What are you doing wrong?

If you’re mom was like mine, she was very good at catching you doing something wrong. Sure, I got hugs, too, but she seemed to think it was part of her job to make sure I knew about my mistakes before I made them. If only I had paid more attention.

We don’t do that to each as much in business, but perhaps we should. Wouldn’t it be nice to have someone tell you about the biggest mistakes you’re making in your company’s PR efforts? Well, I thought you’d never ask.

Check out this story, courtesy of LinkedIn’s new news service.

New Media Promotional Opportunities

Local businesses face the task of finding creative ways to connect with their local clientele. Fortunately, local Web marketing can offer a variety of solutions to reach your audience. In the November issue of Website magazine, for instance, Allison Howen discusses the three tiers of local web marketing.

According to a recent study by strategy and communications agency Cone Inc., 85% of consumers research online before purchasing services or products so it makes sense to utiize local search-based advertising, such as Google Places and Local.com, both of which offer free services and increase both online visibility and foot traffic into a brick and mortar store. This is the first tier she covers in her article.

For those with a budget, tier 1 also includes Google Adwords Express, a locally targeted advertising program designed specifically to increase exposure to local businesses. Other directory-based advertising platforms, such as superMedia and YellowPages.com, also offer cost effective ways for small businesses to be noticed by their local prospects.

Daily deal promotions are the second tier in Allison’s article. Groupon and Living Social are primary examples of deal promotion platforms. These sites have grown in popularity and are particularly trendy during these times of economic difficulty. The article warns, however, of numerous reports of local businesses collapsing under the overwhelming demands that can go along with a successful Groupon promotion. If you are willing to assume the risk, and are able to convert one-time visitors into steady or long-term customers, daily deal vendors should be a part of your web marketing mix. Website magazine lists popular daily deal vendors online at wsm.co/DealDeluge

The third tier includes social media advertising such as a Facebook page, a Twitter account, and a LinkedIn group. For example, creating an advertisement on Facebook is straight-forward and relatively inexpensive and can reach targeted audiences (age, interest or location) with little effort. Twitter is still evolving its advertising options, but currently, with a minimum budget of $5,000 a month, it is not a viable option for a small business.

There are many ways for local business to capitalize on the Web. Local Marketing Source provides useful information and lists 10 Tips to Market a Local Business Online. While the traditional marketing tools still have value in a local market, businesses will need to rely more on Web platforms to stay connected in the current market.

In a remarkably short period of time, we have all become familiar with the words, “There’s an app for that.” But when it comes to building apps for our businesses, it can be difficult to know which kind of app will best suit your needs.

Diane Buzzeo, CEO and founder of Ability Commerce, discusses in the November issue of Website magazine, three parameters to consider when reviewing an app platform to deliver your message to the largest number of consumers. These considerations are accessibility, performance/features, and cost/profitability. The results of this analysis will help you determine whether to create a native or web-based app.

Native apps are those written specifically for the mobile platform, i.e. iPhone, Android or Blackberry. Some are still being written for Windows Mobile, but we’re not sure how long that will last. Web apps are made to run from the web on any platform using a web browser.

In regard to accessibility, live native apps are a much more functional tools, however, the user has to download each individually, and with three popular mobile operating systems, companies need to commission three different versions of the same app to grasp the largest available audience.

Web apps are more accessible, but at the cost of performance standards. This may be improving with new technology that will work with future devices to eliminate the need to continually update its mobile app for the three major mobile operating systems. The move to HTML 5 may also impact these apps in the future.

When determining performance/functionality needs, a native app is a much more suitable choice for complex or graphics-heavy content, but consider web apps a better choice for broad accessibility and searchability. Web technology may soon close the gap with native apps performance by offering video and animation features through the typical Web browser.

Cost is always a concern with any marketing tool and native apps are a larger investment. They are sold through a centralized location, such as the Apple Store or the Android Marketplace. The drawback to these markets is that they maintain ultimate control over the distribution of your content. Because Web apps are directly accessible via the Web, there is no need to download from a central location.

For a great list of comparative benefits to these two types of apps, visit Jason D. O’Grady’s blog on zdNet.

Although native apps seem to have the current market, it will be interesting to see what the new technology will make happen in the future of web apps.

Fannie Mae speaks to troubled borrowers

Fannie Mae launched a new website today. KnowYourOptions.com offers troubled borrowers options that do not include walking away from an unpaid mortgage. The site makes heavy use of video and includes talking avatars that speak plainly and clearly to site visitors about next steps.

Servicers have been struggling in an attempt to get borrowers who are at risk of walking away from their home loans to come back to the table. Now, it appears that the nation's largest mortgage investor is offering some help and using the webs most compelling medium to do it.

Garth Graham and Bob Sullivan have been telling me for months that video is the answer to financial illiteracy in this country. I recently wrote about their company, Financial Literacy Solutions, Plantation, Fla., over on HousingWire.com.  They are providing Internet video learning solutions targeted to the Financial Services Industry.

The FLS flagship product is the “Interactive Video Solution” (IVS) which allows companies to quickly deploy up to the minute educational video information to its customers through their existing website. Completely branded and customized solutions can be deployed in days, allowing FLS clients the ability to better educate their customers through the Internet.

The company recently went live with a solution for Consolidated Credit Counseling Services in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, which is helping them teach borrowers in that state all about mandatory mediation before they ever get on the phone with a counselor.

FLS won't say whether the video solution Fannie Mae is using is there's or not, but it's good to see the nation's largest investor using the medium to interact with borrowers. It could add a layer of transparency to the industry that is definitely needed. Of course, in Fannie's case, it all depends upon whether borrowers accept the company's message or not.

Using a Twitter Contest to Raise Brand Awareness

The folks over at Wizards of the Coast, the makers of the Dungeons & Dragons fantasy role-playing game, have teamed up with the folks over at UGO.com to host a contest using the Twitter social media tool.

The contest involves consumers watching a website for a specific change in the web copy. When they see the change, they try to be the first to tweet the new copy. The first Twitter user to post wins.

This is a great way to use the tool as it forces a core group of consumers/users to monitor a company web property and then, when they see the copy change, they broadcast that copy (which is a sales message from the company) to everyone that follows them. Brilliant.

This isn't the kind of thing that will work on the B2B side, but I'm very pleased to see companies finding ways to leverage the social networks of their customers to reach out to a wider customer base. That's the way to use these tools. You have to get beyond your current client base and spread the word. It's great if you can get your customers to do it for you. Sometimes you have to offer a reward, but it's worth it.

ORC: HUD gets into the social media game

According to reporters at October Research Corp., the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development will be using social media to promote transparency in its operations. According to the news outlet, HUD is making the move "in an effort to better serve the American people." Well, the American people are using social media.

In the article, reporter Eileen Coleman writes, "As the new generation of information seekers primarily accesses news and other content through social networking sites like Facebook and Twitter, HUD deemed it essential that the department get up to speed on today's popular channels of communication. After all, 50 percent of Facebook's 400 million users log on every day, according to Facebook. Furthermore, while only 21 percent of Twitter's 19 million users are active, that's still 3,990,000 people to reach, according to Mashable.com, a respected social media news blog."

HUD has also reportedly created its own YouTube channel.

Now you can friend HUD on Facebook at http://www.facebook.com/HUD, follow them on Twitter at http://twitter.com/HUDnews or visit their wiki page at http://www.hud.gov/wiki. The agency did not elaborate yet on the types of information it would share via these new media websites.

HousingWire conference deploys app for upcoming conference

We've been watching the intersection between live conferences and New Media for some time. While the concept of totally virtual conferences hasn't really caught on yet, we are seeing more online tools being deployed by conference planners to improve the experience of live events for their attendees. The upcoming REO Expo is a case in point.

HousingWire, the media sponsor of the June conference, is making available both iPhone and Android apps for those who plan on attending the show.

The App Features:

• Latest complete program agenda
• Speaker bios
• Exhibitor listing and information
• Expo partners
• Up-to-the-minute Tweets
• Conference maps
• Photo gallery with photo upload feature

HousingWire says the application will allow attendees to "get the most from this year’s premier REO event."

We expect that they're right. Find out more about the event online and visit the app's landing page to download your own.