Posted by ken tucker on Wed, Sep 01, 2010 @ 09:13 AM
I've had my iPad 3G for a couple of months. Everywhere I take it people ask me about it. What is it, how does it connect to the Internet, could it replace a computer, etc...
So far I've been very happy with it. It allows me to have an extremely portable device that I use to access email and the Internet; load music, videos, and books; take notes; and demo work for clients.
The device is 9.56 by 7.47 inches, and 0.5 inches thick. It weighs 1.6 pounds. It has a touchscreen keyboard that you can hide when you don't need it, and the screen rotates as you turn the device.
The iPhone has many apps, which also drew me to the iPad. The iPad screen is a bigger and better version of the iPhone screen.
If you are a business person that spends time out of the office and needs something that can provide you with the ability to check email, browse the web, work on documents, and a variety of mobile computing tasks, I think it can be a good alternative to a laptop, and for me I like it better than a netbook computer.
The iPad only has 16 or 32 GB of memory and is limited in connecting other devices such as a camera and external storage devices. You have to connect and sync the iPad though iTunes installed on a PC.
It's great for checking email. Many of the iPhone apps have versions that have been optimized for the iPad. If fact, I think the apps really help to set the iPad ahead of a laptop. Most apps are just a few bucks and provide a lot of capabilities. There are apps that allow you to share files and print wirelessly.
I love reading on my iPad, from ebooks that I purchase to PDF files I read like Community News online.
Whether you are are looking for something that you can use for work or business, the iPad is a really cool device that has been reliable and performed as I had hoped.
I typed this on my iPad - and I am not compensated by Apple in anyway!
This first appeared in print in Community News (www.mycnews.com), Sept 1, 2010, Page 24, Vol. 88 No. 44.
Posted by ken tucker on Mon, Jul 05, 2010 @ 08:43 AM
There have been several services with smart phone apps release over the last year that encourages people to discover their community and to reward them for doing so. These services allow people to check-in with their phones using their location such as at restaurants, shops, events, baseball games, etc., and to earn points or rewards for check-ins.
Services like Foursquare, Gowalla, Brightkite, Loopt, Yelp, and Whrrl are gaining users at a rapid clip. In fact, Foursquare expects to hit its 1,000,000th check-ins per day in June 2010, and the number of check-ins grew by 50% in June.
Check-ins can be shared with friends in a service, and posted on Facebook and Twitter. Once a person checks in they can creates comments, pictures, and recommendations.
These apps are fun to use and allow you to post real time so that your friends know where you are, what the place or event is like, and find more friends.
Businesses can also benefit from these services. When a person visits a business and they check-in and share this with their friends, businesses and a map of its location are posted on these services. Personal experiences that are shared can be a powerful social testimonial for a business.
Businesses are starting to use these services to engage with mobile customers by offering specials such as rewards or discounts for loyal customers. Businesses can also find local users.
Twitter now allows people to use their location, and this is coming soon on Facebook too. Are you checking in yet?
Posted by ken tucker on Mon, Jul 05, 2010 @ 08:37 AM
The growth of social media has been remarkable. I remember conducting social media seminars last June and we were waiting for Facebook to reach the 250 million user mark. According to Hubspot, Facebook now has over 500 million users. WOW!
So I thought it would be interesting to take a look at other Facebook statistics, from the Facebook Press Room. Check these out!
Facebook only claims 400 million active users worldwide, 50% of whom log on to Facebook on any given day.
People spend over 500 billion minutes per month on Facebook.
The average user has 130 friends, is connected to over 60 pages, groups or events, and creates 70 pieces of content each month.
More than 25 billion pieces of content are shared each month
Facebook is heavily used on mobile devices. In fact, there are over 100 million active users that access Facebook via their mobile devices. These users are twice more active than non-mobile users.
Facebook users “like” food and entertainment – and positive content is more commonly shared.
Facebook is releasing location based services very soon. I can’t help but think that this will only increase the explosion of Facebook growth.
Users in the U.S. spend over 6 hours per month on Facebook and in March 2010 Facebook surpassed Google as the most visited website in the U.S.
These statistics amaze me. I can’t wait to see what the statistics show this time next year as the internet continues it shift to become the social hub of people’s lives.
Posted by ken tucker on Thu, Jul 01, 2010 @ 08:46 AM
I'm logged into Facebook and viewing my wall. I notice that John Doe likes Some Fake Page
I wonder.. what's Some Fake Page?? So I click on the link and it takes me to an external site.. But wait! That's not all!
I now officially like Some Fake Page! Did I actually click on the Like button for Some Fake Page? Nope.
The bottom line?
1. Facebook doesn't tell you if you're about to navigate away from facebook.com (to an external website).
2. Some like links might cause you to like those pages without your consent.
How did I get rid of the newly liked link?
1. Click on 'Edit My Profile'
2. Click on 'Likes and Interests'
3. Show Other Pages (if applicable)
4. Remove the Page
Posted by ken tucker on Thu, Apr 08, 2010 @ 09:06 AM
Your website is your home base on the internet – the place you want customers to locate in order to interact with you through the web. As a result, your website is often the primary focus of your web marketing efforts.
Effective websites don’t just happen. An effective website supports your business goals and objectives and this takes careful planning.
Posted by Admin Changescape on Thu, Dec 10, 2009 @ 05:31 AM
URL: http://illgetyoumoving.com
Date of Birth: December 2009
Project Type: Custom Website, Social Media Integration
Purpose: redeveloped with a new design to help attract new customers and to help facilitate the retention of existing customers
This website showcases:
Realtor, Sandra Meranda, and provides visitors with information that pertains to buyers or sellers of property
social media integration
Listingbook integration, which allows visitors to connect with Sandra Meranda via social networks or by signing up for a Listingbook account.
Filed in Custom Websites, Social Media, Some of our Client Work..
Posted by Admin Changescape on Thu, Nov 12, 2009 @ 05:29 AM
URL: http://padavansny.com
Date of Birth: November 2009
Project Type: Custom Website, Social Media
Purpose: developed to introduce the world to a newly opened restaurant in St. Charles, MO and to communicate with visitors specials and exciting events
The website features:
integration with social networking mediums: Facebook and Twitter
Facebook integration in which visitors are able to view the latest news, events, specials, photographs, videos, and are able to add themselves as fans of the company.
Twitter integration in which visitors are able to see up-to-date tweets without having to go to the Twitter Page of Padavan's NY
Visitors have the ability to:
submit online questions via the Contact Form
interact with Padavan's NY via Social Media
Filed in Custom Websites, Social Media, Some of our Client Work..
Posted by ken tucker on Wed, Nov 04, 2009 @ 09:00 AM
Businesses want the most effective ways for potential customers to be able to find them. Potential customers often proactively seek products and services out, and are more often doing so by searching the web. For many businesses, it is a real challenge to show up prominently in web search results, and it is very difficult to outrank larger regional or national competitors.
There are effective strategies to develop a comprehensive web presence for 2010. This column will discuss an approach to create an engaging and effective web presence not just with a website but to leverage the popularity of other sites on the web. These include social media sites such as Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter, Blogs, and YouTube, as well as Business Directory Listing and User Review sites. This approach allows businesses to create web outposts on the sites that people are already using to help drive customers to their websites.
It is vital to understand the business and its goals and objectives, its potential customers and their buying cycle, what words and phrases customers use to search for the products and services of the business, and where the prospective customers already spend time on the web. Once these things are defined and understood, an effective and accountable web presence strategy can be developed.
A professional, well planned website is critical. A website serves as your home base on the internet – the place that you control and that you get to define. But it can be a needle in a haystack. Many customers are using the web as an investigative tool to check the legitimacy of a business, as well as to find out about customer reviews of the business’ products and services.
That’s why businesses also need to take advantage of business directory listings and user review sites, several of which are free or low cost. These include sites on the major search engines such as Google, Yahoo!, and Bing, as well as industry specific ones. In the category of user review sites, I would include Yelp, Angie’s List, and a myriad of sites that are accessible from smart phones which are all accessed from the internet, many times at the precise moment that someone is looking for a product or service.
Another incredibly important component of an effective web strategy is the use of social media and networking sites, such as Facebook or a Blog. The use of these sites as they relate to business use will be addressed in future columns. The social influence of the web on buying decisions is huge, and should not be ignored.
This first appeared in print in Community News (www.mycnews.com), November 4, 2009, Page 24, Vol. 88 No. 44.
Posted by Admin Changescape on Mon, Nov 02, 2009 @ 05:01 AM
URL: http://cavespringstoastmasters.com
Date of Birth: November 2008
Project Type: Content Management System (CMS), Joomla
Key features of the website include:
information for prospective members about the local chapter and Toastmasters International, including how to join
upcoming events and contests
a web calendar
the ability to sign up for meeting roles
a blog
members-only section (which will allow members to view videotaped member speeches and member documents)
Purpose:
Changescape developed the site to be easy for others to navigate and maintain eliminating bottlenecks of updating the website and waiting on one person to perform the necessary changes.
Filed in Content Management Systems (CMS), Joomla, Some of our Client Work..
Posted by ken tucker on Sun, Oct 25, 2009 @ 08:57 AM
This entry is the first in a series of posts on establishing an effective web presence.
The Importance of Content
I hear a lot of business owners talking about how important it is for people to be able to find their website, what we refer to as Search Engine Optimization or SEO. And while this is very important, I think there are a couple of other topics that people forget to talk about to create an effective website, namely content and conversion, so I’m going to start with these.
As business people, we put our websites out there to get visitors to do something that we would like them to do. This is called a call to action, and it is a very important consideration on how we build our websites. We can drive thousands of people to our website , but if no one takes action toward an outcome that we both desire then what real value is that? Our visitors feel like they've wasted their time, and for the business owners have just lost a potential customer.
Too frequently in regard to website content, we forget about what is important to our customers. Instead we write the content that we (the businesses) think they want. We use our terms and frequently forget about the buying cycle of our products and services.
A successful website focuses on engagement and conversation instead of static one-way communication. And it therefore needs to be written with the visitor in mind. This shift seems to be occurring at faster and faster rates than ever before.
Visitors often seek your products and services out when they do a search, and are more often doing so on the Internet. Interrupting a potential buyer while he/she is in the middle of something just isn't effective. Many visitors are now proactive with researching products and services. I’m sure there is truth that if you say something long enough people will listen. But will it have the intended consequence? Will it finally get someone to call us for our products and services, or will it make sure that they will never call?
The web gives us the opportunity to get permission from visitors to converse with them, so it has tremendous potential. These conversations can lead to relationships and ultimately conversion (that is, taking the actions the business wants).
It is not just enough to drive people to your website. It needs to be the right people. And it needs to add value for those visitors so they stay on the site, engage, and keep coming back. Once we are privileged by having a visitor on our site, we need to make sure that they get what they are looking for and that the business can capitalize on the opportunity to build a relationship and a customer.
This is where content and search optimization are critically intertwined, and why businesses need to make sure that they think about the importance of content. After all, your customer is only one click away from leaving your website, maybe forever.