need | A FEW WORDS

8 Comments 262 days ago PERMALINK

Is your website like a business card, brochure, or salesperson?

For businesses, especially ones with limited marketing budgets, websites and proper internet marketing strategies can make a world of difference. In working with many different businesses and organizations, I have grown to see there are only really a few types of marketing sites. Is yours a business card, a brochure or a salesperson?

The Business Card

These are the websites that seem to be made because “we were told we had to have a website.” These often have the most basic of features, like a business card. They will have a few pages that cover the basics with pages like about us, contact us, our products, and not much more. http://www.garrettyouthsoccer.org/

The Brochure

Brochures are meant to look good, grab someone’s attention, and give some detailed information. These are the pretty looking sites that you see that have all the bells and whistles with a small amount of content. They may have the basics plus another 10-15 pages. Some will have more, but they are built for the experience. http://mountaindew.com

The Salesperson

Salespeople in good organizations are constantly receiving training. They are the face and voice for the business. Websites with a deep, rich base of knowledge (content) that also give that great experience for the visitor are like the salesperson. There will be many pages and many more as time goes on. The site is given the tools and materials to be successful. http://www.physiciansinteractive.com/

So, which describes your site? Which one would you like for it to be?

Like most things in business, a website is only as good as the effort and expenditure you put into it. If you leave your business card on a counter or bulletin board, how likely is it that you will get business from that? Same thing goes with a flyer. These tactics work well with some industries, but would you expect to make a $20,000 sale this way? Or, how about $100,000 in sales per year?

The best websites out there are like salespeople. They are constantly being fed updates on products and changes in the market. They give all the answers you need to make an informed decision whether or not your product or service is the right one for them. These sites will also be best for Search Engine Optimization and tie-ins to your other marketing efforts.

Get to thinking about your website. Is it doing what you want it to do?

Leave a comment or join the conversation.

5 Comments 351 days ago PERMALINK

PicPlz closing: Looks like Instagram wins out!

I have written before about the pending adoption of Instagram by the Android user base in February. It seems the effects of the Instagram offerings to Android users have finally taken hold. A brief email went out today to PicPlz users saying that they will be shutting their doors and deleting all content on July 3.

On July 3, 2012, picplz will shut down permanently and all photos and data will be deleted. Until then, you can log in and download your photos by clicking on the download link next to each photo in your photo feed. Thank you for your support of picplz and we apologize for any inconvenience this may cause you.

The PicPlz blog didn’t add anything about what has happened other than they will pursue other ventures.

My thoughts are that when Instagram was finally released to the Android market, that could have been the nail in the coffin for the Instagram competitor. PicPlz had tried to add some more statistics to its offerings, but that was not enough to be a differentiator.

I picked up the Instagram app for Android in February and have used it several times. I can’t say that I like it more than PicPlz, but I guess that I have no options now.

One of the ironic things is that every PicPlz pic I took was copied to Dropbox. Now, I have no need to even go back to the site. All I need to do now is delete the App from my phone and remove the plugin from my blog. What can I get from Instagram to replace it? I’m sure there are many options out there.

Apps , Droid , Technology

0 Comments 381 days ago PERMALINK

Klout’s Red Bull Brand Page: The Race to the Top 10

Two weeks ago, Klout launched brand pages with Red Bull being its first. These brand perks have top 1000, top 100 and top 10 lists, with prizes for the further you get being all the more exciting. The rewards are based upon the number of +K you are given for influencing others in a given category.

With Klout starting off Red Bull as a new topic, it set off an environment of competition to race to the top. On Red Bull’s brand page, they released their perks at set intervals, two of which have yet to be released. The top 1000 receive a 4-pack of Red Bull Total Zero. The Top 100 are set to receive unspecific Red Bull gear (T shirts?). The top 10 get a VIP experience at one of the premiere Red Bull events, such as Red Bull Flugtag, Red Bull Soapbox Race, Summer X Games, Red Bull King of the Rock or Red Bull: New Year.

By day 3 of the page’s release, I was in the top 10 list and I have worked to stay there since. [Explains the lapse in blog posts. ]

Why do it?

I grew up in a generation where skateboarding became mainstream and Tony Hawk went from who? to legend. Old school movies were dedicated to BMX and skateboarding as outsider culture. When I was younger, I couldn’t develop the skateboarding skills, but I sure bruised myself trying to race BMX at Rockhill Park. It would be a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to get to see the Summer X Games. That is where I would want to go. It would be up there with the sporting events I have been able to attend that were dreams of mine as a kid like the Indy 500, a Formula 1 Race, and a Notre Dame football game. Mix that with a brand that I have been fond of (consuming Red Bull product for years) and it makes it all the more surreal of a dream.

How to help

If I have influenced you at all on the topic of Red Bull and you want to help me reach this goal of staying in the top 10, here is the Red Bull Link. You’ll need to have a Klout account, which is simple to set up if you have Facebook or Twitter.

What people do to win

I will certainly go into greater detail on this once the Top 10 perk is released. What I can say is that there appears to be no limits to what people are willing to do. I have had conversations with my friend and co-worker Kevin Mullett about this topic. Each person has their own level of being comfortable in what they are doing. There are things that Kevin will not do that I will try. Many other issues such as online reputation and use of a brand come into play here as well, which is a whole other discussion not about Red Bull.

[None of the following describes my own actions!] I’ve seen big Twitter accounts with little connectivity to their “followers” and people creating fake Klout accounts to try to get ahead. I’ve seen others do pay advertisements for people to push a +K button. We’ll see in the end what pays off. More details in the future!

Side effects

One very cool thing that has come out of this is new connections to a group of people who I have not communicated with before. [Red Bull brought us together. How cute! ] This is expanding my network and creating new visibility to my accounts. It is also showing me what strategies people are implementing. So, this is creating a new micro-community like other Klout perks have in the past like Falling Skies has, for example!

Have you been participating in this? Have an opinion? Leave a comment!

Klout , Other Social Media , Social Media , Twitter

4 Comments 397 days ago PERMALINK

A Year in Klout Perks: Part 1: Varying degrees of Effectiveness

I’ve seen a ton of different things fly by me in the last year that I have been signed up on Klout. After I complete this blog post, Iwill be sure to finally leave feedback on the site as well. I just wanted to point out some of the highlights and things that left my head scratching with Klout Perks. I’m not trying to “look a gift horse in the mouth” or not be thankful for these freebies. I want to simply look at their effectiveness compared to what was offered.

I will go one by one and talk about each of the Klout Perks I have seen this year over upcoming days. Here’s the start:

1. Falling Skies

This was by far the best swag I have seen to date. It was also my first perk. This perk spoiled me! This perk set out to promote the Falling Skies TV show on TNT last summer. TNT had set up their own leader board and contest and made this a very interactive experience for those who received the perk.

As a side effect, a community sprung out of the perk and a number of Falling Skies “Leader board” lists were created on Twitter. I even made sure to check in on Falling Skies each week so I could keep going with the contest and see how the items I was being sent related to the show. My highest point on the leaderboard was around #10, but I can honestly say that I have connected with all of the other who were in the top 10!

This Klout Perk was both effective in gaining my attention and giving me motivation to talk about it. Everyone at the office had seen the swag from Falling Skies and I know of some people who even watched the show because of it. So, a promotion that caused action and amplification of their message at the same time. I’d have to say that this was a very effective campaign

2. Moo Cards

Free business cards from Moo cards, but you have to pay $5 in shipping? Some have been complaining about this being a “Free but you have to pay” perk. I’m not so worried about that. This is a good value and I would consider it for some personal cards, but I just haven’t seen the need to place an order yet. Also, I don’t know that I have the photography available that I would like to use on it. So this Klout Perk has gone unspent so far.

Others in my office have received this perk and the product turned out great when you have appropriate photography. I love the ability to make each card different. It makes for great conversation.

I have not seen the need to spread the word about this or discuss it much. I’m not sure how effective this is as a marketing/advertising/viral campaign.

3. Spotify

Yay! Klout Perks for everyone! It’s nice that Klout opened up this Perk to everyone. For a day or two I was interested in the service, but it didn’t do much more than I needed previously. This didn’t amount to too much for me. Others that I know got interested in it right way and still use it though.

4. Axe Hair Product

This is a little Klout Perk. As you can see of the picture of me and the sample size product, there was little there to use. I can’t say that there was much positive to say about this Perk. It was a bit of a laugh at the office compare to the other Perks people have gotten. No one at the office had really said anything positive about the hair care product and I have yet to use mine. I think that I’m saving it for a “break in case of an emergency” situation when my hair needs it.

I didn’t see much other discussion about this perk outside of Klout reviews, so I would have to assume that this didn’t get as far as some of the other perks.

Did you get any of these Klout Perks? What are your thoughts? Leave a comment.

Entertainment , Klout , Other Social Media , Social Media , Twitter

3 Comments 410 days ago PERMALINK

First impressions of a new Android Instagram user … one little change.

Instagram for Android launched on Tuesday. There were some immediate bumps in the road with the launched program crashing. But, Instagram was quick to get an update out on the market to solve that issue. I went to download the app and had no issues getting it installed and hooked up to my Facebook, Twitter, FourSquare and Tumblr accounts.

First Impression

The Instagram app is well designed and runs smoothly. It does look better than the apps I have used before. The pictures come out good and the filters work as expected. Sending the pictures out to Facebook, Twitter, FourSquare and Tumblr accounts worked seamlessly and appeared to take little to no time at all to make their way there.

What needs to change

There was one element that I was really disappointed about with the Instagram app. It accesses the camera on my Droid X instead of using the native camera program. The issue is that my phone is set up with buttons to take pictures horizontally. Notice the circled buttons on the picture on the right. There are zoom buttons and a dedicated camera (app launch) button. The Instagram app allows you to take vertical images or images horizontally, but the horizontal images need to be rotated for them to display. That takes an extra step in the process to complete the process. I find that extra step fairly annoying as the other photo applications I have used do very close to the same thing and do not make me do this extra step. So, please make the application rotate when taking a picture.

UPDATE: This issue only occurred on the first run through of the program. Issue not still happening.

Will I keep using Instagram?

I wrote before whether or not Android users will adopt Instagram and I was really excited to try Instagram. It took e a day trying to figure out what my first Instagram image would be. I then gave up and took a picture of my keyboard. I have to admit that I was a bit disappointed in the DNR (Does Not Rotate) inability in taking a picture. That disappointment has not worn off yet as I think I may have expected a bit more from Instagram.

After trying to take a picture, I got a better feel for the application. I really like the friends activity stream. It works very well and this is something that may keep me using the Instagram application.

What are your thoughts on Instagram? Are you just now using it on Android?

That’s Manteresting: A place to Pin MANly things outside of Pinterest

I’ve written about how to avoid all of the girly stuff on Pinterest like shoes, recipes, shoes, dresses, shoes.. I see ALOT of shoes on Pinterest, ok!?!?! Now, the easiest way is to simply skip (I mean, strut) on over to Manteresting.com.

The Good

I just started looking at the site and it has much of the functionality of Pinterest, but also includes a system to vote up or down a “Nail.” Nails are the manly version of the Pinterest Pins. Also, the boards are replaced by workbenches! It all sounds so left crafty.

What will you see there? Chicks, cool cars, gadgets, alcohol and golf related advertising and stuff, people doing stupid things, cool movie props and action shots, and a whole bunch more. Oh, and let’s not leave out some crude humor.

What is not allowed are sexually explicit images and the normal list of harassing, racist, etc., things that are illegal. So, this is not Pinterest of Porn.

The Bad

The site is a little wonky and doesn’t seemed to be completely worked out. When you get to a Nail and maximize it, you have to push the Escape key to get out of it. There is currently no button to do that. The design is very simplistic, but that may have been done on purpose. I have also not found an easy way to identify your friends on there. Other platforms have much more integration. I still need to see if there is a bookmarklet or something else out side of the site to help with getting content to there.

The Ugly

With the voting system of either voting up a Nail with a “Bump it” or voting it down with a “Shame it,” you should be able to easily access the good content on the Top Voted page and the ugly content on the Wall of Shame.

Final Word

I’ll take a look at this for a bit, but I’m not sure how long it will hold my attention. There are so many ways to sort things out on Pinterest and eliminate the content you don’t want to see that I may not leave there. Pinterest is also widely adopted and more refined as a service. If I find more interesting things out on Manteresting I will leave some comments.

What are your thoughts? Is this needed? Will you try it? Let me know.

Other Social Media , Social Media

5 Comments 430 days ago PERMALINK

Will Android Users switch to Instagram?

For months, Instagram has been kindly teasing the Android community with the release of their version of the photo sharing application that has been a staple for iOS/Apple users. Earlier this week, an Instagram co-founder announced that the application is in private beta at this point. That leads me to believe that it will be out in upcoming weeks or months.

Then I got to thinking…. (scary, right?)

Will I make the switch to Instagram?

What does Instagram have to offer that I’m not currently getting with my other applications? I currently use PicPlz for my photo needs. Here’s a nice little chart to compare their features:

The only other item that I thought of that was not included in this chart was integration with this blog in WordPress. I already have a feed coming from PicPlz, but I’m sure there are just as many if not more options coming from Instagram. So, that became a non-issue.

The only item of difference between Instagram and Picplz that I really have any concern over is the line for Klout integration. Dropbox is nice to have for archiving photos, but not necessary. I also really don’t think that I need to have blur effects. So, that leaves us with Klout Integration. Is that enough to push me over to Instagram? Possibly.

What does Klout have to do with it?

It isn’t Klout per se that matters here, but rather what it represents. The integration with the “Influence” system is more than likely due to the popularity with Instagram and it’s 27 Million users. PicPlz has by my best estimations about 10-15% of that. So, there is not a doubt that the user community for Instagram is a major win. I’ll definitely have to give Instagram a try.

What will motivate people to go to Instagram

With any new popular app coming to the market place there will always be the “shiny, new toy” effect. Excitement over the newness and popularity effect is common. See “Band wagon.” This effect will only last so long.

Before looking at the features, I assumed that there would be some big advantages to Instagram due to its popularity. I’m not able to find it.

Picplz and other photo programs are not always rated so well on App review sites or Google Play. There may be another case of “perceived advantage” in going to a new application. (All the Apple fans can’t be wrong, right?) Much of the issues here can also be based around the variety of devices that are used in the Android world.

Final Word

I’m interested in what Instagram can do outside of the pictures it takes. I want to see what effect there is in a community of users and what kind adoption takes place with Android users. In the end, I am going to have to see which one works the best for my device.

Android Users: Will you give it a try?

Apple Users: What do you like about Instagram?

Apps , Droid , Facebook , Klout , Other Social Media , Social Media , Technology , Twitter

0 Comments 452 days ago PERMALINK

Curate.us : A Web Clipping tool with Stats

I’m always interested in finding new ways to share things that I come across. Kevin Mullett showed me a site called Repost.us and I think took a look at its sister site, Curate.us. The site is a curation tool that allows you to share clips from sites. Below is an Example of a clip of this blog:

Clipped from: kpbergman.com (share this clip)

Clipping vs. Screen Capture

Normally, I use the Screen Capture extension from my Chrome browser to capture what I want to share. That process involves pushing the extension Icon, selecting what I want to capture, clicking ok, and saving it to the hard drive. I think need to insert it into the post by clicking on the Insert button, browsing to the image and then uploading it. From there I have to add the captions, ALT text, etc and get the image the size I want it to be. This is about 12 steps to get through the process (with all the screens I needed opened already.)

With the Curate.us clip, you would copy the URL of the page you are on, and paste it into a “Make Clip” field. After 15 seconds or less, the screen to the right appears.You can adjust what part of the page you want, what size you want the clip to be and how you want it positioned on the page. Then you can copy the Embed code over to your post in the HTML and there it is. This will cut down on steps to get a clip of a website into your blog by about half!

The downside to all this is that you have to capture the width of the site and not just one part of it. So, if you are featuring an entire site for something, then clipping will save you some effort.

Final Word

The statistics that go along with Curate.us are pretty simple and straight forward. They will tell you per clipping exactly how many views and clicks each clipping has received. This can be handy if you want to see which one has been viewed the most, but you can still get that info through Google analytics on page views or through website stats that are built into WordPress, etc.

What I like about Curate.us is the simple steps it takes to get an effective screen capture of a site to my blog. Even at the defaults (as shown above), the presentation comes off very well.

Post a comment if you have more thoughts on Curate.us.

How-to / Shortcuts , Technology , Web Applications

0 Comments 453 days ago PERMALINK

Sumazi: Making the Connection

I caught a link from a new follower: @sumaya on Twitter. I took a peek at it and saw a glimpse at Sumazi. I was intrigued by what Sumazi is working towards in their efforts. The front page sums it up.

Sumazi helps introduce you to the people who are out of sight, but not beyond your reach.

I went through the sign up process and Sumaya Kazi that the access was granted to the beta. There are a variety of categories to sort through as to how the call out’s for introductions or opportunities are handled. You can also add a geographic tag to limit your search further.

Initial thoughts on the site

The site appears very clean, well-planned and executed. I was wondering how communication between the people who were connected within the site was dealt with by Sumazi, but I was not disappointed. The site sticks with it’s core goal and doesn’t stray from it.

Making the connection

I put out a search to find someone to communicate with on some of my interests. Within a day or so, people passing along the request I had to other people through Facebook and Twitter, and possibly email. Likewise, if you are interested in making the connection with someone, or know someone who would be a match for someone’s need or opportunity, you can help them out as well.

About 2 days or so after I made my request I was connected with someone and other people were also starting to make the connection. These referrals and first hand interests were all on target and above board for my expectations. Some of them could even be considered a mentor level connection. I WAS VERY IMPRESSED!

I have had email communication with about a third of the connections I have made there and there have been at least connections made through Facebook. Below is an image of what a connection dashboard looks like:

Final Word

You can look at the great things that have been in the press about Sumazi and tell that it is going somewhere. I’d recommend that you go and request an invite for the beta. Sumazi can only get better with the increased number of people participating. I look forward to seeing you there! (Below is a video on how Sumazi works.)

Other Social Media , Social Media

1 Comment 472 days ago PERMALINK

@OrrinHatch, Twitter is for more than pushing legislation

@orrinhatch

Orrin Hatch first took office 6 months before I was born (35 years ago) and has been a member of several influential committees and even made a run for president. So, sure, I was a bit excited to see his name and verified account come up as a new follower.I was pretty excited when I received an email that said that Sen. Orrin Hatch of Utah was following me on Twitter. I had not really been paying much attention to the number of verified Twitter Accounts that have been following me, but I know this has to be one of the biggest personalities.

I thought a bit and wanted to find a reasonable statement to send the senator. I think I accomplished that goal.

Then I was surprised to see a Direct Message from @orrinhatch. The surprise turned quickly enough to disappointment.

What was I getting from the Senator? What it appears to me is to practically be an automated or form message asking me to do something that I probably wouldn’t normally do. I’ve received messages and @mentions from others to visit websites, buy pills online, and a variety of other things. What I have received is nothing more than campaign or political junk mail.

I took more a of a look at the account and it is possible that he is doing his own tweeting, with an average of 2-3 updates to Twitter each day. There are a couple of lists on the account who follow Utah and Political writers, as well as Senate and Utah Republicans. So, it is possible that I was selected to be 1 of the 250 people that could receive a DM from the Senator that day.

“Me Monster: A person who is self absorbed and turns every conversation into discussions about themselves and their accomplishments.”

On the other hand, I really hope that you hired someone to manage your account because this is so non-personal and needy, that it would make me think less of you. Also, if you did hire someone, you might want to find someone who does a little more than what your average Facebook spammer does on a relationship basis. Sorry, I just need to be honest. I’ll understand if you unfollow me. But, don’t be a “Me Monster”

Social Media , Twitter

A FEW WORDS

…. from kpbergman

Is your website like a business card, brochure, or salesperson?

The Business Card

The Brochure

The Salesperson

PicPlz closing: Looks like Instagram wins out!

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