Facebook Privacy and Small Business

Facebook has been accused of playing fast and loose with personal information for years. This year however, they have been audited by an Irish Data Protection
watchdog and they have agreed to improve 12 areas of privacy - some of which should be of significant interest to businesses that want to tie into the Facebook family of apps and advertising but who might be concerned with giving Facebook too much information.

Read the news article by Charlie Osbourne!

Mary Camacho is the author of The Internet Plan. Buy the book here!

Quick & Easy Audio Podcasting

If you think reaching customers through video and audio is only for big companies with expensive budgets, think again! With the recent developments in technology and world-wide access to broadband, it’s easy to share all kinds of digital media with your customers. And one of the best ways to get started is by creating an audio podcast.

An audio podcast is simply a sound recording that you “broadcast” using the internet. It doesn't take much to get your own podcast up and running – mostly just time, consistency, and great ideas – but it does require some additional equipment. The good news is, there are only three things you really need to get started:

1. A microphone that plugs into your computer,
2. A sound recording and editing software package, and  
3. A way to distribute your podcasts, such as your website or blog.

Now, for a few more details:

• Don’t get too wrapped up in choosing a microphone – even relatively inexpensive microphones can work very well for beginner podcasters. And if your computer doesn’t have a microphone jack built-in, you can buy a USB microphone that will plug directly into your computer’s USB port.
• Using the right sound editing software is the key to making your recordings sound great. But again, that doesn’t mean you need to spend a lot of money. In fact, one of the most popular tools for sound recording and editing is called Audacity, and you can download it for free!
• Once you complete your podcast, you can upload the audio files to your website. Your customers can then listen to your podcast right from your website, or they can download your files and listen to them at their convenience on a portable MP3 player or iPod. It’s this kind of powerful flexibility that can make podcasting an important part of your Internet Plan!

Helpful Hint! JoyaTech makes sharing your audio ideas even easier by offering a custom audio player that can be built into any of their websites. You never knew your business could sound so great!

Mary Camacho is the author of The Internet Plan. Buy the book here!

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Is Facebook Right for Your Business?

In the Internet Plan workbook, we encourage you to step back and consider what is really important to your business and what can you competently take on.  We remind you that you can't have ten #1 priorities!  

In a recent blog post Lisa Barone - an expert in online marketing and branding highlights four reasons you should NOT be on Facebook.  Her reasons not to engage with this platform get at these important questions:

1. Do you have the time to do it right?
2. Are the right people there to 'hear' your message?
3. Does it forward you goals or objectives?
4. Are you willing to keep up with the changes in technology?

When you are developing The Internet Plan for your business, it could be useful to consider these for ALL forms of Social Media.  


Check out Lisa's blog post here!



Mary Camacho is the author of The Internet Plan. Buy the book here!