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Blogs And Social Media: Moving From Monitoring To Networking
In recent years blogs and social media monitoring have become a fundamental part of the press office operation and many PR agencies’ bread and butter services.
As social networking has matured companies need to engage proactively to ensure their brands are effectively supported.
Traditional media such as magazines newspapers and TV channels have increasing numbers of journalistwritten blogs as part of their online presence meaning a top tier of blogs are seen as being just as influential in the media landscape as their ezines and print media counterparts. There has also been an increase in the number of businessled social networks business users of blogs and microblogging tools such as Twitter and Googleowned Jaiku and multimedia social sites like Flickr.
However a huge portion of the blogosphere and social media landscape is not professionally produced and individually these sites do not have huge audiences. Collectively though these smaller outlets comprise as much as 99 per cent of the social media landscape and together form a powerful force that the PR industry is looking to harness. As the majority of blogs and social media sites contain personal content written in the first person viral issues and stories can spread quickly. The sites connect people and when issues spread virally across social networks they become big news for organisations that they affect. This is why tracking blog buzz across the whole of the web is critical for reporting on brand image online coverage and building a picture of customer perceptions.
An example of how effective a viral campaign can be was when an online grassroots campaign was formed on the social network Facebook. Protesting against an overdraft charge that the bank HSBC was imposing on recent graduate accounts thousands of students joined forces online through a viral Facebook group which generated massive media attention and forced a uturn at HSBC. Within just a few weeks of the group launching the bank scrapped the overdraft charges.
Over the last year the fact that blogs impact a company’s brand image online has become more established. Marketing PR and communications departments are increasingly exposed to the impact blogs have on a brand’s reputation whether that’s negative coverage of a product or an online petition or a campaign across social networks. As this issue has gathered momentum companies have realised that blogs and social media need to be actively managed not just monitored.
Some progressive brands are already doing this successfully. US retail bank Wells Fargo for example has a team dedicated to responding online to bloggers’ issues and complaints in order to increase positive sentiment around the brand online and reduce the amount of negativity that might emerge.
What caused the need to move from monitoring to engagement? Early adopters have led the charge. And the masses have followed. We are seeing social media’s evolution in the business ecosystem move from early adopter to mass market status and web tactics are rapidly becoming better understood tactically and strategically as part of the PR mix. The challenge is to turn the opportunity into action.
About the writer:nbsp;nbsp;Brendon Craigie works for Hotwire an international public relations consultancy specialized in technology PR.
Their digital media practice specializes in counselling companies in the Web 2.0 sector such as web site infrastructure tools and services digital and internet marketing services and information providers.
Blogging As A Sales Tool
A blog is a highly advanced and yet very simple way of marketing your business by profiling a members clients or employees experience. A blog is simply an online journal. It is public and can be read by anyone. Although client testimonials and reviews are the strongest sales tools for a business online blogging can also work as a major marketing tool to increase online exposure and spread the word about your company much farther than you thought possible.
Blogging can be done by an employee of the company a client you are working with on a regular basis or someone who retains a membership with your business. In fact many successful CEOs use blogging as an informal way to get information to consumers as well as strengthen brand presence online.
As an example well focus on how a fitness brand uses blogging as an effective sales tool. The company encourages its coaches and trainers to approach existing or potential members who have a significant amount of weight to lose and a strong back story on why they need to lose the weight. Ideally the member should be highlymotivated and also possess good writing skills which can be assessed indirectly by profiling her educational background current career and speaking skills.
Once a potential blogger has been identified the company encourages them to write regularly about their weight loss experience and their experience with the company. In exchange the fitness company provides them with incentives such as a discount on membership fees. The company also gives the member access to all of the clubs facilities so they are able to write about the entire club experience. The member with a minimum of 3 entries weekly will write the blog. Because other readers can view and post comments on blogs a community can be created and the blogger will be more motivated to accomplish their own goal while acting as an example for others. Meanwhile the fitness company is strengthening their online presence without overloading the wary consumer with expensive marketing campaigns.
In addition to the members personal blog blog postings can also be used on corporate sites in customer/member testimonial sections and even in marketing materials. Blogs can also be added to numerous online blog directories for even more exposure. It is recommended that blogs are closely monitored to insure that they are being properly managed and the company is not unjustly portrayed in a negative light. Setting up a blog is easy and the more members clients and employees who are blogging about the company the more online exposure and brand awareness can be generated.
Here is an example of a series of typical blog postings from a member:
Sept 9
I got my 40 minutes of exercise in today. The elliptical was much harder than I anticipated. My walking pace was 50 rpm while my running pace was 60. Tomorrow Ill run for 1 minute and walk for 39. Ill probably do hills to keep it interesting.
Sept 7
I signed up for the 5K. Im going to do it. Maybe not perfectly but its a step towards my picture of health and fitness. I am so nervous but I know I can do it. I need to start training for it!
Sept 5
I’ve hit a plateau with my weight loss goal and I really need to get going and drop the final 5 pounds. My Lifestyle Coach suggested that I try something different and enter a race. She said mixing up my workouts will maximize my results and Im into that! I am thinking about it. She suggested a 5K then a 10K then maybe even a marathon. I laughed when she mentioned a marathon. Imagine?!
About the writer: Chris Palumbo is the founder and brand director of elements for women the upscale women’s fitness and lifestyle brand. Visit Chris’s blog at www.healthceoblog.com for expert commentary on industry trends and a rare behindthescenes look at a successful brand.
