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A Kinder, Gentler Facebook Design

Saturday, February 6th, 2010

Yet another Facebook Makeover

What did Facebook Change?

So here’s the scoop – The top navigation has changed. One big change (some may say RADICAL!) is that Facebook’s search bar is on the left – “Oh no! Say it isn’t so! On every site I visit, the search is on the right, what will I do?!”, I can hear the cries already… Sometimes change is good.

Top Right Navigation

Now on the right you’ll see your “Home”, “Profile” and “Account” links:

The “Account” link opens a dropdown menu so you can easily navigate to all your account needs:

On first glance, I wasn’t really sure about any of the new features, but now I feel tht it does make it a little simpler to navigate and a bit more intuitive.

Top Left Navigation

Here’s the top left side of your new Facebook:

There’s that search bar hanging out on the left. Starting on the left, the Facebook logo still links to your home page. Next is the feature that I really like on this redesign: 3 icons for:

Friend Requests
Messages in your Inbox
Notifications

Remember on the “old” Facebook, your notifications were on the bottom right of the screen, your messages were up top on the left (close to where it is now) and friend requests were only found on your home page. I really like that these 3 are all together now. Anything that makes my time spent on Facebook more efficient!

See? Instant Notification Gratification!

Left Menu Bar

This is pretty similar to how it was but here is a list of features here:

Your News Feed, Messages and your Friends – are at the top, this way it’s easier to keep up with what’s new.
Applications you’ve bookmarked are now higher up the page for easier/quicker access.

Here’s the part I both like and dislike: The next feature, “Chat with Friends” and “Go Online”. Once you click “Go Online” you are connect to all your friends also online – this can be cool if you like to use the Facebook Chat Feature. Here’s my beef: Once you click “Go Online”, there is no link in the Left Bar to “Go Offline”! Instead, you have to navigate to the bottom right where the chat feature still lives and go to Options –> Go Offline. That’s kind of lame if you ask me.

And Finally

Not much really, except that the new layout increases the amount of clicks I need to take care of some simple tasks like logging out and accessing settings.

All in all, I like the changes – I am always helping my clients reduce the amount of time needed to maintain efficient and personal contact on Facebook (and other Social Media sites), so any good intuitive simplifying works for me.

Tags: Facebook, social media, social network, Social Networking, Web Design
Posted in Facebook | No Comments »

Riding the Google Wave

Thursday, October 8th, 2009

What is Google Wave?

Wave is an online tool for real-time communication and collaboration. A wave can be both a conversation and a document where people can discuss and work together using richly formatted text, photos, videos, maps, and more.

Google Wave is a real-time communication platform. It combines aspects of email, instant messaging, wikis, web chat, social networking, and project management to build one elegant, in-browser communication client. You can bring a group of friends or business partners together to discuss how your day has been or share files.

This from Mashable:

Google Wave has a lot of innovative features, but here are just a few:

- Real-time: In most instances, you can see what someone else is typing, character-by-character.

- Embeddability: Waves can be embedded on any blog or website.

- Applications and Extensions: Just like a Facebook (Facebook) application or an iGoogle gadget, developers can build their own apps within waves. They can be anything from bots to complex real-time games.

- Wiki functionality: Anything written within a Google Wave can be edited by anyone else, because all conversations within the platform are shared. Thus, you can correct information, append information, or add your own commentary within a developing conversation.

- Open source: The Google Wave code will be open source, to foster innovation and adoption amongst developers.

- Playback: You can playback any part of the wave to see what was said.

- Natural language: Google Wave can autocorrect your spelling, even going as far as knowing the difference between similar words, like “been” and “bean.” It can also auto-translate on-the-fly.

- Drag-and-drop file sharing: No attachments; just drag your file and drop it inside Google Wave and everyone will have access.

All of this sounds quite amazing – we’ll have to see if it lives up to the promises. As of now only a relative handful of people have been invited to take part in initial Wave testing, but I hear you can buy an invite on Ebay:

With Google releasing 100,000 invites to test the beta version of the much-hyped Wave, one enterprising blogger decided to capitalize on all the buzz surrounding the new messaging and collaboration tool by selling his invite on eBay.

Hagan Blount, a 30-year-old food blogger based in Baltimore, had been listening to the chatter about Wave and hatched the idea to auction his invite on eBay. “I figured there’s a whole lot of buzz. I wonder how many hits this would get?” he said.

Of course, Mr. Blount hadn’t yet received his invite, but he said that a software developer friend of his who did not wish to be identified had promised to procure one for him. Mr. Blount commenced the auction on Tuesday night, and by the time he had woken up at 6 a.m. Wednesday, the day that Google would be releasing Wave invites, his auction had already received 12,000 hits.

If you want to learn more about Google Wave, check out the official Google Wave Page and Mashable.com.

Tags: Google, google wave, instant messaging, mail, maps, Mashable, photos, richly formatted text, Social Networking, videos, web chat, wikis
Posted in Google | 1 Comment »

Marketing like a Rock Star – Take 3

Tuesday, October 6th, 2009

This, I guess is a part 3 of the Rockstar marketing series…

The 1st 2 posts dealt primarily with how Rock Stars enroll their audience, building and solidifying relationships, before “closing” the sale.

In this installment of “Marketing Like A Rock Star”, I am going to take a different approach – talking about a Rock Star building her social capital and using an ethical bribe to increase her Twitter following!

The “who” in this story is Tina Sugandh, the “Tabla Girl”. Tina and I have been friends (in the social networking sense) for years going back to MySpace.

Tina has an amazing story. She has been performing with her family since she was 5 years old – this is from her website bio:

Growing up in New Jersey (her parents moved from Bombay when she was five months old), Tina Sugandh was immersed in music. Naturally gifted with an enchanting voice, Geeta, the matriarch of her close-knit family sang on the radio and at various functions (when she wasn’t carrying out her responsibilities as a marketing professional); while the patriarch, Kanaiya, was a charismatic and charming master of ceremony, singer, and comedian (when he wasn’t teaching at his University). Together, they were an enthralling couple, entertaining friends at gatherings and parties.

Tina and her sister, Seema, traveled with their parents to all of their performances. It was at the age of five that Tina had found her calling. “The first time my parents allowed me to sing on stage was at a fair,” she recalls. “I was five and I sang a ghazal, which is a type of song you can sing only if you have a trained voice. As soon as I got up there, I tried to take over. My parents were surprised when they realized I was trying to steal the spotlight! They recognized that I loved performing and wanted to be a part of the show. They encouraged me and supported my love of music and performing. They also kept me focused and gave me a strong work ethic by insisting that I could continue performing as long as my grades at school remained high.” That started “The Sugandh Family” music legacy.

Like in every great story, sometimes there is tragedy. On December 3rd of 2009, Tina’s “Ma” Geeta lost her battle with breast Cancer.

This, however, is where this take on Rockstar Marketing takes a turn – by using the following techniques Tina accomplishes 3 (three) different marketing goals:

She gets people to visit her site
Has visitors take action using an ethical bribe, and
Raises awareness of a good cause!

Let’s break these down for you so you, too, can use them in your own business.

1. Getting people to visit tinasugandh.com

Tina uses the “giveaway” (I like to call it the “ethical bribe”) method. Visit the website and I will give you a free download of my new song. Using email and social media sites, Tina made the offer of the free download…

Once you get to the site, here’s what you see:

In honor of Breast Cancer Awareness month, get a FREE DOWNLOAD of the what Tina calls the most important song…

Notice how #3 starts right at the beginning. We click the link and we are instructed how, exactly to claim our free download.

2. Getting Visitors to take action with the ethical bribe

This is so great! Here Tina reinforces her calling attention to a good cause and gives instructions on the action the visitor must take in order to receive their free music download.. This from her site:

October is Breast Cancer Awareness month! In honor of those whose lives have been affected by cancer, Tina has written and recorded what she calls the most heartfelt song of her career, entitled “Snake Charmer”, and would love to share it with you all. To receive your free download link, join Twitter and follow these easy instructions:

No I’m not going to post the instructions – you’ll have to visit her site: Tabla Girl’s Free Download – to do that.

So, in order to receive the free download, you first must follow Tina on Twitter – Great way to build your follower list on Twitter, don’t you think?!

3. Raising Awareness of a good cause

Now how about using your platform, in addition to giving your clients/customers/fans/followers something of value for free, but also taking the time and using thee opportunity to introduce them to something that is meaningful to you. Just as Breast Cancer Awareness means a lot to Tina.

Do you think you can apply these 3 steps to a promotion in your business?

If you have found this post helpfful or insightful – please leave a comment or Tweet it using the button above.

Thanks,

Lennie

Tags: breast cancer awareness, ethical bribe, giveaway, good cause, marketing, MySpace, Rock star, Rockstar, Social Networking, Tabla Girl, Tina Sugandh, Twitter, Twitter following
Posted in Rock Star Marketing | No Comments »

Social Media Revolution – Fact or Fad?

Thursday, August 20th, 2009

Does Social Media represent a total shift in the way we communicate?

Does Social Media fundamentally change the way we do business?

Is Social Media the Biggest shift since the Industrial Revolution?

Personally, I think YES. If Starbucks can get almost 600,000 people to register for their Free Pastry Tuesday “Event” on Facebook and account for 1% of all Twitter traffic on the morning of the giveaway – don’t you think that fundamentally changes the playing field?

Consider these facts:

By 2010 Gen Y will outnumber the Baby Boomers – and 96% of Gen Y has joined a social network.
More people use the Web for Social Media than for Porn (The traditional #1).
With it’s 250+ Million users, if Facebook were a country, it would be the 4th largest.
More than 120 million users log on to Facebook at least once each day
80% of companies are using LinkedIn as their primary hiring tool.
There are 200 Million blogs – 54% of Bloggers post content or Tweet daily!
25% of search results for the 20 largest brands are links to user generated content.
80% of Twitter usage is on mobile devices.

We have come full circle. Baby Boomers grew up with the notion of a “corner store” – they knew and/ or were friends with the Grocer, the folks at the hardware store, etc. Then came the big cold media conglomerate era – who sold to us and talked at us.

Now we are experiencing the personal touch again – businesses listen to us and invite us to experience what they have to offer. They respond to complaints since those complaints often become trending topics on Twitter. They even avert PR disaster by preempting backlash by getting their apologies and fixed broadcast on social media before the critics can.

Social Media has allowed Small Business owners to play on a more leveled playing field – they we have never had as much reach as they we do now.

With this opportunity – how are you using it?
How would you like to use it?
What are some things you don’t understand about social media?
What is your favorite Social Media site and why?

I would love to hear your answers to that question in the comments below.

After you do that – take a look at this very cool movie about the Social Media Revolution by Author Erik Qualman – All about the Social Media Revolution.

Tags: blog, Blogger, Facebook, Industrial Revolution, LinkedIn, selling, Small Business, social media, Social Media Revolution, social network, Social Networking, Starbucks, tweet, Twitter
Posted in Social Media Revolution | 9 Comments »

The Power of Twitter Introductions

Saturday, February 28th, 2009

Funny thing happened on my way to filming a Twitter Introduction…

Yesterday morning, I uploaded a Twitter Introduction Video to YouTube. I had seen a few others and thought that the notion of a Twitter Introduction video would be great. Twitter is such an amazing platform. Not only can I really connect with people and follow what they are doing, I can also share my activities with others. It’s very cool. I even got an invitation to have a beer from Internet Marketing Guru Matt Bacak (@mattbacak).

So back to the Twitter Introduction Video. It is a great way to be a little more than 75 pixel square image on your Twitter page. It allows you to be a real flesh and blood human. After all, if we are going to establish relationships online with social media, what better way than a video.

The process is really simple. You can capture video from your webcam on your computer, or video camera. I used a Panasonic DVX-100 – imported it into iMovie – no editing and uploaded it onto YouTube.

Once it was uploaded, I made sure to direct message all new followers with a thank you and link to my YouTube page.

That’s easy. What I also did was a little SEO on my Youtube page (including inserting my links to my Twitter page and blogs right in the description), did a little bookmarking, then uploaded it to other video sites.

Now if you search Google for “Twitter Introductions” you see these results:

Click above picture to enlarge.

What you see at #4 is a double video listing with thumbnails (two of them) and the only ones on the page. Do you think people will click that link more often as a result of the picture? I think the answer is yes. Now if you look above the two thumbnails, you’ll see a link to Mixx. Yep, that’s also me. That’s three links in the top four slots.

All this in under thirty-six hours!

So here’s the intro video:

Some YouTube tips:

Always add links with the full URL in your YouTube description. (http://www.yoursite.com). I added a link to my Twitter and my two sites.
Add a good description – with some good keywords.
Add a creative title – I titled mine, “The Truth about Twitter Introductions”.
Add good tags – If you add tags with two or more words, use quotes around them or YouTube will separate the words, e.g.. “Social Networking”.

Some Twitter tips:

Be real.
Post good links, not just links to your site… boring and selfish.
Show interest in others – after all, this is social networking…
Did I mention, be real?

If we are not yet following each other on Twitter, please use the Twitter link to my profile and follow me. I will follow you back.

http://www.twitter.com/lenapple

If you want to check out the Google results, click here…

Tags: Google, Google search results, Matt Bacak, Mixx, Panasonic DVX-100, SEO, social media, Social Networking, Twitter, Twitter Introduction Video, Twitter Introductions, YouTube
Posted in Twitter | 3 Comments »

10 Small Business Trends for 2009

Tuesday, December 30th, 2008

I love prognosticators! It’s the end of the year and now’s the time when all the predictions are coming in. I don’t really care what Jennifer Aniston and John Mayer are up to (it’s OK if you do… No judgment from me) but give me some insight on small business trending and I’m all over that…

So it is on that note that I would like to share with you this great article form Small business Labs called: 2009 Top 10 Small Business Trends. The article is very timely considering that some economists estimate that as much as 95% of our economy is driven by small businesses.

However, it is number 10 on the 2009 small business trends list that caught my attention:

10. Small Businesses Will Expand Their Use of Online Marketing Tools: Despite the economic downturn, we expect the small business sector to increase its use of online marketing tools and methods in 2009. Online marketing is cheaper and often more effective than traditional approaches. And although online marketing can be complex, many tools and methods are accessible to DIY small business marketers. With small businesses focused on customer acquisition and re-defining their business methods, we expect their use of online marketing to grow in 2009.

Since those in the know realize that online marketing can be far less costly than traditional forms of marketing. Do newspaper ads really get people into your store? The answer: Yes, but… Of course offline marketing works – but even in a small market a newspaper ad might cost several hundred dollars.

If you take into account that a full 50% of your potential customers are looking for your small business online – What if you could be the first option they see when they are looking for your type of product or service online? Well, you probably can!

Utilizing the vast resources of the internet as well as variations of what savvy Internet Marketers use – yes indeed you can. Internet Marketing is a business and chances are you’re not in the internet marketing business. So, would it make sense for you to become a full time internet marketer? NO! You need time to run, maintain and grow your small business.

That being said, there is a lot you can do to market your small business online and chances are that your competition is not.

By blogging, social networking, social bookmarking, even strategically placed video, you can increase your presence on Google and on the web in general.

Hone your message, create multiple gateways to your web presence online, perform great customer service, and watch your small business grow.

Tags: blogging, Internet Marketing, marketing, online marketing, Small Business, Small Business Online, Social Bookmarking, Social Networking, video
Posted in Small Business Online | 1 Comment »

3 Killer (Quality) Traffic Generating Techniques

Monday, December 22nd, 2008

There are many effective ways to drive targeted to your website traffic without having to resort to expensive pay per click. The quality of the traffic is good, and sometimes even better than those paying for clicks. Here are 3 to wet you appetite.

And these methods are… Drum roll please…

1. Article Marketing

Article marketing works great! First off, it’s free. Second, you can attract targeted traffic when your articles get ranked in Google for the specific targeted keywords that you know your potential clients and/or customers are searching for. Getting a top spot on the left side (organic search results) of Google is as (or more) valuable as getting a top spot on the right (sponsored listings via Adwords). But the difference is it is free!

Using an article directory like EzineArticles, you can target specific, low competition keywords (aka long tail keywords) and rank within days, sometimes hours. Research shows that people searching 2 or less words tend to be browsers, while those searching phrases of 3 or more words tend to know what they want and are more likely to be buyers!

2. Forum Marketing

Forum marketing is another powerful free traffic driving technique. The key lies in using a catchy signature like “List building secrets of the masters”, or “5 killer secrets to an obedient dog!” But make sure the claims are legit. Remember, it’s all about the signature!

Participate daily in a handful of forums forums within your niche. Always go where your potential customers/clients are. Not only will you get traffic, you will also get some quality backlinks to your website.

3. Social Networking Sites

This refers to the new Web 2.0 social marketing communities like FaceBook, MySpace and Twitter. Even YouTube and other video sites count as part of this category. The best part of these Social Networking Communities is the huge audience.

Millions of people participate in these sites. And these are real-life audience! A good YouTube video can get lots of viewers. If you remember “Chocolate Rain” by Tay Zonday, that now has over 32,460,229 views. This video even landed Tay a Dr. Pepper spot and a knockoff/spoof, “Chocolate Rain by Chad Vader” has over 3 million views! See the

The potential for huge amounts of free targeted traffic is great!

Tags: Article Marketing, chocolate rain, EzineArticles, Facebook, Forum Marketing, Google, keywords, MySpace, Social Networking, Twitter, website traffic, YouTube
Posted in Creating Backlinks, Marketing & Promotion, You Tube | No Comments »

The Business Value Of Social Networking

Friday, July 18th, 2008

Great interview on Forbes,com with John McCrea, head of marketing for Plaxo, which manages 40 million online address books, to learn why entrepreneurs need to get into the game, how to do it and where this is all going.

John McCrea: There are a few phases to social networking. The first phase was Friendster, MySpace and clones and it was pretty frivolous. Everyone connected as a friend. Strangers came together online. The second phase was about who you knew, maintaining and enriching your relationships. It was a way not to lose touch with people as you changed jobs or moved. The latest phase is an online representation of real world activity. Small and midsize businesses were always people who spent money on their Rolodexes and then on database software. They survive and thrive based on the power of personal networks.

I’ll point to Plaxo as a network address book and “Pulse” as an online service as examples. Plaxo was a precursor to an Internet-based service and it’s composed of members keeping up their contact information on their “implied profile page.” Even then, many users would share birthdates and would get e-mails about who changed jobs, whose birthday it is, etc. It allowed people to connect and send flowers on a birthday or congratulate someone on a new job. It made networking stuff easier to do and made a smaller businessperson appear well organized and thoughtful. Pulse brings the address book to life. Users can connect up with different services on the Web. They can share postings on Flickr or a blog, where getting an audience can be hard.

Truly it is about starting a relationship first. Nothing is more annoying than the guy (or gal) who upon the first meeting immediately bombards you info about the latest and greatest network marking company etc… Get to know me first is my policy.

Getting to know your customers and/or potential customers is the fiirst step in discovering their needs and how you can best assist them, solve their problem or ease their pain.

The Business Value Of Social Networking – Forbes.com.

Tags: Flickr, Friendster, MySpace, Plaxo, Relationship Marketing, relationships, Social Networking
Posted in Doing Business Online, Small Business Online, Social Networking | No Comments »

Lennie Appelquist on Twitter

Lennie Appelquist has 5523 followers

If you aren't using a blog, then you are missing the most dynamic opportunity in HISTORY do drive customers to ANY BUSINESS! WordPress makes this easier than ever.

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When I decided to put a website up I never thought I'd actually get business from it. I started working with Lennie on the design and he understood what I wanted so effortlessly. In no time my site was working for me as I never imagined possible. And when I don't know what I need but know what I'd like to see happen, he jumps in with the latest on marketing and e-commerce tools that we can put in place. I consider Lennie to be a trusted advisor, and key to my ability to reach the people who need to know about my services.

Daisy Swan, MA, CPCC
Strategy Advisor and Coach
11812 San Vicente Blvd. Suite 505
LA, CA 90049
310-820-8877
www.daisyswan.com

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