I’ve just started reading a book entitled Social Media Marketing: An Hour a Day by Dave Evans.  And over the course of the next few weeks, as I finish a new chapter, I’m going to try to incorporate it into a blog post for discussion.

Chapter 1- The Backlash

Person-to-person connections have always been valued.  In the first chapter of Evans’ book, he goes into detail about how social networks came about with the introduction of the Internet as well as the impact of advertising on consumers.

The Internet that many of us are familiar with today would probably not have come about if it wasn’t for the National Science Foundation (NSF) in conjunction with the National Science Foundation Network (NSFNET).  According to Evans, it was the NSF who championed the cause of an “open” Internet- in other words a network that any entity (whether it be a person or business) could use for any purpose.  However, problems would later arise.

Pushing Too Hard

To the average consumer, people who work in advertising and those who work in marketing are one in the same: sales people.  Any time you turn on the television and try to watch your favorite show, unless you have a DVR or have otherwise pre-recorded the program, you’ll more than likely end up sitting through commercials that wind up being as long as the program!  The challenge in advertising on television is to target a particular message to the viewer.  However, the ability to succesfully do so is infinitely limited.  Looking back, when television was fairly new, commercials made up less than ten minutes of each one hour show.  However, today commercials have doubled- perhaps tripled that.  Don’t believe me?  Take a look at all of the hoopla that is involved with Super Bowl ads!

If you ask any relatively sane person what their opinion is on commercials, they’ll tell you how much they can’t stand them.  After all, that’s why the DVR was invented, right?  Well, in the same way that commercials were beginning to intrude on people’s ability to enjoy television programs, a similar thread was happening with the Internet.  The arrival of spam brought about many issues.  Here was this network in which people could communicate and exchange ideas freely, targeting specific people in their niche, and now their conversations were being interrupted by pop up messages while their email inboxes were filling up with emails from people they didn’t even know who were trying to sell them something. Keeping this in mind, Evan states:

In their purest form, all conversations are participative and engaged in by choice.  This simple premise goes a long way in explaining why interruption and deception on the Social Web are so violently rejected.

All of the aforementioned items have played (and continue to play) a vital role in how social media is evolving.  Consumers are in control of what content gets shared; not the advertisers and marketers.  Need evidence?  DVRs were introduced so that consumers could skip over the annoying advertisements that were disrupting their programs.  And let’s not forget about telephone marketing.  If you’ll recall, in 2003 the telemarketing industry felt the backlash of consumer control as the Do Not Call Implementation Act passed.  In summation, Evans highlights several points related to this media backlash below:

According to Evans:

• The emerging role of the individual as a source of information which is then used to influence purchase decisions  is increasing as the role of the marketer and traditional media programmer in establishing the primary advertising is lessening.
• The “backlash” developed when the practice of pushing ads to consumers moved to the digital platform, which consumers have control over.
• Trust is essential if you want to succeed as a marketer.

This video was inspired by a discussion a few of us started on Facebook. It’s only 3 minutes and 42 seconds long. After a 30 second or so introduction, it gets right into the topic:

Professional Networking On (& Off) the Web – Part 2 of 4:
Your E-Comfort Zone

One online network has been launched by Triangle resident Pat Howlett, It groups local networkers by telephone area codes. Triangle residents are included in www.inside919.com, a user-friendly way to enter on-line networking if you are just beginning. It is also a great resource for all types of information from local businesses in the 919 area code. You can fill out your profile, join in the forums. and practice online networking skills with the local business community. Howlett has a vision of supporting the web activity with solid face-to-face interaction, having already hosted two social evens for Triangle 919 members.

One woman who attended the first Inside919 after-hours said she was amazed that people she had connected with on-line were seeking her out to find out more about her business. Another person at the same event was hesitant to meet people since he is “more at ease relating at the keyboard.” Although some people tend to be more comfortable in-person and others on-line, it is worth the effort to push your comfort zone boundaries since the combination of personal and computer-based connections can bring powerful results.

Understanding the unique utilities of in-person and online networking and how they apply to your objectives gives a real competitive advantage. Just as with in-person networking, when networking online lead with contribution, not with selling.

If you are not in the 919 area code, you can find your area code group at:
http://www.insideareacodes.com/

Reprinted from Women’s Edge Magazine
by Martin Brossman - www.ProNetworkingOnLine.com

You know the saying, “One bad apple can spoil the bunch”?  Well, it’s true.  Recently, I read an article that talked about how marketers are ruining the Facebook experience by creating fake groups in order to “conduct research”.  This article was one of a few that have popped up in the past few days in response to Andrew Careaga’s post about the Facebook debacle.

According to Careaga’s post, Brad Ward uncovered some disturbing information about Facebook with regards to fake groups and pages that were being set up in order to lure unsuspecting students- much like a stranger tries to tempt a child with candy.  Ward realized that something was amiss after examining hundreds of “Class of 2013″ groups that popped up and realizing that they were all created by the same person/company.  Careaga writes:

According to Brad’s investigation, a cadre of Facebookers are either setting up unofficial “Class of 2013? pages that purport to represent various colleges and universities, or they’re joining already-established pages and becoming co-administrators. (These types of pages are usually created by students who have been accepted into a college and want to start networking with their fellow classmates-to-be. Some colleges and universities encourage the development of these pages, while others just let it happen.) Brad discovered that certain names appeared over and over again in the category of page administrator for many of these pages. In his post, Brad suggests that someone — or some organization, or group — has set up a ring to create Facebook pages in order to connect with “easily 1,000,000+ freshman college students.”

Updates

Brad’s original post, entitled There’s Something Going Down on Facebook. Pay Attention, created such a buzz that after a relatively short period of time, people were leaving a ton of comments on the blog post wanting to get to the bottom of the matter.  After all, why would someone want to purposely dissuade Facebook users?  Who was behind this?  Brad had traced several of the names he found in the fake Facebook groups to a site called College Prowler, a company based out of Pennsylvania that publishes student-written guidebooks about colleges.

Figures.

Before long, the chief executive officer of College Prowler, Luke Skurman, confirmed that his company was directly or indirectly involved in the creation of the “2013″ Facebook groups when he left the following blog comment on Ward’s blog:

Yes, College Prowler has been directly or indirectly involved with the creation of multiple Class of 2013 groups. The original purpose was to use these groups as a way to inform students that they can access a free guide about their new college on our site. No employee or anyone else associated with College Prowler has used these groups to send out messages or wall posts.

Until about an hour ago, I was unaware that College Prowler was working with another company that may have been using fake aliases to create to these groups. The groups that College Prowler was responsible for creating were set up with real accounts. Here are the names that are associated with College Prowler, and they will all be removed immediately from the Class of 2013 groups(all other names are not controlled by College Prowler):
• Mark Tressler
• Ron Tressler
• Brenna Young
• Lisa Young
• Lauren Plavchek
• Jessica Lash

From a big picture perspective, having a marketing strategy using social networking sites (like Facebook) is something that is necessary to be effective in our business. We do pride ourselves on being forward thinking and aggressive. In this instance, in its current form, we have crossed the line and to reiterate, we will be removing our administrator privileges from all of these 2013 groups immediately.

Feel free to email, luke@collegeprowler.com, with any additional concerns or questions.

Luke

You can read more about it the following blog post published on The Chronicle of Higher Education website.  While the issue seems to have temporarily resolved itself (with this particular matter), it makes you wonder how many more groups like this one there are on popular sites like Facebook.  Additionally, while the dust may seem to be settling, I can’t help but think that increasing numbers of people are feeling more unsettled with how they view and/or value marketing when things like this happen.

For more information about Internet marketing, visit Create Business Growth today!

It’s no secret that people all over the world are being negatively affected by the economic downturn.  With all of the job loss and worries, more people are looking for new and innovative ways to help their businesses stay afloat- not to mention keep money in their bank accounts.

According to a recent press release, Stockopedia, a London based startup, has announced the launch of the first social network for private investors in the UK stock market.  The goal is to use social media to help investors make better, more well-informed investment decisions.

Not a bad idea.

Similar to other social sites like Wikipedia, Stockopedia takes advantage of tagging, wikis and forums to help foster discussion and communication among people. Stockopedia monitors users investment interests, thereby recommending pertinent companies to users where applicable, much like Amazon.com recommends books and music to you based on what you’ve been searching.  This really seems to be a novel idea.  The article goes on to quote Edward Croft as stating:

The site allows users to easily follow themes and investment trends.  By using tagging to categorise the market, we are challenging the traditional top down hierarchy of sector categorisation.  We aim to introduce our users to more laterally related companies which they would otherwise miss.

The news of Stockopedia’s ideas and plans is exciting in a time where there is so much economic uncertainty and job loss.  Many professionals are turning towards social media with the hopes that it will level the playing field, not to mention soften the blow that’s being doled out by the current financial crisis.

For more information about Internet marketing, visit Create Business Growth today!

[photo credit: katrinakatrina on Flickr]

Is it ethical to steal a WiFi connection? Let’s begin by first defining what WiFi means. According to the WiFi Alliance, WiFi refers to:

A term developed by the Wi-Fi Alliance to describe wireless local area network (WLAN) products that are based on the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers’ (IEEE) 802.11 standards.

And according to Wikipedia, the main aims of WiFi are:

• make access to information easier
• ensure compatibility and co-existence of devices
• eliminate cabling and wiring
• eliminate switches, adapters, plugs, pins and connectors.

But I always thought that WiFi was a free service? Earlier this year, Ars Technica featured a post that talked about the ethics behind using WiFi connections illegally. Some might remember the incident in May of 2007 when a Michigan man was arrested for “piggybacking” or using someone’s WiFi connection without their permission. According to the news story, customers would regularly go into a local coffee shop that had WiFi and check their email, etc. while they enjoyed their favorite coffee beverage. The article goes on:

Sam Peterson II did the same thing. “I knew that the Union Street had WiFi,” he told 24 Hour News 8. “I just went down and checked my e-mail and didn’t see a problem with that.”

The only difference is is that he would drive up to the parking lot of the coffee shop on a daily basis and surf the net from his car. A police officer figured out what he was doing, and the gentleman ended up having to pay a $400 fine in addition to completing 40 hours of community service. Seems a little harsh for someone who didn’t appear to be doing anything other than what the other patrons were doing: surfing the Internet and checking email.

So, now comes the question, “Is it really a crime to ’steal’ a WiFi connection?” What’s the difference if you go into a coffee shop that has a WiFi connection versus parking in the parking lot? If I parked in the parking lot of the library and used their free wireless Internet connection, would I be placing myself at risk for being arrested as well?

For more information about Internet Marketing, contact Create Business Growth today!

If you are a business in the 919 area code, you may wonder where on-line to network. Of course linkedin.com is worth having a profile on, but I want to talk about a new one– http://www.inside919.com/ (they also have ones for all US area codes — http://www.insideareacodes.com/ — but you need to really work or live in the title-designated area code ).

It is free to join, allows you to form local discussion groups like “Triangle Business Blogger” or “Podcasting.” It lets you list calendar events, have a blog so you can contribute useful articles, have a profile stating your business and it offers an RSS feed so you can keep up with it in your Blog Reader. By requiring you to live or work in the 919 area code and asking that people make at least one contribution a month, it keeps it smaller then the big guys offering a local connection. It was started by Pat Howlett who moved from a small town to the RTP NC area and wanted to create a small town business networking feel on-line.

My networking advice for using Inside919 is to take a little time to join it, fill out the basic profile, maybe join a few groups that are of interest and connect to some people you know. Next just check in once a week or even once a month based on your time demands and the importance of a web presence. When you check in, look for ways to help others or contribute to a conversation that is occurring in a Forum or group. If you use a blog reader then add the RSS feed to that so you can keep track of it.

I do recommend a picture and if you don’t have one you like, pay a photographer for one good one. The good photographers can offer Photoshop touch ups if that makes you more comfortable. You can find one in InSide919.com as well.

Next share the site with good local businesses you know to help them connect to others.

I like this group since Pat is a local person who truly wants to help the local business professionals and make it easy to participate. To me this can be one of the important pieces of your on-line presence and marketing plan.

Pat Howlett also is creating groups for other area codes and here is a website to find all the groups: http://www.insideareacodes.com/

If you join http://www.inside919.com/ , look me up and say hello!

By Martin Brossman – www.coachingsupport.com – Martin@CoachingSupport.com (919) 847-4757 – Podcast: www.InquireOnline.info

If you’re reading this blog, it’s probably because you have some level of interest in Internet marketing because you’re curious about how you can get your business to grow by using resources found on the Internet. Either that, or you’ve accidentally landed here for whatever the reason. However, for many of us who use the Internet on a regular basis, especially those who are most interested in social media, we know how valuable the Internet can be in terms of making connections with other people. James Karl Buck knows how valuable making connections is. You may have heard of him by now; he was the graduate student from the University of California at Berkeley who used the popular social networking site, Twitter, to tell people back in America that he had been arrested in Egypt.

The Value of Social Media

Buck’s story is an extraordinary example of the both powerful and significant role that social media plays in the lives of many people around the world. Do you think that had Buck not had some sort of relationship with the people following him on Twitter.com that he would have been released from jail as quickly as he was? Obviously, whatever work he had been doing to build somewhat meaningful relationships using this social media site was working-enough that it drew cause for concern from total strangers! Sure, social media sites such as Twitter can help you boost traffic to your web site and maybe increase business; but at the heart of it all, it’s about building lasting relationships. If you’ve got a social media-related story, we’d love to hear it; share it here!

For more information about Internet marketing, contact Create Business Growth today!