News – Cli.gs to Shut Down

Cli.gs, one of the services used to shorten URLs on sites such as Twitter is to shut down at the end of this month. The service which has tens of thousands of users including myself, just can’t seem to make a profit, so the company has announced it will shut down on Sunday the 25th October, with the forwarding service operating until the end of November, the company states that after that it is anybodies guess as to how long the service will continue to forward the short URL’s to their destination.

According to the company spokesperson increased costs and time spent on customer service were the major factors for the shut down. On the other hand,Cli.gs major competitor Bit.ly, the default URL shortner for Twitter seems to be a bit of a roll lately.

Social Media the Trusted Adviser

Social Network Distribution

If you have ever wondered how intrusive social networking has become in our daily lives, or if it just seems that people around you are obsessed with their social media network, then you might just be right. In new research from the US, social media users say that social networking is now one of their most important activities on a daily basis, both on line and off line, and you thought it was just people like me who were obsessed with it didn’t you.

Only email was considered more important, with chatting and web browsing as daily activities ranking lower. When asked to compare online social networking with off line activities, social media site users only found going out with friends more important, that puts social networking ahead of real life activities such as playing games,watching TV and playing sport.

So what is the top activity on these internet social networks?  81% of site users said posting photos as their top activity with responding to others posts and posting about their own thoughts or daily activities, next in line.

Now the good news, and this is really very important news for companies who are using social media, is that over 40% of users said they linked in with a company, product or service on a social network, and 38% had actually clicked on paid advertisements.

Another very important consideration for business in this survey, is the trust factor, users of social networks place high trust in their social network, with more than 50% saying they considered information shared on their network when considering or researching products or services, and this trust factor was higher amongst the younger users, with over 65% of 18 to 24 year olds using referrals or advertising gained from their social network.

This finding is very very important for those in the business community, because the survey shows that Gen X&Y have integrated social media networks into their daily lives in such a way, that it has now become a trusted resource in their decision making process.

The inclusion of social media into your marketing plan is now vital, particularly when it comes to building brand loyalty for the future. Creating trust and having the right strategy in place for social networking is the key factor in building success with social networks, understanding how to network within in this space and becoming the trusted adviser are the key elements to a successful social media strategy.

Mike Andrew owns and operates an Internet Marketing Consultancy on the Gold Coast in Queensland

Social Media – Creating The Handshake & Working The Room

Social Media Madness

You put a lot of work in setting up your profiles on social media sites, making sure that you include all the relevant information, contact numbers, email address, great looking photo, update it regularly and then – Nothing!
It’s called Social Media, but sometimes the people who use social media are not social at all.

So get out there, meet and network these social media users, introduce yourself and create conversations. The more you network or meet people on the web, the more followers you will generate.

You have just entered the biggest conference or social event in the world and if you stand in the corner and do nothing, that is what you will get out of all of your efforts. I only update or post when I have something to say that is relevant to you, my readers.

Ahh, have I got your attention with that comment? You are not stalking other users, they are there to network just like you and get information from like minded people on all kinds of interests and passions.

Start conversations with them, invite them to connect with you and network. Good luck and please let me know your thoughts on this post and wether you found the information helpful.

One of the things that I  notice when I talk to people, is they can talk passionately about the subject that is closest to them when they are face to face, but as soon as they get in front of a computer, they become totally different people. Twitter, Facebook, Blogs are all big social events and you need to get out and create traffic by inviting and following other users.

That’s because you need to introduce yourself & work the room. This way you will start to build a following and this in turn creates more followers, as like minded social media users will find you and your sites.

Update often, but make your updates relevant, don’t waste their time when they start to follow you, for instance, I made a decision when I started this blog, not to include gossip or to criticise other portals when I post, this blog has always been there to provide you with helpful and useful information on social media and internet marketing, and I’ve stuck to that theme.

Here’s a great social media video that will help you get to terms with how to work the room. This social media networking applies to all your on line activities, they way you write, structure your content etc, all impacts on the way your content will be viewed on social media sites.

Listen to this post as a podcast