Daily Archives: August 10, 2009

Infusionsoft, the leader in automatic follow-up software for small businesses with the famous ‘Double Your Sales’ guarantee, today announced some of the recent social media activities the company has undertaken to support users and nurture relationships with prospects, driving down support costs and increasing customer satisfaction in the process. Social media has proven to be an important way for Infusionsoft to build and maintain relationships with prospective and current customers in the small business and entrepreneur communities.

Since January 2009, Infusionsoft has experienced a 672% increase in social media followers and has celebrated that increased involvement by focusing on honest, give-and-take conversations across several social media channels, as well as by kicking off a number of interactive projects. Recent social media highlights include:

Small Business Declaration of Independence blog – Infusionsoft declared July ‘Entrepreneur Independence Month’ and had several national small business experts share their advice for the rest of 2009. Entrepreneurs were encouraged to sign the declaration with an explanation of why they became an independent small business.
Infusionsoft Small Business Tools Twitter Giveaway – To celebrate ‘Entrepreneur Independence Month,’ Infusionsoft held a contest on Twitter, giving away one year of Infusionsoft service and a free Asus Netbook to eight entrepreneurs. @Infusionsoft currently has over 4700 Twitter followers.
Facebook Fan Page – Infusionsoft has built their fan base to over 650 fans, who frequently interact and rate the content published.
Infusionsoft’s Blog – Page views have grown 22% and unique visitors are up 12% from 2008.
Fix Your Follow-Up Fiesta – Infusionsoft’s director of marketing held the first-ever 24-hour live video broadcast, answering questions from over 2500 small business users and demonstrating how to perform various tasks with the software.

“Social media enables us to have meaningful conversations with both our customers and prospects,” said Joseph Manna, community manager and social media evangelist at Infusionsoft. “Through a wide range of social media, including Facebook, Twitter, livestreams and our blog, we’re able to listen and respond to what our customers want and need. This feedback is invaluable to us as a business, and through it we’re able to add new features to our software to make it even easier for our customers to grow their business quickly.”
About Infusionsoft

Infusionsoft, the leader in automatic follow-up software, helps small businesses grow fast by putting email marketing, CRM and e-commerce on auto-pilot, backing it with the ‘Double Your Sales’ guarantee. The privately held Inc. 500 company is based in Gilbert, Ariz. and is funded by Mohr Davidow Ventures and vSpring Capital. For more information, visit http://www.infusionsoft.com.

Marketing and small business insight from the Infusionsoft team can be found on the Infusionsoft blog at http://www.infusionblog.com and the Infusionsoft Twitter feed at www.twitter.com/infusionsoft.

Mobomo, a developer of smart applications for smart phones, today announced the launch of TrafficTweet, a new Apple iPhone 3.0 OS app offering smartphone users a powerful yet easy way to view, search and “tweet” real-time traffic conditions in any U.S. city. Unique to TrafficTweet is that it relies on a public Twitter feed populated with real-time traffic data from the Twitter community.

Key Features:

Leverages iPhone 3.0 OS Maps API to directly embed Google Maps into the application, providing a quick snapshot of all traffic alerts on nearby highways and roads.
Leverages Twitter Platform so drivers using TrafficTweet can report current road conditions (traffic accidents, lane closures, speed traps and other alerts) to others via Twitter on an interactive map. App users can use color-coded icons to provide the driver with instant feedback.
One-Click Driver Reporting eliminates need for onerous driver texting as it takes just one click to report speed and two clicks to report a traffic incident.
Powerful Search Function embedded in TrafficTweet app allows users to quickly search for traffic conditions anywhere in the world.

“Time after time existing traffic reporting services show a highway to be all clear, yet drivers hop on the highway to find it completely jammed because the data is delayed,” said Barg Upender, founder of Mobomo. “TrafficTweet makes it dead simple for iPhone users to tweet and search for local traffic conditions in real time – bringing the days of unexpected and unpleasant surprises on the road to an end.”
Unlike existing smartphone traffic apps that rely on collecting proprietary data and require driver-generated information to roll-out service in each market, TrafficTweet employs a community approach via the public Twitter feed so that drivers are not limited to data for road conditions on major arteries in major cities. And while other Traffic apps track drivers’ whereabouts at all times once the user agrees to terms & conditions, TrafficTweet users choose when and where they want to report their location and road conditions.

“With the click of a single button, TrafficTweet is really the first way for drivers to, in effect, let off some steam about driving conditions in an easy, safe and productive way that allows other drivers to benefit from real-time updates tweeted by the community,” adds Upender. “And by leveraging the Twitter platform so drivers can report conditions of any road or region – no matter how rural – TrafficTweet is truly global from day one.”

Upender, most recently a founding partner with Intridea, an innovative web development company, is a serial entrepreneur and technologist with 20 years of experience in commercial software product development. He was recently selected by Washingtonian Magazine as one of the Top 100 Tech Titans for 2009, and is an alumnus of the prestigious MindShare CEO network based in the DC-metro area.

TrafficTweet iPhone application is currently available for download in the Apple iTunes App Store at a cost of $0.99 for a limited time. To download the app or for additional information on TrafficTweet, visit here.

About Mobomo
Mobomo designs and builds smart applications for smart phones; connecting mobile to Web with applications that fundamentally simplify, enhance and change the way people work, live and play. The firm is singularly focused on developing engaging products on smart phones in the consumer and enterprise markets. Mobomo has deep expertise in Apple iPhone, Google Android, Palm Pre, RIM Blackberry, Windows Mobile, and Symbian OS. For additional information on Mobomo, visit http://www.mobomo.com.

CheapTweet, a Twitter-based deals search engine, is busy gearing up for the upcoming back-to-school season. Today marks one month out from the beginning of the school year and now is the time when parents are planning back-to-school budgets and searching for ways to get the best bang for their buck.

Compared to years past, consumers are faced with countless e-commerce channels when shopping for everything from backpacks and school supplies to classroom textbooks. At the same time, consumers are also tightening budgets as found in a recent Deloitte & Touche LLP survey. This year, sixty-four percent of consumers plan to spend less on back-to-school items; therefore, parents and students are turning to CheapTweet to cut through the clutter and find the most valuable back-to-school deals available online.

“CheapTweet’s service is extremely helpful for consumers looking to save money shopping online and at local stores. A recent ‘back-to-school’ search on their site listed a variety of links to coupons and savings including an offer for $10 backpacks at The Children’s Place & Target,” said Gina Traversi, a CheapTweet user based in North Carolina. “In an economy where every penny counts, CheapTweet provides a wonderful service to help moms like me save money for back-to-school.”
CheapTweet scans Twitter for the best deals, coupons and sales that people are tweeting about. Deals are then rated by users and delivered via the Internet and Twitter, so shoppers are able to find the best deals catered to their needs. With big brands signing up to partner with CheapTweet, like Overstock.com and PerpetualKid.com, CheapTweet has established itself as a leader in the increasing phenomenon of consumers using Twitter as a money-saving tool.

“CheapTweet’s unique approach of harnessing the conversation on Twitter means we find the great deals people are talking about,” said Hayes Davis, Co-Founder of CheapTweet. “Regardless of the economy, kids still have to go back to school and it’s a significant cost and effort for parents. CheapTweet helps stretch their dollars further in a budget conscious time.”

About CheapTweet
CheapTweet (www.CheapTweet.com) is a deals search engine that, to date, has aggregated more than 1,000,000 of the best deals on Twitter. Driven by the philosophy of “Unique. Social. Deals.”, CheapTweet is a community where users vote on and find one-of-a-kind deals. CheapTweet is operated by Appozite (www.Appozite.com), an Austin, Texas-based startup developing social e-commerce software to connect unique and interesting retailers with customers. In addition to CheapTweet, Appozite also runs TweetReach.

Facebook today announced that it has agreed to acquire FriendFeed, the innovative service for sharing online. As part of the agreement, all FriendFeed employees will join Facebook and FriendFeed’s four founders will hold senior roles on Facebook’s engineering and product teams.
“Facebook and FriendFeed share a common vision of giving people tools to share and connect with their friends,” said Bret Taylor, a FriendFeed co-founder and, previously, the group product manager who launched Google Maps. “We can’t wait to join the team and bring many of the innovations we’ve developed at FriendFeed to Facebook’s 250 million users around the world.”
“As we spent time with Mark and his leadership team, we were impressed by the open, creative culture they’ve built and their desire to have us contribute to it,” said Paul Buchheit, another FriendFeed co-founder. Buchheit, the Google engineer behind Gmail and the originator of Google’s “Don’t be evil” motto, added, “It was immediately obvious to us how passionate Facebook’s engineers are about creating simple, ground-breaking ways for people to share, and we are extremely excited to join such a like-minded group.”
Taylor and Buchheit founded FriendFeed along with Jim Norris and Sanjeev Singh in October 2007 after all four played key roles at Google for products like Gmail and Google Maps. At FriendFeed, they’ve brought together a world-class team of engineers and designers.
“Since I first tried FriendFeed, I’ve admired their team for creating such a simple and elegant service for people to share information,” said Mark Zuckerberg, Facebook founder and CEO. “As this shows, our culture continues to make Facebook a place where the best engineers come to build things quickly that lots of people will use.”
FriendFeed is based in Mountain View, Calif. and has 12 employees. FriendFeed.com will continue to operate normally for the time being as the teams determine the longer term plans for the product.
Financial terms of the acquisition were not released.
About Facebook
Founded in February 2004, Facebook’s mission is to give people the power to share and make the world more open and connected. Anyone can sign up for Facebook and interact with the people they know in a trusted environment. Facebook is a privately held company and is headquartered in Palo Alto, Calif.

ChicagoNow is a network of more than 70 blogs on a wide range of topics reflecting the city’s passions-from politics and sports to fashion and sex. Bloggers include engaging Chicagoans such as former Chicago White Sox pitcher Jack McDowell, Miss Illinois 2009 Ashley Bond, auctioneer Leslie Hindman, socialite Candace Jordan, commentator Dennis Byrne, and the up-and-coming band I Fight Dragons.

Established blogs such as the CTA Tattler, District 299 and Gapers Block are part of the ChicagoNow network. It will also be home to the relaunched RedEye Web site. New contributors are being added weekly.

“We think of it as an online town square for the Chicago of right now–the city that gave the world a president and may host the world for an Olympics,” said Bill Adee, ChicagoNow’s blog scout.

While the site offers a unique platform for Chicagoans to weigh in on the city’s hot topics, it also answers the illusive question of how local advertisers fit into the social media scene.

“No other local media group has figured out the social media phenomenon and how advertisers can tap into this medium,” said Joseph Farrell, the site’s advertising director. “ChicagoNow offers the unparalleled solution that advertisers have been demanding. We can deliver highly targeted, efficient results; an easy way to get into social media; and unique advertising models to reach online consumers.”

Charter advertisers on ChicagoNow include: @ Properties, Broadway in Chicago, Live Nation and Northwestern School of Continuing Studies.

In beta since May 26, ChicagoNow.com drew more than 500,000 unique monthly visitors and more than 1.2 million pageviews in July. More than 4,000 users have registered for profiles on the site.

About ChicagoNow

ChicagoNow is a local website that features over 70 of the city’s best bloggers, including local celebrities and experts. At ChicagoNow, Chicagoans discuss everything ranging from fashion and music to sports and politics. It will also be home to the relaunched RedEye Web site. ChicagoNow is part of the Chicago Tribune Media Group portfolio which includes chicagotribune.com, metromix.com., Chicago Tribune, RedEye, Hoy and Triblocal. www.chicagonow.com

eCoast, a leading provider of outsourced marketing and sales solutions to the technology industry, recently published the results of a nation-wide social media marketing survey.

Beginning in May, 2009, eCoast surveyed over one hundred SMB companies in the high technology industry to gain a better understanding of where they stand with current marketing strategies and social media marketing initiatives. More than half of the survey respondents were actively using social media from a business standpoint, and a vast majority believed their company would increase its usage in the future. The survey report (link provided below) offers a comprehensive and objective look at the full results of this survey.

Questions focused on four primary topics including: current marketing strategies, website usage and maintenance, paid and organic searches, and social media marketing. Results showed that despite the downturned economy, marketing was still a high priority for the majority of respondents. Although many of these companies still employed outbound marketing strategies, they were introducing and strengthening inbound marketing strategies such as SEO and social media marketing, and felt that aside from telemarketing, their outbound marketing efforts have become less important in recent months.

Results showed that the majority of companies were focused on strengthening their online presence and drawing potential clients and customers into their websites. Many rated the website as an important tool in the new business/lead generation process, and referenced tactics used to increase website traffic. Furthermore, nearly 75% of respondents believed that their companies would indefinitely increase their social media marketing efforts in the future, and many cited specific companies as exemplary leaders in the social media world.

About eCoast:

eCoast is an outsourced sales and channel marketing agency focused on executing highly customized and cutting edge programs that result in increased revenue and outreach for the high-technology industry. With proven methods of increasing pipeline revenue, shortening sales cycles, and building long term relationships with diverse clients, eCoast has developed a solid reputation for success, and is the primary marketing firm for technology manufacturers, partners, and value added resellers. eCoast’s service offerings include appointment setting, marketing outsourcing, channel sales, and inbound marketing.

Link to Survey Report: http://www.ecoastsales.com/creative/eCoast_Social_Media_ …

Learn More: http://www.ecoastsales.com

Xomba, Inc. announced today the release of their newly designed website which allows its members to earn money by publishing a variety of articles and content. Members publish articles on topics of interest to them, share their work within a community of writers and readers, and earn sums that far outweigh that of the average internet blogger.
“We wanted to reach out to a community of writers who enjoy blogging and other forms of online writing,” explained Xomba.com creator, Nick Veneris. “But what makes Xomba different is that you can actually get paid to write online. These days, many writers are involved in some form of online writing, but struggle to make a significant income from their efforts. That’s where Xomba.com takes the reins.”

Xomba.com shares ad revenue earned from each article posted, and there are no limits to the amount of writing one can do.

Considered a social networking site by many of its writers, family-friendly Xomba.com aims to provide a community for those who are interested in writing, reading and sharing a variety of work. Writers are encouraged to publish magazine-like articles or short summaries along with links to information which interests them. With features such as the ability to share, vote for and bookmark favorites, users can keep up with each other and make friends with other writers, all while marketing their work.

“Xomba.com is a great marketing tool for writers,” Veneris explained. “Immediately they are being seen by hundreds of captivated readers, and they begin to create a following. Readership turns into earnings and everyone benefits.”

Xomba.com isn’t just for professional writers. Those looking to read interesting, up-to-date content or try their hand at writing their own pieces will enjoy the benefits of Xomba.com

Xomba.com was developed and launched in 2006 by creator Nick Veneris. Its turn-key platform allows writers to publish their original content to an instant audience. Since 2006 Xomba.com has grown to host thousands of writers and readers and receives millions of visits per month.

In the six months since Wargods Online (www.wargods-online.com) was launched by Enigma Games (www.enigma-games.com), social gamers on MySpace and Facebook have fought it out for immortal fame. MySpace had dominated the action due to their huge population advantage, allowing even casual gamers to enjoy the fun.

Recently, however, control has shifted. Facebook is gaining more than 300 new players each day, and has 23,244 gamers, compared to the 23,115 on MySpace. The even numbers have not leveled the fight, however. Instead, Facebook is convincingly dominating the head-to-head battles.

“One reason for the shift is that Facebook seems to have a higher percentage of ‘hardcore’ gamers,” said President and CEO Xavier Moore, “compared to the ‘social’ gamers of MySpace.

The battle will heat up even more with the release of the mobile version of Wargods Online later this summer. Available for BlackBerry, iPhone and Windows Mobile, it will become the third world, and start the beginning of a three-way world war.

Wargods Online (www.wargods-online.com) mixes the classic RPG elements of character progression and dungeon crawling with the build-a-solid-team strategy using four of the 12 available character classes.

Packed with hours of content and challenges, Wargods Online has something to offer players of all abilities. Those seeking a competitive edge can buy amulets to enhance their character’s skills or exchange for in-game currency.

The game boasts a few firsts, including a chat room where players discuss tactics and form alliances, in-depth character customization, and of course, ninjas.

About Enigma Games Inc:
Founded in 2000, Enigma Games Inc. (www.enigma-games.com) is an independent publisher of video games for Mac, PC, Windows Mobile and Blackberry platforms. Focusing on innovation and strategy, their lineup of games has carved a niche in the industry. Distribution agreements with BlackBerry App World, Handango, MobiHand, and Clickgamer allow Enigma Games Inc. to reach its target customers through their high volume websites.

Common Sense Media today released the results of a national poll of teens and parents on social networking behaviors. The poll, conducted by The Benenson Strategy Group, illustrated that kids increasingly connect with friends, classmates, and people with similar interests through social networks – and that parents are out of the loop.
According to the poll’s key findings, teens admit to many behaviors while using social networks:

22% of teens check social networking sites more than 10 times a day, while only 4% of parents believe kids are checking that much
51% of teens check social networking sites more than once a day, while only 23% of parents say their kids check more than once a day
28% have shared personal information that they normally wouldn’t have shared in public
25% have shared a profile with a false identity
39% have posted something they regretted
26% have pretended to be someone else online
54% have joined an online community or Facebook/MySpace group in support of a cause
34% have volunteered for a campaign, nonprofit, or charity
“In today’s digital environment, parents have less time to supervise their kids’ behavior,” said James Steyer, CEO of Common Sense Media. “Communication and socialization in our kids’ world is increasingly moving from face-to-face to face-to-cyberspace, and parents vastly underestimate the amount of time that kids spend on their networks. That makes it more challenging for parents to actually parent in the crucial areas of social interaction and development, and, in a digital world, parents need to play a more important role than ever in ensuring that our kids get the best of these technologies and are using them safely.”

Social networks and mobile communication connect kids to their friends 24/7. For the most part, conversations that start in the classroom hallway more or less continue in digital space. Teens are using social networks to share information, make connections, and develop their identities in new, exciting ways. But when teens communicate either anonymously or through a disguised identity, the doors are left wide open for them to not be held accountable. That kind of communication also leads to a disconnect between actions and their consequences, which is how irresponsible behaviors like cyberbullying become a reality.

Parents are the first line of defense when it comes to helping kids use the same senses of responsibility and self-respect in their online worlds as they do offline. Common Sense Media urges families to keep up regular conversations about life in a digital world and what it means to be safe, smart digital citizens.

To find out more about what teens are doing on social networks, as well as get full poll results, parent tips, and more, visit www.commonsensemedia.org/teen-social-media.

To set up an interview with our experts, please use the contact information below.

About Common Sense Media

Common Sense Media is the nation’s leading nonpartisan, nonprofit organization dedicated to improving the impact of media and entertainment on kids and families. Common Sense Media provides trustworthy ratings and reviews of media and entertainment based on child development criteria created by leading national experts. For more information, visit www.commonsensemedia.org.

About The Benenson Strategy Group

The Benenson Strategy Group is a nationally recognized strategic research and consulting firm with a reputation for being energetic, fast-paced, and analytically aggressive. Founded in 2001, The Benenson Strategy Group’s clients include major nonprofit organizations, President Barack Obama, governors, U.S. Senators, members of Congress, international labor unions, and Fortune 100 companies. For more information, visit www.bsgco.com.