Social Media Fumble at the Olympics | by Noe Gaytan

When Tim Berners-Lee, creator of the World Wide Web, made his appearance during the Olympics Opening Ceremony he tweeted the message “This is for everyone.” The message was seen not only on the feed of all his followers, but on screens around the stadium and consequently by millions of people watching the ceremony from home. The internet has allowed for instant global communication, and social media provides powerful services that give every person a voice. These voices are exposed to the public, and everybody is allowed to speak their mind freely, for better or worse.  Some use common sense, while others can have a social media fumble.

 

Professional athletes have long since used Twitter and other social media services to keep in touch with their fans. However, Olympic athletes will have to be extra careful about what they post. The IOC has posted a four page .pdf guideline for proper online behavior for the competitors. According to the guidelines, all social media posts must be in “diary form” and must “conform to the Olympic spirit.” They also must gain permission from other athletes before posting pictures of them, and are not allowed to post any video or sound recorded within an Olympic venue.

Already there have been many social media related scandals.

Back in June, Australian swimmers Nick D’Arcy and Kenrick Monk created a stir when they posted photos of themselves posing with pistols and shotguns at a gun shop. As punishment, the Australian Olympic committee decided to ban them from social media during the games, and to send them home immediately after their events. The consequences for their actions may seem a bit harsh, considering that shooting is an actual Olympic event and the photo neither depicted nor implied any violence.

Earlier this month, Greek jumper Voula Papachristou was kicked off the team for tweeting a racist joke that insulted African immigrants. Her comment violated the “Olympic spirit” clause of the IOC’s guidelines, so she was expelled from the games. Swiss soccer player Michel Morganella must not have heard about that though. He was also expelled for a racist tweet against South Koreans after his loss against them. We can only hope that other athletes take note and are more aware of the messages they send out.

Not all scandals regarding these guidelines involve vulgar behavior from the athletes. With a somewhat more “noble” cause, some athletes are protesting the unfair limitations that the IOC has placed on them. Using the tags #WeDemandChange and #Rule40, athletes are complaining about their inability to promote their sponsors through social media while at the Olympics. Since the official Olympics sponsors pay big money for the right to have their names and logos attached to the events, the IOC goes to great lengths to prevent “ambush marketing” from other companies. As a result, many athletes feel like their livelihood is jeopardized if they can’t plug the companies that are supporting them.

Social media can also be a bit of a double edged sword. Some athletes are claiming that the inspiration given to them by a simple “good luck” on their Twitter feed can give them that little extra boost they need. Meanwhile other athletes have stated that spending too much time online can often distract them and keep them from becoming focused enough to compete.

The athletes aren’t the only ones running into trouble for their tweets. One British teenager was arrested for making rude comments towards swimmer Tom Daley. The controversial post mentioned that Daley’s recently deceased father would be disappointed in Daley for not winning a medal. That the teen would be taken in by the police is a bit odd, since there was no threat of violence. In any case, words spoken online are definitely taken very seriously.

It’s a bit disappointing that what are being deemed the first “Social Media Olympics” are so riddled with controversy. The IOC is by no means discouraging athletes from using social media. In fact, they’ve created an Olympic Athlete’s Hub in order to have one centralized location where fans can keep up with the latest posts from their favorite athletes. Watching the Olympics has always been a social event. And it still is, though the way that people experience the events may be different. Fans today can create a more personalized experience catered to their interests. They don’t have to sit through the gymnastics games in order to watch the track races. They can even be in direct contact with whoever they’re rooting for. Yet it is clear that the Olympic committees, sponsors, and athletes have many differences to reconcile. Let’s hope we can all learn from this, and create a better Olympic experience in 2016

How Social Media Can Benefit Any Business

Zeb Welborn will be presenting on How Social Media Can Benefit Any Business at the Chino Valley Chamber of Commerce Office at 13150 Seventh St. in Chino, CA on Wednesday, July 25 from 7:30 – 8:30 AM.

Welborn Social Media began in May, 2011 by building excitement for businesses using Internet marketing techniques including social media, website design, search engine optimization, email marketing and pay-per-click advertising campaigns.  Since last year, Welborn Social Media has worked with over twenty companies by developing and enhancing their online presence.

On Wednesday, Zeb Welborn will be presenting about the impact social media can have on any business and will aim to help business owners understand why it’s important to be using social media in today’s economy.  The business world has gone social and for new businesses to thrive it is imperative for businesses to become social businesses.  Becoming a social business means connecting with customers and having an open dialogue between your customers and your business.  The more you are there to solve your customers problems and make them happier the more likely they are to help you build your business.

The breakfast for our presentation this Wednesday will be sponsored by ABC Services.  ABC Services offers turnkey computer and network solutions for businesses, home-based enterprises and individuals.  They can solve your current problems and protect you from future ones.

If you would like to learn how social media can benefit your business we encourage you to visit the Chino Valley Chamber of Commerce on Wednesday, July 25 at 7:30 AM for our presentation.  We hope to see you there!

Zeb Welborn Presents How Social Media Can Benefit Any Business

 

Karen Bardsley Shares the Olympic Experience — Kitting Out and Olympic Village

Karen Bardsley from Welborn Social Media

For the last week I have been preparing for the Olympics with Team GB Women’s Football in Loughborough. It feels similar to previous England camps with the exception of a few new faces from Scotland and Northern Ireland, heaps of brand new Adidas kits and let’s not forget to mention staying in the same hotel as the Team GB Men’s Football. I was eating dinner and I casually looked up to see my hero, Ryan Giggs sitting directly across from us.  I kept pinching myself to make sure all of this was actually happening. I’m going to have a lot of bruises. It was surreal. Surreal seems to be a word I have used a lot recently.

“Kitting out” is something I will never forget! The first day I arrived at the preparation camp I met up with the rest of the Team GB Women’s Football squad and I was escorted through a specialty Adidas shop with a personal shopper who assisted me with sizing and selecting my Team GB clothes and equipment for the tournament for about ninety minutes. Pinch. I’m not sure I have ever felt so special. Everyone was so friendly and helpful, the smiles were endless. Pinch. The best part of the whole day had to be the #takethestage photo booth that Adidas set up in the match kit room. They had a bucket full of props and we were allowed to take as many pictures as we liked. They told us to tweet as much as we wanted about the kitting out process. My teammates and I were taking photos of absolutely everything. I still don’t think I have gone through all of them yet! Interviews and press photos immediately followed the process. So fun. Pinch. I feel absolutely honoured to have been selected to be a part of such a historic event! Pinch.

Karen Bardsley Kitting Out Adidas #takethestage Photo Booth Karen Bardsley #takethestage

Yesterday, we drove south to London. The Olympic Village was our next destination. I have NEVER experienced ANYTHING like the Olympic Village before at any major tournament. The place was just crawling with security, there probably isn’t a more secure place on the planet at the moment. This means social media too! Athletes are not allowed to post any videos taken during the games, or in Olympic training grounds, venues or staging areas. Such a bummer! However, we are allowed to tweet and it is certainly encouraged but we have to be careful where we take photos.

Karen Bardsley London 2012 Olympics Team GBTeam GB Women's Football Olympic Village

The first thing athlete, coach and staff member have to do is get accredited to get into the village. We were taken to a staging area where we were given all of our paperwork and then asked to queue to have the information input into databases and finally a physical accreditation was laminated and hung on alanyard. After that process we were loaded onto a red double-deckerbus. These buses are used to shuttle everyone all around the village, I love seeing them all around the village. It’s so very British. Anyway, this bus took us to the main dining hall, which is massive! It is absolutely enormous, it can seat thousands upon thousands of people at once – I’m talking about multiple airlinehangers big… HUGE! There are food stands from all over the world in order to cater to all pallets. Anything we could probably think of is in this dining hall and the best thing of all…it’s open twenty-four, seven!

Lunch went over very well but it was straight back to work for us. We were lead to our apartment blocks where we promptly had a meeting with the staff members of Team GB housing and Dame Kelly Holmes. She gave such an motivational speech about her experience as a member of Team GB and what it took to win her medals. I feel she helped put a lot of things into perspective for us. Pinch. Immediately after Kelly’s speech myself and seven others were escorted once again to a press conference. That was a new and good experience for me, I was definitely a bit nervous but with the help of our press liaison it all went very smoothly. I learned a lot but most importantly, “pay attention to the question!” Fortunately it didn’t happen to us, but so often people assume they know what is going to be asked and end up completely forgetting to answer the question that was actually asked. How embarrassing!

Team GB Athlete Karen Bardsley

http://www.teamgb.com/athletes/karen-bardsley

Follow Karen’s adventure on the Welborn Social Media Blog and on Twitter!
@klbardsley

Can I Use My Competitors Name in Google Adwords?

Google AdWords Logo

The first thing you need to do when determining if you can use a c0mpetitor’s name to market your product is to find out whether or not the name is trademarked.  If the name you’re using for your Google Ad campaign is not trademarked then it is acceptable to use your competitor’s name throughout your Google advertising efforts.

You can check to see if the keyword you’d like to bid on is a trademarked term by visiting the Trademark Electronic Search System website – http://www.uspto.gov/trademarks/index.jsp and clicking on Trademark Search on the left.

Competitors using term AdWords

Competitors using the word ‘AdWords’

Through a common consensus among Google Adwords advertisers it currently appears acceptable to buy trademarked names in Adwords if you don’t mention the product or service on your site, so long as you don’t mention a trademarked name in your ad, you don’t try to harm the competitors reputation and you don’t make comparisons with trademark infringements.

If you plan on bidding on a competitor’s keyword in Google Adwords take precautions.  If Google receives any complaints from your competitors they have the ability to cease your advertisements from operating on the search engine.

Lastly, local trademark laws can be applied to Google Adwords advertising . . . In a recent California federal district court they determined purchasing a trademarked keyword constituted “use in commerce” under the Lanham Act penalizing the company who purchased the keyword term to run their advertising.  However, the company in question was purposefully trying to deceive customers into believing they were accessing the trademark term’s website.

To summarize, it is best to check with your lawyer first to make sure you are not infringing upon trademark rights, but as a rule of thumb as long as you are not purposefully being deceptive and you avoid using the keyword on your website or in your ad copy then it is acceptable to bid on trademarked keywords.

If you would like to receive more tips on how to manage Google Adwords, Search Engine Optimization, Social Media or Online Marketing Campaigns please sign up for our newsletter by clicking the link below and providing some information.


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Share Your Passion. Grow Your Business.

As an owner of both The Tutoring Solution and Welborn Social Media I have been committed to helping others achieve their goals.  Our motto, “Share Your Passion. Grow Your Business” is helping us build more successful business using the internet and social media.

Zeb from The Tutoring SolutionAs a tutor I inspired students to perform better in school by showing how learning could help them achieve the goals they set for themselves.

As a social media expert I help businesses grow by sharing the passions business owners have for their business with others.

The Tutoring Solution put me into contact with many business owners across the United States and after working with them I’ve come to admire many of them.  They are passionate and focused, determined and creative.  The most successful business owners have a strong sense of purpose and a desire to help others.  Those business owners lead rewarding lives.

We want to help more people lead rewarding lives.  We want to help people become passionate, focused, determined and creative.  We want to inspire others to achieve things they never thought possible.  When people are passionate, focused, determined and creative and when they reach a seemingly unattainable goal, they are happier . . . and the world becomes a better place.

We want to make the world a better place.

By helping small business owners share their passions, we are showing others that passion and commitment can help make any dream a reality.  We want to use our skills and knowledge to share your passion. Social media is the perfect tool to give your company a voice and to interact with the customers you need.  Let us help you grow your business.

To honor our commitment to inspiring others to excel we have teamed up with The Tutoring Solution to offer five scholarships to students across Southern California.  The Pursue Your Passion Scholarships asks students to write an essay describing their passions and how they plan to use their scholarships to help others. If you’re interested in finding out more information about our Pursue Your Passion Tutoring Scholarships please click on the link.

If you’re interested in finding out more information about how social media and Internet marketing can help share your passion contact Zeb Welborn today – (909) 973-9089 for a free custom analysis for your business.

Karen Bardsley Joins Welborn Social Media

Karen Bardsley Joins Welborn Social Media

We’d like to welcome a new addition to the Welborn Social Media family – Karen Bardsley.

Karen brings enthusiasm, passion and know-how to Welborn Social Media.  Karen graduated from Cal State Fullerton with a degree in graphic design and has done an outstanding job marketing herself, the Women’s Professional Soccer League and women’s soccer.

Karen is currently playing professional soccer in Sweden for Linköpings FC.  She is a member of England’s National team, was the starting goalkeeper for the 2011 Women’s World Cup and is a 2012 Olympic hopeful for Team GB Women’s Football.

In 2008 she left Apple to assist with the Women’s Soccer program at the University of San Diego before she was drafted in 2009 by New Jersey Sky Blue FC of Women’s Professional Soccer.  She played there for three years until the leagues suspension in 2012.

In November 2011, Karen began building the foundations for her coaching business, Reflex Goalkeeping.  With her new business she plans on working with goalkeepers of all ages and skill levels.

We’re excited to have Karen Bardley become a part of Welborn Social Media and look forward to using her skills and expertise to help the businesses we work with grow.

The Hunger Games, Reputation Management and Our Newest Clients

The excitement about the new movie, The Hunger Games has led to a social media explosion. The marketing team for The Hunger Games movie have used social media effectively to promote the new movie. In The Hunger Games and Social Media, we’ve pointed out the ways in which they’ve used social media to promote the movie . . . some you can use directly to promote your business.
Hunger Games Movie uses Social Media Marketing

Lately we’ve been receiving a lot of interest from businesses about managing their online reputation. With websites like Yelp, Angies List and Apartment Finder, it’s no wonder . . . online ratings can have a significant impact on your bottom line. As online reputation managers we can come up with plans and policies designed to make your ratings on those sites higher. If you’re interested in finding out more about how we can improve your online reputation be sure to read our article, Yelp, Angie’s List and Other’s Spur New Career Path . . . Reputation Manager.
Angie's List Super Service Award for System 1

We’ve been extremely busy as we’ve begun working with two of our newest clients:

  • Technology4Medicine is a leader in laser and photon technology for dentists. The use of photons in medicine and healthcare can be used to improve our quality of life. The laser equipment Technology4Medicine uses reduces the use of drugs, can be minimally or non-invasive, reduces or eliminates pain, and allows for faster recovery time. This is great news for providers and patients.
  • Transparent Mortgage is attempting to make the mortgage process more transparent giving the consumer full access to the mortgage process. They have a strong commitment to raising the industry standards for client care, open access to information, and social and ethical responsibility.

Technology4Medicine and Transparent Mortgage are incredible organizations and we’re thrilled to have the opportunity to work with passionate leaders to expand their online presence.

Lastly, remember we can give custom presentations to any business who’s interested in seeing how Internet marketing and social media can help their business grow. Call us today at (909) 973 – 9089 to set up an appointment.

Who’s Your Ideal Customer?

Ideal Customer vs. Average Customer by Cynthia De La Torre

Who’s your ideal customer? Depending on your business, the difference between average and ideal customers could be hundreds, thousands or millions of dollars.

The average customer is someone who buys the product or service and has no relationship with the business beyond the buying and selling of goods.

The ideal customer is someone who continually buys the product or service and promotes the product or service to others.

As an entrepreneur, I learned early on that my success was dependent upon having people invested in my business and sharing my business with others. The Tutoring Solution, which provides tutoring for students across Southern California, was able to locate these ideal customers through email and social media campaigns. These ideal customers loved our product, loved the relationship I had developed with them, and encouraged other parents with kids in need to sign up for our tutoring services. One parent emailed her entire school telling them what a great job we were doing with her son, another encouraged five different families to receive tutoring from us and another, a High School Counselor, continues to refer every struggling student she comes across our way. These connections are not made by chance, they are fostered and have resulted in thousands of dollars in increased revenue.

Facebook and Twitter have given businesses the opportunity to locate these ideal customers and develop a win-win relationship that, when used effectively, will result in increased revenue. Not only do they make it easy to identify our ideal customers, but Facebook and Twitter encourage our customers to be more like our ideal customers. Every time they “like” our page, every time they “comment” on our page,and every time they “share” one of our posts, they are acting like a sales machine for our business.

Welborn Social Media has helped locate these ideal customers for the businesses we work. At Scrapbook Expo we developed a strong relationship with a scrapbooker from Georgia who continually re-tweeted our stuff. We connected with her and she told us she was contacting all of her Scrapbooking friends from across the United States to attend one of the Scrapbook Expos. Not only that, but she was sending our sales messages off to everyone she knew. Similarly, at Los Serranos, we located two fervent supporters of the golf course; we encouraged a stronger relationship which has resulted in the creation of our 19th Hole Stories where golfers share their most memorable events at the golf course and have taken their weekly golf match from a rival course to ours. At WireSpeed Systems we connected with Cisco Systems – the largest producer of computer networking equipment – where they made us their SuperFan of the month and consequently shared our business with more than 225,00o of their followers.

Facebook and Twitter give us the opportunity to identify, connect and grow our relationship with our biggest supporters. In the tutoring business, this has resulted in thousands of dollars in increased revenue. In other businesses, it could mean much, much more.

By its very nature, Facebook and Twitter encourage the sharing of information, and people will share what is important to them. If you give them an opportunity to connect with your business and make it easy for them to share your product or service, your business will benefit. If you want to make more money for your business, find who’s your ideal customer. From my experiences there is no easier way to find your ideal customers than through social media.

Contact Zeb Welborn today at (909) 973 – 9089 to schedule a free personalized presentation to demonstrate how we can help grow your business.