Afraid of Social Media?

I've heard a lot of reasons why folks are hesitant to get their congregation or small business involved in social media. One big one is that someone might say something derogatory about them on their own page.
Well, the truth is - if someone wants to say something derogatory about you, they're going to find a place to do it. Whether it's your Facebook page, or their own Facebook page, or even a competitor's Facebook page, they'll find an audience.
Wouldn't it be better if you could control something like that in your own backyard?

You're never going to please all of the people all of the time, and most reasonable adults know that.
A disgruntled comment is a great opportunity to find ways to improve - or to at least show that you care.
If you get a negative comment:

• Reply quickly and publicly to that person, preferably in the same forum.
• Ask for more information.
• Don't try to cover something up. Be honest!
• Apologize if you did something poorly.
• Show that you are real and want to fix it if you can.

This might start a great discussion that leads to growth (perhaps for both parties!).
Even more scary - what if someone in your organization posts something non-flattering?
Have you read about the Red Cross' Twitter faux pas? An employee responsible for posting to their Twitter account accidentally posted something that was meant for their personal Twitter page. It involved drinking beer and "gettingslithered." Did you just have a moment of panic?!
Well, the Red Cross did not panic.
They deleted the post (though Tweets, once posted can never really be deleted from the eyes of those that have already seen them) and posted an apology - with a touch of self-deprecating humor.
Not only was their response received with understanding, they actually saw an uptick in donations! The beer company that was mentioned even used tweets to encourage people to donate to the Red Cross! The story is best told in Red Cross' own blog.
So, what do we learn from this? Don't be afraid of social media. Just as you're not afraid of walking down the sidewalk.
Could you trip? Could someone throw a tomato at you? Sure!
But that shouldn't stop you from using the sidewalk to get to where you need to go. Just watch out for cracks in the sidewalk and work hard not to make too many folks that want to throw tomatoes at you!
Do you need help getting started in social media? Graddy Solutions would love to help you get set up so you can use that medium to get your message out in a great way! Contact us today for affordable web design, custom printing, and marketing consulting.

Don't Be A PowerPoint Felon

Check out this entertaining SlideShare Presentation by Nick Smith that explains in simple & straightforward terms some really important things to keep in mind when you're preparing a powerpoint presentation. Need inspiration? Contact Graddy Solutions at graddysolutions.com. We can help you create a powerpoint presentation that will knock their socks off! 815-246-2020

Don't Be A PowerPoint Felon

View more presentations from Nick Smith.

Monday Morning Marketing Musing - the VW Superbowl Ad

Yes, I loved the Darth Vader VW ad during the Superbowl. I had seen it earlier, in its much better full-length edition on YouTube, but was still engaged during its 30 seconds of prime-time super-expensive Superbowl real estate. It's had over 15.5 million views on YouTube as of this morning.

The "other" VW SuperBowl commercial about the beetle (with only 1.7 million views) would have been a much bigger hit, in my opinion, if it hadn't been dwarfed by its big brother Darth.

The question is, whether these two awesome commercials hit their mark. Yes, they got attention, but is anyone talking about the car in the ad? Does anyone even know which model of VW was in the Darth ad? (it was a Passat, if you care)

What are people talking about? They're talking about how cute the little kid was that played Darth; how bored the dog looked when Darth tried to use the force on him; how nice the dad was to help little Darth feel the power of the force by using his remote start. Has this made anyone want to run out and buy a Passat? My hubby, Michael, predicts that this will all come back around in the end, and folks will remember that it was a VW. And I hope he's right (yes, we own two VWs and love them...). But I'm not so sure.

It makes me think about how tough marketing is. How important your message is - and how people perceive it. Think about what this ad made you think about VW? Did it make you think about how great the car was, or how much you wanted one?

What are your marketing efforts "saying" to people? Are you sending the right message? Are you sending an effective message? What's the right balance between sending a message that's memorable and viral - and sending a targeted message that's effective?

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If you haven't noticed, Tech Help Please is changing our name to Graddy Solutions. It's a yucky process to change your name, and I wouldn't recommend it to anyone without a good reason. But, for us, Tech Help Please made it sound like I was going to come over and fix your computer, when, what we really do is affordable web design and consulting and now we do printing (brochures, business cards, letterhead, mugs, hats, etc.)! Graddy Solutions is a better fit for what we do. We work to find solutions for you. Let us know how we can help today!

Why you should never, ever use two spaces after a period.

People have not believed me for years as I've told them that there is only supposed to be one space after a period. Folks were all poisoned by HS business ed teachers that beat that 2nd space into their heads. My husband likens it to a heartbeat. He says it's natural; you have to put that second beat after a period, or it just doesn't feel right. Here's a great article from Slate.com laying out the history of spacing after sentences.
Find & Replace is your friend when you need to take out a whole bunch of stray spaces. If you search for two spaces and replace with one space - you'll be amazed how many it finds and replaces. You usually have to run that find/replace a couple of times - because whenever it found three spaces, it took the first two and turned that into one - leaving two. So you continue the find/replace until it finally finds no more. Your document will thank you!
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Which font should I use for this??

Ah, for those of us who do newsletters, mailings, flyers, anything that will be printed or go on a screen - that's a question that we ask too often!

I just discovered a website (perhaps it is not new to some of you, but it was new to me, so I'm excited!) that lets you type in a word or short phrase, then it shows you that word or phrase in every font on your computer! Eeek! I'm so excited! I've included a screenshot below (click on the screenshot to see it full-size).

You'll notice across the top, you can see the results white on black (negative) or black on white (positive). You can also make the results larger or smaller, and you can filter down your choices as you go. It's just really neato! :)

It's wonderful for finding that perfect font to fit the occasion. I hope you find it as helpful as I do!  http://wordmark.it

How many buttons do you have to press to get to a real live human?

I had known about this site before, but had forgotten about it - so I'm sharing it with you. Gethuman.com gives you phone numbers for major companies (you can add your minor company if you'd like!), tells you the steps you need to take to get to a live person, the average wait, and the user rating of the experience. Facebook, for example has an average wait of 66 minutes and the user rating is "Horrible"! Eek!

Just for the record, when you need affordable web design, and you call Tech Help Please (...changing our name to Graddy Solutions), at 815-246-2020, you get a real person right away (unless we've stepped away from the phone, then you get an answering machine, and, if you leave a message, a real live person calls you right back!). You never have to press one to speak to customer service, or anything like that! We love our customers!

Visit the site: Phone Numbers, Shortcuts, Reviews & Customer Tips - Companies Worldwide - GetHuman.com

The Internet Is Running Out of Space...Kind of

"On February 2 around 4 a.m., the Internet will run out of its current version of IP addresses. At least that’s what one Internet Service Provider is predicting based on a rate of about one million addresses every four hours."

I wonder when every combination of url (under a certain amount of characters) will be gone...

Read the whole article: The Internet Is Running Out of Space...Kind ofThe Internet Is Running Out of Space...Kind of

How to delete last blank page in Word - Mac OS X Hints

Here's a small but very helpful tip for those of us who use Microsoft Word.

"Sometimes Word documents contain a last blank page that seems impossible to delete. Just place the cursor after the last character, press: Shift+Command+Forward Arrow key to select all after such last character, and then press the Delete key. That should delete the last blank page."

From: How to delete last blank page in Word - Mac OS X Hints

AMBER Alerts Now Available on Facebook

AMBER Alerts Now Available on Facebook: "U.S. Facebook users will now be able to receive AMBER Alerts — the notifications issued when a child is abducted — on the social network, the result of a new partnership with the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children."

Today in Geek History

Today in Geek History: Space Invaders debuts on Atari 2600 in 1980, grossing over $100M. Programmer Rick Mauer earns $11k.