client blogs

It occurred to us that some of our clients would enjoy reading each others blogs!
There is so much great information out there and Your Plan B Company works with so many talented groups, organizations and companies. Let's share!

CareGivingHelp's Viewpoint
Chicago History Museum's blog
Field of Green's Food and Lifestyle Counseling
KruzinUSA's PonyGirl blog
MEEA Unplugged
MEEA Crosslight/Solid State Lighting news
Motorbrain's Spark Club
RideLawrence
Spatulatta
Susan Rosenstein's Hirer Hires
Woman Road Warrior's For women going places
and of course ours! The one you are reading right here (thank you!)

If you would like to add a blog to your website there are many options. Give us a call to discuss which one would work for you and your audience.

Happy Holidays from the creative crew at Your Plan B Company!

Our favorite things about Thanksgiving...

JameyB: "It is my mother's favorite holiday, so she goes all out with a beautiful table, lots of people over and delicious food. I try my hardest to never miss the holiday at her house. My favorite food is pumpkin pie with whipped cream on top. I steal tiny slices all day so it doesn't look like an entire piece is missing all at once! Don't tell her or else she won't leave the pies out!!"

Cat: "Thanksgiving has always been a wonderful time to spend with my family and I treasure every year as I watch the family grow. Some of my favorite memories of Thanksgiving at my house are inviting friends from other parts of the world to partake in the tradition. It is fun to be able to share our culture with others in a warm and inviting way. Besides, who doesn't love bringing out jellied cranberries wiggling away on a lovely serving dish to see faces of astonishment? I know I do!"

DavidB: "I always love the colours this time of year. From the yellow leaves on the ground that swirl in the wind to soft lighting to overcast skies, this can be a good time to take fantastic photos! When I was young, I spent Thanksgivings in San Antonio, they just don't have the same fall colours - but Gradmother DID make an amazing Guacamole - not your traditional Thanksgiving food but, hey, it's Texas."

Some cool holiday sites:
marthastewart.com
history.com
thelocaltourist.com
familyfun.go.com
family.go.com
spatulatta.com
imdb.com (a quick youtube of the show: youtube.com)

Happy Holidays from the creative crew at Your Plan B Company!

NEW! Blog for MEEA!

MEEA Unplugged



Another great project with the folks at Midwest Energy Efficiency Alliance!
We helped them set up a Word Press blog template and designed the logo.

Blogs are a great way to get your entire organization working online. You can each be the editor. And now with all the cool plug ins you can have Twitter feeds, RSS, video etc all in one place for your audience to find out more about you!

If you want to begin blogging or refresh yours with custom graphics, give us a call!

social networks and marketing part two

Following up on social networks, we thought these links might be helpful to you as you market online.

online resources:
• Oneforty – A list of all third-party applications
• Tweetdeck – Third-party application to manage Twitter accounts
• Search.Twitter.com – Twitter search
• Twellow – Identify people to follow based off of details in their Twitter bio
• WeFollow – Identify people to follow based off of how they classify themselves
• Tweetphoto – Photo sharing service
• WTHashtag – Top resource for tracking hashtag mentions
• Twitalyzer – Most sophisticated Twitter analytics tool
• Listorious – Aggregator of Twitter lists
• Flowtown – Import current email addresses, locate social networks
• Flavors.me – Aggregate online profiles in one place
• Help a Reporter Out – Media opportunities
• Pitchengine – Social media release and newsroom
• Knowem – Find where your name is available and secure it
• Alexa – Find details about your Web site and audience
• Bit.ly – URL shortener
• J.mp – A shorter version of bit.ly (they are one and the same…simply a shorter version of its predecessor)
• Google Reader – RSS aggregator
• Google Alerts – Aggregates online mentions
• Addict-o-matic – Digital dashboard
• Blog Pulse – Supplement to Google Alerts to find mentions in blog posts
• Quarkbase – Overview of monthly web visits and other analytics
• Board Tracker – Find brand mentions on online forums and discussion boards
• Pitchengine – Social media release platform
• HelpAReporter – Free media opportunity network
• SocialMention – Analytics and sentiment
• Twellohood – Find people tweeting by location
• Constant Contact – Email campaign platform

To discuss your online marketing through social networks, contact jameyb@yourplanb.com

social networks and marketing part one

Curious about all those icons popping up on sites?
Like YouTube, Twitter, Blog, Linked in etc. Well those are links to social networks the site participates in.

What are social networks?
Channels for interacting, using accessible publishing techniques. Social media use web-based technologies to transform and broadcast media monologues allow the creation and exchange of user-generated content.” -Wikipedia

Did you know?
51% Get News From 'People They Follow’
79% of the 100 largest Fortune 500 use Twitter, Facebook, YouTube or blogs to communicate with customers, with Twitter as the platform of choice.
(Credit: Burson-Marsteller Fortune Global 100 Social Media Study)
Rule of thumb: It takes, on average, five activities to draw an audience to your site.

Have you established your social media policy?
(Or integrate with existing communications policy.)
Consider:
• Identify who can say what, when and where
• Know when you will/will not respond
• Crisis communications
• Sustainability
• Exit strategy
• Do employees need training?
• Examples of appropriate social media use versus abusing time online

If you need assistance with your corporate social networks and marketing, please contact jameyb@yourplanb.com