I try not to badmouth any company or institution that doesn't truly deserve it, but I am really glad that Yelp is getting some heat over its unethical behavior. We ourselves at Archer Web Solutions have had several positive reviews removed right after we refused to pay Yelp's "Sales Team" for advanced placement. They claim that this was due to an "algorithm" that removes positive reviews they deem to be inserted by people we know, but in these cases, the reviews were all from unsolicited sources. The reviews were up for a very long time but vanished when we refused to pay.
This is a huge shame, because Yelp is a tremendously awesome idea, but it's becoming evident that it is a source that cannot be fully trusted. I guess the pressure to provide profit to this heavily funded company has driven them to extortion. There's a major opportunity in the marketplace to produce an alternative service to Yelp that respects its audience and plays fair.
Speaking of education and social media, I thought I'd go even more basic than Joshua did in his last post on social media marketing and back us up a step, because I realize that some folks still have a nervous "um, what?" reaction to the words "social media" or "social networks". Nervous because even though they've heard the terms, or know that they're maybe vaguely associated with things like Facebook or YouTube or even Twitter, they're just not sure what those things are--and more importantly why they should care.
So in my own admittedly scattered and idiosyncratic browsing around blogs I like (hi, I'm talking to you today, Eric Karjaluoto!) I found this great white paper from the guys at smashLAB. It's a social media primer, and it explains pretty succinctly what social media are and why you should care. It's got some good examples of how companies are using social media (both in good ways and bad ways) and what positive opportunities exist for companies willing to make their own forays into the world of social media. I found it to be nicely written for those who are at that nervous, afraid-to-admit-you're-not-totally-sure-what-your-web-people-are-talking-about stage of familiarity with social media. Check it out and let us know what you think.
As part of my own personal education in the world of internet marketing, I read and watch a lot of material, and much of it is good, much is not so good, and once in a while I run across something that is just plain useful. This following ten-minute video by Perry Belcher is great because it puts the concepts of social media marketing very plainly and clearly. In specific - you cannot look at social media marketing as a way to make direct sales, because you will turn people off and have no effect. Instead, you have to look at social media marketing as making friends and gaining network - it's just like real life, only online.
Give the video a view, and please tell me what you think in the comments of the blog. I think it's pretty clear, but I'd love to see what everyone else thinks.
Thought I should share with you a video someone took of my presentation to the Marin Business Now Seminar. The topic was "How to Grow Your Business: Online Social Networking." The talk was delivered to a mixed audience of business professionals. It includes ideas on where and how to network, and ideas for time-saving tools to help with online networking.
"Archer Web Solutions' customer service is beyond belief. Not only did they create a polished and professional web site for me, they helped me articulate and communicate my message far more effectively and succinctly than I could have without them."
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