Empire Today : Getting Your Customers to Social Media Market For You
Written by Neil Patel on June 5, 2008 | 28 comments
Sometimes a company can be marketed virally on social media platforms without actually hiring a social media marketer or putting together a social media campaign. Established brands which have a loyal grassroots following, either large or small, sometimes enjoy the benefit of that following establishing an online presence, whether in Facebook groups or Youtube Video channels.
Who's Attending SMX Social Media?
Written by Neil Patel on March 25, 2008 | 10 comments
Just out of curiosity, how many of you have attended a marketing conference in the past? Or to take it one step further has anyone attended a conference that purely revolves around social media?
Social Media Marketing - Weekly Wrap Up - 02.27.2008
Written by Muhammad Saleem on February 27, 2008 | 6 comments
Every Wednesday Pronet Advertising will be highlighting some of the best posts related to social media news and marketing. As always, please feel free to comment and if you have any recommendations, let us know so we can include them in the next week's wrap up.
Social Media Marketing - Weekly Wrap Up - 02.13.2008
Written by Muhammad Saleem on February 13, 2008 | 30 comments
Every Wednesday Pronet Advertising will be highlighting some of the best posts related to social media news and marketing. As always, please feel free to comment and if you have any recommendations, let us know so we can include them in the next week's wrap up.
Social Media Marketing - Weekly Wrap Up - 01.31.2008
Written by Muhammad Saleem on January 31, 2008 | 6 comments
Every Wednesday (sorry for the delay) Pronet Advertising will be highlighting some of the best posts related to social media news and marketing. As always, please feel free to comment and if you have any recommendations, let us know so we can include them in the next week's wrap up.
Social Media Marketing - Weekly Wrap Up - 01.17.2008
Written by Muhammad Saleem on January 17, 2008 | 13 comments
Every Wednesday Pronet Advertising will be highlighting some of the best posts related to social media news and marketing. As always, please feel free to comment and if you have any recommendations, let us know so we can include them in the next week's wrap up.
MySpace and Skype: A Partnership of Dwindling Expectations?
Written by Jay Cross on October 19, 2007 | 1 comment
MySpace and Skype recently announced that Skype will serve as the backbone of MySpaceIM, the web-based instant messaging client for the MySpace community. The announcement came in front of a high-spirited crowd at the Web 2.0 summit in San Francisco.
Showhype - Ballhype for Enterntainment and Celebrity News
Written by Muhammad Saleem on October 15, 2007 | 1 comment
Back in April we saw the launch of Ballhype and dubbed it 'social media sports done right' and now the founders of the site aim to replicated the success of that site with a new project called Showhype.
SMX Social Media
Written by Neil Patel on October 11, 2007 | 3 comments
There are only a few more days left till SMX Social Media. If you haven't registered I highly recommend doing so for the following reasons:
Don't Spread Yourself Too Thin
Written by Muhammad Saleem on September 24, 2007 | 2 comments
One of the things that I know from personal experience is that if you are passionate about multiple things, it doesn't mean you dive into all of them because you may not be able to deliver your best on all fronts. It seems that Kevin Rose is having a similar problem by spreading himself across multiple platforms (Digg, Pownce, and Revision 3).
Digg, Reddit, and the Culture of Rage
Written by David Chen on September 21, 2007 | 10 comments
Cracked.com recently published an article entitled "7 Reasons the 21st Century Is Making You Miserable," by David Wong. The article was phenomenally successful on both Digg and Reddit, garnering over 300 Reddit points and 4500 Diggs as of this writing. Today we take a look at some relevant insights the article might contain for us.
Build Your Social Media Profiles With This Extension
Written by Muhammad Saleem on September 13, 2007 | 5 comments
You may recall our very extensive walkthrough and review of the Netscape Navigator 9.0 social browser. Today we look at a social browsing project of a different sort, and this time directly integrated into Firefox.
Social Media is the New Word-of-Mouth
Written by Muhammad Saleem on September 10, 2007 | 6 comments
I have to admit, reading the New York Times' recent commentary on how word-of-mouth is the future, caught me a little off-guard. Discussing the future of the music business, and the online business model in general, the article argues that Facebook may not last much longer and that word-of-mouth is the future.
Social Media Success Beyond Digg
Written by Ben Yoskovitz on August 30, 2007 | 31 comments
Digg is the behemoth of the social media and bookmarking world. Hit the front page of Digg and you should get several thousand visitors at least. You could get many, many more. My best result on Digg was Top 10 Reasons Why Proposals Fail, which resulted in 50,000+ unique visitors over the course of a few days. But Digg is a fickle beast.
Wikipedia, Transparency, and Your Brand's Reputation Online
Written by David Chen on August 24, 2007 | 6 comments
Wikipedia has come to epitomize the Web 2.0 movement, with all its benefits and pitfalls. Small wonder then that many organizations have tried to harness the power of Wikipedia for their own ends. But the recent release of WikiScanner and the ensuing response show how Wikipedia's apparent transparency and neutrality can have the opposite effect of what companies intended.
A Tour of Streamy - If Looks Could Kill (Digg)
Written by Muhammad Saleem on August 13, 2007 | 7 comments
Late last night I finally got an invite to Streamy, a social content aggregating site that is the forerunner in the race to replace Digg. While I am still getting the hang of it, here's a quick tour of the site. And might I say, Streamy gets all my points when it comes to design.
Me-Too Mentality is Bad for Users, Marketers, and Startups
Written by Muhammad Saleem on July 31, 2007 | 23 comments
Web 2.0 has a huge me-too problem. Everyday a new company announces a 'new' product which is nothing more than an old product slight modifications or a few small additional features. This mentality is not only bad for users but also for marketers and even the startups.
Software Makes Social Media Success Easier
Written by Muhammad Saleem on July 25, 2007 | 1 comment
While in theory socially driven news sites and social media communities are supposed to be a one person one vote democratic platforms this isn't always the case in practice. In reality, and as pointed out earlier, every socially driven community has community leaders who can make or break your chances of success. Luckily for you these leaders are now easy to identify.
SMX Social Media
Written by Neil Patel on July 19, 2007 | No comments yet
Looking to learn more about social media? On October 16th and 17th in New York, Danny Sullivan and I will be co-chairing SMX Social Media. The show was designed to help you understand all of the social media sites out there as well as how you can leverage them.
Social Media Versus Traditional Media: Brand Impact Analysis
Written by Muhammad Saleem on July 18, 2007 | 1 comment
Social media marketing, if done right, can have a significant impact on brand awareness and popularity. However, many companies fail to utilize this cheap (and in many cases free) method of marketing. By looking at social media ranks for companies, and comparing it with mainstream media ranks for the same companies we can see which brands are taking advantage of this new medium and also draw conclusions about the effectiveness of social media.
ROMlet - Boast Your Content's Popularity
Written by Muhammad Saleem on July 16, 2007 | 11 comments
Once you have written great content and have gotten the initial exposure, social proof is on your side. ROMlet is another way to use use social proof to your advantage and capitalize on your existing exposure to further propel your content.
Thoof: Personalize Your Web Experience (Assuming You Use It Enough)
Written by MG Siegler on July 12, 2007 | 5 comments
Thoof is a new service that aims to bring you news stories and blog posts custom-tailored for you. It might be easiest to think of it as a similar idea to how Netflix or iTunes gives you personalized movie and music recommendations based on your rental and purchase histories - Thoof does the same thing with stories but does so by keeping track of what you've clicked on to read in the past on the site.
Ron Paul Supporters Need A Lesson In Social Media Marketing
Written by Muhammad Saleem on July 6, 2007 | 118 comments
I have to admit that I know a little (though not much) about Ron Paul's politics and I have nothing against him as a person or his political platform. When it comes to social media, on the other hand, he has fast become public enemy number one. Here's what you can learn from Mr. Paul's mistakes.
Spotplex, Why it Works and Why it Doesn't
Written by Muhammad Saleem on June 25, 2007 | 8 comments
When Spotplex launched its beta back in February, it garnered a lot of coverage. And why shouldn't it? Everyone loves a Digg killer, and the site seemed to have a foolproof way of calculating popularity and sharing information with other users without having to worry about organized gaming and voter fraud. Let's take a look at how true these assertions are and now that the site is finally out of beta, if much has changed or not.
BBC's North American Billboards Engage Their Viewers
Written by Muhammad Saleem on June 14, 2007 | 21 comments
I found a series of incredibly interesting ads from BBC World today that are not only striking on their own but are also noteworthy in the way they engage the viewers and take their voice into account by using a live opinion poll embedded into a billboard.
Netflix and the Art of Crowdsourcing Innovation
Written by Muhammad Saleem on June 5, 2007 |
Netflix, the online DVD rental service announced last October that they were going crowdsource their innovation for the princely sum of $1,000,000. Here's a look at the economics of the proposal and the art of crowdsourcing.
Social Poster - Maximize Your Social Media Participation and Traffic
Written by Muhammad Saleem on June 4, 2007 | 6 comments
While the idea behind Social Poster is not new, this is the first time I've seen it implemented in a way that is truly useful. The service can be used both by content submitters as well as content producers and works great.
How the Porn Industry is Utilizing Social Media
Written by Muhammad Saleem on June 2, 2007 | 5 comments
We've all heard about how the pornography industry will decide which next-generation optical disc format (Blu-Ray or HD-DVD) will ultimately become the industry standard. Today with the addition of StumblePorn, let's take a look at the pornography industry's foray into the social media space, which is now almost complete. Beware, this post may not be suitable for all audience and for all social settings.
Tim Ferriss - Social Media and The Social Proof - Part 1
Written by Muhammad Saleem on May 22, 2007 |
As a follow up to Darren Rowse's three-part interview with Tim Ferriss, I sat down with the author (through the magic of instant messaging) of The 4-Hour Workweek, to discuss efficiency when blogging, media training for bloggers, different content promotion methods, social media, and much much more. Here is the first part of a two-part interview. Tim has a lot of interesting insight to share so please read and enjoy.
Guy Kawasaki Responds to Truemors Criticism
Written by Muhammad Saleem on May 20, 2007 | 13 comments
Guy Kawasaki opened Truemors up to the public about a week ago, and the feedback wasn't very good. I even wrote a review and guide to the site and even offered some advice. Now, Guy fires back at the detractors and justifies his decisions.
Collactive - An In-Depth Look
Written by Muhammad Saleem on May 17, 2007 | 4 comments
Collactive, which dubs itself as a software service company that enables groups of people to share their opinion with each other and take action collectively, was all over news yesterday, with many people simply calling it a venture-funded way to 'game' socially driven news and content sites. Here's an in-depth look at the what exactly Collactive aims to achieve, whether you should use it, and how exactly to use it.
Guy Kawasaki's 'Truemors' - Dissected
Written by Muhammad Saleem on May 15, 2007 | 11 comments
When Guy made the help wanted post on his site about two weeks ago, I was intrigued and sent him an email right away, hoping to get access to the new service he was launching. Now that the service has officially launched, I can safely share my findings with you.
Social Media Dulling Pharma's Marketing Knife
Written by Aneil Weber on May 9, 2007 | 7 comments
I was planning to write a long article about Pharma (Pharmaceuticals) and what their deal is with social media however instead I decided to just jot down things as they come since there is ever so much to talk about.
Dell IdeaStorm - A Brilliant Idea
Written by Muhammad Saleem on May 9, 2007 | 4 comments
If you have a user base consisting of millions of people, many of whom are technology-savvy, why not use this to your advantage? That is exactly what Dell did by essentially converting their community into a free and enormous product development team.
How Social Media Gave Mike Gravel an Identity and a Platform
Written by Muhammad Saleem on May 3, 2007 | 17 comments
There are kings and there are king makers. Social media is an example of a 'space' that serves both functions. Take for example the case of Mike Gravel, until about a week ago he was a complete unknown, but since the 2008 Democratic Presidential Primary Debate of April 26th, he is all that the people can talk about.
What Social Media Did for USA Today
Written by Muhammad Saleem on April 26, 2007 | 7 comments
When USA Today first embraced and integrated social media functionality into the online news site, not everyone was sure it would work. Well, Jupiter Research points out today that all the naysayers have been emphatically been proven wrong.
Newsvine 2.0 - Evergreen
Written by Muhammad Saleem on April 24, 2007 |
Newsvine launched its first major update today since the site's launch a little over a year ago. Join us for a first look at the new features.
The Importance of MetaJournalism, Editorial Control in Social News
Written by Muhammad Saleem on April 18, 2007 | 3 comments
A piece of commentary by Li Evans, pointing out that Newsvine beat Digg in reporting the VA Tech shooting made the rounds yesterday. While people have largely been discussing the merits of socially driven news sites based on the speed with which they report the news, one thing is glaringly missing: an emphasis on the completeness and the accuracy of the news.
The 10 Largest Social Driven Sites
Written by Muhammad Saleem on April 6, 2007 | 6 comments
For many people, Digg is the definitive source for driving traffic to their content or services. And if they don't have success with Digg, life for them becomes a lost cause. If you ask me, it doesn't have to be that way, at least not according to the statistics I'm going to present to you.
Ballhype - Social Media Sports Done Right
Written by MG Siegler on April 2, 2007 | 13 comments
In an effort to expand beyond their technology-centric core, last summer Digg launched a Sports category. While it received some attention, it has largely been neglected by the community due to an understandable lack of interest. A new service called Ballhype, hopes to succeed where Digg has failed. To say Ballhype is simply a Digg clone for sports would be an absolute disservice to the site.
Abstract: Optimal Social Bookmarking Button Placement
Written by Muhammad Saleem on March 29, 2007 |
Having a 'Digg This' or any other social media site button on your site facilitates your readers in voting for the content and consequently having your content promoted and viewed by thousands of readers. But simply having the button on your site is not enough.
Learn about social media for free
Written by Neil Patel on March 16, 2007 | 2 comments
If you are looking to learn more about social media marketing from people like Kris Jones, Shoemoney, Todd Malicoat, and I, here is your chance. On Thursday, March 22 at 4:15 PM EST we are going to have a FREE live social media session during the eComXpo. So if you have any questions for us leave a comment below and we will do our best to answer them.
Monetizing Social Media Traffic
Written by Neil Patel on March 14, 2007 | 9 comments
Have you ever been to MSN, Google or Yahoo and seen a "personalized" message pop up?
Explode!
Written by Muhammad Saleem on March 9, 2007 | 3 comments
There are two kinds of passionate social web users. There are those who are passionate about the social media space and want to try out ever single site out there, and then there are others who are passionate about one particular site and stick to it.
What Social Media Taught Me About Branding
Written by Muhammad Saleem on March 8, 2007 | 3 comments
Once you have been a part of a socially driven community for long enough, you begin to recognize that certain users constantly submit stories about some specific topics. Why do they do this and what can you learn from this?
How Branding Scores Traffic from Social Media
Written by Neil Patel on March 1, 2007 | 8 comments
Branding is important when it comes to social media marketing. If you are trying to use social media sites for exposure and traffic not only is it important to brand your domain name, but it is also important to brand your user name by keeping it consistent throughout all social sites.
Showcase your "Best" to Social Media Traffic
Written by Ryan Fujiu on February 24, 2007 | 4 comments
To some, traffic from reaching the front page of Digg, Netscape, Reddit or Del.icio.us is the proverbial Holy Grail. But getting the traffic to your site is just the first step in a good Social Media Marketing campaign.
Microsoft Employs the Smartest Strategy Yet (Against Digg)
Written by Muhammad Saleem on February 22, 2007 | 11 comments
Since its launch in 2004, Digg has seen strong and largely unstoppable growth. While there has been no dearth of competitors and imitators, none have been able to upset Digg's lead in the social media space and in its goal towards democratizing the web. Out of all this competition, who would've thought that Microsoft would come up with the best strategy against Digg (perhaps even inadvertently)?
MyBlogLog Co-Author Spamming
Written by Muhammad Saleem on February 20, 2007 | 5 comments
I received an email a few days ago requesting me to become a co-author on Blogmemes Belgium MyBlogLog community. Thinking that I had received the invitation by mistake, I decided to ignore it. However, a post by Danny points out that these invitations aren't being sent out by mistake at all.
5 Sure-Fire Social Media Headline Formulas That Work
Written by Neil Patel on February 16, 2007 | 8 comments
Although content is important when you are trying to leverage social media sites like Netscape or Digg, the story title used for the submission maybe as important if not more important. Here are a few types of titles that I have found to be effective.
What the Google Decision Means for Social Media
Written by Muhammad Saleem on February 14, 2007 | 8 comments
A Belgian court ruled yesterday that it was illegal for Google to reproduce extracts from various Belgian newspapers on its Google News website. As worrisome as the decision may be for Google, it could potentially have far reaching implications for socially driven media in general.
Narcissism and the Pursuit of Freebies
Written by Muhammad Saleem on February 13, 2007 | 4 comments
Every community based site is a little narcissistic; some are more so than others. And pandering to the narcissistic tendencies of these sites can is increasingly becoming a common way for marketers to connect with the members that constitute these communities.
Solving the Content Uniqueness and Integrity Problem in Social Media
Written by Muhammad Saleem on February 12, 2007 | 4 comments
There are two problems that can compromise content on socially driven media sites. The first and more prevalent one is the problem of duplicate content. The second and less prevalent but more worrisome is the problem of content integrity and spam.
Social Media Sensationalism
Written by Muhammad Saleem on February 10, 2007 | 6 comments
Ask anyone and the first thing they will tell you about socially driven sites like Digg is that the key to getting on the front page is to have good content. While that is true, others will argue that other elements such as interesting titles and descriptions can be just as important.
Measuring the ROI from Social Media Marketing
Written by Neil Patel on February 5, 2007 | 13 comments
In most cases, the decisions that businesses make are based on the return on investment (ROI) they provide. If you spend $10,000 on a marketing campaign you expect to make enough sales to cover your costs as well as have a few bucks left over. It seems that with social media marketing people are saying that there is no ROI when there actually is.
WTF Happened to Technorati?
Written by Muhammad Saleem on February 1, 2007 | 3 comments
2 Days ago the whole Blogosphere was abuzz with news, information, and commentary on Technorati latest new feature called Technorati WTF. Then yesterday, all of a sudden the feature was no where to be found. Now, the feature is live again. WTF Technorati?
Why too many little icons can easily distract your visitors
Written by Neil Patel on January 17, 2007 | 19 comments
Because of the popularity of Digg, Del.icio.us, Netscape and all the other social sites out there, social bookmarking buttons have been taken to a whole new level. Instead of bloggers placing a few buttons at the bottom of each blog post, it seems that many enjoy offering their visitors all possible options.
Traditonal PR with a touch of social media
Written by Cameron Olthuis on January 16, 2007 | 9 comments
Launching a social media marketing campaign in concert with a traditional media campaign, such as press releases, is a great idea. I've seen a few others touch on this subject in the past with the latest being Scott from SEOmoz, who talks about creating a Digg campaign to compliment a client's traditional PR campaign.
Reaching Your Target Audience through Social Media
Written by Ryan Fujiu on January 7, 2007 | 5 comments
Reaching your target customer is a difficult task in marketing because of the lack of information about public preference. The more information you have, the better job you can do establishing who you target market is and how you can reach them...
Social Media Discussions at SES
Written by Neil Patel on January 5, 2007 | 1 comment
Last month I attended the Search Engine Strategies Conference in Chicago where thousands of people in the Internet marketing industry came together. I know many of you could not be there and are wondering what these conferences are like. Here is a video where Todd Malicoat, Mike McDonald, and I discussed Digg and SEO. This is a good example of the type of things that get discussed during the day when everyone is not out partying...
Social Media Optimization vs. Social Media Marketing
Written by Cameron Olthuis on January 2, 2007 | 12 comments
Social Media Marketing (SMM) and Social Media Optimization (SMO) are two new phrases that popped up last year to define marketing through social media and social networking sites. There seems to be a lot of confusion about what each of them mean and what exactly they define, which is bound to happen with any new phrase.
Marketing your deals with Deals.com
Written by Neil Patel on December 8, 2006 | 6 comments
Although the social media space seems to be ruled by sites like Digg, del.icio.us and Netscape, there is still room for more. Recently a site called Deals.com launched which is just like Digg, but for finding deals.
The Union uses social media to slam Goodyear Tires
Written by Cameron Olthuis on November 27, 2006 |
One good thing that is coming from social media is that it is pushing companies to treat consumers with a higher level of respect. Days when companies can lie to us, cheat us, treat us like crap, or get away with creating crappy products are gone. A few examples we have seen lately include the infamous AOL customer service call and the Comcast technician falling asleep at a customer's house. Companies that continue to allow these things to spread through social media without managing them will clearly be caught and hung out to dry.
Creative uses of social networks; Affiliate Summit
Written by Cameron Olthuis on November 5, 2006 | 2 comments
Not only are social networks starting to fill little niches but we are also starting to see a lot of creative uses with them. Take for example this one that is setup for Affiliate Summit. It's great because it was setup so that attendees can network before attending the actual conference. Building relationships before the conference even starts is really going to take networking at conferences to a whole new level. This is good news for anyone that is planning on attending.
Do customers want to be your friend?
Written by Cameron Olthuis on October 4, 2006 | 7 comments
Does your company have a MySpace page? If so, are you "friends" with your customers? Did they friend you or did you friend them? If you do not own a company are there any companies that you would want to be friends with?
Targeting Social Media Optimization
Written by Cameron Olthuis on September 20, 2006 | 3 comments
One of the reasons I love trading emails is that I'm often inspired to blog about an idea that comes up. In a recent email swap with David, from the Social Media Optimization blog, we started talking about SMO strategies and how to target the different channels. With SEO it's easy, you pretty much want to rank on every possible search engine there is, anytime someone performs a relevant search you would want to show up. Right? SMO is different, most social websites have their own unique communities. For example, if you're a "cooking" social network then Digg is the wrong site to optimize for, Chowhound or some of the other recipe sharing websites might make more sense for you.
A comparison of SEO and SMO
Written by Cameron Olthuis on September 20, 2006 | 3 comments
Social Media Optimization (SMO), if you haven't heard already, is a term that was recently coined by Rohit Bhargava which refers to the process of ensuring that a website is easy to link to by utilizing the different social media sources including but not limited to, blogs, bookmarking websites and media sharing websites. There are a lot of similarities and differences between SEO & SMO. Because of this, and the idea that one cannot take over the role for the other, it is important to know when and why to use each optimization technique.
Will Social Media Optimization become mainstream?
Written by Cameron Olthuis on September 11, 2006 | 5 comments
A couple of days ago I was asked the following question; What do you see as the main obstacles that Social Media Optimization needs to overcome in order to become a more mainstream marketing strategy? Social Media Optimization is still very much in its infancy. Although most of the concepts have been used for awhile, the phrase was just recently coined and through the community, the rules and concepts are just beginning to take shape.
Famster embraces social media
Written by Cameron Olthuis on August 24, 2006 | 1 comment
This is a great story about Famster interacting with the Digg community. When the site was launched a couple of weeks ago someone put it up on Digg and it ended up getting dugg to the homepage. Ok, so nothing new there. The story got a couple thousand diggs after it was all said and done.
Introduction to Social Media Optimization
Written by Cameron Olthuis on August 15, 2006 | 15 comments
Social Media Optimization (SMO) is a new term that was recently coined by Rohit Bhargava and has since been taking on life of its own. In his introduction to SMO, Rohit draws similar comparisons to SEO.
Don't forget your bookmarks
Written by Neil Patel on June 5, 2006 | 2 comments
Blogging is becoming more popular and more mainstream. As a result, there is a ton of opportunity to enter the fray and leverage it for one reason or another. New social mediums are emerging in response to the increasing popularity of blogging and the key to blowing up your blog (company, personal etc.) is to figure out how to use these social mediums effectively.
Understanding Your Customers
Written by Neil Patel on February 11, 2006 |
A better understanding of your customers is one of the keys to running a successful business. Understanding your customers can help you make your product or service better. Much can be learned about the needs of your customers by listening to them.
