Marketing without a call to action is like taking the time and care to put on your shirt, jacket, and hat, but not bothering to put your pants on. This brilliant, easy to digest eBook doesn't just "sell you" on call to action marketing. It shows you how to do it - successfully. If you don't know what a call to action is . . . Everything you need to know is contained in this classic eBook out of HubSpot. For those of us lucky enough to be responsible for whether a consumer actually takes action or not (actually picks up the phone to call, fills out a contact form, sends an email, makes a donation, or purchases a product) this eBook is a **must read**. Each and every blog post, every social media post, each flyer you make, each advertisment you pay hard earned dollars for - heck, every single email you send - should include a call to action. 
HOW DO YOU USE CALL TO ACTIONS IN YOUR BUSINESS? | |||||||
| how_to_use_google_plus_for_business_jan.pdf |
If you're really into social media - I mean head over heals devoted in love with social media - check out Nimble.
TAKEN FROM THE NIMBLE WEBSITE: http://www.nimble.com/
Some reasons to choose Nimble
Your Networks, All In One Place
Unify all your contacts, calendars, conversations from Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, and Google. Monitor the most popular social networks from one screen, engage prospects, and build deeper relationships. see more
More Revenue in Less Time
Nimble’s sales automation tools will enable your company to accurately track all business opportunities so you can close more deals in less time. see more
Smart and Magical
Stay more connected than ever to your contacts with notifications on job changes, birthdays, comments, likes, invites and more. see more
Nimble Integrations
Nimble now integrates with 3rd party applications to create a true closed loop marketing system for your social business. see more
BY LILACH 109
The rising popularity of social media has led to growing recognition of its use to companies and the need to incorporate social media into business plans. But businesses often have little experience with this new medium.
Consequently, there is a growing demand for people with expertise in social media. But unfortunately there is not enough supply of real experts. There has been an increasing number of people claiming to be experts. Gary Vaynerchu even commented that 99.5% of social media experts are clowns.
Not everyone who claims to be a social media expert truly is one. There are a lot of fakes around who claim they are experts but in fact know little about social media or business. It’s important to be able to identify the fakes so you can avoid being a victim of a fake expert. But how do you distinguish the ‘real deal’ from the ‘fakes’? Let’s look at some key indicators…
But remember social media is a great tool but only when in the hands of someone with the understanding and experience of how to use these tools and successfully implement social media strategies. There is a need for real social media experts who know how to use these new communication tools effectively.
##
Original Post about Social Media Experts
The rising popularity of social media has led to growing recognition of its use to companies and the need to incorporate social media into business plans. But businesses often have little experience with this new medium.
Consequently, there is a growing demand for people with expertise in social media. But unfortunately there is not enough supply of real experts. There has been an increasing number of people claiming to be experts. Gary Vaynerchu even commented that 99.5% of social media experts are clowns.
Not everyone who claims to be a social media expert truly is one. There are a lot of fakes around who claim they are experts but in fact know little about social media or business. It’s important to be able to identify the fakes so you can avoid being a victim of a fake expert. But how do you distinguish the ‘real deal’ from the ‘fakes’? Let’s look at some key indicators…
- An expert should be an active user of social media. They will have updated profiles, regular updates, and maintain a regular blog.
- The fakes often have a narrow view of social media. So you should consider: Have they moved beyond the generic channels of Facebook, Twitter, and YouTube? Are they engaging in the right channels for their niche? Social media experts move beyond the obvious and are well-attuned to where their niche hangs out.
- They are an experienced and active user of social media. They have been using the medium for some time and have lots of practical experience using it.
- They are up to date with the latest social media trends and are using the latest tools. i.e. they have got a Google+ account. As social media is constantly evolving, one cannot be an expert unless they are up to date. People who claim to be experts without reading the latest blogs, researching upcoming trends whilst engaging with the latest news are not real experts.
- Fakes often have lots connections but lack quality connections. An expert will go for quality over quantity. Whilst the fake might have lots of Facebook likes orTwitter followers, they lack relevant followers and actual customers.
- Fakes use social media primarily to promote a company’s services/main messages without engaging with users. Experts will interact with their followers, commenters, etc.
- Fakes claim to be general social media experts and lack a specialist area of expertise. Social media is a broad area; it’s not possible to be an expert of it all.
- Fakes lack real business sense and have little or real evidence of their previous business success. They don’t know how to turn fans into customers. They lack insight into their customers and lack any drive to meet customer needs.
- Fakes often adopt an over-optimistic position without any careful consideration of the specific company’s circumstances. You should be wary of people claiming social media is the only strategy – It’s not – it should always be complemented by other elements of marketing. Social media doesn’t replace solid marketing strategy; rather it is used to enhance it. You should also be wary of those claiming it is essential for every business – Whilst using social media effectively is becoming evermore important for business success, employing social media is not necessarily the right strategy for every company. Determining whether it’s the right strategy requires careful analysis of the company and the context in which it operates.
But remember social media is a great tool but only when in the hands of someone with the understanding and experience of how to use these tools and successfully implement social media strategies. There is a need for real social media experts who know how to use these new communication tools effectively.
##
Original Post about Social Media Experts
Jill Whalen (c) 2012
Have you heard of Google's Authorship program yet?
Whether you've heard of it or not, you've likely seen its fruits in the search results. You know those listings that have a photo of the author next to them? Most likely they get that extra cool stuff because they're using Rel=Author correctly and Google has accepted them to participate.
Unfortunately, it's been a bit hit-or-miss as to whether your content gets accepted or not. I saw mine accepted for a day or two many months ago, and then *poof!* it was gone. I reviewed their new guidelines recently, however, made a few changes, and sure enough, within a week or so, my content started showing up... yay!
While you may or may not get your content into the program, the only way to know is to try, and persistence is definitely a key.
If you're thinking it's just not worth the trouble, here are 5 reasons why it's super important:
1. It's Kinda Sorta Easy to Implement.
While it is a bit confusing to figure out exactly how to enable authorship based on Google's directions(which seem to keep changing), in reality their latest criteria have made it easier than ever to implement.
I'm not going into the specifics on how to do it, because you can follow Google's directions. Suffice it to say that the main things you need are a Google Profile page that links to the website where you have author status, and a link back from your website's home page to your Google Profile page.
You can also have an "author page," such as the About Us page on your website, as long as your Google profile page links to that page.
Once you've got that all implemented, every time you write an article, simply link your name in your byline to either your Google Profile page or your author page with the Rel=Author code, as I have here:
By <a href="http://www.highrankings.com/jill-whalen" rel="author">Jill Whalen</a>
- Example Page
Be sure to add the Rel=Author tag to as many of your old content articles as well, especially ones that you know show up well in the search results.
While Google has moved toward having you link directly to your Google Profile page in your Rel=Author links (as opposed to your author page) to make things less confusing, I still link to my author page, and it works fine.
If you go this route, be sure to follow their older, more confusing instructions as well.
2. It Makes Your Content Stand Out.
Imagine if you could put big stars around your content listings in Google's search results that everyone would see. Rel=Author does exactly that! Only it's not stars, but your name and photo.
Before Rel=Author became widespread, only logged-in users and those who participated in socialmedia might see a little profile photo of you if they happened to search on something that you had tweeted about. But with Rel=Author implemented correctly, even users who aren't logged into their Google accounts or their social media accounts will still see the rich author information and photo .
This is huge, folks, and this reason alone makes it worth figuring out the implementation.
3. Provides Credibility And More Exposure.
Beyond just seeing my smiling face in the listings for my content, as you can see in this screenshot, Google is also showing how many people have circled me on Google+ as well as a "More by Jill Whalen" link. Clicking that link shows more information about me from my Google Profile, plus posts I've made on Google+ related to the search query, and all the other articles that I've written on the subject.
I've also seen them show articles others have written on the subject that reference me in one way or another.
4. Higher Clickthrough Rate.
I'd say this one goes without saying, due to all of the above factors. It would be difficult to *not* click on the listing that Google is screaming for you to click on. Time will tell on this one, but so far it appears that since my authorship status started to show up in the Google results (it's less than 2 weeks now), I've been getting more traffic for certain articles.
5. Additional Metrics in Webmaster Tools.
As if all of the above weren't enough, once you have your authorship up and running and showing up in Google results, you'll also see new author stats in your Webmaster Tools account . (Look under "Labs.") The information there shows you approximately how many times each of your content pages showed up in the search results (impressions) and approximately how many times it was clicked on, along with other interesting details that you can't really get elsewhere.
Of course, Google has their own selfish reasons for giving us all of this awesomeness. Their number-one priority this year is Google+ and all that surrounds it. Rel=Author provides anyone who creates online content with a darn good reason (make that 5!) to create a Google Profile. And the more people who do that, the more who might start using Google+, especially if they want to get those circle numbers up as mentioned in #3 above.
Have you heard of Google's Authorship program yet?
Whether you've heard of it or not, you've likely seen its fruits in the search results. You know those listings that have a photo of the author next to them? Most likely they get that extra cool stuff because they're using Rel=Author correctly and Google has accepted them to participate.
Unfortunately, it's been a bit hit-or-miss as to whether your content gets accepted or not. I saw mine accepted for a day or two many months ago, and then *poof!* it was gone. I reviewed their new guidelines recently, however, made a few changes, and sure enough, within a week or so, my content started showing up... yay!
While you may or may not get your content into the program, the only way to know is to try, and persistence is definitely a key.
If you're thinking it's just not worth the trouble, here are 5 reasons why it's super important:
1. It's Kinda Sorta Easy to Implement.
While it is a bit confusing to figure out exactly how to enable authorship based on Google's directions(which seem to keep changing), in reality their latest criteria have made it easier than ever to implement.
I'm not going into the specifics on how to do it, because you can follow Google's directions. Suffice it to say that the main things you need are a Google Profile page that links to the website where you have author status, and a link back from your website's home page to your Google Profile page.
You can also have an "author page," such as the About Us page on your website, as long as your Google profile page links to that page.
Once you've got that all implemented, every time you write an article, simply link your name in your byline to either your Google Profile page or your author page with the Rel=Author code, as I have here:
By <a href="http://www.highrankings.com/jill-whalen" rel="author">Jill Whalen</a>
- Example Page
Be sure to add the Rel=Author tag to as many of your old content articles as well, especially ones that you know show up well in the search results.
While Google has moved toward having you link directly to your Google Profile page in your Rel=Author links (as opposed to your author page) to make things less confusing, I still link to my author page, and it works fine.
If you go this route, be sure to follow their older, more confusing instructions as well.
2. It Makes Your Content Stand Out.
Imagine if you could put big stars around your content listings in Google's search results that everyone would see. Rel=Author does exactly that! Only it's not stars, but your name and photo.
Before Rel=Author became widespread, only logged-in users and those who participated in socialmedia might see a little profile photo of you if they happened to search on something that you had tweeted about. But with Rel=Author implemented correctly, even users who aren't logged into their Google accounts or their social media accounts will still see the rich author information and photo .
This is huge, folks, and this reason alone makes it worth figuring out the implementation.
3. Provides Credibility And More Exposure.
Beyond just seeing my smiling face in the listings for my content, as you can see in this screenshot, Google is also showing how many people have circled me on Google+ as well as a "More by Jill Whalen" link. Clicking that link shows more information about me from my Google Profile, plus posts I've made on Google+ related to the search query, and all the other articles that I've written on the subject.
I've also seen them show articles others have written on the subject that reference me in one way or another.
4. Higher Clickthrough Rate.
I'd say this one goes without saying, due to all of the above factors. It would be difficult to *not* click on the listing that Google is screaming for you to click on. Time will tell on this one, but so far it appears that since my authorship status started to show up in the Google results (it's less than 2 weeks now), I've been getting more traffic for certain articles.
5. Additional Metrics in Webmaster Tools.
As if all of the above weren't enough, once you have your authorship up and running and showing up in Google results, you'll also see new author stats in your Webmaster Tools account . (Look under "Labs.") The information there shows you approximately how many times each of your content pages showed up in the search results (impressions) and approximately how many times it was clicked on, along with other interesting details that you can't really get elsewhere.
Of course, Google has their own selfish reasons for giving us all of this awesomeness. Their number-one priority this year is Google+ and all that surrounds it. Rel=Author provides anyone who creates online content with a darn good reason (make that 5!) to create a Google Profile. And the more people who do that, the more who might start using Google+, especially if they want to get those circle numbers up as mentioned in #3 above.
Pin Etiquette(Original Post : https://pinterest.com/about/etiquette/ )
Pinterest is special because of the people who use it.The guidelines below are based on collective input from people using Pinterest. These are suggestions to help keep our community positive and to ensure that every pin is useful to other people.
Be NicePinterest is a community of people. We know that tastes are personal, but be respectful in your comments and conversations.
Credit Your SourcesPins are the most useful when they have links back to the original source. If you notice that a pin is not sourced correctly, leave a comment so the original pinner can update the source. Finding the original source is always preferable to a secondary source such as Google Image Search or a blog entry.
Avoid Self PromotionPinterest is designed to curate and share things you love. If there is a photo or project you’re proud of, pin away! However, try not to use Pinterest purely as a tool for self-promotion.
Report Objectionable ContentWe do not allow nudity or hateful content. If you find content that is objectionable or violates our Terms of Service can submit the content for review by pushing the “Report Content” link.
Tell Us How to Make Pinterest BetterWe're just getting started, so there are going to be bumps here and there. Let us know what's working, what's not. We take your input seriously. You can get in touch with us anytime:
Pinterest is special because of the people who use it.The guidelines below are based on collective input from people using Pinterest. These are suggestions to help keep our community positive and to ensure that every pin is useful to other people.
Be NicePinterest is a community of people. We know that tastes are personal, but be respectful in your comments and conversations.
Credit Your SourcesPins are the most useful when they have links back to the original source. If you notice that a pin is not sourced correctly, leave a comment so the original pinner can update the source. Finding the original source is always preferable to a secondary source such as Google Image Search or a blog entry.
Avoid Self PromotionPinterest is designed to curate and share things you love. If there is a photo or project you’re proud of, pin away! However, try not to use Pinterest purely as a tool for self-promotion.
Report Objectionable ContentWe do not allow nudity or hateful content. If you find content that is objectionable or violates our Terms of Service can submit the content for review by pushing the “Report Content” link.
Tell Us How to Make Pinterest BetterWe're just getting started, so there are going to be bumps here and there. Let us know what's working, what's not. We take your input seriously. You can get in touch with us anytime:
- Suggestions: hi@pinterest.com
- Bugs: bugs@pinterest.com
- Help: help@pinterest.com
INNOVATION AND JOB NEWS
Branches PSP To Do Marketing For Extreme Makeover: Home Edition Build
TUESDAY, OCTOBER 11, 2011
RELATED TAGS : MARKETING
Branches PSP will be handling the regional marketing for an episode of Extreme Makeover: Home Edition filmed on Maryland's Eastern Shore. The Annapolis-based professional services company is working in concert with the Fusion Companies and other businesses to donate services that will make one family's dream of owning the home that they need into a reality.
"The news of actually landing the project was really out of the blue. We had no advance notice, no time to prepare, no time to get a game plan together. Then, we pulled ourselves together, counted to 10, took a deep breath and started with one foot in front of the other. We've been thinking on our feet and making things happen in real time ever since. It helps that everyone involved is for the right reasons. No one is taking on this enormous challenge for profit or personal gains. We all want to do this because we are all about building and strengthening communities," says Shawn Cochran, Owner of Branches PSP.
The company became involved in the EMHE project through a business relationship with The Fusion Companies, one of their oldest clients. Since the launch of the project, and through the build, Branches has helped to rally support and get Maryland businesses to donate to the cause.
"I speak for everybody involved in this project when I say that this will change all of us forever. The people and the businesses that are bending over backwards to help a truly beautiful family find their way home is awe inspiring," continues Cochran.
The next project for Branches PSP will be to launch a website for the Eastport Gallery. The art gallery is dedicated to preserving the work of iconic area photographer M.E Warren, who is best known for photographs of the Chesapeake Bay Watershed, Annapolis, and Baltimore.
Writer: Amy McNeal
Source: Shawn Cochran, Branches PSP
Branches PSP To Do Marketing For Extreme Makeover: Home Edition Build
TUESDAY, OCTOBER 11, 2011
RELATED TAGS : MARKETING
Branches PSP will be handling the regional marketing for an episode of Extreme Makeover: Home Edition filmed on Maryland's Eastern Shore. The Annapolis-based professional services company is working in concert with the Fusion Companies and other businesses to donate services that will make one family's dream of owning the home that they need into a reality.
"The news of actually landing the project was really out of the blue. We had no advance notice, no time to prepare, no time to get a game plan together. Then, we pulled ourselves together, counted to 10, took a deep breath and started with one foot in front of the other. We've been thinking on our feet and making things happen in real time ever since. It helps that everyone involved is for the right reasons. No one is taking on this enormous challenge for profit or personal gains. We all want to do this because we are all about building and strengthening communities," says Shawn Cochran, Owner of Branches PSP.
The company became involved in the EMHE project through a business relationship with The Fusion Companies, one of their oldest clients. Since the launch of the project, and through the build, Branches has helped to rally support and get Maryland businesses to donate to the cause.
"I speak for everybody involved in this project when I say that this will change all of us forever. The people and the businesses that are bending over backwards to help a truly beautiful family find their way home is awe inspiring," continues Cochran.
The next project for Branches PSP will be to launch a website for the Eastport Gallery. The art gallery is dedicated to preserving the work of iconic area photographer M.E Warren, who is best known for photographs of the Chesapeake Bay Watershed, Annapolis, and Baltimore.
Writer: Amy McNeal
Source: Shawn Cochran, Branches PSP
What'sUp Magazine dubs Branches PSP Owner, Jen Cochran as one of the "People to Watch 2012". 01/02/2012
Click on the "Download File" link below to view the article in your browser. Or, visit the What's Up Magazine website to read the article.
| whats_up_magazine.pdf |
Jennifer Cochran - as featured in the January issue of What'sUp Magazine : "People to Watch 2012".
Another video shout out 12/09/2011
VIDEO SHOUT OUT from Lori!! 12/09/2011
Author
Shawn Cochran is the Owner, Creative Prodigy at Branches PSP where we make websites *work*.
Branches PSP is an Annapolis website company.
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