eMarket Manager

2011-11-23T07:50:00.001-08:00

Latest Examiner.com article: Surveys With SurveyMonkey

Publicize Your Social Presence!

2011-05-11T08:00:00.000-07:00

If you've gone to the trouble of setting up and maintaining social media sites, make sure you're letting people know about it. Below is a list of many ways you can spread the news. As you implement each of the items listed, be sure that you're working with an icon "family" so that all of the images "go together." There are many websites that offer free icon families.

Once you've chosen your icon family, here are some of the many ways you can spread the good word:

Website: Feature icons for all of your social sites on your company Website. Be sure the icons link directly to your publicly viewable sites, so no login is required. You'll want to make sure the icons will be seen quickly, so featuring them in the header or footer of all site pages is a good idea. You may also want to make sure they're visible on your Contact Us page.
Print Ads: Hard copy media obviously doesn't allow you to link a customer or prospect directly to your social sites, but you still want to feature the icons anyway. This helps create a perception of a modern company that is fully conversant in Web 2.0. To feature icons in hard copy items, and using Facebook as our example and eMarket Manager as our company, we would add the Facebook blue icon to our ad and write next to it "Like us on Facebook: eMarket Manager" or "Facebook.com/eMarketManager". This helps everyone know exactly how to find us. For Twitter, we would write "Follow us on Twitter: @eMarketManager".
Brochures / Direct Mail: Follow the instructions above for Print Ads. Brochures and Direct Mail pieces are just a couple of examples of hard copy items - you can probably think of a few more!
Newsletters: Not only do you want to feature your social icons in your company hard copy Newsletter (using a similar process used in Print Ads above), but you may also want to write a few articles about how you're using social sites, or about special offers or events you're featuring there.
Email Content & Email Signatures: If you're sending out customer or prospect Emails / Newsletters, be sure to include links to your social sites. And, be sure your email signature also features icons and/or direct links to your publicly viewable social sites.
Press Releases: If you're in the habit of submitting press releases, your social media activity can be big news, especially depending on your industry. Your release can be sent to traditional media, and also feature on your social sites. (And, I hope you also have an online Newsroom on your company Website, where you'll also post the release.) You can also create news by offering a special promotion or explaining some new angle you've come up with for interacting with the public via social sites.
Business Cards: Be sure you're letting the world know about your social presence via your business cards. You'll definitely want to include LinkedIn, as well as Facebook / Twitter / Blog, etc. Because business cards are small and you don't want to make the card too busy, you'll probably want to just list your social site information, rather than also including the icon for each social site.
Social Media: Make sure you're sharing information about each of your sites on all of your other social sites. For example, you can feature a Twitter tab on your Facebook Page, a Twitter feed on your blog, and you can Tweet your Facebook username every now and then.

Please share your tips - we'd love to hear your great ideas!

How to Be a Good (Senior) Co-Worker

2011-05-10T06:10:00.000-07:00

Several articles and blog posts have been circulated online recently on the topic of being a good co-worker. The articles have been interesting reading with useful tips, and I thought I'd add to the mix with an article about senior-level co-workers.

Below are some tips geared toward managers that might make for happier employees and better results for the company:

Communicate! Communicating is so simple, but lack of it is one of the most frequent employee complaints. It really just means sharing information with others. So, if you attend a meeting, good communication dictates that you'll go back to your department or team and share any relevant information with them. It's all about keeping people in the loop so they're not taken by surprise when they learn about new projects, or changes to current projects, that involve them.
Schedule meetings in advance. In generous terms, "advance" means several days, to a week from today. Scheduling group meetings for this afternoon, or tomorrow morning (especially when the meeting request is sent out at 4:26 today for an 8:30 am meeting tomorrow) is inconsiderate of others' time. It means all the meeting attendees have to scramble to rearrange their schedules, or not complete work they'd planned on doing during the proposed meeting time. Give people advance notice - they'll have time to prepare and will appreciation your consideration of their schedules.
Write "nice" emails. Nice matters, and is one of the very best tools you can use in the corporate arena. Regarding email, nice means you use a greeting in your message, rather than jumping right in to your body text. It means you write requests rather than demands. You say "please" and "thank you." You write in language that is intelligible to the intended recipient(s). You give the recipient time to do what was requested. For emails to large groups of people, it's useful to ask someone else to read it before sending - an objective reader can often give you a reality check regarding your tone and content.
Think before you cc. A fairly common, though very unwelcome, practice is sending an email to someone and including multiple top-level managers in the cc box. This technique is used most often when the sender would like the recipient to take some action. The theory is that the senior managers will assure that the action is taken, just in case the recipient wasn't planning to do it. Unfortunately, this assures the action will be completed, but it also creates ill will among team members. When people are forced to take action, the results are most often less positive and useful than if the person willingly participates. Try sending your request only to the person who needs to receive it and leave others out of the process, and see if you notice different (better) results!
No email reprimands. Reprimanding someone via group email is just plain mean. It also isn't the best way to build an effective team. If you want to build a productive and active team, send PRAISE via group emails, rather than reprimands. Save the reprimands for a private in-person conversation.
No public embarassment. Just like the group reprimand email, this is another tactic used to call out an employee publicly, such as at large group meetings, and is really unpleasant. Just like the group email, this is the worst tactic to use if you want to build an effective team. Instead, speak to the employee separately to find out what's going on, and work to fix it without the entire group involved.
Cell phone etiquette. It's always so disconcerting to be speaking with someone during a meeting, only to have them answer their cell phone while you're mid-sentence. It might be best to have a no cell phone rule at meetings. Like so many of the tips in this post, this relates to the Golden Rule: Don't do it to someone else if you wouldn't want it done to you.
Build your own committees. Like the supervisor cc on emails, the use of supervisors to build committees and teams is also an unwelcome practice. In this practice, someone is building a team and goes around to several supervisors to get employees added to the team without talking with the employee. Employees then discover their new assignments and are expected to attend meetings or participate on a project for which they have no interest. This might not result in the best outcome. Better results might be obtained by finding people who are really excited about what you're doing and asking them to help personally. Using this tack, you'd have an eager team, interested in getting results.
Include your team members. If you have assembled a team, be sure to include them when you schedule meetings or make decisions. This seems obvious, but so often just a part of the team is pulled together to make decisions, and the rest of the group finds out about the new decision after the fact. Or, the team leader schedules a meeting, but "forgets" to include all group members. Be respectful and inclusive to your team members.
Listen to your team. If you have gone to the trouble of creating a team to implement some project, listen to them. They were chosen for some reason - take their thoughts and ideas into consideration. If you really just want to do it your way, skip the team creation, and simply hand out assignments. Everyone will be happier.
Do your own thing. If you're a spreadsheet guy, great! If that's what works for you, do it. But, don't make the error of expecting everyone else to use and love spreadsheets. Everyone has their own way of working. Let others do what works for them, and you stay busy working on your own stuff.

Have I missed anything? These are the top items I could think of, but I'm sure there are a few more.

Add a Favicon to Your Blog

2011-03-07T18:31:00.000-08:00

A favicon is that little image that appears to the left of a URL or web address. If you'd like a custom one of your choosing on YOUR blogspot site, here's a fairly easy, non-techy way to get one:

First, you need a website that will both create AND host your favicon. You can do this at IconJ.
Once on this site, click on "Upload Your Logo/Image/Photo File to Generate the Icon." Browse out to your files and select the image you want to use (you'll want to choose something fairly small and simple, as these icons are TINY and have very little detail). Then, click on "Upload It!"
You'll now see "FavIcon.Ico Successfully Generated!" and you should see your icon mini image. You don't need to click on "Download It"
Below "Download It" you should see "Direct Download" or "Host It at IconJ.com: Direct Link"; in the "Host It"section, copy the code you see there.
Now sign in to your blog and click on the "Design" tab, then "Edit HTML"; exercise extreme caution on this page!!!!!
About 10 lines or so down in the code, you'll see a line that has <> at each end; in between these two symbols, you'll find code that says "title data:blog.pageTitle/ /title". At the end of this line of code, enter down once to create a new blank line.
In this new blank line, paste the code you copied from IconJ.
Scroll to the bottom of the page and click "Save Template"

That's it; now click on view blog and you should now have an icon before your blog URL (sometimes it takes a few minutes to appear, so don't worry if it doesn't happen immediately). And, you can change it any time you want too!

PS - You won't see your Favicon when you are in Edit Mode.

PPS - Be sure to bookmark the IconJ website, so you can edit your Favicon in the future.

Free PDF Writer

2011-02-15T05:47:00.000-08:00

A PDF document makes it easy to send someone a file, regardless of the type of software the recipient is using. In other words, if you want to email someone a Publisher file to review, but the recipient doesn’t have Publisher installed on their computer, converting the file to PDF makes it possible for the receiver to open and view the file.

Here’s how to get this service for FREE!

(Note: to use the free PDF tool, you only need to follow Step 1 once, and you would then just follow Step 2 thereafter.)

STEP 1: Get a free PDF Converter

Visit http://www.cutepdf.com/.
Click on CutePDF Writer (Freeware). Do not select CutePDF Pro, as that is not the free version.
Click Free Download.
A dialog box will pop up; click Run.
A second dialog box will pop up; click Run.
When the Set Up Wizard pop up appears, click Next.
Review the Terms & Conditions, and click I Accept if you accept the Terms & Conditions of CutePDF Writer.
On the Ask.com Toolbar screen, uncheck all three boxes.
Click Yes to Download Converter

STEP 2: Save a document as a PDF (note that you actually PRINT to PDF, rather than SAVE to PDF)

Open the document you would like to save.
Click Print.
A Print dialog box will open; select CutePDF as your printer by double-clicking on it. (Note: this will not print your document; this is simply how documents are saved as PDFs.)
A Save dialog box will pop up. Save the eStatement with the name and location of your choice.

Ta-da – free PDF writing from now on. How cool is that!

Moms on Facebook

2011-02-11T14:59:00.000-08:00

Yes – I am one of the infamous “Moms on Facebook.” I must say in my own defense, however, that I try very hard to be a good social network citizen by learning and following the rules of netiquette.

My daughter was good enough to “Friend” me when I first began using Facebook, which I found very heartening. I’m careful not to embarrass her, and I always ask before I tag her in a photo, just to be sure she’s okay with it.

With my daughter and teenage angst in mind, I established my own rule about being friends with kids on Facebook – I never send Friend Requests to her school friends; however, if THEY send ME a request, I will accept it. This means I now have a significant number of teens in my Facebook Friends list. I think they sometimes forget that an adult is viewing their posts or photos, as sometimes I’m a bit shocked at what I read and see in my news feed.

While I’ve been seeing some interesting teen posts and photos, I’ve also been hearing news stories lately about how Facebook and other forms of social media can be used as bullying and harassment tools. The more of these news stories I hear, and the more I see posted by kids who think adults aren’t watching, the more I think Facebook is like “Lord of the Flies.”

For anyone not familiar with this book / movie, “Lord of the Flies” is about a group of British schoolboys who become marooned on a deserted island with no adult supervision. At first, the students maintain the rules, discipline, and morals provided to them by the adults and society that had recently surrounded them. However, as times goes by, these rules, discipline and morals quickly fall away and the kids revert to an animal savagery, with tragic results. In other words, adult guidance turns the innate animal nature of a child into compassionate and considerate humanity.

Having recently seen the movie, I got to thinking – most kids are on Facebook Island with no adult supervision. I get the sense that it’s just not “cool” to be friends with adults in this arena, and most kids don’t. Which means most kids are not supervised or guided by any adults while they’re in the world of Facebook.

Given this lack of supervision, kids can pretty much do whatever they want, with no consequences. I am sometimes so struck by how easily, carelessly, and cruely these kids speak to each other or make fun of others in this online world. If adults heard or saw kids say or do these things in the real world, we’d curb their behavior and help to get them back into the realm of reason and morality. Sadly, on Facebook, most adults aren’t there to help.

The next time I hear a news story about social media bullying with the result of yet another teen suicide, I’ll be thinking of the group of little savages who chased Piggy off the cliff to the rocks below.

Reluctant Employees on Facebook

2011-01-21T07:43:00.000-08:00

After launching a business Facebook page for a company with just over 200 employees, I noticed an interesting thing - the employees who were active on Facebook were not becoming Fans of the company page!

I found this very perplexing, and couldn't understand why employees weren't fanning the company in droves. To get the word out to employees, we'd sent out company-wide emails announcing the launch of the Facebook page, added icons to the company website, and sent follow- up emails encouraging employees to Fan the company Page - all to no avail.

After several weeks of this, I decided to get to the bottom of it. I asked an intern to check with her co-worker friends to find out why employees weren't fanning the company page. Here's what she discovered:

Employees assumed that becoming a Fan of a company was just like becoming a Friend of a person on Facebook. As you know, Friends can see each others posts, photos, statuses, etc. The employees were afraid that the company would be able to view all of their personal information, including any info, photos or videos that they did not want their employer viewing.*

Whoa - definitely not the case!

After learning about this concern, we launched an email educational campaign, helping employees understand the difference between business Pages and personal Profiles: If you Fan a business, that business can only see your name and profile photo, along with anything that you post to or comment about on the business page Wall. The business cannot see anything else, because the business Page is not a "Friend."

Following this educational campaign, we did see an uptick in employee Fans, although we do still experience some reluctance. If you're dealing with this same issue, chances are, your employees need help understanding this distinction.

*Important Note: some companies do choose to use a personal Profile to represent their business on Facebook, rather than a business Page. If a business sends you a Friend Request, you know they are using a personal Profile rather than a business Page. If you become their "Friend" rather than a "Fan," they will be able to see your personal information according to your privacy settings.

Exclude IP Address from Google Analytics

2011-01-15T09:54:00.000-08:00

The Google Analytics "Dashboard"

Hmmm...I have lots of site visitors, but they're all from my home town. In fact, I think they're all me!!

If you're using Google Analytics to track visitor activity on your website or blog, there IS a way to stop tracking your own visits. Just follow these simple steps:

Go to whatismyipaddress.com; your IP address will appear as 4 short sets of numbers.
Log in to your Google Analytics account.
On the left-hand side of the orange top navigation bar, click on "Analytics Setting."
Scroll down, and on the lower right, click on "Filter Managers."
On the Filter Manager page, click on "+ Add Filter" on the right-hand side of the dark gray bar.
On the Create New Filter page, give your filter a name, like Exclude Home IP.
In the Filter Type row are three boxes with drop-down menus. The first one should read "Exclude." In the second one, click the drop-down arrow, and select "traffic from the IP addresses." The third one should now read "that are equal to".
In the next set of boxes that appear, enter the 4 sets of numbers that make up your IP address.
Below that is a section called "Apply Filter to Website Profiles. Underneath that, on the left-hand side, you'll see each of the websites you are currently tracking with Google Analytics. Click on each one you want to exclude your own visits from, and click the "Add" button.
Click "Save Changes".

Done! No more mega-visits from your own computer.

Find Your Blogspot Blog RSS Feed

2011-01-15T07:34:00.000-08:00

Ack - you're trying to add your blog to a ping website (like http://www.pingmyblog.com/), and you're asked to enter your Blog RSS. Where the heck is that?!

Not to worry. Look around on your Blogspot blog for something that looks like this: "Subscribe to: Posts (Atom)". For me, it's down at the very bottom of my page. Click on the "Posts (Atom)" link, and you've arrived at your blog's RSS Feed. Copy that URL and add it to the ping service you're signing up with.

See, that wasn't so bad!

Facebook: Personal Profile vs Business Page

2011-01-14T18:06:00.000-08:00

Many small businesses use a personal Profile as their business presence on Facebook, rather than a business Page. While this may seem like an easy solution, there are definite differences between these two options, and pros and cons to each of them.

Many small business owners choose the personal Profile because they feel there just isn’t time to monitor more than one account. Using the Profile option for business means the business owner can handle any activity quickly and easily in just one account, rather than checking two accounts. While this may sound like a simple solution, there is a definite downside to this approach.

As an active Facebook user myself, I really don’t want to be “Friends” with a business; I’d rather keep the relationship just a tad more formal. I don’t want a business to see the personal photos and information I keep on my Profile. Granted, I can control what the business can see through Permissions, but that’s an extra step I’d rather not be bothered with. When a business sends me a “Friend” request, I assume the person handling their social media tools is simply unaware of the Page option, and I tend to see the business in a less professional light.

Using the business Page option also offers advantages that a personal Profile doesn’t. Here are some great examples:

To manage a business Page, you simply log in to your personal Profile – this allows you to modify BOTH your Profile and your Page easily, with just one login!
The FREE “Insights” that come with a business Page are very useful – they help a business learn what Fans respond to, and what type of information is popular and relevant to the Fan base. Once you know what your audience likes, you can make sure you do more of it.
Another really terrific perk is that a business Facebook Page is viewable by the general public, and is not restricted to Facebook users only. This means non-Facebook users can still view videos, photos, and posts that have been shared on a business Page. (Non-Facebook users will not be able to comment or interact unless they become users.)
Having a business Page allows the business owner to maintain a personal presence shared with their real Friends, rather than with hundreds of business customers and prospects. This helps keep a bit of separation between personal and business.
A business Page can have multiple Administrators. This means that if the business owner is just too busy, someone else can still man the Facebook shop.

From the eMarket Manager perspective, a business Page is the way to go when you want to share your business information on Facebook. Contact Us if you’d like more information on this topic.