formats should be submitted to other similar sites to attract visitors and to drive links successfully to the original site.

5. Mashup – Encourage

We are in the world of co-creation, which should allow others to use your content effectively. Take YouTube videos as an example. They will offer cut paste code for their videos, which has resulted into great help for their enormous growth. Syndicating content through RSS is also similar such variety in this aspect.

Filed Under: social media and internet marketing Tagged With: search engine optimization, SMO, social media, social media optimization

10 Free Ways to Gather Media Attention

11:17 am by Kathy Baka 8 Comments

Media attention always spells huge success for any business or individual in many different ways. Every business should have at least some desire to access good media attention through any possible way. Obviously having this kind of attention can result in increased popularity for a business.

Here are 10 free ways to gather media attention:

1. The medias attention will always navigate towards any story that is current or highly sought after from curious media watchers. So it is essential for ” a business” to come up with an interesting or “Hot” story angle that is catchy and interesting for different types of media markets to cover.

2. You should always create and frequently update your own media list with intentions to create good media buzz (now or in the future). This media list should contain a publications list and few other important media sources. This list should have the company name, address, phone numbers, contact person name and any other important details to accurately describe the source. Make this list in such a way the selected experts will definitely be of “real help” for your media attention.

3. Always contact the right person within the publication firm for all your requirements. Generally, editors will write featured stories for their publication. Identify an editor that is related to your niche from each publication and media firm for contacting on regular basis.

4. Timing is another essential factor to make use of such attention. Generally, a media calendar will be a great help in this aspect. Most of the PR campaigns will depend upon this media calendar. You should follow the media targets very well for this purpose as it will be on daily basis, weekly basis and monthly basis for their editions. Basing on this media edition cycles, you have to plan your proceedings.

5. Most of the journalists will look for the most genuine sources to catch their hot stories. So needless to say… always try to be a good source for a journalist and make use of this association for promoting your niche successfully on regular basis.

6. Constant contact with your media list will create good relationships around your business. It is essential for you to send some thank you letters and emails on consistent basis appreciating their help for publishing an article about your business.

7. Occasional mails and notes to your selected media list should be a constant practice. This kind of approach will always keep you fresh in the mind of popular media and they will let you know whenever there is a good opportunity to project your niche in the media.

8. Press releases are another good way to gather media attention. You can invite the media for a product launch or some other occasion and make it a press release. These press releases are a proven method for the successful media attention.

9. Social media is also nowadays resulting into a good free source to attain media attention. Most of the publishing units are successfully making their presence at social networks. Make them part of your network and gain more through it.

10. Friends and family could be another source to obtain free media attention. Find out if someone in your friends or family… is familiar with popular publishing firms and use it to your advantage.

Filed Under: social media and internet marketing Tagged With: journalists, media attention, pr campaigns, press releases, social media, social networks

Using Twitter for Reputation and Crisis Management

11:14 am by Kelly Jones Leave a Comment

Social Media is the new canvas for marketers and brand managers and Twitter and Facebook are the main pillars of the Social Media arena. Businesses have normally used Social Media to promote products but it can also be used for crisis management and Twitter has an important role to play in it as a reputation management tool.

Social media gives you the eyeballs and medium to firefight in times of crisis and to tailor your response in real time. The information relayed will need to be sincere, transparent and accurate so that people trust you and the position is strengthened. Twitter now has more than 100 million active users who send out more than 200 million tweets per day.

Some major things to be kept in mind while using Twitter to handle crisis and rebuild reputations are:

Even if you have a Twitter Account, the existing brand manager may be reluctant to give it up and lose face. So for crisis, create a new account to handle the specific issue and conversation related to it. Link it with the other online presence the company has.
Always keep in mind that the traditional media uses Twitter and your best interest is to become part of the conversation in their accounts so that they carry the news forward and bring attention to your firefighting efforts. You have to be out there and stand up and be counted. It always helps to have the major news organization reporterstwitter handles in hand and follow them. Reporters use Twitter for news gathering and if you reach them half the battle is won if you can tell your side of the story.
The Twitter headline is very important as most sites recirculate the content. Use the headline judiciously and one which presents you in a balanced perspective. Always keep in mind that the headline will be re-tweeted so it should not give a misleading impression.
Shoot a video with a spokesperson and post it to YouTube and then tweet and promote. Give a face to the company and engage positively. The video will work on the viral approach and have maximum impact.
Always be ready to have paid and sponsored tweets which will be shown at the top to increase visibility and have maximum impact. Paid Tweets also allow you to target a specific audience and engage them.

The above should help you in making the maximum impact on Twitter and recover lost ground and regain consumer trust. Always remember: Stand up, Go out and be heard.

Filed Under: Guest Blogging, social media and internet marketing Tagged With: management tools, Reputation Management, social media, sponsored tweets, twitter