5 Steps to Make More Money Online by Micha Kaufman

You could say building a successful personal brand online comes down to understanding one rule:

“It’s not about what you want to say; it’s about what you want people to know.”

It may sound simple but the difference between a successful and unsuccessful online personal brand for an entrepreneur can often be measured by not understanding the difference between a ‘statement’ and ‘proposition of value’.

Here are the top 5 steps to take to ensure the success of your personal brand:

1) Assess your position

Before you can begin to define your online brand and position yourself, it’s important to understand what works. For example, say that you would like to start a business by selling designed goods in online marketplaces. A reasonable move would be to look at successful sellers on sites from Fab to Etsy and identify how they do it: Look at the voice they use, the social media channels they operate on, even the colors and fonts they employ. Do the same with sellers that don’t resonate with you and the contrast between the two will more clearly reveal how you would like your message to be received and the methods to achieve it.

2) Create the foundation

Just as the services or goods you provide are unique and valuable, so too must be your personal brand. The most important process in personal branding is defining what makes you unique and why should anyone pay attention to what you have to say? More importantly, try to understand what it is about you that would be of value to both your target audience and your peers. If you can define who they are and what they are looking for, you can then begin to structure a truly authentic brand message. It’s not easy having a clear vision of yourself, so it might help to ask your friends, family and your fellow entrepreneurs how they perceive you and what are your strengths. Authenticity is central to personal brand success.

3) Extend your reach

Look at the social platforms you operate on and refine them in line with your message. If you don’t have a blog, maybe you should think of creating one. If you do, optimize its brand message. More importantly, identify areas important to your audience you aren’t active in and get involved. The key here is to be both consistent and individualized. Your message needs to be standardized across your digital footprint, but tailored to suit the unique environment of each social platform. What works for Facebook doesn’t work for Twitter. Don’t forget there are plenty of services out there to help you customize your personal brand content exactly as you want it. Don’t be afraid to play around and see what works, but always stay on message and maintain your authenticity. Just like you as a person, you’re building something greater than the sum of its parts.

4) Leverage your worth

So you’ve defined and built your personal brand, optimized the message and are now spreading it online. Now what?

The key to leveraging any brand is targeting not only the right audiences, but linking with the like minded. Get involved in the forums your audience participates in. Connect with trendsetters, thought leaders and of course your fellow entrepreneurs in your niche. Comment on blog posts that resonate with your personal brand, and always follow up with those who post on yours. Building connections and a community comes from being not only authentic and topical, but most importantly being seen as creating value, not noise.

5) Establish your leadership

For your online personal brand to be truly distinct and widely recognized, you need to lead. Build authority by bravely spreading your thought leadership wherever you can. Contribute guest articles on relevant blogs, lead discussions on forums and use your social media channels to invite opinions and debate. Remember, to be heard on the Internet you first need to be seen.

Of course, this process never really ends: Continually focus on how best to optimize your personal brand, keep making those connections and always ensure that what people hear about you is authentic and on message.

Article source: http://www.forbes.com/sites/michakaufman/2013/01/12/5-steps-to-make-more-money-online/

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Posted in: how to make cash money,how to make money,internet marketing,social media,What can I do to make money

The 16 Most Important Social Media Updates of 2012 by Rachel Sprung

In the last 12 months, there have been tons of updates to our favorite social networks, several of which were extremely relevant for marketers and business owners.

Many of them were just little tweaks, but a lot -- 16 in our estimation -- had a huge impact on marketers' jobs. The latter are the ones we want to highlight;

not just to show how much can change in a year, but to emphasize how critical it is to remain agile as an inbound marketer so you can keep up with all these updates. Plus, if you're not already using some of these new features (or perhaps didn't know they existed), what better time to get started than the new year?

Here are the biggest social media updates of 2012, and why they were so darn important to marketers.

The Biggest Facebook Updates of 2012

1) Global Brand Pages

With users coming to companies' Facebook pages from all over the world, Facebook needed to do something to make marketing easier so community managers wouldn't have to either 1) keep up multiple brand pages, or 2) maintain one brand page with really untargeted content. That's why we were so excited in October, when Facebook announced Global Pages that allowed marketers to maintain just one Facebook page URL, but route fans to different versions of the page based on their location. Here, look at Facebook's own Facebook page, for an example:

This update makes the job of a social media marketer much more efficient and effective. Before, marketers had to manage multiple accounts in different languages, or decide which language they were going to cater to and settle for unhappy followers who couldn't understand the content. Now, you get the best of both worlds -- one page to manage, personalized content, and one centralized dashboard to measure it all.

2) Mobile-Only Facebook Ads

In June, Facebook launched an important feature for marketers who use sponsored ads. For the first time, they allowed marketers to pay for ads only in the Facebook mobile app, as opposed to the mobile app and desktop app combined.

Many companies may have known that their audience was predominantly using mobile over desktop -- or perhaps at certain times one is preferable over the other. However, they had to pay for both advertising placements to have the chance to reach mobile users. Now that these options are separate, marketers can now target their mobile audience differently than those accessing pages on their desktop. They can also see which platform performs better to understand where their advertising dollars should be going.

3) 9 More Facebook Targeting Options

In August, Facebook announced that they were going to allow advertisers to target their audience based on more criteria than before, including age, gender, gender the user's interested in, relationship status, education, college grad (college name, major), in college (college name, major, years), in high school, and workplace ... all in addition to the options already available including language and location.

Before this update, everything that a Facebook page updated would appear in a user's newsfeed just because of their language and location, even if it didn't really relate to them. With more nitty-gritty targeting options, social media marketers can target parts of their audiences with more personalized content.

4) Open Graph Opens Up

In January, Facebook announced that it was opening submissions for Open Graph applications. Open graph applications allow third-party developers to automatically share user engagement after someone gives them permission once. For example, if you read an article on the New York Times and have given the Open Graph application permission, it will automatically post your engagement with that app -- namely, what you were reading -- on your Timeline.

By using Open Graph applications, marketers now have a significantly larger reach than before. Think about it -- if one person is playing a game from Zynga and has 2,000 friends, a healthy portion of those 2,000 friends will learn about the game, and have a pseudo word-of-mouth recommendation for it, too!

The Biggest Twitter Updates of 2012

5) Tailored Trends

In June, Twitter announced Tailored Trends, which notifies a Twitter user about popular trends on Twitter based on what Twitter knows about his or her interests, followers, and location. This update allows Twitter to notify users about important topics that matter to each person, instead of the broad topics that only resonate with some.

Tailored Trends give marketers a chance to be ahead of the game. When breaking trends affecting the industry happen, Tailored Trends is a way marketers can immediately find out about it, and possibly even do some newsjacking. It can also help you decide what kind of content your followers might be interested in hearing from you.

6) Twitter Cover Photos

In September, Twitter announced a change to the layout of its profile pages. Similar to Facebook, Twitter now has cover photos on a user or company's profile page.

Marketers now have more real estate to promote their company and give followers a better feel of what the company is all about. Followers' eyes will immediately go toward the larger image that also promotes the username, location, and bio, which was far less visible with the old layout.

7) Targeting by Interest or Username

In September, Twitter expanded paid advertising to have the ability to target by interest or username. Before, you could target with a search term, but now Twitter allows marketers to get more specific.

When targeting by interest, Twitter looks at who the user is talking about, following, and what keywords he or she is using. When targeting by username, Twitter looks at other people who are similar to another username (and not just following them). This update allows marketers to segment during their paid advertising more effectively to reach a greater number of people with interests that are more aligned with the company. 

The Biggest LinkedIn Updates of 2012

8) New LinkedIn Company Pages

In September, LinkedIn announced a new design for their company pages. Before, all of the LinkedIn pages basically looked the same, with the exception of the unique logo and company information blurb. However, the new pages display Company Updates and Products & Services more prominently, provide space for a cover photo, a different layout for Jobs, and the option to better target your company updates to certain segments of your audience.

One of the best parts of this new layout is how much more visible your products and services are to page visitors -- that page was even redesigned to showcase recommendations in the sidebar!

9) Targeted LinkedIn Updates

In April, LinkedIn announced the ability to segment updates based on company size, industry, job function, seniority, geography, and including/excluding company employees. Using this criteria, advertisers can publish updates right to a user's homepage. Your company's LinkedIn admins will also be given metrics for number of followers targeted, impressions, clicks, shares, and engagement after 24 hours.

As a result of targeted ads, LinkedIn has seen a 66% increase in engagement. Marketers who are able to segment and personalize messages to their audiences consistently get better results -- what's not to love about the ad personalization bandwagon social media networks are jumping on?

10) LinkedIn & Twitter Break Up

In June, LinkedIn & Twitter announced an end to their partnership. Previously, users could post updates to LinkedIn through their Twitter accounts. The end of their partnership marks the end of users having the ability to do this. Users can still post to Twitter from LinkedIn, but they cannot post to LinkedIn from Twitter, affecting many marketers who had synced up the two for a more streamlined social media management experience.

So while marketers are still able to post to both networks, the change takes away some of the efficiency of having posts update to both accounts.

The Biggest Foursquare Updates of 2012

11) Promoted Updates

In July, Foursquare announced Promoted Updates. Before they were announced, companies could only reach users who had already checked into their business. But with the launch of Promoted Updates, companies had the ability to appear in people's "Explore" tab even if they had not been to the restaurant before. They could promote a special, share photos, or share another message encouraging users to come to their place.

This new feature has helped marketers extend their reach and appear in anyone's feed, even if they have never been in contact with the business before. For example, if you're a small coffee shop, your name may not be known by many people, especially in areas dominated by Starbucks or Dunkin' Donuts. But if you have a promoted post in Foursquare, you have the opportunity to reach a completely new audience.

12) Ratings System

At the beginning of the month, Foursquare announced ratings, a new system they created to recommend places. They don't just ask people whether or not they like a location, but they use a combination of factors including tips, likes, dislikes, popularity, loyalty, local expertise, and check-ins from all over the world. When you go to the 'Explore' tab, you're able to see what the popular places nearby are based on these rankings.

Marketers have a unique challenge with this update -- unlike your typical ratings where people say how much they like or dislike a place, this ranking also takes into account other factors including check-ins, tips, and loyalty. It is the marketer's job to encourage people coming to your restaurant or location to leave tips and provide specials that will lead to customer loyalty. 

The Biggest Google+ Updates of 2012

13) Hangouts on Air

In May, Google announced Hangouts on Air to the public to allow people to have hangouts with 9 other people while being broadcasted to an even larger audience. Not only can you broadcast to more people, but you can track how many people are watching at a time, and Google will upload your video to YouTube at the end of the Hangout.

Before this update, Hangouts could only really be used in a business setting for smaller conference calls between teams. However, by opening it up to more viewers, Hangouts now have a larger business purpose. Press conferences or company announcements now have a new outlet. Webinars, events, and conferences can now be broadcast to a larger audience. Interviews can now take place on a new channel. And hey, if you can't stand writing content, here's another medium for you to create marketing content ... without ever picking up the proverbial pen!

14) Search Engine Updates

In January, we all learned that Google is now integrating Google+ into search results. So whenever you search for something on Google, it uses information from Google+ accounts in your results, including photos and updates that you or others in your network have shared. Additionally, when you search for people's names in Google search, it pulls in people you're connected with or may be interested in connecting with based on your Google+ profile. Finally, after you search for a particular topic, a list of business pages appear on the right side of the business page.

For marketers, the takeaway is clear -- if you care about SEO, but don't really want to use Google+ ... tough cookies. If a potential customer searches for a company in your industry and you don't have a presence on Google+, competitors that do might be the ones that get the click.

15) Google+ Places Becomes Google+ Local

In May, Google+ decided to get rid of Google Places and put all of its energy into Google+ Local. By searching for a place or restaurant in Google+ Local, the contact information, reviews, and photos of that place appear in the SERPs. Google+ Local is also now integrated when someone searches for places on Google Maps.

If you're already using Google+, this should make your life easier -- and if you're not, here's one more reason to do it.

The Biggest Pinterest Updates of 2012

16) Business Accounts for Brands

In mid-November, Pinterest finally answered every marketer's prayers and announced business accounts for brands. And the process of setting them up is, luckily, really simple.

Even though you may not have heard about Pinterest until recently, it has actually been around for a while, and totally blew up as a marketing mechanism in 2012. This shift to creating dedicated business accounts is an encouraging sign of things to come from Pinterest -- we're thinking features like analytics (pinalytics, even?) might be a hot new addition to the already awesome platform ;-)

What other social media updates from this year rocked your marketing world? Which updates are you hoping to see in 2013?

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Posted in: how to make cash money,how to make money,Jackson Yin,social media,Social Media Marketing,What can I do to make money

How Instagram Can Make Money — Without Alienating Users

Photo-sharing site Instagram recently upset many of its users by suggesting in an amended terms of service agreement that the site might start using their photos in ads. Instagram later retracted the change, but the controversy raises questions about Instagram’s business model and how its owner, Facebook, might eventually make a profit from the free service. Wharton marketing professor Pinar Yildirim says the answer is to build a mutually rewarding relationship with its users.

Within two years of its launch, Instagram has grown to 100 million users who have posted some five billion photos. But loyalties run fickle in the world of online services. A day after its revised terms-of-service prompted outrage among users, Instagram co-founder Kevin Systrom clarified in a blog post that his company didn’t intend to sell users’ photos to advertisers. The service was working to update the terms to make them clearer, he added. But some damage had been done: Within a week of the first announcement, Instagram’s number of daily active users fell from 16.4 million to 12.4 million, social media traffic tracking firm AppData told the New York Post. Many unhappy Instagram users threatened to take their photos to rivals like Yahoo-owned Flickr, which recently revamped its mobile app, along with Instaport.me and InstaBackup, according to a New York Times report.

Facebook, which bought Instagram last April for $1 billion, “needed some of Instagram’s functionality, and Instagram is worth much more to Facebook than it is alone,” Wharton operations and information management professor Eric Clemons told KnowledgeToday soon after the purchase.

But the big question for Instagram is how to become profitable. Yildirim suggests several viable routes for Instagram to monetize its services, including low-risk options such as charging subscription fees, selling photo products and selling advertising. Higher-risk options include commercializing users’ photos and selling data to third parties. “Depending on which route they take, their major competitor will vary,” she adds.

“The first two options of monetization are relatively straightforward to implement and would result in low backlash from the consumers,” Yildirim notes. Most photo services allow for free subscriptions and limited storage, and begin charging for storage beyond a certain level. Flickr, which has such offerings, would become more of a competitor if Instagram pursues the subscription route. “The difficulty comes from convincing consumers to switch,” she says.

Instagram could also choose the option of selling advertising, including location-based or contextual ads relevant to the text or content of users’ photos, according to Yildirim. But unlike search engine-based advertising, advertising on Instagram would create some difficulties, she adds. “Technologies to process images [and offer ads based on the content in the photos] are not all that advanced at this point, but soon they will be.”

Another option for Instagram is to monetize its services in a way that would allow consumers to get “something in exchange” for their photos being appropriated for ads or other uses, says Yildirim. “There is an … opportunity for user-generated advertising for Instagram and YouTube. Creations — images and videos — of consumers can be picked up by firms for promotional purposes and distributed. It is cheaper to create promotional content this way, and ads can be more effective when the material comes from loyal consumers rather than an advertising agency.”

For such a strategy to have a chance of garnering the support of users, Yildirim notes, Instagram would need to give photographers some sort of recognition — monetary or otherwise — when their photos are picked up on the app and subsequently used in advertisements. “I think we will be moving in this direction,” she predicts, noting that on Twitter, “brands are collecting consumer photos and distributing them through tweets and re-tweets. There is no reason why this activity cannot be monetized.”

This entry was originally posted in Knowledge@Wharton Today, Managing Technology.

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Posted in: Facebook,how to make cash money,how to make money,Instagram,social media,What can I do to make money

Social Media Companies make Money…. How? By Social Butterfly

Social media is being slowly integrated into business as a necessary change in how we share information. Yet social media is bigger than anyone could have imagined and hard to harness. Facebook has over 1 billion users, 600 of which are using the network mobily.YouTube gets 4 billion views per day, there are 150 million people tumbling on Tumblr, 140 million people tweeting on Twitter, 175 million registered users for Linkedin and 33 million people are streaming their favorite music through Spotify. These services are some of the most subscribed in the entire world—but they are, for the most part, free. How can a free service, that is incredibly popular, provide flawless product (note backlash when something goes wrong), for free?

Historically, when social networks finance their startups, they base their numbers on an assumption of growth—the money on day one is different than year two, and is still different from year five, and so forth. Getting a social media company off the ground requires involvement with a venture capitalist, or group of venture capitalists. These people invest in the company anticipating an eventual payout as the company grows more valuable, bringing  a healthy return on their initial investment. However, as platforms become more popular they often require more capital investment to build and maintain operations. In the case of a popular social media platform, servers and technicians need to be added to compensate for increased traffic. It is at these points in a start-up’s evolution that it can either go in for further rounds of investment, or hope to get bought out by a larger company.

Whether a company gets bought or not, it needs to  become profitable. The turn most companies take is towards advertising—and this is not a passing fad. Out of the $16.9 billion (up from $11.8 billion last year) in revenues made by social media outlets, $8.8 billion came from advertising. Another route is subscription based services, such as Spotify, which make considerably less comparatively to their advertising brethren—showing that people would rather be advertised to than pay a fee to sign up.
Facebook, the behemoth of the social media industry, has recently upped the advertising antie, however. Instead of simple banner advertisements, they began their “Facebook Exchange” program in June with the basic premise that advertisements are not only tailored to your interests in banner form on your facebook page, but actually follow you from webpage to webpage and remember you for long periods of time. This advancement in data mining and connectivity comes after prolonged pressure from Wall Street to make Facebook more profitable than it has been. Facebook has yet to disclose actual click numbers, yet potential advertisers and investors are very much on board and have contributed to a recent spike in the companies stock.

There are a few other ways to make money from a social service. Companies offer “levels of access” accounts, which limit the amount of functionality that a service offers based upon what a subscriber pays for. Companies have tried “professional,” “executive” and “full member” accounts in tandem with a free, less complete service—though they do not often fare as well as the non-premium-based advertising service which typically sees more use. The fear among social media platforms for requiring a provided service cost lies in the fact that users are fickle. A young up and coming company can steal another company’s user group with the click of a mouse, and it is a story we have seen before.

A roundabout way for making the user pay is a tactic called “gamification.” Here users can pay for experiences in a game, give gifts to friends, or achieve preserved status based on participation or spending. Gaming and gift strategies are being called “money-spinners” and are catching the eye of larger companies. While profits don’t come close to that those garnered via advertising, it is at this point a solid second place opportunity for financial gain beyond the current bread and butter, advertising.

Experts are predicting that the number of people joining social networks is going to taper off over the next few years, often citing that those who have the financial and technical ability to have social media already do. Because of this, instead of focusing on extreme growth (keeping up with network and hardware demands), as most social media platforms have been forced to confront in their infancies, we will see much more effort placed on the monetizing of existing companies and enhancement of already existing services. It is thought that not all hyped platforms will survive through this next phase.Groupon, a social coupon platform, began with a loud boom and wild support from people with smartphones everywhere, though just in the last few months we’ve seen stock prices plummet, and interest decrease because of lackluster performance that could not live up to original projections.

Internet start-ups continue to be one of the hottest and most interesting areas of tech business development. This is no arena for the faint of heart. A saturated market and no current gold standard solution to monetization make the barriers to entry higher and higher. Yet as obstacles to continued success grow, so does the challenge to create the next big thing in social media.

Article source: http://socialbutterflyonline.net/2012/12/10/social-media-companies-make-money-how/

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Posted in: how to make cash money,how to make money,social media,What can I do to make money

Optimize Your Social Media Schedule: 4 Tips for Avoiding the Social Media Time Suck by Ashley Zeckman

Making the time to execute on a social media strategy can rattle even the most experienced marketers.  Unlike traditional marketing, social media marketing can present many different challenges and distractions.  According to a study by eMarketer 73% of marketers say finding the time to create content as their biggest marketing challenge.

I recently ran a poll of @TopRank Twitter followers to get a sense of how they spend their time online.  I asked “If you had only 20 minutes a day to spend on social media what would you focus on?”  Some of the answers we received were:

• @henryroominates – “I would try to connect with powerful Twitter users and Tweet content from my blog.”
• @SebastianX – “I’d read my Twitter Followanyday List.”
• @Paco_Belle – “Look at 2-3 Twitter lists, couple circles on G+, scroll Facebook timeline & look through my RSS feeds for new things.”
• @Paramountbuzz – “Engaging others…doing it now.”
• @GreenDolphin_ – “My RSS feed, Twitter, Pinterest, and Facebook.”

If you are involved with implementing social media marketing, you know that 20 minutes a day just won’t cut it.  On top of implementing social media tactics, there’s also the task fo staying current. Lee’s post “11 Ways to Get Smarter & Stay Current in a World of Social Information Overload“ outlined how much time can be involved using social tools to collect, filter and curate social media marketing knowledge.

Avoiding Shiny Object Pitfalls

Reuters estimates that the average worker loses 2.1 hours of productivity every day to interruptions and distractions.  To avoid wasting time begin by prioritizing your week.  While it’s true that unexpected issues can come up plan for the best and the worst.  If you have 3 hours per day on average to complete tasks related to social media strategy what will you get accomplished in those 3 hours?  If you were only to have 1.5 hours per day what would you want to get accomplished?  Proper planning will lead to improved productivity and efficiency.  Also, take some time to determine what your top distractions are and eliminate them.

Optimize for Productivity

Focus on what will have the largest impact on your productivity. Determining what time of day you are most productive, and which activities are most significant will help you to stay on track.  Are you an early riser, night owl, or somewhere in between?  Creating a daily schedule and routine can significantly improve your productivity.  You will also want to keep in mind statistical data which points to the best times of day and days of the week for engaging in social media activity.  A recent infographic by KISSmetrics on “The Science of Social Timing” provides valuable insight into the best times of day to share or engage on sites like Facebook and Twitter.  Some of the findings include:

Twitter

• 5pm – best time to Tweet for re-tweets
• 1-4 per hour – most effective frequency of Tweets
• Midweek & Weekends – best days to Tweet
• Noon & 6pm – best time to Tweet for increase Click Through Rates

Facebook

• Saturday- best day to share on Facebook
• Noon- most effective time to share on Facebook
• .5 per day – best sharing frequency

Tips for an Optimized Focus

Now lets talk about some no brainer “don’ts” that the many of us “do”.  Let me know if any of these sound familiar to you:

• Your best friend is having problems with their significant other so you keep your phone close, just in case…
• It’s baseball season and your team is playing but you don’t have the day off, thank goodness for internet radio right…
• You have email anxiety which forces you to check email every couple minutes because you never know what you might miss…
• One of your colleagues is obsessed with chatting online and pings you every couple minutes with a question or joke…
• You’re scheduling Tweets, posting on your personal facebook page, and reading Psychology Today all at the same time, because after all you are a master multi-tasker…

I too have often thought that I could do everything at once.  A balancing act acquired from years of having too much to do, and not enough time.  I considered multi-tasking an art form and a higher form of organization than my counterparts who only focused on one thing at a time.  I could not have been more wrong.  In recent years I’ve had to buckle down and force myself to devote all of my attention to one task at a time.  I’ve found that the quality of my work has improved and the level of my stress has decreased significantly.  Some tactics that have worked for me include:

• Closing my email when I’m working on social media tasks
• Close all Internet windows and tabs except for the one I need to work on
• Disabling chat or closing chat windows to avoid distraction
• Pick 15 minutes a day to indulge in activities such as checking personal social media profiles, responding to texts, or chatting with friends.
• Spend 30 minutes to an hour each morning reviewing emails and responding, do the same thing before leaving at the end of the day.
• It is significantly easier to stick to your schedule if you are working ONLY on the tasks you have scheduled in the time allotted.

Tools for Optimizing Your Time

Depending on your available time and social media content strategy, there are many tools that can help you accomplish more with less time.  Below are three different types of tools that social media marketers can use to get the most out of their time:

Curation Tools – good for quickly gathering and automatically sharing content

• Scoop.it
• Storify
• Pearltrees

Social Aggregators & Management Tools –  follow and engage with multiple platforms

• Hootsuite
• Tweetdeck
• Seesmic
• Here’s a list of 22 social media management tools

Social Bookmarking – effective means of organizing and storing social bookmarks

• StumleUpon
• Reddit
• Delicious
• Evernote – not a bookmarking tool exactly but very useful for curating

Next Steps

I’m sure you’ll agree that focus and time management are something that most of us can relate to.  Based on what was covered in this post, consider the following questions and determine what you can do to better focus on the tasks at hand:

• What are your top 3 social media goals and do you have a plan for reaching them?
• How much time can you dedicate each day to using tactics to reach these goals?
• What steps can you take to improve your focus while completing social media activities?
• Which type of tool: curation, aggregator, or social bookmarking can you use to help save time?

If  you are looking for additional tips on Optimizing your SEO, social media, and content strategies be sure to take a look at the new book: “Optimize: How to Attract & Engage More Customers By Integrating SEO, Social Media, and Content Marketing.”

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Posted in: B2B,B2C,how to make cash money,how to make money,Online Marketing,Social Bookmarking,social media,Social Media Tool,Social Networking,What can I do to make money

5 Tips for Starting a Career in Social Media Today

So I take it you’re looking to start a career in social media? Well unless you’re one of the lucky few who can “blow up” with a viral hit, it’s going to take some hard work and passion. I should know- I’m not writing this from some ivory tower. I’m writing this with the belief that what I’m about to share with you will continue to propel me forward as well.  There’s a lot of opportunity out there in online marketing and I’m guessing you want in as well. Businesses are finally taking social seriously, and now is the time to learn the tools, theories and people to set yourself ahead of the competition. Are you committed? Are you serious? And most importantly, are you ready?


T- TODAY: Is it bad to start an acronym with the word itself? I don’t have the answer to that, but I digress… Social media is both an art and a science. To become knowledgeable, you have to both study and practice regularly, starting today. Read up from sources like Mashable or Social Media Today and listen to thought leaders like Michael Stelzner and Brian Solis. Trust that other people are smarter than you and use the internet to your advantage to learn from the best. After a while, you’ll begin to internalize the best practices and make them your own. When the ideas become your own, you can reflect them back into the world and help to grow the thinkers of tomorrow. For all we know, you may even write a book someday- but let’s not get ahead of ourselves.

O- ORIGINALITY: If your plan involves being a copy of someone else, why would anyone follow you over them? Instead, bring your own dip to the party and be happy that a career in social media allows your creativity and personality to show through. There’s only one right way to change the oil in a car, but there’s countless ways to build a following on Facebook or Twitter. Experiment and find what works for you. Though it may take some time to find your niche, you can already cross off copying “that guy” with a million Twitter followers, because what he did to get there has already been done.

D- DATA: Data is your friend with online marketing- Learn to love it. Sooner or later someone is going to want to see behind the curtain of your work and you’ll need to come up with sexy-looking reports to show your progress. Previous generations have had to struggle finding and collecting data, so be thankful that now it’s just a click away. Find ways to interpret meaning from the numbers and use them to your advantage in future planning. Ask yourself “Why?” again and again, and test your hypotheses to see if you were right. You’ll know when you are, because the data doesn’t lie.

A- ALWAYS: Here’s a list of a few things you should always do: Create what you’d want to see, share your content, cite your sources, being engaging, network with like-minded individuals, stay on top of the trends, accept that your know nothing and continue learning, go to meet-ups, update your profiles, keep it classy, have fun, keep trying and most importantly- be yourself (I said it twice because I mean it).

Y- YEARNING: There are plenty of jobs out there, but is this what you want to be doing? If I were to search Google and ask what you’re all about, what would show up? I’d hope to find employable social profiles and see some initiative on your part- Otherwise your talk is just fluff. It’s easy to say you have passion and drive, but if you’re truly passionate, then start putting your name out there. Spend the time to build a website, show the world the plans inside your head, and develop a deep understanding of all the social tools and the tactics that drive them. Faith is an action word my friend, so take the plunge and get started following your dreams today.

How are you getting started? Tell me in the comments below and share your success stories.


By Ryan Connors.  Article source: http://www.business2community.com/social-media/5-tips-for-starting-a-career-in-social-media-today-0301228

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Posted in: how to make cash money,Paid social media jobs,social media,Social Media Marketing,What can I do to make money

Facebook Marketing Secrets: Buddy Media Report Shows The Best Times To Post

Wednesday is the worst day of the week to advertise on Facebook, while Saturday and Sunday are the best, according to a new report analyzing user activity from brand pages of the world’s biggest companies.

On Wednesday, the rate at which users “like,” share or comment on Facebook brand posts is 7.4 percent below the average daily interaction rate, according to the report by Buddy Media, a social media consulting company. The weekends, however, show a spike in engagement. Brand posts published on Saturdays and Sundays receive 14.5 percent more interaction compared to weekday posts.

Yet many companies advertising on Facebook are doing it all wrong. Only 14 percent of posts published by brands appear on the weekend, while Wednesday is the most common day for brands to post Facebook content.

And that’s not the only mistake marketers make on Facebook. It turns out users are most likely to engage with brand posts in the evening and early morning. Yet few brands publish during those times. HuffPost found Coca-Cola, for instance, published all of its posts last week in the late afternoon. A lost opportunity given that brand posts published between 8 p.m. and 7 a.m. receive 14 percent higher interaction than those published between 8 a.m. and 7 p.m, the report found.

The reason: "When not at work, people are more likely to spend time perusing Facebook and interacting with Page content,” the Buddy Media report says. (Obviously, social media marketers aren’t going to get up at ungodly hours to publish posts -- which is why Facebook scheduling exists.)

Not every industry is the same, though. For example, a clothing or fashion business is most likely to see users engage with its content on a Thursday. For a company in the retail or the technology space, Monday is the best bet. Perhaps unsurprisingly, leisure brands start to see interaction rates climb as the weekend nears on Thursday, peaking on Sunday.

Here are some other nuggets of social media wisdom from Buddy Media’s report:

• Limit brand posts to one to two times per day (brands that post one or two times per day see 19 percent higher interaction rates than those who post three or more times per day).


• Much like marketing on Twitter, brevity is key. Posts should be no longer than 80 characters (posts with more than 80 characters receive 23 percent less interaction).


• If you want comments, ask questions (posts with questions generate 92 percent higher comment rates than non-question posts).


• Use emoticons (posts that contain emoticons receive 52 percent higher interaction rates; the emoticons :D and :P have the highest interaction rates). But, as Buddy Media's report notes, "the use of emoticons proves most successful for health and beauty and food and beverage brands, while automotive, clothing, fashion and technology brands all have lower than average interaction rates when using emoticons."

By Nate C. Hindman, Article source: The Huffington Post, http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/09/28/facebook-marketing-secrets-best-time-to-post_n_1924134.html

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Posted in: Best Day To Post On Facebook,Facebook,Facebook Marketing Secrets,how to make cash money,social media,What can I do to make money

Make money from your social-media efforts

David Jacobson has figured out something that has eluded many an entrepreneur: how to generate revenue through Twitter. Mr. Jacobson is the founder of TrivWorks, a 3-year-old Brooklyn-based company that runs corporate team-building sessions and live events built around trivia contests.

Since 2011, he has organized six public trivia competitions and several corporate ones with collaborator Pat Kiernan, the longtime news anchor on NY1 who is a pop-culture buff and former game-show host. They promote the events in a Twitter stream filled with fun trivia questions, as well as on the TrivWorks blog.

“This has resulted in direct revenue,” said Mr. Jacobson. Thanks mainly to his firm's success in spreading the word on Twitter, it will typically sell out the public events, which seat 275 to 300 people, at $26 a head. That adds up to between $7,150 and $7,800 a night in gross revenue.

According to a survey by the Social Media Examiner, an online social-media marketing magazine, nearly 38% of marketers spend one to five hours a week on social media, and another 26% spend six to 10 hours. If you have only a fuzzy idea of how much your efforts on these sites are helping you, you may be misdirecting them. As Mr. Jacobson's experiences show, it's very possible to go a step beyond raising brand awareness and pull in real paying customers by using social-media sites. Here are some tips from entrepreneurs and experts on how to boost your bottom line by using a well-focused approach.

Choose the right venues.

Paying attention to the social sites your target customers respond to—and directing your efforts there—can go a long way. Mastering YouTube, for instance, has paid off for Dan Nainan, a Manhattan comedian who has performed at venues such as the Democratic National Convention, a TED conference and three presidential inaugural events. He has posted videos of his live performances on the site. “If people like it, it will be forwarded to other people,” he said.

As a result of these efforts, Mr. Nainan, a former senior engineer at Intel who began his comedy career three years ago, said he now gets a “a fair chunk” of his domestic work and all of his international bookings from people who've seen those videos. His one-man business now generates about $200,000 a year in revenue as a result. (It doesn't hurt that he's been able to post a YouTube video of President Obama saying, “Dan is just hilarious.”)

Deliver the right message.

To attract corporate clients through his blog, Mr. Jacobson writes posts that target their interests and concerns. For instance, one candid entry, “5 Companies Trivia Team Building Activities Won't Work For,” discusses the types of clients who might not benefit from hiring TrivWorks (among them, “the incredibly small company” that won't be able to muster decent-size teams for trivia competitions). One client who booked Mr. Jacobson's services after reading the post “saw this as a level of transparency and honesty,” he said. “Showing that this is not just a faceless company resonated.”

Try deals and contests.

Although many professional-services firms are shy about offering coupons on social-media sites, they can help attract clients. Ask Nickie E. Robinson, a former compliance officer on Wall Street who is president of Good Girl PR, a three-person firm in Manhattan. She has attracted projects and retainer work for the company, founded in 2008, by sending out a deal on Twitter advertising $100 off on press releases. “If you do a nice marketing campaign around a coupon and send it out consistently, people are going to pick it up,” she said. Ms. Robinson estimates that, from Twitter, she gets about 25% of her more than $250,000 a year in revenue, which comes from a combination of publicity work, event planning and compliance consulting for banks.

Retailers often need to be creative to grab consumers' attention. For Cory N. Schifter, vice president of family-run Casale Jewelers on Staten Island, promotion on Facebook of the store's Race for the Ring, where couples complete challenges to compete for a $10,000 engagement ring, has been a powerful way to draw in customers—though it's costly. “People come in and say, 'I read your post on Facebook,' ” said Mr. Schifter. (His business is now getting some additional publicity because it is a winner in a contest run by American Express Open called Big Break for Small Business, where the prizes include $25,000 and professional marketing advice.)

Use search-engine optimization.

Many companies include keywords designed to pull in customers on their websites but neglect to weave them into their social-media presence—missing an additional opportunity to be found in customers' searches. “As you're tweeting or writing blogs, make sure to use your keywords,” advised Ms. Robinson. For instance, a publicist hoping to attract new clients through Twitter might use the hashtag #PR.

Stay alert to business development opportunities.

LinkedIn isn't the only site where you may find potential business partners, so pay attention to the notes and comments that arrive via other social-media sites. Mr. Kiernan, for instance, reached out to Mr. Jacobson at TrivWorks by a direct message on Twitter after seeing Mr. Jacobson's stream. “If it were not for Twitter, he would not have known about me,” said Mr. Jacobson.

Use search-engine optimization.

Many companies include keywords designed to pull in customers on their websites but neglect to weave them into their social-media presence—missing an additional opportunity to be found in customers’ searches. “As you’re tweeting or writing blogs, make sure to use your keywords,” advised Ms. Robinson. For instance, a publicist hoping to attract new clients through Twitter might use the hashtag #PR.

By Elaine Pofeldt, Article Source: http://www.crainsnewyork.com/article/20120907/SMALLBIZ/120909939

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Posted in: how to make cash money,social media,What can I do to make money

Five Factors to Social Media Success for Dealers

With a reported 141.2 million Facebook users in the U.S. and over 69 percent of businesses currently active on social media sites like Twitter and YouTube, dealerships are in heavy competition for the public’s attention. Successful social media marketing combines fundamental advertising principles with classic relationship building techniques. To create a social media strategy that’s both engaging and profitable, dealers must understand the following five factors for success:

Brand consistency

A successful social media presence should reflect the dealership’s showroom and website. Social media avatars, backgrounds, messaging, images, contact info, and overall persona should be consistent with the dealership’s brand. Brand consistency increases top of mind awareness and builds consumer trust. An attractive and reliable brand engenders loyal followers, setting the stage for new and repeat customers.

Authentic networking

In small towns, the businesses that thrive are the ones that everyone in the community enjoys doing business with. Successful networking, online or otherwise, depends on authentic interactions. Social network sites like YouTube, Facebook, and Twitter are ways to reach out to other businesses within your community. By subscribing, commenting, re-tweeting, sharing, liking, and following, your dealership is interacting with the community in a sort of online chamber of commerce.

Engaging presence

One of the biggest mistakes that dealers make is talking at their customers rather than engaging them. A one-way conversation is a fast way to drive customers away. Just as in small towns, social media participants prefer to “gather at the coffee shop” and join in on the conversation. Share information on your social networks that’s relevant, interesting, and adds value to your community. Monthly giveaways, photo sharing contests and other interactive promotions are great ways to attract new followers and initiating discussions on local topics, entertaining YouTube videos and celebrity news are good ways to activate your existing followers.

Integrated technology

First, integrating dealer chat on Facebook is an excellent way to seamlessly transition casual conversation into business interactions without being too forward. Providing direct access to your sales team should the need arise is typically perceived in context as helpful. Many dealers offer chat on their website, but some neglect to include it on their social media pages. Photo drop-ins with personalized photos from chat provider, Contact At Once! is proven to result in the highest number of online conversions.

Second, consider offering social media followers special, email-only content in the form of exclusive coupons and personalized video messages in return their email address. Many dealers have already discovered the power of customized video emails. Enhancing the social media experience with member-only video messages can be great for business. Video emails contain custom branded backgrounds, live links, and chat invitations for instant connection and can be used to announce secret sales events, new model rollouts and rebate offers.

Content that counts

Increasing website traffic is key to generating more online leads for your dealership. With its recent algorithm update (termed Panda) Google has made it clear that social media engagement and content freshness are two important factors in search engine rankings. Now more than ever, there is a direct link between content posting, social media interaction and organic traffic. Social media engagement impacts local search listings, and the fresher the content, the better the chance your dealership website has at attracting more visitors.

Parting shot

The debate rages on for some dealers as to whether or not social media can be used to increase online traffic and harvest sales. I’ll contend that if done in accordance with the factors outlined above, the answer to that question is: yes!

By Rachel Haro.  Article Source: http://dealermarketing.com/advertising-menu/internet-marketing-solutions/2767-five-factors-to-social-media-success-for-dealers.html

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Posted in: how to make cash money,social media,Social Media Marketing,What can I do to make money