Andrew Lock has brought yet another video presentation to guide you to using social media effectively. eCommerce-Guide.com wrote:

“This week our question is all about social media, specifically how is it possible to track results of marketing efforts in that world? My answer may shock you, but it needs to be said.”

Watch the video above or check out eCommerce-Guide.com.

Pam Baker of E-Commerce Times recently brought an interesting issue to light: how to successfully manage what will only continue to be a growing mobile technology department. She questions:

Few would argue the necessity of managing all things mobile, but fewer still have a clue as how best to manage the management. Make mobile a new department all its own? Keep it in IT? Make it a subset of every department? Enter the chief mobility officer. The position is strategically key to an enterprise’s overall success, says Gerry Purdy, principal analyst with MobileTrax.

As mobile technology and media becomes a bigger and bigger part of business, the way we manage and incorporate it into our business departments will effect the overall structure of our companies.

To read more about how mobile technology and media are affecting business management, see the original article: Mobile Tech: From Channel to Rainmaker.

Today Google announced its plans to purchase ITA Software, a major provider of airline travel software for companies such as Hotwire, Kayak, and Orbitz, for $700 million. There is currently a lot of anti-trust speculation surrounding the deal. The Federal Trade Commission reluctantly approved the purchase after Apple announced what may eventually be a competing service, iAds. Nevertheless, Google will stay face review for any potential violations. To read more about the acquisition, visit Google Books $700M Deal for Travel Software Co..

The benefits of engaging in social media can seem nebulous at times when its effect on the market or sales is not always direct. In her latest article, “Social Media’s Excellent Adventure,” Pam Baker writes:

Talk is all social media really is. Leveraging social media, then, requires a deep abiding understanding of how to manage community chatter. It is about quickly turning negative talk to positive and positive talk to sales. It’s about sweating the small stuff and getting personal.

The idea is that there is no business without the customer and by engaging the customer in a guided conversation through social media, businesses can boost their sales and control their image.

To read more about what exactly social media does and why it is important to businesses, read Baker’s article at E-Commerce Times.

Although some may claim that bartering requires face-time and liquid cash, bartering on the web is hardly new. In fact, with many new services and the emergence of social media, it is undergoing huge changes. There are entire spaces dedicated to bartering, such as VirtualBarter.com, barterbook.com, even Facebook hosts applications that encourage its use. Brian Hook, in his article The New Rules for Bartering: No Cash? No Problem, writes:

“You can barter literally anything,” said Karen Hoffman, who along with former business journalist Shera Dalin authored the new book The Art of Barter: How to Trade for Almost Anything. The book outlines how individuals and business can trade in person, on websites, and through commercial exchanges for products and services.

To read the full article, visit E-Commerce Times.

With the crisis the publishing industry is currently experiencing, as well as many other industries whose focus is media, the new technologies of the digital age have presented a serious problem to profits when such content is freely accessible elsewhere. Sidney Hill of E-Commerce News picks up on Rupert Murdoch’s comments that not all is lost if the right business model is introduced. He says “the notion that consumers simply will not pay for online content is a mistaken one. One thing consumers have indicated is that they want to be able to access content on their own terms, and they’re willing to pay to get what they want, when they want it, on the device of their choosing.” To read the full article, visit E-Commerce News: Has Murdoch Found the Magic Formula for Paid Online Content?.

Posted via web from The JAJ Commerce Blog

Stuart J. Johnston recently wrote a piece for eCommerce-Guide.com asking the question: Will bing search definition affect ecommerce ads? The controversy centers in how one defines a “search.” In the constantly changing nature of the web and technology, the introduction of both Bing and Yahoo’s “slide show” features are introducing a new way of defining searches. To read the whole article, visit the eCommerce-Guide website.

Posted via web from The JAJ Commerce Blog