Calculation Suggests Linkedin is Now Worth Over $2 Billion

July 30th, 2010

A recent calculation by Bloomberg suggests that Linkedin has now reached the $2 billion mark. With over 60 million members and tools like “LinkedIn Reasearch Network” for market researchers and investors, the LinkedIn brand has made it to one the top 3 social media networking sites worldwide.

Mashable released an article breaking down the math:

Hedge fund Tiger Global Management spent $20 million to acquire approximately a 1% stake in the business social network. The hedge fund specifically paid $21.50 per share.

…According to SharesPost, an online marketplace for privately held companies, LinkedIn has 105 million shares outstanding. Multiply that by the $21.50 Tiger Global Management spent, and you arrive at a valuation of $2.26 billion.

Via Mashable

How can you tap into the success of social networking sites like Social Harbor, AboutUs and LinkedIn? If you don’t know how to optimally utilize these sites for success, your business or personal brand can get lost in pages of search results. Search Engine Optimization is crutial; SEO is the spigot that controls the amount of exposure your brand will receive. Our service at Social Harbor targets valuable keywords that make sense to your unique company and implement those words frequently into your profiles. The result is a consistent, highly professional image for you, portrayed through effective online content that best represents you and your company.

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Social Media Improves Customer Service

April 23rd, 2010

In Joe Jaffe’s new book, Flip the Funnel, he explains why customer retention is the new acquisition. And why shouldn’t this be the case? In any low level college marketing or advertising course you learn that it is much easier and less costly to retain existing customers rather than trying to acquire new ones. It’s also common sense that someone who has purchased a product or service before is more likely to purchase again than someone who has never purchased that product or service before. So where many companies are focused on getting new customers you should be focused on making sure your loyal, existing customers are happy. As the old saying goes, “A person who has a positive experience may tell one friend; a person who has a negative experience will tell ten friends.” This is where social media comes in.

flip_funnel

In today’s age of Twitter and Facebook, people who comment about experiences with companies do not just tell a few friends, they let all of their Facebook “friends” know and tell all of their Twitter “followers.” Those people may in turn retweet that information to all of their followers or friends and so on. So, in the case of a negative experience this could prove very bad for a company if it does not hear of the situation. This could happen to a company who focuses most of their budget and effort on acquiring customers through mass marketing channels. Whereas if you budget for internet marketing you can monitor social media and be alerted when your products or company are mentioned. So, if you see a negative Twitter comment, you can act on it by contacting the customer and resolving the issue before it gets out of hand.

Social media should also be used to build relationships with customers. Create a digital community and reward loyal customers. Good customer service can turn many customers into brand loyalists who feel emotional connections to the product. Customers who feel connected to a product will not only promote that product but will also come to its aide in hard times. “We need to encourage and engage in dialogue by providing our customers with multiple ways to contact us at will,” says Jaffe. By improving the customer experience you will improve sales and the brand image as a whole.

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Posted in Customer Serivce, Facebook, Social Harbor News, social media | No Comments »

Integrating Search Engine Marketing with Social Media

April 2nd, 2010

A problem many marketers have is how to merge their Paid Search Engine Advertising with their Social Media presence. These two channels work differently and need completely different strategies. Matt Lawson, director of marketing for Marin Software, wrote a great How-To article on Mashable about this subject.

The first thing you need to realize is that Paid Search and Social Media should be used together, not as separate channels that do not communicate. Both have different strengths and weaknesses, so you must leverage each one’s strengths to optimize your marketing campaign. Most marketers agree that the main goal of social media is to build an online presence, communicate with customers, and build brand value. The main goal of Paid Search is to drive sales.

Lawson gives a few tips to optimize the usage of your Paid Search Advertising and Social Media:

Make your Social Media Campaigns Search Friendly. Your social media programs, such as Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, etc, need to be properly tagged and the metadata for your pages include your top keywords. Along with your natural and paid search results, you also want people to find your social media easily.

Experiment With Keyword Advertising on Social Media Sites. Facebook and YouTube both offer keyword advertising programs that are vastly different from Google. Facebook allows you to target users through the preferences and items they put on their profile. YouTube allows you to target search queries. Although, unlike Google, YouTube’s search queries do not usually include a specifc product but rather general content. Make sure you target your ads correctly.

Create Social Media-Influenced Paid Search Campaigns. Take what you learn from your social media, through conversations with your customers and general discussions that are happening around your campaigns, and bid on keywords that reflect this information on search engines like Google, Bing, and Yahoo. Remember to measure the performance of your ads and capitalize on keywords that are more effective.

By integrating your social media and paid search campaigns correctly you will not only build a better brand presence, but you will improve the effectiveness of both campaigns.

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Posted in Business Social Networking | 1 Comment »

Facebook Money Transfer Scam

March 15th, 2010

Here is a Facebook Money Transfer Scam I got hit up with today. Now I know this person from a long time ago. It was completely random early morning chat conversation. I knew something was fishy, and I followed two courses of action.

1. I alerted Facebook that I thought her account was hacked. This link will allow you to report Facebook Scams.

2. I contacted the local police in Cambridge, UK and they said there is not much they could do. There have been a bunch of scams that have been reported to them, so they were well aware of this. But it was difficult for them to pursue it further.

Facebook Scams

I really hope my friend is not in trouble. I could have quizzed more to ask a personal question of how she knew me, etc. But I didn’t do this. She has since emailed me multiple times, asking me to send the details of the wire transfer to an email account. Seems she has access to my friend’s email and Facebook accounts.

Here is the Facebook chat conversation I had with the scammer:

Heather
hey
how are you doing ?
8:48amDerek
Good morning
I’m allright - working - what are you up to?
8:49amHeather
not good at the moment in a deep mess
8:49amDerek
what happened?
8:49amHeather
am stuck in London i went there on a short vacation
8:49amDerek
oh jeez
why are you stuck?
8:50amHeather
I was mugged at a gun point last night all cash on me was stolen my cell and credit card off me
8:51amDerek
omg
that’s terrible
freaky
scary
8:51amHeather
I thank God am still alive and am still with my passport …am freaked out here i need your help
8:52amDerek
what do you need?
8:53amHeather
am having a little problem in settling the hotel bills before leaving i need you to loan me some few bucks
8:54amDerek
how can I get you the money?
8:54amHeather
you can get the money wire to me Via western union on my name
Do you know any western union outlet around you ?
8:55amDerek
yeah there are some close by
just send it to you?
is there some number?
8:55amHeather
all you need is my name and my location
8, Scotland Road Industrial Estate, Dry Drayton Cambridge CB23 8AT , United Kingdom
Heather S*****
8:57amDerek
OK
It may take me a couple hours to get over there -
how much do you need?
8:57amHeather
1450
8:58amDerek
euros or $
8:58amHeather
euros
can you head down there now
8:58amDerek
woah that’s a lot of cash
have a 9 AM meeting
after that I open up
8:59amHeather
I promise i will def refund it as soon as am back home
8:59amDerek
OK - where are you living these days?
9:00amHeather
am in a public library now …am freaked out here
can you head down to the nearest western union around you ..
9:01amDerek
yes
9:01amHeather
how long would it take you ?
9:03amDerek
1 hour or so
9:03amHeather
ok
i want you to get the western union transfer details send to my email address
in case am not online
9:04amDerek
ok
9:04amHeather
*******@yahoo.com
9:04amDerek
what email?
OK
I can do that
9:05amHeather
I want you to send me a test mail now ..

Beware of Facebook Phishing Scams. It’s scary to get hit up for so much money and if you don’t know it’s real, better to be safe than sorry. Certainly don’t send money via Western Union as it’s hard to track, and you could simply lose your money w/o helping anyone. I hope to connect w/ my friend at some point - once she regains her accounts. I am not sure how to reach her now, because I believe all her emails to be compromised.

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Posted in Business Social Networking, Facebook | 5 Comments »

Ignite Ann Arbor part of Global Ignite Week

March 2nd, 2010

March 1st kicked off the beginning of the first Global Ignite Week which is taking place in over 60 cities on 6 continents.

Ignite is a high-energy evening of 5-minute talks by people who have an idea—and the guts to get onstage and share it with their hometown crowd. Run by local volunteers who are connected through the global Ignite network, Ignite is a force for raising the collective IQ and building connections in each city.  And, via streaming and archived videos of local talks, local Ignites share all that knowledge and passion with the world. While Ignite has been around since 2006, this year’s coordinated Global Ignite Week initiative is a first of its kind — with more than 12,000 people slated to attend 72 events spanning six continents — that’s bound to become the talk of the Web over the week, and perhaps after.

global-ignite-week

Ignite got its start in Seattle in December, 2006, as a personal project of Brady Forrest and Bre Pettis. They dreamed up an event where people could share their ideas over beer, and sent word out through their network. From there, it exploded. After the first Ignite, word got out and other communities wanted Ignite in their cities. A little more than 3 years later, we have come to the first Global Ignite Week.

Ignites will be held all over the world, one of these being in Ann Arbor, Michigan, USA. Ignite Ann Arbor has many topics on the menu for the night but one in particular has a major impact on the area. Derek Mehraban will be promoting A2Fiber, which is the city of Ann Arbor’s movement to be chosen by Google as one of the cities they plan to build and test ultra-high speed broadband networks in. A Google Fiber-Optic network would be a big win for one of the technological hubs of Michigan.

Go to the Ignite website to find a Global Ignite Week event near you.

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Vacation Property and Home Exchange by 3rd Home

February 2nd, 2010

Do you own a second home? Maybe you barely use it and wish to take advantage of it more? 3rd Home is a vacation property and home exchange club you should take a look at. 3rd Home is comprised of a community of second home owners, just like you, who are looking to expand the use of their vacation houses.

The idea is simple, you join the community and get to experience their vacation homes!

3rd Home - Vacation Property and Home Exchange3rd Home - Vacation Property and Home Exchange

Here’s how they describe it:

3rd Home fills a need expressed by second-home owners to “expand” the use of their second homes. Whether home owners are too busy to visit their vacation homes or simply want a different getaway experience, our goal is simple: To create the finest, luxury, second home exchange program in the world - with the highest standards in the industry. 3rd Home provides exclusive access to the finest vacation homes and villas at some of the most desirable resorts and private destinations in the world.

A big advantage to this way of traveling is the private getaway experience. Imagine that car from the airport taking you to a private mansion instead of that busy hotel lobby. You can vacation with your significant other or family in the decadence of a beautiful vacation home without fighting for a spot at the pool.

This truly is the best way to vacation, and 3rd Home is the perfect gateway to these luxurious travel accommodations.

Check out their website to browse the beautiful properties: http://www.3rdhome.com

They’ve got some exciting exclusive photos on their Facebook Page too: http://www.facebook.com/3rdHome

Or you can follow their updates on Twitter: http://twitter.com/3rdHome

3rd Home - Vacation Property and Home Exchange3rd Home - Vacation Property and Home Exchange

Put your second home to use. 3rd Home is the premier vacation property management and home exchange website. Exchange your second home with other luxurious vacation houses and enjoy exclusive access to some of the most desirable resorts and private destinations in the world.

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Experts Share Their Predictions for Social Media in 2010

December 28th, 2009

What will 2010 bring for Social Media? The experts have weighed in.

TrendsSportting Market Research has released its report on 2010 Social Media predictions. The report is comprised of educated opinions from some of the biggest names in the game. David Meerman Scott, Seth Godin, Chris Brogan, Pete Cashmore, and also the team at eMarketer all give their forecast.

The forecast they’re each painting has some common trends.

The experts are betting we’ll see a stronger push into mobile landscapes and location based networking & marketing. Transparency will continue gain steam as the most important thing for brands to keep in mind, and it’s no secret everyone will be paying much more attention to Social Media Measurement and ROI in  2010. Many people are predicting a shift from the enormous social networks we know today, to smaller and more segmented communities.

You can check out the entire slide show right here, then let us know your thoughts in the comments:

TrendsSpotting’s 2010 Social Media Influencers - Trend Predictions in 140 Characters

View more documents from Taly Weiss.

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Social Media for the Evolving Business

November 20th, 2009

Social media is slowly changing the face of how businesses get, respond, and discover new information. Those that do not adapt will simply die, but the ones that embrace social media, will undoubtedly succeed and be seen as leaders in that field of business.

Courtesy of @Mashable, here are four ways that social media is altering businesses:

1. From “Trying to Sell” to “Making Connections”

Show some personality, that is part of your brand. Engage with your customers by telling them what’s going on when the 9-5 job ends. If you’re transparent and “put yourself out there,” people feel more comfortable about doing business with those companies.

business social networking

2. From”Large Campaigns” to “Small Acts”

Less is more.

Less is more. It bears repeating. The cliché of the decade, but it couldn’t be more true, especially when opting to use social media in your business plan. Focus on the niche mediums that your target audience utilizes. This allows you to better connect and track them; you won’t be wasting millions of dollars blasting your message to world, not knowing who saw it and if they responded to your call-to-action.
People share stories through the web. It is much faster. So if your customer has a negative experience, you need to make sure you address their concerns before it becomes too viral. It pays for companies to pay attention to the one-on-one customer relationships forged via social media.

3. From “Controlling our Image” to “Being Ourselves”

This reinforces rule #1 — personality. Don’t control your employees so that your company is portrayed as this squeaky-clean, monotonous factory. Allow your employees to write and talk about hobbies that they’re passionate about outside of work.
Take a page from Google’s 70/20/10 rule, which allows employees to spend 20% of their time on “Innovation time off” pursuing their own ideas that relate to Google and then 10% of their time on stuff completely unrelated to Google. “By doing this, Google gains a loyal employee by allowing them to do whatever they want without Big Brother looking over their shoulder.  At the same time, it captures innovative thinking due to random stimulation.” (the99percent)

4. From “Hard to Reach” to “Available Everywhere”

People want to interact with and engage businesses via their chosen means of communication, whether that is Twitter, Facebook, discussion forums, etc. Company telephone numbers and e-mail addresses will not suffice any longer. If I’m loyal to a brand, and I see that they use Twitter or Facebook often, it makes me feel more comfortable knowing I can communicate with their company through those means. Allow customers to communicate through their chosen means, not yours.

Don’t be dinosaur and stick with what you’re comfortable with (i.e. old media). You’ll go extinct like they did. Instead, jump ship to where the future of interactivity is going.

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LinkedIn and Twitter Join Forces

November 13th, 2009

Earlier this week, social networking mega-sites LinkedIn and Twitter joined forces. Why it didn’t happen sooner is anyone’s guess.

Both companies, now synced, earn ample benefits from their respective partners, such as data exchange and worthwhile business intelligence. LinkedIn users will able to update their statuses more frequently and appeal to a younger demographic. Twitter can gain access to LinkedIn’s influential and growing user base.

In your LinkedIn settings, you can link your account to Twitter to allow for every tweet to be posted as your LinkedIn status, or just the ones that include either the #li or #in hashtag.

Where this ends up is anyones guess, but for now, enjoy the new networking feature.

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Delicious Organizes Your Favorite Websites

November 6th, 2009

Social bookmarking site Delicious.com helps you keep track of all the sites you want to remember. It’s free and easy to use.

Simply register for a Delicious account and upload the “Tag” button to your browser. This will make it quicker and easier to bookmark pages you find interesting.

Suppose you’re trying to find information on Google Ad Words. You search the Internet and find a page you like. Tag the site, and a window will open asking for new information. This is where you can input relevant keywords, or tags, that will allow you to return to this specific Web site link after you’ve accrued different Web site links

Say you tag one article as “Fundamentals,” because it’s a useful site about getting started with Google Ad Words.

Delicious Organizes Your Favorite Websites

A few weeks pass and you accumulate more links.

Let’s say you want to return to the introduction to Ad Words article, the one tagged “Fundamentals.” Click the tag on the right-hand sidebar that says “Fundamentals,” and immediately, your list will consolidate to show just the links you tagged with “Fundamentals.”

Now lets see why Delicious is “social bookmarking.”

There are lots of other marketers and advertisers using Ad Words, and they’ve probably come across some useful sites that you’ve missed. Delicious’ bookmarks are made public. This means peers can see your bookmarks and use your tags; your bookmarks can benefit other people.

Delicious takes the most-clicked on article from that keyword and shifts it to the top. So the most applicable and trustworthy site is the first one users can select. Because they’re all public, everyone discovers new and relevant information. Together, this creates a steady stream of useful Web sites, all linked together by tags.

The lesson is that social bookmarking takes a world of chaos and make it orderly and helpful for other people.

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