Posted by Aerion Miles on October 25, 2009 under Search Engine Optimization, Social Networking, Twitter | 
When you started your twitter account did you ever imagine those tweets about what you are doing would end up hanging out in the giant search engines such as powerhouse Google and the new up and coming challenger Bing which is Microsoft’s new search engine?
That time has come as both companies seek agreements with Twitter to integrate their feed into the Microsoft and Google search engine results.
What Does That Mean For Me?
It means more exposure for you the marketer! Twitter’s updates will now be indexed in real time by Bing & Google. Microsoft’s Bing has said that they will now assign value to your tweets just as they have websites meaning the more value you present in your tweets the more likely your tweet could be seen by the millions of searches performed on the internet daily.
Some of the criteria they will be looking at is how many followers you have and the length of your post and if you include links in your tweet.
Originally Microsoft was the first in talks with Twitter about this new relationship but Google soon followed behind refusing to let Microsoft’s Bing get an upper hand on them as the top search engine. Microsoft (who paid $240 Million to hold 1.6% stake in Facebook) is countering by working with Facebook to index a portion of their updates also. Facebook now has over 300 million users compared to Twitters over 50 million users, but a majority of Facebook’s profiles are not available to public so will not be able to be indexed by Bing.
For Twitter this will be their first introduction to some real revenue. Microsoft & Google have not disclosed the compensation arrangement but I’m sure it’s a healthy amount, although Twitter say’s it’s not about the money.
Is the Exposure Worth the Hassle?
Both Google & Microsoft’s Bing have a challenge ahead because this is a new invitation for spammers to just spam their way into the search results. Both companies will have to determine a way to filter relevant information from the irrelevant so it will be properly placed in search engine results.
I use Twitter alot and it does help in my business. Of course you have to learn how to use twitter without it taking up to much of your time. For some it does help with adding revenue in their business and for others it doesn’t. All I can think of is the thousands upon thousand of useless tweets and spam that I have to filter through now I just hope they find a true 100% way to filter all that out.
Google and Microsoft’s Bing must have a clear plan already laid out to filter relevant results or they wouldnt have fought so hard to have this feature. Only time will tell if this is a good thing or a bad thing for marketers. I can’t wait to see what they have in store for us.
To all my internet marketers out there, what are your thoughts on this new relationship with Twitter, Google & Bing?
Posted by Aerion Miles on March 29, 2009 under Social Networking |
Networking is one of the best avenues to build up your business. It helps to increase your awareness and your customer base. It also gives you professional resources to enhance and strengthen your skills and knowledge.
You should consider networking both online and offline as they are both great ways to market yourself. Some examples of networking offline include joining local associations and organizations. Some examples of networking online are joining forums, chat rooms and social networking sites like BetterNetworker. Heres how to strengthen your social network:
Step One – Figure out what your networking goals are.
For alot of people the best strategy for their social networking is centered around building relationships. Some of the different relationships you can build through networking include:
* Joint venture (JV) partnerships
* Mentor relationships
* Friends and resources
* Customers
You have to make a social strategy as to how you are going to network with the various individuals. Are you looking to seek partnerships or looking for mentors or a combination of above? No matter what the answer, you have to map out a plan of action so you dont overwhelme yourself.
Next, you have to create your networking plan.
You will want to start by answering some questions:
* Who is your target audience?
* What relationships are you looking to find and build?
* What do you have to offer them?
* What networking sites or organizations will you participate in?
* How are you going to represent yourself online?
* How often are you going to post/participate?
* Will you create specific promotions and offers for your networking audience?
Third, choose the websites and organizations you are going to join.
Whether it be a local organization or a website that you join, keep in mind your social strategy and your goals. Gauge whether or not the place you choose to join is going to take you a step further towards reaching your goals before you decide to join them. What can they do for you?
For instance, if you’re wanting to start a joint venture partnership then you may consider joining a professional networking site, or a chat room, or forum that is in the same industry as you. This will get you where you need to be and meeting the right individuals. If you more want to create a loyal customer base and brand yourself then you may want to join a social networking site.
Networking sites are usually valued by the amount of members they have but more importantly you want to make sure the site you join is in line with the type of business you are in. If you sell medicare insurance to seniors and are looking for an older market then you might not want to have a social networking profile up on MySpace since the primary market for Myspace is the younger generation.
Last, You Have to Participate in your networks. The only way networking will work is if you participate. Here are a few tips on interaction when you are networking online or offline.
Be engaged. The main purpose of networking is so you can connect with other people. Communicate with your network in a manner that they can respond to. Use their language, and address issues that they will find interesting and want to read about. Provide resources and information that they will benefit from.
Be consistent and update on a regular basis. If you are going to develop a following online then you have to stay connected with your reader base, it’s important to regularly update content so they will keep an interest in your work. Since many folks have made it a habit of doing some type of networking online once a day (like myself I keep access to my main social networking site all day long), it’s important to stop by and add some value. This could merely be you commenting on a blog post from someone on your social networking site. If you cannot regularly spend time on the sites you may want to consider the hiring of a virtual assistant.
Keep your sales pitches to a minimum. Offer value first and expect to receive later. Networking is more about the give then the receive. The giving turns into sales in the long run.
Posted by Aerion Miles on March 25, 2009 under Blogging, Product Review, Social Networking |
If you have been learning how to brand yourself on the internet then surely you have learned that joining social networks and creating a profile to network with like minded individuals is one of the first steps you want to take. Sites like MySpace, Facebook, You Tube, Yahoo 360 are all top sites that you want to join.
First thing you want to do is design your profile, so it looks clean and informative and tells about you and what your purpose is for being on the site. People will come and check out your site but why would they want to come back to your site? Unless you are consistently updating content on your site they have nothing more to look forward to. What value do you have to offer your website visitors.
Okay, so the solution to that is that you will go update your social networking sites on a regular basis. Sounds easy but as you will learn updating each social network site on a daily basis can become time consuming. So what is the answer?
Ping.fm is a program designed to help make your post to your social networks that you belong to a lot easier. First thing you want to do is go to http://ping.fm and sign up. You will see that the design of the website is easy to navigate. With Ping.fm you have the ability to post messages either via their website or also through their mobile application where you can send post over your cell phone while you are on the go.
Once you sign up and you sign in first thing you want to do is find all the social networking sites that you belong to and add the network to your list. You can add networks such as: Facebook, MySpace, Yahoo360, LinkedIn, Friendster, Hi5, Bebo, Delicious, Mashable, BrightKite, Xanga and much much more.
After you have setup your networks you are ready to post messages. The good thing about this program is that you have the ability to post status updates, blogs, and micro blogs. You can pick and choose which network you want to post what message with using triggers so every message doesnt have to go to the same place. You can also post images and it will soon give you the ability to post video. Got a website with a long link? When you ping your message it can also shorten your link if you want or you can keep it the way it is.
In short I love this program because it makes it alot easier for me to send out my post to the network I want without having to log into each site. This will definitely cut your time it takes to manage your social applications.
To Your Success!!!
