Getting ready for the social media networking event on May 6, I have been thinking a lot about how I use social media. Lately, I have developed a serious addiction to announcing anything and everything on Twitter.


But tweeting is a lot of work if you want to do it right so really it is super easy to become a Twitter Quitter. To get more efficient on my time, I did some research and discovered that there are tons of plugins that make staying current on the fast-paced social networks easy.

So if you are a Twitter addict like me or cant' digg Twitter just yet, use Firefox to browse the web and read this post as it lists some really cool Twitter plugins for Firefox. 

My personal favorite is the Twitter Bar that allows you to tweet from the address bar of your browser. 

Web 2.0: Tough Relationship?

Web 2.0 is the new word that businesses of every size are learning to understand and use properly. While the term "Web 2.0" was officially coined by Dale Dougherty of O'Reilly Media to identify what back then had no name, it has since spread out to become a new word that defines the Internet we all use for business and leisure every day.

But how does Web 2.0 differ from what we had before? Here's a comparison chart to help you see for yourself:


Now, what does Web 2.0 mean for businesses and how does it impact marketing and other areas of business?

• Feedback is king: Web 2.0 changed the user interaction pattern from a one-way to a two way communication, allowing for more opportunities, yet demanding a dramamtic change in approach to website design and content development.
   
• It's not just about your website: taking your offline networks online is becoming very important as social networks (think LinkedIn and Twitter) continue to grow agressively. Your website is no longer just your ID, but rather an android that represents your business in every spot it can reach online.
   
• Say yes to relationships: web 2.0 is all about two-way communication and calls for a conversation, rather than a mologue. Web 2.0 allows business to build relationships and bond with their clients and prospects, but it takes a shift in strategy to do so. 
   
• Create an effective personal/professional mix: With Web 2.0, it is typical to read about a new baby on a company blog! As Internet continues to grow with information, the division between personal and professional becomes blurred and sometimes intentionally absent. Use it to your advantage to show your clients and prospects that you are "just like them, only a little different".
   
• Online Reputation Management: If you are concerned about your privacy, you should stop reading this post and throw away your computer now. An online album with pictures of your baby (BTW, this is Web 2.0 kind of thing) or a press release about your volunteer work for a local non-profit, chances are the info will make it online quicker than you expect. The downside is though that your drunk pictures from a friend's birthday party will do the same.
   
• Consumers rule: With new technologies becoming more user-friendly and readily available, Web 2.0 allows anyone to build a blog or a website that offers content on just about anything!
   
• Stay on top of it or be doomed: Things are moving and changing so quickly today, there's no doubt we'll see Web 3.0 in no time. Yet make an effort to catch up with the fast-growing online industry and get your share of measurable revenue that Web 2.0 is capable of bringing to your business. 

Stay up-to-date on marketing trends and industry changes with monthly events hosted by SDMA and attend the Market to the Max conference to get the latest scope on Web 2.0 marketing techniques.

They say clothes make a man. Barack Obama’s campaign proves that great marketing makes a President.

Of course, marketing is a just a piece of the puzzle, but it would be unfair to deny Obama's marketing team the credit for a job well done. Politics aside, Obama’s marketing strategy has some great lessons that can – and should – be used by other marketers.

1) If you are not part of the solution, you are part of the problem

Think about the primaries and how much McCain and Clinton talked about themselves and criticized the existing attempts to improve on problems. Now think about Obama and how little emphasis he put on himself compared to his voter base. 

Make sure that your marketing strategy is built around your target audience and addresses their problems – and you will see more prospects that care. After all, there really is no reason why people should care about a product or a service that does not do anything.

2)  Every little bit counts

There is always bigger fish to fry but bigger does not always mean better.
Obama got $640 million donated to his campaign by 3 million online users (that’s just a little over $200 bucks a person!). So if your current marketing strategy is built around big, expensive products and services, you may want to reconsider in favor of smaller-scale ones: it may pay off big time.

3)  Embrace social media, or be lost in the crowd

3)   Joe Biden as Obama's running mate – this was on Twitter before it appeared in the mainstream media. Why? Because Obama told his supporters prior to the news going public. 

So if you have a big announcement or an interesting idea for a new product, share it with the public firsthand and help them develop their own opinion. Once they do, they will want to talk about it. A lot.

And, lastly, remember that there is no such thing as bad publicity. After all, Sarah Palin was not such a loser with an 11 million book deal.