According to the 2011 Generations report from the Pew Internet and American Life project, “The biggest online trend (we found) is that, while the very youngest and oldest cohorts may differ, certain key internet uses are becoming more uniformly popular across all age groups.”

The study found that internet users aged 34 and older are more likely than those age 33 and younger to engage in several online activities, including visiting government sites and getting financial information online.

These online activities are becoming more uniformly popular across all age groups: e-mail, search engines, getting health information, following the news, researching or making purchases (including travel reservations), online banking, supplying reviews or ratings, donating to charity, and downloading podcasts.

And get ready: Your grandmother might soon try to friend you on Facebook.

Even though younger people are significantly more likely to use social networking services, Pew reports that “the fastest growth has come from internet users 74 and older: social network site usage for this oldest cohort has quadrupled since 2008, from 4% to 16%.”

Some online trends are creeping down the age ladder, too. According to Pew, it used to be mostly older adults who searched for online health information. But now this has become “the third most popular online activity for all internet users 18 and older.”

Wireless net access is definitely not the exclusive province of youth. Like the recent iPass mobile workforce study — which put the median aged of a mobile-enabled worker at 46 — Pew found that 55% of people aged 46-55 access websites or other digital media or services via a laptop, cell phone, or other internet-connected mobile device. That figure drops to 46% for people aged 56-64, and 33% for people aged 65-73.

The bottom line is, don’t assume you know how digitally savvy someone is based on their age.

1. Listen more than you talk

We have two ears and one mouth, using them in proportion is not a bad idea! To be a good leader you have to be a great listener. Brilliant ideas can spring from the most unlikely places, so you should always keep your ears open for some shrewd advice. This can mean following online comments as closely as board meeting notes, or asking the frontline staff for their opinions as often as the CEOs. Get out there, listen to people, draw people out and learn from them.

2. Keep it simple

You have to do something radically different to stand out in business. But nobody ever said different has to be complex. There are thousands of simple business solutions to problems out there, just waiting to be solved by the next big thing in business. Maintain a focus upon innovation, but don’t try to reinvent the wheel. A simple change for the better is far more effective than five complicated changes for the worse.

3. Take pride in your work

Last week I enjoyed my favourite night of the year, the Virgin Stars of the Year Awards, where we celebrated some of those people who have gone the extra mile for us around the Virgin world. With so many different companies, nationalities and personalities represented under one roof, it was interesting to see what qualities they all have in common. One was pride in their work, and in the company they represent. Remember your staff are your biggest brand advocates, and focusing on helping them take pride will shine through in how they treat your customers.

4. Have fun, success will follow

If you aren’t having fun, you are doing it wrong. If you feel like getting up in the morning to work on your business is a chore, then it’s time to try something else. If you are having a good time, there is a far greater chance a positive, innovative atmosphere will be nurtured and your business will fluorish. A smile and a joke can go a long way, so be quick to see the lighter side of life.

5. Rip it up and start again

If you are an entrepreneur and your first venture isn’t a success, welcome to the club! Every successful businessperson has experienced a few failures along the way – the important thing is how you learn from them. Don’t allow yourself to get disheartened by a setback or two, instead dust yourself off and work out what went wrong. Then you can find the positives, analyse where you can improve, rip it up and start again.

By 2013, more people will be searching the Web on their mobile phones than on a desktop or laptop. Below are the five things that your mobile site needs to deliver.

1. Simplicity. The mobile screen is significantly smaller than a traditional desktop screen, and it cannot be used to clearly represent the same amount of information as a traditional desktop screen.

Keep it simple. You may have to reorganize or re-prioritize your information to keep it easily accessible on the small screen. Make sure on any given screen, the user can spot right away where the user is supposed to look, what to click, and what he or she is able to do with your site.

2. Touch-friendly user interface. Thumbs are bigger than mouse pointers, so leave plenty of space between links. Use big buttons and avoid small text links that can be very difficult to tap accurately with a finger.

If your mobile site is designed like an application, consider grouping general navigation options at the bottom of the screen rather than the top. It is easier for someone to tap the bottom of the screen while holding the device at the same time.

This is counter to most desktop sites, where the main navigation usually lives on the top of a site.

3. Contextual relevance. According to Google, one out of seven searches are currently made on a mobile device.

Mobile Web users are often looking for something very specific.

If a visitor to your site is on-the-go, what is the visitor most likely looking for? It is highly likely they are looking for a) your location, b) your hours, or c) your phone number, so put that front and center.

Make sure this information is easy to find, and do not bury it on a sub-page like you might on a desktop site.

4. Speedy load time. Load time matters. A study from Gomez found that 40 percent of consumers would abandon a mobile site if it takes more than three seconds to load.

In that same survey, 71 percent stated that they expect a mobile site to load as fast, if not faster, as on their home computer.

A lot of variables affect wireless connectivity and transfer speeds. Not all of them are under your control, so use technology solutions to optimize the parts you can.

Be sure your images and videos are right-sized including smaller files for smaller screens, minimize and send only relevant code, use caching and CDNs, and watch your performance statistics.

5. Path to more information. Your mobile visitors are your most driven users. They are actively seeking you out to connect and jumping through extra hoops to do so.

Give visitors a way to interact with you from your mobile site. This can be the ability to find directions to your store, to click-to-call or even to buy something, since 50 percent of searches lead to a purchase.

When you are finished building you can leverage the mobile site as a key component of your communications strategy. Integrate it seamlessly with your existing voice, text and social outreach, use it to gain opt-ins for your mobile database or grab a piece of the mobile commerce pie.

Local marketers can choose from a number of mobile-specific search ad formats that Google offers. "Mobile Ad Sitelinks" and "Click-to-call" are featured above.

Are you using mobile to reach customers in a specific location?

Location-based advertising is nothing new, but mobile has brought it to an entirely different level and the numbers tell the story: BIA/Kelsey predicts explosive growth for mobile local advertising over the next four years, from $784 million in 2011 to $5.01 billion in 2016!

So if it’s local customers you’re after, check out these recommendations for reaching them with mobile:

1. Build a mobile site.

At the risk of sounding like a broken record, I’m going to list this as the first step, with the key benefit being discoverability. A customer looking for a shoe repair shop in his area is most likely going to plug those keywords and a city name into Google. Make sure your business can be found and deliver an experience that is optimized for mobile.

If you need help getting started, check out How to Build a Mobile Website.

2. Optimize for search engines.

As with your desktop site, search engine optimization (SEO) is a mobile must-have. However, mobile is different – searches tend to be task-oriented and location-specific. Cindy Krum from Mobile Moxie suggests the following in an article from Bluetrain Mobile:

• Set up proper device detection and redirection to your mobile site.
• Optimize meta data (title tags, alt tags, etc.).
• Spend some time on local SEO, meaning get your business information listed in local search tools like Google Places and Yelp.

3. Invest in paid search.

Last year, Google released a study showing that 89% of paid search clicks are incremental to those from organic search, meaning that they would be lost if a paid search campaign were stopped.

Don’t neglect this powerful tool for driving local mobile traffic. Google offers a number of mobile-specific ad formats, some of which are tailor-made for local searches (“Location Extensions” or “Ads with Offers,” for example).

4. Run a mobile display campaign.

Mobile display affords marketers almost limitless targeting capabilities. Aiming for the businessperson contemplating lunch in her area? Run a campaign targeted to business publications, from 11am – 2pm, targeted to a specific city or zip code. Just don’t refine too much or you won’t have an audience!

Check out iMedia Connection’s guide to mobile display advertising, then start by running a campaign with a self-service ad network like mMedia or Jumptap.

5. Combine geofencing and SMS.

We’ve sung the praises of SMS here before. When combined with geofencing, which is the practice of creating virtual fences around locations like stores or offices, the result is very powerful. A user could enter a geofence around your store and receive an exclusive SMS coupon!

It is especially important to develop a geofencing campaign that is relevant to individual customers, doesn’t message too often and respects privacy. Consider Placecast and iLoop for such an initiative.

Mobile presents marketers with new ways to reach local customers more effectively than ever before. Today, pick one of the tactics above, contact a vendor or your agency and get started today!

This post originally appeared at the 60 Second Marketer Blog, a resource for the latest marketing tools, tips and techniques. 60 Second Marketer’s Founder, Jamie Turner, has helped brands like AT&T and The Coca-Cola Company grow their revenues, and is a regular guest on CNN and HLN.

QR codes on a billboard? Fast-moving drivers aren't likely to scan - avoid this and other problematic mobile marketing mistakes.

Are you hesitant to dive into certain areas of mobile marketing for fear of making mistakes?

Strategy Analytics predicts that advertiser spend on mobile media will almost double from $6.3 billion to $11.6 billion. Certainly there are plenty of marketers diving in, and they’ve made their share of mistakes along the way.

The good news is that we now have lots of examples from which to learn, and many mobile marketing mistakes are easy to avoid. Here are four to watch out for:

1. Failing to optimize your landing page for mobile.

Solution: This is like putting the cart before the horse, and failing to optimize the landing page for your mobile display and search campaigns can cost you valuable conversions. To ensure you’re providing users with a fast mobile experience free of pinching and zooming, check out our guide on “How to Build a Mobile Website.”

Example: Mobile Marketer seems to have a new example every week of an advertiser that hasn’t optimized a landing page for mobile. White Castle, P.F. Chang’s and Target have all run into this problem recently.

2. Using the same paid search campaign for desktop and mobile.

Solution: Mobile searches are inherently different from those of desktop, and if you’re using the same paid search campaign for both, you’re missing out on an opportunity for better results. Google suggests modifying keyword selection, adjusting bids and utilizing mobile-specific ad formats to drive performance with a separate mobile campaign.

Example: At the time of writing, a search for “flower shop” on my mobile device yields results from businesses large and small. Local business Lawrenceville Flower Shop comes out on top with a click-to-call ad, while other small businesses have missed the opportunity.

3. Deploying QR codes that can’t be scanned.

Solution: If your QR code can’t be scanned, it’s just taking up valuable space. Thorough testing is extremely important, and be sure to follow these design-related best practices to improve reliability. Also, remember that your audience should be able to access the Internet (no subways) with the ability to stop and scan (no billboards).

Example: 60 Second Marketer featured a guest post on the “Top 5 QR Code Fails of 2011” – proof that with new technology, even the most seasoned marketers are bound to mess up.

4. Breaking the rules in an SMS marketing campaign.

Solution: There is an alphabet soup of laws or regulatory/advisory organizations that rule the SMS marketing land, including CTIA, MMA and CAN-SPAM. If you break the rules, you could have your campaign shut down along with those of marketers using the same short code. Become familiar with the MMA’s Best Practices (PDF), then for good measure, review the CTIA’s Playbook.

Example: T-Mobile famously blocked all messages from SMS marketing company Ez Texting in 2010 due to alleged violations from a single marketer.

Without a doubt, you will make some mistakes as you expand your mobile marketing efforts, but by following the suggestions above, you’ll avoid mistakes that even the biggest companies have made.

This post originally appeared at the 60 Second Marketer Blog, a resource for the latest marketing tools, tips and techniques. 60 Second Marketer’s Founder, Jamie Turner, has helped brands like AT&T and The Coca-Cola Company grow their revenues, and is a regular guest on CNN and HLN.