Getting customers to talk about your product or service isn’t as hard as you might think. A viral marketing campaign that provides them with a way to connect with others you serve, a compelling story they can share, and a subconscious nudge is all they need.

I’ve found three strategies that make viral marketing especially contagious.

Provide A Way For Your Customers to Interact. Getting customers to spend more time online talking to  other customers is one way to help them spread the word. For example, add a chat room to your website.

People talk about what they do. And if they are using your site to connect with others sharing the same experiences, they can’t help but tell others about their experience. Pretty soon, you see folks using your chat room that are interested in your product or service, but want someone’s opinion whose used it before. If your product or service is good (and there’s no reason why it shouldn’t be) then those prospects are fertile conversion for your business.

Make Your Product Easy to Work into Conversations. This is about your brand. For example Nike’s “Just Do It” slogan has become cliche. I remember using it all the time as a motivator ... read more >>

The world is changing and it’s going to have a monumental affect on every profession and person. The rules and boundaries have shifted as the internet and social networking have evolved into staples of our everyday lives.

Change is inevitable – growth is a choice

The world economy is in the process of going digital and more is on the way. Technologies like telepresence (Cisco) and GoToMeeting (Citrix) are allowing people to interact in stunning clarity over IP networks and their desktops revolutionizing the way we do business.

Televisions are now widget enabled and internet ready so users can enjoy their favorite social networking sites like Flickr and Twitter right from their living room. Heck, you can even watch your fantasy football team update right on your own TV as you watch the game — pretty cool!

Health records are in the process of being digitized because for too many years we have relied on unsustainable means of data entry and preservation adding massive costs to our health care system. Would you believe that only 15% of all patient records in the United States are digital? It is true.

Businesses have realized the value or their information and have taken steps . ... read more >>

In a situation where you’re selling to multiple personalities, it’s best to first connect everyone on a common ground then articulate clearly what’s in it for each of them.  The goal is to stimulate an engaging conversation that allows us to change perception, diagnose expectations and bring clarity to the dialogue.

That’s the essence of developing a brand strategy – the foundation of your communication that builds authentic relationships between you and your audience.  It is by defining your brand strategy that allows you to utilize marketing, advertising, public relations and social media to consistently and accurately reinforce your character.  Without defining the core strategy, all channels of communication can often become a hit and miss expense.

Here are 12 brand strategy principles I believe to be the key to achieve business success.

1. Define your brand

It starts with your authenticity, the core purpose, vision, mission, position, values and character.  Focus on what you do best and then communicated your inimitable strengths through consistency.  There are many examples of companies acquiring other brands but only to sell them off later ... read more >>

I always stress to clients that results on Twitter don’t happen overnight. This isn’t to discourage them from using it to enhance their marketing—but to help them understand the power of consistent, personal interactions and the cumulative effect this can have on their business.

Every time you engage others on Twitter, you are planting seeds that can have potentially big payoffs in the future. Once I explain this concept, the next concern is usually that this will be a major time investment. It’s not—if you leverage your time by applying a few of the select strategies discussed below.

Re-tweet

Re-posting others’ interesting tweets is one of the easiest and most effective ways to be discovered and gain more followers. For the people that are already following you, it’s a quick way to get on their radar screens.

Thought-provoking quote

People always seem to love great quotes. You have a good chance of being re-tweeted with these. The quotes you choose can also help you share a bit of your personality.

Feedback on someone’s link

Take a minute to visit a link someone has posted. They will often preface the link with what it’s about. If it’s of interest to you, check it .. ... read more >>

Data collection has been big business since the Internet became a widely adoptable means of communication. But there are still a slew of privacy concerns that arise from the use and misuse of data collected, especially when it contains personally identifiable information and can be used for targeted advertising and other marketing efforts.

A class action lawsuit has been filed against Tagged, naming Miriam Slater and Sarah Golden as the individuals representing those bringing the case against the social network. The lawsuit states that Tagged misappropriated user information by using their email address books to reach out to those contacts for the purpose of obtaining new users, without the knowledge of the initial Tagged user.

This isn’t the first time Tagged has been threatened with legal action regarding its email marketing. The New York State Attorney General has let Tagged know of its intent to sue for reasons similar to the Slater v. Tagged case.

It’s a fairly common tactic that’s been employed for years now, by several social networks, but it does go against privacy standards to do so without letting a user know what the information will be used for. We’ve all seen it. .. ... read more >>