Internet and Indian youth are two inseparable threads that are weaving the face of our nation at the speed of light. Books and newspapers are fighting a losing battle against what is becoming the future of a more modernized and globalized India. If we have to summarize India’s future with internet in a nutshell, it is nothing less than brilliant.

Here are some of the ways in which we have categorized these points:

1. Greater Internet means cheaper internet: There was a time when having an internet connection at home was meant for the richer upper class, or for people who were supposedly more “advanced”. These days not having an internet connection at home is equivalent to not having any butter in the fridge. With the large number of internet connections getting installed each day, the cost has gone down and has become easily affordable for all.
2. People’s worlds are on the web: From online shopping, to booking flight tickets, everything is done online. With the increasing stress at work, people do not have time to shop or even get groceries. Making these facilities available online, the younger generation is becoming more and more dependent on what can be ordered online and home delivered.
3. Social Networking: People in India, especially the younger generation sleep and eat through popular social networking sites like Facebook and Twitter. No one has the time or patience to wait. Instant chat and messaging through such mediums has become popular and this trend is only inclined to grow forward and not backward.
4. Employment: With so many job search portals like naukri.com and timesjobs.com people now have a quick step solution in finding the right job. The process has become simple for employers as well since they can hand pick the best from any industry and the entire process is uncomplicated and free of any error.
5. The 3G craze: Everything can be easily accessed through mobile phones since they now come with a 3G technology, and this further strengthens the bright prospect of internet in India.

The world is shrinking with every passing day because of Internet. What happens somewhere in America can reach the Indian News Desk real time because of the speed at which information is transmitted. In 2010 India was ranked 4th in terms of its Internet users across the globe, and that was just 3 years ago! India is advancing and social media is catching up faster than anything else. The wireless age would be nothing less than extraordinary in times to come.

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Content marketing implies gaining a substantially higher following on online platforms, with an aim to benefit business.

These five techniques will help to uplift the performance of your web content and social approach.

1. Allies
Symbiotic functioning for mutual achievement of goals is effective. Website partners exponentially increase visibility and improve ad impression, as well as provide better page rankings.

In content marketing, a potential business partner can be from another industry, but should merge with a common ideology. For instance, a website of footwear reviews would team up with a foot care specialist or footwear store.

A few criteria for choosing a partner are:

• They have considerable traffic and cater to needs of a similar demographic in a different manner.
• Feature articles, guest posts, and alternative methods to enrich content visibility. Trade guest posts, run product features, and seek creative new ways to expose your content to a broader audience.
• Utilizing online means to implement relevant advertising that boosts audience segmentation and target acquisitions.

2. Platforms
Establishing a presence on every social media site, is a waste. Building and developing the same on Facebook, Twitter, Google+, or LinkedIn, should be done in addition to using referral sites and fresher networks where exposure is higher. Inbound traffic and search engine rankings improve when sharing buttons are available.

Produce content ideally suited for newer platforms of huge referral potential. For instance, Pinterest is image specific. Creating top-quality visuals with artful or creatively witty copy would work well.

• Refresh your existing content by transforming each form into another periodically. For example, turn a past blog post into a video or a past video into a single visual graphic of data.

3. Audience Empowerment
Giving the audience this ability means getting them to work for your cause. Content marketing means allowing the audience to keep the campaign alive as it permeates different levels of the market. Nike, with the #makeitcount campaign, for instance, superbly carried out this requirement.

• Allow audience to communicate through the brand. Sharing any information is encouraged and appreciated. It helps build brand reputation and goodwill among consumers.

4. Earning Share-worthy Status
Simple language, a casual and assertive approach, and insights on trending topics, all attract fundamental human actions towards content marketing.

• Streamlined content, which requires a glance to gain a gist.

• Using confirmations of online shares or hosting a sweepstakes for most shares from a first level.

5. Extract Useful Data
Uncovering facts about the habits of the target audience, their rate of engagement, participation, and preferences, depends on analytics and scrutiny of data. With the help of online tools, this can be done easily.

Content marketing requires comprehensive effort and purposeful performance. Including these five strategies along with social modes enables faster goal realisation and revenue generation.

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It was just a year ago that Facebook introduced Facebook Timeline as a brand new concept. It was a concept that people either did not understand at all or misunderstood to a large extent. Now that most accept and admire the Timeline for its utility and beauty, Facebook is up to introducing a new change.

The focus is on making your profile visually more appealing. You might revolt against the change though, for it is difficult to accept all formats, designs and structures that Facebook introduces. However, you can’t deny that you are desperate to know the reason why what is being done, is being done. It’s time again, to brace yourself up for another face-lift brought to you by none other than Facebook. Here are a few things that the new Facebook brings for you:

The New News Feed

Facebook as a social media platform is moving towards becoming truly digital and smart. An important aspect of the new design is on the News Feed. The improved version of the News Feed is going to be more like a newspaper. Everything will be arranged and sorted in a chronological manner. On the basis of the posts and articles that you have liked before, Facebook will suggest trending topics that might be of interest to you. It was in 2011 that Facebook started working on News Tweaks. Finally, it has come up with a better strategy.

Bigger and Better

Facebook is trying to bring a bigger and better visual experience to its users. The maps, the photos, the images – everything that is a part of visual appeal will be bigger in size. The central focus, however, will be on pictures, videos and other creatives. Here is a piece of good news for those who wish that nothing about the cover image changes – Facebook has not made any change to the format of the cover photo feature.

Graph Search Header

Those who are wondering about the recently introduced graph search should be happy to know that the new Facebook will allow its users to use the Graph Search option.

Conclusion

Are looks everything to the new Facebook design, you might ask. The answer to your question is definitely a ‘No’. With its new design Facebook wishes to prepare for a large mobile market that lies ahead. Are you game for the change?

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Staple members of the social marketing stronghold are undoubtedly Facebook and Twitter. However, since its inception in 2010, online social bulletin Pinterest has outdone Google and even Twitter in terms of referral traffic and client conversion rates. If you’re contemplating the business possibilities of Pinterest, here are a few points that will get you pinning for more.

What it is

It allows sharing photos on your own virtual bulletin board, managing them, and dotting them with either pins or images. It entails boundless possibility with pinning and repinning your distinct images as well as those of other related ones.

Being highly socially addictive, users engage in fun, and gain greater recall by simply posting interests while the visual presence ratifies the business or brand.

Pinterest for Business

With about 40 million users currently, the amazingly substantial traffic provides a fantastic platform for business communication with customers, existing and potential. In addition to being a free platform, it is connectable to both Twitter and Facebook, meaning that when a user pins or repins your images, it reaches those websites as well.

Target Audience

Businesses that cater to young women have prime position with over 80% of the user base consisting of females, between the ages 18 to 40. If senior citizens are the required demographic, the less tech-savvy would not be conducive to promoting products meant for them.

Content

Being a visual website, the pins depend highly on aesthetic and appeal to the user base. Clothes companies and style-based firms of design and sports would do far better than others who would still be able to increase their own website traffic and brand awareness with the multiple business possibilities of pinterest. Marking related content is also crucial, as it displays a wholesome reputation of covering the areas in your industry, to encourage repining and sharing. Additionally, attaching personal preferences helps to draw a larger crowd and extends the scope of the brand and its composition.

Conclusion

This visually driven social media website is constantly growing and holds the third position for traffic created. This is only one of the business possibilities on Pinterest that are freely available to utilize in a proper manner. Including guest contributors, organizing contests, and creating catalogs helps to add depth to your business presence, which through pinning, will escalate rapidly.

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Social Media is the way to get into your customer’s minds, but staying there is a different story altogether. Getting someone to notice you is one thing, and to remember you the day after is another.  Most people spend their waking moments checking their Facebook profile, and the last thing before they go to sleep. There are several fish in the sea, so what would make you the whale?

Here are some useful tips that would help you enhance your business through face book:

1. Invite People from your Friends List: Your objective should be to reach out to people who you know would be interested in finding out about your business. People generally form an opinion by seeing the number of “likes” for a particular page.
2. Make it “Interactive”: By facilitating a private messaging tool you can reach out to twice the amount of people since they would be able to ask you questions and you would be able to provide them with spot on answers. Nobody enjoys a “download”, and making it a two way interaction would help boost the popularity for your page.
3. Provide Consistent Updates: “Out of sight…out of mind” is something you want to avoid like the plague if you want your page to get noticed, and even more importantly appreciated. By reshuffling photographs and keeping up with the current trends will keep your fans and followers hooked. For example, if you own a restaurant that goes by the name “Bombay Bakers”, you can tag your fans with punch lines like “don’t miss the free chocolate cup cakes this Friday!”
4. Grammar Grammar! Spelling mistakes and incorrect usage of grammar can be the biggest turn off, and would instantly make the reader close your page, not bothering to ever look at it again. Proof reading is a must.  Also, don’t make your writing style complicated with big words, make it simple and to the point. People sitting online do not have the time to look up the meaning for different words, so avoid the heavy” vocabulary.
5. Clutter Free: Make sure you update the new, and take out the old. Avoid whatever has already been said or done. In addition to that, make sure your page is easy on the eyes and has more photographs to support what your brand is trying to sell. Visual appeal is very important if you want to make an everlasting effect on the readers.

The most important thing that can either make it or break it is the way you sell your brand, because “sell” is the one word you want to stay away from. Inform your readers about why your product or your business is good, but do not ask them to “buy” it because a desperate attempt to sell something always makes the potential customer think twice and then most likely decline your offer. So, keep it simple, keep it fresh, and keep it appealing, and you will surely get more than what you set out for with your social media marketing strategy.

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It’s an alluring development – the onset of a social network. Just a decade or so back, the homosapien race was merely social. Today, it is one that is actively networked. Definitely, the progress is rational. However, like behavioural psychology would point out, there are a few who limit their social interactions.

Take the quiz to know some fun facts about your social networking persona! 

A. How Often Do You Check Your Facebook Account?

1. That’s the only place I am reachable 24*7
2. Every morning, afternoon and evening
3. Maybe once a week
4. I don’t have a Facebook account. Does it surprise you?

B. How many social media platforms are you registered with?

1. Almost every that I’ve StumbledUpon
2. At least those that my friends are on
3. Just the one or two popular ones
4. The ones that promise a career

C. What’s a hash tag for you?

1. It’s my key to trend on Twitter
2. I see something like that on Facebook when friends mention a one-liner
3. It’s a symbol on the phone that I sometimes use
4. I don’t know, may be it stands for Number, as in #1

D. What’s your Favourite Facebook activity?

1. I just like the activities on Facebook, each and every one
2. A few like Criminal Case and Chatting
3. Updating my profile and Uploading pics
4. I think it’s all a waste of time

Result time

If you chose most 1s ..you are the Social Monkey – Having a merry time on every branch of social media, with a bunch of crazy chums

If you chose most 2s…you are the Web Hawk – Like a referee you’d rather watch than participate

If you chose most 3s…you are the Net Pet – Happy to hang around for a bit to have a good time

If you chose most 4s…you are Social Hermit – Living aloof, never in a rush to catch up

And please do post your results in the comments box below!

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Colours – They remind you of two things – the joyous festival of holi; and, the uninterrupted, essential variety of life. Take for example social media. There is absolutely no dearth of variety in the purpose and usage of these platforms. You have the red queen Pinterest, Blue bird Twitter, a blue and white journal Facebook, and many more ways of keeping entertained. Social Media indeed is motley of interesting ideas to draw from. Each platform, however, has a USP. The confluence of connectivity with social media is an interesting development that the Internet has witnessed.

The world today enjoys many facets of this platform. There are innumerable social media platforms waiting to be explored. Not just that – there is a lot that you can do with and on each of those platforms. Even though you are doing a number of things on social media, there are a number of activities that you can take up of which you don’t even have an inkling of idea about. Finding a job, learning a language, chatting, dating, keeping in touch – all can be done through a single social media platform. Here are some variants of is worldwide usage:

• From Black Churches to Everyday businesses, every organization makes use of social media in a manner that suits them. Have you ever heard about a court room trial being tweeted about? That’s what Courier-Post did once.
• Another important aspect of social media is that it thrives on change. Since technology is the base of every social media activity, a small change in technology can open a number of avenues in the periphery of social media.
• Varied social media platforms are suitable for laptops and desktops. With the invention of smart phones, using social media platforms like Twitter, Facebook and Pinterest on phone has become feasible.

While the four main slices of the social media pie can be divided into video updates, test updates, photo updates, and content updates, there are many other things that social media has made possible.  Think Farmville for example; apart from the fun and enjoyment that it provides, the game teaches a lot of farming. With social media, be a little creative and a lot creative, to realize all the facets of the platforms.

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From the day Facebook allowed brands to have their exclusive presence on the social media platform, brands have started benefitting more. There was an essential need of awareness and a platform where brands can talk to the consumers. This is now met by the social media platforms and they also allow brands for various modes of engagement.

Facebook:  As mentioned earlier, Facebook has given brands the liberty to have an exclusive branding page. This comes with a variety of options that can be added to the brand page apart from the basic information. Brands can get started with contests and bring in more consumers in their circle. However, for brands, an increase in the number of followers on these platforms, also mean an everyday interaction strategy via posts.

Twitter:  Twitter, on the other hand allows brands to take on the interaction in the shortest possible word. Brands should be open to the idea that people may not always tweet the best about them. In such cases, it also acts as a space for a turnaround strategy, taking customer grievances seriously and welcoming them for solutions.

Pinterest:  The branding via platforms like Pinterest is largely based on the visual. It is more like a space where people can window shop your products. This space is still growing and not all brands have successfully utilized it. A very important factor that would work for Pinterest strategy will be with brands opening up to the idea of showcase. The more the impact of products, the better the reach.

There are other mediums like Youtube but then again, not every brand can afford a budget to support a commercial video, so third party sharing may work. At this point of time, social media platforms like Facebook, Twitter and Pinterest come with minimal or absolutely no cost, and give the brand a wider exposure.  It is time to get started and getting social, soon.

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Keep in mind the fundamental maxim that work is where you go to do specifically assigned tasks, using your trusted expertise for remunerative value. Your personal life could impact this stability if mismanaged.

Facebook shares a majority of a person’s persona and reputation is created or portrayed, through online content. Ranging from simplicities such as posting music you enjoy, liking a status that used crude humour, or adding a friend, each action should remind you that you are accountable. Here are some instances of its influence.

1. Character Testament: You may be a rising talent or a messy wildfire, depicting your social status in disarray could adversely impact your chances at employment. Depicting interests as different to those of the firm you work at, or being insulting, and abusive all carry severe negative consequences. Additionally, a visible social media butterfly will stand a better chance, as it offers a prologue to character as a possible co-worker. Keep your page clean with information you can always speak comfortably about.
2. Professional Networking Opportunities: Although LinkedIn and related sites are primary sources of professional online contact, Facebook shouldn’t be abused for frivolous causes. The circles of people you are in contact with on a casual basis are the precedent for the opportunities they afford you. A ‘Pay-it-Forward’ format ceases to exist when there’s an understanding to assist whenever possible.
3. Privacy and Misinterpretation: Ensure your profile invisibility in Google search. While 37% of employers saw profiles, 12% agreed that wanted to reveal candidate ineligibility. This is incorrect viewing of your information. Streamlining extensive friend lists into distinct, specified lists is also highly useful. Displaying an ability to handle your account is an elementary part to indicating your adeptness at managing your work as well.
4. Communication: Socially, you may speak and communicate differently. Habitual poor grammar and unduly, lethargic communication should not be conveyed to employers. In a concise manner with language that suffices to surpass critique, write and talk conscientiously. Cultivating the activity augments the person’s own communicative abilities as well.
5. Overcompensation: While your accomplishments may be notable and respected, Facebook should not become a shrine to your greatness, where ‘friends’ gather and witness your inspirational quotes or clever repertoire of comments. Do not downplay what you have done either. Maintain an earnest outlook with a focussed mentality to assuage any doubts that the market may have.

Handling a Facebook account is simple enough if you concentrate on developing yourself. Moreover, the rewards of having personal and professional lives apart are in excess. You may not be able to keep them that way, but allowing them to co-exist is the way forth.

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Sauntering past the yawn inducing jargon of the technological era having encompassed our very lives, we reach the crux of social media and its being imperative to usage in every sphere.

Social media is often littered with requests for Emergency Blood Donors, Homes for Adopted Pets, Work Opportunities, and numerous related criteria that cement the fact that it does indeed, provide considerable possibility for every need.

This writer can testify in smaller, rarer circumstances, where a hugely popular musician offered an old acoustic guitar, free of cost, to anyone who had the will to learn how to play, as the musician himself delivered the instrument, with a pleasant smile and an endearingly self-condescending demeanour.

Those who deign networking as a time-consuming, frivolous activity couldn’t be more misinformed. With the scope of the internet, it only grows more relevant and useful. We are inclined to believe that with such means, we can meet most ends.

While around 36% of social media content posted by us is brand-related, 75% of businesses felt duly obliged to acknowledge this. Simultaneously, we must be aware of how we have the power to utilize the same for our own development.

LinkedIn, currently the world’s largest professional network with 160,000,000 registered users, is the pinnacle of work opportunity webs. Listing proud past achievements, bearing arduously earned endorsements, and hosting histories of work-related accomplishments, it supports the professional aspirations while integrating an infinite network of talent, ability, skill, and experience.

Skillzot uses a Pay-it-Forward format which brings together participants for the exchange of taught skills, while tutoring others in core competencies. This basic mentality compels our attention toward our self worth and target setting.

Even in social media networks with a more casual recall, there are connections for causes of all kinds. Multiple startups compete with established firms for the pick of the lot, giving the potential employee the boon of choice. Particular professions and selective skill sets that often have an edge over the rest include Voice Over Artists, Actors or Models, Graphic Designers, Illustrators, Coders. To be fair, the playing field has never been as equal and the onus is on us to exploit this trove of opportunity.

How do we do this?

Building a solid profile with crisp depictions of our decorated works, simplistic interpretations of completed folios, along with substantiated recommendations by respected names, is the need of the hour. Keeping an ear to the ground, an eye out for the smoke signals, whichever form of communication you can visualize, we undertake to satiate these requirements with our own.

Imbibing this indicative ideology of strengthened foundations and reinforced structures for applications, our outreach scales peaks of unnecessary pedantic, while maintaining decorum and procedure. Understanding and realizing our own ability is essential to achieve this, and with the time we frequently and poorly invest, we can do much more.

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