You may have read the big news I posted yesterday, but in case you missed it, here it is!

For those in Tel-Aviv this coming March, I’m going to be hosting The Social Success Workshop, A hands-on 3 Session course, for entrepreneurs, individuals and organizations that will guide you from the initial phase of understanding the social media landscape to managing and benefiting from your involvement online.

This is where I’m going to be giving you the tools you need to build your brand utilizing new media marketing tactics such as Video, Social and SEO and Search Marketing.

The sessions will be taking place at Bar-Ilan University on March 10^th, 17^th and 24^th from 19:00 – 22:00.

Highlights will include

• Introduction to Social Media Marketing
• Creating a Web Marketing Strategy
• Creating Video Content & Distribution
• Tools Of The Trade (SEO Toolbox)
• Maximizing Your Brand Online
• Google Adwords Overview
• Taking Your Social Profiles To The Next Level
• Tracking and Profiting
• So Much More!

Oh and by the way, Seovice Fans, I’m knocking 25% off the registration price. Spaces are limited. I very much hope to see you attend!

Registration is now open: The Social Success Workshop

So I really put this post together to take you along for a day in my life.

I see it as an interesting way for you to get to know me a little better and for me to know more about you all. Pictures catch a moment that really can't be expressed in words. Whether you're video marketing it up, sharing pictures though the social scene or posting your passion with blog posts, it's really all about connecting with your audience, sharing your passion and taking them along for the ride. Let's Begin My Day!

7:30 AM - Sipping on a shot of wake-up juice. Stovetop Espresso.

Here's a little tip for those who are just starting out with the whole Espresso experience. Listen carefully to your moka pot. When you hear a gurgling sound, your coffee's done!

7:50 AM - Time to put on some threads, I swear, my closest usually isn't this messed up. I just had a tough time deciding. After all, it's an important day, you'll be along for the journey!

8:00 AM - Getting back to a couple consultation emails from OrenTodoros.com and catching up on the social chit chat with the awesome Seovice Fans on Facebook.

8:15 AM - Hitting up my Google Analytics account. Checking on the Adwords campaigns I manage and whatnot. Today was a good day.

8:30 AM - Time to get moving. Our new'ish 2004 Renault Scenic. She's been a pleasure so far. Let's go.

First stop, dropping off Lior at Daycare. She's all Giggly in the morning. Maybe I should spend the day with her instead?? Nah.. Next time!

Welcome to Tel-Aviv. If you've never been here. You're missing one of the most unique experiences of your life. I'm headed to a client's office in Neve Tzedek, an area fashionable among the bohemian yuppie scene. All jokes aside, Tel-Aviv City holds it down like the best of them. In case you haven't noticed it's February and it was well over 20°C.

9:30 AM - We're at my second home, Mikumedia. One of my biggest clients, although at this point, we're more like family.

14:00 PM - Back outside. Time for a quick business call.

Or two.

Make that three.

18:00 PM - Final stretch at my work environment for the day. Can you say minimalist? I've become accustomed to not being attached to any one spot for to long. I tend to move around a lot.

18:30 PM - Back at home base where I was surprised by a mystirious envelop from Australia, filled with stickers and other goodies sent to me by the always awesome DJSteen and the good folks at Viddler.com! - Here's the fun back-story.

18:31 PM - Stepped in the door and greated by my little monster. Priceless...

By 20:00 PM - I was out once again at focus group with friends & family for a mobile app that's in the works. That's just how I roll.

We’re at a time where the opportunities that social media offer greatly outweigh the time you could ever fully invest in them. If you think your lacking time, I assure you that you’re audience’s time is even sparser. Information is being delivered to them at a pace faster than they can ever consume. Want to be heard? You better have something damn valuable to say!

Just as you wouldn’t walk into a meeting, pitch a client or present to a crowd unprepared, you can’t afford to “wing it” engaging in social media. The question I’m about to answer in this post is; How do you prepare for something as dynamic as social interactions? Right off the bat, know this. You’re not going to connect with everyone. That’s the reality human interaction. That being said, Be ready to roll with it.

The good news is that there’s an increased eagerness to participate. All you’ll really have to do is initiate.

Step 1. Begin by understanding the social media landscape. More importantly realize that you don’t need to utilize every social service online. Invest your time where your audience is, not where your competitors are. The more you know about the network you’re active on, the bigger your advantage. There are over 350 established and emerging social networks ranging from business, entertainment, health, music, news, tech and dozens of other categories.

Set up shop on the networks most relevant to your brand or niche.

Go straight to Knowem.com and click on the Networks tab. They’ve already categorized the leading social based services. Search and Secure your name on the networks you’re not a part of yet. Even if you’re not active on them yet, you’ll want to make sure you own them.

Tip: Most of social networks offer lists, groups and sub-groups that match the industry you’re in so you’ll want to make sure you in on those as well.

Step 2. Understand where your content will live. The fact is that social media channels are constantly expanding. Our social profiles are scatted. Let’s use my content as a prime example.

I currently publish the Seovice videos on Youtube, Viddler, Vimeo and Metacafe. I share my images on Twitpic and Facebook (when I want to share them with my closest network of friends) I also have a Dailybooth account and use Photobucket to store pictures I embed on my sites and blogs. That’s at least 4 different services that I use to publish pictures and videos, not to mention the handful of social sites and micro blogs I’m active on such as Twitter, Facebook, Posterous and most recently on Google Buzz. This leads me to the biggest challenges I hear from companies and individuals during the workshops I present. What content should I post and where should I post it?

I’m the type of person that loves getting a behind-the-scenes look at the brands I love. That’s exactly what I ask you to keep in mind when creating social content. Invite your audience to participate in your organization’s creative process by giving them a glimpse of what they normally wouldn’t see anywhere else. The inevitable result of being active online is your content being duplicated across dozens of social networks.

Your goal needs to be; create content once and publish it once in the right place giving your intended audience a unique experience. Maintaining this strategy will help you participate exactly where your content lands.

Now it’s time to bring it all together, your blog should act as your content’s anchor or in a sense your home base. It’s your audience’s premier source of destination for the information you’ve shared that they may have missed. The Conversation Prism is a perfect visual representation of this strategy.

Step 3. Invest time in branding your social profiles. This step is really about commitment and consistency. Your audience expects your branding to follow through from your site and blog to your video, picture and social profiles. Luckily for those who need a little creative support there are services that will give your profiles that visual edge.

FreeTwitterDesigner is a super intuitive and free Twitter background editor. No reason to stick to the generic Twitter supplied backgrounds.

Publishing video content? “Which you absolutely should be at this point”, Viddler.com allows you to not only customize your player to match you site's color palette, but brand your videos by slapping your logo on your videos and link them up back to your site, perfectly suited for business class content with a touch of fun.

Step 4. It’s game day! You’re creating content, connecting with others and branding like it’s no bodies business. The first thing your boss is going to ask for are stats to make sure it’s working. Trust me, they all do. You’ll need to decide what you’re going to measure. The answer wildly depends of the business you’re in. Comments, Views, Followers, Fans, Reviews, Feedback, these are all worthy metrics to track. If you’re selling products or services, you’ll probably be asked to drill down to a conversion per follower level.

I’ve made it a habit to track all URLs I share using Bit.ly’s URL shortening service. It's beauty lies in the Click Summery view that breaks down click stats on the links you've shared by dates, referrals and locations.

And that my friends, is how you track the worth of your conversations!

As always, I ask you to weigh in share anything you feel needs to be added.

It’s Friday. It’s Link Love Roundup Time! This week’s links are dedicated to one of the biggest marketing plays of the year. Super Bowl!

Pepsi know what time it is: Redirecting the millions it has spent annually to the Internet. Pepsi has chosen to give away over $20 million in a social media play it is calling The Pepsi Refresh Project, debuting in 2010. ABCNews

Coca-Cola Drafts 'The Simpsons' for Game Day: Through Coke's Facebook fan page, members can send friends virtual gifts of Coke -- a bottle image that appears on their profile pages and newsfeeds. In return, senders get 20-second previews of the new commercials the beverage giant plans to air during the Super Bowl. AdWeek

Audi adds social media to Super Bowl 'Green Police' spot: Audi produced a series of videos for its Green Police YouTube channel, as well as a Twitter page. DMNews

Brand names are going straight to the crowds this Super Bowl seasons in an effort to directly account for ROI. As social marketing matures and progresses big businesses are starting to understand the effects of inviting customers to become active participants in their brand's marketing strategy.

Love it or hate it, The iPad has burst into our lives and has paved the way for endless imitations. Although in my opinion, the real beauty of the iPad is the social marketing aspect of it.

I’m introducing a new trend here on Seovice.com. Every Friday I’ll be sharing a few of the hottest, smartest, most useful and inspiring posts I’ve read. So Without further ado…

Transparency and the Art of the Happy Ending – 1938media

New York Times to social media: Drop dead - VentureBeat

Autopsy of a Cult Brand - Pluggd.in

Must check out blogger – Casie Stewart (for doing things her way)

Last but not least, this was the soundtrack to my week:

Wu Tang vs The Beatles – Free Download

Enjoy your weekend friends!

The previous installment of “Max Your Brand With 4 Social Media Optimization Tips” proved to be widely important to many readers, with reposts coming from; Socialmediatoday, Alltop.com, Kleerstreem and countless ReTweets. I thank each and every one of you who connected with the tips and shared them through your social network, at the end of the day no matter what tactics you choose to follow, it really comes does down to the power of people media.

Before we proceed, I want to make absolutely sure that we’re all on the same page when it comes to social media optimization. Simply being involved and participating on a social network whether it’s mobile or web related is not social media optimization. It’s a nice start but certainly doesn’t utilize its full potential. Let’s expand on the concept of what social media optimization really means with a whole new set of tactics to strengthen your presence and maximize your brand’s online reach.

Listening Beyond Boarders with Boardtracker

One of the most important points I focus on when teaching my social media workshops is; listening. The advantage you’ll gain from understanding what people are saying about your brand, your industry, competitors or about you is unmatched. The problem is that most social media monitoring tools such as Addictomatic, Socialmention, Google Alerts and so on only dig down to the blog level. With forums and message boards still accounting for a lot of user generated content published online, you need a service that completes the picture while manages make sense of it all. That’s where Boardtracker “AKA Boardtracker V.2010” comes in.

Boardtracker is the most powerful forum search engine, message tracking and instant alerts system available. BoardTracker 2010 has already crawled nearly 2 BILLION message threads with millions more added every day. Boardtracker’s strength stems from its richness of data, allowing you to filter your searches down to specific boards, authors and dates. In short, if you’re settling for the same information everyone available to everyone else, you’re missing a world of essential information.

Multiply Your Message with Slideshare

Bloggers, here’s a question for you. How many list type posts have you published over the last few months? You know the one’s I’m talking about; The top 5 best mobile apps, 6 must-know social media tools, 10 things you absolutely need to know about [insert anything here]. By now it’s no secret that readers relate to short concise posts supplying them with the information they need within relatively short reading time. On that note;

1. Take one or two of your best “list” type posts and break it down into a powerpoint presentation format. Don’t forget hyperlinks within your presentation linking back to your blog or website.
2. Create an account on Slideshare.net
3. Upload your fresh new presentation and post it almost anywhere you choose!
4. Why stop there? Offer consulting services? Make sure people know about them with Slideshare.
   Oren Todoros New Media Consulting

   View more presentations from seovice.

Cram More Into Your Tweets, Say it with Images

One of the biggest misconceptions you can have online is that simply because you posted something, people saw it. On average 5-10% of followers see any one tweet. Not staggering numbers by any means. Grab your follower’s attention by including some visual stimulation to your tweets. Chances are your followers are reading your tweets using one of the dozens of twitter-based services such as such as Tweetie for the iPhone or Twitgoo on web which displays your pictures alongside your tweets. Utilize images to give your tweets the extra attention they deserve. Where you were once seeing a handful of clicks, you’ll now be seeing dozens of views and clicks for each post. Another big plus is the fact that Google has already started including real-time content in search results, giving you prime opportunity to soak up SEO Juice.


Business + Social = Social Media Press Release

Love them or hate them, press releases have maintained a healthy lifeline from the pre-internet days. The biggest change is the fact that journalists are now very active on social networks and are keen on following news, links, images or videos anywhere they break out. Add that to the fact that they’re hit with dozens of PR submissions a day. Social media strategists who are unfamiliar with traditional media won’t know what they’re in for. Managing your social media strategy? It’s your job to make journalists care!

Present your next blog posts with an angle that creates real value. If you’re writing about an event, product or service within your industry, make it matter enough for readers or journalists to pick up and share. A well-written and insightful blog post offers benefits both through your social media presence as well as optimizing your site or blog within search engine rankings. Save the $200 distribution costs and focus on delivering news people are genuinely interested in.

There you have it. 4 more social media optimization tips to max your brand. I'd share a few more with you, but then I'd be out of business! As always, the table turns to you. Share your thoughts, ideas or tips with the Seovice.com community and make sure to sign-up for direct to email updates!