I’m obsessed with the solo entrepreneurs who are successful leveraging social media to launch a business. They start with a simple idea – like pay me and I’ll wear your t-shirt around LA. They put up a blog, take pictures and video of themselves wearing your shirts and promote it on their social networking sites. That’s the beginning of IWearYourShirt.com
The idea caught on and now there are 2 guys (it should be WeWearYourShirt.com).
Then comes a new spin on the idea – at SheWearsYourTee. I really like this one because a model will wear your tee. That means you get some killer product shots you can use on your site.
Another element is how the pricing works to encourage people to act fast and not wait. January 1st the price is $1 and the price goes up every day. It’s the same concept with another one of my favorite businesses using this model called LoveJingles.com.
Entrepreneur, Social Media, Viral Marketing, social marketing
I was looking at my Google Analytics to get the top 10 sources of traffic to my web site. Then I looked at the different sources to see how long people stayed on my site from each source. I found that there was a huge difference in the quality of people depending on the source.
Twitter sent me lots of traffic but the average time spent on my site was just seconds. Compare that to another site that had people who stayed 4 minutes on average on my site. I can now see where to focus my linkbuilding and build my credibility. I’ll focus on the sites that are sending me quality traffic – it’s much easier to convert. Think of them as warm leads.
This is the audience who will read my blog posts, come to my webinars and who I have built trust with (maybe even buy my online PR book). I can build that relationship by offering to guest post, commenting on their content and otherwise
Social Media, Twitter
The other day I was sitting in a meeting with a group of friends. We were discussing Twitter and how it could be used to run promotions on the internet. This meeting included myself, Andrew, and a number of other well established business owners and marketing consultants. This discussion prompted the following blog post.
A Twitter Case Study — Picture This Scenario:
Image by Brandon Buttars
You’re hired to manage a social media campaign for a client – a family fun center with several locations. You decide to test the social media waters with Twitter. So you recommend the following:
Send out a message via the family fun center Twitter account, tweeting something like:
“TODAY ONLY (3/5/09) FREE entry to skate rink and free skate rental. Please RT.”
What Happens Next:
David Mink, Social Media, Twitter
social media disasters, Twitter campaigns, Twitter promotions
During SMX West 2009 Andy did a great job live blogging the sessions he attended, and a comment came through on one of the posts he did asking for ideas, or “out-of-the-box” marketing tactics that could work for physicians offices:
Creative Marketing Tactics for Physician Offices? I would like to know of any creative “out-of-the-box” marketing tactics that anyone has used when marketing services to physician offices, medical facilities, etc. Thanks in advance.
Here goes: The thing you must realize about viral marketing ideas in regards to any specific business is that it does not have to be a perfect match. Services that a physician offers in itself is not the kind of content that is worthy of “going viral”.
Social Media
digg, reddit, Social Media Marketing, Stumble Upon, Twitter, viral, Viral Marketing
Social Media For Firefox
Just wanted to make sure everyone knows about the latest release of the Social Media for Firefox tool created by Chris Bennett. He goes into more detail on a blog post today, but I wanted to pass my recommendation to go and get it and start using it to craft your social media accounts.
Yesterday, at SMX West on the Social Media panel, social media expert Brent Csutoras said this was one fo the tools he absolutley recommends everyone get!
I have been using this tool for two years now and could not live without it in the social media world! Great job on this update Chris!
Social Media
firefox plugin, Social Media, social media for firefox
Brent Csutoras: What has changed with existing platforms?
SMX: What is New With Social Media
Reddit. In the last 6 months they have released sub reddits. These are like categories. If you are not logged into Reddit the frontpage will automatically show you the top 10 reddits at any given time. Please note which categories are appearing on the homepage when people are not logged in.
Digg. The recommendations section has come about in the last 6 months. They have not made many changes, because their latest round of funding has stipulated that they are profitable this year. Therefore, they are not experimenting and rather are focusing on sales.
Stumble Upon. Stumble Upon is going away from the tool bar. Stumble Upon has grown substantially in the last few months. Brent recommends using the Beta version. They have a new partner network – so you can get your platform or company on to it.
David Mink, Social Media
SMX, SMX West
Stumble Upon Advertising Program
I got an email a few days ago (as I am sure anyone who has used the StumbleUpon Ads did) talking about features, and new enhancements to come with the SU advertising program in 2009. Here is part of the email sent:
More Reasons to Start a New Campaign More traffic to your website
* More traffic than ever: The StumbleUpon community continues to grow—Stumbling over 4 billion times in 2008 and actively viewing Websites—including yours!
* Improved Advertiser Resources: New detailed information on how to use StumbleUpon to drive paid and organic traffic to your site, including a Top 5 tips for Advertising on StumbleUpon.
* More Advertising enhancements coming later this spring: Increased targeting capabilities, enhanced reporting and even more control in driving a targeted, pre-qualified audience to your Website.
Social Media
Stumble Upon, Stumble Upon Advertising, StumbleUpon, SU
Making Friends!
I have been reading so much lately about social media in 2009, and how everybody thinks the rules are changing. I have to throw in my two cents because I think most of this talk (and what I read) is garbage! IMO, social media can easily be summed up by this one statement – If you are good at making friends offline, you will be good at social media. You may have to learn a few rules, but its simple to understand – If you can make friends offline, you can make friends online.
Social Media has not changed
I have been using social media pretty heavily for the last 4 years, and nothing has changed in the “core” way I have been using it. I also continue to make good money because of social media marketing, and every year it just keeps getting better!
Social Media
friends, making friends, Social Media, Social Media Marketing
The question is: Do individuals who post personal information on publicly available Web sites have a reasonable expectation of privacy in their identity? This same question was asked earlier this year in Sandler v. Calcagni, a case out of the District Court of Maine.
The facts condensed
Two high school friends/cheerleaders have a falling out that turns nasty. Their bickering leads to school suspensions, criminal mischief conviction, and eventually Calcagni enters a consent degree for a civil hate crime prosecution.
Calcagni’s parents believe their daughter was wronged so they launch a media campaign, which involved writing and publishing the book through Booksurge, to try and right the wrong. The book contained private information about Sandler.
Sandler sues Calcagni and a few others including Booksurge for defamation, privacy invasion, etc.
–Today I will only address Booksurge’s motion for summary judgment, which is simply their effort to get out of the lawsuit before it goes to trial–
David Mink, Legal, Social Media
expectation of privacy
Phoenix Suns fan
My close friends know that I have always been a big Phoenix Suns fan. It is hard not to like an organization that consistently puts a winning team on the floor and has always had some of the most likable guys in the league: Kevin Johnson, “Thunder” Dan Majerle, Jeff “Horny” Hornacek, Charles Barkley, Steve Nash, Shawn Marion, and Shaquille Oneal, just to name a few.
Suns are now using Social Media
This year the Suns have given me one more reason to brag – they have actively incorporated social media into their company marketing strategy. Many of you know that Shaq’s on Twitter, but did you also know that the Suns have hired a full time Director of Digital Media? Amy Martin, known by Tweeps as @PhoenixSunsGirl, has the full time responsibility of making sure that the Suns are successfully using social media. Amy is the lady responsible for helping Shaq work on his Twitter game. So all of you Tweeps who follow Shaq (currently more than 33,000 of you) can thank Ms. Martin for the opportunity to connect with Shaq online.
David Mink, Social Media, Twitter
phoenix suns, shaquille oneal, Twitter
