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24th
FEB

More Twitter Visualizations

Posted by cgseo under Social Media

Social analytics - one of the hot topics for social networking enthusiasts... Four Ways of Looking at Twitter - Research - Harvard Business Review Data visualization is cool. It's also becoming ever more useful, as the vibrant online community of data visualizers (programmers, designers, artists, and statisticians — sometimes all in one person) grows and the tools to execute their visions improve. Jeff Clark is part of this community. He, like many data visualization enthusiasts, fell into it after being inspired by pioneer Martin Wattenberg 's landmark treemap that visualized the stock market. Clark's latest work shows much promise. He's built four engines that visualize that giant pile of data known as Twitter. All four basically search words used in tweets, then look for relationships to other words or to other Tweeters. They function in almost real time. Four Ways of Looking at Twitter - Research - Harvard Business Review

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24th

Made to Switch with Chip Heath

Posted by cgseo under Social Media

Share Made to Switch with Chip Heath This content from: Duct Tape Marketing Marketing podcast with Chip Heath (Click to play or right click and “Save As” to download) – Subscribe now via iTunes Hopefully you recognize the title of this post as a play on Chip and Dan Heath’s wildly popular book Made to Stick and the recently released offering Switch . As I read through Switch in preparation for this week’s interview with Chip Heath, I was struck by the idea that these two book share information about the same struggle – how the human mind dictates what we do and how we view the world, but from vastly different points of view. Made to Stick explored what makes ideas stick, but it also hinted about the challenges faced when trying to change an idea to make it stick. In Switch , the topic of change takes center stage. I find that one of the greatest marketing challenges facing small business is the ability to find a unique point of differentiation, a way to stand out. The reason this important step is so tough for many businesses is that it often requires a massive change in the way they think about their business, the way they think about their products and the way they communicate how their solution is unique. The safety in sameness is that it doesn’t require change, but it also doesn’t manifest anything very remarkable. To write Switch , the brothers Heath studied people trying to make difficult changes: People fighting to lose weight and keep it off. Managers trying to overhaul an entrenched bureaucracy. Activists combatting seemingly intractable problems such as child malnutrition. Their research revealed striking similarities in the strategies these people used. Switch outlines the game plan for making hard changes using these strategies. Change is hard – everyone knows it, everyone says, but why? According to Heath they were puzzled by the notion that some huge changes, like marriage, come joyously, while some trivial changes, like submitting an expense report on time, meet fierce resistance? They uncover the answer in the research of psychologists who’d discovered that people have two separate “systems” in their brains—a rational system and an emotional system. The rational system is a thoughtful, logical planner. The emotional system is, well, emotional—and impulsive and instinctual. When these two systems are in alignment, change can come quickly and easily (as when a dreamy-eyed couple gets married). When they’re not, change can be grueling (as anyone who has struggled with a diet can attest). In Switch you’ll meet the Rider, the Elephant, and the Path – these three metaphors make up the core elements required to understand and make effective change. Read this book and apply the principles of change to free up resistance in your business and as a bonus you might drop those ten pounds you’ve been holding on to. Image credit: nathanborror GoToWebinar is the presenting sponsor of the Duct Tape Marketing podcast. Related Posts: Made to Stick Podcast Six Pixels with Mitch Joel Facebook Webinar Recording and Resources Talking Linchpin with Seth Godin PR is Only Dying If It Isn't Evolving Powered by Contextual Related Posts Like this post? Share it with others

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23rd
FEB

The Hitchhiker’s Guide to Social Media Marketing

Posted by cgseo under Social Media, Web Marketing

Share The Hitchhiker’s Guide to Social Media Marketing This content from: Duct Tape Marketing Back in high school I had a great English teacher (I may not have left him with that impression at the time) that was very into science fiction. He made us read Robert A. Heinlein and all 1200 pages of Atlas Shrugged , but I also discovered Douglas Adams and The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy (A series of books now known as a “trilogy in five parts.” If fact, if you’re feeling particularly smug some day go ask a bookseller for the fifth book in the Hitchhiker Trilogy and see if they flinch.) There’s an underground of H2G2 followers that can frame any argument or challenge with a bit of advice from the series. The other night I was reading – The Salmon of Doubt: Hitchhiking the Galaxy One Last Time . It is a posthumous collection of previously unpublished material by Adams and consists largely of essays about technology and life experiences. I stumbled across this bit of wisdom and thought to myself this is the perfect way to frame the reluctance some small business owners feel when it comes to new technology and, in particular, social media. In the words of Adams: “Anything that is in the world when you’re born is normal and ordinary and is just a natural part of the way the world works. Anything that’s invented between when you’re fifteen and thirty-five is new and exciting and revolutionary and you can probably get a career in it. Anything invented after you’re thirty-five is against the natural order of things.” — Douglas Adams I don’t know what to do with this so much as to accept its reality, don’t panic, and be mindful of it as I continue to marvel and the brave new world we live in. Image credit: jonathanjoni Related Posts: Want to write better - read better It's A Little Like Childbirth, I Suspect Il est collante (It is sticky) What would the perfect business day look like? Read Any Good Research Papers Lately? Powered by Contextual Related Posts Like this post? Share it with others

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11th
FEB

3 Ways to Use the Google Wonder Wheel for Visiual SEO

Posted by cgseo under Social Media, Web Marketing

Share 3 Ways to Use the Google Wonder Wheel for Visiual SEO This content from: Duct Tape Marketing Google has a tool buried deep into the core search functionality that doesn’t get talked about much. The tool is called the Wonder wheel. Essentially, it’s just another way to view your search results but it focuses on creating a visual wheel of the search terms Google thinks are related to your primary search. You access this view by doing a search and then hitting +Show Options at the top of the page. A sidebar will appear on the left, scroll down to the view options and hit Wonder wheel . (If you’ve never explored the more options sidebar there’s really a lot to play with there.) This is a Wonder wheel view of the search for small business marketing. What I like about this is that I think it gives a very simple map for optimizing your web pages, blog posts and entire site and a great starting place for building much more effective PPC campaigns. There are many more sophisticated ways to all both of these, but sometimes simple is better! 1) Optimizing your site around important and related keyword phrases . If you’re going to win the search battle for your most important search phrases you’ll need to think strategically about it. The more competitive the terms, the more you have to optimize very specifically. Using the Wonder wheel approach you could focus on the optimizing your home page for the core term and then building content pages specifically focused on each of the spokes in the wheel. This basic approach allows you to take huge cue from Google as to how they view your term. OK, there’s lots more to it, but this is the basic foundation. 2) Creating more effective PPC campaigns . The more targeted any ad is in both audience and message the more likely it’s going to perform. Using the Wonder wheel approach you might ditch the core phrase because it’s likely too expensive and crowded, but focus on building separate campaigns and ads for each of the spoke terms by creating numerous ad groups by Wonder wheeling those spoke terms for another good 5-6 phrases. You can then add Google’s keyword suggestions to finish off your groups with no more than 10-15 for each. Make sure you create specific ads for each group. Again, a very simplified approach to what can be done in far more complex ways, but this might be a great way for you to get started right. 3) Shaping your blog content . The Wonder wheel is a great tool to use along side your post writing. You can determine what you are going to write about and use the Wonder wheel suggestions on the spokes as phrases you might also want to work into a post. Or, you can use the Wonder wheel to suggest topics that you should be writing about and including as phases in your blog post titles. This approach might be one of the easiest ways to keep your mind buzzing about topics for posts while keeping your SEO efforts focused as well. Related Posts: Google Keyword Tool Now Offers Search Volume I've got a funny feeling about MSN Using Google AdWords for Testing Organic Keywords Every company has two wheels Keyword Research for Targeted Web Site Traffic Powered by Contextual Related Posts Like this post? Share it with others

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26th
JAN

CRM Meets Twitter: Will Vendors And Organizations Take The Time To Get It Right?

Posted by cgseo under Social Media

About a decade ago, the industry witnessed the rise of what some called "e-CRM" where CRM suites were extended to include interaction via the Internet. Back then, much of the focus was on e-mail response management and chat. Some analyst firms at the time referred to that interaction layer as Collaborative CRM (vs. Operational CRM and Analytical CRM). In many ways, we're seeing the continued evolution of CRM as organizations reach out even further to interact with various audiences and constituencies (e.g., "Social CRM") in environments where they already participate (e.g., Twitter, Facebook). There are similar issues that were true back then and are also true now. CRM can still be treated as a technology endeavor or as a very enterprise-centric program that delivers only a veneer of customer-centricity rather than something truly authentic. The promise of melding CRM programs with social environments faces the same hurdles that I witnessed years ago (becoming techno-centric oor too enterprise-centric). Although I do not include CRM as a formal part of my research, I do pay attention to social media and its intersect with many different areas (such as CRM). The demo's below are interesting but there are issues that organizations need to consider that relate to identity, privacy, and security. For example, identity assurance of Twitter accounts comes to mind - not just the ability to ascertain the identity of a "customer" but for the customer to ascertain that the "company" Twitter account is valid and that the people behind those accounts are authorized. For some industry segments, there are issues or audit and compliance that need to be supported (e.g., FINRA) or simply to satisfy e-Discovery policies. The other concerns I have is that traditional CRM vendors are "repaving the cowpath" when it comes to the design point for extending CRM to social tools. For instance, I have concerns that integration of CRM for marketing via Twitter will simply make it easier for organizations to spam all followers with promotions rather than engage people in a more meaningful way (and wrongly thinking that they are truly using Twitter in a social manner). Organizations might not explore the idea of "employees as brand ambassadors" via social media and instead use existing processes and tools defacto to create a corporate persona around social tools. There can be a balance. For instance, when I look at Bank of America ( BofA_Help ), the signature line of the BoA rep at the end of each Tweet is a nice touch. Source: 1. Original Tweet: http://twitter.com/glfceo/status/8221149519 2. SAP demos new Twitter integration By Barney Beal, News Director 18 Jan 2010 | SearchCRM.com

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