social media Archives - Page 2 of 6 - Tendenci

Compelling graphics are essential to effective web marketing – especially in the realm of social media! Join Schipul’s Creative Services Designer, Erica Bogdan, as she demonstrates what key tips and tools you’ll need to know for creating stellar graphics for your company’s Facebook and Twitter pages.

Here are some of the cool tips this webinar covers:

How social media is growing for businesses as a free and effective marketing tool to create open dialogue with clients. Kick-butt graphics will make your Facebook and Twitter pages stand out from the crowd!
Awesome resource links to find images, fonts, and free alternatives to Photoshop so you can start creating your own graphics today!
How to incorporate branding consistency across multiple social media platforms and how to uploading your graphics onto your Facebook and Twitter once you’ve finished creating them!

If you’d also just like to view the slide presentation by itself, the slides can be found here.

2011-09-16

Is Facebook’s Latest Update a Gamechanger?

Facebook makes changes to the way the network works on the daily. I do my best to stay up to speed, and I’m normally pretty polar in how I feel about an algorithm update here or an interface change there, but Facebook’s latest major announcement has me teetering. Here’s what’s going on. . .

Facebook is introducing a ‘Subscribeâ€ button. I think this is major. Here’s how it will work:

You can subscribe to Public status updates from people you are not Facebook friends with.
You can choose what kind of updates you see from your current Facebook friends. You can choose to subscribe to All Updates, Most Updates or Only Important Updates.
You can allow people who aren’t your friends to subscribe to your Public Facebook status updates. Don’t worry, you have to opt in for this to be available to those who stumble across your Facebook profile.

Why this is great

Follow your Faves

You can subscribe to a celebrity or famous blogger’s Public status updates. They’ll likely never make Facebook friends with you, and now you don’t have to troll their profiles to see what they are publishing publicly.

Filtered Content

You can trim your newsfeed down to the status updates that really interest you. For example, if the girl who sat behind you in Sophomore Chemistry updates her Facebook every time her cat sneezes, you can choose to see ‘Only Importantâ€ updates from her without feeling badly about hiding or unfriending her (but if she really updates every time her cat sneezes, you really shouldn’t feel badly about unfriending her. Just sayin). You can also subscribe to specific types of content your friends are posting. Choices are Life Events, Status Updates, Photos and Videos, and Games.

Market Yourself

For personal marketing purposes, you can extend the number of people who read your content by allowing non-friends to subscribe to your feeds. This way, if you would like anyone in the world to easily access to knowledge you share regarding specific topics, but don’t want to be friends with the whole world, you can allow other Facebook users to subscribe to your public content.

Why this really isn’t that great

Dilutes the Power of the Fan Page

I totally get that there is a difference between a celebrity’s personal profile page and their Facebook fan page, and that there will be different content, but:

Being able to subscribe to their personal pages seems to dilute the purpose of the fan page.
Seeing as most celebrities share what they want the world to know via their public fan pages, what new content would I really be subscribing to here?

I know that this feature doesn’t just apply to major celebrities, but you get the point. Lines are getting greyer here. Could be a good thing, but my gut reaction is to feel a tad uneasy.

I’m Just Jaded

I really appreciate getting to trim down what I see from which friends. This is cool, and by far the best part of this new feature. But honestly, Facebook, I’m not inclined to use it, because you’re just going to change it up in two weeks anyway.

Hello, Twitter, is that you?

This whole subscribing-to-people-without-having-to-be-their-friend thing reeks of Twitter. I like using Twitter and the way it works. . . when I’m on Twitter. Basically, I feel like this update begs the question: ‘ISN’T THAT WHAT TWITTER IS FOR?â€

Let’s look at the numbers: Facebook has 750 million active users. Twitter just announced that it reached the 100 million active users milestone. If I were to make the assumption that everyone on Twitter is also on Facebook, I could reasonably assume that 650 million of the active users on Facebook are NOT interested in Twitter. So, why are we trying to make Facebook more like Twitter?!

This Automates Trolling

Well, that about sums up my point there.

Those are my two cents on this update. I’d love to hear yours. If you’re interested, you can follow my public content on Twitter, which is where I will continue to focus on posting it until I see Facebook embrace the subscription thing for personal marketing.

THE END

2011-09-01

Facebook Makes Sharing Easier

So, I’ve gotten to the point where I don’t consider it a real week unless Facebook has made some sort of major interface change I have to adapt to. Don’t get me wrong; change is good, but sometimes it’s exhausting, and sometimes I don’t love the changes. Today, however, I’m happy to explain a User Interface change that I’m sure we will all agree is, well, just swell.

Inline Privacy Settings

Facebook has moved many of its privacy settings inline! Here, let me explain.

Before these changes were implemented, if you wanted to edit who in your friends lists could see what on your profile (i.e. Status Updates, About Me, Hometown, etc.), you had to comb through lists of options buried deep in your account settings. It was cumbersome to say the least. Now, these settings are visible right next to the piece of content you’re editing. Take a look:

Tag Approval

You remember that time you said you couldn’t make a your cousin’s wedding because you didn’t feel well, then your friend tagged you in a photo dancing on a table that same night, and your family was, like, SUPER mad? That’s not a thing anymore guys. You get to approve photo tags before all your friends see your indiscretions. You’ll simply see a Pending Posts link beneath the “Wall” link on your profile, where you’ll be prompted to approve the posts.

But wait!. . . There’s more! You’ll also be given the ability to approve tags that other friends try to add to your photos and posts. I feel liberated already.

That’s not all folks! You’ll also have more choices when removing a tag someone else added. Choices include: a.) Remove tag, b.) Ask friend to take photo down, c.) Block friend. It’s like choosing the flavor of mustard I want from the store; I’m paralyzed with indecision.

Impersonation

So you spent forever splitting up your 4,500 friends up into appropriate lists so that you know that you’re sharing the right content with the right people, right? But you could never be certain the settings all worked the way you wanted, especially since they change so frequently. Now you can. Introducing. . . the “View Profile as” button!!! (applause roars in the background). This lets you impersonate any of your Facebook friends, so you can see what they can see.

Status Update Modifications

Status updates just got cooler, y’all. There are a couple nice new features to note:

1.) You can tag locations from your posts. Before, you had the check into a location from your smartphone using the Places feature. Now, you can search locations right at the status update field. Apparently, Never Never Land is a place.

2.) All media uploads are consolidated under Add Photo. I think this provides a cleaner, simpler interface.

3.) The Share Link feature is gone, now all you have to do to share a link is copy/paste the URL into your status update. You’ll get the same result.

All these updates boil down to a simpler, cleaner interface, more accessible privacy controls and more intuitive status update box. I heart all of these changes. What do you guys think?

2011-07-202014-11-02

Shonali Burke Leads IABC Houston Workshop at HTC

shonali-burke-IABC-HTC-2011 — Shonali Burke leads IABC Houston Chapter workshop at Houston Technology Center. Photo by Mark Hiebert. (www.hiebertphotography.com)

IABC Houston hosted it’s latest workshop for PR professionals: Commo at the Speed of WARP.

The workshop was led by award-winning communications consultant Shonali Burke, and PR professionals from varying disciplines in the Houston-area gathered at HTC for the training.

Community-centered public relations was the focus of the workshop along with, tools to make your Social Media time more effective, and a real-time tweetchat with Klout.

Community Centered Public Relations – Three Case Studies

Burke highlighted three case studies as examples of organizations who effectively implemented the strategy to grow their brands.

In “The Case of the OKC Jeweler” the Samuel Gordon Jewelers team was able to increase their revenue, drop their ad spending and increase foot-traffic to their brick-and-mortar location by interacting with their audience. Samuel Gordon Jewelers doesn’t sell their product online, so being able to engage an audience online in a way that increased revenue is perhaps the most interesting part of the case study.

Pledge to End Hunger was an example of combining an online community with an actual event to highlight child hunger. The campaign was primarily goal driven: 1,000 pledges in 7 days. It was a Twitter-based campaign, so the target audience was active Twitter users. The offline event was SXSW – so timing was a significant component as well. The organization collected more than four thousand pledges with the call to action “1 click feeds 140 children.” The end result was 560,000 servings of food to foodbanks in four cities.

Finally, The Blue Key Campaign relied on a community of bloggers to drive the conversation around raising funds to help refugees and displaced people. One goal of the campaign was to get sign-ups for 1000 keys a week for six weeks. Fifty percent of the goal was met in a single event: a 24hr tweetathon. Because the campaign relied on decentralized components (bloggers in different parts of the U.S.), determining which factors to measure was essential to the success of the campaign. Tweets tagged with #bluekey were tracked, and the team used a Google Analytics campaign to measure and review traffic sources to the main website.

Tools

The common factor in the case studies were tools used to track, measure, and monitor online outreach. Our favorites from Burke’s list include:

Google Analytics – Provides in-dept site statistics and campaign monitoring tools. Free.

WP Editorial Calendar Plugin – WordPress plug-in for planning content. Free.

WP Touch – WordPress plug-in that creates a mobile template version of your WordPress site for easy reading.

LiveFyre – Blog commenting application that connects commenters with with Facebook and Twitter.

Tungle – Scheduling tool that integrates with Outlook calendars.

Post Planner – Strictly for Facebook. Allows users to schedule post and preview exactly how the scheduled post will appear on your Facebook wall.

Major Takeaway

One major takeaway from Burke’s workshop is that when you implement community-driven PR outreach, you build trust. And that’s part of what motivates people to action.

Shonali Burke offers additional insights on blogging, PR, and social media on her site Waxing Unlyrical.

2011-07-052014-11-02

Tweets in Space – NASA Promotes the Final Shuttle Launch Online!

This Friday July 8th marks a historic moment in both U.S. History and the story of Humanity when the Space Shuttle Atlantis launches to carry supplies to the ISS-Station in orbit around Earth. NASA’s space shuttle program will conclude with mission STS-135.

I am super excited to have the opportunity to view the launch from Kennedy Space Center Friday morning. For those of you who cannot make the trip – there are a number of awesome online outlets including twitter, NASA TV, Facebook and more to hear updates, watch the countdown and launch, and hear directly from the astronauts as they prepare to launch into space.

Follow the launch on Twitter!

First, if you are relatively new to twitter or want a quick refresher course, check out Schipul’s Twitter Speak Help File.

Next, here are just a few of the official NASA twitter accounts to follow:
@NASA – official NASA twitter account
@NASAtweetup – official “tweetup” account for NASA
@NASA_Astronauts – NASA twitter account that retweets all of the astronauts tweets

The four Astronauts that will be flying Atlantis for STS-135 each have twitter accounts as well and have been tweeting actively about their mission preparations and thoughts. You can follow them in the “Twitter-verse” here:
Christopher Ferguson: @Astro_Ferg
Douglas Hurley: @Astro_Doug
Sandy Magnus: @Astro_Sandy
Rex J Walheim: @Astro_Rex

Hashtags to follow on twitter: #NASATweetup and #STS135

Other NASA-friendly social networks to follow

If you want more than just 140 character updates, you can head to NASA Connect to find dozens of other official NASA social networking sites including the official NASA Facebook Page, and NASA Headquarters Flickr account including a collection devoted to the Space Shuttle program as well as many other social sites.

Then, on Friday morning watch the shuttle launch live online on NASA TV. The launch is currently scheduled for 11:28 AM EST. That’s 10:28 AM CST for those of you in Houston and 8:28 AM PST for all of you in California.

Finally, I want to include a couple of great non-NASA organizations that will be tweeting and uploading photos and video from the launch site in Florida too. Both of these organizations are focused on sharing the excitement of space exploration and all things space with others and are extremely active on the web.

The Space Tweep Society is an organization whose mission is to connect those inside the space industry with those on the outside looking in and generate enthusiasm for all things space. You can find the Space Tweep’s on twitter, Facebook, and Flickr.

SpaceUp is a new organization that hosts “un-conferences” focused on space-related topics all over the country including Houston, Los Angeles, San Diego, Washington DC and Minneapolis. You will find a number of organizers and volunteers from the different SpaceUp cities in Florida this week for STS-135.

Want a play-by-play? You can follow me on twitter: @SarahMWorthy as I tweet throughout the events leading up to the launch with all the other Space Geeks.

Before the launch, I urge you to go check out TEDxNASA in Silicon Valley and register for FREE if you can attend. This official TEDx event will be August 17th, 2011 in San Francisco, California. I was honored to attend the recent TEDx Houston event last month and definitely want to see all of you at TEDxNASA if you can make the trip to San Francisco next month!

Great launch photo up top thanks to Flickr user Stuck in Customs

2011-06-302014-11-02

Google + is Here and Why You Should Care

Last night, I received my coveted invite to join Google + and I immediately started playing with it while Dexter played in the background. Like so many social media nerds, I was excited to finally get my hands dirty with what some are calling a ‘Facebook killer.â€

So what is Google +?

Google + is Google’s new social network service and is currently in limited field trial. Unlike Google Wave and Buzz, Google + immediately seems more promising due to its slick design which users will love.

At first glance, the minimalist interface is very similar to Facebook.

However unlike the debacle with Buzz, Google + puts privacy in the forefront, making the service innovative and fun to use. Here at Schipul, everyone has been geeking out over it and Google + is truly, as PC Mag’s Mark Hachman states, ‘a social network for geeks.â€

The new social network service is ripped with some really cool features as well which I will discuss next.

So What about these Google + Features?

So it seems Google really thought about these features and realized that life is a little more dynamic than just the Public / Private dichotomy that Facebook and Twitter has created. Instead Google + provides a granular and exciting way to share our lives with the people we know.

This will be a basic overview of Google + features. In the coming days we will blog more in-depth reviews of each feature but for now, let’s see what’s inside Google +.

Google Circles

Social networking is about connecting with people and sharing information. With Google Circles, it’s really easy to do this. Google Circles is basically like Facebook friends lists and groups or Twitter lists but with more control and visualization.

Here’s an example of how they look:

Basically, you can drag-and-drop people in the circles you create. For example, I created a Schipulites circle for my coworkers. With Google +, you now have more control with who you share with at a granular level.

Google + Stream

The stream is very similar to the Facebook home feed which users will appreciate. Here is the Facebook home feed:

Here is the stream for Google +:

This is where you will enter a status update, share photos and videos, etc. As you can see the design is slick and sexy, typical of Google.

Google Sparks

Google Sparks is a great feature that helps you find things to share. Think of it like Google Alerts that allows you to follow topics you’re interested in. Here’s an example of how it looks when I search for topics on SEO.

Google Sparks makes it easy to browse suggested topics or you can set your interests using keyword-based searches. Most importantly, it’s really easy to share content.

Hangouts: Group Video Chat

This feature is pretty neat. With Hangouts, you can video chat up to 10 people at a time. Here’s an example of how it looks from Search Engine Land.

This feature looks like it’s going to be useful especially for business meetings. The way it works is when someone initiates a Hangout, it shows up on your feed and notifies your friends. There is however a 10 person limit.

Huddle: Mass Texting and Group Chat

This is the feature, besides Google Circles, I’m most excited about. Huddles is a mass texting and group chat service that turns your different conversations into one simple group chat. Can you imagine? Bar hopping with friends will no longer be an ordeal. It will be simple and painless to get everyone on the same page or update people on where to meet for another crazy night of Red Stripes and darts.

What about the +1 Button?

Just to be clear, Google + is different from +1. Google + is Google’s social network and + 1 is Google’s share button.

Like Facebook’s ‘Likeâ€ button, the +1 share button makes it easy to identify content that you approve or think is cool. It’s a great way to recommend awesome content to your friends, coworkers and family. This is how it looks in the search results when I do a search for ‘Houston Coffee Spotsâ€ and +1’d the result.

The content you +1 will show up on your Google Profile. Just like in the way that anything you like on Facebook can be liked with Facebook ‘Likeâ€ buttons.

So, you might have also noticed Google +1 buttons starting to appear in search results and publishers adding the button to their sites. If you want to install the Google +1 button on your site be sure to check out our ‘HOWTO: Install Google +1 Share Button on Your Siteâ€ blog post on our SEM blog.

Currently however, the content you +1’d does not feed into Google +. It doesn’t really make sense but I suspect Google will fix this before the service becomes available to everyone. The only way you can see what people have +1’d is if you remember to go to a person’s Google profile. For example:

So that is Google + in a nutshell. In the coming days, we will post more in-depth articles on how to use Google + for your business, so be sure to keep a lookout.

If you got an invite to join Google +, we would love to hear what you think about it. Let us know in the comments below. For now, I’m going to continue getting my Google + on.

Need help getting Google+ on your website?

Check out our handy how to install Google+ button help file’HOWTO: Install Google +1 Share Button on Your Siteâ€ blog post and if you’re brain is still hungry, we’ve got some great social media and online technology help files to help you take it to the next level.

Let us know how we can help! Need a hand getting Google+1 on your website or blog? We’re here for you!

Radames Ortiz is a SEO Analyst at Schipul – The Web Marketing Company in Houston Texas

2011-05-172014-11-02

Teaching community tech to the Alzheimer’s Association

In a world full of emerging technology choices, it can feel as though technology serves as only a distractionâ€¦ something used distances us from each otherâ€¦ something used to market to us. At the same time, these same technologies can be used for truly amazing purposesâ€¦ to empower us, encourage us and inspire us.

The closing remarks at the Alzheimer’s Association: Houston and Southeast Texas‘ Schlicting Professional Conference focused on these emerging technologies and their effects on dementia care services. The presentation spotlighted the many wonderful ways organizations and care providers can use technology to empower themselves, their patients and families.

It also took an honest look at the real threats unsafe and uneducated use of technology pose with the hopes that the audience would take pause and consider their own use of technology. Finally, with a quick exercise and highlight of useful monitoring tools, the audience was themselves empowered with a personal technology mission statement and the encouragement to share in the online world the gifts they are already bringing to patients offline.

For more about the ‘The Impact of Technology on Dementia Care Servicesâ€ Closing Remarks see the presentation below.

For about the Alzheimer’s Association: Houston and Southest Texas Branch visit:

The alz.org/texas site
The blog.alztex.org blog
You can also follow them on twitter @alztex and like them on facebook.com/alztex

Empowering Providers, Patients, and Families

The Impact of Technology on Dementia Care Services

View more presentations from JJ Lassberg

2011-04-082014-11-02

Panel Dishes on SXSW at This Month’s Social Media Breakfast

Social Media Breakfast at Canopy Houston

This month’s Social Media Breakfast included a speaker panel of four folks eager to share their thoughts on SXSW interactive this year. Jerald Reichstein of Bouncing Pixes, Javier Fadul of Culture Pilot, Brian Truax of Black Sheep and Schipul’s own Katrina Kokoska all shared their experiences and thoughts on SXSW and the “next big thing” along with event organizer Kami Watson Huyse .

SXSW for Breakfast

Lots was said, the panel switched from speaker to speaker and became very interactive, which was a great way to get different perspectives and address the audience’s question. There were also some great take-a-ways for those of us who could not attend SXSW interactive.

The Next Big Thing

Brian Truax knows that the biggest “next big thing” seems to be the “game layer”. That little nudge given by brands on social media platforms that compels us to take part in a game or content. The game layer can be a very popular tool for customer acquisition and loyalty while simultaneously motivating consumers to act.

Social Media is staying put

All the panelists today agreed that some people think that social media is on its way out (yes, some of you out there think that) and the game layer will take its place. The truth is, however that the game layer is not replacing social media but only building upon it. It’s the next level of social media. The next big thing.

Brands, now, have to become accustomed to behaving within a different type of relationship online.

There is a need for businesses to pivot the direction of a brand or product based on new developments in technology, brands, or consumer needs and wants. This can only keep their brand relevant and in the public eye.

The Core Conversation sessions at SXSW were great, as agreed by some members of today’s panel, but the audience was also heeded to prepare for next year by take a list of things you want to learn. This way, if you aren’t learning them, find people who can answer them for you or stay for Q and A at the end of sessions.

Unfortunately, some companies are finding new ways to use black hat methods to increase conversion. Some facebook ads were used as examples for this.

Social media behavior was also big in today’s Social Media Breakfast. Standard social norms carry over to the social media realm as well and if a person or a business can’t conduct themselves accordingly, it can get awkward.

A company’s attempt humanize themselves in social media platforms can backfire depending on how an interaction was conducted. This is where the “game layer” comes into play. It provides a way for a brand to interact on a fun and casual level with anyone in the social media world.

It was a great panel with best of the best geek-filtered info from SXSW . Javier even brought Ogilvy notes from SXSW for everyone to see, which was awesome bonus. A video of today’s session coming soon, so anyone who couldn’t make it can soak up all the SXSW interactive they can. We’ll keep you posted.

Attend today’s Social Media Breakfast? What were your take-a-ways from the panel?

2011-03-09

What Would Warhol Do?

“In the future, everyone will be world-famous for 15 minutes.” – Andy Warhol, 1968

I attended a screening of Warhol on TV presented by Aurora Picture Show at the Menil Collection last Friday night. The film was a collection of excerpts of works created by and featuring Andy Warhol. The film was curated by the Andy Warhol Museum in Pittsburgh, PA.

Andy Warhol’s obsession with celebrity and the lives of the rich in famous is well documented, and very evident in the film. What hit me was his fervent dedication to documenting his life and the world around him in photographs and video. Take this photo I took of a video of Andy being done up in drag.

In today’s pop culture, our obsession with the lives of the rich and famous is at an all time high. The entire Charlie Sheen saga has been a grim reminder of how much we thirst for a good celebrity train wreck. But a democratization of the velvet rope has occurred with the proliferation of camera phones. Whether it is the video of Cyndi Lauper singing Girl’s Just Wanna Have Fun in an airport terminal . . .

Or a little girl singing the new Lady GaGa single . . .

There are moments of Warholian fascination being born (this way) every day. It’s had me thinking about what Andy Warhol’s art would have looked like if he was armed with an iPhone. The glut of photography apps on the iPhone, particularly those dedicated to creating a vintage look to your photos, make your iPhone reminiscent of Warhol’s ubiquitous cameras. Here are a couple of my favorites

Instagram – FREE

Instagram is incredibly simple. Take a picture, apply a cool filter, share with other user and over your social networks. They recently added hashtag support allowing users to tag their photos, making them searchable. Instagram is great to get quick snaps of random things going on around you. The in-app feed is great for those moments when you want to just look at something interesting in the middle of the day. You can also like and comment on your friends photos. There is also a Popular button that takes you to a collection of the most liked photos taken by Instagram users.

Hipstamatic – $2.99 plus multiple $.99, Hipstapaks (app currently on sale for $1.99)

I’ll warn you now, this app can lead to a serious obession. I LOVE Hipstamatic. While the app comes with a nice set of equipment up front, the real fun is adding the Hipstapaks, expanding your lens, film and camera options. I doubt I’ll ever learn how to use this app to its fullest potential, but I know it’s going to be fun trying. Another great feature of this app is the Hipstamart. You can upload photos from your phone into the Hipstamart, and order high quality prints! They come in a nifty little envelope that folds into a stand-up frame.

Hipstamatic just takes great photos. You can also share them in Instagram, doubling the AWESOME! One more thing, if you’re going to be using Hipstamatic, you might as well invest in SwankoLab as well. It’s like having an entire dark room in your pocket!

8mm Vintage Camera – $1.99

I haven’t been able to use 8mm as much as I would like. As you can probably imagine, it turns your iPhone into an 8mm camera. Like Hipstamatic, it comes with a small collection of lenses and films to experiment with. Turn your videos into home movies from yesteryear!

Fortunately, the bad fashion from the 70’s is not included.

With an iPhone and these apps, anyone can lead the life of Andy Warhol. And getting your 15 minutes of fame just got a bit easier. Happy content creating!