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	<title>Peacock Creative Services</title>
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	<link>http://peacockcreative.net</link>
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		<title>5 Very Cool Content Curation Tools for Social Marketers</title>
		<link>http://peacockcreative.net/04/content-curation-2/5-very-cool-content-curation-tools-for-social-marketers/</link>
		<comments>http://peacockcreative.net/04/content-curation-2/5-very-cool-content-curation-tools-for-social-marketers/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Fri, 19 Apr 2013 17:57:35 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Stephen Peacock</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Content Curation]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://peacockcreative.net/?p=728</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[Looking for some tools to help with your content curation? The team at TheSocialMediaHat.com have found 5 very cool curation tools you should check out! Content curation is quickly becoming an important way that companies serve their audience. It is no longer just me, me, me &#8211; no sir! By curating content business marketers share relevant, useful information to their ...]]></description>
				<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>Looking for some tools to help with your content curation? The team at TheSocialMediaHat.com have found 5 very cool curation tools you should check out!</p>
<p>Content curation is quickly becoming an important way that companies serve their audience. It is no longer just me, me, me &#8211; no sir! By curating content business marketers share relevant, useful information to their audience from other source and can quickly become an invaluable ally. If you are not curating content now &#8211; you should be.  Check out the article to see the tools they recommend.</p>
<p><a href="http://goo.gl/oVDfx" target="_blank">thesocialmediahat.com</a> &#8211; In the Age of Information, the ability to “curate”, or gather and arrange content, becomes one of the most important skills you can have. After all, the information is out there for everyone to see. What makes you stand out from the crowd is how you locate and present it. This process can be a grueling one if you go at it alone. That’s why the smart content curator will find tools to make their job easier in siphoning the best material off the top of the web, and presenting it in the purest and most palatable of forms.</p>
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		<title>4 SEO Recommendations For Dealing With B2B Lengthening Sales Cycles</title>
		<link>http://peacockcreative.net/04/search-engine-optimization/4-seo-recommendations-for-dealing-with-b2b-lengthening-sales-cycles/</link>
		<comments>http://peacockcreative.net/04/search-engine-optimization/4-seo-recommendations-for-dealing-with-b2b-lengthening-sales-cycles/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Wed, 17 Apr 2013 18:53:48 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Stephen Peacock</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[SEO]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://peacockcreative.net/?p=726</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[searchengineland.com &#8211; Many of our clients face sales cycles in a six- to twelve-month duration. In a recent client interview, one of the sales directors revealed that they were on the verge of closing a multi-million dollar deal that took nearly three years of nurturing alone to finally get to the proposal process. With multiple decision makers and departments impacting ...]]></description>
				<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p><a href="http://goo.gl/fLqFZ" target="_blank">searchengineland.com</a> &#8211; Many of our clients face sales cycles in a six- to twelve-month duration. In a recent client interview, one of the sales directors revealed that they were on the verge of closing a multi-million dollar deal that took nearly three years of nurturing alone to finally get to the proposal process. With multiple decision makers and departments impacting complete B2B solutions, marketing plays a pivotal role.</p>
<p>Click the link at the top of the article to learn more how Google Authorship and Social Media Analysis can help aid the sales cycle.</p>
]]></content:encoded>
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		<title>Using LinkedIn to Your Advantage</title>
		<link>http://peacockcreative.net/07/social-media-marketing/linkedin/using-linkedin-to-your-advantage/</link>
		<comments>http://peacockcreative.net/07/social-media-marketing/linkedin/using-linkedin-to-your-advantage/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Thu, 26 Jul 2012 15:17:13 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Stephen Peacock</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[LinkedIn]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[internet marketing]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[small business]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[social media]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://peacockcreative.net/?p=612</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[In June 2012, I had the pleasure of working with Rob Kastelic of OutsideRaleigh.com to give a presentation to the Fuquay-Varina Chamber of Commerce on LinkedIn. The presentation &#8221;Using LinkedIn to Your Advantage&#8221; provides an overview of how get started leveraging the powerhouse business social media network to advance small business goals. Small and medium sized businesses in small towns like ...]]></description>
				<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>In June 2012, I had the pleasure of working with <a title="Rob Kastelic, OutsideRaleigh.com" href="http://outsideraleigh.com/about/outside-raleigh-partners/" target="_blank">Rob Kastelic of OutsideRaleigh.com</a> to give a presentation to the Fuquay-Varina Chamber of Commerce on LinkedIn. The presentation &#8221;Using LinkedIn to Your Advantage&#8221; provides an overview of how get started leveraging the powerhouse business social media network to advance small business goals.</p>
<p>Small and medium sized businesses in small towns like Fuquay-Varina, North Carolina are becoming more aware of the power social media networks have to expand their reach in a cost-effective way. After all, when you are on a tight budget, sharing your products, services and expertise in an affordable way with as many prospects as possible is always a goal!  But many small business owners in our chamber were  not entirely comfortable with LinkedIn or understood it&#8217;s potential to help them build strong relationships with potential and existing customers.</p>
<h2>Why Small Business Should Use LinkedIn</h2>
<p>As we shared in the presentation, there are several strong reason for small business to investigate the potential of LinkedIn but the most compelling is this:</p>
<ul>
<li><strong>LinkedIn is the largest professional social network online today with 150+ million users and a targeted audience of business professionals.</strong></li>
</ul>
<p>If you are a business professional and you do not have a powerful presence on LinkedIn, you are undoubtedly missing valuable opportunities to connect and grow your business.</p>
<div>
<h2>The Presentation: Using LinkedIn To Your Advantage</h2>
<p>The presentation, which is available for review or download below, covers the following  topics:</p>
<ol>
<li>Why Use LinkedIn</li>
<li>Build your foundation with a complete profile</li>
<li>Build your network</li>
<li>Give to Get recommendations</li>
<li>Setting up a company page on LinkedIn</li>
<li>Overview of LinkedIn Groups and Discussions</li>
<li>Developing Thought Leadership</li>
<li>How to access LinkedIn Help</li>
</ol>
</div>
<div>
<div class="gde-error">GDE Error: Unable to load profile settings</div>
</div>
<p>While the presentation slides themselves provide many of the details covered in the presentation, participants in the workshop benefited from a rich discussion of real-life issues and additional insights from presenters Rob Kastelic and Stephen Peacock.</p>
<h3>Want to learn how to leverage LinkedIn and other social media networks cost-effectively for your business?  Contact me using the form below.</h3>
<div>
<div id="mysite_form1" class="mysite_form"><form action="/feed/#mysite_form1" method="post"><div class="mysite_form_row name_row"><label for="mysite_field01">Name<span class="star">*</span></label><input type="text" name="mysite_field01" id="mysite_field01" class="textfield name required" value="" /></div><div class="mysite_form_row email_row"><label for="mysite_field11">Email<span class="star">*</span></label><input type="text" name="mysite_field11" id="mysite_field11" class="textfield email required" value="" /></div><div class="mysite_form_row textfield_row"><label for="mysite_field21">Telephone</label><input type="text" name="mysite_field21" id="mysite_field21" class="textfield" value="" /></div><div class="mysite_form_row textarea_row"><label for="mysite_field31">Your Message<span class="star">*</span></label><textarea name="mysite_field31" id="mysite_field31" class="textarea required" rows="5" cols="40"></textarea></div><div class="mysite_form_row submit_row"><label for="mysite_field41">&nbsp;</label><input type="submit" value="Send Message" class="contact_form_submit fancy_button" /><div class="mysite_contact_feedback"><img src="http://peacockcreative.net/wp/wp-content/themes/infocus/images/assets/transparent.gif" style="background-image: url(http://peacockcreative.net/wp/wp-content/themes/infocus/images/assets/preloader.png);"></div></div><div class="mysite_form_row autoresponder_row"><label for="mysite_field51">&nbsp;</label></div><div class="mysite_form_row captcha_row"><label for="mysite_field61">8 + 8 </label><input type="text" name="mysite_field61" id="mysite_field61" class="textfield required" value="" /></div><div class="mysite_form_row mysite_email_required"><input type="text" name="mysite_email_required" id="mysite_email_required" /></div><div class="mysite_form_row mysite_zip_required"><input type="text" name="mysite_zip_required" id="mysite_zip_required" /></div><div class="mysite_form_row" style="display:none;"><input type="hidden" name="_mysite_form" value="1"><input type="hidden" name="_mysite_form_encode" value="rVVNb9swDL0X6H9gDt0Oa4PaSdPYvQwoeuhhw4AGGHYqZJmNtdiSK8nJvKH_vZJtOc6H4QzolXx-fKLJRxLehv9U6Pnhp9dC6LusVEzjM2aEpXXkToX-bZNVGvME-dccCRV0RSUSzdY45qhbsDfdpVJF9BvpNu97TT7FNUqyRFCCMpJChjEjLawtWVCKSrXxmVO6SAhfQSmKEfwShTSfK2XZEqIgQuSgkOsR_MTPaWoCwDhoUdDElBN8dFCHrJjK2mdE4XVXA4sxInInN2tyLwzT2MkjTTf3WlBhrr0WNLEgh9Fljq0aF-Qk2wZvXMNIhOkB9HsXOm-CEl8LJjE-QGtZOPRbj1DvFKFO0-6gHFfqog872F6px6j7tPqnaA1cEP_o6qsBvQ6_wNSMu-CD7bUT0adwcorCeUchMUs1ILDd1mrwv9WD_6EzMNuqnvaqdutBSa5pMiTaLcwcvsAchtX2sR-Ps9Cb2de07tI1suc9chJ69lG9pV3C_vsyF7rTrGCX_i_LP4rcsk-cGRVaSFS54DHKLi8zk7b3S3aswne9_1E7NNw3Fg1PKNfMOOnABv-X1W89es_ip12PVvAiJNwLrgnVjC_NwB4wZHsz7M_duMCFNbiLy_Oz87PW8itGumXMEEgkCg3NTbGx7lWp8KVdlqhQjJtiY3iEDTOXoWkz5CiV4CRNS3Mmaqy7KBumE3M9_CkkJqzGVsrjS43hiDEwBYVcmnNzWYnLSAnUMFWyNARecDWZz658P5iZQ6Q39jgFQDIgpu4N5Bk8PC1qVkiFWFm1GyJjKyTBNLevsbxLKTZ7r2iH5-0d"></div></form></div></div>
<div class="titled_box">
<h6 class="titled_box_title slategrey"><span>If You Enjoyed This Post Follow Me</span></h6>
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<p><img class="alignleft" title="stephen-peacock" src="http://peacockcreative.net/wp/wp-content/uploads/2012/01/stephen-peacock.jpg" alt="" width="100" height="123" /><strong>Follow me on Google Plus <a href="https://plus.google.com/117806803985338592754/about?" rel="author" target="_blank">+Stephen Peacock</a></strong></p>
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<h3></h3>
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		<title>Put WOW In Your Next Presentation with PowToon!</title>
		<link>http://peacockcreative.net/07/presentations/put-wow-presentation-with-powtoon/</link>
		<comments>http://peacockcreative.net/07/presentations/put-wow-presentation-with-powtoon/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Wed, 18 Jul 2012 19:11:12 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Stephen Peacock</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Presentations]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[powerpoint]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[powtoon]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[powtoonist]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[presentation]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://peacockcreative.net/?p=600</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[PowerPoint presentations are dull and passé. Wow your next audience with a PowToon presentation and have them eating out of your hand! Go from dull to WOW! Okay, that might be a little over the top &#8211; having a snazzy presentation alone isn&#8217;t going to make your prospects or internal stakeholders drool over what you are proposing.  Sure there needs to ...]]></description>
				<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>PowerPoint presentations are dull and passé. Wow your next audience with a PowToon presentation and have them eating out of your hand! Go from dull to WOW!</p>
<p>Okay, that might be a little over the top &#8211; having a snazzy presentation alone isn&#8217;t going to make your prospects or internal stakeholders drool over what you are proposing.  Sure there needs to be a clear value proposition and supporting evidence when appropriate &#8211; but the truth is graphic images do make a difference in presentations.  <strong>And moving images &#8211; aka video &#8211; is even more powerful! </strong></p>
<p><strong>PowToon enables anyone with just a little tech comfort to make powerful animated graphic presentations (or presentoons as they call them) quickly and affordably.</strong></p>
<h2>What is PowToon?</h2>
<p>Of course, I&#8217;m sure you are wondering just what PowToon is and it&#8217;s probably best to get it straight from them.  They say:</p>
<blockquote><p>PowToon is the brand new Do-It-Yourself <strong>animated presentation tool</strong> that supercharges your presentations and videos! Save massive amounts of time and money by creating Presentoons that bring the WOW!-factor to product demos, business presentations, social media clips, and much more.</p>
<p style="padding-left: 30px;">• User-friendly, Intuitive interface<br />
• Countless style, image, and effect combos<br />
• Professional results, powerful responses</p>
</blockquote>
<p><a title="TechCrunch describes Powtoons." href="http://techcrunch.com/2012/06/26/now-everyone-can-make-marketing-videos-powtoon-launches-diy-presentation-tool/" target="_blank">Here&#8217;s some of what TechCrunch had to say about Powtoon</a>:</p>
<blockquote><p>The freemium service is aimed at non-professional designers and video editors, and it offers drag-and-drop objects which you add to slides. You then choose their animation, duration, add text, and add a soundtrack. Then, boom, you have a professional-looking demo presentation. The service also includes templates to get you started (e.g a product demo teaser, event invitation, etc.), if need be. The resulting presentations can be uploaded to YouTube or shared on social networks like Facebook and Twitter, of course.</p>
<p>The U.K./Israel-based company was founded in October 2011 by serial entrepreneur Ilya Spitalnik (CEO) who now runs the <a href="http://www.greenwaveincubator.com/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Greenwave Incubator</a> and COO Daniel Zaturansky. It has some funding from Spitalnik through Greenwave as well as a small round from Kima Ventures, but is mostly bootstrapping.</p></blockquote>
<h2>Want to See a PowToon?</h2>
<p>By now you are wondering what all the fuss is about.  Well, here&#8217;s a sample PowToon from the company that provides a excellent overview of the presentation tool.</p>
<p><iframe src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/XokhlijAAI0?rel=0" frameborder="0" width="626" height="352"></iframe></p>
<p><strong><a title="Visit Powtoon Gallery" href="http://www.powtoon.com/blog/gallery/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">See other Powtoons in the gallery.</a></strong></p>
<h2>Make Your Own Powtoon</h2>
<p>From my perspective it is easy to see how this tool could be used to <strong>transform dull powerpoint presentations into an engaging presentation</strong> that increases the likelihood of your prospects converting. I made my first PowToon yesterday and it was accomplished in relatively short order. If you are comfortable with technology you can <a title="Become a Powtoon beta tester" href="http://www.powtoon.com/" target="_blank">sign up to be a Powtoon beta tester here</a>. During the beta testing period you may have to wait a few days for your invite to be accepted, but it is expected that Powtoon will open to the general public in August 2012.</p>
<h2>Want a PowToon But Don&#8217;t Want to Make It?</h2>
<p>If you don&#8217;t feel you have the skill or patience to make your own Powtoons you are in luck. The company is wrangling a few PowToonists who can help meet market demand. We have applied to become a Master Powtoonist and hope to receive our credentials in the near future. If you are a creative type &#8211; you can <a title="Apply to become a PowToonist" href="http://www.powtoon.com/blog/powtoonist-genius/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">sign up to become a Powtoonist</a> and maybe earn a few duckets for your skill and expertise.</p>
<h3>What Do You Think?</h3>
<p>Do you think there is there a market for an online animated presentation tool? Will you try it? Will PowToon replace PowerPoint or Keynote presentations?  I could go on and on but instead of that I invite you to share your thoughts in the comment section below.</p>
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<h6 class="titled_box_title slategrey"><span>If You Enjoyed This Post Follow Me</span></h6>
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		<title>Awesome Website Design Fuquay-Varina</title>
		<link>http://peacockcreative.net/07/internet-marketing/awesome-website-design-fuquay-varina/</link>
		<comments>http://peacockcreative.net/07/internet-marketing/awesome-website-design-fuquay-varina/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Tue, 17 Jul 2012 19:12:18 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Stephen Peacock</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Internet Marketing]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[affordable website design]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[fuquay-varina]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[search engine optimization]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[seo]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[website design]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://peacockcreative.net/?p=590</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[Since 2008 Peacock Creative Services has been delivering awesome website design in Fuquay-Varina.  Eye catching, search optimized websites that attract new customers. If your old website isn&#8217;t doing the job anymore, maybe it&#8217;s time for an upgrade!  Do you know how users interact with your website?  Does your website appear on the first page of search engine results for your ...]]></description>
				<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>Since 2008 Peacock Creative Services has been delivering awesome website design in Fuquay-Varina.  Eye catching, search optimized websites that attract new customers.</p>
<p>If your old website isn&#8217;t doing the job anymore, maybe it&#8217;s time for an upgrade!  Do you know <a title="How visitors interact with your website" href="http://peacockcreative.net/01/internet-marketing/how-do-visitors-interact-with-your-website/" target="_blank">how users interact with your website?</a>  Does your <a title="Is your website on the first page of search engine results?" href="http://peacockcreative.net/12/search-engine-optimization/website-first-page-of-search-results/" target="_blank">website appear on the first page of search engine results for your key terms?</a>  <strong>If you answers to those questions in &#8220;no&#8221; than you should think about contacting us.</strong></p>
<h2>Awesome Website Design You Can Afford!</h2>
<p>We have designed and published many websites for small and medium sized business who don&#8217;t have a huge budget. And you should know, affordable website design doesn&#8217;t mean ineffective. It just means smart!</p>
<p>Our website design services are tailored to help meet your business goals without breaking the bank. In fact, quite a few customers start small and then add on new pages of information as their budgets permit.  And with more than 50 pages ranking on the first page of Google search results, our success rate is very high!</p>
<h2>Secret to Our Website Design Success</h2>
<p>From our office in Fuquay-Varina we searched the internet for the most cost-effective website design solution.  We were looking for a framework that would allow us to rapid develop and optimize a website that our customers could easily manage on their own.  The answer was quite simple &#8211; WordPress content management system.  It is free!  It is robust!  It is flexible and ever so extensible.  It is a hit but not just with us.  <a title="Wikipedia WordPress page" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/WordPress" target="_blank">Version 3 of WordPress has been downloaded over 65 million times!</a></p>
<p>Of course, when you combine WordPress with our search engine optimization know how, it&#8217;s a win &#8211; win for both our customers and us.  You succeed and because you are so happy with that success &#8211; you tell others, just like in the customer testimonials you&#8217;ll read below.</p>
<h2>Is Your Business Looking for a New Website Design?</h2>
<p>If your business is looking for a new website design we encourage you to <a title="Contact Peacock Creative Services" href="http://peacockcreative.net/contact-us/">contact us</a> weather you live in Fuquay-Varina or not. Thanks to the power of the internet we&#8217;ve designed and developed websites for companies across the United States.  We also invite you to take a look at our <a title="Website Design Portfolio" href="http://peacockcreative.net/marketing-consultant/website-design/">website design portfolio</a> and check out some of testimonials below.</p>
<div class="testimonial_grid one_column_testimonial"><span class="pullquote2"><span class="quotes">We hired Stephen after realizing there was so much to SEO optimization that we just didn't understand. Stephen was quickly able to get a handle on why we had such poor rankings and immediately developed a solution that in a short amount of time began paying off. Stephen's knowledge and customer service turned a very confusing and overwhelming problem into a very manageable and rewarding endeavor. My only regret was not hiring him sooner!</span><span class="testimonial_author"><span class="testimonial_image"><img alt='' src='http://0.gravatar.com/avatar/00ca0cd2690b67a9ff77f4cb17c0e988?s=40&amp;d=http%3A%2F%2Fpeacockcreative.net%2Fwp%2Fwp-content%2Fthemes%2Finfocus%2Fimages%2Fassets%2Ftestimonial_gravatar_default.png%3Fs%3D40&amp;r=G' class='avatar avatar-40 photo' height='40' width='40' /></span><span class="testimonial_meta"><span class="testimonial_author_name">Mike Cole</span></span></span></span><div class="clearboth"></div><span class="pullquote2"><span class="quotes">Stephen Peacock worked personally with me on my website. He approached each step of the process in a highly creative and skillful manner and has, since then, been readily available to make professional and timely updates. I highly recommend this genius of a web designer!</span><span class="testimonial_author"><span class="testimonial_image"><img src="http://peacockcreative.net/wp/wp-content/themes/infocus/lib/scripts/timthumb/thumb.php?src=http://peacockcreative.net/wp/wp-content/uploads/2012/01/Jan-Parker.jpg&#038;w=40&#038;h=40&#038;zc=1&#038;q=100" title="" alt="" width="40" height="40" /></span><span class="testimonial_meta"><span class="testimonial_author_name">Jan Parker</span></span></span></span><div class="clearboth"></div></div><p>You can <a title="Testimonials" href="http://peacockcreative.net/about/testimonials/">view more testimonials here.</a></p>
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		<title>Blogging for Business &#8211; An Introduction</title>
		<link>http://peacockcreative.net/07/internet-marketing/blogging-for-business-an-introduction/</link>
		<comments>http://peacockcreative.net/07/internet-marketing/blogging-for-business-an-introduction/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Mon, 09 Jul 2012 14:44:43 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Stephen Peacock</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Blogging]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Internet Marketing]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[blogging]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[internet marketing]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[presentation]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[seo]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[slideshare]]></category>

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		<description><![CDATA[This past June the marketing committee at my local chamber presented a series of eight brown bag lunch sessions.  During one of those sessions I had the honor of collaborating with Drew Becker, of Convey Media Group, to give a presentation on Blogging for Business. The one hour session was an introduction to blogging for business in which attendees learned: ...]]></description>
				<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>This past June the marketing committee at my local chamber presented a series of eight brown bag lunch sessions.  During one of those sessions I had the honor of collaborating with <a title="Drew Becker of Convey Media Group" href="http://conveymediagroup.com/" target="_blank">Drew Becker, of Convey Media Group</a>, to give a presentation on Blogging for Business.</p>
<p><strong>The one hour session was an introduction to blogging for business in which attendees learned:</strong></p>
<ul>
<li><strong>What blogging is</strong></li>
<li><strong>How blogging can help grow business</strong></li>
<li><strong>SEO benefits of blogging</strong></li>
<li><strong>Quick overview of keyword research</strong></li>
<li><strong>What to blog about</strong></li>
<li><strong>How to craft a good blog post</strong></li>
<li><strong>How to measure blogging success</strong></li>
</ul>
<p>Below are the slides from the presentation. If you are just beginning to blog for your business, you should find them helpful.</p>
<h2 style="width: 625px;"><strong style="display: block; margin: 12px 0 4px;"><a title="Blogging for Business - An Introduction" href="http://www.slideshare.net/stephenpeacock/blogging-for-business-13584358" target="_blank">Blogging for Business &#8211; An Introduction</a></strong></h2>
<p><iframe style="border: 1px solid #CCC; border-width: 1px 1px 0;" src="http://www.slideshare.net/slideshow/embed_code/13584358" frameborder="0" marginwidth="0" marginheight="0" scrolling="no" width="625" height="521"></iframe></p>
<h4 style="padding: 5px 0 12px;"><span style="color: #ff0000;"><a title="Blogging for Business Presentation" href="http://peacockcreative.net/wp/wp-content/uploads/2012/08/Blogging-for-Business.pdf"><span style="color: #ff0000;">Download the Blogging for Business presentation</span></a></span> as a pdf.</h4>
<p>Overall we had great feedback from the attendees, but clearly there is a much more to this topic than can be covered in one hour.  And, honestly, we shared a lot of ideas and insights that are not captured in the slides.</p>
<h2>Need Advanced Blogging Advice?</h2>
<p>If you are seeking more advanced information about how to succeed in blogging for business, I invite you to contact me.  I&#8217;ve helped more than 50 SMB achieve first page positions for keyword targeted searches via blogging and other content marketing techniques.  I can help improve your inbound marketing metrics as well! <strong>And, as always, you are welcome to share your thoughts in the comment section below!</strong></p>
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		<title>Facebook Updates: Voice Toolbar and How Post Reach is Defined</title>
		<link>http://peacockcreative.net/07/social-media-marketing/facebook/facebook-updates-voice-toolbar-and-how-reach-is-defined/</link>
		<comments>http://peacockcreative.net/07/social-media-marketing/facebook/facebook-updates-voice-toolbar-and-how-reach-is-defined/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Sat, 07 Jul 2012 16:39:03 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Stephen Peacock</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Facebook]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[facebook]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[facebook post reach]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[facebook voice toolbar]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://peacockcreative.net/?p=532</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[Fan page administrators take note: Facebook is tweaking again &#8211; they&#8217;ve added a &#8220;Voice Toolbar&#8221; and also recently shared how reach is defined for page posts. If you are an administrator for one or more Facebook fan pages you&#8217;ve probably noted the new tool bar at the top of the page that reads &#8220;You are posting, commenting, and liking as ...]]></description>
				<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>Fan page administrators take note: Facebook is tweaking again &#8211; they&#8217;ve added a &#8220;Voice Toolbar&#8221; and also recently shared how reach is defined for page posts.</p>
<p>If you are an administrator for one or more Facebook fan pages you&#8217;ve probably noted the new tool bar at the top of the page that reads &#8220;You are posting, commenting, and liking as (your page) – Change to (your name).&#8221;</p>
<p><img class="aligncenter size-full wp-image-534" title="facebook-voice-toolbar" src="http://peacockcreative.net/wp/wp-content/uploads/2012/07/facebook-voice-toolbar.jpg" alt="facbeook voice toolbar" width="625" height="66" /></p>
<p><span id="more-532"></span></p>
<p>Facebook announced the change on the <a title="Facebook Marketing Page" href="http://www.facebook.com/marketing" target="_blank">Facebook Marketing page saying:</a></p>
<blockquote><p>To improve the Page admin experience, we recently launched the voice bar, so admins can clearly see whether they&#8217;re posting, commenting, and liking from their personal account or as the Page. To change between using Facebook as yourself or as the Page you manage, go to the top of your Page and simply click &#8220;Change to.&#8221;</p></blockquote>
<h2>Facebook Voice Toolbar &#8211; small change, Big Help</h2>
<p>It is really a little change, but it has been a great help to me personally.  Having that little reminder there helps keep me focused on which voice I am using when I am posting on a page I manage.  So, when on a page you manage you can select which voice you want to use, your personal voice or the business&#8217;s voice.  Simple and straightforward.</p>
<p><img class="alignright size-full wp-image-535" title="use-facebook-as" src="http://peacockcreative.net/wp/wp-content/uploads/2012/07/use-facebook-as.jpg" alt="use facebook as menu" width="271" height="292" />Using the voice toolbar does not log you in as the page and when you leave the page you return to your personal voice.  So, if you want to interact as the page beyond your own page you still need to use the &#8220;Use Facebook as&#8221; tool.</p>
<p>But what seems like a small change on the surface involves some other changes in the background. Here&#8217;s the scoop from <a title="Facebook reminds page owners which ‘voice’ they are using to post to their pages" href="http://www.insidefacebook.com/2012/06/28/facebook-reminds-page-owners-which-voice-they-are-using-to-post-to-their-pages/" target="_blank"><strong>Inside Facebook</strong></a>:</p>
<blockquote><p>The voice reminder doesn’t follow users to other parts of the site and it doesn’t give page owners options to switch to using Facebook as a page or change their posting settings. Those two features were always buried and not explained particularly well. Now, Facebook has eliminated the “posting preferences” option from page settings. <strong>This means that users cannot set a default for whether they want to take action as themselves or as a page.</strong> When page owners visit their pages, the new feature defaults to the most recent “voice” used for that page, which may or not be helpful for different people.</p></blockquote>
<h2>Facebook Defines How Post Reach is Calculated</h2>
<p>Another unheralded change occurred recently and to me this is a larger story.  I received a little notification in the admin area while posting for a client late this past week which led me to the find this in the Facebook Help Center:</p>
<blockquote><p><a title="How Reach is defined for Facebook posts" href="http://www.facebook.com/help/?faq=241332825914969" target="_blank">How is Reach defined for each of my Page posts?</a></p>
<p>Reach is the number of people who have seen your post. Figures are for the first 28 days after a post&#8217;s publication and include people viewing your post on both desktop and mobile. Your post counts as having reached someone when it is loaded and shown in news feed. <strong>Note that data from before July 2, 2012 only includes people viewing your post on desktop.</strong></p></blockquote>
<blockquote><p>To sort your Page&#8217;s posts by how many people have seen them, click <strong>Reach</strong> in the Page Posts section of your insights overview.</p></blockquote>
<p>That last note in the first paragraph (which I bolded) caught me totally off guard.  I had (incorrectly) assumed that previous post reach data had included mobile views.  But, that&#8217;s is just not the case.  All along us marketers where only getting a glimpse of the true numbers for post reach.</p>
<p>In the run up to Facebook&#8217;s IPO there was a good bit of chatter about the number of users who access Facebook via mobile apps.  This was primarily because mobile users do not ads which is a big cash cow for FB.  In February of this year TechCrunch shared the following about <a href="http://techcrunch.com/2012/02/01/facebook-has-425-million-mobile-monthly-active-users-up-from-350-million-in-september/" target="_blank">monthly mobile users on Facebook</a>:</p>
<blockquote><p>Earlier analyst <a href="http://techcrunch.com/2011/12/29/nearly-40-of-facebook-use-is-from-mobile-apps/" rel="no follow">estimates</a> from December had pegged the monthly active users of Facebook’s mobile apps at around 300 million per month. This number includes smartphone apps, like those for the Android and iPhone, but also apps that run on BlackBerry, Nokia, and feature phones. At the time, that number equated to roughly 40% of the company’s overall user base.</p></blockquote>
<blockquote><p>Facebook hadn’t revealed an official number for monthly active users on mobile since September, however, which was then at 350 million users for both mobile apps and mobile web combined. Today, thanks the <a href="http://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/1326801/000119312512034517/d287954ds1.htm">Facebook IPO filing</a>, we have an update to the official numbers: there are now 425 mobile monthly active users as of December 2011, out of Facebook’s total <a href="http://techcrunch.com/2012/02/01/facebooks-s-1-845-million-users-every-month-more-than-half-daily-and-nearly-half-mobile/" rel="no follow">825 million users</a>.</p></blockquote>
<p><strong>So, don&#8217;t be surprised if your post reach numbers take a jump as roughly 40% of  your audience has not been counted in the past.</strong></p>
<p>What do you think?  Is the voice tool bar a good thing?  Are you glad you&#8217;ll be getting better post reach numbers?  Or maybe you are astounded that a huge social network that prides itself on it&#8217;s technical mastery wasn&#8217;t including mobile users previously.  Either way, let me know what you think in the comments below.</p>
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		<title>7 Steps to Optimize Your Business Listing in ChamberMaster</title>
		<link>http://peacockcreative.net/07/search-engine-optimization/seven-steps-optimize-business-listing-chambermaster/</link>
		<comments>http://peacockcreative.net/07/search-engine-optimization/seven-steps-optimize-business-listing-chambermaster/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Sun, 01 Jul 2012 18:15:37 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Stephen Peacock</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[SEO]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[business listing]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Chamber of commerce]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[ChamberMaster]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[directory listing]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[search engine optimization]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[seo]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://peacockcreative.net/?p=478</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[ChamberMaster is a membership management system used by approximately 20% of Chamber&#8217;s of Commerce in the USA. I&#8217;m familiar with it because my local chamber, The Fuquay-Varina Chamber of Commerce uses the software to manage multiple features on its website and to manage membership data.  As the chair of the marketing committee, I learned that many of our member&#8217;s aren&#8217;t ...]]></description>
				<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>ChamberMaster is a membership management system used by approximately 20% of Chamber&#8217;s of Commerce in the USA. I&#8217;m familiar with it because my local chamber, <a title="The Fuquay-Varina Chamber of Commerce" href="http://www.fuquay-varina.com/">The Fuquay-Varina <span class="zem_slink">Chamber of Commerce</span></a> uses the software to manage multiple features on its website and to manage membership data.  As the chair of the marketing committee, I learned that many of our member&#8217;s aren&#8217;t aware that there are important steps they need to take to increase the <a class="zem_slink" title="Search engine optimization" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Search_engine_optimization" rel="wikipedia" target="_blank">SEO</a> (search engine optimization) benefit of their business listing.  I&#8217;ve provided training numerous times and ultimately decided to post this tutorial on how to optimize your ChamberMaster business listing to improve your search results in ChamberMaster and in <a class="zem_slink" title="Web search engine" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Web_search_engine" rel="wikipedia" target="_blank">search engines</a>.  If you are ready, let&#8217;s begin.</p>
<p><span id="more-478"></span></p>
<h2>What is ChamberMaster?</h2>
<p><a title="ChamberMaster hits major milestone, is now running one of every five chambers in the U.S." href="http://www.chambermaster.com/blog/pleasanton-chamber-of-commerce-becomes-1200th-chamber-to-deploy-micronets-integrated-service/" target="_blank">ChamberMaster recently announced its 1200th chamber customer</a> and because of that their software is now in use by 20% of all United States Chamber&#8217;s of Commerce. The company describes themselves thusly:</p>
<blockquote><p>ChamberMaster is a product of MicroNet, Inc., a provider of software and networking services since 1986. ChamberMaster was launched in 1998 with the release of member management software designed exclusively for Chambers of Commerce. ChamberMaster helps chambers succeed with non-dues revenue generation, new member recruitment and membership management tools plus member marketing services.</p></blockquote>
<p>Chamber&#8217;s that purchase this software as a service solution can integrate a number of modules to help run their operations and some vital information on their website. ChamberMaster Modules include solutions to manage:</p>
<ul>
<li>Member Management System</li>
<li>Custom Reporting</li>
<li>Integrated Billing Solution</li>
<li>Communication Module</li>
<li>Events Management</li>
<li>Marketing Tools</li>
<li>Social Networking</li>
<li>Search Engine Optimized Website Modules</li>
</ul>
<p><strong>For the purpose of this post, we&#8217;ll focus on the  member directory ChamberMaster publishes on each chamber&#8217;s website and how businesses can optimize their listing.</strong></p>
<h2>How You Optimize Your Business Listing in a ChamberMaster Member Directory</h2>
<p>When you join a chamber that uses ChamberMaster the system automatically generates a strong username and password for each member.  If you don&#8217;t know your&#8217;s &#8211; contact your chamber representative to get that information, you are going to need it.</p>
<h3>Step 1: Log into ChamberMaster</h3>
<p>With your username and password in hand head over to <a title="ChamberMaster" href="http://www.chambermaster.com/index.htm" target="_blank">ChamberMaster.com</a> rather than your chamber&#8217;s website.  Look at the top right of the page for the member login link.</p>
<div id="attachment_498" class="wp-caption aligncenter" style="width: 635px"><img class="size-full wp-image-498" title="log-into-chambermaster" src="http://peacockcreative.net/wp/wp-content/uploads/2012/07/log-in-to-chambermaster.jpg" alt="chambermaster home page" width="625" height="269" />
<p class="wp-caption-text">Red arrow shows location of Member Login link.</p>
</div>
<p>The images on the home page rotate, so if you don&#8217;t see those smiley people, don&#8217;t be alarmed.  After you click the link you&#8217;ll land on a page that looks like this:</p>
<div id="attachment_499" class="wp-caption aligncenter" style="width: 635px"><img class="size-full wp-image-499" title="chambermaster-login-page" src="http://peacockcreative.net/wp/wp-content/uploads/2012/07/chamber-master-login.jpg" alt="ChamberMaster login page" width="625" height="385" />
<p class="wp-caption-text">ChamberMaster Login Page</p>
</div>
<p>Enter your username and password to access your dashboard.</p>
<h3>Step 2: Familiarize Yourself with the ChamberMaster Dashboard</h3>
<p>There&#8217;s a lot happening on your dashboard.  Here&#8217;s a quick overview of what it contains.  Of course, it should have your business information rather than mine.</p>
<div id="attachment_500" class="wp-caption aligncenter" style="width: 635px"><img class="size-full wp-image-500" title="ChamberMaster-dashboard" src="http://peacockcreative.net/wp/wp-content/uploads/2012/07/ChamberMaster-dashboard.jpg" alt="ChamberMaster dashboard" width="625" height="322" />
<p class="wp-caption-text">The ChamberMaster Dashboard</p>
</div>
<p>From top to bottom you should see the following:</p>
<ol>
<li>Your Chamber&#8217;s Name and Your business name</li>
<li>Left navigation area with the following sections:
<ol>
<li>Home</li>
<li>Find</li>
<li>Member Info</li>
<li>Webpage Info</li>
<li>Advertising</li>
<li>Reports</li>
<li>User Manuals &#8211; helpful if you are not comfortable with these types of systems</li>
<li>Logout button</li>
</ol>
</li>
<li>Near the bottom of the page is an overview of any advertisments you are currently running</li>
<li>On the bottom right is a link and a map encouraging you to make sure your map pin is correctly placed.</li>
</ol>
<p><strong>While there are many options here, again we are going to focus on what areas you need to edit to make sure your online directory listing is optimized.</strong></p>
<h3>Step 3: Visit and Edit the Business Info Section</h3>
<p>The first link in the membership info section is <strong>business info</strong>, click on the link to open this section.  You&#8217;ll want to ensure your business contact information is complete and accurate.  Enter any details left out and check for typos.</p>
<div id="attachment_501" class="wp-caption aligncenter" style="width: 635px"><img class="size-full wp-image-501" title="chambermaster-business-info-page" src="http://peacockcreative.net/wp/wp-content/uploads/2012/07/chambermaster-business-info-page.jpg" alt="chambermaster business information page" width="625" height="498" />
<p class="wp-caption-text">ChamberMaster Business Information Page</p>
</div>
<p>If your chamber is like mine, this data was entered by a human staff member.  They are generally dear and wonderful people, but they are human after all and under a lot of pressure to handle multiple tasks.  If you find a typo don&#8217;t be upset, just go ahead and fix it up.</p>
<p>Once you have made sure your contact information is all correct go ahead and check the box that says &#8220;<strong>Use this information on your Chamber Webpage.</strong>&#8220; Then hit the big SAVE button at the bottom of the page.  Though it&#8217;s not shown in the picture above it is there.</p>
<p>In the Additional Information section make sure your business&#8217;s chamber representative is listed.  This will be the person who receives membership related email contacts and other important information such as billing statements.  <strong>Click the &#8220;Edit Employees/Reps page&#8221; button for more options.</strong></p>
<h3>Step 4:  Review Business Category</h3>
<p>In the left hand navigation, under Member Info section, find and click the Bus. Categories link.  Business categories are controlled by your chamber.  <strong>You cannot edit this page</strong>, but you need to review it an make sure you are satisfied that your business is listed correctly. Your category name becomes part of the title for your webpage in ChamberMaster.  If this information is inaccurate, talk with your chamber representative about what other categories are available to you.  They have the ability to put you in an existing category or create a new one that is accurate.</p>
<div id="attachment_506" class="wp-caption aligncenter" style="width: 635px"><img class="size-full wp-image-506" title="business-category-page" src="http://peacockcreative.net/wp/wp-content/uploads/2012/07/business-category-page.jpg" alt="Business category page" width="625" height="148" />
<p class="wp-caption-text">ChamberMaster Business Category Page</p>
</div>
<p><strong>The elements that make up the Page Title (a very important SEO element) of your ChamberMaster webpage are these:</strong></p>
<ol>
<li>Business Name</li>
<li>Business Category</li>
<li>Business Address</li>
<li>Business Phone number</li>
</ol>
<div><strong>Since ChamberMaster also uses them in your webpage&#8217;s Meta Description tag, make sure they are correct.</strong></div>
<div></div>
<h3>Step 5: Edit Employee/Rep Information</h3>
<p>While your business rep&#8217;s contact information may be listed correctly on the Business Info page, it is important to visit this page and check a few boxes.  In particular, the ones at the bottom of the page.  Review and make sure the personal information for your representative is accurate and up-to-date.  You can simply click the &#8220;copy business information&#8221; link to import the business data. Check the options in the boxes on the right column as appropriate for each contact.</p>
<p>For me it makes total sense to fill in the social media links for each representative.  Business marketing on social media is growing by leaps and bounds and this can help drive new followers and connections.</p>
<div id="attachment_504" class="wp-caption aligncenter" style="width: 635px"><img class="size-full wp-image-504" title="chambermaster-employee-rep-page" src="http://peacockcreative.net/wp/wp-content/uploads/2012/07/chambermaster-employee-rep-page.jpg" alt="ChamberMaster employee/rep page" width="625" height="713" />
<p class="wp-caption-text">ChamberMaster Employee/Rep Page</p>
</div>
<p>Pay close attention to the &#8220;Web Display Options&#8221; for your business&#8217;s representative.  I have checked all options except the &#8220;Display this rep&#8217;s fax number&#8221; because I don&#8217;t have a fax machine.  Haven&#8217;t had one in nearly 5 years.  Do people still use them?  Of course, make your own decisions about what you display on your business listing.  Make sure you hit the save button if you make any edits.</p>
<h3>Step 6: Visit and Edit the Webpage Info Section</h3>
<p><span style="text-decoration: underline;">Okay, this is where you really need to  pay attention</span> &#8211; there are a lot of important things going on in this section that <strong>impact how your business is shown on the internet and how you will (or won&#8217;t) be found by potential customers in your community using ChamberMasters&#8217; directory search functions. </strong></p>
<p><span style="text-decoration: underline;">We&#8217;ll look at four main sections on this page.</span></p>
<p><strong>1.  Business Information</strong></p>
<p>If you followed the earlier steps in this tutorial all you have to do is check the box that reads &#8220;Use Business Information&#8221; (see below)  if, however, your business is headquartered somewhere else and you have a store or operation in this chamber&#8217;s area &#8211; fill in the local address.</p>
<div class="note_box"><span style="color: #ff0000;">***BIG NOTE HERE****</span><br />
Don&#8217;t overlook the last field of the right column <strong>&#8220;URL Text!&#8221;</strong> Put business related keywords in this box. This text becomes the &#8216;anchor text&#8217; for the link to your business&#8217;s website!</div>
<p>This is important for your search engine optimization.  Here the <a title="Anchor Text definition from Wikipedia" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anchor_text" target="_blank">definition of  Anchor Text from Wikipedia:</a></p>
<blockquote><p>The <strong>anchor text</strong>, <strong>link label</strong>, <strong>link text</strong>, or <strong>link title</strong> is the visible, clickable text in a hyperlink. The words contained in the anchor text can determine the ranking that the page will receive by search engines.</p></blockquote>
<p><strong>So, choose wisely and keep it brief.</strong>  For mine, the URL text reads &#8220;Internet Marketing and Website Design Fuquay-Varina&#8221; which are search terms I&#8217;d like my website to be found for (see image below).</p>
<p><strong>2. Add Social Links</strong></p>
<p>More than ever businesses are leveraging social media to service existing customers and reach new prospects.  Complete these sections so you can drive those interested to your social profiles.</p>
<div id="attachment_505" class="wp-caption aligncenter" style="width: 635px"><img class="size-full wp-image-505" title="chambermaster-web-page-content-section" src="http://peacockcreative.net/wp/wp-content/uploads/2012/07/chambermaster-web-page-content-section.jpg" alt="chambermaster web page content section" width="625" height="554" />
<p class="wp-caption-text">ChamberMaster Webpage Content Section</p>
</div>
<p><strong>3: Add Description, Hours of Operation, Driving Directions</strong></p>
<p>You get 200 characters in your description section.  Again, add descriptive keywords of your products and services that people would use to find your business in a search engine.</p>
<p>There are 100 character spaces available in the &#8220;Hours of Operation&#8221; section.  Use as many as you need, but not more.  Also, if your location is difficult to find, consider adding up to 200 characters of information on how people can find your business.</p>
<p><strong>4: Add Keywords</strong></p>
<div class="note_box"><span style="color: #ff0000;">***ANOTHER BIG NOTE HERE****</span><br />
The KEYWORDS section is POWERFUL !  Make sure you complete this section</div>
<p>This section is not completed by chamber staff when you sign up so you must do this step.  The ChamberMaster business directory can only search information that is provided. <strong>If you don&#8217;t fill in this section you will potentially lose a lot of business leads. </strong>Here&#8217;s why:</p>
<p>When these fields are left empty the only information ChamberMaster has on your company is your name and contact information.  If your products and services are not in your business name your business won&#8217;t be listed when people using the directory search for your products or services.</p>
<p>So, you get eight fields where you can enter keywords or phrases (up to 30 characters in each box) that relate to your products or services. Since my services are not in my company name I added: internet marketing, marketing, online advertising, Search Engine Optimization, SEO, small business marketing, web site design, and website design.</p>
<div class="note_box"><span style="color: #ff0000;">***LAST BIG NOTE ****</span><br />
The keywords you use will also become the meta keywords on your chamber webpage.  These pages are visible to search engines, so again, choose wisely!</div>
<p>You may notice that I added two variations each for SEO and website design &#8211; that&#8217;s because I anticipate some people will type in different search terms and I want to cover as many bases as possible. ChamberMasters&#8217;s directory search functions doesn&#8217;t know that SEO and search engine optimization are the same thing &#8211; so you have to help them a little bit.</p>
<p>You may also notice there is a separate link in the Webpage Info navigation section where you can edit just the keywords.  See, it&#8217;s so important there two way you can do it.</p>
<p>When you are done with these edits hit the big save button and then hit the preview page button.  Look over your work and if you see any typos or other ways to improve your business listing, go back to the edit page, make the updates and hit the save button again.  Rinse and repeat until you are fully satisfied.</p>
<p><strong>Step 7: Put Your Pin on the Map</strong></p>
<p>This is the final step to ensure your ChamberMaster Business Listing is well optimized. Under the Webpage Info navigation area find and click on the &#8216;Map Pin Info&#8221; link.</p>
<p>You can click on the box here to show the map on the business directory and there is a simple drop down box to add your address from your business info page.  Again, if your location is different than the address listed in your business information, you have the option to enter different information.</p>
<p>ChamberMaster will show a map and pin of the location you&#8217;ve added &#8211; just make sure it is correct.</p>
<div id="attachment_507" class="wp-caption aligncenter" style="width: 635px"><img class="size-full wp-image-507" title="map-pin-placement-page" src="http://peacockcreative.net/wp/wp-content/uploads/2012/07/map-pin-placement-page.jpg" alt="map pin placement page" width="625" height="295" />
<p class="wp-caption-text">ChamerMasters Map Pin Placement Page</p>
</div>
<p>You can optionally add point of interest category and sub category.  I say do it.  Your paying for these options take full advantage of them.</p>
<h3>That&#8217;s it! 7 Steps to Optimize You Business Listing in ChamberMaster</h3>
<p>Now I hear you when you say, &#8220;Stephen, you worked in a few sub steps and I&#8217;m thinking you should rename this blog post to something like &#8220;<em>11 Steps to Optimize Your Business Listing in ChamberMaster</em>.&#8221;  That&#8217;s okay!  I&#8217;m cool with that.  But maybe you didn&#8217;t notice that I left a few things out.</p>
<p>First of all &#8211; I didn&#8217;t touch on the Login/Password section where you can change the unmemorable auto generated username and password that ChamberMaster automatically assigned you.  Yup, I didn&#8217;t mention you could do that.  FYI &#8211; you can.</p>
<p>I also didn&#8217;t cover the section under Webpage Info entitled &#8220;Photos &amp; Logos&#8221; because, well, it&#8217;s a premium option my chamber doesn&#8217;t subscribe to.  Other chambers might and if yours does and you know how it works &#8211; write a blog post about it and let us know in the comment section below.</p>
<p>Overall, I hope this has been helpful.  I certainly has been long.  If you run into any troubles or if you can think of a way to improve what I&#8217;ve shared, I&#8217;d love to hear from you.  Please leave a comment below.</p>
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		<title>If Content Curation is King &#8211; Be Invaluable!</title>
		<link>http://peacockcreative.net/02/internet-marketing/content-curation-king-be-invaluable/</link>
		<comments>http://peacockcreative.net/02/internet-marketing/content-curation-king-be-invaluable/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Sun, 12 Feb 2012 18:52:37 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Stephen Peacock</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Internet Marketing]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[SEO]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[content creation]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[content curation]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[inbound traffic]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[internet marketing]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Pinterest]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[seo]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://peacockcreative.net/?p=427</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[There is a growing emphasis in internet marketing to drive inbound traffic via content curation.  New tools and new technologies are blossoming across the internet. There is even a content curation contest that recently launched.  With so much ado about content curation &#8211; what is your business to think? Content  used to be king &#8211; but now content curation is ...]]></description>
				<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>There is a growing emphasis in internet marketing to drive inbound traffic via content curation.  New tools and new technologies are blossoming across the internet. <a title="Content Curation Contest" href="http://www.atlanticbt.com/contentcurationcontest" target="_blank">There is even a content curation contest that recently launched</a>.  With so much ado about content curation &#8211; what is your business to think? Content  used to be king &#8211; but now content curation is gaining many new internet marketing subjects who are driving gobs of inbound traffic.</p>
<h2>What is Content Curation?</h2>
<p>If you&#8217;ve been blogging for a while or have been active on Facebook, Twitter, or Google + you&#8217;ve probably already been curating content and didn&#8217;t know it.  Content curation is simply finding and sharing relevant and valuable content with your target audience. <a title="Is Marketing on Pinterest for Your Small Business?" href="http://peacockcreative.net/02/social-media-marketing/pinterest/is-marketing-on-pinterest-for-your-small-business/" target="_blank"> Pinterest is perhaps the most notable and quickly growing social media network</a> devoted to finding cool things and sharing them with others.</p>
<h2>The Value of Content Curation</h2>
<p>The indexed web contains <strong>at least 8.68 billion pages</strong> as of Sunday, 12 February, 2012 according to <a title="World Wide Web Size" href="http://www.worldwidewebsize.com/" target="_blank">WorldWideWebSize.com</a>.  Depending on when you read this &#8211; that number has probably gone up.  There is a ton of content out there and a good bit of it is just plain crap.</p>
<p><strong>Content curators find the best of the web and share it with others.</strong>  Google&#8217;s goal is to find and return search results that are relevant and have what they consider &#8220;authority&#8221; but even their vaunted search algorithm can be gamed.  Human curation adds the invaluable ingredients of insight and judgement.</p>
<h2>Why Businesses are Curating Content</h2>
<p>The internet marketing case for content curation is strong.  Companies and bloggers who find and share useful tools, resources and insightful blog posts with their audience make themselves invaluable to that audience.  By becoming a good curator businesses can increase their followers, develop a reputation as a &#8220;thought leader,&#8221; increase customer engagement, develop valuable inbound links, and drive repeat traffic to their websites and blogs!</p>
<p>If you need more reasons to consider adding content curation to your marketing mix, check out<a title="Top Eight Reasons B2B Marketer Use Content Curation" href="http://mktg2bizexecs.wordpress.com/2011/12/05/top-eight-reasons-b2b-marketers-use-content-curation/" target="_blank"> Sue McKittrick&#8217;s Top Eight Reasons B2B Marketers Use Content Curation</a>.  See, there&#8217;s a little content curation for you <img src='http://peacockcreative.net/wp/wp-includes/images/smilies/icon_smile.gif' alt=':)' class='wp-smiley' /> </p>
<h2>Content Curation Tools</h2>
<p>Surely, you can take a curation approach in your existing social media profiles, though given the value of content curation as a marketing strategy there has been a growth in tools to make it easier to manage.  Of course, there are some are high priced, enterprise level tools &#8211; but there are tools small businesses and hobby bloggers can afford.</p>
<ul class="fancy_list">
<li class="check_list green_sprite">At $59 <a title="CurationSoft" href="http://curationsoft.com/" target="_blank">CurationSoft is affordable for small businesses</a></li>
<li class="check_list green_sprite"><a title="Scoop.it" href="http://www.scoop.it/" target="_blank">Scoop.it is also an affordable content curation tool</a></li>
<li class="check_list green_sprite"><a title="Curata" href="http://www.contentcurationmarketing.com/" target="_blank">Curata, on the other hand, is enterprise level software</a></li>
</ul>
<h2>Develop a Content Curation Strategy and Become Invaluable to Your Target Audience</h2>
<p id="watch-headline-title"><a title="Matt About Business" href="http://www.mattaboutbusiness.com/" target="_blank">Matt About Business</a> created this great tutorial called<strong> Become a Content Curator to Build Your Social Media Presence.  </strong>He presents a sound content curation strategy you can implement today using CurationSoft, a newsletter, blog and social media to engage your audience and grow your business.</p>
<p><center><iframe src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/OflRDrDlFNE" frameborder="0" width="560" height="315"></iframe></center></p>
<h3>Got Mad Content Curation Skills?</h3>
<p>If you are already an accomplished curator consider entering <a title="Content Curation Contest" href="http://www.atlanticbt.com/contentcurationcontest">AtlanticBT&#8217;s Content Curation Contest</a>. You could win fame and cool gadgets.  But you have to act fast &#8211; the deadline to enter is February 26, 2012.  If you don&#8217;t enter this year, practice up and enter next year!<br />
<a href="http://www.atlanticbt.com/contentcurationcontest"><img class="aligncenter size-full wp-image-430" title="AtlanticBT-content-curation-contest" src="http://peacockcreative.net/wp/wp-content/uploads/2012/02/AtlanticBT-content-curation-contest.jpg" alt="AtlanticBT's Content Curation Contest" width="625" height="471" /></a></p>
<p><strong>What content curation tools do you use and love? Let me know in the comments section!</strong></p>
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		<title>Is Marketing on Pinterest for Your Small Business?</title>
		<link>http://peacockcreative.net/02/social-media-marketing/pinterest/is-marketing-on-pinterest-for-your-small-business/</link>
		<comments>http://peacockcreative.net/02/social-media-marketing/pinterest/is-marketing-on-pinterest-for-your-small-business/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Sat, 11 Feb 2012 17:04:40 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Stephen Peacock</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Pinterest]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://peacockcreative.net/?p=413</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[If a social network could drive more qualified traffic than Facebook would you be interested? Pinterest is and I think every small business should take notice. Founded in early 2010 the Pinterest (often misspelled &#8220;Pintrest&#8221;) social media network has amassed over 7 million users while still in &#8220;Beta &#8211; Invite Only&#8221; mode.  If you are not familiar with the site, ...]]></description>
				<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>If a social network could drive more qualified traffic than Facebook would you be interested? Pinterest is and I think every small business should take notice.</p>
<p>Founded in early 2010 the <a title="Pinterest Social Media Network" href="http://pinterest.com/">Pinterest</a> (<strong>often misspelled &#8220;Pintrest&#8221;</strong>) social media network has amassed over 7 million users while still in &#8220;Beta &#8211; Invite Only&#8221; mode.  If you are not familiar with the site, the name provides a great clue to its purpose.  A combination of Pin and Interest &#8211; the website is a drop dead easy way to create visual collections of things you love, are passionate about, and/or proud of.  It&#8217;s like internet scrap booking and very visual.</p>
<p>Like other social networks you can follow and friend other people to see what things they are passionate about.  Once you secure an invite &#8211; and you probably already know someone who is a member, you&#8217;ll sign in with either your Facebook or Twitter credentials and start pinning and sharing your interests.</p>
<p>As you follow others and explore the Pinterest network  you&#8217;ll find items worth commenting on or &#8220;repinning&#8221; on one of your boards.  In doing so &#8211; great pins can go viral and with several website links attached to each pins &#8211; there are breadcrumbs that lead back to the original website for the image.  So, with a little savvy and a creative pinning scheme you can, over time, create a good number of links back to your products and services.</p>
<h2>Pinterest Links are Do Follow</h2>
<p>One of the more powerful aspects of Pinterest is that the links are &#8220;Do Follow&#8221; which means they provide what search engine optimization professionals call &#8220;link juice&#8221; or what you may more simply consider a vote of confidence that one website can give to another.  Here&#8217;s in an excerpt from the <a title="Search Engine Journal" href="http://www.searchenginejournal.com/pinterest-link-building-seo-strategies/36951/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Search Engine Journal with the lowdown of the do follow links from Pinterest</a>:</p>
<blockquote><p>Each “Pin” links back to the page the image is shown on OR the actual file location using a do-follow link. The difference depends on how the image was pinned. For example, opening an image in its own window/tab and then using Pinterest’s bookmarklet will create the pin and link to the file location jpeg. The “Pin It” button will usually link to the page the image is featured on. A page-targeted link is probably better than a jpeg-targeted link unless you’re purposely optimizing for image search.</p>
<p>Do-follow links are found on multiple parts of a pin, as shown below. The “From:” link and the image link are both standard in every pin. All image ALT attributes read “Pinned Image” with no way to edit. You can also insert links into the pin description and comments (here comes Pinterest comment spam). A pin comes with a custom embed code for easy syndication onto other websites, creating backlinks to the pin page.</p></blockquote>
<div id="attachment_419" class="wp-caption aligncenter" style="width: 636px"><img class="size-full wp-image-419 " title="pinterest do follow links" src="http://peacockcreative.net/wp/wp-content/uploads/2012/02/pinterest-do-follow-links.png" alt="pinterest do follow links" width="626" height="453" />
<p class="wp-caption-text">Image via Search Engine Journal</p>
</div>
<blockquote><p>Pinterest’s domain authority, by most SEO standards, is high and still growing. There’s always the possibility that Pinterest could convert the do-follow links to no-follow to curb spam, just as some other social bookmarking sites have done.</p></blockquote>
<h2>Small Business Marketing on Pinterest</h2>
<p>So what does this mean for you the small business owner?  Well, it means you should take notice.  As long as Pinterest links are do follow, then you could be building powerful backlinks to your website.</p>
<p>If you are already leveraging social media via Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, or Google+ and are familiar with social media etiquette then you should probably find a way to wrangle yourself an invite ASAP.  Feel free to reach out to me in the comments and I&#8217;ll send you an invite if you want.</p>
<p>And if you do get inside &#8211; don&#8217;t spam the network.  It&#8217;s one of those social media etiquette things &#8211; don&#8217;t be all about you.  Engage with others.  Develop a strategy to leverage Pinterest effectively to engage your followers.  Inspire and inform them &#8211; become irresistible and ultimately &#8220;Repinnable!&#8221;  In time the rewards will be yours.</p>
<h2>Pinterest Marketing Ideas and Resources</h2>
<p>Here are a few websites and blogs you may consider visiting to help you develop your Pinterest marketing strategy:</p>
<ul class="fancy_list">
<li class="check_list green_sprite"><a title="Marketing on Pinterest" href="http://marketingonpinterest.com/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Marketing on Pinterest</a></li>
<li class="check_list green_sprite"><a title="Get the Most Out of Pinterest" href="http://thenextweb.com/socialmedia/2012/01/20/10-tips-to-get-the-most-out-of-pinterest-for-your-business/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">10 tips to Get the Most Out of Pinterst</a> &#8211; The Next Web</li>
<li class="check_list green_sprite"><a title="Sprout social" href="http://sproutsocial.com/insights/2012/02/pinterest-marketing/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">10 Creative Ways to Use Pinterest for Marketing</a> &#8211; Sprout Insights</li>
<li class="check_list green_sprite"><a title="The Ultimate Guide to Mastering Pinterest for Marketing" href="http://blog.hubspot.com/blog/tabid/6307/bid/31147/The-Ultimate-Guide-to-Mastering-Pinterest-for-Marketing.aspx">The Ultimate Guide to Mastering Pinterest for Marketing</a> &#8211; HubSpot</li>
</ul>
<h3>Are you already using Pinterest to Marketing Your Small Business?</h3>
<p>Let us know what you&#8217;ve learned.  Share your story with us in the comment section below!  Of course, if you have a moment &#8211; hit the &#8220;Pin It&#8221; button below and share this post on one of your boards <img src='http://peacockcreative.net/wp/wp-includes/images/smilies/icon_smile.gif' alt=':)' class='wp-smiley' /> </p>
<p>&nbsp;</p>
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