Internet Marketing, SEO, SEM, & Social Media Blog from Webbed Marketing

Internet Marketing Firm Serves as Facebook Expert for Sources

Webbed Marketing, a leading Internet marketing and social media firm, provides best practices and tips for using Facebook as a business tool.

Webbed Marketing, a leading social media and Internet marketing firm, based in Columbus, Ohio, is available as a Facebook expert source for the media and other outlets covering Facebook privacy issues.

“Our social media specialists are passionate about activity engaging themselves in the most up-to-date trends, topics and questions regarding Facebook,” Bill Balderaz, chief optimism officer and founder of Webbed Marketing said. “Extensive experience with Facebook campaigns, as well as our ability to adapt to changing trends and policies, makes our social media team an ideal source for Facebook guidance and best practices.”

Webbed Marketing has specialized in social media since its founding in 2006. Now, the firm is widely recognized as an expert on the ins and outs of Facebook. With the recent debates and concerns relating to privacy with social media, more and more outlets are seeking advice on how to use Facebook safely and with minimal risk. Webbed Marketing serves as a valuable source for those covering Facebook stories, especially the recent Facebook privacy concerns.

For more information, contact Courtney Cooper at ccooper@webbedmarketing or 614-291-8456. For more information about Webbed Marketing’s social media expertise, visit www.webbedmarketing.com.

About Webbed Marketing
Webbed Marketing is a team of experts in the Internet marketing field. Their goal is to grow businesses through the application of Internet resources. The firm specializes in search engine optimization and marketing, as well as viral marketing services, word of mouth and buzz measurement and social media strategies.

Social Media Marketing FAQ

Amy Marshall answered FAQs about social media marketing at Hocking Hills on April 20. View the presentation she share on SlideShare.

Questions answered:

• Who is really using social media?
• Why you can't ignore social media.
• What is the ROI of social media?
• How do I keep social media from consuming all my time?
• How often should I be talking to my fans?
• How do I get the conversation started?
• What are the top social media tools?
• Where should I focus my online efforts?

Unspoken Rules of Social Networks

Today, in both our personal and professional lives, social media is a part of our communication. For most of us in the public relations or marketing field, interacting via social networks has become secondnature. Of course, this is a huge benefit, but are there known “social rules of etiquette?” For example, do you follow your company’s CEO on Twitter and DM him or her regularly? Do you look up your clients on Facebook and browse their weekend pictures?

Things we would never do without social media, we don’t hesitate to do with it. I doubt most of us would call up our CEO to chat in the evening. I don’t think we would exchange weekend anecdotes and stories with our clients either. I’m not saying this is wrong by any means. I am saying that we should take this in to account when we are utilizing social media.

We are all sharing and learning on social networks, but do we consider different social networks appropriate for different audiences? For me, Facebook is really the only social network I hestitate accepting everyone on. I recently received a friend request on Facebook from a person I have done business with in the past. However, I don’t know this individual on a personal level; in fact, we haven’t even met in person, or spoken on the phone- our relationship was entirely via e-mail. Clearly, I hesitated to open my entire Facebook world up to her (I was a little irratated this person even put me in the predicament). I debated the dreaded acceptance for about two weeks. I ended up accepting, but only after I realized I didn’t hestiate to instantly accept a friend request from someone in my high school class- someone I have not even seen or talked to since high school. Why did the two seem so different?

I challenge us to consider our social networks and our practices on those outlets. Are we censoring behavior? Do we care if peers see posts or pictures about our private lives, but are weirded-out if a co-worker sees it? I know this debate is nothing new, but it’s something that continues to affect my social media behavior. I hope it’s still affecting yours, too.

If You Can't Beat 'Em... Change the Rules - Regulating Social Media

The other night I was settled into my couch and flipping through the channels on my television. Not looking for anything in particular, I settled for ABC's "Shark Tank."

Actually, that's a complete lie. Nobody "settles" for "Shark Tank." That would be like "settling" for a Chuck Norris movie. I guess you could say I was "lured in."

Anyway, after the first couple of hacks were finished peddling their silly ideas, two sharply dressed men showed up asking for a pretty large sum of money for a very small stake in their company. Usually, this means they are about 30 seconds or so from being shown the door. However, this time was different.

These two men had created an online service called "Jump Forward" for college athletic coaches and high school athletes. Jump Forward essentially simplifies and enhances the recruiting process, allowing both coaches and high school athletes to create profiles and browse others. A sort of e-harmony to make sure each athlete finds the coach of his or her dreams, and vice versa.

The interesting thing about Jump Forward is that it holds a patent for a mobile application that ensures that communication between coaches and players stays within the strict recruitment rules set forth by the NCAA. If a coach has already reached a limit for a particular form of communication with an athlete, the service will prevent said coach from sending another message or making another call.

Intrigued with this idea, I searched the Internet news wires for other instances of social media infiltrating the "protected" bubble of collegiate athletics. The results were not hard to find:

• On February 17, the Alabama High School Athletic Association (AHSAA) entered into an agreement with athlete-to-coach social networking site, Eporro.com.
• University of Michigan Head Football Coach Rich Rodriguez offered 6′5″ 355 pound offensive tackle, Aundrey Walker, a full-athletic scholarship via Aundrey's Facebook page.
• Ex-Tennessee Head Football Coach Layne Kiffin prematurely announced the commitment of defensive end J.C. Copeland on Twitter, an NCAA recruitment violation.

The integration of social media into the collegiate athletics recruiting process is really quite interesting. NCAA rules regarding communication in general between coaches and athletes are extremely strict, complicated and constantly changing. The development and growth of social media makes creating and enforcing these rules all the more difficult.

In one of its more definitive decisions, the NCAA completely banned coaches from sending text messages to recruits in 2007. However, the explosion of social media has blurred even this rule a bit. Division I and II coaches are permitted to communicate with prospect athletes via one-on-one messaging from social networking sites (Division III banned all social networking for recruiting purposes in 2007). But what if the recruit chooses to receive the coach's "approved social network communication" on his or her phone, as a text?

Perhaps Illinois Head Football Coach Ron Zook had the right idea when he said, "I'm not sure the NCAA understands exactly what [social media] is ... I sure don't."

It is slightly amusing to consider the fact that the athletes being recruited probably have a better handle on social media and mobile communications than the regulating body that makes the rules and drops the hammer when the rules are broken. Then there are the poor coaches are stuck in the middle, wondering, "Should I Tweet or should I go" (on a traditional house visit).

I think the NCAA gets it right, for the most part. The ban on texting was in response to athletes complaining about getting such a barrage of messages from coaches that it was intruding into their personal lives. Additionally, this was at a time when "unlimited texting" mobile plans were still a pipe dream; you can imagine the costs incurred by the young athletes (meaning their parents) for all the incoming texts.

Because the NCAA is supposed to have the best interests of the student athlete in mind, it makes sense for them to embrace communications through social networks. A high school athlete can choose when to look at his or her Facebook page, so the intrusion into their personal lives should be restricted. Additionally, coaches will likely remember to appreciate the value of a personal visit and the disvalue of being an Internet spammer.

As is evident by the recent news that the FTC and FDA are cooking up federal regulations for social media, this is only the beginning. With mobile applications becoming more sophisticated by the hour and crazy "tablet" computers that look like Magna Doodles on the way, regulating bodies will feel more and more obligated to put down their two cents. And that will become tougher with each new development in the social media phenomenon. The lid on the can of worms is so loose your mother could open it.

You’ve Created a Social Media Campaign - Now What? Measuring the success of social media

Bill Balderaz, founder of Columbus-based Webbed Marketing, discusses how businesses and marketing, advertising and PR professionals can associate hard results with social media campaigns at the Akron chapter of the American Advertising Federation and Canton Advertising Federation professional development seminar. His topics will included:

• Determining the value of social media and understanding its metrics
• Integrating social media campaigns and business goals
• Determining social media ROI and helping clients select the right tools to measure it

View the presentation at SlideShare.

Who Says Social Media Killed the PR Star?

Why am I hearing, well, seeing via Twitter and PR blogs, so much about the field of public relations as a dying profession? Most arguments are based on the idea that social media is replacing public relations. Public relations, and PR stars, are most definitely not on their way out of the industry; in fact, I would argue we are critical for success, considering today’s economic status and general business culture.

Obviously, I’m an advocate of all-things social media. I don’t see how any public relations pro in today’s market could be against it. In fact, I recently travelled back to my alma mater, Ohio University, to speak on a panel at the PRSSA chapter meeting...in the legendary Scripps 111. Of course, plenty of students had questions about social media and its relationship to PR. These tools go hand-in-hand. As experts in public relations, it’s our job to adjust to changing trends and forms of communication as they pop up (not that I’m saying social media is merely a trend). At the panel session, I emphasized the importance of utilizing social media – personally and professionally. Today, the only way to keep up (and ahead) in the game of PR is to understand, practice and monitor social media efforts. Monitoring and proving value is the critical point to remember.

This concept of monitoring and proving value took me right back to my own seat in Scripps 111 as a student in my intro to PR classes. Since my freshman year, I was engrained with the idea that public relations was “a two-way communication between an organization and its publics.” The typical tactics included press releases, event planning, crisis communication, strategic print materials, etc. What was the so-hard-to-prove bottom line that my professors begged for in every assignment? VALUE. RESULTS. NUMBERS.

The exact same is true of utilizing social media for our PR efforts – from two-way communication to finding the value of PR. Social media is a tool to implement public relations plans in today’s marketplace. It is a form of communication that is vital for executing a successful PR campaign – if you can prove the value, that is.

In the end, PR is not dead. Are some old tactics and forms of communication (see my last WM post) dead? Of course. That’s part of the job – know your audience and adapt. Social media is an exciting new tool in our PR toolbox and, with the right knowledge and skills, any PR professional can provide value and results with social media.

Tremont Goodie Shop Owner Turns to Social Media For Help

As many have heard over the past 24 hours, The Tremont Goodie Shop in Upper Arlington has closed.    

After 53 years in operation, the store in Tremont Center has closed its doors. The well-liked Upper Arlington bakery posted a sign in its window this week with the simple reason: the economy.

First a brief history. The store was opened in 1955 by Bill Wood. Wood sold the store to James Krenek (Doraine Cooper's father) in 1965. For the next 40 years, the store was passed down through the Krenek family. In 2006 Paul and Doraine Cooper took ownership of the store. And now in 2009 the store is closing its doors.

Fear not fellow sweet-toothed citizens! A previous owner of the Tremont Goodie Shop is trying to reopen the store. Debbie Smith owned the bakery with her father, James Krenek, from 1993 to 2006 and is currently negotiating to keep the Tremont Goodie Shop alive.

The exciting part? She is turning to social media for help! Debbie has set up a Twitter account and Facebook page to spread the world about her efforts and to gain support. Debbie is organizing an event on Facebook, Picket the auction to save the Tremont Goodie Shop, and is asking members of the community to help her bid on all the Goodie Shop equipment at a  public auction on September 27 so that she can use the equipment to reopen the store. Debbie is also Tweeting about the event and asking for support from her Twitter followers.

For updates on the Tremont Goodie Shop, follow @GoodieShop on Twitter and become a fan of the Tremont Goodie Shop on Facebook. You can even buy an "I heart the Goodie Shop" t-shirt! 

17 Business Uses For LinkedIn

Learn the value of LinkedIn! See real, practical business uses for LinkedIn that go beyond job hunting. Find out how to use LinkedIn as a sales tool too.

View on SlideShare.

You've Created a Social Media Campaign - Now What? Measuring the success of social media

Webbed Marketing PRSA Presentation from the July luncheon event. Amy Marshall and Bill Balderaz from Webbed Marketing present on how to measure the success of a social media campaign.

View more presentations from Webbed Marketing.

Social Media Monitoring Name Contest Results

The top submissions for our new social media monitoring tool name are:

SoTrak
SpiderFly
Peekneeze
ChatTrack
Buzzalytics
SMART

And the winner is...