5 Best Uses of Google Hangouts!

Now this is next level engagement!!
           
    No matter what business your in or whether your just trying to reinforce yourself as a brand or go to source for information the best way to stand out is to STAND OUT! Utilizing Google+ Hangouts is perfect for engaging your followers or your prospecting clients. With Hangouts your able to conduct live conversations with yourself and up to 9 people which you could use to show off your expertise and/or demo your product all the while getting real-time input from the rest of your group, the video can be broadcasted live or posted later to be shared to the masses! Using Meta Tags you can make the content searchable and in turn engage a new audience with fresh information, giving them the opportunity ask questions about the video in the comments and if they love what they see they will share it too!

Google+ Hangout Features!

1. Video Chat with up to 9 People!

       *Establish yourself and others in your business as the go to source for information by scheduling public conversations about different aspects of your expertise. Appoint a moderator and make sure you begin with an arranged agenda and then provide the added value of the Hangout by allowing the audience to chime in with questions and let the audience steer the conversation with the information they are looking for and they will come back for more!
       *You can schedule your Hangout with a Q & A session for example and engage directly with your core audience or conduct a conversation with other experts to convey your message with in depth analysis.
       *Brainstorm publicly or privately about potential new services or products and get an immediate market response to what the public would like to see in such a product or service and even how they would like it marketed!


HINT:      ITS NOT A VIDEO- IT'S A CONVERSATION! Engage the audience for input on the topic. The end goal is to get engagement by making it fun, informative and appealing!

2. Demo your Product and/or Share documents, media or other files with members of the group!

         *We all know that some products are simply better demonstrated than explained.  Schedule a

"workshop" or demonstration of your product/expertise or both to add value to yourself and the brand or product! Show the many uses of the product beyond the typical ones that most would not think of to add even more value to the broadcast, your product, your brand and yourself.
          *Use Give-A-Ways to promote your Hangouts! I'm sure you can think of something! If your in business you surely have some overstock, if your an expert in a field you can generate some useful memes or info-graphics, etc.

HINT: Run a graphic to announce the Hangout instead of simply just announcing it on your blog or other social media. Its ok to to be personable and make small mistakes during the broadcast, your viewers will appreciate an honest representation.

3. Watch Videos on YouTube or other mediums together and chat about it!

        *It's a great idea to engage your clients with a tour your YouTube videos and other media with the client to add another level of engagement to videos and media you have already created.


4. Share your Screen with the others in the group!
   
          *Demonstrate your technical expertise by showing off! Allow the viewer to see your screen as you navigate menus, create files and graphics, or answer technical questions through demonstration. Add value by showing your audience everything that you can and will do for them!

HINT:  Build trust by pulling back the curtain! When can you really show off your skills to the client? its a lot easier to appreciate the final product when they can see all of the hard work they usually couldn't see!

5. Broadcast your chat live or record it for later! 


       *If your going to do a LIVE Q & A, post the topic nice and early this way the viewers can post questions regarding the topic and you can be more prepared to give a well thought out and detailed response.
       *Those watching your broadcast live can post comments and feedback, use this opportunity to engage the audience by replying as they come in.

HINT: After the conclusion of the broadcast be sure to post a summary of the conversation on your thread in case someone misses it. They can see in your thread if you touched on the topic they are interested in and add value to the missed broadcast by engaging someone new to be sure to catch the next one!

   

Your Primary Strategy in Branding is Engagement

       Social Media is NOT about likes and shares, well not totally, its about ENGAGEMENT and BUILDING RELATIONSHIPS! Whether its within social circles, drumming up new clientele or for billion dollar corporations, the goal is to brand yourself with what is called a Social Media Profile.  Your Social Media Profile (SMP) is essential in differentiating yourself from your competitors, it is the 21st century hand shake, introduction and interview all at once and in turn will be the gateway to engagement. You would be very surprised to see how many corporations neglect their web pages but still have a strong engagement with their customers through their SMP. Typically your SMP will be the determining factor in getting you in the door for any opportunity; it will make or break you and your brand so it must be given the utmost respect.

5 ways to establish your Social Media Profile

1. Develop Yourself as a Brand -
          Who are you? Who is your intended audience? How do you want them to view you and/or your brand?  What image and/or impression do you want to convey? What separates you from your competitors? Understanding these key components will be essential in developing your brand and creating your SMP. If you don't know who you are, your audience won't. If you can't make yourself stand out from the competition how will the viewer separate you from the competition. You must know who you are, what you do and impress it exactly in every aspect of your brand and in every medium you choose to conquer to show the level of dedication that the viewer can expect. Every aspect of your brand should tell the audience at least a part of your story, take a look at this 9 min webinar video from Vistaprint detailing how to get started creating the one aspect which will most recognizably connect every aspect of your campaign- YOUR LOGO!

HINT: Knowing who you and who your intended audience is critical in developing content that your customers or audience want to talk about. Increase engagement by being the person your audience can relate to. Not everyone will engage you immediately but if you provide answers to commonly asked questions you can be the go-to source your audience comes to for your niche.

2. Assess your Capabilities -
            Keeping up with your SMP is critical to maintaining your image or brand, if your not going to dedicate the proper time and energy to maintain it then do not overextend yourself. Simply putting your name on every available social network thinking your going to reach more or have a better Klout score is far more detrimental than having a single well maintained profile on one of the more popular forums like Facebook or Twitter. The viewer can see how often you post, comment, respond and share; they will not engage you if they think your not going to see, comment, reply or share.

HINT:  If you don't have the means or resources to be everywhere then be where your audience wants to have conversations and interactions about things that correspond to your brand; i.e where they "hang out".


3. Understand your Goal -
             Knowing who you are and what you can do is only half the battle. The typical primary components of any social media strategy are building awareness about your niche or expertise, generating sales of a product of service or simply encouraging brand/product loyalty. Explore the tools/apps and forums of the trade that your audience interacts with and build a presence to accomplish your goal.

HINT: Know exactly what you are trying to accomplish, its not always simply awareness, sales or loyalty. Perhaps your branding yourself as an expert in a certain field, if this is the case you must provide resources to back you up. If its web/graphic design you want to have a web page for sure but more than that it must be impactful to those in the know and you should include in it examples of your other work.

4. Structure your Campaign -
              After you have assessed your capabilities and realize the importance of maintaining your brand you must implement it. Develop your schedule for posting content, for replying to posts or comments, and for engaging others in your niche to generate awareness among those in the know to add value to your content. A schedule for all of your content and where it will be posted must be firm and you must stick to it, you audience will come to expect your content once they realize its value so DO NOT DISAPPOINT THEM or they will move on.

HINT: Maintain your brand identity by using the same graphics for logos and the same color schemes and themes across all apps and pages. Utilize the 1-2-3 strategy to get you used to sticking to your schedule; 1 Blog post weekly, 2 Facebook posts weekly and 3 tweets DAILY. Take a minute to view Coke's video explaining their revolutionary campaign and goals to be realized through Transmedia;connecting each and every medium you use to support your message and introducing your brand to your audience through creative story telling. 

5. Maintain your Campaign-
              Remember to be PROACTIVE and not REACTIVE.  Utilize real time analytics to test your content and its impressions on your audience and tweak your campaign regularly for optimum performance. Always remember there is no such thing as privacy in the digital world-NEVER POST ANYTHING ABOUT YOURSELF that you do not want to DIRECTLY associate with your brand.

HINT: Listen to your audience, if they have suggestions- head them, if they have questions- answer them, if they hate you or post negatively about you or your brand DO NOT DELETE IT- confront them professionally and publicly to see if you can change their mind. Worst case they still hate you but your audience sees that you care and you put in the effort.

5 New Media Blogs to NOT MISS!

smartonlinesuccess.com/blog/

SMART ONLINE SUCCESS

I get Garin's updates every single morning and I always look forward to reading every one! He always has new content posted and its always interesting! From posts for beginner bloggers, motivating tips for success to LinkedIn professionals promoting themselves or trying to optimize themselves for the job search! One of the greatest hings about Garin Kilpatric's blog is that he always takes the time to answer questions from his followers whether it's tweeted to him or in a comment on the blog itself! The look of the blog is blah, very flat and kinda boring to look at so it isn't the most aesthetically appealing but focus on the wisdom and the advice and you won't be sorry! 

mediabistro.com/10000words/

10,000 WORDS

AWESOME BLOG! Features real news and great tips on New Media; tips on integrating new networks into your business, tips for aspiring journalists and great new applications and their projected impact on the online community. 

mastersofmedia.hum.uva.nl/

MASTERS OF MEDIA

Prob my Favorite Blog of the Day! Written and compiled by several New Media Graduate students at the University at Amsterdam currently being trained on the newest media, sharing, networks and marketing techniques to give the articles a contemporary and up to date take on everything New Media. The blog articles are obviously submitted as an assignment with a general context or question to be answered (kinda like mine!) but are all listed together so you can get a variety of takes on the same issue from very different writers! 

www.pbs.org/mediashift/

MEDIASHIFT

So, they are a little liberal...This Blog has everything!!  Produced by PBS and written by hundreds of "citizen journalists" this blog puts out EVERYTHING new media; podcasts, transmedia, social media, marketing, digital education, info on new careers in new fields and how to get in, and their "Daily Must read" suggestions will get you lost for hours! They touch on everything, including the especially critical questions that everyone is afraid to ask like "who owns all of the photos and data I upload on my social networks?" But perhaps most importantly they provide an very up to the minute take on new media in and their effect on current events which is the most critical responsibility of New Media; 

mashable.com/

MASHABLE

If you don't know MASHABLE by now, your welcome! Mashable is everything and anything all in one place! News on current events, business, sports, news, entertainment, politics and yes...NEW MEDIA! Explore Mashable and use this blog to steer you to the questions you didn't know you had. Stay up to date on the newest sites, apps, social network news and subscribe to their HOW TO's! Understand the impact of events and releases in real time written by real journalists. 

Making Viral Videos 101

             Hundreds of thousands of minutes of footage uploaded into YouTube every day, 72 hours of video uploaded every minute! How do you compete with that? Chances are you are not going to create the most original video ever created and if you did there is no guarantee it will even be found attractive enough to go viral. So what’s the secret? There’s no secret, it follows the same logic as anything else you find online, it comes down to content and how you manage it. Follow the 10 basic things on the “do this” and “not this” list and you’re on your way!

 10,301,819 Views 

DO THIS!

NOT THIS!

1.       MAKE IT ATTRACTIVE! Production value definitely helps but it’s just as important for the content to be attractive to as many people as possible; follow current events and look for important keywords and tags to see what people are looking for. 2.       MAKE IT FUNNY! Try to use humor and wit that most people will understand. People share things to say something; whether it’s about them, something that affects them or how they are feeling. 3.       DON’T BE BORING! Make videos that are compelling and easy to watch! Choose your subject to be one that gets them excited enough to share! If you use old content with rehashed messages it will just be lost in the heap. 4.       KEEP IT SHORT! Remember that attentions spans are typically short when surfing. Nobody wants to watch videos longer than 2 min; therefore they won’t want to share it either! 5.       PROMOTION!! Put your video everywhere! Send it to everyone! Encourage everyone to share! If you’re hoping to profit from the video you should absolutely invest into optimization and monetization through ads as well.

6.       DON’T FOCUS TOO MUCH ON GOING VIRAL!  If you’re creating a video to be viral to generate revenue or market a business or product make sure it makes sense commercially! Proper promotion will generate more money for less views! 7.       DON’T FORGET TO HAVE AN AUDIENCE!Appealing to too many demographics is a mistake that so many make! The trick is to really excite your audience so they can in turn excite the rest! 8.       DON’T JUST USE YOUTUBE! There are hundreds of video share sites out there, use them! Dailymotion.com, tubemogul.com, vimeo.com, blip.tv,viddler.com, etc. Encourage sharing by posting it on your blog, your facebook, twitter, etc. 9.       DON’T FORGET TO OPTIMIZE THE VIDEO FOR SEARCH! Search engines cannot watch your video, it will completely depend on you to properly tag and label your video and whenever possible INCLUDE A TRANSCRIPT! 10.   DON’T FORGET YOUR PURPOSE! The viewer may like your video but still just move on from it when it’s over. Give the viewer a call to action! Encourage them to like, share, direct them to your product or webpage to !

Remember when creating your video that there is no recipe for taking advantage of the human factor to appeal to your viewers but it works, it is the key to catching lightning in a bottle and if you can nail it your gold! People share things that make them feel because they want to share the feeling they had when they encountered it. Take a look at how 7 year old Luka swept the internet with a 200 character email to Lego! Good luck on your video, follow my suggestions well and see your video take off! 

Almost 2013, Why are SMS Campaigns Still Successful?

           SMS is old news! Now we have Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest and all of the other social media sites. We have email, snail mail and all of the old school proven mediums in TV, Radio, and Print. Why are we still using SMS? Why do these campaigns still work? What attracts campaigns to use such an old medium? Do people really participate in these annoying text campaigns from these strange numbers? The answer is YES  and because THEY WORK!

           More than 5 BILLION texts are sent per day with 99% being opened and read with 94% in the first 3 minutes! Those numbers are completely staggering! Why wouldn't marketers take advantage of it?! Think about the cost of advertising in print, TV or Radio (not to mention the 1% ROI avg). How much do those Pay Per Click campaigns drain from your budget?! Content management across your social media circles for a really good campaign takes a team and that is REALLY expensive. Email and Snail Mail campaigns are useless, digital or otherwise, you can spot junk mail when you see it! What if there was a quick and easy way to get your message across to your desired audience? What if you could make it short and sweet just to get the point across and at the same time include a short link to more info and more access? What if that little link was 6 times more likely to get the recipient to click through than Email, Search, Facebook, or Online display ads?One that was ridiculously cheap and gave you the best ROI? Now imagine you can track it, interact with it, manage and optimize the campaign at any time from anywhere!

          UNLIMITED POSSIBILITIES are afforded to SMS campaigns! The trick to SMS campaigns is keeping the interest of the recipient and avoiding that dreaded STOP reply that will terminate your connection! Think about your social media sites. By now you know that if you constantly bombard your followers with content that its consistently all about you or your business your getting dropped like a bad habit! You have to integrate attractive content with your marketing to keep their attention, by offering 3 times as much attractive content as you do your own marketing it makes the recipient 5 times more likely to look for your content! There's no reason not to follow the same paradigm for SMS! Attract your client with fun and interactive content, throw in a few discounts and sweepstakes, and with smart phones being what they are integrate a few good MMS (multimedia messages) and you got yourself a winner! 
       
              As long as there are 327.5 Million cell phones in the US, SMS will be here to stay! Think about the magic behind the medium, any other form of advertising you need the audience to come to you. If its print they have to open the paper, if its online they have to search or find the site where the ad is located, if its TV they have to turn on the TV, etc. SMS is genius because it is an open portal directly into your audience's pocket! (pun intended!)  So how do you get there? You can purchase a list of phone numbers from any one of a million places but that is an absolute NO NO! SMS will only work if the recipient wants to receive them! So how do you find the audience that wants to receive your content? OFFER IT TO YOUR CUSTOMERS DUH! Odds are you already have your desired audience in your store right now, on your site right now, viewing your ads on some other medium right now so how hard is it to promote a SMS campaign? Honestly its so cheap and so easy that if you can't figure it out you don't deserve to capitalize on it!

             Where do you start? There are two very popular agencies that make it very easy to get these campaigns up and running in minutes,  EXPRESSTEXT and SNAPGIANT, and they both let you try if for free! Where do you run it? EVERYWHERE and with BROAD STROKES! Start small but start BIG, put that 6 digit number on everything! If you want your name on it, your website or social media on it then you want that number there too! What kind of content or offers do you include in the campaign? That's up to you, just follow the very simple policy; KEEP IT SIMPLE! If your texts of more than approx 100 characters your done! If they want that much info they will come to you, include a link in the text for more info or more offers but keep the outgoing messages very simple. Make sure to include a call to action, whether its a sweepstakes, a discount, free stuff it needs to be interactive or it just won't work.

          As I sit here now, enjoying my quad venti macchiato, I just subscribed to Starbucks SMS campaign. I text the word GOLD to 697289 and within 30 seconds I got my welcome message, and it was opened and read. 60 seconds after that I was registered for their content. Not only do I get a free cup of coffee on my birthday, but I was able to link my Starbucks rewards card to my new profile. Linking promotions is the best tool in marketing REMEMBER THAT! Now my profile keeps track of my points for free stuff and even if it is lost I will never lose the points I accrued. Even the big guys don't get it right all the time; they promise no more than 3 messages a month-BAD IDEA! Like I said earlier you don't want to bombard the recipient but you don't want to lose your opportunity to maximize this gateway either! There is no doubt that they will utilize all three of those messages to be Starbuck Promotions so why not double the messages and include non-promotional content to keep their interest? Or better yet, why not include a way to "share" the content with their friends to further the promotion? This will be a tactic utilized in the near future but as of now noone has perfected it. Mark my words that will be the SMS marketing revolution!

The New Digg is the king of Social Bookmarking!

       What is the key to finding the best Social Bookmarking sites? BEING SOCIAL! So I went and asked on my social networks which ones people recommended I try out and which ones were a waste of time. So many of my comments came from strangers that said to me that it really depends on what you want your results to be. Didn't really understand those replies at first so I did some snooping around all of the major social bookmarking sites to see how different the content could be. In the end they all offered the same content but what I found was that only Digg had real informative content that interested me ranked very high and very easily to find instead of pop culture content that you find blanketing news sites like scandals or useless celeb news. Of all of the social bookmarking sites that offer user generated content, allow you to recommend and share media and rate that material for other users, what makes the content that find on Digg that much better than Stumbleupon, Buzzfeed, reddit or any of the other sites?

     
        I found that some sites, like Buzzfeed for example, may have a voting system like all of the others but what really drives the traffic to the content you find is the optimizers they employ that scour the web for content most likely to go viral. Sorry guys that not how social networks are supposed to work! Other sites like Reddit, my second favorite for a few reasons, is far more democratic but the content most high ranked is generally a little geeky even for me but the site remains completely unbiased to the content and that is what socially promoted content is all about.

     
         The new Digg takes it to a level that Reddit once mastered, making the content comment system more like a forum than just people dropping their two cents as they swing by keeping the user involved. They allow likes and links and comments on comments users can link to comments to further discussion or to rebuke the garbledeegook that people post that have no idea what they are talking about. The overall usability to far more attractive than Reddit though I really don't see Reddit staying far behind for too much longer.The jury is still out on Stumbleupon, my favorite think about Stumbleupon is that you literally tell it what kind of content you like and it finds stuff it thinks will interest you! Sounds awesome but the system needs a little tuning. I found two or three articles that interested me very quickly and then I was gone. It wont be too long until they realize they can use the articles I choose to further narrow the search and constantly provide the user with newer content.When they figure that out, they will be my new number one!

An Acceptable Level of Invasion and Censorship?

           I myself have always been of the mind I was proud in the lack of censorship this country has imposed on the Internet, in direct contrast to countries like Iran, China and Cuba it was one of the things that really made me proud to be American. It wasn't I until I realized the potential threat to the democracy that I love, that I received my call to action. This blog will not presume to have a solution to the problem of privacy in the 21st Century, lack of Freedom of the Press online, or even the unconstitutional control of content online in (but not limited to) such popular forums as Google, Facebook and Twitter. The only purpose is to draw attention to the misconceptions in hopes that in defining the problem a solution can be found. 

          

           Contrary to popular belief, there is no “Right to Privacy’ specified in the Constitution of the United States of America just as there is no famed “Internet Privacy Act” as many suspect web sites would have you believe. However, a century of case law has established that rights of privacy are indeed implicit in the Bill of Rights as well as in the 14th Amendment of the Constitution. Therein lies half of the problem, all of our supposed protections are implied. There is no freedom of the press limitations for all of these social media sites (SMS) in which we share all of our private information. Facebook and Twitter have the rights to censor any content they don’t wish to promote, or promote any content they deem important. With the power of circulation that they possess, far greater than any newspaper, they propose a very clear and present danger to our democracy. I never even considered the fact that these SMS that we put so much faith in and attribute so much to in regards to unity and the progress we have made as an online community to be a potential dagger in the back of the democracy that had given them their wings. These SMS have a responsibility as a vehicle of conversation to remain fair and impartial and simply be a medium of discussion similar to a fax machine or telephone. As powerful mediums of communication in the 21st century they should not be allowed a voice of their own, sounds callous I know but they are far too powerful as entities to be allowed to have and/or promote their own political agenda, their responsibility begins and ends with their users.

             The Candidates of the upcoming election for the 45th President of the United States both attempt to harness the unparalleled capacity of SMS though neither has actually grasped the true nature of the beast. They both compete for the same audience but neither has understood that likes don't get you elected, if you want to try to come to our sandbox you have to learn the rules. You can't just post content, and buy ads and expect us to be engaged, you must engage us. Obama's camp tweets 4-6 times daily, posts in Facebook on their many pages on average 3-5 times a day and in both instances are literally twice what the Romney camp does. Obama's Facebook has 31 million "likes" while Romney has only 10 million. At first glance its obvious that Obama is doing more in SMS to gain advantage in this election, right? Do the numbers still seem in Obama's favor when you factor in he has been running his campaign for re-election since being elected in 2008 and Romney has been at it for little over a year? More than 80% of the content Obama posts is never delivered to his 31 million followers because most are old and lost their appeal when it comes to the "Edge Rank Algorithm"(Affinity x Wight x Time Decay = Edge Rank), while Romney's 10 million are "fresh" and hold more weight in the formula hence the content reaches its desired audience a lot more efficiently. Another example of how even the professionals truly can not grasp the magnitude of this new medium, Romney is delivering his message that much more efficiently but only out of default.

        In this past week the second of three debates was held and Republican Challenger Mitt Romney mentioned that in his proposed budget he considers cutting funding for the Public Broadcast Service (PBS) and in a quip says, "Sorry Big Bird." Before the 45 min long debate was even over there was a Facebook Page with 100,000 fans was created as well as a Twitter account with the handle @firedbigbird sprang up and immediately had 25,000 followers. Should you care that within hours that Twitter handle was terminated by Twitter? Absolutely! Just like the journalist Guy Adams who was suspended from Twitter for his criticism of the NBC coverage of the 2012 Olympics with #NBCfail, it was a clear violation of his rights of Freedom of Speech. Allowing SMS to abridge our rights is the definition of censorship. Where does it end? What if there was a political agenda for SMS corporations in which one candidate was favored over the other? What if one candidate was proposing some type of statute or legislation that would restrict SMS or worse, hinder their profits? Does it not scare you that it is 100% within their rights to silence advocates that don't share their interests, like Guy Adams? Does it not make you quiver at the thought they could use their Edge Rank Algorithms to censor content that promotes such legislation or the candidate that advocates it? That is the clear and present danger that keeps me up at night.

            While there are federal agencies that have made a valid attempt to protect such implied liberties, i.e. the privacy audits of Facebook, Twitter and Google imposed by the Federal Trade Commission. Even if one such law or amendment were to be drawn up in the United States that is where its jurisdiction would end, there is no international regulatory board or committee that could mandate SMS to limit censorship and at the same time protect our privacy.

           Should we and if so how do we regulate SMS specifically without infringing on the rights of the users? Is it really even possible?

           When I brought this issue up to one of my professors at Fordham University, he of course astounded me with insight I had not even considered but realized was crucial to my point. Professor Lance Strate, PhD is Professor of Communication and Media Studies at Fordham as well as author of "On the Binding Biases of Time and Other Essays on General Semantics andMedia Ecology." His contention is that the loss of privacy is not only necessary but inevitable and proposes a destined shift of the social dynamic from a desire for privacy into the desire for an audience.

Prof. Lance Strate 

Author, Editor & Professor

Fordham University

"The First Amendment provides protection against government censorship of speech and the press, which was meant to allow private citizens and companies to say and print whatever they want to.  This in turns means that the owners of the press can publish whatever they want to, and not publish whatever they want to. In this sense, when Facebook, Google, or more traditional outlets decide to block content, cancel programs, not publish items, etc., this is not considered censorship, at least not as far as the First Amendment is concerned. There is precedent for requiring media that use public resources, such as the airwaves, cables run over public land, etc., to include a certain amount of public service content and to be otherwise regulated regarding commercial and political material, and perhaps it could be argued that the Internet that was set up by the government and uses some public resources is in the same category, but then again anyone can create a website with whatever content they want. Facebook, Twitter, etc., are private corporations, and they certainly allow for plenty of public service content anyway.  As for privacy, while there are some legal and policy issues, and Google, Facebook, and other Internet companies are involved in various controversies regarding privacy, the general bias of the electronic media is against privacy, which McLuhan correctly identified as a creation of literacy and print. Privacy was unknown before writing was invented, the ancient Greek term for privacy was synonymous with idiot, Hannah Arendt points out that the root meaning of privacy is the same as deprived, as in one deprived of a public role and identity, and the constitution has no such guarantee because the emphasis on privacy was only gradually developing in the 18th century. With new media, privacy is dying, and I don't see any way to stop it. I've said this many times, in a generation or two they won't even understand what we were concerned about, and where we were concerned about loss of privacy, their concern will be loss of an audience."

                Professor Strate also directed me to the works of David Brin, Author of "The Transparent Society". Not only had David Brin eerily predicted the demolition of the World Trade Centers by acts of terrorism in 1998 (3 years before 9/11) but also the ensuing legislation known as The Patriot Act. His Predictions were based on the prior failed attempt at the WTC in 1996 so he is not exactly a prophet but his ability to anticipate the reactions of the public and how the government would use their fear to create the act shows his incredible sagaciousness. Mr. Brin's View on transparent society are similar to Professor Strate's in that the loss of privacy is inevitable, the human race must contend with the evolution of media and communication and make the choice between freedom and privacy. His argument, very simply, is that the loss of privacy will go both ways. Eventually we will sacrifice our own privacy but at the same time so will the "elites" and in that lies the transparency, the loss of privacy will be reciprocated. He describes it as the return of "the Village", the reunification of the human race into one society. 
      
              While in theory a transparent society may be the next step in this communication revolution, I do not see the full transparency a possibility therefore it will simply be a rouse. "Big Brother" will never allow it, there will always be a means of control and there will always be people at the helm. My opinion, fight for your privacy. Fight for your right to freedom of speech. Fight for your liberty. As of January 1, 2013 employers in the state of Illinois will no longer be allowed to demand Facebook passwords from their employees. You don't think the request is infringing on the applicant's liberty? Why should it be tolerated anywhere in this country? We the people must fight and continue to fight just as our fathers and forefathers before us for all of the rights and liberties that we take for granted each day.  There will always be someone trying to trample our liberties for their own gain, in the 21st century they won't be in red coats, they'll in 3 piece suits instead.  

Setting up a YouTube channel for your business

               So you have a small business and think a website alone is sufficient to reach your clients? Not anymore! If you don’t have your business on the major social networks then you are not maximizing your potential. Major Social Networks include but are not limited to Facebook, Twitter, Google+, Pinterest and YouTube… YES the major social networks absolutely include YouTube!  You can find a list of the other major networks HERE  along with their ranks as determined by each website's Alexa Global Traffic Rank, and U.S. Traffic Rank from both Compete and Quantcast. While you should absolutely be sure to get your brand on as many as these sites as you can IF YOU CAN NOT MANAGE AND MAINTAIN IT DO NOT DO IT! One of the biggest mistakes a business owner can make online is reaching a client and ignoring him/her whether intentionally or not. You also want to make sure you update content and maintain your site regularly but I will go over all of that in a later blog, The Social Network Steroid for Small Business!

What does YouTube offer your small business?

Why should your small business be on YouTube? The goal is to reach as many potential clients as possible, your demographic is absolutely surfing the web so put your brand EVERYWHERE! You already have a website I’m sure, that should be enough right? WRONG! One of the most impactful things about YouTube is it allows an alternative access for ADDITIONAL CONTENT in the most popular medium, video! Not only that, creating and maintaining a YouTube Channel allows you to keep the attention of your clients. Simply posting a video on the site is not good enough because your video will be listed with every other similar video which means it’s right there next to your competition! You don’t want to get a customer all revved up on an idea then let them click a competitor so funnel them all into your product or service with a channel specific to your company! INSIGHT AND INFORMATION breed trust, upload videos of not only your products and services but behind the scenes stuff like how your products are made, how your office staff gets along and you create a happy work environment- Things that will give your company a “face”. CONNECTIONS are the most powerful tool on the web, whether its through social networks or reciprocal linking on your website (a valuable traffic tool for web traffic which cannot be understated! Read This!) Connecting with your clients by simply allowing them to comment & ask questions on your videos has the potential to create not only a valued client but a champion for your product just because you found your video on YouTube and saw it as informative. How about CREDIBILITY? Anyone can upload a video, but taking the time to create a channel marketed directly to your clientele tells your audience you’re for real and the more official it looks the more official your company will look!

Now let’s get your small business on YouTube!

After scouring YouTube for the most informative and simple to follow videos I came across a Channel created by Local Pulse Marketing which is by far the best and will get you started in no time! They are broken up into stages so not to overwhelm the beginner and points out the most critical areas to focus on at each stage of development. The first is very simply “How to create your account and update your YouTube Channel Information as well as what the purpose of important information like the channel description and tags, which enables your video to be found in search.

Update YouTube Business Channel: Updating YouTube Channel Information

The Second provides insights on how to personalize the design of the background so to be more identifiable with your clients. 

Change YouTube Background: Changing YouTube Channel Background Design

**Remember you want to make sure you keep a uniform look across all forms of marketing so try to use the same color scheme and style as you already used on your website.

               The last one I will feature will be how to link the Channel to your website and assuming you have already created your Social Network business pages, linking them as well. 

YouTube Tricks: Social Media & Website Links in YouTube Channel How To Video

**Remember best thing you can do for a potential client is educate them as to why you’re the best for the job, linking all of these networks together is the best way to do this because it allows a seamless gateway throughout all of your forums.

You will also find on Local Pulse Marketing's Channel that they have several other videos that would be incredibly helpful for any beginner marketeer like helpful hints on Linkedin, Google+ , Facebook. I will no doubt be referring back to their channel because I found it so informative...SEE HOW THAT WORKS???!!!

The Digital/Human Connection

           Isn't it nice when a stranger smiles to you on a crowded street and for no discernible reason it just brightens you on the inside, you can't help but smile right back. And isn't it awesome how that same smile is so contagious that all the passersby that see that smile on your face get the same butterflies, sending infectious bliss rippling through the crowd. That's the human connection that you just can not define or explain. There is no compromise, there is no replacement or supplement for that human connection. Give me unlimited posts with unlimited characters and let me spill my heart to you a million different ways in text, but there is no emoticon for heartfelt emotion, not one for friendly sarcasm or to demonstrate real and true jest. Everyone says we should connect more, that we "need" to connect more. It makes us more efficient, it enables communication, it bridges gaps, allows us to network, evolve, etc. etc. etc... Honestly those sound more like the desperate cries of an addict pleading for another hit of connectivity from a digitally dependant population, rather than "real" people actually wanting to connect for altruistic reasons.
           To further yourself and your communities is what the true objective is when you connect in the "real world." School, church, extracurriculars, book clubs, beer pong tournaments all have one real thing in common, real people sharing real connections. Not one person has ever heard anyone ever say that all of this added connectivity makes us more human, if anything you hear the exact opposite but there is just too much money in the new mediums to ever go back. We have to be able to progress with the digital age without losing that human connection in the real world. You can build all of the online communities you want, create all the new and innovative applications and portals to keep in touch you want but you can never create a real community; a civilization with true human feeling, care, compassion and even forgiveness for your fellow man . The fact is in the digital medium- it just does not compute. You can have your one hundred million apps with 3 billion users and all the friends you can possibly fit into that handheld device of yours, I'd rather have a hug.
            Take the 2012 Summer Olympic Athletes Michel Morganella and Voula Papachristou as a perfect example of human emotion not transferring to the digital medium, these and all of the other Olympic athletes are performing on a such a global stage that they are icons, they are almost god like, so does that mean we hold them to a different standard? Absolutely we do, they are idols to us all but they are human like all of us and we all make mistakes. Both athletes were dishonorably dismissed from their respected teams for what was interpreted as racist messages posted on Twitter by each of them. You can't feel a persons true intent without reading their body language, your can't sense a friends displeasure without hearing the disappointment in their voice and you can't judge a persons core values in 180 characters. While I personally believe Morganella's comments to be at least slightly racist, I don't believe Papachristou's to be more than a bad joke, but regardless they both were judged and sentenced in the public eye. As a red blooded American it should sicken all of us, we all have our day to defend our actions, where was theirs? At this level of competition everyone of the athletes that are even considered have a level of heart that most can't even fathom. In the heat of competition sometimes you say things you will immediately regret, you can never take it back and it may not be forgotten but in the real world and on the field this level of excitement is understood, expected and even occasionally forgiven. Online there is no such empathy, it's typed into plastic keys but etched in stone. Those 180 characters now define them, their life long dreams-irrelevant, their dedication to their country- forgotten, themselves permanently branded as less than human because for one second their emotions got the better of them. What is this medium that it has such dominion over how the real global community judges one another?
         Often there are some things posted in one forum or another that does have the potential to add a next level of alliance between two or more users, a level that was impossible to generate in the digital world not too long ago. These events, whether they are posted videos, status updates blogs or tweets allow users to think that creating that real digital community is not only possible but inevitable, the thought is noble in its purest intent but frankly its just not feasible. There is just too many X factors in the human experience that can not be digitally replicated.  Recently, another Olympic reference, there was a video posted to youtube of the entire women's swim team singing and dancing to a popular song that gave a the viewer a more tenderhearted look into an Olympic team, adding a personal look at a group which are usually portrayed to be all work and no play. Because they were able to show that they can share a common interest in a popular song, and dance around like a couple of goofs (the way we all do when no one is looking), the result of the video gave the viewer a feeling of a next level of connectivity and made them feel involved and connected which added an even greater level of excitement and anticipation to the tournament. As nice as that is, it's incredibly rare to truly duplicate. It was dynamic and expressive as well as stimulating and full of emotion but so were the Tweets of Morganella and Papachrisou.  I'm not saying that the Olympic committee were right or wrong in their judgements, only saying that letting your emotions run free online will generally have the same result as drunk dialing, the next day most likely your gonna wish you could take back everything you said! My advice to everyone; including future athletes and anyone in the public spotlight that wants to stay there; as much as you want to share your success with those who have supported you, don't. Always be on your "A" game and be professional. As much as you want to share your emotions with your fans, friends and family, don't. People who don't know probably don't understand you and won't even if they met you, why give them an opportunity to judge you? Just a thought...