I opened a Facebook account kicking and screaming.  No way was this very private person going to use a platform as intrusive as Facebook. Save the drama for those seeking a life outside of their own, or so I thought. In late 2007 I received an email from my brother who was cruising the world as an employee of a major cruise line. His affectionate message, “Hey dummy it would be easier to keep in touch with you if you were on Facebook”. I signed up with the frame of mind that I would only be friends with family, true friends and maybe some long lost loves.

Fast forward 3 years. My marketing business has grown, my network of friends has grown to include friends around the world, entertainment industry contacts and I’ve found and lost for good past loves. My world is bigger but feels small within my network. Now don’t get me wrong I’m not friending left and right. I am however laser pointing friends that enhance my world and friends with the potential to make my world a lot brighter.

Facebook has become a platform for my writing projects, marketing, connections, networking and for me most importantly to keep in touch with my huge family. Instantly connected on a daily basis. My privacy is as intact as I want it to be. Frankly in the new digital media age how much privacy do you expect to keep when this is the very platform that will grow your business. You’ve got to give to get.

Facebook has become a love / hate double edged sword. If you hate it it’s probably because you haven’t figured out how to maximize it’s platform for your benefit and advancement. If you love it you’ve probably figured that all out or you’re just happy to be consumed in other peoples business while occasionally poking your head out to show the world who you really are.

Whatever you’re doing on Facebook on a daily basis, remember there is a flip side to everything. You control the balance of that flip. Don’t get consumed in exteriors until you’ve got the interior in  balance.

Janice Hunter

The most important piece of information you will require to start your event marketing campaign will be understanding the demographics of the audience you need to reach.

What age group is your event geared towards?

What types of interest does your potential audience have?

How far do you want to extend your event invitations?

A solid event marketing plan will require full understanding of these demographics so your plan can be focused and effect.

Brand and consumer interaction through the Internet. This includes all aspects of dialogue through the social web and on the brand’s own website.

MIAMI
January 19-21, 2011
Miami Beach Convention Center

Miami Social Media Conference

Buzz Marketing & Viral Campaigns

Buzz marketing describes any strategy that encourages individuals to pass on a marketing message to others, creating the potential for exponential growth in the message’s exposure and influence. Viral campaigns must be fun and entertaining, yet have the core brand message at the heart of the campaign. They require good brands, good products, with great ideas and execution.

Buzz marketing and viral campaign services include:

* E-mail
* Online peers
* Self-serve ads
* Referrals
* Subscription forms
* Polling
* Html banners
* Link offers

Blogs

Blog Marketing Services include:

* Blog Strategy
* Blog Optimization
* Marketing
* Blog Analytics

Interactive Ads

Interactive ad creative services include:

* Creation of ad concepts and storyboards
* Call to action centric creative
* Engaging ad copy
* Optimized ad development (Flash and GIF formats)
* Landing page consultation and/or creation

E-Mail Campaigns

E-mail marketing campaigns are used to keep in touch with clients, introduce new products and services, upcoming events and promotions,and communicate anything your prospects might find interesting. These campaigns are a great way to keep your name on the minds of potential clients and return customers.

Content Management Systems

Content Management System (CMS) allows you to easily update and maintain huge, content-rich websites without the need for HTML knowledge or a webmaster. The admin system contained within the CMS provides easy-to-use tools that will allow you to add, edit and delete content, plus any other special functionality you require.

Forums, Blogs, Polls

One key component of a successful website is user participation. Custom built forums, polls and other online interactive applications will help to develop the social aspect of your website.

Multimedia Integration

Consider developing powerful multimedia experiences for your web users.These multimedia developments will keep your visitors coming back

Newsletter and Mailing Lists
Generate traffic to your site with custom built newsletters and mailing list. These services provide tracking, automation and easy maintenance while generating web traffic.

The terms pay-per-click (PPC) and cost-per-click (CPC) are sometimes used interchangeably, sometimes as distinct terms. When used as distinct terms, PPC indicates payment based on click-throughs, while CPC indicates measurement of cost on a per-click basis for contracts not based on click-throughs.

For example, consider a campaign where payment is based on impressions, not clicks. Impressions are sold for $10 CPM with a click-through rate (CTR) of 2%.

1000 impressions x 2% CTR = 20 click-throughs

$10 CPM / 20 click-throughs = $.50 per click

Definition taken from MarketingTerms.com

What is link popularity?

A measure of the quantity and quality of sites that link to your site.

Nowadays, building a business from scratch is a gamble. It’s either you lose some and win big or lose big and win some. Nonetheless, it will still take some money from your side. Money taken, on the other hand, should be considered as an investment.

There are many people who claim they know web marketing well enough that you need not spend a dime to get rich. Truth be told, there’s no such thing. In fact, even marketing gurus spend hundreds of dollars in accumulation just to get their campaigns up and running. The difference however, lies in knowing where to put their investments and not waste anything in the process.

The simple logic behind return of investment or ROI should give you an idea if a certain investment is worth the loss. In layman’s term, the expected income should exceed the investment value. One good example is getting an internet connection for an online business that will yield double—even triple– the connection’s monthly fee. But how would you generate more dollars if you have money issues at the moment?

· Focus your attention to your market more. Product branding is crucial but it requires people to pay while getting down and dirty with your market will bring you closer to what they really want and need. Start from your clients and study their behavior towards your product.
· Dare to be different. Explore other venues like videos and website overhauls. Make the service easier for your clients, both potential and existing ones.
· Targeted marketing. We need not be vague because the longer we keep on playing the game of hit and miss, the lesser our chances of landing a sale. Keeping the communication lines on a personal level will make your clients come back for more.

So you think it’s high time for your sleeping blog to finally wake up and do its job now? Crank-starting it is easy enough to do; in fact, you can do that all by yourself and based only on your common sense and gut feel. But these efforts can only do so much and as you achieve some certain level in terms of ranking, it is but natural for you to want more. Anyway, blogging is a constant challenge and it is somewhat like a battlefield out there every single day. With all the commotion that has been going on with blog marketing, it’s easy to get lost and overlook some important points in your blog marketing efforts. Try these easy and practical ways to market your blog today:

1. Your domain name is important, use it everyday.
2. Consult professional web designers for your blog designs. It is important that your blog design reflects your blog’s goals and objectives.
3. Choose a blog platform that can be customized.
4. Choose your keywords well. It will help your blog get indexed faster.
5. Keep track of your blog’s behavior. It will help you determine what works for your niche and what topics to avoid. Take advantage of many plugins to help you with your stats.
6. Always keep your contents fresh and relevant. Nothing bores a reader more than a non-updated blog.
7. Set-up an email account exclusively for the blog. This will be used for inquiries and blog transactions.
8. Scatter your links to relevant sites especially to authority sites such as .gov and .org.
9. Be active in directory submissions to boost up your rank.
10. Participate in your niche activities and establish expertise over your niche. When people know that you are a well-informed person about a certain topic, they’ll seek your help not the other way around.