Texas Republican Lamar Smith and House Judiciary Committee Chair, along with 12 co-sponsors, introduced the Stop Online Piracy Act on October 26th, 2011. H.R. 3261 was its formal title. The Senate has the Protect IP Act (S. 968), as a counterpart. These two bills give the authority to the courts to allow judges to unilaterally shut down websites for having any copy-written material posted on the site. It was meant as a countermeasure to intellectual property theft, but its potential unintended consequences caused a bit of a ruckus.

SOPA was designed specifically to take on foreign offenders, allowing rights holders to force Google to remove sites from results, demand PayPal to stop payments to the site owners, and blockade the site’s ISP. While lofty goals, the language of the bill indicated that the politicians putting forth the bill had little understanding of the impact it had on various elements of the internet’s vast ecosystem.

Where this bill impacts the internet the most is in the ever-changing landscape of online innovation. The investors that have previously put millions of dollars into the next Facebook, would seal their wallets shut, as the disruption that can occur any moment to a fledgling website, without warning, would be too deadly to a new website’s growth. Websites that are currently online would be forced to employ thousands of people for the single purpose of self-policing content that is posted every second of the day. The magnitude of such an expense would outweigh the desire to continue offering the website to the public. Hundreds, if not thousands, would shut down website overnight.

The other part of this process that seems to make SOPA and PIPA unnecessary is the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA) that allows rights holders to put in a request to a website, to which they remove any infringing media. Having seen plenty of “Video Has Been Removed” openings to videos on popular sites, the belief is that this method seems to be doing just fine and SOPA is beyond overkill.

The Congress of the United States was swayed by the efforts that took place a week ago, which included five of the original co-sponsors to drop their support of the bill. SOPA and PIPA have been put on a lengthy hold to review the language that had massive unintended consequences. For now, the crisis is averted, but it will be back.

What that means is that some internet marketing firms are phoning it in.

The way that Google ranks website is through an algorithmic authority calculation. Google looks throughout the entire internet for various keywords and ranks, among other things, the number of links to your website. This creates an authority measurement. Google also takes into consideration the authority of the sites that are linking to yours. Therefore, a link from www.google.com would be pretty valuable. That’s exactly what they think, too.

Here’s where the trouble is. Internet marketing firms are attempting to cheat the system by setting up Google+ pages for their clients, punching in a couple links to their clients website, and leaving the page be. This lacks the fundamental understanding of what Google+ does.

SEO Experts tend to drift away from social media and content marketing, unless there is a specific ranking opportunity involved. The problem with that method of thinking is that it takes away from the true value of a company’s brand. Perception is the most misunderstood aspect of marketing, from my experience.

Say for instance we have a popular restaurant as a client. Our SEO team decides to implement a Google+ page for the client, but as a link building measure, not for the purpose of outreach to prospective customers that use Google’s social network. As a part of the implementation, the SEO team adds the Direct Connect feature available to brands. Direct Connect pushes the Google+ page’s search ranking to just below the client’s website under the searched keyword, “Orlando Restaurant.” Now, a prospective customer that is looking for a restaurant in Orlando, sees the Google+ link and decides to check it out. Upon arriving at the page, they see nothing on it. No updates in weeks. No conversation with customers. No real reviews. That prospective customer is now turned off from that client, and a sale is lost.

To those that misunderstand social media and the content marketing responsible for maintaining a consistent brand image, the only hope is that they become educated in public perception. For years now, major brands have engaged customers with questions, sale opportunities, new merchandise, and exclusive materials only available on social media. This is what John Q. Public has come to expect. This is the perception that must be rewarded.
A full-time social marketer or social marketing team like major brands use is completely outside the realm of feasible, but that doesn’t mean that social marketing can’t be employed in a strategic, cost-effective, and publicly-accepting manner.

Don’t let SEOs take over social media as a link-building exercise. That pollutes the internet with the carcasses of misrepresented brands, hurts public perception, and unknowingly kills sales.

In mid December a concerned customer, referred to as “Dave,” that had pre-ordered one of N-Control’s products was dissatisfied that the release date for the device he had ordered had been missed and the company’s website had done nothing to show that it was aware that customers were without their products. In a cryptic and unhelpful manner, the one-man marketing machine that had been hired by N-Control, Paul Christoforo of Ocean Marketing, responded in increasingly unprofessional taunts. He eventually pressed so far as to badger the customer, call him names, and attempt at “name-dropping” to bully the customer into getting over it.

Dave, being the web-wise individual he is, decided to pass the email thread along to certain members of the internet blogging elite: Kotaku, IGN, and Penny Arcade. It was here that Penny Arcade’s founder Mike Krahulik joined into the fray, remarking that it was highly unprofessional to deal with customers in this manner, and that Paul Christoforo’s booth would be canceled from any future PAX event (a large gamer convention that Krahulik runs). To this, Christoforo began to verbally assault Krahulik as well.

Enter the internet. Mike Krahulik decided that this behavior was rash enough that it needed to be seen by the masses. In a stroke of opportunity journalism, Mike Krahulik posted the exchange between Dave and Chris, and the later Mike and Chris emails. From there the online gamer elite took over; a relentless assault of negative postings and tweets tore down the Ocean Marketing company, and Paul Christoforo himself.

The barrage of negative media attention that ensued led to Christoforo to change Twitter accounts, to no success, receive thousands of emails out of hatred and disgust, have his personal legal history dug up, and the loss of the N-Control account.

While the obvious conclusion is that this entire scenario is the result of unprofessional action by one man, the blowback resulted in N-Control’s product, The Avenger, to drop its Amazon rating from a 4.5 to a 1. This will result in thousands of dollars in lost revenue, not to mention the thousands of hours of PR that will be required to clean up this mess.

N-Control made the decision to go with Christoforo and his Ocean Marketing due to a personal connection with the head of the company. While this is admirable, there were warning flags that this was not a good idea. The PR firm in place prior to Christoforo coming on board fired N-Control as a client due to increased unprofessional engagements. N-Control stuck with Christoforo, and these are the consequences.

While Christoforo continued to cause problems for N-Control, including holding various account information hostage, it is believed that the situation is now resolved.

Avoid your company from taking a hypothetical public relations hit like this. Find the right marketing agency that will represent your brand in the right light, with transparency, and with the distinguished character that best represents you.

This was on track to be disappointing because they almost always fall somewhat short. Sometimes it is due to the speaker, but most times it is due to the audience themselves. They want to know about the technical trickery of social media without having a solid footing on the precursors to capitalizing on social media channels. They do not understand the concept that in order to talk about something and have people remain interested, you must first have something interesting to talk about. It is for this reason that I was delighted to discover that Mr. Borges did not intend on giving a tech oriented social media speech that day. He instead provided a blueprint that any company would be wise to follow on how to create content that your target marketing would find interesting. This lesson is one that is far more valuable than how to use tool to get Facebook pages up in 30 seconds flat.

I thoroughly enjoyed Mr. Borges presentation. It was actionable without being overly technical. The information was perfectly positioned for the experience level of the crowd. Both the content and Mr. Borges delivery on the content kept me engaged during the entire 1 hour presentation. Although I have not read Marketing 2.0, if the book is a clear and concise as the concepts covered in his presentation, I am sure the content is of valuable nature. Attending his presentation would be time well spent for anyone who is not an expert in creating valuable content for selective consumption by their target marketing….(Important for social media). It also served as a great refresher for someone who sees the impact these concepts have on businesses intelligent enough to practice them.

If you were considering having Mr. Borges speak, I believe you will thrilled with the results. There website is at http://www.findandconvert.com

Sincerely,

David Wolf
CEO – InBusiness, Inc.

Facebook – The Beginning of a New Era in Marketing

Facebook has come a long way ever since its launch. It has not only succeeded in becoming one of the most happening social networking sites, but it has also managed to form a cohesive network for easy access to people you may know or share interests with. Facebook has recently come up with a dedicated space on its network with which to advertise and take your brand to the global platform. Advertising on Facebook gives you an edge over your competitors, especially if your brand tends to target a young audience. The majority of Facebook users are aged between 18-26, and a brand that appeals to them would sell like hot cakes. Experts see this as a beginning of a new era in marketing styles. With more and more corporate investing in social networks for market share, a rat race to the finish would not surprise anyone.

LinkedIn to the Marketing World

LinkedIn might not be as popular as Facebook, but since it majorly caters to the corporate world, it provides a narrowed scope for your advertisements. LinkedIn allows you to advertise your brand on a public scale. You can even categorize your brand, such that a target audience would be able to come across it, which would increase the chances of your brand being sold. The general perception is that the more your advertisement is clicked or noticed, the more popular it becomes. Although this is very similar to other forms of visual marketing, you might need to take more care of the minute details and make the ad more appealing. The only disadvantage of publicizing your advertisement in LinkedIn is that it does not offer a quick reward, such as the Facebook ‘like’ in one go. Your brand will be noticed, but very gradually. This makes LinkedIn a good choice for slow, but effective marketing.

The Impact of Social Media on the World of Online Advertising

The change in trends of online marketing as well as advertisements on the World Wide Web is huge. What started off as free advertising has now gone on to become one of the best advertising platforms. Advertisements now come equipped with links to popular social networking sites and also collect feedback from its viewers. As a viewer you also get to interact by participating in polls and contests and also share information. All said and done, Social Media Advertising compliments your brand. At the end of the day your brand sells only if it manages to meet the consumer’s expectation. Advertisements on social networks can bring the horse to the stable, but it does not guarantee that the horse will eat.

Get Informed
The first part of any project should be a discovery meeting with the beneficiary and key team members. This is the opportunity to get all necessary information, as well as get a feel for the project. Gathering this knowledge and understanding it, is not only important from a project completion/customer satisfaction point of view, it is also needed to convey your knowledge to your team. Ask questions. The more questions, the better. Take the time to not only understand the specifics of what your client wants, but get a conceptual understanding of why they want it, what they are going to do with it, and how it can grow later.

Keep Informed
Right after the initial discovery meeting, gather every member of your team for a “data dump,” as I like to call it. Inform everyone on the team to the objectives and milestones of the project. Lay the groundwork for items that they have the authority to change on their own, and those that need to come to you. Being open with your team will show them that you trust them, and that it is a complete team effort. This will signal unity among, and provide the team with positive motivation on the project.

Regularly discuss the project’s status, any changes in the direction, or anything that is hindering overall progress. Team members feel like a team when they truly believe they are an important part of the puzzle. Keeping everyone up to speed will also facilitate those to individually you, without you asking for it. Communication is a two-way street.

Stay Informed
Once the initial data has been collected, and sorted to the team appropriately, things will inevitable change. It’s the nature of the beast. Things come up and require adjustment. Your team members will have moderate, unilateral control over certain aspects of the project, for which they are the best suited to make those decisions. If you’ve employed such a wise tactic, these updates will need to reach your desk so that you may triage the next step. Either an end-of-day post-portem analysis of work done, or making rounds with the team make for efficient ways of gathering this information. Without it, you can’t lead, but you can’t always wait on the team members to come to you with an update. It is your responsibility as a leader to stay informed.

There you have it. My three point process for excellent communication while working in a team environment. Don’t take it lightly, as I assure you, good communication will save you vast amounts of time and money.

When Command & Control is the Only Option:

There are some businesses that believe they have no choice but to run a command and control business (sometimes they are right). These are usually companies that have a business model that depends entirely on their ability to interrupt people’s normal habits and use high pressure sales. An example of this type of company is the players in the timeshare industry. They have a product that has to be sold. Few people wake up and make a conscious decision to buy a timeshare, it just doesn’t make sense. So timeshare companies interrupt people’s chosen pattern with incentives like free tickets to Disney World, and then use intense sales pressure to make a sale. Their entire business model is built to support this concept. This type of company would have extreme difficulty getting any real value out of using new marketing strategies because their entire business model is based on old ones that, at best, manipulate new marketing in attempt to make their old model still viable.

“It’s like eating soup with a fork”

Using new marketing strategies to support old business models is a flawed approach. This is mainly because other competitors are fully embracing new marketing tactics to deliver better, more customized products to market than you are, because they are designed from the bottom up to take advantage of new media. They don’t ask how they can hide their negative reviews in Google by manipulating the search engines with SEO. They ask how they can better connect with customers to ensure they have no negative reviews, and how they can better encourage happy customers to leave positive sentiment online. The following example outlines the difference in two similar small businesses.

Two coffee shops are looking to generate more business out of using social media and SEO. Coffee shop number one is interested in changing their marketing methods, but doesn’t want to touch their core business. They decide to offer free Wifi, and a 10% discount for checking in on Facebook or Foursquare. Company two has decided to adjust their business model to fully take advantage of new media marketing channels. Not only do they offer free Wifi, but they offer free coffee for to people who write book reviews on coffee shops Facebook page for books that were read in the coffee shop, as long as they also include a picture of themselves in the picture, and host monthly competitions online for the people spend the most time at the coffee shop. Coffee shop #2 wins because they aren’t just using one way communication by telling people to check in, they are actively encouraging people to interact in two-way communication by providing value.

Why don’t more companies do this?

Using new media strategies takes patience, which is a virtue that most businesses don’t have. When you put a billboard up, people see it right away. That doesn’t happen with content marketing or social media. It usually takes time to build up a consistent fanbase. Slowly but surely, that base will grow. Months down the road, you have a consistent flow of loyal customers without spending money on direct advertising. The problem is that the effects on the bottom line are delayed, which makes decision-makers shy away from using these strategies. Also, it isn’t something that can be entirely outsourced to an agency. It has to be engrained into everyday business practices by the staff. It can’t be manifested (At least not without a lot of unnecessary costs). Decision makers tend to avoid doing things that make them change anything in their core business model because life is already hard enough.

Should You Break the Command & Control Model?

A common saying at Walmart is “you can’t out Amazon, Amazon.” If anyone could have tried to compete with Amazon it would have been Walmart, but they realized that they weren’t ready to commit to the battle, so they didn’t start a war. If you aren’t ready to commit to making changes to your business model to effectively use the “new school” tools that are available, then they may not be right for you. I say this with extreme caution, because not using them can also start the countdown clock to extinction for your business, regardless of its size. It may not happen tomorrow, but eventually, counting on mass media marketing alone just won’t be enough. It is a valuable tool, but tools need to be sharpened and adapted from time to time.

How Do You Transition from Command & Control to New Media?

It has to be from the ground up. These simple rules should help you quickly realize the level of commitment you should have to the process. If you don’t, you need to consider not taking on the challenge yet.

1. Invest in a process to allow you to benefit and guide the conversion about your service or products between members of your market. Instead of devising ways to cover up flaws, focus on being able to adapt your product to meet the demands for improvements your clients are requesting.
2. Instead of making products and trying to sell them to a market, make a market and sell products they want to buy. (A breakfast restaurant adding organic items to the menu vs. opening a restaurant that caters to the needs of organic food buyers, that serves breakfast)
3. Looking at every interaction with clients as a form of marketing. Is your business capable of it? If not, devise a way to try and win new business with every interaction.

This is not an exhaustive list. This post was written to discuss some interesting points while they were fresh after reviewing a great book, “Meatball Sundae“, by Seth Godin, and how concepts discussed affects our clients. It is a highly suggested read.

What exactly is a social, local search engine?

Well this is the search engine which lists businesses categorized by location. Therefore, if someone from Altamonte Springs, FL, wants to find quickly a plumber service in the area, he/she will simply search using one of the local search engines. You, as the business owner, have much greater chances of being found here on local search by your customers, than if you would optimize your business only for the major search engine shark. Following the above example, if you own a Plumbing & Drain service, you normally can serve only your local community, so there is actually no need of working heavily on optimization for huge search engines. After all, what would someone from New York City do with a business listing that is located in Altamonte Springs, Florida? Search engine optimization on a large scale and for the major search engines is perfect for someone who operates a business internationally, such as a shipping company.

The best thing about social, local search:

Local search engines are gaining more and more popularity with each day. It is not even too much to admit that local search engines will slowly turn into social focal points. It’s enough if someone enters a location in the tab, hits search and he will get:

• A listing of the best restaurants in town. In the restaurants section, someone will see them all categorized (Chinese, Italian, Balinese, etc.), so that they can find exactly what they are looking for. The more serious job you put into optimizing your business listing with well chosen presentation words, one or two catchy lines and a few suggestive photos, the higher it will rank on the local search engine, and your business will pop up first.
• Listings of cinemas, health & beauty salons and spas, home and garden services, and many more. Social local search engines are the best to advertise, because they do not get cramped. You know exactly in which category to advertise, what kind of audience to target, and of course in which place on the map. You will never have to confront yourself with competition coming from other towns, cities, or states. This is perhaps the best thing about social local search: avoiding high competition and being left alone to market your products/services just the way you want.

Some of the best social local search tools include Yahoo! local, Insider Pages, Yelp, and Judy’s Book.

The idea of a trust contract is nothing new, but it is a concept that should constantly be on the forefront of any marketing proposition. A trust contract is created whenever you promise something to a potential customer you are engaging in a trust contract. Properly addressed, trust can be used as a weapon to drastically improve the conversion rate of your website, but what happens when you break a trust contract?

I took a vacation to the Bahamas this week on the Norwegian Sky Cruise Ship with Norwegian Cruise Lines. The cruise was very enjoyable, but there several things that left me annoyed. The ship had a set of hot tubs on the top deck and one of the them had signs on it that clearly stated “Adults Only”. Norwegian cruise lines did not have to offer an adult only hot tub, but once they put a sign up, the entered into subtle trust contract with the their passengers that adult passengers would be able to enjoy that hot tub without kids splashing in their face.

Unfortunately, the Norwegian Cruise Line staff around the pool that day didn’t do anything when two different sets of 6 and 10 year olds, the latter of which were 6 children strong, decided to hop in the tub. This would have been a minor nuisance if the company had not put an “Adults Only” sign up that made us think we would have access to such a luxury. The staff did nothing as they took drink orders around the pool for about 10 minutes. After we got out, I made a comment to a staff member that told us we could find a manager and go complain. They did get the kids out of the hot tub, but the damage was done. This is a small infraction, but the concept that is important here is that Norwegian Cruise Lines violated a small, but crucial trust contract. Think of this concept when you are trying to get clients your website.

Whatever information you provide for a client, you have make sure that your constantly reminding them that you will make due on that promise. Sometimes they are large promises like a money back guarantee. Other times it is a minute contract like making sure that you answer the phone in a way that lets the customer know that they have called the right company (Many companies violate this simple rule).

Don’t make the same mistake that Norwegian Cruise Lines made with us as customers. Take extra care to make sure that your business is keep every trust contract large and small, and don’t make ones that you cannot fulfill. People notice, even if they don’t complain.

I did enjoy the rest of the cruise, it just bugs me that this is one of the memories I have kept.

I very much enjoy working in a team environment; collaborating, learning from each other, becoming friends (because you must trust other team members in order to have a solid group), brewing ideas, and developing new strategies. Having a job is more than learning the latest trends on HTML or WordPress, it is about being with a group of people you trust, respect, and truly enjoy being together. We spend most of our time away from home with our “co-workers” and they become more like a “family” after a while.

Unfortunately, as we spend so much time with a group of people, it is inevitable that we will be exposed to each other’s flaws. These are just a few examples of negative personality types that can hinder the flow of a team, derailing the project and cohesive nature of the team itself.

1. The “Know It All”
   There is nothing more annoying, in my opinion, than the person who thinks they know it all. Whether because they hold all the possible degrees in school or have been in the industry for many years, this personality type can try and dictate the outcome, even if it against the initial project specifications.

   Being in a team is not about who knows more than the next person, there is always room to learn from one another, rather than trying to establish some kind of hierarchy on one another. Being in a position of “subject matter expert” is an opportunity to teach others the tricks to help them in their career not an opportunity to show how much knowledge life has given you. The more knowledge that is passed on other team members, in a collaborative way, the more likely the team is to succeed.

2. The “Do It All”
   Project monopolizing is not uncommon in a competitive group of people. These are the ones that want to do it all, and not leave any room for anyone else to “get in.” While not always an intentional act, controlling the project single-handily is extremely inefficient.

   Each team member has a tremendous impact on the project, and their contribution to each step of the way is crucial for a favorable outcome. Collaborate with your team members by excelling at the given task. Ask others if help is needed, if your task is finished, but do not take over someone else’s task just to prove you can do it all.

3. The “Unrelenting Pessimist”
   This is the person who always finds the negative side on situations. “Oh this can’t be done,” “This really sucks,” “I hate doing this task,” “I hate the people I’m doing the task for,” or “We always do things the wrong way.” These sentiments steer a project in the wrong direction.

   Instead of concentrating on the negative aspects of the project, try to come up with solutions to help the smooth development of it. Outwardly, saying bad things already sets a pattern for the given task to fail. Recognizing a problem, or gap in the project is encouraged, but by not offering a solution the problem becomes an elephant in the room. Nothing is perfect, but having a positive attitude or solution-based attitude will help the proper outcome of the project.

4. The “1-2-3 Not It” Guy
   This one is the worst of all in my book: a person that will blame a simple “falling through the cracks task” on other team members to avoid taking the blame. This person will find all the excuses to use and it is never their fault.

   Part of being human is making mistakes, and if we don’t own our faults we will never be able to grow as a person or in our careers. If you find that one of your team members has thrown you under the bus, it leaves a bad feeling of “mis-trust” toward that person and disrupts the synergy of the team. A team needs to stick together and help each other, and if someone drops the ball (for whatever reason), it is best to own the mistake, come up with a solution, or speak with your manager about how to improve the process instead of blaming your team members for everything. You are more likely to get help from your team members and sympathy from your boss, than washing your hands and blaming the fault on others.

5. The “Passive Aggressive”
   Yes, we have all encounter this kind of person on our team. They will, without fail, find the way to get the idea through, or will sabotage the project because their idea was not taken into consideration. The entire strategy of this person is to get the team to admit, this person was right all along. Someone with this kind of attitude is very dangerous to work with.

   Resorting to passive aggressive behavior will only result on the project falling through, or a terrible outcome for the client. This also shows this particular team member is not really interested in working in a team, but rather working solo in order to get recognition by their peers out of insecurity.

At the end of the day working in a team it is a great opportunity to learn from another and to become better at what you do. Recognizing our own mistakes will make us better human beings because we can learn from our mistakes and overcome them. Working in a group of people gives you the opportunity to learn from one another, become better at what we do, and produce better products for our clients. It is like a force that only gets stronger as we learn to work together in harmony and unison. Trust and a positive attitude will go a long way in a team. I realize that the key for a team of people to succeed more than having a good strategy to get things done, is learn to treat others the same way you’d like to be treated.

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