Did you know Amazon, MacMall, and MacConnection are authorized Apple resellers and almost always undercut Apple Store prices? Now you do.
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Via MBA@UNC MBA Online & Women 2.0
If you’re a women business owner, expert in your field or want to grow your online presence, you need to become your own best publicist. No one ever became a successful business owner by sitting quietly and waiting for customers to come pouring in. Getting sourced in the media is a great way to garner awareness and build your credibility. Third party endorsements are powerful. So, how can you use social media to garner some earned publicity?
1. Locate and follow bloggers and journalists online
Most journalists and online bloggers include a Twitter handle with their online stories or other tools to follow them online. Take the time to follow, get to know them and then look for ways to insert yourself into the conversation and build a relationship. The key — instead of thinking about how they can help you, think about how you can help them. Follow them on the Internet, read and comment on their stories and posts using connecting, trending industry issues to draw them out in two-way conversation.
2. Leave a trail so others can find you
In an era of digital technology, journalists increasingly rely on the Internet and search to locate sources and information. To be seen and heard, use basic SEO and hyperlinks to plot out each mile marker and make it easier for others to find you. Make sure that each tactic supports an overarching objective. For example, don’t create a Twitter account or Facebook page – think resourcefully and ask yourself how social media can lead you and others to a strategic online destination.
3. Produce interesting content
Create a centralized location for content, such as a website or blog, and position yourself as a leader in your industry by producing thought-worthy content. Don’t just blog, tweet or create status updates simply because you can — research the latest trends, stay up on the news and look for the unique angle that excites you and provides value. To drive viewership, learn basic search engine optimization to ensure the footprint you’re creating drives traffic to your site.
4. Be your best publicist
Utilize social media releases and pitch yourself with viable story ideas to guest post on blogs with higher visibility and traffic.
Develop a microblogging strategy that encompasses a combination of publishing and publicity. Look for existing industry groups on social networks to increase your reach by participating in industry chats on Twitter, niche networks and message boards.
5. Be a resource to reporters
Instead of pitching yourself to the media, let them come you with queries. Sign up for Help A Reporter Out (HARO) to receive daily email blasts with reporter queries from you local daily to the New York Times. Look for the stories that you can serve as an expert resource to or provide helpful information and respond.
Fact: Companies with more equalized gender distribution have 30 percent better IPOs. (link)
Fact: Women pursuing MBAs are at an all-time high. Women now make up one-third of all MBA candidates. (link)
Fact: 40 percent of large companies have no women on their boards and only 5 percent of startups are owned by women. (link)
(The “5 tips” were originally shared on PRsarahevans.com)
Don’t have time to read the entire report? That’s what infographics are for. Highlights from the research include:
On February 29, 2012, your Facebook Pages’ world was probably rocked. A completely new layout and user experience for Pages was introduced. Let’s face it, change can be overwhelming whether you’re a beginner or a pro managing multiple pages.
Let’s K.I.S.S. (Please tell me you know what this stand for.)
Here’s an infographic from Gauthier Bros with the new specifications.
Enjoy.
You caught me. Am I a bit biased because the results favor the fashion forward Mac user? Absolutely. While this infographic doesn’t score points in the aesthetics department, it does give great insight behind the spending habits of Mac and PC users.
Here’s how the Bundle team got the results:
They examined their anonymous spending data to see which clothing stores PC and Mac users preferred. Analysis is based on a sample of 395,000 Mac users who made a purchase of $800 or more from an Apple store, and 369,000 PC users who made a purchase of $300 or more from a major PC manufacturer including Dell, Hewlett-Packard, Sony, Lenovo, Toshiba, Asus, Acer and Alienware.
Did you know? Apple computers are notoriously more expensive than PCs, and Mac users generally have more money to spend. Forty percent of the anonymous Mac users we examined earned more than $100,000, while twenty-nine percent of PC users made six figures or more.
Does that mean we’re all Barney’s shopping, Jimmy Choo wearing clones? Only when there’s a black turtleneck involved in the equation. 
(h/t HuffPo)
If you, like me, can’t get enough of infographics now you can make your own. Piktochart is like “Infographics for Dummies” (i.e. Sarah Evans) — a relatively simple way to create basic storytelling graphics for your online publications. How does it work? Choose from one of three templates and then customize as needed. It doesn’t hurt if you have basic graphic design knowledge or have tooled around in any design applications, but it’s not necessary. Every box in the template is moveable and text boxes are simple “double click to edit” format.
Why proceed with caution? Just because it’s available doesn’t mean everything you do now needs to be done in infographic format.
Used sparingly, or when visual best suits a message this could be an effective tool. There’s a reason visual storytellers like JESS3 are in business, it’s not easy, nor is it something that anyone off the street can (or should) do.
Just out of private beta, you can grab a 30-day free trial of Piktochart (after that you have to move to a PRO account). Don’t worry, they don’t ask for your credit card info, blood type or your first born.
Questions? Go ahead and give them a call +1 408 600 2807 or hit them up on Skype at piktochart.
p.s. I’m eagerly awaiting the launch of Visual.ly’s new infographic tool. Once available you can bet a FAVE will follow shortly.
You might think Linkedin has the majority of job seeking going on, but you’d be wrong. It’s actually Facebook, according to a survey released by Jobvite. Check out this groovy infographic highlighting the results from their recent Social Job Seeker Survey and enjoy.
Below are a few FAVE stats that make great tweetable moments. SURVEY SAYS? <ding>
1 in 6 active job seekers found their last job through an online social network. Boom!
Good luck in your social job search. I regularly post my FAVE social and tech job openings. Subscribe to my RSS so you never miss an opportunity.
Entrepreneur Jay Mug (I’m so jealous of his last name) gives us some delicious eye candy with his anatomy breakdown “nerd or geek.” Based on this I’m actually a geek. What about you? Let us know in the comments.
Before I go, I leave you with this, “Spock, you are fully capable of deciding your own destiny. The question you face is: which path will you choose? This is something only you can decide.” (Star Trek, 2009)
