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The 2011 Predictions Review; How’d We Do?

December 22, 2011 By 2 Comments
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As the calendar turns over another year we like to make predictions on the Bella Buzz podcast, but that’s for a future show. On this episode we take a look back at the episode we recorded on December 29, 2010 so that we can determine how well our prognostications went for 2011.

We do this for fun, but we also try to view the process as a way to help position our activities for the coming year. Our immersion in the online space provides us with some foreshadowing that hopefully brings insight into our conversations, and ultimately can be passed along to the listeners.

Let’s run down what we expected to happen in 2011 and see how we did:

1) Cloud computing will become even more powerful.

Certainly with the announcement of iCloud deeply embedded in the latest update of Apple’s iOS, we are seeing the massive movement to content stored in the cloud.  In fact, we are beyond having apps in the cloud and using the bandwidth provided by services such as Amazon S3, we are starting to see entire businesses built around helping enterprise manage their cloud infrastructure.  Businesses including Cloudability and TwinStrata are getting significant traction.

2) Facebook will have numerous retail integrations.

Desiree recently announced a partnership with e-commerce platform provider BigCommerce, which provides high level functionality including an easy integration with Facebook.  We connected with Benjamin Trotter during the year for an appearance on The Bella Buzz to discuss his company StoreFront Social, plus we are seeing almost daily announcements regarding companies using Facebook as a platform for leveraging the social graph for commerce.  Event ticketing through Facebook could mean a significant disruption in the stranglehold Ticketmaster has had on the market.

3) There will be a growth of serious CyberCrime.

Unfortunately this was a prediction that we did not want to see come to fruition, but did in fact grow in notoriety in 2011.  Maybe the silver lining we can take from issues such as the SONY Playstation hack and the recent U.S. Chamber of Commerce breach is that elevated awareness is actually a good thing for ensuring all parties are diligent in protecting themselves.

This was also the year that we had an elevated awareness of the challenges for children online, through a consulting arrangement with What’s What.me.  The fact that children under the age of 13 are falsifying their ages in massive numbers just to participate in Facebook is staggering, and the potential hazards are scary.  Parents need to be aware of the activities of children and prevent potential outbreaks of other types of cybercrimes.

4) Many other social networks will appear.

It almost seemed impossible at the start of 2011 that we could have even MORE social networks hit the scene, but Desiree hit it right on the button.  There were many niche social networks that launched throughout the year and they have achieved enormous growth.  Activity sites such as Path, photo sharing on Instagram, content consumption on GetGlue and social music on Spotify are just a few of the networks that have risen during the year.

It seems that the successful approach is to focus on a very specific niche, and then to leverage the social graphs accumulated on Facebook or Twitter to help distribute the activity.  Look for more of this in the future.

5) Web connected TV’s will reach critical mass in 2011.

So we aren’t 100% correct, but we were not that far off on this one.  We were thinking that the hot item with all of the buzz for this holiday season was going to be a web integrated television, but it seems the tablet is this year’s top gift. However, we are seeing the groundwork being laid out for an epic battle between the traditional television business models versus internet streaming.

Here are just a few items in the news that are part of this bigger story:

The SOPA Bill supported by big media lobbies would have a harmful impact on content distribution.

Steve Jobs biography hints at a more integrated Apple TV strategy.

The Super Bowl will be streamed online for free.

Is it content or devices that come first while we move towards streaming television entertainment?  Keep an eye out for these developments!

We’re on to our predictions for 2012 on the next episode of The Bella Buzz podcast coming in January, so stay tuned!

To all of our faithful listeners and friends, from Desiree and Joe, we wish you the very Happiest of Holidays.

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Theme music for The Bella Buzz is Fallen by Digital Chemistry, available for download at the Podsafe Music Network.

You can subscribe to The Bella Buzz directly from ITunes by following this link, and we would be happy to receive listener feedback and ratings at The ITunes Store.

 

Filed Under: Internet Marketing, Social Media Tagged With:

An Affiliate Marketing Conversation with Shawn Collins

February 10, 2011 By 7 Comments
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Affiliate Summit | The Bella Buzz.comOn this episode of The Bella Buzz podcast, Desiree and Joe talk about the basics of affiliate marketing with the Co-Founder of Affiliate Summit Shawn Collins.  We take a look at the strategy from the point of view of a merchant/advertiser as well as how affiliates would approach the various programs and opportunities that are available.

Shawn and his business partner Missy Ward have established a global reputation by developing the preeminent bi-annual conference in the industry.  They have also diversified into additional ventures such as FeedFront Magazine, a vast YouTube Channel and a textbook publishing business at Velocity NYC. Shawn can be found blogging on a regular basis at his AffiliateTip site.  You can also listen to his weekly podcast Affiliate Thing with Lisa Picarille on his podcasting network called GeekCast.fm.

We begin by letting Shawn define what affiliate marketing is all about, introducing us to the concept of performance based compensation and ultimately what it would take for a small or medium sized business to establish a program.

One strategy he suggests is to become an affiliate of a competitive company as a way to determine how they work and help design your own program.  There are certainly costs involved in a good affiliate strategy beyond just the commissions paid to converting partners. There are creative costs required to develop good banners and graphics, there might be the fee paid to an Affiliate Manager who will act on your behalf to acquire and manage affiliates, and there is the technology that you will use to handle the transactions.

Technology providers include the Affiliate Networks such as Google Affiliate Network, Shareasale, Commission Junction, Buy.at, Linkshare, and many many more.

Affiliates are going to open up many marketing channels for their merchant partners, and will certainly take advantage of all of the proven as well as emerging strategies.  A good affiliate partner will help a business reach a target via everything from email to PPC, from coupons if appropriate to the latest social shopping trends.  Letting good affiliates help uncover new customers is a win-win for businesses who can take advantage of a large reach.

One of the common themes of The Bella Buzz podcast is our advice to create great content and distribute it through social networks. Shawn is a big advocate of this as an affiliate as well as a business owner.  He is speaking in Austin at an upcoming Meetup on the topic of using Twitter to create a million dollar business.

A few resources that Shawn gave us that might help businesses to better succeed in their online marketing efforts include:

AWeber – where he repurposes blog post entries into a subscription based email newsletter.

OpenX.org – Ad serving technology that allows web sites to better manage their ad inventories.

WhichTestWon.com – a site where you can get real-world case studies of best practices, by viewing side by side comparisons of A/B tests. How good is your gut?

To start reaching out to others in the affiliate marketing space, you can visit the new Forum that has been launched in conjunction with Affiliate Summit.  You can ask questions, view ongoing conversations, and start networking with others.

We’d like to thank Shawn for taking some time with us to discuss affiliate marketing, and we look forward to future conversations.  If you have any specific questions about using affiliate marketing strategies, please don’t hesitate to leave us a note in the comments!

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Theme music for The Bella Buzz is Fallen by Digital Chemistry, available for download at the Podsafe Music Network.

You can subscribe to The Bella Buzz directly from ITunes by following this link, and we would be happy to receive listener feedback and ratings at The ITunes Store.

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2011 Technology Predictions

January 1, 2011 By 7 Comments
2011 | The Bella Buzz

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2011 | The Bella BuzzRing in the New Year with our prediction show for 2011!  As a followup to last week’s look back at the predictions for technology in 2010, it’s time for Desiree and Joe to throw out some prognostications about topics we think we will be talking about throughout the year.

We invite you to share your own predictions in the comments.  Jot down a few ideas, listen to The Bella Buzz podcast in 2011, and in 12 months we’ll see how we all made out.

Without further ado, here they are:

1) Cloud computing will become even more powerful.

As expected, the Mac App Store will be launched on January 6, 2011. This form of distributing software has proven extremely successful on phones and tablet devices, so it’s only logical that a place for developers to sell their creations would work on the desktop.

Desiree explains an odd situation about accessing software from Microsoft upon becoming recognized as a Microsoft Partner, but the word going around is that they are also going to be looking at this form of distribution.

However, it’s not just getting your software from the cloud and doing away with the box and cd’s that we are talking about. We’re discussing the use of the cloud to actually run the software within the browser.  As an example, Quickbooks can now be fully functional in a web site instead of owning the software and loading it onto a hardrive.

Concurrently, the hardware that we are using can become very sleek since it will only handle the most critical computing requirements, allowing for extended battery life and drive speeds.  The announcement and beta testing of Chrome OS on various lightweight machines is pointed at this development.

2) Facebook will have numerous retail integrations.

Watch out eBay, Amazon, Buy.com and any other major online retail destinations, Facebook is coming!  With e-commerce solutions like Payvment ready to integrate into a Fan Page, the push is on to have a quick and easy way to convert individuals interacting with a brand into actual dollars.

Take a look at this page Grayce by Molly Sims.  Expect to see more and more merchandise for sale within the walls of the Facebook garden.  As an added bonus, by connecting with the Fan Page via the Like button, more discounts await.

3) There will be a growth of serious CyberCrime.

We never discuss the predictions in advance of the recording, and independently we both thought of this same, unfortunately distressing, expectation.

Circumstances of late seem to be pointing to the fact that there is a larger and larger element on the web who are willing to join in force for wreaking havoc.  The group that will go unnamed for fear of a simple Google Alert attracting the group to our discussion, and the ensuing retribution, has shown that they can bring even the largest players down.

The backlash over WikiLeaks, with threats for even more retribution, and even the announcement of hacking of user databases from Gawker Media give credence to the concern that we might be in for a bit of a bumpy ride.  It is up to every user to practice safe surfing habits in order to avoid getting caught up in the melee.

4) Many other social networks will appear.

Are they “Facebook light?”  The impact of social networking can be felt throughout our society, but in some cases a platform like Facebook can be too crowded, so requests for building niche sites has been pouring in.  Facebook Groups is a way to market to a particular set of people with common interests, but getting connected via other means could be upon us.

If the group has particular needs that cannot be supplied by a Facebook, such as security or privacy concerns, social networks catering to that niche will spring up.

5) Last but not least, by next Christmas web connected TV’s will reach critical mass in 2011.

We have started to see them come into the consumer electronics stores this past year, and even the Scales home is fortunate to have an Apple TV plugging into Netflix for the latest releases. Devices like the Roku box versus the Boxee Box versus Google TV are all devices that are trying to make their way into every living room.

The real challenge now is for the content producers to realize that by uncoupling their distribution from the current tiered packages of the large cable operators, they will actually be able to penetrate an audience better.  Good content will always win.  By eliminating the huge costs associated with the current models and focusing on the quality content that speaks directly to an audience, everyone has a better experience, from the advertisers to the consumers.

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Theme music for The Bella Buzz is Fallen by Digital Chemistry, available for download at the Podsafe Music Network.

You can subscribe to The Bella Buzz directly from ITunes by following this link, and we would be happy to receive listener feedback and ratings at The ITunes Store.

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Last Year’s Technology Predictions; How’d We Do?

December 23, 2010 By 1 Comment
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On this episode of The Bella Buzz podcast, Desiree and Joe revisit the podcast called Technology Predictions for Small Business in 2010, to see if they should put out the Fortune Teller’s shingle. First, we hear about Desiree’s fantastic efforts to achieve Chris Brogan’s challenge of 100 Blog topics to write.

Desiree has established a blog called ChrisBroganProject.com that will officially launch in January with two posts per week for the entire year.  The inspiration for this effort came from the movie Julie & Julia, which is based on a blog by Julie Powell in which she documents her experiences cooking the 524 recipes in Julia Child’s Mastering the Art of French Cooking.  Motivation can come in many forms and a movie with a blogging connection about achieving an objective certainly works in this case.

The goal of this project is to establish the fact that no matter how busy a business owner might be, there is always time to generate quality content for social network distribution.  Chris would agree and has personally given his thumbs up approval on the project.

As far as our predictions for 2010, we feel like we did a pretty good job of looking into the crystal ball.  Although as you will hear we did not hit the details exactly, we think we make a case for listening to our next podcast when we will tackle the 2011 prognostications.

In 2010 we predicted:

1) Twitter will evolve …  although it did not get bought by a mega-player like Google or Yahoo, Desiree makes the point that it did evolve dramatically from it’s original user interface.  Having survived the numerous infrastructure issues that plagued the service in the early days, they were able to evolve during 2010 by focusing on the user experience.  Coined the “new Twitter“, features such as threaded comments and a slick mobile application did take Twitter to another level in 2010.

2) 2010 will be the year of Location … Score points for us!  From the meager beginnings of 100,000 users when we made our predictions to a Techcrunch report that they have now reached 5 million users, we had this one covered.  Add to that the growth of Gowalla and birth of Facebook Places and we have certainly added location apps to the arsenal of marketing technology for small businesses.

3) Facebook will prepare an IPO … okay so we can’t be perfect, but you could say that all things would be pointing in this direction if they actually needed an IPO.  The secondary market for Facebook shares (those shares being liquidated by employees and initial investors) are now trading at a company valuation of $50 billion dollars.  In some quarters, this capitalization is actually a better scenario than the IPO crazy days of the first wave of internet entrepreneurship.  With businesses able to raise funds without bringing the public markets into play, this will protect against a severe backlash should another bubble burst.

4) Traditional marketing funds will be moved towards digital … this one was another homerun as major old school companies like General Motors and Ford have seen the value of using the cost effective reach of social media for brand messaging.  This trend will continue going forward into 2011 according to GM.

5) Merchants will accept payment via iPhone … we haven’t seen any new developments along this front yet, maybe we are a year too soon?  Don’t look now, but the tech specs on the latest Google Nexus phone includes built in capability for Near Field Communication, which is just what is needed for payment systems. Hmmm.

6) Mobile phones will be customizable … for a completely radical viewpoint on our initial prediction, thinking that the hardware would be customizable a la Dell configurations, Desiree points out that the unique way in which individuals use apps makes the phone a custom device!

7) More opportunity in the free agent economy … business continues to look for unique ways to hire creative individuals to achieve their objectives.  As an example, you have Calvin Lee who gets sought out by brands interested in having him evangelize on their behalf.

So … as we prepare our 2011 predictions, what do you think happened in 2010 that we didn’t predict?  Share with us in the comments your big stories of the year!

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Theme music for The Bella Buzz is Fallen by Digital Chemistry, available for download at the Podsafe Music Network.

You can subscribe to The Bella Buzz directly from ITunes by following this link, and we would be happy to receive listener feedback and ratings at The ITunes Store.

Filed Under: All, Internet Marketing

The Grand Scheme of Google; What it All Means to Business Owners

December 3, 2010 By Leave a Comment
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Groupon Logo | The Bella Buzz.comOn this episode of The Bella Buzz podcast, we talk about the many things that are happening with Google these days. In particular, Desiree and Joe talk about the rumored Groupon acquisition and the Instant Preview pane on search results pages.

Word on the street is Google is making a $6 billion dollar offer to Groupon to acquire the white hot, local deals, social network.  Original estimates were for a $2.5 Billion offer, but as the rumors swirl the price keeps going higher.

Why does Google want something like Groupon?  As Google has fended off discussions about building their own Facebook killer, labeled Google Me by the industry, the have claimed that they want to incorporate “social” into all of their products rather than building a platform of their own.  An acquisition like Groupon would instantly add that element of social shopping to their arsenal.  It’s a big category that has intrigued many people as a natural extension of how search is evolving.

There can by some cynical response to the dollar valuations that this transaction is tossing around, but an interesting announcement from Groupon, that really could add more value to the service, is the addition of Groupon Stores.  This opens up the usefulness of the service to many more merchants beyond the typical restaurants, spas and retailers who were setting up campaigns.  Rather than inclusion in the mass email and the subsequent mad rush of customer traffic associated with the Groupon campaign, a merchant can set up their own store within the platform and attract a follower base to be cultivated.  This twist on the service could really attract new users, both consumers and merchants and grow the company considerably.

On another note regarding changes in Google, Instant Preview pane is one of the many new features that has been added to the Google SERP (Search Engine Results Page) in recent months.  Coming on the heels of Google Instant and the predictions that are made as you enter a search query, we have the addition of Instant Previews in the results.  Do we sense a trend in the naming?  Google continues to push speed as a feature (including site load times as a factor in ranking by the way).  We can only speculate that these enhancements to the search results were part of the work of Marissa Mayer prior to moving over to the location based initiatives at Google.

Google Instant Preview | The Bella Buzz.comThe instant preview gives the searcher a chance to view the page that they will be visiting when the click on a search result.  In the example image provided, by searching for the keyword “baseball book podcast” the results page returns a number of options.  By clicking the magnifying glass beside the page title, an image appears displaying the site. This image can help the searcher decide if the result is the best option.

This does create some issues for site owners.  In some cases, embedded flash objects or plugins are not displayed in the image and will appear as a “puzzle piece” or a large hole in the results.  Another deterrent to searches might be graphical overlays for submission forms or password entry.  These factors need to be analyzed when reviewing site design.

Impact of these changes to the search results are yet to be fully recognized, but there is plenty of speculation as to the impact on Adwords and Organic search results.

What do you think?  Will these changes impact the way you search, or more importantly, how you present your web sites in order to increase the click through from the results page?  Please share your thoughts in the comments!

UPDATE: 12/3/10 Groupon decides to turn down Google’s offer. This shocked a lot of people but the company generates $2 billion in revenue each year. Looks like they are holding out for a better offer just as Facebook did years ago. Read more here. Would you have turned the offer down?

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Theme music for The Bella Buzz is Fallen by Digital Chemistry, available for download at the Podsafe Music Network.

You can subscribe to The Bella Buzz directly from ITunes by following this link, and we would be happy to receive listener feedback and ratings at The ITunes Store.

Filed Under: Internet Marketing, Search Engine Optimization Tagged With: , ,

Attract More Clients in Less Time; Interview with Kim Schott

October 7, 2010 By 3 Comments
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We are joined by a special guest on this episode of The Bella Buzz podcast.  Kim Schott is the President and Founder at Schott Cultural Consulting.  Kim helps emerging small businesses attract groups of ideal clients by learning repeatable marketing and sales strategies that resonate with different genders, age groups and specific ethnic markets.

She has the ability to help her business partners “Attract More Clients in Less Time” because her team is able to conduct market research using social media and the web.  Entities such as Neilsen and Scarborough Research help provide information to better understand customers problems and desires, which in turn, helps formulate a strategy that will target the right message to the right group.

Another way to pick up clues and hear signals about what people are interested in is to use social media.  In this revolutionary age of communication, it is possible to ascertain market trends and to conduct base level research by monitoring sites like Twitter, Facebook and LinkedIn.

The tools to aggregate the online world have evolved over the years, but there are a couple of recommendations that Kim would suggest.  Hootsuite as well as Nutshell Mail, which Kim uses to glean some emotional response which is a higher level form of tracking and analysis developing on the web.  It can even be used for targeting clients with available budget.  She uses the example of hearing about an event which is an indication of  money to spend.

Using social media as a way to get referrals begins a process where there is a personal connection made via followup in some form.  Once that has been done, a monetization strategy can be implemented.  The term monetization can be defined in many ways .. a transaction in some form ie. sale, a collaboration, a referral, an email subscription, rss subscription or a follow on a social network.  These are all realistic goals to set in place.

Kim gives a Facebook tip to use! She recommends that users Group friends. She categorizes in three ways: Friends and Family, Peer Influencers and Social Influencers.  All three function within Facebook as groups who could possibly utilize her services especially Social Influencers. They are people she wants to get to know and have them in her sights.

Peer influencers are people within Facebook who know her personally and her brand professionally.

She identifies these different groups and knows how they are motivated based upon the market research that she has developed.  Connecting with them with relevant information is the key to converting them from prospects into clients.

You can connect with Kim at SchottCulturalConsulting.com. Desiree will be on Kim’s webinar on October 19th, from 4 pm to 6 pm Eastern time. It is a live show so please listen in and ask questions!

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Theme music for The Bella Buzz is Fallen by Digital Chemistry, available for download at the Podsafe Music Network.

You can subscribe to The Bella Buzz directly from ITunes by following this link, and we would be happy to receive listener feedback and ratings at The ITunes Store.

Filed Under: Internet Marketing

Social News Aggregators; Digg, StumbleUpon, Delicious .. Are they Worth it?

September 30, 2010 By Leave a Comment
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There are a few services that have withstood the changes taking place on the web that deserve a little scrutiny on The Bella Buzz podcast.  These services can almost be identified as early players in the Social Media space as they attempt to connect people with common interests and invite them to share interesting articles and web sites.  As the newer, more noteworthy, services have evolved such as Twitter and Facebook, the question has to be asked whether or not there is value in spending the time and resources necessary to cultivate these aggregator sites.

During the course of our hiatus from the podcast there were two events that put this on the radar as something to discuss.  The first was a post that was Stumbled by some users at StumbleUpon, that generated a welcome spike in traffic to one of our web sites. StumbleUpon lets content creators submit links to the site so that others who are interested in that category, or are following the links from a particular submitter, can see the content and pass it along to others.

The second event was the release of the new Digg version 4.  Digg is the brainchild of founder Kevin Rose, who was looking for a site that would help uncover the most relevant blog posts that were being written on the web.  Before the advent of social sharing, sites like Technorati and TechMeme were curated sites, leaving the decision about what was good in the hands of editors. Rose wanted to let the mass audience make that decision themselves.

What was good about Digg was also its downfall.  More and more the site was controlled by a band of “power users” who were able to influence the appearance of blog posts on the home page of Digg by voting up some articles and burying others.  Articles that were voted to the home page of Digg could expect such an influx of traffic that servers could get overloaded and crash.  Unfortunately, many started to find that the volume of traffic was not necessarily converting traffic in regards to overall business objectives.

In time many users felt that the articles that they were being exposed to were not relevant.  This fact, combined with the increased adoption of social networks like Twitter, which made it much easier to find good content as recommended by someone you have developed a trust relationship with made the situation for Digg’s long term potential tenuous.

Digg’s hierarchy decided it was time to take a chance on upsetting the powerful user base and completely re-vamped the format of how the service worked.  The most important feature in the new version of Digg is the ability to follow someone, in fact it is very easy to transfer the social graph from one platform to another, making the Digg experience more relevant for each user.  The other new functionality that is great from a marketers perspective, is that the system accepts RSS feeds from blogs. This eliminates the need for manual submissions from a content creator.

Are these sites important for a small business? Do marketers need to pay attention to them as part of their service responsibilities?  Driving links and traffic, and generating buzz from any possible platform is important to growing a successful web site and cultivating a social network is the job of a good web marketer.

Do you use these sites?  If you are on Digg or StumbleUpon let’s connect!

On a final note, the founders of Typepad announced that they are forming a new company called Say Media in conjunction with VideoEgg.

Theme music for The Bella Buzz is Fallen by Digital Chemistry, available for download at the Podsafe Music Network.

You can subscribe to The Bella Buzz directly from ITunes by following this link, and we would be happy to receive listener feedback and ratings at The ITunes Store.

Filed Under: Internet Marketing, Social Marketing Tagged With: , , ,

The New and Improved Bella Buzz Podcast: Location Marketing

September 22, 2010 By 1 Comment
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The summer hiatus for The Bella Buzz podcast has finally expired!  The relocation of co-host Joe Magennis has been resolved to the extent that it allows for the resumption of weekly conversations with Desiree Scales about all things internet.  There have been numerous events that have transpired during the time away so we wanted to get caught up with those. We also want to let you know some exciting changes about The Bella Buzz, as well as set the stage for more exciting topics in upcoming podcasts.

The biggest news about The Bella Buzz is the move of the blog from a Typepad blogging platform to a WordPress site.  We had done an episode back in June, discussing the power of a site that uses WordPress as a CMS system, so it was time to make the transition.  Although there are simple tools that help move content between most platforms these days, it is making sure that images, podcasts, and links still function properly.  Double checking all those elements takes meticulous testing.  (Note.. if you find anything on this site  that is broken please let us know at desiree@bellawebdesign.com.)

Desiree is also taking a look at a new logo for her web design company, Bella Web Design, so keep an eye and an ear out for that in the near future.

The time away has mostly given us a chance to look at the latest and greatest internet marketing ideas, and give them a chance to settle in.  Many times we jump on the latest opportunity before it has had a chance to find it’s usefulness in the toolbox of marketing tactics, so sitting back and absorbing them has provided a fresh perspective.

One such tool that has been growing in popularity is Foursquare and the location based apps including competitors like Facebook Places and Gowalla.  Projecting into the future, there will come a time when smartphones will be sending and receiving data that will trigger offers from nearby places.  Using Foursquare over the summer has provided a glimpse into that.  Ben & Jerry’s has set up each of their locations as venues within the Foursquare system, and upon checking in nearby, a message appeared on screen indicating that there was a Special Offer.  Targeting and delivering an incentive message to a potential customer for zero cost is certainly an effective way to drive traffic.  Getting your brand to appear on the valuable real estate of a smartphone’s screen should be part of your distribution channel.

After completion of this episode recording, and prior to launch .. an article appeared on Mashable demonstrating how a big brand like McDonalds is demonstrating success with using Foursquare to drive in-store traffic!

Theme music for The Bella Buzz is Fallen by Digital Chemistry, available for download at the Podsafe Music Network.

You can subscribe to The Bella Buzz directly from ITunes by following this link, and we would be happy to receive listener feedback and ratings at The ITunes Store.

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Interview with Todd Eury – Pharmacy Technology Resource about Using Social Media for Independent Pharmacists

October 28, 2009 By 2 Comments

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Todd Eury, Executive Director of Pharmacy Technology Resource joins Desiree and Joe on this week's Bella Buzz podcast. Todd has established a fantastic niche as the "go-to" guy in the independent pharmacy industry regarding the implementation and use of Social Media and Web 2.0 technologies.

Before we get to Todd, we have a followup to the conversation on the October 13th Bella Buzz regarding Google Voice.  Last night on the Google Voice Blog they announced portability for your existing phone number. It is not total functionality yet, but it does provide you with Google voicemail features such as message transcription and custom messaging per caller.  Check it out!

Todd catches us up on how his business has taken off by focusing on a niche of the independent pharmacy and apothecary. Initially his social media efforts were implemented as a way to market his own services, but he has since adapted to include an educational element, where he is teaching his target market to take advantage of social media marketing.This is an excellent strategy in that it can be a challenge to champion the benefits of using new media tools to those that don't understand its significance.

America Pharmacist Magazine approached Todd about writing a 3000 word article regarding the use of these technologies in the industry. It worked out perfectly since he had already started developing an educational document on how to embrace social media as a community pharmacist. As part of his business plan he grabbed Pharmacyweb20.com as a location to start developing and posting his educational content.

Todd has the great approach for his clients in that he understands that social media must be part of, and complimentary to, an overall business plan and is married into traditional marketing tactics.  He points out that the community pharmacist has already built a reputation of trust, has customers visiting the store in person, and can be easily transitioned to greater levels of customer service via the web through an "offline ask."

A challenge for any independent operator these days, whether pharmacy or other industries, is getting exposure to the most relevant information regarding marketing strategies.  Todd is looking to establish a relationship with the Pharmacy School at Duquesne University in Pittsburgh to add an element of social media training into the curriculum.

The pharmacy industry is having initial discussions about how cloud computing will impact operations.  There are many privacy concerns of course, and this delicate balance exists within the realm of the larger US health care conversation. 

If you are in the industry, make sure to look for Todd at upcoming conferences where he is on panels and making presentations.

His various web locations you can find Todd at:

http://pharmacyweb20.com

http://www.pharmacytechnologyblog.com

http://www.pharmacywebsitedesign.com

http://www.blogtalkradio.com/pharmacytechnology

Theme music for The Bella Buzz is Fallen by Digital Chemistry, available for download at the Podsafe Music Network.

You can subscribe to The Bella Buzz directly from ITunes by following this link, and we would be happy to receive listener feedback and ratings at The ITunes Store.

Filed Under: Internet Marketing, Social Media, Web 2.0 Tagged With: , , , , , , , , ,

Interview with John Damiano – Social Media in Real Estate

October 6, 2009 By Leave a Comment

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Johndamiano  Guest John Damiano appears on this week's edition of The Bella Buzz podcast.  John is the CEO of The Providence Group and Associate Broker for RE/MAX Greater Atlanta. He provides some great insight into the application of comprehensive social media campaign for the real estate industry during his conversation with Desiree and Joe. (John is also one of the best dressed real estate professionals we've ever met!)

John points to the fact that he can differentiate himself from other realtors by being on social networks and in front of younger generations who will be buying homes now and in the future. He references Who Moved my Cheese a #1 Bestseller about coping with change in the workplace. By posting on Twitter and Facebook he is able to get referrals from other agents who consistently send him business.

The Providence Group blog incorporates many guest authors from a variety of sources who are involved in real estate transactions including attorneys, financial advisors, accountants and many other resources.  This helps John generate much needed content as well as provides great value to his clients or potential clients.

Real estate is a relationship business and using social networks enhances the top of mind awareness for agents. It also helps to brand individuals beyond the agency umbrella which is important for agents because it makes them stand out from their competition.

The YouTube channel for Providence Group of RE/MAX Greater Atlanta is a perfect example of extending the distribution of content.  You can view the tours of homes using a collection of stills and appropriate music to give the potential buyer a taste of each property.  The stills end up on a Flickr page as well.

We've mentioned on other podcasts that you cannot forget personal networking, the face to face connections that can really solidify a relationship.  John hosts quarterly Business Mixers that get the business community together to socialize. 

John has determined that the best way to achieve all of these activities in social networks comes from discipline.  By having the discipline to allocate an hour or so each day to participate in social media, he is able to make these efforts pay a large return on his time investment.

John references The Power of Full Engagement, by Tony Schwartz, which discusses how a world class athlete manages time to achieve great accomplishments.

A bit of advice is to start slowly when moving into various social networks, so that you can get a feel for how to best utilize them for your business, but also take full advantage of any opportunity that comes along to dive into the great new tools we have.

Theme music for The Bella Buzz is Fallen by Digital Chemistry, available for download at the Podsafe Music Network.

You can subscribe to The Bella Buzz directly from ITunes by following this link, and we would be happy to receive listener feedback and ratings at The ITunes Store.

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