The Social Network: Facebook Goes Hollywood

It was just a matter of time before social networks became the subject of Hollywood film makers. But let’s admit it, Facebook and Hollywood are in the same business: communications. And so here comes the new movie: The Social Network.

In October of 2010, everyone will get to see what drove Facebook to not only the largest social network in the world, but what has become a paradigm shift is how we associate and discover new information and friends.

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Online Marketing, The iPhone Billion Dollar Success!

Yes it sounds unbelievable but it is true…

There is one company that is going for broke with their marketing. They sold $1.1 BILLION DOLLARS in 3 days …just this week-end!

They are selling items that cost hundreds of dollars each and for the most part their products require that you sign up for  1 to 2 years of additional (costly) monthly services.

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Word of Finger

I recently read in Wired magazine about this term, “Word-of-Finger”.  They defined it as:

adj. Marketing communicated via the keystrokes of social media.  It attracts advertisers because, unlike traditional word of mouth, it can be monitored through Twitter and Facebook.

I love this phrase.  It communicates perfectly exactly what you should be doing in your business’ marketing efforts.  You want people to review your business on Yelp and Google Maps, you want people following you on Twitter and you want fans on your Facebook page.  The more people that are “typing” about you, the better it is for your business.

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Brand Marketing; How Best Buy Utilizes Social Media Marketing

Best Buy http://www.bestbuy.com/is a major brand whose brand marketing most definitely includes social media marketing.

Brad Smith, Director, Interactive Marketing & Emerging Media from Best Buy opened things up talking about a “new marketing reality”. Customers are out there, but they’re bombarded with messages. Customers are not listening to us (marketers & advertisers) anymore. Social media is all about communicating.  Customers are listening to each other instead and tuning out marketing messages.

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How To REALLY use Facebook to Advertise Your Business

Here are three ways to use Facebook to advertise your business:

  1. Attempt the direct sale – “Buy my product”
  2. Practice the “Give and you will Get”
  3. A little of both

“Buy My Product”

Most businesses coming from the offline world try and fail at the direct sale approach on Facebook. You can liken this technique to the offline world of telemarketing. Call and ask enough people to buy your painting and eventually someone will. Many others get upset by your phone call, but you rarely hear from them after you hang up.

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Bad Online Marketing

Although there are a million ways to market your products incorrectly, the big mistake I see is to forget that your public are humans and fail to build relationships with them.

Making 5,000 “friends” on a social network like Twitter or Facebook is a good idea. But if all you do is send them bulk advertising messages, it’s not going to work.  You’re dealing with live people who have interests and ideas and opinions. The more you find out what is needed and wanted and deliver THAT, the better off you’ll be.

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The Big Three of Internet Marketing

The Big Three has meant for decades, “GM, Ford and Chrysler”. But with their problems comes the next evolution of that term, particularly when talking about web marketing, SEO and SEM.

The Big Three in the internet marketing world is Facebook, Google and YouTube. Make it big with these three media giants and you will make it big in business. Let’s be real. Facebook is social media, Google is how you find almost anything and YouTube is the new TV. Hopefully you are gearing your mind-set, your marketing budget and how you interface with the world’s newest Big Three.

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A Blog Can Be Your Best Website

I know what most are thinking right now, “A blog is not a web site.”

Yes it is. In fact, for small businesses and entrepreneurs a blog really is the most ideal format in which to have your web site. But more than that, a bog as your web site puts you in control of the most important battle in web marketing: Generating original and  relevant content.

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Facebook: Fan versus Like

Recently Facebook has changed the phrase “become a fan” to the single word, “like”. While this is not their only change, a comment must be made on their choice of words. Welcome to the world of semantics, or is said in the world of marketing, “hot buttons”.

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Froyo Sprinkled with SEO

When frozen yogurt went explosive as a business model a few years, some saw that it could go viral as well.

Luis Garcia, CEO of Frapy’s Frozen Yogurt in Mission Viejo, has embraced social media as a prime way to reach new customers, while keeping a personal feel with his ardent fans. He mainly uses Facebook and his web site, but tons of personal contact and customer service.

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