Aardvark
Aardvark is a unique website that uses the social media arena to get answers for every type of question imaginable. Submit a question to the site and it will quickly get back to you with a meaningful answer that was given by someone who is uniquely qualified to give a response.
What lies at the heart of social media’s skyrocketing and unrelenting popularity is the ability to share information about everything. All of us want knowledge, answers, and the truth – we can handle it – and this is of paramount importance no more so than in uncertain economic times like these. The days of simply accepting what corporations and any entity doles out in the form of marketing jargon, doctored statistics, or professionally written press releases are already gone. This cutting-edge site allows you to get trusted answers from friends, and friends of friends.
How Aardvark Works
Once Aardvark receives a query via the web, Instant Messenger, e-mail, Twitter or iPhone, it taps into its vast network of reliable sources to find the information. Most questions can be answered within five minutes, with the majority being answered within 10 minutes. Response time depends on the nature and subject matter of your question, and surprisingly those with more detail usually get answered faster. These trustworthy answers come from people who share the same interests and have the proper knowledge/experience to accurately answer your question. From research assistance and recommendations to general advice on any subject, Aardvark eliminates the need to search through countless web pages, saving you time and money.
The First Social Search Engine
Aardvark is in essence the first social search engine. Founded in 2007 and based out of San Francisco, this handy site offers users an easy way to find people that have the specific information they’re looking for. Users of Aardvark gain access to the best suited person to answer their questions, and they have proven so adept at analyzing queries that in February 2010 they were acquired by Google for around $50 million (as first reported by TechCrunch).
To Learn More
To learn more about how your business can utilize Aardvark’s quick and highly-reliable research capabilities to increase brand awareness and revenue, contact E-Marketing Associates at (866) 929-4963.
Product Review
Managing News
Managing News is a valuable program that allows you to manage your brand’s reputation on the Internet. Once downloaded and installed on a local server, its eye-catching map application shows you exactly where in the world your products and/or services are being talked about the most. This powerfully visual and easy-to-use marketing tool was also designed to share and track news and information, and will not only allow your business to get its press to your most lucrative demographics, it can also be used to keep up to speed with what your competitors are doing.
The Features
The program has a wide array of features that makes it easy to, well, manage news. From monitoring media mentions with precise keyword graphs and an RSS/Atom-based news tracker with search capabilities to being able to build your very own customized RSS feeds, Managing News couldn’t be more aptly named. You can even flag articles you want to share, quickly post links to Facebook and Twitter, and flag posts to team members that can be sent via e-mail.
One of the site’s primary features is known as “Channels.” With this users can sift through news and selectively add relevant items to one or several Channels, allowing potential customers to subscribe or print them out as reports. Disseminating information by bundling articles this way allows you to utilize location tagging and customized mapping systems, letting you pinpoint where in the social media arena your company is being discussed and having the most success.
Conclusion
All of this equals more efficient communication between you, your team members and customer base. Whether reading news collected from sources that you choose, searching for consumer trends and graphing the results to Geotagging news and visualizing stories on a map, Managing News strikes us as one of those lightning rod sites that businesses must use to stay on the cutting-edge of their industry. With such an incredible amount of information being added to the Web every day, listening to and actively engaging your customers has never been more important than it is right now.
To Learn More
To learn more about how to utilize this highly-effective marketing and communications tool, contact E-Marketing Associates at (866) 929-4963.
Tech Tip
Simple E-mail Setup Instructions for Outlook 2007 for Windows
Setting up your Outlook e-mail account is a relatively simple process, and can be completed within a matter of minutes. View our Basic Setup instructions for a visual reference.
To setup a new account, from the Outlook tool bar click Tools -> Account Settings -> New. Select Microsoft Exchange, POP3, IMAP, or HTTP radio button, click Next, and then enter the information below.
User Information:
- Your Name: enter your first and last name
- E-mail Address: enter your full e-mail address
Server Information:
- Account Type: POP3
- Incoming mail server (POP3): pop.ema1.net
- Outgoing mail server (SMTP): smtp.ema1.net
Logon Information:
- User Name: enter your full e-mail address
- Password: enter your password (case sensitive)
Then…
- Click More Settings button.
- Click Outgoing Server tab.
- Check My outgoing server (SMTP) requires authentication.
- Check Use same settings as my incoming mail server radio button.
- Click OK to close the Internet E-mail Settings pop-up.
- Click Next button.
- Click Finish button.
Service of the Month
Speical Offers Module
Our Special Offers Module (SOM) is an independent feature of your website that you can easily manage on your own. Allowing for up-to-the-minute announcements of unique packages, special offers, upcoming events, news and general information, your SOM is the perfect way to keep clientele and new site visitors up-to-date about what your business is currently offering.
The Benefits
The SOM is 100 percent managed by you and content can be created whenever you have something of value to share. Posts can be made live on your site as soon as they’ve been created, or set to display on a future date. And if ever any changes should arise, edits to posted content can be made immediately. Having this type of control over fresh announcements lets your customers know that you value their business and are doing everything you can to meet their ever changing needs. In addition to familiarizing yourself with this simple yet powerful marketing tool, regularly using your SOM allows you to avoid incurring webmaster consultation fees every time your company wants to make changes to its website.
To Learn More
To learn more about how to effectively use your Special Offers Module, contact E-Marketing Associates at (866) 929-4963.
