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Showing posts from July, 2010

8 guidelines for usability testing

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In professional web design circles, the usability testing session has become an essential component of any major project. Similar to focus groups in brand development and product launches, usability testing offers a rare opportunity to receive feedback from the very people the website is aimed at - before it's too late to do anything about it. But how can you get the most from these usability testing sessions? 1. Choosing your subjects As with any market research project, the results will only be as good as the people you test. Do not test people from your own company, or friends and family. Go to a market research firm or temp agency and ask them to source participants to a certain profile. Make sure the market research firm does not provide the name of the company or any other details that will cloud the judgement of the participants. 2. Before the usability testing As with everything in life, first impressions are vital. Each participant must be put at ease. Remember, the usabil

10 Innovative Ways To Use Twitter For Business

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Increasingly more companies use Twitter for business – to do market research, do brand advocacy and reputation management and provide selected highlights from a conference or event. Twitter allows them to expand their brand and thus generate new opportunities. But to be more innovative in the use of Twitter for a business setting, here are 10 useful tips. 1. Expand Your Network Using Twitter, you can join topic groups related to your business and career and gain valuable information from scanning others’ tweets. Your company will gain new customers and potential partners. Do a search for keywords related to your product on Twitter Search and then follow the users. Anyone can use Twitter to build a personal brand. Your customers and prospective clients will perceive you as an approachable social personality. Twitter is designed to establish consistent and deeper relationships for future benefits. 2. Share Expertise to Build Credibility If you hold free workshops, seminars or

Top 10 Reasons Your Company Probably Shouldn't Tweet

Mainstream media has gone ga ga about Twitter , which grew more than 1,200% in the past year, doubled its members in the past few months and attained 14 million members in March, according to Compete . Everyone and his dog seems to be tweeting, from CEOs, celebrities and not-for-profits to venture capitalists, banks, business services, government and, well, dogs (and cats and the random parakeet, too). Should your business be tweeting? Twitter is not for everyone. Here are the "Top 10 Reasons Not to Tweet." You think using Twitter is a social-media strategy. It's a tactic, a tool, not a strategy. It works if you already have an online following who'll view your Tweets as a way to interact with your company on a human level. Every tweet has to be approved by legal. Twitter is a social network where conversation is fast and interconnected. If you have to wait a day, or even a few hours for your 140 character Tweet to gain legal approval, Twitter will be the wrong pl

Top 10 Twitter Tools for Business Users

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“Twitter Marketing” must be the buzz word for 2009/10 in Twittersphere. But how many applications are out there that actually support Twitter Marketing? There are more than hundreds of twitter applications claiming to be the best app to track and manage your business in Twitter. But one application cannot fulfill all your business needs, hence I have listed down the major Top 10 Twitter Apps which I thing will leverage any twitter account for business. 1. Tweetmeme http://www.tweetmeme.com/ Tweetmeme is the aggregation of all the content being shared in the Twitter. You can find the latest trends and popular content being shared in Twitter. 2. Wefollow http://wefollow.com/ WeFollow is the directory of all the people in the Twitter, who have added themselves to the list. It provides an easy way for you to find relevant people in twitter and connect with them. 3. Socialtoo http://www.socialtoo.com/ Socialtoo is a paid service that lets you manage your twitter account by autofollow and u

Twitter, Facebook Can Improve Work Productivity

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By Carrie-Ann Skinner, PC-Advisor-(UK) Using Twitter and Facebook at work will make you a better employee, says the University of Melbourne. According to a study by the Australian University, 70 percent of office employees use the internet at work for personal reasons. Of them, nine percent were more productive compared to employees that didn't use the web for fun. "Workplace internet leisure browsing (WILB) can help sharpen workers' concentration," said Brent Coker, from the University's department of management and marketing. "People need to zone out for a bit to get back their concentration." Coker defined WLIB activities as browsing the web for information and reviews of products, reading online news sites, playing online games, keeping up-to-date with friends activities on social networking sites and watching videos on YouTube. "Short and unobtrusive breaks, such as a quick surf of the internet, enables the mind to rest itself, leading to a hig

The Twitter Ramayan

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I Just got a mail from twitter saying Bhagwan Ramachandra @Lord_Ram is now following you on twitter. As i open Bhagwan Ramachandra's twitter account to check his profile i realize that even Lord Hanumantha @Lord_Hanuman is on twitter. Offcourse not real gods on Twitter but some really creative people have started a new age Twitter Ramayan. Lord_Ram profiles reads: Name: Bhagwan Ramachandra Location : Omnipresent Bio: Perfect HumanA and Ideal Man. I love SitaA. I hate RavanA. HanumanA is cool. LaxmanA is Nice. I always add an extra A. Some of his hilarious tweets to Lord_Hanuman @Lord_Hanuman Hello Brother. When did you arrive on earth and onto this virtual world? @Lord_Hanuman Indeed. Well said. I see that you have picked up what people call, "Internet Slang". You are fast on the intake o HanumanA. @Lord_Hanuman We shall lodge a complaint with the Godly behavior regulatory committee. The shall pay for this insult. Lord_Hanuman twitter profile is the coolest, here