Killer Relevancy for Your Ads

You go to store to buy the new Mike Shinoda x DC kicks that you want to wear this weekend.
You read ProBlogger because Darren helps you get better traffic, write better posts, etc.
You eat pizza at the place on the corner because it is close and usually affordable.

I could go on and on on with things that we do everyday. We do them because we know what we want. I want those shiny new shoes, I want to get more readers and I want some pizza. I want them because they are interests that I have and that I know (obviously).

Online ads are clueless.
For how smart computers are, and that good old Google Algorithm that can't be cracked, added to the countless number of VC dollars that are being spent on ad networks and so on, they can not put the fact that my favorite band is Gym Class Heroes and I like pizza.

We are working with an ad network for the Facebook App we are launching at the end of the week and let's just say that, well, it's not looking good. With click through rates around 0.002% on Applications right about now, we are going to need some killer traffic to grab some nickel beers at Cheyanne Saloon on Wednesdays!

iPhone and Relevancy
One reason that I am loving the iPhone is the fact that some App Developers have given me relevancy. Take iWant. It looks for anything from food to bars to shopping and gas all based on my location. That is relevancy.

So, how can ad networks start serving ads that are as relevant as the free information that is available through Google searches or using Apps like iWant?

1. The sites, be it the Social Networks like Myspace and Facebook, need to let the ad platform look at the data in full. Facebook is doing better at this, but Myspace on the other hand keeps wanting me to click on Kottonmouth Kings ringtones. Sorry, already have all 10 albums and I am a music producer, so I can make my own, thank you.
2. We need better advertisers and more inventory of these better advertisers. The reason there are so many ring tone ads are because there is an influx of these companies that want to advertise and not enough quality, name brand advertisers that are available for the common blogger or website owner. With Myspace serving a billion or so page impressions a day, there are just not enough quality ads to go around.
   
3. While I am not opposed to CPC, CPM and CPA, they do NOT work in every situation. For our Facebook App, users are promoting concerts that they have attended or are going to. For someone like Warped Tour to come in and demand CPC is absurd. We can wrap-up our site for the advertiser and create a brand presence within the application. But we can also trigger people to search for their friends that are going to Warped Tour, maybe they already have tickets and they want to "share" it with their friends. Maybe they even buy a ticket from our affiliate partners. So they didn't get the click through, but they got people talking, and talking provokes action.
   

The problem with this method is that there is no direct relation to ROI for the advertisers. While Social Media tools like Radian6 have started to figure out the picture, there is simply no way to calculate how people made their decision and how they got there from Social Media tools and site sponsorships.

I am no algorithm genius, but I do know that if you are going to be showing me ads (Lord knows as this blog grows you will see some, I would like to buy my wife something nice for Christmas), show me something that I might like to action for.

4. Lastly, make better ads! 90% of banner ads suck, they just do. They turn us off visually and usually send us to a landing page that doesn't convert us for shit. Don't mislead me. Give me something worth clicking and I bet you will get more relevant clicks.

Now, I'm off to look for sexy singles in Orlando (watch my AdSense change because of this sentence) and download some sweet hip-pop ringtones. See you this weekend with my new Diploma from the University of Phoenix!

-Greg Rollett

Live Music in Orlando

In the busy land that is my life, I have somehow been coerced into playing some really cool shows with some really talented folks. First up is this Saturday night, amidst the 4th of July Hangover, I will make a return to the Social, the indie haven of Orlando. I will be playing alongside KG and the Band plus Atlanta recording artist Laura Reed. We are going by the 80's indie hair power pop inspired, 'G-Ro and the Skateboard Sneakers.'


Some great posts on KG and the Band:
KG and the Band | The Backbone of jamblr
Rock For Hunger Artist of the Week

Buy your tickets here or shoot me an email to get them without the surcharge. It's going to be an acoustic hip-pop offering from my alter-ego G-Ro. Listen to his rantings at his Myspace page.

Later in the month we get our hip-hop funk on at Central Station's Rock Bar with Fusebox Funk, Madd Illz and Daylight District.

Lastly, here is a super secret teaser of the logo for our Facebook App that should be done end of this week. If you want to be apart of our BETA testing send an email to rollettmarketing@gmail.com and I will be sure to hook it up.
Thanks guys and a more powerful and insightful Social Media or Gen-Y post will come sometime later!

-Greg Rollett

Facebook Profiles in Organic Results

I knew that Facebook was beginning the process of showing up in search engine results. Today, while stumbling through search results for a client a ran across the Facebook Page I created for them. What blew my mind was that it was for a term that was listed only once on the page and through an application. Here is a quick screenshot:

The term was "job outlook in Orlando, fl" The landing page was the actual Facebook Page for the Orlando JobSpot.



It ranked 9th for that term. Pretty sweet I think. So I dugg deeper. (No pun intended)

So next I searched for my name. Pretty simple search. Here's the results:

I pulled my Facebook page number 7 in the Google searches. The landing page took you here:


Great for privacy, its the same as if someone searched for me within Facebook with the addition of some of my friends showing up for the party as well. I do not like the randomness that these friends appeared. In all honesty, I do not think that I have spoken to any of the 5 anytime recently. Maybe a system of top friends, a la Myspace, or even the most recent activity between friends, just a thought.

So my digging continued. I looked for Rock For Hunger. They have 2 Facebook Groups and one Facebook Page. Nothing in the first 7 pages for their name resulted in a Facebook listing. The groups and the Page have a great deal of member and incoming links, where the JobSpot Page has only 1 incoming link.

So far I have seen no relationship between incoming links, number of friends/fans and the organic rankings of these Facebook pages.

Mind you that I have only searched for local terms. So I decided to look for 'Stephen Colbert for President.' There group boasts over 1,000,000 members and has been linked to from blogs to large news networks. The first Facebook related search result:

Number 61 it is. Ouch and it is for an Application, not the group! Another interesting clue in the puzzle. In the first 100 results there were 3 Myspace related results. Facebook failed to return the group with over 1,000,000 users in the first 100 results. Hmm, Google spider problem or Facebook problem.

How is a Facebook Page spidered? What gives it the rains to show up on page 1? Is this just a test? I don't remember opting into anything to get my results listed. Will Facebook results show up as often as Myspace results for bands, brands and entertainment?

Thoughts anyone?

Greg Rollett

Work at McDonald's Via Facebook - The New Gen-Y Job Hunt

Facebook has been making some big headway in how they help companies promote jobs to Gen-Y. Recently they teamed up with Career Builder (hat tip Cheezhead) to bring in non Beacon style ads to showcase Career Builder positions. Now with some success behind Facebook Targeted Advertising, I am seeing more and more companies pop up in my NewsFeed offering job opportunities. The one I saw today was from McDonald's. The ad was showcasing a McDonald's super marketer and that's what I claim to be. I think this is how they targeted me. That's just my initial guess as that is how the ads are distributed and targeted. (McDonald's or your advertising company, please talk to me about this!!!)

Barring my curiosity, I clicked on the ad to see what McDonald's had to say and how they thought it was more important to show me an ad for a job opportunity vs. a BigMac. Here is the ad:


Cool ad campaign. Play on the fact that I wish to take over the world and market products for a super huge company. Next comes the Facebook landing page.

Pretty sweet corporate Facebook group. The group also boasts over 1,000 members and shows me the info I need if I happened to be interested in a position with Mickey D's. So, let's play along and assume I'm interested. There is a link right below this screenshot that takes you here:

This is probably one of the most Gen-Y friendly job site landing pages I have ever seen for a company. Very sleek and clean. I see the job I want and I click it.

Overall, I give McDonald's an A for effort and execution. It was easy to navigate and within 3 clicks I was applying to my dream job. Well, not exactly, but you get my point.

As Facebook really gets into their targeted marketing approach, I think we are going to be able to see more and more companies get their message across to the people that are genuinely interested (or more prone to interest) than with programs like Adwords.

I can see bands having Digital Download ads that target country fans who list Taylor Swift as their music preference.

My hope is that application data can also be used to target advertising demographics. Especially in the case of musicians. If we can gather Pandora and iLike and Last.FM data from applications on user pages we can really get in and target the people that will convert higher and show a greater return on our marketing investment.

So McDonald's (er, Facebook's advertising platform) read the marketing text somewhere on my Facebook page, that's great. I have no problem seeing their ad. Even though I am not applying for their position, they are getting some linkbait and blog world mentions for the campaign inadvertently. Even if they never thought of it that way, I hope they get Google Alerts and see the possibilities.

Talk to you kids soon.

-Greg Rollett

Gen-Y Bloggers vs. Reality

This is almost a follow up from the post on interviewing Gen-Y candidates last week. I had 3 of my new employees in the conference room and we conducted a beginner’s training for the services Rollett Marketing offers.

After the initial welcome, greetings and introductions I jumped right into it. Problem was that I assumed my Gen-Y counterparts knew about blogging, RSS feeds, Facebook opening up its backend, even basic SEO. How wrong I was.

None had written a blog post before. Only one was on both Myspace and Facebook and they thought RSS was the acronym for “Really (that) sounds stupid.”

Being in the new Brazen Careerist Blogger community, I take for granted the things that I use everyday, from Open Social, to Google controlling my mail, calendar, search, RSS feeds and blogging platform, to opening a new Social Networking account everyday for the last 6 months (not totally true but it sure feels like it).

Then came Twitter. Am I a bad teacher or do folks in the real world just not get it? Heck, come to find out that some Gen-Y bloggers are just getting it. (Welcome to Twitter Meg Roberts)

Sometimes I think I am way ahead of the curve. At FOWA Miami I felt like I was way behind. In talking with friends, colleagues and my new co-workers I am truly finding out that Social Media has really not hit the masses despite constant attention from mainstream media.

Sure we all use Pirate’s vs. Ninja’s and get countless other requests from Facebook every morning, but we have no idea where they came from or that we can create them from our dorm room.

As people become educated or intrigued in Social Media, it is up to us, the pioneers, the daily users and kids who might just know what’s going on to help, teach and explore this medium with other users. I am confident that the 3 people that I am training will be amazed at this new world that is opening up to them. There is such a great advantage to using this technology, not only for networking and playing Scrabulous but for learning about ourselves and taking control over our careers and lifestyle. And heck, if you throw up some AdSense you can make a few bucks in the process.

So, Gen-Y bloggers, what do you think? Are you experiencing some of the same things in your career, your start-up and even from mom? I’d love to find out!

Greg Rollett - Twitter me folks, I love a good laugh

Social Media For the Job Seeker

As promised (only a few hours late) I am posting the slides and notes from yesterday's presentation at the Tampa Bay Workforce Alliance.

| View | Upload your own

If you are looking for help, here are my profiles on the mentioned sites:
Myspace
Facebook
LinkedIn
Twitter

Blogging Platforms
Blogger
WordPress
LiveJournal

Job Board Social Networks
Health Career Web
Jobster
Careers in Gear

If anyone that was at the presentation, or anyone viewing this now, has any questions please put them in the comments or email me directly at rollettmarketing [at] hotmail [dot] com.

-Greg Rollett

YPulse, Stephen Colbert and Generation Me

YPulse is quickly becoming a great resource for me and keeping up with teen and college marketing. Although it has been a second or 2 since I have been through, I walked in today and found out some great stuff that I had to pass on.

First has to do with this whole ABC and Facebook partnership. Looks like ABC will have an application, widget what have you that will keep you in the loop on election information. Sounds good, but what person on Facebook wants to get their information from the robots on ABC News? YPulse responds with:

“Given Stephen Colbert's popularity on Facebook, I'm kind of surprised they didn't partner with Comedy Central. Maybe they could have created an app that was both funny and informative. Given Stephen Colbert's popularity on Facebook, I'm kind of surprised they didn't partner with Comedy Central. Maybe they could have created an app that was both funny and informative.”

I agree with going in a direction that already has a captive audience in an already closed social network. The Stephen Colbert for President group has over a million members (actually 1,509,443 members) and is growing despite South Carolina having shot down the dream before it got started.

Another dropped ball by the front runners of the social networking takeover. (Still unsure of how I like this Beacon thing though.)

-------------------------------------------------------------------------

Next to note is the upcoming YPulse College Mashup Conference. It is going down from January 31^st through February 1^st in Santa Monica, CA. Speakers are to include:

Stephen Friedman (GM of mtvU)

Ricky Van Veen (co-founder and editor-in-chief of Collegehumor.com)

Jean Twenge, author of Generation Me

Career expert Penelope Trunk (Brazen Careerist)

College music expert Graham MacRae from Warner Bros. Records

GOOD Magazine publisher Ben Goldhirsh

And so many more

Get the full scoop at YPulse.

Any sponsors out there who wanna lend a hand in getting me out there to cover the event, be sure and let me know!!

-g-ro

Jay-Z, Smart Move With American Gangster

Jay-Z is back, oh, but you already knew that. Man, I’m late on this breaking news thing. American Gangster came out 2 weeks ago and landed Hov with his 10^th number 1 album, tying Elvis for 2^nd all time number one albums. Not bad for a trapper turned rapper.

Jay is a marketing genius; there is no doubt about it. He has a plan before it becomes a plan and sometimes the public doesn’t even notice it. Shawn Corey Carter’s last album, Kingdom Come was released with a video paid for by Budweiser. Remember the car chase with Dale Jr? Yea, Jay didn’t cough up a penny for that. He got sponsors, big ones.

New album, American Gangster. Do you think it is any coincidence that it dropped only a week 3-4 days after the movie of the same name dropped and landed at number 1 in the box office? I think not. Yea, Jay says it is loosely based around the movie, the movie inspired him, blah, blah. Jay worked around a deadline made by himself to get the album shelved at the height of marketing paid for by the major movie studios. Everytime the film was mentioned, a tag line about the unofficial soundtrack was mentioned. Jay was everywhere the movie was. Every interview with Denzel had a question about the Jay-Z album and their thoughts on it. More free press.

This is the ultimate hustler. He not only runs the baddest label in town, Def Jam, but has refueled Roc-A-Fella with a position to succeed just in time to make the 4^th quarter king a few bucks and keep his name in that elite John Elway staple. Freeway just dropped Tuesday. Beanie Siegel is next. Kanye is still the king and making headlines through tragedy and triumph.

You want to know what is even funnier from a new media standpoint? This was all done without a Myspace or Facebook campaign. No YouTube battles. No Twittering necessary. It was done through old media and the big corporations pulling the big bucks. Late night TV shows, TRL, MTV and BET. Movie studios, XXL, Rolling Stone.

I don't surf the net
No i never been on myspace
Too busy letting my voice vibrate
Carving out my space

-Jay-Z “Beach Chair” from ‘Kingdom Come’

Myspace joins Google’s OpenSocial. So what?

It has been driving me crazy with the amount of words being poured into this Myspace vs. Facebook, Microsoft vs. Google and whatever other rivalries you want to throw out there. All that matters at the end of the day is the users and their experience on the site.

With Google’s new evil empire that includes Myspace, LinkedIn, Six Apart, Orkut, Salesforce, Ning, Hi5, Plaxo, Friendster, Viadeo and Oracle, all these networks are going to have the same Apps made by the same developers that are competing for the same poor kids who could care less. Where is the user uniqueness? Facebook almost has it, Myspace should have had it but would rather be a Video network than a social network. Myspace's improvements have been lame and still don’t address the major problems like bad servers, SPAM, and realistic advertising that doesn’t involve….shoot Paris Hilton in the face and win a prize.

Facebook has received all the press in the last few months and received a hefty sum based on a bogus $150 billion evaluation. Google on the other hand has had their stock hit $700 a pop and bought every social site they can get their hands on. Their announcement of the OpenSocial platform comes on the heels of a losing battle to get a stake in Facebook.

This is bringing the tech media to hype up a Don King style “Only in the Internet” match up between Facebook (the 0-8 Dolphins) and Google (Tom Brady leading the Patriots). Only problem is, no matter what season it is and the records of the teams, its going to be a battle and both teams will live to play another day.

Remember, this is only the beginning, but the user needs to be Google’s major focus or they will lose. Myspace still has the numbers and is making changes, albeit a little late. I think that they remain relevant in the entertainment market until Facebook jumps on the band bandwagon. Google is going to do what Google does and unfortunately everyone will follow. Why do we have to play be their rules? Who gives a rat’s ass about page rank?

I know I’ve made the switch like many others to GoodSearch and while the results aren’t always quite as good as Google, at least I’m playing by my own rules. (If you don’t have a charity in mind, how about Rock For Hunger?)

So go ahead app builders, make you app on 100 different platforms, I would. Get that advertising and VC money while they continue to throw it at ya like rats after a hat trick. And Social Networks go ahead and clone each other and still do numbers like fans at a Florida Marlins game. Just remember the major players and why they are the major players; community and communication. Myspace, Facebook, YouTube, Flickr, Twitter, etc are running things because of the community and the people that interact within the community. The best network platform in the world doesn’t do anyone any good if there are only 100 people in the social graph.

And Facebook, give Scoble some more friend requests. That way he can stop ranting about it every other post. (I’ll still keep up on Scoble even with his ranting, I get his Tweets every 20 minutes.)

That’s all for today. Maybe I’ll start writing some real posts again soon, but right now I’m going to get ready for Gym Class Heroes in Orlando, FL at UCF tonight. BTW, they are doing an amazing marketing campaign with Verizon Wireless and are hosting an in store at the Waterford Lakes location as we speak. Pretty smart marketing there! Somebody get that up on Flickr or Twitter for me.

-G-Ro

Optimizing my Social Network Participation

I was an addict. Morning, lunch, night and every 15 minutes throughout the day I was checking Myspace. Getting updates, reading bulletins, friend requesting anyone that looked cool or might like my music was my daily regimen. I loved it. I still even have a soft spot for it. But what happened?

SPAM.

I was part of the problem. At the peak of my band’s popularity on Myspace, we were using FriendAdded religiously. We had a schedule. I had Tuesdays and Fridays and was responsible for friending 500 people, with a tag along 500 emails with a bland introduction of our band that I’m sure no one read. It also contained a link to buy our CD (which people did actually buy!).

The band broke up. That Myspace page is useless. All the hard work is gone. I still have my personal page though and most of my better connections are there. The problem with that page? SPAM! No bragging rights here but 3,000 friends on a personal page is absurd. All the bulletins are promoting products or are some form of a survey that no one really cares about.

So I moved on. Still conduct my business on Myspace. My calendar, contacts, venues, studios, marketing companies, radio personalities, bands, and some close friends hang out there relatively often. I book clients through that page still. I sell my beats and studio time through Myspace. So, no, it is not a complete waste. It is just not helping me network any further. I a no longer building relationships, personal relationships, through Myspace any longer.

Enter Facebook. I never believed the hype. I still do not see the $15 billion dollars being put to amazing use but it does things better and more efficiently than Myspace or any other social network that is currently at market.

First thing is that I can actually find my friends, colleagues, and people that I want to network with. I type in their name. Wow, revolutionary. Second, is the news feeds. I no longer need to visit every person’s slow loading page to see what they are up to. I have it all on my home page. Wow, revolutionary.

I can go on and on, but you have Facebook so you know its boring features. Next is Twitter. You ca read all my thoughts on it at my Twitter love tale. For this I will say that as soon as my peeps jump on the Twitter trail the world will be a better place. Pick and choose who you want to follow (stalk) and get their info, instantly. Better yet, a business can send me updates before the paper comes out or the emails get read. A conference can send tweets on room changes, panel speakers, and parking arrangements as they happen. Restaurants can throw out their daily specials. Job boards can post their new positions before they go live on their site. Shipping companies can notify of your package information. News is breaking on Twitter before RSS feeds.

This now brings me to Flock. Read about it on Mashable last week. Now it’s on. A little bar that runs on the sidebar that updates my Twitter feeds, Facebook, YouTube and Flickr. Wow, revolutionary. Move over Firefox. Has a built in RSS Reader. Siyanara Google. A media bar to see any of my pics and insert them into my blog postings in less time than it takes to Tivo the new iTouch commercial.

What this means is less time for wasting around the social network sphere and more time working, getting the information you need right now, before it breaks and faster than you could at any point in human history(or maybe actually and physically networking and building with the people you have stalked during your social networking).

Who cares about Google? Who cares about Viacom and Newscorp? I can receive any information that I want, on my own time from the people that I want to hear it from. And in turn, I can tell the world what I know, how I feel about it and join the conversation about it online on my own time.

But what do I know. I’m just a punk musician that stumbled into this world and ran with it. Oh and be sure to add me as a friend on Myspace (http://www.myspace.com/grobreakn). I will appreciate the company and will gladly ignore all of your survey bulletins and vote for me crap.

-G-Ro

Viral Marketing With Moe's Southwest Grill - Pre Lunch

Well, last night was not my best choices in having a few (read: a lot) of beers. Now it was in celebration of a co-workers 50th birthday (which is quite awesome, because she rocks harder than most of my 20 something friends). Why is this important? I needed some greasy food for lunch today.

What happened next was, "Yo Greg text Moe's to 22700 and get a free burrito."

Sweet.

Now, in less than 10 minutes this message had been forwarded to my Sidekick phone book, my Twitter Tweets, Facebook profile and office IM. The outcome, a little lunch party at Moe's, all because of their little text message campaign.

I'm sure this isn't the first time they have done something like this, but I am certain that it isn't the last. The reply I received from Moe's was

Glad ur in the neighborhood. Stop by for ur free Moes Burrito. Simply show this text at the register. 4 future offers rply MOR

Brilliant! The fact that I can now reply with MOR and get more free burritos will ensure that I become a repeat customer.

I will do the post lunch wrap-up to see if anyone else there used this viral tactic as well as how the bill still added up with the free burrito.

(Do you think I can get them on Twitter? Seems like this would be right up there ally-I'm on it, business cards in hand)

-G-Ro

Why Didn't Kanye West and Def Jam Use Facebook To Promote His Graduation?

Facebook was never meant for musicians to take advantage of its super powers. But for an artist like Kanye West, and his recent release graduation, it might have just worked! Here's my 2 cents.

Check Kanye's 3 albums titles:
1. College Dropout
2. Late Registration
3. Graduation

Think he's using the college thing? Yea, I think so.

Being that Facebook is still seen as having a larer number of users in the college demographic, and with the music business needing this demographic to get reinterested in music, and more importantly buying music, Jay-Z and the powers that be at Def jam severely missed out.

With the addition of the new Facebook targeted flyers, Def Jam could have targeted everyone on the 'Book with music interests in Hip-Hop, Kanye, Jay-Z or even the rival 50 Cent and the G-Unit crew.

Creating groups associated with the album release also could have gotten the crowd buzzing.

One last bit; what about some kind of Kanye Facebook application? Maybe to take pre-orders, preview the album or dress Kanye in the latest Roc-A-Wear gear with coupon codes for online orders. Cha-ching. This seems like a no-brainer. Kanye sold a ton of records. Could've sold a ton more. But hey, I'm just a retired musician who is about to make a Hov like comeback with these Marketing skills! Someone tell J-A-Y that the kid could do a thing or two marketing over at Def Jam.

Here's to a good week!

-G-R0

How 1-800 Flowers Is Beating You and Beating You Bad

1-800 Flowers has struck gold this week in being the first large scale internet retailer to hit the Facebook App scene. What is so great about this?

1. They now occupy both Second Life and Facebook, making them leaders in new media marketing and advertising.
2. They have used these spaces to expand their rewards program. A rewards program is only as good as the people it rewards and how they reward them. With this new application, customers can receive real bonuses for getting their friends to click on the links, send virtual flowers or buy real flowers through the widget.
3. From the makers of the Application: “Customer evangelists are a brand’s best friend. By bridging their loyalty programs to social networks, brands can make it easier for their customers to spread the good word around,” said Mark H. Goldstein, CEO of Loyalty Lab. “By adapting our best customer management platform to Facebook and other social networks, we make it easy for brands to acquire their next buyers.”
4. They are reaching a new demographic that can actually benefit from seeing their ad. College students, high school kids, young workers, etc can always send flowers to girlfriends or holiday situations; they just need an easier way to send them. This is it!
5. Viral marketing is happening without anyone realizing it. One feature of the widget showers users with points and discounts every time someone clicks on a flower widget on their site, turning each user into an ad seller of sorts. Viral baby, viral!

So go 1-800-Flowers, even though I’m not a fan from a fiasco a few Valentine’s Days ago, they look to be well ahead of the retail pack when it comes to social media promotions.

What are you doing to capitalize on this situation?

-g-ro

Facebook Strikes Again With New CPC Flyer Ads

Good for Facebook. Good for advertisers. Same for members.

You can never please them all but Facebook is at least getting on target with their advertisers. Their flyer advertising just got a nice boost in the form of “Flyers Pro.” They will continue to host the “Flyer Basic” in the traditional manner.

Flyers Pro will offer advertisers the opportunity to have auction-based, cost-per-click ads within the flyers. Whereas Flyers Basic targeting capabilities include gender, age and specific college and regional networks, Flyers Pro options promise all of the above plus a range of keyword data included in user profiles. For instance, marketers can deliver messages based on a person's political affiliation, relationship status, or personal affinities such as favorite music, books or movies.

"We added the CPC pricing option to give more flexibility to advertisers and to better serve those running Flyers in order to get users to take an action, like visiting a Facebook event page or another Web site," the spokesperson told ClickZ.

Reports the ClickZ article: “Since their debut in March 2006, Facebook's homegrown Flyer ads have offered the easiest way for marketers to reach users of the hyped social network. The site has thousands of Flyers live on any given day, according to a spokesperson, yet the self-service ads have often performed poorly on traditional digital advertising metrics, according to anecdotal reports shared with ClickZ and others posted on the Web.”

Facebook says Flyer ads have historically found favor with small businesses and individuals placing user-to-user ads to promote groups or events. While the company said its new features were created with similar goals in mind, the quick feedback mechanism provided by its CPC system may help drive experimentation and broaden the advertiser base somewhat. If that happens, budgets and average CPC rates should rise.
Gotta say that they might be on to something. Facebook is staying in the headlines and everything seems to be positive. This will initially get advertisers motivated and interested in the new methods. We’ll have to wait and see how the numbers work out in the next few weeks.

Facebook is killing em out there, Myspace needs first aid. (Play off Jay-Z, but it’s sooo sad and true, Rupert, step-up and act fast!)

-G-Ro

Facebook Profiles to be Found on Goodle, Yahoo, MSN, and the others…..

Straight from the Facebook Blog:

“Starting today, we are making limited public search listings available to people who are not logged in to Facebook. We're expanding search so that people can see which of their friends are on Facebook more easily. The public search listing contains less information than someone could find right after signing up anyway, so we're not exposing any new information, and you have complete control over your public search listing.

Above is an example of how a public search listing appears. It contains your name and current profile picture thumbnail. If you do not want this listing to appear, you can change your Search Privacy settings.

In a few weeks, we will allow these Public Search listings (depending on users' individual privacy settings) to be found by search engines like Google, MSN Live, Yahoo, etc. We think this will help more people connect and find value from Facebook without exposing any actual profile information or data.”

Here at Rollett Marketing, we are very excited for this to roll out. Facebook is now embarking on a great strategy that Myspace currently held hostage. When all is said and done these profiles will start popping up at the top of search engines for namesake of the profile. This puts you out in the open to be found, which if using Facebook for Marketing, can be a great added bonus.

I am seeing some fuss from Facebook members, but you can already do a search by name on Facebook if you are not a member, this just lets Google or whatever search engine do the searching for you. Facebook is taking the right step in making only the name and picture available to the public and also allowing you to block this all together.

In the long run this could increase Facebook memberships, with the increase in the visibility of who is on Facebook available to the searching public. If you search on Google for a long lost relative and their Facebook profile shows up, you may be inclined to join the network as well. Great strategy all around for Mark and the boys in the Valley.

I’m sure this will be covered by everyone and their mom, so I’ll let some time settle and come back to this subject when the search goes live to the search engines in about a month. Myspace get on your game, or this could be more of the beginning of the end for the former king of Social Networking land (Even though I’m still not sure whether companies will get great market ability with just a Facebook profile vs. a Myspace profile. More on this to come later).

Check these related articles:
Riveting Rosie
Mashable.com
Search Engine Journal

-G-Ro

It Just Doesn’t Stop: Social Networks Are Everywhere and Growing

It’s like that old commercial for a kid’s product I believe that said “10 million strong, and growing.” Only this time it’s '100 million strong and growing'! With Social Network sites taking top rank in Newsweek last week (Facebook and Mark Zuckerberg on the cover) to Myspace’s ever growing numbers to more sites with crazy names that are popping up everyday (just look at how many blog entries Mashable.com makes in a single day), the general public is finally realizing that these sites are not just for kids.

It’s not that I like to rehash these points everyday in this blog, but in the early stages of Rollett Marketing, I have had a hard time explaining social networking sites to a generation that didn’t even have the internet in their youth.

Us Millennials are spoiled! Just look at my survival pack for a meet and greet with a recent client:
-Sidekick with accompanying Bluetooth
-iBook
-iPod
-Oh, and some papers in a binder in case someone actually wants to see that!
-I'm just missing my iPhone (which won't happen until Apple gets out of its AT&T contact

What most people beyond their college years are starting to understand is that major players like Google, Yahoo, MTV, Viacom (parent company of MTV), Microsoft, Apple and more are starting to back these sites (and these sites aren’t cheap either!).

What is starting to happen is the capitalization and monetization for small businesses and large corporations on sites like Myspace, YouTube and Facebook. The great thing about these sites is their price to get in the game. Nothing! Yea that’s right, these sites are free to use. No more monthly hosting fees, no need for expensive merchant accounts, no flash design!

From a recent Fortune online article:

“The reason social networking matters is simple: people do things together, and this new software promises us the means to engage the social aspect of our lives in everything we do online. Among other things, shopping, consuming media, researching, planning our time, and of course communicating can all be done more efficiently if we have manageable information about what our friends are doing. It goes way beyond high school and college kids sharing photos and exchanging gossip.”

As you look to get your marketing plan going this fall, don’t overlook the social networks and their potential. A great feature to their pricing is that you can experiment with more than one site to see which fits your business model best. Bands are just now embarking onto Facebook and utilizing the new open platform applications to sell their tracks virtually royalty free to anyone but PayPal. Real Estate offices are opening their doors to the prospect of 100 million 17-24 year-olds who need a place to live when mommy and daddy throw them out on their own (and they get that ‘real job’ making Facebook applications!). Restaurants are sending out daily specials through Twitter and posting videos of what’s happening at their establishment. The possibilities are endless and it starts with your imagination.

Social networks are here to stay folks. The Millennial Generation is growing up fast and you might have to adjust. I write a great blog over at www.orlandojobspot.blogspot.com where I touch on the growing trends that social networks are having on hiring, training and development. Employee Evolution is a voice to that very group as well.

Explore your social graph. Explore some creativity in your marketing. There are 1 million bands that sound like you and have a Myspace page. There are millions of people making t-shirts. There are more houses for sale than being sold. Make a move, be bold and be a part of the next great movement in Marketing! Yea I think I like my job!

-Greg “G-Ro” Rollett

Why is your business not Facebooking or Myspacing again? Just Wondering!

Today is a busy day at the Rollett Marketing offices. First off, I do have to confess that I finally gave into the Holy Grail and bought an iBook. And let me tell you I couldn’t be happier! Way overdo if I say so myself.

Getting into the Marketing world today I really wanted to point out some information about the Myspace generation. First of all when I say Myspace generation, I mean the Millennial Generation (i.e. Generation-Y) and it is not solely confined to Myspace. This encompasses the whole social networking, Web 2.0, widget and application world. I think that 'Myspace Generation' is a fitting categorization for the largest class to enter colleges this fall. With university education getting back in motion yesterday here in Orlando (Go Knights!) I needed to share some valuable information with you.

First, if you are not marketing to this generation, you are clueless in your business approach (unless you are selling prune juice or V8). Secondly, if you are not focusing at least 25% of your efforts where we hang out, then you are even more lost. Where do we hang out, what do we do? You don’t need to move far from where you are right now! The computer encompasses more of our time than anything else and needs to be your key focus to hit this demographic.

Look at this:
- 93 percent of students report that they own a cell phone
- 58 percent of students own an MP3 player
- 27 percent of co-eds cite choosing to stay in touch with friends via social networking site over face-to-face communication or over phone
- 54 percent of college students (ages 18-30) visit a social network in a typical day
- 66 percent of students are learning about brands, products and services from their friends

You want numbers for Facebook and Myspace! Well here you go!
-Myspace bought by Rupert Murdoch for some $580 million
-YouTube bought by Google for just under $1 billion
-Facebook just turned down Yahoo $1 billion offer

Myspace boasts 60 million active users
Facebook boasts 27 million active users

Even more disturbing is that over 3.5% of every American (or 7.5 million people) with a mobile phone has visited Myspace, Facebook or another social networking site on that mobile device.

If this post hasn’t convinced you to get off your ass and get moving on social networks, then I don’t know what will. Everyone knows that us Millennial kids have the attention span of a 2-year old, so if you wait too long you are going to miss out on the biggest marketing opportunity of your lifetime!

This isn’t to say that you need to spend the big bucks to get on the home page of Myspace, they won’t even write you a reply if your budget is less than $50,000, but it is to say that you need to effectively market your product on a profile and spread the word. Don’t chase cool, blend in and let cool find you, even if you are prune juice or V8! 

For more information on how Rollett Marketing can help get your feet wet in Social Networks please email greg@rollettmarketing.com or grollett@tmail.com for instant access.

Greg’s new book “Myspace Band Fund” will be available worldwide in October. Check back for more information and to get special bonuses from our pre-sales!

If you are feeling generous, please make a donation to Rock For Hunger.

Finally Advertising on all those Free Facebook Widgets

I'm still a "Freshman" in terms of using Facebook, but as a marketer, the network is taking off like Lebron from the free-throw line! When Facebook opened up its platform to allow 3rd party widgets, it opened up the gates for all the low budget tech kids to test out their products. Some of them are really good, too. Problem though, is that there is no money in free sharing of applications.

Along comes VideoEgg!

Whats up with VideoEgg you ask? They have developed a new way for advertisers to jump in on the widget bandwagon, and for the wiget makers to make some much deserved and NEEDED cash!

Here's how it works so far: When the widget is being launched, an ad will play. Simple, harmless, and gets the ad to their target market, the widget maker some money and the user gets to use the widget and maybe some new information about a new product.

Sounds simple, I'm all for it. For the full write up visit Business Week.

Keep getting your Web 2.0 on people and we'll keep feeding you with new ways to use it!

-G-Ro

How Can You Capitalize on the Time Users Spend On Social Networks, Especially Myspace

Got some good information for you all today! Especially those of you who are marketing your music, products, etc online. People are sending a lot of time at social network sites like myspace, Facebook, etc. What this research shows you is that Myspace is still king and Facebook is running away in 2nd. With all the new sites that are popping up to get your attention, these 2 still need to be your main focus.

Here's the chart:

*The firm measured what it calls "attention" (defined as the percentage of all time spent online that is devoted to one site), and attention for MySpace jumped 20% in June 2007 from the previous month.

This is telling us that we are spending more and more time glued into myspace, which gives a higher percentage for a potential fan to see your page and hear your music which leads to more sales. Now if only you could be on that right page at the right time...............

For the full article check out eMarketer.

It's going to be a very busy week for us at Rollett Marketing as we are blowing through all of our packages to accommodate for these numbers.


Myspace is and will continue to be a haven for musicians to sell, promote and market their music to their target audience. So get out there and start making your marketing count.

Look for Rollett Marketing's "Top 5 Myspace Marketing Tips" this afternoon to jump start your promotions today!

-g-ro

Hip-Hop 4 Hunger is this Thursday, August 2nd at AKA Lounge. Be prepared for an event that will shape the way our community thinks and way they 'rock they hunger'!

FloTones-Musicians Sell Your Music and Backgrounds to Mobile Phone Users

This is an amazing tool for musicians. I put together a quick profile in minutes and am in the process of getting the user agreement signed and all that good stuff. From what I can tell, this is a totally legit way for mobile device users to get your music as ringtones and use images as wallpaper. Visit Flotones.com and set up an artist profile. Once there you can upload your files or specify where they can be found on the web. Flotones takes about a 50% cut, but 50% is better than not having your ringtones available. There is NO set-up cost, which is great and you can also set up an affiliate program so your fans can sell your ringtones and make decent profit from it.

Once you have everything ready to go, flotones allows you to have an artist page, much like any other profile page you have everywhere on the net. But what is very beneficial is the ability to put html code into your outside pages (myspace, facebook, blog, etc) and sell your ringtones direct from those pages.

It looks like FloTones has a great thing going, one I am sure to put to the test in the coming weeks. Check back for a full review soon, but in the meantime I advise you to get your music uploaded and start making some easy cash. The number of mobile users is huge and increasing everyday! Have great night!

Once again the link is FloTones

-g-ro