Holiday Tech Stocking Stuffers
Posted on 19. Dec, 2011 by hannasmolan in Blog, Small Business Internet Marketing, Small Business Marketing, Technology
For the gadget lovers on your shopping list, here are some of the newest tech products… just in time for the holidays!
The Grid It Organizer stores all of your cords, chargers, thumb drives, and storage devices. Easy to pack & unpack, and helps to keep track of everything you bring with you on trips. Fits easily into your suitcase on your way out the door!
The Beverage Warmer ensures that your coffee, tea, hot chocolate, or cappuccino stays hot for you to enjoy at your own pace. This device works like a heated coaster & doesn’t require any special glass or mug. Perfect for business meetings or working at the computer.
The iTwin, a double-sided thumb drive that splits apart in the middle, allows you to plug one half into one computer and the other half into the second and instantly you can drag and drop files from place to place.
Attach the XD Design Solar to your window to capture the maximum amount of solar power to charge up your devices such as an iPod, mp3 player, or any digital camera. Great for conserving energy & going green!
Three Camera Lenses for your cell phone are small lenses that attach on to the outside of your camera phone. You have the options of Telephoto, Fisheye, & Macro/ Wide Angle Lens. The telephoto lens allows you to take great quality photos from a distance, while the Macro/ Wide Angle lens provides great up close & personal shots. Add some quirky creativity to your pictures with the Fisheye lens. Take professional style photos with your camera phone!
Visit Think Geek for more gadgets for stocking stuffers!
Holiday Tech Stocking Stuffers
Posted on 19. Dec, 2011 by hannasmolan in Blog, Small Business Internet Marketing, Small Business Marketing, Technology
For the gadget lovers on your shopping list, here are some of the newest tech products… just in time for the holidays!
The Grid It Organizer stores all of your cords, chargers, thumb drives, and storage devices. Easy to pack & unpack, and helps to keep track of everything you bring with you on trips. Fits easily into your suitcase on your way out the door!
The Beverage Warmer ensures that your coffee, tea, hot chocolate, or cappuccino stays hot for you to enjoy at your own pace. This device works like a heated coaster & doesn’t require any special glass or mug. Perfect for business meetings or working at the computer.
The iTwin, a double-sided thumb drive that splits apart in the middle, allows you to plug one half into one computer and the other half into the second and instantly you can drag and drop files from place to place.
Attach the XD Design Solar to your window to capture the maximum amount of solar power to charge up your devices such as an iPod, mp3 player, or any digital camera. Great for conserving energy & going green!
Three Camera Lenses for your cell phone are small lenses that attach on to the outside of your camera phone. You have the options of Telephoto, Fisheye, & Macro/ Wide Angle Lens. The telephoto lens allows you to take great quality photos from a distance, while the Macro/ Wide Angle lens provides great up close & personal shots. Add some quirky creativity to your pictures with the Fisheye lens. Take professional style photos with your camera phone!
Visit Think Geek for more gadgets for stocking stuffers!
#OCCUPYSOCIALMEDIA Anywhere, Anytime!
Posted on 30. Oct, 2011 by Nate Anton in Blog, Featured, Small Business Internet Marketing, Small Business Marketing, Social Media, social media tools, Technology
The Occupy movement has taken both social media and activism to a new level. Social media can be utilized differently by various users, but always has the potential to be a tool of great power.
An occupation traditionally involves activists coming together to occupy a specific, symbolic site. However, in our current technological state, anyone can be an activist anywhere at anytime.
There’s a social media network applicable to everyone today. There are major networks such as Facebook and Twitter, but there are also numerous specialized networks for music lovers, bakers, photographers, mothers, tourist, etc…
Social media, if used properly and strategically, can be the lifeline of this movement and serve as a platform for change.
How to #occupysocialmedia strategically and effectively on major networks
- Facebook: With over 800 million active users, Facebook is a familiar, necessary medium to reach and engage a large audience.
- Profile Banner: When you create a Facebook Page for your Occupy group you can optimize your profile
image by taking advantage of the banner’s full size. Doing this will allow you to add important content to your banner such as upcoming events or special announcements. - Groups: A Facebook page is great for displaying content and keeping viewers up-to-date, but Facebook groups allow more interaction. Facebook groups have three key features that make it a powerful tool for individual Occupy committees to communicate.
- Group Chat is a feature that involves all members of the group, who are online at the same time, to communicate efficiently by joining the chat window.
- Group Notifications keep members informed and involved. Not only can group administrators send out messages to the entire group, but every time anyone posts in the group a notification will be sent to the other members.
- Group Docs is a feature where group members can upload basic text documents for the entire group to see and revise. This could be useful for getting quick approval and feedback on press releases, blogs and any other type of media needed.
- Events: Creating events on Facebook is a useful way to promote upcoming happenings. It’s a simple, structured layout that includes all the necessary details. Facebook events can also be synced with Google Calendar, which can make it more efficient to manage.
- Twitter: Twitter is an excellent resource to distribute content as well as monitor content in real time. Three great Twitter features that should be utilized are profile backgrounds, lists and advanced search.
- Profile Background: Just like your profile banner on Facebook, your Twitter background can be used as valuable space to display important information.
- Lists: Lists can be used to group different Twitter users together into specific categories. Each Twitter profile can create up to 20 lists. Lists make it quick and easy to monitor breaking news and events and keeps your profile more organized and manageable.
- Advanced Search: Twitter can be a convenient listening tool. Advanced Search allows you to search specific key words, Twitter profiles or users in a specific geographic area. This can be used to monitor certain content and help you discover users in your target audience.
Managing an Occupy Twitter account can be a lot of work for one person. Designating a few occupiers to manage an account can be beneficial. When having more than one person manage an account it’s a good idea to end Tweets with the person’s initials or some kind of identification number. This will help keep things organized and keep each individual accountable for the content they distribute.
- YouTube: Let’s face it, pictures and videos truly are worth a thousand words, and those thousand words are more crucial than ever when it comes to the Occupy movement. Websites like YouTube and Flickr can bring the realities of the Occupy movement right into your own home. A few things to keep in mind when filming and posting videos on YouTube are the length of the video, the title and description, and the key words.
- Length: The majority of your basic YouTube videos should be no longer than two minutes; keep in mind that you have a busy audience. Good, concise videos are more likely to be watched all the way through and shared by the viewer. Be creative with your videos and make them engaging.
- Title & Description: Make sure your video has a captivating description and title that’s not misleading. Again, be creative and concise to capture your audience’s attention. A good description can be the determining factor to get someone to watch your video.
- Key Words and Tags: Be sure to include key words into your title and description. You should also create tags with those key words to improve your search engine optimization.
- Foursquare: Foursquare is a great social media platform that allows you to meet friends, discover different places and save money. Foursquare can benefit the Occupy movement with the proper use of check-ins, photos and lists.
- Check-ins: Foursquare users check in once they arrive to a destination. You can view the location’s profile to see who else has also checked in. Users checking in can post tips; this can be beneficial if users start checking in and post updates or services they can offer while being present. Each Occupation should designate a person to monitor check-ins in order to utilize those in attendance.
- Photos: Foursquare users have the ability to upload photos and post tips when checking in. All occupiers should be checking in and posting good pictures and tips to represent that specific occupation to potential occupiers.
- Lists: Lists can be created to group together various locations across the world. An Occupy list should display various occupations. You can even break the list down by state or region to include all occupations, large and small. This can provide an outlet for users to locate an occupation wherever they travel.
- Blog: A blog is essential because it can be used as a professional platform to distribute specific content in a packaged form. Any blog website can be used, but a WordPress blog may work best if you have various people working on it; WordPress is an easy, familiar blog platform, which can make it easier to manage. Several people can be authorized as administrators to post stories and blogs based upon each individual occupation. When blogging, keep keywords in mind throughout the title and post to increase search engine optimization.
Listed below are several social media sites that have been successful. Check them out!
Facebook:
Occupy Wall St, Occupy LA, Occupy Chicago,
Occupy London, Occupy Canada, Occupy Denver
Twitter:
@OccupyWallSt, @occupyoakland, @OccupyChicago, @Occupy_Boston, @OccupyLA,
@OpWallStreet, @OccupyTogether, @OccupyDenver, @OccupyToronto, @OWSAtlanta
#OCCUPYSOCIALMEDIA Anywhere, Anytime!
Posted on 30. Oct, 2011 by Nate Anton in Blog, Featured, Small Business Internet Marketing, Small Business Marketing, Social Media, social media tools, Technology
The Occupy movement has taken both social media and activism to a new level. Social media can be utilized differently by various users, but always has the potential to be a tool of great power.
An occupation traditionally involves activists coming together to occupy a specific, symbolic site. However, in our current technological state, anyone can be an activist anywhere at anytime.
There’s a social media network applicable to everyone today. There are major networks such as Facebook and Twitter, but there are also numerous specialized networks for music lovers, bakers, photographers, mothers, tourist, etc…
Social media, if used properly and strategically, can be the lifeline of this movement and serve as a platform for change.
How to #occupysocialmedia strategically and effectively on major networks
- Facebook: With over 800 million active users, Facebook is a familiar, necessary medium to reach and engage a large audience.
- Profile Banner: When you create a Facebook Page for your Occupy group you can optimize your profile image by taking advantage of the banner’s full size. Doing this will allow you to add important content to your banner such as upcoming events or special announcements.
- Groups: A Facebook page is great for displaying content and keeping viewers up-to-date, but Facebook groups allow more interaction. Facebook groups have three key features that make it a powerful tool for individual Occupy committees to communicate.
- Group Chat is a feature that involves all members of the group, who are online at the same time, to communicate efficiently by joining the chat window.
- Group Notifications keep members informed and involved. Not only can group administrators send out messages to the entire group, but every time anyone posts in the group a notification will be sent to the other members.
- Group Docs is a feature where group members can upload basic text documents for the entire group to see and revise. This could be useful for getting quick approval and feedback on press releases, blogs and any other type of media needed.
- Events: Creating events on Facebook is a useful way to promote upcoming happenings. It’s a simple, structured layout that includes all the necessary details. Facebook events can also be synced with Google Calendar, which can make it more efficient to manage.
- Twitter: Twitter is an excellent resource to distribute content as well as monitor content in real time. Three great Twitter features that should be utilized are profile backgrounds, lists and advanced search.
- Profile Background: Just like your profile banner on Facebook, your Twitter background can be used as valuable space to display important information.
- Lists: Lists can be used to group different Twitter users together into specific categories. Each Twitter profile can create up to 20 lists. Lists make it quick and easy to monitor breaking news and events and keeps your profile more organized and manageable.
- Advanced Search: Twitter can be a convenient listening tool. Advanced Search allows you to search specific key words, Twitter profiles or users in a specific geographic area. This can be used to monitor certain content and help you discover users in your target audience.
Managing an Occupy Twitter account can be a lot of work for one person. Designating a few occupiers to manage an account can be beneficial. When having more than one person manage an account it’s a good idea to end Tweets with the person’s initials or some kind of identification number. This will help keep things organized and keep each individual accountable for the content they distribute.
- YouTube: Let’s face it, pictures and videos truly are worth a thousand words, and those thousand words are more crucial than ever when it comes to the Occupy movement. Websites like YouTube and Flickr can bring the realities of the Occupy movement right into your own home. A few things to keep in mind when filming and posting videos on YouTube are the length of the video, the title and description, and the key words.
- Length: The majority of your basic YouTube videos should be no longer than two minutes; keep in mind that you have a busy audience. Good, concise videos are more likely to be watched all the way through and shared by the viewer. Be creative with your videos and make them engaging.
- Title & Description: Make sure your video has a captivating description and title that’s not misleading. Again, be creative and concise to capture your audience’s attention. A good description can be the determining factor to get someone to watch your video.
- Key Words and Tags: Be sure to include key words into your title and description. You should also create tags with those key words to improve your search engine optimization.
- Foursquare: Foursquare is a great social media platform that allows you to meet friends, discover different places and save money. Foursquare can benefit the Occupy movement with the proper use of check-ins, photos and lists.
- Check-ins: Foursquare users check in once they arrive to a destination. You can view the location’s profile to see who else has also checked in. Users checking in can post tips; this can be beneficial if users start checking in and post updates or services they can offer while being present. Each Occupation should designate a person to monitor check-ins in order to utilize those in attendance.
- Photos: Foursquare users have the ability to upload photos and post tips when checking in. All occupiers should be checking in and posting good pictures and tips to represent that specific occupation to potential occupiers.
- Lists: Lists can be created to group together various locations across the world. An Occupy list should display various occupations. You can even break the list down by state or region to include all occupations, large and small. This can provide an outlet for users to locate an occupation wherever they travel.
- Blog: A blog is essential because it can be used as a professional platform to distribute specific content in a packaged form. Any blog website can be used, but a WordPress blog may work best if you have various people working on it; WordPress is an easy, familiar blog platform, which can make it easier to manage. Several people can be authorized as administrators to post stories and blogs based upon each individual occupation. When blogging, keep keywords in mind throughout the title and post to increase search engine optimization.
Listed below are several social media sites that have been successful. Check them out!
Facebook:
Occupy Wall St, Occupy LA, Occupy Chicago,
Occupy London, Occupy Canada, Occupy Denver
Twitter:
@OccupyWallSt, @occupyoakland, @OccupyChicago, @Occupy_Boston, @OccupyLA,
@OpWallStreet, @OccupyTogether, @OccupyDenver, @OccupyToronto, @OWSAtlanta
The Pros and Cons of Internet Privacy
Posted on 18. Oct, 2011 by Nate Anton in Blog, Small Business Internet Marketing, Small Business Marketing, Social Media, Technology
What laws and protection are currently in place?
The Electronic Privacy Communications Act (ECPA) was passed in 1986, which pertained to internet usage then; the internet has rapidly evolved since. Many states have there own laws in place, but there is no universal protection currently.
According to the September 18, 2011, New York Times article by Kevin J. O’Brien, “the European Commission has been considering how to put into practice a 2009 law that regulates software cookies, the unique digital markers that Web sites place on visiting computers to identify consumers and deliver ads tailored to individual interests.”
The European Commission is working to have E.U. consumers to “opt-in” to profiling before their information can be used.
Why would you want to “opt-in” to profiling?
Convenience. When companies and websites profile consumers, they are able to gear specific content such as advertisements and news articles to target the individual’s interest.
Targeted content reduces the clutter of unwanted ads and irrelevant news stories. This can be beneficial to consumers by helping them discover new products, events, articles and much more similar to their interest.
What are some concerns of profiling?
The internet world today is saturated with information and content from countless sources. Profiling helps reduce the clutter by displaying content that mostly pertains to the individual.
However, if profiling only displays the information someone wants to see, there could be a problem. Two individuals side-by-side could Google search the same topic and get different results. This raises the concern not only of what content is being display, but what content isn’t being displayed.
There could be extraneous events that fall outside of a person’s “profile.” When thinking about internet privacy and profiling, one must look at the various aspects involved in order to fully optimize their internet experience.
How can you have the best of both worlds?
There are a few things you can do to increase privacy protection.
1. Purchase or download antivirus software.
2. Use a program that allows you to anonymously surf the internet. The Electronic Privacy Information Center (EPIC) offers a guide to companies that offer these services.
3. Be Cautious! Avoid downloading files from unknown sources, and be careful about what information you share.
Being profiled while still reducing the risk of missing important information is possible; you just needs to find the perfect mix.
As long as you are educated on internet privacy and profiling, you can make the proper decision of how to utilize the best of both worlds. Examples of mixed internet privacy and profiling could consist of the following:
- Increase privacy: Privacy can be increased without full protection. Antivirus software and being cautious about opening unknown files can help reduce problems and spamming, but won’t disable to ability to be profiled.
- Using multiple web browsers: Have multiple web browsers designated to different task such as work, school, personal, etc.
- Dig Deep: If only one browser is used with limited privacy control, dig deeper for different, unique stories that may not appear in the top results.
What The Heck is Facebook Doing Now?
Posted on 21. Sep, 2011 by Bridget Ayers in Blog, Featured, Small Business Internet Marketing, Small Business Marketing, Social Media, Technology
Oh Facebook, you were first to the party in 2004 but now you are that awkward kid standing against the wall who wants to be bustin a move with the cool kids. It’s admirable that you attempt to jump out there but so sad to watch, your off beat dance steps just hurt to behold.
Facebook has made some changes yet again:
What’s New?
1. News Feed
- Popular Stories
- Most Recent Posts
- Real Time Friends Feed
2. Email Notification Frequency
3. Business Page Friends Feed
Why the Changes?
Google+?
Are these good changes?
Not really
Facebook News Feed Changes
You probably noticed when you got on Facebook today that your news feed looked A LOT different. Overnight Facebook launched their new and improved news feed. You now get ‘Top Stories From The Last Day’ at the top of your feed, ‘Recent Stories’ below that, nifty little blue triangles in the top corner of a post to let you know that you may like that post – just in case you weren’t aware that you may like that post, and a new real time what your friends are doing at this very second feed on your right sidebar.
First Impressions:
Too much stuff! There is just too much happening here…scrolling sidebar activity, make this a top story pop up (blue triangle), down arrows to hide, unsubscribe and/or unsubscribe. And there is no way to control this new madness! After you leave your feed for the first time your Facebook news feed just shows recent stories – you lose the top stories section and there is no way to get it back, at least that I can find right now. They just drift down into the Facebook abyss and then randomly pop back in here and there.
Facebook is obviously attempting to be more real time, but in there quest to do this have again missed the mark. I want real time information but I want to be able to control what information comes in. If you mark something as a top story you are essentially telling Facebook that you like that “type” of story and Facebook will use it’s algorithm to populate your news feed with those type of stories. But what if I just liked that one post, I don’t necessarily want to only that type of information or that person in my feed.
The Old News Feed:
You could control your content with one to two clicks. At the top of your feed you had most recent and most popular, you clicked there to change your feed. If you clicked most recent you got your list option – without leaving the stream you could switch the feed to a Facebook list. If you didn’t wanted most recent without having to manually switch your feed you could default it. Now Facebook is like Twitter was 2 years ago, lot’s and lot’s of streaming information that would take all day to sift through.
Controlling the Facebook News Feed:
Two words….Facebook Lists! Create lists and take the extra step to add people in them. Facebook lists are not as easy to create and add to as Google+ circles but they will help you use Facebook in the most efficient way possible.
Real Time Friend’s Activity:
If you blink you’ve missed everything, it is small, it is fast, and a big distraction. But if it is here to stay, one thing I do like about it is that if you do happen to see something you like and click on it a box pops open for you. Pop up boxes can be annoying but in this case it works for me, I don’t get taken away from the news feed, I can participate in the conversation right there and then and then quickly get back to hating the news feed. 
Facebook makes changes to the Business Page also
What’s New?
1. Friend Activity for Pages
2. Share Notifications
Why the Changes?
ROI for Business Admins?
Are these Good Changes?
Yes and No.
Facebook Business Page Changes:
Facebook added the share notification to business pages in the last week or so and I must say I love that addition. Now on top of seeing likes and comments on a post you can see who shared the post and the likes and comments on that share. This is a fabulous new addition, because it shows business page owners that content travels. People do not always like or comment on a post, sometimes they share it on their wall to bring the conversation to their hood. And honestly I love that, it is in my opinion even better than commenting on my page where all the people who already like me can see it – now you are telling people who may not like or even know about my business on Facebook about me. So nice job Facebook….keep features like this coming!
Now the friend feed activity on pages, here is the not so good addition. It is just another time and space waster in my opinion, you cannot see the feed if you are using the page as the page and you can only see YOUR friends activity. What’s so bad about this, well if your page has multiple administrators and you are doing Facebook ads to build your page a good majority of the fans/likes of your page may not be your “friends”. So I can see what a handful (comparatively speaking) are commenting and liking on my page and that does what for me?
Now you maybe saying this feature is for personal Facebook use – getting to see what your friends are doing on a Facebook business page. And to this I say it is still a miss. Most people watch their news feed instead of going to a page, so most people see what their friends are liking, commenting on, and checking into from their home feed. Will this new feature bring more likes or activity to a business page…I think not. I don’t think it benefits the page owners or the Facebook users as a whole.
What they should have put here was a top fan/like activity feed. Business page owners want to know that their efforts are paying off, if you want to add another feed option show me who and what is most active on my page. This will allow me to dive deeper into the demographic and content analysis, you would also be able to use this to reward your brand advocates and capitalize on trending topics.
Facebook is trying….but like watching The Geek (Anthony Michael Hall) trying to dance with Samantha Baker (Molly Ringwald) in Sixteen Candles it makes you cringe a bit. I could only shake my head this morning when I saw the news feed changes….geeky dance moves maybe funny to watch on the big screen but now I REALLY feel Samantha Baker’s pain.
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