Hot Air Machine

2011-10-04T17:44:00.000-07:00

Don White Has Just Published A New Book, "Patriot Call"

2011-09-30T10:33:00.000-07:00

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For more about this book, go to Barnes and Noble in the ebook or Pubit department.http://bit.ly/nfVtfE

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Read Don White's Books On Your Computer, Nook Or Kindle Reader

2011-09-01T05:41:00.000-07:00

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http://amzn.to/rg3Cte

Amazon Links to “Exterminator”

http://bit.ly/oMBApi “The Exterminator” at Barnes & Noble

The Exterminator is featured on Barnes & Noble as a Nook or adaptable to your home computer. It can also be purchased at Amazon.com, as a Kindle book. Don has arranged with Book Locker to make it available at many places including in format compatible to Apple products like Apple's IPad. The exciting book is only the first of a series of Rip Rhymer--Cassandra Quick novels. Currently, under production is a new novel starring these two characters called Hunted which takes the reader to interesting places including
Florida and Africa. Also coming soon will be a third Rhymer-Quick novel entitled Civil War 2012.

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The Exterminator (8/30/2011)
- by
- Don White
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Publish Post

The

Exterminator

Donald M. White

BOOKLOCKER EDITION

The Exterminator

No part of this publication can be reproduced or transmitted in any form by any means, electronic or mechanical, without permission in writing from Donald M. White

Edition License Notes

This Ebook is licensed for your personal enjoyment only. This ebook may not be resold or given away to other people. If you would like to share this book with another person, please purchase an additional copy for each person you share it with. If you are reading this book and did not purchase it, or it was not purchased for your use only, then you should return to BookLocker and purchase your own copy. Thank you for respecting the author’s work.

Author's Note: While this is a work of fiction, it contains considerable current perspective and background. The author likes to call this dystopian novel reality fiction. Nonetheless, names, characters, places, and incidents either are the product of the author's imagination or, are used fictitiously, and any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, events, or locales is entirely coincidental.

One

Pete Williams was a rookie reporter for the Tampa Tempo. On his mind was a promise he had made that became the deciding factor landing him the job: “In a month I’ll break an important story or be gone.”

The month was almost up for this recent graduate of the University of South Florida. He had been temporarily assigned to the obit desk, with afternoons and nights dedicated to investigating and writing that blockbuster article—something really important that would solidify his position on the staff.

But time had passed quickly and he had just three days left to complete his research and scoop everyone else.

The Tempo was not accustomed to yellow journalism, but it had to do something to stay in the game. When Pete bragged to Managing Editor Harry Lindstrom that he was confident of breaking a big story, he didn’t realize that investigative journalism was tough and sometimes highly dangerous.

Pete’s interview with Lindstrom had been uneventful—until he suggested that the paper could fire him after a month if he didn’t break a major scandal. It was then that the editor’s pessimistic eyes opened like melons. Locked in a circulation battle with the liberal rag, the St. Petersberg Mercury, Pete’s promise had been the door opener.

This challenge consumed his mind as he gulped down a foamy Samuel Adams at the Lucky Bar and Grill that fateful night. Then an absolutely drop-dead gorgeous blonde came in and sat down beside him. “Can I buy you another drink?” she asked.

It was late afternoon, but not yet dark. Pete had been biding his time before returning to the hotel following an eventful day of investigation. He had met Roger Thoreau, a local resident leading the charge of angry utility customers against Advance Energy and its new fast meters.

At the conclusion of the interview, Thoreau asked Pete to turn off the recorder as he studied the young man’s face. “You’re an aggressive sort. I hear the leader of Advance Energy, George Roth, is in town this week. Why don’t you go down there and demand a hearing. Tell the receptionist you’re a reporter for the Tampa Tempo. Say you want only fifteen minutes with the CEO. Tell them you are breaking a major story that will blow the lid wide open on their alleged fraud if it gets printed without Roth’s side of the story. Be confident and aggressive. That’s the only way you’re going to get in to interview this man. And above all, be careful. He’s a dangerous man.”

Pete took Roger’s advice. He rode the elevator up to the fourth floor and noted the large Advance Energy lettering. Without breaking step he flung open the glass door and did his interpretation of what Thoreau had prescribed. In a loud commanding voice he said: “I’m a reporter from the Tampa Tempo. I’m about to break a major investigative report that will destroy Advance Energy and put your CEO in jail… unless I get to see Mr. Roth right now. Please don’t guard-dog him from me.” His voice had an air of urgency and power.

Two

If the charmer at the front desk didn’t believe Pete, it was her fault not his. Pete was relentless. “In a day or two your boss will read my story, whether you let me talk to him or not. If it goes that way, everyone here will be in hot water. The story I’m writing is very important. If Mr. Roth hasn’t had a chance to rebut it, you could lose your job, Ma-am.”

The receptionist was a large woman, not easily intimidated by a pip-squeak like this. At five-ten, Pete was strong but slight of build. Looking at the big woman now standing defiantly before her desk, he suddenly realized that she was larger, taller, heavier—and perhaps even stronger than him. Her deep-frozen frown convinced Pete that she was no pushover. This barrel-chested woman had big arms and large football-player calves. She could have been a tag-team wrestler for all he knew. Pete envisioned her capable of booting a guy his size out the door. His heart was racing when he finished his emphatic demand.

But she wasn’t buying. “I have a mind to call the police on you,” young man.”

“And if they won’t come…?”

She paused, then moved toward Pete who back-peddled. ”I’ll hit you once, then scrape you off the floor and kick your butt all the way down the marble hallway to the elevator where you’ll bang your head, and I hope you’ll die instantly. Now how do you like them apples, smart ass?”

Though his heart beat faster, Pete said nothing. He didn’t want to further infuriate her. He just stood there starring at her strong canine jaw thrust out like she was ready to pounce, bite his behind, and chew him up. One false move and he knew he was dead.

Pete’s plan was simple: Her first move towards me, it will be fright and flight. I’m out of here.

This female grizzly not only meant every word, but she was capable of slamming him to the ground. But Pete Williams was on a mission—his feet were glued to the floor. He hadn’t accomplished his goal of interviewing George Roth.

What the line backer separating him from Roth’s office didn’t realize was that clipped to the outside of Pete’s suit coat lapel pocket was Pete’s BGB high resolution DVR spy pen with webcam and mike. Not only was he recording the sound, but taking pictures of this episode. Every threatening word would end up in his story.

When Roth’s secretary just stood there with that intimidating smirk on her face, the young man decided he had to move from defense to offense. “You look big enough to move a tank,” he said, defiantly.

Her face tightened and became red as a beet. “I’ll kill you for that remark. And you know I could do that, don’t you?”

“Pardon the expression, Ma-am, but you do resemble a tank, or a woman wrestler—and you know it. But if you toss me and I hit my head on something, I’ll sue. Plus, the story will get out about how you treat reporters—you threatened bodily injury to me. Do you realize that? That’s an actionable offense because I was standing close enough to you for your words to put me in imminent fear of harm from your physical powers. It’s probably how your company treats all of its angry customers, isn’t it?

She shook her head no.

“If that story gets out you’ll be toast.”

She had heard enough. She about-faced and marched to the large office at the end of the hall. Pete knew he had won round one, but he worried about what would happen next.

Did You Know Don White Once Was An AP Newsman

2011-08-30T17:39:00.000-07:00

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If anyone is interested in learning more about the author, Donald M. White, alias Don White, go to Amazon.com and search out his profile and picture. Thanks for considering a purchase of my new political thriller, "The Exterminator."

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Don White Has Published His New Novel At Amazon & Barnes And Nobel

2011-08-30T17:06:00.000-07:00

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I was fortunate to publish my brand new novel The Exterminator for the second time, this time on Barnes and Noble's site featuring their Nook reader. Wow, compared to Smashwords, this was easy.

Now I have that exciting, revealing novel published twice--once on Amazon.com for Kindle users and now at Barnes and Noble for Nook users. Go to Amazon if you have or want to purchase a Kindle to read The Exterminator by Don White
http://www.amazon.com/Exterminator-Rip-Rhymer-Adventures-ebook/dp/B005HJ36GO/ref=sr_1_8?s=di

I highly recommend anyone who is interested in the book to go to either of these locations and buy it. It is only $2.99 and represents 24 months of research and writing.

"The Exterminator": A Must Read

2011-08-28T15:28:00.000-07:00

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The following are several chapters of The Exterminator, a new political thriller by author Don White. It has been published at Amazon.com for Kindle readers. See the link here and below:dusanotes Donald White

Forgot to say, the book "Exterminator" is already published on Amazon's Kindle--good entertainment. Hit link below:amazon.com/Exterminator-R…

In the book, Florida electricity users have experienced unusually high power usage and skyrocketing bills. A Tampa newspaper hires a reporter to investigate, Pete Williams.He is about to break a major scandal against this Florida electric utility when something happens to him.. His investigation takes him to the office of Advance Energy Corp. and he forces himself onto the CEO George Roth, but at his peril as you will quickly see.

Chapter One

But time had passed quickly and he had just three days left to complete his research and scoop everyone else.

The Tempo was not used to yellow journalism, but it had to do something to stay in the game. When Pete had bragged to Managing Editor Harry Lindstrom that he was confident of breaking a big story, he didn’t realize that investigative journalism was not only tough but sometimes highly dangerous.

Pete’s interview with Lindstrom had been uneventful—until he suggested that the paper could fire him after a month if he didn’t break a major scandal story. It was then that the editor’s pessimistic eyes opened like melons. Locked in a circulation battle with the liberal rag, the St. Petersberg Mecury, Pete’s promise had been the door opener.

This challenge consumed Pete’s mind as he gulped down a foamy Samuel Adams at the Lucky Bar and Grill that fateful night. Then an absolutely drop-dead gorgeous blonde came in and sat down beside him. “Can I buy you another drink?” she asked.

At the conclusion of the interview, Thoreau asked Pete to turn off the recorder as he studied the young man’s face. “You’re an aggressive sort. I hear the leader of Advance Energy, George Roth, is in town this week. Why don’t you go down there and demand a hearing. Tell the receptionist you’re a reporter for the Tampa Tempo. That you only want fifteen minutes with the CEO and that you are breaking a major story that will blow the lid wide open on their alleged fraud if it gets printed without Roth’s side of the story. Be confident and aggressive. That’s the only way you’re going to get in to interview this man.”

Pete took Roger’s advice. He rode the elevator up to the fourth floor and noted the large Advance Energy lettering. Without breaking a step he flung open the glass door and did his interpretation of what Thoreau had prescribed. In a loud commanding voice he said: “I’m a reporter from the Tampa Tempo. I’m about to break a major investigative report that will destroy Advance Energy and put your CEO in jail… unless I get to see Mr. Roth right now. Please don’t guard-dog him from me.” His voice had an air of urgency and power.

* * * * *

Chapter Two

But she wasn’t buying. “I have a mind to call the police on you,” young man.”

“And if they won’t come…?”

Pete’s plan was simple: Her first move towards me, it will be fright and flight, I’m out of here.

Her face tightened and became red as a beet. “I’ll kill you for that remark. And you know I could do that, don’t you?”

She shook her head no.

“If that story gets out, you’ll be toast.”

She had heard enough. She about-faced and marched to the large office at the end of the hall. Pete knew he had won round one, but he worried about what would happen next.

* * * * *

Chapter Three

She was in the boss’s office an awfully long time. Suddenly, she emerged, marching down the hall toward Pete. He was not just a little anxious as she approached, but credit the young reporter for standing his ground.

There was a suit waddling behind her. It was Roth, a graying pear-shaped man who Pete noticed did not walk, he shuffled like a penguin.

“Young man,” screeched the suit. “I’m George Roth, president/CEO of this utility.” Roth held out his hand and beckoned Pete to follow him. Except for his angry voice, he seemed friendly enough. His face was passive, devoid of the bitter lines of a mouth about to tear the young reporter’s head off.

Maybe his bark is louder than his bite, Pete thought.

They entered a large thickly-carpeted office. Pete glanced nervously at his small recording device poking out of his vest pocket, picking up every word. It had been on all the time and just the thought of being able to transcribe and publish all of this evil man’s lies and threats brought a smile to his face. At last, he had the president of this big company alone, glaring at him from across his long cheery wood desk.

The reporter drew a deep breath and told himself, I’m in. My strategy is working.

Roth fell into his leather seat and commanded Pete to sit. “You have five minutes. If you exceed that, you’re dead meat. I mean I’ll call that purple people eater seated by the entrance to throw you out. By the way, she was a woman wrestler and is a weight lifter, just so you know. Don’t mess with her.”

Suddenly a surge of guilt swept Pete’s face and it was hard for him to speak. He couldn’t believe it. Had Roth read his mind? Nervously, Pete began. “My investigation reveals you jacked-up the new meters. You are overcharging your customers and smiling all the way to the bank. Will you comment on that please?

“Totally untrue.”

Pete took a deep breath and outlined where his investigation had taken him. “Your company and you, individually, are in a whole lot of hot water. You could go to jail. What’s more, the Public Utilities Commission will soon launch an investigation—soon as this story hits the streets—and you may find yourself in prison or at least subject to a huge fine. Please respond.”

Pete was amazed at his own boldness and at some of the words that just slithered out of his mouth. Though Pete was almost shaking, this George Roth guy seemed even more nervous. He kept opening and shutting his right-side desk drawer as if he had something in there to show Pete.

Going through Roth’s mind was the truth—the PSC couldn’t touch him. He had bought them off, giving each of the nine-member commission gifts during the past year totaling one hundred thousand dollars. Just the same, he eyed the young reporter warily and spoke softly, each word coming out of his mouth in calm, deliberate sentences: “Advance Energy is in the forefront of this country’s utilities. We invented a breakthrough in utility meters. Three months ago we installed these new meters—and because we own the technology, we were first in the nation to use this new invention. By the way, we’re making millions selling these meters.”

He said Advance Energy’s new meters could be read remotely, resulting in savings. “We were able to fire several hundred on-hoof meter readers and it saved us a ton of money. The savings is being passed down to our customers. Isn’t that great?”

But Thoreau had told Pete just the opposite. “People are spitting mad because the meters always show more usage than before, more than actual. If this is true, you’re guilty of fraud and unethical practice. Customers can tell. Many have been reading their own meters since before the 2008 elections when the president-elect said energy bills would skyrocket. Customers read their meters daily now that energy bills have skyrocketed but they don’t believe their usage has increased. Contrary to what you just said, they believe they are being financially raped and no savings have been passed on to them. With all due respect, sir, just the contrary is true.”

Roth said nothing, but Pete could see anger in his face.

“You have devised an elaborate scheme,” Pete continued. "And, yes, you may have bought off the Avocado County Commission and anyone else you could feel safe about, wrecking this havoc on ordinary citizens. But they’re screaming mad, sir. They are—and they’re not going to take it any longer; and that’s the tone of the story I’m about to write, despite your puny refutations.”

To that the oval man murmured “Puny? The only thing that’s puny here, boy, is you. I’ve heard enough.”

Pete watched as Roth knit his brows, lapsing into an introspective state, his lips moving as one who repeats mystic chants. Pete didn’t know that this was just the calm before the storm.

* * * * *

Chapter Four

Roth’s face reddened. “Yes, I think I see it now, I know what I must do.” he said, brightening and expanding his chest like a kettle just before blowing. Roth stood and it seemed to Pete that the penguin grew several feet taller.

Now Roth’s mind was unfettered with the trammels of precision. At once free from civil constraint, he became another person—vehement, viral, menacing, his eyes curling, as if flinging daggers.

Pete shivered. He could see the devil’s wrath ebbing and flowing from within this man. Pete thought Roth’s face changed from red to purple, as if he was about to become violent. There was rage ringing in his voice, changing to a high-pitched yell. “Thoreau told you that? I hate Thoreau. He’s a goddamn liar.”

Pete’s eyes were riveted on Roth’s livid face, a face lit by eyes that may as well have been shooting flames as far as Pete was concerned. The young man watched as Roth’s right hand went to the drawer and grabbed something. At first the CEO’s arm dangled at his side, hiding the deadly weapon he held. The reporter knew what it was. He was holding a small .38 caliber pistol, and then he raised it and waved it in Pete’s face and Pete flinched and stepped back.

“Put the gun down so we can talk like intelligent beings,” he said. “Your actions are crucifying you. I will tell the world about this— how you reacted when I said your company was cheating the public. You drew a gun on me. How many people have you killed today, Mr. Roth?”

The penguin shape before Pete’s eyes smiled and crouched, taking aim at him. “I could pull this trigger any time—aren’t you scared?” His voice shuddered. ”I’m going to count to ten. If you’re still here, I’m going to kill you in cold blood. Aren’t you just a little bit scared? I‘m mad as hell at you and that Thoreau fellow...for what you want to do. You want to reverse my plan and ruin everything I’ve built for years. I’m not going to let you do that, reporter boy.”

Pete was shivering, but he still managed to speak plainly. “There’s no reason a company leader like you needs to act like a raving maniac. Put down the gun, sir. I didn’t call you a liar. Tell me more of why I should believe you over Roger Thoreau and all those women who say you’re a crook.”

“You say I have no reason to point a gun at you? Time’s up! In a second you’re dead. No reason?” Roth was yelling again like a madman, taunting the young reporter from behind the desk, still pointing the gun at him, hoping the kid would make a false move, an aggressive lurch towards him, so that he could shoot him in the heart. “You just called me a crook and a liar and a cheat. That’s reason for me to shoot you, kid. Get out! Get out now, before I lose my cool and empty this gun on you for trespassing.”

Roth came around from behind the desk and put his face in Pete’s. The young reporter, shivering over the seeing the gun so close to his face, went for his recording device; but Roth got there first, grabbing it out of his hand. ”I know what that is. You’ve been secretly recording this all along, haven’t you?”

A scuffle ensued; the gun went off into the ceiling and Pete was able to wrestle his recorder pen out of the utility president’s hand. He turned and ran out the door, down the hall into the lobby.

The large receptionist heard the gunshot and blocked his way. She slammed Pete against the wall, hitting him on the chin with her forearm. What did you do to him, you puny-assed coward? Did you kill the boss?”

Pete gathered his wits, got off the floor and ran out the door. Glancing back, he said, “No, I didn’t kill anyone. He was going to kill me but his shot went into the ceiling.” Out of breath, Pete stopped to punch the elevator lobby button but the down light didn’t come on. His heart raced. He imagined she would be on top of him any second, but when he looked back the receptionist was still standing by the office door, glaring at him.

“Go check for yourself,” he said. “Your boss has a loose screw, or haven’t you noticed? If that bullet hit someone in the office above, he should be jailed as a menace to society. He might have killed someone.” All the purple people eater could do was stand at the door in wonder and watch as Pete Williams escaped.

* * * * *

Chapter Five

While Pete had been scuffling with the green giant, George Roth had dialed Security. “Yes, the reporter is on the elevator, coming down. Put a tail on him. Get the girl involved right now. He must not print that story. He recorded my voice and has me on a mini-cam with a gun in my hand. Drop him cold, just like the others. You know what I mean.”

Pete Williams craved saner, safer company than George Roth and Godzilla. He was so disturbed about what happened at Advance Energy Company that afternoon that he had to have a drink to calm his nerves. He found himself in the crowded Lucky Seventeen Bar and Grill, medicating over a low alcohol beer. He rested there for fifteen minutes catching his breath, nursing his drink. The noise was loud and the music made no sense, but suddenly a beautiful blonde sat down beside him at the bar and his prospects brightened.

He needed someone to talk to so he related everything to her. She was oh, so sympathetic, almost like his mother. Except, his mother was never that beautiful. The woman was giggling and smiling approvingly at him, patting him on the back, making him feel good, helping him forget his fears.

Pete’s focus shifted from the investigation of Advance Energy to this babe from no where. He was only twenty-two and she had to be thirty, but that didn’t matter. It wasn’t like she was a freaking cougar or something. What intrigued him was that a stunning woman was putting a move on him, offering to buy him a drink. That was a first.

Pete Williams was naïve. He hadn’t been around. To him, with his limited exposure to real women, this one seemed so mature and brilliant. She was intelligent, creative, fecund, and a real smooth talker. While a clearer thinker would have called her a hottee, to Pete she appeared normal—about as normal as a Miss America heavily endowed with all the moves, warmth, curves, adaptability, and gift of gab that most men like. He was right at home with her.

Who knows, he thought, she might be my arm candy and more tonight. Pete was also a big talker, but he knew he had to restrain himself. He had glanced away for a moment to watch two guys in the corner of the bar singing a drunken duet. When his eyes returned to the bar he picked up his glass and consumed some more beer and in a few minutes everything seemed so lucid and clear to him and he became even more relaxed and glib. For just a second, he wondered if she had she dropped something into his glass—maybe some sodium pentathol, the truth serum that he had heard about, or an aphrodisiac. Banish the thought, he told himself. That kind of thing happened only in spy movies.

She started to warm up to him—throwing her arm around his back and tickling his male nipples and armpit. Or was he only thinking it. Was it because the more he drank the looser he got and the more he wanted her to like him? In a while he told her everything: how he got the reporter job and what Roger Thoreau and George Roth had said.

“Fifty applicants,” Pete said. “My resume caught management’s eye over all the others because I dared to be bold.” With that he gulped down a third of his glass of beer. “I took a chance and promised a major scoop and I’m onto one.”

“You didn’t!” She giggled. “You naughty, resourceful boy, you.” Now when she touched his torso, chills flew up and down his body from chest to groin.

“I thought Roth was going to kill me, he was so mad. I saw him reach into his desk drawer. He pulled out a loaded gun and threatened my life.”

Pete could laugh about it now—now that it was over and he was relaxed at the bar. But the girl knew the truth—she had complete control of him; she had drugged his beer, loosening him up, eliminating his defenses.

“What did he say?” she asked?

“It’s all recorded, right here,” he said, showing his pen recorder fastened to his lapel pocket. It was still recording. “You can read about it in the Tampa Tempo.” Pete told her about his conversation with Roger Thoreau and Pete’s frightening interview with Roth.

“He yelled at me. He threatened my life. The gun went off over my head. He said he was so mad with what I had said that he was ready blow Roger Thoreau’s head off—and mine too if I printed any of Thoreau’s words. He gave me ten seconds to get out of there or he was going to pull the trigger. It’s all recorded here, Bright Eyes—the whole damn thing. I did one helluva job. I’ve got enough to send Roth to jail for the rest of his life.”

Pete was now drinking the hard stuff. He had emptied his glass and the girl motioned to the bar tender for a refill.

“Are you really going to print what Roth did and said?”

“Of course, after I gather some more poop on his company. It’s dirty. It’ll be a great story. I’ll get to keep my job. I got a list of their customers from Thoreau and I’m going out tomorrow and interview a hundred housewives—the ones he said were the maddest. Then I’m making a copy and taking it to the Public Service Commission. That should raise hair on back of some necks.”

In two hours Pete and the girl walked out of the Lucky Seventeen and turned toward her apartment a block away. Pete was slightly inebriated and had to hold onto the girl to walk straight.

When they got there he flopped onto the sofa and she turned on the tube. The light was too dim for him to notice that the girl’s taste in art was mostly gaudy farm animal reproductions, the paint of which didn’t coordinate with the color of the couch and a matching overstuffed chair; and the low-density carpet was a cheap covering, worn-out and dirty, along with scuffed and plain three-inch pine baseboard moldings.

Had he not been partially drunk he may have noticed her other kitsch, her fake porcelain dishes, imitation statuette of a cat and dog and other cheap dwelling decor. She looked so good personally that he gave no thought at all that the place may have been that of a ho. He didn’t care. His mind wasn’t on interior decor, it was fixed on getting laid.

In fact, the place was not her home. It was a trodden-down apartment rented for this and other one-night stands.

He flipped the TV to the late evening news as she played her game of strip poker on him, undressing and tickling him. His eyes were blurry when he fell onto the bed and didn’t notice the small object nearby. He was completely naked and anxious for sex with this blonde bombshell.

Had he been observant he would have asked about the syringe and needle on the nightstand waiting to penetrate the flesh of her victim.

“I think I’m falling in love with you, sweetheart,” Pete said in a shaky voice.

“That’s good.”

“Hey, I never got your name.”

“Don’t worry, names don’t mean much this late at night,” she said, and both of them giggled like teenagers.

Fully clothed, she was on top of him, but he was in no shape for sex. “Do you have some Viagra or anything?” he asked.

“No, but I’ve got something much stronger.” She reached for the syringe, puncturing his skin. “Ouch,” he reacted, watching her slowly pushing down on the plunger—letting what he thought was sex serum ooze slowly into his blood stream.

Then she got up and moved toward the bathroom. “Hey, where are you going, babe?” he asked, suddenly feeling dizzy and weak.

“Tsk – tsk,” she noised. “Don’t worry, I’ll disrobe and be back in a moment.”

Those were the last words Pete Williams heard. He was soon fast asleep. A moment later his nervous system froze up, then his heart stopped beating. He was gone. So was the interview he had recorded with Advance Energy’s CEO. Gone also was the utility company’s most immediate problem—a shocking story that reporter Pete Williams was about to break in the Tampa Tempo.

The blonde pulled on some white latex gloves, checking the body to be sure he was dead. Then she began sanitizing the room, removing prints from anything she or Pete Williams had touched. In a few minutes she had gathered up her things into a pull-cart bag and was on the phone about to leave.

“The debris is here ready for you,” was all she needed to say. Soon a special detail appeared wearing white latex gloves, placing the victim in a black garment bag, safely disposing of his clothes and naked body. The process was not new. Damage control had been used before and would be again and again on those getting too close to the truth.

* * * * *

Chapter Six

Two days later Roger Thoreau decided to visit Tampa. There was a troubling story circulating about the death of a young reporter who had come to his house the week before. His name? Pete Williams.

Thoreau felt somewhat responsible. The young man’s naked body had been found in a dumpster two blocks from a bar where witnesses said he and a beautiful blonde woman had been the night before.

The drive from Orlando to Tampa had taken only an hour, and when Thoreau arrived he went directly to the Tempo’s offices. He asked for his old college friend, Harry Lindstrom, managing editor.

“Yeah, it was shocking news that our cub reporter was murdered in your fair city—while investigating a story.”

“Can you tell me which story, Harry?”

“Yes, he had become interested in Advance Energy’s meters. You know, the hornets nest you’ve created about that North Carolina utility company and what you call viral meters?”

Thoreau hands flew up. “Look, he came to me, Harry. You or someone else told him I was leading the charge against those new fast meters, which I am.” Thoreau waited on Harry for reaction. Getting none he continued: “I told him their boss, George Roth, was in town, and that maybe he should go over there and interview him. Then he could contrast what I said with what this guy Roth undoubtedly would say.”

“And…”

“If Roth did kill this boy, I feel somewhat responsible. Honestly, I wouldn’t put it past Roth. He’s culpable. I believe he’s one of the most wicked men on the face of the earth. I believe Roth and our murdering president, Conroy Drake, are somehow connected. I may have led Pete Williams into a trap.”

Lindstrom was shaking his head. “No, Roger. In no way are you responsible. The kid needed a controversial story to hang with us here. You know the old saw: If it bleeds, it leads? You did nothing wrong. It was just logical for him to go to the top man at Advance Energy for his spin.”

Lindstrom paused. He considered carefully his words. “Before he went to Roth he called me. Told me he felt like he had a good story from the things you told him. Do you recall anything he did, how he acted? Did he write any notes or record anything when he was speaking to you?”

“Yes, he had a small recorder. I think it hung from his lapel like a pen or something. I’m sure it had a heck of a lot of stuff on it, especially after leaving Roth. He was aggressive, Harry. He would have taken that recorder with him when he went to see Roth.

Lindstrom was grimacing. “I sure in hell would like to come up with that recorder.”

“If the police didn’t find it, you’ll never find it. You know, Harry, Roth probably had his people sanitize that prostitute’s apartment and all therein. If it was on Williams’ clothing they took it.

“These boys are professional killers.

“Your reporter Pete Williams probably recorded everything Roth told him. Roth is known to fly off the handle at people, can’t constrain himself. He’s corrupt, but you know that.”

Lindstrom nodded. “And knowing this kid, he probably was brave enough to tell Roth that people were calling his meters a fraud—believing like we do, that Roth sped up the meters. As you know, I ran one story on it two months ago. It shocked the hell out of our readers, but it lacked legs. It was shocking news to everyone for a week and then it died. But that’s what I liked about this kid. He was honest, aggressive, and unafraid. He probably told Roth his company was going down—something like that. There are rumors that Roth keeps a .38 in his office. That he has killed private and political enemies before. I’ve read the police report. There was poison found in Williams’ blood stream. Roth didn’t shoot him, but he could have ordered Williams’ death.”

“With this hot babe he was with?

“Sure. Reportedly, they were both drunk when they left the bar. She could have slipped him a mickey.”

“Did the police find that recorder on him? Have you enough to run another story?”

“No and no. We don’t have the recorder and all of that investigation. And no, it will be tough to reconstruct things. Without Pete Williams, most of it is just plain rumor. I will write an editorial piecing together what we know—what the police have found—about Pete’s death. That’s the least I can do for the memory of the kid.”

“You didn’t know him very long.”

“Yes, but still… I will say some things that will seem damaging to Roth, his company and his meters—as kind of a follow up to our previous story. We have nothing much to go on, nothing airtight. I have to worry about a libel lawsuit. But I feel it in my gut, Roger—the girl and Roth are in this thing up to their necks.”

The two men were seated around Lindstrom’s desk. He was drinking coffee and offered Roger Thoreau a cup, but he declined.

“Oh, I forgot. You Mormons don’t touch coffee.”

“That’s right, but I’ll take some water.”

When Lindstrom returned with a plastic cup, Thoreau continued. “You don’t hit a guy like Roth with a bombshell full of allegations of corruption and expect no legal repercussions. I know for a fact that Roth is tight with President Drake. They’re killers, Harry.”

Harry nodded agreement. “My lesson is more simple,” said the editor. “Beware of beautiful blonde women.”

They laughed. “And be careful what you say, too,” Thoreau cautioned.

“Your name is out there, Roger. You could be next on their hit list.”

dusanotes Donald White

Forgot to say, the book "Exterminator" is already published on Amazon's Kindle--good entertainment. Hit link below:amazon.com/Exterminator-R…

Eight Love Quotes You Will Like

2011-07-02T11:30:00.000-07:00

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"...The only real truth is love, not hate." Glenn Beck

Who's to say lasting love isn't just the right mixture of faith, hope, loyalty, imagination, creativity, and desire?
Love Quotes2

Love gone astray and restored. Even a broken clock is right twice a day.
Love Quotes2

Anything less than real love is not legitimate love.
Love Quotes2

Divorce is only a weak, symbolic, self-defeating effort to salve wounded psyches.
Love Quotes2

Too many broken marriages hang on "because of the kids" or that it's politically expedient or embarrassing at work or at church. Thank God for expediency, morals, religion, families and social structure in our lives.
Love Quotes2

CIA agents must make terrible marriage partners. Honesty in marriage is everything. In the CIA deception is the name of the game. USATV "Chaos"

Love isn't without its difficulties. But difficulties mastered are opportunities won.
Maasie, "White Collar," USATV

Social Networks: How to Solicit New Business Like a Professional

2011-07-01T10:24:00.000-07:00

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How To Solicit Business Correctly

by LEADERSHIPDR on JUNE 23, 2011

Do you know how to solicit business correctly? I was listening to a podcast with Dr. Ivan Misner, the founder of BNI. He said something that I have long felt, but he said it better than I have ever heard. Most sales people, and especially network marketers, are guilty of “premature solicitation”. What exactly is premature solicitation? It is exactly as it sounds. If you have zero credibility and and zero relationship with a person, you have no business soliciting them for business. At least not yet.

I have noticed this mostly on Facebook and Twitter. Today I had one person post about 20 different solicitations in a row! Does this person really think it is getting them any sales? If anything, it is only getting them unfriended. Nobody wants to see this. Sadly, this is not all that uncommon. Several of my “friends” on Facebook have taken to this tact. Is it because they are new to soliciting business and don’t know what to do, so they just post it all over the place? Perhaps. It could also be that social media is still relatively new and few people no how to do it correctly. And Twitter? I have been successful building a few relationships on Twitter, but that place is one big swap meet of amateurs soliciting business!

So, how do you solicit business correctly?

I am not going to tell you I am perfect, but I have tried to employ a few things. I have taken a few different courses on social media and have learned a few things. Based on search results in Google, the number one thing people want from Twitter and Facebook is content. This means that if you aresoliciting a business, you should be providing valuable content on your social media sites and not a sales pitch. In fact, experts say that a good ratio of content to sales pitch is between 50-1 and 100-1. That means you should be posting some form of helpful content 50-100 times before you pitch your product. A daily “tip” is one great way of doing this.

Second, to solicit business correctly, build rapport with your “friends”. If you go to the chat bar and see someone is online that you have recently connected with, reach out to them. DO NOT solicit them. This would be premature solicitation and nobody likes that. Build rapport with them. Look for something on their profile that is of interest and ask them about it. Just as you would in a networking event, use your OPEN OFFER technique to learn more about the person. Once you have built sufficient rapport, then perhaps you can solicit them. Or, even better, wait another day or two. You can also reach out to them by phone if they have it on their info page. Doing so won’t seem so creepy once you have had a chat with them.

The same goes for Twitter. Provide content, not just links to solicit business correctly. You want to build rapport with your followers. Follow them back too and respond to a tweet they made. Ask them a question about it. Learn what it is they do or why they do it. Ask if they are on Facebook and then connect with them there.

Finally, be consistent. If your goal is 75 posts or tweets per solicitation and you want to solicit one every two weeks, this means you should provide 5-10 pieces of content daily. You can use pieces of your blog from that day, quotes you like, daily tips that help your friends and followers and other pieces of advice. If you are trying to build a business part time and it just is not possible for you to be on your social media sites 24/7, use technology like Hootsuite and Tweetdeck to schedule your content every couple of hours. This way you do all the work in 10 minutes in the morning or the night before, then it goes out when you tell it to the next day.

With these few tips and perhaps a little more work, you can be successful in soliciting business correctly.

To your massive success,

Steven

Self Publish: How To Raise Money Fast

2011-06-02T07:28:00.000-07:00

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If you are writing a book and agents have turned you down, maybe you could self-publish. No, you can't do that because it would cost you twenty grand to publish your thriller?

Do what a young photographer did after he had prepared a book on Sri Lanka and couldn't find a publisher. He put notices for contributions in all of the Social Media--places like Facebook, Twitter, and My Space. His goal was twenty thousand dollars. He raised more than $21,700 in less than 30 days comprised of donations anywhere from a dollar to $1,000.
Here's the story: For more click on the link below:

Royal Oak photographer raises $20,000 online for book

Published: Thursday, June 02, 2011 http://www.dailytribune.com/thelatest/

MORE PHOTOS

Click thumbnails to enlarge

By Catherine Kavanaugh
Daily Tribune Staff Writer

Click to enlarge

ROYAL OAK -- With time to spare, photographer Michael Sarnacki successfully kick started a $20,000 book project on an ancient Buddhist festival.

Sarnacki, 60, reached his goal with three hours to go and then exceeded it, taking in $21,700 of pledges with the online fund-raising tool Kickstarter by his deadline at noon Wednesday. He now has the means to design and print a book that has been 15 years in the making.

Agent's Query Connect: A Great Writer Resource

2011-05-09T05:37:00.000-07:00

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AQ's Official "KNOW THY GENRE" Resource Cheat Sheet

#1 AQCrew

Administrator

Group:Administrators
Posts:574
Joined:03-August 10
Literary Status:industry insider
LocationPacific Islands

Posted 06 May 2011 - 01:22 AM

There's a trade secret to getting published. And it's not writing a stellar query letter or snagging the best agent on the planet. It's even easier than that. And yet, we're finding more and more AQ users are zooming right over this essential trick, and consequently, heading straight into query hell.

Since we assume you'd like to avoid query hell as much as you'd like to get published, here's our trade secret revealed:

KNOW THY GENRE.

Genre is everything. Whether you're hunting for an agent or just trying to wrap your brain around the Crazytown called "the publishing industry," one of your best strategies to getting published is to first identify your book's specific genre.
Your friend's "awesome agent" isn't going to help you much if she's only awesome at selling literary fiction and you've got a paranormal romance. And ignoring e-pubbing trends becauseyou still prefer a traditional print book deal for your space opera novel isn't very smart when the sci-fi/fantasy market is clearly shifting farther and farther into the digital distribution sphere.

KNOW THY GENRE doesn't mean guessing on the best way to describe your book in a query letter. It means networking within that genre and staying atop of the news and opportunities specific to that market. And schmoozing with other aspiring writers, published authors, agents, editors, and industry-insiders who specialize in your book's genre is one of the smartest strategies for getting published.

For this reason, we've put together our essential AQ's "KNOW THY GENRE" Resource Cheat Sheet.

Consider it a simple pop-quiz to test your publishing prowess. If you glance at our genre-specific resources, and blow through each one with a *pencil lick* check,baby,mark -- consider yourself on your way towards publication.

Otherwise, remember that there's more to getting published than just "getting an agent," and that secret strategy starts with KNOW THY GENRE.

Literary Fiction

Poets & Writers Magazine
http://www.pw.org
If you're too cheap to pay the $20 bucks for s subscription (shame on you, it's easily worth $100) then at least visit the website or check out their Tools for Writers

Duotrope's Digest
http://www.duotrope.com/
An award-winning, free writers' resource listing over 3375 current Fiction and Poetry publications with a kickass searchable database

TheReviewReview
http://www.thereviewreview.net
This fantastic website is dedicated to exploring the elite and esoteric world of literary journals. They offer an extensive review database, in which they provide in-depth reviews of almost all well-known 150 journals as well as interviews with their editors. If you're seeking publication in lit mags, this resource is indispensable.

NewPages.comhttp://www.newpages.com/
News, information and guides to independent bookstores, independent publishers, literary magazines, alternative periodicals, independent record labels, alternative newsweeklies and more.

Residencies & Colonies
http://agentquery.com/resource_rg.aspx
Whether you use our list or the ResArtist list -- just pick one, apply, and find a way to get there. We've personally attended three residencies on our AQ list, and they were all beyond amazing. Nothing compares to a solid month of literary immersion and solitary solidarity.

Historical Fiction

Historical Novel Society
http://www.historicalnovelsociety.org/
Yearly membership fees (currently $50) include two magazines, one of which -- The Historical Novels Review -- reviews EVERY work of historical fiction traditionally published in the USA and UK (every). Members also get discounts to the annual HNS Conference.

Historical Novels website and blog
http://www.historica...al-Fiction.html
A book release/review blog and comprehensive website dedicated to the art and craft of writing the historical fiction novel, including a detailed profile of every era of history and examples of how masterful novels have captured its timelessness.

Historical Fiction Online
http://www.historica...orums/index.php
An online community forum for writers, authors, readers, and fans of the genre

Historical Naval Fiction website
http://www.historicnavalfiction.com/
This website is truly the Master and Commander of naval fiction resources.

Children's Books, Middle Grade, and Young Adult

Society of Children's Book Writers & illustrators
http://www.scbwi.org/
The SCBWI Annual National Conference is a networking goldmine, but membership also gains you access to their online community as well as their local chapter events & seminars. And you'll likely be surprised to find experienced published children's book authors willing to meet for coffee and sophisticated industry events taking place within driving distance.

Jacketflap.com
http://www.jacketflap.com/
JacketFlap connects you to the work of more than 200,000 authors, illustrators and other creators of books for children and young adults as well as provides an extensive database of publihsers, agents, editors, and other industry contacts.

Children's Writer Newsletter
http://childrenswriter.com/
This monthly newsletter is distributed by The Institute of Children's Literature. They cost is $19 bucks, but they offer two free newsletters for your perusal. It's a wealth of info on the market, the biz and the art.

Verla Kay's Online Community for Children's Writers & Illustrators
http://www.verlakay....oards/index.php
Verla Kay, a published children's book author, provides a helpful, supportive website for aspiring children's book writers and illustrators. Her site offers useful links galore and herforum is populated by curious writers who are research addicts when it comes to sniffing out the newest publishing leads.

Science Fiction, Fantasy , and Horror

Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America
http://www.sfwa.org/
SFWA is a professional organization for authors of science fiction, fantasy and related genres that informs, supports, promotes, defends and advocates for its members. Novice authors benefit from their Information Center and the well-known Writer Beware site.

LOCUS Online and Magazine
http://www.locusmag.com/
Like the magazine, Locus Online focuses on news of the Science Fiction publishing field and coverage of new science fiction books and magazines.

Tor.com
http://www.tor.com/
While Tor Books remains one of the most respected publishers of science fiction, fantasy, graphic novels, and horror, its website, Tor.com has become an informative resource for writers of speculative fiction. Be sure to frequent their online community and forums for the most current publishing news and tips affecting this market.

BookCountry
http://bookcountry.com/
Major NYC Publisher Penguin's newest online writing and critqiue community dedicated to genre writers, specifically science fiction, fantasy, horror and ALL its subgenres. And we mean ALL subgenres -- their genre map proves it.

Critters Writers Workshop
http://critters.org/
Critters is a member of the Critique.org family of on-line workshops/critique groups, and is for serious writers of Science Fiction, Fantasy, and Horror. You get your work critiqued in exchange for critiquing the work of others, both of which are invaluable ways to improve your writing. It's run by Andrew Burt, former vice-president of SFWA and his army of software minions.

Romance

Romance Writers of America
http://www.rwa.org/
RWA is premier writing association for romance authors. More than 10,000 romance writers and related industry professionals are members of Romance Writers of America, and one of the best ways to get involved is to attend their annual national conference or to participate in one of its 145 local, online, and special-interest chapters.

eHarlequin
http://www.eharlequin.com/
It's hard not to admire Harlequin's trail-blazing transition into the e-publishing and digital distribution marketplace. And many of their digital imprints continually accept and review submissions from unagented writers; thus, it's one of the best opportunities for new romance writers to break into professional publishing.

Romantic Times Book Reviews
http://www.rtbookreviews.com/
RT BOOK REVIEWS Magazine reviews every romance published. They also profile published authors, alerts readers and booksellers to forthcoming titles, and provides news and gossip columns designed to guide aspiring authors in the honing of their craft.

Smart Bitches, Trashy Books
http://www.smartbitc...rashybooks.com/
Divas of the romance book review blogosphere

CherryForums.com
http://www.cherryforums.com/
A friendly, open exchange on reading, writing, and publishing sponsored by best-selling romance author, Jenny Cruise

Kensington Publishing Corp.
http://www.kensingto...fm?itemid=14298
One of the best kept secrets within the romance industry is that you can actually get a book deal without an agent. And Kensington continues to be one of the independent mid-tier publishing houses that accepts queries from unagented writers.

Thriller & Suspense/ Mystery/ Crime

Mystery Writers of America
http://www.mysterywriters.org/
Mystery Writers of America, Inc. is the premier organization for mystery writers and other professionals in the mystery field. Be sure to check out their regional chapters -- and its one of the best ways to network locally within the genre.

International Thrillers Writers
http://thrillerwriters.org/
Thriller authors created ITW to celebrate the thriller, to enhance the prestige and raise the profile of thrillers, and to create opportunities for collegiality within the thriller community. ITW offers a three-in-one resources, including their annual ThrillFest conference and their online magazine The Big Thrill in addition to their official ITW website and members-only section.

Sisters in Crime
http://www.sistersincrime.org/
Sisters in Crime is an international organization of readers and writers dedicated to raising awareness of women's contributions to the mystery genre. Sisters in Crime also offers the helpful online forum SinC Guppies, a cyber fishtank for aspiring writers working in the genres of mystery/crime/thrillers/suspense.

The Criminal Element
http://www.criminalelement.com/
Major publisher Macmillan has created a new online community for crime fiction and nonfiction readers, and it looks like a great resource for online networking and tracking industry news as well as submitting your crime fiction short stories for publication.

CrimeSpree Magazine and Blog
http://crimespree.blogspot.com/
After 7+ years, this print-only magazine is still a formidable indie rag dedicated to the ins-and-outs of the mystery and crime publishing market. It may have a garage band feel, but their coverage is topically current, and their industry connections provide them with the insider scoop. Look for it in your local bookstore. You'll probably be surprised when you actually find it on the magazine shelves.

#2 C. Taylor

Subsisting on Pots of Tea

Group:Group Moderators
Posts:2,748
Joined:03-September 10
Literary Status:agented
LocationUS Northeast
Publishing Experience:Just signed a book deal for a non-fiction steampunk project, out on submission to pubs for a steampunk novel, while also querying my latest manuscript.

Posted 06 May 2011 - 06:11 AM

Fantastic!! Thanks for this. : )

Calista Taylor

#3 Cat Woods

Juvenile Junky

Group:Group Moderators
Posts:1,882
Joined:03-September 10
Literary Status:published,agented
LocationUS Midwest
Publishing Experience:Some in the adult market, though I'm working hard to break into the juvenile arena.

Posted 06 May 2011 - 07:05 AM

Thanks for the reminder. Sometimes it's easy to gloss over the simple things!

Great rundown in the juvie lit section. I live by all of them.

Cat Woods
Juvenile Junction Group Moderator
Words from the Woods

#4 Lori S.

Resident pain in the rear

Group:Members
Posts:181
Joined:26-January 11
Literary Status:emerging,unagented
LocationUS Southeast

Posted 06 May 2011 - 07:43 AM

This is absolutely wonderful. Thanks!

#5 Lora R. Palmer

New Member

Group:Members
Posts:26
Joined:23-April 11
Literary Status:just starting
LocationUS Northeast

Posted 06 May 2011 - 07:48 AM

Fantastic resource! Thank you :)

A Writer in Bloom blog: lorarpfictionblog.blogspot.com

#6 Tom Bradley

Check out my big cock!

Group:Members
Posts:645
Joined:03-September 10
Literary Status:unagented
LocationUS Southwest
Publishing Experience:Newspapers, magazines.

Posted 06 May 2011 - 08:54 AM

AQ Crew, as usual, rocks my world, even before I've had my second cup of coffee.
Thanks for the resources.

Occasional reader.
Undisciplined writer.
Neophyte ukulele player.
Intermittent blogger.
A nerd incomplete.

#7 M_Simkins

Successfully avoiding housework since 1974

Group:Members
Posts:96
Joined:31-March 11
Literary Status:just starting
LocationUS Northwest

Posted 06 May 2011 - 10:16 AM

Ohhh, this is awesome. Thanks!

#8 Dave Clark

New Member

Group:Members
Posts:4
Joined:26-February 11
Literary Status:published
LocationUS Northeast
Publishing Experience:THE KNUCKLEBOOK, by Ivan R. Dee

Posted Today, 08:27 AM

? Am I missing a link? I can't find the link, the cheat sheet. Then again, I used to read The New Yorker and could never find the Nina.

--D.C.

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2011-05-06T11:15:00.000-07:00

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Maximim Monetization Using Facebook's Social Media Marketing

2011-04-29T11:10:00.000-07:00

Maximizing Your Business with Facebook

The term “Social Media Marketing” is becoming common. While a year ago it used to be SEO or Search Engine Optimized content, which is basically content with a few specific keywords, put in here and there, the trend nowadays is with various social networking sites like Facebook and Twitter to increase the profile of a website.

The Internet is evolving quickly and something new concerning how you can improve your site's profile is coming up almost on a monthly basis.

Specifically, with Facebook there is a lot of information floating around the net about how essential it is for businesses to be on their website. Yet, many businesses have an innate fear of social networking as such because of their concerns with data security. This is the dilemma that most SMB or Small to Medium Businesses face, whether to be on Facebook or not.

This series of articles is intended to discuss in detail what exactly Facebook is and how using it can help any small business become bigger than imagined through social networking.

What is Facebook?

Facebook is a social networking site that was launched in February 2004, by January 2011, it had garnered over 600 million users. It is now considered the third largest web based company in the US after Google and Amazon and usually has more visitors every day than Google.

Even though Facebook may not be considered large when compared to the behemoths that are Google or Amazon, its growth rate has been so fast that people now feel that ignoring Facebook is at their own peril. Even a year ago, Facebook was considered as something for the younger generation – in fact when it was launched first by founder Mark Zuckerberg; it was a place where his classmates and then his college mates at Harvard could share information about themselves.

However, this has seen a radical change. While last year the under 25 age group made up 58% of the population in Facebook right now it is has come down to 40%. This is not so much because younger population is not using Facebook anymore; they still are at the same pace they used to, but because of the increase of other age groups in new registrations. A look at the registration statistics will show this. The those between the ages 35 to 55 has grown at an astounding 277% while the 55+ age group has shown a remarkable 195% increase in new registrations. This is definite proof that the “young” sheen has worn out of Facebook.

There are also other reasons for this, like Facebook's new initiatives to include

businesses, with their social plug-ins and authenticating user logins. Although their analytics tool is not as sophisticated as Google's it offers much more in details including demographic information that is invaluable for most usinesses.

It is not that everything is to the positive, there are negatives to using Facebook, and primary among this is the fear of data leakage in organizations. Yet, everything has its negatives, and it only remains to be seen if the positives are compelling enough to justify having a Facebook account.

This guide will be divided into three broad sections, the first would deal with why Facebook is important for most SMB's, the second will deal with how exactly they can use Facebook to their advantage, and the last will be the negatives to using Facebook.

Small Businesses
Why Facebook is Important To Increase Web Presence
   This is the most basic reason for you to do anything online, because it increases your web presence. Any business has only one objective, and that is sales, be it a product or a service.
   The only way to do this is to make people aware that you are providing a particular product or service. Companies spend between 3% and 10% of their total sales just to do this. In corporate parlance, this is called marketing, when you advertise in different venues so that you let people know exactly what it is that you provide.
   With so much of money at stake companies are always looking for ways in which they can get the same kind of exposure without spending as much money and the web is giving them that opportunity. More than 75% of the population in Western countries has broadband connections at home; more and more people are going online for their needs. Sales are slowly but surely moving towards online, and many manufacturers are already taking advantage of this.
   Amazon is posting a 15% growth each year, and their profits have skyrocketed in the past couple of years. In fact, even during the downturn, they were one of the few industries that posted growth. There are a number of benefits to buying online, primary among them being lower cost and this benefit is hard to match in retail sales.
   Many organizations have taken notice of this growth and even though their online marketing budget is only around 14% of their overall marketing budget, it is a large increase from last year's 8%. Everyone realizes that the future is online, but there are still a number of organizations that are still wary. It has grown so fast that it has caught many companies by surprise.
   With its enormous reach, especially in certain markets and demographics where traditional marketing does not have much impact, Facebook offers an inexpensive, yet quite effective way to put your company's face on the World Wide Web. Just having a website is not enough and everyone knows this. While there are alternatives to Facebook, it is dominating the social network sites and their 600 million users force you to consider the amount of people that you could possibly reach. With Facebook now surpassing Google in the number of people who visit them every day, this is becoming more compelling.

Increase Brand Image
   This is a carry on from the previous point. The aim behind increasing web presence is to not only increase the brand awareness, but also increase brand image. While brand awareness or brand recall is easily achieved with advertising, increasing brand image is a little more difficult. Companies spend years developing a certain image for their brand, and any decision with regards to a new product is taken considering if it will fit the brand image or not.
   Online this is not as difficult. Although the basics remain the same, it is much cheaper to develop a brand online than offline. For example, customer service online is usually restricted to email and responses to blog posts and questions in the forum. This is much easier to handle, and much cheaper in fact, than real time call centers where people answer your calls.
   Of course, emails may not be able to fully replace human interaction, but it can reduce it by quite a big margin. In the same way advertising as well as promotion of a product is much cheaper online than it is in the real world.
Brand building is all about creating an image of the brand in the minds of the people, and one of the easiest ways to do this is to increase the interaction between the general population and the organization.
   While having a website is the bare minimum that an organization should do, there is not much interaction you can have with your customers through your website. Many sites have a “contact us” link and some even have a complaints page where you can log in and put in your complaints, but doing so in Facebook just increases the personal touch.
   For example, while if you manufacture toasters and if a customer has a complaint with it, there is not much of a different between asking them to log into your website and post their complaint and asking them to do so on your Facebook page. The difference is that in Facebook they will be connected to you, so that as soon as a response is posted they will know about it instantly. While companies that do not have good customer service may not find this to be of much use, companies that spend on customer satisfaction will definitely find this useful.
   Imagine if you have a team that has a turn around time of less than four hours for every complaint, this is a good way to make your customers really feel that you care by giving them a resolution in under four hours. Even if you had as good a team, there is no point in it unless the customer realizes it, and Facebook ensures that your customers do.
   Of course, you can integrate all the different facets into your customer service so that they receive and answer via email or even message to their phone that their issue has been resolved, but this calls for resources. In Facebook, everything is available. If a person connects to you on Facebook you do not have to worry about anything else other than resolving their issue, Facebook takes care of the rest. Not only this, but the customer's own personal network will also be aware of your response, especially if he clicks on a “thumbs up” sign signifying that he was happy with your service. This may take time to build, but it gives you more returns than any other CRM tool.
   Having a website is all good and well, but just as you have different clothing for different purposes, you need different tools for different purposes. The advantage of Facebook is that it has an already existing infrastructure as well as over 600 million users, while at the same time being cheap to use, so you do not have to spend any resources in developing a tool for yourself.

Increase Customer Interaction
   Once again, this dovetails into the previous topic in that Facebook, as an existing networking tool gives you the option of using it to interact with your customers, at no cost to you.
   Simply having a corporate page on Facebook means that you will get people who are interested in you come and visit you. In addition, anyone who clicks on your fan button will have your logo on his or her profile. While this may not be a big plus with many SMB's initially, over time a fan base can be created. Added to this is the fact that you are linked to these contacts' contacts as well, which will help maximize your company’s visibility
   Because Facebook is a place where people network it is a great place for you to bring out any news regarding your company. For example, if you are bringing out a new product, mentioning this on Facebook is a good idea as it will help generate interest in the product.
   You can use Facebook as a means of providing discounts to your customers if they purchase a product or service using their Facebook login, they will get a discount on the product. A simple example is the release of video games.
   When the smash hit "Call of Duty" was released into the market, it was an almost instant hit getting so many downloads that their servers started to hang. Most of this was because of their shrewd marketing through the social media. Interest was generated in the game by targeting a few fans and sending them unique invitations to the next in series.
   Studying how exactly they did all this mostly using Internet based tools is a lesson on what can be accomplished online, with the minimum of expense. Another company that sells software for different purposes uses its Facebook fan base as a pre-launch testing team to get feedback about the application.
   How exactly you interact with your customers is up to you, just remember that Facebook offers you an existing network that you can exploit. Depending on how innovative you make this interaction, you can get huge dividends from little outlay in terms of expense and time.

Facebook Part Two

2011-04-29T10:53:00.000-07:00

Facebook, Part Two

Lead Generation

This is one use of Facebook that many people do not make use of. Facebook has a lot of information about its users, and this information is made available to others depending on the privacy level that the users specify. Whenever they use their Facebook ID to log into your site, (if you install this facility of course), Facebook will make available to you as much information as the user has in his or her public profile.

This means that when it comes to savvy people who are aware of how Facebook works, you may well only get general information like email addresses. Email addresses are useful tool considering that the email address on Facebook will mostly be genuine. When it comes to users who are either not knowledgeable enough about the different privacy settings in Facebook or are just not bothered enough, you can get much more information from Facebook.

This can help you not only generate more leads for your ad campaign but also target it to specific niches based on the information that you get from Facebook. For example, if you are selling fitness equipment, you will probably be able to target your campaign to those people whose profile lists anything related to fitness as their hobbies. Not only is the campaign going to be much cheaper, it is also going to be much more effective, because you will never be able to target the audience in such a focused manner anywhere else.

As mentioned, the amount of information that is made available to you by Facebook depends on the users themselves, so there is always the chance that users will not make much information available to you. Yet, this method is still effective because you will get the basic information that you know is at least accurate and not outdated.

This facet of Facebook is even more useful when you consider the kind of business you deal in. If your business is local in nature, you can focus your search to a particular geographic area so that you know that any leads generated would be useful. This is much better than spending time on worldwide customers who are not going to benefit your business in any way.

Gain New Friends

This may not be a top reason, but it still has its uses. For example, if any user wishes to be friends with you and clicks on the friends tab in your company profile page, you can configure your account to accept friends by default. That way every person who becomes your friend is accepted as one by you. You are not only connected to them, but to their friends as well through their Facebook account.

This may take a little bit of time to net results, but as a long-term option to increase the profile of your organization it is a good idea. This is especially true if you have a dedicated person to maintain the profile of the company and put in any information about the company on a regular basis. They can also respond to queries or take note of any complaints. You are creating a certain loyalty in your network by working to take care of their issues so that the next time they want something they will come to you. They will recommend you to others and your network will be able to continue to expand.

Since you are an organization here, you can basically connect with everyone who wants to connect with you and over time, your network can only increase. With the pace at which the virtual world moves, many people are actually saying that they get their news from the social media long before they get it from the mainstream cable news channels. People are starting to rely on Facebook to get information that they need, rather than go through the news and then filter out what they do not need. If you like tennis, but are not interested in politics, you can keep abreast of what is happening in the tennis world while not having to sit through the political news to get to the sports.

This kind of targeting means that your network will be full of only people who are interested in you as they have the option of leaving your network at any time. This becomes useful when it comes to sales conversions, which is our next point.

Selling

The first thing that you should realize is that Facebook is a social network site. This means that you cannot actively canvass for sales the way you would elsewhere. Yet, simply because there is such a large network out there, there are things that you can do to increase your sales using your social network.

To bring back the example of the launch of Call of Duty, the producers of the game started their marketing months before the launch of their product. They sent out coded messages to people who were big in the gaming world. This included not only die-hard Call of Duty fans, but also critics. The code had to be cracked, and when you did that, it gave the URL to a new game that was supposed to come out soon.

There was nothing about Call of Duty in this strategy at all, yet because the URL had short scenes from the game, most people knew that it had to be Call of Duty because it coincided with their release schedule. This led to a storm of activity with gamers discussing about the merits and demerits of the new game, and all this without any basic information regarding the actual game.

When the activity levels started to die down a carefully choreographed leak would send the gamers into another storm until finally when the game was actually released there was so much demand for it that it grossed $410 million on the day of its launch, an all time record, putting to shame high grossing movies like Harry Potter.

Most of this was done only using social media, and even if Facebook did not play any part in this, it still shows the potential that an innovative strategy can have on sales. In addition, all this would not have cost 1/100^th of the cost of traditional marketing. The producers were shrewd enough to use the strengths of such a network and the results are there for all to see.

Of course, the product itself was a good one, and the previous editions of the same game were top sellers themselves, so the producers had a base from which to work. The basic principles however do not change. There are a number of other companies that use their Facebook fan base to do beta testing.

The advantage of being a fan of the organization is that, you get to do free beta testing, and they get a discount when they do buy the product. This is a win-win situation for both the network as well as the company because their fan base will assure them of a minimum number of sales.

The kind of strategy depends on the kind of product you have to sell, and you cannot very well do beta testing for a new landscape design, if that is what your company does. Yet, it gives you the opportunity to try something really innovative, and the best part is that this is not expensive at all.

When Call of Duty had its beta testing, they had to rely on their fan base built over years but through their own network built at their own cost. Now, you have the opportunity to use an already existing network to try out your own unique marketing strategy and at little to no cost to you.

Community Pages

This is the reason why many manufacturers are wary of Facebook. Facebook launched their community pages in April 2010 and created a furor of complaints about how it was not only useless but was actually damaging for small business owners. Facebook has since gone out of its way to educate people on what exactly the community pages were and how it could be used.

The community pages is a feature that you can create in Facebook, much like a forum or a blog. It is easy to set up and you can have your own community. While this may not be absolutely necessary considering that Facebook in itself a networking place, a separate community page gives many advantages.

When Facebook launched this initiative, it created a few hundred thousand community pages by default based on information they had about existing networks. Many businesses thought that this was not only pointless; it was an infringement because these pages were not created by them. These pages were, however, totally community driven, and while there were pages with as few as one or two fans, there were others with thousands.

While this left most businesses thinking that they had gotten the short end of the stick, over time these community pages actually started serving a useful purpose. Most of the more online perceptive companies employ a few people to search the net to gather information on what exactly is the public perception of the organization. While in the real world this is usually done using polls, it was much easier and cheaper to do so online. All one had to do was to monitor these community pages, or forums to know what was being said about the organization. If there were complaints, it did not take long to track these members down and mail them regarding their difficulty.

This was a huge opportunity for organizations that were willing to take the bull by the horns. While these forums were community driven, it gave organizations an existing framework where they could deal with customer service issues. This strategy is simple, yet effective, and Google is a good example for how an organization can use these forums to their advantage.

When Google released their browser “Google Chrome” there were a number of issues with it. In fact, many critics said that it did not deserve the Google name. There were so many complaints about the browser that if you look back now, you would wonder how it survived the beta phase itself. Google tackled this in a unique way. They had a Google employee keep track of these forums and answer any complaints that came up.

The effectiveness of this strategy can be discovered when you consider that the stable version of Chrome was launched in December 2008. By Jan 2011, it had garnered an 11% share in the browsermarket and was the third most widely used browser in the world, rapidly approaching Firefox's share of around 30%.

With the number of faults that the beta version had, this kind of growth is surprising. This is even more surprising considering that when the beta version was launched in Sep 2008 it hit 1% almost immediately. By October, however, this had dropped to 0.69% because of the number of issues it had. Yet, they have reached 11% in just two years. Most of this is because Google kept its ear to the ground, had employees tracking forums where the faults were discussed.

In many cases if a solution was not possible a bug report was filed in the customer's stead and the link was posted back to the forum. This generated a lot of goodwill so many users continued to use Chrome because they were sure that people were working to sort out the issues.

Although these community pages are just another kind of a forum, the advantage this gives is that it is within the Facebook network. This means that all users get the advantage of being connected all the time.

Part 3: Facebook Used Like CRM Tool, But Is Free

2011-04-29T10:32:00.000-07:00

Part Three

Leverage Your Facebook Membership

Use Facebook as an Advantage

There are a number of ways to do this. Being on Facebook is not an end in itself; it is only a means to an end. You should start looking at Facebook as a tool that you can use, and if you change your mind to think this way, you will start thinking of different and unique ways to use Facebook to your advantage.
For example, many top CRM tools can be quite expensive, but it is money that will have to be spent if you want to give your customers a good customer service experience. Yet, Facebook offers you the advantage it being used much like a CRM tool but is totally free to use. It is also not as resource heavy in the sense that you do not need as much labor because of the way in which Facebook is designed.
While this is only an example, it shows how Facebook can be used in unique ways. There are several other ways in which Facebook can be used to maximize your business potential.
Starting from the basic things that every SMB owner needs to do, we will discuss all these techniques in detail.
Create a Personal Profile
While your company needs to have a company page, it is imperative that you as the owner should have their own profile that you can link with the company. This is important because of the way Facebook users behave.
One of the most common behavior patterns of most Facebook users is to check out the profile page of all their friends, and those that they are interested in. While your company may have its own profile page on Facebook, most people are aware that the company is just as good as its management is and so will be interested in finding out about the owner.
Facebook operates on a platform of total transparency and trust. This is why except for any portion of your profile that you purposefully keep hidden under different privacy settings, everything about you is open to public view. Most people do not have any problem with this, and most only make sure that they keep private information like home address, or telephone numbers hidden. If your company's is a stand alone page and does not link back to its owner, or top management, it sends out the wrong signals.
Facebook users want personal information. They would like to know if you are married; have kids, what your interests are, general information that however makes them feel that they understand you better, rather than just a one-liner saying that you are the owner/proprietor of a small business.
Not only that, but people that you link with on a personal level will be connected to your company as well, and those who come across your personal profile will be prompted to check out your company's home page too.
Even if this does not net you any business and there is no reason why this should not, it will at least increase the page views on your company's profile. Since Facebook is public, Google will rank your company's page based on how many clicks it gets internally on Facebook, meaning that you have another way of increasing your company's exposure on the net.15
Facebook News Feed
This is one of the most useful things about Facebook for most SMB owners. Facebook has two different kinds of news feeds, one is a mini feed that is free to use and another that is the main news feed. You need to pay to use the main news feed or be willing to build an application for it, but the mini feed is free and works just as well if used properly.
The mini feed is supposed to be a place where friends can find out what has happened with others in their network. When a Facebook user networks with you on any level, Facebook adds a mini feed to their profile that feeds back to you. When you publish anything, it is sent via this mini feed to your entire network, and if what you have to say is exciting, you can crawl across various networks getting exposure in the hundreds of thousands in a matter of days. All feeds from a user's network is amalgamated into one home page that is the first page that comes up when they log in.
The kind of exposure that this gives is enormous because most people are interested in knowing what is happening within their network. Of course, with Facebook's preoccupation with spammers, it would not be a good idea to use this feature as a marketing ploy. Even if it is not stopped now, you will actually be shooting your foot in two ways. You will be causing people to leave your network in droves because they find that all you have to say is promoting some product or the other. All they have to do is to unsubscribe to your feed, and you have effectively lost your network even if they remain connected to you through other channels.
You will also be bringing yourself to the notice of Facebook administrators, and if they shut down your account for spamming, you have lost months and maybe years of hard work for nothing.
However, it is still a good venue to pass along information. For example, if you sell software, and want to do a pre-launch beta testing for a new iPhone app, sending out a feed that Facebook users can use their logins to download the app is a great idea. Not only will people in your immediate network connect to try out the software, this news is sure to spread across other networks giving you huge numbers. In fact, you will have reached millions of iPhone users within a matter of days, and every Facebook user who has an iPhone is a potential candidate.
Many people actually use this beta testing for two purposes:
One, to get feedback about bugs in their software, and
second is that many out of these numbers who download the software to try it out do so to find out if it is useful to them. They are not doing it to give reviews, although there are a few who do that. Thus, if your software is good enough, most of these numbers will pay the conversion fee when you go online with it.
You may have to give a discount, but considering that you already have a specific number of users, you can afford to do this. Of course, if you do not give any discount, chances are that the next time you do any beta testing, the numbers will fall drastically.
This strategy will work for any sector you are in as long as the feed is designed in a unique way. The unfortunate thing is that you cannot afford to have deals like this often. Once or twice a year is about the maximum. Yet, it is deals like this that gives you the maximum exposure. Using a like strategy to bring your company to the notice of a large number of people is the idea.
This is the baseline of all marketing, and using Facebook to do this is not only inexpensive, it takes only a couple of minutes to set up. As long as you have taken precautions to ensure that the increased traffic does not cause your site to crash, setting up the feed should take less than 10 minutes.
Facebook Groups
Having your own groups section on Facebook has a number of advantages. You can have as many members as you like, and if people interested in what you have to say or are excited about your group in any way, your group can grow quickly.
Stephen Colbert's group went from zero to one million in just under nine days. This shows the power of having groups, and while you may not be able to get so many people excited about your organization, it is still a place where you can connect to your network and send out bits of information as many times during the day as you want.
Creating such a large group is not always easy, and unless you have something really compelling to say, you may not be able to create such a large network. This however does not preclude this option from the list of possibilities.
Facebook Pages
Facebook pages are a lot like Facebook Groups, but you get some extra advantages. This function was mostly created for small business owners who want to use Facebook to increase their company's profile on Facebook.
You get more screen space where you can include what you want, and you are able to customize it better using standard HTML or even flash. Although, some people feel that having a page on both Groups and Pages is not really necessary. Yet, this is another avenue, and you never know if one page will do better than another until you try and evaluate it.
Notes and Photos
Everyone knows that Facebook is primarily a place where you can share what is happening with your life through photos. Few people use Facebook without uploading photos into their profile. Starting from one on their profile page, and going up to creating different albums for different events, Facebook is much better than any other application because it offers the ability to upload unlimited photos.
There are many people who use Facebook as a place where they store their photos. It is online and therefore available at any time, and there is no way that you are going to lose your information because it is all maintained by Facebook.
When it comes to business, photos are an even more powerful medium than the written word. You can have pictures of events that you had in your company, like a Christmas party, a day out with all the employees, or other function you want to show.
You can even include pictures of your office building, but it is better to get everything with a casual setting than a professional one. The reason for this is that all said and done Facebook is a networking medium that you are using for your own business reasons. If you have only staid pictures, as is usually found on company brochures you will not get much mileage out of it.
The idea behind putting pictures in Facebook is to show what a fun place to work your organization is. It is to show how your whole company is like one big family, and while you earn money, you do not forget to enjoy life in the process. People appreciate the personal touch and more so in Facebook because they expect it.
Using the picture gallery as a place where you can upload photos of your products is really not a good idea. There are two reasons for this. The first is that it really does not say anything personal about you or your company apart from making you out to be a sort of person who is just using Facebook to market his products.
The second reason is that you can tag these photos. While photos of employees is not going to net you much gain because you will already be connected with them, there may be other photos with people outside your immediate network, like when you go to a business meeting or outside function. When you “tag” these photos, that person will be notified, prompting them to come visit you, and if you are lucky join your network. If he or she is a businessperson both of you will profit by being part of the other person's network.
This presupposes the notion that people you want to connect with are already in Facebook, but with Facebook showing the kind of rapid increase in new registrations that it is, they are either already there, or are planning to be.
Messages
Messages are a way for you to contact people who are outside your network. In other networking sites, generally you need to be connected before you can start sending and receiving messages, but Facebook offers you the alternative of actually sending messages to people who are totally outside your network.
This has a number of uses. For example, you can use it like an email to get in touch with people with whom you may other wise find it difficult to get in touch with. You can increase your network by getting in touch with people who have a large network of their own, but are totally unconnected to you to find out if you can connect with them. Just sending a friend request may not net you an answer, but if you message them directly, you may receive a positive response. You can even contact people and approach them directly about the service you are offering.
Facebook has done a lot of work to weed out spammers because this messaging facility was being used to send out spam messages. If you do so, Facebook will shut down your account, so you need to be careful about the number of messages that you send out to unconnected people from your account.
Yet, this is a powerful tool if you use it in the right manner. As long as you have a marketing strategy in place, you can find ways to use Facebook that will give you the same results, but with much lower costs.
Facebook Marketplace
The Facebook marketplace is a place where you can put up your advertisements. This is free, but if you overdo it, Facebook will once again penalize you because they have taken spammers seriously. Having your account shut down for spamming is not good for your company, especially if you have gone to a lot of trouble in building up your network.
The marketplace does not give you too much of a response, but if you are serious about something, coupling it with other applications that Facebook provides may give you a lot of dividends. The advantage of Facebook over other places like Craigslist is that everything ties into your Facebook account. Thus, if you want to hire more people, this may be a good option because people who come to you through your marketplace ad will already have checked out your company profile and will apply because they think that it is a good fit for them.
In the same way if you are offering a limited time offer on your products, although you will use other Facebook apps to let this information out, having it posted in the marketplace ensures that even people who are not connected with your network can come and take a look.
If your offer is good, it is sure to make its way into other networks, giving you that much more exposure for your business while at the same time, not having cost you anything to set up the entire campaign.

Paid Services

All the above techniques are ways to use Facebook's service for free and get the maximum exposure. Facebook also offers advertisers and others who are willing to spend a little money a lot more options and these are discussed next.
The amount of money you spend depends on the size of your target audience, and the length of your ad run. While short run ads can cost you only a few dollars, there are options for you to take advantage of sponsored ads that can cost in the hundreds of thousands.
Social Ads
This feature was brought out in 2007 by Facebook specifically for businesses because it allowed targeting of certain demographic groups within Facebook. You could target your ad based on age, sex, location, keywords, relationship, education, workplaces and basically any other field that you enter into Facebook.
This gives it a huge advantage over other tools that rely mostly on keywords. When you compare them to Facebook, you can see how narrowly you can target your audience. Not only this you can target your audience on other parameters like for paying for newsfeeds.
These ads generally have a much higher return than sponsored ads.Yet, another way is to target people who have approached you, or have browsed through your profile or your companies profile in the recent past. This gives the maximum click through ratio and is one of the best ways to get a response to your advertising.
On the other hand, sponsored ads are probably the best when it comes to brand building. Depending on the kind of marketing strategy you have, you can choose the kind of applications to use. While initially this kind of focused targeting may not have given many returns simply because the number of users were not too high, with over 600 million users and climbing, it makes good sense not only because you can configure your marketing strategy much better, but it is also good experience for the future when Facebook will play a much bigger role in advertising strategies.
If you are a large player, or have a marketing budget greater than $50,000, you can contact Facebook directly to configure your strategy even more. All you have to do is to contact them and tell them what you are looking for, and you will receive a call back from Facebook with various solutions to your problem.
Market Research
With Facebook offering the kind of specific information about its users that it does to advertisers, it is easy to focus market research within your target audience, and have results within hours, if not days. Polls are conducted all the time and many times frivolous questions will garner huge responses. This is because Facebook is looked upon as a place where you can be yourself, so the more natural sounding the questions are, the better the feedback.
Although, this may mean that getting through an entire market research campaign may take some time, it also means that the chances of you getting accurate useful information is even higher. While market research companies have not started using Facebook extensively because of the problem with getting users to answer a list of questions, as long as you plan it ahead of time and schedule one or two polls a day, you are sure to get a good response.
Facebook Platform
While this may not be of great use to all organizations those companies who are in the field of developing applications may find this useful. This is because Facebook promised all application developers that any application developed on the “Facebook Platform” would receive as much exposure as the app deserved, and that they could monetize these applications without any interference from Facebook.
This has given birth to a whole lot of companies that develop applications that you can use in Facebook. A simple example would be the “Family Tree” app that you can use to get in touch with family that you may not even know you had.
The quality of these apps may not always be consistent as they are not developed by Facebook but by third parties, but then it is the good ones that get the most use. If you are not into application development, you could still use these apps to advertise as you can focus your ads even more if you feel you need to. You can even approach organizations that develop these applications to sponsor them directly. Examples of this happening are “Drink sharing” apps developed with the sponsorship of beverage companies, and “Winking” apps developed with contact lens manufacturers.
There are other ways to use these applications. Companies that have large marketing budgets can create their own applications. These applications need to be installed into each user's profile by them, so the apps need to be good at what they are meant to do and also be eye catchy enough for users to want to use it.
This happens quite a bit in open source browsers. Both Mozilla's Firefox and Google's Chrome have the add-ons section. These applications are not created by Mozilla or Google, but by third party vendors. When you install these applications into your browser, you agree that these third party vendors can access a certain amount of information about you and your online habits. The apps on Facebook work pretty much the same way. Even if you are not collaborating with anyone to create these applications you can approach them for targeted marketing purposes.
Other Ways to Use Facebook
Until now, we have been discussing how companies can use Facebook directly for their purposes. Apart from these, there are other ways in which companies can use Facebook, and that is by linking their site with Facebook. There are a number of ways to do this, and each of them have a different purpose.
Social Plug-ins
If you have visited sites where you have seen a “Thumbs up” button, you know what this is. This is the most common way to integrate your site with Facebook. This option may not sound like much to people who are not too “connected”, but for those who are, it makes a big difference.
The reason is that simply by logging into Facebook and remaining logged in, all Facebook users can integrate their browsing experience into their Facebook profiles. If they have visited a site where you feel that you get great bargains, all that the user has to do is to click on the “I like” button. This will connect with their profile on Facebook and let their network also know where this “deal” could be found.
As a company that is offering this deal this has a huge impact. While you can expect a certain amount of traffic generated by word-of-mouth when your website offers a deal, it in no way compares to the exposure that your site will get if you include the Facebook Social Plug-in in your page. Just one Facebook user clicking on the button is sufficient to make this known instantly to his network. With the number of people who are online these days, the chances of you getting a number of Facebook users is high. This means that you can get much higher levels of activity in your site than if you did not include this button.
Authentication
This feature is when you use the Facebook login as yours. Many sites give you the option of creating an account with them, which will make your browsing experience that much better. This is not only for forums and blogs where you can actively follow someone, but also for sites that sell products.
Having a Facebook integrated login means that you are making their logging in into your site that much simpler for them. Just as in any other plug-in from Facebook, all you need to do is to copy a few lines of code into your site and you are good to go.
What this does is that you have a button offering users to log into your account using their Facebook account. When they click on that button, their log in or registration screen is prepopulated with their details. When they click on the register button, they will be prompted as to the amount of information that they wish to share with you. Even assuming that they wish to share only the basic of information, you are still ahead because you get more information about your users than you would get if they registered without Facebook.
What Facebook does is provides you information that is in the public domain about their users; even general information like age and sex matter a lot when you are analyzing your site's performance. Having more information simply means that you can focus your service that much better.
For example, if you are just an affiliate site who markets different products, there are a number of things that you have to keep in mind when choosing the kind of product to sell. Even after doing all this work you will still have to ensure that your site is responding in the way that you wish it to. For example, if you are selling washing machines, you would definitely appreciate knowing what percentage of your visitors were women, and what age group they fall under.
Even if it does not make you change your mind about the product, it will at least tell you what kind of content you have to focus on to pull in your target audience. When you are used to working only with keywords, having specific demographic information about your visiting public is something that nobody will say no to.
In fact, you can even personalize your user's experience by pulling in information from Facebook regarding particular users. You can bring their news feeds into your site, so that they are still in touch with their network, and you can even use information about your users to individually tailor make user home pages to reflect their preferences. For example, if you know that your user is a 55+ aged person you can create a different “Welcome” page than if you know that your user was an under the age of .
In the real world, all businesses make use of information like this to make the customer's shopping experience better, and it is only a matter of time before it happens in the virtual world as well.

Facebook Is Perfect, Isn't It? No, Not Quite

2011-04-29T09:54:00.000-07:00

Part Four

Facebook Negatives

   This is labeled Part Four, but that is because I intend to place all four parts of this almost ten thousand-word article about Facebook on both the blog Xtreme Money Machines

and

http://HotAirMachine.blogspot.com

   After the final installment is posted, this will read like a mini-book for my readers who can read the entire blog in one reading or several, but importantly in order so that it has continuity.
   With all the advantages, it is easy to think that using Facebook does not have any downsides. Just as in everything in the world Facebook has its downside. Some of them are little more than minor irritants, but others are big problems, big enough for large organizations to have kept away from Facebook.
Data Leakage
   This is the biggest and probably the only problem when it comes to companies joining Facebook. Even if all the security in the world is made use of to protect data and make it secure, there is nothing that can be done with the people working there.
Many employers feel that giving access to Facebook is dangerous because it is possible for company employees to share sensitive information with their network most of whom would not be employees of the same organization.
   Some of the biggest problems to come up with Facebook are those that deal with employees ranting and raving about their organization on Facebook. Many employees have found that their comments about their job have even cost them their job. Yet, this is a small irritant when it is compared to other bigger problems.
   For instance, there are a number of organizations that forbid the use of phones inside the office, and employees are not allowed to access their mail. However, they may be online and access the Internet because their work calls for this. A corporate firewall usually enforces this.
   Although a corporate Facebook account can be useful to send messages to others within the same organization, and even share information, making their workplace a little fun too, it is dangerous because this network is connected to the outside world. If any employee discusses information that may not be restricted within the company, but is not meant for the general public, they may be putting their organization at risk. This is more so for publicly listed companies than for privately held ones.
   From the point of view of employers there is no other way, yet, thinking back to progress, such restrictions have not managed to last long. It was not that long ago that the Internet was not given to employees, and before that, computers were thought of as a security risk. Now, even though phones are thought of as the same, most organizations do not have any problems with phones that do not have cameras. It is only when you have a camera phone that they have a problem.
   Most of these restrictions have passed away, and so maybe in the future the restriction on Facebook will as well. It is therefore good to plan for that day because it will come. Many people thought that giving Internet connections to people would mean inside information going out. Now, most companies have realized that there is no such fear, and educating employees on what can and cannot be disclosed to non employees has had better returns that restricting access to the Internet.
   In fact, the only reason why companies even restrict mail access is not so much that it is a security risk but that they feel that employees will spend too much time checking their personal mail rather than working.
Tone of Voice
   This may sound a little odd, but a number of small businesses are finding it hard to modify their marketing to take advantage of Facebook. They have been accustomed to the traditional methods of advertising like newspapers, TV commercials and/or radio ads. When it comes to Facebook, the same formal voice that was used for so many years successfully just does not work.
   Facebook prefers a more casual type of communication, and many users just ignore anything that even resembles formal communication. This means that all your researching and targeting of your audience will come to naught if you are not able to market the way the Facebook users prefer.
   This is not a big hurdle, and is one that must be crossed. The Internet is the future, and sticking to “Tried and Tested” systems of marketing will not work in the years to come.
Marketing in itself is dynamic and with the pace of progress online, it is even more dynamic. It is the person who stands out from the crowd who will be noticed.With Facebook offering such a cheap way to advertise, many small businesses are taking advantage of this. This means that unless your advertisement is striking, it will be lost along with everything else, and not net you any benefit.
Transition Time
   Facebook is evolving so fast that to them a couple of years is like eons. For most of us however, that is how long it takes for us to learn and get settled in something. For example, Facebook used their own take on HTML and called it FBML an acronym for Facebook Markup Language. Just when advertisers were beginning to get comfortable with FBML, Facebook dropped it in favor of iFrames. As already mentioned, life online is really fast, and things happen in minutes. In the real world, life is a little slower. Most marketing managers are not necessarily tech savvy and it therefore takes them time to find out things and learn. They expect certain stability in their business relationship, and having things so dynamic that they will have to once again start from scratch and learn a new technology is putting them off.
Hackers
   Although Facebook has taken hackers seriously, simply because there are so many users it is a little difficult to check each and every user. Many hackers use Facebook to gather a lot of personal information about people and companies that use Facebook. A number of high profile cases have come up in the past couple of years when hackers were able to put in their own code into a page and get even information that was blocked from public view. This has left a bad taste and there are a number of forums that are dedicated to anti Facebook people.
   While this has no direct impact on a business as such, it is still important because hackers can use your Facebook page to obtain information. This is an even bigger problem because Facebook will automatically find your page to be the culprit and block your page. If you are actively using Facebook in your marketing strategy you cannot afford to have your company page go down for a week while Facebook decides whether you were genuinely taken advantage of, or if you were deliberately doing something illegal.
   One example of this was when a dating service put up pictures of topless models in their ads. Not only were their ads not delivered, their page was blocked. The company was not only a genuine one; it was a paid advertiser on Facebook.
   Although having topless pictures did infringe on the terms of use of Facebook, the company was of the opinion that they should have specified this in advance, or at least allowed them to carry on the ad campaign but with different pictures. Issues like these lead many to believe that Facebook has still not evolved to the stage when it can actually become a useful to businesses.
Conclusion
   Going online is the future for all organizations big or small. Facebook is just one facet of this online presence. Marketing online is not limited to Facebook, nor can it even be considered to be the most effective. Yet, Facebook offers some compelling reasons for companies to use it to maximize their business.
   There are both advantages as well as disadvantages to using Facebook, and it may well be true that it has still not reached the sophistication of other more established online names. However, with their popularity only increasing and showing no signs of diminishing, it would be rash not to include Facebook into the overall marketing strategy.
   At the pace at which Facebook has developed over the past few years, waiting until everything is set is not a good idea because at that time you will be totally unfamiliar with how Facebook works, let alone how to use it.
   In addition, Facebook is not something that you use as a one time marketing strategy. It takes a long time, sometimes years to develop a network so unless you start now, you would not be able to take advantage of Facebook when you do want to. In fact, this facet of Facebook, the time it takes you to set up a network, is one big reason for a number of marketing honchos to not think of Facebook. Even those who have actively started on Facebook find that the amount of time that they spend on Facebook building their network means that they have little time to even think of other social media.
   It is important to remember that with all their imperfections, Facebook still offers a compelling reason for every business to be there. It is cheap and you can even do everything you want to for free if you want to. Although, you may not get the use of certain facilities that will definitely help you a lot, there are few other places where you can start off at free, and go up in stages depending on what your budget is.
It is effective – all said and done, marketing on Facebook is efficient. If handled properly just using Facebook for marketing is more than sufficient to get you the sales that you are looking for and once again if handled properly you do not even have to spend any money to do this.
   At the rate at which certain groups grow, it all depends on you finding something of interest to which people can connect. If you do find that, there is every possibility that you too can have a network that measures in the tens of thousands. Once this network is set up, it is just following a few basic uidelines on what to do and what not to for you to immediately start seeing results.
   Though it is not the only way, Facebook as of now is the best choice when it comes to social marketing, and you do need social marketing. Even now everybody knows the value of door to door marketing and Facebook offers you the capacity to do the same thing but in a virtual environment http://xtremeMoneyMachines.blogspot.comhttp://xtrememoneymachines.blogspot.com

Book Reviews: A Ten-Step Process

2011-04-19T19:03:00.000-07:00

How to Write a Book Review

Introduction

How to Write a Book Review in 10 Easy Steps

Okay, so you have to write a book review. What do you need to do and in what order? Here's a 10-step process you can use to review any book.

1) Don't read the book. At least, not yet. Instead, start by looking at it. Look for clues to the nature of the book you'll be reading. Is it a richly manufactured item aimed at collectors? What does the cover illustration indicate the book will be about? What sort of blurbs are included? How is it categorized by the publisher? All of these will tell you the book's target audience.

2) Don't read the book. At least, not quite yet. Instead, open the book and flip through it. Look at how the words are arranged on the pages. Start with the largest distinctions—the number of pages, the number of chapters, and so on. Then move to the size of paragraphs, how much of the book is dialogue, etc. This will tell you about the book's readability and how the author structured the book.

3) Build a framework for taking notes. You always focus better if you have something specific to look for and markers to pay attention to along the way. Start with the simplest things—the number of chapters, for example—and then move on to more complex tasks, such as questions you'll want to answer: "What makes this book a classic?" or "What made this book 'speak for a generation' like the introduction said it did?"

4) Read the book. And as you do so...

5) Pay attention. That isn't a disciplinary command like, "Don't let your mind wander!" Instead, pay attention to your reading experience. This is the first real challenge for most people. What caught your attention, and when were you bored? When was the book suspenseful? Which characters did you like, and why?

6) Review the book and take notes that let you explain its effects. This is the second tough step for most people. Remember that note-taking framework you built earlier? Now's the time to fill it in. Flip back through the book and write brief, purposeful notes. What happens in the first chapter—and what was its effect on you as a reader? When you passed from one part of the book to the next—chapter, section, or setting—what kept your attention? This is the part most people neglect, but it lays the foundation for the rest of the book review, so keep at it until you can do the following:

Explain how the book as a whole affected you.

Explain how the author achieved the effects he or she did.

Explain the relationship between form and content.

If it is fiction, explain the function of each character in the novel.

Explain the characters' relationships to one another.

7) Sum up the book. This is the easy part, and half of what most people think a book review is. Put the book in a nutshell. Keep summarizing it until you've got everything covered clearly. Use that to start your review.

8) Pass judgment. This is the other half of a book review for most people. Is this book good or bad? This is the time for you to say so. Put that second in your review—but use your notes from earlier to explain why and to make your judgment persuasive. Give specific examples, and move from passing judgment to explaining the book. That comes third.

9) Put the book in context. You might have been able to get this information from looking at the book's cover and introduction, or you might need to do a little research. What categories does this book fall into? Is it science fiction or fantasy? Is it the first of its kind or an imitation? The author's first book or fifteenth? Spend some time relating this book to others in its category to further explain the book and your judgment of it.

10) Check your aim. You've written your review. Now's the time to step back and apply this sort of reasoning to your own review. Did you explain every major aspect of the book? What was your target audience? Did you write this for a class with specific criteria—or for a fan magazine whose audience already knows this type of book well? If so, you might have to edit your review to add or remove details. If you don't...you're done!

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