Finding ways to build High ranking Backlinks - domains that help.

There are still far too many legitimate website owners that falling for the guaranteed page one on Google for only $100 trick!

The key to optimising your presence on the web is influenced by over 200 factors within Google's search algorithm, which is also being constantly tweaked.

For the sake of this article we're going to cover a small but crucial part of one of those factors. Backlinking.

Backlinking is no longer the realm of the spammer. It has become the world of the strategist and the best ones, get the first page of Google. Backlinks are a critical tool to raise page rank and pagerank is what prioritises your page over others with the equivalent value in content.

You also need to understand the difference between nofollow and dofollow links and their value which is covered in a different post.

To gain a decent pagerank you need to be backlinked from pages with a high pagerank and those that have the golden goose are not going to share the golden eggs that easily. The first step is to identify highly ranked domains that will be the easiest to backlink from, with both dofollow and nofollow link status.

It would seem obvious but the high ranking pages to start with are your Social Media and high traffic interactive domains e.g. Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, Tumbler and the like. remeber however that Facebook likes are not tracked as backlinks. The links have to be a clickable link to the site youre trying to rank. You also need to remember not to shorten the link because nofollow links credit the link to the url shortening service and NOT your website.

Then there is the use of the link wheel. Do NOT attempt this unless you have a thorough understanding of how the bots that crawl the web manage your information with the latest algorithms, however creating the actual links is the first step to building you valuable reputation.

Below is a list of high ranking domains upon which you can build information hubs that link back to your site. But also remember that if you only put one article on the blog/page domain, it will have less relevance than the page that has multiple articles, thus the job of SEO becomes an ongoing project.

Social Media platforms

Google+
Facebook
Twitter
Pinterest
Tumblr

Then build your article and information hubs on high ranking web building platforms such as:

Weebly
Wix
webs.com
Blogger
Wordpress
Yola
Squarespace
Moonfruit
Angelfire
Lycos (Tripod)
Virb

This list is not exhaustive and you can hunt for  many more as you surf the net and discover the platforms that others are using to spread their reach.

Remember you can always check a domain's page rank by going to http://checkpagerank.net/

This is a small articel on SEO and you will need to apply a number of other strategies tomake it work.

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5 Ways to boost your Social Media Presence

Everyone is looking for new ways to boost their online presence and Social Media activity and there are without a doubt plenty of advice columns. Just in case a few people have missed them, here are another five hints.

1. Scoop.it! Yes  join scoop it and curate it daily. It only takes 5 minutes every day and compared to other platforms, it manages to drive crazy amounts of traffic to and from your website. The key to using Scoop.it is to remember to Scoop everyday. Don't forget to cross post to your favourite platforms and Scoop.its free account allows you to cross post to at least two platforms, FaceBook and Twitter being the first to come to mind!




2. Use a social Media Dashboard - It has become noticeable that the mainstream cheapies the likes of Sprout Social have suddenly become expensive! If you can afford it, we continue to recommend Postling which provides an easy to use, intuitive user interface and at a song $5 for five accounts and $1 for each additional account. This provides quick and easy management of all your active platforms in one place with control over cross posting and enables you to set up tweets and post well ahead of time.

3.Blog from a different domain. Most online blogging platforms have fabulous page ranks. So if you blog on Blogger, WordPress, Wix or Webs, you can be sure you are back-linking to your site from a ready made high ranking page. While this does not guarantee an immediate online presence it certainly helps a lot to get you closer to that all evasive first page of Google, and is a strategy we recommend to all our new clients. Keep your main site on your domain and blog with a subdomain link. - It all helps.


4. Recommend your article to Mashable. Reputable aggregating sites such as Mashable and Technorati, will not only drive traffic to your site, but also provide the kudos that you need to improve that page rank, and wow, what a long term digital footprint it leaves!

5. Check for plagiarisn EVEN if you wrote the article by yourself. The internet is so full of content that there is no way of knowing whether there are multiple duplicates of the phrases that you use. Google's algorithms can be quite pernickity and if you use just that little too much that appears to be cut and pasted even from several different sources, you're out on a limb. A fabulous free online tool for this can be found at small SEO tools.

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Social Media and how agencies charge non profit clients

I have spoken out on how small business clients are brutalised over Social Media costs and how agencies charge them.

For the first time, I have had a potential client that has objected to our charging structure. This post may or may not attract comments, either way and whether the comments are positive or not, I'm feeling an urge to reach out to my industry. Our charges are really transparent. SO here goes.

The client is an established non-profit organisation. They have minuscule funds to cover their digital costs. We engaged in an extensive discovery process - too much time in fact prior to instruction, but it was important to us that we had the issues well tied down. So how did we tackle their needs?

Loosely broken down we placed a strategy on the table. Firstly to rebuild their archaic and poorly optimised website, then to set up their social media channels (four in particular) and socially bookmark and manage them.

We also placed our services for corporate grant applications for digital marketing purposes in the strategy and the work involved was offered pro bono. However the management of the resulting Adwords and online marketing accounts will be charged at 20% of the budget with an agreed ceiling.

Essentially the client would enjoy a new fully responsive website with social media integration and monthly management including content creation for just over seventy thousand Rand for the year.The maximum cost for Adwords and online marketing would come to two hundred thousand Rand (not including the budget).  Thats means we charge two hundred and seventy seven thousand rand for a years inclusive services (about $27 000)

This organisation will receive more than eight times the costs in digital grant funding alone. Based on previous experience, our track record  and current strategies they are expected receive five to nine million Rand in fundraising.

I consulted with marketing managers of two other agencies, who cannot see how they can refuse the proposal, but they still appear to have.

The biggest single issue that I have is that in the normal scheme of things we would just charge a flat rate consultancy and agency fee. But these folks don't have the money, so our payment will be performance based and after all we are a business so we need to make a profit and our staff need to make a living. In this case the risk is spread and we are being rather generous.

I can't fathom why when we know based on what we're offering in terms of SM management and fundraising marketing, we're being accused of daylight robbery.

Anyone?

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SEO and Digital Media Is it all just a huge rip off?

As I sat across from a Business manager this morning, I nearly collapsed on the spot when I saw what this particular organisation was paying for a single digital media campaign. As I'm one that will not hesitate to tell people that you get what you pay for, I was utterly dumbstruck by the figures before my eyes.

 I had been called in to offer some advice in a situation a little like shutting the stable door loooooong after the horse had bolted. He glanced over at me quizzically when I gulped for breath and asked in a slightly higher than usual pitch exactly what golden bells and diamond studded whistles were going to be attached to this particular digital campaign. I was given a copy of the PowerPoint presentation and took a copy back to the office to cogitate over the possibilities - and probabilities.

 The presentation is FULL of what if's and the campaign strategies rely heavily on the client. The client is expected to connect the agency with the relevant partners.It appears that the agency is being paid for the (rather mundane)ideas and the client is expected to provide the rest of the resources. The outline of the strategy is based on the platforms they will use and the strategies they will offer in order to facilitate the ingress of funds. But...... 

There is no clear demarcation of how the campaign is going to be targeted at different population sectors nor the implementation of calls to action. Because of the confidentiality of this particular request for advice, I cannot divulge ANYTHING....YET. 

What I do however see is a client that does not know what they should be spending and has no idea of the value of the quotes they are being given. I also see an agency grabbing the opportunity to cash in on a number of big names and losing sight of business ethics and objectives in the process. My greatest fear for the client is whether this agency is in fact going to be able to produce the goods. While we would have undoubtedly used the same or similar digital strategies and certainly encapsulated to some extent their approach, we would have by now identified different target groups and included a strategy as to specifics in terms of how we expect to employ a call to action for each of the different target groups.

 So many businesses seek to dip their toes in the digital media jungle. SO many get lied to and conned by fly by nighters and then there are the bigger guys, the agencies that by the very name they bear feel it is ok to overcharge. Having had a look at the brief, I see some really bright flashing lights. While we do not have a massive following - our social media is active and we can be contacted without a very long wait through any of our social media channels. The BIG NAME agency involved has what I woul termin client speak remedial needs for their social media. How can you sell a product you're not using yourself?

The agency claims some big South African clients. Their legacy is however quite poor. When you build a campaign for a client, achieving the end result is obviously the objective, but does the client enjoy a long term legacy or will their visibility gradually melt away into obscurity?

I was shocked when at yet another presentation, a prospective client told me that she was being charged R5000 for 5 tweets per day - and nothing else......

Dont give me the exponential reach stuff bla bal bla, because actually ignorant clients don't understand that stuff..... Many dive into the behemoth of Social Media because they think thats what they should be seen to be doing, when in fact its like doing DIY open heart surgery on your marketing strategy with only a medical dictionary to get you through.....

I refer to the SEO snake oil article that can be found here and I now see with absolute clarity why the bigger companies are balking at following the rest of the world into the digital frenzy that is out there.

I will say with absolutely no fear that if Shoprite, and Edcon and the other large corporates are investing more than R500 000 per month into digital media management (Have they actually defined what that entails I wonder, or is that term as fluid as the perception of one manager compared to the next?) - Then somebody counting the pennies has been conned and please give us a call so we can disabuse you of your errors. Woolworths on the other hand have got the best retail Social Media presence Ive seen in SA, so whatever they're spending, its a good investment, but theyre till a little behind the curve.

Campaigns are a separate matter and if youre looking for a ROI, then you need to pay your agency on a commission basis. I know commission is a dirty word, but if your agency's bread and butter depends on it and they know what they're doing, then trust me they will outperform your wildest dreams because the bottomline dependson it.

The money matters and if you dont want to throw a whole lot of greenbacks into a hole, check your stuff out. AT the very least if the agency youre talking to doesnt have social media activity worth noting......I would recommend that you leave...

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Social Media and SEO

Something we always discuss with our clients is just how important a great all-singing all-dancing social media campaign is for their Search Engine Optimisation. In this day and age, the Social Web is driving everything forward on line, and a static website is just never going to cut it out there on the wild wild web...

This great article explains just why... http://veepopat.ca/social-media-optimization/

And for a view in an instant graphic,check out this one

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Keeping Your Reputation Out of the Jaws of Social Media

On line reputation management is becoming a big issue as the socialweb marches on. Here is another great article which makes some very good points.

Keeping Your Reputation Out of the Jaws of Social Media | Small Agency Diary - Advertising Age

This is why it's so important to take expert advice from a specialist social media consultancy when you design and implement your own social media strategy.

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Social Media Integration - Maximise Your Online Business Potential

You have a website, and you get leads and information from this,perhaps even some data, and you might be thinking    "why do I need social media?"  and that's a good question. After all, what else can integrating social media into your business online presence do for your organisation? How about this...

• Customer service. You can interact with your customers in real time on social media, answering any enquiries or complaints and building on line communities. This gets people engaged with your business.
• Invite people you've searched for to connect with you.Offer them incentives, coupons and discounts. It's a great way to seek out new business. 
• Generate new sales leads by looking for users who tweet or post about your business area or product.
• Add your social media 'handles' to your brochures and website and ask people to connect with you. Position yourself as *the* expert in your field of business
• Recruit new staff by using social media to advertise. You can even use social media sites like LinkedIn for the application and CV submission process. It's also a great way to head-hunt the right people as you can search through on line profiles.
• Monitor your competitors.You can watch to see what they're up to and engage with their customers. Do it better than they do!
• Promote new products across all your on line sites. Increase the reach of your campaign.
• Use stats and analytics tools to direct your marketing and tell you where your business is coming from. Big data can give you loads of useful information you perhaps didn't know about your business area.

If you use a bit of blue sky thinking you could probably think of many more reasons to integrate social media into your business, but whatever you do,get some good advice from a specialist social media consultant and make sure you maximise the potential of social media.

It is really great when you start to see folks using the social media 'buttons' on your website to tweet you and post to Facebook. Or connect with you via LinkedIn or leave a tip about you on FourSquare. But make sure you set up your website to tweet and Facebook and Google+1  automatically whenever you make any changes.

 Maximise your business potential with fully integrated social media. Let Nomsindo become your social media partners. We Create Conversations...

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How to design your social media marketing campaign

You know how it goes...you pick up the paper, surprised by it's weight. When you open it up, out tumbles a huge wad of advertising leaflets. We've all been there! The problem for businesses who still use this form of advertising is that hardly anybody reads them. The recycling bins are full of Pizza take-away menus, supermarket deals leaflets, furniture store sales flyers... etc etc. Is your business still advertising using the print medium? If so, you are probably wasting your money, and this sort of advertising doesn't come cheap by any means.. And in this day and age,it's becoming increasingly irrelevant...

                                                               (photo from hloom.com)

Social media has worked its way into every part of our lives.It is ubiquitous, and more to the ppoint, it is where people go to find things they want to buy and services they need. They just don't want to plough through all of the bits of paper cluttering up the house. If your marketing campaign is to reach people who want your services or products, then social media is where you just have to be. And more to the point, you need to pick your platforms very carefully according to your target audience. There is no point taking time to participate on a social space which is not the home of your target market. This is where good advice is essential. There is always a cost to social media, be it time or outsourcing it to somebody to do.

                                                         (image from library.ohiou.edu)

Take expert advice on the design of your marketing campaign on social media. This should include design, inception, integration with your website, creating conversations, management, detailed monthly analytics on line reputation management and brand protection. 

Whilst expert advice is never cheap, it could save you money in the long run if you get your social media activity right first time and managed for you effectively and efficiently. Many web design and digital media consultancies claim to be able to advise on social media, but you wouldn't ask an orthopedic surgeon to deliver your baby would you? Pick a specialist social media consultancy to advise you. It will be money well spent...they can advise you on every aspect of your marketing campaign and provide you with a real return on your investment (ROI). This is important because there is lots of available data which will help you with the direction and fine-tuning of your marketing and put you right at the heart of where you need to be - on your potential customers' social media feeds..

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Online Reputation Management - Protect your Brand

Recent food health scares have burst over social media like an atomic bomb. Horse meat scares have done the rounds on twitter and facebook and the other platforms and some big names have come under attack due to the way they did or did not handle adverse publicity on social media.  And it's not just food. HMV went bust in the UK thanks mainly to some terrible social media coverage which they failed to deal with. Hello Peter and other complaints sites are full of complaints against both big and small business (including St Elmo's Pizzaway and KFC South Africa which seem to attract more than their fair share of gripes).

If you care about your brand,you need to be alert to these complaints. If you value your on line reputation, you need to deal with them. The internet has a very long memory and Google searches will bring up these complaints,putting off potential customers from wanting to do business with you).

An online complaint on social media will quickly spread. This is called Amplification as the bad news for your business is spread from user to user and all their followers. The potential reach of one bad news tweet can very soon stretch into the hundreds of thousands in next to no time, irreparably damaging your brand.

However, these complaints do offer you a fantastic opportunity to engage with your customers and to turn complaints into satisfied folks who will even recommend you to their families and friends, winning you new business. You just need to be alert to the dangers and the opportunities because the long memory of the internet search engines can be made to work in your favour.

So don't just sanitise your Facebook page of any bad news. Don't ignore negative tweets, and don't use cut and paste responses to complaints on sites like Hello Peter,but instead take the opportunity to placate your dissatisfied customers and turn them into good friends, winning extra sales in the process. It is hard work. It needs some investment in social media and a good specialist consultant to give you advice. Consider outsourcing this work to a specialist social media consultancy because they will know exactly how to look after your brand and your reputation.

Here is a great article about how brand rescue and online reputation management is becoming a big challenge to many businesses and individuals

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5 Trends in Social Media for 2013

If you're in business and looking at how to maximise your social media activity, have a look at the trends for the rest of this year (and probably into next year too).
It's a given nowadays that you have to have an active presence on social media just to keep up with your competitors, never mind getting ahead,but if you take account of these predictions   and talk to a good specialist social media consultant, you should manage to stay ahead of the curve.

 5 Trends in Social Media Impacting Business | Social Media Today

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Why Businesses Need Google+...

I came across this great article today whilst doing some R&D for a client.It's a fantastic piece about the benefits of using Google+ for business. Now, we already know that Google+ is second only to Facebook in terms of users, but which is the better platform for business? I'd have to say that Google+ is giving Facebook a very good run for its money. If you take into account the SEO value of Google+, I'd have to say that no business serious about its social media activity should be swerving Google+, for this simple reason alone.
I know many of my social media consultant acquaintances and even competitors might disagree, but in my view, they are making a serious mistake if they underestimate the power of Google+.  Some great communities, ease of search,and the ability to better position your business right at the heart of your potential client or customer base gives it a real edge over Facebook. Whilst it's by no means disruptive technology, it is a serious player and must sit up there alongside Facebook at the very heart of any business social media strategy.
Why Bloggers Need Google Plus So Badly | Social Media Today

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Social Media may drive more traffic to your website than search engines...

We've been saying this for a while now. Well we would, wouldn't we? we're Social Media specialists, after all. But since Google changed it's search algorithms, it's interactions rather than the number of backlinks which makes your website stand up and take a bow to your customers and prospects..

Social Media May Soon Drive More Traffic to Your Website Than Search Engines | Entrepreneur.com

And remember, we are Cape Town's most cutting edge Social Media agency because it's what we live and breathe. We bring you the latest trends as well as up to the minute R&D so if you're looking for social media which positions your business or organisation right at the heart of the where you need to be, get in touch now.

Nomsindo - We Create Conversations...

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So, Why does my business need to be using Social media?

We get asked this question a lot! Prospective clients often feel confused and even scared of being active on the web, and think that having a website is enough... well, its not.

Not any more. Websites are static and difficult to use for conversations. They are the 'Shop Window' for your business, but nowadays, a good website will be integrated with social media. Here are a few reasons why you can't afford not to be using social media for your business..

• Answer and address complaints quickly. Increasingly, businesses are using Twitter and Facebook to handle complaints. Just check out KLM, Vodacom, and Virgin for good examples.If you want to see badly used social media,look at the KFC South Africa FaceBook page!
• Get feed back on your business activity. If you want to gauge the possible reaction of consumers or customers to something you're planning, Social Media is almost like an instant polling station! Just ask your questions on Twitter or Facebook for almost instant answers.
• Share photo's and video of your business activity and products. Its a vibrant community out there and with the right images, you get wonderful free exposure. 
• Word of mouth marketing is a powerful way to boost your sales. And without the cost of radio or television campaigns either. Its quick and effective, and all about making connections.
• Increase loyalty. Your social media activity will make your connections feel a strong sense of loyalty to you. After all, you're not just broadcasting to them...you're engaging with them
• Market research. You can easily search your business area or market and see what's happening. People will be talking about it, that's virtually guaranteed on social media. 
• Your competitors will be on it. So you don't want to be left out and lose business. If they're not already on social media, they soon will be!
• Statistics tell a story. You get tons of useful information from the data provided by social media activity. Web analytics and traffic reports tell you where your activity is coming from and allow you to position yourself vetu clinically to where you need to be.
• Become the expert in your field. Using content curation (collection and aggregation) positions you as the expert to ask questions from in your field. People will come to your sites for information and advice. before they even get near your competitors.
• Brand protection. You don't want people to criticise you on line, but if they do, you need to be able to talk with them instantly.Just look at HMV in the UK - they ignored social media and were driven into bankruptcy by a barrage of negative social media commentary they failed to answer.

                                                           creating conversation...

Social media is how you can engage with your customers and business contacts in real time and almost instantly. Increasingly, its how we do business, search for purchases and perhaps most importantly, make complaints about poor service or products. 

Social Media is growing and is a powerful force in marketing and brand protection. Nobody wants folks out there saying bad things about them on Twitter, facebook, Pinterest and all the other platforms which give people a genuine voice. That voice is affecting the way we buy products and services. Social Media sites are replacing traditional search engines (YouTube is second to Google for the number of searches recorded).

But you need to be positioned on the right Social Media platforms for your business. Thats where we can help. The advice of a good social media consultant is vital. A good consultant will live and breathe social media. They won't design websites, or do advertising. They'll just know exactly where you need to be on the many platforms that exist out there. 

This is our business. Social media is what we're all about. So we can help you with your website...from a social media integration perspective. But Social media is our speciality here at Nomsindo. 

We Create Conversation for your business...

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Social Media - What we do

We've been asked a lot recently just what is it we do for our Social Media clients. So here it is..

• We carry out a full review of a client's existing social media and web activity.
• We ask lots of questions about their business.Its important we 'get' their vision and mission to be able to understand just where they need to be on social media and what their market is.
• We would seek to understand where and how the client feels they should be using social media.Contrary to popular belief,its not for everyone!
• We'd want to talk about possible budgets. Its important to us to know how much they think it might cost to have a social media presence managed for them.
• Following this, we'd make a series of recommendations based upon our analysis of their needs. Some social media channels are a 'must have' for most clients. Others are more sector-specialist. Others are more related to the demographic of their potential markets/clients. For example, Pinterest has 65% of its hits coming from young women, whereas Google+ is more male oriented.
• We'd then offer a setup package which would include social media integration with their website, setting up of a blog and other social media platforms as necessary.
• A monthly management contract sets out the level of activity we'd undertake, as a minimum. For example,number of daily tweets, facebook posts etc. This is always flexible to suit changing business needs. We'll do the work and then talk with you later!
• We provide a detailed monthly report including web analytics and social media activity so that you can see where your traffic is coming from and how your social media presence is growing and effective. After all, you need to know what the return on your investment is.

And there it is....in a nutshell.

Nomsindo - We Create Conversations. 

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But what's the ROI ?

It's a question we are asked very, very frequently. In fact, its the one question every client or potential client of ours asks. Just what is the return on investment (ROI) from my business social media activity?

This is actually a very difficult question to answer because to be honest, there is no easy answer. Are you looking to generate more business from your social media activity? If so, its probably quite simple to measure business generated from leads or enquiries coming from social media. Of course, these leads would need to be *extra* business generated over and above your normal lead-generating activity.

Are you looking for increased visibility for your business or organisation? This is easy to measure,in terms of straight hits on your social media channels, but what does hits or the number of followers really tell you, other that you've about three million less followers than Justin Bieber on Twitter? You really should be looking for quality, not quantity. Are your followers and facebook likes from your business market or potential customers, and do you engage in conversation with them or just broadcast your own activity? After all, we are now in the age of web 3.0 and this is the creative collaborative web. Any successful social media activity must involve some degree of dialogue. If you look at some of the large business using social media, the successful ones are the ones who use it to have conversations with their followers. Social media is a community where you have to interact with people, talk to people, deal with complaints, answer questions and engage in discussion.

And if you want to position yourself as an expert in your field, the number of questions you answer on sites like Quora and Google+ will also be important.

Its not the raw data or metrics or stats which are important, its how these are analysed and interpreted. This is where you will find your true ROI, and this where an expert social media consultancy will be worth it's weight in gold. We can show you just what your  bucks are generating, and because we live breathe and work social media, we know just where you'd be best to focus your activity if you want a demonstrable return on your Rands.

ROI - its not just followers and likes, its quality not quantity,and above all,  it is focussed activity designed to suit your individual needs.

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The Google workshop an introduction

Nomsindo is offering a FREE (You pay for your own coffee) Google workshop on Saturday mornings for any interested businessmen/women in Cape Town.

Did you know that even a basic knowledge of the FREE Google tools at your fingertips can rapidly change your web and digital presence?

If you are going to grow to the point that you need to appoint a social media professional either in house or from an agency will you know enough to be sure you're not instructing a dud?

Feel free to contact us here

Please fill in the contact form if you'd like to join us. The workshop is informal and will be held at a waterfront venue to be announced shortly.

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Why using Social Media for CRM is a priceless tool

I must start by emphasising that social media is by no means the only CRM (customer relationship management) tool a company should use and certainly in certain circumstances there are are other CRM tools that are more effective.

It has however become clearly obvious that with the implementation of social media as a grass roots CRM instrument by medium and large enterprises, the cost effectiveness of these tools and overall resulting customer experience of the engagement, interaction and when necessary also the intervention often provides an almost immediate ROI.

A number of examples immediately come to mind. The most recent was only yesterday when we were attending a conference at a venue that is part of one of the largest global hotel and hospitality chains. My other half was rather displeased with the service and sent a single tweet and hash tagged it.

The response was almost immediate and came from pretty high up. This company got it right in both of the most important ways this should be approached. Implementation of their actual CRM strategy using social media and their culture regarding how to approach the problem using the relevant instrument - in this case Twitter.

It is very clear that not only do they have an engaging monitoring policy, but they also go out of their way to ensure that when tweets are not directed at them personally they can pick up hash tagged and unhashtagged conversations, enabling quick intervention when required.

Brand and reputation development and protection should come hand in hand with any online engagement strategy and policy for any business regardless of its size. We all knows that rumours (even when untrue) can cause stocks to crash and can ruin a healthy corporate virtually overnight.

A company strengthens its armour when it's digital presence policies encompass brand protection and it has the strategy to be able to turn negative customer experience around so that the outside world watching this unfold, (and trust me it's a very big glass house out there) can witness a positive outcome - every time.

The online world leaves digital footprints that remain for years and even decades. If there has been a bad customer experience linking it to a positive outcome this, has enormous long term value. Consumer forums often discuss customer experience and the footprint they leave is enormous and lasting. When the forums actually show a positive outcome it can have a domino effect.

Customers will discover how others have reached satisfactory resolution, enhancing brand image and also driving new customers not only to the company's web presence be it interactive social media, e-commerce or the company website, but also their b&m (bricks and mortar) premises.

Happy and satisfied customers breed an air of confidence about certain brands which has the effect that the brand becomes the prevalent choice.

I remain astonished at how many large corporate enterprises still use social media for promotion only and do not have it integrated into customer service, logistics, sales and sales support, in fact any department that engages with customers at all. Those that use it for monitoring remain even fewer and yet the obvious advantage that offers over the competition isn't rocket science.

This is where analysis of ROI becomes tricky. If analysis is only going to include the financial return particularly when looking at CPA, a true picture can never be determined. True social media effectiveness is not only visible by growth in online sales, but also by the willingness of the customer to return to the B&M (bricks and mortar) presence on the street as a result of the social media strategy that enhances their spending experience.

In closing, I would recommend that any company recruiting or contracting a social media Strategist look beyond their technical knowledge of markup languages and GAIQ, but also investigate the candidates ability and outlook at directing and if necessary redirecting their digital strategy to the ever changing needs and demands of the customer. After all the needs of the client/company are irrevocably entwined with the needs of their customer base, and it would be a huge mistake not to recognise that as the customer base grows, so will the need to diversify the social media strategy.

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How to bag your first Tiger....

You know how it goes...you've set up on your own, survived the first year and struggled through half of the second. Small accounts, but nothing big. And then all of a sudden, that first big deal lands in your lap, the saviour of your fledgling business. How did it happen? Tempting though it is to think so, this big deal was not, repeat not down to luck. It was all down to your absolute focus on business strategy. Because you planned how you'd go about landing those big ones, didn't you? Like this, maybe..?

1. You made a list of all potential clients. Prospecting for gold. You researched these prospects, finding out as much as possible about them. How much their advertising spend is, how much they spend on the products or services you offer.

2. Think creatively, out of the box. Everyone and their auntie is going after the obvious, so try to identify the others who might be interested in doing business with you. Learn their corporate-speak, their jargon. Try to think like they do.

3. Look professional. Big businesses want to have confidence that you can deliver and this means looking the part. Your website needs to be all-singing-all-dancing, not something you bought off the peg on a CD-Rom. Make sure your business cards are high quality and your company stationary is top-notch.

4. Network. Try to use your contacts to meet folks who work for your prospects. Learn about the key people in the business and which buttons to press to engage with them. Introductions can go a long way towards cementing the deal, sometimes swinging the deal by overcoming slight uncertainty of unknowns.

5. Listen well. Believe it or not, the big companies want to do business with smaller ones. This is because they value the speed and flexibility which allow small firms to get things done more efficiently and timeously. So listen out for the opportunities and jump right in. Learn how to provide what they are looking for. They won't give you a second chance so listen well and give them what they want.

Of course, it doesn't end with the handshake. You have to feed and nurture your Tiger. And hunt down other Tigers because management changes may mean you're pitching from scratch all over again. Don't put all your eggs in one basket as they say and diversify your client list as broadly as possible.

Is this how you anded your big Tiger ? no, well, maybe its worth thinking about if you want to lead and grow your business through its formative years....

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Facebook-what they don't tell you but what you should know

With nearly one billion users, Facebook is a social media phenomenon which cannot be ignored by anyone seriously trying to market their particular brand or business. But just creating a Facebook page and thinking its going to do all the work for you would be a huge mistake! Successful Facebook marketing involves a lot more....advertising, refreshing content, finding new customers and clients, the list goes on because there's so much more to effective Facebooking than meets the casual eye. This is where an expert is an indispensable addition to every business and brand. And Facebook itself is mindful of this, as Sarah Smith, director of operations and small business unit manager at the social media behemoth explains...

Read a summary of what she has to say here

Now, whilst many of her ideas for small businesses involve costs, you'd perhaps expect this. After all, their brief is to maximise income for Facebook marketing and advertising tools. However, there are some good points in this interview. Page insights are a valuable tool to use in sharpening up your strategy, and Facebook classroom has some great webinars which explain their more intricate fixes in easy to understand detail.

Have a look, and have a think. Facebook is the third biggest search engine in use today. You can't afford not to be a presence there.

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Job hunting and social media

So 89%of companies will be using social media as a part of their recruitment processes by the end of this year...

Did you know that? No, me neither. But it's all here in a great article and info graphic I came across this morning.

Have a look for yourself.


- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad

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