Marketing No comments yet

Understanding Social Bookmarking

By on October 7th, 2011

The internet has made it possible to gather a great deal of information very quickly. Search engines have shown themselves to be useful in gathering this information, but they are not necessarily the best method. This is where a special type of social media known as social bookmarking comes into play. However, there are many who do not understand just what social bookmarking is all about.

We have all, at one time or another, found a website that was particularly useful and bookmarked it in our web browsers. Social bookmarking works in a similar fashion, but instead of saving the link to the site in a web browser, it is saved on the web. This makes it possible to share the link with family and friends who might also benefit from the information provided on the site.

When a site is marked in this fashion, the user has the option to create metatags that tell other users what sort of content they can expect to find on the site. These tags are usually public. The web also holds a variety of websites that gather these tags and use them to rank sites based on user comments and tags. Many people consider these sites to be more intelligent than search engines in helping people find certain types of information.

Websites such as Delicious.com, reddit, and digg provide a forum where people can mark sites and tag them. Then, as sites get more recommendations, they move closer to the top of the rankings for the type of information or use that users find on them.

For example, one may be searching for a particular type of information on a topic. One of these sites may have two links listed that contain the info being sought. One may have over a hundred recommendations or tags while the other only has a handful. It becomes obvious that the one with the most recommendations is likely to be the more useful of the two options based on user input.

Social bookmarking sites often allow users to browse all categories to see what other users have found interesting or useful enough to tag. Listings may be sorted by most popular, what has been added recently, or category of sites such as news, sports, technology, etc.

What began as a simple method of sharing links with members of one’s family and close friends has grown significantly over the years. Today, social bookmarking has created a whole new class of websites that serve as social search engines. People can use these sites to stay current on any type of news that interests them as well as following trends in shopping and other activities. All one has to do is visit one of these sites and type the tags or categories one wants to see and the most popular sites reported will show up in the search results in order from most popular to least.

This social media makes it much easier to find the exact type of information one wants without the need to search through page after page of results listed on traditional search engines.

You can advertise your business within the Surrey area by adding your details to one of our local sites. Advertise in Surrey

Marketing No comments yet

Using Twitter To Help Your Business

By on September 28th, 2011

Twitter is a social media site that allows individuals to come together and share information about themselves in the form of short entries called tweets. Each tweet is limited to 140 characters including spaces, and is made in answer to the question, “What are you doing now?”

Although this site was set up for the purpose of social networking for individuals, many businesses have benefitted from the use of it to get messages out to people about their products or services. This is accomplished by posting tweets that contain information that followers will find interesting. In addition, they are able to include links to their websites or blogs in their tweets that can be followed to direct traffic to their sites.

The key to using Twitter to help your business lies in making sure that the information posted in the tweets is interesting and engaging. The goal is to attract followers who will see each and every post they make. If the post is interesting enough, followers will be likely to retweet the message to their followers. This extends the reach of the message greatly.

One advantage to using social media in this fashion is that it provides a source of free advertising. The message reaches a potential audience much larger than could be achieved with local or television advertising and the cost is negligible.
Once a following is built up, the number of people who click through to a business’s website or blog increases exponentially. This gives the advantage that these people are already interested in what the business has to offer, making them that much more likely to purchase whatever product or service is being offered. This makes the ROI for using Twitter go very high when compared with other forms of advertising.

All forms of social media hold the potential for high returns on investment. Twitter is just one of many sites that exist with this potential. Its advantage over the others is that it has one of the widest reaches and takes the least amount of time to generate content. Due to the limit on the number of characters one can use, they have to keep their messages short and succinct. They must catch the attention of potential customers quickly and convince them to follow up by clicking on the link in the post.

Of course, there is one mistake that many businesses make that causes their attempts at using Twitter, or any other social media, as a means of advertising to fail miserably. That mistake is making overt attempts at selling. People are looking for interesting content, not advertising, when they use sites of this type. One can slip in a short sales pitch occasionally, but effort must be made to provide something of value to readers in addition.

Using Twitter to help your business can be one of the best ways to advertise on the internet. However, one must remember that this site was not created to provide free ad space. That is simply a side effect that can be made use of by smart businesses.

You can advertise your business within the Surrey area by adding your details to one of our local sites. Advertise in Surrey

Marketing No comments yet

How To Use Facebook Fan Pages For Your Business

By on September 28th, 2011

facebook fan pages for your businessFacebook is the premier social networking site on the internet. It is geared toward individuals who create and upload profiles, then interact with other individuals who share similar interests. However, more and more businesses are finding it to be a valuable resource for attracting visitors to their websites. Here, we are going to take a look at using Facebook fan pages for your business.

Businesses are not allowed to create profiles on Facebook. However, they may create what are known as fan pages that function in much the same fashion. Here, they may post information about their company, their products or services, or any other type of content they think visitors to their pages would be interested in. This may include a link to their corporate website, email address, etc.

Today, a large number of businesses include a request that people friend them on Facebook and follow their fan page in their advertising media rather than including their website address. Of course, the secret to success here is including content on their fan pages that people will find interesting and/or useful. This is a social media outlet where interaction with friends and fans is critical to success. This means that someone will need to monitor the page and interact with fans on a regular basis.

The advantage is that this interaction on a social level makes a brand seem more friendly and accessible. This tends to make more people Like their page, leading to more traffic to their website. It provides many opportunities for companies to reach targeted prospects that have already shown interest in the product and/or service offered by the business.

One thing that one must be aware of is that only official representatives of a given business are allowed to create fan pages. Steps will be taken by Facebook to ensure the identity of the representative before any pages will be published.

One of the most successful methods being used by businesses is allowing fans to post content on their wall. Comments can be moderated by the page administrator to ensure that content is kept to acceptable standards. In addition, many businesses find that allowing users to post photos to their fan pages creates a sense of good will and encourages fans to share this page with their friends.

One good example of this is Graco. This company manufactures a range of products for infants. They post photos of their products on their fan pages. They also allow users to post photos of their babies using the Graco products to their pages. This generates a large amount of content that users will find interesting and worth sharing.

While Facebook does not support sending private messages to individual users, one can post content and make it viewable to only certain groups of fans based on interests or locations. This allows them to offer unique specials to targeted groups so that they can track the success of their marketing success using this form of social media. Using Facebook fan pages for your business is one form of advertising that is free, yet incredibly valuable.

We can help you build your Facebook fan page, and we can help you build a list of Facebook followers to gain more exposure for your business or your products.

You can advertise your business within the Surrey area by adding your details to one of our local sites. Advertise in Surrey

Health & Fitness No comments yet

Proper Treatment for Sports Injuries

By on June 3rd, 2011

The most common sports injuries that are suffered are acute injuries.  The best way to treat these is to use R.I.C.E. initially then determine if seeing a doctor is necessary.  R.I.C.E. is an acronym that is short for Rest, Ice, Compression, and Elevation.  The purpose of each step is different with rest being essential to allow the healing to begin while helping to prevent further injury to the area from occurring.  Ice is vital because it can help stop swelling in the injured area, which can help when it comes to diagnosing the injury.  Compression is important because it helps to reduce swelling even further as well as provides support for the injury.  Elevation is necessary because it reduces the flow of blood to the injured area and allows the force of gravity to pull blood away, thus reducing bruising, swelling and pain.

Proper treatment using R.I.C.E. is to first take a piece of cloth such as a towel and wrap it around the injury. This helps to protect the skin from irritation.  Next, you want to apply an ice pack or cold compress directly over the injured area.  Using an elastic bandage or even a support bandage to hold the ice in place carefully wrap the injured area snuggly, be careful not to wrap too tightly; you are not trying to cut off the blood supply, just hold the ice in place.  You should apply ice for approximately 15 minutes every three hours during the day to continue treating. 

  • In the event that you cannot decide if seeing a doctor is necessary, use these rules of thumb to assist you.
  • If you see any bone, muscle, cartilage or ligaments then an emergency trip to the hospital is absolutely necessary. 
  • If the pain from the injured area seems to be spreading to other areas of the body.
  • If you have a very large amount of swelling in the injured area that following R.I.C.E. is not helping.
  • If you cannot move the injured area at all.
  • If you cannot feel the injured area, or if it tingles or feels very weak and fragile.
  • If your injury has not improved after three weeks of rest.
  • If your injured area has developed a rash, fever, pus, or if it feels hot to the touch.

Finally, if you have any doubts about being able to treat the injury yourself then seeing a doctor is as essential as if one of the previous conditions mentioned was visible.  You should always seek help from a doctor in the event that you are unsure how to treat the injury. 

If ever in doubt, seeing your doctor is advisable to receive the best possible care.  If your doctor is unavailable, and the injury is serious, go to the emergency room and seek medical help there.  Never leave a serious injury without seeking medical help as the condition can worsen causing the need for serious treatment even potentially surgery to become necessary.

Another form of treat for sports injuries can be seeing a physiotherapist. A physiotherapist can asses your injury and decide the best course of treatment for you.

You can advertise your business within the Surrey area by adding your details to one of our local sites. Advertise in Surrey