e² productions news, updates and information

K.I.S.S. Takes Over e² Social Media Branch

2010-10-25T16:23:00.000-07:00

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Los Angeles, CA, 10/25/10 - Because e² productions has plans to branch out into other arenas of business which include entertainment productions, non-profits, music, videos and more, the social media branch of the company is being re-branded as "K.I.S.S. Social Media Marketing & Training," the company is announcing today.
K.I.S.S. Social Media Marketing & Training has served as all of e²productions' social media training courses - private training, coaching, seminars and a 1 hr DVD training (see http://e-2productions.com/k-i-s-s.html and http://e-2productions.com/eventsseminar.html). The big change today is that all social media services offered up to this time under e² productions is now under the "K.I.S.S. Social Media" umbrella. K.I.S.S. Social Media now includes marketing for businesses, strategy creation and consultation, management of social media for business, brands, etc.
CEO Christina Forrester says the change has taken place after careful consideration of where e² productions is heading in the future as a company. "I don't want e² productions to become synonymous with 'social media marketing' when the company will be an umbrella for so much more than this. I'm looking at the future of making e² productions into an entertainment production company with many branches. K.I.S.S. Social Media is already established as a social media training program, so it seemed an obvious choice for branding reasons to bring ALL social media services currently offered by e² productions under the K.I.S.S. umbrella."
Look for the website to soon reflect the change-over and visit the new K.I.S.S. Twitter and Facebook profiles.

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Google changes local search

2010-10-19T18:15:00.000-07:00

As Google just changed their local search visibility, small businesses will see BIG results!

Google just became a whole lot more localized - and a whole lot more "local business friendly." Your location will now be used to give you the closest results in any search. This potentially takes the power out of the big ad-buy spender's hands and gives great SEO power to all local businesses.
It will be more important than ever now to make sure your business has a correct listing on Google maps, that you have location turned-on your business tweets and have an optimized Facebook page and website for local searchability. You can be found by millions now without spending thousands, thanks to this change - a great move, we think, on Google's part!
If you aren't sure how to get your business listed on Google's maps or if your Twitter and Facebook and website are not optimized for local search, contact us and we can help. :)

From Mashable.com:

With a few tweaks and an interface change, Google has placed location and location-based search front-and-center in its search engine.

The big change, announced earlier today on Google’s Blog, is thatGoogle has moved the user location setting to the left-hand panel of the search engine results page. This feature automatically detects your current location and tailors search results based on that. For example, searches for “pizza” or “gyms” will provide local business results near your location, which tend to be a lot more relevant than aWikipedia article on everybody’s favorite cheesy snack.

The change rolls out starting today and will be available to users in 40-plus languages sometime soon.

Now that the location setting will be on the right side of the search engine results page, users can easily change it if Google gets it wrong or if a user wants to find restaurants near a different location. Say you’re about to travel to New Orleans and you want to find the best gumbo near your hotel; all you have to do is type in the new city or zip code and Google will adjust search results based on that location.

While nothing has changed in the back-end of location-based search, the simple fact that Google has prominently placed it on the left-hand side, where millions of eyeballs will catch it, is not a small change. Google clearly understands that location plays a vital role in search, and with the rise of mobile and GPS, Google has been adding more and more location-based search features.

Today’s changes are just as much about promoting location in search as it is about giving users more control over their privacy

e² productions the NEW Social Media Provider for CEO Space Los Angeles!

2010-09-27T18:23:00.000-07:00

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: Monday, September 27th, 2010

Los Angeles, CA - 9/27/10 - e² productions is the new social media provider for CEO Space, Los Angeles Chapter. A little about the organization from their website:

For over 20 years, CEOSpace has been the breeding ground for explosive business growth for its 71,280 members in every industry and vertical market, including yours.
Sharp-minded CEOs and entrepreneurs from all corners of the globe come to any or all of the CEOSpace
5 annual events (called Forums) to streamline their businesses for growth and profit... form powerful alliances... receive 5 and 6-figure capital investments... and much, much more. And so can you.

e² productions CEO Christina Forrester and Managing Parter Jessica Forrester became members and graduates of CEO Space earlier this year. "Our team is really look forward to working the Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn communities to help the local, and largest worldwide, CEO Space chapter of Los Angeles to grow and stay connected to members, grads and potential members! This amazing world-wide community can change your business & life." says Christina.

Chimene Holmes, President of the Los Angeles CEO Space chapter stated on her Facebook page regarding e² productions, "Thank you for sharing your amazing talent of expertise in Social Media...Craig and I are so happy to have you on our team to take CEOSpace Los Angeles to the Next Level...e² productions is the secret tool in receiving Social Currency for your Business."

To stay connected and learn more about CEO Space, "Like" their page on Facebook, follow them on Twitter and connect on LinkedIn for events, business tips, networking and more.

For more information on e² productions visit their website.

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MySpace Launches Facebook Status Sync - What Does This Mean For You?

2010-09-22T21:42:00.000-07:00

Myspace finally gave in and created a Sync for Facebook that allows MySpace status updates to broadcast onto their Facebook Wall. Links, photos, videos, music and apps can also be shared. For a long time MySpace has been the bitter Facebook rival, but the original social media platform needed to make some necessary changes. The MySpace status as social media King has long been gone, but it still holds an important place in the social media world.

If your business has a target niche market of teenagers, musicians, clubs and entertainment, you should not be ignoring MySpace in your social media marketing campaign. For more information on how to best use MySpace to reach your demographic, or to see if MySpace is really right for you, email us or visit our website.

Report from Mashable.com:
Myspace, once Facebook’s bitter rival, is embracing the social network in a big way today with the launch of status updating syncing for Facebook.
Sync for Facebook() allows users to broadcast their MySpace() status updates to their Facebook friends. In addition to status updates, users can share their links, photos, videos, music and even application installations from MySpace to Facebook. This is in addition to Sync for Twitter, which the company launched last year.
Facebook-MySpace sync isn’t perfect, though. The big thing that’s missing is the ability to share Facebook status updates on MySpace. Jen Ruffner, director of product management for stream, told me that MySpace simply wanted to get this product out the door as quickly as possible, but is planning on bringing two-way sync between the social networks in the near future.
MySpace says that it doesn’t believe sync will marginalize MySpace in any way. “People use different social networks for different things,” Ruffner responded. The company is focused on giving artists and users the ability to share their MySpace content on as many channels as possible, and that includes Facebook.

See original article from Mashable here!

STATS: Older Adults DOUBLE in Number on Social Media Sites

2010-09-14T00:27:00.000-07:00

We tell people everyday how social media will make a difference for their business, even if their demographic is over 40. Many business-owners mistakenly believe that social media is occupied overwhelmingly by teeny-boppers, tweens, teens and college students. True that there are plenty of them on social media - but they do not compromise anywhere near all of the 500 million people actively on Facebook! And on LinkedIn you will find an even narrower demographic of an older audience.
But don't take our word for it - checkout this very informative article here!

A new study from Pew Internet found that between April 2009 and May 2010, social networking site usage grew 88% among Internet users aged 55-64, and the 65 and older group’s social networking presence grew 100% in the same time frame.
Young people still dominate social networks like Facebook (), but their usage only grew 13% during the year covered by Pew’s report. Older adults are catching up at an incredibly quick pace, though it remains to be seen whether they will pass the youth or hit a ceiling at or below the usage levels reported by young adults and teens.
Older adults who use services like Twitter () or Facebook are still in the minority amidst their peers. Pew reported about 10 months ago that 19% of all Internet () users use status updates, but only one in ten Internet users aged 50 and older used status updates or read ones written by others. That’s a lot more than there used to be, but it’s still a small group — especially when you consider the fact that Pew’s numbers only cover people who are on the Internet at all. Many people in that age group aren’t going online to begin with.
According to report author Mary Madden, e-mail still dominates interpersonal communication for the 50 and older set.

Twitter as a Marketing Tool

2010-09-06T15:00:00.000-07:00

There are a variety of ways to use Twitter as a marketing tool for your business. There are right ways and wrong ways. There are some ways that will just turn off the very people who need to hear your message, but there are other ways that will turn those same people ON to what your business is about.
If you are stuck regarding social media marketing and don’t know where to begin with Twitter, our K.I.S.S. Social Media Basic Training program is for you! In one hour you will have a clear understanding of how Twitter can help grow your business and connect you, network you, with the people and companies you need to know.
Don’t stay stuck while your competition is gaining followers and momentum. If you want to thrive, take the dive into Twitter.
Unlike other programs that cost upwards of $1,500 and waste hours of your time, our basic training costs only $150! But if you order NOW, before the Oct. 1st launch, you will be the first to receive 50% off – you pay only $75 when you order today.
Stop wasting your time - pre-order K.I.S.S. Social Media Basic Training TODAY and get half off! It is an investment that will payoff over and over again. Plus, if you need additional target-market training or would like e² productions to create a winning-strategy for you, you can apply the $75 you pay today towards any future training or services!

K.I.S.S. Social Media Basic Training Pre-Launch!

2010-09-03T15:11:00.000-07:00

So why a KISS method you might say? Unfortunately, many people have spent hundreds of hours and thousands of dollars on over complicated and ineffective systems that have increased their business 0%. Our methods to social media marketing work and they have proven effective. We have done the homework for you and have simplified a marketing approach that can be tailored to any business. You don’t have to be a computer whiz, html expert or on your computer 10 hours a day to be able to work this cutting-edge marketing program – that’s how we keep it simple, sweetheart.
With the K.I.S.S. Social Media basic training package you will learn how to
Create a social media marketing strategy that targets your “niche” customer base Use the tools that are going to work for you Setup you profiles correctly on Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, and more Post links, pictures, videos, events and more — effectively and correctly	Network with the companies, groups and people with whom you should be networking Create a scheduled system in your social media management that will save you hours every week Schedule your posts the right way The right and wrong way to “automate”
K.I.S.S. Social Media basic training will give you the tools you need and clear the stress and confusion of the social media world for you. It will also open up doors you never knew existed to bring your business more customers, income, networking connections, branding and PR!K.I.S.S. basic training was retailed at a value of $500, but we want to make it affordable for anyone that cannot attend or afford our one-on-one training – so, we are offering this incredible training package for only $149.99! This is a great savings, but if you order today you will save even more! We are now taking pre-sale orders for the KISS Oct. 1st release – order before Sept 15th and you will save $75 – 50% off!!! Order now for only $75!! This is a huge value! Consider what this program will do for your business! When properly implemented, the KISS package is guaranteed to save you its hard cost in time and/or make your business more than its cost within one month! This is an investment that will payoff, quickly! Don’t let your business get left behind – don’t miss out on all the possibilities that are just waiting for you – order TODAY and save 50%!! Where else can you get this for under $100 bucks? To take advantage of the pre-order sale, go to our website at http://e-2productions.com/k-i-s-s.html

Women Who Barter Better Their Business

2010-07-13T22:24:00.000-07:00

Our blog subject line is a play on words both to give you some tips and an introduction to barter and also to introduce one of our latest partners, Women Who Barter!
If you are a startup and need to make new business connections, get new clients and build your following quickly, barter is for you. We speak from experience that not only does it save you a ton of money, which is important when you are just starting up, but it also helps you make money. Barter clients are great partners who will refer your business to cash-paying clients. But it's not only beneficial for startups - if you are an established company, there are so many ways barter benefits you and your clients. If you want to learn more about barter and how to use it, we recommend talking to our client and barter expert, Terry Brandfass of ITEX in AZ. No matter where you are in the country you can learn from and join ITEX and do business nationally with members.

Another new organization that is going to change the world of barter for business-women across this country is our new partner, Women Who Barter! This organization is dedicated to helping its members grow their business in mutually-beneficial relationships. From their website, www.womenwhobarter.com, "Women Who Barter is an online networking association created to support women business owners or women who want to launch a new business. Our intent is to support every type of business owner whether you are a mompreneur, a seniorpreneur or a well established company of any size." We are excited to be a part of this great group and if you are a woman who owns or if thinking of starting a business, visit their website and join...be sure to tell them e-squared productions referred you!

You won't be sorry you went down the barter road.

e2 new social media sponsor of An Empowered Woman!

2010-07-09T20:02:00.000-07:00

Yesterday it became official that e-squared productions is the proud new social media sponsor of An Empowered Woman (www.anempoweredwoman.com). An Empowered Woman is a forum designed for women to empower each other women by sharing our stories, challenges and victories. We do this through our TV & Radio shows, books, coaching, seminars, tele-calls and Second Sunday Series.

e-squared owner Christina Forrester and managing partner Jessica Forrester became members of this highly acclaimed L.A.-based, and soon to be national, organization in April 2010. They and the e-squared productions team are very excited to be powering the social media campaign for the organization. Jessica Forrester says, "The partnership we have formed with An Empowered Woman is one of e2's greatest highlights during our time of operation. An Empowered Woman is a phenomenal group of woman entrepreneurs, and to be a sponsor of this organization is an honor."

Join An Empowered Woman's new Facebook page, follow them on Twitter, checkout their blog and link up to the company on LinkedIn! For more information on e-squared productions and the social media and online marketing services they offer, visit www.e-2productions.com.

5 Rules for Professional Social Networking Success

2010-07-02T13:10:00.000-07:00

The article below has some good advice on proper "netiquette" with online marketing and using social media for your business. These are things we teach our clients who take our K.I.S.S. Social Media class or consult with us. It is also how we handle the networking for our clients.

Don't just take the fast and easy way out when it comes to your professional social media. As the article discusses, each platform is different and there is an atmosphere and acceptable and unacceptable "behavior" on each. We see business people making mistakes everyday by trying to rush their social media, use automatic updates, etc. What they are really doing is being ineffective in the social media marketing and networking of their business and in some cases may even be turning potential clients off!

We're happy to discuss your personal strategy with you and tell you what you are doing right or wrong. Hire us to professionally take care of it for you, let us teach you or hire us as your consultants!

Article excerpt from mashable.com:

Professional networking has been made exponentially easier with social media. Years ago, networking meant asking a friend at another company to submit your resume to his HR department. A particularly assertive person might have been able to cold-call his way into lunch with a head honcho. Now, networking means having the ability to tap into hundreds of relevant connections with just the click of a button.
With this free reign comes many opportunities — namely, the chance to connect with people in your industry, impress them with your professionalism, and gather information that can directly help you. It also comes with the risk of doing it all wrong, alienating potential allies and crushing your chances at career development. Here are some guidelines for networking successfully in the realm of social media.

1. Know Your Platforms

Social media is messy. Across Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter, and other social networks, we are connected to a mix of close friends, college buddies, high school classmates, co-workers, bosses, former bosses, I-met-you-at-a-party-once acquaintances, and people we’ve never even seen face-to-face. It’s important to understand the particular platform that you’re using, as well as the type of relationship you have with a person, before attempting to leverage that connection for professional gain.
Each social media platform has a certain reputation. For instance, LinkedIn is generally a business site, while Twitter is more “laid back” and often mixes professional and personal content. Respect the way that people use these sites. Adding a professional acquaintance as a friend on Facebook can be invasive, especially if that individual is a traditionalist who uses Facebook purely for personal contact with friends and family. Likewise, asking an old friend for a recommendation on LinkedIn might create awkwardness if the person has no experience with you in a professional capacity.

2. Customize Everything

From LinkedIn connection requests to advice-seeking Facebook messages to 140-character chatter on Twitter, you should customize every communication sent on social networks. It shows that you value your unique connection with the recipient. It’s easy for people to feel used when you send them a generic request or a message that’s clearly copy-and-pasted to dozens of others (especially if you forget to change the names!).
For existing connections, express an understanding and appreciation for the relationship. When you reach out for advice, give consideration to the other person. Ask pertinent questions about them, especially if you’ve been out of touch for a while. Be honest and open. When requesting a recommendation on LinkedIn, for example, always customize your request to reflect how you value the person’s endorsement.
For new relationships, explain why you want to connect with this particular individual. What is it about her background that makes her an appealing person to talk to? Show that you’ve done your homework. Know about the person’s work history and professional accomplishments, as well as anything career-related you two have in common. Never send an introductory message to a potential connection asking, “So, what exactly does your company do?”

Twitter Attempts To Let You Follow Your Facebook Friends

2010-06-23T17:03:00.000-07:00

The new application in Twitter discussed below will be a huge breakthrough in the social media world! Right now you have to manually go in and add your friends to each site...with this app (if they can get it working!) you can actually find your Facebook friends right on Twitter - see the mashable link below for an example of what this will look like. This move by Twitter changes some things in the social media universe - with LinkedIn already on board with Twitter feeds, it makes the "BIG 3" seem a little less competitive and a little more "friendly"....or even like family.
This integration will do nothing but aid to the creation of a monopolizing social media power-pack, all interconnected by the "BIG 3." Can Google even touch this kind of collaboration? This brings "connecting" with friends, family, customers, businesses, co-workers, etc. into a whole new realm and who knows what is next?
-Christina Forrester, owner of e-squared productions, The Honest Social Media and Online Marketing Experts

From Mashable:
Twitter has announced that it is launching major upgrades to its Facebook and LinkedIn applications, bringing added functionality and integration between Twitter and two of the world’s largest social networks.
The new Twitter app for Facebook, which is now available here, not only allows you to syndicate your tweets to the world’s largest social network, but now has a feature that allow users to see which of their Facebook friends are also on Twitter and choose which ones they want to follow.
The new feature could be huge: it brings existing Facebook connections into the Twitterverse, which is likely to spur new levels of engagement and growth. We’ve already seen a fail whale or two in our testing of the new Facebook app though, making us worry that the new feature could potentially cause more downtime.
The microblogging startup is also announcing updates to Tweets, LinkedIn’s Twitter application. LinkedIn beefed up its Twitter integration last month. It also includes a feature that lets you see which of your LinkedIn connections you follow and automatically follow the ones that you don’t.

Update: The Facebook Twitter app isn’t working. According to Twitter, “The Facebook app cannot currently access your Facebook friend list. We believe this is an issue on Facebook’s end.”
We’ve emailed Facebook to find out what’s going on.
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Twitter Testing New “You Both Follow” Feature

2010-06-03T18:26:00.000-07:00

Below is a breaking story today from mashable.com about the new Twitter feature that is very similar to the Facebook "mutual friends" features. The new "you both follow," if kept, will be a great feature for those of us in the social media marketing business and for you if you are marketing via social media. It allows not only a greater networking capability through Twitter but a means to initiate contact with a potential follower or even new customer.
-Christina Forrester, owner, e-squared productions
(for more social media marketing tips or for a free consultation, contact Christina at cforrester@e-2productions.com and visit www.e-2productions.com)

From Mashable.com:

Twitter is testing a new feature that helps you figure out how you know — or if you want to follow — a given account.
If you catch a glimpse of this feature in the wild, you’ll see a slim strip of avatars on a user’s profile right above the grid of people that user follows. The headline above this reads, “You both follow.”
You can also choose to click the link below this avatar-strip snapshot to see all of the people you and the other Twitter user both follow. We’re thinking this will make Twitter a lot more interesting for stalker-types, as well.
Overall, this new feature is a quick reference tool that shows deeper connections in the social media grid, and it’s a simple addition that makes Twitter seem less like a one-way communication tool and more like a robust, legitimate social network.

Also, it doesn’t take a rocket scientist to deduce that this feature is ever so similar to Facebook’s featuring mutual friends when you visit the profile of one of your current Facebook friends. But we won’t be so petty as to accuse Twitter of stealing the feature; we might, however, say that the mutual friends snapshot is sufficient weregild for Twitter features that Facebook has appropriated over the years.Will this feature, if and when it’s rolled out to all users, make it easier for you to keep track of who’s who — and who you might actually know in some meaningful context — on Twitter?

PRESS RELEASE: K.I.S.S. Social Media training program launched!

2010-05-27T16:55:00.000-07:00

LOS ANGELES, CA, 5/21/10 - K.I.S.S. (Keep It Simple Sweetheart) social media training has been officially launched by e-squared productions, with trainings already being scheduled. K.I.S.S. gives attendees the tools to work their own social media strategy in a time efficient and effective way. In just 3 hours (as opposed to the long, rigurous week by week tutorials given by many companies) e-squared gives the tools they have learned through months of research and trial and error and teaches them to others so they can make social media work for them and continue on a path to success in using these tools.

Christina Forrester, owner of e-squared and creator of the K.I.S.S. training program, is putting 10 years of tutoring experience to use in this program and assures that it will be compatible for any level. "Whether you are a novice who has never logged on to Facebook, or an SEO expert, you will walk away from K.I.S.S. with the tools you need to begin and sustain a successful social media campaign for your business or organization. We teach you how to save time and money and better yet, how to make time and money!"

The training utilizes group as well as personalized one-on-one strategy and instructional assistance so that you will not leave with unanswered questions. And although K.I.S.S. is completely inclusive, preparing attendees for changes in social media and providing hands on support, e-sqaured also insures ongoing support if needed.

Small Organizations and Social Media: It's What You DON'T Do That Matters

2010-05-25T15:01:00.000-07:00

Below is a blog about trying to strategize a social media campaign on a low budget and with time-constraints. Focusing on what you need and prioritizing your social media time will bring more results for you. In our K.I.S.S. Social Media trainings we teach individuals and teams how to effectively run a campaign tailored to their needs, with minimum cost and time input. If you have any questions on what you should and should not implement in your social media program, don't hesitate to call or email us right away.

Last week, I had the good fortune to speak with some great organizations doing historic preservation work in the Western United States. By and large, these are small organizations that frequently rely on volunteers and working boards to fill all roles the organization needs to staff. So, after a presentation on marketing and social media, I was not surprised to hear a common question:
"We're a small organization, so we can't do it all. What should we focus on?"
It's a great question because it perfectly summarizes the conundrum of social media.
On the one hand, it's an extremely level playing field: social media tools require very little outlay of cash to use, so even small organizations can have big impacts.
On the other hand, small organizations often lack the thing social media does require, and requires a lot of: time. When you have to prepare the annual budget, oversee the programs, and write the grants, the investment of time required to make social media work seems unrealistic.
Nevertheless, small organizations are using social media well. Beth Kanter and Allison Fine have documented some of the small organizations who used social media exceedingly well during the Case Foundation's America's Giving Challenge. (See Students for a Free Tibet and Darius Goes West.)
In the Students for a Free Tibet case study, Beth highlights that the organization has to make choices. It only enters one social media contest a year. They simply don't have the staff bandwidth for more. I wonder, though, what other choices they're making. Do they have a direct mail or direct e-mail program? Do they have a large scale PR effort? What other marketing and fundraising opportunities are they forgoing to make social media work for them?
Here at NTEN, we're in an interesting position. As a technology organization, we've always relied on electronic communications. We do very few mailings each year, which means that as we've grown, we've been able to prioritize social media, rather than shoehorning it into an already full plate of communications.
What about you, small organizations? Tell us how you fit social media onto your work plate?
(original article here)

The Local Advertising War Will Be a Clash of the Internet Titans

2010-05-18T11:21:00.000-07:00

A great summary of the growth in local social media advertising in every area, by Jennifer Van Grove of mashable.com. She is completely right about the trend away from traditional media spending on advertising - I worked in print marketing and advertising before I started into the social media world and I found that interest - and sales too - were by far higher in the internet world than the print world. Not that print advertising can be completely counted out - but most print companies are now supplementing their advertising with online banner ads, which no doubt are easier to sell than their traditional print ads.
At e-squared we understand the value of the local elements to social media - this is how a new non-chain restaurant makes Facebook or Twitter work for them. Many of the new social media marketing companies that are popping up everywhere are using the sales pitch that they can find a business 10,000 or more followers/likers over one week. We don't make these kind of guarantees because there's a problem with it: you may get a ga-zillion followers but will it actually get you any business if they are all in Turkey or the U.K. or New York when you're in L.A? Be sure to go for the following that will matter to your business, because they are local and potential or regular customers.

Quality over quantity!

-Christina Forrester, owner of e-squared productions
cforrester@e-2productions.com

The Local Advertising War Will Be a Clash of the Internet Titans

When Google upgraded their Local Business Center to Google Places, it launched the opening salvo in what we expect to be a long war for local advertising dollars.

With local advertising revenues expected to reach $144.9 billion in 2014 according to BIA/Kelsey — and more and more dollars are shifting away from traditional media toward digital media buys — the new war for local ad spend will be a battle between the Internet (Internet) titans and social networks.

Facebook (Facebook), Twitter (Twitter), Google (Google), Microsoft, Foursquare (Foursquare), Yelp (Yelp) and even Apple are all attempting to carve out their own niche offering for local advertising dollars. Who will succeed remains to be seen, but this is a fight you won’t want to miss.

The challengers fighting for local advertising budgets can be separated into three categories: Search, consumer review sites and social networks. The mobile component to each sector is also quite significant, especially given that the mobile web is taking over the world, and that mobile search is still a nascent space — one that appears to be more app-driven than search-engine driven.
Each category also has its own distinct advantage and key players, but what Google has managed to do with Google Places is straddle all three sectors with an extremely valuable proposition for local businesses that includes free stuff, cheap advertising rates and the promise of exposure.
Google also has a very strong mobile presence, but their adherence to the standard search model for discovery could make them susceptible to competitors vying for local ad dollars.

Search

In the local search space we can include the obvious players: Google and Microsoft, the latter of which will grab more share once the Yahoo search deal is implemented. Both behemoths are fast-adding features to their search services to better facilitate local search queries. Bing () even has Foursquare data in maps.
For businesses, the advantages of being highlighted in local search results over competitors is significant. Sure it’s 100% paid media, but it’s also exposure at one of the primary touch points for service and restaurant queries on the web.
Google clearly recognizes the value of a targeted ad. With Google Places they also re-introduced a simpler, faster, cheaper way for their local business customers to advertise (formerly called enhanced listings). Business can pay a $25 per month flat fee to use Tags to make their listings more prominent on Google.com and Google Maps (). Included in Tags are Posts, which are like status updates for Place Pages and will appear as part of the search listing.
Tags show up as yellow markers that users can scroll over to view promoted features or coupons. While Tags are ads, they’re essentially Google’s take on Promoted Tweets, and make listings stand out from the crowd. If done right, they could be useful for both businesses and consumers.
When thinking about local search, don’t forget about Twitter. The social network also happens to double as a search engine, and they’re aggressively moving in the local direction with tweet geotagging that can identify points of interest. This extra layer of data will enable Twitter users to search locally, and see a real-time stream of nearby tweets.
Couple these new Twitter features with Promoted Tweets — Twitter’s definition of search advertising — and you have a situation ripe for local businesses. The key here is whether or not Twitter can prove why users should share their location and why local businesses should care.
In thinking about search, remember that mobile will factor into the future in a big way. Steve Jobs believes that most mobile search happens via applications, which means that Apple — which now owns alternative mobile search application Siri () — could play an important role in the mobile local advertising battle.

Consumer Review Sites

For the purpose of this post, consumer review sites like Yelp and City Search are being distinguished from other social networks because their primary focus is on user-generated place reviews.
The advertising opportunities on these sites are certainly geared towards the businesses that consumers are reviewing. That could create a conflict of interest for some networks, and in the case of Yelp, many small businesses felt that they were being bullied to pay to advertise in order to remove negative reviews. Yelp has maintained that this was absolutely not the case, and was a misunderstanding of their review filtering process.
As such, they’ve made changes in recent weeks to lessen the confusion, but now that Google Places offers a handful of business-friendly features, we could easily see local businesses jump ship with their advertising budgets.
On this feature front, the addition of service areas is quite significant. So too are the QR code window decals and free business photo shoots. Plus, if Google opts to take Google Maps inside businesses, there will be even more incentive for companies to own their Google Place Page.
In a previous post, I made a case for how the new consumer review is all about you, and that location, premium content and relationships are critical to the relevancy of the consumer review.
In this sense, Foursquare certainly factors into the consumer review equation. Their tips and content partnerships mean that their location-aware mobile social network is perfectly poised to deliver up tightly packaged consumer reviews that are place- and time-relevant. This means that smart local businesses will allocate more of their budgets to checkin rewards and mayor specials.
Lest we forget, there’s a Foursquare-esque component of Google’s Place Pages. All Place Pages include consumer reviews with both text and star ratings. These reviews are also easily accessible via Google Buzz for Mobile and Google Maps.

Social Networks

The primary social networks embroiled in the local advertising war include Twitter, Foursquare, Google and soon Facebook.
Google’s social networking endeavors have left plenty to be desired. Google Buzz () launched to an excited tech audience but enthusiasm has since faded away. There’s also Google Latitude — an always-on location-sharing service that started as a Loopt clone — which now has 3 million active users. It’s the intersection of Buzz and Latitude on mobile devices that will help Google nail down local advertising dollars.
Between Buzz for Mobile’s checkin model and Latitude, Google has a lot of information that they can both display for consumer/business use as well as use behind the scenes. Since Buzz checkins are associated with Place Pages and Place Pages have dashboards, Google has the opportunity to compete with Foursquare’s business dashboards. They also have the data to create accurate behavioral analysis around location, based on the implicit location-sharing of Latitude users. Take that and the Google name, and you have something quite compelling.
Unfortunately for Google, Facebook is most certainly moving into the same space. Given their size and trendiness, we can assume that Facebook will be a strong competitor and a viable contender for local advertising dollars. The leaked McDonalds-Facebook location partnership tells us that diners will be able to check-in at restaurants with activity and food items being posted back to Facebook. How exactly this will work or function we don’t know, but what is certain is that once Facebook knows where their 400 million members are, they can target advertising by location.
Twitter is really trying to ramp up relevancy of geo-located tweets, but they’ve never quite been able to do what Foursquare has done — demonstrate the significance of location-sharing. As discussed above, there could be a perfect storm brewing for the day when geo-aware tweets are tied to places and Promoted Tweets are available to all potential advertisers.
Once that happens, we predict that advertisers will be able to target their Promoted Tweets by location and not just keywords (as it stands now). Should they go down this path, this could be their real secret sauce, especially given what we’ve already seen from Virgin America in the Promoted Tweets department.
In the social networking space, don’t count out David — a.k.a. Foursquare — amongst these internet Goliaths. Foursquare has pioneered the location-sharing movement by making checkins valuable, if not cool. The company is hotter than ever, and its partnerships — especially with the likes of Starbucks — continually ensure that it has something the competition doesn’t. Its user base is growing astronomically, and now that the users are there, businesses are clamoring to catch up.
Foursquare has also been nimble in finding ways to cater to local businesses. Early on, it allowed business owners to offer specials to mayors and those that check in. More recently, it introduced a simple way for businesses to sign-up and gain access to the business dashboard with checkin analysis. Its offering not only parallels what Google is doing with Place Pages, but bests it.

Even the Government Works Better With Social Media

2010-05-10T13:42:00.000-07:00

This is a very insightful blog from mashable.com about ways the government is using social media to be more efficient. This article only scratches the surface, however, of ways we have seen social media change the world of politics, wars and global crisis.

Remember the recent Iran protests? Twitter and YouTube changed the entire outlook from the U.S. on what was really happening - citizens posting videos of beatings, terror and the stifling of freedom. Without these outlets we would have had only the word of the Iranian government (that all was well) to know what was really happening.

Social media has changed the way our elected officials have dealt with global crises and caused a broader level of transparency everywhere.

Christina Forrester is owner of e-squared productions, the 'Honest Social Media Experts' www.e-2productions.com.

From MASHABLE:
What is government 2.0? Tim O’Reilly describes it as government working as a platform. Others might describe it as applying the technologies that make up Web 2.0 to the practice of government, including blogs, wikis, social networking and crowdsourcing. The simplest way of describing government 2.0 may be any technology that helps citizens or agencies solve problems, either for individuals or the community, and enables government to operate more efficiently or effectively.
The following are five ways that the U.S. government is using social media to deliver services or engage citizens in making better policy.

1. Communicating Info About the Gulf of Mexico Oil Spill

As the impact of the oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico that began on April 20 has grown, traditional technologies have been applied to mitigating the damage, like dispersants or floating booms to protect fragile wetlands. NOAA is tracking the oil spill and NASA satellites are tracking the slick.
The Environmental Protection Agency, however, has also used its existing social media muscle to communicate how it is monitoring and responding to potential public health and environmental concerns. EPA Administrator Lisa Jackson shared news and her observations on Twitter as @LisaPJackson and on her Facebook page. The agency set up a website, deepwaterhorizonresponse.com, with a dedicated Twitter account at @Oil_Spill_2010 and on Facebook at Deepwater Horizon Response. Following the principles set out by the Obama administration’s Open Government Directive, the EPA is releasing oil spill data it collects from monitoring in open formats.
The EPA is also coordinating with volunteer efforts to help, like the Crisis Commons oil response project. Just as Crisis Camps helped in Haiti, where crisis mappers helped first responders like the United States Coast Guard to find earthquake victims, now thje Ushahidi open source platform is being by the Louisiana Bucket Brigade to track the reporting of oil spill-related incidents. Volunteers are sending texts, tweets and email to OilSpill.LABucketBrigade.org where they’re added to a database of oil spill-related incidents.

2. Using Twitter for Storm Reporting

Emergency management agencies like the Federal Emergency Management Agency (@FEMAinFocus) or state first responders like the Virginia Department of Emergency Management (@VDEM) are already on Twitter, sharing information during crises. Now, the National Weather Service is experimenting with getting information back from the online community. Government storm spotters are now searching for geolocated tweets that contain “significant” weather information. You can now submit storm reports to National Weather Service using Twitter. Just hashtag a geo-enabled tweet with #wxreport.
Although Twitter storm reporting is still an experimental effort, there’s evidence that the NWS believes this will be valuable, as indicated by their statement that “access to information from this widely used social media tool will help to enhance and increase timely and accurate online weather reporting and communication between the public and their local forecast offices.”

3. Helping Kids Get Up and Move

First Lady Michelle Obama has taken on the issue of childhood obesity with a “Let’s Move” campaign. Can the third of American youth be helped through social media? The Department of Agriculture is doing more than spreading information through its @USDAgov Twitter account or Facebook. The USDA is looking for innovative ideas for applications that could make a difference with childhood obesity with a web app contest – and they’ve put up $60,000 in prizes for the winners. The Official Rules require apps to use the USDA Nutrition Dataset available at www.cnpp.usda.gov/Innovations/DataSource.htm to ensure the educational quality of the games.
“This is about helping people have healthier lifestyles and more active lifestyles,” said Amanda Eamich (@Amandare), Senior Press Officer at the USDA. “The site is divided into two sections: apps and games. games are targeted at tweens, to help them have healthy eating habits. Apps are more for nutritional gatekeepers, which could be a parent, caretaker or anyone else interested. We want to develop games and apps that useful and relevant to people’s lives, not just what the government thinks you should learn.”
The competition, which has already attracted over 12,000 supporters, closes for developers to create nutrition-related apps on June 30. Members of the public will be able to join Apple Computer co-founder Steve Wozniak in voting for the winners in July. Some fans already have ideas for how to take home top prize: “Make a tower defense game w/ calories as points & veggies as guns,” tweeted Anil Dash. “I bet you’ll get $10k + a trip to the @whitehouse.”
HealthAppsForKids was featured as part of an “innovation showcase” during the recent Government Web Managers Conference in DC. Video archive:

4. FedSpace: A Social Network for Federal Agencies

Social media and government isn’t just about new ways that agencies or officials share or gather information, collaborate with the public in addressing the grand challenges for the 21st century or build better policy through online engagement. Applying social software to internal collaboration is also a key element of improving the way government works through technology.
NASA has used Spacebook, an internal expert networking site for NASA employees, to enable staff to get to know one another in the immense agency. Spacebook helps improve teamwork, communication and access to information across NASA’s many projects and technology installations. “Using these tools lets you be sort of top-of-mind with a lot of these people so that when you need to call on them there’s already a connection,” said Emma Antunes (@eantunes), Web Manager for Goddard Space Flight Center, and the project manager responsible for developing the agency’s Inside NASA intranet and the Spacebook utility.

Antunes is now involved in a new project: an internal federal social network, known, for the moment, as FedSpace. As Antunes explained in a comment on Gartner analyst Andrea DiMaio’s post:

“FedSpace will be a professional collaboration space for Federal staff and contractors…many of whom don’t have access to secure, accessible, compliant collaboration tools to work across government. FedSpace will use the collaboration work/tools that some agencies have developed for internal purposes and fill gaps to provide these and other resources for interagency use. Intellipedia, Spacebook, Diplopedia, and other agency-specific internal spaces have proven to be highly valuable by increasing collaboration, nurturing innovation, increasing knowledge, and reducing redundancies. Similarly, there are many examples of how large-scale collaboration tools can and do work well internally in corporate settings. Jakob Niesen’s case study “Enterprise 2.0: Social Software on Intranets” cites industry leaders from IBM to Sprint who have found success in social intranets that were completely internal.
The potential benefit of combining the best ideas, processes, and lessons learned from more than two dozen Federal agencies in policy, human relations, software development, and subject-matter specific areas is immense, and optimizing the talent of the Federal workforce is critical to accelerating efficiencies and effectiveness in government. By working with our government colleagues (and for profit and nonprofit organizations) that have demonstrated value in hosting internal collaboration spaces, we expect FedSpace will help provide the tools and platform for quality collaboration across government.”

While the working name may not be ideal, given recent challenges at MySpace, the idea is ambitious. Will people get nervous when the FBI director follows them? Will a presidential poke mean you’re late for a meeting in the Oval Office? Jokes aside, the same potential for knowledge sharing and collaboration that other internal social networks have demonstrated could help the feds work better together.

5. San Francisco and the District of Columbia Team Up on Open 311

At first glance, standardizing the specification for the application programming interface (API) for Open 311 may seem like a minor technical detail. Adopting the 311 platform certainly doesn’t sound social, even if the announcement is made on a blog. But when the research and development group in the Office of the Chief Technology of the District of Columbia (@OctoLabs) tweeted, “Historic moment : ) SF+DC agreed on Open311 API v2.1 spec, implmnt. is underway,” it was a milestone for open government.
Why? Open 311 is a standard for citizens to communicate with their local governments. For instance, SeeClickFix integrates with Open 311 to communicate service requests directly into a city customer relationship management (CRM) system by reporting issues through the Web, widgets or smartphone applications. Citysourced is also using Open311. Now that D.C. and San Francisco have standardized on the API, developers across the nation can create applications that will work in any city that uses Open 311. That means citizens will be able to tell their governments what’s happening where they live, participating in improving their own communities.
Alexander B. Howard is the Government 2.0 Washington Correspondent for O’Reilly Media, where he reports on technology, open government and online civics. He’ll be reporting live from the upcoming Gov2.0 Expo in Washington, D.C., on May 25-27.

Social Media 101: The K.I.S.S. Method

2010-04-28T18:35:00.000-07:00

I have seen so many social media blogs and companies lately that are giving such complex advice. One blog was very good until it got to a long complicated process of how to make your own link shortening URL for Twitter. Of course, you should be using link shortening in one way or another if you are Tweeting - but to go through a complex process just so you can use your own name in the short link is simply just a waste of your valuable time. I also spent about an hour the other day listening to a social media training seminar, out of curiosity and to see if there was something new I could learn and bring into our methods. After the first hour I couldn't take wasting anymore of my time - I calculated that after all of the expert speaker's "gabbing" I could have said the same thing to a client in 15 minutes. This must be why I keep getting shocked expressions when I tell people our social media trainings are only about 3 hours for only one day!

I hate waste - being a psychology major, I feel I have the credentials to diagnose myself and I have 'waste-o-phobia,' known as the "fear of waste!" I have an inborn aversion to waste of time, waste of money, waste of talents, waste of potential, etc. Yes, as you can guess, I'm a pretty good recycler! For this reason, my company, e-squared productions, is constantly looking for ways we can save ourselves and our clients time - that is part of our job! If something isn't needed we don't do it - and we don't suggest it or try to sell the service.

This is why I have decided to introduce the e-squared method of social method - K.I.S.S:
K= Keep
I = It
S = Simple
S = Stupid
We want to you to K.I.S.S. with e-squared and we will show you how to K.I.S.S! And hey, if K.I.S.S.-ing can help you save time and money...why on earth not?!

In conclusion - our expert social media advice?

SUCCESS = K.I.S.S. every day!

You are no longer a fan - so, you are a "liker"???

2010-04-19T13:54:00.000-07:00

Today came the change from Facebook turning "Fans" into "Likers." Below is the reason Facebook gave on the change:

Why did "Become a Fan" change to "Like"?
To improve your experience and promote consistency across the site, we've changed the language for Pages from "Fan" to "Like." We believe this change offers you a more light-weight and standard way to connect with people, things and topics in which you are interested.
(Thanks to TrafficisGold.com for the tweet on this today.)

On one hand, this could help business gain more fans because a "like" could, in theory, be deemed as less commital than a "fan." It seems to me that this could be the reasoning behind the change. And I can see the logic - one example is a recent client of e-sqaured that is a funeral home and cemetery. During the process of our customary marketing for the new client I received several responses from the fan invites I sent out that indicated they were a little leery of becoming a fan of a funeral home! Maybe some of those same people would be willing, however, to become a liker? I guess only time and experimentation will tell.
Telling a business they have 100 new "likers" as opposed to "fans" is not quite as attractive for an industry like ours at e-squared! So we want your opinion - on the flyers we give to our clients, on the links we provide to Facebook pages...should the language:

A. Stay the same ("Become a Fan on Facebook!")
B. Change to "Become a Liker on Facebook"
C. Change to "Like us on Facebook!"
D. Change to a simple "Connect with us on Facebook"

Vote on our poll here!
We would also appreciate your feedback on the change and how you feel it may effect your fan page, if you have one. If you don't have one, email me and we can help you with that.:)

The Jay Leno Rule of Social Media

2010-04-16T12:48:00.000-07:00

Love this article and just had to share it. I really like the spin that is put on the subject - something that we preach to our clients everyday! I've never quite thought of it as the "Jay Leno" or "Dave Letterman" rule, but think I may use this to help explain to clients what we do from now on.

Half of our job is educating business owners on how we create an effective social media campaign. Many companies offering social media management don't understand the marketing aspect because they only have a computer/tech background and no understanding of marketing and branding. This "Jay Leno" method is what we insist on. You can't just randomly throw out a couple of tweets per week or one Facebook post per month and call it social media marketing. There is no strategy to that.

The Jay Leno Rule of Social Media

Image Credit: Jay Leno carrying on with Taylor Hicks (by Techbirmingham via on Flickr)
I am a big believer in using stories and visuals to convey a message. My teammate David Armano is helping me with the latter. Here's a metaphor that I have been using with our clients that might be helpful to you.
Some businesses have a Twitter or Facebook presence or a blog, yet they're not getting the kind of activity or engagement they hope to receive. This is understandable and a common problem. There's a lot of competition for attention. But one night I was watching the Tonight Show and it hit me. From that point on I started talking about "The Jay Leno Rule of Social Media." It's simple and it works.
If you think about it, the celebrity slots on The Tonight Show are pretty formulaic: guest walks on; guest engages/yucks it up with Jay about broad human interest topics (life stories, current affairs, etc.); guest promotes his/her book, movie, TV show, event, shows a clip, etc.; guest moves down the couch; rise, repeat, wash. This has been the script for decades, going all the way back to Jack Parr.
It struck me that this is a great model for any company hoping to build relationships through social media. The "Jay Leno Rule" is deceptively simple and easy to implement. Basically, here's how it works...
If you want to get people to care about what you're selling, you have first to get them engaged by being informative and/or entertaining. In short, you need to get us interested in what you - a brand, an NGO, an individual - have to say beyond your domain. Such pathways to engagement include stories, humor, links to interesting information, ideas, questions and participating in other discussions (e.g. Follow Friday, etc.) Then, once you get us hooked, it's easier talk about what you want to sell us. We'll be more receptive.
This isn't rocket science. In reality, it's human relations 101 - but it's something a lot of companies forget. After all, most marketers focus on themselves and what they want to say.
Mint is a company that does this quite well. They embrace the Jay Leno Rule. Mint has a great blog that shares lots of tidbits that encourage financial well-being. Then, once in awhile, they interrupt the flow with product news. It's simple and gets me reading more.
Simple enough, yet effective, right?

What you should know about social media marketing in the news

2010-04-07T13:30:00.000-07:00

There are a lot of reports going around about social media in the press lately - some negative, some positive. Some, like the one from the Wall Street Journal today, questions whether businesses are completely wasting their time on social media efforts for marketing. It also mentions the companies, such as ours, who businesses are outsourcing their social media to because they don't know how or don't have the time to do it correctly. The article states how this service can, however, cost "hundreds of dollars a month."

Other press discusses the miracles of social media and how much more likely a business is to succeed in competing in today's marketplace with a good social media campaign. With the previous statement we do agree, because I've seen it firsthand; but we wary of companies that would promise "guaranteed results" and a certain amount of sales increases - especially if these companies are charging $10,000 to begin your Facebook campaign! No one can make social media guarantees - it is ever-changing, and unpredictable in many respects. However, we can make educated predictions based on research and experience...

The use of social media for small and start-up business cannot be underrated. If there wasn't anything to this we wouldn't see 2.4 million people following mashable.com, the biggest social media news and information source! How can anyone say it won't positively effect business when we've got almost half of all of America on Facebook?! I have been working in marketing in one form or another since I was 13 years old, when I took over marketing for all of our church's events and services and groups. In print, radio, television...there has never been such a large audience in all of history that is as reachable as the social media audience. And some press and businesses are complaining that a company like ours would charge several hundred dollars a month for a good program?! How much, I wonder, would these same companies have to spend on print, radio or T. V. advertising in a month in order to reach as many people as we reach for them? I'm not guessing when I say it would be in the tens and hundreds of thousands...if not millions.

With one point, however, we do agree with articles such as the Wall Street Journal article: business owners who don't know what they are doing, shouldn't do it! Social media can do a business as much harm as good if it is done wrong. And it is not just posting a bad or offensive post that could be the problem...inconsistency in posting or a static profile/business page on Facebook paints the picture of a disorganized, unprofessional or just plain lazy business! I personally used to lose confidence immediately in a business that I saw with an account or posts such as this. However, since I have started my company, e-squared productions, I think something different - "What could I do to help them out?"

Christina Forrester is owner of e-squared productions, an artist and musician and new California girl :)

New low-cost startup plan for small and new businesses unveiled

2010-03-11T14:22:00.000-08:00

If you have a new business idea, know someone who wants to start a business or has just started one, if you have started your business and don't have much budget leftover and need to still get a website and let the world know you are here...this deal is for you. We have developed a great startup all-in-one package for new or emergent businesses or organizations that is very affordable. We can get it started for you today! We would be happy to meet in person or over the phone to consult with you on this package and your business.

Don't let a limited budget stop you from growing or starting your business or organization! We want to help you succeed. Below is the ...

Complete Startup Package

* 3-page website
* Creation of social media pages on Facebook and Twitter (or, depending on your business type, myspace and/or linkedin)
* Marketing of your website through press release on Google blogger, Facebook, Twitter and high traffic press release publication sites
* Professional marketing photography (1 hour session) for your website and social media sites
* Business listing on Google maps directory
* Facebook direct-targeted demographic marketing to launch your page

We are offering this complete package for an AFFORDABLE $1500!! We have examples of our work, testimonials, and references. We are a reputable company - the social media campaign provider for the #1 Entertainment Magazine in the Phoenix-metro Valley.

Along with all this we will also offer you 1 FREE month of our social media and website update and management services. If you choose to continue with our management of your social media and website, you can look forward to a low monthly rate of $300-500 (depending on level of management) with a 6-month contract.

*This is a special offer for new clients only and effective until March 28th*

Email or call us at (480) 529-4493 to let us get started for you today! www.e-2productions.com

e2 productions teams up with the Phoenix Valley's #1 Entertainment Magazine, AZ Weekly

2010-03-01T16:22:00.000-08:00

SCOTTSDALE, AZ, 3/1/10 - The Valley's #1 entertainment-only magazine has teamed up with e2 productions to manage its social media campaign on Twitter and Facebook. Readers of AZ Weekly Magazine can expect Facebook and Twitter updates on the latest events, entertainment, cool articles and local buzz, just as they find every week in AZ Weekly. And Phoenix-metro businesses can expect even better access and partnership with the magazine, creating a network that will be great for everyone!

AZ Weekly has over 250,000 Valley-wide readers of its print magazine and thousands more log on every week to visit its one-of-a-kind online digital magazine at www.azweeklymagazine.com. The online magazine is interactive, complete with links to advertisers' websites, entertainment links, audio files and videos, the latest movie trailers, and soon enhanced geo-tagging through a partnership with Microsoft! AZ Weekly's publisher, Brian Muir, is committed to bringing the Valley the best of entertainment, night-life, local events, family fun, art, fitness, health, and much more in a full-color, easy-to-browse format without adult or controversial editorial, ads or photos. AZ Weekly is truly one-of-a-kind in the Phoenix area.

e2, in turn, is very excited to partner up with AZ Weekly and commits to building a large online fan base that will not only be great for the readers and fans of AZ Weekly, but profitable for its family of advertisers as well. e2 sees AZ Weekly as the portal that will bring to the Valley the best of entertainment with a positive and family-friendly tone through Twitter and Facebook. e2 looks forward to helping other Valley businesses grow their following online through this association. Interested business-owners and marketing managers can contact e2 for a free consultation at 480-529-4493 or by email.

Fan AZ Weekly on Facebook!

Follow AZ Weekly on Twitter!

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Take the Guesswork and Headaches Out of Social Media and Online Marketing - Press Release

2010-02-22T16:45:00.000-08:00

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: Monday, February 22nd, 2010

Take the Guesswork and Headaches Out of Social Media and Online Marketing

e-2 productions launches in the Valley of the Sun

PHOENIX, AZ, 2/22/10 – e-2 productions announces the launch of its Social Media and Online Marketing company here in Phoenix, Arizona, with operations soon to expand nationwide. e-2 productions offers a social media and online marketing strategy that is simple, personal, affordable and effective. Evey business, whether big or small, must have a marketing strategy and for every competing and growing business or organization that strategy must include Online Marketing and Social Media, especially Facebook and Twitter, in today's business climate.

Business owners around the country are finding Social Media to be a necessary and inexpensive way to bring in new customers and stay in touch with their current customers, keeping them coming back. Unfortunately, many Social Media and Online Marketing/SEO companies have taken advantage of business owners by price-gouging, over-charging and not following through on their program. e-2 productions' mission is to provide the most reliable, effective and efficient online marketing, public relations, social media and other services at an affordable price, from modest to large budgets, from the smallest local business to the largest of international franchised corporations. They are unlike most Social Media and Internet marketing companies that try to sell something that will not benefit your business. They will strategize on your behalf to save you money and give you the best recommendations – upfront and honest, "even if we lose money for it!" - Christina Forrester, Founder. It is not the goal of e2 productions to price-gouge and over-sell their clients – they want their clients to succeed. They are now setting appointments for a FREE personalized strategy session for your individual business.

e-2 productions delivers a personalized strategy for organizations or businesses. The company has both business and marketing backgrounds and an understanding of the online/social-networking culture. The owner of e2 productions, Christina Elizabeth Evelyn Forrester (hence the "e-squared"), has extensive experience in marketing, social media, organization and ministry building, web creation, profiles, and as a musician, minister and singer. The team working with Christina has a background in music production, marketing, sales, management, organization building, ministry building, business law and management, paralegal services, photography, marketing materials creation, knowledge of pop-culture and mainstream trends. Because of the extensive and varied backgrounds, talents and experience this team brings to the table, they can offer businesses, artists, ministries and organizations a full-spectrum of services at reasonable, affordable and honest prices.

Be sure to check out their 'No Worries' guarantee and call today for a no-strings appointment!

Contact Information:
e-squared productions
P O Box 486 - Apache Jct., AZ 85117
480-529-4493www.e-2productions.com

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e² productions news, updates and information

K.I.S.S. Takes Over e² Social Media Branch

Google changes local search

e² productions the NEW Social Media Provider for CEO Space Los Angeles!

MySpace Launches Facebook Status Sync - What Does This Mean For You?

STATS: Older Adults DOUBLE in Number on Social Media Sites

Twitter as a Marketing Tool

K.I.S.S. Social Media Basic Training Pre-Launch!

With the K.I.S.S. Social Media basic training package you will learn how to

We are now taking pre-sale orders for the KISS Oct. 1st release – order before Sept 15th and you will save $75 – 50% off!!!

Where else can you get this for under $100 bucks?

To take advantage of the pre-order sale, go to our website at http://e-2productions.com/k-i-s-s.html

Women Who Barter Better Their Business

e2 new social media sponsor of An Empowered Woman!

5 Rules for Professional Social Networking Success

1. Know Your Platforms

2. Customize Everything

Twitter *Attempts* To Let You Follow Your Facebook Friends

Twitter Testing New “You Both Follow” Feature

PRESS RELEASE: K.I.S.S. Social Media training program launched!

Small Organizations and Social Media: It's What You DON'T Do That Matters

The Local Advertising War Will Be a Clash of the Internet Titans

The Local Advertising War Will Be a Clash of the Internet Titans

Search

Consumer Review Sites

Social Networks

Even the Government Works Better With Social Media

1. Communicating Info About the Gulf of Mexico Oil Spill

2. Using Twitter for Storm Reporting

3. Helping Kids Get Up and Move

4. FedSpace: A Social Network for Federal Agencies

5. San Francisco and the District of Columbia Team Up on Open 311

Social Media 101: The K.I.S.S. Method

You are no longer a fan - so, you are a "liker"???

The Jay Leno Rule of Social Media

Love this article and just had to share it. I really like the spin that is put on the subject - something that we preach to our clients everyday! I've never quite thought of it as the "Jay Leno" or "Dave Letterman" rule, but think I may use this to help explain to clients what we do from now on.

The Jay Leno Rule of Social Media

What you should know about social media marketing in the news

New low-cost startup plan for small and new businesses unveiled

e2 productions teams up with the Phoenix Valley's #1 Entertainment Magazine, AZ Weekly

Take the Guesswork and Headaches Out of Social Media and Online Marketing - Press Release

Take the Guesswork and Headaches Out of Social Media and Online Marketing

Twitter Attempts To Let You Follow Your Facebook Friends