Cellular Technology and Advertising: The Newly Weds

by CHICKMELIONfreelance


Just recently Apple Inc. unveiled their premier iAd, a new smart phone operating system to bring the luxury and advantages of the iPad to cell phones everywhere. This is Apple’s posturing against it’s direct competitor Google and it would no doubt be a tempting arena to frontier in considering that since it’s introduction iPad alone reveals some staggering statistics. Already some 600,000 digital books have been downloaded on iPads as well as 3.5 million applications. This no doubt makes advertisers wet with anticipation, because for the first time a mobile device will foster more engaging advertising that will not pull users away from the content within their applications. Expectations for mobile advertising investment in this year alone will bloom by 78% growth to $1.6billion dollars. Now that is just crazy!

We’re looking at an expected $6 billion dollar industry by 2012 says industry experts, that is a massive jump in a very short time and not with it’s complications. Bandwidth is at a premium as servers are scrambling to keep up with the market place’s insatiable demand. The required expansions are very costly and if mobile service goes by the way of GOOGLES plans or SKYPE’s in eventually offering free calls worldwide.... they have no idea how or who is going to pay for the expansions required to meet demand, they themselves are as of yet not into developing and marketing applications. Perhaps as the cell phone more evolves to a computer companies like sprint mobile should re-think their product mix to include advertising platforms as well... just to survive that is.... Ahhh growth pains!

There are many enterprises jumping on the bandwagon cutting teeth in this new frontier as web 2.0 has now stepped into mobile web 2.0. Step over 3G we have now become a 4G nation and hey that isn’t expected to last long either. Here are some examples of how innovative businesses are stretching their wings to welcome the rapidly changing tides:

-The weather Channel has now started integrating platforms to accommodate mobile web ad products. (Read more about it here)
-Applications are on the market now that allows Big Boss to keep an eye on you via cell phone, (if it’s a company phone) it is an extension to those products offered to
regulate employee activities on company computers. (Read more about it here.)
-Merchants can now swipe credit cards on their iPhones... good news for the Solopreneur at the trade show. (read more about it here)

There is a company called Juniper Research that has put out two white papers available to you to download for free ( http://www.juniperresearch.com ) on the subject of the migrance of web 2.0 going mobile and its expected effects and areas of growth, you might want to check it out so you too can prepare for the inevitable and embrace your own corporate plan to include iPhone advertising in your mix.

It has become the new frontier indeed as computing devices shrink from the desk top, to the lap top, to now the pocket... and beyond. I wonder if we are not advancing towards optical devices either as a contact or surgically implanted and hot wired to the cranium. Where the clicking of the tongue represents every click of the mouse’s copy and paste function. I don’t know... as advertisers seek to put their messages in front of the public at every opportune moment... how long will it be before we are fed a stream of pitches during our sleep and find ourselves waking in the middle of the night for some reason craving pizza.

4 Mantras of Single Parenting Wisdom

by CHICKMELIONfreelance



Single parenting is not easy and we all are fully aware of this. This role is not solely reserved for parents without a spouse, it is shared with parents whose spouse’s jobs keep them away from their families for extended periods of time (for what ever reason.) The hours are long , frustrations tend to mount up quickly and help is quite often few and far between because of inaccessibility, unavailability or cost. However those who know better and are more than willing to criticize your single parenting inadequacies are many. Therefore I, being a former single parent would like to offer all of you individuals struggling to raise children alone these 4 mantras of wisdom totally free....

1) Never go to the washroom until they are the age of 5 at least!

Ok this may sound a little overkill but for good reason. We all have to ”go” sooner or later and if you were like me, you would keep a small crack open in the door as a compromise between a false sense of humility and the need to supervise your now semi-unattended child. Now if your child is anything like mine they too will be working their own learning curve... waiting for such opportunities to test some theories out they have been stewing and brewing over in their heads. They may even have learned by now that they can extend their testing theories somewhat by working in relative silence.

A theory my child decided to test while I was occupied was to peanut butter the dog. Now I am not sure if this was an artistic expression he was going for, or if he just wanted our black lab to be a golden retriever instead. I suspect it had something to do with the funny expressions a dog can make trying to cope with peanut butter on the roof of their mouth... and if one dab was funny, imagine what a dog smeared nose to tail would produce. It would take a few years before I myself saw the humor in this. I am still amazed how quickly they can work at testing their theories as opposed to cleaning their rooms.

(On a side note: It may make perfect sense to want to take the mess outside to minimize damages and use a hose to clean up with... I thought so as well! I do need to point out though that peanut butter and cold water do not play well together!)

2) Never Assume!

Oh wow, this is a big one and it took a few unusual twists in one incident to bring this concept into clarity for me. My child was gaining independence and his independence was growing quicker than his body was. Soon enough this conflict will come to a head. It occurred on a pleasant winter evening... when we needed to get a jug of milk before the store closed. It was a quick five minute walk to the store and I figured the fresh air would help encourage sleep time. I put my foot in my winter boot and I pulled it out immediately because my sock was soaken wet. I am confounded! How did this happen? I did the smell test and it reveals to me : human urine.... say what?

Here are the assumptions I erroneously made:
-I assumed he had no issues making it down the hallway from the kitchen to the bathroom...wrong! This day he suddenly developed a fear of the shadows.
-I assumed he would ask for help with the light switch which was just out of reach....wrong! He can deal with this on his own... just not the way any one else might think of dealing with the identical situation.
-Ok! I assumed he would deal with it somewhat rationally... Well it is all up to who’s definition of rational he was using. He didn’t want to have an accident, having conquered mastery over the porcelain bow, which was where he was heading in the first place! He creatively thought of the nearest containment unit that would satisfy all the issues on the table.... which of course was...my boot! Again somehow he neglected to tell me.

3) Do not let them make lunch for you until they can at least reach the counter.

This will ensure the use of some rational assemblage of lunch materials. Because once made, you are faced with a predicament.. You would like to encourage selfless and independent behavior there fore you must at least taste the offering. I was handed a peanut butter, mustard and cheese-whiz sandwich and luckily it wasn’t too bad.
I knew this because I did the dog test first.... hey what ever the dog is not willing to touch, it is just not safe. (We are talking a dog that got into the garbage regularly.) Fostering selfless behavior aside, I needed to survive the lunch in order to continue to care for my child. I was a single parent after all!

4) Never ever refuse their dandelions!

Every spring through summer on an annual basis a daily offerings of wild flowers would lay on my kitchen table... root, dirt and all. There would even be the occasional earthworm or beetle heading for cover. I got to tell you, I treasured each and every gesture of his attempt to show me how much he loved me. Now that he is full grown and on his own, someone else gets those flowers now. Yet it is those flowers I remember the most... not all the incidents, close calls, or trials... no those became folk lore told today to make us all smile, (because I find in time I can manage to smile about them; no harm ... no foul.) My kitchen table lays clean and bare. What I have now are memories of how we survived together ALONE. All the heartaches, worries and frustrations of trying to keep one step ahead of the game alone have now become fond memories and tales for grandchildren. The times I thought I would never survive single parenting...I did! You will too!. So when anyone down the road who tries to lead you to believe that they as parents never ate humble pie, know in your heart that are leaving out some details and losing out on some wonderful tales down the road..

Integrated

The Perfect Plan of Imperfection

by CHICKMELIONfreelance


Think about it...an entity that created an entire universe inadvertently neglectes to create perfection within the human race? Sounds a little off...

No!. I am sure there is an ulterior motive to our imperfections in the grand scheme of things.

In retrospect, the only ones who demand perfection from each and every "other" individual are us alone... the human race. I say "other" because we often are more than willing to give a little leniency with our own frailties.

Now, nowhere in the golden book of rules have I found any expectation for perfection from He who created us.... heck if there was, we wouldn't need any commandments clearly spelled out to us....in order "TO LIVE BY"... as it says. And in our perfection we certainly wouldn't need them to be spelled out to us numerous times either.

So why then would One who creates perfection in a universe tolerate mankind in their imperfections? I believe it comes down to one little concept we own all for ourselves...."FREEDOM OF CHOICE."

Another state of being we as humans feel compelled to take from one another and control for ourselves, all the wile exerting our own freedoms to choose. Nowhere is there evicence of an Omnipotent being far greater than us, infringing on our own freedoms to choose. Now why is that?

It comes to me that in His tolerating our ever persistent blunders, He allows us to give to Him the one and only thing we truly own for ourselves. Our choice to be reverent towards Him. Our choice to be bonded to Him....our choice to love Him of our own free wills....

For what relationship has any longevity if there weren't an exchange between both parties? Now He has given us so much... what have we to give to Him? What else is there on this earth that we have created of our own hands without the use of His resources?

If we were born in perfection we would have no choices... we would not need to learn to appreciate Him and His wonder... His creativity...His splendor...

Yet I ask you,...had we not ourselves made errors in judgement and tasted the polar opposite of His blessings.... tasted a bit of our own hell... which we created... would His splendor, His forgiveness, His patience with us be any where near appreciated and as soothing to our souls? Would we come to appreciate the fullness and compexity of who we are loving unless we took the ugly along with the good? Could we say we have a well rounded relationship with our Source.... or would something always be missing....off balance? Does He not in our imperfections model to us our own direction we need to foster with each other in order to obtain the peace we all quest for?

We were born of love.... born to love... our love fills the universe with the positive vibe it needs to thrive... we were born to sustain Him with love as well... fulfilling an endless cycle of choices to be a part of the greater good.....

IN THE (Internet and Marketing) NEWS

IN THE (Internet and Marketing) NEWS

There is not much riveting in the Internet Marketing front in the past little while, but you can certainly sense a storm a brewing on the horizon on at least two fronts: the rumors and posturing of cellular wonders ready to set the stage as worthy competitors to the still hot iPhone introduced last month... (we would like to wish them luck... it’s an aggressive and vicious market to try to get a toe-hold in...) and Facebook seems to be kicking up a bit of a dust storm in it’s attempts to take over the world.

But before we get into those areas, I would like to point out how quiet it has been on the Google home front lately since the China storm seems to have blown over( for the time being at least.) Facebook might want to take a look at what went down ... there’s a few very blunt lessons here to be learned when a singular regime sees fit to stand up and take over the world. In this "ME" generation it appears a singular supremacy that appears to get "puffed" up can find it’s self dropped like a hot potato in a New York minute.

Here is what went down:

-No China did not bend to a large corporation from a Democratic Western Culture attempting to, not only dictate, but seemingly blackmail their views in attempts to gain a global monopoly.

-No China’s internet activities did not grind to a halt when Google pulled out. For them life rocks on and Google can no longer lay claim in its media releases of its intent to be a globular force to reckon with.... in direct relation to this Googles market shares dropped .

-No Google could not prove that China was indeed the country which the scammer’s attacks stemmed from or as China claimed, merely caught in the middle as the sophisticated scam bounced off of their IP signal in attempts to be elusive.

-And here’s the big one... as China dug in standing on their right to run their country their way... no one was willing to stand up and back Google in it’s attempts to force democacy on a socialist country. The US government backed down, the corporate world kept very silent on the situation, the only ones to stand behind Google were "GoDaddy.com". Why the abandonment from such a worthy cause? Perhaps because it was seen by most as a purely business maneuver as opposed to protecting the civil rights of the global computer user. Googles had to admit soon after that their business moves tend to make more enemies than allies, (read more)

On another front... who is going to kick the iPhone off of it’s pedestal? There have been PR pushes already and rumors of companies with their own versions to take on the very lucrative market. Rogers I see plans to introduce a "Social Networking" phone soon, Sprint will launch a new 4G phone on June 4th and Google’s Android takes number 2 spot from the iPhone... although Apple balks at these stats as being irrelevant.

No matter! The important factor we all as marketers need to understand is that 1/4 of every household in North America uses a cell phone solely... no land lines involved. Clearly we are looking on a new frontier of advertising. Pocket billboards begging for more and nouveau applications to intrigue the hungry downloader. Always the challenge facing we the entrepreneurs: new ways of attracting the market with pocket sized interactive ad machines. So whose going to win in the cell race? Well there has been a lot of rumors lately about head crunching and brain collaborating to get that android technology into the hands of almost everyone... and that is by making the technology accessible... price wise that is. My guess is the true winners in the race are you and I...(wink!!!)

Finally and certainly not least. No doubt we will be headlining this story in the blog for a while to come: "Facebook the New World Leader! " You think I jest? Facebook is now the number one social site on the global web and kicking up some serious dust in it’s wake. The meat of the matter is Facebook’s desire to carry more clout in advertising revenues ( read more) so it made a few moves that worried a few people about infringements on privacy including the Senators who tell Facebook to tighten up on their privacy policy (read more).

This was only compounded by a momentary blunder when a bug related to a feature on the fast-growing social network site allowed a user to see how their profile will appear to other users. By manipulating the "preview my profile" feature, Facebook said people were able to view their friends' private chat messages and pending friend requests for a limited amount of time on Wednesday. Facebook worked furiously to correct this problem.


As we have reported earlier this year in our news blog (CHICKMELIONfreelancer) that Facebook is riddled with bugs and viruses. It is a large headache for businesses whose employees use company computers to interact on the site. There have been corporate leaks, systems crashes and spammer attacks involved. A survey cited that 70% of viruses found in corporate and business systems have come from social sites with management claiming that Facebook was the most likely of all to pass off a virus. Ahhh! The pains of being popular. A new form of "socially transmitted diseases" emerges!

It seems not in light of all this there is a bit of an exodus from Facebook. A few reasons cited: the ever growing security concerns is the top reason, in addition to people just plain being bored with the site it’s self. (read more.) It will be interesting to see just how Facebook will address this exodus. In light of a lot of marketing gurus who urge people to stay because of the benefits of the new "like" option, history has proven that if one forges a new path and is successful with it... the herd of competitors will follow.

To all those unimpressed with Facebook and the way it is set up... hold your breath, surely an alternative is already on the drawing board. That’s the way it goes with success isn’t it... someone’s always ready to throw salt on your game. Oh by the way... isn’t the share button a wonderful alternative in showing your support for a business and ideas? After all, when you can buy your "like" supporters (ahem... sorry it is called crowd sourcing instead isn’t it ... forgive me) how important will the numbers be in the mind of the consumer ?

HOBO MARKETING

“Hobo” Marketing

by CHICKMELIONfreelance


“Hobo” Marketing



There is a trend in marketing which may come as a surprise to a few. As cited by Trend Hunter Magazine (.com) It is the return of the “vagabond.” Now when you think about “hobos” your mind wanders to a time of the great depression where many people who lost homes and jobs traveled from place to place in search of that next meal... and Lord be willing ...a home. In researching the culture of “hoboism” it is interesting to note that the term goes a little further back than that; more to the civil war era of the mid 19th century. That’s where it’s roots spawn from. Men trying to wind their way back home in a desperate and nightmarish time in history. Either way the concept of “hoboism” creeps in as a spokesperson in times of belt tightening, losses and hardships. Not withstanding our own current slow crawl out of the global credit crisis, it is not a long stretch to imagine our own culture identifying and romanticizing our hobos of past. They were, as we are now forced to be...survivors.

And that is the heart of the marketing concept that is currently gravitating around “hoboism.” Yes, it is an actual marketable movement where even the fashion industry is climbing onboard designing and marketing “haute-couture” fashions as “Hobo-Chic.” Hey why not! In an industry which is expected to crank out innovative looks on an annual basis, it only stands to reason that the never before looked at possibilities of the vagabond lifestyle present themselves as fresh new avenues to exploit. Attitudes are changing! We over used our credit cards to look above our means. We paid a hefty price for it and now that we are all in the same cash crunching boat, it presents it’s self as a similar sense of comradery as our hobo heros once had.

It goes a little deeper than that too! With a global crisis looming and forewarned shortages of many necessary luxuries such as food, water, oil, electricity, (only to mention a few) we are learning to cut back. We are now very familiar with the term “green living” and even expectant of perhaps taking it to a whole new level in 2012, as doom sayers predict an all out global crisis or pandemic. Our cars are getting smaller, our vacations more closer to home....our products are suspiciously shrinking in size because the marketplace just can’t tolerate the price hikes any longer... and there is a quiet acceptance to this... we all have been familiarized with belt tightening and can empathize better with this movement. Now that we are eyeball deep in it ourselves.

Activism is also a key trigger that aids this movement. With an ever growing homeless and addiction problems, some very tragic and large scale natural disasters, and a few large scale environmental tragedies, people are getting ever loud about the direction and choices our culture calls for. Fearing our destiny, many social activists are taking very candid shots and using a medium no other generation had access before to get their point accross... the internet. We are on a daily basis reminded of humane frailty and the frailty that our own comforts offer. How it can all be gone in one moment. Yes we are all faced with the concept of “what if....” and trying to visualize ourselves surviving. Survival gear, survival kits... even businesses and governments and are faced with the ever importance of setting in place current continuity plans, just in case. It is safe then to say that this mind set is going to be around for quite some time. In light of that, it may well be something you as a marketer will want to consider when putting your voice out there in the marketplace in hopes of calling to and attracting your target market. A more human approach seems to be a key concept. Social media has blossomed because it understood and monopolized on it’s ability to offers a human voice to both marketer and market and I don't see much glitz and glam going down there either.

So what are the implications of “hobo” marketing? I think the key words are: down played, laid back, minimalist, free, care free, conscious, organic, comfortable and down sized. You know there was a code of ethics that the hobos of the past followed. It allowed for their survival in the harshest of conditions. it might well serve a purpose here to retell a few of them to you, so you can fully grasp the heart and soul of the movement ....( from wikipedia:)

.
Don't take advantage of someone who is in a vulnerable situation, locals or other hobos.

Always try to find work, even if temporary, and always seek out jobs nobody wants.

By doing so you not only help a business along, but ensure employment should you return to that town again.

When no employment is available, make your own work by using your added talents at crafts.

Always respect nature, do not leave garbage where you are jungling.

If in a community jungle, always pitch in and help.

When traveling, ride your train respectfully, take no personal chances, cause no problems with the operating crew or host railroad, act like an extra crew member.

Help all runaway children, and try to induce them to return home.

Help your fellow hobos whenever and wherever needed, you may need their help someday.

If present at a hobo court and you have testimony, give it. Whether for or against the accused, your voice counts!


Goodness seems to be the prevalent message. in order to survive be good because in tight situations it becomes “we need to be able to live and work together” in order to make it through. Man, not much has changed has it? We are still struggling to attain success with the same pursuits, and far from crawling out of our economic woes, the hobo mindset will prevail as people look to the past in answering for an uncertain and expectedly difficult future. So it really isn’t too difficult as marketers to gear our messages towards a more compassionate and comradery oriented voice. It is after all the signs of times and we all know as marketers, to be effective in hitting our audience we best read the signs.

The Taming of The Facebook "Shrew"

by CHICKMELIONfreelance

Like several million other business people I have and hold an existence on several social sites, Face book being one of them. I was encouraged repetitively and quite convincingly by savvy marketers pimping social networking as a viable means of doing business successfully online. They hammered it into my head via webinars, emails and articles. So I eventually went with the flow down stream with millions of other businesses creating an entity in an ocean of bits and bites.

I have a problem now, my smorgasbord of virtual life has taken on an entity and persona of it’s own, overpowering me at times and certainly thinking it can consume a large portion of my rare time and attention. It is my own fault though, I allowed the monster to grow on it’s own without pulling back on the reigns earlier than this. Wooed by multiple “friend” requests from fellow marketers, I allowed my list to grow and grow rapidly. I however don’t know a majority of these people and if given an exam regarding their livelihoods ... I would direly and embarrassingly fail.

Not from my attempts to try to familiarize myself with them. But some re-occurring and annoying scenarios keep popping up. It seems the fine art of networking is for the most part a lost and rare concept. It seems accepting a “friendship” solicitation has opened me up to spam notes in my mail box more than anything else. It has gotten to a point that I don’t even read them any more. I just don’t have the time nor interest. Why? Because these solopreneurs had never even made the effort to familiarize themselves with me, nor attempted to help me become familiar with who they were. This whole attitude flies in the face of the realities of social network marketing. Where the consumer, (you and I included,) flows to this type of forum to be recognized NOT ignored. Such business behavior is counter productive to the medium they are utilizing. I myself am annoyed by this mailbox spamming practice and I know I am not the only one! Time to do some spring cleaning!

I recognize that I need to define my purpose for being on this site first and foremost. I need to look at my goals as a business entity and as an individual, because I am not about to compromise and lose who I am in this flood of people with their never ending wants and needs. This is a personal choice and it may not be something you the reader agree with, but I am not really here to make sales. I am here to network! I recognize that I have this wealth of global “Chamber of Commerce” like potential right in front of me and I want to tap into it...yeah...meet and greet, that’s my goal. And in this meeting and greeting, I want to see if I can arrange some cross promotional handshakes and yes even gain a business friend or two! (Hey we all need our moments in the day to lighten up and just be people.) I know I appreciate everyone on my page who recognizes the same thing and pops in just for the sake of saying hi! To let you in on a secret, I am far more willing to want to bend over backwards for people like these when they have a need for something I can help with.

After defining my purpose and goals, it is time to re-organize my list of contacts. I recognize three very clear sub-sets of personas that I can divide my friend list into. I have my dear friends and I certainly don't want to lose them in the crowd. God knows there are days that these are the only people that stand in the way of me pulling my hair out.

I have also had the privilege of meet people who are willing to network with me and I really need to set up a separate specialty list for these very important people. Because networking is all about fostering and nurturing relationships, I need to get to know these people better. Be intimate with their products and services and allow them to come to know me. Build trust and a “team like” spirit of comradery. Not only does this foster the ability to gain valuable word of mouth for both of us , but it also builds the arena necessary to understand each other and their needs well enough to put our heads together for cross promotional purposes.

I will go through my list of friends (and yes my spam mail as well) and look for more potential prospects for networking as well. I will be looking for those who are not in direct competition with me but can compliment my mix with products and services. I will be very open and direct with these people regarding my intents because I have already learned the value of cutting off the fat and keeping activities lean. If they are not willing to play, I’m taking my ball and playing elsewhere.

Better yet, I’m taking their name and putting it on the third list I have planned. I will call it my “society list”. Yes it is all the other people I co-habitate with and as in life I will smile as we pass and be friendly when they approach. I will keep them for two reasons. Firstly I respect their choice to be on my page. That means something to me and I am not going to turn my backs on that. Secondly... hey I’m a marketer! I recognize that this affords me increased visibility among business and peers and who knows what the future holds. They may well become friends or networkers of like mind in the future.

I feel better now that I am organized. I am ashamed I allowed things to roll so much out of control. Since I have whipped the monster back into a more productive pace, I can feel better about opening my mailbox, having now options and clearly defined motivations on how to deal with the individuals vying for my attention. Being more efficient with my short supply of time has allowed me a little extra moments to finding the time to smile and pass a few extra jokes towards my friends whom I do appreciate. Heck I can even find them faster now! Got to love spring cleaning. It gives such a renewed sense of control and vitality. And hey, just before i go... you can join me on Facebook if you want...(wink!)

When The Buckshot Approack Fails You

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by CHICKMELIONfreelance

In the advent of social media marketing ”networking “ has never been a more important concept. It is what the online user desires, whether they be the consumer of fellow solo/entrepreneurs. An open flow of communication is what is expected in order to gain loyalty and word of mouth. People want an exchange of communication now days and expect a forum available to them that their voices can be heard. With “like” buttons becoming common and prevalent it is essential that the businesses of the modern age learn how to “be liked” and bend to the new rules of modern marketing and networking. It seems as though the fine art of networking has however been lost in the high speed shuffle and that is a very dangerous and time consuming mistake to make. Especially if you were enticed into the numbers game and now have a large page of individuals you don’t know and are still attempting to cold call. Networking is about give and take. The consumer, (and we are all one of those) have come to expect something valuable and viable as an offering in order to woo their attention and loyalty. Being pepper sprayed with non-solicited and UNTARGETED advertising is NOT a practice anyone is particularly fond of. Yet it seems to be very prevalent on the pages of every social network going.

I get a lot of what I call “spam” mail from such entrepreneurs in my own profile pages and to be honest, I don’t read a single one. In fact I am rather annoyed by them. It seems to me that their only interest is to deliver their own self serving advertising. That not only offends me... as a consumer, I am really not interested in doing business with them. Let me tell you, this practice is so counter productive to the whole concept of why social network marketing has taken flight and become so popular in the first place. Think about it. The entrepreneur needs to slow down the pace and with a pre-determined set of objectives work a little smarter with their marketing efforts.

The buckshot approach:
In the zeal to satisfy the articles and webinares which tell us to get onboard with the lucrative marketing rewards that social networks offer; we as business people instinctively think to collect as many common and like minded people we can find and then inundate them with our own concept of “vital facts” hoping they have the time and fortitude to see what we see and will be excited to do business. Unfortunately these cold calls get lost within a ton of other spam like messages offering links as well. Be honest, do you even look at them in your own mailbox? How about the group pages? Do we think because the medium is free we can pepper spray our advertising messages in hopes of making a hit, without even offering anything valuable and viable other than how to make a fortune in a quick five minutes? What ever happened to “targeted” messages? Yes! I want to quit my business... the one I built by my own blood sweat and tears to take on a pyramid scheme and make a bundle in a flash! Is annoying our fellow friends and businessmen a cost effective way of getting the word out? Or is it a gross waste of time and effort, it also comes close to potentially earning a negative reputation? You be the judge.

There seems to be a lot of confusion gravitating around the numbers game and the concept of soliciting friends. The name of the game should not be an attempt to rack up the “people” points in numbers as much as it should be a focused effort to foster positive word of mouth prospects and networking partners for potential business alliances. We are talking about a quality issue as opposed to a quantity issue and that takes careful forethought , planning and time to pull together before you can reap rewards of a beneficial and mutual relationship. So let’s take a closer look at the concept of networking and see if we can dissect some good and viable strategies from it with which to apply in our social networking practices.

A Definition to live by:
In old school terms, networking has always been synonymous with developing and maintaining contacts and personal connections who might be helpful to you, and your enterprise. These contacts can be very useful in keeping you abreast of:
-upcoming opportunities,
-insights and opinions that can be valuable to make cost effective business decisions from,
-alliances for the purposes of cross promotion,
-expertise you can tap into,
-as well as a support network, and Lord knows we could all use a bit of support sometimes!

The fine art of networking:
It is about building relationships of trust. That requires contact, communication that is multi directional, considerable etiquette and a sense of give and take from both parties in order to make it work. As in all relationships nothing comes quick and easy. It has to be worked at by keeping up regular contact, listening as well as speaking, remembering to be polite and thanking people for their insights and help; as well as freely helping others when asked without expecting a return. Rapport is best built when you don’t need anything from whom you are interacting with. So stay in touch and foster conversations that are purely social. This not only helps you connect on a more human level, it will also builds a foundation of comradery where there is a willingness to put the heads together to advance both parties in their endeavors. Now you got each other’s back and potentially with a bit of creativity, you can dream up some cross promotional ideas that can benefit both, all the while offering the cost effective benefits of a joint venture. This all hinges on the fostering of a relationship. You have to take the time to get to know who you are dealing with in order to build the good will necessary to promote one another’s interests. Best of all it is TARGETED promotion. By networking, you are increasing the range of people who can hear about your business. By learning about other businesses, you are able to refer them to your clients who want something you can’t offer, and vise versa. Your clients won’t forget you for this, nor will your network partner, and we all know that word of mouth is the most powerful form advertising there is!

Fostering a strong and viable networking group may take a bit of time to build but it can be a major factor in business growth, it’s survivability is for the long run and is much more effective than the buckshot approach of unsolicited and untargeted spam messaging any day. Fewer people are going to be upset with you. I guarantee it!

Social Media Video Is One Of The Hottest Ways To Sell Virtually...

by CHICKMELIONfreelance


There is a lot of chatter lately about the emergence of a new internet marketing medium called Social Video. In the hustle and bustle of a million and one entrepreneurs jockeying to get themselves in the fore front of the public’s eye amid this vast sea called the web; this medium makes a whole lot of sense. I don't know about you, but on a daily basis I am inundated with words... some days I am so inundated I can’t even type straight.

I joke with my friends that a troll comes in the night and switches my keyboard keys around. My spell check is doing overtime! In all reality we all are doing a lot of reading. Whether it be road signs to and from work, labels, bills, directions, mis-directions, re-directions, white papers, scrap papers... well you get were I am heading. I kind of like the idea of sitting back and having things presented to me... I find that I absorb more information, remember the facts easier, tend to actually go through the whole material instead of skim the surface. That is good news for a marketer! No doubt this is exactly why Social Media Video is taking off like a storm.

I attended a web seminar not too long ago put on by: Mike Koenig whose site is Market Yourself Video (marketyourselfwithvideo.com/video2.html) and I learned with a few tid-bits. For one; the potential for marketing via video is crazy and I am going to quote Mike’s stats directly :


Social media video is one of the hottest, most effective ways to sell virtually anything over the Internet



1) People really like to watch short videos. Consider these facts:

• 30 billion videos are watched in the U.S. every month
• Almost 60% of all web traffic is video
• 100 million people view online videos each month in the United States.
• The average duration of an online video watched is 3.5 minutes.

Secondly, I learned that the amount of social video vehicles available was a whole lot more substantial than I would have guessed.. I counted at least 58 or more sites that you can upload your video to, with YouTube(c) as the giant of all. That is a phenomenal reach and according to Mike Koenig with a nominal investment you can drive targeted visitors to your site and benefit from the SEO bonuses because of it.

Do you need a large production company to direct and produce a 3.5 minute commercial for you? Mike Koenig claims not! He suggests that you think of five objections you can turn into selling points, or answer 5 questions your market may ask you about your business or product and generate five mini conversations around these. Why 5? Well apparently to keep things viral and the hungry viewer satisfied. If they like what they saw they will want more and you had better be prepared to give it to them. Five seems to be the number acceptable to keep the hungry viewer satisfied and give you a toe hold as an authority on your subject.
　
With all this in mind, I thought I would give it a try myself to see what I can come up with. Armed with just my graphics program, windows movie maker and a bit of imagination I threw together a few commercials. Heck, I have to admit, I had fun doing it too! You might want to give it a try yourself! This is a trend that is not going to die out. I am sure you will find yourself down the road looking for the resources to get in on Social Video Marketing . And I wish you the best of luck with it. After all it is the successes of small businesses that builds a strong economy.

HOOKS CROOKS AND GOOD LOOKS

by CHICKMELIONfreelance


There is quite a wide array of business styles swimming in the internet ocean. From the savvy to the sharks... the waters hold them all. Yet survival of the fittest is not necessarily the one who can take the largest bite in the quickest amount of time; but rather the one who surely and steadfastly assembles a foundation of trust and interaction with their client base. Yes these are the ones who seemingly survive tempest of recessions and bounties of growth stages, both of which can drop you to your knees if you are not prepared.

Slow and steady... that is what we have heard for years as a formula for winning the race and because we are on the high speed internet peddling our wares, this by no means dictates a different business approach. Ethics has always outweighed the quick and easy. What does evolve is how we reach and interact with our potential client base. Though a call to action has always been a part of the marketing mix, shout outs now are accompanied with a free offering in hand.

Partly because it has been such a common practice, it has become expected by a consumer driven society being wooed at every turn.Yet there are some very logical and practical applications for offering a free service or product to a prospect such as : creating an avenue to open a dialogue with, creating an environment of trust and confidence, as well as allow the prospect to test the product to see how it fits their needs. Hopefully the prospect gets so used to the convenience of the product they are more than happy to upgrade or try other extensions the organization has to offer.　

A very good example is the strategy Mail Chimp uses. They are a DIY email marketing service that offers a Forever Free Pricing Plan: where you can store up to 500 subscribers and send up to 3000 emails a month... absolutely FREE! Think about it! When you hit their limits what are the chances that you are going to upgrade to one of their paid services and continue with them for a good while in the future?The beauty about this type of plan is the momentum behind the strategy.

It is built on good old fashioned networking and comradely. Mail Chimp graciously allows the "start up businessman" the slack they need to establish a toe hold in their niche. Surely they consider it as an investment in a much larger and longer anticipated relationship in the future. A relationship now built on trust. This is very respectable and ethical partnership mentoring that no doubt enhances Mail Chimp’s success and sets them apart from their competitors.

On the flip side, I have come across far too many of the following characters while surfing the open waters in my research. I fondly call them "Bargain Basement Bobs," and for any of you who are reading this who have shades of silver on your temples and a degree of wisdom only time can serve, you well know this character from old television advertising days.

He’s the outdated, outlandish hustler dressed in an over the top costume claiming to have gone "crazy, crazy crazy... to sell, sell, sell...." (Yes, he’s practically giving it away! Hurry and get in on the deal before they carry him away to the big house!)This entrepreneur overstates the value of their gift, (and I mean grossly overstates,) they claim their product or service is "irreplaceable," while in truth it is shaudy and ..(wink, wink) you can trust them implicitly!

I truly believe these are the ones who have ruined consumer trust in the first place, causing worthy and ethical entrepreneurs to have to dig in just that much harder to re-establish a foundation with the consumer. As an example, I wrote an article a while back on using PLR products to help keep content fresh on a website for the cash strapped and time starved business owners. Now I am not picking on PLR products, they can be a very handy tool given they are of quality and delivered with integrity! In my research though, I decided to test try a few outfits to see what they had to offer so I could get a full grasp of the pro’s and con’s on doing business within this niche. I was readily offered free PLR products to test, some which were very good and indeed they have succeeded in establishing trust.

Unfortunately I found Bargain Basement Bobs lair as well, and it did not take long to come to the conclusion that the 3D Ebook Cover Generating software they were using was far more valuable than the product that the shiny graphic presentation was pimping. It left a very dissatisfied taste in my mouth and a renewed respect for the PLR offering entrepreneurs who stands proudly behind their products with no smoke and mirrors.

Fortunately for this entrepreneur, Bargain Basement Bob just landed him a sale. Now I am not sure if Bargain Basement Bob’s actual product line was as shaudy as the sample he was passing out, but I was not going to lay out hard earned money to find out and in there lies the lesson!

It doesn’t take long to discern the cream from the curds. In the world of advertising wisdom, it is said that the average person generally buys a product only on the 6th or 7th exposure... and there is a good reason for it. So for all of you who are pushing through consistently and ethically, choosing the slower yet steady path... take courage, your foundation will last and your rewards will equal your persistence. My hats off to all you who chose the straight and narrow path......

THE ULTIMATE PRESS RELEASE

by CHICKMELIONfreelance

Press releases are a viable means of drawing attention and back-links to your business page. Because of this, your release is facing a very competitive environment. Your objective is not only to get the release posted on the sites your distributor"s package offered and which you paid for; you are hoping for a bigger bang for your dollar. To entice "the press" to be interested and pick it up for publishing in their media as well such as: magazines, newspapers, blogs....etc.

Each individual journalist who picks up your story for reprint represents a substantial reach of their own, opening you to even more back-links. That is how to get the most of your advertising dollar. Consider this similar to fishing. A daylong cast with good bait will increase your chances of landing a targeted potential customer to land on your business page. There you can convert to paying customer. A drag net is even better if you can afford it, but you had better be prepared for dealing with a large volume of inquiries. Drawing in a number of interested prospects and being unable to service them adequately is far more damaging. Their word of mouth can kill any reputation you hit worked hard to build.

Though your press release distributor welcomes all releases, including those which tout your new business, your new boss, or your new product; and though they do hit a substantial reach to be proud of, it is important to note that journalists rarely pick up stories about companies unless the story is news worthy. Something big has had to hit happened. Perhaps those instances you may not necessarily want to be involved with, like a scandal for instance. The fact is, these journalists are also working hard to keep their subscribers satisfied; so they pick the cream of the posted releases in order to fulfill their own patrons lust for meaty and interesting content. You want your release then answer this need, in order for it to go viral. Here are some presentations with a twist that seem to work better than the rest:


1) Lists!
It is the fad now days. You probably have read one or two of them yourself. Perhaps they read like: "10 things not to say to a disgruntled customer " or "5 mistakes bulls make in a china shop."
They are proven to be an easy comfortable well organized read,suitable for our rushed world, because they are orderly and concise. They are a good vehicle for a little light humor or a twist; as well as an easy avenue to host captions that may stop a reader in their tracks. Almost any organization can come up with an interesting twist or view of their business with this form of story.

2) The "Good Guy" story!
We all like to read a feel good piece. It breaks up the monotony of our day to day news feeds such as: tragedies, hardships, obstacles, and disappointments. People have always enjoyed good public relations pieces and tend to bond, as well as be loyal to corporate images that project this human touch. Stories need not necessarily read of giving and charity, but also a show of appreciation for their customers, neighbors, employees, even the environment...etc. Anything that would make the readership feel good when scanning through your story.

3) Legitimate News Tie-ins!
We face issues in our day to day: the economy, health scares, or global shifts that will affect us negatively if we don’t plan now. If you company or product can tie into these issues and solve whatever of the concerns that the media has raised around these issues, it is very likely these same journalists would be interested in your story as a tie-in. To take advantage of this type of press release you need to act fast while the " threat," is fresh and relevant in the minds of the readership.

4) The all out unusual!
The more unusual the caption as well as the story, the more likely this form of press release will gain attention. Again, it is a break away from the monotonous day to day information gathering your readership engages in. As example a restraint releases an announces a free omelet for any one who considers themselves brave!(The twist... Eat their giant sized one dozen egg dish in 10 minutes and not only will it be free but you get immortalized on the Wall of Fame as well.) As a follow up press release, the same restaurant can publish a story on a few very satisfied wall of fame customers.



With a bit of ingenuity and creative talent, an attention getting and well written release can go a good distance as a viral marketing tool. It will work hard for you to get your service and your product in sight of targeted prospects. Yet when writing your release you have to put yourself in two sets of shoes and write from their perspective and needs. These shoes are filled by the journalist who will take your release and increase the reach of it to targeted subscribers and these very same subscribers as well. Fortunately for you they are all looking for the same thing...a very good read! One which you are going to provide it for them!