Featured Posts

I get it...businesses want more fans. Each fan is an opportunity to not only reach a person on their terms, but also an opportunity to have your message shared to that person's network. That is what we in the industry call a positive return on investment.

But just as I've argued in the past against software to boost your twitter followers and programs to auto-tweet for you, I "don't like" buying fans.

I came across this blog post today, Pay Per Fan: What Big Brands Are Paying For Facebook Fans. According to the article, this is a normal cost structure for hiring a company to acquire new fans for you:

    30,000 fans for $1.50 cost per fan 
    60,000 fans for $1.25 cost per fan 
    $20,000 per month to acquire 10,000 fans per month ($2.00 CPF) 
    4500 fans for $9,000 ($2.00 CPF)

That's outrageous. When you compare it to email lists, the prices aren't absurd, but there is a difference. Not that I'm an advocate of SPAM or that I have ever supported direct mail, but at least with those things you can be fairly confident you're reaching a target demographic. I can't imagine how a company can guarantee 10,000 new fans a month that all fall within your brand's target market, unless you sell toilet paper. I mean, everybody needs that, right?

What do you think? Is this a fair practice? Should I lay off? Does this tactic trivialize those of us building actual a strong, engaged fan base? Tell us your thoughts!

 

Just about everyone has had to look for an apartment at one time in their life.  For those of us who took a few extra years to graduate college (yes, that would include me), we got very used to the annual apartment search.  And really it wasn't that fun.  It involved a lot of driving from apartment to apartment, hoping to find a place that we could afford that didn't have too many bugs on the walls!

Oh, how modern technology has revolutionized the apartment search.  Our incredible team here at 352 Media Group built a highly interactive search tool that makes searching for apartments - in this case, Orlando apartments - an absolute breeze.



Thanks to our "Showcase" technology, the Orlando Apartment Locator website offers advanced apartment search options that are incredibly easy to operate.  The real-time filtering technology updates the search results instantly without forcing the page to reload.  Take a look at this Orlando apartment search tool yourself to see just how easy it is.



Since Orlando is a unique city that features two major universities, we also built in sections of the website specific to UCF apartments and Full Sail apartments.  UCF and Full Sail students love the interactivity the site has to offer.  And they appreciate the gas money they save by being able to do a full apartment comparison search without ever having to leave their dorm room.

You may have seen our "Showcase" technology in action in other places too.  It even powers our own web design portfolio here on 352media.com.  It is quite versatile and can be used for everything from product searches to real estate listings to photo galleries and more.



So if you have a site that "Showcase" technology would be useful for... or, if you just need some help with your next Orlando apartment search... now you know where to turn!

I came across this site, and was just too impressed not to share the pics. Think "Bodies," but Porsche edition. That's right...they sliced up some of their cars for your viewing pleasure. A little sad to see such a piece of machinery chopped, but the artistic and educational payoff is worth it. Now where do I get one of those saws?

Take a look at a few of the best shots from notcot.com:







Now if you're ready to get behind the wheel of one of these bad boys (one that is not chopped in half ala Herbie the Love Bug), then head on over to the site we created for Porsche North America's Driving School at http://www.porschedriving.com/. While there is no doubt the site we made is beautiful, it's really the images of the cars on that track that make it so cool!

Everyone quits a job at some point in their life, even if it's just from the lemonade stand you started in elementary school when you realized it was too hot to sit on your neighborhood sidewalk all afternoon to only make 10 cents each glass — that's in the early 90s; we're not factoring in inflation, here.

This week has surfaced two stories the social media-sphere can't stop talking about. First, Steven Slater blew his gasket, grabbed some cold ones and high-tailed it down the emergency slide on a JetBlue flight after being provoked by a disgruntled passenger. Then, "Jenny" won our hearts when she quit her job dry erase board style and exposed her FarmVille-playing boss, only to crush our hopes and dreams the next day when actress Elyse Porterfield revealed it was all a hoax put on by theCHIVE.com.

This inspired us here at 352 Media Group, and when we get inspired, we like to give stuff away. In honor of these two noteworthy rebels, we have a free webcam up for grabs to the young whippersnapper who best answers this question: How would you quit 352 Media Group?


Would you steal all of our computer wires, fashion a slingshot of sorts and catapult yourself out the door with the Rocky song playing in the background? Would you replace our homepage's current flash video header with one of you publicly announcing your departure to anyone who visits our site? Would you hack into our CMS and create a slideshow detailing, image-by-image, your final steps (and what office supplies you stole) from the building?

Whatever it is, we want to hear it — and see it. Starting now until the end of August, post a comment on this blog post, comment on our Facebook wall, or follow and @ us on Twitter with how you would quit 352 Media Group. The most disgruntled honorary employee with the most dramatic, imaginative or just downright ridiculous method will win a free webcam. Don't worry if the logistics for your quit method of choice are far from realistic; we just want to see what you can come up with. Pictures or videos will earn you massive brownie points in your quest. We'll be announcing the winner via our blog, Facebook and Twitter on September 1, 2010.

And no, current 352 Media employees are not eligible to participate because we all know we love our job too much to quit, anyway.

Happy quitting!

Dear Facebook,

I'm frustrated. And you better believe I'm going to tell you why.  

I'm an admin for 352 Media Group's Facebook page. But like many Facebook pages, we have two admins. (Our CMO Peter is the other.) Between the two of us, we always keep the page updated and make sure we have a cohesive tone for 352's social media presence. But there's one thing that irks me about being an admin of a page, dear Facebook: Why can't I comment as myself and can only comment as 352 Media Group on our Facebook page? You allow me to "like" something on my company page from my personal account; I can even personally like a comment my company makes. So, why are you discriminating against the comment itself?  

What's that? You need some evidence on why this would ever be needed? I'm so glad you asked.  

Exhibit A: An inner office joke making it to mainstream social media



352 Media Group Field Days get a little rowdy. People get competitive; people get hurt. It's tradition. So it was a big deal that an ambulance didn't make an appearance this year. I originally updated our status with the first post. Brent was correct: I did cut my finger at the BBQ, but compared to the torn ACLs (yes, plural) of past events, a cut finger is child's play. I let it slide; Peter, our other Facebook admin, obviously didn't. But because he wasn't able to comment from his personal account, it made it look like we were just retracting our statement — that, or a company with split personalities.  

Moreover, what if I wanted to tout my hula-hoop skills that brought my team a first a place win even with a gimp hoop? What if I wanted to defend my beer-bottle opening abilities because the bottle opener was so seriously flawed in its design? But no, you've soiled both of those options. I can hear them now: "Erin sure is a good hula-hooper, but bless her heart, she can't even open a beer bottle."

Exhibit B: The too-good-not-to-comment picture or video



Where there is a Field Day, there is a Field Day video. This year's kind of rocked. So naturally, Peter (as 352 Media Group) posted it on Facebook. We got comments, and as good Facebook users, we wanted to comment back. The short shorts and helmet cam weren't 352 Media Group's ideas, per say, they were Peter's, but posing as 352 Media Group was the only way for Peter to participate in the conversation and comment back. And since 352 Media Group had already posted three times on the video, adding my comment to make a forth would just be seen as ridiculous. We want to participate, yes; but we don't want to seem over eager.

C'mon, Facebook. You encourage us to be active users, but admins are severely limited to just how much interaction we can have if we're stuck behind our company's presence. Isn't the point of having a company Facebook page to show the personality of said company? And if there are two social media marketers, shouldn't there be two personalities portrayed, especially if Erin wants to respond as Erin to something Peter as 352 Media posted. We are a team, mind you; not one kid-at-heart grown man who is giving social media shot to try to help out his company.  

I can't be the only disgruntled admin with this problem. In fact, I'm sure of it. Your help center has a specific answer for setting up multiple admins for a Facebook page, and if both (or all three, four, what have you) of those admins are active engagers on their page, it's only logical they've run into the same problem. So, where are the others? We need to band together for the greater Facebook page good. I'm calling it the Campaign for Multiple Admin Comments for now until something catchier comes along. Join me, won't you?  

My demand isn't out of line. I know you have the development capability to make a setting that would allow me to comment as myself or as my company. So please, Facebook, heed our requests, and we promise we won't make a single comment about your privacy settings.^*  

Yours truly,
-Annoyed Admin
  

^*For one week.

 

I went into my favorite place on the planet yesterday, yes I’m talking about Moe’s, and I saw a sign about getting rewarded for going to Moe’s.  On the sign was a reference to WeReward.  To be honest I dismissed it for a few weeks.  Then I was standing in a long line the other day waiting to get my mini masterpiece with chicken and decided to check it out.  What I found was one of the more interesting new ways to get people talking about your business.  This app, which is currently available for iphones and android users (looks like the blackberry version is still in development), essentially monetizes a  4square like application.  Here’s how it works:

When you go to a local business (mostly food based) you check in.  Upon check you are asked to take a picture to prove that you are really there.  Every business has different instructions on what they want in the picture.  Most are just you and the logo but some will ask you to take a picture with your food or your server or something goofy.  You can also push these pictures with information to twitter, facebook or 4 square.  Each check in is assigned points, the business decides on the points because each point you get earns you a real penny!  Once you reach $10 you can cash out through paypal. Check out their video below!

 

Now I know what you’re saying, a 5 point check in just to get 5 cents, what’s the point.  But think about how much you go out and grab lunch with coworkers, or grab Starbucks while you’re shopping.  If you’re already using 4square then this is an easy transition.  You can even collect badges through here as well!  And over time the money can really start to add up!  And hey..it’s 5 cents more than you had before!  

 

It's all fun and games until somebody throws water balloons at your...shorts area. But what do you do when that person is the CEO? Pie to the face, that's what. Take a look at the video recap of this year's event.

Some people are reporting trouble seeing the embedded video from Facebook, so while it uploads to youtube, feel free to view it directly on our FB page at http://facebook.com/352mediagroup.

It's the most wonderful time of the year here at 352 Media Group. That's right...it's Field Day 2010. It is exactly what it sounds like too: a bunch of grown-up geeks playing games like relay races and water balloon tosses. This year we even splurged for a catered BBQ (slow cooked on site) and some special "celebrity" appearances.

To get everyone in the Field Day spirit, I thought I'd post some of the greatest hits from the annual event.

First off is a personal fav of mine, not because of the event, but because of my mad video editing skills. The event, tug-o-war, was actually terrible. Nobody thought gloves were a good idea, and nylon rope apparently hurts. It was a good day to be behind the camera for sure! Check out the finger-burning fun:

More throughout the day!

I've never understood the theory behind Christmas in July. I mean, the allure of the holiday season is that it only comes around once a year, right? Doesn't it kind of defeat the purpose if we insert them in somewhere in the middle of the year because we're all burned out from the 100+ degree heat and could use a present to recharge our spirits? Of course retailers would be cashing in on any opportunity to market a "holiday," promoting Black Friday-like sales and tax-free weekends. Even some stores — ahem, Sears and Kmart — are already pushing people to stroll down Santa Clause Lane to pack their sack full or lights, ornaments and the ever-popular 8-foot inflatable Frosty the Snowman. We're going to be even more concerned if there are people out there who have actually started — and maybe even finished? — their holiday shopping.

But, in all seriousness, it's actually Christmas in July for the 90,000 people currently employed by Microsoft with yesterday's news that every one of them is going to get a new Windows Phone 7 when it's released this fall. (Hey, Microsoft, does that mean your web developers get them too? ) For the rest of us, we were just happy to see the shroud of secrecy of the functionality of the Windows Phone 7 is finally being lifted, thanks in part to the "technical preview" the Microsoft Phone Team released earlier this week. (C'mon, we all know the economy is bad, we'll take what we can get this holiday season.)

And, since these days cell phones don't exist without the Internet, it was only a matter of days before the next Windows Phone 7 update leaked: the first screen shots of how Bing, the obvious default search engine for the phone, will look. Check them out here, courtesy of the Bing Community blog:

This is making it even more critical for companies and brands to get to cracking on Windows Phone 7 application development because we all know that eventually there isn't going to be a phone on the market that doesn't have custom apps.

Here's a good way to see what Google thinks about your website.

Go to Google.com, and in the search field, enter:  related:www.yourdomain.com/ ~yourdomain.com   (replacing yourdomain.com with your actual domain name).

Click the Google Search button and what you will see is a list of websites that Google thinks are related to yours.  The list should ideally contain your competitors and other sites in your same industry.

Why is this important?  Because if you want to come up high in keyword search terms related to your line of business, it is important for Google to understand that you are in that line of business!

How does Google determine these related websites?  By looking at the content on your site as well as where you are getting your incoming links from.  If you have several incoming links from highly relevant sites in your industry, then Google will properly classify your site.  If you are lacking incoming links and the links you do have are from unrelated websites, then Google may not know what line of business you are actually in, which means your rankings will suffer.  If you find this to be the case, approach other sites in your industry (such as vendors, customers, industry associations, etc.) and ask (or beg) them to link to you.  It is always of upmost importance that you have plenty of highly relevant incoming links if you want to rank well!