Many websites are protesting the bills with Wikipedia, Reddit and Twitpic blacking out completely. The likes of Google & Huffington Post have made other gestures of protest while interestingly Facebook & Twitter seem to have passed on the protest all together.

For a full rundown of what SOPA and PIPA could mean for your future web experience check out this explanation on The Guardian’s website (which is not dark!).

While almost any business can benefit from marketing their business on Facebook with a fully optimized custom profile banner, welcome page , email opt-in and even custom tabs, there are most definitely other platforms that they should have representation on which also expand your Social Graph.

Remember that a Social Media platform presence adds to your Social Graph and creates a unique impression on Web 2.0 that the major search engines recognize and helps drive organic traffic to your website. If you have a brick and mortar location and the ability to run timely specials and promos, go for Twitter. If you are more of a professional B2B company, you really should set up a personal LinkedIn profile and run a Company Page there.

Several social media platforms work well in conjunction with one another and can assist you in pollinating your message across different platforms with different followers that can possibly engage with your brand.

Google just announced on their blog that they have changed the way that they are indexing websites and that Search has become more important than ever before. This is truly why brands will need to be engagement on Google+ in the near future, why you need to claim your business on Google Places and why Reviews about your business are ever so important to help you stand out and get noticed. It’s not just about SEO!

Defining your target market and creating a community of brand advocates for your business leveraging Social Media Marketing truly is a worthwhile endeavour! Time and time again my clients have increased website traffic and are generating trackable leads that bounce back to our social media efforts. Social Media creates a Buzz about your business, and at the end of the day, that in itself is a good thing!

Post written by Keri Andino for socialmediatoday.com

This is a hard pill to swallow, but I have seen this time and time again.. Dead Pages.. Dead Pages come from the businesses that really get behind the Social Media ball. But then they lack style, finesse and internal flare.

Don’t get me wrong..Social Media Managers are hired to manage, maintain, source content, create editorial calendars, studly analytics and more, but without an inside contact to be in constant communication with, there is a piece of the puzzle missing within the aesthetic of the profiles.

This piece that’s missing is some internal DNA to run through the profiles: Photos, Promotions, Contests, Sweepstakes, Events and more are all awesome to implement into your profiles.

Post written by Keri Andino for socialmediatoday.com

If you haven’t poured any sweat equity into marketing your business during it’s lifetime, then a Social Media Manager isn’t going to be the remedy for what is ailing your business. An owner and it’s employees need to become involved in the network marketing facets of their business and build rapport with their target market offline, before their online reputation will blossom and grow.

Post written by Keri Andino for socialmediatoday.com

If your website stinks, Social Media really isn’t going to be all that effective.. until you fix your website!

What I mean by this is that time and time again, I’ve encountered businesses that have built out their current websites on a free platform that is stealing any available SEO from them and redirecting traffic back to themselves..or they have a site that they have no clue or have never been provided any analytical performance data from and they haven’t updated their website in years!

In my opinion, without a self-hosted domain name and website that runs on a Word Press, Joomla or other reputable format, with a blog integrated into it’s nav bar, you’re just shooting darts and will never be indexed by Google. Which is the ultimate goal.

Social Media, in order to enhance your marketing efforts, has to be integrated into a viable website that ‘s full of fresh shareable content that is search engine optimized.

Post written by Keri Andino for socialmediatoday.com

One of the things Deep Space Marketing has done for our clients this year is added a little festive fun to their Facebook profile pictures. This hasn’t meant charging the client additional fees for seasonal graphic designs, instead we turned to a handy little app on our ‘i devices’ and created the following pictures for no additional cost.

Happy Holidays everyone!

OK, I am going to do my best to be as positive as possible about this because let’s face it those that try to predict the success or failure of new social media experiences are often left with egg on their faces. That said, in the wake of Google Wave and Google Buzz the big G has a lot to do to convince the average user that Schemer is a good idea and more importantly something they will want to share with friends. Naturally Schemer uses Google+ as it’s social network, enabling you to connect to other G+ users for tips and ideas, but how many people do you know that are using Google+ as their primary social network?

One of the questions being asked by people who obsess about these kinds of things (yes, that includes us!), is whether or not this is Google’s attempt to go after the King of online check ins, Foursquare. There is no explicit evidence to back that claim and Google are talking more about sharing activity recommendation versus location/business sharing. However it’s hard to believe that the boffins over at Mountain View haven’t looked at the success of Foursquare and decided that Google+ and Schemer are the perfect combination to take gold in the check in Olympics.

But you never know right? Where Google Wave and Google Buzz failed the unlikely named Schemer might be the rocket fuel that finally sends Google+ into orbit. You can find out more (I think!) on their promotional video and if you want an invite leave us a note on Facebook as we have a few left.

In some respects it doesn’t make any sense to mention Path in the same conversation as Facebook, they’re like David and Goliath, but we have to admit after coming back to the app we’re loving the fun intuitive way it allows you to share content and thoughts with your friends.

To learn more about Path check out this video.

Path – Share Life from Path on Vimeo.

So while traditional e-commerce websites are still by far the way most people are going to buy gifts online this year, your friends over at Facebook are also getting into the act. Interestingly it’s not Facebook themselves that are letting businesses set up Facebook stores. Instead there are a few smart companies creating applications that let you sell on Facebook in pretty much the same way you would expect on a standard e-commerce website.

So just who is actually selling things on Facebook I hear you ask? Well the big brands have certainly jumped at the opportunity with the NBA, Starbucks (of course!), Best Buy, Liverpool FC and Lady Gaga to name but a few. But what we care about is your own small to medium sized business right? The good news is that it’s not just mega-brands that have access to this technology. In fact just today Deep Space Marketing launched a Facebook shop for one of our clients here in Gilbert, Arizona; Bergies Coffee Roast House.

Bergies were looking for a way to sell their custom roasted coffees to customers who wanted to ship it to their family members and friends elsewhere in the country. Sure, they could offer people a link to the e-commerce section of their website but their actual community exists not on their site but on their Facebook Page. So now fans of delicious coffee can literally ‘share’ their passion and ‘click and ship‘ fresh Bergies beans anywhere in the US.

Are we claiming that this is going to provide so much incremental revenue that the business owners will be able to retire in Tahiti next year? No. But … it sets them apart from their competition, offers loyal customers another convenient way to get their coffee and importantly keeps people interested and engaged in their brand and product.

If your business would like to start selling on Facebook get in touch with us today to discover how quickly we can get you up and running.