Columbus Business First hosting Social Madness contest

Tuesday is the deadline for Columbus Business First’s Social Madness national social media contest.

The Central Ohio contest is part of a national tournament where companies compete against others of similar size.

Central Ohio winners will advance in the bracket-style challenge to a national competition that will honor three champions for their social media programs.

Winners will receive a $10,000 donation to their charity of their choice. Voting starts June 1.

Rules and sign-ups for the contest can be found here.

BOOM – The technology on Madden football keeps getting better and better.

Here’s a video from the production of the new game.

STORIES TO NOTE - Here are five recent communication stories from the communications industry you should check out.

- Six Questions to Ask Before Launching a Blog

- Social Media Helps Remedy Organ Donation Crisis

- 6 Tips for Optimizing News Releases for Social Media

- 11 Tactics to Optimize Your Blog

- The 4 Economic Reasons to Rebrand Your Business

(EDITOR’S NOTE: Friday’s View From The Pugh column features communications news and notes. E-mail viewfromthepugh@yahoo.com to submit an item for consideration for a future column).

What to do when your Facebook font size is too small

I had some strange issues a few weeks back with Facebook.

After hitting a couple of buttons, I soon discovered that the front sizes were way too small.

If you run into that problem, there is an easy solution.

All you need to do is hold the Control or Command key and press the plus (+) key to increase the size.

To decrease the size, hold the Control or Command key the press the minus (-) key.

STORIES TO NOTE - Here are five recent communication stories from the communications industry you should check out.

- Seven Great, Simple Rules for Engaging in Social Media via Twitter, LinkedIn, and Facebook.

- Faith and Technology: The Good and the Bad of Ministry Tech.

- 4 job interview tactics to help you go from good to great.

- 7 ways to get your blog noticed in a crowded niche.

- New Google maps include real-time traffic info.

(EDITOR’S NOTE: Friday’s View From The Pugh column features communications news and notes. E-mail viewfromthepugh@yahoo.com to submit an item for consideration for a future column).

New way to post quickly on WordPress

WordPress announced a new way of publishing posts quickly.

If you’re logged in to the site, officials said “you can create and publish new posts without the leaving the page you’re on. So instead of having to visit your blog’s dashboard each time you want to publish a post, now you can start a new post the very second you’re inspired to create one.”

A company press release indicates all bloggers need to do is click the new post button on the right side of the toolbar to start.

MOTORISTS GETS MOBILE - Motorists Mutual has created a mobile app for policyholders. Policyholders can now download the free app from iTunes if using an Apple product, or from the Android Market if using an Android device.

Motorists Mutual Mobile gives customers instant access to their auto insurance policy information. The app also provides agent information and the ability to submit claims directly from an accident.

Additional features include an accident checklist, agent locator, pay by phone, the ability to view past claims history submitted via the app and more.

LINKEDIN FOR BUSINESS - Business2Community has a great article with advice on how to set up a proper business page on LinkedIn. You can read it here.

NEW ADS ON FACEBOOK – Facebook announced new advertising opportunities for businesses this week on the site. The Cleveland Plain Dealer has a great rundown you can read here.

(EDITOR’S NOTE: Friday’s View From The Pugh column features communications news and notes. E-mail viewfromthepugh@yahoo.com to submit an item for consideration for a future column. Picture is from WordPress e-mail).

View From The Pugh: Why I do it

(EDITOR’S NOTE: “Why I Do It” is an occasional series looking at my blog projects).

When I worked at The News-Herald in Willoughby, I was hired as a copy editor, but I also enjoyed writing.

The paper gave a lot of great chances to write, from covering high school football and basketball games to writing religion articles.

It was a great experience and opportunity for me.

I’ve always been interested in church events and local Christian concerts, so with the encouragement of Executive Editor Glenn Gilbert, I launched View From The Pugh, which is a bi-weekly look at events in Lake, Cuyahoga, Geauga and Ashtbaula counties.

I enjoyed the column immensely and I loved building relationships with pastors and youth leaders in addition to local and national musicians.

Several years passed and I find myself in Columbus now.

Central Ohio is a great place with so much for families to do.

And I missed writing about faith events.

So I re-launched View From The Pugh in blog format,

I started to only write about Central Ohio family and faith events, but have since expanded it to write each day about events throughout Ohio as well.

It’s not a comprehensive list by any means, but it’s a creative outlet for me I enjoy doing.

I appreciate the readership the blog has received as well as the attention from publicists in the industry.

I encourage you to check it out and share with your friends.

You can also like the page on Facebook at http://www.facebook.com/viewfromthepugh and on Twitter at http://www.twitter.com/viewfromthepugh

You can also send press releases for family and faith events to viewfromthepugh@yahoo.com

Follow @chrispugh3

How to make social media work for businesses

Peter Shankman has an inspiring blog about how small businesses can make social media work for them by referring new clients to their businesses through success stories and demonstrating knowledge of a subject.

He gives some great easy-to-use tips.

What advice are you trying for your businesses or clients?

No. 3: Frontier at Grace holding Columbus Clipper ticket contest

The Frontier at Grace ministry blog for men at GracePolaris is giving away two tickets for the Columbus Clippers May 7 game against Lehigh Valley.

You can sign up for the contest here.

4 easy ways of safeguarding your business online

Ad Age recently ran a great article about how people are setting up Twitter pages for company mascots without knowledge of the businesses affected,

The article is another great example of how companies need to watch their reputations online.

No matter if you’re a sandwich shop around the corner or a Fortune 500 company, it pays to take a look at these four ways of easily safeguarding your business.

Facebook — Are there any Facebook pages created for your company. To check, log on to your Facebook account (or create one if you haven’t already) and use the search function on the top of the page. Search for your company, mascots and other trademarks. If you find something not associated with Facebook, you can file a report through the company.

Twitter — Use http://search.twitter.com to search for your company, mascots and other trademarks. As the article states, it can be more difficult to take down impersonators.

Google — Regularly search the Web for references to your company.

In addition to these reactive steps, it pays to be proactive.

Claim your company’s name and trademark on social networking sites.

Blog about your company. Create a WordPress account. It’s easy and free to get positive content out about your company or organization.

Reputation management takes time, but is essential when it comes to good business.

I’m available to consult for a nominal fee if you have additional questions about reputation management. Feel free to email me at
chris.pugh@sbcglobal.net

Don't rush social media

Great social media and blogging take time.

As we all know, a big trend in companies and non-profit organizations is to embrace new media.

The statistics are very seductive,from 500 million members on Facebook to record growth in Twitter and the influence on blogs.

A former boss of mine watched this video and was ready to change his company’s culture after two minutes.



So companies jump in head first. Lots of money is spent in hopes of a quick fix.

There are random examples of quick successes, but new media does it’s best when it has time to develop and nurture a fan base, Growth happens over building relationships through outreach and content people want to read.

New media alone won’t necessarily make companies a lot of money, but proper use of new media allows companies to establish long-lasting relationships with new customers through communications and referrals, which help companies in the long run.