Category: Social Media
  • Ann Smarty

    • The Easiest Reputation Management Tool (Google Spreadsheet)

    • February 6, 2012 - Posted by Ann Smarty to Social Media
    • If you have read my previous articles, you are likely to know that I love tools and tables. If you haven’t, just trust my word or read further. I’ve been an earlier adopter of Google Spreadsheets for the same reason: they are almost as great as Excel for making cool handy tables and they can be turned into fun-to-use and easy-to-share free tools! What I am going to share today is one Google Spreadsheet which will make...
  • Ann Smarty

    • HOW TO: Use Social Networking to Effectively Build Media & PR Contacts (Tools and Tips)

    • February 1, 2012 - Posted by Ann Smarty to Social Media
    • The majority of journalists are involved in social media already: journalists use social media to collect and syndicate the news as well as (which is so important to us, marketers) find sources to cite. Journalists are in constant search for original (first-hand) news and article ideas. Social media sites make it very easy to track sources down. Would you like to be in popular journalists’ contact books? Would you like to have the list of influential...
  • Ninja Melissa Ward

    • Humans are Social (and curious)

    • January 31, 2012 - Posted by Ninja Melissa Ward to Social Media
    • As a consumer and observer of social media, I enjoy watching what other users do and what seems to be successful.  My definition of successful is that which is engaging and gets a lot of responses. (Irrelevant side note:  Some day I want to teach Sociology of the Social Web). Some of the more popular antics I’ve seen work include: Give this picture a caption: A user posts a photo and asks their connections to come up...
  • Ninja Melissa Ward

    • Top 10 Tips to Loving Your LinkedIn Profile

    • January 23, 2012 - Posted by Ninja Melissa Ward to Social Media
    • When was the last time you gave your LinkedIn profile a little love?  When was the last time you even looked at your LinkedIn profile? LinkedIn is a handy network.  Certainly not as social as Facebook, but there are opportunities for interaction in groups, status updates and the Answers section. Before you go overboard joining groups and connecting to people, take a peek at your profile and review the information.  Here are a few tips: Have meaningful Job...
  • Ann Smarty

    • Downvoting Etiquette: How to Handle Down Votes?

    • January 20, 2012 - Posted by Ann Smarty to Social Media
    • Despite the fact that the recent trend seems to be against downvoting in general (both the social media giants – Facebook and Google Plus – are not giving their users the option to vote down / dislike an update), we still have to deal with negative voting dilemma: downvoting is still available at social voting veterans (Digg and Reddit) as well as large new-comers: the last year’s successful start-up Quora lets its users down vote...
  • Ninja Melissa Ward

    • Social Media and SERPS Your World will Rank

    • January 12, 2012 - Posted by Ninja Melissa Ward to Social Media
    • It’s no secret that Social Media influences your search rankings, but where people seem to get lost is in HOW Social Media impacts SERPS (Search Engine Results Page).  So, let’s break it down into English or at least as far from geek-speak as I can manage. (If  you hear the Waa Waa Waa of Charlie Brown’s teacher stop for  a 10 second brain break.). Search Engines work on relevance, meaning it’s a search engine’s job is...
  • Ninja Melissa Ward

    • The Art of Social Commerce

    • January 10, 2012 - Posted by Ninja Melissa Ward to Social Media
    • Fact:  People do not join social networking sites to be pitched. Fact:  Businesses want to use social networking sites to increase sales revenue. It’s quite a conundrum, but there is a fairly simple solution. Ready….. Be there to help fix other people’s problems. Done…. kinda The goal is to get people invested in your community.  You do that by being the go-to person, the expert.  Being passionate about what it is you do.  If people think you’re only there for the...
  • Ninja Melissa Ward

    • Don’t be THAT Social Media Guy

    • January 3, 2012 - Posted by Ninja Melissa Ward to Social Media
    • Let’s face it; we are all “That Guy” once in a while.   We are human, wonderfully flawed – it just happens.  But by keeping a few little things in mind, you can avoid hitting “That Guy” syndrome too often. Don’t share a “news item” you have not verified.  A few weeks ago Facebook was over run by posts of a helicopter crash that occurred in August.  People were posting about it like it was yesterday.   No...
  • Ninja Melissa Ward

    • Top 10 Questions about Facebook Business Pages

    • December 27, 2011 - Posted by Ninja Melissa Ward to Social Media
    • Working in Social Media, I get a lot of “How-To” questions regarding Facebook Business Pages.   People are either concerned about the mechanics (push this button, click this link) or the effectiveness of their page (aka – is it worth my time).  These are some of the most common questions and my answers to them. 10) How often should I post to my business page? According to Dan Zarrella the answer is one post every other day. I should note...
  • Ninja Melissa Ward

    • Moving from a Facebook Personal Profile to a Business Page

    • December 20, 2011 - Posted by Ninja Melissa Ward to Social Media, Tips and Tricks
    • Many businesses have joined Facebook under their business name instead of the business owner’s name.  For example:  John Doe set up a “personal profile” or “timeline” as John’s Coffee Shop.  It seems logical, but taking this route is not your best option. There are a number of dis advantages to this, the biggest of which is it is against the Facebook Terms of Service.  In addition, personal profiles are not public and in some cases not...