DC Interactive Group’s SmartMarketing Blog

Facebook has once again changed the way it is displaying fan pages. Where people used to be able to “become a fan” of a page, they will now be able to simply “like” a page, similarly to how they can like friends’ status updates and other posts. The abandonment of the phrase “become a fan” is due to research that shows that people are more apt to “like” something than to “become a fan” because it is less committal.

Facebook has also added Community Pages to its site, allowing topics and experiences to have their own pages. Similar to Wikipedia pages, people will be able to learn more about certain topics such as cooking or languages, and also see what others are discussing on the topic. The information for these pages will initially be sourced from Wikipedia, though eventually Facebook members will be able to contribute to the project.

In addition, Facebook is adding a feature to connect your profile to pages related to the biographical information you provide in your profile. Things like current city, education, hometown and work can be connected to Facebook Pages so that they show up as links in your profile. It essentially provides a living map of all the interests, places and people that are important to you.

What are your thoughts on the new changes? What do these changes hold in store for companies who have Facebook Pages?

Every month, the whole office gathers around the fireplace in the conference room to discuss one of our favorite topics: technology. No, we don’t do this because we are huge nerds, although I can’t claim that most of us don’t fall into that category. We meet because we realize the technology landscape changes hourly (it actually changes microsecondly, but as “changes microsecondly” isn’t a commonly accepted phrase, we’ll stick with hourly), and we want to stay ahead of the game.

At each technology meeting, we take turns presenting interesting, fun, useful, helpful, new (or any combination of these adjectives) tools and technology that we’ve discovered in the past month. We leave every meeting a little more informed about what’s current, and also impressed and excited by how much our jobs and everyone’s lives are evolving microsecondly.

We thought we’d make a segment on our blog every month to discuss one bit of technology we discussed at our meeting.

April’s focus will be something that’s been around a while, but that folks have really started to get into in the past year: QR Code. I’d venture to guess that most people don’t know what that is, so bear with me as I attempt a simple explanation. “QR” stands for “Quick Response.” A QR Codes are two-dimensional bar codes. It has other uses, but one major use you can expect to see in advertising is as a bar code that stores a URL. People with mobile camera phones that have a reader app and internet browser can take a picture of the QR Codes (or in some cases, simply scan the QR Code by aiming the camera at it), and the reader will launch the stored URL in the phone’s browser. Read more

I am a working mom. It’s 10:30AM. I just put my son down for his first nap of the day. It’s actually late for a morning nap…rather than the usual 7AM, he decided to sleep in until 8:30 this morning. His daily schedule is flexible like that—he’s in charge. And that’s okay. Because my job allows for that kind of flexibility.

When he naps, I work. I am part of the growing workforce of work-from-home moms, largely made possible by the new popularity of social media. At DC Interactive Group, for many clients we provide a virtual online marketing department. We consider ourselves part of our client’s team—but we happen to be experts at our focus area, and we happen to work off-site.

When I was 4 months pregnant, my husband and I gave our working plan a lot of thought. And from just a cost perspective, when we factored the cost of daycare, reducing my hours to part time and working from home was the perfect scenario. Fortunately, the boss was on board—he’s a family man himself, but he also gets it—because our focus is promoting your business in online circles, we can take care of that from anywhere.

And he’s not the only employer taking advantage of the unique skills moms have to offer the online world—check out MomForce.com , an entire site dedicated to placing moms in just this sort of position. The job placement site offers flexible jobs, some entirely telecommute, some with some hours at home, some with all hours on site, and many jobs in the social media arena, including jobs categorized as blogging and social media jobs. It also gives moms the chance to post their resumes and skills for employers to review.

When I was a kid and people asked, "What do you want to be when you grow up?", I never would have answered, "A blogger." (Considering the world wide web wasn’t quite invented until I was around 10, that would have been an odd answer…stranger than my usual answer, "A turtle.") But now, blogging can be a career. In fact, Alecia Keys just announced a job listing she posted on Monster for a "Head Blogger" , and she teamed up with Monster, who will use their 6Sense search technology to find the right candidate.

Blogging for clients is a big part of what I do. A lot of times I enjoy myself so much that I think, I couldn’t possibly be getting a paycheck for this. And it isn’t that bad of a deal for employers, either. When I sit down to work, I work. I hate to admit it, but the hours I record are among the most productive work hours of my life. When Wally Ben is napping, I am approaching each task with a focus unmatched in my days of sitting at the same desk from 9-5.

So hooray to the social media world for opening up a new work alternative for moms. And hooray to the employers out there who see how that alternative can work for both moms and their businesses. It will be interesting to see how social media continues to change the way we work. It’s exciting to be a part of a new, developing arena that plays such a big part in people’s lives.

Now I’m off to change another diap, and while I’m at it, I’ll ask Wally Ben what he wants to be when he grows up. Hopefully he’ll come up with something a little less reptile than his mom’s childhood dream.

We are pleased to be joining forces with Silver Cross Hospital, a 100 Top Hospitals National Award winner from Thomson Reuters six years in a row. Silver Cross is a 304-bed hospital serving Will County, with eight satellite offices in southwest suburban Illinois. They are currently building a state-of-the-art replacement hospital in 2012 in New Lenox.

We will be joining them acting as Web Marketing Coordinator to promote the Silver Cross Center for Women’s Health. We’ll work with them on a blog focusing on the Center, with information on classes, events, mammogram and heart screening information, and their unique “I Matter” program, which offers discounts at local businesses. We will be sending eblasts a few times a month to connect to those interested in Women’s Health.

We also will help to build their Twitter account , YouTube Channel , Facebook Page , and Flickr account . Their talented and capable team will be working on some of the above, and we will set up, assist, as well as consult on all aspects of the process. As usual, we will offer direction and new recommendations based on a thorough analysis every month.

We’re very excited to be working with this well established and growing hospital. If you’d like information about how DC Interactive Group can help your business out as a part of your team, contact us.

Is it nearly impossible for you to go a couple hours without checking Facebook? Do you check Twitter on your phone before you get out of bed? You’re not alone.

In a recent article on SFGate.com, 1,000 were people surveyed by Retrevo, Inc. (Sunnyvale, CA) in order to grasp the hold social media currently has. Some of the numbers:

“18 percent of those under 25, and 11 percent over 25, said they can’t stay away from Facebook for more than a couple of hours without checking.

And 61 percent under 25, and 55 percent over 25, check Facebook at least once daily.

Also, 28 percent of iPhone owners check or update Twitter before they get out of bed in the morning. And 26 percent check or tweet before they turn on their TV. That leads to the 23 percent who rely on Twitter for their morning news.”

Click here for the full SF Gate article.

How often are you using social media? Whether you work in the industry or not, it’s important to remember that it’s good to unplug every once in a while.