Blog Posts by Owen Linderholm

reputation

By Paul M. Rand

Think about the last time you got a new client or customer.

There's an overwhelming likelihood that your new business came from someone recommending you. In fact, 92 percent of all consumers report that a "recommendation from people I know" is the biggest influence on their purchase behavior, according to a recently released study from Nielsen research. This percentage is well ahead of TV ads (47%), newspaper ads (46%) and even radio ads (42%).
While recommendations have always been important, social media has fundamentally shifted the marketing dynamic. Today, consumers can share their positive — and negative -- word of mouth recommendations with hundreds, thousands and even millions of other people.

Overwhelming Choices

Every day, there is a new social media tool, process or platform being announced. And Google, Facebook, Groupon and a host of social media marketing platforms and providers are promising a never-ending stream of new business by marketing through their