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• Internet Marketing Tweet Digest 2009-09-13 Going to try to have a day with the family this Labour Day - I'll be back at it tomorrow morning. Have a good one all. # Everyone's summer vacation is over - from a working point of view this is good. Life gets back to normal! # Who......
• Internet Marketing Tweet Digest 2009-12-27 I'm doing Grey Hat stuff to about a million people tonight. I'm sorry. Sincerely. *Hugs* # Honeypot Marketing Is Named Home Energy Team’s Strategic Internet Marketing Provider http://bit.ly/5xZklL via @honeypot_mkting # Just wanted to wish everyone a Merry Christmas. We're getting ready to wrap up for the day and......

• Homewood Ski Area, Homewood, CA Homewood Ski Area is located in: Homewood, CA Phone: (530) 525-2992 Website: http://www.skihomewood.com/ About the Resort: This is an ideal place for families and for those that are interested in skiing, but are looking for a beginner friendly environment. Homewood...
• Beaver Mountain, Logan, UT Beaver Mountain is located in: Logan, UT Phone: (435) 753-0921 Website: http://www.skithebeav.com/main.htm About the Resort: This is a resort that should be insanely popular, due to the prime facilities, helpful staff and terrific location, and even though they do get...

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• Internet Marketing Tweet Digest 2009-09-06 Google Universal Search is picking up my blog for the term "Internet Marketing" - that's nifty. # I am really hoping that Disney doesn't screw up Marvel - *Dan begins praying* # Big shakeup happening at the Ontario Lottery & Gaming Corporation. It's about time http://bit.ly/JqPEC # Google's index......
• Internet Marketing Tweet Digest 2009-12-27 I'm doing Grey Hat stuff to about a million people tonight. I'm sorry. Sincerely. *Hugs* # Honeypot Marketing Is Named Home Energy Team’s Strategic Internet Marketing Provider http://bit.ly/5xZklL via @honeypot_mkting # Just wanted to wish everyone a Merry Christmas. We're getting ready to wrap up for the day and......

• Internet Marketing Advertising - General Info You must put down for internet marketing. Nice salary, nice condition and lots of ins for you – some years ago you were able to dream about only! Internet marketing for now is a high and very huge stream of...
• Internet Marketing Course About SEO Article Thousands of clicks is flooding in all the time with just one short SEO article, which will stay online for years! You have to try this, it really works!SEO article, internet marketing course1.Keyword optimization I normally select keywords, which have...

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• Subdomain Network Search Engine Optimization is still a significant component of my daily Internet Marketing work. I refuse on this blog to discuss basic SEO techniques, I will cover fundamental concepts like Hilltop, LSI and techniques which will make your sites make sense to the engines. I’m going to cover the idea......
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• The Most Important Part of Internet Marketing When you hear the term "internet marketing", what do you think of? For many, that term conjures thoughts of websites or spamming or search engines like Google, Yahoo and Bing. For others, it’s all about graphical design, writing fancy code...
• How Can a Small Consumer VoIP Provider Survive? There is a lot of buzz about VoIP Internet phone service. On the consumer side everyone is getting a lot of exposure to Vonage commercials as well as triple play offers from Cable Companies. From a technology standpoint, VoIP is...

Wow Vimeo's payment processing stinks. Don't want the business or what? Eeesh. If my card was charged 3 times I'll be @%#ing mad! #

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• Internet Marketing Tweets 2009-06-03 After seeing Balsamiq Mockups during a conference with @paulmay I'm going to dig into it and write up a review. http://bit.ly/I5I4W # @jakub_zalas Yup, I contacted them already and got a quick reply with a license. in reply to jakub_zalas # Google changes course on NoFollow http://bit.ly/u7cLF via @honeypot_mkting......
• Internet Marketing Tweets 2009-09-18 MSNBot (Bing) is going mental on my sites today. Anyone else seeing that kind of spider activity? Let me know. # @litepack I know eh? Google annoys me to no end for that stuff. But it's like being annoyed by Darth Vader. Whatcha gonna do? in reply to litepack......

• Boost your Business Blog with Video Blogging As a result of video sharing websites such as YouTube, the popularity of hosting videos on the internet has really gone right through the roof in recent years. More and more people online are preferring the idea of watching a...
• Get the right internet marketing tools today You must instead focus on the marketing aspect of this Internet business and design accordingly. To help with this there are two awesome Internet marketing tools that are indispensable. Get the best internet marketing tools today Word tracker is indispensable...

Once again it's become exceedingly clear I am not a project manager #

@stephaniegmack anytime Stephanie – it's not exactly a case study, more like an editorial case study in reply to stephaniegmack #

Conference call #5 coming up – holy smokes how did Friday turn into Conference Friday? #

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• Pepsi Cheer - Social Media Done Wrong [caption id="attachment_654" align="alignleft" width="200" caption="The Pepsi Cheer?"][/caption] You’re probably doing Social Media in your Internet Marketing mix, most companies and marketers have jumped on that bandwagon faster than people become Dallas Cowboys fans when they go on a winning streak. To be honest, chances are if you’re doing Social......
• Google to Index Google Voice? In an interesting although expected move Google is about to relaunch GrandCentral as Google Voice with a few new features: Free voice mail transcription, which converts recordings into typed text. Users have the option to have these messages sent to themselves as emails or texts — enabling them to search......

• Increasing Your PageRank A few weeks ago I was pleasantly surprised to learn that my blog had reached a PageRank of 0 in less than 30 days since having created it. I blogged about some of the things I believed that helped contribute...
• Is High Definition Video Conferencing Right for Your Business? If you are looking into purchasing a video conferencing solution for your business, chances are you are considering whether to invest in high definition (HD). Just as HD is changing the television viewing experience by depicting shows with vastly improved...

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• Internet Marketing Tweet Digest 2009-10-24 @anilopez It's not a useful metric for a number of reasons - Google created the marketing PR obsession. in reply to anilopez # I really want to setup my Mac as a media server for my PS3 # @thedirtyturtle Thanks I'll give it a try. I tried an open......
• Wordpress Injection Attack March 4, 2009 Update: My plan has worked out very well and everything is back to normal without too much of an interruption. My request for Google site review took a total of 12 hours and it was completely handled through Google Webmaster Tools. Google spidered the entire site for......

• Review of WordPress Plugin Development One of the most well known publishers around the globe right now is Packet Publishing, and thy specialize in the development of CMS web applications and open source technologies as well. CMS stands for content management system, and WordPress is...
• What is the best wordpress plugin for images? Hi there - I run a wordpress blog and when I upload images, it's a total pain to re-size them in the "manage post" section (especially for very large images). I usually end up resizing them and then uploading them....

@NailaJ Thanks Naila Tell everyone you know! in reply to NailaJ #

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• Internet Marketing Tweet Digest 2010-01-10 If someone asks you for computer help, pretend you're dumber than a sack of hamburgers. http://dannedelko.com/eua # Facebook Cuts Off Access to Profile-Killing Service - http://bit.ly/8A0m3K RT @anthonystevens4 # A look back to how Google Analytics has grown over 2009 - very useful! http://dannedelko.com/ga09 # Just ran into this......
• Internet Marketing Tweets 2009-08-10 @LuckyLester anytime Les. Hope you're doing well, long time no talk! :) in reply to LuckyLester # Monday morning brainfood. Can you trust your boss? http://dannedelko.com/6ps # Will the US Congress stop the Yahoo-Microsoft Deal? http://dannedelko.com/tfx # iFart versus Pull My Finger - iTunes apps legal battles from Jon......

• Weakonomics Weekend Edition: TinyURL.com Edition So my friends, what did you get for the holidays?  If you go back a few weeks you can see I wanted the following for Christmas: A few business books Gift card to Kohls for work clothes Lego Star Wars...
• Week in Tweets Ending Saturday 2009-07-04 Things You Need to Know About Twitter Security | http://ow.ly/gspE # How FriendFeed Could Become the Ultimate Social Media Tracking Service http://ow.ly/gspr # #FreeConsulting # #FreeCoaching # Get Some Outstanding Content For Nothing http://bit.ly/Sp7qh # #FreeConsulting # #freecoaching # How...

So off an on I am constantly looking for low cost ways to have a temporary workforce out there for any number of tasks. It could be some content I need written, link built, social media mentions. The list is pretty much endless and it also causes me some headaches.

It’s tough to find a group of people out there. I could easily place Craigslist or Kijiji ads but that’s time consuming and a pain.

That’s why when I ran into Short Task I was pleasantly surprised. The basic idea is this:

• You have some tasks you need performed online for a specific project.
• Short Task connects you to a marketplace of people who can complete that simple task for you.
• Your workforce will work at home.
• You pay.
• Task is completed.
• Everyone moves on with life.

It’s a cool idea and uber convenient so I thought I would include a Short Task Review for those of you who have never used it before.

Short Task divides their site up into “Seekers” and “Solvers” which is pretty straight forward. If I’m a solver I can perform the tasks that are in their Marketplace.

Once you login into http://shorttask.com you’ll see “Tasks” in the Main Menu. Select that and then you can filter based on Keywords or Amount Offered.

I just checked a few of the tasks and started at $9.00 – I also got a few hits for $15.00 tasks. Not a bad payout if you get yourself into a system and become quick and proficient with this. You won’t retire tomorrow but you could make a nice supplementary income from this type of work if you take it seriously plus you can work from home.

Having looked through the Marketplace I’d also suggest you stick to the $3.00-$8.00 categories. These could be completed relatively quickly (less than 15 minutes) if you’re a decently quick writer and are relatively good with a search engine (so you can find the sites you need to find).

The higher paying categories look like they want some pretty in depth research done for $15.00. If you think about it, if you can post a quality comment in 10 minutes for $3.00 you can make $18.00 in one hour easily. Instead of spending that single hour on one in depth research article.

That’s just a thought though.

From the perspective of a Seeker, I like it. I can assemble a relatively strong human work force in minutes by posting tasks and having people complete them for me. If I took $300.00 of a budget here and wanted to build some links for instance I could easily post it for $3.00 and would be able to get 100 human edited inbound links.

Neat idea. You should check out Short Task whatever side of the coin you might be on.

Post from: Dan Nedelko

• Twitter Updates for 2009-02-27 #SEO squabbles are amusing and entertaining all at the same time. You guys kill me. # My personal site is finally coming back together - added the #dofollow #seo plugin. Do you use #dofollow? http://bit.ly/DIeaq # @webaddict StumbleUpon is better than Digg # RT @SilverOakCasino: Craps Strategy Guide Lesson......
• Pepsi Cheer - Social Media Done Wrong [caption id="attachment_654" align="alignleft" width="200" caption="The Pepsi Cheer?"][/caption] You’re probably doing Social Media in your Internet Marketing mix, most companies and marketers have jumped on that bandwagon faster than people become Dallas Cowboys fans when they go on a winning streak. To be honest, chances are if you’re doing Social......

• YNAB – Online Course – Day 3 Ready to get to work? Here is where the real meat and potato part of the YNAB budgeting system begins. The YNAB design is built around Four Rules of cash flow. Rule #1 will help you stop living paycheck to...
• Don't turn down a promotion, but feel free to dis your third cousin Usually, a promotion at work is a good thing -- more money and more prestige -- but it's not always welcome.  It could infringe on family time with extra hours, or take a toll on health and well-being with added...

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• Online Gaming Revenues Flat and Dropping Well I've said it before - if you do work in the gaming space this recession has been fairly tough all around. Contrary to popular belief people do not gamble more during tough times, especially online. They might drink more, smoke more and watch more movies but logging on to......
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• Quality Answering Service Using PBX Phone Systems The telephone system has always played a major role right from the time of its introduction, since it is a highly effective means of communication. If you are unable to attend the calls whenever calls come to you, think of...
• Bylaw, Article 12 of NCAA Manual-Amateurism I think we all pretty much know what amateurism is according to Webster. In short, It's not getting paid to play a sport. The NCAA takes the definition of amateurism to new heights. It takes them 16 pages in  the manual...

The Pepsi Cheer?

You’re probably doing Social Media in your Internet Marketing mix, most companies and marketers have jumped on that bandwagon faster than people become Dallas Cowboys fans when they go on a winning streak.

To be honest, chances are if you’re doing Social Media you are most likely completely wasting your time and resources because you’re doing social media badly.

No offense. But the large majority of marketers simple do not use Social Media the same way they might use other forms of media and advertising.

No ROI (Return On Investment). This can also be measured in Brand terms rather than dollar amounts.
No clear and definitive goals.
No strategy.

If you took a few hours, set up a Facebook group, Facebook fan page and Twitter feed then simply post to those profiles then you’re completely wasting your time.

Stop.
Stop Now.

Doing Social Media badly is much worse than not doing Social Media at all.

As with everything in Marketing you need to attach a value, strategy and execution plan to each and every program you put in place. If you don’t then frankly you’re Marketing badly.

Case in point.

Let's pretend this didn't happen, OK?

The Pepsi Cheer was an abysmal failure from a Social Media standpoint and from a Marketing standpoint. Here is a good overview from Marketing Mag:

Pepsi Seeking One Million Members for Pepsi Cheer

This campaign was the brain child of the Toronto Agency Capital C (Yeah that’s right their corporate website is hosted on Typepad – very edgy).

Before we look at Pepsi’s Social Media Strategy results, let’s have a quick look at what they implemented:

On Facebook
http://www.facebook.com/PepsiCanada
http://www.facebook.com/PepsiCanada#/PepsiCanada?v=app_193041964437

Twitter
http://twitter.com/PEPSICANADA

and

http://www.pepsi.ca/jointhecheer/default.aspx?bhcp=1

Here’s what Pepsi wanted to do:

1. Create a contest to create a Cheer for Hockey Canada and the 2010 IIHF Mens’s Hockey Championship in Germany.
2. Have the winning cheer promoted via Social Media, on television and radio.
3. Have fans at the events use the cheer during the games to be started by Pepsi employees in the crowd (really bad idea).

The winning cheer was an annoying (in my opinion) “Eh! Oh-Canada! Go!” which was a customer submitted cheer and was then heavily promoted through advertising mediums (all listed above).

Now on a fundamental level this idea should have died in a brainstorming session. You never ever mess with the patriotism of Canadian Hockey fans. Here in Canada, Hockey is a big part of people’s sports watching mix and particularly since Canada dominates International Hockey (even though we lost in the finals to the US this past year).

The cheers Canadians have been using for years are pretty popular and there was never a need to add a new one to the mix when it was clearly a very shallow corporate marketing initiative.

Their brutal social media implementation also caused them more brand damage than had they done absolutely nothing. Pepsi and their agency failed to remember one key component of Social Media.

It’s a conversation with people. People can (and should talk back).

The Pepsi Cheer Gone Wrong

This is exactly what people did and it wasn’t pretty.

Let’s look at some very basic stats:

Pepsi’s Facebook Fan Page: 134,926 Fans
Pepsi Canada’s Twitter Profile: 1034 Followers

Basic Negative Results

Pepsi – I Don’t need yer damn cheer
231 members
http://www.facebook.com/groups.php?ref=sb#/group.php?gid=259956356825

The” Eh! Oh! Canada Go!” chant is a national embarrassment
64,762 Members
http://www.facebook.com/groups.php?ref=sb#/group.php?gid=217528662837

Twitter Search for Pepsi Cheer
http://search.twitter.com/search?q=pepsi+cheer

I’ll actually run a reputation report for this later in the week and add this to an overall case study, since this is such a blatantly bad idea.

Let’s have a quick look at why I’m saying this was not only a bad Marketing idea but it was a failure from a Social media perspective:

1. Pepsi struck a chord with a national sport and national pride. Basically saying “You’re doing it wrong Canada”. Bad idea.
2. Pepsi blatantly promoted themselves over simply promoting cheering for the team.
3. Replacing the cheer was unnecessary. There are a number of cheer Pepsi could have latched onto and promoted. This likely would have gone over well.
4. Their social media profiles simply ignored any backlash except for a few references to cheering “any cheer you want”. Too little too late.
5. The Pepsi Canada Twitter stream did little to engage anyone talking on Twitter except for positive feedback and inane Re-Tweets about their promotion.
6. The Pepsi Canada Twitter stream was hardly used but it was still there. Hey Pepsi Marketing Team – here’s a tip. Don’t use it if you’re going to use it badly.
7. http://search.twitter.com/search?q=pepsi+cheer has far more negative sentiments than neutral or positive ones. Clearly Pepsi made a mistake here since they’re ignoring the fans they tried to approach. Oops that only serves to piss people off.
8. The negative groups on Facebook almost outnumber the Fans of the Pepsi Cheer Fan Page. As a side note there is a decent set of sign up forms and calls to action on internal tabs of the fan page but there appears to be little focus to the fan page. They would have been better off to have participated in other Fan Pages (example: Hockey Canada) than to try to become the hub of Hockey Fans.

The Pepsi Cheer clearly annoying.

This is just the beginning of this fiasco for Pepsi in my humble opinion. They’ll be dealing with the backlash for quite sometime. Particularly since they appear to be staying the course on the same bad Social Media Strategy.

Another dumb move.

The key take aways here:

If you are going to do Social Media properly then do it properly and think about what you are doing, devote resources, a strategy and team to it.

If you think you need to have a presence on Social Networks just for the sake of being there, then you’re dead wrong.

If you are going to do a half assed job of Social Media Marketing then do yourself a favour and don’t do it at all.

Additional References

Junior Hockey Chant Falls Flat – Vancouver Sun

Traditional Cheers Given Vocal Support – Star Phoenix

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