SCSC Web Dude Blog

By Christopher Elliott | June 29, 2011 http://www.bnet.com/blog/customer-management/google-could-revolutionize-customer-service/650?promo=713&tag=nl.e713 Even though we don’t know a lot about Google+, the fledgling social media initiative that launched Tuesday, one thing is certain: If only half of the promised features are widely adopted by Internet users, it could change customer service forever – and for the better. I know, I know. Google has made several failed attempts at social networking, including Buzz and Wave. But this could be different. Many of the early reviews say Google got it right this time. I’ve spent this morning reading them, and they’re almost all positive. I’ve also been kicking the tires on the new social network. You can find me right here. As a consumer advocate, I’ve watched social media level the playing field for customers – just yesterday, I discussed the implications of Customer 2.0, for example – and overall, I believe Google+ has the potential to lev...

Web Copywriting Checklist: 16 tips for writing effective website copy by Herman Drost Most website owners focus on getting traffic to their sites to generate sales, leads or subscribers. They figure the more traffic you receive the more sales you will make. This is only partially true because you still need to convert the traffic into buyers. Focusing your efforts only on getting traffic is like throwing mud at a wall. Some of it will stick. Your web copy must be able to convert visitors into buyers. 16 Tips for writing effective website copy 1. What’s your USP? Your unique selling position is what makes your website stand out from your competitors. When a person first visits your website they need to understand its purpose within the first paragraph. If it’s not clear to them they’ll leave and go elsewhere. 2. Stress the benefits Most people visiting your site ask “what’s in it for me” therefore provide the main benefits of your products or services within the first few paragraphs. Do...

Soren Gordhamer is the organizer of the Wisdom 2.0 Conference , which brings together staff from Google, Facebook, Twitter and Zynga with others to explore living with awareness and wisdom in our modern age, at the end of February in Silicon Valley. He is SorenG on Twitter. The age of social media is not just changing our personal lives, but is increasingly affecting how business is conducted. No longer satisfied with strictly top-down models that view employees as cogs in a system, businesses are quickly adapting to a new paradigm that emphasizes connection, collaboration and innovation. When people in companies and teams feel engaged, the benefits are significant. Towers Watson (formerly Towers Perrin), the global professional services firm, interviewed 90,000 employees in 18 countries, and found “companies with high employee engagement had a 19% increase in operating income and almost a 28% growth in earnings per share. Conversely, companies with low levels of engagement sa...

Posted by John Jantsch http://www.marketingnewz.com/2011/05/17/what-is-a-marketing-strategy-and-how-can-i-get-one/ Ask a new business owner what his marketing strategy is, and he will most likely say “sell as many products as possible to as many people as possible.” While optimism is a good quality in an entrepreneur, this definition is a recipe for disaster. When you are unclear whom you are trying to reach, you will stumble from one marketing tactic to another, diving into Facebook with zeal one week, Tweeting like a fool the next, and, in a final act of desperation, pitch your friends and neighbors as if you were a teenager begging for a last-minute date to the prom. An effective marketing strategy defines: • the detailed profile of the ideal person you are trying to reach (age, profession, gender, race, income level, hobbies, political views, attitude) • their hopes, fears, needs, desires, challenges and problems • the particular places where they hang out in person or online • the...

Top Tips to Increase Engagement on Your Facebook Page Posted on April 19th, 2011 by Courtney Mills Two new reports recently released have shared an insight into how businesses can make their Facebook page more successful by making their fans more engaged in the content shared. The first report is from Buddy Media who collected data from 200 of its clients’ pages. It found that time is an important factor in determining the success of a Facebook post. Here are the main outcomes from the report: Facebook engagement has three peaks: early morning (7 a.m. EST), after work (5 p.m. EST) and late at night (11 p.m. EST) Thursday and Friday have 18% more engagement than other days of the week, suggesting that Facebook is a procrastination tool when people are itching to get out of the office Posts with 80 characters or less — the length of a short tweet — garnered 27% more engagement than posts that were more than 80 characters 15% more engagement with a question at the end of a post than if t...

Refuting Debunked SEO Practices I came across an interesting blog post from ISEdb.com that was titled: “16 SEO Tactics That Will NOT Bring Targeted Google Visitors” where Jill Whalen was discussing strategies that she felt were no longer valid seo tactics. I have reposted some of the points here and have added in my comments on each. Jill’s posts are in green italics. Individually these tactics amount to very little; on this point I agree. However, add them up together and they become significant to your rankings. Being so absolutely “Google-centric” in your tactics is going to hurt you in the long run. Suppose there was no Google? (scary I know…) then you would have to redesign your sites for other search engines that may put more weight on these signals. Meta Keywords: “Lord help us! I thought I was done discussing the ole meta keywords tag in 1999, but today in 2011 I encounter people with websites who still think this is an important SEO tactic. My guess is it’s easier to f...

Posted on April 5th, 2011 by Stacy Karacostas These days, everyone is busier and business–entrepreneurs even more so than most people. Once you add social networking into the marketing mix it’s easy to be downright overwhelmed. So to help you get more done with less effort, and attract more followers on your social networks, I’ve got a terrific article for you by guest authors Tonilee Adamson and Bobbye Brooks, co-founders Media4Women.These tips are sure to help you grow your small business with less effort… Social Networking 101: Top 5 ways to attract more followers on social networking outlets By Tonilee Adamson and Bobbye Brooks co-founders Media4Women Social networking can seem overwhelming to some of us, especially when we are looking at an empty Facebook page with no friends or a Twitter page with no followers. Building a following takes time, but if we take some basic steps, we will see our social networking expand faster than one might think. Here are our top 5 ways to attract ...