Thursday, July 29, 2010

5 Tips for Aspiring Social Media Marketers

Are you a Social Media Master? It takes more than just knowing how to use tools such as Facebook, Twitter, or a Blog to be Social Media Savvy. Social Media Tools are complex, diverse, and can evolve quickly. Mashable has 5 great tips to get you started.

Erica Swallow from Mashable Writes,

Within the past few years, it seems that social media positions are popping up everywhere, in all types of organizations, from The New York Times, to Pizza Hut, and even in the White House. Businesses of all types are identifying the need to stay connected with their communities because they recognize the benefits.

Social media marketing is just a slice of the social media industry, but it’s a very important piece of the story. Businesses see social media as a platform for engaging with consumers and informing them of the latest company news and products. Marketers are blazing trails in the social media marketing sector, creating campaigns that are interactive, shareable and inclusive of the online community. For the most innovative of marketers, the focus isn’t on campaigns, but on letting consumers take the reigns in guiding a brand’s social presence.

For aspiring social media marketers, there are no strict rules for becoming successful. But we’ve gathered eight of the brightest minds in the social media industry to elaborate on five helpful tips for landing a job in social media marketing.

For the Five Tips for Aspiring Social Media Marketers visit: mashable.com

Friday, July 23, 2010

Applecore's Sea Kayak Adventures

(Left to Right) Adventure Tourism Guide Connor, Alicia Fudge, Trent Skanes, Laurie Butler, John Feltham, Curtis Au, Andrew Janes, Deborah Bourden, & Lisa Smart.
On  Wednesday July 21, 2010 Applecore took to the Sea for an Adventure to remember provided by Stan Cook Sea Kayak Adventures. Some of Cape Broyle's most spectacular scenery, creatures, and geological finds were a part of this amazing afternoon on the water. Starfish, 400 million year old rock formations, waterfalls, and stories of buried treasure were just a few of the highlights. This expedition will not be forgotten!


Stan Cook's knowledgeable and humorous Adventure Tourism Guides, Chris and Connor, gave the afternoon on the sea that extra special touch. We'd like to thank Stan Cook and his staff for a fantastic afternoon of adventure and exploration.

Stan Cook Sea Kayak Adventures is a family owned and operated business. Owner and head guide Stan Cook, a recently retired physical education instructor, has been professionally offering wilderness adventures since 1970. His top priority has always been safety and decades of wilderness travel has taught him a lot. For more information about tour packages visit www.wildnfld.ca

This Kayak expedition was a invigorating way to say, not good bye, but best wishes and farewell for now, to one of Applecore's team, Trent Skanes, who is pursuing a career in law.

Sea Urchins, Jelly Fish, Crabs, and More

Venturing Through Sea Crevasses


Stories of Cape Broyle & Buried Treasure
Catching the Mist, Refreshing Waterfalls
Adventure Tourism Guide Chris
Cliff Formations in Smugglers Cove
Crossing the Bay



Starfish
Team Work, Featuring a Crab

Wednesday, July 21, 2010

Rooms and Sites Come True

Rooms Come True is more than a furniture store. In fact, as their name suggests, it is about making dreams come true for parents of infants, little girls and boys, tweens and teens. Whether the dream centres around an animal kingdom, a sport or superhero, a princess or hues of pink, Rooms Come True provides the design elements and furniture to make it happen.

Owner of St. John's children's furniture store, Michelle Collins, says: "At Rooms Come True we want customers to relax, enjoy and walk away with great ideas for a room that they are excited to create and the products necessary to bring it all together



Michelle's vision for her store became the inspiration for her new website that Applecore is pleased to have created in collaboration with Michelle. The challenge was to create the same feeling of excitement, adventure, design and magic that a visitor to Michelle's store experiences. The website offers only a taste of the in-store experience where friendly and knowledgeable staff wait to listen, provide advice and ideas and help to create the perfect room for kids, from infant to teen.

Visit Rooms Come True at 585 Torbay Road St. John's after visiting the Rooms Come True website, or call Rooms Come True at 709-722-7788.

Applecore Interactive is pleased to have collaborated with Rooms Come True on another successful web project.

Monday, July 19, 2010

Social Media Challenges- A List to Help You Overcome Them

Jeremiah Owyangn, Industry Analyst, Founding Partner for Altimeter Group, and Columnist for Forbes CMO Network writes:

Matrix: Challenges of the Social Technology Industry, July 2010 Edition

While the opportunities for social technologies to change the world, business, and our individual lives continue to unveil, it’s also key to focus in on the challenges that impact the industry. For many folks who have decided to invest in social technologies to improve their careers and business, it’s even more important to pay attention to these challenges.

First of all, have the right mindset. The savvy person will realize this isn’t a list of gripes, but instead an opportunity list. Leaders at vendors, agencies, or brands will see these list of challenges of problems to fix and monetize. If you’re in this space, you’ll want to send this list to your product teams, or strategy teams so they can think about how to solve many of these issues –or at a minimum,be prepared for it.

For the detailed list of social media challenges visit:

http://www.web-strategist.com/blog/2010/07/05/matrix-challenges-of-the-social-technology-industry-july-2010-edition/?utm_source=feedburner

Friday, July 16, 2010

5 Key Trends of 2010: Half-Year Report for The Web

An interesting article on some trends that have developed thus far this year. Which trends are you following?

It's now a little over 6 months into 2010, so a good time to reflect on the highlights of the year so far. At the beginning of the year, we identified some key trends to track: (in alphabetical order) Augmented Reality, Internet of Things, Mobile, Real-Time Web, Structured Data.

Mobile and Real-Time Web have been particularly eventful in 2010. Augmented Reality and Internet of Things are both early stage trends, but have continued to edge towards the mainstream this year. The movement towards Structured Data has made significant progress in 2010, primarily thanks to RDFa and the adoption of that Semantic Web format by Facebook, Google and other big companies.

To read the full article 5 Key Trends of 2010: Half-Year Report for The Web on Read Write Web visit:

http://www.readwriteweb.com/archives/5_key_trends_of_2010_half-year_report_for_the_web.php?utm_source=feedburner

Thursday, July 15, 2010

10 Lessons of Web Start Up

Be Narrow, Be Different, Be Casual...

Just a few of the ten lessons that Evan Williams, creator of Blogger and Twitter, gives on Web Start Up.

#1: Be Narrow
- Focus on the smallest possible problem you could solve that would potentially be useful. Most companies start out trying to do too many things, which makes life difficult and turns you into a me-too. Focusing on a small niche has so many advantages: With much less work, you can be the best at what you do. Small things, like a microscopic world, almost always turn out to be bigger than you think when you zoom in. You can much more easily position and market yourself when more focused. And when it comes to partnering, or being acquired, there's less chance for conflict. This is all so logical and, yet, there's a resistance to focusing. I think it comes from a fear of being trivial. Just remember: If you get to be #1 in your category, but your category is too small, then you can broaden your scope—and you can do so with leverage.



For all 10 great lessons to a Successful Web Start Up read the full article:

http://davidhieatt.typepad.com/doonethingwell/2010/01/10-lessons-of-a-web-start-up.html