On the Web with Kim Vallee » TOOLS http://ontheweb.kimvallee.com A Guide to Social Media for Bloggers Wed, 07 Sep 2011 18:23:11 +0000 en hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v= Need for Standards for Web Badges http://ontheweb.kimvallee.com/2009/11/need-for-standards-for-web-badges/ http://ontheweb.kimvallee.com/2009/11/need-for-standards-for-web-badges/#comments Wed, 25 Nov 2009 05:48:22 +0000 Kim Vallee http://ontheweb.kimvallee.com/?p=2693 Standards and most popular IAB ad units

Many events and causes produce web badges so that bloggers and sites can show their support. It is a wonderful marketing tool. If I attend a conference, I usually will put a badge on my site. But generally, I need to ask the event to produce a badge for me or make my own from their available materials. It is not practical.

The problem is that the Web Badges do not fit AIB standards. Bloggers with advertising on their site typically have blog templates that fit the IAB Ad Unit Guidelines. The Universal Ad Package (UAP) is composed by 300×250, 180×150, 728×90 and 160×600. These 4 ads are the most popular.

A good format for a Web badge could be 300×100 since it would satisfy bloggers who support the widely popular 300×250 ad unit. You must also take into account popular blog templates.  Many blogs were designed to fit banners that measure 120×120, 125×125 plus various heights for either 150 pixels or 200 pixels in width.

IAB ad units that are non popular

Adopting both the AIB standards for your Web badges and the popular widths for blog templates means that it would fit the needs of all bloggers. Remember that any sidebar looks cleaner and more professional when everything has the same width. If you design a Web badge for an event, make sure you support all these standards.

MORE:
+ AIB Ad Unit Guidelines

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]]> http://ontheweb.kimvallee.com/2009/11/need-for-standards-for-web-badges/feed/ 0 Quickly Share How to Get to a Place on Twitter with TwitArea http://ontheweb.kimvallee.com/2009/08/quickly-share-how-to-get-to-a-place-on-twitter-with-twitarea/ http://ontheweb.kimvallee.com/2009/08/quickly-share-how-to-get-to-a-place-on-twitter-with-twitarea/#comments Sun, 02 Aug 2009 13:45:05 +0000 Kim Vallee http://ontheweb.kimvallee.com/?p=2268 share coordinates of places

Many people use Twitter to meet their friends at restaurants, shops, museums and other public places. Launched last week by Praized, TwitArea enables to quickly lead them to a place’s address, phone number and locate the place on a map. If you have a smart phone, you will find that having a direct link on tweets saves you time while you are on the run.

Another good use is to clearly identify a place. A couple of weeks ago, I tweeted about a hotel in Toronto. But the Toronto hotel has almost the same name as a trademark hotel in Chicago. Linking to the place on my tweet would have avoided the confusion.

How to Use TwitArea

No need to register. All you need to post a tweet with TwitArea is to use Firefox and be on the Twitter.com site. Simply install the Firefox add-on for TwitArea. The Firefox add-on will add an Insert Place button under the text box on Twitter.com. Click on the button whenever you wish to add the information of a place. Find the place you are referring to and click on the Tweet this! button. Voilà!

sharing a place location on my tweets with twitarea

Your tweet will look like this. Anyone on a computer or using a smart phone will be able to click on the short URL to know the address, phone and locate on a map the place. I like it because TwitArea simplifies my life.

About Praized Media, the maker of TwitArea

TwitArea is related to Praized community database containing the location of 16 million businesses in Canada and in the United States. The Praized application is what is powering my Places community on At Home with Kim Vallee. Located in Montreal, Praized enables publishers with an easy way for their readers to recommend local businesses to each other.

+ TwitArea

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]]> http://ontheweb.kimvallee.com/2009/08/quickly-share-how-to-get-to-a-place-on-twitter-with-twitarea/feed/ 5 The City of San Francisco fully Embraces Social Media with Twitter http://ontheweb.kimvallee.com/2009/06/the-city-of-san-francisco-fully-embraces-social-media-with-twitter/ http://ontheweb.kimvallee.com/2009/06/the-city-of-san-francisco-fully-embraces-social-media-with-twitter/#comments Tue, 02 Jun 2009 22:33:31 +0000 Kim Vallee http://ontheweb.kimvallee.com/?p=1903 Connecting to Follow sf311 Twitter application

San Francisco is known as a city with a diverse pool of Web 2.0 professionals. So maybe it is not surprising that the City of San Francisco launched a Twitter application where anyone can send direct messages (DM) to report a problem or send a request to the city’s customer service hotline.

Twitter became one more point of contact with the 311 Customer Service Center. View “Sample Tweets” of their most requested services to help ensure you provide the information needed to properly service your request. 311 can help with:

  • Street Cleaning
  • Graffiti Removal
  • Pothole and Sidewalk Defects
  • Abandoned Vehicles
  • City Garbage Can Maintenance
  • Department Information (office hours, location, phone numbers)
  • … and much more!

Added Value of Attaching Pictures to Your Requests

Like any direct message that you send on Twitter, you can attach a picture. This is an added value of the Twitter reporting.  Seeing the pictures help the City gives a round estimate of the problem. With that added information, the City could better and faster prioritize every request.

If you are not on twitter, know that San Francisco residents, businesses or tourists wishing to get non-emergency information or request services pertaining to San Francisco government may call 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, 365 days a year by dialing 311 and talk to a real person.

+ Via RT @jeromeparadis : RT @mathewi : @craignewmark

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]]> http://ontheweb.kimvallee.com/2009/06/the-city-of-san-francisco-fully-embraces-social-media-with-twitter/feed/ 0 Three apps for the Bloggers: Twtvite, TwtPoll, TwtQpon by Twtapps http://ontheweb.kimvallee.com/2009/05/three-apps-for-the-bloggers-twtvite-twtpoll-twtqpon-by-twtapps/ http://ontheweb.kimvallee.com/2009/05/three-apps-for-the-bloggers-twtvite-twtpoll-twtqpon-by-twtapps/#comments Fri, 08 May 2009 16:55:32 +0000 Kim Vallee http://ontheweb.kimvallee.com/?p=1581 I went yesterday to the 4th edition of Startup Camp Montreal. I like 4 of 5  presentations. I say 4 out 5 because I did not like because I do not care about the topic of the 3rd presentation.

One presenter was Felipe Coimbra of Twtapps. I first met Felipe at a Tweetup last March (see picture at the end of the post). Felipe developed simple yet very practical Twitter-based applications. One great feature is that you do not need to register to use his free applications. For a fee, Twtapps can brand their applications to your blog or company. He is also thinking about adding premium services.

The current free version is plenty to fill many blogger’s needs. I wish to put the attention on three popular applications.

twtpoll by twtapps

TwtPoll let you run simple poll online. This is a very popular Twitter application. It was the 9th most popular Twitter applications according to Compete (February 2009). This assessment was based on monthly active users.

twtvite by twtapps - created by felipe coimbra

TwtInvite is the most used applications to organize Tweetup events. It would be perfect to plan informal picnics in the park. A quick way to reach the Twitter community for your event. You simply fill a form and voilà. People can respond to the invite. This enables you to track the number of attendees and see who plan to be there. The event can be public or private.

twtqpon by twtapps :: created by felipe coimbra

TwtQpon is a simple way for small business owners and etsy sellers to promote rebate to the Twitter community.

Major brands use TwtQpon and TwtPoll. Several Twtapps applications were featured in TechCrunch. Plus Felipe is a nice guy. You should give his applications a try.

felipe coimbra and kim vallee at a march 2009 tweetup in Montreal

+ Twtapps

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