The Wet Sponge

Greeting cards can be a great efficiency tool for you, either at home or at work. I call them “Forget Ye Not” cards.

We all struggle with ways to save time and with finding ways to stay on top of our to-do lists without actually spending more time to do it.

So here’s the idea: Instead of using your computer, smartphone, or a long & depressing list written down with pencil & paper that you can’t find when you need it, use greeting cards!

Write down those “forget ye nots” on the inside of greeting cards. (Or cut off the back half of the card, and just use the front half.) Try to get a batch of cards that are the same size, and have attractive & interesting designs on the front. If the inside of the card is blank, even better. Then put them in a small box like a recipe card box… standing up… so you can quickly flip through them, prioritize them, and yank them out when the task is done. Of course, if you’re on a tight budget you can re-use them until you’ve run out of space.

The reason this will work better than a digital or written to-do list is because of the visual impact of the card’s design. The colors, pictures, and artwork will help to create a mnemonic in your brain by connecting the visual cues with the idea of the thing that needs to be done.

For fun & giggles, you can even mail those cards to friends and family when the task is done. Not only does it tell them what you’ve been up to… believe me.. they’ll appreciate getting any card from you.

I got this inspiration from two thinks percolating in my head. I recently attended a presentation about being more efficient, especially at work and especially when dealing with the flood of digital information we receive. The presentation was given by Corey Creed of Hippo Internet Marketing Consulting & Training … the most efficient person I have ever known. But he finds useful and fun ways to do it.

Then, I met with a greeting card designer/supplier – Masala Greeting Cards – to go over their site for SEO and tackle online marketing. Folks who design and produce unique, creative, beautiful, funny & quirky greeting cards are in a very competitive market. It’s hard to find buyers when you’re up against e-cards and mass-market distributors.

My brain put the two problems together and came up with this new way to use cards. It benefits the smaller independent card makers, it benefits you, it puts a piece of paper to use at least twice (before you recycle it, right?)

The icing on the cake? A new, fun way to connect with the people you know and love.

So go out there and buy a half dozen cards from a boutique card company, put them to good use AND have fun!

NPR (and BBC World Service) are normally my favorite sources of information, news, and entertainment… so I write this critique with deep sadness and a heavy heart.

NPR – I am disappointed in you!

Oscar Night, March 7th. I don’t usually watch the Oscars but there was (is) a rumor that folks from one of my absolutely favorite radio shows, “Wait Wait… Don’t Tell Me” would be doing some sort of live coverage of the Oscars beginning at 7:30. This was (is) guaranteed to be a hoot.

IF you can find it. Whatever it is. Apparently they didn’t hesitate to not tell me.

Is it “live” radio? Is it live radio on MY local public radio station? Is it a podcast… streaming audio… streaming video maybe?

Almost 8:00 and I still don’t know WHAT it is, and I still don’t know WHERE it is.

So far all I’ve found is a “live-blog” by Linda Holmes. What’s a “live blog”, you might very well ask. Apparently it’s an annoyingly-embedded comment feed with no discernible difference to Twitter and it’s hogging my bandwidth and clogging my browser. Not to mention what it’s doing to my last thread of patience.

8:05 and I finally find the “live” coverage by the witty & friendly folks at Wait Wait. And what is their “live” coverage? A snails’ pace slideshow of still pics accompanied by friendly & witty captions.

Don’t get me wrong – I like the captions added to the pictures.

But let’s get back to the journalistic basics, my friends – the Who, What, Where, When ought to be in the headline. (We won’t bother with Why. It’s the Oscars, and there’s not a good Why that I can think of.)

A word to the wise, NPR – if you’re gonna go all high-tech & social on my butt, don’t begin with Oscar night. And if you’ve actually done this before and STILL managed to perform this poorly, don’t do it again… OK?

Hi Friends,
I don’t often just “repeat” what somebody else has already said, written, or done… but this video about Social Media Marketing had me rolling on the floor. It’s been around a while, but pretty clearly illustrates why so many businesses have become frustrated by the whole SMM vortex.

LANGUAGE WARNING: This video is not for minors or those with otherwise sensitive ears. So don’t come complaining to me if you watch it and get offended, OK? Consider yourself notified.

Credits: I found this video by Markham Nolan on YouTube. His website is www.expad.ie.

I just HAD to write about this.
Partenope City is a brilliant virtual online city that truly intersects with the ‘real’ world in useful and productive ways. It’s social networking. It’s civic participation in a ‘real’ way. It’s marketing for the ‘real’ businesses in the city. In short, it changes ‘virtual reality’ into ‘reality virtual’.

Normally I’d have just done a quick Facebook link or tweet on this, but that was insufficient… and it took me HOURS of hunting to find enough information, explanation and links to pass on to you. Almost everything I found is in Italian, with the exception of the BBC radio broadcast – see the link below. (The bit about Partenope is about 20 minutes in, but the entire podcast is worth listening to anyway.)

For those of you in a hurry, links to more info: Citta di Partenope (at http://comunedipartenope.it) is a virtual city of, by, and for the real people of Naples (Napoli) Italy. It was created by Claudio Agrelli of http://www.agrelliebasta.it . They are on Facebook at http://www.facebook.com/pages/Napoli-Italy/Citta-di-Partenope/29939687062 . Look up the channel for “agrelliebasta” on YouTube. Even if you don’t understand Italian, just looking at and listening to Claudio Agrelli is worth it I first heard about it on BBC (radio) and you can find a podcast at http://www.bbc.co.uk/worldservice/science/2009/03/000000_digital_planet.shtml , look for the February 23 2010 program.

Update March 11 2010: You can join Partenope City no matter where you live. There are people in over 100 countries who are online citizens. I will join it myself to get a better feel for the place… and maybe learn some Italian!

Here’s how it works, why it is so different from other virtual worlds and why I think it’s so brilliant.

Like any other virtual world, you can join and participate in many activities. But there’s more. Lots more.

Real merchants of Naples can join too – and interact with their real live customers when they walk through their brick and mortar doorway – with discounts, personal greetings, specials, etc. In addition, the real live citizen knows that when they visit a real live merchant who is also a member of Partenope, they will be treated with respect and a code of ethics the merchant has signed on to.

Partenope also provides ‘real’ news, as well as many ways for citizens to discuss civic issues in the Town Square and Town Hall. Citizens can ‘flag’ problems they see in their ‘real’ city of Naples. Discussions, issues, problems, and ideas are passed on to the ‘real’ government and managers of Naples.

And of course, the citizens, businesses and politicians of Naples can communicate with each other in true Social Networking style.

Citta di Partenope goes a couple of steps further.

It is an E-DEMOCRACY.

The philosophy of the entire project is to create a BETTER Naples through direct participation by its citizens. With this goal in mind, when you join, you must agree to abide by a code of ethical behavior. Nothing big brother about it, just simple things like when you’re in the virtual world you don’t double park and you actually put money in the parking meter. You use crosswalks instead of jaywalking. You don’t litter, and take care of your trash and recycling properly. You don’t swear & shout at people. In short, this is an effort to build the ‘real’ city that everybody of Naples would LIKE to live in.

It is E-BUSINESS.

This code of ethics extends into the real business world as well. As mentioned above, participating merchants have also agreed to a code of ethics. They don’t put their thumb on the scale, overcharge, or underserve. They treat their customers with fairness, friendliness and respect. So, visiting customers know they are patronizing “good” merchants. And, the business owners have an opportunity to offer specials to their fellow Partenope citizens.

The way this is accomplished is by using something similar to “discount cards” that most of us in the States are familiar with. You know, you pay $100 for a card to get discounts and specials at various local restaurants and other types of businesses. When you join Partenope you have the option of applying for a special card that, when presented to a merchant, identifies you as a Partenope citizen. Since my Italian is elemental at best, I am not sure if there is a fee (I don’t think so?) and I don’t think it includes any private personal information. Even if they did do it that way in Partenope/Naples, I am sure the same concept could be adapted to not include any info the ‘citizen’ doesn’t want it to.

THIS WOULD BE PERFECT FOR ASHEVILLE.

The Partenope world might not work in every city or town, but Asheville NC has exactly the right mix of atmosphere, citizens, businesses, technology, and hope for a better world – both local and global – that could really make this idea work here.

If you agree, please spread the word. Help me out here. Are you fired up by this idea? Do you know anybody else who might be? Anybody who could help make it happen?

Prospering in 2010 is a 1-day conference organized by the Blue Ridge Community College Small Business Center, and is held at their Flat Rock Campus. The date this year is February 2, 8 a.m. – 12 noon for panel discussions. The afternoon is a general public conference to talk about hot topics and benefits of Home Renovation 2010.

This year it’s FREE thanks to the sponsors (see below).

Visit http://blueridge.edu/business_person/events/prosper2010.php for more details and registration.

The day-long conference provides expert help and professional advice on marketing of all kinds… including Internet marketing.

Each year we focus on certain types of businesses. This year, we’ll be addressing marketing trends and providing tips & advice for those in: Real Estate, Construction/Landscaping, Design (Architects, Interior Designers, Landscape Designers), and Renovation businesses.

I’ll be on the panel answering questions about SEO, PPC, e-mail (permission-based) marketing, and broadening your business ‘presence’ on the web. Other panel members – Barbara Donithan and Paul vanHeden – will address Social Media Marketing, using podcasting/online radio/video, Mobile Marketing, Blogging, and how to use coupons and discounts effectively.

Even if you’re not in real estate or construction, these conferences are well worth the time for any businessperson. You’ll learn a lot of “essentials” that any business owner will find useful and valuable… for FREE.

Sponsors of this event: Blue Ridge Community College/Blue Ridge Innovation Network, AdvantageWest Economic Development Group, Wheeler & Marks, Land of Sky Regional Council, Mountain BizWorks, SCORE, and Smoky Mountain Development Corporation.

This is a beginner’s lesson on adding a video to your blog. For this explanation, I’m using Wordpress (version 2.8.4) for my blog, and am going to add a video I found on YouTube.

 It’s actually quite easy.

Start with two browser windows or tabs open, one where you’ve logged in to your blog to write a post, and the other one on the page for the video you want.

1. On YouTube, look to the right of the video and you’ll see two little boxes of code. All you need to do is highlight the contents of the box for “Embed” and copy it.

2. Switch over to your blog where you’re writing a post. In Wordpress, first of all switch from using the Visual editor to using the HTML editor. Place your cursor to wherever you want to Embed (insert) the video, and simply paste in the code.

Publish, and that’s it!

If you have any difficulties, see my additional notes below the video – after you’ve watched it, of course

This video is perfect for cat lovers and music lovers everywhere!

Le Duo des Chats, sung by Les Petits Chanteurs a la Croix de Bois:

To be honest, I have lately encountered some trouble embedding videos, and I don’t know if it’s glitches in Wordpress or what. If you have problems, start over and make sure you:

1. Log in to Wordpress as somebody with Admin rights. It should not be necessary, but it helped me out a lot.

2. Start a simple blog post using the HTML editor, not the Visual one. I tried over and over with the Visual editor and it simply failed to include my video embed code, no matter what I did. You can go back and edit and update your blog post later, after you’ve got the video in place.

3. I also had trouble previewing the blog post – I simply had to Publish it and then go back and edit the post. (I tried both firefox and IE 8, but it doesn’t appear to be a browser issue.)

I’ll be teaching classes on Internet Marketing for Green Businesses at AB-Tech!

Squeeze The Sponge for knowledge, experience, useful info & tools, and hands-on practice for a measly $25.

There are two dates:

September 25th at the AB-Tech Enka/Candler Campus

9:00 a.m. – 4:00 p.m.

1459 Sandill Road
Candler NC 28715

October 19th at the Madison County Campus

9:30 a.m. – 4:00 p.m.

4646 US Highway 25-70
Marshall NC 28753

On each date, there is a morning session covering the essentials of site optimization, Pay-Per-Click advertising, and Social Media. The morning session costs $25.

In the afternoon we’ll get a bit more advanced with hands-on practice on real sites, blogs, and PPC campaigns. The afternoon session costs $25.

So if you attend both (all materials covered in one day) the total cost is $50.

The computer labs are excellent – you don’t even need to bring your laptop. A binder full of lessons learned from 10 years of experience, and resources specific for Green Business, will be provided to all class participants.

All registration should be done directly via AB-Tech at:

http://www.abtech.edu/ce/schedule/gist.asp

I’m really looking forward to this. I love to pass on what I’ve learned from many years in the business of helping other businesses online. You don’t even have to have a web site to benefit (though it helps.)

I’ve taught IM classes at Asheville SCORE and Blue Ridge Community College. I also stay up-to-date on the latest & greatest, so I hope you’ll join me for this very educational and informative class in a comfortable, personalized setting.

Meanwhile:

Ask questions! Just post your questions here.

And please pass it on if you know of anyone who might benefit from this class.

Regards,

Fiona Dudley
The Sponge

OK, yeah, I’ve gotta set up another blog for my personal stuff – but this one neatly straddles the gray line between Social Media for business and personal use. This video is sooo funny, yet accurately describes how Social Media works when it comes to creating a “cult of personality.”

I believe the original title of the video is: Throw’d TV Presents: Facebook Breakup

I’ve no idea why but I’ve been unable to embed this video in my blog.

But you can find it on YouTube under Throw’d TV and here’s the link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qTwwuIn9inE

Many, many Social Media lessons to be learned here.

Next step – track and follow whoever CREATED this video. Then do something EVEN BETTER.

Sponge

This one’s for those of you who like to make your own liqueurs, especially Lemoncello/Limoncello.

For those of you who don’t know, Limoncello is something between a liqueur and a potable with a powerful punch. It’s basically a way to flavor a strong alcohol (like vodka or Aquavit). Plus its high sugar content indicates you’d better be sippin’ this stuff, not sluggin’ it.

It does take 5 weeks to do, so the best time to make a batch is in spring so it’s ready for summer drinks. But it also makes a very nice winter toddy.

I learned how to make this from my Danish Aunt Ella, a former Miss Denmark – so I think she’s a good source! I’ve made it once so far, with great success – it is very easy. This time around I’m trying it with Lime, and an orange version using Clementine oranges.

Basic Limoncello Recipe

• One 1-quart Mason jar
• One bottle (750 ml) of 190 proof grain alcohol (see notes below)
• 10 lemons
• 2-3/4 cups water
• 3 cups sugar

Step 1:

Wash and dry your lemons (removes any mold spores or other contaminants.) Slice off the ends of the lemons (to make them much easier and safer to peel) and then peel them with a small, very sharp (be careful!) paring knife. You want only the outside rind, avoiding the pale pith just below it (which is bitter). Save the lemons, see notes below. Put the parings in your Mason jar and fill it up with the grain alcohol.

Step 2:
Put the Mason jar in the fridge for 14 days, shaking it once a day to stir things up.

Step 3:
On the 14th day, mix the water and sugar in a saucepan big enough to allow for adding the alcohol. Boil the water and sugar until all sugar is dissolved, ,about 2-3 minutes at the boiling point. Cover and set it aside to cool. (Covering it prevents the entrance of any mold spores and basically helps keep your mix sterile.)

Step 4:
Strain the alcohol from the mason jar, leaving all the parings behind  – but don’t throw them away! See notes below. Add the alcohol to the sugar/water mix, stir it a bit. Then pour it all back into your Mason Jar.

Step 5:
Put the Mason Jar in the fridge for 3 weeks, and shake it twice a day.

Step 6:
At the end of the 3 weeks (actually, by now, 5 weeks) you can put your jar in the freezer. Don’t fill it too far or seal it too tight. Despite the high alcohol content, which means it generally ain’t gonna freeze until you-know-where does, you should leave a little room for liquid expansion. Don’t blame me if you end up with a sticky, messy explosion (hmmm, maybe I should rephrase that!)

Once it’s ice cold, it’s ready to drink – in small quantities. Or you can dash it into any number of favorite drinks and cocktails.

Variations:

I don’t have the “proof” yet, but this time I am trying a batch with lime, and another with the peel of Clementine oranges. Stay tuned for the follow-up when I can report the results, somewhere around October 1.

NOTES:

For us frugal cooks and mixmasters, after peeling your lemons (or limes or oranges) squeeze out the juice. For long-term storage, pour juice into ice cube trays and freeze. Once frozen, you can transfer the block of juice into freezer storage bags.

Don’t throw away the parings after you’re done soaking them in the alcohol! Toss them into a plastic bag and save them in the freezer. They’re great for adding to tea, iced tea, iced water, and cocktails. Probably lots of food recipes too.

By the way, the pared down lemons seem to keep very well in the fridge – so after you’re done peeling them, save one or two in the fridge for cooking or whatever.

It also helps if you live in a state like NC, where you can buy the really hi-test 190 proof stuff in the liquor store (they’re called ABC stores here, for Alcohol Beverage Control, or something like that. ) And, of course, large wide-mouthed Mason jars in the local grocery or hardware store

If you cannot legally get your hands on hi-proof grain alcohol, I have been told you can try the recipe using standard 80-100 proof vodka, but that some adjustments to the recipe are needed. I haven’t tried it yet, but I think a higher ratio of lemon peel to vodka, and a lower ratio of sugar/water to alcohol, would be called for. That’s because a regular vodka is not strong enough to extract “all” the natural aromatic, volatile oils from the citrus peel. And too much sugar-water will over-sweeten the finished goods.

I’ll add to this post when my lime and orange test batches are done. Meanwhile, I’ve already done the lemon version and I can’t tell you how delicious this stuff is!

Or, What I Learned at the SocialFresh Conference in Charlotte, August 2009.

You walk into a big room full of people. Most of them are happily chatting away in small groups. Obviously they know each other, and have plenty to talk about – but YOU don’t know anybody in the room.

Don’t you wish that somebody would walk up to you with a smile, and say…

“Hi! I’m Tom Ringmaster and I noticed when you came in.

Know anybody here? No? Well, let me show you around.

There’s some great appetizers over there – go help yourself anytime. We’ve also got a full-service wine bar over here. It’s not free, but we’ve got all sorts of new wines lined up if you’re interested. You can taste as many of them as you like before deciding which one to order.

What’s your name? Fiona – hey, that’s cool – Scottish – right? What do you do? You’re a wine taster? Great! You should really come on over here and talk to Sally and Joe. They’re wine importers and I”m sure they’d love to talk to you.

Hey Sally – Joe – meet Fiona here.  She’s a wine taster from Scotland. I just finished telling her about the fantastic new Rosé from the south of France you got your hands on.”

“Hi  Sally, Hi Joe, pleased to meet you! Name’s Fiona. Yep, believe it or not I’m a wine taster from Scotland. I saw a sign outside about some kind of wine bar & tasting event, so I decided to just wander in. I don’t know anybody here yet.”

“Oh Fiona, you really need to try this new French Rosé. Once you’ve tried it you’ll never drink American again. Let’s head on over to the wine bar and do some tasting, and let me know what you think.

Joe & I are importers – we don’t sell direct, but Tom thought this stuff was so good he’s already bought 20 cases from us. And he’s selling it at a great price.”

“Wow – this is the best Rosé I’ve ever tasted! Thanks Sally!”

“Well, if you decide you want a few bottles, definitely contact Tom Ringmaster – he only stocks the best, and just between you and me, he doesn’t jack up the prices like some places do. Plus he can ship it anywhere for you – guaranteed to arrive in one piece or your money back. We really like doing business with Tom, we can’t recommend him highly enough. Here’s his contact info if you need it.

Here’s our contact info too, in case you’re interested in something that Tom doesn’t carry.”

“Thanks Joe, thanks Sally! I’ll definitely be doing my wine buying from Tom Ringmaster from now on! What else is here at the wine bar you’d recommend?”

Now that was social media marketing! Now – how does this work online?

All you need to do is think of your site, or blog, or Facebook page, as being just like that room. And think of yourself, or your organization, as Mr. Ringmaster.

A web site or blog is not an empty room waiting to be filled up with furniture and the latest in interesting décor.

It is waiting to be filled with people interested in your stuff – customers, and  people who know other people of the same interests, and recommendations!

If your site or blog is not inviting – welcoming- helping newcomers find their way around and find what they want – then no amount of SEO or advertising is going to help you in the long run.

Now here’s a different scenario.

You walk into an event, all by your lonesome and you don’t know anybody there. You’re sure you’re all there for the same reason, and you’ve probably got similar interests and things to talk about. But you’re too shy to butt in on somebody else’s conversation.

Nobody welcomes you at the door. The room is crowded and hard to navigate your way through. There’s a table of free appetizers but they’re all gone by now – too bad – you were starving when you came in. There’s a long wine bar with all sorts of enticing items to try & buy – but the bartender is busy talking to the manager about getting some more appetizers in here. The bartender gives you a wave to indicate he’ll be ‘right with you’. But the discussion with the manager goes on a while…

So you decide to leave.

And you’re never coming back. Or going to recommend it to friends. In fact, you might even post your disappointing experience online.

I hope that business owners who are looking for answers about Social Media have found this helpful.

I also want you to know that the SocialFresh Charlotte event, all its sponsors, speakers, volunteers and participants were absolutely incredible.

If you want to know more about Social Media – what it is – whether it’s for you – and find some great people to follow and listen to, then go to www.socialfresh.com for all the details. Follow them on Twitter @sofresh