SITE HAS MOVED...

In an effort to make the blog more relevant as well as easier to update while maintaining two blogs, I have migrated my personal blog over to Wordpress.

Please visit http://by7am.com for the new blog.

Thanks...

Marketing on Facebook

Inside Facebook had a great post yesterday about marketing on Facebook that I recommend taking a few minutes to read. While some of the recommendations may make sense for your business, others may not. As with any marketing strategy, the right solution depends on your audience, their needs, and your business objectives.

Of the ten things that are listed in the article, the 5 that stood out the most to me, particularly for any business new to Facebook, are:

1. Create a Facebook page - Somewhat related to my post the other day, create a page with the understanding that it will require a commitment and investment of your time to maintain. If you are willing to make the effort, then this step is a no-brainer and a must have.
2. Create Facebook events - If you are a business that has frequent events (i.e. open houses, tours, happy hours, public meetings, etc.) then creating Facebook events is a low effort action you can take to get the word out. When someone agrees to "attend" your event, that action will show up in the news feed of their friends virally extending your event to others.
3. Add Facebook share links to your website - Again, a low effort action that should be a part of any good design process (it is certainly a part of ours). Assuming the content of your site is appropriate for "sharing" then a share link makes complete sense.
4. Publish fresh photos, videos, and updates - I want to emphasize that it's not just posting fresh photos and videos, it's consistently posting content that your intended audience perceives as valuable. But this also circles back to #1... if you cannot commit to posting content consistently, hold off on jumping into the social media waters.
5. Talk to your customers - This is a no brainer. It would not be called social media if it did not require you to be social. Facebook and other platforms allow you the opportunity to hear what your customers are saying, and a chance to respond. While you must be prepared to take the bad commentary with the good, I view that negative feedback as an opportunity to turn a bad brand experience into a good one and through social media, that opportunity has become even easier than it was before.

So, start with these five, and then based on how successful you are in taking these steps and how committed you are to marketing your brand on social media platforms decide whether or not social ads and applications make sense for you. As I said before, when we (or you) develop a social media strategy, the platform and mechanisms should be determined by the audience, the message, and your business objective.

Check out the whole article here.

Hiatus

It's been almost a month and I have not posted a blog entry - seems to be the theme these days. I actually had to block out two hours this morning just to make my first entry on the Grafik.com blog.

If you want to read today's thoughts on social media, you can read it here.

But honestly, there's been a lot going on in the Clark household as of late. We're in our third trimester, we've been working on the baby's room, spaying the dog, shopping for a bedroom set, cutting needless trees down, etc. When I have had time to jump on the computer, it's mostly been spent doing work or balancing the family checkbook. It's been a real test of establishing priorities and also an opportunity to learn about what's truly important in our every day lives - a subject that occupied about 30 minutes of our dinner conversation this evening.

It's really no different than how the economy has forced families and companies alike to do the same evaluation as they review their budgets. Most companies have been forced to make some difficult decisions, Grafik and WeatherBug included. I suppose the main difference between the two is that the economy is an external factor outside of our control, while our impending arrival is a beautiful and blessed choice. Either way you slice it, times are tight and smart decisions need to be made which has led to less time to spend blogging about the going-ons of the family.

That said, I'll try to do a better job keeping this up to date, particularly over the next few months as we look to welcome our new family member and we experience the joys, the challenges, and all the fun things we've heard come with being parents.

Twittering Away Christmas Eve

While it took me awhile to come around, I am now officially on the Twitter bandwagon as @psubuzz (profile ID shocker, I know). No, Twitter is not the next Facebook... yet, but I wholeheartedly believe that in time, Twitter will play just as large of a role in our every day lives as Facebook does today.

Granted, I am way late in making this proclamation. I admit that I wanted to see whether or not a business model was going to be needed for Twitter to survive its first year. As it has proven, Twitter has not needed to make money to win the hearts and minds of tech pundits, celebrities, and every day people like myself. That said, am I alone in pitying the product manager charged with devising the revenue plan for Twitter in 2009? Do you not think that person's every move will be scrutinize, second-guessed, and then questioned once implemented? Will he or she get a second chance if they fail the first time around?

Anyway, that is someone else's problem to worry about at the moment... for now, I will enjoy following people like @lancearmstrong or @mashable, or people I actually know like @tonyvia or @phayes8. Twitter has become a useful means for me to follow the latest and greatest, as well begin to participate in various conversations. And on this Christmas Eve, I'll have my iPhone in one hand (Twitteriffic running), and some eggnog in the other.

Merry Christmas everyone.

Utility Room Day 2

Well, about 85% of the way through prepping the utility room for painting the floor my shop vac quit on me. I had to resort to mopping the concrete and tile, and am hoping that the shop vac will be rejuvenated tomorrow so that I can begin painting the floor on Thursday.

I never knew how much "fun" it was going to be getting a house ready to move into... Now I know.

I have to admit that it's kind of creepy being in an empty house all by yourself with every sound you make echoing off the walls. It doesn't help that our house is adjoined to some creepy person that we have yet to see. We just missed this person last night when we pulled up, but until we actually see him/her, they will remain a mystery.

Good times.

Fun Surprises

The fun part of being a homeowner now is that we'll learn so much about our new house. Some things may take us a few years to learn, and some you learn the first time you decide to move the mirror in your bathroom.

I guess the previous owner did not like her medicine cabinet... so it's just one more thing to add to the now long list of home improvement projects.

Sad Guys on Trading Floors

With all the craziness going on with the stock market these days, this blog does a great job of bring some smiles to the teary faces...



Kevin takes a break from riding his lightcycle to check up on the Tron market.

Penn State Riot After OSU Victory

Watching the various videos that were taken Saturday night following Penn State's win over Ohio State give me shivers, and not the same kind of shivers I get when I watch JoePa tribute videos, or moving Penn State victory montages, but shivers of fear, disgust, and anger.



Great, so we won a big game... let's celebrate by ripping down lampposts,  uprooting shrubbery, and closing down a main street.  We are... Penn State.  We are... a storied football program.  We have... been there before.  Why on earth do we need to act like we're some Division I AA school that just knocked off Michigan (last year, not this year of course)?  I'm not sure if it's the fact that the town is currently populated by a large percentage of students who don't know the history, have not experienced the winning, or what.... though one could argue that the past three seasons have not been too shabby.

Anyway, it's embarrassing as a Penn State Alum and even more embarrassing as a football fan who argues that his team is one of the best teams in the country week in and week out.  Fans acting like naive, never been there before idiots, after a big win just undercut this claim. 

Instead of property destruction, let's all start saving our money now and party on the streets of Miami in January.

Wedding Photos

Before the weekend hits, I wanted to let everyone know that our wedding photos can be found on Facebook and Flickr. Facebook features the photos shot by the photographer, while Lauren took some time aggregating all of the photos shot by you and posted them to her Flickr account.

Check out the Flickr pictures here.

If you have a Facebook account, you should be able to access the various albums that Lauren posted to see the great shots from the photographer.

Long Run

Perfect day for a run in the neighborhood. I'm not sure if it is the fall air, a stressful week, or just biting off more than I expected, but it was certainly my longest run in awhile - just under 7 miles. Time to cool off with a nice shake (thanks Rolando for the blender) and a walk with the dog. I hope all of you are experiencing this same wonderful fall weather.

Arts on the Ave & Penn State v. Purdue

[I had supposedly posted an entry from my iPhone as I was watching the Penn State game that talked about the annual Arts on the Avenue held in Del Ray each year, as well as the football game, but apparently it did not post. To that end, the festival was great, we bought some art that will be used very near in the future to decorate a room, and Penn State beat Purdue to go to 6-0. All in all, it was a good day, and a great weekend. I apologize though for the blank entry until now.]

Puppy Run

Took the pup for her first run tonight and she did pretty well. I took her on a one mile loop that you can see here.

Thought for sure it would wear her out, but it took a good 3 hours for her to finally settle down and curl up. Maybe next time we should try two miles...

Skins Win & FFL Progress

Gameday: Skins v. Cardinals
Originally uploaded by psubuzz

As suspected, the Skins-Cards game was back and forth and required a defensive stance in the final minutes to ensure victory after a botched 52 yard field goal. The victory puts the Skins at 2-1, and squarely in the hunt in the NFC East. Next up, Dallas... IN the Big D, which should serve as a pretty good test to see how for real the Skins really are. As everyone has seen these first three weeks, Dallas is good, very good. But, after losing to the Giants in the first week (which I attribute to the team still not being familiar with the offense and a rookie head coach), beating a 'decent' Saints team, and an overrated Cardinals team, we do not have a real measure of how good this Redskins team is.

Next week, we will know.

As far as my fantasy football teams go this season, the teams have taken two completely divergent paths. In the big money league, I will sit atop the standings at the end of this week at 3-0. In my 2nd league, I will sit in the basement at 0-3. Not sure how I ended up with such good/bad teams, but as long as I can finish in the money in one of them, I'll be happy. Stay tuned.

Full game day pics can be seen here.

Game Day: Redskins v. Cardinals

Three weeks into the season and I am at my first Skins game as a
season ticket holder. We couldn't have asked for a better football day
than today. The day dawned in the low 50s with a high of 80 expected.
Perfect fall football weather.

The tailgate fare was breakfast food provided by phillip and myself
that would have competed well against our traditional Penn state
tailgates. Egg and sausage casserole, bacon, eggs, sausage, and little
smokies. Doesn't get any better.

All we need now is a Skins win...

Mark Zuckerberg Speaks (continued)

Ted Leonsis posted this today about Zuckerberg's post on Facebook, and I agree with what Ted is saying...

I Doubt Mark Zuckerberg Wrote This Blog Post

I don't think Mark wrote this either.

Finally, Zuckerberg Speaks

To follow up on my post last Friday about the change to Facebook, it's nice to see Mark Zuckerberg finally weigh in.

Zuckerberg: 'Change can be difficult,' but the redesign stays

Basically, your options are to accept the change, or switch.  Only time will tell if enough users choose the later.  My thought is that like any drug, once hooked, it will be hard to stop, no matter how painful the experience is...

On the Road

Wish we could have had a few more sunny days while we were here - I
know a direct contradiction from yesterday but as we pile into the car
to head home I will miss the sun.

I'll also miss the chaos that was four dogs and an eleven month old
and I'll miss laying in bed watching football while listening to the
waves outside. I'll miss David's constant smile as he crawled/walked
to everyone and I'll miss the relaxing moments with Lauren.

It was a true vacation and now it's time to head back home and hit it
hard again.

So... A dog, a wife, and a new job since the last time down here a
year ago. What will it be a year from now...

How Do Dogs Know?

Rainy Day

Vacation

Sunrise
Originally uploaded by psubuzz

So, it's that time of year when we head down to Kitty Hawk to spend a few days with the family and get some beach and sun time. This year it's a tad more exciting with the addition of our little pup Match, and an eleven month old who is starting to take a few steps. Needless to say, it's been rather loud and crazy.

Follow along here.