Social Media for Business
from Reuters
A new report by Inside Facebook discusses some best practices for retailers hoping to set up shop on the popular social networking site. Some of the recommendations include letting users shop from within Facebook, including even the ability to share product information with friends. More

How Branding Works in Social Media
from Denver Women's Business Examiner
In small business, we all know the importance of creating a compelling brand. We go to great trouble to color-coordinate our brand across our business cards, letterhead and of course, our website. But with the advent of social media (facebook, twitter, blogs, etc.), more entrepreneurs are looking at how to coordinate their ordinary marketing with this new online environment. More

What Brands Can Learn From Luke and Leia
from Fast Company
Star Wars, an idea that is now thirty years old, gives brands much to learn in how they consider their future in a digital, conversation driven world. Star Wars is a platform. Most brands could only wish to have a platform this powerful, but it is exactly what they should be striving for. More

Share Your Way to Better SEO
from Search Engine Watch
When people talk about SEO, it's frequently in hushed tones, like some great secret is being discussed. Even more often, it's based more in esoteric questions than statements: What goes into PageRank? How does one sculpt it? How many tags are too many? More

How to Market Your Blog
from Social Media Today
The author of this article has gathered some blog marketing resources to further help you understand the simplicity of marketing your blog by focusing in on the core components of a good marketing campaign. The experts quoted talk about key, core components they are focused on right now. More

Create E-mail Subject Lines That Draw Prospects In
from The Customer Collective
E-mail is now the preferred prospecting tool, far surpassing the phone to the relief of many sellers who hate cold calling. Yet it hasn’t necessarily made prospecting any easier. Response rates are low and many sellers are discouraged by how difficult it is to engage contacts. More

Businesses Turn to Facebook for Word-of-mouth Advertising
from USA Today
Facebook, with 250 million members, has gone beyond being just a place where you can alert friends about the music you're listening to, who you're dating or what movies you like. The social network's expanded Pages feature lets businesses, organizations and public figures in on the action. More

Only One in Three Companies Address Social Media Concerns
from PR Newswire
The recently completed Russell Herder/Ethos study found that 40 percent of companies technically block their employees from accessing social media while at work. At the same time, 26 percent of companies use social media to further corporate objectives, and just over seven in 10 said they plan to increase the use of these new opportunities. More

Fresh Views at Agency Overseeing Online Ads
from The New York Times
Most of the online world is based on a simple, if unarticulated, agreement: consumers browse Web sites free, and in return, they give up data -- like their gender or income level -- which the sites use to aim their advertisements. The new head of the Bureau of Consumer Protection at the Federal Trade Commission, David C. Vladeck, says it is time for that to change. More

from MediaPost
Earlier this year, Forrester Research released its five year advertising forecast which found that marketers were shifting substantial advertising dollars out of traditional media and into interactive channels such as mobile marketing, display ads, search, social media and email. Yet, marketers who rely too heavily on interactive channels, at the expense of traditional channels, risk losing out on the lucrative Boomer segment that are avid multi-media consumers. More