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Beyond the Big 4 – Flickr Digg Delicious

Thursday, June 17th, 2010

By the Social Media Dynamics Team

What Flickr, Digg and Delicious can do for your business

After you’ve developed your routine on the Big 4 social media programs of Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn and blogs, moving beyond to Flickr, Digg and Delicious offers important benefits:

Increased web presence
Increased search engine optimization, backlinks, Google “juice”
Increased community, relationships, new audiences
Sources of creative ideas

Flickr, Digg and Delicious each offer all of these benefits. In general, every link to your site and every additional web presence you create increases the opportunity for greater returns in new audience and higher site rankings.

Each offers you a Profile section to share information publicly about your business, website, events, charities, teams and locations.

Each offers community and group participation to develop and engage in relationships with members. Be sure to “lurk” in all sites to get comfortable with what is said. Monitor conversations. Then join in and leave comments, being sure to leave your contact information in the signature you leave on your post. Let the listening you do suggest new ideas for what more you can provide your audience in terms of education, reputation management, information and entertainment.

Flickr is image and video hosting website, web services suite, and online community owned by Yahoo! Popular as a website for users to share personal photographs, Flickr is widely used by bloggers to host images used in blogs and social media. As of October 2009, it claims to host more than 4 billion images.[1]

Posting images of new products, locations, community activities, and industry events helps a business get better ranking due to Google’s affinity for indexing images and video. Join Flickr groups to engage like-minded visitors and share images. All images help: logos, photos, headshots, product and store shots, portfolio graphics and stills and video from events. The benefits can include the viral nature of your new audience sharing your images with others, increasing your prospects and community.

Look for images that you might like to get permission to use in your blog posts and the like. Note copyrights and give attribution where required. Make sure to “tag” images with great keywords and captions to make them easy to be found with search terms.

Digg is a social news website, letting people vote stories up or down, called digging and burying, respectively. The website traffic ranked 100th by Alexa.com as of April 2, 2010.

Digg likes postings of recent news including articles, fresh news events and new products and services, helping to gain short-term traffic surges while stories are current. Again the viral nature of sharing comes into play in terms of getting in front of more and more new audience members. You begin to see the value and importance of strong content and creative that’s interesting and compelling enough to share.

Delicious is a social bookmarking web service for storing, sharing, and discovering web bookmarks that is owned by Yahoo. By the end of 2008, the service claimed more than 5.3 million users and 180 million unique URLs bookmarked URLs.

I’ve seen suggestions to submit every page of your site to Delicious. Certainly submit articles, site sections, and blog posts that you think offer great content value. Take advantage to develop your Profile, add photos and even a blog if you like. Explore the applications available to see what might be helpful.

Yahoo’s ownership of both Flickr and Delicious certainly helps get pages indexed faster. The intertwining of these services with your Yahoo and My Yahoo account increases the exposure of graphics, profile and contacts.

Many of these services let you tie back to your Twitter, Facebook, blog and other social media activities to share in their venues. So share away, develop new audiences, explore and benefit from your expanding social media universe.

[1] Source for all definitions: Wikipedia

Salesforce: Going for World Domination?

Tuesday, February 9th, 2010

By Jan Carroza

In the course of 3 phone calls in 3 hours, my jawed dropped on the realization that Salesforce wasn’t just interested in having a “sticky” site. And not just one that is compelling, but one that no company with a sales force, marketing department or customer service desk can live without.

What impressed me that afternoon? My first call was ExactTarget, at the time of this writing the only “push” email service in a Salesforce app completed integrated with Salesforce to manage a list, push email campaigns out and with proper suppression list maintenance.

Next, my call with Dun & Bradstreet. Oh, yes, they have an app for that! Not only that, my D&B rep called me through the Salesforce phone bridge!

Finally, WebEx. Another app! And a discussion about the encouragement and freedom to develop and sell these apps that have been woven into this giant web of world domination.

So I’m in awe. Let’s see: all the lists I buy connected to all the webinars I give connected to every lead and sale I have connected to every email I send. The hipbone connected to the thigh bone; the thigh bone connected to the knee bone; the knee bone connected to the ankle bone…

The stars – or apps – all seem to be aligning. I have to admire when a plan comes together.

@social_dynamics

Tags: Dun & Bradstreet, ExactTarget, Salesforce, Salesforce apps, WebEx
Posted in Apps, Articles, Email, Local business, Technology, Video | 1 Comment »

Top 10 Technologies (Digital and Otherwise) in the last 10 years

Tuesday, January 12th, 2010

By Sharon Hill

10. Flash drives – Made data truly portable. The amount of storage and the speed has only improved since inception.

9. Netflix – An example of database technology readily available to just about everyone, made simple using one of the oldest communication methods, the United States Postal Service.

8. All things Satellite – Satellite Radio with the launching of XM and Sirius, GPS and Google Earth.

7. Text messaging - So much faster and easier than instant messaging and of course totally mobile. Including a picture with the text message enhances the experience many times over.

6. Digital Video Recorders and TiVo – You are in control – enough said.

5. WI-FI – This concept of connecting multiple computers to a router station was brilliant. Taking this idea to cafes, stadiums and cities it truly worthy of a #5 placement on this list.

4. iPod – Revolutionized music and how, when and where we listen. iTunes made it easy to download your favorite tunes and create your own playlists.

3. Social Networking / Social Media – Surprised it is not #1? We are still exploring this new and exciting communication medium. We will be writing about social media into the next 10 years. If you think that social media is being overstated, just make one personal or professional connection and you will feel differently.

2. Digital Photography – Taking photo after photo to the get the perfect picture without film processing fees is great. Even more, have you seen the app where you can take a picture of the check to deposit it in your bank account, truly amazing. See iPhone

1. Smart Phones – Describing the iPhone is easy. iPhone is a computer with phone privileges. There was some concern that this technology might actually increase the amount of time people worked. No so, we just work smarter. iPhones allow users to quickly and efficiently handle emails, get answers to questions, check and make appointments, deposit checks and even record memos for later listening.

This list is not exhaustive and in no way is meant to exclude any other great technology innovations. These are my personal favorites. What are yours?

@social_dynamics

Tags: digital photography, DVRs, flash drives, Google Earth, GPS, iPod, Netflix, satellite, Sirius Radio, smart phones, social media, social networking, text messaging, TiVo, WI-FI, XM Radio
Posted in Articles, Blogging, Facebook, Industry Specific, LinkedIn, Social Media and Social Networking, Technical, Video | No Comments »

5 Resolutions When Using Social Media

Wednesday, December 30th, 2009

By Sharon Hill

Much of the social media activity outside your company/organization is truly not within your control. Frightening to many it is nevertheless a reality. An unhappy customer or past supporter can write blogs, post comments, start groups in Facebook and send tweets. While this has been true for a while (think websites developed for complaints and rip-offs) the technical skill set required today is much less. The last thing you want to do is provide content to fuel negative stories.

Be Responsible – Not just Responsive

You have heard it all before from your company and others that all things digital never really disappear. I am a believer. When you write a blog, post to a wall (yours or others) send a tweet, make a comment on another blog you should anticipate the reaction you may receive and receive and receive for years to come. Don’t believe me; how many urban legend emails are sent years later but appear to be new information?

Social Media Stunts – Use Caution

This is probably the area of most growth in 2010 and not in a good way. Rallying and calling folks to action using social media can be a wonderful thing. Social media is also a powerful tool and it can easily take on a life of its own. People have been embarrassed and worse have lost their jobs and in some cases, a few nights of freedom.

Be Fair & Accurate – Not Judgmental

It takes work to research a topic and to be objective. Being objective has its benefits. You are taken more seriously when your approach is less one-sided. Blogging has provided everyone the opportunity to have a voice. Think about your own experience with major news organizations. Do you think news stories are mostly sound bytes, sensationalized and at times slanted towards a particular viewpoint? What about your own writings?

Engage – Not Just News Releases and Resumes

Social media is conversation not just communication. Generally, is it is short, to the point and an easy read or thought-provoking question or discussion topic. Most importantly it is warm and more personable (not necessarily personal) than a resume, bio or company news release.

Connecting Is The Goal

With every comment, blog, post and tweet are you encouraging a conversation or having the final word? Social media is not about being RIGHT or the most knowledgeable. It is about sharing and learning with and from others. You may not always like what you read, but it will be out there for you to take action and improve upon your organization’s image and services and provide higher levels of satisfaction.

@social_dynamics

Tags: Blogging, blogs, LinkedIn, news releases, resumes, social media, social media stunts
Posted in Articles, Blogging, Facebook, LinkedIn, Social Media and Social Networking, Twitter, Video, Websites | No Comments »

Why Social Media Works for Recruiters – Part 5 of 6

Friday, December 4th, 2009

By Karen Miller

As an executive search firm you are caught in between two worlds – you are trying to get business (like everyone else) and in turn, you are trying to find the right candidates to fill the contracted positions which are open. You wind up working both ends of the spectrum. Social media can help you gain clients and find the right candidates.

The first thing you need is to make sure that you have a social media friendly website. Links to your LinkedIn profile, Facebook page, Twitter or other relevant social media sites (i.e. articles, blogs and other websites) should be obvious and prominent on your website. Consult an expert and get an evaluation of your website to see if anything is missing or if you can do something better.

LinkedIn is another must to give your recruiting business more exposure at both ends of this spectrum.

Recruiting for your customers: Join groups in your areas of expertise. For example if you have specialty in IT, join IT groups. You may not understand all the issues, but you will be able to identify leaders and other key attributes you are looking for to fill those open positions for your customers.

Securing new business: Groups can get you engaged in conversation with those in your specific expertise areas, allowing you to show your strengths to future clients. Since LinkedIn has a job board, you can also see who is posting openings and offer to do the work for them. Subgroups are a great way finding the more specialized areas. As an example in the IT area there subgroups for developers, certifications, telecom and more. Many of these groups post news items to provide fresh content for your blogs, letters and presentations.

Twitter also works for search firms. It offers you an opportunity to tell what type of candidates you are looking for. Then you can get retweeted helping to get the word out to even more people. You can also send out a tweet when you fill another position! Employers will know you are successful in filling positions with the right candidates.

Blogging is the perfect way to show off your knowledge and enthusiasm about your company, a specific industry and directions in the job market. Blogs can offer tips to those looking for employment, which is always appreciated, and again gives you more credibility. Even better, shine by keeping up-to-date on the latest news in your specialty areas by writing articles about those changes and what you see as the future in those areas.

Video is yet another exciting opportunity in social media. Have you seen the views videos about resumes are receiving? One video regarding refreshing your resume has received 10,000+ views. How to write a resume video has received over 69,000 views. Go to YouTube and type in executive search firms and see the results. Not that many – yet. This means opportunity for your company.

Using social media does take some work on a regular basis, but you can reap some new clients and great candidates. Explore social media – there are a lot of options – and find the one that’s right for you.

@social_dynamics

Tags: candidates, excecutive search firm, job search, jobs, positions, recruiters, recruiting, resumes, social media job search
Posted in Articles, Blogging, Facebook, Industry Specific, LinkedIn, Recruitment, Social Media and Social Networking, Twitter, Video | 2 Comments »

Why Social Media Works for Non-Profits Part 4 of 6

Wednesday, December 2nd, 2009

By Karen Miller

Non-profits encompass a variety of organizations from the arts (museums, symphonies, operas, theaters, etc.) to cause-related (American Heart Association, Humane Society, etc) to religious groups (churches, temples) and then some. The one thing most of them have in common is a need to stretch their budget. Social Media can help stretch that budget. But just how would non-profits best use it? Let’s look at some ideas:

Blogging allows you to expand on what is happening with your group. An arts group can use a blog to explain more about programs, discoveries, exhibits and how they will help, benefit or entertain their audience. A museum can also talk about the steps that were undertaken to bring in a new exhibit, why you are doing what you are doing and what it will mean to the community. Cause-related health groups can speak to new discoveries or about testing that is going on and what they hope will be accomplished with the new tests.

LinkedIn gives your non-profit a presence in yet another place to expand on your goals and even your needs. Using your own links to others you can look for companies who could perhaps become an underwriter for you. A non-profit can also link in any articles written by them or about them on their profile.

Facebook can become a treasure trove for any non-profit. As you add fans to your page, they will comment and promote the things you are doing whether it is your latest production or exhibit or your fund-raising efforts (walks, runs, auctions, etc). Your fans can create excitement for any upcoming event. You can offer tickets, post pictures, add a video commentary or tour and get immediate feedback from your fans. As a non-profit you can have interaction with those who use your services, attend your functions or need information. You can ask them for suggestions and comments. It’s a wonderful way to keep the public informed.

Twitter provides a way for you to communicate immediately with the public. You can send information on ticket availability, remind people of an event or direct them to an article, blog, your Facebook page or website. You can tweet a thought for the day, a fact about your non-profit, an update on fund-raising or any other fact that is pertinent you and your followers.

These are just a few suggestions on how a non-profit can use social media. There are other places too – YouTube, Wikipedia, flickr, digg and a boatload more. Be creative and do some homework. At this point in time, these are free or almost free. The biggest cost will be in personnel and time. A non-profit (or any business) needs to have one or two dedicated people to keep up with the social media sites. You can always have more than one person participate in tweeting or updating your Facebook page – different voices provide different points of view. Of course, the more you use social media, the easier it becomes and the less time involved. But it does require time and personnel and that needs to be considered. Start with one or two areas and expand as you get more familiar with how it all works. There are plenty of places and people on line who can answer questions and help you get started.

@social_dynamics

Tags: fund-raising, museums, Non-profits, operas, organizations, social media, societies, symphonies, theaters
Posted in Articles, Blogging, Facebook, LinkedIn, Non-profits, Social Media and Social Networking, Twitter, Video | 1 Comment »

Social Marketing – Social Media- Social Networking – What’s in a Word?

Monday, November 2nd, 2009

By Sharon Hill

The definition of MARKETING

According to Wikipedia:

Marketing is a “social and managerial process by which individuals and groups obtain what they need and want through creating and exchanging products and values with others.”

Interesting that the word social is already included in the definition.

According to BusinessDictionary.com:

As a philosophy, it is based on thinking about the business in terms of customer needs and their satisfaction.

The definition of MEDIA

According to Wikipedia:

In communication, media are the storage and transmission channels or tools used to store and deliver information or data.

According to BusinessDictionary.com:

Communication channels through which news, entertainment, education, data, or promotional messages are disseminated.

Twitter, Facebook, Blogs, LinkedIn and the like, are media. They are the communication device and they are getting all the attention.

Anytime there is a new communication device there are differing opinions about the value of the device. Radio scoffed at the new fangled invention called television. Television ignored cable and stated emphatically that the big 4 (ABC, CBS, FOX and NBC) would continue to reign the day. Even the United States Postal Service could not envision people paying their bills online instead of mailing them.

Traditional advertising agencies did not embrace online advertising which created firms specializing in online advertising. I know of what I speak because the founders of Social Media Dynamics were one of those such firms. We had to learn a different mindset. Cost Per Thousand (CPM) and Cost Per Point (CPP) which is used to measure traditional (i.e. mass) audiences did not apply to the much smaller internet world. The good news was that real tracking of results was available.

Most advertisers do not increase their budget when a new media opportunity becomes available. At first, a small percentage of the ad budget is used to test this new medium. Some advertisers are early adopters. Some are wait and see. The dollars are small for agencies and therefore their commissions even smaller.

Now back to Social M – edia or arketing

There are no commissions as the social networking sites are free or mostly free. Social media agencies have sprung up all over and are charging in new and different ways – not based on advertising expenditures.

Here is a radical thought: Social networking is more akin to entertainment, conferences, travel and business meetings than it is advertising. If we take the definition of marketing:

Social and managerial process by which individuals and groups obtain what they need and want through creating and exchanging products and values with others.” and modify it somewhat:

Social connections by individuals and groups obtaining what they need and want through connections by exchanging ideas and values with others.

Marketing is about connections. Social networking is all about connections. Media is about communication. Without a communication device there would no connection.

Social Marketing is not new, the media devices to encourage and enable individuals and businesses to connect to one another are new.

My definition:

Social Marketing - Individuals and groups obtaining what they need and want through various means of connecting in which they can exchange ideas and values with others.

What does all of this mean to you? It is not only about Twitter or Facebook or YouTube or the other social media devices. It is about the connections you want to make. Define that and then select the appropriate method(s) to make the connection.

@social_dynamics

Tags: Facebook Twitter, mass media, online media, social connections, social media, social networking, traditional advertising, YouTube. social media agency
Posted in Articles, Blogging, Facebook, LinkedIn, Social Media and Social Networking, Twitter, Video | No Comments »

Social Media Content Spamming

Monday, September 21st, 2009

There are all kinds of social media spamming and for a variety of reasons. For this blog, I want to focus on any purpose other than the intent to communicate and connect.

Example: Post a blog about a technical how-to and you receive a comment such as:

“Oh, so gald to see your views about acai berry,I’m also looking for acai supplements. I found a lots of websites online.
and i have read some other idea about :acai berry,extreme acai berry,acai berry product,acai berry supplement,
acai pills,extreme acai berry,acai berry diet.
There are also some review sites about acai berry diet, are they true or not?
Anyway, I’ll try acai soon.”

Or post a general blog about social networking and receive this comment:

“How I Lost 30 Pounds in 30 Days Without Diet Thanks for posting about this, I would like to read more about this topic.” Of course, a url for the weight loss site is included.

I am not going to get into the all the technical detail such as trackback submitter and rel=nofollow. You can read about those at numerous sites and blogs.

Obviously spam is not new just relatively new to social networking sites and provides new opportunities in the Socialsphere.

I put spammers into two categories: the professionals (whether they are good at it or not) and the amateurs.

Let’s stick with the amateurs because those we can deal with ourselves.

With blogs (WordPress specifically) I have the opportunity to: Approve Spam Delete Edit or Reply with each individual comment. I receive an email alert and I am in control (somewhat).

Content spamming originated in guest books. I had a 63 year old client that manufactured fishing lures. He would find guest books on fishing web sites. He would sign in with “Great site! Looks like you love fishing like I do. If you want to catch more fish, you should try my lure. [url address here]. I explained what was wrong with this idea, but he got results and there was no stopping him.

LinkedIn has it own amateur spammers. I joined a group about pets with less than 50 members. Of the eleven discussion comments in the group, seven are from the same member (read company) selling Social Media Marketing services. What is up with that?

Connecting is one thing, but blatant promotion is another. What would you or have you done in situations like this? Please comment.

Update: The owner of the group deleted the non-relevant comments and posted a reminder to the members regarding the focus of the group. Excellent.

Twitter has its own issues. The spammers don’t try to see what users might be interested in and don’t reach out to create a relationship. They often start with a Thank You for following me message with a link to their scheme. The site owner’s challenge is to sort out the voices they want to hear, from the clamoring spammers. I will take this one step further. As a twitter site owner, you have a responsibility to check out who is following you and weed out the spammers. If we are all diligent, there will be fewer places on twitter for these spammers to go. Let’s not make it easy. You can receive an email alert and check out each follower and direct message.

Facebook has its own set of rules for its members to follow. Facebook Fan Pages require the site administrator to be proactive in regularly checking the page. It is a difficult line to walk. You want the conversations and connections but not the junk. There are no email alerts or updates sent to you. As the site administrator, it is incumbent on you to manage the comments and posts.

Digg flat out states it is not for commercial use. Using Digg for selling or promoting may cause your account to be terminated.

YouTube guidelines center on creating misleading descriptions, tags, titles or thumbnails in order to increase views. They also discourage untargeted, unwanted or repetitive content.

Spamming can be different things to different people. My fishing lure manufacturer actually believed he was doing a good deed by sharing how great his lure was with others.

What you consider news or marketing may be considered spamming to others. The two comment examples above are obviously content spam. Ask yourself this question when commenting or in a discussion group – Is it germane to the original content? It is all about you or your company. If so then you may be spamming too.

@social_dynamics

Tags: comment spam, social media, social media comments, spam, spam posts, spamming
Posted in Articles, Blogging, Facebook, LinkedIn, Video | No Comments »

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Salesforce: Going for World Domination?

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