One of the main tools the Facebook community used to import their blog entries into their private profile or Facebook Fan Page was the Notes Application. It simply required your blog’s RSS and viola! - Anytime you published content to your blog, it would pull that blog post onto your wall.

At times the app was buggy and experienced outages but it always seemed to bounce back. But the next time it went out, it was gone for good. It was then that I started looking at alternative blog importing apps. Here are a couple of alternative third-party Facebook applications that I discovered:

Graffiti on Your Wall is a Good Thing

RSS Graffiti is a convenient way to keep your fans connected to the latest content published on your blog. After installing the application and configuring the settings correctly, your next blog post will automatically broadcast on the newsfeeds of your fan page and in the newsfeeds of your fans. Pushing content out from a social media platform is a great way to keep your business in front of the eyes of your customers – and in the process, you will gain some new ones.

Networked Blogs Connects You to a New Audience

Networked Blogs is similar to RSS Graffiti but it has a twist – not only will it import your blog feed to your Facebook Fan Page, but it lists your blog in a directory organized by topic (tags) and geographical location.

First you have to register your blog on their network, and then claim it. The claiming process can be a bit tricky and you will need the help of a Facebook friend because they will have to verify you as a blogger. Next, you set up your blog for syndication to make it feed to Facebook, Twitter or both!

 

While both of these Facebook apps make importing blog posts a relatively pain-free process, neither one should be treated as a “set it and forget it” way to push content out. It is still prone to glitches, outages, and things just not working right. As a Facebook Fan Page Administrator, it’s important that you stay on top of what gets published to your wall to make sure everything is working as it should.

If you need help setting up a third-party Facebook app on your fan page or if you just need an extra set of eyes for social media monitoring, contact Xcellimark to find out how we can help.

This article was first published in the December 2011/January 2012 issue of Florida Restaurant & Lodging Magazine.

Social media may be one of the newer kids on the Internet marketing block but it has rapidly taken off over the last year. Just about everyone, from your neighbor to your parents, has a social media profile.

But social media is not just for individuals who want to share pictures of their pets or post random comments. Businesses are using it to their advantage too.

According to the latest research by StrongMail, 57% of businesses plan to increase their spending in Social Media in 2011, second only to Email marketing (65%) and ahead of Search Marketing (41%).

Hotels and Restaurants Can Benefit Greatly from Social Media if Done Right

Hotels and restaurants are some of those businesses realizing that they too can use social media to market like never before. But most are unsure how to best utilize the different social media networks and how to focus on the ones that will work for them.

If that’s you, you’re not alone. But first things first – let’s talk about the three social media platforms that are ideal for hotels and restaurants and how you can use them to generate revenue to your place of business.

So What Is The Social Media Trifecta for Hotels and Restaurants?

There are several types of social media platforms on the market but the key is finding the right mix for the hotel and restaurant industry. We’ve done the leg work for you upfront and determined the following three to be ideal for the food and lodging industry:

1.    Facebook
2.    Twitter
3.    Foursquare

Each one of these social media sites can stand alone or be integrated to work together for a more powerful marketing punch. They will help you brand your company, provide a platform for meaningful dialogue between you and your audience, and set your business apart from the competition that may have yet to harness the full potential of an effective social media campaign.

Number One: Facebook Fans Provide Free Word of Mouth

Many people are familiar with Facebook, but for those that aren’t - Facebook is a social networking service and website that requires people to register before accessing the site. After they register, they can create a personal profile, add other people as friends, and exchange messages, including automatic notifications when they update their profile. Additionally, Facebook users may join common-interest user groups organized by workplace, school, college, or other characteristics, and they can categorize their friends into lists.

While individual users sign-up for personal profiles, businesses set up fan pages to help promote their brand. Then, by word of mouth, internal promotion on Facebook (i.e. suggestions, shares, recommendations, messages, and ads), or through outside promotion, the business encourages current and prospective customers to visit and “Like” their page. It is really a type of cooperative marketing that the world has never seen before.

People who are fans of a hotel or restaurant will use the Facebook feature to "Like" the page. When they do this, the action appears on the person’s "Wall." Friends of the individual who "Liked" the page will see that activity as well, which may cause them to check out the restaurant or hotel Facebook page themselves and “Like” it too.

Even if they do not visit the Facebook page right away, it will at least signal to them that this company is trusted by a friend of theirs, thus making it a very positive “word of mouth” marketing tool for restaurants and hotels. With the number of “friends” that most people have on their Facebook account, the fact that someone “Likes” a business can be seen by hundreds of people.

Facebook is free to use and many hotels and restaurants have seen massive success by using this form of social media.

Number Two: Offer Promos on Twitter & See What People are Saying About Your Brand

Twitter is an online social networking and micro-blogging service that enables its users to send and read text-based posts of up to 140 characters, informally known as "tweets". People can also follow their brand of choice in the hopes of receiving the inside scoop on specials, promotions, tips, news, and more.

To meet their audiences’ needs, many restaurants and hotels have started using Twitter to Tweet about new menu items, travel deals, promotions, and to solicit feedback from customers. From the consumer’s angle, it also gives them free-range, whether happy or disgruntled, to publicly give their stamp of approval or voice their complaints.

Twitter directly connects businesses to the heartbeat of their consumers. By actively listening for mentions of your brand name and staying in front of potential and current customers, you are in a better position to manage your online reputation and provide better customer service to your clientele.

It’s that kind of customer engagement that makes Twitter an invaluable tool for businesses, in particular hotels and restaurants.

But you and your fans are not the only ones listening. The competition is also out there lurking to see who they can scoop up with a more impressive deal. And since Twitter breaks down the walls of communication and cuts out the marketing middleman, it’s important that your business establishes itself as a popular and favorable company on Twitter so potential customers will turn to you for their primary needs and services.

There are a lot of great benefits and potential leads that you can get from using Twitter, so make sure you use your status updates to alert followers about your most recent blog posts, business news that could affect customers, industry tips or trends, and of course retweets from others who have mentioned your business in a positive light.

You never know who is out there monitoring and following your brand name and Twitter can be the first step towards a life-long business relationship.

Number Three: Foursquare Check-Ins Give Customers Instant Access to Deals

Foursquare is a location-based social networking website that allows people to "check-in" at venues using a mobile website, smart phone, tablet, text messaging or a device-specific application by selecting from a list of venues the application locates nearby.

The location is determined by GPS hardware in the mobile device or the network location provided by the application. Each check-in can award the person "badges" for best check-ins such as the “Swarm” badge for attending a large event (i.e. conferences) where 50+ people are also checked-in, “Pizzaiolo” for pizza connoisseurs who have had slices from 20 different pizza places, and “JetSetter” for people who have checked-in to at least 5 airports. The badges then decorate their Foursquare profile for those looking for bragging rights.

More importantly, people also check-in on Foursquare to receive a deal or promotion they can redeem for a discount on food or hotel lodging.

According to a Mobile Marketing Associate survey, nearly one of every four adults is using mobile location-based services. Hotels and restaurants can leverage Foursquare to drive in more walk-in traffic. Advertising deals and promotions always help bring people in, but a check-in is like an electronic coupon that gives people an instant discount just because they publicly arrived at your place of business.

Checking-in works both ways - your customers get a deal plus you get added exposure when they publish their check-in to their social media feeds such as Twitter and Facebook, which puts your brand name in front of an ever larger audience. When people get an incentive, they are more likely to spread the news and view your business more favorably.

The Time to Start Your Social Media Campaign is Now

It is likely that if your business does not implement and manage an effective social media program now, you will have a harder time gaining an online community for your target market in the future.

Social Media Marketing is critical for online business success, especially for restaurants and hotels. This type of marketing medium was simply made for hospitality. Don’t wait or it may be too late.

If you’re currently not engaging in social media, contact Xcellimark to get started on building your brand, creating an online community of brand loyalists, and generating more traffic to your restaurant, hotel and/or website. The time to get started is now.

By now you’ve probably heard the term “social bookmarking” but if it doesn’t make sense to you or you don’t know why or how to use it to build traffic to your website keep reading to learn more about it and how it can help generate revenue for your business.

What is Social Bookmarking?

Social bookmarking involves saving the address (URL) of a website that you want to visit again in the future and tagging it with keywords to categorize the content. You can save these URLs by registering on a social bookmarking site such as StumbleUpon or Delicious to store your bookmarks and add tags of your choice.

It’s up to you to choose which bookmarks to make private or public but a good rule of thumb is to make them public by default in the hopes that they get shared with other users, distributed around the Web and found by the search engines.

Bookmark Your Blog Posts and Web Pages

Now that you know what social bookmarking is let’s talk about the types of URLs you should bookmark. Ideally, you want to bookmark the URLs of the blog posts you are publishing on a frequent basis. When you save these URLs, you are building links back to your blog and website because some of these social bookmarking websites are “do-follow” meaning they will allow the search engines to follow your links back to their point of origin, which is your website.

If you don’t have a blog yet, you can still bookmark some of the pages on your website, preferably internal landing pages that are product or service specific. But since that content tends to be static, it’s a one-time thing and you’re done. Search engines love fresh content and since your blog is more likely to be updated than the pages on your website, those are the URLs you should focus on bookmarking.

A blog is something you should strongly consider as a key component in your overall Internet marketing strategy because content marketing is on the rise as one of the best things you can invest in for a staggering ROI and revenue for your business.

For more information on how content marketing can help your business gain new customers, contact Xcellimark for more information.

Social networks such as Facebook have taken the world by storm and continue to grow daily. And businesses can utilize social media to their advantage to reach a larger customer base and engage in ways like never before.

In the past few years, businesses have used Facebook-centered marketing tactics to reach millions of fans and to bring in more revenue. And now, with the introduction of Facebook applications, Businesses can take their marketing to the next level.

The Advantages of Applications

As every savvy business owner knows, Facebook for business is essential in current times. Now with Facebook applications, which has a base of over 600 million users, businesses can reach and engage a larger range of customers.

Businesses can use Facebook applications to help retain current customers by engaging them through the use of polls, surveys and quizzes. These types of applications promote natural communication with your customers.

A Variety of Applications to Choose From

The application options are steadily growing to allow businesses more versatility. Gifting applications let users send brand-specific gifts to friends from a company fan page. Polls, quizzes and survey applications let businesses gather information in a natural and organic manner, all while engaging their customers. The options are endless as to how a business can use Facebook applications. But one thing is certain; they are definitely good for growing your fan base and promoting your brand.

Want more information on how to grow your business using Facebook? Contact Xcellimark for help with your social media campaign.

We all know that social media networks are some of the most popular websites on the Internet. And businesses have not taken long to figure out that this would be a profitable place for them as well. Given this fact, business owners and marketing managers need to know how they can use Facebook to build brand loyalty.

Using Social Media for Business Purposes
 

Facebook  never came out and directly asked businesses to join their website. Rather, they created a network that was designed to help users connect and network in a personal and professional way. Businesses saw this platform as a natural opportunity to come in and market to people in a whole new way.

Facebook is completely open to this as long as businesses follow the terms for Pages  outlined. First, a business sets up a custom page for their brand. Then, by word of mouth, internal promotion on Facebook (suggestions, messages, and ads), or outside promotion, the business awaits current and perspective customers to visit and “Like” the page. It is really a type of cooperative marketing that the world has never seen before.

Custom Pages: What They Do for Business
 

Individuals who are fans of a company will use the Facebook feature to "Like" the page. When they do this, the action appears on the individuals "Wall." Friends of the individual who "Liked" the page will see that activity as well and it might cause them to do the same. Even if it does not, it will at least signal to them that this company is trusted by a friend of theirs.

Facebook is free to use and many companies have seen massive success by using this form of social media. And the reach of your marketing and what you can learn about your customer base on Facebook is almost unlimited.

Facebook should be one of several strategies in your overall Internet marketing plan . If you’re a business owner or marketing manager who wants to speak with someone who knows how to set up a Facebook Page and help you run a social media campaign, contact Xcellimark  today.
 

The extensive online marketing toolbox has recently expanded with the advent of Google Places and Facebook Places.

Google’s system allows users to search local business data while Facebook’s gives members the ability to receive special “deals” and publicly “check-in” to a location, informing their friends via status updates.

These two applications, while similar, provide unique benefits to businesses, including a fantastic return on investment.

Connecting with Local Buyers

The Places programs both allow companies to inform local customers about their location, as well as their overall products or services. Google’s option is geared towards a search function, effectively replacing the need for massive tomes of yellow pages.

Companies can input vital contact data, custom descriptions and images. The built-in review system allows searchers to see reviews from several different websites or to add their own.

Facebook’s application is a network-based social feature that requires a significant amount of time to build sufficient buzz from customers to be cost-effective for businesses. Even so, it does allow businesses to list “deals” which users can claim by checking in at their location.

Cross-Platform Connections

Google offers the ability to move from Places to their online Maps feature, allowing users to see the routes and distances to listed Places. The search function also lists Places data on normal searches when the data is relevant.

Facebook integrates Places information with their status update system, giving users the ability to see where their friends are, effectively providing a recommendation.

International Connections

Businesses with international locations should take advantage of the 93 locations in which Google is available. At the moment, the Facebook application is only accessible in the US.

Location Verification

While both programs require location verification, many companies have found Google’s to be more streamlined. The Facebook system demands verification for each location, significantly increasing the time and resources required for setup. Nonetheless, these constraints protect users from spammers and unethical business practices.

The Google and Facebook applications offer significant benefits to businesses small and large. Google Places is a must-have for both large and small businesses. Facebook Places, while possibly representing a significant time investment, can offer a similar marketing opportunity.

Xcellimark can help you put your business on the map with Google Places and Facebook. Our team consists of Local Search and Social Media professionals that work together to create a listing that gives you prime exposure in the search engines and social networks. Contact Xcellimark to learn more.

Photos Courtesy of Google and Facebook
 

Even though Facebook is one of the most popular social networks, there are still people out there reluctant to use it because they don’t want to sign-up for a personal account to get a fan page to market their business on Facebook. These individuals tend to want to keep their business and personal life separate so they forgo using Facebook and miss out on the benefits the social network can offer their business.

But now there is a way to market your business on Facebook without having to create a personal account: Facebook Business Accounts.

The Difference Between a Business Account & a Personal Account

In the past, when a business owner wanted to set up a Fan Page for their brand, their only option was to set up a personal account first. Now Facebook has implemented business accounts that are ideal for people who only want to use Facebook for professional purposes and have no interest in creating a personal profile to interact with friends and family.

If the thought of giving Mark Zuckerberg access to your personal life gives you chills and keeps you awake at night, then a business account is ideally the way to go.

But keep in mind, the functionality of a business account is limited: you won’t be able to view the profiles of users on the site or other content on the site that does not live on the pages you administer.

Also, business accounts cannot be found when searching inside of Facebook or receive friend requests.

Once You Go Personal, You Can Never Go Back

If you already have a personal account, you cannot create a business account because it violates Facebook’s Terms of Use. But, you can turn your business account into a personal account if you ever decide to do so. Just remember that if you do, you can’t revert back to your business account and you will permanently have a personal account on Facebook.

Determining the right Facebook account for you and your business depends on several factors. If you need help trying to figure out which Facebook account is right for you, contact Xcellimark for more information. Our social media team can help you get set up with the right account and come up with a strategy for effective social engagement.

In previous blog posts, we’ve covered the importance of having a blog and even how to blog effectively. By now, you probably have your very own blog up and running and that’s good for you! Keep cranking out content like a Copywriting Commando because if you write it, “they will come.”

But did you know there are other things you can do to expand the reach of your blog? Here’s a quick rundown on a few things you can do to get your blog in front of more people.

1. TwitterFeed – this nifty third-party tool send your most recent blog posts to your Twitter account via an RSS feed. Now you never have to worry about forgetting to share your latest blog post with the Twitterverse.
2. Facebook Notes – provided you already have a personal profile or Facebook Fan Page, you can use Facebook’s Notes App to import your blog posts into your Facebook where they will show up on your wall. Not only is it an opportunity to find new readers, but it also encourages friends/fans to share your content with their friends on and offline.
3. Email Sign-Up – giving people the option to sign-up for your blog via email is great, especially for people who are not online often browsing blogs. Whenever you publish a new blog post, they will be notified about it via email. From their inbox, they can then choose to go directly to your blog to read the post, forward it to a friend or print it out to read later.
4. RSS - RSS stands for “Really Simple Syndication” and makes it possible for your readers to stay up to date on your blog without having to manually check it. Some popular RSS services include Google Reader and Bloglines.

If you put a lot of time and effort into your blog, you should get a big return on your investment in the form of more engaged readers who will retweet your blog posts, comment on your Facebook wall and share that content with their friends, sign-up for email update and subscribe to your blog.

Implementing some of the suggestions above is good start. But if you would like additional help on how to optimize your blog for the search engines and gain additional exposure, contact Xcellimark now.

For the past 30 years it has been traditional wisdom that Seniors (and now Baby Boomers) would not adopt or be a force in new technology. WRONG!

Whether it was the adoption and use of the PC, cell phone, Internet, search, social media or mobile apps – the Boomers were dismissed as technology laggards. However, these same Boomers are the ones who have started or are managing companies who developed these technologies. The Boomers have changed the way we work, live, play, socialize, make decisions and ultimately have influenced which companies succeed through the use and development of new technology.

The “Boomers Don’t Use Social Media” Myth

The latest statement I heard was “the Boomers don’t get or use social media” even though they represent the largest online group. Boomers spend more time online than any other demographic. According to Pew Internet & American Life Project, much of that time is spent shopping and buying online. They also spend more money online per month than Generation X (ages 35-46) and Millennials (ages 18-34).
 

eMarketer, a respected research company in digital marketing, media and commerce, estimates that:

•  78% of Baby Boomers are online
•  86.9% of Boomers will have a mobile phone
•  17 million Boomers will access the Internet from a mobile browser or installed app
•  40% of all Boomer mobile users will use mobile apps by 2015

As I have spoken at conferences in the last year, I have noticed that Boomers are becoming more connected through social media. However, I continually find myself meeting with business owners and executives who continue to espouse that their targeted Boomer market “doesn’t do social media”.

I admit that the Boomers may not be the first out of the gate on the newest technology to hit the market, but it is a huge mistake to think they won’t adopt newer technology and applications if it really has sustainable value.

Niche Social Media Communities Booming

Niche social media communities are springing up to cater to different communities of interest, including the Boomers. The key for any business or organization that caters or markets to the Baby Boomers will be to strengthen their business relationships with their Boomer market, and to do it soon.  Once this market makes a decision that works for them, it is difficult to get them to change.

The key to strengthening these relationships is to keep Boomers engaged through compelling user experiences where they gain access to other’s experiences, deals and unique content.

Contact Xcellimark to find out more about how social media will help promote your business or to start a community of your own.

Staying organized is a challenge to most of us on any given day, but we all know that the better organized we are, the more productive we are. Juggling a variety of tasks can be tricky, but creating a plan and a way to keep track of what has been completed and what remains to be done is important.

Managing a blog is no exception. We have to stay on track with our writing and publishing to be successful. I write for several different blogs and I supply others with blog posts to be published in various places – some I publish myself; others are published by a different team member. It gets more than tricky sometimes to keep up with where everything is going.

Why Keep Track?

First of all, we want to write about a variety of topics to keep our readers interested. This may not seem too difficult in the beginning, but once you’ve been writing for a while (weeks/months – not so bad; years – oh yeah), it’s important to keep track of what you’ve already written about so you can come up with fresh ideas and not bore your readers with the same ol’ content.

Also, if you use social bookmarking to provide additional exposure for your articles, it is important to know which articles are bookmarked to the various bookmarking sites you utilize.

The Importance of a Schedule

In previous articles, I’ve discussed how important it is to post to your blog consistently – at least two to three times per week. So creating a schedule that you can stick to is one step in the process we shouldn’t overlook. Scheduling is just one of the ways I stay on track but next week in part two of this blog post, I will share a few other ideas that work for me.

It’s been mumbled a lot in 2010, but now it is on the lips of mouths and tops of mind of every marketer. And that topic is “Content Marketing.”

Publish, Publish, Publish

Content Marketing is the strategy of publishing and distributing great content online to better establish your brand and expand your business’ influence. Your content should be informative and provide value to the reader.

Content can include articles on industry trends, company news, or market advice. The content can position your company as an authoritative voice in your industry or influence the reader to take a desired action.

Don’t Just Write - Distribute

Social media platforms, such as blogs, Facebook, Twitter, and booking sites like Digg and Delicious, have made it easy to distribute your content online and advance your reach further than ever. But no matter how you look at it, if you’re not Content Marketing, you’re not marketing.

Feed the Search Engines

Search engines have made it no secret that they are expecting new and fresh content from websites that want to rank highly for competitive keyphrases. But as mentioned in my last blog post, time and resources is the biggest challenge for businesses to effectively leverage social media, i.e. content marketing.

Content Creation Becoming Larger Piece of Marketing Budgets

Last September, I attended ADWeek in Washington, D.C., and Kevin Gentzal, the Chief Revenue Officer at Forbes Media said that marketers must now be content creators and that this strategy is now 33% of most marketing budgets.

In fact, as you can see from the survey chart below, content marketing is even tougher for smaller business because it requires a much larger percentage of the marketing budget. The research and expertise required to create high-quality content is very time-extensive and good copywriters do not come cheap. This is where outsourcing your Content Marketing efforts to an interactive or digital agency is very cost-effective.

 

Real Life Examples of Success!

To see the effects of Content Marketing for yourself, please see the screen shot below. You’ll see that Xcellimark has been able to dominate the page 1 rankings for the keyphrase, “interactive digital agency Orlando” by creating a company press releases and distributing them online to several of other websites. This type of online exposure results in an increase in branding, leads, and revenue.

To see how Xcellimark can design and implement your businesses Content Marketing strategy, contact Xcellimark today. You’ve got a message and your prospective customers need to hear from you. Allow Xcellimark to show you how.

As Facebook grows and continues to dominate their position as the #1 social networking platform, new trends, features and apps will continue to be uncovered for users to take advantage of to promote their brand and gain fans.

Last year, the buzz was about custom Facebook tabs (or landing pages). While that is still a solid trend, 2011 ushered in a spin to it called Like-Gating (or Fan-Gating).

What is Like-Gating?

Like-Gating is when you force a Facebook user who has not already liked your Page to “Like” it before they can see content on a particular custom tab/application. The point of a Like-Gate is to increase the number of Facebook users who like your page.

Red Bull: A Perfect Example of Like-Gating

Red Bull is one company that is using Like-Gating to their advantage. A user lands on the custom tab “Red Bull” but there is a strong call to action to “Like” the brand. If they do, they will get access to the custom app/content hidden behind the Like-Gate. 

Even though I’m not a Red Bull fan (our office has a few recovering Red Bull addicts but that’s another story for another day), I clicked on the “Like” button to see what was behind the veil and viola! I am now privy to exclusive content because I liked the page.

Why You Should Consider Like-Gating

According to social media agency SayItSocial, Like-Gating can increase the number of likes a page gets by 50%. That’s a pretty impressive number!

So if you find that your number of “Likes” are stalling and your brand page is in need of a boost, consider giving Like-Gating a try with help from Xcellimark. Our social media marketing team consists of skilled consultants, developers and designers who can help you take your online image from “boring” to “wow!”

As I was researching today to get ideas for this blog post, I came across tons of information – naturally – since blogging and social media are all the rage these days. There are literally hundreds and hundreds of articles to tell us how to write a blog, how not to write a blog, etc.

So I was reading a very lengthy article from an “expert” about the dos and don’ts of blogging. The article was interesting enough to catch my attention, but it was so long that I found myself skimming through the information after a while.

The Grammar Matters

As I scrolled further down the page, I spotted a grammatical error – yes, I am an admitted grammar snob, and even I could get past one or two small errors – maybe! But then there was another and another. They seemed to become more objectionable as I reluctantly continued toward the end of the article.

So what did I do? I immediately stopped reading/skimming and began to write my own post for today – I had my topic: if you want to be considered a credible source of information, you need to be a good writer and/or have a good proofreader! It’s that simple.

The Writer Matters

I don’t think anyone or any company should consider a blog as a good means of building a community, branding their company or any of the other important reasons to blog unless they have the resources to produce a quality blog. If someone is going to write a blog about how to blog, the first order of business should be to make certain that blog is at least grammatically and syntactically correct.

So, my bottom line is quite simple. Before considering starting a blog, think about who is going to write for you. If you have the means to produce a consistently updated blog about ideas that are of interest to your target audience, there are many wonderful benefits. But if you don’t have someone who can do a good job of representing you or your organization in a positive light, maybe you should reconsider – or find yourself a good writer!
 

 

In part one of this article, I covered some of the factors that are critical to your search engine marketing success. In today's blog post, I'll cover the rest, including the role social media plays in search engine rankings.

The Emerging Role of Social Media’s Impact on Search Engine Rankings

 

According to the latest research by StrongMail, 57% of businesses plan to increase their spending in Social Media in 2011, second only to Email marketing (65%) and ahead of Search Marketing (41%).

One of the reasons for the increase in Social Media spending is the growing and significantly positive impact it has on search engine marketing results.

The key components of Social Media that impact search rankings are blogs, social bookmarking, online press releases, and social media platforms such as Facebook and Twitter. These Social Media components significantly impact your search rankings through the following factors:

• Relevant information
• Frequent content updates on your website
• Increased volume of relevant and high-quality incoming links 

Additional Benefits of These Social Media Components if Implemented Well are:
 

• Establishes you as an expert within your industry
• Generates traffic to your website as the result of social bookmarking where your content is published on other websites that drives incoming links to your website
• Improves your online image
• Develops an online community that will interact more with your website and your company
• Builds an email list for remarketing and follow-up communications

All of these key components must be a very active part of your Internet marketing strategy and almost daily operations.  The blog needs to be an integral and internal part of your website. It will not be as effective for your website rankings if the blog is external to your website.

Facebook, LinkedIn and Twitter icons should not only be a part of your website, but their postings should be a part of your web page content for website visitors to view.  Blogging, posting, tweeting and social bookmarking needs to be conducted effectively throughout the week in order to achieve any meaningful success in not only search engine rankings, but growing your online community.

Key Challenges of Effective Social Media

There are key challenges in effectively implementing a social media marketing program for businesses of all sizes and industries.

The number one challenge or barrier to success is the time and resources (primarily human capital) to be invested.  The challenge for time and resources is further defined as:

• Allocating existing human resources to an emerging but complex online marketing program.
• Training and equipping personnel so that they can be effective in managing the variety of platforms and appropriate communications styles and then integrating them with other Internet marketing initiatives such as search and email marketing.
• Staying abreast of the latest trends and tactics that are effective in generating measurable results.
• Gaining results quickly to maintain executive commitment and gain a foothold in your industry before your company is relegated to the online sidelines, maybe indefinitely. 

The Time is Now

There is a sense of urgency in this area. It is likely that if businesses do not implement and manage an effective social media program now, they will not be able to catch up later in the search engine rankings or in developing a leading online community for your target market. Search and Social Media marketing are critical for online business success. Don’t wait or it may be too late.

Search Engines Dominate Online Lead Generation and Sales
 

Over 85% of Internet users’ most preferred tool for research (of any kind) is the Internet search engine. Whether you are researching a product or service to buy or are actively engaged in the purchase process, the search engine is the tool of choice. Even the vast majority of the people who know that they will purchase in a store will use a search engine first to determine where to go shop and buy.

Google, Yahoo and Bing now control 95% of all search engine traffic. The companies whose listings come up in the search engine results pages (SERPs) in those three search engines are the big winners. They receive almost all of the traffic for the given search term (keyphrase).

If you are not on page 1 of the SERPS then basically you don’t exist for that market. Unless you are a well known brand name, no one searches on a company name as their initial search. They search on the product, service, area of interest, etc.

To succeed in online lead generation or online sales you must be prominently listed on page 1 for the SERPs for the search terms that are highly relevant for your products and services. Research even shows that people think those companies who are listed on page 1 of the SERPs are the industry leaders. There is almost built-in credibility if you are listed on page 1 in the search engines.


What Impacts Your Search Rankings
 

There is no silver bullet to get ranked on page 1 in the search engines for your search terms. You have to do many things well and correctly. And it is getting more challenging and complicated as time goes by.

Here are the top factors that impact your rankings in search engines:

• Domain Age – how long your website has been online
• Content – how much content is on your website, how relevant it is for the search term   and how often is it updated
• Coding – how search engine friendly is the coding of your website including your meta tags for each page, alt tags for your images and link text for your internal links
• External Links – how many high-quality links are coming into your website especially from authoritative and related websites
• Speed – how fast do your web pages load
• Site Map – do you have an updated site map that allows Google to know all your active pages on the website

There are other factors critical to your search engine marketing success such as social media. Revisit the Xcellimark blog on Thursday for part two of this article to learn more about the impact social media has on your search rankings.

The Social Network, a movie about the origins of Facebook and the resulting lawsuits, received 8 Oscar nominations including best picture.

 
Have you seen the movie yet? If so, leave a comment below and let us know what you think.

News Flash! It’s been confirmed by Google that social media does in fact affect your search rankings in Google’s search engine (and Bing as well).

The search engines use different aspects of social media to help determine your ranking status. Twitter tweets, retweets, followers, Facebook links, Facebook friends and fans, LinkedIn, and blog links are determining factors in how well your website ranks in the search results.

Social Media Continues to Become Stronger

If you thought social media was a fad, you’ll need to rethink your marketing strategies. Social media has become stronger every year and its definitely here to stay.

While many companies have avoided or ignored social media because it’s sometimes hard to directly connect actual sales or increased revenue to social efforts, it’s now apparent that the effects of social media reach far beyond a direct sale.

Just like companies who are serious about ranking in the search engines realized that they had to have strong incoming links to their website to succeed in a competitive market, you must now also have a social media presence to help get or sustain the high rankings that do translate into increased revenue and sales.

Don’t Know How To Be Social?

Many companies find themselves in a dilemma because they either don’t know how to get a social media program going, they don’t have the staff or time to do so, or both. In those cases it helps to find a partner who can help you get started.

Xcellimark can train you on how to get your social media program off the ground. We can also partner with you to not only get it set up and going, but to also maintain your social media presence. Either way, doing nothing is no longer an option.

There was a day when some businesses didn’t think they needed a website. Those that think that today probably won’t be in business long.

In the same way, the days of thinking you can ignore social media programs is past.

Social Media:
 

• Helps get your company known in wider alternative circles outside the search engines
• Allows your clients to easily recommend you to their friends
• Provides links back to your website, helping you promote your business
• Helps put a personal face on your company
• Helps increase your search engine rankings which drives more people and business to your website

Get started today with a complete marketing package that includes social media. Contact Xcellimark to help get you off and running!

According to a Mobile Marketing Associate survey, nearly one of every four adults is using mobile location-based services. How are you leveraging Foursquare, Gowalla and Facebook Places to drive walk-in traffic to your business? Let us know in the comments below. If you’re not engaging in any type of social media, contact Xcellimark to find out how we can help.

 

Facebook recently launched Messages, a product that integrates e-mail, IM and texting in a unified inbox. Check out the video and leave comments letting us know what you think about Facebook Messages and how (if) you plan on using it.

With the click of a button, we can share information with the entire world – instantly! It’s amazing to think about how far we’ve come in being able to share information.

From the time when everything had to be written by hand to the Gutenberg press, which completely revolutionized the industry of publishing, to the wondrous world of the Internet, here we are!

When we think about it in these terms, it should make us realize the importance of ensuring the information we share is worthy of sharing and that it positively represents our businesses.

It is equally as important to think about what to do and what not to do when we blog if we want to make our efforts count.

My List of 5 Blogging Don’ts

1. Don’t be dishonest. Full disclosure is the name of the game in blogging. If you try to trick the public, it will come back to haunt you.

2. Don’t practice the “All About Me” style. It is much better to engage in sharing your information with others and help them to share theirs too.

3. Don’t be one-sided. Sometimes you may get negative feedback on your blog. It is important to be ready to handle both positive and negative feedback in order to be completely transparent with your audience.

4. Don’t Blog Sporadically. If you can’t blog consistently, it is better not to blog at all. Credibility is lost when you fail to keep your information current and up-to-date.

5. Don’t forget to respond. Writing a blog is one thing, but when your readers respond, be on top of it and respond to their comments promptly.

When you blog, you want to engage your audience and become a resource for your readers. After all, you want them to come back to your blog for more good information.

So knowing what to do and what not to do will help you get your blog on the right track and keep it there.

If you have any suggestions of what has or hasn’t worked for you in your blog, leave us a comment. We would love to hear from you!

Blogging is the core of most social media campaigns, and many businesses have discovered that a blog is as important as any other element of their website. Blogging offers a business many opportunities, including these ten.

Blogging Allows You To:

1. Share helpful information with readers about your company and your industry.
2. Stay connected to your customers and audience.
3. Gather real-time market intelligence and feedback.
4. Build relationships with current and new customers.
5. Manage your online reputation.
6. Drive traffic to your website via links.
7. Brand your company in a positive light.
8. Become a well-respected resource for readers by linking to other credible sites.
9. Keep your Website content fresh by blogging consistently.
10. Build credibility for your business with interesting, useful content.

Today the savvy Internet user expects a company to have a blog. If you’ve been thinking about whether or not you should consider a blog for your company, maybe these ideas will help you make up your mind that it’s worth a try and can bring great opportunity to your business.

There has been a recent buzz around the Internet and many have been anticipating the arrival of the New Twitter. If you’re one of those lucky people sporting the new version you may have noticed that probably the biggest visual change is the overall width that the new layout occupies. While this added room allows for new content and features that Twitter has added, it may be causing an issue with your custom backgrounds being cut off.

Example of a cut off background image:

Adjust Your Images Accordingly

The above screenshots are taken from a screen resolution of 1280px wide. Viewers that are using a screen resolution of around 1680 pixels or wider, most likely will see no interference in old Twitter backgrounds, however it’s important to note that the two most common screen resolution widths currently are 1024px and 1280px.

Although these images are static and unable to contain hyperlinks, it’s still a good idea to adjust them as much as you can to ensure that they fit. In the case of the NASA Twitter page, they have bodies of text that are unreadable in the new format. A good alternative would be if they narrowed the column of text or opted for just some other graphical element that didn’t rely on being fully seen.

Free Photoshop Template to the Rescue

The folks over at Fuel Your Creativity have posted a free download to help you when designing or redesigning your backgrounds. The file is an accurate rendering of the Twitter layout including a text safe area, mock up of the feed and info panes, and guides for the most common screen resolutions.
To download this handy tool, visit: http://www.fuelyourcreativity.com/free-new-twitter-psd-background-template/

 

Everyone loves to share a good YouTube video. But have you ever wanted to send a video to someone and have them get to the good part so you tell them the minute and second mark to start and stop the video?

 

Many businesses are currently trying to figure out not only what a blog is, but how to create and maintain a blog. And, of course, “How will a blog help my business?” is the primary question.

The simplest way to think of a blog is to compare it to keeping a journal, only it’s very public; the whole world can see it if they choose to look on the Internet and search for your company name.

Not to be intimidating, but it is important to realize that what you put out there will affect your company’s reputation. So you want to map out a plan that will work positively for you.

What Questions to Ask

1. What is the ultimate goal of your blog? Is it for branding purposes, reputation management or link building and lead generation, or is it a combination of these? You must have a clear goal for your blog to reach its potential.

2. Who is the best person to write your blog? Maybe having several people from within different areas of your company contribute to your blog is the best idea; that way you can cover a wider variety of topics.

3. What will you write about? Of course, you will write about what you know – that’s what writers do. But in the world of blogging, you can also share information from other writers with links to their blogs. If you help spread information from other sources, they may share your information with their audience too.

4. How often will you blog? Consistency is important if you want readers to come back to your blog. If you blog sporadically, they will not consider you very reliable, so choose to blog on a weekly, bi-weekly, or daily basis, depending on your resources.

5. What will be your approach? All the “experts” will tell you to be sincere. I think this is a great approach for writing a blog. As a matter of fact, I think it is the best approach for life in general.

Blogging is not a difficult thing to do and the rewards can be great for your business. Let other people know what you know, and you will discover other bloggers who have good information to share with you.

Do you have any blogging tips to share with us? Leave us a comment and share what works for you.
 

Twitter experienced a security glitch earlier in the week but with a new Twitter.com on the horizon, all is forgiven as it promises “an easier, faster, and richer experience.” What new features are you excited about the most? Leave a comment below and let us know!

Update as of 9/21/10: The issue has been resolved. For more information, click here.

Before you log-on to Twitter this morning be forewarned: a new Twitter security flaw has been detected.

People are Tweeting large black blocks of text embedded with code which results in a mass amount of error messages. If you hover over the code with your mouse, it can redirect users to third-party websites without their consent and from what we’ve heard most of those websites are not good.

For now it looks like the bug is only affecting Twitter’s web interface so you should be safe using third-party apps such as TweetDeck or your cell phone apps to access Twitter.

Twitter is currently working on the problem. According to their status blog post this morning: “We’ve identified and are patching a XSS attack; as always, please message @safety if you have info regarding such an exploit. We expect the patch to be fully rolled out shortly and will update again when it is.”
 

*Image from www.betasaurus.com

Why it is important to build a community with a blog and what, exactly, does this mean? How will building a community help me and my business? These are a couple of the initial questions a business owner is likely to ask if someone suggests that building a community through blogging is important.

What Does Building a Community Mean?

Building a community with your blog means getting your information out there and growing a community of readers who are interested in what you have to say. You want your community of readers to find your information interesting, relevant and important. You also want them to share your information with their audience as well, thus expanding your community.

It’s A Two-Way Street

If you want others to read your blog posts and return to your blog, the information you share must capture the attention of your audience. Of course, you will write about your business and industry, but you must also let your readers know that you are willing to share information from other sites and blogs that you find interesting, informative and relevant. This builds your credibility all the way around.

A Few Suggestions for Building a Community with Your Blog Posts

• Use a personal tone that will encourage your audience to respond to your posts.
• Ask questions often to get feedback from your readers.
• Choose topics that will be of interest and evoke comments from your readers.
• Link to other sites you believe are credible to become a resource for your readers.
• Create polls to engage your audience to respond and share with others.
• Write reader-friendly posts that are easy to scan by using descriptive headers.
• Grab the attention of your audience with interesting, descriptive titles.

It takes time to build a solid audience of readers, but with persistence and quality information, it can happen. The benefits for you and your business will be quite recognizable as your business grows along with your blogging community.

By now, most people have heard of social media networks like Facebook, Twitter, and MySpace. It seems like with all of the advanced technology and systems in place, security should not be a concern. Or is it?

Social Networks have been used to target homeowners for burglaries, give child predators access to children and to even commit a homicide. The Federal Trade Commission recognizes these threats and has released the following guidelines (http://www.ftc.gov/bcp/edu/pubs/consumer/tech/tec14.shtm ):

• Think about how different sites work before deciding to join a site. Some sites will allow only a defined community of users to access posted content; others allow anyone and everyone to view postings.
• Think about keeping some control over the information you post. Consider restricting access to your page to a select group of people, for example, your friends from school, your club, your team, your community groups, or your family.
• Keep your information to yourself. Don’t post your full name, Social Security number, address, phone number, or bank and credit card account numbers — and don’t post other people’s information, either. Be cautious about posting information that could be used to identify you or locate you offline. This could include the name of your school, sports team, clubs, and where you work or hang out.
• Make sure your screen name doesn’t say too much about you. Don’t use your name, your age, or your hometown. Even if you think your screen name makes you anonymous, it doesn’t take a genius to combine clues to figure out who you are and where you can be found.
• Post only information that you are comfortable with others seeing — and knowing — about you. Many people can see your page, including your parents, your teachers, the police, the college you might want to apply to next year, or the job you might want to apply for in five years.
• Remember that once you post information online, you can’t take it back. Even if you delete the information from a site, older versions exist on other people’s computers.
• Consider not posting your photo. It can be altered and broadcast in ways you may not be happy about. If you do post one, ask yourself whether it’s one your mom would display in the living room.
• Flirting with strangers online could have serious consequences. Because some people lie about who they really are, you never really know who you’re dealing with.
• Be wary if a new online friend wants to meet you in person. Before you decide to meet someone, do your research: Ask whether any of your friends know the person, and see what background you can dig up through online search engines. If you decide to meet them, be smart about it: Meet in a public place, during the day, with friends you trust. Tell an adult or a responsible sibling where you’re going, and when you expect to be back.
• Trust your gut if you have suspicions. If you feel threatened by someone or uncomfortable because of something online, tell an adult you trust and report it to the police and the social networking site. You could end up preventing someone else from becoming a victim.

Social Media is not all bad news though. I use social media to maintain contact with family, friends, classmates, and my old Marine Corps buddies. Businesses can use social media to engage their customers in providing feedback, announcing specials and events and so much more.  The team at Xcellimark urges you to use social media responsibly.

If you would like more assistance about how social media can be used in your business, please contact us .

How One Orlando Business is Using Twitter to Entice Customers

A couple of weeks ago after work, my friend and I decided to hit up @SeitoSushi for Happy Hour before heading over to the grand opening of Pinkberry in Orlando . I wanted to see what kinds of rolls were on the Happy Hour menu but when I went to the website, all I could find were the lunch and dinner menus.

My best friend did a quick search and sent me this status update where Seito Sushi  had responded to someone else who had asked about their Happy Hour.

Inspired by how they responded to one of their followers, I sent my own Tweet to them hours before meeting my friend:

They promptly responded back with:

It’s that kind of customer engagement that makes Twitter an invaluable tool for businesses, in particular restaurants. I am now following @SeitoSushi so I can stay up to date on their specials/promotions and ask questions about items on their menu.

But My Twitter Story Does Not End There

Ichiban , another local sushi restaurant was also silently listening to the online conversation and it looks like they had their Twitter feelers out for the keyword “sushi” and “Orlando” when they saw my Tweet:

But that was just their opening line to inquire more into my sushi whereabouts and tastes:

I knew where this conversation was going since I work in the industry but it was interesting to see how they would continue to engage me online. After one or two Tweets back and forth they Tweeted their call to action:

How You can Use Twitter To Market Your Business

Not a restaurant? No problem! You can still get some great benefits and possible leads from using Twitter. Use your status updates to alert followers about your most recent blog posts, company news, industry tips/trends and of course retweets from others in the Twitter community whose advice you find invaluable. You never know who is out there listening for your brand-name and Twitter can be the first-step towards a life-long business relationship.

If you’ve been thinking about whether or not to start a blog for your company, there are quite a few things to take into consideration. Two of the most important considerations, in my humble opinion, are these:

Commitment for Consistency

Can you commit the time for at least one blog post per week and work your way up to two or three? Consistency is one of the keys to blogging success, so it’s better not to start a blog unless you can devote the time to keep it going on a consistent basis.

Nothing looks worse than starting to read a blog that seems interesting only to realize it was posted two years ago and the blog hasn’t been updated since then. This is definitely something you want to avoid. So think about your commitment to be consistent with your posts before you launch your blog.

Making Sure the Right Person or Persons are Blogging

Can you or someone in your company be the designated blogger? Choosing who will write is paramount since this person will basically represent your company. One trend many companies employ is having several people within the company write about various aspects of the business.

This is a great plan since it doesn’t over tax one person. If you have 4 people who can write and have something interesting to say, you can cover your blog for a month and each person is responsible for writing only one post per week. Additionally, there should be a plan in place for someone to be in charge of making sure the blog is updated consistently, especially if multiple writers are involved.

Take a Long-Term Approach

Blogging is a fantastic opportunity for you to promote your company, products or services, but taking a long-term approach is the smartest plan. Just as it is with most business strategies, making sure you have the manpower and the time to make a strong commitment is the best plan for success.

Managing multiple Twitter accounts can be fun yet time-consuming. Enter TweetDeck: a desktop application that helps you manage your daily Twitter routine. TweetDeck has several features such as writing and posting status updates to various social media networks from one main dashboard, viewing friend’s updates in real-time and more but the following three features are my personal favorites.

1. Columns - One of the most helpful features on TweetDeck are its columns. Columns can be set up to track mentions, view replies, and monitor and respond to direct messages.
   
   

   

2. Search - Keep an eye out for your business name by creating a search around it and any other keywords related to your industry. The search column helps you stay on top of your industry and discover people looking for your product or service.
   
   

   

3. Facebook Integration - Whether you're writing status updates or monitoring your news feed, Facebook integration in TweetDeck gives you more opportunities to communicate with your audience and manage your brand.
   
   

   

There are other Twitter desktop applications available such as Seesmic, HootSuite, and Twhirl each with their own set of unique features. The only way to determine the best fit for you is to test them out like I did. Afterwhile, you'll be able to figure out which one works the best for your social media management needs.

For more helpful hints, checkout TweetDeck's YouTube channel.

 

In Part 1   of this blog post, I talked about why setting specific goals is important to the success of your blog. The second part of this article will help you determine what those goals are.

A Brainstorming Session Is a Great Place to Begin

Gather everyone together who will be involved in the blogging process and throw your ideas around to see what emerges.

Ask relevant questions  to help determine your goals and establish your reasons for wanting to begin a blog.

• Do you want your blog to attract visitors who might become future clients to your site? Who are they?
• Are you trying to connect to other businesses in your industry? Who are they?
• Is it important that your blog increase your presence on the Web in your industry? Why?
• How often can you post a blog article and can you be consistent? This is an important goal. Start with at least one blog post each week and then re-establish this goal as you can increase the number consistently.
• Who is the best person (or the best people) to represent your company in your blog? Start with one or two and then try to include others in writing, which can also increase your weekly number of blog posts.
• How will you track your success? Setting a goal is one thing, knowing when you reach it is just as important.

Watch The Future of Your Blog Come to Life

As your group brainstorms, you will begin to see the future of your blog materialize and you will have a definite starting point – very important! As the weeks roll by and your blog becomes more and more a part of your company’s presence on the Internet, hopefully your ideas will continue to emerge. Keep setting new goals as you grow your blog.

If you can gain interaction with others in your industry, your blog will not only be helpful to your business, you will be helpful to others as well – this is called community and it is one of the most rewarding elements of blogging. 

So you’ve decided you want to create a company blog. Fantastic! The next step is to figure out exactly how to get your blog going to make it worthwhile and valuable for your company.

Initially, it is important to evaluate what blogging can do for your business and determine how you want to approach the whole idea of your blog.

Specific Goals Are Important for Successful Blog

Sometimes I think we have goals (or ideas) in our minds when we start a new project or task, but, for me, unless I make a tangible plan, I don’t always realize whether I am accomplishing enough. Fleshing out our ideas can turn into quality goals and help guide our way into any new adventure.

The more I’ve learned about blogging and the more I read what others have to say about blogging, the more I realize you need to have very specific goals for your blogs if you want them to be successful. Without understanding what you want to accomplish, it will be very hard to determine what to write about in a blog.

Visit us again on Thursday to learn more about setting goals for your company blog in Part 2 .

I love it when I see my favorite brands using social media. I recently discovered that famous American leather goods company Coach has a Flickr account . Flickr is a popular photo hosting and sharing service Coach uses to feature celebrities and fashion bloggers wearing their popular line of handbags, shoes, clothing and accessories.

As a social media tool Flickr offers a couple of perks over traditional photo suites:

• Attracting New Customers - Coach Enthusiasts already know to go to www.coach.com , but one of the main advantages of social media is to get your brand in front of new customers. Flickr currently has a ton of users and with new people signing up every day there are many opportunities for potential customers to come across photos of Coach items, sparking an interest in the brand.
• Community Involvement - Flickr makes it easy to engage people online. It provides users with interactive features such as commenting and tagging pictures, socially bookmarking photos, sharing pictures via email, photo blogging and more, so people can focus on starting a conversation or keeping one going.

Coach made a good social media marketing move. Fashionistas love nothing more than seeing what a celebrity is wearing so they can buy it for themselves. And since Coach is one of the more affordable luxury brands, putting pretty little ideas in the heads of new and current customers on what they can buy and how to pull the look together can help boost sales online and in their retail stores.

 

In Part 1  of this blog post, I talked about some of the main reasons a company should blog. The second part of this article will discuss additional ways to create a successful blog for your company.

Build a Community and Become a Reliable Resource for Others with your Blog

One of the goals of a blog is to build a community of readers who will be interested enough in what you’re blogging about to come back and visit frequently. As they share your site with others, and others share your site with others, pretty soon your community has grown in number without your having to do a whole lot – except keep blogging. This is one of the greatest benefits of having a company blog. 

Another benefit for you and your readers is to be the place people want to come back to for more good information. Most anyone in the world of blogging will tell you that one of the best things you can do for yourself as a blogger is to become a resource for others. This means not making your blog entirely about you and your company, but instead including links to other information of relevance, mentioning others in your blog posts and directing your readers to all types of helpful information through your blog.

It’s really important to be honest and sincere in your blogging efforts to gain credibility. If your only goal is to promote yourself, others will see through this and move on to more helpful blogs.

It’s a Brave New World of Media in the 21st Century

We’ve entered a new and different world of media and marketing techniques in recent years. Our world has changed from the time when all of the experts were completely unapproachable via radio, TV and print media. Now we can all have a voice! 

It’s an interactive world out there, and if we take the time to listen to others and share our ideas with each other, there is much we can learn and many ways we can benefit each other. Blogging is a simple way to do just that.

Now that’s not so scary after all, is it? 

If you’re a business owner and you’re paying attention, you’re hearing a lot about Social Media and blogging. You may be in the same boat as lots of other business owners – you have no idea how to break into the social media scene and you don’t really know what a blog is!

Maybe The Blog sounds like a scary monster who lives in the swamp and appears only at dusk through a cloud of fog and dampness. Don’t be afraid, blogging really isn’t as scary as you may think.

Yes, it’s an amazingly fast growing phenomenon; and let’s face it, in our current economic situation, many business owners haven’t had time to keep one up. So I hope to give you something to think about and help you uncover the mystery of The Blog!

Gain Exposure on the Web Through Blogging for Your Company

There are many reasons a company should get in on the social media scene. One of the main ways to do this is with a blog - it is the perfect way to get more exposure for your products or services with relative ease and not much expense. Besides, you don’t want to be left out of one of the fastest growing methods of Internet Marketing of the decade!

Blogging is one of the primary elements of a social media campaign. It is the central core of an entire social media strategy. Without a blog, your efforts to use other Social Media tools such as Facebook and Twitter probably won’t be as effective.

Blogging is the perfect platform to talk about your business in a casual way to draw other people to your blog and ultimately to your Web site, your Facebook page and to get people interested in following you on Twitter.

Visit us again on Thursday to learn more about the benefits of blogging in Part 2.
 

Xcellimark started 9 years ago as a web design company. Six months later Xcellimark started to market and promote websites in order to ensure that a company’s website investment was bringing in a positive return. That service was coined, “Search Engine Optimization” (SEO). During this time, people asked, “What’s a search engine?”

Fast forward 8 years and everybody knows what a search engine is, but there is now a new online medium in town. It’s called “Social Media.” Businesses are asking the same questions they asked 9 years ago about the need for a website and SEO. Today’s question is, “How can social media help my company make more money?”

Watch this video to see how Fortune 500 companies have increased profits with social media. Contact Xcellimark  to see how your company can use social media to increase your bottom line.

 

 

Ever wish you could be a fly on the wall and listen in on people’s conversations about you? Twitter  gives you that ability in real-time. And now that Twitter feeds are showing up in search engines such as Google, it’s now more important than ever to monitor your brand or product name. Celebrities do it all the time. Let’s look at a few examples so you can see how to apply them to your business.

Kim Kardashian

The reality show vixen was rumored to have killed her dog after allegedly finding out that her boyfriend, NFL star Reggie Bush, cheated on her. She immediately addressed the rumors on her Twitter:

 

 

 

 

What we can learn from this: Timing is everything. Around the same time the rumor hit the media, Kardashian  immediately denounced it on Twitter. By acting fast, she was able to make all of the other sources out there claiming she did harm her dog look less credible. If someone says something negative about you or your business, don’t wait too long to address it. The longer you wait, the more out of control the rumor can spin.

Wyclef Jean

Musician and founder of Yele Hati Wyclef Jean  was accused of having an extramarital affair and misappropriating funds from Yele Haiti to an alleged mistress. Jean took to Twitter with a special message for those fueling the gossip mill. Sure, he could have defended himself in a more eloquent manner but this is a good example of how someone can use Twitter to share their side of the story:

 

 

 

 

What we can learn from this: Just because Twitter gives you a voice does not give you license to miss-communicate. Jean calling his accusers names can make people question his validity. Remember to be kind to your critics, even when defending your business or brand name. Stooping to their level will only lose you cool points with your fans.

Michelle McGee

A tattoo model more famously known for causing trouble in the marriage of Oscar-winning actress Sandra Bullock and her husband Jesse James did not even have to defend herself: one of her fans did it for her and she re-tweeted it so it would show up in her Twitter feed:

 

 

 

 

 

What we can learn from this: After looking at Michelle’s Twitter profile , this was her only defense in reference to the adultery allegations – and it was not even directly from her. It was one of her own followers that did the Tweeting. One of the best ways to save face is to have your followers do it for you. It comes across as more genuine when other people are promoting a positive image of you.

Keeping your fingers on the pulse of Twitter and using it to effectively monitor your brand is a great way to defend your online reputation and find other opportunities for successful public relations.

In any type of marketing campaign, we have to pitch our products, services and our company if we want to get new business and make our presence known. And so it is with a blog - we want others to like our blog, mention our blog, and comment on our blog. That’s the name of the game in helping to build a larger community of readers.

So the question is, what is the right way to pitch your blogs? As with most anything else, there is a right and a wrong way to go about pitching a blog to get the results you want. Here are a few pointers to get you going in the right direction.

Before You Pitch Your Blog

• Read other blogs posts and find out who is blogging about things that will be useful and of interest to your own readers.
• Comment on other blogs. Make relevant, informative comments regarding the content.
• Contact the person who is writing the blog before you send your pitch.
• Be organized and make sure you know which sites will be best the target audience.
• Check to find out if there is a policy about accepting pitches.

When You Pitch Your Blog

• Address the person by name.
• Send your pitch to the correct email address, not webmaster.
• Send an individual email to the person, not mass emails.
• Be up front and honest about who you are and who you work for.
• Make sure your email is friendly in tone.
• Reference specific posts you found interesting.
• Explain why you feel your blog will be of interest to their audience too.

Building a Strong Community is the Reason to Pitch Your Blog

The more you blog, the more you will find others with whom you have common interests and things to share. Blogging is about sharing ideas and helping others to share theirs. The more you help others, the more they will help you. Perhaps that’s why it’s called building a community.

A community is only as strong as those who live in it and we all know that helping others is what makes any community strong. A blogging community works the same way. So pitch your blog to others and respond when others pitch their blog to you.
 

One of the most significant things you can do as a blogger is to give high priority to the importance of blog post titles. Good keyword-rich titles help rankings with search engine results and deserve a good deal of thought – every time!

All writers have their own strategies, and what works best for some may not work for another person. When I begin writing, I have a topic in mind, but I don’t actually give my blog post a title until I’ve finished writing it. I may start with one title and change it quite a few times before deciding on the final one.

 

Selecting Keywords and Keyword Search Tools

 

So how does one go about choosing keywords? Well, obviously, it depends on what you’re writing about.

If I were planning to remodel my kitchen and wanted to purchase new kitchen cabinets, how would I search for ideas on the Internet – kitchen cabinets, kitchen cabinet, kitchen remodeling, cabinets, etc. All the different ways one can search for a particular topic or item are basically keywords.

When you think of keywords, you should think of what word someone would use to search for the particular item or topic.

But that’s not the only way. There are many helpful tools out there – some of them for free – that are incredibly helpful in choosing the very best keywords. SEO Book Keyword Suggestion Tool  and Google AdWords  are two popular tools.

 

Keyword Placement is Important in Titles

 

While you may be tempted to choose cute, catchy titles for your blog posts, don’t do it! Of course, you want your titles to catch the attention of your audience since you do actually want someone to read your posts, but there is a difference in catching attention and being catchy!

If I see a title that catches my attention and then the article is about something totally different, I am immediately irritated. So I don’t want to do that to anyone else.  Make sure the main title contains keywords and it tells the readers what they are really going to read about.

In Meta Titles the most prominent keyword should be placed at the beginning or as close to the beginning as possible. The Meta Title doesn’t have to be the same as the title that appears at the top of the blog post – it can actually be longer, but it is imperative that keywords are placed early in the title to make them more likely to be found by search engines. And after all, you want to make the Search Engines happy!