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How Social Networking Can Save Education

Mar 9

Posted by Teasastips in social networking | 2 Comments

: Image by Christopher S. Penn via Flickr

Social Networking sites like Twitter and Facebook have become a part of the mainstream media these days. Numerous reports appear daily on how the integration and use of social networking is as much a part of our lives as drinking water is. Whether it is a story about Conan O’Brien picking a Michigan woman to follow on Twitter, or how the state of Georgia is restricting sex offenders from using Facebook, social networking is here to stay.

But, what really fascinates me more and more, is how people are actually using social networks. It’s like social networks are replacing other forms of communication. Maybe because its a quicker, more broad way of reaching a huge group of people. Take a look at one of my peers and what he accomplished in just a few short hours using social networking. Dear Blog Engage Members, Can We Make History?

I’ve been thinking about social networking as an educational vehicle.

For me, I’m really interested in advancing the use of social networking in United States public schools, more specifically inner city students. Because I am a product of the Detroit Public School system, my heart is anchored and focused on those students first.

Maybe its because the Detroit Public School system has a 25% graduation rate and is the nation’s worst performing urban school system (The blogprof.blogspot.com). I have a crazy idea that involves social networking and education. Hey, right now a school system such as Detroit’s is tanking fast, and needs something crazy and out of the box to save it.

Since social networking is about people and getting as many of them together to unite for one cause, I know that Detroit students could benefit from the use of social networking to further their education.

For instance, if Detroit Public School students had access to the internet, had computers to use at home, then they could integrate Facebook Fan Pages as a great social studies, economic/business and english writing exercises. The educationally archaic method of teaching students in inner cities don’t work, just take a look at the graduation rates.

Our kids today are technologically advanced, thus they are bored with coming to class and opening a book. Lets send our kids to school and have them turn on a computer. This way we teach them how to do by giving hands on examples. Researching a topic in American History or even Economics is way more fun when we teach students how to find the information, what sites are credible to use for research, then teach them how to utilize Word and Excel to enhance their reports.

ALL kids like mental challenges. Boredom is a great dream killer. No wonder many inner city kids decide to join gangs, sell dope, or just kill one another. Its way more exciting than going to school and opening a dusty old school book that doesn’t even show any of the last 3 U.S. Presidents.

We need to change our thinking if we are going to reach our kids today. Social Networking is one way to do it. Parents buy their kids cellphones that can access Twitter, Facebook and MySpace all the time. Let’s make good use of these skills and integrate these sites into the educational system.

Its worth a try, anything is because right now our kids are losing, the dropout rate is ridiculous, all while we complain about higher taxes, health care reform, whether a black U.S. President is failing the black race.

None of this will matter if our children, our future turn out to be as dumb as a box of rocks. Can anyone spell s-l-a-v-e-r-y? That’s what happens when a society has no knowledge or makes use of it, that society becomes enslaved by a more superior culture or race.

What are your thoughts? I’d love to hear them….leave a comment below or continue the conversation on Twitter or Facebook.

Dan Zarella: When to publish articles to Facebook (blogs.journalism.co.uk)
Detroit School Board President Fights Over Control with Outside Manager via Email: FAIL (minx.cc)
The Educationalization of Social Media (pamil-visions.net)
High School Without the Teachers (detroit.blogs.time.com)
Social networking belongs in school (news.cnet.com)
Bomb detonated in Detroit school; no injuries (seattletimes.nwsource.com)
Social Networking For Texas School Districts Presentation Slides (nextcommunications.blogspot.com)

Tags: Education, facebook, Georgia, Mass media, Online Communities, social network, social networking, Social Networks, twitter, United States

Successful Social Media Experts Have A Plan

Mar 3

Posted by Teasastips in social networking | 3 Comments

Is It Really Possible to Create a High Traffic Blog?

The blogging bug bit mankind a couple of years ago and since then, it has spread like a virus. Blogging as a hobby appeals to people of all generations; everyone, from the age of eight to eighty, seem to be interested in the concept. The reason behind this is that the topics of the blogs are of such diverse nature that it has an inborn element of appeal attached to it.

Nowadays, people blog on just about anything, from their experience of a one-night stand to their latest culinary endeavors.

And needless stay, most blogs have a dedicated readership base, a fact that is reflected by the huge amount of online traffic each blog enjoys everyday. This unconventional ability to attract readers without putting in too much of an extra effort soon caught the attention of the corporate houses. Once the clever bourgeoisie got wind of this fact, they immediately tapped this sector to advertise themselves. In return they set up a source of income for the bloggers. Truly something quite unheard of!

Why does a blog attract so many netizens? The reason lies in the fact that most blogs are like one’s personal diary made public, where every common man reflects on his day-to-day experiences. In the midst of these discussions, there comes forth issues of social relevance, and soon concerned readers pour in to share their views. So it’s quite evident that the social networking facility of a blog is the secret behind its being such a brilliant net traffic inducer.

The very concept of blog may not be directly a social networking scheme; in fact the very idea of having a common public forum for discussing things appealing to similar tastes was already present in websites and chat rooms.

Twitter and Facebook came after blogging had already won the faith of almost all netizens. But the revolutionary thing about blogs was that it afforded people to elaborate their views or display their literary skill or any other such fondness and in turn make new friends with people of similar or different passions.

When corporate houses understood the marketing potential of blogs, they immediately set up sites Lifehacker and Kotaku, each of which has its own set of dedicated content writers, who have to ability to amalgamate their creative juices with their bookish (or shall should I say wikish) knowledge and churn out new articles at the flash of a lightning.

Hence, interested readers would log onto that page every half an hour or so to check out what’s new. And the fun doesn’t stop there. Most readers, after reading these blogs, comment on them as well. Nine out of ten times a healthy conversation ensues which leads to an elaborate process of quoting numerous bloggers and thereby getting to know other people who might thinking about these matters.

Social networking inevitably leads to linking of various blogs together. Once the process of linking starts, the blog sites become virtually a more powerful search engine than Google or Yahoo, since quite effortlessly and without any net traffic hassles, the concerned reader would get to know a lot about the issue.

These opinions are again open to debate; some are a bit biased while others are extremely lame in their logical structure. But since they reflect the various human perspectives of a single issue, blogging ensures that a person develops the ability to appreciate various angles of a single matter.

By being informal in their structure, blogs do cater to a large and dedicated reader base, one that keeps expanding with time.

If you want to go this route, make sure you write your content in such a way that it encourages healthy conversation between bloggers. Soon enough, you’ll notice marketing managers hankering after you to attach a small tagline of their product to your blog. In that process you end up earning quite a bit, if and only if you have the flair to weave magic out of words. Happy Blogging!

Google Adds Facebook Pages to Real-time Search (mashable.com)
Blogging Tip: Make most out of your Top landing page (shoutmeloud.com)
Yahoo extends social drive with Twitter deal (v3.co.uk)
Facebook status updates to appear in Google (telegraph.co.uk)
Another Way To Promoting A Blog Is By Email Signature (yearn2blog.com)
Press Releases for Building Traffic and Recognition (thoughtmechanics.com)

Tags: blog, facebook, Google, Kotaku, Lifehacker, Social network service, Web search engine, yahoo

The Rich Jerk: Never Trust A Guru

Feb 27

Posted by Teasastips in home business success, internet marketing, make money fast, make money online, make money opportunities, make money opportunity | 2 Comments

I was sickened when I read this article. See, that’s why my motto is “Never Trust A Guru.” Self professed internet marketing guru The Rich Jerk, you’ve heard of him, probably seen his ads on guru, you might even be on his mailing list. If you’ve shelled out the $10,000 for his ‘coaching and mentoring’ program, then you are one of the fools he refers to in his public ‘confession.’

Let me give you some background, and I hope this article reads right because in my mind I am on fire! I hate it when people take advantage of other people for their own material gain. Call me naïve, call me whatever, but I am real, know this to be true! I don’t want you to shell out money for products I know don’t work. Maybe that’s why I only promote online games. I will NEVER have my name tied up with some scam artist. These people prey on those who don’t know any better, who are looking to make a quick buck. People who act impulsively and choose to let their credit cards do their thinking.

But as George Hull (not P.T. Barnum) once said, “there’s a sucker born every minute,” yes apparently so. The Rich Jerk (as he calls himself, Google this name and you will see who he is), still makes $1 million a month instead of the $3 million a month he was making (thanks to the FTC.) He is making this money from the wallets of unsuspecting people like you. If not you, then maybe your relatives, friends or neighbors, whomever.

Don’t let anymore self proclaimed gurus take advantage of you. People I implore you to do your research, read about a company before you join one! Don’t be a sheep, don’t be a follower. And please don’t believe the hype when you read, “only 12 left,” or “private launch.” Those words are the biggest sack of lies ever invented; designed to get you to part with your hard earned money as quickly as possible.

You can read the rest of Rich Jerk’s confession by going here: “Just Thoughts (and why most marketers probably won’t promote my stuff anymore.)”

I warn you it is not pretty.

Work-at-Home Scams are an Epidemic (startupprofessionals.com)
The Pros And Cons Of Clickbank (ronmedlin.com)

Tags: Confidence trick, Credit card, Federal Trade Commission, Google, Mailing list, Marketing, never trust a guru, P.T. Barnum, search, the rich jerk

Did You Know Free Reports Build Lists?

Feb 27

Posted by Teasastips in internet marketing, make money fast, make money online | No Comments

Special Reports: Build your List and Make Money

Does your business enterprise need a boost? Consider using special reports to add revenue and build a business contact list for future use. (GET YOUR FREE REPORT BELOW BY CLICKING ON THE IMAGE)

What are special reports?

Special reports are short reports that contain helpful information on a subject. The reports are anywhere from a few to 30 or so pages in length. If you have the know-how, you can write them yourself or hire a writing service to do it for you. There is very little work involved in creating them but they are versatile tools for building an online business.

One popular subject for special reports is how-tos. They direct a reader, step by step, how to do something. If you are knowledgeable with computer software and hardware, that is a perfect niche for special reports on your website. People are always having trouble figuring out their computers and you could help.

Marketing special reports

There are options for marketing your special reports. If you are trying to build a business list of customers, use these special reports as a freebie when any visitor signs up to be a part of your email mailing list. For this type of promotion, use a shorter report like a five page report on how to navigate problems with Windows Vista (if your website has a computer niche).

You can create a five-part course and use the first part as the free promotion. It is your hook. Once they sign up for the mailing list, you can grant them access to the other installments through emails that also advertise your website products. Signing up for a business newsletter subscription can also be the reason to gift a free special report.

Making money

All of your special reports don’t have to go towards list building. Besides your other products or services, you can sell special reports on your website. Many reports sell for between $5 and $20 a piece, but if you offer very valuable information, you can command a higher price. Sell single reports or create various courses to interest your customers.

People love to learn about money-making opportunities. They will pay the money for any information that is a how-to guide to making money on and offline in various ways. How have you made money? Begin there with the subject of your special reports.

As your business grows, create an affiliate program. This gives customers a way to help you make more money and also make some for them. Offer certain special reports as additional compensation for reaching a certain selling level in the affiliate program.

There are a number of ways to use special reports. As you build your library and your lists, alternate the free promotional reports and continue to sell your entire library, creating combination offers such as Buy Two, Get One Free.

While your special reports are building your contact list, they are also making you money. With such a low cost to create them, your profit margin will rise.

Traffic Generation and List Building Tips For Online Business (ronmedlin.com)
5 Common Newbie Affiliate Marketer Mistakes (tlmarketing.net)
Practical Affiliate Marketing Tips – 3 Effective Tips To Survive The Affiliate Game (slideshare.net)
Social Media Traffic & Your Website (thoughtmechanics.com)
How can I get a Traffic Explosion to Launch my website. (startups.com)
Want More Traffic? Write Compelling Content (shoutmeloud.com)

Tags: Affiliate Marketing, business, Mail List, Marketing, Online and offline, Web Design and Development, Website, Windows Vista

Let The Games Begin!

Feb 25

Posted by Teasastips in make money online, make money opportunities, make money opportunity | No Comments

: Image by jebb via Flickr

STUDY SHOWS WOMEN EMBRACE THEIR INNER GAMER…

A November 2009 study from Q Interactive and Social Media World Forum shows that more than 2000 women actively engaged with brands as they dabbled in social media games. It shows that women are passionate and very competitive about games like Lil Green Patches and Happy Aquariums and stocking up on virtual currency. According to Pew Internet, the study showed that 50% of U.S. women play online games which shows growth in a group where certain brands fit in. This is good news for the gaming industry which is already a $720 million online social gaming market is expected to at least double to over $1 billion this year.
Here is what the typical female gamer looks like demographically:

• 85% of those surveyed use 5 or less games/apps regularly. Women are loyal to a handful of favorites, and approximately 15% regularly invest in 6 or more games/apps at a time.
• 57% are earning/spending virtual currency daily
• 74% got involved in a game or app due to a recommendation by family or friend or because they noticed a friend or family members’ score
• 95% utilize virtual currency primarily to gift and/or advance games
• When women interact with games and apps, 57% feel virtual gifting, for example, giving a bag of virtual makeup from Sephora is as meaningful as real life gifting

So if you’re a game application developer, a good target audience is women. Its as if these games are a part of the everyday lives of women who chose online gaming. A February 2010 study conducted by Q Interactive and Engage! Expo showed that women are the largest demographic of social media users. The study of over 700 women proved that 54% of the women play games online everyday while a segment of the women (30%) play weekly.

But, what is really interesting is that 42% of the women responding say they are ‘gamers’ while 7% believe they are obsessed with online gaming. 67% of the respondents said that playing games online 1-5 hours a week is socially acceptable. While almost 45% of those surveyed say they have friends whom they consider obsessed with social media gaming. And get this, close to 16% of the respondents say they hide or sometimes hide their gaming habits.

Are there stigmas attached to obsessive social media gaming habits? 24% of the women believe the games are addictive, while 21% said playing online gaming makes you neglectful in other areas of your life. Of course there are those who believe that playing games online is a total waste of time (17%); while playing at work is taboo, 93% of those surveyed say they mainly play at home.

A major fear of women gamers is that their favorite pastime will no longer be free. Over 54% believe the future of online gaming lies in payment. But developers beware, if you make your huge customer base pay for their favorite online activity, 77% say they would give up the game. Only 10% reported they would agree to a monthly subscription or fee, but another 10% revealed that a pay as you go system would be acceptable. Just 2% preferred a separate payment scenario for each game played.

All this data reveals both challenges and opportunities for the gaming industry. Because I have marketed and promoted some games in various social communities, I have grown to understand that the majority of my users are women. Now, having a better understanding of this important demographic, I’m ready to let the games begin!

Who’s Playing Social Games? [STATS] (mashable.com)
New Survey Reveals Social Gaming Phenomenon in U.S. and U.K. (games.ign.com)
FarmVille on CNN.com: Changing the way we play games. (games.com)
100 million users in US, UK play online social games (newstatesman.com)
Love/hate: Being a ‘girl gamer’ (destructoid.com)
Women “obsessed” with social games (as long as they’re free) (games.com)
Women social gamers are engaged with brands and offers (seattlepi.com)

Tags: Game, Gamer, Online game, People, Sephora, Video game, Virtual economy, Women

To Blog or Not To Blog?

Feb 22

Posted by Teasastips in social media | No Comments

View Larger Map

A Great Idea For a Blogging Web Site is No Longer Enough

Because there are so many blogs and web sites about blogs on the internet, it can be tough to distinguish your blogging web site from all of the others. Whether you are starting up a new web site aimed at bloggers or whether you are looking to make your existing blogging site more distinctive, the key to building and maintaining a site that will capture the interest and attention of the blogging community is finding your niche. If you can fill a unique need in a way that no other web site does, you’ll be able to build a lasting readership among web surfers. Once you have discovered a niche, you will still have a lot to do, but finding your place in the blogosphere is the place to begin. If you’re lucky, you can utilize the services of the Austin wordpress expert.

Every great blogging web site starts with a great idea, and you can’t build a successful site that will last without one. There are many great sites aimed at today’s bloggers, and competition for the attention of this growing demographic is fierce. To make your blogging web site stand out from the pack, you will need to offer something that no other site is currently offering, or you will need to do the same thing that an already popular site does but in a more impressive or valuable way. Using an Austin wordpress expert can help alleviate some of that stress.

Once you have a great idea for your site, have pinpointed a special niche that you are well equipped to fill, and have infused the site with personality, the next step is figuring out how to get the word out to bloggers. In the long run, a great idea just isn’t enough to propel your blogging web site to success. You will need to draft a smart and realistic marketing plan in order to draw readers to your site. Once you hook a blogger, your great content will keep them coming back, but it is vital to get that first glance or your site won’t have a chance to shine.

How the Blogosphere Uses YouTube Videos (socialmediatoday.com)
Top 5 Ways To Drive Traffic To Your Blog (shoutmeloud.com)
In Blog We Trust (dave-lucas.blogspot.com)
What Type of Blogger Are You? (blogworldexpo.com)

Tags: blog, Blogosphere, Community, Directories, Marketing, Public relations, Website, World Wide Web

Cutting Through Affiliate Program Confusion

Feb 19

Posted by Teasastips in make money fast, make money online, make money opportunities, make money opportunity | 2 Comments

So Many Affiliate Programs! Which One Do I Choose?

Ask questions first before you join an affiliate program. Do a little research about the choices of program that you intend to join into. Get some answers because they will be the deciding point of what you will be achieving later on. Will it cost you anything to join? Most affiliate programs being offered today are absolutely free of charge. So why settle for those that charge you some dollars before joining. When do they issue the commission checks? Every program is different. Some issue their checks once a month, every quarter, etc. Select the one that is suited to your payment time choice. Many affiliate programs are setting a minimum earned commission amount that an affiliate must meet or exceed in order for their checks to be issued. What is the hit per sale ratio? This is the average number of hits to a banner or text link it takes to generate a sale based on all affiliate statistics. This factor is extremely important because this will tell you how much traffic you must generate before you can earn a commission from the sale. How are referrals from an affiliate’s site tracked and for how long do they remain in the system? You need to be confident on the program enough to track those people you refer from your site. This is the only way that you can credit for a sale. The period of time that those people stay in the system is also important. This is because some visitors do not buy initially but may want to return later to make the purchase. Know if you will still get credit for the sale if it is done some months from a certain day.

What are the kinds of affiliate stats available? Your choice of affiliate program should be capable of offering detailed stats. They should be available online anytime you decide to check them out. Constantly checking your individual stats is important to know how many impressions, hits and sales are already generated from your site. Impressions are the number of times the banner or text link was viewed by a visitor of your site. A hit is the one clicking on the banner or text links.

Does the affiliate program also pay for the hits and impressions besides the commissions on sales? It is important that impressions and hits are also paid, as this will add to the earnings you get from the sales commission. This is especially important if the program you are in offers low sales to be able to hit ratio.

Who is the online retailer? Find out whom you are doing business with to know if it is really a solid company. Know the products they are selling and the average amount they are achieving. The more you know about the retailer offering you the affiliate program, the easier it will be for you to know if that program is really for you and your site.

Is the affiliate a one tier or two tier program? A single tier program pays you only for the business you yourself have generated. A two tier program pays you for the business, plus it also pays you a commission on the on the sales generated by any affiliate you sponsor in your program. Some two-tier programs are even paying small fees on each new affiliate you sponsor. More like a recruitment fee.

Lastly, what is the amount of commission paid? 5% – 20% is the commission paid by most programs. .01% – .05% is the amount paid for each hit. If you find a program that also pays for impressions, the amount paid is not much at all. As you can see from the figures, you will now understand why the average sales amount and hit to sale ratio is important.

These are just some of the questions that needed answering first before you enter into an affiliate program. You should be familiar with the many important aspects that your chosen program should have before incorporating them into your website. Try to ask your affiliate program choices these questions. These can help you select the right program for you site from among the many available.

Things To Remember About An Affiliate Program (yearn2blog.com)
Running an Affiliate Program: How to Choose Your Commission Levels (marketersdaily.com)
How to Attract Affiliates To Your Internet Marketing Program (marketersdaily.com)
The Affiliate Marketing Review Report Card (johnchow.com)
Make Money with Wealthy Affiliate – 3 Ways to Earn Money Online with Wealthy Affiliate University (ronmedlin.com)

Tags: Affiliate Marketing, affiliate program, business, Commission, Hit, Online shopping, Statistics, Website

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How Social Networking Can Save Education
Successful Social Media Experts Have A Plan
The Rich Jerk: Never Trust A Guru
Did You Know Free Reports Build Lists?
Let The Games Begin!
To Blog or Not To Blog?
Cutting Through Affiliate Program Confusion
Parents: Warn Your Kids about Internet Safety
Proper Internet Marketing Has Its Own Rewards
Don’t You Want To Catch Google Spiders?
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