SMS and Media - Mobile Advertising

The traditional media industry is at the middle of a technological vortex, with new media channels such as mobile and the web changing the way that people consume and interact with content.

In response to these challenges media companies, such as television, radio or publishing companies, have developed ever more cutting edge technology platforms. However, this approach sometimes means that simpler and more cost-effective solutions are overlooked.

The mobile mix in media

One great example of this is in the mobile space. More and more media companies are looking towards the latest smartphone apps and the mobile web as a way of accessing consumers on the move.

Whether these are news apps like the BBC News app, mobile TV apps such as Sky's, or programme apps like those developed for formats such as Britain's Got Talent, these services are all the rage amongst media companies looking to gain a foothold in the mobile space.

However, whilst smartphone-based services have a place in the market they also have their limitations. Rich mobile functionality is unarguably a powerful tool for media companies, but at the same time it intrinsically limits the potential marketplace for any such service.

The limitations of apps and the mobile web: ubiquity and penetration

The issue lies in the relatively small penetration of app- and internet-enabled smartphones, which is still only around 30% in developed markets such as Europe and US (NPD, 2010). This means that, even in the most advanced markets, more than two thirds of consumers still cannot access rich mobile services on their primary handset.

When you combine this with the relatively low reach of the 3G coverage that enables mobile internet and application access, it is clear that rich mobile media services are effectively limited in the extent to which they can reach the broadest consumer audiences.

SMS in media

SMS can be deployed in a huge range of media scenarios:

Voting

One of the classic uses for SMS in the media industry has been in voting. SMS offers viewers a simple and cost effective way of interacting with a programme and influencing its outcome, thus ensuring a more dedicated viewer experience. Initially focused on premium rate SMS, non-premium SMS is now becoming the voting channel of choice in response to widespread issues with premium rate television interactivity.

Competitions

Alongside voting, competitions are a well established use case for SMS within the media industry. Viewers can be asked to enter a competition by texting their preferred answer to a number given in the programme. This interactivity drives engagement with content and thus enhances viewer loyalty. Similarly to voting SMS, premium SMS is increasingly giving way to non-premium numbers as viewer concerns over premium rate fraud have caused declining response rates.

Marketing

Marketing has long been the standard corporate application for SMS. The use of SMS to distribute marketing messages direct to consumer's handsets is a powerful way to engage directly with individuals. In the media space the applications for the technology in this way are endless - whether they are SMS updates from celebrity presenters or schedule information about forthcoming shows.

Content distribution

Whilst SMS is itself a text channel, it can be used to facilitate the simple transmission of richer content without the need for users to access the mobile web. Using a technology known as WAP-push, it is possible to send hyperlinks in an SMS that enable the recipient to simply click to download content. In the same way, a mobile web URL can be sent in an SMS, avoiding the need for consumers to navigate their way to a page themselves. Using these approaches, media companies can distribute rich media content using an established and easy to use technology.

Alerting

One of the defining features of SMS is that it is highly impactful - when a user receives a text message they are more than likely going to read it there and then. As such, it is an ideal mechanism for alerting consumers to time sensitive information. For media companies this might take the form of news alerts around major breaking news stories, programme alerts, letting viewers or listeners sign up to receive a text when their favourite show is about to start, or alerts about other show related events, such as new online content going live. In this way, SMS can be used as an outreach mechanism to reach out to consumers in a way that is simply not possible via traditional media channels.

Two way SMS

Whilst the simple 'push' mechanic of SMS marketing is well established, it is now possible to use SMS as an interactive, two-way communications channel. Whereas previously a viewer might just have voted once for a show, programme makers can now respond to viewers in real time with additional content, questions or other messages. Alternatively, a broadcaster sending news alerts could invite viewers to respond with their comments on breaking news via SMS.

The mobile mix

That mobile is an important part of the communications mix for media companies is an undeniable truth. It is also true that apps and mobile web access are useful tools for the small but growing smartphone audience.

However, if the aim of a mobile media service is to provide functionality on the go for the widest possible audience, then SMS remains a real contender as the technology of choice.

About tyntec

tyntec is a global mobile interaction service provider, offering high-quality mobile messaging and information services to mobile network operators, enterprises, mobile service providers and internet companies. tyntec offers its customers a unique level of quality in 2-way SMS interaction services. This promise is based on the company's pioneering service level agreements (SLAs) and security of message transmission from end-to-end. tyntec enables its customers to reach more than 90% of global subscribers and offers a 15-second SMS delivery guarantee, real-time delivery notifications of all messages and a no-message loss policy.

Munich +49 (89) 202 451 100 - London +44 (207) 436 0283 - Singapore +65 (6478) 3020
http://tyntec.com/

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The Bear Approach to Fundraising: Ten Tips to Using Social Media Effectively

When hiking in Alaska, my companion whispered that if we were very quiet-and lucky enough to come near a bear-instead of running I should open my coat wide to look bigger than the bear. This would cause the bear to perceive that I was formidable and he would flee. I saw the approach for its value and have since modified it into a theory I apply on how to successfully envelope social media into the fundraising efforts of non-profit organizations. The Bear Approach to Fundraising-how to use social media to project an image of strength.

Raising money is based on three things: relationships, relationships, and relationships. We have many reasons for giving- altruism, community affiliation, repayment, religious philosophy, or even social recognition but all these reasons can be distilled to one basic tenet: We give because someone we like and respect has asked us to. Furthermore, the size of the donation grows exponentially in direct proportion to the strength of the relationship-the more intimate, authentic and personal the relationship, the larger the gift.

Every year thousands of nonprofits shutter their doors. Why? Most nonprofits have important, critical missions that demand our attention and support, but only a few will survive. Are these the ones with the best, most important missions? No. These are the ones with the best network. And by best I don't mean the ones with the most celebrities or VIPs. I mean the most engaged and the most active.

This is where social media can help.

What is social media? Social media encompasses all new media that creates and encourages social interaction and is also user-driven, widely accessible and scalable. Facebook has become the brandnomer (like Kleenex to facial tissue) but the reality is the social media world encompasses many technologies including:

Blogging (WordPress)
Micro-blogging (Twitter)
Video sharing (YouTube)
Music sharing (ReverbNation)
Product reviews (Epinions)
Business reviews (Yelp)
Information sharing (Ehow)
Virtual worlds (World of Warcraft) and
E-communications or e-newsletters sent by nonprofits to their network

Social media is a powerful tool in the fundraising kit to help grow, cultivate and steward relationships. Social media creates communication pathways that are accessible, have the capacity to reach many people, and can be updated immediately to keep content fresh.

In "Small Change: The Revolution Will Not be Tweeted", author Malcom Gladwell reminds us that social networking is about relationships constructed on weak ties (this is why we can have thousands of friends on Facebook that we never could have in real life). Weak ties are valuable because they are a low-maintenance network of individuals connected through an invested interest but weak ties don't promote high-action. Most movements attributed to online buzz are based on easy-to-take action steps, like signing an electronic petition, or involve transmitting information to a group ready to mobilize. Online giving for causes frequently involves a high quantity of donations but the gift size is no larger than $25.

However weak ties are still relationships. The idea is that someone we trust starts the ball moving-potentially introducing a greater number of individuals to a new idea or cause-and the network grows because the introducer is familiar. And therein lies the value. Social media is efficient in disseminating new information to a lot of people who have already identified that they are open to hearing about the idea.

This is where social media hits its stride. Tools such as Facebook, blogging, e-letters and Twitter are successful in doing two things: first, they allow nonprofits to cultivate new relationships, many more then they could otherwise have without these portals and second, they allow nonprofits to steward pre-existing relationships.

This takes me back to my first paragraph. Social media is the coat we are wearing in the woods. It allows us to develop our public personality by presenting only our best and most exciting news-the same method we employ when we are cultivating new and stewarding committed donors at an event or over lunch.

A list of ten tips that should be used when creating your social media efforts

Always link to the Big Picture, the overall idea you want to message
Build trust when conveying information through factual and technical accuracy
Be cool, create and convey an emotion with visuals and language
Invite readers to join a successful movement with easy calls to action
Tell powerful stories
Project optimism, avoid using guilt
Celebrate people for taking small initial steps
Use inclusive language that creates a larger sense of community and connectedness
Spotlight heroes to emulate
Link your big ideas with every day realities and interests

But be warned. The downside to social media is found in its neglect. As powerful as it can be for cultivating and stewarding support, letting an online campaign go unattended for too long or an e-letter reach a donor's mailbox on the wrong day, with two much copy, or no visuals, can quickly turn off interest or create the perception that the agency isn't doing well.

Social media can do wonders at growing and nurturing a network but like any tool, it must be used with care. I am reminded of the telephone game we played as kids. We sat in a circle and passed on one message-listening excitedly as "Sally had pizza for dinner" turned into "Sally got a job in a plaza." Back then it was fun, but now we can see the real power that messaging through networks has in reaching people and helping us advance our missions. And with proper social media stewardship many guests at Sally's dinner may become major donors.

Dylan Kendall is a fundraising consultant and managing partner of Dylan Kendall LLC -- a home accessories company that believes in bringing simplicity, creativity and joy into the home. She is also the founding director of City LA: pLAy Smart, a new children's museum in Los Angeles that focuses on arts, media and culture. Formally, she was the Founder and Executive Director of Hollywood Arts, the only independent non-profit organization in the nation dedicated to helping homeless, low-income and transitional age foster-care young people, ages 18 to 24, become self-sufficient through arts-based education in arts, music and media.

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What You Should Look for in a Fireproof Media Safe

Whether you run a business or you have a great deal of media that you need to store, these days storing these types of media on paper is a trend that is quickly being moved away from. Today things like CD's, DVD's Blu-Ray disc's and even flash drives are the medium that media data is stored on. However, you need to consider the protection of these storage discs and devices and that is where you might need a Fireproof Media Safe.

However, when it comes to picking a fireproof media safe, you need to understand that not all safes are built equally. The main thing you want to look at is how long the fire proof ratings of a particular safe are before you buy one. Some safes can protect media storage for as little as 30 minutes while other safes can guarantee the contents of the safe for up to 4 hours of exposure to fire.

In order to know how long the safe you are considering buying is rated for, make sure the safe was tested by Underwriters Laboratories. This particular lab is independent of any manufacturer and it is the premier laboratory for fireproof testing and ratings.

When choosing the best safe, it is as important to know what to avoid as much as it is what features you should look for. For example, if you are considering a Fireproof Media Safe that includes a fire liner or a ceramic fire layer, you need to be warned that these fancy names may sound good, but they will not offer you any real protection. For all intent and purpose, and supposed fire proof safe bearing this terms is not fireproof at all.These safe will not offer your media any real protection from fire or heat.

Another thing to consider with a fireproof media safe is that it is not just fire and heat that a quality safe will protect your media from. Among other things, a good fireproof safe will also protect your media from humidity, dust, burglary and even magnetic fields. These features are what separates fireproof media safes from other fireproof safes.

The bottom line is that if you have important or sensitive media files stored on film, disc's or drives, you know that as long as they stay intact, they will be around for a lifetime if not more. What a Fireproof Media Safe does is ensure that those media storage items remain intact.

My name is Karla and I work as an RN during the day. In my free time, my husband and I research many different products from health to home improvement. If you are looking for a place to store your most important documents or other media, a fireproof media safe is important, please visit my site at http://www.choosingthebestsafe.com for more information... thanks.

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Why You Need Search Engine and Social Media Optimization Strategies in Your Digital Marketing Plan?

Overview

Search Engine Optimization (SEO) is still a key strategy to strengthen online visibility and improve reputation with major search engines (Google, Yahoo, & MSN). But, getting results with SEO strategies alone could be a drawn out process. Because of this, most businesses are adopting SEO in conjunction with one or more Social Media strategies, to improve online visibility in less time. Be sure to consult a professional or do your research, to evaluate whether these strategies are relevant for your business and then put a plan in place to execute these strategies.

History

Few years ago, social media was popular among individuals to interact with family and friends, and stay in touch. It was not the norm for businesses to have fan pages and build their network online. So, businesses allocated their marketing dollars towards paid-search marketing, such as Google Adwords and search engine optimization (SEO) to improve rankings in organic search. As we are aware of the fact that Search Engine Optimization is a long term strategy, for some businesses it took lot longer than others, to achieve rankings in search engines, even after aggressive link building and content marketing strategies. This is not the case anymore, since businesses now have the option of adopting social media strategies in their marketing plan, based on the proven results in the industry relevant to their business.

Current Trends

Now, businesses can allocate resources between Search Engine Optimization (SEO) and Social Media Optimization(SMO)/Social Media Marketing, and achieve results in less time. By engaging in optimization, it is now easier to adopt marketing Strategies as well.

If you are the hands-off type of business and don't have resources to manage profiles and engage in conversation with fans, SMO is the best option for you. Once you have SMO plan in place and you have resources to manage the profiles on a regular basis and to respond to fan base in a timely manner, you can engage in Marketing activities.

Tips on Optimizing Social Media

If you are the hands-off type of business and don't have resources to manage profiles and engage in conversation with fans, SMO is the best option for you. Optimization takes work, initially. Once you have done it a few times, it becomes a habit. However, if you want to be really consistent with your tasks and be effective, you need to set Campaign Guidelines, to follow:

Optimize your social media profiles, with keywords in about content and ALT-tag for images in image gallery. Some of the popular platforms are LinkedIn, Face book, Twitter, YouTube & Blog.

Design a blue print/schedule for social media activities that need to be performed on a daily/weekly/monthly basis. This is the schedule that needs to be followed by resource Responsible for executing Social Media Plan. If you are going to use in-house resource, be sure to train them for doing the job effectively. You also have the choice of outsourcing the effort.

Syndicate content. Content can be in the form of Text, Video or Images. For example, if you are writing two blog posts a month, when you publish the blog posts, syndicate these posts to multiple platforms & bookmarking sites. There are tools/plug-ins available to automate this process. If you have scheduled one video per month, optimize the video with tags and SEO friendly descriptions in YouTube & syndicate the same video to multiple video parking sites. Content syndication generates many quality links, & contributes to SMO.

Be sure to measure the results of all the activities

Tips on Social Media Marketing

Once you have SMO plan in place and you have resources to manage the profiles on a regular basis and to respond to fan base in a timely manner, you can engage in Social Media Marketing activities.

Before starting your marketing campaign in one or more social media platforms for your business, find out where your target market is active.

Have a social media policy in place for employees who are allowed to participate in online conversation about your brand. This is critical to set a standard for responding to fans & to avoid any negative publicity. If you do get into such situation, be proactive to handle in a timely manner to avoid major damage to your brand.

If you are going to use in-house resource to manage social media profiles for your business, be sure to train them for doing the job effectively. You also have the choice of outsourcing the effort.

In addition to scheduled SMO activities for content syndication, you may also consider ad-hoc tasks to surprise the fan base and create excitement about buying your products and services.

Take advantage of Social media paid campaigns such as Face Book Ads to build brand awareness and build your network.

Be sure to measure the results of all the activities

Benefits

By executing both SEO, SMO & Social Media Marketing effectively, you are leveraging the power of the internet to:

Improve online visibility
Strengthen brand awareness
Build Credibility Online
Build a strong following online
Generate leads by viral marketing
Be the source of information, when consumers are ready

Kriti Web Solutions, LLC has been in business for 21/2 years helping businesses with custom web design and digital marketing strategies to grow their business online. Our strategies include custom web design based on conversion architecture, search engine optimization (SEO), Social Media Optimization (SMO) & other digital marketing techniques.

Kalpana Murthy
Kriti Web Solutions, LLC.
http://www.kritionlinemarketing.com

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Medical Device Marketing, Social Media, and the FDA

Apparently, the FDA will soon reveal their rules and regs regarding medical device marketing, the Internet, and social media.

Reports that have offered a sneak-peek as to what the "new" FDA guidelines might look like reveal an important finding...

The FDA doesn't really "get" social media.

Two reasons.

The first is based on a main concern that the FDA has regarding how medical device technology marketers and pharmaceutical companies will use social media.

The second is based on the sheer fact that they are trying to regulate (i.e. "control") it.

Let's start with reason number One.

The FDA is concerned that medical device and pharma will "use social media to market their products." To which most people and businesses already thoroughly engaged in the social media space would reply: "Good luck with that."

Social media - and by this I mean blogs, Twitter feeds, Facebook fan pages, and the like - is not an effective channel in which to sell your wares.

So what's all the hype about, you ask? Why all the fuss over social media? Because it's an excellent communication channel for brand awareness, demonstrating thought-leadership, and establishing trusted-advisor status - all things that today's prospects, be they medical device buyers, surgeons, manufacturers or consumers, care about.

If the FDA seriously believes that medical device marketers will use Twitter to tweet about their latest and greatest product... or use a Facebook business or fan page to tout their company or sell their innovation... or fill their medical device company's blog with product-related press releases, facts, stats, data, and company-centric information...

... then I challenge the FDA to let them do just that. Because if they do, medical device marketers will fail miserably at social media. Period.

The businesses and people who experience success engaging in the social media space do NOT push their products. In fact, they mention their company, products and services very little - if at all.

What they do do is offer relevant, insightful, compelling, contagious content that is targeted to what their prospect audience cares about.

And they do that consistently.

Let's move on to reason number Two...

While some medical device marketers are waiting with bated breath for the FDA social media guidelines to come out, the reality is that no one, not even the ol' FDA, can control social media.

The concept of "regulating" it goes against the very nature of what social media is all about. And, to an extent, the FDA knows this. This is why it has taken years for them to try to figure out how to legally regulate it without coming across like communist China.

One of the beautiful aspects of social media is that these new communication channels now offer marketing the opportunity to step into conversations never before available.

But as mentioned in reason number One, they should only do so to share in the discussion by offering thought-leadership - NOT to try to control it.

Trying to control medical device marketers so that they can control their social media interactions is a futile effort, in my humble opinion.

This is mainly because marketing lost the ability to control the conversation years ago. But social media can certainly help medical device marketers shape those dialogues by allowing them to show up in contexts that are relevant to their prospects.

Notice I said, shape. Not control.

The social media space also gives marketers the ability to really listen to their prospects and customers and offer information and content that is targeted and relevant to them and what they care about.

I appreciate that this concept may rattle some "traditional" medical device marketers - and I get it. The FDA rules (and reprimands) with a mighty hand. But don't let that be the reason your medical device company dwells in the marketing dark ages.

Let's say your medical device company designs, manufactures, and distributes stents...

An example of a wise and savvy social media marketing move would be to offer blog content that relates to:

Angioplasty
Heart health
How the heart works
Interviews with cardiologist or cardiothoracic surgeon
How fitness and healthy eating can reduce plaque build-up inside the coronary arteries
Heart attack warning signs
The clinical trials process
Drug-eluting vs. resorbable stents...

...and a plethora of other related topics that your intended target audience might care about.

Notice... there's no mention of your company or your medical device.

Same thing with Tweets. Tweeting your company's content-specific blog articles will attract your intended target audience.

Effectively re-tweeting articles, insights and updates indirectly (and on occasion, but very carefully, directly) related to your medical technology is also important.

And we haven't even mentioned LinkedIn, Facebook, and a variety of other social media channels available to strategic, results-driven medical device marketers.

It would seem to me that as long as your original content and information is worded in compliance with already-established FDA communication guidelines - like those for print, and other conventional media-that should be adequate enough.

Because where that content spreads from there... not even the FDA can control.

Lenox Powell is a freelance copywriter for results-driven marketers in the medical device technology industry. She helps these innovative B2B companies improve volume and quality of prospects, shorten sales cycles, and enhance customer lifetime value through strategic and extremely well-targeted copy.

Lenox taps into her extensive in-the-trenches sales and marketing experience to deliver effective content that generates demand for her client's products and services and brings profit to their bottom line.

You can contact Lenox at:
719.528.6711
http://www.LenoxPowellCopywriting.com
lenox@lenoxpowellcopywriting.com
LinkedIn: http://linkedin.com/in/lenoxpowell
Twitter: @lenoxpowell
Sign up for Lenox's free monthly newsletter, The Innovative Marketer on her website!

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Social Media Copywriting - A Nightmare For Copywriters?

The average consumer is bombarded with a zillion advertising messages every day. Getting past the filters that allow only a trickle of messages to penetrate through to the subconscious mind of consumers is the challenge that copywriters face every time they begin to write copy. If that wasn't difficult enough, along comes social media to present a fresh new challenge. How should copywriters craft a message that cuts through the clutter and whacks readers with an attention grabbing message that not only gets read, but is commented upon, retweeted, shared or liked?

Social Media copywriting requires a new way of thinking - unlike writing copy for advertisements that sing the virtues of the latest model car or children's shoes. Business related content posted on social media sites competes with snippets of information about celebrity news, photos of last night's party bash and trending topics that are of specific interest to individuals. It's almost like learning how to write copy all over again - short staccato bursts that whip through the social media ether and shoot through to the reader's consciousness.

From thinking about the big idea to thinking keywords

Copywriting for social media is not about enticing a reader through a long drawn story that appeals to the deepest desires of the prospect, hopefully leading to a purchase. The internet is powered by search. That's exactly why Google has become the generic word for search engines. Only about 15% of users use the internet with the intention of buying a product or service. That's why keyword research is regarded as pure gold in search engine optimisation. This is what copywriters need to focus on when writing copy for social media. Headlines for Facebook posts and YouTube videos need to be keyword rich. Twitter posts should include keywords or keyword phrases, so they are found.

From writing prose to writing headlines

In traditional ad copy, copywriters have the luxury of quarter, half-page or even a full page of a newspaper or magazine. Ample space to excite, cajole, lure or scare the reader into taking action. With social media it's all about a keyword packed punchy headline. Get this wrong and the eyeball flicks off the content in a nanosecond and onto whatever else grabs the attention of the reader. Short keyword rich posts that pack a punch is what's needed to cut through the heap of garbage that clamour for the reader's attention. Of course with platforms like Twitter, there simply is no other choice. With a limit of 140 characters, Twitter posts are simply power packed headlines disguised as posts. Anything wimpy gets passed over in the blink of an eye.

From One-Way communications to Viral Conversations

Social media has leveled the playing field like never before in the history of marketing communications. Traditional media allowed businesses to have the field to themselves. Consumers had no voice, and simply had to accept what was written or spoken in the ad as the gospel truth. Social media allows complete freedom of expression, and consumers can finally talk back to businesses about their products and services. Copywriters hence cannot be caught out exaggerating their claims. One false move through a social media post or video and the viral backlash can spell the doom of the product or service which could take months or years to correct.

From creating awareness about brands to spreading information

If all that a copywriter achieves through a cleverly written keyword rich post or a YouTube video is to get people to "Click, Share or Respond in some way" it's a job well done. The challenge is to find out what the target reader is talking about, what kind of language they use, what infuriates them and respond with copy that that evokes the response, "They're talking to me, in my language. I better listen and get my friends to listen as well."

From all out selling, to building relationships

Here's where many copywriters go wrong. Yes, there's no place for prose, so let's go straight for the kill. This works as well as a marriage proposal on a first speed date. Social media is all about building relationships. Of course a business needs to sell, so that it can prosper, but that comes later. Not before the trust has been established. The focus on writing copy needs to shift from sales copy to copy that educates and informs. Who will a consumer want to buy from? A business that takes the time to help them make a well informed decision, or one that tries to get them to reach for their wallet first?

While copywriters need to rewire their thinking when writing for social media, they will always be judged the one enduring quality that great copywriters are known for - creativity. Creativity will always rule, all that's required in social media copywriting is to channel this ability in a slightly different direction. Of course for some copywriters this could be a challenge, but those that are early adaptors will get ahead in the social media copywriting space.

I hope you find my article contents useful. As a reward to all my value readers, I'm giving away a FREE GIFT - at http://www.101recessionbustingtips.com

Please feel free to republish this article provided a working hyperlink remains to our site

Farhad Khurshed is an advertising consultant who helps small business owners with their advertising strategies. For more information visit http://www.copywriting-results.com

Copyright © Farhad Khurshed, All Rights Reserved

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British Authority Bans Two Ads by L'Oréal

For L’Oréal, beauty is not always in the eye of the beholder.

On Wednesday, an advertising watchdog group in Britain upheld complaints that had been lodged against the cosmetics giant, forcing the company to withdraw two advertisements deemed misleading.

A Maybelline ad featuring Christy Turlington has been removed from magazines in Britain.

The group, the Advertising Standards Authority, began investigating the ads after Jo Swinson, a member of Parliament from the Liberal Democrat Party, filed a complaint about them. According to reports, Ms. Swinson and other Liberal Democrats support banning advertisements that use digital technology to create misleading ads.

An ad featuring Julia Roberts was also withdrawn from publications for being misleading.

The ads in question featured the actress Julia Roberts and the supermodel Christy Turlington. Ms. Roberts’s ad was for a Lancôme brand foundation called Teint Miracle. Ms. Turlington’s ad, for a Maybelline brand foundation called the Eraser, showed parts of her face covered by the makeup as having fewer wrinkles in contrast to the parts of her face that were not covered. The ads ran in the February editions of women’s fashion magazines Red and Grazia in Britain.

L’Oréal cooperated with the investigation by explaining the production process it used to create the ads, including the use of digital retouching. For the ad featuring Ms. Roberts, the company said the images were taken by the photographer Mario Testino and were shot using a variety of lighting techniques in addition to digital retouching. The company also claimed both of the women had naturally beautiful skin and provided photographs of each of the women at red-carpet events as proof.

But the ads were still deemed to be misleading.

“In this case L’Oréal weren’t able to provide evidence to show that without additional manipulation they were able to achieve that look,” said Rob Griggs, a spokesman for the standards authority. The authority is an independent consumer watchdog group that monitors misleading advertising and consumer protection laws.

“Our principal sanction is all the negative coverage that comes with it,” Mr. Griggs said.

A spokeswoman for L’Oréal on Wednesday said the company would not provide additional comments, but provided the following statements in response to the news:

Statement from Maybelline regarding the adjudication against The Eraser:
We are disappointed to learn that the ASA has adjudicated against our press advertisement for The Eraser. The advertisement features Christy Turlington who has beautiful skin and features a product that has been proved scientifically to conceal imperfections.
Even though the ad features an obviously illustrated effect, some lines are still clearly visible beneath the illustration and we do not believe that the ad exaggerates the effect that can be achieved using this product. In consumer tests among 253 women, 78% agreed that The Eraser provided flawless coverage.

Statement from Lancôme regarding the adjudication against Teint Miracle:
We are disappointed to learn that the ASA has adjudicated against our press advertisement for Teint Miracle. The product has been proved scientifically to provide luminosity to the skin.
We do not believe that the ad exaggerates the effect that can be achieved using this product. In consumer tests among over 100 women, 77% agreed that Teint Miracle made their complexions look radiant and luminous.

View the original article here

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Media Studies Schools - Career Training Choices

There are many career opportunities for those who choose to earn a degree in the field of media studies. Students can train for their desired career by enrolling in an accredited school or college that offers the specialized education they need. Career training choices offered by media studies schools allow students to train for work in film, radio, television, digital media, and more. Degree studies are available at an associates, bachelors, masters, and doctorates degree level of training.

Associate degree programs in the field of media studies provide students with the training they need to earn their degree in as little as two years. Students will have the chance to complete coursework that will give them the skills and knowledge to succeed. Subjects of study may consist of:

Advertising
Technology
Broadcast Journalism
Communication
Media Concepts

With an associates degree program students can train for a variety of careers that meet their individual goals. Careers available in media studies at an associate's level include working in education, research and development, entertainment, and more. Students can obtain the degree they need to enter the workforce prepared with an accredited school or college. Those who choose to can further their education with a bachelors degree program.

Bachelor's degrees can be obtained through a number of accredited schools and colleges. Students can gain the education they need to pursue the career of their dreams with just four years of study. Areas of study will vary depending on the school and desired career. Students may have the opportunity to study in journalism, pop culture, media and democracy, media practices, research, media concepts, and more. Students looking to earn a degree at this level can do so by enrolling in an accredited educational program. With a bachelors degree in media studies students will gain the skills needed to work in advertising, politics, communication, and other related industries. With an accredited bachelors degree students can pursue their career or further education at the graduate level.

Graduate level education includes a masters and doctorates degree. Students can earn the degree of their choice with an additional two to four years of training depending on the chosen degree level. Coursework will vary depending on the degree and chosen career. Students can complete training in leadership, history of communication, written communication, and more. Students will have the option to train for a variety of careers such as professor, researcher, public relations manager, marketing manager, web writer, and many other professions. Students can begin the career of their dreams once a degree is obtained in media studies.

Accredited educational training programs carry full accreditation from agencies like the Accrediting Council for Independent Colleges and Schools ( http://www.acics.org/ ). Students can gain a quality education from an accredited school or college. By requesting more information from accredited media studies schools students can start the path to an exciting new career. Contact a number of educational programs today to find the one that best fits your educational goals and needs.

DISCLAIMER: Above is a GENERIC OUTLINE and may or may not depict precise methods, courses and/or focuses related to ANY ONE specific school(s) that may or may not be advertised at PETAP.org.

Copyright 2010 - All rights reserved by PETAP.org.

Renata McGee is a staff writer for PETAP.org. Locate Media Studies Schools as well as Online Media Studies Schools at PETAP.org, your Partners in Education and Tuition Assistance Programs.

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New York Post Employees Told to 'Preserve' Documents

Employees of The New York Post, Rupert Murdoch’s irreverent and hard-charging city tabloid, were told Friday to keep any documents they may have that pertain to the kind of illegal activity that has led to numerous arrests and a widening investigation at the News Corporation’s British newspapers.

The paper’s editor, Col Allan, told employees in an e-mail late Friday afternoon that the instructions were being made out of an abundance of caution, not because any illegal acts had been uncovered. Lawyers for News Corporation asked that employees be told they should preserve any such documents or files because of the investigations in London, he said.

“As we watched the news in the U.K. over the last few weeks, we knew that as a News Corporation tabloid, we would be looked at more closely. So this is not unexpected,” he wrote. “I am sorry for any inconvenience caused by this directive. However, given what has taken place in London, it is necessary for us to take this step.”

News Corporation officials would not comment on the matter.

Though Mr. Allan and News Corporation lawyers were adamant that the directive did not indicate that anyone at The Post had broken the law, the move shows just how concerned the company is that it could face a wide-ranging investigation in the United States.

The notice appears to be limited to The Post. Journalists at Mr. Murdoch’s other New York-based newspaper, The Wall Street Journal, did not receive similar instructions.

By now, you have received an email from News Corporation’s in-house legal counsel to preserve and maintain documents.

All New York Post employees have been asked to do this in light of what has gone on in London at News of the World, and not because any recipient has done anything improper or unlawful.

As we watched the news in the U.K. over the last few weeks, we knew that as a News Corporation tabloid, we would be looked at more closely. So this is not unexpected.

I want to stress that your full and absolute cooperation is necessary and you are expected to comply with this direction from our legal department. At the same time, please know we understand and take very seriously your concerns over the protection of legitimate journalistic sources. While we have instituted this hold, we do intend to protect from disclosure all legitimate and lawful journalistic sources in accordance with the law.

I am sorry for any inconvenience caused by this directive. However, given what has taken place in London, it is necessary for us to take this step.

Let me say how grateful I am for the hard work and terrific reporting all of you do here each and every day. The New York Post has a proud history. We will also have a proud future.

Thank you for your professionalism and full cooperation in this matter.

The memo from News Corp. Legal read:

Dear New York Post Colleagues,

As you have undoubtedly seen, there have been press accounts of inquiries into whether employees or agents of News Corporation or its subsidiaries have (a) accessed telephone and/or other personal data of third-parties without authorization, and/or (b) made unlawful payments to government officials in order to obtain information. As you also know, these stem from the actions at The News of the World in London, as well as unsourced, unsubstantiated reports in one London tabloid.

Starting today, all employees must preserve and maintain all documents and information that are related in any way to the above mentioned issues.

Please know we are sending this notice not because any recipient has done anything improper or unlawful. However, given what has taken place in London, we believe that taking this step will help to underscore how seriously we are taking this matter.

Here is what is required of you:

Any documents pertaining to unauthorized retrieval of phone or personal data, to payments for information to government officials, or that is related in any way to these issues, must be retained.

Please note that the term “documents” should be construed in its broadest sense, including but not limited to: written material, graphs, charts, files, e-mail, text messages, instant messages, any content in social media, voicemail, tape recordings, microfiche, video and film, handwritten notes, draft documents, memoranda, calendars, card files, appointment books, and the like whether in hard copy or on computer databases, hard drives, desk tops, laptops, thumb drives, disks, backup tapes, or any other storage medium, and regardless of whether the document is located on a company-issued or personal device. It also includes all copies of the same document.

The term “related in any way” should also be applied broadly. If you have any doubt whether a document should be preserved, you should err on the side of preserving it.

You do not need to collect relevant documents. However, if relevant documents are destroyed or otherwise made unavailable, it may prevent the New York Post from protecting its interests and subject you and individual officers or employees of the New York Post to severe sanctions. Any destruction of such documents or information, inadvertent or otherwise, should be reported to the Legal Department.

In sum, effective immediately, and until further notice, you and your staff must comply with the following directive: do not destroy, discard, alter or change any potentially relevant documents as defined above, even if such documents or materials would otherwise be routinely discarded or destroyed in the ordinary course of your business.

Finally, we understand your concerns over the protection of legitimate journalistic sources. We intend to protect from disclosure all legitimate and lawful journalistic sources in accordance with the law.

If you are unsure of the nature or extent of your responsibilities, or if you are aware of additional personnel to whom this memorandum should be sent, please contact Genie Gavenchak in News Corporation’s Legal Department.

View the original article here

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The Future of Digital Media - No More Physical Copies

The advent of the compact disc (CD), and later the digital versatile disc (DVD) were, at the times of their respective creation, were thought to be the end all and be all of media storage and playback. There have been other types of digital media designed for the mass market such as digital audio tapes (DAT's), mini disc's (MD's) to name but a couple of mediums that were at the time, touted as the next big thing to revolutionize how we stored, listened to and watched our digital media. And now, with the mainstream fully embracing Blu-Ray technology, digital optical media seems to have peaked in terms of capability and usefulness.

If you were to discover that optical media, regardless of whether we're talking about cd's, dvd's or the impossibly awesome blu-ray, had a limited lifespan and in fact may not be the ultimate storage or playback method...well, you'd likely be a bit surprised, shocked, maybe even a bit angry depending on how much money and time you've invested in your media library. Guess what?

Digital media and optical storage methods are, in fact, not built to last forever, despite what you may think based on what you've read or have been told by the salesman who sold you your blu-ray player. Great. All those cases of cd's and dvd's and blu-rays have a finite lifespan attached to them - now what? Wait until the next disc based storage format comes along? Sell off your collections based in anticipation of the next even smaller storage format? Believe it or not, the future is already here and slowly gaining traction in the form of all digital content that you stream from a central location throughout your home.

With the rising popularity of services like Netflix and iTunes, consumers are quickly becoming used to the notion of not actually owning physical copies of their media. It may take some time to wrap your head around the idea of going all digital, after all, having bookcases or closets or racks and racks full of music and movies is impressive to look at and, until recently, the commonplace and accepted method of storage and display.

Being able to back-up and copy all of your optical media to one central location, such as a plug in hard drive attached to your main computer, would instantly eliminate the need for physical copies. The space savings alone are enough of an incentive for many consumers to consider this option. Add in the ability to stream wirelessly to any location in your home or to your portable devices, and the idea of owning physical copies of your music and movies seems downright old fashioned.

If you don't have wireless in your home, there is always an alternative option. By utilizing a media hub or similar device, you can simply unplug your hard drive and connect it to whatever TV screen you choose to use. This method also makes your entire library portable - you could easily take your entire library of music and movies with you wherever you go. Try taking one thousand DVD's anywhere and you'll see the benefit of an all-digital library pretty quickly!

Many of the music or film purists who have large collections will always cite the inability to have cover art as one of the reasons to retain physical copies of films and music. There is some merit to this as cover art is an established and attractive part of the music or film contained within. But many of the media players and all digital storage methods offer the user the ability to attach album covers and movie poster art to their corresponding digital files (*"cover flow" in iTunes is a great example of this), thus allowing you to retain the familiar while utilizing the new methodology.

While blu-ray media is currently in fashion and is considered the end all be all of digital media, the evolution to non-physical copies is happening as we speak. Hard drives are getting bigger and capable of more storage. Streaming media throughout the home is simple enough for the average user to install and calibrate. You may not be quite ready to put your existing media up for sale - that's ok for the time being. You've had a lifelong relationship with your albums and movies. But as your choices increase and more and more films and albums are added to your library, combined with the finite lifespan of optical disc based storage, sooner or later you'll begin to consider going all digital. Whether you make the choice sooner or later, the ease of use, not to mention all of the benefits already discussed here (*think of the space you'll save around the house!), will have you thinking about your library in a whole new way. Embrace the future of digital media.The Future of Digital Media - No More Physical Copies

Mvix offers superior products for a fraction of the cost of comparable full-featured solutions. Our Digital Signage platforms can be scaled to any sized deployment and application.To find out more about our digital signage solutions, visit us online today!

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How SEO Consultants Can Use Social Media Marketing to Achieve Results in Political Campaigns

Social media marketing has become an essential method of campaigning for political office. During the U.S. presidential campaign in 2008, the Barack Obama campaign team had harnessed the power of social media advertising to achieve victory. This was a phenomenon at that time.

While it is not the only marketing component of any political campaign, social media is certainly a primary one. The reason it plays such a major role can be attributed to the following factors:

1. Better demographic targeting

2. Increased word of mouth (often argued to be the best form of advertising)

3. Greater cost effectiveness

4. A superior ability to generate hype

1 - Targeting Your Demographic Is Easy Online

Unlike conventional advertising in TV or Radio, Social media advertising can be highly targeted. Whereas television and radio may boast a high number of "impressions," these may be unlikely voters. On the web, targeting is much more concentrated and accurate. Facebook, Twitter and StumbleUpon advertising can be placed only in front of those who would be likely to vote for your candidate, statistically making these individuals more aware of your campaign.

The trick is to capture people when they are in the position to explore a topic. When consumers are web surfing, they are already in the "mode" to do so. TV and radio usually try to engage people when they are focused on a drive to work or watching a favorite television show with family.

People are more likely to really delve into the details of your candidate when they are online. And remember, they can press a "Like" button or join a mailing list, which ensures you will have their attention throughout the remainder of the campaign whenever they are online. This simply cannot be done with TV or radio.

2 - Social Media Marketing is One of the Most Effective Methods of Spreading the Word

Word of mouth is one of the most excellent ways to create a buzz. Social media facilitates that on a grand scale more rapidly than any other method. People are reached where they are comfortable, in a place where they are in a position to quickly show everyone they know where they stand about a candidate.

When a hot button issue comes up, your followers are going to link to your positions on this. All you need to do is put up links to videos and other content with a strong headline. Soon it will be re-posted on status updates everywhere in Twitter and Facebook and featured in email "forwards."

3 - Social Media Is More Cost Effective than Any Other Form of Marketing

Because the medium itself is "free" in many ways, to use, you only need to pay for the time it takes your staff to update and interact with your social media outlets. This reduces the budget needed for conventional advertising, while simultaneously increasing its effectiveness.

In addition, many software programs facilitate and reduce the time needed to maintain the different social media accounts.

When some paid advertising is needed it will be less expensive to place ads on different social media platforms like Facebook and StumbleUpon than it would be to do on other media (television, radio, print, etc.).

4 - Hype Sells

Let's face it: hype can arguably be as powerful, if not more powerful than content. This is why generating a buzz online is absolutely quintessential. Social media makes it possible to go "viral" quickly, and in a seemingly organic fashion.

Research has shown that consumers are more likely to respond to what they believe is their own idea or the idea of a friend or family member than they are to respond to something that seems corporate-driven or commercially rooted.

In Conclusion: It's a New Era

Times have changed. For instance, when Obama was elected, Myspace played a huge role. Now, Myspace has become virtually irrelevant, while Twitter and Facebook are the favorites now. That may not last forever. YouTube shows no signs of slowing down, and certainly needs to be one of the primary resources of any social media political campaign strategy.

Keeping up with the latest trends in social media is currently the key to success at marketing virtually anything. Social media marketing is now one of the most actively used advertising methods and are having the greatest impact on instituting expansive publicity for various causes. Political campaign managers must aim to be one step ahead of the opposing candidate's campaign. The chances of winning the race are maximized by finding the most experienced social media marketing consultant and starting your political social media campaign as early as possible.

Nashat Mostafa is the founder and CEO of SEO 7 Services. Throughout an extensive career as a Montreal search engine optimization consultant, Mostafa has worked along side many companies both large and small, to plan and execute effective, results-driven internet marketing campaigns. He has also arranged many SEO training seminars and has published countless articles, in an effort to assist small business owners - in taking advantage of the latest trends in SEO and social media marketing, achieving top search engine placement positions, boosting website traffic, increasing conversion rates and improving Return on Investment (ROI). Montreal SEO 7 Services is well-established in the field of internet marketing and search engine optimization, serving a broad range of industries from fashion and jewellery manufacturers to medical data and software development companies.

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Freelance Writers: How to Earn $60,000 a Year Offering Social Media Marketing to Businesses

If you're a freelance online writer, offering social media marketing to your existing clients is an ideal way to make more money - pretty easily.

Opportunities in Freelance Writing: Why Social Media is a Perfect Fit for Online Writers and Related Fields

In order to understand why offering this service to your client base is so lucrative, let's take a look at some statistics in this niche as of this writing (April 2011). The reason this is important is because it's what clients you will be targeting know. In short, they know that this form of online marketing can make them a lot of money. Hence, they're willing to pay the right social media specialist (you!) a lot.

Social Media Statistics of the 3 Biggest Players: Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn

Facebook. Facebook is not even a decade old (it was launched in February 2004). Yet, it has over has 500 million users worldwide (some stats cite 600 million), and half of its active users log on every day.

Twitter. Like most sites in this genre, Twitter is a baby compared to older advertising outlets (e.g., TV). It's only five years old as of this writing. The first tweet was sent out on March 21, 2006.

LinkedIn. This site is the oldest of the three largest sites like this. At the time of this writing, LinkedIn had more than 100 million users, with some one million new members joining every week.

How to Get Social Media Business: Start Landing Lucrative Consulting Jobs Almost Immediately

If you freelance as a writer (blogger, web designer, internet marketer, etc.) and probably already know how to interact on Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, etc. Hence, it can be pretty easy to parlay this knowledge into a lot of money. For example, did you know that the average rate many freelancers charge to manage social accounts for clients is $200-$300 per HOUR? Proof?

A report published by the website ReadWriteWeb way back in 2008 showcased an interview with the top bloggers and consultants on this niche... NONE of them were making less than $150 per hour for consulting and the average rate was around $ 300.00 per hour. Some commanded fees of $2,000- $4,000 for 20-40 hours worth of work. [Article Title: How Much Do Top Tier Bloggers and Social Media Consultants Get Paid? We Asked Them!]

Bringing in the Social Media Business: What It Takes to Earn $60,000 Per Year as a Consultant

Ok, now that you know why social media business is there for the taking, let's crunch some numbers and show you how easy it is to bring in $60,000/year as a consultant in this niche. If you break it down, it looks something like this:

$60,000/12 Months= $5,000 Monthly

$5,000/4 weeks=$1250

$1250/5 days=$250

250/8hrs= $31.25

So, when you break it down, you think your hourly rate would be $31.25, right?

Getting Social Media Business the Easy Way

An easier way to do it is to double or triple your fees and work with less people. Then, you can still bring in the same daily income, but with less work.

Can you really double or triple your fees? Yes, absolutely! The demand is there like never before. One freelance writer who kind of fell into this form of internet marketing reports being so busy because she "only" charges $125 an hour that she's raising her rates.

Why Getting Social Media Business Is So Easy Right Now - Capitalize

Many freelancers are already on Twitter, LinkedIn and Facebook - for their own businesses. Why not leverage this knowledge to earn thousands more per month? Who knows, you may even what to phase out your primary freelance business (e.g., writing, web design, internet marketing) to focus exclusively on this form of internet marketing.

May be reprinted with the following, in full: Yuwanda Black heads New Media Words, an SEO writing company that offers social media marketing to clients. Did you know that social media specialists earn on average $200-$300 per hour? You can learn how to start commanding these fees in just a few short weeks. Many freelancers report getting busy so quick offering these types of services that they raised their rates just to keep low-balling clients at bay. This can be you too!

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Social Media Marketing Management - The Top 10 Reasons to Outsource It

Is your Business Social or Anti-Social?

Are you being anti-social again?????

Well, that's the rebuke my wife often uses when I'm sitting in the corner at parties, updating my Facebook status on my iPhone! I point out that I'm being social...just in a different way! Joking aside, unless your business is using social media marketing in one or more of its many forms it really is being anti-social.

Small businesses that have embraced their own Twitter presence, Facebook pages and stores and have their own customized YouTube channel are beginning to see the many benefits of engaging better with their customers and prospects, as it translates into increased sales.

You've decided to hop on board but should you try to look after it yourself in-house or outsource the work? Here are the Top 10 reasons to outsource your social media marketing management to professionals:

1. Time Saving Updating -- Facebook pages, daily postings on Twitter and editing or adding videos on YouTube can be a very time consuming business. Unless you have a team of creative people sitting round the office with nothing better to do then it's best managed by social media marketing experts, whilst you and your staff are left to do what you do best - which is look after the additional customers coming your way from the increased online marketing efforts.

2. It Can Still be On-Message and Real -- Outsourcing need not mean that you will lose either the power of your message, the personal touch or the authenticity that your business strives for in your online marketing efforts. Your content can still be useful, inspiring, relevant and personalised for your customers and need not be automated and lacking punch. Of course, it can be the latter if you choose the wrong social media marketing company but the best ones out there will get to know your business, account manage you well, interact regularly and be able to tailor content precisely to your marketing message.

3. Extra Boost of Creativity to your Marketing -- The right social media marketing management team can be a great creative asset to your online marketing campaigns. They can suggest offers, promotions and competitions as well as creating blog articles that will help generate interest in your business.

4. Extra Credibility in your Market -- Becoming recognized in your market as authorities and developing credibility is important to the overall success of your small business. The best social media management teams will do this by providing genuine, quality content (after consultation with you) that keeps your business name in your customers' and prospects' minds as the go-to business for your field.

5. Includes Content Monitoring -- A good social media management service will include content monitoring so that you know what is working well and what's not. No marketing effort is ever going to be 100% effective, but by monitoring what your customers are saying - both the positive and negative feedback - you can adjust your marketing and your business' products and services accordingly.

6. Detailed Monthly Reporting -- Online marketing needs to be measurable and your outsourced social media management should provide you with monthly reporting so that you can measure your ROI and see what campaigns and marketing strategies are most effective for your business.

7. It Will Optimise the Web Presence of your Business Too -- Social media management teams know how to optimise your online presence so that your business ranks well with search engines like Google, Bing and Yahoo. This means that new customers will be driven to your web site as they will be able to find you. The truth is that most people outside of online marketing professionals don't know how to do this, so businesses who are not outsourcing may be missing out.

8. Your Business will be Engaging with Customers & Prospects More Regularly -- Outsourced social media management packages usually include a certain number of Tweets, Facebook updates and maybe even videos made or articles written. This means that you will be interacting a lot more with your customers and prospects and this will relate to more interest and increased sales; doing this yourself would likely go some weeks with no contact as you simply would not have the time or you would forget.

9. Social Recommendations of Your Business' Products and Services -- Don't underestimate the power of social recommendations of your products and services. This can have a huge impact on sales for your business. Word-of-mouth advertising is some of the strongest around and if you are presenting your products to large numbers of people in a social forum then this is going to pay dividends in the long run. Using a social media marketing company for this will help you get it right first time and prepare for the flood of new inquiries.

10. Incremental Programs Keep Costs Down -- When you balance out the costs of traditional marketing with a well-managed social media marketing campaign you will never bother with Yellow Pages again! Traditional TV, newspaper and magazine advertising is costly but the beauty of social media marketing is that it can be slowly ramped up as your business needs. It's possible to get a good presence quickly and cheaply with the right online marketing company.

I'm going to add another final one and it's this:

By outsourcing your social media marketing your business will not be left behind by the social media revolution that is changing the way businesses around Australia work. Don't be one of the "dinosaur" businesses that cannot adjust and get left behind by the Y Generation businesses that are coming along riding the social media wave!

Redcliffe Marketing Labs turns local businesses into rockstars online so customers can easily find them while slashing traditional advertising costs at the same time. A mix of online video marketing, search engine optimisation, social media marketing, social media management, mobile phone marketing, email list building and in many cases website emergency surgery combined with good old elbow grease has been getting clients phones ringing.

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Not Using Social Media Marketing? You Could Be Making A Big Mistake!

Social media networks have grown faster than any other form of technology in existence. Millions of people use these social network sites daily. Even on the go, people have the ability to update and stay updated on the latest news from friends and family. They use this ability to talk about all sorts of things including their experiences with different products and services.

Statistics show that 78% of consumers trust the recommendations of people that they know. Only 14% trust advertisers. These numbers show just how important proper social media marketing is to the advertising industry.

Social marketing can be utilized by nearly every company in any industry. However, there are a few exceptions. Promotions, sales and branding can bring consumers right to your door. Additionally, the word of mouth that you receive from consumers can gain you more business than any other form of advertising in existence. However, making your company's presence known on social sites is a very time-consuming commitment. This is why outsourcing your media presence is one of the smartest business moves you can make.

Outsourcing your media presence to either a freelancer or an advertising consultant can keep your employees from spending valuable time updating your company's social media sites. Because of the need for your company to monitor this regularly, in order to have someone from your company manage your social networking sites, they would have to dedicate their entire work day to this task.

Utilizing social marketing is something that your business cannot afford to miss out on. Your company, through social marketing, has the ability to draw in consumers and monitor the word of mouth that is being transmitted through these sites.

The Secret Truth About Social Media Marketing

Social media marketing is one of the hottest new ways to market your business. However, there is an untold truth about social sites. This truth, if left un-revealed, can leave your business rowing backwards in the world of social media, never seeing the returns you had hoped for.

Social media sites are intended for social networking. This is a place where people want to feel safe. Every moment of their day, they are bombarded with commercials, jingles, billboards, sales associates and junk email. The last thing that they want to do is talk to a sales person on a social media site.

On social sites, the main goal is building relationships with people who have the same interests. These interests are what bring people together on social sites. If your company is only focused on the temporary results of increasing sales through sales tactics, two things will happen. At best, you will spend a lot of wasted time on reaching your target market to only achieve short-term sales increases. At worst, you will irritate people and push them away. This will result in your efforts being ignored and your profile possibly being removed from the social network site altogether.

If, instead, your company focuses on building relationships with people, leaving information about your company in a subtle way that doesn't feel like a sales pitch, people will come to your company because they trust and value you. The idea isn't to sell your product or service. The idea is to sell you!

Understanding the untold truth behind social media sites can mean the difference between gaining or losing consumers. Abusing social media sites for the purpose of sales will produce negative results. If you focus your time on social media sites on building relationships instead of selling your product, then your company will reap the benefits that social media sites have to offer.

Do you use social media? How vital do you think is social networking in promoting your business? Drop me a line and let me know.

Chancel Galessami is a network marketer and he uses Internet and all media to create relationships based on value and leadership with people from all around the globe. His products and services allows people to feel better about themselves and his business allows him to fulfill his mission and purpose in life by helping others succeed. His destiny is to serve others and help them. For more information, please visit his blog and feel free to let comments!

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7 Reasons Why Your Business Must Hire A Social Media Manager

Here are 7 reasons why your business must hire a Social Media Manager/Online Consultant.

Your Social Media Manager will:

1. Audit Your Existing Online Presence!

Your Online Consultant will evaluate your current web presence by looking at your website, blog, traffic solutions and existing social media presence. A lot of businesses do have some online presence. However, quite often, businesses take advice from web designers and their IT staff and end up making a right mess of their online marketing.

2. Determine Which Platforms Work Best For Your Business!

The fast paced business may enjoy Twitter but could be missing out on the huge potential of Facebook and LinkedIn. We have also met clients who only use aspects of Facebook and ignore the likes of Twitter and YouTube.

Having an online presence on just 1 or 2 platforms can be detrimental to your business - by doing so you are effectively shooting yourselves in the foot.

For any business, you need to be using several Social Media Platforms to maximise your business's exposure on the web. If you have no online exposure whatsoever, again the easiest way to get web presence is via the use of sites such as Facebook and Twitter.

3. Create And Manage Your Online Presence!

Whether you have an online presence or not, your Online Consultant will ensure that you maintain a strong online existence that matches your business's practices and ethics. Your Accounts and profiles will be created and then managed for you.

Whether you are looking for only basic online presence in the form of for example Facebook and Twitter accounts or more detailed content creation & distribution, audience building and basic reputation management across your social media platforms, your Social Media Manager can handle this all for you.

4. Clean Up Your Profiles!

Your Consultant will periodically clean up your inbox and direct messages that you may receive on Twitter or messages you receive on Facebook or LinkedIn.

All too often both business and personal social media profiles can get cluttered with a lot of useless information and spam. You only have to take a brief look on Facebook to see the many business and personal profiles that are managed poorly and hence show up a lot of spam and inappropriate information on their pages.

Cleaning up profiles can be quite a laborious job as some of our business clients get over a 100 unwanted messages a day across their social networking platforms. There are programs that can be applied to simplify the method but it is best to have a human eye determine what spam is and what may be important information. Too often the programs available cannot distinguish between automatic direct messages and 'real' messages and will hence delete all of them.

5. Handle All Status Updates!

As a business, it is important to keep your online sites alive and active. To ensure this, you need to make regular updates across your platforms. Your Online Consultant will post pre-approved status updates to make it easier for your business to focus on what you do best.

6. Work Closely With You!

Sometimes, businesses may feel that they are not being authentic if they are not answering all of their 'tweets' or messages on the different platforms themselves. Your Online Consultant will not post anything that has not already been approved or sent to you in advance. Hence, anything that is posted, will appear as if it was posted by the business itself.

Your Online Consultant is here to support the digital relationship and engagement that is necessary for your business to succeed in the online world. Your Social Media Manager will take all the headaches and overwhelm off your shoulders and will partner with you and help you with all the technological aspects that you may or may not have time to learn.

Some businesses may have the knowledge of the technological aspects of Social Media. This is great, however, to execute a full blown Marketing Plan via this medium can be very tedious and time consuming.

Any business person from any field can benefit from a Social Media Manager or Virtual Assistant. Your Online Consultant can post articles for you on your blog and research content to be shared on the different social media platforms.

In essence, your Online Consultant will work closely with you to allow you to focus on building and growing your business. And the great news is, the above can be done for you using a completely 'hands-off' approach. Your Social Media Manager is able to manage everything for you leaving you to concentrate on running your business.

7. Will Save You Money!

A good Online Consultant is a valuable asset for any business as he will save you money in more than one way.

Did you know that you could spend less for more return if you were to harness the marketing strategies and techniques that work today? A lot of our clients no longer need to use traditional advertising such as Newspaper, Yellow Pages, TV and Radio advertising to bring in new business. Their customers now come to them rather than the business having to actively search for new clients, and all for less than their current advertising spend!

Your Online Consultant can help you to create and maintain a strong local marketing presence and gain market share in your particular niche.

A full time Social Media Manager is a valuable asset to any business and hence demands a very high salary. By outsourcing the Social Media element of your business to a Social Media Manager, you can save your business thousands, and at the same time gain the expertise of an established expert who is in very much high demand today.

Dr Javaid Kiyani is the Managing Director of Magnetic Marketing Services, which specialises in providing social media and online marketing solutions for your business. We are Social Media Managers and Consultants based near Birmingham, UK.

Our Social Media Strategies are currently being used by businesses all over the country. As a Social Media Agency, we stay up to date with the latest technologies, strategies and techniques ensuring our customers and clients are using the most up to date methods.

Be sure to watch your FREE video today: http://www.MagneticMarketingServices.com/

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How to Integrate a Winning Social Media Strategy 2011 (Part 2 of 2)

Capture more Facebook Fans than your competitors.

Business is competitive, by nature. When you immerse yourself in social media, you must try to win the competition. You want to out-market, out-sell and out-brand everyone else in your industry. Many owners who attempt to manage their own social media campaigns believe if they are spending countless hours per week on this project, they don't need to invest additional dollars on Facebook Ads. In reality, if any business wants to kick their social media strategy in to high gear, they should consider incorporating Facebook pay-per-click ads in the mix.

The beauty of Facebook's pay-per-click ads is they are displayed on the page of the user who fits your specified parameters. In essence, these targeted prospects will see your ad, and if they are motivated, they will click the "LIKE" button to become your fan. As mentioned in the last section, once they are your fan, they have opted in to your future marketing messages. When you post an update to your Facebook Fan Page, they will see it on their home page. Facebook Ads along with a consistent content strategy work fast and efficiently, and enable you as a business owner to capture more of the targeted audience pool.

Leveraging Social Networks to Cross-Promote with other Local Businesses

Have you ever attended a local networking event in your community? You meet other business professionals in your industry, talk about trends and changes that affect your peers and learn from one another.

Did you realize that you can actually partner with other local businesses in your city to create a super social media strategy?

Consider this scenario:


A motel holds a Facebook Fan Contest. The winner receives a free weekend stay for two, with complimentary dinner at any one of the major restaurants in town.
To add more fans for both the hotel and restaurants in their area, they simply work together to create a partnership for this contest.
Each business cross-promotes the other on their website and all of their social networks to create a win-win situation!

Social media is an excellent tool to work with other non-competitor companies in your town. Think about all of the ways in which you can set up a cross-promotion, and the possibilities are truly endless.

Getting the word out about your Social Media Campaign.

You've decided to take the plunge and get started on those high-impact social networks we've discussed previously. You need to let everyone you communicate with know where you're at, and how they can follow you.

If you're like most business professionals today, you regularly receive both voicemail and email. In order to let everyone know you're on Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter, YouTube and the Blogosphere, you need to change your voicemail message to include:

"Follow us on Facebook, Twitter, etc." (be sure to mention all major networks you participate in.)

The best way to notify individuals you email is to update your signature. If you go in your mail settings, you can select "signature." Most people have their business name, personal name, title, website address, email address and office phone number listed as part of their signature. Drop down a line, and include a link to each of your major social networks. Save your new signature, and all of your email recipients will have instant access to your social media accounts.

I also recommend sending a personal invitation to all of the contacts in your address book, asking them to join you on Facebook, Twitter, etc. Make your invitations personalized, and give them a reason to join you.

Social Media Outsourcing.

Social media marketing can increase your bottom-line, and enhance your image in a very short amount of time. Considered to be a long-term marketing strategy because of the social media asset being created, the one negative most entrepreneurs and business owners have is the amount of time necessary to do it right. Managing your social media accounts, writing fresh daily content, producing short marketing videos, and integrating all of your accounts to maximize your website traffic can be overwhelming, to say the very least.

Fact: Social media outsourcing is underutilized. Only 28% of businesses are outsourcing some portion of their social media marketing.

The good news is there are companies you can outsource this work to, who will literally handle every facet of the social media set-up, design, implementation and integration from nuts to bolts. These SM experts specialize in small to mid-sized businesses and their social media needs. They work with the owner to create a strategy, then work as an extension of your team to grow your audience - one connection at a time.

Christina Archer is a Social Media Expert, Executive Recruiter, Entrepreneur and Author, based in St. Petersburg, Florida. Christina specializes in assisting small and mid-sized businesses plan and develop their social media strategy, as well as manage their accounts on an on-going basis.

Her company, SocialMediaAsset.com offers complimentary set-up and design of Facebook Fan Pages, Twitter, LinkedIn, YouTube and WordPress Blogs with any monthly management service agreement. To learn more about SocialMediaAsset.com, visit their website. To contact Christina directly, email her at Christina@SocialMediaAsset.com.

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Home Theater Media Centers

Home Theater PCs aka HTPC or media center PC are a must for any serious home theater setup. An HTPC is essentially a personal computer that is configured for a lot of storage and quality video playback. They also will have a more aesthetically pleasing case that will fit better in a home theater setup as opposed to a standard tower type case of a typical personal computer. HTPCs will also have specific software installed to help manage various forms of media like, videos, pictures and music.

There are really two types of HTPCs, a more storage oriented system often called media servers and a lightweight net top system.

The more storage based system is, you guess it, used for storing most, if not, all of your media content. It is where the videos, music and pictures are held. This type of system is typically placed by your main television setup as it would be your base system where you manage all of your media files. These systems will often have at least a 1 terabyte hard drive; this will typically be an adequate amount of storage for the average user.
The lightweight net top HTPCs are more of a peripheral device that you would place in a bedroom. These types of systems are built with as small of a case as possible, with the primary objective of being discrete. Net top HTPCs typically don't have very much if any onboard storage, typically only enough to support the operating system. These are usually connected to the main HTPC or Media Server.

An HTPC can be used to consolidate multiple home theater components into one device. An HTPC can replace your Blu-ray or DVD player, your DVR, your receiver, and your entire rack of DVD and Blu-ray disks. Imagine having one set top device as opposed to 3 or 4 and getting rid of that huge rack of DVDs and Blu-ray's. Aside from replacing the different home theater components an HTPC will also allow you to access various web applications like HULU, YouTube, Netflix and Amazon video on demand. There are other devices that will allow you to access some of these types of applications like an Xbox or Wii, however an HTPC does not limit you on which ones you can have access to. An HTPC also allows you to do some basic things like surf the web.

The next major component to your HTPC is the software. The software is really what drives how the HTPC functions. There are many options out there. My personal favorite OS is Windows 7. Windows 7 comes with Windows Media Center included. Windows Media Center is a very well built interface for an HTPC. The big downfall to Windows Media Center is the inability to play certain file types like. MKVs. However this is quickly remedied by installing an add on to WMC called MyMovies. MyMovies provides a great content management system as well as a codec pack to manage and play any type of movie you would like. Other OS' can be used such as Linux based OS' or Apple OS'. If you choose to run one of these operating systems, my recommendation is to install XBMC for the media center software. XBMC was originally media center software developed for the Xbox, but has since been open sourced and made to function on almost any OS.

The last piece of the puzzle is the peripherals, such as, a keyboard, mouse, and remote. There are a few options for your peripherals. You will need a keyboard and some sort of mouse solution, since an HTPC is essentially a computer. Obviously wireless is the way to go with the peripherals. Also my recommendation is to go with a keyboard - scratch pad combo like the, Azio Keyboard Wireless RF 2.4GHz Multimedia with Trackpad. This helps eliminate the need to have a separate mouse. If you do choose to go with a mouse, I would suggest something like an air mouse, Gyration makes quality air mice. You will also want to have a remote for your HTPC. If you chose to go with Windows as your operating system and using WMC you can get a remote that has a dedicated button for WMC, which launches the application with one push. The keyboard would typically be used to setup things on your HTPC; the remote will be what you use on a more regular basis as it will speed up your navigation of the HTPC.

If you don't have an HTPC in your home theater setup, you really need to look into getting one. They will help manage your current media library. Since media is becoming more and more on demand an HTPC will give you the ability to access it more quickly and easily.

If you are interested in taking a look at low cost HTPC options check out http://www.flo-media.com. At http://www.flo-media.com you can get everything you need to get your HTPC up and running.

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TeenNick Finds Success in the Nostalgic '90s

Viacom’s research appears to have been proved right: twenty-somethings do want their old Nickelodeon shows back.

The first day of the company’s rebroadcast of 1990s shows on TeenNick doubled the channel’s prior ratings in the midnight to 2 a.m. time slot, Nickelodeon said Wednesday. It credited widespread chatter on social media Web sites with the ratings bounce.

The ratings are another indication of the entwined relationship between television and social media. TeenNick programmers were counting on that relationship to propel viewers to the “‘90s Are All That” programming block, which is featured from midnight to 2 a.m. and repeats from 2 a.m. to 4 a.m.

As The New York Times reported last week, comments from former Nickelodeon viewers who were nostalgic for old shows like “All That” and “Doug” inspired the rebroadcasts in the first place.

On Monday, when the programming block made its debut, there was ample attention to it online: Trendrr.TV, which ranks television shows by the amount of online activity around them, found that TeenNick claimed five of the top 10 positions on its daily ranking.

The channel said in a news release that its Facebook page for the programming block “doubled in fans overnight by 100,000.” The channel also dominated Twitter’s constantly refreshed list of trending topics.

It helps that TeenNick already tends to be talked about heavily online. But there was a clear spike when the shows from the 1990s had their premieres.

For TeenNick, there was very little risk involved in creating the ‘90s programming block, because the overnight hours were rather low-rated.

On Monday, an average of 555,000 people tuned in between midnight and 2 a.m., fully double last year’s total during that time period, according to Nielsen data. Of the 555,000 viewers, 229,000 were between the ages of 18 and 34, the demographic that grew up watching the shows in the 1990s. Most of the others were under the age of 18.

The data suggests, then, that the old shows are finding a new audience as well as a nostalgic one.

The challenge for TeenNick now is a social one: keeping the chatter about the ‘90s shows going when the rebroadcasts are no longer a new idea. Facebook and Twitter have proved to be powerful tools for driving viewers to television for one-time events; can they pull it off every day?

View the original article here

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