Facebook, LinkedIN and Online Marketing Presence Through Social Media

Hearing and reading about social media forums such as Facebook, Twitter, Buzz etc... you can just keep reading and reading about its effectiveness.  However, to get a good feel for how it works, you really just need to experiment.

So, a while back, I posted how I read somewhere to include your URL
(in my case http://www.new-to-new-media.com/) in all of these social media websites- either in your profile or signature or any other place you can embed it.  So, I placed mine into my LinkedIN profile as well as on my Facebook profile- oh, and in my signature in my e-mails.

I pretty much forgot about all that because, again, I wasn't looking to become an expert in social media.  But this week alone I got comments- either through e-mail, on Facebook and from LinkedIN! And for the amount of effort I've put in that is pretty impressive because all I did was just embed my website URL in those 3 places and got traffic.  Imagine the effectiveness of social media and online marketing if it is done by an expert!

So far I am definitely becoming convinced that this new media and online marketing stuff gets results.

Any arguments?

Advertising Copywriter - Marketing Businesses

Now this is a very cool aspect of marketing.
ADVERTISING COPYWRITER
If you are clever with words and have a good sense of salesmanship, there are many small businesses in the community which can use these services. You can write online ads, reviews, newspaper ads, brochures, radio ads, catalogs, and more.

This probably falls under the same category as article marketing, blogging etc where just writing about something can market the business, product, service, idea or website.

Affiliate Marketing Insights and What I Learnt from a Date

Not to get too personal here, because I am trying to keep this strictly business, but most of the information gathered for the following post was attained through a guy I met on a "shidduch" date (blind match) this week. 
The conversation turned to on-line business, e-commerce etc.
He is self-employed in some sort of telecommunications business.  He sells people a way to record cellphone voicemails - People buy the service and then are sent a code or pin number via email after checkout.
Cool stuff.  I don't think he even has a degree, but started off doing some sort of consulting work for a company in Israel - it was an outsourced consulting position where he had a few businesses he helped grow.  When leaving the position, he asked the telecommunications company he was consulting for if they would take him on to be a part of the company and they declined.  So, he went off developed his own.  I forgot the name of it.   It's a phenomenal idea because it does not involve ANY INVENTORY!!! It's all digital!!!!!

Here is where new media, affiliate marketing and SEO come in ...
First of all, as with ANY online company you need to work on your online marketing strategies, SEO and keyword search options.  ESSENTIAL.  They will not find your business on the web unless it's up there in google optimized web searches!!!  Here's where it gets sticky!!
1) Firstly, he said he hired someone to work for him to enhance his SEO and even with hiring someone he needs to know as much as he can about it so he can be on top of him and cannot trust to leave it all in his hands.  He said that that is a number one rule in business.  Takes a lot of time and energy out of the business though.
2) Affiliate Marketers: He said that there are people who do not have their own product to sell (like he has) but they are GREAT at SEO and keyword search optimization, on-line marketing etc .. Plus they also have great conversion rates - which means that once a person does finally find their site- the "landing page", they actually follow through to checkout and buy the product!  That is key.  You need a LOT of marketing expertise to do all that!  You can have the best product in the world- and people may never buy it- and the coolest hi-tech website and it can possibly never get found on the web!

So... what do you do if you have a great website or product but not an expert at SEO or high in the google rankings?
You find an affiliate network to belong to, or you hire an affiliate manager.  They connect you with affiliates.  These affiliates do not have a product to sell... they make their money off of commission by selling other people's products.   Awesome idea, no?  They make great websites, with very convincing landing pages, high in google rankings so they get a lot of hits and once the person commits to buying the product and click on the checkout button- they are really buying the product from the original person's site... it gets "redirected" without you even realizing!!!! The affiliates are just great promoters!!! 
And truly, that is where the business lies.

3) Google Adwords - Another bombshell to me.  Even though I paid to have ads put up for this blog on google searches - apparently that is no guarantee for hits of it showing up when people search the keywords I entered. There is a whole science to this it seems.  So the ROI - Return on Investment for my google adwords is very low because there are "tricks" to getting the ads to show up etc... I, of course am not right now interested in learning those "tricks"  but it's good to be clued in and that it's not as easy as it seemed.  That's all I need to know for now. 

Last but not least - Raya- my dear ambitious, thought-out entrepreneurial friend who is always a well-spring of knowledge never-ending.  She recently mentioned to me in an email correspondence that she had given herself ONE WHOLE year to learn about the world of online media.  That is ambitious.  She has a website www.grandgifting.com that she designed completely by herself with some consulting on the side.  Very impressive.
Secondly, regarding Raya, she mentioned to me that she is now involved in some Online B2B job. 
This is very up my alley and I hope to explore it.

With all of my online knowledge I'm amassing hopefully it can help me in my pursuit to work remotely in the world of e-commerce. 

I'm still looking to consult more about my business of connecting SEO and online marketing experts with small businesses, agencies etc to optimize websites and businesses. 

Marketing Firms

Ok. So we have lots of businesses in this world.  Practically everything is a business... the grocery store, doctors... even schools!!  Businesses need customers - or else there is not business.  A grocery store needs shoppers, a doctor needs patients and a school needs students or else there is no school!

Marketing firms: These are companies that deal solely with marketing.  Businesses need time to run and manage their businesses - stock the shelves, customer service, ordering, billing... Doctors need to see their patients - they have secretary or office manager to take care of billing, patient appointments, insurance etc.
But in the meantime, they still need NEW BUSINESS.  How does word get around about the new supermarket, or the new product or the new school, doctor etc...

Enter, the marketing firm.  They handle all aspects promoting the business and getting the company, school or store more known to people.

Side note: This past summer I was flown out to St. Louis, MO to run a program for women and girls - giving lectures, running fun outings .. a jam packed schedule!!!  Lo and behold, all that scheduling and planning, and no people.  Nobody knew about it!  Until word started to get around the program was almost over.

You can have an awesome product, but word needs to get out there.

I am excited to help promote other products .. that is an option for me ... especially online where the venues are endless and the world at large is your audience.  There are google ads, SEO, social media, article marketing, PPC and lots of other ways to drive traffic to your sites and make your business known.

Again, I'm in now way, at this point looking to compete with the world of online marketers and social media, but I am starting to recognize its importance- an online presence and how it can drive business.

There are so many websites out there that are sleeping and with no traffic, hits or visitors.

There are also businesses and non-for-profits out there that need a website, a blog... etc.

My role would be to connect these dead websites or business without a web presence and connect them with marketing agencies.  To drive the business on both ends.

I would specialize in online marketing. 

I just sent an inquiry to http://www.360i.com/ an online marketing agency and asked them if they have a business development department that reaches out to get more clients.

Me - Becoming a Social Media, SEO, On-line Marketing Expert?

Ok. I am going to take a bit of a reality check here.  This will be based on gathered information from a couple of in-person meetings I had assessing my abilities.  Just doing this to re-focus.
I will continue, G-d willing to learn more about social media and how it works, Search Engine Optimization, Pay-Per-Clicks, online advertising, developing a web presence, blogging, content marketing etc.
The question is what will I do with all of the information and WHY will I continue learning it?
Answer: I will learn it so that I can have a basic understanding of the field - not to compete with all of the young computer-technology-loving people.  I'm happy for all of those people and their areas of expertise.  Let them keep competing and optimizing sites on search engines - getting high ranks and tweeting on twitter all they want.
What I like is the business aspect of it.  When I interviewed at Morpheus Media, the human resource manager was very pleasant and also very honest.  She told me point blank that I could never compete with the young people who are new media lovers - eat sleep and drink up all of the latest etc.  The account services-business development-client interaction is more what I'd be good at - the professional aspects.
But in order to be good at that, you do need some knowledge in this digital media and marketing world as well.
 You need to LEARN THE BUSINESS a little.  All businesses need to be marketed.

I came across a job posting today on the job boards.  It was a typical one searching for a
"New Marketing/New Media Consultant"
A name-brand innovator and importer of hand-held tools and instruments based in the NY metro area is seeking a new media communications consultant to promote sales of their products via social media marketing and reseller development. We need a proven social media expert who can develop successful promotional campaigns using social networking venues, SEO development, and viral marketing; track and report results; and manage and expand relationships with client resellers. You will develop compelling web content to maximize traffic and sales to the client's website and those of their resellers, while improving and expanding relationships with current and potential online retailers of their merchandise.
You must have an extensive recent background in internet marketing, SEO development, and social media as well as a solid grasp of business analytics and back end metrics. We prefer a candidate with a BA in Business Management or Marketing. You should have excellent written and verbal communication skills and be comfortable interacting with internal and external partners. You should also have a basic understanding of the basic elements of web design and development.
This is a ground-floor opportunity to work with an established brand and cutting-edge engineering concern with a 50-year track record of continuing growth, currently enjoying their best year ever in a down economy. There is strong potential for career advancement based on performance.
Interested parties should forward a cover letter outlining relevant experience and credentials; an updated resume; and any references or relevant web links to Michael at hybridhiring2@mail.com.

So, I can rule-out that I am not the one for this job, any jobs like it, nor do I aspire to be.

My ideas are slowly sharpening and coming to a head, but not quite there yet.
I need to do some more research on being the middleman/agent/coordinator between finding the clients, companies, business who need advertising and promoting and connecting them with expert new media marketing pros.

What I need to research: (Options)
1) Starting my own agent business where I just connect people with people and get a fee. 
Outsourcing the business development for the marketing companies.  This means, getting the clients to do their marketing with certain companies I will contract with.  For example - My brother Howard H Frank DPM runs a podiatry practice in Brooklyn.  I would approach him, a business owner, and offer marketing services to him.  I would not DO the actual marketing services.  The marketing services would be done by a professional marking firm such as "BottomLineMarketing." I would work with companies that would pay me a finder's fee for giving them new business accounts.
2) Start my own media marketing company and do everything.  Get clients, hire freelance marketing media experts and pay them a flat sum per job they do and charge certain amount to the client/business.  I would be the liaison in all aspects.
3) Work for a marketing company as an employee (to start) in the new business department.

Content Marketing, Blogging for Money and SEO - for Other Businesses

This post was apparantly drafted a while ago and was meant to be posted but never got posted.
Content Marketing -  Videos, Webinars, Blogs - to attract people to the sites.
A person needs to be drawn to want to go to a particular site.  The need to want to go there for a number of reasons.  The site may contain promotions, valuable information possibly in a blog, e-books, videos etc.
So, like someone commented about pay-per-click - the PPC will only work if there is a webpage that they will be directed to and they have something on that page they need. 

To sum up: The content marketing is what attracts people to your site - because you are offering them content that they will find helpful.

This helps give a business exposure attracting customers.

Career Opportunites in New Media Advertising and Marketing

As I continue on my journey- which seems to be very self-directed - I am concurrently seeking out all the help I can get from people in the field of new media, digital advertising, internet marketing etc.  People are being helpful and I'm learning new insider bits along the way.

From Scott Burgher on LinkedIn someone with whom I connected with who has been gmailing me some information and shedding some light on the opportunities out there.

This is excerpted from a follow-up e-mail clarifying the various aspects of marketing:

He writes: "In marketing/advertising agencies there are generally two different types of positions (Put aside the business aspect i.e. accounting, payroll etc...); you will either be working on the "account side" or "creative side" - the account side is what I do, we are the front people, we manage the clients, meet with them, determine their needs, and present all the ideas to them (we also do a lot of background work i.e. work with vendors/printers/media to manage the timeliness and placement of all promotions) - we manage the budgets, and the timelines of projects - then there are the creative ones, essentially graphic designers who take the direction of everything gathered from the account side, and put it all together (i.e. ads, commercials, postcards, whatever the promotion is) then its a whole process of the account team taking it back to the client to get approval and so on.....  there are the occasional people who work on the account side and have the creative vision and genius to lead the creative teams....  It used to be that the account side was also responsible to get new accounts, though most marketing agencies now have "new business development" teams which focuses on that (sales)."

Not sure if you're a fan of the show "Mad Men" though the difference would be between Sterling/Campbell (account) and Draper/Peggy (creative).

Of the 3 mentioned, I can rule out the creative side - although I am creative and have lotsa nice ideas - I'm not the graphic designer type.  I'd prefer to negotiate with the client or try to get the client in the first place.  So that would be the account services or sales/business development aspect.  I would choose to work with advertising/marketing and find businesses because it's something that excites me and I can sell.  (More than my passion for selling medical supplies, for example. :)

Creating an Ad on Google Adwords, Online Advertising Marketing

So, I just got approved for an $80 advertising allowance with google adwords.  It was fun setting up the account and my first campaign is titled "New Media."   I was going to start by advertising my brother's businesses, but they do not have websites that promote their businesses and the ads need a place to link to.
The only site I can link to now is mine and one of my goals is to drive traffic to my site so I had the idea to just advertise my own blog !!!  Let's just see if a month showing up in google ads (80 dollars worth) will get me even ONE hit!!!
I created the ad with a short description if this site and used keywords such as "online marketing, blogging, internet advertising, SEO" etc.  We shall check the stats and see what happens.
It's a start.
If I'm going to market something, I'll start with this site.  I'd like to market for others eventually.  Maybe make small websites for companies that don't have any or don't show up in google.

Connecting with Online Marketing Professionals ...

So, in my spare time, I try and connect with people on http://www.linkedin.com/ who are either entrepreneurial, internet marketers, SEO Pros, bloggers, or into e-commerce to learn more and see what is out there.
One guy, with whom I connected e-mailed me back the following reply:
"Its a tough industry to get into right now (not a lot of agencies/firms hiring) -
Do you know in what capacity you want to get in? account work? creative end? new business?"

So, a) a bit discouraging -
      b) let me look into those last 3 options ... Account Work, Creative End, New Business.
I'm not sure what they all are but off the cuff I seem to think "new business" strikes my fancy.
I will google the options.

Ezine.com, Article Marketing, Small Business Marketing, Google...

So, the article I submitted to http://www.ezine.com/ was returned to me with a few comments from their editorial review.  What I submitted originally was my first post on being "New to New Media" from this blog. 
The comments were:
1) "Your article must be informative and share your own exclusive and original content. Include tips, strategies, techniques, case-studies, analysis, opinions and commentary based on your own perspective. Keep in mind that quoted, sourced, or referenced material must NOT exceed 5 lines in TOTAL, and repeating the same basic tips and information across numerous articles is not considered original. Your articles must also be at least 250 word in length.
I'm not sure where I went wrong here... and I don't know how to fix it.

2) I did not use paragraph breaks... (easily fixable)

3) "You can link to EzineArticles.com in your URL providing you are linking to an article in a series or you are linking to your EzineArticles Expert Bio page. Your link does not fall into either of these 2 categories and will need to be changed. 
(I can try to fix this one...)

On a side note: My aunt asked me to explain to her today what I am trying to do with this blog and marketing etc.  Again, as I keep blogging I keep learning, and as I keep learning I keep blogging. 

I got approved for $75 in free google ads and will put up some for my brother - podiatric surgeon and my other brother a mohel and marriage counselor -- either one - just for the experience.  I'd like to possibly specialize in local business marketing ... or at least small business marketing.

Connecting on LinkedIn always helps as well... Thank G-d, I've been pretty successful at that!

Ok, Lotsa New Developments in Online Media Marketing Monetizing Advertising

Don't even know where to start!!!
Again, I must keep stressing, that all of this knowledge in some way or another is all with intention of making money via a web-based medium.  It may end up just selling products or services on-line through an already established e-commerce site like http://www.ebay.com/ or http://www.amazon.com/ because it seems like there is nothing really new to create right now.  Everyone is out there racking their brains to find a new niche in this market.  The goal now is to find my place - what I'm best at doing on-line that I can transfer my skills.
All of this knowledge on web marketing and networking may come in handy to promote either my own business or others - so we shall see.
Right now, my ideas are still in blog marketing or content marketing.  I would most likely offer this as a service to other businesses.  I mentioned this idea in one of my first posts - and it was even suggested to me by Mr. Onlysimchas.  A new term I just found for that is COPYWRITING.
An Advertising Copywriter :
According to Wikipedia, this is somebody who
1) Uses written words to promote something.- either a business, person or idea.
2) Can freelance or be an employee for a copywriting agency, advertising agency, public relations firm, marketing firms...
3) For a budding copywriter - they suggest working as part of an advertising team to learn the marketing and business sense and expand their career opportunities.
(This is all similar to journalism which has always been a tempting field of mine ... ).

Here is the link for further reference- because there is so much to know and I do not want t o be caught plagiarising --- http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Copywriting .