Biz Tips Blog: Online Marketing, Visibility and Business Blogging Tips

Social Media Marketing Industry Report (free!)

Just released: Social Media Marketing Industry Report...

Michael A. Stelzner, the king of white papers and CEO of WhitePaperSource, surveyed over 900 marketers about their use of social media and came up with some surprising results. Some of the stats include:

• 88% indicated they were using social media for marketing purposes
• 72% have been using social media marketing for a few months
• 64% of marketers are using social media for 5 hours or more each week
• 39% are using it for 10 hours a week
• 81% say the number-one benefit is generating exposure, followed by increasing traffic and building new business relationships
  

The report is totally free to download. No opt-in required. You can also get access to a one hour social media class with Mari Smith, Chris Garrett and me, interviewed by Mike Stelzner. Check it out.

In the report, you're going to also learn the top 10 questions marketers have about social media marketing. This is gold.

When you click through to download the report, watch the video intro. Stelzner really knows how to use video. And check out all the ways you can share the report. It's a masterful presentation of valuable content that is already getting a lot of attention and it's only been available for a few hours (at the time of this blog post).

Whether you're an experienced online marketer or just getting started, this is an important report for you to read and study.

Go get your copy of Social Media Marketing Industry Report: How Marketers Are Using Social Media to Grow Their Businesses.

Is Twitter Secure?

I recently got a question from a friend on Facebook asking me what security concerns they should have around twitter. For example: can someone find out where they live. Frankly, if you post anything on the Web or give your personal info to any site, it can probably be hacked and anyone can find you. Do a Google search on your name and see what comes up beyond the good stuff that you want found like blog posts and articles.

A friend told me she found all of her race results from various marathons and other running events and she was shocked they were online. I wasn't. Race organizers post all that stuff online. We like it when we want to look it up. We don't like it if we don't want others to know about our personal life.

I digress. I put the question out to my peeps to see what their suggestions were re: twitter security. Personally, I recommend never posting anything you don't want anyone to know. Period. I also recommend you read an excellent article on Marketing Profs by Michael Stelzner about The Dark Side of Twitter.

Got a tip or thought about twitter security and what you can do to stay safe online? Share it here in the comments section.

National Day of Listening is Friday

The first annual National Day of Listening is on Friday, November 28. This is a StoryCorps project and it got me thinking. Though the focus is on listening to the stories of your loved ones through thoughtful interviews, it seems the same could be done with your customers and clients.

In marketing circles, we often talk about finding out what your customer wants and then deliver. But how do you do that?

The obvious answer is to ask. What you think they want may not be what they actually want. Or what you think is your customer's biggest problem, may not be true.

Here are three ways to listen to your clients and customers:

My Community Rocks!

A big shout out of thanks to my Twitter and Facebook friends! On Sunday I ran a 5K (3.1 mile) race that was a fundraiser to raise awareness and $$ for ovarian cancer research at Cedars Sinai Medical Center.

My running buddy challenged me to see if I could raise money using my social networks. I'm always talking about Twitter and Facebook and she wanted me to prove that it's not a waste of time. So I took her up on the challenge.

I set a low goal of $200 because I knew I didn't have a lot of time to really push it.  I think it was a Saturday afternoon when I set up my donor page and sent a tweet out about what I was doing with a link to make a donation. I was in shock.

In less than 5 minutes I had 3 donations from people in my community. Two of whom I did not know.

I tweeted about the run and fundraising a few more times before the race and ended up raising $400. Every time I posted a tweet, I got an immediate response both in donations and messages of encouragement and support. With the exception of a couple of friends and my mom, all the donors were from my Facebook and Twitter communities and most from people I've never met before.

What's my point?

T-Mobile G1 Arrived!

Two days before launch day, my T-Mobile G1 phone landed on my doorstep! I got back to the office late Monday after 4 days of back to back seminar gigs -- first Tom Antion's Fusion and then Susan Levin's Speakers' Summit on Monday -- and the package was waiting for me.

Not expecting it until Wednesday and being very tired, I didn't look at the package right away. A few hours later, I opened the package and got real excited. I've been using a basic cell phone for years, not really thinking I needed much more. And, I probably don't, but after being at BlogWorld Expo and everyone tweeting and connecting on their iPhones, I wanted one too.

My mobile service is with T-Mobile so I decided I would get the new G1 when it was unveiled on September 22.  All the tech blogs have been reviewing it so do a search on Google and you'll find tons of info.

For me, it's a huge step up: access to the Web, learning how to use the scrolling and screen flicking features. It's not as sleek and slim as the iPhone. It's a bit heavy, but I really like the flip out Qwerty keyboard. I find it's easier to use than tapping a screen.

A couple of issues I've run into are: trying to leave a voice mail message (for some reason my voice is not triggering the VM and is not recorded) and deleting vm messages. I press the number to delete and it's not registered. I don't know if it's me or the phone.

There are not a lot of apps available yet, but that will change soon enough. So far, I'm very happy to have a new gadget to play with.