RightMix Technologies

Social Media Strategy for Small Business

Prasanna Bidkar — Fri, 24 May 2013 13:40:22 +0000

Social media is the glue that binds all the different phases of customer interaction. However, before you kickoff your social media game, you need to build a sound strategy to compete with your opponents. These elements of social media strategy will help you get started and prepare you for the social media world.

Social Media Strategy – Goals

What do you want to achieve with your social media efforts? Social media can be used to create brand awareness, drive sales, or provide customer support after sales. The choice will also depend if your business model is B2C or B2B.

Social Media Strategy – Engagement

Social Media engagement strategy involves analyzing how you wish to engage your customers. Some of the common engagement strategies you see around include advertising offers and coupons. Others share tips and information to engage potential customers.

Social Media Strategy – Network Strength

Each social media network has its own strength. You will find LinkedIn more helpful to connect with other business managers and corporate buyers compared to Facebook. However, if your products or services are for individuals, Facebook will prove to be more effective. Similarly, Twitter is perhaps be the best network to offer customer support and increase interaction with your customers.

Social Media Strategy – Content

With myriad networks available, each one has carved its own niche. Pinterest is focused on visual content, Twitter for short messages, LinkedIn to share Business articles and for discussions, and so on.

However, if you have limited resources, you cannot participate on each network. You must, then, identify the best network suitable for your engagement strategy and your ability to create content. For example, if you employ graphic artists, it will be convenient for you to create visuals. Similarly, if you have writers at hand, sharing information through a blog would be easier.

So before you begin your social media campaign, analyze your business goals and select an engagement approach suitable for your products and services. Then match your requirements to the social network strengths and create content for these networks.

Social Media Strategy for Small Business originally appeared on RightMix Technologies on May 24, 2013.

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Why you need a Social Media Editor

Prasanna Bidkar — Wed, 15 May 2013 11:29:54 +0000

Editors have long been the gatekeepers for publishing houses. A Social media editor is now the ‘gatekeeper’ for your social media dialogue. People who can single-handedly write a successful future for the media house or can as easily guide the organization into oblivion. With all organizations becoming publishers, your business needs a guiding force that can write the success story for your organization.

Publishing content in various formats has become necessary to stay alive in consumers’ memory. However, good content can be easily lost in all the noise on the Internet. To stay fresh in your audience’s memory, you need to push content through various Web 2.0 channels such as YouTube, Social Media networks, and Podcasts. The Web 2.0 revolution has also changed the way businesses interact with customers. The communication model has moved from one-to-many to many-to-many.

This paradigm shift in how businesses interact with customers has increased the complexity involved in keeping a unified front when interacting with customers in the different phases from pre-sales to customer support. Here are some of the reasons why the many-to-many communication model is fraught with hazards, and why you need a social media editor to monitor your interactions in the virtual universe.

Avoid Inadvertent Social Media Mistakes

Social Media is a new beast and we need to think what to post many times to avoid a backlash from the social media community. Professional content writers, journalists, and columnists are often trained in avoiding biased language or making offensive statements. However, your employees, who may not be trained and sensitized about avoiding offensive words or biased language, can easily make these mistakes. Mistakes that, of course, are not mistakes to them.

Other than these writing errors, people can push the wrong key and publish things that they may not really intend to publish. You can apologize, but as Shane Duffy – an Irish soccer player – found out when someone RTed from his phone, you are already in the eye of the social media storm.

A social media editor can correct these mistakes before the tweets, posts, or messages in any other form go public.

Maintain Hashtags

A hashtag is the cornerstone of a business’s conversation with the public on Twitter. With other networks now adopting the hashtag approach, it has become all the more important. The importance of hashtags is not what I wish to reinforce. The conversation can be consistent and meaningful only if the hashtags used by your business are consistent.

A recent study presented at the 29th ACM international conference on Design of communication found that people tend to float many different hashtags when discussing an event or a catastrophe, and that a consensus evolves gradually. Until that time, the conversation is split across different axes and people are conversing among themselves in multiple groups.

To ensure that your business’s dialogue with people is not lost or fragmented, your social media contributors need to use the right hashtags for the right purpose and without any spelling mistakes. An important message sent with a spelling error can be lost in the Twitter world and spell doom for your company.

The social media editor can maintain a style guide for hashtags that informs contributors of the appropriate usage. And as the message is reviewed, the social media editor can fix any errors to make sure that the message is not lost.

Ensure the Time is Right

Use of tools to automate certain tasks on social media is not a secret anymore. Most businesses use a combination of queuing messages and interacting in real-time with people on their social media accounts. However, a message queued in good faith yesterday can be a problem tomorrow.

For example, the NRA tweet that followed the Colorado Shootings couldn’t be any more ill-timed. But it is not only the context of the message that can get you in trouble. NBA player Brandon Jennings was fined for the timing of his message rather than the content.

If only . . . A social media editor could have easily taken care of the problem by ensuring that the messages going out were appropriate for the time and adhered to the rulebook.

Thwart Malicious Intent

Not everything is a mistake. People are people: they get angry, or just frustrated. The point is they lash out and you need to ensure that they don’t let out steam at your expense. Just as you walk out the person who leaves your organization to protect your data, it is important to immediately revoke their access to official social media accounts.

But can you be really sure that the person has nothing scheduled for the next week? A control mechanism such as the social media editor will help remove any intentional tweets scheduled to undermine your business.

Monitor Conversation

Talking to customers is often tricky. It was all right when this conversation mostly happened on the phone, but with social media, everything is public. As Zoe Barnes from House of Cards says, “These days when you are talking to one person, you are talking to thousand.” In such conditions, spotting a brewing customer discontent with a company representative and diffusing the tension becomes very important.

The channels of communication may change, but the solutions remain the same. One way to diffuse the tension is to get someone higher up the ladder to talk to the customer. Tools such as the LiveWorld’s moderation application allow moderators to escalate messages to the right person and facilitate communication.

Social Media is dynamic and engaging, but hasty implementation of social media solutions without appropriate control mechanisms can do more harm than benefits to your business. Having a social media editor on the team or designating additional responsibility to an existing team member can minimize the chances of social media mishaps. There was a time when some believed that even negative publicity was publicity, but with sentiment analysis applications not too far away, it is wise to keep that negative publicity at bay.

Why you need a Social Media Editor originally appeared on RightMix Technologies on May 15, 2013.

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Stop Making these 3 Worst LinkedIn Mistakes

Pragati Bidkar — Wed, 08 May 2013 12:24:07 +0000

LinkedIn is the largest professional network out there, and whatever your job, you probably have a profile on it already. But did you know the wrong sort of profile can harm you rather than help you? Especially when it comes to connecting with people you want to work with! Today I am going to tell you about the 3 worst Linkedin mistakes you can make. Mistakes that are guaranteed to be an absolute turn off for anyone reading your profile.

Every network has its ‘thing.’ Twitter with its 140 character limit is best for updates and ‘to the point’ statements or opinions. Facebook is for sharing your life with your neighbor, aunt, high-school friend, and maybe the person who bags your groceries. LinkedIn is neither of these things. Your LinkedIn profile is your professional or work summary, and outlines your education, skills, training, experience etc. This profile establishes what you have done, and is your calling card when it comes to seeking new positions, advancing your career, or just building your network.

While you can find many lists for what to do and what not to do on LinkedIn, here are three things that you should avoid at all costs. These might sound caustic to some of you, but that is because I really want to drive these points home.

LinkedIn Profile Photo

Some of you choose not to display this at all! This is an absolute ‘No’ in my book, but you could do worse.

What your profile photo should be – A simple headshot will do, and a smiling face will do better.

What your profile photo should Not be –

Caricatures or cartoon avatars have no place here. That hot bikini shot is misplaced. And so are photos with spouses, parents, babies, dogs etc. This is simply not the place for them.

Believe me, there are many such profiles out there. I just hope that you won’t be one of them after reading this!

Duplicate Work Summary

I have never been able to understand why people do this. Giving them the benefit of doubt, many times the system doesn’t refresh fast enough and people hit ‘Save’ multiple times. But remember, you can and should view how your summary looks. And you can always go back to Edit mode to change it.

Many people do more than one job. Freelancers almost always have multiple contracts going on. Or you might be doing different projects in the same company. So you could have more than one entry for a given duration, if the work details are different.

The mistake I am talking about here is pasting the same summary again and again, just to make your work summary look longer (?). Believe me, I have seen this on many profiles. And the only thing I want to say is – people ‘can’ read! And they can spot what you’re trying to do a mile away. Now this might be an honest error on your part, or plain laziness in re-checking what you entered, but the person looking at your profile does not know that.

The quality of your work profile is more important than its length. Sure, it should be keyword rich. But it should not be meaningless or fake in any way.

Typos or Grammatical Errors

Many people on LinkedIn are actively looking for a job. Most are open to accepting new offers. Almost any job requires you to be fluent in language and proficient in its use. So typos or grammatical errors have no place on your LinkedIn profile. Proofing or editing your profile is a crucial step.

There are people who probably did not ace English grammar. There are those who might misspell due to some disorder. And then there are those who are just plain careless. But none of these reasons are evident to the person reading your profile!

All a recruiter will see is that your profile is ridden with bad spelling or wrong sentence structure. While this may not affect your job directly as a nutritionist or landscaper, it shows lack of attention to detail. Some might think you are not serious enough about this whole LinkedIn thing. No one is going to spend time trying to second guess why your writing is shoddy. The quickest thing they can and will do is move on to the next person.

Take some extra effort to proof read your profile. Do it 2-3 times and then ask a buddy to do it again. Why? Because it is often difficult to spot your own mistakes. If you still find your writing skills wanting, hire an expert to write your LinkedIn profile.

Summing up

With a professional network like LinkedIn, you have high visibility. You never know when the next big offer might come by. Or who might evaluate you as a potential business partner or employee. While there are many things you need to do to portray your best, you should give equal importance to not portraying something negative. The mistakes I have listed above come under the category of ‘faux pas’ and are entirely avoidable with some due diligence.

I hope you are off to check your own profiles to make sure you are not committing these blunders on LinkedIn. We will talk about how to enhance specific portions of your profile in our upcoming posts. Meanwhile, you are welcome to ask any questions you have or leave a comment here to voice your opinion.

Stop Making these 3 Worst LinkedIn Mistakes originally appeared on RightMix Technologies on May 8, 2013.

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WordPress 3.6 Features – A sneak Peek at the Latest Release

Prasanna Bidkar — Tue, 30 Apr 2013 14:51:51 +0000

WordPress 3.6 is all set to be released in May 2013 and promises to be a feature rich update. First, many thanks to all the WordPress coders who work tirelessly toward making it user friendly and feature rich for us bloggers. This latest release promises to have something for us all: bloggers who like to publish in multiple formats and publishers who manage multiple authors and editors.

This post looks at some of the important features that give users a better control over their post appearance, and make a number of things easy by lowering dependence on external plugins.

Post Formats

The Post Formats feature was released in 3.1, but it was something that only developers could use until now. WordPress users could exploit this feature only if it was included in the theme or had to specifically get developers to enable the option. With post formats available in the interface, WordPress 3.6 users can now easily differentiate the look-and-feel of different types of posts and help readers navigate the blog as they scan and skip various blog entries.

Image Post Format – The image added here is defined as the image for the post, similar to the Featured Image option. This type of Format is well suited to share an Infographic, or if you are an artist, perhaps share your illustrations and digital art. You can add a short description if you want, or use this format to just post images as you do on Pinterest.

Gallery Post Format – The gallery post type makes it easy to insert image galleries. You can insert existing image galleries and create a post, or create a gallery on the run and publish a post in the Gallery format. This post format can be suitable for a travel blogger or a food blogger, where the blogger can create a image gallery of a recipe and put it at the top of the post.
Video Post Format – The Video post further reduces your dependence on external plugins and you do not need to get embed code from YouTube and fret over the video size and other similar parameters. You can now easily share your videos published on YouTube by copying the video link to the post and adding a brief description to the video. Similarly, you can also share videos published by others on your blog by writing a commentary for the video and express your views.

Audio Post Format – Similar to the Video post, you can add an audio file from your Media Library to your text post. You can also share free podcasts on subjects that interest your readers.

Quote Post Format – Do you like to share inspirational quotes with your readers? This post format will make your life easier. You could even start a Quote of the Day post on your blog for your regular readers and make their day a bit brighter. Write a relevant headline and just copy the quote and the source URL, no need to spend additional time on formatting the quote every time once you define the style for the post format.

Link Post Format– If you blog a lot about current affairs or fancy writing caustic headlines and briefs on the current news items, you will definitely love this one. The link post format allows you to link to external pages in a way that when your blog readers click the post link on the main blog page, they are directed to the original page.

In my earlier post, I talked about how content curation can help you generate traffic to your blog. With Link posts, you can easily share interesting information, provide your take on the subject discussed in the main article and direct the reader to the original article – all without violating any copyright!

Sounds exciting, doesn’t it? Multiple formats allow you more control on your posts and help you define how they appear on your blog. Of Course, you still need to add code to the CSS if you wish to differentiate the look-and-feel for each post type. But they do have some inherent differentiators. For example, a link post will automatically take the reader to the original web site. Similarly, an image post will display the image you specify prominently on the post.

Navigation Menu Interface

I still remember how confused I was when I started with WordPress. The Menus page had a number of options and I spent a lot of time figuring out what needs to be done first and in what order. WordPress 3.6 has simplified things in many ways.

They have clearly spelt out and put a link at the beginning that says ‘create new menu.’ Furthermore, when you start creating that new menu you want, all other options are blocked and this enforces a workflow for you.

It also wasn’t clear earlier if the menu structure could be defined on the same page. The new interface clearly lists the pages, links, and categories that you select under Menu Structure that you can rearrange. The Menu Settings options help you assign one menu to multiple locations in just one click.

Post Locking

WordPress is a wonderful Content Management System; however, it still lacks a few features such as blocking access to a post that is open for editing by other users.

The new WordPress 3.6 now gives you the post lock feature that is so important if you are using WordPress in a multi-editor environment. For example, if you have an editor reviewing a post and don’t want others to get access to the post at that same time, this feature adds a padlock sign showing that the editor is working on the post.

Even if someone tries to edit the post, they are presented with a Warning to inform them of the lock status again, but do have an option to take over the post control.

If they do take over the post control, the editor is then informed of the action and can work toward resolving the post control issue.

Revisions

You could restore earlier versions of your post in WordPress before, but it was a bit difficult to guess the exact date of the version and users had to try a few time before they could open the correct version to restore. The new interface to restore old version makes it very easy.

The Previous and Next buttons at the top now help you browse all the revisions with ease. The bottom portion of the screen shows the content you have deleted and added in each revision. The new interface definitely reduces the number of steps you need to go through to find and restore the version you want to restore.

In summary, this new release is full of features that will make your life easier and give you more control on how you want to style your blog posts. Other than these options, WordPress 3.6 has also tweaked the the Autosave option. The new Autosave saves the text you are typing in the browser’s memory. So if you lose internet connectivity or your computer crashes, all that content will still be in the browser memory and will be retrieved.

What feature of this proposed Version 3.6 do you like the most or have been waiting to see the most?

WordPress 3.6 Features – A sneak Peek at the Latest Release originally appeared on RightMix Technologies on April 30, 2013.

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Website Security for WordPress in 3 Steps

Prasanna Bidkar — Thu, 25 Apr 2013 12:41:19 +0000

Attacks on website hosts are not uncommon. Websites have always been susceptible to attacks and data loss. However, with content management systems in use, conducting mass attacks targeting a specific technology and a flaw has become easier. Website security for WordPress is a pressing concern for professionals and small businesses alike. This month’s attack on WordPress websites was one such example of a sweeping attack.

Coming on the heels of the DDOS attack that choked the Internet earlier, this brute force attack on WordPress was carried out from multiple IP addresses and exploited weaknesses in WordPress username and password.

The attackers set out to bring the websites down by systematically trying some common usernames. A few common usernames attempted on our website, that we tracked using a security plugin, included Admin, Admin1, Manager, support, administrator, admins and so on.

I still remember how our website was attacked last year within days after it was launched. We still had the default ‘Admin’ username at that time. The password was fairly strong, or so we thought, but the common username made things easier for the attackers and gave them access to infect the website.

Website Security for WordPress

I am no web security expert, but this attack on our website made me look into website security. Here are some of the basic tips I learned that you can use to secure your WordPress website.

Server Level Security

Some of the most common attacks WordPress websites face are the SQL injection attacks. A typical attacker first goes through the .htaccess file before moving on to other WordPress files. Think of .htaccess file as the gateway to your WordPress installation. By modifying the .htaccess file, you can stop the attacker from accessing other important files and folders of your WordPress installation.

You can secure the files on your installation by defining the permissions in the root .htaccess file and adding .htaccess files to other WordPress folders such as /wp-content/uploads. This tutorial on How to protect WorPress folder with .htaccess file shows the code snippets you need to add to your WordPress installation to make it more secure.

Adding the additional code to the .htaccess file will ensure that visitors don’t have access to the documents you upload to your WordPress website or the theme and plugin files.

Website Level Security

Attackers use different methods depending on the vulnerability of the CMS. The .htaccess file changes help you secure access to your directories and files. However, you cannot always keep all the attackers at bay, and it is important to monitor your WordPress installation all the time.

WordPress plugins such as Wordfence Security and BulletProof Security help you monitor and set preferences to harden your WordPress installation. For example, with the Wordfence Security plugin you can monitor crawlers and visitors to your website and block access to any suspicious visitor. Additionally, you can keep track of all the login attempts to your website, and set the maximum number of allowed unsuccessful login attempts before the plugin blocks the user. The plugin also scans all the WordPress installation files and gives you an option to restore original files if any of these file are infected.

Moreover, most plugins have options to set up email alerts to stay informed of any vulnerability that the plugin detects.

User Level Security

Your Username and Password is the most important part of securing your WordPress website. A weak password can undermine all the work you have put-in to secure your website and give attackers access to your files.

As was the case in the recent attack, a brute force attack typically tries a list of common usernames and password on a website. To counter this type of attack, the first thing you should do after installing WordPress is create a new user with administrative privileges with an uncommon username. Something that is unique to you and not a common username such as manager, support or administrator. In addition to the username, you also need to create a strong password for your account.

Usually a strong password has at least 8 characters, is not a dictionary word, and includes digits and special characters. This list of Dos and Don’ts from the University of Maryland is a good guideline to create a strong password for your WordPress website.

Maintenance

WordPress is an open source CMS. Any new developments and code changes are public immediately and available to everyone. Similarly, the plugins you use on your website are also open source. Any vulnerabilities in the plugins and WordPress code can be exploited by attackers, if they are not addressed.

Thankfully, WordPress fixes and sends out an update whenever they come across any such flaws to protect the users. As a website owner, you must ensure that you install these WordPress and plugin upgrades as soon as possible.

Website security is a complex topic and needs many more tweaks than discussed in this brief post. Banks and governments spend millions to protect their data, network, and websites. However, mass attacks on technology target everyone using a specific platform. While these basic steps to secure your website may not stop a dedicated attacker bent on breaking your website, it can protect you from most of the mass attacks that exploit vulnerabilities in the system and those created by ill-informed user actions.

I hope you found these tips useful, and are off to create stronger usernames and passwords for your blog or website to say the least. If you have any questions, feel free to leave a comment below. Also, don’t forget to share this so that we can all implement stronger measures to ward off website attacks.

Website Security for WordPress in 3 Steps originally appeared on RightMix Technologies on April 25, 2013.

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Forbes Top 50 Social Media Power Influencers – and Their Best Kept Secret

Pragati Bidkar — Tue, 23 Apr 2013 12:46:18 +0000

Are you one of the Forbes Top 50 social media power influencers of 2013? If you’re not, you probably want to be! What is the secret to having hundreds of thousands hang on to your every word and match your next action? I haven’t discovered the complete thing yet (hence not there myself ). But I can let you in on one small bit of it.

Haydn Shaughnessy himself mentioned that leaders this year were more motivational. This is also something I observed over the past year. Many social media influencers I follow and admire tweet a lot of inspirational messages – call them quotes or words of great men if you will. Some even post these across different networks. This is in addition to all the other content they create, talks they give, books they write and big clients they manage.

Why do they take the time to share what Greek philosophers, dead presidents and world leaders, poets and writers or modern day business moguls said about something?

Why Motivation

Motivation theories abound. Every individual is driven by some need. Some hanker for a Ferrari, some want to belong or be recognized, some want to wield power – you get the idea. Most of us find it tough to stay inspired every minute of every day. It follows that we appreciate someone who pushes us to better ourselves, cheers us and virtually holds our hand when needed.

If you look up to someone for advice on one thing, chances are you will get to trust them and eventually also seek their opinion on other topics.

A great leader is able to recognize what is important to someone and works to encourage and stimulate his/her bands of followers. In social media, the followers can be in thousands, and the challenge is to reach them in the limited time they might be actually reading their Twitter or Facebook feeds or LinkedIn updates from their network.

The Challenge

Social media influencers seem to have an endless supply of these quotes, and the surprising thing is, I have hardly ever read the same quote from a person across several months. How do they come up with this steady stream of famous words from a wide variety of people ? As daunting as it sounds, it is not impossible.

I have done some research and compiled some simple sources anyone can use to come up with their own handy collection of inspirational quotes. Wherever you live in the world, and whatever formal education you were privy to or not, these are some guaranteed ways to build your own sources.

1. Books on Quotes

Enter any bookstore, whether Barnes and Noble or Crossword or any corner store in your neck of the woods, there is sure to be a section on inspirational quotes. Your local thrift store might yield some gems at penny prices. Don’t forget garage sales, jumble sales or flea markets.

Stock a few books and you will have a go-to source for a long time.

2. Newspapers and magazines

Almost every newspaper publishes a quote for the day. How about tweeting that every day? In addition, many news articles quote leaders on current news items. Note down anything that makes an impression on you. File them by topic and you can build your own collection of quotes.

Business magazines often have a section of quotes from top business leaders. There are interviews, special features etc. where a person talks about their experiences. Pick something that clicks with you.

3. Online websites dedicated to quotes

Do a Google search for ‘quotes’ and you will come across many sites like Brainy Quotes or Quote Garden. You can search on quotes by topic or author or even latest trends. Choose what you like and just ignore the rest.

4. Trunks in the attic

If you’re a pack rat like me, you may have some treasures you don’t know about. Look for those long forgotten year books, scrap books, diaries, college magazines etc. hidden away in your basement or attic. Who knows what words of wisdom someone may have written for you several years ago? For example, the title of this paragraph is actually inspired by a poem my friend wrote many years ago and that was published in our club magazine at that time.

5. Museums and Monuments

Yes. You read that right! Have you noticed how many museums, shops attached to national monuments, or other tourist places often have some printed material for sale? I remember picking up a book on Mahatma Gandhi’s quotes at a monument when we vacationed in New Delhi several years ago. Visit DC’s Mall area and you have your pick of museums and memorials. They will have material for sale or many times as a free giveaway.

Mix up all the above sources and you will have an eclectic quotes collection of your own on a wide range of topics. So will posting these quotes get you hundreds of followers overnight? I think not. But your followers will gradually start noticing and might share with their own network. This can widen your reach beyond your network and earn you more fans. Taking you one step closer to being a social media influencer.

Rome was not built in a day. One thing I can surely say about anyone that’s made it to the top is that they put in a lot of sweat equity – both intellectual and physical. And while fulfilling their dream, they took the time to inspire other people to keep their dreams alive.

What do you think about the various sources I have put together? Are you planning to include motivational messages as part of your repertoire of social media updates? If yes, I want to know why. And if no, I still want to know. So leave a comment below to get this discussion started.

Forbes Top 50 Social Media Power Influencers – and Their Best Kept Secret originally appeared on RightMix Technologies on April 23, 2013.

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LinkedIn to test smartphone ads in new mobile apps

RightMixTech — Fri, 19 Apr 2013 03:26:17 +0000

(Reuters) – LinkedIn Corp introduced revamped mobile apps on Wednesday that give greater prominence to the stream of information shared by members of the professional social network and will for the first time allow the company to show ads to smartphone users. LinkedIn will begin showing advertisements within the [...]

Click here to view original web page at feeds.reuters.com

LinkedIn to test smartphone ads in new mobile apps originally appeared on RightMix Technologies on April 18, 2013.

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How to Get Paid for Your Export Sales

RightMixTech — Wed, 17 Apr 2013 06:20:50 +0000

Ultimately, any sale is a gift until you get paid. However, understanding how to get paid for an export sale is especially important, since your buyer could be 10,000 miles away. There are four common ways to get paid for an international order. From the most, to the least, [...]

Click here to view original web page at www.sba.gov

How to Get Paid for Your Export Sales originally appeared on RightMix Technologies on April 17, 2013.

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Social Media Hashtags – What, How, When, Why

Pragati Bidkar — Tue, 16 Apr 2013 14:03:27 +0000

Jimmy Fallon made waves recently when he got Jay Leno’s job on the coveted Tonight show. Fallon’s segment #latenight hashtags featuring #WhyDontTheyMakeThat and #HowIGotFired soon became trending tags on Twitter and contributed to his popularity. Hashtags are a powerful way to spread your message beyond your network allowing you to connect with a diverse demographic every day.

Hashtags as they are used now first became popular on Twitter some time in 2009 with #flight1549 and its miraculous escape. Many popular social networks like G+, Tumblr and Instagram are also allowing them now. Any term preceded with‘#’ – a hash or pound sign – becomes a hashtag and is used to group together messages around that particular topic. For the geeks, it is just like having a ‘group by’ clause in your query.

What is a hashtag?

Any term can become a hashtag, as long as you consider the textual limitations of microblogging sites like Twitter. It is an informal invitation for people to come together to discuss a certain topic. Using a hashtag for the discussion is like a grouping of several entries in a spreadsheet. Anyone who wants to jump on to the discussion can search with the term ‘#term’. They can then join the discussion by appending their message with ‘#term’. This ensures that their message is seen by people who are following that term.

Let’s say you attended the rose show put on by your local garden club. You would tweet ‘fantastic rare black rose. Loved it’ and append it with #puneroseshow. Now any of your followers might retweet this, or reply to your message, along with the embedded tag. Anyone who wants to comment will use the same tag and you will have a group of people who are interested in the rose show participating in an impromptu discussion. You might post photos on Instagram with a similar tag, prompting others to post more photos that they took. As more and more people join, your tag could go viral and become a trending hashtag on Twitter.

Twitter provides a list of trending hashtags for your region in the left sidebar and it is easily visible to logged in users.

An easy way to see a live example of hashtags in action is to pick a trending hashtag and read all the various messages people post for it.

How to use hashtags

It is easy enough to just add a ‘#’ sign before anything. But you need to think beyond that. It is easy to offend someone, either by piling on what belongs to them, or by spamming them with unwanted content.

Here are 5 rules to follow when using hashtags –

1. Think of hashtags like salt in your diet. Use them sparingly. It is ok to use one or two in a message, but not more.
2. Don’t add hashtags to every tweet. Excess use makes you look desperate. You want to attract the right people. You don’t want to scare people away.
3. Don’t hijack popular hashtags. Search and review the use of a particular hashtag. Don’t piggyback and use it in some different context. This will anger people who are following the tag, and defeat the purpose of using it.
4. Keep it short. A tweet is 140 characters. Actually 120 if you want to leave some room for people RTing you to add a note. A hashtag can further reduce the length available for your actual message.
5. Use hashtags anywhere in your message. You can even add it to a word in a sentence. As long as every word is not a hashtag!

When should you use hashtags?

Hashtags are a way of announcing to the world that you have something to say on a certain topic. It could be the current breaking news, a restaurant you loved, a recipe you recreated, or a link to a whitepaper on your website.

Check these 3 examples of when to use hashtags –

1. When you have an event such as a conference, webinar, or live podcast – #SoSlam used by Mark Schaefer is the latest example.

2. When you want to associate your brand with something you share regularly. An example is #TheSocialMaven used by Pam Lawhorne, or #youcandosocial used by Kim Garst.

3. When you want to share something related to an already existing topic. For example, #TWITTERTIP would be ideal if you want to share some nifty secret about using Twitter.

Why should you use hashtags?

Now we come to the crux of the matter. I hope that by now you have a fair idea of what hashtags are, how they can be used and some typical uses they can be put to. The question is, why should you, the business owner, care about them?

Here are five reasons every business owner needs to capitalize on hashtags -

1. Increased visibility – Hashtags are a great way to let people know what you care about. When I use #wordpress in any of my tweets, I am increasing my chances of being seen by anyone who is interested in WordPress or is searching for something related to WordPress.

2. Event promotion – You can create a hashtag around the weekly open house you have each week. As the word spreads, you will automatically increase your reach beyond your immediate network. You can also use this to generate interest in new or upcoming products.

3. Special offers or marketing tool – Used right, hashtags can be a unique way to increase the reach of your special offers. You can create a generic tag related to your business, and then create weekly or monthly offers using the hashtag.

4. Hosting group chats – A hashtag brings like minded people together and allows them to interact with the group that follows the tag. This leads to better engagement over a longer period of time with people who are already interested in what you want to say. Anyone across the world can participate giving you an inexpensive way to achieve a global reach.

5. Viral potential – This single reason itself is worth all the trouble. In the social world, everyone is striving to produce viral content, waiting for the day when they will strike it rich and produce a ‘Kolaveri Di’ or ‘Gangnam Rap’. It’s the same as dreaming about winning the mega million! Sound far fetched? Think of Jimmy Fallon again and how viral his late night hash tags are.

Hashtag 101

We saw what hashtags were, how you could use them, when it was best to use them and why every business owner should have them in his/her arsenal. If you’re up to the latest in social media, you have probably heard that Facebook is considering using hashtags too. Marketers are excited by the potential this will offer to all the businesses who have already invested a lot of time and money on their Facebook presence.

Have I convinced you to give hashtags a go? Are you already using them? Did you get some ideas here to use them in a better way? And how many networks are you using hashtags for? I would love to find out, so please feel free to leave a comment or email me.

Social Media Hashtags – What, How, When, Why originally appeared on RightMix Technologies on April 16, 2013.

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6 Step Plan To Export and Grow Your Small Business

RightMixTech — Sun, 14 Apr 2013 06:12:29 +0000

Don’t ignore the 96% consumers living outside the U.S. Considering export options can help you combat economic conditions in the domestic market and connect with new markets and consumers. Here are six steps to help [...]

Click here to view original web page at www.sba.gov

6 Step Plan To Export and Grow Your Small Business originally appeared on RightMix Technologies on April 14, 2013.

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Content Curation With MyCurator for WordPress

Prasanna Bidkar — Fri, 12 Apr 2013 13:49:31 +0000

Small business owners and solopreneurs can gain a lot from content curation. It is less resource intensive and has the potential to give almost the same results as a business blog. However, it can increase your website’s visibility only if the content you curate is available on your website.
Business blogs can help you reach your customers and help you share product information and tips. You can also help your readers by sharing information that is important to them and helps them do their job. However, seeding a business blog is a full-time activity. Content curation can help you share useful information with less effort and give similar results.

How does Content Curation Help

Let us take an example of how content curation can help you retain your website visitors and gain new customers. For instance, if you are a realtor, you may primarily blog about the local real estate market, interest rate offers, and the price fluctuation. When looking for all this information, we can assume that the potential homebuyer will also be interested in decorating the house and perhaps in landscaping.

Although you might be a good writer and an outstanding real estate agent, decoration and landscaping may not be your area of expertise and creating content on these subjects will prove challenging. Nevertheless, this information can be useful to your potential customers who are looking to buy a house.

Additionally, people searching for home decoration and landscaping information can land on your website because of this content. These accidental visitors may also be planning to buy a house in the near future and discover your services.

How Does It Work

MyCurator created by TargetInfo is a plugin that can solve your content problems and help you populate your blog early on. MyCurator can also help you get articles that are not directly related to your core business, but might be interesting to your potential customers.

MyCurator can help you get this content legally from other bloggers. When you source and display content through MyCurator, the article’s sources are properly attributed to its original author. Moreover, only an excerpt of the content is visible on your blog and the reader is taken to the original website for the entire article. This way, you get the content you need to supplement your blog and inbound marketing effort without stressing too much over creating original content everyday.

What’s more, it is free for an individual account for two topics!

How To

Install the MyCurator plugin and their documentation and training videos will walk you through the entire process. To begin, after you install the WordPress plugin, you must create an account to get your API Key for the plugin to work. You need to add this API key to your WordPress blog before you can begin adding topics and setting up MyCurator.

The Options page of the MyCurator plugin helps you define things such as how frequently you want the plugin to look for fresh content. The Curation options help you define the way you wish to handle the posts that come through MyCurator.

Make sure that you do not select the ‘Show full Article Text in Single Post Page?’ unless you have direct permission to publish the entire post from the feed owner and author of the post.

With the Format options, you can specify how you wish to deal with attribution to the original website and the author. The Admin tab helps you define if you want to add comments to the post you have included through MyCurator page, the user account you want to use and some other administrative options. Adding comments or overview can add value for your users. This is similar to the comments that you add on other blogs or on LinkedIn groups.

Adding Topics

MyCurator is an Artificial Intelligence based system and evolves as you train it, over time. For example, once you start getting suggestions from MyCurator for a topic, you can select what is suitable and discard others. Based on your choices, the plugin will update the topics that match your historic actions.

But before that happens, you need to define a topic. If I choose to adhere to my earlier approach, a topic related to company registration and social networks that I do not blog about will be interesting to my audience that has a proprietary or a home-based business. At the same time, people looking to register a company will want a website and create a social media buzz for themselves. So I will add company registration as a topic here. The New Topic page helps you define your topic, add specific search keywords, assign category, tags, among other things.

As you can see from the above image, I still need to add sources that MyCurator will look up to get relevant posts. To add sources, you can create a new category in the Links Section of your WordPress menu, and add websites you know have articles relevant to your subject. MyCurator also provides multiple utilities and tools that you can use to add websites to your topic source pool.

The easiest way to add sources is to add Twitter keywords, Twitter users, or keywords for Google News feed to populate your MyCurator feed. You can then add RSS feeds from the blogs you think provide good information.

What you Get

The big question, what do you get out of all this effort? Well, to begin with you will get a bunch of results, something similar to a Google Search or Twitter Search. That is because your MyCurator is still young and needs to learn your likes and dislikes.

Basically, the results are only as good as the resource pool. Your true effort is adding good resources to your content pool so that the time you put in to train the plugin is minimal. Otherwise, it’s just garbage In –> garbage Out!

Based on your sources and your keyword use, your training page will be populated with a number of posts, which looks something like the image below.

You can then mark them as useful or not useful. These selections will train the plugin and eventually you will see only relevant posts.

Next Steps

Content curation is a valuable tool for any small business owner. Especially one who is short on time and pulled in different directions. I have tried to demonstrate how you can easily implement content curation on your own blog and hope you are excited enough to try it out.

There are several paid plugins that are popular for auto blogging. And there are also some good paid curation tools out there. We will be taking a look at some of them in our upcoming posts. Meanwhile, remember to give credit to original authors and keep their links intact. Its what you would expect from anyone.

Content Curation With MyCurator for WordPress originally appeared on RightMix Technologies on April 12, 2013.

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4 Tips for Getting Large Retailers to Stock Your Products

RightMixTech — Fri, 12 Apr 2013 12:31:28 +0000

Have you ever wondered how you can get your businesses’ products stocked on the shelves of a large retailer? It does happen, and it’s refreshing to see. For example, my local supermarket makes a point of stocking locally grown produce front and center as soon as you walk in [...]

Click here to view original web page at www.sba.gov

4 Tips for Getting Large Retailers to Stock Your Products originally appeared on RightMix Technologies on April 12, 2013.

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Boosting Electronic Registration with Technology Innovation, Articles

RightMixTech — Thu, 11 Apr 2013 12:46:36 +0000

Corporate Affairs Commission logo Emma Okonji writes on the impact of new technologies of fibre connectivity in achieving 24-hour delivery services in the registration of corporate organisations at the Corporate Affairs Commission The Corporate Affairs Commission (CAC) is currently celebrating success, having achieved a 24-hour business registration process that [...]

Click here to view original web page at www.thisdaylive.com

Boosting Electronic Registration with Technology Innovation, Articles originally appeared on RightMix Technologies on April 11, 2013.

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Content Curation to Jumpstart your Inbound Marketing Efforts

Prasanna Bidkar — Tue, 09 Apr 2013 11:37:17 +0000

Benefits of business blogging and how blogs generate leads are discussed at length by many bloggers. It is one of the reasons organizations have more faith in blogging than just in social media tools to get the word out. But business blogging is not easy. You need to come up with great ideas, plan meticulously, and create engaging content every week to stay ahead of your competitors. All of this takes time. Even if you are a great writer, the search engine gods won’t smile on you until you have enough content on your business blog.Small business owners and solopreneurs are hard pressed for resources and managing a blog in-house can be quite resource intensive. Furthermore, unless you are in a writing profession, or have a flair for writing, churning out content each day can take hours.How do you exploit this current and dynamic marketing channel before you breach that content threshold with your own posts?

What is Content Curation?

Content curation, in simple words, is managing a collection of items from different sources. You must have collected some rare stamps or coins as a kid, or perhaps players’ cards that you were proud of. The value of your collection was dependent on your skill to recognize that rare stamp or coin that wasn’t in the possession of your immediate circle.

A content curator, similarly, builds a collection of the best content available online on specific subjects for the target audience. Think of yourself as a museum curator who selects the best art from across the world to showcase in her museum.

Content Curation over Blogging

Content curation has various advantages. Most important being that it establishes you as an expert in your subject if you share quality content. In this information age, where there is tons of information and limited resources to process the information, a single location that provides the most relevant and current information on a subject easily becomes a go-to place for online readers.

Wouldn’t you prefer to open a website with eclectic content rather than visit ten different websites to know the latest and the greatest?

Your Website Vs. Other Websites

Various websites help you curate content on the Internet. Some of these content curation websites like RebelMouse allow you to automate the task of adding everything from a website or author, while others such as Scoop.it require you to handpick each article and put it online. These are some of the great tools you can use to showcase your expertise in your area of work. Hosting content on a third-party website may help you establish your authority; however, it doesn’t help you generate traffic to your website and expose your readers to your products and services.

Jumpstart Your Blog

Don’t get me wrong. Nothing beats original content. But until you get into the blogging groove and have enough content to generate traffic to your blog through Search and other Social Media referrals, curating content on your domain can get you off and running.

But traffic is not the only reason to curate content on your website. By providing content that compliments your products and services you help your readers and customers solve their problems.

I hope I have made you realize the benefits of content curation on your own domain or website, and also outlined some scenarios where it might be your best bet. Our next post will look at how you can jumpstart your inbound marketing effort with content curation and get readers to your blog from day one.

Content Curation to Jumpstart your Inbound Marketing Efforts originally appeared on RightMix Technologies on April 9, 2013.

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Reputation Management: Defense Against Dark Arts

Prasanna Bidkar — Wed, 03 Apr 2013 14:40:35 +0000

It was possible to douse local fires and the population halfway across the nation and the world wouldn’t even get a whiff of the smoke; Not anymore. Now, a smoke cloud on a remote island is known to all and talked about on blogs forever. Believe me, social media writers like me won’t let that one mistake you made die . Reputation comes slowly and like all the good things in life, can be lost in minutes and hours.Our previous post on this topic discussed the most likely reputation battlefronts. So when the Dementors strike, how do you weave the Patronus charm to see the light of good reputation beyond the immediate crisis?

Look Before You Leap

That may be your response to the immediate stimulus: to fight back. An aggressive stance does help sometimes. After all, some do believe that attack is the best form of defense. Well, not always. Before you go all out on the networks countering whatever is flying you must get to the bottom of the claims that are being made against you. These questions will more or less help you define your social media strategy to manage the crisis.

When You are Right

I remember a couplet I read when I was kid from a book ‘Banish your Blues’ that said

‘If you are right; you don’t need to be angry, and

If you are wrong; you cannot afford to be angry’

Either way you need to take a balanced approach to the situation. Try to find out the truth. If you can prove that the accusations are baseless and false, use all the possible networks to put out this news. A business blog can be a very helpful tool to refute any false claims as it gives you space to discuss the issue at length. Use micro blogging platforms to get the news out and invite people for a discussion on your blog.

Moreover, all through your tense and lightning fast responses, never commit the mistake to attack the attacker. A large corporation or business attacking an individual creates more sympathy for the individual. To turn the tide, keep your focus on the issue and not the attacker.

When You Are in the Wrong

Accept you can go wrong. However, that doesn’t mean you just ignore what’s happening and let the crisis run its course. You still have to respond and contain the fire. So what can you do to control the situation, and perhaps even get out unscathed.

1. Engage and Explain

Issues surrounding certain policies and events can be seen as against a group or an individual. People turn to social media for specific reasons. Even if they take up a cause only to get attention, they will have to answer if you engage them and ask what they want. If it is about a policy, ask what parts they think need further consideration. If it is a customer issue, how do they think it can be best resolved now and for future occurrences, if any. Most people will understand the situation if you give them information and time; and if you are lucky, they might even start talk in your favor.

2. Redirect the Conversation

People are busy and they accept the point of view that is projected most widely and is discussed passionately. You can, of course, counter if you are right; but not everything is black and white. What if there is some truth to the discussed problem. Whatever it is, it cannot be bad a hundred percent. Provide a different perspective to the situation.

3. Overshadow

Doesn’t sound very diplomatic, right? But sometimes sheer force helps. You need to respond to social media crises with lightning speed or it can blow out of proportion very fast.

A statement from a senior executive always helps; however, people identify more with people in their peer group. Let your social media manager marshal a team of your brand’s advocates. In a highly volatile environment, people may find someone like them more trustworthy than a senior executive.

If a client starts a social media spat, ask other clients to support you. Similarly, support of other industry influencers whom you know well can give the required push to your credibility.

Summing Up

Conversations on social media networks are hardly contained, and you might find someone holding an old grudge chip-in during this free-for-all. Use your social media tools to dig out anyone who is talking in your favor and give them your full backing.

Reputation is fickle and must be defended at all times. A tried and tested response plan can prepare you for the unseen and help your team work as a well-oiled machine.

Reputation Management: Defense Against Dark Arts originally appeared on RightMix Technologies on April 3, 2013.

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Designing Your Blog for Mobile Readability

Prasanna Bidkar — Mon, 01 Apr 2013 12:45:05 +0000

Why is considering blog design for multiple devices and mobile readability important? Because according to the latest Pew research report (PDF), 74% percent of the teens in the US access the Internet on their smart phones occasionally, and 34% of them are cell-mostly internet surfers. Although this figure will vary across the world, countries with high cell phone penetration have opened up access to the Internet, which was earlier restricted because of high device costs. And if the current trend is anything to go by, this figure is set to rise in the next few years. How does that impact your business blog and your business blogging practices?

Responsive Blogs

People read blogs to stay updated, know more about products, or as a leisure activity. The thing is, most of these activities are now increasingly done using mobile devices when waiting in a long queue, on airports, train stations, and in coffee shops. To make sure that your business blog provides a good reading experience to the reader, the blog design should respond to the device screen size. You can help your users by doing following:

Use a responsive theme for your blog, or
Create a separate sub-domain for a mobile site, and
Submit a mobile sitemap to search engines

Avoid Horizontal Scrolling

Well this has been advised for a long time for computer screens. Mobile device interfaces are much smaller, and the advice becomes a must-have feature of a responsive blog design.

The smaller interfaces already require readers to scroll down multiple times to read long texts, but as many of you must have already experienced, having to scroll horizontally to read each line is definitely more frustrating. For example, this popular website (www.indiatimes.com), which shares news from the entertainment world is not optimized for mobile devices. It uses the same 3-column layout for a mobile website that it uses for a desktop or laptop.

Although the website is responsive to the size of the device, it crams all the content on the small screen, which makes it difficult to read. The readers then have to focus on one part of the website to zoom in, but the website then manages to display only half the content at a time to the user and the user must scroll horizontally to read or explore other parts of the website. The design also wastes valuable screen real estate with the left-hand sidebar that has no content.

A Better Example

Compare the above site to the Huffington Post website’s mobile version that is designed for mobile devices. The regular website of Huffington Post has a standard 3-column layout. But the mobile version is optimized to fit all the content within the screen size in a single column and you don’t need to scroll horizontally. The mobile website is also much less busy than its regular website designed for larger desktop and laptop screens.

Pagination Over Scrolling

That’s that then, no horizontal scrolling. But what about vertical scrolling, can you address that part? An alternative to vertical scrolling is displaying your blog post content as pages. The content of the page will, of course, have to be dynamically divided according to the interface size. This feature reduces the number of times the user must interact with the interface to move to the next chunk of text.

Information displayed as a page also gives the reader a guide to where the text begins and ends on the screen, along with the page count.

An Easy Solution

Responsive is good. However, certain websites with too many visual elements in the interface, which might look good on a large screen, appear cluttered on small devices. If your business blog is mainly text and you want the readers to go through long articles, it is important to strip your website of all the non-essential elements when viewed on a mobile device.

If you are a WordPress user, you can do this quite easily using the Readability plugin. The plugin provides your readers with an option to view only the content in the browser and strips down all other elements of the web site. Readability apps are available for all mobile devices and browsers, but I believe it is better to provide the service as a publisher rather than have the user install multiple applications on their mobile devices.

The Readability plugin also helps your readers define other reading options such as font size, color, the column width along with an option to choose if they want to view the images in the post.

You can try all of these options on the RightMix Technologies blog with your mobile device by clicking on Read Now at the beginning or end of a post.

What attributes of websites annoy you most while surfing the web on your mobile device?

Designing Your Blog for Mobile Readability originally appeared on RightMix Technologies on April 1, 2013.

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LinkedIn, Twitter Use for Social Media Marketing Up [Infographic]

Prasanna Bidkar — Thu, 28 Mar 2013 12:58:50 +0000

Small business owners are increasingly moving toward LinkedIn and Twitter as an option for social media marketing, according to the latest research by Constant Contact Small Biz Council.

LinkedIn, Twitter Use for Social Media Marketing Up [Infographic] originally appeared on RightMix Technologies on March 28, 2013.

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Glimpses of a Social Media Holi

Pragati Bidkar — Wed, 27 Mar 2013 13:30:05 +0000

Social media has changed the way we live our life. It follows that it has an impact on our culture and traditions. India and the world celebrate the festival of Holi today. Business and corporate involvement in Holi was earlier limited to a greeting or message via newspapers. However, with the wide reach and potential of social media, brands have an opportunity to connect with specific communities by creating special events and contests around these festivals.

Celebrated toward the end of March, Holi, the festival of colors, heralds Spring and usually signaled the arrival of summer (vacation) for us kids. With finals looming, this was one holiday where we could be totally boisterous, get drenched in color and water, play all day and slack off studies – or at least try to! Holi also means great food – the Puran Poli of Maharashtra, various sweetmeats, the hard sugary candy or ‘gathi‘ or the Bhang or cannabis laced Thandai of the northern regions. Indian cinema has also given Holi cult status, and Holi scenes are sure to pave the way for box office success.

How are corporate brands and businesses using social media to celebrate or connect with their fans on Holi?

Espousing a cause

Nowadays, it is trendy to take up some cause at the time of festivals. At the time of the Ganesh festival, it was ‘no music’ after 11 PM. For Diwali, it was ‘no fireworks’ to save the environment. This Holi, it is all about saving water. Mr. Big B Bachchan tweeted this to his over 4 million followers, and some of them are sure to agree. Our housing community has already announced a ‘No Water’ policy for Holi.

The beauty of social media comes in here. Opposing opinions are already posted on Twitter, and there is a raging discussion around whether such ‘days’ mean anything.

Prefer to be more subtle? Schneider Electric has chosen the color green to celebrate Holi. Their simple but striking message says it all.

The Times of India has chosen a special Facebook cover page for Holi. This page not only greets its visitors for Holi, but also highlights the historic celebration of Holi by Brindavan widows, who were allowed to publicly celebrate Holi beyond the confines of their ashram for the first time.

Connecting with Communities on Holi

Coca Cola is sticking to its colors, but have carried on their tradition of connecting with the local demographic.

McDonald’s India conducted a contest for the best Facebook cover photo for Holi. Hundreds of Likes and shares later, the winning entry is splashed across their Facebook page.

Holi Around the World

People from all over the world, whether they live in Seattle, USA or Uttar Pradesh, India are sending in photos via Twitter and Instagram. Check the #HoliWSJ hashtag to find out more, and look at some real portraits of Holi celebrations from around the world.

The HoliOne festival in Germany will be The place for people to come together and have fun. HoliOne is based on the Indian festival of colors, and their Facebook page already has almost 20,000 Likes. Tickets are between 22 to 29 Euros. Color, food and drink costs more and will be available at the venues.

Talk about taking something popular and globalizing it!

Holi Hai! ( Hey, its Holi!)

Since times past, Holi has been popular because it adds color to life and brings a wide variety of people together regardless of age, religion, economic status or other differences. In a way, social media does the same every day of our lives.

How are you celebrating Holi this year? And did you use social media to wish your friends and family around the world a Happy Holi? I just did!

Glimpses of a Social Media Holi originally appeared on RightMix Technologies on March 27, 2013.

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Twitter Seven Year Anniversary – 7 Rules to Live By

Prasanna Bidkar — Thu, 21 Mar 2013 13:06:19 +0000

Did I know about Twitter seven years back? I am sure I didn’t, and even when I heard about it, I will admit I let it pass as just another fad. But the social media revolution has touched us all – except a few who are not touched by computers – and found applications in all walks of life.

New technology brings new ways of communication and we stumble and fall until we adapt the rules of our physical world to the virtual. Email didn’t change the way we salute people in electronic letters compared to written mail. So what rules of our physical world do we need to follow in the Twitter universe?

Stolen Identity – Bad Idea

It’s not like people don’t do it. Do a search on Bill Gates, or any other celebrity, and you will find multiple Twitter accounts claiming to be Bill Gates or associated to Bill Gates. Thankfully, Twitter verifies accounts of celebrities or any business or person at high risk of being impersonated.

Needless to say, stealing an identity is not a smart choice unless your intention is to dupe and spam your followers. With a verification mechanism in process, you will soon lose what followers you have.

Personal Information – Share What You Want Shared

Airing your thoughts aloud can be satisfying at times. But always remember what you think and say can hurt others. Personal information about your friends and happenings in their life are best kept private. We are well aware of people giving up their lives because of being dumped on social media networks or because some sensitive information was tweeted.

Rule of thumb: Say things that you won’t mind your friends to say about you. But then, your friends might be more sensitive than you are, so it is best to keep personal information out of a public discussion.

Follow/ Unfollow – Don’t Play This Game

Everyone wants a huge following, right? But getting that number by unscrupulous methods is not the right way to go. Plus, an unengaged list of followers won’t mean much or be beneficial in any way.

Additionally, most people either use social media tools like Sprout Social that allow them to clean up their Twitter lists or use free tools like Just UnFollow to check followers who are not following back.

Foul Language – Not Cool!

A witty message now and then or in your bio is fine, I guess. But it is definitely not cool to swear in every tweet. Unless, of course, you do that every day in real world too.

This is more important if you are trying to build a professional image for yourself. You could be a small business owner or a professional, or even a recent graduate; it is highly likely that people looking for your services or to recruit you will be discouraged by the foul language in your tweet stream.

Automation Is Not the Key – Be Human

Tools like Hootsuite are great to organize your tweets and tweet something when you’re asleep or away. But use them sparingly. Do tweet something in real time! Use the ‘@’ and enagage users, have real conversations and make friends. That is what you are here for. No one can build a relationship with you just by listening to your voicemail greeting – even if you change it everyday. The same applies to Twitter.

Avoid bots, offers for fantastic followers, and anything that sounds too good to be true. It generally is!

Direct Message – Private Communication Only

There is a reason the Direct Message option is available only after you have a two-way connection – to avoid spamming. Otherwise, Twitter would be one big email database.

Use Direct Message to communicate private information or talk about business propositions that you do not wish to make public. It is good to thank people who have followed you, it is better to thank them publicly. Twitter is a social network, and when you thank your followers publicly, you are introducing them to your group as you would in the real world.

Respond – However BIG you are

You do say ‘Thank You’ when someone compliments you, don’t you? Then it is only polite to thank people who retweet or share your thoughts with their followers. It may not be possible for celebrities who get thousands of retweets, but even they do it every now and then.

I am not a Twitter veteran and not a busy user by a long shot. Nonetheless, I firmly believe that our behavior on Twitter becomes easy if we follow all the rules and the legal bindings of the land.

What lessons have you learned on your journey using Twitter?

Twitter Seven Year Anniversary – 7 Rules to Live By originally appeared on RightMix Technologies on March 21, 2013.

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Formula for an Awesome Twitter Bio

Pragati Bidkar — Tue, 19 Mar 2013 21:00:18 +0000

Twitter may not have crossed the 1 billion mark like rival Facebook, but it is still making waves. Twitter has over 200 million active monthly users and is used by 21% of the global Internet users. It is not too late to start using Twitter for your business and make it a part of your marketing mix.

Twitter is all about brevity. A tweet is only 140 characters long. And a bio on Twitter can only be 160 characters.

When was the last time you thought of yourself in terms of a headline? If you are a thirty something relic like me, you probably find it really hard to limit your resume or bio data to two pages. So can someone tell me – how in the world am I supposed to describe myself in 160 characters?

Being one of the lesser known avatars of Henry Higgins, the first thing I disliked about Twitter was that it seemed to give a free hand to people to massacre the English language. ‘U’, ‘ur’, ’4u’, ’4t’ and such have never found a fan in me, and the challenge for me was to use bona fide words that made sense and stick to the character limit.

We know what they say about necessity and invention. I am sure every person can apply my rules for creating their bio, and have fun doing it.

There is no such thing as ‘the best’ Twitter bio

Every person is different, hence their bio is different, and every person has many facets, so yes, the bio can address various aspects of your life.

Is there a formula, then, to make it interesting, and get thousands to follow you? Not really, but I have come up with a cheat sheet over a period of time. Check it out and follow along, and by the time you reach the end of this article, you will have a couple of samples for your Twitter bio.

What is your objective?

The goal is important in anything you undertake because it changes the strategy you need to achieve it.

Is this Twitter account just for kicks, to share laughs, or fool around with friends? Or is it to focus on a specific hobby, say writing or blogging? Is it about a diet you are on? Or do you just want to let people know about what you do, services you offer etc.?

Choose one and go to the next step.

What stands out?

What is the defining trait of your goal? Are you a romance writer, or a philosopher? Is your diet vegan, or low-carb or detox?

Write down the main defining attribute related to your goal.

Your Aspiration or Mission

This is a slightly long term view of what you want to achieve or where you see yourself. The author might want to win a movie deal, or the Pulitzer. You might want to lose 50 pounds on your diet, or you might want to be the best lawyer in Arizona.

Write this down. You are just a step away now, so don’t lose patience yet!

The personal touch

You are here to make friends, or generate a following. Add some small detail about your life, something you love or hate, you can’t live without, or dig about someone else.

Yes, there are probably hundreds of ‘wishes’ you have, but just choose one or two for now. Remember, we only have 160 characters for this!

Start Cooking

Now, just create sentences around what you have written, keeping in mind that you have to be as brief as possible.

Here is an example of the sample bios we can get from what we have -

Romance author who wants to write a bestseller. Loves cruises.

Wants to lose 50 pounds using raw diet. Single Mom.

Small business owner. Teaches people WordPress. Starbucks fan.

See how simple that was? Yeah! But it’s not quite striking, is it? You can fine tune this more to make it more attractive -

Eternal romantic working on first novel. Wants to cruise the world after writing her bestseller. Lives on Chocolate!

Southern gal needs to lose 50 pounds before July wedding. Going raw detox. Single mom looking for diet buddies.

Small Business Owner wants to educate people about WordPress. Coffee addict who’s never far from a Starbucks!

Are these perfect? Only You can decide. And as you revisit our criteria, you will find your answers change over time. So can your Twitter bio because it is not written in stone. Of course, you don’t want to seem fickle by changing it every 2-3 days, but you can make minor changes every couple of months based on what is working well for you.

Summing Up

If you worked along with me with a paper and pencil, or with your iPad, you should already have a working version of a Twitter bio. Or you are close to having one. This is one of the first things you need to fill out when creating and setting up your account. The other thing you should definitely add is a clear photo of yourself. A photo adds credibility and gets more responses.

Here’s what we just did -

Defined an objective for our Twitter account based on our goal
Narrowed down the most important aspect of what we want to portray
Pinned down what we wanted out of this, even something slightly ‘out there’
Added some personal likes/dislikes
Fit it all into 160 characters

Even if you already have a Twitter account with several followers, have you ever tried to create a bio this way? Why not give it a try and share what you come up with? You are always welcome to ask if you have any questions. All the best!

Formula for an Awesome Twitter Bio originally appeared on RightMix Technologies on March 19, 2013.

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Swipp Takes The World Beyond a ‘Like’

Pragati Bidkar — Mon, 18 Mar 2013 14:56:51 +0000

Like most people on this planet, I hate Monday mornings. Unless something epic grabs my attention and snaps me awake. For instance take today morning, when something about Facebook Monopoly caught my eye. Clicking on the link took me to the latest post on the {grow} blog written by the eminent Mark Schaefer. He has a plan for anyone who wants to unseat Facebook – a more exclusive Facebook. I think it will take more than that.

The next thing to revolutionize the online world and social media will have to be more than a ‘MiniMe’. Facebook made ‘Likers’ out of us all. You were ‘in’ if you got on the ‘Like’ bandwagon. Or you were left behind! There was (or is) no room for a marginal like, or God forbid, a ‘dislike’. Enter new kid on the block – Swipp!

Swipp, a newly launched Bay area startup is based on social intelligence and allows the user to rate anything on a scale of -5 to +5. That is a much wider range than just a ‘Like’. Although login to Swipp is currently offered through Facebook (why?), the attraction here might be the ability to rate literally anything.

This is how it works – you enter a name or personality, place like city or restaurant, animal like the polar bear, or a thing like cheeseburger and rate it. Swipp shows you how many people in the world voted for it and the average score along with the demographic data. You can track or bookmark the things you rated, and also upload photos.

Here is why I think Swipp has a lot of potential -

The Ultimate Data Warehouse

Once Swipp gets millions of people across the globe to vote on things, big data will come into play. Anyone who’s worked in data analytics can imagine the humungous amounts of data this is going to generate. Data that will increase exponentially as more and more people vote on stuff every day. This could be a gold mine when converted into information.

Swipp Can Drive Consumer Behavior

Truly global participation brings the ‘one world’ concept closer. Buying a car? Move over Edmunds! Swipp will tell me what people across the globe think about my choice. Swipp will even tell me what people in different countries think, how many people voted, what women think and so on. Will this drive buying decisions? I think yes.

Universal Swipp Index

Swipp widgets can be embedded on third party sites. Reading the news? Rate it. Buying a cell phone? Rate it. Don’t like palm trees? Rate them. Imagine a world that rates anything and everything they come across in real time. Perhaps everything you see around you will have a Swipp score. Seems impossible? So did a stationary sun!

Boost for the Economy

An ever growing data warehouse means more hardware, larger data centers, more analytics and unlimited ways of drawing reports and statistics. This will need people, maybe in multiple centers across the world. Translate that into more jobs for the economy. A stimulus that could energize the economy of more than one country!

Swipp It from Anywhere

With apps for iPhone, web and other platforms, Swipp promises easy accessibility. Integration into other websites will make it easy for people to rate things. So even if you’re buying something from Amazon, the Swipp score would tell you what people think about a product irrespective of where they buy it from.

The future of Swipp

If you’ve ever read a product review before buying anything or asked your friends’ opinion about something, you are a likely candidate to be taken in by the allure of collective public opinion.

Will Swipp become a bigger verb than ‘Like’? When people ‘Liked’ something, they appeared benevolent. How many people will be willing to have a negative opinion publicly associated with themselves? Will the ability to have an actual opinion attract people who don’t use Facebook?

And, will Swipp ever offer sign in options other than logging into Facebook – necessary if they want to tap mobile and web users who don’t use Facebook. Only time will tell if Swipp grows as big as the data they will handle. But ‘Swipping’ could very well be the next lifestyle to storm the online world.

*Images captured from the Swipp website

Swipp Takes The World Beyond a ‘Like’ originally appeared on RightMix Technologies on March 18, 2013.

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How well do you know your audience?

Prasanna Bidkar — Sun, 17 Mar 2013 12:13:50 +0000

Audience analysis is the cornerstone of any professional communication. You could be creating a sales brochure, a one-page flyer, a technical report, or a user guide. The audience of the communication dictates almost all parts of the communication.

A copywriter creates advertisements with a certain audience in mind. The content and the visuals of these advertisements are often oriented toward the age group of the target customer, their socio-economic background, and their aspirations among other things.

Similarly, the language and style of writing employed by an academician in textbooks differs greatly from the style and vocabulary used in a peer reviewed journal. Here, in the first instance, the audience of a textbook is often students who are entering the field and not completely conversant with all the terms. The author here will take an additional effort to define all the terms and often explain concepts using metaphors that the student can understand and apply to the topic of discussion. Whereas, the content of an academic journal is more to the point with little background information as the author is talking mostly to an audience that is similar to her.

The group’s ability to comprehend

If you wish to communicate with your audience, you want to include information they need and write it in their words. Adding demographic information to the analysis will affect the writing style as well as establish a baseline for the information you want to include in the document.

For example, when writing for an audience that is not tech savvy or internet savvy, use of acronyms like WYSIWYG will be misplaced and the readers will have to go hunt for the meaning of the acronym.

Their Objective

Readers often access a document with specific intent and to satisfy a information need. Is it a reference document that readers use only to look-up specific information? Or, is it a sales brochure where the reader is receiving information as well as evaluating your services and quality.

The reference guide users will want to get to the information quickly and complete the task that is holding up their work. On the other hand, while reading a brochure, the readers will be evaluating the product and willing to spend time on reading about the product features.

How much do they know?

What does the audience need to know? Another dimension that you need to evaluate in depth is what does the audience already know about the subject? It does not really matter if it is a complex environmental report or a legal procedure. Do your readers know all the terms? Are they from the same domain or is it for a general populace?

For example, a Global Warming report for physicists will assume a lot of technical knowledge. However, a report covering the same subject for the general population will need a lot more basic information.

Where are they?

The physical location of the reader puts the environment of the use in context. Will your document be referred at home, in a dark hallway, or a brightly lit airport lounge? These environmental conditions will dictate your choice of typography, design, and use of visuals.

For example, you might get away with text of similar shade as the background in a brightly lit hall, but it would definitely pose problems in a hallway with dim lighting.

Are they in a hurry?

Will the document be used in the office while completing a task? Or, is it an emergency instruction sheet that will be referred in a high-pressure situation? The stress in this part of the analysis is not on the physical environment but on the context of use.

For example, a user guide for operating a fire extinguisher is much more comprehensive than the emergency sheet pasted next to a hanging fire extinguisher. It is assumed that this specific information sheet will be accessed in a time of emergency and therefore the information is much more succinct, almost abrupt, and with ample visuals to aid people who may not understand the language used in the information sheet.

Summary

In summary, any audience analysis should address following attributes of the audience:
· Reading level and vocabulary
· Reading purpose
· Existing knowledge of the subject
· Physical environment
· Context of use

Article originally published on Source: http://EzineArticles.com/7137680

How well do you know your audience? originally appeared on RightMix Technologies on March 17, 2013.

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8 Magic Pills to Eradicate Social Media Ignorance

Pragati Bidkar — Thu, 14 Mar 2013 11:30:21 +0000

I am not fond of clichés. Take ‘Ignorance is Bliss’! Stumble across your boyfriend’s secret magazine stash, and your grandma nods knowingly and says it. Learn your BFF spends happy hour with the rival camp, and your coworkers shake their head and say it. In fact, our life is filled with people who resort to these old sayings when they have nothing valuable to offer in terms of opinion or advice. And therein lies the problem.

Ignorance is Not bliss. It is a disease that can keep you from reaching your true potential. Choosing to stay ignorant is just the easy way out. As information is thrown at us at warp speeds, we can no longer afford to shut our minds to all the knowledge and facts pouring in. Especially when our competitors and peers are assimilating it. Social media is a perfect example.

Rooting Out Ignorance

If you’re a solopreneur or business owner trying to build a business, you cannot shy away from using social media. There are many reasons you might fear social media, and ignorance is one of them. But this is a fear that is easily overcome. All you need to do is be open to learning and be ready to invest some time in updating your skills or retooling.

And I have the perfect plan for you. Treat it like any project and go through these tasks. Your ignorance will recede as you go down the list, and you will be ready to adopt social media for your business.

1. Review available networks

There are many social networks out there. Assuming that you are a newbie, the first step would be taking stock of what social networks are available. Ask your friends what they use, do some Internet research and you will soon have a list of some of the most popular ones.

Tip: Get familiar with different networks and watch how they work.

Suggested Reading:

40 popular social networking sites

20 most interesting social networks

2. List top 3 features of each network

This is easily done. You will come to know the salient point of each network, and what it is most useful for.

Tip: Research and compare

Suggested Reading:

Top social networks for business owners – Infographic

Most important social networks for business

3. Take your pick

Choose one network from your list that suits your business and product the most. This could be Pinterest if your products have visual appeal, like arts and crafts, designer dresses, gourmet foods etc. Or Twitter if you want to engage with your peers and potential customers. Or Facebook just because they have such a high user base.

Tip: Check what your competitors are using

Suggested Reading:

How to choose the right social network – infographic

Which social media network is right for you

Choosing the right social platform for your brand

4. Optimize your profile

Once you create your profile on your chosen network, fill out your profile completely. Refer to product documentation and online articles on how you can best portray yourself on that network.

Tip: Highlight skills related to the products or services you offer

Suggested Reading:

10 amusing Twitter bios

Formula for an Awesome Twitter bio

Top brands with great Google+ pages

5. Follow the Leader

Follow leaders in various categories. Aim to follow at least 5 people who are experts in how to use that network. Follow 5 industry leaders in your field on that network. These could be your competitors or in a different league. For example, if you’re a dress designer just out of school, follow brands like Armani, Ralph Lauren etc. If you’re a new chef just setting up a small bistro or sandwich shop, follow famous restaurateurs and chefs like Wolfgang Puck, Emeril etc. – actually anyone who is at the top of that field. You can find the top people in any industry with some simple research.

Tip: Go through ‘influencers’ or ‘top X’ lists published by Forbes, Fortune, Inc etc.

Suggested Reading:

Forbes Top 50 social media power influencers

Top designers on social media

Top 10 wedding photographers of 2013

6. Observe and Learn

Learning is our goal here, so spend some time in reviewing how the leaders’ profiles are set up, what kind of updates they post, how they introduce new products, how they respond to any customer queries etc. Take notes. This will give you an idea of the general etiquette that is followed in your peer group.

Tip: Connect with or follow as many leaders as you can

Suggested reading:

Social Media Success Stories from diverse brands on different networks

9 Small Business Social Media success stories

7. Start small

Once you get the hang of how your peers or competitors are using social media, start small. Initially, you can just share updates from the people you follow. You can ‘like’ or ‘retweet’ and add comments. If people respond, thank them and post a reply. Gradually increase your activity until you get comfortable with using the tool.

Tip: Start conversations with the people you already know

Suggested Reading:

21 social media engagement rules

5 stages of social media engagement

8. Ramp up

As you take the steps listed above, you will gradually find that you’re not ignorant any more. This is the time to ramp things up a bit. You can plan your own content and post it at planned intervals. You can start connecting with more people. And yes, you can choose another network from your list and repeat all the above steps.

Tip: Start thinking of putting a social media strategy in place.

Suggested Reading:

12 tips to engage people on Twitter

7 Cardinal Rules to Generate Valuable Content Consistently

8 ways to grow your social media footprint

Wrapping Up

John Leech Sketch from Punch 1848

I know just reading all this sounds exhausting. Doing it even more. Believe me, I’ve been there not too long ago. But carrying out all these tasks one by one will get rid of your ignorance in no time. And going through the suggested readings will give you access to a host of other informative sites and blogs, further increasing your knowledge base. So in a nutshell, these are the tasks you will be carrying out at a high level.

1. Review available networks

2. List top 3 features of each network

3. Take your pick

4. Optimize your profile

5. Follow the Leader

6. Observe and Learn

7. Start small

8. Ramp up

I hope this post has been helpful for you and has convinced you to take that deep dive into social media. Please share this with anyone you think might benefit from this plan. Please leave a comment below to give your feedback.

8 Magic Pills to Eradicate Social Media Ignorance originally appeared on RightMix Technologies on March 14, 2013.

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History of User Manual Design – The Exciting 70s

Prasanna Bidkar — Wed, 13 Mar 2013 13:52:11 +0000

This is something I wrote a long time back; it had me all excited then and it doesn’t feel any different today. History is fascinating and I think I would have loved to be an anthropologist in another life, I guess.

Although, I have no idea how it must have felt being a technical writer fifty years ago, the books and research papers give us some information about what it must have been like then. We all talk about audience types and persona, and how user documentation must be like this and like that. But it is not without the efforts of those gone before us – both writers and readers – that we do the things we do without giving it another thought.

History is indeed fascinating, at least of something that you like, and you surely don’t want to give George Bernard Shaw the satisfaction of saying . . .

We learn from history that we learn nothing from history.

— George Bernard Shaw

The 70s are definitely not the beginning of technical writing. However, we can say that technical writing for computer manuals took off along with the use of personal computers. Let us look at the problems technical writers faced then and what solutions they came up with.

1970s

Computer documentation in the early 70s was limited to documenting Management Information Systems and equipment used in the military and the research institutions. There was little research on audience preferences for computer documentation, and therefore, the writers relied heavily on the research related to the user documents in other industries. Pearsall’s paper (Pearsall 1970) on basic audience type defined a broad classification of different types of readers and their needs.

Pearsall later elaborated that the layman is more interested in the practical side of the system and the writers should keep theory limited only to describe the concepts that are essential to understand the application. Some of his concepts such as presenting new knowledge with an analogy to old knowledge and the pace of presentation of information are still important for technical writers.

Discussion in the early 70s was more on writing instructional manuals for the electronics and instrumentation industry and followed military standards. This was also the time when the writers started using computers to create documents. The discussion was ripe about the economics and advantages of using computers for documentation. Surprisingly, nobody was talking about writing for this new technology yet. Pearsall’s early call to know the types of audience was echoed by McGraw, who indicated the problems of technical writers who were weighed down by the need to please the management and not the readers of the document (McGraw 1975).

The earliest discussion on documentation of computer systems mushroomed around 1977. The discussion at this time was very preliminary; writers discussed about suitable page layout and the kind of information that they should include (Coultar 1977). This discussion was about system documentation and with a view toward a technical audience. As the systems were still primitive, the documentation concentrated on defining the input and the output of the system. Technical writing in this area was still young and documentation of a computer system meant different things to each organization. As a result, computer documentation lacked an overall consistency; some organizations prepared separate manuals for each audience, whereas others crammed all the information into one document.

The idea of the personal computer also took shape around this time. Altair started shipping assembly kits for personal computers working on BASIC to hobbyists and technology enthusiasts by advertising in the electronic journals. The documents shipped with the Altair kits included assembly instructions and a manual to install and use BASIC programs. Almost all the manuals in the 70s were printed on a typewriter, thereby limiting the use of display types and fonts or color.

This lack of technology meant that navigational elements used in the manuals were limited to the use of a table of contents at the beginning of the manual.

The hardware assembly manuals were somewhat better, where the writers presented the instructions in a sequence with illustrations and appropriate preparatory messages.

This might have been because the writers had created similar documents for other complex machines and electronic devices (Zachry 2001).

The software manuals during this time were limited to instruction on installation and use of BASIC. However, the organization and presentation of the content was inconsistent and seemed to follow the sequence the writer thought was important. This might have been because developers created most of the content during this time. As personal computers were still not available in assembled form, we can say that the writers expected the audience to have some technical knowledge or be motivated to learn something new.

Many Problems

However, the trend of developers creating the documentation continued even when personal computers became popular and easily available. Users could now buy assembled computers, the audience shifted from being technical or self-motivated users to users who were interested only in the application of computers. The users expected to understand the new technology as well as be able to use it with help of the provided documentation. However, most of the early learners relied on their peers to learn how to use computers as they found the available documentation unhelpful (Lee 1986).

The mid to late 70s were abuzz with application of the new technology and everyone was eager to put their hands on a personal computer. Toward the end of the 70s, as computers began to penetrate businesses and people started using them for business tasks, requirement of good documentation gained importance.

To summarize, following were some of the problems with documentation in this decade:

the documentation was created by developers and lacked organization or consistency
documentation often had the lowest priority and was time consuming (Kuch 1975)
delivery of updated documentation posed a major challenge (Kuch 1976)

However, creating user-oriented documentation emerged as the most important challenge with widespread application of personal computers. It became evident that the writers must have technical knowledge as well as be able to position themselves in the user’s role to understand the user requirements (Hilda 1976).

Some Solutions

To overcome the document delivery problems, Kuch suggested that writers include the schedule or a date when the writers would provide a documentation update. He further suggested that writers provide an update package with a change sheet each month or according to the established schedule.

Documentation of the computer system and the user manuals also lacked an established process. Glenn (Glenn 1975) suggested an algorithm for systems documentation where he described at what stage the user documentation should begin and how at every stage it should be updated to keep it accurate and current.

Kuch (Kuch 1975) identified that the users are more concerned if the available information is clear, up-to-date, and easy to find.

One of the key research outcomes to solve the information presentation and organization problem was development of the information mapping system. Information maps helped writers analyze the tasks and write technical material quickly. The system was used to identify the type of information required, categorize the information, and form relations between the information elements. The information mapping system intended to replace the prose with blocks of information and provided a modular classification (Horn 1975).

In retrospect, we can say that this was the foundation for modular text and the single sourcing concept later on.

Technical writers of the 70s were busy understanding the new technology and user needs. What information to include, how to present this information, and distribution of the information were some of the most important topics discussed and explored in this decade.

References

Pearsall, Thomas E. 1970. Writing for the layman. Paper read at International Technical Communication Conference, at Minneapollis, Minn.

McGraw, Larry. 1975. More Audience Participation Turned Our Technical Publication Into “Best Sellers”. Paper read at International Technical Communication Conference, at Anaheim, California.

Coultar, Sandra J. 1977. Preparing Computer User Guides for a Technical Audience. Paper read at The 24th International Technical Communication Conference, at Chicago, Illinois.

Zachry, M. 2001. Constructing Usable Documentation: A Study of Communicative Practices and the Early Uses of Mainframe Computing in Industry. Journal of Technical Writing and Communication 31 (1):61-76.

Lee, Denis M. S. 1986. Usage Pattern and Sources of Assistance for Personal Computer Users. MIS Quarterly 10 (4):313-325.

Kuch, T. D. C. 1975. Foundations of documentation. SIGDOC Asterisk J. Comput. Doc. 2 (7):12-12.

Kuch, T. D. C.. 1976. The documentation delivery problem. SIGDOC Asterisk J. Comput. Doc. 3 (5):15-15.

Hilda, Standley. 1976. Achieving user-oriented documentation. SIGDOC Asterisk J. Comput. Doc. 3 (6):4-4.

Glenn, Ransier. 1975. Documentation techniques. SIGDOC Asterisk J. Comput. Doc. 2 (7):7-7.

Horn, R. E. 1975. Information Mapping. Datamation 21 (1):85-88.

History of User Manual Design – The Exciting 70s originally appeared on RightMix Technologies on March 13, 2013.

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IFTTT Makes Social Media More Manageable for Small Businesses

Sara Aisenberg — Tue, 12 Mar 2013 13:45:05 +0000

Last year, an online tool called IFTTT revolutionized how I manage my surety bond company‘s Twitter account. Using IFTTT became a part of my daily — sometimes hourly — work routine. However, roughly 7 months after discovering this tool, IFTTT is no longer a part of my daily social media management routine. Why? Because I used IFTTT almost exclusively for Twitter, and IFTTT’s Twitter access changed with the enactment of Twitter API and content laws back in September 2012.

Still, I find ways to use IFTTT to supplement my company’s marketing efforts, and I believe it’s a valuable tool that small business owners and social media strategists alike should know about. Here are the top three things small businesses should know about IFTTT.

1. IFTTT stands for . . .

. . .”if this then that.” Confused? Let me break it down. IFTTT operates like a trigger and action system. So, if this trigger happens, that action will occur — hence the name. You decide what these triggers and actions are by selecting ingredients to create recipes that connect with the channels IFTTT has access to.

For example, if you want to receive an email in your Gmail account every time your Facebook page gets a “Like,” you’ll select Facebook and Gmail as your ingredients to create your recipe. The trigger is the “Like” on your Facebook profile, and the action is receiving an email in your Gmail account. With access to nearly 60 channels (social media profiles, email services, online tools, etc.), your recipe possibilities are endless, which allows you to personalize IFTTT for your needs.

2. IFTTT helps you . . .

. . . stay up to date with what’s going on in your industry — even what your competitors are up to. As a result, you can easily find and reach out to individuals in need of your services. Although this function is no longer available, I used IFTTT to keep track of mentions for the terms “surety” and “bond” on Twitter. By doing this, I was notified by email every time someone included one or both of these words in a tweet, and I instantly became aware of tweets that were not directed to or about my company, yet still pertained to my industry. The benefit of this? I could be first on the scene to respond to individuals who wanted to know about surety bonds. Do I think it helped my company convert those in need of bonds to customers? Absolutely.

I was able to serve as a resource for these individuals, and even though they didn’t directly seek out my company’s advice on Twitter, we were able to respond with clear, concise, professional and friendly information.

3. IFTTT is great . . .

. . . but it’s not a be-all, end-all tool. Chances are high that there’s at least one way IFTTT can work for you and your industry, but — in my opinion — it can’t and shouldn’t be the only social media tool you use to further the reaches of your business’s online marketing campaign. Just as there were changes to the way IFTTT interacts with Twitter, IFTTT’s access to certain online tools can be limited and/or irrelevant to your business. IFTTT can and should, however, be used to supplement your existing online business plan. I encourage social media strategists and small business owners to explore IFTTT and determine what it can do for them. The beauty of IFTTT is that once your recipes are created and activated, the tool does the work for you. All you have to do is turn on, turn off and change recipes as you see fit.

Online marketing trends are always evolving to accommodate the next big thing, but I have a feeling IFTTT is here to stay for the long haul. Give it a try, and sound off in the comments about your favorite IFTTT recipe!

Sara Aisenberg is an online marketing specialist for SuretyBonds.com, a small insurance company based out of Columbia, Missouri. Through her writing, Sara strives to help entrepreneurs of all kinds make the most of their online marketing efforts. Keep up with Sara on Twitter at @saraaisenberg.

IFTTT Makes Social Media More Manageable for Small Businesses originally appeared on RightMix Technologies on March 12, 2013.

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Maximizing Social Media Reach with Sprout Social

Prasanna Bidkar — Mon, 11 Mar 2013 13:55:25 +0000

Social media has unquestionably made its place in any organization big or small. Like IT some years back, all departments and personnel are now stakeholders in the social media ecosystem of an organization. With the potential to drive engagement at never-before levels, social media has become an inalienable part of a product lifecycle. It is used for innovation, design, sales and most certainly for customer support. Sprout social has many features that help you through all these stages: from targeted marketing to customer support. But this, of course, is not a one person’s job. You need a team of specialists who can handle each of these functions.

Delegation is the key

Doesn’t really matter if you are a big organization or a small business, delegation is the key to efficient utilization of available resources. With Sprout Social, you can create groups for each of the business functions, Marketing and Customer Support in the least; or if you are a social media consultant, create a new group for each client with multiple contributors.

With groups in place, you can invite your team members and assign them to specific groups. You can also specify the rights and permissions for the users.

Growing your Network

Number of connections and followers are important, but if you own a meat shop, having vegetarian followers won’t make any sense. Sprout Social’s Discovery tools help you make meaningful connections with your potential customers.

Let’s see how this feature works. Continuing with the meat shop example, let us say it is safe to assume anyone talking about an oven or grill is also interested in buying meat. With Smart Search I can look for people discussing these keywords in a given area and connect with these potential customers.

You can do a similar search for steak, ribs, crab, or any other meat that you sell and target customers in your area.

Having the ability to find people with specific keywords in their profiles and tweets can help you build a targeted and meaningful followers list.

Saving your customers’ time

Sprout social also supports Zendesk Integration. We have all experienced long waiting time on a support call or the lengthy process of creating a support ticket online. You can eliminate this additional burden for your customers by integrating you Zendesk support platform.

So the next time your support staff see a tweet saying “can’t access xyz”, they can respond in a flash by creating a support ticket for the customer.

Maintenance

There is a lot of churn on Twitter. People join, try a few tweets and many times move on if they don’t get the expected results. But social media is no magic drug for all your ailments, and needs time and the right kind of effort. Anyway, the point I want to make is that you may have many followers who are not active on Twitter anymore. The whole point of following someone is to have a conversation or learn interesting things from them.

The Cleanup feature in Sprout Social helps you find these inactive accounts and people who do not follow you back.

Feedback

No campaign, social media or otherwise, can be complete without tracking the results of the campaign. After all, you don’t want to spend big bucks on something that doesn’t work. As an administrator or a social media manager, you can connect your Bit.LY account to track the links shared by each group and review a weekly summary.

The latest feature unveiled by Sprout Social, Response Rate, helps you analyze your engagement with your Twitter and Facebook connections.

For example, this graphical display shows how I fared this last week on Twitter. For 72 tweets that I sent, I received a 35% response and appeared on 72,000 screens – any number of whom may have seen the tweet.

But this does not tell me about the links that I shared on twitter. You can dig deeper with Reports. If I pull up a detailed report for the same week, I get some more information.

This report tells me that each of the links that I shared in the past week was opened at least seven times. It also shows me the daily engagement graph if I wish to analyze and find the events that triggered better engagement.

I am using this free Trial for a week now and everything has worked well so far. A mild irritant, which may not be really an issue for you, is that the interface shortcuts tend to interfere with my activity. For example, whenever I press CTR+N to open a new browser window it opens the New Message box. I think this happens only if you use the Firefox browser.

Have you ever used Sprout Social before for your social media requirements? Which feature do you like the most? And which do you find most useful for your business. I think it is definitely worth trying out, especially when you’re getting a 30 day free trial.

Maximizing Social Media Reach with Sprout Social originally appeared on RightMix Technologies on March 11, 2013.

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Elements of a 5 Page Business Website

Pragati Bidkar — Sat, 09 Mar 2013 13:12:52 +0000

Have you ever seen a website that you found really repulsive? Something that made you wonder ‘what were they thinking?’ Years ago, I had to read a book called Web Pages That Suck for my e-commerce class. The book talked about what you needed to consider while designing a website, and what you definitely wanted to avoid. The book is still sold on Amazon and there is a website where they show you ‘what not to do’ by example.

Many things that were popular in website design like flash videos and animations are completely outdated now. The focus is on rich content and useful information. If you’re designing a website for your business, you must put yourself in your prospective visitors’ shoes and think of what they might want to know.

WordPress makes it really easy to put up a functional business website in no time. Assuming that you are well aware of why every business needs a website, let us consider what the building blocks of one should be.

Logical division of information will make any website a valuable asset.

Here are the basic elements of a 4-5 page business website –

1. The Home Page

Your home page is where most people land first when they come to your website. This page should provide an overview of all the information on your website, with links to other pages. WordPress themes offer many options and home pages now come with slick image sliders, blog sections, page excerpts etc. Depending on the theme you have chosen, you can configure the home page to look really attractive and be a showcase to every other page in your website.

The home page can be used to highlight your achievements and entice visitors to visit other sections of your website.

2. The About Page

The About page generally contains company information such as your history, your vision, mission, values etc. It can also contain bios of the executives, or your board of directors or your founders. Your particular business will dictate what goes here. If you are a startup, you might want to list the people who are the brains behind your venture, or people who are funding you. If you are a restaurant business, the About page could explain your philosophy or the inspiration behind your cooking style etc. WordPress offers features that have attractive bio boxes that contain a person’s photo and short bio. External plugins are also available, and you might choose these based on your need.

3. The Product/Services Page

A product or services page is a must for any business. You can list your products or pre-packaged services here. Many WordPress themes allow you to add shopping cart type functionality so that the buyer can directly select some products and check them out. You can use the parent-child pages or nested pages to have a main page for a category of product, and have child pages with different products.

4. The Contact Page

The contact page is similarly a must. You definitely want to provide a way for your visitor to contact you. There are several elements that can be put on a contact page in a WordPress website. Contact forms can be configured, maps can be inserted, address or phone information can also be given. You can configure this any way you want, while making sure the user can get a message across to you.

5. The Showcase

The fifth page can be used to showcase your skills. If you’re an artist, this could contain your portfolio or an image gallery. For any business, this page could contain a list of your clients, or have client testimonials. You could also create a sort of resource section for your visitors and provide useful links, FAQs, or whitepapers. You could also have a blog and encourage your employees to write about their particular areas of expertise and your products.

Your Business Website

Even if you’re a solopreneur with limited resources, I am sure you will agree that it is relatively easy to put together your business website once you plan it out systematically. Frameworks like WordPress have a short learning curve and require no coding or special skills on your part. You can easily configure your website yourself, or hire an expert to do it for you.

Whichever way you decide to go, a professional looking business website will pay dividends for years to come. I hope I have removed any doubts you may have about getting your own website, no matter if you’re just starting out. I would like to know if you have any doubts or questions on this topic and I will be happy to answer them for you.

Please leave a comment or send me a personal message using the contact form.

Elements of a 5 Page Business Website originally appeared on RightMix Technologies on March 9, 2013.

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4 Key Questions for Social Media Success

Prasanna Bidkar — Thu, 07 Mar 2013 12:09:12 +0000

Social media tools may not be difficult to figure out, but using these tools for a specific purpose is still a challenge for many. No matter what your business, you can use social media either to find new customers or answer your customers’ questions.

However, before you jump in the social media universe to publicize your brand or start a new campaign, you need to ask these important questions.

What do I want?

Your business will always be in one of these stages: creating brand awareness, providing product information, answering questions, giving comparisons, selling the product or service.

What are my objectives and expected result?

You may have just started your business or you may have launched a new product. The content you develop will fit into one of these categories. Eventually you will have to develop content for each stage, but it is important to define the immediate activity and objective of any campaign. For example, you want to create a buzz for a new product. It is important that you define this objective and define the kind of results you expect from this exercise.

Which Medium to Use?

You have your objective defined – create awareness for your new product. Depending on your business and product, you have to determine the type of media that is most suitable to create a buzz. If your products mainly appeal to visual senses, then creating content in the visual medium is the right choice. For example, if you are a tattoo artist, people will want to see your designs before they come to you and these will also appeal to tattoo enthusiasts. Long texts or short text messages will definitely not have the desired impact.

Which medium will have maximum impact on my customers?

Apart from matching the medium to the product, if you the only contributor to social media activities, selecting the media that best suits your business and that you are good at producing without investing a lot of time will give better results.

Which Social Media Network Will Help?

This is an age-old ideology in HR departments – find a person suitable for the job you have rather than adjusting the job to fit the available candidate.

Fit a social media network to the business, not the other way round.

Now you know your objective and the type of content you need to publish to create a buzz for your product. The time has come to go social media network hunting – with so many around, it can get really confusing. The most important factor, of course, is which network has the most number of active subscribers. For visual media, Pinterest, Instagram, and Youtube are your best bets.

Did it Work?

Any improvement in strategy is possible only when you measure the response to your campaign. If your objective was to create brand or product awareness, how many likes, shares, and visits to the product page did you get? Although these numbers do not guarantee that all the people will remember your brand, they can indicate brand exposure or reach. Brandon Hickie explains different methods you can use to measure the impact of your campaign.

Count the numbers!

These numbers can indicate that the people who engaged in any of these activities know about the brand or the product. There would be others who saw but did not Like or share, but that number can only be higher than those who did click or Like.

Recap

So here we are, with a simple 4-step process that ensures your social media activities for business are not random and thoughtless.

Step 1: Define your social media objectives and their expected results.

Step 2: Identify media that best portray your products.

Step 3: Identify social media networks that support your objectives and media.

Step 4: Measure and adjust your social media strategy.

Answering these questions will provide you with a concrete plan to work on your social media strategy. How do you measure the success of your social media presence and your activities on social media networks?

4 Key Questions for Social Media Success originally appeared on RightMix Technologies on March 7, 2013.

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10 Social Media Fears Every Business Must Overcome

Pragati Bidkar — Wed, 06 Mar 2013 13:54:06 +0000

I first heard of a computer way back in the early 80s. I was a snotty kid happy climbing trees and raising hell. In those days, the highlight of my life used to be reading the latest Nancy Drew book. One day my mother came home with some big news – she had to go to some training program in Mumbai to learn about a new device called ‘computer’ which would replace the typewriter. Little did I know then that this ‘computer’ was going to be a big part of people’s life very soon.

My mom came back with ‘123’ books and stories about this computer that had to be kept in an air conditioned room – only top executives had the luxury of an AC in those days. Then one Saturday, we dressed up to go visit ‘the computer’. We were thrilled to enter the cold room and stared at this white machine with green scrolling text. It was just like a visit to the zoo and the computer seemed to be a new beast.

The computer in my school was kept under lock and key. Even in college, having actual lab time where we could use the computer as we liked was a luxury. Professors used to watch us with hawk’s eyes to make sure that no one messed up with the expensive equipment. People had created a shrine for the computer, and many paid homage by using it as little as possible.

The Long Walk

As common as computers are now – we all know 3 year old kids who can download games even when they cannot read or spell – there are still a lot of people – a LOT of people, who have never touched computers. Language may have been a barrier earlier, but localization and language support is common now. However, people of a certain age or background still feel the computer is something alien that they are better off without. My own dad, and numerous aunts and uncles are proof.

If people can still be averse to something that is 30+ years old, what about something like social media?

Social media became really popular only a few years ago. And there is still a large percent of people out there who refuse to have anything to do with it.

Is there a gene that decides whether we are technophiles or technophobic? Maybe it is just the environment we grew up in. Or maybe some people are just averse to anything new. They could be shy or just afraid of how social media is going to impact them. While adopting or rejecting any new technology is a personal choice, there could be many underlying reasons a person is hesitant to embrace something new.

If you do not use popular social tools like LinkedIn, Twitter or Facebook for your business, you are either shy or afraid of social media.

Not having a strong presence on these networks could be crippling your business prospects. But rest assured, you are not the only one who feels so.

Social Media Fears

Are any of these reasons stopping you from using social media for your business?

1. Ignorance – lack of proper knowledge or training

If you’re a business owner trying to build your brand, ignorance is not bliss for you. If your competition is already leveraging social media to promote their products, you cannot stay away claiming ignorance. Fortunately, it is relatively easy to get over this.

You may have to get help or ask for help, however.

2. Resistance to change

This is one of the oldest deterrents of growth. Like it or not, the Internet is a part of our life. With lives getting busier, more and more people are using their smart phones or tablets to look for a dentist or shop for gifts.

This fear can be partially overcome by establishing specific objectives or goals for social media. You can set limits to what you will use, and how much.

3. Resistance to technology

Ignorance could be one reason a person is resistant to technology. Denial is another. Recently I needed to hire a car service. I spoke to one person who was only available on phone and had no website or social media presence. He also told me proudly that he had no time for email. Another person had a website, active Facebook page and also corresponded via email. Guess who got my business?

This is one fear that you will have to overcome if you want to connect with your customers.

4. Fear of the unknown – known evil better than etc.

There are those who refuse to consider new things because X always worked for them. It’s like paying your telecom provider for every out of area call when you can get country wide calling free for a flat rate with a Vonage phone.

You may have built a business using print ads and painted signage or billboards. But you can grow by taking your business online and using social media.

5. Wrong image – frivolous

Many people associate social media with youngsters ranting about something, or posting photos of parties etc. They feel that social media will tarnish their hard earned image or attract the wrong kind of clientele.

This is a very valid fear. It can be overcome by having a social media strategy that integrates with your business and echoes your voice. Social media allows you to project any image you want, and you can be as conservative or selective as you want to be.

6. Lack of privacy

I have faced this fear myself. And almost every public personality has to face this to some extent. But this is more a misconception than a fear.

We are talking about using social media for your business. Your business presence on social media is meticulously planned. You get to choose how much of your personal details you want to broadcast or hide. There are people who tweet about where they’re having dinner right now. And there are people who will talk about a vacation only after they are back home. As a business owner, you don’t have to share any personal information.

7. Lack of security

We have all heard of incidents where someone came to harm because of something they posted online on their social media profile. This is a valid fear which should not be taken lightly. But there are ways to protect your security.

A security policy should be part of your social media policy and it should instruct your staff to refrain from posting sensitive information. In spite of all precautions, an element of risk will always be there, and you will have to accept it to some extent.

8. Fear of criticism

Many business owners feel that a social media presence will invite negative comments and bad mouthing from customers. Although social media does provide a ready channel for anyone to air grievances about any business, they will do it whether you adopt social media or not.

It is better to address a customer’s concerns on your own Facebook page rather than reading about their rants somewhere else. Every business should have a plan on how to address criticism or complaints.

9. Employees will waste time

Many business owners feel that giving employees access to social media is like leaving a kid in a candy store. They feel that employees will spend more time Facebooking with their friends and slack off. Ok. This is a valid fear. And it Will happen in some cases.

But have you considered how much exposure you will miss out on just because you want to enforce rigid controls on your staff?

10. Social media is expensive

Yes and no! Most tools do provide free setup, but you may need to spend on hiring and training staff, training yourself, hiring a consultant etc. Or you may need access to some paid tools if you want to take things another notch. But these expenses will streamline over a period of time.

As a business owner, you get to decide how much to pay. You can go in for phased implementation and initially allocate only a small percent of your marketing budget to social media.

Overcoming Your Social Media Fears

The first step to solving any problem is accepting you have one. You may feel threatened by any of the fears listed above. In most cases, there can be a way out. Any business that wants to be competitive cannot shy away from an online presence. And a strong online presence includes a social media footprint.

Have you thought of any of the points we listed above? And are they keeping you away from realizing the full potential of your brand? We would like to know so please leave a comment or send us an email. We will be happy to discuss your particular situation.

We will try to address how to handle these specific social media fears in our upcoming posts.

Pragati assists clients in leveraging technology to meet their business goals and establish a strong brand presence on the Internet. She strongly advocates collaboration and knowledge sharing and encourages people to think of long term strategy while increasing their online footprint.

Co-founder at RightMix Technologies, Pragati is currently busy meeting the various demands of a startup.

Don’t miss any of our great posts. Sign up is free!

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10 Social Media Fears Every Business Must Overcome originally appeared on RightMix Technologies on March 6, 2013.

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RebelMouse, Twylah, or Scoop.it – what’s your pick?

Pragati Bidkar — Tue, 05 Mar 2013 12:10:39 +0000

If you are a regular reader of our blog, you must have read all about using RebelMouse for content curation. Our RebelMouse page is a glowing testimony to what is possible with RebelMouse. I also wrote about my wish list and some nice to have features for RebelMouse. Today, I would like to briefly compare it with two popular tools out there – Twylah and Scoop.it.

This is Not a feature by feature comparison. It is just a high level look at what you can expect with either of these tools. Is there a clear winner? As always, it will depend on what exactly you are looking for i.e. what your requirements are.

Scoop.It for Content Curation

Scoop.it allows you to deliver your own ‘scoops’ for your readers based on what you encounter on the web. It is largely manual. You explicitly add every link you want, and you can choose content based on your interests or any particular subject. The free version of Scoop.it allows only one user/account. Their paid version lets you add more curators.

Scoop.it is not restricted to data from any social network since you can add any link you want. Shown above is an example of our Scoop.it page. The main tab contains broad topics. Scoops can be organized under these topics and a viewer can choose to only look at certain topics or go to the ‘Scoops’ tab and see all the scoops.

With Scoop.it, the curator, that is you, is completely in the driver’s seat.

Twylah and Power Tweets

As the name suggests, Twylah is created for Twitter and works only with Twitter. It offers the Power Tweet – supposed to generate a lot of traffic and really increase the reach of your tweets. You can request an invite anytime to get your own Twylah page.

Twylah has a lot of automation built in and is good at analyzing your tweets. Based on what you tweet most about, Twylah creates tabs for topics and then groups the relevant tweets under those tabs. These tabs change based on your tweets. So if you are tweeting a lot about a new event, you can be sure that event will appear as a tab on your Twylah page. You can also go in and manually rearrange the tabs as you want.

What I really like about Twylah is that it cuts to the chase. For example, take a look at my Twylah page and you will know in an instant what my interests are, topics I am passionate about, and which of my tweets are generating the most buzz. There is also a nifty ‘Follow’ button at the top that encourages people to follow me (hint) on Twitter right from my Twylah page.

The drawback with Twylah is that it only works with one network – Twitter.

RebelMouse for Teams

As we saw before in our earlier posts, RebelMouse combines your updates from several popular networks like Twitter, Facebook, Google+, Instagram etc. It allows you to add multiple accounts, different RSS feeds, and add more curators for free. What’s more, you can add content filters that will pull data based on certain criteria.

Currently, RebelMouse is offered free and the paid versions have a ‘Coming Soon’ tag.

Is there a clear winner?

The advantage with RebelMouse is that it offers an eclectic mix of content curation features, integration with several social networks and just enough automation to make your tasks easy. Any business with a presence on 2-3 networks should give it a shot, especially while it is still free.

If Twitter is the only social network your business uses, Twylah might be a good choice for you.

Scoop.it is great for niche segments and for specific objectives. I would use it to generate awareness on a particular topic, or create a knowledge bank on a topic, or pin suggested readings for a class etc.

So how do you decide?

Value is always subjective because every one’s needs differ. Creating a list of your objectives will help. Once you know what your content management goals are – and there could be more than one – you can choose a tool that meets that specific goal.

I hope you enjoyed this series on RebelMouse and are already trying it out for your business. What is your tool of choice when it comes to content curation? Is there any feature that you would like to see offered in one of these tools? Please share your thoughts and help take this forward.

Co-founder at RightMix Technologies, Pragati is currently busy meeting the various demands of a startup.

Don’t miss any of our great posts. Sign up is free!

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RebelMouse, Twylah, or Scoop.it – what’s your pick? originally appeared on RightMix Technologies on March 5, 2013.

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Social Media Management – 5 Business Reputation Battlefronts

Prasanna Bidkar — Mon, 04 Mar 2013 13:12:03 +0000

You can never stop bad things from happening. Businesses are run by people, and people make mistakes. What is more important is how you react to a mistake you make or one of your employees make on social media networks to avoid any long-term damage to you reputation. Although you are not always at fault, individuals with malicious intent can orchestrate a campaign to malign your reputation.

Earlier, only a few people who had access to mass media could attack someone’s reputation. Social media has now enabled anyone with a mobile phone and a decent following to reach millions and cause irreparable damage.

While fame can be achieved in minutes and hours, reputation must be earned over a period. Reputation is also something that you must nurture and protect all the time and therefore is an ongoing job; a job that requires skill and agility to handle negative sentiment. An attack on reputation on social media is akin to be lynched by an unruly mob.

Before you train your social media team for this war, it is important to understand the internal and external threats to your business’ reputation.

1. Disgruntled Employees

Disgruntled and unhappy employees can mean heavy losses and less than optimum work for employers. But that is not the only problem. Increasingly, employees who disagree with some company policies discuss these on the SM networks with their friends and family.

One person making an emotional rant may not need your attention immediately. However, in a highly charged atmosphere, if the policy is relevant to the current national problem, the rant can easily spread like a wild fire and travel great distances. This was quite evident from the social media storm created by HMV employees who took over HMV’s official Twitter account.

2. Whistleblower

I would assume that most whistleblowers would report wrongdoing because of their moral and ethical standards. While systematic reporting is required for the government to take legal action, Internet and social media networks require no such mechanism.

The whistleblower’s claims may or may not be true and may not even stand legally. As with any rumor, a negative or controversial statement is shared much faster and farther than a positive remark.

3. Product or Service Quality

Social media is used for almost every aspect of business – marketing, customer support, recruitment, and talent development and retention – but the busiest and popular application of social media is customer support.

Again, a happy customer may not go to your website or social media account to praise your product. However, dissatisfied customers will jump to all available resources to air their views against your product or service. More so if all their attempts through traditional channels have failed.

Replacing a bad product is an obligation; not a solution to the bad experience your customers have.

4. Unprofessional Conduct

Interactions on social media platforms can be as busy as you want them to be. Everything’s fine as long as you are doing things yourself or have absolute control over what goes out to the world. But most large organizations and some small businesses will have a dedicated staff to handle marketing and customer support dialogue with their followers and fans.

So what happens if this person makes a mistake and fails to handle an irate customer? The business must be ready to handle a situation that can quickly turn ugly because of the employee’s misconduct.

5. Leaked Documents

WikiLeaks. That one word is enough to explain the gravity of the damage a leaked final or draft document or an internal memo can cause your business. In addition to this, employees may inadvertently share some proprietary information via email or training material. Even though the purpose here may be as innocent as helping out a friend or family member, any copyrighted information that leaves your door (or virtual fence) is open to criticism and misuse.

Feedback Mechanism

Although the common thread across all these scenarios is the highly connected network of people where news can go viral and reach millions in no time, the reasons of and therefore the response strategy must differ to counter the crises.

At a high level, we can say that a feedback mechanism is essential in every function of your organization so that you are not taken unawares by any of the above scenarios. Setting up a process for diffusing the situation is as important as minimizing these risks.

Have you ever encountered any of the above scenarios? How did you deal with them? Have you set up a process to address each of these above situations? We want to know your experience. Please write to us or leave a comment. We look forward to hearing your real life experiences.

Social Media Management – 5 Business Reputation Battlefronts originally appeared on RightMix Technologies on March 4, 2013.

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100 Blog Posts and our Top 5 Most Popular

Pragati Bidkar — Sat, 02 Mar 2013 13:22:16 +0000

I am happy to announce that we recently reached a milestone for our RightMix Technologies blog – a 100 posts! In cricket lingo, we hit a century, which is no mean feat whether you play for your local club, or represent your country. So we are giving ourselves a pat on the back, and we would like to thank all of you, our dear readers, who made this possible.

Thanks are also due to Business2Community and Alltop, two great platforms that have allowed us to syndicate our content.

When we started our blog and website back in July 2012, even a post a week was tough. But we plunged in, got our hands dirty and hopefully created some content that has been useful and helpful to our readers. Our website traffic has increased slowly but steadily. Our shares on social media have gone up thanks to a wonderful audience and support group. We are ranking higher in SERPs for many keywords.

Here is a snapshot of our very high level website stats.

Total Page Views: 120,000+ From July 2012 to February 2013

That’s an average of a thousand views per page, and most pages aren’t even that old.

Ok! So that’s enough of self praise. We would rather prefer it came from you.

Our most popular posts

We did some analysis using popular tools like Google, AWstats etc. and have made a list of our most popular posts. Some of the results surprised us too.

Should your Twitter Lists be Public or Private (2346 views)

Twitter lists help you group the people you follow into different groups. You can create groups based on the topics you follow or the type of people you follow. For example, business prospects, gurus and experts, and so on. But when does it make sense to have the lists public?

This post discusses the advantages of creating Twitter lists and some advice on when to have a public list and when to keep your lists private.

5 Costly Mistakes Small Business Blogs Cannot Afford (1960 views)

Blogging has become an integral part of any Internet marketing strategy. Blogs help small business and large organizations provide information to their readers and allow them to have an open dialogue.

However, to use this potent tool for maximum benefit, it has to have certain basic features – features that establish trust, facilitate dialogue, and also provide an opportunity to attract surfers to the business website. The post presents the top features your blog cannot do without.

How to Create a Killer Facebook Ad – The 4 Step Quickie (1956 views)

Wherever there is a large viewership, advertisers are not too far away. With over a billion users, Facebook is one of the most popular social media networks across different demographic groups. Facebook allows advertisers to target very specific groups, which is a huge advantage over other traditional advertising media.

The post discusses the four most important attributes of a Facebook ad that every advertiser should think about before putting an ad on Facebook.

Why Information Literacy is Important for Technical Writers (1429 views)

Technical communication is an integral part of any IT team or business. Skilled technical writers are needed to create user documentation whatever your product. You could be building nuts and bolts, or some fancy social media software. Technical writers need to capture information from various sources to complete their tasks.

This post discusses what it means to be information literate and the importance of information literacy for technical writers.

5 Reasons you should classify your blog (1400 views)

This is a must read for anyone who is just starting their blog. The post walks you through the thought process needed to plan the perfect blog, right from analyzing your target audience, limiting the scope, choosing the right platform to picking the right design elements.

The post highlights how having a strategy is crucial, whether you’re writing for a niche affiliate site or just blogging about food.

What we write about

If you are a regular reader, you know that we mainly write on Social Media, WordPress Technical Writing and Blogging. What are the kind of posts that you would like to see on our blog in the future? Your feedback is invaluable to point us in the right direction.

We have tried to present an eclectic mix of educational or ‘how to’ type content, current trends, list posts, our views and analyses etc. so far. And we will be happy to address any questions you may have in the form of a post. So please feel free to drop us a line anytime, or add a comment about what you want.

Once again, a big thank you to all. We have miles to go before we sleep!

100 Blog Posts and our Top 5 Most Popular originally appeared on RightMix Technologies on March 2, 2013.

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3 Features I Wish RebelMouse Had

Pragati Bidkar — Fri, 01 Mar 2013 09:54:24 +0000

In our previous post, we discussed how you could use RebelMouse for content curation. You can have your own page on RebelMouse with a URL such as “rebelmouse.com/yourpage” or you can even embed the RebelMouse page within your own website. Since my last post, I have spent some time creating the RightMix Tech page on RebelMouse, and have also been easily able to include this as a page on our own website.

In addition to the above two methods, RebelMouse allows you to embed the said page as part of your sidebar too. What’s more, they actually offer to do it for you! Having this kind of assistance is invaluable for the typical small business owner who’s being pulled into different directions.

As wowed as I am by everything RebelMouse offers, there are some features that I wish RebelMouse had. This is just my wish list, and maybe the fine innovative folks at RebelMouse will actually convert these into features?

My Wish list for RebelMouse

1) Facebook Access

While adding your Facebook account, you need to allow access to every page you admin. This is fine when someone’s admin for just their own page but can create havoc for a social media manager who manages multiple pages. Granted, this could be Facebook functionality or an integration feature.

But I definitely do not want my clients’ updates showing up on my RebelMouse page, or one clients’ updates on another’s page, even by accident. History has shown us that software glitches a.k.a bugs do happen. This feature poses not only a security risk, but is also prone to human error.

If my RebelMouse account is compromised for some reason, a person could get access to several Facebook page feeds belonging to my clients. The simplest pitfall here is from spoiling a brand’s image by displaying something irrelevant – like posts about female hygiene products on a restaurant’s page – to something more severe like deliberate mischief due to misuse of data.

The ideal solution would be to be able to grant access to specific Facebook pages while authorizing the application.

2) YouTube Integration

Maybe I missed something, but I could not see a way to add my YouTube channel here. Posterous and iTunes would also be a good addition, especially for people who create podcasts or have their own iTunes channels. With audio and video channels being a mainstay of any content marketing strategy, users would definitely like to see these integrated into their RebelMouse page.

3) The ‘Not’ filter

I am surprised more tools don’t have this feature. While it’s helpful that I can filter on tags like ‘social media’, ‘blogging’ etc., it would be much better if I could get everything except ‘personal’, or ‘family’? Functionally, including something should be almost the same as not including something. Or maybe it’s more complicated.

Excluding one or two terms might make more sense in many cases rather than including a whole bunch of them. I eagerly await a tool that gives me this kind of filter, and the ability to further select other logical combinations.

What are some things you would like to see on RebelMouse? Please leave a comment and share this with your friends. User input is necessary to improve any product, and genuine feedback can be a way to give thanks as well as provide useful insight.

In my next post, I will be wrapping up my posts on RebelMouse by comparing it with a couple of popular content curation tools out there.

3 Features I Wish RebelMouse Had originally appeared on RightMix Technologies on March 1, 2013.

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Integrating Social Media with Television Advertising

Prasanna Bidkar — Thu, 28 Feb 2013 15:52:06 +0000

Advertising has been among one of the most dynamic fields and has kept pace with the changing times. Popularity of the WWW provided new advertisement avenues. Technological advances and social media are now posing a new threat to TV advertising.

With people micro blogging through their favorite TV shows, are the ads on television losing their worth?

It was easy to captures a viewer’s attention when there was only one channel aired on television. Cable posed a stiff challenge to get viewers to stick through the advertisement – you don’t really watch the ads through your favorite show, maybe snippets if they are synchronized with other channels. But you still flip through a few before settling back and they somehow get your attention.

The question is ‘Is an ad impression on a social media network worth more than a TV ad?” And is it a matter of choosing one or the other? Questions that advertising consultants will have to answer soon for their customers.

Attention Deficit is Real

Let us say I buy time during a popular show to air an ad. Now this TV show has millions of self-reported viewers. Another way to quantify this would be to count the number of households that subscribe to the channel. I have always had this question – how do you know the viewers didn’t flip the channel while the ad was being aired or were paying attention?

This is quite similar to paying for impressions. My recent experience with social media advertising taught me that a popular social network can get you 50,000+ impressions in minutes, if not seconds. And I don’t even know if anyone has looked at that little ad in the sidebar that we are so accustomed to ignore.

So neither this nor that seems to be the answer.

Vying for users’ attention at multiple touch points may earn better results.

If viewers are engaged with multiple devices at all times, why not channel them to a place where they want to be anyway? Almost all TV shows now have a hashtag (‘#’) associated with them that viewers use to converse on Twitter.

Advertisers are now creating hashtags to fuel brand discussion.

Advertisers can leverage these hashtags to keep viewers engaged during the commercial that they may not be paying attention to. However, as Tom Fishburne points out, people don’t discuss brands, they discuss events, news, problems, likes, dislikes, and so on.

Greater Brand Memory

Hashtags by themselves fail to kick up a conversation. When an advertiser pays for the airtime during the show, it would perhaps make sense to also piggyback on the show’s hashtag and engage the viewer in the other medium by sponsoring the hashtag.

For example, the official hashtag for #oscars could be #oscars13jcp, which would cover the official sponsor – J C Penny. This mainly helps in two ways -

One, users who discuss anything about the Oscars will be automatically exposed to the sponsor through the event and their Twitter conversation.

Two, sponsors can then weave their social media advertising campaign around these popular event hashtags and be present at the live event, the television broadcast, and also the social media networks.

The day won’t be far when you see advertisements in your Twitter feed based on the hashtags you use. These hashtags will then help advertisers display context sensitive advertisements to anyone who is following the event and using that specific hashtag.

A Captive Audience

If you ask me, Pay Per Click (PPC) is better than impressions. At least you know someone’s seen your advertisement! Pure or conventional print or television advertising can only promise to give you impressions.

Integrating social media concepts such as hashtags with legacy advertising can exponentially increase your impressions across a wide demographic.

Although this may not be a click per se, using a tag containing your name or brand repeatedly lets you increase your equity. It will also be easy to quantify the results of such campaigns leading to greater potential for analytics, further allowing you to generate more accurate predictions.

Have you thought of leveraging various channels for brand promotion? Do you think integrating conventional channels with social media can be the key to greater user engagement? Your comments are crucial to take this concept forward and I look forward to discussing it with all readers.

Integrating Social Media with Television Advertising originally appeared on RightMix Technologies on February 28, 2013.

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RebelMouse for Content Curation

Pragati Bidkar — Wed, 27 Feb 2013 14:00:31 +0000

RebelMouse, one of Business Insider’s Best Startups of 2012, allows you to collate content from your various social media channels. But what does RebelMouse offer the small business owner or solopreneur?

http://www.rebelmouse.com

Less than a year old and extremely buzz worthy, RebelMouse has been used by big names like Time.com, WSJ, Techcrunch and ESPN with stupendous success. Combining content from different social media channels like Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, Flickr, Pinterest etc. helps popular brands paint a holistic picture of their story. Updates happen in real time whenever you post anything to your social media channels.

How does RebelMouse fit into a brand’s social media strategy?

Social Media Strategy Across Channels

Every social media network has its own unique advantage. A well defined social media strategy will have a different objective for each channel, and will design content for it accordingly. A brand might use Twitter for helpful links to educational content, updates, and customer support; Facebook for special offers and coupons;YouTube for product videos and ads; Pinterest for photographs and so on. You get the idea!

A tool like RebelMouse can pull all these updates from various channels and lets you decide how you want to display it. Any customer going to the RebelMouse page for that business will see a cohesive picture of content from different channels in one place. This will help communicate your brand message to your customers, without requiring them to hop from one social network to another to look you up.

Since everyone’s time is invaluable, you could earn some brownie points by making it easy for your customer to look you up.

RebelMouse for Small Business

RebelMouse has many attractive features like a WordPress plugin, design customizations that let you add your own HTML code, ability to add more than one user, choice of email notifications and a ‘Stick’ button that allows you to add content to your page anytime (somewhat similar to the Buffer tool on your browser bar).

Here are five RebelMouse features I have chosen that can really benefit a small business owner in content curation.

1) Tweets, Retweets etc.

RebelMouse gives you the option of displaying only your Tweets, or a combination of Tweets and Retweets from your account. You can also display your complete Twitter timeline if you like. Being able to choose this gives you a lot of flexibility.

And this option can be changed any time. So you could include RTs in a week where you mostly just Retweeted links. You can go back to a ‘Tweet only’ setting when you are providing high value as part of your Tweets.

Since it is difficult to be sharing something spectacular all the time, this can give you some respite when you are in a jam.

2) Tags and Filters

You can add tags to filter your Twitter feed so that RebelMouse will pick up tweets with a certain tag or keyword. This is great when you have a special tag for a certain event, such as a Fashion Week or a conference. Anything you Tweet using that tag will make its way to your page.

For example, a small business such as a boutique can use a hashtag for a fashion week to their advantage. Since most content related to the event will appear on their RebelMouse page, they can portray that they are ‘in’ with what’s hot ( or ‘haute’) in the fashion world with very little effort on their part. A customer in a place like Paradise, CA will be thrilled to know that she buys her clothes from someone who’s familiar with the latest ramp fashion from New York or Milan.

3) Adding Sub Pages

Your RebelMouse page can have different sub pages. This is useful to classify content and put related stuff in one place. For example, we have a sub page for social media, another for WordPress, and so on, because these are the topics we write about most.

You can even add a URL from your website and add it as a tab on your RebelMouse page. This can be a different way of drawing traffic to your services page or your special offers. What small business owner would pass up another avenue to gain more visibility for their products?

4) Adding Feeds and Accounts

As a small business owner, you are always in a time crunch. If you’re like us, one of your challenges is to provide quality content consistently. RebelMouse lends a hand here by allowing you to add RSS and other feeds to your account.

Adding a feed from someone like Business2community will give your customer direct access to newly released quality content. You can even filter the feed to only grab what is most pertinent to your business. Many big sites will already have different feeds based on topic.

Choosing a feed from an industry leader in your field is a good idea. Customers like to know that you are aware of the big names and take inspiration from them.

5) Editing Capability

This is the most valuable feature for content curation, in my opinion. RebelMouse lets you delete certain items from your page. It also allows you to freeze or pin items to the top for a given duration.

As a small business owner, I do not want to handle the overhead needed to maintain a separate Twitter account for my business. So my Tweets include personal messages or observations that may not have a place on my brand page. For example, a recipe I shared with my followers appeared on RebelMouse among a bunch of other business posts. Or my comments on ‘Argo’ might too. Since I am using my RebelMouse page to talk about my brand, these kind of messages seem misplaced.

I was glad to see that I could remove any message I wanted from myRebelMouse page very easily. Similarly I could easily freeze an update asking people to subscribe to our YouTube channel.

If you haven’t tried RebelMouse already, I urge you to try it out. Signing in is easy with your existing Twitter or Facebook account. The Dashboard is intuitive and you should be able to build a page to your liking. I am eager to know how easy or tough you find it.

Does this mean RebelMouse is perfect? How does it compare to other content curation tools out there? My next post will be about my wishlist of features for RebelMouse.

RebelMouse for Content Curation originally appeared on RightMix Technologies on February 27, 2013.

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