Jing Sample Screen Shot

I love free tools on the web that help me with efficiency, time management, or just being more effective at my job. I love them even more when their name makes me want to break out singing cheesy Fresh Prince songs from the 90′s. Jing does all of those things and more, and the best part is that it’s FREE to use (you can also upgrade to the Pro account).

I have to admit I was slow jumping on the Jing bandwagon. I have a good print screen function and a snipping tool on my computer already so didn’t think I needed Jing. After seeing all that it can do, however, I became a convert. Jing allows you to:

• Create a screenshot
• Create up to 5-minutes of screen recording
• Use Mark-up tools for images
• Get a Screencast.com Free Account (See the above image on Screencast at: http://screencast.com/t/BNuYV9wF)

Are you feeling unsure about your audience or your ability to reach them? In order to build self confidence in your writing, the more you know about the potential reader, the more you can grow your business and outreach.

The more clear you can be about your reader and your message, the more widely your work will be accepted. So, will you take a few minutes and make some notes (either mentally or on the printed paper.)

Who

Who are you writing for?

Who is your target audience?

How do they learn information?

What

What Is the problem they want to have solved?

What do you want them to feel?

What action do you want them to take after reading the article?

When

When will your piece be out? Will it be read before, while, or after the problem occurs?

When is an event taking place that you can tie the article to get more coverage?

How

How can you help them solve that problem?

How will you empower them to solve their own dilemma.

How will you assist them to identify with the article

How can you get them to trust you and want to build a relationship?

Where will they be reading it?

Where do you envision them seeing what you have written Online: article, blog, post, forum

Where do you see it appearing in an Offline print magazine (national or local) Side bar, opinion page

Why

Why should they believe and trust you?

Why should they agree/disagree with you ?

Why should they buy from you?

You will write an article that readers will want to read.

Once you answer these questions, your articles will be more targeted and not so general. You will be resonating with those who will trust and like you and want your products and information.

Keep writing and I will keep reading!

Guest post by © Judy H. Wright 

Artichoke Press is the home site of Judy H. Wright, family relationship coach and author. If your organization would like to schedule Auntie Artichoke, the storytelling trainer, for a workshop please call 406.549.9813.

You are also invited to visit our blog at Ask Auntie Artichoke for answers and suggestions which will enhance your relationships. You will also find a full listing of tele-classes and radio shows on relationships held every Thursday just for you.

Please join our community. You will be glad you did.

According to Klout, they measure influence in one’s ability to drive actions but don’t consider:

• Number of followers or friends
• Number of tweets or status updates (exception: when you are too noisy – this will cause your score to drop).

Klout goes on to say, “At its essence the score is calculated by looking at what proportion of the content you create is acted upon and how influential the people are performing the actions. It should also be noted that we calculate Klout Score in the context of specific topics also. We currently use this to target Klout Perks campaigns.”

Those Klout campaigns can include things such as product samples such as the one I received from Axe or special offers.

Why should you care about your Klout Score?
According to Klout, “At the most basic level it is a helpful way to evaluate your effectiveness on social media compared to everyone else. ”

In reality, your Klout score is just a number. What is most important in social media is if it is helping you meet your business or personal goals. I use social media to network with other professionals primarily, but also to learn about what’s happening in my industry, to inform people about my services, get referrals, and to gain new business.

The results can be somewhat subjective – a great new business connection, a new friendship, etc., but can also tie directly to the bottom line, like a new client for example. So what it comes down to is that I while I may look at my Klout score, it’s only one of many factors in determining the success of social media for my business.

Find out your Klout score at Klout.com and share it in the comments below.

Check out their blogs:

GoGinham - Stylishly Frugal Living

WineScamp – Wine, Wine, and More Wine

TwoOregonians - Two native Oregonians gearing up for a year-long journey around the globe to explore social care and food systems, people and place.

CaretakingCouple – The adventures of a Caretaking Team

HairwashingIsForSissies - Put Down That Shampoo

KirstenHope – The Good Life

FeedYourSkull – East Food. Not too much. Mostly plants.

And of course, my blogs:

JAM Media Group – Take the Stress Out of Online Marketing

LifeOhm - Living a Balanced Life

]]> http://jammediagroup.com/the-pdx-bloggers/feed/ 0 http://jammediagroup.com/how-social-media-is-changing-business/ http://jammediagroup.com/how-social-media-is-changing-business/#comments Mon, 10 Oct 2011 20:58:41 +0000 Monica Ray http://jammediagroup.com/?p=1281 “It is not necessary to change.  Survival is not mandatory.”  ~W. Edwards Deming 

Any businesses wondering whether or not to get involved with social media, whether to start using Internet resources like Facebook, Twitter, and other social media networking websites, doesn’t have to ponder any more. That’s because, whether you like it or not, whether you’re ready or not and whether you like it or not, your business IS already on those networks.

Consumers have always been willing to talk about the experiences they’ve had with businesses. The difference today is that, instead of chatting on the telephone one-on-one, consumers are taking to the Internet in droves to share their thoughts about businesses with millions of other social media savvy customers. Right now, there are people discussing your business online, putting out information about the good, the bad and the ugly of their experiences with you. The questions are, what do you do about it and how do you respond?

Studies tell us that 86 percent of people don’t trust advertising. These people rely on recommendations, referrals and ratings when choosing where they will take their business. Potential customers check your reputation online through social media resources like Google, Yelp, LinkedIn, Twitter, Merchant’s Circle and many others. And they are more than willing to provide feedback about their experience.

This presents new challenges for businesses but it also creates tremendous opportunities to excel in customer service. For example, imagine you own a restaurant. A customer who has a bad experience at your restaurant takes to the Internet and gives you a scathing review on Yelp or sends out a message on Twitter. Savvy companies are learning the effectiveness of responding to these individual opinions online. Addressing customer concerns directly and resolving their problems, provides a great opportunity to transform disgruntled customers into raving fans.

Your customers are using social media to spread the word about your business. This gives you the ability to respond to their questions and concerns in real time, in whatever format the question was asked. If you take advantage of it, this can mean real benefits to any business. Addressing customer issues one-on-one while the whole Internet watches gives your business the opportunity to establish, strengthen and maintain stronger relationships with your customers and build your image in the minds of your prospects.

What are your thoughts? How has social media changed or not changed your business? Share in the comments below.

However, either of this things could be happening based on your business’s reviews on Yelp, Google Places, and other review sites.

With mobile phones becoming commonplace, more and more people are using these review tools in deciding where to do business. Before people try a new restaurant, hair salon, or mechanic, there’s a good chance they are reading the reviews of that business on their mobile phone or computer.

Monitoring your online reviews will allow you to quickly identify potential product or service issues, and hopefully correct them. If someone took the time to leave a negative or low rating, it’s likely that others may have had a similar experience. Low ratings hurt your overall rating and will, over time, result in fewer new customers. Identifying and correcting product or service issues quickly can only help with the long-term viability of your business and reputation, both on and offline.

You can help increase your ratings, of course, by providing a quality product or service, and encouraging loyal customers to report their experiences with your business on review sites. Increased reviews will help your overall rating and balance out any potential low ratings.

If you are in a personal service business where you know the individual who reported a bad experience, you may consider sending them a personal note apologizing for their experience and offering a free or discounted service upon their return.

Attention to your business’s online reviews can help differentiate you from your competition, attract new customers and build existing customer loyalty. How does your business rate online? Share your thoughts in the comments below.

New social media sites seem to crop up daily from Google+ to Pinterest to Empire Avenue, and as an early adopter, chances are that I’ve tried them all. Not to mention the old favorites YouTube, Flickr, Foursquare, Gowalla, and others, I have accounts there too. But of all the tools out there, Twitter remains my favorite, and in my opinion, the most effective online tool for business networking, and here’s why:

1.) Connections:  You can connect and communicate with people through Twitter that you would be unable to reach otherwise.  Politicians, news reporters, celebrities, and authors use Twitter, providing you with the opportunity to reach out to them directly, and occasionally, make a meaningful connection. For me, these types of connections have resulted in more than 10 television news interviews, a feature in the local newspaper, and other opportunities for free promotional opportunities.

Twitter is also a great way to connect with other people from your community. Making those connections and engaging with people, over time, will lead to new business in the same way that attending in-person networking events. Some of my favorite clients and closest friends are a result of Twitter connections.

2.) Less Intrusive: Twitter is less intrusive to me than Facebook. I am more willing to follow and be followed by people I don’t know on Twitter than on Facebook. This allows you to broaden your network and make new connections without sharing too much personal information (my daughter’s photos for instance).

3.) More Conversational: I find it easier to engage in conversations through the use of Twitter than other social media tools. Nothing makes Twitter more fun or rewarding than engaging in a great conversation. By using @ tags to direct messages to individuals, the conversation is more direct and personal than those that may occur in a Facebook stream.

4.) Twitter Forces You to Be Concise: With the 140-character limit (although Twitter also allows for longer tweets now) Twitter forces brevity and efficiency in communication.

5.) Workshops and Seminars: Special events often have their own #hashtag for attendees to use during discussions. This hashtag is a great way to get more out of the event and also to connect with other people who are in attendance. It makes it easy to link to others on Twitter and then stay in touch after the event as well. The use of Twitter at events and afterwards has resulted in many long-term friendships and business connections for me.

As with any tool, it’s all in how you use it. Twitter is a relationship building tool that does take some effort and attention to be effective. Businesses and individuals that put their tweets on autopilot without seeking engagement and communication from their followers are not seeing the same benefits. For those that take the time to develop and implement a Twitter strategy, the benefits will be readily apparent. Twitter may not be the shiny new tool in your social media tool chest, but it can benefit your business when you need it and use it correctly.

What are your thoughts? Do you find Twitter to be a valuable business networking tool or do you prefer other social media tools. Share your feelings in the comment box below.

The team from JAM Media Group attended Portland Word Camp 2011 over the weekend at the Elliot Center in downtown Portland. We, along with several hundred fellow WordPress users enjoyed great food, beer, and whiffies along with talks by WordPress experts and enthusiasts, including several employees from Automattic, the founders of WordPress.

The even was an “unconference” which means that only a few of the presentations are formally scheduled. The rest are set up at the start of the event by the attendees. The 2-day conference had a lot of great information and opportunities to meet other WordPress users. Some of my more interesting/helpful take-a-ways were:

1.) Eat Your Own Dogfood – simply put, this means to use your own products and services. Scott Berkun (@berkun) from  Automattic spoke at the opening of WordCamp and introduced this concept. Even though many developers general avoid blogging, the team at WordPress make a point to blog on their own platform. This helps them identify with user issues and improve the platform and has led to several recent improvements of the interface. This philosophy applies to any business really, eat your own dogfood.

2.) Helpful plugins - one of the best things about an “unconference” is that there are impromptu groups that form throughout the event. I ended up in one of those groups where they were talking about some of the best plugins for WordPress which include:

• WP Optimize is a database cleanup and optimization tool that is used to help clean up unnecessary files on your blog.
• WP Twin easily clones your database, the downside however is that it is $97.
• WPML.org Language Plugin allows you to run multilingual websites, $29 or $79, depending on the install.
• Search Everything increases your search ability and also looks at your tags which are not included in most searches
• Jetpack is a WordPress plugin that supercharges your self-hosted WordPress site with the awesome cloud power of WordPress.com.

3.) If you have traffic ambitions for your blog, the secret is that good regular content will lead to slow steady growth. This is solid advice that top bloggers will tell you but it is very accurate. Most people set up blogs but don’t add nearly enough good content on a regular basis. It’s what will take your blog from a mere hobby to something more.

4.) Blog Topic – so what do you blog about? If you have any shortage of ideas, WordPress has a blog that is run by Scott Berkun called The Daily Post. The Daily Post will give you a daily topic or question that you can use as a blog post topic, or perhaps to spur new ideas for your own topics. Another site that does the same thing is Plinky.

5.) Remember you’re not alone, if you’re struggling with WordPress, or one of its features, chances are that others have had the same challenge. Remember to do a Google search for solutions, ask other WordPress users, or submit a request directly to WordPress. This is a very open community whose members are willing to share their knowledge and experience. Chances are, if you are having an issue, someone else in the community has had the same issue and there are solutions out there.

There are some great free resources for WordPress out there including:

• WordPress.tv – a place for video tutorials on WordPress
• WordPress Codex – the online manual for WordPress and a living repository for WordPress information and documentation.

According to their stats page:

• Over 285 million people view more than 2.5 billion pages each month
• WordPress.com users produce about 500,000 new posts and 400,000 new comments on an average day.
• From TechCrunch to TED, CNN, and the National Football League, WordPress.com users span a broad range.
• They host WordPress blogs written in over 120 languages.

The growth of WordPress shows no signs of slowing down. As of 2011, over 100,000 new WordPresses are created every day. Blogs continue to be highly popular around the world, and we’re now seeing a trend that’s potentially even bigger: Publishers are using WordPress to create all kinds of sites beyond blogs – news sites, company sites, magazines, social networks, sports sites, and more.

WordPress is transforming the digital web and making websites and content creation possible for even the most basic computer users. JAM Media Group specializes in Standard and Customized WordPress Websites and Blogs for our customers. For more information, contact us.

You Have  Facebook and Twitter Accounts – So You’re Using Social Media, Right?

Maybe, but maybe not. The questions becomes – are you getting results? How you use social media is almost as important as whether or not you sign up for an account.

I’ve heard Social Media being compared to having a gym membership. Once you have a membership you’ve taken the first step to getting fit. But if you don’t work out on a regular basis, you won’t see the benefits. There are also strategies you can use to maximize your time at the gym and improve your results.

The same is true for social media.

Social media isn’t a magic bullet and having profiles on all the sites won’t make you an overnight success. The value of social media comes over time as you engage people who are interested in your message.

Here are some ways to improve your results with social media:

1.) Have a strategy that includes what you want to achieve with social media, what tools you will use, and how you will measure results. Make adjustments as necessary. Social media is more of an art than a science and each industry, business, and individual are different. You may need to make more than a few tweaks to find your stride.

2.) Choose the Right Tools - Do your research and determine which tools will work best for you and your business. Where are your customers online? You might not want or need to be on every site out there. Focus your efforts where you will get the best results.

3.)Listen First before you jump into any site, this will let you get a feel for what’s acceptable and what’s not, every community is different. Also, make sure you understand a site’s Terms of Service as some have restrictions on how you can promote your business.

4.) Personalize and Humanize - No one wants to talk to a logo, social media is about people and interactions. Don’t be afraid to share information that shows you are human, it will make you more approachable to your follows.

5.) Engage - Provide value and don’t be spammy! You might be excited about your product or service but no one likes a non-stop sales ad. Provide relevant information but more importantly, interact and engage with your followers. Make sure your social media conversations are a Dialogue, and not a Monologue!

The main thing is to just get out there, ease into it if you need to but start working that social media muscle.