SiteProNews |
- Child Prostitution: Craigslist has nothing to do with it.
- The Evolving Web: What it Means for the Website Owner
- A Review of the PopUp Domination WordPress Plugin
- The Beauty of Reviews – Good and Bad
- 4 Ways to Use Social Media in Promotions
| Child Prostitution: Craigslist has nothing to do with it. Posted: 10 Sep 2010 02:00 AM PDT  Let me start with this: I’ve dedicated a portion of my life to finding criminals on the internet, and have worked with both local and federal law enforcement to help catch child predators. Child Prostitution and Sex Slavery is a plague on the human race that needs to be eradicated completely. Recently 16 State Attorney Generals made what seemed to be a positive step in asking Craigslist to better police their adult-services section to prevent child prostitution. Their desire was that the adult-services section be completely shut down because they accused the site of being complicit in allowing advertising for these services to be allowed an in theory assisting in the exploitation of children. This claim against Craigslist, is ridiculous and worse, changes the focus from the real issues surrounding this issue and attempts to blame a technology for the actions of pedophiles. It’s important in this debate to clear the air: we are not talking about prostitution in general, with its own set of complaints, its own moral and political issues. The 16 Attorney Generals who took on Craigslist specifically brought up the most horrific of crimes, the forced prostitution and rape of children. They made general claims that Craigslist.com was a cesspool of child prostitution, that there were thousands of advertisements available on Craigslist.com every day that made children available sexually to predators for money. While I applaud the Attorney Generals for finally paying attention to the issue of Child Prostitution in this country, they are taking the easy way out, focusing on a company that has nothing whatsoever to do with the issue to make headlines. The problem with the claims of the 17 Attorney Generals is that they are only grounded in press spin. While Craigslist does have advertising for prostitution, so does hundreds of publications, online websites, and magazines in this country – and the Yellow Pages. Their basis is that one can go online and see a virtual cornucopia of child-sex advertising. While I know that there have been some cases on child prostitution on Craigslist.com, an overwhelming amount of the sex-based advertising is that of consensual services between adults. Most of the claims of law enforcement and the media are based on a few real cases, but mainly on the claims that certain “keywords” signified child prostitution. When the press releases and media reports say that they found “thousands of ads on Craigslist.com promoting child prostitution” they are basing this on a very incorrect assumption. This assumption is simple: that every advertisement that says “young”, “barely legal”, “fresh” and a dozen other keywords, are advertising child prostitution. Law Enforcement looks for these keywords and then mark that advertisement as a suspect “child prostitution” advertisement. For investigative purposes this is very, very important – but it does not make a real situation of child-prostitution. Remember, companies like Playboy, Penthouse, Hustler and many porn magazines promote “barely legal” in their magazines, videos, and websites all the time. There is 4.5M results on Google for “barely legal” for porn sites, should we assume that Google is promoting child prostitution? If we are to really want to blame anyone for the seemingly great appetite of some men in the United States for “barely legal” women, we should be blaming the porn companies which promote this type of porn with photos of women in pigtails and school skirts. Dr. Lois Lee, one of the heading experts in forced prostitution of Children, seems to agree with me. She told me that “Blaming Craig’s List for child prostitution is like blaming Alexander Bell for providing the telephone." Instead of making real steps in the fight against sex-slavery, the Attorney Generals have gone after the technology, almost like there are Neo-Luddites who look at a computer and complain that it’s evil, causing people itself to get on the internet and search for evil things. The problem in this Country with child prostitution has nothing to do with Craigslist anymore than drug dealing has to do with prepaid cell phones. Most child prostitution doesn’t even occur on the internet, but on the streets, with organized gangs, with poor populations who can't protect themselves. The real issues are much deeper and have to do with a broken child protection system that allows runaways to fall through the cracks, with parents not monitoring their children’s whereabouts, with the issues of uneven prosecution against the victims instead of the johns. By blaming Craigslist we remove the needed focus on the real issue of catching these criminals, the reasons child-prostitution occurs, and what is really wrong with our society as a whole. On top of that, if there are cases of child prostitution on Craigslist, we are removing one of the best tools in catching these criminals. Craigslist.com is involved with preventing these ads, forwarding them to law enforcement for investigation – without this, many of these guys will go back to peddling on the street again, making it much harder for them to be caught. In perhaps the fastest growing industry ever, one person has made a name for himself as a leader and innovator. Pace Lattin, the publisher of the top newsletters in new media and online advertising, is one of the inventors of many of the technologies and methods that have become standards in the industry. He has been called many things, including a rabble-rouser, a guru, an innovator and a watchdog — but one thing stays the same: he is one of the most interesting leaders and commentators in the online advertising industry. Marketing Sherpa, a leading marketing research publication called him the most influential journalist in online media for a reason. IndustryPace.com Post from: SiteProNews: Webmaster News & Resources |
| The Evolving Web: What it Means for the Website Owner Posted: 10 Sep 2010 02:00 AM PDT 
In view of all this, we’d like for clients and readers to have the most benefit possible from the evolving web, with its real time searching, social media, and other developments. Such changes transform our websites over time, just as they change the world of business and Websites should change over time though many site owners would rather they did not. The alternative is not being easily found by search engines or users. Faced with this choice, most site owners find out and implement what it takes to keep up. With the search engine algorithm changes made recently, many know they must either fix the old site, if it’s fixable, and expand from there — or create a new From what we see, people are more likely to succeed on today’s web if they realize these “web facts” and act on them before the facts become painfully obvious: -One must have a plan that works. How will people find the website, how will they be encouraged to browse, shop, download helpful tools, articles, or videos that you may offer? (This is what the conversion rate reflects.) How search engine friendly is the code and the over all -The conversion rate, mentioned above, is key. How does the site owner wish to benefit when more visitors appear? How can the casual visitor be converted into an involved and loyal user who chats about the site with friends and colleagues? - No website is ever DONE, or complete. Any successful site needs updating regularly. More and more, sites need to look and feel current. Site users and search engines alike want to find a current site. One needs a plan for new and changing high quality content. One’s own site and the web in general is a moving target we need to stay after. New learning is essential. Putting the results of new learning into action is essential. A site needs a life of it’s own and should be built and developed for a lot of purposeful activity all around the web. We have a more dynamic Internet than we did even a few years ago, and that is a massive understatement! How does the website owner plan get the Thanks for reading today. We at Lone Bird Studio in Asheville, NC wish all current and future website owners pleasant learning and success with their web design and search engine optimization activities. Chris has been owner and head designer since he started LBS back 1979. His marketing experience crosses all media and Chris is settled firmly into web design and marketing. With his first website going up in 1997 Chris has himself as one of the leading Web Design Studios in Western North Carolina. Based in Asheville Lone Bird Studio has a proven record of results and satisfied clients. Check him out at www.lonebird.com. Post from: SiteProNews: Webmaster News & Resources |
| A Review of the PopUp Domination WordPress Plugin Posted: 10 Sep 2010 02:00 AM PDT  The PopUp Domination WordPress Plugin is the newest, and first, plugin released by Michael Dunlop, a young online entrepreneur who blogs about making money online and generating your own wealth. What the plugin is for It’s for WordPress bloggers who have an email newsletter and wants to increase their subscription rate. What it does Once the plugin is installed and activated, it’ll pop up a subscription box whenever a person visits your site, however, you can configure how often it’s shown to the same person. Some people like to pop up the box every time someone visits your site, returning or not. Personally I don’t like to do that, mainly because as a blogger, I have many returning visitors who like to comment on my blog and they don’t need to keep getting hit with my pop up. My preferred settings are to show the box to everyone at first and then show it to them again after 7 days. I also prefer to wait to show the popup until after they’ve been on my site for at least 20 seconds. I do this because a really successful niche marketer told me once that’s what they’ve found works best for them. The reasoning behind it was that the people who stay longer than 5 seconds are probably interested in what you have to offer. So why does the popup domination plugin work so well? I’ve definitely seen an increase in subscriber rate to my newsletter since using this plugin. The plugin seems to work so well because the popup templates which you are supplied with are high quality and are visually pleasing to your visitor. PopUp Domination Options As of the writing of this article, the plugin has the following settings available: * 4 different pop up templates to choose from John Hoff has been using and blogging with WordPress since 2007. Check out how he’s customized the PopUp Domination WordPress Plugin on his blog and how he’s used it to increase the rate at which people subscribe to his newsletter. Post from: SiteProNews: Webmaster News & Resources |
| The Beauty of Reviews – Good and Bad Posted: 10 Sep 2010 02:00 AM PDT  I was taught, way back when I was in sales, to ask for a report card from clients ESPECIALLY when you think it’s going to be a bad one. This gives you a chance to address the issues with the client, let them know you are listening and concerned, and turn those issues around. Plus you get extra points for being proactive. Many companies that are reluctant to dive into social media tell me that they are afraid of their brand being “out there” for public criticism — whether it is deserved or not. Reputation management is one of the key objectives for which SMM (social media marketing) can be used, and that same “report card” lesson applies. No one can debate the benefits that a good review or customer comment can provide to any business. But a bad review, or blog/Twitter comment, can be just as useful if it is addressed correctly and in a timely manner. Below are some tips on how to make lemonade out of that potential lemon of a review. Assess the damage -Take some time to figure out what kind of comment it is, how it’s intended and where it’s coming from. -Is it constructive criticism? If the customer truly caught a problem and is bringing it to your attention, that’s a very good thing. -Is it seemingly well intentioned? The tone, message, or verbiage may be cutting but is the intention good — to help you as a business owner recognize a problem and address it. -Is it venting after a frustrating experience? The venting might be volatile and angry, but if it’s ultimately helping you recognize a problem, it’s still a good thing. -Does it sound just hurtful? You know pure anger when you hear it. You may then decide whether or not to respond. Decide how you are going to respond, but whatever it is, respond quickly. -Be sure to respond directly and personally (in tone) and don’t hide behind corporate speak. -Stay proactive, positive and productive. -Don’t ever be defensive, that never helps anything. -If criticism identifies a real problem, cop to it, offer information on solutions that are already in progress, or at least offer some info on your intention to address the issues. -If reviewer discussion is too hot and you do want to respond and find that it is appropriate to respond, then take it off line. Provide an 800 number or email address or just your business phone number and invite the commenter to call to figure it all out. -If you are too angry – chill for a day or so. Reacting in the heat of battle will never result in anything positive -If the reviewer is angry at the world, not necessarily your business -If the review is spamming or trolling, just looking for linking or trackbacks – just ignore it. This is one of the artful aspects of good PR, knowing when NOT to make a mountain out of a molehill. Even a bad review can be good. Remember that mantra of social media connect/create/engage. The secret sauce is transparency. A bad review addressed is a very good thing. Don’t be afraid to have your brand out there, it’s all good. Elyse Tager is a social media strategist and founder of Elymedia, a marketing and media company with a foot in both worlds – online and offline. Elyse develops effective marketing strategies to help the small business grow significantly. Want to learn more about growing your business with Social Media? Sign up for Elyse’s free introductory teleseminar available at => www.elymedia.com/freeclass.html. Post from: SiteProNews: Webmaster News & Resources |
| 4 Ways to Use Social Media in Promotions Posted: 09 Sep 2010 10:00 PM PDT 
Briefly, here are a few of the more interesting and simple ways you can use social media to arrange a short-term promotion for your brand. #1 – Flash Mob A flash mob is an impromptu gathering of people arranged by SMS. Originally popular on message boards, the advent of texting and SMS powerhouses like Twitter has made flash mobs even easier to arrange. In the simplest terms, the originator of the mob sends a message to his audience, arranging a time, place and theme for a quick meeting and/or performance. Famous mobs have included zombie walks, unannounced pillow fights at major business centers, and other assorted fun events. As an example of using a flash mob for a brand, consider the following scenario: You own a café with a respectable Twitter following. You tweet out a time and place – say 2 p.m. in the park – and a short promotion code like ParkFrap. When everyone arrives, you’re waiting with a selection of your newest frappe drinks, and everyone who can give you a copy of the code gets a drink and a coupon for the next time they drop by the café. This kind of arrangement takes a bit of preparation, of course, but the idea creates instant buzz, sticks out in people’s minds and can be an enjoyable time for everyone. #2 – Couponing People like to save money, and businesses like to make it. If your brand is tied into a business that offers products, you’ve probably already considered how to go about offering coupons to people. Social media offers many avenues of getting coupons out to people. Again, Twitter is an excellent tool here; in fact, there are several sites out there that are tailored to helping use Twitter for couponing. For example, http://twtqpon.com allows you to combine a short tweet and an image into a coupon for your customers. However, Facebook is also a good tool for distributing coupons. If your brand has a Facebook group associated with it – and if it doesn’t, why not? – you can leverage the service as both a coupon and a promotional tool. For example, post a message with a new coupon that’s only valid if a follower brings a friend along. In this one step, you get two people into the store, sell some product and have a chance to sign up a new follower on Facebook. #3 – Cross Promote Sometimes you don’t necessarily have a large following of your own. This is obviously the case in brands that are just developing their online identity. They’ve signed up for the various social media services, but haven’t really gotten a big splash together. This is where research and legwork come in. Let’s continue with the coffee shop analogy, since cafés seem to be a defining feature of the modern set. You could look up a group that tends to associate with cafés, such as writers. If you find a local writing group on Facebook for your area, consider posting a friendly message on their board, inviting them to come in for a weekly “writer’s day” in which members of your newly-formed writing club get a discount. Remember, of course, the key rules of social media: be polite and respectful. These are people you’re talking to, people with their own agendas and desires, and they can sense insincerity like a shark smells blood in the water. Your offers must be interesting and credible. #4 – Picture Perfect Images are powerful things. A well-done image can excite the imagination and catch peoples’ attention in a way that text sometimes fails to grasp. Consider sending images designed to give people an association with your brand. Returning a final time to our café example, consider taking a picture of some fresh cinnamon rolls that just came out of the oven and quickly uploading them to your preferred social media service. This requires a bit of work to make sure the picture looks appetizing and appealing, but isn’t too difficult. Post that picture up along with a message about how they come with a free cup of coffee between 10 a.m. and noon, and you just might have a rush on your hands. Even if you don’t have mouth-wateringly delicious pastries to offer, any brand benefits from visual associations. When you go to make a post in your blog or SMS, include a link to a relevant picture as often as you can. This will help people associate your brand with colorful thinking, with interesting things to look at, and the like. Text can appear awfully drab, so do what you can to brighten it up a bit. Enzo F. Cesario is an online branding specialist and co-founder of Brandsplat, a digital content agency. Brandsplat creates blogs, articles, videos and social media in the “voice” of our client’s brand. It makes sites more findable and brands more recognizable. For the free Brandcasting Report go to www.BrandSplat.com or visit our blog at www.iBrandCasting.com Post from: SiteProNews: Webmaster News & Resources |
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