How to Setup Your Venue and Offer Specials on Foursquare
Foursquare is a social networking platform that uses geo-location to help users explore their city. As a part of that city, your business can use Foursquare and check-in specials to reward your customers. Login. Check-in. Share a tip about your business venue. That's how you get to know Foursquare, but how do you offer specials to bring Foursquare users closer to your ... Continue Reading ››
Social Marketing and the We-We Hall Monitor
It's Friday. Google Wave's 1st b-day. T.G.I.F. Today marks an end to my we-we monitoring (Huh?). For the past seven days I've examined local agency banter. Why? We're the folks responsible for showing you how to win-over brands and influence buying decisions. I looked at Tweets, @replies and general engagement. I didn't use social analytics tools, just one opinionated social media ... Continue Reading ››
What We…er…They Had for Lunch
C.D. Johnston munched on a chicken salad sandwich. Pres. Vincent Mazza—a.k.a. Varack Omazza—used two slices of bread to bring turkey and Swiss closer together. Since Junior Web Designer Suria Erasmus finished her lunch at 8:57 a.m., she wandered off to Timmy's for doughnut holes. Wendy Samson played refrigerator roulette to win a honey ham and jalapeño Havarti omelette. Me? That's ... Continue Reading ››
SEO Strategy on Long-Tail Keyword Saturation
We've defined SEO. We've shared the value of long-tail keywords. Let's devote this weekly SEO Strategies post to keyword saturation. This is simply how many times your key phrase is included on your website. Determining the right amount of saturation is not an exact science. We have a good idea based on testing, but Google, Yahoo and Bing will never share ... Continue Reading ››
Online Business Lessons from Facebook
Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg has been stalked by the public eye over concerns of Facebook's cumbersome privacy settings and an ever-shifting privacy policy. We can learn from Facebook... Making privacy settings difficult to change or inaccessible frustrates anyone. Mashable reports that PC World columnist JP Raphael noted: "Achieving maximum privacy on Facebook now requires you to click through 50 settings ... Continue Reading ››
Happy Victoria Day…Eh?
It's Victoria Day. Our Canada office is closed. We're having cake for the late Queen Victoria—who would turn 191 today. It's also the reigning Canadian sovereign's official birthday. To most of us it's just the mark of the beginning of summer, but don't tell Her Majesty. This Canuck holiday occurs on the Monday before or on May 24. When I consulted ... Continue Reading ››
Social Marketing with Personality on Twitter
This microblogging platform is quickly gaining popularity. With more than 6 million accounts and an official iPhone app, now is the time to build authentic brand relationships. How do you do that effectively? Since 2006, Twitter has been the place to share information. Share news, blog posts and anything else you want to post for your followers; however, re-Tweeting links and tips ... Continue Reading ››
Social Marketing with Foursquare and Gowalla
"Where are you?" That's the question I asked when I landed on a Twitter profile with no info. While it had a branded Twitter background, the retail business failed to reveal its location. Key, right? Of course. What is it about social marketing that keeps us from going one step further to reveal who we are, what we do and, most essential for ... Continue Reading ››
How to Minimize Social Marketing Mayhem
Let's face it. Social marketing takes time away from everything else you must do to keep your business alive and your bottom line from bottoming out. How do you do it all without losing your mind? You don't. Social media geniuses at XYZ, Inc. and social networking blogs do it all because, well, that's their job. But you—small biz entrepreneur—don't have time ... Continue Reading ››
SEO Strategy and the Value of Long-Term Words
Keywords. They scare most and delight a few, but search engine optimization with keywords can add value to your site, plus attract the right visitors by using the exact query they use to find your business. "That sounds silly," reacts one client to our keyword suggestions. Yes, but a phrase like "website design NJ" can be broken up as one sentence ending with ... Continue Reading ››
Bid “Hallo” to Junior Web Designer Suria Erasmus
Blackwave Creative recently hired Junior Web Designer Suria Erasmus. We'll count on her to assist our website designers and web developers. She just moved back to Vancouver after ten years in South Africa, where she studied graphic design, excelled in creative firms and even won a few awards. She's vegetarian, but cool with her carnivorous colleagues. She has a wicked ... Continue Reading ››
We’ve Got Art
We commissioned two paintings from British Columbian Painter, Muralist and Illustrator David Oram. We collaborated with Oram to provide website design and web development for Seven Trees Clothing Company. We felt an immediate affinity with his graphic arts style. So we asked him to add some colour to the walls of our BC and NJ offices with two sets of diptychs. Oram ... Continue Reading ››