Tonisha Landry-Gaines, digital media strategist

You’ve heard how valuable social media can be in building rapport, generating new business and creating brand awareness.  Are you ready to learn how put social networking to work for your company?  If so, we invite you to the ‘Social Media Immersion Experience,’ a practical workshop for the business professional, presented by Tonisha Landry-Gaines, BroadBased’s Digital Media Strategist.

In this session, you will learn messaging and interaction basics for two popular social media sites, as well as how to measure response and impact on your business.

Join us Friday September 17, 2010 at BroadBased Communications – 1301 Riverplace Boulevard, Suite 1830. This two-hour event begins at 8:30 am, and is designed to help you maximize social networking for your business. Seating is limited to the first 12 registrants and includes a continental breakfast. To reserve your seat or to find out more information, dial Tonisha at 398.7279 ext. 14.

Posted in Social Media Planning

Poison Apple t-shirt available at www.shirt.woot

By Jules Allen, CIO

It’s said that dogs age at a rate that is seven times that of humans. That’s crazy we say. Once you get a puppy home from the breeder or shelter, they seem to age at the speed of sound. And somewhere in between is the ever-changing technology of the Web. Technology’s forward march waits for no man, woman or dog it seems.

Who could have predicted that Apple’s recently released iPad would cause such a kerfuffle around Adobe’s Flash? Two giant corporations with GDPs rivaling small nations postured, press released, and inspired a deluge of Tweets from pundits large and small. You may not be aware, but none of the Apple suite of mobile Internet products – iPad, iTouch or iPhone – will run Flash. Apple won’t allow it on any of them. “Most Flash websites will need to be rewritten to support touch-based devices,” says Apple’s CEO, Steve Jobs. You can read more about Job’s thoughts on the topic at Wired.

So how does that affect you if you don’t even own one of these devices? Well, if your website is entirely Flash-based, or uses it for things like spiffy opening graphics or navigation, then anyone using one of these devices is locked out of that part of your website experience. Or if your call to action/strategic sales closer includes a Flash video, then nobody with an iDevice is going to see it, leaving them confused, no doubt.

“Most Flash websites will need to be rewritten to support touch-based devices.” — Apple CEO Steve Jobs

A Web property is much like a owning a car: There’s regular maintenance, an occasional change of tires, replenishing fluids, and so forth. You wouldn’t dream of owning a car without thinking about these ongoing costs yet often this is what happens with websites. New browsers appear, entirely new platforms seem to drop out of the sky, and you’re doing yourself and your customers and prospects a disservice by not allowing them to interact with you. It’s now obvious that mobile compatibility is an essential part of a modern usable website, and this is a problem indeed.

Next up, Microsoft is striding toward releasing Internet Explorer 9, Mozilla’s FireFox 4 is just around the corner, and both browsers will be adopted en masse. Have you tested the pre-releases with your site? Aesthetics aside, if you have an ecommerce site and people can’t buy from you, you’re going to have to explain lost revenue to your CEO, board, or personal coffers. How will you know it’s not working other than an irate email from a prospect unable to buy from you?

BroadBased regularly reviews client websites for current and future compatibility issues and encourages you to do the same. Lost revenue, customer frustration and damage to your image are always more expensive than simple maintenance – even in the short term.

Posted in Web/Interactive Development

BroadBased’s PR division has been hard at work this month on a television news promotion with client Paper Retriever recycling. Action News and Girls Gone Green, an environmental action non-profit founded by Action News Meteorologist Julie Watkins, joined forces with Paper Retriever to spread the word about this community-based recycling effort that costs nothing and is available to anyone. BroadBased created the project to raise awareness in the summer when recycling in our community decreases.

The project, which is still in progress, is a “30-day Challenge” to area businesses and individuals who want to raise money for Girls Gone Green (or a charity of their choice) through the simple act of recycling paper. Bins are popping up all over in hopes that paper recycling be available to anyone, any time. Click to view a short video of Julie’s introduction of the program.

The project involves morning show TV stories and interviews, promotions and giveaways. In addition, Julie and Action News have interacted with interested recyclers through Facebook and Action News’ website and Go Green pages.

If you’d like to participate in the challenge by hosting a bin for Girls Gone Green or another non-profit organization, you can contact the Paper Retriever office at 904-598-9545, or visit www.paperretriever.com to quickly locate a bin near you for easy recycling.

Get this bin working for FREE to raise funds for your nonprofit organization.

Posted in Public/Media Relations

So what exactly does an Online Community Manager do? What type of skills do they need and how many hats do they wear? Dion Hinchcliffe’s article titled: Community management: The ‘essential’ capability of successful Enterprise 2.0 efforts will give you the skinny. For a snapshot understanding, view his infographic, below.

Posted in Marketing Planning, Web/Interactive Development

Jamie Trayner
Director of Marketing and Communications
The LBA Group
Jacksonville, Florida

How did you decide that now is the right time for your firm to step into social media?

We had been sitting back and watching to be sure it wasn’t just a passing fad. As it became more and more obvious that it is not going away, we made the decision to embrace it and figure out how best to use it for our firm. I also just attended the Annual Summit of the Association for Accounting Marketing and came back with a lot of intelligence as to how social media can best be utilized by an accounting firm.

In what business goals do you see social media assisting you?

In a variety of ways. It is our hope that it will elevate our firm’s brand recognition as the “go to” firm for up-to-the-minute information that is directly relevant to our clients and prospective clients, position us as a resource to our referral sources and promote our culture to current and future employees. We also want to bring attention to the many not-for-profit organizations we support as a firm and through our employees’ volunteer efforts.

How will you measure your success?

In addition to the measurement tools built into the sites themselves, we will also measure based on the number of followers we have and how many new contacts we make through our social media sites.

Are you considering additional forays into social media?

We now have a firm LinkedIn page and a firm Facebook page. Twitter is next. So stay tuned!

Posted in Social Media Planning

The Cultural Council of Greater Jacksonville recently enlisted BroadBased to give a facelift to their community-based online arts and entertainment website, ExperienceJax.com. ExperienceJax.com is a comprehensive, free resource for Jacksonville events and entertainment. Not only can you search the site to find out what’s going on each week, but users can also post an event for all of Jacksonville to see. Using existing artwork provided by the Cultural Council, BroadBased tweaked the site to be more graphically energetic.

In addition, BroadBased guided ExperienceJax.com in the planning and launch of a new Twitter account: Twitter.com/ExperienceJax. Follow them for advance news of arts, sports, and entertainment events. And the first 100 Twitter followers will be entered to win a pair of tickets to Bayanihan Philippine National Dance Company, 8 p.m. November 27, courtesy of the Florida Theatre.

ExperienceJax.com is a service provided by the Cultural Council of Greater Jacksonville and is sponsored in part through a Culture Builds Florida grant from the Florida Department of State Division of Cultural Affairs, the Florida Arts Council, the National Endowment for the Arts, and the City of Jacksonville.

Posted in Social Media Planning, Web/Interactive Development

BroadBased’s Traffic Manager, Joy Jarrell

Joy Jarrell, BroadBased traffic manager, was recently named to the Board of Directors of The Children’s Christmas Party of Jacksonville. Citing her many years of coordinating CCPOJ projects created by BroadBased and her passion for this annual charitable event, Executive Director Diane Halverson requested that Jarrell join the board, and she accepted the at-large position.

Over the past several years, BroadBased has been an in-kind sponsor for the CCPOJ, and has implemented the organization’s branding with logo design, information packet materials, website, flyers, posters, PSAs, customized premium items and has also donated public and media relations services. The BroadBased staff can also be seen handing out toys at the annual event.

The Children’s Christmas Party of Jacksonville is a non-profit organization founded in 1999. It provides a yearly toy give-away event for Jacksonville’s children, ages 12 years and younger, who otherwise might not receive toys for the Christmas holiday. This year, the party will be held on Saturday, Dec. 11, at the Prime Osborn Convention Center.

View the CCPOJ website at www.ccpoj.org.

Posted in BroadBased, Public/Media Relations

BroadBased CEO Jan Korb was one of two keynote speakers for North Florida Chapter of the Association for Corporate Growth (ACG) on June 17. Her presentation, “How Are Your Smartest Competitors Using Technology?” was delivered to approximately 50 members and guests and provided specific examples as to how venture capitalists, business brokers and wealth advisors are using social media to grow their reputations and businesses.

Matt Laffey, chapter president, remarked that the content was perfectly tailored for this audience. “I think the content was the most valuable we’ve delivered this year,” said Laffey.

The North Florida Chapter of the Association for Corporate Growth is in its twelfth year and is the premier association for professionals involved in middle market corporate growth, corporate development, and mergers and acquisitions. ACG brings together North Florida’s top business leaders, providing an opportunity to meet and network, exchange information and opportunities, share strategies for building businesses and attend insightful and relevant programs.

Korb is available to speak on a variety of topics, and the ACG presentation can be viewed on her LinkedIn page.

Posted in BroadBased, Corporate Communications, Public/Media Relations, Social Media Planning

Released in May, Social Media Revolution 2 is an update of the original video with new social media & mobile statistics that you will find hard to ignore. Based on the book Socialnomics, author Erik Qualman writes that “we don’t have a choice on whether we DO social media, the question is how well we DO it.” The video also asks if social media is a fad, or the biggest shift since the industrial revolution. Take a few minutes to view the video and tell us what you think at our Facebook page under “discussions.”

Posted in BroadBased, Social Media Planning

You’d like to keep in step with the millions of users of social media, but you’re wondering who you should bring to the dance. BroadBased’s Digital Media Strategist Tonisha Landry-Gaines has some suggestions.

“Regardless of whether your purpose is to manage your brand or reputation, or promote your business or yourself, a few simple principles should guide your choice of a social media partner,” says Gaines.

Her suggestions are to choose a partner:

• Who can demonstrate longevity and experience in the role you seek to fill
• Who wants to be knowledgeable of your business objectives and overall marketing strategy
• Who can clearly explain how social media complements your overall strategy
• Who will train you on implementation
• Who can show results

“Of course, we believe that here at BroadBased we are well qualified to meet those requirements,” said Landry-Gaines. “What sets us apart is that we understand social media is a tool – one of many tools in our arsenal – to support our clients’ business objectives. Social media is not a replacement for, but a complementary component of, a marketing strategy.”

Posted in BroadBased, Capabilities, Social Media Planning