Video: Set Your Business Apart With Video

Video: Set Your Business Apart With Video: WebProNews Video...

"Although everyone wants to do video these days, they seem to be hesitant with it for multiple reasons. For starters, many people are intimidated by video. They also think that it is hard and that they have to have a full video crew to be successful at it.

According to video blogging pioneer Steve Garfield, these theories are false. He tells WebProNews that these theories are common misconceptions about video and that video can actually be quite simple.

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Instead of going out and buying a new camera that you don’t know how to use, Garfield suggests starting with what you already have. The next step is to practice. Let yourself get comfortable with the camera and speaking on video before you put the content online.

Garfield says that it is best to do something that you are passionate about, such as what Gary Vaynerchuk does.

As far as distribution goes, he recommends using YouTube and Blip.tv. However, he also points out that people should build up their community before they distribute their content, since this would allow for more exposure.

Ultimately, video gives businesses the opportunity to set themselves apart from their competition. It also offers a personal element to businesses, which can be used to better engage with consumers.

Do you see this added value in video?

Recommendations For Mobile Success - WebProNews Video

Recommendations For Mobile Success from WebProNews Video...

Mobile apps are hot right now, and it seems like everyone and everything is getting in on the game. But businesses that are interested in increasing their appeal to mobile users might do better to focus on other elements, according to a mobile marketing specialist.

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Rachel Pasqua, Director of Mobile Marketing at iCrossing, characterized apps as the “flavor of the month” during an interview with Mike McDonald at SMX Advanced 2010. She said that her best recommendation is instead to “start with your site” when trying to attract mobile users.

Pasqua explained, “The vast majority of users out there are accessing social networks . . . via mobile.” With a proper social media strategy in place, businesses can then lure the users straight to their sites.

Companies simply need to make sure their sites offer a decent mobile experience. “If your site takes more than 15 seconds to load, users are just going to be bouncing off,” Pasqua pointed out.

Heavy use of Flash should also be avoided, in her opinion.

Business owners might want to follow Pasqua’s advice sooner rather than later. She observed that the availability of inexpensive Android devices is speeding up the adoption of smartphones, and it may not be long before advanced tech is available for free with a mobile contract.

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Twitter Intros Redesign, Expands Beyond 140 Characters - WebProNews

Twitter Intros Redesign, Expands Beyond 140 Characters from WebProNews:

This evening, Twitter introduced a new redesign of Twitter.com with a two-pane format aimed at providing a richer user experience, and you can easily tell by looking at it that it does just that.

"Twitter has always been about getting a lot in a little," writes CEO Evan Williams. "The constraint of 140 characters drives conciseness and lets you quickly discover and share what's happening. Yet, we've learned something since starting Twitter—life doesn't always fit into 140 characters or less."

Twitter has partnered with Dailybooth, DeviantArt, Etsy, Flickr, Justin.TV, Kickstarter, Kiva, Photozou, Plixi, Twitgoo, TwitPic, Twitvid, USTREAM, Vimeo, Yfrog, and YouTube to make tweeted content more useful directly from Twitter.com itself. Users will have less reason to click away from the site. 

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SEO Is Here To Stay, It Will Never Die from Search Engine Land

SEO Is Here To Stay, It Will Never Die...

Google’s press conference about Google Instant hadn’t even ended yesterday when the question of “is SEO dead” started coming up on Twitter, in blog posts and was even asked about formally during the event’s Q&A (the answer was no, twice over, by the way).

No, Google Instant isn’t killing SEO. In fact, nothing’s going to kill SEO. I know there are a lot of SEO haters out there who wish this were so, but that hate comes from a fundamental misunderstanding of what SEO is about. If you misunderstand something so much as to hate it, you surely have no understanding about its future.

No, SEO is not about tricking search engines, nor spamming links, nor ruining web design. It’s about building good content, understanding the ways people might seek it — including the words they might use — and ensuring the content is search engine friendly along with being human friendly.

If we’re going to examine if reports of SEO’s death are premature, let’s start with a common definition, which I’ll draw from Search Engine Land’s own What Is SEO / Search Engine Optimization? primer:

SEO stands for “search engine optimization.” It is the process of getting traffic from the “free,” “organic,” “editorial” or “natural” listings on search engines.

There are these things called “search engines.” They are services that allow you to locate information. There are big search engines like Google. There are little search engines like Urbanspoon.

SEO is about understanding how these search engines get their information and what should be done to gain free traffic from them. SEOs — and search marketers in general — understand the process of search, and they tap into that process to attract visitors.

Read FULL Article at: http://searchengineland.com/seo-is-here-to-stay-it-will-never-die-50192

Meet Marci Rosenblum - Web Traffic Consultant, SEO, Internet Marketing, Social Media Strategist

Learn more about me and how I can keep you up to date on the most current happenings...

Marci Rosenblum, Web Traffic Consultant, SEO, Internet Marketing, Social Media Strategist - Passionate Educator. Posting Industry News, Resources and Tips On Facebook Daily.

Get the latest: SEO, SEM, Social, Mobile, Internet Marketing News, Resources and Tips all in ONE place on my Facebook Fan page!

Marci Rosenblum, founder of MarciDesign, WebSuccessTraffic, co-founder, WebSuccessTeam is an award-winning website designer, developer and internet marketer. She has an extensive background in offline and online publishing, graphic design, direct response web design and development. Her expertise includes Internet marketing, search engine optimization, content distribution, social media networking, event promotion, video distribution, sales and advertising. Marci studied Web Design with Lynda Weinman, web designer, educator/author.

Marci is a Search Traffic Strategist and Internet Marketing Consultant. She is known for her aesthetic eye, great marketing mind and specializes in direct response web development, search engine optimization, social media and internet marketing. She has guided clients through their unique marketing challenges and helped them achieve web success through innovative, cutting-edge strategies designed to drive qualified traffic and generate interactivity and buzz.

Marci co-founded the Web Success Team in 2003, as she realized her clients needed an experienced and dedicated team they could always count on and trust to help them have great success, move into the future with the ever-changing landscape of the Internet, and keep them prospering.

Marci's Facbook Fan Page is FULL of the Latest:
SEO, SEM, Social, Mobile, Internet Marketing News, Resources and Tips all in ONE place!

See you there!

Older Adults Embracing Twitter And Social Media - WebProNews

Older Adults Embracing Twitter And Social Media - WebProNews...

Social networking use among Internet users ages 50 and older nearly doubled from 22 percent in April 2009 to 42 percent in May 2010, according to a new report from the Pew Internet & American Life Project.

Social networking use among Internet users ages 50-64 grew by 88 percent over the past year, from 25 percent in April 2009 to 47 percent in May of 2010. During the same period, use among those 65 and older grew 100 percent from 13 to 26 percent. By comparison, social networking use among users ages 18-29 grew by 13 percent from 76 percent to 86 percent.

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Optimizing for News Search from WebProNews Video

Unfortunately, most companies do not realize how much content can be optimized as news. According to Lisa Buyer of The Buyer Group, press releases, blogs, social media profiles, tweets, Facebook posts, and more can all be included in news results.

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To do this, she suggests that marketers, first of all, optimize press releases for news search. She also recommends using tools such as PitchEngine. This tool provides an additional place for marketers to post press releases. Buyer says this effective tool practically guarantees that users will show up on the first page of Google’s search results. Although it does not always stay in the top spot, it does provide instant gratification.

She also points out the importance of interacting with media, especially through Twitter. Specifically, she tells WebProNews that “#journchat” is a great way to do this. The chat takes place weekly and brings journalists, bloggers, and professionals together.

Additionally, Buyer offers advice in regards to promoting content. She says one of the keys to successful promotion is avoiding spammy and pitchy messages. Although it’s easy to take the headline and tweet it out, it is not the most effective approach. Instead, Buyer advocates more creative methods such as using quotes, statistics, questions, or other interesting nuggets of information that will draw traffic back to the release.

Making the Most of Your Data - WebProNews Video

Although most businesses understand the need for measuring analytics, unfortunately, that is as far as some businesses take it. As Eric Peterson of Web Analytics Demystified explains, marketers need to actually use the data they collect in order to see true benefits.

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There are many tools that are useful such as Google Analytics and Omniture, but Peterson says that these solutions cannot do everything. In other words, marketers have to act upon the data the solutions provide.

According to Peterson, many businesses do not dedicate resources to analytics. He believes this is one of the most common mistakes businesses can make in regards to analytics. If someone could focus all his time and energy on analytics, Peterson says good things would happen.

The next big challenge marketers have is determining which data to pass where within the company. For this, he recommends that a business have a strategy since each department will need different metrics.

Once all these elements are in place, Peterson says companies will be able to make better use of their data.

Social Media Benefits for Search from WebProNews Video

As the interest in social media continues to grow, it’s fascinating to see how it intersects with search. WebProNews recently spoke with Stephan Spencer of Covario who brought up some reflective points about this topic.

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Although most social media sites do not pass PageRank, they are still beneficial in search. As Spencer explains, social media is a way for companies to get publicity and juice from bloggers and journalists. He says social is not a direct benefit for search, but instead, an indirect benefit.

Social media builds relationships and communities. If businesses are actively involved in social media, they have the ability to use intervention and persuasion when they need to.

Incidentally, Covario has a new tool called Social Media Insight that is part of the company’s CMO Dashboard. It not only helps advertising efforts, but it also tracks social networks.

Spencer also co-authored a new book entitled, The Art of SEO: Mastering Search Engine Optimization. Although the book was released last year, Spencer says it is still very relevant to what is happening today in SEO.

How To Stand Out In The Facebook News Feed - MediaPost Publications

MediaPost Publications How To Stand Out In The Facebook News Feed

There are nearly 500 million users on Facebook every month. And, according to Facebook, approximately 25 billion pieces of content are also shared on the site. That's a lot of people and brands generating and sharing a lot of content.

And brands aren't just competing against other brands for attention; they are competing against all content, including posts from family and friends, everyone in a user's social online environment.

And who is spending the most time bogged down in that content? Teens. Of all the demographics, teens spend more time monitoring, reading, creating and sharing content. According to the Pew Research Center, 73% of online teens, ages 12-17, use social media, most notably Facebook. Not only are teens inundated with content but they are also extremely selective about what content/brands they chose to engage.

So what does all this mean for brand marketers trying to reach teens? Now more than ever it requires you to truly cut through the clutter and create real, honest and engaging content; communication that will lead to an ongoing, 24/7 relationship. And if you do that, the results can be tremendous for your brand and your bottom line.

Our platform has more than 72 million Facebook fans worldwide across our client base. This allows us access to an enormous amount of data to extrapolate, analyze and create best practices and strategies for optimal social media communication. It gives us tactics based on proven data and results, not shots-in-the-dark.

Here are some tips based on our aggregated data and insight.

Remember the Power of the News Feed: Why the news feed? It's where users spend the majority of their time and attention on Facebook. Our "Wall Apps" technology, part of Vitrue SRM, shows that brands achieve 110 times greater engagement when they deliver an application through a user's Wall as compared to other elements of their Facebook page, such as a tab. Think about that: 110 times more opportunity for your brand's poll, coupon or quiz to be engaged with and shared -- essentially a brand endorsement. That's ROI.

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Best and Worst Practices for Facebook - WebProNews Video

Although many companies are utilizing social media sites such as Facebook, they are not all using it to the full potential. As Greg Finn of 10e20 tells WebProNews, Facebook can be a very powerful tool for businesses if they properly use events, groups, and profiles.

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For starters, many businesses fail to set their Facebook page apart. He says businesses need to brand their page as their own. Although updating statuses are important, it is not enough. He suggests using tabs since they help to create a valuable experience for the user.

While many businesses use features such as Facebook Connect for promotions, Facebook made some changes regarding promotions back in November. The social networking giant said businesses needed to have an approved Facebook application to run any type of promotion. As a result, many small businesses were hurt.

Finn says businesses can get around the terms of service by involving charities. In the end, if the business is able to gain more fans, both it and the charity benefit.

In regards to worst practices, Finn says businesses need to eliminate confusion for users and understand that Facebook users are different than RSS users. He advises businesses monitor all their pages, whether created by them or not, and combine them.

Using Geolocation to Promote Your Business - WebProNews Video

Geolocation is one of the biggest buzzwords at industry events of late. Everyone is talking about Foursquare and Gowalla and the opportunities that lie there. To find out what those opportunities are, WebProNews caught up with Wayne Sutton of SocialWayne.com.

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Sutton himself is also part of a new geolocation site called TriOut, which is specifically for individuals in North Carolina. According to Sutton, geolocation started blowing up over a year ago. The early adopters of this new phenomenon were sites such as Whrrl and Brightkite.

Geolocation is getting so much recent hype since it is all about connecting people and building relationships. On the business side, businesses can see that users are checking in with their business. As a result, businesses can see customer patterns and learn to send relevant ads and discounts.

If businesses can get their customers to come back by giving them special offers and compelling ads, the customers will be more likely to start word-of-mouth marketing for the business.

Incorporating Social into Email Marketing - WebProNews Video

Email marketing is one of the oldest forms of marketing but is still very effective. Social media marketing is a relatively new form of marketing but is also very effective. What happens if the two are combined? According to Kara Trivunovic of StrongMail, email and social media provide many great advantages when they are put together...

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When people integrate social into their email marketing programs, they have the opportunity to not only expand the reach of their existing offers, but also to encourage existing customers to evangelize on their behalf. As a result, companies could grow their database through acquisition, which is not usually common in email marketing.

As Trivunovic points out, there are three primary ways that people use to implement social into their email marketing efforts. They are:

1. Sharing with your network
2. Leveraging as a medium to incentivize current customer base
3. Business model: acquiring customers through referrals

Trivunovic told WebProNews that approximately 86 percent of email subscribers share their email via email when they are asked to evangelize on the behalf of a company. Other social sharing methods include Facebook, Twitter, and blogging.

Incidentally, of that 86 percent that share via email, 19 percent of the receivers convert. That said, it seems safe to say that social media and email marketing work pretty well together.

Enhance Photos and Videos with Polaroid Studio - WebProNews Video

Polaroid has a new online photo and video sharing service that allows users to upload photos and videos and share them all over the world. At CES 2010, WebProNews caught up with Polaroid’s VP of Product, Jessy Hanley, to learn more about the creative service...

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With Polaroid Studio, users can completely customize their online experience. They can do this by adjusting the height and width at which the uploaded content is displayed, cropping, changing the colors, adding frames, as well as a variety of other editing options. Once the user finishes editing their photos, they can also put them on products such as mouse pads and coffee mugs.

In addition, the program includes numerous templates that users can use if they wish. There is no storage limit for photos and videos and users can upload as often as they want. Polaroid Studio also has a Facebook application that lets users copy photos from the program directly into the social network.

According to Hanley, Polaroid Studio is based upon user preference. She said the program can be as easy and quick as the user wants it to be, or as hard and creative as the user wants it to be.

Learn more about Polaroid Studio here.

Does Your Business REALLY Have to be on Twitter? - WebProNews Video

Site Logic’s Matt Bailey isn’t sick of Twitter, he’s just tired of marketers telling their clients they HAVE to be there. Same with Facebook and whatever other ‘next big thing’ comes down the road...

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At the 2009 Chicago SES, Abby Johnson caught up with Matt Bailey who shared his perspective on social media marketing and it’s relative importance to the overall marketing mix.

Bailey feels like businesses feel an unwarranted pressure to ‘get someone on Facebook or Twitter’ without fully understand why they are doing it – aside from the fact that some marketing expert told them they needed to.