Monday, January 31, 2011
Need a job? Step out from the resume crowd? Get a blog, they are after all the new resume..
Amplify’d from socialmediatoday.com
Need a Job? Want More Work? Get a Blog – Now
If you are serious about standing out from the crowd, a blog is essential. Blogs are the new resumes. I am talking about a website where you are writing about your ideas and experiences; where you are sharing insights gained from projects that went well or even more importantly on those that failed miserably. When I am helping someone to create their online presence I tell them to “show” their readers who they are and what they are capable of rather than just “telling” them.
Your blog can be more important and more inclusive than a resume. In fact, with a good website, the resume becomes almost an after thought. Chris Brogan has written a free e-book , Using the Social Web to Find Work. He says people find him to do work for them from his blog, … people can see examples, almost daily of what I think, what I know and what I have accomplished in my life and career.” He says, ” blogging like this is like writing out a resume line for line but not as boring!”
Business Web Apps, Mobil Apps, Marketing and More..HOT Microbusiness Oppportunities for 2011
Amplify’d from smallbiztrends.com
So, how do you find microbusiness opportunities with staying power?
1. Experiential products and services. This overarching trend will impact everything else in the consumer economy. This is not necessarily about changing what you sell, just changing how you sell it. People have, experts say, entered a new period of austerity … but not really. What it means is that people don’t want to collect stuff anymore. On the other hand, they will pay for experiences because they last longer — a lifetime, in fact. From a marketing point of view, that means you need to go beyond the features vs. benefits meme and focus on experience (emotional) over benefits (material).
2. For the technically inclined, mobile apps (and especially phone apps) for business are very hot. Added benefit: This opportunity is not anywhere near glutted yet. Microbusiness programmers might consider developing low-cost phone apps for their fellow microbusiness owners; that fortune at the bottom of the pyramid is not to be sneezed at.
3. Another technical B-to-B niche that’s very hot right now is Web apps for business, especially small business. Once again, if you can develop a product that is affordable for microbusinesses and will save them time or money, you’ll have that niche almost all to yourself. Too many developers chase the small business market but run from the microbusiness market, so the field is wide open.
4. Marketing services, believe it or not, are back and big but, once again, it’s all about the specifics. Social media is gathering momentum, and some creative people (like the folks behind Swipely.com) are combining it with e-commerce in interesting and profitable ways. The same goes for mobile marketing, which is still pretty leading-edge and has a bright future ahead of it.
5. This one is a bit of a blast from the past: fitness products and services are making a comeback. (I’m reminded of Huey Lewis’ Hip To Be Square.) People are still busy and always on the go, so the challenge here is to develop fitness products that can be used anytime, anywhere. Promising variations include small group training and home fitness products. Above all else, find a way to connect to your customers and make it an experience!
Sunday, January 30, 2011
60 signs that you are ADDICTED to #SocialMedia: Is there an App for that? #JustSaying
http://www.Facebook.com/AniseSmithMarketing
I must fess up before this blog post becomes live. That I am very VERY guilty of most of the things on the list, including looking like woman in the image.
I went to Key West last year, I was at the 1/2 point in obtaining my Masters Degree in Internet Marketing from #Full Sail University and I was traveling with hardcore electronics. Finishing up my graduated degree just allowed me to seriously indulge my addiction.
My friends and travel buddies would agree that I have a serious addiction to social media and technology. However I really don't see a problem with that.
SIDENOTE I do believe that I was lucky that this was before the groping TSA search or I would have surely been groped by some TSA person for hidden electronics.Amplify’d from www.pammarketingnut.com
Check out these 60 signs to determine if you may be in fact a social media addict.
1. You more often than not talk in 140 character increments.
2. You forgot how to spell simple 3 letter words like “you” which you now reference as “U”.
3. You go to the mall for an hour and come home with 10 new blog ideas.
4. The grocery store clerk, mailman, dry cleaner, and Panera Bread head cook all know your twitter handle.
5. You have a favorite seat at Starbucks and Panera bread.
6. You have stayed past closing at least two times at either Panera Bread or Starbucks.
7. You can’t remember the last time you went to the restroom without your Android or iPhone.
8. You regularly sit down in front of your desk first thing in the morning while still wearing your jammies, to “send a few tweets” and then hit the gym. Unfortunately you’re usually still there at lunch time.
9. You are the mayor of Panera Bread, Starbucks, the grocery story, drycleaner and your favorite burger joint.
10. You refuse to do drive by FourSquare as you want to earn your badges the old school way!
11. Your kids know the difference between a twit and a tweet.
12. Your kids could easily describe a retweet, mention, hootsuite, and ping.fm to their friends who have parents who don’t tweet.
13. Your spouse has threatened to divorce you if you don’t leave your cell phone at home at least one date night a month.
14. You have real friends in Australia, the UK, Brazil and at least three other countries. You met them all on Twitter.
15. You know many of your Twitter pals better than you do some neighbors.
16. You no longer keep track of how many followers you have. It’s the relationships and conversations that truly inspire you.
17. You love tweetups and don’t understand why the retirement home doesn’t want to host one for your grandma.
18. Your kids come home from school and ask you how many hits their YouTube video received.
19. You take a photo of your kids and the first thing they say is “no, you are not putting this one on Facebook or Twitter, seriously!”
20. Your youngest kid has found a new marketing medium with his/her world of wonder color paintings…. twitter and Twitpic!
21. You have worked an entire day or at least half of a day in your pajamas when you didn’t plan to do such.
22. You get excited when a client asks for a social media policy.
23. You want to do a back flip when you interview a potential new client and they already know what bounce rate is.
24. You have completely stopped trying to talk even your favorite businesses to get on the social train. You figure it’s their loss, you have more business wanting to hire you than you have time to talk to.
25. You have mastered tweeting, texting, reading a Inc. magazine and watching CNN all at the same time while on the elliptical.
26. TV, who has time for TV? You have #FFs to catch up on!
27. There are some people who tweet you in the morning that can simply make your day!
28. You have officially stopped doing free lunches. Who has time for lunch anyway!
29. You no longer attend networking meetings as you honestly don’t need any more clients at the present time.
30. When you meet with a client now it’s more like an interview as to if you want to take them on or not.
31. Life is to short to take on clients who simply don’t want to listen to what you know they need to do. If they don’t want to blog or update their website to the current century they can happily move on to your supposed “competitors.”
32. Your 2011 calendar already looks like a twitter parade.
33. You know what the tweet parade application is.
34. You know your Klout score even if you say you don’t care about the numbers.
35. You don’t send auto DMs.
36. You took a picture of the Verizon Fios dudes and posted it to Twitpic when they fixed or installed Fios.
37. You fall asleep on the laptop watching Jimmy Fallon at least once a week.
38. You would honestly miss your twitter friends if twitter were to go down tomorrow.
39. You wish people would quit sending you so many emails and just send you a 140 character tweet.
40. You get excited at the thought of a blank wordpress blog post page ready for you to turn it into a masterpiece at midnight.
41. When anyone in your neighborhood needs anything to do with the internet they call you.
42. You still get emails from past colleagues wondering if you could “help them learn” social media. Although that would be much more fun than a “free lunch” with another broke wanna be client you unfortunately don’t have time.
43. You wish you could spend the majority of your time tweeting for social good. Someday you will.
44. You won’t let your kids come close to Facebook or Twitter as you know how addictive it can be.
45. You now are addicted to twitter chats. You can type like a crazy bird with a bunch of other crazy birds.
46. You get more leads via your online sales funnel than anything you do offline.
47. Your business truly works on the weekend even when you don’t thanks to Infusionsoft and your favorite news syndication site (mine being Social Media Today)!
48. You can tell the mood of the twitter verse from just a few seconds of tweeting.
49. You can retweet that tweet in less than 2 seconds with your eyes closed.
50. You want to hit yourself on the head every time someone tells you “my clients aren’t on social media.”
51. You still love teaching newbies how to tweet. Nothing better than hearing those happy words with a big smile “I sent my first tweet!”
52. You have actually had a client say after the first twitter training session, “now how do I do something to someone, I forgot?”
53. You dressed as a twitter bird, YouTube channel, Facebook page or iPhone for Halloween.
54. Your kids know what Friday Follow is.
55. You have given up trying to get your family to understand what it is you do.
56. You’d rather tweet than be nosey and look at the neighbors photos on Facebook like all the rest of your neighbors do.
57. You ordered a custom license plate with your name and 140 on it.
58. Movies, who has time to see a movie. You’re either with the family, at Church, at the beach or tweeting.
59. You have written a late night social media addiction blog post at midnight and fell asleep in the middle of it (like I did on this one.)
60. You made it to the bottom of this list.Warning:
Newbies to social media, do not try these things at home. Caution should be taken as you enter the
Saturday, January 29, 2011
Internet Radio: What do you think? Pandora VS Blip
http://www.Facebook.com/AniseSmithMarketing
Anise Smith's Radio Pandora & Blip stations
http://www.pandora.com/people/Amsxes
http://blip.fm/AniseSmithAmplify’d from c4universe.com
There are differences between the two however.
Pandora finds music it thinks you will like based on what you listen to on their site or app. Their system looks at the styles in it, the tones, the harmonies, and tries to match that with similar songs or artists. Last.fm on the other hand relies on a more user based formula that takes the bands you listen to, on their site, iPod, iTunes, and other programs, and determines what other artists people who like those particular songs also listen to. Last.fm is also more social with friending, notes, and comments being a huge part of their site, along with artist pages and profiles.
Both strategies work well, but in my opinion last.fm seems to get my preferences more often than Pandora. I’ve discovered more new bands via their recommendations than I have using Pandora. The reason is probably implementation, after installing their scrobbler they get to take into account every song I listen to and plug that information in. Whereas Pandora just knows what I listen to on their site, a much smaller sample.
Another reason I like last.fm more is due to the fact that I get to see who I listen to the most. It is interesting to see what songs are in my top 10 or what artists I keep going back to…I was actually surprised to find out some of this information.
Recently Pandora has tried to implement a more social graph, integrating Facebook into their interface, but the outcome isn’t too great, and doesn’t really make anything “social”, except that you have a vague clue what friends also listen to an artist.
As I said, I do prefer last.fm, however the one thing that Pandora destroys them on is style. Pandora has a very slick and great app for the iPad and iPhone and other devices, as well as a great site and desktop application. Last.fm on the other hand is kind of ordinary, and unlike Pandora did not share a stage with Steve Jobs at one of the biggest tech gatherings of the year. Last.fm also doesn’t yet have a full fledged iPad app, and their iPhone app isn’t very nice looking, even if it works just fine. I think they’d gain a little more notoriety, like that of Pandora, if they would enhance their apps and promote their service a bit more.
Friday, January 28, 2011
Weekend Recipe: Apricot Lemon Sole
Remember to check out our Healthy Recipe Choice: Grilled Tuna Teriyaki
Apricot Lemon Sole
Ingredients
- Ingredients for Fish Fillets:
- 1 egg
- 1 tablespoon water
- 1/2 cup corn flake crumbs
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 1/4 teaspoon paprika
- 1/8 teaspoon pepper
- 4 small fillets of sole or flounder
- Ingredients for Apricot Lemon Sauce:
- 2/3 cup SMUCKER'S® Low Sugar Apricot Preserves
- 1 tablespoon Lemon Juice
- 1 teaspoon prepared mustard
- 1/2 teaspoon grated lemon peel
- 1/8 teaspoon salt
Directions
- Coat baking sheet with nonstick cooking spray. In pie plate, combine egg and water. In plastic bag, combine crumbs, salt, paprika and pepper. Dip each fish fillet into egg mixture; drop into bag and shake to coat with crumbs. Arrange fish in single layer on baking sheet.
- Bake at 425 degrees F for 10 minutes or until fish flakes easily with a fork. (Do not turn fish.)
- Meanwhile, in small saucepan, combine all sauce ingredients; heat until bubbly. Serve sauce with fish.
Nutritional Information
What to Drink? | |
 | Chardonnay |
 | Filthy Martini |
 | Cherry Limeade I |
More Recipes at AllRecipes.com
Thursday, January 27, 2011
#SocialMedia meets #QR code: Make your code, then I'll put them on your T-shirts, Totebags & Mugs..then go!
Amplify’d from socialqrcode.com
BUILD SOCIAL QR CODE CAMPAIGNS
Create Social QR Codes in minutes. Decide which Social medium to connect and print your Social QR Code on Brochures, Billboards, Bus Stops and other marketing materials.
WHO CAN BENEFIT?
Local businesses: Retail, Restaurants, Night Clubs, Dentists, Lawyers, Day Spas, Hair Stylists, Coffee Shops, Cafe’s, Book Stores, Gyms, Realtors, Sports Teams, Doctors and many More! Marketing and Public Relations Agencies: Do you manage your clients Fan Page? Help them get more fans!
Read more at socialqrcode.com
Tuesday, January 25, 2011
Man Thrown in prison because someone Tagged him in a photo that he wasn't even in.
Amplify’d from www.allfacebook.com
Sunday, January 23, 2011
70's hit Dating Game revived by #SocialGaming, So go ahead Avatar yourself and get yourself a date
Amplify’d from www.adweek.com
Social Nets Revive The Dating Game
Saturday, January 22, 2011
I just had to post this! Sunday Morning Lemon Poppy Seed Pancakes. DOUBLE YUM!
Sunday Morning Lemon Poppy Seed Pancakes
Ingredients
Directions
Nutritional Information
Amount Per Serving Calories: 237 | Total Fat: 8.5g | Cholesterol: 72mg
More Recipes at AllRecipes.com
Friday, January 21, 2011
Disturbing information about STOLEN data being sold over online Black Market. Please share or retweet this
Amplify’d from news.cnet.com
Report: Stolen data sold over online black market
Cybercriminals buy and sell stolen information using a vast network of online stores, forums, and even social-networking accounts, according to a report released yesterday by PandaLabs.
Posing as a cybercriminal to gain access to this online black market, PandaLabs researchers uncovered a world where the bad guys work together to buy and sell stolen bank account information, credit card numbers, passwords, and other products. Much of this illegal enterprise is done through online stores and forums, but PandaLabs found criminals using Facebook and Twitter accounts to set up shop as well.
But it's not just digital data for sale. PandaLabs found cloned credit cards selling for $190, card cloning machines running anywhere from $200 to $1,000, and fake ATM machines costing from $3,500 to $35,000.
Weekend Recipe: Shrimp Tempura
Remember to Check out our healthy Recipe Selection for : Szechewan Shrimp
Crispy Shrimp Tempura
Ingredients
- 1 cup all-purpose flour
- 2 tablespoons cornstarch
- 1 pinch salt
- 1 cup water
- 1 egg yolk
- 2 egg whites, lightly beaten
- 1 pound medium shrimp, peeled and deveined, tails left on
- 2 cups vegetable oil for frying
Directions
- Heat oil in a deep-fryer to 375 degrees F (190 degrees C).
- Whisk flour, cornstarch, and salt in a large bowl. Make a depression in the center of the flour. Stir in the water and egg yolk. Mix just until moistened; batter will be lumpy. Stir in egg whites.
- One at a time, dip shrimp into the batter to coat. Do not batter tails. Carefully place a few shrimp at a time into the hot oil. Fry until golden brown, about 1 1/2 minutes. Drain on paper towels.
Nutritional Information
Amount Per Serving Calories: 891 | Total Fat: 81.5g | Cholesterol: 139mg
What to Drink? | |
| Sparkling Wine |
 | Beer |
More Recipes
Thursday, January 20, 2011
Digital Marketing #jobs REBOUNDING! #SocialMedia jobs up 15%
Amplify’d from www.marketingprofs.com
Direct and Digital Marketing Jobs Rebounding in 1Q11
In anticipation of stronger business conditions, more than one-half (52%) of digital and direct marketing executives plan to increase hiring in the first quarter of 2011, up from the 41% who said so in the previous quarter, according to a survey from Bernhart Associates.
Overall, the direct and digital jobs outlook is more positive:
Overall, marketing execs are projecting an uptick in hiring in the first quarter: 12% plan to increase staff levels, while 8% anticipate declines. The resulting net 4% increase is a percentage point higher than the 3% recorded in the previous quarter.
Monday, January 17, 2011
Social Media, The new way to give: Celebration of Giving on this MLK Day of Service
Social Media has taken the world by storm and most people are really enjoying it. I know that I am! The growth of Social Media for fun, entertainment, job search and company brand exposure has been amazing.
One of the things that has been great is how people are using Social Media as a way to give to different organizations and causes. Social Media has given people an easy avenue to find out about different causes, charities and social organizations that are in need of support.
So on this day of celebration I'd like to share some of the causes that Facebook has been involved with. I believe that Martin Luther King would be proud of our positive uses of Social Media to do good!
Let's keep doing good things!Amplify’d from mashable.com
1. Free the Children We Day Campaign
Free the Children, an organization that helps empower children in North America to improve the lives of children elsewhere, hosts an annual event called We Day. The event brings together youth in Toronto, Vancouver and Montreal for a day of motivational speeches and performances. This year, sponsors like The Keg Spirit Foundation, CTV, and Me to We agreed to donate $1 for every “Like” that the We Day Facebook Page received.
2. Tyson Hunger Relief and the Monterey County Food Bank
Tyson Hunger Relief, which regularly makes donations to food banks around the country, added a Facebook twist to its food donation to the Monterey County Food Bank this September. For every new “Like” that the food bank’s Facebook Page received, Tyson donated 100 pounds of food.
3. Stand Up to Cancer Telethon Facebook Credits
The Entertainment Industry Foundation’s second national Stand Up To Cancer telethon accepted Facebook credits as donations this year. Facebook users simply visited the SU2C Facebook Page, which hosted a live stream of the pre-show and broadcast event, in order to place their donations. They could then share their donations through wall posts, spreading the word about the charity.
4. Timberland Earthkeepers Virtual Forest App
Creating virtual forests with Timberland’s Earthkeeper app helps plant real trees. The original version, which launched in 2008, helped plant 1 million total trees in China, Haiti and Nepal. A new version that launched in October teams up with Trees for the Future and the Yéle Haiti Foundation to focus on planting trees in Haiti.
For each set amount of virtual trees planted, Timberland commits to planting a certain amount of real trees. For every five virtual trees planted, for example, Timberland commits to planting one real tree. After a user has planted 25 total virtual trees, another two real trees are planted. Users can plant trees in either their own forests or in their friends’ forests. In the new app’s first month, users’ tree planting has committed Timberland to planting about 3,000 new trees in Haiti.
5. Kohl’s Cares for Kids Facebook Contest
In order to celebrate the 10th anniversary of its philanthropic program Kohl’s Cares, Kohl’s department stores decided to let Facebook users decide where to spend a donation to education. The company gave away $500,000 to each of the 20 schools that solicited the most votes on the company’s Facebook Page.
Facebook fans could vote up to 20 times, but no more than five times for one school. Voters were also encouraged to leave ideas for what the schools could do with the money, and every school needed at least one idea contribution in order to be eligible for the contest.
Sunday, January 16, 2011
What's better, faster , stronger (opps got carried away) : Google vs Google Instant?
Amplify’d from www.youtube.com
See more at www.youtube.com
FREE Streaming music meets Social Media, listen to free music online ALL DAY
Check out my station on http://blip.fm/AniseSmith , then make your own and share.
http://www.Facebook.com/AniseSmithMarketingAmplify’d from blip.fm
Listen to Free Music Online
Tour Blip.fm - Listen to any song free
What do I get when I sign up?
Access to millions of free songs
Your own free internet radio station
Free music shared by your friends
An audience of music enthusiasts
Share free music on Twitter, Facebook, Tumblr, Last.fm, FriendFeed, LiveJournal, Ping.fm
Saturday, January 15, 2011
Social Commerce is the next big thing! If you DON'T have a Facebook Page yet #GetWithTheProgram
Amplify’d from blog.eventbrite.com
Measuring social commerce
True social commerce promises to leverage the speed and connectivity of social networks to drive sales transactions. It’s an elusive promise that many companies have struggled to realize, but those that do will disrupt industries and create a new scale of business.
Key findings
The key findings of our analysis include:
- Sharing equals transactions: Dollars per share
When someone shares an event with their friends through social media, this action results in real dollars. Our most recent data shows that over the past 12 weeks, one share on Facebook equals $2.52, a share on Twitter equals $0.43, a share on LinkedIn equals $0.90, and a share through our ”email friends” application equals $2.34. On an aggregate level across Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn, and our email share tool, each share equals $1.78 in ticket sales. We’re seeing this number improve every week with the most recent four-week average equaling $1.87.
- It’s extremely sticky: Visits per share
The hyper-relevancy of the social graph breeds deeper engagement, greater sales and stickier audiences. For Eventbrite, Facebook is now the #1 referring site for traffic to the company’s site, surpassing Google as people discover events that their friends are sharing and they click through to find out more. On average each Facebook share drives 11 visits back to Eventbrite.com. Averaging across all channels, one share drives over 7 visits back to Eventbrite.com.
Sharing is consistent across event size. Sharing occurs at the same rate an event has 10 or 10,000 people. Classes/workshops and networking events have the most share activity, followed by fundraisers, conferences, and music events.
What it Looks Like
Summary: Social commerce is the next big thing
Social commerce takes online commerce to a new level. It marries the natural act of sharing and socializing with friends and the act of buying something online. Social commerce brings together social promotion and transactions into a single, unified experience, which breaks the old rules of eCommerce and demands new metrics. And the exciting news is that this is just the beginning. Look for more reports from Eventbrite in the coming months. We’re also keen to hear your thoughts and feedback on the subject.
Friday, January 14, 2011
Weekend Recipe: Sesame Chicken YUM!
Before reading any further remember if you are looking for a healthier option check out the link below:
Roasted Chicken with Balsamic Bell Peppers
Sesame Chicken
Ingredients
- 2 teaspoons cornstarch
- 2 tablespoons rice wine
- 1 tablespoon lemon juice
- 1 tablespoon soy sauce
- 1 dash hot pepper sauce
- 1 tablespoon grated fresh ginger
- 1 clove crushed garlic
- 1 pound skinless, boneless chicken breast halves, cut into bite size pieces
- 2 tablespoons sesame seeds
- 1 tablespoon sesame oil
- 2 tablespoons vegetable oil
- 4 ounces fresh mushrooms, quartered
- 1 green bell pepper, sliced
- 4 green onions, sliced diagonally into 1/2 inch pieces
Directions
- To Make Marinade: In a nonporous dish or bowl blend cornstarch with wine or sherry; then stir in lemon juice, soy sauce, hot pepper sauce, ginger and garlic. Blend together and stir in chicken strips. Cover dish and refrigerate to marinate for 3 to 4 hours.
- In a wok or large skillet, place sesame seeds and dry-fry over medium heat, shaking the wok, until the seeds are a golden brown color. Remove seeds and set aside.
- To same wok or skillet add sesame oil and vegetable oil and heat slowly. Drain chicken, reserving marinade, and stir-fry in wok a few pieces at a time, until browned. Remove chicken with a slotted spoon and set aside.
- Add mushrooms and green bell pepper to same wok or skillet and stir-fry for 2 to 3 minutes. Add the scallions and stir-fry 1 minute more. Return chicken to wok, together with reserved marinade, and stir over medium high heat for another 2 to 3 minutes, or until the ingredients are evenly coated with the glaze. Sprinkle toasted sesame seeds on top and serve immediately.
Nutritional Information
Amount Per Serving Calories: 279 | Total Fat: 14.1g | Cholesterol: 66mg
What to Drink? | |
| Riesling |
| Beer |
 | Tea |
More recipes at AllRecipes.com