No opt-out from your address & phone number being given to Facebook apps

Your friend just suggested that you join them in a new game or accept a hug, a card, a link to your photos and activity or some other Facebook app. It may look like harmless fun, but is it worth it? 


Last Friday, Facebook rolled out new permissions that give applications access to individuals’ addresses and phone numbers.  In a Facebook developer blog post, they announced that it is adding it to the company's "User Graph object," or the permissions required to install an app.

Surprisingly many people still give out their home addresses and phone numbers on their profiles.  This makes sense for businesses who want their location known, but for individuals who are constantly finding their privacy invaded, placing your home address on any social network can be too much exposure.


When you agree to an app, a window pops up where you must click to allow it access to your profile, so you can use the app. Now these apps get more personal info about you than ever before.


Come apps require access to your friends information, through your profile and others access your data whether you re online or not.

It is important to review the terms and privacy policy of the app before clicking approve. Check to see if this app will openly share your information with their affiliates or 3rd party suppliers.  


Facebook can be a platform to boost your business connections, or a place where you chat with your friends. In either case you should select the apps you agree to with case and make sure your privacy settings are current. 


If your spam has increased in your inbox, you may want to check your apps and your privacy settings.


Happy networking...

To stay abreast of trends and technology advancements, Sumner Davenport continues to participate regularly in developer forums and expands her knowledge through training courses sponsored by large internet marketing companies, developer forums and the internet search giant, Google, as well as industry related events in her clients' areas of practice. By consistently monitoring trends, events and news, Sumner is better able to assist them in selecting the best venues for marketing their firms.
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How do great leaders inspire action?

How do you explain when things don't go as we assume?
or better, how do you explain when others are able to achieve things that defy all the assumptions?

Simon Sinek: "People don't buy what you do - they buy why you do it."

Start with why: http://www.startwithwhy.com.

Facebook crowned as the top-visited site in 2010

 According to a report from Internet analytics company Experian Hitwise, Facebook accounted for 8.93% of all U.S. visits between January and November 2010. Google.com ranked second with 7.19% of visits, followed by Yahoo! Mail with 3.52%, Yahoo! with 3.30%, and Google-owned YouTube with 2.65%.

The Experian analysis found that the most frequently searched term this year was "facebook."

"Facebook" was the top-searched term overall for the second straight year, followed by "Facebook login" and "YouTube," says Experian.

What does this mean to your 2011 marketing plan?   In today’s competitive market, marketers who maximize the free and customizable Facebook platform may find staying connected with their customers and gaining referrals surpasses their paid marketing channels.

To stay abreast of trends and technology advancements, Sumner stays current with the news and continues to participate regularly in developer forums and expands her knowledge through training courses sponsored by large internet marketing companies, developer forums and the internet search giant, Google, as well as industry related events in her clients' areas of practice. No time or expertise to do it yourself? Contact Sumner.

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Low prices aren't everything

According to CNNMoney.com, "If online retailers think slashing prices to the bone is the best -- and only way -- to grab holiday shoppers this year, they're mistaken."

Even though more shoppers make purchases online this year compared to previous, their satisfaction levels with e-tailers declined slightly this holiday sales season.

A new industry report released today, by Foresee Results, ranked holiday winners and losers among major online merchants based on customer satisfaction. Satisfaction with the top 40 online retailers slipped 1 percent to an index of 78 out of 100 points.

Retailers were judged on four categories: content, functionality, merchandise and price. Amazon ranked #1. They reportedly excelled on content, functionality and merchandise.  Again reinforcing that the lowest prices aren't everything.

According to Kevin Ertell, vice president of retail strategy at Foresee, “Overall online site experience is incredibly important to not only satisfaction but in getting people to come back and buy, again and again.”

As you plan your online presence for the upcoming year, your website may need an update.  Evaluate your website from the perspective of your customer. Evaluate what is working and what needs to be adjusted for better response and retention. Solicit answers from your customers. Asking "why" and acting on the feedback, may help you to gain better long term customer satisfaction.

Is there really instant success?

Everybody fails but very few successful people ever want to discuss it.

Anyone who does anything in the world has to experience failure. It is impossible to have all the “right” answers before setting off in pursuit of your goals. We all know that Henry Ford was responsible for manufacturing the first mass produced automobile called the Model T. But very few people are aware that the Model T was not his first automobile. He went through models from A to S that all were failures before he got it right. Coca-Cola was only selling a dozen cases a week for a long time before they got it right. Even Thomas Edison failed over 1,000 different times while working on the filament for the light bulb before he was successful.

Our society should glorify failure the same way it glorifies success. The stories we read about in the general press and in special interest magazines all make success sound easy. They tell you stories similar to the housewife who was selling her "Best Tastin’ " cookies at school bake sales when her son’s teacher suggested she should sell them in stores. Almost overnight she's a millionaire.

These stories make you feel that you should also be a success overnight or you are a FAILURE. Not true! Go out and fail ... that is the best way to get anywhere. The odds of being an instant success are about the same as you being hit by lightning. If you live in Florida, where lightning has a habit of striking often, your odds may not be so bad. However, if you're waiting for the right idea that is sure to be an instant success like you see in the magazines, you'll never do anything. Magazines write their articles so that you will believe that you, too, can be an instant success, if you must have the “right” idea, just like the people they profile. This is how they sell magazines.

The problem with these instant success stories is instead of encouraging you, they are more likely to stop you from fulfilling your dream. When you hear about a common persons instant success you might find yourself thinking..."If that average person can do it, why can't I?" If that average person really did it and you can't, you're going to feel dumb. How can an average person be smarter than you? No one wants to know that an average person is smarter than you are so you don't do anything about it. Or, if you attempt to figure out and make your own instant success, you get angry because your life didn't change overnight. You get discouraged and hang up your dreams.

We all have misconceptions about the way things work and what will be successful. We are inundated from all sides with opinions. Our friends, family, associates, and teachers all continually tell us why they believe someone else is a success. If they really knew the answer, they would be doing it too. Or these well-meaning folks hinder your success by attempting to protect you. They do not want to see you hurt. They will show you 15 ways your idea is likely to fail. Something to remember, though, the founder of Federal Express first presented his idea as a paper in business school and the professor barely gave him a passing grade because he thought the idea wouldn't work. And that was at Harvard! So trust your instincts and set your idea in motion, regardless of what some people might say.

The reason for your success will be because you are different than anyone else and your product and/or services will fit a niche and fulfill a need better than anyone else's.

If you want to succeed, most likely you are going to experience failure. A “failure” can be a good thing. If an idea appears to flop, take time to analyze before moving on. Rather than assigning blame or beating yourself down because of it, re-examine the failure. Determine it’s cause. Was it insufficient planning? Was it poor timing? Was it insufficient research? Was it insufficient resources? Was it erroneous data?

Don’t let yourself jump to conclusions. Allow yourself to get all the facts , so you can make a well-founded decision on the actual outcome of your efforts. You may find some efforts were useful or correct, however, most of all with proper analysis, you will gain a valuable learning experience

Welcome Failure.

It's the best springboard to your future success.

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Google New Preview and Star Features

Two new Google features are striking a high note with some people and hitting a bad nerve with others.

THE PREVIEW FEATURE:

On the plus side:

+ Searchers can see a thumbnail of your landing page by simply clicking the magnifying glass next to the search result. If you have multiple pages in the results, the searcher can get a visual idea of which page they want to visit. This may motivate faster decisions in result selection.

+ The thumbnail image may be the deciding factor to the searcher. Visually appealing pages may see an increase in page rank, regardless of SEO efforts. (note: previously used SEO techniques required re-vamping when Google introduced instant search anyway.)

On the minus side:
- If you recently changed, or regularly change your page content, the thumbnail may not match your actual page.

- Some CAPTCHA gateway pages may not be protected, and still show up in Google's thumbnail.

- Adult content only sites may also produce thumbnails, requiring adjustments in parental controls

Some searchers will spend extra time looking at all the previews without having to leave the search page, others will find the thumbnail saves them time.

THE STAR:

You will also notice the star next to the magnifying glass.

On the plus side:

+ Click this star and the next time you perform this same search, your starred web sites will show up at the top - above the ads and above the organic results.

On the minus side:- Web designers and marketers will have to be more creative on how to keep their websites ranked at the top of the page results.

Have you checked your results to see your your websites show up?

With every change in search algorithms (Google, Bing, etc) new efforts need to be made to keep your website fresh, interesting and findable. The longer your website sits without change, the easier it will be for your competition to rise above you on the page.

Wishing you awesome and continued success.

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Who's your ideal client or customer?

Based on your research and expertise who is your ideal client/customer?

What are their professions?

Does gender or age matter?

What are your client's interests, hobbies, and lifestyle?

What group or area can afford your fees and product prices?

Who could be a good long-term, repeat client/customer?

What are they getting from you that makes then a long term and repeat client/customer?

What values does your ideal client have?

What are their challenges or problems that you are able to solve with your services/products?

And just as important as knowing who is your ideal client/customer, who is NOT your ideal client/customer?

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