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Online reviews are not new, but they are becoming more prominent. This is causing more businesses and customers to pay attention to them. ...
For most businesses, social media is an important part of their marketing. But new businesses, growing businesses or those who haven’t ...
You care about your brand. You work hard to grow your business and differentiate yourself within your marketing. But, there maybe something you ...
Living in the Land of 10,000 Lakes gives us Minnesotans countless opportunities to hone our fishing skills to catch a delicious meal to feed our ...
If you like to be on the forefront of social media marketing, you might want to check out IGTV if you haven’t already. IGTV is ...
As of April 2, 2019 Google+ will no longer exist. In 2011, Google launched Google+ (Google Plus, G+) in an attempt to compete with social media ...
Does your business’ Facebook page spark joy and engagement? If it’s feeling a little cluttered or neglected, now is a great time to ...
Is your Linkedin account feeling a little bit quiet? Are you looking to build your personal brand or company brand, but are not sure how to do ...
I want to challenge you to think about the impacts social media has on your marketing campaigns, and I also want to challenge you to get a little ...
If you know that social media is right for your business (and it’s generally a good thing for most), you may be a wondering where to ...
Facebook has improved their privacy settings to make it easier for people to remove their third-party apps in bulk. In the past, many people have ...
If you are a non-profit looking to run some donation campaigns on Facebook, you have three options to consider. All three options offer clear ...
Have you noticed all the press focused on Facebook and personal data use lately? If not, you may want to read about GDPR, because it effects the ...
*Update: As of April 2, 2019, Google+ will no longer exist. Learn more. Have you heard about Google My Business and Google+, but aren’t ...
Recently, one of our social media clients, Heartland Industries, experienced the awesome results that come when people share your post on ...
Earlier this year, Facebook announced that they were going to make significant changes to its newsfeed algorithm in an effort to prioritize ...
You may have heard about the big changes Facebook is making to the newsfeed that will inevitably effect Facebook business pages. If not, last ...
In 2017, the attendees of Social Media Breakfast Central Minnesota had the opportunity to learn many things from the presenters each month. ...
Facebook is always changing to keep up with technology, offering new ways to brands to promote, and finding a new modern look. Lately, they are ...
Remarkable marketing is about getting in front of the right audience with the right message! Facebook offers several different ways for you to ...
How do you create a social media calendar? What percentage of posts should be related to sales? How do you stay on top of events, trends, and ...
Facebook Ads & Google Ads are two different digital marketing platforms. They both provide great avenues of advertising, but have different ...
As a modern-day marketer, it can be easy to get caught up in crossing out tasks on your to-do list, as you simultaneously read blog posts about ...
What is the Facebook pixel and why would you possibly care? The Facebook pixel is a snippet of code that is generated in the Facebook ads ...
Watch out, Linkedin! Facebook is spreading its wings once again to a new arena – the job market. We have all seen many businesses posting ...
If you are on Twitter, but have had trouble figuring out how you can use Twitter to better market your business, there are ample ideas for taking ...
Over the past few months, LinkedIn has been rolling out some new changes to the mobile version, desktop version of the personal and company ...
I recently gave a presentation at the Social Media Breakfast Central Minnesota about “10 Things Facebook Page Admins Tragically Are Not ...
Facebook Advertising offers many ways to get in front of the right people with the right message. But, finding that perfect mix is now always ...
Building a social media presence isn’t always easy, especially when you are first starting out. Do you have a social media vision but need your ...
JoAnne Funch, an Independent LinkedIn Trainer, Consultant, and Speaker, was our most recent speaker for the Social Media Breakfast Central ...
Have you ever searched for the name of your business in Facebook to see what shows up? Whether you have a business Facebook page or not this is a ...
Hiring millennials is a topic of conversation that comes up with most business owners, HR departments and managers whenever they are hiring new ...
Tagging appropriate people and pages in your Facebook posts is often something we encourage to increase your views and online presence. Facebook ...
15 minutes. 15 minutes. What can you accomplish in 15 minutes? You might organize some files, write a blog post, take a cat nap or walk the dog. ...
The goal of online reputation management is to monitor the business brand on the Internet. This involves encouraging positive (love!) feedback, ...
Facebook has been changing the layout of their Pages for business again – this time on the desktop version. It sounds likes the new ...
Broadcast LIVE for Free using Facebook Live & If This, Than That Have you used or watched a Facebook Live video? They are becoming more and ...
If you’ve heard from more than one person that they never seem to see your fan page updates in their newsfeed, your best course of action ...
#TakeNote! Your clever hashtag that you’ve gone through the trouble of consistently using may not be going viral anytime soon if nobody ...
Hootsuite is a tool used to manage your social media marketing. It is one of the many tools referred to as a “Social Media Management” Tool or ...
Facebook has rolled out a few changes we want to share with you. Facebook Change #1 The first one, you may have already noticed, is the ...
This morning Christina Mikanowski, Vice-President of Maccabee presented to the Social Media Breakfast Central Minnesota on the topic of Content ...
If your company’s Linkedin profile is collecting dust or feeling lonely from a lack of visitors and interaction, it is time to breathe some ...
If you feel like you should be doing more on social media with your business, but are not sure how to go about it, you are not alone. Many small ...
Keeping on top of what is new and changing with Facebook is like trying to find where a rainbow starts. As soon as it is in sight, you realize ...
Facebook Advertising is becoming an important part of most brands’ Facebook Marketing Plans. If you have not yet tried Facebook ...
UTM stands for Urchin Tracking Module. Does that help? Didn’t think so. Chances are your website uses Google Analytics to track usage and ...
>Don’t be surprised, Facebook is making more changes! Mari Smith announced at the “Boost your Business” seminar this summer, that there ...
When it comes to email marketing, first impressions matter. How are you doing with your email marketing? Are you consistent? Are you delivering ...
We all know the benefits of blogging, right? If you are still in the dark as to why you would want to blog on your website, review this blog ...
Instagram has grown in popularity since its inception, and it has some very unique social media aspects. The most interesting thing about ...
Last week, Beth and I went to to the “Boost your Business with Facebook” half-day conference at the beautiful Aria in Minneapolis. It was a great ...
Keeping up with Facebook changes can be a big task. It seems they are always making updates to their algorithm and layout, and adding new ...
Anyone who gets Exhibitor Magazine, has seen the retro photo that is in the back of each issue, showing a tradeshow image from what seems like a ...
Pinterest is the fastest growing social media site in history, so there is no doubt that many of our clients are wondering if they should be ...
Remember the SNL skit of the Computer Guy who knows his stuff so well that he doesn’t allow any latitude for the poor lay person? Those of us in ...
If your business or non-profit is hosting an event and you want the word to spread, Facebook Events is a great place to start. However, simply ...
If there is one thing that is critical to success with social media, it is using images to engage your audience. Since not everyone has access to ...
Determining the best social media strategy isn’t always easy. Often companies have several goals they want to meet, different social ...
One of the most paralyzing aspects of using social media is anticipating negative comments. While negative comments are a reality of putting ...
If you manage your company’s Facebook Page, you have probably come to expect a declined organic newsfeed reach by now, especially with ...
Each year it’s interesting to look through our Google Analytics to find out what is read the most, what is shared the most, and what blog ...
My goal is to give bite-sized actionable items people can use to make their social media experience better. Whether you’re just starting ...
For a while we were all trained by Facebook that contest and giveaways had to be done via a third party app on Facebook. Now that those contest ...
Last week at Vivid Image, I held a class on Social Media Changes and Trends. We talked mostly about some recent changes in Facebook and also some ...
Writing a compelling and click-worthy headline for a blog post is a fine art. As a blogger, I feel torn between making the headline compelling ...
It’s no surprise to see that there is a high correlation between social signals and high ranking websites. In light of this let’s ...
I live in the Instagram Generation. Taking photos isn’t the same as when I started really dabbling in photography about seven years ago. ...
Social Media Rockstars from around Minnesota gathered in Willmar, MN last week to talk about content and social, and do some old-fashioned ...
Photo-editing tools like PhotoShop are too expensive and complex for part-time use by the everyday marketer. Community Managers today need to be ...
Since we could walk or talk, we’ve been taught that sharing is a good thing. When social media entered the marketing scene, we ...
Integrating social media into your tradeshow and event marketing plan is a great way to enhance your company’s next tradeshow presence. As a ...
Brands that consider Facebook an important part of their marketing need to create a new social media strategy that includes innovative ways to ...
Online, email, and social media etiquette was a recent topic at the Social Media Breakfast Central Minnesota, and as it turns out, people are ...
By now, you have probably noticed that your Facebook posts have not been getting the reach that they used to a year ago. Or maybe you have ...
As a marketer or business owner, Google Alerts are essential – especially for content marketing. Google Alerts is a free Google tool that ...
It is easy to remember to do some spring cleaning to our home, office, and even our cars. But what about doing some spring cleaning to your ...
Snapchat is a popular photo messaging app. Basically that means that users can take pictures of something, draw or write on the image, apply a ...
Getting your brand to stand out on Facebook takes some planning, consistency, and creativity (here is a helpful blog post about getting seen in ...
*Update: As of April 2, 2019, Google+ will no longer exist. Learn more. When Google announced that you would need a Google+ account to comment on ...
If you are a writer or blogger, you have probably experienced it. Sitting in front of your computer with the blank stare and motionless hands. ...
In your marketing toolbox, you probably have some customer testimonials – maybe some that you received by email, through your social media sites, ...
With the constant changes in Facebook, marketers must be constantly changing too. Even if you have a great community of Facebook fans, it is ...
A few years ago I wrote a “tongue in cheek” article about Twitter, expounding on reasons not to use Twitter. Essentially I took all ...
The social media world has been talking in recent months about the update that Facebook made that has decreased the reach for some pages. The ...
A big THANK YOU to all who were able to attend the SMB on LinkedIn this month! I really appreciated your participation and wish we had another ...
Why on Earth Would You Spend Time on LinkedIn? Join us on Thursday, December 19, 2013 for an interactive session discussing the benefits of ...
It is hard to believe that another year is coming to an end. For many bloggers, it can be a challenge to think of a blog post to write during ...
What do you do when you’re told you need to write content for your company’s blog or newsletter, and writing is definitely not ...
Who would have guessed that the pound sign symbol (#) would become so popular as the “hashtag” we know today? It has become part of many of our ...
A few weeks ago, I shared the four steps to choosing the right social network and the social media prism. Then we talked about a few of the ...
If you spend any time on LinkedIn, you’re used to the constant barrage of messages asking if you want to endorse your associates for a ...
*Update: As of April 2, 2019, Google+ will no longer exist. Learn more. Recently there has been quite a buzz around Google Hangouts. You ...
The Social Media RockStar Event at Jackpot Junction put on by Sarah Kuglin and her posse was inspiring. With amazing speakers such as Jason Falls ...
Your marketing team has decided to take the plunge into social media. But with hundreds of social networks to choose from, where do you start? ...
Writing about Facebook’s recent changes in contests is an interesting topic, given that I’ve seen multiple violations daily since the ...
There are so many ways to integrate your blog content with your social media initiatives. Most blogs have some type of social media sharing ...
Social media is a very general term and isn’t limited to Facebook or YouTube. In fact, there are hundreds of different social media ...
Twitter was the “it” thing for a while, and it seems many people jumped on the band wagon. Maybe you were one of those people? If ...
Facebook has launched the new Page Insights with analytics, graphs and well-organized data that Community Managers can actually use. I am ...
Even though social media, blogs, and mobile have totally changed the marketing world in the last 5+ years, I have found that a lot of people ...
Since someone went through all the trouble of designating June 30th as the official Social Media Day, we thought we’d take the opportunity ...
Facebook is rolling out some new features, and I have to admit that they’re all good and aimed at helping businesses use Facebook better. ...
Now 225 million members strong with 2 new members signing up every second, Linkedin has become far more than just a place to look for your next ...
Often our customers ask us how they can post a social media update in just one place, and have it go to all their social media channels. ...
It is time to clean house, get organized, and freshen up your social media profiles! Now that the first quarter is behind us, take a look at how ...
You’ve likely noticed all kinds of little (and big) changes on Facebook again recently, and there’s even more to come! Here’s a ...
Are you completely annoyed or totally intrigued by LinkedIn’s Endorsements feature? Regardless, it has reportedly increased traffic to this ...
*Update: As of April 2, 2019, Google+ will no longer exist. Learn more. With every blog post you publish, there are vast ways to promote ...
We all have those projects that are difficult to tackle– maybe because we are not sure where to start or it just seems too complicated. This ...
If your company is marketing with social media, but does not have a social media policy in place, you are not alone. To create a social media ...
If you’ve used an app such as NetworkedBlogs or RSS Graffiti to automatically post new blog articles to your Facebook fan page timeline ...
There’s no question that photos are a popular component in marketing. Photos engage people, generate interest and get shared. That’s why it’s ...
Most bloggers will tell you one of their biggest challenges is coming up with engaging blog content on a regular basis. If you have plans for ...
The idea of mystery meat isn’t appealing. It’s actually quite appalling, unless of course you love cheap hot dogs. Most of us would avoid ...
/ Social Media
LinkedIn continues to grow exponentially in the professional world of business networking. If you are responsible for growing your business, ...
Dear Vivid Image, Our business would like to build a fan page on Facebook, but some of our employees whom we’d want to manage the fan page ...
What if there was a free resource to help you market your business or organization offered on a regular basis, but close enough you didn’t ...
When a doctor sees a patient, what is the FIRST thing they ask? They want to know, “How you are feeling?” Your answer is their ...
Many nonprofit organizations understand that a strong web presence is vital to their ongoing success. The content they share on their website ...
10. Long Updates: If you are writing updates the equivalent of an epic movie script, stop! Updates should be limited to one line when possible, ...
Technology is changing at such a rapid pace. My parents didn’t have smart phones growing up, and my kids have no idea what a phone booth is! But ...
As marketers, we are always aiming to create remarkable content that is trusted, valued and shared. We write attention getting headlines, helpful ...
All our clients have a special place in our hearts. It is through getting to know them, their businesses and goals that we form relationships ...
We all can’t have little “monsters” following us around admiring our every move and decision, but the power of a loyal fan in indisputable. As ...
/ Marketing
Whether you are an entry level or seasoned sales professional, it’s likely you have to make connections with people you have never met ...
You have a great-looking store front with eye-catching signage, ample parking, a welcoming staff, and maybe even an attractive window display. ...
/ Social Media
I spend time on LinkedIn every day and every week. It’s a wonderful tool that I have no doubt, EVERY sales person should be using! (Be ...
So you have a profile and your company is setup on LinkedIn and you’ve joined some groups. You have even tried Steve’s approach to 15 minutes of ...
Facebook changes frequently, and as a business it can be hard to keep up. If you aren’t on Facebook everyday or you don’t spend time ...
You have a personal profile on LinkedIn and it is 110% complete. You are building connections, engaging in groups, and if you are a power ...
/ Social Media
My weekly routine it to experiement with new tools and see how they can help my clients grow thier business. What do you think of these? ...
If you are new to LinkedIn, then you’ve likely been “sold” on the reasons to join this social site. While LinkedIn is a rapidly ...
/ Social Media
My weekly routine it to experiement with new tools and see how they can help my clients grow thier business. This week I found two tools that I ...
/ Social Media
I have always loved networking and I’m rarely afraid to approach a stranger. Making connections with other people, whether it be in ...
/ Social Media
Three tools to add to your weekend enjoyment! Just for Fun with Facebook For a little fun that will not take more than 10 minutes, try Timeline ...
One fun tool and two productivity tools this week: Monitor Your Business Facebook Page on your iPhone, iPod, or iPad Facebook just released a new ...
You are not alone if Twitter makes you feel a bit overwhelmed, fatigued, and wondering where the time went. Twitter time management could almost ...
More tools! In my effort to continue to inspire you with new tools and ways to be more effective, I found two tools that I think may become a ...
/ Social Media
How many of you are on Twitter? Hopefully you have set up Twitter and are engaging followers. If you have the same friends or types of people ...
Now that you are setup on Twitter, start following people by name, interest, category/event or hashtag and get them to follow you. First follow ...
People often ask me how to get started on Twitter. The first step is setting up an account, and I’m going to explain how to set it up so ...
Today’s successful use of social media brings us to Southwest Minnesota where new ideas and business creativity thrive. Kurt Thompson, a Program ...
YouTube overlays are those nifty grey boxes that show up on a video like an ad, only they are created by the same person who posted the video. It ...
A friend recently called me to discuss her fan page and said, “Our fan page is sad looking. How can I get more traffic to it and make it ...
/ Social Media
At Vivid Image, we believe in teaching you ways to make an immediate impact on your marketing in small, simple steps. Here’s a quick (less ...
With visions of people hunched over computer screens, you may be wondering how fitness and social media belong in the same headline. BLEND, a ...
You can love or hate the new Facebook Timelines for fan pages. But we’d like to highlight one very positive outcome; Facebook has forced ...
If you have logged into your Facebook Fan Page recently, you’ve likely noticed this message at the top of your page: We want to help you ...
You already have some basic knowledge of LinkedIn, an active account, and a completed basic profile. You might even have joined a few groups ...
/ Marketing
Sometimes it is hard to get a project going. One of those projects might be a marketing or advertising campaign. When you are stuck figuring out ...
/ Social Media
My blog post days sneak up on me quickly. I like to mull over a topic for a while, so I can add last minute thoughts and inspiration; ...
For the past 6 months or so, I have been “checking in” to many local businesses (big and small) using Foursquare and Facebook on my ...
Engagement. It’s a term used a lot in our world of social media marketing, and I believe there are still many people who are unclear to ...
/ Social Media
A new year brings lots of new ideas, tools and trends to get “up to speed” on. Everyone runs out of time to get proficient on new tools or ...
The Pinterest craze has officially hit, making it one of the most heavily visited and top 10 social media networks of 2011. As a “visual” ...
/ Marketing
I don’t know about you, but it seems like 2011 just flew by. Before I knew it, it was October and I started planning for 2012 (don’t ...
Naturally, this is the most common time for reviewing the last year and looking towards the next year for goal setting or “New Year ...
/ Marketing
As 2011 winds down this week, time is elastic as my plans for 2012 are in full swing. Here’s what we are planning for Vivid Image clients: ...
/ Marketing
I am in the holiday mood, so here’s a “themed blog post”. Enjoy! On the 12th Day of Christmas, Vivid Image gave to me: 12 Monthly Newsletters 11 ...
Merry Christmas! Happy Holidays! Seasons Greetings! Happy New Year! There are lots of ways to say “Merry Christmas” to your customers and ...
/ Marketing
‘Tis the season for Tradeshows: Ok, maybe not, but I used to work in an industry where the first tradeshow of the year was during the ...
/ Social Media
Marketing and promotional deals go hand in hand. When you want to increase your revenue you need something that attracts attention. Everybody ...
Training is so vital to learning new skills. Most members in the military spend at least 8 weeks in isolation in Basic Training, then they get ...
Check your “drafts” to see if you are ready to finish an article you started a while ago. Don’t forget to ask staff if they’d be ...
Whether you take part in Black Friday, Small Business Saturday, or Cyber Monday, there are some great deals that you can find from local ...
/ Marketing
Press Releases broadcast your organizations’ news and optimizes it for all media channels. Basic Marketing. Present it as a story that has ...
There are two parts to optimizing on YouTube so that people can find your videos and YouTube Channel if they aren’t following a link from ...
There are so many different ways to leverage Facebook marketing, including through Facebook Events. Depending on the nature of your business and ...
/ Marketing
Growing up, I heard the word ‘survey’ a lot during one of my favorite game shows, TheFamily Feud. This game show can get a bit rowdy ...
/ Search Engines
Sometimes online marketing seems fulls of terms which are confusing for a business owner who is just starting their web journey. Do you remember ...
Often running a small company or start-up business means you have to market your products or services on a smaller budget for longer than you ...
MVTV Wireless Connects with Rural Customers via Social Media Website: http://www.mvtvwireless.com/ Sometimes it seems like rural Minnesota is the ...
Working with social media and marketing, I try out and sample different plans, campaigns, social media platforms, tools and give recommendations ...
Twitter is probably one of the most misunderstood of all the social media tools. It is very different from Facebook, YouTube or blogging, even ...
/ Marketing
Johnny Cash’s song, San Quentin, begins, “I think I understand a little bit about how you [the inmates] feel about some things, ...
Even as a “seasoned” Facebook marketer, I will be one of the first to admit that Facebook marketing isn’t rocket science. But if you want to ...
/ Marketing
As a marketer for the last 13+ years, I have done lots of types of marketing in lots of different industries. Some programs are industry specific ...
The other day a comment came through from a reader on a blog post that was written over two years ago; a reminder that what we write is indexed ...
/ Marketing
How are you introducing your organization to the world? Through networking? A brochure? A website? There are 3 main components of introducing ...
/ Marketing
What do Marty McFly, Bill and Ted and Claire Randall have in common? They travel through time. They work to try and change events in the past, ...
The changes that will begin happening on Facebook today may leave some people nostalgic for the days of old; The old Facebook that is. However, I ...
/ Marketing
“So much to do in so little time.” I am sure most of you think this occassionally when you are working. I do. In the best interest ...
/ Social Media
Several of us at Vivid Image sat glued to a live stream video from f8 today to hear Mark Zuckerberg announce the much-anticipated changes to the ...
/ Social Media
*Update: As of April 2, 2019, Google+ will no longer exist. Learn more. We don’t need to tell you that Facebook is making more ...
/ Social Media
I am annoyed, maybe even a bit peeved. I have been suffering through a fruitfly invasion in my home for the last 2 days. ARGH! As I have been ...
Put your webmaster hat back on! Last week we talked about the daily and weekly webmaster tasks for small business owners. Were you able to ...
At Vivid Image, we get questions about writing blog posts all the time, because blogging is one of the easiest ways to refresh your website ...
Today’s Monday morning Remark!able post features an organization from rural Minnesota that is using social media to flush out a perfect, ...
/ Social Media
It happened today. Yep, summer ended and it is Back to School Time. For some it is a welcome change, for others it is a scary experience. ...
Millions of businesses look to Facebook to help grow their customer communities, but what happens when something goes wrong? Are you prepared for ...
/ Social Media
QR codes are popping up all over. You see them used for mobile payments and coupons to providing quick access to product information or even ...
/ Social Media
Although Facebook announced over a dozen changes last week, many of us are just noticing some of the differences now as they roll out. ...
/ Marketing
From make-up artists to lawyers and doctors there is a variety of skill sets in each one of these professions. In marketing and web design there ...
Any experienced sales person knows that they have to “ask for the sale”. But for those of us who are not in sales, this concept is a little bit ...
/ Marketing
I am not writing about desserts today or post-it notes. Nope, not writing about fair food, either (even though I may go to the Great Minnesota ...
/ Marketing
As some of you know, I was in the promotional products industry for part of my career. I used to travel to multiple tradeshows and see what was ...
/ Marketing
Did you learn about the 4 P’s of Marketing when you started in business? Usually taught during the first week or two of every general ...
I recently received a “Save the Date” type sign up to attend a Twins game on behalf of an alumni organization. The subject line and the body of ...
*Update: As of April 2, 2019, Google+ will no longer exist. Learn more. As a small town girl almost all my life, I am used to wide open ...
/ Marketing
“You’re blogging about email signatures? Isn’t that so…1996?” Well, apparently some global (and local) ...
*Update: As of April 2, 2019, Google+ will no longer exist. Learn more. Unless you have been spending your July living on a remote island, you ...
/ Marketing
The great thing about marketing and online media is that there is something new out there every week, to be discussed or to learn about. The not ...
As a new iPhone 4 user, I have been blown away by its ease of use and functionality. This cute little phone must be made for people like me – the ...
Last week was my summer vacation. It was awesome. I published a blog post, responded to urgent work emails and kept up with some of the marketing ...
What is it that makes something go viral? We spend lots of time trying to figure out how, when, and what to post about that will engage our ...
/ Marketing
It’s the 4th of July week! Do you have attention-getting sparkle on your site? Or is your content a dud? Some companies excel online and ...
Social applications can make a marketer’s job easier! By automating some things, and enhancing others, the right apps can make the customer ...
/ Marketing
So a few months ago, I discovered Klout. Klout is an online tool to measure your influence across 3 social platforms–Twitter, Facebook and ...
Did you know that the Banking industry is the #3 most active industry that uses social media falling behind only Search Engine Portals and ...
/ Marketing
Last week’s post was the part 1 of a 2 part post, 13 Marketing Lessons Learned in 13 years. Have you started your social media summer ...
Marketers need to be awesome writers in order to get their message communicated. Whether you are doing traditional marketing like print brochures ...
/ Marketing
Before you start reading this week’s post, have you started your homework from last week? If not, read this post, then start working on ...
By now you’ve probably heard that video is playing a Remark!able role in social marketing, and you’ve maybe even been advised to ...
Many companies, both large and small, in both the metro and rural communities, are seeing the far-reaching positive effects of social media for ...
/ Marketing
For the last few weeks I have been writing about recycling your print content and making your existing marketing material work for you, ...
It doesn’t matter what business you are in – relationships are what make sales happen. People want to buy from their friends! It is more ...
While watching a rerun of The Dukes of Hazzard, a popular ’70’s tv show, I noticed the use of CB radios were everywhere. A way to ...
/ Marketing
A native of Litchfield, MN, I have been a long time patient of Affiliated Community Medical Centers and have received fantastic care from several ...
Something I hear often while having a conversation about social media, is an overall confusion about Twitter, how it works, and why someone would ...
/ Marketing
We all know recycling is good for the earth, right? We use our resources wisely and create less waste. Content Marketing should be treated in a ...
/ Marketing
It’s National Small Business Week-a client base we love to work with to make an impact! Beth, Steve and I have blogged about social ...
If you want a great hot dog, you go to Facebook or Twitter, of course! I want to share something Remark!able with you today, and it’s a ...
/ Social Media
When I started working with VI, I had to “up” my social media skills, I had been on Twitter for almost a year, but didn’t ...
How much can one kid do? We all know how hard it is to start a successful business or raise money for our favorite non-profit organization, yet ...
/ Social Media
Sounds like a disease, doesn’t it? It’s not, it is a really easy and useful tool to get a quick measure of your social influence. ...
/ Marketing
Last week I participated in a webinar put on by HubSpot focused on the topic of Social Media Metrics – in other words, measuring actual ...
/ Marketing
In elementary school, there were reading comprehension questions at the end of every story. Why or Why Not? I recently realized I assume ...
If you are looking for ways to stand out on Facebook, there’s a new service that went live recently. It’s called Facebook Studio, and ...
/ Marketing
Last week, an event happened that most organizations and sales managers need to learn from. While it hasn’t affected me personally, it has ...
/ Marketing
This is a guest blog article from Sean D’Souza. I had the privilege of meeting and working with Sean several years ago at a conference he ...
/ Marketing
How many of you eagerly await for the smell of fresh cut grass, a warm summer breeze and the crack of a bat? I do and Target Field has been open ...
/ Marketing
Not sure how many of you have heard of Surly Beer–craft brews are a little more difficult to seek out in rural Minnesota, but craft brewers ...
If you are on Twitter, but have had trouble figuring out how you can use Twitter to better market your business, there are ample ideas for taking ...
If you have a business fan page or are considering building a fan base on Facebook, there are some wonderful tools for getting great results from ...
/ Social Media
Inspired by both marketing campaigns from Nike and Blue Cross and Blue Shield of MN, ‘DO’ is a powerful word to live by. After a long ...
/ Marketing
Percentages, fractions, and averages, oh my! These mathematical fields are vital components to real-world marketing and corporate promotion ...
I can’t believe a year has passed since we were buzzing with excitement about our first All Star Award notification from Constant Contact. ...
/ Design
Do you market products or services? Or both? I have been fortunate to market “new products” and “new services” in my ...
Who are your customers? Most Mondays I write about Remark!able use of social media by a business or non-profit. Today is going to be a bit ...
/ Marketing
It’s National Ag Day! As a proud farmer’s daughter, I love seeing how much agriculture has embraced technology and how the industry ...
It’s simple, it’s cheerful, and it’s creative. I’m talking about the Coborn’s blog, and it’s my choice for ...
/ Marketing
There were five articles this week that really captured my attention. Have you started using Quora yet? I signed up a few months ago and I am ...
/ Social Media
Subscribers to our WordPress Safe and Sound plan will notice some great new freatures in WordPress as we roll out the latest 3.1 version. There ...
/ Social Media
We believe in taking small steps, and building a Facebook Page is a great step. On March 10, 2011, all new and existing Facebook Fan Pages will ...
/ Social Media
Marketing habits can be good, like checking your Facebook page or be bad, like checking your Facebook page and not working on your marketing ...
If you are looking for some ideas on how to use social media to grow your business and connect with new potential customers, today’s ...
/ Social Media
Matt Cutts from Google answers the question: “Does Google use data from social sites in ranking?” Yes. Google uses Twitter and ...
/ Social Media
Sometimes I Get Lazy I really care about what is happening with my friends on Facebook. I hate to miss anything that is being said on Twitter. ...
/ Marketing
If your organization or brand could talk, it would speak in a tone of voice to reach, entertain, compel and engage your readers. It might speak ...
/ Social Media
Social media marketing is not limited to big cities, big brands or big budgets. In fact, taking time to engage in social media marketing an hour ...
/ Marketing
Today’s post is yet another remark!able story to share about what’s happening in the VI Community. In partnership with the Southwest ...
How many causes do you follow or support through social media? While I’ve been aware of Habitat for Humanity for years and the great work ...
/ Marketing
After recently reviewing some great posts on website content, I realized that Content Marketing is like gold mining–finding the little ...
/ Marketing
One of the email messages I receive during my workday that always puts a smile on my face is when I receive the announcement from one of our ...
A while back, I made a comment on a blog that started a big discussion. The comment was that “spam is in the eye of the receiver.” Why did this ...
/ Marketing
To stimulate blog post ideas, I use the calendar. February is the perfect time to show clients you care when you write. It is time to use ...
/ Social Media
I’ve witnessed something Remark!able over the last ten years or so of working with Altimate Medical. As technology and marketing trends ...
I was sent even more articles this past week from all of you. Here are three post that I found insightful: There were two posts about Facebook ...
/ Social Media
Facebook is at it again! This time the changes Facebook has made to Fan Pages seem to be a step in the right direction for business owners. Never ...
/ Marketing
If I see an intriguing video clip posted on a friend’s Facebook status or on a page of a website I’m checking out, I’m more ...
/ Design
I started thinking about this post over a week ago, but I was a little surprised when I got my first Super Bowl ad review 4 days before the ad ...
It’s easy to talk about the benefits of social media and the implications for small businesses, but consider what it means for a school ...
/ Marketing
Each week I am sent hundreds of blog articles on topics from social media, leadership, sales, customer services, and more. I wanted to share ...
/ Social Media
I got thinking about Facebook Fan pages. I get asked to join a lot of fan pages. Each time I visit these requests, I ask myself, “Why do ...
/ Marketing
I have been so busy working with clients and other things that I almost forgot to tell you about a really good Social Media story that happened ...
/ Social Media
You’ve heard that hidden and underutilized assets are all around you, right? If you’ve spent the time to build a business page on ...
/ Marketing
I am pleased to bring you the second in a series of three VI Community blog posts, where clients have offered to share their social networking ...
/ Social Media
Making You Look Good We have been working hard on developing our online training community to help you become more effective online. Most of you ...
/ Marketing
Your potential customers don’t have the time to sift through your business jargon. That’s where you come in…ta da! ...
In early November 2010, I remember seeing a YouTube video someone posted on Facebook talking about Minnesota’s Give to the Max Day coming ...
/ Marketing
Wow! After interviewing just a few of our clients this week, I’m even more energized to share this message. If you are not embracing ...
/ Marketing
There is no time left to wait with your marketing. Yep, no time. Like Jack Bauer, from the television show 24, you need a short phrase ...
It’s easy to get caught in a mind set that small business often takes the shape of manufacturing, retail, professional services and the ...
/ Marketing
What’s on your mind? Write in to “Dear Vivid Image,” and you’ll find a response right here on this Thursday blog spot ...
I get a lot of questions about how I manage my time when I use social media. Lately, the focus has been on LinkedIn. I originally wrote the ...
When Google announced its plan to select at least one city in its “Fiber” initiative, city leaders across the country began to dream ...
I love my work and what I get to do on behalf of other small businesses and organizations. My official title is a Social Media Manager, also ...
/ Marketing
One of Vivid Image’s New Year’s resolutions is to help our clients engage and connect with each other more than ever before. We know ...
/ Social Media
I love ‘exploring possibilities’ and looking at things in a new way. The Wednesday Minute is about us working together to grow your business and ...
I come across Remark!able examples of social media use all the time that cause me to pause and take notice. I tend to make a mental note, and as ...
With social media getting so much attention, it’s easy to get distracted by the pretty peacock who demands your attention. Opposite of the ...
/ Social Media
This past week has introduced some new changes on Facebook, and along with it a few frustrations. I’ve spent some time reviewing the changes and ...
/ Design
Just about everyone who wants to snap a picture does so with a digital camera. There’s no more film to take in and process – just point, shoot ...
If you use Facebook for personal and/or business reasons, you’ve probably been asked to grant “access” to your Facebook account by various ...
We all know that social marketing is much more then marketing. It is customer service. It is sales. It is your brand and your voice. And if you ...
/ Social Media
It’s the most popular website in the country… so naturally it’s no wonder it’s also currently the most popular movie in the ...
/ Social Media
Personal Publishing Consultant, digital design, canvases, art prints, mosaics, engraving on glass and crystal – I love to create. And I’m ...
/ Social Media
Twitter announced two key enhancements to their social media tool. Here’s our attempt to condense and explain them to you in terms you can ...
/ Design
A great piece of art will stand the test of time – a great website will not. Online technology and design trends are constantly evolving. ...
Take a guess at the answer to the following questions. We promise you won’t be graded. What is the MOST clicked on tweets on Twitter? Where ...
/ Social Media
Recently my boss invited me to attend a 3 day Social Media Conference called SOBCon in Chicago. It was a weekend full of inspiring speakers, ...
/ Social Media
Prior to joining Vivid Image, I spent 13 years of my life as a professional Recruiter (a.k.a. ‘Headhunter’) in both metro and rural ...
Three times this past week I have had people come up to me or send me an email asking the exact same question. I’m trying to convince my ...
/ Design
First of all, if you didn’t get the headline – Click Here. Like music, good design is somewhat subjective – what one person or ...
Today’s WordlessWednesday post is a reminder that even websites and blogs need a weeding of old information, a cleaning away of debris, and ...
This is our first Wordless Wednesday post from Vivid Image. Therefore, I hope you’ll forgive me for giving a little explanation into what ...
Did you know that Facebook gets as much traffic as Google, and some days even more? At Vivid Image we are dedicated to spending hundreds of hours ...
Flickr may be in cahoots with Yahoo, but a well built Flickr site optimized for search engines and used creatively for marketing will do your ...
I want small businesses to be able to make the most out of Facebook, which means I am always pushing the limits of what Facebook can do. ...
/ Social Media
Frustrated lately? If it has to do with your fan page invites, you are not alone! Facebook is growing and changing at unprecedented speed. ...
“It seems so repetitive, doesn’t it?” It’s a common question I receive when working with people who are new to the social ...
/ Social Media
Large corporate chains have extremely strict rules, regulations and guidelines outlining the presentation of their brand. These well-established ...
Setting up a fan page on Facebook is a great way to reach people who are passionate about what your business or organization does. However, the ...
/ Social Media
Twitter for Business is being offered in Delano, MN on Tuesday, December 1st from 7pm-9pm. Check your calendar and call Diane Johnson at Delano ...
/ Social Media
Check your calendar and get pre-registered now for the upcoming social marketing seminar called Satisfaction Guaranteed on September 8, 2009 ...
/ Marketing
Are your competitors capitalizing on social marketing yet?
Presented by Steve Gasser - September 29th 11am - 12pm
One of the most common concerns small businesses have about starting a blog for their business is the task of writing regular blog posts. Where ...
/ Social Media
A forum is a meeting place for open discussion. In Roman times a forum was an open space in the middle of the city to dispense justice and aid ...
/ Social Media
What is RSS On the web, there are a vast number of news sites and blogs. Every morning I like to visit a couple of news sites and blogs to catch ...
/ Social Media
A blog is a personal diary. It’s a public commentary. It’s a place to organize your thoughts or a place to publish breaking news. A ...
No one has a problem coming out of a movie or a restaurant and gleefully exclaiming to others about the great quality of the product or ...
