If you had it to do over again…what would you name your company? Here are 7 great tips researched by  Frances McInnis. 

Does It Mean Something? 

Names can be classified on a continuum based on how they communicate to consumers, says Nina Beckhardt, president of The Naming Group, an agency whose employees have crafted names for Walmart, Target and Puma. “There’s a spectrum from descriptive names which speak directly to a product benefit or attribute, to empty vessel names, where it doesn’t mean anything about the product that we’re talking about.” Descriptive names, such as Blogging Basics 101, immediately convey information about what you do. They are simple, intuitive and help consumers easily identify the mandate of a blog or company.   

 The downside? They can sound generic and boring, and the accompanying domain name is usually taken. They are also limiting in a fast-moving industry like tech, where what you do now might not be what you’ll be doing in a few years. “A name can be a prison,” says Michael Martine, the blogging and SEO expert behind Remarkablogger. “Take AT&T. There, the last T stands for telegraph.”      

Or Does It Mean Nothing?

Beckhardt says that empty vessel names can be completely made-up words (Kodak or Squidoo), words in another language (Hulu), which roughly translates both to “holder of precious things” and “interactive recording” in Mandarin), or those whose meaning is so obscure that people interpret it as an invented word (Google) is sparked from “googol,” the name for the number consisting of a one followed by a hundred zeros).    

 Empty vessel names can be fun to say, can separate you from the crowd, and can be subtler than descriptive ones. “Empty vessel names generate buzz in how different they are from the norm,” says Beckhardt. “They can also create phonetic impact.”   But you may need to put in more money to get the word out initially, says Martine. “Generally, the more of a disconnect there is between the name of a blog and what the blog’s about, the greater the chance it will not succeed.” And a word to the wise: Check to see if the word means something in another language — you don’t want unintended meanings to make a mockery of your carefully crafted name.    

If neither descriptive nor empty vessel names appeal, try a suggestive name, which lies somewhere in between. Names like Apple or Yahoo all indirectly allude to the values for which the brand would like to be known. 

Will It Work Online?
Nothing kills a name faster than finding out someone else already has it — and in the online hunt for domain names, it sometimes seems like every possible option is taken.     

One solution, says Johnson, is to opt for misspelled, made-up or compound words, as in Flickr, Digg or Topix. He says that intentional Web 2.0 misspellings are “attempts to capture meaning and associations of a real English word without having to spend tens or hundreds of thousands on the domain name.”   Johnson also says that search engine issues have affected the style of names. People consciously try to create names with unique keywords so theirs will be the only result in targeted Google searches.     

Others incorporate popular keywords into the name in an attempt to improve their position in search results, though Martine believes this is a losing strategy from a branding point of view. “It’s lifeless,” he says. “A keyword is not a brand, where there’s emotional connection with the words.” Plus, since spammers rely heavily on popular keywords, names generated solely with SEO in mind can seem spammy.      

Is It Sticky?
Amidst all the search engine and domain name drama, consider that names are memorable when they sound good.  “When you’re creating a name, remember you’re putting together syllables — a good design is going to be about pleasing contrasts between consonants and vowels, and consonants themselves,” says Johnson.    

 But don’t get intimidated by the linguistics-speak. Humans are naturally pretty good at inferring whether a name is melodious or not. Just don’t forsake that natural ability because you’re so focused on domain names, SEO and empty vessels.    

You can also use poetic devices to ensure the names stick. Names based on rhymes (TopShop, T-MobileHotSpot), repetition (Bebo, Lala), and alliteration (Firefox, BlackBerry) tend to be memorable.     

For the advanced namers out there, try what Beckhardt calls the “Part of Speech Test.” Beckhardt argues that names that can be used in multiple parts of speech are stronger because people will use them in speech more often. LinkedIn, for instance, can be used as a noun (“We connected on LinkedIn”), as an adjective (“Did you look at her LinkedIn profile?”), and as a verb (“I am going to LinkIn with him”). When a name passes the Part of Speech test, Beckhardt says, it becomes pervasive.     

Is It Simple?
“The name should be easy to pronounce, easy to understand when you hear it, easy to spell when you hear it, and easy to know the pronunciation when you see it written,” says Johnson. However, you can mitigate confusion by buying domain names with likely misspellings and redirecting users to your site. Punctuation is trickier. Although adding hyphens to domain names or underscores to Twitter handles may allow you to get the name you wanted, people are likely to accidentally leave them out, especially when typing on mobile devices. You’re better off avoiding punctuation if you can. Finally, shorter is usually better (especially for Twitter handles if you want to be retweeted). 

Forget the Rules
If a name is really meaningful to you, it might work even if it doesn’t quite meet all the other criteria. “Name strength is evaluated on an individual basis,” says Beckhardt. So don’t be intimidated by the rules — just grab your thesaurus and get going.     

Hope this helps!
Sabrina Espinal
Sabrina&Company

Terra Cotta Warriors-China

 Do you need to contact Facebook?

My professional counterpart, Matthew Tommasi (Founder of The Social Media Guide), compiled an amazing list in his latest blog ”How To Contact Facebook” that is a “must-have” for everyone.  Believe me, one day you will desperately need to get in touch with Facebook so keep Matthew’s list in a safe place!   Facebook is a “don’t call us, we’ll call you…oh, that’s right..we don’t have a phone so you are on your own” type of place!  

Contact Information for Facebook:

• Login / Password
• Friends
• Networks
• Search
• Problems sending or receiving gifts
• Like
• Events
• Notes
• Links
• Confirm Facebook Account
• Add Your City to Facebook’s Database

Mobile

• Mobile
• Facebook mobile
• Unable to log in using phone
• Credits: mobile payments and Facebook credits

Photos

• Unable to select photos
• Photos: I don’t have the ability to use the advanced uploader
• Photos
• Cannot upload or change profile picture

Video

• Video
• My Video Has Disappeared
• I can’t upload my video

Pages

• Create a Page as an authorised representative
• Page not displaying in search

Groups

• Unable to become admin of a group you have left
• Groups
• I can’t find a member when searching in a group I admin
• My group or event is unavailable
• Delays in message and invitation delivery
• I Can’t Send a Message to My Group

Errors

• Could Not Open Socket Error
• Site maintenance
• Database Down Error
• Profile Unavailable Error
• Oops Error Message
• Operation Aborted Error
• Database Write Failed Error
• AJAX Transport Error
• Memory Error On Line
• Stack Overflow Error
• Authentication Failure Error
• Validation Error
• Bad Parameter Error
• Page not found error

Contacts

• My Contact File or Address Book won’t import to Facebook
• Remove Imported Contacts
• I tried to use the Friend Finder

Ads

• Adverts: Report an advert enquiry
• Your Facebook adverts success story
• Facebook Adverts credits enquiry
• Report a Facebook Advert
• Report an advert from an application

Inbox

• Inbox
• Inbox not loading
• Oops error when reading messages
• Inbox retrieval error
• Unavailable message threads
• My inbox keeps telling me I have an unread message

News Feeds

• News feed shifted down
• Blank News Feed

Home Page

• Home Page
• Your Home Page feedback

Wall

• Overlapping comments
• Older Wall posts are not displayed
• No older posts link
• Posts not appearing In News Feed
• Wall posts disappearing
• Wall is not visible to friends
• Wall

Notifications

• Not receiving site notifications
• I’m not receiving email notifications

Disabled Account

• My Personal Profile was Disabled
• My Facebook Page was disabled
• Delete my account

Lost Content After Reactivated Account

• Content lost through reactivation
• If content still has not been restored within 24 hours – Fix button
• Pages I Admin have disappeared
• Pages still not restored – Fix button

Chat

• Chat disconnection
• Chat bar not loading
• Online Friends Appear Offline
• Chat

Suggestions

• Your Home Page suggestion
• Your Inbox suggestion
• Your Profile suggestion
• Your Search suggestion
• Your Chat suggestion
• Your Events suggestion
• Your Groups suggestion
• Your Photos suggestion
• Your Video suggestion
• Your links suggestion
• Your Notes suggestion
• Your Mobile suggestion
• Your pages suggestion
• Your Privacy suggestion
• Your email feedback
• Your application feedback
• Your general suggestion

Hacked

• My account has been hacked and I have access to my login email address
• My account has been hacked and my login email address has been changed
• My account has been hacked and I don’t have access to my login email address
• My friend’s account has been hacked

Scam

• 419 Scam
• 419 Scam — friend report
• Report a malicious link or website

Death

• Report a deceased person’s profile
• Report suicidal content

Illegal

• Report a convicted sex offender
• Terrorist Content

Minors

• Report an unauthorised photo – under 13 year old child
• Report unauthorised content – under 13 year old child
• Report an underage child
• Child data request
• Report an underage child (Spain)

Copyright Infringement

• DMCA (United States Digital Millennium Copyright Act) Notice of Copyright Infringement
• Notice of Intellectual Property Infringement (Non-Copyright Claim)
• Notice of infringement by a third-party application
• Report an infringing username
• DMCA Counter-Notice (for copyright claims only)

Hope this helps!
Sabrina Espinal
Sabrina&Company  

Why is this really big?  Because this event is another signal that the way we communicate has changed forever. Communications has morphed and shifted into a new baby being…(or bing!) and will continue to do so in quiet little steps. 

Many people move through their day without  realizing  that they are involved in social networking.  Think about a Mom pushing her baby cart around the park.  Now…take a closer look…is she also looking at her iPhone?  Did she just check for kid friendly restaurants on Foursquare or was she just leaving a quick review of  Babies R Us on Yelp?

If you are just beginning to take notice of Social Media, that’s great! Chances are you are already involved and don’t even know it! 

ASK ME!

Let me make it easy for you to ask the basic questions along with learning what ”all of this” can do for your personal brand and business.  Let me tell you how to protect yourself and your family as you decide what and how to share on your social networks. 

• Join me on Facebook Page for updated information and to ask questions!
• Join my mailing list located on Sabrina&Company and on my Facebook Page tab for monthly detailed tips.

Social is good.

Sabrina Espinal
Sabrina&Company

Written by David Brier, award-winning designer, author and branding expert. His firm’s work has won the admiration of peers and organizations but, more importantly, has helped clients jump start their brands in new and innovative ways, even (and especially) when they’ve failed in previous brand makeovers. You can follow David Brier on twitter here.

Hope you enjoyed this article and found the branding lessons on point!

Sabrina Espinal
Sabrina&Company Social Media Services

Failing to have a formal Social Media plan will get you into trouble every time.  The good news stories about social media are everywhere but unfortunately we also know about the brand blunders.

Here are 5 blunders to avoid:

1. Not staying in love with your community networks: The classic Barry White song said it best, ”I’m never gonna give you up, I’m never ever gonna stop”. Social media is the dance a business has to do everyday. Understanding why you are in social media means that you also understand that it is not event driven. Social media  is a lifestyle for your business.  You can always add new themes and move in different directions but you should never stop your social media dance just because you have finished the grand opening of your new store. Your brand deserves to be treated better than that!
2. Not informing employees of your social media sites: Failing to share your social media strategy with your employees is like failing to tell you employees the goals of the company. Talking about social media and training your employees will bring excitement, employee engagement and at the very least awareness.  I can’t tell you how many times I’ve heard customers ask if a business was on Twitter and the employees are clueless. That was a missed opportunity for a customer to talk about your business.
3. Not giving social media management to a trained professional: Can I say, the Nestle debacle? You can’t afford a blunder or inappropriate customer service. Consumers are increasingly seeing social media networks as an easy customer service portal.  One wicked post will turn your followers against you.
4. Not paying for social media: Managing your networks (the right way) will cost money. Make that long term commitment and put the cost in your budget. Don’t cheat your brand by trying to do it for free with an Intern or your teen-age son. Set aside the appropriate dollars in your operating budget.
5. Not looking at your social media networks:Ok, so you own the business but take time each week to look, read and enjoy your social media. Understand what your customers are saying and view how your networks are being managed.

Bonus blunder #6

Not understanding the true outcome: Social media is not a print or television ad so please don’t use it just to sell your overstock of microwave ovens!  Social media is amazing and will do incredible things for your business  and your life…just like networking, you won’t always know the outcome.

You will know that you can take your brand and tell your story across multiple networks on a daily basis. Increasing your brand image and reputation…. and with the rate that social media is changing you will be able to continue to change and engage in new and exciting ways!

Let Sabrina&Company Social Media Services keep you from making a big blunder.

Sabrina Espinal
Sabrina&Company Social Media Services

 I love looking at branding on a wider scale and I speak to teens about their personal brand and how they can protect their reputation..and they “get it”! 

Brands are big biz, small biz and individual people and they are all  played out 24/7 on the web. 

What’s going on with your brand and have you shaped your vision and message?

Enjoy this delicious blog from Joey Reiman , CEO and founder of The BrightHouse Consultancy thinkbrighthouse.com and start looking at your Brand.

By Joey Reiman

Today’s brands play in a tough arena. They have been bruised by bad reputations, cut by irate customers and burned by their competitors. Enron and WorldCom destroyed their brands with bad leadership. Delta Air Lines fell from grace when service was no longer on their radar. And The Home Depot brand is in need of repair now that Lowe’s is offering more.

Brands are promises. When they are kept, customers keep them. When they are broken, customers leave them. These brand-aids can heal those relationships, soothe customers and protect your organizations.

 1. Brands Are People, Too
Your whole company is your marketing department. Advertising, sales and brand managers need to enlist and insist that their colleagues across the organization understand and care as much about the brand as they do. Consumers do not distinguish between a print ad and a rude employee, both of which represent the company. Marketers need to reinforce their efforts at every level of the organization to build armies of zealots. Marketing may be your message, but your company is the messenger.

2. Brands Are Receivers, Not Transmitters
In past decades we sat on our couches, receiving messages from our advertisers (transmitters) about everything from headaches to hemorrhoids. This relationship has now been inverted by a powerful new consumer: She decides what she wants to receive, where and when she wants it and what color she wants it in. In many cases, she even dictates the price. Brands that understand this will hear the cash register ring. Those who continue transmitting what they believe she wants will get little if no reception.

3. Bonding Is the New Branding
Branding is for cattle; it is a statement of ownership. Bonding is for people; it is a pronouncement of a relationship. Branding is burning your logo onto the hides of customers. Bonding is igniting a space inside customers’ hearts by creating meaningful and memorable experiences between your brand and its users. Ads rarely change behavior; to do that we need to create robust experiences that enrich lives.

4. Create A 10-Year Campaign
What makes companies change their marketing campaigns so quickly?  Agencies.  Why would agencies want to make this change?  N. I. H. Syndrome.  “Not Invented Here” Syndrome costs advertisers hundreds of millions of dollars every year. The agency model is based on self-preservation.  If it only evolved your brand, its own brand would become extinct.  But creative people are change agents, who should only destroy to build something better. A powerful solution would be to build on top of the brand.  “We try harder,” “Have it your way” and “The real thing” are still relevant and are foundations to build legacies. Needless change costs dollars. Needful change builds equity. Your ad agency uses your brand to drive its own sales. Forget the retainer; use it on a project basis. Then the agency will focus on your solution rather than its problem, retaining you.

5. Public Relations Means Public Impact
Public relations is all about facts.  Advertising is all about fiction.  If your company has something newsworthy to say or offer, journalists will seek you out – the splash you pray, not pay, for.  Conversely, most advertising takes what isn’t big news and makes you think it is. Instead of trying to get into someone’s head, try making headlines. Brands that improve public life, not just public perception, win the day.

 6. Branding Slow Gets You There Fast
Slow marketing is gentler and more polite. Advertising with manners invites people in, rather than capturing them, and presents a call to action, rather than a request to think.  Reflection leads to reason and reason leads to wisdom. Predictability and reliability are time-embedded characteristics that create trust and loyalty.  You may trick consumers into buying something with promises of less money or more miles, but if the relationship is discounted, no coupon will save it.

  7. Stop Advertising On TV – People Aren’t Watching
TiVo has changed TV, forever. Gone are those “Happy Days” when families huddled together on the living room floor to watch “The Man from U.N.C.L.E.”  “Bewitched” by the magic of TV, we were anxious to enter “The Twilight Zone” as long as our parents held our hands.  Then TV was our guide to ourselves. When we looked into its mirror, we liked what we saw.  “Father Knows Best” was comforting, if not plausible. Media gurus will boast that Nielsen Media Research claims nearly 170 million homes have their TVs on, but their power to persuade is all but “Six Feet Under.”

 8. No Brain, No Gain
How do you convert a customer to your brand? Through loyalty, which drives purchase.  While product features provide rational reasons to choose one product over another, they only work if the competition can’t do better. Loyalty is based on deep, long-lasting brand associations. Strong preferences operate on an intuitive – not rational – level. They choose the brand because they have made it theirs – literally. The brain has “coded” this brand as being consistent with the viewer’s idea of self. Creating brand loyalists thus means delivering a brand identity that reinforces, not violates, customers’ self-identity. She buys green products like Seventh Generation because she wants to support the environment.

9. Discover Your Company’s Master Idea
Every organization possesses a Master Idea – the galvanizing idea that aligns a company’s ideals, objectives and values. It restores, renews and guides the brands. Brands should never be defined by their competitors, but by their authentic and distinctive Master Idea. This Holy Grail or DNA will create an emotionally charged workplace, prolific innovation cycles and a genuine brand.

Hope you enjoyed Joey’s article!

Sabrina Espinal
Sabrina&Company Social Media Services

Enjoy this important blog post: Are Blogs Still Important for SEO And Why?  by Lee Oden at Business Blog Consulting

A large number of companies are familiar with the process of starting a blog, but few have experienced the challenges of maintaining and growing a blog for more than a year. Understanding long term benefits is key to sustainable business blogging. One of the most notable benefits of publishing blog content, especially if optimized, is the compliment to search engine optimization efforts.

TopRank’s Online Marketing Blog recently conducted a survey with 326 Corporate, Agency, Small Biz and Independent marketers. Long time readers of Business Blog Consulting understand the SEO value of blogging, however, we wanted to check in with marketers with a variety of blogging experience to see what their experiences have been firsthand.

Key findings:

95% indicated blogs are used as part of their search engine optimization efforts
87.4% successfully increased measurable SEO objectives as a direct result of blogging
90% cited blogging as important, significantly important or a primary SEO tactic

Blogs are started for many reasons ranging from corporate communications in a newsroom format to conversational posts from executives or subject matter experts. When it came to SEO benefits from blogging, the top choices were:

» Creat new optimized content
» Linking from blog posts to optimized web site content
» Attract external links
» Increase crawl rate / frequency
» Community building for content/links promotion
» Content Syndication
The timeframe between starting a blogging effort and seeing results is a very common question for companies considering a blog as part of the marketing and communications mix. In the TopRank survey, respondents reported seeing SEO results fairly quickly:

94% of bloggers reported seeing measurable SEO benefits from blogging within 12 months
54% of respondents start to see SEO benefits from blogging within 3 months

After timeframe to see results, the next most common question about building a case for a corporate blog are the results. Adding a SEO effort to a corporate blog allows companies to increase the outcomes and reach of the content published. The top benefits from blog SEO included:

» Increasing company site traffic
» Increase company leads/sales
» Inbound links
» Referrals from the blog
» Lead generation from the blog
» Improved web site rankings
» Increased blog traffic
Starting a blog purely for SEO reasons will make content sustainability difficult in the long run. A blogging strategy must meet meet other goals as well, especially those that involve engaging customers or interactions with readers. Other success measures from blogging include:

» Increase overall online exposure. They won’t know about you if you don’t say anything, participate
» Contribute to company’s bottom line goals in at least a semi-direct way
» Branding and owning SERPS
» Increase quality of site traffic
» Improve visibility and prominence in search engine results is by far the most important, it’s all about search
» Branding
» Incease visibility and demonstrate the company is “up to date”
Convincing management that a corporate blog or any kind of blog is not always easy. Nor is long term creation of content and promotion. Many of the comments about obstacles to blogging centered around time, resources, measurement and a lack of awareness.

» 67.2% cited resource issues as the most common objection to implementing a blog
» 42% cited content sourcing issues
» 35% didn’t see the benefit of blogging
» Regulated industry or legal issues got in the way for 19.3
Is blogging here to stay? 92% of respondents feel blogging will continue to be an important content optimization and marketing tactic for the next 3+ years.

Hopes this helps you see the importance of blogs for your business.

Sabrina Espinal
Sabrina&Company Social Media Services

“Millions of people use Facebook every day and this is a great way to meet and interact with customers. Join us for a hands-on beginner’s workshop as we discuss and build your first Facebook Fan Page. You’ll discover the reasons why you should have a page for your business or your solo entrepreneur ventures. After this brief introduction, the workshop will get to work and you will (hopefully) leave with a new Fan Page! You should already have a Facebook account, and please bring a laptop and any images/text that you would like on the page.

About the presenter: Sabrina Espinal is the owner of Sabrina&Company Social Media Services. She creates and manages social networks as a Community Manager for clients around the world. www.sabrinacompany.com”

RSVP Meetup – The Hive Lower Manhanttan CoWorking Club

Sabrina Espinal
Sabrina&Company Social Media Marketing

Confusing? Yes.  Maybe we should call it Communications Media or Conversation Media Networking! The “social” in our “media” is all of us. That’s a concept that many people still don’t understand.

What’s really happening is a new way of people communicating with not only each other but with that part of our world that we normally have a very small voice.

Here is one example:  Did you have bad customer service?  Many years ago you would write a well scripted letter to the company.  Advance few years and you would call customer service, complete a post card or email a supervisor.  Advance to today and you have multiple options: you can tweet the company, go to their fan page and post your story or detail their blunder in your blog with a picture.   Do you see the difference? You are creating the content across multiple public networks and posting it!  Then your content then creates conversations about your experience.  Finally, nine times out of ten the company picks up the information and gets back to you through the same medium.  Now, that is just one example and social media is so much more than customer relations, it is…everything.

Maybe we should call it Power Media or Power to the People Media – ok, I know that is an “old school”  but that is exactly what is happening  We are all creating content and engaging in conversations across countless networks. Social media is putting the world in our hands and is changing the way we do everything…or have we taken the world into our hands and created social media? What do you think?

Power to the People!

Sabrina Espinal
Sabrina&Company Social Media Services

Here are 5 blunders to avoid:

1. Not staying in love with your community networks: The classic Barry White song said it best, ”I’m never gonna give you up, I’m never ever gonna stop”. Social media is the dance a
   business has to do everyday. Understanding why you are in social media means that you also understand that it is not event driven. Social media  is a lifestyle for your business.  You can always add new themes and move in different directions but you should never stop your social media dance just because you have finished the grand opening of your new store. Your brand deserves to be treated better than that!
2. Not informing employees of your social media sites: Failing to share your social media strategy with your employees is like failing to tell you employees the goals of the company. Talking about social media and training your employees will bring excitement, employee engagement and at the very least awareness.  I can’t tell you how many times I’ve heard customers ask if a business was on Twitter and the employee’s response was clueless. That was a missed opportunity for a fan to talk about your business.
3. Not giving social media management to a trained professional: Can I say, the Nestle debacle? You can’t afford a blunder or inappropriate customer service. Consumers are increasingly seeing social media networks as an easy customer service portal.  One wicked post will turn your followers against you.
4. Not paying for social media: Managing your networks (the right way) will cost money. Make that long term commitment and put the cost in your budget. Don’t cheat your brand by trying to do it for free with an Intern or your teen-age son. Set aside the appropriate dollars in your operating budget.
5. Not looking at your social media networks: Ok, so you own the business but take time each week to look, read and enjoy your social media. Understand what your customers are saying and view how your networks are being managed.

Bonus blunder #6

Not understanding the true outcome: Social media is not a print or television ad so please don’t use it just to sell your overstock of microwave ovens!  Social media is amazing and will do incredible things for your business  and your life but just like networking, you won’t always know the outcome.

You will know that you can take your brand and tell your story across multiple networks on a daily basis. Increasing your brand image and reputation…. and with the rate that social media is changing, your business will be able to stay fresh and engage in new and exciting ways. Let Sabrina&Company Social Media Services keep you from making a big blunder.

Let’s connect!

Sabrina Espinal
Sabrina&Company Social Media Services