Monday, December 10, 2012

MEGA File Question and Answer


1.   What New Hampshire hospital participated in the Pink Glove Dance contest that raised awareness of breast cancer?
Speare Memorial Hospital in Plymouth, N.H. participated in the Pink Glove Dance contest put on by Medline to raise breast cancer awareness.
 2. What is the function of the “Stories” feature of Twitter?
The function of the “Stories” feature of Twitter is that it may lead to other people and/or companies to follow. This feature is located under “#Discover”- “Stories” provides a list based on popular topics trending on Twitter. This feature does the searching for you by providing the types of people you follow and are following you.  This is helpful when finding new people to follow. 

3. Who uses social media more, men or women?
According to the required reading for our first assignment, women use social media more for reasons such as frequent photo sharing and the human nature of women being instinctively social.
  
 4. How many slides does this MEGA File contain?
                This MEGA File contains 653 slides.
 5. What is the name of the blogging platform you used to create your “Assignments           Blog” for this class?
The blogging platform I used to create my “Assignments Blog” is called Blogger.com. This is a free, easy to use service.
6. What is the attendance policy for this class?
More than three unexcused absences will begin to affect students’ grade. Student will lose five points after three. If absent students are still responsible for all assignments and class work.

7. Name one grammatical “felony” according to Chris’s grammar rules for the class.
                Using any of the following words interchangeably:
1.       to, two, too
2.       there, their, they’re
3.       Its, it’s
4.       Your, you’re

Thumbs Up to a Great Semester! 

(Photo credit: Sarah Britton)










Friday, November 9, 2012

The Science of Blogging- Recap of Free Webinar

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Webinar Title: The Science of Blogging
Company: HubSpot- Their mission states, “A pioneer in inbound marketing, HubSpot aims to help its customers make marketing that people love.”
Presenter: Dan Zarrella, known as HubSpot’s Social Media Scientist, he is the author of The Social Media Marketing Book and an award winning social, search and viral marketing scientist. Dan studies social media behaviors, conducts his own field research and collects data. After analyzing the information he’s able to draw logical conclusions about the best practices for social media then teaches this material to marketers.
Key Concepts:
1.       If you’re a business and you’re not blogging, then you’re doing something wrong.  This information was based on the data that he collected which states, “71% of consumers say blogs somewhat to very much effect their purchasing decisions.”

2.       “People go on social media to talk to their friends and socialize and to feel good about themselves in their world- not to be a ‘Debbie Downer’.” So, don’t be negative; that’s what the news is for.
“When you're thinking about the kind of content that you need to blog that's going to get shared, sex and positivity sell. So you might not be able to use sex in your blog articles. If you can, go to town. But most people can't. Be as positive as possible.”

3.       “People do not ‘retweet’ things that are self-referential. If you're talking about yourself, most people don't care. So you can stop blogging about yourself because people aren't going to share it. Additionally,  even  if you  look at  the number  of followers  on Twitter  that accounts  have as  they make  self-referential remarks, and  the amount  of self-reference  goes up,  the amount  of followers  that accounts  have decreases.

4.       “When blogging, talk as yourself, not about yourself. People don't want to hear about you. They want to hear from you.  They want to hear your personal opinion about things that they care about, not just  stuff that is happening in your life that you care about.”

5.       Novelty: “You can't keep saying the same thing that everyone else is saying. If you're doing that you're being boring, and nobody will want to read you. There too many blogs out there. I read too many blogs on a regular basis. There are a bazillion number of blogs on the internet. I don't want to read the same thing that everybody else is saying. Tell me your unique opinion.”
This webinar was very helpful in understanding the tactics behind blogging! I enjoyed Dan’s casual, but straight forward presentation.

Friday, November 2, 2012

The Latest Facebook Strategies that Guarantee Succeed!

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How To Grow Your Brand and Following with Facebook

•Who is the publisher of this paper (what company or person)?
The designer of this presentation is Social Media Examiner, which is the world’s largest online social media magazine; it is designed to help businesses discover how to best use social media tools like Facebook, Google+, Twitter and LinkedIn to connect with customers, generate more brand awareness and increase sales. Their mission is to help you navigate the constantly changing social media jungle.
•Who is the author of this paper, if one is listed?
The document is a transcript from the Social Media Success Summit 2012- this event features a live online conference that empowers individuals to use social media to gain more exposure, increase traffic, cultivate loyal fans and grow your business. Mari Smith, co-author and Facebook Marketing Expert delivered the presentation.
•What date was this paper published?
Social Media Examiner held the fourth-annual online conference this year. The event ran from May 1, 2012 through May 24, 2012. This is an essential cyber-networking program that educates marketers and business owners on how to quickly achieve social media success. In addition to Mari Smith, twenty-six of the world’s most respected social media experts came together to share their newest strategies, tips and practical, real-world, proven examples. They revealed all of the latest business-building tactics needed to know to immediately benefit from Google+, blogging, Facebook, LinkedIn, YouTube, Twitter, Pinterest and more.

•List five key points made in this paper. Use full and complete sentences and paragraphs to do this, not just a list of words
1.       Facebook by the numbers:
Facebook is the number one social media website and the number two most visited website (second only to Google). It’s been reported that over 850 million users are active on Facebook and visit the website multiple times a day; morning, afternoon, and night. The average time spent on Facebook is fifty-five minutes per day. The main point being, from a business standpoint Facebook is an essential resource to reach and target a mass audience.
2.       Facebook by the dollars:
The online conference was presented before Facebook launched their Initial Public Offering earlier this year. In 2011 Facebook’s revenue was $3.7 billion. The social media website received 85% of their revenues from advertising and games and apps were accountable for 30% of sales during that point in time. Mari Smith suggested that it was necessary to bring up the topic of Facebook going public, “FB World NASDAQ”, because the conference was held during the exact time frame of Facebook’s road show to New York City and Silicon Valley, California- an event that the public launch was reliant on.
3.       Facebook Timeline DO: Change the Cover Photo Regularly
Mari Smith suggests that changing the cover photo regularly because this Facebook function allows users to do all kinds of creative things. These photos are automatically placed in a Cover Photos Album- which paints the picture for your business brand. However, DON’T break the Facebook cover image rules (i.e. no contact info).
4.       Facebook Timeline DO: Use the Pin to Top feature…every day!
Not enough people take advantage of this Facebook benefit. The “Pin to Top” feature allows users to pin any of your posts as a page. You cannot pin fan posts, but you can pin any of your own posts for up to seven days. Gives posts particular attention on your page- great way to gain visibility.
5.       Facebook Timeline DO: Respond to wall posts and comments
According to a case study with two businesses (Mr.Youth.com and SimplyZesty.com),
 80% of users who received a response to their post made a purchase as a result of the interaction; 28 % of users who report a brand reaching out to the proactively made a purchase as a result of the interaction.
•In one final paragraph, tell me if this paper inspired you, helped you, may lead you try some of the sites mentioned in it, may contribute in some way to your Social Media Marketing Project for our class...and any other responses you'd like to make.
I though this presentation was very resourceful and I wished I was fortunate enough to have attended the live online conference. Mari Smith portrayed a down-to-earth, yet excited image of herself in this presentation- which I enjoyed because she is a social media genius and still loves working with people. I was missing half the pages for the transcript, which is unfortunate because I feel I would have gained more from reading the entire document. Regardless, the information I was able to obtain was important- the tactics discussed seemed essential for success in the social media world.
                About Social Media Examiner

Tuesday, October 23, 2012

Three Business Videos- Successors or Failures?

Hannaford Supermarket
This is a nice business video for Hannaford because it portrays a very positive image for their brand. The school teachers’ conversation emotionally appeals to the audience because the focus is geared toward hungry children- who don’t have the simple luxury of eating birthday cake and are sent to school without lunch money. Hannaford relays messages for supporting education and playing an active role in fighting hunger.
Ruby Tuesday Restaurant
This video commercial glamorizes the menu items, which isn’t usually a negative strategy. However, this commercial airs in the New Hampshire region, where it is illegal to sell local lobster tails in corporate restaurants- The Fisherman’s Act. This is false advertising and lures many guests into the restaurant expecting to order this meal and we have to inform them that we don’t have it. As a current employee of Ruby Tuesday, I serve tables and witness frustrated guests because of this. The company should not tease their guests and consider airing commercials regionally where specific items are not offered.
Bernie and Phyl’s Furniture
This video is humorous and I believe comedic strategies tend to be successful in gaining mass interest in modern American culture. The video relays a positive message for the company through the portrayal of a family operated business and the willingness to offer their customers the best deals available. This bestows credibility, customer loyalty, and reliance on doing business with “real”, down-to-earth people.

Thursday, September 27, 2012

Critique: 3 NH-based Facebook Pages for Businesses, Organizations, Clubs, Causes, etc.


This restaurant was originally named "The Pizza Man" and is located just outside my hometown in Hudson, New Hampshire. Within the past two years, the restaurant has undergone some serious re-branding, which includes building renovations as well as renaming the company as Rocco's Pizza Bar and Grill. The restaurant added new items to the menu and designed a bar lounge seating area, which is separate from the main dining room, to accommodate a variety of guests.
Most relatively, Rocco’s created a Facebook Business Page to generate an online presence for networking through social media. This online tool is an excellent communication strategy used to inform guests about current specials and possibly attract prospective customers.
Since its initial opening, the pizza place has easily maintained a strong reputation for providing great food. One may ask, "If the restaurant is doing well, then why change it? The answer to that question is simple- the Rocco’s team felt they could provide the same quality food and service to a larger audience and wanted to make more people happy; therefore they made the necessary modifications to attract a mass clientele.
Keeping this company background in mind, Rocco's also excels in its use of social media to promote their business. Multiple times a week, I come across posts from their company on my news feed. The content of these posts include:
    * Information on lunch or dinner specials
    * Photos of their featured food items
    * Photos of their seasonal/holiday cocktails
    * Special offers or discounts
I believe Rocco's is successful with their efforts of using Social Media because they stay on top of their Facebook Business Page! Their up-to-date and active presence on Facebook portrays the restaurant’s image for being highly organized, consistent, and shows they care about their customers (This is a crucial message to relay to both current and prospective guests!)

NeighborFavor is a startup company that created and designed an app for the iPhone. The founders of this company are actually two childhood friends of mine, Ben Doherty and Zac Maurais. They demonstrate their effective use of Social Media through both their app and their Facebook Business Page- again their constant activity, engagement with audience and clientel, as well as revealing their vibrant personalities through postings has made them successful for building and maintaining an audience!

This non-profit organization has an awesome crew working behind them- supporting  innovation, entrepreneurship, and higher education in the state of New Hampshire. Their membership contains over 200 member companies and is a part of a large network of tech-industry experts, university and government officials, venture capitalists, communication professionals, and much more. However, only 83 people like their Facebook Business Page. I feel a company that has a good reputation, such as NHHTC, then it would be effortless to have the same reputation through an online presence, but for some reason this is not the case. I plan to bring what I learn through our classroom discussion into the social media practices of the High Tech Council to help them reach their goal of attracting more people to their page. 



My Personal Photo: Ben and I at our Senior Prom



My Personal Photo: Zac and I were Prom Dates =)