Use facebook to boost revenue (Photo: Celeste)

Facebook has over 800 million users and will reach the 1 billion mark soon.  It is a huge captive audience for an online business that cannot be ignored.  Companies and online businesses have realized the potential of Facebook marketing in generating revenue and boosting the income stream.

Before deciding on the Facebook marketing strategy to be followed, you need to consider some very key points:

1.      What is your revenue model

2.      How the user will buy and what will be the steps

3.      How will you attract eyeballs in the first place

4.      How will the sales and conversion funnel work

5.      How will you integrate the Facebook marketing with the overall marketing strategy and other avenues being uses like Organic SEO, Adwords , email marketing , SMS marketing etc.

Some of the main strategies employed by businesses on Facebook and which can be adopted by you are mentioned below:

1.     Facebook Advertising

Businesses can use the Facebook paid ads feature that is on the way to become a big competitor to Google adwords.  You can use the ad platform to create ads that take the user directly to your website and bypassing the fan marketing concept. This is easiest and most direct approach for top traffic and revenue.

2.     Fan Based Marketing

This involves the other popular model that entices fans to buy by posting feeds to their wall. Contests and content can be used to draw fans to convert to sales. Fans become more involved if the content is relevant and contests are used. You will also need to actively manage Facebook Fan Pages and keep the fans involved and engrossed in your ecosystem.

3.     Facebook and Email Marketing

Some businesses use Facebook and email marketing together. What they do is have a Facebook ad that connects to a squeeze page and which collects the user details and then adds to the email database which will ensure future captive audience. This assumes that you already have a highly effective email marketing process that converts.

4.     Facebook and SMS Marketing

The other offshoot of the above is using Facebook fans to sign up for text alerts and subscriptions and then make them convert. This is used effectively by local businesses as they can run highly popular contests and have a captive phone database.

5.     Bringing Traffic to Your Website

If you are using ads on your website to generate revenue, the Facebook ads and fan pages can be used with the content distribution strategy to direct traffic to your site by posting the latest updates on your FB page. The user will be then encouraged to visit the website and some of this traffic will click on ads on the website and generate revenue.

Before proceeding with any of the above models, you should first do a test run by running Facebook ads and then chart out your strategy based on the results.

How to use Facebook to Create Revenue for Your Online Business is a post from: Technshare

Create a following (Photo: shoothead)

If you want to become a successful twitter marketer you’ll need a lot of followers.  Getting to this critical mass is not very difficult but it’s also not easy. By  putting a little effort with the proper formula will multiply the number of followers you have. You can boost your following on twitter easily.

Today I’m sharing some follower multiplication formulas that you can use to boost your followers on Twitter.

Use Social Media:

If you use Twitter then you must be on Facebook or on other social media sites. If you are then it’s good because you can use the others as leverage to build a following for your Twitter account.   Especially Facebook can provide you lots of followers if you give the reasons to your friends and fans to follow you on twitter.

Find People Who Like To follow You:

If you really want to become successful twitter marketer then you must favor the quality over the quantity of followers. Tweet for those who follow you out of a genuine interest, rather than those you are merely exchanging links with.  These types of followers are like a people who just stand in crowd to increase the number but don’t have any intention to be a part of crowd by taking any action.  You can find the quality followers on your blog, other related blogs, or social media sites.

Email Signature:

Do you have a business card? If yes, then how many times you show it to the people?  Probably not very often as most interaction is online these days.  But tell how many emails you send daily?   If you’re like me then you’re sending 20 to 30 e-mails each and every day.  Simply by using an email signature with your twitter profile url at the bottom should catch you a few new followers every week and multiply that by a calendar year and you’ll get hundreds of new followers.

Your Turn:

What are your thoughts about how we can increase our twitter followers?  If you know some effective twitter formulas then make sure that you share it with us in below comment section.

Now You Can Have Lots of Twitter Followers is a post from: Technshare

Facebook fan page is no longer a luxury these days. Almost every company has their Facebook profile which they use to communicate with fans, share news and attract new customers. However, most Facebook page owners reduce their experience to simple status updates, video, photo or link sharing. Still Facebook is much more than this – it is number one social media platform which give access to hundreds of useful web applications from which everyone can benefit a lot. Here is the list of the most essentials ones which can really help engage Facebook fans and turn them into a loyal community.

Welcome Page

First impression is very important, therefore a landing page is a must for Facebook business accounts. It’s not only a place to say “Hi” to new fans or encourage people to click  “Like”, here you can tell about your company in the way you wish. With the Welcome Tab from Word of Social, you can easily create a custom landing page with your images, links, code or iFrame.

Facebook Notes

You may use this app to share tips and tricks related to your product or service, publish interesting facts about your company or any other information you find worth mentioning. Your fans are free leave comments and share your notes. The setup is quick and easy.

Top Fans

This app helps figure out the best contributors to your Facebook fan page. Each fan earns points for his/her posts, comments, likes and shares. Booshaka app identifies your “top fans” and ranks them in a nice leaderboard. You can motivate and reward your fans participation by small presents or special offers on your products.

GooglePlus Tab

This app allows Facebook users to stream their GooglePlus updates on a special tab. The app works for both personal and business Google+ profiles.

Tweets To Pages

If you run a Twitter account as well, you can automatically bring your tweets onto Facebook with Tweets To Pages app. This is a great way to create a crossover that expands your reach in both networks.

With this app, you can broadcast your YouTube videos in Facebook. The tab shows both uploaded videos and Favorites, plus you can specify which videos you’d like to show as featured.

Contact Me

Poll is a good way of gaining user information. If you have a large community on Facebook, this app is a great way to bring in some honest feedback from your visitors. Find a hot topic around your product and ask your fans to vote for one of the possible options.

UserVoice

Facebook fans often provide valuable ideas for your service/product. With UserVoice Facebook app, you can easily monitor and prioritize suggestions and have others to comment and vote for them. The app goes together with Feedback service, pricing plans with Facebook intergation feature start with $45/month.

Contests

This app enables companies to easily create and launch branded contests:  photo or video contests, design, logo, or review contests. Fees start with $5 per promotion.

10 Essential Facebook Apps to Engage your Fans is a post from: Technshare

Social media has been popular with digital consumers for a few years, but now it is beginning to evolve to a whole new level with the increase of apps. Consumers are showing that they are hungry for applications that allow them to interact with brands while providing them with unique and useful content. For brands to stay on top, they must fully harness the power of apps in their social media executions. The following is a list of social media sites and apps that should be watched throughout the next year as their popularity grows.

• DeNA: This social gaming app may be relatively unheard of in the West, but it currently blazing a trail in Japan. Zynga, the company which owns the game, posted profits of $280m for Q1 this year so far alone — a clear sign that the app is going from strength to strength. It is likely that the firm will start springing up in the news more this year, thanks in part to a recent deal with Samsung which will see DeNA launched on handsets in the West. The company also makes its own mobile smartphones, complete with Android technology, strengthening its position in the mobile market and showing it will be a strong market player in the months to come.

• Tubeify: This is a music streaming service with a difference. A combination of Spotify and YouTube, Tubeify allows users to stream songs from a variety of artists while searching for more music to play. The service utilizes the videos and search parameters directly from YouTube, as well as online radio station Last.FM. Users can create their own play lists and share them with their friends via social networks like Facebook and Twitter and can even access the top 100 billboard chart to listen to all the latest hits.

• Example- HomeAway: This vacation rental firm has recently launched a brilliant app allowing users to fully interact with the brand’s most recent ad campaign. Users can download the app and create a customized HomeAway commercial featuring themselves, as well as friends and family. This can then be shared with others via various social media portals such as Twitter and Facebook. This kind of interaction and creation of bespoke customer content is precisely what apps excel at and are one way they will be used in the future by consumers hungry to get connected with a brand.

2012 is clearly going to become the year of the app, with new developments around every corner.

Which of these powerful digital tools will be the next one you download?

How Social Media Leaves Ordinary for Extraordinary With Apps is a post from: Technshare

Boost Your Ranking (Photo: dannysullivan)

Google is the No.1 Search Engine without any doubt, but are you spending time to increase your search ranking on Google?  In my experience, many blogs get 75%+ of their niche traffic from Google Organic Search.  This is critical to understand how to maximize and get the most of it.  Here are some easy ways to increase your Google search ranking:

Page Rank

Page Rank plays a very important role on Google’s search ranking. Start by checking your website page rank on Prchecker.info.  You need to take care of your Page Rank.  By achieving a minimum of Page Rank (PR) 3, you’ll be ahead of most sites.  As a point of reference Technshare.com is a PR4 site.  The following will help with page rank.

Quality Content

Write quality and unique content.  Don’t try to write for the search engine; instead write for your readers.  By mixing good content with good keywords and images – good organic results will follow.  Try to write lengthy,  minimum 400+ word articles.

Quality Back links

When you receive a back links you get the benefit of more traffic from that link as well as a better search ranking.  Try to get quality back links from industry leading sites that have a high PR.  Blog commenting and guest posting are just 2 ways support this approach.   You must be living under a rock if you haven’t realized that this website encourages everyone to write a guest post and will help you leverage its PR4.

Do Keyword Research 

Keyword Research is very important to get a steady stream of traffic from Google.  Focus your attention on the long tail – that is low competition keywords.  I stick to keywords that related to my niche using Google keyword Tool.

Use On-Page SEO

On page SEO is the process of optimizing the content of your website. This includes the text, images and links on your website. Use below tips to write Search engine friendly articles.

• Use H1,H2,H3 tags
• Your main keyword must be placed in the title tag 2 times
• Your main keyword must be placed in your meta description 2 times
• Your main keyword phrase must appear in the in H1, H2 and H3 Tags
• Italic, bold your main keywords (but don’t go crazy)
• Use alt tags for images
• Write lengthy article

 Submit Your Sitemap 

Create a site map that tells people where everything is on your site.  Use Google Webmaster tools to submit your sitemap to Google. WordPress users are able to use a simple WordPress plugin that called as “Google XML sitemaps.”

Blog Promotion

Promotion is very important to attract traffic to your blog.  I prefer to focus on article marketing. Article Marketing works well to  boost Google search ranking fast for me.  Here are a couple of last tips to promote your blog:

• Write Articles On Article Directories
• Submit Your Articles To Social Bookmarking Sites
• Comment On Do follow blog in Your Niche
• Join Forum Discussions

Golden Ways To Increase Your Google Search Ranking is a post from: Technshare

Source Flickr

As a web based freelancer there are certain resources that allow us to make our jobs easier, faster and or more manageable. Everyone has a set of tools they rely on daily and recommend to others, below is a list of my top four tools and why I use them along with how you can use them too.

The tools below are all free, accessible to anyone and relatively easy to use. A simple download, registration and or sign up is all that is required to use and or access them along with a strong desire to succeed. If you use any of these and something tells me (since you’re most likely a freelancer or aspire to be one) that you might be a regular user of at least one of the tools on my list, do leave your feedback below in the comment area.

1. Google Docs – this is one of my most widely used tools and it encompasses a variety of tools under the one umbrella. Google Docs is a comprehensive web based resource for word processing and creating spreadsheets among other types of documents. It’s feature rich and just about any type of word processing can be created using this neat and 100% free resource. I use it for writing my blog posts then transferring them to my sites, writing guest articles for my clients and also to create various spreadsheets where I keep track of certain freelance activities. If my laptop should fry, freeze or otherwise not become operational I am not dependent on it for my articles. I just go to Google Docs on ANY computer or laptop and there my docs await. This can be very refreshing since I depend on my articles and my word processor to put food on the table. Amen. I switched over from a traditional computer-based word processing format to web-based about a year or so ago and haven’t looked back since.

2. WordPress – in my humble opinion, the best CMS of all the CMS systems on the block. With WordPress, I can create any type of blog or website including an e-commerce shop, a company website, a blog, a portfolio and anything else I could wish for. The software is 100% free to download, use and upgrade. There’s a slight learning curve to get started as it’s a robust and powerful system, however once you get the initial set up out of the way, it’s smooth sailing and really all CMS systems are – learn as you go. Best thing to do should you want to learn WordPress and use it to create your blog or website, is to find a blog you like, see if they use WordPress and send them an email. If the blogger has been around for close to year or longer, odds are he or she will know the system well and would be happy to guide you along. That really is your best bet for training and or help with WordPress, another blogger.

3. PayPal – how would freelancers get paid without PayPal is a mystery to me. PayPal opened up a can of awesome, when it landed across freelance desks everywhere. About 60% of my income is processed through PayPal as I am a freelance writer and the companies and or clients I work for pay me via this method. Yes there’s a fee and this stinks however PayPal makes up for it in convenience, accessibility and ease of use. Is it right for you? One way to find out is to visit the PayPal site and see how they stack up against the other options available to web based freelancers.

4. Twitter – social media is also a great tool for web based freelancers as it connects peeps from all walks of life and every corner of the globe. Twitter is great for networking, chatting, socializing, content sharing, research, jobs, leads, information, press and so much more. There are many articles on the web discussing the many ways to best take advantage of this tool and how best to get benefit from it. I would start by looking up how to get Twitter followers, how to tweet, best tools for Twitter, etc. Twitter is also great for following those you genuinely have an interest in and want to know better.

Share with us below in the comment area what are some of your must have tools as a web based freelancer? I await your responses below and see what other goodies we can discover together.

Four Cool Tools For Web Based Freelancers is a post from: Technshare

Blogging has become a widespread disease among people sitting online. Blogging is contagious in nature. You can have your own hosted blog with a separate domain name or register yourself a free sub-domain on WordPress or Blogger.

There are many reasons why people want to start blogging. Some of the most common reasons include making money, becoming famous, or sharing an expert opinion on something.  Advertising programs like Google Adsense have played a major role in motivating people to start blogging as a means of full-time employment. Money making bloggers not only earn their full-time income but also gain a lot of fame as well. There are other bloggers like Steve Pavlina who share their expert opinion to help promote their business and earn indirectly through their blog. Corporate bloggers help improve the public image of large corporations through the medium of blogging. One thing that is common among all types of bloggers is the use of the social media.

Social media has long been ignored by the blogging world. Even now, many famous bloggers with a lot of fan following don’t actively use social media to promote themselves. Frequent Google Panda updates have made it very difficult for many bloggers to regain the keyword positions that they once enjoyed. Many in the blogging world have been left clueless of what to do next when all their long term and short term SEO strategies have failed altogether. Social media can still help them make a lot of positive impact on their blogging. Here’s how.

Micro-blogging has been an excellent tool to tell the world what you are up to. Especially people who use twitter know what I am talking about. Bloggers should socially and actively interact with people on twitter. Make it a daily habit and ensure that you genuinely participate on twitter by interacting with people who have the same blogging niche as you have.

Many VoIP phone service providers like Skype, Vonage, and Axvoice are planning to integrate social media with your internet phone. Once your phone is integrated with social media, you will be able to share your blogging stuff with people added in your phone’s contact list as well.

Podcasting is something that few people really care about. There are many big podcasting sites where people regularly share tips, reviews, and how-to’s. You can create informative podcasts and share with other people. This will help you increase your fan following for your blog as fans get to better know the person behind the blog.

Do you have a YouTube channel for your blog? If not, then create one today.  YouTube and other big free video content sharing sites allow you to make and share videos. You must first know which types of videos would help promote your blog and also let people know more about something or help them solve one or more of their problems. If people find your videos helpful, they will share them with other people and you will get more fans as a result.

Social media is the new way of boosting your blog’s fame. Recognize its potential today to organically increase your blog’s traffic, search engine visibility and readability.

Blogging and social media – Finding the missing link is a post from: Technshare

Source: Flickr

Are We Slaves to our Electronic Devices?

As the leaves fall from the trees and the temperatures drop, I am beginning my Christmas shopping. I have turned toward the Hottest Toys for Christmas 2011. However, upon reviewing, I am shocked. Gone are the days of tops and blocks, dolls and carriages. In fact, nearly all the toys listed are electronic one way or another. The closest coming to an old fashioned toy would be the Harry Potter Hogwarts Lego board game.  Hardly the old fashioned by any means. In today’s world our children seem to be more connected online than in person. In truth, even we adults are spending more time online than ever before. How many days are started by checking email with a hot cup of coffee? How many afternoons are spent on Facebook? How many minutes add to hours, which in turn add to days simply updating our Twitter accounts?

The Virtual Hermit

As there are only so many hours in a day, this would lead me to believe logically we are spending less and less time in face-to-face conversation and instead are opting for online posts and comments. At what cost is this change? How are people affected by this virtual hermitage? Studies are conflicting. However, in 1998 the Carnegie Mellon University found that high Internet usage was directly linked to fewer friends, heightened levels of stress and higher levels of depression. Furthermore, many more studies in the 1990’s offered supporting documentation. It was then that the term “Internet Addict” was coined. Symptoms of this addiction include compulsive email usage, utilizing online services daily, interacting socially less, losing track of time and relationships being compromised. Interestingly, this occurred long before the social networking sites took over our communities. One can nearly laugh at this criterion. In today’s world, nearly all of us have fallen victim to this addiction. Despite the derision, it is undeniable that this addiction is real. Just like addicts of gambling or drugs, Internet Addicts often display secretive behavior, lying and display compromised relationships both personally and professionally because of their Internet usage. Although it may be difficult for one to immediately see the forest through the tree, it is undeniably there. Internet addicts suffer from true addiction and their loved ones inherently suffer as well.

Communication

Critics claim that the Internet is nothing more than a communication device. That much is true. However, the communication online differs greatly from communication in person. While indeed the Internet does allow connecting to others worldwide, it does so under compromised circumstances. When we interact in person we are offered words to ponder, but also tone and inflection to consider, attitude and body language to reflect on, facial expression to inform us. Communicating in person offers us a deeper, richer experience. We as humans are social beings. We need to be social, one way or another. Researchers have found that interacting in person is inherently therapeutic. No one can claim that of the Internet. On the contrary, communication online is deficient, uninspiring and lifeless. Critics claim that the Internet is the perfect avenue to maintain social relationships. However, other researchers have discovered that such virtual relationships are shallow and insincere at best. Truthfully, what do they offer us? In short, it would seem that we have given away the evocative in-person interactions in order to have more and more artificial online connections. By doing so, we are settling for something more convenient but definitely less than. Why?

Internet=Control

The Internet offers control in the deepest sense. We are able to control if we want to communicate, who we interact with, when we choose to, how to do so…etc. While yes, it would appear that such virtual interaction is superficial at best, we are still choosing it simply because we can control it. It is easy to see the appeal of such control. However, the negative costs cannot be ignored. These virtual relationships are lacking and deficient at best. Furthermore, many individuals preoccupied with controlling social situations actually have social anxiety. For such people the appeal of the Internet is tangible. However, using the Internet as your crutch is not a healthy way to grow beyond the anxiety. It in fact does nothing more than reinforce old patterns and stunt growth. Lastly, another supporting factor is simple laziness. It is easy to get online. Computers are everywhere. The Internet is massive. Thanks to social networking sites and online gaming, the possibilities are endless. Hours that used to be spent at dinner parties or theatres are now spent surfing the web, playing Farmville, or tracking eBay. It is a real pity to see how entire communities of people are no longer interacting in person are instead are willfully choosing to stare at screen.

Kids Turning Geek Gurus?

As a parent, I cannot help but worry over the sheer volume of electronic devices my children are subject to on a daily basis. Regarding the Internet specifically, we have had to place rules and new rules upon usage, appropriate sites, appropriate avenues of communication, appropriate behavior, and most obvious time limits. Our kids are spending so many hours that in turn become days and months of their lives online and only online that many clinicians are worried social skills are simply not developing. Sadly, many children who demonstrate heavy online usage are already suffering from lack of confidence and lack of ease in social settings. The Internet offers them refuge. Interacting online is easy. It is also superficial. This refuge comes at a significant cost. These kids are unlikely to ever develop fully, let alone gain much needed self worth and confidence and will instead be led down a road of loneliness and seclusion.

Claims of Diversity

While it is clear the negative aspects of the Internet are plentiful. There is a very real positive attribute- diversity. At no other time in history has the human population routinely interacted with others from such different social groups. Religious, geographical, racial, ethnic, cultural, age, socio-economic status- the Internet is blind to such boundaries. While this is exciting in and of itself, it in turn allows us a people to be not only exposed to others who differ from ourselves but also to be aided by their experiences and to offer our own experiences to them as well. In such diverse situations, one cannot help but gain a new perspective.

How to Cope With Our Internet Obsession?

As a parent, I am forced to address our nation’s Internet obsession. The Internet is everywhere, a part of everything. It can be difficult for parents to take on this issue, either for themselves or for their children. It is important to remember not to get fanatical. There is no need to donate the laptop to Goodwill immediately or begin snipping wires. Instead, address it one step at a time:

• Limit computer time. It is best to decide how much time to allow each day and be held accountable to it.
• List all the things that were enjoyable before the Internet. This will give you something else to do and may re-spark an old passion.
• Create a behavioral treatment plan. Decide exactly how much time you are going to allow for each online activity. When the timer is done, shut off the computer.
• Initiate an online-free day. Try this each week with your family. Get creative! This will allow for computer free time but also family bonding!
• Become more active. Join a team. Find a local group that interests you. Learn a hobby. Our communities have a wealth of things to do if only we choose to utilize them!
• Finally, note where you are emotionally when you go online. You may see a pattern of you using the Internet as a way of masking your depression or enabling your anxiety. If so, seek help.

The Internet is neither wholly bad nor good. It is simply a tool. We are the ones in control. Such tools are dangerous but are also very useful and even more valuable.

Electronic Solitude is a post from: Technshare