Sunday, February 28, 2010

What is Google Voice, how to use it, why I love it. | [Desaraev | Agency Couture]

I Love Google Voice. Well truth be told, I love ALL THINGS GOOGLE. If I'm a fan-girl anything it's definitely for my love of Google and a couple of key writers work ie. Hester Browne, Paulo Coehlo and Chris Brogan.



Google Voice Number
Google Voice is full of helpful features for individuals or business owners. You start off with the option to get a "Google Voice Number" or you can use your current number. I chose to get a Google Voice Number.



Google Voicemail
After you set up your new number you can also set up to have your voicemail forwarded to Google. Google Voicemail gets transcribed, the voicemail is emailed to you, and you get your new voicemail as a text message (SMS). You can save these messages "technically" forever.

Google Voice Forwarding
You can choose to have as many people on your account as you'd like. Which means you can have your phone number ring EVERYONE in your company. You can even choose which people can auto go into voicemail and who has to use a password. Which means not everyone needs voicemail access. To call from the Google number you have to call Google and sign into it then call from Google. The one problem with his is if you don't want everyone to have voicemail access.

International Google Voice Calls
International phone calls via Google Voice are very reasonable. You can add a maximum of $70 worth of credits at one time.

More Google Voice videos are available here.

I love this new thing called Google Voice. I say new but technically it's been around for a few months, and I can barely remember when this feature didn't exist. I'm sorry to say to the open public that Google Voice is still in Beta which means it's only available by invite. I have a few invitations that I was saving for clients, but will give one to YOU dear subscriber. No money catch, I'm not going to charge you for it.



Learn more about Listia from one of my blog posts, click here.




As always you are more then welcome to use any of my content, repost it, rewrite it, and broadcast it all I ask is that you link back to where you found it (http://interactivemedias.blogspot.com)


I would also love to hear YOUR comments, questions or concerns of my posts and reviews! What do you think, its ok if our opinions don't match up! Leave a comment or let me know what you would like to learn more about and maybe it will become my next blog post or video blog.


Also don't forget to subscribe to my video tutorials (on youtube or itunes) as well as subscribe to my blog posts on here so you can have the latest web tips, tricks and book reviews delivered directly to your inbox!



Thanks for reading!


--Desarae A. Veit
Agency Couture




RE: Be a Teacher, Not a Douchebag

Response to Be a Teacher, Not a Douchebag by Ryan Kovach


I couldn't agree with this post more. I don't know how many times I've been through similar scenarios and sometimes it scares them but every time you have the opportunity to prevail. Clients love learning. Some days I'm generous even with non-clients who become friends and then become clients. More often then not, that is what a blog can be for. To tell people exactly what you do for free, the will love it, learn a little, probably still be a little over whelmed, realize you know what you are doing and want to do their job and just pay you to do yours. Great Post.



Subscribe to Agency Couture/Desaraev's Blog   Subscribe in a reader



Thanks for reading!











Learn more about Listia from one of my blog posts, click here.






As always you are more then welcome to use any of my content, repost it, rewrite it, and broadcast it all I ask is that you link back to where you found it (http://interactivemedias.blogspot.com). Love to read your comments, so don't forget to post them here or via twitter (I'm @DesaraeV).

Also don't forget to subscribe to my video tutorials (on youtube or itunes) as well as subscribe to my blog posts on here so you can have the latest web tips, tricks and book reviews delivered directly to your inbox!


Saturday, February 27, 2010

Does anyone read? Do you hate/love what I have to say? {Desarae A. Veit | DesaraeV}

Chris Brogan recently wrote, Stop Talking About Yourself, in this post he reminds us bloggers to make our posts helpful to other people and not all me, me, me ME! Granted we are all guilty of the occasional post about our personality test (my last post), a post about a client and how it relates to strategy (Chris's last post), a long story about my childhood family vacation to Disney that mentions how old I am (my birthday post). All that being said, I love Chris Brogan's writing, his blog, and book. If your not following his current posts find him now at http://chrisbrogan.com to read all his posts.



After you read Chris's post, I would love your feedback. Do you think I talk about myself to much? What kind of posts do you want to see? Without your regular feedback, I'm left guessing what to tell you, what you want to learn, and maybe checking click through rates. I know a big part of blogging is just in the title and maybe that is the biggest thing I need to work on, but generally I guess that you guys like what I have to say by comments, click through rates, site visits, thank yous or retweets. Maybe that is wrong, but I know there are more of you out there who rarely comment, I know this because occasionally you email me and mention posts I wrote weeks ago. Those blog mentions and thank yous never get old, trust me some days I'm surprised anyone follows me on Twitter let alone a blog or wanting to buy my paintings, so thank you. I look forward to getting to know you all, let's build a dialog and let you drive what questions I answer on here.


Subscribe to Agency Couture/Desaraev's Blog   Subscribe in a reader



Thanks for reading!











Learn more about Listia from one of my blog posts, click here.






As always you are more then welcome to use any of my content, repost it, rewrite it, and broadcast it all I ask is that you link back to where you found it (http://interactivemedias.blogspot.com). Love to read your comments, so don't forget to post them here or via twitter (I'm @DesaraeV).

Also don't forget to subscribe to my video tutorials (on youtube or itunes) as well as subscribe to my blog posts on here so you can have the latest web tips, tricks and book reviews delivered directly to your inbox!


About me, I took a personality test recently.. thought I'd share. {Desarae A. Veit | DesaraeV}

The best ways to communicate with this person are to be brief, direct and share your feelings clearly. 

 

Natural Gifts

  • Vision & Leadership

Needs

  • To look good intellectually
  • To be right
  • To be respected
  • Approval from a select few

Wants

  • To be productive
  • To hide securities tightly
  • To be a leader
  • Challenging adventure



Subscribe to Agency Couture/Desaraev's Blog   Subscribe in a reader



Thanks for reading!











Learn more about Listia from one of my blog posts, click here.






As always you are more then welcome to use any of my content, repost it, rewrite it, and broadcast it all I ask is that you link back to where you found it (http://interactivemedias.blogspot.com). Love to read your comments, so don't forget to post them here or via twitter (I'm @DesaraeV).

Also don't forget to subscribe to my video tutorials (on youtube or itunes) as well as subscribe to my blog posts on here so you can have the latest web tips, tricks and book reviews delivered directly to your inbox!


@32WebDesign When you market yourself online the connection between effort and results is nonlinear. You can put in a little effort and get huge results.


When you market yourself online the connection between effort and results is nonlinear. You can put in a little effort and get huge results. -- @32WebDesign 


This company has two tweets and I don't want to call a lot of negative attention on anyone, but I have a hard time supporting this statement. The only way you will have success online with very little or zero effort is if you are being very proactive offline. Either way you are putting out some positive and proactive energy somewhere.  You don't get quality (non-bot) followers by putting out spam. You may get followers by being negative but probably not very positive ones, or just ones that temporarily find you amusing, like gossip column amusing. Two tweets doesn't equal an online strategy.


Thoughts?


Subscribe to Agency Couture/Desaraev's Blog   Subscribe in a reader



Thanks for reading!











Learn more about Listia from one of my blog posts, click here.






As always you are more then welcome to use any of my content, repost it, rewrite it, and broadcast it all I ask is that you link back to where you found it (http://interactivemedias.blogspot.com). Love to read your comments, so don't forget to post them here or via twitter (I'm @DesaraeV).

Also don't forget to subscribe to my video tutorials (on youtube or itunes) as well as subscribe to my blog posts on here so you can have the latest web tips, tricks and book reviews delivered directly to your inbox!


Discovering BaseKit.com a Site for Designers who want to cut out the Programmer {Desarae A. Veit | DesaraeV}



Thanks to Twitter friend, Thomas Webster, I recently discovered basekit.com and its powerful web design capabilities. I'm still new to BaseKit and can't promise that the programming will be up to web standards. I also can't promise that the sites are programmed for every browser but it's an interesting option for designers who don't know how to program. Even if you do work for a company full of programmers I can see using BaseKit.com to upload your designs and show off the sites as a wire frame.

BaseKit.com is currently in invitation only beta, but you can sign up for their waiting list at BaseKit.com.



Subscribe to Agency Couture/Desaraev's Blog   Subscribe in a reader



Thanks for reading!











Learn more about Listia from one of my blog posts, click here.






As always you are more then welcome to use any of my content, repost it, rewrite it, and broadcast it all I ask is that you link back to where you found it (http://interactivemedias.blogspot.com). Love to read your comments, so don't forget to post them here or via twitter (I'm @DesaraeV).

Also don't forget to subscribe to my video tutorials (on youtube or itunes) as well as subscribe to my blog posts on here so you can have the latest web tips, tricks and book reviews delivered directly to your inbox!


Some Times There ARE TOO Many Words to Describe What You Are Thinking [Desaraev | Agency Couture]

Speechless isn't always the problem. I've mentioned before that I teach you (or try) by learning from my mistakes. Whelp,  here might be another one. Some days you don't need to vent (event though you think you do). Some times you don't need to say what you REALLY think. It's not going to be the end of the world if you do not have that one conversation. Pick your battles and try to figure out which words will come back to bite you in the ass.

It's not a coincidence that I'm writing this. I haven't done this in a while KNOCK ON WOOD. I was just having some though provoking time with my computer and cognition made me think about the past, I hope this thought helps you more then it has me. Some lessons are hard to learn and being diplomatically laid back (even with friends and family) is a tough rule of thumb. Good luck.

Photo Credit serhio

As always you are more then welcome to use any of my content, repost it, rewrite it, and broadcast it all I ask is that you link back to where you found it (http://interactivemedias.blogspot.com)


I would also love to hear YOUR comments, questions or concerns of my posts and reviews! What do you think, its ok if our opinions don't match up! Leave a comment or let me know what you would like to learn more about and maybe it will become my next blog post or video blog.

Also don't forget to subscribe to my video tutorials (on youtube or itunes) as well as subscribe to my blog posts on here so you can have the latest web tips, tricks and book reviews delivered directly to your inbox!



Thanks for reading!

--Desarae A. Veit
Agency Couture







Friday, February 26, 2010

How to write an introduction sales letter [Desaraev | Agency Couture]

Use the persons exact name. Make sure the spelling is correct. NEVER start with Dear Sir/Madam.

It's important when you haven't met with someone yet to assume they want and need our services. Don't ask if their site is meeting the status quo. The answer will be yes because they don't know how it could be doing better. Instead tell them that you where on their site, why you found it or how, and what you see wrong with it.

In the next paragraph explain our services in an 8th grade fashion (assume they don't know what SEO means and try to avoid acronyms unless you are going to explain them in the email). I'm not saying to assume the customer is stupid or to talk down to them. If they own a business they are probably very intelligent but they just don't know our industry jargon (yet).

Then let them know you would love to meet with them next week (or a fairly specific range of time) to discuss our services and how we can help them. IF their site is really bad you could visit w3.org and look up some specific errors on their site or other recommendations for improvement.

Don't forget to include your contact information, social networks are optional, and your company website. Try to be brief, helpful and to the point. Check your spelling.

As always you are more then welcome to use any of my content, repost it, rewrite it, and broadcast it all I ask is that you link back to where you found it (http://interactivemedias.blogspot.com)


I would also love to hear YOUR comments, questions or concerns of my posts and reviews! What do you think, its ok if our opinions don't match up! Leave a comment or let me know what you would like to learn more about and maybe it will become my next blog post or video blog.

Also don't forget to subscribe to my video tutorials (on youtube or itunes) as well as subscribe to my blog posts on here so you can have the latest web tips, tricks and book reviews delivered directly to your inbox!



Thanks for reading!

--Desarae A. Veit
Agency Couture







I Reserve the Right to Change my Mind/Opinion, Daily if Necessary. {Desarae A. Veit DesaraeV}



Technology changes, software gets an upgrade, clothing styles come and go just the same way people improve and change. I reserve the right to change. I hope I'm always adjusting my opinions, focus, learn new things and adapt with the times. I may not always be right, that's a fact, but I'll probably stick to my guns unless you have proof and facts to back up your opinions. Thing of how long people walked around thinking that the world was square, a long time right? I've never been to space, for all I know it may be diamond shared or pear shaped, but we have pictures (that I could probably make with Photoshop).

My challenge to you is to: Think Like a Scientist. Build up theories and write up hypothesis. Research your ideas thoroughly. Test them in real life. Find out what works then record the results, share them then rinse and repeat.

Photo Credit: mars_discovery_district

Subscribe to Agency Couture/Desaraev's Blog   Subscribe in a reader



Thanks for reading!











Learn more about Listia from one of my blog posts, click here.






As always you are more then welcome to use any of my content, repost it, rewrite it, and broadcast it all I ask is that you link back to where you found it (http://interactivemedias.blogspot.com). Love to read your comments, so don't forget to post them here or via twitter (I'm @DesaraeV).

Also don't forget to subscribe to my video tutorials (on youtube or itunes) as well as subscribe to my blog posts on here so you can have the latest web tips, tricks and book reviews delivered directly to your inbox!


Thursday, February 25, 2010

Why You Need A Social Media Strategy. [Desaraev | Agency Couture]

We've discussed goals and social media separately multiple times. I'm not sure how often we have talked about your strategy so let's do that now. At this point you know that you want to join the conversation and why, right? If I need to sell you on that go back a post or two and read

“The low cost of social media can lull marketers into improvising solutions,” Paul Verna says, eMarketer senior analyst and author of the Insight Brief “Five Reasons Why Marketers Need to Have a Social Media Strategy.” 

Trick is that money takes up a lot of precious time. Social media takes a lot of time or money to hire someone to do what you don't have time for. Yesterday I talked about just how precious time really is. Social media may not take up a ton of up front money resources like buying advertising time, but it takes up as much time if not more as producing a great television spot or new website. The difference between social media and a news paper or television ad is that once you've produced your plan of action you've just begun. You need to know why you are part of the conversation, who you want to talk to, what you want to say, what you don't want to say, what the take away is and how you are going to drive traffic.


“Instead of researching the best ways to engage, many businesses create accounts across multiple social networks and publish content without a plan or purpose. However, businesses that conduct research will find a rewarding array of options and opportunities.”
  —Brian Solis, founder and principal, FutureWorks, in a blog post on Mashable, January 11, 2010 


A strategy is also critical because social media users will expect companies to be savvy in the social space. That includes making sure social marketing initiatives are in line with other brand marketing strategies. -- EMarketer


Your online policy and strategy is the guiding light when things are good and when they go bad. What do you do when a customer is angry or makes a video about not liking you? You need to plan for this. What are you trying to gain by being part of the conversation? Do you want to inspire your customers or challenge them? If you are part of the conversation you have the opportunity to both guide and inspire them by the content that you produce. If you ask questions you may invoke people wanting to respond. If you make fun and inspirational videos you may get video responses or new and adoring fans. With negative content you are likely to receive negative content. Do you see a pattern here?


You can integrate social media into every fabric of your corporation from brand-building, to networking, customer service, brain storming, project collaboration, competition monitoring, research, to counter-act negative, sales, and IT. Am I missing a few? Are you using social media for more then just the list I've come up with?
"Although companies may use social media for several discrete business purposes, they should work toward integrating social media expertise into functional teams. Silos of expertise should be avoided." --Emarketer


“A Facebook promotion is only as good as the information that it feeds back to the sales, CRM, marketing or senior management executives who can turn it into a business gain,” said Mr. Verna.

"Regardless of the pedigree – public relations, corporate communications, marketing, customer service, research, etc. – today’s social media task masters are probably still operating from the traditional corporate mindset or training. First, you define your audience and your goals and objectives. Then you develop talking points to convince that audience to complete the action that fulfills the goals or objectives. Then you measure, report; rinse, repeat." -- Jason Falls


To develop your parameters of conversation for your social media efforts, answer these questions (by Jason Falls):
  • What types of people do we want to talk to?
  • Where do we find them?
  • What are they talking about already?
  • Is it appropriate for us to join that conversation and, if so, when?
  • How do we inject usefulness into the conversation without being overly promotional?
  • What value can we provide in terms of knowledge, opinion or content?
  • How can we earn their trust?
  • When we do earn their trust, how can we best ask for their input into our product or service?
  • Under what circumstances can we point the conversation toward considering our product?
  • Can we say or do something that invites someone else to point the conversation toward considering our product?
  • How shall we apologize and regroup if we overstep their comfort level or accuse us of violating their trust?

Photo Credit House Of Sims

As always you are more then welcome to use any of my content, repost it, rewrite it, and broadcast it all I ask is that you link back to where you found it (http://interactivemedias.blogspot.com)



I would also love to hear YOUR comments, questions or concerns of my posts and reviews! What do you think, its ok if our opinions don't match up! Leave a comment or let me know what you would like to learn more about and maybe it will become my next blog post or video blog.


Also don't forget to subscribe to my video tutorials (on youtube or itunes) as well as subscribe to my blog posts on here so you can have the latest web tips, tricks and book reviews delivered directly to your inbox!



Thanks for reading!

--Desarae A. Veit
Agency Couture







Wednesday, February 24, 2010

LG Watch Phone {Desarae A. Veit | DesaraeV}




These watches remind me of James Bond, and frankly Sean Connery is hot for an older gentlemen. Needless to say, I wouldn't mind sporting one. Not so sure I would want it as my only mobile device, but it does have a convenience factor. I would never forget or lose my phone, have a cute new watch (although might be a little over sized for me.. I have small wrists). I'm not so sure about talking on them though. I would probably need to invest in a blue tooth, which would be a good permanent solution for me and would probably always be forgotten.

What do you think is this a hot trend?

Subscribe to Agency Couture/Desaraev's Blog   Subscribe in a reader



Thanks for reading!











Learn more about Listia from one of my blog posts, click here.






As always you are more then welcome to use any of my content, repost it, rewrite it, and broadcast it all I ask is that you link back to where you found it (http://interactivemedias.blogspot.com). Love to read your comments, so don't forget to post them here or via twitter (I'm @DesaraeV).

Also don't forget to subscribe to my video tutorials (on youtube or itunes) as well as subscribe to my blog posts on here so you can have the latest web tips, tricks and book reviews delivered directly to your inbox!


Stand Out in the Crowd | Guest Blogger - Joel Carlson

When it comes to yourself, how you carry yourself, act, talk, what you read and do, are you like everyone else, or do you stand out? It's one thing to be slightly different, it's another thing to be original and make a clear definition of who you are. Some people see celebrities in movies, TV and music and think "I want to be just like them." But is that really true, or do you like one specific thing about them, and that's what you like, as opposed to what they wear, eat, say, think and do?

Sometimes when you ask people, what kind of guy/girl are you looking for, they say a little bit of so-and-so, a lot of this person and a touch of that other person. How about describing characteristics or qualities that you're looking for, as opposed to types of people that you like? This is also true in business and in personal development. How about working at being great at customer service, super at design and awesome at creativity. It's easy to say I want to be like Steve Jobs, Bill Gates and Warren Buffett. They all exist and have established themselves and their business personality. How about being the next.......YOU?

For the longest time, the IDS Tower (pictured above) was the tallest building in the downtown Minneapolis skyline. Then came a few other tall buildings in the 90's, but even when they were built and occupied, you could still tell and see the IDS Tower in the crowd. You can do that yourself by standing out and tall in the crowd. Even when others may come to try to match you, you can still stand out by being different.  Please give me your thought and input on this.

--
Joel Carlson
Account Executive | Agency Couture
Web. Design. Search. Marketing. Mobile.

Time is More Precious than YOU Give it Credit for, Here's Why... [Desaraev | Agency Couture]

Money can be earned, spent and earned again.
We covet this but shouldn't. 
Family and friends are hard earned and precious to keep close. 
Your job should be a passion, more then just a means to an end. 
Beautiful things and a clean house are bought and earned with manual labor.

What do all the above have in common? You SPEND time to receive money, family, friends, a successful career, a clean house, and beautiful things. You can re-earn everything BUT time. Time is a precious commodity. Time seems to run faster when we are enjoying ourselves and doing what we love, conversely time is like a turtle when we are bored. I keep asking you to set goals, because time is limited and if there are things you want you should head towards them, not need for delaying your happiness. You will find road bumps along the way to your dreams, but you can accomplish things faster if you know your destination.

Head towards your dreams, your goals, your destination.. Today.

Photo Credit swamysk

As always you are more then welcome to use any of my content, repost it, rewrite it, and broadcast it all I ask is that you link back to where you found it (http://interactivemedias.blogspot.com)



I would also love to hear YOUR comments, questions or concerns of my posts and reviews! What do you think, its ok if our opinions don't match up! Leave a comment or let me know what you would like to learn more about and maybe it will become my next blog post or video blog.


Also don't forget to subscribe to my video tutorials (on youtube or itunes) as well as subscribe to my blog posts on here so you can have the latest web tips, tricks and book reviews delivered directly to your inbox!



Thanks for reading!

--Desarae A. Veit
Agency Couture







If you do little things well you will do big ones better. [Desaraev | Agency Couture]

It's not fitting for a fool to live in luxury-- how much worse for a slave to rule over princes! -- Proversb 19:10

A few questions to ask yourself and your staff:

  • Are you a motivated person? 
  • Are your employees hard workers? 
  • Do you bother setting goals for yourself? 
  • When you set goals do you bother following them through? 
  • Do you dare to dream big or just settle for what the world puts before you?
All hard work brings a profit, but mere talk leads only to poverty. --Bible

A prudent man keeps his knowledge to himself, but the heart of fools blurts out folly. --Bible

Lazy hands make a man poor, but diligent hands bring wealth. --Bible

Whoever can be trusted with very little can also be trusted with much, and whoever is dishonest with very little will also be dishonest with much. --Bible

Whatever your hand finds to do, do it with all your might, for in the grave, where you are going there is neither working nor planning nor knowledge nor wisdom. The race is not to the swift or the battle to the strong, nor does food come to the wise or wealth to the brilliant or favor to the learned; but time and chance happen to them all. -- Ecclesiastes 9



As always you are more then welcome to use any of my content, repost it, rewrite it, and broadcast it all I ask is that you link back to where you found it (http://interactivemedias.blogspot.com)



I would also love to hear YOUR comments, questions or concerns of my posts and reviews! What do you think, its ok if our opinions don't match up! Leave a comment or let me know what you would like to learn more about and maybe it will become my next blog post or video blog.


Also don't forget to subscribe to my video tutorials (on youtube or itunes) as well as subscribe to my blog posts on here so you can have the latest web tips, tricks and book reviews delivered directly to your inbox!



Thanks for reading!

--Desarae A. Veit
Agency Couture







A Belated Response to @Erheil's Blogging for Your Clients versus Blogging AS Your Clients {Desarae A. Veit AKA DesaraeV

Find the original post by Ed Heil at Blogging for Your Clients versus Blogging AS Your Clients.

A bit belated, but welcome back to blogging. Thanks for answering my question, although I wish you'd sent it to me so I could have read this. It's a nice post and I agree whole-heartedly, transparency is important. Letting people know who is writing the blog though is more then just about transparency it is about connecting the community. That's why it's nice that blogs have sub-headers with the author, date and other information that gives content relational data. Let's face it once something is on the web some form of it may live on forever, even if that means in some random Google cache screen.

To answer Bilal Jaffery's question:
Lot's of blogs have co-authors, guest bloggers and in-house staff that contribute to the overall content. Each blog may have it's own rules and ways to annotate information. Some blogs will allow a certain number of words at the beginning or end of the blog to talk about the guest author. Some blogs have a submit form for articles that link to a blogger profile. There are lots of examples of multiple people writing for one place, these are like e-zines. Mashable, Technorati, Top Rank (Lee Oden's company), The Buzz Bin, and drgmpls.com all have examples of multiple authors under one roof.

Where I think ghost-blogging comes into play and is okay, which I think is where the aforementioned question from me above comes into play, is from more of an editorial or reporter's perspective.

What if it's a very small company and no one likes to write or has a desire to, but they still have a lot of great information they want to share? Just because they are bad at spelling or writing out the information doesn't mean that it's not written in their voice and is still there content. The information could be written from a third person voice and you can note the person writing it, so that all the posts sound like a novel or interview of the company.

Another option is to interview them or have them tell you the information, record it and then organize it for them in writing. Give the company the option to revise and then touch it up.

A third option (and often best) is to have the company write there own posts and then help them by moderating. In the third instance you can not only fix errors, but teach the man to fish. Teach your client how to optimize their own content for SEO, give them copy blogging tips, remind them that photos and photo credits are important, in the long run guiding them to be more independent and successful so that you can focus on the next step of the strategy.




Subscribe to Agency Couture/Desaraev's Blog   Subscribe in a reader



Thanks for reading!











Learn more about Listia from one of my blog posts, click here.






As always you are more then welcome to use any of my content, repost it, rewrite it, and broadcast it all I ask is that you link back to where you found it (http://interactivemedias.blogspot.com). Love to read your comments, so don't forget to post them here or via twitter (I'm @DesaraeV).

Also don't forget to subscribe to my video tutorials (on youtube or itunes) as well as subscribe to my blog posts on here so you can have the latest web tips, tricks and book reviews delivered directly to your inbox!


Desarae Veit - msptweetup


Desarae Veit - msptweetup
Originally uploaded by TaulPaul
From.... June 08... this shows up near the top on my blog search. Yowza.

Tuesday, February 23, 2010

I have no idea what I want but I won't be satisfied until I get it.

I have so many hopes, dreams and goals. My hopes are build on wishes inspired by dreams. I base my goals off of those dreams. Goals are notes we take to help us remember what are dreams are and take a first step forwards towards accomplishment. If you don't set a standard how will you ever know when you've crossed the finish line? I've been writing about setting goals and accomplishing them for two months now. Here are a few of those blog posts:

I have no idea what I want but I won't be satisfied until I get it.

As always you are more then welcome to use any of my content, repost it, rewrite it, and broadcast it all I ask is that you link back to where you found it (http://interactivemedias.blogspot.com)



I would also love to hear YOUR comments, questions or concerns of my posts and reviews! What do you think, its ok if our opinions don't match up! Leave a comment or let me know what you would like to learn more about and maybe it will become my next blog post or video blog.


Also don't forget to subscribe to my video tutorials (on youtube or itunes) as well as subscribe to my blog posts on here so you can have the latest web tips, tricks and book reviews delivered directly to your inbox!



Thanks for reading!

--Desarae A. Veit
Agency Couture







Monday, February 22, 2010

Find your path, but know it's never too late to change coarse. A few top predictions for 2010 {Desarae A. Veit AKA DesaraeV}

"I cannot tell you any spiritual truth that deep within you don't know already. All I can do is remind you of what you have forgotten" -- The Power of Now by Eckhart Tolle

Life is full of ups and downs. Surprises that we like and ones that scare us. In branding you can help prevent some of those downs and negative surprises by putting together a good strategy, using your brain, learn from people and avoiding living a lazy useless life. If you know something is bound to fail, why start it. If you feel like you are on the wrong path, it is never too late to turn around or change direction. Just know if you've walked a long distance and want to turn around and run back to the start, it may take a little while to walk all the way back there. I'm here for you if there is anything I can do to help you.

What will be some top trends in 2010?

  • User experience design and customer experience from start to finish is HUGE. This means your brand, the way people treat you in the store, the scents, decoration and even the music you play. Think about Starbucks, no matter where you go they all have a similar fell, right? User experience design refers to where you look on a website and what drives you to certain actions.
  • Companies will learn to let go and allow consumers and guest to help build there story, instead of always fearing they will take it away. They will be transparent where it matters and keep crucial components like secret recipes to them selves. Everyone is telling companies transparency is important, and that is true but there is something mysterious and glamorous about not knowing EVERYTHING about you and your brand. Like if you mess up and need to fix a bad cake, well your endearing but you could be humble and not tell us. Then if we find out on our own, we respect you even more.
  • Storytelling for a brand, advertisement, or website is important. There is a lot that goes into telling a good story, but layout, font, how quickly you develop the story and if you can pull at the readers heart strings are the crucial components to a great story. a key component; the speed at which stories are developed is crucial; and above all, emotional connections matter.
  • I can't wait until banner ads are gone forever.
  • Paid media needs to find a new way to get paid because branded content syndication (for free) is here to stay. I'm going to say that ads and product placement might be the temporary fix, but like I said before banners probably aren't the key unless they work DIRECTLY with the article it is next to. Then the article will sell it and the banner wont be a banner it will just be a beautiful product picture.
  • Mobile is quickly taking over, join the bandwagon because it's not going away any more then the internet is.
  • Yes, ROI is important. Brands that understand strategy and how to put metrics to social media, mobile and offline ads are going to be great at optimizing them. Yes, offline ads can be tracked if you plan ahead where you are driving them.
  • Content is King or Queen.

Questions students? Comments? Contact me. Ok, class dismissed.
"The mind is a superb instrument if used rightly. Used wrongly, however, it becomes very destructive. To put it more accurately, it is not so much that you use your mind wrongly—you usually don't use it at all. It uses you." -- The Power of Now by Eckhart Tolle
Also Read (some of my predictions are expansions from this blog post): 2010 Digital Marketing Outlook from The Social Media Marketing Blog by (Scott Monty).


Subscribe to Agency Couture/Desaraev's Blog   Subscribe in a reader



Thanks for reading!











Learn more about Listia from one of my blog posts, click here.






As always you are more then welcome to use any of my content, repost it, rewrite it, and broadcast it all I ask is that you link back to where you found it (http://interactivemedias.blogspot.com). Love to read your comments, so don't forget to post them here or via twitter (I'm @DesaraeV).

Also don't forget to subscribe to my video tutorials (on youtube or itunes) as well as subscribe to my blog posts on here so you can have the latest web tips, tricks and book reviews delivered directly to your inbox!


Businesses - Why don't you follow people that follow you? | Guest Blogger - Joel Carlson

With Twitter, there can be a variety of reasons why a person wouldn't follow another person or business in return.

1) You don't have the same interests as the person following you.
2) You find something offensive about the person following you..
3) You have created a personal limit as to how many people you will follow at one time.
4) You only will follow people that live in your area.
5) You will only follow a business that you already use.
6) You will only follow a business that you have an interest in.

The question is though, if you are a business, (retail, restaurant, service, etc.) if you get someone to follow you, why wouldn't you follow them in return? It's a potential customer, and it could become a long term customer if you handle things correctly. The whole point of social media is to create an environment so that there is a back-and-forth, an interchange of discussion, ideas, and feedback. How does a business intend to do that fully if they have say 300 followers, but are only following in return 100 people/businesses? This can indicate someone who doesn't understand how social media works properly. It can also indicate someone who isn't monitoring their account well and just doesn't get "it". Have you seen some businesses that are acting this way with Social Media? Have you done anything to alert them to their problem? What are your thoughts about businesses that have this lack of awareness on how to use Social Media properly? Please leave a comment and share your thoughts.


--
Joel Carlson
Account Executive | Agency Couture
Web. Design. Search. Marketing. Mobile.

Dear HBO, Could Carrie from Sex and The City Start a Blog? {Desarae A. Veit} RE: Julie Roads from Copy Blogger

On Copy Blogger Julie Roads wrote a post called The Sex and The City Guide to Blogging. In this post she mentions that if Carrie had been a character of 2010 instead of 1998 she would have been a blogger instead of a columnist. I love Sex and the City. This fabulous television show is now heading towards a second movie. Times change and HBO is on the forefront of awesome television, no commercials, and great T.V. series. Here's a though, why not have Carrie start learning a little about technology. She is the prime example of people in society desperately avoiding the inevitable importance of technology in their lives. HBO could even start a REAL CarrieBradshaw.com blog. I would read it, just saying.

For those of you who don't know this, Sex and The City is made by the same writers of He's Just Not That Into You. I think it would be a sexy, beautiful blog. If you want a designer.. or programmer HBO (waving arms).



Subscribe to Agency Couture/Desaraev's Blog   Subscribe in a reader



Thanks for reading!











Learn more about Listia from one of my blog posts, click here.






As always you are more then welcome to use any of my content, repost it, rewrite it, and broadcast it all I ask is that you link back to where you found it (http://interactivemedias.blogspot.com). Love to read your comments, so don't forget to post them here or via twitter (I'm @DesaraeV).

Also don't forget to subscribe to my video tutorials (on youtube or itunes) as well as subscribe to my blog posts on here so you can have the latest web tips, tricks and book reviews delivered directly to your inbox!


Popular Posts

Categories

2010 (1) 2014 (1) 2015 video diary from desaraev and Yorkie sir Charles (2) abc news (1) accounts (1) accupunture (1) adrian gostick (1) advertising agency (3) agency (1) agency couture (2) algorithm google (2) analogy (1) apple (2) April 2014 Video Diary @Desaraev (1) archive ideas (1) armstrong (1) ask (1) attitude (1) bacon (1) Beep beep (1) Birthday bus (1) Birthday house warming 2/21/14 video diary @desaraev (1) blog rant (1) blog template (1) blog voice (1) blogger (1) blogging (2) blogroll (1) blogs (1) blogspot free template (1) Blue moon Baton Rouge (1) book (3) book review (3) bots (2) branding (1) build your brand (1) business cards (1) buy art (1) Camcorder (1) Camera (1) card scanner (1) categorized (1) Charles (1) Charlie (1) chris brogan (3) cisco (1) Cold in dexter (1) commercial (1) communication (1) complaint (1) conferences (2) consulting (1) copy writing (1) coupons (1) coverage (1) craftsmenship (1) crash (1) crawl (1) customer service (1) D (4) Dark (1) definition (1) desarae veit new webstie (2) desaraev (7) design (3) desktop application (1) drawings (1) Dublin (3) dv cable (1) dveit.com (1) e-mail (1) e-newsletter (3) easy (1) ecommerce (1) ed heil (1) email newsletter (2) emails (1) enewsletter (2) erheil (1) etiquette (2) events (3) evernote (1) examples (1) explaination (1) facebook (3) Facebook Pictures for intro to Video Diary @Desaraev (3) Feb 23 (1) filing system (1) fine art (1) fine art website (1) firewire cable (1) Flowers! (1) Flying (2) Flying to Waterloo cedar falls @ Livingston FBO - 2/23/14 @desaraev video diary (1) free blogspot template (1) freelance (1) Freelancing (1) FRS (1) funeral (1) Garden @desaraev (1) getting paid for your work (1) gmail (1) gnc (1) Goals (2) google (3) Google Wave (1) google web master tools (1) google web standards (1) Grrrrr Charles (1) Happy bday sara (1) hard drive (1) hard work (1) harddrive (1) Haunted basement (1) he could be the one (1) Health energy drink (1) hester browne (1) hire a professional (1) holidays (1) holistic (1) House Tour Video Diary @desaraev 2/22/14 (1) how to (1) how to check if your site is indexed (1) how to index your site (1) how to seo (8) how to start blogging (1) how to submit your url (1) hr (1) hubspot (1) hulu (1) human resources (1) hutch carpenter (1) icrossing (1) idea filing (1) index (1) industry (1) informational interview (1) Instapark YT1008 outdoor motion solar light product review by @desaraev (1) interactive (1) interior design (1) internet (2) introductions (1) iPad (1) iphone (2) ipod touch (1) Ireland music at The oldest pub in Dublin (1) Irish music and dancing on Fleet Street trinity bar area (1) job search (3) keyword research (2) king of pop (1) Lame (1) lance armstrong (1) Land (1) Landing in Ankeny - 2/23/14 video diary @desaraev (1) link pyramids (1) link schemes (1) linkedin (1) list of agencies (2) mac (1) mac ready (1) mammal joans (1) mammal jones (1) mankato (1) Maria Duron (1) marketing (1) massage (1) mcnairs wife (1) Meanie vs Charles (1) michael jackson memorial (1) miley cyrus elle (1) miley cyrus elle magazine (1) minneapolis (3) minneapolis web design (3) minneapolis web design firm (1) minnesota (1) mistress sahel kazemi (1) MJ (1) mn (2) mobile (1) moderator (1) msn (1) multiple writer (1) my art (1) My art by desaraev (3) my book (1) natural search (2) network neutrality (1) networking (1) New York NY over water (1) newegg (1) newsletter (1) newsletters (1) objective authenticity (1) Oioop (1) online campaign (1) online storage (1) opinions (1) original custom fine art (1) page rank (1) painter (1) painting website (1) paintings (1) password (1) pay per click (2) Piano bar (8) Playing with charlie (1) pop star (1) popular (1) portfolio (1) postrel (1) preventing bad seo (1) Preview of tonights video diary house tour 2/22/14 (1) professional affiliations (1) programming (1) promote your company (1) promotions (1) Puppy stuck on window seal @yorkiecharles @desaraev (2) Putting the plane away in the hangar - 2/23/14 video diary @Desaraev (1) quercetin (1) readers (1) reading (1) recruiter (1) recruitting (1) rolodex (1) sabai (2) sabai body temple (1) sales (1) scoble (1) scott christopher (1) search engine optimization (8) search engines (4) sem (4) seo (4) seo tool (1) sex (1) sf plastic surgeon (1) sky blue (1) skyblue creative group (1) Skyblue sales group (1) small business (1) smart disk (1) smb (1) smbmsp (1) sms (1) Snow (1) social cognition (1) social media (9) social media breakfast (2) social networks (2) Sony (1) spiders (2) st. paul (1) storing information (1) story (1) storyteller media (1) strategy (1) subscribers (1) sxsw (1) target audience (1) target market (2) tb (1) Teaching (1) Teasing Charles (1) Teasing Charles 2 (1) technology (2) television (1) ten ways to lose your job with social media (1) tennessee titans (1) text messaging (1) the finishing touches (1) the levity effect (1) tips for meeting people (1) tips on who to hire (1) top search engines to optimize your site for (2) top ten ideas to get your site indexed (1) Tornado Warning! Cant see much... (1) tour de france 2009 (1) treadmill desk (1) tv (1) tweet your way out of a job (2) twin cities (2) twitter (10) uptown (1) usb cable (1) ustream (1) valentines day (1) verizon (1) Video blog (1) Video Diary @Desaraev (6) Video Diary 2/22/14 @desaraev (2) Video recording (1) videos (1) violence (1) web (1) web 2.0 (2) web design (2) web site (1) webmaster tools (1) website (2) websites (2) What is a search directory (3) who to optimize your site for (1) wifi (1) windows (1) wishlist (1) work out while you work (1) working for yourself (1) working from home (1) worldwide televised mj memorial service (1) yahoo (2) You say hes just s friend blue moon (1) zappos (1)