Archive for the ‘Social Media & Online PR’ Category
The last few days’ I’ve spent a little time improving my profile and expanding my network over at [tag]LinkedIn[/tag]. (It’s here if any readers would like to add me) While it’s never going to replace [tag]Facebook[/tag], I felt it reflected on me quite badly having a neglected profile. And I was pleasantly surprised at some of the great feature they have over there which FB would be wise to replicate or steal.
Balaclava’s for the discerning intelectual property thief – via flickr
Auto Suggestion of Friends – I found the ability to see people who have recently joined the site from ex-employers or university brilliant. I can often find old acquaintances on Facebook when they add a mutual friend, but LinkedIn tool works really well. I tend to be quite selective about whom I add on social networking sites, but anything that helps me include my ‘real’ friends is great.
Questions & Answers – I use [tag]Yahoo Answers[/tag] all the time for our clients but I’m not what you would call a recreational user. However seeing how people are using Questions on LinkedIn makes me wish that functionality was available with out installing a spammy application on Facebook. You have the wisdom of crowds combined with the pre-qualification of the answerer having mutual friend connection. I can think of tonnes of times when I’ve been striving for a lost blog post or had a technical SEO question where this kind of ability in Facebook would have really been useful.
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Thanks to its [tag]social-networking abilities[/tag] and sponsored applications Facebook has become one of the most prominent websites in the world in a record amount of time. Sceptics already predict the fall of the platform, stating that it will inevitably follow the same route as MySpace and become less trendy (therefore used) over time, as other social networking websites appear. (the next one I have in mind being perfspot.com, which I consider to be like an RSS feed or a Google alert that shows you stuff people liked, in the given categories you selected- no need for a search engine for entertainment!)
But back to facebook, and today’s post instead of next week’s!
Facebook is mostly used for personal matters, but is increasingly acquiring linkedin’s market of business consumers who use social networking for business. Even we here at site Visibility, we recently used [tag]Facebook[/tag] as an advertising channel for a job vacancy we are interviewing for. I have used these platforms for personal and [tag]professional branding[/tag], and wanted to explain how to use your facebook profile to advertise your professional life, instead of your personal one. These tips will therefore work particularly well if you don’t have a personal life!
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Following on from our previous post on the top ten Sphinn avatars some debate arose about the need to tailor you’re avatar to the specific social networks audience. It’s certainly something I can agree with and there seemed plenty of evidence while researching this post. I found that many of the top Digg users have more graphic based avatars when compared to their Sphinn counterparts.
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It’s no secret that there are hundreds even thousands of Corporate SEO & [tag]search engine marketing blogs[/tag]. Many are shining bastions of business transparency, effective client generating platforms or even an effective way to get across the personality of company . But the vast majority are neglected abortive attempts which provide little or no ROI and are an embarrassment to the agency behind them.
You’d be surprised how things turn – via flickr
While the old Apple Pie & Custard blog wasn’t that bad, we felt it needed a bit of a kick up the bum and a redesign. In that process we’ve revolutionised the blog and traffic has gone up by 500% breaking even our most optimistic expectations.
Our traffic and influence is still quite small ,but I think we’ve learnt some great lessons that could help jump start a few spluttering blogs from [tag]SEO companies[/tag].
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Because harnesting the power of Sphinn is a useful thing in this industry, I have compiled a top 10 of the best avatars on the social media network. Just like brands are given identities that you can (and must) adapt & optimize, avatars give your blogs and submits a touch of personality which is always a bonus in this virtual world.
Avatars that are successful eye catchers tend to be 2 dimensional. Despite technological improvements, I find that a graphic or comedy avatar will arouse curiosity much more than a simple mugshot from the webcam above your screen. Here are the Top 10 Sphinn avatars:
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Whilst social networking website Sphinn has been taking off in the SEO/SEM industry like a MySpace with Teenagers, the battle for the top position -or ‘greatest Sphinn’- has been a fierce one. Rand Fishkin was at the top of the list for a while, but now a new era has begun in which John Andrews, author of the blog www.Johnon.com, has toppled Rand with his perfect linkbaiting entry.
If you want good links, get the best baits! via flickr
I was really impressed with the piece and got in touch with John to find out what he thinks of Sphinn.
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It’s a dynamic environment the web, it’s two years since I graduated from university and already my final year dissertation on the impact of paid music download services seems like a dusty relic.
Let’s see you score this one Torres – via flickr
Though at times the fast moving web can seem daunting to traditional businesses they shouldn’t use it as an excuse to fall behind. Today it might seem safer to do nothing but you might find yourself having to play catch up, a few years down the line.
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Top Ten lists, while there certainly seems a glut of them recently, they are never going to go away. They’ve been with us since biblical times.
if you don’t know the rules, how you gonna win- via flickr
When it comes to top ten lists go the [tag]Ten Commandments[/tag] are the grand daddy. Being a fanatical devotee to social media marketing, I wondered if I could sum up all I’d learnt into a similarly effective rhetorical list.
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I’ve been thinking about music festivals this week with [tag]V 2007[/tag] coming up. I’ve not gone to any [tag]music festivals[/tag] this year; it seems like the first time in ages I’ve missed out. It hasn’t stopped me checking a lot festival websites on a regular basis, and its surprising how little the websites are embracing [tag]rich media content[/tag] and [tag]social media[/tag].
Why didnt we watch it on the telly – via flickr
Reading Festival’s 2007 offering is better than some of it’s competitors with a forum, but Glastonbury & V 2007’s offering is a frankly embarrassing. Where is the ability for the audience to interact with each other? Why isn’t there video and audio that is easy to share?
I know it’s easy to criticise other companies’ strategies, so I would try and understand some of the reasons why they might not be taking advantage of these opportunities
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At the cutting edge of social media marketing there’s a lot of experimenting going on. The people taking the most risks seem to fall into one of two different camps. The huge marketing budget mega corps or the ‘I alone am the marketing department’ small guys.
Watch Yourself – Via flickr
For both parties there are plenty of risks when dabbling in social media and plenty of people have made mistakes, most of which have been well documented. Below I wanted to dedicate some column inches to a few of my favourites.
Some you may already have heard of, other are less well known. I hope by shining the spotlights on these slip ups it will save a few of us social media marketers making the same mistakes made by some misfortunate peers.
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