Teach Me Internet Marketing

I’ve often been complimented on my ability to be fearless. No, I’ve never skydived from a plane or bungee-jumped from a bridge, but I have taken chances and risks in my life that friends told me that they’d never take. Most surprising was that I’d do these things given my natural introverted personality. However, in my early years, I fought my introversion as hard as I could, feeling that those who acted in extroverted ways got more rewards. I continuously challenged myself and my introversion.

I ran for Student Government President in college against 3 fraternity guys, despite the advisor for one of the student groups to which I belonged telling my friends that I’d never win because I was too quiet. (I won the election). I moved halfway across the country to a small town in Massachusetts where I didn’t know a soul to take my first job out of graduate school. (I was promoted after two years). I quit my job 7 years later due to extreme burnout without having another job lined up (complete financial disaster). I had to take on the Massachusetts National Guard in the press when they threatened to evict the Youth Center, where I was Executive Director, from the building we shared (we were evicted but were offered a rent-free home from the town government because of the press coverage). I asked my then-husband for a divorce and moved halfway across the country to live with my mother again so I could start my own business with nary a client in sight and no possibility of local clients. (I’ve been self-employed now for 11 years using Internet marketing strategies I tweaked for my introverted personality to get clients from all over the world).

Was I shaking in my shoes as I made some of these choices or found myself in some of these situations? You bet! I learned much from the experiences, and quite frankly, hope to never ever repeat some of these experiences ever again. Some of these decisions I made were somewhat reckless and foolhardy (quitting my job), while others required me to step up to the plate and be someone I’m not necessarily comfortable being. It seems that I’ve often found myself placed in situations not ideally suited for the introvert.

What I have learned from these experiences is that there are two little-discussed traits that separate successful introverted entrepreneurs from those who aren’t successful.

Trait #1

First, you’ve got to be determined and willing to do what it takes to get the job done. In essence, you’ve got to want “it” more than anything in the world (define “it” in whatever way works for you). Sheer determination will take you far, but without the second ingredient to success, you won’t be able to go all the way.

Trait #2

The second secret to introvert marketing success is this: You’ve got to be willing to step outside your comfort zone for short periods of time to promote yourself and your business. That means you have to be willing to go and deliver a presentation to a room of 200 people when you’d rather be home reading a book. That means that you have to open yourself to sharing your vulnerability with prospective clients to begin the like, know and trust journey with them, when the last thing you want to talk about is yourself. That means you have to learn to tell clients, prospects, and others that you’re the best at whatever it is you do, even though you’d rather be unobtrusively taking care of the details in the background.

Yes, you can choose to remain true to to your introverted tendencies, and some of those will actually work in your favor for your marketing. However, at some point, you’re going to find it necessary to try on your extrovert suit. Don’t set yourself up for failure by telling yourself you can’t possibly do something because you’re an introvert. If you say “no,” you are letting your introversion serve as an convenient excuse, rather than dealing with your fear.

Even the most introverted of us can act as extroverts when needed. Granted, it takes alot of energy to do so and you need to build in recharging time, but in many cases you can control the situation to make it a fairly painless process. Be willing to step outside of your comfort zone regularly and see what a difference it makes to your marketing efforts.

About the Author

Introvert Marketing Coach Donna Gunter helps professional service businesses stop the client chase and create online businesses that drive clients to them. Want to learn specific Internet marketing strategies that get results for introverts? Discover how to increase your online visibility in this free ecourse, Introvert Marketing Toolkit: 9 Strategies to Make a BOLD Impression Online, at ==>nhttp://www.IntrovertMarketingToolkit.com

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Take your conversations off of Facebook by inviting your contact list to add you to Skype, messenger or joining your newsletter list.

The more options you give them of keeping in touch with you, the easier it will become to grow your network on and off Facebook.

Developing long-term relationships with your contact list (and network) will be incredibly rewarding but have patience, successfully building a network from scratch via Facebook is effective but it takes time.

Search & Search Again

Choose your target audience carefully by looking for specific keywords in their profiles, browsing their political views, relationship status or perhaps even their education, depending on the niche markets that you target.

View The Friends Of Your Friends

First, log into your Facebook account and view the current events from those currently on your list. Remember, you can view the “Friends” of your existing contacts and add them to your Facebook contact list as well.

It’s an easy way to grow your list.

If you are looking for people interested in specific things, you can browse available groups and join the ones that focus on your market. Here you will be able to find and add friends who are interested in the same topics that you are.

Develop Advertising Pages For Advertisers

With Facebook being such a large community, it should be no surprise that people are willing (and eager) to pay for good exposure on the Facebook website.

Considering this, an easy way to make money with Facebook is by creating a page built exclusively around a current event or hot topic.

This way, you can generate traffic from Facebook by showcasing this page throughout your profile or by sending it to your contact list.

If you are able to generate a lot of interest (and traffic) to this page you can begin to offer advertising spots to those who would like to feature their product or service on your “Made for Facebook Landing Page”.

To determine what kind of page to create, look at what is currently being discussed or build your page around recent events, celebrity gossip or other topics that appeal to your contact list.

Once you have built your page, you can easily create advertising sponsor boxes throughout your page by installing the “My Stuff” application.

apps.facebook.com/wildfire

This application enables users of Facebook to install any code within your Facebook profile page (or other facebook pages).

After you have installed the application, use a graphic editor program to create an “Advertising Box” (or graphic that simply says “Advertise Here!”. )

Once this is completed, you can begin promoting your new Facebook page.

This is easier to do than you might think. If you are active within forums or external communities, publishing a link to this page or including it within your forum signature may give it a jump-start, or take it a step further and feature the link within blog articles, comment boxes on other publisher pages, etc.

Once you have found an interested advertiser, remember to change the code in your advertising box to feature their website URL, to direct your facebook page visitors there.

Charging a monthly fee for advertising on your page is an instant way to generate passive income on the side!

Remember, you can also choose to advertise on Facebook yourself using the “Facebook Flyers”, the advertising boxes featured throughout the Facebook website.

This is the easiest way to start advertising on a wider scale, with the benefit being that the sponsored listings are designed to look like news feed items, which add to their effectiveness.

Facebook Marketplace

The Facebook Marketplace is a classified ad service available to Facebook members. You can post a “wanted” ad, “For Sale” listing or other type of advertisement at absolutely no cost.

The only time you must pay a fee is if you wish to feature you’re ad across multiple networks ($1.00 per network feature).

The Marketplace will, by default, only show you listings from your current network. To see other listings you will need to change your primary network.

You can choose to list what you are looking for, or list what you have to sell/trade. This is a great way to promote your services, or you can use a different strategy and browse the “Wanted” ads to determine if you can locate and sell items to people who are searching for specific things.

One marketer I know scours the “Wanted” section each day and then checks out sites like eBay to see whether the items in demand are available. He purchases them at a lower price and resells them on the Facebook Marketplace.

While this is definitely nowhere near as lucrative as classified sites such as CraigsList, you can definitely make a bit of money within the Facebook Marketplace as it continues to expand and grow larger in size and popularity.

In the meantime, offering design services, selling domains or flipping websites or offering other ‘digital” based services and products may yield you a few extra bucks.

Every time you place a listing on the Facebook Marketplace, it appears within your profile section, so people visiting your page can see what you are selling or looking for.

About the Author

Frank Breinling is a recognized expert in Affiliate Marketing. Here you can go for Affiliate Marketing Ideas http://bestcommissionsystem.com , his newest Project about Blogging you can find here, http://thebloggingmastery.com

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There are many ways you can use your Private Label Rights to your advantage. Have you ever thought about turning your electronic downloads into a physical product, which demand a higher price for your product.

Physical products also result in fewer refund requests. After all, it’s difficult to honor refunds when you have proof that a physical product was shipped. And people are less likely to ask for a refund if they are required to pack up a physical product and return it.

Best of all, with the new “create on demand” services now available, it’s not all that much extra work or expense to have your own physical product. This gives you more opportunities to sell your product in many different places

Step #1: Choose Your Product

The first step to creating a physical product is the same for all your products. You have to decide what your product will be about, and what PLR content you’ll use.

A great way to find out what other products are available is to research. You’ll get a good idea of what is already being published on the topic you’re considering.

Are you finding there is lots of competition?

That’s probably a good thing because it means there is a strong market. Create your product in a hot market, this is one of the keys to a winning business plan – but make it BETTER then what’s currently available.

Step #2: Find a Printer

There was a time when having a physical product meant finding a publisher and paying to have hundreds or thousands of copies printed. You would then have to keep those books or CDs piled to the ceiling in your spare bedroom or pay to have them stored in a warehouse.

Luckily, it is now A LOT easier!

With all the advances in off the shelf computers and printers, you no longer need to keep hundreds of disks in stock, you can now either produce them as ordered or run off a few copies Step #3: Get Your Product Listed on Amazon

Amazon is by far the largest online bookseller – so having your product listed with them can mean huge exposure. It will take a little bit of work but it is entirely possible for you to get your product included on their site.

Getting an ISBN

In order to sell your products on Amazon you’ll need to get an ISBN (for books) or a UPC (for CDs and DVDs).

If you publish your product using lulu.com or CafePress.com they have packages that include the necessary numbers and barcodes.

UPCs are distributed only to members of the UCC (Uniform Code Council). Unfortunately registering can cost a lot of money plus there is an annual fee to remain a member.

Creating an Amazon Account

Once you have your ISBN or UPC code you can apply for an Amazon Advantage account.

After applying it will take a couple of weeks for Amazon to approve your title. Remember to wait for their approval before you mail them your product. They will then email you a request (usually for 2 copies), which you should send them promptly.

Once you are established future orders will come as Amazon sells more of your books. If your product is a big seller be on the ready to provide them with the quantities they require, but typically to start with they will order a few copies only. Either way, remember that you won’t be paid until someone purchases your product from Amazon.

Getting more Exposure on Amazon

There are a couple of ways that you can increase your exposure on Amazon. Start by providing a scan of your cover. This is an easy way to make your product stand out.

Another method that can improve sales is to participate in Amazon’s “Search Inside the Book” program. If you choose, the entire contents of your book will be scanned and made search-able via Amazon’s search engine. This allows people searching for keywords that you use throughout your book to find your book easily.

About the Author

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Is a freelance writer required to help build your web content? You can place ads on the web either through the freelancing sites or classified ad sites.

What should you ask for? Here are things that people ask for in their advertisements:

“Native English speaker.” Actually, you just want it to be correct, formal or idiomatic English for wherever your audience is located. There are plenty of native English speakers in the US who are no good at it.

“Writing samples.” It is common to ask for two to three samples of 250 to 500 words. Some applicants will copy these off the web from other writers, so they should be checked for consistency of style and for plagiarism using Copyscape or just feeding sentences into Google to see if there are exact matches.

“A short article on a specified topic” — or three articles. Usually you wait until you have selected a finalist. This is an even better test that they can actually write.

“Include this phrase in your reply: …” A particular phrase to be included in the subject line of their response email. This is to weed out people who apply to all ads without reading them.

“A resume.” See what qualifications they claim. See how they present themselves as professionals. See if they can point to tests and certifications.

“Excellent research skills” — if you want them to look up the information themselves. You might be hiring a separate researcher, or be providing an ebook that they are to derive the articles from.

“The ability to write on a variety of topics.” If you are hiring someone only to provide content for your blog on one specific topic, of course you ask for that specialty. A number of people are setting up niche web sites on a variety of topics, so to build and maintain a relationship, the writer needs to be flexible.

“SEO.” This means “search engine optimized” — basically the inclusion of keywords in the text. To be found on the web, your pages need to impress the search engines as being relevant to specific queries, and the easiest way to do that is to include the query phrases. The writer needs to include the keywords enough times in a natural-sounding article.

“100% unique content.” Even if the job is to rewrite an article, it must be completely rephrased. What the source of the information, it must be written in the writer’s own words. Plagiarized content is worse than worthless. Your writer must be utterly committed to this.

“All articles must pass copyscape tests.” This continues the demand for 100% unique content. Copyscape is a plagiarism-on-the-web detection service. This adds to the threat that duplicate content will immediately terminate the relationship.

“Articles submitted on time. Early warning of any delays. No just vanishing.” If you are building web site on a deadline — and what serious site is not? — getting the material on time is essential. This is enough of a problem that advertisers feel the need to advertise it explicitly.

“This is an article for hire. The copyright belongs to the person hiring the writer.” Some people go further and insist the writer not claim any relationship to the piece, for example by using it in his or her resume.

“Your own computer and internet connection.” Outsourcing is a work-at-home (or in coffee shops) activity. All assignments and articles will be delivered electronically.

Can you get all this from a writer? Probably not from the lowest bidder. They wouldn’t be the lowest bidder unless they lack competence or experience.

You must enforce the requirement for unique content by terminating the relationship immediately on detecting plagiarism. You can enforce the requirements for well-written, on-time content by refusing to pay.

You can not guarantee respect for your copyright unless you build an ongoing respectful relationship with the writer The prospect of beneficial future interactions is the best motivation for our good behavior.

About the Author

For information on how to use ezine article submission to bring guaranteed web site traffic, visit the web site, http://ezinearticleshow.com/index.html , created by Dr. Christopher, a Boulder, Colorado, seminar leader.

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The very first thing we’re going to do is go to your Events section within your Facebook account. Click on the “Create Event” link on the top. Add a catchy title for your message and keep the Network marked as: “Global” for maximum exposure.

Enter in the event type and your description/message.

Choose a date a month ahead of time so that the event will not pass by too quickly and show up for some time ahead.

Make sure that you keep the rest of the default settings to ensure maximum exposure.

Click on “Create Event” to continue.

The next step is to upload a photo (something that will capture your users attention) but something that goes along with the theme of your message.

After uploading your photo, ask all of your contacts to join the event by clicking on all of their names (in the pre-created menu) and they will automatically be added to your mailing list. After your list is ready, click on the “Send Invitation” button.

Now, go back to your Events page and click on the event that you just created. You will see all of the information you just entered. Now, click on the “Message All Guests” link that is located under the photo that you just uploaded.

Make sure that the “Attendees” section is set to all.

You can now message the entire list, by clicking on the “Send Message” link. It will show you a preview of the message that you just sent to your entire list, upon completion.

When your friends arrive in their Facebook inbox they will see a preview of your message with the photo that you’ve uploaded.

This technique is a powerful one!

Last Minute Traffic Tips

Tip #1: Install the ETHER Application.

This application allows you to make money by giving advice to people over the phone.

If you are an expert in a specific niche market, you can charge people for consultations or assistance. You simply set the rates and Ether provides a phone number that your customers call. The call is privately forwarded to your home telephone number without revealing this information to the caller.

Install The Ether Application!

Tip #2: Install Chatterbox, an application that allows voice over protocol on Facebook. This will allow you to talk online using your microphone, at no cost (saves money on long distance and allows you to network with friends and business partners.)

apps.f8.facebook.com/chatterbox

Tip #3: Use the “Sponsor Me” Application.

The Sponsor Me application can be used to collect money for charity events, community projects, birthday presents, or just a “tip” box. You can create a Campaign easily and let people send you money with just one click.

apps.facebook.com/sponsor-me

Similar to: Tip Jar Application |

apps.facebook.com/mytipjar//jar.php

Tip #4: Lemonade Stand

The Lemonade Stand Application makes it fun and easy for you to make money with Facebook. Simply create your Lemonade Stand, recommend things that you like and make money with affiliate commissions!

apps.facebook.com/lemonade

# Applications are free-ware and should never cost you anything to implement or use.

I hope you have enjoyed the Facebook Traffic Guide and that you enjoy your journey into the world of social community marketing.

It’s a fun and effective way to create new networks or continuing to expand existing ones.

About the Author

Frank Breinling is a recognized expert in generating targeted traffic to websites. To automate all the processes mentioned in the article goto http://downloadrun.com , his newest Project “Best Money List” you find here http://bestmoneylist.com

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Often times when you decide to start an Internet business, you will get discouraged. Not because of any real reason, but because of the negative reaction you can get from your family and friends. Most people who don’t know any better will tell you that starting an Internet business is a waste of time and that only a few people ever make money with it.

Sadly, though they may be half right. Unfortunately, only 2% of the people who ever start an Internet business will make any money whatsoever. The people who do make money online are not any more skilled that us…NO! Instead they were fortunate enough to know the 5 great lies of Starting an Internet business.

1. Starting An Internet Business Is Expensive

An Internet business can actually be started for ZERO cost! That is why this is the very first great lie of Internet business. When you are getting started in your online business you can start with something as cheap and simple as affiliate marketing.
Affiliate Marketing cost you nothing to get started, and your only job is to drive traffic to a website that you don’t own. Then once people purchase a product from that affiliate website, through your link, you get a commission. And here’s the best part: There is almost an endless amount of ways that you can drive traffic to any website, many of them FREE.

2. You Can “Get Rich Quick” With An Internet Business

Many people have a “Get Rich Quck” mentality when they first start their Internet Business. They believe that by doing little or no work money will start flowing to them effortlessly. Do not believe this because it is a fools hope.

Often times the people you see who are “overnight successes” on the Internet, have spent months if not years perfecting their business. Very rarely will someone truly be a “overnight success”, and when that does happen, it is almost all luck.
So the bottom line here is, your Internet business is exactly that…..a business! If you do treat your Internet business like a “business” you will be successful. Success takes time.

3. You Must Know HTML, Programming And Graphic Designing In Order To Start Your Business

I have to admit that this is one thing that held me up a little personally. Trust me when I tell you, I do not know any programming at all. In fact, I could not put together a web page if you held a gun to my head. However, what I found was that there are people who are willing to do this for you…..for cheap!

Sites like Elance, and Odesk are sites where you can hire people to do all of this work for you. What I live best about using those sites is that you can get the work done fairly cheap! Most of the bidders at Elance and ODesk are from India and will be willing to do the programming work for you, for as little as 6.00$ per hour!

4. You Don’t Need To Know How To Sell Anything

Think about the logic in that statement above. It doesn’t make sense. Of course, you need some salesmanship abilities! How on earth do you plan on selling things on the Internet without being able to sell?

Now don’t panic, if you don’t currently know how to sell. This is all stuff that can be taught. However, you must go into your Internet business with the knowledge that you will need to learn how to sell.

5. You Don’t Need To “Build A List”

Have you ever heard the phrase “The Money Is In The List”? If not, get used to it, because there has never been a more true statement spoken. Without a list, you won’t make any money!

Building a list is important because it builds your list of people that you can market and sell to! Not only that, but you can sell to the same people multiple times.

The 5 great Internet lies listed above are all things you must know and accept. You have to be smart in order to really achieve success that you could possibly imagine. Success is like enlightenment. It is a path and not a destination.

About the Author

Now that you know some of the myths surrounding starting an Internet business, you are going to need more information on getting the ball rolling. You can find that information when you click on the link below. Because when you do, you will be brought to the web’s #1 free resource on creating and starting your work from home business. Click below now to see for yourself:
Starting a Internet Business

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Hyperlinks are utilised by both website owners and online users as a means to access sites and find their way around the World Wide Web. The quantity of incoming links that a website gives as well as obtains serves as a powerful indicator of the site’s popularity and relevance to its target audience. This article looks at the significance of inlinks for internet business proprietors and the right ways to utilize backlinks.

Inward links are defined as hyperlinks that come from a site and are obtained by another website. Apart from letting buyers know of a website’s popularity, one-way links also help tremendously when it comes to SEO: it performs a significant role in the calculation of a site’s ranking, particularly when comparing other websites that have a similar theme. Every single inlink is considered a vote in favour of a website, so backlinks would obviously help boost a website’s page rating. The significance of a backlink is also a factor when it comes to page rankings. Inward links might be weighed against the popularity of the link as well as the originating context; thus, every backlink that you get must have value.

Also, backlinks will tell buyers who is going to a site. There are a few programs (either wikis or CMS applications) that internally record the number of inbound links that a website receives. Leading search engines like Bing, Yahoo! and Google and other lesser known search engines also have internal systems in order to see how many inlinks a site secures, not to mention mechanisms that are intended to locate backlinks that originate from many different weblogs and unrelated groups.

Mutual backlinks ensure that both websites get an increase in traffic and also rating. For this particular situation, two webmasters reach an agreement to provide an inlink to one another’s sites, which enables their audiences to click on these websites and see what they have to offer. Resource linking often calls for an information hyperlink that’ll lead visitors to another website and offers material that is related to what these readers are searching for. It is highly important that you ensure that you offer incoming links to sites that are in the exact same field as you are, or related in some manner to your online business and content. It is also advantageous if you swap inlinks with well-known sites that have a loyal audience and also great material.

Web-based business proprietors will get an immense rise in their page views, earnings and recognition when they get inbound links from their visitors and colleagues. Yet there are some bad approaches that actually help decrease a website’s ranking or force that website to be blocked from search engines’ results pages permanently. You want to stay away from these practices without exceptions; being labeled as an online business proprietor who cheats is certainly not advantageous in any way, and it’ll eventually cause you to lose clients and credibility.

Link baiting is a popular online practice that can both help a site have favourable results and badly affect its standing. For example, a site might have some information about a particular superstar. Irrespective of whether that information is valid or not, many readers will take the bait since they are attracted to this kind of information. Occasionally, link baiting happens in a natural manner, while there are a few instances where link baiting is utilised in order to trap and trick consumers. This is exactly what you don’t want to do.

Link spamming is a second adverse strategy that plenty of readers wish to eliminate permanently from the internet. Link spamming involves the tampering of search engines’ results via the use of unconnected keyphrases to bring in page views. Although it does improve the number of inward links to your website, it is also going to get you a lower ranking together with an awful reputation among Internet users.

Simply speaking, both the quantity and quality of backlinks are important if you want to execute search engine optimisation and receive a high ranking for your site. Link popularity practices continue to be prevalent and counteract the popularity of countless websites. It is hoped that website designers as well as site owners would learn to discontinue these terrible tactics in the future and strengthen websites’ popularity via more favourable strategies.

About the Author

The search engines thrive on content and url backlinks. Without both your site is dead! Learn how you can promote your website and build guaranteed backlinks by getting your FREE Marketing Report at UniqueArticleWizard.comn

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To be hyper effective at marketing in any business, you need to laser target your marketplace. It is very possible to get hyper amounts of targeted traffic to your business when you know where to look.

Traditional Means of Communication

Traditionally, marketing communications were conducted via print, broadcast and such traditional media through disruptive advertising, where advertisements appear in between the content of interest for the customer.

Traditional media does give a large reach to a marketer with its programming of mass appeal. However, the wastage is equally high, since a large portion of the audience would belong to a different segment than the one that is to be targeted by the marketer.

Enter Social Media and the Internet

The revolution stirred by the internet as a medium took place because of the fact that it is highly personalized and provides more content on-demand than any other available medium. Social sites proliferated far and wide in their usage for a few simple reasons:

The power to create and distribute content is equally available to every user, irrespective of him/her being a customer or a marketer. In the earlier forms of media, that power rested with the editorial staff of the channel or the advertiser, but hardly ever with the user. The medium is completely personalized, and a user can create or join groups and further create content based on what he/she likes. Opinions are free and fair. This is one reason why social media is of utmost concern to marketers, since buying decisions are no more influenced as much by advertisements. The traditional word-of-mouth marketing approach is nearly a thing of the past as it has morphed into an automated marketing giant these days through social networks.

Facebook – At the Center of Social Media

With 500 million (and growing) unique users worldwide, Facebook is the number one social networking site in terms of activity and subscriptions. What started as a garage initiative by Mark Zuckerberg has now become the biggest phenomenon on the internet.

A user interface that allows for quick communication and the ability to create fan pages and groups at the click of a mouse button are what make Facebook extremely popular. Another important reason for its massive popularity is the wide range of apps that have been developed and made available within the community environment.

These applications can allow users and friends to do joint activities like playing games that run endlessly, sharing photos, videos, and web links, and many more.

How does this help a marketer?

Traditionally, media plans were drawn to include television channels, publications, or any other media that can grab maximum eyeballs and effectively reach a selected target audience. The science of segmentation and targeting has become only more accurate in the case of social media.

Facebook provides a wide variety of avenues to communicate with your target audience, which opens up a completely new and exciting world of vast possibilities for you to have fruitful dialogue with customers. Some of these methods used popularly by marketers are:

Advertising: The first opportunity, which is the most obvious one, is advertising on Facebook. The difference, however, is the fact that you can create your own advertisement in a matter of minutes and also specify the details of your target group in terms of demographics and types of discussions where you want your advertisement to appear. Fan Pages: Facebook allows every brand, as well as individual users, to create fan pages for their favorite celebrities and their own homegrown businesses. Large brands have also created their official pages on Facebook that have a huge, immediate fan following around the world. The fan page has immense utility to convey first hand information about the brand and also to collect immediate and frank feedback from your customers. Branded applications: One of the most effective ways to engage a user toward your brand is by creating an application; this could be a game or a contest, with your branding coming across subtly through it.

What makes Facebook even more exciting is the way it allows you to target your communication sharply just to the customer segment you want to attract. It also provides analytics and page insights that give good highly targeted feedback with an instant measurement on the activity done.

The options provided by Facebook can be creatively explored and used judiciously for bringing about maximum benefits to any brand.

However, you need to be aware that customers always have equal say and have the ability to respond immediately to any of your actions with a thumbs up or a thumbs down. Availing the service of a social media consultant to work out a social media strategy may be required so that your efforts will not be in vain.

About the Author

Learn how to explode your home based business through the power of viral social media marketing: http://www.hyperfbtrafficsystem.com

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An online furniture retailer received the following email from one of its customers on 8/19/2010:

“Sorry for the delay in getting back to you. It has been a crazy week of school for the kids and us too! First, let me say that your customer service is undeniably the best I have ever had. I felt that we were taken care of and never needed to worry about a thing. To me that is a huge deal considering we ordered a sofa on line never having seen or touched it. As far as the furniture we love it. It was so easy to put it together just as you said. I bribed a few women with coffee to help me get it upstairs and within 10 minutes we had the entire thing put together. The fabric is so soft and comfortable. I know you said that I was the 1st order for that fabric so now you can let others know it really is as good as you thought it would be.

So again, thank you so much for everything. In such a tight space I never thought it was possible to have a comfortable sofa and chair in the playroom. PS Thanks for the pillows!!! You guys are awesome. Sallie”

If you are a retailer, either with a storefront or online, do you get emails like this from your customers?

The online furniture company that received this email gets several similar ones every week. If they can get their customers to do their marketing for them, why can’t you?

1. The first contact by the customer was an order for a free catalog from the company website on 6/16.

2. The catalog request was answered a few hours later with an email thanking the customer for her interest and notifying her that it was being mailed that same day. In addition the email contained detailed information about the company. Next, the customer was told that free fabric swatches were also available and asked if she would like to have those mailed to her as well.

3. The customer requests 5 free fabric swatches.

4. She receives another (shorter) acknowledgement of her request and is told that the swatches will be mailed the same day.

5. Customer receives free catalog and fabric swatches and is surprised to see that instead of receiving 5 free fabric swatches the company has sent her 20.

6. Customer calls to discuss the various fabrics she has received. The phone is answered on the 2nd ring. She speaks to an executive of the company for 15 minutes and is given detailed information about the fabrics and other questions that come up.

7. All customer service calls are handled only by company executives and managers who are fully knowledgeable about the product and are authorized to make any deals or decisions that may come up. Customer calls take priority over all other operations at the company.

8. Customer sends email on 6/28. With only two days left before the end of the June Free Shipping Sale, the customer was concerned that she was going to miss out because she still wasn’t quite ready.

9. The company assures the customer that whenever she is ready to place an order, she will receive the Free Shipping sale.

10. Customer places order on 7/12. Receives an immediate computerized acknowledgement of her order.

11. The next day the customer receives another acknowledgement, this time from a company executive. This acknowledgement personally thanks the customer for her order and spells out exactly what was ordered, estimated production time, estimated shipping time and other information.

12. The customer is emailed to tell her that her order is almost complete and will be shipping out shortly.

13. The order was shipped 2 days later and the customer was notified by email. This email includes the tracking number and phone number of the carrier. It also informs the customer that she will be called by the carrier in a few days to set up a delivery appointment time.

14. The carrier informs the company that delivery has been made. The customer discovers that, in addition to her order, she has received a free set of throw pillows.

15. The next day, the customer received an email which began, “Just checking to see if everything is OK with your new furniture. If there are any problems let’s take care of them now.”

16. The customer’s email at the top of this article is received.

17. The customer receives an email thanking her for her compliments. She is then told that she has been awarded a $50 “virtual” gift certificate which enables the customer and any of her friends and family to a $50 discount on anything they wish to purchase over the next year. This “virtual” gift certificate is sent to all customers who have responded to the company’s “after delivery” email.

Everything described above is true and accurate. It may seem crazy to retailers who are more concerned with high volume sales than customer satisfaction, but it is building a brand loyalty that is incredibly strong.

One result of this ultra-customer service approach is that the company’s products are actually being marketed by their customers. Because the company has only one showroom and does not sell to retailers, dozens of enthusiastic customers have volunteered to show off the company’s furniture in their own homes to prospective purchasers. Only a very few of these volunteer customers agreed to accept compensation for their efforts.

The example above shows how this customer-friendly approach works when everything goes right. The amazing thing is that it can work even better when things go wrong.

Some of the company’s strongest supporters are customers who experienced problems that would normally be considered disastrous. That will be in another article.

About the Author

Simplicity Sofas opened its doors in 2007 just as the recession began, with $3000 in sales for its 1st 2 months. 2 1/2 recessionary years later, monthly sales climbed over $100,000.nnDuring a time when the furniture industry and the general economy were in deep distress the company continues to grow rapidly.nnJeff Frank, owner of Simplicity Sofas,believes that customer service is the key to his success.nnhttp://www.simplicitysofas.comn

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Copyright © 2010 Chip Cooper

Harvesting tweets is on the rise.

Researchers and marketers alike are now capturing and downloading Tweets from Twitter’s database. Privacy activists argue privacy concerns. Researchers, marketers, and Twitter users all want to know – is Twitter harvesting legal?

How and Why

Every day, users of the Twitter social media publishing platform send out millions of Tweets — short electronic messages of 140 characters or less — to their readers and followers.

Most Twitter users are not aware that it’s relatively easy for anyone with a skilled programmer to harvest and download their Tweets. All a programmer has to do is to gain access to Twitter’s Application Programming Interface (API), and then to write code that requests data from Twitter’s servers through the API. The code contains search criteria, usually in the form of key words and phrases of interest.

One prime example of why Tweets are harvested is the harvesting of Tweets by news organizations Tweets during the riots that followed the Iranian presidential election of 2009. The results provided an excellent source of real time information from a closed society as events unfolded, and afterwards, a fascinating historical record of how the protesters worked together under difficult conditions.

Advertisers have also joined the Tweet harvesting process. For example, suppose you’re going to lunch in an urban office setting, and you tweet a collection of co-workers suggesting a specific restaurant. A savvy marketer harvests your Tweet, and then emails to your smart phone a coupon for a hefty discount at another restaurant nearby. Pretty nifty for the savvy marketer, and perhaps a welcome suggestion for a discounted lunch, but is it legal?

The Electronic Communications Privacy Act

In 1968, the Wiretap Act was passed to impose rules for obtaining wiretap orders. In 1986, the Wiretap Act was amended by The Electronic Communications Privacy Act to extend coverage of the Wiretap Act to electronic communications.

Generally, the Wiretap Act as amended prohibits the intentional interception, use, or disclosure of wire and electronic communications, unless a statutory exception applies. This means that all persons (including governments) are prohibited from wiretapping phones and intercepting electronic communications over the Web, unless a statutory exception (safe harbor) applies.

How does this apply to Tweets? A specific statutory exception applies to electronic communications that are publicly accessible. This is the exact language of the statutory exception: “It shall not be unlawful … for any person… to intercept or access an electronic communication made through an electronic communication system that is configured so that such electronic communication is readily accessible to the general public”.

Readily accessible to the general public is defined by the statute as follows: “… with respect to a radio communication, that such communication is not… scrambled or encrypted”.

It would appear that any Tweet that is not designated by the Twitter user as “private” would clearly fall within the statutory exception because the Tweet is not scrambled or encrypted. So, Tweet harvesters appear to have a strong argument that they’re protected by the publicly accessible safe harbor.

The Google Litigation

Google is now involved in litigation involving its collection of WiFi data. It seems that Google’s Street View cars have engaged in the now-ended practice of collecting bits of private wireless data while cruising neighborhoods for data used in its Google Maps online service.

Although Google ceased this type of electronic data collection and stated that it was not intentional, a class action suit has been filed against Google.

Conclusion

The harvesting of Tweets that are not designated as private would appear to be protected by the publicly accessible safe harbor.

It’s interesting that Google’s collection of WiFi data is very similar to Tweet harvesting. It would seem that publicly accessible safe harbor would also protect Google in this litigation, but we’ll have to wait and see how this case is resolved.

About the Author

Leading Internet, IP and software lawyer Chip Cooper has automated the process of drafting website legal forms with his Digicontracts.com Website Legal Forms Generator. Use his free online tool — Website Documents Determinator — to determine which documents your website really needs for website legal compliance. Discover how quick, easy, and cost-effective it is to draft your website legal forms at DigiContracts.com.

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