Klout - Measuring Social Influence

Klout - The Standard for Influence

Klout measures your online influence and gives you a score from 1-100 with 100 being the maximum you can reach. You can sign in with Twitter or Facebook and then add a number of different networks to get a more accurate score - other networks you can add such as Tumblr,  Blogger,  YouTube, Linkkedin & even Instagram plus a few more. Klout will then tell you what area's your influential about "in everything from barbecue to tech gadgets to gardening".

Klout currently scores over 80 million people and brands use Klout to run campaigns with the people which have the most influence among their chosen market. Doug Clark the GM of Social Media & Customer Engagement at Audi of America said "We identified Klout as a skilled partner to help us recognize and identify our Facebook fans with followings and influence". You only need to visit their perks page to see some of the large companies they have done work for and look at some case studies of the work Klout have done. The fact on that page for businesses sums up the work they do perfectly;

"90% of consumers trust peer recommendations, only 33% trust ads".

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Twiend - Multiply Followers Free

Twiends - Growing Your Social Network

Their are many tools that we can use with our social media accounts and twitter has one million registered twitter applications. Twiends is a tool that allows you to increase your following quickly which can be helpful for many reasons such as getting people to trust you. Using the tool will require

Every time you follow someone on Twiends you receive seeds which you then use to gain followers, because every time that someone follows you, they take your seeds - you set how many. Their is also the option to purchase seeds in bulk which means you won't need to spend loads of time following people.

The service is very strict on "follower churning" and they work to stop people from following people and then unfollows shortly after they say that " when certain thresholds are hit you may not find any new friends to follow".

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Dragons Slaying Twitter! [UK]

[Info Correct When Published]

Lets look at the number of twitter followers of our UK Dragons Den investors in the UK (On writing this post) and their reported wealth in The Sunday Times Rich List 2011. Check how the amount of money they have correlates with the number of twitter followers.

• Duncan Bannatyne (@duncanbannatyne) - £430million/ 402,289
• Peter Jones (@dragonjones)- £250million/ 348,552
• Theo Paphitis (@TheoPaphitis)- £170million/ 163,338
• Hilary Devey (@HilaryDevey) - £50million/ 25,546
• Deborah Meaden - £40million/ Inactive on Twitter

BONUS! (Alan from The Apprentice)
Lord Sugar (@lord_sugar) - £770million/ 1,007,299

Let us know what you think...#SlayingTwitter

Ebay Millionaires Achieved Turnover of £1m!

Ebay expects to have over 150 'million pound businesses' this year, that figure is up 25% from last year. They said that of those, 10% are expected to have turnover of at least £3 Million. Ebay said that five millionaires achieved £1 million turnover in 2010 within one year of trading.  The Ebay business has been viable for some time now but Ebay say it has been down to the boost in exports to countries such as the United States, Australia and France.

Ebay was founded in 1999 and provides an online marketplace for the sale of good bringing together buyers and sellers. In the UK they have over 17 million unique visitors a month and 90 million active users. Sellers of all sizes use Ebay with over 160,000 registered businesses and 100 of well known brands and retailers. Ebay is a publicly traded company and has a market capitalisation of $37 billion.

Google Releases Hurricane Map

The 2011 hurricane season is an event in the annual cycle of tropical cyclone formation. Both the Atlantic and Pacific hurricane seasons will end on November 30, 2011. Source: Wikipedia

What New Apple CEO, Tim Cook Emailed Staff!

Following the resignation of Apple CEO, Steve Jobs(56) and announcing Tim Cook as his successor. Here is an email from Tim Cook according to our source;

"Team:

I am looking forward to the amazing opportunity of serving as CEO of the most innovative company in the world. Joining Apple was the best decision I’ve ever made and it’s been the privilege of a lifetime to work for Apple and Steve for over 13 years. I share Steve’s optimism for Apple’s bright future.

Steve has been an incredible leader and mentor to me, as well as to the entire executive team and our amazing employees. We are really looking forward to Steve’s ongoing guidance and inspiration as our Chairman.

I want you to be confident that Apple is not going to change. I cherish and celebrate Apple’s unique principles and values. Steve built a company and culture that is unlike any other in the world and we are going to stay true to that—it is in our DNA. We are going to continue to make the best products in the world that delight our customers and make our employees incredibly proud of what they do.

I love Apple and I am looking forward to diving into my new role. All of the incredible support from the Board, the executive team and many of you has been inspiring. I am confident our best years lie ahead of us and that together we will continue to make Apple the magical place that it is.

Tim"

Statement Source

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Apple - Building a Generation & Steve's Statement!

Here's the statement from Steve Jobs(aged 56) resigning as CEO and showing the importance of a succession plan;

"To the Apple Board of Directors and the Apple Community:

I have always said if there ever came a day when I could no longer meet my duties and expectations as Apple’s CEO, I would be the first to let you know. Unfortunately, that day has come.

I hereby resign as CEO of Apple. I would like to serve, if the Board sees fit, as Chairman of the Board, director and Apple employee.

As far as my successor goes, I strongly recommend that we execute our succession plan and name Tim Cook as CEO of Apple.

I believe Apple’s brightest and most innovative days are ahead of it. And I look forward to watching and contributing to its success in a new role.

I have made some of the best friends of my life at Apple, and I thank you all for the many years of being able to work alongside you.

Steve"

Apple was founded in 1976 by Steve Jobs, Steve Wozniak and Ronald Wayne. Their first product was essentially a motherboard (Apple I) and now they have a strong hold on many of the devices many of us use today. But in 1985 after a power struggle with the board of directors Jobs left the company only to return in 1997 and turn Apple around. Now with over 46,00 employees and a market cap of around $348 billion they are the biggest tech company in the world.

The products are useful not only to consumers but business as well and the products are used by businesses the world over for better productivity because of the simplicity of their products. The number of apps available in their app store makes it possible for many to work from their phones.

Statement

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7 Reasons To Use Linkedin!

Linkedin is a professional network with over 120 million members in over 200 countries and territories. It was founded in 2003 and by the end of the first month had 4500 members. As of 30th June 2011 Linkedin were adding 2 users a second. They recently completed their IPO on the New York Stock Exchange in May 2011 under the stock symbol LNKD and have a market capitalisation of around £7.5 billion.

Here are 7 reasons to use Linkedin;

1. Market Research - Finding local companies and spying on your competitors.
2. Looking for Work - Improve your career by making contacts with employers in your industry and Linkedin's job section may be helpful.
3. Getting Advice - Connect with people for advise or utilise your network by updating your status with your question.
4. Improving Connections - Use Linkedin to connect with people who may be useful in the future, people you have met and know.
5. Looking for Employers - Professional can use Linkedin to connect with potential employers and understand where your employers are to get in contact.
6. Promote Your Company - Join groups, get involved in discussions and start your own groups.
7. Make Yourself Visible - Get involved, communicate with contacts and show your skills but don't be annoying!

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Start a Shop With No Money!

We all know about Ebay where you can set up a store and sell goods you have bought, collected and so on. However if your creative and have the marketing knowledge to launch your own store selling goods without having to purchase them! This service is called CafePress and what they allow you to do is well get an online store with "No set up fees", "No upfront costs" and "No out of pocket expense". This is how it works if you'd like to run a store, firstly you sign up, then upload your designs and choose your products and promote your store. 


CafePress manage everything else for you so for example if you were selling t-shirts, you'd already have uploaded your design and then when someone orders they manage the billing, delivering and printing. You'll never actually touch the product as it will be delivered from the printers and they will send your check each month. 


The company ships 6 million products annually through some 2 million shops where there are more than 325 million different products created through over 250 different product types.


If you have 10minutes this video tells you how they started;

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Twitter & Social Media Help!

[POSTS YOU MAY HAVE MISSED]

5 Things to Write About on Twitter and Others!

Twitter Updates...when you need something to say!

Newsletter Management - MailChimp

MailChimp makes designing email newsletters, sharing them on social networks, integrating with websites, and tracking results a lot easier. With over 500,000 users and Mashable reporting last month that from a survey of 550 people working at startups, it was the most popular email marketing tool.

Mailchimp work using a freemium model and offers a range of prices to meet the needs of all business sizes. Obviously the more emails you want to send or more subscribers you have, the more you'll have to pay. The free service lets you have up to 2,000 subscribers and send a maximum of 12,000 emails each month.

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Growing A Media Empire! [Chrome Advert]

The brilliant advert that aired this weekend featuring rising "media mogul" Jamal Edwards on how he built his empire online. The 1m30s video looks at the rise of SB.TV in to a leading youth broadcaster in the UK.

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5 Things to Write About on Twitter and Others!

Here's a few things that you could write about through your social media;

1. Promotions - Why not run a promotion through your social media so that everyone that follows you can get a discount!  e.g "10% off all products if you follow us on Facebook!"


2. Questions - Ask questions of your users to engage them and you may even get a bit of market research! e.g "Why do people where socks and sandals? #Crazy"


3. Company News - Tell your follows you "what's happening" at your company! e.g "Moved offices, have a new employee and featured in the press! [press link] #AmazingDay"


4. Facts - Give your audience a some facts that relate to your business! e.g "10k people order umbrellas every summer because their cheaper!" - Just an example, probably true though!


5. Friendly - Just give your readers a message to let them know you appreciate them and get seen! e.g "Good Morning! hope you had sweet dreams :)"


Bonus Box - Use hastags when possible (#theyhelp), Try to reply to people and show them you appreciate them!

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Monetising Your Site - 2 Posts you may have missed

SkimLinks - Simple Way to Turn Content in to Cash

GapAd - monetise outgoing traffic


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Social Media Developer/ Publisher Tools

All of the social platforms offer developer tools from like buttons with Facebook to real time status plugins on twitter check all of them out and with knowledge of your audience choose ones that will engage them best.

Facebook

http://developers.facebook.com/?ref=pf

Twitter

http://twitter.com/about/resources

http://dev.twitter.com/

LinkedIn

http://developer.linkedin.com/index.jspa

http://www.linkedin.com/publishers?trk=hb_ft_pubs

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5 Twitter Updates...when you need something to say!

[Twitter Status Series]

I've heard many times that sometimes it can be difficult managing your social media and thinking of new things to say, everyone gets writers block at some point. This series will suggest statuses you could use when your mind goes blank.

Edit them as you wish, of course.

1. How are you all feeling today? #GoodMorning
2. New employee he's great #brilliantcoffeemaker
3. Let us know what you have planned today and receive 10% off your next purchase!
4. Our deal of the day (insert link) #Deal
5. We have sold over 500 spoons this month!

Here's a bonus...
    6.  Hope your enjoying the weather! We are!

Let us know what you think and even suggest some to help others!

SkimLinks - Simple Way to Turn Content in to Cash!

SkimLinks is an affiliate marketing platform founded by Alicia Navarro in 2008. Publishers use the platform to monetise their content by converting links in to affiliate links. The new SkimLinks solution SkimWords also allows you generate revenue from product references on your site and turns them in to "unobtrusive shopping links"

[Update - 02/09/2011] Skimlinks Payment Threshold dropped to $10/ £7

The great thing with SkimWords is that you just need to put the code in to your site and the site will automatically turn them in to affiliate links for your website to start earning you money. With clients such as WordPress, COSMOPOLITAN and T3 they have come far in three years. CrunchBase reports they have had funding of $2.52m and a recent interview with their CEO on Smarta.com last month reveals they have opened an office in the US. If you visit the press part of their website you can see what I can only imagine as a growing number of acquisitions.

Let us know what you think...