Is Brand Awareness the Number-One Social Media Goal? BY LISA BARONE

As a small business owner, you’ve officially entered the waters of social media. You’re blogging, you’re Twittering and you’re working hard to create a social presence. Why are you doing it? What is your ultimate business goal for your social media efforts?
Well, according to a July 2010 survey of U.S. marketers by the Direct Marketing Association and COLLOQUY, the most popular business goal is brand awareness, with 28 percent of respondents hailing it as their ultimate social media objective. Following close behind were customer growth/loyalty (25 percent) and customer acquisition (19 percent).
To give those numbers some street cred, eMarketer notes:

A July eROI study similarly showed brand awareness was the top goal of U.S. marketers using social media, and business-to-business (B2B) marketers reported the same to BtoB magazine and Business.com. In April, search marketers surveyed by MarketingSherpa cited increasing brand awareness and improving brand reputation as the two objectives for which social media marketing was most effective.

I’d definitely agree with the surveys that have found brand awareness is a leading reason for business owners to get involved in social media. By constantly engaging in conversations, creating content, and starting conversations with potential customers, you’re letting people know, time and time again, that you exist and you’re listening. The effects over the long term are significant as customers start to associate your brand with a particular product or service.
However, I’d urge small business owners not to discount social media’s effectiveness as a lead generation tool simply because lead generation got 19 percent of the vote from business owners. You may remember that back in June we commented on a Unisfair survey that found social media to be the number-one emerging channel for lead generation. The reason its numbers were so low in the July survey are likely because of the size of the budgets represented. Customer acquisition is a bigger focus for small business owners than it is for those running midsized to large businesses, so they overshadowed the SMB perspective a bit in the more recent survey. If you’re a small business owner, however, customer acquisition is definitely an area where social media can give you a big boost.
Ultimately, you’ll decide your own goals for your social media use and tailor your social media plan to fit whatever they are. If you’re focusing primarily on customer acquisition, you’ll be doing a lot more outreach than if you’re simply trying to grow brand awareness and increase the visibility of your website. Social media is a powerful tool that helps business owners connect with their audience and make their brand more accessible. What you choose to focus on is up to you.
What about you? What’s your main objective for entering the world of social media? What have your results been like?http://smallbiztrends.com/2010/09/brand-awareness-social-media-goal.html

5 Essential Characteristics for Today’s Marketer

Today’s world of fast-paced technology advancements and ever-evolving media and marketing techniques requires marketers to be much more versatile than they had to be in the past.  No longer are a you going to survive with a degree in marketing and a course on PPC under your belt.
The game has changed!  Do you have what it takes?
Here are the five essential characteristics to be successful as a marketer in today’s world:
Risk Taker – The Internet has enabled “everyone” to be an Internet marketer.  With that evolution, the amount of competition you have has increased exponentially–and your competition is much more diverse, skilled and savvy than ever before.  In order for your marketing activities to be noticed among the barrage of messages out there, you’ve got to be a little daring.  If you’re not willing to try new things, be a little uncomfortable and take some risk, you’ll drown in the sea of similar marketers, similar messages, and bland ideas.
Recommendation: Spend a day dreaming big.  Let your mind wander.  Come up with ways to get massive, immediate exposure for your business.  Don’t let any limitations get in the way.  Then, narrow it down to something realistic, yet crazy, and go do it.  Have some fun.
Mad Scientist – Risk needs to be balanced with logic.  This is where the Mad Scientist comes in.  Recognize that I said “Mad” Scientist, not just scientist.  Marketing has always been part science and part art.  In the past, the science part was less visible and less accessible to the masses.  Now, with Google Analytics, Website Optimizer, e-mail marketing (complete with open and click reports) and many other tools, tracking your marketing activites – both successes and failures – is easy. These tools bringthe science of marketing to any computer anywhere in the world.  If you’re not the type that likes to experiment, test hypotheses, tweak the experiment and test again – over and over and over – then you may not be cut out to be a modern-day marketer.  But, if you love test tubes, titration and mass spectrometry, it’s time to turn your skills in the scientific method into your method for determining what works in marketing.
Recommendation: Read everything you can at MarketingExperiments.com.  Learn from others’ findings and get ideas for your own experiments.
Geeky Analyst - Experimenting is one thing.  But analyzing the data afterward is an entirely different story.  It takes a different skill set – a different kind of warped mind – to sit and look at the results through every possible lens to determine cause and effect, determine the salient variable, and ultimately determine what the data is actually telling you.  If your inner geek gets excited about slicing and dicing the numbers and the reports, then marketing might be your specialty.
Recommendation: Read Avinash Kaushik’s Web Analytics 2.0.  It’s not for the faint of heart, but there’s definite gold in those hills.
Code Monkey – A general working knowledge of basic Web layout and programming is required for today’s marketer.  Why?  Because you can’t devise an experiment if you don’t know what’s testable.  You don’t need to know how to write a Java applet, but you need to understand basic HTML and CSS layout as well as the limitations of server-side and client-side scripting.  Armed with this knowledge, the Mad Scientist in you can go to work devising all kinds of schemes for testing everything under the sun.  Make sure the Analyst in you keeps the Mad Scientist in check.  Too much data can be a bad thing.
Recommendation: Launch a WordPress site that you can mess with.  Then, use the built-in editor to edit your Theme.  Play with it, experiment, change font colors, sizes, styles, etc.  Get familiar with the basic HTML tags and CSS styles.
Copywriter -  Every good marketer needs to be able to write compelling copy (or at least be able to recognize it).  Compelling copy is not always as cute, funny or clever as you may want it to be.  That’s why the Mad Scientist tests everything.  But decent copywriting skills can quicken the testing process by getting started with proven ideas.  There’s no need to become a world-class writer, but understanding the psychology of writing powerful copy is a must.

How to Win Media Coverage as an SMB BY LISA BARONE

I was lucky to attend yesterday’s 5th Annual Small Business Day that was put together by smAlbany, a networking group for small business owners living in the Capital District. The whole day was spent chatting with other SMB owners and learning from experts. While I had the chance to sit in on a number of great sessions, one that particularly stuck out was the Tools for Small Business panel. Surprising to me was that  the “tool” being discussed wasn’t Facebook or Twitter or LinkedIn. It was all about getting press coverage from media outlets, specifically newspapers.
Yes, newspapers! I know what you’re saying – newspapers are dying! They’re extinct! But the truth is, they’re not. Getting local press coverage can help you build exposure, establish expertise and allow you to grow your business. Also, all the advice shared for getting local newspaper coverage can easily be tweaked to help you get coverage from online media, as well. So, it’s a win/win!
As a small business owner, how do you get your SMB in the news? Here are some tips from the people who know.
Know your news outlets: Before you pitch a story idea or send an editor an e-mail, do your research. Whether you’re looking to pitch a blog, a newspaper or a mix of the two, you want to be familiar with the outlet you’re going after. You should know the types of stories they cover, what sections you can get your business to appear in and what the audience of that paper responds to. This will show you whether or not you’re a good fit for inclusion and if your audience is even reading this publication. If they’re not, then it’s not going to do you much good to get coverage there.  Doing your research also allows you to bring something to the table when it’s time to pitch.
Understand the mind of a reporter: Many SMBs are afraid to pitch stories to local media. They think that they’ll be bothering someone, that the reporter has another story in mind or that the person on the other end won’t find it useful. If you have something worthwhile to pitch, don’t let fear stop you. Understand that reporters are busy. They’re busy just like you are. That means they can’t be aware of all the news that’s going on. They rely on relevant tips/pitches/scoops to help fill their space. If you know something about your business and you want to see a story about it, pick up the phone or drop an editor an email to let them know. The fact that they’re busy is why you need to pick up the phone, not a reason to avoid it.
Value freshness: Always be on the lookout for ways to insert your business into timely issues. If your local paper ran a story about how to improve your plumbing last month, they probably won’t be running another one this month. So don’t pitch that idea. Look for another angle or a way to tie your company into things that are happening in the region or the news.  The companies that get the most news coverage are the ones that know how to create stories. That means either creating a press opportunity or finding ways to tie your business into current events.  If you’re what’s hot, newspapers will have no choice but to cover you.
Speak their language: Sometimes getting coverage is a matter of speaking the same language as the editor whose eye you’re hoping to catch. This is, again, a reason to familiarize yourself with the outlet as much as you possibly can to get an understanding of what they do and what they like. Know what part of the paper you want to be in, what types of stories they cover and how they’re written. How can you build the best presence?
Find reporters on Facebook and Twitter: This is a super important point that I think many SMBs miss out on. It doesn’t matter if the outlet itself is offline or online, the people who write for it are on the Web interacting in social media. Look for them, follow them, friend them and then start talking to them. Often newspapers, TV outlets and magazines will use their Twitter handle on air/in print/on their Web site. Make note of it and seek them out. If they don’t list it, do a Twitter or Facebook search to find it. Use a site like Listorious to track down Twitter Lists filled with local or niche media outlets. Building relationships with reporters of news outlets you want coverage from makes it easier to pass stories back and forth.
Know when to get in touch: The right time to approach reporters is when you have a story that will benefit their audience. Pick and choose when to make contact to get maximum coverage, as the same outlet can only give you so much coverage. When should you get in touch?

• When you have an idea for an interesting partnership or joint venture
• When you’re hosting or part of a unique event
• When you can tie your business in with current events
• When your business is doing something to help the community

And think ahead. If you know you have an event coming up or want something in Sunday’s printed calendar, get it in at least three weeks before the printed publication. You can’t call a newspaper on Thursday about an event taking place that weekend. You also want to know who you should be contacting. Check the news outlet’s masthead or Web site for the names of the reporters that cover your area or beat.  Don’t e-mail the Editor In Chief when you should really be e-mailing a hungry beat reporter.
As a small business owner, you always want to be on the lookout for ways to make your business relevant and worthy of local press attention. The tips above should help give you a solid foundation on how to reach out, when to do it and what to say when you open that door.http://smallbiztrends.com/2010/07/smb-media-coverage.html

The Xplicit Truth

                                                               

Dear Xplicit,

 

 I'm a 26 year old woman with 3 Kids who has lived with my mom all my life. I've been in a relationship with my youngest child's father for 5 years now. I'm getting frustrated living in this one room with my 3 kids. I have told my boyfriend that I am ready to move NOW!!!! he assures me that we will be moving soon. I feel like less of a woman and a poor example to my children for being in this situation for as long as I have. I am totally out of patience and ready to have a home I can call my own. So what should I do should I give him more time or should I move on in the process without him?

 

Ready to tear down walls

Dear Ready,

 You don't have any more time and neither does he, your about 5 years and 2 kids late. Your boyfriend is showing signs of him not being able to be dependable now, so why would you put yourself in a position to depend on him to pay half the rent. Sweetheart you need to do what is best for You and Your children.Stop putting your life on hold and waiting for him to catch up with you.Find you a place that you will be able to afford on your salary, that way if he flakes out you can still hold everything down on your own. I wish you luck.

xplicittruth@ymail.com

MC HAMMER- BETTER RUN RUN

EDUCATED IGGGGGGGGGGGGNANCE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! BY @DATRAUMATIC1 : 4 LOKO

GUCCI MANE- WHAT ITS GONE BE