Wednesday, August 27, 2014

#WednesdayWisdom - August 27, 2014

via Instagram: FernandoSalasNY 

Tuesday, August 26, 2014

Infographic: The Social Video Marketing Starter Guide

Yesterday I posted 7 ways video marketing can grow your business today's post is a social video marketing starter guide:

Monday, August 25, 2014

Video: 7 ways video marketing can grow your business

It is apparent that in 2014 and beyond with streaming HD video access via mobile, video, O.T.T. and desktop the online video audience will continue to grow! "Next to a face-to-face interaction, no marketing tactic comes closer to bridging that gap and closing a sale than video marketing."  
 Several factors such as increases in Internet speed (5G for mobile is not very far behind) and also "smarter" and much more powerful mobile phones/computers/apps make it possible to record, edit, broadcast, and stream online HD video with ease.
For more on how ‎video‬ ‪marketing‬ can deliver a client's brand message and can grow a business please check the video here as it is quite informative!:  
Video: 7 ways video marketing can grow your business  
- "We now have the ability anytime we want to broadcast our videos to the entire world, for free. The barrier to entry and the cost associated with creating videos has never been lower. So why are so few businesses taking advantage of it?"...

Tuesday, August 19, 2014

Investing In Your Social Media Relationships Means Investing In People

This open letter is addressed to several parties: 
  1. Those utilizing the fraud "follow me and I will follow you back" shortcut tactic of "inflating" their follower numbers.   
  2. Those social media users looking to purchase their followers.
  3. Those who have received a Tweet message from me saying they have unfollowed me and then come back with some form of #1 as an excuse. The reason I sent out the message saying you unfollowed me in the 1st place is because just maybe it was an oversight due to the Twitter unfollow bug  and also as my duty in customer service to see if you have a grievance with something I posted and for you not be afraid and just let me know.   
To whom it may concern:
Sorry to inform you I do NOT do automatic follow backs on any of my social media channels, so if you were looking for a way to auto increase your numbers please forget it. Social media and all relationships are about being social and NOT focusing on numbers. By implementing the "follow me and I will follow you back" "strategy" you are cheating at trying to get followers. It detonates a sense of neediness and desperation to be "popular". I nor should anyone else reward cheaters.
If the thought of having huge number of followers leaves you with this inflated imaginary sense of being famous and "accomplished" then you are here for the wrong reason. Here's some constructive advice: instead of wasting energy on this "technique" try to spend more time focusing on delivering valuable content. Again social media and all relationships in general are about being social, and this means actual interactivity with real individuals should be taking place. All proper friendships are about bringing something of  mutual value to the table worthy of meaningful engagement and friendship!
In your "..but you didn't follow me back" whine did you ask yourself why I didn't follow you back? The only  auto follow backs anyone should do is after careful review and deem if a follow back is worthy of it. These are some of the reasons I did NOT follow you back:
  • You are an automated robot posting mere promotional links to your website.   
  • You are NOT following the 80/20 rule and most of your status updates are of the "meformer" variety hence you really have nothing to offer of real value to me. Rather than annoying your audience with irrelevant content and boosting your own image always make it about building relationships abd trying to cultivate a community.  
  • You are posting quite sporadically and NOT necessarily active on the specific platform. This practice makes it look like you have the social media account just for the sake of having an account there.    
  • You do NOT stagger what you post. Please be respectful of my newsfeed if you can. Try a tool like https://bufferapp.com
  • You are one track minded, and do NOT space out your thoughts. People use social media to be social, they don't want to be subjected to your incessant online sales pitch. My advice is to throw in a little variety: quotes/reposts/viewpoints even if it is about the weather in your posts as this will make you appear authentic and human. As a side note this rule is meant to be broken for specific focused "breaking news" media source account outlets such as CNN - TMZ - FoxSports or MTV. 
  • Your posted media content/links are topics that simply do NOT interest me or is generally redundant from another account I already follow. 
In your quest for easy bulk follower numbers and supposed cheap Internet fame, you seem to have lost the skill of how to make friends. All relationships should be nurtured and valued. Social media is an interactive method of communication learn to be proactive and stop cheating for followers/friends. (Click here for 10 tips that will gain you real followers who will want to see the posts you will provide and become your brand advocates, on any social media platform.)
If you see social media as your path to internet fame, and a way to show off and say, "Look at me I have "a million" followers I'm so cool!",  I'm quite happy you have removed me because my time is valuable. I would rather spend it being social with those who invest in social media as a communication tool and not just simple follower collectors who think getting fast numbers is key. Quality over quantity is something we should all strive for in every breath we take.
Placing more of a focused effort to relate to your audience and developing a valued unique selling proposition "voice" and personality, may not be the fastest track to gaining followers but your followers will be dedicated legit ones instead of mere cheap "numbers" who are more than likely spam accounts. Having something to offer of value and appreciating your fellow social media audience with a human level of respect is what social media is about and NOT your "follow for follow" scheme tactic. Once others see this you will be worthy of a follow or a follow back and your follower numbers will increase organically! If after reading this you still feel the same way please use a search engine and search for the term: "buy followers" that is another cheap way to gain numbers with no authenticity. - #stayreal
Hopefully you will heed this advice and always remember my life motto: Life Is Short. Live Longer! Smile Or Die! ☮♥☯ NOT ☢!... 

Regards,  
Fernando Salas 
Twitter/Instagram/Pinterest: @FernandoSalasNY
https://www.rebelmouse.com/FernandoSalasNY
Google+ Personal Page: CLICK HERE!
Google+ Photography Business Page:  CLICK HERE!

- ...via +Rebekah Radice :

Monday, August 18, 2014

10 Tips For Real Social Media Followers

Are you currently practicing or looking to practice the "follow me and I will follow you back" tactic of gaining friends or looking to buy social media followers?... 
Instead of focusing on numbers and taking shortcuts here's 10 tips that will gain you real followers on any social media platform. Focusing on actual followers who will want to see the posts you will provide and become your brand advocates is the end key here not just empty numbers who more than likely are spammers.   
  1. Work on your profile. Create a good bio photo whether it be a logo or photograph and choose a fun header .This will make you not appear as a fake profile that is used to catfish people. As many people will read your bio before deciding whether to follow you, having an effective profile bio that will make people interested in your page is ideal. A good written bio can help you get much more followers than a poorly written bio. 
  2. Compose interesting, funny or thought-provoking status updates. Add variety, be interesting, post interesting links and post multimedia. Updates with photos get the most engagement. 
  3. Use hashtags as this will make your status updates searchable.
  4. Write your status updates often, at the right times of day and peak hours and follow the 80/20 rule. Nobody wants to follow someone who never tweets, therefore it's important to remain consistently active on social media. You should have a minimum of one post per day and ideally two posts per day to maximize your visibility. Your accounts should follow the 80/20 rule where 80% of your social media activity should be about helping your community, and 20% should be about promoting yourself. If you can not write your status update at the right time of day when the majority of your followers are awake learn to use a queue scheduler such as (Facebook/Twitter) getstacker.or laterbro - (Google+ Plus/Facebook/Twitter) bufferapp - (Twitter Only) twuffer.   
  5. Send "@Messages" to Top Users. Chances are they won't return your tweet but people who also follow them will see your questions and your chances of getting a repost are heightened.
  6. Ask Questions. One great way to add followers is to get people engaged so they'll send you a response back. There's no better way to get people to respond than to pose questions.
  7. Link to interesting sites/info. so you are seen as a reliable source of information about the latest and greatest the Web has to offer - this is a great way to gain followers.
  8. Develop a Niche. Getting specific about what you want to accomplish with your tweets is one sure way to get new followers. Having a more targeted audience in mind and playing to those followers is a better approach than just random tweets about everything under the sun.
  9. Repeat Yourself. - Especially if posted outside of peak hours. Repeat your best and most informative tweets several times during the day and see if you get an increase in followers.
  10. Promote your social media accounts everywhere a potential follower can see it: printed business cards, your website, blog, all your social media accounts and email signature. 
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Tuesday, August 12, 2014

The Power And Culture Of "Likes"

PBS Frontline Presents “Generation Like” explores the evolving relationships between teens, social media, and corporate marketing. 
- via the Press release: "In Generation Like, an eye-opening follow-up to FRONTLINE’s 2001 documentary The Merchants of Cool, author Douglas Rushkoff returns to the world of youth culture to explore how the perennial teen quest for identity and connection has migrated to social media — and how big brands are increasingly co-opting young consumers’ digital presences. “Today’s teens don’t need to be chased down by corporations,” Rushkoff says. “They’re putting themselves online for anyone to see. They tell the world what they think is cool—starting with their own online profiles. Likes, follows, retweets, and favorites are the social currency of this generation.” And they’re a very real currency for marketers: instead of selling the product to the teenage audience, the idea is to get the teenage audience to sell the product to itself..."

Thursday, August 7, 2014

Even Hollywood Is Not Immune To The Power Of Social Media Influence

Excerpt: "...studios are tapping social media-savvy talent in order to better target hashtagging viewers. ...“It is now part of those casting conversations, not only from a film perspective but for branding deals.” people like George Clooney, Brad Pitt, and Angelina Jolie—there’s a whole list of them, people who publicly denounce social media . . . I’ve seen those people’s names on lists literally checked off because they don’t have a Facebook page..."