Why should you? Well, Pinterest got 13 million users in just 10 months, making it one of the fastest growing websites in history.

Another interesting fact about Pinterest is that it’s being used by more than 100 brands. In the United States, most of its users are female, still in the U.K., they’re male. Either way, the people who use Pinterest are the ones who are so in love with the site that they can’t stop talking about it.

Do you need more reasons? Check this out. Pinterest is actually sending more traffic to other websites than Google+, LinkedIn, and YouTube combined! You heard right; COMBINED.

But, what the heck is Pinterest?

Much alike to Reddit or StumbleUpon, Pinterest is a virtual bulletin or cork board that lets users find and collect images and videos. Unlike other photo sharing sites, the emphasis here is on the discovery and collecting of other people’s content, rather than uploading your own. Although, of course, you can upload your own content. It has to start somewhere.

This is without doubt in trend with social media’s continued accent on rich media — ring a bell on Twitter’s enhanced video and photo screening as well as the recent changes to Facebook’s image viewer?

Pinterest: How does it work?

Pinterest gives you the opportunity to use visual resources like photos or Infographics as a kind of social currency — Pinterest’s “likes” and “repins” are the equivalent to shares or retweets — at the same time it’s supplementing web pages, blog posts, or other text-based media.

You may easily place images from other sites to your Pinterest Boards using the “Pin it” task bar button, or you can just look around in the Pinterest playground to find out, like, or “Repin” material that others have already found.

They way Pinterest looks like is the main reason why so many businesses are paying attention to it. You may see from retailers to photographers and designers, who are using it as a dossier or product catalog.

Consumers and clients can tell which products they love the most (shoes, paints, furniture, shirts … you name it) and want to acquire for themselves, and their friends can further the endorsement by pinning the pictures of the things they just fall in love with to their own walls.

How do you keep things in order on Pinterest?

Each account on Pinterest is allowed to have multiple Boards. This is a very cleaver solution for having ONE social media identity with different interests.

Many people own and manage multiple Twitter accounts (at least two); one for business and one for enjoyment. But on Pinterest, you can collect boards that are unrelated and they don’t get in the way nor clutter your followers’ streams.

That’s correct, you follow people on Pinterest (like you do in Twitter) but you can choose to follow all of a user’s boards or just one — so that you can find the content that is most relevant to your interests.

This type of following up is not like Facebook, where content segmentation lies in the hands of the Page or Profile only, not the friend, fan, or member.

Can you control who Pins you?

Yes. You can create boards that only the admin can pin to or boards that allow the admin and other specific people to pin to that particular board. Or you can create a “community board” that anyone can pin to. This multiplicity of ways to collect and share information has made Pinterest something that people likes very much, including me.

Small Business & Pinterest

Pinterest does not have brand pages — so you get no metrics yet in comparison to Facebook’s Fanpages. However, even when Pinterest is still in its early developing stage, brands can still get involved with it.

Get use to the platform, play with it as as a user first, and then put that knowledge to work for your BRAND identity and presence.

What’s to come?

The same that happen with the “Like” or “Tweet”, “PIN” can be the next social “verb”, and given its current growth, we can expect more things to come for this site to take all over our lives, just like Facebook and Twitter already have.

You think your BRAND has no business being on Pinterest? Stay tuned for Ideas to make Pinterest a part of your Social Media Marketing Strategy.

Vice-President of Unlimited Concepts / Uconcept.com – He is a Social Media Specialist, as well as a Web Graphic Designer, Online Entrepreneur, Social Media Administrator, and Consultant. Michael has worked throughout the years helping businesses owners and individuals to to put their businesses on the Social Networks in order to gain social proof and to perform effective and practical approach to Social Media Marketing.

“Should you care about Pinterest?”

T oday while Reading an article about “Facebook to Release Timeline for Brands This Month”. I came to thinks how this would benefit anyone’s online business presence.

We have seen how different Facebook looks after implementing the new feature of the Facebook Timeline. And just today, the news have spread like fire… It will come to be  a part of the brands’ page (Fanpage). We don’t have all the details yet, but, the benefits for branding will great.

New Facebook Features you’ll see

Let me point out some of the features I think the Facebook Timeline will bring to your brand.

• As you see on my own Facebook Timeline, the benefits for businesses would be great as well. The first thing is the big banner at the top of the profile, something more visual and engaging customers to see and to relate to.
• You can point out what content to emphasize; and better yet, to make things more visual. A total delight for prospects.
• The page will be easier to navigate, the tabs would become a thing of the past and an improved menu will take it’s place.
• You can show your special offers and news right on the banner, so everybody visiting you can learn right away what you have in place.

More detail will be provided at the launch announcement expected to be on Feb. 29th at the Marketer Conference. The surprises on that day will be endless.

In the meantime, get involved in the movement. Make social media part of your business & communications’ strategy and get ready to take advantage of the Facebook Timeline for Brands.

Vice-President of Unlimited Concepts / Uconcept.com – He is a Social Media Specialist, as well as a Web Graphic Designer, Online Entrepreneur, Social Media Administrator, and Consultant. Michael has worked throughout the years helping businesses owners and individuals to to put their businesses on the Social Networks in order to gain social proof and to perform effective and practical approach to Social Media Marketing.

” Facebook Timeline & Brands: What’s on the Horizon? “

The idea of using Facebook as an E-commerce platform is not new. You may  find Apps (applications) intended to develop a store front right on your Fan page – like Payvment –  among others similar applications. But, when thinking about Facebook Commerce as a way to enrich the customers’ experience to develop loyalty towards your brand, it’s something far more interesting.

Facebook Commerce… Leveraging Facebook’s user presence

Imagine that a Brand awards you for doing some activity from their Facebook business page. This may be booking a discounted flight, ordering a pizza, renting a movie, or buying you home groceries. But, what are the benefits of engaging in this activity from a fan page and not from your regular website? Let me tell you…

• You don’t take people away from their comfort zone. Therefore, investing on Facebook commerce will keep things cool and great for your customers.
• When people perform any activity such as booking a flight, a message can appear on their wall like “I just booked a flight through MyFlight… Awesome”, this gives your Brand a great Social Proof. Your customers promote you by using your brand..
• Another great feature could be that you can run the promotion only on Facebook “…Like our fan page and earn rewards…“, people will connect win your fan page. They will connect with your brand, and will know first-hand of any current promotion you are running. Besides, they will let others know about it too (look at bullet number 2). That’s the power of being viral…
• By promoting this in other places like your store or your website, you will be sending more prospects to your fan page; and because you have some type of Facebook commerce in place, more sales will happen online; and more people will join your program rather than someone else’s.

Facebook Commerce… It’s all about interactivity.

The more engagement you have on your fan page and the better experience there is for your fans, the more results you’ll have.

Remember that when you are at the position where your customers are interacting with your brand in more complex ways, they’ll want to stay informed about everything that’s going on with your products or services and, as a result for that interactivity, the better and more effective Facebook Commerce experience they will have.

Is not just about creating reward programs. You can also ask your audience for ideas for your new product or to improve an existing service.  You can ask them how a new commercial should be like or what colors your product’s packaging should have. The idea that wins on a poll among all your fans can win anything you had offer in return for the feedback given.

This assures you engagement with your fan base, brand awareness, trust, and more. People want to get involved and you should reward them for doing so.

Facebook Commerce… What’s next?

In conclusion, keep the good stuff coming. If people is happy and engaged, keep things going. If they ask questions, answer them all within an hour; and take the time to care about your fan base and to network with them. Remember that Facebook Commerce is about trust & interactivity, so avoid letting down your fans!

Vice-President of Unlimited Concepts / Uconcept.com – He is a Social Media Specialist, as well as a Web Graphic Designer, Online Entrepreneur, Social Media Administrator, and Consultant. Michael has worked throughout the years helping businesses owners and individuals to to put their businesses on the Social Networks in order to gain social proof and to perform effective and practical approach to Social Media Marketing.

“Facebook Commerce… Delivering the Best Customer Experience”

D id you know that Facebook is going public? What is it going to happen?

On February 1^st, Facebook filed an S-1 form with the Securities and Exchange Commission as the first move to start an IPO (initial public offering). But if you want to purchase some shares, you still have to wait another three months or so.

Did you know that Facebook IS profiting from your ‘free account’? Here is how.

Matt Nesto, program co-host from Breakout show, talks about how Facebook will ‘exploit’ the user. Yes, you! Facebook will do this to increase their revenues…. As if they didn’t have enough.

Watch this video below and you will see what I mean.

I read an interesting article by Jeff Macke, from Breakout, in which it mentioned 3 Ways Facebook will Exploit you. Here is a recap and my thoughts about it.

1. Users will be sold at $120 each. Yes. You will be sold at $120.

As you may know, Facebook’s users have reached the 850 monthly active users by the end of year 2011 and generated around $3.7 billion in revenue which like Matt says, it comes up to around $4.50 per member.

How does Facebook sells you?

Facebook sells your information to advertisers. Remember than every time you click on a Like link for anything, you are expressing what you like. Besides that, all that information you entered when you created your Facebook account are just contributing to the Demographics. This is valuable information to advertisers as they can design their campaigns to target selected groups of people. How valuable is that!

I am glad I don’t include any personal information in my Facebook profile. Although they still gather information about what I ‘Like’, meaning more ads will popup targeted to me whenever I click on a picture, and the Sponsored ads that appears on there. And they also have the ‘required’ information to register to Facebook, including your Cell phones when you set Facebook to send messages to your Phone app.

But sad part is that Facebook may sell you for $120 and you get nothing! You help them form marketing statistics and you won’t get paid for it.

2.  Mark Zuckerberg, Facebook founder said: “Facebook was not originally created to be a company. It was built to accomplish a social mission – to make the world more open and connected.”

Let me tell you, I don’t care what his intensions were originally. The fact is that he changed. Like it’s not enough the $30 billion he is worth right now!

So, be careful with what you ‘Like’ from now on because that information will be sold. I see people every time Linking everything that comes in front of them without giving it a thought. Now, if you use Facebook for business, meaning that you have a profile to meet more people and build relationships, you should be selective to what you click the Like button. These ‘Likes’ will be sold!

This is what’s going to happen: You receive a “Friend” request form someone you don’t really know. Based on your preferences and history in Facebook, that new ‘friend’ will be pitched with advertising related to what YOU like. So be selective with whom you are friending.  It will be like an unstoppable virus!

3.  Being Public means Shareholders are decision makers, but not in this case.

Normally, when a company sells shares/stocks, those shareholders are actually purchasing a piece of the pie and every decision is made based on the votes form the majority.

But in this case, Zuckerberg is retaining total control, even on any votes by shareholders. So it won’t matter what shareholders vote on, Zuckerberg will have the last say. I am not sure if I would want to invest on shares I will have no actual vote.

So, don’t be fooled thinking how a good guy Zuckerberg is. He just wants more money as if what he has is not enough. That innocent guy that once created Facebook to build friendship and relationships doesn’t exist. He is now just another business guy looking out for more ways to keep building his empire… and you are helping on that without earning a penny. But, despite all of this, let’s face it…. we are all addicted to Facebook!

Leave your comments below!! I want to know what you think about this new IPO.

Janet Garcia, President of Unlimited Concepts – Uconcept.com – She is a Graphics Artist, Web Media Producer, a Certified Video Specialist as well as a Social Marketing Administrator and Consultant. Janet has been in business since 1994 and has worked throughout the years helping businesses and individuals to brand themselves and develop their online presence taking their business to the next level: Success!

“3 Ways Facebook is Planning to Exploit You”

W hen you have social plugins on your website, people tend to spend more time on the site and read more pages. The reason is because, as you know, we are all busy, but still, we are willing to engage in communication, to converse with others. We are social by nature, so engaging is a natural response.

If you take a look at this Infographic below by gigya, you will see the trends in social login and site engagement. Notice that the time people spend on sites has increased just by having social logins and social engagement right on the website.

Keep in mind that, although the majority of people use Facebook as their number one social login, it is wise to have others available too. Me, for example, I have logged in to some sites using my Twitter account and on others with Facebook. So, having the choice is a definite plus.

Remember that having these plugins on your website will maintain constant communication with your readers, increasing trust in your business by showing social proof.

Login and Comments Social Plugins

Look at the image below which shows the time spent commenting as opposed to other tasks:

And on this Infographic below, it shows that page views increased also for those websites that have implemented social plugins.

In conclusion, we can say that the most common and biggest activities are sharing and commenting.

Which Facebook Social Plugin should you use?

The most common Facebook social plugins are the Like Button and the Comments plugin. Look at our site. You can see that how we are using the plugins, at least the Like Buttons. The Like Button is a must have. And, at the bottom of our posts, you will see another Facebook social plugin connected to our Fan Page for social proof.

If you are using a WordPress website, there are numerous plugins you can install that combine several social buttons for different networks, like Twitter, Google Plus, StumbleUpon, etc.

How to install Social Plugins

You can read more on how to install social media plugins at the Facebook’s developer site and video trainings at EmpowerToChange.com. Or, contact us for further help.

Something that you should do also is to include a call to action at the end of every post. There is nothing wrong with reminding your readers to hit the Like Button or leave comments on your website.

So, here is my call to action:

Click the Like button and leave us your comments and thoughts in the comments box below!

Janet Garcia, President of Unlimited Concepts – Uconcept.com – She is a Graphics Artist, Web Media Producer, a Certified Video Specialist as well as a Social Marketing Administrator and Consultant. Janet has been in business since 1994 and has worked throughout the years helping businesses and individuals to brand themselves and develop their online presence taking their business to the next level: Success!

“Why Social Plugins will Boost Engagement and Social Proof on Your Website”

J ust the other day, I read an article about how a giant like Pepsi has grown its sales on three of its brands by 1 billion each, thanks to digital engagement. As said by  B. Bonin Bough, the Global Head of Digital at Pepsi Co.

“…utilizing digital media has been vital to this growth…”

Other large companies like P&G and GE are also getting on-board of digital engagement. They have realized that it is not a mere fad. And, to stay relevant before the consumer’s eye, they must embrace it.

This fact is so important that a research executed by Millward Research shows that the common denominator between the top 50 brands showing a great growth in customer relationships and financial value in the last decade (2000-2010), is a strong use of technology (internet, social media, engaging websites, digital engagement) to be more ‘consumer ideal driven’, and play a more critical role in their audience’s lives.

Digital Engagement is part of Marketing 3.0

The process is simple: brands and the consumer will build together the products. Companies asks their “Fan Base” about what color their bottles should be, what should the product taste like, among other things. By listening to people, the process of coming up with new products or developing better services has become more like a democracy in which every one is heard, and the majority decides what’s coming up next.

Winning the hearts of your costumer should be your goal; and not using a digital media strategy as a way to initiate engagement won’t help you at all! It takes a load of money and too much time to achieve the same results. But, a digital engagement strategy gives your business the opportunity to reach out to your audience.

It is no just a battle between brands, but also about which service can offer you the best digital engagement strategy, an online presence, and features. Social Media Management is the key factor to the whole digital engagement process. With an effective social media management in place and a digital media strategy, you can make it all work together and receive feedback from consumers and reply back to them promptly. This will bring people and businesses closer together, and you will win their hearts in no time.

The Digital Engagement… What’s next?

When a new kind of media arrives, it often generates doubts regarding it’s marketing possibilities or effectiveness.  The first thing that comes to mind is: “Will it Work?” There’s no sure answer to it, but Facebook, which is the largest Social Media Platform  nowadays – one of which can give your brand the digital engagement needed – is releasing an Initial Public Offering (IPO) very soon and it’s estimated to be in the billions of dollars; so this new way of marketing is here to stay. So you better be part of it.

As you saw, there are studies about digital engagement, big companies are selling in the billions of dollars; and you,the middle guy, may also earn thousands or even millions of dollars too; you just have to bring your Brand to the digital discussion.

Remember, this is not a fad, this is here to STAY. Begin your Digital Engagement TODAY.

Vice-President of Unlimited Concepts / Uconcept.com – He is a Social Media Specialist, as well as a Web Graphic Designer, Online Entrepreneur, Social Media Administrator, and Consultant. Michael has worked throughout the years helping businesses owners and individuals to to put their businesses on the Social Networks in order to gain social proof and to perform effective and practical approach to Social Media Marketing.

“The Digital Engagement: how good business is doing”

I n this video, I talk about the importance of social media marketing and clarifies the difference between social media and a social media network.

It is very important to all businesses, especially small businesses, to jump into social media networking to create awareness of their brand, products, and services. There are still many businesses today that don’t have a presence online yet.

I made this video for our Facebook’s fan page but though you would benefit form it too.
Connect with Us in Facebook: http://facebook.com/Uconcept.FL

Janet Garcia, President of Unlimited Concepts – Uconcept.com – She is a Graphics Artist, Web Media Producer, a Certified Video Specialist as well as a Social Marketing Administrator and Consultant. Janet has been in business since 1994 and has worked throughout the years helping businesses and individuals to brand themselves and develop their online presence taking their business to the next level: Success!

“Social Media and Social Media Network”

A s you know, social media has become very popular these days. Everyone is talking about it even when they don’t know exactly what it is or don’t really know how to use social media for their business.

Maybe understanding what social media marketing is will give you a hint on how to use social media. Social media marketing can be defined as an art and a science. We could safely say it’s the art and the science of getting your message across your audience using the online avenues, like Facebook, Twitter, Google Plus (Google+), and other social media networks currently around.

Putting social media technology to work for you is not a matter of just creating a Facebook or Twitter account. You really need to learn how to use social media so that your business may be seen as a social authority whenever you broadcast a message to your audience.

Creating awareness of your products and/or services with constant communication with your prospects and customers (now called ‘fans’ of yours) will increase the level of confidence and trust they have in you and your business; knowing that behind your company, there are real people who really care about their customers.

Having a Social Media Strategy vs. Learning how to use Social Media

Like I mentioned before, having a Facebook account doesn’t necessarily means you know how to use Facebook for business. You will need to learn about social media trends, know where your market gathers, their age, what they like, demographics, etc.

This is valuable information you can use when you implement a good social media strategy for your business.

So that you can understand how a social media community develops, think of Public Relations. Your goal with social media today is to increase likeability, level of trust, awareness of your products or services, and social media optimization.

How to use social media effectively is definitely an art and a science

As you can see, it will take some time and effort on your part to learn how to use social media effectively for your business.

For this reason, many companies today are now outsourcing their social media administration to companies or agencies dedicated to social media management services. In addition, they have the necessary personnel to put into effect a successful social media strategy that will benefit your business.

The fact is that you don’t have the time to take care of social media practices for your business. You are a busy person and so do your employees. So outsourcing makes sense.

Janet Garcia, President of Unlimited Concepts – Uconcept.com – She is a Graphics Artist, Web Media Producer, a Certified Video Specialist as well as a Social Marketing Administrator and Consultant. Janet has been in business since 1994 and has worked throughout the years helping businesses and individuals to brand themselves and develop their online presence taking their business to the next level: Success! 

“How to use Social Media – Where most fail”

L et’s be realistic. Traditional advertising is just not as effective as it was before. You try to advertise your business purchasing non-sense lists, printing out your marketing material, and mailing them out. But what happens? People are tired of advertising and they don’t even look at the pile they receive every single day. So, your beautiful advertising piece ends up in the garbage. Why is that?

The evolution of social media has opened up new opportunities for everyone, from small businesses and new businesses. Big companies have acknowledged the power of Social Media Marketing and if you search for a few, you will see all the big boys in Facebook, Google Plus, Twitter, etc.

What does this tell you? It tells you that every business should be taking advantage of social media today. It tells that it is even more important for you, the small to medium size business, to be on Social Media Networks too. The competition today is such, that to stay afloat, any business needs to engage in a two-way conversation or communication, and Social Media allows you to do just that.

What makes social media today different?

It is the interaction between you, representing your business, with your customer. As a result, you gain trust. When people trust you and your company, they will buy from you and no one else. But not only that, they will also refer others to you. That’s the power of social media today. People like to know what others think about a product, about a business, a service; and they will explicitly tell others their opinion.  For this reason, it is important that you establish an online presence on social networks and build your own social media community of followers.

Remember the days when you were dating? Courtship came before the final ‘yes’. It was a time to get to know each other. It is the same with social media today. People will engage with you, will get to know you better, then comes the final ‘yes’; the moment they decide to get the products of services you were offering.

Social media today: what can you do?

Maintaining a social media community takes time and dedication. This is why many businesses start engaging in social media networks but then quit. The reality is that they don’t have the time required to implement an effective social media marketing strategy; and if they have the time, they don’t know how to do it correctly. This is where Social Media Management Services come in.

Social Media today: Social Media Management Services and Social Media Administration

We, at Unlimited Concepts, are dedicated to implement effective social media marketing strategies for our customers. We study each business, and their target market to ensure we engage with your audience in the most effective way. And the best part is that you don’t have to do anything because we do all the work for you. You just sit back and watch how your community of interested buyers start gathering and following you because they ‘like’ and trust you. Read about our mission here.

“Why Businesses should be using Social Media Today”

Janet Garcia, President of Unlimited Concepts – Uconcept.com – She is a Graphics Artist, Web Media Producer, a Certified Video Specialist as well as a Social Marketing Administrator and Consultant. Janet has been in business since 1994 and has worked throughout the years helping businesses and individuals to brand themselves and develop their online presence taking their business to the next level: Success! “Why businesses should be using Social Media today”

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