VUE MEDIA GROUP (www.VUEMediaGroup.com) March 4, 2009

Greetings, My name is Shawn Welk; I am the New Media director for VUE Media Group. I would like to take this time to share some valuable information in regards to our services and marketing. VUE Media Group provides customized professional design and website management tailored to fit any client or artists, from small to medium businesses and corporate America. Expert Web Design and Marketing! Whether you want us to build your website or you wish to do it yourself, VUE Media Group (www.VUEMediaGroup.com) has the solutions you need at the best prices you’ll find. VUE Media Group (www.VUEMediaGroup.com) is not an overseas company. VUE Media Group (www.VUEMediaGroup.com) is located in beautiful Southern California & Atlantic Beach, Fl USA. Questions? Pick up the phone and ask us!

Custom Website Design!

Our web sites are perfect for businesses of all sizes. Each website comes with it’s own content management system allowing you to manage, edit and modify your website from any Internet location without any special programs. VUE Media Group (www.VUEMediaGroup.com) can also expand your website with any type of features your business needs from Social Networks (similar to Facebook and MySpace) to shopping carts to media galleries. But VUE Media Group (www.VUEMediaGroup.com) does not stop there! Our website packages come with 1 year free hosting, personalized training so you can manage your website and as always direct access to your project manager. In addition, VUE Media Group (www.VUEMediaGroup.com) can increase traffic to your website with our highly experienced search engine optimization team.

Build Your Own Website!

VUE Media Group (www.VUEMediaGroup.com) offer two methods to become your own web designer. Professional website Design Templates and our easy to use Online Web Site Builder. Web Design Templates are pre-websites recommended for those who already have some background with web design and web development programs like Photoshop, Flash and HTML editors. Just make your modifications and upload the files to your server. VUE Media Group (www.VUEMediaGroup.com) carries templates for Flash, HTML, Open Source CMS, Ecommerce, Forums and many more. Over 10,000 designs to choose from! These design templates make it easy for the novice or professional to complete their project on time and with amazing visual results.

Online Web Site Builders allows the beginner webmaster to choose from over 1,500 template designs and using our online management system you can build your first webpage in as little as ten minutes. Our site builder comes with dozens of features included like shopping carts, photo galleries, newsletters and more. For as little as $24/month you can have a website up today.

Mobile Marketing!

VUE Media Group (www.VUEMediaGroup.com) enables cost-effective, customized mobile marketing and communications for any brand, media company, marketing agency, or content owner. VUE Media Group (www.VUEMediaGroup.com) is an industry leader in advanced mobile technology and solutions for clients across all industries. Our solution is built on a multi-functional patent-pending web-based software, custom integrated campaigns, and exceptional support to our clients. VUE Media Group, Keeping Internet Solutions Simple! Once again, thank you for your interest and I look forward to speaking with you soon. Please send me two times you might be available for us to further discuss your needs and how we can help. To Your Success, Shawn Welk 904.545.3928 ShawnWelk@gmail.com www.InSocialMedia.com Economic depression cannot be cured by legislative action or executive pronouncement. Economic wounds must be healed by the action of the cells of the economic body – the producers and consumers themselves. Herbert Hooverar future. My dept works in the Internets social world. Check outMyspace.com/NUSwerve, Myspace.com/Interchanges, Myspace.com/VWDUBClub, MySpace.com/CaitlinBrunell,Myspace.com/LiveVolvo

www.LiveVolvo.Com

www.VWDUBClub.com

www.CaitlinsCloset.org

Stay tuned for some Pop Culture Living. I am all about endorsing life thru Pop Culture Marketing….

Shawn

HOW USING SMS SHORT CODES CAN HAVE AN IMMEDIATE IMPACT ON BRAND AWARENESS IN 2009 January 23, 2009

Almost every company that has embarked on mobile advertising and outreach efforts

has said that the most effective way to understand the power of mobile and what it

means to a company is to simply jump in and do it.

 

Key ways that SMS SHORT CODES are being commonly used to reach and engage audiences, some of which are discussed in greater detail below:

 

Creating a dialog and a relationship. SMS SHORT CODES are being used effectively to create

 

a dialog with mobile users. Voting, polling, requests for feedback, sweepstakes,

and contests all require interactivity with the consumer and the brand. This

interaction through SMS SHORT CODES provides valuable information about target audiences,

allowing organizations to even more closely tailor their products and associated

marketing to evolving marketplace needs.

 

Customer and employee communications. SMS SHORT CODES and text messaging are

being used by companies and even schools to distribute information, such as

employee alerts, school closings, airline reservation updates, and sales alerts.

Catalog companies and direct-to-consumer mobile commerce companies are

using SMS SHORT CODES  along with keyword item numbers as a way to allow customers to

order products without calling into a service center. This approach reduces the

number of calls handled by operators, which in turn reduces costs and can

increase customer satisfaction. 

 

Increasing brand reach. SMS SHORT CODES  are also playing a key role in increasing the

 

reach of brands and organizations. For instance, groups in the United States that

may index low for home PC penetration conversely often index high for mobile

phones. Through SMS SHORT CODES, they can now be reached with electronic media. In the

developing world, national short codes allow consumers to be cost-effectively

reached on an individual basis for the first time ever, whereas previously,

advertising campaigns were limited to mass-market radio and billboards.

 

Sales lead generation. U.S. companies of all sizes are using SMS SHORT CODES  in their

marketing efforts to generate interest and engagement with brands, which

immediately or eventually turn into sales leads. For instance, Lexus successfully

used SMS SHORT CODES to develop self-qualified sales leads. And it has been reported that

Denver-based Clarion Ventures is planning to launch the SMS SHORT CODES that spells the word

“House” on the cell phones keypad as a way for users to request that more

information be sent to their cell phones on houses that are for sale. Brands have

reported that potential customers who signal their product interest through SMS SHORT CODES  

are often highly motivated, which can result in SMS SHORT CODES response rates as high as 10%. 

 

Content distribution. Short codes are one of the key ways that mobile content

providers distribute content directly to mobile users, which avoids reliance on

already-crowded wireless carrier “content decks.” Carrier decks are the screens of

content options that each carrier’s subscribers see on their cell phones. Getting

placement on a carrier deck is a costly and long process and must be done on a

carrier-by-carrier basis. While brands can get immediate access to all subscribers

on a particular carrier deck, carriers make frequent changes to their decks, offering

less control for brands. By using SMS SHORT CODES and other forms of “off deck” access, brands

can reach almost all wireless users, not just those of a particular carrier. 

 

Fundraising. Nonprofits are increasingly interested in short codes for fundraising

efforts, having successfully used them to raise relief funds for the 2004 tsunami

in Asia and for Hurricane Katrina in 2005.

 

Mobile advertising. Brands from almost every industry sector are beginning to

 

incorporate SMS SHORT CODES into their marketing campaigns such as on billboards, in print, and

even in TV advertising in order to deliver additional marketing information directly to

users. For instance, shows on MTV regularly include SMS SHORT CODES information to further

involve audiences and drive additional content sales. New mobile advertising formats

are coming onto the scene, including banner ads, sponsorships, product placement

and idle screens, and pre- and post-roll video. Like SMS SHORT CODES, each of these mobile

advertising formats is a sophisticated way to reach customers. In fact, text advertising

can be added to SMS SHORT CODES so that the confirming message the consumer receives from

the brand can also have a line of advertising in it. This not only allows brands to

engage with consumers through SMS SHORT CODES but also allows their closest advertisers to

advertise contextually next to the appropriate mobile content. However, unlike most

mobile advertising, SMS SHORT CODES require single or double opt-ins. Thus, brands know

consumers are interested and receptive to messages initiated by SMS SHORT CODES. 

 

Building databases. Information is power, and savvy organizations are using

SMS SHORT CODES to build powerful mobile information databases on existing and prospective

customers, such as what promotions they respond to, which mobile coupons they

actually redeem and when, and how often they respond to mobile alerts, by

integrating SMS SHORT CODES response data into existing databases. These databases can be

used to develop and support loyalty programs, coupon and direct response

offers, and Internet-like experiences with media ranging from print to radio.

 

Online connections can build customer base January 12, 2009

Online connections can build customer base

 

Jacksonville Business Journal – by Dolly Penland Correspondent

 

Many people get most of their information from the Internet, especially when planning to buy products or services. Consumers want solid product information rather than responding to traditional marketing techniques. However, one thing that hasn’t changed over the years is the value of advice and recommendations from friends before buying.

One way companies can find those most interested in their offerings and provide the information they want is to make customers into friends through social networking sites such as Myspace or Facebook.

“In the past, with traditional media, advertisers would just dominate the market by pushing their message through as many outlets as possible: TV, radio, newsprint, whereas now the buyer has control,” said Shawn Welk, director of new media at Interchanges.com. One technique the company calls “social droving” involves identifying and inviting likely “friends.”

Because many buyers avoid any hint of a hard sell, those who join a company’s network presumably have a genuine interest in the product. “You invite them to be part of the network and they choose to be part of that network,” said Welk, who works with businesses on social marketing strategies. “They can stay with you or opt out” at a later date.

Businesses and other groups can create networks of friends. “It allows for more information without being bombarded with heavy sales tactics,” Welk said. Businesses “use it as an information tool, to send information to prospective customers.”

Social networking won’t guarantee a sale, but it does give companies another channel to pass on information.

“Traditionally, Volvo and VW customers e-mail or call,” said Dennis Walters, Internet sales and marketing manager at O’Steen Automotive Group, which has two sites, www.myspace.com/livevolvo and www.myspace.com/vwdubclub. With computer-savvy clients, “I find them on Myspace and become friends only. They have to accept when they see [the friend request], and they say, ‘That’s the guy I talked to when I went down there or e-mailed.’ It actually works out a lot better.”

Businesses can market to friends via bulletins, blogs or comments. That information can range from offered specials to simple product updates.

“I don’t use Myspace as a sales tool,” Walters said. “I use it as a way to keep in touch, a contact tool to let them know if we’re having free car washes, or new accessories come in, or if we’re looking for certain trade-in cars, or an event going on. We use it as a communication tool more than anything else.”

Walters said being a friend, not a salesman pushing a product, pays off. “I’m getting a very favorable response. Several customers have bought from me [who are] friends.”

Social networking isn’t yet a stand-alone marketing tool, but rather a complement to a standard advertising campaign. “You can never get rid of television advertising, the radio advertising or even the newspaper advertising,” Walters said.

However, social networking offers a chance to target the most desirable prospects. “Our demographic for Volvo and VW are highly educated and 95 percent of [these car] buyers have broadband in their homes. They’re very Internet-savvy. If your demographic is an educated, Internet-savvy customer, go and advertise where the customers are going to be.”

Social networks also help raise brand awareness, whether for companies or other groups, such as nonprofits.

That’s why Caitlin Brunell decided in November to add a Myspace page,www.myspace.com/caitlinscloset, for her charity Caitlin’s Closet. Founded in 1996, the nonprofit collects new and gently worn ball gowns and donates them to girls who otherwise would not get to go to a prom or other formal function for lack of a dress.

“When it started, it was, ‘We’ll see how many dresses we can get and figure out how we can give them out.’ Now, it’s, ‘Where can we store them all?’ ” said Stacy Brunell, Caitlin’s mom.

The Brunells are getting as involved with their Myspace communities as with the real-life communities in which they live and work. Stacy’s husband and former Jacksonville Jaguars quarterback, Mark, uses his Myspace page to draw friends’ attention to The Brunell Family Foundation, but he also has given the page more personal attention. For example, his social networking friends were the first to find out that he had signed with the New Orleans Saints for the upcoming season.

 

jacksonville@bizjournals.com | 396-3502

Marketing On Myspace May 2, 2008

Greetings,

My name is Shawn Welk; I am the New Media director for Trend Setters Media. I would like to take this time to share some valuable information in regards to our services and marketing on MySpace.

Trend Setters Media provides customized professional MySpace design and profile management tailored to fit any client, artists, small to medium businesses and corporate America businesses.

What is MySpace and how can it help your business?

MySpace is a popular social networking website consisting of an interactive, user-submitted network of friends, personal profiles, and blogs. Over the last few years, the power of harnessing the benefits of marketing to such a large audience has been realized by many successful businesses in their online marketing efforts.

Having played a key role in corporate and individual brand development, product launches and driving traffic to a client’s existing website, MySpace has become an essential tool for businesses and individuals to gain widespread presence and appeal online. In such a lucrative, yet competitive marketplace, it is crucial to have a unique, distinguishing and professional MySpace design and an experienced strategic partner to succeed in differentiating a client’s business from the competition.

Professional MySpace Design and Management

Whether each client requires a clean and professional MySpace design or an elaborate and creative MySpace design, Trend Setters Media has a professional MySpace design and development team with the experience to customize any layout, targeting each client’s marketing needs. Interchanges.com will apply the latest techniques and best practices in professional MySpace page design and layout customization to convert your business objectives into an original and effective business tool.

Once your new profile is developed, Trend Setters Media will begin profile management and launch a social marketing campaign, actively locating specified demographic and psychographic friends. Once the target audience is obtained, we will engage these users by sending mass comments, mass messages and friend requests on a daily basis; thus opening up the door of opportunity. As we all know, today’s consumer is looking to buy from companies they feel a connection with; better yet, who they are friends with.

We also assist with running the daily functions of your profile.
1. Accepting Friends
2. Responding to Incoming Messages & Comments
3. Updating Content
4. Filtering Incoming Content
5. Maintaining Compliance with MySpace Rules
6. Monitoring Bulletins

Managing a MySpace profile can become a very time consuming job once a profile has reached over a thousand friends. That’s where Trend Setters Media can bring you the most, by allowing you to focus on your business while we focus on building relationships and exposure for your business.

If you would like to gain more knowledge about Social Media, join www.InSocialMedia.com. This network was created for anyone involved with the internet and the Social Media world. It’s a great place to discuss today’s fastest growing marketing trend, New Media.

Once again, thank you for your interest and I look forward to speaking with you soon. Please send me two times you might be available for us to further discuss your needs and how we can help.

To Your Success,

Shawn Welk
904.545.3928

ShawnWelk@gmail.com
www.InSocialMedia.com

Economic depression cannot be cured by legislative action or executive pronouncement. Economic wounds must be healed by the action of the cells of the economic body – the producers and consumers themselves.
Herbert Hoover

Is MySpace a Google Killer March 18, 2008

source:http://social-media-optimization.com/2008/01/is-myspace-a-google-killer/

It was July 19th, 2005 when Robert Murdoch surprised Wall Street when he spent $580m to purchase MySpace. So how does the investment look 2 1/2 years later?

When Murdoch bought MySpace it was predominately a US social network. Today it is a worldwide force with 24 local versions. Besides introducing new musicians and playing host to amateur filmmakers, MySpace is also signing artists to its own record label and developing online video series. Earlier this month it introduced a content guide called MySpace Celebrity.

All these changes have worked out well for MySpace. With an estimated 110 million monthly active users, and more than 1.3 billion page views a day, MySpace has become a favorite of advertisers.

Richard Greenfield, a media analyst for Pali Research was interviewed by the New York Times recently and he said expect MySpace to have around $800 million in revenue in fiscal 2008, mostly through advertising. That $580 million purchase price looks pretty cheap now.

Chris DeWolfe, the co-founder and chief executive of MySpace is working on changing the image of MySpace.

 

“Some people still perceive MySpace like it was in early 2004, as a niche place for scenesters in New York and Los Angeles. That’s how it started, but it’s become very mainstream,” Mr. DeWolfe, 41, said. “It’s about consuming content and discovering pop culture.”

As part of its makeover, MySpace is starting to resemble more and more a traditional media platform like Yahoo or AOL than a traditional social networking site. Peter F. Chernin, the President and Chief Operating Officer of the News Corporation, called MySpace a “contemporary media platform” and said the site existed to “create content and connect people to one another.”

There is no doubt that the purchase of MySpace by Robert Murdoch was a smart business deal. The site dominates the social networking space in terms of visitors, page views and advertising revenue.

What will be interesting to watch in the coming twelve months is how MySpace develops as a media platform. MySpace has the potential to match the growing media platform that is Google. At the moment Google and MySpace are business partners, but I expect that relationship to be challenged as MySpace continues to grow.

Remember that since the MySpace acquisition Murdoch has purchased the Wall Street Journal. An advertising platform that covers Music, Celebrities, TV and Finance could be a Google killer.

 

 Undergoing MyBlogLog Verification

 

Top 10 Social Video Sites March 14, 2008

Top 10 Video SitesThe video numbers are quite staggering. comScore Video Metrix’s reports that over 10 billion videos were watched in December 2007, with about 75% of all American’s online in December watching at least one video.Online users are actively searching for videos. Google trends shows that more people are looking for videos than are interested in shopping or news.You know that YouTube is the 10,000 pound gorilla in the video space, but who are the other websites that you should be looking at, and who visits them? Using Quantcast we have put together a list of the top 10(actually its top 11) video sites that social marketers might be interested in, and who visits these sites.YouTube.comYou cannot have a discussion about video sites without beginning with YouTube. Youtube.com is a huge site that reaches over 62 million U.S. monthly uniques. The site caters to a slightly female (51%) audience that is young (between 18-24) and white (73%). Interestingly 51% of YouTube visitors have a household income over $60k and 53% have attended college or graduate school.DailymotionDailymotion.com is a top 250 site that reaches over 48 million monthly uniques, of which 6.5 million (13%) are in the U.S. The site appeals to a somewhat male audience (60%) that earns between$30-$60k a year.For a video site with such a large user base, Dailymotion is rarely mentioned in the US in mainstream media. Dailymotion allows users to browse videos by searching tags, channels or user-created groups; the search system also introduces results based on things other users have searched for. The maximum size of a video per file is 150 MB (compared to 100 MB for YouTube). Video limit is 20 minutes (compared with YouTube’s 10 minutes)-MetacafeMetacafe is one of the world’s largest video sites that specializes in short-form original content – from new, emerging talents and established Hollywood heavyweights alike. With 27 million unique vistors a month (9 million in the US), Metacafe is the second largest video site in the US.Metacafe attracts a heavily male (61%) audience, between the ages of 25-34 (23%) with a household income of between $30-60k (36%).Metacafe was ranked second behind MySpaceTV in number of user comments per video posted in 2007. The “Metadata Metrics” report from AccuStream iMedia Research equated user comments with engagement.Imeem.comImeem.com is a top 250 site that reaches over 21 million monthly uniques, of which 7.4 million (35%) are in the U.S. The site is popular among a very slightly female biased, more African American, younger group.Launched in October 2004, Imeem.com has both a social network structure as well as a content browsing/filtering structure similar to that of Flickr and YouTube. Quantcast ranks imeem as the top social music site.Vids.MySpace.comVids.myspace.com is a top 250 destination that reaches over 10 million U.S. monthly uniques. The destination attracts a female slanted (57%), youthful (38% are under 24) audience that earns between $30-60k a year. In early 2007, MySpace introduced MySpaceTV (http://myspace.tv/), a service similar to the YouTube. MySpaceTV is now in beta mode, and will be probably be launched as a separate site in either 2008 or early 2009.Google VideoVideo.google.com is a top 250 destination that reaches over 6.0 million U.S. monthly uniques. The destination caters to a young (18-24), white (71%), male audience (53%). Google video attracts a slightly younger audience than YouTube.Video.MSN.comVideo.msn.com is a large destination that reaches over 2.7 million U.S. monthly uniques. The destination appeals to a slightly female audience (51%), older group (52% are over 45)Video.Yahoo.comVideo.Yahoo.com is a top 5,000 destination that reaches over 2.0 million U.S. monthly uniques. The destination caters to a more youthful (18-24 is 31% of audience), male (56%) following that earns between $30-60k.Yahoo video combines a traditional video search engine, which crawls and links off to videos on different web sites, with a traditional video hosting environment that allows users to upload, share, tag, and host their videos on Yahoo!,Livevideo.comLivevideo.com is a top 5,000 site that reaches over 1.7 million U.S. monthly uniques. The site is popular amongst males (60%), 35-44 (23%), who earn between$30-$100k a year(66%).Blip.tvBlip.tv is a top 5,000 site that reaches over 1.4 million U.S. monthly uniques. The site caters to a rather male audience (615), between the ages of 25-34. What makes blip.tv different than the other sites is that it focuses on “episodic content” or “shows,” rather than viral video,Searchforvideo.comSearchforvideo.com is a top 5,000 site that reaches over 561K U.S. monthly uniques. The site attracts a heavily male audience (57%), that is more affluent (53% earn over $60k) and more evenly distributed amongst the different age groups.

Understanding The Little Giant in MySpace…. YOU! January 28, 2008

Understanding The Little Giant in Myspace…. You!

With tens of millions of users (but probably not the purported 100 million), MySpace.com is a force to be reckoned with. Especially when you consider that MySpace apparently drives more traffic to online retailers than MSN Search, according to some recent Hitwise data.

But MySpace is hard for many of us adults to get our heads around. It just doesn’t seem logical: How does it hold the interest of so many young people with short attention spans, despite the fact that the design/usability is so atrocious, the Web page creation platform is so frustratingly restrictive, and it’s chock full of so many profiles that are obviously fake, spam, duplicated, or abandoned?

“Um, it’s about looking cool, fitting in, and hanging out, Duh!” one might imagine a teen MySpace user answering.

Then where do us adults feature in this? Besides offering a tempting place for stalkers and voyeurs to hang out and follow the daily lives of the teenagers who haven’t made their profiles private (can you say “Creepy!”?), MySpace is host to concerned parents trying to keep tabs on their kids, college students, obsessed sports fans, and realtors. In other words, the Average Joe or Jane. MySpace is a real slice of humanity.

Of course within the MySpace ecosystem exist marketers. But most are clueless. One would expect sophisticated MySpace presences from big brand marketers. However, that is usually not the case. And generally those that are present, like Blockbuster UK, 7Eleven, and Meijer, lack key ingredients for MySpace success—like an impressive number of “Friends.”

What is probably horrifying to these brand marketers is that employees and customers think nothing of developing a MySpace presence on behalf of the company—one that may not be very flattering. Consider, for example, these unofficial MySpace pages for Wal-Mart, K-Mart, and Target. Undoubtedly, this leads to customer confusion, because it can be difficult to ascertain the author of a MySpace profile. And such unauthorized pages can tarnish the company’s reputation, depending on their content.

 Before you leap in to MySpace as a marketer, you’d best understand it. Because if you don’t, the MySpace community can turn on you the moment you make your first misstep. Just like bloggers can. (Note: many MySpace users are bloggers too. MySpace supports blogging within its platform.) The cardinal rule in MySpace is the same one as in the blogosphere: Keep it real.

Still, despite the hazards, MySpace offers a lot promise as a venue for marketers to hawk their wares. MySpace allows you to interject yourself into existing networks of trust-based relationships and to bond with your visitors in ways not possible elsewhere on the Web. And you can interact with huge numbers of adults, not just teenagers. Surprisingly, more than half of MySpace visitors are age 35 or older, and more than two-thirds are age 25 or older, according to comScore Media Metrix.

Do you have what it takes to crack MySpace? The most unlikely of marketers seem to have it—bars, bands, and quirky dot-coms. One of my favorite examples of MySpace marketing is Project Red. Not only is Project Red a world-changing organization on a mission to defeat AIDS in Africa, its MySpace profile is attractive and engaging.

Other noteworthy examples come from Apple Computer, the Brooklyn Museum, Drumz Clothing, the Orlando Magic, the movie studio that produced Superman Returns, the comedy character Borat, and the musical artist “Weird Al” Yankovic.
A couple of these I’ve been tracking for several months, watching the size of their networks expand. First, consider Apple Computer. Its various flavors of iPod Nano have a place on MySpace, e.g. Pink Nano, which is enjoying a meteoric rise in Friend status. I started tracking Pink Nano on October 15, when it had 1,500 MySpace friends. A week later, on October 22, it had climbed to 7,449 friends. On October 27, it was up to 37,070 friends. Now, on December 3, as I write this article, it has reached 55,776. Not a bad marketing job, Apple!

Now consider the “comeback king” of musical parody—”Weird Al” Yankovic. He’s using social media quite successfully to help breathe new life into his 27-year-long music career—thanks, in no small part, to YouTube and MySpace. Yankovic told Reuters/Billboard in a recent interview that he had accumulated 155,000 MySpace friends since he joined the site in July—all of which he had personally added. He stated, “I used to be a little pickier. Now I just kind of click as fast as I can.” (I can only imagine the Repetitive Stress Injury from that much clicking!) Here’s the kicker: a week after this article came out, he was already up to 219,033 friends! Another seven days later, and Weird Al had gained another 24,000 MySpace friends (up to 243,221). Now, on December 3, it’s at 325,614!

One small company that has enjoyed a degree of success in terms of traffic and sales through MySpace is the online jewelry retailer Pugster. Its mascot, a pug dog named Pinky, is the subject of the MySpace profile—a clever move, as it puts a disarming “face” to the company. The firm built up its MySpace page to a very respectable 8,053 friends.

 Here are some secrets of my success:

It’s easy to get overwhelmed with the sheer numbers on MySpace—and important to try to focus on marketing to the “right” group for your product or service — otherwise you’ll be spending a LOT of time on people who will never be interested in you.But, on the other hand, when starting off, you need to get Friends. It’s kind of a bragging right on MySpace. If you have too few friends, it’ll be tough to get the good ones—the ones who will end up buying from you. So, before you go after those, get a few hundred “bad” friends—bands are the easiest. They’ll give you a respectable number on your Friends list, and will leave comments on your page—giving a little realism boost to your profile—making the addition of friends of the “good” type that much easier.Where else could we find a place to actually build relationships with people—who may or may not have heard of us before. We spend time daily emailing people, and guess what, they email back. It becomes the ultimate soft-sell tool.Have patience. Without a huge brand presence, don’t expect to turn profits. The only investment is your time. As long as you regularly give people something interesting—blogs, music, and other tidbits that AREN’T related to your business—then you’ll develop enough trust for them to be interested in what you DO sell.

Keep it personal—talk with the people as if you’d email a new friend. Say “Hi,” get to know them, and they’ll want to get to know you. If you try to sell, sell, sell, you’ll have a hard time earning respect on MySpace.

As far as layouts, there are a few “schools of thought”—one says make it fancy and high end, but the other, and seemingly more successful one, says simplicity is best. Since people are browsing through so many profiles with the same layout, they look for certain features in certain places. If you move too many things around, you’ll frustrate your visitors and they’ll leave. Make it intuitive and easy, just like a good e-commerce site.

If there’s anything a “seasoned” MySpace user hates it is a slow page. The MySpace site has loads of slow loaders. You may get friends with a lot of stuff on your page, but they won’t actually spend the time to interact with you.

Written By:

Shawn A. Welk

New Media Director

Interchanges.com

MySpace.com/Interchanges

Hello world! Interchanges Is Here…. January 28, 2008

What’s up World. My name is Shawn I work for Interchanges.com as the new media director. You will be hearing a lot from me and my crew in the near future. My dept works in the Internets social world. Check out Myspace.com/NUSwerve, Myspace.com/Interchanges, Myspace.com/VWDUBClub, MySpace.com/CaitlinBrunell, Myspace.com/LiveVolvowww.LiveVolvo.Comwww.VWDUBClub.comwww.CaitlinsCloset.orgStay tuned for some Pop Culture Living. I am all about endorsing life thru Pop Culture Marketing….Swerve