Business Blogs and Content Marketing – Content Marketers
Published June 9, 2010 | 
I talk to so many Entrepreneurs each day that are starting to understand what the Social Media (R)evolution is all about, but for every single Entrepreneur that “gets it,” there seems to be many more that struggle with the changes that have taken place in the market dynamics, 
and if there was only a way I could convince everyone to stop seeing the world through their own eyes and instead see the world through the consumer’s eyes, but alas, many that fail to see will indeed, be left behind to fail, falling victim to their own narrow shortsightedness and lack of market vision.
Many businesses will simply not embrace and adapt, and many will simply fade off as so many did before them, and you must understand the changing market, as always, waits for no one, such is the way of business cycles, and such is the times in which we all now live.
So my question for you, and one you have to ask yourself is quite simple, “Are you in, or are you on the outside looking in?”
Seriously, have you decided to make a commitment to elevate your business to the expected standards in the next 10 years and beyond, and are you ready to make blogging and content giving the lifestyle it should be, and not just a poorly thought-out new year’s resolution?
An Entrepreneur, whose entire foundation is built upon giving information to others in order to build high value in the marketplace, has come to be known as a ‘Content Marketer’ or ‘Information Expert.’
The best way for me to explain Content Marketing, really has to do with an Entrepreneur’s approach to business, for example, it used to be that Entrepreneurs saw their business as a ‘XYZ service company’, and for all practical purposes, that’s exactly what it was, a business that provided lots of service and therefore it was a service company, nothing more, and nothing less.
In looking back through 20/20 hindsight though, this way of viewing business was wrong, and today, Entrepreneurs should view their business as a Content Marketing company, or in other words, their entire goal is to provide more valuable, helpful, and ‘remarkable content’ in addition to ‘excellent service,’ to consumers than anyone else in their field, which in-turn will lead to greater sales, and why should you use such methods of operation?………………Because the strategy really works!
After some careful thought, I think you will understand, that the more valuable the information you can give to others, the more you will become viewed as a valued expert in your field or industry, and therefore gain their complete trust, and even more important, you gain their business, and therefore, the you have the utmost need to blog.
And when I say ‘blog’, I don’t mean that your business has a section on your website that says ‘blog’ on it, so when a visitor views the page they see a handful of articles that are weeks, maybe even months old. You should view such a strategy as completely ludicrous, and an utter waste of your valuable time, because it is.
Business Blogs and Content Marketing – The Future Now!
Published June 8, 2010 | Just in case you have been living somewhere in isolation and missed it, global marketing strategies have been going through some crazy evolution for small businesses and Entrepreneurs throughout the world, as times are changing, marketing has evolved, and you can rest assured that what was true 
yesterday no longer applies today, and tomorrow, this is why I can make the following true statement with complete confidence and certainty, since it’s already started, “Within the next 5 to 10 years, Blogs will be the foundation of any successful business and individual brand.”
That’s right, what was originally looked on by many in the market, as just a bunch of online noise and market clutter that would never find its voice, has revolutionized commerce, economies, and information sharing as we know it.
The world as we have known it has changed forever, for proof, think back and remember that just twenty years ago, what generally defined ‘having a business’ was the ownership of some type of ‘brick and mortar’ storefront or professional office, compare that to today, in 2010 and beyond, what defines the image of that very same business is its website, and the increased value added to the business by its comprehensive Web presence.
Also, not to long ago, it was common that company websites were few and far between, and seen as part of the world that belonged to Programming and Technology Geeks, but now, in an incredibly short span of less than ten years, businesses are expected to have websites as part of their Strategic Social Media and Web Marketing Plan, and even the mere mention of such an idea would have been viewed as completely preposterous by most of us less than a decade ago, during that same period of time, the Social Media (R)evolution has come in with such a furry that a website has become the expected core representation of any business and its brand.
So the obvious questions that always come to mind is “What’s the next phase of the Social Media (R)evolution,” and “What’s next that consumers in the global market will expect and demand?”
Over the next few years, as consumers continue to embrace Web technology even further, and as they become more and more adept at judging a business by its website, they will soon look for a company’s, or an individual’s, blog, yes, that’s right, just as a website is expected and searched for by today’s Web savvy consumer, a business’ blog will be expected by the consumer of tomorrow, and I don’t mean months or years from now, I do mean literally, tomorrow.
Although I know that many of you are in agreement with me right now, there are sadly still some that feel like blogging, and even websites hold little importance and consequence when it comes down to the successes and failures of a business.
Facebook Videos! Mark Zuckerberg – New Privacy Changes!
Published May 26, 2010 | 
According to Mark Zuckerberg, Facebook is starting to roll out changes to its privacy settings that should make control of the settings much simpler, as suggested by many, many Facebook users that complained of the difficulty of understanding and working with the settings to their satisfaction, and knowing that their private information will be safe, a recent problem that has encroached on the comfort zone of millions of Facebook members concerned that their individual private information was needlessly exposed to the Web universe for all to see. Read more at Making Control Simple.
We have included the following two videos about the changes to take place:
The Facebook Privacy Changes!
Mark Zuckerberg on ‘Making Control Simple’!
Understanding Consumer Awareness and Attention
Published May 25, 2010 | 
Social Media has made information and tools readily available to anyone seeking enlightenment on just about any subject imaginable, and the use and assimilation of the information has been directly associated with greatly increased consumer awareness as people become more comfortable with the Web and knowledgeable about their particular individual interests.
In the past, most businesses either just bought the awareness or attention of the consumer market niche, or used public relations from different media to reach the attention of the consumer, and even bugged the consumers with direct mail, phone contact or some other forms of working the market niche one at a time, and now there is a new way of gaining, and even more importantly, keeping the awareness of the consumers that businesses and organizations have set their sights on in respective market niches.
Most organizations and corporations have developed a culture over the years based on one of these methods that have been viewed as the best tried and true methods of generating much coveted consumer awareness, for example, there are some that primarily create attention through advertising, lots of advertising, others through focusing on public relations, and many through working the market one individual consumer at a time to produce sales.
More times than not, the type of culture is determined by the point of view developed during the career of the Entrepreneur or CEO, and the type they experienced and have developed a strong point of view about, so if an Entrepreneur comes through the marketing and advertising track, then what is considered problems are most likely to end up with more suggested advertising solutions and ideas than others.
You must develop the complete understanding that in today’s world of Social Media and Web Marketing and Networking, that you can quickly earn 
valuable awareness by simply creating something interesting and valuable to the consumer, then publishing and providing it online for free, for example, a YouTube video, a Blog, a research report, photos and images, a stream on Twitter, an eBook, a Facebook page, and many others that will help you maintain important value in the eyes and minds of your consumer market niche, and since today’s market presents us with a host of connected, interconnected, and overlapping networks and social graphs, the value can be maintained and easily grown with additional valuable information and insights you provide on a regular basis, as the expert you will grow to be recognized as.
Understanding Your Market Connections and Relationships
Published May 24, 2010 | The Social Media (R)evolution has created an unprecedented level of engagement between consumers and business, and shifted how customer service experiences is viewed by all parties directly involved in shaping the experience.
I think it is safe to say that consumer connections and relationship building is quickly becoming the norm in 2010 and beyond, and the brands that fail to recognize or adjust to the new and changing realities presented by the market will be quickly left behind and out in the cold, not because they aren’t good at what they do, but because they either fail or refuse to understand the importance of building lasting connections and relationships with the consumer market, that places great value on creating and maintaining strong connections and relationships.
In the world of Social Media and Social Networking your understanding of content creation is critical, as many times it is the main reason for the initial contact and engagement with your customer, and when you are perceived as transparent and engaging, the result can be powerful, especially if each subsequent occasion you have for direct engagement is as rewarding an experience as before. 
It is difficult for some to fully understand the dynamics at work with the concept of providing free information and online content such as videos, access to articles, and even eBooks, which actually adds great value to the consumer relationships and experience. So when it is time to sell your book or service the customer gladly pays, keeping the “value” of what they have already received for “free” in mind, and more times than not, they buy more product or additional services because of the “value” you have created in their experience.
Social Media” facilitates direct engagement with consumers to levels never seen before, causing a fundamental shift in the concept of customer service in the markets, where before, no one expected CEO’s to call or ring their doorbell on their birthday, because it wasn’t feasible. But Social Media Technology provides the tools, and greatly reduced the cost of direct interaction, which has plummeted to the lowest levels ever seen, as business 
leaders text simple “thank you” messages from cell phones, or hang out on video streaming platforms or chat rooms to answer questions, or send @ replies on Twitter, and all at very minimal cost.
Every CEO and business must recognize that customer service is now their primary business and focus, and what “was” unreasonable becomes essential, as the empowerment of the individual consumer through “social media” affects every brand and businesses value to the consumer, which directly translates to business success now and in the future.