The Social Media Strategist: Build a Successful Program from the Inside Out

Book review by Pat Rocchi, Pat Rocchi Communications

The social media are not even a decade old, but they are now part of any complete communication program. Christopher Barger’s book, The Social Media Strategist: Build a Successful Program from the Inside Out (McGraw-Hill), serves as a worthy introduction to newcomers, covering a wide array of issues.

Barger gives readers tips on how to build a social media group in their organizations. Some examples: Find an executive champion in the organization to support your cause. Determine which part of the organization will own social media (marketing? IT? Human resources?). Hire a strong social media evangelist who also has business savvy. Create well-defined metrics and use the right tools to measure them.

Barger’s book is practical, advising how to overcome many of the barriers a corporate program might face. He writes, “If you haven’t been inside a company or organization — if you don’t know corporate culture and bureaucracy, or have no experience navigating internal minefields — then you don’t know how to make social media work inside a company.” He suggests ways to gain effective internal converts to social media while also building the most strategic internal infrastructure. He also generously mentions many other social media consultants and thought leaders, which the reader may follow in the future to keep up with the most current philosophies.

Notably, Barger advises organizations that use social media to become content publishers, rather than just republishers of others’ information. He also counsels social media practitioners to think about the content they publish in terms of its relevance to its audience.  “If you create great content, the social Web will do the work for you,”   he says.

Most important, he reminds the reader that the social media are two-way. Therefore, we should do our best to interact with the audience, letting them set the tone for a conversation. (Barger points out that social media have replaced the old “letters of compliant” from customers.)

In the latter part of book, Barger veers into philosophies of overall communication, such as events and media relations. I found that, rather than diluting the social media message of his book, he placed placing social media into its proper context as but one part of an overall program. One part that resonated particularly strongly with me was his advice on how social media can support crisis communication, and he does so with several well-chosen examples of PR disasters.

In general, I found this book important as a primer for the large number of people who are getting into social media for the first time.  As an early adopter of social media, I wish I had this advice. Barger helps communication professionals tap into the wisdom of the people who have worked in these media for a while with a comprehensive and easy-to-read handbook.

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7 Steps to Better Manage Your Email

by Productivity Expert Shawn Kershaw, Shawn Kershaw, Inc.

At a recent CCPA event hosted by Keller Williams, productivity expert, Shawn Kershaw, presented an awesome seminar for members. Here are a few of the tips which Shawn presented on the topic of How to Manage your Email, not let it Manage YOU!

Step 1: Practice FAT on EVERY incoming Email.Make a decision to File it, Act on it or Trash it

Step 2: Use Email Appropriately. Make sure that you and your colleagues are using Email as it is best used: for OUTGOING information to many people, in many locations possibly across time zones. Use the phone or face to face communication for decision making, discussions and sensitive issues.

Step 3: Send Well Crafted Email. Use the subject line to indicate the “intent” rather than the subject of the Email. Use key words like ACTION, INFO, DUE DATE to make it easier for the recipient to process your messages.

Step 4: Trash Unneeded Emails. The first sweep through your Email should be to rid your inbox of the “visual noise.” Trash any and all Emails you can without opening.

STEP 5: Act on Task Emails. Once you have decided that an Email is actionable, create a technique for acting on it. Opening an Email, closing it, and marking it unread is Not a productive technique! Move it to Outlook Task List, One Note, a reminder application on your smart phone or jot the action down on your paper To Do List. Another option is to change the subject line and add a “flag.”

Step 6: Act on Obligation Emails. Move Emails regarding due dates or appointments out of your inbox and onto your calendar.

Step 7: File Emails Later Use. Create a filing system of 5-7 large information buckets in Email Folders which support you FINDING an Email for later use. Get into the habit of moving Emails you need to keep. This reduces the volume of Email in your in box and helps you store like items
together.

For more Email tips or for a step by step “how to” in Outlook, click here for a free resource provided by Shawn Kershaw, Inc.

For more productivity tips from Shawn Kershaw, sign up for her STEPs Newsletter, Simple Tips to Extraordinary Productively.

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Social Media Tools

By Martin Weinberg, VP of Digital Strategy, eCity Interactive

It was a pleasure to speak on the panel discussion Creating a Better Customer Experience Using Social Media in January. All of the panelists shared good case studies and advice, and we got excellent questions from an engaged audience.

One topic of particular interest was the various free and low-cost social media management tools that were discussed. Anyone who wants to engage in social media for business eventually settles on a suite of tools to manage the process.

Unless you are a large company with a broad fan base, you really don’t need a mission control setup like Gatorade. It’s very easy for all of us to fall prey to the “new shiny toy” syndrome. On the other hand, new tools are being released every day, each one offering something new or better. At some point you have to select a few, get good with them, and put them to use to serve your business needs.

That being said, here are the tools that were discussed at the panel discussion. It is not meant to be a complete list, or necessarily a “best of” list, but it’s good place to start.

Tools

HootSuite
One of the most popular tools for managing social media feeds. Primarily used for Twitter, but you can also use it for LinkedIn, Facebook and more. The free version is fine for most small businesses.

Buffer
As you curate interesting things to share with your audience, it’s good to schedule posts so they appear throughout the day. Buffer makes it very easy to do just that. Just send the article to Buffer, and it takes care of scheduling automatically.

Google Alerts
It’s like having your own private clipping service. Easily set up searches for your company, your products, your competitors and anything else of interest to your business. It’s a great way to find interesting things to share with your social media followers.

Google Reader
Looking for a way to follow a collection of websites and blogs? Google Reader is your personal information dashboard. Bonus idea: deliver your Google Alert to a feed, and then bring the feed into Google Reader for a convenient list of alerts.

Yammer
Want to help your team practice business social media and idea sharing? Yammer is like having your own private Facebook/Twitter just for the people in your company.

Job Change Notifier
Get an alert every time one of your LinkedIn contacts changes jobs. Very handy for B2B businesses. And it’s free.

GetSatisfaction
Create a user-friendly public forum that allows customers to ask questions, share ideas and more.

Resources
These next 2 links from the panel discussion are not tools, but provide excellent points of view on social media for business.

The Definitive Guide to Facebook Publishing and Social Media
Excellent, clearly written guide on how to handle various social media response issues. Includes examples that nicely illustrate the interchanges.

ZMOT
Why should small businesses bother with social media? Learn about the Zero Moment of Truth, and why your customers make buying decisions about your company even before they reach your own website.

Martin Weinberg is VP of Digital Strategy at eCity Interactive. eCity Interactive is a full-service interactive agency in Philadelphia that creates award-winning websites and online marketing campaigns for major brands, mid-sized companies and non-profits. Follow Martin on Twitter at @MartinWeinberg.

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Aren’t You a Proprietor?

By Michael Holahan, PA General Store

Is the word Proprietor outdated, harkening back to an earlier time when most of CCPA’s members were retailers? The current membership of CCPA is made up of educated professionals from the fields of finance, law, marketing, etc. Few, if any, of the present members are wearing an apron while “minding the store.”

I have been a proud shopkeeper for over 24 years. I am intrigued by the notion that a business owner would find the title “proprietor” off putting. While it is true that most business owners do not sell a pork chop over the counter, the very qualities that make a store successful should translate to success in other endeavors. Retailers are in the business of delivering the right combination of products and services to a targeted audience at the right price. When choosing the selection of merchandise to sell the retailer must consider the best way to deliver a great product, differentiate their brand from the competition, and maintain a profitable margin. Their success depends not only on the quality and perceived value of their wares but on the consistent delivery of a level of service that meets or exceeds the expectation of its customers. Providing this service is totally dependent on how well the proprietor assembles and trains their team. What business owner does not grapple with these issues?

What matters most to our customers/clients? When they make the trip to a store, brick and mortar or virtual, they expect to find what they need. If there’s a problem, they want to know that there is someone there to fix things, someone who not only cares about their satisfaction but also has the authority to make things right. In an age when companies have layers of customer service representatives, we all crave access to the place where the buck stops. If you were in a store and had an issue to resolve, would you rather deal with a supervisor, district manager or the proprietor? Why would any businessperson not want their clients to think of them as a proprietor? Whether you are an associate lawyer or a mid-level financial consultant in a large company, your relationships with your clients are as dear to you as any shopkeepers are with their customers.

If 24 years in the Reading Terminal Market has taught me anything, it is that an unappreciated customer is a former customer. For years, the newsletter of Reading Terminal Merchants Association, a collection of 80 different proprietors, ended with the following quote. “Good will is the disposition of pleased customers to return to the place where they have been well treated”.

What business would not be well served to remember that?

Michael Holahan along with his wife Julie are the proprietors of the Pennsylvania General Store, a retail and mail order company specializing in Pennsylvania made foods and crafts. www.pageneralstore.com

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When you absolutely need to do research

By Linda Rink, RINK Consulting

As a marketer, I know that research is as important as advertising or promotion – actually, it’s more important, because knowledge and understanding come before strategies and tactics. But if you’re not used to doing research, how do you know when you need to?

Here are 8 situations that call for market research.

1. Business plan for a new business. Even if you are not approaching lenders for financing, launching a new business absolutely requires a well thought-out business plan – to reduce your risk and increase your chances for success.
2. Apply for funding. Lenders expect to be paid back – with interest. It is up to you to demonstrate that their investment has a high probability of earning them money. Your assurances alone won’t do it – you will need to document it with solid research.
3. New product development. Before you launch, you should validate who will buy, why they will buy, what features and benefits they desire and at what price.
4. Customer feedback. Knowing what your customers are thinking is always smart.
5. Find out if your strategies have produced expected results. Do pre- and post-strategy tracking.
6. Troubleshoot problems. When your gut no longer gives you the solution to a problem, it’s time to dig a little deeper. And when the problems are big – losing market share or a key customer – you definitely want a full understanding of what could be a complex situation.
7. Documentation for sales pitches. Objective data – from either your own research with prospects, or from third-party experts – validates your sales message.
8. Keeping ahead of your competitors. It can be on-going surveillance of websites or a visit at a trade show – it’s still research.

How many of these apply to your business?

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Social media case study: Freire Charter School

Founded in 1998, Freire Charter School is one of the oldest and most successful college-preparatory schools in Pennsylvania. Freire is located within the Rittenhouse Square neighborhood of Philadelphia, and the school’s mission is to cultivate students’ individuality, instill the value of community and nonviolence and provide a rigorous education for some of Philadelphia’s most underserved youth. Currently they have a weekly email for current families and students and a Facebook Alumni Group.

After meeting with Anne Pagano, Director of Development, and Bill Porter, Head of Academic Affairs, Raison d’Etre recommends the following to raise awareness about Freire and increase alumni and donor involvement:

Targets:
To enhance Freire’s first annual report and maximize fundraising efforts, potential donors, such as successful alumni, education community members and
philanthropists, could be Freire’s first marketing target. New student recruits
could be a second target.

Social media goals: By implementing a comprehensive social media campaign, Freire Charter School will be able to create an accessible platform where potential donors, current families, and alumni can interface, which will bolster the alumni network and
serve as a recruitment and fundraising tool.

Strategy: By sharing the accomplishments of current students, faculty and alumni, Freire will be able to market itself as a school where success happens and goals are met. Building upon what the school already does right, Freire can create an outlined vision of what it wants to achieve in the future, which will enable potential donors
and alumni to envision enhanced roles for themselves.

Tactics:

  • Initialize a monthly newsletter, which current and past Freire families, alumni, educators and Philadelphia community leaders can sign up for to receive the latest news (i.e. college acceptance lists), invitations to events (fundraisers, musicals) and other information.
  • Create an official Freire Charter School Facebook page, where fans can be regularly updated. Work with alumni to provide content for a new Freire blog. The blog’s content can include information about past and current students.
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Consider online surveys

by Linda Rink, RINK Consulting

A retailer asking for customer-service feedback, a membership survey from an association – these days we seem to receive more and more requests to fill out online surveys. Not surprising, really. They are quick and inexpensive compared to mail or phone surveys, and they can provide valuable information when used correctly. Unfortunately, when used inappropriately, they can be a waste of time for both the respondent and the surveyor.

How do you know if an online survey is the right solution for you? Here are some tips to help you decide. Online surveys work best when:

• Your survey is not more than 20 to 25 questions.
• Most questions are multiple choice, not open-ended. (You want finite answers; you don’t need to probe for nuances).
• Respondents have a reason to respond. (Either they know you, or you give them a good “What’s in it for me [WIIFM])?”
• The questions are not difficult to answer.
• You have an accurate and up-to-date e-mail list.

Don’t get sloppy with your surveys just because online survey software programs make them relatively easy to implement. First, make sure that an online survey is appropriate. Second, take care in developing the questionnaire – or have a professional do it for you.

Remember: You don’t get a second chance with your respondents to “get it right.”

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It’s OK if your audience talks back

by Pat Rocchi, Pat Rocchi Communications

Nobody likes a one-way conversation. It can be pretty boring. Similarly we should not expect our audiences to put up with the same.

As a rule, I take questions from my audiences throughout most presentations rather than wait until the end. I think you show your audience a measure of disrespect when you expect them to sit passively while you talk to them. On the other hand, audience participation is a way to spice up your talk.

Is this a hard and fast rule? No; it can impractical due to the particular circumstances, such as the size of the audience or the room, a limited amount of time or the nature of your presentation. If you are delivering an emotion-packed speech, such as a eulogy or fund-raising appeal, you certainly don’t want to break the mood with interruptions. But, in many other situations, a dialogue with the audience is desirable, and there are several ways to generate interaction:

• Give a dollar to the first person who asks a question without prompting. Reward the next questioner with the same dollar. Passing that dollar around the room generates fun, but also participation.

• Ask a question and then toss a sponge ball into the audience. Whoever catches it is obligated to answer. Then have that person toss the ball to another responder.

• Create an exercise that requires attendees to get out of their chairs to solicit input from others in the room.

For more ideas, I recommend the book Preventing Death by Lecture, by professional speaker Sharon Bowman. She gives lots of fun tips on how to engage your audience so they are involved in your presentation and are more likely to remember you and what you said afterward.

 

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Social media case study: Spruce Hill Manor

by Audrey Julienne, Raison d’Etre|Relationship Marketing

Spruce Hill Manor Bed and Breakfast is situated in an 1879 Victorian mansion in the University City section of Philadelphia. Because of its proximity to major universities and hospitals, a majority of clientele include those with business in the immediate area. Currently its marketing relies heavily on BB websites and word-of-mouth. Spruce Hill has a website and is in the initial stages of starting a blog, which it hopes will serve as a resource for guests to learn more about Philadelphia.

Following a talk with innkeeper Janet Reitano, Raison d’Etre recommends the following to attract new interest and utilize the current clientele base:

Targets: The first target that Spruce Hill Manor could concentrate its marketing efforts on is the existing clientele whom has already experienced the quality of service and can become a driver in terms of recommendation and word-of-mouth. As a secondary target, we agree to open the outreach to Philadelphia visitors at large.

Social media goals: Via a strategized social media campaign, Spruce Hill Manor will be able to position itself as a resource for what is happening in Philadelphia, which will be beneficial for both target groups. Additionally, it will increase word of mouth accounts about stays at Spruce Hill.

Strategy: Instead of “recreating the wheel,” Spruce Hill Manor should utilize the numerous existing resources on Philadelphia’s hot events and places to go and position itself as a hub where people can find this information. In order to develop a content of its own that will interest potential patrons, we are recommending that the BB capitalizes on the unique personalities of its visitors.

Tactics:

  • Create a tab on current website that is fed with RSS feed from Philadelphia happenings, blogs and sites (i.e. uwishunu.com).
  • Link new blog to website. We recommend the blog content to focus on visitors of Spruce Hill Manor with clientele interviews and photographs.
  • Use Facebook as the promotional platform for sharing blog content and Philadelphia news of interest to client base and potential visitors.
  • Initialize a monthly newsletter, which clientele can sign-up for and receive information about what’s happening at Spruce Hill and around Philadelphia. Eventually, include more content like “visitor of the month” or time to time deals (when reservations are low).
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Leverage your business for growth

by Linda Rink, RINK Consulting

Growing your business can be done in several ways: by adding customers, new products or services; through acquisitions; or by expanding into new geographic regions. All of these activities can be risky and expensive.

How can you reduce your risk and your costs plus increase your chances of success? One important strategy is to leverage what you already have. Your business already has many assets. Here are 5 ways to leverage them:

• Leverage your current customers, who can be a great source of information and referrals.
o Survey your current customers and ask them what other products or services they would like to receive from you.
o Always ask for referrals.
• Leverage what your company has in house.
o What expertise do you already have in house that you can tap for new services?
o What new products or services can you implement quickly, easily and at low cost? (Hint: Think line extensions, product upgrades and add-ons.)
• Leverage your company’s image and position in the marketplace. This is where you can differentiate yourself from your competition. Conduct research with your target audience to identify product areas that tie into your positioning and brand image.
• Leverage with subcontractors. Subcontracting is one of the easiest ways to expand your services without investing in new staff or training.
• Leverage with a partner. Partnering with a complementary business is a big way for you to grow your business in many ways: expanded customer base, products, geography. But there has to be a good fit in terms of business practices, philosophies, image and products.

Do your homework first. Then see how you can leverage your existing assets to minimize risks and boost your success.

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Social media case study: Reading Terminal Market

by Audrey Julienne, Raison d’Etre|Relationship Marketing

Reading Terminal Market in Philadelphia is a popular market, located on 12th and Arch Street since 1892. Reading Terminal sells produce, meats, seafood, and is home to dozens of unique restaurants and merchants. As of right now, Reading Terminal wishes to focus their marketing initiatives on attracting Philly locals. They currently have a newsletter, Facebook and Twitter.

Following a talk with general manager Paul Steinke, I recommend the following to continue increasing locals interest:

Targets: Food (often self-proclaimed) experts will be our target of choice. To promote themselves and their secrets/opinions/experiences, food bloggers and foodies at large are avid users of social media outlets; and they already view the Reading Terminal Market as a destination for quality and variety.

Social media goals: Reading Terminal Market already has a substantial following on Twitter (approx. 2,700) and “Likes” on Facebook (approx. 8,800), our goal will be to make this audience more active and encourage them to share about their Reading Terminal Market experience, pushing the information to their network of followers/friends.

Strategy: Reading Terminal is unlike commonplace grocery stores because of its quality goods, historical roots and vast cultural and culinary offerings. To allow the best capture of the visual and sound richness of the Reading Terminal Market, we recommend focusing on the use of video medias. Those videos can be the support to sharing customer experience and behind the scene stories.

Tactics:

  • Produce a weekly/monthly video blog, which will be posted to YouTube, Facebook, Twitter and possibly a blog.
  • Create a video for each Reading Market event with testimonials and highlights (doesn’t need to be high budget) and establish a series like “A Day With [name the RTM merchant here].”
  • Share videos produced by influencers when not promoting own content.
  • Encourage customers to upload their own videos on Facebook and “like” one another’s videos.
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The personal touch of speaking

by Pat Rocchi, Pat Rocchi Communications

When counseling others on how to be successful as a speaker, my mantra is: “It’s all about your audience; it’s not about you.” That includes building a relationship with your audience members, before and after your presentation. Here are some actions that have worked for me.

Find ways to reach out ahead of time. I recently spoke to a group of people in career transition. The web-based sign-up system gave me information on each participant as they enrolled. I sent each of them an e-mail telling how much I appreciated that they had signed up, how much I looked forward to meeting them and how I wanted to serve their needs.

Be there as they arrive. I got to the event ahead of the audience to set up the room. As each arrived, I gave them a copy of my handout and engaged them in a short conversation. (Those who had received my introductory e-mail felt as though they already knew me.)

Say goodbye to as many people as you are able. At the end, I stood at the front of the room and shook everyone’s hands, thanking them for coming. I asked how the presentation met their needs, and I requested their feedback.

Reach out afterward, just as you do prior to the event. I sent a thank-you e-mail to everyone who attended. I personalized each message a bit, such as thanking someone for a particularly provocative question asked or for buying my book.

Forget starting your presentation with a grand, dramatic entrance, which are for rock stars, divas or ham actors. Instead, connect with your audience members more intimately. The more we do that, the more likely we are to meeting their expectations of our speeches and help them meet their objectives.

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Mystery shop your business

by Linda Rink, RINK Consulting

When was the last time you mystery shopped your business? In other words, pretend you are a prospect and contact your business for more information.

Make a habit of regularly checking on some important communication basics for your business:

• Is your website loading correctly (check both Internet Explorer and Mozilla Firefox)? Are the links working?
• Who answers “Contact Us” inquiries and how quickly? What’s the message?
• Pre-test all communications, especially of a promotional nature, that go out from your company. Ideally, have a third party read, test and react to them. And alert your staff that there may be calls coming in.
• Call your company’s main phone number and see what you get. A burdensome menu? An unprofessional receptionist? Infinite-loop voicemail? How about an automated company directory that asks you to spell out the person’s first and last name? Help!

Give up? So will your prospects. Make it easy and pleasant for your prospects and customers to reach you. Your business’s reputation and success depend on it.

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Designing successful newsletters

by Brigid Kaye, Creative Characters, Inc.

newsletter’s design has a big impact on reader reaction and often is the reason a reader is attracted to read in the first place. The design can also determine whether a reader will continue reading or move on. To be sure your design is successful, remember the 3 Cs of design: consistency, conservative and contrast.

Consistency addresses the format of your newsletter. If printing in black with an accent color, select a color palette and maintain it throughout each issue. If it’s an e-newsletter, use consistent color choices and don’t create a masterpiece of your own. Color is used to emphasize the message, not the message itself. Use an underlying grid to organize each page, story or section. If your newsletter is short (4 pages/stories or less), use the same grid for each page. Use templates and style sheets to control headlines, subheads and body copy.

Be conservative in the use of fonts and graphic elements, especially in a short newsletter. A good rule is to limit the number of photos, graphic accents or clip art to two per page. Pick a photo that means something. Random handshakes rarely say anything at all except, “I’m here to fill space.” Select one font for body copy and another for headlines, and use them exclusively. Stylize the two fonts with italics, bold, and condensed but do not introduce additional fonts.

Use contrast to direct the reader’s eye and to establish the hierarchy of importance. Headlines should contrast with body copy and with subheads. Drop caps, extra-large initial caps or an illustrated capital letter will draw the reader’s eye and create graphic interest. Use white space in the form of gutters please define and margins to lighten up dense body copy.

Improving the design of your newsletter will pay dividends in reader interest and accessibility. It can enhance the perception of your company. And it is one of the first things you can do to start developing your reputation as an expert in the community. A well-designed newsletter with interesting current topics is often passed along to colleagues or taken home to give to family and friends.

The more you can provide relevant content that’s current and interesting, the more prospect mind share you gain.

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Picture This: Using images in documents (part 3)

by Brigid Kaye, Creative Characters, Inc.

File formats for printed images
The best file formats to use for images that will be printed are:
For vector images: .eps (Encapsulated PostScript).
For raster images: .tif (Tagged Image File Format).

Vector images are constructed from mathematical formulas. This means that they are resolution-independent and can be scaled (resized) and manipulated (flipped, rotated, stretched, cropped, colorized, combined) with ease using programs like Adobe Illustrator and Corel Draw. This is an ideal format for the initial design of logos and illustrations and for clip art. It does not produce images like this one.

Raster images are composed of rows and columns of pixels (sometimes called a bitmap). Because raster images are hard to resize and manipulate, they reproduce best at the size and orientation of the original. Raster images can be cropped, colorized, converted to gray-scale or monochrome using image-editing programs such as Adobe Photoshop or Corel Paint Shop Pro. All photographs are raster images.

The .tif file format usually produces the best quality image from a digital camera. The other choice is .jpg (Joint Photographic Experts Group), a file format that has been optimized for continuous-tone full color photographs by incorporating file compression.

JPG compression looks at blocks of 8×8 pixels and selectively reduces the detail in each block. This maintains the physical size of the image, reduces the amount of space required to store it, but sacrifices the quality of the image. The extent of image degradation depends on the degree of compression (it is adjustable).

If you are editing or manipulating digital  photographs, work in .tif format rather than .jpg, since each new save in .jpg compresses the file.

The proprietary file formats .psd (Photoshop), .psp (Paint Shop Pro), .ai (Adobe Illustrator) and .cdw (Corel Draw) are good to use while editing images in order to have access to all the editing tools in the program. However after the image editing is complete, save raster images as a .tif file and vector images as an .eps file.

Use images successfully
For maximum effectiveness, any image you use in a document must reproduce well. This requires attention to the file format and adhering to production standards.

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Social media case study: Absolute Abstract

by Audrey Julienne, Raison d’Etre|Relationship Marketing

Located in Midtown Village, Absolute Abstract is a wall-decoration store specializing in frameless art, with a very diverse clientele and increased traffic as a main business goal. As of today, James McManaman and partner David White have put most of their online marketing efforts in building a customer data-base and a Facebook following.

After a short conversation with the storeowners, I would recommend the following to improve customer engagement and drive traffic to the store:

Targets: Focus the social media efforts on 2 main targets: Students & Empty Nesters. Those 2 audience segments have a very tech-friendly behavior in common and are more likely to engage on social networks.

Social Media Goals:
• Increase traffic to the store website and convert at least 1% of traffic into newsletter sign-up, Facebook Like, Twitter follow or blog subscription (see below).
• Monitor the web for art-related information and make content findable for the 2 main audiences.

Strategy: Bring the “decoration” experience outside of the store and into people’s houses. There is a very strong enthusiasm for home improvement and DYI deco stories; we recommend that Absolute Abstract surf on this trend and create a community of “home decorators.”

Tactics:
• Create a community based around decoration with customers, staff, partners, professional interior designers, partners, etc.
• Create an Absolute Abstract platform where experiences can be shared: follow a picture from the store to the wall, have professional interior designers help clients with picking and hanging their art and follow the process either with pictures or video, offer people to post a picture of their wall and have other community members pick which pictures to use…
• Use Facebook, Linkedin, YouTube, Foursquare, Twitter, the existing newsletter and a blog to engage, and promote each story and encourage sharing.

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Start your speech with a bang, not a banality

by Pat Rocchi, Pat Rocchi Communications

At a recent speech competition, all 7 contestants opened with rhetorical questions, such as “Who here has a dream?” and “Who here has danced?”.

I cringed. It was not simply because most of us danced, or because few will admit to not having a dream. No, as a speaking coach, I was put off by all the indistinguishable openings.

You get just one chance to grab your audience’s attention before they decide if you are worth their time. To have a strong start, pick one of the following ways to open:

  • An anecdote — Begin with a story not only to grab the audience’s attention but also to state the  thesis of your talk. When I recently spoke to a Baptist church, I told a story that ended in a humorous reference to the Psalms. The audience laughed, and  the story also showed that I understood their religious culture.
  • A bold statement — Go ahead, be strong. Grab the moment. In the 1964 speech that started his political career, Ronald Reagan opened by saying, “I have spent most of my life as a Democrat. I have recently seen fit to follow another course.”
  • A testimonial — Cite the opinion of an influential person to make your point. For example, many people say the deregulation of electricity in Pennsylvania creates new business opportunities. To support that position, you could quote Warren Buffet, who told Forbes magazine, “Energy deregulation will be the largest transfer of wealth in history.”
  • Startling statistics — Sheer numbers are not always enough. Frame them in a way that gives them life. To say that Facebook has 550 million users may be incomprehensible. Instead, cite Time magazine, which said “If Facebook were a country, it would be the third largest, behind only China and India.”

Now you can go on to introduce yourself formally, give your audience an overview of your speech, and then launch into it. A strong opening will succeed in seizing your audience, improving the odds they will be engaged as you serve their needs with your presentation.

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When the going gets tough, the tough do research

by Linda Rink, RINK Consulting

The automatic reaction to tough times is to reduce expenses and “hunker down.” And one of the first budget items to be cut is often research.

This can be very shortsighted. When your business is growing, it’s easy to keep on doing what you’ve been doing because it “works.” The need for incisive research may not be so evident. But when times get tough, you need to be more competitive, more strategic. Now, more than ever, you should arm yourself with the information that will help you stay ahead.

Don’t think you can find the money? Here are 6 tips to help you stretch your research dollars:

• Prioritize your information needs. Rather than arbitrarily cutting the budget by 20 percent, rank the planned research and spend where it’s most important.
• Look to the future. When the economic picture is brighter, will you be ready? Do your homework now, so that you can have a jumpstart when customers start spending again.
• Revisit projects that you put on the back burner and never fully examined. Chances are, some preliminary research has already been done. Finishing the market analysis might not be that expensive.
• Brainstorm new growth opportunities. Opening the door to fresh ideas from your staff, ad agency, customers – even suppliers – can move your business in a positive direction. Follow up with market research to test and prioritize the opportunities.
• Talk with your existing customers. Think about conducting an informal survey or one-on-one discussion to see what their current priorities and issues are.
• Analyze the profitability of your customer base to focus your marketing efforts for maximum return. Can you segment your customers based on characteristics such as industry, size or other variables? Spend your prospecting time where it counts.

Be smart about how you spend your time and your research dollars. The results will help you weather tough economic times – and stay ahead when the economy improves.

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Picture This: Using images in documents (part 2)

by Brigid Kaye, Creative Characters, Inc.

Image resolution
Image resolution is the amount of detail in an image, expressed as the number of pixels in the image. Resolution for digital cameras is often expressed as the number of pixel columns (width) by the number of pixel rows (height), such as 640 x 480. For printing, resolution is expressed as dots per inch (dpi), meaning the number of pixels in a linear inch. The more pixels per inch, the higher the resolution.

The most important thing to understand is the relationship between an image’s resolution (dpi] and its print size (actual width and height). For a photograph to reproduce well in print, it must have a minimum resolution of 300 dpi in print size. Such a file is termed high resolution (hi-res). In some cases a printer may be able to use a 200 dpi image but almost never a low-resolution (lo-res) file (resolution below 200 dpi), because there are not enough pixels to adequately represent the image.

Even if a file’s resolution is high enough, it still may not reproduce well if the image resolution doesn’t match the print size. If you ask a printer to enlarge the image to print in a bigger size than it was originally, the pixels that make up the image will move farther apart. This changes the number of pixels per inch, reducing the resolution. If the enlargement is significant, individual pixels may become visible, creating jagged edges in the image. This effect is called pixelation.

File size
The size of a file is determined by whether it is a vector or raster file and whether it is binary, gray-scale or color. File compression is a way of reducing file size without compromising image quality.

There are two compression methods:
• “Lossless” compression keeps all the pixels of the original image but finds more efficient ways to represent recurring patterns of pixels in the file. TIF is a common lossless file type.
• “Lossy” compression eliminates pixels from the original image that aren’t needed to maintain quality. Data is discarded (lost) during compression. JPEGs (or JPGs) are common lossy file types.

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Resolve to write a business plan

By Linda Rink, RINK Consulting

Many people think they don’t need a business plan or perhaps feel overwhelmed by the prospect of sitting down and developing it. They are doing just fine without one, thank you.

Here are 3 important reasons why you should have a written business plan:
• Do you have a short-term and long-term vision for your business? Is it articulated in writing? If not, how are you going to focus your efforts to make it happen?
• We all have limited resources. Spend your time and energy where you get the biggest return – and that takes some thought and planning.
• How do you judge success? If you don’t have a plan, how do you know if you had a successful year?

You may be surprised to hear that a business plan need not be lengthy or complicated. A short, focused plan is better than none at all. These 6 action steps will give you a basic plan:
• Write down a description of your business.
• Write down your goals for the next year. They should be a mix of financial and strategic goals.

Some examples are:
• Grow revenues by x percent.
• Increase client base by x percent.
• Grow profitability by x percent.
• Diversify into at least one new area or add one more new services to offer customers.
• Review where your marketing dollars went the previous year. Are you satisfied with the results? Where was your money best spent?
• Review your revenue sources/client list from the previous year. Which ones were most profitable? Most aligned with your goals for the business?
• Repeat for next year the activities you are happy with; set aside budget dollars accordingly.
• How do you want to grow next year? Refer back to your list of goals. What will you do to get there? Set aside budget dollars to fund tactics.

I promise you, just doing this written exercise will give you value: clarity, focus, hopefully some energy and enthusiasm going forward. These days, we all can use that.

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