FORBES Top 100 Websites For Women

November 3, 2010 Leave a comment

In Pictures: Best Career Sites For Women

In Pictures: Best Sites For Working Mothers

No one can succeed on her own. Even the savviest women need help along the way. To that end, with the help of the ForbesWoman community, we’ve searched the Web for the most dynamic, inspiring and helpful websites for women. We’re delighted to present this list of ForbesWoman’s Top 100 Websites for Women.

To determine which sites and blogs made the cut we looked for compelling and decidedly female-oriented content, outstanding design, an active community and frequent updates. In short, sheer clickyness.

Short of a women’s studies seminar at Smith College, it would be hard to find feminist conversation as lively and engaging as can be found on Feministing. Pioneer Woman has turned Web design and online photography into a high-art form. Dooce, a blog by uber mom blogger Heather Armstrong, fields dozens of comments and retweets per posting, mostly from like-minded women weighing in on Armstrong’s musings and rants.Womensenews and Birdsontheblog are veritable Twitter-fast scrolls of stories and features for and by women.

Twitter follower @abbycar was quick to respond when we asked our community for their favorite Web resources, and her response: “85Broads!” was quickly echoed on both Twitter and Facebook, and happens to be an editors’ favorite as well. Other top shout outs that made the list were the blog Start Up Princess (@DomesticBecky), Ms. Magazine (@TitaniaUSA) and financial site LearnVest (@MeldonJ).

Why 100? As it turns out, we couldn’t go with less.

85 Broads: A member’s only international network of 20,000 inspired, empowered and connected women started by female staffers at Goldman Sachs ( GS - news - people ). Niceoffering of blogs from members on work-life issues.

Facebook in Privacy Breach

October 18, 2010 Leave a comment

Top-Ranked Applications Transmit Personal IDs, a Journal Investigation Finds

By EMILY STEEL And GEOFFREY A. FOWLER

Kim White BloombergFacebook founder and CEO Mark Zuckerberg addressed the F8 developer conference this spring.

Many of the most popular applications, or “apps,” on the social-networking site Facebook Inc. have been transmitting identifying information—in effect, providing access to people’s names and, in some cases, their friends’ names—to dozens of advertising and Internet tracking companies, a Wall Street Journal investigation has found.

The issue affects tens of millions of Facebook app users, including people who set their profiles to Facebook’s strictest privacy settings. The practice breaks Facebook’s rules, and renews questions about its ability to keep identifiable information about its users’ activities secure.

Facebook says it is taking steps to “dramatically limit” the exposure of users’ personal information, after a WSJ investigation showed that personal IDs were being transmitted to third parties via Facebook apps. But how hard is it to fix such a breach – and how concerned should users be about the sharing of these IDs? Julia Angwin joins Digits to discuss.

More From Digits

The problem has ties to the growing field of companies that build detailed databases on people in order to track them online—a practice the Journal has been examining in its What They Know series. It’s unclear how long the breach was in place. On Sunday, a Facebook spokesman said it is taking steps to “dramatically limit” the exposure of users’ personal information.

Many top applications on Facebook have been transmitting identifying information to Internet tracking and ad companies. Emily Steel discusses. Also, Michael Ramsey discusses skepticism about the auto industry’s big bet that battery-powered cars will become big sellers.

“A Facebook user ID may be inadvertently shared by a user’s Internet browser or by an application,” the spokesman said. Knowledge of an ID “does not permit access to anyone’s private information on Facebook,” he said, adding that the company would introduce new technology to contain the problem identified by the Journal.

“Our technical systems have always been complemented by strong policy enforcement, and we will continue to rely on both to keep people in control of their information,” the Facebook official said.

More From the Series

“Apps” are pieces of software that let Facebook’s 500 million users play games or share common interests with one another. The Journal found that all of the 10 most popular apps on Facebook were transmitting users’ IDs to outside companies.

The apps, ranked by research company Inside Network Inc. (based on monthly users), include Zynga Game Network Inc.’s FarmVille, with 59 million users, and Texas HoldEm Poker and FrontierVille. Three of the top 10 apps, including FarmVille, also have been transmitting personal information about a user’s friends to outside companies.

Most apps aren’t made by Facebook, but by independent software developers. Several apps became unavailable to Facebook users after the Journal informed Facebook that the apps were transmitting personal information; the specific reason for their unavailability remains unclear.

The information being transmitted is one of Facebook’s basic building blocks: the unique “Facebook ID” number assigned to every user on the site. Since a Facebook user ID is a public part of any Facebook profile, anyone can use an ID number to look up a person’s name, using a standard Web browser, even if that person has set all of his or her Facebook information to be private. For other users, the Facebook ID reveals information they have set to share with “everyone,” including age, residence, occupation and photos.

The apps reviewed by the Journal were sending Facebook ID numbers to at least 25 advertising and data firms, several of which build profiles of Internet users by tracking their online activities.

Defenders of online tracking argue that this kind of surveillance is benign because it is conducted anonymously. In this case, however, the Journal found that one data-gathering firm, RapLeaf Inc., had linked Facebook user ID information obtained from apps to its own database of Internet users, which it sells. RapLeaf also transmitted the Facebook IDs it obtained to a dozen other firms, the Journal found.

Name Games

All 10 of the top Facebook apps transmitted users’ IDs, The Journal found

View Full Image

WTKFBOOK_jump

RapLeaf said that transmission was unintentional. “We didn’t do it on purpose,” said Joel Jewitt, vice president of business development for RapLeaf.

Facebook said it previously has “taken steps … to significantly limit Rapleaf’s ability to use any Facebook-related data.”

Facebook prohibits app makers from transferring data about users to outside advertising and data companies, even if a user agrees. The Journal’s findings shed light on the challenge of policing those rules for the 550,000 apps on its site.

The Journal’s findings are the latest challenge for Facebook, which has been criticized in recent years for modifying its privacy rules to expose more of a user’s information. This past spring, the Journal found that Facebook was transmitting the ID numbers to advertising companies, under some circumstances, when a user clicked on an ad. Facebook subsequently discontinued the practice.

“This is an even more complicated technical challenge than a similar issue we successfully addressed last spring on Facebook.com,” a Facebook spokesman said, “but one that we are committed to addressing.”

The privacy issue follows Facebook’s effort just this month to give its users more control over its apps, which privacy activists had cited as a potential hole in users’ ability to control who sees their information. On Oct. 6, Facebook created a control panel that lets users see which apps are accessing which categories of information about them. It indicates, for example, when an application accesses a user’s “basic information” (including a user ID and name). However, it doesn’t detail what information friends’ applications have accessed about a user.

Video From ‘What They Know’ Series

All ‘What They Know’ videos

It’s rarely a coincidence when you see Web ads for products that match your interests. WSJ’s Christina Tsuei explains how advertisers use cookies to track your online habits.

A new report in the Wall Street Journal’s “What They Know” series illustrates how companies like Microsoft must balance conflicting interests: helping people surf the Web with its browser to keep their mouse clicks private, and helping advertisers who want to see those clicks. WSJ’s Julia Angwin, Nick Wingfield, and Jessica Vascellaro join host Simon Constable as panelists on this special Digits live show.

Facebook apps transform Facebook into a hub for all kinds of activity, from playing games to setting up a family tree. Apps are considered an important way for Facebook to extend the usefulness of its network. The company says 70% of users use apps each month.

Applications are also a growing source of revenue beyond advertising for Facebook itself, which sells its own virtual currency that can be used to pay for games.

Following an investigation by the Canadian Privacy Commissioner, Facebook in June limited applications to accessing only the public parts of a user’s profile, unless the user grants additional permission. (Canadian officials later expressed satisfaction with Facebook’s steps.) Previously, applications could tap any data the user had access to, including detailed profiles and information about a user’s friends.

It’s not clear if developers of many of the apps transmitting Facebook ID numbers even knew that their apps were doing so. The apps were using a common Web standard, known as a “referer,” which passes on the address of the last page viewed when a user clicks on a link. On Facebook and other social-networking sites, referers can expose a user’s identity.

The company says it has disabled thousands of applications at times for violating its policies. It’s unclear how many, if any, of those cases involved passing user information to marketing companies.

Facebook also appeared to have shut down some applications the Journal found to be transmitting user IDs, including several created by LOLapps Media Inc., a San Francisco company backed with $4 million in venture capital. LOLapp’s applications include Gift Creator, with 3.5 million monthly active users, Quiz Creator, with 1.4 million monthly active users, Colorful Butterflies and Best Friends Gifts.

Since Friday, users attempting to access those applications received either an error message or were reverted to Facebook’s home screen.

“We have taken immediate action to disable all applications that violate our terms,” a Facebook spokesman said.

Data From ‘What They Know’

The Wall Street Journal analyzed the tracking files installed on people’s computers by the 50 most popular websites, plus WSJ.com. Explore the data here and see separate analysis of the files on popular children’s sites.

A spokeswoman for LOLapps Media declined to comment.

The applications transmitting Facebook IDs may have breached their own privacy policies, as well as industry standards, which say sites shouldn’t share and advertisers shouldn’t collect personally identifiable information without users’ permission. Zynga, for example, says in its privacy policy that it “does not provide any Personally Identifiable Information to third-party advertising companies.”

A Zynga spokeswoman said, “Zynga has a strict policy of not passing personally identifiable information to any third parties. We look forward to working with Facebook to refine how web technologies work to keep people in control of their information.”

The most expansive use of Facebook user information uncovered by the Journal involved RapLeaf. The San Francisco company compiles and sells profiles of individuals based in part on their online activities.

The Journal found that some LOLapps applications, as well as the Family Tree application, were transmitting users’ Facebook ID numbers to RapLeaf. RapLeaf then linked those ID numbers to dossiers it had previously assembled on those individuals, according to RapLeaf. RapLeaf then embedded that information in an Internet-tracking file known as a “cookie.”

RapLeaf says it strips out the user’s name when it embeds the information in the cookie and shares that information for ad targeting. However, The Wall Street Journal found that RapLeaf transmitted Facebook user IDs to a dozen other advertising and data firms, including Google Inc.’s Invite Media.

All 12 companies said that they didn’t collect, store or use the information.

Ilya Nikolayev, chief executive of Familybuilder, maker of the Family Tree application, said in an email, “It is Familybuilder’s corporate policy to keep any actual, potential, current or prior business partnerships, relationships, customer details, and any similar information confidential. As this story relates to a company other than Familybuilder, we have nothing further to contribute.”

Write to Emily Steel at emily.steel@wsj.com and Geoffrey A. Fowler atgeoffrey.fowler@wsj.com

Filed under Uncategorized Tagged with facebook apps, facebook aps breech, Facebook breech

A C T O R S GET B R A N D E D (starting at $150) Internet Domination

October 11, 2010 Leave a comment

E Host Julie Miese

How do you dominate the internet?
How do you get branded?

If you are an actor or musician you need a brand. Your foundation, your marketing platform. A website, blog, social media, fan base, graphics, articles, press releases, video’s everywhere. You need people to know who you are, how do you do this? Internet Marketing. You have to do it to survive and compete. I have been creating and helping actors, and indie people just like yourself brand themselves for years. Not only do I offer this, but I offer marketing consulting if you want to do it yourself for $99 for an hour. I hold workshops teaching entrepreneurs, small businesses and individuals such as yourself how to dominate the internet. My powerful technique and strategy has awarded my film company a record breaking 13 weeks at AMC with internet marketing. My clients have gotten signed by big agencies. Graced the cover of magazines, started their speaking tours, booked more shows, become more celebrated in their fields and tripled their visibility on the web. I can do it for you, or show you how. Email me now at oriahproductions@gmail.com. I am here to help you DOMINATE.

http://IndieMarketinggenius.com

Filed under Uncategorized Tagged with actors branding, dominate the internet, how to get successful, how to market, internet marketing

How the Internet Is Changing the Fashion Industry in 2010

October 5, 2010 Leave a comment

The fashion industry functions much like your least favorite high school clique: A leader boldly undertakes something new, a few imitators cautiously follow suit and the rest then clamber to participate before the trend dies out.

The same pattern has emerged so far this year, as brands sample new digital and mobile technologies to market to and engage with consumers. In particular, brands took to location-based social network Foursquare to build buzz around new product launches, like Jimmy Choo’s line of trainers and Oscar de la Renta’s limited-edition series of python iPad clutches.

In addition to campaigns, fashion brands released a significant amount of behind-the-scenes content on a regular basis, ranging from blurry mobile snapshots of runway models for quick distribution over Facebook and Twitter, to professionally produced short films delivered exclusively on company websites and mobile apps.

Perhaps the most gratifying development this year began with LOFT — specifically, LOFT’s Facebook Page. The company’s corporate staff answered a widespread call for “real women” models by modeling the clothes themselves and posting them to Facebook, sparking a flurry of positive media attention and several imitators within the industry.

Let’s take a look at how the Internet has affected the fashion sector — in particular, marketers and media — thus far in 2010.

Marketers Embrace Location-Based Services

Brands have continued to leverage social networks for big product launches. This year, the fashion industry proved particularly keen on location-based gaming platform Foursquare.

Marc Jacobs was the first major designer to take advantage of the network. During New York Fashion Week in February, Marc Jacobs distributed “Fashion Victim” badges to those who checked in to one of its stores around the country. Four users who checked in to one of its New York stores were also awarded tickets to its runway show, notoriously one of the most difficult to get access to during Fashion Week.

Although Marc Jacobs may have been first, Jimmy Choo’s use of Foursquare was certainly the most creative. Its spring Catch-a-Choo campaign had women running all over London in order to secure a pair of the company’s new line of trainers (or sneakers, in American speak). The company used the platform to check in at various fashionable locales; checkins were broadcast over Facebook and Twitter, and the first person at each site was awarded a free pair of trainers. Roughly 4,000 people participated in the chase, which was picked up by the mainstream and online media alike. Sneaker sales subsequently increased by 33%, media agency Luckie & Co told WWD.

Several other brands also took advantage of location-based networks to build buzz around big events. Louis Vuitton awarded a “Vuitton Insider” Foursquare badge to followers who checked in three times at its new London boutique. Oscar de la Renta gave away an iPad clutch to the Foursquare mayor of its flagship store in July. TOMS and AT&T teamed up to give away 1,000 TOMS shoes and other prizes via Gowalla in August. And many others, including Cynthia Rowley, Gap, Juicy Couture and Ann Taylor, offered significant discounts to shoppers who checked in at retail locations via Foursquare.

In addition to location-based networks, fashion marketers also continued to use Facebook and web-based social styling platform Polyvore to promote new product lines. To coincide with the release of his first men’s fragrance, dubbed Bang, Marc Jacobs built a Facebook game titled Bang! You’re it!, which encouraged users to “Bang” their friends and crushes for chances at giveaway prizes. Online retailer Yoox also launched a Facebook application to draw attention to its fall catalog. Polyvore hosted many brand-sponsored contests to encourage users to explore new collections; American designer Prabal Gurung even premiered pieces of his Spring 2011 collection to online consumers before his New York Fashion Week show in September.

Brands Become Content Creators

Marketers haven’t limited their social media use to big campaigns this year. In fact, many have released a steady stream of content on their companies’ websites, as well as platforms like Facebook, Twitter, YouTube and iOS (via mobile applications).

The most common of these were behind-the-scenes shots, which were quickly captured via mobile phones and digital cameras and distributed over Facebook and Twitter. Livestreams of runway shows also were enormously popular this year. During fall fashion shows in February, only Louis Vuitton and Dolce & Gabbana live-streamed their shows via the web and their respective mobile applications; by September, nearly every brand provided live footage of their presentations to fans on the web. Fashion Week, once an exclusive series of events for media and buyers, became a global spectacle for consumers.

In addition to Twitpics and livestreams, many brands also released professional-quality celebrity interviews and short films, like the one produced by Chanel lead designer Karl Lagerfeld above. These videos were not designed to sell individuals items (Chanel does not even sell online) but rather to bolster brand luster.

During London Fashion Week, Burberry Creative Director Christopher Bailey observed (via Twitter, no less) that Burberry is “now as much a media-content company as [it is] a design company because it’s all part of the overall experience.” Like many other fashion houses, Burberry released a heavy amount of video and photographic footage of its September catwalk show, giving fans the ability to peak backstage and watch the show live online.

Companies Learn to Listen

In addition to marketing, many brands also learned to use social networks to listen to customers for the first time.

In June, LOFT posted pictures on Facebook of its new silk cargo pants worn by a tall, blonde catalog model. Fans complained that it was impossible to tell if the pants would be flattering on someone who wasn’t “5′10″ and a stick like the model in the photo” and asked if the fashion retailer would show the pants on “real women” instead.

The next day, LOFT posted pictures of its own corporate staff — ranging from sizes 2 to 12, and from 5′3″ to 5′10″ — posing in the cargo pants. Each styled the pants according to their own aesthetic, and explained why they liked the fit and drape of the product.

Fan response was overwhelmingly positive. “I sooooo appreciate you taking the time to ‘listen’ to our comments and show these pants on ‘real’ women,” one woman wrote. After Mashable’s initial report, a number of other media outlets, including Jezebel, WWD and The Huffington Post re-reported the story, drawing even more acclaim for the brand, which has since continued to post photos of “real women” modeling its clothing. Other brands, like Nanette Lepore, soon began posting photos of staff modeling their own clothing as well.

A number of large companies, such as Comcast, Ford, Virgin Airlines, Starbucks and Best Buy, have used social media to inspire customer loyalty and satisfaction, but we hadn’t before seen this level of engagement between a fashion company and its fans. It’s a trend we hope continues to develop for the rest of 2010 and into 2011.

Other Trends
Besides the wider movements cited above, many smaller trends also emerged this year. Following the launch of Apple’s iPad, many individual brands and retailers developed and released apps for the device, including MaxMara [iTunes link], Gilt [iTunes link] and Dolce & Gabbana [iTunes link]. Many online retailers, such as Neiman Marcus, began holding flash sales for the first time in order to compete with the likes of Gilt and Rue La La. Burberry and Christian Louboutin upgraded their online catalogues to include high-quality video as well as photographic footage of products, allowing shoppers to examine the texture and drape of a python trench coat or the glitter of a jeweled strap, as if they were holding the product in the store.

With two months to go and the holiday campaign season just around the corner, industry pioneers still have plenty of opportunity to break new ground. Expect to se behind-the-scenes footage from holiday parties, a winter-themed short film or two and location-based marketing initiatives designed to drive customers into stores this season.

How have you seen the Internet changing the fashion industry in 2010? Add your thoughts in the comments below.

Series supported by Nordstrom

The Fashion Tech Series is supported by Nordstrom Conversation. To share your thoughts on apps and social media in the fashion industry and more, join the Conversation at Nordstrom.

Filed under Uncategorized

Shameless Self Promotion Workshop

August 16, 2010 Leave a comment

August 26 · 5:00pm – 7:00pm

Bora Bora Way

Marina del Rey, CA

Get inspired! Take your online skills to another level in a 2 hour class.

Get seen and known online. Get more clients, sell more of your products. Turn your business into a magnet, promote your business, and get the media attention and sales without spending one dime. Get fresh tips that the marketing pros use.

We offer hands-on, highly interactive, workshops to help computer savvy solopreneurs, small business owners, and professionals improve their technology skills and boost their productivity. Time is your life, don’t waste it. Incorporate technology into your creative services and learn how to use social networking like Facebook, Twitter, and other social sites.

Do-it-yourself PR: Learn how to promote your business, ideas, products or services online NOW. Great for authors, musicians, filmmakers, writers, service providers, products, consultants, coaches, therapists, and trainers. Independent professionals and freelancers. Anyone who must promote themselves in order to succeed. This is a great time to reinvent your career too, transform your image!

This is the easiest, most effective way to massively boost your online presence as a creative professional…without being pushy or spammy and with little or no budget.

* Beginners * Intermediate *Advanced
Topics include:

• Leverage your marketing platforms
• Create your own press releases
• Utilize online resource for viral marketing
• Build fan bases
• Communicate with your audience
• Find your keywords, and tags
• Understand what SEO actually is
• Understand how the internet works
• Raise the rankings of your website
• Establish yourself as an acclaimed author, expert, professional, inventor, service provider.
• Understand how search engines work
• Create your brand image, plus much more.
• Identify common self-marketing mistakes

Blogging set up and utilization explained, how to use classified ads to boost your business. Oriah shows you how to overcome the fear of self promotion with funny stories, and new perspectives on marketing online over the years.

Also: Get private one on one consultation on Social Media implementation to grow your business. Contact OriahProductions@gmail.com

Oriah Miller is a pioneer in the area of online marketing, successfully delivering films, services, products, individuals and small businesses to the masses through original content, SEO optimization and creative social media strategies and campaigns since 2003. President of http://IndieMarketingGenius.com/. Personal Life Coach and expert of branding and promotion with successes such as record breaking 13 weeks at AMC for an independent film, her clients earned awards for their business, highlighted on CBS, plus many more successes.

I N F O

Date: August 26 · 5:00pm – 7:00pm

Now meeting at The Waters Edge, Marina del Rey!
14016 Bora Bora Way, Marina del Rey, CA
Located 10 min from LAX.

310.460.9474
To RSVP Contact: OriahProductions@gmail.com

Cost: $100
***Bring notepad and pen!

Event Listings: http://eventful.com/marinadelrey/events/shameless-self-promotion-workshop-/E0-001-032999667-4

Google Maps:

http://maps.google.com/maps?f=q&source=s_q&hl=en&geocode&q=14016+Bora+Bora+Way%2C+Marina+del+Rey%2C+CA&sll=37.0625%2C-95.677068&sspn=35.631106%2C79.365234&ie=UTF8&hq&hnear=14016+Bora+Bora+Way%2C+Marina+del+Rey%2C+Los+Angeles%2C+California&ll=33.972816%2C-118.450642&spn=0.008346%2C0.019376&z=16&iwloc=A

Filed under Uncategorized Tagged with reinvent yourself, self promotion, shameless self promotion, transform your business

Mashable: Latest 23 News Updates – including “5 Tips for Dealing with Complaints on Twitter”

August 13, 2010 Leave a comment

From the genius minds at…..

5 Tips for Dealing with Complaints on Twitter

Posted: 13 Aug 2010 04:00 AM PDT

Megan Berry is Marketing Manager for Klout, the standard for online influence. She also blogs at The Huffington Post and Brazen Careerist. You can follow her on Twitter at @meganberry.

Every business, blogger, and the rest of us on social media have experienced it: someone just called you out on Twitter or in a blog. It’s all too easy to get frustrated and respond with something that will just make the situation worse (“I’ll give you a refund right away… oh wait, you didn’t actually pay for this!”) or to take it personally and get upset.

While there is no magic formula for dealing with complaints in social media, I do have a few tips that have helped me.

1. A Quick Response Goes a Long Way

I can’t tell you how many complaints I’ve seen turned around with a quick reply. If someone has an issue with your product or misunderstood your point of view, reach out and explain it to them. Most of the time when they realize that you’re actually paying attention and care, that makes all the difference (for the rest of the time, see number five).

Of course, this assumes you are actually paying attention. So if you’re not, you might want to look into ways to monitor your brand on social media.

2. You May Have To Respond As You, Not Your Company

When someone has a legitimate complaint, I’ve found one of the most effective things to do is reach out from your personal account. In my experience, when they realize they’re dealing with a real person who’s trying to help, people are more open and willing to listen. This shouldn’t be done for every complaint, as some people will never be turned around, but I’ve found when there’s a real, resolvable issue this method often works much better.

3. Give Yourself More Than 140 Characters To Respond

At times, it’s just impossible to help someone in 140 characters. Or it’s possible, but you would have to be really terse — which is definitely not going to make you seem understanding. Instead, ask them how to connect off Twitter (shocking, I know). Shoot the complainant an e-mail or even give them a call and you’ll be surprised how far a little outreach goes.

4. Let Someone Else Respond For You

If there’s no way you can respond in a helpful way — e.g., if it would make you seem self-serving or maybe you’ve already tried and failed — it can be helpful to have someone else speak up for you.

If you have haters, you probably also have fans, and they’re probably very willing to spring to your defense. Maybe they’ve even already done, in which case, their response might be much more effective than yours and you can just leave well enough along.

If they haven’t already responded, consider bringing the issue to the attention of a few of your fans. Do so carefully and cautiously. Only do it with people you have actual relationships with and only in a lightweight, non-pushy way. I find the best way is actually just to privately ask for feedback on a complaint — maybe it has merit and you don’t realize it or maybe they can help you understand what’s going on.

5. Know When To Let It Go

The truth is, you simply won’t be able to turn everyone around. The trick (I’m still working on it) is to not let it get to you. No business or person is going to make it without having a few haters — so if you have some, you might just be doing something right. Just don’t take that line of thinking too far!

Bottom line, the complainers won’t go away, but you can choose how you deal with them. Some of them will be legitimate complaints from reasonable people that will be touched when you reach out quickly and earnestly to help them. Others… well you know what they say: “Haters gonna hate.”

More Twitter Resources from Mashable:

- 5 Terrific Twitter Mapping Tools
- 5 Fab Twitter Follower Visualization Tools
- 10 Free and Fun Twitter Bird Icons for your Website
- 5 Free Ways to Never Miss a Twitter @Reply
- The Origin of Twitter’s “Fail Whale”

Image courtesy of iStockphoto, swilmor

Reviews: Twitter, iStockphotoMore About: business, cusomter complaints, haters, respond, twitter

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HOW TO: Use Tweet Buttons as a Blogger or Site Owner

Posted: 13 Aug 2010 01:32 AM PDT

The official Tweet Button has arrived; and while it’s as simple as a single click to use for the vast majority of end users, it brings scores of questions for casual and professional bloggers and other publishers.

How can I put a tweet button on my WordPress.com blog posts? How can I check the stats for my tweet button links? How do these buttons work with Blogger?

Here are a few quick pointers for how to use the official Tweet Buttons for fun and profit. If you have questions about how to integrate the buttons with a specific platform, be sure to let us know in the comments; the Mashable staff and community would love to help you out!

The Basic Code

First of all, Tweet Buttons work with a little bit of HTML and a little bit of JavaScript. If you go to Twitter’s page on the buttons, you’ll get an auto-generated snippet of code to pop into your site’s HTML wherever you’d like the button to appear. Alternatively, you can use an iFrame, remembering to use query string parameters to customize the button’s behavior. You can choose one of three design styles, as well.

If you’re relatively code-savvy and you feel like getting fancy, you can also build your own dang Tweet Button using this link (that’stwitter.com/share) and customizing the styling and behavior of the button itself any way you choose. Alternatively, if you’re not terribly code savvy or you’re using a platform that won’t let you edit too much of the code yourself, you can always use the same URL to create a text link that mimics the behavior of a Tweet Button:

Integrating With Your CMS

The cut-and-paste JavaScript method should work just fine for many mini-blog platforms. On Tumblr, just navigate to the customization interface, select the Theme tag, and edit the HTML, inserting Twitter’s code in any block where you want the Tweet Button to appear.

If you use Posterous, head to the Look and Feel section of your dashboard, click the Edit Theme button, then click the Advanced tab. From there, you should be able to click the link that reads “Enable advanced theming.” This will open up a different interface that will allow you to edit the code for your blog; again, just past the Tweet Button code anywhere you’d like the button to appear.

However, if you run a blog on WordPress.com, you probably already know that JavaScript doesn’t play very nicely with your content management system, and you might not be interested in building your own button from scratch. We’re happy to report that there’s a simple, built-in way to add Tweet Buttons to all your posts automatically. Simply open your Appearances menu, click Extras, and select the option that reads “Show a Twitter Tweet Button on my posts.” Many thanks to The Next Web for passing on this handy tip!

If your blog is on the Blogger platform, there’s a different little trick for you to try. Once you login to your Blogger Dashboard, you’ll need to navigate to the Design section, then select the option Edit HTML. Then, check the box reading “Expand Widget Templates.” Once you’re there, you’ll be able to paste in a code snippet, which will put a Tweet Button on all your blog posts. To grab the code and get details on how to edit some of the button’s parameters, head over to Blogger Plugins.

Extras: Browser Plugin and Stats

And if you’d like to have a Tweet Button with you at all times as you browse the web for great content from your fellow bloggers, here’s a handy Chrome extension that just might become a favorite. It functions just like Twitter’s official Tweet Button, being built on the same code, and it shows you the tweet count for each page as you navigate around the Internet.

Sadly, for the time being, there’s no real way to check the stats on tweets for your posts — not yet, anyhow. At Chirp, Twitter’s developer conference earlier this year, execs hinted that some interesting analytics packages were in the works. We’re speculating that taking control of retweets is a first step toward competing with companies like Bit.ly in offering stats and metrics on Twitter sharing of posts and pages. Perhaps there will be a free or inexpensive stats package for casual bloggers, small businesses and others who want more than just a tweet count, too.

Any Other Tips?

What have your experiences with the Tweet Button been so far as a content publisher? Have you run into — or better yet, have you worked around — any bugs with various CMSes? Let us know any tips or tricks you have in the comments, and if you have any lingering questions, be sure to post them here, as well.

Reviews: Chirp Blu, Internet, Mashable, Posterous, Twitter, WordPress, bloggerMore About: blog, blogger, bloggers, posterous, publishers, tumblr, tweet button, twitter, WordPress

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15 of the Funniest Facebook Questions [PICS]

Posted: 13 Aug 2010 01:02 AM PDT

funny silly stupid random facebook questions

Since the launch of Facebook’s new “Questions” feature which lets you crowdsource answers from your social circle, we’ve been dying to see just what is being asked.

As we suspected, Facebook Questions turns out to be a pretty good source of humor, and during our browsing we came across some funny questions, or questions which could receive funny answers. Of course, we thought we’d share our favorites with you.

Have a look through our light-hearted Q&A gallery and let us know any humorous Facebook Questions you’ve spotted in the comments box below.

1.

There are these four elephants, yeah? And they are standing on the back of a giant turtle… wait, where are you going? Next!

2.

E-mailing, mostly. Next!

3.

You’d have to be not concentrating pretty darn hard to be force-fed a bogey. Make him wear gloves and see how the nose-mining goes then. Next!

4.

You’ll never need to do any real math beyond what you learned in grade school in the real world, and if you do, that’s what accountants are for, duh. Oh, and you’ll NEVER have any use for a parabola. Trust us. Next!

5.

The ASPCA comes. Next!

6.

Oh noes! You’ve worked out Zuckerberg’s Top Secret plan! Watch your back… Next!

7.

Yeah, sure buddy! We’ve a ton of ‘em just lying around. Let us know your mailing address and we’ll get a couple over to you. Next!

8.

Unfortunately you can’t. You’ll have to either find a time machine and propel yourself a day into the future (without the phone, of course) or wait until there’s two leap years in a row, which will mean you’ll finally be in the same time zone as your phone. Next!

9.

It means you’re the guinea-pig for a company with no budget or time to launch a fully-fledged product. In the case of Google it means pretty much nothing.

10.

We’re sorry, the Fashion Police have issued Facebook with a removal notice for this question. Next!

11.

Yeah, kids can be really hard work until you break their spirit… Next!

12.

The sky. Next!

13.

Why, Chuck Norris, obviously. Next!

14.

Not especially. But we know a kid who does. Next!

15.

We think the more pressing question here is why?

More Facebook resources from Mashable

- 10 Fascinating Facebook Facts
- 10 Cool Facebook Status Tips and Tricks
- 9 Fantastic Facebook Pages for Fashion
- HOW TO: Build Your Personal Brand on Facebook
- Facebook Pages vs Facebook Groups: What’s the Difference?
- Killer Facebook Pages: 5 Inspiring Case Studies
- How Charities are #FindingTheGood With Facebook Pages

Image courtesy of iStockphoto, pearleye

Reviews: iStockphotoMore About: crowdsourcing, facebook, Facebook Questions, gallery, List, Lists, social networking

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Romeo for iPad: MySpace Has Made a Pandora for Music Videos

Posted: 12 Aug 2010 09:40 PM PDT

MySpace has launched Music Romeo, an iPad app that makes it simple to play, discover and save music videos in a way that’s strikingly similar to Pandora Radio.

The free application uses a very simple discovery mechanism to deliver MySpace’s vast catalog of music videos to the iPad. First, you choose the type of music you want to hear (e.g. Jazz, Rock, Pop, Blues), then you pick your mood (e.g. Happy, Sad, Naughty, Partying).

After that, all you have to do is sit back and let MySpace choose music videos for you. Once a video is done, Romeo chooses a new song it think you’ll enjoy. The app has built-in controls to pause, skip, share and “Love” different videos.

If there’s anything that defines this app though, it’s the love theme, hence the name Romeo? The “Love” button lets you bookmark your favorite videos. While you can’t watch the videos you love directly, there is an option to play more music videos like the ones you “Love.” Romeo takes those “Loves” into account as it delivers new music videos to your doorstep.

MySpace Music Video screams Pandora. The parallels are definitely not by accident; this app is designed to be a customizable station for music videos, and on that criterion, it delivers beautifully. It’s simple, it’s elegant and it has more than enough music videos to keep you occupied for hours at a time.

The app is also dynamic. Utilizing algorithmic technology from We Are Hunted, Romeo scans social networks and blogs to see what music is currently trending in order to deliver the most hip and up-to-date music experience possible. The result is an app that takes into account what you like and what’s hot on the web.

Romeo for iPad generates revenue through iTunes sales and the occasional commercial. We have say: we’re more than willing to deal with the occasional Skittles commercial for this app. We’re pleasantly surprised.

If you try out the app, post your impressions in the comments.

Reviews: MySpace, Pandora, loveMore About: ipad, myspace, myspace music, MySpace Music Romeo, pandora, Romeo

Oracle Sues Google Over Android

Posted: 12 Aug 2010 07:14 PM PDT

Claiming egregious IP infringement, Oracle has filed suit against Google over its ever-more-popular mobile operating system, Android.

In a statement released today, an Oracle rep stated, “In developing Android, Google knowingly, directly and repeatedly infringed Oracle’s Java-related intellectual property. This lawsuit seeks appropriate remedies for their infringement.”

Last year, Oracle acquired Sun Microsystems and, along with it, Java. In its formal complaint, Oracle calls the Java platform “one of the most important technologies Oracle acquired with Sun.” And no one can argue that the platform isn’t ubiquitous and very important in the technology industries.

Claiming that Android competes with Java as “an operating system software platform for cellular telephones and other mobile devices” and that the Android stack employs Java apps running on a Java-based framework, Oracle says that Android and the Android SDK infringe on its patents, and it wants to see some cash for its unwitting involvement in the mobile OS’s success.

Oracle also says Google has known about these patents since the middle of the decade when the latter company hired several Sun Java engineers.

In addition to patent violations, Oracle is also claiming copyright infringement; Java’s code is copyrighted, and Oracle believes Google has used it without any kind of license.

And remember that Android is open-source software and that a lot of manufacturers and developers are involved in making the Android platform what it is. The kicker in this lawsuit is Oracle’s assertion that Google has “induced, caused and materially contributed to the infringing acts of others by encouraging… others to use, copy and distribute” what could be called derivative works.

In addition to requesting monetary compensation, Oracle is also asking that all copies of Java-related work be “impounded and destroyed or otherwise reasonably disposed of.” Does this mean Oracle wants to bring a complete end to Android as it stands if, in fact, the OS uses Java code?

Only time (and a bunch of lawyers, a jury and a judge) will tell what becomes of this lawsuit.

Interested parties can check out the documents Oracle filed, which have been posted on VentureBeat.

What’s your opinion: Guilty or not guilty? Let us know your thoughts in the comments.

Reviews: Android, GoogleMore About: android, Google, lawsuit, oracle, trending

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Internet Explorer 9 Beta Launches on September 15

Posted: 12 Aug 2010 06:18 PM PDT

Microsoft will be launching the completely revamped Internet Explorer 9 at an event in San Francisco on September 15, but will it be enough to turn the tide in the war for web browser supremacy?

The September event will mark the first time the world will have the chance to play with the beta for the entirely overhauled browser. The first details surrounding IE9 were revealed back in November. Since then, Microsoft has launched four platform previews detailing IE9’s adherence to web standards.

More importantly though, the platform previews tout the browser’s hardware acceleration capability, which we have to say is nothing short of impressive — check out the video below to see what we mean.

Microsoft is serious about its position in the web browser market. While Internet Explorer remains the world’s most popular browser, it has experienced a steady decline since 2004. Recently though, Microsoft’s browser has been staging a comeback, slowly regaining market one percentage point at a time.

We’ll see if Microsoft can really deliver on its promise to “beautify the web” next month.

More About: Firefox, google chrome, IE9, Internet Explorer 9, microsoft

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“Paypal for Groups” Startup WePay Raises $7.5M Series B

Posted: 12 Aug 2010 05:31 PM PDT

WePay can most quickly be described as a sort of Paypal for groups. It allows users to collect, manage and send money as a group online.

Hypothetically, it works well for clubs, small organizations, roommates and other groups and could become a household name — at any rate, the VCs at Highland Capital certainly think so. They’ve led a $7.5 million Series B for the startup, which was joined by August Capital. The latter firm also led the startup’s Series A eight months ago. Dave McClure and Ron Conway were also early investors.

WePay began as a Y Combinator startup and has recently added Rasmus Lerdorf, the creator of PHP, as a lead developer on the company’s APIs.

If you’re a brilliant hacker and you think you’d might like to work with Lerdorf and the rest of the WePay team, you’re in luck; the latest round of funding will partly be used to beef up the company’s engineering staff. Co-founder and CEO Bill Clerico said in a release today, “After several months of both steady growth and exceptional user engagement, this latest round of financing will allow us to substantially expand our operations and engineering team, dramatically increase marketing efforts and continue to build our user base.”

This type of deal is consistent with the ever-popular trend of funding startups that have built-in revenue mechanisms. Although signup, group creation, joining a group and making payments are all free on WePay, the site charges a flat fee or percentage for all incoming transactions. The company’s also listed a healthy roster of charges for its prepaid Visa cards.

With that kind of revenue stream baked into the service, what is a 50-cents-here, 3.5%-there trickle at the outset can turn into a billion-dollar tsunami at scale, a fact which no investor could overlook.

What do you think: Does WePay’s service have you seeing dollar signs?

[img credit: donbuciak]

Reviews: PHPMore About: funding, series b, vc, venture capital, wepay, y combinator

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Hilarious “Twitter Movie Trailer” Parody Hits YouTube

Posted: 12 Aug 2010 04:07 PM PDT

We’ve seen a lovely little flock of The Social Network-inspired mock-trailers lately.

The trailer for the upcoming Facebook movie has caused quite a stir on the tubes, so we should have expected this string of parodies. So far, we’ve seen some funny entries based on YouTube and MySpace; the “Twitter movie trailer,” however, is definitely laugh-out-loud material.

Based not at all on the true story of Twitter cofounders Jack Dorsey, Ev Williams and Biz Stone, the trailer is mostly a tongue-in-cheek send-up of the original The Social Network trailer.

The mock-trailer for the fake movie, dubbed The Twit Network, pokes fun at the inanity of some tweets’ content, our collective self-absorption, our obsession with celebrities and the painful convention of affixing “tw-” to beginning of any word related to social media.

As silly as it is, the spoof highlights how much we’ve dramatized something as technical and complex as creating a web startup. Do you think the Hollywood treatment looks good on Silicon Valley? Do you plan to see the Facebook movie when it’s released?

[hat tip: @matzner]

Reviews: Facebook, MySpace, Twitter, YouTubeMore About: movie, the social network, trailer, twitter, video

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Find Out What’s Trending on Facebook

Posted: 12 Aug 2010 02:46 PM PDT

This post is part of Mashable’s Spark of Genius series, which highlights a unique feature of startups. The series is made possible by Microsoft BizSpark.. If you would like to have your startup considered for inclusion, please see the details here.

Name: Booshaka

Quick Pitch: Booshaka shows you what’s trending on Facebook — right now. Booshaka aims to show the freshest, most relevant posts across the social web.

Genius Idea: With 500 million members, Facebook is the largest social network in the world and one of the primary places on the web where memes get started and hot topics are shared and discussed. Booshaka is a trend engine that works to surface publicly shared Facebook content and identify network-wide trends in real time.

Just as is the case with real-time Twitter search engines, users can use Booshaka to search what people on Facebook are saying about any given keyword. Those interested in a more general, hot topic search can select from pre-determined categories — think News, Deals, Brands and Gossip — to dive into Facebook chatter and view what’s trending.

Whether users define their own searches or opt for the category route, they can filter results for Trending Now, Most Popular, Most Buzz and Most Recent. Booshaka returns Facebook status updates as results and details total Likes, comments and buzz percentile. Users can then share individual results on Twitter or Facebook.

As a Facebook search engine, Booshaka is one of the first services to offer instant access to the public status updates resonating with Facebook users. For marketers, it could prove to be a useful utility in identifying the pulse of the people on Facebook, and for members it could serve as tool to catch up on the hot topics, news and gossip of the day.

Why Does it Matter for People?

Your data is exactly that: It’s yours. It should be your right to be able to control what you and others do with it. If you upload your photos toFacebook, why can’t you access them in the community-sharing website Flickr, or edit those same photos without re-uploading them with the online version of Photoshop? No company online should own you. No company offline owns humans, so why can’t you do what you want with your data online?

We are at a point in the Internet’s evolution where there are thousands of services that can reuse the same data. The storage of data is now a separate value function from the processing or output of it. We can now build a world where we have privacy-respecting interoperability and unlock value, in the same way trade agreements between countries have brought a higher standard of living to populations that suffer a comparative disadvantage.

To use another analogy, consider how money is a standard value exchange in all economies. Sophisticated financial systems have been developed that allow money stored in one bank to be transferred to another bank or organization (for instance, when you pay a restaurant with a debit card). This free flow of money in a regulated system has given us more freedom, security, and utility with regard to personal finance. In turn, this has enabled greater economic opportunities in many parts of the world.

So why can’t our personal information work the same way? Why can’t anything connected to the Internet adhere to interoperability standards so that –- with your full control -– data can flow to another system with no extra effort? The answer is that it can, but companies have not yet realized the full benefits of opening their platforms up. Furthermore, it’s clear that consumers want data portability, but they have no way to channel their demand, and as such, companies have not made it a priority.

Why Does it Matter for Companies?

Data, such as people’s personal information, can lose value over time. For example, a social network that keeps historical data of your occupation, relationships, or city of residence may be inaccurate today if they’ve focused on hoarding your data rather than building a relationship with you that makes you want to keep it up-to-date. Companies that wish to monetize your data or create value (like using your social graph to personalize an experience), will benefit not from owning your data — as so-called “walled gardens” of the past have tried to — but rather by cultivating a relationship with you — one in which they have persistant access to you. The consequences of this way of thinking are profound. Instead of the hostility that comes when users are locked in, it encourages innovation and superior service to ensure that the flow of data doesn’t close off.

Companies can also get a bigger piece of the data pie when embracing portability. If web services could assemble as a “federation” based on trus

Filed under Uncategorized Tagged with android, companies, facebook, google, mashable, social media, techie news, twitter

Social Media Strategy and Consultation

August 10, 2010 Leave a comment

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Filed under Uncategorized Tagged with advanced social media help, emergency consultation, facebook help, help online, maintenance online, online marketing help, social media help, strategies

You can now sell to half a billion people on Facebook from your personal profile.

July 7, 2010 Leave a comment

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE –July 06, 2010-Indie Marketing Genius is offering a Facebook e-Commerce Application that will change the usability of how merchants do business. Available now Facebook friends and merchants can own their very own e-commerce store that shows up as welcoming tab called, ‘MyStore’ on their personal Facebook page.
Merchants can sell their music, products, films, books, services, merchandise and anything else that suits their fancy directly from their profile page. With one click of the button, your consumer can purchase your product and profits go directly into your Pay Pal account.

Once Indie Marketing Genius sets up your Facebook store, you own it. You can also use the store on your other social sights, websites and blogs. Your Facebook store, allows you to sell your products as well as other merchant products providing you with additional revenue from commissions. Atheistically pleasing, this e-commerce store is one major advancement that Facebook is happy about. Giving the half a billion friends on Facebook at chance to really participate in the global on-line economy.

To see samples, log into Facebook and please visit:
Music store:
http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100000546704743&v=app_260620088817
Film store:
http://apps.facebook.com/mymagnet/?&brandId=Luis+Moro+Productions+Inc&productId=557091&ref=mf
and
http://apps.facebook.com/mymagnet/?&brandId=Luis+Moro+Productions+Inc&productId=557069&ref=mf

Contact estore@indiemarketinggenius.com
Oriah Miller in association with Wayne Marshall
http://www.indiemarketinggenius.com/

Oriah Miller is a pioneer in the area of online marketing, successfully delivering films to the masses through original content, SEO optimization and creative social media strategies and campaigns.

Filed under Uncategorized Tagged with #sxsw 2008 election advertising B2B B2C Barack Obama blogger relations bloggers blogosphere blogs brand management brand strategy citizen journalism CNN corporate reputation crowd-sourcing Digg electi, e-commerce store, facebook ap, facebook merchant store, facebook merchant store nnouncements Art and DesignBoomers Business Cars and MotorsChildren Clothing Computers ElectronicsEntertainment EntrepreneurEnvironment Fitness Food and Drink For Inventors Fun, google twitter facebook iphonemobile apple microsoft searchtrends social media androidyoutube yahoo music video privacyadvertising myspace firefox securityamazon social networks semantic web developer, merchant store on facebook

How to Use Social Media for Lead Generation by Erica Swallow (Mashable)

July 6, 2010 Leave a comment

Jun 18, 2010 -

Social media is the top emerging channel for lead generation among technology marketing professionals surveyed in May 2010, according to the annual Unisfair marketing survey. Furthermore, 66 percent of respondents said lead generation was their top priority for 2010, with only 17 percent ranking brand awareness and 16 percent ranking customer retention as top concerns. The survey illustrated that marketers are beginning to rely on social media as a steady source of new customers.

In another study, 51 percent of Facebook fans and 67 percent of Twitter followers said they were more likely to buy the brands they like on Facebook or follow on Twitter, strengthening the argument that social media is one of the most important emerging channels for lead generation.

Being that social media is a great place to attract new customers, we put together a quick guide on how to use social media for lead generation.

Continuously Point Users to Your Content

The first step to engaging a community of potential customers is sharing content that showcases your expertise. A simple social media update usually isn’t enough to convey a full analysis on a topic. Include links with your updates that expand on key ideas. Keep in mind that your goal is to create value for your followers. Learn what your fans respond to and what they don’t, and then adjust your updates based on that information.

Sarah Chong, co-founder and editor of Penn Olson, a marketing blog and consultancy, told me that their company shares 100 percent of the links that are generated on their blog. If they write a blog post, you can bet that it will be shared via Facebook, Twitter, Google Buzz and various social bookmarking sites.

Chong exclaimed, “Good content ought to be shared!” She continued, “Most readers definitely wouldn’t know Penn Olson without the help of social media. We built everything by getting involved in online communities.” In the end, 35 percent of Penn Olson’s web traffic is generated through social media. This wouldn’t be possible without their incessant dedication to sharing valuable content with their followers.

Promote Your Social Presence with Social Links

Once you’ve set up your social media presence on sites like Facebook, Twitter, Flickr, YouTube and Yelp, don’t forget the power of promotion. Some people have the misconception that if you create pages across all of the social sites, they’ll miraculously gain millions of followers overnight, all by themselves. In reality, just like everything else in life, gaining a following via social media takes time and effort.

If you haven’t done so already, start promoting your social media presence. Having a Twitter or Facebook icon prominently displayed on your site gives visitors a recognizable channel for connecting with you. Print links to your social profiles on business cards, flyers and letterhead. Most importantly, don’t forget to include links to your social profiles on your website or blog. Try using a service like Iconfinder to find free social media icons that best fit your website.

Take a look at Offbeat Bride or Offbeat Mama for examples of sites that have implemented social media links well. Ariel Meadow Stallings, publisher of Offbeat Bride and Offbeat Mama, shared her thoughts on designing a place for social media icons to live. She explained, “I was inspired by the social media fly-out ontreehugger.com. It felt like an elegant but effective solution for getting my social media links out of the sidebar. I want them prominent, but not irritating.” Stallings seems to have found the solution to providing valuable links for readers to stay connected with her content, without coming off as a gimmick.

Stallings’ diligence in finding fitting social media links has paid off. One-third of her site traffic comes from StumbleUpon and Facebook combined. She credits social media as a critical factor in the growth of both Offbeat Bride and its sister site, Offbeat Mama.

Monitor Conversations about Your Brand and Competitors

In order for a conversation to occur, brands must speak and listen. Traditional marketing models are all about speaking. When a brand puts an ad in a newspaper, on a building or in a subway train, they are broadcasting their message, but there isn’t generally a direct method for responding. Social media is changing the ways brands approach marketing. Instead of broadcasting messages, brands are starting conversations and engaging individuals.

In an e-mail interview, Sara C. Lopez, Community Manager for 8th Continentsoy milk, explained the importance of monitoring conversations and buzz on various social platforms:

“There are actually two of us constantly monitoring Twitter, Facebook andGoogle alerts. The other community manager and I use several Twitter clients, including Hootsuite and TweetDeck. But regardless of client, we keep columns that search mentions of “@8thcontinentsoy”, “8th Continent”, “Soy Milk”, “8thcontinent”, and competitors.

We get several benefits from Twitter. We use it to monitor consumer perception, identify opportunities for one-on-one interaction, crowd source to learn how people are using our product, drive traffic to other channels we have, and connect with influencers who can spread word of mouth.”

Lopez demonstrated the value of monitoring conversations and responding to leads. In one promotion, 8th Continent monitored mentions of Silk brand soy milk, one of their competitors, and offered trial coupons to users. Lopez explained their success, “One clear example of how it’s worked for [8th Continent] is that with coupons distributed via social media, we’ve seen a 39 percent redemption rate, versus the 0.7 percent redemption of hard copy coupons. During coupon promotions we saw huge spikes in our fan base and a lot of pass along.”

One tweeter, Weily Lang, received a coupon after tweeting about her bad experience with Silk chocolate soy milk. Lopez interjected with a coupon, which Lang redeemed that week. This example is just one success story of trials generated by 8th Continent via social media.

Once you begin listening to what consumers are saying about your brand, products and competitors, you’ll have a better sense of which platforms to monitor for certain types of feedback. To get started, make sure you’re monitoring comments that your fans, followers or subscribers leave on your social profiles. This is the first step to mastering your listening skill.

As a secondary step, monitor buzz elsewhere. Use Twitter advanced search (or Twitter clients such as Hootsuite, TweetDeck or CoTweet) to monitor key terms around your business, including your brand names, trademarks, product types and competitors. Use Google Alerts to keep up with the latest news about your company. And search mentions of your brand in blogs via Google Blog Searchor Technorati.

After trying out some of these methods, you’ll begin to get a feel for your audience and their interests. Use this information to inform decisions, and don’t forget to reach out to users that have questions or feedback. Respond with more information, links, coupons, follow-up questions, or whatever is needed.

Respond to Customer Questions and Feedback

You can listen all day, but if you don’t act on your learnings, you will lose an opportunity to generate a meaningful conversation with a consumer that may be considering trying out your brand. Take action when you come across a useful comment, and make sure you clear up any customer questions when they arise.

Yelp recently interviewed Jeffrey Diamond, owner of Farmstead Cheeses and Wine on when and how to respond to a customer review on a Yelp business page. Diamond responded:

“I try to respond to every review, whether positive or negative. And if there’s something I can learn from it, then I will engage in a dialogue with the customer. And in fact, every time I’ve engaged in a dialogue with a negative review customer, with one or two notable exceptions, the review has gone from a two- or three-star review up to a five-star review.”

Customer reviews on Yelp are a great example of useful feedback from paying customers. Not only are they interested in your product, but they’ve already tested it out. Their review is, therefore, very meaningful feedback on the quality of your product and service.

Try to set aside at least a few hours a week to respond to questions and feedback that flow in via social media. When you respond, focus on delivering a valuable answer to the person or community. Try to always refer the user back to resources on your site, where they may consider using your product again. Depending on the question, useful links may include a how-to video, blog post, product description or microsite.

Use Your Offline Skills

The keyword in social media is “social”. People were social long before the Internet and social media. Take the offline skills that you’ve developed over time and put them to use online. Meet people, communicate and build relationships. Develop and foster complex relationships. As always, make sure that customers are aware of your product, understand its benefits, and have a way to purchase. Throughout your conversations with consumers, provide insightful resources and answer any questions that arise.

Lastly, treat your social media presence in the same way you treat your other customer service initiatives. Be genuine, track conversations and respond to inquiries promptly and thoroughly. The better your customer service is via social media, the more you’ll generate site traffic and leads.

What are some of your tips and techniques for using social media for lead generation?

Image courtesy of iStockphoto, koun

Filed under Uncategorized Tagged with e-commerce store, facebook ap, facebook merchant store, merchant store on facebook

You can now sell to half a billion people on Facebook from your personal profile.

July 6, 2010 Leave a comment

Contact estore@indiemarketinggenius.com
Oriah Miller in association with Wayne Marshall
http://www.indiemarketinggenius.com/

Oriah Miller is a pioneer in the area of online marketing, successfully delivering films to the masses through original content, SEO optimization and creative social media strategies and campaigns.

Filed under Uncategorized Tagged with e-commerce store, facebook ap, facebook merchant store, merchant store on facebook

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