Google+

This top tier of social networks contain those networks where you know your target client is active and engaged, and so your activity levels here are highest. You will have a complete profile, share updates and content multiple times a day, and will be looking for opportunities to engage and connect with prospects. These opportunities may include commenting on and sharing other people's posts, and participating in groups and communities.[read more]

Using social-powered tools found in platforms such as Google+, Facebook and LinkedIn allows you to meet your customers and prospects where they spend their time online. Social media also allows you to understand where and how varying segments congregate online, and exactly what they talk about.[read more]

As early as April 9th, Google began rolling out a new profile feature to its Google+ network that many believe may have Google Authorship and AuthorRank implications. Users can now specify whether they are a “current” or “past” contributor to a blog listed in their “Contributor to” section.[read more]

A blog post shouldn’t just be a blog post. Any time you put the effort into writing a blog post, you should consider how to deconstruct it into several pieces of shorter form content to feed your business’ social media content pipeline. I’ll describe how you can do this and a few things you should consider for each social media platform.[read more]

Don't fire off content with no understanding of how your community will receive it. Become a metrics-based community manager by using metrics to develop a sixth-sense for listening to your community.[read more]

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A community manager is the person who manages the social identity of a brand, from Instagram to YouTube to Tumblr. When companies launch (or decide to perfect) their social presence, the first major decision they need to make is whether or not they will manage their accounts internally or hire an agency to do so.[read more]

Last week, Google+ users started noticing an additional option in their “Contributor to” section: a past or current contributor drop-down. As of today, the option appears to be global.[read more]

Blogging with Google-friendly content

Even though social media is often in the spotlight, business blogging is still vital to your marketing success. Some companies have lost focus on original content creation, thinking that social media is all that matters. But original, high-impact content still needs to be the lure for your audience.[read more]

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Google Plus offers many benefits to any organization. It yields opportunities to better understand clients and their needs, position your company as an authority with Authorship, and increase visibility in search results. Considering it’s all free, can you afford not to use it?[read more]

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Personalization is a term bandied about with increasing frequency. Everyone seems to be personalizing everything. There is personalized learning, personalized shoes, personalized phones, personalized fitness, personalized ads, and the list goes on. Just as a rainbow spans a continuous span of colors, personalization seems to span a continuous spectrum of options.[read more]

Google+ isn't that confusing. shutterstock

Misconceptions about Google+ could prevent people from taking advantage of a social networking platform that offers unique features and benefits. If you give up on Google+ before you give it a chance, you have probably fallen victim to these four common fallacies.[read more]

Creating original, highly shareable content, actively participating in industry discourse and building a significant social following could win you a reputation as an industry thought leader and increased exposure, brand recognition and lead generation for your company. Social business stardom is within your reach.[read more]

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The success of your contest relies on how many targeted individuals enter. While the contest market is heavily saturated, the response you will get is related to the prize you giveaway (the better the prize, the more entries) and how well you promote it. Just as I focus a lot of energy on blog promotion, contest promotion should be taken just as serious.[read more]

social media management tools

Social media is one of the most effective ways for you and your business to get more traffic and generate new leads. Having a presence on all the major networks is a business necessity these days. But what tools are the social media gurus using to manage these multiple accounts?[read more]

eModeration's Blaise Grimes-Viort explains how to successfully claim Google Authorship next to your articles and blog posts using photographic attribution.[read more]

facebook contest

While contests are fun, they are also engaging, which is why you should host one for your business. In this article I share my tips for how, why, when & where you should host your social contest.[read more]

game of social media

“When you play the game of thrones, you win or you die.” The same goes for social media networks. They either flourish or flounder. Here's how the most popular networks compare to Game of Thrones characters.[read more]

Google+ Ripples (image: Bearseye/Flickr)

One of the hidden gems within Google+ that a lot of long-time users still aren't aware of is Ripples. It's a powerful feature that is hidden within a drop down menu, so you may not have ever seen or noticed it. Here are some impressive ways to use Ripples to benefit your business.[read more]

A dynamic visual presence is essential to a successful social media campaign. But stunning visual campaigns don’t have to be just for the big-name brands with money to burn on fancy lighting, editing and production costs. Even a small brand can make waves with thoughtful and visually powerful multimedia.[read more]

Twitter surge for a hurricane

Users behave differently on different social media platforms. When a news story breaks it moves across social media in different pulses depending on what the news is and how it travels through these platforms like Twitter, Facebook and WordPress. Here's a case study that explains a lot about how each social network works.[read more]