Archive for Website & Blog Tips
Businesses That Might Not Belong In Social Media Channels (Humor)
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Does Grandma Have a Twitter Profile Yet?
One of my favorite marketing bloggers, Mark Schaefer, wrote an excellent post called Three New Social Media Myths That MUST STOP NOW.
One of the myths he exposed (and one of my big pet peeves) is that all businesses need to get their butts in gear and start marketing using social media and blogging.
Mark writes:
Here is the most pompous tweet I’ve seen in a while: “If you don’t use the social web for your business, it’s not that you don’t understand the social web. You don’t understand your business.”
Then he went on to list a few businesses that would be better off spending their marketing budgets anywhere but through social media channels. These two made me laugh, while being spot-on!!:
1) If you’re selling Depends adult diapers, you should probably spend most of your marketing dollars elsewhere.
2) If you’re in a down and dirty business like buying and re-selling scrap metal, neither suppliers nor customers typically even have computers.
I’m sure you have some ideas for businesses who’d be better off focusing their marketing efforts anywhere but through social media channels! Let’s hear ‘em!
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Michelle handles all Social Media for New England Multimedia. You can contact her by email, on our Facebook, through LinkedIn, or on our Twitter profile.
How the Big Blue Bug Kept Me Clicking
Posted by: | Comments[Note: This post is recycled and updated from Michelle's early days of blogging for New England Multimedia at Q Web Consulting.]
I was deliberately plodding through a stack of business cards, checking out websites and social media profiles, when I happened upon a website that grabbed my attention. It at once amused me, interested me, and got me to stay onsite for much longer than I had the time to, even though I had absolutely no interest in their services. And now that company’s name and brand is in my head, in my memory, waiting for a future moment when I will need their services (and hopefully I won’t).
What was it that kept me on New England Pest Control’s website for a good ten minutes? (WARNING: Turn down your volume before you click!)
They made me laugh! Their web designer built a unique and fun landing page, and incorporated fun, quirky audio sound effects into their menu.
The sound I heard when the Big Blue Bug dropped into the page made me smile. Then I started looking around the page for social media icons like Twitter and Facebook.
I laughed at New England Pest Control's Website!
Nothing there.
But the menu items were quirky, with a retro style, and the next thing I knew, my mouse headed for one of them. As my cursor approached the cartoon image of a woman standing on a chair screaming, she — well, she screamed!
I started hovering over each link to see what audio effects they had associated with them, and then I started playing games with myself, hovering over the links in different succession. Maybe I’m easily amused. But what I did next is what they hoped for:
I clicked a link.
In this case, I clicked “About Us.” Then they had me, and the wooing began. New England Pest Control’s “About Us” content was interesting, and kept me on their website site even longer, poking around until I realized I had spent too much time already and went back to work. But I can guarantee you, New England Pest Control will pop into my head next time I need to get rid of some pesky vermin!
Using audio on your website can be a powerful tool for increasing conversions (website visitors who become customers). There are several ways New England Multimedia can implement audio on your website, including audio effects, music playing when your visitors arrive on your website, podcasts, a welcome audio message from you, a call to action, and much more.
1) What creative ways of using audio have you seen on websites?
2) If you could have access to a recording studio and technology like we have, how would you use it to market your company?
Note: Because I want your comment to stand, please read our simple comment policy before replying! Thank-you!
Michelle handles all Social Media for New England Multimedia. You can contact her by email, on our Facebook, through LinkedIn, or on our Twitter profile.
Wonder Woman vs. Free Spirit (Day Two of Teardown & Rebuild)
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Trying to be Wonder Woman
I got a lot done on our new website/blog yesterday. At least I got the super-important stuff up.
I’m about to go in and start building the sub-pages for each of the areas of expertise New England Multimedia offers our clients: web development, Wordpress blog setup, social media training, video production, audio and music production, and on-hold marketing. Going to put up a few case studies, too.
Gosh, I’m glad we killed our website so I can do this myself, and leave Scott to the really technical work. How did he do all this alone?
I’m so busy. Too busy, really — but I know it’s only for a season. The indomitable (like that word?) Free Spirit in me is screaming for release, but I have to keep her in line for a while longer. My Wonder Woman fights with Free Spirit all the time, and it can get pretty nasty. They need to compromise, or things fall apart around here. When Wonder Woman runs the show, my relationships suffer. When Free Spirit runs the show, taxes don’t get paid.
The only way I can manage any semblance of normalcy is by using a schedule.
How do you manage the crazy seasons in your life? Do you just go with the flow and let the chips fall where they may? Live by strict to-do lists and time mapping? Hire servants? Hide under a rock?
Note: Because I want your comment to stand, please read our simple comment policy before replying! Thank-you!
Michelle handles all Social Media for New England Multimedia. You can contact her by email, on our Facebook, through LinkedIn, or on our Twitter profile.
Day One of Teardown & Rebuild: Worlds Collide
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Don't you love 3:30 a.m. technical issues?
I was up until the wee hours of 3:30 am this morning, contact lenses drying to my eyeballs, the dog heaving huge sighs next to me as she tried to sleep. I wanted to finish the new design for New England Multimedia before anyone else saw it, to at least get the basics up so we didn’t miss a beat, and surprise Scott — the founder & technical/creative director for New England Multimedia — with everything I’ve learned the last 4 months.
Suddenly, the entire widget interface disappeared from the back end of the blog. What the — ??
I tried everything I could think of (which isn’t a whole lot at 3:30 am), then poked around in the support forums for iThemes Flexx to see if anyone else was having the same issue.
And then I gave up and went to bed, thankful that I had gotten up everything I really needed to before the interface decided to pull a vanishing act on me.
Fortunately for New England Multimedia — and for me — Scott is one of those bright-eyed-bushy-tailed-morning-people with mad creative problem-solving skills who isn’t intimidated by technical issues. He sees them as fun (OK, maybe not FUN) challenges. But after spending half the day yesterday working on totally unrelated website issues for two paying clients, having me toss him a huge new distraction on a busy Wednesday morning wasn’t what he’d expected.
Turns out the latest version of Wordpress is clashing with the theme I chose, and at 3:30 in the morning those two worlds collided. While waiting for the theme developer to get back to us, Scott found a workaround, then played in the back-end a bit and he taught me a few cool things I would never have learned if not for the issues I ran into at 3:30 this morning. I’m sure there’s a cool quote in there somewhere.
Whether at work or play, Scott’s creativity has always been his strength, no matter what he comes up against. After 22 years, his mind continues to surprise and fascinate me. I wonder what it’s like to think like he does? I imagine it must be challenging to talk to people who don’t.
Be sure to check out the cool new widget — over there to the right of your screen — with our YouTube, Facebook, Twitter and Blog all integrated into one cool spot. Isn’t that fun? I found that in my travels through the internet last night while doing a Google search on widget issues.
Hoo-ah!
I need to go get some food. Nothing but coffee so far today.
Grace and peace to all of you today.
~Michelle
Note: Because I want your comment to stand, please read our simple comment policy before replying! Thank-you!
Michelle handles all Social Media for New England Multimedia. You can contact her by email, on our Facebook, through LinkedIn, or on our Twitter profile.
The Tear-Down and Rebuild Is Underway!
Posted by: | Commentsby Michelle Quillin, for New England Multimedia/May 11, 2010
Scott & I just tore down New England Multimedia’s website, and tonight we’ll be filling this Wordpress blog with all the content, plus a lot of new features! Keep an eye on things here for the rest of the week, and watch as we transform New England Multimedia’s web presence into a fully functional blog-based website.
This is a big deal for us — but it was time for a radical change!
In the meantime, follow us on Twitter, Facebook, and YouTube, just like you’ve always done.
Let the remodel begin!
We have value-packed website, blog, video, and social media packages
to solve all your marketing needs!
Call New England Multimedia today!
888-409-1099
Meet Scott Quillin, New England Multimedia’s Founder, Technical Producer, and Creative Director:
