I just can’t get enough of the Holiday Marketing Buzz.   Check out my newest podcast on The Intersections of SEO & SMO with Jason Clegg.

• Affiliate Marketing for the holidays
• Top SEO strategy for last-minute holiday marketing
• What online retailers and offline stores can be doing to drive traffic and sales during Online Shopping Season.
• How Peter Shankman’s “HARO’s List” can help with social promotions
• And much more!

Listen Here

Share and Enjoy

Related posts:

1. Social Media Holiday Guide to Selling Online
2. The Intersection of SMO & SEO – Social Advertising
3. How to Brand Yourself As An Expert and Get More Business with Facebook Questions

Share and Enjoy

It has always been my belief that as an Entrepreneur it is very important to be ahead of the curve.  In Social Media being ahead of the curve also means being an early adapter to new technologies and building a presence on new sites that could potentially benefit your business.

A new site that I recommend to all Entrepreneurs is Sprouter, which is something like the Twitter for Entrepreneurs.

Where Twitter asks the question, “What are you doing?” – Sprouter asks entrepreneurs the question “What are you working on?”  Sprouter enables collaboration and networking between Entrepreneurs globally in a real-time format.  It also allows you to expand networks, discover events, start discussions, and follow topics relevant to your business.

While many may argue the need for a site like this that is so similar to twitter, I argue if you get in early, the benefits could be endless.

Benefits of Sprouter

1.  Grow your network before it is over-populated and market yourself as an expert before the next wave of users come in.
In an untapped network, making yourself an expert in your industry is easier as there is less competiton and less noise. Having a presence on a site before it blows up gives you “street cred” and the opportunity to be heard before the noise and spam sets in.

2.  Own Your Own Hashtag

By owning your own hashtag, you are given the authority in that subject.  Although the limit is 12 hashtags per account, owning the keywords that are important to your business will give you influence and will result in a larger following or network.

For exmple, I own the #smo (Social Media Optimization) hashtag on Sprouter.

3.  Follow Topics and Conversations in an Organized Manner
Sprouter is extremely easy to navigate and all content is presented in an organized and clean way.  I particularly like the way replies are set up as it allows you to follow the conversation and see the conversation as it is happening.

4.  Get the User Name You Want
Get in before your username is taken.  As I have mentioned before – owning your search is crucial.

Connect with me on Sprouter – http://www.sprouter.com/frasco

Other Experts & Early Adapters to follow:
Jason Clegg, Web Entrepreneur
Brett Petersel, Events Director at Mashable
Janine Just, PR Entrepreneur
Sarah Prevette, Founder, Sprouter
Erin Bury, Community Manager, Sprouter
Paul Farkas, Socialpreneur
Bill Murphy, Startup Financier
Todd Levy, Emerging Leader

Share and Enjoy

Related posts:

1. How to Brand Yourself As An Expert and Get More Business with Facebook Questions
2. Podcast – Women Entrepreneurs & Where We Are Headed
3. Social Media Holiday Guide to Selling Online

Share and Enjoy

There is a powerful relationship between Social Media Marketing and Search Engine Marketing Campaigns.  According to this article, some 34% of social media site users who are exposed to a particular advertisement are taking their curiosity to a search engine like Google, Yahoo, or Bing to find out more about it.

This is supports my case for my love of Social Ads and gives more reason that all businesses should have at least a simple Social Media Marketing strategy for themselves or for their business.

PROS
1.  Cost Effective For Business
Since you can pinpoint target who you want to see this ad, the exposure is not as large as you would get on a search engine, but it is much more direct.  Since there is less demand for the keywords the cost per click is also lower than on a traditional search engine.  Low Cost with High Brand Recognition = WIN!

HOW TO TAKE ADVANTAGE:
Use a CPC campaign on Facebook.  In this case you are paying only for those who click on your ad.  With a well branded ad (that includes your logo) hopefully you can take that 34% who remembered your ad then searched for more information, as a bonus freebie!  (assuming that your search engine strategy is in place)

For a $90 campaign ($20/day), the ad gathered 455,280 impressions.  Each click on average cost only 69 cents.

With that same budget ($20/day) and similar keywords you are paying much more for a click.

You can listen to what else I have to say about the Intersection of SMO and SEO on the SEOSMOPodcast with Jason Clegg and good friend and “in-house” twitter expert, Marlooz.

Share and Enjoy

Related posts:

1. The Intersections of SEO & SMO – Holiday Shopping in an Online World
2. How to Brand Yourself As An Expert and Get More Business with Facebook Questions
3. Social Media Holiday Guide to Selling Online

Share and Enjoy