Google uses a long string of numbers for each user (e.g. 113864065458009379418). The reason Google+ doesn’t use vanity URLs is because those could lead to spammers figuring out the email addresses of millions of Google+ users (since many Google Accounts are linked to Gmail accounts).

So, the problem arrises because no one wants to remember and give out a long string of numbers. A solution featured on Mashable is to use Gplus.to.   Mine is Gplus.to/joyloo, which is much easier to remember than a random strong of numbers.

This simple little app lets you create a short URL for your Google+ page, making it… READ MORE

If you don’t have the new Google bar yet, Mashable has a hack that you can do to get it.

When the search giant first launched Google+, brands immediately jumped on the opportunity to gain additional exposure. Google soon asked brands to stop creating Google+ profiles. It quickly became a controversy that forced the company to accelerate its plans for business pages.

Some reasons for businesses to jump on board and start company profiles are:

• Users can +1 a Page to signify their support for a brand. Pages also have a square icon that indicates they are a Page and not a person.

• Google+ Pages are also integrated directly into Google Search through a feature called Direct Connect.  Whenever a user starts a search query with the “+” operator, it will start bringing up Google+ Pages as they type.  Typing “+Toyota” and clicking the result will take you directly to the Toyota brand Page.

Setting up a Google+ Page is relatively simple as well.  Check out Mashable to see their short guide to the process.

For those of you that don’t know, I co-own an Internet marketing boutique agency.  I do social media and guerilla marketing and my partner does website development, essentially the techspert of Comatica.

I spend the majority of the day answering emails, fielding calls and depending on the client, monitoring their online presence, strategizing new online promotions and tying it together with offline guerilla marketing.

So with that said, there is no wonder why MY Klout score is low and my clients are high.  I came across an interesting article and will try some of these tactics to increase my score.  I wanted o share the six (6) ways to increase your Klout score.  Thanks to Aaron Lee for sharing.

6 UNOFFICIAL WAYS TO INCREASE YOUR KLOUT SCORE.

1. CREATE CONTENT WORTH SHARING

Easily said than done, what type of contents or tweets are worth sharing?

Niche tweets: Tweets regarding your niche. If you’re a social media consultant, you could share tweets on social media such as tips, how-to’s etc. Share something that people can benefit from your tweets.

Quotes from your niche: Quotes are great because people can easily relate to them. Two years ago, I shared tweets that get retweeted easily and one of them is quotes. The reason is because it is short and people can easily consume it compared to the links to a blog post.

Photos: A picture is worth thousand words, in this case, pictures get retweeted easily. Like quotes, it is easy to consume and the funnier the photo, the more it gets shared.

Share tips: Sharing tips is another great way to create contents that are content worthy. Be sure to keep that under 120 characters so people can retweet them with ease. One of my most retweeted tweets that has been retweet for more than a year is “retweet someone once, they will know you, retweet them a few times they will remember you”

2) START A DISCUSSION

Starting a discussion is tough, however when you have already built a community, you can start a discussion. One way you can increase your klout score is to have“feedbacks” from people or more “actions” taken upon your tweets. You can do so by posting tweets such as:

Questions regarding your niche: Ask questions or ask opinions and people will be more than happy to share their opinions with you. You can ask questions like, “What do you think the future of social media will look like?” or if you’re in another niche, try asking them questions regarding to your niche.

Wishes: Some twitter users say that you shouldn’t post tweets like “good morning” etc. I find that a bit ridiculous as it takes away the “human elements”. I don’t think there is any problem with posting such tweets. Usually every morning (In the US time), I’ll send out tweets like “Have a beautiful day/weekend” or “wishing you have a wonderful day ahead”. Tweets like these gets tons of feedback as people will thank you, and wish you have a wonderful day too.Join blog chats:

Blog chats: are a great way to connect with new people and start a discussion. I find blog chats really active and good to start new and meaningful conversations with others. There are weekly blogs chats that you can join and participate in.

3) CONNECT OTHER NETWORKS

Recently klout allows you to connect other networks such as Facebook, Youtube, Foursquare and other networks. I recently connected my foursquare despite only having less than 100 friends there and It helped me to increase my klout score (only a point). Klout mentioned that adding new networks will not decrease your klout score, so you should try to connect it too. I’ve friends that were able to increase their klout score by 3 points by adding only one addition network.Start a small community

4) BUILD A SMALL COMMUNITY

This is a great way to increase your klout score. The reason is because when you have a small community of your own, you’ll be able to get retweets and drive conversations easily compare to just sharing RSS tweets which brings no value when you don’t have a community to read them.

5) ENGAGE WITH INFLUENCERS

The last method is to engage with influencer users in your niche. Jump into their converastion, tweet them, respond to their tweet but make sure that its something that they can respond back too.

Robert Lavigne (@RLavigne42) tested this on twitter and he manage to increase his klout score from 13 to 44 in two weeks.

6) USE BUFFER

Last week at iStrategy, I discussed how using Buffer will increase your klout score, in summary, buffer helps you to optimize your tweet to send out during high traffic hour, therefore giving you more exposure and increasing “actions” such as responds, clicks, etc.

I’m looking forward to testing out these on my own score to see it increase.  Good luck and hope this helps.

I got an invite from a friend of mine for Google+ and join right away.  I wanted to see what all the fuss was about and if was going to be anything like Google Wave.

I filled everything out and added all my friends to appropriate circles.  Making sure to put people in the right circles in the beginning so I didn’t have the same privacy issues as I do in Facebook.

Even with all my friends, family, work colleagues accepting my requests it was super slow and quite.  Not many people were using it for updates so I tapered off for awhile.  Posting here and there.

Looking forward to seeing how it develops.  For a complete guide to what Google+ is and how to setup go to Mashable: Complete Google+ Guide.

Social media users have all been affected by changing privacy settings without notice or even our knowledge.  A new law might get passed called Social Network Privacy Act.  Facebook among others are worried because the law is set to make social networks private by default.

Not to my surprise, a coalition of 17 companies and trade groups that includes eHarmony, Facebook, Google, the Internet Alliance, Match.com, Skype, Twitter, Yahoo and Zynga have sent letters to the bill’s sponsor, State Senator Ellen Corbett, voicing their concerns over the new bill, according to All Things D.

Let’s break down the bill and see if the social service providers right.  Or is California about to ruin social networking online forever? Let’s take a look at key components of the new bill as it stand right now, and what the industry has to say about it.

What the bill says: “(a) A social networking Internet website shall establish a default privacy setting for registered users of the site that prohibits the display, to the public or other registered users, of any information about a registered user, other than the user’s name and city of residence, without the agreement of the user…(d) [these] provisions shall only apply to a text field specifically designated to display the registered user’s home address or telephone number.”

Translation: Social networks by default cannot display your home address or telephone number without your consent. Although the language does suggest this regulation could be interpreted as applying to almost all your profile data.

What the industry says: “By hiding from view of all existing users’ information until they made a contrary choice,” the State of California would be significantly limiting those users ability to “freely speak, write and publish his or her sentiments on all subjects.”

Reality check: The industry’s argument sounds like complete nonsense to me. You can still open up your profile information to others with just a few clicks in your privacy settings. Besides, it appears this regulation only applies to your home address and telephone number, although the wording of the bill is confusing.

What the bill says: “A social networking Internet website shall remove the personal identifying information of a registered user in a timely manner [48 hours] upon his or her request. In the case of a registered user who identifies himself or herself as being under 18 years of age, the social networking Internet website shall also remove the information upon the request of a parent of the registered user.”

Translation: If I want my personal data off your site, you’ve got 48 hours to do it including my name, address, telephone number, driver’s license number, Social Security number, place of employment, employee identification number, mother’s maiden name, demand deposit account number, savings account number, credit card number, and GPS location coordinates (including photograph metadata). Parents have the right to demand their kids’ data be erased within 48 hours if the child is under 18.

What the industry says: “[This law] would impose a duty on social networking sites difficult or impossible to discharge using existing technologies…[it] would [also] disrupt the legitimate speech [of others]…For example, hundreds of Californians can rightly claim the California Senate as their place of employment. Under SB 242, any one of those individuals would have the right to demand that any other mention of California Senate by another user be taken down.”

Reality check: Considering the massive server farms these companies use to store data, 48 hours may not be enough time to scrub your information completely. But a clearly defined time limit to scrub your data wouldn’t be such a bad thing. The bill would also make more sense if it clearly spelled out that sites had to take down personal information supplied by you, and not data supplied by others.

In my opinion, it’s a no-brainer to make a social networking site by default private.  Giving the user the option to reveal how little or how much they want to make public.  For a list of  latest social networking privacy news, visit EPIC.org

]]> http://joyloo.me/2011/05/is-california-social-networking-laws-about-to-change/feed/ 1 http://joyloo.me/2011/05/wheres-my-facebook-friend-updates/ http://joyloo.me/2011/05/wheres-my-facebook-friend-updates/#comments Thu, 12 May 2011 17:57:18 +0000 admin http://joyloo.me/?p=1395 I’ve been using my Andriod phone and iPad (friendly app) to check Facebook these past few months.  When you’re on the go, it makes it a lot easier to check Facebook and update all your social stuff.

I recently realized when I’m on my laptop checking Facebook I get all this bull$h!* commercial posts, people who posts several times a day about nonsense and miss out on friends updates I don’t usually interact with.  I guess Facebook changed it’s policy…  if your friends haven’t updated their status for quite awhile, chances are you’ll miss out on any of their future updates.  Facebook changed this to prevent an overwhelming number of status updates on your wall, which is a good thing if you have thousands of friends.

I noticed this because I would see different Facebook updates on the mobile platforms vs laptop.  So I changed my laptop settings see “all of my friends and posts” updates but hid all those annoying over the top self promoting posts.  Buuuhh-byeeee!

To change this you’ll have to go to “Profile” and click on drop down menu under “Most Recent”

Click on “Edit Options”

Show post from “All of your friends and pages”.  Don’t forget to hide posts from pesky people.

Comatica was hired by ASV to take a journey with the Lexus IS Precision tour covering close to 6k miles across the U.S. taking them from:

– Auto Club Speedway – Fontana, CA
– Infineon Raceway – Sonoma, CA
– Texas Motor Speedway – Ft. Worth, TX
– Palm Beach International Raceway – Jupiter, FL
– Chicago Autobahn – Joliet, IL
– Monticello Motor Club – Monticello, NY

Overview – The 2011 Lexus IS Precision Tour consisted of a six (6) week complementary event for guests to attend, giving them the opportunity to get up close and personal with the LFA supercar and compete to win a spot in Speed TV’s Dream Ride.

Objective – Comatica worked with ASV to fulfill an “out of the box” solution for their client Team One.  Team One is a division of Saatchi & Saatchi, a full-service marketing communications agency that successfully launched and introduced the Lexus brand.

Campaign – Lexus held a “ride and drive” IS Precision Tour in several locations across the country.  In doing ride and drive events, Lexus gathers powerful selling data, learning tools, helps build the Lexus brand image and increases sales and service.  To build a more memorable event, Comatica first identified Lexus’ current tactics as well as developed ASV team’s knowledge on viral video, car camera systems and wireless integration.  Detailed discussions about the brand were followed by an in-depth round table to identify core strategies.

Implementation – Comatica researched applicable equipment and identified a solution using software and systems never before integrated.  Both systems were tested and worked properly.  This allowed for video viral marketing and real-time wireless viewing at each track for guests that did not get to ride in the LFA Supercar.

Comatica created a personalized Lexus LFA in-car video dash overlay, configured both systems (video and wireless) to work with one another, setup the wireless network at every track and provided video editing.

Results - Due to the great feedback, Lexus agency and executives decided to extended the tour to another track, Monticello, New York.  Comatica was invited to participate in the last media and executives track day.  Comatica is currently editing all the video footage to create an IS Precision Tour trailer.  Visit YouTube to view and check out their journey from all the tracks.

About Lexus, ASV and Comatica

Lexus is the luxury vehicle division of Toyota Motor Corporation, is sold globally and is Japan’s largest-selling make of premium cars.  Lexus has makes and models that fit within every automotive category.  Lexus recently launched hybrid vehicle and two (2) high performance vehicles; the Lexus ISF and the US$375,000 Lexus LFA supercar.

ASV is a boutique full-service exhibit company based out of Torrance, CA, founded in 1988.  Their specialties include experiential marketing, event planning & execution and more.  ASV creates impactful product displays, organize gala events, engaging brand experiences and provide a full range of services in car prep.

Comatica is progressive interactive media agency comprised of hand-picked passionate group of marketeers, creative minds and techsperts, pushing the boundaries of online marketing and web development.  Comatica was hired to develop and execute a tailored wireless video stream, in-car telemetry solution and manage video transference.

It was an evening of elegance with Bo Cigar’s and Glenmorangie 18 year old pairing, live jazz music by Matt Cusson and a catered affair with refreshments and food provided Cameron Hughes Wine.

Guests started arriving and checking in at 5pm and were greeted in the main showroom with a display of beauty.  The Phantoms, Drophead Coupe and Ghosts were distracting but was a perfect backdrop for guests wine tasting and having hors d’oeuvres.  The Jay’s catered food display was a spread of European & domestic cheeses, artisan breads & crackers, Parmesan crusted crab dip, assorted vege platter, hummus trios and more assorted finger foods.

On site from Cameron Hughes Wine was Jessica Kogan Co-Founder and CFO.  They had displays in the main showroom and the second Spyker showroom.  Anywhere you walked that night had something for everyone.  The furthest back showroom houses Newport European’s pre-owned vehicles and had a beautiful display of Glenmorangie 18 Year Old single malt Scotch whiskey pairing with Bo’s on-site cigar roller.

Newport European Motorcars really knows how to throw a client appreciation event.  Three rooms filled with something for everyone… jazz music ambiance, assorted yummy food, wine and Scotch whiskey tasting, cigar rolling and prizes to top off the night.

Door prize sponsors for the evening was a delectably irresistible treat from CandyCakes, private cooking lessons from I Want to Cook, Interior Design Consultation from HomeDetailz Ducks autographed jersey from Orange County Register and Cameron Hughes Wine glasses and opener.

When asked when the next event will be, Roger Fletcher, General Manager of Newport European said “We’ll be having more of these events this year.  An exact date has not been set as of yet, but we are planning for sometime in June.”

Let’s hope we all get an invite to this next event!  To see photos of the event CLICK HERE.

However, if you’re reading this before your messages have been deleted, go and download the free Android app SMS Backup in the Market.  Be sure to grab the right app if you go searching in the Market this app was written by Christoph Studer, and has a small Gmail icon in its logo.

The free SMS Backup app automatically transfers your SMS messages to a Gmail label as they come in.

You’ll need to enable IMAP in your Gmail settings and give SMS Backup your Gmail username and password.  After that, though, the app can back up the SMS messages you’ve stored on your phone to a Gmail label SMS by default, but you can change it to anything you want.  You can choose whether to have those messages appear as unread when they land in your label or not.

Thanks to Jeff at Lifehacker for posting and giving details for this app.

The City of Beverly Hills and The Friends of Greystone are proud to announce the 2nd Annual Greystone Mansion Concours d’Elegance, which will take place May 1, 2011.

The event is to raise funds for the continuing restoration and preservation of the Greystone Estate, a nationally registered landmark and the former home of the Doheny Family, now under the ownership and care of the City of Beverly Hills.

The Concours will present approximately 150 of the most exceptional automobiles and motorcycles and will also provide access to the entirety of the estate’s grounds, along with tours of the interior of the mansion, promising something for everyone in attendance.

The mansion, which is rarely open to the public, will also serve to present a marketplace of outstanding vendors, presenting wares ranging from automobilia to art and jewelry, all certain to find favor with the most discerning guests.

In addition, those in attendance also receive as part of their admission ticket, at no extra charge, a full complement of food, beverages and adult libations, an event program and poster, along with ongoing vintage fashion displays and musical entertainment present, as well as lectures by auto industry experts.

Automobile and motorcycle exhibitors also receive two admission tickets plus a delightful gift bag in appreciation of their participation in the event.

The success of the 2010 inaugural event, attended by approximately 2500 people, will be further enhanced at the 2011 event by expanded food and beverage courts; and, we again expect the finest of sponsors and vendors in the marketplace and what promises to be another world class concours field.

For 2011, media coverage will be provided by local television, radio and various media outlets, along with the addition this coming year of a media partnership with the outstanding publication, Sports Car Market Magazine. Present event sponsors also include Gooding & Co., The Petersen Automotive Museum, Brooks Brothers, Tiffany & Co. and the Armand Hammer Foundation.

Feel free to email me at joy@joyloo.me for information on sponsorship.  For general information regarding the Greystone Mansion & Estate, please visit our website at: www.beverlyhills.org/greystone

Bentley Motors invites you and a guest to an exclusive preview of the new Bentley Continental GT.  From the company’s earliest days, we’ve created cars that set new standards in automotive design and engineering. At the start of a new decade, we’re unveiling our latest masterpiece, the new Continental GT, a stunning coupe that blends classic Bentley DNA with contemporary design and modern technology. The perfect fusion of supercar performance and handcrafted luxury ensures the remarkable, new Continental GT creates a revolution of its own. Join us in celebrating a new chapter in Bentley’s automotive history.

RALEIGH STUDIOS
5300 Melrose Avenue
Hollywood, CA 90038

7:00 p.m. – 10:00 p.m.

Saturday, November 13, 2010 was the video premiere of Sir Mix-Alot’s latest song Carz. Ryan Porter of Jalopnik reports on scene.

Despite the tremendous rain that is not unusual for us Seattlelites the party was crazy. The rain didn’t keep the exotics and various sport cars from showing up and Sir-Mix-a-Lot himself stood out in the rain personally greeting each and every guest.

Through the red-carpet and into the mad-house party there were plenty of drinks and people looking to have fun. The party was packed with people ranging from Ferrari 458 owners to the best auto detailers in the country.

It may sound crazy that I’d call out the auto-detailers, but the crew that gathered for this party, and that helped in the making of this video, are serious car people. Before the video rolled Sir-Mix-a-Lot played a slide show showing off some of his past cars that really put things in perspective.

He’s owned over 24 exotics from a Slant-nose Gemballa Porsche to his current LP-640. Despite the loads of Ferrari’s and Lambo’s he’s owned he didn’t downplay his embarrassment at some of his past cars, including the candy-red Mercedes SEL with gold-accents that he copped after his first royalty-check.

After the brief stroll through his automotive rolodex he played the video and, I gotta say, I thought it was actually good. The video will premiere next week on Sir Mix-A-Lot’s YouTube channel so you’ll have to hang-tight to see. In the meantime, here are some more photos from the event.

On Saturday, October 30th, Aston Martin Newport Beach, along with its new partner House of AN and its luxury partner HauteOC, will host “Glamour & Ghouls,” a Masquerade Ball at ANQI Gourmet Bistro, South Coast Plaza that will simply be worth dying for.

Paying homage to medieval times’ Masquerade, the time-honored tradition of …. click to read more

Earlier this year Velocity sent out a questionnaire to get Orange County’s auto enthusiasts opinion on current automotive websites (likes and dislikes).  Thank you again for taking the time to fill out that questionnaire.  Your answers gave the Velocity team valuable insight on their new revolutionary product.  The team would like some simple poll questions answer to complete their research and product implementation.

At the end of the poll, simply enter your name and email and click “Calculate Results“, you’ll be eligible to win a year subscription.  Five (5) lucky winners will be randomly drawn and awarded.

[wp-simple-survey]

LETTER SIX is an Orange County full service interactive marketing agency with over 40 years experience in web design, social media marketing and video production.  LETTER SIX builds brands and drives engagement by initiating results driven and imaginative campaigns and applications. The agency works on new ways to inform, excite, connect with consumers and engage in active brand conversation.

LETTER SIX is comprised of Andrew Conn – Principal and Creative Director, Craig Lieberman – Principal and Executive Producer, Gary DePriest – Principal and Director of Business Development, Joy Loo – Principal and Director of Marketing and Ian Ray – Principal and Director of Technology.

I attended the very first OC Barrett Jackson auction.  About 100 cars and their enthusiastic owners turned out in Costa Mesa for a road rally ahead of the Barrett-Jackson auction that is making its debut in Orange County this weekend.

The crowd gathered Saturday at South Coast Plaza and then … read more about OC Barrett Jackson.

The Extended Info for Facebook adds many more options for your profile.  Examples can be: adding extra fields to your profile, such as Currently Reading, Favorite Foods, or anything you can think of (see what types of fields people are using). It supports videos, images, music, and HTML.

New Features

* Add videos, images, and lists without writing code
* Support for all FBML
* Add text to your profile’s Info tab
* Use Markdown or Textile, if you’re familiar with them
* Add Extended Info to your Facebook Pages
* A second box for your profile: install More Extended Info
* Friend tagging
* Search across Extended Info
* Preview your Extended Info changes without going to your profile
* View the most popular field titles and categories used
* Customize links and fonts
* Preferences page
* Support for all character sets

How to Install

* visit the about Page
* click the “Add to my Page” link (not the big blue button, but a smaller link under that)
* click the button next to the Page you would like to add it to

After that, to add it to your Page:

* go to your Page
* click the Edit Page link under the profile picture
* under Extended Info, click “Application Settings” to add it as a tab, a box, or to your Page’s Info tab
* once you’re finished, click “Edit” to go to Extended Info to fill our your fields

If you’d like to make it the first/landing tab for people who are new to your page (this option ONLY for Fan Page):

* go to your Page and make sure you’re on the Wall tab
* hit the options link on the right, under the publisher’s share button
* hit the settings link that now appears in the same place
* adjust the dropdown box for “Default landing tab for everyone else” to be Extended Info