January 2012
2 posts
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Small Business Social Media Basics at Lakeland...
Signalfire’s Matthew Olson has been invited to speak at the Lakeland Builders Association’s monthly Breakfast and Learn session 7:30 am on Tuesday, January 31, 2012 at their offices in Elkhorn, Wisconsin. Focusing on “The Hug, The Handshake, and The Hot Cup of Coffee” Matthew will discuss the role social media plays in small business marketing and customer service.
To...
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Small Business Social Media Basics (Part 1 of 3)
Signalfire’s Matthew Olson speaks at the November 18th Lake Geneva Economic Development Corporation’s Breakfast and Learn session. Discussing social media basics for small businesses, Matthew makes the makes the analogy that Facebook is like a hug, Twitter is a handshake, and LinkedIn is the same as sharing a hot cup of coffee.
This video covers Part 1: The Hug (Facebook).
December 2011
2 posts
3 tags
Don't Like Receipts? NFC to the Rescue!
For many consumers, the idea of Near Field Communication (NFC) as a payment vehicle is more than a little intimidating. Yet NFC doesn’t have to be used only for mobile payment processing. Check out this fantastic idea to eliminate those easy-to-lose, quickly fading strips of paper.
How nice would it be to have receipts simply stored on your mobile device… now if we can tie this into...
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Free Breakfast Seminar: How to Use Location Based...
Did you know customers are “checking in” to your business every day on social media and might be sharing their thoughts and impressions with thousands of interested friends and acquaintances? What might be billed as a game to the public can mean serious benefits (or perils) to your business. What is location-based social media? How can you get involved? What are the benefits? What can you do to...
November 2011
5 posts
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Door County Coffee Roaster Launches Custom...
Signalfire is proud to launch a custom Facebook landing page for Door County Coffee & Tea just ahead of the busiest shopping weekend of the year. Signalfire designed, implemented, and provided creative marketing guidance for the promotion.
Signalfire worked with Door County Coffee to deliver the customized page as well as a geographically targeted Facebook advertising campaign. Going one...
AniseSmith: Coca-Cola tests NFC-enabled vending... →
anisesmith:
Via Scoop.it - NFC
NEW YORK – A Coca-Cola executive at ad:tech said the beverage giant is piloting a program with Google Wallet where consumers can use their mobile device to pay for a drink at 200 of its vending machines across the United States.
During the “Brands and Innovation –…
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Lake Geneva Business Launches New Logo and Fresh...
The Challenge: A local 30-year office equipment sales and service company needed to shake up their sleepy market image and clearly establish themselves as a regional market leader with an ambitious sales growth plan.
The Connection: Knowing they needed a complete marketing makeover to hit the ground running, they contacted Signalfire, a full-service creative marketing agency that specializes in...
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Chicago Law Firm Hires Signalfire for Website and...
Woodvale Partners is a unique Chicago-based law firm that successfully combines legal expertise and international business experience. They needed a new website that showcased the strong background of their legal team and helped them “stand out” from the thousands of websites in their profession.
We started from the ground up: designing a new logo, business cards and letterhead, and setting up...
October 2011
3 posts
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QR Codes Are Failing Because of Marketers →
QR codes have been floating on the edges of mainstream for a while now. While the technology and platforms are primed for the explosion, nothing seems to be happening.
If QR codes fail to take off, we, as marketers, are to blame.
Read the article
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Content, Context, and Customers: The Next Stage in...
As social media continues to permeate the marketplace, and more businesses choose to socially connect with their interest communities, the amount of “clutter” in a person’s social media stream has reached intrusive levels. Brands and organizations can run dangerously close to being the social media version of spam and being tuned out altogether. As we’re seeing with Google+’s Circles, Facebook’s...
September 2011
2 posts
2 tags
Signalfire's Location-Based Promotion Gets...
Big thank you to Foursquare’s Follow Friday blog for highlighting Signalfire’s promotion of Sturgeon Bay Visitor Center’s Sturgeon Around the Bay. Signalfire combined a Foursquare List for a walking tour and QR codes for sharing information about each of the artisan-created Sturgeons.
Learn more about Signalfire’s work with Sturgeon Bay Visitor Center
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WordPress for Business Websites: The Perils of...
WordPress and other open source content management systems might be more of a siren’s song than most business owners realize. Sirens were creatures from Greek mythology that lured sailors to their doom with their beauty and song. The lure of “free” and free, readily available themes and plugins can often hide the larger security and reliability perils surrounding this blogging platform.
Content...
August 2011
1 post
3 tags
Combining QR Codes and Foursquare in Door County...
Signalfire is always looking for fun, effective ways to help clients make the most out of social media and the web. The Sturgeon Bay Visitor Center in Sturgeon Bay, Door County, Wisconsin holds an annual street art auction, Sturgeon Around the Bay, to raise funds in the tourism promotion of Door County’s largest city.
Seventeen sculpted sturgeons are placed around the shopping districts of...
July 2011
6 posts
4 tags
How Will Google+ Impact Your Business?
In late June, Google entered the social media race (for a third time) with a Facebook-like social networking platform called Google+. Whether businesses like it or not, Google+, sometimes referred to simply as G+, will join the main tier of social networking platforms such as Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, and Foursquare.
While not public, you need to receive an “invite” from an existing user to...
Google Accelerates Google+ for Business Test... →
Already using Google+? Follow Mashable News for the latest about the platform’s new features, tips and tricks as well as our top social media and technology updates. Google, which had initially planned to test business partners on Google+ in the next “few months,” is moving more quickly with t…
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Heather Harris Joins Signalfire as a Graphic...
Signalfire, LLC, a fast-growing full service brand and marketing agency in Delavan, WI recently hired Heather Harris, who joins the firm as a part-time graphic designer. Servicing clients throughout the Midwest, Signalfire specializes in integrated brand strategy, web and graphic design, and brand-level social media platforms. Owner and President Matthew Olson stated, “Graphic design is an...
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Restaurateur Making A Music Festival Splash with...
Original Article: Zaffiro’s making virtual splash at Summerfest By: Stacy Vogel Davis
You didn’t think Joe Sorge would set up his first Summerfest stand without trying out some new social media experiment, did you?
Sorge’s recently formed company, Hospitality Democracy, put a Zaffiro’s Pizzeria booth in the Ethnic Village at Summerfest this year, replacing Edwardo’s Natural Pizza....
June 2011
9 posts
4 tags
ICANN Approves New Top-Level Domains, So Prepare... →
A handful of not very descriptive top-level domains, such as .com, .net, .org, as well as country-specific TLDs are what the web is currently made of, but this is about to change drastically. ICANN (Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers), the international authority over top-lev…
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New Domain Name Extensions Offer Internet Broader...
From Associated Press and Fox News
Internet minders voted Monday to allow virtually unlimited new domain names based on themes as varied as company brands, entertainment and political causes, in the system’s biggest shake-up since it started 26 years ago.
Groups able to pay the $185,000 application can petition next year for new updates to “.com” and “.net” with...
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Simple Truths in Advertising. Just Make Good Beer.
A brilliant counter to the silly vortex bottles…
A certain beer seems obsessed with “cold indicators” on their cans/bottles. A time-tested solution:
I recommend checking out some of the other videos on this YouTube Channel.
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Signalfire to Rebrand Milwaukee Software Company
Eagle Technology, Inc., a leading developer of computerized maintenance management software (CMMS), has hired Signalfire, LLC, as their exclusive brand & marketing agency. Servicing clients throughout the Midwest, Signalfire specializes in integrated brand strategy, web design, and social media platforms. Eagle President Harshad Shah stated, “Signalfire was already managing our social media...
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Race to the Bottom: The Perils of Groupon and...
I strongly recommend reading Carla Dewing’s article “Will Groupon Really Boost Your Local Business?” on Social Media Examiner. Be sure to follow Carla, too. Great stuff.
Groupon has been on everyone’s lips for some time. Businesses are flocking in droves to jump on the current “local” coupon bandwagon and promotional platforms like Groupon, LivingSocial, etc. These geolocation...
May 2011
3 posts
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April 2011
3 posts
4 tags
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Educating in Both Directions: The Difference...
cc licensed flickr photo shared by Eleaf
Original article from George Couros’ wonderful blog: The Principal of Change. Link to original article.
There has been a lot of debate on the merit of things like the Khan Academy (interesting comments in the linked post) and the idea delivering lecture style through a video format. I believe that if this is the only thing we are doing with...
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March 2011
13 posts
4 tags
WatchI love when people think outside the box and combine ways to engage with consumers and ways to reward repeated engagements. What strikes me about this video is the fact that not only is the consumer (or their companion) immediately rewarded, but the reward is shared out via connections on Facebook and Twitter.
Look for this kind of social rewarding more often!
Similar: The L Word of Social...
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QR Codes Are Here to Stay [Data] →
Heidi Cohen is really rising up to be one of my favorite blog writers. She’s put together some great data on QR code usage and if you’re looking at ways to improve effective marketing, this is pretty telling.
Wondering what are QR codes? Have you ever scanned a QR code?
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Signalfire Partners with Sturgeon Bay Visitor...
Signalfire is proud to announce the second year of our marketing collaboration with Sturgeon Bay Visitor Center (SBVC) in Door County for the 4th Annual Groovin’ Sisterhood Weekend. Running April 28th through May 1st, this women-only weekend celebration is full of exclusive activities, incredible shopping and tons of laughter. Signalfire will take the helm in marketing and social media leading...
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Why Social Media Can and Is Changing Education →
I frequently look at social media from a business perspective, but a friend from high school, Christina Ratatori, recently opened my eyes to the role social media can play in education. As an educator, Christina really hit home on how social media can be a tremendous boost for educators connecting and sharing ideas.
Christina shared this article and it really struck home with me. Worth the read...
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Small Business and Social Media: How 15 Minutes...
Small business owners have a lot of hats to wear. Administration, sales, marketing, technical support, and the list could go on forever. Social media becomes just another thing to add into a crowded day. Since most small businesses don’t see the return as immediate or perfectly clear—most will keep social media on the back burner. What if you could dedicate fifteen minutes per day and still have...
Watch@garyvee’s most important video for business owners. Ever.
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WatchDon’t get fooled, start-ups must learn the “thank you” practice, too.
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Keywords or Captures? How Will We Search The Web?
Searching. It’s a pretty big topic and one I am not remotely expert on. However, I am looking at how the concept of search is evolving and I see some trends that will be changing the game. Significantly. Not so much whether we will use Google, Bing or some other browser, but how we search.
How we search is shifting. Keywords, search phrases and social media is grudgingly giving way to new forms...
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Who Is Scanning QR Codes?
From Mashable:
Here is our discussion: Don’t Get Caught Playing Catch-Up with QR Codes.
2 tags
February 2011
8 posts
