______________________________________________________________

What do you think? Can tech companies benefit from incorporating social media into their business practices? A case in point involving Intel might just surprise you. With over 6 million Facebook page likes, Intel is definitely doing something right.

An Open Space for Technology Audience

Originally, Intel looked to engage with tech enthusiasts with its social media strategy. However, after expanding and trying to create content for mainstream audience, the fan page growth was astounding with between 10-12% growth rate.  Basically, Intel looks at sharing content that would be interesting for music lovers to art lovers, anything that people do in their lives.

Wall Strategy

Intel’s wall comprises of funny videos and pictures to other interesting content. One strategy that Intel implemented was to ask their audience what they would want to see on the wall and what kind of updates they would love to see. After people responded that they would like to stay on top of technical news, Intel took their fans likes and dislikes and altered their strategy accordingly.

Fans also liked the fact that they could chat with their fellow geeks on how to build their own systems and Intel tries to foster that environment.

Being human is also especially important. Something like a simple “Thank You” gathers a lot of attention and Intel takes opportunities to show their human side, which is no different from how you would talk to your friends.

Avoid Automated Content

After trying out automated content from their blogs and website, which contained awesome information, they discovered that this just didn’t work.  The Facebook algorithm just does not pick up automated content.  When you have an editorial calendar and an editorial strategy then its easy to create non-automated content and create more engagement with your fans.

Intel uses raw video files that it uploads directly onto their Facebook account and share them on their wall. Such raw video footage gets love from Facebook in a variety of ways as opposed to simply linking from YouTube.

Intel’s 6 million fans are proof that Intel is doing it right with their social media strategy.

 “The price of inactivity is greater than the risks of anything we’d be doing in social media.” –  Doug Frisbie, a Toyota national marketing manager, when he took over right before their crisis

What are you doing on your Facebook wall? Share your Facebook wall and the strategies you are using to create engagement below.

David Gitonga (DavGit), May 4th, 2012

______________________________________________________________

What is the best way to “do” social? As a social media expert or consultant for your company, this is probably one of those questions you will have to think long and hard before you get started. Many CRM vendors have incorporated social media into their platforms and many will agree that “something” needs to be done.However, most are not sure how to go about it.

Listening is probably one of the first and most important steps in the process. Listening will help you understand the general market sentiment which will, in turn, help you respond to the social chatter – an even more challenging step altogether.

So how can you piece all this together? Below are 10 questions that can get you on the right direction when it comes to developing a social media response strategy:

• How should you determine the best channel through which to communicate with your clients?
• Should you invest resources into adding social media accounts into your customer information database?
• Is your social media response designed to illicit action or response?
• What is a reasonable time frame to expect customers to read social responses and take some action?
• What is your strategy if that action does not occur?
• How much time are you willing to dedicate to a single client or interaction?
• How much and what kind of social response are your customers willing to accept?
• What processes are in place to track the results of your social engagements with each customer?
• How should your strategy and expectations vary for different social channels?
• How long should you wait to determine the relative value of each social interaction, or your social response initiative as a whole?

The answers to the above questions will not come overnight. It will require patience, monitoring, evaluation, and multiple strategy tweaks. But, if you take timeto understandyour customers, it will pay off.

Daniel J. Clarke, April 24, 2012

______________________________________________________________

The workplace dynamic is rapidly changing. Many companies have started to realize the benefits of allowing employees to work from home. Some of these benefits include:

• Cost savings—The fewer employees you have in your office, the fewer desks you need. That means you need less space, which translates into less money spent on renting your office. That also means less money spent on things like electric bills, office supplies, heating and cooling costs, and other related facility costs.
• Reduced environmental impact—Just think of the environmental benefits that come with allowing your employees to work from home. Your employees won’t have to drive to work, waste gas, and pollute the environment 5 days a week. Telecommuting is a great way to go green!
• Improved employee morale—What employee wouldn’t love the opportunity to work from home? Telecommuting makes employees happier, period. They get to avoid the stress of sitting in traffic, staying late at the office away from their family, waking up early to get ready for work, etc.
• Increased productivity—One study after another has found that employees who work from home are actually more productive. Telecommuters are also willing to work more overtime, and they’re more loyal.

Of course, making a smooth transfer to a telecommuting working environment requires careful planning and smart usage of your technological resources. Here’s a look at some of the ways you can use technology to empower telecommuters.

• Software-as-a-service—Rather than making all of your telecommuters install the various software they need on their computers, use software-as-a-service to let employees virtually access the software they need for work. From word processors to sales software, any type of software can be accessed securely online with software-as-a-service.
• Cloud communications—With cloud communications, your telecommuters can take their phone systems wherever they go. Your voice and data system will be networked, allowing employees to access their business phone on multiple devices, so they can check email, voicemail, and faxes in one place.
• Remote data backup—Did you know many telecommuters don’t back up their data? This makes them highly vulnerable to data loss when their computers crash. You can use cloud computing as a tool to help telecommuters securely backup their data online.

Is a telecommuting working environment right for every company? Of course not, but for many companies, telecommuting offers far more benefits than risks. It just might help your company become leaner and meaner, too.

What’s your opinion on letting employees telecommute? Share it by leaving a comment below.

David Gitonga (DavGit), April 19, 2012

______________________________________________________________

There’s An Old Chinese Proverb that says…

The best time to plant a tree was twenty years ago.  The second best time is now.

Start writing and scheduling your benefit posts now.

It is becoming increasingly important for business enterprises to educate their audience about their products and services. Your potential clients have a long of list of products and services from which they can make their choice. Sometimes, customers will make a choice and stick with it for a lifetime. You therefore need to ensure that your first impression is a good one. But how can there be a good first impression when there is none at all in the first place?

More enterprises, consumers and even non-consumers are using the Internet as their first choice of locating information. If you are not online already, you are literally hemorrhaging money. Recently, I came across a website that was set up almost 10 years ago. The owner of the site simply used the site (actually a blog) to write personal notes on his programming adventures and as a reference. After sometime, he simply abandoned it. Years later, he realized that the site was still bringing traffic and has decided to monetize it. Just imagine that – the site was barely being updated but it was having substantial traffic to earn him some good cash if he placed ads.

The point is,  it is never too late to start blogging. Some of the best bloggers today can testify to the fact that it is their consistent efforts to push content that has earned them a spot at the top. If you are selling products or services, you have every reason to do so. Twenty years from now, when the tree is all grown, you will never regret you made that choice now.

About DavGit

DavGit is a Web Developer / Social Media Consultant and a regular Blogger. He works with various SMBs in Developing and Setting up Websites, Content Creation and SEO. You can reach him using the email address DavGit{@}Gmail.com

David Gitonga (DavGit), April 12, 2012

______________________________________________________________

When given a topic, many laboriously begin by writing it out by starting with the introduction and then working their way through to the conclusion.  Before the final draft is ready, they will have completed and deleted numerous drafts and this may take hours if not days to complete. Is there an easier way to write a report? Well, if you learn how to prepare a report by starting with an outline, you will not need to spend countless hours re-writing and back checking to make sure you have covered what needs to be covered and on time.  By having a well-written outline, you will also have more time to research and your final report will not only be easier to write, but more interesting to read and will most likely cover the important points.

Remember that in an outline, what matters are the principles involved and not the exact draft. If you grasp the principles involved, it will help you to organize any material you are given and you will be able to research and write your report on time. So how should you proceed?

Theme

Start with the theme. A theme is not just a broad subject defined in a single word. Rather, it is the central idea that needs to permeate throughout your report. It indicates the angle of your report helps define what approach you should take when researching and you finally get down to writing the actual report.

When only a subject is assigned, it is up to you to determine what your theme or angle to take with your report. Keep your mind open by doing research before determining how you are going to approach the topic. Keeping your mind open will allow you to get fresh ideas and new ways of thinking or approaching your topic of discussion.

As you undertake your research, keep asking yourself “Why is this material important to my subject?’ “What is my objective?” By keeping these questions firmly in your mind when researching and writing, you will remain focused in your research and writing and be able to accomplish your objective in your report. Once your objective has been determined and an appropriate theme selected, it is now easy to undertake more focused research which will be used for your report.

Research

When researching on a topic or how an assigned theme fits with your objective, look for material that is particularly focused in specific areas of your report. Avoid generalities and stick to practical or highly informative content. If you are using the Internet for research, ensure that your sources are credible and recognized to be so. It is a general rule that community-generated content is unusable for research. These are secondary sources that should only be used as secondary references or for extra information and not as first sources.

Identify the main points that you need to discuss during your research that will help you develop your theme to help you achieve your objective. How many points should you have? For short reports, 1 or 2 points are enough and for long reports, 5 points should be enough to cover the topic well.  It is a general rule that the fewer the points, the more likely your report will be able to comfortable cover them and help you achieve your objective.

Organize

Now that you are past the theme and main points, you need to organize your research material in order to determine that directly relates to your main points. Well, how do you determine what material to keep and what to discard? Select details that add freshness to your report. When you select case reports for example, note the key ideas or experiences that will help you reason on in order to have a meaningful report. Under the main points, organize these sub-points and if you find some points that do not fit with the main points, discard them even if they may seem interesting or appealing. Keep only the best material or points and avoid the trap of trying to impress rather than inform.

Avoid the trap of trying to cover too much material at once. If you try to have too many sub-points you will end up hurrying in your report and you will likely not give sufficient time to explain and expound on them and your report will appear shallow. It is always better to cover few points and do it well in a way that is of real value instead of covering many points that only contain fuller content. If you will research online, chances are that you will get more information than you will need thus the need to keep this in mind.

Arrange

Before going any further, arrange your material and points in a logical format. This can either be chronologically or topically.  You can also arrange the material in a cause and effect format, problem and solution etc depending on what will most help you attain your objective. Think of how the sequence of facts will be taken and understood and aim to help readers transition from one idea to the other seamlessly without having to feel that something is missing. When introducing a new point, you can bridge the 2 points by providing evidence that helps readers to make logical conclusions. Reading out aloud your report will sometimes help you achieve this objective.

After you are through with all this, you are now ready to write an introduction. By writing your introduction later, you will determine what you are going to discuss and in a way that is going to be of real value to your readers.  After you are through with the introduction, do the same for the conclusion to help you have a motivating ending to your report if necessary.

After you are through with everything, go over the material again and determine what points were not covered fully from your outline. This process of analyzing and refining is only possible if you have an outline for comparison. With a little experience, you will no longer need to spend a lot of time preparing and writing down your outline. By use of an outline, you will discover that writing a report is much easier. In addition, your report will be better organized, more informative and appealing to read.

______________________________________________________________

So you know its annoying when a website asks to create an account where you have to fill out a long registration form then verify email… and the biggest hassle is remembering all those usernames and passwords !! How about you do not need to create an account but just log in with your existing ID such as Facebook, Twitter, Gmail, Yahoo etc?? Yes, these are called social logins and you can add them onto your website so that users can log in with their existing ID.

With the help of LoginRadius, you can add as many social logins as you want on your website. Its FREE, its QUICK and EASY.

Check Out this Website for more information: www.LoginRadius.com

About DavGit

DavGit is a Web Developer / Social Media Consultant and a regular Blogger. He works with various SMBs in Developing and Setting up Websites, Content Creation and SEO. You can reach him using the email address DavGit{@}Gmail.com

______________________________________________________________

The Web is growing and future growth will be astounding. As more people and more devices get online we can expect a fundamental shift towards the use of Cloud Computing and the emergence of other online services. The Infographic below shows how the current stats might affect future stats just 3 years from now.

______________________________________________________________

If you are a regular blogger or a freelance writer, you are likely interested in learning how to attract new readers and clients and also maintain your existing clientele and readership.  The first step in doing this is learning who your ideal clients are. Think about your existing clients and their industries. Think about your readership and the questions or the comments they post. What are their demographics? What do your clients outsource? Below are ways to keep writing about what your clients and readership want to read about:

1. Keep a notebook about your clients, their problems, challenges and use this when creating blog posts.

2. Create industry-specific tips such as “How to save Time” or “How to Use Twitter to Market a Startup”.

3. Add a plug for your writing business such as writing on how your clients can use Social Media / Blog / Newsletter to improve their business.

4. Interview businesses or entrepreneurs in your niche where possible

5. Write “How-To” articles on the use of a software program or piece of technology used by your clients or readership.

6. Write about marketing ideas or strategies that appeal to your clients’ customer-base. For example, if you write for parenting publications, they will appreciate an article that talks about marketing ideas for work-at-home moms.

When you take time to write with your clients’ needs in mind, you will slowly be considered an expert.  Most clients will want to hire highly regarded individuals and those who understand specific problems they are facing as well as be able to provide ways of fixing them.  By being more client-centric, clients will likely start to notice you. Once you begin to consider your blog as an extension of your work, all of this will occur naturally and everything else will fall right into place.

What do you blog about? How do you regularly attract clients to your blog?

______________________________________________________________

In a recent interview with Brian Clark, the SEO of CopyBlogger, understanding what people want is the first thing in any successful content creation strategy. Anything that adds value to people’s lives is one of the most powerful ways when starting out in either blogging or social marketing.

Before you can rank well on search, you need to be well linked and social media is one way to achieve this. Smart SEOs have always participated in social media to get people to share and link. This is actually one process with 2 different results. Just like any monetizing strategy, SEO takes time and requires patience if you want to get noticed on Social Media. Social Media contains ever-green traffic that any SEO strategist will require to have an ongoing successful marketing strategy.

One of the tips that Brian recommended is to create cornerstone content. This is useful content that people need to know in order to make use of your site and do business with you. People will almost always link to content that is valuable even when they do not have a blog. Retweets, wall posts are dynamic and search is paying attention to this dynamic environment.

As more companies and individuals take advantage of the Social Media scene to market their products and services, we can expect to see a large impact of Social Media on search results. Google+ posts have already started to show up on Google search results and other Google products. This trend is not likely to slow down anytime soon and smart SEO strategists will take note of this in order to provide real value to their customers.

DavGit is a Social Media Consultant and a regular Blogger. He works with various companies in Content Creation and SEO. You can reach him using the email addressDavGit@Gmail.com

______________________________________________________________

Mobile internet usage is set to overtake desktop Internet usage by the year 2014. This dramatic change will come with an entirely new change as well – how people browse the Web on their mobile devices. By learning how Internet content is consumed on mobile devices, you can learn how to leverage this new market and remain relevant. Here are 7 Trends in the Mobile Web and SEO landscape worth taking note of:

Mobile Type-Search

Using a traditional keyboard to type in search terms is usually easier and quicker than on a mobile device. This means that mobile searches will see shorter keyword strings which more heavily rely on such tools as Google Suggest or predictive text. This is likely going to influence content optimization and how link building is carried out.

Voice Search

With the new Apple iPhone Siri and Google Voice Search, the rise of voice search will only continue especially on mobile devices. Voice search makes searching quicker and easier and will likely be adopted by the majority of mobile web users. When doing a voice search, users tend to use a more conversational approach. For example, a normal desktop search will read like “best restaurant New York”, but a voice search will likely be something like “I am looking for the best restaurant in Brooklyn, New York”. It is easy to see how this kind of search is going to influence keyword targeting.

Image Search

Google Goggles allows image search with photos taken on the fly using a mobile device. It is now possible to even take a picture of a restaurant and find online customer reviews or take a picture of a book in a bookstore and compare prices online. Optimizing content and imagery for this form of search will become increasingly important as time goes by.

Industry Trends

Current mobile Internet data from FreshEgg shows that mobile traffic varies with industry with travel taking up the biggest chunk.  This unequal uptake is likely to be a strong focus for certain markets moving forward.

Sociability

The “Searching turning social” talk over the recent years continues to show that mobile Internet access to socialize has surpassed desktop social use at 91% compared to 79% for desktop. Engagement with individuals and groups on a more social level is becoming increasingly important across all industries and those not listening to this “social talk” are missing out.

Geo-Targeting

Google increasingly uses geo-location to enhance both the functionality and search results especially on mobile devices. By making your website more “local” when it comes to search, you are going to benefit from Google traffic as well as the offerings that apps utilizing geo-location have to offer.

Immediacy

According to a recent Google spokesperson, stats from ebooker.com and easyJet.com showed that 70% of mobile hotel bookings are same-day check-ins while 38% of mobile flight bookings were departing within 10 days.   This shows an immediate-requirement trend for the Mobile Web and especially the travel market. This will clearly influence the content and offers that are displayed to mobile web users.

The Mobile Web is still in its infancy, but given the rate of adoption and innovation that we are seeing in this area, it deserves attention. By learning to evolve their approach to this new Web innovation, Internet marketers will remain relevant well into the future of Mobile Web.

Written by DavGit