What is Social Media Marketing?

As far as price is concerned, there is no other low-cost method out there that will deliver a large number of visitors, whom can come back to your website again and again.

Whether you are selling products or services, or just publishing content for ad revenue, the efficiency and benefits of social media marketing is an unmatched method that will make your website profitable over time.

Social News Websites:

The benefits of a social media website vary, but a proven method is creating viral content and promoting it through social media channels. Link Baits, otherwise known as content created for the purpose of getting people to link to it, are a great start. Successful link baits are not hard to accomplish - you just have to know how to do it. Creating high quality content and then getting it listed on social media websites like Digg and StumbleUpon will lead to a number of benefits for any website.

There are two methods to this madness:

Primary and Secondary Traffic: Primary traffic is the number of visitors who come directly from social media websites. Secondary traffic is the referral traffic that come from websites that link to your content and ultimately send you visitors back to your website.


High Quality Links: Social News websites, like Digg or Reddit will get you a large number of links - that have the possibility, with high quality editorial content, to bring you traffic and ultimately raise your ranking in search engines.

There is no secret to this. As SEO has taking a bashing over the past few years - many SEO firms and specialist battle back and forth on the importance of keywords, Meta tags, link purchasing -you name it, they have fought over it. In the end though, the secret isn't that hard to uncover, quality content, sewn together with valuable keywords and building inbound links, are the three components to placing your website in the top of search engine results.

When a website receives a large number of natural, permanent links from trusted domains, search engines begin to trust you. After gaining this trust, you continuously build upon it to either gain ranking or maintain it. And if you begin to optimize your website and begin link baiting - you can easily start ranking for competitive keywords, which in turn, bring you search engine visitors.

Continue this method of marketing and your website will undoubtedly increase its traffic. Many bloggers and Webmasters will see an article on Digg or del.icio.us and trust its usability and then reference through a citation link.

Even new websites that start with little traffic or trusted links - will find social link baiting to their advantage and can quickly establish a reputation and begin to build upon it. But just remember, it's the quality of the content that ultimately matters. Content is still king and always will be when it comes to online marketing. Optimizing it in a number of ways will quickly gain you the trust needed by search engines to rank highly, and ultimately deliver the traffic you need to your website.

The Naysayers Are Out There

They're out there. The Naysayers. The ones who adamantly agree that social media marketing is a waste of time and brings in useless traffic, leading to visitors quickly leaving after they clicked upon a website. Bounce rates are inevitable - even to your most loyal customers, they aren't always going to be interested. But don't mistake bounce rates for a lack of interest - if your entire website is relevant to the general interest of a social media website, there will always be a handful of users who will begin to track your website for future content.

Don't forget about the secondary traffic either, which I think is more important in the end. General websites or blogs with the same interest will link to your content because it helps add value for their users and readers alike. Most of the time, this is done naturally on a daily basis.

Primary traffic might come in larger volumes, but secondary traffic build links from other websites and ultimately delivers their traffic to your website. This help build your brand, establish your presence online, ultimately making it more valuable in the end.

Why you must consider Social Media Marketing?

You could ignore the power of social media marketing, who needs it? After all, you could stick with link exchanges, banner purchasing, editorial ads and search advertising. You certainly could, but why would you?

Social media marketing:

Is natural. Not only do you get natural links back to your website, it is also is exposed to large groups of people in an unpredictable fashion.
Successfully mastered social communities can be a great source of web traffic that helps boost your ranking and add to your already established search engine results.
It's a low-cost/high return business model. If you do it yourself, costs are limited and the only time and expense you have involves hiring freelancers to do it. Ultimately, the benefits exceed the cost - it would take you thousands of dollars to purchase links, which some search engines penalize you for doing now, or are starting to. Social media gives you all of the above FREE!
Social Media optimization and marketing normally won't interfere with any methods of getting traffic to your website. This new level of marketing will only add to your already established campaigns - and most of the time, exceed them.

So How Does This Make Me Money?

Directly? It won't - that is not how this method works. Your site needs to perpetuate itself and build upon its established exposure. The more supporters you have, the faster word spreads about your website. And social media websites deliver more traffic on a daily basis, compared to all other web communities. Because social media websites can be leverage for links and better search engine rakings, they ultimately increase your website's potential. For example, you will be able to price ads higher or generate revenue from any paid business model.

The Blog Secret

It is as simple as it sounds, an excellent blog will bring you traffic and sales you need to succeed. There is a secret to blog writing and marketing thereafter - it's very simple. Instead of creating numerous blog posts that ultimately go nowhere, just one excellent blog post, which is then pushed through social media channels and emailed to other bloggers through email pitches.

You can write just one post and get a enormous amount of links and traffic to your website through the use of social media.

Social media marketing is not a secret, but to do it correctly and monetize your brand, and bring in the new traffic you need to succeed - it takes know-how and the willingness to 'give in.' Everyday, I speak with someone who has interest in social media marketing, but are just not sure of how it might work for them and figure it may not be worth the investment. And that is the exact reason why people don't pursue social media marketing, because they are unaware and are not sure to approach it .

Simply put, to ignore this new branding technique of social media marketing, would just be foolish.

By VWI Media

http://www.vwi-media.co.uk

Social Media Marketing - 11 of the Most Critical Words to Use in Social Media in 2009

Conversation.

Yep- that is what the core focus is in Social Media.

Ok- let's get REAL. If Social Media marketing is about conversation, then should there not be words that fit in to what the culture of social media is all about? Should not you paint a picture with your words? Should your words not elicit feelings and emotions?

Of course they should.

Words are a marketer's tool box. Here are 11 you need

1) "YOU."

There is nothing more powerful to a person reading a message or conversation that has the word YOU in it, over and over. Many people have an "I" mentality, and in social media, you are not the deal. The other person or side of the conversation is.

There are 2 forms of conversation in social media::

a) "Contribution" and b) "Distribution."

" Contribution conversations" contribute to the whole, and add Value to the conversation. "Distribution conversation" distributes the message/agenda you want- and has little inclusion of someone else. Contribution words use YOU many times. Distribution words use "I" or 'Me" many times. Use the word YOU and become a Contribution Agent in social media, not a distribution rookie.

2) "A Person's Name."

Duh. There is nothing more beautiful to a person than their name. This is a given. I am surprised how many tweets, notes, and messages i get and also read that do not say the person's name. Use their name at least once in every communication and message as it adds to the conversation.

And also, a person will retain almost 70% more of what a message says, if their name is within the first 3 words. Chris Brogan is a master at this. I have seen and studied him, and every time he tweets or sends a message- usually the name is the first word.

Smart. VERY smart. we all should follow that lead.

3) "Connection."

This word is an indication that you want to connect and start a relationship of some kind and create an ongoing conversation. Many folks use the phrase "get together" or "meet up" or "network." These words are good- but CONNECT has a power within the word.

Electricity us usable when you connect to it. Same thing as a battery in a car which powers the car. And idea is only powerful when you CONNECT to it. The Power is in the Connection-when 2 things come together. It is the same in new relationships- it is all about CONNECTION.

4) "Tribes.'

This is an interesting word. Seth Godin has a cool book called "Tribes." I suggest that you read it. But as far as a word for the social media arena, it is a word that helps define that you are within the culture and understand the community aspects of what social media is about.

In tribes around the world, it is all about community and belonging to that community. It is the same in social media. Recently I described the community we are building within a project as an "empowered tribe" and some people got it- and well, others did not.

Make sure if they do not understand the concept of tribes, then you explain it.

5) "Transparent."

In social media, being REAL is critical. And part of being REAL is being open and transparent. I love it when I read statements like "full disclosure" and people are disclosing that they have an interest or are on some board of a company they are talking about. THAT is so rocking hot. It shows that they are being transparent and nothing to hide and telling the truth.

And that is what social media is about in many respects- TRUTH about you- and what you are and do. THAT is transparency. Use that word when talking about the truth. Just being "transparent" - that says a lot in one word about you.

6) "Strategy."

Social media without a strategy for it, is like building a house without a blueprint. You need to develop, plan, start, and execute a strategy for your social media success. We call it a "Social Media Path." What PATH do you plan on developing for your business, and how will that fit into your current model of business? What will be your Primary social media Platform, and what will be your secondary platforms?

PATH stands for "Purpose- Actions-Tracking-How." what is your PURPOSE for integrating social media into your business? Marketing? Prospecting? Client communication? Customer service? What ACTIONS will it take? Videos? Blogs? Podcasts? Social Networking? What TRACKING system will you use to keep the platforms at maximum pace? And HOW are you going to Execute the Actions? Through employees? Through outsourcing? Through a combination?

Strategy is a word that you just talk about. You need one. And so do others that you know as well.

7) "Branding."

This word has been around for a while. But you still need it in your focus and communication. Branding is a word that you need to utilize not only in your messages, but your focus as well.

YOU are the Brand is a popular way to discuss social media marketplace image making. But that is not totally true. The PERCEPTION of you is the brand you are building- good or not so good. So make sure that if you use this word in social media this year, you realize that PERCEPTION Rules in Branding.

Brand yourself in the marketplace. But make sure that you focus on the VIEW and FEELINGS people have of you and experience when they think of you and what you do- and not just some catchy slogan or icon.

8 "Trust."

You need to be an Agent of Trust. Chris Brogan has a book coming out called "Trust Agents." Should be a rocking hot book. What about you? Are you an Agent of Trust? Just like a Real Estate Agent markets real estate, you market Trust in all you do. That is the real estate of the heart.

I like to get that word out there quickly-as i believe that people i do not know, that is on their mind. "Can I trust this guy?" And I usually message something like, "Our company helps build leaders and businesses through concepts and ideas that people can trust and feel good about."

THAT is using the word Trust- to build trust.

9) "Family."

Some people use "network." Some use "team." Some use the word "community." Some use the word "friends." I like the word "Family." it is personal, powerful, and paints a picture of what social media really is building- a family that can help, be there for each other, educate, equip, and empower for greater good.

One thing that I do- and again- just an idea, I welcome everyone on Facebook or twitter or YouTube or any other social connection with "Welcome to the family!" This says so much more than "thanks for following me" or "appreciate the connection." We ARE family- and I hope and pray it stays that way.

10) "Value."

It is ALL about Value. It is all about the VALUE that YOU bring to the table. It is all about the VALUE of your conversations and contributions.

And it is ALL about the VALUE that you help others see within themselves. Edify. Encourage. Empower. And become a "Carrier of Value" to everyone you meet in social media and GIVE some Value to them.

11) "GIVE."

This is the MOST important word. GIVE. Why? In social media, it is not the same ol business methodology. It is Biblical- if you will. "Give first- and what you give- you reap." Giving is the culture of social Media. Why do you think that people give so much rocking hot info on their blogs?

Giving is a Power. It is something that not only is part of the evolving culture of social media, but also the CATALYST of much of what social media has already become. if you are a marketer, New Marketing can be almost threatening to you as it flies in the face of traditional marketing- or does it?

No- not really. It is simply marketing that puts PEOPLE FIRST- not profits. It put RELATIONSHIPS FIRST- not results. And it puts GIVING FIRST- not grabbing for their checkbook.

These are the 11 Critical words that I believe should be included in 2009 in your:

1) Social Media Philosophy.

2) Social Media Conversations.

3) Social Media Marketing Actions.

4) Social Media Core.

If you do, your Success should be rapid in social media marketing.

blessings... Doug Firebaugh

Doug Firebaugh is one of the Top Social Media strategists, MLM, Network Marketing Home Business Trainers, Speakers and Authors in the world. Over a Million people a month read his training letter. He has helped over 10,000 people worldwide earn in excess of 50,000 a year. He wants to help you do the same. You can subscribe to his Free training letter -which includes 3 Free gifts just for subscribing at http://www.passionfire.com

Social Media Marketing - The Top 10 Mistakes People Will Make in Social Media in 2009

Here we go again! Another year and another great possibility! With the election of Obama to the presidency, there is Hope and all are looking for a great future.

But I am sitting here thinking of all the folks in social Media that are going to be frustrated again in their social Media marketing efforts. wondering why they are not getting the traction or friends that they thought they should. And the main reason is that they continue to make the same mistakes in Social Media as last year.

Are YOU going to do that- I sure hope not. You may not have the power of a Robert Scoble, or the personality of a Gary Vanyerchuck, or the mind of a Chris Brogan, or the networking focus of a Mari Smith or Coach Deb Micek. Or even the amazing writing talent of a Scott Monty.

At least not yet.

But you CAN accelerate your Social Media Success this year by avoiding these top 10 mistakes made by people in Social media in 2009.

Ok...what are they?

1) Lack of Consistent Visibility.

You cannot make a path and create a presence in Social Media, without CONSISTENTLY being SEEN and HEARD with your message. Ask Carrie Wilkerson. Or Timothy Carter. NOT going to happen. That is why that you MUST create a Presence on the web DAILY- and be seen and heard as part of the community. A tree does not grow part time. It must be consistent in it's efforts. It is the same with your Social Media marketing.

2) Focusing too much on being heard.

LISTEN first- THEN talk. Social Media is about Listening to what is being said- by your prospects and customers- and social media in general. You would never enter a party or social event and immediately start yelling out what you wanted to talk about.

Neither should you in Social Media. LISTEN and then LEARN- and then Let your voice be heard- ONLY as a part of the existing conversation. Your time to start the conversation will come.

3) Taking, instead of GIVING to the Social Media Community.

Ahhhhh- lots of takers out in the Web 2,0 world. But NOT YOU. GIVE first. Give Value. Give Suggestions. Give Advice. Give ideas. Give Encouragement. Give News. Give New Possibilities. Give Words of Gratitude. But do NOT take relentlessly. You will be shunned and labeled as such.

If you REALLY want to create powerful influence- GIVE. How does that work?

GIVE = Gain Influence Very Easily. Give FIRST - and you will never come in Second.

4) Not Joining groups.

Groups are where you can have some of the greatest growth and learning. I belong to a ton of groups. Why? Because of 2 reasons: 1) I learn a lot from other people. 2) I CONNECT with the folks in the group.

Groups are a "secret weapon" that you should use on as many social sites as you can. They will not only Enlarge you- but also the possibilities that the group can bring to your life.

5) Not attending Events.

Events ROCK. And you should be attending at least 1 event a week to do 2 things: 1) Become more Visible. 2) To learn from people that know things you do not.

Events are what i call the "Hidden University" of social Media. You can learn a LOT and grow a lot from events.

Look at the events that interest you. And pick on event that mildly interests you. And see if you can learn something even from that event. I have an event journal. and every event that i attend- i keep a log of what was said so i can review it later. You may want to do the same.

6) Not enough VALUE in what they are doing.

Value RULES in Social Media. And we train on what we call "Surprising Value." This is the type of Value that is so great and unexpected that it surprises the person that discovers it. Put More Value in your POSTS. Put more Value in your PODCASTS. Put more Value in your Conversations. Put more Value in your Articles. Put More Value in your Recommendations. Put More Value in YOU and what you bring to the Social Media table.

Value RULES. And the one with the MOST value at the end of the day- reigns.

7) Joining Too Many Social Media sites.

There are about 3,600 Social Media sites. You need maybe 5-7. You read that right. You need 5-7 PRIMARY Social Sites. Then you need maybe 25-30, or even 50 Secondary sites for Link Building and traffic purposes. The main sites that you should be a part of- is up to you. My 'Big 73 are Facebook, Twitter, youTube, LinkedIn, Stumbleupon, Plaxo, and WordPress - along with mashable. These are the CORE of my Social Media Marketing.

Do I belong to more? Heavens yes- a LOT more' but have automated those through ping.fm and other social software.

Do NOT try and be seen on a hundred sites. Facebook alone can keep you busy with over 200 million people. The same with MySpace, or Friendster. Master ONE site while mastering social media and then another, and then another, until you have YOUR "Big 7." And then automate the rest.

8) Focusing too much on Monetizing Social Media.

Nothing wrong with monetization on the internet. We do it a LOT- and daily. But focusing too much on that in social media- is , well...not cool. People do not mind knowing about an offer, or new info product. But how about giving some VALUE first with it- then invite them to an event- and then at the end of the conference call or webinar-give them a chance to purchase your product.

What do I see daily? URLs and messages SELLING SELLING SELLING! Whew- wish that would not happen so blatantly. It has gotten better, but if you have a great content rich info product- here is a novel idea: GIVE part of the info away FIRST and let the person ASK you for the product if they like it.

Hmmm....that just might be an idea worth considering.

9) Thinking that You are Nobody and Social Media Success is for other people.

Ask Chris Brogan. Ask Scott Monty. Ask Alejandro Reyes. Ask Brian Solis. Ask Dave Taylor. Ask Shama Hyder. EVRYONE has a great possibility to becoming SOMEBODY in Social Media. THAT is the beauty of the culture. Everyone who contributes Value and Connection- is more than welcome to achieve whatever they want. Chris Brogan once had 10 readers of his blog. Now he has almost 40,000 people following him on twitter alone. Brian Clark of copyblogger fame once had 10 readers. So did Scoble. So did Monty. So did Shama. And the list is endless.

There is GREATNESS inside of you-and there is NO BETTER place than Social Media to unleash it upon the world. You ARE Somebody- and always have been. YOU are a Social Media Rockstar- in training!

10) Not Branding Yourself Strong Enough.

Branding is a tool that we all use in Social Media. It is WHO YOU ARE- and what people remember about you. It could be a phrase-"Just Do It (TM)"- or a slogan- ""We've Got You Covered." Or even a questions- "Can You Hear me Now?" or just a Name-"Trump."

You need to get a slogan or phrase that you can start wrapping in your messages. You need to get an image that speaks what you want the public to see and know. And you need to decide -what is the ONE THING I want people to think of FIRST- when they think of me and my company? THAT is the start of a good brand build. Do not be just another face in the web 2.0 world. Set yourself apart and above the fray with a brand that rocks. We teach what is called "Connection Branding" and we have saying:

"Do NOT just be known or remembered- become UNFORGETTABLE." "

THAT is what you need to do!

These are the top 10 mistakes people will make in Social Media in 2009. Yes, i Know there are others- but these are the ones that i see as the most prevalent in Social Media marketing.

blessings..doug firebaugh

Doug Firebaugh is one of the Top Social Media strategists, MLM, Network Marketing Home Business Trainers, Speakers and Authors in the world. Over a Million people a month read his training letter.He has helped over 10,000 people worldwide earn in excess of 50,000 a year. He wants to help you do the same. You can subscribe to his FR-ee training letter -which includes 3 FR-ee gifts just for subscribing at http://www.passionfire.com

Tips on Writing an Effective Social Media Marketing Request For Proposal (RFP)

About a year ago, I wrote an article with guidelines on writing a website design and development Request for Proposal (RFP), which received a great response. Now I think it's high time to do the same thing for those wishing to engage an agency for Social Media Marketing and other Online Marketing and Advertising consultation and implementation.

Below are my suggestions of how to prepare an RFP for social media projects, retainers and campaigns. I also suggest doing research online and viewing other Request for Proposals to see what works best for your organization. Keep in mind that whatever format you choose will determine not only how long the responses are, but also what type of focus you are looking for from the respondents. Each section of the RFP is outlined below, along with some explanation and suggested questions. Have fun!

Information about your organization and project

Introduction

The purpose of this section is to give a brief overview of the company issuing the RFP and the social media project or desired work relationship between the company and the vendor. Provide as much information as you feel is necessary to allow vendors to prepare an accurate proposal. If you feel that there is certain proprietary or other information that you do not wish to make public, require a Non Disclosure Agreement be signed before receiving that information. This may limit the participation of vendors, but it is oftentimes necessary to protect private information.

1. Company Overview

Organizational history
Your business objectives
Your company's history using social media or reasons why your organization intends to begin to participate in social media

2. Overview of Project

State the project objectives and how they relate to the business objectives stated above. Explain the type of vendor relationship desired i.e. Project-based, Agency of Record, etc. Explain the current involvement your organization has with social media channels and how they relate to both your organization's primary presence and any related campaigns
Explain the social media channels you wish the campaign to involve, unless you are looking for suggestions of which to use, then please specify that to the vendors
Explain how the project fits into your overall marketing strategy (online and offline) and if there is another vendor involved in other aspects of your Advertising and Marketing initiatives
Explain the measurable outcomes you would like to see
Explain the duration of the work - is it a temporary campaign, or an ongoing organizational marketing platform?

3. Overview of Audiences and Stakeholders

List primary audiences for the company, i.e. demographics, psychographics, etc
List primary information needs of each audience group
Identify if any market or audience research will be necessary in the execution of the campaign

4. Overview of Response

Make it clear the type of response you are looking for:
Are you looking for a hypothetical approach, or an explanation of the vendor's process of how they will come to create your campaign. Many times a hypothetical approach is not the best way to approach an RFP process simply because a vendor will be missing several key pieces of information that might negatively affect their ability to propose a specific solution. We suggest looking for more general responses and weighing the effectiveness of past client work heavily

Guidelines for Proposal Preparation

In order to give all qualified vendors a level playing field, it's important to set up an easy to follow schedule for both when your RFP is issued, when and to whom questions are allowed, and when and in what format responses are required
Specify the date the RFP was issued (Month, Day, Year). If your RFP is publicly listed, it will help those searching for RFPs on Google or by other methods to find relevant Request for Proposals
An optional requirement is to specify that all interested vendors register their intent to submit a proposal by a certain date - usually within 1-2 weeks of the RFP issue. This is a good way to limit the potential number of vendors who respond if you anticipate a large volume of proposals and would rather receive a smaller amount
We recommend allowing a question and answer period that ends at least 1 week before the proposal is due. It is up to you whether to allow questions by email, conference call or individual phone calls. We do recommend that you share all the questions (and answers) with all interested vendors in order to keep things as equal as possible. Always specify which format -phone call, email, and to whom these questions should be addressed. We recommend identifying a single person in your organization to be the point of contact. Just make sure vacation schedules, etc don't interfere with this process, and if there is any other reason why the primary point of contact might need to be out of town during the process, specify a secondary point of contact
Responses from issuer to be sent by 20XX in the following formats (specify whether electronic submissions, hard copies or both must be either emailed, mailed or hand-delivered)
On the basis of the replies to the RFP document, a short list of potential vendors will be selected and this group will be asked to present demonstrations of their capabilities and vision for the project. These meetings will be completed by XXth, 20XX
Awarding of the contract to selected Vendor by XXth, 20XX
Work to commence by 20XX and to last until (if applicable)

Vendor Questions and Qualifications

The following is a series of questions that, if applicable, we suggest you ask the vendors submitting proposals. Some may not apply, but it is a great idea to get as much of an idea of the vendor's approach and philosophy on social media as possible. Compare the responses both among each other, and to the research and reading that you have done to make sure that the vendor is up to date with the latest thinking and best practices.

COMPANY DETAILS

Company name and parent company name
Ownership structure
Years in operation
Mailing address (headquarters)
Other office location(s)
Primary phone
Fax number
Website and blog URL
Primary point of contact (name, title, phone and email address)
Total number of employees
Number of vendor employees whose primary function is social media
Current client list with those engaged in social media work identified
Percentage of total revenue that is social-media related
Three references for social media work including; company name, primary client name, contact details and brief explanation of services provided
Any potential conflicts with existing vendor client base and this RFP
Senior social media staff bios and links to social media profiles where applicable
Please provide a complete list of relevant social media platform and technology partners
References from clients currently engaged in social media work with the vendor

CAPABILITIES & EXPERIENCE

List all social media and online marketing capabilities
Do you have any proprietary tools or products related to social media?
Please list any experience you have with integrating social, paid and/or earned media
Is there a specific industry or type of work your firm specializes in?
Please list and provide links to primary social media communication channels for your company (i.e.company blog,Twitter account, Facebook group, blogs authored by principals, etc.)

SOCIAL MEDIA MARKETING STRATEGY

Please outline your social media strategy process
Which stakeholder groups do you typically include in a strategy engagement?
Describe the final deliverable of a strategy engagement
What is your approach to risk management in social media?
How do you incorporate existing applications, websites, microsites and newsletter programs into your overall social media strategy?
How do you ensure compliance with client legal requirements?
Please describe your approach to integrating across client marketing, customer service and corporate communications departments. Please provide an example of your work in this area
How do you approach adapting a traditional brand into a two-way dialogue?
Please provide a case study of your strategy work that resulted in a social media initiative and the business results achieved

REPUTATION MANAGEMENT & SOCIAL MEDIA MONITORING

What is your brand/reputation monitoring process (i.e. proprietary tools used, methodology, etc)?
What is your opinion on automated sentiment analysis?
What technology do you use to assist in online monitoring?
How long (on average) between a potential issue being posted online and being flagged to the client?
What volume of mentions has your organization handled in the past (e.g. 2,500 mentions per week)?
What is your quality assurance process to ensure that the large volumes of data gathered in the monitoring process are handled efficiently and representative of the overall online conversation?
Please detail your methodology for handling online crises
What services do you provide in support of online crisis management?
Please describe the structure of your crisis management team, including bios and relevant experience
How do you assess which mentions require immediate responses and which do not?
Please outline your general approach to sourcing and responding to comments
Please provide a case study detailing your work for the purposes of managing reputation or online crisis management, including outcomes and lessons learned
Please include a sample of your monitoring report format and/or a link to appropriate dashboards (specifics should be removed)

METRICS, MEASUREMENT & REPORTING

What methodology do you use for measuring the success of your social media programs for clients?
Please provide specific examples based on past work
Have you developed any proprietary metrics? How have you applied these for clients?
How have you defined Return on Investment (ROI) from a social media perspective in the past?
How do you take data points generated from various social media channels and measurement tools and combine to give an objective/comprehensive view?
What is your approach to server analytics and community analytics for program measurement?
Do you have the capability to measure cost per lead or cost per acquisition? Please provide an example of a project on which you have done so
What platforms are you unable to measure accurately, or able to provide only limited measurements from?
Please provide a sample of a measurement document or final report (specifics should be removed)
What percentage of the budget do you recommend be dedicated to metrics and measurement?

CLIENT EDUCATION & TRAINING

Do you offer social media training services for clients? If yes, what formats are they available in?
What internal processes do you have in place to ensure that your staff is kept current on social media innovations and best practices?
How do you measure progress and evaluate training effectiveness?
How do you recommend that clients keep up to date on the latest social media innovations and best practices?

SOCIAL MEDIA AND OTHER DIGITAL CHANNELS

What are your design, creative and community management capabilities?
What percentage of your staff is dedicated to building and deploying social media solutions versus management and consulting?
Please describe your experience with the following platforms and tactics:

- YouTube or similar video sharing sites

- Blogs, Podcasts, Vodcasts, Forums

- Content Management System (CMS)

- Customer Relationship Management (CRM)

- E-mail Marketing

- Search Engine Optimization (SEO) and Search Engine Marketing(SEM)

- Facebook Pages, Apps, API integration

- Mobile application development

- Twitter

- News sharing sites (i.e. Digg, Reddit, etc.)

- Virtual Worlds and Augmented reality

- Photo sharing (i.e. Flickr) and other content sharing sites (i.e. Scribd, Slideshare, Delicious, etc.)

- Social Media press releases(SMPRs)

- Crowdsourcing or Wikis

- Real world events organized via social media (e.g. Tweetups)

- Ratings/Customer service sites (i.e. Yelp, ePinions, etc.)

Please provide examples of social media channel development work completed within the last two years

COMMUNITY AND INFLUENCER OUTREACH (SOCIAL PR)

What is your process for identifying influencers within various social media channels?
How do you determine and define "influence?"
What is your outreach process for communicating with identified online influencers?
What tools and approaches do you use for Influencer Relationship Management? (Third-party, proprietary,etc.)
How have you integrated Influencer Outreach with traditional communications and/or marketing campaigns?
How do you approach seeding conversations within stakeholder groups?
What is your exit strategy with influencers once the initiative is completed?
How do you ensure authenticity and transparency when conducting outreach on behalf of a client?
Please provide a case study of an online community outreach project

CLIENT SERVICES & PROJECT MANAGEMENT

How is a typical client engagement with your firm structured?
How do you structure your account teams?
Please outline your internal communication structure. If your account staff is separate from your project management staff, please detail how these teams work together
If you are selected to provide social media services, who will be assigned to our business (please provide names, titles and short biographical notes)
What percentage of senior staff involvement is structured in to your projects? What role do they play?
How are your projects priced? Using an hourly rate? Blended agency rate? If the former, please provide a rate card
What change management practices does your agency employ?
What reports will be provided to the client in order to communicate project milestones and overall project health?
What is the frequency of these reports?
What is your process for gathering business requirements?

Writing a Request for Proposal (RFP) is a good first step when considering Online Marketing and Social Media work as it takes thoughtful planning to specify and construct an effective, integrated campaign. A well thought-out, quality RFP is essential to a successful endeavor because it helps you to focus on your goals and exactly how to achieve them.

Greg Kihlstrom is the Chief Creative Officer at Carousel30 Interactive in Washington DC, an award-winning digital agency offering online advertising and marketing services as well as interactive design and development for social media, websites and mobile applications.

Web 2.0 Marketing Made Easy With These Top 10 Social Media Sites!

In the last article we discussed how web 2.0 marketing can be a valuable asset for your business. We talked about web 2.0 marketing, social media services and marketing by social media, how it is the new phenomena of the decade and how you can use it to spread knowledge, gain trust, build relationship and gain more new clients.

Today we're going to talk about the top 10 social media sites, how they play a role in web 2.0 marketing, and how you can easily build accounts with each of them, along with our personal ranking chart and how marketing by social media to these top 10 sites can help you begin expanding your business.

1. Digg.com - After in depth analysis, we decided Digg, in terms of article marketing, social media marketing, and expanding your presence on the internet, to be ranked higher than both Facebook and Twitter. Here's why; Digg is a social bookmarking site that let's you easily setup an account, connect it directly to both your Twitter and Facebook accounts, and bookmark links with embeded urls that direct back to web pages, articles, social sites, videos and blogs. Digg has been around since 1998, and has a page rank of 8. Digg receives millions of visitors every single month. When you are marketing by social media, using Digg as a social media site is crucial to your success.

General posting capabilities - 10

Account setup - 10

Google pagerank - 8

Activity - 9

Spam Friendly - 9

Overall User rating - 9.2

2. Facebook.com - Facebook by far has been the fastest growing full capacity social media site thus far. Currently they have over 400 millions users worldwide with over 50% of them active on a daily basis. Facebook has a fully capable user interface with applications, blogs, comment posting, friend adding, video uploading and more. Adding friends on Facebook is easy. Building lasting relationships is a bit more challenging, but critical. Adding comments each day to your own page can be seen by your friends, which virally transcends out into the community and can eventually be seen by thousands and thousands of potentially interested prospects. But be careful, once you get up towards 5,000 friends, Facebook will prevent you from gaiNing any more friends, and at that point you will need to create a fan page where you can post from and invite friends to give you positive feedback.

General posting capabilities - 10

Account setup - 8

Google pagerank - 10

Activity - 10

Spam Friendly - 7

Overall User rating - 9

3. Twitter.com - Twitter is the newest and fastest growing web 2.0 marketing platform known to date. Twitter doesn't have the expansive user interface and full personal networking platform that Facebook does, but it's simplicity and fast posting capabilities make it a site to be reckoned with. Twitter was developed with a simple idea that asks, "what are you doing?" This idea turned out to be such a gold mine, that now social networks left and right are adding the "what are you doing" feature to their interface. This feature allows you to inform people about what kinds of recipes you offer, products you've tried, websites you read or promote, and so on and so forth. With the url shorteNing services like biturl, you can turn your long website addresses into short links allowing more room to pass along your message to your followers.

General posting capabilities - 10

Account setup - 8

Google pagerank - 9

Activity - 10

Spam Friendly - 6

Overall User rating - 8.6

4. Ning.com - A lot of people don't know about Ning sites, yet even more are learNing about them everyday. If you don't know, Ning is a simplified social network platform that allows you to open your own social network based on any topic of your choice, and build a community of members within the site. Ning allows you to fully customize your user interface and member's pages, connect with Twitter and Facebook, upload blogs, photos, pictures, and add applications to make the network more interactive for your members. For web 2.0 marketing, sigNing up with a Ning site is easy, fast and free. Currently to open your own social network is free, but we believe that by July of 2010 they are planNing to convert all sites into paying sites for the moderators, with plans less than $5 per month and up to $50 per month, still allowing members who sign up to join for free. These Ning sites are customized to your specific target market place, just be careful that you follow all of the moderators rules for that site, because they will ban you at the click of a button if you're off beat, and it's not easy to persuade them to let you back in.

General posting capabilities - 9

Account setup - 8

Google pagerank - 8

Activity - 9

Spam Friendly - 7

Overall User rating - 8.2

5. Delicious.com - Delicious is a social bookmarking site that is excellent for web 2.0 marketing and marketing by social media. Its user interface is simple, easy and elegant. You can insert keywords and descriptions to your liking. Their social media services allow you to bookmark and embed links into keyword phrases which link back to your website helping your organic search ranking in search engines. Delicious is a must-use social media site when marketing by social media.

General posting capabilities - 9

Account setup - 7

Google pagerank - 8

Activity - 8

Spam Friendly - 9

Overall User rating - 8.2

6. Current.com - Current is a wonderful social media platform, capable of helping your website to attract more new visitors through both bookmarking capabilities and article marketing capabilities. When marketing by social media, Current brought some of our articles to the first page of Google within only days after uploading them. Current is great for implementing article marketing into your organic SEO process and web 2.0 process.

General posting capabilities - 9

Account setup - 7

Google pagerank - 7

Activity - 9

Spam Friendly - 8

Overall User rating - 8

7. Propeller.com - Propeller is a full service bookmarking social media site, allowing you to generate backlinks by inserting keyword phrases into your posted urls. Propeller is easy to setup, expansive and extremely active. It is one of the top growing and page rank social media sites out there and definitely falls right into place as one of the top 10 social media sites for marketing by social media and web 2.0 marketing.

General posting capabilities - 9

Account setup - 7

Google pagerank - 8

Activity - 8

Spam Friendly - 8

Overall User rating - 8

8. Ezinearticles.com - Ezinearticles is strictly for article marketing, but it is vitally crucial and powerful for implementing successful web 2.0 marketing tactics. When marketing by social media, and article marketing, ezine articles is a phenomenal website. With many years of experience and a strict posting guideline, they limit their publishers to informative and helpful content only. This allows their site to stand out and attract more interested readers compared to many other article marketing sites. The social media services they offer are free, and with only a few good articles you can have dozens or even hundreds of new visitors within days or weeks reading your articles and visiting your website.

General posting capabilities - 8

Account setup - 7

Google pagerank - 6

Activity - 8

Spam Friendly - 8

Overall User rating - 7.4

9. Stumbleupon.com - Coming in at number nine on our top 10 list is an innovative social media sharing site that allows you to submit favorite pages, articles, videos and so forth into the members area, and when others submit, or "like" the same page, the number of "likers" or "submitters" goes up, which of course that page then gets more exposure. The innovation comes by their downloadable tool bar allowing you to seamlessly browse across the internet and when you see a page you like, you simply click the little Stumbleupon icon and the site then gets added to your favorites.

General posting capabilities - 8

Account setup - 7

Google pagerank - 7

Activity - 7

Spam Friendly - 8

Overall User rating - 7.4

10. Diigo.com - And last but not least, we have Diigo, a social bookmarking site with expansive capacities and an ever growing member base. The user interface is simple and easy to manage. There is a wide range of social media services and capabilities, and though the site is still in beta mode and started in 2005, it seems promising.

General posting capabilities - 8

Account setup - 7

Google pagerank - 6

Activity - 6

Spam Friendly - 8

Overall User rating - 7

With this list of top 10 social media sites, web 2.0 marketing and marketing by social media will be easier and more productive for you. Maintaining your social media sites, and adding fresh new relative content on a continuous basis is the key to successful social media marketing. Good luck!

Sincerely;
Nate Crane
Part of The SaW Team - Saw is a firm that offers advertising and marketing tools, education, vehicle graphics, banner printing, web design and signage for small, medium, and large businesses.
For other articles and resources see:
Vehicle Graphics San Diego, Banner Printing San Diego

How Does Social Media Aggregation Change Your Marketing Game?

When I present to an audience interested in using Social Media as part of their marketing strategy I see realisation dawn on their faces about half way through the presentation. That's at the part where I talk about the variety of strategies that can be adopted by businesses that don't include Facebook!

People have definite opinions about social media marketing and about the tools used to execute a social media strategy. I started writing some of them down so that I could, as now, address them in an article to debunk some of the myths or preconceived ideas about social media as a whole. Enjoy!

To succeed you have to be on the four main applications

This generally means Twitter, YouTube, Facebook and a blog. The tools you use to engage your audience vary greatly according to what business you are involved in. There are times when I'd recommend a client to make more use of Foursquare and article distribution on Wiki than Facebook. What I would say, in every case, is that social media application begins with a blog. All other tools used depend on that hub and ideally, none of them stand alone. As in traditional marketing, social media tools need support, even Twitter!

Social Media costs nothing

All media activity costs. Whether it's in terms of time, resource, people or actual media costs there is an investment made by the user. Yes, a lot of the applications can be accessed for free i.e. costing only your time, however if you don't know how to use them properly they will cost you more than time in the end. I advise clients with small budgets to learn how to use each application (which can be done in hours) but it is very difficult for anyone with little or no marketing experience to understand each application in the overall marketing picture and that's when mistakes are made.

You wouldn't try to develop your own traditional media campaign would you? You'd generally employ are marketing consultant or an advertising agency to ensure that you get the most 'bang' for your 'buck'. Whilst few people can claim to be social media experts there is a definite advantage to using a social media consultant with good writing skills and a history in advertising and marketing.

If you really want to utilise the tools of social media yourself then you need to be trained to get the most out of them on a daily basis, to see the bigger picture and you need to ensure that you have the time to use them.

Writing Articles is easy

I always giggle when I hear a client say they'll write their own articles for online distribution. Not because I doubt their writing ability but because online writing differs from the usual hard copy writing. There's a different tone used and the layout has to be just so. Keyword density comes into it as do parent headers and sub headers. The angle taken to promote a business because you can't blatantly promote yourself if you want publishers to use your article, what degree to niche your topic, embedding links and resources - it's becoming rather technical.

Then there's how to use your article online. It won't work if it's not distributed for online use by online publishers!

Setting objectives for your Social Media Campaign

It's not just about registering with all the social media tools and waiting for your sales to soar. Social Media tools are used as part of a marketing campaign whether it's on or offline and objectives to measure it by are important. Each business has their own objectives but sometimes it's difficult to apply those objectives to social media activity as the tools are not always measurable. A good social media consultant will help you set realistic goals and attain them.

All campaigns begin with Facebook

Not at all! Facebook is a great social networking tool and does allow you to have a business page too but it's not the mainstay of a social media campaign, a blog is. If you are going to use Facebook as a marketing tool and start a business/fan page you need to have a reason for doing so. Like all s.m. tools it's no good starting on Facebook if you're going to abandon it after a few weeks.

If however, you have a need to develop a community in the consumer market, then Facebook would be one of the tools I'd recommend.

It doesn't work for business to business organisations

I hear this one a lot as everyone thinks in terms of consumerism and Facebook. Social Media marketing works just as well for B2B as it does for B2C. You just need to use the right tools. LinkedIn offers many variations between contacts and allows you to leverage contacts through your own community.

YouTube is great for B2B in terms of offering 'how to' videos, visual product trials and endorsements. There are many ways each tool can be adapted to suit the business need just as in traditional media marketing.

You have to have a gimmick

Yes, a 'wave' works wonders but isn't necessary. There are ways to attract attention with the tools offered without having to be the coolest business on the block. You just need to think outside the box.

It's all automated so why do I need a content manager?

Whilst some of the tools can be linked for ease of use you can't automate your whole campaign. The whole point is to engage with your own community, one you built (by you I mean your business/brand/product etc) and for that to work successfully your community or audience needs to believe you are the person/business that they are talking to. Sure, we all need to save time but people respond best to personal communication. They want to be thought of as that number one client.

Commissioning posts and articles is fine but for goodness sake make sure it's relevant content and well written. Google is penalising bad content now and that won't help your marketing efforts. Besides reading a badly written article or post that barely makes sense because the author doesn't speak your language properly or is briefed to gain a certain keyword density, will only serve to put people off you.

Content managers listen, engage and advise constantly on how you can best use social media to enhance your marketing efforts.

Why use traditional advertising if I'm using Social Media?

Yes, there is increasing resistance to traditional forms of advertising and sales eg: telesales and billboards, however in most instances social media work best when supported by traditional advertising techniques like radio or print advertising. It all depends on what you are trying to achieve and who your audience is. Mixing the two often increases results.

You can't measure ROI

Of course you can, but first you must outline your objectives to measure the activity and spend against. Yardsticks for measurement will be more about the number of people/businesses you have reached and how many of them you are engaging with rather than hard sales figures but they are measurable objectives. Even articles can be tracked and content and response analysed. Google analytics can be successfully applied to your blog and PPC adverts. Increase in sales can be measured against performance without using social media tools. Just be more inventive!

A powerful tool for today's businesses

In short, social media offers all businesses a powerful tool for use in today's harsh climate but to use it correctly you need to learn more about it and adapt it to achieve your objectives successfully.

Jane van Velsen - The Right Writer offers clients a full social media marketing service including researching, writing, distributing articles and posts, conversion into press releases for online distribution and to hard copy publishers, creating databases for social media use, creating website site maps, content and overseeing set up, business blogs from inception, design and content to monetising, 3rd party advertising and guest authors, sourcing articles, and linking to social media for maximum visibility online, client service between client and other service providers such as web designers and SEO experts, Pay per click advertising, Facebook advertising campaigns, review of analytics, strategic input.
http://www.therightwriter.co.uk
http://therightwriterblog.co.uk

Anti-Social Media Marketing

Marketing professionals are feverishly obsessed with "social media marketing." Social media includes websites where huge numbers of users provide their own content and create connections and relationships by sharing information and following each other's updates. There are dozens, and perhaps hundreds of these sites like Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter, MySpace, Spoke, ecademy, Classmates.com, Friendster and Flickr, where people exchange business and personal information, status updates, photographs, videos, news articles, political views, resumes, sexual interests, sports opinions, recipes, health facts and endless amounts of other data.

It doesn't end there. Social media marketing also includes the use of blogs, online videos, discussion forums and creating ways to allow customers to provide feedback and ratings on the pages of your websites. And a lot more. It's tremendously valuable and some organizations have done a great job getting real value out of their social media marketing efforts.

Without a doubt, there are massive marketing benefits available to marketers who can figure out how to harness the attention and preferences of audiences using social media tools. Everywhere you turn in the marketing world, people are promoting the value of engaging social media for businesses purposes. I quickly went through a week's worth of emails to find invitations to attend or view whitepapers, webinars and conferences. Here is a sampling of what I've received over the last seven days:

How to Develop a Social Media Strategy That Works For Your Brand
Connecting Constant Contact and Social Media for Internet Marketing Success
Free webinar - Webcasting + Social Media Increase Attendance: An UNLEASH09 Case Study
The Best of Both Worlds: How to Effectively Leverage Social Media Relationships with Real-Time Collaboration Tools
Email Gone Viral: How To Extend Email Reach Through Social Sharing
2009 B2B Social Media Benchmarketing Study
Service in the Time of the Social Customer
Understanding Your Online Reach
Generate a Buzz for Your Business Through Social Media Marketing. Convert that Buzz into Revenue.
5 Killer Ways to Promote Your Facebook Fan Page
Now, I subscribe to several marketing newsletters, but there are hundreds of others and this list represents just a week of emails -- and I probably missed some. Marketing via social media is white hot -- the level of excitement is off the charts.

Social media, however, cannot yet substitute entirely for other, more traditional forms of marketing. Recently, I was on an "expert panel " at a marketing event and the audience was breathlessly excited about social media. At one point, all of us panelists were asked to comment on the value of this new channel and when it was my turn, I stated that while I thought social media would someday provide enormous marketing value, I was concerned that people were focusing too much effort and attention on it. I said that, in my view, there was probably no huge "first mover advantage" in figuring out how to market successfully via social media and that it was important to continue to utilize email, direct mail, direct sales, telesales, advertising and other channels for now. I said that people should make sure they stayed current with what was happening in social media and they should be constantly experimenting, but, since no one has yet cracked the code on measuring the results of these new opportunities, it was important not to get distracted from demand generation methods we currently use that we know are effective.

These statements won me a large number dirty looks and I felt like I'd just announced that I was predicting a major comeback in Yellow Pages advertising. Several people in the audience probably dismissed any notion of hiring my company to do marketing consulting for them and I think there may have been murmurs of organizing a lynch mob.

The odd thing is that I actually am very excited about the potential of social media marketing and we use it in my company everyday. I just think that its value as a form of demand generation isn't clearly understood yet and, since it's not very measurable, it flies in the face of responsible marketing for most companies to devote inordinate amounts of resources to it.

We have a tendency in marketing to assume that new channels make old ones obsolete. For example, when email began to gain in popularity and effectiveness, many marketers concluded that direct mail was on its way out. Oddly enough, email marketing, to some extent, became a victim of its own success. Spam grew at a faster rate than quality email, and soon customers' in-boxes were loaded with so much garbage that system administrators all over the country became more aggressive at filtering out unwanted email. Unfortunately, a lot of good quality email, much of which customers had subscribed to, got caught in spam filters. Deliverability rates of email marketing campaigns dropped precipitously and the whole medium has lost some of its effectiveness. The net result is that direct mail, good old fashioned printed offers sent through the USPS, has made somewhat of a comeback. The death of direct mail was highly exaggerated.

Something similar is likely to happen to social media marketing and I think it's already started. For example, I get many emails telling me that people have started to follow me on Twitter. These emails contain no information about my new fans, just a cryptic user name, which I can click on if I want to see who it is. What I have discovered is that a growing number of these "followers" are providers of porn and are probably signing up to follow tens of thousands of unsuspecting Twitter users like me. If this continues unchecked, I will not be a Twitter user for long because, as it turns out, I am not actively seeking more junk mail in my in box. I suspect you are not, either.

My own company has yet to generate any business from our social media efforts. "Old" methods like telephone calls, emails, speaking at conferences and networking still drive most of our business. When I started Real Results Marketing five and a half years ago, I resolved to go through my contacts and either email or telephone people in my network every month. To this day, most of the business opportunities we uncover happen through this type of work and former colleagues are still the richest source of consulting deals. It's a real struggle sometimes to make myself take time out of a busy day to make those calls or send those emails, but they've proven so vitally important to our revenue stream that I don't dare let up on these efforts.

I realize that most businesses can't rely on the founder's professional network as a primary form of demand generation. Bigger companies have their own tried-and-true methods for driving growth. Your company may utilize a sales force, telesales personnel, advertising campaigns, sophisticated database marketing initiatives and other tools for creating sales opportunities and I'd argue that the importance of those approaches hasn't diminished one bit in the face of social media growth.

Whatever has worked for you historically should still be the primary focus of your sales and marketing. You certainly want to stay plugged in to social media and, by all means, attend workshops, conferences and seminars on the subject. It might even be a smart investment to devote a headcount or two to doing nothing but experimenting with these exciting new marketing tools; here's a brief but highly compelling article on how Citrix, which makes desktop and server utilization products, uses social media marketing.

Someday, someone will master how to market effectively and measurably via social media. Once that happens, all of us in marketing will need to learn how to adapt those discoveries to our businesses and use them to drive sales and profits. Until that time, however, marketers should focus most of their resources on the tools they understand so they can live up to their primary responsibility of driving profitable, long term growth for their employers.

I have joked that I have become the leading advocate for "antisocial media marketing." I'm actually a big supporter of these exciting new channels -- just not at the expense of marketing techniques that have been proven to work. Nonetheless, my less extreme position on the subject probably means I won't be voted the most popular speaker at marketing conferences in the future. I'll just to have to be sure I stay one step ahead of the lynch mob and keep making my networking calls month after month.

I hope your business is thriving. You may be hearing from me soon.

Ian G. Heller is the founder and senior partner at Real Results Marketing, Inc. With senior executive experience at companies like GE Capital and Grainger, CEO experience at a private-equity owned firm and countless consulting engagements, Ian brings a realistic and bottom-line focus to marketing and strategic planning. Please visit http://www.RealResultsMarketing.com for engaging videos and articles on marketing, strategic planning, leadership and more.

10 Social Media Marketing Tips to Help You Avoid Social Media Failure!

Used correctly social media marketing can give you a platform for brand awareness, exposure, networking, and a huge boost in traffic & sales. The problem is, most people don't know how to use the social media properties correctly...

Social media marketing gives you an edge over larger competitors. Studies show that most companies are not yet adopting social media, leaving a sweet gap for the "little guy" to do big business in that space.

Follow these 10 simple tips to create your own strategy for Social Media Marketing success:

1. Map Out Your Social Media Strategy

What is it you most hope to accomplish with your social media marketing plan? What response do you expect from your target market? Ideas to consider in your overall objective might include:

-Branding

-Networking

-Exposure

-Inbound Links/SEO

-Relationship/Trust Building

-Customer Relations (think @comcastcares on Twitter)

2. Connect With Your Target Market

Get an image of your ideal customer or website visitor clearly in your mind. Who are they? What are they searching for? What do they want and need the most? What do you feel they expect from you through social media communications?

Consider what they experience on their end in everything you do. They are the person that you want to attract into your funnel, so you want to make a great impression - and also include a strong, specific call-to-action.

3. Offer Consistent, Quality Content

The content that you post to social media properties should be both consistent as in regular updates, and also consistent with your overall message or objective.

If you are an MLM recruiter for example, provide quality resources for recruits. If you own an ecommerce gardening site, offer gardening tips. Whatever your message, you want to make it consistent across the web.

This helps you achieve your branding objectives, and allows you to create the perception that you want people to have of you or your company. Anyone who follows you online should easily be able to fill in the blank: (You/Your Company) is known for ___ .

Being consistent with your message and your branding also lends toward your goal of relevance and theming when it comes to SEO, or Search Engine Optimization.

4. Focus on Content, Not Marketing

Most people get this backwards. If you focus on valuable, high-quality content then that content will do the marketing for you.

You shouldn't have to digg or bookmark your own content, but rather focus on writing such great content that your readers give it an unsolicited digg or stumble for you.

Your job is to write, and provide easy access to social media services where your readers can share your content with their friends & groups.

When people like what you have to say, they will share it - period. And when they share it, the search engines will take notice. Write top quality content & updates, and let the rest happen naturally.

5. Caution! Do Not Over-Optimize

Social Media Marketing can help you achieve top search engine rankings for specific keyword phrases. But be careful... because there is such a thing as over-optimization.

Using the same anchor text everywhere that you link to (or request a link to) your site leaves a 'digital footprint', throwing up a red flag that you may be trying to manipulate the search results (or PageRank).

Avoid this by using natural variations in anchor text for the links that point back to your primary website. You need a certain number of "click here" or similar links to give balance to your optimization strategy.

6. Stop Linking To Your Home Page!

Social media is about micro-topical conversations, so consider how you can introduce internal offers or pages of your website into these conversations.

This will keep your groups and followers engaged in the topic at hand, and provide higher value to your readers.

These deep links, or links pointing to internal pages on your site or blog, help it gain authority in the search engines as well. All other things being equal between two identical websites, the one with more deep links will outrank the other. This also gives you more exposure in the search engine results, since your internal pages will begin ranking for specific relevant keyword phrases.

Tip: Your home page may not be the best link to share on your Profile while networking on social sites. Consider linking to your "about me" page instead for a more personable introduction to you and your site.

7. Provide a Valuable Resource

There's a reason its called Social Media, and not Self-Promotional Media. Keep that in mind when you consider your social media marketing plan.

If all you post is self-promotional links and requests, you will eventually become a part of the "noise" and ultimately be filtered out by your target market. They may not unfollow or delete you, but they will begin to scan over your posts and tweets without even realizing it.

Avoid this by becoming a valuable resource in your niche. Share links to domains that you don't own. And I don't mean your own Squidoo pages or Facebook profiles - I mean domains you have ZERO association with. Provide value to your groups by sharing relevant links and resources.

You mean, you want me to *gasp* promote my competitors?! Yes - and become friends with them too. Interlinking and networking is powerful!

8. Social Networking

To truly achieve your social media marketing objectives, you need to do some social networking as well. Forget the word "competitor". Other publishers or webmasters in your niche will be your best friends in the social media landscape!

Locate every competitor on your level (or within reasonable range) and create an "inner circle" of friends or business peers. These are people you can interview or be interviewed by, exchange links with, joint venture with, etc. Stop looking at them as competition, and start looking at how you can leverage each others' position in the marketplace!

Tip: Don't ask for favors. And don't flaunt the favors you do. Simply follow, comment on, link to, or otherwise become "known" to select publishers in your niche. They will notice... and generally begin to reciprocate. Given a little time the relationship will form naturally and be incredibly beneficial on both sides.

9. Build Rapport

Get involved in discussions, reply to blog comments, ask for feedback (and then respond to it and act on it!). People want to know that you're a real person, and not just "a company" - or worse: a bot spitting out links and sucking in cash.

Don't be afraid to have an opinion or to express your thoughts on hot topics within your niche. Your unique voice in the market will attract your ideal visitors and customers.

Social media gives you an opportunity to be personable. An ecommerce site has its limits when it comes to establishing trust and building long-term customer relationships, so use social media as an opportunity to make a real connection with your target market.

10. Link Freely - And Don't Apologize For It!

This is somewhat of a combination of tips #3 and #7. One thing that really makes me cringe is the 2 words "shameless plug" - promise me you wont ever use that phrase!

The people that follow you, subscribe to your updates, or 'friend you' on social media sites... want to hear your latest news and tips. If they don't, they'll quickly unfollow you - which is fine. This is not a numbers game or a vanity contest - it is a means of syndicating and socializing in a professional yet personable way.

There is a right and a wrong way to link to resources and content on social media sites. The wrong way is to say "read my blog post" or "visit my website". The right way is to share a cool link (whether its yours, or something of interest to your readers from another website) and to open a discussion on that topic.

Have a clear objective, be a valuable resource, and use social media properties in the way they were intended to be used. Anything else will get you filtered out, unfollowed, banned or blacklisted... and ultimately be a complete waste of your time.

Done right, following these 10 simple tips, social media marketing can currently grow your online business faster than any other means.

Follow along on Twitter for more great social media marketing tips: @LynnTerry http://www.twitter.com/lynnterry. Next, see Twitter Marketing for a detailed strategy for successful tweeting.