Biznology

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In the past few days, Facebook has rolled out what can only be described as a tsunami of changes to the service. From telling users what is important in their news feed (or whatever it’s called now) to providing a way to do a virtual scrapbook of your entire existence on planet earth through its new Timeline feature to the promise of apps that will help share content in “new and improved” ways, Facebook has just gotten a lot bigger. Read the remainder of this entry »

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Google had a small announcement this week. It would have been a big announcement for most companies, but Google isn’t most companies. I mean, a big announcement for Google would be an acquisition–not just any old acquisition, but a big one such as Motorola. Or they invented a new browser (been there). Or a new operating system (done that).  No, this was a little bitty announcement that everyone can now sign up for Google+, it’s social network. I mean, its Facebook killer. Read the remainder of this entry »

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Has your boss started asking you the so-called “tough questions” about social media yet? You know the ones. Is anyone making any money on this? Are we going to make any money? What’s the ROI for this social stuff? When are we going to see some results? And my personal favorite: What’s in it for me? How does this make me look good to my boss (or shareholders, board of directors, core customers, etc.). Now, don’t get me wrong. These are great questions. They’re just not the right questions to start with. (Don’t worry, we’ll come back to them in just a moment).

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Last week, I talked about how blogger outreach is scary, and I talked about why this fear exists for most people before they start talking to bloggers.  In great measure, these fears exist because of the horror stories that have resulted from wrong-headed approaches. In the five years that we’ve been reaching out to bloggers, we’ve learned just as much about how NOT to pitch as we’ve learned about the right ways. The main thing to keep in mind is how you feel when you are on the receiving end of a misguided PR pitch. If you just stick with that mindset, you’ll avoid the lion’s share of pitching mistakes. Read the remainder of this entry »

If you are in this business long enough, someone will come up and ask the question. To some of them, it is the most important question in their lives: “How do I break into SEO?” I honestly get this question several times a month.  And each person that asks me is ready for my answer. Some seem ready to take notes. They expect that I am going to rattle off some kind of canned answer that will unlock the secret to their future career. But I don’t, because it isn’t that easy. Read the remainder of this entry »