Practicing Safe Online Business Networking

With the rise of the biggest social network websites, it was only logical that businesses would take advantage of the benefits that these type of websites offer.

I don't believe that social networking offers small business the key for success, BUT it can definitely help to spread the word about your business online and encourage brand loyalty. 

A while back, Facebook came up with a new "profile" type, called Fan Page, for either public persons or businesses, that allows people to "like" or "follow" your Facebook page to be part of your network and be able to see your posts and comment them as well. The good thing about this is that is making a separation between "fans" and "friends" and the amount of information flow between the two accounts.

For example, if a Facebook user "likes" the "Glee" fan page, the fan can have access to the whole content of the Glee fan page and interact with comments and posts, but in the other hand, the fan page administrator can't access the profile of the fans for privacy reasons.

Now, this takes me to another business networking dilemma: Are your followers your friends? ...and the answer is...NO, you should always remember that your followers or fans are your current or prospect CLIENTS not your friends! 

And you need to keep that in mind  at all times and maintain a very professional image while administrating a social networking business account, because being in the public eye could go either way... very good or VERY BAD.

Administrating a business or celebrity social networking account is no joke. Some people think that creating a Facebook or Tweeter fan page is enough and people would come out of the way to like or follow the page and they will create their own content and interaction...and this could not be further from the truth. A fan page needs attention, ideally a professional person to handle it and demands time and effort.

A good advise would be to have the PR department or agency or at least a person with some public relations skills administrating all the business social networking accounts. 

As the administrator of the fan page, part of the job is to advertise the page to gather more fans or followers, update status to inform, entertain, create buzz about your products or services and engage interaction with the users.  

Your followers or fans are your commodity, as many as you have the better and the more connections you will create from them, for this reason the administrator needs to push this numbers constantly even with some targeted advertising such as the one that Facebook offers. 

Working on the Fan page, It is very important that the administrator maintains always a neutral and objective position, and tackle any criticism with professionalism and use that situation to learn about the products, services and clients. But always try to handle any uncomfortable situation as privately as you can.

A business networking account is free publicity for your company making it a great tool, but it could go either way.. it could be really good or really, reaaallly bad, so it is important that the administrator knows exactly how to handle the account because your Fan page offers your clients, fans or followers a platform to discuss about your company, products or services, making it an open door inside your business.

So here is my advise... if you do it...do it safely 

RESEARCH:


http://e-marketingforsensiblefolk.blogspot.com/2010/11/blog-post.html

http://www.foureyessquad.com/wordpress/wp-content/uploads/2010/03/online-social-networking-2.jpg

                                                                                                                                                                          

Neuromarketing is the beginning of a new science?

Neuromarketing is not a new science but it is a new trend in the  marketing world, and some say it is the future in marketing research ...but I believe the future is now.

In the past, marketers had to rely on their instincts to create effective marketing campaigns for the targeted markets and wait for the results, but now, Neuromarketing can change it all forever. 

Now, marketers can measure the physiological responses  of a person to different advertising elements, without even asking questions, using technology such as EEG and MRI to measure pupil dilatation, body temperature, respiration, heart rate, brain electric pulses and blood flow.  These tests take away a lot of the guessing  part of the marketer's research job description and offer unfiltered and real data right from the person's body and even measure emotions.

In my opinion, I believe that there is nothing wrong with using technology to measure effectiveness of a product or marketing campaign. A lot of these technologies were already available for a long time, but now some smart Marketing companies came up with a good name "Neuromarketing" and a good strategy to sell the same old marketing services but with the new added value of the technological support which is a great marketing idea!

Even though, Neuromarketing offers a great tool to research the target market's response about a new product, marketing campaign or other advertising element,  I think the best part of  Marketing is that is not a science and marketers should still rely on their instincts at the end of the day when analyzing the data.

RESEARCH:


http://e-marketingforsensiblefolk.blogspot.com/2010/11/theyre-inside-my-computer-now-they-want.html


http://www.fastcompany.com/1700207/campaign-ads-and-neuromarketing?partner=homepage_newsletter


http://www.mindovermedia.org/images/neuromarketing.jpg

Virtual Governing

I believe the internet offers amazing tools for government and citizens to stay now more connected than ever before. Being able to file for taxes online or attend to a city hall meeting from our computer desks.

I don't really see a negative effect of being able to process information instantaneously or being able to be places far away from our physical location.

I feel in the future government will keep using the internet to reach citizens and encourage them to be informed and participate. Also, the internet allows to simplify processes that used to take much longer and cost a lot of money making the internet a very effective tool to get feedback from political campaigns, etc.

I particularly like the Obama's Facebook page because keeps me informed of what's going on in the country and I feel closer to the government since I can also interact and post my comments.

I am happy that finally the government joined the XXI century and takes advantage of the tools that the internet offers to connect with the people.

E-commerce is still a business people!

Myth: The internet is a virtual magical land where all businesses are successful, money grows in urls and live happily ever after. Well, this couldn't be more wrong.
E-commerce business are no different than any other business off the internet. Just like a great idea still needs some planning to become reality, online business still needs to have a business model behind to offer structure and a clear map to achieve the ultimately goal which is always (at least in the business cyber world) MONEY.
Most people get confuse because, of course, internet businesses always offer a more flexible platform to build a business from zero with a comparable low initial investment than traditional business, but even though this is true, e-commerce businesses still need a business model or they can fail just like any other business.
There are millions of websites online that fail every single day because people just don't understand how to manage they online business, they believe all they have to do is buy a domain, set up an e-commerce system and sit down and wait for the money to pour out of the screen. These people just don't know how much money it will cost them to run their business and how much would be the estimated return or how to find costumers...and this is major mistake either online or offline.
So, before you decide to start your online business you must be committed to dedicate enough time to it and you must have a business plan, as well as a marketing strategy to reach potential customers and last but not least, know how to build value and create loyalty to bring customers back to your store again and again which could be the most critical and expensive part of your business.
First, to achieve these goals, you need to learn about your online environment (the always changing "world wide web") otherwise, you will be like a fish out of water and die trying. Also, you have to now who is your target market from the beginning in order to find those prospect clients and to use the specific techniques to draw them to your website and make sure you have an effective marketing plan,  because it's not about them finding you online or needing you, but quite the opposite..it's about YOU reaching them and keeping them as clients.