Have you ever noticed when you are browsing the web that some internet sites will have a padlock at the beginning of the address bar? This is normally followed by “https.”

HTTPS stands for “Hypertext Transfer Protocol Secure.”  In simple terms, it means you have entered a secured website and data that you are submitting will be encrypted for example, when submitting credit card details for a payment through PayPal or when uploading photos into Facebook.  Without this security measure, it is just the same as allowing the opportunity for someone to eavesdrop in on your personal conversations, like having your phoned tapped.

With the rise in social media and online shopping and the need to share information through email and social networking sites, we need to be less complacent and more aware of the importance of ensuring that the data we are sharing and storing is done as securely as possible.  This should be the same for where you have stored your database.

Your database is your direct communication line you have with your customers.  You talk to it and it talks back to you, sometimes giving you a “pat on the back” because of the fantastic effort you have put in to making sure your customers are happy and keep coming back.  You also are the holder of their personal information, such as email address, phone number, home address…etc.  Your customer trusts that you guard their personal details and ensure that their personal details are not compromised in any way.

Where your database is stored and more importantly, who you have entrusted to keep it secure should be given the same consideration as to the security guard at the front door of your business, the security company who alerts you to when you have a break-in at your store or the alarm system you have in your home. 

Think about it…do you keep your database under “lock and key?”

Here are some lessons we can learn from some common mistakes many bloggers have made, and are still making today.

A Post Isn’t Just for the Home Page

A common mistake many bloggers make is that they think only in terms of the home page. On group blogs, some contributing bloggers will complain that their blog post was "only on top for a few hours." Yes, the top position will get you the most traffic, but only within the first few hours.

But a blog post doesn’t vanish once it leaves the home page! The blog post lives on!

Blogging Should be Fun

Once a blog starts getting visitors a strange thing happens. The blog owners start believing they have to write content to keep the visitors coming. That usually turns out in a lot of posts about nothing. The fun of blogging disappears, and so will the visitors.

Don’t Think Your Readers are Stupid

You’re probably the most knowledgeable person in your industry, right? Nobody knows better than you how to get things done and how to be successful?  No? You’re not? So why are you acting as if you are?

Your Readers Don’t Know it All!

What? Wait, didn’t I just say you don’t know it all and that you shouldn’t shout out to loud that your way is the only way because your readers might know more on a topic than you do? Yes I did. But that doesn’t mean you should think your readers know it all.

What the Others do Isn’t Always Right

Finally, you’ve probably noticed the amount of copycats on the web. Do a search for a simple phrase in your niche and you’ll probably find a lot of similar sites. Even the "big ones" in the tech industry (e.g., TechCrunch, Mashable) and the different leading sites in different countries look the same.

One the one hand, that’s good. Take the best from the best and put it on your blog makes sure people will feel right at home and some things actually work because the big ones have tested them out.

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Top Tips for Real Estate Video:

1. You can’t “make” your video viral – good content will make them viral
2. Keep it short – ideally 90 seconds to 2 minutes
3. Video doesn’t have to be professionally shot (but your photos do)
4. Get a Flip camera or use your iPhone
5. Post all of your virtual tours
6. Shoot quick house tours for out-of-town clients
7. Get your homeowners to participate and shoot videos
8. Research – look at what other companies are doing

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We all like to post bits of information, re-purpose and re-tweet interesting things from reliable  sources, and at the same time we strive to increase our network of personal and professional ‘followers and friends.’  How do we continue to do this effectively, while at the same time, have our content remain relevant to each target audience? The last thing any of us wants is to be ignored.

Just like other business and marketing directives, you have to have a clear strategy for each site, know who the target audience is and define how they are interrelated.  Are your tweets set up to feed your Facebook status and post to your blog? Is your Facebook status set to tweet and post to your blog? When you post, tweet or update, how many places does it actually appear and is it feeding the proper audience? Is it the same message everywhere or are you simply trying to deliver too many messages? These are only a few initial questions you need to ask yourself when determining your social media strategy, but the key is to sit down and create and define your strategy.

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How does your business reach consumers in the local community? Local search, of course! Every major search engine has some form of local search, and some can automatically determine your vicinity using your IP address.

It is extremely beneficial and relatively easy for today’s businesses to list themselves in Google’s local search. When Google searches are cross referenced with a  location, such as a city name or zip code, businesses matching the search criteria show up on a map at the top of the returned search results. Needless to say, with the amount of people using Google to search the web every day, this free service is an invaluable tool for businesses.  The debut of the “Near me now” feature of Google makes it easy for smartphone users to find places close to wherever they are at the moment they search.

All you need to get listed in Google’s local search listings is a Google / Gmail account, a business address and phone number. To get started simply visit Google’s Local Business Center and sign in with your Gmail account.
Similarly Microsoft’s Bing search engine has a Local Listing Center and Yahoo has a Local Listings Account Center.  To use Bing or Yahoo, you’ll need a Windows Live ID and Yahoo Id respectively.

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By Bas van den Beld

Gordon Ramsay is a well-known chef around the world. He has set up many successful restaurants, but his success is mainly based on his television shows like "Hell’s Kitchen" and "Ramsay’s Kitchen Nightmares," and the swear words he uses in these shows.

In "Kitchen Nightmares," he comes into a restaurant, which is usually almost bankrupt and barely attracting any customers, and helps save it. Strangely enough, looking at that show can help you a lot when optimizing your website. Think whatever you want about Ramsay and his swearing, but he knows what he’s talking about.

It turns out running a website is just like running a restaurant. Let’s take a look at some lessons we can learn from Gordon Ramsay.

Clean up Your Menu…

Find Your Niche…

Redecorate…

Get Your Kitchen Sorted Out…

Cook What Your Guests Want to Eat…

Get the Right People in the Kitchen…

Give Your Potential Visitors a Taste of What They Can Expect…

Aim for High Quality…

Click here to read the full story

By Kevin Gibbons

Assuming that a sale or lead is the only important goal for its users to achieve is a common mistake many people make in search campaigns. After all, these are the figures they see when looking at where they’re making money.

However, every Web site has different buying cycles, and users are each visiting at different stages of this process. You aren’t just looking to convert that sale – you also need to stay in the minds of potential customers who aren’t quite ready to buy.

Plus, once you’ve done the hard part and clinched the sale, you want to do everything you can to ensure you have a happy returning customer. This is where e-mail marketing has a huge part to play as an online marketing tool, so here are some tips on where mistakes are commonly made.

Why Your E-mail Marketing Campaign is Useless

If your e-mail marketing campaign makes you a small but regular profit, then you might be satisfied with that – but what if it’s doing more damage than it’s worth?

What if your e-mail marketing messages are actually damaging your brand among a wide audience? Is that worth the small number of sales they generate? While there are plenty of deliverability, style, and content issues you should work on to get the most out of your e-mail marketing, instead consider how you can avoid harming your brand with clumsy marketing.

If you’re committing the following e-mail marketing mistakes, then your campaign will likely cause more damage than it’s worth for the tiny number of sales it’s achieving. If you haven’t got the skill or time to enhance it, you’d do better to scrap it.

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There’s a lot marketers can learn from artist and musician Lady Gaga.

At age 23, Lady Gaga has rocketed to global fame in less than two years. Playing piano at age 4 and New York nightclubs at 14, she recently broke Billboard’s record as the first artist to have her first six singles reach number one. She’s won two Grammys, and has sold 8 million albums and 15 million singles digitally worldwide. While her performance art-style stage shows and bizarre outfits have garnered much buzz, it’s her loyalty marketing that may sustain her for years. Gaga is dedicated to her fans and clearly knows the elements of cultivating a community of evangelistic fans.

With that, here are my 5 lessons about building brand loyalty, Lady Gaga-style:

1.    Give fans a name

2.    Make it about something bigger than you

3.    Develop shared symbols

4.      Make your customers feel like rock stars

5.    Leverage social media

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REtechSouth speaker Jeff Turner says, “The computer is a moron, stop trying to get its attention. You need to get your client’s attention.”

You must control the machine. It is not about having the most friends on Facebook or the most followers on Twitter.  Social networking is not about SEO, it is about YEO – You Engaging Others.

Your goal should be to engage people, engage converse, talk and sell.

Skills you need to cultivate today:

• Design – have a plan.  If you are doing social media wrong you will stand out like a sore thumb. Design your strategy and execute it so it is not visible. Everytime you go online you should have a mission.
• Not Information – Learn the skill of story telling.  We were born to tell great stories.  GREAT stories are it. People need to connect the dots and tell the story, it should not be just a datastream.
• Play – We play in real life. Online is no different, so remember to play online. If you play you will create real relationships. Make it more like real life.
• Empathy – Understand your audience. Using this skill effectively will allow you to better connect with you audience. This is all about relationship marketing.

Tools you should have include a video camera, web cam, lap top, ipod, etc.  You should have all of them!

Create conversations through twitter and uttlerly.  Share social objects, shift the focus to something else with photos, video, books and more.

Build relationships through talkbox.com and other sites.

Expose the social graph. You get to see your connections and others connections.

Listen to yourself, understand what your objectives are and take control of the Machine – parting thoughts.

Source: www.mrelevance.com

While these words may seem innocent,  please proceed with caution if you feel compelled to use them in your marketing, public relations, advertising, Web site, social media, etc.

First – Before your company claims to be the first to come to market with a product or service, do your homework. Make 100% sure that you can substantiate your claim.

Only – Similar to first, if your company is going to claim that they have the only product or service that does X,Y or Z, you need to make sure that you have proof.

Never – I like to say that Never is a long time. While not as pesky and troublesome as the first two words, be aware that making statements that are absolutes can backfire in many ways.

Always -I like to say that Always goes well with Never.  How can you be sure?  Always be careful with this word.

Absolute – Just when you think First, Only, Never and Always are bad enough, you can make them even WORSE by adding adjectives like absolute. If you are going to claim to have launched the Absolute First program, service or product, You’d better be absolutely sure. . . .Are  you?

Source: www.mrelevance.com