The poloDesign Blog

Social Media: It’s not just for kids

Posted on April 5, 2012 by Eric

If you’re over 50 and cringe when you hear the words “social media” because you think it’s a time-wasting toy for youths, then think again. You might be surprised to learn that the fastest growing demographic in social media is actually seniors.

More baby-boomers are joining social media.

A 2011 survey of Internet users in the U.S. revealed that 65% of adults online are using social media sites. Boomers have been joining social networking sites like Facebook, Twitter or LinkedIn at a rapid pace. The number of those aged 50-64 using social media increased an astonishing 60% in the past year.

Let’s face it, Boomers are not the type to settle into old age quietly. If you are a Boomer, you probably expect to live a full and active lifestyle well into your golden years. Social media is a tool to help enable that lifestyle. How? Through sharing. You can let others know about that cruise, dance contest, or white-water rafting excursion you recently took part in. Looking for someone to go to that weepy, Oscar-winning drama with you? Interested in checking out that chic new bistro in town? Put out an open invitation through Facebook or Twitter and see who might join you.

If you’re an empty-nester there’s no need to drift apart as a family. The best way to follow what your kids and their kids are doing is by joining them online. Social sites like Facebook help you stay in touch with distant family as well as friends. You can comment on their photos, send messages and do live chatting.

Social media helps people reconnect. Ever wondered what happened to the old gang from high school or college? You can reunite online to swap stories, share memories, brag about family or personal accomplishments and check out waistlines and hairlines.

Social media sites are also excellent ways to stay informed. Many news organizations and community resources employ blogs, Facebook and Twitter to connect with their audience. Why wait for the evening news?

More seniors are becoming net-savvy.

If more Boomers are using social media, what about their parents? Don’t be surprised if older seniors aren’t the next group to adopt this tool. They’ve already become quite Internet savvy. A 2009 survey showed that 94% of seniors 65 or older used email regularly, 77% shopped online, 71% searched online for healthcare info, and 59% managed their finances online as well. Seven years ago, only 4% of seniors reported using the Internet regularly.

If there is a common concern about social media it’s usually that of privacy and security. Just as with using email, or conducting transactions online, it’s important to be careful with your information in terms of what and who you share it with. Social media sites let you adjust privacy settings for the level of security that suits you. If you’re unsure how to make it all work, there are social media consultants teaching businesses and individuals who can help you get started.

So give it a try and the next time someone mentions social media, tell them it’s not just for kids.

If you’d like learn more about using social media then drop us a line at email hidden; JavaScript is required, we’d love to help.

*Photo Credit: Copyright (c) 123RF Stock Photos

Posted in Social Media | Tagged facebook, linkedin, social media, twitter | Leave a comment

Managing Timeline for Facebook Business Pages

Posted on March 31, 2012 by Eric

If you’ve been on Facebook for any length of time, you’ve likely noticed that they like to change things. A lot. When Facebook introduced their Timeline layout for personal profiles in late 2011, we wondered how long it would be before we saw a Timeline version for business pages. On Leap Day of 2012, Facebook made it official with their announcement and explanation of the new features of Timeline for business pages.

Since the beginning of March, Timeline has been available on an opt-in basis. Page owners have had the past month to switch over and make any adjustments before yesterday’s March 30th deadline when the new layout was implemented for all. As promised, Facebook went ahead with converting business pages to the new Timeline layout. As with most changes on Facebook, this one has not been without its critics. Despite any challenges the new changes present, Facebook Timeline for business pages is now the norm. Here’s what you need to know:

Cover photos

Check out the cover photo and profile image we set up for Chef Mike on Facebook.

This is the same as with personal profiles using Timeline; you have a panoramic space to play with and grab folks’ attention when they first visit your page. For those of you with photo-editing software, the image size is 851 x 315 pixels. You can fill that space with whatever you want, but there are exceptions:

no contact info (email addresses, phone #’s, etc.)
no reference to pricing info ($10 off, save 30%)
no calls to action (“like” our page)
no arrows pointing at Facebook page features (such as the like button)

Profile Image

Just as with personal Timelines, you get a profile image which sits overtop of the bottom left corner of your cover photo. Sizing is 180 x 180 pixels (you can use larger images and Facebook will shrink them down). For business pages it makes sense that the profile image should be your logo as this is what gets displayed as the thumbnail next to any of your posts. Of course, you can change any of your images as often as you want, so go ahead and play if you like.

Pin Posts

You can now pin a post to top of your page for a period of 7 days. This is a great way to make certain your posts about specials and big events stay visible for people visiting your page.

Highlights

You can also highlight a post so that it expands across the entire width of your page. This is especially useful with photos and helps to attract attention. The only caveat is that you can’t pin and highlight the same post at the same time.

Milestones

An example of a milestone event on Coke's Facebook page.

Businesses can also enter milestone events from their past. Coca-Cola have done an excellent job of this, and even if your business hasn’t been around quite as long as Coke it’s still fun to do and a great way to share your history with your followers.

Admin Panel

Administrators of pages now have a panel display at the top of their pages to show them the notifications, new “likes” and stats. This is a handy feature if you get a lot of interaction with your page as you can see at glance what’s happening on your page.

Landing Pages/Tabs/Apps

Many businesses have had custom pages created to add additional branding and functionality. Facebook hasn’t taken these away; in fact, they’ve expanded the available size of the space you can use from 520 to 810 pixels wide. However, you can no longer make custom pages a default landing page for first-time visitors. Now folks will have to find your landing page by clicking one of your tabs. This doesn’t mean landing pages are no longer useful, you can still send visitors to your custom pages through Facebook advertising.

Advertising

You didn’t really think Facebook was FREE did you? Facebook says the new Timeline changes are all about ensuring users have a good experience. They want businesses to be more engaging by creating content that tells their story. The reality is that they want more businesses to use the platform’s paid advertising features. This is why Facebook has rolled out a number of new advertising programs, all of which are aimed at bigger businesses with proper budgets. The premium ads program, which includes placement in newsfeeds and on the mobile app, requires a $25k/month committment. Same goes for Facebook’s new Reach Generator. Don’t despair, regular Facebook advertising is still available.

Say what you will about the new changes, and plenty of people already have, Timeline is the new reality. If you hadn’t already switched over, that change has been made for you. If you’d like some assistance with navigating these changes or adding some of your own branding to your Facebook business page then drop us a line at email hidden; JavaScript is required, we’d love to help.

Posted in Small Business, Social Media | Tagged facebook, Timeline | Leave a comment

Communicating with pictures. 10 words vs. 1,000.

Posted on February 7, 2012 by Eric

Anyone who’s ever flipped through a magazine or surfed the internet will tell you that these are visual mediums. Wherever you look there are bright colours, clever graphics and intriguing images (thank you Photoshop) to catch your eye and entice you to read the text.

With marketing messages coming at us from all sides, it takes more than a headline and a bit of text to grab our attention. This is where visuals can help to convey part of your message. You still need interesting and engaging content in order to provide value to readers or website visitors but it is true that many people don’t “read”, online or off; instead, many of us prefer to skim or scan instead. For this reason, you need to communicate not just in words but visually as well. Colours and images establish tone; graphics and layout provide order and suggest the importance and hierarchy of information while leading the reader through your website or ad.

It’s important then, to have good pictures. By “good” I mean interesting, thoughtfully composed, properly lit, in-focus photos that communicate your message to the visitors of your site or the readers of your ads, email newsletters, event posters, etc.

A picture is worth a thousand words

We all know the saying “A picture is worth a thousand words”. This holds true when it comes to marketing, but only if it connects clearly to your message. Close enough won’t do. Make sure the pictures you choose are as direct and to the point as your message should be.

To illustrate what I’m talking about I’ll refer to one of poloDesign’s clients, RiverSide Music. Owners Maggie and Peter George sell musical instruments and provide music and art lessons to students of all ages. They asked for our help when embarking on a project to double the physical size of their store. They were going to have a lot of wall space and wanted us to suggest creative and attractive ways to use it effectively. Prior to the expansion they used a lot of small 8.5″x 11″ signage created on their computer to communicate offers and talk about the products and services the store offered. This was functional but lacked the polish and professionalism they wanted to project.

Together, these RiverSide Music posters say: "Looking for instruments? You'll find what you want right here."

Our solution was to choose a number of stock photo images with which we created large 2 foot by 3 foot posters set in attractive frames. Each poster had an accompanying tag line and included the new logo we created to provide a fresh new look for the business. This branding was reinforced by painting the walls in the same blue as the logo. The images were carefully chosen so that, even without the tag line, you would understand the messages we wanted to communicate. More importantly, the messages were short, to the point and could easily be stated in ten words.

When connected with RiverSide Music's school this image says: "Learn music. Share the experience, share the joy."

For example:

“We teach music to children and adults. Come and see.” or “Whatever instrument you play, we’ve got it here for you.”

The project was a success. Best of all, the images we chose were suitable for use in many of the ads RiverSide Music have run in local publications and on Facebook over the past year and a half. This was also a part of our strategy for establishing an identifiable brand for this growing local business. Creating brand recognition is yet another reason for choosing and consistently using strong images that communicate well.

But what if you can’t find such images? Or what if your business requires something a little more specific? Again, don’t settle for close enough. If your intention is communication and branding, isn’t it worth investing in that part of your business? To get the images you need, it may well be worth hiring a professional photographer.

Chef Mike, sometimes known as Burlington's celebrity chef, has made appearances on TV, web, and lucky people's homes

This was the suggestion we put to another of poloDesign’s clients, Chef Mike Benninger. Chef Mike provides his services as a personal chef in and around Burlington, Ontario, catering small parties and events in people’s homes or businesses. We created Chef Mike’s original website a few years ago and it has helped to make his business a success. Now, as part of an overall rebranding, we are building him a new site.

The previous site focused more on Chef Mike’s services. The choice in building the new site is to shift the focus onto the experience of having a personal chef come to your location to prepare and serve a fabulous meal to you and your guests. It wouldn’t be enough to simply include stock images of food or people at a dinner party. And since the face of the business is Chef Mike, his face should appear in some of the shots. Better still, since the focus is on the experience, wouldn’t it make sense to capture Chef Mike in action?

To do this we suggested hiring a professional photographer and staging a dinner party with guests in a private home, a typical setting for Chef Mike. We contacted award-winning photojournalist Charlene Zeljkovic of ProPictures in Belleville, Ontario to do our shoot. We approached friends with a wonderful lakeside house to be our hosts, we set a date for February 20th, and will finalize the guest list, menu and other details in the coming days.

We’re looking forward to the fun and the food, but also to creating some magical images which communicate a distinct message in only ten words. What message will we want readers to receive regarding Chef Mike’s service?

How about this: “Looks like fun and the food looks great — hire him!”

We’ll keep you posted about the event and share the results soon. In the meantime, if you’d like some assistance with branding or communicating (via pictures or otherwise), please get in touch with us at email hidden; JavaScript is required. We’d love to help you.

Posted in Branding, Communication, Graphics | Tagged brand identity, brand recognition, branding, communications, logo, photography, photos, stock images, website | Leave a comment

Get ready for a super-social Super Bowl!

Posted on February 6, 2012 by Eric

What’s bigger than the Super Bowl? The spectacle surrounding it. Give the NFL credit, their continual expansion and development of the ways in which they market their sport has made Super Bowl Sunday, apart from the football itself, one of the biggest media and marketing events of the year.

This year’s Super Bowl Game marks the first time the league has partnered with a host city to deliver a truly interactive experience. To do this, the league hired Raidious, an Indianapolis digital marketing firm to manage the “Super Bowl Social Media Command Center”. The 2,800 square-foot command centre will be staffed by 16 full-time employees and 30 volunteers who will manage all social media for the game.

In 2008, the last time the Giants and Patriots faced each other in the Super Bowl, Facebook had less than 100 million users and most people hardly knew about Twitter. Now, both platforms are serving as official hubs to feed information to an eager audience. Via the hashtag SB46 the command centre is helping visitors to Indy by posting such things on Twitter as traffic info, parking availability, entertainment options, the lengths for waits in restaurant lineups plus celebrity and NFL player sightings.

The Giants themselves have been particularly savvy with social media. A button on their website allows fans to automatically follow more a dozen of the Giants’ players on Twitter. Their Facebook page has a tab called the Tolly Cam which posts daily behind-the-scenes video footage shot by defensive end Dave Tollefson that can only be “unlocked” each day after 10,000 new people have liked the page. So far, each day’s content has been unlocked and the Giants Facebook page boasts over 1.6 million fans. The team also hosted a social media event on Thursday evening giving fans an opportunity to join players in a public chat via Facebook and Twitter. Several lucky fans were also chosen to participate in a video hangout on Google+.

Estimates suggest that 60 percent of fans watching Super Bowl XLVI will also be connecting to the game through a second screen in the form of smartphones or tablets. Advertisers are preparing to take advantage of this with special content online. Coke’s CGI polar bears will be featured in commercials during the first half and will come to life on Facebook and through #GameDayPolarBears on Twitter. The bears will be commenting on the game and the commercials throughout the big event.

As always, the commercials are a strongly anticipated part of the program. Spending is up from last year and 30-second ad spots have been sold for an average of $3.5 million. Usually fans have to wait until gameday for the big reveal of the commercials, but many advertisers have chosen to share out their ads to build more buzz. Volkswagen’s latest, a sequel to last year’s Darth Vader ad has received more than 10 million views on the internet thanks to the viral spread of social media.

The TV audience for this year’s game is expected to be 100 million and countless others will follow along and participate via social media. It just goes to show how much social media has become not only a tool for marketers, but also an integral part of our own lives for connecting, sharing and experiencing events together.

Posted in Uncategorized | Leave a comment

How “likable” is your business on Facebook?

Posted on January 11, 2012 by Eric

The #1 social media challenge? How to get more people to "like" your business on Facebook. (*photo: 123rf.com)

No doubt about it, being liked is important to many people. One of the questions we’re most frequently asked is “how do I get people to like my page?”

It’s no wonder all this social media marketing stuff sometimes seems more like an obssessive popularity contest than a communications strategy. There is, however, a great deal of value to being “liked” on Facebook, followed on Twitter, connected on LinkedIn, or circled on Google+. You might not be using all of those channels, and that’s okay; they each have their own advantages and unique audiences. Most small business owners start promoting their businesses through social media by setting up a Facebook business page. Whichever channel(s) you choose, the important thing is to develop positive relationships with the people who are most interested in your product or service.

Put People First

Always remember that whether you’re talking about life, business or social media, relationships are the key. In most cases, people prefer to do business with people, companies or brands that thrive on excellence, are knowledgable, ethical, fair, trustworthy and fun. If that is who you are and who your customers see you as being then you have an great chance of being “liked” on Facebook.

Are Numbers Really Important?

The number of likes you have is not simply an indication of popularity. One of the ongoing debates between online marketers and social media watchers is about the importance of the number of “likes” or followers a business has. Some argue that tracking and placing a heavy emphasis on such numbers is necessary to demonstrate return on investment. How else can you justify the time and/or expense involved in using social media to promote your business without a number to measure your progress?

The other side of the debate suggests that the quantity of followers isn’t as important as the quality. Better to have 500 actively engaged followers who like, comment, and share your posts than 5,000 who have no interaction with you.

It’s true that measuring ROI in business is important, and the number of followers can be read as an indicator of whether or not your social media efforts are delivering value. When people “like” your page they have the opportunity of seeing your posts in their newsfeed. Having a large number of people “like” your page means you are reaching more potential clients to develop relationships with. So, having a big number of followers is what really matters, right? Not necessarily.

Get Engaged

On Facebook, having an engaged fanbase also drives value, and ultimately, is one of the more important factors in reaching more clients. Facebook has its own algorithm or formula for determining what items you see in your newsfeed. Like Facebook, this is constantly evolving, but the amount of engagement (likes, comments, shares) a post receives is one of several factors weighting the visibility and lifetime of a post. And you will want your posts to be seen by as many people for as long and as often as possible, yes?

Engagement is also the way in which you develop those relationships. How much of a relationship do you have if people won’t respond to you? Could you describe it as being a good one? If people aren’t engaging with you it’s difficult for those relationships to blossom.

Be More Likable

What will make your page likable is if you are sharing posts to which others respond. Why should someone like your page if you never post anything? Or if your posts aren’t offering useful or entertaining content in a personal way?

People use social media to connect with family and friends, share interests or to be entertained. This means that you have to offer something of value for people to allow you into their social space. So before you ask for more people to like your business page, make sure you’re giving them a good reason to do so. If you are, you’ll be more likable and people will click that button.

For more on social media or other business communications help, be sure to click our “like”.

*Photo Credit: Copyright (c) 123RF Stock Photos

Posted in Small Business, Social Media | Tagged facebook, google, linkedin, small business, social media, social media for business, twitter | Leave a comment

Six ways to improve your online marketing in 2012

Posted on January 3, 2012 by Eric

Wishing everyone a prosperous New Year!(photo: 123RF.com*)

Welcome to 2012 and a New Year of grand possibilities. Hopefully, you’ve worked your way through the leftovers of all that holiday feasting and have finally packed the decorations away.

Somewhere between fad-diet planning, re-newed fitness regime commitments, and staunch vows to break bad habits, you may have given some thought to ways of managing your business better in the coming year. Have you also stopped to consider your online business? Here are six questions you might ask to help improve your online marketing effectiveness in 2012.

Are your online info and offerings up to date? Update your contact info if it has changed. Make certain you’re promoting any new services or products that you offer on your website or social media channels. And check to see that you’re promoting your web address through your social media channels and vice versa. Make the most of all your opportunities by updating and maintaining your online content.
Is your website compatible with mobile devices (tablets and smart phones)? Many mobile devices don’t support Flash; it may be time to dump older technologies in favour of newer methods for delivering animated content. There are also methods of optimizing sites so your content is easily readable on the variety of screen sizes people use now. Consider adding flexibility and adaptability to your website’s appearance and performance.
Does your website show up near the top of search engine results? Search engine optimization (SEO) is still relevant in an online world increasingly dominated by social media. Many search engines serve blog entries as content in search results and rank websites higher if traffic is being directed to them via social media. Get found online and stay ahead of your competitors.
Have you forgotten about email? Although social media gets most of the attention today, people still have and use their email accounts and email marketing is still a highly effective tool for communicating with your clients. You can embed links to relevant content on your website which will help your customers while also increasing your SEO rankings. A good email service can offer you attractive templates, statistical reporting and the benefits of white-listed servers so that your newsletters don’t get flagged as spam. Now may be a good time to develop an email marketing strategy for the coming year.
Do you have an established method for collecting email addresses and other contact info? Social media is great for building your networks, but it’s still rented space. If a contact stops following you or drops you from their network, you’ve lost them as a contact if you haven’t collected their info in some other form. Your client list is one of the most important marketing tools you have; make sure yours is up-to-date. Remember, it’s easier and less expensive to keep existing customers than to find and convert new ones.
Do you own all the web domains that are relevant to your business? Quite often people will purchase only a single domain such as mybigbusiness.ca when, for a few extra dollars, they could also secure other domains such as mybigbusiness.com, mybigbusiness.net, etc. By doing this, you can ensure that potential clients will find you no matter what address they type into their browsers. Make it easier for people to find you.

All of this may seem like a lot of work, which is all the more reason for you to look at it now so you can plan when and how you’ll accomplish it throughout the year. Remember, its okay to ask for help with optimizing your online content. You may have spoken to a nutritionist in planning your new diet, a fitness instructor to help you with training and a life-coach for breaking bad habits. Why not contact web professionals for assistance with your online marketing? We’d love to help you, so drop us a line at email hidden; JavaScript is required.

*Photo Credit: Copyright (c) 123RF Stock Photos

Posted in Goal-setting | Tagged email marketing, mobile optimization, online content, search engine optimization, SEO, social media, web domains | Leave a comment

Your local Chamber of Commerce: Social networking in real time

Posted on December 6, 2011 by Eric

In our race to master online Social Media Networking tools such as Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn or Google+, we often forget another channel for business networking: your local Chamber of Commerce. For small business owners, local chambers of commerce provide opportunities to connect with other business people from your community. Most chambers of commerce, like the two we belong to in Eastern Ontario (Quinte West and Brighton), host monthly after-hours events and breakfast meetings where you can meet and socialize with other chamber members. These other owner/operators are not only your peers, but also potential customers and brand advocates who might direct some of their clients to you once they’ve learned more about the products or services you provide.

Your local Chamber of Commerce is a great place to network with other business people. - photo Copyright (c) 123RF Stock Photos

Direct Marketing
In addition to offering personal networking opportunities at chamber events, most chambers of commerce provide other vehicles to market and promote your business to their members and the local community. These might include a business listing in a printed directory as well as an online listing on your chamber’s website. Many chambers of commerce also send emails, newsletters and bulletins to members where you can either place an ad or have your business card or brochure inserted for a fee. The overall cost for inserting your materials in a chamber mailer is usually far less than the price of mailing the same piece to as many people yourself. As a lead generation tool, this form of marketing offers excellent value. In our own case, we were contacted within one day and gained new business as a result of advertising through inserting our brochure in our local chamber of commerce’s mailing.

Membership has its rewards
Your membership in a local chamber of commerce offers other advantages such as group insurance rates, debit and credit merchant discounts and member to member discounts. Your chamber membership might also include membership in a regional, povincial/state and national chamber of commerce. This offers the benefit of a united voice advocating on your behalf with all levels of government for better policies towards business.

In our area, several chambers (Brighton, Quinte West, Belleville and Prince Edward County) join together to support activities during Small Business Week. This year, these included business seminars, one of which poloDesign delivered on Social Media for Business. This multi-chamber partnership provided us opportunities to network with businesses outside our local community. The culmination of this week-long cooperative effort among the four chambers of commerce was the annual Quinte Business Achievement Awards Gala. We have been to this event before as nominees and have also attended it to support clients and peers as well as for the networking opportunity such a social occasion provides.

Reach a wider audience
The value of belonging to a chamber of commerce isn’t just in being able to connect with the business community, but also the ability to reach the larger, local community as well. Quite often, your chamber of commerce is the source of information that people (especially newcomers) might access to learn more about local businesses. Even as a non-profit organization, your chamber of commerce should have one or two paid staff members who are capable of answering questions and referring potential customers to your business. Many chambers also host or participate in organizing home or trade shows, golf tournaments and community events such as Santa Claus parades or fundraising activities which provide advertising and sponsorship opportunities for their members to promote themselves further.

Giving Back
Of course, producing community events requires the efforts of a great many people. Volunteer opportunities exist for you to contribute your skills, knowledge and expertise to your chamber and community. Volunteering is not only a great way to gain exposure and goodwill but also a means of showing appreciation for your community by helping to enrich the lives of those around you.

As with any networking channel, whether online or off, you get what you put into it. It’s easy to join a chamber of commerce or create an online Social Media profile, but if you don’t participate you won’t get much more than minimal exposure. Put yourself out there and connect, that’s what networking is about. Just remember to have fun and enjoy yourself too, that’s the social part of networking and it’s just as important.

Posted in Community, Small Business, Social Media | Tagged brighton, facebook, linkedin, networking, quinte, small business, social media, social media for business, Trenton, twitter | Leave a comment

Get out much? Try Foursquare check-ins for more fun!

Posted on October 7, 2011 by Eric

I can sympathize with some of the local incumbent candidates who were ousted in the recent provincial election. You see, I too, have been recently deposed, but not by way of election. These little coups have been taking place all over Northumberland and Hastings counties whenever someone else hits the “Check In Here” button on the Foursquare app on their smartphones.

Two weeks ago I lost my positions as Mayor of both Pharma Plus and Lower Trent Conservation. A week ago I was un-seated as the Mayor of West City Honda. And within the last 48 hours, while local provincial Liberals were losing their seats I was unceremoniously dumped from The Grind Coffee Cafe, Wooler Convenience and Vito’s Pizzeria. Getting all those email notifications and watching my reign come to an end was a tough blow to take. But don’t feel too badly for me, I still have my twelve other Mayorships.

For those of you who haven’t already been playing along, Foursquare is a geo-location, mobile social media platform. To play, you need a smartphone with GPS, the Foursquare app and a Foursquare account, both of which are free. Every time you visit a store, restaurant, nightspot, museum, art gallery or other public space, you find its listing on your Foursquare app and “check in”. Check in to a particular venue more frequently than anyone else and you can be the Mayor!

Some of the Foursquare badges I've managed to collect: Bookworm, Overshare and Super Mayor to name a few.

The app lets you upload photos and post messages to your other social media profiles like Facebook and Twitter so you can show your friends where you are and invite them to join you. You also get to collect points and badges for various check-ins and can compete against your friends for bragging rights.

Why would anyone play such a “game”, isn’t it just another silly time-waster? Well, apart from being fun in a competitive way, Foursquare can also be a useful tool. If you’re visiting someplace new and are looking for somewhere to have a meal, or a place to buy sunscreen or aspirin, you could look for restaurants or pharmacies on Foursquare to see what’s around you. Then you could get directions based on your GPS location and find your way easily. Users can also leave tips in the form of suggestions or reviews. If five people raved about the incredibly satisfying sweet potato poutine at a restaurant you were sitting in, wouldn’t you feel more inclined to try it?

If you’re a business owner, you want to do everything you could to ensure new customers come through the door. Listing your business on Foursquare can help in generating traffic. Foursquare also allows businesses to make special offers in the form of rewards to Mayors or other users when they check in. I’ve received free wine-tastings at Prince Edward County wineries I’ve visited just for checking in. What a great way to generate customer loyalty!

Although it is growing, Foursquare is still relatively small with only 14 million users. It started out as more of an urban, big city kind of phenomenom having huge popularity in cities like New York, Chicago and Toronto. Here, in Eastern Ontario, it’s only now beginning to gain traction. In the early days (last year) it was easy for me to rack up a ton of Mayorships simply because there weren’t as many players. Now, of course I’m getting a little more competition, which makes it more fun.

If you haven’t tried Foursquare, you might want to check it out by checking in. If you’re a business person and want to learn more about using Foursquare to attract more customers, then please get in touch with us at email hidden; JavaScript is required. We’d love to help you.

Posted in Social Media | Tagged foursquare, geo-location, northumberland, ontario, social media | Leave a comment

Hey! We’re excited about Back to School!

Posted on September 6, 2011 by Eric

What a great time of year! This week marks the return to school for children, teens, young adults and a growing number of mature students. You could say that we, at poloDesign, are going back to school this fall too. Those of you in business know that personal and professional development is an ongoing necessity. Our return to school won’t be as students, however, but as guest speakers and instructors.

We ran a number of social media workshops over the past winter and spring. This included the launch of our Brighton Social program, a series of free, weekly networking/learning events which has been on hiatus since June. Although we did miss it a bit, we mostly enjoyed a quiet summer without those presentation day deadlines to meet and adrenaline-surging moments prior to speaking in front of an audience. All of that changes now that September is here and we find ourselves launching into even more social media speaking events.

Brighton Social returns later this month with a new program featuring guest speakers and a new venue where creatives and business people can mingle, share, learn and collaborate in promoting their community, themselves and those around them. These events will run from late September until mid-December. If you want to know more, be sure to sign up for the Brighton Social email newsletter and follow Brighton Social on Facebook. We’re also hoping to launch a similar venture based out of Belleville and we look forward to finalizing that with a formal announcement very soon.

On October 6th we’ll be attending Quinte’s Small Business and Job Fair in Belleville to give a presentation called Selling Yourself: Building Relationships Through Social Media. We’ll be back in action for the Northumberland Business Advisory Centre on October 24th, this time in Colborne, presenting an introduction to social media for small businesses.

If all of that isn’t enough, Penny Olorenshaw will present a talk on Social Media for Business to the Northumberland Women’s Business Network on November 16th, and in December our own Eric Davidson will be teaching a four-week program on Building Business with Facebook at Fleming College in Cobourg.

Whew! What a busy fall we have ahead of us. Of course, delivering these presentations and programs is only the tip of the iceberg. Planning, researching, writing, creating slideshows and rehearsing is also a big part of what gets us ready to stand in front of a group of people to say something that’s helpful and easily understood.

We’ll keep you posted on what’s happening as we get closer to individual events. Perhaps you’ll come out to one? For those of you who can’t attend our events, we’ll share snippets of what we’re teaching as well as some of our favourite examples of social media done well via our Facebook page and our own email newsletter. We look forward to meeting lots of new people and seeing some of you long-time followers as well.

If you can’t wait for one of our presentations or courses to get started with using social media, please get in touch with us at email hidden; JavaScript is required. We’re always happy to offer one-on-one assistance to those who are interested.

Posted in Seminars, Social Media | Tagged facebook, northumberland, presentation, seminar, social media for business, using social media | Leave a comment

Recipes for building better Content Management websites

Posted on July 30, 2011 by Penny

I’ve been using CMS Made Simple for the past four years, starting from a basic knowledge of HTML and CSS but no PHP experience. I chose it initially because of its simple user interface that would make it easy for my clients to update their websites. Installing and setting up a basic site was relatively simple and as time went on, I learned how to incorporate and use third-party modules and make basic customizations to module templates. I could tell that there was nearly endless potential to expand the system but I lacked the know-how. I have worked with both Joomla! and WordPress and keep returning to CMS Made Simple because it just makes sense as a way to build a website.

This year, I took on some sites that forced me to delve further into this well-coded CMS and spent a lot of time digging through Sofia Haufschildt’s CMS Made Simple Beginners Guide, the CMSMS forum and various sources of documentation. My knowledge increased quickly but I still felt that I was only scratching the surface. And then Samuel Goldstein’s CMS Made Simple Development Cookbook was published by Packt. Although I was initially afraid the book might be too advanced, I was pleased to discover how quickly concepts I’d been struggling with began to make sense. After working through several of the ‘recipes’, I had a much better understanding of how to use Smarty code and the core modules.

Learn how to get the most out of CMS Made Simple

Samuel is the author of Formbuilder, one of the most useful and flexible third-party modules available for CMS Made Simple and a favorite of mine. His book is as well-written as his code, clearly explaining the differences between tags, user-defined tags and modules and the best uses for each. Within just a few pages, the reader learns how to calculate math with the Smarty templating engine, create colour sets in stylesheets and use if-else conditions to hide content areas within templates. The book progresses through more complicated tasks, building on the foundation laid in the earlier recipes.

Each recipe begins with ‘Getting Ready’, explaining the necessary permissions and access requirements to accomplish the task. At first, these sections may appear repetitive but, like any good cookbook, they allow a reader to choose any recipe and begin without needing to look back to find the basics. After showing how to accomplish the task with clear code examples, the author then provides a detailed explanation of how the recipe works and the elements of Smarty that are utilized. In this way, the reader understands the ‘why and how’ of developing with CMS Made Simple and Smarty code and can apply that knowledge to solving other challenges. He wraps up with further ways to develop the recipe and cross-references to related recipes elsewhere in the book.

Samuel’s writing style is friendly and clear without unnecessary jargon. He is able to turn dry programming language into useful real-world examples. Of all the books on coding I’ve ever read, this is by far the best at helping a novice develop a strong knowledge base and instilling a sense of confidence. The CMS Made Simple Development Cookbook will help further the adoption of CMS Made Simple as a CMS of choice, allowing experienced website builders to create complex sites that remain simple for end users.

To see a few of our recent CMSMS sites, visit Arts Quinte West, Brighton & District Chamber of Commerce, Keeping Main Street Open or Accountek Solutions.