Social Media for Startups. It sounds like a no-brainer, doesn’t it? After all, 74% of startup founders are under the age of 39, based on a LinkedIn study published on TechCrunch. (Of course, the way TechCrunch chose to report that same data was to say that 65% of startup founders are 30 and older. Because…TechCrunch.) We can slice and dice data lots of ways, but the fact is that tech startups are nearly all founded by Gen Y, and primarily by guys of that age group. Estimates range, but it’s generally stated that 94-98% of all VC funding goes to …
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LinkedIn just announced their earnings last week for the first time since going public, and it was good to see that their membership (now at 115 million members) and website traffic (#11 in the U.S., #13 in the world) continue to grow. When I wrote my first LinkedIn book back in early 2009, LI was at 40 million users and had not yet established itself as the default social networking platform for professionals that it has become. Beyond mere networking, however, in 2011 there is now a compelling case to be made for us to rethink how we view LinkedIn …
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I get a laugh when I read online conversations about people spending hours tweeting and chatting about how to measure “social media influence” as well as the “return on investment” (ROI) from social media. It’s almost as if these people are either 1) having a hard time convincing their clients of why they need to pay for their social marketing services and/or 2) they themselves are trying to figure out a way to “dupe” the system and be seen as more “influential” in the social arena, thinking that there are potential benefits in doing so. I’ve already covered my views …
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Social media marketing (SMM), also sometimes called social network marketing (SNM), is a strategy that helps you build a network of customers and potential customers, stay in touch with those who are interested in your products and services, and ultimately build your bottom line in the form of additional sales. However, many businesses do not know how to build a sound SMM strategy, or they make many mistakes along the way that actually do more harm than good. Here is a look at 6 mistakes you should avoid:
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Want to buy Facebook fans? Why not buy some Twitter followers to boot? There are companies that you can actually pay money to to achieve this. With the recent LinkedIn IPO, now there are companies not only selling LinkedIn connections, but also saying if you use them to create a LinkedIn Group, they will make sure it gets filled with (name your price) members! The title of this blog post probably surprised, if not shocked, most of my loyal readers because they know I have always evangelized the LinkedIn Open Networker, better known as the LinkedIn LION. I wrote about …
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Everyone has their own objective for using social media, but one thing is clear: if you are a working professional, and especially if you have a family, the time that you can spend on the likes of Facebook and LinkedIn is often very limited. I often get asked, “Neal, where do you find the time for social media?” to which I respond, “Social media is my industry. It is my daily experiences and social media experiments that allow me to remain on the cutting edge of social media, provide a higher quality service to my customers, and allows potential clients …
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Wow. It’s hard to believe it’s been 5 weeks since my last blog post. This is the first time in many months that I haven’t blogged for such a long period of time. It isn’t that I didn’t want to blog, as I am always thinking of things to say, but I really needed to use all of my creative time to finish my 2nd social media book, which I hope to be formally announcing next week. Not blogging for such a long time gave me some time to think about what blogging means to me and why I feel …
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I believe that many businesses in 2011 are as confused as ever about how to maximize their social media presence. There are some that are finally looking to take social media seriously this year, while many have had a presence for a year or two but are still trying to determine the ROI of their efforts. Some businesses have been implementing social media for several years, but even they are still trying to figure out how to get more engagement from their followers or perhaps plan new campaigns to try to leverage their social media fan base. The net result …
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Twitter is now 5 years old – Long Live Twitter! With an estimated user base that is now double that of LinkedIn at more than 200 million users, Twitter is less about what we are doing now and more about becoming a channel for customer service, consumer campaigns, and big brands to engage with their present and potential customers. Needless to say, with the mass usage and attention to tweeting on the Internet, many businesses have taken advantage of the site for its marketing potential. This has become such a popular and fruitful business tactic that Twitter have included an …
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Over the last few years blogging has become a recognized marketing tool as a component of a social media strategy. While businesses used to scratch their head as to why they should be fiddling with something that was originally created for individuals, B2B marketing professionals should now realize that a blog can and should play a central role in their content marketing efforts as well as provide the foundation for their social media engagement. B2B blogs are not only showing up within the websites of more companies, they are providing real and measurable success for those that are doing it …
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