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Archive for 2007
Social Marketing Seminar – Schipul
Monday, December 31, 2007
Join us on January 9th at 1:30 PM as Schipul’s Kim Lange presents a Social Marketing Seminar.
Social Media and how to market yourself using it has been getting a lot of buzz lately. There are a lot of social sites out there and most people don’t know where to start. Kim Lange will layout what Social Media is and how you can use it to your advantage.
Admission is free and seating is limited
Details on “Social Marketing Seminar”
This Houston Social Marketing Training Seminar will highlight pillars of success for a social media initiative:
We will cover the following:
- “What is Social Media?” explained
- What Social Marketing Venues are right for you?
- Learn Social Media before you practice
- Get the right people involved in your social media initiative
- Promote and Connect
Speaker Information “Kim Lange“
Kim Lange is the Production Team Lead at Schipul – The Web Marketing Company. Before taking the position on the production team, Kim spent 3 years on the graphics team.
Kim now assists the Production Team Manager Kerry Gayle with innovation for the Tendenci software and production team. Her duties include: project management, Tendenci web site support and Social Media Strategies for the a wide range of clients.
Social Media Usage Over the Last Year
Tuesday, December 18, 2007
Social Media has made leaps and bounds in past year and thanks to Compete.com we can see who did better than others and why.
Linkedin Vs. MySpace Vs. Facebook
Back in September of 2006 Facebook opened it’s platform for all and has nearly tripled its user database. Along with writing it’s own ad server technology, which attracted the likes of Microsoft, they have also offered users all over the world to connect with people in a fun and less obtrusive way than MySpace (Seriously, no one really wants to hear what song you are into at the moment so please turn off auto play!).
Linkedin, the Facebook for the business world, has been making strides lately to pick up the pace in the social network arena but as we see in the graph below they have quite a lot of catchup to do before they get anywhere near the worst looking social network site. Yes I am talking about MySpace, the annoying, ugly redheaded step child that simply outpaces everyone. Their numbers are a little flat the last six months but their foray into the mobile world next year should help them out.
![clip_image002[4]](http://www.thesemblog.com/WindowsLiveWriter/clip_image002%5B4%5D.jpg)
Flickr Vs. Shutterfly Vs. Snapfish
Simply put Flickr is the number one social online photo sharing site. I am a frequent user and it is indexed by the search engines regularly. The shear power of their software combined with savvy users has pushed Flickr to the top. Google’s Picasa is also an excellent option but nothing compares to Flickr. Owned by Yahoo! Flickr has had search marketing in its plans from the start. Users are given the ability to add tags to images which makes it easier for onsite searches and web searches. Users and businesses can also set up their own groups and have other users share photos like the Houston Zoo has done. They’ve invited anyone who takes a photo at the zoo to share them online with other users. This is free, grass-roots marketing that lets pays off in more ways than one.
![clip_image004[4]](http://www.thesemblog.com/WindowsLiveWriter/clip_image004%5B4%5D.jpg)
Twitter and Pownce are online brain dumps or Micro Blogging sites. They are a great way to let your friends know where you are or what you are up to at any given time. Although they are web based you can receive email or text notifications. As we see in the graph below Twitter has taken off over the last year. Part of this is due to its coming out party at SXSW-Interactive this past March. Twitter was a new technology to most of the uber-geeks in attendance at the conference but with its ease of use and good marketing it started to take off. Twitter allows only 140 characters per message so if you are long-winded it might not be for you. Pownce laid dormant for the first part of the year while they prepared for their ‘invite only’ release in the summer. Although it is a better platform in many ways it still hasn’t been adapted as wide spread as Twitter has.
![clip_image006[4]](http://www.thesemblog.com/WindowsLiveWriter/clip_image006%5B4%5D.jpg)
WordPress Vs. Typepad Vs. Blogger
If you’re a blogger then the names above are familiar to you. Two of them, WordPress & Blogger are free blogging sites and Typepad is a paid service. As we see in the graph below the free ones are doing much better in usage than Typepad. Blogger, owned by Google is the most easily accessible blogging tool out there for people who are new to blogging. It is easy to set up, free to host and offers limited customization. WordPress is also a free tool, free to host and offers customization as well. What sets WordPress apart is that you can upload the software to your own server for free (hosting charges may apply) and customize your blog however you want. This works well with branding, in this situation you can declare your own URL such as http://blog.companyname.com. With the free hosted solution you cannot do this. Typepad is a paid service, although virtually inexpensive, that allows you to customize your blog and URL however you like.
Slideshare Vs. Scribd
Online file sharing has taken off this year, more so in the second half. Slideshare and Scribd are two of the top online document sharing sites. Slideshare seemed to get the most attention around these parts for it ease of use in sharing PowerPoint presentations but Scribd’s ability to accept a wider array of uploads including Word Docs, HTML, Images and Open Office to name a few has positioned itself way ahead of its competitor. Both sites give the user the ability to upload their documents and then provide them with an embed code which will let you place the presentations on any site or blog. Clearly usability is a big reason why these sites are becoming more and more prominent
Social Media Soup
Social Media had
it’s coming out party this year and greater things abound in 2008. Usability and marketing are going to be the key components to launching a new social service. There simply are too many and that is a good thing. Competition breeds innovation so hold on for one hell of a ride.
What’s new for 2008 – Mobile Web
Mobile web is the next frontier for businesses and advertisers. Google Adwords has been testing it’s mobile ad platform in anticipation of Google’s foray into the wireless world with it’s announcement of the Google Phone software. Expect everyone to jump on the mobile bandwagon full-tilt next year, are you ready?
For more information please contact the Search Engine Marketing Team at Schipul – sem@schipul.com
Web Content – Should You Give it Away?
Wednesday, December 12, 2007
Scoble Wants You to Steal His Content
Ever the maverick Robert Scoble is openly asking anyone and everyone to steal his content. Give him credit for or don’t he doesn’t care, well sort of. In a post that is refreshing to us that think sharing is better Scoble nails it on the head with his thoughts; ‘I’ve found that the more I give away my content, the more magical stuff happens to me anyway’ this is something we tell our clients; post your content often and for everyone.
As a frequent poster to Flickr I started off with all rights reserved on my images but as requests came in to use some of my photos I changed it to Creative Commons. Since then my photos have been used in various sites such the Houstonist, the Torontoist and on Wikipedia to name a few. Have I gotten paid for any of these? No but that’s not why I do it. The reason is exposure and isn’t that why we have websites? As Scoble points out the New York Times recently caved to the lack of traffic and offered their premium services for free their traffic is ‘going through the roof.’ Quite simply no one wanted to pay for it and they lost exposure. Does this work into their immediate business model? Probably not but it does help them out in the long run. If people can see what they want when they want they will come back. The biggest factor for sites such as NY Times is trust, in fact every site needs to promote trust. If users look to your site as the go to site in your market you will always do better than your competitor.
Sometimes this isn’t a viable avenue for everyone but when you can share and share a like, most people will give you credit. This could be in the form of a link back to your site such as here under Author. I didn’t get paid for this link, or pay for it but it is a link back to me and there are two currencies on the net; money and links so any good link you can get back to your site is great.
Sharing your content with others will only gain you more exposure and exposure is what keeps us in business.
Even if you are giving it away
For more information please contact the Search Engine Marketing Team at Schipul – sem@schipul.com
Social Media Myths
Tuesday, December 4, 2007
Social Media is getting a lot of buzz lately and before everyone jumps off the deepend like they did before the dotcom bust lets look at what Social Media is and isn’t.
From Ignite Social Media comes the top 10 ‘Most Common Social Media Myths’ and for companies that are wanting to jump off into the SM abyss this is a must read.
Some of the myths that Ignite goes over are ones we hear everyday.
Myth 1 – Social Media is Free
This is true, to a point. Anyone or company can join Facebook or Flickr but in order to promote your company and still remain free you would have to do it after company hours. For some of the more smaller companies out there this is possible but as your company gets bigger and bigger you may not have the time. Also, how do you know which site is better than the others? If you don’t have a grasp on social media trends you could be left out in the cold. Hiring a company to maintain your online PR is an avenue you can take but the ROI for these endeavours is hard to measure in dollars and cents. It can however be measured in site usage. For search engines a link from a well known site like Facebook is worth more than an online directory that has nothing to do with your business. What individuals and businesses are doing by joining these types of sites is essentially akin to online billboards but unlike real billboards users can jump immediately to your site if they like what they see. Companies can create accounts on these sites and use them as mini marketing sites to pull traffic onto their main site.
Myth 3 – We can create a Viral Campaign for you – NOW!
Most of the ‘over night’ Internet sensations such as Lonelygirl15 took a long time to make and they got lucky, very lucky. Viral marketing is an extremely hard marketing source to utilize. It takes a long time to build up brand awareness and trust in users. If you do it wrong it can hurt, as Walmarts ‘Walmarting Across America showed.
In this campaign an unmarried couple travels across America in an RV staying in Walmart parking lots and meeting the great people that work at Walmart. Pictures of happy Walmart workers and stories were posted by the couple. The idea was that if you traveled in an RV you can stay in Walmart parking lots for free. They’re good that way, and they won’t lock you in at night. It all seemed like a believable story, it wasn’t. It was concocted by Edelman PR in an effort to rebrand Walmart as a happy, safe neighbourhood store that was nothing like the ugly behemoth is has become. The site is now defunct.
Walmart learned that fictional blogging wasn’t for them and that viral marketing can bite you in the end if you are not transparent. If you come into it with good intentions and a fun attitude it can pay off but be prepared to be in it for the long haul.
Myth 7 – Social media isn’t really work
Like anything in life if you want to succeed you need to work at it. This goes back to the first myth, even though these sites are free, for the most part, they take work. For instance the International Rhino Foundations Flickr page did not just create itself. It takes committed, passionate individuals like Kelly Russo of the Houston Zoo to create, upload and maintain this particular social media site. If you look at it as labourious then maybe it’s not for you. If you have the budget you can hire a firm to take care of these things for you.
Some Great Social Media Sites
If you’re the kind of person who likes to get their hands in things I suggest you check out some or all of the sites below. But beware, these sites should be an extension of you or your company, if you sell a product or a service be transparent about it and don’t slander anyone, especially your competitors. Online PR is going to be huge and if you are overly outspoken on extremely controversial matters it may come back to bite you. Be direct and clear and have great intentions, basically don’t be Walmart
Social Network Sites
- Facebook – They have decided to take on Google as the next biggest ad server and this is good news for businesses. They have begun to offer all kinds of money making incentives to help you build up your viral campaign such as creating your companies own Facebook page. Profiles are free, ads cost money
- LinkedIn – Think of this as the Facebook for professionals. Like Facebook you can find and connect with people you know in the professional world. Profiles are free.
Blogging, free and paid
- WordPress – This site gives you the ability to create a blog in as little as two minutes. You can have a hosted blog for free or download the software to run on your own server. The benefits for the latter option is the ability to customize it however you wish. Of course you will have to pay for hosting and if you do not know how to build sites you may have to pay someone to customize it for you. You can buy customized WordPress themes as they are known but they do offer an array of free themes. For companies that are just starting to blog, I would suggest using one of the free themes and tweaking it a minimal cost. You can also redirect your URL http://companyblog.wordpress.com to a more friendly one like http://blog.comanyname.com
- Typepad – This is a relatively inexpensive blogging site and software. Like WordPress you can revise the theme of the site, as we have done with this blog. All aspects of this blog can be changed, this is a plus for continuing brand awareness.
- Movable Type – Much like Typepad this is a pay for use blogging site. You can download a free version for personal use but if you have a number of great content contributors at your company I would suggest purchasing the commercial option. They do have special pricing if you are a non-profit.
- Blogger – This free blog service from Google is easy and fun to use but beware of the ‘next blog’ link at the top as Google has not weeded out the pornography sites from this function
Online Photos
- Flickr – This is the premiere online photo sharing site. Users or companies can create a profile page that can direct users and search engines back to your main site. In my opinion this is bar-non the top social photo site on the Internet today and is indispensable as a brand awareness site. Have compa
ny functions like Christmas parties? Does your management team speak at various engagements? Company softball team? Office hi-jinks? If you’ve answered yes to any of these questions Flickr is an invaluable source for raising brand awareness and trust. A simple account with limited usability and uploads are free but a Pro account is only $24.95/year.
Online Video
- YouTube - The site that could, did and boy did it. Proving itself as a vehicle for creativity it has made stars out of unknowns and fools of others. YouTube is more than a fanboy site of all things insane. As with Facebook and Flickr you can create your own company or user profile page that acts as your own online library of company related videos. If you have product demos or conference video YouTube is a fantastic avenue for placing these videos online. A lot of people ask why anyone would want to post any videos of you company online and the simple answer is exposure. It is quite easy to send a prospective client to your YouTube page to watch your product demo or in the case of Houston Plastic Surgeon Dr Mentz a simple one minute video about his surgery center. Accounts are free
- Revver - is like YouTube but it shares it’s ad revenue with its users. Much like YouTube you can created your profile and upload videos. Revver will append these with short ads, as users click on the ads revenue is collected in your account. Have a viral video and you’ll get a lot more revenue. Have a simple company function video of a Christmas party Revver may not be for you. There are other ad server video sites out there but the setup process for Revver was the least bit annoying for me.
Online File Sharing
- SlideShare – This is a great site to share out your PowerPoint presentations and PDFs. As with YouTube et al they provide an embed code that will easily let you post it on your site or blog. We have posted some of our Search Engine Marketing PowerPoints here.
- Scribd – Scribd is like SlideShare but better. Scribd can let you upload a multitude of documents in many formats. Taking the E out of their name like Flickr, Scribd has one clear intention, to help you get your word out.
Of course this list is not exhaustive and I’ve left out other social sites like Twitter out but I’ll leave that for another post.
For more information please contact the Search Engine Marketing Team at Schipul – sem@schipul.com
