Carpetbaggers

During a phone call this week, blogger Michelle Bruno complained to me about the unsavory folks who copy the content of her blog, Fork in the Road, and publish it under their own names.

"I see my stuff all over the place," she said.

Michelle spoke with resignation. 

But I'll take a New York minute to call out these plagiarists.

Or, as I prefer, carpetbaggers.

You'll remember from US history classes that carpetbaggers were opportunists who descended on the vanquished South just after the Civil War. They exploited Southerners by stealing their land and businesses.

The term is synonymous with "crook," "charlatan," "plunderer" and "thief."

Time to Quit Facebook?

Copyblogger's Sonia Simone thinks content marketers should quit Facebook.

Because you can't control what social platforms like Facebook do, she says, it's risky to build your business on another company's "virtual land."

"The minute you actually depend on Facebook for your business, they will change their terms of service in a way that causes you pain," Simone writes.

Publishing on social platforms like Facebook benefits the platforms' owners, nothing more.

They goad you to post content so you'll win a bunch of "Likes."

But that's only a ruse.

In reality, according to Simone, your publishing efforts "are helping them build an audience they can show their spammy display ads to."

Worse yet, Facebook isn't about selling.

"People go to Facebook to share duckface selfies, pictures of grandkids, and memes from George Takei," Simone says.

And while it's still possible to engage people with your Facebook posts, "'engagement' does not equal 'customers.'"

You Facebook posts will get Likes that never lead to sales.

"That’s not marketing," Simone says. "It’s an annoying hobby."

Google+ Boosts SEO

Social media maven Courtney Kettmann, writing for Socialmouths, says that Google+, because it's owned by Google, will boost your company's search engine rankings.

"Posts and accounts will appear high in Google search results," she writes. "This is beneficial to a business, as it can help improve the SEO of a company’s Website."

The extra search-engine hits "alone make Google+ essential for a business," according to Kettman.

Google+ posts with images and videos score particularly high among visitors, she notes.

500 Million Twits

Five hundred million. 

That's how many people now use Twitter.

Pew Research Center says that daily use of Twitter has doubled in one year.

And—among 18-24 year olds—Twitter use has increased four times during the past two years.

The rise of smartphones and mobile apps may account for the growth.

Smartphone users are particularly likely to use Twitter, according to Pew.

Why Get with YouTube?

Are you hoarding videos on your Website, hoping someone will find them?

Fuhgeddaboudit.

Get with YouTube.

YouTube's search engine will deliver new leads, according to Julie Perry, vice president, BLASTmedia. That's because:

• YouTube includes your video in viewers' searches for related topics, including famous people and products.
• Like Amazon, YouTube recommends videos whenever viewers log on. So It's easy to get in front of the ones who are interested in your products.
• YouTube sends weekly emails to viewers who subscribe to your channel. So whenever you upload a new video, they'll find out. 

Many marketers don't realize the power or popularity of YouTube's search engine (second only to Google's), according to Perry.

"There are so many opportunities there for being discovered," she says. "It’s really the way of Web 2.0. You want to be where you can be findable if people want to discover you."

And—because Google owns YouTube—search results on the leading search engine will turn up your videos on YouTube much faster than they will from anyplace else. 

Especially your Website.