Marketing Products Using Facebook

Social Media is a great way to market your products...here's 5 ways to do so using Facebook

1) Bright Lights, Big Facebook

Facebook Photos are likely a much overlooked brand utility. In recent weeks, the social network has added a slew of photo enhancements that Page owners should become keen on.

Especially of note is the ability to upload hi-res photos up to 2048 pixels wide or high. In combination with the lightbox interface and the removal of pagination (all album photos appear on a single page), photos now really pop on the world’s largest social network.

For marketers and brands, these upgrades offer huge opportunity; you can now use Facebook’s magnified photo product to better engage brand fans. Take a look at Travelocity’s Facebook photos for a prime example of this strategy done right. The brand employs its iconic Roaming Gnome in photo spreads — that are then posted straight-away to Facebook — every chance it gets.

“Thoughtful and engaging photos are a critical component to our Facebook Page,” says Joel Frey, Travelocity’s senior public relations manager. “When the Roaming Gnome attends an event like the Balloon Fiesta in Albuquerque, our social media team definitely wants our fans to chuckle at his antics, but we also want them to imagine themselves taking a balloon ride one day and, hopefully, using Travelocity to help them turn that dream into reality. So we make sure we’re always taking shots that capture the entire scene and not just the Gnome mingling with his fans.”

2) Focused Group Action

Facebook recently introduced a New Groups feature for private, even secret, one-to-many communication channels. New Groups are like mini Facebooks — but with group chat and document uploading — which make them ripe for intelligent brands and marketers to employ to their advantage.

We’re not suggesting you run out and invite random Facebookers to join your group — that’s a terrible idea. But, we do see potential for several practical use cases, especially given that most social networkers call Facebook their online home.

Here’s a few that come to mind:

• Consumer Review Groups: Instead of hosting customer or product feedback sessions via your own tools, invite members to participate in private group sessions via the New Groups. It’s a win-win for both parties because participants will feel more at home in a familiar environment, which may make them more likely to participate and provide higher quality feedback. These groups won’t replace market research efforts (for bigger brands anyway), but they could help you glean insight in a much faster and more intimate fashion.

• Event Groups: If you host networking events, conferences or seminars, consider letting participants know prior to, or following, the event that you’ve created a group for further discussion.

• Live Chats: As noted above, New Groups feature group chat. Brands and marketers that maintain groups should consider inviting company figureheads to participate with customers and fans in live group chats. You could either schedule live chats or have a recognizable personality drop in unannounced.

Any marketers or brands employing these strategies need to remember to respect the online boundaries of Facebook members. As such, we’d recommend not inviting customers to join a group without their express permission.

3) Riddle Me This

Facebook Questions is another new product from the social network that can be molded into the perfect tool for brands and marketers.

The Q&A product lends itself to Page owners, who can respond to questions as their business (versus responding as an individual). Page administrators can also post questions directly to their Pages, with the activity also showing up in the News Feeds of your Facebook fans. Clearly, Questions can be a marketing tool for soliciting organized feedback in a way that also exposes the business to larger audiences, should fans post and share their answers.

Facebook Questions should be used like any other Q&A tool out there — think LinkedIn — meaning we highly recommend a soft sell approach. If you take to Questions to explicitly sell your product, you’ll probably be met with unresponsive Facebookers. If, however, you seek out questions to answer where you can demonstrate expertise, or post questions to your Page that resonate with fans, then you’ll be working to develop better connections with these individuals.

4) "I Was Here"

If your place of business has a physical store, then your job as a marketer is to improve foot traffic. Facebook’s Places is a potential digital tool for creating a tangible connection between your online profile and your offline venue.

Your goal, by and large, should be to inspire in-store customers to share the “I was here” message with a place checkin that gets distributed to their Facebook friends and posted to your Place Page. You’ll want to start by claiming your Place Page — one is automatically created once a Facebook member checks in to a venue. You can then encourage checkins via in-store signage or special checkin-themed events.

Loopt and SCVNGR also offer deep Facebook integration with the potential to loop location activity on those services back to your Place Page, as well as bring Facebook checkins to their apps’ audiences. You’ll certainly want to explore what these apps can do for your venue, but distribution and visibility are key here.
Right now, there is a clear disconnect between Facebook Pages and Place Pages, but we suspect that the two entities will eventually merge into one single page. Once this happens, you’ll have even greater potential to turn fans into venue advocates and vice versa
5) Just For The Like It

“Likes” aren’t exactly new to Facebook, but they are becoming increasingly more important buttons to brands and marketers. The more you can encourage fans and would-be fans to “Like” your Page and updates, the more distribution you’ll get. Distribution is nothing to scoff at either, especially given a recent partnership between Bing and Facebook that surfaces Facebook “Likes” in search results.

There are a number of creative ways to solicit “Likes,” one of them being the more passive approach of posting stellar content that inspires action. You can also integrate “Like” buttons into your website, should you wish to complete the circle between Facebook and your business site. This might be a wise move considering “Likes” are proving great at generating referral traffic.

More aggressive “Like” tactics mixed with a little old school marketer know-how have been known to work as well.

Golden State Warriors marketing director Kyle Spencer, for example, employed an ingenious plan to up the “Like” count on the Warriors Facebook Page. Spencer took advantage of the basketball team’s preseason games and its e-mail database to engineer more “Likes.” He started an e-mail marketing campaign giving away free tickets to the team’s first two preseason games, so long as the recipients “Liked” the team’s Page.
The initiative paid off handsomely and fans even took to Twitter and Facebook to voice their disappointment when the first offer sold out. The Warriors then re-upped the campaign for the final preseason campaign. “So in total, we increased our Facebook followers over 20% (73k to 88k) with just two e-mails,” says Spencer.

 So what do you think? Would you be interested in leveraging on Facebook for your business? Do let us know below

5 Games To Learn Stock Market Strategies

Ever wanted to learn stocks but had no money to spend? Well here's 5 great games to learn all about stocks

1) Wall Street Survivor

Invest $100,000 in virtual cash via drop-down menu choices. A friendly cartoon version of stock guru Mark Brookshire helps you make your final decision by providing some rating numbers when you input a stock. These include a rating for survivor sentiment, fundamentals, technical and a Motley Fool Rating.

For additional help choosing stocks, the site has an impressive resource library that spans beginner, intermediate and advanced levels. Start with Investing 101 and consider taking advantage of the community forums if you have specific questions. Those who need a little help getting started can also choose to adapt one of the preset portfolios created by proven traders.

While the $100,000 competition is most popular, anybody on the site can create a contest. Prizes vary, but most often consist of competitive pride.

2) HowTheMarketWorks 

Owned by the same company as Wall Street Survivor, this game is great for investors looking to gain experience with a new type of portfolio. In addition to stocks and indexes, there are options to experiment with Forex portfolios, penny stocks, mutual funds and short selling.

Beginners can execute market order-based trades in a “fun mode” without worrying about things like set hours, maximum number of trades per day, per stock and order expiration. A “realistic mode” amps up the complexity after they’ve mastered the beginner level.

Players can manage up to three stock portfolios and three Forex portfolios on the site at once. For each portfolio, they select a starting value between $100 and $500,000 and set how much virtual commission you are charged per trade.

The competition aspect is optional. General monthly contests give each player $25,000 as a virtual starting point. Other public contests include challenging restrictions like “short sells only” or “penny stocks only.” Users can create their own password-protected games as well, which is a feature that teachers find helpful for creating class competitions.

3) Young Money Stock Market Game

Young Money Magazine’s stock exchange game is easy to learn but also fairly realistic, which is a hard balance to strike.

Realistic aspects include a virtual commission that’s taken out of each trade, adhering to market hours and rules about how you can invest. Unlike many investing games, trades are made at a real-time price. Learning aspects include convenient help icons on key terms and an intuitive tabbed interface.

The site runs a monthly contest with a $100 (real) cash prize that goes to whoever gained the highest percentage. Players can also create their own contests or join other user-made contests.

4) MarketWatch Fantasy Earnings Trader Game 

MarketWatch will run this mock stock market contest for a total of four weeks, awarding the winner of each week with an iPad. It’s on week three right now, but there’s still time to get in on the competition for week four.

You must have your selections picked before the week starts on Monday. The shares that you select are “purchased” at Monday’s open and will “sell” automatically at Friday’s close.

The catch is that all players can only use the 15 to 20 symbols selected for each week. The companies are selected by the game owner for companies that are projecting their earnings during each week. Lining up picks is easy — players simply drag the company’s logo to their trading card and designate if they want to sell short or go long.

Although there are some pros playing, this game is especially manageable for beginners due to the limited stock options for each week.

5) UpDown

Like Young Money’s game, UpDown has helpful icons that explain key terms for beginners. More comprehensive resources in the education center mercifully cover even the most basic of investing concepts.

Community features, like the opportunity to collaborate with a group and to see the most-bought and most-sold stocks, are also helpful for beginners. The “watch list” tool provides a convenient dashboard for monitoring potential picks.

UpDown sponsors a monthly contest that rewards players who beat the market with real cash.

So do any of these games interest you or you have no interest in the share market? Do let us know

5 Tips For Start-Up Success

Here's 5 tips for startups to succeed from the co-founder of HootSuite

1) Address a real problem

Meli says Invoke toyed with the idea of getting rid of the agency and focusing only on the products. But ultimately, the work that the company did with clients was their most important tool for discovering opportunities for new products.

“All of our products stem from client needs…We created HootSuite because we needed those tools ourselves, as an agency…[We've been successful by] listening to our clients, figuring out what they needed and then just identifying that opportunity.”

2) Work with the right people

Meli knew Tedman for years before they co-founded Invoke, but he met Holmes for the first time face-to-face at a Vancouver coffee shop. They spoke for half an hour, and, says Meli “after that we were pretty much immediately talking about partnership.”

This gut feeling alignment of personality and objectives is something Meli says is important when choosing whom to work with. When Invoke searched for venture funding for HootSuite, it’s one thing that he considered.

“It’s troublesome if you find yourself in a space where you [and your partners] aren’t on the same page, and that goes for partners in general.” he says. “David, Ryan, and I — the three partners at Invoke — we have different skill sets, but our goals are aligned. And that’s enabled us to grow quite rapidly.”

3) Division of labour is your friend
 
“Don’t be afraid to partner — division of labor is core,” Meli says. When they started the company, he and David were more design-focused and Ryan was more tech-focused. Bringing their respective talents together helped them build a better company.

Invoke now employs a team of about 20 and HootSuite has a team of about 35 who also add their talents to the mix. Meli, unlike many entrepreneurs, says he doesn’t experience a reluctance to relinquish responsibilities as the company grows.

“I think it’s important to realize as an entrepreneur that you can’t do everything — that you need to hire the best people and not be afraid to give them that responsibility, not be afraid to let go, and not be afraid to hire people who are smarter than you,” he says. “It doesn’t mean they’re going to overrun your business. It just means the business is going to run that much better.”

4) Stay Focused

“If you’re reading blogs all the time in the technology space, there’s always somebody doing something cool,” Meli says. “And you can drop everything and jump on that, but you’re going to be doing the same thing the next day and the next day, and you’re never going to get anywhere.”

Invoke has learned this the hard way. He says that the company has probably had about five ideas that were 90% complete when the team realized that they were working on a distraction that wasn’t going to pan out.
It’s not as though Invoke has extensively narrowed its scope. The company does client work with iPhone and Facebook apps, runs contesting platform memelabs, is experimenting with geolocation, and only recently spun off HootSuite. But Meli says the company is better able to silo teams to focus on specific projects than it was when it first started.

“It doesn’t mean you can’t modify [your project when a distraction pops up],” says Meli, “But if you’re looking at building the best contesting solution, and then Facebook comes along, don’t just stop doing it. Build your contest into Facebook. Or build it into the mobile landscape. You can make adjustments as things pop up.”

5) Be Visible

Meli opened an Invoke branch in New York City so that he would be more visible to the companies that buy Invoke and HootSuite’s products. He says that being in the Big Apple has been integral to Invoke’s success.
“We create tools and sell them to agencies,” he says. “Every agency in the known universe has an office in New York City, so that’s the place to be.”

Invoke has also recently started to make their first PR efforts.

“We’ve been able to stand out [through products and client work], but a lot of people didn’t know who we were,” Meli says. “So at that time we thought it might be good to start talking about what we’ve been doing…it wasn’t just talk — we could point to the work. I think that’s important. Nobody likes hollow talk. It just doesn’t work.”

So what do you think of these tips? Anything you'd like to add? Do let us know below 

Social Media For The Hotel Industry

Social Media isn't just about people...its also about businesses...and the latest to be implementing its benefits is the Hotel Industry ...here's how

1) Extending Concierge Services

A concierge with a Twitter feed could be a powerful thing. Instead of making a single stop at the concierge desk to collect brochures, guests could ask questions before they get to the hotel, from their rooms, or while they’re out exploring. They would also have easy access to the questions other guests asked and past recommendations.

Several tourism bureaus have already figured out this strategy. Hotels are for the most part still experimenting.
This month, UK hotel chain Premier Inn launched a trial of a Twitter concierge program. On Fridays, customers can send an inquiry to the concierge via Tweet using the hashtag #PIconcierge. The hotel encouraged its customers to Tweet questions “on anything from local activities for the kids, karaoke bars in the area, directions to the local theatre or even where to find an emergency dentist.”

Hyatt launched its Twitter Concierge service in May 2009. “When we launched this,” says John Wallis, the global head of marketing and brand strategy for Hyatt, “we made a conscious decision that this channel would only provide information and never push out promotional information.”

Although the feed does occasionally handle dinner recommendations, the current conversation is heavier on customer service issues. One person, for instance, asked for help locating a number on his rewards card. Another asked about sending a friend a gift during his stay.

Carroll thinks that the online concierge strategy might be one that sticks. “[If I'm a hotel owner] I’m able to go back and forth with these communications to my customer before they get there, after they get there — so it’s an extension of what the concierge does on a day-to-day basis and that improves service.”

2) On-Site Merchandising

Carroll sees the biggest on-site opportunity for social media in the hospitality industry at the intersection of social media and mobile. If mobile geolocation features alert a hotel that you are in the building, it creates the opportunity for them to pitch relevant services. Perhaps when you arrive, for instance, management will encourage you to come down to the bar and enjoy a complimentary cocktail. When Foursquare users check into the Wynn Hotel & Casino Las Vegas, for example, they unlock a special that earns them a complimentary glass of champagne at Blush Boutique, one of Wynn Las Vegas’s nightclubs.

“Location-based services such as Foursquare and Facebook Places have brought a new level of how people demonstrate that they want to be associated with where they are, and that they are interested in communicating with people in the same place,” says John Wallis, the global head of marketing and brand strategy for Hyatt. “Based on the evolution of these channels, we have the potential to market to customers in a manner that is 100% relevant to their situation at that moment.”

3) Customer Service and Recovery

Interacting with customers using Facebook and Twitter can improve customer service. The idea of personalized customer service was also possible with a telephone number. But it’s vastly easier with social media.

“It’s enabling us to accelerate that conversation and make those connection points in ways that weren’t before possible,” says Andy Kauffman, the vice president of commerce at Marriott Hotels. “But the principles behind it are all rooted in good service and, if something happens, great service recovery.”

Marriott International has two full-time people who work on the Twitter feed. One of them is on the customer service team. John Wolf, the director of public relations, is the other. He says that brand loyalists sometimes point him to people who are Tweeting about problems they’ve had at Marriott hotels.
“We’d rather know that there’s an issue than not know it, and we’d rather be given the opportunity to solve the problem,” Wolf says.

This strategy has successfully recovered previously dissatisfied customers. It also gives Marriott the ability to solve problems for customers as they arise.

Other major hotel chains also have some version of this personalized customer service. In addition to its HyattConcierge Twitter service, Hyatt guarantees answers within 24 hours to questions that are posted on its Gold Passport Loyalty program Facebook page.

“We really don’t know whether [responding to customers on Twitter and Facebook] pays off or not,” Carroll says. “However, at the same time, we do know that the conversations are going on and…that it probably is advisable to be part of the conversation.”

4) Last-Minute Deals

About two years ago, Wolf asked Marriott’s online network what they wanted from their social media interaction with the hotel brands. “I figured the last thing they wanted were deals, that they just wanted to engage,” Wolf says. “And they said, no, they wanted deals.”

Fairmont and Omni Hotels & Resorts are two examples of chains that tweet or Facebook last-minute special offers in hopes of unloading their unbooked inventory. Carroll says he’s seen this approach achieve bookings in the past. “Is that incremental ROI, or are these people who would have done it anyway and all you did was dilute business you would have had otherwise? Did you really steal some share? Don’t really know.”

Inoqo, a service that streamlined this process by creating a Twitter feed on which all hotels in a city could advertise their excess inventory, didn’t go as well as expected and eventually took its site down. But still, says Carroll, it’s really too soon to tell whether advertising last-minute deals on Twitter and Facebook will be an effective approach.

5) Facilitating Guest Communities
 
Within the intersection of mobile and social media, Carroll also sees the opportunity for hotels to help facilitate guest communities. “It might be a community I create on a relatively short-term basis for those people who are in the city, on the property, or at some event,” he says. “It could be a social group…for whom [the hotel would] gather information about recommendations and what goes on at the hotel or what [one] might do. ”

Reward members are another group that hotels are starting to connect with via social media. Marriott launched a beta version of an online community for its reward members called Marriott Rewards Insiders. Marriott’s 33 million active reward members can share travel tips and stories as well as get the insider scoop from Marriott’s own people.

Hyatt has also built a Facebook community around its Gold Passport reward program. “The purpose here is slightly different than with our Twitter concierge,” Wallis says. “Most importantly, this gives consumers the opportunity to speak with us and one another directly.”

6) Emphasizing Unique Properties

Social media can make it easier for both large brands and small independent hotels to tell their stories. In the case of large brands, hotels have the opportunity to highlight individual properties. Potential Hilton guests, for instance, can check out videos of each Caribbean hotel on YouTube.

Smaller companies can use social media to reach their customers without a national advertising budget. Many hotels use Twitter, for instance, to communicate promotions and remind customers what they’re about.

Carroll says that not all hotels will be able to leverage this ability equally. The value of being able to give voice to individual hotels is only worth as much as the location. “If you’re a standard-along-the-road intersection property for a choice hotel [the opportunities are] limited. If you’re an absolutely unique property… then your ability to create communication around that has greater value.
So would you, as a customer, be interested in any of these services? How about if you had your Hotel, would you be interested then? Do let us know in the comments below

3D TV's Without Glasses

We all knew they were coming, it was just a matter of when...well Toshiba is demoing 3D TV's without glasses now so its not very far for sure!

Toshiba has used the CEATEC 2010 event in Japan to show off its first commercially available 3D televisions that do not require a viewer to wear 3D glasses. The 12-inch and 20-inch televisions will be available in Japan in December, aimed at early adopters. Additionally, Toshiba also showed off a laptop prototype featuring a 12-inch 3D display that doesn't require glasses for the effect.

The technology uses an internal imaging system that provides nine different perspectives (parallaxes) of each single 2D frame which the viewer's brain superimposes to create a 3-dimensional impression of the image. Toshiba engineers developed a powerful engine and an algorithm to extrapolate these perspectives out of the 2D frame and used a perpendicular lenticular sheet, an array of lenses, that enable the viewer's brain to superimpose the perspectives.

The screens reportedly offer a wide viewing area in front of the display and allows for eye movement and head movement without disrupting the 3D image. Viewers can switch between 2D and 3D easily. "With its new 3D TVs without glasses Toshiba once again aims to offer the highest possible picture quality" says Sascha Lange, Head of Marketing, Visual Products, Toshiba Europe.

The company admits however that larger affordable 3D televisions that require no glasses will take years to develop.

"The commercial launch of our 12-inch and 20-inch 3D TVs without glasses in Japan is a first step into the 3D future in the consumer home cinema market," Lange said. "But it will take several years to develop larger 3D TVs without glasses with screen sizes of 40-inch and more at a yet reasonable price point. Those who want to enjoy the 3D home cinema experience on a large screen already today are well served by 3D TV using active shutter glasses like the models of our WL768 series."

So what do you think? Would you be interested in buying one of these? Do let us know below

Multi-Chat SMS

Today my focus is an upcoming company with a technology that has the potential to disrupt our communications today as we know it...take a look

Name: GroupMe

Quick Pitch: GroupMe makes life easy for you and your groups with free group texting. It’s your real life network, in your pocket.

Genius Idea: There are plenty of mobile applications that support group texting — even the once location-focused Brightkit has entered the space — but GroupMe’s approach is by far the simplest. The SMS-based and device-independent service also has the most potential to connect real life friends and family members through group texting.

You can use GroupMe to start a private chat with groups of up to 25 people. Enter your name and phone number on GroupMe’s website to get started. The service will follow up with a text message from a unique phone number — that phone number will serve as your group’s number for texts and conference calls. You, and all other group members, can then add group members via SMS using the syntax “#add name phone number.”

Other SMS hashtag commands include #list to see a list of all group members in the chat, #name to set or change your name and, most importantly, #mute to mute or unmute the texts.

iPhone users can optionally download the GroupMe iPhone app to manage their groups and add new group members from their iPhone’s existing contact list. If you register your account, you can also manage the group from the web and see the entire text thread online.

The beauty of GroupMe is that everything is routed through SMS, so you can have group chats with any of your friends, so long as they can send and receive SMS. This could also be a downside if your friends don’t have unlimited texting, but eventually the iPhone app will let you chat within the app (and save your SMS). Still, the experience is fast and compelling, almost more so than the new Facebook Groups.

Where GroupMe shines is in actual use. This is one of those services that could easily become part of your daily routine, because it’s both practical and addicting. The use cases are endless: support groups, parents groups, one-time event groups, family or friend chat; it’s even applicable for business-related purposes. Just be careful not to abuse the texting privilege with chatters who may not want to be inundated with texts (though they can use the #exit command to leave a group).

GroupMe is a free service to use — standard text message rates apply — but the service itself is certainly not free to operate. GroupMe is powered by Twilio’s voice and SMS platform, which charges per group phone number, per text and per minute for each call. For the time being, GroupMe can use its $850,000 in angel funding to cover the costs, but the startup will need to find a way to monetize.

GroupMe has already taken one step forward on the monetization road. In an interview with Mashable, co-founders Jared Hecht and Steve Martocci explained that sponsored groups are a very real business opportunity for the young startup. That theory was tested last weekend at Austin City Limits. The festival launched a branded GroupMe initiative so attendees could create their own event-themed SMS groups and opt-in to receive relevant updates — think band and beer style tips — from the festival.

Right now, the guys believe they’ve hit on something pretty big, and they have the numbers to back up that confidence. GroupMe officially launched in mid-August and has since seen upward of 3 million SMS messages sent via its platform. “We’re seeing hockey stick growth,” says Hecht, “there’s now more than 100,000 messages sent per day, and on some days it’s more than a quarter of million.”

 Personally I cannot wait until this service becomes full-fledged and becomes popular in the mainstream culture...since we can already multi-chat with IM's, there's no reason why we cannot do the same with SMS'es...so def. be on the watch out for GroupMe!

More Than Just Profits - Promoting Social Responsibilities

Start-ups aren't just about making profits, many of them also focus on being socially responsible...here's 3 such start-ups

1) Catherine Zadeh - Partnering With Non-Profits


In 2008 high-end jewelry designer Catherine Zadeh learned that a childhood friend had been diagnosed with multiple sclerosis. To raise money and awareness, Zadeh fashioned a bracelet, which to her surprise raised more than $60,000 for the family of her friend. Emboldened by the success of her first fundraiser, Zadeh steadily expanded her charitable work. Today she produces bracelets for 18 charities, and for every piece the charity sells, Zadeh donates 30% of the proceeds to that charity.

Zadeh, who runs her business with the help of just two assistants, said she uses her own Twitter and Facebook accounts to keep her customers updated about her work and philanthropic efforts, but she’s found social media most useful for amplifying the company’s message via her audience. “It’s exponential,” Zadeh explained. “I have so many people in my database, and maybe 10 are interested (in a product), but when the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation International re-tweets about a bracelet then all their followers know about it.”


2) Busam Automotives - Raising Funds Creatively

With so many businesses now using Facebook and Twitter, setting your company apart online has become more difficult. This was the predicament facing Busam Automotive, a Cincinnati auto dealership that sponsors an annual campaign for Susan G. Komen for the Cure, a foundation that promotes breast cancer research.
“When we began to plan the fundraiser we thought, ‘How can we take this kinda boring run of the mill sponsorship and make it kinda cool and different?’ ” said Busam business development manager Andrew Shipp. The solution: creative social media tactics.

For every re-tweeted picture of a Busam vehicle (like this one), Busam pledged to donate $1 to the foundation. In addition, the dealership promised $10 off on an oil change and a free ticket to a charity fashion show for anyone who checked into Busam’s Nissan branch on Foursquare

3) SRSCI - Promoting A Company Philosophy

For some small businesses like the San Rafael Sustainable Coffee Initiative (SRSCI), social good is built into the DNA of the company. The SRSCI, a joint venture between Costa Rican coffee farmers and processing plants in the small community of San Rafael, uses micro-loans to grow the local economy while connecting growers with drinkers. The big idea behind the SRSCI is to cut out the middlemen. If customers order directly from farmers, farmers maximize their profit, thereby growing the local economy. The SRSCI also encourages (but does not require) customers to invest in a micro-loan to fund the next year’s crop.

“For the consumer, that actual connection supplies a need in the market place for those who want to know the farmer and where their daily cup originates,” said Kenneth Lander, one of SRSCI’s founders. “For the farmer, that actual connection places the farmer and the farming community first in line to receive 100% benefit from the sale of roasted coffee.”

Since most of SRSCI’s customers are aboard, Twitter and Facebook are useful for connecting customers with growers. “These tools are the key to this relationship,” Lander said. “The direct effect is creating a relationship that allows the farmer and the farming community to flourish and continue to serve the consumer directly in the future.”

Since the SRSCI was created in June 2010, its received 111 micro-loans and sold more than 900 pounds of roasted coffee. That translates into $9,000 for the local economy. While that may not sound like much, Lander stressed that under the conventional system, 900 pounds typically nets just $351 in profit for the farmers
 And there's 3 ways for you to consider...so how does your company promote social responsibilities? Or do you feel a firm is not obliged to doing so? Do let us know in the comments below

Lost A Job Recently? Check These Links ASAP!

Using social media is great if you are seeking a job...but what if you have recently been laid off? Well here's 30 Websites to help you there too

Step 1) Find Support and Recover

 
1. eHow: eHow has a massive collection of articles that can help you learn everything from how to support a laid off spouse to how to claim unemployment benefits. It’s tough to find the quality articles, so here is a good starter pack:

• How to Cope With Getting Laid Off
• How to Help an Unemployed Spouse or Partner
• How to Prepare For a Layoff Before it Happens
• How to Get Health Insurance When Laid Off

2. About.com: Job Searching: About has a similar set of articles, but focuses more on tasks such as acquiring unemployment benefits and how to file for them.
3. LaidOffCamp: LaidOffCamp is a movement to bring anyone who has lost their job or is self-employed together to discuss topics that are important to the laid off – living on tight budgets, becoming a freelancer, and more. The first LaidOffCamp is in San Francisco on March 3rd.
4. Department of Labor Employment & Training Administration: The DOL’s first resource for those laid off, it outlines ways to get benefits, provides fact sheets, and gives you contact information for your state. It’s a good resource.
5. I’m in like with you: Seriously, relieve the stress by playing games for a few hours and indulging in the fun.
6 & 7. PlentyofFish and Okcupid: You need to get your mind off of losing your job and get out of the house and meet people. If you’re single, there is no better way than dating. PlentyofFish and Okcupid are both free dating services, making it cheap to find a date. Just make sure to pick an affordable date; I suggest a trip to the zoo.
8. Diddit: Now is the best time to pick up a hobby you’ve always wanted to do but never had time for. diddit is a relatively new social network for finding people who are doing the things you want to do. Use it to learn more or just find partners to go skydiving with.

Step 2) Manage Your Money and Stay Afloat

 
9. Careeronestop Unemployment Benefits Map: This map will link you to unemployment benefit information for your state.
10. Department of Labor Health and Retirement Benefits Toolkit: Another U.S. government website, this is the DoL’s job loss toolkit. It has fact sheets and publications on COBRA, pensions, and more.
11. Mint: Mint is a free budget management and finance tracking service. After connecting it with your online bank accounts and credit cards, you can see all of your financial activity and set budgets based on categories of spending. When you lose your income source, you need to be sure you are keeping on budget. Mint will even send an SMS if you go over your budget or have unusual charges.
12. Wesabe: Wesabe is similar to Mint in that it can track your finances by linking to your online finance accounts, but it also leverages its community to make recommendations and tips that can help save you money. Users can also share advice with the rest of the community by commenting on items.
13. Employment at SmartMoney.com: SmartMoney is a great resource for investing and managing your money. The Employment section specifically has videos, columns, and articles on starting your own business or surviving a layoff. It’s from the Wall Street Journal – it’s quality information.
14. Slickdeals: The popular deals website allows you to find discounts and freebies on a random assortment of items. When you’re in a crunch, every penny matters.

Step 3) Earn Short-term Cash


15. Craigslist: Even if you’re receiving unemployment checks and have a few months of savings to rely on, earning a couple of extra dollars can mean the difference between making rent and being in hot water. The #1 place to look is the world’s largest classified section, Craigslist.
16. Workstir: A newer website, Workstir allows you to find contract jobs near you. Everything from painting to web design can be requested, searched for, and accepted as work. Its Facebook Connect integration helps you search for gigs geographically.
17. HotGigs: HotGigs is a hub for freelance consultants and staffing firms. You can join, connect with contract firms, and even see information on average market rates for consultants in your industry.
18. Freelance Writing Jobs: Blog and write for some extra cash and get some added exposure as a bonus.

Step 4) Network, Network, Network!

 
19. LinkedIn: Start at the world’s largest professional network and start contacting everyone who might owe you a favor, be in debt to you, or fear your wrath. It’s time to let the world know that you’re looking.
20. Plaxo: One thing Plaxo does very well is contact management – it’s quick and simple to organize all of your business cards and contacts. Take the time to type them in and categorize them. Then email every contact you’ve got.
21. GarysGuide: Although most of us techies do our work from a computer, networking doesn’t always work that way. GarysGuide lists out tech events and gatherings in metropolitan areas. Start a system of attending at least two of these a week and shake hands with as many people as possible. You’re not going to find your next opportunity sleeping in late.
22. AllConferences: The same deal as GarysGuide; find conferences in your industry and attend them. If you’re low on cash to attend them, talk to the organizers and tell them about your situation, get yourself in as a speaker, or strike a deal to blog about the event with a news blog – you’d be surprised how easy it can be to get free conference passes if you put in some effort.
23. MeetUp: Even more networking homework for you, MeetUp is extraordinarily comprehensive in its listing of events and includes events for non-metropolitan areas.
24. Twitter: Oh yes, our favorite social media darling can also become your favorite networking darling in dire times. Primarily using Twitter, Bostoners were able to quickly organize a pink slip party. Use it to tell your followers you’re looking for a new opportunity, ask them to retweet, and then search twitter for relevant job keywords.

Step 5)  Time to Hunt for a Job


25. Career Toolbox: Career Toolbox is a comprehensive listing and description of websites that can help you find a job and then land it. Start here when you’re looking for a job.
26 & 27. LinkUp and SimplyHired: Unlike most job sites, LinkUp and SimplyHired are aggregate search engines that search company and job websites for job postings and openings. This will give you an idea of openings in your industry and the general feel of what companies are looking for.
28, 29, & 30.USAJOBS, DirectGov (UK), and Australian JobSearch: There are a lot of government websites that can help you directly search for a job, I’ve only listed three of the best examples here. With multi-billion dollar stimulus packages flying everywhere, there’s bound to be some government jobs.

If you have lost a job recently, then you have our utmost sympathy but we sincerely hope, these resources will help you land another job soon...do keep us updated!

7 Methods To Finding A Job Via Social Media

Social Media can do a lot more than just update users...it can even help you land a job...how you say? Well here's 7 ways to get you started

1) Conduct a people search instead of a job search

The majority of jobs aren’t posted online. Hiring managers get a list of employee referral candidates before they even bother to view resumes from those who submit them online. Sometimes the listed jobs aren’t available or never existed in the first place. Many studies have noted that 80% of jobs are taken through networking, but few have sought to use the web to search and locate people they would actually enjoy working for at companies that they get excited about.

The 3-step people search:

1. Identify the top five companies that you would like to work for.

Use a focused approach instead of flooding thousands of inboxes with spam. You want to brand yourself, not just as the person of best fit for a job, but as someone who is eager and ecstatic to work for the company.




2. Use search engines to track employees that currently work there.

There are over 130 million blogs in Technorati and you can search through them to possibly find someone who works at one of your top five companies. You can search through corporate groups, pages and people on Facebook. You can even do the same on Twitter. Then there are people search engines such as pipl, peek you, and wink. Once you find a contact name, try googling it to see if there is any additional information about that person.

3. Connect with the person directly.

Social media has broken down barriers, to a point where you can message someone you aren’t friends with and don’t have contact information for, without any hassles. Before you message a target employee, realize that they receive messages from people asking for jobs all the time and that they might not want to be bothered on Facebook, where their true friends are. As long as you’ve done your homework on the company and them, tailor a message that states who you are and your interest, without asking for a job at first. Get to know them and then by the 3rd or 4th messages, ask if there is an available opportunity.

2) Use attraction-based marketing to get job offers

The traditional way of searching for a job was proactive, forcing you to start a job that you might not have enjoyed. The new approach is about building a powerful personal brand and attracting job opportunities directly into your doorstep. How do you do this? You become a content producer instead of just a consumer and the number one way to do that on the web is to launch a blog that centers around both your expertise and passions.

You need to be passionate to be committed to this project because it requires a lot of writing, creativity and consistency in order for it to actually help you. A blog is a non-intrusive, harmless and generous way of getting recruiters interested in your brand, without you even asking for a job! Make the recruiters fall in love with you and only send you opportunities that are related to your blog content, so you end up happy in the end.
This works a lot and is expected for new-age marketing jobs that require experience in social media and can even help you jump-start a new business off of your blog platform. By pulling recruiters into your world, you are able to impress them with what you want them to see and they can make a quick decision whether to hire you or not, without you hearing about rejection. Start a blog today using Wordpress.com (for beginners) or install Wordpress.org onto your own host (such as GoDaddy or Bluehost).
 
3) Be proactive on Twitter

Twitter has become the ultimate utility to connect directly with recruiters and employees at companies you want to work for. By conducting Twitter searches, following recruiters on your account and using the “@” sign to communicate with them on occasion, you will start to learn a lot about them and their companies.
Before you follow anyone on Twitter, you HAVE TO have a completed profile. This means, you should have a short bio, the location where you’re from, a link to a site that recruiters can go to for more information (I recommend your blog or your LinkedIn profile) and an avatar of yourself (not a clown or Homer Simpson please). This way, you stand a better chance of securing an opportunity or a relationship with people who care enough to read your profile.

Most people get jobs on Twitter by already having hundreds or thousands of followers. For example, I’ve heard of at least ten people getting a job by tweeting “just got laid off, looking for a job in finance” and then receiving a few direct messages with people who want to help them. Of course, these individuals had built trust, credibility and relationships with their followers over time, so they were more inclined to come to their rescue. You can do the same, just start right now!

4) Capitalize on LinkedIn

It’s no surprise that LinkedIn has been extremely profitable and successful as of late. Recruiters are starting to use LinkedIn as the main place for sourcing candidates because it’s free and the top professionals are on there. Many people don’t use LinkedIn to the best of their ability and fail to complete their entire profile, such that it says “100% complete.”

Just like any other search engine recruiters are using, keywords are extremely important. You want to fill out your entire profile, just like you would a resume, but include the same avatar you are using on Twitter (see above) and ensure that the summary section is complete. You’ll also want to get at least one recommendation from a supervisor or friend, which will give you a “1″ next to a “thumbs up” graphic when people search for you.

Then, you should import all your contacts from Outlook, Gmail, etc, so that you can start to build your network or grow your existing network. The more people you’re connected to the better because you’re only able to reach other people in your network (1st, 2nd & 3rd degrees) by having these connections. You may want to pay for a premium account, so you can contact other recruiters that may help you. Finally, you should conduct searches on there for jobs that you may be interested in and reach out to those individuals that may supply you with an interview or referral.
 
5) Advertise your brand using Google AdWords and Facebook Social Ads

Google AdWords is Google’s advertising platform, which offers CPC (cost-per-click) and CPI (cost-per-impression) pricing for advertisements on Google and partner sites. Some of their partner sites are newspapers, radio and TV.



Before running your advertisement, you need a landing page. If you have a website or blog, then use the resume page within it to display through advertising. This works beautifully because recruiters can see that single resume page and notice all the other pages/options on your website, to get a better sense of your brand.
Here’s how to create your ad:

1. Title. When you create your ad, label yourself as a specialist, expert or guru on the title tag. You might want to state the fact that it’s your resume first.
2. Description. In the next two description tags, pull out your biggest achievements in 6 words or less and list your personal brand statement or a few descriptors.
3. URL. For your URL, don’t use the URL for your resume page. Instead use yourname.com for personal branding purposes. Drop the “www” from the domain you want to promote because it’s unnecessary.

Facebook Social Ads allow businesses and individuals to advertise using Facebook’s news feed or left rail (will change to 2 ad spots on the right when the new interface swaps over). This program works similar to Google’s but you can use a picture and it’s more “word-of-mouth friendly” because ads travel through the news feed of friends.

Here’s how to create your ad:

1. Title. What is the ad for? The title is the most important piece of your ad because it has the most “text” emphasis. I would say “I want to work for <insert company name>” or “Resume for <insert position type>.” Try and be as specific as you can.
2. Picture. Just like your Facebook picture, don’t use a picture that you wouldn’t want shown to your future employer. I would go for a professional yet personal picture.
3. Description. Don’t write your resume, but instead give the viewer a quick description of who you are, what you do and what job you want in 25 words.

Once you create your ad, either link it to your Facebook page, LinkedIn profile or blog/website. These ads are all about targeting a specific group that would care about your resume or hiring you for that matter. When you select your target audience, keep your major in mind, as well as the company and location.

6) Construct a video resume and upload it to Youtube

A search for “video resume” on YouTube will give you over 1,700 results. Many video resumes are good, while others are so amateur and rehearsed that they subtract from a given candidates marketing program. The key with a video resume is that very few people have actually created one, so they serve as a differentiator in the recruiting process.




A good video resume is short, describes the value you can contribute to a given position, explains why you’re the best person for the job and talks about your background in a story-like format. If you aren’t a person with an outgoing and lively personality, then don’t bother creating one. Since you’re filming yourself, don’t rush because you can always try it a hundred times before you upload the final version to YouTube.
 



7) Subscribe to blogs that have job listings

We all subscribe to blogs to receive information based on our interests, at least I hope. Over time we rely on these sources for information to keep us updated on what is happening in certain industries or different trends that are developing. In the past few years, the larger blogs have started to integrate job banks into their own websites, using software/hosting from companies such as Job-a-matic.

Blogs that have taken this approach include Guy Kawasaki’s blog, GigaOM, and Jeremiah Owyang’s Web Strategy Blog.

Other blogs, such as Darren Rowse’s Problogger Blog offer blogging jobs, and Mashable has a job board highlighting jobs in social media and tech.

This targeting will save you from hours searching and help escort you to jobs that you’d actually want.

These 7 approaches should get you started in terms of finding a job and what's more, you can most certainly use these methods in conjunction with traditional methods to further enhance your job searching process...Good luck finding a job!

Social Websites For Building A Resume

Continuing from last time, today my focus is on 10 social sites for resume building so let's take a look

1) Razume

Razume is a service that enables job seekers to complete their resumes and polish them up with feedback from reviewers in the community.  The resume you create using this service is exactly like traditional resumes you may have created in the past, but this service allows you to improve your resume so you’re more likely to better your chances at landing your next job. Users are able to search for jobs on Razume and will soon be able to apply for them through the site itself.




2) LinkedIn


LinkedInseems to be on all of my job lists and for good reason.  LinkedIn is a combination of a resume, cover letter, reference document and a moving database of your contacts. The resume portion is quite standard, with fields asking for your education and work experience.  The cover letter piece is the summary you get to have at the beginning, where you can position yourself for a particular job, based on your qualifications, awards and an explanation of what type of job you’re looking for.

As you accelerate in your career, your network can easily observe your change in jobs or positions.  You can also update your status bar, just like in Facebook or on Twitter, with the type of job you’re looking for.  Your LinkedIn “resume” will be perceived as noteworthy when you fill it out completely, acquire endorsements for your work, join groups related to your interests, and add applications (such as your blog).

3) VisualCV

VisualCV is a website that provides users with a virtual resume, as well as a database of job openings and networking opportunities.  Whether you’re a job seeker, entrepreneur, consultant, student or manager, VisualCV lets you display all of your credentials in an easy to read format, with multimedia integration.  For example, you can upload or embed a video resume or a podcast of you being interviewed.

The latest capabilities that they offer allow job seekers to integrate their resume with social media sites, such as LinkedIn, Twitter and Facebook, to share their qualifications with friends and colleagues.  When you update your resume, it can be shared through websites such as Digg and StumbleUpon.  Your resume, or VisualCV, can combine other elements, such as images, charts, awards and recommendations, in addition to traditional resume fields such as “work experience.”

4) Emurse

Emurse allows you to create, share and store your resume for free online.  Their resume builder is job seeker friendly, allowing you to create and maintain a professional resume which can be downloaded in any format, such as PDF.  Just like LinkedIn, your resume can have a unique URL linked to your name and the ability to view employers who have seen your resume in the past.

You also get statistics and graphs to aid in resume distribution. In addition, Emurse lets you keep track of your contacts, invite contacts and always access their latest information, similar to LinkedIn.  Just like Google does with AdSense, you get job postings in your local area that are relevant to your resume.  There is also a job search area and organizer, similar to Monster.com’s, where you can keep track of the resumes you submit over time.

5)  Xing

Xing is a social network with over 7 million business professionals globally, and is read in 16 languages.  Aside from being able to create a profile, the networking part of this site is what shines.  There are over 22,000 groups and networking events from London to Beijing advertised.

Xing offers many of the same services as LinkedIn, and like LinkedIn, can serve as your online resume and cover letter. The standard service lets you create a professional profile page, search for people by name and industry, and join groups and events.  When you login, you’ll see jobs that might interest you, new members, visitors to your profile and much more.

6) ResumeBucket

ResumeBucket is a service that enables you to post a resume quickly online.  The site provides you with a unique URL for your resume and enables you to promote your resume on your website or blog with embeddable ResumeBucket badges. In addition, resumes are shareable via popular social bookmarking and social networking sites.

If you’re currently employed and would like to keep your resume private, you can. ResumeBucket also provides you with sample resumes and cover letters as best practices to help you when you build your own.  And if you need assistance, they have a resume writing service where their professional writers can help you along the way.

7) ResumeSocial

ResumeSocial is a social resume community, where you can post your resume online and get feedback, just like Razume.  Registered users can build a resume through feedback and comments from other users who have similar job experience.  You can also be a resume expert and become a valuable member of the community by providing others with resume assistance.

There is also an area for sharing cover letters and follow-up letters, which are very important as well.  When someone finds your resume on this site, they can print it, quote it, favorite it and email it to other people.  There is also a job search area, a blog and a career area, which gives you advice for putting resumes together.

8) Gigtide

Gigtide is a website that lets you create, publish, manage and track your resumes, contacts and cover letters online.  You can store unlimited resumes, contacts and cover letters and there are professional resume templates to help you.  You also have the option of creating a social media resume, which includes images, video, direct links and sharing functionality. Another interesting feature is a direct employer contact form, where employers can contact you directly through your resume. 

9) Howtowritearesume

Howtowritearesume gives you an easy way to build a professional resume, without being an expert.  You get their phrase builder technology, which helps you build compelling headlines, qualifications, achievement statement and more.  Then there is “one-click formatting,” which automatically reformats your resume and makes it easy to choose the best layout.  Your resume is stored online and is accessible by potential employers.  The templates are all predefined, so filling in the blanks is really easy.  You can change the font and margins and preview the changes instantly before printing or saving it.

10) Ziggs

Ziggs is designed to help you market yourself and manage your personal brand on the web. The service lets you create a profile and manage your online identity, and alerts you each time a recruiter views your profile and resume. You can discuss topics, ask people for advice or referrals, and search for jobs. 

Digital Alternatives To Traditional Resumes

Tired of submitting your good old resume and still not getting any responses? Try these 4 Digital Alternatives instead then

1) Video Resumes

One emerging option is putting your resume on video. Creating a value-added video can be tricky business – it's important to ensure the finished product conveys the right message about you as a professional. Using a video resume could be a part of an overall portfolio management strategy; however, having a video resume does not cancel out other options. In fact, a video resume can act to enhance your online presence in the very likely case that a potential customer is searching for your information across the web.

Laurie Ruettimann, founder of Voice of HR, whose mission is to facilitate active and meaningful dialogue in the HR industry via new media services, compares resume strategy to investments. "Just as investors diversify their investments, individuals must diversify their approach to finding and communicating with potential opportunities."

Consider adding a video resume to your current professional profiles, but make sure the production quality is up to par and that it accurately portrays your professional experiences and goals.

2) The VisualCV

If you have a lot of work in the digital space, a VisualCV might be an option. It's a format that allows you to pull all types of interactive content into a traditional resume format with additional links to blog posts, Twitter accounts, videos, presentations and so on. You can also add charts and graphs to enhance the look. It serves as a great digital portfolio and can really dress up the traditional resume.

Kris Dunn, a human resources blogger, has used VisualCVs in the past. He recommends them "when two conditions are present: 1) The target company is progressive enough to handle it, and 2) The individual has a great deal of online content that can be referenced within the VisualCV format. Check out Dunn's VisualCV for a look at what's possible. 

3)  The Social Resume

When an explanation of your capabilities is more useful information than your previous experience, a social resume is a dynamic way to convey how you think and communicate by capturing your online conversations. While they might share some of the qualities of a VisualCV, the content in social resumes focuses more on the here and now compared to traditional resumes which tell people where you have been in the past.

Trunk explains the benefit of social resumes. "Today, 90 percent of people's communication is via social media and only 10 percent is via email. A social resume is a way to show people what you’re doing that is independent of what you are paid to do. We should not limit our potential by what someone has chosen to pay us to do. We should limit our potential by what we can think to do." 

4) Your LinkedIn Profile  

If you want to give others a three-dimensional view, providing a LinkedIn URL offers quick direct access to an individual's ever-expanding professional network of connections and involvement.

Lori Hedrick, vice president of human resources at Marcus Thomas, a full-service, integrated advertising and public relations agency with a focus on audience insights and idea generation, suggests just using your LinkedIn profile instead of a paper resume.

"Overall, it provides the same format as a resume, yet it’s much more powerful and much more efficient. It shows contacts, recommendations and groups – even books you’re currently enjoying – and all in real time. And provides a thoughtful, truthful and smart summary of our credentials, as opposed to time spent finding the perfect font, format and layout. Not to mention, it’s easy to both update and share with others."

With the new technology available to us and the speed for which opportunities can present themselves, there are many ways to present your resume. At one time, the only method was via a paper resume. Obviously, they're still out there and used quite often. While it might be good to maintain the traditional format, some of these other options can also make sense. If you do need to provide clients a traditional resume, be sure to keep it up to date and make sure you can reference it quickly by keeping a copy on your favorite file storage app (like GoDocs, Dropbox or Box.net).

Whether you are looking to enhance your own presence in the business community or hiring new staff, there are more options than just the traditional paper resume. And when it comes to evaluating resumes, Ruettimann offers some great advice for everyone: "Resumes of any kind – video, paper, written in the sky by a plane – are a snapshot into a person’s abilities. Be sold on a person's skills. Don’t be swayed by the style in which those skills are communicated."

Which resume formats are you using these days? Let us know in the comments below.