Love it or Hate it - Twitter is here to stay!

Some people swear by Twitter whilst other just cannot stand it. Both sides make some compelling statements and astute observations.

The Love:

According to a recent Nielsen survey, Twitter has grown 1328% since February 2008. With over 4 million Twitter users answering the simple question - “What are you doing?” Twitter has been transformed from a simple stay-in-touch-with-your-network website to a network building tool being used by businesses, celebrities, political figures, any everyone else in world. People ant to connect with others, get information, ask questions and get instant answers from a diverse population. The best part is the simplicity of design and application, all you need to do is type your message in 140 characters and you have a voice that can be heard by millions.

The Hate:

Not everyone is such a fan! According to another study by Nielsen, 60% of Twitter users do not return after the first month. What is driving away these new users? Are they not giving this application the chance it deserves? Twitter users have complained of many things - excessive downtime, too simple  design, disinterest in sharing all their minute-to-minute updates with the world, followers and followings, following conversations, etc.

The interesting thing is that Twitter (and others) have listened to these problems and have come up with a plethora of applications and website tweaks to address issue and then some! Whether you love it or hate - that is a personal choice, just like who you wish to follow, what you wish to tweet, what short 2 sentence story you wish to share with the world.

So what do you think of Twitter? Love it or hate it?

Marketing Insider: Social Media & Lead Generation

The latest issue of the Marketing Insider focuses on bringing you some of the latest developments at the intersection of business marketing and social media for effective lead generation. The newsletter provides interesting links to some of the best practices being followed by marketers in the lead generation and social media industries.

Catch the latest buzz, read what the Gurus of the industry are saying, take the poll to see how you match against your peers in terms of your social media expectations of 2009.

Read the latest issue here: Marketing Insider

How to Use Twitter for Marketing

Twitter is a relatively new web 2.0 site that is starting to gain a lot of popularity. That means that a lot of people have heard of it but it is also quite common to run into people who haven’t heard of it.. yet. Twitter.com is this social site that encourages users to post often about what they are currently doing.

A lot of people are using it to improve their marketing reach, by being an active twitterer they gain followers who are interested in what they got going on. This means people being exposed to their updates on a regular basis. For example, if you have hundreds of followers in Twitter and you decide to post an affiliate link, that means that hundreds of people have instantly been exposed to your offer. In this article I will discuss ways to maximize Twitter for your marketing, and also a big mistake to be aware of.

In order to have a fan base per say of followers in Twitter you must be able to keep their interest in you and what you are doing now. “What are you doing?” is the whole foundation of what Twitter is about in the first place. Make sure to post daily if not several times throughout the day updates about what you are doing. The magical thing behind this is that many of your contacts will be able to feel like they know you so much better, will trust you more, and feel much more comfortable about working with you. On the other hand, when you follow others you can learn about them and their possible needs.

The big mistake to watch out for is only posting affiliate links or offers on your Twitter page. This looks like Spam and many people will see you as just abusing Twitter for your own personal gain. Think of it this way, if you would not want to invite your friends or family to keep up with you via Twitter then you are going about it all wrong. As with anything you send out or provide, ninety percent should be content and ten percent (at most) advertising. So this concept is quite simple… constantly post throughout the day what you are doing.. it is usually very simple and only takes a few seconds to post! Secondly, if you write articles or provide content online, provide a link for those in your Twitter posts. You may post many things within one day, but the last thing you post for the day is usually the most important because it will be there the longest. This means that your last post for the day should very well contain a link that you want your followers to see before your start Twittering again the next day!

Another part of Twitter is contributing. As with any social site it should be a give and take relationship. Notice that give comes first… the more you give the more people will want to work with you and the more attention you will receive. Make sure to read and follow other users in Twitter. If you read something interesting or helpful then make sure to reply and say so, or even put a link for it on your Twitter so that you are directing others to more quality content. This can also be as simple as connecting with other users, if they know you are reading their Twitter page they will be much more likely to check out what you have going on too.

To get started in Twitter you should first invite contacts who aren’t using Twitter and also find contacts who are already using Twitter so that you can start following them and also start getting people to follow you. Twitter has a nice invite and find feature that makes this incredibly easy. To grow your reach even more you can start following people who follow or are followed by the people who follow you.. or that you follow. You might need to read that sentence again.. but basically you can find other users to connect with that are already connected to other users.

Now for a big tip. If you really want to maximize the potential with Twitter, you should make sure to take advantage of any plug-ins or sites that support Twitter. Here are three, but I’m sure there will be many more in the future if not already. Squidoo allows you to input your Twitter account info into your Squidoo account and then it can automatically post updates to your Twitter account when you create or update Squidoo lenses. Facebook has an application called Twitter, it automatically updates your Facebook status when you make a Twitter post. The other tool is a free WordPress plug-in called TweetMyBlog that allows you to create a two-way connection from your blogs to Twitter. TweetMyBlog allows you to use a widget on your Wordpress blogs that will display your current Twitter feed.. that way all visitors to your blog can look at the widget and see a running feed of your latest Twitter posts. If they click on that they will be brought to your Twitter page. In addition, when you make a new post to your blog, TweetMyBlog will automatically make a post to your Twitter page with a link to your latest blog post. Imagine the extra exposure you can receive by using these tools that help people see more of what you are doing.

Lastly, have fun! Twitter is a social site… so interact and enjoy!

Author: Darren Olander

About the Author:
Darren Olander is dedicated to teaching others how to create a success online through internet network marketing strategies. He is a site owner, article writer, coach & marketing consultant enjoying the benefits of working full time from home.

Webinars: Fuel Your Sales for the Extra Mileage

A recent survey revealed that 76% of the respondents (a total of more than 10,000 enterprise execs) preferred online events than physical meetings. More and more businesses are using webinars to generate prospects. Do you want to be left behind?

The use of webinars as a lead generating tool is growing at a rate of 20-30% each year. With more webinars being conducted and attended every month, why exactly are Webinars making such an impact and how can you make the most of this almost free sales channel?

Simply put, a “Webinar” is really just a “web conference”. Webinars are live meetings or presentations conducted via the Internet where each participant sits at their own computer and is connected to the host through the internet.

Webinars are interactive sessions which may include audio, presentation slides, screen sharing, white boards, and a wide range of other types of content. Generally the host has control over the webinar but the participants are not just passive listeners but can interact and contribute in the webinar discussion by posing questions and taking surveys or polls.

Webinars can be used as incredibly informative tools to boost sales and encourage responses from prospects. Used for a variety of purposes like sales conferences, product demonstrations, employee training, investor briefings, etc. webinars add value by:

1. Shortening the sales cycle
2. Providing more effective training
3. Improving the interactivity with prospects
4. Reducing travel expenses
5. Lowers costs (in contrast to participating and attending tradeshows)
6. Increasing overall employee productivity.

Careful planning is essential to host a successful webinar. To make your next webinar a roaring success, here are a few tips and best practices:

1. Choose the Hosting Software Carefully

A simple Google search for ‘webinar software’ will give you a staggering 6 million results. With so many options available, how do you make the right choice? You must do a thorough research to see what each application offers, and which one is best suited to your needs.

First make a list of all that you wish to do and want from your webinar. Do you want video recording? Do you want your attendees to answer to polls and take part in surveys? Each webinar software boasts different features. Select the one that matches the most with your list.

Softwares of note: GoToWebinar, Webex

2. Plan your Schedule

Consider the audience while arriving on a date and time for the webinar. Take into consideration the different time zones, holidays, heavy vacation weeks, etc. Create a registration page so that people can register and book their place for the webinar.

On the day of the webinar, start on time, finish within the stipulated time, leaving time for the Q&A.

3. Shout it Out from the Rooftops!

Now that you are all set for the webinar, it’s time to spread the word! Promote your webinar through email, phone calls, social networks, and your website; utilize every external touch point with your audience. Be creative—get your customers excited about it!

In your webinar promotions, announce the number of spots allowed. This will create a sense of urgency that will attract more attendees. If you have a larger response than expected, you can send them the date and time of your next webinar.

Spin a story that will entice and intrigue your audience. Get them interested, identify their needs and promise to provide them solutions to their problems.

4. Presentation Preparation is a Must

Start with a detailed outline of what will be covered. With the introduction to the topic, also inform your attendees about the speakers, how can they participate, how can questions be asked and when will they be addresses.

Rehearse and practice. Most webinar hosting softwares allow a practice session – it is just practical to be comfortable with all the technicalities involved in conducting the webinar. Prepare the content before hand, have a presentation slide deck ready, and if needed get professional help with your presentation.

5. Send Reminder Notices

Promoting your webinar to get more registrants is definitely needed but if those registrants do not attend, then what is the use? Constantly remind your registrants of the time and date to assure their presence.

We recommend the following schedule:
• 1st reminder - One week prior to your webinar
• 2nd reminder - Two days prior to your webinar
• 3rd reminder - One day prior to your webinar
• 4th reminder - The morning of the webinar

6. Ask Your Audience How You Can Improve

After your webinar, don’t forget to get some feedback from your audience. Set up a survey to ask for your attendees’ opinions on content, and suggestions for improvement. You will find these extremely helpful when planning your next webinar and may even give you inspiration for newer topics as well as service offerings!

What is Content Marketing?

‘What is content marketing?’ – A general user of Internet, after hearing the words ‘content marketing’ will have this first question in his mind.

” Content marketing is an umbrella term encompassing all marketing formats that involve the creation or sharing of content for the purpose of engaging current and potential consumer bases. In contrast to traditional marketing methods that aim to increase sales or awareness through interruption techniques, content marketing subscribes to the notion that delivering high-quality, relevant and valuable information to prospects and customers drives profitable consumer action. “ As described under  Wikipedia entry for content marketing.

In a layman’s language, whenever you read, see or listen to something that interests you, the content that engages you, whether it be a post on a blog, an article published on a magazine, an informative video, an interesting menu card in a restaurant, the striking headline in your local newspaper that fetches your interest, the newsletter or the content in a website, is a form of content marketing.

Importance of Content Marketing: The USP (Unique selling point or quality) of content marketing is, its unique and your very own engaging content, that talks distinctly about the entity whether it be you, the company, or the product/services you want to sell. This USP really is important as well to engage your customer/visitor reading something new & interesting and making you stand out of the rush of other related product/service providers. The content marketing, if its USP is retained, helps you positioning your business as the trusted resource in you niche.

“ Marketers may use content marketing as a means of achieving a variety of business goals, such as thought leadership, lead generation, increasing direct sales, improving retention and more .” says Wikipedia page for Content Marketing, this itself shows the importance of content marketing in retaining your customers.

Another important USP of content marketing is that it is permissive not disruptive to consumer. Unlike the old interruption marketing, content marketing is based on the user permissions, if a user want, he/she reads or uses the content that might be on your blog, website, e-zine, magazine, newsletter, white-paper, email, social media content or elsewhere.

Basically, content marketing is the art of communicating with your customers and prospects without selling. It is non-interruption marketing. Instead of pitching your products or services, you are delivering information that makes your buyer more intelligent. The essence of this strategy is the belief that if we, as businesses, deliver consistent, ongoing valuable information to buyers, they ultimately reward us with their business and loyalty.

Yes, you really can create marketing that is anticipated and truly makes a connection! You can develop and execute “sales” messages that are needed, even requested, by your customers. To retain your customer, you need to have a successful content marketing in place and to market your content successfully either you should write content yourself, keeping in mind your targeted readers, customer base, or should take  content writing service  from such experts who really understands and knows your niche and knows what interests your customer base. The intriguingly written, unique content can help retaining your business customers as well as building the new consumer base.

Author: Kitz S

Content is King!

With the world becoming so connected and the whole world sharing content over the Internet, how does a company refresh its content so as to achieve top results in search engines? It’s been said before that creating unique and compelling content and syndicating it for relevant placement is the best way to create links and bookmarks for your website or blog. Once you have cast your bait and the ‘fish’ are hooked, its imperative that the past archived content is revisited to encourage more link building and eventually, higher PageRanks.

Link building is not only an external exercise. External links tell a search engine that there are other websites and communities that consider your web content to be of some value. Similarly, internal links can play a vital role wherein that inform the search engines about pages that you think are most important by counting the number of links pointing to that page from within your website.

Its not just about the linking for search engine recognition, your audience will also find it easier with multiple internal links to navigate through your site and it gives you an opportunity to keep the visitor hooked onto your message on multiple pages.

How to Tweak your Content for Higher Ranking

By revisiting your past content, and looking at it with a fresh perspective, you can find innumerous SEO opportunities.

1. The Title – Incorporate your current keywords to modify the title of the content page, article (or blog post).
2. Internal Linking - Include anchor text links to important pages (where the keyword density is greater) of your website and internal links from these pages to relevant newer content pages.
3. External Linking - Revisiting old content to create relevant external links. External links may be created with authoritative sites and appropriate news sites in your industry. An external link tells the search engine and your users that you are helpful and not afraid to link out (sometimes even to a competitor’s site). Become a hub for resource links in your industry.
4. The Tags - Tweak the Meta, Title, URL and Alt tags to make them more focused. Add different keyword variations to the tags to increase the density of the keywords that is viewed by the search engines.
5. Improving the Content – Review and revise. Old content can be used as a foundation for new content. Rewrite older articles to make them more pertinent to current times. Introduce new concepts or start discussions. Web 2.0 is all about sharing. Encourage comments and get feedback!
6. Targeting New Keywords – As the industry evolves, people change their searches, thus changing their search keywords. What worked six months back, may not get you as much traffic now! Old content maybe reworked on in light of newer keywords.
7. Pass on PageRank – On your website – do individual pages have different page ranks? Did you know you can use internal linking to pass the rank juice from well ranked pages to ones that do not have PageRank?
8. Keep it simple – Work on your content, after all every visitor to your website is searching for something to read or see, but keep it simple. Don’t complicate things, don’t overdo the changes. Your old audience who had bookmarked your website originally should still recognize you and yes, still be interested.

Online Marketing to Succeed the Economic Downturn

World economy is going through one of its worst crisis in history, with many experts predicting a global economical recession, countries approving multi-billion dollars bailout programs to help their economies to survive and companies having to cut down their costs to avoid bankruptcy.

When companies start to think about cutting down on their expenditures, one of the first things that comes to CEO’s and Managing director’s minds is to reduce or even cancel their marketing campaigns budgets.

On the other hand CMOs (chief marketing officers) think the opposite; they believe that during an economic down turn is precisely the time when marketing plays an important role. By stopping a marketing campaign you lose contact with your clients and you stop understanding your costumer needs.

An alternative to all these problems is Online Marketing, as the name already suggests Online Marketing is any type of marketing that is done via the Internet; email marketing campaigns, search engine marketing or search engine optimisation campaigns, social media marketing, blog marketing or any other form that you could think of that involves the use of the Internet as a source to promote your brand, products or services.

Why is Online Marketing so important during an economical downturn?

I’m far from an economic expert but there 4 factors that put online marketing ahead of other marketing techniques during a down economy:

1 - Measurement

One of the biggest problems with traditional marketing campaigns is the lack of good measuring methods, with online marketing is a completely different ball game. All you need is a good web analytics package, Google Analytics for instance, to track, measure, document the effect and justify your marketing investments to you boss.

2 - Immediate Effect

It is almost impossible to know how effective a TV commercial or another type offline advertisement is. While online marketing methods have a direct value on sales; especially when we talk about search engine marketing and search engine optimisation.

3 - Good ROI

The success of a marketing campaign is measured by its ROI (return over investment); the higher the better; and there are few things beating online marketing nowadays. For every dollar spent on online marketing, marketers are making more than a dollar through sales or other conversions on their sites.

4 - Small Budgets

With online marketing you can start with a small budget and gradually increase it as you succeed, and believe me many multi-million dollar companies are basing their economic strategies around this simple principle nowadays.   The  DMA  estimates that expenditures with  online marketing  will maintain a significant growth in the coming year with more than 50% of U.S marketing dollars directed to Interactive marketing.

Author: Seo Bedford