Week #12

Well when considering all other marketing tools, you also must consider in for budget such as can I afford this or that or will I have to settle for free. So as for my business, I don;t honestly see a need yet to be fancy with my marketing tools. At least the expensive ones. There are tools, advanced ones, for twitter which help either in searching just in general or for more for business type things. As I've seen with some business twitters or even twitters not necessarily related to business they have apps which can track customers habits and what they click on and like or dislike. By using simple habits and specialized apps like this I feel I could confidentially keep track of my business and it's customers and make sure they don't complain or have issues that I can't help them with.

Week #11 Using social media for free

You can easily, to an extent for free. To start with you can have a business Facebook page and a twitter page and so much more. Mainly by using basic things as a Facebook business page linked up to a twitter page to allow cross posting. You could also set up a business YouTube or Tumblr and have it post to your twitter which might in turn post to your Facebook. Simple sites like these could help boost your business and gain more customers. I know that xbox has a twitter support page, but if they use it for free that I'm not sure off but from what I know twitter is a free site

week #11 Ads

As far as ads are concerned, they can be useful no matter what platform your using. When video game companies like Game Stop use ads, as east from what I've seen, they use normally only two form of advertising, maybe three. The first type of advertising they use is a weekly paper catalog of sorts. This way they can allow you to see whats new each week from sun-sat and also with a web based email newsletter. This way even if your not subscribed to a actual paper newspaper you can still receive email newsletters. However you have to be subscribed to their email, to receive the letters.  So as for my business Id follow the same path of a weekly, possibly every other week to save a little and of course and email newsletter sent out weekly. But lets not also forget a comercial or two, short ones, about my business. If we ever opened a store. Now as far as Facebook is concerned, I think my business, at least in the beginning, would do fine with just a business Facebook business page. With twitter I could cross post, in a way, to both the twitter and Facebook, never missing a chance to let my clients in on the latest video game whatever it may be. Any ads I'd make, I'd make more twitter friendly and post them to my twitter knowing that my Facebook clients would also receive as well.

Week #10 Newsletter

For a newsletter it would be hard for me, as the owner of a video game businesses to come up with one but after thinking it over there are a few parts I would use. First off I have to remember this is a video game business and that text alone won't do it, I'd need images as well. When I would send this newsletter would have to be only monthly, unless we were having a special event or maybe more then one. I would divide the news letter into three to five sections. The 1st would be the table of contents because without this, no one knows where anything is. The second section would be for new things, whether they be for games or consoles or parts ect. My third piece would be to remind everyone about whats currently happening and some old favorites that seem to be very popular. The last part, the 4th piece is where I'd bring up old items and ads for other companies/places to find parts, pieces, games ect that I might not have. Of course Id include photos with most of this. Gamers for instant don't just like to read but they also enjoy the visuals. Let's them know what they are getting into gaming wise. If I were to add a fifth section it would include maybe a section of favorite photos of peoples collections from around the world.

Week #9 catagoires

When using categories it is important to only use them when needed. That being said if it is needed, use them in a manner which not only keeps you organized but also in a way so any potential customers, businesses ect don't get confused and receive mixed signals. For my business, Video Game Haven, categories are something that should be used but only a few. The categories I would use are: Related Businesses, Gamers and Business Gamers. When mentioning any of the, or all of the categories, I'd be very clear and leave a little legend or explanation if you will of what they mean. Related Businesses to describe posts related to mainly other companies like Sony, Microsoft, Gamestop ect. Gamers when I'm mainly referring to customers that buy to play and Business Gamers when I wish to post and have it be related to each "side". By using these categories, I'd be able to keep everyone organized and hopefully attract more business via word of mouth or social networking.

Week #9 Being Personal

When writing a blog, it is important to know when to be personal and when not to be personal. Most of the time, especially for a business blog. You should try to leave personality out of it, unless it can help. For instance if you need to put in some personal experience with a product or service. Otherwise personal stuff should be left off a blog. However if your blog is more of a business that's helping with personal issues and such like one say geared towards Aspergers adults and children then your blog can include more personal issues and experiences. In the end it's geared more towards what exactly your blogging about and what your service or product is.

Week # 8 Twitter

When looking for people to follow for my Video Game Haven account I already knew several businesses and potential customers I could follow. When using the advanced key word searches I did two types of searches. The first search I used mainly to find people I knew as gamers and who could benefit from a business as such. The second search I used keywords, mainly usernames I knew, of gaming company's, help lines and the like to find the rest of who I would like to follow as my business.Now as far as lists go, I crated two. One that I called "Potential Customers" and the other I called "Helpful businesses,"  I created both of these lists not only so I can keep track of everybody but also to keep track of customers only and businesses only so I don't get confused. By writing lists your organizing your twitter more and trning what could be a jumbled mess into something organized and helpful. The best time to post a tweet would be between 9-6 when most people often check social media.

Week #7 Get Visual Part 2

When searching for 2-3 businesses who are gamer related I came across the perfect three. Xbox, PlayStation and Nintendo. Mainly the visual social media that seems to work best with those three is twitter. Twitter it seems, has become a hub of sorts for these companies, not the main hub but a big one. For example when someone needs help with Xbox, PlayStation ect, you can tweet them and they are usually quick to respond. Though usually their twitters are for support more then anything else. 

As for my business, I thought it best to look at others social media and see how it's done. With my business being also game related, then visual social media is also for me. Gamers just don't want to hear about a product, service or help. They also want to see and hear about the product, service or form of support. If a game sounds interesting they might, the customer, look up video of the game or product. Sometimes there are helpful help videos which can be used to demonstrate how to fix a problem, if plain text is not enough. So if I provide kind of a three prong approach I am sure to attract the attention of the customer one way or another. 

Week #7 Visual Process

I would like to start off by talking about visual networks and if they fit my brand. My fake business name was/is Ultra Gamer/Video Gamer Haven. Now with a video gaming business you can use things like you tube to help build your business. If you show a video for example of a part or video game being played/used, you might not only attract people who were searching for this specific part/piece or game but also those who were just looking came across it and went "Wow!' I want to have this." Now that's not to say none of the other visual social media will work for my business in also attracting people to my page, I believe Twitter would and Tumblr  possibly as well. Twitter would be of help as when connection both my twitter and Facebook together, whatever I tweet about would also be seen by my Facebook follwers and my Tumblr followers as well. Multiple accounts can be connected to one's Twitter and Facebook. With more of my accounts connected together, the better chance I'd have of one post hitting multiple viewers across multiple platforms.

Week Six: Intro to Facebook Strategy

These three posts may engage my audience a little bit more because first they appeal to gamers and maybe non gamers who are curious in the gamer lifestyle. Second is that some helpful information will be posted on care of some of the older systems. Third is that we are also hinting at more content heading the customers way to perhaps have them checking back to see whats new and maybe be able to add to what we post. With the likes and the posts you hope to eventually lay out a page that is simple in a way yet still appeals to gamers.

Week #6 Liking other facebook pages.

The businesses I chose to like are:

1. Game Stop
2. Microsoft
3. Playstation
4. Xbox
5. Atari
6. Sega
7. Namco

Well since I am running a pretend video game business, I thought it best to like video game related things. I started off with game stop, a place that currently sells video game equipment. However since they dont sell the older stuff I have to expand my likes. I say older stuff because as you may recall, my business would specialize in everything video game related but mainly in the actual consoles, games, and accessories. This is why I also chose to like the bigger more mainstream companies such as Microsoft, PlayStation and Xbox. But I also, since I specialize in older video game and video game related items, I liked Atari, Sega and Namco. By liking all these businesses and the sort, I can grow not only my business but also the companies I've liked because if I don't have something specific that a customer needs, Then they can go to the actual company that made the original specific whatever it is that was needed in the first place. Like wise if I have something the original company no longer makes then the customer can come to me. Plus, if the customer has friends that are in need of similar items, he or she can referr them to me.

Week #5 Reach Vs. Engagement

Although both may seem similar when related to face book, they are actually very different. Knowing the difference can help you as a business distinguish whether or not your actually being seen, noticed and product/service used. When people talk about Facebook reaching posts they are referring to who has seen your post. Who has seen your product and/or service. Its a way of saying whose seen you, or whose seen what your selling and promotion. Its important to know this because then you'll know how successfully your reaching peoples news feed. You need a fan base before building lasting relationships with potential customers.

When your talking about engagement, Your referring to more then just are people seeing or noticing your product. Its referring to things such as clicks, likes, shares, views and comments. It means basically how many people are doing something more then just looking or noticing. This is important because if people are clicking, linking, liking then chances are some of those people are purchasing, downloading or using your product. If there's more engagement then this also means more people are likely to see your product, service or business which means more credibility for you in the long run.

Week #4 Target market

When discussing my target market with others, the discussion is rather short considering this is all new to me but I have a very basic idea. The main target I would want is anyone who plays video games no matter how old the gamer or his/her console. My business or rather people in the business world I'd want to also target would be businesses similar to Gamestop or Gamestop itself. But my target audience would be directed at mainly gamers. Again, whether they are old or young, mail or female.  

Week #3 Aesthetics Websites and the two I visit frequently

These are two of a few websites I use most often: www.tweetdeck.com and www.youtube.com. I find both of these sites to be very effective and perfect for what I need. I'll start with tweetdeck. When I role play I use twitter.com but since I role play quite a bit as different characters from different shows it can be a hassle to have to keep logging in and out of twitter accounts to respond to messages. With Tweetdeck I can connect multiple accounts to it, as many as I'd like, and use it like one big giant twitter account. Some of the features that make it easy to use and handle are the locations of very large easy to recognize buttons such as the tweet button, settings, manage accounts and add new columns buttons. With Tweetdeck I can also customize my columns as I see fit. Columns being things like my twitter timelines, mentions where people @me and talk to me and direct messages private conversations between users. All of this combines to make the perfect app for easy use again and again. The only thing I would change is if some of your accounts get suspended or removed the app would still work just as fast and not slow down as a result.

The other site I use frequently is YouTube. I find YouTube to be entertaining but also a way to learn about things I like on my own time. Since searching and such is so easy to figure out, consider its huge and at the top of the screen, I can easily navigate the site even while logged out of my account. While logged into my account, it's still easy-ish to navigate with the menus on the left, but since I only upload videos and thats about it, I don't see a need for the other functions as of yet. The fact I can always find episodes of shows such as Seconds From Disaster and Air Crash Investigators, is one of the many reasons I keep coming back. Apart from making the custom background more visible there is not much I'd change.

Week #3 Asthetics Design and Branding

Ive chosen http://tectorch.com/ and http://spotmetering.com/. First Ill start with Spot Metering. I find this site to be very confusing. First off the main page takes a while to scroll down and even load if you have a slow computer. Second is that this site needs an about page or just a simply explanation as to what they are about. Third and last is that the main page could be easily split up into several different headers and or links. However they are doing two things correctly. They have a header type system at least so not everything is jumbled together. The other thing is that its easy to find a way to contact the author which is normally what happens when you have a question or the sort. If it wasnt so cluttered on each page then maybe, and if I was into cameras, Id want to use the website and possibly his services.

The second site I chose was Tectorch. First off I see that the contact information is at the bottom which is good because you cant really miss it but is also bad because if you don't expect it to show at the bottom then you wont notice that its even there. Second is that the header is on the side of the webpage which is, in my opinion, a bad thing. If you have it off to the side, you take away space for more items in the body of your webpage. Third, is that   annoying little set of boxes, similar to what were ad type boxes but filled with nothing basically making them appear as two rectangular "box" lines on the home page. However like the previous site, they do have contact info, necessary if you wish to get in touch. 2nd is that despite the "headers" being off to the left, you at least not only have link-able headers you even have a "Main" subject header so you know what kind of tools you'll find underneath. I myself would move the headers to the center and horizontal, then make the headers become like pull downs so you can simply hit the arrow and it expands to give you more choices. I would also add some prices or a price list to get a general idea of what your bill, if you want what hes selling, might be.

Business list

1. Xbox Support https://twitter.com/xboxsupport1 Feburay 13th https://twitter.com/XboxSupport/with_replies Feb 14th https://twitter.com/xboxsupport Dec 6th
2. Anaheim ducks https://twitter.com/AnaheimDucks Feb 14th 
3. San Diego Jack FM 100.7 DSC Radio Show https://twitter.com/TheDSCshow/ FEB 13th
4. Buffalo Sabres https://twitter.com/BuffaloSabres FEB 14th
5. Slaters 50/50 Burgers http://instagram.com/slaters5050 feb 2015 https://www.linkedin.com/company/slater%27s-50-50?trk=tyah https://www.youtube.com/user/Slaters5050 May 2014 https://twitter.com/slaters5050 FEB 14th

Week #2 Social media and business

            My experience with businesses has rarely been negative. But even when it’s been negative it’s been a positive negative. Think of it more so as a learning for both sides, that is to say I learn something about dealing with this company, whoever they are, in a manner more than simply purchasing something and leaving and the company learns something about what went wrong and how to fix it based on my needs. But about the only social media and business related things I deal with is Xbox. I use Xbox live and sometimes I have had issues with Xbox live or apps ect on my Xbox. Since Xbox operates a twitter account, or I should say multiple twitter accounts, usually I can tweet them or I get posts related to any issues they are having, even the big stuff like Xbox live is down. Sometimes I have issues at night and sometimes I have issues that require me to look up the string of numbers to see what the definition of my problem is. Either way I have yet to have a totally bad experience where either I’m mad or they can’t help me and I’m screwed. Something like that. But I hope to never encounter that problem.

Week #2 Business Blogging

If your a business and you use social media and things like that to help the business you might also use the Google calendar. Goggle calendar can be good for using either within the company or to certain select individuals outside the company. Some of the things that one might share only within the company/employees is things like board meetings or other meetings between department heads and such. You might also see fun runs in parks where the run is meant only for those that work at a specific place, or, if the company is a rather large place, like an office building they might have a company picnic. But, things such as company picnics and parades might also be things you let a few people outside the company know about.

There have been several places that I like to shop at that possibly Id like to know more about. The 1st is one most have probably heard about if they know someone who games, Game Stop. I even once asked if they were hiring but nope, not at this time. The next place I like to visit is called F.Y.E. For your entertainment. A place that sells all kinds of DVD past and present. As in TV shows/movies past and present from things such as I Love Lucy to I Robot. They also sell CDs and DVD concerts of your favorite band as well as other odd items. Both of these may be a little more interesting to learn about.

A business owner regardless of what kind of business he/she runs might use the Google calendar for only a few reasons. The first reason is maybe he/she is upgrading to a more paperless system and wants to find a more efficient way to hand out memos to everyone. Or maybe the business owner Prefers the calendar because they only run a small business and the calendar is maybe the perfect tool for managing the little things around the office.

Whats appropriate and not appropriate for social media and business Week #1

When in a business whether at home or in an actual office setting, it's important to get noticed and to have a successful business. When getting noticed social media is a good way to go, along with TV commercials, billboards and other such items. When using social media though, you shouldn't just jump in with every social media service you can find as some social media websites are geared towards personal use over more business like use. Some websites like Facebook, Twitter, Pintrest and maybe even YouTube seem to work best for business.

Take twitter for example, although its only allowed 140 letters per post whether you openly tweet the company or directly message them, should they follow you back of course, or longer it you have twit longer which allows you to post more then 140 letters in your message, it can still be a handy tool to respond to your customers quickly. I read once about a lady who was in need of service but through calling couldn't quite get what she needed. So she ranted on twitter and not only did someone running the company twitter see this right away, they had either been linked or showed the tweet or something like that, they had a repair person out to her house within the hour.

Facebook is also a good use for a business. Most business will give you a deal if you like them on Facebook and its a good way to get pictures and info about your product or other business out. YouTube can be a good source as well. It's a good spot to put out short little videos either about your product or what you do.

There are however some social media sites that would not be a great idea to use. These sites can include, in my opinion, places like Tumblr, Blogger might be another and tiny chat. Blogger is mainly used to discuss one thing, sometimes in great detail. While this may be a ok think for business, its not necessarily the best way to reach customers in an effective and positive way. Tiny Chat isn't very helpful at all, though it may be like Skype in the sense that you can video chat while also using text, you don't have to download any programs. While this may seem good not all businesses are computer related so for a business like carpeting or painting or even something dealing in wood work, it's just not ideal. Lastly Tumblr is also a bad idea for businesses as well. Tumblr is like a site mainly geared towards sharing things you like or love. Not a good idea if your a business trying to contact your customers.

My Template Week #1

I have chosen the blogger template that I did for really only one reason, simplicity. Since our posts have to be easy to access by our teacher and possibly by other students then simplicity is the key. Although I may be familiar with social media, I am not familiar with blogger. Though I have been using blogger, it has only been for school related things. That being said I would someday like to play around more with blogger and possibly making something very cool out of it.

When picking any template with blogger try to theme it if you can towards what your overall writing will be. So if you are writing something silly then I would template your blog so its whimsical and silly but not in such a way as to where your readers can't find your posts. If your blog is for school, a more simple but maybe still some colors and functions would be appropriate as per what I've chosen. If a business then something to reflect what you sell maybe or what your about.