Hibernation

Written on 6/02/2010 05:19:00 AM by Martha Ballesteros

Whew! After almost a month, I now have some to breath. Take note! SOME TIME! The past few months have been stressful and treacherous. Bad for me, my MBA classes are math and finance-related so I have to keep my mind in tip-top shape whenever I come to class. Not to mention work on a single homework for hours! As for projects, I should not and need not rant and complain. Instead, I should be very thankful for all the projects that I got despite the fact that I have to stay awake for two to three days straight, on the average.

I hope to post regularly soon. :c

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No Such Thing as Google Duplicate Content Penalty?!

Written on 4/26/2010 09:15:00 PM by Martha Ballesteros

I just received the latest newsletter from one of my subscriptions. One of the topics mentioned was about the Google duplicate content penalty. Quoting the Google Webmaster Central Blog, "There is no such thing as a duplicate content penalty".

With all the hulabaloo with SEO white hat techniques, blog link wheels, and promoting original content, why only now did we know of this? I don't know about you but of course to avoid being sued of plagiarism, I have been writing my materials in the most original manner possible. For some materials, I even use copyscape just to ensure that my content is unique in any way throughout the internet universe.

Probably, this myth about duplicate content penalty came about when Google has banned multiple websites for different reasons but had duplicate content as a common factor among them. (Just a thought, not really absolute!)

Though this is the case, directly from Google, website owners and administrators must still impose and continue to work ethically and professionally by releasing informative, original, and unique materials.

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Affordable Search Engine Optimization

Written on 4/25/2010 05:33:00 PM by Martha Ballesteros

According to recent research reports, 42% of internet users click on the first or top-ranking link of search results. With the increasing number of internet users focusing their attention on first search results page, businesses and website owners have increased, if not added, SEO and web marketing budget allocations in the hope of improving site traffic and visibility and soon landing, if not on the top spot, at least on the first page of search engine results.

As the demand for web marketing techniques increased, quite a number search engine positioning firms have now created a niche in the marketing industry. The growing web marketing trend has brought an influx of SEO gurus, consultants, and positioning firms that claim that they have broken the Google algorithm and known the secret to Yahoo’s page ranking strategy. These are appealing yet, appalling. With the ever changing algorithm of search engines, search engine optimization has never been so unpredictable. As well as the endless page rank fluctuations, it’s now anybody’s ballgame.

Search engine positioning firms as well as consultants offer affordable SEO softwares and services to aid in web development, content, and link building strategies. These softwares and services not only help one’s website to increase page rank across all search engines but also keep it up-to-date with the latest developments and web marketing techniques. Affordable SEO helps small- and medium-sized businesses that are on a tight budget to promote their website and market their services. Search engine positioning firms provide different cost-saving options and packages that can suit anyone’s needs and budget constraints. However, the downside of affordable or relatively cheap SEO is that the packages and options offer only limited phases of the whole optimization process or small scale promotion which only increase as the package costs get higher. In addition, one should also keep in mind that not all affordable SEO services and softwares work for one’s website. It may work for others, but not for you. It is still best to have a customized approach in marketing and optimizing one’s website as time goes by and as site traffic and page rank changes. Time and money is invested in web marketing, which is why one should be careful and vigilant enough in choosing an affordable search engine optimization program.


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Valuing Business Reputation and Social Responsibility

Written on 4/13/2010 12:30:00 PM by Martha Ballesteros

Indeed, shareholder value, if not dictates, influences an investor’s or firm’s decision. A firm’s ultimate goal should be value creation, which occurs when share price for current shareholders is maximized. Shareholder wealth may come in the form of a dividend or the value or market price of one’s share. However, it should also take into account not only current profit but also future earnings as well as the timing, duration, and risks that go with it. For some, share price becomes the barometer for business performance. Financial management should create a long-term strategy that would emphasize in improving or raising the present value of a shareholder’s investment in a company as well as propose and implement projects that will increase the market value of the company’s securities.

In today’s changing world, not only technology has evolved, but also the financial environment. Considering the recent global financial crisis, profit creation has been necessary, if not for the development, at least for the survival of a lot of businesses. To create sustainable profit, businesses have also been concerned on creating value and banking on their reputation.

I believe maximizing shareholder wealth also involves being socially responsible and having good and upright corporate governance. A business or company that has a reputation for good corporate governance, as well as, engaging in socially responsible activities such as improving working conditions of employees and proper waste management, tends to attract more investors and shareholders because it adds value and competitiveness to the firm. Though the most popular and considered to pioneer the practice of corporate social responsibility (CSR) in the Philippines is the Ayala Group of Companies, other business have followed their lead such as, Petron, Meralco, Globe, and Jollibee.

It is a finance manager’s goal to not only seek short-term earnings but gain and maintain a reputation that would earn them long-term and sustainable profit as well as harmonious shareholder relationship by taking into consideration long-term benefits of the business, its shareholders, as well as the society.


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The Risk and Return of Social Media Marketing

Written on 4/08/2010 06:40:00 PM by Martha Ballesteros

I initially intended this post to be finance-related. I'm currently taking Financial Management classes under my MBA program. At the beginning of this term, our professor challenged us to describe financial management in the way that we understand it and not just a sentence or two picked up verbatim from a book. At the end of the class, I realized that it's just a matter cost-benefit analysis or rather gauging risk and returns. With most of the people taking MBA from the Ateneo coming from the financial sector, particularly bankers, accountants, and financial analyysts, I realized that I haven't met anyone that can relate and knows how I do what I do. Knowing this, I have to make my own analysis, come up with my own metrics, and relate it to social media marketing.

Obtaining high search engine ranking is definitely one of the most cost-effective methods of online marketing however, there’s more to it than just marketing and advertising. Businesses get many benefits from increased visibility and higher search engine ranking, some more obvious than others.

Cost-effective Customer Acquisition
Businesses and individuals need not to pay search engines for their websites to be indexed. This is significantly important for businesses and search engine optimization specialists who are working on optimizing and marketing a website to have higher search engine ranking. Most of the time, high volume and low intent phrases which can be expensive in paid-search, can also be useful for directing visitors on the long tail of search. Quite a number of businesses bid on key phrases or long tail keywords through paid-search, giving opportunity to those who use a different high search engine ranking strategy and technique.

Paid-search, or pay-per-click (PPC), as other’s call it, is like a modern variation of the practice of paying finder's-fees for the introduction of new clients to a business. The payment is based on a certain value for each new visitor or a commission for each sale or a commission for each lead. Though PPC is one of the SEM techniques advertisers and businesses invest in, for it generates site traffic, it may not always lead to high search engine positioning.

Fixed Costs
The cost of having a relatively high ranking website is relatively fixed, independent of click volume. Effectively, the cost per click from high page rank websites decline through time after initial optimization costs and lower ongoing optimization costs. On the other hand, paid-search, or pay-per-click campaigns are essentially a variable cost.

Brand Visibility
Research studies suggests that 62% of internet users click on the first page of search results. With this expected amount of traffic from internet users all over the world, what business wouldn't want their website to have a higher search engine ranking? Businesses and individuals, with the help of SEO professionals and specialists, consider the various factors to set the cost and time requirement to optimize their website to improve site visibility and gain higher search engine ranking. It can be noted that about 80% of an average site’s traffic comes from a organic search engine listings. A strong presence on organic listings is seen as complementary to Paid Search - or even an alternative in earning high search engine rankings.

The increased site traffic as well as improved brand visibility of websites not only help the business itself but also its prospects and clients because of its value-added accessibility and popularity.


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Quick Tweetorial to Twewbies

Written on 3/29/2010 07:29:00 AM by Martha Ballesteros

Twitter has definitely invaded almost everyone's privacy. For some, its just sharing to the world where you are, what you see, and what you feel. While for others, its a means of keeping in touch with long lost friends and building new relationships. With the rise of social media marketing, Twitter is definitely in there somewhere.

Got this from Webopedia...I hope this tweetorial would help twewbies...

Twitter Dictionary: Understanding Twitter Chat and Slang
As with any new social medium, there is an entire vocabulary that users of the Twitter service adopt. Most of the Twitter-based terms and phrases are used to describe the collection of people who use the service, while other terms are used in reference to describe specific functions and features of the service itself. Here are more than 30 words and phrases that are associated with the Twitter social service:

@reply: The @reply means a Twitter update (tweet) that is directed to another user in reply to one of their updates. A @reply will be saved in the user's replies tab. Replies are sent either by clicking the 'reply' icon next to an update or typing @ username message (e.g., @user I saw that movie too!).

attwaction: Slang term used to describe an attraction between two Twitterers (people who send tweets on the Twitter service).

BiggerTwitter: An app (or add-on) that can be used to post tweets longer than 140 characters on Twitter. BiggerTwitter works by placing a link in the tweet.

Blackbird: The name of a Twitter client for BlackBerry smartphones.

co-twitterer: A slang term used to describe a second person who tweets on a single Twitter account.

direct message (DM): On Twitter, DM is short for direct message, and it is used to send a private tweet (Twitter update) to a person you are following.

Dweet: Slang term used to describe a tweet send by a user who is drunk.

Egotwistical: A slang term used to mean "egotistical and Twitter", meaning a user who talks about themself on Twitter.

Fail Whale: On the Twitter site, the Fail Whale is an image of a whale held up by birds and nets. This image shows that Twitter has been overloaded or failed.

Follower / following: On Twitter, blogs, and other social media sites, a follower is someone who subscribes to receives your updates. On the Twitter Web site "following" someone means you will see their tweets (Twitter updates) in your personal timeline. Twitter lets you see who you follow and also who is following you. Followers are people who receive other people's Twitter updates.

FollowFriday (FF, or #followfriday): On Twitter, FollowFriday is used by Twitterers to call attention to their favorite followers. When you tweet a FF, you are recommending that your followers also check out the ones you mention in your post. When you Tweet a FollowFriday recommendation, you include #followfriday in your message so it can can easily be searched for using that tag.

Hash tag: A hash tag or hashtag is a way of organizing your Tweets for Twitter search engines. Users simply prefix a message with a community driven hash tag to enable others to discover relevant posts. One commonly used hash tag on Twitter is #followfriday where users network by providing the names of their favorite people to follow on Twitter.

ICYMI: Short for "in case you missed it, the abbreviation may appear in a tweet that is a repost from the same person (e.g. reposting a tweet in case their followers missed it the first time).

microblog: A type of blog that lets users publish short text updates. Bloggers can usually use a number of service for the updates including instant messaging, e-mail, or Twitter. The posts are called microposts, while the act of using these services to update your blog is called microblogging.

mistweet: Slang term used to describe a tweet that you later regret having sent.

Monitter: Monitter is the name of a free Twitter tool that lets users monitor the Twitter service for a set of three keywords. Monitter then shows you what people are tweeting for the keywords.

NTS: Short for "note to self", this chat abbreviation is frequently used on Twitter.

OH: Short for "overheard", this chat abbreviation is used on twitter, usually in place of RT (retweet) when the Twitterer does not want to provide the username of the follower they are quoting.

PocketTweets: The name of a mobile Web-based Twitter client for the iPhone. You can use it to see the latest tweets from your contacts or to update your status remotely.

PRT: Short for "please retweet", it is a notation added to the end of a Tweet. PRT shows the Twitterer is asking others to "please retweet" their post.

Retweet: Abbreviated as RT, retweet is used on Twitter to show you are tweeting content that has been posted by another user. The format is RT @username where username is the Twitter name of the person you are retweeting.

social networking site: Abbreviated as SNS a social networking site is the phrase used to describe any Web site that enables users to create public profiles within that Web site and form relationships with other users of the same Web site who access their profile. Social networking sites can be used to describe community-based Web sites, online discussions forums, chatrooms and other social spaces online.

TMB: Short for "Tweet me back".

Twaffic: A slang term used to mean "Twitter traffic".

Twalking: Slang term used to describe someone who is walking while they tweet (a Twitter message) using a mobile device.

Twebay: Slang term used to describe selling (or promoting) an eBay item on Twitter.

Tweeple: A slang term used to mean "Twitter people" and is used to refer to Twitter users.

Tweet: Describes a Twitter update. A tweet is basically whatever you type into the Web box to answer that question, using 140 characters or less. People tweet personal messages, random thoughts, post links, or anything else that fits in the character requirements.

twettiquette: Short for "Twitter etiquette" it is a slang term used to describe acceptable Twitter behavior.

tweetorial: Slang term used to describe used to describe tutoring or lecturing on or about Twitter. Some industry speakers use the term to describe a live event where a lecture on a Twitter topic is given (e.g., a seminar or event that teaches people how to use Twitter), while others use the term to describe giving a lecture on Twitter. Here the host speaker will use a special designated hash tag so others can follow the lecture on Twitter.

Twewbie: Short for "Twitter newbie" it is a slang term used to describe someone new to Twitter.

Twidroid: The name of a full-featured Twitter app designed for use on Android mobile phones.

Twishing: Twishing is a combination of the words Twitter and phishing. It is the act of sending a message to a Twitter user in an attempt to obtain his or her name and password. The message may instruct the recipient to visit a Web site where he or she is asked to log in. The Web site, however, is bogus and set up only to steal the user's information. See "Beware of Twishing" in the Did You Know...? section of Webopedia for more information on Twishing.

Twitosphere: An expression used to describe the "World of Twitter."

Twitter: A free social messaging tool that lets people stay connected through brief text message updates up to 140 characters in length. Twitter is based on you answering the question "What are you doing?" You then post thoughts, observations, and goings-on during the day. Your update is posted on your Twitter profile page through SMS text messaging, the Twitter Web site, instant messaging, RSS, e-mail, or through other social applications and sites, such as Facebook.

Twitter-ific: Short for "Twitter and terrific" it is a slang term used to describe something terrific you find on Twitter.

Twitter Sparq: The name of the first advertising service for Twitter. Sparq provides a self-service interface that lets advertisers quickly set up the ads. The ads appear on the right-hand column on Twitter as Tweet Now. When someone clicks on the link, it automatically populates the tweet box with the advertiser's message. This can include a link, as well as an option for the user to customize or add to the message.

TwitterTroll: The name of a free online service that searches Twitter in real-time. TwitterTroll can be used to help you find Twitterers with similar interests as yourself.

Twitterers: Refers to people who send tweets on the Twitter service.

Twittermaps: A mash-up that lets Twitter users update their locations on a Google Map and send a tweet with it.

Twitturly: The name of an online Web service that tracks Web addresses (URL) that are being tweeted about the most on Twitter.

Twittworking: Short for "Twitter networking" it is a slang term used to describe Twitterers who use Twitter to network.


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Lenten Season

Written on 3/29/2010 02:03:00 AM by Martha Ballesteros

I'm thinking of what to do this Holy Week? Of course, I'll reflect on what has happened in my life for the past year, the blessings, the trials, the hurt, the joys, the ups and downs. Most of all, I'll think of what God has sacrificed for us to be where we are now.

Aside from these, Holy Week also means freeing myself from work! Aha! Since I was a teen, I've had this habit of having DVD and movie marathons every Holy Week. The fact that there's nothing to do and nothing to watch on TV (except for the Ten Commandments and The Bible which I have watched a gazillion times to the point that I have unintentionally memorized their lines), it seemed to be the best alternative.

I've already planned my Maundy Thursday. Chic flicks marathon. I'll start with Clueless, 10 Things I Hate About You, Pretty Woman, A Cinderella Story, Princess Diaries, A Walk to Remember, The Notebook, Runaway Bride, Devil Wears Prada, The Proposal, Bring It On 1-4, Step Up 1-2, High School Musical 1-3.

Now, I'm thinking of what US series should I go for? Glee? Bones? CSI? Psych? Buffy? Smallville? Gossip Girl? One Tree Hill?

I'm also going for Asian series. I think I'll go with 1 Liter of Tears, Princess Hours (Goong), and Why Why Love.

Oh! I should abstain from all the worldly things this Holy Week, right? Hmmm..Now what am I supposed to do???

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