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How to integrate SEM with emerging media channels This white paper discusses: How web analytics can transform your business Becoming insight-rich through data How to create a “single version of the truth” Download now »



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Virtual graffiti software such as YrWall is one way to provide urban artists with an outlet for their talent without vandalising people’s property. Similarly, California-based Streetcraft LA is an outreach project that aims to help youths divert their creative impulses into products that could earn them a profit instead of a trip to the police station.

The organization operates in the low-income area of Wilmington, where a type of graffiti known as tagging has become a problem. Streetcraft LA hopes to encourage youngsters who commit this type of vandalism to use their artistic talent in ways that won’t land them in jail – which could further affect their opportunities later in life. Instead, the initiative is offering kids the skills and facilities to put their art onto products such as t-shirts, skateboards and even furniture, which are then sold in the Streetcraft store. Profit from each item sold is then split between the organization and its young creators. Artists on the program are also helped in devising their own marketing strategies, helping them to continue to sell their goods once they graduate.

Streetcraft LA is a social enterprise that helps young people see worth in their own talent, saving them from the risk of obtaining criminal records and offering real monetary rewards for their efforts. Graffiti is a world-wide problem, so is this one to emulate in your community?

Website: www.streetcraftla.com
Contact: streetcraftla@gmail.com

How to integrate SEM with emerging media channels This white paper discusses: How web analytics can transform your business Becoming insight-rich through data How to create a “single version of the truth” Download now »



Please visit Search Engine Land for the full article.

Why is Google launching so many hardware devices like Nexus tablets, the Q (Home media) laptops, desktops, phones, and even augmented reality glasses? They want to be ‘connective tissue’ across all digital experiences, harness the data, make it useful to you, then figure out how to monetize it, primarily with ads. To summarize, their mission is to organize the world’s information, and sell it back to us, and there’s nothing wrong with that, as long as you understand this contract up front.

I had the pleasure of joining This Week in Google show with Leo Laporte (Wikipedia), Gina Trapani (Wikipedia), and Jeff Jarvis (Wikipedia) for the second time, and we discussed Google’s new strategy, what it means, and how web technologies continues to change as it impacts consumers, brands, and the industry. Unlike short ‘broad-cast’ media clips, this is a long form, deep ‘narrow-cast’, that explores a number of related news topics and insights, so grab some coffee, get a comfortable chair, and settle in for this show on This Week on Google.

The video is embedded below, or you can find it on the This Week in Tech website.

Related:

• There’s an active convo of Google wanting to be HW company here on G+

These days, it is common knowledge that branding is an essential tool for building a successful, sustainable enterprise — but what does that mean if your business is you? To answer this question, I scoured the land of independent-publishers-turned-savvy-branders to ask the best of the business to share their insights on what it takes to create and sustain their successful brands.

As many of you know, well-executed branding can ensure a consumer chooses your product over all others, though the others may be incredibly similar. The classic example of this is the powerful brand of Coke. People around the world choose Coke over other types of cola, which taste virtually the same due to one single differentiator: branding. Coke has perfected its brand over a century by ensuring its products stand for consistency and enjoyment while visually being equated to these feelings. The results of its successful branding can be seen today, where Coke is reportedly recognized by 94 percent of the world’s population.

In the past few years we’ve seen the explosion of personal blogs. In fact, WordPress keeps a handy counter on its website that shares the number of WordPress sites in the world — its count is up to 73 million. And that is just one — albeit the largest — platform. Many of these voices are clambering for the same audience and must look to branding as a key differentiator that will help them stand out in a crowd.

The challenge for most publishers is that the process of branding can feel uncomfortable because you’re spending lot of time thinking about yourself rather than your audience. Most publishers I know would much rather think about their audiences’ interests, their next blog posts, or how to improve their photography — not what their personal brands mean. But most are motivated to overcome these fears of self-promotion once they understand the tremendous benefits of branding. Effective branding means readers will choose to follow a specific blog over all others and, to that blogger, this can mean lasting success.

But what does effective branding entail? I had in-depth conversations with some of the savviest publishers on the web, and here are some of the common themes I heard from them.

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Facebook is changing things. No matter where the company’s stock is today, it’s probably not going to alter Facebook’s idea of how the advertising business should work. And Facebook certainly has ideas on that.

As the company announced at this year’s Facebook Marketing Conference, Facebook’s paid media emphasis going forward is on its Sponsored Stories. Essentially, these are snapshots of published content that becomes the message of the advertising.

Suddenly, ads aren’t created in the way to which many of us are accustomed. And in changing that, Facebook is tossing out the ad industry’s way of doing things for roughly the past 100 years.

As if that’s not enough of a shift, there’s also a new set of metrics to add to the mix. These metrics represent an entirely new way of evaluating which of your marketing messages are working — and which aren’t.

Although Facebook hasn’t officially defined exactly what metrics it’ll be rolling out in the future — and the company will certainly be tweaking that formula for years to come — we can already see two directions the current metrics are taking: engagement metrics and transaction metrics.

Let’s take a look at what you need to know about each.

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It has become the standard for companies of all kinds to participate in social media. For a while, social media was viewed as something primarily for teens and young professionals, but as social media has evolved, it has become evident that there are countless marketing opportunities to be harnessed all over the internet.

While this is true, the inherent nature of social media is inherently more personal. When consumers follow, “like,” tag, or pin pages or products from their favorite brands, they are hoping for more than increased service of advertising and promotions. As such, your social presence is more than just an advertisement. And yet, so many executives today are still treating it as such — and allocating budget accordingly.

In this article, we’ll discuss the ways in which social media goes beyond mere advertising. So before you strut into your boss’s office to make a case for an increase in social media spending, arm yourself with these valuable but often-overlooked talking points.

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It seems silly now, but just a few years ago, people were looking at social media as a passing fad. Now, Facebook has achieved the same status as Microsoft or Apple. Brand marketers don’t get fired for buying Facebook ads.

Because Facebook — like all social media — is growing as an advertising medium, the prices for ads are going up. While marketers can take advantage of seasonal fluctuations in price, maintaining performance on social year-round requires significant investment.

Luckily, there are a lot of cheap tricks (not big-brained strategies) that social media marketers can use to boost exposure and drive their brand messages without significant financial investment. Let’s take a look at six of them.

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