1. He collaborated with other successful  people such as Mari Smith, a Facebook specialist, Chris Garrett who had co-authored Problogger the book and Denise Wakeman from the blog sqaud.. he called them his firestarters.

2. Held a major online virtual summit called “Social Media Success Summit 2009″ prior to the launch of his blog which attracted over 700 attendees and was completely online and Gary Vaynerchuk was the keynote speaker. (by the way the summit generated over $900,000 in revenue)

3. Composed a team of writers who provided guest posts on Social Media Examiner includingJason Falls and Casey Hibbard of the blog, Stories that Sells as well as an additional team of writers. A proportion of these writers substantial followings drove readership to the new blog.

4. Interviewed 16 social media marketing thought leaders at Blog World Expo including Scott Monty and Chris Brogan and released these videos over 9 months slowly.

5. Publishes a long magazine-style article every weekday that is  edited for top quality writing prior to hitting the blog publish button

6. Implemented an email acquisition strategy that includes a pop over form that hovers over the screen for first time visitors (it includes a free Twitter video tutorial)  as well as offering a subscription form on the right sidebar. The other email subscriber tactics includes a suggestion to refer a friend to to join the email list and the Facebook fan page also has a video inviting visitors to subscribe.

7. A Facebook fan page that is well designed and optimized including a Friendpile social plugin that shows all of a visitors Facebook friends that like Social Media Examiner. Other strategies included invitations to join the Facebook Fan page that were broadcasted to the email list generating almost 1,000 fans overnight. He made a note that the keyword to use is “Join” not “Follow Us”

8. On Facebook Michael has the rule that they reply to every comment on the Facebook page

9. Social Media Examiners Facebook editorial guide involves “breaking news” as opposed to “writing features” on the flagship blog site.

10. Ultra-rich content that is offered for free on social media examiner acts as the major incentive to attend a virtual summit where people know they will get even more valuable and in depth information from the top experts in their field

What is empowering about this story is that he didn’t spend a dime on his marketing (just his time) and leveraged the power of social media including Twitter, Facebook and LinkedIn.

How could you take these tips and make your blog more successful?

@DavGit

Looking for new revenue streams for your business? Thinking about starting a mobile marketing campaign but have no idea how to go about it? Well, don’t panic because mobile marketing is not as complex as it sounds, and I will prove it. Here are 5 simple steps to get you started with mobile marketing:

Set up a Mobile Version of your Website

There are many automated systems online that essentially take your existing website and auto-format it to fit the mobile screen. WordPress has a plugin to help you with this and so do Mobicanvas.com, GetGoMobi.com and Onswipe.com. A ll of these have good solid platforms to work from.

Leverage Location-Based Platforms

Here I am talking about getting your hands dirty by using FourSquare, Gowalla and Facebook Places. Claim your business on these platforms and start running mobile promotions on them. Its as easy as that.

Immerse Yourself

The best way to learn about a service is to get right down and dirty with it – using it. Take your smartphone and mess around with some of these services and see what you can come up with. Download applications on your smartphone, get comfortable with the navigation and try purchasing something online from your smartphone. Once you get the hands-on experience of what it feels like to use a hand-held device, it takes on a whole new experience for you.

Run a Mobile Ad Campaign

To get you started with mobile advertising, visit iAd from Apple or Admob from Google to get a walk-through on what is required to have a mobile campaign set and ready. If you own a store downtown or a restaurant, a mobile Ad campaign will allow you to easily be found by potential clients in your neighborhood. Pop up ads will just appear on their smartphone when they are looking for such similar services if they are nearby.

Scan a QR Code

QR Codes are similar to Bar codes, but they hold more content and can be used to link to digital content on the Web, activate phone functions like email, SMS or redirect a mobile device to a Web browser. QR codes can be placed anywhere; on the back of business cards, product packaging, event nametags or on the sides of tracks and trailers and then linked to coupon offers, customer feedback forms, directions to your business or other online resource.

Clearly, mobile marketing is similar to social media marketing. Its easy to learn and get started and the results are based on the efforts you put through.

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There are many bad guys out there on the internet. On the other hand, there does not seem to be an end to the many different ways on how to keep these bad guys in check. Many tools have been developed that seek provide protection either from viruses or from hackers. Whenever you are looking for a security tool, consider a number of things that you need to be protected against. While many tools seem to provide these services, it is good to ensure that such tools offer maximum protection. Whether you download free antivirus programs or purchase them, you need to make sure that your tools provide the needed protection.

One of these is a firewall. A firewall makes your system invisible to the hackers and malicious software. A firewall, as the name suggests, is sort of like a wall that blocks anonymous requests to and from the internet. That means that any programs that need to be updated will need your permission to initiate an update. Many free antivirus programs will provide this form of protection. In addition to ensuring that your antivirus is always turned on when you connect to the internet, your firewall should also be configured to always be on whenever you connect to the internet.

In addition to a firewall, some very good free antivirus programs will also come with an antispyware utility that comes embedded with the software. Antispyware is designed to monitor any unwanted advertising, especially pop ups and kill such annoying messages. Keeping you free from such intrusions also helps to prevent your computer from being used by hackers to collect private information such as your surfing habits and your identity.

Even when they are labeled free, some antivirus programs will require that you install either a toolbar or something to that effect. Ensure that such free antivirus programs do not demand too many installations to interfere with your system performance or your security settings. In others, you may be required to register with them before they let you download their software. While some registrations are genuine, some become an annoyance with spam mails. Read online reviews from users who have used the antivirus and see if such software is reliable.

Fortunately, there are many free antivirus programs that are genuine, offer high quality protection and rated among the best antivirus programs on the market. Just goes to show that some of the best things on the internet can sometimes be free.

@freelancecontentcreator

You are probably wondering what on earth the invisible web is. Is it some concept to come or is it something that already exists? To understand, we need to look at what you already know, the visible web. When we talk about the visible web, you are probably aware that we mean the part of the web that is visible by search engines and that is accessible to the general public. Now we are getting somewhere aren’t we? You have probably guessed what is the invisible web now ha? Yes, this is the part of the web that these search tools cannot find.  Today’s invisible web however is very different to what it was just a few years ago.

For example, in the year 2000, very little progress had been made in what today’s indexing programs are capable of. Thus, the invisible web of year 2000 has literally become visible, thanks to these developments. Non-HTML page formats, like PDF, PowerPoint, word and excel spreadsheets were invisible back then, but today, they are as visible as the noon-day sun. Think also of the script-based pages and dynamically-generated pages created using database software like Active Server Pages (ASP) and Cold Fusion. All these pages are now indexed by most search robots, as long as they have an extended presence online.

That however does not mean that the web is completely visible. As new robotic ways of searching online content have evolved, new software and new formats have also found their way on the web and as a result, some hurdles still remain to be leaped. For example, some contents of searchable databases, especially those that require login authorization or keywords in a certain search box remain hidden from view.

How can you access the invisible web? One way is to be on the lookout for databases and contents from authorized users. Most of this content may only be viewed by those who have search authorization. Be sure to subscribe to these vast library resources to tap on the vast amount of information “hidden” in these places. Another way to access the invisible web is to search specifically for databases using the word “database”. If, for example, you are searching for “car companies in California”, the search keyword should read “cars in California database”. You will be surprised by the databases that will come up that are completely invisible to average users.

Social Computing had a couple good points:

1. Internally, social media tools can be used to help with status information, training, project collaboration. Most tools like blogs, twitter-clones like identi.ca, etc can be set up internally instead of used on the public web, for more privacy.

2. Building an online social media component to most marketing and PR efforts ensures a better reach for the media created, and potentially better tracking through clicks and other metrics captured online versus in traditional media (like TV, newsprint, magazines, radio).

3. Building a social network group (either on someone else’s platform or around your primary site) encourages donor retention.

4. When you open up your communications platform to blogging and social media you are adding a new depth to your organization. Donors want to know more about your organization. Social media helps create transparency, allowing everyone to know where their money is going and what difference they have made through their donation.

5. Use an example of an organization who has been successful in this new world. Ex: The Point, (later, Groupon would stem from this platform) which relies almost completely on social media and digital marketing. Without it, the website wouldn’t have even been created in the first place! They also team up with Groupon, creatingG-Team, which allows for discounted donations to organizations.

Every time you start your browser, it may redirect to a designated web page, commonly a search page like Google. In some cases, the redirect may occur when surfing the Web. While of these redirects can be configured from the browser preferences, the other is usually as a result of malware that attaches itself onto your Web browser. When malicious software is used to redirect web pages, anti-virus program is used to detect and remove the suspected malware and prevent future Internet redirects from taking place.

User Preferences

• Start your Web browser and navigate to the “Preferences” section. In Internet Explorer click on “Tools” or “Settings”, in Firefox click on “Options” and in Chrome click on the tool icon.

• Navigate to the “Internet Options” or a similar designation and locate the “Home Page” tab or option.

• Enter the name of web page that you want the browser to default to every time you start it up.

• Use the text box provided to include the full web address starting with the “http://” designation.

• Save your settings and restart the browser when prompted.

             Malware Removal

• Download and run an anti-spyware or anti-virus software on your computer. Since malware on your computer is usually the most likely cause of Internet redirects, have the anti-spyware or anti-virus software running every time you are on the Web.

• Download an anti-virus client extension that attaches to your Web browser. These client extensions will do a scan for every site you are visiting and alert of any embedded malware. Some will scan your local files constantly monitoring any Web pages that try to save illegal data on your local drive while scanning links on sites even before they are opened.

• Navigate to your browser settings and under “Internet Settings” click on “Advanced” and check the box “Warn me when websites try to redirect”. This option will alert you when a website tries to initiate a redirect giving you an option of either allowing or denying the redirect to take place.

• Set the security slider to “High” under the “Internet Settings” if the browser continues to behave abnormally.

• Delete all except the most trusted websites under “Internet Settings” “Trusted Websites”. Some malware will add a link on this section to ensure that they are not detected by anti-spyware when they perform a redirect. Constantly monitor your Internet settings and scan your computer regularly with an updated anti-spyware software.

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With our fast-paced life and the fast growth of the Internet, electronic communications and ecommerce, post services have seen a decline in the volume of mail compared to just a few decades ago. The increasing cost of postal services and the other expenses have further accelerated the move to move to email. Today, almost every business and organization uses email as the official way of communication within and beyond its local network of employees and client-base.

Rate Hikes

With low volume come losses. As a result of this decline, post services all over the world have been forced to push their already high rates even higher to keep up with declining volume and the high cost of living. This increase in rates has further accelerated the problem.

Speed Comparison

With the wide use of email, many people are using this as the standard of comparison with older means of communication like Postal services. Postal services have thus been found to be much slower and with this come less efficient use of resources like manpower and time.

Attachments

With email it is possible to attach huge documents and data and send it to multiple recipients at the same cost. Postal services lack the ability to offer this option at lower costs. This flexibility of email has revealed the inflexibility of postal service in sending bulky data like books to many recipients.

Error Prone

Postal services lack the ability to check for errors in both the content and address of the recipient. This limitation is not there in email which uses built-in spell checking tools to alert a sender of possible errors and suggestions on possible alternatives.

Automation

Email has made it possible to automate some steps of communication. Examples include sending holiday and universally greetings and invitation using a recipient list. In addition auto-response messages can be configured which is not possible with postal services which requires manually doing everything.

Storage and Management

Email addresses can be used to store and manage email received by organizing them into folders and labeling received emails appropriately. This limitation has been observed in postal service and has accelerated the adoption of email especially in organizations and for individuals who use mail as the main mode of communication.

Direct Marketing

Direct marketing by use of postal service has declined as e-mail replaces the sending of brochures, questionnaires and market surveys via post. E-mail marketing has better analytical data and cheaper compared to marketing via the postal service.

Though limited in creating special effects, there are plenty of HTML ideas, tricks and tips that can be used to enhance a visitor’s experience. To avoid a HTML page being overloaded or irritating visitors, it is always best practice to limit the amount of effects that can be added on any one particular page. Such things as popup windows and pages within pages should be implemented with caution. Simplicity is the sparkle of web design.

Page Redirects

Open your HTML page and locate the <HEAD> and </HEAD> tags.

Add the code below between the HEAD tags:

<meta HTTP-QUIV= “REFRESH” content= “0; url=http://www.yourdomain.com/index.html”>

Change the “content= “0”” to the number of seconds you want the browser to hold before doing the redirect.

Linking to Specific Locations on Web Pages

Create an anchor link with the text you will select as shown below:

<A NAME= “HTML5” > HTML5</A>

Change the “HTML5” text to whatever you like. . Notice the use of the same name within the anchor link.

Create the actual link that will be clicked to take one to the anchor text as shown below:

<A HREF= “#HTML5”> Go To HTML5</A>

When the above text “Go To HTML5” is clicked, it will take one to the anchor text “HTML5” created earlier.

Graphic HTML Bullets

Select a small graphic that you want visitors to select listing your items.

Copy and paste the code below on the HTML code where the list of items is located:

<DL>

<DD><IMG SRC= “image.gif > List Item One</DD>

<DD><IMG SRC= “image.gif > List Item Two</DD>

<DD><IMG SRC= “image.gif > List Item Three</DD>

Edit the text inside the quotes to reflect the correct naming of your files and links. The above code will give your visitors your customized version of link listing.

TIPS:

The page redirect HTML idea should be done, not to trick Search Engines, but rather, to provide information the visitors were looking for. Since the page has likely been indexed by Search Engines, trying other things could get the website banned from search results.

HTML5 comes with new and more advanced features in areas of multimedia, presentation, file access, performance and graphics. These extra capabilities allow developers and designers to come up with new ideas on how to implement them on web pages both online and offline.

HTML is generally combined with CSS (Cascading Style Sheets) to create dynamic websites.

Follow on Twitter @Davgit

freelancecontentcreator

Web-bases user surveys are used extensively on the web today. Some of their uses include measuring customer satisfaction, getting user feedback on new or existing products and services, discovering key user influences and perceptions and understanding general purchase behavior. Web-based user survey tools can generally be categorized into 2: web-pages and web software. Each has its benefits and limits and usage will primarily depend on the survey budget, preferred method of data collection and the target customer or user base.

Web-Page Surveys

These surveys do not require an installation of any software, either on the user side or the surveyor. As a result, they are much easier to implement since there are no installation instructions or manuals that come with them. All a user needs to do is open the browser and is ready to go. In most cases, the basics are usually provided for free with a small monthly fee for more advanced features and customizations to fit user needs. Since these surveys are simply web pages, they also come in a wide variety of templates based on the field of survey and the target user base.

Online Software

These tools are software applications that can be downloaded onto a user’s desktop or installed as add-ons on a browser where they can be run like any desktop application. Most of these tools will also allow the surveyor to store the collected real-time data, either online or offline, and manipulate it with other programs depending on use. They have a more advanced feature set than the web-page surveys and are therefore more preferred by organizations or companies that want to incorporate enterprise features into their data collection. They are also more easily integrated with enterprise software making it possible to create detailed reports that provide a comprehensive analysis that can be easily shared by others in the organization.

Benefits

All web-based user survey tools collect data in real-time. This has several advantages which allow organizations to efficiently manage user requests and other related issues where timing is critical. Being web-based also means that surveys can take advantage of multimedia features that includes hyperlinks, video and audio features that help enhance the overall user experience.

Limitations

One major limitation of web-based user survey tools is that when the response format is not flexible, response errors will be expected. This requires that surveys have a predefined response format which will limit the diversity of the data collected. Web-based surveys also assume that respondents have an Internet connection and know how to navigate their way around the web thereby limiting the number of respondents to those that fit this criterion.

E-LABZ Content Creator

@Davgit

If you are a network administrator or you are interested in monitoring what people are doing on the network, then welcome to the world of network monitoring. With the proliferation of network monitoring tools, you just cannot go wrong in keeping tabs on your network activities. In a network that requires monitoring intrusion threats from the outside, an intrusion detection system deployment is the recommended option. What if you simply want to monitor the status of your server? Monitoring software will help you do that by sending what are called HTTP requests to keep tabs on the server environment. These status requests will either return a time-out or a successful ping. A network monitoring software has the advantage of measuring end-to-end response times accurately as well as alerting the user using various ways. An alarm may be sounded when a predefined limit is reached, when a certain condition is not met or when security is bleached. These alerts can even be configured to be sent via email to a remote user in real-time.

When it comes to network monitoring, the thin line between legal monitoring and privacy bleaching gets more and more vague. However, if you are managing a network, monitoring is one thing you want to be doing at any time. Network monitoring is like policing what is being accessed on the network and what network traffic is being transmitted across the network. This is something you want to be doing at any one time. Well-managed networks that have less downtime are ones that are regularly under surveillance. In a busy network environment, it can go a long way in determining the productivity of the team.

Network monitoring also allows one to take note of failing or slowing systems. Without networking surveillance, it can be difficult to determine bottlenecks in a network. Perhaps a server is failing due to too many requests, perhaps memory on a server is full or it could be infected by some form of malware. Other problems include overloaded systems, crashed servers and power outages. Some network monitoring software take virtual snapshots of a network’s workflow. This allows for problem resolution even before a network failure occurs.

In the real world however, network monitoring does not have to be a complicated endeavor. It can be as simple as tracking the number of people logged in at any one time or the number of people using a certain resource on a network. When done right and with the right motive, then it can be a real time and money saver.