Everyone seems to be launching their own clone, or rival, to Groupon’s system. Living Social has been around just as long, but is secondary to Groupon in adoption and use. The latest, and the biggest threat, is Facebook.

Facebook plans to launch it’s deals clone Tuesday in five major cities: San Diego, San Francisco, Atlanta, Dallas and Austin, Texas. What makes it a threat to Groupon and LivingSocial is its built in immense social reach.

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Looking for a new idea or anything to help get your business booming? Well who better to ask then the people who already know you so well. The only ones that can make a difference and increase your companies word of mouth are the ones already engaged with your brand. They know what they like and they know what they don’t like about your brand and it’s up to you to figure out how to utilize this knowledge.

Facebook, Twitter, Linkedin, and even email marketing can be very effective with the right steps taken. Too many companies today join facebook and update their followers with the information that most of them are already aware of because they do “like” you’re brand. If you really want to gain some ROI on your time invested in social media, it is best to ask your loyal consumers what they would like and build up a majority of input that can be realistically met. When you see through with the requests of your consumers it builds a strong loyalty to your brand making your consumers more inclined to spread the word about your brand and the new changes put forth. Just remember. Facebook isn’t going to help your company, but rather help you get in touch with the people that can.

By: Mark G. Valente | Online Marketing Director | @MarkwithMWL | Vigor Interactive Branding

eMarketer’s latest research indicates a layering effect with consumers brand engagement. Social sites have given people a way to experience a brand and stay updated with happenings. However, consumers don’t select just one media. Instead they layer it as shown in the diagram below.

Read the rest of the article at eMarketer.com

The restaurant industry has been notorious for super tight budgets. With the economy taking its toll heavily on the industry, that fact is more apparent than ever. Through hardship comes innovation though and restaurants have tools at their command that are inexpensive and sometimes even free!

“But, what are the right medias for my restaurant?” You may be asking yourself. Here are the musts for EVERY restaurant in no particular order:

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These 40 quotes act as a great insiration to build your personal branding focus. Put into a company perspective, you can also find some usefulness for focussing your business brand as well. Enjoy and don’t forget to check out Dan’s site. Personal Branding Blog

1. “Brand yourself for the career you want, not the job you have.”
2. “By focusing entirely on your personal brand, you become unemployable.”
3. “Create your own career, instead of letting your company do it for you.”
4. “If you want to be known for everything, you’ll be known for nothing.”
5. “When you have passion, expertise and a support system, you can do anything!”
6. “Make your life one giant networking event.”
7. “You have to be as committed to your personal brand as you are to your husband or wife.”
8. “Just like content is king on the internet, your experience is king when it comes to getting a job.”
9. “In order to succeed in the new world of work you MUST become the commander of your career.”
10. “Be the real you because everyone else is taken and replicas don’t sell for as much.” (more…)

This Infograph gives Social Media skeptics a better grasp on the processes taken and how the word of mouth can be spread throughout the internet using many different social networks. Social media is effective every time so long as you care about your consumers and provide the customer service they search for.

eMarketer just posted some great stats showing plans to grow small business with social media’s proliferation.

“36% of small businesses look to step up with Twitter and Facebook

Small businesses are confident about their ability to weather the recession, with more than one-half saying they have either fully recovered or will do so by the end of 2010, and nearly three-quarters claiming they will drive recovery in the overall economy, according to the “Third Annual FedEx Office Signs of the Times Small Business Survey” from FedEx Office and Ketchum.

To that end, almost two in five small-business owners reported they would be growing their businesses with social media sites such as Twitter, Facebook and LinkedIn. That was up from less than one-quarter who planned to up their game with social in 2009 and made social media the only tactic to increase in importance since last year.”

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Social media has been an increasingly effective part in the marketing strategies of many big and local businesses. The main question when Foursquare came around with their innovative geolocation sharing network was; How do we use this to benefit our brand or business? But the Foursquare team has added a few cool features with their network, bringing the game focus to the site, while continuing to build on their own marketing and professional relationships. Today we have some unique ways in which Foursquare has become an effective business marketing tool for more. (more…)

We’ve all heard how awesome Twitter is, but there is always that initial question when getting started; how do I get people to follow me? Well thankfully Twitter offers some original and new features that can direct users in the right way to joining the discussions they’re interested in.

With Twitter trends users can search a specific topic to see which people are tweeting about what. Simply type a topic in the search bar on the right panel. You will then be directed to all the people who’ve mentioned that topic within a tweet, updated in real-time. Connect with these other users by responding to their tweets with worthwhile information from your area of expertise.

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So we all agree Facebook is as necessary as a website if you’re going to make any kind of traction with online marketing, right? Good. Now that we have that cleared up, let’s talk about some ways NOT to use Facebook for your business.

Facebook has given businesses a way to connect directly to consumers on the consumers’ terms. It’s the epitome of why online marketing works. Facebook’s tools give businesses a way to engage them, bring them in and let them experience their brands. However, they can be used negatively without the restaurant or brand even knowing. Obviously this is detrimental as abusing a consumer’s acceptance of you will result in ejection and a bad reputation to their friends. Not good. So, let’s stave off some common pratfalls by other brands….

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