Read the complete and original post at www.OPENforum.com

Facebook is a powerful way to grow your business, but what’s working for your company and what’s not? Here are five tools to analyze your Facebook data courtesy of socialdon.com.

Read the complete and original post at www.blog.foursquare.com

Every day, people use Foursquare Explore over a million times for personalized recommendations, whether they’re looking for a romantic dinner spot or a fun family outing. Today, we’re making it available to everyone, everywhere – Foursquare.com now provides the best recommendations for what to do, even for people who haven’t checked in or signed up.

When we first launched Foursquare Explore, we knew we could make great, personalized recommendations for the 25,000,000 members of our community. If a person had checked in at ten places, we could recommend ten more that we knew they’d be happy with.

Since then, we’ve been tweaking and improving the formula that supplies those recommendations, analyzing and re-analyzing our nearly 3 billion check-ins and 30 million tips to find the keys to the best recommendations. In fact, we even started running an experiment: without any check-ins, can we still provide the best local recommendations? Thanks to those 3 billion check-ins and 30 million tips (and a bit more magic behind the scenes), we’ve gotten really really good at it.

Try it out now for yourself. Head over to Foursquare.com and search for ‘pizza’ or a ‘sushi.’ No need to create an account; just go there and type in what you’re looking for.

Foursquare doesn’t just hand you a one-size-fits-all list of suggestions. Even if you’ve never checked in, Explore still can make great recommendations based on a number of signals, like what’s popular in the neighborhood, new places, places that are trending at the moment, where experts go, and what’s popular on that day of the week. If you search for a bar, we don’t just tell you about great bars, but rather the best places you should go tonight.

You’ll also notice that it’s flexible – search for a type of place (‘sushi’), a particular item (‘veggie burger’), or a specific place (‘Starbucks’). Because Explore searches through those tens of millions of tips, we can find exactly what you’re looking for. We’re in the process of adding even more information to our listings – like when a place is open and how much things typically cost there – but in the meantime, try searching for things like ‘cheap’ or ‘late night.’

All of this gets even more powerful if you download Foursquare on your phone. We can then customize Explore based on what you like, where your friends have been, and show you money-saving specials. And, of course, it’ll be even easier to search Foursquare on the go.

Planning a night out this week? Let us know how the all-new Foursquare.com works for you.

Read the complete and original post at www.dreamgrow.com

These days it’s difficult to imagine the business world without its obligatory Facebook and Twitter pages; almost every company has them as they help one-to-one customer support and other business decisions. Decades ago, however, industry moguls weren’t in the same position. Connecting with the public was difficult and often not even attempted; as a consequence some businesses suffered greatly due to a lack of communication. Here we take a look at half a dozen examples of such bad decisions, and what could have happened had social media been around.

The Coca Cola Re-Brand

In April of 1985 one of the biggest brands in the world made an almost catastrophic blunder. The decision was made to tamper with the famous recipe following the continued success of rival Pepsi’s marketing plan “The Pepsi Challenge”, which showing alarming signs the public preferred the taste to Coca Cola. Paranoid Chief Executive Roberto Goizueta launched New Coke in an attempt to win over old and new customers alike. This didn’t go to plan.

After three months of boycotting, hostility and general vitriol from customers, the company’s head executives re-released the original version as Coke Classic. To their bemusement this went on to outsell every other drink on the market!

The Solution: It seems, at the time, customers may have preferred the taste of Pepsi, but their loyalty lay with Coca Cola. A simple Twitter campaign could have solved this! “Remember why you love @CocaCola!” would send the customers hurtling to the shops. Or the soft-drinks giant could simply ask its millions of followers if they would like a new taste range.

Atari’s E.T. Disaster

In 1982 Steven Spielberg’s film E.T proved a huge success; inevitably, spin-offs began in numerous industries. The burgeoning video games industry wanted in on this, so market leader Atari created an adaptation for their Atari 2600.

The game was rushed through production in five weeks. Meantime, anticipating vast Christmas sales, Atari ordered over four million cartridges to be produced. On its release the game performed well on a commercial level, but was critically maligned, and once customers realised just how awful the game was they sent their copies back in disgust.

With millions of E.T. cartridges finding their way back home to Atari’s headquarters, the dismayed company took the extreme measure of burying them all in the Alamogordo, New Mexico landfill! The failure of E.T. is attributed to their eventual downfall in the videogame market.

The Solution: A number of simple activities could have saved this disaster, but when the worst came to the worst Atari could have avoided the need to use a landfill. Tweets, and a vigorous Facebook campaign, would have informed customers to dispose of the cartridges sustainably to save public face.

Donkey Kong VS King Kong

In 1982 the growing success of video game company Nintendo attracted the attention of movie giant Universal City Studios. They contended the Japanese firm’s popular arcade game, Donkey Kong, was a breach of their copyright for King Kong.

A brief court battle later and Nintendo won after their lawyer, John Kirby, highlighted the rights to King Kong were in the public domain. MCM had not helped their cause by proving the point themselves when releasing a King Kong film decades earlier. Nintendo received a hefty sum from Universal Studios, the latter being criticised for their attitude towards litigation. The incident was also voted one of the “dumbest” moments in video game history.

The Solution: A round of e-mails, Tweets, Google searching and foresight could have avoided this humiliation for MCM. The moral of the story here is to always research. Thoroughly. Something easier to do than ever thanks to the internet age!

Read the complete and original post at www.openforum.com

A landing page is simply the term used to describe an online marketing tactic focused on getting people to “land” on a Web page that asks them to take one specific action. Today, landing pages have become a required element in the marketing toolbox for every imaginable business, including local brick-and-mortar types.

To maximize your advertising and promotional efforts, you must direct your ad or e-mail recipients to specific page, which details exactly what they’re going to get and how to get it, as opposed to your site’s homepage. There are many great articles on how to create better landing pages, but I want to focus on why you need to create and use landing pages as a core online marketing tool.

Improve your site’s ranking. One of the best ways to get your site to rank higher is to have lots of local content. Creating landing pages that feature very localized, down to the neighborhood perhaps, content is a great way to start building up the local content and links necessary to have your website’s pages move up in the search index.

Deepen your social connections. Sending your LinkedIn, Twitter and Facebook connections to landing pages that are personalized to each network is a great way to deepen the connection. By running Twitter and Facebook feeds on these pages, and acknowledging the connections that come from those networks, you will find a much higher degree of engagement in those networks.

Give visitors what they want. By creating landing pages that address the specific market segments, product segments or key content segments for your business you can begin to better funnel people to the specific types of content they desire. Using a tool like Survey Funnel in conjunction with your landing pages enables visitors to tell you what they are looking for and then be directed to specific content based on their choices.

Capture more leads. When done right, landing pages can be your lead capture workhorse. If you have a great e-book or free workshop to promote, you may want to create sign-up forms for most of your Web pages, but your sign-ups will soar when you create a landing page that details, sells and demonstrates the benefits of signing up for that workshop. A landing page with video, audio, images, descriptions and a very intuitive call to action is a must for lead-capture campaigns.

Facebook was the platform of choice for small businesses looking to use free offerings from social networks to promote their goods and services, but when it came to paying for promotion via social media, the result was quite the opposite, according to an email survey of 3,434 MerchantCircle member merchants, conducted by Reply.

When asked which free social media platforms they used to promote their businesses, respondents overwhelmingly tapped Facebook, at 68.7 percent, topping Google Plus (49.2 percent), Twitter (32.8 percent), other (19.1 percent), and none (18.6 percent).

However,74.3 percent of respondents said they did not use any paid products from social networks to promote their businesses, with only 6.6 percent using Facebook’s offerings, compared with 12.6 percent for Google Plus, 10.8 percent for other, and 1.3 percent for Twitter.

In a survey by MerchantCircle last December, 96 percent of the more than 2,500 small business owners who responded were aware of Facebook’s targeted display ad offering, but only 23 percent used it…. Read the complete and original post www.allfacebook.com

Read the complete and original post at www.mashable.com

     With increasing numbers of consumers using mobile devices to make their holiday purchases,  smartphones and tablet computers may be elbowing aside elves as Santa’s helpers this year, experts predict. But small businesses remain woefully unprepared to attract and engage these holiday shoppers, several new studies show. They’ve yet to climb aboard the mobile bandwagon.

Last year, consumers spent more than $20.7 billion shopping using mobile devices, according to a report from Javelin Strategy and Research. That figure is sure to swell this year, experts said.

But the vast majority of small- and medium-size businesses (SMBs) still do not have mobile-optimized sites to take advantage of this on-the-fly spending spree, a study by SMB DigitalScape shows.

That lack of preparedness can drive customers away. Another study commissioned by Google found that three-quarters of visitors to a mobile-friendly site will return, but 79% of people who find a site difficult to use on their mobile devices will give up and look for another site.

“Every industry study we’re seeing points to a very robust use of smartphones and tablets for holiday shopping this year,” said Ben Seslija, CEO of bMobilized, a New York startup that develops mobile site creation tools. “Most small and medium-sized business owners, especially retailers, are simply unaware that sophisticated turn-key solutions now exist in the marketplace. These new do-it-yourself services eliminate the high cost and technological complexity that have historically prevented SMBs from building mobile sites that look and work great on any device, OS or browser.”

Read the complete and original post at www.openforum.com

Many small-business owners face a counter-intuitive problem; having too much money available can lead to dumb decisions. During economic booms, many companies waste funds on thoughtless marketing campaigns, extravagant parties, Aeron chairs and gigantic Weber grills.

As the economy rebounds, make sure that your business doesn’t fall prey to one of these 10 biggest marketing-budget busters.

1. Spending too much on the first company logo. It’s called a startup for a reason. No one knows if it will succeed. Spend a small amount of money on a logo that will get the company through the first few years that still represents its brand promise. The alternative: Be patient. Logos evolve over time. Learn from Starbucks and its steadily changing logo.

2. Issuing a press release with a wire service. This can get expensive and has minimum search engine optimization impact. The alternative: Use the more directed approach of sending releases to personal press connections—not only is it cheaper, it also has a better chance of getting noticed.

3. Buying one single, large advertising insertion. Many small businesses save up to make one big splash with a display or banner ad. Unfortunately, it takes more than one impression to make a brand memorable. The alternative: Do display or banner advertising where the company can afford to do multiple insertions over many issues or a lengthy period of time. All advertising needs to be testable and trackable so the company knows what to repeat and what to drop.

4. Promotional pens and shirts. It may feel fun to have the company’s name on these items, but most will get get thrown away by the recipient. The alternative: Put the company’s name on a higher ticket item that the customer will use longer term. For example, leather-bound calendars or smartphone cases work well…

Read the complete and original post at www.dreamgrow.com

Social media marketing and connected user sites like Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and Pinterest might be getting all the major media attention, but concurrent with that attention is the accompanied growth of email marketing. Studies show that 80% of all internet users, on a personal and business level, check their emails daily, and continue to open email offers and share them on social networks.

Email marketing is more important than ever, so let’s take a look at 8 critical things to do, and to avoid, when managing your email marketing program.

Do NOT spam.

This is probably Rule #1 on a lot of lists, but it’s absolutely wrong to send out email messages to a random list in the hopes that it will help your brand or increase business. Spam email has a better chance of hurting your branding efforts and your business. Don’t do it.

Use brief, well written emails.

Lead with strong, bold declarations and follow with links. Be brief and give your readers more information and a quick call to action. Let your reader determine how much time they want to devote learning more about your message.

Personalize your messages.

Various email marketing software products like one from Jango Mail email marketing can help you personalize your messages by name, zip code, preferences and more. You can target buy approaches like “Dear future bride.” In a word, personalized approaches can increase your success level.

Don’t aggravate your readers.

Don’t make the mistake of alienating customers with redundant and unnecessary communication every day. A simple thank you and an occasional special offer will do a lot more than repeated email bombing in the interest of “communication.”

Use social media as a way to increase your reach.

Do not be afraid to contact people through your social media, but use it judiciously. Email marketing and social media combined works very effectively, if used within boundaries…

Read the complete and original post at www.strategicobjectives.com

Never before have Shakespeare’s words, “All the world’s a stage…” been more appropriate! Thanks to the social universe you can now connect the dots with everyone and everything in a matter of seconds.

It’s little wonder then, that Strategic Objectives’ blog post Should CEO’s Tweet? Risks and Rewards attracted mega social pick-up around the world last week. The piece detailed some of the up- and downsides of corporate leaders tweeting and lamented that Social CEOs are rare and hard-to-find. In fact recent research shows that fully 70 per cent of the world’s CEOs have NO presence on any online platform, much less Twitter!

The fact remains, however, there are a goodly number of CEOs around the world on Twitter; and there’s really no better way to tap into their 24/7, non-stop collective stream of social consciousness than a Twitter List.

That’s why our mighty @SO_pr team set out to create the Ultimate List of Social CEOs on Twitter – a new and definitive list, at least for today, of CEOs who tweet. Please stay tuned next week, same time, same place, for our @SO_pr 10 Commandments for the Social CEO.

The Ultimate List of Social CEOs on Twitter

You can find and follow our Ultimate List of Social CEOs on Twitter here. Please keep reading for some analysis; to review the entire list, all in one place; and to find out who helped us create it.

Why Follow the Leaders? A Social CEO Stream of Consciousness

It’s clear from following this Twitter list that some CEOs tweet way more than others. Our CEO stream of consciousness spans the globe, and includes the famous, such as @rupertmurdoch, @richardbranson and Mark Cuban @mcuban; and the infamous, such as reality TV star @jefholm, CEO of People Water, who made a name for himself earlier this year as Emily, The Bachelorette’s fiancé – a fact that is not mentioned in his bio!

It also features CEOs who are not only the face of their product or service, but whose service is, in fact, their Twitter account – such as @mashable’s Pete Cashmore, #1 on our list; @timoreilly, CEO of O’Reilly Media, #4; and #52 @markraganCEO of Ragan’s PR Daily.

The Ultimate List of Social CEOs on Twitter is as diverse as the people on it. As a whole it presents a unique view from the top of the corporate ladder. You will see that CEOs’ individual Twitter styles are very different – some converse and engage, others broadcast one-way. Some offer personal info like “I’m meeting (fill in name of celebrity) for breakfast,” others give stock tips, or promote their latest book or product. The individuals on this list present a rare, unedited glimpse into the business world, something impossible before Twitter made its indelible mark on the social landscape.

On With the Show!

Without further ado, here’s the list, ordered by follower count. At the very end of this stream you’ll find our Social CEO Stream of Consciousness – a constantly updating stream of CEO tweets. Enjoy!

1. Pete Cashmore ‏@mashable (3,017,506 followers)

CEO of Mashable

The largest independent website dedicated to news & resources for the connected generation. Tweets from @mashable staff. Send questions/comments to @mashablehq.

2. Richard Branson ‏@richardbranson (2,516,528 followers)

CEO of Virgin Group

Tie-loathing adventurer and thrill seeker, who believes in turning ideas into reality. Otherwise known as Dr Yes at @virgin!

3. Jack Dorsey @jack (2,134,047 followers)

CEO of Square

Executive Chairman of Twitter, CEO of Square, a founder of both….

Read the complete and original post at www.openforum.com

As social media continues to evolve, it’s important for us to keep up with the changes. Back in 2009, Mashable published one of the first articles about what to include in a social media policy. It is still relevant today, but social media has changed.

This year, the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) has issued three reports regarding social media in the workplace. The last one was specifically focused on employee use of social media.

What the Reports Say

Jon Hyman, a lawyer and author of the Ohio Employer’s Law Blog, provides a brief overview of these three NLRB reports. Hyman explains the big takeaway for employers in the employee usage report. “It is very difficult for a business to craft a social media policy with any substance behind it that will pass muster with the NLRB’s Office of General Counsel. The NLRB’s position on social media policies remains an absolute mess. Employers need to be able to adopt bright-line rules to guide their employees towards proper conduct. Yet, this report puts employers in the dangerous position of being fearful of drawing even the simplest of lines. The result is that businesses will be fearful of adopting any rules, creating online anarchy among their employees.”

Sample Social Media Policies

Organizations can’t let policy changes stop them from moving forward. Instead they need to remain compliant, educate employees and build the brand all at the same time. Eliot Johnson, senior manager of global social media at KPMG, a global network of independent firms providing advisory, audit and tax services, shared the company’s philosophy regarding employee use of social media. “At KPMG, social media is as much about the individual as it is about the brand. Empowering 145,000 partners and employees to use social media across our global network demonstrates our vision of enabling the business through our people. It is important that we recognize the business value of social media in order to connect with clients, employees, and the media. If we are successful, we expect to see a shift in the digital behavior of our people and more broadly a shift in our corporate culture.”

KPMG recently created a video social media policy. Johnson shared the strategy behind the video…