All About Hashtags

One thing is certain: the internet world is constantly changing. This is the challenge for those of us who make a living utilizing its power. But as we keep up with the latest trends, we can come across interesting ways to capitalize on the social media front.

One example of change on the web is Twitter. Seemingly, this social site came out of nowhere and jetted right to the top of the popularity list. There are all sorts of people on Twitter, tweeting about anything and everything that comes to their minds. While many Tweeters are there strictly for social purposes, there seems to be a strong emergence of business people treading their way through the Twitterdom.

Hashtags were created to create groupings within the site; an organizational tool of sorts. They are a popular way of getting focused attention to your Tweets. Additionally, you can search hashtags to find tweets that are relevant to research you may be conducting, or just relevant to what you want to know about. For instance, if one would like to find tweets relating to article marketing, you can perform a twitter search for all tweets specific to that by searching “#article marketing”.

If you look further into the use of hashtags, you will discover that they have somewhat of a limited fan base at the moment. While their was a surge in popularity for a time, as well as a usefulness, overuse by some has caused popularity to wane. During the 2007 San Diego wildfires, hashtag use was instrumental in alerting the public to current events. They also were used as a call to action on the part of emergency services. This shows just how useful hashtags can be.

When considering the use of hashtags in your Tweets, it may be worth the time to perform a bit of research to see if your particular keyword is already being used in a hashtag thread. As you use hashtags, the key is to use them sparingly and to use them when you really want something to be followed. By looking around a little bit on Twitter, it is easy to find users who hashtag just about every Tweet they type. Really, nobody wants to read “I had the most amazing #chocolate #milkshake from #Carl’s Jr. today!”
Remember, Twitter asks a simple question: “What are you doing?” Answer the question; use natural keywords, use hashtags sparingly when you really want to drive home a point or call attention to something. Some of the things that hashtags are good for are emergency situations or natural disasters, as proved in 2007. Hashtags can also be used when tweeting quotes from others. “Highly developed spirits often encounter resistance from mediocre minds.”~Albert Einstein #quote
Hashtags may have their place, but Twitter IS a social media site directed at fulfilling peoples’ curiosity about one another in the here and now. Part of using social media in your business is to gain visibility…and familiarity. Overuse of hashtags can make your posts seem aimed not at the individual, but at the inner workings of the site itself.

Don’t lose sight of the other benefits of social media marketing. Pairing high touch with high tech is the way to build an enormous following. Hashtags, used sparingly, can be a part of your Twitter life, but shouldn’t take over the personal touch.

Tracking Trends on Social Media Sites

Building a super successful ecommerce business really is something you can do from your Lazy Boy recliner! That doesn’t mean you should, of course, it just means that there are numerous tools in place to help you stay at the top of your game at all times. And at all times, the game is about keywords and relevance.

 

When running ad campaigns and attempting to drive more traffic to your site, keywords are of the utmost importance. Go too vague, and you loose consumers who are looking for something specific. Research is absolutely necessary before you begin any adword campaign, and also periodically throughout your marketing efforts. The following tools will help you gain valuable knowledge regarding keywords.

 

When searching the latest and greatest social media sites for buzz on keywords related to your business niche, it is important that you look at the words used in conjunction with your keywords, for oftentimes users are simply mentioning something and a particular keyword happens to be included. The goal is to find out if there is a buzz related to what you have to offer, and what that buzz is.

 

Lexicon is one tool that will help you get your hand on the pulse of the general public. This application is used with the popular social media site, Facebook. To utilize Lexicon on Facebook, you need to first have a Facebook account, for this application is used in conjunction with the site. Lexicon searches wall posts to obtain a general conversation held throughout the site; pretty fascinating, if you ask me.

 

Once logged on to Facebook, simply search “lexicon” (quotations not necessary) and the application will become available. You can use this application to search for specific keywords related to your business. For example, if you sell pizza, you will see that in December, relatively few people post about pizza. Perhaps this indicates that many are still recovering from their Thanksgiving day festivities. Try out Lexicon for your niche and see what sort of buzz you tune into.

 

And then there is Twitter, the new craze that has wings flapping and fingers strumming keyboards all across the globe. For searching Tweets, there is Twist. Twist was actually launched in 2008, but not everyone has caught on to the benefits of Twitter tools for business just yet. What Twist does is similar to Lexicon, but for the Twitter site only. Twist finds all mentions of your specified terms in messages and graphs them over time. Using Twist, you can even click on any specific term and go directly to recent Tweets for that phrase.

 

Using Twist, you can compare terms against one another. For instance, let’s take the pizza business again. Comparing pizza to burgers, you will find that pizza wins out every time as far as mentions go. From this data, you could draw the conclusion that the pizza business would fair better than a burger joint.

 

Now, you are most likely not selling pizza or burgers, I know; but examples are what they are. The main point of these applications is to help you see what the general public’s awareness is on any given topic. When your focus is to build your business, it is the voice of the general public that matters the most; and therefore utilizing social media sites and their tools will do the best job of telling you what you need to know.

Social Media Marketing – Social Media Marketing for Growth

Here’s what I see as the big dilemma of online business:  people don’t like to be sold.  This mindset held by millions of consumers worldwide produces highly fickle shoppers that will bounce from a website quickly if they feel the old “car salesman” push.

Where does that leave growing businesses when trying to get the word out about new products features and benefits?  Pay per click campaigns can quickly add up to large amounts of investment for customers who click on your page and then leave.  They also can sit idle because consumers who see those links on the search engine as advertisements will simply skip over them and move on to search results that show up organically. 

What does this one behavior tell you about online shoppers?  I think it says that consumers like recommendations from other consumers over sales pitches from the store that has exactly what they are looking for.  This behavior also accounts for the widespread popularity of Social Media and Social Media Marketing.  First let’s look at Social Media.

Typically, media refers to news and print.  In regards to marketing, using traditional media techniques, called industrial media”, can be so costly that a small business could never hope to invest in marketing of this kind.  Social Media is generated by users, not manufacturers.  Take YouTube for instance:  this highly popular site is filled to the brim with videos ranging from funny animals to business techniques.  What is special about YouTube is that the videos posted there are done so by users, not employees of the company. 

Social media can take many different forms.  These include weblogs or social blogs, podcasts, internet forums, pictures and video.  Just about everyone with a MySpace profile has favorite pictures and videos plastered through their site pages, as well as their favorite playlist.  What happens in Social Media is that users are now active participants in the whole online experience.

Now, how does this apply to your business?  Easy.  Keep in mind that people do business with people they know.  Up until now, it has been a bit of a difficult task to earn the trust of the average fickle pickle consumer.  But for the business owner who utilizes powerful Social Media Marketing techniques, business has never been better.  Becoming active on Social Media sites such as Twitter, YouTube or even Facebook and Myspace allows a company to reach out to the public in a way that is non-threatening. Startrankingnow is a good example to this.

Creating a blog is another way to interact with consumers.  Setting up and posting regularly about general issues relating to your business without pushing a product or service shows them that you are a good source of information, not a salesperson.  When first getting into the blogosphere, it is wise not to talk much about yourself.  Here’s another wise tip:  people don’t care how much you know until they know how much you care.  Show that you care about the thoughts and opinions of others when posting blogs and you will gain a reputation that will eventually lead to increased site traffic and sales. 

The Best Advertising is Press

A common concern amongst busy entrepreneurs is how to effectively market their business.  Let’s face it; if you’re not seen, you can’t make money.  Advertising can get expensive and there are no guarantees that any paid advertising will increase web traffic to your site anyway.  And yet most professionals overlook the power of a good press release!  This is understandable, as the preconceived notion may be that press releases come from news.  And if your company is not making news, then it doesn’t deserve press.

Not so.  When you have spent as much time as you have in finding a product or service to offer, priority must be given to marketing.  Since we live in a technologically advanced society, Social Media Marketing is where it’s at.  Advertising your business through press releases on the web through sites such as Google News can create a huge buzz that can lead you down the path of success.

An effective press release is good for building backlinks, credibility, and visibility in Google News for keywords.  Press releases also often receive good placement in search results for long tail keywords.  However, writing a press release yourself can be a daunting task that quickly begins to eat up the valuable time in your day.  Time is a CEOs most valuable asset, and should be spent wisely.  This is why outsourcing to a press release distribution service like Start Ranking Now is worth the small investment you would make.

For one, an effective press release can significantly improve your overall search engine rankings.  Key word being “effective”.   Every day, thousands of press releases are being distributed.  How to make sure yours is not overlooked amid the sea of news?  Know how to write!  If you don’t, that’s ok.  The professional team at Start Ranking Now know exactly what to do and how to do it.  Writing a press release is like breathing for these people!

The benefits of writing a press release are worth it.  The thing about this sort of advertising over others is that there is more credibility in it.  Press releases are give the perception of a third-party endorsement.  And since word of mouth marketing is the best way in increase web traffic to your site, a press release can act as the “mouth” that spreads the word!

No matter what the size of your budget, social media marketing is a tool that you can begin using today to grow your business. For a miniscule investment, you can have your very own press release, with added backlinks, distributed across the internet. Working with a professional team like Start Ranking Now eases your burden of trying to accomplish all the marketing yourself and leaves you with the time you need to effectively run your booming business.  There is so much to gain by taking advantage of a well written press release.  Credibility.  A reputation.  Visibility.  These things add up to an increase in web traffic, which equals more success for your site, which equals dreams coming true.

Hubpages Equal Success

In the lush forest that is ecommerce, internet marketing is like the roots of a tree.  Without nutrients (web traffic) flowing through the roots (internet marketing), the tree (your website) doesn’t grow.  You want your tree to grow.  Therefore, you need to make sure you nurture deep roots from the very onset of planting. Building an ecommerce site is an exhilarating experience full of adventure.  That’s the positive way of saying there are tons of changes to keep up with.  Technology constantly changes; and new ways of getting the word out about your business are emerging with each setting of the sun.  While there are benefits to these changes in internet marketing and social media marketing, there is one major drawback.  You have much more important things to do than follow emerging trends in marketing. You have a business to run. Taking on the task of learning SEO, writing articles to submit to online directories, writing scripts and producing videos is not necessarily the best thing you can spend your time doing.  Creating Hubpages and other social media marketing strategies is something many ecommerce business owners are choosing to hire a professional for.  Now that is the way to increase web traffic!

Hubpages are a marketing tool we hear much about.  These are like mini-sites that can be created on any topic of interest.  Hubpages, like everything else having to do with building a successful website, should be optimized and full of keywords.  They are similar to a Squidoo lens, except for a key point that Hubpages should not and cannot contain outright marketing for your own ecommerce site.  There is incessant gardening going on in these pages and too many links to your own site will get your growing tree pruned very quickly.  Tricky little bugs!

Because the name of the game with Hubpages is originality teamed up with length (the longer the better), stellar writing skills are involved.  Busy CEOs do not have the time to hone their writing chops while also preparing their sites shopping cart, communicating with vendors and dealing with employees.  This is enough to drive you mad before you take your first order! With all that there is to learn about Social Media Marketing and Hubpages, a business owners best bet is to get on board quickly by outsourcing the processing of these pages to a professional, like the team at Start Ranking Now.  Outsourcing not only saves you a great deal of time and frustration, but it also guarantees the success of the writing and submission process. Don’t fret.  Hubpages and Social Media Marketing work wonders to feed the growth of a website.  This internet marketing strategy is great for getting information out to prospective clients.  And with the proper content, you’ll be able to tell right away if you’re headed towards success because these pages are usually indexed by Google in a very short time. Get some help.  Get in the game.  Get your money tree to grow!