At Stylo Creative Communications, we are always looking for useful tools that can help small businesses, and we believe Skype is a must-have application. We have been using it to make conferences call with our clients across different time zones. We also use it for our company meetings whenever we are away from the office. It works as long as there is an Internet connection.

Interesting enough, this application allows you to do a lot of other things while still having the voice chat:

• Chat box – It is useful when you wish to send a URL or even smiley face
• Send files – It allows you to send file during your conversation which is useful for discussion and any immediate actions
• Send contacts
  
• Leave voicemal
  

This service is invaluable if you are a small business and running most of your business online. You can learn more at their website on how you can save time, and money, while staying ahead of your competition. And if you are using a smart phone, you can get Skype application for your mobile phone. Savvy!

While the ruling is certainly more restrictive in Florida than other states, we feel that all legal websites should consider varying degrees of access to content, depending on the nature of that content.

Our tech team at Stylo Creative Communications has come up with brilliant solution to accomodate these changes.

Our Solution

We have set a confirmation page, which we have briefly explained in the step-by-step procedure as follows:

Step 1: Users visit the page that contains the restricted information (requiring them to agree to certain terms and conditions prior reading the page content).

Step 2: The users will be given two options:

• Agree - The users will be required to type "agree" and click "Continue to read"
• I don't wish to continue

Step 3: If the users agree to the terms and conditions and wish to proceed, they will then be taken to the specified page in which the page content will be displayed. If the users do not wish to continue, they will be taken to a specified page e.g. Home page of the website.

View solution flow chart to the new lawyers' web complience

Why Do We Recommend This Solution?

We believe this is a perfect solution concerning the Lawyers' Web Compliance issues for several reasons. Firstly, it restricts the users from viewing the content directly. Instead, the users will be shown the terms and conditions that they have to agree upon, if they wish to continue.

Moreover, this method will ask the users to type "agree" (or other keywords if required) specifically, to avoid any unwanted occurrence which takes the users too easily into the restricted content. Finally, if the user does not wish to continue, we can redirect the user to a specified page.

Contact Us to Get Your Law Firm's Site into Compliance

The iPad won't work as a "road warrior" computing solution unless one can create a doc in a word processing program, spreadsheet program, slide presentation program, that can be read by the majority of business people. I can't sit at Starbucks with the iPad and get an email from a client with a Word doc attached, open and work on it, save it and send it back to the client. Without this feature, then the iPad is just a very cool toy for reading books/magazines, watching movies, surfing the 'net, and reading emails (but not editing attachments, only viewing).

Sad, because I really wanted one but can't justify $1000 for a toy.

To that end, Julien combined her 17 years of copywriting and content management experience with the technical backup of SmartSourcing Global, managed by founder Smita Yedekar, and the support of Stylo's own Minister of Technology, Mohd Rafie Kamaruzaman, to create a full array of services aimed at helping small businesses thrive in any economy. 

The Small Business Toolkit includes everything a business needs to:

• Build a Brand
• Promote and Build Recognition of that Brand
• Grow that Brand Online via Social Media
• Optimize Business Workflow/Productivity

We are all so happy to be able to help small businesses make a big-business impact!

For all the procrastinators out there, we’ve set out to help you: Here’s a list of strategic resolutions with your organization’s marketing, communications, and branding goals in mind.  It could help chart not only your own professional growth in 2010, but also guide your company’s success for the next 50+ weeks:

1. We will revisit and adjust our Goals for 2010.

Every marketing, reputation building, or social media plan should be traceable to your overarching goals.  What do you want to achieve with your communication to your target market? What do you want to achieve via Facebook, Twitter, or YouTube?  Set projections.  Before writing a blog post, or updating your status this year, consider if it will bring you closer to achieving your main goals?  And importantly: is your company’s reputation and brand aligned with your entire communication plan?

2. We will redefine our strenghts and weaknesses.

It doesn’t hurt to do an audit at the start of a new year.  If you have a well-defined SWOT-analysis, do everything you can to successfully promote your strenghts across all platforms, re-define your value proposition to prospective clients, and differentiate yourselves from the competition.

3. We will strive to Practice Better Web Etiquette than in ‘09.

Remember that there’s no “advertising” in social media.  It’s a cliché’, but it is called “social” media for a reason.  Engage in conversation, listen well, and provide content of value.  Do not push sales to your followers and fans.  They won’t return.  In a recent study reported by Bulldog Reporter  93% of online users now expect companies to have an online presence. To keep them coming back, you’ll have to come up with creative content and be engaging.  Recognize that it is a big deal for someone to “fan”, friend or follow you – make it worth their while.  Set up automatic “Thank you”-messages, provide exclusive content, or other creative ways to reward their decision.

4. We will strive to be year-long Learners.

The communication landscape changed more in 2009 then in the previous decade.  It’s the communicators job to stay abreast of new developments.  Nielsen reported that two-thirds of the global Internet population now visits social media sites regularly.  Communicators have to incorporate ever-improving social media tools into their traditional arsenal.  There are so many new developments and new methodologies every month – you owe it to your clients to stay on the cutting edge so they can reap the benefit of your knowledge and application.

Two quick examples of important new developments:

-         Search engine changes are influencing online marketing and communications and you should know how to use this knowledge to maximize the ROI for your clients.

-         The new Twitter Lists are a way of tracking your target markets, building group relationships and more.  Find out how it can make your job easier.

5. We will strive to have genuine dialogues with our constituents.

Famed Social Networking expert Gary Vaynerchuk often says that he is successful because he cares.  That’s the essence – instead of selling, have real conversations with those you are trying to reach and influence.  What do they want?  Who are they?  Really caring and real dialogue will create loyal followers that can be seriously effective advocates of your message.

6. We will ask for client Goals before accepting new accounts.

Go to greater lengths to persuade your clients not to jump into the social media arena without first agreeing with you on their objectives, identifying their target audiences, and defining reasonable measurements of success.  E.g. strongly discourage a client wanting to launch a new product from creating a promotional Facebook Fan Page days or weeks before a launch date.  They are setting themselves up to fail.

7. We will continuously look for ways to Improve.

Constantly seek to improve your brand and reputation and everything related to that – including your website, your social media relationships and conversations.  Revive your customer service, improve your client communication, increase your productivity by working smarter and not more.

8. We will strive to expand our Brand.

We will put renewed focus on our own online contributions.  We will update our company’s blog, Facebook Fan Page, and all other social media sites with regularity and use these channels more deliberately to drive traffic to our website.  At the same time, valuable contributions such as an expert blog post at the right time, can build credibility and establish you as an expert.  The same goes for contributing to industry-specific online discussions, e.g. answering field-specific questions on LinkedIn.

9. We will focus on enlarging our network.

No-one works in isolation and networking with your peers can be invaluable.  This can lead to collaboration opportunities, helpful discussion, referrals and more.  Join a business networking group such as BNI, your local Chamber of Commerce, or a Social Media Club in your area.  And don’t underestimate the power of social media – we met our Minister of Technology at Stylo Creative Communications via Twitter!

10. Remember to have fun!

It is easy to get burned out by the information overload.  Remind yourself why you are working in the communication field – reignite your passion, revisit successful past projects and don’t take yourself to seriously.

By Marco Bouwer

If you are a business or an individual wanting to brand yourself for business reasons, your tweets should be in line with your goal(s) for tweeting.

So too should the people you choose to follow be aligned with your goals. WHO you tweet for will have an influence on WHAT you tweet. Be selective in who you follow. Following as many people as you can is not always the wisest strategy – and it is all about strategy.

So let’s get back to what to tweet. I’ve categorized the basic types of tweets – here’s the list:

The Hello-World-Here-I-Am Tweet:

What do you say in your first tweet? It doesn’t have to be anything profound, you are new to the medium, so relax and announce yourself. Or introduce yourself. I’ve seen some fun first-time tweets!

The Introduction Tweet:

It’s good to introduce new people to your following. Importantly, mention why they are worth following. It has great value to yourself, your followers, and the person in question. E.g. “Do follow @marcobouwer for helpful tips and advice on effective Social Media strategy for small business.”

The Connection Tweet

This tweet follows the introductory tweet. People do business with people they know and trust, right. Or with friends of friends they trust. As entrepreneurs and business people we all belong (or should belong!) to business networking groups in our cities.

These groups are great for obtaining referrals, receiving testimonies within a circle of likeminded, trustworthy people, and gaining momentum for our businesses. Social Media and especially Twitter works the same way – follow likeminded Tweeters, mingle, engage, follow through.

The Networking Tweet

Twitter has made it possible to have a global real-time conversation on just about any topic with anyone and everyone across the globe. Sure, text messaging is convenient and instant, but it only works well between 2, 3, or maybe 4 people. Twitter is instantaneous and anyone can join the conversation or make a comment.

A networking tweet is basically making a comment on a tweet of someone you follow. It can be seen as – and certainly used as a networking opportunity with those users interested in the same topic as you. Commenting establishes you as someone either with an opinion on a topic or with good knowledge of a particular topic. Many working relationships are established this way.

The Information Tweet

This is why Twitter became so popular so quickly – telling people who don’t really care what you are doing right now, real-time. E.g. “I’m scratching my ear while watching the grass grow.” Yeah, who cares?! But there is much more to it than this.

If your information-sharing adds value you are on to something. Look at tweeters like @guykawasaki who tweets constantly (that’s not him tweeting), but shares interesting and sometimes valuable information. This is why this is valuable to business wanting to share new developments with their audiences, especially things that are not breaking news, but helpful everyday information, e.g. “Our store will open at 5:00 AM on Black Friday for your shopping convenience”.

The News Tweet

Sharing news with the world – e.g. “Michael Jackson has died.” The reason newspapers are not particularly fond of Twitter – tweeters can share news before it is printed. However, it’s only news if you are the first one who has heard about it, or if it was very recently reported. Otherwise you should rather assume that it is known news and comment on it.

News about your business is always value adding. Sharing that you have a brand new promotion running is not news and should not be treated as such.

The Tweet of Wisdom

This is usually a statement of truth (or wisdom) about the industry you are in, e.g. “Business success is measured by the cash flow, not through profit.” You are trying to position yourself as a credible expert in the field, but not everyone succeeds. The teenager who’s Twitter Bio states that he is a “Call of Duty” war game-junkie, should not expect awe and respect when he posts Business Leadership tips. Marketing guru Seth Godin can!

Alternatively, this could also be in the form of a nice quote e.g. “What lies before us and what lies behind us are tiny matters compared to what lies within us. – Ralph Waldo Emerson”. This is what you tweet when you have nothing much to say. However, people love to read it and there is value to it – you are contributing to the Twitter-sphere.

The Re-Tweet (RT)

If someone you follow post an interesting tweet, or one you feel adds value, re-tweet it. You do this by resending the post and by adding RT (retweet) in front of it and by indicating who originally sent it. This way you are complimenting the author on a great post and you are sharing it with the world. Pay it forward.

The Testimonial Tweet

If you are not RT a tweet, but want to let the world know what great service you received, or what a wonderful job someone has done, or book someone wrote, this is the place. It’s effective because it is a global forum. Praising another user is also a great way of stacking up on your own business brownie points – pay it forward and I guarantee it’ll come back to you and your company.

The Question Tweet

Twitter’s huge user base is a fantastic resource that must not remain untapped. Asking a question could ensure quick-time, near-instantaneous answers, solutions, and opinions from your chosen audience and can help you gauge if you are going in the right direction. In addition, your posted questions is interactive due to the nature of Twitter, which means you can act as catalyst for a discussion, giving your brand more exposure if you can kick-start the conversation.

The Marketing Tweet

E.g. “Here’s my latest blog post about the benefits of Facebook for small businesses.” It’s a great way to promote your blog, website, service, and business among like-minded people. Don’t overdo it. Be sure to engage your audience and build trust. Your active presence is already a marketing act.

Do not spam your followers, e.g. “Click this link now and get 5% discount on our new sleep-easy pillow”. That’s a quick way of seeing your numbers dwindle. If you are a retail store or sell a product, send these tweets, but make very sure that they are mixed well with some of the other tweets mentioned before.

Add value to the conversation – as @garyvee puts it, Twitter is like a cocktail party, if you try and sell, you will be sipping your champagne alone! Remember, you are trying to be part of a two-way conversation. If your followers want one-way advertising they can watch TV.

Today we share with you a web service that can help you arrange a meeting time regardless of your time zone. It is very practical and easy to use, and is called WorldTimeServer.com

It allows you to see the time corresponding to your location in table so you can set the best time possible for your clients or team around the world.

For example

We in New York are setting up a meeting on the 15th September 2009 for our clients from the United Kingdom and Nova Scotia, Canada.

Above see the table of time differences produced by the WorldTimeObserver.com

Notice the color difference. This feature assists you with the decision making in choosing the most suitable time for your meeting. For this example, taking the fact that we are in New York, the ideal time for the meeting any time between will be:

• 9.00am – 12.00pm in the New York
• 2.00pm – 5.00pm in the United Kingdom
• 10.00am – 1.00pm in the Nova Scotia

iPhone Apps

If you have an iPhone or iPod Touch, you might want to try this app: iTimeZone by Tangerine Element Inc. It doesn’t do exactly the same thing,  but it does show different time zone interactively. Read more about iTimeZone features.

Below is the screen shot of the app:

Widget

If you have offices located around the world, you might want to get a widget that allows you to set clock widgets for different time zone. If you are on Mac OS X, you can open on your Dashboard and add the World Clock widget.

World Clock widget on Mac OS X

We hope that these web service and mobile tools are helpful for you and your business. If require any consultation regarding how to improve your daily-to-daily business, feel free to contact us.

It is a great take on the pitfalls to avoid – while giving the valuable warning to corporations that they should not be too “Draconian” in the the rules they set for use of social media.

Considering that Facebook just hit 300 million registered users, this article is very timely. Social media is here to stay.

1.0 Google Docs – http://docs.google.com/

These tools are completely free to use as you wish. You can create a Word, Excel, or even PowerPoint presentation online. This is especially especially convenient when you are on-the-go. You won’t want to disregard the “form” feature, which allows you the ability to build customized forms to collect useful information. Once the user submits the form, the information will be stored in a spreadsheet on your Google account. For example, take a look at this Event Feedback Survey form built on Google Docs, or browse the template directory.

2.0 Google Analytics – http://www.google.com/analytics

I encourage everyone I speak with to read what Matt Cutts said about Google Analytics. Google Analytics is the enterprise-class web analytics solution that gives you rich insights into your website traffic and marketing effectiveness (from Google Analytics website).

Would you like to learn more with a tour of Google Analytics? We certainly encourage it!

3.0 Google Webmasters – http://www.google.com/webmasters

If your company has a webmaster who manages your website, he or she should be using this tool. It is a useful tool that helps you to make your website more search engine friendly. It is not a magic button to  Search Engine Optimization (SEO) greatness, but rather a measurement of how your website is doing. On the other hand, this tools also has a YouTube channel and share useful information regarding optimizing your website. As an example, take a look at the video below.

Video – Is Google putting more weight on brands in rankings? (20:28)

4.0 Google Local Business Center – http://www.google.com/local/add/

People nowadays are busy and on the move. When they need to know something, they know they can “Google” it and most likely get the answer(s) they need. Wouldn’t it be good if they search, let’s say “Miami law firm” and what appears on the list are three lead keys to your business:

• your business name
• your website address
• your company phone number.

Not just that, but they also get a snapshot of  Google Maps showing your business location.

Countless businesses do not utilize this very easy-to-use tool. Are you one of them?

5.0 Google Search – http://www.google.com

Rather than doing a typical search, let us have some fun. Type this into the Google Search box: “1 GBP to USD”. Immediately you get currency conversion of British Pound to US Dollar.

What about “New York weather“? Up it comes – exactly what you need. See below.

Oh and that is just the beginning, check out the full list of what you can do with the Google search box.

They best thing about these wonderful tools? They are spelled F.R.E.E….You can’t get anything cheaper than that. Anyhow, you might find this Fun Facts about Google useful when a talking with a geek. We hope you will find these tools useful and we wish you a nice day!