Wordpress has become the most popular self-hosted blogging platform around, with over ten million different users utilizing the platform as their blog back-end of choice. Offering a huge range of features, customization options, plug-ins and controls, it is no wonder the platform has achieved such immense popularity amongst bloggers, web developers, and serious Internet professionals.

As social media continues to evolve so do those who participate, and how they respond is changing, too. Responding to social media criticism is difficult at best – creating a short, punchy response can make you look too aggressive, while a reasoned response is often lost on someone out for blood. The process of analyzing feedback has become more important to major organizations, so much so that the

I am thrilled and honored to be chosen as the Featured Business by the Friends of the Missouri Women’s Council.

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Few social networks sum up public discourse more effectively than Twitter. Thanks to its short-form nature and enormous audience, a single topic of discussion can often evolve into a completely natural case study for marketers. Be it immense disapproval or the immense success of a single principle, Twitter offers a unique look into conversation.

When it comes to viral marketing, Twitter is very much the flavor of the month. This popular service has all the signs of a promotion-friendly medium – it’s public, easy to use, and boasts one of the largest userbases of any social media platform. A single tweet can easily swell into a thousand-strong meme, with users flooding the website and generating huge amounts of instant notoriety.

There are hundreds of case studies highlighting social media’s strength as a traffic generating platform. There are hundreds more touting its ability to increase participation and inspire users to complete specific actions. What the industry is missing is a case study on one of the most important success metrics out there: its value for sales-driven businesses.

Running an online business gives entrepreneurs an incredible chance to expand and scale their operations. While offline business requires a physical presence — offices, retail outlets, and kiosks in every location — an online business can operate virtually and via digital real estate. Expanding is simple, and scaling businesses can be achieved without the need for expensive physical locations.

Unlike other forms of online marketing, social media marketing has no stone-set right and wrong behaviors; no cost-per-user statistics, and there is, by no means, a code of conduct or behavioral plan that must be adhered to. While pay-per-click advertisers and SEO experts are inundated with information on what is and is not effective, social media marketers are left without dedicated and accurate information.

The 1980s are remembered for their developments in business and technology, particularly computing. The 1990s for their advances in technology, particularly the growth of the internet and online business opportunities. If the 2000s are to be remembered for anything (although it may still be too early to tell), it will be their developments in communications and online communities, particularly the incredible power of social media.

Giving up sounds so negative. But can you make room for the possibility that you can release your goals without being a failure? Yes, you can! Sometimes the goals themselves are unreachable, for reasons outside your control. There are times to let your goal go – or at least set it aside for a while. Here are five of those times: