Last week, Pinterest introduced a feature that will make pinning even more useful. Product pins, such as clothing, will include a website, price and location to purchase, recipes will include instructions, ingredients, and cook time, movies will include a ratings, cast members and more. This information will be updated daily, so information is always accurate, and will be pulled directly from your site, through Pinterest, at NO FEE. This is a free feature that merchants should take full advantage of. See how…

How can your Pinterest business profile include rich pins? 

step 1 – prepare your eCommerce website with meta tags

step 2 – use the validation tool to test rich pins

step 3 – apply to get rich pins included on your business profile

Once you have completed all of these steps, and you are accepted, Pinterest will automatically pull relevant information from your website

Rich pins will only be visible with the ‘new look’. To get the new look click the Get it now button on the top of your home feed.

Word to the wise -

Pinterest does caution that due to the technical requirements (meta tags) a seasoned developer or someone with background knowledge of HTML would be helpful. 

How will this benefit your eCommerce site?

Pinterest not only appeals to B2C businesses but also B2B businesses. People spend more time on Pinterest than any other social network and the chances of conversion are even higher. Any company can prosper on Pinterest, you just have to have the right mindset and creativity to appeal to your target market. Social Media is larger than ever and they are only evolving. To convert that traffic into customers with long lasting relationships, get your social networks in order, if you haven’t already, they do apply to your business, no matter the industry.

Example) Say you own an Insurance Company and want to be on Pinterest, what could you possibly pin? Ideas: tips on how to take care of your home, pictures of homes, go green tips, cleaning tips, customer stories etc.

According to a 2012 Bizrate survey,

“69 percent of online consumers who visit Pinterest have found an item they’ve purchased or wanted to purchase as compared to only 40 percent of online consumers who visit Facebook.”

Bizrate found that 43 percent of Pinterest members stated that they use Pinterest to “associate with retailers or brands with which I identify,” compared to just 24 percent of Facebook users. 

This is the 4th Penguin update and it should be noted that this is not just a “data refresh” update but an algorithm update. What is the difference between them? Google’s head of Spam, Matt Cutts, explains the definitions of each on another of his blog posts.

Algorithm update: Typically yields changes in the search results on the larger end of the spectrum. Algorithms can change at any time, but noticeable changes tend to be less frequent.

Data refresh: When data is refreshed within an existing algorithm. Changes are typically toward the less-impactful end of the spectrum, and are often so small that people don’t even notice.

We can’t say that we are surprised, as we had a warning when Matt Cutts revealed his YouTube video on the list of 10 items to expect in the upcoming months. On the list was the Penguin 2.0 update, which is currently in full affect. What does the algorithm update entail and how will it affect you, the business owner?

The Google Algorithm, Penguin, was originally created in order to weed out black hat SEO’s and rewarding white hat SEO’s, with higher search results. Rather than heading for the hills, prepare for what may be coming your way. NOTE: If you are creating ethical, original, organic content and aren’t engaging in paid links, link exchanges or link farms you have nothing to fear. 

This algorithm update will focus on de-valuing poor, spammy links. Penguin 2.0 update will be a continuation of Penguin 1.0, which rolled out last April, in an attempt to weed out sites that are using an excess of on-off page factors that are considered “black hat” to Google.

Here are 7 things you can expect from Penguin 2.0 according to, www.ektron.com

1. Penguin will penalize those taking part in link farms, keyword stuffing etc. – if you are taking part of link schemes, taking part in link

2. Paid advertisements will stop receiving positive page rank

3. Queries with more spam surroundings will be monitored more strictly

4. See a site that is really spammy? Report it to Google Spam Report Form (but don’t think you can submit all of your competitors, Google will be watching you ;)

5. Hacked sites will receive more support

6. Identity will be authorized

7. No more of the same domain clustering in SERPS

read more here

Some, okay most of these, actually made me laugh out loud, I hope you enjoy my sense of humor. I think these are downright hilarious and creative. If you have ever worked, or been active in the online marketing industry you will understand these jokes. Here are the funniest memes I found on Pinterest, I hope they make you giggle as much as they did for me, enjoy!

*Note* Sources to most of these found here.

What is Yahoo’s goal? To attract younger generations and make up for lost time of not entering mobile/tablet and social networking quicker. Yahoo’s Chief Executive Marissa Mayer wants to bring new life into the company, and is starting to do so by buying small start ups, Tumblr being the largest investment thus far. The question that always revolves around social networks is how to turn that traffic into profits. Although Yahoo does have a healthy following of 700 million, I’m curious as to how Yahoo will convert those users into profits. ”Per the agreement and our promise not to screw it up, Tumblr will be independently operated as a separate business,” Yahoo said in a statement. Is Tumblr worth the $1 billion dollar investment? Will traffic convert to profits in the short or long term?

Facebook - We refer to Facebook as your Virtual Refer a Friend  Word of Mouth advertising and more… (My neighbor likes them, so why not try it)…. Facebook is all about branding your company through posts that relate within your industry.  Rather than pushing products down your viewer’s throats, give them a fresh post that is “sharable”. Remember, those coming to Facebook are there for leisure reasons and they don’t want to read a sales pitch  so don’t give them one! Want to see a successful business Facebook post example? Check out PromGirl.com. Not only do they include their products (in a fun way) but they also engage with their audience. Their post is fun, interactive and promotes sharing/commenting, which is always the ultimate goal!

Facebook Post

Polyvore – Fashionistas are all over this place! Remember those “paper dolls” you used to play with when you were young? Well Polyvore is similar except you can create visual sets with the click of a mouse. Not only are your items visible to the large amount of active users on Polyvore, but your items are also used in other user’s sets which is giving your items even more visibility. Did I forget to mention that your items may be purchased right from the site by customers?

What business is successful on Polyvore? Old Navy. They run contests, which engage their audience and require them to use there items in there sets. Not only do they use Old Navy items but they are also required to use the “Old Navy” Logo within their set (see below) Word of Mouth advertising at it’s finest!

Old Navy Polyvore Set

Pinterest - Visual Stimulation is the key here! Engage your customers with how they can incorporate your products/services with a visual image. Did you know the average Pinterest user spends 1 hour and 17 minutes per visit, according to jobstock.com! That is almost double the average time users spend on Twitter (which is 36 minutes  and Facebook (which is 12.1 minutes). If your business isn’t on Pinterest yet, it should be! Check out a great article of the top 10 social media companies on Pinterest here

Petplan Pet Insurance has a large following and engagement rate on their Pinterest boards (see below). The key to a successful Pinterest Business profile is unique pins that you find a way to relate to your industry. Create consistent boards that have a similar theme throughout and be consistent with the amount of times you post per week, you will gain a large following along with branded visibility throughout the mini search engine.

Twitter – Can you get your message out in 140 characters? (we just did) To be successful on Twitter, your message must be short, concise and to the point. Find a way to keep your message as a “one liner”. This will catch the eye of your followers and recruit new followers. Use trending hash tags, follow businesses in your industry and even re-tweet your competitors! (Bet you haven’t heard that one before). Reach out to your followers by messaging them with the @example. Target finds success online by incorporating different elements of their store to appeal to all buyers. They use @ symbols, popular hash tags all while extending their brand identity.

Whats New

Vine – You think 140 characters is short, try a 6 second video! Fun 6 sec videos to get your users attention fast! Stream it on your site. Vine’s 6 second videos force your creativity wheels to spin. Host giveaways or contests for engagement with your followers. Remember a lot can happen in 6 seconds: you can read (or delete) an email, text your dad or snap a photo. Let your marketing spread itself by creating unique content filled videos, this is the future! Start your Vine profile at the app store.

Toyota takes an interesting take on their Vine video. They are playfully showcasing their products, while keeping their viewer interested. This is what we call “sharable” content, meaning followers will be prompted to give their take by commenting or even sharing the video which is …. word of mouth marketing!

The following is laid out in more detail on Search Engine Land.

1. Penguin Update – internally named Panda 2.00 – this will impact more than the first round of changes

2. Native Advertising Spam – breaks Google’s quality guidelines

3. Spam and Black Hat SEO platforms will be closely monitored

4. Going Upstream - Matt Cutts said they want to go more “upstream” to deter link spammers and the value of the links they are acquiring from the sources

5. Link Analysis – Google notes they are in the early stages of sophisticated link analysis tools for webmasters

6. Improving Hacked Sites – warnings and removal will be done to ensure hacked sites don’t show up in SERPS

7. Influence Boost – those sites that have more of an authority in certain industries will notice an improvement in rankings

8. Panda Empathy – Google mentions to some extent that they will find a way to lighten the Panda load, as most affected cases were borderline

9. Domain Crowding in SERPS – those that are on the 1st page SERPS multiple times will be more evenly distributed. However, you may still see clusters on the 2nd page

10. Webmaster Communication – Google is constantly trying to improve communication via webmasters. More detailed examples will be present for webmasters

Listen to the video here!

Why reviews are so important

Before purchasing a product, trying a new restaurant or hair salon, many are hitting the web to do some background research before actually making their purchase decision. These customers are searching reviews and experiences others had with the product or service. Reviews are the ticket to making that sale, they can make or break your business. You may have testimonials on your website from satisfied customers, which is also important information to have available when making a buying decision, but it’s reviews that people trust most. Buyers want to hear from real people, people like them, that had either a pleasant or unpleasant experience with a product or service. They trust others, even if they are total strangers, more than they do the business or any glossy brochures. Take these reviews as feedback and alter your business to accommodate customer’s needs, wants, and requests. Encourage satisfied customers to review your services or products on popular review sites such as Google + and Yelp. Give them an incentive to do so such as a freebie, discount or coupon. This will encorage them to spread the word about your business

What to do with a bad review

It’s every business owner’s worst nightmare, to see a dissatisfied customer, and have their negative review online for all to see. Remember, there will always be negative comments by others. Instead of deleting the post right away, or asking the individual to remove it, leave it. It makes your business look “real”. Instead, respond to the unhappy customer and let them know your sorry and you are willing to give them _________ for free to make up for your mistake. Use this as feedback for how your business can alter to make it better for other customers.

1. How do I get started?

2. What type of ad should I do?

3. Will I receive ROI from this?

Lets start from the beginning, what are Facebook Ad Campaigns?

According to Facebook.com, “Facebook Ads are paid messages coming from businesses and they can include social context about friends. People who like your Page spend an average of 2 times more as your customers than people who aren’t connected to you on Facebook. Learn how to reach the right people using ads.”

How do I get started? 

There are several types of Facebook Ads all of which depend on the objective you are trying to reach with your Facbook Page. Before deciding which type is right for you, set goals, or better yet objectives, to really pin point exactly what you would like to achieve. Once you have done that, it’s time to dig into the nitty gritty of exactly how you will run your ad.

What type of ad is right for my business? 

If you want to gain more of a following … If you have built up your Facebook presence with engaging posts, interesting content and somewhat of a following but would like even more followers then an ad that shows up in either the newsfeed or right hand column may be the right choice. This is your basic ad that you typically see show up on either the right hand side or within the newsfeed.

TIP: Make sure the image you choose is clean, simple and bright (treat it as a billboard)

If you want to engage your audience … If you are happy with your following and would rather engage the audience you have, which may bring this attention to others who don’t like your page and in return may possibly give you a larger following, then a promoted post or sponsored story may be the right fit. You know those days where the light bulb turns on and Boom you thought up an original idea for a Facebook post.Whether it be an image, quote, statistic, or video it probably captured the attention of your audience and resulted in comments, shares or likes. If you want to capture this glorious feeling over and over again then you may want to promote that clever post.

What is a promoted post or sponsored story? 

Promoted posts appear higher in News Feed, so there’s a better chance your audience will see them. There are two ways to promote a post: from your personal account and from your Facebook Page. A promoted post will ensure that a certain amount of people see the post show up in their newsfeed (even if they don’t like your page) depending on the amount of money you are willing to spend. Obviously the greater amount of money spent, the larger amount of eyes will see your post, or story. 

How much will this cost me?

If you are a smaller business you are probably on a budget and want to stick to that budget. You may be wondering how much Facebook ads are going to cost you and what you will receive from it.  According to Facebook, “When you run your ad or sponsored story you will only be charged for the number of impressions (CPM) or clicks it receives. The amount that you pay will never be more than your daily or lifetime budget and there are no additional fees associated with running ads or sponsored stories on Facebook.” With that being said you are probably wondering what daily or lifetime budgets are? Within Facebook Ads you (the business owner or page manager) may decide how much money you would like to spend each day for your campaign  Facebook will automatically stop showing your ad once the daily budget has been reached. You also have the option of choosing a lifetime budget, which means you may choose a dollar amount you would like to spend over the campaign time period.

How long should I run my campaign? 

You may run the campaign for as little or as long as a time as you would like. If you are new to this start with a 1-4 day campagin, just to get a feel for it. There is no limit and it won’t hurt you if you don’t run a campaign for long periods of time. You may stop the campaign whenever you please.

Why is it important to run a Facebook Ad Campaign?

The world on online marketing today requires much information to be process through real people, in real time, hence social media. In order to build an engaging platform on followers it may be relevant to run a Facebook Ad Campaign  Why? If you have tons of followers on your page but none are engaging with your statuses, sharing your posts or talking about you then there isn’t much added value. Sure followers are important but it’s more important to get your name ‘out there’ all while encouraging word of mouth advertising, which is now usually done through social media.

Will I receive ROI from running a Facebook Ad Campaign? 

The Ads Manager has just been updated to track performance, goals and calculating ROI. The changes are rolling out over the next few weeks and will allow business owners, and page managers, the ability to calculate ROI much easier than ever before. There will be options within the ad manager to choose to use “conversion tracking” which will automatically show resulting conversions. You may also see “cost per conversion” for each add. This will show you the value of your ad campaign and whether it is worth it for you to run one.

1. Your at fault: If you really did, or didn’t, make a mistake and your customer is pointing out the flaw for you. Make sure to reply to them with a, “Thank you for pointing that out, we will be sure to address it.” The worst thing you could do is ignore the issue. Without intentionally trying so, you may have offended a customer with a certain post, image or question. If you have received a comment such as this, make sure to address it. The worst thing you could do is ignore. This will make it look like you don’t care about your customers and you are just trying to ignore it all together. As awkward as it is, apologize and give an explanation why you did so, then send them a direct message to avoid more conflict on your FB page. hint, hint: offer a free product, or two. 

2. Negative critics: There are always people that only see the negatives in life. For those that are filling up your page with nothing nice to say, address them through a private message. Offer them a discount, a way you can help, or a free product. If you are trying to fix the issue vs. sweeping it under the rug they may be more willing to continue business with you. However  don’t delete their comments. Although negative comments aren’t exactly desirable for page admins, they are feedback. Take a negative customer and turn them into a loyal customer by addressing their feedback correctly. 

3. Spam: If you have received a spam comment from a competitor or a customer trying to make you look bad for another company, consider this spam. If you would like to give a reply, go ahead. But this is a time where deleting the comment might be to your benefit. This is something that you definitely don’t want floating around on your business page.

Social Media is a new way of thinking. In other words, forget about what you know when it comes to traditional advertising and re-think your online social media strategy, because it is different. Don’t have a clue with what your doing? Think about when you are on your personal profile and what you like (and what you don’t like) to see. Obviously, don’t post things you wouldn’t want to see. Keep these 25 DO’s in mind.

1. Be patient

2. Show your creative side

3. Create unique content

4. Give credit to sources you use

5. Ask questions

6. Run contests

7. Run polls

8. Create videos

9. Upload “behind the scenes” images

10. Comment on others posts

11. Share others content on your profile

12. Be clever

13. Create infographics

14. Connect your social networks

15. Upload your blog posts

16. Keep negative comments up

17. Add competitors

18. Say “Thank You”

19. Encourage feedback

20. Post several times a week

21. Be mobilly friendly

22. Measure ROI

23. Give away freebies

24. Run ad – campaigns

25. Post relatable  content

With the use of Pinterest analytics, business owners, bloggers and organizations will no longer need to worry what people are pinning from their website, because it will all be available for them to view. This useful, free, tool will measure pins that are originally pinned from the actual site to help business owners know what  pinners like. They will then be able to tailor pins to fit those needs and be able to track progress. Insights will be measured by the following (see bullet points below) Although this tool is very useful in the eye of business owners it still doesn’t go into depth as deeply as sites such as Pinfluencer and Curalate.

• unique pinners - number of people who have pinned directly from the site
• impressions - number of people who have seen the pins
• referral traffic - number of people who have visited a site from Pinterest
• popular pins - most repinned, clicked and most recent pin

Do you want to sign up for analytics? To get analytics …

if you haven’t already, create  business profile

verify your profile follow with the steps found here.

switch to the new look, by clicking  on “analytics” in the drop down menu

Mark Zuckerberg voiced Facebook’s goals for the new newsfeed which include: richer story design, choice of different feeds, and a consistent experience on mobile devices and desktop web browsers. ”What we’re trying to do is give everyone in the world the best personalized newspaper we can,” Zuckerberg said. “The best personalized newspaper should be intricate, rich, and engaging.” Facebook will also be featuring bookmarks saying they are “more relevant for people” and will show up on every page. Greg Marra, product manager at Facebook said, ”Bookmarks are an important way for people to re-engage with apps, and we’ve made improvements so people can quickly access the games and apps they use the most … These ever-present bookmarks will also display the notification counter from the most recent game requests to help drive re-engagement with players.”

The same look and feel is available on desktop, tablet and mobile check out these examples that Facebook posted  If you would like to give the new look a test drive add yourself to the waiting list, here.

credit: Facebook

Here is what Facebook is talking about when they say they will be emphasizing images while using brighter, more vibrant colors. Images will appear larger in your newfeed than previously.

Credit: Facebook

Music pages will appear more simple and visually appealing. Friends that like the same artist will appear on the left hand column through images, and to me it looks a little similar to another social site … Google +.

Credit: Facebook

Desktops, tablets and mobile devices will all have a streamlined visual appearance  Instead of different looking versions of Facebook’s newsfeed, they will all be the same, regardless of what device is being used.

Learning Google’s search methods is interesting but what really caught my eye was how the Google team deals with spam. If you look through the infographic where it says, “we fight spam”, there is an option “see what we’ve removed lately”. A new screen opens indicating 52 examples of what Google consider spam and has removed from SERPS.

Google also explains how they take action against spam and how they “attempt to let the site owner know”. They also give the site owner a chance to remove the problem and let Google know for an opportunity to be re-indexed by Google. Who else found this infographic to be quite interesting?

Remember Matt Cutt’s video, “How search works” from 2010?

One way you can easily differentiate your business from competitors is through the use of exceptional customer service. If you have customers that are active on Twitter, than opening a Twitter account solely dedicated to customer service may be what gives you a competitive edge over rivals. Tweets can be sent at any time of the day and usually with quick responses, much more convenient than going through automated answering machines and waiting on phone calls for hours on end.

1. Use the speed of Twitter to your advantage: The last thing customers want to do is spend time waiting on the phone to talk to a customer service rep. Use digital customer service with the speed of Twitter to your advantage by replying to customers quickly. Not only will this take the bad taste of customer service out of customer’s mouths but it will wow your customers with the speediness of service you deliver. Zappos has a strong Twitter strategy with an account dedicated 24/7 to just customer service.

2. Don’t ignore Direct Messages (DMs): Whether we like it or not we are living in a digital age. Every time a tweet, Facebook comment, or Instagram update is posted it has the ability to affect your brand’s reputation, in a good or bad way. Many times businesses will ignore Twitter DM’s but, these are messages that should be taken seriously. Sure, any business has complainers but get back to them in a timely manner and give assistance/customer service through DMs, you may be surprised with their attitude change.

3. The power of the @ symbol: If there is a problem with one individual use the @ symbol. Not only will you personalize your service for that one person but it will show that you care about every single client. Use this to your advantage. Continue asking how things are working and check up on them. If there is a large widespread problem that is affecting all customers, tweet about it and then reply with the @symbol to follow up on the problem.

4. Help people that aren’t your customers: How can you help people that aren’t even your customers? Many questions are floating in Twitter that are within your niche. Answer them, but not directly with your company. This is a great way to take on new clients, showcase your brand, and exercise your knowledge. Many questions are floating in Twitter, find them and answer!

Infographics are easy to create, effective, and useful for your readers. They are simple, to the point and commonly shared because of their visual appeal and added knowledge. Want to increase your following on Pinterest or create an even stronger brand awareness? Create infographics and keep these tips in mind.

• Keep it simple and to the point: social users are browsing on social networks for leisure. Create an infographic that is visually appealing and includes a short “tid bit” of useful information. Take fitsugar for example, they use a simplistic approach to a simple workout and include a bit of useful information
• Infographics that are motivating are highly successful on visual social sites such as Pinterest. People want to be motivated and look to social sites to help do such. Create interesting infographics that include a motivational saying, quote or interesting fact.

photo credit

photo credit

• Use color, humor or statistics! Remember, those on social sites are there to catch up with friends, meet new people and share interesting content. Give your viewers a reason to share with these types of infographics

• Create step by step instructions or showing how to do something. The ability to see your whole blog post or story in one photo is easy to follow, take in and share! Show how to bake a pie, perform CPR or do a workout, these are the types of images that are shared, liked and commented on and they create high traffic and virality

Squidoo is beneficial for SEO purposes because of the ability to create quality content and incorporate your links (your blog, website etc.) When adding these links within your Squidoo lens there is more weight added to it by search engines like Google and Bing, which helps boost your rankings. When adding links within your Squidoo lens, especially your blog post, Squidoo continues on updating that information based on your most recent posts.

If you are new to the Squidoo world or would just like an update on Squidoo practice, follow along with this beginners guide and tips

Register for your free account at Squidoo.com or log in if you already have an account

Get started: Click “start a lens” to create a lens

Dashboard: allows you to view all past published lenses and where are ranked within Squidoo.

Help & Tips: need help, have a question or looking for some inspiration?

Once you have been logged in your will be redirected to your “dashboard” where you will see awards you have won and your activity stream.

Lenses: here you can see your past lenses and where they rank within Squidoo

Activity: you will see the activity going on throughout Squidoo and points are associated with that activity (see points on left side)

Items: The more points you earn, the higher you level up, the more items you unlock. Some items are extra tools for your lenses, others are opportunities for exposure, and others.

Quests: you may eventually be invited on a SquidQuest, a chance to do something fun and earn points or prizes or just learn something new

Stats: here your able to see stats regarding your lenses this shows how much money you have made, how many lenses you have created, etc.

Comments: check out comments from other viewers here

Settings: change settings such as usernames and passwords here. You may also link to your other popular social networks!

What’s your lens going to be about? 

Type in single topic that your page or “lens” will be about. You may talk about anything you have some knowledge about whether that be a sport, hobby or even a product/service your selling. Keep in somewhat general but make it personalized and unique.

Now, title your page where it says “Lens title” for this example I choose healthy eating

Pick your topic: choose the drop down menu and select the category that best suits your topic, continue choosing categories that apply best to your topic

then click continue. In this instance “healthy eating” had already been chosen by another Squidoo-er so I had to be more specific.

Now choose the best “tags” or keywords that describe your topic. This enables search engines to track specific keywords that relate to your topic. Choose wisely and make sure they are related to the topic you are talking about, not just your company.

You will now be directed to this screen. The red arrow indicates where your title will show up that you have created in previous slides (here you may decide to alter it if you wish but it won’t change the custom Squidoo URL)

First add a introduction about what your page will generally cover, without going into to much detail. Add an image and keywords that you would like to use for the post within the description. The more unique content you create, the better.

Below you will see “new text module” you can add as many of these as you would like. They are basically short blog posts that describe your topic in even more detail. I also refer to them as “widgets”. But ultimately you will add an image and a long description along with a title helping to describe what the lens topic is that you chose.

This red arrow is pointing to the different “modules” you may add to your lens (kind of like widgets) Click on “browse modules” to see all of the options. There are tons ranging from social to RSS feeds. Feel free to add links from your blog. Add as many modules you would like, the more the better.

Once you have completed choosing and filling out your modules refer to the top red arrow. Here you are able to customize your lens with a theme, bio, portrait of yourself, and then you will see the option “how do you want to get paid”

Getting Paid on Squidoo: yes, Squidoo pays it’s users. By clicking on the drop down option “how do you want to get paid”  you will see that you may donate to a charity, donate to Squidoo or earn cash. To learn more about this refer here.

Once you have completed everything click “PUBLISH” you will be able to share your masterpieces on other parts of the web and could possibly earn awards from Squidoo for creating so many lenses. It is worth your time to create lenses on Squidoo, it really does make a difference with your SEO !

1. Harlem Shake (dance) is a dance that has originated in Harlem NY in 1981

2. Harlem Shake (song) 2001 song

3. Harlem Shake (meme) internet sensation, video that has gone viral

Harlem Shake meme (videos) begin with one person dancing along for the fits 15 seconds or so in either a mask or helmet (don’t ask me why because I have no idea). The people around them ignore as if they can’t see the person dancing. Then, all of a sudden the whole audience begins doing the harlem shake to the catchy music that is played during every video.

Not only has is the harlem shake for people, websites are now able to do the harlem shake as well! How? Simply by adding the URL of your choice to this website. Check out the videos below and choose your favorite version of the harlem shake.

Pinterest is really beginning to hit it big, so big that it is almost larger than popular social media site Twitter. Believe it or not a year ago Pinterest only had 23 employees and had no idea how large they would become. Now, Pinterest is generating, at minimum, 25 million unique visitors per month. According to Converto, Pinterest’s revenue per click is higher than Facebook’s at 18.5 cents per first touch versus 14 cents. With the added features of business pages, secret boards and mobile apps Pinterest has gotten even more popular. There is a redesign in the works and I’m hoping the redesign will evaluate and add a few more ways Pinterest could be even bigger and better.

Surprisingly users are not able to search within their own pins. Personally, this is frustrating for me. If you want to find a recipe or craft that has stuck in your mind it is difficult to find because you have to go back and look through your whole board. It would be nice if you were able to search within your own pins. According to Repinly, a Pinterest directory that tracks pins, pinners and trends, popular pinners have each created around 35 boards and pinned 2,757 photos on average. That’s a lot of photos and pins to go through if your looking for one pin in particular!

The ability to move pins within boards, would also be an awesome added feature that would be convenient for many. Once boards are filled with many pins it’s hard to maneuver and know where things are. Being able to organize pins in a somewhat logical position would be a nice feature to utilize. For business pages this would be especially useful. Instead of having loads of company pins next to repins it would be optimal to mix them up so they are nicely placed.

YouTube will be launching a paid subscription pilot program which will be developed by a chosen content creators. These channels will charge users anywhere form $1 to $5 per month to gain access. Ad Age says about the YouTube paid subscriptions;

“YouTube is treating paid subscriptions as an experiment. much like video rentals when it began in 2010. The initial group of channels will be small, likely about 25 at the outset. The revenue split from subscriptions is expected to be similar to the 45-55 split that is common for ads on YouTube. Partners will also have the option to include ads in their pay channels, but its unclear what form those will take.”

Would you pay for a YouTube subscription? Many are saying, “No Way!”, but why not? Since YouTube has always been free the thought of paying seems ridiculous. But, in reality we have always paid for content creators weather through magazine subscriptions, cable, newspapers or books, so why not YouTube? Well, I think the reasoning is because most of the videos that go viral and catch many people’s eyes are those that don’t include any type of talent. When thinking of YouTube many automatically think of videos of people falling off of treadmills or those looking for their 15 minutes of fame. But, YouTube has some knowledgeable and sophisticated videos that would be worth paying for.

YouTube will be rolling out paid subscriptions soon, probably around Spring time. They will hand pick content creators for paid subscriptions that they feel will give them the best value. I wouldn’t mind paying for a YouTube subscription if it meant I could opt out of all the advertisements. As of right now, advertising YouTube’s main way to make a profit but, those that sign up for a subscription will up their profits, meaning they could tone down some of the advertisements. Time will tell what subscriptions will entail. Join me in this discussion by adding your two cents in the comments!

There has been much controversy over how to physically measure ROI on Social Media and whether it is even possible. Many are skeptical about how accurately measure return on investment (ROI)  when it is based on intangibles such as likes and comments. According to Social Media Today, “70% of online businesses that utilize social media as part of their marketing drive don’t bother to measure ROI.” Although measuring ROI on social media may be a time consuming task, it shouldn’t be ignored. It’s important to know what is working, where customers are active, what they are sharing and how your business can improve. How to easily achieve that? Follow along.

Google Analytics is not only a crucial tool to use for search engine optimization purposes, but also social media initiatives. Google Analytics integrates social data to provide information about your website – which is the center of your brand. Social Data available on Analytics includes network referrals, pages, plugins, and visitor flow which help to give important insight to knowledge and where to improve social initiatives.

One thing to keep in mind when planning out your social strategy is to create goals. Create key performance indicators (KPIs) either measured through purchases, emails, demo requests  shares, downloads or time spent on website. Google Analytics social reports considers KPIs to be reflected as goals. Analytics allows social media managers to determine how valuable social networking is to eCommerce transactions.

Google states, “content that gets shared, wins.” Comparison charts and reports allows managers to see which posts have been shared, which buttons were used, and where the content has been shared (Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest etc.) This information will help to measure value, ROI and insights to why social media is so important and plays a close relationship to organic sharing of content.

Weather we are ready for the change or not, Google is not new to springing changes with little to no forewarning. Larry Page, Google co-founder, has stated that he wishes more web designers would build for mobile, as that’s the future. This clearly is suggesting that mobile devices are the future. We will keep you updated on the changes to come.

Google describes the AdWords Update as “More relevance, better results”. Susan Wojcicki, SVP of Advertising at Google said, “We want to provide the best search results for users regardless of where they are and what device they are using.” This change will ultimately simplify the advertising process across multiple devices. This update is also allowing managers to set different bids based on location, time of day and device type, all within one campaign. Increased mobile and tablet usage is allowing businesses to stretch their imagination, big ideas, and advertisements even further. The new AdWords update will begin updating immediately and will be fully integrated by the middle of 2013.

These simplicity changes sound like a useful and great idea. Why not clump all devices together and run one campaign vs. running multiple campaigns based on different devices? Although this may seem like a grand idea, some aren’t buying it. In a world of transition from desktops to mobile devices there is a difference in value depending on the device. Clicks from different devices results in different conversion rates, and return on investment. By clumping all of these devices together we are going to lose the value we find in different devices and in turn going to lose the ability to track our clients and really get to know them. I guess time will tell if this update will be beneficial or not.

Businesses are now forced to create creative, eye catching advertisements in order to reach out to target customers. Numerous sources have noted that the average person is exposed to 1,500-3,000 online advertisements per day. Consumers are tired of traditional advertising and now want the marketer to accommodate their needs, wants and personalized agenda, which is harder to do than it seems. A study by comScore and Starcom MediaVest found that 84% percent of Internet users never click on an ad. With numbers such as these it’s difficult for businesses to stand out from the marketing “white noise”. So what should you do to help differentiate yourself among the cluster of online advertisements? Follow these tips to stand out among the marketing flood of online advertisers.

Tip #1: Stop Being Annoying - The last thing customers want to view is annoying, pushy advertisements. If you want to stand out amidst the large amount of advertisers keep your advertisement funny, catchy, unique and eye catching. Just as TV commercials, we tend to tune them out and change the channel, same goes for online advertising. Don’t make me turn the channel.

Tip #2: Don’t create it yourself - As the business owner, you are the worst person to create the advertisement because you are the only one who will see it the way you do. Instead, hire people, or ask people who have an open perspective and ideas, about what your trying to sell. Take these suggestions realistically and utilize them.

Tip #3: Go Mobile - More than ever, customers are going to view your website, social accounts etc. on their smartphone. Make sure your advertisement is mobile friendly, you are going to reach a much larger audience if you are both mobile and online friendly.

Instagram photos instantly portray your business visually to followers. This is an opportunity to showcase your brand and what your business is all about. Take advantage of the Instagram web and let your images speak for themselves. Keep your descriptions short and precise and your images visually appealing. Add photos straight from your website or an insider view of  your employees working. Don’t be afraid to add extra information about the company through your visual descriptions.

Many businesses are creating contests through their social media sites in order to gain new followers and engage with their current audience. Instagram is no stranger to social contests and is a great social network to use to not only leverage new Instagram followers, but to also gain new followers on other social networks. Encourage an engaging social contest that drives traffic to your website by giving a fun prize as incentive. Have followers upload videos, photos or stories, follow your profile or visit your website for a way to enter the contest. Be sure to use a third party app, as many social networks, Facebook especially, has very strict rules on this. Be sure to read these before pursing a contest.

Link your Instagram profile to big social sites such as Facebook, Twitter, or Google +. Add the Instagram app to each social site so that it is visible to your followers that you  active on Instagram. Add social buttons to your blog, website and product pages to ensure high visibility and easy access for your customers. Word of mouth advertising is the driver of social media, so if you want your products to travel through word of mouth, have social buttons easily accessible.

Your companies blog plays an important role to your online marketing success. If your business doesn’t have a blog, I suggest creating one and posting consistently on it. Not only does it showcase your business even further than the website and social media accounts, but it also gives an inside view of who your business is. Use your blog as a marketing tool and blog about upcoming events, promotion of products (or services), expertise, volunteer work your company does etc… New to the blogging world? Keep these 5 tips in mind when blogging to achieve a blogging victory!

1. Write With Your Audience In Mind: As business owners it’s easy to talk to your audience rather than with your audience. Write with the intention of benefiting your customer and talk on their level. Remember to always post relevant content that applies within your industry.

2. Don’t Forget About Search Engines! Along with writing in the same mindset as your audience, you want to also keep search engines in mind. Remember there are two audiences reading your blog; humans and search bots (engines). Update your blog consistently and include relevant keywords into your blog posts, titles and tags.

3. Socially Share Your Posts: Engaging with your audience is crucial in today’s online world. Share your blog posts via your social networks and encourage likes/comments/shares. Ask questions and keep your posts filled with rich content.

4. Write List-Style Posts: list style posts are popular with readers (hence this list post ;)) They are easy to scan and tell a reader exactly what is within the content.

5. Follow Influential Blogs: following influential blogs that are within your industry provide multiple benefits. Read and comment on their blog posts and link to them in your own. You never know, they may return the favor and this will show you readers who your company looks up to and who it is influenced by.

Running a Facebook Ad Campaign not only helps generate higher revenues, but it also widens your engaged audience with whom are interested in your products and could lead to higher sales. 

There are a few different ways Facebook Ads can be created. Facebook has been undergoing some major changes as of lately so creating an ad is easier than ever before. Recently, Facebook revised it’s advertising platform to make the creation of ads and sponsored stories more convenient. So how do you know if you should create a promoted post or a sponsored story? Is there a difference? Yes, there is a difference, read on…

Sponsored Facebook Ads: businesses that create these pay Facebook to deliver to a specific niche of people. These are the posts that show up in your news feed along with the right hand side of your profile. When creating a Facebook ad You are given the choice to place your ad in the news feed or on the right hand side

Promoted Posts: Facebook allows you to promote a post that is already visible on your business profile, and or, one that you newly create. Click on “promote” on the left of post, or on the bottom of your already visible post. You will be promoted to choose your target market and daily budget. This is all done with the click of a button

More people, on more devices, more than anywhere else are using Facebook. The average person spends 6.35 hours per month on Facebook, compared to 3.2 hours on Google and 2.07 on Yahoo. Not only are a large segment of people active on Facebook for large amounts of time on their desktop computer but also on their phones.

As I mentioned earlier, Facebook allows you to break down your target market by demographic, social, personal etc. What other type of advertising medium allows you these types of specifics? It’s easy to complain about the extra money that social media can cost but compared to some traditional advertising, TV  radio, outdoor, it is exceptionally affordable. And you are guaranteed the presence towards your specific target market. I don’t know any other advertising that is as easy, precise and affordable.

If you haven’t already heard the controversy or chatter about Twitter’s newest release, Vine, I’m here to fill you in. The iOS app lets users capture and share short videos via Twitter. Some have named Vine, ”Instagram For Video” and it’s just as easy to use as Instagram. In true Twitter fashion videos are only allowed to be 6 seconds long, which is just enough time to capture the moment. Download the app here.

Once your app is downloaded hit the camera icon, in the upper right hand corner, and use your finger to start capturing video. It will only record when your finger is touching the screen. Once you follow the prompts your images are looped together to create a short video. You can create as many images as you want to create an in depth sequence. I have had Vine for about a day now and I have to admit I was a little skeptical of it. But, once you get into it it’s really interesting what people come up with. There are many creative videos and it’s neat what people think of. I think many will be spending just as much time on Vine as they do other photo sharing apps, there is lots of potential and room to grow here. Currently, Vine is free and only available for iPhone, Android is coming soon. Have you downloaded the next big thing?

The biggest advertising day of the year is approaching quickly. Superbowl Sunday is this Sunday February3, 2013. According to the Wall Street Journal a 30 second commercial slot is averaging around $3.8 million, up from $3.5 million last year. Advertisers are finding additional ways to advertise during the big game and it includes the use of social media. Large companies that have proven huge success during Superbowl ads include Volkswagen, Doritos, Wonderful Pistachios, and Bud Light. Among the large companies there are new emerging businesses that are hoping to seek the same level of success after airing for the first time during the big game. With over 110 million viewers, marketers are getting ready for large profit margins and many eyes viewing and engaging in their commercial.

Big time Superbowl advertiser, Anheuser-Busch has some ideas up their sleeves. Although $3.8 million dollars isn’t much money to Anheuser-Busch, they need to incorporate social media into their Superbowl marketing plan if they want to avoid being overshadowed by other advertisers. This year, Bud Light will be incorporating social media into their advertising scheme, as they did last year. Anheuser-Busch is hoping to amp up advertising before the big game even begins through the use of Twitter and special hashtags such as  #makeitplatinum, #tasteis, and #herewego. A-B experimented with social media last year and it proved much to success. Although they didn’t go into much detail they said profit margins were up and the engagement levels of fans was apparently larger. In the hopes of gaining that same recognition A-B will also be incorporating the emerging newly made over MySpace.

Bud Light has decked out a New Orleans hotel into a Bud Light Hotel and will sponsor a Facebook Contest to find a Bud Light Hotel Correspondent. Bud Light is also sponsoring concerts by Flo Rida, Pitbull and Stevie Wonder which they will broadcast through Myspace. The power of social media is strong and companies would be smart to incorporate it with their Superbowl marketing initiatives. Sure, broadcasting advertising commercials during the Superbowl guarantees millions of active viewers, but that is available daily through social sites such as Pinterest, Facebook and Twitter.

Here is a Bud Light Commerical that is advertising the use of social media and their sponsored Twitter Hashtags

1. No Strategy: This is a common mistake when it comes to posting on Social Media. You need to know what you are trying to accomplish, where and how you will talk about it. Post at high traffic times such as evenings and weekends (those are usually the highest traffic times across all social networks) Create a content calendar to help you achieve your goals and plan out your month of postings so they are relevant.

2. Posting Irrelevant Information: make sure you aren’t posting information that isn’t related to your industry. This is where one needs to be creative in their thinking. If you own a carpet cleaning business post information about carpet cleaning tips, how often to replace carpet and different fabrics to the industry. Think creatively and post content that is related to your business.

3. Not Promoting Blog Posts: utilize your social media accounts to their fullest potential by promoting your blog content. Why not? Those that are following you are obviously interested in your business so let them see more of you. This will bring more followers to your blog and let your followers see another side of your business.

4. Not Using Hashtags on Twitter: Take the time to employ hashtags and trending topics into your tweets. This improves the searchability of your tweets and

categorizes them.

5. Not Utilizing Each Account Properly: every social media network is different; know what to apply where. Use hash-tags and short, witty posts on Twitter, visuals on Pinterest and unique content on Facebook. Inform yourself of basics on each site.

6. Focusing on the #’s: It’s easy to get caught up in the vanity metrics of social media (how many followers, friend requests and repins). Those are important metrics to keep in mind but don’t over think it. Look at the numbers that really matter: engagement rate, fans that are talking and sharing your information with their friends.

7. Being Artificial: users go on their social networks to converse and interact with one another. They aren’t there to read a script or a phony sales pitch. Keep your brand in mind but talk on a users level. If you wouldn’t say it in real conversation, don’t say it online.

8. Not Engaging: it tends to be a one way conversation when it comes to social media, which is a big no, no. Don’t talk at your followers, talk with them. Engage them in conversation and ask them questions. Give them something to respond too.

9. Not Being Clear: most of us don’t have much time to spend sitting online. Make your posts short and to the point. If your posts book length, it’s not going to get read. Don’t complicate your users, use vocabulary they understand.

As predicted, social media has blown up and is now a large, if not the largest, piece of the SEO pie. If your business isn’t part of the social media realm, then you are missing out on large profits, converting customers and the possibility of recruiting new customers. It’s crucial for your business’s success to be apart of large social networks: Facebook, Pinterest, Twitter, and Google +. These networks bring in millions of active users monthly and it’s alarming to find out how much time is spent on them.

Many businesses, whether small, medium or large, create their social media business accounts and then don’t know what to do next. According to MarketingMag, 25% of SMBs have no strategy on their social networks. This is a problem. It’s easy for a company to create popular social media profiles but it’s even more important to execute those social networks with proper strategies. In order to achieve success on business social networks, it’s important to follow the three s’s of social media.

1. Setup: the first step to social media success is to initially set up social networks properly. Thoroughly fill out your social profiles by adding: company name, company tagline, company color scheme, profile photo (usually of brand image), biography and about. Start by building your social followers by reaching out to companies and individuals like yourself. Start conversations with your followers and search for friends that may already be active on the social network.

2. Strategize: Create unique, original content that is full of photos and includes snappy headlines. Subscribe to blogs that are well respected within your industry. Comment and share your blog posts on all of your social media accounts. Make easy to read content, ask questions and schedule your posts.

3. Schedule: Before going social share crazy think about how often you want to post on your social accounts, before you start without a scheduling plan in mind. Once you decide on a weekly schedule, stay consistent with it. Utilize scheduling websites such as Hootsuite so you can better focus during the week on future posts. Share more than promoting yourself.  Share targeted content from blogs you follow. Here is a rule to follow: For every 10 shares, post 1 promotion.

Follow the three s’s of social media and you will find social success! 

Pinners will be able to access ‘news’ in two places. One will be in the left hand column (where activity feed currently exists) and also on the pinner’s profile page. A ‘news’ section will be located next to follower count. How does this differ from the already created activity feed? Rather than only seeing which of your pins were repinned or liked, ‘news’ will display where these pins are going which will reveal more relevant content. This will bring those with same interests to connect and make finding pinned photos easier.