Here’s the viewpoint from 2 women: One who’s been in the workforce for 33 years and one that’s been in it for 3 years. This article is meant to educate and be helpful.

By Kristin Tomlinson and Janette Speyer

With the Economy in a slump, more and more women are entering the workforce at a record rate. We don’t want to get too “motherly”, but with these increased numbers it’s important to remember your office manners and etiquette . . . We’re talking to you boys! Playful, witty comments that are meant to be funny may sometimes come off as tacky and distasteful. You can avoid the “eye roll” from women by becoming educated on what is considered “inappropriate behavior”, in addition to better alternatives on what to say.

Read the rest of this entry »

No Comments

By Bob Speyer, Web Success Team

Most users of Facebook are underutilizing its power and reach. Why drive traffic to your website when you can market your brand and your products and services through Facebook. It makes sense. Since your customer base is already on your Fan Page, why not make it convenient for them to buy or entice them to find out more without leaving.

Read the rest of this entry »

1 Comment

By Bob Speyer, Web Success Team

Facebook has just rolled out its new geolocation service called “Places” that will allow users to share their physical locations online, similar to Foursquare. Since both social sites will perform basically the same functionality, the difference resides in reach. Foursquare has about 2.5 million users and Facebook has 500 million, 150 million of which are mobile users. The benefits of location sharing will greatly expand to a broader audience through Facebook.

Connecting People with Places

Now Facebook users can use their mobile phones to check in to a business and then share it with their Facebook user base of friends. An optional service will allow users to find others in their geo local area who have recently logged in as well. There may be a few privacy issues concerning this, but if you don’t want to be found, simply don’t broadcast it! However, Facebook has learned from past privacy indiscretions and information will only be shared with friends and not open to everyone. There is a function that allows the user to turn this feature off, but by default it is programmed to be “on”. The question is not how the feature will be used, rather will it change social habits and how many people will actually use it and make it a habit.

Read the rest of this entry »

1 Comment

By Bob Speyer, Web Success Team

The old adage, “there are lies, damn lies and statistics” has never been more true when it comes to social media marketing. We are such a numbers driven culture that we place ultimate value on statistical results — we equate higher numbers with better results. This works in many areas of life, particularly sports. In baseball, for example, careers are made based on batting average, home runs, number of saves or simply won-lost records.

However, when it comes to marketing and measuring results, there are many grey areas that aren’t so quantifiable. Not all is black and white with winners and losers. Are Social media numbers a good example of what constitutes a successful page? Obviously followers or fans are an important determinant to extend ones reach or measure a successful marketing campaign. We marvel at people who have 25,000 plus Twitter followers or 5,000 plus Facebook fans.

Read the rest of this entry »

1 Comment

By Janette Speyer, Web Success Team

The Internet is a great Ouiji Board in predicting human behavior. Two events went viral this week that makes one question if we are working so hard for such little returns. When people buck the system, they become anti-heroes and gain something we are all looking for — recognition and appreciation. Here are the two cases-in-point:

Read the rest of this entry »

No Comments

By Bob Speyer, Web Success Team

One of the basic tenets of selling is the principle of  “giving before you try to get.” Often times in our eagerness to market our products and services online, we bypass offering added value to our target audience.

It’s really about building trust and cultivating relationships.  This has never been more important when using the Internet to market, network or sell. It isn’t always practical or expedient to meet and greet as today’s buyers almost prefer a little anonymity because they are inundated with spam, pitches and hustles. Simply put, they are gun shy. They build “firewalls” around their time and access. So the question becomes, how can you penetrate their shield and break down the barriers to get your message through?

Read the rest of this entry »

No Comments

By Bob Speyer, Web Success Team

Just about everyone can define Social Media today and almost everybody is beginning to realize that it is a powerful marketing tool. However I find that when it comes to understanding its expectations we seem to fall short. So here is a list of items that I think social media marketing is and what it’s not:

Read the rest of this entry »

No Comments

By Bob Speyer, Web Success Team

Having a small marketing budget does not have to be a limitation. To be an effective online marketer, you just need to be a little more resourceful. You already know what’s working and, more importantly, what’s not! So why not take advantage of the resources that are all over the Internet – namely your competition.

Sun Tzu, author of The Art of War said, “Keep your friends close but your enemies closer!” This directly relates to online marketing. By learning from your competition, you can greatly improve your bottom line.

Read the rest of this entry »

No Comments

By Bob Speyer, Web  Success Team

Networking is the lifeblood of new business. Where to go and how to go about it is a question everybody asks and wants the panacea. So we decided to do ask our Linkedin readers to find out what our business readership has experienced as the most effective ways they network. Here are some of those findings:

Social Media Sharing

Social media sites were some of the most popular responses with LinkedIn being the number one business networking sites, followed by Facebook, StumbleUpon, Twitter, SlideShare (where professionals and business upload their PowerPoint presentations and is one of the 1,000 most visited sites on the Internet) and Business Exchange (similar to LinkedIn, where you can share information with other business professionals in a variety of categories and industries and reach decision makers).

Read the rest of this entry »

No Comments