John Mayer Calls for a Digital Cleanse to Bring in the New Year

When was the last time you corresponded via a personalized letter? Remember when you actually had to pick up the phone and call someone? With texting, Twitter, Facebook and e-mail replacing everyday communication, the New Year may be a time to take a step back from all of today's technology and remember that you can't always express yourself in 140 characters.

Yesterday, John Mayer urged his Twitter followers to take part in a New Year's Digital Cleanse in an effort to "defrag" our technologically overloaded minds. Mayer suggests a one-week cleanse, beginning January 1st and ending on January 8th, which doesn't require you to completely remove technology from your life, only take a step back. Here's the recipe:

• email only from laptop or desktop computers.

• cell phones can only be used to make calls, and no text messages or e-mails are allowed – if you receive a text, you must reply in voice over the phone.
  

• no use of Twitter or any other social networking site – including reading as well as posting.

• no visiting of any entertainment or gossip sites.

Following these guidelines should be manageable for even the most connected individuals. Work commitments may prevent you from participating in the cleanse, but it is still refreshing to think about how far communication has come, even just over the last year.

Counting Down Around the World

It has been a tradition since the early 1900s to celebrate the famous “New Year’s Eve Ball Drop of Times Square.” But do you ever wonder how others around the world bring in the big day? There was a neat posting in the Bing Community today referencing just this. Did you know that the Japanese culture typically brings in the New Year by more calming activities such as cleaning the house? Check out Bing’s “New Year’s Around the World” for some amazing images.

So from New York to Australia [and everyone in between] and however you prefer to bring in the New Year -- may it be a prosperous one for all!

Start Off the New Year By Getting Better Acquainted with Facebook

A great resource on Facebook that surfaced this week is brought to you by Mashable.com. The Facebook Guide Book is a great resource to bookmark for anything Facebook related. Whether it is learning the basics, to learning how to use Facebook for business, this guide will help you get started.

Towards the bottom of the guide, feature Facebook posts by the Mashable team, such as popular Facebook lists and most recent Facebook news. If you want to start the new year learning about Facebook, I think this is a great place to start.

Pay Per Click Advertising Tip - Define Customer Personas

When setting up a pay per click advertising campaign, a very important key to success is to break your campaigns into tight, granular ad groups. One way to carefully segment campaigns is to identify customer personas.

As internet users, we don't all search for the same products and services the same way. Different demographic groups may use slightly different search phrases and respond differently to offers. For this reason, it is important to understand what groups would be interested in your product or service and how to speak to them through your advertising.

Identify your customer subsets and give them names (i.e. high school students, soccer moms, etc). Think about the words each segment would search that would result in a sale/lead. Set up a different ad group for each customer segment and focus on the phrases that specific group would likely search. This will also allow you to present different ad copy/creative and landing pages to each segment.

InternetMarketingClub.org Presents Why The Small Screen Gets BIG Results!

There will soon be more mobile phones than there are people on the planet. If you are like most people, that phone in your pocket has dramatically changed your behavior and the way you think about and access your information, communications and entertainment. For the younger generations, the mobile phone truly is the center of their universe and the hub for their social interactions. What better place for advertisers and marketers to reach a captive and attentive audience?

In this discussion we will review:

• Why Mobile? Another device vs. a personal accessory…
• Mobile Advertising vs. Mobile Marketing
• If Content is King, is mobile content Master of the Universe?
• Is there really an App for that? How should marketers leverage the current “app” craze

Jeff Sass is the VP of Business Development for leading Mobile Entertainment site, Myxer. With more than 28 million users, Myxer delivers over 70 million mobile downloads per month and is a pioneer in ad-supported mobile content. A former entertainment and game industry exec, Jeff Sass has more than 10 years experience in Mobile and was co-founder and CEO of early mobile commerce player, BarPoint.com.

This webinar will take place on Wednesday, December 30, 2009 12:30pmEST – 1:30pmEST. To register please visit: Why The Small Screen Gets BIG Results!

Social Media for Small Businesses

Sarah Evans - the face of PR Newswire - had one of my favorite posts this weekend:









As an Internet marketer, I have to agree. Not everyone, and everything, needs a Facebook fan page, or a Twitter account, for that matter. Let's face it - it can get annoying. However, social media does have its place in the Web marketing toolbox. And especially for small businesses on a limited budget, social media can be effective - if it's used properly.

According to a recent article in eMarketer, lead generation is the biggest benefit social media brings to small businesses. Other benefits as listed in the "Small Business Marketing Forecast 2010" from Ad-ology include:


















Like any marketing or advertising campaign, social media efforts need to focused, with a clear strategy and measurable goals. Unfortunately, most small businesses face several challenges when it comes to using social media effectively, including a lack of education and/or the necessary resources to use the channel effectively.

So, before you build that Facebook page or create your Twitter account, think about what you want to accomplish... If you aren't sure what, how or where to begin, get some help from an expert. As we've seen in many instances, a misstep in the social media world can cause more harm than good. By engaging someone familiar with the channel to help you get started, you'll reduce the risk of a foux paux, as well as the learning curve, and see results faster.

Christmas Cheer… Can’t Forget the Donkey

For those of you who celebrate the holiday – Merry Christmas!

I think today is a very fitting day to have a little fun with this post and enjoy some Christmas related viral videos. Below are a few I know you will enjoy!


What a great mashup isn’t it?


Funny thing about this song – I didn’t even know of it until a few months ago; now I hear it everywhere I go.



Last but not least - I saw this video on CNN this morning and thought it would be a great share. Do you think it is real?