Thoughts and view expressed in this blog are my own. This is a personal weblog of my pest control marketing via SEM/SEO and Social Media. Please feel free to add or comment. Thanks.
Houston Pest Control Pest Control and Bug Exterminator Blog
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Alas, some people know opportunity when they see it.
And as for junk food, may everybody enjoy a glorious round of pies after their thanksgiving turkey. Happy feast to all, and to all a good night.
Every wonder what bugs your turkey eats?
But news has it that Bimbo may pick-up these Blondies.
3 of 5 Trending Topics on Google Plus Have Hashtags.Pretty funny considering hashtags are a twitter thing. Perhaps google+ should just copy that as well, oh wait they already did about 4 months ago. Now just wondering when they will add a Red Google+ Bird.
Just goes to show that the Google+ crowd is the same twitter crowd. Are they just copying and pasting their tweets? I wonder who would get dinged for duplicate content in this scenario.
English: Google plus one (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
Image by Hug It Forward via Flickr
Twitter is a great tool for engagement. Yes you should use twitter to build links. You find like minded individuals. You share content with them. You tweet out their good content. You make comments on their blogs. You get invited to guest post. You build relationships, you build links. The best links come from humans, not bots, not tools, HUMANS.
In the same stroke. A relationship is about give and take. Again, yes, you should use twitter to build links. But tweeting out self promoting links every 5 minutes, or 10, or even hourly just to build links will sabotage your relationships. ( see rule #3 Thou Shalt Not Blatantly Self-Promote ) So I try to avoid too much self promotion on my own twitter stream. I don’t use my twitter stream to build links for me. I don’t want to loose influence with peers by flooding my twitter stream with ME, ME, ME. I know, as a pest control guy I probably don’t carry too much influence… Even more the reason to guard what little I may have.
FYI- The best links I get and give from twitter usually come from behind the DM curtain.
( find me on twitter @Thos003 )
Do you want twitter followers? Well this a little on why I follow or unfollow people on twitter. Not claiming any secrets on how to gain followers. But perhaps a little honesty from a pest control guy could help one figure out this twitter thing.
I follow people that are willing to converse with me. If you follow me and have a conversation with me on twitter then I’ll usually follow you. If you follow me and respond to a DM of mine, then I’ll follow you. I have a lot of conversations in private. There is a lot that is said behind closed doors. I find those conversations very valuable. There are a lot of people that I check in on, but don’t follow. I use lists.
Unfollow:I unfollow people that self promote too much. I unfollow people that publish just links. Sorry, but if you if I do follow you and you unfollow me, then I take that as a sign that you don’t want to openly converse anymore and I’ll unfollow you. And yes, I trim down my list on occasion, so if you’re not following me, or not conversing with me then you’re probably not making the cut. Sorry Bob.
Facebook has been a bit more private use for me so I only allow people I’ve meet in real life into my facebook circle. But don’t worry, you’re not missing much if you aren’t there. I don’t facebook much.
I’d also like to thank Kenneth Gonzalez for his engaging conversation that help spur some of this post. Find his blog at, http://blog.engagedconsulting.com/ … Now back to that problem of me following 666 people. Sorry but need to change that. If you still say, “I don’t get twitter.” then you should read some of the following articles. Or just start posting comments and questions below. …Its called engagement.
Social media platforms are constantly put in head to head comparisons. So when Mat Siltala from Dream Systems Media did a post about his scorpion sting on all 3 social media platforms simultaneously, the intuitive nature of Mat kicked in. Between Facebook, Google+, and twitter, which platform would be most responsive to a post about scorpion stings? What would be your guess? The results may surprise you a bit.
Have Matt in circles (2158) – That is a fairly good audience. Google+ is fresh. It’s the new upbeat social hang out. One could speculate that it has more real users… or not. But Google didn’t take the cake for Mat’s scorpion sting post.
3,618 Followers – That is a healthy twitter following. Mat Siltala has been a very busy busy body on twitter. His follower to follow ratio is fantastic. He puts out a steady stream of useful content. And he laughs out loud some funny infographics. But can twitter compete with the socialness of facebook?
Friends (602) – Clearly Mat is more selective with his Facebook audience. With a count of 602 the facebook audience is a fraction of Mat’s Google+ and Twitter following. But honestly, Facebook seems to be more intimate. Mat’s lower friend count is because Mat is selective about who views his Facebook stream. And in Mat’s case, he shares things that are bit more private. So I naturally believed that Facebook would be the best setting for a conversation about scorpion stings. Regular life happens on facebook.
So wait… twitter isn’t just about news and high-tech stuff? You can actually have a conversation on twitter about life? Do you want to know what I had for breakfast?
Okay… I will keep the meal tweets to a minimum. But I was shocked that twitter got the bulk of the interaction. Granted, this wasn’t a planned out scientific test so there are a number of variables that alter this example. But even still, a pest control guy can pick up a conversation on twitter about bugs. And if you know how to converse then you can effectively communicate with twitter. If you can communicate then you can market.
What are your thoughts on operation Scorpion Sting?
I know sad that I must blog my own quotes…
As Shakespeare so put it, “Brevity is the soul of wit.”
Apparently this tweet was liked, as I received some mentions on it. This concept is the summation of a key element in search engine rankings and therefore the core of gaining search engine rankings.
The search engines want to believe that the best content on the internet will win. They gauge this by links. If you like something then you will share it with others by linking to it. Who hasn’t gotten an email with a link in it to a funny video. Funny is almost always likable. Who doesn’t like things that are funny?… Okay maybe its not best to crack a joke when in a heated argument with a wife. But let’s not get into timing right now. The idea of the search engine tallying up links is to find the sites that are most liked by all. Content should incite people to like you. Content should give people a reason to link to you.
To expand this concept one step further, I believe your offline likability is also proportionate to your online link-ability. This is going beyond what the search engine would expect. Search Engine’s believe that people more likely to naturally link to an awesome hotel’s website after having a fantastic weekend of sterling customer service. Hence the best hotel wins. 
I ..Perhaps. But popularity of lesser hotels may out weigh the likability of awesome less known hotels. I believe we are now taking this one step further. I am more compelled to share articles from individuals that I know and like. I win more links from people I meet and establish a relationship with. Take for instance Dennis G., he’s likable and thus linkable. I am much more likely to link to Ebay after having met Dennis.
We could even Expand this chain to:
As one comment I received stated… “Wow, thanks for that. I have to summarize today why losing links is a big deal, ane explain why they are going to lose their rankings.”
Glad I could help. =)
“So this is good and dandy for individuals but what about businesses. Are we in business to be friends with people?”
If you have not figured out the new online order, YES, YOU NEED TO MAKE FRIENDS. Granted, being likable does not mean being buddy-buddy. You don’t need to be a BFF. But as a business you do need to serve a purpose and people need to like you doing that service. Disney probably puts it the best:
“Do what you do so well, that the people who see you do it, will want to see you do it again, and will bring others to see you do it.“
Adding a smile to your service helps bring them back for more. Being friendly helps them share your business with their friends. In today’s online world this is amplified over several thousand social connections. Social media works best for those that know how to act socially acceptable and be sociable. I am a pest control guy. My first priority is to get rid of bugs, my second is to make you smile a little longer.
Now go out and be LIKABLE!
Google’s announcement of its new +1 feature looks like an obvious attempt to compete with Facebook’s “Like” button. If you like a page’s content, you’re able to +1, or vote, for Google’s link that takes you there. And just like that your friends with whom Google associates you will be notified that you +1ed the page. Since this has been announced, much has already been said regarding the usefulness of the feature. In the long run, we thought +1 was just going to be another Buzz or Wave. Great in theory, but failing in execution.
Or…What if Google’s +1 is really just a Trojan horse for all those spammers and gamers in cyberspace?
I’m going to be Mr. Journalist here for a minute, and disclaim that I’m not going to reveal my sources, but let’s just say that I have a few friends that work for the search engine. One of them I co-captains with on our high school cross country team. The other dated my sister and owes me several, very large favors.
I can tell you that this will all come to fruition tomorrow when Google pulls the meanest April Fool’s joke ever conceived since the beginning of the internet. Google knows that the only people that know about their +1 feature are SEO pros and marketers. Some of the coding was leaked prior to their public announcement, but they know who is using it and who is already seeing the feature in their search results. Google, one of my friend’s teams to be exact, is already tracking a couple half-created bots and have their eyes on a few more key targets that they expect to have something up and running by tonight.
This will be Google’s Trojan horse, sent among an unknowing city of Troy. Troy welcomes horse. Greek, Google, makes inside the fortified SEO’s wall. Troy is overtaken.
Red carpet for you Lemming.
The social wave is HUGE. Many people and companies are hoping on their surfboards for the very first time. Google is trying to find a way to police the waters. Large companies are entrusting their brands into the hands of SEO and marketing firms. Their job? Get ranked. Get seen. Garnish page views. Amass Facebook Likes. Rack in Retweets. Stack on Shares. Etc, etc. N..E..way possible. In recent weeks we’ve seen big names like Forbes and JC Penny get hit for black hat link building. The Kung Fu Panda chopped a few more heads off. But Google’s not stopping there… The +1 feature is to weed out those that game our social circles.
Think of it like the old Lemmings game. Certain lemmings in the crowd have a specific assignments that benefit the group. Some of them even sacrifice self for the betterment of the team. Google just sent a lemming headed for the nearest cliff holding a giant “+1″ sign. Their upcoming weeding tactics will be more sophisticated and much more stealth, but their first effort is for the masses.
We know quite a bit about pest control and a little about SEO. Let’s just say that there are a lot of bugs that are about to get squashed.
Taco Bell promoted tweet about lawsuit
I arrived to work exceptionally early today. I got my tabs and windows up and running and noticed something that looked completely normal. Taco Bell was promoting a tweet. Sweet! I was hoping for a free taco. Or, better yet, a free Nachos Bell Grande!
Turned out that this promoted tweet was much different than any other I had ever seen. Taco Bell was using their promoted tweet to release an official company legal statement regarding a class action lawsuit from a California woman regarding the quality of their beef. No free tacos. No half off discounts. Rather, a one page statement of legal jargon and adamant statements by Taco Bell’s President and Chief Concept Officer.
I’m not here to argue the validity or falsehoods of this lawsuit. In all honestly, its not even going to detour me from eating there. I love their food. In fact, this has prompted my co-workers and I to go there later today for lunch. And we’ll all probably check in on Foursquare from there.
To me, the debate at hand, from a marketing and public relations standpoint, is whether or not using a tool like a promoted tweet is the appropriate or effective way to issue such a statement. This was the first I had even heard that Taco Bell was being sued over such a claim. Would I have even found out about it had they, themselves, not pushed the issue in front of me? When I notified my boss of the tweet and apparent lawsuit, he knew nothing either. However, my other two co-workers did have knowledge of the lawsuit. They had heard about it on the radio before today.
At first I thought it was an ill-advised move. Why go around broadcasting your controversies? And why would you pay a platform like Twitter to do so?
Then my public relations degree kicked in (Yeah! BYU, class of ’06). The more I thought about it I have only one word: Brilliant! Yeah, Taco Bell is going to inform more people about the lawsuit than probably would’ve found out about it in the end, but it’s better that you be the one informing them than a bunch of angry customers, and bloggers, and Twitter users, and news achors, and Facebook updates and aspiring writers.
Just consider the speed at which Twitter and Facebook function? It takes literally minutes for someone or something to be a national trend for all the wrong reasons. With today’s social media boom, wrong reports and ill-speaking travels like wildfire in windy conditions. If the history of public relations and publicity has taught us anything, it’s better to get out in front of an issue before you have to chase it down.
Still a bold move? Yes. I had never seen anything like it. Was it a wise, bold move? Only time will really tell. But for now, I say definitely.
Very cool post about a new monitoring tool for social media influence. But wait, doesn’t this take out some of the genuineness of social media? Clearly the power behind social media is that individuals can influence one another. Typically its a peer. Kind of like that class on “peer pressure” that we took in middle school, but now being the peer that can pressure others is a good thing. <Dangerous>
My comment:
This is all very cool and people like to see how they score and ultimately how they measure up. But when is someone going to produce a tool that will not only rank you and score you but then give you advice on how to improve your scores. While this should be self evident, people that like to game want the rules of the game.
Either way, I still must wonder if Klout scores and social influence scores are more damaging then they are helpful.
Thanks for the comparision and info.
So what do think? Do social media scoring systems destroy the social media platform or do they help people realize “hey, I am big doofus so I need to chill on the twitter-thon”?
And get this, right now you can go find which U.S. cities are the most social media savvy. Social Media Rankings .
And apparently “The average New Yorker has nearly twice as many total friends across all social networking sites as business people in Houston.”
SteveOnTheBike