Up Market

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• Down the Rabbit Hole
• 15 Fluff-Free Ways to Step Up Your Social Media Game
• The Best Jobs For The Future
• 4 Rookie Mobile Marketing Mistakes to Avoid

Down the Rabbit Hole Posted: 14 Jan 2012 09:00 AM PST In 2009, millions of Boomers, including me, were dumped out onto Alice's chessboard.  I had lost my home and our small farm where we raised alpacas.  Each of the millions has his or her own story of struggle and loss. It is as if we fell down Alice's rabbit hole in '69, traveled through time and dropped out of YouTube nearly a lifetime later.  Like many, I had spent those years speeding down that tunnel in the cocoon of what I thought would be lifetime employment. The irony is… YouTube is a time machine.  In seconds you can travel back to Woodstock in 1969, "three days of peace, love and understanding". Carlos Santana, one with his guitar – The Grateful Dead -  Jerry Garcia's beard still fully black -  Jefferson Airplane's white rabbit speaking of drugs, both "the ones your mother gives you" but more, the ones favored by our generation. Finally, Jimi Hendrix delivered his incredible “Star Spangled Banner”… then the stage went silent.  Now, Jimi, Jerry and many others are gone.  Even Alice is not there to answer our questions.  In our youth, we had enjoyed that wonderland.  As adults, it was far from being wonderful. For more than a year, I tried to get back into the cocoon of employment, but I found that for most of us it was not an option.  In retrospect, it was much like monarchs leaving their cocoons.  I had to learn the rules of this new world. The new chessboard is social media, its characters each with their own personality and message.  There are many Queens and Mad Hatters – crazy voices and sane voices – the only one that matters is yours and experience is your Alice. Nearly 7 million of America's largest generation ever is either unemployed, underemployed or has fallen out of the system completely.  Each of us has decades of knowledge and experience, but companies are unwilling to hire. What many of us are missing is knowledge of the new rules.  The good news is that social media is easier than it looks.  The better news is that our knowledge and experience are not wasted.  In fact, they are a great advantage when combined with knowing social media. Our generation still has many years ahead and we don't need to go silently into the night. I came to a realization that would change my life.  I started out looking for a job, instead I found my passion.  I could help others in my generation get the results that they need to achieve their dreams. Remember, Alice eventually figured out what was happening.  When she did, she was freed of the Queen's tyranny.  She was no longer trapped and she was in control of her own future. In my next post, I will share with you what I found that works well, especially for those of us who missed the beginning of the social media explosion.  Yes, it has just begun. Image Credit: Toronto Public Library Special Collections

15 Fluff-Free Ways to Step Up Your Social Media Game Posted: 14 Jan 2012 06:00 AM PST It's no secret that social media is an essential component for any modern marketing plan. But, if you've just been dabbling with it—experimenting with Twitter and Facebook and Google Plus—now is the time get serious. No more playin' small. 2012 is your year to rock social media. How? I'm glad you asked. The HubSpot Blog recently shared an awesome list of 15 "fluff-free" ways to do just that. I'd like to add that I, for one, am incredibly excited to note that generic tips like "be engaging" and "share content" are NOT included on this list. Said items constitute as "fluff". Hooray! We've finally reached a point in our social media evolution where this kind of advice no longer cuts the mustard! Thank you, HubSpot! So, what are the 15 heavy-hitting tips they offer? Behold: Leverage All Features of Social Networks  Here are some awesome cheat sheets for Facebook, Twitter, Google+, and LinkedIn to help you get the most out of each of these networks. Develop a Social Media Editorial Calendar Just like you should have an editorial calendar for your blog, you should also have one for your social media accounts that outlines what content and updates you’ll share on each network, and when. Integrate Social Efforts With Other Departments  Use a third-party tool like HootSuite to manage multiple social media contributors so you can involve people from other departments such as customer service, support, and sales. Be Agile  Make sure you always have someone tracking mentions of your brand in social media–both on and off your business’ specific social media pages/accounts–and be sure that person is trained on how to handle those situations appropriately. Organize and Host a Twitter Chat  Choose a topic that your audience would love to know more about, create a hashtag, invite other industry thought leaders to participate, and schedule and promote your Twitter Chat to your audience. Pump Up Social Media Lead Generation  This means regularly sharing links to landing pages with lead-capture forms and using appropriate social media real estate to include calls-to-action. Target Your Social Content  Experiment with topic Circles on Google+ to target content to followers with varying interests, create targeted product pages on your LinkedIn Company Page, and modify your share setting to share certain content with different demographics on Facebook when appropriate. Integrate Search and Social  Integrate search and social by optimizing your social updates with the keywords you want your business to get found for and regularly updating your social accounts to improve your chances of getting found in social search. Socialize Your Blog and Website  Promote your presence on your website and encourage others to share the content you publish on your blog and website in social media. Offer Exclusive Content  Create specific offers that are only available to members of certain social networks to leverage this expectation of exclusivity. Launch a Contest Boost engagement with a specific social media account and generate new fans or followers by launching a contest. Use Google+ Hangouts to Conduct Focus Groups  Consider using Google+ Hangouts as a way to conduct low-cost focus groups with a select group of prospects or customers. Integrate Social and Email  Add social elements such as social subscription and sharing buttons to all your email communication to give your emails more bang for their buck. Use Social Media to Maximize Offline Interactions  Add information about your social media presence to your business cards, create and promote hashtags when hosting events, and add a QR code to print materials that directs people to your Facebook or Google+ page. Leverage Social Media to Nurture Leads and Aid Sales  Educate your sales team to investigate leads’ social media behavior to get to know them and identify some of their key problems before they even pick up the phone to follow-up. You can read more about each of these tips here. What strategies are you using successfully in your social marketing efforts? Image Credit: Anne Helmond

The Best Jobs For The Future Posted: 13 Jan 2012 03:00 PM PST The best job is the one for which you are the best fit -- and that's a determination you make.

4 Rookie Mobile Marketing Mistakes to Avoid Posted: 13 Jan 2012 12:00 PM PST Mobile marketing is all the rage. No one wants to be left out. But it might be better to ignore it altogether than implement a half-baked mobile strategy. If you're new to this "on the go" world, take heart. You're not alone. Thankfully, Lisa Barone, social strategy genius of Outspoken Media, recently shared the top 4 common rookie mistakes to avoid: Using Mobile to Share Non-Mobile Content  Perhaps it's a video their phone can't download or the desktop version of your website, which takes too long to load and far too much scrolling to use on their device. These types of mistakes leave customers feeling frustrated and almost ensure they never again try to load your website from a mobile device. Using QR Codes to Direct Customers Back to Your Site  If you're going to invest in creating a QR code, don't simply use the code to drive people back to your website. They could have gotten there on their own. Instead, pack that code with something valuable and unique. It could be an exclusive discount or special offer, time-sensitive information, an image they couldn't get otherwise, a free download, etc. Missing a Chance for Better Targeting  To really leverage mobile marketing, find out more about the demographics of the people who do opt into this service and adapt your campaigns to specifically address them. This may including knowing what kind of offers they're most interested in, the products they buy most, the price point they stay within, the types of deals they respond to, etc. If you don't know offhand (and why would you?), your analytics will be able to give you this information. Not Optimizing Your Mobile Website  The mobile version of your website should be more than just a shrunken version of what your site looks like on a desktop computer. It should be optimized for a different experience and for a customer coming to you a different intent…. For best performance, use your analytics to understand what your mobile users are after, the pages they request most often, and the mission they land on your site with. This will help you to optimize an experience that is relevant to their needs and that helps them achieve their goals faster. You can read the full article at Small Business Trends. Are you using mobile marketing? If so, what tips do you have? If not, what's holding you back? Share with us in the comments! Photo Credit: William Hook

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