Category Archives: Marketing

Traditional vs. Social SEO: Social’s Shiny New Weapon

With the launch of Google’s social network and it’s integration into search results, adding Google’s +1 button to your online content gives it the opportunity to appear in the first page of Google’s search results when someone in the searcher’s Google+ network shares it.

Mobile Is the New “Offline” — Take Advantage of It

As Internet-capable mobile devices make their way into the pockets and purses of more and more Americans, the lines between the online and offline worlds are beginning to blur. Armed with well-designed mobile sites, savvy communicators (marketers, PR pros, etc.) are poised to make all of the advantages of the online world available everywhere.

Developing Your Corporate Social Media Roadmap

Before your organization dives into social media, it is extremely important that you take steps to ensure your success. To begin, you’ll need a detailed social media roadmap that lays out your plan in successive phases.

Converting a Facebook Profile to a Page

Setting up a Facebook profile instead of a page for your business or organization is a common mistake. But how do you convert your established profile to a new page without losing your valuable (and hard-earned) connections?

5 Really Cool Ways to Use QR Codes

Ever since AT&T announced that they would be releasing a QR Code Scanning app for Blackberry and Android phones, those in the know have been a buzz that QR is finally poised to take hold in the U.S., and I agree.

Here are 5 cool ways to use QR codes that go beyond the more common uses . . .

QR Codes: What They Are, What They Do

A Quick Response Code is just a 2-D barcode, which, instead of being read/scanned from left to right, is also read top to bottom. In short, it can store a lot more data than the barcodes we’re used to seeing.

Surprisingly, QR Codes are nothing new. In fact, they were invented in 1994, the same year that Yahoo! was founded and before most of us were on the Net. Their original purpose was as part of an advanced package tracking process, similar to the 2-D barcodes in use by carriers like UPS. Today, though, they can be used to store all sorts of interesting information, such as . . .

Despite Studies & Reports, Twitter Still Matters

Back in March, Barracuda Labs took a hiatus from developing hardware-based spam, virus and web filters to release a report about Twitter and its users.

The report isn’t really surprising to those that follow Twitter in the news. There have been loads of reports, studies and analyses pointing to the fact that the majority of Twitter’s users are not responsible for content creation on the network, and a lot of new users quickly leave.

Personally, I think all of the study ballyhoo misses the point entirely.

Local Businesses & Location-Based Social Media – Part II

In an earlier post I discussed using Yelp.com to promote your local business. In this post I’ll discuss an emerging service called Foursquare.

I think that Foursquare is the most interesting and promising location-based service out there right now. So far they’ve partnered with the New York Times, Harvard, Bravo TV, Zagat and more than 1,200 businesses.

Local Businesses & Location-Based Social Media – Part I

If you’re a local business – by which I mean you depend on a nearby customer base – then the recent trend in social media is something you should really pay attention to.

As cell phones get more powerful and the Web becomes more mobile, social media are shifting toward location awareness. Basically, the networks and services we subscribe to are starting to serve up content based on where we are. And it’s pretty fun.

5 Steps to Growing Your Local Service Business

Small, service-industry businesses may seem difficult to promote and market. They’re not. In fact, you can do it in just 5 steps. A friend of mine asked me to give his brother some advice on promoting his new business – [...]