Mediaboss Marketing

When A.J. Gerritson co-founded Boston-based 451 Marketing in 2004, social media was beginning to catch fire with users but hadnt seeped into most marketing strategies.

But 451 Marketing put significant effort into learning the ins and outs of the social Web right from its founding.

The agency also offers traditional public relations services, and its clients include recognizable brands like Yankee Candle and Hood. But 451 has experienced its greatest growth in the past two years as businesses have begun tapping into the marketing power of social networking.

Gerritson, a Hull resident, is a founding partner of 451. Before launching the agency with business partner Nick Lowe, he worked as vice president of strategy for the Boston-based marketing firm Zeeo Interactive.

Interactive and social media are always changing. How do you recommend that a business owner stay up to speed on innovations?

I would like to caution business owners to have a (social marketing) strategy in place before jumping in headfirst.

I see a lot of companies just do the latest and greatest thing because its the latest and greatest thing. But Id advise that they step back and say, Why do we want to do this? Is this really going to help us accomplish our goals?

So, if Im the CEO of an accounting firm, am I going to find a use for (the photo- and video-sharing app) Snapchat? Is that going to help me? But it is if youre a consumer brand or a design studio.

Have your finger on the pulse, but dont just jump into everything. In terms of staying aware of whats going on, theres a lot of great resources. Keep on top of the media and blogs. Read whats out there. Use social media to stay informed.

Are brands sure that consumers want to be marketed to in user-friendly spaces like social networks?

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SOUTH SHORE INSIDER: Social networking as a marketing tool

BELMONT, CA--(Marketwire - Jan 16, 2013) - Actiance, helping organizations benefit from communications, collaboration and social networking, today announced its participation in the 2013 Janney Elite Financial Advisor Conference. The annual two-day learning event, hosted by Janney Montgomery Scott LLC, is a unique opportunity for the firm's financial advisors to interact with peers and attend a variety of training seminars and presentations that cover a range of productivity and practice management topics, including the effective use of social media in implementing a social business strategy.

Victor Gaxiola, subject matter expert at Actiance and Kelly Hoffman, Marketing Manager at Janney, will co-present three sessions of Social Media at Janney Montgomery Scott: Leveraging Your Digital Presence.In the seminar, Janney financial advisors learn the latest trends and best practices to stay up to date with the rules and regulations in leveraging social media to improve client relationships.

"To be successful in today's digital world, financial advisors must know social media best practices and employ them in a complex regulatory environment," says Hoffman. "We're delighted to welcome Actiance's social media expert, Victor Gaxiola, as a speaker at our conference.Victor works with Janney to help us increase our relevance and authenticity, while building our business in the social media sphere.Victor and I are looking forward to educating attendees about increasing their digital presence to improve business, which will ultimately result in more direct and more personal relationships with clients."

For more information on Actiance or its products, please visit: http://www.actiance.com http://twitter.com/actiance http://blog.actiance.com

About ActianceActiance is a global leader in communication, collaboration, and social media governance for the enterprise. Its governance platform is used by millions of professionals across dozens of industries. With the power of communication, collaboration, and social media at their fingertips, Actiance helps professionals everywhere to engage with customers and colleagues so they can unleash the social enterprise. The Actiance platform gives organizations the ability to ensure compliance for all their communications channels. It provides real-time content monitoring, centralized policy management, contextual capture of content and smart archiving which improves the efficiency and cost-effectiveness of eDiscovery and helps protect users from malware and accidental or malicious leakage of information. Actiance supports all leading social media, unified communications, collaboration, and IM platforms, including Facebook (FB), LinkedIn (LNKD), Twitter, Google (GOOG), Yahoo! (YHOO), Skype, IBM, (IBM), Jive (JIVE), Microsoft (MSFT), Cisco (CSCO), and Salesforce.com (CRM).

Actiance is headquartered in Belmont, California. For more information, visit http://www.actiance.com or call 1-888-349-3223.

About Janney Montgomery Scott LLC

Established in 1832, Janney Montgomery Scott LLC provides comprehensive financial advice and superior service to individual, corporate and institutional investors. A full-service, financial services firm, Janney is committed to providing our clients advice through a wealth management approach by focusing on the delivery of strategic financial plans that utilize a variety of financial products and services best suited to help meet their financial goals. Janney is equally committed to providing our corporate and institutional clients objective advice for the successful execution of their unique business plans. Janney provides advice and service to clients through a network of professionals in branch offices located along the entire east coast. Janney is an independently operated subsidiary of The Penn Mutual Life Insurance Company, one of the largest mutual insurance companies in the nation, and is a member of the New York Stock Exchange, Financial Industry Regulatory Authority and Securities Investor Protection Corporation.

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Actiance and Janney Montgomery Scott to Present on the Importance of Leveraging Social Media at the 2013 Janney Elite ...

You could say this social networking site is going to the dogs, err, the cats.

The site Catmoji.com, currently based in Penang in Malaysia, features photos and videos of cats shared by cat lovers.

"Catmoji is on a mission to make the Internet a better and happier place with cats. Join and help us disrupt the Internet with cats and happiness," it said on its "about" page.

An article on Betabeat.com described Catmoji as a niche social network with an interface "that works a lot like Pinterest."

Users can create a profile, and then browse by mood, like cute or sad.

Catmoji is a serious business... We want to be the online identity for cats, i.e. Facebook for cats, said Malaysia-based founders Matthew Phiong and Koekoe Loo.

Betabeat said that while the two did not say how they would make money from the site, Catmoji could attract income if it gets enough users.

"The trick will be attracting cat-pic-crazed users away from niches within the massive platforms where they already spend their time, like Tumblr, Facebook and Twitter," it said.

Phiong and Loo said Catmoji offers a different experience compared to other social networks.

They said the site has feline-focused features, such as the ability to choose one of several catvatars.

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Catmoji: A social network for cat lovers

16th January, 2013

KUALA LUMPUR: Social networking has been found to be risky to children, according to The Malaysian Internet Experience-Household Use of The Internet 2011 by Malaysian Communication & Multimedia Commission (MCMC) chairman.

MCMC chairman Datuk Mohamed Sharil Tarmizi said according to the survey, 65.5 per cent of the respondents agreed that the social networking was risky to children, while 28.5 per cent have not agreed and 5.9 per cent were neutral.

I see children aged eight to nine, having Facebook and putting all sorts of information.

When we ask the kids the purpose of social network, they would say to keep in touch with friends and find information, he said when presenting a paper entitled Law & Activism in the 21st Century at the Transformation of Security & Fundamental Rights Legislation Conference here yesterday.

According to a survey on social network purposes, he said 69.7 per cent of respondents among teenagers wanted to stay in touch with friends, 64.6 per cent to find information, entertainment (60.1 per cent), sharing experience (59.3 per cent), socialise (58.8 per cent), get opinions (53.7 per cent) while 12 per cent highlighted products and others (7.6 per cent).

Starting from friends, searching for information, having fun, sharing opinion and social. But irresponsible people also follow them and would try to influence the youth, he said adding that 85.21 per cent of penetration of online population have Facebook, and people aged between 18-24 were the highest.

Given the high percentage of children and teenagers using the social networking, Mohamed Sharil noted that parents and teachers were the most appropriate guardians to monitor their childrens social networking activities.

He added that the survey in 2011 showed 92.5 per cent of respondents agreed that parents should regulate their childrens use of internet, 28 per cent voted teachers while 25 per cent put the responsibility to internet service providers and government, respectively.

Meanwhile, Mohamed Sharil said that there were six laws enacted to control online activities in Malaysia such as Communications & Multimedia Act, Computer Crimes Act, Copyright Act, Penal Code, Personal Data Protection Act and Digital Signature Act.

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MCMC: Social networking a risk to kids

Beverly Hills, CA (PRWEB) January 16, 2013

According to the Center for Disease Control, individuals born between 1945 and 1965 should undergo a one-time test for the hepatitis C virus.

For reasons that are not completely understood, baby boomers demonstrate the highest rates of hepatitis C, said Dr. Ari Nowain, a board-certified gastroenterologist and internal medicine doctor at La Peer Health Systems in Beverly Hills. The new CDC guidelines can help save thousands of lives by identifying those individuals who need treatment.

A viral disease causing inflammation of the liver, hepatitis C often leads to liver damage, cirrhosis and even early death. Further, hepatitis C is the primary cause of liver cancer as well as the number one reason for liver transplants. However, the CDC estimates that eighty percent of people with hepatitis C demonstrate no symptoms. Even more frightening, many of these individuals are unaware that they suffer from the disease. The CDC believes it's crucial to identify hepatitis C sufferers so they can be monitored by physicians and treated before the condition progresses.

One of the reasons hep C is so dangerous is that sufferers are often asymptomatic for years, said Dr. Nowain, who possesses special training in the treatment of liver diseases. While we now have a number of very effective therapies for hepatitis C, successful treatment requires identifying patients in the early stages of the virus.

The CDC advises that those individuals born between 1945 and 1965 undergo an initial screening for hepatitis C with an FDA-approved antibody test. Those baby boomers who receive a positive initial result should then schedule an HCV-RNA test to determine whether the infection is active.

There's a reason hep C is called 'the silent killer,' said Dr. Nowain. Hopefully, the new CDC guidelines will help ensure that baby boomers get the treatment they require before the disease progresses.

Dr. Nowain also recommends that those individuals born outside the 1945 to 1965 window seek testing for hepatitis C if they demonstrate any of the following symptoms: abdominal pain, jaundice, dark urine, vomiting, fever. People whose blood work indicates elevated liver enzymes should also be tested. Feel free to contact Dr. Nowain to schedule an appointment by calling 310.657.4444 or by visiting http://www.CenterGIHealth.com.

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Beverly Hills Gastroenterologist, Ari Nowain, MD, Discusses the New CDC Guidelines for Hep C Testing