10 Best Practices of Social Media Marketing

We've recently been working with We Want It All, a women's talk show based in Miami Beach that is getting a lot of attention. Because there are many people involved and some were relatively new to the social scene I had decided to put together a list - really more of a framework if I think about it - of best practices for success in social media marketing.
OK. Ready? Here it goes...
1. Always respond. To the good and the bad. Let your audience know that you're there with them. Let them feel like they have a direct line to the show hosts.
2. Listen Intently. This is a huge mistake most people make. They want to push their own agenda and it doesn't work. This audience is the key to success, and they're telling you exactly what they want. "Give the people what they want!"
3. Be consistent. So many who have failed did so because they didn't adhere to this rule. Update consistently and produce fresh content on a schedule. People come back when they know they could be missing something. Humans are creatures of habit. Help your audience create a habit out of you.
4. Content is King. Today, he/she who has the gold does not make the rules. They simply have more money to create more content! Status updates, photos, blog posts, events, episodes, shout outs, discussion boards, press releases and articles (like how to guides). All of it is content, and you should always be adding more.
5. Create Value in Everything. This especially applies to rules two and four. Always be sure what you're posting has some type of appeal to your audience. Find out what they want and tailor your content accordingly. When people find value in what you're saying they post comments, share it and make it viral, and that's the goal!
6. Make it special. Create incentives for people to join your network and tune into the shows. Make them feel like they're a part of something exclusive and fun, even though anyone can join.
7. Stand out. The average Facebook user is connected to 80 fan pages, and Facebook has over 30 billion pieces of new content posted EACH MONTH. You're competing for attention, how are you going to get it?
8. Create Evangelists. Get your audience to promote your brand. Truly understanding your audience will allow you to appeal to them so well that they will take ownership of your brand (think Apple fans) and sell your brand for you. Nothing sells products faster than your own customers (through comments, testimonies, sharing content, etc.)
9. Measure results. Look at your inputs and correlate them with the outputs. In other words, see if what you're doing is working, and identify which things generate the biggest buzz.
10. Have (a lot) of fun and love what you do. It may not always be smooth sailing, but when you're audience sees the genuine passion for what you're doing you can be sure they'll listen up.

Everything You Want to Know About E-Cigarettes

A few years back, China introduced a new form of cigarettes called “Electronic Cigarettes” and it hit the market all over the world in no time. It came out as an alternative to the old traditional tobacco cigarettes and with a purpose to help smokers to quit their smoking habit.
The electronic cigarette has attracted millions of people around the world who have switched from traditional cigarettes to the e-cigarette, also referred to as the “safe cigarette, the e-cigarette, and the smokeless cigarette”.
Having said that;
According to WHO (World Health Organization) any device that delivers nicotine is not good for you, even if it’s electronic. The World Health Organization has also said that so-called “electronic cigarettes” are not effective and may even be fatal, as reported in US News.

Let’s see what is E-Cigarette? What are its advantages or disadvantages?
Definition
An Electronic Cigarette (also known as E-Cigarette or simply E-Cig) looks like a traditional cigarette made from tobacco but actually has just one main thing in common with the real thing: nicotine.
It is believed that the e-cigarettes are healthier than the old tobacco cigarette, the reason is simple it does not produce any harmful materials as there is no combustion which was present in the traditional cigarettes.
Advantages
1. It gives smokers the same feeling as traditional cigarettes do, furthermore, it Satisfies smoker’s addiction.
2. Helpful for quitting smoking without suffering.
3. Long life time, continuous use by charging the battery and replacing the cartridge.
4. No combustion, No tar, CO and other carcinogenic materials generated by tobacco cigarette.
5. No potential danger of causing fire.
6. Can be used in most of non-smoking place, for no damage of passive smoking.
7. Convenient, No need to light, start to smoke once take it out.
8. Clean, No cigarette smell, No stained teeth.
Disadvantages
1. There is no such thing as healthy smoking because you are still inhaling nicotine!
2. It is totally false that it will help in quitting smoking, because one would agree, you have to quit smoking entirely not gradually if you want to become free of cigarettes and nicotine.
Conclusion
E-cigarettes are not healthy because you will still be addicted to nicotine, but on other hand they have some advantage over the traditional ones like: No combustion, No tar, CO and other carcinogenic materials are present and they are less toxic, no smell, no bad mouth smell, no damage of passive smoking.
Note: People who are allergic or has sensitivity to nicotine, pregnant or breastfeeding, or with unstable heart conditions should discuss the use of an electronic cigarette device with a doctor before using one.

7 Reasons – Why You Should Not Buy iPad

Apple iPad is official now and there is a lot of murmur around the specifications and whispering about who should buy Apple iPad or who should not. Well there can be ample of reasons to go for Apple iPad. However, before you make a decision in regards to buying it, you should look at some reasons why you should not go for Apple iPad. There is no doubt that Apple iPad is one of the most hyped and much anticipated device.
So here’s a list of reasons why you should not buy Apple iPad:

1. The Name – iPad

What’s wrong with Apple? What kind of a name ‘iPad’ is? Some one who is not familiar with ‘iPad’ may think it as a ‘Maxi Pad’ you know… due to the word Pad. Apple could have come up with a nice and a better name but I don’t know what they were thinking?

2. Flash is not supported

What? The new Apple iPad is designed to give you a better gaming, browsing and a rich graphical experience on the other hand it doesn’t allow video streaming? You’re offering something that will replace Netbooks and laptops and that “something” can NOT run videos and flash based graphics? And what is the use of unlimited data packages then?

3. There is NO Extended Memory and NO Extension Ports/Adapters

Question arises what if someone wanted to plug in a digital camera, external HDD or even a card reader? But there is no way you could do this with iPad. There’s even NO USB port in iPad that even an average Netbook or a cell phone would have. This means you will NOT be able to expand your Apple iPad memory, now this seems like a huge deal breaker to me.

4. HD Video Output Not Supported

Apple iPad could have been a wonderful tool for presentations provided there was HD video out support. This could also enable users to watch videos in HD on bigger screens.

5. NO Support for Handwriting Recognition

It would have been nice to have handwriting recognition in Apple iPad. Emphasis has been on artists and students, both would have loved the handwriting recognition in iPad but …

6. NOT Favorable

I have a Laptop and an iPhone, now you tell me why should I buy an iPad? Is there a single reason for spending more then $500 on that “revolutionary” device?

7. Just an E-Book Reader for $500

So, iBook seems to be the good reason to buy an iPad. But for whopping $500, why shouldn’t you rather go for Amazon Kindle then. At least Kindle’s got E-Ink, which is so easy on eyes and so light on battery. Not to mention that Amazon Kindle has battery time of one week.
Apple iPad seems to be just another iPod, the bigger one that can’t multitask, doesn’t support flash, have no room for expandable memory, doesn’t let you attach your devices to it and list goes on. All this comes with an “unbelievable” price of minimum $500 doesn’t sound like a fair deal to me.

RSS - A Marketing Tool To Improve Search Ranking

More and more online applications are being built to extend the potentials of online content media. RSS plays a daring role, to be one of the most widely used syndication tools, to promote content at different levels of the internet. Learn about RSS, and how you can make it work for you.
If you're the type of person who loves to skim through tidbits of news or read about short and up-to-date announcements online, then chances are you've run into RSS. RSS or Really Short Syndication is a very potent marketing strategy used by webmasters and online marketers for better online exposure of their articles and to improve search engine placement for their websites. RSS makes news and information accessible wherever RSS can be applied or RSS readers can be used. Several blog providers like http://Blogger.com, Wordpress and Livejournal offer RSS for their member's content. More and more users, who are catching on the blogging craze, are putting importance on the relatively fast and reliable RSS.
Users often keep their blogs as an online organizer. RSS come in as a handy tool in keeping all the information from different websites all under one little corner of your blog or webpage. RSS is really a convenient option for those who tend to visit a lot of websites, and who wish to be updated about certain site activities or articles. Online users also use RSS to check out the latest news or sports update. RSS is a great tool to improve search engine ranking as well as to organize data from different sources.
RSS displays a short summary of your articles, around two or three lines of text, which the RSS readers will then display over websites, or through applications. Your articles can now be seen on different parts of the globe through different RSS portals or websites that display categorically related RSS content.
There are many directories and websites that accept and promote RSS data. If you're in the market to promote your articles, then submitting your content to RSS directories and websites can help bring you very good exposure. Several websites run updated copies of your RSS data over their main page at certain intervals to help promote your website to those who would otherwise have problems seeing your updated content. People download RSS information for news, stock and trading updates, article submissions and marketing and to improve search engine ranking, among others.
With the right articles or marketing copies, webmasters and web marketers say that RSS do help a lot in passing their message across to their clients and other online visitors. Promoting the RSS data over targeted channels can greatly boost your websites exposure online. Choosing categorically related websites and marketing RSS information on them can have huge benefits on your online business. The whole concept of the RSS is to make information readily accessible to end users, as well as help promote content online. In both areas, I believe RSS has greatly excelled to become one of the top web marketing tools.
So if you're planning to promote your content online, better avail of RSS. It can greatly simplify your work. Plus a lot of websites offer free RSS promotion service. With RSS, you're sure to be able to get wider reach for your targeted online users. But one thing you should put in mind when doing RSS is that too much RSS data coming from other sites can cause your website to get penalized due to duplicate content. The lines are still scratchy on how duplicate content is checked even though a person is using RSS, but the basic idea of having 30-50% of your content originating from RSS information from other related websites can get you into trouble with the search engines, and not to mention those websites where your data or content is coming from.

SEO Tips that will help you with ranking

Have you tried any and everything to get the search engines to give your site a higher ranking? How come you're not seeing any results then? There are quite a few webmasters just starting out that try to get their websites to climb when it comes to search engines yet they fail to recall what they need to do. The ranking rules search engines use are always being reworked and so the ways to get websites optimized for ranking well are never the same. If you are aiming to beat your competitors and maintain the first listing for Google, it's best not to make the mistakes you're about to read about. Avoiding these mistakes will increase your chances for success, even if you don' t have money to invest.
The most common blunder is neglecting on-site SEO. This is one of the only elements of SEO that you have complete control over. On-page SEO is how you arrange the elements on your site to rank well in the search engines. The main components of on-site SEO are your heading tags, ALT tags, navigation, and file names. All of these should have your targeted keywords mentioned in them. On-site SEO makes your site easier for your visitor to navigate and easier for you to manage. These are very basic on-page SEO methods that will be implemented by your competing sites, so it's always good to stay ahead. You should never commit the blunder of taking text that's not yours from various other sites, as that's not morally correct. If you copy content, you won't get far. It may appear as though there are no repercussions at first, but it will hurt you once someone discovers that you've stolen your content. The main reason you don't want to do this is because search engines are smarter these days and they can easily pick out content that's been copied. Search engines use filters to quarantine sites that use copied content, and if your site gets stuck in there, you won't rank very high. This is why it's important to use content that both visitors and the search engines will like.
Never commit a big mistake which is overlooking the search engine guide lines.
You should go through these guidelines very carefully to make sure that you avoid any bad SEO practices that will get you punished by the search engine. The search engines are constantly altering their rues so it's important to look them up as often as you can so that you never incur a penalty. One example you can look at is Google, which changes the algorithm is uses all the time, and that's why you must look at these changes whenever they occur so your site doesn't lose its rank.
See, SEO isn't as complicated as it seems, just stick to the basics and you will be doing better than most. Don't forget to keep adding quality content and getting relevant backlinks to point back to the pages for even better ranking. So, now you have it; quality backlinks, internally linking related pages, on-site optimization, and patience.

How To Unlock Phones

A GSM phone is designed to be used by any network in the world that supports GSM technology. However there are some providers that will electronically lock these phones especially when they are giving special offers or discounts and this is to ensure that the customer sticks with that provider. This is sometimes a disadvantage since you can pay high roaming charges when you take the phone out of their network range. Fortunately these phones can be unlocked as the copyright office has given the green light to so. Unlocking your phone will vary depending on the model of the phone as well as the phone carrier. There are several things that you will need in order to do so and this will include:
Your mobile phone number
The manufacturer
The model number
The network and country where the phone is locked
The IMEI number for the phone which is a 15 digit serial number and you can find this by typing *#06# on your phone's keypad.
There are several techniques that you can use for unlocking your phone and these will include:
Unlocking your phone using a phone unlocking service company - There are several companies as well as websites that are capable of unlocking your phone and this will be at a small fee. Most of these companies will require you to send them an email containing your IMEI number and they will be able to generate your unlock code and email it back to you. With this technique you must be cautious since there are various fraudulent companies. There also other phones especially the new ones that can not be unlocked using the IMEI numbers.
Unlocking your phone using equipment - there are some companies that also offer unlocking equipment as well as products that are mostly phone specific. These equipments are usually very useful although they are sometimes quite costly.
Unlocking your phone with help from your operator - in this technique you will need to call your service provider and you will be asked to give a few weeks notice. Other companies may charge you for this service depending on the circumstances that you got the phone under as there might be some requirements that you have not met. An example is having been with the company for not less 12 months.
Unlocking your phone without help from your operator - incase the operator does not give you the unlock code you can go through various phone unlocking forums where you can get the code. Another way will be to calculate the code yourself and this will require you to have a data cable and a special software.
Unlocking by sending your phone in - in this technique you are supposed to send your phone to a company that deals with locked phones and they will return it to you when it is unlocked. These companies will require a small fee for their services.
After unlocking your phone you will now be free to move to a network of your choice.

The Hidden Risks of Social Media

Social media has forever changed the rules in the job marketplace. The amazing amount of information that is so quickly accessible provides a tempting opportunity to be a fly on the wall of an applicant's personal life. Recruiters need to exercise caution and tread carefully. There are a plethora of social network sites such as Facebook, MySpace, Twitter and LinkedIn that provide instant and often personal information about a candidate.
There are risks associated with social media and if employers are not careful, they can open a Pandoras box of litigation possibilities. Social network profiles reveal private information such as age, race, political affiliation, gender, disability and religious affiliation. This type of information is usually interspersed throughout a candidate's personal profile.
There are a few disturbing scenarios that can occur when an employer does a social network web search on a potential candidate. Consider the following: a recruiter does an internet search and finds the candidates picture and religious and political affiliation and uses this information to weed out that particular candidate, or an internet search reveals a candidate in full regalia at a gay pride festival. What does the recruiter do with such personal information that would have never revealed itself in a traditional resume?
Using online information skates a thin line between invasion of privacy and an employer learning as much as possible about a potential employee. Employers must decide if the benefits of researching candidates on social networking sites outweigh the risks. It is critical that employers utilize legal counsel and develop written policies to determine the best protocol for using social media in recruiting efforts.
The policy must clearly define the types of position that would warrant utilizing social media and specific guidelines for the type of information the employer hopes to find by using social network sites. A comprehensive written policy will go a long way in helping to mitigate risks that arise from social media searches.
Working closely with legal counsel can go a long way in protecting a company from the potential of a case of disparate treatment and its cousin disparate impact, which can occur unintentionally when using social media for recruiting. Human Resources experts argue that using social network sites can open the door to disparate treatment (an intent to discriminate) or Disparate Impact, when using social media sites that do not reflect the demographics of the total population.
Social media is one of the best ways to recruit passive candidates and is an essential resource in engaging the best candidates in the marketplace. Social media will continue to evolve and recruiters must use common sense, stay compliant with EEO practices and maintain records to avoid being on the losing end of a discrimination lawsuit.

Software Digest for Beginners

What is the meaning of the term Software?
Generally, the term software is associated with computer software, which is an indispensable part of the computer system that stores and process all encoded information or computer instructions on PC. They have very vast scope in computer world.
Software is processed by computer systems, programs and other data. Being totally opposite to hardware, which is used to store or execute the software, software is connected with random access memory and then carry out the work in central processing unit. Usually, software is a coded machine language that is not easy to understand for the users.
Software & Use
Softwares convert tough machine language into simple usable language to make it really easy for users to understand. As softwares understand machine language that consists of several groups of binary values, which gives processor instructions and data. Generally, every operating system has its own software that requires an individual processor.
Secondly, software acts as a connector between electronic hardware and data that enables a user to operate the series of data instructions with the help of software. Further, software can use any kind of data such as output/input. Sometimes the output of software can be input for software. It also provides an interface between hardware, data and other software.
Types of Software
According to their usages, softwares are classified into three broad categories; system software, application software and programming software. With the help of system software, a user can run computer hardware and computer system including operating system, device drivers, diagnostic tools, servers, windowing systems and some more.
Whereas, application software helps users to perform one or more tasks simultaneously. Application software also enables users to perform all applications like office suites, business software, databases and games. Programming software carries some functional tools that help the programmer to make some difficult computer programs. They also provide some useful tools like text editor, compiler, interpreter, linker and debugger etc.

10 Online Hacked Flash Games

10. Road of the Dead Hacked
Whats the hack? Start with 100 CR, all upgrades cost 1 CR only. The game is 25 MB - let it load. Hack updated with : car takes no damage and unlimited ammo.
9. Crush the Castle 2 Hacked
Whats the hack? All projectiles unlocked from the start.
8. Coaster Racer Hacked
Whats the hack? Start with 100 cash, all upgrades give you more.
7. Warlords Called to Arms Hacked
Whats the hack?
Unlimited Money, Instant Troop Spawn, Demons class unlocked, Charge ready in 1 kill, All classes unlocked
6. Madness Retaliation Hacked
Whats the hack? Start with 100HP and AP instead of 5. Gain 100 AP each turn. Using medikits, smoke grenades and flashbangs doesn't take them away. We don't want to overkill the game with hacks and 100AP will get any enemy killed with 1 unit only so let us know if there's something else we can help you with (hack wise).
5. Weapon Hacked
Whats the hack? Lots of health, enemies do no damage, 999999 money - you can buy all the upgrades/weapons you want.
4. Thing Thing 4 Hacked
Whats the hack? Health, Ammo, And all weapons owned ! Pipe and Sword 1 hit kill ! All guns auto ! All outfits unlocked after completing the 8 achievments ! See info below for weapon & health tip ! Also you can Play naked lol outfit "0"
3. Achievement Unlocked 2 Hacked
Whats the hack? Market Place Items only cost 1 coin - 30 minutes instead of 4 in time mode
2. Shopping Cart Hero 2 Hacked
Whats the hack? verything in the shop is free!
1. Toss the Turtle Hacked
Whats the hack? Everything in the shop costs $1. After the first shot you'll be able to get everything. No need of other hacks since it will take the fun out of the game.

Learning More about Internet History

The internet is a huge network of networks. Several computer networks across the world connect seamlessly with each other using a protocol known as the "IP Protocol". The connection is made possible through various telecommunication mechanisms such as telephone wires, cable lines or satellite signals. Sitting before your computer, any information that you want which is located in some remote computer on the far corner of the earth - is pipelined from server computer to server computer, until it lands on your screen, in a lightning fast speed. Chris Freville is an expert in this particular field, and throughout this article we shall dwell on some of his notes on internet history.
The Internet Society, also known popularly as ISOC, governs the internet. The mission of the ISOC is to promote global information exchange through internet technology. The governance of the protocol standards - that is, the practical details of how communication happens between computers and software applications - comes under the purview of another body called Internet Architecture Board (IAB). The IAB board also decides on the tracking mechanisms of the 32-bit address number that uniquely identifies every single device hooked onto the internet. There is a third governing body known as the Internet Engineering Task Force (IETF), whose responsibility it is to regulate operational and near-term technical issues facing the internet.
Just like there is somebody who builds, owns and operates the roads which our cars drive on, and to whom we have to pay toll for their usage, in the same way, we as customers pay for the elaborate infrastructure that has been built to run the internet. This payment is by way of the rentals to the internet service providers and the telephone companies.
The first vision of the internet was outlined by J.C.R. Licklider, an MIT researcher who in August 1962 wrote about a "galactic network" of interconnected computers that will be capable of providing access to information and programs from any site to any point of consumption. A paper published by Leonard Kleinrock, as noted by Chris Freville, concurrently followed this that dwelt on how to make communication on the internet practically feasible.
An outcome of this vision was the development of ARPANET in September 1969. This network of computers was first assembled at the Network Measurement Center at UCLA; and gradually roped in the computer networks at Stanford Research Institute, UC Santa Barbara and the University of Utah. Three years later, a stable version of the ARPANET was successfully demonstrated at the International Computer Communication Conference (ICCC). Over a period, other computer networks from the region, across the country, and later from around the world joined the ARPANET, to become what we know today as the internet.
Chris Freville also writes how from academic environs, the internet moved towards commercialization in 1990, when "The World" became the first internet service provider, offering internet service using dial-up. Companies such as CompuServe, Prodigy, America Online soon followed. Within two years, by the end of 1991, the internet had grown to include three dozen countries, 5,000 networks, 700,000 host computers, all serving over 4 million people.