Līve Ambitions

According to statistics, more and more small businesses are beginning to use social media as a way to promote their business.  While I agree that social media has become the 800 pound gorilla in the room, I’m not quite sure whether it’s effective enough to justify the amount of time invested.  Before I go further, let me lay out the pros and cons of social media for small businesses.

Pros:

• Good way to leverage high-traffic social media sites.
• Good way to spread the word about your product or service.
• Good for branding your company.

Cons:

• Heavy investment of time and effort.
• Only effective for certain types of niches or industries.
• Little return.

This is my opinion, but I don’t think there are enough benefits to justify spending all day on Twitter or Facebook trying to sell your service.  I mean who has time for it?!  If you’re running a small business, I’m sure your time is better spent on more important things other than updating Twitter.

Social media works for big companies.

Bigger companies would benefit more out of social media – I mean the companies with enough money to hire a dedicated social media specialist.  With a dedicated social media specialist, companies can effectively leverage the power of social media.

Social media also works for SEOs, marketing and media companies.

This is what marketers do.  They devote their time and energy trying to sell their services and products to other marketers.

Why social media isn’t the best marketing tool for small businesses.

Social media requires a lot of time to do it right.  More often than not, small businesses don’t have the resources to do it cost-effectively.  You have to understand your audience.  If you’re running an ecommerce store, there is a thin line between being perceived as spammy and being newsworthy.

Most social media sites are used by marketers and people in the media business.  Real end-users and shoppers use search engines to shop or find information.

There is a lot of discussion in various webmaster forums about whether “nofollow” links are good or not.  Generally speaking, “nofollow” links do not provide any SEO value, but digging a little deeper, they may be more valuable than you initially think.

Here’s a few reasons why “nofollow” links maybe be beneficial:

• To diversify your link portfolio.  I think it’s important to mix up your backlinks so Google doesn’t see it as a red flag.  Building your links using a single source is like putting all your eggs in one basket – not a good idea.
• If the link is placed on a high-traffic website, you may be able to receive a fair amount of direct traffic.
• Although “nofollow” links do not pass PR or link juice, Google does still follow the link, which means the destination URL may get indexed as a result.

So, the bottom line is: diversify your SEO strategy.  Experiment with different marketing opportunities because you never know how effective something will be until you try it out.

My friend, Daniel Scocco, of Daily Blog Tips has officially launched OnlineProfits.com.  You can think of Online Profits as an exclusive all-in-one learning center for SEOs and Internet Marketers.  Online Profits is limited to the first 300 people, so once it’s gone, it’s gone.  The program offers training material and resources for both beginners and professionals, so there is something to learn at each level.  The price is reasonable – 4 payments of $98, which comes out to $392 total.

As a member, you’ll get lifetime access to:

• Training material
• Tools section
• Resources section
• Content library
• Social clubs
• Private forum

I’m personally most interested in the social clubs and private forum, as I think it’ll be a good way to network with people who share the same interests as you.

Sign up today before it’s sold out: OnlineProfits.com

FYI – there’s a UPS email virus going around.

Yesterday, I received an email which seemed pretty legitimate.  It was an email from UPS telling me that my package was undeliverable.  Attached with the message was a file.  I almost opened the file, but decided that I should do a little research before opening a somewhat suspicious email.

Upon doing a search for “UPS virus scam”, I could pretty much confirm that what I had received was a virus file.

Here is the email virus that I received:

Hello!

The courier company was not able to deliver your parcel by your address.

Cause: Error in shipping address.

You may pickup the parcel at our post office personaly!

Please attention!

The shipping label is attached to this e-mail. Please print this label to get this package at our post office. Please do not reply to this e-mail, it is an unmonitored mailbox.

Thank you.
United Parcel Service of America.

The attachment was named: UPS_invoice_NR12345.zip

And, here is a message from UPS confirming the email virus:

Attention Virus Warning

We have become aware there is a fraudulent e-mail being sent that says it is coming from UPS and leads the reader to believe that a UPS shipment could not be delivered. The reader is advised to open an attachment reportedly containing a waybill for the shipment to be picked up.

This e-mail attachment contains a virus. We recommend that you do not open the attachment, but delete the e-mail immediately.

UPS may send official notification messages on occasion, but they rarely include attachments. If you receive a notification message that includes an attachment and are in doubt about its authenticity, please contact customerservice@ups.com.

Please note that UPS takes its customer relationships very seriously, but cannot take responsibility for the unauthorized actions of third parties.

Thank you for your attention.

Get 20% off all new submissions at the Best of the Web Directory (BOTW) Directory.  Use this coupon code at checkout: NEWYR

This promo ends January 31, 2010.

It isn’t surprising to see Google challenging the most innovative companies in the most competitive market today – technology.  Yesterday, Google introduced their newest smart mobile phone: Nexus One.  From search to software and hardware, Google is applying pressure in all directions.

BillShrink released a comparison of the top smart phones yesterday.  From the looks of it, Nexus One is not only competitive in specs, but also more cost effective than the iPhone and Droid.  T-mobile is the only carrier for this phone at this time.

Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year to Everyone!  May all your Wishes come true for the new year.

LookSmart is a popular 2nd tier search network which works based on PPC traffic.  This coupon only matches how much you spend.  It won’t give you credit like Google coupon codes.

Enter coupon code at sign up: LS-MB-50. Expires 12/31/2009.

A moment of silence and prayer for Brittany Murphy.  My condolences go out to her family and friends.

Today, I received an email that looked like this.  The actual domain was changed.

(If you are not the person who is in charge of this, please forward to the right person/ department, as this is urgent, thank you.)

Dear CEO,  
                                                                                     
We are the department of registration service in China. We formally received an application on December 7, 2009, one company which self-styled Bopcl Corporation is applying for registering internet brand “domain”, and Domain names as below:

 domain.asia  
 domain.cc  
 domain.cn  
 domain.com.cn  
 domain.com.hk  
 domain.com.tw  
 domain.hk  
 domain.net.cn  
 domain.org.cn  
 domain.tw
                                                               
After our initial examination, we found out that Bopcl Corporation has no trade mark, brand nor patent even similar to that word. As authorized anti-cybersquatting organization we hereby suspect Bopcl Corporation to be a domain grabber. So we hope to get the affirmation from your company. If your company and this Bopcl Corporationas are the same company, there is no need reply to us, We will accept their application and will register those for them immediately.       
                                                                               
If your company has no relationships with that company nor does not authorize them, please reply to us within 5 workdays, if we can’t get any information from yours over 5 workdays, we will unconditionally approve the application submitted by Bopcl Corporation. Thanks for your cooperation.  
                                                                                    
Best regards,
 
halen
 
Senior Consultant
Tel:+86 2164609758
Fax:+86 2164609768
Website: http://www.nzcop.org.cn

Looks innocent enough, right?  Well, having received many of these types of emails in the past, I can pretty much confirm this is a scam.  These emails are an attempt to instill fear of losing your brand name in other TLD extensions.  And by instilling fear, they’re hoping to convince you to register those domain names via their website.