“iePlexus Has Done A Great Job For Us!”

Dear Shane,

As you know, our Stores Online site Affordable Dog Houses And Beds went live the first part of January, 2009, and we have had very little activity and no orders. We had been told by Stores Online, numerous marketing companies and friends who have websites that it could take anywhere from 6 months to a year to get any activity, so we were a little discouraged, to say the least.

When you contacted my husband and I, we were a little skeptical about what iePlexus could do for us. We had been contacted by several marketing companies and wondered about the activity a Press Release would bring us, and if we should bother to take the time to write Blogs. We were still spending so much time on researching our product line and building the site. But, after several of your phone calls, we decided to give you a shot. After all, nothing else was working for us and you finally wore me down! We signed up with iePlexus on May 1st, and right away you and your team went to work.

Well Shane, I just wanted to let you know, Saturday, June 20th we received our first order on our website, for over $300.00! Bruce and I are really excited! We realize that you and your team at iePlexus have done a great job for us, and in less than 2 month! Also, we are getting first page ranking for several of our products, and others are moving up. Obviously your marketing strategy works!

What was also great is that your team spent a lot of time teaching and training me. I had never written a blog post, but after working with Donald and Eric, I feel very comfortable, and actually enjoy writing about our Pet Products. Bryce designed the blog site that is not only beautiful, (if blogs can be beautiful), but also complimented our website, he is an artistic genius. Ryan wrote an incredible press release that perfectly captured our business philosophy.

Shane, a big “Thank You” to you. And please let everyone know that it has been a pleasure working with them; Donald, Eric, Ryan, Bryce, and the team behind the scenes. We look forward to a long relationship with everyone at iePlexus.

Best Regards,
Dawn & Bruce
*NOTE: Please do not contact any clients without prior written authorization from iePlexus. Thank you.

Internet Saves Baseball in New York

In a time of general economic crisis, the Yankee organization has revealed that they are particularly out of touch with their target demographic. This disconnect was made evident by revealing stadium seats that go for an astronomical asking price. To that end, some of the luxury seats go for as much as $2500 a game, and the more “reasonable” seats were advertised as $1000 a game. For many club houses, that would constitute the price for season tickets. Even for a club as popular as the Yankees, there was an inevitable fan backlash to follow in the form of poor ticket sales.

Having to put their tail directly between their legs, team manager Hal Steinbrenner announced that those luxury seats would be reduced in price by almost half, making the seats $1250 and $650 respectively. While it’s a move in the right direction, it still reveals a general lack of understanding as to the demands of the average baseball fan.

Luckily for Yankees fan, Major League Baseball has partnered with Cablevision and YES, the Yankees cable network. This partnership means that Yankee games can now be watched online for a flat registration fee of $49.95 for the remainder of the season or $19.95 for any given 30-day period. This service will officially launch on July 8, 2009.

While the stadium will still be conspicuously empty due to unrealistic ticket prices, at least the Yankees can console themselves with thoughts that all those fans are at home, watching the game on their laptops.
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Redefining Advertising through Social Media

Advertising is undoubtedly one of the primary ways that companies reach out to their customers, but the introduction of social media and online marketing has muddied these once-clear waters. After all, advertising used to be the representation of your company in the most positive light possible. It used to be gimmicks, catch phrases, and limited time promotions.

But with social media, the question becomes whether it’s even beneficial for companies to directly advertise through these venues. Essentially, people believe one of two things about social media advertising. On one side of the debate, people believe it’s beneficial for companies to present themselves through any available channels. And on the other side of this debate, people believe that social media venues are there primarily for people to be sociable. That is to say, they don’t want to be inundated with advertisements and promotions.

The people who take this latter position feel that coming into these new venues with advertisements blazing can actually harm a company image. They feel it alienates these companies from this core demographic, because the companies are simply not playing by the “social media rules.”
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Marketing in an Online Age

It’s becoming increasingly obvious that strategic online marketing is a vital part of successful businesses today. Whether it’s an interactive website, a viral campaign via YouTube, a Facebook page, or a Twitter account, companies are doing whatever it takes to keep up with the changing technology.

But it seems like many companies are falling into the trap of using the innovations of today with the mindset of yesterday. To that end, they might post regular updates to their Twitter account, but there is a line of red tape, approvals, and edits that are undertaken before any of that content hits the internet. Social media and online marketing, however, is all about instant communication. It’s about human interaction, which means for companies the ability to talk on a personal level with their customers.

But by closely censoring, monitoring, tweaking, and tailoring the content in these social venues, nothing appear genuine to the customer (or potential customer). Customers are savvy to when they are reading something that’s been worked over by a professional, and it puts them automatically on alert. We’re trained to basically dismiss anything we hear or see in more traditional forms of marketing such as television commercials, print ads, radio spots, or anything else. Through years of inundation, we’re trained to believe that an advertisement will say anything to get customers interested in the product, even if it’s not true.

But there isn’t that associated jadedness with online marketing (as of yet, anyway). When done right, there is a ring of honesty, truth, humanity, and personality in the messages through these venues. And this is exactly what’s often lacking in much of the generic ad copy created through the more traditional (or “old”) means.
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Contested Iranian Election Prompts Information Lockdown

Although the Iranian presidential election between Mir Hossein Moussavi and Mahmoud Ahmadinejad took place on June 12, unrest still rocks the city. Boasting an 85 percent voter turnout, Ahmadinejad was reelected to the surprise of the citizens and experts who predicted Moussavi would easily take the election. The unexpected outcome prompted protestors and outraged citizens to not only claim a rigged election but to also take to the streets in protest.

Calling for a reelection, the protestors grew simultaneously bolder and more frantic as the situation erupted into violence. Basij is believed to be responsible for the majority of this violence, including the deaths of seven protestors. Basij is a paramilitary force taking its order from the Revolutionary Guard, an enforcer of stringent Islamic codes.

News coverage of the protests, however, is limited and sketchy at best. This is primarily due to the statements of the Revolutionary Guard, who have threatened to prosecute any foreign media outlet reporting on the ongoing crisis.

They have also threatened any website reporting on the incident, claiming that the dissemination of this information will further incite riots—an argument utilized by many regimes trying to tightly control and spin the spread of information to their citizens and the world.
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Social Media Turns on Letterman

As is so often the case with David Letterman, it all started with a stupid joke. While on air, Letterman made some comments regarding former vice presidential hopeful Sarah Palin and her daughter attending a New York Yankees baseball game. Palin and her 14-year-old daughter had attended the game, after which Letterman joked that Palin’s daughter was “knocked up” by baseball superstar Alex Rodriguez during the seventh inning stretch. Letterman was obviously referring to Palin’s 18-year-old daughter, who recently gave birth to a son.

But the joke was widely misinterpreted. As such, people thought that Letterman was referring to Palin’s younger daughter, and the backlash was swift. Many people were disappointed, outraged, or otherwise disgusted by Letterman’s joke. Michael Patrick Leahy was particularly upset, prompting him to tell FOXNews, “It is highly inappropriate for a 62-year-old man to make sexual insults about a 14-year-old girl.”

Utilizing the venues available to him, Leahy became a co-founder of FireDavidLetterman.com. The site provided a platform for similarly outraged viewers to connect and organize. In particular, they organized a rally calling for the termination of Letterman due to his “disgraceful statements.”

The site also offers a place to add your name and email address in order to let CBS know that you will not purchase any CBS sponsored product until Letterman gets the ax.
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Trent Reznor Lashes Out Against Twitter

While it’s been awhile since Nine Inch Nails was in the public consciousness, front man Trent Reznor has apparently been busy drumming up controversy in the social media arena. Most specifically, Reznor is less than enchanted with Twitter and has made that fact abundantly clear.

Reznor originally utilized his Twitter account to have a venue where he could be, “more off-the-cuff, honest and ‘human.’” But he was quickly inundated with comments and responses to his updates that he found distasteful. This applied particularly to the disclosure of his love life with fiancée Mariqueen Maandig. While Reznor gushed about his newfound love, fans that followed the NIN icon lashed out.

While Reznor used to be known as the out-of-control, counterculture icon, fans found this new, more socially acceptable persona distasteful. While this didn’t prompt Reznor to entirely shut down his Twitter account, he did switch the account to a one-way flow of information. In this way, people can still receive instant NIN-updates, but fans and followers will no longer be privy to the personal messages from Reznor. He has remained adamant that this status won’t change until Twitter changes its blocking policy.

While Reznor might have a valid argument that celebrities are unfairly judged, followed, poked, prodded, and put under a microscope, there’s something a bit unsettling about his particular rant against Twitter. After all, Reznor voluntarily offered personal information through a widely public channel like Twitter. You can’t complain, then, when you receive comments from people within that public channel.
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Quality Content Outside the Corporate Website

Although every company has a slightly different strategy and technique, one of the ultimate goals is always to engage and captivate users. Engaged and captivated users, after all, often translate into engaged and captivated consumers. It is with this in mind that so many companies spend time, effort, and money on creating high quality content.

But companies shouldn’t be short sighted about the value and power of this content. While many businesses are meticulous about what appears on the corporate website, they are less stringent about the entries into the corporate blog, Facebook page, or Twitter account.

This attitude, however, can result in some seriously squandered opportunities. After all, social media venues don’t magically attract, keep, and convert customers. Just like any aspect of your marketing campaign, the content that appears through social media or social networking venues must be carefully researched and created. Otherwise, you’re using the right channels with the wrong message.

This doesn’t mean, though, that the content has to be as formal in presentation. When it comes to your blog, a comma splice here or a split infinite there isn’t going to drive your customers away. It’s more about putting in the time and research to know what your audience wants to see in these interactive platforms.

Also, unlike the content for your official website, there must be a correlated call to action. It’s against the very principle of social media to simply preach at your audience. Ask customers their opinions via your blog. Inspire some conversation and encourage participation.
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Layoff Updates in the World of Social Networking

While layoff rumors abound in this economic climate, there is one company that has been hit particularly hard—MySpace. While they are a household name in social networking, MySpace can’t seem to justify being second best to Facebook—the more rapidly growing and popular of the two networking powerhouses. And the severity of the potential layoffs at MySpace makes that very clear.

The company, after all, has been the center of many speculations regarding their staff. One source used the word “massive” to describe the as of yet unproven layoffs, while a different source actually went so far as to put a number on that generic (albeit frightening) word. This alternate source placed the layoffs at anywhere between 300 and 500 employees.

Many believe these talks and the subsequent actions will help appease the already concerned shareholders. Despite a 2.39% jump in unique visitors during April and a report that puts them ahead of Facebook for videos, MySpace has been steadily losing the battle of social media dominance. And apparently, in today’s climate, that’s simply not good enough to justify a full staff.

New York State Policy Goes 2.0

Demonstrating the increasing need for everyone to be instantly connected, New York has taken a major step to elevating state policy into the age of social media. To that end, New York has not only launched a New York State Office of Technology (OFT), but that entity has also premiered Empire 2.0. The initiative is a concerted effort to increase collaboration and promote government participation through social networking avenues.

But this isn’t the first instance of OFT’s social savvy. In May, the agency launched both a Facebook and Twitter page. State Health Commissioner Richard F. Daines is particularly excited about the potential for this new program. Pointing out some of the potential applications of this program, Daines focused on the potential for quick and widespread dissemination of information. Through the venues offered by 2.0, New Yorkers can be made aware of various issues such as smoking cessation laws almost immediately after being made into policy.
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