Don’t Create A Google+ Profile For Your Business… Yet

Posted on July 27, 2011 by Donny Kemick

Remember when you decided to create a profile for your business Facebook page rather than setting up an actual page under your personal profile?  Don’t make the same mistake on Google+.  As tempting as it is to setup a user profile for your business, it will bite you in the rear in a few months.

Recent numbers show over 20 million unique visitors to Google+, and it is already the fastest growing social network the internet has seen.  For now, you need to get in there personally and get familiar.

2 videos released by Google about the Business Profiles to come:

Business Tools Coming To Google+ in Q3 of 2011

Although they haven’t said whether it will be at the start or end of Q3, you can be sure that Google will push the feature set out as soon as it’s ready.  Some of the VERY LIMITED details that have been shared for the Business Pages in Google+ include:

  • Advanced analytics – Can probably bet on tight integration with Google Analytics
  • Enhanced sharing capabilities that encourage conversation
  • Integration with other Google Platforms like Adwords, Sites, and Docs

Early Testers Of Business Profiles On Google+

Google setup a form for you to request being included in their business profile test.  According to the video above, thousands of brands have requested to be included.  As seen above, Ford Motor Company is among one of the very first brands to get access to a business profile.  I highly recommend adding them to one of your Circles in Google+ to keep an eye on what they do.  I created a Circle called Brands, just for monitoring how businesses use Google+.

Final Warning – Don’t Create a Profile For Your Business Yet!

Google has already gone through and shutdown many profiles that ignored the request to NOT setup a profile for a business.  Some of these brands were quite large, like MSNBC and Mashable.  They will not be developing a migration tool to move personal profiles to business profiles, so the migration will be manual if you ignore this warning.

Posted in Social Media | Tagged | 1 Comment

My Top 5 Wishes for Google+ Brands

Posted on July 26, 2011 by Josh Curcio

With the launch of Google+ a couple of weeks ago, everyone has had fun learning the ins and outs of how they can best utilize it for not only themselves (circle me), but for their brands. Many brands even went ahead and created accounts as a brand despite being against Google’s wishes. It did not take long for those accounts to be removed or converted to an actual name of a person, hence +Mashable converting to +Pete Cashmore. Google is currently testing accounts for brands (see Ford example below), but what is next for them? …I have my opinions on what I’d like to see.

Ford Motor Company on Google PlusHere’s the Rundown

1.  I would like to see the brands be limited to actual brands. I don’t care whether a pickle can get more people to add it to a circle than Nickelback. I am sick of seeing worthless pages for people to “like” on Facebook and hope that does not carry over to Google+.

2. It would be ideal to integrate Google Places listings with Google+ brands. If the Places listing has been claimed, mostly everything in there should be relevant.

3. Integration with HotPot when applicable. It hasn’t fully taken off yet, but reviews and location based social media are not going anywhere anytime soon.

4. Better analytics that are more in line with Google Analytics. It would be nice to access it easily through the same Google Analytics dashboard as well.

5. Ability to add deals/coupons right through the interface without a 3rd party application. I would like to see this from both a marketer and consumer standpoint. I would envision it would be similar to Foursquare. This is probably not likely, but who knows.

What would you like to see for the brand pages? Leave your suggestions in the comments.

 

Posted in Uncategorized | 2 Comments

Using Facebook, Foursquare and Twitter on Your Feature Phone

Posted on July 25, 2011 by David Kemick

There are plenty of reasons to avoid buying a smart phone these days, chief among them the cost of not just the device itself but the monthly data plan charge to go along with it.  However, just because you don’t have a smart phone doesn’t mean you can’t use social media platforms like Facebook, Twitter and Foursquare while on the go.  In this post I’ll show you how to get started with each of those services, and all you need is a texting plan!

Facebook on a Feature Phone

Facebook Text MessagesFacebook already has a built-in feature called Mobile Texts that can be activated from your Account Settings section at Facebook.com.  From this section you have a ton of control over what gets sent to your phone, including which of your friends updates will be texted to you and what times the service will be activated (for example, you could say only send updates between 8:00AM and 5:00PM).  Alternatively, if you’re concerned about running up the number of texts Facebook is sending you in a day, you can even set a cap so that Facebook doesn’t overdo it.  Facebook mobile texts will also allow you to update your own status, or post on your friends’ walls without an internet connection.  But what about photo and video uploads?

Facebook Upload via EmailOnce you’ve setup mobile texts you’ll also want a way to add multimedia content to your Facebook page.  In order to do that you can take advantage of the free email address Facebook provides with your account.  To find out what your email address is, visit facebook.com/mobile – be sure to keep this email address to yourself as it’s specific to your profile or page!  Once you’ve noted the address, just send MMS messages from your phone to the email address and your photos and videos will show up on your wall automatically.

Foursquare on a Feature Phone

Foursquare Via DotGoNow you’re sharing content with your friends on Facebook, but wouldn’t you like to tell them about all of the cool places you’ve visited?  Once again the power of SMS comes to your rescue if you don’t have internet access on your phone.  To get started with Foursquare SMS check-ins just follow the 3 steps below:

  1. To get started, go to http://dotgo.com/res/foursquare/ on your computer and click to authorize your phone (you’ll be asked to log in to your foursquare account).
  2. When you receive a unique pin number, use your mobile phone to text “foursquare + pin#” to DOTCOM (368266).
  3. Once authorized, you’ll see a menu of actions. For example, text “3 empire state building” to 368266 to check in to the Empire State Building. You can always text “foursquare” to 368266 to see the menu again.

It may not be as quick as checking in on a mobile app but it works just as well!  You’ll get a rundown of the number of check-in points you’ve earned for checking into a location, you’ll see who the mayor is and also if any of your friends are at the location with you.

Twitter on a Feature Phone

I saved the easiest service for last.  Twitter was built from the beginning to be a service accessed with SMS.  You know that 140 character limit?  It turns out that’s just 20 characters less than the standard total of characters allowed in a single text message!  Assuming you’ve already created an account at Twitter.com, getting your mobile phone ready to tweet is a breeze.

First off, you need to locate your country’s shortcode right here.  If you’re in the United States the code is 40404.  Text the word START to your shortcode, and you’ll be walked through the process of creating a new Twitter account or linking an account that you’ve already created.  Once your account is linked you can update your Twitter status, keep track of old friends and even start following new ones all by texting your shortcode.

So there you have it – you don’t need to have the latest and greatest device to have fun using some of the coolest social media services on the web.  If you have more questions about getting started with the services above with your feature phone please post a comment below and I’ll do my best to help you out!

Posted in Location-Based Services, Mobile, Social Media | Leave a comment

Knowledge Sharing as Inbound Marketing

Posted on July 19, 2011 by Josh Curcio

Inbound marketing is still a new term, especially around Western NY and Northern PA. We have given inbound marketing seminars for many of the local businesses, most of which are aware of Twitter, try and use Facebook, talked about SEO…but beyond that their inbound marketing efforts are lackluster. The one area that is very hard for these businesses to grasp is knowledge sharing.

We Aren’t Telling You to Give Away the Farm

Giving Away the FarmBusinesses are almost instantly opposed to knowledge sharing because they think we are trying to get them to tell their competitors their deepest, darkest secrets. Some of them don’t even want their competitors to know what type of sales they are offering. Quick news flash: If your competitors want to know what sales you are offering they can find out! Usually if you have a sale, it’s published somewhere. The bottom line is we aren’t recommending you give proprietary information, business secrets, or the latest office gossip away. We are telling you to share. Why?

Become the Thought Leader of Your Industry

Make your competition jealous and build trust with your customers and clients. What you share may not be the most earth shattering information ever, but you are making it easy for them to find, which is key. IMPORTANT: Just sharing someone else’s thoughts is not enough. Add your opinion if you are sharing as a blog post. A quick paragraph with your thoughts will go a long way. If you are able to create your own knowledge sharing content as well as adding opinions and thoughts to others, if you are consistent people will begin looking to you for the answers. Don’t have time to write blog posts? Look at Quora to start answering industry questions. Quora is to knowledge sharing as Twitter is to blogging…at least in my opinion.

Build Links

If you are sharing good knowledge that people need, you are creating link bait for your website and you will start building links. If you aren’t already aware, inbound links to your website will significantly help your SEO efforts. Keep in mind, people will share good information, not useless content. And yes, we promote content creation to improve your SEO footprint and build links…knowledge sharing and content creation go hand-in-hand. But it doesn’t have to be pure content…consider an infographic. They have been a hot trend for the past year or two, and they don’t seem to be slowing down. There are even infographics about infographics!

Infographic of Infographics by Ivan CashInfographic Source: Ivan Cash

Share What You Are Comfortable With…And Have Fun With It!

Share your knowledge however you are able to share it. Obviously it takes less time to write a blog post than creating a visually stunning infographic, but the important thing is what type of knowledge it contains. If you are still speculating whether or not you can be successful sharing knowledge, take a look at Hubspot. They are probably the biggest success story when it comes to this. They blog and hold webinars teaching people how to be inbound marketers without giving away so much information that they won’t be able to sell their software. We think that this type of sharing can be done for nearly every indsustry…we’d like to hear about what you are doing to share knowledge. Share in the comments!

Need more ideas for Inbound Marketing? Get a hold of us!

Posted in Content Marketing, Inbound Marketing | Tagged , | 6 Comments

Help bring high speed data access to rural America

Posted on July 18, 2011 by David Kemick

Not long ago Josh wrote a post about the slow adoption of Twitter in the rural PA area.  One of the big barriers to entry he noted was the lack of consistent high speed internet access.  Many folks in our area of small town Pennsylvania are still using 56k connections or even satellite downlink connections where data access is limited or unavailable.  This makes the user experience for services like Twitter annoyingly sluggish, and with limited 3G and non-existent 4G LTE mobile data coverage much of the fun of mobile services like Twitter is inaccessible to folks in the area.

The Internet Innovation Alliance

There is good news for data-deprived regions of the country, however.  The Internet Innovation Alliance is currently supporting the merger of T-Mobile and AT&T which will expand 4G LTE data access to 46.5 million Americans – an equivalent to the combined populations of New York and Texas.  To give you an idea of how access would expand in our area of PA alone, take a look at the image below provided by MobilizeEverything.com.

As you can see PA would see a huge bump in data access.  As someone who lives and dies by my phone’s data connection I’d love to see 4G LTE expand to our area.  That said, this has huge implications for your small business as well.

Why Data Matters for Small Business

The typical American consumer is becoming increasingly connected every day.  More and more folks are buying smart phones and mobile tablet devices constantly.  So what are we doing with all of our gizmos and gadgets?  Talking to our friends on social networks and mobile services like Facebook, Foursquare and even the brand new Google Plus of course!  It’s always been important for a small business to craft a strategy for their presence on social networks, but with further data proliferation in small-town America you can bet that the number of folks that will want to check in to your business or share their thoughts about your service with their friends will skyrocket.

There’s a reason this socially connected approach has already been such a success in larger metropolitan areas – it gives business owners a better chance now than ever to connect with their customers, respond to their feedback and provide a better customer experience!  Best yet, if you embrace the onset of mobile customers your business stands a great chance to transition brand new consumers into happy customers.

Learn more about how data access helps rural communities

Want to know more about why broadband is so important, especially to your rural community?  Take a look at the infographic below, and be sure to take a look at the document detailing broadband’s effect on rural America.  This information was provided by the Internet Innovation Alliance (IAA), and it further explains how taking advantage of high speed data now means huge growth potential for small communities and the businesses that support them down the road!

9 Ways broadband helps rural communities

Posted in Mobile, Useful Information | Tagged , , , , | Leave a comment

Everyone Give A Warm Welcome To Google+

Posted on July 13, 2011 by Donny Kemick

Guess what!  Another social network has cropped up from a little company in California called Google.  They call this social network Google+ and it is the first true competitor to Facebook that I have seen so far.  Here’re a few videos produced by Google to explain the features of Google+:

Google+ Overview

Google+ Circles

Google+ Sparks

Google+ Hangouts

Google+ Instant Upload

Google+ Huddles

Our Initial Thoughts on Google+

Let me start by admitting that most of us here at protocol 80 are Google fan boys to the max. That being said, we are usually skeptics of new social networks, simply because there have been so many. If I have a dime for every time I saw a new social network announced, I would not be writing this blog post!

For months (maybe years now) we have been asking ourselves, will there ever be a true competitor to Facebook? Up until now, my answer has been no.  The launch of Google+ has truly changed my mind.

Small Businesses Want To Know If They Should Bother With Google+

Yes, yes, yes.  I know for many of you, it is a real thorn in the side to think that you will now have to keep up with yet another social network.  We can relate.  It’s certainly difficult to maintain an active presence in all of the relevant social media sites.  This is one that you SHOULD NOT IGNORE.

Don’t Jump In Yet – At Least As A Business

Remember the headache you went through getting your incorrectly setup business profile converted to a business page on Facebook?  Google has done a good job of requesting that businesses NOT setup a profile yet.  Why?  They aren’t ready.  Heck, people could barely get in last week!  They are working on a specific business offering in response to business pages on Facebook.  We will surely share info on that when it is available.

Why I Think Google+ Has Real Promise

There are several reasons why I think Google+ has a real shot to rival Facebook.  Here’re my top 6:

  1. Google Runs The Web: Do a search lately?  I bet you have…  Think Google will market Google+ to you on their homepage?  I think they will.
  2. Google Accounts Are a Must: The popularity of Google products like Gmail, Google Docs, Google Calendar, Google Reader, Google Maps, etc… will make adding Google+ an easy addition to an already established Google account.
  3. Integrated Experience:  Additionally, Google products will no doubt integrate with Google+ over time, making it a cohesive “platform” for people like me to use.  I wonder how many times I have wished that my Facebook messages/feed were integrated into Gmail?  It can happen with Google+.
  4. People Trust Google: Remember all of that shady business we heard about accessibility of profile data on Facebook?  Well, some of that exists now in Google+, but in general Google is a highly trusted company.
  5. Inevitable SEO Impact:   You may recall a post I wrote not too long ago about the impact of social media involvement on search engine results.  With the amount of information that can be collected directly by Google from Google+, it’s a no-brainer that they will eventually use that to help weight search results.
  6.  Android Smartphones and Tablets:  Guess who’s kicking but in smartphone market share?  Yup, Android.  With the first Google+ “App”
    being launched exclusively for Android, these smartphone users have the first “built-in” experience for Google+.  Android users already have a Google account, making it simple to get started with Google+.

What Do You Think About Google+?

We would really like to know what you think about the introduction of Google+ and how it might impact your business.  Hit us up in the comments below!

Posted in Social Media | Tagged | Leave a comment

How to Offer Deals on Foursquare

Posted on June 28, 2011 by Josh Curcio

We’ve said it before and we’ll say it again…you need to urge people to check in at your locations using location-based social media services. Yes, you will get some check-ins if you don’t, but the volume and quality will be greater if you do. This is true everywhere but even more relevant for small businesses running brick-and-mortar establishments in rural areas. Check-in services are still relatively new and many rural areas are behind the game in these types of things. With a little awareness and activity amongst friends, the ability to take advantage of these services from a marketing perspective is much greater. Aside from putting a sign on your front door asking for check-ins, one of the easiest ways to get people to participate is to have a special offer.

Creating Your First Offer

First things first, you must have already claimed your listing on Foursquare. If you have not already done that, here’s how. Once you are logged into your account click the Manager Tools tab at the top of the screen. Once you are here there will be 2 sections, Venues and Campaigns. Click on the campaigns tab and then the big green Start a Campaign button, you will then be urged to add a special. There are several specials you can offer:

  • Swarm Special – if a set number of people check in at once, everyone will get a discount on something.
  • Friend’s Special – If you check in with a couple of friends, you’ll each get a special.
  • Flash Special – The first set number of people that check in after a certain time or day get a discount.
  • Newbie Special – Allow a first time check in to get a special.
  • Check-in Special – Anyone that checks in can take advantage of a special.
  • Loyalty Special – Allow people that check in more frequently to get a special.
  • Mayor Special – Only the mayor of the venue gets a special when he/she checks in.

Foursquare Special OfferAfter choosing the type of special you want to offer, you’ll be able to set the specifics of that offer. For example, if you are offering a swarm special you will be asked to input the number of people that are required to unlock the special and what the maximum amount of unlocks will be allowed.

After setting the parameters of your special you will describe the special via a short text description. You will be limited to 200 characters here, so make your description short and to the point. Something like: Get 10% off of items in the gift shop with your stay! There is no need to list the check in requirements, as that was taken care of in the previous step.

Your final step of the campaign is to add the fine print, if any. You are again limited to 200 characters here and you are not able to add links that would link to an extensive terms and conditions page.

Foursquare Offer Fine Print

Your Special Has Been Created

That’s all you have to do! If you are urging people to check in at the door you may want to let them know you have a special. As a business owner, I understand you don’t want to give everyone a discount. When it comes to check in services, think of these discounts as going towards your marketing budget. These people are advertising for you by letting all of their friends know where they are checking in. People listen to their friends recommendations before they listen to a billboard.

Still need help? Give us a shout.

Posted in Location-Based Services | Leave a comment

Google Chrome Brings Voice Search to Your Computer

Posted on June 27, 2011 by David Kemick

Google Chrome LogoOne of the coolest features of Google Android-powered mobile phones and tablets is the built-in voice search.  Just tap a button, speak your search query aloud and your phone will automatically do a Google search for you.  Recently Google built the voice search functionality into the desktop version of their Chrome web browser, so now you can speak your queries on your desktop or laptop computer too!  How does it work?

First, you need Google Chrome installed on your computer.  You should probably have it anyways, because I think everyone at protocol 80 would agree it’s the best browser available currently – certainly a step up from Internet Explorer if you’re still using that!  Once you have Chrome up and running just head on over to Google and take a gander at the search box.  You’ll notice a new microphone icon located at the right of the search box which will start a voice search, click on it!  Now, assuming you have a microphone attached to your computer (many laptops come with one built right in these days) just speak your query and Google will find some results for you.

As of right now you have to actually visit google.com to use voice search, but I could see Google building this feature right into Chrome in the future much like they did with Google Instant search (pictured above).  I see this as further support that if you’re using Google as your primary search engine, or any of the Google services like Gmail or Google Docs, there’s no reason not to be using Google Chrome as your primary web browser!  Best yet, Chrome supports the latest web standards so you’ll always see the best of the web.  One thing web developers have to struggle with is designing the websites they create with older web browsers like Internet Explorer 6 and 7 in mind.  Unfortunately, these older browsers don’t adhere to the latest W3C-approved web standards and don’t support modern technologies such as HTML5 and CSS3 which make features like Google Voice Search possible.  Support the modern version of the web by downloading Google Chrome today, and kick IE to the curb!

If you plan on making the switch from an older web browser to a modern alternative such as Google Chrome let us know in the comments!

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Learn To Use Social Media For Small Business By Watching

Posted on June 22, 2011 by Donny Kemick

Recently, Josh and I have had the opportunity to give our seminar on Inbound Marketing principles in various areas of Northwest Pennsylvania.  As a web marketing firm, it is very motivating to see all of the small businesses in our area so interested in using the web and it’s abundant marketing resources to grow their businesses.  It is also very frustrating that the most common problem is that there is a clear lack of understanding on where to start.

The leading issue we hear from most small business owners or executives is that they are not sure what they should be sharing through social media, how often they should be sharing it, and how it converts to sales.  I can certainly understand the apprehension and relate to the hesitation in jumping into Twitter, Facebook, and the other social platforms.  No one wants to invest in a black box in hopes of seeing a return.

Learn By Listening and Watching

The best thing to do in getting started with social media is sign up for Twitter, Facebook and LinkedIn personally and for your business.  At the very least reserve your brands’ name so that your competitor doesn’t steal twitter.com/yourcompany.

Next, find some companies, people, teams, and organizations that are actively using twitter/facebook, and follow/like them.  You will be amazed at how much you can learn by simply watching what others are doing in social media.

I recommend following the same brands on twitter and facebook.  This way, you see how they differentiate their message between the platforms.

Need Help?  Follow These Brands First

Here’re some links to some major brands’ twitter and facebook pages, as well as ours:

protocol 80, Inc.
http://www.twitter.com/protocol80
http://www.facebook.com/protocol80

Amazon.com
http://www.twitter.com/amazon
http://www.twitter.com/amazondeals
http://www.facebook.com/Amazon
http://www.facebook.com/AmazonInstantVideo
http://www.facebook.com/pages/Amazoncom-Books/150864087963

Geico
http://twitter.com/#!/GEICO
http://www.facebook.com/geico

UPS
http://twitter.com/#!/ups
http://www.facebook.com/ups

Citi Bank
http://twitter.com/#!/CITI
http://www.facebook.com/citibank

If you would like to follow a big name in your industry, simply google “brand name twitter” or “brand name facebook” and you will likely find them.

We Can Get You Started

If you haven’t attended one of our Inbound Marketing Seminars, please feel free to contact us to see when the next one in your area is.  It will shed light on many aspects of social media, seo, email marketing and lead generation.  We would also be happy to put together a plan for your business on how you can effectively use social media.

Posted in Inbound Marketing, Social Media | Leave a comment

Twitter in Rural Pennsylvania

Posted on June 21, 2011 by Josh Curcio

It’s no secret that Twitter has not caught up in rural areas…especially in Pennsylvania. If you have ever been around PA you’ll know that much of it is rural, and depending on your interests that is either a pro or a con.

From someone that enjoys Twitter and tries to promote the use of Twitter it is definitely a con. It is hard for people to grasp the value and fun of Twitter when they feel like they are sending Tweets out into space with no one listening. Yes, I can tell them they are probably doing something wrong…like forgetting to be SOCIAL, but it just isn’t that easy. First, my thoughts on why we are behind.

Believe it or not rural PA is way behind in technology. It is not surprising to find areas without high speed internet service. I think we can all agree that you don’t get the full effect of web 2.0 when you rely on dial-up internet. Some of these people resort to satellite internet services, but they often prove to be unreliable. Mobile technology goes hand-in-hand with that. We are often in areas with very unstable cell service all together let alone having a reliable 3G or 4G connection. These pitfalls often make it difficult to keep up with social media from a technology standpoint.

Another major reason we are behind is simply due to a lack of population period. These areas have extremely low population and few of them are active on anything besides Facebook. On Twitter we like to talk about local things. Where’s the best place to eat, how is traffic this morning, what’s the weather like etc. These conversations cannot happen without people.

Finally local businesses aren’t embracing Twitter. I would like to see more personal use of Twitter just for the fun aspect, but I truly believe that without local businesses embracing the use of it, personal use will not grow. Though we have run into a catch 22, businesses won’t embrace it unless the local population does personally.

These are not all of the struggles, but they are the major ones from what I see. What can we do? I don’t have control of the technology struggles these areas see, so that is something that will be overcome. What we really need to do is educate. People need to avoid some of what they hear in the media about Twitter and learn the basics. They need to start following brands, people, subjects that they are interested in and start interacting.

Business owners and marketing people have to start embracing social media and interacting with the local public. Not only urging them to leave reviews, offering specials, providing customer service, but also interacting with them on a daily basis…again, building the SOCIAL atmosphere.

There is a lot to share in rural Pennsylvania from hiking, fishing, rock climbing in the PA Wilds to visiting flea markets, farmers markets and historic areas of the state. Saying that there is nothing to share about rural PA that would start a discussion is simply not true. There are many things to talk about that would start discussions, we just have to overcome the obstacles and get people involved. The businesses and people that embrace Twitter and other social avenues now will be ahead of the rest once we get caught up to the times.

Let’s get the ball rolling. If you have a twitter account and are from a rural area somewhere in Pennsylvania, or even the U.S., share your username in the comments. Here are a few you can start with.

@protocol80
@jcurcio
@dkemick
@dmkemick

Posted in Social Media | Tagged , , | 6 Comments