One of the things I love to do is find the newest ways for people to connect with Auction Direct online. Here’s two ways that will become increasingly popular.

Everyone on the Internet is looking for Information. What’s the best information we can find? Information from trusted sources such as [...]]]>

One of the things I love to do is find the newest ways for people to connect with Auction Direct online. Here’s two ways that will become increasingly popular.

Everyone on the Internet is looking for Information. What’s the best information we can find? Information from trusted sources such as our family, friends and co-workers. When our friends tell us about a restaurant, a clothing store or even an accountant, we listen to those recommendations because we trust the review. Word of mouth marketing is one of the most effective methods for any business to increase sales; Facebook and Google have introduced two of the most revolutionary online word of mouth marketing tools. Combine these organic tools with new Facebook marketing optimization tools such as KeyBrokerSocial and you’ll start reaching more people at various stages of the buying cycle – for any product and service.

Facebook understands one simple fact: People love to share the stuff happening in their life. Now, they’re making it even easier to for people to share life events – social consciousness. Items such as getting engaged, getting a new pet or even a new home will be shared even easier within Facebook’s new profile features. The ability for customers to update their status with “Bought a Car” can help us tremendously. Knowing the average Facebook user has 125 friends, having our customers share their new car purchases online will help increase exposure – and build trust. Click image to enlarge

Google also understands the principle behind the value of a trusted connection’s recommendation. Their new social search feature, called “Google Plus”, lets you show a form of visual word of mouth by clicking on the +1 buttons next to the search results. (You need to be logged into Google to use this feature) Click image to enlarge


When the people within your Gmail address book search for things online, they’ll see the items you have +’d and vice-versa. Notice the thumbnail images below the listings when I search for Auction Direct in Google; I can see who else +’d the result. Social validation, trust and influence will become more important to online shoppers as your connections begin to visually endorse their Facebook activities and the content they find within Google’s search results.

Are you using either of these yet?

Facebook’s goal is to let you share every facet of your life with anyone and everyone you care to. Sure, on a personal level [...]]]>

Everyone knows how powerful Word of Mouth marketing is. It’s about to get an incredible shot in the arm thanks to the new social graph features within the upcoming Timeline profile.

Facebook’s goal is to let you share every facet of your life with anyone and everyone you care to. Sure, on a personal level we may not be in interested in all of this activity (hello lists) – but from a digital marketing perspective, this is just huge.

One of the activities users will be able to share is that new car they just bought. (When, where, who they were with, description & share a photo) Note the location element. Should be a fun feature to leverage.

Facebook Places, their answer to the check-in game, is shutting down. Not a major shocker. Sure, there was activity, relegated mostly to larger metropolitan areas. I used it two times – once at a restaurant to show my friends how it worked and once [...]]]>

The location based marketing services landscape just shifted. Heavily.

Facebook Places, their answer to the check-in game, is shutting down. Not a major shocker. Sure, there was activity, relegated mostly to larger metropolitan areas. I used it two times – once at a restaurant to show my friends how it worked and once at a concert with my wife. No rewards, no tips, no to-do’s. Not even a goofy badge to show off.

Businesses failed to promote the check-in activity, presumably from a lack of support or a defined benefit. I tried to find the opportunity to leverage Facebook Places for Auction Direct, but it didn’t make sense. A lack of purpose, rewards and trust made it difficult for anyone to make checking-in within Facebook a consistent activity. Most users probably won’t even notice the service isn’t even available once shut down.

Killing off Facebook’s Places leaves me thinking about three items:

• Great opportunity for Foursquare to pick up additional activity from Places users
• New opportunities for niche check-in platforms such as GetGlue
• Niche location and photo-sharing applications will have had a longer life than Places, such a CarZar. And possibly even more users, such as Foodspotting.

Will you miss Facebook Places?

Update: Ok, so location as a feature hasn’t been shut off 100%. It just won’t function as it did before – completely pointless. The mobile app hasn’t been updated yet, but the web version has. Still pointless to me, yet shows Facebook is looking to change how location based services fit into their platform. Not quite sure what that change will look like seeing that Facebook Deals has been axed as well. Stay tuned.

They used a simple formula that’s become popular around specific activities and interests. Their tag line says it all: Don’t drink alone. Drink with friends.

So, the latest “time-waster” to show up in the social spaces is Empire Avenue. Here’s a quick breakdown: You buy & sell “shares” of people; a virtual, wanna-be version of a stock market of social media personalities.

I do like the creativity, the site usability (considering the intricate nature of the platform) and [...]]]>

So, the latest “time-waster” to show up in the social spaces is Empire Avenue. Here’s a quick breakdown: You buy & sell “shares” of people; a virtual, wanna-be version of a stock market of social media personalities.

I do like the creativity, the site usability (considering the intricate nature of the platform) and most of all, the behaviors of the users within the site – that’s what I’m most interested in seeing. I’m curious how people will try to leverage Empire Avenue. Influencers, Internet Celebrities, major brands and plenty of people you have never heard of, you’ll see them all. But what’s their purpose for playing here?

I say check it out at the very least. You can decide for yourself on the typical “why bother” question posed whenever a new concept catches fire. Sure, the “game” element is fun. The ultimate goal for Empire Avenue is obviously the in-game sales and upgrades available to the users. They want you to buy “Eaves” and spend real money to increase your portfolio value (so you can buy more shares in people) or you increase your portfolio’s available cash by completing various free/paid “offers” such as buying a magazine subscription or an FTD floral arrangement.

For example, you can buy 70,000 eaves right now and get 30,000 extra eaves, for only $50. Why? Not sure. Is it worth it? Maybe, if you’re trying to increase your own exposure and want to try something new and cheap. I’d like to think people like Robert Scoble and Jeremiah Owyang don’t need to pay real money to claim another star on their social walk of fame. There are a few things you can do to extend your hand and play nice, such as endorsing someone’s blog feed link within their profile, recommending their shares for purchase and tweeting the fact you just bought shares in someone. (And you thought checking-in on Foursquare was odd?)

It seems like a clever affiliate model leveraging social gaming techniques: social connections, awards, chat, upgrades, time-based/expiration models, etc…plus it hits on multiple ego items.

The problem is the game element itself. It’ll eventually wear thin. The formula behind a users stock price, as I understand it now, rewards you for your connections and consistent sharing – not quantity of sharing. So, unless an active user like Robert Scoble hangs up his SM sharing activities, his value could be infinite. I’m curious if they’ll introduce the ability to short shares as well. Let’s hope they don’t add margin and options functionality. Charles Dow would roll over in his grave.

Not sure what renders a person’s value as overbought or oversold. (Other than zero activity and everyone selling your shares) Knowing this, could Scoble’s stock become the social media share value equivalent to Berkshire Hathaway?

I have seen a few nice examples of Empire Avenue being used wisely for additional exposure. Besides the brands like Ford & Audi, Jay Baer is using it to help promote his book, w/Amber Nasland, “The Now Revolutions” by giving away one free copy to shareholders who tweet their purchase.

Don’t give it too much thought thought. It’s just a game. And if you are interested, you can sign up here. Oh, and be sure to buy some shares in ERICM

Have you tried it? What do you think?

Goodbye Whrrl checkins. fun while it lasted. (I really like the app) Hello location based services consolidation.

Whrrl’s latest round of updates were significant – I liked how they notified you, via push notifications, of the items you had [...]]]> [/caption] So Groupon stepped up to the plate and took out Whrrl in one fell swoop. Goodbye Whrrl checkins. fun while it lasted. (I really like the app) Hello location based services consolidation. Whrrl's latest round of updates were significant - I liked how they notified you, via push notifications, of the items you had on your to-do list. All relevant, hype free and completely permission based. If you" data-image="http://www.crunchbase.com/assets/images/resized/0001/4613/14613v3-max-250x250.jpg" data-site="Location Based Marketing">

Image via CrunchBase

Image via CrunchBase

So Groupon stepped up to the plate and took out Whrrl in one fell swoop.

Goodbye Whrrl checkins. fun while it lasted. (I really like the app) Hello location based services consolidation.

Whrrl’s latest round of updates were significant – I liked how they notified you, via push notifications, of the items you had on your to-do list. All relevant, hype free and completely permission based. If you didn’t like the fact you were being notified, you only had yourself to blame.

This seems to remove the “social” element of the Whrrl app; could this indicate a new direction for the entire “check-in” and create more focus on the awareness element?

Very interesting play by Groupon. What’s next?

Still have your doubts? Check out this great infographic from Olgilvy PR Wordwide. This outlines six strategic approaches by sharing the basic principles with regards to who you follow, what you [...]]]>

People still debate the issue whether or not twitter is a channel that should be utilized for any purpose other than sharing nonsensical information.

Still have your doubts? Check out this great infographic from Olgilvy PR Wordwide. This outlines six strategic approaches by sharing the basic principles with regards to who you follow, what you should create and how you should engage. Click image to expand.

How are you using twitter now?