Are You Ready For Your Prospects, Consumers, Clients Online?

For the thousands, formerly millions, of people who still believe that online Web based sales and marketing channels are simply fad the following list is a beginner’s outline of today’s customer and consumer. This is not a warning, that ship has already sailed, but instead it is a description of your prospects and consumers.

Buying Habits and Business Habits

• They have been slow to adopt social networks but are currently experimenting
• They will not be doing business the same way it’s been done in the past
• They will abandon traditional advertising channels of print newspapers and magazines
• They will not buy large consumer items, business supplies, or goods via the old traditional channels
• They will not invest monies in the same traditional channels

Where Are They and What Are They Doing?

• They are  online. Checking out your website – and your competitor’s website
• They are networking and socializing online- telling everyone what’s happening in their world and the world
• They are messaging on Twitter, messaging on Facebook, networking on Linkedin and being heard
• They are  blogging about their experiences with you or your business, for the world to read
• They are Vlogging on Youtube
• They use Google and threw out the Yellow Pages
• They use mobile devices, text, and read Yelp reviews
• They use WiFi connections when not using their mobile devices to stay connected

Are You Ready For Them?

• If you do not have an active Facebook page for your business
• If you do not understand and utilize Twitter
• If you do not blog or understand this publishing platform
• If you use old traditional print and media channels to chase your clients
• If you think this is all going away and back to what you have done
• If you think you can get by without participating

You are not ready?

Real Time Search: Revolutionary Change Marketers Must Understand OR Fail

“The days of SEO as the primary traffic driver to your website are over. Don’t get us wrong, organic search engine optimization isn’t about to disappear as a key traffic driver.  .  .   However, recent technology trends enable a brave new world of marketing. Ignore them at your peril.” –  Elyssa Pallai ReadWriteWeb.com

“With all the capabilities these phones that are coming out have – like GPS, cameras – we think there is the potential to actually make this mobile Web better than the PC Web.” — Google’s VP of product development

The dawn of a new age in how people find companies is about to break- search engine optimization experts and Google are in for changes. Over the course of the past decade, search engine optimization has created a path for companies, willing to pay, to gain access to top positioning in Google’s indexing for the most important keyword searches. The results of these well integrated plans are high ranking page one positions within Google searches relevant to the company’s keyword strategies.

Problematic Indexing

As a result of many SEO campaigns, companies are able to remain in high ranking page one indexed positions (1-10) long after the information from the article (post) is deemed obsolete and old. The results of Google’s indexing algorithm impacts the usefulness of information returned on many Google searches and weakens Google’s credibility to return relevant, meaningful information.

A Seachange In How We Find Information: Real Time

The coming wave of change in search is real time search. Pat Kitano principle at Domus Consulting Group LLC and many top thought leaders in the social media space have been announcing the coming transformation. In one of the most important articles to date about real time search, 4 Tech Trends You Must Understand To Be An Effective Marketer, Elyssa Pallai outlines 4 key trends to watch out for in the coming change:

• Information Sharing Viral Opportunities: Social networking sites like Facebook and Twitter have become “a key link in the search and information sharing value chain.  .  .  These sites are an important information source for everyone. Importantly, friends’ recommendations are key”
• Mobile Is Gigantic: “”With all the capabilities these phones that are coming out have – like GPS, cameras – we think there is the potential to actually make this mobile Web better than the PC Web.” Google’s VP of product development. The sharing of information in real time will be driven by the adoption of smart phones under way right now
• Location Based Services: ReadWriteWeb’s Frederic Lardinois reported in June 2009 that 1 in 3 smart phone owners use location based services. Consequently real time opportunities exist, for many businesses, to market to individuals who are minutes from the brick n mortar location of the business
• Google’s Real Time Indexing: Google’s launch of real time indexing of tweets (Twitter) and Facebook messages will revolutionize how people find businesses and communicate. Companies and individuals will eventually be able to have their social media messages indexed, consumers will be able to find fresh real time links more relevant than the old PC Web indexed results, and consumers will have the opportunity to participate-communicate in real time within these conversations

Social Media Education: 10 Social Media Resources

Twitter research is one of the key benefits of the network. If you are interesting in learning about social media, the following list contains great resources for your education. Remember to search for new resources by looking at who these people follow for their information.

10 Social Media Resources

• pkitano : Pat Kitano Domus Consulting Group LLC, leader in breaking news and Twitter expert
• TimOReilly: Tim O’Reilly the godfather of the phrase Web 2.0 and new thought leader of the idea of social media a platform of participation
• Mashable: Mashable is the leading online muti-source social media magazine
• TechCrunch: Michael Arrington is the power behind Tech Crunch the Internet’s leading technology magazine
• Jowyang: Jerremiah Owyang leading social media analyst
• emilychang: Emily Chang San Francisco based social media expert, business model focused blogger
• Forrester: Forrester is one of the leading social media firms
• hubspot: Hubspot leading marketing firm and developer of the popular tool Twitter Grader series
• PeterKim: Peter Kim former Forrester analyst and now the Managing Director of Dachis Group
• radian6: radian6 is a multi-faceted platform for large corporations PR and Marketing efforts

Engadget’s Topolsky Reviews Apple iPad: Food For Thought Before Purchase

Joshua Topolsky wrote a great, straight forward review of the iPad for mega tech magazine Engadget “Apple iPad First Hands-On!” that provides readers food for thought. This is not a gushing Applehead review but something everyone should analyze before buying the iPad. Rather than regurgitating Joshua’s points, I am going to give them to you along with my commentary when applicable.

Topolsky’s iPad Review

• It’s not light. It feels pretty weighty in your hand. dg: it’s tough to beat the weight of an iPhone
• The screen is stunning, and it’s 1024 x 768. Feels just like a huge iPhone in your hands.
• The speed of the CPU is something to be marveled at. It is blazingly fast from what we can tell. Webpages loaded up super fast, and scrolling was without a hiccup. Moving into and out of apps was a breeze. Everything flew.
• There’s no multitasking at all. It’s a real disappointment. All this power and very little you can do with it at once. No multitasking means no streaming Pandora when you’re working in Pages… you can figure it out. It’s a real setback for this device. dg: Bad news for bloggers who need an easy to use writing device bigger than the hand cramping iPhone but “lighter” than notebooks
• The ebook implementation is about as close as you can get to reading without a stack of bound paper in your hand. The visual stuff really helps flesh out the experience. It may be just for show, but it counts here.
• No camera. None, nada. Zip. No video conferencing here folks. Hell, it doesn’t have an SMS app! dg: Absolute deal killer for content providers, bloggers, or social media directors who must add content on the go- at any time.
• It’s running iPhone OS 3.2.
• The keyboard is good, not great. Not quite as responsive as it looked in the demos. dg: this is the only point we take exception to with Joshua. I can not, nor can my colleagues, see anything but trouble when attempting to type long posts. Touch screen technology is still far removed from the tactile feel you need when accurately and quickly typing
• No Flash confirmed. So Hulu is out for you, folks!

Apple’s New iPad: Revolutionary For Consuming Content

ComputerShopper published this deansguide article 1-27-10

Chicago Sun-Times published this deansguide article 1-27-10

Apple’s Steve Jobs has done it again! Without too much to say watch this video of the new Apple iPad. It is revolutionary in the way we will consume our content moving forward.  It’s $499 which is a great price. The only possible drawback? The keypad is a touch pad on the surface of the “screen” so I can’t imagine it will be good for long term writing assignments.

Your thoughts?

FreeOkun.com: Website Espousing Okun’s Innocense

“Acting like a Rhinoceros in a rainstorm, the government proceeded to completely muddy Okun’s business operations by seizing all the records which caused massive transactional defaults in the QI business and destroyed Okun’s outside business as well as stopping the cash flow and refinancing efforts that would have kept all the businesses running smoothly, while the stolen funds were being identified and recovered.”   –Passage from FreeOkun.com

As if things could get any weirder and sadder, a new website espousing Ed Okun 1031 Tax Group scam artist’s innocence and has emerged.  The convicted felon, who was found guilty of bilking aka stealing $160 million in investor funds, was presumed long gone. That is not true if you read this site.

Warning

For those victims who have not read this diatribe, brace yourself for the garbage you are about to read: FreeOkun.com

Twitter Strategies: Don’t Be A Eddie Haskell

Another annoying and often undetected Twitter scam is making it’s way into your follow “inbox.” I am calling this new Twitter tactic the “Eddie Haskell” tactic designed to persuade you to follow a person. Here is how it works:

Eddie Haskell Tactic

• New Follower: a new Twitter follow shows up in your list of “Followers”
• Open Tweet: your new Twitter follower tweets you the following message: “@___ Thanks!”
• DM Message: the final step is to send a direct message repeating the open tweet “@____ Thanks!”

What’s The Strategy?

• Message: “Thanks!” is the follower’s first attempt to raise your curiosity and have you engage with them
• Reciprocity: open tweeting “Thanks!” begins the cycle of intended reciprocity. This is similar to the sales tactic where the salesman (usually of the car variety) tries to get you (the target) to respond to a list of questions with the answer “Yes.”
• Elicit Question: after the open tweet “Thanks!” a second direct message is sent: “Thanks!”. This second message is meant to again raise your curiosity (Why are they thanking me?) but more importantly– it “allows” you to use the private DM channel to engage with the follower

What Do You Do?

Here is my advice. Do you really want to add a new follower who uses tactics to gain your “follow” back? What is this person’s motivation in building a large following? In most cases, these types of tactics are used because the person is a MLM, affiliate marketer, or someone being paid to tweet. Your follow strengthens their network but what do you get out of the deal? A: a non targeted follower who is only concerned with their own wealth and success.

Twitter Spam Tactic: Follow, Unfollow, Follow

One of the newest “practices” surfacing on Twitter is designed to make sure you follow a person or company that has followed you. Since this tactic does not have a name we are dubbing it the Follow-Unfollow-Follow tactic

Follow-Unfollow-Follow: How It Works

• Follow: a twitterer that you are uninterested in following follows you
• You Ignore: you do not follow this useless Twitterer and ignore them
• Unfollow: the twitterer waits for 24-48 hours and once they realize you are not following them, they unfollow you
• ReFollow: within the next 24 hours after their initial “unfollow” the twitterer will refollow you

What Is the Follow-Unfollow-ReFollow Strategy?

1. Everyone Follows: this tactic’s goal or strategy is to ensureevery single person that a twitterer follows will follow
2. Top of List: by refollowing a second time, the twitterer’s logo or face is at the top of your follower’s list
3. Pest: being a pest, the twitterer hopes to ware you down so that you follow them back just to get rid of them
4. Multiple DMs: each time the twitterer follows you he/she can direct message you, it will surely be spam, a sales pitch for whatever they want you to do for them

Powerful Twitter Strategy: Mine Favorites Section For Insight

Your Favorites section is the library-repository for your research on Twitter–and so much more. In what is going to be a very important strategy moving forward, the Favorites section will have multiple benefits not yet realized.

The next step in a Favorites’ strategy is to “mine” liked minded peers, industry professionals, or competitor’s Favorites section.

Benefits of “Mining” Twitter Favorites

• Discovery: find links for your research from people or companies you respect
• Due Diligence: review your competitor’s Favorites section to understand what they find important, strategy, and future direction
• Audience: mine your consumers-audience to understand what they are saying, if anything, about you. Look for information about your competition, their buying habits, likes, possible dislikes
• Who is Who: find out who your competitors consider important and who they receive their research information from on Twitter
• Following Targets: mine your competitors Favorites section to find new Twitterers to follow for research
• Prospecting: mine the Favorites section looking for your competitor’s prospects or customers

Conclusion

Mining the Favorites section of other Twitterers will be a multi-faceted beneficial strategy in 2010.

A Friend We Never Met: MLK Tribute

Some people, even if we have never met them, seem to be people we could be friends with if we had the opportunity. Martin Luther King Jr. is just such a man. If I could have any 3 people at a table for dinner, Dr. King would get one of my seats.