Every week I try and find something funny about my profession. I find it to be funny when I see other designer and developers experiencing some of the aches and pains I go through at times. But I wonder if this is only just the design industry? Do you think any other industry witness the same issues?

Interesting Social Media Ideas

Uniqueness in Your Brand. Most individuals are on Twitter to keep up with their friends and their whereabouts. They may be unique in their own right. Even entertaining too. But what if you were a business? You’d need a way to differentiate yourself from the competitor in your niche. It starts with your brand. I’m not talking about a piece of clip art with your name along side it. But a true brand, well thought out, and focused image. One that your audience want to be associate with.

Content is King. There is no way around it. You have to have content. Content is the reason why Google exist. There was a need for people to find valuable content within a timely manner. Lil Wayne created a WeezyThankYou website for his fans. The content is fresh with all the latest news. Great idea Weezy.

Simply Ask for It. With Weezy steelo, I’m sure it was more like telling you in a respectable street manner. “No disrespect at all, but you need to be clicking on the Likes button on my Facebook page.” — or something to that affect. It’s really a great way to get what you want. Just tell your audience what you want them to do. It’s something like a hardcore call to action.

Social Media Marketing from Lil Wayne »

What is Social Media?

Social media are tools used for interaction over the internet, using highly accessible communication techniques. It can also be defined as “a group of Internet-based applications that build on the ideological and technological foundations of Web 2.0, which allows the creation and exchange of user-generated content.”

For those who may want to know what Web 2.0 is, it is a web application that facilitates users to interact and collaborate with each other in a social media dialogue as consumers of user-generated content in a virtual community.

Social media has become a platform that is easily accessible to anyone with internet access. It has increased communication for organizations promoting brand awareness and improving customer service. Additionally, social media serves as a relatively inexpensive platform for organizations to implement marketing campaigns.

What is marketing?

Marketing is a process involving market research, selling products and/or services to customers and promoting them via advertising. It involves strategies for sales techniques, business communication, improved customer relationships and business development.

Marketing requires identifying potential customers, maintaining them and looking out for customer satisfaction.

When marketing is done over the internet it is known as Internet Marketing and most businesses today depend largely on internet marketing. They cannot survive without actively taking part in social media marketing.

Hence – Social Media Marketing

Social media marketing (SMM) is simply the combination of the definitions above.

It is a form of internet marketing which seeks to achieve branding and marketing communication goals through the participation in social media networks. It uses social networks, online communities, blogs, wikis or any other online collaborative media for marketing, sales, public relations and customer service to promote business online.

It compounds activities around social interaction, content, videos, images and audio exposure, making it interesting and exciting for customers and marketers alike. It is a way of engaging online communities for the purpose of generating exposure, opportunities and sales. It also includes writing content that is remarkable, unique, and newsworthy. This content can then be marketed by popularizing it or even by creating a “viral” video on YouTube and other video supporting sites such as MySpace, Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, Digg, Stumbleupon, social media sharing Flickr, YouTube, review/ratings sites like ePinions, and many more.

Advantage of Social Media Marketing

The number one advantage is generating exposure for a business, followed by increased traffic and the building of new business partnerships.

It’s all too often that a client really wants to have the logo be the most prominent visual element on their website. I understand that it may appear that it’s what they call a brand. A brand is more than just the clipart as my good friend at Powerband Graphics would say. It’s seriously not the size in which the logo is presented. But instead the holistic approach of a message you want to project to your target audience. I can run my engine on this subject for a very long time without taking a breathe, but I’m going to let the Make My Logo Bigger Cream video do the spoofing.

But I was pleased to discover these guys basically know the foundation of solid web development, too. Stick with me here, and I’ll take you under the hood of a fundamentally strong website.

Now, few mechanics know website programming languages. And you know by those oil-stained overalls that a clean presentation isn’t their bag. But talk to any seasoned mechanic, and you can learn a few things.

The pros always know what their customer really needs

When my brakes are shaking my ride, the last thing I care about are the add-ons and up-sells my mechanic has to offer. Let’s skip the bull and cut to the chase. The pros that I trust focus on their customer, and what that customer really needs. Of course, you can’t know the exact situation of every website visitor, but with every website I design I can see things the visitor really wants and things my client wishes the customer would want. Get a gauge for what your visitors really need and put yourself in the back seat for a bit.

The best mechanics will give you the broad strokes up front, and be ready with answers when needed

I know my mechanic has a wealth of knowledge about my car’s situation. Maybe my timing belt needs changed in four thousand miles, and my tires may be wearing thin. But neither of us have the time to cover everything up front. Too many of my clients give their website visitors a 110-point presentation on their homepage. It’s time to sort things out a bit. What’s are the one or two things that most of your visitors could most benefit from when they arrive on your homepage? Focus on delivering those things well, and provide plenty of nuts and bolts information deeper within your navigation.

The best mechanics talk in terms anyone would know

I consider myself well educated about cars. But if I’ve mastered this subject, my mechanic is a PhD speaking in a level I’ll never know. I never have to sweat it, because my guys always break it down in terms I know. Remember, you work in your industry every day, and your website visitors just drop by once in a while. Talk in their language, and you’ll make a stronger connection. It’s a small but powerful difference.

Now I realize it’s not typically a good idea to take business consulting from anyone with bikini calendars hanging in their shop. But even gearheads know that stop-and-go visitors are bad for your website. Take a few tips from these pros, and tune your website for peak performance.

In 2010, the search engine optimization (SEO) industry is expected to score $16.5 billion in revenue. That’s $16.5 billion tickets bought by businesses hoping to hit the Google lottery for prime space on search engine results. I guess when the prize is big, people are willing to throw their money around.

Now I’ve never paid for an SEO “expert”, that’s because I’m one myself. But working with small business owners, I will let you non-Fortune 500 types in on a little secret– you can do almost all of it yourself. You can save yourself some dollars, if you have the time and energy to learn. However, if you are trying to tackle a huge project with your search engine optimization and marketing. It’s well worth the dollars you pay a serious professional who gets geek’d about rising your website up the rankings. It takes more than just reading a few blogs on tips and tricks. There’s a caveat.

Your website headlines and content should match the words and phrases your audience use.

Google is on your side.

You didn’t know you had such a powerhouse behind your business, did you? But Google continually fights for their search engine to produce natural, organic results; not manipulated listings that are owned by corporate types with deep pockets. Google will never put heavy emphasis on technical or expensive demands, because they want to be accessible to every website owner. In short, you’re on semi-even footing with the big boys. (Well, sort of. More to come on that later.)

This time, it actually is what you know…

Your top priority for search engine optimization efforts is creating content that Google loves. By “content”, I mean headlines and text that are relevant to your audience. If your website is full of words directly related to your area of expertise, Google will consider you an expert. If you specialize in various areas, develop different pages and concentrate each with meaningful content.

…but, it’s also who you know.

Your second priority for search engine optimization is establishing some credibility through links. Consider it your way of telling Google “who you know”. If you link your website to other relevant websites—or (even better) get other relevant websites to link to yours—you’re an expert by association. It’s an easy way for Google to establish your status. So, make arrangements to link your website to other industry experts, and ask for a return link in exchange. A handful of these referrals can climb you up the rankings real quick.

Get inside the mind of your customers.

Remember, your website headlines and content should match the words and phrases your audience would use. If your website content speaks in the wrong language, you’ll be lost in the depths of Google. For example, a Lincoln lawn care specialist might refer to his weed prevention service as “pre-emergent chemical application” within the content of his site. But when his potential customers are searching for “prevent weeds Lincoln”, this perfect match will never be made.

Of course, it’s a stretch to say these tips are worth billions of dollars. But if you apply them correctly, you can fight toe-to-toe with some bigger businesses in your market. And when you independently take a shot at those big boys—now that’s priceless.

There are a few things we have added, edited, and deleted. But as for the existing visitors you will have to get reacquainted with where everything is. Nothing big. Stay tuned for all the Notables and good information as we will continue to build out new features for Cloffice.

Thanks so much for your support. We’ve had a tremendous year thanks to our clients.