Socializing is known to be the best way to get the latest news and the hottest gossips on just about everything. So if it works for people there is no reason why a social media platform should not work for online sites on the web. Internet as we know it today is one of the biggest platforms for interaction and knowledge sharing. It is no wonder therefore that social media optimization is one of the most popular methods for enhancing the visibility of the site and giving it a higher ranking on the search engines. Search engine marketing firms often employ various methods of social media optimization for their online clients. The process involves carefully planned and laid out strategies that keep in mind the strengths and weaknesses of the client and are implemented accordingly.

Social media optimization is a method of generating publicity through online processes, communities and websites. The internet savvy people today frequent a number of websites that act as a social media optimization platform. The videos uploaded on sites like you tube and the various sites offering blogging facilities, forums and discussion panels further enhance the effect of social media optimization. The social media optimization uses the technique of viral marketing to spread their word across the web. The main idea is to get people talking about a product, service or idea. The word of mouth then serves as the publicity vehicle thereby popularizing the website that is most talked about by the internet users. Social media optimization utilizes the techniques of social book marking, video and photo sharing and blogging.

The term social media optimization was coined by a person called Rohit Bhargava and he also suggested some guidelines as to how websites can reap the maximum benefits from social media optimization. The main emphasis is to be laid upon increasing the link-ability of the website and also encouraging the inbound links to the site in question. Social media optimization also stresses the need to make tagging and book marking of a site an easy process. Once a visitor to the site can easily book mark it and go back to it as and when required he is bound to achieve a comfort level with the website. This is in turn would make him recommend the website to other acquaintances thereby serving the inherent purpose of social media optimization.

Social media optimization platforms also face the common problem of spam and this might cause inconvenience to a group of users. However the advantage in this scenario is that the users on a social media platform are usually active participants and hence they can easily delete and block the spam as and when it is placed. Some media platforms have specifications about qualifying matters into relevant data and spam and have taken precautionary measures to avoid influx of spam in the website. Social media optimization has reached a high level in recent times and the growing popularity of platforms like Facebook and Orkut show positive indications for this phenomenon. As the internet community becomes wider social media optimization is becoming a crucial tool for the websites across the globe.

AUTHOR BIO:
Steve Waganer has specialization in Web Marketing. He is expert in Search engine optimization, Search engine marketing, Social media optimization. To get the SEO tips for your website to get high rank and top position in major search engines visit http://www.cometsearchenginemarketing.com

Author: Steve Waganer
Article Source: EzineArticles.com
Provided by: Mobile device news

The largest social networking event in Central Ohio!

The Central Ohio Networking Event & Social is a once a year opportunity for area small businesses to meet other entrepreneurs, sales representatives and professionals. The event is a combination business after-hours gathering and trade show. It will feature facilitated networking, raffles and door prizes and appearances from prominent business professionals as well as players from local sports teams.

Consider this:
An Argos worker was fired because he said that he ‘can’t wait to leave because it’s Sh**’ working for Argos.

A grocery chain in Ottawa fired several of its employees following negative comments on Facebook.

Even this:
Some Ontario schools have suspended their students after they found ‘offensive’ posts on Facebook about these schools!

What am I trying to say? You could lose your job or your school admission for something you write on social networking sites like Facebook. Seriously.

People are being penalized for what they are posting. Many are being denied jobs, dismissed from work and disciplined because of comments they have carelessly left lying around on social networking sites.

Why should you care?

Employers and hiring firms are increasingly using social networking websites like Facebook to check out potential employees and keep tabs on current employees. In the current social and political situation, you just cannot have anything working against you or diluting your prospects, least of all something like your Facebook profile.

Here are some ways in which you can protect your Facebook profile from the prying eyes of your boss.

Your Privacy setting:

A teacher in Charlotte, NC, was dismissed from work due to her profile on Facebook. Under her hobbies, she stated ‘drinking’ and ‘teaching chitlins in the Ghetto of Charlotte’. The teacher left her profile and her page open to public view. Keep in mind, this particular school is attended by minority students and is located in a low income neighborhood.

Who is viewing your profile at Facebook? Are you sure that these are people you have allowed access to?

If you go to the “Settings” page on Facebook and click on your ‘Profile’, you might see that more people than you have imagined are actually viewing what you have put up. You may have only a couple of friends, but what about your network?

If your profile is jam-packed with drunken quotes or if the pictures you posted are risqué, the first thing you do is limit access to the information. Make it viewable to friends only.

You do not want potential or current employers going through what you’ve put up.   Because they do check you out.

According to various surveys and reports, a good percentage of employers are checking Facebook before, after or during the recruitment process.

You don’t want to lose your job just because you were a little careless with your Facebook profile, do you?

Your content:

According to onrec.com, the top ten turn-offs for employers who go through profiles on Facebook include:
- Indecent language, vulgar jokes, unacceptable pictures
- Any evidence of substance abuse
- Criminal activity
- Fanatical views
- Membership to silly groups
- Bad mouthing of former employers or places of work

Interestingly, prospective employers do not stop with checking out a candidate’s profile. They also use what you’ve posted to find out more about your communication skills, general attitude and qualifications. So, if you’re really not what you claim to be, chances are, you’ve left traces of your lies in your conversation with others.

When your profile is subject to such minute inspection, do you need more reason to clean up your profile?

You can give your profile a swanky new look easily:
Get rid of silly quotes, inane or extreme views and distancing yourself from bigoted or pointless memberships.

Don’t forget to add some of your favorite books in addition to music and films. Employers love it when you appear well-read and profound.

Check closely for typos. Do not go for too much internet lingo. These might seem unimportant to you but your potential employers appreciate it if you can write ‘You’ instead of ‘U’ and stop using internet short forms.

Next, go through your photos – every single one of ‘em. Untag those that you do not want. That way, anyone snooping around cannot find that picture of yours.

- Remove pictures that look unflattering.
- Get rid of those where you’re doing something you shouldn’t.
- In case your friends have put in unflattering comments, remove those pictures too.

Your network:

Who’s on it? If your colleagues are a part of your network, be careful. Your boss might be friends with one of your colleagues.

Your posts:

You cannot always limit the people who see what you are writing. So, it makes sense to post the right stuff. Meaning, you don’t really want to shout to half the world that you’re thinking of throwing a sick leave so you can party at your neighbor’s house!

It’s not enough that the content on your own network is good, you must also take care while posting on someone else’s wall. Don’t throw out comments that you don’t want to be associated with.

Even though you delete content, it could remain on servers and be available on search engines. When such information gets into the wrong hands, it can cause major hiccups in decisions regarding a job, an admission or a promotion.

WARNING: Never post while you’re at work. The time of your post is plain to see. Ask yourself this: what will happen if your boss finds out you were updating your account while you were supposed to be working?

Why should you be so careful? The Police, hiring agencies, companies and schools are monitoring profiles at Facebook, MySpace and other such sites to uncover ‘improper’ content. What you write is a window to your private world. It’s like maintaining an ongoing virtual diary. How’s that for a thought?

User naivete combined with security gaps can ultimately lead to serious irreparable damage to your life.

Resource box:
1) Facebook can ruin your life
2) Employee uses racial slur in Facebook profile: Can you fire her?
3) Personal branding in the age of Google

It is always exciting to uncover hot and profitable new niches to tap into for your Virtual Business. Well, Internet Marketing, Ecommerce Support and Social Media Marketing continue to be very in-demand” services niches and will continue to be for quite some time, I am particularly excited about this new niche emerging in the Virtual Event Industry.

I personally believe that the “Virtual Events” field is one of the hottest avenues to building your business right now, especially in this down economy. The statistics are clear: There is currently a significant increase in the number of participants attending virtual events such as webinars, tele-events, live podcasts and web TV shows. However, there is a corresponding decrease in those attending offline events and conferences partly due to the economy, but for a host of other reasons as wells. The reality is that Virtual Events are more cost-effective to deliver and attend, have the capacity to reach a larger audience and can be re-broadcast for continued exposure.

Businesses are keenly interested in running Virtual Events right now, but many lack the knowledge and time to effectively set-up and implement the Virtual Events successfully. As a result, this has presented a very timely and unique opportunity for Virtual Professionals to position themselves as a “Virtual Event Specialist”!

On September 16th, VAClassroom will be hosting a “must attend” event with Craig Cannings and Virtual Event Expert, Michelle Schoen titled “Building a Profitable Niche as a Virtual Event Specialist (Even in a Down Economy)!”

They will be exploring the crucial skills required to effectively deliver Virtual Event Set-up and Management services to your clients.

In addition, they will be sharing some exciting news on our upcoming training program: The Virtual Event Specialist Certification.

So, go ahead and click on the below link to watch a short 5 minute video and then sign-up to receive some special bonus information including more details on the upcoming event on September 16th!

Click Here

Social Strategic Planning Session – Done in a Day!

This summer has been so inspirational for me.  I partnered with a local co-working venue to offer a summer short course and was pleased by the feedback.  It’s exciting to see folks embrace Social Media.

What I realized is that attendees wanted me to go deeper and not necessarily broader.  They enjoyed and benefited from the strategy discussions and tips. So instead of doing a “conference” for a large audience, I decided to host an intimate learning experience for a few socially serious entrepreneurs.  Some have registered from Dayton and Columbus, Ohio.  I’m excited to see the adoption of social media strategy across the mid-Ohio region.

There still are a few seats left.  Please consider joining us for an opportunity to not only learn about Social Media but to also support Alzheimer’s Disease Research. Proceeds from our social media initiatives directly go to Alzheimer’s Disease Research.  I call this “Social Media for Social Action”.

I’ve been talking about this since January and I’m excited this day is almost here and nervous too!  The beta version of what I hope will grow into something larger, bigger and better will be piloted on September 24th right here in Columbus, OH – the #1 Up and Coming Tech City in America!

You don’t want to miss this exciting LIVE workshop:
Social Media Success – Done in a Day!

If you are:

• tired of trying to figure out which social networks to join;
• tired of the regular “overview” of social media and want to dig in;
• determined to implement social strategies for your business;
• curious about what to delegate to a VA or marketing partner…

Then, you’ll want to participate in this LIVE and INTERACTIVE day of Social Media Success – Done in a Day!

AGENDA Overview…

Join me as we take you step by step through:

* why you should use social media tools in your business
* how to use “the big 3″: Facebook LinkedIn and Twitter
* building your social media presence and strengthening your brand
* social integration and ROI

This full day workshop will give you everything you need to get your social media marketing plan up, going and connected!

WHO SHOULD ATTEND:

All levels of users will get lots of useful information and leave with a bonus newly released, signed copy of my book: Now What Do I Do? An entrepreneur’s guide to getting to next with Social Media!

WHAT YOU WILL LEARN:

* Simple strategies to powerfully leverage your visibility and brand
* How to drive a flood of traffic to your website and blog
* The top two secrets for getting rapid high search engine placement
* Where to concentrate your efforts: a 10 minute/day trick
* What sites are best for your market

WHAT NEXT | WAYS TO SUPPORT AND PROMOTE OUR EVENT:

*Tell a business colleague. They will thank you for sharing this with them!
*Spread the word! Tweet it! mention @doneinaday #smscols
*Invite us to be a guest on your blog – we have 22 articles ready to go!
*Write a review of the new book “Now What Do I Do – An Entrepreneur’s Guide to Getting to the Next Step with Social Media” and mention this event

WHY THIS EVENT:
* We’re giving back!  Percentage of Proceeds will go to Alzheimer’s Disease Research.
* We want to help you with strategy.
* We want you to enjoy social adoption made simple!

Here is an event flyer that you can include in your tweets:  http://bit.ly/betadoneinadayflyer

Got questions?

*Feel free to call us at 800.991.7538 x205.
*Tweet it – @virtualpartner

There are loads of terms that are being flung around at the moment – Web2.0, New Media, Social Media, User Generated Content. It’s hard to keep up with all the ways that we as citizens of the web can operate online.

The playground of Social Media is so diverse that it can all get a little overwhelming. With new sites being launched weekly it can at times be a little hard to keep up with it all. In this the first of a five part series on Social Media you will discover what exactly Social Media is, how it evolved and why it has become such an invaluable personal and marketing tool.

The Evolution of Social Media

By the end of this five part series you should be navigating this topic with ease. But let’s start off by learning a bit more about the rise of what has become known as consumer generated media and how it has marked the shift in the way we use the Internet.

The Internet and the software which has been developed to run on it has made it so simple for anyone to publish content and make this content accessible to millions of people. In effect, consumers have been given a voice to air their views to a massive audience. Long gone are the days when the Internet was merely for research, company websites and porn … today the Internet is for every single one of its users – we can contribute, we can share our thoughts, our videos, our resources – in short we, as a people are shaping what is out there and no voice goes unheard.

Online conversations are taking place every day in the form of consumer generated media and while PR has traditionally focused on the media as written by journalists, the most trusted sources for modern consumers are ordinary people reporting their experiences. In a survey by Forrester Research, 25% of consumer respondents said they trusted the opinions of fellow consumers above all other forms of media referral or advertising. According to Edelman’s latest Trust Barometer the most credible source of information about a company is… “a person like me”.

It is for this reason that engaging in Social Media can be highly beneficial to both individuals as well as companies.

Social Media

Wikipedia defines Social Media as “the online technologies and practices that people use to share content, opinions, insights, experiences, perspectives, and media themselves.”

In recent years there has been the massive growth of blogs, wiki’s, podcasts, social networking sites and micoblogs – together they form what is loosely known as Social Media; the ability for anyone to publish almost any content without the typical costs and hindrances associated with traditional media. This new publishing freedom has resulted in an explosion of new content.
We see more and more instances of Social Media becoming integrated in the traditional media landscape. Journalists are blogging, YouTube and Facebook are making the newspaper headlines and several television adverts are examples of CGM to mention but a few. This new media is enveloping traditional media and borders are becoming hazy – in short a new challenge for media professionals has begun.

Over the last few years hundreds of Social Media type websites have been launched and over the next few weeks we will be looking into these various types as well as the major players within each field:

Photo Sharing

Video Sharing

News Sharing

Social Networks

Blogging

Forums

The Benefits of Social Media

Social Media tends to have more of an impact amongst those who have become quite numb to traditional advertising. They choose to engage with your advertising when it is done in the Social Media landscape while they are merely exposed to it in the traditional media environment.

Social Media’s potential to go viral is one of its greatest benefits – if users like the content they will share it with their own communities.

Social Media allows you to create an online community for your brand and its supporters.

Social Media can tie in nicely with any of your other online marketing tactics – a holistic eMarketing strategy is always the best strategy.

Social Media allows you to engage with an online community and allows you to connect your brand to the appropriate audience.

Social Media has created a forum for brand evangelists. Companies should embrace as well as monitor this as users with negative opinions of your brand have access to the same forum.

The various platforms allow you to access a community with similar interests to your own – networking without borders.

The numerous interactions allow you to garner feedback from your communities.

Feedback from Social Media sites helps drive both future business as well as marketing strategies.

The range of media enables you to learn more about your audience’s likes, dislikes, behaviour etc. Never before has this much information been available to marketers – market research just got a whole lot cheaper.

Niche targeting just got a whole lot easier!

As with all consumer generated media there are huge risks as well as opportunities. Social Media facilitates a two-way conversation between customer and company. This necessitates that the company shifts approach from “deploy and watch” to one of constant involvement with the audience.

Quirk eMarketing provides innovative services to the global business community. Its offering is built on strategic planning, moving through Web Development and the implementation of effective campaign tactics. Quirk’s Internet marketing services include SEO, PPC, Affiliate Marketing, Online Reputation Management and WebPR.

Author: Sarah Manners
Article Source: EzineArticles.com
Provided by: Programmable Multi-cooker

Calling all Entrepreneurs, Solo-Preneurs, Non-Profit Organizations, HR professionals, Ad Agencies, or Government Agencies:

In an ever-changing world, transformation is the order of the day, and the business selling model is no different. Communication of your message has to shift to fit the mindset of today’s consumer. So what does today’s consumer want? Community and the ability to impact the end result.

The emergence of collaborative, user-generated tools is evidence of the way consumers want to be communicated with. Engaging them, instead of telling them, is a critical factor.

Do you wish you knew the quick “Dos and Don’ts” to help you quickly navigate the Social Media scene?

Worry no more! Get your guide …

DOWNLOAD THE REPORT NOW!

This report will provide you with:

• Dos and Don’ts to help you quickly navigate the Social Media scene
• 5 reasons why Social Media is a must
• 15 ways to ensure that your content doesn’t get dethroned
• 10 resources on building community, creating content and increasing traffic
• 10 ground rules for Social Media Marketing

If you are…

• NEW to social media;
• NOT using social media;
• CONSIDERING social media; or
• FRUSTRATED wth social media

This report is just for you!

Click here to get socialized!

There is NO charge for the report.

DOWNLOAD THE REPORT NOW!

If you want to enjoy the best social media success, there are seven key steps to take to make a profit with social media. Through this article you are provided with an overview of the seven key steps to make a profit with social media. By following the steps you are be on your way to the best social media success.

1. The first step that you need to take when it comes to developing the best social media strategy is identifying those social media outlets that will be most beneficial to you or your business.

2. The next step that you need to take when it comes to developing the best social media strategy is to create a comprehensive social media plan. You do not want to embark on a social media endeavour without a road map.

3. When it comes to the best social media strategy, you will want to consult and visit with other people have been involved with social media in the past. You do not need to reinvent the wheel.

4. The fourth key step you need to understand when it comes to the best social media is the need to make sure you present yourself in the most positive light. Remember, when it comes to social media you are marketing yourself.

5. An when it comes to the best social media, you need to make sure that shore up to date on current trends that are associated with this line of communication. Keep in mind the Internet is always changing as is social media.

6. There are no social media consultants in business today. Depending on your own experience of the Internet and with social media you might want to call upon these experts to assist you in devising the best social media plan possible.

7. Finally, you will want to continually revise your social media strategies to make sure that their up to date and effective. Obviously, if you’re going to be involved in social media you want to achieve your goals in the short rather than a long run.

Do you want to learn more about how I do it? I have just completed my brand new guide to article writing success, ‘Your Article Writing and Promotion Guide’

Download it free here: Secrets of Article Writing

Do you want to learn how to build a big online subscriber list fast? Click here: Secrets of List Building

Sean Mize is a full time internet marketer who has written over 9034 articles in print and 14 published ebooks.

Author: Sean R Mize
Article Source: EzineArticles.com
Provided by: Electric Pressure Cooker

Copyright (c) 2007 A Marketing Connection

I have been seeing the term “social media” quite a bit in the last few weeks. The term kept grabbing my attention and as I read the term, I would pause for a minute and think that it didn’t make sense in the context I was reading it. But I just kept on reading and going about my business because I’m busy.

The term kept grabbing my attention because it was not used in the right context. When I taught Marketing 101 a year or so ago (I also learned quite a bit about social marketing in graduate school), I was very clear on what social marketing was and what it meant.

Yesterday a light bulb went off and I realized I was seeing and thinking two different things. I was seeing Social Media, not Social Marketing. That’s why it wasn’t making sense to me.

Social marketing is about making changes – oftentimes health related change – throughout society as a whole. It’s creating a social change through marketing. One example of social marketing is the message of not drinking and driving. Others include: Quit smoking, stopping Aids, and promoting the use of condoms. Visual messages of your brain on drugs and the fried egg are images we are probably all familiar with.

Social marketing doesn’t promote a specific company, but a cause for the good of society. Social marketing is done through traditional marketing methods as well as public service announcements.

I saw the term social media quite a bit while I was doing research for a class I recently taught on how to start a blog when I realized that I have been confusing social marketing with social media. They are two very different things. (I’m a little slow to catch on sometimes).

Social media is a newer term and is the use of media in a social setting. A blog is a perfect example of that. Other forms of social media include; message boards, podcasts, vlogs (video you can view online) or RSS feeds. Smart marketers are using these newer social media outlets to communicate with their prospects in different ways that initiate “socializing”.

Take a minute to think about that. Socializing and marketing, together. It makes me think of word of mouth marketing – which involves socializing.

How similar are word of mouth marketing and blogging?

How easy is it to generate word of mouth marketing through blogging, forums, and other social media outlets? Isn’t that one of the benefits of blogging – to link to others who in turn will link to you and bring visitors to each other? Just think of the possibilities.

It’s important to realize that search engines – like Google – are not the only way to drive people to your web site anymore. Marketing your business through blogging and other forms of social media give you great opportunities to drive visitors to your site without relying on search engines to find and rank you.

Utilizing social media gives you both more opportunity and more control.

According to Hans Peter Brondmo “Marketing with Social Media”, 1% of those involved with social media are creating content, 10% will enrich that content and 90% will consume it.

Take an honest look at your social media efforts. First, are you using this new media at all? Then look at HOW you are using it. Are you creating or enriching content through blogging or other social mediums or are you regurgitating information just to do it? Which one will make you a leader in your industry?

Author of Healthcare Copywriting Secrets Revealed, Kelly Robbins is an award winning copywriter and marketing coach/consultant.

She also publishes The Healthcare Marketing Connection, a free e-zine on healthcare marketing tips.

Contact Kelly to receive her free report, “5 critical things you must know when writing for the healthcare industry” – info@KellyRobbinsLLC.com or 303-460-0285.

Author: Kelly Robbins
Article Source: EzineArticles.com
Provided by: WordPress plugin Guest Blogger

Spread the word about your hot new product or company!

Word-of-mouth marketing is the most powerful and persuasive weapon you can use, and it wont cost you anything! Based on George Silvermans years of consulting with successful word-of-mouth campaigns of his own clients, here is one of the first resources on how to harness the often underestimated power of word-of-mouth, and be heard above
the media noise.

1. Word-of-mouth is actually the center of the marketing universe.
2. Just as it is untrue that the sun revolves around the earth, marketing does not really revolve around advertising, selling, and promotions. Much of marketing actually centers around illusion-creation.
3. Word-of-mouth offers an authenticity to it because the source is normally independent of the company, he or she is offering his or her own candid opinion and therefore, the marketing appears credible.
4. Advertising is the renting of a medium to send out a carefully crafted message to a specific audience. Everything is paid for, whereas word-of-mouth is a more effective tool; and best of all, it is absolutely free.
5. Word-of-mouth can take on a life of its own. There are no limits to how far-reaching it can be. Just study how fast a good joke on the e-mail circulates.
6. Studies have shown that a satisfied customer will tell an average of three people about a product or service she likes, and eleven people about a product or service with which she had a negative experience.
7. Because this is the age of the Internet, e-mail, websites, chat rooms, and video teleconferencing, word-of-mouth is even more important to businesses today than ever before.
8. The most important way by which sales can increase is by increasing the speed with which decisions are made. Decision speed is the time it takes for your customer to go from initial awareness to enthusiastic use and recommendation of your product or service. Simplicity, ease, and fun govern the decision process.
9. Marketing success is determined more by the time it takes for your customer to decide on your product than by any other single factor. Decision speed is more powerful than positioning, image, value, customer satisfaction, guarantees, or even product superiority.
10. Shortening the customers decision cycle means your products benefits, claims, and promises must be obvious and compelling; information must be clear, balanced, and credible; comparisons must reveal meaningful differences, your trials should be free and easy, your evaluations, clear and simple. Guarantees should be ironclad and generous. Testimonials and other word-of-mouth marketing must be relevant and believable. Delivery, training, and support offered must be superior.
11. A good way to spread the word on your company is to circulate true, positive stories about it. FedEx is famous for its legendary employee who hired a chopper just to deliver a package forgotten on the tarmac. People love a good story, and that is the essence of word of mouth.
12. There are 9 levels of word-of-mouth. They range from the public scandal of minus 4, the product boycott of minus 3, to the raving customers/advocates who tell you how great your product or service is (plus 3) to the talk of the town level (plus 4).
13. Examples of those who have reached plus 4 level of word-of-mouth marketing are:
14. Lexus Automobiles, Saturn Car Company, Harley-Davidson, Netscape Navigator, Celestial seasonings herbal tea, The Internet, and Apple Computer.
15. Some ways of harnessing word of mouth are by using experts like customers, suppliers, salespeople, experts roundtable discussions and selling groups. Take advantage of seminars, workshops, and speaking engagements, dinner meetings, teleconferenced panel discussions, and trade shows. Canned Word of Mouth consists of putting out videotapes, audiotapes, using a well-designed website, or distributing CDs. There are also ways such as referral selling programs, testimonials, and networking methods, hotlines (1-800 numbers) and e-mail.
16. Using traditional media for Word of Mouth means using customer service as a word-of-mouth engine, public relations, placements, unusual events, promotions, word of mouth in ads, sales brochures, or direct mail, salesperson programs, sales stars, peer training, or using salespeople as word-of-mouth generators, word-of-mouth incentive programs (Tell-a-friend programs), useful gifts to customers (articles, how-to manuals) that they can give their friends.
17. Employees should be actively spreading word of mouth about your products. Spread stories around about examples of superior customer service. Give people a common mission and make rewards dependent on the accomplishment of that mission.
18. Word of mouth accelerates the process of customer decision-making, from deciding to decide, asking for information, weighing options, evaluating a free trial, and then finally becoming a customer and advocate.
19. With customer-oriented service, your company can increase sales via word of mouth.

Specific steps in creating a word of mouth campaign:

1. Find some way to get the product into the hands of key influencers.
2. Provide a channel for the influencers to talk and get all fired up about your product.
3. Gather testimonials and endorsements, like actual letters of praise.
4. Form an ongoing group that meets once a year in a resort but once a month by teleconference or daily by list group
5. Create fun events to bring users together and invite non-users. Saturn, Harley-Davidson, and Lexus have been successful with this approach.
6. Produce cassettes, videotapes, and clips on your Web site featuring enthusiastic customers talking with other enthusiastic customers. Custom-create some CDs for each potential customer.
7. Conduct seminars and workshops
8. Create a club with membership benefits
9. Pass out flyers. Tell friends. Offer special incentives and discounts for friends who tell their friends.
10. Use the Internet!
11. Do at least one outrageous thing to generate word of mouth.
12. Empower employees to go the extra mile.
13. Network and brainstorm for ideas
14. Run special sales
15. Script! Tell people exactly what to say in their word of mouth communication.

By: Regine P. Azurin and Yvette Pantilla href=”http://www.bizsum.com
“A Lot Of Great Books….Too Little Time To Read”
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Regine Azurin is the President of a company that provides business book summaries of the latest bestsellers for busy executives and entrepreneurs.

Author: Regine P. Azurin
Article Source: EzineArticles.com