If you are like me, I am a bit suspicious when I see a celebrity or model with a perfect smile, smooth skin, and skinny hips in magazine coves and advertisements.  There is much discussion about the ethics of changing the image of models and the unrealistic expectations our youth develop after seeing these "perfect" images. I understand that a model may have an imperfection on the day of a photo shoot, but where do we draw line on what is acceptable for the sake of aesthetics and what is a violation of basic ethics. 

What has surprised me is the number of Pinners that pin fake images on Pinterest.  What is the purpose?  I imagine that it is designed to help get followers and repins of these unusual images.  Unfortunately, it will also give unwise Pinners the wrong idea regarding an endangered species or potential travel destinations.  For example, is the above image real or fake? If you said fake, then you are correct. What are some indicators that it is a fake? First, this is a photo of a Clark's Nutcracker that is a gray and black bird.  Second, the watermark indicates that this came from the Worth1000.com website. This website operates photo manipulation contests . . . you can find a great number of really well done images.  So I understand the temptation, but at least confess that this image has been manipulated with a software, such as Adobe Photoshop. Finally, this bird is found in the mountain west region of the United States.  I have seen it many times in our national parks, near campgrounds, pine trees, and in picnic areas.

But alas, even I have fallen for a few of these fakes. Now I take the time to verify the associated link.  Does the pin link to a real website? Is the image still on the website? Is the author or photographer indicated on the website?  Any photographer worth "their salt" will claim credit for their work!  Most will share when and where the photo was taken, and with what camera they used to capture the image. Exercise a little caution before repinning that stunning image.
 
I realize that many of these images are pretty and it is difficult to resist.  But be truthful in your representation!  Your reputation will depend on your ethics.  Consider this . . . if you use a fake image to attract customers to a business website (yes, I have discovered at least one company on Pinterest that has done this), I as a customer would not trust that the images of your products were truthful.  By the way, here is the original untouched photo of the Clark's Nutcracker. Next time you see a beautiful and unusual bird, check out Cornell Lab of Ornithology. 

Do you have a Pinterest Account?  You might want to check out the Pinterest Accounts for my students in Electronic Marketing.

I have an extensive number of Pinterest boards related to electronic marketing and social media. Why not check them out and follow the boards that will be most helpful to you in maximizing your marketing efforts. 

• eMarketing & Social Media
• Advertising
• Blogging for Business
• Branding & Logos
• Content Generation
• Direct Mail Marketing
• Facebook & Google Plus
• Infographics
• ::INFOGRAPHIC::
• Instagram
• LinkedIn
• Mobile Marketing
• Photo Tips & Tutorials
• Pinterest Tips & Tools
• Pinterest: Mastering Pinterest for Viral Traffic and Conversion
• Publicity/PR
• SEO/Search Tools
• Social Media
• Target Audience
• Twitter
• Website Designs
• WordPress
• YouTube

Please check out these Twitter Accounts for recent articles and information on social media:

Instructor Linda Ralston: @DrLindaRalston

Tanner Andresen: @TanAndresen

Cameron Bailey: @Cssbailey

Tyler Barnhart: @barnsandstuff

Carly Brown: @carlyranae

Cameo Burton: @CameoBurton

Vivian Chang: @_VivianChang

Ram Chapagain: @RChapagain2

David Cravens: @davidfcravens14

Cam Doane: @CameronDoane

Creighton Elinski: @CreightonUofU

Jenny Glauser: @JennLee941

Michael Greer: @MichaelWGreer

Megan Hepworth: @MeganHepworth

Kylie James: @kylieajames

Cole Johnston: @rcj412

Tyler McLachlan: @McLachlanTy

Cris Nelson: @CrisNelson1

Montana Peterson: @MontanaP_

Krystal Schultz: @krystals34

Samu Sitake: @ssitake

David Sylvain: @DavidSylvain2

Jenessa Tondevold: @JenessaShae

Jetta Valentine: @jettavalentine

Jennie Williams: @jenniekinz80

Teaching Assistants:

Si Chen: @elsachensi0622

Jared Hopkinson: @RaftIdaho

Xu Liu: @XULIU2

Ling Sha: @LingSha1

Lin Zhang: @Lin_Emarketing

Qingqing Zhang: @Zhangqq_Tiffany

This week I would like to share some of the blogs created by my students in PRT 5460/6460 Electronic Marketing.  Their first assignment was to evaluate a website using AIDA (attention-interest-desire-action). The majority of the students in this class will be graduating in May 2013.  If you are looking for a capable employee with knowledge of electronic marketing, then check out these blogs:

• Tanner Andresen: http://tannerandresen.weebly.com/index.html
• Tyler Barnhart: http://tylerbarnhart.weebly.com/
• Cameron Bailey: http://cameronbailey14.weebly.com/
• Carly Brown: http://carlybrown.weebly.com/
• Cameo Burton: http://cameoburton.weebly.com/
• Henry Calderon: http://henrycalderon.weebly.com/
• Vivian Chang: http://vivianchangs.weebly.com
• Ram Chapagain: http://ramesworchapagain.weebly.com/
• David Cravens: http://davidcravens.weebly.com/index.html
• Cam Doane: http://www.CameronDoane.weebly.com
• Creighton Elinski: http://creightonelinski.weebly.com/
• Jenny Glauser: http://jennyglausereportfolio.weebly.com/
• Michael Greer: http://michaelgreereportfolio.weebly.com/
• Megan Hepworth: http://meganhepworth.weebly.com
• Kylie James: http://kylieajames.weebly.com
• Cole Johnston: http://robertcjohnston.weebly.com/
• Cris Nelson: http://crisnelson.weebly.com/index.html
• Montana Peterson: http://montanapeterson.weebly.com
• Amanda Rostrom: http://amandaleerostrom.weebly.com/
• Krystal Schultz: http://krystalschultz.weebly.com/electronic-marketing.html
• Samu Sitake: http://samusitake.weebly.com
• David Sylvain: http://occasionalcatnap.weebly.com
• Jenessa Tondevold: http://jenessateportfolio.weebly.com/index.html
• Jetta Valentine: http://jettavalentine.weebly.com/
• Jennie Williams: http://jenniesexcellence.weebly.com/e-marketing-blog.html

This week I would like to share some of the blogs created by my students in PRT 5460/6460 Electronic Marketing.  Their first assignment was to evaluate a website using AIDA (attention-interest-desire-action). The majority of the students in this class will be graduating in May 2013.  If you are looking for a capable employee with knowledge of electronic marketing, then check out these blogs:

• Zac E Marketing Blog
• Nick's Electronic Marketing Blog
• Elsa Si Chen's E-marketing Blog
• Canada Clawson's eMarketing Blog
• Anastasia's Blog
• Justin Cowan's E-Marketing Blog
• Michael Cumming's E-Marketing Blog
• Alex Degnan's E-Marketing Blog
• Rob Dela Cruz's Blog
• Elliot Doe's EMarketing Blog
• Creighton Frost's eMarketing Blog
• Siqi Gao's eMarketing Blog
• Mandy's Blog
• Harrison Kanarick's eMarketing Blog
• Ninja Peach eMarketing Blog
• Dmytro Mamedov's Electronic Marketing Blog
• Nick Mostyn's eMarketing Blog
• Murdock Landscaping Blog
• Scott Neuenschwander's Blog
• Caleb Redington's Blog
• Jenny Reichhold's Blog
• Colton Reinholtz's E-marketing Blog
• Ling Sha's eMarketing Blog
• Nik's E-Marketing Blog
• Brian's Blog
• Ben's E-Marketing Blog
• E-marketing with Eric
• Ash's Electronic Marketing 101 Blog
• Qingqing's eMarketing Blog
• Lori Taylor's Portfolio

Last week I was a bit surprised that the bright students in my electronic marketing course had not heard of the AIDA marketing principle during a previous marketing class. . . so it really got me to thinking.  Do most webmaster/web designers consider the power of AIDA when designing their websites? 

Why not check out the web sites to see if there are some that have
achieved success incorporating AIDA?  So let us take a little trip to check out some good examples of AIDA.  But before we take off for a global search, allow me to review the principle of AIDA to ensure that we are all on the same starting point.

 A – The first “A” in this acronym stands for attention or awareness.  This makes total sense because if we cannot get a viewer to pause for more than a few seconds to consider what we have to offer, we will never get them to act and make a purchase.  The first step in getting a viewer to your website is to have an effective search engine optimization strategy.  I believe that the vast majority of websites just neglect the basics of a descriptive title and a brief but effective description that appears in the search engine outcome.  How many times have you skipped over a high ranking search engine result because the URL or the title just did not seem to reflect what you were looking for in your search?  I covered how to include the title in a website on the second day of the class . . . that should demonstrate how important it is to the development of any website.  

Once the viewer is to your website, you need to grab their attention quickly.  Research shows that our eyes typically gravitate to the top left corner of the
website.  This is prime real estate in web design. Most websites use this for their company logo or name. You may elect to use a brand logo, a headline in a large font/type, a graphic or animation to grab a visitor’s initial glance.  Regardless of what you place in this corner, it is essential that you somehow ensure that the viewer’s eye will move to something that will grab their attention and generate interest to dive deeper into your website.

I – Interest: Once you have got them on your website, you need to entice them with content that interests them to stay and explore. Let us use an analogy here . . . fishing! You have selected a great looking lure or a tasty morsel for bait and the fish begin to swim around your line.  How do get them to bite the hook so you can reel them in on your line? My father taught me to jerk the line just a wee bit.   Add a little movement to illustrate just how tasty that bait is or create a little glint off the lure.  We advertise just how delicious that morsel is for the fish.  We do the same thing on a website.  We need to demonstrate the benefits and advantages of what we have to offer for our visitors without boring them with paragraphs of jargon. The best way to generate interest is to utilize bullet points or steps to itemize the benefits succinctly and clearly. Therefore, we need to create chunks of information that can be delivered in brief and informative statements or in images. The goal is to create the impression that we have just what they need and want on our website.

D- The third letter in our acronym is “D” for desire.  Your viewer is now sufficiently interested that they are spending some of their valuable time to explore our website.  Now we need to deepen their interest by generating desire for our product or service.  This is the time to deliver high quality videos or images that showcase your product or service in the best possible light.  If you
have followers on social media, this is a great opportunity to share their testimonials or link to reviews on other independent websites (i.e., Angie’s
list, TripAdvisor, etc.).  If you have had some prestigious clients that might be willing to share their experiences, ask them for their testimonial or review. Don’t  be shy, brag about awards and recognitions that demonstrate your quality and reputation for reliability. I even appreciate a company or agency that shares that they volunteer or support a local charity.  Some companies list their followers on Facebook or subscribers, but I am not convinced that this really means as much to the average visitor.  I know there are some companies and agencies that entice people to like them on Facebook by offering prizes. 
Therefore, I take this with a grain of salt.  But if I read a great review by an independent blogger for a restaurant or hotel, you can bet I will check it out myself. Nothing is more powerful than "word of mouth" and social media has increased the power of "word of mouth" by 10 fold.
fold.

A- Action! If you have effectively delivered the information and design that fulfills Attention – Interest and Desire then they are ready to act! You need only get them to purchase or sign up for a newsletter, email alerts, or membership. 
Sounds easy . . . not so fast. Many websites fail to make this “Call for Action” Alert clear and simple. Use a large and colorful button surrounded by whitespace to grab their eye and ensure that your wording is direct and concise.  “Buy Now!” Be careful to not overwhelm or confuse the visitor with too many options.  I have left many a website because I could not find where to order the item.  I have also left a website because they did not provide a payment method that I utilized.  So know your target audience and know how they like to pay for items. Make it easy to secure that sale!

Next week I will have my students bring in the names of websites they feel fulfill the AIDA principles, so check back.  I will post the best and worst websites right here and link to their new blogs.  
 
Note: I have been working my plan from last week’s blog.  Hopefully I can maintain this pace . . . but it is always difficult to establish a regular habit. 
So I am not ready to celebrate following only my second Monday.   

It seems that in my busy schedule of teaching, I never have sufficient time to blog. I am always writing a lecture, evaluating assignments, grading quizzes, etc.  Yet I love sharing tips for effective electronic marketing with my students at the University of Utah.  I discovered a great blog today (J6Design.com.au) with some basic ideas and a great infographic.  Excellent timing since I need to get back into the swing of blogging in preparation for teaching social media this fall. So I will test out the suggested 8 secrets to writing faster blog posts beginning here and now!

1.  Assign a time frame & deadline... & stick to it.  I am going to try and blog once a week for the balance of the fall semester. . . once a week with something about electronic marketing.

2.  Create a content calendar:  This is an easy one if I simply follow the outline of topics covered in my electronic  marketing class.

3.  Keep a topic list:  Sounds logical . . . again I will focus on topics I cover in my electronic marketing course at the University of Utah.  So in the coming weeks there will be (hear that tone of determination as I strike those keys) blogs on Basic Web Design, Search Engine Optimization, Social media, HTML 5/CSS,    The power of photography and photo editing, and Flash as a tool to capture attention and generate interest.

4. Remove all distractions.  Nearly  impossible since I am always multi-tasking . . . but it seems that Monday afternoon might work to close off the majority of the world. Teddy (my blind Pomeranian can sleep on my desk while I work) and I will turn off all the other sound devices to minimize distractions.

5. Start at the end. As a teacher, this is the heart of the lesson . . . the desired learning outcomes. For example, in this blog post I hope students will learn that even they can find some time to post a blog message.

6. Write don’t edit.  Impossible.  My fingers edit before my head even knows what is happening . . . but I will attempt to minimize the editing.

7. Keep the flow.  I will do my research before beginning the draft of the post.  Start with an outline and then let the magic happen.  
 
8.  You are story telling: J6Design.com.au suggests that you should read your blog out loud when you have finished drafting the blog.  I do this all the time when I write my PowerPoint slides for a lecture.  This is very helpful when I record my lectures for delivery online on the web.  I find it is so much easier if I take the time to read it out loud a couple of times so that I can feel more conversational rather than rattling off facts for my students.

Well tune in next week to see what happens to my plan to implement this in my time plan.  See you next Monday.

A recent article I found on SEOMOZ reviewed some key aspects that every blogger should consider in order to make their blogs more effective.  I will highlight a few of the recommendations. Bloggers should ensure that they make every effort to avoid making these errors that will decrease the effectiveness of your blog:

1. Crafting cute, clever or confusing headlines (or really bad ones) - Remember that this is the key aspect of generating interest in your blog.  Make sure you make the headline interesting to attract attention. In my electronic marketing course, I teach the use of AIDA.  A=Attention (the headline is essential to gaining attention), I=Interest (the description appearing on the search engine results will generate interest), D=Desire (create a desire for further information by supporting your blog with links to other sources), and A=Action (provide an opportunity for readers to follow-up on your blog with an RSS Feed or Twitter Posts).
2. Never linking to old posts. . . Previous posts provide support and further details for your current post.
3. Never linking to other bloggers . . . Again, providing links to other bloggers and articles generate interest and encourage dialogue between your readers and other bloggers.
4. Forgetting to fill out your page title and description fields . . . again, the page title and description are critical for SEO.  Search engines use this information when indexing your page and the use of the title and description provides valuable attention for potential readers on the search engine results.
5. Plagiarizing other bloggers . . . Whereas, you may feel it is a quick way to boost your blogging frequency, make sure you are ethical and provide valuable insight for your readers.  If in the case of a blog (such as, this particular post) reflects on material previously posted on another blog, quote the previous blog and provide a hyperlink to the original post.  More importantly, ADD further information and insight. As noted on item 1, provide a greater information to ensure that your readers want to read your blog rather than just link to another person's blog.
6. Writing big blocks of copy . . . use short paragraphs with sub-headings.  I know I am guilty of this error.  When I first started blogging while on sabbatical in China, I used my blog as a travel journal.  Writing in a journal is not the same as blogging.  I have learned over time that most people do not want to read pages and pages of copy.  Keep it short and interesting.

It seems that this is a perfect place to end this post . . . If you are interested in learning more, check out the original blog at http://www.seomoz.org/blog/12-things-that-will-kill-your-blog-post-every-time