#1. The Last Temptation of Social Media

All brands are faced with the challenge of achieving a direct relationship with consumers on their own terms and on their own platforms. Far too many brands have forgone their own platform to do everything on popular social media sites. Are you using social media as one of your channels to extend your brand narrative or as the entire platform? It might be time to rethink your strategy.

#2. 6 Compelling Reasons You Should Use Pinterest for Marketing

Pinterest is one of the fastest growing websites ever. With more than 10 million unique visitors, it is has quickly become a platform marketers should use to leverage their brand. Still not convinced? Check out these 6 compelling reasons why you should join this social media site.

#3. Lessons Learned

Whether  you a tradeshow rookie or a seasoned pro looking to improve your next event, here are 10 “ah-ha” moments that can you feel a little more prepared for their next show.

#4. Why User Experience is Critical to Customer Relationships

Are you looking to capture the attention of your audience and build a strong relationship with them? Start by focusing on providing a great user experience. Sure, having a presence on the right social media channels or support for popular mobile devices helps, but it is not enough. Creating a great user experience helps capture the users attention and ultimately their loyalty.

#5. 4 Branding Tips for When the Bloom is Off the Rose

Struggling to cozy up to your customers? Creating love for your brand that lasts all year round is easier than ever with these four tips.

#6. Does Social Media Have an Affect on SEO?

It sure does. Since the launch of Google+ and Search Plus Your World, social media is playing an even bigger role on your SEO results.

#7. Use Social Sharing’s True Motive for Better Traffic

Producing share worthy content requires that you go beyond simply delivering high quality content. It is about producing content that provides value to your audience. Get better traffic by understanding what is behind social sharing’s true motives.

#1. 10 Essential Features of Every Good Business Website

Whether you are looking to create a new website to launch a new venture or simply want to update your existing site,  determining what elements to include can be a challenge. Check out these 10 essential features that should be a part of every business website.

#2. How Pinterest is Becoming the Next Big Thing in Social Media for Business

We are hooked on Pinterest! This social network holds a lot of potential for businesses to connect to their audiences and really showcase their products. Take a look at why business owners – particularly retailers – might want to start pinning today.

#3. 4 Ways to Increase Your Facebook Page Visibility

With the various Facebook algorithm updates, it has become even more of a challenge to get your updates to appear in the coveted news feed. Here are a few suggestions to ensure that your posts are being seen by your fans.

#4. How to Deliver a Killer Business Presentation

Whether you are invited to speak at an event or pitching to potential investors, it is important to know how to deliver a killer business presentation that really resonates with your audience. Whip those presenting skills into shape with these great tips.

#5. 4 Ways to Tweet as a Visual Brand

Struggling to make sure your Twitter followers get the picture? For visual brands that rely heavily on images, it is often a struggle to convey their media on Twitter. These four pillars will help you discover “visual tweeting.”

#6. MYTH: “My Buyers Are Not On the Web”

Think your buyers are not on the web? Think again. Thanks to mobile phones  very few people are offline these days. There are more mobile phones in the world than toothbrushes.

#7. Type This Into Google for a Valentine’s Day Surprise

Since Valentine’s Day is right around the corner, let’s end the Weekly Roundup on a fun note! Try typing this into Google search for a little surprise: sqrt(cos(x))*cos(300x)+sqrt(abs(x))-0.7)*(4-x*x)^0.01, sqrt(6-x^2), -sqrt(6-x^2) from -4.5 to 4.5. Hope you all have a great Valentine’s Day!

#1. The Ultimate Guide to Mastering Pinterest for Marketing

Did you know that Pinterest is driving more traffic than Google+, YouTube and LinkedIn combined? This hot new social media network is creating some serious buzz on the web. If you are looking for ways to tap into this network and create some noise for your brand, check out this ultimate guide to mastering Pinterest.

#2. Build Your Keyword Density the Right Way

Creating content for your company has two unique purposes: attracting visitors and then selling to them. To attract traffic to your site, you need to use search engine optimized techniques and add keywords to your copy. Learn how to use keywords in your copy the right way.

#3. The 5-Video Work Week: How to Build Your Brand on YouTube

Videos are an excellent way to build your expert brand. Brands like Blendtec show you how a one-minute clip can increase your brand awareness and sales. Check out this easy guide on building your brand with videos.

#4. 7 Lead Generation Trends for 2012 – What You Need to Do Right Now

Social networking and media has forever changed the way business is done. Facebook and other social media platforms have become key lead-generating marketing tools for many businesses. If you want to ramp up your lead generation and lead management strategies in 2012, here are some great inbound marketing tips.

#5. Don’t Let Your Brand Be Creepy

With more brands jumping onto social networks, we are seeing a rise in brands struggling to find best practices for their online identity. Being transparent online is not the same thing as divulging personal information. Avoid being a brand that pushes people away by finding ways to not be creepy in your social media approach.

#6. Get More From Your Graphics

Are you looking for ways to attract more visitors to your booth? One way to get attention is with high impact graphics. These three awesome tips will help you make the most of your graphics.

#7. What Pinterest is Doing that Facebook Isn’t

Pinterest is showing increasingly strong signs that it is a more effective social commerce platform than Facebook. With its large images, easy to use interface and focus on community interests, it is no surprise that Pinterest has become a natural space for shopping.

#8. 7 Ways to Lower Your Website’s Bounce Rate

You have probably invested a significant amount of time and money to attract visitors to your site. Now that they have finally arrived, you want to keep them there. If you are trying to lower your website’s bounce rate, here are 7 great tips to keep users engaged with your brand.

#1. The First Question to Ask When Exhibiting At Trade Shows

When you begin thinking about exhibiting at a trade show, what is the first question you ask? While preparing for your next trade show, check out this list of must ask questions to ensure your exhibiting efforts are a success.

#2. 10 Tips for Building a Strong Online Community Around Your Startup

Building an online community around your startup is the cheapest way to create momentum for your product or service. Before you take that leap and start building your online presence, here are 10 tips to help you get started.

#3. 4 Strategic Requirements for Corporate Tweeting

Twitter’s speed, capacity and influence currently outsize any other social media channel, which makes it crucial for larger businesses to dedicate a separate strategic plan for their Twitter account. Check out how these successful brands tackle their Twitter presence.

#4. Your Social Media and SEO Game Plan for 2012

Google is constantly reworking and tweaking their search algorithm. With current updates in place, Google is starting to place a lot of emphasis on social media. Although this list may be a little too much to begin right away, there are some great takeaways that are easy to implement now.

#5. 5 Google+ Tricks to Dominate Google Search Results

There are many ways to use Google+ to help boost your regular performance on Google search results and in turn generate more traffic to your website. If you are looking for more ways to increase your business SEO, here are five ways you can do just that with Google+.

#6. 8 Typography Design Elements to Consider for Print and Web Design

Considering a new web or print design for your brand? Great typography can take an ordinary design to extraordinary when you follow these 8 tips.

#7. What Successful Products Teach us About Web Design

Web designers can learn a lot from successful product design – where success springs from three sources: the designer, sticking to the scope and iteration. Learn what the iPhone, Mini Cooper and Zippo lighter can teach us about great web design.

#1.  New Google Users Now Forced to Join Google+

New users signing up for a Google account have no other choice but to join Google+. Now anyone with a Google account can be counted as a member of the new social network whether he or she is active or not. Has Google finally gone to far?

#2. 4 Simple Steps to Get Ramped Up With Mobile Marketing

With more than 200 million mobile subscribers, mobile phones are playing a critical role in company marketing strategies. If you are a newcomer to mobile marketing, here are four simple steps that will get your company mobile-tech savvy in no time.

#3. 11 Useful Tips for Marketing Your Brand on LinkedIn

LinkedIn has become the defacto platform for building your professional network. It is also a valuable, but underutilized platform for promoting businesses and brands. Check out these 11 useful tips and start marketing your brand on LinkedIn.

#4. 10 Creative Ways to Use QR Codes for Marketing

With the widespread use of smartphones, customers are using QR codes more than ever. There is definite potential for these codes to reach consumers and be used effectively in mobile marketing strategies. To get inspired for your own QR code use, here are 10 creative ways QR codes have been used in marketing.

#5. Marketing Emergency: Nobody’s Making Content Worth Reading

Content is king, but only if you are creating content that appeals to the interest of your customers, shareholders, suppliers or even employees. Right now B2B marketers are in a real marketing emergency creating and producing content that is not worth reading.

#6. 4 Strategic Requirements for Corporate Tweeting

Since Twitter’s speed, capacity and influence currently outsize any other social media channel, it deserves its own strategic plan within a company’s broader digital media plan. If your corporation plans on tweeting, here are four strategic requirements you might want to consider.

#7. 12 “Truths” About Social in 2012 Noted at CES

It should come as no surprise that the social media landscape is affecting us all. Based on a series of research studies across 19 different countries, McCann Truth Central has complied a list of 12 “truths” about social media and how it is impacting consumers and brands.

#8. A Stand-Out Small Exhibit

You don’t need a large booth to make a big statement at your next show. To make a splash with your smaller booth, here are five tactics for making a bang with your exhibit.

#1. 5 Strategies for Creating Magnetic Online Content

Traditional advertising worked by distracting or interrupting peoples daily routine. To get people’s attention in this digital world, you need to add magnetic content into your marketing mix. Check out these five strategies and start telling your story.

#2. The 5 Basic Building Blocks For Branding Your Startup

For any company to grow healthily, it needs a properly defined identity. The first steps to creating a lasting brand happen in the branding process. If you are a new startup, here are five basic brand building blocks to help you get started.

#3. 13 Tips for Increasing Your Company’s Google Rank

Search engine optimization (SEO) is critical for any business’s success in our digital savvy age. To ensure that  your Google ranking makes the grade, here are 13 awesome tips from young entrepreneurs that will help boast your SEO results.

#4. How Businesses Are Using Pinterest

Pinterest has been creeping up everywhere as the hot new social network of 2012. Even though this site is still in invite-only mode and has blatant rules against corporate promotions, some companies are finding ways to use Pinterest to engage with their audience. Find out how brands like Whole Foods and Land’s End are connecting with their audiences.

#5. Search, Plus Your World

Last week, Google transformed search once again — this time to make it more social. The search giant has incorporated content, people and relationships into its search results. Watch this short video and find out what features Google has added in Search plus Your World.

#6. 6 Steps to Getting Started with Google +

Rethinking your Google+ strategy since the latest Google Search Plus Your World update last week? Now more than ever, it is important for brands to begin interacting on Google+ to ensure their content gets picked up in the search engines and shared socially. Here are six easy steps that will help you get started using Google+.

#7. Under-Promise. Over-Deliver. And Your Brand’s Fans Will Talk

Do you remember the last time you got more than you expected? Companies that under-promise but over-deliver are creating memorable experiences that people will talk about for years to come. Find out how these brands created a truly memorable experience by simply over-delivering.

#8. What Is Your Marketing Trying to Do?

Is your marketing strategy driving sales? Building a strong brand keeps consumers coming back for more. To capture, fascinate and care about your consumers, start with engagement.

If you are not familiar with Twitter, it is a form of microblogging that allows you to share news, post status updates and carry on conversations with people all around the world. It is a very easy way for you to connect with people who have the same interests or who are in a similar field and discuss topics that you are interested in.

It is very important to come up with a Twitter strategy before trying to use this medium to drive traffic to your booth. Not only is it critical for you to tweet during a show, but you also need to take into consideration ways you can utilize Twitter before and after a show. Here is what you should be doing to drive traffic to your booth at a trade show:

Pre-show Hype…

You are not exactly going to draw a large crowd to your booth if you join Twitter a few days before the show. Sure you might gain a few followers, but you are not going to drive the desired number of people to your exhibit. You want to start actively engaging on Twitter right now by connecting with people who are in similar industries or have similar interests. When you have found people who may be interested in your company or what you do, connect with that person by following them. This allows you to create brand awareness, start an introduction with someone you may not know and begin a relationship. Actively building your followers and following base before a trade show will help tremendously in driving traffic to your booth.

Once you have been actively engaging on Twitter it is time to start with some pre-show hype. A week or a few weeks before the show, tweet about the specific show that you are attending, where you are located in the exhibit hall and include the show’s hashtag. By using the show’s hashtag, your tweets can be easily searched and other people attending the event will be able to connect with you before the show starts. You can also run searches on twitter using the show’s hashtag and link into other people who are also attending the event.

You should also tweet the show’s management and let them know that you are on Twitter. If the show management is on Twitter, you could get your messaged broadcasted to all of their followers, which will help put you and your company in front of more people attending the show.

During the show…

When you are at the show, keep the conversation going! You can do this easily by tweeting questions that people at the show can answer, send pictures of your booth and the show, talk about things going on at the event and definitely include any information about promotional giveaways. If you are doing giveaways at your booth, designate a couple of items to give away to people on Twitter to show that you appreciate their participation with you on the site. It is important to remember to include the show hashtag in all of your tweets so that when people search for the show on Twitter they will find you and your tweets.

When you talk with people at the show, swap Twitter addresses so it is easier to connect with them after the show. If you wear a name tag or badge during the show, write your Twitter ID on the badge so people will find it easily. You could even take it a step further and include your ID on your business card so that people can easily connect with you.

The aftermath…

After the show ends, it is important to follow up with the people you have met and connected with on Twitter so you can build a relationship. Tweeting at the show allows you to establish personal connections with potential partners, customers and prospects. But simply being connected on Twitter is not enough. You have to continue the conversation after the show by engaging with them through interesting tweets and thanking them for following you. It would also be a good idea to search the show hashtag again on the Twitter site and connect with other people who were the show.

If you utilize Twitter effectively, you can drive traffic to you exhibit and create a lot of brand awareness. So what are you waiting on?! Go ahead, send that tweet. You know you want to!

You can follow Neu Concepts on Twitter @NeuConcepts for more great resources on social media, web design, trade shows and marketing.

#1. 10 Brand-Building Steps for Beginners

Was your business New Years resolution to finally get into social media to build a brand for your business. Don’t worry if you aren’t social media savvy. Here are ten easy steps for building your brand online through social media.

#2. Stop Designing Pages and Start Designing Flows

A website’s design is very important but so is a user’s experience. Far to often, designers jump right into the design process and don’t give user flow much thought. Spending more time building a user flow leads to better results for both user and business.

#3. 6 Steps for Protecting Corporate Reputation in the Social Media Age

Social media has become the new reality of instant communications for businesses of all sizes, even large corporations. It can take years to build a good reputation but literally seconds to damage it on the web. Here are 6 steps for maintaining your corporate reputation on the web.

#4. Six Advanced Trade Show Strategies and Tactics

No longer a trade show rookie? Looking for new ways to make a splash at your next show? Her are six advanced trade show strategies and tactics that will help you grow your trade show program.

#5. How to Get the Most Out of Google Analytics

Google has updated and revamped Google Analytics giving it a cleaner look and even more data sets. To take full advantage the new Google Analytics, here is an in-depth look at what those numbers really mean.

#6. 6 Guidelines for Exceptional Website Design and Usability

Getting traffic to stay on your website can be a bit of a challenge if your design is lacking. Often the majority of visitors enter your website and leave without navigating to any other pages. To take full advantage of your web traffic here are 6 design guidelines to improve user experience and decrease bounce rate.

#7. Transforming PR For a Mobile World

Businesses have been forced to adapt to a 24/7 always on, mobile world. Old PR tactics of contacting journalists and asking for them to promote your story are long gone. It is now time for you to work on broadcasting your message online to get journalists to find you. These 5 tips will help you get up to speed with the latest PR tactics that work.

#8. 8 Universal Traits of a Winning Social Presence

Getting started on social media is a challenge but maintaining an effective social media business account is a whole different monster. If you are looking for ways to make sure you are hitting your online marketing marks, check out these 8 essential characteristics every effective business account needs.

#9. Exhibiting 101: Neighborly Advice

Each trade show comes with its own set of challenges. One challenge that you might face is having to reduce the square footage on your booth space in order to accommodate all of the people exhibiting which can lead to you having a booth buddy. Instead of building a fence between your two booths, here are some ways to turn a not-so-great situation into a beneficial relationship.

#1. 8 Modern Ways to Crush Your Trade Show Competition

Are you looking for ways to stand out at your next trade show? Making a lasting impression on attendees will be easy after you utilize these 8 awesome suggestions.

#2. Pinterest: A Beginner’s Guide to the Hot New Social Network

Pinterest is the hot new social network that has grown from 1.2 million users to over 4 million in little over 5 months. If you are new to Pinterest, here is a quick beginners guide that will show you the ropes.

#3. Authenticity vs. Perfection: How to Brand Like a Rock Star

Honesty is the best policy, especially when it comes to creating your brand. We are human and humans are delightfully imperfect creatures. Embrace your flaws and brand with honesty.

#4. Building a Startup That Can Punch Above Its Weight – And Win

One of the toughest challenges startup companies face is finding the right people who will work for your cause. If you are looking to expand your team, here are some character traits that pack a punch and may help your company be a knockout.

#5. Illegible Leads

Tired of reading illegible lead forms that make post-show follow-up difficult? Turn those pieces of chicken scratch into valuable sales tools with these three steps.

#6. The Myth of the Sophisticated User

Have you heard of the sophisticated user? In order to create a good user experience, you need to minimize frustration for all different levels of users. Even the sophisticated user wants a simple, informative interface that will let them accomplish their tasks quickly.

#7. 13 Location-Based Marketing Tips for Entrepreneurs

If you are looking to deliver marketing content that packs a punch and helps increase your sales but don’t have a lot of money to invest, it might be time to consider location-based marketing. Sites like Yelp and Foursquare are making it easy for entrepreneurs and young businesses to launch successful location-based marketing strategies.

#1. The Top Ten Social Media Lessons of 2011: Part 1

During 2011, businesses saw an explosion in the use of social media to target consumers. Since the end of the year is rapidly approaching, it seems only appropriate to generate an end of year list that includes the top ten social media lessons from 2011.

#2. Google+ Brand Pages Begin Showing Up in Primary Search Results

Google has begun integrating Google+ brand page content into primary search results, thus luring brands to become active on this relatively new social network.

#3. A Year in Web Design: How the Experts Saw 2011

Woo rah! Another list! Webdesigntuts+ interviewed a bunch of web design experts and asked, “What did you find most memorable about the world of web design in 2011?” Check out what designs rocked the web in 2011.

#4. Capturing the Essence of a Brand on Video

Creating videos about your brand is a great way to entertain and inform your audience. In these two shining examples, HP Invent and La Mer de Pianos show what great filmmaking can do for any brand.

#5. The 4 Rules of Trade Show Exhibit Success

Trade show season is just around the corner! Don’t strike out this season because you do not know the basic rules for exhibiting success. Check out these 4 rules that will help you hit a grand slam every time you attend a show.

#6. How to Optimize Your LinkedIn Company Page in 15 Minutes

LinkedIn is a great tool for engaging with your network, generating leads and showcasing your products. Optimize your LinkedIn page in 15 minutes with these 10 easy steps.

#7. Does Good Web Design Really Matter?

The look and feel of a website is a lot more important to your visitors than you might think. Check out these usability studies and discover why good web design really does matter.

#8. Optimizing Your Website for Social User Experience

Looking for ways to add additional social outlets on your website that will generate more user interaction on your pages. Here are a few ideas for sprucing up your web design to make it more social.

#9. Website Tips: 12 Gifts to Give Your Site This Christmas [Infographic]

Although Christmas has already come and gone, it is still the season of giving and your home on the web could use some much needed love. Check out the 12 best gifts you can give your website this holiday season.