This week, learn how Google works, the industries that get the most engagement on Facebook, what Facebook’s IPO will be, Microsoft’s stake in Nook and more. You can always visit our links on Pinterest as well.

Social Media

• Facebook’s IPO starts at $28-35. Will you be buying?
• Which industries have the highest engagement on Facebook? Surprising stats on how people love cars (and other industries on Facebook)
• LinkedIn is 4x better for B2B sales than Facebook or Twitter. A look at over 1000 Hubspot customers found 4x more conversion from LinkedIn for B2B businesses.
• Where should you put your content? Should you start with social media, a blog, a newsletter? Read this article from Chris Brogan to create your blueprint.
• Advanced Pinterest Guide. Our latest handbook helps you get started marketing on Pinterest. Our most popular handbook ever! Download for free.

Reading

• The $100 Start Up. Chris Guillebeau’s new book provides a blueprint and inspiration to start your own microbusiness. A must read for any entrepreneur or business person.
• Educate yourself online. We love teaching ourselves…everything. This site provides a comprehensive list of online learning sites. For more learning, don’t forget to check out Sandbox.
• How we will read. My mentor Clay Shirky reflects on changes in publishing and how we will read in the future.
• Curate your way to an effective newsletter. We took this to heart this week!

Google

• How to optimize your website without Google penalties (video tutorial). Recent Google search changes means you should change how you optimize. Learn how in this video.
• How Google works (video tutorial). A great 7 minute video giving a complete overview of how Google search works.

Business

• Microsoft takes a stake of Nook. As the tablet wars heat up, Microsoft jumps in taking a 17% stake of the Nook, valuing the Nook at more than Barnes and Nobles.
• Startup raises 7 million and counting on Kickstarter. We’re big fans of Kickstarter which can help you raise funds to start your dream business.

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Photo: Brit.

To help you effectively use Pinterest, we’re happy to publish an Advanced Guide to Marketing with Pinterest. In this guide you will learn:

• How to get started pinning photos, videos and products for your business
• Industry specific strategies and examples
• How you can use Pinterest for affiliate marketing
• An overview of copyright issues and legality with Pinterest

Here at 9 Clouds, we’re excited about the “interest graph” and the fact that now we can find others who are passionate about the same things we are. John can find fellow Twins lovers and I can find travel-holics who share photos, videos and inspiration via Pinterest.

If you haven’t tried it out either personally or professionally, nows a great time. Download our free handbook and start pinning! For other guides on Pinterest and other social networks, visit our resource center.

And of course, you can pin this article and follow Scott’s pins and John’s pins too!

Photo: Alfonsina Blyde

To help pick our champion vote on our 9 Clouds Facebook page, or tweet us @9clouds with your winner.

To get your favorite team, or in this case network, on to the next round click here to vote on our 9 Clouds Facebook page, or tweet us @9clouds with your round of 8 picks.

Deadline to vote for the round of 8 is 10 pm CST on Monday. Then we’ll reformat the bracket for the Final 4 and start another round of voting. Now to the field…

To get your favorite team, or in this case network, on to the next round click here to vote on our 9 Clouds Facebook page, or tweet us @9clouds with your round of 16 picks.

Deadline to vote for the round of 16 is 4 pm CST on Friday. Then we’ll reformat the bracket for the Elite 8 and start another round of voting. Now to the field…

Check out the details for this year’s internship in the application, which is linked below. Think you’ve got what it takes to be a part of 9 Clouds U.’s third class of interns? Then mark your planners for Friday, March 2–the application deadline date. We’re looking for creative, confident people who are excited about working in the fast-paced startup environment. School is in session!

9Clouds U_2012 application

What’s most interesting about Pinterest is that it appeals to a different demographic than most social media sites, with its strongest following from 18-50 year old women. This is a great audience for most businesses. But, how does a business use Pinterest?

Three weeks ago we created a Pinterest seminar on Sandbox helping businesses get started with the service. We now opened this seminar up for the public so you can go in and learn too! We received multiple questions from Sandbox members on how to use Pinterest for business and decided we needed to help businesses like yours learn how to use this fast growing tool. Thus today we’re excited to announce the Guide to Marketing with Pinterest. (creative title, huh?)

In this guide, you will learn:

• Step-by-step tutorials on getting started with Pinterest
• Industry specific strategies and examples
• Advanced uses of Pinterest for businesses

Plus you’ll be able to use Pinterest to plan parties, follow fashion trends or keep up with the best online marketing tools or traveling tips (that’s what I’m pinning on my Pinterest page – if you’re interested!)

We hope you’ll enjoy the handbook. Feel free to share it with your friends because it’s free to download.

Happy pinning from the 9 Clouds crew. If you liked this post and handbook, make sure to pin it! Pin It

Then, share your Pinterest boards in the comment section so we can follow you too!

Google Adwords and Analytics

To use Adwords to its fullest potential, it’s important to understand its basic nature. On Google, people actively search for a product. If you are accurate about matching your keywords to your ads, and about matching your ads to your product, you can find an audience that already wants your product without having to create interest in your product. So, when using Google Adwords, remember to accurately represent yourself–you are not doing yourself a favor in buying popular keywords that don’t match your offer. This will help you use Google’s advanced search algorithm to your advantage.

While a sophisticated and accurate search engine is Google’s greatest asset, Adwords’ biggest disadvantage is its lack of targeting capabilities. While you can specify geographic locations in which your ad is shown, you cannot specify demographics such as gender, age, income, or interests. Through mastering the use of keywords and accurate ad text, however, you can find the perfect target audience without using the targeting metrics that Google lacks.

In addition to its accurate search capabilities, Google’s extensive Analytics are a major advantages. With Adwords and Analytics together, you can receive detailed information about the successes and problems in your ads through metrics such as:

• Click through rate (CTR): the number of clicks each of your ads gets divided by the number of times it appears to a user searching your keywords on Google
• Bounce rate: the percentage of visitors to your site that immediately leave
• Pages per visit: the average number of pages are viewed per visit on your site
• Time spent on site: the average amount of time each visitor spends on your site
• New visits: the percentage of visitors to your site who are ‘new’–who have never been to your website before

In review, Google Adwords’ advantages are:

• accurate search results, which benefit you as an advertiser by delivering you an audience which closely matches the keywords you choose.
• excellent and diverse analytical metrics for feedback on ads.

Google’s main disadvantage is:

• the lack of control you as an advertiser has over the demographics of your audience.

Facebook

For some businesses, niche marketing is extremely important, and this is where Facebook excels. Where Google lacks in demographic information on your audience, Facebook is extremely abundant. As we already know, it’s far easier to find an audience already interested in your product than to try to create interest out of nothing. Facebook’s ultra-keen targeting capabilities are perfectly suited to this task.

Facebook’s advantage lies in the fact that Facebook users make available information like age, gender, marital status, location, education, and interests. Facebook can then turn around and offer you as an advertiser this information, so that when you create an ad, you can control exactly what kind of people see your ad. For example, if you run sports camps, you can make sure your ad is shown to students between the ages of 13 and 18 who live in a certain region of your camp, and who are interested in the sports for which you offer camps.

Just as Facebook excels where Google lacks–in demographic targeting–it falls extremely short where Google excels–in analytical feedback. Facebook will tell you only how many times your ad was clicked on versus shown (CTR), where, geographically, the clicks came from, and, roughly, what age the clickers were.

In review, Facebook’s advantage is:

• the massive amounts of personal information its users make available and its ability to make this information available to you.

Its biggest disadvantage is:

• lack of feedback available to you as you manage your Facebook ads.

LinkedIn

LinkedIn is not directly comparable to Google or Facebook. While the latter are about advertising, LinkedIn is about creating an online presence in a business community. It will not help you market your products or identify potential customers, but it will help you manage your brand identity in the online business community. If you are at all interested in collaboration, finding new employees, or even creating basic and essential networking connections, LinkedIn is the strongest tool to use.

LinkedIn’s capabilities include:

• networking that goes beyond direct connections to let you view 2nd and 3rd degree connections.
• the ability to make your resume, skills, and experience available to those who might be interested in you.
• the ability for you, as an employer, to connect with potential employees and view their resume, skills, and experiences.

Twitter

While LinkedIn is about creating an online presence, Twitter (and Youtube, which will be discussed shortly) is a way to maintain this presence and to continue managing your brand identity. Twitter can help you stay in touch with customers and those interested in your business. As a business owner, you understand the importance of having a good identity with your customers, partners, suppliers, and supporters—often, those in your network will want to stay connected with you and your business’ news, and Twitter is an excellent way to do this.

Twitter allows your customers and fans to follow your business and receive updates about what is happening with your business instantaneously. With Twitter, however, you are limited to 140 characters and one attached image per post.

Youtube

While some argue that 140 characters can encourage creativity, Youtube is another way to connect with those interested in your business. Youtube can take your customers or partners along with you on an exciting trip as you provide a video tour of a new location, or if you simply reach out with a weekly or monthly video blog. Youtube’s versatility allows for an endless variety of creative ways to connect with your audience and to promote your business.

In closing,

There is importance in understanding social media’s strengths and weaknesses, but there is perhaps even more importance in knowing how to utilize those strengths, and how to work around those weaknesses. To continue on your journey of mastering social media for your business, stay in touch with 9 Clouds and check out other 9 Clouds and Sandbox materials and blog posts to see best practices and important tips on using social media.

Are you a small business owner looking to market yourself online? Download our free guide to online advertising.

Kelsey Engbrecht is an intern for 9 Clouds and has been working with Google and Facebook advertising for over a year, teaching herself and learning through experience how best to use online tools for marketing. We’re excited to share her tips on marketing online in our unending quest to improve digital literacy.

While having surgery on vacation may not be everyone’s idea of a good time, medical services abroad can offer high-quality treatment for a fraction of the cost in the US. If you are considering  healthcare options abroad, there are 7 important steps to consider:

1. Give yourself several months’ time to plan your medical tour, especially if you are taking the do-it-all yourself approach

There are many medical tourism companies online that can help you plan and arrange your health tour for a certain fee. Some companies even provide free consultation, so it can be useful if you check out the websites of some such medical tourism service providers. World Med Assist, Healthbase, Medical Tourism Corporation, and Med Retreat are some medical tourism companies that can help you arrange your medical holiday. Even if you get a medical tourism company to organize your health tour for you, the first thing you must do is your own research on health tourism destinations, hospitals, and doctors.

2. Make sure you have all the paperwork for your medical travel

While you are doing the research work, you need to apply for a passport if you don’t already have one. And once you have chosen your destination, the next step is to apply for a visa if your health care destination requires you to have one. Both the passport and the visa take several weeks to process so it is crucial that you give yourself ample amount of time and start working on your travel documents at least two months ahead of your expected travel date. For detailed information on obtaining a passport and travel visa, check out the US Department of State website.

3. Consider factors such as travel distance, and climate when you are deciding your health tourism destination

The distance of your travel destination from your home can be the deciding factor if you are someone who dislikes long-distance travel. You may prefer to get your kneecap surgery done in Mexico or Costa Rica rather than having to fly all the way to India or Malaysia for the same treatment. Additionally, most of the countries that attract medical tourists have tropical climate as they are mostly South Asian, Central and South American countries. Thus, keep that in mind while deciding on your travel dates. Also, remember to ensure that the hospitals and hotels you choose have air conditioning to keep you comfortable while you recuperate.

4. Use the Internet and Social Media

The internet is your key resource for research. Get familiar with what medical tourism is and where the hot spots are. Get information about hospitals from their websites or contact them through email or phone to make inquiries. Also, find out what people are saying about the hospitals you are interested in by searching their pages on social media sites. Feedback from former patients can give you indispensable insight into the quality of health-care provided by the hospitals. There are even social networking sites specifically for global medical tourism where you can find the latest news and information about health tourism. You can check out some of these websites at: Globally Integrated Healthcare and Medical Tourism, Medical Tourism City, TourNCare.com, and Kosansh – Healthcare for everyone.

5. Find out whether or not English is spoken widely in the destination you have chosen for your medical tour

You should pick your health tour destination based on whether or not you will be able to communicate with your doctors and other health providers effectively.  For the sake of your own comfort and convenience as a medical tourist abroad, do your research to avoid places where you might face a language barrier.

6. Research different hospitals, make inquiries about the medical treatment you want, and ask for doctors’ CVs.

The startling difference between the cost of medical treatment in the US and the cost of medical treatment along with travel costs in the medical tourism destination countries can cause one to doubt the quality of health-care one can obtain as a medical tourist. However, hospitals serving international patients can and should be accredited by international health-care organizations. Medical tourists are also able to view the Curriculum Vitae  (equivalent to the Resume in the US) of doctors, so you can choose the surgeon you want based on the academic and professional excellence of different doctors from different hospitals.

Countries like Japan, Colombia, Costa Rica and Singapore are ranked ahead of the US in healthcare quality and efficiency according to a report by the World Health Organization. Other countries such as Thailand and Mexico are not far behind in the list. While many of these developing countries do not have high quality health care systems for their domestic populations, they boast some of the best private hospitals in the world with cutting-edge medical technology. These world-class private hospitals are the ones that operate special health-care packages including travel and accommodation arrangements for medical tourists.

7. Book your flight ticket ahead of time and avoid flying during peak tourist seasons

Once you decide where to receive medical treatment and make arrangements with the hospital of your choice, the next step is to book your flight. Avoid traveling during peak tourist seasons and major foreign holidays to the get the best deals on airfares and accommodation. Try to book your flight ticket a month or two prior to your travel date to minimize travel costs. Finally, make sure you have all your travel documents ready and have a copy of all your medical records in a folder. You are now ready for your medical tour overseas!

Are you a medical provider looking to attract medical tourists? Download our free guide to attracting medical tourists.

Julia Paljor is an intern for 9 Clouds and has seen a noticeable growth in medical tourism to her home country of India. As avid travelers we’re excited to share her tips on being a medical tourist.