How does a person catch a break on cash these days? I would imagine we are all thinking about ways that we can make an extra buck, given our economic situation and the fast-approaching holiday.
Maybe you should set up a lemonade stand. Imagine the looks from coworkers passing by your desk as they notice your newly decorated office space with a wooden stand, a pitcher of lemonade and some plastic cups neatly stacked beside it. That would be kind of silly, wouldn’t it?
But seriously, there is a website called Lemonade.com, where you can set up your own “lemonade stand” and promote products that you like and make money when people buy those products. Crazy!
Oh my. Sometimes I find it very funny when you get a request to use a “Real World” metaphor for a software application or website. Here’s a great interpretation of what Photoshop would look like if it really was made up of scissors, tape, paint brushes and rulers …
I am always torn between total fascination (tinged with a wee bit of envy) and complete irritation when I run across websites that have very unique or unusual navigation schemes. This website, from Normann Design in Copenhagen, skitters along that knife edge of wonderful/irritating. The glorious design and products tip me over into the happy side.
I couldn’t agree more with Karen Sams recent blog about online pressrooms. She essentially said that putting critical, time sensitive information online so that journalists, who depend on the information, can access it easily is crucial. A business doesn’t lose anything by creating a press room –it still controls the strategy and messaging of its news and information — but it gains a lot. The positives of online media sites are: repetitive visits from journalists and editors — which ensures how your message is delivered, since you are providing the content — from the perspective of online vs. print and mail, a cost savings.
When looking to leverage mobile messaging services and microblogging platforms such as Twitter, the Minneapolis-Saint Paul media serves up some examples worth checking out:
Twitter feeds from Fox 9 News and the Star Tribune are fully automatic streams of almost every news story they publish. I personally don’t think most people want that kind of a stream in Twitter, but it works for some. WCCO posts breaking news stories on Twitter almost exclusively, which is similar to CNN’s Twitter feed. Minnesota Independent, The UpTake and MinnPost post to their own stories, but also maintain a news dialog with others. The Saint Paul Pioneer Press’ feed is very conversational.
The media’s Twitter use runs the gamut from straight news feeds to news conversation to stalking journalists, so it isn’t easy to figure out what’s the most effective to implement Twitter for your business or organization.
Do you want to communicate with a straight feed of your press releases or do you want to engage people with conversation? Do you want to respond to people that Twitter about you or do you think subscribers will be bothered by conversations involving your organization on their mobile phones? Does it make sense to have an individual representing you or an account named after your business?
Point being, figuring out if using Twitter is right for your business or organization isn’t as simple as signing up for an account and using it, it’s finding the right Twitter “voice” and usage that augments your brand. Either way, you’re no one if you’re not on Twitter:
Is it weird that I have a special relationship with my iPhone? I already use it for everything, but I sometimes wonder – what other cool, new things could I be doing with it? How do other people use their hand-helds? As a self-proclaimed nerd, I’m proud to say these questions led me to some some great statistics:
Nielsen Table
So, how does this fit into the way we market? We’re all working hard to figure out how to expand our marketing reach into mobile and take advantage of its constancy.
According to a Nielsen mobile study,data subscribers are willing to accept advertising in exchange for lower costs or better content. In that same vein, 32 percent said they’re open to mobile advertising if it lowers their overall bill, while 13 percent will welcome it if it boosts the quality of their mobile media offerings.
So does this mean that I can get $1 off of my Big Mac Value Meal and also pay less for my monthly AT&T bill? I’m up for that.
Every time you turn around, people are talking about how they reconnected with a high school classmate on Facebook or caught up with an old colleague on LinkedIn.
I’ve often wondered if users are positively or negatively impacted by what they post on social networking sites, especially when they go to interview for a new job.
A recent study completed by CareerBuilder.com found that employers have started searching these sites before interviewing candidates. In fact, a recent study found that 20 percent of companies admitted to checking out candidate’s profiles on social-networking sites such as Facebook and MySpace,and that 24 percent of employers had hired an employee based on their social-networking profile. The most shocking finding, however, is that 33 percent of employers decided not to make a job offer after reviewing a profile, primarily due to drug or alcohol use and photographs deemed “inappropriate” or “provocative.”
So now I’m left to ponder: How else are social networks being used and by whom?
I recently had my first child enter kindergarten, which was a tear-jerker. Before signing him up for school, I struggled with where to send him. Public, private, charter — so many great options.
In my search, I found schooldigger.com, a great website that ranks over 120,000 U.S. elementary, middle, and high schools based on test scores, district boundaries, ethnic makeup and student/teacher ratios.
