How to Create a Google+ Profile Banner in 5 Minutes

How to Create a Google+ Profile Banner in 5 Minutes
Using Google+? Add Mashable to your circles. You’ll get the latest about new Google+ features and tips and tricks for using the platform as well as top social media and technology news. In addition to setting up a Google+ page for your business and taking advantage of our handy Google+…

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Video Service Tout Claims It Boosts Users' Facebook, Twitter Followers

tout_logo_300dpi_rgb_9x7-150x150.jpgTout got a big boost when Shaquille O’Neal announced his NBA retirement in one of the service’s 15-second video clips. Before then, few people had herad of the service, which allows users to easily link the videos to their Facebook and Twitter accounts.

Prior to O’Neal’s unsolicited endorsement, few people had heard of Tout, which just launched in April. After Shaq’s quick message thanking fans, however, interest in the service exploded. “We got lucky with him being so involved with it,” said Melissa Breen of Tout.

But since then, interest in Shaq may have risen thanks for Tout.

tumblr.com

A Great Social Media Cheat Sheet For Those New To Social Media

Social-Media-cheat-sheet(1)

Do you need a Twitter account, a Facebook Page, a Youtube account, a Google + Page, a Tumblr account or a Dig account? Here’s a cheat sheet to get you up to speed with the basics (what is it, what does it do, pros and cons, and some lingo) in a hurry. Still need some help translating this into language you can understand or action steps you can follow? Drop us a note. 

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The Small Business Social Media Cheat Sheet

Which Social Media Marketing Channels Will Be Best for Your Business in 2012? See What Other Online Marketers Are Planning

Beyond the big three (Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn), smaller social media sites are to see boosts in usage by internet marketers in 2012 Social Media Platforms They Currently Use vs. Will Use in 2012 According to US Marketers, Dec 2011 (% of respondents)

This survey shows blogs will receive the most new attention from marketers in 2012.

What about you? Are you taking advantage of building your personal or business social media presence in Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn? Is Youtube marketing, Flickr marketing, Slideshare marketing, Foursquare marketing, or Tumblr marketing even on your radar for 2012? Drop us a line at info@stirsolutions.com or visit http://www.stirsolutions.com if you’d like assistance determining which social  media marketing channels are the best match for your unique business, budget and goals.

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Rise of the Megacities laurakirsop:

Rise of the Megacities

laurakirsop:

gu.com

laughingsquid: The Swap-O-Matic, Vending Machine Exchanges Goods for Goods

laughingsquid:

The Swap-O-Matic, Vending Machine Exchanges Goods for Goods

Laughing Squid

Twitter is set to roll out enhanced profile pages after Feb. 1 - Coke Twitter Page

coca-cola twitter
  • Twitter is set to roll out enhanced profile pages after Feb. 1, 2012
  • pages will give brands the ability to build platforms on their pages that could include iFrame environments, allowing users to play games or shop on a brand’s site without actually leaving Twitter 
  • Twitter’s brand pages will function a lot more like Facebook brand pages


Read more: http://www.businessinsider.com/source-twitter-will-start-to-function-more-like-facebook-on-feb-1-2012-1#ixzz1kcoTWDl1
Need help setting up your enhanced Twitter page or custom Facebook tabs? Contact the social media marketing team at Stir today at http://www.stirsolutions.com or call 604-847-3447 in Vancouver Canada

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What Does Google Know About Me? Is It All True? How Can I Protect or Change My Online Reputation?

  • Google Dashboard

    Find the answer to the question, “What does Google know about me?” by visiting the Google Dashboard, which shows you information stored in your Google Account. From one central location, you can easily change your privacy settings for services such as Blogger, Calendar, Docs, Gmail, Picasa, and Profiles.

    Google


More info about Google privacy at http://www.google.com/intl/en/privacy/tools.html

Need help with your online privacy or online reputation? Stir is a full service Internet marketing & web solutions agency offering complete online reputation, personal and corporate online branding, monitoring and management. Visit http://www. StirSolutions.com today to schedule a free phone consultation or a face to face meeting in Vancouver.

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Choosing The Right Social Media Marketing Strategy

Do you participate in social media marketing as a way to grow your business and increase sales? If so, do you have a social media marketing strategy? Have you ever considered creating a social media marketing architecture? Do you know what “social media marketing architecture” means? If not, you’re not alone. 
Many businesses (even big ones who are actively marketing themselves through social media marketing channels) don’t. Which is a problem: All the time, energy, and money in the world spent on social media marketing won’t produce valuable results if it’s done in the absence of a solid plan and clear strategy (architecture).

A good social media marketing strategy (architecture) involves first deciding what your business’ goal is — drive traffic to your corporate site? increase sales? gather new leads? lead conversion? more or better press? The next step is to decide who your audience is (your ideal customers/clients) and to figure out where they are online (what channels) and how best to reach them.With those things in mind (what you want, who you want it from, how you’re going to reach them, and how you’re going to motivate them to do what you want), dedicate some resources (time, staff, and budget; determined as part of your strategy creation) to those channels.
As you move forward, ensure that you stick to your plan (strategy) and have monitoring tools in place to that you can measure the efficacy of each effort (on each channel) and make changes to your architecture as needed. There are countless channels online today. Deciding which ones you’re going to work in (access) can be overwhelming. And depending on how they’re used, combined, and leveraged can be the difference between quick and measureable success or wasted time and money. But this needn’t be daunting; you don’t need to reinvent the wheel. In fact, you can (and should) start small and simple: Choose the channel where most of the population (and, as such, probably a big cross-section of your audience) is already active!

That’s Facebook.
And whether or not you think Facebook is necessarily the right fit for your company or brand isn’t really the point. If that’s where your audience is, that’s where you need to be — interacting with them on their level and in the place most comfortable and convenient for them. (This can be a great testing ground too. From here, you can learn where else your audience is online.)

So, if you agree (you should) and decide that Facebook is one of the channels you’ll explore, here are a few key things to consider:
Quality of conversations (and, ultimately, conversations) over content. That’s not to say you don’t have to post things that are relevant, timely, and of value to your audience, but getting them to interact with you in a meaningful way is definitely the most important factor.

Customer service is still paramount. You should treat your friends, fans, and followers as you would a real-live/real-time customer (in your store, for example). Customer service is as important here as anywhere else. In fact, perhaps it’s even more important, thanks to the speed at which news and views are shared online (read: like wildfire). Sentiment about your business can change in the blink of an eye. So following up with customers’ questions and concerns quickly is key.
Listen. Let friends, fan, and followers (your audience/customers) drive the conversation. Post/promote things you’re confident they’re interested in reading/receiving. Customers (like everyone) want to feel heard. 

Keep your corporate/brand identity in mind. Remember that even if you don’t advertise or optimize your Facebook page, it’s searchable. People will find it. So while it’s totally appropriate to have a far less formal presence on Facebook than on your corporate website, and real-time interactions/conversations can be a bit harder to manage, make sure that your Facebook activity is in line with your corporate image/mandate, and that if people find your Facebook page before they find your corporate website (in a search for information about your business or your industry), they won’t be mislead, misinformed, or turned off.
Twitter and YouTube are some of the other most popular social networking sites today — though not nearly as popular as Facebook (Some sites indicate that as many as 50% of Americans, for example, are on Facebook, while as few as 13% are on Twitter (and 1% are on location-based sites like Foursquare and Gowalla).) Most importantly, whatever channel (site) you choose to pursue (there are literally hundreds and hundreds to consider), choose carefully. Choose to be active on sites where you know your audience is, and on sites that will encourage interaction and, ultimately, drive them to your corporate website (or your store or your service as the case may be). 

And make sure that you have the strategy/architecture/plan in place (the time, staff, and budget) to do it properly (read: frequently) — to respond to activity (questions, concerns, and conversations) quickly, and that you have something meaningful to say and something valuable to impart. And remember: social networking through channels like these is about building your customer base (making friends, fans, and followers) and building brand loyalty (good-will). If you do it with the right attitude, the right plan, and the right goal, the result will be valuable word-of-mouth advertising that will increase sales, and customer loyalty that will keep sales growing. 
Stir Solutions offers analysis and consultation services so that you can develop an effective social media marketing strategy. Click here to learn more, and book your free, confidential 30-minute consultation today.

Stir is a full service Internet marketing & web solutions agency. We provide marketing and communications strategy & consulting specializing in Internet marketing, social media and business web solutions.

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Explaining The New Google Privacy Rules

The main change is for users with Google Accounts. Our new Privacy Policy makes clear that, if you’re signed in, we may combine information you’ve provided from one service with information from other services. In short, we’ll treat you as a single user across all our products, which will mean a simpler, more intuitive Google experience.

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Google updates export tool Takeout to support Google Docs

Google Takeout, the service which allows Google users to download their data from various Google products all at once, has been updated with an option to be emailed when the archive is ready for download, configurable filetypes for services that support multiple formats, support for more Google products, and an updated interface…

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Highlight: The Nearby Social Network

The latest social network to jump into the social pool is Highlight and it wants you to find your friends—at least potential friends—nearby. 

Highlight uses information from your Facebook account to determine if other Highlight users in the vicinity should know about each other. It also tells you when one of your actual friends is nearby—roughly within one-and-a-half blocks. 

Highlight: The Nearby Social Network - Gizmodo

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Highlight: The Nearby Social Network

The latest social network to jump into the social pool is Highlight and it wants you to find your friends—at least potential friends—nearby. 

Highlight uses information from your Facebook account to determine if other Highlight users in the vicinity should know about each other. It also tells you when one of your actual friends is nearby—roughly within one-and-a-half blocks. 

Highlight: The Nearby Social Network - Gizmodo

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Google updates export tool Takeout to support Google Docs

Google Takeout, the service which allows Google users to download their data from various Google products all at once, has been updated with an option to be emailed when the archive is ready for download, configurable filetypes for services that support multiple formats, support for more Google products, and an updated interface…

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