Goals for 2012: Get More Exercise, Stop Wearing a Snuggie, and Take Your Business to the Next Level
Tuesday 12/20/11
Not that any of you GLAD WORKS friends would ever wear a Snuggie, but you know. It made you smile to read that because we’ve all considered it, no matter how briefly…
Anyway, let’s talk a little bit about your goals for 2012. With the New Year approaching, there’s no better time to start thinking about what the year ahead will hold for your business strategies. Do you need to build your web presence? Are you ready to go mobile? How’s your social media campaign doing? What about your overall branding and design? It sounds like a lot to think about right now, but we promise you that these are all going to be very important things to think about during 2012.
How is your web presence?
It’s not enough to just have a website these days. You’ve got to do something with it! Having a blog with frequent posts is a great way to help you build a web presence. You might also want to think about putting some extra effort into social media, and think about writing for a website or two. Maybe you can even start your own niche network. The key here is to think about your demographic and find some creative ways to establish a sense of omnipresence on the Internet. We can certainly help you figure out how to do that if you find yourself at a loss.
Are you ready for mobile?
Speaking of omnipresence, have you gone mobile yet? With more and more people accessing the web via smartphones and tablets, now more than ever before, you’re going to need to consider going mobile. One great way to do that is through something called responsive web design. As you’ve probably noticed, computers aren’t the only things with web browsers anymore. The rising popularity of mobile devices means that your website needs to fit into the rapidly growing “mobile web.” Responsive websites use fluid widths, scalable images and adjustable layouts so that no matter what screen size or resolution a person might be using, your website is easily viewable on that device with the same ease and clarity as a desktop computer. This means that customers are able to visit your website from anywhere, on any device. What’s even cooler is that we can do it for you!
Social media campaigns
Social media continues to be a very necessary and important component to your marketing and PR strategies. If you don’t have any accounts yet, you really need to get on it. Find out where your customers are hanging out, be it Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, wherever and start there. You can add more as you get into the swing of it, but have at least one way other than your website to communicate with your people. If the idea of doing all this makes you want to hide under your desk, don’t worry. We have lots of experience running social media campaigns. We can hook you up, GLAD WORKS friends!
Branding and design?
Since we’re on the topic of communication, how is your overall branding and design? Is it still saying the right things about your business? Your business grows and changes over time and maybe the branding and design that made sense when you first started doesn’t really suit you anymore. Likewise with your website. Does your website need a little shot of Botox or a total facelift? Having an outdated website isn’t going to impress anyone, so it’s definitely worth the investment to spruce things up. While you’re thinking about a new website, now is the time to think about making it mobile friendly, too. Smartphones aren’t going away any time soon, you guys!
Can we interest you in an App?
The truth is that the world of mobile devices is a veritable smorgasbord of apps right now, and creating one for your business is something you might want to consider. Apps are incredibly popular because they’re fun to shop for, and they’re easy to purchase, install, and use. You can capitalize on this and use them to your advantage. We happen to have developed over 400 apps here at GLAD WORKS. Did you know that?
Need eCommerce?
If you have a website but are unable to display products, take secure orders, track shipments and manage customer information, it’s time to have us help you incorporate a shopping cart into your existing site. Why not? It’s a new year, go for it!
No matter what your goals are for 2012, we are here to hook you up with the 411 and a little technical know-how to get you on your way to a prosperous year. But before you call us to do anything, sit down and write out some clear goals for the next year. Where do you want to be at this time next year (besides sitting in front of a nice fireplace with a big glass of eggnog…) and what do you need us to do to help you get there? If you don’t even know where to start, don’t freak out! We’re here to make sure you have a rockin’ 2012!
So, You Wanna Be A Very Big Deal...
Wednesday 11/30/11
In these difficult economic times, often the first thing business owners are forced to cut back on is advertising and marketing. But having budgetary constraints doesn’t mean that you can’t keep your name out there just the same. There are many things a company like ours can do to help you stay relevant and in front of people through new and creative advertising and marketing strategies. Together, we can keep your name at the top of the list wisely and efficiently.
Have you ever wondered how people get picked for newspaper or magazine interviews, or how TV news reporters find people to interview for their stories? They go online and they look for names that keep popping up. The names that they find most frequently belong to experts in the field—people who write articles, give seminars, and make appearances at colleges and trade shows. The more you get your name out there, the bigger you become!
Oh, but if you only knew how!
Last week we talked about Quora and how you can use it to establish yourself as an expert in your industry, but there are many other ways to become A Very Big Deal. By all means, use Quora, but add some of these strategies to your expert-making efforts as well.
Stay current:
Every industry has at least one trade paper. Start reading as many of them as you have time for to stay current with what’s going on in your industry. Knowing what’s hot and what’s new and being able to speak intelligently about it goes a long way toward making you look like you’re at the top of your game. And you won’t just look like you are—you will be!
Write an article:
Write an article or an opinion piece that’s relevant to what’s going on in your industry and submit it for publication in a trade paper or industry blog. We do this as much as we can. In fact, you may have seen our writing at either About.com or iPhone Life. This is a fantastic way to start putting your name out there. If you fear you don’t have the writing chops to pull it off properly, there’s no shame in hiring a copywriter to put your thoughts into written form for you. After all, you’re too busy being an expert in your industry. You can’t be worrying about comma placement and sentence fragments!
Hold seminars:
This might not be the most feasible option for everyone, but if you feel like you’ve built up a bank of knowledge that might benefit others, why not hold a seminar? That will expose you to lots of people in your industry who may be new to it or who are looking to expand their knowledge base about something specific.
Open a booth or participate on a panel at a trade show:
This option may require some financial investment, but if you can swing it, it’s an awesome way to be seen. If you can’t afford to participate in the show, you can try to get on the board or the planning committee instead. Visibility is key and your presence will help you get that much needed exposure.
Offer to speak at a local college:
Of course, you’ll be doing this for free. Just imagine all those optimistic, idealistic young faces hanging on your every word! As the expert at the table during a seminar or lecture, they’ll remember your words and discuss your ideas with their professor and classmates. Perhaps by participating in their seminar, you can even learn some things from them!
Get out into the community:
If the college crowd isn’t your thing, you could offer to speak to a local organization—just as long as their concerns are relevant to your industry and you’re not walking in there with your sales pitch. Remember this is all about being an expert and not about selling stuff. That part comes later…
Send out press releases:
Send press releases every time something cool happens. So, let’s say you’re going to speak at a local college. Send out a press release announcing that fact and make sure you include your credentials. Don’t forget to use this opportunity to promote your writing and your seminars too! When people read about you in the paper, they can’t help but think, “wow! This person must be a really big deal!”
Becoming a Really Big Deal doesn’t just happen to people. Folks who are Really Big Deals are that way because they got out there and they made it happen.
Just in case you need some more inspiration, try this on for size:
(YOUR NAME HERE) renowned expert, published author, lecturer at several prestigious colleges and universities, owner and proprietor of (YOUR BUSINESS NAME HERE).
That sounds fancy, right?
You, GLAD WORKS friends, can become A Very Big Deal.
Supporting Local Talent Makes You Look Good from Head to Toe!
Wednesday 9/28/11
Since the first caveman picked up his first primitive paintbrush and painted a weird looking animal figure on the inside of a cave, the arts have served as a bridge between people, society, and time. Even in today’s hectic and time starved world, art continues to encourage thought, evoke emotion and spark conversation; in fact, for exactly those reasons, it may be more important than ever before.
Igniting thoughts, emotions, and conversations is also part of what makes a successful business. An amazing product or a great service does just what good art does—make people think, feel, and interact with one another.
Since they have so much in common, it seems like more businesses would understand and support local artists. Sadly, that doesn’t happen very often, GLAD WORKS friends: many businesses don’t think that the arts are relevant, important or beneficial to them.
They couldn’t be more mistaken. Supporting the arts is all of those things!
GLAD WORKS, as you know, is a big supporter of StyleWeek Providence, a local nonprofit dedicated to creating a successful model of a regional fashion event that economically impacts its designers, sponsors, partners, and employees.
It’s no secret that making it in the world of fashion is very difficult, especially in this economy—no matter how talented a designer may be, they can still use support. And it’s important to do so because after all, if nobody supports fashion designers, we’ll be stuck wearing Cosby Sweaters and re-visiting the same old fashion trends over and over again.
Let’s all make the sign of the cross at Leisure Suits and Stirrup Pants and mullets right. now. shall we?
Yikes.
Anyway, we feel very strongly about supporting local talent, so we thought we’d give you all a little shopping list, if you will, of the local designers we love. We hope you’ll be as excited about them as we are!
Here they are from haute head to stylishly painted toe:
The Pawtucket based designer, Everett Hoag, makes the most amazing custom hats and headpieces imaginable as he bridges the “gap between fashion and performance.” Through his companies, RIFashion and Fountain Street Creative, he styles events and productions and creates costumes, hats, and headpieces for print ads, fashion shows, and for private clients.
But maybe you’re not in the mood for millinery, or you need the perfect ‘do to go with your awesome new Everett Hoag chapeau. You need Lulu Locks of course! You can schedule an appointment with her at Flipp Salon or at Providence Pin-Up for gorgeousness beyond your wildest imaginings.
Having a wonderful hat and amazing hair doesn’t mean a thing without some BLING! Check out Martin and Ricci (we just launched their website! It’s super Sexxxy, right?) for incredible contemporary and classic pieces made specifically to adorn that pretty neck or wrist or finger or nose or earlobes of yours.
Wait! You can’t leave the house naked, you silly exhibitionist!
We have the perfect folks to help you let your inner fashionista shine through! From eclectic flair to fashion forward, these designers from StyleWeek are some of our favorites.
For even more designers, see the StyleWeek line up here! They’re all fabulous!
We cannot forget the divine handbag stylings of Andrea Valentini! There’s no better way to carry all your important stuff around. There just isn’t. Go visit her very glamorous website and prepare to be in lust (she’s having a summer sale, just F.Y.I).
Did you guys know that hand-painted is the new black? It is according to Mallory Musante shoes! Television stars and runway models at New York Fashion Week have all worn her designs. No matter who you are, if you want to wear some seriously cool kicks, you go see Mallory.
As you’ve probably realized by now, it’s not hard for a business (like GLAD WORKS) to develop relationships with local artists. One way we just did it is by networking our clients and contacts together, and, by writing a blog post to showcase some local fashion designers, hopefully sent some prospects their way.
We also do all we can to support those organizations that in turn support the arts. For example, you can do something like donate time or materials to a local theater, or give an artistic association pro bono work on a website or marketing campaign.
The bottom line is that it doesn’t matter HOW you choose to support, as long as you do. Today, GLAD WORKS chose fashion designers because nobody looks good in neon stirrup pants.
Nobody.
Cash Isn’t Always King When it Comes to Making a Difference!
Wednesday 9/14/11
People often think that in order to really help out and make a difference in the community, you have to be a big company with tons of money to throw around. The good news is that’s not necessarily true, GLAD WORKS friends: help can come in many unexpected ways!
GLAD WORKS dedicates itself to being involved in the community. Although we’re a very successful company, we’re not a big corporation with deep pockets, but that’s okay! It doesn’t stop us from doing our part—we have time and talent to give, so that’s what we do! We have volunteered our GLAD WORKS services to many non-profits, including the likes of the American Heart Association, the American Cancer Society, Children’s Friend and Service, Festival Ballet Providence, WaterFire, Save the Bay, StyleWeek Providence and the Fire Department of New York.
As anyone who has donated services can attest, not only does it feel incredibly good to help out, but it has the added side benefit of providing great networking opportunities and exposure. You can never go wrong by establishing a reputation for caring about and being engaged with the community in which you do business. The positive associations with your brand that your work creates are pure gold.
Since we have just spent the weekend commemorating the 10th anniversary of 9/11, we thought it would be fitting to share the story of our involvement with FDNY a short time after the tragedy struck. We noticed that local companies were doing various things to help out, and wondered what we, too, might be able to do. Simply writing a check and dropping it in the mail didn’t seem personal enough, so we decided to reach out to FDNY to see if there was anything we could do.
As it turned out, they were so overwhelmed with the search and recovery effort—mapping satellite feeds to the cleanup crew who needed constant support—that they were forced to put all their other projects on hold. GLAD WORKS offered to help them out by taking on some of those important projects. After some strategic conversation, we came to the table with two donated websites: one for The Fire Museum and the other for The Fire Zone.
The Fire Zone, located in Rockefeller Center, served to educate the public about the basics of fire safety. Not content to walk away once the website was complete, we continued the relationship, providing design, photography, copywriting, and technology services for their email campaigns over the next several years.
We cannot tell you how good it felt to help out! We have so much personal pride that came along with that experience. To commemorate that pride, we wanted a lasting tribute in our office to the men and women of the FDNY. Having just moved into our office in January 2002, right after September 11th, we stenciled “FDNY” onto one of the fire pipes that had just been repainted. To this day it’s a fond spot in our office where we can stand beneath the name and remember—both the work that we did, and the 343 brave firefighters who gave their lives on that tragic day.
A GLAD WORKS PSA: Poorly Written Content Makes You Look Like a Jackwagon
Wednesday 8/31/11
What makes a blog fun to write is its conversational style. In a blog, it’s okay once in a while to break some rules of grammar in order to write the way people actually speak. But there are some rules that are broken all over the place—on billboards and restaurant menus and newsletters that should never be broken. These grammatical mistakes aren’t just fodder for late-night TV hosts to poke fun—they often diminish credibility and could cause a loss in business.
Have you ever been looking at a menu in a restaurant and noticed a description that looks something like this?
Chicken Caesar Salad:
Our tender and juicy “chicken” served on fresh, crispy “romaine lettuce” and topped with fresh grated “parmesan cheese” and “garlic crouton’s.” Sure to please you’re taste bud’s!
What’s wrong with this picture, GLAD WORKS friends?
Um. EVERYTHING!
Remember when we told you about the things that make web designers’ heads explode? Well, this is the kind of thing that makes copywriters go coo-coo for Cocoa Puffs! Some copywriters have actually been known to climb up onto billboards and spray paint corrections on them because they just can’t take it!
Down with apostrophe abuse! End comma cruelty! The world must be put right!
Ahem.
Anyway, that menu copy we mentioned up there is riddled with some very common and easily avoidable mistakes, and yet, the restaurateur who wrote it didn’t think it was important enough to make sure it was grammatically correct!
At this point, you might be wondering if you should be eating at this establishment: if there’s so little attention to detail going on, how can you be really sure that “chicken” isn’t actually somebody’s cat? After all, “chicken” is in quotes, so it could be anything, really. Get up and go, bro, you don’t want to eat Fluffy Cat!
The point is that written content, like great web design and professional photography, remains incredibly important. It is a part of the mix of things that inform people about your brand. If your copy is sloppy, people are going to think you’re sloppy too and walk away thinking you’re a jackwagon with absolutely zero credibility.
So, in order to help you avoid making some of these mistakes, you need to hire us to write stuff for you (this is our favorite option, obviously), or read on for a quick and painless and hopefully humorous list of common grammatical errors that seem to mess up almost everybody.
Your vs You’re
The word YOUR is a possessive pronoun, as in “your jellybeans” or “your bacon.” Use it when you’re talking about someone owning something.
YOU’RE is a contraction for “you are,” as in “you’re going to call GLAD WORKS and hire them to write for you.” When you say “you’re bacon,” you’re calling someone bacon and that’s not very nice. Salty and delicious, but not nice.
However, if you’re actually talking to some bacon and you’re all “you’re bacon and I’m gonna eat you” then that’s okay. We don’t know why you’re talking to your food, but that’s your glitch to work on and it’s none of our business. Bacon is certainly seductive.
The misplaced apostrophe
Here’s a related mistake that people make so often that it has a blog dedicated to it. When there is an “s” at the end of a word, it does not necessarily mean you need to put an apostrophe between the end of the word and the “s.” You only need it when you’re indicating possession, when it’s a contraction, and when trying to say “it is.”
Remember, the apostrophe indicates these two things:
1) A contraction of two words. Examples are: can’t, it’s, you’re, he’ll. If you can’t break apart the contraction (indicated by the apostrophe) and still have the sentence make sense, then it’s the wrong word.
2) Possession. “My daughter’s Hello Kitty lunchbox is cute.”
If you want to have a bit of a giggle about apostrophes, check out The Oatmeal’s explanation.
The unnecessary “quotation mark”
There’s such rampant misuse of the quotation mark that it also has an entire blog dedicated to it. From what we can tell, people tend to try to use quotation marks to put stress on words instead of using all capitals or italics. The results are hilarious for sure, but let this be a warning to you. Quotation marks and italics are not interchangeable. You don’t want your business to end up on that blog, awesome as it is. Public ridicule isn’t really what you’re going for if you’re trying to make a good impression! Quotation marks are for two things:
1) Indicating a direct quotation. As in, someone said these words and you’re repeating them. This use can (and often is) turned on its head by irony or sarcasm, which is what leads to ridicule. Remember the salad example above? You don’t put “chicken” in quotes unless you’re calling attention to the fact that SOME people (but not ALL people) think it is chicken.
2) In very particular syntax such as references to titles of poems, articles, chapters of books, song titles, TV episodes, etc. In general these are shorter works.
There are so many other things we can talk about like the difference between affect and effect, when to use too, two, or to, and why they’re, their, and there are different, but we’re sure you’re kind of bored with this topic already. Just remember, for the love of all that’s grammatical, when in doubt, call a copywriter… that’s what they’re FOR!
Saving Trees, Talking Chihuahuas, Billing in Urdu… There’s a Lot Going on Over Here, Obviously.
Wednesday 7/6/11
Was that not the cutest picture last week? Little Bella and Dolce aren’t just adorable faces though! They’re very smart little dogs and they definitely keep us on our toes around here. In fact, as a nice follow-up to last week’s blog post, they’ve asked us to write about some great tools that can help save a ton of paper every day. Bella says that if everyone makes an effort to go as paperless as possible, we can save a gazillion trees! Bella likes to exaggerate, but suffice it to say we can surely save a lot of trees by going paperless.
And Dolce has even stopped using her newspapers in favor of the “outdoor facilities.” Now that’s dedication!
But seriously GLAD WORKS friends; there are some great online tools that can help save loads of paper, time, and money. Here are a couple of Bella and Dolce’s faves.
Do you live by sticky notes? Do you jot down every fleeting thought, idea, phone call reminder, and errand on a sticky note so you won’t forget? Does your desk at work look like a Post-It factory threw up on it? Does your “command center” at home look like that too? If this is really bumming you out, we have good news for you! Evernote to the rescue!
This super cool software gives a whole new meaning to the word “synchronized.” Not only does it eliminate the need to buy and then throw away all those expensive sticky notes, it also helps you organize various types of information from several different sources into one, central web-based location. It’s like an organizer for your sticky notes — only without the sticky. A few of us here use it and you can totally tell who just by looking at our pristine, uncluttered desks.
With Evernote, you can clip web pages and archive them for later. You can store screen shots, pictures and text notes all within a customizable storage system. Evernote also organizes things for you by the date it was created, so you can find it easier—if you can only remember when you wrote the note…
What’s also cool is that it runs on a variety of different devices and it’s compatible with Windows, Mac OSX, iPhone and iPod Touch, Android, Blackberry, Palm Pre and Windows Mobile. The premium version allows you to clip Word and Excel documents into the program. Sadly, Evernote isn’t totally perfect. For example, it can’t read your mind, so you have take the time to type your stuff in. (Evernote people, call us! We have a great idea for your next version…)
Invoicera is the new hotness in web-based invoicing and billing applications. It helps send invoices to customers digitally. It saves a lot of staff time, printer ink and paper because you don’t have to go through the process of sending paper invoices to customers. All that stuff can be done digitally, which also saves postage, and the ink and glue on the stamp, and the rubber on our mail carrier’s shoes…the savings go on and on, really. It’s pretty out of control.
Invoicera also allows you to transact globally, in multiple currencies and languages. If you ever have a client who lives in Bahrain, you can bill them in Urdu or Farsi and it will be totally cool. It’s slicker than grease, you guys.
Another thing that’s cool about Invoicera is it gives reports on who has made payments and who you need to rough up a bit for your dough. Just kidding. You would never rough anyone up. You’re reasonable people! Your friend Vinny the Collector on the other hand, oof! Don’t mess with him!
Anyway, those are two pretty big paper savers right there. We’d tell you all about our digitized human resources documents, but Bella and Dolce are all in a kerfuffle. Apparently, someone threw a cardboard tube into the regular trash.
We’ve…we’ve got a situation on our hands.
Come back next week! We’ll talk about how to rock out an awesome website for kids! There's almost nothing we don't do here, seriously.
You’ve been reading for a while now and the time has come, GLAD WORKS friends, for us to get intimate.
We…we want to show you our recycling bin.
At GLAD WORKS, we like to tread as lightly as possible on the earth because in addition to being a bunch of kick butt designers and computer nerds, we’re also tree hugging hippies, dedicated to being as green as possible. So, we thought it might be fun to take a little break from our usual blog topics to give you a behind the scenes look at the sustainability practices we’ve implemented here at the GLAD WORKS studio.
Let us ask you something, GLAD WORKS friends. Do you see stylish looking people walking around Providence? Guess what? That’s US! Many members of the GW team live close to the studio and opt to either walk to work when the weather is nice, or take public transportation. We frequently walk to do errands on our lunch breaks, too. So, now that you know it’s us, HOLLA!
But we don’t always walk to work. Sometimes we beam ourselves there by using innovative workflow tools like instant messaging and teleconferencing to telecommute! Aren’t we fancy? Plus, we really like working in our sweatpants sometimes.
Who doesn’t, really?
In addition to occasional telecommuting, our team members are also encouraged to take online classes and attend webinars. Both of these things help cut back on the time and energy spent on commuting. Plus, working from home saves on the use of office supplies like paper products and electricity, which is not only earth friendly, but it also reduces the cost of running the office and it makes our pets happy because they can sit at our feet as we work.
The pets love it so much, in fact, that they’ve started a campaign to close the studio altogether. So far, nobody’s willing to abandon this kick a** place.
Most of the paper products we use have a high percentage of post-consumer content and a minimum amount of chlorine bleach. Even our regular copy paper contains 30% recycled content. We try to use as little paper as possible, but when we do print, we print in black and white if we can, we use both sides of the paper, and we re-use single sided paper as scrap for taking notes before we toss it into the recycling bin. Paper at GLAD WORKS looks like a few miles of bad road by the time we finally give it up! Not only does it save the environment—it also saves us money!
Our printer uses a different color printing process that uses less toner than regular printers, and we always recycle our cartridges. Speaking of the printing process, we are dedicated to educating our clients about green printing practices. We commonly work with FSC (Forest Stewardship Council Certified) printers who use sustainable papers, recycled content, and low VOC (volatile organic compound) inks such as soy-based ink. Some of our clients even opt to do email campaigns as opposed to print—again, not only is it earth-friendly, but it’s also economical.
In our area, the recycling program doesn’t take #5 plastics. But that doesn’t stop us from recycling them anyway! We save all those yogurt cups and frozen dinner trays to bring to our local Whole Foods where they collect them for recycling. There’s always a weekly entourage heading over there, so this is a regular practice and we don’t mind doing it in the least. Besides, there’s an informal contest going on to see who can buy the most inedible, bizarre food from Whole Foods. So far, there’s a tie between fermented tea whose name we can’t pronounce and some kind of weird tofu thing…
We don’t usually have too many of those #5 plastics because most of us bring our lunches to work in re-usable glass containers. Not only is this a green way to eat at work, but it’s healthier too, since most experts suggest heating items in inert glass or ceramic containers. Well, it’s not exactly “healthy” when we have leftover pizza for lunch—it’s just green and not quite as healthy. We can’t always be angels, you know.
When we do order out, we like to place group orders, which uses less packaging than many separate orders. We order from local small businesses, and we always walk to pick it up. And to wash our lunches down, we replaced our plastic jug style water cooler with a filter that filters our tap water. That means no plastic bottles and no trucks delivering to our office!
Aside from all of those detail-y things we do to keep Mother Earth smiling (and usually save a few bucks in the process), perhaps the most important thing we do is make full use of technology to reduce our paper usage. We’ve digitized many common documents such as invoices and human resources paperwork, and we also review documents on screen instead of printing them out whenever possible. Even though it’s nearly impossible to go entirely paperless, we have reduced our paper usage dramatically.
Now if you’ll excuse us, we have to go dig little Bella and Dolce out of the recycling bin. They’re really into it…
PS: next week, we’ll talk about some fabulous web-based software we found for you that can help reduce paper use and save you a ton of time!
When You’ve Got Klout, You Own the Universe! (Or at least Twitter, Facebook, and LinkedIn, Anyway)
Wednesday 6/22/11
Last week we promised you an explanation of Klout scores, so here it is GLAD WORKS friends!
Klout is a social media analytic that measures a user’s influence across their social networks. It’s a great tool for you to use if you’ve been at this social media thing for a few months and you’d like to see what kind of progress you’re making. You can use your Klout score to help you measure your overall web influence, and you can compare your results over a period of time to watch yourself go from a fledgling tweeter to a social media superstar! Plus, if you’re the competitive type, you can totally publish your great score and rub everyone’s faces in it: “Who’s the boss, now? That’s right. It’s ME!”
Ahem.
The Klout analysis is done on data collected from Twitter, Facebook, and LinkedIn. It measures the size of your network, the content you’ve created, and how other people interact with that content to give you an idea of the size of your web influence.
Part of your web influence score is configured by looking at data points from Twitter such as your following count, follower count, retweets, list memberships and how many spam/dead accounts are following you. It also looks at how influential the people who retweet you are, and the number of unique mentions you get.
That stuff from Twitter along with your activities and connections from LinkedIn gets all mashed up together. Your Facebook comments, “likes,” and the number of friends in your network get thrown into the soup too to come up with a Klout Score. A Klout score ranges from 1 to 100. The closer you are to 100, the more you’re rocking it out on the Interwebz! But that’s just the Internet. It has no idea how you’re doing in real life; so don’t be insulted if it seems low. You could be All Kinds of Fabulous in real life and still have a crummy Klout score. It just means that your Internet presence needs a little sprucing up. Clearly, Klout scores provide great feedback, which is what you need if you’re really trying to make a go of this web influence thing.
If you’re still not convinced that Klout isn’t just a popularity contest, but a useful tool, WAIT! There’s more!
We should probably tell you that experimental brands and businesses are testing out programs that provide special perks to social network users with high Klout scores. You know what that means, don’t you? FREE SCHWAG FOR YOU!
Klout is also now working to identify topic experts. Can you imagine what it would be like if you established yourself as a topic expert? That would be pretty great for business, we’re thinking, and it’s something to strive for.
What’s more is that your Klout score can travel with you across the web. Twitter clients like Seesmic show Klout scores attached to tweets, and that can have a tremendous impact on how your status updates are perceived by your followers. The higher your Klout score, the more people will think you’re A Very Big Deal, and they’ll tend to take your word as gospel, which is always nice.
Anyway peeps, that’s the Klout deal. Just remember to keep an eye on all your social media accounts and be as participatory as you can if you want to show the world your awesomeness. Start re-tweeting people and responding to their tweets. Get on facebook and say something fabulous that will encourage people to “like” and comment on what you’re saying! Things will start happening for you, and you’ll be publishing that Klout score with pride in no time at all!
PS: Next week, we’re changing direction and giving you a rare insider’s look at GLAD WORKS. WEEEEEE! You get to see our recycling bin!
Charlie Sheen Reads Our Blog (No Question). WINNING!!
Thursday 6/16/11
Last week we got all excited talking about Twitter and how to manage your followers to following ratio, when it dawned on us that we should probably shut our pie holes and let you get on with your day because we’re super considerate like that.
So, we saved our discussion on followers/following and Klout scores (which we’ll explain later for those of us who have yet to be initiated) for today since not only should you be cleaning out your Twitter feed, you sometimes need to keep yourself in check.
As we’ve told you before, you can’t just fly by the seat of your pants on Twitter and expect to get good things out of it (then, you’d just be a twit). So, take a good hard look at yourself and see if there’s anything you should change about your own Twitter behavior.
Have you examined your following to followers ratio lately? How many followers do you have? How many people are you following? This ratio is important because it says a lot about you as a tweeter and it’s a publicly displayed metric people use to help them decide whether or not to follow you. So, pay attention. It’s kind of a big deal.
The best kind of ratio to have is a 10.0 ratio, or 10 following to 100 followers. If you’ve got that, you must be Charlie Sheen! What are you doing reading our blog, Charlie Sheen? Go back to your Tiger’s blood, dude! You don’t need to read our blog anymore because a lot of people follow you and find you…interesting! WINNING!
Seriously though folks, this kind of following grows organically over time. So, it’s something we’re all working toward. You can’t force it, not even if you’re a warlock with fire breathing fists! That said, when some people come across a ratio like this, they might think you’re not a “true” tweeter because you’re not being very social and following all of your followers back. Really though, you can’t follow everyone. That’s ridiculous. So follow who you want to follow and don’t worry about the haters. Just go on with your bad self, Charlie.
A 1.0 ratio means 100 following and 100 followers. This, at first, looks easy to achieve if you employ the “I’ll follow you if you follow me” tactic, but for every person you follow; only a fraction of those will actually follow you back. This ratio implies a more reciprocal relationship between the people you are following and those who follow you. There’s a nice interaction between two equals who are getting to know one another that’s implied with this kind of ratio.
A 0.1 ratio or, 100 Following, 10 Followers is not so good. If you’ve got this kind of lopsided ratio, check your pulse. You might be a bot! Nobody is going to follow you back with this kind of ratio for fear of being spammed to death. Sure, your friends who know you will follow you, but other than some random spammers, that’s probably it.
So, what is the ideal ratio for people who aren’t warlocks like Charlie Sheen?
Well, that changes actually. It should be in the range of 1.0 if you want to grow your Twitter following. Anything above that shows you might be a boring tweeter. And anything below that range may indicate that you don’t care who follows you and you may not follow them back. So, if you’re Charlie Sheen, you can totally get away without following anyone and people will still hang on your every tweet, but that almost never happens, so you have to play by the rules just like the rest of us mere mortals.
So, keep an eye on that ratio and you’ll be all good in the Twitterhood.
But, what about this Klout business we mentioned earlier?
Well, since we’re pretty sure you’ve already stopped paying attention (except you, Charlie. We know you hang on our every word…) we’ll save Klout for next week.
Why Are You Following Me? Wait. Why Am I Following You?
Wednesday 6/8/11
Have you looked at your Twitter feed and wondered “who the heck are these people, and why are they following me…wait a minute…why am I following them?”
You have?
Well, you’ve come to the right place today!
Every once in a while, you have to go into your Twitter account and do a little cleaning up. Just like the rooms in your house, your Twitter feed tends toward chaos, and somehow you wind up following someone who spams you to death, or someone who posts the most inane details of their existence every thirty nine seconds.
These tweeters have to go unless you enjoy spam and inane details. In that case, rock it out! But chances are, you don’t like that sorta thing, so read on, friend.
How do you un-follow tweeters without offending them?
Well, that’s a tough one because this is another one of those things that even social media experts cannot agree on. Some people think that if someone is following you, it’s proper etiquette to follow them back. But you shouldn’t feel obligated to do that. You should follow only those people who share your interests or whose tweets you find meaningful or compelling in some way. So, when somebody follows you on Twitter, don’t’ be afraid to go check ‘em out and decide if they’re worthy of your followage.
After all, it’s your twitter feed and if you can’t deal with people who tweet things like “need. coffee.” 10 times a day (unless you own a coffee shop and then you’ll be all like “woohoo!”), then you don’t have to put up with it. There’s no rule that says you have to follow boring/irrelevant tweeters just so you don’t hurt their feelings.
We know you’re a nice person and you don’t want to be rude, but look at it this way, if people are tweeting properly and politely, you probably wouldn’t be frustrated with them in the first place--they’re kind of asking for it if they’re tweeting garbage.
Feel better?
Good.
Just know that you’re eventually going to offend someone by not following them or un-following them, but don’t worry about that. It’s more important to spend your energy thinking about what’s going to add value to your Twitter experience. When your Twitter homepage is flooded with tweets that make no sense to you, you’ll be frustrated and you won’t get anything out of it at all. Maybe you’ll even stop using it altogether, so consider this advice preventative medicine. It’s tough to take, but it will save you some pain later on.
This is not to say that you shouldn’t be willing to take a chance on someone and follow them--even if they’re outside your immediate area of interest. In fact, you really should follow people outside your usual circle—that’s how you learn about stuff and get ideas you never would have thought of otherwise! These are the people who can keep you fresh!
So, what happens if you’re following someone and they turn out to be a disappointment? Just un-follow them! There’s a good chance they won’t even notice you’re missing. Some people will notice however and they will be hurt, but hey, this is your Twitter. You do what you want.
Just don’t be offended when someone un-follows you or doesn’t follow you back. It happens. It’s how the Twittersphere turns, man. For every person who doesn’t find your tweets valuable, there’s bound to be a dozen who do, so don’t sweat it.
Another interesting conundrum business owning tweeters face is whether or not to follow employees. This is a double-edged sword because on one hand, you can see what they’re up to, but on the other, you can see what they’re up to. What happens when, say, a client follows you and sees your employee’s tweets? That’s awesome if your employee just tweeted something that makes your business look really, really good. But what if that employee just tweeted about his or her weekend festivities that may or may not have involved any number of, ahem, unprofessional activities followed by a 2 am run to Taco Bell?
Oh. My. Stars!
Now what do you do?
It’s just hanging out there like a big matzo ball.
So, maybe you should consider not followiing your employees and maybe you shouldn't let them follow you either, just in case. Whatever you decide, you’re the boss and you make the rules, just be sure you've considered this issue carefully before you make your policies.
And before we take up too much of your time here, we’re going to wait until next week to talk about your follower to following ratios, often referred to as the “TTF Ratio” amongst Twitter nerds. What is the ideal following to follower ratio for a tweeter to have? Let’s think about that next week!