How would you like to send texts to your special groups of families, friends, co-workers, teams etc. with one text?

 It is easy and available to all with GroupMe.

How much does it cost?

Zero, zilch, nada.  GroupMe is totally free.

Is it only available on the iPhone?

No, it is available for the Blackberry, Android, IPhone and ANY phone that texts!

How do I get started?

Go to the app store on your phone and download the GroupMe app or go to GroupMe.com and then enter your name and telephone number to instantly create a group. A phone number will be generated for your group, and then you will receive a text message with that phone number.  It is easy to add friends to the group either on your phone or on the website.  

Blackberry Screen Shots

Android Screenshots

IPhone Screenshots

Does GroupMe do anything else?

Conference Calls

You group’s phone number also works as a conference call line: dial it, and you will automatically call everyone who’s in the group. Each number is disposable, so you are able to create as many groups as you would like, and then end them whenever you like. 

Location Sharing

This is useful when you are waiting for members of your group to arrive.

Photo Sharing

GroupMe recently added photo sharing.

Pros and Cons

Pros with GroupMe are it is free, easy to set-up and use.  We have a group of girls that get together once a month called JUGS (Just Us Girls) and we recently set-up our  GroupMe and love it! 

Cons with GroupMe - if there are any they have yet to be revealed.

Send us your experiences with GroupMe.

There has been a great deal of buzz about QR codes.

So what exactly are QR Codes?

QR Codes are 2-D barcodes that can be scanned by a smart phone’s camera. The scan transfers information that can vary depending on the type of code. If you want an exact definition: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/QR_Code

How much do QR Codes cost?

There are many apps that smart phones can download at no cost to view QR Codes.
In addition, they can also generate QR codes for your business at no cost. My personal favorite is nonreader. http://www.neoreader.com/
They also have an example page you can try out yourself:
http://www.neoreader.com/try-the-examples/access-web-pages

How can my business use QR Codes to benefit us?

1. Feature a photograph of a specific new item, entrée, beverage, upcoming event.
2. Showcase a hot new video.
3. Website
4. Educate customers on something relevant to the demographic – new trends, historical significance, and information about a particular item. (Some restaurants are using them for nutritional information). Nation’s Restaurant News recently ran an article on an Ethiopian restaurant that uses QR codes very creatively. http://www.nrn.com/article/ethiopian-restaurant-embraces-qr-codes
5. Electronic business cards.
6. Offer or discount.
7. Engage – Social media – the QR code can send users to specific Facebook Landing Page encouraging users to hit the Like button or to a custom Twitter profile to gain followers.
8. Create a custom QR Code – check these out: http://qrarts.com/ and http://mashable.com/2011/02/10/qr-codes-picasso/
9. Scavenger Hunts

While QR codes are new to the US; they have been popular in Asia for quite sometime.

It is important of course to measure the success of any social media or marketing effort you launch for effectiveness and strategic planning. Be sure and use custom URL’s or URL shorteners to measure the success of your QR Codes when sending viewers to a web page or video. Discounts can have a unique code for measurement. Adjust your marketing strategy accordingly.

Tell us about your use of QR Codes with your business.

Have you tried Paper.li yet? 

Paper.li helps you create a newspaper from your social networks.  Small Rivers, a Swiss company is responsible for this service which takes links that your network has shared and turns them into a social newspaper.  It breaks the information into topics: 

• Headlines
• Stories
• Buiness
• Technology
• Art & Entertainment
• Education
• Politics
• #Hashtags

How do I set My Daily Paper Up?

Go to: http://paper.li/

Click on the top right hand corner on create a newspaper.

The next screen that appears looks like this:

Decide what type of paper.li you want to create.  Choose from:

• Your own twitter account
• Twitter Hashtag you are following
• Twitter List
• Facebook (in test)
• Custom

Enter data into selected box and hit create.

Example of processing twitter accout:

Voila! Results are this for my Twitter Account:

Put your mouse over the source of any link, video or photo and you will have the option to reply, retweet, follow or even unfollow. 

Your Twitter stream also appears on the sidebar as a column. 

What setting options do I have?

• Updates
• Times
• Promoted
• Paper title change

Your daily “paper” is updated just that – every day.  You have the option though to receive it mornings and evenings or weekly.  Paper.li even gives you the option to decide what time of day you want to receive it.   You can promote your paper daily via tweets and you can change the title of your paper at whim.

Pros and Cons

Pros

I have found that the view paper.li provides can feature or highlight tweets that I might have missed otherwise.  It is easy to use and you can take it further by utilizing the hashtag option and list follow.  This helps break it down even further and at a quick glance I can decide what is most relevant.

Social Media Examiner included paper.li recently as number six in the list of 8 ways to find great social media content.  http://www.socialmediaexaminer.com/8-ways-to-find-great-social-media-content/

 Cons

The Facebook Page which is currently in test does not yet pull in your own posts which I expected as the twitter daily pulls in your tweets into a sidebar column.  In addition I found the amount of material sparse.  I feel confident though that this will improve in time.  Paper.li gives you

All in all I recommend you trying paper.li out for yourself and please let us know what you think in the comments below.

How would you like to change out your Facebook Profile Banner and create something memorable? 

It is easy.  Just follow these amazingly easy steps.

 Go to: http://apps.facebook.com/profile-banner/?ref=ts  

 Decide whether you want to create one from your own picture.

 Or choose from their list of popular banners:

• Animals
• Backgrounds
• Comics
• Custom Design
• Funny
• Games
• Holidays
• Movies
• Music
• Nature
• People
• Sports
• Technology
• Text
• TV

 Examples:

 Animals

 Sports

 Technology – my personal favorite. 

Results:

Pros:

• It is easy to use. (even for a non-techie)
• It is free!
• It is customizable.
• It is unique.
• It is fun.
• You can change it out anytime you like!

Cons:

• I cannot find any cons with the Facebook Profile Banner

Kudos to a social media colleague, Cindy Ratzlaff of Brand You for the tip on the Facebook Banner Profile.  http://cindyratzlaff.com/

Try it out and let me know what you think in the comments below!

Overwhelmed by the numerous Social Media Blogs to choose?  There are so many great ones.  Simply Zesty put together an excellent list : http://bit.ly/dda8B4    I tip my hat to them for creating such a comprehensive list.  I must admit though my time is limited and for a daily must read for social media blogs I have narrowed my list to 4.  Enjoy and please let me know what you read every day.

Social Media Explorer – www.socialmediaexplorer  This is written by the great and mighty Jason Falls.  He has the highest integrity in the business and always follows a pattern I subscribe to that incudes assessment, strategy and ROI.  He is awesome and not to be missed.

Smart Brief – Social Media  They identify the top stories across Social Media with a brief synopsis and you decide what is relevant for you.  Excellent, excellent daily must!  http://www.smartbrief.com/socialmedia/

Mashable – but of course – no one can miss Mashable – they are top dog: www.mashable.com

Social Media Examiner – www.socialmediaexaminer.com I find their posts and numerous contributors relevant and on target.  Michael Stelzner has done an amazing job.  Amy Porterfield is a regular and one of my favorites.  She is a gifted writer.  Mari Smith is one of the top thought leades in the industry and a personal mentor.  Don’t miss Mari Smith’s Social Media Examiner TV:http://bit.ly/9Td6XG

I consider mobile marketing an integral part of social media and  I always read:  http://www.mobilemarketer.com/  They have great case studies across all industries as well as webinars.  That actually makes five daily must reads for social media blogs!

Do you think Social Media is a fad or is it here to stay?  Watch the attached video by Socialnomics and you decide.  Click below.

is social media a fad?