Here are the 10 online marketing tips for small businesses:

1. If you don’t have a website, get one. If you have one, invest more in making it better. Perhaps more startups would get online if they realise that a website does not need to be complex to serve its purpose.

2. Make sure people can find you. The web keeps growing. Creating a user-friendly, well-structured website will also help search engines like Google find and index it easily.

3. By being easily ‘found’ online, startups can win customers outside of their traditional markets. Once you have moved to where your customers are, get inside their heads. 

4. Manage your return on investment (RoI). Advertisers can bid to appear only against specific user search queries, so they are sure to be targeting a relevant and interested audience.

5. “Anticipated, personal and relevant advertising always does better than unsolicited junk,” says US-based marketing-guru Seth Godin. This phrase expresses very well the ability of online marketing to connect you with your customers at the right time. 

6. Write ‘must-click’ ads. To attract the right kind of customers to your business, you need to be writing the right kind of ads—those that will compel them to click on your ad to learn more.

7. Work out your goals and market accordingly. You need to know your ultimate goal—be it increased traffic to your website, conversions, or brand awareness—so you can measure success.

8. Good marketers measure. Free tools like Google Analytics allow you to track visitor patterns so you can better understand your customers. You can make sure you are paying for results. 

9. Online advertising is dynamic. You can pause, cancel or resume campaigns quickly. Use this to your advantage and continually review what you have set up, keeping in mind that there’s always room for improvement.

10. Embrace the nature of the web. It can be easy to bring an offline mindset to online marketing, and miss out on some of the greatest benefits it has to offer, like its truly global nature. 

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Online marketing and advertising is no longer limited to the traditional PPC and SEO campaigns

27.11.2009 20:01:55 In the words of Shefali Nagdev, “Delivering optimum results is an ongoing process, and so is adapting to the ever changing computing technology."

(live-PR.com) - We live in an age where the widespread penetration of the World Wide Web into our everyday lives cannot be debated. While the internet has been a great way for businesses to reach out to their customer base in the past, things are only getting better with the passing of time, and affordable social media services have given many businesses

Online marketing and advertising is no longer limited to the traditional PPC and SEO campaigns, and social media is the new buzzword. Popular websites such as Facebook, Digg, MySpace, LinkedIn, YouTube, and many more are all part of the social networking platform; and the main reason that advertisers are looking at this platform is because of the large number of internet users that visit these sites, a number that only continues to grow.
If you are looking to increase awareness about your business, then using the social media platform to do so is definitely a good idea. However, since effectively putting into place an online marketing

strategy does call for some expertise, using the services of a social media expert is the safest way to go about it. This is where a social media expert such as Shefali Nagdev can be of help.
The services that are offered under her umbrella include creating and managing accounts on popular social networking sites

such as Facebook, Twitter, etc, as well as services such as video posting, forum posting, blog posting, review & comment submissions, directory submissions, article writing, etc.
The services of Shefali Nagdev have already helped a number of businesses in achieving their desired targets, but in the words of Shefali Nagdev, “Delivering optimum results is an ongoing process, and so is adapting to the ever changing computing technology.”

Based out of India, Shefali Nagdev has been associated with the social media network since its very inception and offers a range of affordable social media services. Also being of the opinion that “social media optimization and marketing is simply the merging of social marketing, search engine marketing, and traditional media forms”, you can be sure that all aspects of online marketing at looked at whilst your needs are addressed.

Press Information: Shefali Nagdev Maharashtra, India Contact Person: Shefali Nagdev Phone: 09970762940 eMail: eMail Web: http://shefalinagdev.com

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Tips for achieving your marketing goals in 2010

Issued by: AlterSage

2009 is drawing to a close and in terms of marketing, businesses are reflecting on the year that has past and brainstorming new plans and strategies for 2010. Marketing is an essential ingredient for ensuring the success of any business.

When defined, marketing is described as the process of creating awareness for a product or service, influencing consumer purchasing behaviour and encouraging sales. Every marketing manager is constantly aiming to determine the best mix of marketing elements to further increase brand awareness, leads and sales.

Over the last few years the elements of the marketing mix have evolved to include not only traditional channels like print, radio and television, but also online channels like search engines, banner adverts and social media platforms.

In addition to being an effective marketing platform, it is important to note that the Internet also offers a new way of doing business and should not be considered as just another advertising channel. According to a Nielsen Online Ranking Report published earlier this year, local online readership figures grew by 25.2% from 4.8 million online readers in the first quarter of 2008 compared to over six million online readers in the first quarter of this year. The online landscape offers noteworthy opportunities, especially when tied in with traditional marketing channels to create a through-the-line strategy.

Online media offers a flexible structure and is far more cost-effective and measurable than traditional media. Depending on the goals and objectives of each business, different online marketing elements will be used. While online fundamentals like email marketing and banner placements are very effective when executed correctly, there are a few other elements to consider whilst planning your online strategy for next year.

Search Engine Optimisation (SEO)
SEO drives traffic to your website via search engines like Google, Bing and Yahoo. The purpose of SEO is to increase a website's ranking on search engine result pages for relevant search terms. This is achieved by optimising the website for key-phrases related to the business' products and services in order to provide searchers with relevant and high quality content.

Why should you include SEO in your marketing plan?

Even though SEO is a long-term commitment results from such a campaign are sustainable and provide proven ROI. When implementing a SEO campaign your online marketing agency will tweak existing content, create new web pages and possibly recommend usability changes. Better usability makes it easier for visitors to access your website and increases conversions or desired actions.

Pay Per Click Advertising (PPC)
PPC is a complementary marketing element to SEO. These are the adverts seen on the top and right-hand side of search engines' results pages. These adverts are paid for (also called sponsored links or adverts) and work on a bidding system. PPC campaigns should be conversion driven. As you are paying for visits to your website, you should aim to maximise certain actions based on your website goals. Successful completion of these actions is known as a conversion. For instance, if one of the goals is to increase leads and sales through the website the conversion action could involve a visitor filling in a contact form, enquiring about a product or downloading a product brochure.

Why should you include PPC in your marketing plan?

PPC is an excellent short-term solution to drive visitors to your website. Your online marketing agency will create targeted landing pages with the necessary calls to action elements in order to increase conversions. Another advantage of PPC is that it provides opportunity for increased brand awareness through its content network. A network whereby either text or banner advertising is displayed contextually on other relevant websites, and you still only pay per click. PPC is budget-based, completely measurable and provides ROI quicker than SEO.

Social Media Marketing
By correctly leveraging platforms like Facebook, YouTube, Twitter and Zoopy social media can create brand awareness and build relationships with new and existing customers. Social media marketing has been likened to word-of-mouth, it's about conversations. These conversations occur amongst and between your customers and yourself. Social media marketing is not push-marketing - if you use social media platforms to broadcast overt commercial and marketing messages your social media campaign is guaranteed to fail.

An integrated strategy comprising a mix of the elements above plus traditional elements will ensure maximum return on your marketing investment. When creating an online strategy the AlterSage team considers the offline channels utilised by the client and aims to create a strategy that will amplify traditional elements. It is important that online not be included as an after-thought. If you want to achieve great results, involve your online agency from the conception phase as they will be able to advise which elements will work best to achieve the specific goals of the campaign.

Can you afford to ignore online marketing channels? Follow the consumers, venture online and see the possibilities. 

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This holiday, who's looking out for online shoppers?

 by Greg Sandoval

Web shoppers are in need of a digital-age Ralph Nader, the kind of firebrand consumer advocate who can focus public scorn on unscrupulous merchants.

Jeffery Boyd, Priceline's CEO, is among the merchants who "betrayed" customers, according to members of the Senate Commerce committee.

Last week, the U.S. Senate Commerce committee revealed that some of the Web's best-known retailers, including Barnes & Noble, Hotwire, Yahoo, Pizza Hut, Travelocity, Fandango, and Victoria's Secret, were part of a dubious marketing operation designed to mislead their own customers.

Serious questions about who's policing e-commerce were raised after the Commerce committee issued a report detailing how three marketing firms, Affinion, Webloyalty, and Vertrue, generated $1.4 billion with the help of the e-tailers--largely by deceiving consumers into paying up to $20 a month for loyalty-program memberships. (Note to reader: take a look at the Commerce committee's report (PDF), as it's well written and seems to catch the e-tailers cold).

The lure for millions of consumers typically starts this way: Marketers present ads to them late in the transaction process at a retail site. An often-unwitting consumer is offered cash-back rewards if he or she provides an e-mail address. Tucked into the fine print are the full terms of the deal. By providing an e-mail address, a consumer agrees typically to pay between $10 and $20 a month.

For this number of marquee merchants to be mixed up in such a questionable gimmick seems unprecedented in the brief history of online commerce. Going into a holiday season that is already supposed to see soft spending, the scandal could undermine confidence in Web shopping, which generated $60 billion in sales during the first half of this year, according to the Senate report.

In their report, Senate investigators learned that Webloyalty surveyed 308 past and current users. This was the result.

(Credit: U.S. Senate Commerce committee)

One of the most glaring side issues of this fiasco is that for nearly a decade, consumers complained about these practices but few people in authority seemed to care. What is apparent is that many people in positions to help shoppers didn't, or from the perspective of some consumers, may not have done enough. They include:

Connecticut AG Richard Blumenthal
On paper at least, Connecticut appears to be a haven for controversial marketing companies. All three of the marketing firms under investigation by the Senate--Affinion, Vertrue, and Webloyalty--are based in the state.

In 2006, Blumenthal settled a lawsuit with Trilegiant (PDF), the name Affinion was called then, for $14.5 million. But Affinion continues to operate, and Blumenthal hasn't won anything from the other two firms.

In April, Blumenthal launched an investigation into Webloyalty. That came one month before the Senate Commerce committee launched its probe. The feds have since held a public hearing and shared revealing information about all three marketing firms with the public. Blumenthal, who has been Connecticut's attorney general since 1990, promises more action.

"I will continue to vigorously and aggressively fight membership club scams," Blumenthal announced on the day the Senate Commerce committee held its hearing.

Blumenthal did not respond to multiple interview requests.

The retailers' directors and CEOs
For readers who question whether the CEOs and directors of such companies as Orbitz, Continental Airlines, US Airways, and 1-800-Flowers knew about what the marketing companies were up to on their behalf, this is what the government had to say:

"Committee staff has spoken to more than a dozen e-commerce partners of Affinion, Vertrue, and Webloyalty and has reviewed thousands of pages of e-mail communications," according to the Senate report. "The interviews and the e-mail communications provide abundant evidence that the e-commerce partners are aware that their customers are being misled by the enrollment offers from Affinion, Vertrue, and Webloyalty."

What would make a director or CEO take such risk with their company's reputation? In July, blogger Andrew Left, who specializes in shorting stocks, wrote that VistaPrint, an online printing company and a retail partner of Vertrue's, has generated as much as 44 percent of its quarterly net income by charging Vertrue access to its customers' credit cards.

But for even the most profit-at-all-cost investor, the questionable ploy could risk breaking customer trust and appears to have already battered stock prices.

Last week, the stock price of VistaPrint traded at nearly $56 the day before the Senate hearing on November 17, but it closed Tuesday at $50, a 10.7 percent drop. Shares of United Online, parent company of Classmates.com--which reportedly generated $70 million from the questionable marketing practices--fell from $8.40 before the November 17 hearing to $7.05 on Tuesday, a loss of about 16 percent.

When contacted, VistaPrint referred me to statements the company made earlier in the year in documents filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission. In a 10-K SEC filing, the company said it expected revenue from membership discount programs "will decrease in the future" to possibly zero.

The big question is whether VistaPrint made that disclosure thinking that its payday would end as a result of the Senate investigation or one of the several lawsuits filed against it and Vertrue.

Visa, Mastercard, and American Express
The biggest credit card companies might also want to explain how they continued to process transactions from Webloyalty, Affinion, and Vertrue, when apparently they had received scores of complaints about these companies.

When consumers ask their credit card company to force a retailer to issue a refund, it is called a chargeback. A merchant that sees too many chargebacks is supposed to suffer some penalties. For instance, at Visa, chargeback-prone merchants are supposed to be fined and eventually booted off Visa's network. What happened here?

A Visa spokeswoman said she was unable to comment at this time. Representatives from Mastercard and American Express were not immediately available. 

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Will Retailers or Consumers Come Out on Top on Black Friday?

Sears, Kmart and Others Begin Holiday Sales Ahead of Time as Shoppers Start Early Search for Deals

By Jack Neff and Natalie Zmuda
Published: November 22, 2009

http://adage.com/article?article_id=140669

BATAVIA, Ohio (AdAge.com) -- Black Friday 2009 has become a massive game of chicken among retailers and consumers, as the closely watched post-Thanksgiving sales data will largely decide who succeeds at outsmarting the other.

Consumers are planning more and earlier to get the best deals this holiday season, starting their shopping and online price comparisons weeks ahead of last year. Retailers, meanwhile, have been more conservative with inventory even if they're offering what some observers see as the best Black Friday deals ever, hoping to avoid big late-season and post-season markdowns. Black Friday will go a long way toward deciding which side comes out on top.

Google data show the upswing in searches for "Black Friday deals" started about two weeks earlier this year than last, beginning in October. Search on that phrase actually hit a short-term peak Nov. 13 and declined through last week, though it may pick up again this week. Experian Hitwise is now seeing searches for Black Friday starting as early as August.

Thriftier consumers are making Black Friday more important, said Kohl's CMO Julie Gardner. "The environment has never been more difficult," she said. "The interest, from a consumer standpoint, on how to be the smartest shopper will be amplified."

Interest is intense enough that the traditional boundaries around Black Friday and Cyber Monday (the Monday after Thanksgiving) are breaking down fast. Amazon announced last week it will begin Black Friday deals starting Monday Nov. 23, essentially a week before online retail's traditional "Cyber Monday" shopping peak. Black Friday, however, already had become an online phenomenon, with ComScore reporting last year that traffic to online retailers was up 98% over the previous year's Black Friday.

Circular leaks
Meanwhile, early online leaks of retailers' offline Black Friday circular ads have become so pervasive that Walmart, which for years has threatened to sue the small websites that preview them, finally relented last week. It let BlackFriday.info publish a leaked version of its entire Thanksgiving Day circular, though it still declines to confirm or deny its veracity. That came a day after Walmart confirmed six of its Black Friday prices to CNN.

Realistically, Walmart may have had to cave rather than lose buzz to other retailers that let their leaks flow more freely. Price wars over what might have once been "Black Friday" deals, such as books and Xbox 360 gaming consoles, broke out weeks ahead of Black Friday among Walmart, Amazon, Target and Sears.

Sears, sibling Kmart and Kohl's were among retailers that started rolling early "Black Friday" themed holiday sales in early November. These early deals, combined with signs of unusually early shopping and planning by consumers and surprisingly strong October sales numbers for many retailers, raises the question of whether retailers have stolen some of the thunder from Black Friday and Cyber Monday.

Sara Kleinberg, head of marketing for retail at Google, doesn't think so, pointing to survey research by Google and OTX showing 32% of consumers plan to do most of their shopping during Thanksgiving weekend. Another 40% plan to do so in early to mid December, according to the survey, based on data from the week of Nov. 2.

A poll by the International Council of Shopping Centers found 16% of shoppers plan to begin their holiday gift shopping on Black Friday, up from 10% last year.

By all appearances, the deals, including LCD HDTVs from Walmart and Target for $248 and $246, respectively, $3 small appliances at Target and a $59 Garmin GPS at Walmart, are better than ever, said Scott McCollum, managing director-shopper marketing at Ogilvy Action. But the question is how successful retailers will be at getting people they lure in with sweet deals to buy higher-margin items, and whether consumers will have anything left to spend by mid-December.

"We are definitely seeing more people shopping from lists," Mr. McCollum said, "and less impulse shopping." Adding to consumer discipline, he said, is that more people plan to buy holiday gifts with cash, not credit.

Layaway has accordingly gotten new life, particularly among retailers looking to differentiate themselves from Walmart, which did away with it more than two years ago. Sears, Kmart and Best Buy are among retailers that have added online layaway this year. Google actually shows a steady increase in searches for "layaway" plans the past five years, with an 8% increase this September-November period vs. a year ago and a 40% increase in searches for online layaway.

Seemingly Black Friday and the holiday season should be better for retailers this year, if only because last year's same-store sales were so dismal. Going into this holiday season, most retailers were reporting surprisingly strong sales momentum in October or the third quarter, with Walmart -- last year's standout -- being one of the few to see deceleration this year.

Dismal projections
But most projections for overall holiday sales are gloomy. The National Retail Federation forecasts a 1% decline. Nielsen's annual holiday retail survey fielded at the beginning of November found 42% of respondents plan to spend less than a year ago vs. only 4% who plan to spend more. NPD Group was slightly less gloomy, with a 30% to 11% split.

While it's clear people have done more research online in advance of the holiday season, it's far less clear they'll be buying more online as some may trade the convenience of online shopping for deals they hope to find on Black Friday in stores.

Research released last week by Digital Research and ThinkVine showed 39% of consumers plan to spend less online this holiday season, compared to 20% who said they'll spend more. That jibes with Nielsen's survey, which found the percentage of consumers who plan to do at least some holiday shopping online declined 10 points to 63%.

On the other hand, Forrester projects online retail sales will actually rise 8% this year, breaking out of a funk that saw third-quarter e-commerce sales down 2% according to ComScore. One factor in favor of the online retailers, according to Forrester, are those tight offline inventories retailers are using to avoid late markdowns, which could drive people online to find what they can't in stores.

Either way, freebies will be big drivers of online success, as Google reports strong double-digit increases in searches for free shipping and coupon codes.

Posted via email from Yellow Door Media

Online Marketing Scams – From the Fortune 500

Written by Jart Armin

11/23/2009 18 comments

Unwanted pop-up windows on behalf of third-party companies. Banners and hyperlinks begging to be clicked for confirmation. Interstitial pages that only disappear after ticking a box, or email addresses used as confirmation of enrollment in some travel club apparently required when buying an online airline ticket.

Sound familiar? Are these practices of cybercriminals? Well, not exactly, as these are the practices that some well-known and respected household-name companies have been legitimately using over recent years in a lucrative multibillion-dollar business.

Last week, the U.S. Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation released a damning investigative report on "Aggressive Sales Tactics on the Internet and Their Impact on American Consumers."

This stunning report details the "clever ways" certain major corporations have been "manipulating consumers' buying habits so they can make a quick buck," according to committee chairman John D. (Jay) Rockefeller IV.

According to a press release on the report from the Democratic deputy communications director, the tactics of three companies in particular -- Affinion, Vertrue, and Webloyalty -- were shown to "exploit consumers' expectations about online shopping to trick them into joining their membership clubs."

Some companies use methods similar to those employed by online scammers and cybercriminals, such as utilizing adware and injected pages to entice customers into clicking on confirmation buttons. The companies may use the confirmation button from adverts promising "cash back rewards" as a go-ahead to pass along personal data obtained from customers, i.e., email address and payment card details, to third-party membership clubs. In turn, those clubs promptly set up automatic monthly fee withdrawals directly from the newly "enrolled" members.

In the majority of cases examined by the committee, the first time a "member" became aware of their club status was upon discovering a mystery charge on their card statement. This was without any recollection of joining a scheme and mostly without recognizing the name of the company withdrawing the money from their account.

The sums of money earned in revenue from these tactics are mind-blowing; a staggering 35 million online memberships have been instigated since 1999, with 4 million alone since June 2009; over 450 e-commerce Websites and retailers have partnered with these companies, raising their revenue to over $1.4 billion; 88 companies have earned over $1 million with one company.

A group of well-known corporations use Affinion, Vertrue, and Webloyalty -- e.g., Continental Airlines, US Air, VistaPrint, Orbitz, Priceline, and Pizza Hut, to name just a few.

Also last week, on the other side of the pond it was disclosed that U.K. service provider T-Mobile sold personal customer data for extra revenue without the permission of those involved.

The question surrounding personal data -- who should have access to it, and how it should be stored -- is an ongoing issue and not an easy one to solve. But revelations such as these are more than likely to be just the tip of the iceberg.

The Senate committee's report is welcome because it demonstrates that even though we rightly focus on cybercriminal activity as a priority, the online sales tactics and sales of personal data by well-known corporations and "ad networks" need to be scrutinized. If nothing else, the report may be the starting gun for a few class-action suits.

What we should find encouraging is that even though it has taken 10 years for the membership scam and illicit use of personal data to be even considered by the lawmakers, these issues are now being taken seriously -- at least in the U.S.

We have a hard enough job keeping cybercriminals at bay, without the added worry of not being able to trust Fortune 500 companies that we know and must interact with in our daily lives.

— Jart Armin, Editor of RBNexploit.com, a watch blog on the infamous RBN (Russian Business Network), and HostExploit.com

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Social Media, Online Marketing Friend or Foe?

Social media divides opinion in more ways than one. Some businesses see it as a revolutionary new way to talk to their customers and approach recruitment, others have barely even registered its significance, and a few hold it in contempt. But the growth of this technology has consequences that no-one can really avoid. Just about every business will have employees who are on social networking sites. All it needs is for someone to put their place of work on their profile, and you immediately have an online company representative. Their behaviour then reflects on the business – and in the most extreme cases, misdemeanours can create a PR nightmare for their employer.

How should IT staff cope with this, and what should they do if the worst happens? Social media is too new to have a standardised approach, and companies are taking their own line on the problem. Some trust their employees fully, although they might keep an eye on what they say. Others ban entire sites at work, in the hope that will prevent any accidents – apparently forgetting most people have internet at home. There’s a whole range of possible options, and that’s before customers have even been considered.

Consumers have always been able to say negative things about a company, but now there’s potential for bad-mouthing poor service on a much wider scale. Experts agree that many companies who have previously felt comfortable ignoring consumer complaints might not be able to get away with it so easily. Sites like Twitter give consumers and employees a “voice”, they say, and executives are going to be under increasing pressure to listen to this voice.

So what’s the best way to deal with social media, and the effects it might have on your company? Each case is different and it generally requires some thought – the approach will depend on the type of company and its working culture. Paul Taylor, co-founder of social media monitoring company 6Consulting, said monitoring software can be used for a range of things – from finding out what employees and consumers are saying about your brand to providing better customer service.

“People use monitoring software to get an understanding as to what people are saying on social media, and what they’re saying about your company or one of your competitors.” He says companies employ monitoring firms to improve customer service by talking to people who mention their brands, or for sales, by subtly interacting with people who seem interested in buying a product like theirs.

It may all seem a bit Big Brother, but Taylor says it can take some of the initial fear out of experimenting with the technology. “At the very least, there’s no reason not to listen and gain insight from the enormous amount of conversations taking place.” Recruitment is one area that has really embraced social media – it provides an easy channel to talk to potential talent.

Along with the opportunities, there are the problems, and errant employees are a big worry for some. Dominos Pizza is one of the most well-known examples, after two workers filmed themselves doing unpleasant things with people’s food, before uploading it to YouTube. It got 600,000 views, but it’s worth noting that the company’s response video, which they uploaded 48 hours later, eventually got 1 million. By understanding the technology and reacting as quickly as possible, most mistakes can be countered.

Despite the scare stories, IT bosses we spoke to don’t seem too worried by the risks. David Wilde is chief information officer (CIO) at Westminster City Council. He says the council is using Twitter and wikis to actively engage residents, and added, staff are not blocked from social media sites.
He adds, “We do monitor and take action if staff behave in an inappropriate manner, in the same way as we do on any engagement on service delivery or with the public. This is not about technology tools, just good management.”

Fin Goulding, CIO at online travel agent Lastminute.com, says he wants his staff to be innovative and work in collaboration with each other – restricting access or monitoring them, he says, wouldn’t encourage that. “People are going to slip up and make mistakes, but we are not a controlling organisation,” he says. “A lot of our team on mobile apps have created their own videos, put them on YouTube and tried to create viral interest. We encourage it. And anyway, there will be something else that comes along soon enough. We want to be at the cutting edge. If you start restricting people they’ll stop being innovative.”

Online clothing retailer Asos.com also takes a relaxed attitude to employees using Twitter and Facebook. E-Commerce director James Hart actually asked staff already using the sites to add the company name to their profiles, and let people know what they were up to at work. He does follow what they say but says it’s good for the company’s brand. He said at the recent Media140 conference, “We have 55 people on Twitter. I trust them and I see what they say because I follow them. We like to be where our customers are, and we adapt to the environment. I'm not really sure what to do with the official account. People search for Asos.com so we need something, but we don't really push products at them. I just want to talk to and learn from them.”

So most aren’t too worried, but some companies may want to take the simple option. Ted Hunt, digital communications manage at drinks company Innocent, just manages one Twitter account under the company name. Employee accounts don’t have the Innocent brand name attached to them.
“We keep it as a single Innocent drinks account. Otherwise it fragments too much and it's hard to control the message. It's easier to get a message out in one go. But we don't moderate blog comments strictly,” Hunt said.

Perhaps the best approach is to be open-minded, while educating users. A morning with the sales team telling them why it’s a bad idea to post pictures from last Friday night on their work Twitter accounts will ultimately be cheaper and easier than expensive monitoring software. And while social media gives employees and consumers a voice, it also gives businesses one too. What’s important is learning how to use it.

Posted by Jon Aspinell.

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