-
-
Network With Randall
What is Web 2.0?
The big trend on the Internet in the last few years is Web 2.0. The first year that I kept hearing the term I was working extensively with Internet marketers who seemed to be seeping onto the Internet from the late night cable infomercials. They all kept saying it was the best thing to happen for solopreneurs and small businesses looking to reach beyond where they were willing to travel. After a few conversations with some of the people who defined what Web 2.0 really is I finally got it.
Here is what the essence of Web 2.0 is NOT:
(despite what you may have been told)
- Rounded corners
- Skype Blue
- Lots of navigation options
- A RSS feed button
- Having a Blog
Here is what the essence of Web 2.0 IS:
- Social Networking
- MySpace
- YouTube
- Forums
- Business Networking
- Meetup
- Industry specific Forums
- Engaged communication providing value and illustrating expertise.
- Navigation that makes sense and works well.
- A commitment to actively participate to expand on the shared knowledge base (string theory).
So why should small businesses pay attention to what Web 2.0 brings to the Internet?
Web 2.0 allows a business to show off the talent of their employees or owners. Web 2.0 is not something that can be outsourced, the writer must have the knowledge and insight being. I have seen these tasks outsourced before, and every step of outsourcing lost a high degree of the companies brand strength.
Top 3 New Media Outlets
Keeping up with the latest developments in PPC marketing has led me to be very involved in the Online social media space in general. I have experimented with countless new media marketing techniques and participated in developing everything from article marketing programs to the latest apps like Twitter.
I was listening in on a webinar Jen was participating in and the group consensus on the state of social media was ranking the top three new media applications/websites for B2B marketers.
1. Facebook. The Driving force behind why Facebook is preferred for professional development over similar sites like MySpace is the beginnings of the network as a way for college students to connect and keep in touch. This education level of the base user is distinctly different than the more artist/teen targeted MySpace.
2. Linked-in. Linkedin is designed to be focused around professional contacts with job postings, a Q/A board, and the ability to get a recommendation from a colleague.
3. Twitter. The leading edge of social applications is Twitter. Twitter is a micro-blogging format that limits any post to 140 characters. users are able to follow other users, and the other person can choose whether they want to follow back. In addition users can direct message each other. Twitter posts are indexed by Google. Many corporations such as Comcast are building their outreach on Twitter by having a tech support account that is monitored 24/7. Twitter is like the latest version of a chat-room, but everybody has control over what part of the room they see.
I agree with 2 out of the 3 above for B2B marketing and public relations. Social Networking sites are not a place to market unless you are a solopreneur. Facebook and MySpace are simply not perceived as professional forums, and are often not completely controlled by the user. Control over voice and branding when using new media and social media make using these outlets seem risky for many large organizations, but a well thought out strategy directly related to branding and target audience can make new and social media outlets a source of prospects, clients, and goodwill for any size business.
I’m Merchant Circle Curious…
I’ve been a member of Merchant Circle since early this year.
I am still trying to figure out exactly what the purpose is.
Don’t get me wrong, the listing on their site does show up in the search engine, so it’s not all bad. I’m thinking that this is one of those "all in one" solutions for businesses who don’t want to have a website (or don’t want to be overcharged for a crappy website.) Here are some of the things you can do on the site:
- Enter your business information (which will then show a map when your page is brought up.
- See if your business is listed on Yahoo! Local Search among other online business listing directories.
- Write a blog
- Connect with other local (or non-local) merchants and form a circle of businesses.
- Upload pictures (so people know what your store looks like, or what you look like, or what your featured product looks like, etc.)
- Upload video (because that viral marketing is so hot right now.)
- Review other businesses and email people with your link so they can review your business
- See if your business is in the news, where it shows on the web, etc.
- Submit advertisements or create online coupons for your business that can be seen by other Merchant Circle members or sent via email to your subscribers or contact list.
But here is the one that I think is really powerful:
- Add email addresses of your customers or contacts
- Send a newsletter using a predefined template right from Merchant Circle
.
- These are FREE services
I don’t use this for my newsletters, but as free solutions go I think this one is pretty good. I’m not sure how they handle double opt-in for the email addresses to make sure you’re not spamming people (I didn’t see an option for double opt-in) The template is pretty darn nice and it allows you to upgrade to a paid membership of you do not want advertisements in the header of the newsletter.
For most businesses that are too small or do not want to have a web presence, Merchant Circle seems like an interesting all-in-one solution that only requires as much updating as the business owner wants to have. Unlike a site where constant updates will keep your rank higher.
Is this the right solution for you? Check it out, give it a test drive. It can’t hurt!
Internet Millionaire Game Show
I got through the first time with only one wrong answer…how will you score?
Let me know - leave a comment - I look forward to seeing if anyone can do it perfectly the first time through 
Internet Millionaire Game Show Link
Free Video Recording/Editing Software! Yea, Camtasia!
There’s an amazing deal going on over at The Warrior Forum right now.
To get more people to upgrade to Camtasia v5 they’re giving away Camtasia v3 - which will record your desktop, you can edit video…it’s a great program if you’re planning on teaching people almost anything.
It’s also the best way to turn your powerpoint presentation into a movie that can be put up on YouTube, etc.
As with all Warrior Forum posts…make sure to read the comments after, not just the juicy first post. There’s more good information in there.
One last thing. The first time I went to the .exe link in the thread, it wouldn’t install completely. I redownloaded the .exe file from the website and it worked just fine that time…so if you encounter a glitch, don’t freak out…just try again!
Go get yours HERE….before it goes away… (I don’t know if it will go away, but better safe than sorry!)
Bind Faith vs. Trust
Concealing vs. Revealing - The Marketing Spin
Great blog entry by Seth Godin today about people and the strategy of hiding the negative (or accentuating the positive) instead of just getting everything out on the table and being more full-disclosure about yourself. Or your company. Or your product.
Since I was just on a networking tear last weekend, I was thinking about how I present myself to the world - do I put my best foot forward so often that people think I only have one leg?
If putting your best foot forward means NOT snorting when you laugh, like, ever, I failed miserably. Which I think is good. People need to see their experts as human, not as some freaky machine that never stops.
I don’t have to be an expert at makeup application, style, laughing without snorting, or any other vast number of things. I’m an expert at interactive (online), emotion-based marketing. That’s the only thing I have to be #1 at. Everything else just gives me depth and color.
Yes, that’s what I tell myself when I trip while walking…I know you were asking yourself… *grin*
It also makes me what I like to call “an approachable human”. That’s important, because many experts hide behind jargon and pithy one-liners and don’t show people who they really are. This means that people have to put their blind faith into the expert when they hire them, because they aren’t going to get human interaction helping them along. When you know someone has real, human personality traits and isn’t roaming the networking forest in a suit with one-liners a-flying…you can build real trust. The kind of trust that exists between two humans.
Blind faith or Trust..which would you rather give? Or receive?
How to get more referral business…
I just posted a blog entry over at AlphaWomen about volunteering to get more referrals.
Here’s an excerpt:
A great way to do this is to give your time freely to…something! But there’s a catch. Don’t just give your time willy-nilly without a plan, that’s not going to get you anywhere but tired and burned out. Decide where the people are that you want to know, and then figure out where they are networking, visiting, talking, or hanging out. Then figure out a way to be there at the same time doing something that makes people take notice.
Girls’ Night Out in the South Suburbs of Chicago!
We’re filing this announcement in the “better late than never” section of the blog *grin* - I found out a couple days ago about a great “Girls’ night out” event happening right here in the south suburbs!
I don’t know about you, but being here in the south suburbs it basically means to do anything cool I have to drive about 40 minutes into the city proper to meet other business owners and have some fun.
The last girls’ night out event I went to was in Northbrook. That’s about 75 minutes away from my house. Don’t get me wrong, it was worth it! But I’ve been complaining that there are some amazing people here in the south suburbs and we should hold a shindig of our own.
Come to find out Deniera Burks of Luxe Escentuals has done just that! I’m glad I found out about it before it was too late…I’m pinch-hitting the marketing in the last week stretch before the event.
It will be held at the Orland Park Civic Center this coming Saturday, November 10th and based on the vendors, sponsors, and the attendees that I know of this is going to be a FUN event!
If you have an interesting or unique product, or would like to become a sponsor visit The Official Beautiful You Site at http://www.luxebeautifulyou.com/ (also visit if you’d like to order your tickets online!)
This just in! I heard that Sephora is going to be at the event with samples, consultations…and is going to be donating a goodie basket for the raffle! I already knew there were going to be free drinks and a raffle…but every vendor that donates a prize increases everyone’s chance of winning!
See you on Saturday!
Social Networking - Still not convinced?
I was watching my most guilty-ist of pleasures a little bit ago and it just hit me that it’s really a new breed of television show.
We all have TV shows we watch now, or used to watch, that we’re not particularly proud of…so I’m just saying…don’t judge *laugh*
I’ve been watching Gossip Girl on the CW - I *think* it’s a “tweener” show. But I’m not entirely sure. I know that they’re mostly supposed to be high school seniors, but there is a pretty intricate backstory (and plots!) for all the adults as well. They’re not just “wah wah wah” characters like Charlie Brown used to have. That’s what I tell myself when I’m watching it and thinking about how darn young most of the main characters look!
So, enough about my tawdry TV habits - the point here is that the entire premise of Gossip Girl is a blog. A blog about the “elite of New York” (more specifically Manhattan’s Upper East Side) with all the posts signed (you guessed it) Gossip Girl. The intro and out-tro are both voiced by “Gossip Girl” as well. It’s used very subtly in the show, they don’t say blog or talk about Gossip Girl…it’s just something that “is” in this world of excess on the CW.
Seriously. A blog.
If you visit the site you’ll see even more bells and whistles. An interactive menu, fashions available at Victoria’s Secret, complete with picking a character and getting specific item suggestions (if you want to see how to execute a cross promotion in a world where commercials are mostly optional…this is a good site to check out.) There’s even a video game where you can pretend to be one of the characters. Wait, I’m not sure on that…in the interest of research I’ll have to check it out right quick.
————————-
Ok, I’m back. OH MY GOSH! If you’ve read my previous posts you’ll see that I’ve blogged about the online video game Second Life a couple of times - well guess where the Gossip Girl’s hometown is located in cyberspace?? You guessed it again! Second Life!
Second life had some problems recently, but it really seems to be making a resurgence - this time among the masses instead of geeky gamers (like me) and other Internet snobs that found it a while ago.
I just saw Second life in CSI:NY a while ago (I know, my DVR is filled with shows you’d call [sardonically] “nuttin but class”.) There’s a CSI:NY section in Second Life as well - or so I was told by the eight thousand commercials telling me to go solve the crime now! Wow. Last time I went there were no people (except those trying to get naked - for journalistic purposes I tried to get a job in Second Life but all that was available that I could find was stripper or escort…not my style…so you haven’t seen a blog post about it.)
Maybe I need to log back in and see what’s going on in the world of the Lindens. It seems they may have lost a lot of gamers…but wow…they may just capture the world instead. Interesting, indeed!
————————–
Last but not least, in searching for an image to use for this entry, I stumbled upon something I think is amazing. The show Gossip Girl is based on a series of bestselling novels (written for teens) - and I think we all know how I feel about books…
My guilty TV pleasure may turn into a guilty book pleasure. Strictly for research purposes…of course…
Tech Cocktail - Chicago
Go HERE for more information!
If you’re going to be attending, drop me a line and let me know. We can hang. Or something.
-
Recommend Resources
