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Are you using Pinterest yet?  It is the hottest, and fastest growing social site on the web right now and it is addictive.  At first I didn’t think it was fun.  Then I realized that there are so many things that I love and that I already naturally save to image folders on my desktop.  Or images that I have saved and loaded into google documents to as idea folders for design, gardens, flowers, house styles, etc.   Now, the days of saving images, re-loading and emailing each and every one to your friend are gone.

What is Pinterest?

Pinterest is a virtual pinboard online.  Pinterest allows you to organize and share visual pictures.   So far it is comprised of mainly women and it is the fastest growing social platform on the web. As or right now, Pinterest is “Invite Only” beta stage most likely to manage their servers and bandwith with all this crazy pinning.  So how do you get on Pinterest?  You will have to request access or ask someone you already know is on Pinterest to send you an invite. If you request access to the site from their home page you will likely wait a few days to a week, whereas Invites are instant access. Pinterest is all about sharing images and sharing content.  You can upload  images from your computer, pin an item found on a website that has the Pinterest “pin it” button or use the URL.

Pinterest Dictionary

• A Pin – an image added to Pinterest
• A Pinboard- a set of theme-based pins
• Pinning – the act of visually sharing content
• Repin – reposting somebody else’s pin
• Pin it button – button that can be placed on websites to facilitate sharing on Pinterest. Pins added using the Pin it button link back to the sites they came from.
• Pinner – the person who does the sharing

How do I Pin Something?

When you first sign up at your desktop you will be prompted to download the “pin it” button that will live on your desktop toolbar.  Any website that you visit you can click on pin it and voila your pinterest account will be opened and you will be allowed to create a new board or pin it to an existing board.  It is super easy and as I said kinda addictive once you start getting others repinning your pins and liking your pins.  I think for businesses this is a great new marketing tool to build brand awareness.  For example, if you are a fashion designer and you upload and pin your new “Summer Collection” and instantly start getting Pin Likes and Re-Pins then you know you have a successful line and how cool is it that your brand is instantly getting feedback and clients engaged?  Another example would be if you own a restaurant.  You could add pictures of your entrees, drink lineup, and so on.

Why Does Pinterest Matter?

• Pinterest is a great driver of traffic to your website. Early research indicates that Pinterest is more effective at driving traffic compared to other social media sites, even Facebook.
• Pinterest can be used as an SEO tool to help promote and grow your business.  Pinterest is currently using no-follow links on image URLs and pins from a “pin-it” button on your website. These links will still provide you value as they allow pinners to engage with you via your content and visit your page with one click. Pinterest is currently using the do-follow links for links that you place in your descriptions. When you create a pin-board make sure you edit the description to include a link. When you pin an image or video make sure the description includes a link. Also, when commenting make sure you include a link, when applicable. These description links can boost your SEO ranking.
• Pinterest  encourages and allows people to share, comment, and interact with each other through visual images. Pinterest allows users to log in using their Twitter or Facebook profiles giving users the ability to share posts through Facebook, Twitter or email.
• Pinterest will increase your brand awareness and it is FREE and easy to use.

Pinterest is going to continue to grow and it will be interesting to see how people and businesses get creative and use this to engage customers, build brand awareness, and drive traffic to their websites. Stay tuned for more information on Pinterest. If you don’t have an invite yet let me know and I would be more then happy to send you one. Happy Pinning!`

Do you want to ATTRACT CUSTOMERS, get MORE CLIENTS, and MAKE MORE MONEY?

Do you have a Twitter account for your company yet? Don’t get all the hype? I bet your like a lot of entrepreneurs who just don’t get it, what is all this social media marketing going to do for my company?

Why should I pay someone to tweet for me? Or why should I tweet? I want to sell more online products. I want to close more deals. I want clients at my business. I want more demos, more consultations, and more sales pitches to increase my revenues.

Here is what twitter says

Well, the time has come that you can not ignore the fact that Twitter allows you to engage with your customers, become a market leader in your industry, respond in real time to people’s needs, and monitor your brand. Don’t get crushed by your competition and left in the dust. You need a social media marketing strategy.

Case study: An Italian bike maker was able to monitor the brand and reach out to unhappy customers who were tweeting about the company. They also shared bike maps in Italy for the best biking day trips and epic rides. Customers loved it!

Best Buy created the Geek Squad and encourages employees to respond to customer technical questions. In fact, some of the employees were so good at tweeting that they now have thousands of followers and in the eye of the consumer Best Buy is a company that cares, a company that is engaged, and if you need an answer just tweet it out and you shall receive help. Customers love it and it builds loyality, a better brand, and overall increases your sales.

Practice Fusion a company in San Francisco that specializes in Electronic Medical Records understands the importance of social media and they tweet, use facebook, and engage their clients on a daily basis. In fact, you can’t go anywhere on the net looking for an EHR and not see them. They get it, they are everywhere and they are growing by leaps and bounds.

Still think Twitter is useless?

I want you to start seeing Twitter as a way of getting instant public messages out to a target audience, whether the recipients are friends, colleagues or potential customers. Here are just a few ways in which Twitter can help your business: (more…)

Only 90 million users doesn’t seem like much considering that Facebook has almost 800 million users.   Yet, after the announcement yesterday it is shocking because this has happened in a mere seven months. Last October they were at approximately 40 million and it has doubled since that time. There are predictions that Google+ will hit 400 million users by the end of 2012. Google also started requiring a Gmail account to set up a Google+ page, and a Gmail account for YouTube channels and other Google products versus just an email address. Thus, Google+ accounts are skyrocketing. However, a lot of these accounts are empty at the moment. Google forces you to get a Gmail account and then brings you to the Google+ page and suggests people for your circles. Another topic coming soon will be how will Google get these accounts active because Google is guaranteeing an increase in registered Google+ users but a lot are not active. If Google wants to collect valuable social data that they are after they are going to have to do more to get the masses to move on over and use Google+. But that is a topic for another article.

So What, Why Should I Care?

Google is your one stop source for everything you need to grow your business and you should care because these numbers are staggering and can not be ignored. I am a huge fan of Google as I use Gmail, Google Calendars, Google Voice, and Google documents. Even if you aren’t using Google+ yet, I bet you have used a Google product in the past, like Google search. Google is the power player when it comes to online search. There are a lot of other players but Google dominates this industry. “When a brand name becomes a verb, you know something big is happening.”  We Google everything and if your like me who or what have you Googled lately? ”   Let’s get back to using Google to “Jump-start Your Business” and get started with caring about Google+.
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DO YOU WANT A GOOGLE+ VANITY URL?

Do you have a Google+ page and want to promote it but can’t find out how to get a vanity URL? Instead you have to go old school, cut and painfully paste a long string of numbers everywhere you go? Well, there is a solution to this problem and you can get a Google+ vanity ULR, it just isn’t from Google.

In case you have noticed Google+ DOES NOT offer a vanity URL for your user profile or page which makes it difficult to share your page and Google+ profile with your friends and business associates. Facebook and Twitter offer them and you can change Twitter as much as you want but in Facebook you are set in stone and can not change your vanity URL EVER. This is frustrating and hard to accept when your business changes, grows, and transcends to new levels and you want your name to reflect your new image and brand. I wish Facebook would let you change it but they don’t and probably never will update this feature.

Google uses a super long string of numbers to determine users. For example, mine is (105080539454804207558) and I have to give people this address https://plus.google.com/u/0/b/105080539454804207558/. Google sure isn’t making it easy to meet someone and give them your easy to remember url. Why isn’t Google giving us vanity URL’s for our user profiles?

WHY IS GOOGLE MAKING IT DIFFICULT TO SHARE?

The reason that Google+ doesn’t include vanity URL’s is because spammers can figure out the address of millions of Google+ users since most of the Google+ accounts are linked to Gmail accounts.

Therefore, the painful problem exists. You don’t want to give people this long set of numbers on a napkin, or have it on your business card to find your profile. Worse yet, now you have to say I will email you my Google+ URL to everyone you want to add, or cutting and pasting your account in text messages so people can find your profile. This is so 1999. Ugh…

GET YOUR GOOGLE+ VANITY URL HERE!

Voila, the solution… (more…)

Have you tried logging in to the web and using Google or Wikipedia today? It is blacked out, and the Google logo is blacked out too as two very controversial anti-piracy bills are  making their way through U.S. Congress: Have you been seeing the Stop Online Piracy Act – SOPA and Protect IP Act (PIPA) posts from your friends on Twitter, Facebook, and me? Have you seen my new profile picture on Facebook? Are you wondering how it affects you and your business?

If SOPA passes it will be the end of the internet as we know it today. It is a detrimental law proposed by big business to stop online piracy. However, actually defining what online piracy is the scary part. There are a lot of “murky”  areas and this law is being proposed by individuals with money and power.

What about small businesses with limited resources? How do we fight back?  How do we defend ourselves if we find ourselves in hot water for “piracy” and these new laws?


What is a violation of online piracy? Who determines what? If you post a video on YouTube, create a parody discussing another persons work, or use free speech to talk about something like a show, a comic strip, an article, or another website, then are you violating the new law? (more…)

It took Google+ only 16 days to reach 10 million users. However, it took Facebook 852 days and Twitter 780 days to reach the same amount of users. Shocking! Of course, Google+ has the advantage in the social world because they already are the number one search engine, and they constantly challenge the norm and bring to market great resources that are FREE. Not to mention the pre-existing large userbase Google already has established. “Move over Bacon (Facebook)….there is something meatier.”
Seems to be an interesting debate going on… yes, Facebook is has over 750 million users but Google+ has over 65 million users within six months that have joined the site, but are there any proven strategies and, more importantly, best practices, in place yet? You betcha’..

Graph by Leon Haland Data by Paul Allen

My prediction is that Google+ will dominate and take over Facebook for business and I am excited. Why? Because I love google. It is fast. They have tons of resources to use and I am a google evangelist. (more…)

I love FREE things for my business and I am sure you do too. Some of you are probably already using this tool but for those of you that are utilizing these search engine google loving strategies and tools that are FREE. You have some homework to do. But don’t worry it is easy!

Are You Using Facebook to Increase Your Sales?

Do you want to ATTRACT CUSTOMERS, get MORE CLIENTS, and MAKE MORE MONEY?

Social Media Strategies for Your Company.

With an estimated 850 million users worldwide and major brands like Toyota, Ford, and Old Spice launching new products and sending people to their Facebook page versus their websites. I think that NOW is the TIME to get started on Facebook as part of your effective social media marketing plan for your start up business. Here are a few tips to get you started on Facebook.

Social media is a powerful tool and you can not ignore it anymore. I know that a lot of you feel overwhelmed, you don’t get the hype of social media and you might not understand how you can turn fans, and followers into paying customers.
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I am writing to you today because the New Year is right around the corner and it is time to start planning for next year. It is time to ELEVATE your business to the next level and I want to make sure that you are moving forward.

Have you been spinning your wheels lately? Do you feel that you lack focus? Do you feel frazzled? Perhaps you have BSO Syndrome. BSO what is that? I like to call it Bright Shiny Object syndrome in your business. You know that you need a Facebook page, a Twitter page, you need Podcasts, don’t forget about Google+ and now you have to be a video expert too. Oh my, and don’t forget about blogging, updating your LinkedIn profile, and staying fit during the holidays. It is no wonder that you feel frazzled, tired, and exhausted.

I want to tell you that is is easier then you think. (more…)