When a picture is clicked, like the one below, you have the opportunity to embed a live link to lead the reader where you want them to go.  In this the link www.jwrp.org is leading the reader back to the website to register for the trip they are promoting.

It looks like lots of fun and a trip where good friendships are being formed.  Since Facebook is just one of the tools you use for social media, the links mentioned above can be to your website, YouTube channel, blog, Flickr, slideshare account, etc. You can link to your site and other related resources to:

• Engage content
• Promote and offer updates on company events and seminars
• Release announcements in the industry
• Offer discount programs
• Present contests
• Inform your target market about your ‘company in the news’

The only challenge is that the pictures are uploaded in no specific order so it’s hard to create a banner, although, someone will figure out how to overcome that soon enough.  The other test is to get the right pictures posted to reflect the brand that your customers have come to rely on.  Any new uploaded pictures end up in the top 5 but if you click X it will disappear and the old one will reappear. However that new picture will remain on the Facebook page either in an album or in a post. Photos uploaded by fans or ones where you are tagged will not appear in the 5 above. Putting pictures up on your company Facebook page makes your brand human, relatable and accessible.  It shows your consumer the ‘personna’ of your company. It’s the picture of your voice, it’s all about your ability to talk to people in a genuine way and show them that you are part of their community. By all means analyze the stats once the pictures go live.  See if your audience is relating to it and be able to pinpoint what attribute moves your target most. In the very name Facebook is the essence of the brand.  We now have a ‘face’ behind the ‘name’ and we insist on that as a given.  Facebook is changing everyday so stay tuned for more and more sophisticated ways to deliver your message in this popular medium.

Who are these Yeshiva University boys that are taking the world by storm? How did they create a video for Chanukah that     has captured the attention of so many with 1.5 million views and counting  on YouTube? Why are they so successful?

They are successful because they are creative, talented, and simple. You like them. No synthesized music in the background, flashing lights, or   dance routines, just plain melody and love of music that goes straight to hearts of their audience. They represent the “boy next door” – your friend’s son. Actually one of the boys in the group is my friend’s son.

Ever since Adam Sandler’s Chanukah video, it’s been an eagerly awaited form of entertainment to see who’s got the most engaging themed video. The Maccebeats, because of their religious background, choose to sing about Chanukah. Maybe they will create videos around the whole Jewish calendar of holidays so stay tuned.

You and I made them stars by sending their video to all of our friends and colleagues on all the online social networks we engage in. We did this because we wanted to share something special to make others feel good, and reinforce the relationships we’ve created online. First rate content comes in all forms and being a part of a popular craze, being “in the know,” is also important for our profile. Everyone wins.

Important elements to make a video go viral.

1. High quality Content – Original, creative, compelling, quirky, fun, humorous, and informative.
2. Target audience – Create the video with the target audience in mind and ask them to be the first to spread the word and they ask others to do the same.
3. Tools of the internet – Use the power of YouTube, Facebook, Blogs, Forums, Email lists, Friends, and all the other online tools available
4. Be Relatable – Create something that people can relate to, hum, or give over the main idea quickly.
5. Create emotion – Some people use animals or kids because they are loved by all.
6. Use pictures – Use a compelling thumbnail picture to identify the link. In essence you’ve branded that video.

We can learn a lot from the Maccabeats as they just brought us this delightful video at the right time. May they stay simple, like the acapella sound they’ve popularized today, developing their talents in all aspects of their lives.

Now that PayPal Israel has a site in Hebrew the world is really able to penetrate the Israeli market.

Now that the whole interface is in Hebrew, Israeli buyers can confidently proceed through checkout in their own language.  Just watch your sales soar!

Now there is even a local number for PayPal customer service for Pay Pal 073-713-7777.

Disclaimer: The Hebrew enabled portions of the PayPal site seem to be disabled but this link seems to be working the best. These are the early days of the launch so be patient and keep on trying.

Immediacy and the lasting impact of what we say online could be positive or negative.  In this case it could have cost Israel the lives of its soldiers on a mission to apprehend suspected terrorists.

On March 4, ABC News reported that the IDF had to cancel an operation to arrest militants in the West Bank several weeks ago after a soldier posted details of the mission.

 Here is the message that the unnamed soldier posted his Facebook page:

 “On Wednesday we are cleaning out the village of Katana (nr Ramallah) – today an arrest operation, tomorrow an arrest operation and then please God, home by Thursday.”

Comrades in his elite unit saw the post and reported it to their commanding officer. The Commander aborted the mission for fears that operational security had been breached.

The result: The soldier was arrested and placed in custody for 10 days before being forced to leave his unit.

This is serious lack of judgment, but at the time the soldier was merely updating his friends using Facebook and making plans for his return home.  He didn’t consider how this information would impact his colleagues, the IDF, and Israel’s security. 

“Friendly fire” in this case came from the post and not the bullet but its impact could have been just as severe.

This phenomenon of “post now and think later” is rampant.  Whether it is inappropriate pictures that follow you for life, negative comments that could cost you a future business opportunity, or being overly critical in a comment section, these very acts can affect your personal brand.

Using social media has become the vehicle for sharing information in an effective, quick, and inexpensive way.  Everyday more and more people seem to be gravitating to it for good reason.

In the frenzied rush to be the first one to report news, we sometimes ignore the bigger picture: the consequences.  Perhaps we should slow down, be mindful, be considerate and put ourselves in the other person’s place when participating on social media. 

Social media is just that – building relationships to a positive end.

Rav Berkovits Gives Us Valuable Advice

Using online social media platforms is now an essential part of a comprehensive marketing strategy to attract inform, retain, service and form loyal bonds with your audience.  With the many tools out there to choose from, the women needed to know why to use it, when to use it, and how to use it to have a voice in their market.  See more about the conference at JPOST.com

Here are a couple of the questions I addressed at the event:

• Time – Does it take up your whole day?  How many hours per day do you Tweet, Facebook or blog
• Market – Why must I deal with social media for the religious market?

How Much Time?

My answers were specific to each business owner that approached me.  The time allotted to social media varies.  It’s all about research and strategy. 

“Instead of researching the best ways to engage, many businesses create accounts across multiple social networks and publish content without a plan or purpose. However, businesses that conduct research will find a rewarding array of options and opportunities.”
– Brian Solis, founder FutureWorks, in a blog post on Mashable- January. 11, 2010

Investigate and find out where your customers are ‘socializing’ and be active on those platforms.  Creating a blog post takes planning, research, and creativity – the time invested into each of these elements is naturally up to the author. 

Posting articles and blogs should not take you more than an hour per day.  If you are involved in many forums sharing information and connecting with your customers, consider it part of your sales cycle and give it the time if deserves to engage your customers and develop relationships. 

Is there a Market?

A book publisher asked me, “Why do I need to be online when my market is only for the religious Jewish community?”  Before I got a chance to answer, another book publisher answered, “Are you kidding, a large majority of my business is done online and most of our marketing is done online.”  Of course, I mentioned it’s time to expand her market and not limit the company to such a small niche. 

The feedback from the conference has been mostly positive, but there are many that still harbor serious reservations about the dangers of exposing themselves and their families to both known and unknown dangers online. A key takeaway for those with such reservations is that others are also struggling with the issues too. Some decide to face them head on, while engaging the new media but with caution. Others are mostly deciding to wait-and-see how the rest have fared.

There was a very handy list of things you can do to use the net with greater safety. I have attached a scanned image PDF of the handout here.

What are your ideas about how to make the internet safer for the home? Any other thoughts on the subject? Let us know…

Today, we “talk” via the computer and text through the cell phones. Almost gone are those precious face to face meetings that create a relationship of trust. Communication has become impersonal…..until recently.

The new platform for customer communication is via social media where buyer and seller can interact. Through Social Networking, Blogging and Micro-blogging your company can continue the conversation with your customers.

An unprecedented change has taken place, putting tools for publication, discovery, and real time interaction, in the hands of everyone – from simple text to photos and video. Social media tools are changing businesses in terms of how they can connect with customers, partners, peers and even the competition.

Future customers may hear about your business as part of a Social Networking Web Site. The new consumer is as likely to find your business through a Social Network as a Search Engine.

Pete Hollier from SEOwizardry lists a few tips:

Social Networking

It is becoming imperative that businesses develop Social Media Marketing Programs. Your customers expect it and your competitors are adopting and using Social Media to connect and interact with current and future customers – possibly even your own. The number must have gone up by now but in 2008 Cone Business in Social Media Study, states 93% of Americans believe that a company should have a presence on social media sites and 85% believe that these companies should use these services to interact with consumers. Social Media today threatens to replace e-mail as the primary electronic communication.

Integrating Social Media

Developing an effective Social Media Marketing Program involves investigating and determining a number of factors such as:

What are the goals and objectives of your company’s Social Media Marketing Program?
Determine responsibilities for program implementation and monitoring.
Strategy for the development of required content.
Prepare company guidelines for communication and participation.
Who and how often will company staff be empowered to communicate the Social Media message
Define criteria to determine the effectiveness
Companies that are using Social Media are gaining entrance into the homes and minds of their consumers. When a prospective consumer becomes a “fan” of a product on Facebook, or they follow a company on Twitter, they are requiring the company to translate their abstract corporate persona into something more personal and relatable. With that “personal” connection the customer is asking for information and support not just as a consumer, but as a “friend.”

Through stories, helpful hints, photos, videos, testimonials, and blogs the customer is demanding a deeper relationship which fosters commitment on both sides.

Website “stickiness” can be described as the ability to engage the visitor with new and exciting content. Why do you think Twitter is so popular? People are constantly looking for “what’s new and what’s next?”    

There are many ways websites can meet the demands of insatiable customers.

1. User Contributions: Encourage your customers to provide feedback about their experience with your products, your company, and your service. Provide a way for them to rate products, preferably with a simple one-click rating mechanism.  Industries that do this quite well are the following: Cell Phones, Books, Movies, Restaurants, and Software
2. Periodic Updates: To maintain the relationship with existing customers and to encourage new relationships, include: company news, corporate events, executive hires, conferences, speaking engagements and industry news (like technological breakthroughs, or even tax and regulatory changes, to cite a few examples).
3. Video: Video on your site increases engagement with your customers. WebProNews stated, “Nearly 70% of Internet users view online video during the day and night with similar spikes occurring both at home and at work. People across all demographics are watching online videos consistently. 28% visited an advertised brand or product’s website after viewing a high engagement video versus only 10% for low engagement video.” Besides being a source of information and hopefully entertaining, the video should have a call to action.
4. Audio/Visual Presentations and Interviews: Many companies have presentations about their products, their industry, speaking engagements, overview of the industry, trade shows, etc. If they are not company secrets share them with your readers. The more information populating your pages the better the world will know about your company. Someone might even quote the material and provide a link back to the website if they find the information interesting. It’s a helpful way to share information, and greatly improves your SEO score with search engines to boot!
5. Customer Surveys: The popular blogger, Chris Brogen, did a successful job turning his book launch into a customer survey. His book is about running your business like life and creating invaluable relationships along the way. Here’s what he wrote to me. “I believe that lots of situations in business feel a lot like relationships, and vice versa. What do you think about that? Does that make sense to you? I had a few thoughts about how to run one’s business like a life, and vice versa, and I want your feedback. Just reply to this email, and we’ll talk about it. Good?” This is personal, engaging, and I am confident that when I reply he will get invaluable information on how to sell better to his target market, while making his readers feel good that their opinion is important. Excellent.

Readers have a natural curiosity to check “what’s up” so let your website satisfy them with interesting, relevant, dynamic information.  Think about it as if you are building a community and servicing it.