social media

Keeping up with the Sheep and Seagulls

Jeff — Wed, 25 Nov 2009 11:06:13 -0800

Last week Chris challenged me to try out a new web browser for a week. The browser is called Flock and it's available as a free download for Mac or PC.

Based on the popular Firefox browser, Flock takes the next step with keeping users constantly connected to their favorite social media. Whether you're into Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, Flickr, Hulu, MySpace (for real?), or any other social networking site, Flock has a way to keep it in your face at all times. To get started you just open Flock and enter your various usernames and passwords for sites you want to stay connected to. Flock adds these to a sidebar that displays updates from all of your friends, recently added pictures and video, or even just links to news stories. You'll also get a home page with a more detailed view of all this info (see the screenshot below).

There are a couple of things I really liked about Flock: it was really easy to connect to my various networks, eveyone's updates are aggregated into the same feed, and grabbing an RSS feed or media stream from a page was simple and quick. On the other side though, all of this constantly-updating information is a huge distraction. I'd log on to check my email and spend 30 minutes on Facebook, or I'd start to check my bank account only to find 10 new stories about a soon-to-be-released video game. While I wasn't particularly productive while on Flock, I always knew what everyone else was up to.

The one thing that really bugged me was that the default search was set to Yahoo. Now, I don't want to get into a "religious" discussion here, but let's just say that I generally prefer Google 100% of the time. However, a quick search (on Google) revealed that Flock is endorsed by Yahoo.

Long story short, Flock is great if you love social media. Why don't you take the challenge: try out Flock for a week and let me know what you think!

How Social Media can Fuel your Success

Rachel — Fri, 12 Jun 2009 08:47:52 -0700

It is a hot topic everywhere today, but what can it really do for you? Social Media is a great way to connect with your consumers or potential consumers than ever before. It not only inspires discussion but gives you a face to your company, displaying the person behind the interior walls. There is no reason to be afraid of it and it can launch your company into success. The best part is that it is FREE, making it hard to think of reasons not to jump into social media.

It is important to use a social media strategy that is right for you and your company, you need to realize what your company represents and how social media can enhance the consumer experience for your company. It gives what advertisers and businesses have always wanted, an easy and accessible way to establish a relationship with people who use or may want to use your product or service. Relationships are key in this realm, and you must provide those who interact with you something of value for thier time. One major thing about any relationship as everyone knows is communication. Social media is a great way for you to enable a conversation with those whom interact with your company. Other ways to give value for those who take the time is to inform them on interesting topics they may care about, or you can even entertain them, either way you have their attention. It is important to know what is out there in terms of social media and get involved in the ones that really work well with your company's vision and goals.

Social Media is not only a way for you to connect with your consumers but also allows you to connect with your employees inside your company. This often can inspire great ideas and allows for collaboration in a different setting which engages workers. This helps to create a community and personality within your own company that not only inspires your own employees but also generates conversation for consumers.

Not every social media strategy has been prosperous endeavor, take Heinz Ketchup for example they set up a video contest for users to make their own commercials and got many entries that took the company in jest and could have devalued the brand just to try and engage users. The way to engage consumers is revolutionary but you are not in control, its the users who are. Something bad can go viral just as easily if not more than good news. While you may not be able to control what goes on, you may be able to influence it by making tactful decisions.

As social media is becoming more omnipresent in the business world GreenLite offers a way for you to integrate your social media sites with your Website. This allows your own blog to be updated along with your Facebook account; easy access to your Twitter account and even display your most current updates on your website; show Youtube or Vimeo videos right on your site. We hope in the future to even establish more ways to assist you in having a presence in the social media that circles around your website.

Introduction

Rachel — Wed, 13 May 2009 07:46:17 -0700

My name is Rachel Macauley and I am an GreenLite intern for the summer. My tasks this summer include increasing the use of GreenLite’s current social media sites and seeing what other potential sites to overall expand the companies online social presence.

Social Media is key for any business today. Not only does it allow you to contact with colleagues and clients, it also gives you a connection to your consumers that has never been seen before. Creating your profiles and building your network is only the first step in any social network. What really takes the time and the effort is actually using the sites and putting out useful information. This is what really builds the relationship between you and the consumer.

As I delve into this internship I hope to bring GreenLite into a whole other level, where their past, current, and potential costumers can interact with them on a personal level through the use of these social networks.