tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-24668993269386749802024-03-21T14:32:57.621-07:00socialsprouts sharessocial media networking . online publicity . virtual communicationsAnonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12315837579262893019noreply@blogger.comBlogger13125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2466899326938674980.post-69465768437475167792010-03-15T10:58:00.000-07:002010-03-15T10:58:59.094-07:00Is Twitter College Material?<i>Interesting experiment conducted by a College Professor that provides valuable insight regarding using Twitter to engage with College Students.</i><b><br />
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<b><a href="http://socialmediacertificate.net/?p=443">What do college students think of Twitter?</a></b><br />
by rwaters<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://krodia.files.wordpress.com/2009/10/twitter-college-tweets.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://krodia.files.wordpress.com/2009/10/twitter-college-tweets.jpg" width="244" /></a></div>I asked students in my Public Relations Writing class to use Twitter for four weeks. As part of the assignment, they were asked to follow a variety of individuals and organizations including nonprofits, businesses, celebrities, classmates, and news organizations. The goal was to determine how Twitter is being used as a communication tool.<br />
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To be candid, several students in the class were not excited about the assignment. Most had opened Twitter accounts at some earlier point in their college career, but had not made use of the tool. This situation mirrors the <a href="http://mashable.com/2010/03/10/twitter-follow-stats/">recent study by Barracuda Labs</a> that only 21 percent of Twitter users are active users (defined as users with at least 10 followers, follow at least 10 people and have tweeted at least 10 times).<br />
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<b>What did the students discover? </b><br />
Twitter’s potential to spark a sense of community. One of best examples of this insight was provided by a member of the Zeta Tau Alpha fraternity. The student described following ZTA on Twitter as a motivating and uplifting experience. She discovered sisters across the nation who were raising funds for charity, singing on American Idol, and taking the stage in the Miss America pageant. Had it not been for the information she encountered on Twitter, she would not have known about the accomplishments of fraternity members beyond those at the local level. She was surprised by the sense of connection she felt with individuals across the U.S. and felt a stronger connection to the larger fraternity. That’s a solid testimonial to the social power of the networking tool.<br />
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<b>What did other students like about Twitter? </b><br />
First, some found Twitter to be a personalized news source that allows them to keep up with causes they care about. Second, they appreciate the businesses using tweets to offer special incentives to followers. Third, students like the interactive nature of Q and A Twitter sessions. They want prompt, honest answers to questions and they want the inside scoop on events.<br />
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<b>What did they dislike?</b><br />
They were put off by excessive tweets and blatant appeals to purchase products.<br />
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<b>Will my students become active users of Twitter?</b><br />
Only time will tell. But I do think they are prepared to communicate with others regarding the potential of the microblogging site to create meaningful online communities.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2466899326938674980.post-23283719257516145282010-03-04T05:46:00.000-08:002010-03-04T05:46:07.167-08:00The Web's Not About Websites<script src="http://video.bigthink.com/player.js?embedCode=Y2dDk4MTpQGOw9T-9m8QYse2LVIW7ZfM&width=480&deepLinkEmbedCode=Y2dDk4MTpQGOw9T-9m8QYse2LVIW7ZfM&height=360"></script>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12315837579262893019noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2466899326938674980.post-18758557091489044902010-02-18T14:37:00.000-08:002010-02-18T14:46:33.393-08:00When We Have One Voice... our impact is monumentous ...<br />
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I met<a href="http://peace4missing.ning.com/profile/Delilah"> Delilah,</a> randomly, or so I thought then, online. (I didn't know then either how very much since she'd not only save my heart, but also permanently imprint herself within it.)<br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh8tM2UcvFxPc6OzjoY_Ixi0YL8vJq3C1dMcPRL9m1H1IUocQ6PsQRJ5RHnjPhfrMWade9x-P1ksUxPDvM95idELvDHW_RBmonV9A6yWO0EWtxjJQZ97LjdPNt4AW8kQK4JSyq20aapBGs4/s1600-h/th_peace_46fcd9566ec1d.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh8tM2UcvFxPc6OzjoY_Ixi0YL8vJq3C1dMcPRL9m1H1IUocQ6PsQRJ5RHnjPhfrMWade9x-P1ksUxPDvM95idELvDHW_RBmonV9A6yWO0EWtxjJQZ97LjdPNt4AW8kQK4JSyq20aapBGs4/s320/th_peace_46fcd9566ec1d.jpg" width="320" /></a><br />
Our brilliant combined craziness somehow (because of God) thought up this notion of <a href="http://peace4missing.ning.com/">Peace4 the Missing</a>.<br />
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It was to be, for one and foremost, an area upon which to pour our hearts into a cause we believed in via a different route than we'd previously seen.<br />
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What if? ... we wondered ... we approached the often neglected social cause of missing persons with a social media savvy influence?<br />
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And thus our mission began ... to increase the voice volume of so many <a href="http://peace4missing.ning.com/">Loved Ones of the Missing</a> to the greatest degree ... while meanwhile, unexpectedly then, being blessed right back more than we ever could have imagined.<br />
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And so ... that is our .. and so much more so ... ALL OF OURS! ... <a href="http://peace4missing.ning.com/">Peace4 </a>...Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12315837579262893019noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2466899326938674980.post-45621843829931936242010-02-18T14:15:00.000-08:002010-02-18T14:15:10.175-08:00just a FONT... can actually be quite powerful ... <br />
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If you'd like to know more about my complete love affair with Typography ... then I shall definitely put more into thinking upon sharing more on it ...<br />
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<object width="425" height="344"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/zVPfTlpCKaw&rel=0&color1=0xb1b1b1&color2=0xcfcfcf&hl=en_US&feature=player_embedded&fs=1"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><param name="allowScriptAccess" value="always"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/zVPfTlpCKaw&rel=0&color1=0xb1b1b1&color2=0xcfcfcf&hl=en_US&feature=player_embedded&fs=1" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowfullscreen="true" allowScriptAccess="always" width="425" height="344"></embed></object>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12315837579262893019noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2466899326938674980.post-15882363942864139582010-02-17T13:32:00.000-08:002010-02-17T13:32:58.672-08:00A "How To Use YouTube" Video How To<object height="349" width="425"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/9w-gQAwS2uc&rel=0&border=1&color1=0xb1b1b1&color2=0xcfcfcf&hl=en_US&feature=player_embedded&fs=1"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><param name="allowScriptAccess" value="always"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/9w-gQAwS2uc&rel=0&border=1&color1=0xb1b1b1&color2=0xcfcfcf&hl=en_US&feature=player_embedded&fs=1" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowfullscreen="true" allowScriptAccess="always" width="425" height="349"></embed></object><br />
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<a href="http://www.bitrebels.com/technology/how-to-upload-video-on-you-tube/">More on How here ...</a><br />
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Once you’ve finished editing your video, make sure it’s less than 10 minutes, smaller than 2GB in size, and in an acceptable format, you’re ready to upload it.<br />
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* Click the button in the upper-right-hand corner of any YouTube page.<br />
* Click the “Browse” button to browse for the video file you’d like to upload to our site. Select the file you want to upload.<br />
* Click the ‘Upload Video’ button to start the uploading process.<br />
* As the video file is uploading, enter as much information about your video as possible in the relevant fields (including Title, Description, Tags, and Category). You’re not required to provide specific information, but the more information you include, the easier it is for users to find your video!<br />
* Click the ‘Save changes’ button to save the updates you’ve made to the video file.<br />
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It can take from a couple minutes to an hour for your video to upload to YouTube. If you’re receiving an error with your Upload, you might want to make sure you’re attempting to upload a file that’s recognized by YouTube. YouTube accepts video files from most digital cameras and camcorders, and cell phones in the .AVI, .MOV, .WMV, and .MPG file formats.<br />
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The next step will be to make your own channel! We will discuss that on the next posts. Enjoy uploading!Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12315837579262893019noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2466899326938674980.post-81001454472614014392010-02-17T13:28:00.000-08:002010-02-17T13:28:47.423-08:00How To be Mark Zuckerberg SuccessfulIf you don't know who that is ... <a href="http://www.google.com/search?q=%22mark+zuckerberg%22&ie=utf-8&oe=utf-8&aq=t&rls=org.mozilla:en-US:official&client=firefox-a"><b>google it</b></a> ... ;)<br />
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<iframe border="0" frameborder="0" height="430" src="http://www.businessinsider.com/embed?id=4b7c1ad60000000000828583&width=600&height=430" width="600"></iframe>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12315837579262893019noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2466899326938674980.post-22103490554294261622010-02-14T08:58:00.000-08:002010-02-14T09:14:36.312-08:00You can't afford to Not use Social Media<object height="385" width="640"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/sIFYPQjYhv8&hl=en_US&fs=1&rel=0"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/sIFYPQjYhv8&hl=en_US&fs=1&rel=0" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="640" height="385"></embed></object><br />
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<b><a href="http://www.heraldonline.com/106/story/1943548.html">It’s all about having a captive audience</a></b> <span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="color: #999999;">- Published: Sunday, Feb. 14, 2010 </span></span><br />
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Consider this: Half of Facebook’s 400 million users log on daily, and the average user spends more than 55 minutes surfing the site each day. Twitter has around 75 million registered users. Millions more log onto YouTube daily. Then there’s MySpace, LinkedIn, Flickr and more.<br />
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Essentially, supporters say, social media lets you take your message to people instead of waiting for them to come to you. Many large companies maintain Facebook profiles or Twitter accounts with thousands of fans and followers.<br />
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But the number of small businesses using social media is, well, small. Some estimates say just 1 percent maintain a presence. A Citibank Small Business survey last year found that 75 percent of small businesses haven’t found social media to be effective during the past year. Some suggested that was because small companies have been too preoccupied with day-to-day operations during a recession and haven’t made social media a priority.<br />
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But many observers still see tremendous potential.<br />
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“Social media presents the opportunity to communicate with an audience on a regular basis in the places that they are in,” Broadwater said. “The Web, and social media especially, has this uncanny capability to pull people together around an idea or a topic so they can have a two-way, interactive conversation.”Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12315837579262893019noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2466899326938674980.post-62943399391740587292010-02-10T14:18:00.000-08:002010-02-14T09:01:34.085-08:00The Top 10 Social Networks for Americans<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.marketingcharts.com/wp/wp-content/uploads/2010/01/hitwise-2009-december-social-networking-websites-forums.gif" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="http://www.marketingcharts.com/wp/wp-content/uploads/2010/01/hitwise-2009-december-social-networking-websites-forums.gif" width="528" /></a></div><a href="http://www.marketingcharts.com/updates/top-10-social-networking-websites-forums-december-2009-11675/"><br />
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Additional details found at ... <b><a href="http://www.marketingcharts.com/updates/top-10-social-networking-websites-forums-december-2009-11675/">Data and Graph Source</a></b><br />
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<i>*Note - graph is based upon "share of visits"</i>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12315837579262893019noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2466899326938674980.post-76985005883433531062010-02-08T19:30:00.000-08:002010-02-14T09:01:34.085-08:00Applying "Who Moved my Cheese" to Search Engine Marketing<a href="http://www.seoptimise.com/blog/2009/11/7-reasons-why-you-need-to-deal-with-search-engine-marketing-change.html"><span style="font-size: large;">7 Reasons Why You Need to Deal With Search Engine Marketing Change</span></a><br />
Around 5 years ago I read the book <a href="http://www.whomovedmycheese.com/">Who Moved my Cheese</a>. It’s a very simple, short story about the different methods of dealing with change. I’ve recently re-read this, (it only takes about an hour so I’d definitely recommend reading if you haven’t already) – but I realised that there’s a lot which can be applied to day-to-day life in search marketing.<br />
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<img alt="Cheese" src="http://farm1.static.flickr.com/208/460032282_128b5363ea.jpg" /><br />
Image Credit: <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/19779889@N00/460032282/">Flickr</a><br />
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They say an internet year is the equalivent to 7 normal years, I’m sure a <a href="http://www.seoptimise.com/">search engine marketing</a> year may be more! So basically if you don’t like change – you’re probably in the wrong job!<br />
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<span id="more-3222"></span><br />
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<strong>1) Don’t rest on your laurels</strong><br />
Paid links, keyword stuffing, meta keywords optimisation etc are normally all methods of tricking the search engines into thinking your webpage is more relevant/important to a set of keywords that it actually is!<br />
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Back in the late 90’s and early 2000’s (I’m not calling it noughties!) this worked very well, so why wouldn’t you do it? You wouldn’t just let your competitors outrank you without competing on a level playing field. But at the same time the search engines (Google especially) are quickly evolving and tweaking their algorithms – one day the tactics which are working may change and turn a very profitable online business by wiping everything out overnight.<br />
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Also, just because your successful tactics from 2-3 years ago worked back then, it doesn’t mean you can just continue applying the same tactics in the future and get the same levels of success.<br />
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<strong>2) Be aware of competitors</strong><br />
Being on the internet means that you may wake up one morning to find a new, very powerful competitor.<br />
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Recently in the UK the online department store Very.co.uk (backed by Littlewoods) has began heavily advertising on TV and using pay-per-click advertising to promote themselves. I’m sure if Debenhams had a new competitor on the high-street, for example, they would be aware of this well in advance and be able to react in time to this. However, online these things can change very quickly and catching them out just before the Christmas shopping period is more likely when you can move much quicker.<br />
Also, as above don’t rest on your laurels. Just because your at #1 in Google for your most important keyword today, this doesn’t mean that your competitors aren’t working on an SEO strategy which may knock you off the top in the future. Plus no website is ever performing at its full potential in the search engines and there is always room for improvement in the form of more traffic (whether competitive or long-tail) and overall conversions. Even Wikipedia aren’t number one for every term and even then it’s normally only a single listing out of the top ten!<br />
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<strong>3) Make and learn from your mistakes</strong><br />
It’s estimated that it takes <a href="http://zenhabits.net/2009/11/the-only-way-to-become-amazingly-great-at-something/">6-10 years to become amazingly great at something</a>, so you’re not going to get everything right first time! Having now been involved in SEO for 7 years, there’s still a lot I’m continually learning and I’d be the first to admit that I made lots of mistakes in the past when optimising websites (luckily these were usually my own). But in my opinion this is the best way of actually learning what works, or in many cases what doesn’t.<br />
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I mentioned in my <a href="http://www.seoptimise.com/blog/2009/11/10-seo-copywriting-tips-beginners-guide.html">SEO copywriting</a> post that there is a lot of trial and error work involved in optimising a website. This is true, but based on experience you get a feel of what does or doesn’t work well – and each time your judgement improves and the likelihood of making a right decision under a given circumstances is greater.<br />
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Just make sure you’ve got the majority of your mistakes out of the way or have some test projects available - so that when working on an important project you can make the right choices when it matters.<br />
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<strong>4) Try to prevent knee-jerk reactions</strong><br />
One thing I’ve found to be true in SEO is that you often need to have a clear strategy and stick to it. Sometimes you optimise a website and surprise yourself with incredibly quick results, other times you may done everything right but it takes a little time to pay off. You may even have to take one step back before going two forward, but one thing I have learnt is that stability, more often than not, far outweighs knee-jerk reactions and chopping and changing.<br />
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If you give your ideas time and attention to pay-off, it’s more likely to be a better option than trying to start from scratch again on something new. There’s a great quote from <a href="http://www.searchenginepeople.com/blog/ruud-questions-glen-alssopp-aka-viperchill.html">Glen Allsopp on Search Engine People</a> which says the first hurdle is often the hardest to achieve, this is very true – so stick to it!<br />
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<strong>5) Review performance over a sensible period of time </strong><br />
Continuing from the above point about needing stability, you do also need to review your search marketing activity at regular intervals. But this should be reviewed over a sensible period of time. From a business perspective, it can sometimes be very easy to over-analyse short terms successes or failures – looking at a longer period of time often gives you a clearer focus over performance and makes the bigger picture appear more obvious.<br />
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For example, for a highly seasonal campaign it can be unfair/misleading to review the traffic volumes or online revenue on a month-to-month basis. But a comprehsive review on a quarterly or even annual basis – comparing with performance from previous similar periods – may be extremely valuable.<br />
This is something we’ve recently done with a client, around 12 months after originally optimising their site we now have enough traffic and performance stats to review the success of this and also look at the areas which haven’t worked so well, or where the market may have changed, revisiting these with new ideas. We’re not assuming that everything we did was perfect first time around and even if it was it still needs to be checked. But if we had done this after 3-6 months, it wouldn’t have told us too much and we may have changed something too quickly before it had a chance to fufil its potential.<br />
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<strong>6) Don’t put all your eggs in one basket</strong><br />
This is a very common mistake, if your PPC campaign is performing very well you obviously want to maximise this and it’s very easy to throw extra budget at this because you can quickly see if your return on investment is paying off.<br />
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But what happens when the latest PPC quality score update means your campaign isn’t as profitable as it once was and you have no additional revenue streams and advertising channels to fall back on?<br />
Internet marketing isn’t about finding the best tactic and just focusing on that one thing. Most campaigns work best when they are integrated together – so yes advertise using paid search, but use that keyword and conversion data to implement into your SEO strategy. The main goal of most online marketing campaigns is to convert a sale or lead, but what about the potential customers who are at an early stage of the buying cycle and not quite ready to purchase. Think about other methods of getting these visitors back to your site, get them to signup for your newsletter (email marketing) and subscribe to your blog (social media marketing).<br />
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<strong>7) Look at what’s in store for the future</strong><br />
It can be easy to pay too much attention to what’s going on in the search world sometimes, there are frequently changes, news and ideas on a daily basis, but you really need to try and filter out the ones which affect you and how you do things.<br />
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These are the actionable ideas which you do need to be aware of in order to make sure you are doing your job as effectively as possible.<br />
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Here’s a quick list of a few things which you may have considered or need to be aware of in the future:<br />
<ul><li>Bing UK – you may have focused solely on Google for SEO and PPC in the past – but there’s a good chance <a href="http://econsultancy.com/blog/4317-search-experts-react-to-the-yahoo-microsoft-deal">Bing may become a more serious competitor</a> in the future. This means you may have to dedicate more of your SEO effort and PPC budget towards Bing and Microsoft adCenter. </li>
</ul><ul><li>What are the most popular social media sites and where is this heading? For example, are you still working on your MySpace marketing strategy? Or are you using Twitter effectively and ready for what Google Wave has to offer? </li>
</ul><ul><li><a href="http://googlewebmastercentral.blogspot.com/2009/06/introducing-page-speed.html">Google page speed</a> – Google’s algorithm changes normally aim to improve the overall user experience for visitors. So improving your page speed and making sure your site is browser compatible is something you should be doing anyway, but now it’s even more important as an SEO activity. </li>
</ul><ul><li>Google algorithm updates – if your website dropped in Google UK six months ago only to be replaced by a US or Australian site, it’s probably because of the <a href="http://www.seoptimise.com/blog/2009/06/google-uk-mixing-in-us-based-queries.html">#ukserps issue</a> which has been a common talking point. Being aware of updates such as <a href="http://searchengineland.com/google-searchs-vince-change-google-says-not-brand-push-16803">Vince</a> and <a href="http://www.seobook.com/google-caffeine">Caffeine</a> helps you to make more insightful decisions based on all of information you have available.</li>
</ul>So those are my thoughts on why you shouldn’t let the search world pass you by. Most people who work in the search industry like it so much because it’s kept exciting by never being constant and always having new ideas and opinions available, so change has to be a good thing! :DAnonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12315837579262893019noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2466899326938674980.post-43447267286849197902010-02-08T17:57:00.000-08:002010-02-14T09:01:34.086-08:00A 2010 Outlook on Web and Social Media Trends<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/seoptimise/4138313432/" title="Tumblr beats Digg and StumbleUpon by SEOptimise, on Flickr"><img alt="Tumblr beats Digg and StumbleUpon" height="324" src="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2539/4138313432_7d68de84e1_o.png" width="574" /></a><br />
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Google Trends for Tumblr, Digg and StumbleUpon<br />
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Last year I made about 30 predictions on <a href="http://www.seoptimise.com/blog/2008/12/30-web-trends-for-2009.html" id="y9-j" title="Web trends for 2009">Web trends for 2009</a>. Many of them came true, others, of course, did not. Still even in those cases the ideas from the Web trends list were useful. Even those trends that disappeared from the radar or haven’t got main stream yet should be watched closely as they might pop up again sooner or later.<br />
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<div> So I decided to make a new <strong>Web trends list</strong>, this time for <strong>2010</strong>.<br />
</div><div> <span id="more-3256"></span><br />
I started from scratch and asked <a href="http://twitter.com/onreact_com/followers" id="qfcr" target="_blank" title="my followers on Twitter">my followers on Twitter</a> to contribute. Most of the Web trends to watch in 2010 can be seen already on the Web so I’m really no prophet <em>I just compiled a list</em>. OK, also I chose those trends that I consider worth watching in 2010 and left out others. I think the following aspects of the Internet will have a major impact next year and beyond.<br />
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I divided the upcoming trends into several sections:<br />
<ol><li>social media</li>
<li>business</li>
<li>mobile</li>
<li>marketing</li>
<li>search</li>
<li>SEO</li>
<li>web design & development</li>
<li>software</li>
</ol><strong>Social Media</strong><br />
<ul><li>Twitter integration and apps were king in 2009 and are here to stay. Either you integrate or you perish</li>
<li>Tumblr is successful and growing in the shadow of Twitter, when Twitter finally loses steam will Tumblr be the new darling?</li>
<li>Market consolidation in social media leaving only a few major players on the scene: Twitter, Facebook and who else?</li>
<li>Social news (Digg, Reddit) and bookmarking (Delicious) will become obsolete. Already the first wave of social media that is social news and bookmarking lose against Twitter.</li>
<li>Social browsing (StumbleUpon etc.) is already dead. There were more than a dozen of social browsing services in 2008. Most of them are dead or on hiatus already. More to follow.</li>
</ul><strong>Business</strong><br />
<ul><li>We’ll witness a demise or hiatus of most startups without critical mass of users as the money runs out</li>
<li>We can expect a proliferation of premium and freemium business models as venture capital stays scarce</li>
<li>Companies and brands will have to develop a social media strategy in 2010 to stay afloat</li>
<li>With business accounts and data access selling like hotcakes and additional revenue sources Twitter will become profitable in 2010 already</li>
</ul><strong>Mobile</strong><br />
<ul><li>We’ll see a smartphone systems death match as the market isn’t big enough for all the often incompatible systems we have right now.</li>
<li>Apple will be losing market share. The iPhone still looks like years ago. They don’t even have a netbook yet. They can’t rely on cult tactics forever.</li>
<li>Phones and calls for free thanks Google: Google prepares the real Google Phone combining Google Voice and <a href="http://www.google.com/gizmo5/" id="xc2c" target="_blank" title="Gizmo5">Gizmo5</a> VoIP <a href="http://technology.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/tech_and_web/personal_tech/article6924233.ece" id="q695" target="_blank" title="to offer free calls">to offer free calls</a>.</li>
</ul><strong>Marketing</strong><br />
<ul><li>We’ll see less bullshit and more substance in the online marketing field. As the Web matures more and more people become too savvy to get fooled.</li>
<li>Advertising replaced on the Web by “ad content” that is non promotional content about the brand, company or products: Less banners more reports.</li>
</ul><strong>Search</strong><br />
<ul><li>Real time search will go prime time for everyone, not just the search geeks and early adopters</li>
<li>Google and Bing will keep on copying each other in order to capitalize on the search advertising market</li>
<li>Advanced personalization will lead to your own personal search results for most people rendering ranking checks useless</li>
</ul><strong>SEO</strong><br />
<ul><li>SEO is becoming ubiquitous, everybody does it (BBC etc.) and in 2010 those who don’t will fail to compete</li>
<li>More SEO experts will <a href="http://www.seoptimise.com/blog/2009/11/10-resources-seo-going-underground-again.html" id="h.vk" title="return underground again">return underground again</a> inspite of ubiquitous SEO due to wide spread prejudice of the ignorant against the trade</li>
<li>Like it or not but we’ll see more jQuery pop ups due to their high conversion rate. Thanks to <a href="http://twitter.com/rhyswynne/status/6078835563" id="lyng" target="_blank" title="@rhyswynne">@rhyswynne</a> for the suggestion</li>
</ul><strong>Web Design & Development</strong><br />
<ul><li>Mobile apps will continue to boom and optimized web pages for mobile use will become common place finally</li>
<li>HTML5 and CSS3 will allow web designers to offer extra features possible backed by <a href="http://www.sitepoint.com/blogs/2009/09/22/progressive-enhancement-graceful-degradation-basics/#" id="lo7v" target="_blank" title="graceful degradation">graceful degradation</a> in oder to support for older browsers</li>
<li>YouTube censorship spawns an open source and <a href="http://www.seoptimise.com/blog/2009/11/open-source-flv-player-embedding-videos-the-no-youtube-way-in-7-steps-tutorial.html" id="ua7z" title="DIY video embedding">DIY video embedding</a> counter movement. We already witness it but in 2010 you’ll look like a noob using YouTube on your site</li>
</ul><strong><br />
Blogging</strong><br />
<ul><li>Blogs get even more authoritative and accepted, becoming the “old media” of the Web</li>
<li>Quick and clean <a href="http://www.readwriteweb.com/archives/how_to_use_tumblr_posterous_other_light_blogging_services.php" id="pj_3" target="_blank" title="miniblogging">miniblogging</a> (Tumblr, <a href="http://www.readwriteweb.com/archives/posterous_real_time_blogging.php" id="rr6j" target="_blank" title="Posterous">Posterous</a> etc.) establish a lively sphere between Twitter-like microblogging and blogging. <a href="http://twitter.com/richardbaxter" id="k3dm" target="_blank" title="@richardbaxter">@richardbaxter</a> of <a href="http://seogadget.co.uk/" id="vnh:" target="_blank" title="SEOGadget">SEOGadget</a> agrees about Posterous continuous growth</li>
<li>Video content finally gets the importance we expected for years now with growing band width etc.</li>
</ul><strong><br />
Software</strong></div><ul><li>There will be more cloud computing and web based software or rather webware around and people will use it more often</li>
<li>Most notably Google Docs will convince more users of the Microsoft Office desktop edition to switch</li>
<li>At the same time Google Chrome OS will be competing successfully with Windows at least on netbooks</li>
</ul><br />
This great content was found at ... <a href="http://www.seoptimise.com/blog/2009/11/30-web-trends-to-watch-in-2010.html">http://www.seoptimise.com/blog/2009/11/30-web-trends-to-watch-in-2010.html</a>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12315837579262893019noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2466899326938674980.post-50135966887357508212010-02-08T15:09:00.000-08:002010-02-14T09:01:34.088-08:00Simple and Effective Social Media Tips for Book Writers and Beyond<i>Written and Posted <a href="http://www.google.com/profiles/lubbers.sara">by Sara Huizenga</a>, </i><i>(brilliantly creative) <a href="http://sarahuizenga.blogspot.com/">Social Media and Marketing Consultant</a></i><br />
<br />
1. Add your linkable signature to every profile you have online and every comment you post.<br />
<br />
2. Have the first line of every blog post and/or article that you write be - by "your name" - make it linkable and prominent (bold text, larger size font)<br />
<br />
<a href="http://www.cflfostercare.com/Websites/cfl/Images/ChoiceNetwork/LeaveYourMark/LeaveYourMark_Logo.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="http://www.cflfostercare.com/Websites/cfl/Images/ChoiceNetwork/LeaveYourMark/LeaveYourMark_Logo.jpg" width="342" /></a>3. Establish your target market, why would people need and want to purchase your book, who are these people, what sites might they network on and/or end up finding due to their type of google search text...wherever online that might be...join the forums, networks, blogs (leave comments on) etc. establish yourself as an expert and never leave any text without also including your link and signature prominently within it.<br />
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4. Be consistent, use the same signature/hook/look/logo everywhere, make it easy for others to quickly recognize your personal brand.<br />
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5. "Give something away" in order to draw them out - what are they googling for - find out and then provide the perfect pitch answer to their question on your blog and/or site - seduce them with your best works, leave them wanting more...ie. purchase of book.<br />
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6. Make it as easy for others as possible to purchase your book/product/service (include all offline and online options) - hire you as a speaker - purchase consulting from you - make this info simple, easy, self-explanatory, dumdum proof and impossible to not see.<br />
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7. Start groups, blog posts, etc. titled in your book/product/service name.<br />
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8. Ask for it - if you have someone linked/make sure they reciprocate as well, ask them to leave comments, repost your information, think of all fans as your own personal promotion team, make them feel important to be a part of the team that is promoting you.<br />
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9. Market to book clubs, offer to personally call them during the meeting about your book in order to give them an opportunity to ask you (the expert) questions. Give this "book club promoting to group" a special name that includes either your name and/or the title of your book.<br />
<br />
10. Stop by (all if possible) where your book is sold, no need to call ahead, the purpose in doing so is more so to personally signature each book they have - which as a result will increase sales, leave promotional material with them, a head shot, etc. which they are able to easily display to highlight the author's visit and personally signed books.<br />
<br />
11. Work with local libraries, set up a time to present a workshop centered around your book as well as your own personal branding mission statement. Provide oodles of books their to purchase as well as "take-alongs" for them to share with other potential buyers of your book.<br />
<br />
12. Think of "bulk sales" opportunities and venues, call them up, ask the organization, library, etc. (after you've told them about book) how many they would like - share with them the great features of your works regarding their company, policies, etc.<br />
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13. Become accredited and endorsed by government agencies.Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12315837579262893019noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2466899326938674980.post-70027445497602539212010-02-05T14:48:00.000-08:002010-02-14T09:01:34.088-08:00Give them Eye Candy, Packaging Sells<i>Written and Posted <a href="http://www.google.com/profiles/lubbers.sara">by Sara Huizenga</a>, </i><i>(brilliantly creative) <a href="http://sarahuizenga.blogspot.com/">Social Media and Marketing Consultant</a></i><br />
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I think (rather you realize it or not) we are all guilty of at some point and time making a purchase solely based on the visual appearance of its exterior packing alone. And if it's REALLY good packaging, once we realize that the contents inside are nothing we need nor even really desire ... the purchase remains not only justified, but even at times, proudly and most publicly displayed.<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.thedieline.com/.a/6a00d8345250f069e201287768cb09970c-550wi" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="321" src="http://www.thedieline.com/.a/6a00d8345250f069e201287768cb09970c-550wi" width="400" /></a></div>That's good eye candy packaging ... something you can just look at, not even use ... for days, sometimes much longer.<br />
<br />
Speaking of, you absolutely must check out this site ... honestly, I could get lost here ... in fact, if I never return, perhaps I have ...<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.thedieline.com/blog/images/headernew1.gif" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="52" src="http://www.thedieline.com/blog/images/headernew1.gif" width="640" /></a></div><br />
<br />
<br />
<div style="text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: left;">Be inspired the lovely, clever, brilliant images of the world's best packaging by clicking <b><a href="http://www.thedieline.com/">HERE</a></b></div><div style="text-align: left;"><div style="color: #6aa84f;"><b><br />
</b></div><div style="color: #6aa84f;"><b><br />
</b></div><div style="color: #6aa84f;"><b>*Apply this online by "visualizing up" your social media material, blog posts, etc.</b></div><br />
</div>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12315837579262893019noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2466899326938674980.post-74358572608351580822010-02-05T11:45:00.000-08:002010-02-14T09:01:34.089-08:00To Google You, Search For "Me"<i>Written and Posted <a href="http://www.google.com/profiles/lubbers.sara">by Sara Huizenga</a>, </i><i>(brilliantly creative) <a href="http://sarahuizenga.blogspot.com/">Social Media and Marketing Consultant</a></i><br />
<br />
And yes, I do mean that literally.<br />
<br />
We've all googled ourselves, it's okay to admit. More than okay, consider it vital towards keeping a good pulse of your self-branding. Or you could remain ignorant, however if you choose this route ... forget about attaching the blissfully adjective and switch it with a kinda dumb.<br />
<br />
Sorry to sound sassy, I apologize as well for not more quickly getting to the point ... it's just that what I have to share is so exciting that I am just stumbling all over myself trying to share it with you in a manner of which the nature of this tip deserves.<br />
<br />
And so okay ... let's start here, googling of ourselves and others - expected, relevant, influential, basically just an incredibly common day practice and word.<br />
<br />
When you google yourself, what do you find?<br />
<br />
Do you like everything in the search results of you?<br />
<br />
Ever wish something else was highlighted more so, many things not at all so, feeling like a real dolt because nothing comes up at all, feeling victimized by someone with your name who paints a really ugly picture of it online, are you often waking up in the middle of the night finding yourself hoping and wishing that YOU not Google could be the one choosing what comes up when You are googled!!! <br />
<br />
Yea ... wouldn't that be great, though? To be able to edit, or at least significantly influence, just what someone sees and doesn't see when they google your name ...<br />
<br />
Well, now you can ... no, seriously ... you have absolute and complete control now.<br />
<br />
Here's how to start, read the title of this piece again and then go act on it.<br />
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<i>(Psst - reminder ... <b>To <a href="http://google.com/">google</a> yourself, search for "me"</b>)</i><br />
<br />
The first thing that will come up in your google search results is YOU ... via a thing called <a href="http://www.google.com/profiles">"Your Google Profile"</a> - that's the spot.<br />
<br />
Go there now! Add something good to it, take off something bad ... we'll talk more later about the details, this most excellent tip is enough in and of itself for one post.<br />
<br />
And ... you are ever so welcome for sharing ... it truly is my passion to do so ... ;)<br />
<br />
By the way, <a href="http://www.google.com/profiles/lubbers.sara">here's mine</a> ...<br />
<a href="http://www.google.com/profiles/lubbers.sara">http://www.google.com/profiles/lubbers.sara</a><br />
<div class="g-section g-tpl-98" id="id"><div class="g-unit g-first"><div class="ll_photobox" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"></div></div><div class="g-unit"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi8g-9fzq86guXfTsYtrR3PNNy_NlwjWmPnkdNEuu9cKbPs3KTpksFQgcl_ZgU-aQKI2yhkImGXQ2dgwTlAjHcn9m9sPBCG4tqPG7N3EXo0hgrFhhaAlPy7tmZsKRQFOBvoQW56BMP6m032/s1600-h/33.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="210" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi8g-9fzq86guXfTsYtrR3PNNy_NlwjWmPnkdNEuu9cKbPs3KTpksFQgcl_ZgU-aQKI2yhkImGXQ2dgwTlAjHcn9m9sPBCG4tqPG7N3EXo0hgrFhhaAlPy7tmZsKRQFOBvoQW56BMP6m032/s320/33.jpg" width="245" /></a><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif; font-size: x-large;"><b><a href="http://www.google.com/profiles/lubbers.sara"><span class="fn">Sara Huizenga Lubbers</span></a></b></span></div><h1></h1></div></div><div class="g-unit g-first"><div class="g-c" id="primary"><div id="basics"><div class="tagline"><span class="title">Social Media, Marketing, Public Relations, Fashion, Techie, Design, Advocacy, Lobbyist, Strategist, Graphics, Theater, Editor, Writer, Virtual Communications and Networking Passionate Guru</span> at ... <span class="org"><a href="http://peace4missing.ning.com/">Peace4 the Missing</a> and <a href="http://maggiesrose.com/">Maggie's Rose</a></span> <br />
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<span class="adr">Who lives in an awesome little beach town called ... Grand Haven, Michigan 49417</span></div></div><div class="box " id="about_box">Graduate of <a href="http://calvincollege.edu/">Calvin College</a> with a bachelor's degree in TeleCommunications and focus in Media, Journalism and Theater.<br />
<div><br />
</div><div>Fashion, Publicity, Actively Advocating, Creatively Brilliant Marketing, Social Media, Palliative Care, Missing Persons and Abused Females Awareness and Support, Brainstorming and Initiating Big, Bold, Change the World Ideas and Plans...</div></div></div></div><ul class="links"><li><img alt="" src="http://www.google.com/s2/favicons?domain=peace4missing.ning.com" /> <br />
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<li><img alt="" src="http://www.google.com/s2/favicons?domain=www.maggiesrose.com" /> <br />
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<div class="link"><a href="http://www.maggiesrose.com/" rel="me">Maggie's Rose</a></div></li>
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