I love reading other industry trade publications and just how the Social Web is impacting their industry. Here is a tidbit from SkinInc  -Spa Business Solutions.

According to a survey conducted by the marketing firm Ad-ology Research, a growing numbers of people in younger demographics are influenced by social networks when choosing a day spa or hair salon.

Fifty-seven percent of 18- to 24-year-olds and 48.5% of 25- to 34-year-olds say social media influenced their choice of a hair salon or day spa, according to Ad-ology Research. Across all demographics, online media had the most impact, with local Web sites (28.8%) and online Yellow Pages (22.3%) ranking as the most influential. Direct mail and newspapers were the top-ranked traditional media types.

“The younger crowd wants the latest styles, but they also want to go somewhere popular, somewhere their friends go,” said C. Lee Smith, president and CEO of Ad-ology Research. “Salons and spas need to get active online because chatter on social networks and positive comments can attract these young potential customers,” Smith said.

Other key findings:

• Currently, only 3% of consumers prefer to schedule hair and spa appointments online.
• 34.3% of African Americans say a sports sponsorship is an important factor in their choice of a hair salon or day spa.
• In addition to quality, cleanliness, price and location are top factors in salon and spa selection.

Read the entire article at http://www.skininc.com/spabusiness/management/marketing/49600392.html

Facebook Marketing Tips For Hotels is one of the latest articles popping up encouraging bricks and mortar businesses to wake up about the power of the Social Web…in this case Facebook.

Social media has become the hottest method of marketing in today’s world. Millions of people are using Facebook every day – that’s a market that needs to be tapped. With the creation of the Facebook “news feed”, getting information about you to other people has never been more simple.

As a hotel, you can certainly use Facebook as an effective method to bring in more guests. However, you need to be careful. Like any marketing method, if done incorrectly, it can become a tremendous waste of both time and money. Here are a few ways that you can market on Facebook without wasting your time or your money:

The rest of the article goes into more details as to what hotels can do specifically…heres a summary of the 10 suggestions.

1) Create a profile so people can contact you

2) Post an event.

3) Post some pictures or videos.

4) Share news articles.

5) Create a Facebook group.

6) Create a Facebook page.

7) Post a classified ad on Facebook Marketplace.

8) Purchase Social Ads.

9) Start a poll.

10) Sponsor a Facebook Application.

Copyright© 1995-2009 Hospitality Net™ All rights reserved.

To read the entire article go to  http://www.hospitalitynet.org/news/154000320/4042071.html

G. Wayne Clayton is the founder and Chief Visionary Officer of Integerol LLC  along with SocialMarketingExpert.org.  He’s a former newspaper publisher and investigative journalist. He has been seen seen and heard on CNN, Fox News Talk radio, quoted in The Toronto Star and is a Guest Blogger on FastCompany.com.

Our military apparently had a policy in place that did not allow our men and women in Armed Services to use Social Media sites (that is an amazing thing for the military to even waste time on enforcing as a rule) …but it seems that they’ve had some change of heart. Read more below…

Wired’s Danger Room blog has obtained a copy of a May 18 operations order from the Army’s 93rd Signal Brigade directing information managers on domestic military bases to allow personnel to access Facebook, Vimeo, Delicious, Flickr and Twitter.

Read the entire article at  http://techinsider.nextgov.com/2009/06/army_to_stop_blocking_some_soc.php

I still dont get the negative impact that using social media would’ve made… unless they were concerned the Taliban is on Twitter or North Korea has a Facebook Fan Page…maybe I should check LOL

G. Wayne Clayton is the founder and Chief Visionary Officer of Integerol LLC along with SocialMarketingExpert.org. He’s a former newspaper publisher and investigative journalist. He has been seen seen and heard on CNN, Fox News Talk radio, quoted in The Toronto Star and is a Guest Blogger on FastCompany.com.

 Even with a small amount of experience in the world of social bookmarking, you’ve undoubtedly come across someone saying you need to fill out your profile. Why is that important? Well it helps to draw targeted eyeballs (prospects) to your online business. You match what they are looking for. Does it work? Well in theory, yes. But in the real world, you may find varying results. 

What doesn’t work so well for many people is those eyeballs don’t always convert very successfully to leads. Then, on top of that, the few leads you do get don’t always convert well into buying customers.

If this is your experience, first realize you are not alone. Second, understand that does not mean that “working” social bookmarking sites are a waste of time. You have the power and control to leverage your time using social bookmarking sites.

How to MAKE It Work 
It may sound simple,  but it’s not easy. If you want a responsive audience, then give ‘em what they like. Doing this will virtually guarantee you that they will promote you and spread your content. Be more entertaining. Offer more education. Connect and cater to them with more of what’s going to make a difference in their lives, and they will become a follower, and maybe even a friend. When they emotionally link to you, they will virtually link to you, which is an incredibly valuable experience. It’s so important that Google determines your rankings by how many and what type of websites link to your site. So, if you can develop yourself on the social bookmarking sites as an expert — one who gives great value and resources, then you will realize a lot of one-way, incoming links. That one simple, interactive strategy can make you very visible and popular. Google likes people who are visible and popular and rewards them with better search listings.

Research what the needs are of your audience. You’ll quickly see how those can become the keywords from which searchers will find you, first in social bookmarking sites, then Google. When a Google searcher types in a keyword phrase, they are looking for something specific. You want your name, brand and website address to be found in that path. We want them to “stumble over your info.” Give them the reasons they need to click on through to your site. Google brings them to your door…now it’s your turn to really show them why they should “come in.” 

So it’s not really any social bookmarking site that is to blame for your lack of results. Instead look at what the prospect sees. Is this information worth looking at? It’s similar to the old adage GIGO – garbage in, garbage out. 

G. Wayne Clayton is the founder and Chief Visionary Officer of Integerol/SocialMarketingExpert.org. He’s a former newspaper publisher and investigative journalist. He has been seen seen and heard on CNN, Fox News Talk radio, quoted in The Toronto Star and is a Guest Blogger on FastCompany.com.