2011 is all but a memory. Over the past 12 months we have seen changes to Facebook (of course you can say that about any 12 month period), major changes to Google’s search algorithm (again no big surprise), the growth of mobile computing and Google making a big splash in social media. For online marketing, the inevitable change is both frustrating and exciting. What will 2012 hold in store?

1.  Social search will increase as social media site become even more interactive - Social search is one of the pieces of the online holy Grail, the billions of dollars up for grabs. Google already controls the search portion of the equation while Facebook dominates the social side.  Google + hopes to make a dent in that domination.

2.  Google + will play a larger part in search rankings -  The abuse of external linking has long been a concern of Google. Starting with Google’s Panda update, paid link exchanges and low content quality sites began to feel the sting. But with the launch of Google plus and the +1 button, Google now has a viable link popularity component for their algorithm. Look for active Google + sites to rank well in 2012.

3.  The effect of video on search engine results will continue to grow - YouTube continues to be the second largest search engine on the web. Improved technologies allow the content of YouTube videos to be indexed by Google, making them fertile ground for keywords and search engine optimization.

4.  Expanded customer interaction on Facebook - As more and more time is spent on Facebook, the growth of customer interaction will continue to climb. Look for e-commerce to become more prominent as companies search for alternative ways to connect with their customers.

5.  Activity versus engagement - Through the majority of 2011, activity was the norm in social media.  Posting to a business page with regularity constituted activity for most businesses. But with the October Facebook change, posting frequently is not enough to land on the news feed of fans. Today it requires engagement – posting content that fans will like, comment on or share. It requires much more thought to generate content that fans can easily interact with.

One prediction that’s an absolute certainty to come true, 2012 will see even more changes to the social media and online marketing landscape that we saw in 2011.

Gary Wagnon is the owner of 800biz Ninja Marketing Strategies and the Ninja Marketing Dojo, a program designed to help businesses master all aspects of online marketing. The goal of the Ninja Marketing Dojo is to improve search engine rankings, increase web site traffic and convert more browsers into buyers.

Tags: facebook, Google plus, online marketing, social media, youtube

With the new change to Facebook’s layout, the updates from your Facebook business page may be getting lost in the news ticker. Where once the Most Recent view on your Facebook newsfeed would give a chronological listing of every action and every update from all of your friends plus the business pages you like, now that option is gone.  Your business page may have just become invisible!

Facebook’s new layout uses the Edgerank algorithm to determine the top stories like it always has, but now the recent stories are being filtered as well. As a result many business page updates are only visible in the fire hose of the news ticker. Unless the business page update generates likes, comments or shares, it’s not going to have what it takes to escape the ticker and make the main news feed.

Does this mean Facebook business pages are no longer relevant? Given the way many businesses treat their business page updates, the answer would be yes. Posting information that does not encourage interaction is going to be lost. Creating a post just to be seen will no longer work. Unless someone is watching the news ticker when a post is made, like Twitter, the update will flow out of sight quickly.

To escape the confines of the ticker, the business page must become truly social. Businesses should focus on experiences rather than sales messages. Where once it was only possible to “like” something in a post, now any action verb can be used. Now it’s possible to “try” a product or service, “read” a book or an article, “watch” a video or any other action. By integrating action into status updates,  they become more shareable and interactive.

As Facebook continues to evolve into the social destination of the web, more and more emphasis is being placed on applications and advertising. Apps will become the interactive link between business pages and the news feed of those following them.

Will Facebook become like Google where the ability for a small local business to compete will be so complex or costly that it’s no longer effective? While that remains to be seen it is most definitely a case for diversifying marketing efforts rather than solely concentrating on Facebook.

What are your thoughts?

Gary Wagnon is the Sensei of the Ninja Marketing Dojo, a comprehensive online marketing course designed to relieve the frustration business owners and manager face when trying to understand online marketing.  Using a martial arts model, students will build on foundational principals, mastering each level before advancing.

Tags: business page, facebook

Maybe you are Bruce Wayne by day and Batman by night.  Or just maybe, you’re clients and colleagues know you as Professor or Your Honor, but your high school classmates know you as “HotRod”.  Nothing is more comforting to hear than, “Hi, I’m Dr. Hotrod Smith and I’ll be operating on you today.”

Facebook is the great connector.  We reconnect with classmates we haven’t talked to in years.  With them, we relive memories, embarrassing moments and teenage milestones.  Plus, it’s fun.  But sharing that picture of ourselves may not exactly further our professional image.  I’m sure lots of us have those past skeletons (like streaking the quadrangle in college), but we don’t exactly put them on our resume.

Enter the new Facebook Friends lists.  Facebook launched their expanded Smart Friend List feature this week.  With this change, your friends can now be categorized into four pre-defined categories, Friends, Family, Acquaintances and geographic location.  You have always had the ability to create lists but the process of posting to a specific list was cumbersome and obscure.  Today it’s prominently displayed next to the share button on your status update.

When the Friends Smart List feature launched, it automatically assigned friends to your local area list.  It also assigns some family members to the Family group (although I had to add a couple of my immediate family members.  They were in the “List suggestion” section, which made it easy to add.)  You will have to initially add people to the other lists.  In the beginning, it may be a little time consuming, but if you add new friends to lists as you confirm them, it will be much easer.

Maintaining Your Two Personalities

I frequently hear clients and social media students ask, “How can I keep my business and personal life separated?”  Smart lists make that very easy.  But more than that, it can be a good practice to enhance your marketing message.  Chances are, your friends may not be the least bit interested in your business marketing content.  And when your professional connections are “eavesdropping” on your conversations with friends, they probably won’t be able to follow along or even be interested.  Either group may tend to filter out your updates since they aren’t pertinent to them.

A better practice would be to target your updates to the group of friends it is directed to.  Create a list of professional or business friends and post only business related content to that group.  Meanwhile, create another list of friends that you post your personal updates to.  Each list then sees content they should be interested in and will be more attuned to each post you make.

There will be some friends that will fit both categories, so assign them to both.  They won’t receive duplicate posts, but they will receive posts anytime you update either list.  Some of your content will be appropriate for everyone.  In those cases you can post to Friends and everyone will receive it.

One thing you should know about Smart Lists.  When you post to a list, there is an icon on the “Like  Comment” line below the post.  The icon will either be a globe (Public), friends or a cog (lists).  By mousing over the icon, you will see a message that shows what the update was shared to friends, friends of friends or the name of the Smart List.  For that reason, you may want to be cautious with your list names.

List can be useful in many ways, such as announcing local events.  What other ways have you used the list feature?

Gary Wagnon is the Sensei of the Ninja Marketing Dojo, a comprehensive online marketing course designed to relieve the frustration business owners and manager face when trying to understand online marketing.  Using a martial arts model, students will build on foundational principals, mastering each level before advancing.

Tags: facebook, ninja marketing tips

I have scoured the Internet, unsuccessfully, trying to find a Hermione Granger Time Turner from Harry Potter.  Apparently they were all destroyed in 1996 in the battle at the Ministry of Magic.  Oh well it sure would’ve been helpful.

The challenge for business owners today is finding time to manage their online marketing efforts & social networks.  A business owner could easily spend 8 hours  a day just doing social media.  But unfortunately most owners wear many hats and marketing is only one of them.  Customer service and the day-to-day operations do take priority.

Here are five time-saving ninja marketing tips to manager your social networks.

1. Schedule 30 minutes first thing in the morning and 30 minutes right after lunch or in the late afternoon to review your social networks.  Interact with all comments made to your posts and comment or retweet posts made by friends and followers.
2. Use an aggregator to monitor your social networks.  Programs such as Tweetdeck, and Hootsuite are 2 such services that will pull the feeds from Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn into one site for monitoring,  commenting and sharing.
3. Schedule your updates.  One great feature of both Tweetdeck and Hoot Suite is the ability to schedule your tweets or Facebook updates in advance.  Once a week you can plan your week’s updates, and schedule them for the day, time and even the specific site you want them posted to.
4. Install the Hoot Suite plug-in for Firefox.  If you use Firefox as your browser, Hoot Suite offers a plug-in that makes it easy to share articles and blog posts to Facebook,  Twitter and LinkedIn and even schedule them to post at a more desirable time.
5. Combine your Facebook and Twitter feeds into Google +.  Even though the aggregator programs have not yet incorporated Google + into their platform, there are G+ apps already that will add your Twitter and Facebook feed so it can be monitored with your G+.

Do you have any other time saving tips?  Feel free to share them.

Are you new to Google + or curious about how to get started?  Download my free Guide to Google + at www.800bizninjamarketing.com. Gary Wagnon is the CMN (Chief Marketing Ninja) at 800biz Online Marketing Solutions.  Using an integrated approach to online marketing (combining web site design, search engine optimization, social media and action driven content), 800biz specializes in helping businesses stand out above the competition and drive more traffic to their door.

Tags: facebook, Google plus, linkedin, twitter

Whether a reaction to Google + or a planned system improvement, Facebook has added a new local of privacy that is rolling out starting today.  Many of the changes revolve around the way content is shared.

Profile Controls

First change is you greater control to the visibility of your profile.  With each section of your profile such as music, movies, religious preferences or political views, you’re able to choose who can see each of those areas.  The changes are made directly on the profile editing page where previously the changes were made in the account settings.

An in-line cue or icon will provide a visual indication of who can see each element.  Choices are to make the content public, only seen by friends, are customized for a friend list.  A “view profile as” feature has been added so you can see how your profile will look in different situations.

Tagging

Tagging individuals in photos, status updates or location tags is a popular practice.  Currently, individual control is either limited or unavailable.  With the new settings you can approve or reject any tag before they appear in your profile.  This includes photos and status updates.  This can be turned on or off the pending on user preference.

Given the new tagging controls, Facebook now allows the user to tag anyone in a photo regardless of whether they are a friend or not.  Of course the tag will have to be approved unless you set your privacy controls to always allow tags.  The dilemma with always allowing tags means you do not have control over your image.  As a business professional, protecting the image we portray should be vitally important.

Some of the other features you will see are changes to Facebook places and a “Nearby” icon in mobile apps for tagging locations.

The privacy and safety groups are hailing the changes is positive actions.  For business owners it will require some adjustment to the way they interact with other people.  But with everything Facebook, standby.  About time you master this something else will change.

Gary Wagnon is the CMN (Chief Marketing Ninja) at 800biz Online Marketing Solutions.  Using an integrated approach to online marketing (combining web site design, search engine optimization, social media and action driven content), 800biz specializes in helping businesses stand out above the competition and drive more traffic to their door.

Tags: facebook, online marketing, privacy

How would you like to be on your competitor’s Christmas card list? Well if you do these really well you might even get a gift basket from them.

So here is a list of 10 things that will make your competition not only smile but be genuinely happy you’re out there.

1. Not having a web site – Let’s face it, if you don’t have a website, no one’s going to find you, so you’re not much threat to the competition. Since 75% of all purchase decisions start online, your competitor will love you for not being there.

2. Not claiming your Google places page – An unclaimed Google places page or maps page is like having a Yellow Pages with no phone number or address. But the big difference is, you’re leaving the details open for anyone else to edit. And with the new Google layout showing the listings on the map so prominently, your competition will probably be sending you birthday cards and thank you notes for all the customers you’re missing.

3. Having a “Me To” website – You have a website like everyone else with a couple pages that give a basic outline of what you do. After all, everyone knows what your business does, right? But you competitor’s site explains in great detail what they do. A prospect visits your site and doesn’t see what they’re looking for, but they find it on your competitors site, you make your competition happy once more.

4. It’s all about me – Your website extols the virtues of how great your business is. Your fantastic customer service, your low prices, your quality product, blah, blah, blah. Your competitor, on the other hand, has figured out it’s not about them; it’s about the prospect. The prospect does not care how wonderful your service is, how great your product is or anything else about you. They only care about whether you can either fix their problem or remedy their pain. Whoever does this best, wins.

5. Web site has no call to action – You go to all the effort to drive traffic to your website only to educate your prospect, then watch them go to your competitor and purchase. Businesses get so concerned about not being pushy that they don’t even create any call the action on their website. Your competitor’s site not only educates the prospect, but makes it easy for them to act, whether via online order or phone call.

6. I don’t do social media – Of the 251 million people in the US on the Internet, 203 million of them are on Facebook. What are the chances some of them are your prospects? Your competitor, on the other hand, is out there building relationships with not only your prospects, but probably even your customers.

7. I have a high school/college kid doing my social media – While it’s true that teenagers are all over Facebook, and can post photos, tag people, like, share, and do all the other things that you don’t understand, social media for business it is COMPLETELY different. You wouldn’t even consider hiring an advertising or marketing person based on the fact that they sold their Xbox on Craig’s list so they could buy the new PS3? Your competitor hired a professional to create a social media plan that they religiously follow.

8. Having an incomplete social media profile – Have you ever noticed at a seminar or tradeshow they give you nametags? Is that just because they had money left over in the budget? No. It’s so you can network and build relationships with the people that are there. So having an incomplete profile on social media sites is like not only having no name tag but wearing a paper bag over your head. There’s not going to be a lot of interaction and you’re certainly not going to build any relationships.

9. Social media is a great selling opportunity – After all, you have a captive audience of Likers/Followers/Connections, why not fire away with your sales message? You’re probably one of those that go to a family reunion, pass out business cards and make your sales pitch to everyone there. Your competitor is giving valuable information, tips and helpful hints to her Likers/Followers/Connections. Her connections are growing and you wonder why yours are.

10. Social media takes too much time besides I don’t care who had Cheerios for breakfast. – Who has time to wade through the dribble on Facebook or Twitter? You have a business to run, marketing to do, and customers to keep happy. Meanwhile, your competitor has discovered a set of tools that let him/her not only schedule and manage their social media, but also monitor what’s being said about them online. They are developing relationships and handling customer service issues in real time before they become a problem.

Do a couple of these things and you stay on your competitors Christmas card list. Do several of them and there’s a chance you will get invited to the Christmas party…as an employee.

Gary Wagnon is the master Ninja traffic generator for 800biz Online Marketing Solutions. Using a combination of action-centered web site design and the latest search engine optimization (SEO) techniques, combined with efficient and effective use of social media, 800biz creates an online presence that helps it’s clients stand out above the competitors and drive more traffic through the door.

Tags: facebook, online marketing, social media, twitter, web site design

Who do you think you are? Or better still who do your clients, customers or prospects think you are? In our interconnected world your reputation, your profile and what your customers are saying are only a few clicks away. So are you moderating what people are saying about you?

When would you call to set up an appointment with someone you just met, what do you think their first order of business is going to be? They’re going Google you, Facebook you, look you up a Linkedin, look for you on YouTube. Maybe they search Yelp, Manta, Merchant Circle or any of a dozen other local business review sites. Do you know what they’ll find? If not you should.

To be safe, be proactive. It starts with completing your profile online. A Google profile, a Linkedin profile, even a Facebook account. Next, as business people, we need to guard our profiles with extreme caution. What happens on the web stays on the web, FOREVER.

With all the tools that are available online today, there is no reason for you not to know what others are saying. We all know that if we do something right or special for a customer they will tell a few people. But if we make a mistake or do something they don’t think was fair, they will tell every one they see. And post it on Facebook, Twitter, local community sites and maybe even make a YouTube video. If that’s the only review out there, how does that make you look? To safeguard against that, cultivate your own reviews. Ask your customers and clients to write a review on your Google places page, on your Yelp page, or on Facebook. Carry a video camera and ask your good customers record their testimonials. Now one bad review among the dozens of glowing reviews has little damaging effect.

Set up Google alerts on your name or your companies name to know when someone’s talking about you and what they say. Set up TweetDeck or SocialMention to find out who’s mentioning you on Twitter and the other social media. If you see a problem, address it immediately. Don’t wait.

Guard your online persona with the same vigilance you would your home, your business and your family.

Gary Wagnon is the master Ninja traffic generator for 800biz Online Marketing Solutions. Using a combination of action-centered web site design and the latest search engine optimization (SEO) techniques, combined with efficient and effective use of social media, 800biz creates an online presence that helps it’s clients stand out above the competitors and drive more traffic through the door.

Tags: customer reviews, facebook, social media, testimonials, twitter

While teaching a Facebook for Business class last week, I went around the room and asked why everyone was there.  I was amazed at the number of people (at least a third of the group) that were there because they didn’t have a website and thought Facebook would do the trick.

I immediately pulled out my soapbox and carefully climbed on top.  You’re trying to market online with no website?!?  In today’s connected world, it’s a snap to pop on your computer or smart phone and do a quick search for any business.  Without a website, how are you going to get found?  And assuming someone accidentally stumbles upon your Facebook page, just exactly how much information are they going to get to make their buying decision.   Plus, my totally un-scientific observations tells me that if someone doesn’t have a website, there’s a pretty good chance they don’t have a customized Facebook page either.

Short of suggesting a Facebook business page to friends (which recent changes to Facebook severely restricted), how are you going to drive traffic to your business page?  A “Follow Us On Facebook” link on your website can help drive traffic back to your FB page where you can begin an interactive dialog with your potential customers/clients.

Online marketing is like a big funnel.  At the top of the funnel is Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn.  These are like the card tables in the grocery store on Saturday where you can get a taste of new food product.  If you like it, you will go find the product so you can have more.  When people read your 140 character bites and want more, where are they going to go?

Fresh and timely content that showcase your expertise is where you want them going.  And the source for that is your blog.  A blog should give a reader just the right portion for them to digest.  Like the story of the new country preacher on his first Sunday.  With all the preparations made, he’s standing at the door waiting to welcome everyone.  But to his dismay, only one old farmer shows up.  He asks the farmer what he should do and the farmer replies, “Well son.  If I only have one cow in the barn, I feed it.”  So the young preacher launches into his service complete with a 45 minute sermon and 2 alter calls.  As he is standing by the door after the service he asks the farmer what he thought, to which he replied, “Well, I would feed the one cow, but I wouldn’t give him the whole barn full.”  We are an impatient society.  We don’t want the whole barn full in your blog post, just a nice, digestable portion.

Your blog is the bridge to your call to action which should be your website.  (If your website doesn’t tell the browser what action to take, that’s the subject of another post.)

Whether your business is a brick and mortar business, home based business or internet business, having a website is a crucial component that adds legitimacy.  It’s the anchor point of your marketing program, where the efforts poured into the top of your funnel come rushing out.

Gary Wagnon and 800biz Online Marketing Solutions specialize in web site design, search engine optimization, social media marketing and text message marketing. Need to know how to better use social media — check out Social Media Lab, providing step-by-step instructional videos on Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn and Blogging.

Tags: blog, facebook, linkedin, social media, twitter, web site

The popular apps among business owners right now are Stik and Branchout, apps that tout connecting with other businesses. But before you jump on the ‘Stik’ (sorry, couldn’t resist), read on.

Facebook apps are all created by 3rd party developers. Since they are free to use, why do they create programs like these — just for the satisfaction of creating it? I don’t think so. So what’s in it for them? Money!

I checked out both Stik and Branchout. To join, you signup using your Facebook login. The first thing you encounter is the Facebook permission screen. While most of us just click allow and move on, you might want to look at what you are allowing.

When you click allow, you just gave the application permission to:

• Access your name, profile picture, list of friends and information you share
• Email you
• Post On Your Wall
• Access Your News Feed
• Access your data at any time
• Access your work history and profile likes and interest
• Access your photos and videos
• AND Access your friends information including relationships, likes, music, tv, movies, education, work and their photos and videos.

Why do they want this information?  To build a complete marketing profile on you.  Your Facebook is a pretty complete snapshot of your life.  What company wouldn’t be willing to pay to have a laser targeted demographic of you.

While these apps sound cool, isn’t the purpose of Facebook itself to connect with others?  The initial idea may appear valuable, but think before you “Stik”.

Gary Wagnon and 800biz Online Marketing Solutions specialize in web site design, search engine optimization, social media marketing and text message marketing.  Need to know how to better use social media — check out Social Media Lab, providing step-by-step instructional videos on Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn and Blogging.

Tags: facebook, privacy