Section 1 – Life Plan

April 20, 2013 by Raul Colon

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Filed Under: Membership Tagged With: Business Plan

Green Screen Post

May 7, 2012 by Raul Colon

Over at Raúl’s blog @biancaest wrote a Basic Green Screen effect Tutorial post which we would like you to take a look at.

Here is a test and sample video we created to test out the steps Bianca included in the post.

Thanks to Artifex creation for the background picture.

Filed Under: Online Videos Tagged With: Videos

6 Ideas to Create Content for Your Corporate Blog

January 17, 2012 by Raul Colon

It still amazes me on how many people don’t see the purpose in writing a corporate blog. On many occasions someone wants to establish their online presence and they just want a static page. When I ask business owners why there is only a static page, their answer is that they don’t know what to write about on their corporate blog, or even worse that they don’t have time to be online.

When individuals are so resistant to set up a corporate blog it is obvious that they don’t see the value in establishing one. But maybe if they could get an idea of what they can write about it might sound more appealing to them.

5 Suggestions on what to write about in your corporate Blog that can save you time and money:

1. Answering the FAQ’s of your prospective clients

It is great to have a FAQ page on your site but if you can also use your blog to clear answers with more detail, I can guarantee that in the long run it will be useful for you. It can even save time because instead of writing an explanation you can just point them towards the details on your blog.

For example, we answered the question in our blog regarding what music you can play on a website. Thankfully the post has been viewed by many people and in researching the topic, have come in though Google which can be converted into clients.

2. Client or Customer Accomplishments

In our case, customer accomplishments are very important. So if we can find a way to congratulate our customers it might be a good idea to write a few paragraphs about their accomplishment and how that client is tied to you. If the outcome or accomplishment is directly tied to any of your team’s efforts it makes it even more important for you to include a post regarding your client.

Example: When we launched Food Truck Freak a few months ago for a client they received good press coverage andwe highlighted their accomplishment by writing:

“CIMA goes along for the ride with Food Truck Freak in Chicago”.

3. New Products or Services

If you are launching a new product or adding services it is a good idea for you to let your customers know via your blog. Communicating things via your blog can help you reach your audience directly and also clear any questions that your prospective customers might have at a faster pace than publishing a Press Release or any printed material.

Example: We announced how we started our translation services and also changed our website into a Bilingual One.

4. Previous Comments

Make sure your posts have an area to comment. This is another source for future posts. Based on what your audience is asking via the comments area or conversations that are going on in that area, you can generate future blog posts. If you can answer the question quickly answer it in the comments section. If the answer is complex or detailed, I recommend writing a follow up post so your answer can clear the questions of others.

Example: Based on previous questions we had in our comments when @margieclayman offered to write a guest post for us we took the opportunity to have her straight to the point post on “ Five Keys to Look For When Searching for a Website Development Partner“

5. Partnerships

If you join up with another organization it is great that you share the great news of the new partnership. This not only shows your new partners that you are excited about the relationship, it also allows your clients and customers to know who you are aligning with to serve them better.

Example: Soon we will share more insight into our partnership with our business partners Chris Brogan, Rob Hatch and the rest of the Human Business Works Team. (News & Press area).

6. Tutorials

Similar to answering questions, you can create a post with a tutorial of a process in order to further educate your customers. Instead of running them through the process in an email, you can create a resources section in your blog that is available for everyone to review and understand.

Example: We love to learn from other blogs so we make sure every once in a while we add a tutorial or answer questions that might be useful to our readers like ”Exchanging your LinkedIn Info via QR Code” and “3 Ways To Make Your Keywords Useful On Twitter“

Do you have any other suggestions on what things you can write about on your blog?

photo credit by Keith Williamson

Filed Under: Blog, Blogs Tagged With: Blogs, Content

What to translate on Your Web Site!

December 15, 2011 by Raul Colon

Like many other small business owners I know who had translated their web sites I was hesitant to translate my corporate site into Spanish. It clearly involved a lot of work. Most of the key areas of my site have been moved over. I have also translated the latest posts. Preferably you can translate 100% of the site but in the case that you can’t do 100% at once here are some tips on how we prioritized what to translate first:

1. Most Visited Content

Take a look at your analytics software and see what content has been viewed the most or created the most interactions. Once you have determined what people wanted to read the most you can include these as top items to translate.

2. Updated & Fresh Content

If you look at a post and it has content that is not fresh or the situation has changed I would leave those posts as a last priority. Make sure you transfer content into the language a new audience of people wants to read about and look for. If you find content that can be updated go ahead and update both posts. If the updated content has relevance with your audience feel free to put it as a priority if not then leave it towards the end.

3. Key Services and products

Make sure you translate information on your key services and products. If you went through the trouble of translating your site you have to make sure these items get put on the top of the priority list. This will open the possibility of people searching for your products in the target language to find you.

4. What is Relevant to that Target Market

Take a good look at the content that might resonate with the possible visitors and community you are translating your corporate website for. Capturing their attention more often was the main reason why you decided to move your site over. It might be a good idea if you also move those items in your priority list.

Overall I really recommend that you move as much of your site as you can. If you are not sure you can handle translating 100%. Translating parts of the site, prioritizing your most relevant content, might not be a bad idea.

If you don’t have all your content translated make sure to explicitly explain to your customers where that the content has not been translated. Also set clear expectations to explain if the content will be translated and what else they should expect in the future on having more translated content.

Would you see any value in translating any of your online presence to a new audience like for example Spanish readers?

Interested in translating your website?

Filed Under: Blog, Small Business, Web & Blog Design Tagged With: Translations, Web & Blog Design

5 tips on quickly enhancing Google+ Branded Company Pages.

November 8, 2011 by Raul Colon

Since Google + was launched a few months ago, the presence of any business was initially left out of the equation. Yesterday Google opened up its Business Pages to the Public and our staff and myself have been creating pages of some of our clients and our own CIMA IT Solutions Google+ Profile.

We wanted to share with you 5 initial tips on quickly enhancing your Google+ Branded Company pages.

Take a look at the video we included below with simple instructions on creating a page. Below are some more details on how we set up our page.

Create a Short link for your page

As soon as we set up our page we went ahead and created a shortcut on http://gplus.to for CIMA IT Solutions Corp. We ended up getting a shorter link that is http://gplus.to/cimapr. Google + is known for having long urls to reach the profile.

Another option towards creating your own short link is if you use the Genesis Framework like we do on wordpress. By creating a Redirect url (a trick I learned from my friend @ChrisBrogan) like this one http://cimapr.net/gplus . This link will move people towards your Google+ branded page.

Complete your Business Profile

To give your profile and page some credibility, I highly recommend including as much information as possible but keep it brief. Feel free to include enough information to spark the interest of those that landed on your Google+ Branded Page. We made sure to give it the human touch and added links to the profiles of our teams and leadership.

Share Your Content

If you already have content created on a blog feel free to add a few of your best past posts. We will be sharing past posts and new ones as they become available. This is yet another way to get new people interested in the previous content you have created.

Add Some Photos

What a better way than to add life to your Business Page Profile in Google+ than adding photos of the company or organization’s events. Make sure to share the story behind the pictures. This might spark a few conversations and keep Google+ users interested in what you are currently doing or generate questions about past experiences.

We will be writing and sharing a series of posts on this new channel for business. If you need help in enhancing your Google + Branded Pages feel free to contact us or in the comments area.

Also feel free to subscribe to our newsletter to get future posts on the subject.

Additional Resources we found online

A post on Google+ from Susan Beebe

Pages are extremely similar to profiles, but they have some key differences:

- Pages can’t add people to circles until the page is added first or mentioned. Learn more.

- Pages can be made for a variety of different entities whereas profiles can only be made for people.

- The default privacy setting for elements on your page profile is public.

- Pages have the +1 button.

- Pages can’t +1 other pages, nor can they +1 stuff on the Web.

- Pages can’t play games.

- Pages don’t have the option to share to ‘Extended circles’.

- Pages don’t receive notifications via email, text, or in the Google bar.

- Pages can’t hangout on a mobile device.

- Local pages have special fields that help people find the business’ physical location.

- Learn more about local pages.

Video to Set Up Your Google+ Branded Page from John S. Haydon

10 tricks for using Twitter

October 25, 2011 by Raul Colon

In order to find an effective and efficient way to use Twitter, here are 10 tips that may be useful for any Twitter user. Whether you’re new to Twitter or an experienced Twitter user these tips can help you get more results.

1. Use a tool for managing your tweets.

In today’s mobile world it’s easy to stay up to date with Twitter. With so many available applications to choose from such as: Tweetdeck or Hootsuite, and others can enhance the experience of Twitter.

2. Rotate links in your Tweets.

You should rotate where you place a link. Sometimes you should place it before the message which causes the user to see the link and then the message. This may increase the readers curiosity. At other times you can place the link in the middle of the message. It is a good idea to alternate the structure of your “tweet” so they do not all look alike.

Example:

Before the message: “http://about.com – Portal to find useful and interesting information.”
After the message: “Portal to find useful and interesting: http://about.com”
Middle of the message: “Portal to find useful and interesting: http://about.com information.”

3. Create “tweets” with no more than 120 characters.

Tweets that are less than 120 character make it easier for others to “Re-tweet” and pass the information along.

4. Create lists to filter messages from users by topic, relationship, or events.

As the number of contacts you have grow, it becomes more and more difficult to read through all of your messages. Having lists allow you to better control the flow of messages and interaction with other users.

5. Understand how to use “hashtag” and its many features.

A “hashtag” is a keyword which is placed with a number sign (#) in front. This allows the Twitter platform to easily find users that have used that keyword in their tweets.

6. Include a Background on Your Profile that identifies you, or the effort that you are running.

Twitter provides a generic background designs for its users, however, you have the ability to create your own background. This is very useful if your a business because it allows you to make your presence in Twitter stand out. Your background imagine can be as simple as just your logo, but I recommend having key features of your business on that background.

7. Complete your profile and highlight your interests so others with similar interests can see you as a potential contact to follow.

Be sure to keep up to date photo of you and information describing your interests. Creativity is always welcome.

8. Add links to your profile.

This will help to direct followers or visitors to your blog, or anywhere they can find more information from you. I always recommend to include your blog or website.

9. Share “tweets” from other users.

Twitter is a channel of communication whose purpose is to share information. Be sure to share and pass on information shared by others. If you only share what you create you miss the opportunity to create new relationships. Many users choose to stop following users when messages are often personal propaganda only.

10. Never click on links from strangers they usually arrive via a special ”DM” (direct message).

Many people receive private messages which may have malicious code that can take over your account. Once you see suspicious activity call the Twitter security team they will show you how to precede.

These are 10 tips and tricks on how to use Twitter. If you have some tips for Twitter users post in the comments below.

If you need help on improving your online presence for yourself or your business feel free to send us your contact info!

Fill the short contact form below!

Filed Under: Blog, Twitter Tagged With: Resources, Social Media, Tips, Twitter

Geotagging

October 21, 2011 by Raul Colon

Geotagging is the process of adding geographical identification metadata via a variety of means such as a photograph, videos,websites, sound, text messages “SMS”, and sources of “RSS” serving for georeferencing.

The data consists of coordinates that identify the longitude and latitude of where the multimedia file originated. Other information that may be included is:

Altitude
Name of Location
Street
Postal Code

You Might not realize that you have Geotagged media but here are some common ways where media is Geotagged.

Mobile Phones

Many mobile phones will put the geotag to several actions you might execute like for example when you take a picture. There are several applications that use the data generated by your phone to provide information of locations near you.

Social Media Platform

Twitter, Facebook, and other platforms use the metadata of geotag to post where you are and where you published an update to the platform.

Weather Applications

Applications that provide weather information by taking the geotag of your location from your computer or mobile phone to provide information about the weather around you.

Organize Photos

Several applications use geotags to organize your pictures depending on where they were taken. Extremely useful when one tends to store photos for long periods of time without taking the time to organize them.

Applications with a Map

Applications that facilitate finding a user or location based on a geotag created. For example if you want to find an audience at a certain location which you would like to share content or even a deal.

In general geotags locations help create virtual maps on actions taken around certain areas. Geotags help create applications that can have many uses to help us in business or on the personal side (even for entertainment).

If you want to learn more on how you can use Geotagging for your business or personal purposes feel free to ask in the comments area.

Filed Under: Blog, Resources

Difference of Facebook page, profile and group

October 13, 2011 by Raul Colon

To clarify possible questions within the differences of a profile, page and a Facebook group I want to share the primary purpose for which of each are used.

Profile is a key part of Facebook and It is the most used by everyone. Each user has a personal profile, while the group is a place where, initially, Facebook allowed companies and groups have the ability to communicate.

The personal profile allows you to create a private space where you can share updates, photos, links, news, ask questions among others. All users of Facebook should have your personal profile to use other social networking features.

Groups provide an enclosed space for small groups of people to communicate about their common interests. Groups can be created by any user.

Pages allow the real organizations, businesses, celebrities and brands to communicate with your audience. The pages can only be created and managed by authorized representatives and officers of each organization, entity or company.

In simple words:

Profile – Each user has a profile for personal use.

Group – Center for common interests.

Page – Place of a brand, celebrity, organization, and / or company official on Facebook.

In more detail, these are the things you can do in each of them according to Facebook:

Profile

Privacy: visibility of information published in a profile can be controlled by the privacy options.
Public: Depending on how your privacy settings are set the public may
send an invitation to create a
connection. If you wish, you can limit invitations and who can see your public profile.
Communication: The updates can be viewed by
users with whom you have a connection. Any updates you make on other profiles or pages will be created
under his name.

Groups

Privacy: In addition to having an open group to the public,
there are more privacy options available for groups. In secret
and closed group makes
its updates visible only to other group
members.
Public: Group members must be
approved and added by other members.
When a group reaches a certain size certain features are
limited. The most useful groups tend to be the one
created to share with some people we know.
Communication: In groups, members are notified as their main option. Group
members can participate in “chat,
upload photos to albums shared document collaboration, and invite all members to group events.”

Any further questions regarding the differences? Feel free to ask in the comments area!

Filed Under: Facebook Tagged With: Facebook, Resources, Social Media