This FaceTalk blog post talks about the two questions I get asked most frequently… “How much time is this going to take?” and “Can I manage this in-house?” Of course, Social Media can take up your entire day and night if you let it. And, that isn’t its intention nor will it be very productive for your main business… remember, that thing you do so well? Outsourcing at least part of your social media marketing efforts allows a professional to guide you down the path that will be most successful for your business and takes the heavy lifting off you and your internal staff freeing you up to be the most productive at what you do best. Watch the video for more!

This video blog discusses the rising importance of the location-based, social media platform known as Foursquare. Foursquare was “lovingly created in NYC” and is becoming a huge hit with consumers as they check-in here and become the Mayor of that. However, business needs to step in NOW and embrace this location-based social media platform for the marketing and loyalty-program that it is in order for user population and density to grow.

In other words, business CANNOT wait until there is “critical mass”… it must start offering things on Foursquare now and the more that do, the more users will join and want to use it because they won’t have to carry around loyalty cards that make their wallet thick or that they leave home because they forget them. In short, businesses must create the critical mass that will ultimately bring them huge success!

Businesses, meet the NEW generation of consumers… we want points and we want you to participate. Have fun with us and reap the benefits!

The idea of video blogging has always intrigued me as sitting down to write full-length blog posts was never one of my forte’s. I finally decided that today was the day to give it a start. Why, it’s so simple. With the new iPhone4′s front-facing camera, I can blog at the most convenient time for me… while I’m driving… and do it safely and efficiently. How’s that for a lesson in time management?

This first video blog post talks about the issues that Apple and the iPhone4 is experiencing with reception and signal strength. It offers my personal insight into the issue as well as some thoughts about why I believe what I do, at least at this point in time. It is the first video blog I’ve done so please forgive any crudeness you find, although I think the “blog while you drive” concept is actually pretty good

I truly hope you enjoy getting to know me better through my video blogs which I will now refer to as “Vlogs” for ease. Best!

Chris

If you’re like me and my wife, you got a dog before you had kids. It WAS your first kid, IS your first kid and will always have a special place in your heart.

My dog is getting older now. She’s 12. This Halloween, she’ll be 13 and while she’s still spry and looks like the puppy that we grew up just a year or two after we got her, age is starting to take it’s toll. Not too bad, but it is nonetheless.

My wife woke up this morning to find that the dog had urinated in several places in our family room and daughters’ playroom. Usually she’ll bark and I’ll hear her, wake up and let her out but last night, I must not have heard her barks asking to go out. She most likely had no choice and while she usually goes in the basement if necessary (she’s a VERY good dog), the basement door was left closed. Poor thing!

So, instead of getting upset or mad, which really isn’t right because it’s not our dog’s fault, I used an old method that the guys at Mac Stringer Painting taught me when I spilled a good amount of paint in on a rug when we first moved into our house.

For dog urine, latex paint or anything else water soluble, you’re in luck. There’s no need to use harsh chemicals or cleaners (i.e. Resolve) on your carpet. These cleaners tend not to do the greatest job and instead leave behind more residue and stickiness than they do good.

Follow these simple instructions and you’re rug will be stain-free in no time! First you’ll need a wet/dry shop vac with good suction. Then, get some very warm to hot water in something that you can pour easily from. Pour the water right onto the stain, rub into the stain a bit with your hand, and then get right in there with the wet/dry shopvac and suck up the water along with the stain. Again, this procedure works wonders with any water-soluble stain (anything that will dissolve with water) and allows you to effectively clean your carpet without using those harsh nasty chemicals.

If you try this and it works well for you, I’d appreciate your feedback. If you’re having trouble, the stain either isn’t water soluble or has been embedded in the carpet fibers too long (this method works best on fresh stains).

Cheers!

Chris

This post isn't about bashing email. We've been seeing some great results in the last few months with email. Specifically, better open rates, better click throughs, and better conversions into sales (although this isn't always trackable for every situation - we have been tracking it with some projects). One clear take away is that email works best when it is integrated with social and mobile. While the year of mobile hasn't arrived yet, and I doubt that 2010 is the year either, including mobile works well with the early adopter demographic for work that we've done recently.

When I look at these numbers, it isn't hard to see the truth - even in the behavior of people I know. I can connect with some people much more easily via Facebook direct messages or chats than I can via email, phone or text message. Social does offer so many platforms, lots of content, and it has an organic feel that email never came close to.

We're not ditching email. In fact, we're doing more. But it makes budgeting more for social easier. ;)

Duncan Alney is the President of Firebelly Marketing.

birdbathBUZZ works with businesses to develop solid marketing, social media marketing and online lead generation campaigns. Email founder and "buzz creator" Chris Isaac for more information.

Twitter is a great tool for conversations, building community, finding brand advocates and reading the latest news. That’s why celebrities, athletes, your competitors—and hopefully you—are on Twitter.

The growth and usage of Twitter is not surprising. Compete.com estimates approximately 21 million unique monthly visitors, and a quick search on Twitter yields a variety of conversations from music, sports, politics, events and products.

For business however, there’s an art to using Twitter, and the most successful at it follow an unwritten set of rules. The following are 5 important tips to follow on Twitter; all lessons that I have learned while working for companies like HP, Yahoo! and Intel.

#1: Do Some Research

Research is fundamental. I suggest that marketers or small business owners spend a few weeks understanding what types of conversations are happening on Twitter and then formulate a communications plan before actually engaging. This will help drive consistency in the messages shared on Twitter.

#2: Determine Your Goals

Not all businesses use Twitter the same way. Some, like @ComcastCares, use Twitter merely for customer support. Dell uses Twitter to sell products or share company-related information. Often, I see smaller, more local businesses use it to build relationships with their constituencies to drive customer loyalty programs.

Whatever your goals are, it’s important to think about what you want to achieve with Twitter before spending your valuable time and resources on it.

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birdbathBUZZ works with businesses to develop solid marketing, social media marketing and online lead generation campaigns. Email founder and "buzz creator" Chris Isaac for more information.

In just one day, we’ll all be sitting in front of Ev Williams and Biz Stone as they announce Twitter’s new Facebook Connect competitor, @anywhere.  

This is Twitter’s big statement in the developer ecosystem, stating that they are shifting from a script and backend-focused model of developer integration, to a very front-end, javascript-centered focus that centers around any brand or developer’s own site.  However, I’m worried that Twitter may actually be focusing too much on developers, considering their audience of large brands.

I wondered, just after @anywhere was announced at South-by-Soutwest in Austin, TX, how similar @anywhere would be to Facebook Connect.  Facebook Connect, a Javascript-focused set of libraries that sits on top of any website, enables just about any brand manager, marketer, or even developer from the new to the very advanced to simply copy and paste a piece of code and have it immediately create widgets that integrate tightly with the Facebook environment.  With Facebook Connect also comes a tag language, called FBML (I wrote the book for O’Reilly about it), which enables HTML-like tags to be placed anywhere on a website and also get similar functionality.  So basically, no Javascript knowledge is required.  Know how to write a little HTML?  You can integrate Facebook Connect into your website.  At least that’s the message Facebook wants to send to Marketers and Brand Managers (and it’s true how simple it is).

Twitter seems to have the same audience in mind for their @anywhere platform.  After just launching an Ad platform, you can bet more Enterprise features are about to be announced very likely at Twitter’s Chirp conference along with developer tie-ins to those features.  Twitter wants the brands just as bad as Facebook does.  Running a site that targets Brands, I know first hands that the Brands are where the money is.  Enterprise, and contractual relationships with big companies and brands is big money in this industry.  Twitter wants to be on each and every one of these major websites – that’s why they’re launching @anywhere.

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birdbathBUZZ works with businesses to develop solid marketing, social media marketing and online lead generation campaigns. Email founder and "buzz creator" Chris Isaac for more information.

It’s the the perennial quest. How can you get more traffic to your site?

After all, without a steady stream of traffic to your blog, there’s little opportunity to engage your audience and convert readers to raving fans.

Methods change and evolve over time. When I wrote my first “how to drive traffic” post about five years ago, the list looked a lot different. There was no Twitter, no Facebook, no social sharing buttons, and no retweet button.

Yet some methods I advocated back in 2005 still work, so think of this as a refresher if you’re already employing all the social tactics for driving traffic.  You would be surprised at how many people don’t actually take the time to implement a variety of tactics. Maybe you can pick up a few new ideas or implement some old ideas you may have overlooked.

This list is in no way complete. I invite you to add your favorite tips in the comment section. First, the tried and true:

#1: Publish as frequently as possible

The more frequently you post, the more traffic you get because the search engines are indexing your content more frequently. Of course your content has to be compelling as well, but that goes without saying, right?

#2: Pay attention to the headlines (blog post titles)

Using numbers (see title of this blog post!) usually generates good traffic. Titles with “how to” also attract a lot of traffic.

#3: Send an email broadcast

Send email to your list when you have a great blog post you want to share. Ask for comments to encourage engagement and interaction.

#4: Add a link in your email signature

If you use web-based email like Gmail, add WiseStamp to your email signature so you can include links to your blog. Add your blog’s RSS feed so your recent posts are always featured in your emails. WiseStamp works with web-based email services including Gmail, Hotmail, Yahoo mail and AOL. WiseStamp adds all your links to your email signature and is simple to install and edit.

#5: Include multiple subscription options on your blog

Most blog platforms have RSS feeds built in, but don’t forget to add an email subscription option as well. Email is ubiquitous and if you only offer RSS, you lose a huge opportunity for people to get your content and become regular readers. Email subscription services include Feedburner, Feedblitz and AWeber, to name a few.

Give your readers multiple options for getting your blog updates.

#6: Try article marketing

Article marketing is a powerful way to attract traffic. Post your articles at EzineArticles.com and include a link to your blog in your author resource box. Also set up your author account to automatically send a tweet when you post new articles. That drives traffic to your article which drives traffic back to your blog.

#7: Comment on blogs in your industry

This is all about outreach and boosting your visibility on complementary blogs. Target influential blogs, read them on a regular basis and then contribute to the conversation as appropriate. When you comment, you have the option to include the URL to your blog.

#8. Do some guest posting

Writing on other people’s blogs can introduce you to a new audience and create a surge of new traffic to your blog. You can find more information and a great resource for getting guest posting gigs here.

#9: Conduct surveys and polls

People love to give their opinion. Use Polldaddy or SurveyMonkey to ask your readers what they want or get their opinion. More often than not, those who respond will help spread the word, especially if you ask and/or offer a gift in exchange.

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birdbathBUZZ works with businesses to develop solid marketing, social media marketing and online lead generation campaigns. Email founder and "buzz creator" Chris Isaac for more information.

By now, you have probably heard the success stories of companies like Dell and Starbucks, which have created hugely successful social media presences that serve millions of fans and generate millions of dollars of revenue.  The only problem is, your small business doesn’t have 1/1000^th of the brand recognition these companies have.  You run a solid small business that is well known in your niche or your region, but not beyond.
How can social networks become useful marketing and operations tools for smaller businesses that don’t have a large customer base?

This question has kept many small businesses from interacting on social networks, as a recent study showed that only 24 percent of small businesses had begun social media marketing.

Here are five tips to optimize your small business’ social networks to attract more customers online.  Small business owners and marketers do not have the luxury of lots of free time to monitor social networks, so these tips are intended to help you be as efficient as possible.

#1: Make Your Profiles About More Than Just Your Industry

While you should be demonstrating expertise on your Facebook fan page and your blog, you should also be adding local context to this information.  What does the information you are providing mean for your specific region?

If you are selling homes, provide information and links about the local area, as well as the real estate you are offering.  As a small business, you are competing against large national news sources, so provide something the big guys can’t afford to give—local perspective.  The Wydler Brothers Realty Team does just that, offering insights on the Washington, D.C. market as well as homes they are offering in the area.



On their blog, Wydler Brothers Realty offers advice on the general DC area, in addition to their expertise in the real estate industry.

#2: Offer Value

By far the most important tip to getting value from social media for your business is offering value to the customers you want to interact with.  First, make sure your social media presences contain all the information a customer needs to find you on and offline, and provide a clear idea of what your business offers.

Second, define what you’ll be offering your potential customers in return for their attention and time.  You can offer promotions or discounts specifically for fans of your Facebook page, for instance. 

If you do not have the budget for special offers, make sure the content you are offering is valuable to the potential customers you are trying to reach.  Envision the need you are filling for the target customer and serve the customer with useful information related to your business or industry.

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birdbathBUZZ works with businesses to develop solid marketing, social media marketing and online lead generation campaigns. Email founder and "buzz creator" Chris Isaac for more information.