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Archives for February 2013

Should Bloggers Care About Copyright Infringement?

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Decision ImageIf you blog long enough, it’s not so much a matter of if but when your site gets infringed upon. Between the spammers that are likely to scrape your posts, plagiarist bloggers that will take what they like as their own and others who will try to share your content in ways that don’t give you as much as a link back, you’re bound to hit at least a few infringements if you look hard enough.

But should you care? Is it really worth the time to search for such infringements, find them and stop them? After all, many bloggers have their content infringed upon and never even realize it, seemingly not hurt by it at all. Others, however, appear to obsess over it, tracking every infringement and working doggedly to stop it.

So which approach is right? Well, that’s a personal decision and it’s one that stems from your specific situation including your search engine position, your personal feelings toward your work and the other sites in your niche.

Whether you want to care or don’t want to care, it’s pretty easy to justify your position. However, it’s important to be honest and make the decision that’s right for you and for your content.

With that in mind, here are a few factors to consider. [Read more…] about Should Bloggers Care About Copyright Infringement?

Wanelo Marketing: Does Your e-Commerce Site Need to be on Wanelo?

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Pinterest-Alternative

Wanelo, short for Want, Need, Love,  is a visual image collecting site that is similar to Pinterest. Their website states: “Wanelo (“wah-nee-lo,” from Want, Need, Love) is a catalog of products organized by people. You can buy almost everything you see on Wanelo, and everything is posted by members.”

The main difference is that all images link to the pages where the item depicted in the image can be purchased. This is of great benefit to e-commerce sites that have their products on Wanelo, as it makes it easy for customers to purchase items quickly.

Wanelo is still a fairly new site, but has gained the greatest amount traction among  teenage to twentysomething women. For e-commerce businesses that offer products that may target this demographic, it is crucial that they get on Wanelo as soon as possible. While it isn’t experiencing the record numbers of growth that Pinterest has, it’s audience continues to grow.

For e-commerce sites that offer home, fashion, design, or even technology products and accessories, Wanelo can still be another great outlet to promote online products. The type of items shared on Wanelo shouldn’t be strictly feminine items– there are also several occurrences of gadgets, video games, and other products that are gender neutral and even masculine. Just like with Pinterest, Wanelo is skewed to the feminine audience. However, sharing items that are visually appealing and creative can still be of great benefit to online marketers.

Once a company’s products are shared on Wanelo, they can be reported for incorrect or missing links to product pages by users. This is great for companies who have had their products shared by a user instead of via their company profile.

To get your company started on Wanelo:

  1. Sign up for a profile on Wanelo.com.
  2. Add the Wanelo Save buttons to all product pages on your e-commerce site.
  3. Add a link to your company’s wanelo profile on your website with other social media profile links.
  4. Maintain the company Wanelo profile by regularly sharing new items to your collections, as well as uploading photos and links to new products as they appear on your e-commerce site.

Wanelo marketing is still a relatively new e-commerce strategy, but companies that stay ahead of the growth of Wanelo are sure to find success, especially if they are in the design, fashion, and technology industries.

 

How to Implement Internet Memes into Your Social Strategy

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grumpy cat viral contentImages and videos that are popular online, such as infographics, grumpy cat, “Charlie Bit My Finger” and others are a great way to stay up-to-date with what the internet is talking about, while also creating a chance for your existing social media profile community to interact with you and each other.

However, the first step toward being successful with occasionally discussing internet memes or viral videos with your audience via social media is to do it the right way. Don’t be cheesy or make it look like you are trying too hard. Make the video or content part of the natural conversation on your social media pages.

For instance, an animal shelter could pull in a photo of grumpy cat with the line, “Find your own grumpy cat at the ASPCA!” Brands that are lighthearted with their responses and tie-ins to viral content will find more success with it than companies that are just posting it to ride the wave of sudden attention the meme or content is experiencing.

Video Responses
For viral videos, many companies and individuals go beyond just posting the video on their blog or social media profiles. They create versions of their own. For instance, after there was a rash of sing-along parodies of Carly Rae Jepsen’s hit single, “Call Me Maybe”, even the 2012 USA Olympic Swimming Team got into the action.

Having fun with videos can be a great way to get involved in internet memes while also introducing your customers to your staff in a fun medium.

Asking for Feedback
If a meme is controversial and relates to your company or blog, simply asking discussion questions about the topic on your social media profiles can garner great conversation . For instance, if a questionable parenting topic, such as shaming your children through Facebook, went viral, a parenting blog or toy company could post a link to a story about and ask, “Would you embarrass your kids like this parent? Is it an effective discipline strategy?”
It may be worthwhile to emphasize that stating the company or blog’s policy on the topic, just to make sure everyone knows where they stand on the issue. This can clear the company of choosing sides. Remaining impartial may be the best bet for controversial memes.

No matter how a company chooses to partake in sharing and discussing memes and other viral content, keeping it lighthearted and impartial is usually a best bet.

Four Free Photo Editors For Marketing Campaigns

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Don’t spend hundreds of dollars for photo editors like Photoshop when you are just doing basic changes. There are several free online photo editors that make it easy to edit photos for Facebook posts, blogging, and other marketing campaigns. These can be done fast and on the fly, so you don’t have to worry about starting up a program from your computer or not having access to photo editing capabilities when you are out of the office.

PicMonkey

PicMonkey is a light, fun, and easy to use photo editor. They have great seasonal clip art and fonts that can be laid over your photos and loads quickly. Some of the slang used may take a while to get used to, but it is a fun program that has a lot of extra features. There are some paid options, but the free options make it possible to make the majority of basic photo edits without the additional cost.

Pixlr

Pixlr is one of the most popular online photo editors. Its layout is a lot like Photoshop, so designers who are familiar with that infamous Adobe program will enjoy this and get used to using it a lot faster. It has a basic navigation and features, but there aren’t any features that free users are barred from using, so that makes it a plus.

FotoFlexer

FotoFlexer states that it the “most advanced online photo editor”. You can import photos directly from sites like Flickr, Facebook, and myspace and the site allows you to use sample photos to get the hang of the layout and program before going in to edit your own photos.

BeFunky

four free photo editors for marketing campaigns

BeFunky is a younger, hip free photo editor, like PicMonkey. It features effects that are common on apps like Instagram and offers many interesting photo enhancement features. Besides the online website editor, BeFunky also offers apps for the iPhone and Android via Google Play.

 

Having an arsenal of free photo editors and other online marketing tools at your disposal is important for marketers because online campaigns usually move and change quickly. Easy online photo editors that allow the addition of text can be great for contests, banner advertisements, blog headers, and even profile photos. The variety of different fonts and photo effects that these free online editors can provide can provide some visual interest and break up online content, whether it is on a blog, social media profile, email newsletter, or other online marketing medium.

 

Are Bloggers Journalists? Are Journalists Bloggers?

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Journalism Image of NewspapersIn 2010, a survey conducted by PRWeek and PRNewswire found that over half of all bloggers consider themselves to be journalists. This was up from just a third of all bloggers two years before.

The question of whether or not bloggers are journalists is an old one and it can be an important one legally. As the EFF puts it, journalists can often times keep confidential sources private, gain extra protection in libel cases in the form of retraction statutes and receive fee waivers when Freedom of Information Act requests.

But while all of this is true, The Atlantic, in 2011, argued that we shouldn’t care whether or not bloggers are journalists, that the issue isn’t very important and that reporters at large publications and organization have much stronger protections than the title “journalist”.

Still, the subject is a sensitive one for bloggers, who are often eager for the weight and credibility that comes with being a journalist. When blogger Crystal Cox was ruled to not be a journalist in 2011 and ordered to pay millions in a defamation lawsuit filed by the founder of an investment group, after denying her protection under the state’s shield law that protects journalist sources, many bloggers took up arms. However, once the details of the case came to light and it was clear just how wrong much of Cox’s information was, attitudes slowly changed.

But it leaves the bigger question unresolved: Are bloggers journalists? To get the answer, we have to first look at what the question is really asking and try to drill down to the important answers. [Read more…] about Are Bloggers Journalists? Are Journalists Bloggers?