Nine Free Ways to Safely Share Videos

Uploading Videos

Thinking of creating a video to promote your brand and what your company does? Remember this:

Provide: Inspiration, Entertainment, Enlightenment, Education

19.4% of viewers abandon a video within first 10 seconds of video

By 60 seconds – 44% have stopped watching

Be Short & Start Fast (from Enchantment by Guy Kawasaki)

List of video sharing sites:

1. Wikisend.com (easiest to use)
2. Videosprout.com (no downloading involved)
3. Dropbox.com (allows 300MB transfers.com)
4. Shutterfly.com (creates your own video sharing website)
5. Facebook.com (most convenient to use, since everyone is online & comfortable with it)
6. Minigroup.com (10GB of storage with free account, for families)
7. Chattertree.com (family-focused too, private for specific individuals)
8. Vimeo.com (offers privacy control, basic account 500MB of weekly storage)
9. Youtube.com (can be strictly private, most used)

(list from local newspaper article, originally from WestStar TalkRadio Network)

*Don’t forget to add keywords, categories, and a detailed description of the content of the video to increase your chances to move up the SEO ranks!

Picking the Perfect Pet for your Family (flowchart included)

Furry Friend Friday is back. On fridays, I post topics related to pets for fun & humor. Check out this flowchart of which pet is best for you (based on your availability/needs) plus videos of funny pets below:

Infographic found at Alltop.

Get Inspired to start your small biz along with Tips

Searching ways to get more inspired to pursue your dream about starting your own biz? I know I got inspired to strive to achieve even more by watching this video (below) plus I attached an infographic with cool apps to help manage your small biz venture (found at Alltop.com)

10 Social Media Marketing Sins

Would you trust a baby with your Facebook Page?

Whenever I see reposts from (Twitter Guru) Susie Blackmon‘s tweets on Heidi Cohen (actionable marketing expert), I know it is a good read because it will include practical social media marketing knowledge that could be applicable to various markets such as the B2B to B2C.

The most important bullet on social media marketing sins from Heidi Cohen’s blog includes Number 7:

“Hiring a kid who knows Facebook, not employing an experienced marketer who understands your products, brands and company. “

Situation: I have been speaking to a couple of companies interested in having social media marketing expertise. The story sometimes includes hiring an intern in college who didn’t know the brand or understand the mission of the company who started a Facebook or Twitter page for the company- just to get it done. Moreover, the intern left or graduated from college and somehow the owner of the company is left to do FB or Twitter page with limited knowledge on the platform itself. In extreme cases, I’ve read interns who didn’t handle customer services correctly through these platforms and it resulted in damaging the reputation of the brand.

Solution: Owners of companies should hire an expert because marketing through the social media platforms are one of the most direct forms of communication you have with customers. Hire a social media consultant and inform them about the brand. This person will understand how to use the right tools to increase visibility and communications with customers to enable understanding of the products, services, and value for them!

Have a question? Don’t hesitate to contact me for information about social media. Click here.

How to Enchant your Customers and Leads

This information below is based on the presentation & Enchantment book by Guy Kawaski. I wanted to learn more about this Enchanting individual after watching the InBound Marketing (through HubSpot) presentation (you can see below). Then I read the book it really changed my perspective about understanding people and their needs. There are so many tips from the book and the presentation but here a couple of things I got out of it:

Visit your site and make sure you have: a mission & value statement, “Who We Are”, FAQ’s, Sitemap

Reduce # of choices, people buy more when there are less to choose from.

Present the big option, then the small choices, then it seems reasonable by contrast.

Enchant everyone that influences, businesses tend to influence the father of the household but in Guy’s household, the daughter is the decision-maker.

“Competition:-

1. Know them,
2. Analyze them through three lists of features & capabilities such as:

• What we both can do
• What we can do but they cannot do
• What we cannot do but they can do

3. Finally frame thy competition”

Endure Enchantment through Internalizing Values: conformity, identification, internalization

Think twice before using money (i.e. Encarta vs. Wikipedia)

Achieve trustworthiness: give with joy, give early, give unexpectedly, ask for reciprocation!

“Provide value:

• pointers to useful, inspiring, entertaining content (try to add links when doing this on Twitter)
• Personal insights, observations, or content
• Advice & Assistance” (Also keep it positive!)

….on Youtube:

Provide Intrinsic Value (IEEE): Inspiration, Entertainment, Enlightenment, Education

According to the book, 19.4% of viewers abandon a video with in the first ten seconds of a video

By 60 seconds, 44% have stopped watching!

Make videos short and start fast! Include brand name last on title.

I really suggest you read the book to know how to enchant employees/volunteers, don’t forget to see the presentation in case you can’t read the book:

4 Ways to Protect the Reputation of Your Small Business Online

Social Media Madness

I found this post on Mashable. Before I offer some suggestions to small-businesses, I like to have a reference in case there are any questions that may remain. Therefore please click and see original post on this topic.

I’m a believer that some business owners have bigger fish to fry when it comes to running a business. Hence there is a tendency to rush into social media and get it done when they discover the value it creates (more leads, customers calling for service, etc). Most of the time, small-biz owners start a Twitter & Facebook page to promote a product or a upcoming event and then months later there are no tweets or updates. The excuse is that they don’t have time to continue doing social media or they don’t think anyone cares what about they had for lunch.

Please follow these four steps to protect your online reputation:

1. Research & Planning: what are your goals/objectives, channels (Foursquare, Twitter, FB), time investment?
2. Monitoring & Listening: Google Analytics, HootSuite, Tweetdeck, & Mashable
3. Joining the Convo: planning (use your calendar), consistency (as in daily/weekly), being honest!
4. When the Convo becomes Negative: What to do?

Again, I just wanted you to get a taste of social media, I believe the Mashable covers more details: Click here

Getting easy leads in the Latino Market – brand loyal group

Picture Found from "The Virtual School @ Vanderbilt University"

Happy Heritage Month! I cannot put enough emphasis into the Hispanic Market for new leads and marketing launches. Hispanics are Brand-Loyal! As a person who was raised in Miami which includes a 70% Hispanic population, I not only speak Spanish fluently, I know how to deal with the different types of Hispanic countries. For example, you wouldn’t greet, treat, entertain someone from the New England area to the Southern States to those who live in Silicon Valley or Out West the same way . In my case, hispanic individuals are unique, each country carries a different custom and way of speaking (dialect) and guess what: I’ve mastered how to communicate effectly from Cubans to Colombians and Mexicans to Argentines. So this is what I know:

According to “Hispanic Marketing: A Critical Market Segment” for:

Television:

“49% of U.S. Hispanics who watch television during prime-time hours, watch Spanish language programming.” <—-This includes 7-10pm prime soap opera time on predominantly two channels Univision & Telemundo. Guess what sticks out to me from my childhood? I need to buy a Toyota and I need to drink Coca Cola commercials. I have been brainwashed to buy these brands because they have invested a lot of commercial time in my youth.

Radio:

“Radio is a proven, effective medium in targeting Hispanics. The most unique aspect of Spanish-language radio stations is the time spent listening. The Hispanic population often listens to the radio all day. The entire family may listen to one station and tune in, on average, 26 – 30 hours per week. This ranks more than 13% above the general population.” <—– In Miami there were many spanish-speaking stations, find out if there any available in your area, invest in translating your information, and make sure you have someone who speaks Spanish in your company!

Direct Marketing:

“Overall, Hispanic households are 3.5 times more likely to respond to a direct mail solicitation than a non-Hispanic household; 72% say they always read their mail, including direct marketing; 60% of the direct mail sent to homes is in English;52% of the respondents speak only Spanish in their homes.”  I don’t know if Hispanics are frugal but I like my coupons through the mail- I use them!

Let me know if you need assistance in launching a marketing campaign to this demographic, I would be glad to help!

Please note that I received the information in Italics above from this site: Click here

Please visit my Contact Page for more information on Hispanics

How to get more Twitter followers [infographic]

It can’t be more clearer than this info graphic, get more Twitter followers with these tips:

Leaving the office to finish MBA Program

I’m about to finish my MBA program, so I’ll be out of the office (meaning no blogging until next week). I’m excited about continuing the new chapter of my life in TN but as an ambitious-employment seeker. I’ve been working on my MBA for my past 18-months in-campus with the exception of my last semester online because of my transition from FL to TN. In the meantime, you can visit my latest posts about my upcoming participation in the Komen for the Cure Tri-Cities 5K Walk or the upcoming Storytelling Festival this weekend. Don’t forget to come back next week, I will be posting about Hispanic Heritage month and the importance of not forgetting about this brand-loyal demographic which is the leading minority right now in the US.

(I posted a Mickey Mouse graduation cap because I love the Disney brand and the business lessons learned from Disney)

Adventures continue in Jonesborough

Perfect Gift to Horse-owners: http://hands-around-the-world.com/

Just in time for National Storytelling Festival in Jonesborough, TN. I’ve been visiting the area and the store before everyone flocks down to visit the Festival this weekend, October 7-9, 2011. I discovered an exotic store in the most oldest town of TN. Its called Hands Around the World. I’ve been to South and Central America but this owner has a eclectic selection of jewelry, accessories, home decor that could lighten up any room. If you get hungry at the Festival, I highly recommend The Dining Room, I was raised in Miami and this restaurant is truly Cuban, delicious black beans, and cuban sandwiches. Every time, I have the food there, it smells so good, I end up eating the food before I remember to take a picture to post on my blog!

 The store

http://hands-around-the-world.com/

Jewelry: http://hands-around-the-world.com/

More home Decor: http://hands-around-the-world.com/