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Archive for January, 2012



Rachel Schubert

01/25/2012

Shopping Online is More Popular than Ever
08:22 am by Rachel Schubert

For those of you who did your Holiday shopping in-store this past Season are a bit behind the technology curve as Americans are using the internet for almost everything nowadays. According to comScore Inc., the global leader in digital analytics, retail and shipping websites skyrocketed during December 2011.

What does this mean? Well, probably not too much if you are above the age of 100 and don’t know what a computer does, or if you just hate giving gifts. But, if you are like the rest of us and usually find yourself in a shopping time crunch during the holidays, let it be known that sales in movies, jewelry/luxury goods, flowers, greetings and gifts grew substantially within one month and we are reminded of the simple joys our home can offer during the hectic holiday season.

This also could mean something for companies without a strong online presence. Of the top 50 web properties with a focus on advertising, The Google Ad Network came in first place, engaging 93% of Americans. Also, more than 6.6 million people visited a tax site to make sure their books were in tact for the upcoming year.

If you haven’t jumped on the online shopping, advertising or researching train, I would go ahead and take that leap; you won’t be disappointed.

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Aaron

01/05/2012

Quora Can Make You an Expert
09:32 am by Aaron

What is Quora? Funny you should ask.

Quora is a social question and answer service where users ask questions and receive answers from other users.

I know what you’re thinking:

  • How is this different than Yahoo! Answers?
  • How is this relevant?

Quora is different from Yahoo! Answers because of the identity associated with the profiles. Most Quora accounts are already linked to an existing Facebook or Twitter account, providing more identity than a Yahoo profile.

Users also must establish their expertise in a given field. For example, if I go in and answer a specific social media question, I would put that I am a Social Media and Content Producer for IWS. This way, when someone sees my answer, they know the level of expertise that I have in the field.

The best answers are voted up by the users, and are displayed as such:

Quora was co-founded by former Facebook employees who were successful in initially recruiting big names to answer questions. These big names, such as the head of AOL answering an AOL-specific question, gave early credibility to the site.

How is Quora relevant to your business? It is a medium in which you can display your expertise.

If you work in the T-Shirt printing industry and notice someone has a question about T-shirt printing on Quora, it might be a good idea to answer it and increase the exposure of your business.

Quora allows users to create a topic that anyone can follow. When following, questions and answers related to the topic appear in the user’s home page feed, much like other social networks. Your response to the question about T-shirt printing not only helps the asker, but it will also show up in the feeds of anyone following the topic. It’s social variability, just with questions instead of “likes” or “fans.”

Have any more questions about Quora? Go to the site and ask!

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