My number one advice for writing

Make yourself sit down and just do it…

Some find the thought of having to write something very daunting, painful like going to the dentist.

However, you’ll find if you make yourself sit down and just start, you’ll get involved with the process and may even enjoy putting your thoughts into words.

You may scoff at this notion but consider this… inspired writing doesn’t necessarily have to happen during traditional work hours. Some write best after the kids are in bed and some write best early morning. Try to write when you feel you are in the best frame of mind and you can give your writing your undivided attention.

Don’t worry about having it perfect immediately. Write/type all your thoughts and then rearrange and edit. When you think you’re getting to the final draft stage, read it out loud to see how it sounds.

I realize I’m biased, I enjoy writing as opposed to say… doing calculus… but know that it doesn’t have to be so painful, just sit down and do it and start with baby steps, the rest will follow.

Sarah Wallace is a research analyst, blogger and podcaster. To learn more about her, click on the tabs above.

What is this New Twitter?

What is this New Twitter? Watch the video from Twitter below. They started rolling it out last night, who will be next!

Sarah Wallace is a research analyst, blogger and podcaster. To learn more about her, click on the tabs above.

Some new Twitter features I can get on board with!

This weekend I discovered some new Twitter features that I can get on board with! I realized @NerdBoyTV was following me and when I went to read his bio, I saw under his Twitter handle “Also followed by…” indicating people who follow him who I’m also following. And, in the right hand menu I noticed “You both follow” which opened up to a “view all” list of people we both follow. I like these two new features because they give me some clue as to the connections we have in common. Very Facebook-like but hey, Twitter users have been asking to find some type of common thread for quite some time. Perhaps this means that @Ev, @Jack and @Stone are listening…

Sarah Wallace is a research analyst, blogger and podcaster. To learn more about her, click on the tabs above.

Follow Twitter’s @earlybird for special discounts

Twitter's @earlybird logo

According to the Fast Company article “Twitter Offers First @earlybird Exclusive Deal”, Twitter launched its @earlybird account in which advertisers can offer exclusive deals on Twitter.

The first @earlybird special is a buy-one-get-one deal for The Sorcerer’s Apprentice. In a blog post, Twitter said it will introduce a new @earlybird deal several times a week.

Twitter reports it has lined up tens of advertisers and hopes for hundreds by year’s end. Advertisers already on board include Groupon and Gilt Groupe.

The @earlybird Twitter account currently has around 54,000 followers. As word spreads I believe it will grow tremendously. People spend a lot of time on Twitter to network and learn. This is a way for users to get a little something back.

Sarah Wallace is a freelance writer helping clients with blogging, Twitter, Facebook, web copy, SEO, e-newsletters and press releases. In addition to performing these writing services, she also provides editing and consulting. To learn more about her work experience and services, click on the tabs above or contact Sarah at sarah@sarahwallace.com

Free tool helps identify brand trends on Foursquare

For those skeptical about geolocation, speculate no more. Last week, Foursquare secured $20 million in venture funding after passing the 1.8 million user mark and recently reached 1 million check-ins in a single day. Geolocation is more than just seeing where your friends are, it allows customers to be rewarded for its dedication to merchants through specials and rewards. As businesses take geolocation more seriously, Awareness, Inc. (a provider of social marketing management software) has stepped up with its free foursquare Perspectives tool that allows users to help identify trends and insights on Foursquare.

The foursquare Perspectives tool reports key statistics such as total venues, total check-ins, unique visitors and total mayorships, and presents that data through comprehensive charts, graphs and maps to help marketers easily visualize key market trends among Foursquare locations.

With this type of data, Starbucks or any merchant can pinpoint its most popular Foursquare venues and cater its marketing campaigns based on demand. Not only is this tool incredibly useful but it is also incredible that it is free.

This comes right after Awareness announced the addition of a Foursquare channel support to its flagship product, the Awareness Social Marketing Hub, to allow enterprise marketers to manage Foursquare venues and publish tips to all or a targeted segment of venues through a single interface.

Along with foursquare Perspectives, Awareness has published two eBooks available for free download (The State of foursquare2010 and Top 10 Ways Enterprise Marketers Can Leverage foursquare) to any enterprise marketer looking to learn more about foursquare and how they can include it as part of their marketing efforts.

You may follow foursquare Perspectives on Twitter at @4sqPerspectives.

You may also read my notes after seeing Foursquare Co-Founder Dennis Crowley speak about merchant relations at My Take Away From Eat, Drink, Be Social.

Sarah Wallace is a research analyst, blogger and podcaster. To learn more about her, click on the tabs above.

My Take Away From Eat, Drink, Be Social

I recently attended  Eat, Drink, Be Social, a symposium featuring local and national thought leaders in the restaurant and social media industries, in Cambridge, Massachusetts.  Hosted by Tyson Goodridge of DIALOGUE, this event covered my two greatest interests… food and social media. I heard so many good points during this symposium but here are some highlights that I took away with me:

Geolocation Glitches

First let’s rewind a bit to the social the night before hosted by DIALOGUE and Awareness, Inc. held at Dante Restaurant in Cambridge. Attendees were allowed to meet and mingle with the event’s speakers. At the social I had the chance to chat with Dennis Crowley, Co-Founder of Foursquare, a very nice guy who was doing a great job of fielding everyone’s Foursquare questions. At one point, he did clarify that  application glitches may be due to deadspots in your network or errors in the maps it is linking to. He explained that there are many pieces to the geolocation puzzle and that Foursquare is always working to improve the coordination of these pieces.

What Restaurants Think of Social Media

Fast forward to the first two panels of the symposium, a literal all-stars of the Boston restaurant scene with moderators and panelists from Zagat, Boston Globe, Yelp Boston, CitySearch, Boston Magazine, @eatboston and Cook’s Illustrated and restaurateurs Barbara Lynch (Menton), Jody Adams (Rialto and Top Chef Masters), Mary Catherine Deibel (Upstairs on the Square) and Jon Olinto of b.good. With these first two panels, my take away was that restaurants are well aware of the added pressure that rating sites bring and their emphasis on hospitality as well as food quality. The panelists said they are open to the feedback while Leighann Farrelly of Yelp Boston asked attendees to think about the words you use in your comments because they do effect livelihoods. I also found it interesting that Jon Olinto of b.good said that he was most responsive to feedback via e-mail and, in some cases, has even gone to customer homes to correct wrongs.

No Matter the Platform, It’s About the Customer

Props to Justin Levy of New Marketing Labs and Caminito Argentinean Restaurant who literally got off the red eye after one hour’s sleep to talk to us. He told the story of how he started helping his friend and eventually became co-owner of his restaurant. He reminded us that no matter what the platform, meeting the customers’ needs is what is most important and that is why his establishment has been successful.

Merchants and Existing Behaviors

The next panel was moderated by geolocation fanatic Mike Schneider (Allen & Gerritsen) and featured Dennis Crowley of Foursquare and Alexa Andrzejewski, founder of FoodSpotting. Dennis told us that Foursquare will be releasing its 2.0 version this summer and how they are trying to focus on working with merchants to offer specials and heightened awareness of the application. He brought with him hot-off-the-press window stickers that said “Check In Here” (see pic above) and “Foursquare Special Here.” He also spoke of trying to bridge the gap between enthusiastic mayors and establishments who have never heard of Foursquare. Alexa pointed out that FoodSpotting basically took an existing behavior and made it a little more formal and fun. I confess, I’m jealous she beat me to it. #foodporn

Tips For Restaurants

The last panel featured Jeff Cutler and Mike Langford of NomX3 ( an online show where they eat lunch and share their experience) who had great advice for restaurants to be more social media and customer friendly; offer free Wi-Fi, make sure all your URLs are visible during a customer’s visit, and (for higher end establishments) reach out in some way to make your restaurant seem more accessible. Oh, and the biggie, make sure your site is not in Flash, otherwise potential customers trying to view your information or menu on the iPhone will not be able to read it. << In my opinion, this advice goes out to everyone, not just restaurants.

Overall Impression

My overall impression… new applications and platforms in social media are trying to bridge the gap and work with merchants who have been around for decades. It is starting to happen and it will be interesting to see how it progresses and ultimately benefits you and me, the customer. Thanks to Tyson Goodridge and DIALOGUE for a great event!

My “Hot” Hotel Tip

Okay, not food or social media related but here’s something I learned from booking my hotel for this trip. For some reason I was totally striking out on Priceline.com (sorry Bill Shatner) so I hopped on over to Hotwire.com. I’d never used this site before but I liked that you could specify amenities. I had a specific hotel in Cambridge that I was hoping for, the Royal Sonesta since it was home to Dante. I noticed that Royal Sonesta had a spa service so I clicked “4 stars” and “spa” and voila! I got the hotel I wanted for 50% off the day before. Wait, what’s that sound? Oh, it’s me patting myself on the back : )

Sarah Wallace is a research analyst, blogger and podcaster. To learn more about her, click on the tabs above.

How Does Your Website Look on the iPhone and iPad?

As the iPhone and iPad (?) become ubiquitous, it is important to know how your website looks on these devices. If your site is fancy with Flash, it does not mean a thing if people cannot view it.

Mashable just posted an article about a tool called iPad peek which supposedly lets you preview your site through the eyes of the iPad, but it is inaccurate because it allows Flash. Further down in this article, Mashable gives instruction on how to dis-enable Flash in your browser so you can truly view your website through they eyes of the iPhone or iPad.

The reason this Mashable article caught my attention is because last week I was telling my friend about a company that I greatly admired and was trying to show her its website via my iPhone. Unfortunately, even the company’s basic description was not showing up because it was in Flash.  Here is the link to read the Mashable article iPad Peek: See How Your Website Looks on iPad.

Sarah Wallace is a research analyst, blogger and podcaster. To learn more about her, click on the tabs above.

Blippy: Are you ready to broadcast your credit card transactions?

Are you ready to broadcast your credit card transactions? Well, Blippy is the platform that will allow you to do so. Privacy watchdogs are up in arms but advocates say it is a great way to learn about new products and good deals.

Released publicly in January by entrepreneur Philip Kaplan and the backings of the likes of Twitter’s Evan Williams, Blippy takes the ‘sharing era’ to another level by broadcasting your credit card transactions. So, a friend can see that you have purchased a new DVD on Amazon for $14.99 or a new iPhone app on iTunes for $2.99. The purpose is to create conversations around these purchases.

Users can manually review each item before it is published or set up certain substreams. For the time being, Blippy founders say they are not interested in aggregating data or geolocation.

What I find interesting is the set of Rules that Blippy has listed on its web site. Perhaps from lessons learned, this platform immediately states no Serial Accounts, Name Squatting, Malware/Phishing, Social Network Spam or Deceptive Links. Whether or not Blippy catches on, time will only tell. And, if it grows in popularity, it will be interesting to see if it can enforce its rules.

Sarah Wallace is a research analyst, blogger and podcaster. To learn more about her, click on the tabs above.

SXSW: Was it Worth it? And, My Tips for First Timers

Upon returning from the SXSW festival, the question everyone is asking me is, “Was it worth it?” My initial response is “Yes”  and I will explain why, but keep in mind that my answer is skewed by the fact that my badge and accommodations were free.

So, I attended the SXSW Interactive portion of the SXSW festival. Otherwise known as ‘Nerdapalooza,’ the term is fitting in terms of its attendees and sessions. Though, many complain that the sessions are not as technical as they used to be, I enjoyed seeing some of the rockstars of the internet and marketing world such as Gary Vayernchuk, Peter Shankman and Twitter’s co-founder Evan Williams. I also had a chance to meet Mashable founder Pete Chashmore, a very quiet, soft spoken guy who (apparently by the picture above) is very tall.

So, I experienced these rockstars at least once and watched them tell us that we need to get off of our asses, work our ‘”faces off,” be genuine, helpful, transparent, etc. In all honesty though, the two sessions I enjoyed most were with author Dan Roam,  (Back of the Napkin) and CNN correspondent Dr. Sanjay Gupta. Roam spoke on the importance of using images to tell a story and Gupta spoke with his brother Suneel about their Kahani Movement in which they are documenting the stories of Indian immigrants to the U.S. in the 60s and 70s. I found both these sessions to be thought provoking and moving and well worth my time.

Along with these two particular sessions, I enjoyed all the conversations I had with fellow attendees. Whether it was on the plane, having a snack or waiting for a panel to start, all the attendees I met were friendly, interesting and good contacts to have.

My SXSW Tips

Okay, so I enjoyed my first trip to SXSW and based on my positive experiences above I think it was worth it. I will go again but I will keep the following in mind for next time:

Everything really IS within walking distance

Everyone tells you this and you take it with a grain of salt and book the closest hotel. But, the truth is, everything is very close to the conference.  If you can save $100 by staying a few blocks away then by all means…

Bring summer clothes

I was traveling from New England so I went from chilly to mid 80s. It’s hot so bring your sandals, short sleeve shirts and enjoy the sun!

Get to popular sessions early

I say this because the first two sessions I tried to go to, the doors were shut in my face. That’s right, beyond capacity and I was denied.

You can party hardy but be prepared to wait in line

There are many big parties in town hosted by big name sponsors but, in some cases you may have to wait in line to get in. VIP passes are an option but getting them may involve having the right connections.

Checkout some of the film happenings

My friend and I went up to the Paramount theater during some of the film premieres and had the chance to see actors like Ed Norton, John C. Reilly, Jonah Hill and Patrick Wilson in person. All good fun!

How did I get a free badge and accommodations?

Ah yes, well my badge was free but it did cost my time. I was a SXSW liaison meaning that I was a correspondent between panelists and SXSW organizers. I did this from January till the conference and it was all via email.
My accommodations were free because my good friend Amy lives 10 minutes outside of Austin. I did stay at the Hilton Austin Saturday night since there was a lot going on and my friend Amy and I wanted to be able to just crash. The cost was $285 for the night which we split.

Upate

Also, while at SXSW I attended a session with author Tim Sanders, who wrote Love Is the Killer App. After his session I went up and introduced myself. Since then, he and I have connected and we’ve been working on a national campaign together. A lot of people complain about SXSW having too many attendees, but hey, it’s what you make of it.

Sarah Wallace is a research analyst, blogger and podcaster. To learn more about her, click on the tabs above.

Reflection: A Writer’s Work and Tools Through the Decades

Today is my birthday and I usually don’t like acknowledging the fact that I’m getting older but this particular birthday takes place at the start of a new decade and makes me reflect on my writing through the years and the tools I’ve used.

2010

Working as a freelance writer specializing in social media. Using Content Management Systems such as WordPress and portals such as Twitter, Facebook and YouTube. Also using monitoring tools such as Radian6 and keeping up with new trends such as Google Buzz.

2000

Working as an analyst in the telecom industry concentrating on Operational Support Systems for companies such as Verizon and AT&T. Using the internet to market forecasts that project billions of dollars of spending. Totally unaware that 17 months later, the largest terror attack in our nation’s history would occur and send the industry I was analyzing into a downward spiral.

1990

A junior in high school, taking my SAT’s, narrowing down my college choices. I had the honor of having my first published work in the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette as I had won an area-wide writing contest for high school students. I was so excited to see my writing in big city newspaper print. My guidance counselor told me, “By the time you graduate college, you will be applying for jobs that haven’t even been defined yet.”

1980

I was seven years old. I would interview my family members and then use my mom’s manual typewriter to type my very basic newspaper I called “The Family Yeller.” I told everyone I met that “I want to be a writer when I grow up” not knowing that three decades later, I would be telling my story through a WordPress blog and posting it for all the world to see on the internet.

2020?

It will be interesting to see what I write in 2020 and what tools I will be using. Sure it would be cool to see into the future, but for now I’ll keep enjoying the journey and changes that come with time. [Insert Steve Miller Band's lyrics "Time keeps on slipping into the future" here]. Peace everyone. Fly like an eagle.

Sarah Wallace is a research analyst, blogger and podcaster. To learn more about her, click on the tabs above.

Kevin Smith vs. Southwest Airlines: Have a Plan for Social Media Damage Control

I recently spoke at the Social Media Breakfast Maine No. 7 on social media policies and one of the topics I discussed was damage control. This week  Southwest Airlines has had to exercise some as director Kevin Smith has expressed his outrage over an incident with the airline via social media.

Smith was asked to leave a plane for being too “large” and posing a possible threat to other passengers. He went peacefully, but this prolific Twitter user hasn’t held back and has spent the last few days tweeting about his experience and retweeting fan support.

“Dear @SouthwestAir – I know I’m fat, but was Captain Leysath really justified in throwing me off a flight for which I was already seated?”
- @ThatKevinSmith

In return, Southwest Airlines has publicly apologized to Smith on Twitter.

“@ThatKevinSmith hey Kevin! I’m so sorry for your experience tonight! Hopefully we can make things right, please follow so we may DM!”
- @SouthwestAir

This is a reminder that any business using social media should have a procedure in place for damage control and it should include the following:

How do you respond

Decide how your business will respond to negative comments on your blog, Facebook, Twitter or other portals. Will you respond to them, ignore them? Or other.

Who can respond

If damage control needs to happen, who do you trust to respond? If it is the person doing your social media, then that is fine. If you require them to refer to a superior, then you need to decide on a chain of command.

Chain of command

If you want your social media person to refer to a superior for damage control situations then decide the chain of command. Will they refer to the head of marketing? A vice president? The CEO?

Accessibility

So, you have decided there needs to be a chain of command for damage control then make sure those people are accessible. If you want your social media person to refer to the head of marketing for damage control, make sure they are available and this includes evenings and weekends. Incidences are not going to happen during traditional work hours. And, if that person goes on vacation, who is next in line for those decisions?

Hopefully, your business will not need to exercise damage control but it is good to have a procedure in place, just in case.

Sarah Wallace is a research analyst, blogger and podcaster. To learn more about her, click on the tabs above.

Why Social Media is Like Shedding Holiday Weight

As the new year starts and I realize the holiday season’s refined sugars are now resting permanently on my hips, I can’t help but note that social media is much like shedding holiday weight…

You know you should be working hard it at, it’s only beneficial

Obviously, the benefits of shedding unnecessary pounds is an improvement of your health and overall well being.  With social media, the benefits of working hard is the continued growth of your online presence which promotes an awareness of your talents, expertise, services and products.

You’ve got to make sure you carve out the time

Similar to exercise, many say the biggest challenge with social media is carving out the time. I’m not going to say it’s easy, but it’s definitely a must. And, if you don’t seem to have the bandwidth, consider delegating to either someone in-house or outsourcing the effort.

People will say to you “Wow, you’re doing really well, good for you!”

It’s true, after you shed some pounds people will say how great you look. And, by increasing your social media presence through more followers, fans or engaging with your customers, people will take notice and recognize your success.

So, let’s do it, I’ll get my hips on the treadmill and let’s all make an effort to maintain our online presence. Bring on 2010!

Sarah Wallace is a research analyst, blogger and podcaster. To learn more about her, click on the tabs above.

Podcamp NH: Inspired Sharing and Learning

Steve Garfield at Podcamp NH

It was appropriate that Podcamp NH took place at the New Hampton School‘s beautiful campus as it set the stage for inspired sharing and learning.

Coordinated by Leslie Poston (@geechee_girl) of Uptown Uncorked, the two day event drew attendees from all over New England and held sessions covering topics such as blogging, social media, podcasting, video and more.

Unfortunately, I was only able to attend the last part of day two, but the afternoon was quality time well spent.

My first session was led by Cappy Popp of Thought Labs who informed us of upcoming changes to Facebook. The next session was led by Christine Major (@cmajor) of Awareness Inc. who moderated a Battle Decks session. This improv meets PowerPoint slides session gave us all a good laugh but was also a reminder that we need to hold the interest of our audience, whether it be in Battle Decks or with our real life customers.

My last session was led by video blogging pioneer Steve Garfield of SteveGarfield.com (@stevegarfield) and author of Get Seen.  Steve gave a hands on presentation on how to produce video and use it for online visibility (well, as much as he could fit into his 45 minute time constraint).

Steve’s session, in my opinion, is what events like Podcamp NH and social media are all about. Here’s why… Steve is not only a pioneer and expert in his field but thoroughly enjoys sharing his knowledge. You can tell by the way he gives tips through his vlogs and answers people’s questions on Twitter. And, his enthusiasm for helping people online translates even more in person. He literally puts the “social” in social media and, in fact, may even substitute “social” with “sharing.”

Wait, I think I may have answered the question to my previous blog post “If You Could Rename Social Media, What Would It Be?” Note to self… “Sharing Media.”

Point being, social media and events like Podcamp NH allow us to connect and learn from experts in their field and also from one another. Anyway, I look forward to the next Podcamp NH in June and thank you to Leslie for running a great event!

Sarah Wallace is a research analyst, blogger and podcaster. To learn more about her, click on the tabs above.

Bill Cosby Uses Twitter and So Should You!

Recently, Bill Cosby joined Twitter and has quickly gained numerous Twitter followers/fans.  Keep in mind, Bill Cosby has never gone away, he’s always been around producing and touring. He’s just new to Twitter and he’s smart in reminding us that he’s still around and now hip to reaching out to his fans through social media.

My impression is that it’s a blend of himself and an assistant on Twitter but that’s fine. He’s letting us know what he’s up to and that’s what social media is all about. Being social.

Likewise with your own business or brand, people may know of you but you should cross promote on all levels to remind people you are still there and doing great things.

Sarah Wallace is a research analyst, blogger and podcaster. To learn more about her, click on the tabs above.

Is Social Media Like the Baby Einstein Scam?

If you haven’t heard, Disney’s ever so popular Baby Einsten childrens videos are being sued by the Campaign for a Commercial-Free Childhood saying the videos make false claims about making your child a genius when, in reality, they may be decreasing attention span. It’s being labeled as the “Baby Einstein Scam.” Is this what we’ll be saying about Social Media in five years, that it was all a scam?

First of all, I will say that my daughter was born in ’03 and we had quite the collection of Baby Einstein DVDs.  Did I have her sit catatonically in front of these? No. Did I have her watch them occasionally while I made dinner? Yes.  And, if she did watch these movies, I would usually watch with her and we’d talk about the images we were seeing. I did not think these DVDs were making my daughter a genius but, in hindsight, Baby Einstein marketing them as a genius making tool, perhaps not the best approach.

So right now everyone, and me included, is claiming that Social Media is the must-need tool and everyone’s doing it. It’s the “genius maker” of the business world, if you will. Will all this hype and popularity lead to Social Media’s downfall?

In my opinion, in five years, the term may run its course but not some of its tools. We’ll probably just be referring to Social Media as just plain media and marketing again and there will be no need for the Social Media tag. Will we call it a scam? No. Will we definitely recognize that some portals and analytic programs worked better than others? Yes.

I am prolific user of Twitter and have had most of my client inquiries through that particular portal. So, as a living proof that you can grow your business through Social Media, I cannot ever say it was a scam. I will be able to say what methods worked best for me. Besides, isn’t that what happens with  trends, we all have our different experiences with it? For example, I’m sure there are some who really enjoyed their laser disc collection in the mid-90s…

Sarah Wallace is a research analyst, blogger and podcaster. To learn more about her, click on the tabs above.

The Status of Twitter Lists

Today a friend tweeted to another friend that he was tired of hearing about Twitter lists and wanted to use them. His sentiment is like mine and many others, in wondering, what the hell is going on with these Twitter lists?

The idea of Twitter’s list feature is to allow people to curate their own lists of people they like to follow. Whether it be their favorite celebs, industry contacts, funny people etc. Lists would be public by default or could be made private. Other Twitter users could also subscribe to them.

So to follow up on the status of this feature I went to Twitter’s blog and found the company’s latest mention of the Twitter lists was September 30th. The post titled “Soon to Launch: Lists” states that the feature will be in limited testing and will be launched for all accounts soon.

In the meantime, Mashable has been updating its blog covering Twitter lists and assuring us that they are live but only for a small number of users (see Twitter Lists are Alive [Updated]). Mashable, in a roundabout way of breaking Twitter’s rule, does point out that those who have been given the privilege of using the lists feature have been asked NOT to tweet about it.

I then found this article posted by the New York Times Technology section from just yesterday (September, 21st) titled “Twitter Chief Talks Lists, Traffic and Revenue” which interviews Twitter co-founder Evan Williams who states that currently Twitter lists are only offered to a few thousand users and will be available to everyone the end of October.

So according to Williams, we’ll all be making our lists and checking them twice by month’s end.

STATUS ALERT!
As of 8:21 pm EST, @mashable tweeted that Twitter is now expanding the new lists feature to 5% of users. Are you one of the 5%?
“The suspense is terrible, I hope it’ll last…” – Willy Wonka

Sarah Wallace is a research analyst, blogger and podcaster. To learn more about her, click on the tabs above.

If you could rename Social Media, what would it be?

Call me a hypocrite, I work in social media and I’m sick of the term. Day in and out I’m inundated with it, whether it be in my Twitter stream, while I’m trying to read business articles, or when I’m working with a client.

And, along the way I’ve found my use of social media to be changing. For example, I still use Twitter to connect with friends and business associates but lately I’ve also used it as an immediate news source. So, as our use of these social portals change, should the term?

If you were to rename the term social media, what would it be? Maybe “immediate communication” or “instant gratification.” Would love to hear your ideas.

Sarah Wallace is a research analyst, blogger and podcaster. To learn more about her, click on the tabs above.

 

A Stangant Website May Be a Good Thing…

What!!! Some may exclaim… How can a stagnant website be a good thing?!

Well, let me put it this way… As a social media services writer I am approached by businesses that have dated websites with no interactive content. At first I’m aghast but after talking to them I realize they are really, really busy. Their business is growing and the just don’t have time. They are too busy with mission critical tasks to keep a blog or be on Twitter.

This is where I come in and help them, but the point is, a stagnant website may mean a company has a great reputation and is growing exponentially and just needs some help in the online department.  Just something to think about…

Sarah Wallace is a research analyst, blogger and podcaster. To learn more about her, click on the tabs above.

The iPhone vs Blackberry Bold

I really needed to get a new phone.  My dinosaur Samsung was no longer serving its purpose since I’ve been gaining more social media clients and I needed to access various social media portals at all times.

So, I said goodbye to Sprint and headed over to the AT&T store since I knew I either wanted an Apple 3G iPhone or a Blackberry Bold.

I ended up buying the iPhone 3G (8 Gig) mostly due to price. It was $199 versus the Blackberry Bold $399 after 2 year contract.

Even though I love my iPhone and enjoy all the apps, I must say the Blackberry Bold is pretty amazing. Unlike the iPhone (pre 3.0 software release) it can cut and paste and you can use programs such as PowerPoint and Excel right on the handset. The Bold’s camera is nicer in that it has zoom and flash. And, its GPS navigation is voice guided, unlike the iPhone’s.

Also, a huge differentiator is that iPhone’s automatic e-mail retrieval is a minimum of 15 minutes. You do have the option of setting the iPhone’s retrieval to manual  but if your job is one where you have to get back to people ASAP, this might be an issue.

Again, the main reason I chose iPhone was the pricepoint (and that I’m not using programs such as PowerPoint  right now) but the Blackberry Bold is definitely a robust and powerful phone. Another smart phone to consider this summer will be the Palm Pre. It is said to be able to read flash and be very user friendly with social portals such as Facebook and Twitter.

My next blog post will be a review of the Flip Mino HD, a camcorder I just purchased for vlogging. I will discuss pricepoint, pros and cons and give video examples.  Stay tuned!

Sarah Wallace is a research analyst, blogger and podcaster. To learn more about her, click on the tabs above.