A testament to the power of social media

It’s amazing how quickly social media has taken hold of the world.  Why, just a short three years ago, I was completely clueless as to what the term “social media” even referred to.  And then when I did finally gain some grain of understanding, I flatly refused to be a part of it for months!  And now, as you can see, I am immersed as deeply as the rest of you crazy cool people. 

Although, there are days that I wonder what will become of everyone.  After all, like everything else in life, moderation is the key.  With all of the different games and fictional societies that seem to be flourishing on the internet, it really could be quite easy to become so fully immersed that one’s days would waste away until there was nothing of reality left to experience and appreciate.

Thankfully, there are many facets to the social media revolution, or perhaps I should say evolution, and it is a great one that I sing the praises of today.  Last year, I lost my beautiful cousin Joy to a very long battle with cancer.  I won’t go into the sad details, because this story is all about greatness precipitated by social networking.  You see, Joy’s children wanted to help her achieve her biggest goals and dreams before she left us, so they asked for a “Bucket List” of things she wanted to accomplish.  It wasn’t a very long list, and really, there were three items that I would consider the least bit challenging:  Go on a cruise;  Swim with the dolphins;  Be a part of the audience at a taping of the Oprah Winfrey Show.

Facebook’s Comments Box Now Indexed by Google

Posts made via Facebook’s Comments Box are now being read and indexed by Google’s search bots. This is highly significant, as this added data will affect search engine optimization (SEO), therefore adding value to every discussion, both inside and outside of Facebook.

What is Comments Box?

A common discussion thread on Facebook using Comments Box

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Inside Facebook: At its core, Comments Box is what allows for discussion threads on Facebook itself. The ability to comment on Wall Posts, Status Updates, and so forth is made possible by Comments Box.

“Mispellings” help your brand (suffer)

I can’t imagine I’m the only one who is immediately disenchanted with an online source when I come across a spelling or grammatical error. Especially when perusing news articles, blogs, and, yes, even service- or product-related corporate websites, I throw out the brand as soon as I come across an error so obvious. To me, it makes the people behind the brand seem really lazy…or at least lacking in precision and attention-to-detail.

Even in the world of “LOL” and “:)”, good writing skills are a necessity regarding brand reputation. Having clear communication shows professionalism, accuracy, care, and it proves credibility. Not having good writing skills may lead customers to believe you are also not careful with your business, or that you are apt to avoid double checking work.

Luckily, at Prizm, we have two robots who crunch all of our writing for us. Just kidding. We do, however, pay written communication special mind to avoid cranky customers like me who frown in the general direction of grammatical malpractice.

Consider the following ways to watch your back:

The End of an Era

I recently heard something that saddened me more than I could have ever imagined, thus leading to today’s blog, which veers slightly from my usual, more professional subject matter – although not too far I don’t suppose. After all, it still has everything to do with words and writing; but alas, I digress, so back to the subject at hand: they have decided to stop teaching cursive handwriting in our schools!

Perseverance

Do you ever look at yourself in the mirror and wonder why some people fulfill their God-given talents while others just let their talents fade into nothingness?

Well, I have a friend who is the epitome of perseverance.  Her name is Denise and, boy, has God given her challenges along life’s journey.

Social Media and SEO

Many of our clients are confused about social media. Is it just a fad? Doesn’t it represent a casual or unprofessional environment? How will this help our business?

Many social networking sites like Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, flickr, MySpace, Last.FM, blogs, SlideShare, digg, and more exist in the corporate world.

Allow me to tackle just one facet of the many benefits of corporate social media pages: Search Engine Optimization (SEO).

Twitter to add photos and video

On Wednesday, Shaquille O’Neal announced his retirement from the NBA through a vlog blasted via tweet. He used Tout, a third-party service which enables users to share video on Twitter since the latter’s format doesn’t support photos or video.

Until now, that is.

Measuring your social media’s ROI

A common question between businesses and marketers alike is “How do I measure the ROI of my social media campaign?” Well, folks, I have the answer:

You don’t.

A common myth about social media is that it can be the end-all solution for advertising. Plus, it’s free — perfect, right? Wrong. While social media can be part of your marketing campaign, it cannot carry the ship.

How much do keywords matter?

My husband and I have always been sticklers for doing research before making any kind of major purchase.  From cars to appliances to electronics, it is important to know that you will be getting the most for your money before committing to spending it.  While it hasn’t been that long ago that we had to go to our local library to peruse the latest copies of Consumer Reports for information, now one has to go only as far as the closest computer with an internet connection to learn everything pertinent to making an informed buying decision.

A while back, I thought I had done my due diligence before making a major purchase – so much that even Dave Ramsey would have been proud!  I actually spent 4 months doing research in my spare time, before making the final choice, which was based on my research.  Here’s where it gets interesting:  I have had quite a lot of trouble with this product, even though everything I read raved about the item in question.  Did I get a “lemon”?  Or was all of my research bogus?  What did I do wrong?!

I continued to contemplate these questions, until it finally occurred to me that every time I did a new search for information, I always used “reviews” in my search.  So, I decided to try an experiment. 

Do you HootSuite?

Your business is probably on Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, and a slew of other social media applications. So how do you keep all of these profiles in check?