Nick Cifuentes

Becoming a star on the Internet these days does not seem as far fetched as it once might have been. Social networks have become a ubiquitous tactic in helping connect individuals with family, friends, and strangers alike. And over the past several years, a number of those random individuals have become overnight sensations – all thanks to the Internet.

Do we all remember Tay Zonday? After his composition “Chocolate Rain” became an overnight Internet sensation in July 2007, garnering more than 40 million views to date, this Minneapolis grad student went from no one to someone, in mere seconds.

He has appeared on the Opie & Anthony Show, G4TV’s Attack of the Show!, VH1’s Best Week Ever, Lily Allen and Friends, Jimmy Kimmel Live, and Maury where he performed Chocolate Rain on national television just three months after posting his video to YouTube. He made the front page of Sunday’s Los Angeles Times, the Toronto Sun, Chicago Tribune, Star Tribune, People magazine, and even has appeared on CNN for a televised interview. He’s made appearances on Fox News, and even made it on to an episode of South Park.

And that’s just the beginning of it! Singer John Mayer mimics Zonday’s keyboard riff with his guitar in concert regularly. Even Green Day drummer Tre Cool recorded a cover of Chocolate Rain, which he posted to YouTube. He’s even been mentioned in episodes of The Office, 30 Rock and It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia.

And this is from a YouTube video, a YouTube video!? Think of it, one day a college student decided to sing some strange, yet catchy song, records it, and ends up becoming an overnight star. Comedy Central, Dr. Pepper, Intel, the rock band Weezer, NASA, Warner Brothers, and BBC have paid Zonday to appear in a variety of promotions.

Zonday is just one of many YouTube celebrities who happen to have corporate sponsors, and are paid for product placement in their videos online. Some have even quit their day jobs or changed careers to accommodate their YouTube filming schedules. And a handful of individuals are also official “YouTube Partners,” meaning YouTube cuts them a share of ad revenue.

Lonelygirl15, the Obama Girl, the Angry German Kid, Dancing Matt, Charlie bit me, the Boom goes the dynamite guy, the prison thriller, even the guy who screamed “Don’t Tase Me, Bro!”- all of these individuals went from having normal everyday lives to notable online prominence.

Some might think of this notion as absolutely foolish, some might think of it as a form of humble genius – nonetheless, they are stars, overnight sensations that have proven their worth in numerous inescapable maneuvers.

Those mentioned above hold our deserved scrutiny, but they are from years past. Ergo, who shall we take notice of now in 2009? Who will be the next Tay Zonday to speak highly of? - Leaping on to the national stage and then slipping back into anonymity, this seamless performance seems to act as a contagious flu anyone might catch.

And in 2009, only can a deceased cat, a 48-year-old Scottish woman and Dominos pizza employees have so much in common. For just a brief second, we read, watched and spoke about these individuals at some point - all thanks to the Internet, and the instant-celebrity, be it a person, video or website might deliver us.

Drum Roll Please.

Here are just a few of those viral sensations that have struck 2009 in more than just simple terms: (some personal grading was also applied here based on impact)

Keyboard Cat

This sensation began with a video clip of a decade old cat appearing to play the keyboard. Add in a video-savvy 22-year-old to the mix, and marry that clip with another of a person falling down an escalator – you have stardom my friends.

This one video attracted the attention and interest of millions, including comedian Stephen Colbert. The AP reports Brad O’Farrell, syndication manager for MyDamnChannel.com in February 2009, put the keyboard cat into motion. Since that point in time, hundreds have taken the keyboard cat clip and combined it with a video clip of an embarrassing accident – the result is absolutely hysterical in some cases. The keyboard cat’s (aka Fasto, who’s said to be long dead) performance is meant to play the person “off the stage.”

This is a great example of how users can take a moment someone creates, and ‘recycle’ the content on their own to produce user-generated content that allows users to decide the hilarity behind who the keyboard cat will “play off” next. Rating: A+

Susan Boyle

If you have not heard of Susan Boyle, chances are you’ve lived in a cave for the past 6 months. Her melodramatic tale began as a 48-year-old reality show contestant for the U.K. reality TV show “Britain’s Got Talent.” When this very sweet, and very unassuming individual belted one of the finest versions of “I Dreamed a Dream” for what would eventually be the world, never did she see the stardom marching her way. Camera crews and interviews on several major news broadcasts, including the NBC Today Show – caught Boyle off-guard and soon she was thrown into a newly found fame courtesy of the Internet.

And even though this unemployed Scottish church volunteer did eventually lose the contest, the online video of her debut performance was downloaded more than 200 million times, and had the paparazzi camped outside her home, and had Oprah and Larry King begging for interviews.

Watch her video here

Rating: B+ (Sorry, she lost…can’t give you points for that.)

25 Random Things About Me

This 2009 e-mail chain-like fad fascinated Facebook users and took them to another level. Chances are if you are on Facebook, at some point you saw this pass into your inbox. And you either loved or despised the forwarded message, reluctantly giving in or galloped to quickly toss into your trash bin. The overall point of the fad was to share 25 random things about yourself, and then forward it to 25 other Facebook users.

PC World Magazine estimated that more than 5 million motions of the chain letter forwards populated Facebook pages in just one week. The fad grew to such a massive following; a Facebook user spoofed it with a “25 Things I Hate About Facebook” video. Facebook quickly followed up with the user, Julian Smith, and worked with him on other videos.

This 2009 sensation had a prolonged spike in mainstream media, and did help Facebook further its popularity. Rating: A

Dominos Pizza Videos

In May, videos of Dominos pizza employees violated public health laws when they decided to have ‘fun’ with people’s food while preparing it and recording the entire segment on video inside the Dominos pizza kitchen.

Watch the video here

Their antics, which eventually made it to YouTube, sparked a PR nightmare for Dominos pizza, where the company made a public apology from the CEO online via YouTube.

This drew the eyes of several million people, damaging the brand greatly overnight. But, like any other Internet sensation, these moments are short-lived, and what was once a wildfire, seems almost like it never happened.

In the end, an interesting study was done by MediaCurves.com, where they obtained American’s perceptions of the event’s apology, as it revealed that 65% of respondents who would previously visit or order Domino’s Pizza were less likely to do so after viewing a “prank” video. The results can be seen here

Rating: B-

Runners Up:

The Obama Puppy: The moment President Obama promised his daughter’s a puppy, the world had no choice but to care. Bo, the Portuguese water dog eventually made his way to the White House and the ‘online’ world went into a frenzy. Online polls, kennel associations, blogs, and users across all social platforms scratched and clawed to want to help the Obamas pick the breed. Rating: B

The AIG Bonuses: When the world found out that $165 million was paid out in bonuses by insurance giant AIG, the world fought back. Both the public and government officials were outraged by the event of a crumbling company to release bonuses of this size after receiving more than $170 billion in taxpayer funds to stay afloat. As in the case of the Dominos Pizza event, this saw a large spike, then quickly bottomed out and lost interest. Rating: B+

Conclusion.

There is one interesting point about viral sensations that strikes me, the time involved. People seem to obsess for a short period of time, and then poof…it’s off to the next ‘hot’ thing. In this tiny village we all live in, there is nowhere to hide, nowhere to run, nowhere anyone won’t find you. The Internet, in an exceptional way, has transformed our lives into ‘live’ events. We can record, we can tape, we can see what others are doing and transmit that event quicker than ever before, to a stage where the entire world can view. Some might argue this and describe our ‘personal space’ as being lost and violated – It’s hard to disagree. But, in reality, it has been, and apparently we are OK with that. There is a reason we share our lives on the Internet with both friends and strangers, why each of us try and climb the plateau and look over to see who might be looking up at us on occasions. When taking this into perspective, it’s all relative, whether your Joe the Plumber or a big brand like Microsoft – there is point to all of this madness. You want to see me, and I want to see you. We might be trying to play those subtleties off on occasion, but in the end – why fight it? Enjoy the self-absorption, swagger with the best of them and remember, narcissism will always get you somewhere in this world.

This blog post can also be found on http://www.overdriveinteractive.com/blog

Twitter.

What if there was a business tool that existed, which could allow companies to listen in on discussions about how people are using their products, analyze what people are saying about them, and could allow that company to respond to that “person” directly.

It’s a tool that effectively hones in on embracing the early product adopters and influencers who are then able to share with their friends, followers and other individuals related to these “key” components.

It’s is Twitter. But more importantly, it’s a Twitter built around building discussion, interest and awareness of your products and overall branding strategy.

Twitter is a micro-blogging platform that allows a user to create short posts, or better known as “tweets” - which others then can follow, reply and respond to as they see fit.

But, you have to realize, this is much more than just telling someone what you had for dinner a last night or that you just finished your laundry. This is a tool that creates a bridge of genuine interaction with people who choose to use your products. If a company properly integrates this process - you can utilize Twitter to capture “conversation” between your company, customers, clients and colleagues.

Proper Conversation.

But you have to remember, Twitter is a conversation tool, and you have to treat it as such. People will STOP following and paying attention to you quickly if you blast them with blatant “marketing.” They don’t want to see your latest press release. Trust me…I and many other have quickly “de-followed” brands which do so. This kind of “tweeting” could leave your brand in a worse position then when it started, and leave your reputation tainted.

Get The Most Out of Twitter.

Who are you trying to reach with Twitter? Is it the key influencers in your field, or might it be the possible users who wish to engage in using your products? Choose one and stick with it.

To do this, it might be best to create an online persona for both - so think one twitter account to get the “news” out, another to harness customer complaints, and maybe a third to take part in the conversation. Just please don’t use one account for all three purposes - this will hurt you severely in the end.

Followers.

To use Twitter in the most effective way - you have to “listen” to the conversations and what others are talking about. As a brand, you do not want to go just follow 2,000 random people and hope that is going to work - think quality, not quantity.

To achieve this goal - utilize the many twitter search tools that exists in the social space. One very useful Twitter search tool is search.twitter.com to find people who are tweeting about you, your brand, competitors, and products you offer. Follow these individuals who you have identified as key constituents for your brand, and then begin to engage them back in conversation.

By following customers, clients, colleagues and leaders in your industry or field, this shows them that you want to “hear” what they have to say. These people will almost always “follow” you back.

Don’t Be Boring. Please.

Always remember to offer something of value to the conversation. It could be advice about your products, news about the company, quality information about what you do, or maybe the occasional joke - Twitter users want to be informed, entertained and kept interested at all times. Don’t constantly push self promotion with no value and consistent ad-rhetoric - this will quickly hurt your Twitter reputation.

Show interests in your users…share with them in their experiences, and ask them questions, engage them! This will quickly show them that you are interested in what they are doing, and will allow them to respond, follow, and possibly use your product.

Beyond Twitter.

Twitter has so much potential for harnessing conversation and interaction. Don’t allow the conversation to stop there. Tie Twitter to your blog and blog posts, link it to your Flickr account, Facebook & MySpace pages, and YouTube Channels…there is so much you can do with this platform and pushing it beyond the Twitter bubble will allow you to further expand your presence in the social media channels.

Utilize Those Twitter Tools.

Twitter can be a bit confusing to the newbie…but there are so many available Twitter tools to take advantage of that allow you to easily perform keyword searches, send direct messages, shorten URL’s and mark tweets as read or unread.

The Twitter website offers the advanced search tool, which allows you to enter keywords and seek out tweets. You can even subscribe to search as an RSS feed.

TweetDeck is a desktop client that allows you to run multiple searches that update in real time. It allows you to see your replies and direct messages in separate columns in the same interface. Twhirl is another client that acts in the same way, but a smaller interface.

Another tool I like to personally use is FriendFeed, a social media website that allows you to consolidate more than 45 different social media and social networking websites, including Digg, Twitter, YouTube, Facebook, LinkedIn, Delicious, Flickr, Stumbleupon, MySpace, and more.

And then in the mobile space, you have three fantastic Twitter applications for the iPhone, Blackberry and Treo. Twitterific for the iPhone, and TwitterBerry & TinyTwitter for the BlackBerry and MoTwit on the Treo are great applications to utilize - who knows when the next great thought might come to you? It could be when your standing in line for a cup of coffee or in a business meeting that just doesn’t end, or maybe your waiting on the runway for the plane to take off, either way - it’s more than just a fad.

It’s Twitter.

Fin.

PR: wait… I: wait… L: wait… LD: wait… I: wait… wait… C: wait… SD: wait…

Influencers.

Yes, you…the man in the corner of Starbucks sipping your vanilla late. You, the young blonde typing away to the world, using your ‘content’ to help unite others. You, the young man with a camera strapped to your head, broadcasting to the world your every moving moment. You, the brand.

You, I, and the other 10 percent of social media website users are the so called influencers. A new study by Rubicon Consulting reveals that those who dominate social media conversations are most likely to influence their peers. The study confirms that 80 - 90 percent of user-generated content is produced by less than 10 percent of users.

You, the brand.

Now, let’s think about a recent poll Forrester Research conducted that declared social media as now a ‘mainstream’ activity. It said 75 percent of Internet users participate in social media, whereas only 56 percent participated in 2007. Also, 48 percent of the poll-takers said they read a blog at least once a day. And 69 percent of them said that they are ’spectators’ of blogs, that is up from 48 percent the previous year. When it comes to writing product reviews on websites, 37 percent said they take part in this activity, up 25 percent from the previous year. And 19 percent collect content through social bookmarking and RSS feeds, up 12 percent from the previous year. And 21 percent said they publish a personal blog or Web page, a small increase from 18 percent the previous year.

You, the brand.

Online retailers also take advantage of this space, a survey by the Opinion Research Corporation found that 85 percent of social media users believe that companies should interact with them through social media. And Emarketer recently reported that only 7 percent of the public believed that companies should not be in the social media space at all. In that same report, despite the call for companies to ‘go all in’ with social media marketing, many ecommerce websites are fairly new to the social media space.

In the same report, it was said that Facebook garnered 32 percent of companies interest when testing the social media space, with MySpace coming in second @ 27 percent and YouTube @ 26 percent. That then left Flickr with a 5 percent share and another 10 percent scattered about on various other social networking sites.

You, the brand.

OK…so what does this mean? Let’s think about that a second. With the economy falling apart, and not getting up anytime soon - people are turning to social networking for marketing as an escape. An escape from what though?

The old, historic ways of traditional marketing are simply becoming too antique in design. This old model has been turned upside down. This process started with email, but that led to a filtering system that was simply too clogged, and as not effective as when first developed. Now, with a filtering system that has expanded, in large part to social networking sites, technology has allowed the average person to create audio, video and text products that rival the traditional marketing channels of old - such as radio, tv and print medias.

The idea is simple - we must adapt. There is little choice to resist.

And from the points made to begin this article, the transition has already started. Social networking is a tool that clearly has the capacity and outreach to succeed. You consistently listen to people in the marketing sectors and those who believe social media has become overused and the channels have become too convoluted.

But have they really?

You see the numbers above - such small percentage of users even actively ‘influence’ those channels - while the numbers of just basic participants are moderate at best…but hardly overwhelming. Consider the the number of Internet users worldwide, only about 1.5 billion people use the Internet, only about a 1/5 of the worldwide population, according to InternetWorldStats.com. And just a mere (very, very small) percentage of those users take part in social media at the moment.

So, for the naysayers to excuse this new wave of communications as a ‘phase’ is simply foolish. It really is.

Branding Will Work.

If you casually take part in the social media streams, it will be hard to negotiate who is an ‘influencer’ and who is simply a passerby. But the shock factor these major ‘influencers’ trigger is quite impressive. No, they aren’t stats that are going to blow your mind away, nor can they be tracked in an uncomplicated manner. But these influencers that are found on social networks, such as blogs, video, audio and micro-blogging websites have surfaced in the past two years and truly have become growing ‘brands’ themselves.

I know it’s a bit of reach to go out on a limb like this, but the effectiveness of their ‘campaigning’ can be found in in their following. These are not just individuals who garner a number of links to their website based on Alexa rankings, these are people who have the creativity, energy and charisma to capture an audience, keep them involved, and keep them coming back for more. Doesn’t that sound all too familar?

Now, there are many people to mention, but personally, people who I think effectively market not only their own service, and help influence others to take part in social media - but are individuals who have created an effective ‘brand’ of themselves. Now, of course, 99 percent of these people do what I do, Internet marketing & consulting of some kind - but those are the ones who have the most ‘play’ inside the networks and can become the influencers necessary to gather an audience quickly.

Let’s take a look @ a few:

Chris Brogan, a brilliant mind who has been involved in social media for a number of years now - has quickly put himself ahead of the pack when it comes to influencing his field - now that is from a marketing perspective.

Another person who has done a good job at influencing her field is Liz Strauss - an effective online marketer with a large influence in the field - prospect from the marketing field.

Now, that is just two of the many major ‘marketing brands’, but I think some truly effective influencers in the field are not the major marketing professionals, but the personalities that have the opportunity to use many characteristics to brand themselves. And through that process - bring in other influencers and outside attention themselves.

Justine Ezarik.

My first influencer, who is not in anyway a major marketing expert, but more a growing brand is Justine Ezarik. She is young, energetic blonde, that started off lifecasting herself and every moment by one of her many cameras, be it in coffee shops, at work as a designer - video editor, or even through a camera in her car - she started that way and grew herself into an internet phenomena. Now, she is one the growing ‘brands’ and from what I have seen, doing many Internet and TV shows, traveling all over, and all because she wanted to create herself as a brand. She engages an audience, keep them interested, and returning often. And speaks @ many social media events across the States.

Gary Vaynerchuck.

Another major influencer is the one and only Gary Vaynerchuk. His wine knowledge propelled him from a successful Northern New Jersey wine store owner into a internet marvel - all because of his wine knowledge, energy, charisma and passion for influencing others. He has turned a daily wine video blog into appearances on Conan, Ellen, Mad Money, Nightline and more. He speaks often @ social media and Internet marketing conferences across the country - his energy is unmatched; and has put him into a position to market himself as a business consultant, speaker and social media expert based on his personal experiences.

Gary has a massive following, and has influenced many across the world to not only take part in wine, his field of expertise, but social media as a whole. He is a brand that has truly blossomed in the past year - in a very large way! He has even put together his own wine cruise, on massive cruise ship - that is impressive!

Sarah Austin.

Next on my list of great branding entrepreneurs is Miss Pop17 herself, Sarah Austin. This Manhattan-based lifecaster and video journalist graduated from the line of those trying to get into major technology shows, to being invited on a regular basis just a year later. She is based in Manhattan and concentrates on the new cultural phenomenon of online micro-celebrity. She interviews other Internet stars, both established and growing.

Justin.tv & Mogulus.com

Another original that took lifecasting to the forefront, and provided the platform and idea for many of the above influencers to start on are the geniuses @ Justin.tv They have created a platform that allows anyone in mere minutes to begin lifecasting yourself. Why would you do this - you might ask? Well, that seems like another blog entry soon to arrive, but my guess is that everyone wants to be seen in some way, whether its online, in person or through some other manner - most people who go on these lifecasting channels, such as Justin.tv just sit in front of the computer and chat with viewers through instant messaging - pointless…yea, I would say most of them are…but if you do it right - you can market your brand to the fullest.

As in blogging, high quality content is the most effective in driving interest, so when it comes to video, (for you lifecasters) please think that way - be relevant and produce high quality, interesting video - and you will see yourself blossom into success. Sure, there are other factors involved, but content, as in blogging, SEO and beyond - remember, it is the most important. Another notable lifecasting platform that I have to recommend is Mogulus.com - similar to Justin.tv - but Mogulus features the ability to mix multiple live cameras, import video clips, and overlay graphics…so if you are thinking of lifecasting - check them out as well.

Julia Roy.

One last growing brand, my personal darkhorse at the moment - and one that I think can really push herself into the limelight, is my fellow tweeter - Miss Julia Roy. I have only seen a little bit of her in the public eye, but she has been mentioned as one of the top graded twitter-ers, and also has been a guest on the Pop17, as mentioned above. I don’t know what it exactly is…but I believe she can do what the others are doing just as well - she has a new feature coming out called ‘tweet-week’ a video blog that will offer tips, insight, and more to the twitter community and beyond. Keep an eye on her…I am calling it now. (Gotta do it now JR).

Where Are We Going?

In the deep bowels of social media and personal branding, their is a secret to all of this. It is you.

There are many other popular Internet stars and budding personalities - many more than the few I have mentioned above. And they are all branding in some way or another, but most importantly - they are all influencers. They are the ones that are going to capture you, or your friends, your family, brothers, sisters, and so on - the influencers. It is these individuals who will help grow traditional marketing and its antique manners into a growing platform social networking has yet to really establish. Where it is going…it’s truly a waiting game to see how things play out. But just remember, it is we, the influencers, that will keep social media growing into something truly amazing.

fin.

Doing my normal everyday thing, that’s what I like to call it, I came across the Obama ’08 iPhone Application – just released today.

I expected this. I think we all did. Just look at how this election has boiled down with only 33 days left until we vote for our next “great” leader.

The application features a “unique” look at the Obama campaign – you can see first your contact list is separated by states and you are able to call them to tell them to vote for Obama, or organize a fun political retreat easier. Like your going to do that!  Just kidding. And it also does the normal things you might expect, such as receiving updates, news, finding local events using the GPS features, watching multimedia clips and Sen. Obama’s view on the all the issues, which you can look up in a very easy manner under the issues tab.

This just expands on the face of social media, and how each candidate has approached this upcoming election. For example, each candidate built a website that is very ‘social media’ friendly, with both taking a Web 2.0 approach.  At the same time, on the Obama website, you can follow him on Facebook, MySpace, YouTube, Flickr, Digg, Twitter, Eventful, LinkedIn, BlackPlanet, Faithbase, Eons, Glee, MiGente, MyBatanga, and AsianAve.

McCain’s website has a similar look and feel, but a little too obvious, like there trying too hard to be something there not – if you know what I mean.  He put something together called the McCain Community; you can go and personalize news feeds, a blog, etc…but offers little reach to communities outside of his own – besides his links to a MySpace, Facebook and YouTube channel to follow him on.

And it makes perfect sense – Obama is ‘for change’ (guy says that), and is the choice of many young voters; who through social media, have been involved in this pre-election nonsense that began more than two years ago when candidates were preparing to make their run.

But with candidates taking advantage of Facebook and MySpace, using the all-famous, but not very successful CNN YouTube debates; this all has culminated to an end point where you would expect the voter turnout to be massive – with such a younger population involved.

Will that be the case?

Probably not – I feel like we heard that same message four years ago – but again, these social media applications and tools were not what they are today – so of course it is possible.  But naturally, you have to aim high, and expect low.

To close this wonderfully short posting – the Obama iPhone Application – even if you don’t like him – take a look @ it – another priceless application. I am just curious what McCain will counter with?

Fin.

As Democratic Sen. Joe Biden and Republican Gov. Sarah Palin prepare to square off tonight in the first Vice Presidential debate, I need to step back to a moment last week and talk about something Twitter launched for the election – that has the social media world stirring in its belly.

For the presidential debate last week, Twitter launched a niche application site called Twitter E08 that focused directly on the presidential election campaign in the United States. The website worked by simply filtering twitter messages (tweets) from all users by certain keywords and aggregating these messages into one page.

In addition, a user can go directly to the section on the website and send a message directly, and it is seen in the twitter timeline immediately. I love the idea of this, as does the community – if you head to the election page – you see it is constantly updating – the interaction is priceless, or useless…depending who you ask.

By promoting the election – Twitter has finally begun to think about ‘micro’ sites within Twitter that will not only aggregate conversations, but build out ‘channels’ per-say of different topics, sports, fashion, marketing, schools, and dare I say ‘business’?

Let’s walk into one of those channels, oh, look, a big transition ad for the NFL.  Oh look, now were in the football channel – with 543 other people talking about football. You see my point. I am not against this at all.  I am actually 100% for it.  I am sure Twitter is tired of hearing criticism surrounding their business model and how they generate money.  I think this election is the starting point for something ‘big’ twitter is considering doing.  Twitter is run by a group of 20 people, that’s it!  I am sure their partner channels and VC funds are well stocked, but naturally you think ‘bigger’ and growth.

I know we would hear endless people complain about a new layout, if the site were to take on niche groups and starts with ads galore; but I think only the current twitter use would complain. Look at the people who now wish to ban the new Facebook layout – because they are too lazy to see their precious applications are on the bottom toolbar – in static mode. Facebook was tired of seeing user pages that would just go down for miles with comments, applications, etc…this opened the door to keep everything within the “user’s level” – instead of having to scroll down 30 seconds to see what someone said about somebody else (you know you care about that!)

Either way, this election and what Twitter is ‘experimenting’ with is just the beginning of a new style Twitter will be undergoing. You know it. I know it.  We all know it.

Go Twitter!

Blogs. 

As an Internet strategist - my life daily is consumed with social media feeds, blog alerts, feedburner stats, google alert updates, monitoring, strategizing, execution - all of these overused terms and time consuming tactics certainly take a toll on you.  

But one thing I do often, as I do for all my clients, is research - taking notice of the growing digital space around me - thinking of ideas to implement innovative strategies among the community and with my clients.  

One of those key strategies that are a must in today’s Internet spectrum is a blog.  A blog is key in driving not only traffic, but interest to your brand, product, or company.  Blogs help you appear authoritative in your industry - allowing you to give views on the latest events in your trade, offer reviews, insights, and so on.  

This expands into relationship building tools, as you are able to speak more freely and in a more informal and personable style, as compared to how you direct the voice on your main website.  Through the blog channel, they are more likely to trust you, and then all the more likely to visit your main website and then click your links and possibly purchase your product.   

It also offers insight for your customers, and allows them to leave comments and ’speak’ to you on a key level. In addition, blogs are extremely search engine friendly - through thousands of possible keywords and fresh, updated content on a regular basis - blogs are simply great facets to have on your website today.  Your simply misguided if you think otherwise.

*Read More for a detailed blog breakdown of the popular clothing line Free People.

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You figured it would happen at some point - social networking sites are popping up for conceivably every market demographic - and now a social networking site for babies has made its way to the market.  

Totspot.

This amazing feat of success has brought Totspot into a place where they might find a profitable niche.  

The service that is built on Ruby on Rails, just went through a private beta test and is now open to all parents and babies to take part in.  This Facebook for children platform allows babies (probably their parents) to enter their favorite nickname, book, food, etc…

Totspot, which as accumulated 15,000 users, is part of an social movement into the ‘newborn’ realm of social networking.  Odadeo, Lil’ Grams and Kidmondo are also some growing social networking sites for parents to spread updates of their newborn babies.  

For quite a while, Facebook, and photo websites like Flickr and Photobucket, among others, have been popular places to track a baby’s progress - things such as a first step, first pictures and video at the zoo, first time eating an oreo cookie, and so on.

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You always knew it was going to happen eventually – colleges and universities nationwide using social media to find new students. Looking for that edge to find the top candidates, schools are reverting to social networking sites, message boards, online video and podcasts to bring the talent!

It makes a great amount of sense to do such a thing.  You have to go where the audience is, and with millions of people going on social networking websites daily, it’s only obvious to attack such a market.

I used to be a college student, and working in social media, sometimes feel like I still am – but that is the medium where you KNOW students will go daily.  There is less chance they will open a college/university email, newsletter, mail brochure, or go to high school college fairs – chances are – you will absolutely find them on Facebook.

The National Association for College Admission Counseling said that nearly 29 percent of colleges use blogs as recruitment tools, while the percentage of colleges using online chat rooms jumped 12 percent in 2002 to nearly 35 percent in 2006.

Alliant International University recently ran a Facebook ad for its Center for Forensic Studies.  The ad targeted users with bachelor’s degrees in psychology that watched the show “Criminal Minds.” And because Facebook allows you to target users in ads using the specific information they list in their profiles, such as favorite TV shows and education – this allows advertisers to target very specific users.

Through the ad, Alliant asked users to take an online quiz to find out how much they knew about serial killers.  The answer page gave them the choice of joining the forensic program’s Facebook group or linking to the program’s home page.

When all was said and done, almost 5,000 people took the quiz and nearly 500 of them made it all the way to the how-to apply page on the university website.

Now, some experts have said that allocating too many resources, (aka $$$$$), to social media efforts does not prove its return.  I beg to differ – not that I have evidence to prove such a statement, but based on the basic philosophy behind social media and its effect – clearly there is only a win-win situation involved here.  Such as this, if your going to establish a blog network to promote recruiting – make sure your website is up to par with what you are doing on the social media side.  The last thing you want to do is have a kick-ass blog, and then turn students to a poorly built college/university homepage.

If you are going to operate podcasts and video through places such as iTunes, YouTube, etc…make sure you try and implement that technology on your regular website as well.  This is where branding becomes an issue – and a possible students views the entrance page on the blog, video, or podcast area as great, and then quickly ‘bounce’ as soon as they reach your regular website.

One example of a college website that does it well, in terms of how their ‘regular’ home page/ entrance page looks is Bryant University in Rhode Island.  They successfully integrated a ‘tour’ entrance page, in addition to their normal homepage, that uses their current students into a ‘video-friendly’ format that ‘pops’ in terms of functionality and is useful for actual information necessary for a student to make a decision – taking them to the ‘regular’ admissions home page.  Schools should consider this outline when thinking about organizing their recruiting approach.

Your blog is like a baby, you nurture it, feed it daily, take care of it when it is sick and watch it go to sleep every single night…yes, my friend – blogs are addicting.  It is 2008, time to build readership, and begin to grow your brand’s awareness through the social media channels.  As popularity has grown in blogs, and blogging, there are some key steps you can take to market your blog and grow effective strategies to increase readership.

Here are some key strategies for growing your blog in 2008:

Bring your Blog Home: One tactic to consider when trying to harbor more traffic, that will almost always work, is to localize your blog.  Targeting a specific market and reaching out to them, using their language, all is a great way to reach more outlets.  Localization allows you to cover topics that competitors probably won’t take the time to cover…something that should be considered when considering new material to write about.

Have Others Write It: User generated content is a great way to expand your blog’s reach.  You can ask the public to submit articles that you feel might benefit your blog’s purpose and publish them accordingly.  This can be gained by seeking out online writers, using article PR services to get content, and affiliating with other blogs in your field.

Start A Forum: A forum is great way to let your users interact with each other.  You want reasons for your audience to come back to your blog, socialize, and interact with each other online.  A forum is a great tool that will encourage this.  By creating this outlet, you create a magnet for your users, which encourage them to return to your brand daily.

Start a Newsletter: Newsletters are an excellent way to reach an audience with information that differs from your blog.  Depending on your product, newsletters are almost necessary to keep your customers returning.  Newsletters are an excellent way to send out narrow messages, or more concentrated, to your audience.  Create a weekly, bi-weekly, or even monthly newsletter to connect to your followers.  One of the great advantages a newsletter has is being able to monetize it in several ways (advertising, premium content), as well work them into effective methods for capturing leads.

Social Media Anyone: Social Media Optimization starts with social bookmarking.  Creating an outlet for other readers to take your content and submit it, talk about it, or even blog about it in the social media channels will ultimately grow your traffic.  Allowing applications like Twitter, Facebook, Digg and countless other social news websites, can help disseminate your information to a target user.  Open up accounts in these channels and begin the process yourself, befriend the influencers in each channel and begin to watch your content wind its way through the Internet, and leads grow on your blog or website.

New Writers: New writers can be a great way to bring a new ‘voice’ to your blog.  Otherwise, a change of pace.  Just remember, when you pay someone per an article, make sure they are the best at what you need.  Don’t bring in writers who are unsure and could question your blog’s voice, keep it lively, bring in TALENT, and then you can pay more attention to marketing the blog instead.

Premium Content: This is a great way to further monetize a blog.  Premium content refers to exclusive content that is not made public to everyone and anyone who may fall upon your website.  Create member only pages inside your blog that you can tie to subscriptions and promote alongside your free content.  One suggestion I do have, when you do this, please make sure the content is original and most likely can’t be found anywhere else – it is what makes it PREMIUM!

Other Blogs Like You Too: Working with people in your industry can bring surprising results.  Collaborating with other bloggers in your practice would be done to initiate some sort of social network possibly, large writing projects, online applications, awards, and contests.  This helps build your brand and drive specific traffic to your website.

Videos & Podcasts: Consider video blogging, as a new tactic to your approach.  Your content can reach an entire new audience through some major social video websites like YouTube, Metacafe, Dailymotion, and other high traffic video websites.  Podcasting works the same way, obviously your hearing instead of visually applying yourself.  Viral video marketing also falls into this category, and should not go overlooked.  You will be surprised how much traffic and new conversions you see using this technique.

Overall, in 2008, be creative!  High quality editorial content will keep audiences interested, however, building a supportive audience and broadening your distribution channels will only help the original cause.  Expanding your blog through some of these channels will increase your user participation, create new delivery channels, grow your reputation and influence the audience around you.

Get Blogging!!