Do you feel that, as it stands now, that there is too much technology surrounding your daily lives? Too many Social Media outlets? Do you feel more burnt out than ever before?

Why not try Mind-Fi, from the creators of Portlandia:

Click here to view the embedded video.

Facebook is one of the easiest pages to rank at the top when people search for your business, yet few businesses are currently optimizing their Facebook pages for search.

Click image below to view the information in large format.

Click the image below to engage the podcasts:

Digital World Expo debuts an annual forum for professional education in all forms of interactive marketing, media, communications and advertising. Attendees will learn, train and build awareness of technology application in media and what’s to come. Four areas are presented to meet the needs of today’s media professionals in digital advertising, marketing, public relations, development and strategy:

Will Assurance Advertising be there?

Our very own Shahab Zargari will be one of many choice speakers of the event! You won’t want to miss his session!

Classroom-Style and “How-to” Instruction

• Seasoned professionals and newcomers finding over 30 classes ranging from viral campaigns to virtual worlds.
• Digital media channels discussed with attendees walking away with applicable takeaways for “next steps”.
• Social Media, Viral Campaigns, Video Advertising, Display Advertising, Behavioral (and data) Targeting, Mobile Advertising, APPs, In-Game Advertising, Analytics and more designed in both “beginner” and “advanced” attendee formats.

Media Opportunities

• First-hand exposure to media placements offered by publishers, creative agencies and service providers.
• Interactive exhibits featuring today’s opportunities across all channels.
• New media channels and strategies presented in an exciting atmosphere.

The “Future” of Media

• Our “digital future” witnessed through special interactive exhibits and keynotes.
• High-profile brands and professionals engaging attendees in a fun, high-energy atmosphere as they experience what’s to come.

Entertainment and Networking

• Accents with special attractions and events appealing to all the senses.
• Specialty acts and casual game tournaments presented for everyone’s participation and enjoyment.
• Cocktail “Mixers” in unique venues during evenings of assembly.

DATES: Sunday, Sept 25th – Tuesday, Sept 27th, 2011

Digital World Expo’s mission is to bring more focus on education in an engaging and fun atmosphere. Classroom sessions, hands-on activity, and engaging media opportunities will arm attendees with tools and next steps for their business endeavors at an affordable price. Become a registered attendee today for the conference you will never forget!

PRINT and eBOOK editions out now!

The ultimate advertising survival guide!

The book features tips, case studies and easy to digest how-to segments for all business owners and marketing managers.

What’s In It For You?

Without this book, you will be hurled into the world of trial and error, which can be costly.

Consider the small price of this guide as a way to invest in your marketing, advertising and social media education. You’ll save yourself a lot of time and frustration in the process.

This guide will teach you the in’s and outs of gaining expert status in your niche or brand.

You’ll learn how to create a powerful campaign that people will not only be receptive to, but will remember and respect. You will have people beating down your door to buy your products and services.

CLICK THE BUTTON BELOW TO READ TESTIMONIALS FOR THE BOOK AND TO ORDER YOURSELF A COPY NOW!

ISBN 978-1-257-90685-7

Click here to view the embedded video.

The first entry received to info@assuranceadvertising.com with all of the correct answers to the questions below will win this brand new iPod Touchscreen care kit from Griffin ($19.99 value).

All of the answers to the questions can be found at www.assuranceadvertising.com. Remember, take your time. You may not find the answers right away on first visit.

May the best treasure hunter win!

• 1. Website address of our self-serve printing service?
• 2. The NOFX print poster we designed: what venue/casino was the event held at?
• 3. How many names are listed in the OUR TEAM section of the website?
• 4. How many seconds is the New Look Skin Center commercial presented on our website?

UPDATE: The winner was announced on Twitter on February 9th, 2011! Thanks to all the entrants! Stay tuned for the next contest coming soon!

]]> http://www.smallbusinessmarketingandadvertisinghelp.com/blog/2011/02/08/treasure-hunt-contest-to-win-a-griffin-ipod-touch-screen-care-kit/feed/ 1 http://www.smallbusinessmarketingandadvertisinghelp.com/blog/2011/01/31/the-benefits-and-how-tos-of-social-media-when-marketing-your-brand/ http://www.smallbusinessmarketingandadvertisinghelp.com/blog/2011/01/31/the-benefits-and-how-tos-of-social-media-when-marketing-your-brand/#comments Tue, 01 Feb 2011 00:40:22 +0000 admin http://www.smallbusinessmarketingandadvertisinghelp.com/blog/?p=1224

The Benefits and “How-to”s of Social Media When Marketing your Brand

Using social media to create a fan base for your business

If you’ve been reading, listening or even just breathing for the past few years you know that social media is changing the way the global society interacts with each other.

It’s allowing humanity to stay in contact and share information quicker and easier than ever before, which is why your business needs to get involved.

Why social media will benefit your businesses

1) People can talk about your product giving it exposure 24 hours a day!

2) Its very low cost. Even if you have a third-party company manage it for you the monthly cost is less than running a regular ad in your local paper or coupon mailer.

3) It can improve the ranking of your website especially if you utilize blogs and maximize quality back-links.

But the best thing about social media is that you can talk to your fans and customers constantly giving your company a human feel and in turn influencing real people to take a look at your products.

Things to remember when using social media

1) Talk the way you want to be talked to and realize that social media can make you a star as quickly as it can turn your fans against you.

2) Be ready to get involved right away; get a Facebook page for your business; sign up on Twitter; put up informative content on a Tumblr, Blogger, Joomla or WordPress blog as well as Youtube; add your business to the new Google Places and make a profile for the company on LinkedIn; and on, and on and on…

3) Keep your eyes and ears open for the next new platform to engage your clientele!!

Final thoughts on the subject

What follows are a couple of really great nuggets of knowledge we gained from the Social Media Las Vegas conference in January 2011 to give you true expert tips!

Peter C. VanRysdam (@Peter352), CMO of 352 Media Group, listed the four surefire ways to NOT GO VIRAL:

Surefire way to fail:
1) – Forcing it.
2) – Copying it.
3) – Faking it.
4) Crappy content.

Couldn’t be much more straightforward than that. Right?

Neil Glassman (@neilglassman), Principal Marketing Strategist for WhizBangPowWow, gave these extremely important tips for existing on a social network:

1) Keep social media a part of not apart of your overall brand strategy

2) Foster the conversation. Do not dominate it.

3) Be consistent and persistent.

Most importantly, dear reader, don’t worry. Take comfort in the fact that you can call any one here at Assurance Advertising for help.

Agree? Disagree? Start a discussion below. We’d love to hear your input!

]]> http://www.smallbusinessmarketingandadvertisinghelp.com/blog/2011/01/31/the-benefits-and-how-tos-of-social-media-when-marketing-your-brand/feed/ 1 http://www.smallbusinessmarketingandadvertisinghelp.com/blog/2010/12/03/facebook-business-page-issue-businesses-beware/ http://www.smallbusinessmarketingandadvertisinghelp.com/blog/2010/12/03/facebook-business-page-issue-businesses-beware/#comments Fri, 03 Dec 2010 23:34:09 +0000 admin http://www.smallbusinessmarketingandadvertisinghelp.com/blog/?p=955 Facebook Business Page Issue: Business page found guilty and with no chance to prove innocence

In September of 2010 Facebook disabled our access to the official Assurance Advertising facebook page due to a “content infringement” claim.

At first we thought this was a strange thing to have happen because everything on our site and any one of our social media outlets, from Flickr to Vimeo to Facebook to Youtube, all contains content we own the rights to because we have licensed or created them.

At least Youtube explains why your video is being disabled and gives you a few chances to appeal the decision. Facebook will not respond to emails, tweets or their official Facebook form designed for businesses who have lost access to their page based on content infringement.

While we see the need for such measures to be in place, all we want is an open discourse. A way to get this squared away.

And so far, mere weeks away from Christmas, our Facebook page is still disabled and Facebook is still not being responsive. This after @KristalinaS and @unmarketing tried real hard to get us contact information for higher ups at the company and after @punklawyer (one of the nation’s best lawyers by the way) scoured all of Facebook’s terms and conditions for us to see if anything there might help us out.

Be Careful!:

If a competitor does not like you they can flag your business and, without any chance to defend your side or status, Facebook will yank all of your content away from you. At that point you will be drudging along in a queue of other businesses waiting to hear something, anything, from Facebook regarding the alleged infringement and a chance to defend your content.

]]> http://www.smallbusinessmarketingandadvertisinghelp.com/blog/2010/12/03/facebook-business-page-issue-businesses-beware/feed/ 0 http://www.smallbusinessmarketingandadvertisinghelp.com/blog/2010/11/08/social-media-measurement/ http://www.smallbusinessmarketingandadvertisinghelp.com/blog/2010/11/08/social-media-measurement/#comments Mon, 08 Nov 2010 19:12:43 +0000 admin http://www.smallbusinessmarketingandadvertisinghelp.com/blog/?p=1073

Three things to look at when measuring social media (note: ROI is NOT one of them).

1. Quantitative statistics – how many tweets, likes etc. do you get on a daily, weekly, monthly, yearly timeframe?
2. What is the opportunity cost for a retweet, passalong, shared item? It’s the online version of word of mouth advertising, after all.
3. What’s the longevity value? – Everything on the web is indexed by google for people to find you. How valuable is THAT to your company?

Do you have any more suggestions to add to that list? Feel free to share them with us!

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