@BasilPuglisi

Content & Strategy, Powered by Factics & AI, Since 2009

internet marketing

Twitter: Business & Brands Now Trending

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Twitter is becoming part of our lives whether we are active users or not. Twitter has found itself as the exclusive information tool, scooping Osama Bin Laden Death and now the latest in business and brands. There are so many uses to this short burst of 140 characters, and new ones are being discovered every day. We cannot ignore its existence because it touches many aspects of our lives.

One aspect of today’s world brought about by Twitter is that secrets are something much harder to keep these days. Tweets by innocent bystanders about a clandestine operation can foil a mission. Tweets of conduct unbecoming elected official find themselves, with one mistaken click of a button, broadcasted to the whole world. A claim of hacking did not hold water in Anthony Weiner’s case and another claim of hacking, this time on FoxNewsPolitics, are being investigated by the security services. On July 4, 2011, six tweets appeared from that source announcing the premature death of President Obama, who was presumably assassinated in a Diner. Jokes aside (“The rumors of my demise are greatly exaggerated” Mark Twain said so succinctly), it poses a great risk to the validity of news sources.

Theoretically, to prevent foul play, Twitter has a service called Verified Tweets, which has been in existence since 2009. Twitter is using it to prevent confusion by verifying the person behind the account. It has been done with important and famous people and with Twitter’s advertisers and partners. The verification process was open to the public for a short time in beta testing, but it is now closed. “In the meantime, we’re still verifying some trusted sources, such as our advertisers and partners. If you’re one of our partners or advertisers, please follow up with your account manager for details.” It says on their blog. Obviously Fox news is a verified tweeter, so what about trusting the news?

And there’s the aspect of commerce using Twitter. “Promoted tweets” are ones that are paid for by the advertiser. Twitter handles 50 million tweets a day and Promoted Tweets are twitter advertising platform. In Apr. 2010 Twitter.com rolled out a system where ads can appear at the top of some Twitter.com search results pages. They are labeled as “Promoted “and retain all the other functions of a tweet. Twitter.com has expand it to Promoted Accounts, in which people and brands are buying their way onto your “who to follow” list.

It seems that while some larger companies are still trying to figure out social media, there are those who already have. Here are some, that experts agree, who excel in using Twitter.

  • Starbucks – 1.5 million followers and is the most socially engaged. It ranks on top of fast customer interaction. It’s about the relationships with the customer, they say, not marketing. Which is a good marketing slogan in itself. Starbucks hosts polls, contests and shares photos and videos.

  • Southwest Airlines – Tries to replicating the casual atmosphere on their flights into their tweets. The only company that knows how to make someone LUV the company (LUV is the Love Field in Dallas, the headquarters of the company).
  • New York Times – This news organization broadcasts the news in 140 characters. It has subchannels for specific interests and reaches 2.4 million readers.
  • JetBlue – After their nightmare in 2007 (“a day on the tarmac”) JetBlue is keeping constant communication with its followers (1.6 million). It uses tweets to broadcast special deals to their 50,000 most loyal customers. They have 14 people tweeting for the account; assisting, apologizing and solving problems.
  • Zappos – The online retailer keeps in touch with its customers, encouraging anybody, from the CEO to the newest employee to join the party.
  • Cisco Systems – The company shows how well business to business can do on twitter. They ask and answer questions.
  • Bergdorf Goodman – They tweet about New York, fashion and style, engaging their customers in conversations and showing them things the followers would be interested in.
  • Whole Foods Market – They use Twitter to go deep in their customers’ needs and test new concepts. They extend the discussion to the philosophy behind their business.
  • Dell – Getting their inventory and older equipment out the door fast, Dell is using Twitter. It is a fast grapevine that broadcasts the news. The sales are $3 million a year using this method.
  • Home depot – It goes beyond product and store questions to help in many home improvement projects.

A great example of how I have seen twitter impact communication and win business can be seen in these two previous articles:

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CzyD-cTRoAA]

 

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Lujure: A Fundamental Shift in Facebook Marketing for Small Business

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Lujure’s Assembly Line represents the most profound shift in advertising and marketing that one hopes to continue to see in social media. The power of Facebook cannot be ignored; it represents a marketing tool that has changed the way that we do business and is the pinnacle representation of web 2.0.

It is with great conflict that I prepare this article.

It is not easy to balance the role of entrepreneur and founder of a nonprofit, at least not in a case like this. You see, the entrepreneur loves having been on the ground floor getting insight to one of the most profound business and social tools to ever hit facebook, the opportunity for profit is endless…

However, the conflict comes to an imbalance once I think about the legacy I wish to leave in social media, business and my desire to make a difference. This article displays my commitment to the mission statement of DBMEi.

Like everything else in this publication, I share it with the hope that it finds its way into the hands of others who can use it to better not just their own lives and business, but that of others as well. – Basil C. Puglisi

Web 1.0 was ‘here I am, come to me’. Web 3.0 hopes to be ‘bring your “whatever” with you anywhere at any time’ and I believe that history will show that both pale in comparison to web 2.0’s ability to bring a product, concept, message and dream into the crowd.

The most profound part of web 2.0 is still lost on most and for those that do get it, Lujure is tearing down the barriers that once prevented great ideas, products and causes from reaching the world.

Erik Qualman used the term “World of Mouth” when talking about the Social Media Revolution, and while I believe his claim that social media was “here” may have been mostly accurate, it is only with the help of companies like Lujure that one can truly understand the power of social media.

While there will always be a place for those that master an art or develop a skill for advertising and marketing, technology like Lujure’s Assembly Line is empowering novices into professionals.

While it is now supported by many professionals that social media is an important tool in business, it was still plagued with the class system. While marketers, designers and coders still have an advantage, for some, Lujure just made the gap a whole lot smaller.

Lujure’s product is a drag-and-drop application that allows novice business owners to prepare a custom facebook tab for their business pages.

With little more than the average smart phone, a young entrepreneur can take their idea, concept, or belief and share it with the world. Advances in cell phone technology provided the hardware and social media provided the stage, along with an endless supply of leads. The missing keystone for most was the ability to present professionally and convert leads to sales, supporters, voters, etc… Lujure has done just that.

It is not just the product that has been impressive, Nathan Latka, a co-founder and CEO shows the type of commitment to innovation and quality that resembles the impact that Steve Jobs had for Apple. I noticed this the first time at the Likeable Conference during Internet Week and found it reinforced in a recent Facebook wall post:

“It really comes down to business owners staying focused on giving value to their communities. Master this and everything else falls in place. Cheers!” Nathan Latka to Basil Puglisi July 14 1:33AM.

Nathan’s selflessness is exemplified where in private communications he takes the time to share:

I couldn’t have done this without my incredibly bright co-founders, Josh Gunter and Brian Putt.

I was fortunate to get some (off the record) insight from Nathan Latka as to his ambitions for Lujure and I see promise for the future of this company and its products. If Lujure remains a service solution based company it should innovate with the world even if Facebook does not.

Lujure draws upon the best that Social Media has to offer, enabling facebook pages as viral marketing tools to connect via LinkedIn, Google+, Twitter, YouTube and more. It also offers ecommerce tools to help navigate successful conversions.

What makes Lujure’s Assembly Line platform so impressive is the ease with which the average person can use it. While I support the argument that designers, marketers, and coders are still an advantage, Lujure has given the playing field a big tilt back towards center for entrepreneurs and small business owners lacking these skills.

This product is and will continue to be a key part of how I help businesses, organizations, and political candidates reach and share with their communities and the world. I believe that Lujure has captured the very essence of the “World of Mouth” concept that makes the social media revolution a reality. Lujure made room at the table for anyone with the inspiration and courage to create on their own.

To Nathan and his team, congrats on making small business owners your priority and building a business and platform around solutions, not just a trend.

To those who have a cause, dream, believed or created something but didn’t know how, or could not afford to spread the word to the world… meet Lujure!

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OHwUih6dLCk]

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ReferralKey Can Help to Grow Your Business

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Tapping into the largest referral network available, ReferralKey has previously been described as a skillful collaboration of Angie’s List and LinkedIn, the social business network.

This system of referring business owners, among business owners and consumers allows users to build a network of contacts while building list of reputable businesses with reliable contractors and other professionals.

ReferralKey focuses on one prime element: You scratch my back, I’ll scratch yours. It also relies a bit on depending on others to have as much net etiquette as you do. While users build a network of contacts, they also refer those they know. Hopefully, those who get referrals will be kind enough or happy enough to promote you in your industry in return. In this manner, everyone is able to enjoy the benefits of this simple but valuable exchange.

Sign Up for ReferralKey

Signing up for ReferralKey is easy and requires no more than the basics. Once signed in users are brought swiftly to their dashboard where they can make decisions on elements of ReferralKey such as:

  • Profile Creation
  • Adding Colleagues
  • Setting Rewards for Referrals

When first visiting the dashboard users should select their settings options and choose how to receive alerts, as well as profile and other privacy options.

Users can also advertise their businesses, by location and industry on ReferralKey. Doing so will also register your listing with several search engines. This will also increase the odds of other consumers finding the listing.

Although users can create their own free profiles and accounts, users are only allowed to receive three referrals before they are prompted and required to purchase a paid account. There are different plans depending on user choice.

The light plan, referred to as the Silver Key, is $10 USD per month, the Gold Key plan cost $20 USD per month. Users should study the difference in plans before making an educated decision about which would be best for their small or growing business.

This service can be solid and quite successful if the referrals help a user’s business to generate a lucrative amount of revenue. With the easy-to-navigate and use site, while providing a great deal of helpful information regarding your own contacts and in your industry.

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Why Online Videos are Important to Your Business?

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Videos are increasingly attracting huge audiences online. People love to share online video content, especially young people. They post them on social networking sites or spread them through e mails. Marketing people say that if you are not using video in your marketing campaign, you might soon be behind the crowd.

Why is that?

Think about this simple fact: 1 minute of video equals 1.8 million words, as demonstrated by Dr. James McQuivey of Forester Research. The amount of information contained in one single frame can take 3 pages to describe. The mood, the colors, the message is seen immediately. It is a known fact that people engage more when they watch a video and tend to stay watching it. They are also happy to pass it along.

Since e commerce has become so impersonal, a video that shows the business owner, the business itself and the products makes it more personal and human. There is now a face behind the business. The choice of music in the background makes the experience fun and uplifting, retaining the audience.

How big will online video be in a marketing campaign? It will be huge the experts say. Statistics done by Cisco.com and Invodo.com reveals some amazing facts:

  • In their estimation video will be about 90% of all internet traffic in 2013.
  • 64% of retail site visitors who view video stay two minutes longer in average compared to a site that does not contain video. In the e commerce world, the longer a visitor stays on the site, the greater the chances of him turning into a buyer.
  • Between January 2010 and January 2011 viewing time of videos grew by an amazing 44.5%.
  • Video in e mail marketing has been shown to increase click through by 96%!
  • With the right optimization, video increases the chances of a front-page Google search result by 53 times.
  • Internet retailers report that visitors who view product videos are 85% more likely to buy the product than visitors who do not look at videos.

With these kinds of numbers, no wonder many experts turn to video in an attempt to get to the first page of the search engines.

Studies reveal the need for engagement from the viewers, and videos provide this kind of engagement. Just like comments and reviews on product pages, YouTube looks at the number of comments to a video when it decides which video should be on their front page. It’s more than just broadcasting, videos engage audiences and sends them to your site if the video is insightful, funny, gives information, educates and talks about people – how your product can help others to be more… what they want to be.

Where do most of those videos originate? On Google, 82% of video originate from YouTube, 3% from DailyMotion, 2% from MetaCafe, 1% from Google video and 10% from other sites which support self-hosted videos.

On Bing, 38% of the videos come from YouTube, 37% from Bing, 9% from Vevo, 4% from Fox News, 3% from CNN and other news organizations. The others, about 5%, come from different sites.

Does it mean we all need to become film makers? Not necessarily. There are many ways to create sales and promotions video; telling a story (which is the most complicated), using a simple camera and following the owner around, using screen shots, animation or just captions with music in the background to explain a complicated point. The big companies have been doing so for some years now but with modern technology, cheap cameras and free software, everyone can do it too.

Videos are an Information Experience:

Here is a law firm talking about the importantce of video, almost as if the lawyer is selling the product he just bought!

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9t2RmvrfV7k]

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Google +1 Goes Live with Adwords

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Google Experimental Labs has been testing its +1 feature, similar to a Facebook “Like” for a few months now. For those participating in the experiment, a +1 box at the end of each website’s title on a search engine query display allowed them to give their digital stamp of approval to sites they enjoy.

So far, the Google +1 experiment has fared reasonably well during its beta term. When participating in the experiment any user viewing a search engine query display can see where anyone in their network has given their virtual thumbs up on a site.

Adwords +1

Now however, Google has plans to add the +1 feature to their Adwords advertisements. This means that if your business has an Adwords campaign, any viewing this ad can choose to give it their approval with a +1 click. This also means that anyone in that persons network who sees the same ad, will see that their friend has also given the ad their approval.

How could this be beneficial to your business? If, for instance, you are in the travel business and are using a Google Adwords campaign to advertise your seaside hotel in Florida, and a group of office workers in Illinois are planning a visit to your area, likely many will take to the net.

If office worker A’s daughter took a trip to the same area last year, loved your resort, and gave the Adwords display a +1 click to show her approval, perhaps office worker A, will also give it a click, check into your resorts amenities, and decide upon you for their impending stay.

This worker also likely has their co-workers in their network, so as their co-workers do their own searches, and see your ad, they could see the same ad, +1’d by their trusty co-workers, and now you have several who are on the way to your resort as quickly as they can get there.

+1 Your Landing Page

Business owners will now also want to take advantage of adding the Google +1 option to their landing pages, right next Twitter and Facebook most likely. Adding this will give viewers the ability to +1 your site from the inside, and not just from their displayed search engine results.

This gives those who are fans of your website the ability to share with their friends without intrusive interaction. They will simply be able to see whether or not any of their friends connections would choose your site out of a list of sites, or advertisements, when queried. 

Early critiques attack the need to be logged into a google account to particiapte or see the results, but prticiaption issues exist with facebook too. Even more intereting is that the latest trend in sharing seems to be LinkedIn. While the +1 has done well in the early beta stages, only time will tell how google’s answer to the facebook “like” will playout over time.

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Social Media Trends in Europe and Russia

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The use of social media is certainly not limited to the United States alone. In fact, for some internet users, social media networks may have been their first experience in connecting to someone outside of their own local, state, or even country.

Russia has a significantly different social media audience in the simple fact that in comparison to the U.S. it is extremely small. The total online population of Russia is just under 60,000 and only 42% of that population is using online capabilities at all.

Russian Demographics

According to eMarketer, 61.9 million people in Russia will use the internet by 2013. This would be a significant jump from 2009 where the number rested at 45.8 million. Although the minor numbers may seemingly indicate otherwise, Russians are actually the most arduous social networkers when it comes the length of time spent on social media sites per user.

Odnoklassniki, Russia’s main social network has a reported user-base of around 30 million. The site helps to connect classmates in Russia and the Ukraine and has over 8 million visitors per day. Nearly 75% of the online population of Russia visited at least one social networking site during the month of the study in August of 2010.

Russians are spending more than double the worldwide average time of 4.5 hours on social networking sites. This makes it rank high at #1 among all countries with reported social networking statistics and open social media option engagement. Following Russia is Israel with an average of just over 9 hours per visitor. Israel is followed by Turkey with 7.6 hours per user spent on social networking websites.

This means that in spite of Facebook’s worldwide powerful command in social networking sites, in an overall majority of this specific internet market, Facebook actually ranks fifth in Russia with just over 4.5 million users. However, recent years have seen increasing growth in Russian internet users who utilize Facebook as a social network option.  This is causing Facebook to quickly outpace the other five top social networking sites. 

European Social Media Statistics

Currently, the top ten countries for social networking are ranked by the time spent per visitor. The current worldwide average time for visitors spent on social networking websites is 4.5 hours. In a 2009 Rapleaf study, it was shown that females are far more active in social media than men. However, this study was focused on the U.S. A newer study from Comscore showed that the same rang true for European countries such as France, Germany, Italy, and Spain. It should be no great surprise that the younger set of females ages 15 to 24 spend the most time of all age groups on social sites than their male counterparts at a generous 8.4 hours each month. What may be a bit more astonishing  is that the next age group on social media time consumption lists isn’t the 25 to 34 year olds, but the older group in the 45 to 54 year olds. The studies actually showed that the 45 to 54 year olds spent more than double the amount of time on social networking sites than the males of the same age group.

The short top ten list of countries leading in social networking capabilities are:

  1. Russia
  2. Israel
  3. Turkey
  4. UK
  5. Philippines
  6. Canada
  7. Indonesia
  8. Finland
  9. Spain
  10. Puerto Rico

Many European countries utilize social media websites that are not commonly used by U.S. internet users.

Friendster is relatively popular in Russia, while Hi 5 is frequented visited by users in Spain and Italy more often. Netlog is also highly popular in Spain and an unfamiliar sight for U.S social media users known as Studvyiz, is Germany’s most popular social media outside of Facebook and Myspace.

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Transparency & Social Media

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Embracing social media 100% may be the best investment, you as a business owner, can make for your company and brand. However, businesses already renowned in the social media world, can also be considered pioneers of this method of advertising and marketing.

Although many have heard of the benefits, fear of possible damage may have kept them at bay long enough that they are just now dipping a toe in the proverbial social media pool. Some of these businesses may be ultimately considered about the meaning behind the transparency of social media  as well as the implementation of.

Social media marketers speak about social media transparency and the importance of being open, authentic, and honest about their company’s brands or opportunities. However, keeping in mind that it is all about the people, and little of the product, that is the most important element of maintaining a balance in social media transparency.

What is Social Media Transparency?

Commonly, this phrase is used in reference with news media to inform the public why and how the business gathers information from a variety of sources. This is really no different than providing the name of which reliable source told you what. We already regularly do this in our daily rumor mills. The discussion of odd or unusual details may illicit a “who told you that?” Social media transparency only makes this a proactive measure. “This is what I heard, and here are the reliable sources that support that notion.”

As a business, sometimes your only role is to provide those details, the who as important as the why, and for many companies, being a reliable source of sources is just as important to their visibility. Regardless of the stepping stones of sources, the point is to lend credibility to your message, and build trust with your consumers.

As an individual we check-in and tweet with data, photos and more, so if we are transparent, we expect business to do the same right?

Transparency in Digital Media

When considering this element in relation to social media and most certainly when it comes to covering or reviewing products, or social business blogging, the main focus is to be open and honest in all elements of what you share. Are you doing a review for the new iPad? Share right away with your viewers that you received an iPad to research and blog about their product. As long as it breaches no contract, it is also good to share if you may not have received a free device to do your review, but that your review was paid or sponsored by another source.

It can also be used as a simple means of saying “Hey, I heard about this idea from a post at www.referencedsource.com and thought I’d share my opinion, thoughts, or review of this idea.” Not only is this the transparency that should be focused on, it is also good netiquette. It is the acknowledgement that while your post or blog is not created by a specific expert in a field, it is based on one, and here is the person who wrote the material that inspired your own.

If your business or brand is highly followed on Twitter for a specific reason. Perhaps because you are the go-to company who helps to determine the safest toys for children. Advertising a toy as ‘safe’ because you were paid to do so, without sharing that you were paid to do so, is not only misleading, but can be the beginning of the end of your brand and every consumer who values its sources.

Can You Trust Me?

Although not all reasons behind transparency can present such dire consequences as the reference to children’s toys, the lack of transparency can indeed cause a shining company to fail simply due to lack of disclosure.

Social media is no doubt, a double-edged sword. The same format that can make your company’s brand a vital one, can also hammer away at it until transparency transforms into invisibility.

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The Pros and Cons of Article Base Sites

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The Pros and Cons of Article Base Sites

Although many small business and subsequently website owners may have their content creation options well in hand, others can struggle when it comes to supplying their websites or blogs with fresh topics and themes. Though the concept of article bases are far from new, they are certainly increasing in popularity as small businesses spring up all over the net daily.

How Can an Article Base Benefit a Small Business?

If you asked most website owners if they would like free content for their sites or blogs, you would be likely to get an odd look, a sly smile, and questioned on what kind of tricks you have up your sleeve. However, article bases really are a cut-and-dried option in many aspects.

  • Users can sign up to most article base sites for no cost
  • Small businesses owners can browse topics, read over articles, and choose those they enjoy for their own sites
  • Most sites have no limit on how many articles or blogs a user can choose to utilize from their available content

Article base sites sound pretty lucrative for a business owner so far, but what are the direct benefits for a company’s bottom line and their web presence or brand awareness?

Article Base Pros

  • Money that would be used to pay for content can be used in another needy facet of a small businesses marketing campaign
  • Business owners who create their own content can save their valuable time by using free content from article base sites
  • Browsing article sites can give a business owner ideas about new aspects or elements of their business that may attract the general public
  • Business owners may gain more insight as to what they can expect when and if they do pay for their content in the future
  • Using article base sites may help a small business website owner to find a content creation employee at an affordable price

With all of those pros, exactly why isn’t every business owner on the net clamoring to get the best articles from base sites daily? It may be due to a few of the important cons that can come with the usage of them.

Article Base Cons

Many business owners forego the usage of article bases for a few reasons.

Proper Crediting

Most often articles on article bases will come with either an excerpt at the bottom of the article, or even a patch of HTML code to paste under the content once it is placed on the businesses site. This is part of the give and take element that article bases promote. Web site owners get free content, content creators receive free exposure and even great back links to their own sites in their credited excerpt.

Having citations or credits at the bottom of content fairly eliminates it as a website content option and secludes it fairly well to the realm of blogs.

Conflict of Interests

Many of those who supply free content to article aggregate sites are doing so in effort to promote their own small businesses. So while it may not be immensely harmful to your profitability if a shoe store in California is linked to your Maine-based offline business, a user who runs his marketing business online, will not benefit, and indeed may suffer if they use article base content that leads to another marketing specialists website.

Stale, Outdated, and Copied

It may be in the eye of the beholder (and Google) whether or not an article is worth using if it has been used elsewhere , but commonly it is bad practice to use content that is not 100% original. This rule can be ignored, but only in the case of truly spectacular, highly-viewed content. Case-in-point, if you find an article on an article base that does not make you want to do a little dance, pump your fists in the air, and share with all of your friends, chances are, it will not give Google the warm fuzzies either. No one wants the cold shoulder from the Big G.

So Who Is Using Article Bases, and How?

Many business do use article base content, however, using them under the notion that even copied or stale content is better than no content is the absolute polar opposite of correct. Your site will fare much better with one of those fist pumping, celebratory articles than thirty overused, stale, and wildly credited ones.

Fortunately, there has been one glaringly large benefit for many users. Guest blogging is widely recognized, utilized, and has proven a successful option in content management, so using article base content in this manner may be the perfect option for a few reasons.

  • High-quality content that isn’t copied to a long list of other sites, but a short list of high-ranking ones, can be beneficial to the blog by adding outgoing links and regular content for your viewers.
  • Adding them to a running blog, instead of static web content, can help to avoid the no-no’s that can cause the Googlebot to flag your site negatively.
  • Using the content of the content creator who is intent on promoting themselves, their product or services, or other opportunities will likely cause the content to be shared on the authors website and social medias as well. This can in essence be a form of free social media marketing, although, not without the previously mentioned risk of diverting your customers to someone else’s business if you are not careful about the aspects of the author content you choose.

Article bases do have their pros and cons, but can always be at least minutely beneficial as long as the website owner uses caution and strategic planning when choosing which authors, and their related links, will be of benefit, or at least not detrimental to your own brand awareness.

 

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Crowdsourcing

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Outsourcing is already an old word, and we all know what it means – sending jobs to countries where the labor is cheaper than in the US. The new worldwide pool of cheap labor, they say, is called Crowdsourcing.It means taking a task, especially in software design, and putting it out there to the world to solve.

The word was coined in an article in Wired magazine in 2006. Jeff Howe published an article called “The Rise of Crowdsourcing”.  He wrote: “Technological advances in everything from product design software to digital video cameras are breaking down the cost barriers that once separated amateurs from professionals. Hobbyists, part-timers, and dabblers suddenly have a market for their efforts, as smart companies in industries as disparate as pharmaceuticals and television discover ways to tap the latent talent of the crowd. The labor isn’t always free, but it costs a lot less than paying traditional employees. It’s not outsourcing; it’s crowdsourcing.”

What used to be top secret industrial secrets in the past, became open-source. It was sent out to the world to improve on, solve problems or fix. An open call to an unidentified group of people to solve a problem. It taps to the knowledge and wisdom of the many, for the benefit of many. Those who ask for help in an open-source know that their programs are now open to all. In Crowdsourcing it is between the companies and the solvers.

The “crowd” – the people involved, usually form an online community and submit solutions. The best solutions – also chosen by the crowd – go on to the source who posed the problem. The solvers are sometime rewarded, either monetarily or by fame. Crowdsourcing produces solutions from amateurs and experts alike, who like to solve problems as an intellectual challenge, or for a prize.

Eli Lilly the pharmaceutical company funded InnoCentive.com in 2001 to connect with people outside the company who could help develop drugs and speed the process. Very quickly they opened their doors to other companies who were interested in reaching their network of unknown experts. Companies like Boeing, DuPont and Procter & Gamble post their hardest problems on the site.

As an example: One of the problems posted was how to inject Fluoride in powder form into a tube of toothpaste without dispersing it. Colgate Palmolive’s problem was solved by someone who knew the solution the moment he read the problem. He suggested imparting an electric charge to the Fluoride and grounding the tubes. This person became famous in the “crowd” circles.

Another example: when HTC came out with the first Windows operated smartphone, the expectations were very high. Here it is again, the old revelry between Apple and Microsoft. The iPhone was so innovative, let’s see what the PC people can do to improve on it. The phone flew off the shelves and some stores reported a waiting list of over hundred people.

Not a month went by, and the bubble burst. The phone did not perform well. Callers to T-Mobile tech support, the company that sold the phone, were told to remove the battery at least twice a week to reboot it. Not an acceptable solution in our fast moving world.

At about the same time, Google open-sourced it’s Android. Within a few days a forums was opened and linked to many tech sites. The discussions were the disappointment and what to do with this new phone. One person, known only be his code name, took it upon himself to coordinated an effort to adapt the Android to the HTC phones.

2 days later the program was posted online, with instructions. Improvements were posted 2-3 times a day. Different people took upon themselves to work on specific problems; the camera, the map, the contact list. Less than a week later the Android operating system was sitting solidly on HTC phones.

The companies who post problems on InnoCentive’s site these days, post the reward that comes with solving the problem. The rewards pay from $1,000,000 for doubling the speed of Gnome Mapping to $10,000 for The Economist-InnoCentive Human Potential Index Challenge. Groups are formed and share in the reward. Is Crowdsourcing the new hobby? A form of cheap labor? New form of R & D? Yes to all of those. It is tapping to the smarts of people, whomever or wherever they are.

 

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Tweet Tools: Increase Your Twitter Productivity with TweetSpinner

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If your direct messages inbox is full of auto-follow spam messages or otherwise delayed or old information, you are probably like most other Twitter users that do not have TweetSpinner.

Direct Messaging Inbox Archiving

TweetSpinner provides more control over many important elements of managing your Twitter account fully, accurately, and lucratively. It will allow you to finally de-spam and archive those messages cluttering up your direct message, or DM, inbox.

The moment you log on you can choose to one-click archive your DM messages to quickly clean up that inbox 200 messages at a time. This archiving process saves them to your account so that you can browse through them when you have the time, while still keeping your DM inbox clean and clear. Users are allowed to set filters on what constitutes spam and even if those messages are preferred for archives or deletion. The archived messages are stored at TweetSpinner, not on your machine.

Follower Management

TweetSpinner provides highly sophisticated follower management and analytics with easy to configure filters that will help users locate the most receptive followers while ignoring spam accounts.

It will provide an ongoing and updated display of:

  • People you follow
  • The number and percentage that do not follow you back
  • People who follow you
  • Those whom you do not follow back
  • Ratio of friends to followers

Users with paid accounts then have the option to configure, or prune, their settings, as well as setting some fairly intricate options. Depending on the level of the account, the customization for auto-following, as well as auto-unfollowing, can be incredibly detailed. Keyword following and mimic following are also options within the user Follower Management tool.

Logging onto TweetSpinner is as easy as visiting their sign in page and creating your account. Simply authorize the account and you are on your way.

Profile Rotator

The profile rotator does just as it says. However, this one allows users to important colors and background images of items you utilize on Twitter. Simply change your design at Twitter and try the import feature once more. You then have two unique designs to choose from. These can be rotated on a schedule to keep your Twitter profile interesting and aesthetically pleasing.

Since Twitter only allows for a very small bio and a URL you can now add a bit more of a profile with TweetSpinner. You can create more than one which can also be set on a schedule to rotate to help your account maintain the ability to effectively express yourself to your followers.

Other features such as Smart Tweets will help to guide you into making the most out of your 140 characters or less and the DM Outbox options can help to send out far more personalized messages than before. Their rules-based DM system will make sure that when rules you pre-set are met, a correct trigger will return a personalized message to that user.

Site navigation is as easy as it gets with most management activity occurring from within the same page.

Who Uses TweetSpinner

Currently, users are predominately between the ages of 35 and 65 with global site traffic ranking hovering at 31,003. Most are professional females who are browsing from home. In Johannesburg the site has achieved a much higher ranking at #825.

TweetSpinner does offer a free version but most who will want to use this tool for a professional account will likely want to take a closer look at paid package versions that start at $16 USD per month and can go higher for Pro versions or those accounts purchased for social media agencies.

 

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