Peter Dreier: Pass the Health Care Bill – Then Improve It
There are many lessons to learn from the health care war that has raged over the past year. We’ll get to some of them below….
Marketing Expert Social Media Secrets are you applying them?

Manipur Muslim separatist leader arrested in Guwahati
A top separatist leader of Manipur was arrested by security forces in Assam’s main city of Guwahati Thursday while on a specific mission to recruit cadres to carry out operations, officials said.
See the Centrifuge Approach to Next Generation Business Intelligence in Action

As more businesses invest more time and money into social media marketing (SMM), it’s important to understand not only the benefits but also the processes for planning and implementing a successful SMM campaign to maximise return on investment.

Businesses are embracing social media and social media marketing as part of their broader marketing strategies far more readily these days. This is encouraging to see, especially among corporates who are typically resistant to change and frequently have trouble adapting rather time-consuming and cumbersome bureaucratic processes to the relatively fast pace of the online environment.

Of course, there are challenges other than administration to overcome when it comes to social media. For a start, social media is about conversations and personalities. You are vying for your users’ attention – so if you don’t engage them with a really great personality or brand that they personally want to endorse – you’re going to get lost in the din and are losing out on potential “ambassadors”.

Social media has made the marketing maxim of telling believable stories even more important. One-way, push marketing communication is on its way out. This is now an attention economy, and in a world where time-starved customers are bombarded with marketing messages it’s hard to get through. Now that consumers can choose what they look at, do they want to look at and engage with you?

This buy-in is key to engaging with customers. Many would say that getting this kind of subscription comes down to authenticity and networking. This is true. However, to really get the most bang for your buck, the loop also needs to be closed when it comes to social media marketing and strategies need to be cleverly integrated across channels to create a ‘through-the-line’ approach that works.

This is the reason that many social media marketing campaigns are unsuccessful or not as effective as they could be. There needs to be not only follow-through, but also a cleverly integrated approach.

The easiest way to achieve this is by having a clear idea of where you want to go with your campaign – as well as define what your measurables are going to be before you start. It’s sometimes hard in some social media to predict exactly what will happen, as conversations tend to follow an organic flow. You can’t really force this. However, a clever social media marketer will be able to steer and lead conversations in such a way that they remain natural and unobtrusive.

Many web development and marketing companies now offer social media marketing as one of their services. While there are plenty of agencies and consultancies that do legitimately specialise in and have experience within the field, there are many who don’t. There are a number of common pit-falls – and where most fall short is in there execution and maintenance of these campaigns. It’s not just a case of creating a Facebook group and forgetting about it. The social media elements that one chooses to use need to be managed and maintained and relationships with customers need to be cultivated and grown.

What are the core factors in executing a successful social media marketing campaign?

First of all, decide what your story is. This is still at the core of effective marketing. Make sure it’s credible and one that your target market subscribe to. Make sure that you remain authentic.

Second, ensure that your goals and metrics are well defined. You need to have an idea of where you want to go with this campaign and how you intend to measure your success.

These two decisions will affect your third consideration – which is where you are going to find this audience. If you know who you’re trying to reach through social media – you’ll better be able to identify where they are online.

Finally, you need to be honest about whether your business is ready to be involved and invested. The process of social media marketing takes time and effort. You can’t just put up a Facebook fan page and create a Twitter account and call that a social media strategy. You need to ensure that you are invested. If you are not “socialising” though interaction and involvement with your community, you are not really present.

In this way, you will be able to listen to, respond to and influence your audience. When deciding to embark on a social media marketing strategy, it’s worth ensuring that whoever you choose to implement the campaign has the experience and foresight necessary to execute it fully and effectively.

Social Media Marketing: “My Agency Doesn’t Get it… Who Does?” with Jason Falls

When we think of best Apple applications, our minds stop over something lucrative that can perform everything smartly enough. These applications are nothing but a set of enhanced features which can be downloaded and then loaded on the Apple iPhones. An Apple iPhone is itself an intelligent gadget carrying multiple functions like imaging, music, connectivity, over hundred countries’ maps, massive memory modules and much more. And by installing additional best applications for iPhone, you can push it further perform more for you, in style.

Apple iPhone applications developers are behind the creation of the iPhone applications. As of now, the market is filled with a number of iPhone versions from the house of Apple. Applications for all the models are now being developed at the best Apple iPhone applications development facilities. Outsourcing of these projects to offshore destinations has fueled big time in the growth and success of these firms.

Many software development firms which were into any program development activity have also shown keen interest in application development for the iPhone. In a word, the launch of the Apple iPhone has opened many opportunity windows for other industries – software developers being the major one.

iPhone application development companies distribute the iPhone applications over the web. These are available for download for very nominal fees. Just by following a few simple tips and steps, you can download your required iPhone application over the internet in minutes. Best Apple applications can also be loaded onto your favorite iPhone without any hassles and without the help of any technically-sound person.

iPhone application developers are very talented people and they have years of experience working in software development firms. Apart from iPhone application developers, an iPhone application services provider also boasts of featuring experienced designers for the purpose of designing the most exciting and good looking iPhone applications. The mushrooming of Apple iPhone application development companies has given a clear cut indication that in the coming days iPhone applications are going to be even more cheaper than what is it today. Isn’t it a great news for you as an ardent Apple follower?

Developing iPhone Applications using Java

If there’s one thing I know how to do, it’s meet new people

I met my boyfriend on public transit! Most of my friends right now are people I picked randomly in a crowd. Often I get asked where I find the balls for such brazen interactions.

It’s really simple

If you want to meet new people, there’s two things you need to get in your head. The first is that your meeting someone new – that means they’ve most likely never seen you before. The second is that they most likely don’t know much about you.

What does this mean? It means that it doesn’t matter what they think of you. Really

Simple as that. You need to re-train your brain. Society would have you assume that it really matters what other people think. You expect that if enough people make the same conclusion, it must be true.

That’s bullshit

Just because everybody seems to think that we’re gonna die in 2010, that doesn’t mean you should start building a bunker. Just because everybody thinks pork rinds are nasty it doesn’t mean I can’t eat them!

Let me tell you a story

I have a friend. She’s a 14 year old Chinese girl. Does her hair up every time she gets out of bed. Sprinkles on just a little bit of make-up. Wears cute-but-slightly-suggestive outfits. Pretends to be just a little less smart then she is. Once I saw her right after she got up. Hair a mess, no make-up, an over-sized shirt and giant P-J pants. She looked just as good. I told her this, and asked her why she did all that stuff. She was smart, friendly, kind. She didn’t need any of it, did she? She said this:

“I do it because I want people to think I’m pretty.”

What? You think you’re pretty, right? I mean who cares what people think:

“Sure, but if people think I’m ugly, if the world thinks I’m ugly, that means it must be true.”

This is media in action people. It doesn’t matter if your a Gothic Anarchist from Texas and blissfully happy with yourself. Everybody catches the bug sometimes.

We’re social creatures, and I get that. I know that once in awhile, it’s important what someone thinks of you. But this mentality can debilitate us, and make us shut ourselves up. You get so rapped up in all this you try to write an e-mail to somebody and you freeze up. It makes you freak out. How are you going to do this? What if they don’t like you?

What if they speak badly of you? What if they think you’re weird?

What happens when people think you’re weird? What happens when you meet people that don’t like you?

YOU END UP SURROUNDED BY PEOPLE THAT DO LIKE YOU!

That’s it everybody! You weed out people you won’t get along with.

When you walk up to some stranger, they better stand up to YOUR standards. They better make YOUR cut. YOU better like them, or THEY miss out on your kick-assery.

Because even assholes kick ass some of the time. Really.

So send that email! Direct message that hot chick! Random-Add that random stranger!

Because news flash people! On the internet it is easier then ever to find people you like, and even easierer to get rid of ones you don’t.

Thats mah WOOOORRRD today y’all.

I plan to do a series of these. Each should help you overcome these problems and get yourself out there without sounding like a big douchebag all day long. Hang ten.

New Media Douchebags Explained

Social media networking and other new forms of online communication are the latest rage. What is it and how are today’s educators using this new tool?

The online technologies and practices used to share opinions, ideas, experiences, perspectives and insights with other people, social media is changing the way we learn, teach, and interact with other people worldwide. People everywhere are having conversations online. The world of education is included; parents, students, teachers and lawmakers. There is a new wave of influencers out there online, and it is powerful.

It all started to flourish around 2007 when social networks began to gain traction. Now memberships are in the hundreds of millions. For the latest trends authors like Paul Gillin began talking about these new influencers several years ago.

Here’s a quick rundown of some of the activities involved in social media:

1) Websites need to be properly optimized – so people can find them via search engines.
2) RSS feeds, or Really Simple Syndication – people can now publish online.
3) Optimized article submissions linking back to your website.
4) Blogs and Vlogs – to share content and videos (e.g. YouTube or Google Video.
5) Webcasts/Podcasts/Videocasts – Another way to share information from a desktop.
6) Social networks (MySpace, Flicker, Stumble Upon, etc.)
7) Socializing web content (tagging and bookmarking) – it’s a library online.
Communities online – niche groups according to interests and topics.

Many businesses are already using social media finding these benefits:63 percent are using social media to build and promote their brand;61 percent are using social media to improve communication and collaboration; and 58 percent are using social media to increase the engagement of consumers.

The implications of social media are huge, and in education it is very big. Blogging is an enjoyable way to share information, learn from others and also to make professional acquaintances. Podcasts or videos can help others learn anytime and from anywhere.

Younger people have adapted very quickly to the concept of social media. MySpace is a huge congregation of sharing among kids. Now Twitter is catching on.

Anyone can use social media tactics for one of the following goals:
1) Conversation Mining. Research and mine consumers in vertical and horizontal networks and communities.
2) Invite influencers (customers/teachers/parents) into the circle to learn and share.
3) Choose the tools. Assign people to watch and listen to online conversations about education.

Social media tactics in education provide the ability for virtual classes. There’s a group at Second Life called ‘Real Life Education in Second Life.’ It is made up of people who are interested in the educational possibilities of the program. According to them, there are more than 400 universities and 4,500 educators participating in the Second Life Educators List (SLED). And this group is studying how to leverage the benefits of learning in a virtual world in order to assist the students of today.

Social media also allows students to interact across cultures, both directly and virtually. It also allows intercultural researchers to create new forms of study abroad via co-seminars helping to transform approaches to international education.

here are some social media networking sites for educators, networking and sharing information:
Education Futures – exploring the rise of innovative knowledge societies.
Twitter.com – a place where people can share in real time.
Facebook.com -(Sign up; review groups; use Friendster).
LinkedIn.com – ask “Questions” and “Answers” on Linked-In. Squidoo.com – a place to post and share topical information.
Gather.com – where you can post educational content
Skype – for instant messaging using audio/video.
Second City – for virtual teaching and conferences

Social media today is blending innovative technologies with social interaction, and the co-construction of new knowledge into popular social media outlets for online interaction that are centered around Web 2.0.

How to find and hire a Virtual Assistant for $2/hr.

Social networking is a mutual interaction between individuals by constructing public or semi-public profile within a bounded online system and secondly to view a list of other users with whom they share a connection along with they can traverse their list of connections. The nomenclature of these connections may be different from site to site.

What is Web 2.0?

Web 2.0 takes the web as a platform which help the transition of the web to web applications. It is mainly developed to give maximum interaction between users and the website. It is still confusing term because you may receive different explanations from different people around you. But at the heart of Web 2.0 is the maturity of the web and businesses that are thriving online. Many says that web 2.0 as companies that employ powerful web technologies but the key components of the new web are the web as a platform, collaboration and information syndication.

Web 2.0 Vs Social Media:

Web 2.0 and social media is gaining great amount of popularity around  the net as it is fulfilling a great need of people to instantly communicate, collaborate, and share information online.

Social Media and related technologies are offering a whole new setoff metrics to the online business professional and also to the normal web surfer.

Social Media Marketing can help you By:

1. Drive traffic to your media and website properties

2. Increase user engagement

3. Ultimately obtain more advertising and/or affiliate dollars

4. Share your information with other people

5. Help you to find information on any  topic of your interest

Using social media marketing you can get the exposure in a tactical way and avoiding getting blocked or banned. It is a new term in the world of search engine optimization(SEO).

Role of Social Media Websites:

Social Media websites can be very helpful in connecting with friends, classmates, neighbors along with people from your past with whom you have completely lost touch. Our friends and relatives are quite scattered in different parts of the world but using social media we can search for them and stay connected with them. Children’s activities can be check by using social media sites. This technology have diverted youth’s attention from porn and other vulgar sites. One can discuss and share their opinions by signing on the social media site and thereby increase their knowledge.

Business on TV: Ypulse founder: how youth use social media

Im using illustrator and/or GIMP to create iPhone icons.?

When i save the picture as a .png file it never works. How can i save the picture correctly so that it works? I have tried saving it in illustrator then saving it in GIMP but it doesn’t work.
Please help

If you are planning on using these as icons on your computer, then you will need to save them as “.ico” files. You can do this by simply changing the file extension at the GIMP “save file” dialogue.

Free – Personal iPhone icons to use with Twitter, Facebook, App, or your website!

‘X-factor destinations’ to influence travel trends in 2010: ABTA
The annual ABTA Travel Trends Report has cited ‘x-factor destinations’ – those with something new and unique to offer – and a desire for travellers to give something back to the destinations they visit, as key trends in British travel behaviour for 2010.
Cold War: Iron Curtain – part 2/5

The buzz surrounding Social Networking sites may cause media buyers to shy away from allocating budget to the social networking platforms. Those who are just now getting on board may be “showing up late to the party”, while the current advertisers are experiencing disappointing click-through rates. Despite the mixed reviews, there is still plenty of opportunity to become profitable through media buys involving social networks. The opportunity especially exists for local advertisers, and when it comes to advertising on social networks, local advertisers have the home field advantage.

When purchasing media, it is important to ask partners “what are your users’ demographics?” Every media buy should contain a clear and concise definition of the target audience. Let’s face it, reaching your target audience is the most crucial factor in any internet marketing endeavor, and targeting the right users based on their specific interest or behavior is critical in media buying.

We all know that users of social networking sites, such as Facebook and MySpace, offer up their demographics through their user profile. This allows media buyers to reach audiences based on their specific interests, activities, relationship status, and of course, location. The plethora of user information eliminates the trial and error process of finding that “sweet spot” which is all too common in most media buys. This influx of segmented information enables a more time and cost effective purchase of media.

Historically, Social Networks have been synonymous with branding. Recently, the bigger brand advertisers are straying from social networks in search of niche specific sites. These niche sites are believed to create a more “meaningful” view for big brands. This shift leaves the door wide open for smaller, more localized advertisers to fill the void in Leaderboards and Skyscrapers. Local businesses recognize the fact that they need an online presence, and social networks extend the chance for these smaller businesses to get in the game.

Facebook, for example, does a phenomenal job of allowing advertisers the dynamic feature of targeting geographically. Local businesses can explore creative steps in order to reach consumers, while playing an active role in the community of wall postings, groups, and RSS newsfeeds. Of course, results will vary on a case by case basis and ads certainly need to be tested; but this obviously brings local advertising to the national websites.

Not only does advertising on social media give local shops the national appeal, it also maximizes ROI while allowing advertisers full control of budget. The average cost for one network cable spot ranges from $3,000 to $5,000 and the average cost for one premium network cable spot is $10,000. How much exposure could the same amount provide a local advertiser on a Social Site? Facebook’s Social Ads are priced on either a CPC or CPM basis – advertisers are able to choose a daily budget and a maximum CPC or CPM, and there is no set cost for these advertisements.

Social media consumers are often seeking specific information in a low-pressure environment. Studies show that contextual advertising can increase a campaign’s ROI in this medium. Facebook’s users are accustomed to this type of informative content which can turn casual browsers into serious buyers. Although these social sites may be the future of local advertising, it is still important for local businesses to spread advertising dollars across the old marketing mix. Using the newspaper, radio, or magazines to point consumers to their site will spike interest. This multi-channel marketing will also enable a more branded appeal while pumping up traffic to stores, and will ultimately lead to increased sales.

No matter if you are looking to purchase media for a local bookstore, bike shop, dating service, or night club, social networks offer the opportunity for local advertisers to roll with the big dogs and score the big sales!

References:
“B2B Buyers Dig Social Media” Marketing Pilgrim, February 24, 2009 ( http://www.marketingpilgrim.com/2009/02/b2b-buyers-dig-social-media.html )

“Exclusive PMN Research: Brands Struggle To Reach & Engage Younger Gen Y’s Within Social Networks” Social Media Today, March 4, 2009 ( http://www.socialmediatoday.com/SMC/78154 )

Using Social Media to Promote Your Trade Show Participation : Part 5 – Examples