CWI Media, LLC

The official Interwebz home of CWI Media, LLC, a Virginia-based consulting firm helping businesses and organizations with website design, development, online marketing, and social media strategy development and implementation. We also like Golden Retrievers and the Virginia Tech Hokies. //

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60 posts

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Proud to support another season of youth baseball! Go Angels!

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No big deal. Just a custom, made-from-scratch, printable NCAA tournament bracket for TechHoops.com.

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Last year, I was proud to support the local arts by purchasing an ad in the playbill for the New River Stage production of "Honk!"

New River Stage is a local community theatre company that puts on performances that welcome actors of all ages.

I am proud to support them again this spring. I encourage all of you to support your local community theatre and your local art scene, be it music, paintings, sketches, or something else.

B.A.M. Because the Arts Matter. Spread the word.

[joncrowley-deactivated20170129]

Dalton Caldwell does an excellent job explaining how Facebook’s recent changes, while being negative for brands, are likely user-neutral at worst, and an indication of the final direction of the platform’s business model.

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If you are a Facebook page admin, this article is a must read.

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Attention Facebook Page Admins

If you are a Facebook page admin, listen up. Whether you have 50, 500 or 5,000 "likes" on your page, only about 10 percent of your posts are showing up in your followers' news feeds. If you want to reach a bigger audience, you have to pay to promote that post. The cost depends on how many followers you have.

There is a way around it, but you have to let your followers know and on a regular basis, too. If you have the budget, it might be worth paying a one-time fee to promote a post (like the one below) that lets your followers know how to ensure your posts appear in their news feed.

You may have seen posts floating around, but we've created a template that you can use for your page - just customize it to fit your page and post away.

PSA: Only 10 percent of people who who like this page see our posts in their news feed. Facebook requires page administrators to pay to promote their pages to 100% of the people who like a page.

To make sure you SEE ALL OF OUR POSTS in your news feed, please VISIT OUR PAGE, click on the on the gear symbol near the "Like" button.

Click on it and select "ADD TO THE INTEREST LISTS" By doing this, you will keep on seeing our posts on your wall and the page will not be removed. If you're a page admin, spread the word.

There you have it. Go forth and spread the word!

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Email Marketing: Rules of the Unsubscribe

Today I came across a spam email from a company called Laurie Pehar Borsh PR. According to its website, the company offers quite a bit for personal and business public relations including:

Page 1 ranking and consistent "top placement" on search engines

Email PR/promotional campaigns for business development

These are just a couple of the services the company claims to provide clients. I'm not usually one to criticize other companies, but there are two things about LPR that rubbed me the wrong way and I want to pass along their mistakes to help you avoid 1) making the same mistakes and/or 2) avoid doing business with a company like this.

First, I went to unsubscribe from their emailing list. I clicked on the unsubscribe link and was taken to a page that required my email address AND my first and last name. This is where they went wrong. 

The only thing you can legally require from someone to unsubscribe from your email list is their email. Anything else is in violation of the CAN SPAM Act and subject to a $16,000 fine... per violation... which means per email you send out. Yeah, how many emails are on your list?

The basic do's and don'ts of email marketing are spelled out on the official CAN SPAM Act website, but here's the specific language regarding unsubscribing:

You can’t charge a fee, require the recipient to give you any personally identifying information beyond an email address, or make the recipient take any step other than sending a reply email or visiting a single page on an Internet website as a condition for honoring an opt-out request.

So, because I didn't want to receive any more emails from LPR, I provided information in the required fields and then sent an email the contact email provided in the marketing material.

OK, so my first issue was with their violations of the CAN SPAM Act. The other issue I have is that they claim to offer "page 1 ranking and consistent 'top placement' on search engines." 

I would be wary of any company that guarantees page 1 rankings in "search engines." For starters, I'm sure they meant search engine results pages (SERPs). Secondly, unless you're Google, Yahoo, Bing or any other search engines, you can't guarantee any rankings.

If you're doing email marketing, make sure you're following the rules.

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Having trouble posting to your Facebook page?

Yesterday (May 24, 2012) I attempted to share a YouTube video on one of the Facebook pages of which I am an administrator. I copied and pasted the YouTube link into the status update field and Facebook automatically converted the link into the usual video display.

I then customized the text in the status update (and removed the original YouTube link), tagged a couple of other pages and then hit the share button.

Nothing.

I clicked "submit" again. Nothing.

I visited the actual page url (facebook.com/pageurl) in another browser tab to make sure that the post hadn’t gone through. Nope. Nothing.

I tried everything I could think of:

I removed the tagged pages.

I tried another browser; with and without extensions/add-ons.

I tried PC and Mac.

I changed the setting that allows me to post to the page as the page even though I wasn’t using Facebook as the page (did you follow all of that?).

But nothing worked.

Finally, I submitted a help ticket, which as we know will never be answered by a living, breathing human being. But, at least I did something I could pass along to the higher ups when they ask why such and such video wasn't posted.

As a last resort, I went to the Facebook Community forum where I found others that were having the same issue. I’m not alone and if you’re having the same issue, neither are you.

It was there I found Jen Frazer, a Facebook page admin, who posted a work around she found in another Facebook forum:

To post to your Page, instead of accessing your page by way of the standard URL, i.e. www.facebook.com/pageurl, replace www with beta. It should look like this: beta.facebook.com/pageurl Now posting. It worked for me and should do the trick until Facebook fixes this issue. If they fix the issue.

Here’s a link to forum: http://nrv.me/KXBFRZ

So, all we can do at this point is wait and see if Facebook fixes the issue. Of course, with all that’s going on with FB right now, who knows.

[cwimedia]

We are proud to support local youth sports (and be the coach)! Go Nats!

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In case you missed it, Google had another good April Fool's Day gag with the introduction of Google Tap, which purported to replace the QWERTY keyboard with a simple Morse Code keyboard with only two keys; a dot and a dash.

And if that wasn't cool enough, it would even let you type two emails at once with a split screen. 

It doesn't take long to figure out this is a gag, but in case you were strung along, you should have figured it out when they popped up LL Cool J as a Google engineer. Epic win in my book!

[attentionindustry]

Human Readable Terms / Policies / Guidelines

Tumblr won a piece of my heart with this, probably the first large-scale social network TOS that is organized in a way that indicates it’s designed to be read.

Broken into three sections (TOS, Privacy Policy, and Community Guidelines) and written with a hint of Tumblr’s community tone and manner (Check out the last two images), this is a step beyond most companies, in terms of making a legal document for human beings.

It’s still a lot of text, and could stand some consolidation or guidance, but for now? I’m calling this as a best in class example.

Bravo.

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Agreed. When this popped up on my screen, I was very impressed. Breaking it up into a user-friendly, three-tabbed section really helps.

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How to choose the starting point of a YouTube video you share

Have you ever found that perfect YouTube video and you want to share it, but want to start the video somewhere other than the beginning? Well, you're in luck because YouTube makes it oh-so-easy now.

First, go to the YouTube page for the video. Then, click on the "Share" button below the video player.

A dropdown menu will appear with the short url. Click on the "Options" link to the bottom right of the link.

Another dropdown menu will appear where you can choose where you want the video to start.

Once you've chosen the start point in your video, click on the link above to select the short URL and then copy it.

It should looking something like this: http://youtu.be/Et0XpfrQ9ck?hd=1&t=24s

You'll note the added characters to the end of the video's unique id:

?hd=1&t=24s

As you've probably figured out, the hd = high definition and the t=24s means I want the video to being playing 24 seconds in.

It's that simple!

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So worth $3.99. This app is outstanding. You have the Twitter feeds for each team's hashtag on the left and right, scores at the top and all kinds of stats. I see people complaining about the $3.99 price tag. Just stop.

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So long Android Market; Hello Google Play

Do you own an Android-powered smartphone? If so, you've probably noticed that the Android Market - where you would download the Angry Birds games - is no more... at least in name. 

Google announced last week the newest iteration of Google's Android Market; Google Play. Within Google Play you'll find access to Android apps, music (via Google Music launched in November), ebooks (formerly Google's eBookstore) and movies (thankfully, not from Blockbuster).

The prices aren't much different than what you'll find in Apple's iTunes, though they do have some better deals such as  the daily 25 cent deal where you can get a song for a quarter.

What does this mean for you, the Android-powered device user? Well, nothing really. Google has just taken the services it already offered and put them in one place. The search giant is a bit late to the party, but better late than never, right?

Given the success of iTunes and its all-encompassing approach to content delivery, it's somewhat baffling that it took Google this long to build something similar, especially considering the proliferation of Android-powered devices.

According to a 2011 Nielsen survey, Google's Android operating system (OS) is the most popular in the United State, claiming 39 percent of the smartphone market. Apple's iOS is second with 28 percent, followed by BlackBerry with 20 percent.

But what about the name, "Google Play"? Does it aptly describe the new consolidation of services? According to Computer World blogger JR Raphael, the new name doesn't work.

"But the biggest part of the Android Market -- err, sorry, Google Play -- is apps. And apps encompass a heck of a lot more than just games. I'm going to "play" Business Calendar? Or "play" mSecure Password Manager? Seriously? How does the name "Google Play" make you think of a place to find utilities for your Android phone or tablet? It doesn't. It's confusing, and I can only imagine the befuddlement new Android users will feel when facing their phones for the first time and seeing the new Play-themed icons."

I can see Raphael's point, however, look at Apple's iTunes store. iTunes was created to sell music and the name hasn't changed despite the addition of movies, books, apps and software to the iTunes store. I think people will see past the monikers as long as the service is up to snuff.

Regardless of whether the brand choice "Google Play" was a prudent or not, it appears Google finally has a comprehensive alternative for those that don't own and Apple iOS device (iPad, iPod, iPhone). And like iTunes, Google Play is accessible via laptops and desktop computers via a website.

What do you think of Google Play? Have you used it yet?

[storyware]

Introducing Bubuti.com: Where Music Has A Mission

We are proud to announce the launch of Bubuti.com, a website that enables charities to partner with musicians to build a collaborative campaign, a co-promotion of song(s) and cause. Like a virtual benefit concert on the world’s largest stage, the Internet, these charitable campaigns give music artists exposure, give charities much-needed support, and give supporters the gift of music.

We are excited to have Bubuti up and running before our trip to SXSW music this coming week. 

Business Bullpen performed the following services on the Bubuti.com project:

Website Design

Website and eCommerce Development

Content Strategy

Copywriting

Social Media Consulting & Management

[washuffitzidrivemetofirenze-dea]

Very excited to head down to Austin in support of Bubuti this coming week!

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Congratulations to our partners at Business Bullpen on the successful launch of Bubuti's new website that bring charities and musicians together for worthy causes!

And we're jealous that you guys are off to SXSW, but have fun and next year, take us with you!

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Traditional websites vs. Facebook pages

Do local business owners still believe they need a website? Or is a Facebook page enough? One of my favorite restaurants in the New River Valley doesn't have a website, but they are on Facebook. 

What do you think?

[clientsfromhell]

How many SEO experts do you need to change a lightbulb lightbulbs buy light bulbs neon lights sex porn

(via clientsfromhell) Ha! SEO humor, jokes funny Justin Bieber Beyonce pregnant baby Katy Perry.

[storyware]

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businessbullpen:

Last week Graham and I visited Tumblr’s headquarters in New York. As I walked through the double-glass doors, the first thing I noticed was how quiet it was. With 30+ very creative people in the NYC office and an open space floor plan, I expected there to be a lot of noise. But there wasn’t....

My colleague at Business Bullpen traveled to NYC and DC last week and stopped by Tumblr's headquarters.