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Archive for the ‘Accessibility’ Category

Mobile Shopping and Strategy: The Trend That’s Here to Stay

Posted on by Tamara Brooks

Mobile Shopping
Mobile marketing is not exactly a new concept but it has yet to catch up to other conventional platforms due to a few drawbacks. The reach of mobile technology is dependent on the number of mobile devices in use today. Very few people can function without a mobile phone and with the advent of 4G smartphones (who’s got their iPhone 4?!), the reach and ability of a mobile device has grown tenfold. Naturally, it makes sense that marketing through these devices will mean the ability to access more people directly. Even your grandma is using her phone to browse the web (Hi Grams!). Ergo, getting a mobile version of your site and incorporating mobile advertising using tools like AdWords is a smart marketing strategy move, especially if you are in the retail industry. Read more about how to do that on our previous blog post.

Considering the number of mobile users in the world, mobile marketing as a concept sounds very lucrative. Unfortunately, mobile users have yet to take advantage of the widespread technology that can enable this marketing tool to succeed. For example, do YOU have a mobile version of your website? If yes, does it look exceptional for iPhone, Android, Blackberry and other mobile users? How accessible, functional and relevant is it to your customers? Believe it or not, mobile marketing is no longer “in the future”; ladies and gentlemen, it is NOW. If you’re interested in joining the world in going mobile, be sure to check out Webcopyplus‘ must-read blog article about how The World is Going Mobile. If the issues standing in the way of mobile marketing are addressed one by one, it can easily overtake email marketing. (more…)

How to setup SMS (Texting) to “like” a Facebook fan page!

Posted on by Tamara Brooks

What? You can do that???
That’s the usual response we get when we tell clients and friends that they can advertise their Facebook pages by inviting people to text to join a Facebook fan page.

And, the best news? It’s free. Normal text messaging rates from the user’s phone company still apply but for you, it’s no cost. Also, the person signing up needs to have Facebook Mobile activated on their Facebook account or be willing to activate it to do this.

So, how do you setup the SMS to “Like” your fan page?
First, you need to have a few things to get started:

  1. In order to have this functionality, your Facebook page must have at least 25 fans. This was recently changed from the 100 fan requirement.
  2. You also need your own custom URL on Facebook. Again, you will need to have 25 or more fans to obtain this, but it’s easy to set up once you reach this level. Simply go to: http://www.facebook.com/username/ and follow the directions to create your fan page custom URL.

Once finished you can promote your fan page by printing or announcing the following:

“Like” our company by SMS’ing!
Send a text to: fan YourPageName to 32665 (FBOOK) to join our Facebook page today.
(Be sure to replace “YourPageName” with your own Facebook page name.)

Want to see what we mean? Try it out! Send the following text message to 32665 to join the October 17 Media page through SMS:
fan October17Media

So, the answer is YES. YES! You can SMS (text message) to “like” a Facebook fan page!

Written by:
Tamara Brooks {Profile}: Online Marketing Wizard @ October 17 Media
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WordPress 3.0 New Release – Epitome of Awesome

Posted on by Tamara Brooks

With the latest release of WordPress 3.0, users have been eager to find out what’s new with their favourite blogging software. This new version (the 13th major release) promises a better and lighter user interface, more customization in terms of appearance and the much awaited joining of WordPress Multi-User and WordPress (WP 3.0 = WPMU + WP for the mathematically-inclined). Aside from bug fixes, the following new features should entice you to update your blog to the latest version immediately.

1. Multi-site capabilities – Whether you run 1 or 1,000 blogs, you can manage them using one profile. No more logging in and out of your different profiles to update your blogs. From a single menu, you can update, edit and post to different sites. Blog network managers are blasting their vuvuzelas now that their jobs have become much simpler. (more…)

The Battle of the Top 5 Web Browsers: Who Ranked 1st?

Posted on by Tamara Brooks

top5browsersInternet users today have a number of options when it comes to browsers. Considering most home PCs run on Microsoft Windows, the default browser that comes with it is Microsoft’s Internet Explorer. Most websites are compatible with IE, however, IE has its fair share of glitches. Moreover, there are plenty of other browsers out there with a better interface suited to particular needs of the internet user. For instance, someone who uses the browser to check mail or view a few websites may not experience any problems with one browser, whereas someone who streams videos online or plays online games may find the same browser quite inadequate.
(more…)

What’s Your Type?

Posted on by Tamara Brooks

Random AlphabetIdeally speaking, aesthetics is one of the major principles web designers and developers consider in creating websites that will work and cater to the best of their clients’ interests. The typeface you choose can contribute to defining the nature of the website — it sets the tone and the mood of the content, and just generally helps in delivering the website as a whole package. However, in the past there have been typeface limitations that prevented web designers from expressing their inner artists, e.g. being forced to only use web safe fonts.

Until now, using our favorite household web typefaces would mean jumping through hoops due to all the licensing and browsing support issues one would have to deal with. Using real fonts would also mean Flash replacement text, back links and exported images… but things are starting to change. Slowly, the world’s font libraries have started opening their doors and likely it will only be a matter of time until we get access to a selection far greater than Arial and Verdana.
(more…)

October 17 Media specializes in website development, paid search advertising, social media and viral marketing, search engine optimization (SEO) and email marketing.