by Nisha Sharma

Google Plus is a new social network following in the footsteps of established social media tools like Facebook and Twitter. This new networking platform is positioned to address weak areas that Facebook has overlooked or underserved, like B2B organizations. Google Plus‘ fast success is hard to ignore, passing the 90 million user mark since being introduced to the public in September of 2011. For companies hoping to embrace Google Plus and add another important piece to the marketing puzzle, there are certain steps recommended to implement this new tool.

Establish a Profile

Setting up a solid profile with a professional headshot and a relevant, well-written introduction is the first step to get started. Hire a competent copywriter to ensure that the words used in your profile market your services or products well, urging other professionals to add you to their circles. Consider adding pictures that show you in action, giving a speech or engaged in some other activity typical for your business. Keep in mind, that this profile is the first impression that future customers and associates will have of you. By taking the time to create a memorable profile, a professional can make the new Google Plus tool count.

Maximize Search Results

When setting up your Google Plus account, be sure to check the box that says “Help Others Find My Profile,” in the Edit Profile/Search Visibility section. Add keywords to the links at the right of your profile, e.g. white label email, for best results. In the text section, be sure to add the best keywords to connect to the corporate website. As the number one search engine, the power of Google is behind Google Plus and has a stake in your success as they try and win favor for this new offering.

Be sure to add videos to your profile to maximize SEO rankings. There is a reason more and more companies are adding video into the marketing mix. Videos rank higher than other content and attract more traffic.

By adding your business name or industry as “Spark,” search engine results may be improved. This feature should be used like Google alert. Spark also allows you to follow related articles that align with your type of company to stay informed.

Establish a Custom URL

Using a custom URL makes it easy for your customers to find you. Employing every available tool to attract prospective business makes practical sense. Since URLs are taken on a first come, first serve basis, there is no legitimate reason to procrastinate. Time is of the essence.

Open Channels of Communication

One of the biggest differences between Facebook and Google Plus is Google Circles, which allows networking with different groups of people. A user can set up different circles of people based on the relationship, allowing companies the ability to communicate in different ways with different groups. For instance, one circle of people might be prospective customers and another group might be employees. Differentiating each group allows for better targeted communication. By sending out only relevant content to each group, readers do not become annoyed by a barrage of information that is irrelevant for them.

Another innovation that Google Plus offers its users is the ability to share circles of contacts. By clicking on a circle and sharing it, it gets posted to the contacts you choose. This process is as easy as clicking on “Add Circle.”

Conduct Market Research

The novelty of Google Plus equals added enthusiasm. As one of the latest new tools in social media, there is no time like the present to cash in on all the extra attention being afforded this new tool. Hangouts can be set up for informal meetings. Google hangouts offer a forum for video chatting with circles of associates. These chat sessions can be used for research or relationship building. An exciting benefit of hangouts is that thousands of people can view a live hangout at once.

Nisha Sharma writes about technology and business for neteffekt.com, a leading provider of email marketing solutions for leading agencies and enterprises worldwide.

One of 2011′s most hotly contested political issues, the Stop Online Piracy Act, has spilled over into 2012. The language and far-reaching implications of the bill have caused high-profile workers within the entertainment industry to publicly oppose it; even supporters admit that it could vastly change the internet as we know it. Here are ten of the popular websites that could be potentially destroyed, should SOPA pass.

Facebook – Indisputably one of the most popular social networking sites in the history of the internet, Facebook boasts more than 800 million users around the globe. These users are currently able to post any link they like to their walls or those of their friends; those links can house legal and illegal content with no repercussions to the site itself. Under SOPA, advertizing revenue and any payments could be blocked for the entire network, should one complaint of infringing content be filed.
YouTube – Anyone who uses video-sharing giant YouTube has, at some point, come across a clip that’s been removed due to copyright infringement complaints. In the event of SOPA’s passing, each time one of those videos are reported, all revenue generated by the ads on the site would be blocked. Millions of dollars could be potentially lost.
Twitter – The number of tweets posted by Twitter users each day is estimated to be in the range of about 50 million; this mind-boggling volume of information shared by users worldwide makes it almost impossible to monitor on an individual basis, opening the door for SOPA-infringing complaints that—you guessed it—block ad revenue. One tweet with a link to copyrighted material could easily shut down all payments to the site until the situation is resolved.
Google – In addition to limiting the search results that would legally be allowed, Google’s cash cow AdSense could also be affected by SOPA. This one-two punch might not spell the end for the company immediately, but could change the way services operate to the extent that they’d be virtually unrecognizable by pre-SOPA standards.
MegaUpload – File locker sites like MegaUpload definitely house a vast amount of pirated media, but they’re also frequently used for legitimate file-sharing and backup purposes, which is where the conundrum sets in. While other lockers at least pay lip-service to the idea of DMCA laws, MegaUpload blatantly thumbs their collective noses at the notion of removing copyrighted material. As a result, SOPA is ostensibly worded specifically to police such sites, up to and including blocking access to American internet users altogether.
Tumblr – Many popular sites have a section related to sharing the content they house; among the buttons is a link to micro-blogging powerhouse Tumblr. With one click, Tumblr users can share links to almost anything; this feature would effectively cripple the site in the event of SOPA’s enactment. Concerns about the bill spurred the site’s administrators to launch a simulated censorship “blackout,” during which users were presented with a real-life representation of what the bill could do; the change prompted users to call their House Representatives at an average of 3.6 calls per second at its peak.

Etsy – The online marketplace for handcrafted, vintage and artisan wares Etsy could find themselves devastated by SOPA in the event of a copyright infringement accusation. The sheer number of products offered by sellers creates a dilemma for the site; approving each item before posting would be virtually impossible. Should a craftsperson offer one product with infringing artwork, the bill could stop payment on each and every transaction facilitated by the site.
Flickr – Though the site makes a concerted effort to prevent the hosting of copyrighted images and takes removal requests very seriously, Flickr could easily be disabled by SOPA. Blacklisting the site and blocking it at a DNS level would be well within the scope of the bill, should one illegally shared image be discovered.
Reddit – The Reddit community has been among the most vocal in its opposition of SOPA, which has been dubbed the American Internet Censorship Act by users. Because the foundation of the site is sharing content, it would be impossible to regulate every shared link. Administrators have publicly stated that they would almost certainly be forced into shutting down if the act passes.
Digg – Like Reddit, Digg is primarily a content sharing site. Links to streaming video and other information are shared by users and suggested; compliance with SOPA would require that each link be housed on a site with absolutely no infringing content. Essentially, a legitimate link could still wreak havoc, should the linked site contain even one illegally shared piece of content. Combing every site in its entirety before allowing a link to be posted would be impossible, which could easily lead to Digg’s demise.

Article re-published by eMarketing 21 with permission from Internet Service.

By now most of us are familiar with all of the tasks that Siri, Apple’s voice-recognizing virtual assistant, is capable of performing. Phone calls, text messages, reminders, restaurant searches and traffic reports. Siri does it all. Or does she?

Sadly, it turns out that Siri is only (almost) human and has her limits. Here are ten things that Siri pretty much can’t help you with:

Connect Me, Please. It’s great that she can check the local traffic for you … if only she could get you a decent signal so that you could log-on. In fact …
Paid Time Off – When you’re not connected, neither is Siri, so she’s offline and of no use until you get a signal.
Not Much Choice. – According to a recent CNN report on a study done by the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU), Siri isn’t much good at finding abortion clinics. This one, however, seems to have gotten enough publicity to prompt Apple to make a fix.

Telling You Where to Go. – Yes, you can get directions from Siri, but she won’t tell them to you. You’ll have to read them from a list and do without her help if you make a wrong turn.
Hold the Phone. – Siri can do a lot of things with your phone, email and SMS messaging, but she seems incapable of changing settings. She can’t change my ringer to vibrate, or tell me how much charge is left on my battery.
Spell-Check Siri – Much like the integrated spell-check that we’ve also become reliant upon, Siri has at least one Achilles heel known as homophones. She simply can’t distinguish between like-sounding words, even in context.
Let’s Go To The Video – Nope. Siri can’t help you there, either. She doesn’t do videos.
Tweet Nothings – Sorry, Siri can’t post updates to Twitter or Facebook for you. We think she’s kind of jealous of your friends.
Check My Calls – Oh, well. Siri isn’t capable of checking your call history either. Which may be a good thing if she really is as insecure about your popularity as we suspect.
Call 911 – Presumably, Siri does care very much for the welfare of her master. So why then is she unable to make an emergency phone call on his behalf?

Article re-published by eMarketing 21 with permission from PhoneTVInternet.

Google’s answer to the social networking media world has finally hit the web. Google+ was launched with a select number of invites being sent out, along with a steady stream of updated features. As might be expected, the evolution of Google+ has had its share of hiccups (ie the naming policy snafu), but it shows some real promise as a viable contender to Facebook. In fact, there are some areas where Google+ could really have an edge. Here are 10 ways that Google+ can compete with Facebook:

1. Privacy – The aforementioned naming policy, even though it created a stir with some users that resulted in some Google backpedaling, may actually work in Google’s favor in the log term. The original policy seemed designed to created an open environment that would be less conducive to trolls, spammers and the like. Once Google irons out some wrinkles in the area of privacy, I envision it as one of its core strengths.
2. Groups – This is a standout feature of Google+, in my book. It’s a far more user-friendly and intuitive tool for networking within your own selected networks. You decide how much overlap there is between friends, family, associates, etc.
3. Toolbar – A feature, also called the Sandbar, that will be universal to all Google services (Gmail, blogs, etc.) and something I suspect would ultimately become an extension that you can incorporate into your browser, much like the Stumble Upon toolbar.
4. Business Accounts – Provided the Google+ Circles feature works as advertised, it could make their network an attractive alternative to Facebook for business purposes. The ability to separate business from social contacts would give Google+ a considerable advantage, provided their original policy backlash hasn’t burned too many bridges with potential business members.
5. Post Length – The ability to make longer posts on Google+ could make it the preferred choice for some users who wish to share blog entries, newsletter updates, etc.




6. Versatility – Since Google has designed Plus to be an integral part of its services suite, via the now ubiquitous black toolbar, users have a full complement of networking features (email, chat, video, search engine) at their fingertips with which to communicate.
7. Sparks – An added feature to complement the Stream, Google’s version of Facebook’s Newsfeed,  Sparks generates unique content for each user based on their interests. It’s essentially a personalized search engine.
8. Instant Upload – As owners of the premier video sharing site on the internet, it shouldn’t surprise that Google has introduced a feature whereby a Plus user could instantly upload videos to YouTube (or pics to Picasa), then share them with their friends.
9. Hangouts – This multi-user video chat feature figures to be a favorite among users who want the ability to chat real-time with their own circles of friends, all at once or one-on-one.
10. Mobile App – The Google+  mobile app for Android makes it easy to share content from your mobile device to your social account, and share it with your circles. Once Google+ gets itself setup for business accounts, this can be an even bigger plus.

Article re-published by eMarketing 21 with permission from Internet Providers.

When you first start out in your own business, there are lots of things to learn. With the Internet, access to the tips and advice of others, who have been in business much longer, is readily available. Here are ten websites that will give you the tips you’re looking for:

1. BizSugar.com – To find the best articles, news and tips related to small business, this is the place to go. It is also the place to share your favorites with others. Sharing is what fills the site with content. You share your favorite online info, and others are sharing theirs. You can vote for your favorites and see what the top favorites are on the site.
2. BusinessFinanceStore.com/News – This site prides itself on always having fresh content that is pertinent to current news stories and trends. Their contributors are small business writers who provide sound business tips, based on real world experience. You can subscribe to their blog feed or search on your selected topic of interest.
3. IndustrialistJournal.com – Another site where you’ll find experience behind the articles that are contributed. Salesmen writing about sales, HR specialists give tips on hiring, firing and other HR management issues, small business owners share their wealth of knowledge on startups and business strategies and technology pieces are provided from the IT experts.
4. SmallBizTrends.com – This business site was actually founded by and contributed to by a lawyer, Anita Campbell. So, if you’re looking for sound legal advice for small businesses, this is a great site to stop by. You’ll want to look for Anita’s articles for that. They’ll be listed among the many other contributors that focus on all the other small business topics you need to know about.
5. Score.org – Do you ever wish you could just talk to an experienced business owner who has already dealt with some of the things you are trying to figure out in your new business? That is exactly what you can get from SCORE. They have lots of great tips on their website, but their greatest resource is the thousands of business men and women who volunteer their time to serve as mentors to people like you. They are there to answer questions and give encouragement to new entrepreneurs.




6. SmallBusinessFinanceTips.com – The creator of this website is an accountant with many years of experience. He has put together lots of information on the financial side of business. There is information on accounting, business plans, financing and building credit, cash flow and pricing.
7. Entrepreneur.com – This is probably one of the best known sites for small business advice. It is the online version of the Entrepreneur magazine. Top quality information and news, online and at your fingertips.
8. SBA.gov – The website for the Small Business Administration should not be overlooked when searching for tips and advice for your small business. It has lots of resources that any small business owner needs to be aware of.
9. DWMBeancounter.com – All the beginner tips you’ve been looking for are neatly listed on this website; just keep scrolling down. If you want them conveniently available for easy reference, you can download them free of charge as an e-book.
10. FrugalEntrepreneur.com – This site was created by… a frugal entrepreneur, who decided to share, among other things, free business form templates he has created or found elsewhere. He also shares other money saving tips for small business owners.

Every one of these sites has something unique to offer. Great tips on a wide variety of topics.

Article re-published by eMarketing 21 with permission from Internet Provider.

This may seem to be a bit of a stretch to be making a comparison between the governing body of the United States and a portion of the social media, but there really is more to it than one might suspect at first glance. Let’s look at some of the ways they are similar and then some of the ways they are different.

Similarities: 

Facebook is always changing how things operate. This is just like Congress and the tax code. What was deductible last year, may not be this year. It’s hard to keep up with the changes.

• Facebook and Congress both have much more access to your private information than you are likely to be comfortable with.
• There are special interest groups vying for your attention and support along the margins of Facebook, just like the lobbyists that are continually trying to gain the support of congressmen.
• Facebook continually insists that its purpose is to simply give its users what they want, just as Congress says that they are attempting to legislate the will of the people.
• Opinion polls don’t really matter in Congress, any more than they do on Facebook. They’re going to do what they want anyway.
• Verbally fighting between the right and the left goes on in both places on a regular basis.
• Voting’ takes place in both, although, with Facebook, it is in the form of clicking ‘like’.
• Opinions are flaunted daily in both places, as well as expressions of outrage.
• The members of Facebook could all vote for a change and have it vetoed by the leadership of Facebook, just as Congress can pass legislation and have it vetoed by the President.

Differences:

• We do elect the leaders in Congress, but Facebook… no one really knows who is running this virtual world.
• Congress takes breaks and vacations, but Facebook is always there.
• Congress is funded by our tax dollars and Facebook is funded by advertising dollars.
• You’re actually more likely to get a response from a complaint written to your congressman than to a complaint written to Facebook.
• People have been frustrated with Congress much longer than Facebook, and they’ll get over their frustrations with Facebook much sooner than their frustrations with Congress.
• Congress can send our soldiers to fight in other countries, while Facebook lets you choose your own battles.
• More citizens are actively involved with Facebook than they are with Congress.
• Congress revolves around the give and take among members, which hasn’t been working very well, as of late. On Facebook, you can each do your own thing without having to try and win over others to your point of view.

There are just about as many similarities as there are differences between these two well-known entities. They both affect our daily lives much more than we would like to admit.

Article re-published by eMarketing 21 with permission from Internet Service.

If you have a relative that is a technology geek, you are grateful. He can sit down at your computer and accomplish in a matter of minutes what may have taken you hours or days to figure out. Plus, he can save you a ton of money on tech support. If he is a ‘true’ technology geek, he will fit these 10 signs.

Jealous Wife – If he is married, his wife is jealous, not of other women, but of his electronics, which always have his attention more than she does.
GPS Dependent – A true technology geek can no longer give you directions anywhere. He is dependent on his gps to get him wherever he goes. Without it, he probably couldn’t find his way to work or back home again.
Digital Bathroom Reading – You will not find print magazines for reading material in the geek’s bathroom, a Kindle or Nook will be available with magazine subscriptions and the rest of his library. You will not find “The Dummies Guide…” to anything in his library.
Sweetheart Tweets – When a geek is feeling especially affectionate towards his wife, the world will know it, because he’ll send her a tweet telling her so, even if she’s sitting in the same room.
Lightning Fingers – Just watch their fingers fly over a keyboard, and you’ll know if they are true geek or not. The fastest typist in the world can’t keep up with the lightning fingers of a techno geek.
Black Friday Shopper – Yes, you will see the true technology geek out early on Black Friday and waiting in line before the stores open. Of course, he will be at the Apple Store, not Target, and Best Buy will be next on his list.
Hard Drive Multiples – Most people only have hard drives in their computers. A few might have a backup hard drive. A true geek will have many, many hard drives of various sizes and they will probably all be full.

Trekky – This doesn’t mean that he wears Spock ears and dresses up in Star Trek uniforms, but he is a Star Trek fan nevertheless. Star Trek may have even been his first introduction to the  fascinating world of technology.
Flash Drive Carrier – If you need a flash drive for any reason, just ask him. He probably has at least one on his key chain and another in his pocket. Why would you go anywhere without one?
Speaks Geek – He talks in a language that only other geeks can understand. He puts posts on Facebook and Twitter that are written totally in geek and are responded to in more geek language from his geek network. All of it remains gibberish to the rest of us. Flux capacitor?

If your techno geek does not possess all ten of these signs, then he may not be fully matured into true geekdom, as of yet. If no one stands in his way, he will get there. May he always be available when your computer crashes and your cellphone needs programming. We love our geeks!

Article re-published by eMarketing 21 with permission from DSL Service Providers.

FaceBook status updates have become a common form of communication between friends and acquaintances. Some folks, however, get a bit carried away with it. Here are 10 signs that you update FaceBook too frequently.

1. Before Reading. The very first sign that you may be updating your FaceBook status too often, is if you find that you’ve come back to read this article after having opened a new window or tab to post on your wall, before continuing on.
2. Homework Updates. Another sign that you’re posting too often on FaceBook is when you realize you’ve posted on your teenager’s wall to ask about his or her homework. This is especially true if the two of you are both at home at the time of your asking.
3. Serial Burglary. Your house has been burglarized 3 times in the last 2 months, because the creepy older brother of one of your son’s friends keeps track of your whereabouts through your Facebook postings. This one is a sure sign that you are updating your Facebook status a bit too frequently.
4. Recognized by Strangers. If people you’ve never met regularly approach you on the street and address you by name and ask if your cat still refuses to use the litter box, you’re probably updating FaceBook too often.
5. OMG! Out Loud. If you ever catch yourself saying OMG! on witnessing an amazing event in real life, it’s time to consider how frequently you update your FaceBook status. This also includes out loud utterance of other acronyms, such as saying TY instead of thank you.
6. Too Much Information. If your doctor calls you to suggest a possible solution to your frequent urination issues, and you haven’t reported any such thing to the doctor’s office, you’re probably updating FaceBook with too much information and too often.




7. Status: Unemployed. If your FaceBook friends know that you’ve been laid-off from your job before your spouse knows, you are definitely posting status updates too often. On the flip side, the same is true if your FaceBook friends know about your promotion before your spouse knows about it.
8. Unseen Award. If you look up from your computer and realize that your daughter has already received her high school diploma and is walking back to her seat, you’re probably updating FaceBook too often.
9. Withdrawal. You may be updating FaceBook too frequently, if you begin to sweat and feel a tremor in your mouse hand when a staff meeting runs long and keeps you away from your computer for more than an hour.
10. 3^rd Person. Another sign to watch for is a shift toward 3^rd person responses when someone asks you how you are doing. As it happens, the author of this article is just fine, though a little tired today. He thanks you for caring.

If you find yourself nodding your head or smiling sheepishly at 3 or more of these signs, don’t be surprised if a day comes when your family or pastor arranges for an intervention and takes your smartphone away from you for a while.

Article re-published by eMarketing 21 with permission from Internet Service.

Politicians follow wherever voters take them, and today’s voter spends a lot more time than ever before on social networking sites like Facebook. People watch less television, read fewer newspapers and magazines and hardly listen to the radio at all. Politicians get far less bang for the buck advertising on “mainstream media” than they used to, and they are turning toward social sites in increasing numbers. The primary purpose, of course, is to get themselves elected. Once in office, the next campaign starts immediately, and then the politicians do everything they can to get re-elected. There are more subtle internal machinations, but the upshot is that social media is here to stay, and politicians recognize this. Some of the reasons and reasons-within-reasons that social networking has become so important are listed here.

1. Social “Street Cred” – On one hand are politicians who wish to present themselves as wise men, full of pomp and circumstance. On the other hand, the same people also want to be seen as youthful and “with it”, and this is why there is such a scramble to achieve an internet presence.
2. The Joneses – Politicians feel compelled to do what others in their field are doing, and if one politician thinks he can curry voter favor through constant Twittering, then a host of others will soon follow suit.
3. Sound Bite – Micro-blogging is a great way to emit sound-bite philosophy. It is short and sweet. It can say a lot or it can say nothing. It’s more appealing to a hurry-up audience.
4. Cheap – Politicians can get the word out to millions of potential votes without shelling out the big bucks that it would take to get the same results from television advertising.
5. Attacks – Micro-blogs like Facebook and Twitter allow for instant attacks and retaliations, and a lot of back-pedaling, coupled with amazingly insincere apologizing.
6. Virtual Reality – Blog watchers have pointed out an interesting incongruity. Politicians who use the social media extensively are perceived as more “real” than are those who do less on the internet and more in the real world.




7. The New Norm – Through the 2008 elections use of resources like Youtube, Twitter and Facebook were still something of a novelty. Now, a politician who isn’t exploiting social media in some way is a rarity.
8. Toothpaste – Some politicians (see next two items) have learned the hard way that airing something on a social network is tantamount to squeezing toothpaste out of a tube, and then trying to put the toothpaste back into the tube. It just doesn’t work very well.
9. The Naked Truth – Former Congressmen Anthony Weiner and Christopher Lee, and the emphasis is on “former”, found out how important the social media could be. Both bared themselves for the camera, in separate instances, and then made the pictures available to women who were not their wives via these means.
10. Instant broadcast – When politicians make mistakes while using any of the social media the results are almost instantaneous, they are broadcast to the entire world and they are extremely difficult to refute. That alone has led politicians to take social media very seriously.

Within a few years it may become apparent that micro-blogs are the “mainstream media” and radio, print and television are somewhere on the sidelines.

Article re-published by eMarketing 21 from Internet Service with permission.

Cell phones are now the number one form of communication for teenagers. In 2010 at least 85% of 15 to 18 year old had cell phones, nearly 70% of 11 to 14 year old and a third of 8 to 10 year old. With this powerful new technology in their conniving little hands, kids are learning how to use it to take advantage of their parents. Some kids don’t know how to take “no” for an answer and are finding new ways to get what they want. Here are 10 ways kids use cell phones to badger their parents.

1. Calling – The first technique used to badger their parents is constant calling. This can be very annoying, especially during work. Parents don’t want to be accused of not taking calls from their own children, so this can really get out of hand in a hurry.
2. Texting – If a parent stops taking their calls, the next avenue the kids will take to badger them is texting. Since they already text 15 times more than making calls, this comes naturally to kids. They can take badgering to new heights by sending one word messages like; Please…please….can…I….GO!!!!…Please….please….please!!!!
3. Voicemails – Once parents learn to ignore the text badgering, the next step is unlimited voicemail messages. Imagine checking your voicemail and finding out you have 75 new voice mail messages. You have to go through them all to sort out any important ones while listening to all the ones with your kid whining.
4. Emails – By this time you’ve shut off your cell phone and are trying to get some work done on the computer. Kids with email capabilities on their cell phones won’t hesitate to use them to get their parents attention. Soon your inbox is flooded with messages from your kids bugging you about their latest issue.
5. Tweeting – If you allow your child to have a Twitter access on their phone, this is another way they can badger you. You have to follow their tweets to monitor what they’re up to and can get pummeled with constant tweets about how you’re the worst parent ever for not letting them do what they want.

1. Sending pictures – Next thing you know, your kids are bombarding you with pictures of all their friends that are going to the latest concert. After that comes a variety of pictures with your child making sad faces. The situation has elevated into a whole new level of harassment with the help of a camera phone.
2. Annoying ring tones – If all other efforts have failed, and you have a particularly inventive child, they can change the ring tone of their phone to attack you. Every time someone calls your kid the phone now says, “My mommy is mean”. This takes badgering to an all time low.
3. Playing games – Another tactic your child may try is to annoy the heck out of you by constantly playing games on their cell phone whenever you approach. This is a form of reverse-badgering that is known to work in some extreme cases.
4. Enlist friends – Kids never hesitate to enlist the help of friends to manipulate their parents. They can give out your cell phone number to all their buddies and have them bombard you with all the badgering tactics already mentioned.
5. Hang up – If your children want to be particularly annoying they can keep calling your cell phone and hang up when you answer. Of course this is typical childish behavior that shouldn’t be tolerated (but they are kids after all…).

Using cell phones to badger them isn’t something most parents think of when they get the phones for their kids. They want their children to be able to contact them in an emergency and be able to let them know if there’s a change of plans or if their running late. The most important thing to remember when getting cell phones for your kids is to establish firm ground rules to begin with and make sure they’re enforced. Don’t give them a new tool they can use to manipulate you. Kids will use badgering to get their way, especially if they find out it works. Stay strong and never let them find a week spot or you’re doomed.

Article re-published by eMarketing 21 from PhoneTVInternet with permission.