To Hate Or Not To Hate – That’s The Facebook App Question

Facebook (NASDAQ:FB) recently launched a new app: "Hate with Friends". It allows Facebook users to “hate” their friends instead of removing them as a friend ( to “unfriend” them.

Once you as a Facebook user dislike one of your friends, you can hate that friend via the app. Once your friend hates you back, it shows on both your Facebook accounts.

By adding the app via the "Hate with Friends" website, you can build your very own hate list. You will see a button under each profile picture of your friends with the text "Hate-Him/Hate-Her".

With one click, your friend will be saved as your object of hate. Once your “friend” feels the same, Facebook will notify both of you about the mutual “hate”. It does not impact the friend status; both of you will still be Facebook friends.

Chris Baker developed the app for fun and explained that it should not be taken too seriously. He stated: “I think this anti-social stuff is the next big trend.”

It seems that a lot of Facebook users get the humor: the "Hate with Friends" site alone got already 6,000 Likes!

What do you think? Cool app or a waste of cyberspace?

Useful Tips for Pitching News

As a marketing or PR professional, it is quite likely part of your job to pitch news to journalists and magazines.

It is important to realize that not every interview you arrange or information you sent will be published.  

Once you have news to share, seek out the magazine that matches your target audience.

Below are some tips for pitching your news:

• Get to know the writers/journalists by checking out what they have written about before.
  
• Feed the right story; it must be interesting / newsworthy.
• Only pitch new products or significant product changes.
• Only .pitch case studies when your company is mature / well-known
• A pitched case study or article must contain a hot topic, such as solving a business problem with a proprietary technical solution.
• Only pitch executive profiles of well-known appointees / executives.
• Only respin old news if it has a new angle.
• Highlight the unusual.
• Pitch in a timely manner; the earlier the better. If not pitched in 0-day, the hot topic will be all over the news within 2 hours.
• Provide compelling collateral; supply sources that are appealing.
• Pitch by email; journalists and writers hate to be “stalked”.
• Never intimidate; be professional.
• Once published, distribute the article via your own channels (Blog, Twitter, Facebook, Linkedin).
• Search on social media and forums for the article. Once found, share and leave comments. Also search Twitter for tweets about the article, and retweet.

Success!

Ten Tips for Freelancers and SMEs/SMBs

1. Avoid being on the Road (too much)

As we all know, we spent too much time on the road. All these hours cannot be billed. Try to communicate as much as possible by email, phone and Skype. Try to schedule meetings in the same region on the same day. Check out the best way to travel: car, public transport or (my favorite) a combination. It’s best to schedule meetings outside of rush hour. It saves both of you time.

2. Cold Calls are Tricky

Cold calls as a tool for drumming up business is tricky. It is time-consuming and should therefore well-prepared. For many SMEs/SMBs, cold calling is not the way to go. WOM (word-of mouth) is far more effective and cost-effective.

3. Keep Communicating

Keeping in touch with your customers is the key to your success as a freelancer of SME/SMB. There are many ways to keep in touch: newsletters, emails with special offers, and social media. Make sure to call them once in a while to ask if everything is fine. Make sure to send out season’s greetings and personal congratulations (e.g., birth of a child). Use your business page on Pinterest, Facebook, and LinkedIn, as well as your Twitter account to inform update, and spread positive messages. Don’t underestimate the power of your corporate blog – you can position your business perfectly that way.

4. Presentations Should Rock

Presentations are still expected. But (potential) customers are sharp, so make sure your presentation is short and to the point. Keep your power point presentations short and avoid cutesy graphics/animation. Make sure there is a call to action on the last slide. It is a good strategy to send them the presentation in PDF later on by email.

5. Respect the Uniqueness of Your Prospect

Each prospect is unique and wants to be recognizes as such. You need to know what makes your potential (and existing!) customer tick. What are the pain points they are facing? What is their history with similar companies/offerings like yours? Doing successful and long-term business is based on trust. You will never be able to make all your customers happy all of the time. Be gracious, and when it does not work out, make sure your prospect or customer never looses face.

6. Make Sure You Both Have the Same Agenda

A lot of bad feelings between supplier and customer results from the simple fact that they are not “on the same page”. The prospect or customer believes that it will get A, while the supplier is convinced that the prospect or customer wants B. The best way to avoid this kind of Mexican stand-off is to send points of understanding combined with action items after each meeting.

7. References and Recommendations

References and recommendations are important. However, it is not always possible to supply them, especially if you provided services for the military, homeland security or other companies that required the freelancer or supplier to sign an NDA or confidentiality agreement. LinkedIn offers a great way to circumvent this issue as long as there are enough recommendations on the freelancer’s/supplier’s profile. A blog is also a good way to position yourself as a though leader without infringing on any agreements.

8. You Cannot Win Them All

Rejection is part of our professional lives. Job seekers are rejected for jobs they really want, and freelancers and suppliers sometimes loose out on juicy contracts. Proposals can be rejected for many reasons: the price is too high, they got a better offer, they had to hire a freelancer/company due to internal politics, the job/work is canceled or frozen, or there just is not any personal chemistry. The best way to handle this kind of rejection is to be gracious, leave communication channels open, and realize that you cannot win them all.

9. Know Your Target Market

Your product or service might be great, but it would not fit all customers. It is important to know your market. Who needs our products/services? What pain points do you address and how much are your (potential) customers willing to pay for it? Communicate with your (potential) customer to identify their existing as well as future needs.

10. Build a Relationship

Your attitude, skills, and aptitude determine if a customer wants to do business with you. Be generous with (free) advice and think with (and not for) your customer. Once you are seen as a partner, and not a mere supplier, you will have a mutual beneficial relationship that could span years. Nothing is forever, especially in this economy, so nurture good relationships. Even is a customer has to drop you, his or her recommendation and goodwill is worth its weight in gold.

Eight Simple Tps for Starting and Using Social Media

1) Establish a presence

This may sound redundant, but you need to be on the social media trinity: Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn. LinkedIn is great for professional networking. Facebook is a more informal way to connect, although the business pages are very much B2B. People can “like” your business page, which is great for branding. Twitter is the cocktail party in social networking; just keep the tweets business-related!

2) Engage your peers

Your peers are your potential customers, business partners or employers, so you need to engage them with articles, blogs, comments and postings. It’d s great way to establish your brand and position yourself as a thought leader.

3) Make sure your target audience knows where to find you.

You need to promote the links to your Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn and blog. An easy (and often overlooked way) is your AutoSignature. Make sure that you also link your website and blog to your Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn.

4) Find your voice.

As the French say: “c’est le ton qui fait la musique”. Decide how you want to communicate with your target audience. Do you want to keep it formal (for B2B) or informal (for B2C)?

5) Pace yourself.

Avoid starting with many tweets and blog posts a week that are impossible to keep up. Too much activity can be overwhelming and lead to burnout. It’s better to set up a schedule for your social media and stick to it.

6) Keep it simple.

Tweets, postings and blogs should be fun and easy to understand. Try to avoid using complex language or concepts.

7) Visuals rule.

A picture can tell a thousand words. Use visuals in your blog and postings; people love it!

8) Engage.

You are using social media, so be social! React, like, and comment to other people’s posts. Be generous and informative. Again, it’s a great way to brand and position yourself as a thought leader.

Want to learn more? Contact me at www.tiptoppr.com

Google’s real-time search – a search engine marketing dream come true?

Google announced the roll-out of its new real-time search function. Search results will incorporate real-time content from Twitter feeds, blog posts, online news content, Facebook status updates, and content from MySpace, FriendFeed, and Jaiku.

According to Google, the latest results and the new search options are also designed for iPhone and Android devices for info-on-the-go.

With this move, Google also tries to stay ahead of its main competitor - Microsoft's Bing that already has a real-time search function.

With its real-time search, Google will change SEO forever.

1. More and more companies will be "forced" to use social media to get exposure and to stay ahead of their competitors.
2. SEO and marketing experts will have a plethora of new opportunities for search engine optimization and marketing. Keyword and search terms will be embedded and searched in real-time news content, tweets, etc.
3. Companies need to be aware of what content and news they publish, since it will be exposed instantly to searches. There is no lead time for rectifications. This is especially important for companies that need to comply with regulatory rules and regulations (e.g., SOX and HIPAA).
4. Users of social media must be even more careful than before what content they post of their Facebook page or what they tweet about.
5. Facebook users need to be aware that if they flagged their profile as public, posted info can be displayed in search results.

It's too soon to predict what the impact on SEO and marketing will be, but it looks like a search engine marketing dream come true......

A grasshopper’s marketing leap

Grasshopper, an 800 phone number provider for small businesses in the US, rebranded itself.

To advertise the new name (they were previously known as GotVMail) and brand, they grafted a clever marketing strategy.

They started with compiling a list of the 5,000 most influential people in the US. It included influential bloggers, journalists, celebrities, TV anchors, and CEOs (Pete Cashmore, Adam Ostrow, and Tamar Weinberg).

Then they created a package to be sent by snail mail consisting of real chocolate covered grasshoppers ( a wink to their new name) with a simple message and video URL. The URL linked to an inspirational YouTube video about how entrepreneurs can change the world.

The packages were shipped out by FedEx last May. Some of the recipients (Josh Lohensohn of CNET) posted videos online of themselves eating the grasshopper. The campaign created a lot of buzz, especially on blogs and Twitter.

Some data (source: mashable.com):

• 4,911% traffic increase from April to May 2009
• 144,843 video views with 162 comments
• 1,500 tweets
• 120 blog posts in one month
• Tweets from Guy Kawasaki, Kevin Rose, and Jason Calacanis
• 7 national TV mentions, including FOX

What are the success factors?

A sound concept
This was not just a renaming/rebranding, but a repositioning of the company. Needham-based GotVMail Communications LLC is a maker of communication systems for small businesses. They wanted to relaunch their company targeting entrepreneurship – a shift from being a telecommunications company to a company that helped entrepreneurs.

A theme that makes sense
The company chose the grasshopper to communicate the idea of jumping forward. Since grasshoppers can jump 20 times their own size, they nicely symbolize small businesses (their potential customers) that want to leap forward.

Flawless execution
The grasshoppers were farm-raised insects and dipped in chocolate. They were very professional packaged and clearly stated what was inside.

The front of the envelope said:
“Yes, these are real grasshoppers. Approved by the FDA of Thailand”.

On the back was written:
“You’re a risk-taker, a dream-realizer. What’s left to do that you haven’t already done? Eat a grasshopper. They’re farm raised, covered in chocolate and rich in protein. So, not only will you be breaking boundaries, but you’ll be eating healthy, too.”

The call to action was on the attached tag:
Entrepreneurs can change the world.Join the movement now!http://grasshopper.com/idea
Perfect marketing mix
This campaign combines a snail mail FedEx package with word of mouth (WOM) and social media. The landing page of the video URL made it easy for postings on Facebook, Twitter, YouTube and other sites using an AddThis widget.

Attainable goals
The Grasshopper campaign was able to achieve its main goals with a small budget:

• To get attention
• To hold interest
• To get people talking
• To be considered as a supplier

No word if PETA was among the 5,000…..