Internet Marketing

So I have been working on marketing a local tattoo shop online, but here's the catch: the guy in charge is one of those who claims he'll never own  a smartphone. To make matters worse, he had resources scattered about, half finished listings in directories, and almost no login information for any of it.

So my first task was simple, but such a headache that I wound up smoking more. I needed to wrangle all these loose ends online and tie them together.

I began by creating accounts for the shop on the popular social media systems, like Twitted and tumblr. All these were tied to either his personal email, or the shop email I later discovered which the boss knew nothing about.

During this task I also pestered him for login information to everything, and told him to keep copies of this information in a secure place that he could access. I think he did that last part, but I'm storing most of it myself, just in case.

Then I began the fun and exciting task of building a new website that would make it possible for him to post once, then forget about it. That meant connecting all the social media to the website with an automated posting script for photos and news.

With that done, I worked to repair the damage of his neglected online presence. This was where it got really fun, and by fun I mean exasperating.

After correcting the flaws in all the directory listings, revitalizing the Google+ page, and establishing a working and attractive website that was also mobile friendly, I had to show him how easy it all was. At this point I was doubting if this would pay off, he was very reluctant to listen and trust me.

Managing to convince him to invest pocket change in an online advertising campaign through Google, it's a very inexpensive way to advertise to millions, I knew we were finally ready to see results. Ironically, the results were actually better than I had anticipated.

After only working on this campaign for a couple weeks we saw a significant increase in business and much of that was verified to be from social media and Google. So now I am looking at the possibility of getting four solid contracts to do this for other businesses, most without the baggage of neglected online activities.

This experience has encouraged me to offer some advice to brick and mortar shops, so here goes.

* Keep your accounts, while this sounds like common sense many people have created accounts for their business and just stopped caring. They lose the login information and ultimately they lose that account. Keep the records somewhere, even if you don't think the internet presence is helping.

* Do not ignore the power of social media. Billions of people use this medium for recommendations, contacts, information of all sorts, even product searches. If you have an inactive social media presence you will be less likely to gain any new customers than a business that sells junk. Ask any online marketing expert how to gain attention and they'll tell you social media is the best medium.

* Have a super friendly website, this means mobile, desktop, fast loading, visually appealing, and informative. If you want people to call or visit the store for a lot of information then include as much information for how to do that as possible. But remember, the more options for contact the better. Answer questions on social media if you are able, post regular changes in products and services as well, if in doubt, post a silly joke.

* Photos, video, and graphics are you best friend and worst enemy. While you will need a lot of this, do not use super hi-res or hi-def, make it small enough to load quick, big enough to notice. This is why hiring people like me is your best option, even someone with a little less experience than me will be able to give a better idea of what works, just ask for a geek.

* Don't be afraid to offend, Ty still does not get this point yet, but you will offend a lot of people no matter what you do, and many people online are searching for reasons to be offended anyway. You won't get noticed if you don't offend anyone, so be offensive if the opportunity arises. Mainstream media has been using offensiveness as a tool to increase ratings since the caveman, you can ride those waves to gain more attention.

* Brand everything! I cannot stress this enough, don't worry about copyrights online, they don't exist, but branding is more affective because of that. So be the first to use an image or icon, then post it everywhere. People will seek out it's origin, and they will find it.

Social Media, Activism, and Justice - Our Greatest Achievement

Social media has altered the face of the global society in so many profound ways, yet I still hear and see people saying negative things about it. Not to say there are no flaws in this form of communication, but whenever I rarely hear or see a valid flaw being mentioned.

So what good is sharing cat photos, posting what you are eating, or just saying hi? A lot more than one may think. Any successful business person will tell you that it is not what you know, but who you know, that determines your success. What you know only determines how much you can potentially contribute to your species and society.

While I was growing up we were constantly reminded of this, one teacher I had even explained that one should learn for the sake of learning, but socialize with the goal of succeeding. I only recently discovered that this was the key to being influential.

The big problem was, when I was in high school, we had no way to connect outside of our neighborhood, and thus became victims of circumstance. Needless to say, I was never very successful.

Today we have an excess of contacts now, people from across the globe and in different societies connecting in ways we never dreamed possible in the past. I have also admitted we have a problem of information overload many times, the next generations are becoming far more capable of adapting to this though.

The benefits really do outweigh the flaws, and a few select people cannot stand the benefits. The largest group are religious leaders, who only stay wealthy when people are ignorant. These religious leaders are even willing to make, and maintain, hundreds of fake follower accounts to spread misinformation. With how much followers pay these con men for working only one day a year, they have plenty of time.

Many in the governments do not like this connection to information either, now everyone in the USA knows the USA is not the best country, and many of the troglodytes in  power were only able to keep power so long as we didn't know any better. So they do everything they can to undermine the flow of information, even restricting those who have access to the internet.

The mainstream media and many outdated corporations are also against this freedom of information, competition they can't compete against. These dinosaurs are dying fast though, and soon they shall be extinct.

So why all the hatred for social media specifically? Activism. Yes, activism has become stronger by social media, and the proof is in the pudding, as they say.

Since activists started utilizing social media, our societies are changing for the better at an unfathomable of rate. Sane environmentalism has cleaned up much of the environment, from better innovations because of more minds working on problems, to demonstrating what information is bad. Even China is now seeing the need to change their ways, and that was a huge stumbling block for a long time.

People wrongly prosecuted or persecuted are getting aid that they need to fight back, like an atheist wrongly placed into a psychiatric hospital for being an atheist or the transgendered teen wrongfully imprisoned. These are but two of the successes I have seen in the last three months, yes, in less than three months we saw justice for these two when in the past it would take years.

The trick of it is to hit corporations and leaders where it hurts, their pocket books. Someone recently asked what good petitions are, they were trying to justify their own bloodlust and desire for war, but the answer is simple, political activism creates lasting effects while violence merely perpetuates violence.

Sea World is one of the recent targets of social media, and the results are encouraging. People are telling companies that support the business of nonhuman species being used for entertainment that their customers won't use their products or services if they do not stop. Many major corporations are pulling support for Sea World now.

With social media we are enacting long term changes without violence or destruction of the very things we want to protect. This is the greatest achievement of humanity to date, organizing our information and choosing our leaders instead of blindly following those we have been told to follow. We get information that would otherwise be hidden from us, from science to business records.

So the next time you hear or see anyone claiming social media is a bad thing, ask them what they have to hide.