» Social Networking

Consumers’ increasing appetite for mobile applications is driving online retailers to speed up their mobile marketing initiatives. According to a Forrester Research, Inc. (Nasdaq: FORR) study produced in partnership with Shop.org, the National Retail Federation’s digital division, nearly three-quarters (74 percent) of online retailers either already have or are developing a mobile strategy. One in five boasts having a fully implemented mobile strategy in place already. The survey of 109 companies is part of The State of Retailing Onlineresearch series, which provides eBusiness professionals with an annual industry benchmark for marketing and business investment and activities.

“It’s imperative for online retailers to stay on top of what their customers want, and these days it’s all mobile all the time,” said Scott Silverman, executive director, Shop.org. “Mobile commerce has tremendous potential and will no doubt grow to become a significant part of overall sales volume in years to come. Whether to increase customer satisfaction, grow their brand, or drive traffic and sales, online retailers are in this game to stay.”

“Mobile investment is modest now, but we see that it will pick up in the future, especially among the biggest brands that have already invested significant amounts in their mobile operations,” said Sucharita Mulpuru, vice president, principal analyst, Forrester Research, and lead author of the report.

Earlier this year, Forrester forecast US online retail sales to total $173 billion in 2010. According to “The State Of Retailing Online: Marketing, Social Commerce and Mobile Report,” Web retailers with mobile strategies:

• Are investing in features that support the cross-channel experience. Product and price information, store information, and coupons to support the in-store experience are among the most popular features that retailers are offering consumers.
• Have varied levels of investment. On average, respondents anticipated spending $170,000 on their mobile sites this year, large multichannel retailers are spending several times that amount, while smaller online pure plays on average are investing much less.
• Are experiencing modest gains. Retailers reported that their mobile browsers at this juncture are generating a little less than 3 percent of overall site traffic and just 2 percent of revenue.

Marketing And Social Media

Tried and true marketing tactics such as paid search, email, and affiliate marketing command the biggest percentage of an online retailers’ marketing budget. According to the report, retailers are spending nearly 40 percent of their marketing budget on paid search.

Retailers are finding value in social media marketing, but the ROI for driving online sales remains murky. Listening to customers is the most significant objective for social tools according to respondents, with 80 percent of retailers reporting that they are pursuing social strategies to experiment and learn. And while 28 percent noted that social marketing has helped grow their business, direct sales from social tactics are not widely measured.

“The State of Retailing Online: Marketing, Social Commerce and Mobile Report” is available to Shop.org members and can also be purchased directly at www.shop.org/soro. Forrester clients will be able to access the report as part of their subscription service one month from publication.

That my friends is the million dollar question. Actually the funny thing about the question is there is NO answer! Yet companies are already spending millions to get into the game. Recently I did my talk about how “Social Media For Business Sucks” and put up the video for the entire talk. The key to this whole industry was laid out from my perspective as a social media ‘evangelist’

Now available for FREE download is the all new 2010 Social Media Marketing Industry Report from Michael Stelzner. In this report there are details about how marketers are using social media to grow leads and business. This study set out to understand how marketers are using social media to grow and promote their businesses.

• The top 10 social media questions marketers want answered: We analyzed
  nearly 1356 open-ended responses and summarized all the major questions that
  marketing pros want answered.
• The time commitment: We examined the weekly hours marketers invest in their
  social media efforts. This analysis will be helpful for marketers just getting
  started or seeking support staff.
• The benefits of social media marketing: This rather beefy section reveals all
  the major advantages marketers are achieving with their social media efforts. We
  also look at how time invested and experience enhances the benefits.
• Commonly used social media tools: Wondering which social media tools
  marketers are using the most? Those questions are answered, along with an
  examination of which tools experienced folks are using.
• Social media tools people want to learn more about: In this section, we
  examine the up-and-coming tools that marketers are most interested in learning
  about.
• Other analysis: We also examine social media outsourcing and smartphone
  marketing. In addition, we take a look at how B2B (business to business)
  companies vary from B2C (business to consumer) companies and whether the
  size of a business has any bearing on results. We also highlight significant
  changes since our 2009 study.

To download a FREE copy of this insightful study, simply click HERE and download the PDF. Get an 5-minute overview of the report from the author by watching the video below…

Remember the relics of the past, your grandfather’s generation of how they used to network? Picture in your mind those bound business card books – remember these? They were small, leather bound with clear sleeves to hold business cards. Some of them were tabbed or alphabetical. That relic was replaced by saving business contacts in Act! Contact software and finally made accessible to all of us via Microsoft Office Outlook. How about the rotary phone? A Rolodex? Actually traveling physically just to network? All things of the past, almost nostalgic in the “Now Generation” of social networking.

So what is the “Now Generation?” Now is Twitter, now is Facebook, Friendfeed, Linked-In, Google Docs, V-cards, and on and on. Social media, instant messaging, email these are the networking tools of the now generation. And many of them can be a huge time suck. We post here, Tweet there, Like and share on Facebook…where does it all come together? And how in the world do we understand, manage and keep it all together?

Enter the bubble concept! Imagine as a child, dipping the blower into the soapy solution, and blowing a constant stream of shiny, tiny bubbles. Then try to imagine yourself gently keeping all of those bubbles in the air at the same time?!? This is a direct parallel to today’s networking life.

Consider your networking efforts as a series of bubbles. A Twitter bubble, a Facebook bubble, a Linked-In bubble. How about your ecommerce and business networking and marketing? We have bubbles on local levels like neighbors, trade association, hobby groups, etc. Each bubble has its place and importance in our lives. Many often intersect and interconnect while others simply stand alone. Once conceptualized the efforts do not seem quite so distant or in the clouds.

Be sure to nurture each of these bubble. Understand that each will shrink, expand and change – do not distress this point, it will happen and is a natural progression. Many in your current bubble will not be there a year from now, as you grow and learn. Guilt over your own self growth in personal or the business realm is not allowed. Move on and adapt, continue to surround yourself with non-toxic people that are where you want to be. On the other hand, there will always be those contacts that you do not wish to allow to fall by the wayside. No matter what, don’t allow them to fall and whither. Here is a personal example…

I have a contact with Mr. Dave White of the eBayandBeyond: Basics to Business podcast. Dave is the godfather of podcasting! Dave was podcasting when podcasting was not even cool many years ago. He knows more about podcasting and the equipment involved for producing a quality podcast than I could probably ever hope to.

He has selflessly shared with me information, tips, tricks, and has simply been a dear friend. I sent him an email once, after several weeks had passed with us not making any contact. We have both been very busy as we moved forward in our lives. The email simply stated;

“Some connections are just too important to me to allow them to go to long without being touched. Consider yourself touched!
—- Phaedra”

Dave replied in a very positive manner and we did not allow our relationship to fall by the wayside. It was quite simply just too important to me. And it obviously worked, since I was sincere. Don’t allow important relationships to fall away simply because you are busy. An email takes mere minutes to compose.

Having laid the foundation for the concept, next we will delve deeper into the meanings, meanderings, and actual workings of networking with today’s tools. It is cloud networking, but we are bringing it down to eye level.

This is part one in a series of posts on “Networking for the Now Generation”. I hope you will tune in for part II soon!

Please bear with me and let me set this up with a little background and then I will bring this up to TODAY and why I would like to try this Alpha Test…

Each One Teach One is a known African-American Proverb. This phrase originated in the US during slavery, when Africans and African Americans were denied education, including learning to read. Many, if not most slaves were kept in a state of ignorance about anything beyond their immediate circumstances which were under control of owners, the law makers and the authorities. Denying education was one of the methods used to keep them docile and instill and maintain the belief that they were inferior and unworthy of a life beyond subservience, labor and harsh treatment.

Using these methods those who were in bondage to others would teach each other. This was done in violation of state and federal law, since those in the position of power used government rule to deny slaves proper education. The denial of education made it possible for the system of slavery to exist and prosper because it is HARD to enslave an educated human.

NOW for how this relates to today….Well first and foremost I am Black and this is Black History Month so I was reviewing some of these lessons with my kids so the legacy is maintained in our home. As I am doing this study for them, I am learning more and more about myself and how learning from the past can be applied today in life and business.

Many of the ecommerce merchants that I speak with are not as astute and learned as they should be. Some of us started our businesses out of hobby selling on platforms like eBay, Etsy or Craigslist and got sudden success via these tools. Our businesses grew over time on the platforms and we learned methods for harvesting crops on the farm (ecommerce platforms) but never learned how to "own the plantation."

What we have become is somewhat similar to the days of indentured servants or share croppers. We are at the whims of the platform and its movements due to a lack of concrete education on the principles that govern ecommerce. That leaves you and I vulnerable and almost like a slave that is subject to abuse at the whims of the "master" because we simply do not know how to provide for ourselves. We are locked in fear and uncertainty about or future because there is no way out in our minds and we simply don’t see an answer. We can not adequately formulate an option or an answer due to our lack of education and ignorance of opportunity.

We can NOT expect eBay, Amazon or any other marketplace to willingly teach me how to NOT be dependant on them. It makes no logical sense for me and you to expect the owner of the plantation to teach the the servants who PAY THEM for the privilege of selling to THEIR customers…….just think about that statement for just a second…wow! We are PAYING these marketplaces to list our products so they can offer our wears to their customers as if THEY are the vendors of the products. If that is not a similar tie to a share cropping, I don’t know what it is?!?

So with that same spirit of addressing and ending ecommerce illiteracy amongst us as sellers, I would like to try an Each One, Teach One Topical Discussion here on the ColderICE.com blog. I will post a topic related to us a merchants and the the COMMUNITY…YOU GUYS will come in on the comments and post. You can post your comments on the subject, links to articles or posts to other blogs on the topic, you can post links to YouTube videos or Podcast episodes. I do not care what you post as long as it furthers the education of the community, it qualifies. But of course this will ONLY work if you participate. This is why it is an Alpha test because I want to see if the community would participate to make it great. Come on guys, lets each one, teach one!!!

Topic is… Brands and Branding: What is it? How can you do it?

OK, I need your input now so lets start posting to the thread topical information on Brands and Branding.

Congratulations!!! You have just duplicated your "un-success". Wow, I am sure you are so proud of yourself. How many platforms do you have ID’s on? How many "booths", websites, stores, blogs, social sign ups, Twitter followers, Linked-In connections? WOW, that is very impressive. The most impressive part is the fact that you are still NOBODY!!!

The late, great Billy Preston (the only person who had a BIGGER Afro than Michael Jackson) had a song called "Nothing From Nothing" and the lyric goes like this:

I’m not tryin’ to be your highness
‘Cause that minus is too low to see, yeah
Nothing from nothing leaves nothing
You got to have somethin’ if you wanna be with me…

—Billy Preston

I remember being a kid and simply loving that jam…but I digress. Look at the simplicity of the words and the message it conveys. Now I want to change it around and spin that to say: Nothing times nothing equals nothing and want to congratulate so many of you for doing multiplication by ZERO! I do not care what number you start with, if you are multiplying it by ZERO the product is still ZERO

Welcome ladies and gentleman to today’s video…….

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Who would have thunk it? 300 million users are now registered on Facebook, holy cow! Now these are not just any old users, but they are actual UNIQUE users for the most part. See you got eBay who reports an estimated 338.2 million users (according to the June 2009 eBay Quarterly Report) which is very inflated due to inactivity or duplication. That is a whole different ballgame.

Facebook users report repeated uses daily and accounts on Facebook have been pretty restrictive to having a real person behind most of its accounts. This new number of 300 million for Facebook is really a pretty huge chunk of Americans interacting via social networking and Facebook is way ahead of the pack.

Also today Facebook says they are now "cash-flow positive". So the world biggest social network has beat the goal of hitting that in 2010. That is another big milestone Mark Zukerberg, who said today on his Facebook blog:

We’re also succeeding at building Facebook in a sustainable way. Earlier this year, we said we expected to be cash flow positive sometime in 2010, and I’m pleased to share that we achieved this milestone last quarter. This is important to us because it sets Facebook up to be a strong independent service for the long term.

Over time, Facebook will continue to be as strong as all of the connections you make. We’ll continue building new and better things to make connecting with the people you care about as easy and rewarding as possible. We thank all of you for helping us reach the point where we are connecting 300 million people, and we hope to serve you and many more people in increasingly deep and innovative ways in the months and years ahead.

I do not think I could write this out if I had too. My ability to express myself in words and prose is limited to about 140 characters. So now you understand why I love Twitter so much

So here it is, my theory of the most perfect example of social marketing was revealed to me while watching a bee in the flowers. This is by far the MOST POWERFUL analogy of social marketing I have found. And low and behold I found it by watching a bee do its thang!

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In today’s world there is a "hyper-network" taking place. We are all hyper networking thanks to social services, both on personal and business levels. By network I mean people who know you, like you and trust you.

The new issue with this hyper networking is that suddenly people are always trying to "keep track" of all of their networkers, for lack of a better term. What I mean is that suddenly people are now seeing if you re-tweet everything they say. Or did you post a back link to their blog post. How many times did you recognize them on a "Twitter follow Friday". That is NOT networking!

Let go and STOP taking score all the time. Stop looking to always come out ahead in a relationship. The concept of what we know as "win-win" is just a disguised way to keep track. Making constantly sure the we come out "even Steven" When you base your relationships in business or in life on "who owes who" or I scratched your back now you scratch mine. That is NOT being a friend, that is being a creditor.

So ok I just recently wrote the The Social Networking Trinity article and gave my top 3 best social tools. Then comes Google Wave in a demo from Lars Rasmussen, Software Engineering Manager.

Google Wave is a product that helps users communicate and collaborate on the web. A "wave" is equal parts conversation and document, where users can almost instantly communicate and work together with richly formatted text, photos, videos, maps, and more.

Dude, my ENTIRE WORLD just changed today. Everything I though about being way in the future was suddenly in a 80 minute presentation. Yeah, it is a ‘geeky’ kinda love right now. But the beauty of this platform is that when it rolls out to the public, they will GET IT almost over night!

• The ability to speak to each other in real time, viewing as the person types give a one-up on instant messages and chats.
• The instant chatting gives a one-up on Twitter, Facebook, IM and the others.
• The file sharing with drag and drop from desktop to browser… OMG, I think I am in heaven.
• And so much more…

I have included the entire 80 min presentation, but it does get geek speak pretty quick. If you are like me, you will watch it all. But if that is not your bag, then check out the quick links below…

1. A really cool demo of the spell checker intelligence. The Bean Soup Demo
2. A Twitter extension demo… Click HERE
3. A seriously awesome demo of the translation ability… Click HERE

I will give you 3 guesses for what was by FAR he hottest topic at StomperNET Live this weekend in Atlanta?

Come on, you know it HAD to be Social Media right? Of course it was. Here is my quick update from the floor on what the hype is all about. And do not forget that on MONDAY Night at 8:00 pm I will be presenting on this same topic LIVE…More details to come soon!