Small Fish in a Big Pond

Although it isn’t cleaning up like Google, Facebook does pretty well with display ads. In 2011, more than 85% of its revenue came from advertising. However, most of that dough comes from ads that are running on desktops, which is where the Facebook experience is definitely the strongest. Before going public, the company openly admitted that it is not seeing any meaningful revenue gain from its mobile platform. What is even more disturbing is that the mighty social giant appeared to be at a lost for a solution as even headman Mark Zuckerberg admitted that finding a way to capitalize on the mobile rush is one of the biggest challenges ahead of the team.

While Facebook is currently thriving as a force from the desktop side of social marketing and advertising, its reign there could be numbered. Slowly but surely, the number of PC users in the U.S. is declining as more people are turning to smartphones and tablets for their computing needs. The more users continue to trend mobile, the more concerning things could get for Facebook. Even though people are increasingly turning to the mobile version of the site, the company’s inability to monetize all that traffic means that it could be losing revenue with no way to make it up. The slow decline of the PC in the U.S. in correlation to Facebook’s advertising revenue will be something to watch.

Getting on the Mobile Track

On the bright side, at least Facebook is making an effort to strengthen its presence in the mobile realm. The company is now offering mobile ad units to advertisers, and according to recent data, this format is four times more engaging than Twitter’s direct competitor. If these ads keep producing for marketers, Facebook can raise the price, offer more formats, and finally start earning some “meaningful” revenue. There has also been speculation around a smartphone with the company’s name attached to it, which could be something else that might give it new life outside of the desktop environment.

Facebook has a long road of it, but if there is any company that could turn things around and get on track it would be this one. There is much to be optimistic about with mobile-friendly acquisitions such as Instagram and more recently Spool, a Digg-like service that has become popular with smartphone users. The opportunities are there. Will Facebook take advantage?

Image found at CultofMac

Research found that online marketing finance budgets increased by about 5.1% during the second quarter of this year. Search engine optimisation specifically saw a new balance increase of 7.4%, a huge increase on last year.

Search engine optimisation is important for any businesses who wish to compete effectively in the online marketplace. More and more businesses are realising that if they do not exist online, then they might as well not have a website at all. Having a website is highly beneficial because it means that businesses can appeal to a wider range of clients. It is no longer about attracting clients who pass your shop every day, but instead you can attract people from the other side of the world without too much effort from your website.

However, search engine optimisation is key and also a priority when you are trying to improve your website ranking and your overall websites appeal. It is no wonder that many businesses are looking to increase their online marketing budgets and search engine optimisation spend, because it seems this might be a very practical way of helping businesses out of the recession.

Businesses need to do everything they can to survive after the effects of the recession. The recession has been difficult for many businesses in all sectors and of different sizes, from start-up businesses to large corporations. It is important that companies are media savvy and adapt their marketing and online activity according to client preference – and the industry that they are part of.

With this in mind, the report also highlighted the fact that traditional media spend saw a decline. This backs up evidence to suggest that companies are no longer using traditional mediums to help advertise their business, but are shifting their focus to the online market instead. In short  search engine optimisation companies are cashing in on the decline of traditional media.

The outlook for the rest of 2012 is unclear. This is because the Olympics are expected to really impact on the economy in London and across the whole of the UK. The Olympics are expected to give a boost across all sectors in the UK and is therefore it is impossible to determine how media spend is going to be impacted by this.

Bellwether author Chris Williamson commented on these interesting results, “The focus has been on cutting back on main media advertising, direct marketing and below-the-line activities and reallocating that money towards sales promotions and the internet. Both of which are often cited as a means to quickly grow sales, especially in a downturn when customers are particularly cost conscious.”

Many businesses need to conduct effective search engine optimisation in order to create a truly successful website. Some businesses decide to use the help of professional SEO experts to help them achieve this.

Image by Images of Money

Are you in the need for some stickers for your business, your career or just for fun? Well you can win 1,000 Custom Stickers for Free from 1800Postcards.com!

1800Postcards.com is the retail branch of Circle Press, a high-end commercial printing firm with a roster of Fortune 100 clients that includes Dior, Tiffany, Disney, American Express and most of the world’s leading brands. These companies demand nothing but the best in quality. To be specific, a quality standard called “G7,” which is only granted to printing firms that meet a very strict set of best practices and production quality. These clients sit with pre-press, have color proofs printed for spot color matching, they come in when the job is printed to make color adjustments and watch it run on the press to see the final results, the whole nine yards. They also pay tens of thousands of dollars for this type of service level.

1800Postcards produces your print work in the same facilities, with the same press-men and production staff, and adheres to the same quality standards as high-end commercial jobs. The only difference is that your job is “gang printed” or run together with other 1800Postcard clients, which is the secret of every online printing company and why they can be so cheap in pricing. However, 1800Postcards.com just brought it up to an almost unreasonable level of quality :)

What if you don’t need stickers? Well they’re capable of more than just sticker printing. They offer brochures, business cards, flyers, posters, banners, postcards and pretty much any custom work your creative mind can imagine.

Bottom line, the print results are unbelievable… no one in the online printing space comes even close to this quality and attention to detail. You can see it yourself by requesting free samples.

The Giveaway

We will be selecting TWO lucky winners and each will receive 1,000 custom stickers. The contest ends at midnight, Eastern Standard Time on Thursday, February 23rd. Winners will be chosen on Friday, February 24th.

What you’ll Win

• Size: 3×3”
• Quantity: 1000
• Stock: #60 Gloss Sticker
• Turnaround: 3 business days
• Only open to US residents

How to Enter

• Step 1. Participate by clicking on this link and entering your info
• Step 2. Leave a comment down below telling us why you should win!
• Step 3. If you tweet @1800Postcards a pic of your finished product you will receive 10% off of your next order!

That’s it! Good luck & tell your friends.

It was against two very dangerous bills, Stop Online Piracy Act (SOPA) and Protect IP Act (PIPA). If you haven’t heard about it yet … watch this:

PROTECT IP / SOPA Breaks The Internet from Fight for the Future on Vimeo.

Check out SOPAStrike.com and AmericanCensorship.org for the essential links and find out how to take action.

Where were you during the blackout?

I’d be interested in hearing what you experienced during the blackout, so please share your side of it in the comments section below. Were you in NYC alongside others protesting in the streets? Did you take any action? Was your blog dark?

Share what happened on your end of things!

The blackout may be over … but the battle is far from it

If you didn’t get the chance to go dark with your own blog, there’s still plenty you can do. Check out the two websites linked above to learn what you can do, then consider spreading the word on Facebook, Twitter, and Google+ using the appropriate hashtags.

If you’re like to change your profile picture to help catch attention, swing by blackoutsopa.org for a quick and easy way to do so.

I created one in PhotoShop a little earlier than I found out about this tool, but had I not I definitely would have used it.

Did the blackout make a difference?

In a word … yes.

Take a look at some of these quick stats.

]]> http://www.fuelyourblogging.com/internet-blackout/feed/ 2 http://www.fuelyourblogging.com/google-creates-true-social-search/ http://www.fuelyourblogging.com/google-creates-true-social-search/#comments Thu, 12 Jan 2012 10:24:59 +0000 Christopher Rice http://www.fuelyourblogging.com/?p=3389 A couple days ago, Google announced it was integrating Google Plus into Google Search, which we’ll look back on in a year and wonder how it survived as two entities.

If you haven’t checked it out yet, do now … visit Google and search for your name.

You’ll probably see a bunch of results connected to you in some way or another; whether it’s a friend of yours, something you posted on G+, or an album from picasa.

We haven’t explored the integration completely yet … takes a while to surf the entire web, but we’ll touch base with you once we learn more about it. There’s a lot of heated discussion surrounding this move … a lot of people think it’s the wrong move, some people thing Google is even eviler, and some believe it’s awesome.

Here’s a quick little video the folks at Google put together:

Twitter isn’t happy about any of this.

What do you think?

We’d like to invite you to write with Fuel.

Whether you’re interested in writing every now and then as a guest contributor or going a bit further by joining the Fuel team as a regular contributor, I’d love to here from you. You don’t need an idea in hand or an article written before contacting us about it — reach out and introduce yourself … let us know you’re interested and feel free to ask questions.

I’m more than happy to help you develop content, so if you’re looking for something to write just ask for a few recommendations. Learn more about contributing to Fuel.

Benefits of writing for Fuel

• Reach an established readership.
• Build your profile as a blogging authority.
• Connect with the community in the comments section.
• Gain a link to your blog from Fuel.
• Weekly contributors receive a Fueled profile picture.
• Weekly contributors are dded to the about page, where they can host a longer bio section and more links.

Join the team

If you’re interested in joining the team here at Fuel Your Blogging, use the contact form above to let us know. We’re excited to hear your ideas or work with you to develop new ideas.

Take a look around the blog for ideas regarding what we’re looking for, or learn more at contributing to Fuel.

But it’s not so much the goal that matters … it’s the act of writing.

The challenge is to write 50,000 words in just 30 days, It’s called NaNoWriMo — it stands for Nation Novel Writing Month.

I’m not sure about everyone else, but this time of year is always pretty inspiring to me as a blogger, because the amount of writers participating is staggering. There’s a sense of community that connects all writers, no matter the medium, because we all experience some of the same challenges.

Tag along as a blogger

Though bloggers sometimes stick to a daily publishing schedule, you’ve gotta give it up for those striving to write 50,000 words in just 30 days. Take this inspiration and tag along with your own work on your blog.

If you don’t usually post every day, consider doing so.

Learn more about NaNoWriMo over at FuelYourWriting.com.

Steve Jobs

Finding the words that best express what we’re thinking or how we’re feeling is the challenge writers of all mediums strive to achieve.

But every now and then we find ourself at a loss, because no matter what words we use nor how beautiful the composition, the magnitude of our thoughts and feelings are too great … even for the written word.

As a great admirer of Steve Jobs, I find myself at a loss of words.

He changed the universe by creating the most powerful communication tools ever. Now it’s our turn to change the universe by using those tools to do something great.