Now will you believe me? For marketers—It’s all about the content!

I’ve said this many times before and I will say it again: If you are in any facet of marketing, It’s All About the Content! 

It’s about the stories you tell on Facebook, in your newsletters, on your websites, in your paid commercials, and in the videos you shoot.

NEW: Now from TechFlash comes this  development:

“Analysts are expecting Amazon.com Inc. to begin producing its own original television programs soon.”

Fortune reports that Amazon’s television programming unit is headed by a TV production veteran in Los Angeles who previously worked at the Comedy Central network. The story quotes analysts who believe that Amazon, which now is publishing its own books, would be smart to begin producing its own TV shows.

There has been previous speculation about Amazon’s possible move into TV production. Amazon formed Amazon Studios in 2010, soliciting screenplays from writers at the time.

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Be Careful What You Post on Facebook!

Here’s a video that has gone viral. You’ll see why. It seems Tommy Jordan, who is an IT specialist and a dad, spent time fixing his daughter’s computer and paying for new software. In the process Tommy read a Facebook post by his daughter — a cussing rant against her parents. So Tommy decided to read her letter on YouTube and take some rather “unusual” action.

You have to see it to believe it.

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Social Media by the Numbers!

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The True Power of Social Media!

For those of you you follow Erik Qualman, he has a book I highly recommend — “Socialnomics,” which I use in many of the social media marketing classes I teach. And he has produced some amazing videos. Here’s the latest that just goes to prove where people are talking!

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The Power and Influence of Social Media!

As many of you know in addition to providing training conferences, workshops and consulting, I am also an educator at The University of Washington, Seattle University and City University of Seattle.

One of the books I use is Erik Qualman’s “Socialnomics.” Erik is bright and gives us plenty to think about in his books, and especially in his videos.

I urge you to buy the book and use this video to demonstrate to others why social media is so powerful. It IS how we communicate today. 

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The Medium Is NOT the Message!

As one historic rocker said, “The Times They Are a Changing.” In the book “Understanding Media: The Extensions of Man,” published in 1964, author Marshall McLuhan coined the phrase “The Medium is the Message.” He said that a medium affects the society in which it plays a role not only by the content delivered over the medium, but also by the characteristics of the medium itself.

Welcome to today’s world! 2.5 BILLION – Number of visits Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn together received in one month alone.

But unless your communication is relevant and interesting to followers, Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter, YouTube, Blogs, etc., are just tools. Nothing more. 

Here’s an example:

I advised the Girl Scouts of Western Washington to think carefully about who followed them on Facebook and why. I held it was primarily mothers raising daughters. With that in mind I told them to post only 20% about Girl Scout events and post 80% about helpful articles for mothers raising daughters; stories like how to deal with youth peer pressure, drug pressures, bullying, etc., and then to ask at the end of each story, “What have you tried that has worked for you?”

The outcome? “Likes” went up considerably but more important, engagement posts by followers went up dramatically.

The morale of this story:

1. The medium isn’t the message.

2. The content is the message and it must be RELEVANT to the lives of your customers/followers.

3. You can’t just post a Facebook logo and expect people to follow your business or nonprofit organization. Give them a reason; give them a benefit.

(c) Joseph Barnes, www.DIGITAL3000.net

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How To Win At Social Media

If you want to win in social media, read this every day:

1. Facebook, Twitter, MySpace, LinkedIn, YouTube, website, etc.,  are just technology tools. Nothing more.

2. To use them successfully, it’s about creating “relationships” and “communities.” That’s why Facebook is so successful. It’s a community for you and your friends. It’s “social.”

3. Creating “community” and “relationships” means engaging people, having two-way conversations (not just pushing information at them), listening to what they are interested in, responding to their wants and needs, and sharing things (pictures, information, etc) that are RELEVANT to their lives—not yours. 

4. It’s about getting them to share their stories, their pictures, their videos of why they use and like your brand. It’s NOT about you telling them why they should like your brand. 

5. Be real, be authentic, and engage. Don’t run away from a problem. Face it head on. That’s the magic of social media. You get to see and hear the problems instead of them be underground.

6. Create a website that gives instant access to your brand and let people connect with what they like and love. Don’t just “post” stories, data, facts and figures. The website is and should be about two-way relationships. Create ways for people to “engage” on your website. 

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Video Viewing Online is UP!

Great story on MediaPost.com today that’s very revealing….

According to new data from the Pew Internet and American Life Project nine in 10 Internet users ages 18-29 use video-sharing sites, up from 72% one year ago. In fact..get this…watching online videos on sites like YouTube is more prevalent than the use of social networking sites. And there’s another big finding: Over the past year, the share of online women who visit video-sharing sites has grown substantially–from 46% in 2008 to 59% in the latest survey.

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Social Media is the New TV at Century 21!

From AdAge.com comes this story….Since pulling all its national TV spending in January, Century 21 Real Estate has been making digital the focus of its marketing efforts in a bid to make lead generation more efficient. This week, the company is venturing into the next phase of its digital transition via online radio, social networking and Twitter.

For the past month, the company has been using a new online radio show, a co-production with BlogTalkRadio called “C21 Talk Radio,” to brand the conversation around the housing market.

Alan Levy, president and co-founder of BlogTalkRadio, said more brands are tapping into social-media platforms such as online radio because of their ability to create a long-form dialogue. Of course, Century 21 isn’t turning a blind eye to Twitter, Facebook and YouTube, all of which are part of the company’s new C21 Communities social-media platform. Century 21 is hosting its first Tweetup today, in San Francisco, under the Twitter tag @c21sftu.

Century 21’s online ‘Mother-in-Law’ campaign logged more than 32 million impressions in two and a half months.

© Crain Communications

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How To Save The Newspaper Industry

Kudos to Jimmy Wales, Wikipedia founder for prompting a big discussion about consumer generated media and the future of newspapers. He had a few words to offer newspaper and media companies and he pointed to the Wikipedia business model.

During the opening keynote remarks at the ad:tech 2009 San Francisco, Wales told attendees that newspapers and traditional media companies cannot compete alone in online media.

“I think newspapers should try and invite the community in and take over sports journalism. Avid sport fans write tons of content and there are people who would pay money to have the job of a Sports Illustrated reporter. Many newspapers are transitioning from print to online and incorporate online video, but not many are taking advantage of user-generated content. The industry is in its infancy.

“When I look at consumer-generated video like YouTube, it feels a lot like text did in 1999,” Wales said. “It’s a lot of individuals posting things they made themselves.”

(C) MediaPost

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