What We Know About Lift: It's Not Twitter

There is probably our world needs more than another social media platform. Right? We need another application to teach grandpa. We need another URL for IT to block at the office. We need another website to drain us of more, what were, potentially productive hours. The fascination with social media has spread like the plague; however, the question remains—what can social media offer us in the future that we are not currently being offered?

A few of the masterminds behind Twitter have been spending their time creating a new networking application. At the moment, we don’t know much about the project, but here is what we do know: the name is Lift; a brief, vague description: “an interesting new application for unlocking human potential through positive reinforcement” (¶2).

Social media experts were quick to sniff around the secretive project and quickly dismiss it as a variation of Twitter. Crowdvine Events Social Media Networks CEO Tony Stubblebine was quick to clarify that Lift will not include anything having to do with tweeting or following. He defends the company’s ambiguous statements by stating that descriptions at this point do not properly depict Lift’s indefinable, innovative qualities. Stubblebine continues by saying if social networking is even a proper categorization for the platform; yes, it’s social, but doesn’t feature photo albums—an obvious reference to Facebook.

Currently, Lift is in alpha testing and there is no formal word when the application will be released or even become available in beta. If you are interested in receiving updates about the development of Lift, join the e-mailing list located on the company landing page.

At the present time, we don’t know how Lift will “unlock human potential”; we don’t know what type of “positive reinforcement” they expect will make that happen. We don’t know if it’s hype or a new concept that will make this world a better place.

Don’t forget to subscribe to this blog for more information on what is going on in the world of social media.

Source: Kolawole, E. (2011). Stubblebine: “Lift is not a variation of Twitter.” The Washington Post. Retrieved on Sept. 20, 2011.

Beef With the Biebers

In previous blogs, I have discussed strategies for achieving YouTube notoriety, including: video ideas, descriptions/tags, upload frequency, promotion via social media, and search engine optimization. Recently, a young YouTube user received fame, on a small scale, for manipulating the system and, by doing so, aggravating many Justin Bieber, Lady Gaga, and Rihanna fans.

As most know, when a user signs up for YouTube, Facebook, Twitter, or virtually any online platform, there is an acceptance of “terms and conditions.” These rules give the service the ability to terminate your account if you act in a way that could be perceived as wrong or unethical.

YouTube user iLCreation allegedly made several copyright claims against well known the videos of well-known pop artists, which lead to the temporary removal of many popular music videos. Justin Bieber fans fired back on all social media sites, including Twitter. The video takedown lead to #WeWantJustinBieberVEVOBack making Twitter’s top trending list. Additionally, Justin Bieber’s fans identified 13-year-old iLCreation as the responsible party by trending "#iLCreation you totally messed with the wrong fan base dude. Bet you're gonna regret it" (¶13). YouTube terminated iLCreation’s account for “repeated or severe violations of terms and conditions” (¶6).   

YouTube recommends that users with trademark concerns contact the responsible party directly, as doing so may result in a quicker, more appealing resolution; however, if the problem is not resolved, users can submit forms to YouTube identifying the problem and requesting the video’s removal.

This story should be a reminder and verification that ploys to achieve undeserved fame will result in unnecessary problems. If wishing to acquire YouTube followers, focus on creating interesting, original user generated content and market the content via Facebook and Twitter; add relevant tags—which are automatically bookmarked through YouTube’s owner, Google; and keep content updated—even if that means re-uploading videos that have been sitting stagnant for more than a month.

For more information regarding YouTube’s terms and conditions, click here.

Source

Hachman, Mark (2011). “Justin Bieber, Gaga fans enraged as videos disappear from YouTube.” PCMag.com. Retrieved on September 7, 2011.

Using Investor Advice in Developing Business Plan

In my previous post, I discussed the advice from ABC Shark Tank stars, Barbara Corcoran and Robert Herjavec. In this post, I will talk about the implementation of that advice into the development of a business development plan that would be presented to venture capitalists.

Barbara Corcoran, being the female balance on Shark Tank, heavily relies on an entrepreneur’s passion to help decide if the business is of interest to her. In my business plan, if presenting to Corcoran, I would convey the needs for my company’s concept that I have witnessed first hand. She wants to see that you have a great idea and that it is relevant to your life in some way; after all, its difficult to be perceived as genuinely passionate about something you don’t completely understand. (Bischoff 2011)

The investor pitch to a venture capitalist like Robert Herjavec is likely to go very different. Though Herjavec doesn’t appear to personify greed in the style of cast mate Kevin O’Leary, he still will be less impressed by passion and more concerned with numbers—or sales. After watching Shark Tank, its obvious that Herjavec’s favorite question is “what are your sales?” If you want an investment from Robert Herjavec, you need to come professional and prepared. The entrepreneur’s time is likely going to be wasted if they don’t have impressive sale patterns. (“Business Tips” 2011)

The reason why you don’t see Corcoran and Herjavec enter into many deals together is due to the fact they are different investors with different criteria, in regards to who and what they invest their money. To grasp the interest of both investors, an entrepreneur would need to have a revenue history that indicates long-term success potential (success being measured by profit) and a passion, or enthusiasm, which reflects the time and effort the entrepreneur has and will put into this endeavor. (Taylor 2010)

Source:

Bischoff, Dan (2011). “Interview with a shark.” Lendio. Retrieved on August 3, 2011, from click here.

“Business Tips from the Sharks (2011). ABC: Shark Tank. Retrieved on August 24, 2011, from click here. 

Taylor, K. (2010). Dragon’s Den. Yourmoney.ca. Retrieved on August 3, 2011, from click here.

Tips From The Tank

To many, the idea of starting their own company is the ultimate dream—be the boss and limitless profit potential. Who wouldn’t want to be the CEO of the next Snuggie company? The starting of a business requires money—but what are investors looking for in a business development plan?

Barbara Corcoran was a below-average student, who then went on to take a $1,000 loan and create The Corcoran Group—developing it into a $5 billion real estate company. In 2001, Corcoran sold her company for $66 million. She is currently the female shark on ABC’s hit show Shark Tank. (“About Barbara” 2011)

Corcoran tells entrepreneurs that, when approaching investors, passion cannot be faked. The business development pitch needs to display the enthusiasm and belief in the concept. She further explains that she has invested in people who she wouldn’t consider extremely intelligent, but there passion was undeniable. Additionally, Corcoran warns entrepreneurs to first seek a business loan, verse a venture capitalist, because, though the bank will charge interest, they won’t demand any equity. (Bischoff 2011)

Another Shark Tank investor, Robert Herjavec, has an interesting journey to wealth. In college, Herjavec waited tables, while he worked on a dot com company at night. The company was a provider of Internet security software. The company was valued at $100 million—then Herjavec negotiated a deal with Nokia for $225 million. (“Shark Tank” 2011)

Herjavec emphasizes the importance of presentation in a business development pitch—“don’t dress like a clown, unless you’re selling clown makeup.” He continued by saying entrepreneurs need to add value to their concepts—how are you going to make the venture capitalist more money? Herjavec also discusses keeping your development pitch in terms the investor can relate—“a banker doesn’t want to hear about the risks.” Lastly, Herjavec recommends exuding a humble arrogance to show you’re a hard worker who is going to put everything into his or her idea. (Taylor, 2010)

Source:

“About Barbara” (2011). Barbara Corcoran. Retrieved on August 3, 2011, from click here.

Bischoff, Dan (2011). “Interview with a shark.” Lendio. Retrieved on August 3, 2011, from click here.

“Shark Tank” (2011). Robert Herjavec Bio. ABC. Retrieved on August 3, 2011, from click here.

Taylor, K. (2010). Dragon’s Den. Yourmoney.ca. Retrieved on August 3, 2011, from click here.

YouTube Suspends Lady Gaga

The most popular woman on YouTube found herself in a little trouble recently. According to Gil Kaufman of MTV News (2011), Lady Gaga had her account suspended on July 14^th for “violating YouTube’s Copyright Policy” (¶2).

It all began when Lady Gaga’s official YouTube account posted a video of a performance where the pop star performed with Japanese boy band SMAP on Fuji TV’s “SMAP x SMAP.” The video shows the band dancing with Lady Gaga’s dancers during a performance of “Born This Way”. The problem? Lady Gaga’s team did not secure the digital rights to post the performance. Consequently, YouTube received a takedown notice from Media Interactive Inc. (¶3-4).

The problem Lady Gaga’s team faced is a problem many YouTube users have encountered—you cannot use audio and video that you don’t have appropriate licenses and/or permission to use. If you were working on a special project and you would like to include an artist’s music there are ways to get the needed licenses. First, research what type of license your project requires, then check out the websites for ASCAP and BMI for information on what steps to take and the financial obligation.

The MTV News story about Lady Gaga’s YouTube suspension discusses a very minor consequence of posting content without proper permission. In many cases, a situation like this would result in more than a cease and desist—possibly a lawsuit claiming copyright infringement or intellectual property violations.

The Queen of YouTube has been compared to icons, such as Madonna—and with the sold-out shows, interesting fashion, and provocative lyrics—its no surprise as to why. Lady Gaga has racked up more than a billion YouTube views, so chances are this suspension was more of an annoyance to her fans than Lady Gaga herself; however, for the average YouTube user, it is important to understand and obey copyright policies or you might be standing on the edge of glory a lawsuit.

Photo Courtesy of: Paul Flynn (Flickr)

Source:

Kaufman, G (2011). “Lady Gaga’s YouTube account suspended.” MTV News. Retrieved on July 21, 2011, from http://www.mtv.com/news/articles/ 1667242/lady-gaga-youtube-suspended.jhtml. 

Google+: Google's Social Media Platform

Do you think that any company could produce a social media platform that could go toe-to-toe with Facebook? Well, if any company can accomplish such a goal—it’s Google. In article by Julie Na, of ABC News, she discusses additional details about the speculated components of the platform.

The news of Google’s plans to produce a social media platform that would combine Google’s already successful products with added privacy was released this week. Google+ is said to be Google’s most ambitious effort to make a footprint in the social media world.

Charlene Li, owner of Altimeter Group, said this new platform would not be an attempt to compete with Facebook: “Key thing here is that going against Facebook directly is suicidal (Na 2011)”. Currently, Facebook commands 700 billion minutes of users’ time per month.

Google+ will give users the ability to categorize their contact list, so they can choose whom to share certain information. A selling point for Google+ is said to be the added privacy and structure. According to Li, Google+ will be comforting to parents who have concerns about their child being online. She continued to say that maintaining privacy in communication is very important. This statement could be a response to the constant warnings Facebook users’ receive about posting material that will tarnish their reputation or hinder their ability to get a job.

Google+ has some promising ideas and features; however, regardless of their published comments about not directly competing with Facebook, there is certainly an intention or desire to take a metaphorical stab in the social networking empire. If they want to beat Facebook, they need to introduce this site like Facebook. Google needs to release Google+ geographically little by little—similarly to Facebook releasing school by school.

Google+ is still in the works and available only by invitation. What are you thoughts on this new project? Does Facebook have any reason to feel threatened?

Source 

Na, J (2011). Google takes on Facebook with Google-Plus. ABC News. Retrieved on June 30, 2011 from ABC News

Where Did "Friday" Go? Rebecca Black Removes Hit Song From YouTube

“Today is Friday, Friday, Friday.” Most people know exactly the song I’m quoting. Rebecca Black became famous from her one hit wonder, “Friday” (and yes, I’m speculating on the “one hit” part). Katy Perry and countless YouTube users have covered her song, but it seems her original song won’t be playing legally on YouTube anymore. According to an article by Garrett Downing (2011) of kypost.com, the video was requiring a payment of $2.99 to view and has now been taken off of YouTube all together.

Downing sourced TMZ.com: “Ark Music [who claims to have written the song] operated the YouTube account, and put the video behind paywall, and Black responded by having the video removed” (¶6). Black’s “Friday” had received over 160 million views prior to the video’s removal.

I haven’t been able to find an official word from Black’s reps; however, this seems to foreshadow a lawsuit where copyright and intellectual property infringement will be argued.

Rebecca Black had received a lot of extreme comments that clearly transcended into the bullying category—which, though inexcusable, is to be expected when a young person is made a star over night from a practical joke with music. That said, she created a unique song and video and commanded attention. She had kids and adults a like singing the lyrics as they left school and work. In my time analyzing social media platforms, I can’t remember a time when someone received that much attention—what appeared to be, overnight.

Rebecca Black is the perfect example of how social media websites give anyone, and I mean anyone, the potential to be famous. At 160 million views, that calculates to $160K in Ms. Black’s pocket—earning $10K for every million views received. Whether Black has the rights to the song or not, I’m sure between appearances or endorsements she will have some extravagant Fridays. 

Source

Downing, G. (2011). Rebecca Black's 'Friday' video removed from YouTube. kypost.com. Retrieved on June 23, 2011, from click here.

Using Social Media to Get Hired

Many of us associate social media with Facebook or Twitter; some of us connect social media with promoting our business; and then a few of us think about social media promoting ourselves—i.e. YouTube fame. For a moment, consider a more important way social media could help; something that, until we hit the lottery, we all still need: a job.

Mashable contributor, Dan Schawbel (2011), published an article discussing five innovative ways social media can be used to get a job. Schawbel begins by revealing shocking information: 1 in 3 jobseekers have been out of work for more than a year and, after 5 months, the average jobseeker loses hope (¶2).

Here is an analysis of a few of Schawbel’s suggestions for using social media to land a job:

Instead of using job boards to blindly submit a resume, Schawbel suggests using your social networking connections to locate the right places to apply (¶5). The important part here is to keep the job seeking professional. No one needs to know how long you have been out of work or how desperate you are to find a new company. Keep in mind that a company is benefitting from finding an applicant through an existing employee’s professional network; after all, continuous posts on Craigslist are not the best for business—the same as for your chances on getting a call back from a legitimate company through applying for a job via Craigslist.

Schawbel also discusses turning your resume into a more multimedia presentation—seeing as, according to a Office Team survey, 36% of business predict eventually social media profiles will replace resumes all together (¶13). This concerns me, and should concern you—mainly because, you do not want to hurt your chances with a company because you approach your application with too much innovation. Applicants need to make sure they know the hiring criteria of the company before assuming that a slideshow or multimedia webpage is acceptable.

Regardless of your take on social media regarding job seeking, I encourage you to read Schawbel’s article in it’s entirety because he brings up some interesting ideas, which you can do by clicking here. Best of luck in your job search. 


Source


Schawbel, D (2011). 5 clever ways to get a job using social media. Mashable. Retrieved on June 21, 2011, from http://mashable.com/2011/06/19/get-job-using-social-media. 

Industry Liabilities

The evolving world of technology has given birth to a generation of entrepreneurs—and after all, why wouldn’t it? The internet provides the ability to create e-commerce companies and social media websites allow for these companies to be promoted at little cost. When a new business concept is created it is understandable and expected to protect that new idea. For this post, I will deviate a bit from strategic marketing and focus on recent court cases that relate to copyright infringement and breach of contracts.

Penguin Group Inc. v. American Buddha

On March 25^th 2011, the U.S Appellate Court reviewed a case between Penguin Group Inc., a publishing company based in New York City, and American Buddha, a not-for-profit organization based in Arizona. Penguin Group Inc. claims that American Buddha committed copyright infringement by uploading four of the publishing company’s books on to the American Buddha website. The district court dismissed the complaint at the request of American Buddha for “lack of personal jurisdiction” (Penguin Group Inc. vs. American Buddha, 3).

Penguin Group Inc. appealed the decision, so the appellate court could decide if publishing the material on the internet, which allows content to be accessible by individuals within the state of New York, would prove that injury could have been sustained within the jurisdiction. Furthermore, Penguin Group Inc. argued that publishing copyrighted literature prevents authors from publishing work—for fear that they won’t be compensated, which would result in further injury.

In the end, the appellate court sided with Penguin Group Inc. by saying that, though the internet complicates the ability to determine where injury is sustained, American Buddha did commit copyright infringement.

In my opinion, the publishing of copyrighted material on the internet allows for anyone to view the content and should be viewed as copyright infringement—regardless of the state where the content was originally uploaded.

Case retrieved from: http://www.nycourts.gov/ctapps/Decisions/2011/Mar11/7opn11.pdf

Zyla v. Wadsworth Division of the Thomson Corporation

In 2001, Tufts University’s visiting professor Gail Zyla sued the Thomson Corporation, a textbook publishing company, for the unauthorized use of her work for the fourth edition of a nutrition textbook. After discord with the textbook’s co-author, Zyla withdrew as a contributor to the book—requesting that none of her work be included in the textbook. The withdrawal as a co-author reduced her royalties from 40% to 12.5%. The textbook did contain all of Zyla’s contributions; however, her royalties remained at 12.5%.

Zyla argued “copyright infringement; violation of Lanham Act; breach of contract; and intentional interference with advantageous relations” (Zyla vs. Wadsworth, ¶4). The lawsuit resulted in a judgment for the defendant, Thomson Corp., on all complaints.

If Zyla had agreed to a new contract that stipulated her work would not be included in the new textbook and reduced royalties, than I believe she should have received a judgment in her favor for at least breach of contract; however, my opinion differs from the ultimate decision after discovery.

Case retrieved from: http://caselaw.findlaw.com/us-1st-circuit/1253412.html

Chodos v. West Publishing Company Inc.

In December 2001, Rafael Chodos sued West Publishing Company for breach of contract after the publishing company rejected the manuscript that he was contracted to write because, after the manuscript’s completion, the publishing company decided that projected sales did not justify publishing the manuscript.

Chodos had signed a “standard Author Agreement” to write a law-related manuscript. After years of composing the work, the manuscript was considered of high quality, but, because of marketing and projected sales, it was rejected. Chodos sued for damages, stating that there was a breach of contract; however, the judge decided that the publishing company was within their right to reject the manuscript.

I can understand the devastation Chodos experienced after spending years satisfying his contractual obligations only for it to result in rejection and no potential of collecting royalties. Since the publisher considered the work high quality, the Author Agreement should have ensured some monetary compensation for Chodos’ time and effort. 

Case retrieved from: http://caselaw.findlaw.com/us-9th-circuit/1375991.html

In conclusion, it’s astonishing to see the outcome of lawsuits that seem valid. In most of the cases I reviewed, the courts sided with the large corporations—even when contracts were breached. Regardless, FindLaw.com proved to be a great resource for examining relevant cases in a variety of industries.

Sources

Chodos v. West Publishing Company Inc (2001). FindLaw.com. Retrieved on May 3, 2011, from http://caselaw.findlaw.com/us-9th-circuit/1375991.html

Penguin Group Inc. v. American Buddha (2011). FindLaw.com. Retrieved on May 3, 2011, from http://www.nycourts.gov/ctapps/Decisions/2011/Mar11/7opn11.pdf

Zyla v. Wadsworth Division, Thomson Corp (2001). FindLaw.com. Retrieved on May 3, 2011, from http://caselaw.findlaw.com/us-1st-circuit/1253412.html

Creativity is Required

Most of us would agree that creativity is a valuable component to someone working in product management/ development or marketing. The ability to develop ideas that have a uniqueness would likely give an edge over competitors; however, according to Jay Nadgeman (2011) of Investment News, creativity is no longer a merely desired characteristic, but a requirement. Creativity allows for you to standout, whether you’re a business owner, marketing consultant, or product manager.

In Nadgeman’s article, he discusses the benefits of “interactive marketing.” Interactive marketing is described as the facilitation of dialogue between a business adviser and his client or prospective client. For example, Nadgeman recounts a story he heard about a business adviser throwing a party for clients that retire. The adviser would allow the client to pick the date and invite twelve friends. The party guests were thoroughly impressed by an adviser making such a kind gesture and desired an adviser who provides the same consideration. The unique idea would yield, on average, one new client per party (¶13-15).

Nadgeman continues by saying: “The key to developing a successful interactive experience is to use creative approaches, and focus on marketing to an individual rather than to the marketplace.” (¶18) I strongly agree with this statement. There is a significant amount of emphasis put on learning about your target market and developing plans to reach your demographic—which are obviously important; however, it is important to not slack on building relationships and creating communication with your client. The man referenced in the above story found success because his creative approach differentiated himself from every other marketing specialist and business consultant.

In conclusion, it is crucial to develop unique ideas and be persistent in developing them; allow your ideas to make you visible in the marketplace. I was only able to include a selection of the thought-provoking insights provided by Jay Nadgeman’s Investment News article. I encourage everybody to read his article in its entirety.

To view Jay Nadgeman’s article, click here.

Source

Nadgeman, J (2011). “For advisers, being creative is essential, not an option.” Investment News. Retrieved on April 12, 2011, from http://www.investmentnews.com/article/20110410/REG/304109986

Making Your Life Easier... One Application at a Time

At this point, the benefits of social media for businesses have been established. Social networking websites—like Facebook, YouTube, Twitter, and LinkedIn—allow businesses to advertise their products/services and update clients, or potential clients, on any developments within the company. It is not uncommon for a large organization to have a social-media-marketing department within their offices to maintain a presence on these popular platforms; however, that usually isn’t the case for smaller businesses. So that begs the question, how much time should a company spend status updating and tweeting? After all, effective social-media-marketing requires a substantial amount of time. Through my RSS feed, I came across an article by Matt Ferner (2011) from Practical Ecommerce regarding new applications that allow a company to consolidate their various social networking profiles into one interface.

Ferner recommends smaller companies consider purchasing applications like TweetDeck, Seesmic, and Yoono. These programs allow a company [or individual] to status update simultaneously—effectively cutting the time spent on social networking websites. For example, with the free application Ping.fm, I would be able to update my Facebook status, tweet, and schedule in advance my next update all at the same time (¶11-¶15). Many of these applications are available both on your computer and mobile device. There are more advanced programs—like CoTweet Enterprise and SpredFast—that are available at a charge; however these applications support an unlimited number of profiles and have features that allow you to search Twitter and Facebook for discussion about your brand (¶5-¶7).

In ending, if your company is building a presence via social networking platforms, you may want to consider one of the above-mentioned applications to save time and minimize frustration. My personal recommendation is TweetDeck—it is free, user friendly, and has basically the same features as the expensive programs. That said, I encourage you to read Ferner’s article in full to determine what features you would require in  “social-media-management software” for it to be beneficial to you or you company (¶2).

To read Ferner’s article “15 services to manage your social media activity” please click here.

Source

Ferner, M (2011). “15 services to manage you social media activity.” Practical Ecommerce. Retrieved on April 1, 2011, from http://www.practicalecommerce.com/articles/2688-15-Services-to-Manage-Your-Social-Media-Activity

A Little Thing Called-- Negotiation

There is nothing more frustrating than sitting down to buy a car and knowing you’re only getting three-quarters of the Kelly Blue Book suggested value for your trade-in and the finance promotion is nothing less than what you could receive through your own bank. In this blog, I won’t be discussing the “strategic” marketing of car dealerships, but rather the funny little dance we call negotiation.

I had the pleasure of sitting down with Allison Bender, Convention Services Manager for the Crowne Plaza Tampa and asked her how someone in her position approaches negotiation with clients.

In your position, in what ways do you negotiate?

Ms. Bender: As Convention Services Manager, my main duty is to work with clients who are interested in holding conventions or other special events at our property. I negotiate plans with the client—these include food, beverage, and various rental options.

Would you consider reaching a mutual benefit to be important when negotiating with a client?

Ms. Bender: Absolutely. I have a responsibility to make clients aware of our company’s services. I want to sell as much as I can; however, if up selling becomes my main priority, it is unlikely I will have that client return or recommend our services to another. My goal is to satisfy my clients’ needs—and in doing so, make my company money.

Do you use objective criteria when presenting your client with prices? Do you explain the cost?

Ms. Bender: I do. Clients will often ask why there is an additional charge or why something costs that. I just explain that the cost printed is the competitive going rate. With pricing, we have to cover our setup and labor costs. I explain to clients that the old saying is true—“you get what you pay for.”

Do you ever create a BATNA [Best Alternative To Negotiated Agreement] or have any sort of backup plan?

Ms. Bender: Things happen. An event rarely goes exactly as planned—in fact, I’ll let you know if an event ever goes perfectly. In this industry, you have to be able to roll with the punches; and creating a backup plan is very smart. The most common problem I see is something like… if I negotiate a deal where the client has a 100-person guest list and a $5,000 minimum. There are times when on the day of the event the guest list drops to 50-people. My team has the burden of creating options for the client so they are able to still make the minimum—such as an additional meal, or extending the open bar hours. There are times when I have to create a whole new plan.

I was extremely impressed that Ms. Bender understood the negotiation terms I used, which I took from a deal-making textbook. I was further impressed that someone with her workload would take the time to answer questions for a blog. If you’re interested in holding an event in the Tampa area, I strongly suggest talking to Allison Bender at the Crowne Plaza.  

Until next time, friends! 

Enhancing Your Online Presence

Today, technology is accessible to everyone. If you’re starting a business, several options exist to make your company present in the virtual world—custom websites, Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, LinkedIn, Blogger, Wordpress, etc. And evident by the friend request I received from my grandfather, these sites are not limited to only the tech savvy; however, what if your websites are not receiving the web traffic you desire? In this post, I will be examining the issues that could be affecting your business’s online success.

Through the use of my personal learning network, I discovered an article by Lisa Barone (2011), Co-founder and Chief Branding Officer at Outspoken Media, Inc. In the article “5 reasons your website isn’t attracting leads,” Barone addresses common problems that small and medium businesses face when creating their online presence. As you continue to read, take a moment and examine your website’s strength in the following areas.

Conversion Path. Barone says that many websites don’t have a “clear conversion path for their customers.” What does that mean? Have you ever clicked on to a website and been taken immediately to a “contact us” page, instead of the homepage? That’s a problem. I completely agree with Barone. When designing a website, you must envision what the visitor’s impression will be as they first enter the homepage, then proceed to the “about us” page, then to the “products” [or “services”] page. I would compare website development to designing a home. Do you really want your guests entering through the basement? Try signing up for Google Analytics for additional information as to from where your online traffic is resulting.

Reliability. This is mostly in reference to how often your website is updated. Barone states, “You can bet that when they [customers] land on your website they’re going to kick the tires a little to see if they can trust you.” Well said. A website that was last updated in 2003 is not relevant in 2011—doesn’t matter what you’re selling.

Focus on the customer. “Customers don’t head to your site to hear how awesome you are” (Barone ¶5). A customer is someone in need of something. If they are on your website, they are in need of something you sell, so you must quit selling yourself and focus on satisfying the need of the customer.

In closing, small and medium businesses often face the challenge of establishing a presence that will reach a sizeable audience. The best tip is to become as informed as possible and use as much information as you can to create the right marketing strategy for your specific company. 

I encourage you to read Lisa Barone’s article in its entirety by clicking this link.

Source

Barone, L (2011). “5 reasons your website isn’t attracting leads.” Small Business Trends. Retrieved on February 15, 2010, from http://smallbiztrends.com/2011/01/5-reasons-your-web-site-isn’t-attracting-leads.html

(Re)branding

Although I enjoy discussing the various aspects of creative and strategic marketing, my blog entries would lack relevance if the content deviated from my main purpose—providing information that helps you promote your brand or company. I recently read an article by Jacqueline Renfrow (2010), of Direct Marketing News, regarding the most important things to know when rebranding your company. In the article “Six ways to use strategic marketing during a rebranding,” Renfrow interviews NFI senior vice president of marketing Susanne Batchelor. When Batchelor joined the company, NFI did not have a cohesive brand. I am going to discuss Batchelor’s top tips to utilize strategic marketing in developing a brand.

The first tip is relevant to companies that have multiple brands or services. Batchelor stresses the importance of making sure everyone in each aspect of the company is in agreement about the new brand or marketing campaign. She elaborates by saying, “if everyone is not on the same page, you will have a significant amount of additional work (¶5).” Next, you need to be sure to equally market the brand internally and externally. The idea being that your employees will most likely be the ones interacting with your consumers—it is important to be sure the brand message is understood internally. Batchelor continues by addressing the target market: “As much as you want to, you can’t market to everyone… concentrate on your top 50 or 100 customers (¶7)." In regards to your company’s sales team, Batchelor recommends meeting with the sales department and emphasizing the importance of utilizing your new logo and not representing the new brand with evidence of the old brand. The last piece of advice Batchelor discusses is making sure you utilize social media properly. When you are using Facebook, Twitter, or LinkedIn (and I will be presumptuous enough to add YouTube) to market your company, you should be sure to design your profiles to represent one cohesive brand—uniformity.

If your company were to consider rebranding, I would highly recommend reading Renfrow’s article in its entirety—which can be accessed by clicking here.

As one last remark, I would like to extend a thank you to those who have tweeted links to this blog and mentioned my brand and myself. If you’re an avid tweeter or a company that is just beginning to use the service, go ahead and follow me by clicking here.

Happy branding, folks!

Source:

Renfrow, J (2010). “Six ways to use strategic marketing during a rebranding.” Direct Marketing News. Retrieved on February 1, 2011, from http://www.dmnews.com/six-ways-to-use-strategic-marketing-during-a-rebranding/article/191290. 

The Importance of Professional Associations

When developing marketing strategies for a new or existing company it can be beneficial to network with professional associations that share your company’s goal or vision. For example, I have spent the last five months developing a literary adaptation company. My vision is to take the stories of yesterday and make them understandable and interesting to today’s media-influenced society. After reviewing several professional associations, I discovered one in particular that shares my mission and vision. I would like to take this opportunity to share with you some information about the National Association for Media Literacy Education (NAMLE) and relate it not just to my cause, but discuss how their purpose affects all companies existing today.

The NAMLE states that their vision is to help individuals develop the critical thinking and communication skills that are essential in today’s society. They continue to say that media literacy is required for a healthy democracy. In one sentence the NAMLE has made me aware of something I never once considered. Media literacy IS required to establish and maintain a healthy democracy. If our country is unable to acquire, understand, analyze, and discuss information, how could we possibly expect well-informed Americans to cast educated votes? We can’t. Furthermore, how could someone like myself expect to launch an internet company without supporting, or at least staying informed of, the efforts of NAMLE? I can’t. How could someone like you expect to utilize the internet and social media without doing the same? You can’t. (NAMLE, 2011)

NAMLE holds conferences that bring together educators and media leaders, with an effort to develop and communicate new ways of educating society on media literacy. My cause incorporates media and literacy, so clearly this is an organization that’s efforts benefit the achievement of my business goals; however, I encourage any marketing strategist or business owner to become informed of new information released by NAMLE and any other organization that relates to their company’s mission. (NAMLE, 2011)

For more information regarding the National Association for Media Literacy Education, click here. 

Source:

About NAMLE (2011). National Association for Media Literacy Education. Retrieved on January 26, 2011, from http://namle.net/about-namle/vision-mission

Malcolm Gladwell-- TED.com

In previous blogs, I have discussed the various technical ways to increase the number of views a video will receive on sites like YouTube. In this blog, I wish to discuss the content and style of the video and less on the various ways to promote it. After reviewing some videos on TED.com, I stumbled across a presentation by one of my heroes, Malcolm Gladwell. Gladwell is the author of The Tipping Point, Blink!, Outliers, and, his most recent book, What the Dog Saw: And Other Adventures. In his presentation, entitled “Malcolm Gladwell on spaghetti sauce,” Gladwell tells the story of psychophysicist Howard Moskowitz. I will try to avoid summarizing the video because it is free to view by clicking the link below; however, I do want to discuss the way that Gladwell uses an interesting story to develop his main point—that humans by nature desire choices. As Gladwell said, quoting Moskowitz, “there is no perfect pickle; there are only perfect pickles” (2004). There is no perfect pickle—there are perfect dill pickles, perfect sweet pickles, perfect bread and butter pickles, etc.

You might be asking yourself: “well, what does this obsession with Malcolm Gladwell have to do with strategic marketing?” Psychology and the understanding of human desire have much to do with marketing. For example, a baker would benefit from the understanding that customers will be happier if given a variety of baked goods to choose from.

If you haven’t had the pleasure of reading any of Gladwell’s books, I will point out that virtually all of his stories use real examples to illustrate bigger ideas. In his TED presentation, he begins by stating he is supposed to be plugging his new book; however, he would rather tell a story about what makes people happy. In the end, he not only has taught an important lesson in marketing, but he has also shown the audience what they can expect from his book—self-promotion!

In ending, when creating a media presentation for marketing purposes be sure to have a unique style that entertains your audience, while also promoting your company, brand, or self.

Malcolm Gladwell on spaghetti sauce—TED.com [Video]

Source:

Gladwell, M (2004). Malcolm Gladwell on spaghetti sauce [Video]. Retrieved on

January 5, 2011, from http://www.ted.com/talks/lang/eng/ malcolm_gladwell_on_spaghetti_sauce.html