By Alyssa Udall (@udallyss)

Google, Bing and Yahoo search engines are usually what comes to mind when one thinks of Pay-Per-Click ads.  However, there is another huge market for PPC ads that is often overlooked by online businesses: Facebook.  That’s right, Facebook ads are offered in the PPC format, allowing online businesses to take their targeted marketing to the next level.

Facebook paid-ads work much the same way that PPC ads in Google and Bing work.  However, the subtle differences between the two methods of paid search may make all the difference to some industries.

Here are some of the specs on Facebook PPC ads:

->  BIG Market Share: Facebook is big.  Okay, Facebook is huge.  It’s probably the biggest time-waster known to mankind.  And it’s still growing!  The point here is, Facebook hosts a monstrous aggregate of young and old, educated and uneducated people alike.   Most target markets would be greatly available on Facebook.  However, there are some that would more profitable than others.  For example, an ad for handmade jewelry like you see above would be fairly successful on Facebook, because it is targeted towards mostly educated, middle to upper-class women.  If the ad were to be targeted to mostly uneducated or lower class women, research shows that Myspace would be the more appropriate place to advertise.

->  Not as Powerful: Let’s face it — no matter how big Facebook gets, it can never trump that search engine giant, Google.  While you’re reading this, you may be thinking, “Wait a sec! Didn’t she just tell us that Facebook ads can give us access to a big market share?”  It is important to realize that while Facebook is indeed growing, it is still a social networking site that not accessible to anyone (because it requires login credentials), while Google is the most popular search engine in the land.  Another thing to consider is that your Facebook ads will not be visible in search engine results!

After reading this article, you should have a pretty good idea about whether or not Facebook ads will work for your business.  If you’re not ready to make the leap into Facebook paid ads, you can always just focus on your free Facebook pages or even add Facebook Connect to your website or blog.  Once you see how those campaigns work out, you can have a better idea about where to take your next step.

By Britnee Nguyen

Journalists have always had the responsibility of delivering news that is unbiased and balanced when reporting a story. They make sure their own opinions are left out of the story in order to achieve this which builds up their integrity and their publication’s credibility to the public.

This has been a fairly easy guideline for journalists follow when reporting on stories to the public. They’ve been able to go to work and do their job without expressing opinion and then go home and enjoy their personal life and private opinions.

But in this recent world of utah social media, journalists’ private and public life are beginning to become intertwined. Washington Post just closed down their Managing Editor’s Twitter account because of their expressing views on the health care system. They then sent out new social media guidelines to all of their employees stating what they can and can not do.

They go as far as saying that they can’t post their opinions on utah online marketing Facebook and should delete comments left on their wall by friends that may also state a one-sided opinion. They are basically being told to be Washington Post representatives not only during their work hours, but in their personal lives as well.

To me, this seems to be crossing the line. Journalists should have their personal lives too without work interfering. I think audiences are smart enough to realize that utah online marketing when they see a journalist reporting a story on T.V. that their story is free of their opinions and that if they look at a journalist’s personal Twitter account that it is their personal writings posted there.

Social media has been a great outlet for people to express their voices in ways that have never been available in the past. However, in the journalist industry, the blurred line of social media and unbiased journalism has caused a chilling effect and shuts their voices to the world.

What do you think? Do you think journalists should be allowed to express their opinions on their personal utah social media accounts? Or do their bosses (like Washington Post) have the right to limit their freedom of expression?

Flickr Photo Credit: electricnerve

By Alyssa Udall (@udallyss)

Just like any emerging online trend, Twitter has been infiltrated by spammers, many of them making claims like the one you see below:  “Make money with Twitter!”, etc.  While the spammers themselves are incredibly annoying (and their claims  baseless) there is some truth to that statement: Make money with Twitter.  Obviously, this is not to be done the way the bots are suggesting you do it.  Rather, Twitter can be a great tool for e-commerce businesses looking to gain exposure.

The great thing about e-commerce businesses is that they all have the common ability of being social.  That is, social media strategies can be implemented into their business structure.  Having trouble seeing this?  Here are some ideas to making your business more social and using that connection to generate interest, traffic and, ultimately, profits:

1. Publish new items to your Twitter account
2. Announce new blog posts
3. Connect with other professionals
4. Create “Twitter Specials”: coupons that can be used on your site
5. Generate interest with contests and competitions
6. Connect with customers to build a great customer support reputation
7. Announce sales, promotions, holiday specials, etc.
8. Give away free samples
9. Get more first-time buyers and keep them with Twitter support
10. Have exclusive one-day sales

This list of Twitter ideas is purposefully vague.  No matter what category or niche your online business is in, you can apply some or all of these ideas to fit you specifically.

If you’re still having trouble coming up with ways you can apply this to your business, try searching for companies in your niche.  See how they are using Twitter to generate traffic and leads.  This could be a great way to come up with affective social media tactics for your online business!  Remember, the worst mistake you can make here is to do nothing.  No matter what you’re selling, Twitter can work for you!