Have you ever heard of the acronym K.I.S.S.?  It stands for Keep It Simple, Stupid and it can be applied to almost anything: writing, design, and even your social media.

Social media is a great way to give your followers quick updates about your business or organization when they’re on the go, but if your Facebook status update turns into a long-winded recounting of your weekend adventures then it could probably use the application of the K.I.S.S. principle.

Keeping it simple means that you’ll need to administer a bit of self editing which can be tough for some writers.  If you are a writer, then you probably love the way your words sound when you read them back to yourself.  But are you considering your readers when you’re using frivolous phrases?

Embracing brevity in your writing can actually make you a better writer.  If you’re limited to 140 characters on Twitter for example, then you’re forced to feed followers only the most important information and you get to exercise your robust vocabulary.

Don’t burry the Lede

Consider this, how many of your readers are checking your updates or blogs on their lunch breaks or from their mobile devices?  Probably most of them.  If your readers only have a few minutes a day to check for updates, give them the important information first.  Provide a phone number or email link and if they’re really interested in what you have to say then they can contact your business or organization.

For Example: Tweet about a promotion you’re running.  Include a link in the Tweet that sends the visitor to your web page where you have a short description (this link could send them to a blog as well), and at the end of the article or copy give them a number or email address to contact you for more information.

Avoid Unnecessary Words and Redundancies

Using unnecessary words or saying the same thing in consecutive sentences can lengthen your message.  CopyBlogger has some great examples of word omissions and sentence restructuring that create more concise messages:

The Elements of Style says that “the fact that,” “who is” and “which was” are the most commonly used needless words.  For the former phrase you can often use a single word, and for the latter two simply omit them.

Here are examples:

Before: Because of the fact that people benefited from reading my article, I decided to follow up with another.

After: Because people benefited from reading my article, I wrote a follow up.

Before: Brian, who is a writer and a consultant, is an interesting person.

After: Brian, a writer and consultant, is an interesting person.

Before: The article, which was written by Brian, was well received.

After: Brian’s article was well received.

Apply the K.I.S.S. principle to all of your writing to give your readers concise clear messages about your business, organization, or product.

360 PSG’s new Social Media Plugged-In Package takes care of your updates for you by automatically sending linked messages to all of your social media accounts (Twitter, Facebook, and LinkedIn) when you post a news article or press release to your website.

For more information on how you can take advantage of 360 PSG’s Social Media Plugged-In Package, contact us here.

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Google has rolled out its new search engine indexing system, aptly dubbed “Caffeine,” boasting 50% fresher search results.

Under their old system, Google’s engines crawled the entire Web to update pages in its index.  Pages could not be updated until the entire batch (every site on the Web) was updated causing a significant delay between a Web page being found and then being updated in Google’s search index.  Caffeine analyzes smaller portions of the web more frequently and subsequently updates its search index on a continuous basis.

Google software engineer Carrie Grimes blogged, “As we find new pages, or new information on existing pages, we can add these straight to the index.”

More frequent updates to search engine indexes mean better results for businesses and organizations focused on improving search engine ranking with SEO efforts that include frequent content updates.

Grimes added, “We’ve built Caffeine with the future in mind. Not only is it fresher, it’s a robust foundation that makes it possible for us to build an even faster and comprehensive search engine that scales with the growth of information online, and delivers even more relevant search results to you.”

With Google’s implementation of Caffeine and 360 PSG’s new SEO packages, now is the perfect time to look at your website and determine how you can make it more search friendly.

For an explanation of what actually happens when you do a web search, Google engineer Matt Cutts offers some insight into the world of Google’s search index.

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No matter how many social networks you belong to or how many blogs you keep, it’s important that you protect your private data from falling into the wrong hands.  I’m always amazed at the personal information that some people will put online.  From birthdates, to cell phone numbers, to your children’s names, you need to be aware of what information makes it on the web.

No matter how secure you think a website is, there is always someone looking for ways to exploit you and steal your identity.  Here are five ways that you can protect yourself online:

1. Have a back-up email or “side” email

Many times you may need to provide an email address to sign up for a service.  It’s probably a good idea to keep an extra email address on the side for this very occasion.  Don’t provide your primary email address for something especially if you don’t know a lot about the service that you’re signing up for.  You never know if your address will be posted or sold to other organizations, which in turn can generate a sudden influx of unwanted SPAM to your inbox.

2. Don’t give your personal information away

There’s really no need to add your phone number, birthday, and home address to your Facebook page.  Keep your personal information private.  This includes pictures and names of your children.  Never post pictures of your children online and never give out their names.  If one of your friends posts or tags a picture of your kids on their Facebook profile, politely ask them to remove the picture.  And be cautious; just because you’re friends with someone on Facebook or Twitter, you still might be strangers in real life.  Be careful about the information you divulge to others online.

3. Stay away from online giveaways and contests

I’m sorry but you’re NOT going to win a free iPad.  No matter how promising it looks.  If it seems too good to be true, then it probably it is.  I’m sure you’ve gotten an email from a third party that makes it seem like a cinch to get your hands on a coveted iPad for free; just fill out three promotions with your name, email address, and phone number.  The only thing you end up winning is an inbox full of SPAM.  Refrain from providing your email address or any personal information to online contests that you aren’t 100% familiar with.  Your name and address could be sold to other marketers.

4. Mind your numbers!

Never put your credit card number online unless it is through a trusted site.  Check for secure URL tags or HTTPS in the address bar.  Is your browser displaying the safe lock icon?  Only provide credit card information to trusted, secure websites.  And NEVER put your social security number online.

5. Pass on these Words:

Have you seen that list of the worst passwords to use online and laughed?  Did you shake your head in amazement that someone would actually use “123456” as their banking password?  Or did your eyes swirl with wonder when you saw one of your passwords on the list?  Whatever the case, it’s a good idea to use a different password for everything.  And never use your online banking password for anything else, ever.

According to a recent article in the Huffington Post, “The recent hack of the website RockYou exposed around 32 million user passwords, which data security firm Imperva has analyzed to create a list of the worst passwords.”

Here are the 10 Worst Passwords:

1. 123456

2. 12345

3. 123456789

4. Password

5. iloveyou

6. princess

7. rockyou

8. 1234567

9. 12345678

10. abc123

Of course these are just five tips to help you protect yourself online.  Remember, if you join a new network or sign up for a new service, check the site’s privacy policies and settings before sending your sensitive data soaring into cyberspace.

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Buffalo, NY – Internet Explorer 6 (IE 6), 8 years and 7 months, died Monday, March 1, 2010 on the worldwide web following a brief… bug.

IE 6 is survived by its two younger brothers Internet Explorer 7 and Internet Explorer 8.

Born on August 27, 2001, IE 6 was the default browser shipped with Windows XP.  Although debunkers branded IE 6 the “worst tech products of all time” lists, with some publications labeling it as the “least secure software on the planet” due to its security issues and lack of support for modern web standards, it thrived well into the 2000’s.

Of course, Internet Explorer isn’t truly dead.  You can still use it.  Why you would want to use it is another matter in itself.  But CNN reported that one company in Denver, Colorado actually held a mock funeral for the out-of-date browser and saw nearly 100 mourners, all dressed in black, attending to bid a fond farewell to IE 6.

Where did this start?

Earlier this year, Google announced that they were going to start phasing out support of older browsers like IE 6.  What that really means is some of your online applications like Google Docs or your calendar may not function properly on older browsers unless you upgrade.  But before you panic and throw your Internet in the garbage, consider this: there are other browsers out there.  Mozilla Firefox, Google Chrome, Safari, and even Opera for example all have their own unique features that make them worth-while upgrades from IE 6.  Still want to remain loyal to Internet Explorer?  Upgrade your browser to IE 7 or 8 at the very least.

Why should you upgrade your browser?

First and foremost, you should update your browser so your website works better.  There are more efficient ways to surf the web.  Newer, more up-to-date web browsers can run video and audio applications more efficiently for example.

Think about it like this: do you want to watch your favorite TV shows on a 12” black and white unit or on a 42” LCD flat panel?  It seems like an easy choice.  You should want your websites to display with the same quality.  And the great part about upgrading your browser is that it doesn’t cost you anything.  It’s like getting the big-screen HD TV for free.

Second, it’s simple: browser upgrades are free and only take a few seconds to complete.

Finally, the security of your information online should be a priority.  IE 6 has many security issues, mainly because Microsoft stopped developing it nearly four years ago to concentrate on their newer versions.  IE 6 is susceptible to all sorts of Malware (malicious software).  Upgrade your browser to protect your information online and surf the web securely.

360 PSG recommends that you upgrade to a better browser (if I didn’t mention it before, Firefox is a great browser), but in the end we don’t really have any say.  We do check all of our sites across all major browsers before they go live.  However, they all have their own deficiencies, and Internet Explorer continues to reign as one of the “buggiest” browsers.

Helpful Hints

Not sure what a browser is or which one you’re using?  Don’t be embarrassed, you’re not alone.  From dictionary.com, a web browser is defined as: A software program that facilitates entry to and usage of the Internet.

Need help figuring out which version of your browser you’re using?  Here are some screenshots of where the help menus and browser version information is located on four of the most popular browsers:

Firefox

Internet Explorer

Google Chrome

Safari

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How can your website benefit from using Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, and other social networks?

Using social media to strengthen your website can seem like a daunting task, but if you formulate a clear plan and focus your energy, your social networks can become rewarding marketing tools.

Set Your Goals

First, you need to define what you want to accomplish online.  Whether you want visitors fill out a contact form, purchase a product, complete a survey, or watch a video, you can drive traffic to that goal through social media.

Formulate a Plan

Will you have a social media schedule?  Do you need to hire an intern to come in two or three times per week to Tweet, update your Facebook page, and write blogs?  Or will you designate a specific day of the week to get all of your social media publishing out of the way?

Creating a schedule for your Tweets, blogs, or other social media is a good way to gain readership.  If your followers know that you publish every Wednesday at 11 a.m. then they know when to check your site.  Posting frequently is a good way to gain and keep readership as well.  If you post every other day rather than once a week, visitors are more likely to check out your site more often.

Consistency is Key

You want to stay consistent and feed your visitors new information, something that will keep them coming back for more without being overbearing.  Give visitors helpful hints, hot deals, or engaging topics to read about.  Drive traffic back to your site with links to help you complete your online goals.  Be sure to avoid redundancies though.  Don’t overwhelm your followers by publishing the same thing over and over again.  If you don’t have a lot to offer, space out your Tweets, Facebook updates, and blog posts to give your readers a breather.

Still Need Some Assistance?

360 PSG’s Social Media Plugged-In Package gets you started by setting up your social networks for you.  We will build, interface, skin, and tie all of your major social networks together to present a unified message, reference your website, and position your profiles for optimal fans, followers, group members and friends to find you.

For more ideas and information, there is still time to sign up for 360 PSG’s Free “Social Media Seminar: Hype or Hope” encore presentation, which will be held March 24, 2010 from 8 a.m. – 10 a.m. at the First Amherst Complex.

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Why did dad change his Facebook photo to a picture of Paul McCartney? Why is my sister Wednesday Adams? Wait, since when am I friends with Zooey Deschanel?

The Celebrity Doppelganger Week meme started in late January (the actual origin is still up for debate) prompting several thousand Facebook users to change their profile pictures to someone famous (actor, athlete, musician, cartoon character, Muppet) whom they have been told they look like. Sure it’s fun to see who your Facebook friends think they resemble, but there’s a tiny problem with this doppelganger craze: it infringes upon Facebook’s Terms of Service (TOS), sort of.

*Jump Down to see 360 PSG’s employee Doppelgangers.

According to Facebook’s policy, users are responsible for the material that they upload to their accounts. If they do not own the rights to the celebrity photos and/or artwork that they publish then technically they’re violating the terms of service.

Of course the argument of fair use could be made since no one participating in the doppelganger meme is trying to make money, but it does raise some interesting questions when pondering just how strict the Facebook TOS are. Where does Facebook start policing its accounts to preserve the rights of the photographers and artists who snapped those celebrity photos?

What is Fair Use?

According to the EFF (Electronic Frontier Foundation):

In essence, fair use is a limitation on the exclusive rights of copyright holders. The Copyright Act gives copyright holders the exclusive right to reproduce works for a limited time period. Fair use is a limitation on this right. A use which is considered “fair” does not infringe copyright, even if it involves one of the exclusive rights of copyright holders. Fair use allows consumers to make a copy of part or all of a copyrighted work, even where the copyright holder has not given permission or objects to your use of the work.

Facebook protects its users and artists by removing any harmful content from profiles upon request from copyright holders. In other words, unless Mark Arnold (Mick McAllister from Teen Wolf) takes serious offense to John Morton (Assistant Homeland Security Secretary for Immigration & Customs Enforcement) putting him back on the pop culture map with a Facebook shout out, I don’t think anyone has anything to worry about posting a celebrity photo to their Facebook profile.

Like most internet memes the Doppelganger fad will fade with the emergence of a new trend. Regardless, it’s fun to see how Facebook handles, or ignores, the issue of copyright as they arise.

To keep up with the craze, I asked some coworkers to send me photos of their celebrity doppelgangers. Here are some of the best ones:

Bryan (Bruce Lee)

Nick (Benny from The Sandlot)

Mike (Mr. Potato Head)

Creative Team:

Jeremy (Charlie Korsmo, "the kid from Hook")

Matt (The Fonz)

Martin (Harrison Ford)

Dan (singer Phil Stacey)

Programmers:

Ian (Chris Kattan)

Eric (Geico Caveman)

The Head Hanchos:

Jay (the yellow guy from The Wiggles)

Kristen (Monica Lewinsky)

Ben (Freddie Prinze Jr.)

Joel (John Hodgman, "The PC Guy")

Matt W. (Beaker)

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We love Twitter.  And for good reason: Twitter can help make your business better.  There are so many applications available making it easy to Tweet from your cell phone or your desktop that it just makes sense that Twitter is one of the fastest growing social networks ever.  Not convinced?  Here are a few reasons why you should use Twitter:

1. Expand Your Network

First and foremost, Twitter helps expand your network by creating deeper relationships online.  It’s a no-brainer: the more followers you have, the more people there are who know about your business.  Every Tweet becomes a mini viral marketing campaign.  You also have something to learn through Twitter.  Search for others offering useful tips and services pertinent to your own business.  Every time one of the people you follow Tweets, you potentially have something valuable to gain.

2. Build Credibility

Twitter is a great way to inform your followers of upcoming seminars, workshops, or training sessions.  Add “more info” links to your Tweets to help drive more traffic back to your website.  In fact, now you can even link your Twitter account to your Power Point presentation to automatically send Tweets during your seminars.  You can also encourage participation from your followers by offering them a chance to respond during a presentation via Twitter on their mobile device.

3. Coordinate Promotions and Deals

Offer your followers incentives to keep following you.  Coupons, discounts, samples, exclusive sneak previews, and other promotions are a great way to reward your current followers and entice potential new followers.  By offering specials and exclusive deals, you are encouraging your followers to interact by visiting your website for more information or possibly consider upgrading their current service or product.  As a result, if your visitors respond positively to your deals, there is a good chance that they will help spread the word about your business or organization with reTweets.

4. Avoid Redundancies, Build Loyalty

As always, staying as active on the web as possible is crucial to creating a strong following on any network.  The more you Tweet, the more you market your company.  However, you do want to avoid redundancies.  Don’t promote the same event several times daily for three months leading up to the event.  Give your followers fresh content and they will view you as a valuable online resource.

Share your expertise.  Involve yourself in conversations to gain recognition and then convert those discussions into sales, contacts, or even employment opportunities.  Once you have a reputation as an “expert” you have the potential to gain more followers and create a loyalty with your current followers.

5. Look for Leads

Use Twitter as a way to gather information about your customers.  The more you learn about your followers, the easier it will be to know their needs and decide how you can help them.  Offer your knowledge on topics related to your industry and send that traffic back to your website.

Twitter isn’t about selling products, but rather a tool used to interact with others seeking useful information on the web.  Even use feedback Tweets about your business offered by your followers to help you improve processes.
Do you use Twitter for your business or organization?  Sound interesting but feel you don’t have the time or resources for Twitter?  Contact 360 PSG to find out how we can help streamline your social networking process with our new Social Media Plugged-In Package.

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Who controls what you do on the web?

No one is really “the boss” on the internet, though your ISP (Internet Service Provider) has a say in your content, or at least the speed in which you see it.  As of now ISPs have “principles” that they are supposed to adhere to but still have the ability to selectively block content and regulate the speed of your service.  So would government regulation of the internet, in order to stop this “meddling,” be good or bad for the average user?

What does internet neutrality really mean for you?

In a recent article, USA Today reported that the FCC is proposing the following “guidelines” for net neutrality:

• No blocking. ISPs would not be allowed to block any online content, including features, apps and other Web-based innovations that develop in the future (spam, viruses and the like excluded).

• No favoritism. ISPs would not be allowed to give preferential treatment to their own content. And no price-gouging of customers who don’t want to buy their stuff.

• No discrimination. That means an ISP can’t slow down, speed up or otherwise discriminate among online traffic. They’d have to treat a start-up just as they treat Google and themselves.

• Wireless, too. Net neutrality would apply to all broadband platforms, including wireless.

• Full disclosure. To keep online traffic flowing smoothly, an ISP might be allowed to slow down some transmissions – say, e-mail – but it would have to say so publicly.

Could net neutrality become a reality anytime soon?

President Obama made a promise on the campaign trail in 2007 that if elected president he would back net neutrality.  Whether or not he was just trying to appeal to the MTV generation or not is yet to be seen however the net neutrality debate is starting to gain some momentum.

FCC Chairman Julius Genachowski is the big cheese of Obama’s technology policy and believes that net neutrality is “critical to the long-term success of the Internet” arguing that the plan would protect millions of consumers.  He contends that no government action would be dangerous for consumers.

“Doing nothing would impose its own form of unacceptable cost,” he said. “It would deprive innovators and investors of confidence that the free and open Internet we depend on today will still be here tomorrow.”

If it’s not broken, why fix it?

The internet is supposed to be an open forum for creativity and information sharing.  It has been around for over 40 years, so why the sudden influx of neutrality proponents?

Not everyone is for net neutrality though.  Some feel that government would be overstepping its bounds by regulating the internet and site First Amendment infringement in such actions.

In her report entitled “Net Neutrality:  A Further Take on the Debate,” Barbara Esbin, Senior Fellow of The Progress & Freedom Foundation, a think tank devoted to the study of the digital revolution, opposes net neutrality.

Esbin argues that a strong reasoning as to why net neutrality has abruptly taken center stage has not been provided and questions the logic of why after 40 years of indifference toward ISPs regulating data, the government has decided to step in.  She is also critical of the validity of the government’s abrupt concern about the data that ISPs control.

“We now suddenly cannot trust broadband network operators to discriminate in the handling of Internet traffic in socially beneficial ways, so we must outlaw their ability to do so at all.”

Esbin also argues that with the high traffic numbers on the web, it is highly unlikely that ISPs are monitoring and censoring information on an individual basis thus government regulation of service would be frivolous.

The government on the other hand wants to ensure that if any regulation of information were to occur, it be done out in the open.

The debate will surely rage on in the coming months.  Everyone should have a say.  What do you think about net neutrality?  Post your comments below.

Click here to read the full report on Esbin’s arguments.

Click here to read the full USA Today article.

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We’re finally settled in our new office space and more focused on providing our clients with quality websites. 360 PSG has officially expanded.

Probably our favorite part of the new office space is the opportunity to add some creative decorations to our work space; creative space to inspire creative people. Hopefully our new workspace will inspire and help us circumvent creative block altogether.

Over a couple of weekends this month I’ve crafted a Styrofoam deer head and some colorful Space Invaders.

Both decorations were inspired by expensive hipster wall art and executed with homemade precision using an Exacto knife, a few sheets of foam board, and some neon scrapbook cardstock from Michael’s at a fraction of the cost. (The decorations retail online for $49 and $39 respectively).

First I printed out some patterns found doing a Google image search.

Next, I traced the patterns onto some foam board and cut them out with an Exacto knife.

Finally, I retraced the cutout Space Invaders onto some neon-color scrapbook paper, cut out the shapes, and used spray adhesive to give them some color.

In addition to spreading out within the new workspace, all of our departments are now in proximity meaning our sales team is all in one office, Matt and Joel have their own offices (as previously mentioned), the programmers have their own room, and creative and programming team leaders Ben and Jason are back together sharing the office where they started a few years ago.

In addition to the new space, we also added another designer to the 360 PSG design team. Martin Bielicki joined the team adding extensive Flash experience and a background in photography. He designed the Flash piece for the new Frightworld site, which has been getting an exorbitant amount of hits since going live.

Now we just have to figure out how to hang this giant dry erase board…

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Let the construction begin! Last week construction began on 360 PSG’s expanded office space and the good news is we haven’t suffered any casualties, yet. (There was one close call when our office manager Kristen was startled when a rogue drywall saw tore through her wall and nabbed a bit of our fax machine).

360 PSG is spreading its wings with new office space, expanding to the space next door to our current location in the First Amherst building.

The expanded office space helps accommodate our growing staff and makes room for new hires in the future. There will be a reception area, a more spacious conference room, Matt and Joel will have private offices, and there’s even talk of a new lamp for Ben’s office…

If all goes smoothly, we should be in our new office space by early October, which has 360 employees buzzing. I asked my coworkers what excites them most about moving into the new office space:

Jason Ortiz:

Nothing is more exciting about have the company expand and grow into a new larger space and me getting to move back to where it all started… back to my old windowless corner across from Ben in the original 360 development room… simply awesome.

Jill Hobbs:

It will be nice for the designers especially. We’ll now have a larger space we can decorate and create an inspiring and creative environment. I’m really looking forward to it!

Ben Shepard:

I’m not even changing rooms, desk or desk position.

Matt Whelan:

I’m excited that I won’t have to listen to Joel … CONSTANTLY!!!

Joel Colombo:

I am excited to have a brand new welcome lobby/reception area and much bigger conference space.
Oh yeah… the new private office is pretty great too… hopefully it will stop Matt from bothering me all day.

Matt Wetter:

I’m excited that this is visual proof that our company is growing. And hopefully we will have some color in this place now.

Check back for updates on 360 PSG office renovations including photographs of progress and eventually our brand new office space.

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