Facebook Fan Page Pays Dividends for Entrepreneur

Like a lot of business people who knew they had to “get on Facebook,” Don Campbell started out two years ago by creating a personal profile.

Later, he realized it was a better fit for his business, Expand2Web.com, to have its own Facebook Fan Page. He created it himself, hoping to have unique content and added interactivity. But his business, creating WordPress websites and templates for small business, kept him busy and he never got much further than a basic fan page.

Then a colleague from the search marketing firm BlitzLocal offered to help him build out a fully featured, interactive fan page. The company’s developers built some pages and introduced him to some Facebook Apps and FBML, Facebook Markup Language, which allows page owners to customize and “brand” their Fan Page tabs to be consistent with their websites.
Even though it’s still quite new, the improved Fan Page has allowed Campbell to connect with fans, friends and potential customers, in ways different than through other social media.
“I've found the interactivity is much richer here than Twitter, or even my blog in some cases, because people can add photos, movies and other types of content. It’s a much more vibrant discussion,” Campbell says.

Campbell writes about his experiences here:
http://www.expand2web.com/blog/bringing-expand2web-facebook/

Source: http://www.prlog.org/10573213-facebook-fan-page-pays-dividends-for-small-business-web-entrepreneur.html

Mobile Marketing To The Masses

Did you know Google believes that in three years desktop computers will give way to mobile as the primary screen from which most people will consume information? That’s according to Google's John Herlihy who said that smart phones enhance Google’s
mission to make information universal.

Can you smell how big mobile is?

Mobile Marketing Leadership

You better run over and jump on Howie's new mobile training AND grab his report while there are still available. The server is being hit pretty hard right now and I don't know how much longer Howie will keep this can of worms open.

RUN HERE:

http://www.mobilemarketingleadership.com/member/?r=222&i=2

Take care,
Brad
PS - Think about it - 5 billion mobile devices
ready to receive your marketing . . .

Marketing on a mobile phone has become increasingly popular ever since the rise of SMS (Short Message Service) in the early 2000s in Europe and some parts of Asia when businesses started to collect mobile phone numbers and send off wanted (or unwanted) content.

Over the past few years SMS has become a legitimate advertising channel in some parts of the world. This is because unlike email over the public internet, the carriers who police their own networks have set guidelines and best practices for the mobile media industry (including mobile advertising). The IAB (Interactive Advertising Bureau) and the Mobile Marketing Association, as well, have established guidelines and are evangelizing the use of the mobile channel for marketers. While this has been fruitful in developed regions such as North America, Western Europe and some other countries, mobile SPAM messages (SMS sent to mobile subscribers without a legitimate and explicit opt-in by the subscriber) remain an issue in many other parts or the world, partly due to the carriers selling their member databases to third parties.

Mobile marketing via SMS has expanded rapidly in Europe and Asia as a new channel to reach the consumer. SMS initially received negative media coverage in many parts of Europe for being a new form of spam as some advertisers purchased lists and sent unsolicited content to consumer's phones; however, as guidelines are put in place by the mobile operators, SMS has become the most popular branch of the Mobile Marketing industry with several 100 million advertising SMS sent out every month in Europe alone.

In North America the first cross-carrier SMS shortcode campaign was run by Labatt Brewing Company in 2002. Over the past few years mobile short codes have been increasingly popular as a new channel to communicate to the mobile consumer. Brands have begun to treat the mobile shortcode as a mobile domain name allowing the consumer to text message the brand at an event, in store and off any traditional media.

SMS services typically run off a short code, but sending text messages to an email address is another methodology. Short codes are 5 or 6 digit numbers that have been assigned by all the mobile operators in a given country for the use of brand campaign and other consumer services. The mobile operators vet every application before provisioning and monitor the service to make sure it does not diverge from its original service description.

Besides short codes, inbound SMS is very often based on long numbers (international number format, e.g. +44 7624 805000), which can be used in place of short codes or premium-rated short messages for SMS reception in several applications, such as product promotions and campaigns. Long numbers are internationally available, as well as enabling businesses to have their own number, rather than short codes which are usually shared across a number of brands. Additionally, long numbers are non-premium inbound numbers.

One key criterion for provisioning is that the consumer opts in to the service. The mobile operators demand a double opt in from the consumer and the ability for the consumer to opt out of the service at any time by sending the word STOP via SMS. These guidelines are established in the MMA Consumer Best Practices Guidelines which are followed by all mobile marketers in the United States.

Source: http://www.prlog.org/10562426-mobile-marketing-to-the-masses.html