Monthly Archives March 2012

Emily A. Hay: Yelp Help and Google Places For Small Businesses

Emily A. Hay: Yelp Help and Google Places For Small Businesses

March 31, 2012 | Comments Off on Emily A. Hay: Yelp Help and Google Places For Small Businesses

Emily Hay

YELP HELP AND GOOGLE PLACES FOR SMALL BUSINESSES

by EMILY on MARCH 14, 2012 in ACTION PLANS

Hay There! When it comes to listing your business online, there are many roads to take, but which one leads you down the right path?  Since each business has its own strategy and goals, it’s hard to pinpoint which listings will be best for you.

In today’s blog post, we are helping you break-down 2 listing sites that your small business owners NEEDS to be aware of: Yelp and Google Places.

GOOGLE PLACES

Google Places is a listing where business owner can input information, including address, phone number, website, directions, and even photos representing their business. With Google juice behind the listing, these pop up often when people search for a specific business using Google as a search engine.

Don’t think restaurants are the only type of business that get reviewed!  Venues, specialty service providers and even churches have feedback available for others to read and learn from.

Google users can also utilize the listings to voice their opinion by posting a business review.

YELP

Yelp’s tag line is “Real Reviews. Real People.” – which means business owners have little control …


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Emily A. Hay: Founder Hay There Social Media

Emily A. Hay: Founder Hay There Social Media

March 31, 2012 | Comments Off on Emily A. Hay: Founder Hay There Social Media

All about Emily

 

As the Founder of Hay There Social Media, LLC, Emily A. Hay specializes in helping small business owners understand and implement specific tactics to grow through social media.  With a background in sales & marketing coupled with experience of small business environment, she understands how a social media presence backed by a clear strategy can be an effective means to market, network, and build a brand. …


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Nasty People on the Internet: a Guide to Knowing Your Digital Enemies

Nasty People on the Internet: a Guide to Knowing Your Digital Enemies

March 31, 2012 | Comments Off on Nasty People on the Internet: a Guide to Knowing Your Digital Enemies

Originally published in netforbeginners.com March 28, 2012
Yes, unsavory people are everywhere on the Web. These people will sucker you into embarrassing yourself, convince you to trust them with your passwords, infect your machine with remote-control software viruses, cause you emotional grief, and even make you feel personally attacked and threatened. Here is the Wanted List of the Top Internet Bad Guys, 2012.

1. Internet Trolls: the Mosquitoes of Online Culture

Trolls are arguably the most common form of online bad guys. These individuals take pleasure in sowing conflict and bringing out the worst in others. If you use Facebook, participate in forums, or read Reddit and news comments, you’re bound to find trolls. About.com explains internet trolls, and the psychology of dealing with them…

2. Cyberstalkers: Now More Common Than Physical Stalkers

Cyberstalking is now more common than physical harassment. Disturbed individuals express their pathological obsessions by using email, sexting, instant messaging, Facebook comments, and even smartphone gps tracking. While cyberstalkers are still a very small minority of society, they are a sad reality that must be acknowledged by all modern users of the Internet. About.com explains cyberstalkers, and how to defend against them…

3. 

…
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Adobe's latest critical security update pushes scareware

Adobe's latest critical security update pushes scareware

March 31, 2012 | Comments Off on Adobe's latest critical security update pushes scareware

Adobe’s latest critical security update pushes scareware

By Ed Bott | March 29, 2012, 10:38am PDT

Summary: Adobe just released a critical Flash Player security update. Good news: it includes a new automatic updater for Windows. Bad news: Adobe’s download page pushes a misleading “system optimizer” designed to scare users into paying for unneeded repairs.

Update: Even on a completely clean installation of Windows 7, the “system optimizer” utility I discuss in this post found hundreds of “critical errors” that could only be fixed after paying for the repair. See Update 2 at the end of this post for details.

March 30: I’ve captured a video of the entire process and uploaded it to YouTube. The unedited video (approximately 10 minutes) is here .

Adobe did something good this week, releasing a new version of its Flash Player software with automatic updating capabilities.

They also did something truly awful—using their update page to push a third-party scareware program designed to separate naïve PC users from their cash.

I’ve criticized Adobe in the past for pushing foistware —browser toolbars and free virus scanners, usually—as part of the Flash download process. But this latest episode is far worse.

First, the good news.

…
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Emily A. Hay: Pinterest Tips

Emily A. Hay: Pinterest Tips

March 31, 2012 | Comments Off on Emily A. Hay: Pinterest Tips

PINTEREST TIPS

by EMILY on MARCH 1, 2012 in GETTING FAMILIAR

Hay There! Are you hearing a lot about Pinterest? Emily A. Hay joined the Internet Advisor team on WJR 760AM to share some quick points on this much-talked-about social network. This blog will keep you in the loop on the basics and hopefully catch your Pinterest ☺

Remember, you can listen to the full podcast of Emily A. Hay on the Internet Advisor show on WJR 760AM in our media section (Also available on iTunes).

WHAT IT IS

  • Pinterest – an online pinboard for different topics you are interested in
  • Default pinboard categories like “Products I Love” and “My Style” but you can create your own (HINT: creative pinboards get noticed)
  • Has been around since 2009 – more than 11M users last month (2012)
  • It’s a way to organize a LOT of content very efficiently
  • This user-friendly interface can impact how companies structure their websites going forward

HOW IT WORKS

  • It’s image based – ALL visual
  • To create an account, you must be invited (request an invitation)
  • Create your own personal profile with picture, basic info, links to your website, Twitter and Facebook profiles, etc.
  • Content types shared
  • Recipes,
…
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Emily A. Hay: How to Use Facebook Timeline

Emily A. Hay: How to Use Facebook Timeline

March 31, 2012 | Comments Off on Emily A. Hay: How to Use Facebook Timeline

HOW TO USE FACEBOOK TIMELINE

by EMILY on JANUARY 29, 2012 in GETTING FAMILIAR, OUR BLOG

Hay There!  Are you hearing a lot about the new Facebook Timeline?  In today’s blog, we’ve outlined some key points about this important new Facebook change to keep you up in the loop!

Remember, you can listen to the full podcast of Emily A. Hay talkin’ Timeline on the Internet Advisor show on WJR 760AM in our media section.

WHAT IT IS

  • New upgrade to personal profiles on Facebook – currently limited to personal pages only (not business pages)
  • Replaces your “wall” and “profile” – the new lingo is “Facebook timeline”
  • An article came out the week of 1/22/12 from Facebook that says “over the next few weeks” it will rollout a conversion to all users – the new format won’t be optional

– To activate it today, visit: Facebook.com/timeline

  • You have 7 days to preview your new look before it goes live.  If you like it right away, simply click “publish”
  • Exciting new visual feature is the “cover image” – which is always public

WHY IT’S SUPPOSED TO BE BETTER

  • Move from social graph (friend connections) to “OPEN GRAPH” to allow
…
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Podcast: March 31, 2012

Podcast: March 31, 2012

March 31, 2012 | Comments Off on Podcast: March 31, 2012

Show Notes:

  • Online Review Sites (e.g.Yelp) and Reputation Management: Emily Hay, Internet Advisor Social Media Expert and Founder of Hay There Social Media. Check out the new Social Media Tab at the top of the homepage.
  • Dealing with Bad Word of Mouth: Andy Sernovitz, of Word of Mouth, author, teacher and expert of the power of Word of Mouth marketing.  What happens when the bad mouthing starts?
  • The Power of Google Pages: Meaghan McCann reports on an upcoming workshop on how to get your business “on the map” with Google Pages.

…


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Emily A. Hay: Twitter Basics

Emily A. Hay: Twitter Basics

March 26, 2012 | Comments Off on Emily A. Hay: Twitter Basics

The newest member of our tech expert team is Emily Hay, the genius behind, Hay There Social Media.  This is Emily’s first installment in an ongoing series on commentaries on the many aspects of social media from the simplest application to highly evolved marketing plans for small businesses.

Twitter just celebrated its 6th Anniversary on March 22 with 140 Million users and 340 Tweets every day all in 140 characters!  Here is Emily Hay’s outline of Twitter Basics.  Download the podcast for March 24, 2012 and listen to the first hour to hear Emily talk about the history and future of Twitter. …


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Commentary: Big Changes Coming to CNET

Commentary: Big Changes Coming to CNET

March 25, 2012 | Comments Off on Commentary: Big Changes Coming to CNET

For any of you who have been fans of Buzz Out Loud, one of the original tech podcasts, I have good and bad news.  Bad News (sort of): Buzz Out Loud is ending as of its April 5 show.  Good News (we’ll see): CNET Live on demand video is about to become the main outlet for tech info on CNET (now owned by CBS)

Buzz Out Loud six years ago (something like two centuries ago in Internet years) started out as a regular tech broadcast featuring the professional news/radio sound of Tom Merritt, the often outrageous but always entertaining color commentary of Molly Woods and one of the original board ops Veronica Belmont.  It was insightful, one of the best sources for in-depth tech news and a magical mix of personalities.  Tom was alway something of the straight man, Molly, an accomplished journalist added her own crazy spice to the mix while Belmont added her own edgy, game-oriented flavor and hip “hackeresque” cache.

For those of us with voracious appetites for tech information and insightful commentary, Buzz Out Loud was like water in a weary  land. The program slowly crept its way up to an unwieldy hour or …


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Gamble on Microsoft Security Essentials Pays Off

Gamble on Microsoft Security Essentials Pays Off

March 24, 2012 | Comments Off on Gamble on Microsoft Security Essentials Pays Off

There was a lot of skepticism when Microsoft launched yet another attempt to protect Windows OS without choking it to death with protection…and doing it for free.  Recent reports seem to say that those of us who gambled on Microsoft Security Essentials getting it right this time, won…in a big way. …


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