Businesses are relying more and more on Facebook Fan Pages as a way to connect with their target audience and reach the right client demographics. But having a large, engaged fan base is something that doesn’t just happen overnight. To make the most of your Fan Page you must think strategically and use the right tools to help drive traffic to your site.
Erica Bogdan is Web designer and developer at Schipul and Facebook page admin for AIGA Houston. She will show you how over the past few months she’s increased her page’s number of fans and gotten them to interact on her page. This Webinar will cover the following:
How to use Facebook admin tools effectively
How to increase your fan numbers organically
What strategies to use to ensure your content is being seen by the most amount of people.
Slides of this Webinar and previous ones can be found here also.
Today is Friday the 13th – known as an unlucky day – but we’re not scared! In honor of today as Friday the 13th, we’ve collected some superstitions from some of the Schipulites. They range from holding your breath while driving by a cemetery to how to choose (and not choose) a potential mate!
Did you know? Fear of Friday the 13th is called friggatriskaidekaphobia
We asked the Schipulites: Do You Believe in Superstitions?
Check out our video interviewing the Schipulites on their superstitions.
Late last month we had two Macbook Air laptops stolen out of our Houston office. There were several things we learned from the experience. We’ve outlined a few specifics below that we think could help other companies or organizations avoid a similar situation. Some of these we had in place prior to the theft, and some we learned the hard way.
First: Thank You for Sharing!
First I want to say a big THANK YOU to everyone in the community who shared our story.
We posted a photo of building security footage of the suspect on our website and about 200 people shared the information on Facebook, Twitter, and other social networks.
We got some good tips from the community that we’ve shared with the police. Another business owner had a similar issue with a suspect fitting the same description – we’ve turned that information over to the police and hope they are able to take some action with it.
The Good News: No Data Loss
The good news is that no one was hurt and the Macbooks were brand new so there was no client data on them at all.
Why it Matters: We Want to Do Better
We take security seriously – in the Schipul office we use automatic locks, security cameras, key cards, and train our people to be vigilant. This was a failure on multiple levels and we recognize how lucky we are to just be out a few laptops. We were not happy that the incident happened not only because of the loss of equipment, but also because we want to do better to protect our people and our clients.
5 Security Tips for Businesses
#1. Talk to Strangers!
This goes against what you were taught as a small child. Train your employees that if they see an unescorted stranger – say something to them. You don’t have to come across as rude; politely say hello and offer to help them find what they are looking for.
Don’t ignore people who look like they shouldn’t be there – acknowledge them. If they are considering causing trouble, this is often enough to make them think twice.
#2. Look for Security Holes
If you were looking to steal from the company, how would you do it?
Think about doors that are unlocked or out of sight, times of day that are easier targets, new guys who don’t know the protocol, etc. In our case, the laptops were stolen when the front desk was unoccupied during lunch – this is something we could have avoided.
Be vigilant about locking doors and computers. Make it a habit to secure rooms with valuable equipment – post a sign as a reminder on the door or make it one person’s responsibility to double check.
#3. Keep Inventory, Password Protect
Keep inventory of your equipment, including serial numbers and who it is checked out to. Password protect immediately – and make sure your default password is complex. If a default password is easy to remember like “changeme,” chances are the person won’t change it. If you need ideas for passwords – Random.org has a great random password generator.
Our laptops had already been set up with passwords and registered – so we were able to report the serial numbers to Apple to help us track them down.
#4. Know Who to Call
Many small businesses have offices in a building shared by other companies. Know your property management and security guards – including their phone number. Educate every employee on what to do if something happens.
Often security footage deletes after a few days, so be sure you know how to see and save the footage as quickly as you can.
#5. Build Your Social Network Before You Need It
We are extremely thankful to everyone who shared our photos to help us get to the bottom of our theft.
Build your online network by connecting with them online & provide interesting content to keep them coming back. In the event that you need your network to help you spread a message like we did, you have a built in base of people who can help!
But be ready for more surprises.
While most feedback we got was supportive, we were surprised by some negative comments that alleged that we were profiling our suspect based on his race. Our intention by posting the photos of the suspect was simply to identify him so the police can get to the bottom of the issue, and even though we make a living encouraging companies and nonprofits to take an open stance and embrace criticism online, we found ourselves getting defensive. A special thanks to the members of the community who responded to the negative comments on our behalf. The negative comments were a reminder that the social media conversation doesn’t always go the way you expect it to, and you need to be able to respond quickly and openly to whatever unexpected direction the conversation takes.
Thank You Again!
Thank you again to everyone for your support. We continue to work to keep security our #1 priority to protect our employees and clients.
If you do recognize this suspect (photo here), please notify the City of Houston police at (713) 884-3131 with case #081613612.
We Schipulites don’t want to keep our web-based passion bottled up. We want to share it with you! Throughout July & August, we’re hosting free webinars every Thursday afternoon from 1:30 to 2:30 Central. Below are our next three webinars.
New to Analytics and need some guidance to help you navigate your website stats? Search Engine Marketing Analyst Jennie Lane will give an Intro to Google Analytics webinar on July 19. Topics include:
Running a website can be hard. But don’t despair! When it comes to choosing a CMS for your business, Schipul is here to help.
This webinar is designed to help you choose the right content management system (CMS) for your business. Business development specialist Travis Dixon will talk about:
Which CMS is right for you?
Detailed look at individual CMS” WordPress and Tendenci
What questions you need to ask yourself when looking for the right CMS.
A look at the different modules included within Tendenci that increase revenue, including:
Jobs Board
Custom Forms with Payment Integration for Donations, Sponsorships, and more!
Easy and automated Membership management to increase new member applications and get more renewals
Business Directories
Events
All the hidden ways Tendenci works hard to grow your association’s bottom-line!
For more information or to register for this event, click here
We hope you’ll come out to attend one of our webinars!
More Training Resources
Keep checking the Schipul calendar for more free web marketing training at Schipul.com/events
For resources from our past training events on the Schipul Webinar Resources page at Schipul.com/webinars
I had the privilege to speak during and attend the PRSA Sunshine District Conference 2012 last week in Tampa Bay, Florida! The theme was Navigating New PR Channels.
Sunshine 2012 (or hashtag #Sunshine2012) was a fantastic conference that featured speakers in PR, Marketing, and Communications discussing brands from Coca-Cola to Playstation to local NHL team the Tampa Bay Lightning. And included an address by PRSA President Bill Murray (no, not that Bill Murray).
My presentation was on SEO Web Metrics in the Real World. Web metrics can be overwhelming, especially considering the constant changes in web trends and interfaces!
I focused on what metrics matter most when making sense of all of the data available from tools like Google Analytics and Google Webmaster Tools, and tips for complementing that data with offline metrics.
Major points from my presentation:
Top 5 Metrics I look at when reading Analytics reports:
Traffic Trends – should mirror offline season trends
Sources – including PR & social media linkbacks
Keywords – branded and non-branded
Content – top content & what is changing
Conversion Path
Test, Test, Test!
As Ed often reminds me: “There is no such thing as a marketing argument, only a marketing test”
Use Google URL Builder to create Campaigns to A/B test – try to test one thing at a time, and keep iterating
My top tip for tracking offline data: Involve Sales in the process!
Educate your sales team on SEO, and ask for their feedback on trends they are seeing and ideas for new content. They have great insight from their interactions with customers!
Have your team who answers the phones ask prospects how they heard about you, including what term they searched in Google if possible
Remember that Rank isn’t everything!
Search Engine Marketing is a funnel of impressions in search, clicks through to your website, and if the content on your site is compelling enough – conversions
Interested in more Google Analytics training? Schipul is offering a free Intro to Google Analytics training webinar in July – watch the Schipul events calendar to sign up!
Insight from the Fantastic Speakers of #Sunshine2012
I got a lot of insight from the informative and actionable content from all the speakers throughout the conference. A few major trends from the conference speakers:
1. “Brand Control” is moving to the consumers
Allyson Park – Vice President of Corporate External Affairs, The Coca-Cola Company – focused much of her talk on how the brand is no longer in the hands of the company – the brand owner is now the consumer
Coke embraces this – their Facebook page is still run by the 2 fans who created it initially!
A recent Coca Cola marketing campaign showcases the real people who love the brand – “Every bottle has a story” – including this fantastic video currently shown in the India market:
2. Take advantage of technology tools, especially mobile devices
Many speakers noted new tools and technology that are becoming more and more important as part of the marketing/PR mix. This is all about using all of the tools in your toolkit. For instance: Video content is powerful and easier than ever to distribute. Social Media is a power customer service tool when used correctly.
Taking advantage of mobile devices to deliver real time relevant content through mobile sites and mobile apps is becoming not just an advantage, but more and more an expectation of brands. Here are some stats from Jody Haneke‘s presentation on the Mobile Marketing Mix:
35% of mobile workers check email before anything else – before getting dressed or eating breakfast
53% of tablet users read news on their phone every day
Smartphone and tablet users visit more pages in a given sitting than people on a desktop
SMS still the most widely used mobile data form on the planet.
3. Content Strategy
You can’t be everything to everyone, focus on what makes sense and keep it organization.
Some great tips from Josh Hallett of Voce Connect, who manages large amounts of content for brands like Sony Playstation:
Plan “episodic” content that you can schedule in advance – i.e. “Throwback Thursday” or Employee Spotlight
Don’t host your video – post on YouTube or Vimeo and embed, you get the advantage of the second network
Focus on your content plan – what makes sense for your brand, don’t worry too much about platform changes
Help your visitors by telling them what is the most important item today or this week. Make your top post “sticky” or give it more prominence – this helps visitors navigate and helps you promote your top priority
It’s ok to share something more than once – especially on a real time platform like Twitter. Post at a different time of day with a different call to action or perspective and monitor your results!
4. The Importance of Internal Communication
“As leaders, everything that we say or do communicates something ” – Keynote David Grossman
David Grossman spoke on the concept that we can’t not communicate – everything you do from how you speak to how you spend your time to body language communicates SOMETHING to the organization. Our brains are wired to take in a scene and draw conclusions, so that’s what people do.
This is especially important as the intangible benefits matter more and more to employee satisfaction. Communication is key is leadership, including in meeting employee needs.
St. Petersburg is a beautiful place with unique restaurants and fantastic art! On my trip I got to take in the Dali Museum and enjoy happy hour at the Chihuly Exhibit at the Morean as part of the conference. It was an inspiring trip inside and out!
Spiral staircase in the Dali Museum
Chihuly blown glass exhibit at the Morean
Thank You PRSA Tampa Bay!
Big thanks to everyone on the PRSA Tampa Bay host committee who did a fantastic job!
Recently, I added myself to the list of iPad owners. I own Apple products, but not a tablet, so I was excited to put this new technology to productive use. These apps aren’t free or cheap ($1-2) like a lot of other productivity apps, but they are well worth it. Here are my top 4 recommended iPad apps to help make your workday more productive.
If you need a place to doodle, take notes, or annotate PDFs, Note Taker is for you. It isn’t cheap, but you will get much more functionality than something like Penultimate ($.99).
Note Taker lets you create folders of documents and store those in other folders so it’s extremely organized. It also conforms to your style of note taking. Whether writing, note taking or doodling, you can:
Insert text via the keyboard
Insert shapes (Note Taker has 65 built in) or pictures from both your photo library and your camera instantly
Change the color and size of your pen
Zoom Writing and the Wristguard are what make Note Taker great for writing notes.
Zoom Writing
The zoom writing feature allows you to write accurately as large or as small as you’d like. When you want to advance: tap the right arrow to continue on the same line and the left to go to the next.
Wristguard
The gray bar is the wristguard feature. When most people write, they rest their hand on the writing surface. In Note Taker, the wristguard makes sure you don’t mark or mess up the line you’re writing on. You can toggle it on or off in zoom tools.
My Favorite Feature
My favorite feature is the ability to annotate PDFs. I needed to fill out some forms for an online class I was taking and had left my computer at a friends house. I downloaded the forms (as PDFs) I needed, filled out all the subject fields, and sent them in from my iPad.
Note Taker Tips and Integrations
Note Taker has a lot of features and is extremely powerful, but it has a bit of a learning curve, so you have to be patient with it. To read a comprehensive Note Taker user’s guide click here.
Note Taker is compatible with CloudOn(mentioned later), Evernote and Dropbox and you can send your notes to any of these apps using the output button in the tools section.
Overall, this app rocks. Plus, its only $5 for one killer note taking platform.
Scanner Pro is a dream: powerful and simple. Once the app is open, you can either scan using the camera, or upload from your photo library.
Scanner Pro Tips & Tricks
For scanning documents, the sky’s the limit. You can scan almost anything and use custom sizes.
I use “Select All” to choose which part of the document to save, but you can adjust it using the blue dots in the corners.
Once the document is scanned, you can edit the contrast and brightness then export as a PDF or JPEG. Scanner Pro syncs with Dropbox, Google Drive (previously Docs), or Evernote.
Scanner Pro is powerful, so if you don’t need an app of this caliber you can try Genius Scan which is free but has limited capabilities.
CloudOn’s claim to fame is being the first to bring Microsoft Office to iPad. It’s great for editing your PowerPoint, Word, and Excel Microsoft Office documents on the go. CloudOn’s downside are the limitations with creating new documents or doing heavy re-structuring.
Capabilities
The keyboard responds to commands like cut, copy, paste, and undo. All of the buttons in the interface are click-able but not all of them work.
I use CloudOn for minor editing and changes like font family, size, and type.
It’s especially helpful in PowerPoint because you can easily edit, add, or delete slides and save to the cloud.
CloudOn links with Box, Google Drive, and Dropbox. You can save, edit and access your files anywhere with Internet.
CloudOn is great for the price and offers on-the-go editing for the on-the-go person who needs to make quick edits to their Office documents.
Pocket Informant HD is expensive compared to some other apps in the App Store and is the most expensive app I’ve included in this review. However, if I had to choose one app as a must have, Informant is that app.
At Schipul, we use Google Calendars for scheduling and Informant syncs seamlessly. It also syncs with Toodledo, Google Tasks, and iOS Calendar.
The beauty of Informant is that it does everything. It has a calendar (with customizable views much like Google Calendar), tasks & events, notes, and contacts. Each item is tabbed and color coded.
Features that Make Informant Worth the Extra Cash
With Informant, you can call anyone (via FaceTime) straight from the contacts tab.
Informant also enables you to link contacts and send them invite via Google sync or the iPad’s email client when creating tasks/events.
One or more of these features come standard in every scheduling app, but Informant effortlessly puts them all in one place, for you to use. For the same price as a good notebook planner, you always have it, and it integrates digitally.
Increased Productivity for Just $26
I use these apps daily and I strongly recommend all of them. Together, they make your iPad more than just a portable toy for playing Angry Birds by giving you a suite of tools to increase your productivity at work.
Informant is a stand alone app and the other three apps integrate with each other. I’ve found it is pretty easy using Note Taker, Scanner Pro and CloudOn in unison.
You can get all of these apps from the iTunes iPad App Store for just $26 dollars (less than dinner and a movie)!
While You Are on Your iPad…
Come check out some of Schipul’s recent mobile responsive sites from your iPad! Responsive design gives your website the cool ability to display an optimized user experience based on the size of each site visitor’s screen. Come see how these sites look on your iPad compared to your desktop and smartphone:
“there’s nothing like good old-fashioned networking”
Passion is important. So is attitude. When it comes to promoting brand awareness, a passion for the product and a positive attitude make all the difference. People will perceive your true attitude to the detriment or benefit of your brand so it’s important to find someone who actually cares and is personally and deeply invested in your product.
Katie Laird shared about becoming a brand ambassador for Nintendo. It was an “organic connection” she says. She bumped into one of the Nintendo higher-ups and a causal conversation became a job opportunity. It was not who she knew, it was her passion: who she is.
Transparency
“there are things about you that you can share!”
All three panelists stressed the need to be transparent. When you communicate with a brand ambassador it is imperative to be up front about needs and expectations. In other words, honesty is the best policy. Potential disasters could occur due to simple miscommunication.
Even if it isn’t a simple mis-communication it’s best to be realistic (transparent) and up front during any business transaction and it saves all parties involved a lot of heartache.
This happened to Kashi recently after it was released that they were using genetically engineered soy in their cereals. Fans of the Kashi brand confused the labels “organic” (which is an FDA regulated label for foods), with “natural” (the label Kashi used and is *technically* correct). You can read the full story about Kashi’s brand mis-communication in this story by USA Today.
Influence vs. Popularity
know the difference –> increasing conversion to sales (influence) vs. increasing product brand/reputation (popularity).
It’s important to note the subtle difference between the two. Popularity does bring influence, but not necessarily to a target audience ready to buy. When selecting your digital influencers, you want to focus on your ultimate goal for the campaign. Ask yourself: are you looking to increase lead conversions with this campaign, or are you seeking to expand your brand’s recognition?
Influence: A writer who runs a successful blog that has an engaged audience of readers might not be nationally or critically acclaimed but their strong influence over loyal followers can be a marketing gold mine.
Popularity: A pro athlete that is nationally (or even internationally) recognized will reach a large audience, but not necessarily have a direct impact on sales.
Keeping Your Brand Ambassador
make me feel special
Gerome, Katie, and Meredith all expressed gratitude for the brands they represent. Katie remarked that during her ambassadorship she got to tour a national Nintendo facility, all expenses paid. During his multiple endorsement deals as an athlete, Gerome remembers all the “swag” and free shopping trips from brands like Nike, Reebok, or Adidas. Meredith endorses BCBG and gets 75% off of clothes and gets to dress in style.
1-Minute Video Wrap-Up of the Lunch!
If you missed the luncheon, here’s a quick inside look at all the fun from HIMA’s June lunch
Here are three ways you can go identify the right digital influencer for your Brand:
Go find those people who exert influence over your target market. Use social media reputation monitoring tools to find out who’s already talking about you. Inc Magazine has a great article on reputation monitoring tools and their use.
Start with the people who are already following you online and engaging with you already. Check your social media accounts to see who is talking about you, following you, and mentioning you. This will give you a better idea how to engage with your audience
Remember, ‘There’s nothing like good old-fashioned networkingâ€. You never know when you’ll meet your next big fan!
Please! Leave your comments. Tell us how you found your brand ambassador or how you became a successful one.
The issue that was causing server overload problems for Tendenci sites this morning has been resolved. We’ve also put measures in place to help us catch and more quickly fix similar issues in the future.
If you have any questions, contact our Support Team by emailing support AT schipul DOT com or by phone at (281) 497-6567, extension 411.
Thank you again for your patience.
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Some Tendenci sites are slow or not responding this morning due to heavy server volume
Our team has identified the issue and is working diligently to get it resolved. We apologize for the inconvenience – we will update you as soon as possible.
We will update this post as we have more information. Follow Tendenci on Twitter for immediate updates here: www.twitter.com/tendenci.
Questions? Contact our Support Team by emailing support AT schipul DOT com or by phone at (281) 497-6567, extension 411.
Thank you, as always, for your patience and your business!
We’re Thrilled to Launch Susan G. Komen Houston’s New Tendenci Website!
The Houston Affiliate of Susan G. Komen for the Cure has granted over $9 million in grants nationally & $28 million in the 7 local counties it serves for breast cancer support & research. We are honored to work with this fantastic organization and are proud to showcase their newly launched website! The new site will further Komen Houston’s efforts and help organize the many volunteers, survivors, researchers, & event participants they touch!
The website is built on the Tendenci CMS & incorporates a new design from the Schipul team, including a Race for the Cure landing page design (Save the date! The Komen Houston Race for the Cure will be October 6, 2012). Other site features include:
We were privileged to attend the Susan G. Komen Houston Impact Awards Tuesday to honor individuals, corporations, community partners, & volunteers what have made an impact on Komen’s mission to end breast cancer.
In addition to honoring the great organizations who received grant money from Komen Houston this year ($3.04 million in total!), Komen also showcased the new website!
Email reports which were set up in the old Google Analytics, will stop being sent out as of June. They will have to be set up again in the new interface. But not to fear. Below is an easy 3 step guide to get your email reporting set up in the New Google Analytics.
1. Identify what metrics you want on your dashboard.
You can have up to 20 dashboards with 12 widgets (what holds the metric)
Below is a picture of what your dashboard will look like. Click home to see yours.
This is where your widgets will live when you click “add to dashboard”, which is the next step.
2. Add those metrics to your dashboard.
Let’s say I wanted to add Traffic Sources Overview to my dashboard. I would click Standard Reporting and then the Traffic Sources tab on the left. Then click add to dashboard. This will add Traffic Sources Overview to your dashboard.
You can do this with any other metric as well. You may want to see the top Pages in Content, so you could go to the Content tab on the left, click into Site Content and click Pages. Then click Add to Dashboard.
Once you have added up to 12 widgets on your dashboard you can organize them by dragging and dropping them wherever you prefer.
3. Set up Email Report with preferred frequency and active period.
To do this you need to click home again to view your dashboard and then click the Email button at the top of the dashboard.
The window that pops up will prompt you to fill out who you’re sending the report to, the frequency (most people do monthly), the day of the week, and the ‘active for†under advanced options.
We recommend setting the ‘active for†to 12 months and setting a reminder to renew the reports in a year. This is good to do anyways since SEO is always changing and you will be able to adapt your reports to what is needed at that time.
You can set multiple emails to receive the reports just separate them by a comma.
#1. Talk to Strangers!
Schipulite 
