Win Free Tickets to Facebook Success Summit 2011
**UPDATE: We have announced our two winners. The winner of the comment/blog portion of the contest, receiving two tickets to the Facebook Success Summit is Theodore Sturos, read his comment here. The winner of the Twitter contest is Kim Isles. Thanks to everyone who participated in the event. We look forward to seeing you all in a couple of weeks!**
Want to win a free ticket to the largest online Facebook marketing event of the year?
Social Media Examiner has worked hard to bring you our second-annual Facebook Success Summit. It’s even better than last year! And we’ve come up with a fun way to get you involved.
First, what is this event?
Facebook Success Summit 2011 is an online conference dedicated to helping businesses master Facebook marketing. More than 900 businesses have already signed up, including Sony, CNN, Hewlett-Packard, Smucker’s, Zealand, Virginia State Parks, Hampton Inn and hundreds of smaller businesses. 
Top 10 Small Business Facebook Pages: 2011 Winners!
Small businesses can stand out in a big way with Facebook. If you’re looking for some creative examples of Facebook pages from the small guys, look no further!
More than 1400 nominations came in from our contest.
Our panel of Facebook experts carefully reviewed the nominees and finalists, analyzing their landing pages, engagement, reader involvement and creative use of promotions (among other things).
None of these businesses have huge budgets, yet they have all achieved amazing success. The following are the winners of Social Media Examiner’s Top 10 Small Business Facebook Pages for 2011:
Social Media Promotions and the Law: What You Need to Know
Are you thinking of using social media contests?
Do you understand how the law could impact your activities?
Keep reading to learn more…
Why Legalities?
One of the best ways to grow your business is to give stuff away.
Whether your business is a small enterprise, a website or blog, or a large multinational company, hosting giveaways is sure to increase traffic, awareness and potential new readers or customers.
Sponsoring or hosting a giveaway comes with rules and regulations that many don’t know or understand.
Nominate Your Favorite Small Business Facebook Page: Top 10 Contest
Social Media Examiner is accepting nominations for its “Top 10 Small Business Facebook Page” contest.
Have you got a favorite small business Facebook page? Keep reading to learn how you can nominate them.
The winners will be promoted in our 94,000-reader newsletter and announced here.
How to Nominate
5 Tips for Using Humor in Your Social Media Activities
Can you remember something funny? Humor can go a long way with social media.
Are you considering using humor with your social media activities? If so, this article reveals some tips to get you on the right track.
Why humor?
It’s no surprise that using humor in advertising is an effective way to connect with your audience and humanize your brand or company, but what about using it for social media?
Adding humor to your social media strategy can be a great way to get people’s attention.
If you appeal to your audience emotionally, you’ll have a much better chance that they will further engage with your brand or product. Doing so will help your customers remember you, share your content and have a better understanding of what you stand for.
Finally, an emotional appeal differentiates you from the millions of other companies out there bombarding their social channels with nothing but self-promotion.
3 Ways to Prepare Your Business for Social Search
Is your business ready for social search? In this article I’ll reveal what you need to know and what you need to do to prepare for social search.
The Emergence of Social Search
Earlier this year I predicted that this would be a breakout year for social search. It seems I was right—however, it’s unfolding differently than I expected, with Google leading the charge.
It turns out that Google is not going to sit back and allow Facebook to eat away at their search advertising revenue. Instead, Google has recently made some bold moves that all online marketers should be responding to.
What’s happened is Google recently changed its search algorithm that determines what type of online content is the most relevant—specifically placing greater emphasis on original social content.
Why Marketing Hurts Your Growth and What to Do About It
Have you noticed the tried-and-true forms of marketing are rapidly losing their luster? People aren’t responding. Prospects are harder to find. Customers are tuning out.
As a marketer or business owner, what in the world can you do to grow to your business? I’ve struggled with these very issues.
I’ve got good news and bad news for you. The good news: You really can rapidly grow a loyal following. The bad news: You may need to rethink the way you market your business. If you’re ready for change, keep reading.
In this article I’ll reveal a new (yet proven) method of achieving rapid growth in the social age. It’s the very model I employed to grow Social Media Examiner into one of the world’s top business blogs.
