Basic SEO: Getting started

Waseem Saddique Marketing experts reveal some top tips for getting started with your basic SEO.

Keywords, Lots of them!

You should always research your keywords before putting them into your content on your website. Be conscious of placing appropriate keywords throughout every aspect of your site including URL’s, Titles, Image names, Page Content. AVOID KEYWORD OVERLOAD: Having too many keywords on your site could mean you are seen as having too much spam content which search engine robots are programmed to ignore sites that are guilty of keyword overload.

A  Sat Nav that won’t let you drive into a river.

Creating a sitemap for your website makes it possible for users to navigate much more easily. A sitemap is a page that lists and links all of your websites major pages. A website developer from Waseem Saddique Marketing said “It’s best for users to only have to click a small number of times to get to the page they are looking for.”

Goodbye to old fashioned content

Waseem Saddique Marketing experts suggest creating fresh, unique content for your website. This will engage users and of course improve your general SEO if you include the right amount of well researched keywords. Users prefer sites that are kept up to date with useful information. A great way to ensure that your website gets new content on a frequent basis is to integrate a blog!

Tweet, Update and Share

Social media distribution is important for any SEO strategy. Social media sites should be used by your business to distribute links that direct users to fresh content including news updates, articles, company announcements etc. “This strategy can help you multiply your links visibility from internet and social media users” a Waseem Saddique Marketing expert from Birmingham has said.

To read more about online marketing, PPC,SEO, About Waseem and Birmingham, visit our blog at www.waseemsaddique.blogspot.com  

Improving your Search Engine Rankings

Waseem Saddique Marketing experts reveal 3 top tips to improve your websites search engine ranking.

Create great content:

Waseem Saddique Marketing experts from Birmingham say it’s best to start by establishing what makes your company great. Make your websites content unique and different from your competitors. Your customers need to see your company as a leader in the industry you specialise in. A website with original and fresh content is much more appealing to users and relevant content allows them to have a much better browsing experience. Writing relevant content for your website will engage users and build credibility in the industry as you will become a trusted resource for information.

Use social media:

Social media is one of the best platforms to promote your company’s website or blog. If you share interesting, engaging content with people who take interest in your social media pages then you’re more likely to gain likes, comments and shares. Google takes note of this which contributes to ranking your website higher on its search engine. A Waseem Saddique Marketing spokesperson from Birmingham has said “Social media is one of the best free advertising sources around.”

Monitor Performance:

Using tools such-as Google Analytics can help your to see how many users are interacting with your website. SEO Specialists at Waseem Saddique Marketing have said “it’s vital to monitor your websites performance in order to determine what users are most interested in.” Keeping a close eye on what pages are attracting the highest number of unique visitors can help you make changes to lower performing pages. Monitoring your keywords is also a must in order to know what keywords are driving the most traffic to your website.

To read more about online marketing, PPC, SEO, About Waseem and Birmingham, visit our blog at www.waseemsaddique.blogspot.co.uk

Birmingham marketing experts reveal SEO tips

Search engine optimisation (SEO) is the practice of making additions or changes to websites in order to help improve search rankings on search engines such-as Google, Yahoo and Bing.

Internal links:

Waseem Saddique Marketing suggests using internal links wherever and as much as possible. This does not only make the users browsing experience much easier, it also helps search engines to understand your websites structure.

Original engaging copy:

“Never copy and paste content” a Birmingham based Waseem Saddique Marketing spokesman has said If duplicate content is discovered by a major search engine such as Google then the website that has done so will be penalised meaning rankings are affected. It’s always best to use original engaging copy.

Page content:

Copy writing specialists at WaseemSaddique Marketing in Birmingham suggest that all pages on a professional website should have a minimum of 300 words as a rule of thumb. The text should always include information that’s relevant to the page, giving users a much better experience on your website. Using this tip will help to improve your page rank and will mean avoiding high bounce rates which can often cause negative impact on your rankings.

Effective URL’s:

Including a keyword in your businesses domain name is a great start, this can help users find the exact site/ product that they are looking for. On advertising programmes such-as Google Adwords or Yahoo Search; you’re given the opportunity to have a display URL. Waseem Saddique Marketing suggests using this opportunity to your advantage. This not only engages the user searching for your product, but shows search engines how relevant your content is to the display URL you have chosen.

To read more about online marketing, PPC, SEO, Waseem Saddique and Birmingham, visit our blog at www.waseemsaddique.blogspot.co.uk

Customer Testimonials, a Waseem Saddique Marketing Guide

Waseem Saddique Marketing Services explores the power of customer testimonials and provides a definitive ‘how to’ guide for presenting them to your audience.

Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg once said: “People influence people – nothing influences people more than a recommendation from a trusted friend or colleague. A trusted referral influences more than the best broadcast message. A trusted referral is the Holy Grail of advertising.”

Waseem Saddique asserts: “Arguably the best word-of-mouth advertising for products or services takes place between parents, especially Mums. Nothing matters more to a parent than their child, so when purchasing products for their offspring, especially their first-born, they will seek an opinion from other parents that have used the product or service.”

Did you know? According to helpscout.net 70% of consumers say they look at product reviews and testimonials before considering a purchase. 

Given the power of the customer testimonial, Waseem Saddique Birmingham provides some top tips for presenting your testimonials in a way that captivates.

1. Increase Trust With The Use Of Photos 
Recent research into increasing perceived trust through the use of photographs found that photographs make facts and statements more valuable, regardless of whether the photo is related to the subject.

Photos are known to enhance the persuasiveness of a testimonial when compared with simple text based testimonials. One customer focus group determined that testimonials including pictures are more honest than those without them.

2. Use Testimonials That Tell A Story
Jeremy Dean, a psychologist, acknowledges that ‘transportation leads to persuasion’. Short, samey testimonials lack conviction and are often deemed unconvincing. However, a testimonial that details the initial problem and then refers to your product or service as the solution is known to have more of a ‘psychological’ impact.

For example:

“Superb marketing service. Communicated my message perfectly.”

Good, but the kind of testimonial that you see on many sites.

In comparison, this example represents a much more compelling testimonial:

“Despite trying every marketing service I knew to help with this unique campaign I found that everyone I tried to get help from said they were unable to assist. This had been going on for months and I didn’t think my marketing campaign would ever get off the ground.

Fortunately, the A to B marketing service proved to be the difference. They dug deep, formulated a plan and put together a marketing strategy & campaign that got the result I wanted.”

Much more compelling, don’t you think?

3. Communicate With The Inner Ego of Your Customers
Waseem Saddique asks: “Why is it that personal referrals from friends have much more influence than a multi-million pound advertisement? The answer is simple friends provide an honest assessment that keeps your best interests in mind.”

It has yet to be discovered, an advertisement that has the power to influence as much as simple word-of-mouth recommendations, regardless of a company’s marketing budget or social media influence.

Helpscout.net writes – “Despite their best efforts, it’s impossible for entrepreneurs to create a personal recommendation for every potential customer that might come their way.  The next best option? Tap into the power of implicit egotism, our bias to be more interested, trusting and favourable toward people who are similar to us.”

Formed in 2007 in Birmingham, Waseem Saddique Marketing Services has consistently provided small to medium enterprises, as well as larger corporate firms, with a range of digital marketing & online solutions. 

5 Free & Easy Ways To Improve Google Ranking For 2014 - Waseem Saddique Marketing Services

Did you know? There are free and highly effective ways to improve your Google ranking. Waseem Saddique Marketing Services provides a few pointers to guide you up Google’s search listings. 

There is no reason why SMEs cannot reap the benefits of search engine optimisation (SEO) even if they do not completely understand what it is. 

Waseem Saddique explains SEO: “For those individuals who don’t know their SEO from their CEO, it is simply a method of improving the ranking of your business in the Google search algorithm.”

Improving your SEO strategy will ultimately aid a business in moving up the rankings in Google’s search results. According to the CEO of Achieve Visibility, Sonam Lama, there are several quick fix techniques that a business can utilise in order to improve their Google ranking. The great part about them is that they are free and simple to execute.

Waseem Saddique Marketing Services echoes Lama’s techniques. Here are 5 top tips to improving your Google ranking in 2014:

1. Utilise Wordpress – Waseem Saddique states: “Wordpress is arguably the most effective SEO-friendly blogging platform available. It’s perhaps also the best content management system around when it comes to implementing an effective SEO strategy.”

Wordpress is now in widespread use as an alternative to outdated website platforms, which most businesses still tend to use, as it helps to boost SEO efforts.

2. Carry Out Keyword Research – Keyword research is the foundation of SEO and improving your position on Google’s search listings, and all the other primary search engine facilities.

Waseem Saddique comments: “After creating a Wordpress site the next essential step is to identify at least three relevant keywords you would like to target and use them effectively throughout the content of your Wordpress site. Avoid keyword ‘stuffing’, but just as importantly don’t under use your keywords. Standard keyword density currently stands at between 3 % and 5%”.

3. Onsite Optimisation – Failing to distribute your keywords evenly throughout your site will hinder your chances of climbing the Google rankings. Keyword stuffing is a common problem and unfortunately Google penalises excessive use of keywords, considering them to be spam.  So ensure that your site is optimised to the density rating provided above.

4. Register With Google Places – Once you have balanced your site with the correct density of keywords, it’s a good idea to register with Google Places, a free facility for listing details about your business.

Waseem Saddique comments: “Being listed on Google Places strengthens your position on Google’s search listings. Google Places is simple to use, requiring just basic information about your business such as phone number, address and hours of business.”

What’s great about Google Places is that is also allows you to include a few keywords that are relevant to your business, enabling you to enhance your prominence on Google, and all other major search engines, even more.

You can improve your ranking even more with Google Places with the inclusion of photographs and by requesting reviews from your customers.

5. Back Linking - Finally, once you’ve completed all the steps above, back linking provides the final piece of the puzzle for improving your Google ranking. 

Waseem Saddique states: “Some of the best back linking methods include social bookmarking and profile submissions on high page ranking sites. These two methods alone allow you to create a valuable back link to your own site, increasing its value and relevancy, especially in the ‘eyes’ of Google.”

Formed in 2007, Waseem Saddique Marketing Services has consistently provided small to medium enterprises, as well as larger corporate firms, with a range of digital marketing & online solutions. 

Waseem Saddique Marketing: Tips for Approaching Customer Review Websites

Waseem Saddique Marketing offers an insight into tackling critical comments posted on online review sites and public forums.

Waseem Saddique comments: “A common question that gets asked by a number of business people I work with is ‘review sites Waseem, are they worth the hassle?’ The use of review sites and online forums splits opinion among business leaders and many myths exist when it comes to review sites, some of which need to be addressed.”

The majority of business leaders are used to ‘being in control’ when it comes to the reputation of their company. Blogs allow for comments to be moderated, control of social media profiles mean that critical comments can be erased, but what of those elements that businesses have no control over?

As an overall, worldwide figure, 80% of people rely on online reviews in the decision-making process (source: Review Tracker). This percentage varies country-by-country, for instance in Turkey 92% of consumers agree that online reviews influence the decision-making process when it comes to purchasing goods or services however, the global average is 80%.

Review sites such as Yelp, Trustpilot, eKomi, Review Centre and a whole plethora of others, represent massive databases of consumer opinion. They are interactive, allowing consumers to rate products, services and companies and they allow for comments to be left, whether critical or commending.

Bad Reviews    

Every business bemoans bad reviews, immediately leading them to get on the defensive and spout excuses that it’s competitors trying to tarnish the name, a former employee mouthing off, or a customer that will just not listen to reason. However, sometimes it is a genuine customer actually offering constructive criticism.

Reviews offer a great platform for advertising and exposure however, a proportion of companies won’t utilise them because they want all the glitz and glamour of glowing endorsements, but fear critical comments. However, critical comments can actually prove to 
be useful for helping a company to improve, learn and grow.

Waseem Saddique comments: “There’s nothing more satisfying for a business than winning over the critics, if you can convert a critical customer into a satisfied customer it’s a sure-fire indicator that your business is heading in the right direction.” 

Here are some tips from Waseem Saddique Marketing for dealing with bad reviews:

1. Avoid becoming defensive: Whilst initial instinct may lead you down this route, combating negativity with negativity results in one thing, more negativity. Defensiveness delivers destruction. Above all else, proactive steps should be taken to deliver a solution as swiftly as possible. Apologise to the customer and realise that in their opinion they have suffered a bad experience, diffuse the situation and take steps to appease them.

2. Respond swiftly: If a negative experience is swiftly resolved, 90% of the time, consumers will return to a negative review and alter their status and opinion. This is a sure-fire way to endear your business to other potential customers and retain a current customer.

3. Remain discreet: Don’t become embroiled in heated exchanges on a public forum, it will do you no favours. Approach customers who have had a bad experience on a private platform, for example a private message, e-mail or telephone call. Take the time to show that you take their grievance ‘personally’ and give the customer the respect of acknowledging the grievance in an amicable manner. This is more likely to lead to a better outcome for both parties.

4. Don’t ignore bad reviews: It could prove far more costly to ignore reviews than to tackle them head on. In retrospect a few ‘bad reviews’ will have little impact, but a few bad reviews unanswered could encourage more customers to air their negative experience of your business. The great thing about review sites and public forums is that it gives service providers the opportunity to address criticism. That opportunity should be grasped; it shows the customer that you care about their cause and that you want to resolve it.

5. Encourage reviews: Even if the reviews are critical, encourage them. An open dialogue and transparency is much more appealing to customers. Sometimes your response will be enough to see negative reviews retracted. A willingness to engage with the critics, rather than remain silent, is proven to lead to a much more positive outcome in 79% of customer complaint cases posted on review sites (source: Review Tracker).

Entrepreneur Reality TV Shows, Good or Bad for Business?

As entrepreneur/business TV reality shows, such as Dragons’ Den and The Apprentice, grow in popularity, Waseem Saddique Marketing asks are such shows good or bad for business?

Waseem Saddique comments: “Impressionable, young entrepreneurs/business owners look to the likes of Lord Alan Sugar and the ‘stars’ of Dragons’ Den as a foundation for leadership styles. It’s questionable whether the approach to business adopted by these TV moguls actually represents a true reflection of how business is done.”

In an article, written by Bev James and published in ‘Real Business’, she states: “The issue that I have with business reality shows in terms of leadership and management are most evident in the new generation of entrepreneurs. For example, if someone was to start a business in their fifties, then they would have the experience of working under both good and bad managers.”

She added: “This would have helped them to develop their own management and leadership style. Someone starting a business in their teens, however, has not been exposed to this kind of experience. So, they often look to reality television as the template for management and leadership.”

Despite registering its lowest viewing figures following the series conclusion of the 2013 edition (attracting just, 5.7 million viewers), ‘The Apprentice’ enjoyed excellent viewing figures when launched in 2005.

In the initial, business leaders embraced such reality TV shows, why? Because they recognised that they did inspire individuals to embark on becoming entrepreneurs and transforming their ideas into products or services that would appeal to consumers.

However, as the years progressed and more of these ‘shows’ emerged, the early promise of these programmes dwindled and the opinion of business leaders altered. The general consensus now is that programmes the likes of ‘The Apprentice’ and ‘Dragons’ Den’ depict businesses as entertainment. 

Bev James states: “They fail to portray some of the true characteristics of business, such as management, leadership and teamwork, in their true form.”

It’s also been argued that such shows quash the dreams of many entrepreneurs and create the perception that all business leaders adopt the same ruthless style as those ‘starring’ in such shows. 

Waseem Saddique states: “Whilst we have to concede that the entrepreneurs who appear on these shows do so voluntarily, it’s not nice to witness young businessmen and women humiliated all in the name of ‘entertainment TV’, this is potentially damaging to the next generation of entrepreneurs and perhaps more worryingly, the future of the UK economy.”

On such shows it’s usually online business ideas that come under intense scrutiny. Dragons’ Den in particular has been notorious for ‘savaging’ entrepreneurs when it comes to some online business models.

Reality TV shows have been criticised for not adopting a ‘mentoring spirit’, but instead using criticism and condemnation as a means of management style, something that has been frowned upon by a number of key UK business leaders.

Waseem Saddique concludes: “What started out as something with so much promise has descended into ‘entertainment’. Such shows initially existed to open the door to a variety of entrepreneurs to allow them to succeed in business. Then somewhere such shows lost their way, producing something that does not represent true business, but represents distasteful entertainment.”

Essential Information for Business | Waseem Saddique Marketing Reveals What Consumers are Buying Online

Waseem Saddique Marketing Services delves into newly published data and outlines the implications for global business and marketing strategies.

The Facts

• 74.1% of all electronics are bought online
• 74.0% of UK consumers purchase groceries online
• 74.0% of all music and videos are purchased online
• 67.8% of all office supplies are bought online
• 65.9% of all clothing sales are bought online
• 65.8% of all furniture sales are bought online
• 61.4% of all games and toys are bought online

Waseem Saddique comments: “Internet business is big however, some enterprises have failed to tap into the potential profits that could be made as a result of failing to capitalise on consumer habits.”

Based on the data, compiled by BrainSINS, the 74.1% of electronics purchased online equates to £5.5 billion. This figure is in stark contrast to the £1.8 billion spent on electronic goods in store.

The release of the data has been hailed by business leaders as they are able to absorb the information and refine marketing strategies making them more ‘target specific’. A number of corporations have also stressed that the information will ‘go a long way’ to helping them improve their social media efforts on social networking sites such as Twitter and Facebook.

With dwindling numbers on the UK’s High Streets, a number of businesses that used to rely on footfall and passing trade have had to adapt and embrace the online revolution. Recent research, conducted by Hubspot.com, reveals that 84% of High Street retailers now also have an online platform, with 75% of those businesses recording sales increases since targeting the online consumer.

Waseem Saddique comments: “2013 will prove to be a pivotal year in terms of the UK economy, that’s why it’s important for businesses to make use of the essential data that is provided to them. This latest research shows that there is still room for growth and internet marketing experts predict current percentages to increase to figures of 80% by 2014.”

Marketing Strategies   

BrainSINS researchers stated that the release of this information, at this time, was done as Christmas 2013 approaches. In a time when the UK needs to experience a period of economic growth, this information allows business leaders to devise effective strategies to market themselves and their products/services in order to increase consumer spend.

Now businesses know where the majority of money is being spent by consumers online it puts corporations in a prime position to capitalise on that information.

Waseem Saddique states: “Businesses have always relied on such information to succeed, in an age of analytics that information is now readily and consistently available. The challenge now is how companies make use of the information to maximise its full potential.”   

The ‘Dark Web’, what is it? Does it damage business? Waseem Saddique Marketing Investigates

Did you know? Internet surfers use just three hundredths of one per cent of the internet, so where’s the rest? The answer lies in the ‘dark web’ or the ‘dark internet’, an unmonitored area in cyberspace that has become increasingly more sinister and accessible.

Waseem Saddique comments: “It may surprise the ‘average’ internet user to know that when using the Google search engine to find information the pages listed do not make up the entire internet. Think of the internet like an iceberg, the tip sits above the surface, but the bulk of the iceberg stretches miles below the surface.”

Waseem continues: “The iceberg analogy represents a perfect model of the internet; Google is simply the tip of the iceberg, whilst the rest of the internet holds deeper and darker secrets.”

The ‘dark web’ originates from software pioneered by the US Navy in 2002, designed to safeguard government communications. 

However, the Tor software system was soon adopted by savvy techies all over the world. It’s the Tor software system that has developed a reputation as the ‘dark web’, allowing internet users to surf the web completely unmonitored and anonymously.

Now, as the Government pushes for companies like Google, Facebook, Twitter and other major online companies to censor ‘harmful’ content, concerns have surfaced that such pressure to implement censorship will drive web users towards the ‘dark web’ proxy, obscuring the identity of users and the sites hosted.

The pioneers of the Tor project, a non-profit organisation whose inception took place in Walpole, Massachusetts in 2002, say that the project was establish with the intention of making anonymous web-surfing mainstream.

In an article published by the Independent, Tor project pioneers claim that ‘the numbers of users of its free software doubled between 2011 and 2012, reaching around 600,000 people each year – and, though the numbers are hard to trust, its data suggests there are 15,715 unique daily users in Britain. But as whole companies could be operating from one address, calculating the true usage is impossible.’

How does Tor work?

Tor, short for ‘The Onion Router’ because of its layer like complexities, functions by directing web traffic across a series of nodes – aka onion routes – adding layers of encrypted code at various intervals. The result is that browsers and online users, as well as the individuals hosting the websites it features, remain untraceable by authorities.

It is Tor software that kept the identity of ‘Prism’ whistle-blower, Edward Snowden, anonymous before he publically revealed details of the USA’s ‘secret’ surveillance system.

How does it damage business?

Waseem Saddique comments: “Reputation management becomes increasingly difficult as a result of the ‘dark web’, a proportion of companies in particular industry sectors have been subjected to a barrage of negative publicity as a result of dark web activity.”

As the ‘dark web’ is made up of non-indexable content and is 500 times larger than the ‘web surface’, the content stored is so much more difficult to trace and access. Businesses under attack from negative publicity posted through the ‘dark web’ will find it virtually impossible to trace the perpetrator and even if they do locate them the damage may already be irreparable.     

The other sinister aspect of the ‘dark web’ is that it allows for complete anonymity, which provides people with the opportunity to post slanderous and defamatory comments about particular businesses all over the web, whether via blog, social media or an online forum. The ramifications of such activity could easily damage a business brand, without any means of preventing it.

The warning issued to online business owners by computer security consultants is beware and get educated about the ‘dark web’.

Trolling, what is it and how can it be stopped? Waseem Saddique Marketing Investigates

Waseem Saddique Marketing covers the topic of trolling amid mounting concerns over the impact it has on individuals and businesses

‘Trolling’ has been branded as online bullying, with psychology experts defining those who ‘troll’ as being dark, menacing and devious in nature, solely intent on disrupting lives, business operations and generally causing misery, often with an end goal in mind.

Trolling is commonly associated with social media and is a wide spread problem that has infiltrated schools, the work place and society in general.

The problem of trolling has become so vast that it has now become a criminal offence. Social networking site Twitter has become infamous for trolling, with millions of Twitter users berated by trolls on a daily basis. Troll victims include celebrities, businesses and the general public.

What does trolling involve? 

Waseem Saddique comments: “Trolling is vile and involves individuals posting obscene comments about individuals, businesses and horrific events. Trolling can only be described as morbid and the fact of the matter is it can lead individuals to self-harm or worse still, commit suicide.”

Trolling involves posting defamatory or obscene comments with the intention of causing maximum hurt and upset. This can be done via various platforms including: newspaper columns, online forums and social networking sites, to name but a few.

What impact has trolling had?

Trolling has become a global phenomenon and whilst no official figures have been released regarding the number of suicides that have occurred as a result of trolling, a simple search engine investigation on Google typing in ‘trolling suicides’ brings up 13,900,000 results.

In its most severe form, trolling is deemed a criminal offence and in one of the first most high profile cases, which emerged in the state of Missouri in the USA in 2006, 13-year-old Megan Meier killed herself after being subjected to intense online bullying.

The perpetrator turned out to be next door neighbour, Lori Drew, a middle-aged woman who had set up a ‘MySpace’ profile in order to win – then later betray – Megan’s trust. Whilst Drew was acquitted amid concerns that a conviction would criminalise false online identities, it remains one of the first ‘trolling’ cases to go to trial.

One of the most high profile UK cases involved deceased celebrity, Jade Goody, whose family set up a memory page on Facebook in respect of  her passing. The page was ‘trolled’ by Colm Coss, who later received an 18 week prison sentence for posting obscene comments about the Big Brother star and other dead celebrities on the memory page.  

How can the trolls be stopped?

Twitter has already taken steps to ‘tackle the troll’, by introducing a ‘report abuse’ button, but is this enough?

Waseem Saddique comments: “Stopping the trolls is difficult as the issue of ‘free speech’ is compromised. However, across social networking sites in particular where evidence of ‘extreme’ trolling is identified, accounts are being suspended.”

Critics argue though that ‘trollers’ will simply set up new profiles in order to continue their tirade of abuse.

In a statement from Dr Bernie Hogan, research fellow at the Oxford Institute of the Internet, he said: “The best way to stop trolling is to report them and ignore the comments. Simple psychology suggests that if they are not provoking a response they will simply get bored and move on eventually getting phased out. There is already evidence to suggest that internet users are turning on the trolls.”

He added: “Even the law has become involved and prison sentences will certainly act as a deterrent. The idea that you can now get a jail sentence and a  criminal record for posting a comment serves as a warning. There’s no such thing as anonymous in a technological age. It’s inevitable that persistent ‘trollers’ will be identified and face prosecution in extreme cases.”      

And the Social Media King, by Country, is? Waseem Saddique Marketing Explores

Waseem Saddique Marketing dispels social media myths by revealing the country, and coincidentally the brand, that rules the social media landscape.   


The USA, Brazil, Japan and more recently Egypt have all been touted as potential ‘kings’ of the social media world. However, they have all been ousted by a nation where social networking is actually outlawed.

Waseem Saddique asserts: “Despite a national ban on social media usage, China emerged as the nation that tops the social networking hierarchy.”


Research published by digitaltrends.com revealed that China has the highest number of ‘active’ Twitter users on the planet. It would appear that a nationwide ban has done little to stifle its citizens from taking to social media sites to communicate with the world, using a variety of VPNs and various other methods to bypass firewalls implemented by the Chinese Government.
Whilst China claimed the country crown for social media usage, the Starbucks chain emerged as the leading brand on social networking sites according to the research.


In a statement from Jonathan Barouch, the founder of Local Measure, he said: “Facebook recently released stats saying that Starbucks has one of the highest check in rates of all brands, so to me it seems to suggest a cultural difference in that Asian consumers have an even higher propensity to share on social than Americans. This is particularly pronounced in food and retail.”


A survey conducted by Local Measure asked a focus group made up of 300 participants which country they thought had the highest volume of social media users. The majority of the group opted for the USA however, in reality the USA lagged behind China, Brazil and Egypt. Whilst the USA has a high number of registered users on social networking sites, the research is based on those that are ‘active’ i.e. accounts that are accessed at least once per day.

Waseem Saddique comments: “To some this may not come as a surprise, but for many they had their minds set on the USA being top dog. What this research really establishes though is a target market for businesses that have connections in those top ranking countries. It gives a fresh insight into business opportunities and our advice is ‘target those countries where social media activity is rife’."

Far from being a US obsession, social media has infiltrated the world dispelling many myths that social networking is isolated and confined to one country. China is a prime example of a nation where citizens are desperate to be a part of social media interaction and will go to extreme lengths to acquire access.

Prism Poses Threat to Privacy say Marketing Moguls – Waseem Saddique Marketing Investigates

Prism, a recently launched US initiative imposed by the federal government, is set to reshape the world of marketing say leading marketing experts.

Recently Waseem Saddique Marketing Services, along with countless other marketing companies around the world were introduced to the prospect of Prism, a US federal government initiative that apparently uses ‘backdoor methods, via major online businesses, to monitor private data and conversations without a warrant. This is done by phone surveillance and online tracking.

It’s unconfirmed as to whether the ‘Prism’ concept is in anyway related to the information exposed by ‘whistle-blower’ Edward Snowden, but what is clear is that the public uproar regarding ‘Prism’ has been nothing short of phenomenal.

Waseem Saddique comments: “Upon learning that ‘Prism’ has the potential to violate personal privacy, the public has reacted with outrage, firstly because they know little about Prism and secondly the very notion that something like this exists makes the public feel uneasy.”

Marketing moguls from across the globe best describe Prism as a third party online user tracking system; however where some fail to agree is whether it pushes the boundaries of privacy.

There is no doubt that Prism will revolutionise the marketing world if used primarily for gathering vital data. In theory, online tracking has been taking place since the dawn of the internet, but the tracking systems in place meant that those people that data was being retrieved from remained anonymous.

Marketing experts agree that whilst no harm, of a material nature, can come from third party tracking and targeting for targeted media purposes, Prism takes online tracking to a new level in being able to monitor conversations and record sensitive data.

Standard online tracking systems are in place to help consumers, by analysing their experiences of particular website services in order to enhance website performance and to assess advertising options that would be better suited to a particular target audience.

However, should the Prism tracking system be implemented, marketing companies and other industry streams could be flooded by consumer concerns about what data is being recorded about them. The potential impact of Prism on the marketing industry is that it will fall on marketing experts to educate the public about online tracking.

Waseem Saddique asserts: “According to ‘Social Media Today’ there are three principles to safe online tracking, including:
1. Safe tracking is anonymous.
2. Safe tracking is transparent, informing users of what’s private and what isn’t.
3. Safe tracking respects your privacy, protecting your personal content, connections and conversations.     

The latest reports emerging about Prism suggest that the US Government is adhering to all three of these principles. However, the public and marketing gurus are decidedly sceptical.

Waseem Saddique states: “As a marketing professional myself, the members of the marketing community will soon find themselves awash with privacy queries over the Prism concept. What’s about to happen is that marketing experts are about to become educators about safe online tracking, just as the US federal government is right now regarding Prism.”

5 Steps to Perfecting Your Cold Calling Tactics – A Waseem Saddique Marketing Insight

A live Google+ debate, hosted by ‘Software Advice’ on the 30^th January 2013, asked its audience does cold calling still work? What followed was a survey that collected data, which ranked Telemarketing/Cold Calling as the 3^rd most effective means of generating quality leads.

Waseem Saddique asserts: “Whilst the web seems to have stormed ahead in the number of leads ‘generated’, through SEO techniques, social media and e-mail marketing, many B2B and B2C marketers claim that cold calling actually provides better ‘quality’ leads.”

Source: Software Advice

The general consensus is that business marketers will always opt for quality over quantity. The majority of marketing experts claim that finding one quality lead per day can generate a higher source of revenue than ten ‘leads’, which often have no relevance to their business.


According to one marketing expert, Scott Channell, cold calling does work and works best for:
1. New businesses that require clients immediately.
2. Businesses experience a slump and the urgency to sell is vital.
3. Companies seeking higher-quality business accounts.

Cold Calling is what’s known in the industry, as ‘playing the long game’, so here are 5 essential tips that will reap the benefits of cold calling endurance:

1. Re-evaluate your end-goals: Adopting a ‘machine gun’ approach to cold calling will leave you frustrated. Effective cold calling demands that you have a specific goal on the horizon, which you’d like your listeners to engage with. Without a goal-orientated ethos there’s no way to determine whether you’re converting contacts into customers, meaning all your efforts are in vain. 

One successful, goal-orientated cold calling tactic is to bide your time. Rather than going in for ‘the sale’ within the five first sentences of your pitch, encourage the customer to take action that’s far less intimidating than having to make an instant decision on an opportunity. Get them to sign up to a newsletter, make an appointment to call another time etc. This approach makes for more successful calls.

2. Pick your prospects wisely: Nothing wastes more time than cold calling the wrong target audience for your product or service. Chances are if you sell stair lifts for instance you’re not going to call people who live in bungalows (it happens). Research and analysis are key factors when implementing a successful cold calling marketing campaign.

3. Know when to call and when not to call: A recent consumer survey carried out by ‘Which?’ (February 2013), revealed that 76% of consumers could not stand cold callers that contacted them between the hours of 7 – 9pm on a Friday night.  Also, as a cold-caller, you need to assess your own motivation at 7pm on a Friday evening and then compare that with a customer’s likely receptiveness. Chances are your motivation levels will be low, therefore, it’s only reasonable to assume that a customer is not likely to be listening.

Waseem Saddique states: “Data shows that calling clients between the hours of 8.30 – 10.00am, between Tuesday – Thursday, deliver the best results as you can catch people before they settle into the confines of the working day when they are likely to be attending meetings for instance.”

4. Seek help: A common cold calling tactic is to seek help from the customers you contact. In an example provided by persuasive.net, consider the following two scenarios: 

“Hi Mr. So-and-so.  My name is Mike Smith and I’d like to tell you more about how my new line of products can dramatically improve your bottom line.”
Versus

“Hi Mr. So-and-so.  My name is Mike Smith and I’m hoping you can help me.  I’m looking for business owners who want to improve their bottom lines – does that sound like something you’d be interested in?”      

Notice the difference – The first statement launches into the ‘I’ mentality and sales piffle, whereas the second statement places the emphasis on ‘you’, you being the customer in this case. It places the value of the client’s input before anything else, this grabs attention.

5. Lay foundations with your prospects, them build on them: A common misconception when it comes to cold calling is that applying pressure will deliver results. Maybe in the spur of the moment this is true, however many cold callers, during the early part of their careers, remember the amount of times clients would call back to cancel a sale.

What’s the solution? Endurance, as building a rapport will allow you to win trust, committing a client to your product or service, not just for a one-off business deal, but for a long-term business relationship which would guarantee a continuous revenue stream for years to come.

Waseem Saddique comments: “Consider this, just ten clients bringing in £10,000, having built rapport shows a much better return, than calling 100 clients and generating £1000. Simply adapting the cold calling approach will transform the productivity of any business.”

Waseem Saddique Marketing Services was formed in 2007, the company has consistently provided small to medium enterprises, as well as larger corporate firms with a range of digital marketing & online solutions.

Exposed, SlideShare Secrets - The Social Media Solution Taking the Business World by Storm

SlideShare began its existence back in 2006, in just 7 years the social networking site has established itself as one the most unique and innovative social media sites operating today and has taken the business world by storm. Waseem Saddique Marketing Services investigates SlideShare’s rise to prominence and its increasing popularity within the business world.

Waseem Saddique comments: “The statistics for SlideShare make for phenomenal reading. The social media site welcomes 60 million visitors per month and approximately 130 million page views during the same time-frame  SlideShare is also ranked within the top 200 most visited sites on the planet.”

What is SlideShare?  

SlideShare is a social media platform, predominantly used by corporate companies, to display business presentations, but the platform also displays documents, PDFs, video and webinars. SlideShare operates with 55 staff and boasts the title of the world's largest community for sharing presentations.

The secret to SlideShares’ success

Perhaps one of the most defining factors for the popularity of SlideShare is its affiliation with the White House. The fact that arguably the most powerful Government in the world uses the SlideShare network will certainly raise the eyebrows of business leaders around the world.

WaseemSaddique states: “If SlideShare is good enough for the US Government, then it’s most definitely good enough for all sectors of the business world. A major fact worth knowing: In 2009, the official website for the US President (Whitehouse.gov) signed user agreements with eight of the world's leading social media websites. SlideShare was one of them. SlideShare is regularly used by the White House and many other US Government departments.”

SlideShare is also a very unique concept and appeals to a niche market, namely the business community, allowing companies around the globe to store presentations and have access to them during important business meetings, client pitches and other important business events.

SlideShare offers a credible online marketing solution for businesses, as presentations are stored indefinitely and are constantly accessible to current customers, business connections and potential customers.

Why is SlideShare popular among businesses?

The general consensus of business leaders is that SlideShare offers premium viral penetration.   SlideShare content spreads virally through blogs and social network platforms such as LinkedIn, Facebook and Twitter. Organisations upload documents to SlideShare to share ideas, conduct research, connect with others, and generate leads for their businesses.

Businesses also enjoy the features that SlideShare is able to provide, some of which include:

• The capability to upload presentations publicly or privately
• The ability to download presentations on any topic and reuse or remix
• The opportunity to embed on blogs, websites and company intranets
• The ease at which SlideShare posted can be shared on Twitter, Facebook and LinkedIn
• The Zipcast feature: Free, no download, 1 click web meetings
• The option to lead share,  generating business leads with presentations, documents, PDFs and videos
• The Slidecast feature: sync mp3 audio with slides to create a webinar
• The potential to embed YouTube videos inside SlideShare presentations
• The option to upgrade the SlideShare experience allowing access to premium features like branded channels, analytics, ad free pages etc…

Waseem Saddique concludes: “SlideShare offers a complete online marketing solution allowing companies to spread the word about products and services that they have to offer. The secret to the success of SlideShare is its appeal to the business community and in conquering the business world, the social networking site is now making strides to conquer the public domain.”

What if Facebook Falls from Grace? Waseem Saddique Ponders the Consequences of Facebook Disappearing

At a time when much of the world has become ‘dependent’ on social media, it’s difficult to imagine the world without social media. But what if the unthinkable happened? What if humanity were to revert back to a time when social media didn't exist?

Waseem Saddique asks: “What would happen, if overnight, social media platforms ceased to exist, would the world be able to function as previous generations have done? It’s a question one has to ask based on the theory that nothing lasts forever.”

Arguably the largest social media platform in the world at present is Facebook with one in nine people on the planet on Facebook (this number is calculated by dividing the planet’s 6.94 billion people by Facebook’s 1 billion ‘registered’ users, of which, around 750 million are deemed active).

Facebook represents users that have personal accounts and business accounts, covering a diverse range of topics, which has become a hub of information about people’s lives and the activities of businesses from around the world.

Just to emphasise the grip that Facebook has on the world’s social interaction, here are some interesting facts:

• People spend 700 billion minutes per month on Facebook
• Each Facebook user spends, on average, 15 hours and 33 minutes a month on the site
• More than 250 million people access Facebook through their mobile devices
• More than 2.5 million websites have integrated with Facebook
• 30 billion pieces of content are shared on Facebook each month
• 300,000 users helped translate Facebook into 70 languages
• People on Facebook install 20 million “Apps” every day

Waseem Saddique comments: “Imagine the impact on the world should Facebook disappear. The consequences could be catastrophic. Anyone who has access to the internet will more than likely have an account on Facebook. It has also become a vital tool for businesses in order to market themselves on a global scale.”

Looking at it pragmatically, the fall of Facebook could potentially cause mayhem, with businesses hit hard, losing a host of potential marketing targets and a significant presence on the internet on a global scale.

Also, the prospect of Facebook falling from grace would also affect people personally. The majority of the world has become reliant on social connection through Facebook and any potential demise would result in that connection being lost.

Waseem Saddique states: “Furthermore, consider the security factors should Facebook suffer a fatal crash in its systems. The vast amount of data and personal details that Facebook holds could potentially become exposed to ‘undesirables’ leading to a wide scale fraud problem.” 

In concluding, does society’s dependence on social media sites, such as Facebook, leave humanity and the world’s economy vulnerable? Or, would the world adapt to life without social media sites?

Waseem Saddique states: “Past evidence only shows evolution in such circumstances. When social media started it began with things like MSN chat and Friends Reunited, rather than the world capitulating once they became less popular, the world simply replaced them.”

Waseem added: “But such is the influence of Facebook compared with previous social media that if it ever did disappear, would it be replaced and would the world recover? Only time will tell.”