James Cameron’s Avatar has touched a nerve in our collective psyche. Much in the same vein, Social Media has exploded into our digital world, changing the landscape on how we think, react and do business.

What does Avatar and Social Media have in common? They are both brave new worlds that have captured our imagination and have connected us to each other. In a world gone wild with war, natural disasters and the human condition, we all yearn for a place (real or digital) that will give us meaning and a way to express our individuality and our humanity.

Our Primal Need

One of the most striking comparisons of Avatar and Social Media was the interconnectivity of the Na’vi to their natural habitat and to each other. Their umbilicus was a synaptic nerve cord emanating from their head in the form of a long pony tail. When physically connected to another life form, they had pure communication of thoughts and emotions, and could have a symbiotic influence on each other. Social Media networking is fulfilling that primordial need to be connected, to make our presence felt and have the ability to influence and be influenced. In essence, make our voice or vote count. We are not living and breathing avatars, but our digital networking is connecting our avatar to yours.

A modern day analogy happened in the 1960s when the youth felt disenfranchised from our society and found meaning in the proverbial “love-ins.” As the beat poet of that generation, Jerry Rubin, so eloquently noted, “Don’t trust anyone over 30.” Those words resonated around the globe. The youth were connected through rock n roll, the Beatles, the Vietnam War, and flower power. They influenced generations and these baby boomers are still a force today.

The Bonds that Influence Us

Trust is another comparison worth noting between the Movie and Social Media. It is the glue that holds both systems together. The hero in Avatar, Jake Sully, needed to understand the rules, the customs and learn how to move in an alien world. He needed to gain the trust of the Na’vi, not just live amongst them as a intelligence gathering project. But something happened once he truly felt engaged with his mentor and love-interest, he changed and the world changed with him. Social Media has its rules of engagement and if you are to be successful you need to understand that the process takes time. Watch, learn and build trust. Be a part of an online community and actively participate.

The effectiveness of Social Media is in building relationships, making your presence felt in positive non-exploitative ways. Establish your brand of influence, offer content, suggestions, advice, reliability. In Avatar, the Sky People (aka humans) saw “gold” and wanted to mine it, regardless of the environmental impact. Bulldozing your way through the jungle with purely self-interest objectives is counter productive. Short term gains, long term angst.

Standing Ten Feet Tall and Blue

Social Media enhances your brand image and makes you stand out from your competition and be that 10 foot tall blue Avatar. Take the time to understand it, cultivate it and fall in love with it. Enjoy the experience.

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The Web Success Team has scored a touchdown (and a few extra points) in helping promote a premiere event during Super Bowl Week, called Taste of the Game. Our clients, Entertainment & Sports Plus (ESP) and Sports Entertainment Team (SET) are hosting five exclusive events that will benefit charitable causes and educational institutes, as well as entertaining prominent business, sports and celebrity and VIP attendees.

To date, corporate sponsors include: Bacardi, CRN Digital Talk Networks, WealthTV and boingo.

A Website Sporting Good Causes

In collaboration with The Heart Truth®/Red Dress campaign, a portion of the proceeds from The Red Heart Gala and Taste of the Tropics events will benefit Athletes for Life and WomenHeart: The National Coalition for Women with Heart Disease.

In collaboration with our clients, the Web Success Team helped developed the event logo and website to give it a flavor of Miami and give the potential attendees a taste for the game’s activities. Branded to reflect the Super Bowl Miami location with a football themed logo, the site is geared to reflect the 5 exclusive events: Business of Sports Summit, VIP Welcome Reception, Red Heart Charitable Gala, Taste of the Tropics, and End Zone 44 wrap up party.

The site is constructed for ease of use and navigation with events clearly presented with its own page descriptors, sponsorship opportunities with downloadable pdf package, the standard about us and contact us pages, along with celebrity hosts and prominent celebrities and VIP Guests, including actresses Vivica Fox and Kym Whitley, former and current NFL players Willie Gault, DeShaun Foster and Michael Boley.

A Brite Way to Promote Ticket Sales

The lifeblood of any event is ticket sales and the Web Success Team set-up the Eventbrite site to help manage, promote and sell-out the event. The Team branded Taste of the Game on the Eventbrite engine so those going to purchase tickets to the various events will experience the continuity of the branding and event descriptions while making their decision/purchases.

Since Social Media is now an important component in any online marketing plan, Taste of the Game is no exception. The home page has all the social media networking icons so visitors can connect with the clients and spread the word about this exciting star-studded event.

TeamWork Brings Web Success

The Web Success Team can help develop, manage and promote your event through the power of online marketing and social media marketing. Our experience and knowledge can be a valuable resource in this new economy to get the most traction out of your business or event and achieve web success. Contact our Team to learn how we can get you wired into your target markets and make an impact on your bottom line.

The Web Success Team has scored a touchdown (and a few extra points) in helping promote a premiere event during Super Bowl Week, called Taste of the Game. Our clients, Entertainment & Sports Plus (ESP) and Sports Entertainment Team (SET) are hosting five exclusive events that will benefit charitable causes and educational institutes, as well as entertaining prominent business, sports and celebrity and VIP attendees.

To date, corporate sponsors include: Bacardi, CRN Digital Talk Networks, WealthTV and boingo.

A Website Sporting Good Causes

In collaboration with The Heart Truth®/Red Dress campaign, a portion of the proceeds from The Red Heart Gala and Taste of the Tropics events will benefit Athletes for Life and WomenHeart: The National Coalition for Women with Heart Disease.

In collaboration with our clients, the Web Success Team helped developed the event logo and website to give it a flavor of Miami and give the potential attendees a taste for the game’s activities. Branded to reflect the Super Bowl Miami location with a football themed logo, the site is geared to reflect the 5 exclusive events: Business of Sports Summit, VIP Welcome Reception, Red Heart Charitable Gala, Taste of the Tropics, and End Zone 44 wrap up party.

The site is constructed for ease of use and navigation with events clearly presented with its own page descriptors, sponsorship opportunities with downloadable pdf package, the standard about us and contact us pages, along with celebrity hosts and prominent celebrities and VIP Guests, including actresses Vivica Fox and Kym Whitley, former and current NFL players Willie Gault, DeShaun Foster and Michael Boley.

A Brite Way to Promote Ticket Sales

The lifeblood of any event is ticket sales and the Web Success Team set-up the Eventbrite site to help manage, promote and sell-out the event. The Team branded Taste of the Game on the Eventbrite engine so those going to purchase tickets to the various events will experience the continuity of the branding and event descriptions while making their decision/purchases.

Since Social Media is now an important component in any online marketing plan, Taste of the Game is no exception. The home page has all the social media networking icons so visitors can connect with the clients and spread the word about this exciting star-studded event.

TeamWork Brings Web Success

The Web Success Team can help develop, manage and promote your event through the power of online marketing and social media marketing. Our experience and knowledge can be a valuable resource in this new economy to get the most traction out of your business or event and achieve web success. Contact our Team to learn how we can get you wired into your target markets and make an impact on your bottom line.

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By Bob Speyer and Kristin Tomlinson – Web Success Team

In the beginning, many skeptics believed that like Blackberrys and MySpace, Facebook was just another socializing tool that gave students another techno-way to communicate with friends and peers from schools near and far. But, Facebook has loosened its firm grasp on the younger generation by extending its hand towards various businesses and companies, creating a web of networking connections. What was once restricted solely for college students has become an Internet sensation, giving businesses increased exposure, sales and website traffic.

What’s amazing is how a single social outlet can lead to an instant improvement in online business  and to greater community interaction. Since much of the methodology may seem foreign, that’s where you can rely on the Web Success Team; we can make those connections happen for you. We’re the golden ticket that secures you a seat on the massive train of social media networking that has no intention of slowing down anytime soon.

Become A Fan… Today!

The Web Success Team has created a business friendly Facebook page that shares tips, tools, and articles necessary to assist users and companies interested in taking their business to the next level through online marketing. We offer advice dealing with a wide range of topics regarding direct response marketing, strategies for online and offline advertising, website development, corporate branding, and social media strategies. We incorporate all these aspects into our page in a fun and original ways, such as setting aside a certain day of the week to address each topic.

So stop wondering in the dark, and step into the light. Facebook is just the right tool to get yourself and your business noticed in order to prosper and grow. The Web Success Team can assist you through this process by helping you tap into this hot new media explosion. Check out our page on Facebook NOW and become a “fan”. . . and I promise you, if you come aboard you won’t regret it!

To Your Web Success!

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By Bob Speyer and Eric Pangburn Web Success Team

You can have the flashiest and most visually impressive website on the Internet, but if no one ever visits it, then your site isn’t really doing you that much good. By the same token, an e-commerce site that pulls in a fair amount of traffic but very little actual sales isn’t living up to its potential either. In both cases, the one factor that can tip the scales in your favor is effective lead generation. And not just any leads, mind you; what you want are leads that are targeted specifically to build your business.

While there was a time when leads were typically gathered by way of telemarketing and e-mail databases, these methods have largely been supplanted by more currently accepted methods using online avenues. E-mail marketing is particularly deemed outdated, since this opens you up to accusations of spamming. In most cases, the customers that you’re targeting may simply be annoyed by your marketing efforts. Worse, they may even get you in trouble with your e-mail provider. For this reason, more and more people are turning towards online means of lead generation as opposed to cold calling, telemarketing and e-mail.

Below are some effective ways by which you could generate leads and achieve web success in the face of today’s changing online world.

1. Locate the Target: Find out where your customers are and how they can be reached. You can’t go after your target market if you don’t know where it is; it’s that simple. If you have written a book on gardening, the obvious places to look for leads are gardening websites and forums.
2. Join Relevant Communities: Once you have figured out where your potential customers hang out online, join in on the community that they are a part of. Resist the temptation to blatantly market your products or services to them, and instead strive to become an active contributor to the online community. This will allow you to build a rapport with your potential market base that can be used as a foundation for a solid marketing campaign effort.
3. Advertising and Link Exchange: Find out what other websites your customers visit regularly and check them out as well. They may prove to be fresh ground for your marketing and/or advertising campaign. Find out if the website in question accepts advertising and what their rates are. They may even accept article submissions in which case you will want to find out what the terms and conditions of use are. You may even be able to exchange links with the website owner. Don’t automatically disregard a site just because you deem it as a competitor. You may be surprised at the number of websites that are willing to work with the competition just as long as they can benefit from the arrangement as well.
4. Build Your Email List with Value: While unsolicited e-mail can definitely hurt your marketing efforts, a mailing list is almost essential for keeping your existing customers in the loop. Make sure that you do have something extra to offer your customers that are on your mailing list, so that they will feel privileged and being a part of it.
5. Paid Search: PPC or pay per click advertising has been around for a number of years now. While it has its fair share of detractors who feel that it is somewhat outdated and ineffective, it is still a pretty viable means of generating leads. Google’s AdWords is still used by many individuals and companies who want to achieve greater visibility on the Internet. The rates for such ads will vary depending on how crowded your particular field is and where on the page your ad will be placed, among other factors. The beauty of AdWords is that they offer you plenty of flexibility with regard to how much you spend on your ads. Furthermore, you only pay a fee when a visitor clicks on your ad.
6. Blogging: Developing and maintaining an active blog is critical to your lead generation efforts. Posting relevant articles, tips and tidbits peppered with keywords will help drive qualified traffic to your website. One of the weaknesses of a site owner is never having enough time to blog post. We cannot stress this strongly enough. If you don’t have the time, hire a freelance writer.
7. Article Marketing: Get published! A good way to generate new leads is by writing articles that your potential customers may be interested in and getting them published on relevant websites. Most of the websites that allow article submission will feature your author bio as well as a link to your website. There are article aggregators (paid and non-paid) that will circulate your articles on directories, newsletters, blogs, websites to save you time. You submit one article and they distribute it to hundreds of relevant sites.
8. Social Media Networking: Finally, don’t neglect the popular social networking sites such as Twitter, Facebook, MySpace, and even YouTube. Such sites regularly pull in thousands of people every day, so you can imagine just how vast an exploration area that is for your marketing efforts. The field is wide open for you to reap the leads that your online business needs, and you would do well to explore them as a part of a holistic online marketing campaign.

As you can see, lead generation is a multi-faceted discipline that involves several different methods. The key to success is pinpointing which of these methods actually deliver results and focusing your efforts on them. Not all methods will work the same way for your site as it does for another, so you should carefully consider all your options.

The Web Success Team

SPECIAL: Solopreneur Package – Jump Start Your Business
The Web Success Team’s Solopreneur Package includes a 5-page custom direct response website fully branded and optimized for Search Engines with 6-months of online marketing, social networking, blogging, article marketing and much more. Lock in your special pricing now before the rate goes up! Contact the Web Success Team at 818-222-5643 or email bob@websuccessteam.com. To your web success!

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