Social Media online marketing cheat sheet
Posted on February 12th, 2010 by Richard Catto 3,723 views
As part of my job, I come across a lot of half baked online marketing initiatives.
Online marketing is not rocket science, but you just need to know what to do. Here is a quick cheat sheet off the top of my head.
1. Firstly, whatever you publish online MUST be published at some url (i.e. on a web page)
2. For best results publish ONE thing on ONE web page, rather than combine multiple things onto one page
3. Email what you have published to your mailing list (you do have a mailing list, don’t you?) with a link back to the web page where it was first published
4. Create a link to your page in bit.ly and use bit.ly to tweet a short announcement about your web page (bit.ly tracks clicks)
5. Link your twitter account to your Facebook wall (you do have a Facebook account, don’t you?)
6. Link your twitter account to your Google Buzz account (you do have gmail, don’t you?)
7. On your web page, if you want people to take some action, such as fill in an order form, use Google Analytics to track your goal, of submitting the form (you do use Google Analytics, don’t you?)
8. Then monitor how many clicks your campaign got, and with Google analytics, discover what your conversion rate is. If your campaign is not resulting in conversions, see if you can find out why.
9. Keep everything you publish as concise as possible – people don’t have a lot of time to waste reading your flowery prose.
If you’re doing all above, you’re on track, if not, get with the program already. If you need help implementing this stuff, call in a consultant to make it happen for you, and train your staff in the new ways.
Tags: bit.ly, facebook, mailing lists, Online Marketing, social media, twitter
Filed under Online Advertising, Online Marketing | 2 Comments »
People who played with FaceBook and got burnt
Posted on February 29th, 2008 by Richard Catto 2,361 views
Back in Dec 2007, I wrote about a blogger on Thought Leader who created a fake FaceBook profile for Thabo Mbeki, which contravenes FaceBook’s Terms and Conditions. IOL reported, at the time, that President Thabo Mbeki’s office was referring the matter of fake FaceBook profiles (which impersonated him) to the National Prosecuting Authority (NPA). Naturally, this threat was not taken seriously by either Thought Leader, the blogger in question or many of my readers.
However, although South African authorities have failed to make good their threats, Morocco has taken action against a fake FaceBook profile creator.
Fouad Mourtada, a Moroccan citizen has recently been jailed for three years for creating a fake FaceBook profile of Moroccan Prince Moulay Rachid. FaceBook has denied assisting Moroccan authorities in this matter. This judgement has sent ripples of alarm through the Moroccan Blogosphere and caused at least one Moroccan blogger to stop blogging altogether, out of fear that other forms of online activities might invite unwanted attention from the authorities.
Unsurprisingly, the sentence handed down to Mourtada has been condemned as excessively harsh by many. Nevertheless, he remains incarcerated whilst his supporters scramble to rally international pressure for his release.
Mourtada played with FaceBook and got burnt. But he is not the only one.
More recently a British policeman, Inspector Chris Dreyfus (30), British Transport Police’s head of royalty and government protection, had his promotion to Chief Inspector denied after his superiors had a look at his FaceBook profile which includes details of his gay lifestyle.
Dreyfus also played with FaceBook and got burnt. Are you next?
It could be that more and more people are becoming aware of the dangers that FaceBook poses to themselves because people are logging off. El Reg reports that FaceBook traffic amongst UK users is down 5%. I know of more than one local blogger who has recently opted out of FaceBook over privacy concerns.
The Canadian military is also concerned that insurgents in Iraq could use FaceBook to gain intelligence about their soldiers deployed there, and has cautioned personnel not to post personal information on their FaceBook profiles.
So, are you worried yet or do you reckon your titanium armour will hold off all comers?
Tags: Chris Dreyfus, facebook, Fouad Mourtada, Thabo Mbeki, Thought Leader
Filed under facebook | 10 Comments »
This just in… FoxInni haXors FaceBook, steals their secret sauce and shares it freely with the WordPress world
Posted on February 13th, 2008 by Richard Catto 3,130 views
According to a police spokesperson, a South African hacker web designer, known in web underground circles as Foxinni, broke into FaceBook around midnight last night and proceeded to empty out their CSS, PHP, HTML, Javascript and other assorted AJAX scripts. He then proceeded to publish his ill-gotten gains to the world by releasing a FaceBook look-a-like WordPress theme, flouting authorities’ attempts to apprehend him.
Foxinni is considered armed (with PHP) and dangerous. Members of the public who spot him are warned not to approach him, but rather to run away screaming.
Cape Town news became aware of this story late Tuesday evening when well meaning fellow South African WorPress designer / rockstar Adii alerted South Africans to this new threat to WordPress peace in this disturbing blog entry. An English vigilante blogger who attempted to bring Foxinni to heel was quickly neutralised and persuaded to join Foxy’s nefarious cause.
Indeed it is rumoured that even just one look at this new theme, sucks people into Foxinni’s nefarious underground world of WordPress skullduggery.
Fortunately for me, I’m impervious to such scum as these. I mean, of course, I looked at the new theme, but it had absolutely no effect on me. Well, I did make a comment (or two) on Foxinni’s blog of savagery, but I think I got away with it.
You may not be as lucky or as strong-willed as I am. So, be warned – stay at home and watch TV, because outside in the streets, rabid Foxinnis roam, giving away free WordPress themes.
Tags: facebook, FaceBook look-a-likes, foxinni, Theme
Filed under Theme | 17 Comments »
Friends for sale – my new best friend!
Posted on December 6th, 2007 by Richard Catto 3,637 views
I’ve discovered that in life, I derive an exquisite pleasure from buying and selling and trading my facebook friends for various favours, sexual and otherwise.
You must absolutely straight away, go directly to this link and sign up RIGHT FUCKING NOW!
And then you must buy me and make me do… things.
I’ve discovered I have a real knack for auctioning off my friends. This is what I wrote about a lovely hunk of a man, named Rupert:
Stunning man who loves ABBA. An absolute must buy for Christmas!
Surprise your friends by showing off Rupert as your new pet. Get him now while, he’s cheap, this one is sure to reach over $10 000 within 7 days!
And another, Duffman III, I wrote this about.
Ladies and Vampires, put your teeth together to welcome this absolutely perfect specimen of BLOOD ON TAP!
Do I hear $200?
Just look at the fine porcelain neck? smooth as marble, soft as silk. Very inviting, no?
Yes, I have $500, do I hear $600?
Lady in the back, I see your $1000. Going once, going twice. SOLD! To the hooded lady in the back.
Will the mystery woman come forward to claim her prize?
Absolutely wicked fun! And the more you buy and sell your friends, the more expensive they become and the more you earn along the way.
Ultimately, I foresee this facebook app being responsible for the dissolution of marriages, but who cares, because it is so much FLIPPING FUN!!!
Tags: Candy Tothill, facebook, facebook appllications, william f de vault
Filed under facebook, Facebook Applications | 14 Comments »
The Devil has come to town… do you party or run away?
Posted on October 29th, 2007 by Richard Catto 3,830 views
Well, the rumours have been floating around for some time now, but many scarcely could believe that FaceBook could possibly be valued at $15 billion, except perhaps for Vinny Lingham, who came close in August 2007 when he conservatively valued FaceBook at $10 billion. So Lingham was off by $5 billion.
Microsoft has just scooped up 1.6% of FaceBook for $240 million. It’s a phenomenal deal, one that could be compared to Mark Shuttleworth’s 1999 coup in which he sold his company, Thawte Consulting to Verisign for $575 million, when he was 26, except that Shuttleworth sold 100% of Thawte for that. Twenty-three year old, Mark Zuckerberg, who founded FaceBook in 2004 when he was 20, still has 98.4% left to sell.
Not all of FaceBook’s 50 million users have welcomed Microsoft’s entry into FaceBook, however, hence the title of this blog post.
One local blogger (and IT journalist), Ivo Vegter, was a member of the FaceBook group, "If Microsoft buy a stake in facebook, I will de-register", right up until Microsoft bought their stake.
The group still has 138 members, so obviously some of them were less dedicated to the cause than others – traitors!
Many of these disgruntled FaceBook denizens probably now wish that the unthinkable would have happened to Zuckerberg. Back in early 2005, Zuckerberg, fresh from a meeting in which he signed a Venture Capital contract securing $12.7 million to finance the then fledgling FaceBook, came very close to death. He had just pulled off the road to fill his tank, when a demented man came at him waving a gun and ranting. Zuckerberg beat a hasty retreat.
Ironically, The Register reports that those wishing to exit FaceBook will soon discover a rather unpalatable truth – you can’t. No matter what you do, you just can’t totally kill your FaceBook profile, and you can always reactivate it later. Shades of match.com or okcupid.com where I enjoyed the use of a zombie profile for some months before they were finally able to tranquilize it into submission. But you never know… some day… I may be back for more… brainzzzz. 
Tags: facebook, Ivo Vegter, Mark Zuckerberg, Microsoft
Filed under facebook, Microsoft | 5 Comments »
