Yes. Branding is one of the most important aspects to marketing. Sure, when you or your business are just starting out it might not seem like that big of a deal but it really is. Think about this: if brands like Coca-Cola, Nike, McDonald’s or Wal-Mart hadn’t taken the time to work on branding, would they have become as well-known as quickly as they did? Plus, don’t you think they took special efforts to ensure correct branding was done? It’s like this, if you want to get anywhere you need to put yourself out there. Even if you are a very small business owner, only yourself even, it’s important to get your company name out there. Just because your business is small doesn’t mean it has to look small. It’s all about perception!

There are many ways to start branding yourself. For instance you can have a catchy name or slogan. Think about Twitter - even their name is interesting. Or Google - not only is their name catchy but it’s also a play on words. Google is the largest and most used search engine today. Googol is the largest number. Coincidence? I think not.

Besides coming up with a catchy name or phrase to become well-branded, you can promote yourself. Google is a huge search engine - promote yourself on the sponsored links side of the search engine results pages (SERPs) using Pay Per Click advertising. If you are already running search, why not do email marketing. Or, better yet, write a press release about your new business. Press releases are a great way to get your name out there.

You should write a release if you have just started a new business. To write the release talk about what makes your business better than your competitors or different. What makes your business stand out. If you are running any new promotions, it’s time for  a press release. Press releases are a great way to get information out quickly and help build awareness for both branding and your site.

In a nutshell, branding is definitely important to your business. You want people to buy from you more than once, make yourself unforgettable!

Wow. Facebook just made some adjustments to their layout and people are “tweeting” about it like crazy! Who would’ve thought? Well, Mark Zuckerberg, for one. Facebook really seems to know what they are doing. But, did this really help their site? Sure, Facebook is doing great right now and they have quite the member database, but I’m watching for updates and it’s not as appealing as Twitter. So, I’ve been going back and forth with various different professional friends that enjoy the Interactive World as much as I do, and they too agree that the jury is still out on the new Facebook page. I really hope it helps the site out, but if not, I hope they learn that it’s better to invent new things rather than copying off of someone else.

This is my opinion on the new Facebook page so far, and please remember that it’s JUST an opinion. I like the look of it but I see where they are going but I think they’ve missed the mark. The updates look Twitter-like…but they aren’t. If you want to see the updates, you have to refresh your screen. Where Twitter will scroll down, with Facebook you need to refresh. I have faith that Facebook will indeed work this out, but in the meantime, I will continue to Tweet. Also wondering, is there a way to see what everyone is saying on Facebook like you are on Twitter?

Stay tuned for new developments with Facebook. You have to love the interactive world. It keeps you on your toes!

Twitter is amazing! I realize I’m a huge fan of this micro-blogging site, but it seems that others have really started to fall in love with Twitter as well. It’s been making the news quite a bit lately as they have made some major changes to the site to make it even more user friendly. But, before I get inot the exciting new features Twitter has added, I would like to think abck to where and how they began.

Twitter started out as a very simple social networking site that rapidly took flight. People were using Twitter say what they were doing - in 140 characters or less. Then, advertisers started to notice the potential for free advertising on Twitter and along came Tiny URLs.

Hence the need for the latest addition to the Twitter site. Now, along with “tweeting” what you are doing, you can search the Twitter trends to see what others are “tweeting”a bout as well. Or, if you have specific topic in mind you can run a search to see if others have tweeted about it. For instance, I’m a huge fan of John Travolta. So, naturally I would practice using the new search tool by running a search on him to see if others feel the same. Wouldn’t you know that others do love him! I was able to find a great Saturday Night Fever You Tube video and John Travolta himself! Okay, maybe it wasn’t him, but it could be! Regardless, I’m now following John Travolta on Twitter.

So, as you can tell, Twitter is becoming more and more useful to everyday Internet users. What started out as a simple micro-blog…I’m watching television or I’m at the mall, has really grown into something spectacular. From Tweeting from your mobile device to finding other users who Tweet about something that interests you, my only thought is what’s next?

More and more people are starting to use Twitter for advertising their brand or site. Since it’s becoming more widely used, I think it’s only fair that some rules of etiquette should be posted. Please feel free to comment with any etiquette rules that you feel should be added.

1. Don’t spam. Sure, your site is the next best thing since sliced bread and you want to make sure the entire world knows, but the worst way to do this is by sending out constant tweets just sending people to your home page.
2. Tweet when you are introducing something new. If you don’t have anything new to twitter about - don’t tweet. Instead get those creative juices flowing - come up with something “tweetable” - be it a promotion or a new product, and then tweet like you’ve never tweeted before!
3. Direct messages. It’s there for a reason. If you are engaged in 3-D tweeting (conversation back and forth rather than just saying what you are doing and leaving it at that) then why not Direct Message each other instead of spamming others who have no idea what or whom you are talking about. Direct Messages allow only the person you are talking to to be able to see the message.
4. If you are at an event, it’s time to use Twitter and start Tweeting. But, please don’t over-tweet. We don’t need the play-by-play on every thing that is going down..just the important highlights please.
5. If you want follows, then follow others.
6. Lastly, do unto others as you would like them to do for you. By this I mean, the following: If you want people to click on your tinyurl’s and visit your site, visit theirs too!

Hope this information helps! Twitter is growing very quickly. Be a part of the fun!

Obviously, I use Twitter. I’m such a huge fan of it that I’ve even incorporated one of my Twitter accounts into this blog. And yes, you heard me correctly - I said one of my accounts. I have multiple Twitter accounts - each updated repeatedly throughout the day. Twitter is an amazing place to keep in touch with friends (in 140 characters or less) or as it is becoming more widely used, it’s a great place to advertise your website or blog.

Twitter is also definitely growing in popularity. Here’s a video of John Stewart poking fun at Twitter. The video is a bit long, coming in at around 5 minutes, but it’s definitely worth it as it’s pretty funny! Really, it’s wizard! (You will need to see the video to understand.) When John Stewart of the Daily show starts to poke fun at something it’s a pretty sure bet that it’s popular. Next thing you know, Tweets will be showing up on such shows at the Soup.

Recently, I spent over an hour reading through a blog post (and the many comments) on TechCrunch: What An Antitrust Case Against Google Might Look Like. First and foremost, I must say that I learned much more than I had planned on by reading it.

The first thing I learned was to scan an articles length before printing it. I thought this would be an excellent article to reference, so I printed it out. I then walked over to the printer to find page 26 of 40 printing. So, for now on I will either copy and paste into a word document exactly what I want printed, or I’ll scan the article. Although if I would have done that in this case, I would have missed out on some of the comments as I usually dont’ read them all but felt I should this time considering all of the paper I had just used. Plus, the comments seemed to be where the real meat of the story was.  After reading this article I have learned to actually read the comments. There’s nothing like learning from other users of their experiences with whatever the hot topic at the moment is.

The next thing I learned was much more relevant to  the article. First I must say that I love Google. My dream job would be to work for Google. To be scouted by Google would be incredible. So when I read the article and read through numerous different comments from users who weren’t so fond of Google, I was a bit surprised. Granted, the majority are advertisers and not just searchers or Internet users, but being an advertiser myself I’m still very fond of Google. Sure, the clicks can get to be pretty pricey - mesothelioma starts at around $22/click for a first page click on the sponsored links - but that’s what happens when you have a highly searched keyword.

Here’s my two cents worth though. In my honest opinion, Google isn’t even really in charge of the click prices. It’s an auction. So, for those complaining of click prices and Google charging too much, I’ve got a couple recommendations: 1. try using exact match or 2. try longer tailed keywords and if you still aren’t satisfied 3. try another search engine.

So, I’m going to leave everyone with this: if you don’t like what Google has to offer - make something better.

According to TechCrunch, Facebook is taking a different approach to their Terms of Service. They are now allowing users to give their input on what they think should be done. Hopefully they will then take the feedback to heart and come up with some Terms of Service the majority will agree with. One thing Facebook founders and users must remember is that you can’t please everyone all the time.

But, this could be a huge opportunity for Facebook to grow even more. If they listen to other Facebook users and rewrite their Terms of Service to suit the needs of the users it will only increase Facebooks ever-growing popularity. People react very highly when they notice their voices being heard and their ideas being used.

For a complete listing of the Facebook Principles, which will help everyone to understand what Facebook is about, click here. While it’s a rather lengthy read, it’s also well worth it. I especially liked their 10th principle: “One World. The Facebook Service should transcent geographic and national boundaries and be available to everyone in the world.”

All I have to say is, great job Facebook. You are officially on the right path.

I was reading through the blog posts on TechCrunch when I came across this article: Trouble in the Clouds: Gmail Turns Into Gfail.It really is amazing the things people will say when their normall routine has been compromised. People were very upset at not being able to check their emails and they made sure via other means of communication that others knew of their hardships.

My question is: Why? Gmail is not the only email out there. Sure, I have 2 gmail accounts and I definitely use those more than the others but I do have other email servers should I need them. So, if there is a client that I desperately need to be in contact with, I can, just through a different email then what they were expecting. That’s probably not the most logical way to back up emails but it works when one of my email servers goes down.

Plus, lets face it, you know Google will eventually figure out what happened, fix the error and go to whatever length they need to in order to guarantee that the same problem does not happen again. So, this could have been a lesson in relaxation. After reading through the many comments on TechCrunch, it became obvious that people really do need to learn to relax.

In my opinion, location based services will be next big thing to hit both the Internet and mobile Internet users. Just as Twitter took a while to gain an Internet presence and is now starting to really explode, I feel that location-based services will do the same.

For example, Loopt is a Smartphone application where you are able to connect with friends and find out where they are. For example, if I were heading to Barnes& Noble I could use the Loopt feature to see if any of my friends were there. To do this, I would sign in to Loopt via my iPhone and look at my friends list to see where they are. Right now this isn’t very widely used as many people are just learning of the application. But, it has to start somewhere right? This social networking platform can by synched with Facebook, Twitter among other social networking sites so you are able to alert others not on your Loopt friends list of your whereabouts.

For location based services to work on your phone it needs to have a Global Position System (GPS). That is the technology that is able to pinpoint your location. This information would then be shared with those throughout your friends lists.

Location based services help with more than just friendly meet ups though. For instnace, if you were searching for a restaurant you could plug your preferences into your application and it would pull up the different restaurants near you. Or, if you were in an emergency situation and called 9-1-1, the emergency response team would be able to locate exactly where you were located.

It’s easy to see that location based services are going to be the next big thing in mobile technology. Are you going to take advantage of these great services?

After reading the article “Average age for first cell phone? Eight! on CrunchGear, I am starting to understand why such offers as this one for a free cellphone are becoming so popular. When I was 8 I was worried about roller skating over a rock and falling down, or missing the Saturday morning cartoons. I definitely was not trying to drum up business from the parents (i.e. doing chores) in order to get more minutes on my cell phone package.

My how the times have changed! Just for fun, I am going to blast into the past to see what I was doing back in 1988 - that’s when I was 8 years old.

1. I was listening to pre-surgery Michael Jackson sing “The Way You Make Me Feel”

2. I was saying Beetlejuice! Beetlejuice! Beetlejuice! and waiting for him to appear.

3. I was in love with Tom Cruise because he was an incredible bartender (not for his couch jumping skills). Cocktail!

4. I wold come home and turn on The Cosby Show I wanted to be just like Rudy!

5. When I grew up, I wanted to go where everybody knew my name. Norm!

6. I was in love with Tondy Danza. Who couldn’t love a man in an apron?

7. I wanted a cat but was afraid she might get eaten by Gordon Shumway - a.k.a. Alf.

8. I could be seen walking around, attempting to whistle “Don’t Worry! Be Happy!” It was Record and Best Song of the Year!

That’s what I was doing at 8. Definitely not downloading ringtones and applications on my new phone.