Posts by InsightsDigital

Yes, mobile applications allow users to connect socially without the need to go to a mobile browser and delay the connection. One example is TweetDeck for the iPhone. TweetDeck is built on Adobe Air and now it faciliates Tweeters to use this deck on their iPhone. I know a few Tweeters who were very excited about this, like if they just won a million dollars, tax free.

Well, not in the beginning, but I do think that once users realize that their submitted content can come back and haunt them in the future, users may be more cautious and it stifles individuality.

Canada Fred gave excellent advice, like always. I will add that don't forget to submit your site and site map to Google and Yahoo. Also, dont forget to use social bookmarking sites.

Have you checked out FaceBook's MarketPlace? I have placed a few items on sale there and though I never had any buyers, perhaps other sellers had different experiences. This is a very social perspective on selling since the ad appears on the threads of friends' updates.

I am looking for a shopping cart template for WordPress. I want to set up my own store and not go through ebay all of the time, just for the first run of the product. Thus, I am looking for an easy to use template. I found a few but now I need a little guidance on what else I should be looking into when comparing the various templates.

Thanks!

Does anyone on this board think that review sites have actually helped their business? I perhaps will make this into a thread.

What are my options to advertise on mobile other than text message and the small text ads that come out when Im visiting AP news or some other news module? Please do tell.

Thanks for the link. I did go to the site to see what you mean and though no pop-out ads came out, I have had that experience in the past. In regards to the article content, I did like it but I would say - doesn't just adding the proper Firefox extensions plus getting a Firewall software package like Norton does the job instead of having the cops monitor the wifi connection? Just a thought.

IT is very good. I just found this site which is a job site for bloggers and there are a few ads here for technical writers. http://jobs.problogger.net/
You could check out the pay scale for similar jobs here and see.

In this economy, coupons have become very popular. Thus, have you thought of using coupons to promote your business? Or have you used coupons for your business? Which lessons have you learned?

We all know Youtube is a frequent videosharing site, but I wonder how often do you actually use YouTube to promote your services and products? Has it actually helped refer visitors to your site? Has it helped you get new business?

Hi

Many companies focus on blogger outreach as part of their PR campaign. Do you use blogger outreach for your marketing campaigns? If so, which lesosns have you learned. Or are you a blogger and got turned off by these unsolicited requests, what do you recommend companies to approach bloggers?

Hi
Let's say you are in the process of creating a startup or small business but you dont want your competitors to obtain too much information on your company. Which approaches do you take to prevent this? What have you done?

You want a business name that describes your business and its identity. I recommend you to think of your business branding and associated keywords.

Hi

It depends who you are surveying and how you are surveying. Will you be calling each customer and asking them to complete a survey or just emailing them? Also, think of an incentive to offer for completed survey takers.
I would limit to one survey per quarter or year or at an ad-hoc basis, not every week. You dont want to tire your customer base.

I also believe that if you have a website, dont forget to add a contact form or subscribe box very visibly on the website. I have found this is a good way to obtain potential client's attention for my company's products and services.

Dont forget to add the code to every page you want to track and determine which actions you want to measure as a conversion.

Is it ever right to limit membership totals to an online community like Linkedin groups or even DaniWeb Forums? And if so, how easy would it be to setup membership requirements for groups where there may be broad interest and large numbers of qualified potential members?

Back in the 1990's, I have seen some online groups with limits. Results:
1. It lured some members into thinking it is an "exclusive" club
2. It turned off some potential members
3. It could explain why we dont see this trend anymore?

So is it right to limit membership? It depends. An approach to this is not to set a particular number but rather to require that every member should be approved first. Thus, if the potential member does not satisfy the membership requirements or can't even write a one sentence on why they want to join the group, then they will not be accepted.

For your type of business, I strongly recommend creating that offline connection and amplifying your business development angle at internet marketing/startup/business meetups and networking events.

I recommend you to check out:
http://www.clickz.com/3509491
http://reviews.cnet.com/4520-3000_7-6343258-1.html

In regards to offering rewards for visiting a site, it depends on the type of reward, when is the reward awarded, and from an emotive perspective, is the visitor doing it to learn more about the product/services and/or like these products/services or just to get the reward?

My issue with crowdsorcing is that in the beginning, there is momentum and then it can fall through the cracks. I have seen this before and that is why I certainly believe someone has to take the ownership/project management role.

I have checked out Spoke before and you have to claim your identity there. I personally think that LinkedIn is the gold standard for online professional networking and the others may work for certain niches.

Either one can be quantifiable. I think they are both similar and share the following metrics:
# of thread conversations
# of related threads
# of links shared (relating to the site or product)
# of retweets
# how many days/hours - buzz

The deciding factor is: how does the links shared be linked to visits on teh website and to sales? Typing these metrixs around will help create a dollar value.

I do believe that social media communities may benefit from some sort of regulations, as long as it does not prevent engagement and communication. But in this case, the regulation will affect more the user than the owner of the community which is a different dynamic than CAN-SPAM's regulations affecting the creator of the email.

Also, something to keep in mind, mass email services CAN-SPAM violation alert helps keep the email in check but what services will social media use to have the same type of alert?

My question for you is whether there is an option to offer these three online community members a free/trial version of the software as a response to one of their inquiries which the software may solve.

I agree with you 100%. There is active engaging participation in Social media marketing and online communities which allows marketers to further deepen their relationship with the consumer, unlike with the traditional web activity which mostly allows for a one way engagement.

I have also advised clients on blogs with the caveat that blogs are like plants, blogs need constant new content to sustain the attention of the readers/visitor.
In regards to your question, "Does anyone have an opinion/thoughts/educated guess on how many blogs one company should try to maintain? " I refer you to look at Johnson and Johnson's By The Way - blog roll. http://jnjbtw.com/jnj-btw-authors/
Johnson and Johnson's blogs are considered the gold standard of corporate blogs and it is a good example to refer to.

Based on my own consumer insights experience, older generation prefer/use AOL's platform so Fortunoff can investigate into the possibility of advertising or creating a microsite in an AOL community. Just a thought.

I attended an alumni career networking event last year where one of the panelist's business was managing social media accounts for celebrities and brands? I have started to do research on this topic and would like to know where someone should start or look at? I know Ashton Kushner and his wife, Demi Moore, manage their own Twitter account but other celebrities do not. Any advice/suggestions strongly welcome. Thanks

Hi
If you dont have an invitation for your Google Voice, try get one.

http://www.google.com/googlevoice/about.html

You can select your own numbers and letters. Thus, from an advertising sale perspective, would it help to pick your number, keeping it in mind that the area code may not reflect your business area. So what do you think?

Seth Godin helped popularize the crowdsorcing concept. For growing an online community, do you think crowdsorcing helps communities grow? I do think it does help but I do believe their should be designated ownership/s as well. What do you think?

Unintrusive ads dont interrupt the visitor's experience unlike pop-ups.

Thanks for the great insights. Identifying indicators of success is a good way to prevent a long wait a see period.

Well its inter-related. The "Now what?" factor comes in the maintenance phase of social media plan. Furthermore, additional tactics/strategy that is implemented after the "Now what?" needs to keep it inline with the factors I mentioned earlier.

The site I created these metrics was a lead generator site so instead of sales, me and the client created the metrics to have instead of sales, have it as "completed contact me forms".

It goes along with the saying I developed some time ago based on my own experience: "You can sell the best product or services, but if you dont know how to sell it, the product will end up in the clearance rank."

Thanks for sharing the story. It demonstrates that it is important to understand the mindset of each segment and best way to reach way.

I have also developed best practice reports before as well. I have found that the report also need to be put in small digestible format in emails and snippets for others to read and understand it.

These Yahoo changes remind me of another internet company that made similar changes and lost major market share throughout the years: AOL.

It is a very legitimate concern. This is one reason why mailing list companies have fake alias addresses so if anyone re-uses that list, the company will know and take appropriate action.

Yes, one example is Silver Star Arts Studio - an arts/creative representation company based in DC which have used combination of offline and online tactics to drive business. Disclaimer: I am not connected with Silver Star but I went to one of their exhibits some time ago and have seen the company grow alot in the past few years.

Establishing social media plans is actually a concentrated and concerted effort and it does not only involve - putting links on social bookmarking sites. It involves seriously thinking of all the segments, which social media would be best to reach them, which one is the lowest hanging fruit for this particular social media campaign, both long run and short run, and then create an appropriate plan/s.
I remember hearing once: "LinkedIn is an office; Facebook is a backyard; and Myspace is a club." Remember this for your social media campaign.

Earlier this year, Inc.magazine published an article/case study about an Italian/Pizza chain restaurant whose co-owner committed some felony as well as bankrupt the company. As a result, the existing owner used social media and hired a branding company to help resurrect the business with a different slant and it helped increase business and re-gain customer base. Fortunoff has a loyal following. Thus, I recommend the following:
1. Create a Direct Mail campaign to notify former customers of Fortunoff of its new online presence.
2. Create an awareness campaign by highlighting a particular product line or niche and even create a publicity campaign using social media.
3. Offer specials and discounts.

The Biggest obstacle I would say is: Constant Engagement/Making It Alive. I managed a corporate networking group on Ning and though I have many members, only a handful were active. This contributed to the community not reflecting the true purpose of the group.

Hi John,

Seeing results for SEO tactics takes some time and constant monitoring and tweeking, thus, I recommend you to look at which areas of SEO your site can immediately modify and implement them. Thus, the next time Google spiders crawl your site, it may improve your site's PageRank.

I have created and administered both moderated and unmoderated groups and my conclusion to your questions have been:

1. should you moderate a forum/site or allow unfettered freedom of speech?
Insights Digital - Moderate. Yes, in concept, allow unfettered freedom of speech may espouse good will for the users but in the end, it will be a breeding grown for unrelated post and conversations which will dilute the purpose of the community in the first place.
2. are there any contexts where you should never moderate?
Insights Digital - There are certain federal regulations regarding pharmaceutical products that penalizes for changing content which is a major concern for many pharmaceutical companies in launching certain types of social media campaigns.

3. Are there any website currently that you know of that would fail in its objective if moderation did or didn't take place?
Insights Digital - Good example is Craigslist. Due to recent news, Craigslist has beefed up its posting system to the point that countless ads are not automatically flagged and deleted for no obvious reasons. Just a glimpse into Craigslist discussion forum tells you this.

The few business owners I have spoken with shy away from Facebook not because of the privacy and liability issues but because as implied above, B2B product advertising on Facebook may not yield good ROMI. Also, keep in mind that the mindset of the average Facebook user is not to shop or learn more about products but to engage with others. Thus, an online dating ad would benefit from Facebook advertising rather than an ad for Oracle new database.

Thanks for sharing. I also recommend adding ALT tags on any images

One pharmaceutical client of mine was very cautious of executing many social media tactics because of federal regulations. What legal concerns have you experienced in growing an online community?

I wonder if Yahoo's new look will help increase visitors to the site and make it grow. What do you think?
http://mashable.com/2009/07/20/yahoo-homepage-makeover/