Jun
09
2011

Social Media Startup Bublaa Focuses on Bubbles

With all the talk of a tech bubble, it’s not surprising to come across a startup that’s explicitly focused on bubbles. – Social Media Startup Bublaa Focuses on Bubbles (NYTimes)

Jun
08
2011

What Apple’s new Mobile iOS 5 Means for Marketers

Unless you were on vacation this week, you probably have heard that Apple announced a new update to the software that runs their mobile devices (iPhone, iPad). There are some pretty cool and intriguing changes for consumers, which create some new opportunities for marketers. Ben Gaddis takes us through the top 5 changes for marketers…

What Apple's iOS 5 Means for Marketers
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Jun
08
2011

Twitter’s Importance to SEO Seen As Growing

Twitter is becoming an increasingly important tool for marketing and search optimization and experts are learning more about how to best use the service – Twitter’s Importance to SEO Seen As Growing (CIO)

Jun
07
2011

Sales May Come From Unexpected Places

polka dot tea partyIt’s always interesting to me where I get business referrals from.  Sometimes they come from the most unexpected places: like the casual conversation I had with someone while waiting in line for a cup of coffee, or someone who I played a game of beach volleyball with at a friends house. Business referrals can come from even stranger places: like someone who used to play an online game with me. So, it pays to meet and talk with new people, even if you’re not comfortable with more traditional business networking groups.

Where have you met people who unexpectedly gave you business?

(photo by Shandi-lee, on Flickr)

Jun
06
2011

Treat Your Customers Unequally

Unbalanced (9/365)Notice I didn’t say unfairly. I said unequally. Unfairly isn’t nice (and isn’t good for business). Unequally is good for business. Why? Because at the end of the day some customers are more valuable to your company than others. This isn’t a new concept for either marketing or sales. Both segment customers all the time in order to know how to be the most effective in their jobs. But sometimes, as small business owners or entrepreneurs, we forget about these basic concepts and end up spending too much time with the wrong people. [Read more...]

Jun
03
2011

Digging in the Cache – Three Wolf Moon


Digging in the Cache is a series where we go back in time to look at fun tidbits of Internet and computer history. If you haven’t heard of Three Wolf Moon (affiliate link), you’re in for a treat! (It’s still pretty amusing even if you’ve heard of it before.) Three Wolf Moon is a tshirt (seen at left) produced by a company called The Mountain.  The shirt itself is clearly awesome (ahem), and it was posted on Amazon, a sarcastic review was left by Brian Govern, which inspired others to leave their own amusing reviews.  The shirt has since been featured in several video games and makes appearances at tech conferences as an item of ironic humor. [Read more...]

Jun
02
2011

Executives Using Social Media? Yes or No?

Should top executives be using social media? How do you decide? Does it make a difference if a company is publicly traded vs private?  Geni Dietrich over at SpinSucks has some great ideas:

The Good: I am a big fan of what Tony Hsieh did with Twitter in 2008, as Zappos built their brand and prepped for the Amazon acquisition. There are some examples of other good use by executives in this blog post by Beth Kanter.

The Bad: While it’s not an executive, exactly, I think the way the BP executives handled the entire oil spill, from their CEO saying he just wanted to go back to normal and get back on his yacht to the fake BP news Twitter account was poorly managed.

The Dos and Don’ts of Executive Social Media – Gini Dietrich

I tend to agree mostly with Gini. Whatever the case for a specific company, thought needs to go into how social media will be used and what the possible outcomes may be. Companies definitely need to setup a social media policy so that all employees know what’s acceptable.

What do you think?

Jun
01
2011

The Importance of Trust in Your Social Network

You may have already read Trust Agents (affiliate link) by Chris Brogan, or heard him speak on the subject, but having trust within your social network IS extremely important if you want to be able to use the channel for any communication. Creating trust and being trustworthy online, or being a trust agent is changing.  Chris gives some ideas on how to be a trust agent within your own social network (works offline too):

The Changing Role of the Trust Agent
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What do you think?