With its very inception in the web development arena, PHP has transformed the tradition in which dynamic websites were developed earlier. When a user thinks to go further with the idea of creating a dynamic website, a number of things come in his mind. These aspects include its flexibility, usability, scalability and its user friendly nature. Thanks to this widely acclaimed open source programming language that stormed the web development floor to make the web developers able enough to accomplish all above mentioned criterion with deep impact. Let's discuss the factors that make this language highly adaptable with critical web development environment.
An open source programming language: Being an open source server side programming language, PHP is available free of cost and quite easy in coding. PHP is very efficient on multi-platforms like Windows, Linux, and UNIX and recognized by the web developer community as the most suitable language for developing dynamic web pages. Due to its availability as the open source programming language, user's systems do not required much of the processor space and thus doesn't impact the system speed.
A dynamic programing language: PHP works in the close correlation of HTML in order to display dynamic contents and other related elements on the page. Only code that's written inside the its delimiters is parsed by the PHP. Anything written outside its delimiters is sent to the output directly and PHP doesn't parse it.
Less Resource utilization: Using PHP and its procedures in during the web development process doesn't require huge chunk of system resources. It loads and executes functions and processes very quickly as it uses Apache module written in C language. Working compatibility of PHP with other software is also very commanding and swift.
Dynamic Content Management:
Gone are the days when managing content was the biggest headache for the web developers. With very advent of the PHP in the web development arena, creation of the dynamic content is became very simple. All one have to do is to put the entire content at a central database server. Web developers write code for fetching the contents from the database as need arise.
Below listed are some of the basic points one need to know about PHP:
Easily available coding libraries
An open source programming language
Numerous Several HTTP server interfaces
Database support with MySQL, MS SQL, Oracle, Informix, and PostgreSQL etc.
Very similar with C and java
Platform compatibility
Sunday, August 1, 2010
Money Online
Web 2.0 is a modern platform that allows people to connect, interact with the websites and with each other and share information online. So, Web 2.0 encompasses blogs, social network sites like Facebook, Twitter, YouTube and also the social bookmarking sites like Digg, Tumblr, StumbleUpon, etc. What affiliate marketers need to do to assist their quest to make money online is to harness all of this Web 2.0 traffic to their advantage in affiliate sales.
Every single affiliate marketer loves nothing more than free traffic and Web 2.0 has enabled this to be a huge possibility. In fact Social networking has become a fundamental part of any affiliate marketers Arsenal.
The idea is to promote your products and not pay once cent for advertising by getting your squeeze page URL around the most popular of the Web 2.0 community. As you do this it gets passed around by the community and creates highly target traffic back links to your website.
There are still many thousands of marketers who do no use this method and prefer to pay for their traffic and they are really loosing out on the power of Web 2.0. To start you need to sign up to most popular of the free account sites and start to build your Web 2.0 community with links for your website, where hopefully you will then collect subscribers. In addition you can create multiple user profiles and link them to one another through the URL links. By creating multiple user profiles for related topics, you drive your website ranking upwards.
These sites are also great place to place videos. Where millions of people will share the ones that appeal to them, which spreads your message around the community, which should drive traffic to your website.
Every single affiliate marketer loves nothing more than free traffic and Web 2.0 has enabled this to be a huge possibility. In fact Social networking has become a fundamental part of any affiliate marketers Arsenal.
The idea is to promote your products and not pay once cent for advertising by getting your squeeze page URL around the most popular of the Web 2.0 community. As you do this it gets passed around by the community and creates highly target traffic back links to your website.
There are still many thousands of marketers who do no use this method and prefer to pay for their traffic and they are really loosing out on the power of Web 2.0. To start you need to sign up to most popular of the free account sites and start to build your Web 2.0 community with links for your website, where hopefully you will then collect subscribers. In addition you can create multiple user profiles and link them to one another through the URL links. By creating multiple user profiles for related topics, you drive your website ranking upwards.
These sites are also great place to place videos. Where millions of people will share the ones that appeal to them, which spreads your message around the community, which should drive traffic to your website.
Local Service Providers
Don't think that because you are not a retailer or have a strong presence in your community that you do not need to develop an online presence. It is a fact that most people begin any search for an organization, a service, or a product by conducting online research. You will be invisible to this audience and may be missing out on significant business opportunity by not capitalizing on this comparatively inexpensive marketing opportunity. People simply do not use print phone directories anymore; they turn to search engines like Google®, Bing®, and Yahoo!®
Things to Consider
Get online or evaluate your current website. If you're not online yet, there is a multitude of free website builder tools available online, and typically, they offer templates that are easy to use and will help you at least have a one-page site that can explain to potential customers who you are, what you do, and instruct them on how to get in touch with you.
Compare web hosting packages to find one that fits your needs and budget now and offers flexibility for future growth.
Basic website elements:
A logo unique to your business or organization
Colors, fonts, images coordinated to unify your brand
Contact information
Clear outline of your services and service areas
A brief outline of the company or organization, including a mission statement or vision if relevant
For search engine optimization purposes, you will want the page or pages have a sufficient amount of content, at least 200 words per page.
Use your company name a few times, as well as identify the key terms that customers may use when looking for your company: This will make it easier to find your company locally.
Your website can also serve as a marketing tool. Once you cut your teeth on getting the site up or revising it and using your regular marketing outlets to advertise its existence, you'll be ready to accelerate your online efforts.
Marketing your Online Presence
Online marketing doesn't have to be intense or daunting. You can do a few simple things to get the ball rolling, then proceed as time, budget and skills develop.
Submit the site to directories
Register your site with Google. This will allow your site to appear when a searcher enters keywords related to your company in the search engine.
Look for directories that are industry related or locally collected. Many users may turn to these lists to find area providers of certain services. Typically, if a customer is using this method of finding service companies, they just want to get a phone number to call and speak with someone, set up an appointment, or drive to the local storefront. This plays right into your hands.
Geo-Targeting
Geo-targeting is a search engine optimization (SEO) term. It uses geographic keywords in your site content and in the behind the scenes coding of your website to make sure your site is more likely to be found by the right audience. As you add pages to your site, add content, or undertake online marketing, you'll want to make sure you target your service region with location-rich keywords (e.g., Oskaloosa Baptist ministry or Italian cultural organizations Chicago).
Geo-targeting offers two distinct advantages:
Better targeting of the right customers
Maximize your SEO dollars
SEO efforts are aimed at gaining rankings and PPC campaigns provide a way to attract people to your site. But any effort is only as good as the amount of actual business that closes. Geo-targeting to get the right customers to your site is a critical step for a small, local business. You can look at some Web hosting companies for tips to get started.
And Beyond
Once you have a website up and have begun online marketing, targeting a local audience, you can do a few other things to expand your presence, such as:
Adding pages and articles to your site regularly
Hosting a blog on your site
Contributing to other industry blogs and linking to your site
Offering online scheduling or form downloads
Things to Consider
Get online or evaluate your current website. If you're not online yet, there is a multitude of free website builder tools available online, and typically, they offer templates that are easy to use and will help you at least have a one-page site that can explain to potential customers who you are, what you do, and instruct them on how to get in touch with you.
Compare web hosting packages to find one that fits your needs and budget now and offers flexibility for future growth.
Basic website elements:
A logo unique to your business or organization
Colors, fonts, images coordinated to unify your brand
Contact information
Clear outline of your services and service areas
A brief outline of the company or organization, including a mission statement or vision if relevant
For search engine optimization purposes, you will want the page or pages have a sufficient amount of content, at least 200 words per page.
Use your company name a few times, as well as identify the key terms that customers may use when looking for your company: This will make it easier to find your company locally.
Your website can also serve as a marketing tool. Once you cut your teeth on getting the site up or revising it and using your regular marketing outlets to advertise its existence, you'll be ready to accelerate your online efforts.
Marketing your Online Presence
Online marketing doesn't have to be intense or daunting. You can do a few simple things to get the ball rolling, then proceed as time, budget and skills develop.
Submit the site to directories
Register your site with Google. This will allow your site to appear when a searcher enters keywords related to your company in the search engine.
Look for directories that are industry related or locally collected. Many users may turn to these lists to find area providers of certain services. Typically, if a customer is using this method of finding service companies, they just want to get a phone number to call and speak with someone, set up an appointment, or drive to the local storefront. This plays right into your hands.
Geo-Targeting
Geo-targeting is a search engine optimization (SEO) term. It uses geographic keywords in your site content and in the behind the scenes coding of your website to make sure your site is more likely to be found by the right audience. As you add pages to your site, add content, or undertake online marketing, you'll want to make sure you target your service region with location-rich keywords (e.g., Oskaloosa Baptist ministry or Italian cultural organizations Chicago).
Geo-targeting offers two distinct advantages:
Better targeting of the right customers
Maximize your SEO dollars
SEO efforts are aimed at gaining rankings and PPC campaigns provide a way to attract people to your site. But any effort is only as good as the amount of actual business that closes. Geo-targeting to get the right customers to your site is a critical step for a small, local business. You can look at some Web hosting companies for tips to get started.
And Beyond
Once you have a website up and have begun online marketing, targeting a local audience, you can do a few other things to expand your presence, such as:
Adding pages and articles to your site regularly
Hosting a blog on your site
Contributing to other industry blogs and linking to your site
Offering online scheduling or form downloads
Thursday, July 1, 2010
Community Websites
In this article I will discuss how important is it to build community websites rather than straight forward sales pitches. Selling online is about bringing people together, not about stuffing products down your visitors throwts and expecting them to buy from you.
We have conditioned our minds all of our lives to accept advertising billboards, radio ads, newspaper ads, commercials, and all sorts of other advertising materials wherever we go. The same applies on the internet. This "conditioning" has enabled us to see past all the ads and look directly for the pertinant information that we are seeking.
People who are new to the internet are more likely to click on your ads for no apparent reason but to simply search and keep searching. Others that have beed online for years now, tend not to pay attention to as many ads on a daily basis like they used to.
If you are serious about making money online without having to spend too much of your budget, create a "community online". It is in our nature as human beings to want to belong, or to be involved within a community setting. Communities come in all shapes & sizes and are not limited to gender, race, nationality, or religion. A community can cater to whatever topic you wish and welcome whomever you desire.
Same concept applies to your website!
Building a community within your website is the key to increasing your business, keeping visitors coming back, and keeping your advertising budget in the bank. Show your visitors that you aren't just here on the internet to sell them something. For example, we (Smartads), we are here to teach what we know about internet marketing. By teaching, we too learn more, gain more business, and attract new visitors.
RESIDUAL TRAFFIC IS THE KEY!
As i've always mentioned to my clients & readers, getting people to your website is the easy part. Anyone with a $500 credit card can get traffic to their website, it's keeping them there and getting your visitors to come back on their own time is what makes owning a website a dificult proposition.
Visitors always come back to communities they can relate to!
I always to go back to internet marketing communities online like:
www.webpronews.com
www.sitepronews.com
www.searchenginewatch.com
and so on... There are many internet marketing resources available for business owners. We are fortunate to have access to the vast amount of resources that we do, in order to increase our business & to increase our knowledge.
More resources online also increases competition. There are literally millions of websites out there and many of them might possibly be your competitors. Without building a community, people won't remember who you are, or what it is that you do. Infact, if you are spending all of your money on banner ads, pay per click advertising, affiliates, and other marketing areas online, and at the same time you aren't paying attention to increasing your home base, when your advertising budget runs out so too will the bulk of your traffic.
If your website isn't good enough, your sales won't be good enough. Granted; building a website can be very time consuming but just remember that you don't need to create an empire over night. Just a little here, a little there, and before you know it, it all adds up to something you can be proud of. Over time, your website traffic will constantly be increasing.
PLEASE NOTE: If you stop advertising, your traffic won't grow. Growing your website is all part of the whole plan.
What do we need to create a community website?
You always want to add extras to your site that interest you. By doing so, you will also attract people with similar interests and help to bridge the credibility gap online.
You can always add these to your website:
Personal blog
Helpful tips
Mini-ebook courses (on how to be a better client for you)
Other people's articles
Chat forum (requires a lot of maintenance & promotion)
Free business directory listings
Family albums for users
Fun online questionnaires
Mind benders
Games
Contests (with actual prizes)
"How to" articles
Government resources
Local community resources
Support local companies & vice versa
I think we can now get a sense of what building a "community" website means. The key is to take your industry (even if it is boring), and teach someone about what it is that you do. The internet allows us to take in more information than we could ever imagine. There is always someone out there who wants to learn about your industry.
The key is to add on a little at a time. Talk to your web designer. Try and find unique little ways to build a community website online. Ask people what they look for within your industry. After time, you will know what it takes to keep creating more for your company online, and your wallet will love you for it.
Just remember the more you build, the less your advertising budget will be when you get there. Just keep it up until you get there, don't give up on yourself, your company, or your future.
We have conditioned our minds all of our lives to accept advertising billboards, radio ads, newspaper ads, commercials, and all sorts of other advertising materials wherever we go. The same applies on the internet. This "conditioning" has enabled us to see past all the ads and look directly for the pertinant information that we are seeking.
People who are new to the internet are more likely to click on your ads for no apparent reason but to simply search and keep searching. Others that have beed online for years now, tend not to pay attention to as many ads on a daily basis like they used to.
If you are serious about making money online without having to spend too much of your budget, create a "community online". It is in our nature as human beings to want to belong, or to be involved within a community setting. Communities come in all shapes & sizes and are not limited to gender, race, nationality, or religion. A community can cater to whatever topic you wish and welcome whomever you desire.
Same concept applies to your website!
Building a community within your website is the key to increasing your business, keeping visitors coming back, and keeping your advertising budget in the bank. Show your visitors that you aren't just here on the internet to sell them something. For example, we (Smartads), we are here to teach what we know about internet marketing. By teaching, we too learn more, gain more business, and attract new visitors.
RESIDUAL TRAFFIC IS THE KEY!
As i've always mentioned to my clients & readers, getting people to your website is the easy part. Anyone with a $500 credit card can get traffic to their website, it's keeping them there and getting your visitors to come back on their own time is what makes owning a website a dificult proposition.
Visitors always come back to communities they can relate to!
I always to go back to internet marketing communities online like:
www.webpronews.com
www.sitepronews.com
www.searchenginewatch.com
and so on... There are many internet marketing resources available for business owners. We are fortunate to have access to the vast amount of resources that we do, in order to increase our business & to increase our knowledge.
More resources online also increases competition. There are literally millions of websites out there and many of them might possibly be your competitors. Without building a community, people won't remember who you are, or what it is that you do. Infact, if you are spending all of your money on banner ads, pay per click advertising, affiliates, and other marketing areas online, and at the same time you aren't paying attention to increasing your home base, when your advertising budget runs out so too will the bulk of your traffic.
If your website isn't good enough, your sales won't be good enough. Granted; building a website can be very time consuming but just remember that you don't need to create an empire over night. Just a little here, a little there, and before you know it, it all adds up to something you can be proud of. Over time, your website traffic will constantly be increasing.
PLEASE NOTE: If you stop advertising, your traffic won't grow. Growing your website is all part of the whole plan.
What do we need to create a community website?
You always want to add extras to your site that interest you. By doing so, you will also attract people with similar interests and help to bridge the credibility gap online.
You can always add these to your website:
Personal blog
Helpful tips
Mini-ebook courses (on how to be a better client for you)
Other people's articles
Chat forum (requires a lot of maintenance & promotion)
Free business directory listings
Family albums for users
Fun online questionnaires
Mind benders
Games
Contests (with actual prizes)
"How to" articles
Government resources
Local community resources
Support local companies & vice versa
I think we can now get a sense of what building a "community" website means. The key is to take your industry (even if it is boring), and teach someone about what it is that you do. The internet allows us to take in more information than we could ever imagine. There is always someone out there who wants to learn about your industry.
The key is to add on a little at a time. Talk to your web designer. Try and find unique little ways to build a community website online. Ask people what they look for within your industry. After time, you will know what it takes to keep creating more for your company online, and your wallet will love you for it.
Just remember the more you build, the less your advertising budget will be when you get there. Just keep it up until you get there, don't give up on yourself, your company, or your future.
Forum Community
Forums and online communities are excellent additions to websites that make them interesting and informative. Forums provide a means for your website's visitors to interact with one another to discuss about anything they wish, or about products and services you are offering. With human activity on your forums, visitors are more inclined to stay and interact with other members. What your forum members post may be added content to your website as they bring with them unique knowledge and experiences which are added to your website, thus expanding your offerings. Other visitors who are reading these forums may find information useful and stay to learn more or join the forum in order to ask the other members of the forum.
The most successful forums turn a website ‘sticky’. A sticky website is one in which surfers are interested in visiting over and over again. One reason for the stickiness of a website is the content available, and forums have information that is updated frequently if members are very active. Visitors transform from one-time browsers to residents and regulars of the website just to check out what is new and what others have to say. A “sticky” website also attracts more visitors as members of your forum grow with the community and spread your website’s URL to friends and contacts. This word-of-mouth marketing is priceless and can very often generate a lot of traffic to your website with almost zero costs. These new visitors who become members then continue to spread the word about your forum community and very soon you would have a thriving community that supports and feeds your website with new traffic.
In addition to turning a website sticky so that visitors come back often to find new information and content, forums offer additional content that may improve your search engine ranking. As every webmaster knows, a tremendous amount of traffic can come from a first position ranking in the search engines such as Google, Yahoo or MSN. These 3 search engines account for almost 100% of the web-searches done by people on the net. Being ranked number one for the search term that your site is optimized for, such as the keyword “sports shoes” will almost ensure that everyone who searches for that keyword would click on the first returned result from the search engine and land on your website. If your website sells sports shoes, you can almost guarantee that that tremendous amount of traffic can be turned to huge sales and revenues. So by adding a forum where members can discuss sports shoes on your website, you are generating content related to “sports shoes”. These content pages are then indexed by search engines and increase the number of pages that your site has on the search engine. With such relevant content, other sites linking to your content and the content itself will aid in your climbing of the search engine rankings.
The most successful forums turn a website ‘sticky’. A sticky website is one in which surfers are interested in visiting over and over again. One reason for the stickiness of a website is the content available, and forums have information that is updated frequently if members are very active. Visitors transform from one-time browsers to residents and regulars of the website just to check out what is new and what others have to say. A “sticky” website also attracts more visitors as members of your forum grow with the community and spread your website’s URL to friends and contacts. This word-of-mouth marketing is priceless and can very often generate a lot of traffic to your website with almost zero costs. These new visitors who become members then continue to spread the word about your forum community and very soon you would have a thriving community that supports and feeds your website with new traffic.
In addition to turning a website sticky so that visitors come back often to find new information and content, forums offer additional content that may improve your search engine ranking. As every webmaster knows, a tremendous amount of traffic can come from a first position ranking in the search engines such as Google, Yahoo or MSN. These 3 search engines account for almost 100% of the web-searches done by people on the net. Being ranked number one for the search term that your site is optimized for, such as the keyword “sports shoes” will almost ensure that everyone who searches for that keyword would click on the first returned result from the search engine and land on your website. If your website sells sports shoes, you can almost guarantee that that tremendous amount of traffic can be turned to huge sales and revenues. So by adding a forum where members can discuss sports shoes on your website, you are generating content related to “sports shoes”. These content pages are then indexed by search engines and increase the number of pages that your site has on the search engine. With such relevant content, other sites linking to your content and the content itself will aid in your climbing of the search engine rankings.
Church Website
Building a sense of community among church members is valuable to church leaders. Networking through interactive social media sites like Facebook and LinkedIn are popular tools that people use—including church people—to stay in touch. An interactive church website provides an opportunity for both. Such a site can be customized to support the unique ministries of an individual church.
Here’s why you may want to consider an interactive website for your church:
An interactive website combines a church picture directory with social media
Picture directories acquaint church members with one another by helping them connect names to faces. Social networking media sites like Facebook and LinkedIn include that feature along with the capability of interactive communication. Combining these features in an interactive church website creates an environment that improves recognition and encourages personal interaction among members that helps build healthy relationships.
An interactive website improves organizational communication
Along with encouraging interpersonal communication, an interactive church website also enhances the communication of organizational information. Telephone and e-mail lists are easily generated and announcements can be quickly sent to all members or targeted to special groups and committees.
The site can include other helpful communication tools as well, like online calendars, department information pages and customized pages that promote opportunities and serve particular church ministries.
An interactive website is easy to administrate & update
An interactive church website de-centralizes data entry by allowing members to enter and update their own pictures and personal information. This removes the burden from administrative staff who are normally responsible for assembling picture directories (that are quickly outdated), and managing information through client-server applications, spreadsheets and other database programs.
The information itself, however, is centralized and easy to access (based on security clearance) from anywhere. The interactive website can also be updated in real time so pictures and contact information are current and relevant.
An interactive website increases security
The Internet is full of spammers and other predators. It’s hard to be sure the person you’re communicating with is who they claim to be. An interactive church website controls the environment in order to maintain propriety and insure personal integrity.
It also secures information. The common practice of e-mailing Excel Spreadsheets can expose sensitive and personal information that puts a member’s identity at risk. A password protected, interactive website secures information and makes sure the right people have access to it.
An interactive website assists in enlisting volunteers
Enlisting and maintaining volunteers is a challenging and time consuming task. Often, filling the position with a person takes priority over finding the right person. An interactive website will help by allowing you to conduct searches based on pre-defined criteria.
You can search by hobbies, professions, volunteer experience and other search criteria to identify talents and abilities. You’ll more effectively match the right person to the right job, which will increase volunteer longevity and overall ministry effectiveness.
An interactive church website is only a tool. But it’s an interactive tool that promotes and improves the communication that is essential to building church community.
Here’s why you may want to consider an interactive website for your church:
An interactive website combines a church picture directory with social media
Picture directories acquaint church members with one another by helping them connect names to faces. Social networking media sites like Facebook and LinkedIn include that feature along with the capability of interactive communication. Combining these features in an interactive church website creates an environment that improves recognition and encourages personal interaction among members that helps build healthy relationships.
An interactive website improves organizational communication
Along with encouraging interpersonal communication, an interactive church website also enhances the communication of organizational information. Telephone and e-mail lists are easily generated and announcements can be quickly sent to all members or targeted to special groups and committees.
The site can include other helpful communication tools as well, like online calendars, department information pages and customized pages that promote opportunities and serve particular church ministries.
An interactive website is easy to administrate & update
An interactive church website de-centralizes data entry by allowing members to enter and update their own pictures and personal information. This removes the burden from administrative staff who are normally responsible for assembling picture directories (that are quickly outdated), and managing information through client-server applications, spreadsheets and other database programs.
The information itself, however, is centralized and easy to access (based on security clearance) from anywhere. The interactive website can also be updated in real time so pictures and contact information are current and relevant.
An interactive website increases security
The Internet is full of spammers and other predators. It’s hard to be sure the person you’re communicating with is who they claim to be. An interactive church website controls the environment in order to maintain propriety and insure personal integrity.
It also secures information. The common practice of e-mailing Excel Spreadsheets can expose sensitive and personal information that puts a member’s identity at risk. A password protected, interactive website secures information and makes sure the right people have access to it.
An interactive website assists in enlisting volunteers
Enlisting and maintaining volunteers is a challenging and time consuming task. Often, filling the position with a person takes priority over finding the right person. An interactive website will help by allowing you to conduct searches based on pre-defined criteria.
You can search by hobbies, professions, volunteer experience and other search criteria to identify talents and abilities. You’ll more effectively match the right person to the right job, which will increase volunteer longevity and overall ministry effectiveness.
An interactive church website is only a tool. But it’s an interactive tool that promotes and improves the communication that is essential to building church community.
Tuesday, June 1, 2010
Avoiding Pitfalls
SMM or Social Media Marketing is about using our existing skills and expertise, to develop social media skills, to leverage the Social Web to promote and market our products and services.
Marketing has its roots in word-of-mouth conversations that have connected buyers and sellers for thousands of years. Now many of us call ourselves Professional Marketers. One's reputation has always been built on experience. With the introduction of modern advertising, mass communications, and public relations, the individual conversations that drove the sales cycle were all but buried. The Marketers gained control over the message with every professionally created tag-line, PowerPoint slide deck, and ad. As one-way mass communication grew, so did the Marketers control.
Now the pendulum is swinging back; individual voices are once again being heard and asserting their primal value. The voices have taken on a new roll by creating collective conversations expressed on the internet. The social Web - Facebook, LinkedIn, Myspace, or social networks, along with blogs and conversational communities such as Seesmic and Twitter - is bring the consumers voice into the collective conversation in a big way, and those voices are being heard. As a result, some Chief Marketing Officers now find themselves in a tough spot. Markets, at all levels, not only need to deal with the fragmentation and new landscapes in traditional marketing channels, but they are now looking at the takeover of the brand communications by consumers as they restate, remix, and publish how they, themselves, see the brand and product. When they agree and boost your message, it is the wonderful, but if they do not, things look bad real fast.
Building on the individual freedom and empowerment that the Internet is known for, consumers are actively talking online with each other, to share stories and information about anything and everything from toys and tools to food and drink. As they do so, they are amplifying and reinforcing marketing efforts or beating marketers at their own game by simply sharing their experiences and thoughts with each other. Because customers are more likely to trust conversations between themselves more than any form of advertising, marketers are now faced with the advertising message being routinely held up for verification in online communities where they or their PR and ad agencies have a very small amount of control, if any. For the marketers and agencies who are very much used to control - this is a game changer.
This series of training is about teaching the skills needed to properly use the Social Web to your marketing and business advantage, and how to join in and participate as a marketer, by incorporating the underlying behaviors that drive the Social Web, enabling you to make marketing and business plans. t's about giving up control - you can not control social conversations - while asserting influence by becoming a respected member of those communities that matter most to you. This training will impress upon you, the importance of the connection between participation and influence, and help you see what is on the horizon. You will see many examples of trends and best practices all laid out and the motivation to create winning plans.
This editorial is part of the Commanding The Social Web article series, available to the community, at no cost, and can be easily found on the World wide web. I know you will want to find and read the whole series, to capture the triumph that can be yours from your interaction with the web community. You will be choreographing your own success on the Social Web.
Read more: http://www.articlesnatch.com/Article/Avoiding-Pitfalls-Of-Social-Media-Marketing----Flourishing--Social-Media-Marketing-Comunities/1201674#ixzz0pczxRNjP
Under Creative Commons License: Attribution No Derivatives
Marketing has its roots in word-of-mouth conversations that have connected buyers and sellers for thousands of years. Now many of us call ourselves Professional Marketers. One's reputation has always been built on experience. With the introduction of modern advertising, mass communications, and public relations, the individual conversations that drove the sales cycle were all but buried. The Marketers gained control over the message with every professionally created tag-line, PowerPoint slide deck, and ad. As one-way mass communication grew, so did the Marketers control.
Now the pendulum is swinging back; individual voices are once again being heard and asserting their primal value. The voices have taken on a new roll by creating collective conversations expressed on the internet. The social Web - Facebook, LinkedIn, Myspace, or social networks, along with blogs and conversational communities such as Seesmic and Twitter - is bring the consumers voice into the collective conversation in a big way, and those voices are being heard. As a result, some Chief Marketing Officers now find themselves in a tough spot. Markets, at all levels, not only need to deal with the fragmentation and new landscapes in traditional marketing channels, but they are now looking at the takeover of the brand communications by consumers as they restate, remix, and publish how they, themselves, see the brand and product. When they agree and boost your message, it is the wonderful, but if they do not, things look bad real fast.
Building on the individual freedom and empowerment that the Internet is known for, consumers are actively talking online with each other, to share stories and information about anything and everything from toys and tools to food and drink. As they do so, they are amplifying and reinforcing marketing efforts or beating marketers at their own game by simply sharing their experiences and thoughts with each other. Because customers are more likely to trust conversations between themselves more than any form of advertising, marketers are now faced with the advertising message being routinely held up for verification in online communities where they or their PR and ad agencies have a very small amount of control, if any. For the marketers and agencies who are very much used to control - this is a game changer.
This series of training is about teaching the skills needed to properly use the Social Web to your marketing and business advantage, and how to join in and participate as a marketer, by incorporating the underlying behaviors that drive the Social Web, enabling you to make marketing and business plans. t's about giving up control - you can not control social conversations - while asserting influence by becoming a respected member of those communities that matter most to you. This training will impress upon you, the importance of the connection between participation and influence, and help you see what is on the horizon. You will see many examples of trends and best practices all laid out and the motivation to create winning plans.
This editorial is part of the Commanding The Social Web article series, available to the community, at no cost, and can be easily found on the World wide web. I know you will want to find and read the whole series, to capture the triumph that can be yours from your interaction with the web community. You will be choreographing your own success on the Social Web.
Read more: http://www.articlesnatch.com/Article/Avoiding-Pitfalls-Of-Social-Media-Marketing----Flourishing--Social-Media-Marketing-Comunities/1201674#ixzz0pczxRNjP
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