Seeing the Future 5 Years Ago

As we move into 2012, it's interesting to look back in history at an event that was astonishing at the time and clearly prophetic.

The controversial event occurred on December 13, 2006 when Time magazine announced their annual choice for "Person of the Year."  Can you recall who it was? Most of you will not.

"You" were chosen in 2006, as Time magazine's Person of the Year. Time recognized the millions of people who contribute user-generated social media content to Wikipedia, YouTube, MySpace, Facebook, and the multitudes of other websites featuring user contribution. If "You" were chosen today we would have to consider the contributions to countless new social network sites including such as Twitter, LinkedIn and Google+.

Content Is The Key To Effective Blogs

Content Is The Key To Effective Blogs

If you are contemplating writing a blog for your business there is one factor that is paramount above all others. The content of your blog will determine how effective it is, ultimately, for your company. The blog you write about your company is going to become, at least to some extent, the company's face to your blog's audience. You need to grab the attention of readers and hold on to it. Relevant, compelling content, that is useful to the readers of the blog, will keep them coming back for more.

Your blog must be search engine friendly as well. The use of keywords is very important. If you present information that is relevant to your company's industry the keywords will be there. To make sure check https://adwords.google.com 

A Social Media Pep Talk for the Small Business Owner

Utilizing social media marketing is the way to go if you're a small business on a limited budget. There is no better way to reach thousands of amenable customers and prospects without spending a nickel on advertising.

Here are some quick pointers to get you in the game:

First and most important, there's no cost and very little time is required to get it up and running. Social media is a cost-effective business strategy that quickly outperforms any of the traditional forms of display advertising. The effort is well worth the results if you take the initiative.

Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn are the social media sites with the most traffic. To get the best results for your time, concentrate on these sites first. Your business will enjoy valuable exposure without overwhelming you. Implement all three at once or one at a time and monitor the results.

Converting Facebook Profile to Page

If you originally created a Facebook profile (personal) for your company instead of a Facebook Page, it's time to convert it. Facebook Profiles are meant for individuals, while Facebook Pages are designed for organizations, businesses, brands, and public figures. Pages offer robust features for businesses such as the ability to add additional applications to help communicate and engage with their audiences. Since Facebook Pages are public, anyone can find and 'like' your page, providing an easy way for potential customers to find you online.

Facebook allows you to convert a company Facebook Profile into a Facebook Page with relative ease. 

Hotel Technology Veteran to Lead Social Media Start-up

Hotel Technology Veteran Aaron Shepherd Leaves Pegasus Solutions to Lead Social Media start-up OnFast as CEO

OnFast announced today that Aaron Shepherd has left his prior post as Fellow at Pegasus Solutions, a global leaderin providing technology and services to hotels and traveldistributors, to join his latest start-up full time as their Chief Executive Officer. Mr. Shepherd was a founder at OnFast, but until recently had been splitting his time between Pegasus, OnFast, and other enterprise travel projects. With a renewed focus on the start-up, Shepherd will be concentrating his efforts on growing OnFast's enterprise customer base rapidly over the next few months.

"Over the course of my career I have been lucky to play a pivotal role during key technology shifts inthe hotel industry at several of my prior companies. Social media is here to stay and OnFast is uniquely positioned to help enterprises with brand standardization, social media monitoring, and analytics," said Aaron Shepherd, CEO of OnFast. "I'm very excited to devote my full time efforts to developing leading edge social media solutions on cloud-based platforms for the enterprise marketplace."

OnFast provides robust social network marketing & analytics solutions, designed to help businesses maximize the impact of social marketing channels. Through their cloud-based software as a service, OnFast offers customers the complete enterprise toolset needed to take full advantage of burgeoning social media networks.

Why Do You Want To Add Facebook Fans To Your Company's Facebook Page?

Facebook has risen from a college campus social network tool to the company boardroom in a relatively short time. Business enterprises of all sizes have enthusiastically embraced it.

The ability to share your updates on Facebook instantly in real time globally with your fans without busting the budget for email addresses is unprecedented. Who reads those emails anyway?

Here's how it works:

Let's assume you have a Facebook page and 100 people that have "liked" your page.


When you post a blog article link, short relevant note, or promotional offer to your business Facebook page it then appears instantly on the news feed of all 100 Facebook people who have liked your page. With little effort or cost, you have the power sitting at your desk to create 100 impressions in real time.

Social Media is Changing B2B Marketing Strategies

Building relationships is essential to B2B marketing, and social media is rapidly changing  the way businesses market and communicate with one another. Businesses can now build a network of industry contacts using social media websites like Twitter, Linkedin, Facebook and Myspace more cost effectively and efficiently.

Companies are now finding social media websites to be a wealth of knowledge. They can monitor the news in their industry, connect with customers and suppliers, and share research through blogs, forums and tweets. Businesses can now find new channels of distribution, collect data, post questions and  receive suggestions directly with the people who count the most in ways that are faster than ever before.