The Bad of social media marketing is what I call over-marketing or what some call spamming.  Spamming is getting too much information for that particular industry.  Spammers don’t care who you are.  They just want to sell, sell, sell.  You know what I am talking about.  Spammers simply send massive amounts of information about their product to lots of people hoping people will purchase from them, at least once or if they’re lucky maybe twice.  When I work with local businesses and start their social media marketing efforts, I show them how to build a lifelong relationship with their readers; the kind of relationship that keeps consumers coming back, time after time.  Its not easy and it takes time, but when approached correctly with a long term vision, you get a lasting and fruitful income stream.  In the long run your efforts pay off time and time again.  Let’s get back to The Bad.

When building your social media network watch your analytics. Analytics tell you what is interesting to your readers.  It is not about in-your-face-advertising, it is about giving your readers what they want.  Analytics is market research in real-time.  Here’s how it works.

If you are a lawn care specialist, through analytics you might find your readers are most interested in how and when to fertilize.  They may not care about how often or how much it costs to mow their lawn, they only want to know about fertilizing.  Social media marketers know that for the lawn care specialist providing information about proper fertilization leads to a need to have the lawn mowed more often.  Residually, when you show people how to fertilize correctly, they’ll either decide they can do it or they don’t have time to fertilize.  They’ve read your article so now they know who to call to fertilize their lawn.  Let’s think about this from another perspective.  If yoru readers have time to fertilize maybe they don’t have time to mow their lawn.  Using this scenario, you don’t have to constantly try to talk your readers into using your lawn mowing service, give them what they want; instruction on how and when to fertilize and you may land either the ferilizing or the lawn mowing contract.  When you give your readers what they want, they’ll stay with you and could turn out to be your best advocate and a great referral.  Your readers talk to their friends about their lawns and when they talk, we want them to talk about you and your company.  Provide good, helpful information and they will return the favor through referrals.

The Bad is not overduing your marketing efforts.  Watch your analytics.  If numbers start falling off, you may have crossed the “spam line.”  Once you cross the spam line, your readers will use the delete button without reading your material.  Next up is ”The Ugly;” what do you do when people talk bad about your company, product or services.  After I talk about The Ugly, I’ll put up the video of the presentation I gave to the local SCORE chapter titled “Social-Media’s-Impact-on-Small-Business.”

If you’re alive, leave a comment about this series or what you’re most interested about with social media marketing.

The FBI is looking to develop a web application that can monitor social networks, including Facebook and Twitter, in order to gain better real-time intelligence about current or potential future security threats or situations

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SCORE is a nonprofit association dedicated to educating entrepreneurs and helping small businesses start, grow, and succeed nationwide. SCORE is a resource partner with the U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA), and has been mentoring small business owners for more than forty years.  Now on to my presentation.

My presentation was built around the Clint Eastwood movie “The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly.” No guns or killing.  It was solely based upon how Social Media’s impact on small business shares a triad of good, bad and ugly.  The intent was to make local business owners aware of all three so they can take appropriate actions to make the most of their social media efforts..  So many times people get wrapped up in “The Good” that they don’t consider, nor do they know how to deal with the bad and the ugly.  I also wanted to answer questions that I’ve gotten in the past about each of these areas and the actions a business owner needs to take to eithe enhance or manage the risk that comes with each area.

The Good

The good is what everyone talks about.  When done correctly, Social Media Marketing is good for any business, especially small businesses.  One word of caution: I don’t think Social Media Marketing is for everyone.  Let me explain.  Every business will find their niche in Social Media Marketing, but if the owner or their appointed representative are not open to social media, the concept will flop.  I’ve dealt with all kinds of people.  I am working with one business representative who straight up told me he doesn’t like Twitter, Facebook and YouTube and has not idea, nor does he care what blogging is.  He is a tough one to work with.  Some businesses embrace social media and have done very well.  One of my clients has had over 50,000 comments on their blog in the last year and a half.  I’ve worked with just about every kind of person there is.

Why do I focus on small businesses?  Because Social Media Marketing fits great into small business strategy includeing the budget.  Social Media Marketing can be done at little or no financial cost, but there is an overall cost to doing Social Media Marketing.  The cost is time.  The owner, or their  designated representative as is the case with EPIC Connections, Bronco’s Restaurant or STI International, will have to spend valuable time developing and deploying their social media strategy.  For a business owner, time is extremely limited and you have to be cautious about determining if you or a third party like Affordable Social Media in Omaha, Nebraska will manage the business’ Social Media Markeitng strategy development and deployment. 

When an owner contracts with a third party they are contracting with a company who already knows when,  how and what needs to be posted.  Hopefully the third party chosen by the business owner has been in business long enough to understand trending for your particular industry.  When social media falls into place for a business, prospects increase each month.  As prospects increase, the business owner needs to be ready to convert those prospects to leads and from leads into customers. 

The good in all this is that when done correctly, Social Media Marketing with bring prospects to your doorstep.  When they arrive at your doorstep the business owner has to be ready to move the prospects into leads.  Next up, “The Bad.”

Earlier this month, the SEC’s Division of Enforcement alleges that Anthony Fields, of Lyons, Ill., offered more than $500 billion in fictitious securities through various social media websites, including professional networking site LinkedIn. Fields provided false and misleading information concerning his assets, failed to maintain required books and records and did not implement adequate compliance policies and procedures, according to the SEC.

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Today Wikipedia is dark.  Although Google is not dark, they are suporting the blackout; another way the feds could censor the internet.  What are your thoughts?  Do you think the Feds should control internet content?  Is this the start of censorship?  Take action.  Go to Google and make your voice known.

Millions of Americans oppose SOPA and PIPA because these bills would censor the Internet and slow economic growth in the U.S.

Two bills before Congress, known as the Protect IP Act (PIPA) in the Senate and the Stop Online Piracy Act (SOPA) in the House, would censor the Web and impose harmful regulations on American business. Millions of Internet users and entrepreneurs already oppose SOPA and PIPA.

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Let us know how you feel so we can let others know.

SOPA is crazy!  Simply stated, if my writing shows up on your website, the Feds can SHUT YOU DOWN.  They will be able to legally shut down your website.  Obviously the people in Washington, DC don’t understand the internet or how so many people have become famous by their content becoming viral, nor do they care. Oh, I get it.  They really want to control the money related to your going viral. The 1% are not making any money on your going viral on the internet.  Maybe they don’t think anyone in the 99% should be able to compete with people in the 1%?  Just becasue we don’t have the wealth of the 1% does not mean we shouldn’t have the same rights.  “They” need to get on board and realize this is America and capitalism isn’t just for the 1%.  Should we have to pay an “agency” to make us go viral?  NOT!!  Most agencies pick and choose wh0 goes viral after they’ve decided how much money they’ll take from YOUR earnings.

Is this starting to sound like a third world country or something from a soap opera?  It does to me.  Do something before more is taken away from the 99%.   The middle class is slipping away.

Dont give up. Make your voice known!  If you feel the internet should continue without government regulation, let your people in Washington know…NOW.

(Reuters) – The U.S. Department of Homeland Security’s command center routinely monitors dozens of popular websites, including Facebook, Twitter, Hulu, WikiLeaks and news and gossip sites including the Huffington Post and Drudge Report, according to a government document.

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Have your Facebook friends invited you to switch your boring blue Facebook profile to an attractive shade of red, black or shocking pink?  Before changing anything read the story behind the scam…..

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