Anna Ritchie : Community Maven
Anna Ritchie
Marketing & communications practitioner, and product manager for TMCnet. Focus on content marketing and social media with a specialty in Online Community-building for businesses. Follow @Connectincloud and @apritchie
| Expertise and Advice on Successful Online Communities

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Free Educational Webinar about Building Online Communities

March 25, 2011

As you know, TMC is passionate about building successful Online Communities for our customers. That's why we're hosting a FREE Webinar on Wednesday, March 30th at 2:00pm ET, titled: Building Communities Online: Reduce Marketing Spend While Boosting Sales, Search and Social Initiatives.

Learn more about this Webinar here and Register today! You can also contact Anna Ritchie for more information. We hope to see you there!


Building a Trustworthy Brand With an Online Community

March 26, 2011

From the recent Podcast, “No One Buys Without Trust”: Linking Thought Leadership & Branding to Sales through Online Communities.

Listen to the full Podcast Here.   

Rich Tehrani, CEO of TMCnet, recently sat down with Peter Radizeski of RAD-INFO for the second installment of their Online Communities Podcast series.  

Social Media: You Know Your Business Needs To Do It - But How?

April 21, 2011

I love Facebook.  I like knowing what my friends are doing, getting reminders from my favorite bands about upcoming concert dates, and reading the latest gossip.

But using Facebook for the marketing of my company’s products is a whole different ballgame, especially when measurement and quantitative analysis are so necessary but so seemingly elusive through social sites. Still, we need to do it.

Who Says Online Communities Can't Have Fun?

April 28, 2011

Today, KenCast's Live Streaming Coverage Global Online Community posted a pretty interesting article on their site: An article about the Royal Wedding.

I like when Online Communities take a break from the educational and informative and have a little fun with their online content. Plus, by tapping into the "hot topic" of the week (or century) the article is likely to get a lot of attraction, and search engine traction because if recent Google algorithm changes tell us anything, it's that original, interesting and quality content is king.

To read the article, click here- and enjoy!

And the Winners Are...

April 29, 2011

The recent "State of Corporate Social Media" Survey, produced by Useful Social Media, outlines the latest research and trends in the social media space- including which companies are considered "leaders" in this relatively new medium. The list includes Dell, Starbucks, Coca Cola, Apple, Microsoft and Nike, with an honorable mention to the Aflac Duck.

The survey is quick to point out, however, that these leaders are all B2C. Interesting.

Where are the B2B companies in this space, and why might they not be as successful?



A Spin on the Grim Predictions for Small Business SEO and Social Efforts

May 4, 2011

Small Business Marketing Challenges

In a past post, we discussed the challenges some small companies face while trying to obtain high search engine ranking for their websites. Challenges included lack of history/back links to their site, not enough content generation and strain on resources trying to sustain the activity needed to drive SEO. But, the moral of the article was not to discourage small businesses but suggest Online Communities, specifically ones that as a solution that can help streamline efforts, minimize workload and integrate various marketing initiatives to reduce costs and boost sales.

How to Spice Up Your Online Community Content

May 15, 2011

Real-Time Updates from Vegas

During TMC’s interactive breakfast session in Las Vegas this week, we had the opportunity to share with, and learn from, participants across many industries as we discussed online marketing trends, best practices, social media insights and much more. In a packed room that contained an audience of varying marketing objectives and budgets, the conversation eventually turned to what seemed to really resonate with each attendee regardless of size: How do I create high-quality content that boosts SEO, gets shared virally and positions my company as a thought leader?

As passionate as TMCnet is about creating powerful Online Communities, we know that the foundation for a successful site lies in having high-quality content that is objective, non-biased, engaging and – yes – even controversial.

An Online Community I Get a Kick Out Of

May 19, 2011

The recent launch of Foot Locker’s Sneakerpedia really intrigued me. As a shoe fanatic, I’d of course be the first to jump on the opportunity to talk about shoes, all shoes and nothing but shoes all day long. But, how exactly would this work? Would it be like a Facebook page where people post pictures of their shoes, like they do with their bling on Blue Nile’s Fan Page? 

Search Marketing Spend Increase: Two Trends to Be Aware Of

June 1, 2011

A recent study by the Search Engine Marketing Professional Organization recently found that search marketing spend will increase 16% this year. This isn't that surprising- it's clear that most people start their purchasing decisions online, and studies show that organic search engine ranking (like what you get with an Online Community) is viewed as much more credible than a pay-per-click ad.

But two interesting trends also arose from this study. For one, 84% of companies use Facebook to promote themselves, 75% use Twitter, and only 52% using LinkedIn according to the survey.  

Tweet Wrestling and a Quirky Competition as Online Community Boosters

June 24, 2011

At the recent Corporate Social Media Summit in NYC, I had the pleasure of hearing some of the most prominent Fortune 500 companies talk about…tweeting?

That’s right. Dell, Aflac, SAP, Whole Foods and Cisco were some of just a few companies who spoke about their experiences developing, deploying and measuring effective social media campaigns.  And the more case studies I heard, the further I realized how similar companies of all sizes are when dealing with online marketing and social media, as the questions echoed what we at TMC hear from our clients regularly: What works best?

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