He has a small chip on his shoulder, about some friends of his.

After all, he invented the “friends”. (love that line)

Mark gets to thinking about Facebook and whether Google Plus will do to him what he “did” to MySpace…

Genius.

I was messing with a new WordPress site today and found a link on the WordPress forums to this page about SOPA/PIPA and how it is being pushed through in the USA as a new form of legislation.

I have been watching and reading the news about this strange piece of legislation and was roughly aware of its content and the overall proposal, but until I read this page I haven´t had the inclination to actually pipe up and say anything about it as I honestly believed that such a ridiculous piece of crap would never see the light of day as real law.

But it’s still here and it’s still being considered, so, about time I said my piece.

Simply put, this piece of legislation is a complete load of shite.

Take a few minutes and watch this explanation of what this proposal means.  If it has the same effect on you as it did on me then I am hoping that you will step up and do what needs to be done to make it absolutely clear to your local politicians, business people, family and friends that you will not accept such lopsided ”fat cat” favoritism that this proposal entails.

Its detrimental to us all and will only serve a tiny minority of individuals who are adamant about maintaining the status quo, have no clue what the internet can offer them and who are to lazy to go and try or learn something new.

PROTECT IP / SOPA Breaks The Internet from Fight for the Future on Vimeo.

Straight of the wordpress page, heres how our American firends can make themselves heard:

We are not a small group. More than 60 million people use WordPress — it’s said to power about 15% of the web. We can make an impact, and you can be an agent of change. Go to Stop American Censorship for more information and a bunch of ways you can take action quickly, easily, and painlessly. The Senate votes in two weeks, and we need to help at least 41 more senators see reason before then. Please. Make your voice heard.

Lets ge with the program guys and girls. Go make it happen.

Follow these instructions.

Go to the Google Chrome Shortcut on your desktop or toolbar and right-click on it. Choose Properties. Look for the Target field.

Add this line:

- -pinned-tab-count=x

to the end of this string in Target. C:\Users\name\AppData\Local\Google\Chrome\Application\chrome.exe so it looks exactly like this:

C:\Users\name\AppData\Local\Google\Chrome\Application\chrome.exe – -pinned-tab-count=x

Now all you have to do is change the X to represent the number of tabs that you want to make permanent on the chrome browser and it will look like this every time you open your browser:

Simple as that!

Thanks to Addictive Tips for that info. Was exactly what I was looking for!

It is worth the watching as a basic refresher. It covers 5 things:

1. Words in page
2. Titles
3. Links
4. Words in links
5. Reputation

Numbers 1 through 4 are quite easy to understand and grasp, but number 5 is a little different. Why? Well, its not actually a technical aspect of SEO in that, you cant really code something or develop a solution that makes it “work”. Its the single factor that attempts to account for the human touch in SEO and it incorporates social media and your offline and online networks in order to create something valuable that it applies to the search algorithm.

I would go so far to say that if you worry about reputation more than the other 4 aspects, then they will be forced to fall into line and will work naturally for you regardless of site code and structure.

Believe it or not, that’s what I have experienced in the past. Havent you alwasy wondered how “that site” is at number one when its obviosuly coded to the same level of quality as the site at, say, number 6 on the search results page? That is because its affected by the things you cant see in code, and that’s the “reputation” that’s referred to in the video above. Lots of SEO geeks dont like this as it removes the power they believe they have in making web pages rank well but manipulating code. Go figure.

I’m not saying you should ignore the way your site is built and how it has been coded to meet search engine criteria, but I wouldn’t get hung up on it when it can be over shadowed by forces above and beyond its reach and outside factors pointing into your site. Focus on what’s important people!

What if you tried the same methods so many typically employ online to the real world? Would you do it?

I didn’t think so!

But this guy did and it’s a great example of how ridiculous it comes across to the unfortunate recipients.

Think about what you do online, don’t just follow the herd. Try and consider what you do from another’s perspective and how you would react if it was you.

Watch and enjoy!

So, due to popular demand (after I mentioned it on twitter), here it is for you all to behold and revel in its grandeur. I hope at least you get the same enjoyment out it as I did. Hats of to these guys for at least putting the effort in.

Spam email to Justin Parks with some notes thrown in by myself and highlighted in red for good measure.

ATTENTION (Im at attention, please proceed),

YOU ARE HERE BY CALL TO JUSTICE FROM THE FEDERAL HIGH COURT. (oh goodie) WE HAVE A NOTE RIGHT IN FRONT OF US THAT YOU ARE HAVING SOMETHING TO DO WITH SOME INTERNET SPAMMERS ALL IN THE NAME OF THE (FBI, BANKNOTE, EFCC ,COMPENSATION AWARD HOUSE AND SOME ORDER SCAM EMAIL) (A note? Really? Must be serious…go on) AND THAT YOU ARE ALSO HAVING SOMETHING TO DO WITH SOME SPAMMERS IN AFRICA ABOUT A CONSIGNMENT AND MONEY. (First I heard about it, but anyway)

WE GOT THE NOTE ON OUR DESK THIS MORNING FROM THE INSPECTOR GENERAL OF HEAD INTERNET SECURITY (GEN. DANIEL DOHERTY) (Hello Daniel…) WHO HAS BEEN MONITORING ALL YOUR EMAIL FROM THERE DATA BASE. (…you nosey bugger)

YOU ARE ASK TO STOP ALL CONTACT YOU HAVE BEEN IN SO FAR WITH ANY OF THOSE SO CALLED SPAMMERS OR ELSE YOU WILL HAVE YOURSELF TO BLAME. (Nothing new there.) AND ONCE AGAIN YOU ARE TO CONTACT US BACK WITH ALL THAT HAS BEEN GIVEN TO YOU BY THOSE SPAMMERS TO HASTEN US OUR INVESTIGATION ON WHO IS BEHIND ALL THIS AND WHO HAVE BEEN DEALING WITH YOU BECAUSE OF YOUR MONEY .. (My money? I thought it was a consignment of money from Africa. I’m confused)

NOTE: (there’s that note again!) YOU ARE ASKED TO GET BACK AS SOON AS POSSIBLE OR WE WILL HAVE TO INFORM THE FBI TO COME AND PICK YOU UP IN YOUR ADDRESS AND YOUR CASE WILL BE WORST IF YOU DON T COOPERATE WITH US TO GET THOSE SPAMMERS RED HANDED THAT IS WHY WE EMAIL YOU TO KNOW MORE DETAILS FIRST BECAUSE THAT IS THE EASIEST WAY TO MEET OUR GOOD CITIZEN S. (So I should give the FBI your email address then or what?)

SO YOU ARE TO GET BACK TO US IN NO TIME BEFORE IT IS TOO LATE FOR YOU (Its been too late for me for a long time, but please continue)…. MORE SO YOU ARE TO PROVIDE US ALL NECESSARY DETAILS AND WE WILL INFORM YOU IF TRULY THERE IS ANY CONSIGNMENT FOR YOU AT ALL…(Hang on, I thought you where pretty sure that this consignment was for me, or was it my money, or now its your money and you want me to take it… I think you better check that serious note you have right in front of you on your desk again and get this story straight) OUR DUTIES IS TO PROTECT ALL OUR CITIZEN AND KEEP THEM AWAY FROM ANY HARM OR WHATSOEVER DAMAGE THEY ARE….(pull the other one)

WE WERE TOLD THAT YOU HAVE BEEN SCAMMED MANY TIMES AND YOU STILL KEEP ON COMPLYING WITH THOSE SCAMMER , I WILL URGE YOU TO FAST AND GET BACK TO THIS DEPARTMENT WITH THOSE SCAMMED MAIL. (eh?)

I WANT YOU TO PUT YOUR ATTENTION AND EFFORT ON GETTING THOSE SCAMMER AND AFTER THAT WE WILL DIRECT YOU TO WERE YOUR FUNDS IS BEEN KEPT JUST FOR SECURITY PURPOSE. (Awfully nice of you.)

SO GET IN TOUCH NOW! OR YOUR NAME WILL BE LISTED AMONG THOSE TO BE PERSECUTED (nothing like a good persecution!) BY THE LAW (SCAM ACTIVITIES)….

GET BACK TO US WITH THE REQUESTED DETAILS (I’m on it! Gimme  minute!)

BEST REGARDS,

PROF. JUSTICE ANDREW (Cool name)

I do wonder sometimes if these guys would let me recommend them a good copywriter and proof reader before they do this spam stuff. Then again, if I did, I might have missed out on this absolute Gem. If you have any other entertaining examples of Spam Email, let me know on twitter (@justinparks) or in the comments!

Social media marketing is another hot topic right now. With around 600 million users signed up to Facebook and another 200 million on Twitter, not to mention the more business-oriented LinkedIn and various other smaller and/or locally based competitors, the sheer scale of social media interaction is phenomenal. Many businesses are using social media platforms for marketing, increasing brand awareness and customer service, but few, it seems, are combining the two areas of localisation and social media marketing.

Econsultancy’s 2010 Social Media and Online PR Report reported that 83% of marketers were planning to increase their spending on social media in 2011, yet only 26% were planning to run campaigns in more than one country.

So are they missing an opportunity? The answer has to be that, potentially at least, they are.

So what’s the point of social media marketing?

While social media marketing can be used for direct sales or customer service, it is probably more widely used for more general PR. ‘Background’ activities such as building and maintaining brand awareness, monitoring and responding to criticism and gathering feedback from customers can obviously have a major effect on your sales and overall success – even if it’s not always as easy to see a clear return on investment, as you can for localisation.

In a survey conducted by market research company Ad-ology, the owners of 1,100 small businesses described their ability to generate leads, to keep up with developments within their field, and to monitor online conversations about their business, as being the greatest benefits of social media marketing.

Social media should be used as just one part of an overall strategy but, given the popularity of social networks and their capacity to span borders and cultures, they can be invaluable when it comes to reaching foreign markets and territories.

What are the best sites to use?

The global nature of major players like Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn mean that they can all be used to reach different markets and cultures. Last year, Portuguese, Arabic and Spanish were the fastest growing languages used on Facebook.

(Source: www.insidefacebook.com)

To a large extent, these figures are representative of the worldwide growth in internet usage, and take-up rates in general throughout the vast potential markets of South America and the Middle East. It’s entirely possible to reach many different markets through the social media platforms you’re already familiar with, such as Twitter and Facebook, but some countries are dominated by local networks that are unknown elsewhere.

In China, for example, Qzone claims to have a staggering 380 million users. It’s thought that many of these could be dormant accounts, but it’s still a massive slice of China’s estimated – and still growing – 400 million internet users. Renren is another big player in China, with an estimated 120 million users.

In Japan, Mixi has a market share of around 80%, amounting to some 30 million users, while Sonico is popular throughout Latin America and Orkut, despite having started life in California, is now the most popular social media site within Brazil (and until recently was the most popular in India, now overtaken by Facebook).

As well as these general social networking sites, there may also be a number of sites dedicated to your particular industry. These sites often have their own active communities and it might be worth establishing a presence within groups on these niche sites. The key is simply to identify the markets you intend to be active within and then research the popular social media platforms within those countries. Depending on the resources you have available, it may be enough to concentrate on the most widely used sites, or it may be worth dipping into smaller or niche sites as well.

Effective translation and communication

Once you’ve decided on the most appropriate social networks to target, you still have to communicate with your customers, and likely across languages. Translation widgets such as Babelfish and Google Translate may give decent literal translations in some cases, but they can be prone to the sort of contextual and cultural errors that are marketing kryptonite.

Ideally, you’d be able to hire native-language speakers to run your social media campaigns in every language market, but if you don’t have those resources available, you can always outsource the translation and localisation of your content and make use of machine translation software to get the gist of online conversations.

The world’s biggest brands have already realised that to continue competing, they need to be across social media in every one of their target markets – the good news is that, with the right skills and knowledge, the smaller players can compete on the same playing field.

About the author

Christian Arno is the founder of professional translation agency Lingo24. Launched in 2001, Lingo24 now has over 150 employees spanning three continents and clients in over sixty countries. In the past twelve months, they have translated over sixty million words for businesses in every industry sector. Follow Christian (@l24ca) and Lingo24 (@Lingo24) on Twitter.