Nutcracker would like to give a warm welcome to the newest member of our team, Russ!
Hi, I'm Russ - web designer, graphic designer, nerd, musician and general big, friendly type. I'm one of the company's techie go-to people, and (apart from a short absence) part of the purple furniture. Out-of-hours I can mostly be found plucking a large, stringed-wardrobe (double bass) and writing/performing original music.
I'm 44, married to Jayne and live in Dudley - a stone's
throw from Nutcracker. I originally hail from Wolverhampton but moved to Dudley
when I got married, almost 20 years ago.
In my spare time I'm a musician (bassist and
multi-instrumentalist). I often use live looping and effects to create layered
music - sometimes with multiple instruments but mostly only using a bass
guitar. My music has been described as, "subtle layers of sound that
emerge gracefully like cinematic soundtracks". Visit my website to listen
- http://www.russsargeant.co.uk
I'm currently involved in lots of different musical projects
ranging from forming a jazz duo with a local saxophonist to writing and
recording with ambient and progressive artists in the USA.
Nutcracker were proud to be the official sponsor of Miss Emily Wilson who recently competed in the Miss Birmingham 2012 final, which was a direct heat into the Miss England 2012 final.
Here is a bit of background information about Emily;
“It is fabulous that nutcracker design and marketing have chosen to sponsor me in my venture to become Miss Birmingham 2012. I won a local beauty pageant and am the face of Miss Full Length and Fabulous.
I am currently studying for my A levels and have future aspirations to become a doctor. I like to stay in top shape by using the gym and competing as a top British amateur in classical sequence ballroom dancing.
I would like to enter the promotional model world to help fund my way through university. I have entered Miss Birmingham 2012 to prove to people that in the beauty world there is intelligence and not just pretty faces.
I believe we get out of life what we put in and it is also important to me that I use my talents for the benefit of others whether it be my future work or fundraising for charity.”
With the support of Nutcracker, friends, family and voters Emily came within the top 10 finalists for Miss Birmingham 2012. All at Nutcracker would like to congratulate Emily and wish her every success for the future. And we are sure that you will all agree it looks very bright. Well done Emily!
If you have just logged onto your Facebook Business Page you may have had a bit of a shock. It's not quite as you remembered it is it?
Don't panic! Below are a few things you really MUST know about the new features available to you and the huge benefits and opportunities that are now available for your brand.
1. You now have a 'cover photo'. The cover photo dimensions are 851 x 315 pixels. The image that you choose for this section must represent your brand and be attractive to your target audience. You may be thinking that this is a little bit more complicated than you first imagined. So let us do the hard work for you. We can design acover photo in line with your corporate identity and create a page truly representative of your brand. See our cover photo below or click here to visit our Page.
REMEMBER:Facebook's new policies state that a cover photo must not include price or purchase information, your company contact details, calls to action or references to Facebook features or actions. If you get stuck at any point or would like more information then give Nutcracker a call on 01384 455 141 or to send us an email click HERE.
2. Set your 'profile picture'. This picture is the image that will get shown next to each of your status updates on your wall and within other users' news feeds. The image that you use should be 180 x 180 pixels but remember that this image scales down to a thumbnail size of 32 x 32 pixels. Using a logo here really is a great choice! Below is our new profile picture.
3. Organise your 'Apps and Views' Facebook's new Timeline design features your photos, likes and apps at the top of the page just below the cover photo. Photos are set by Facebook to automatically feature as the first element. However page administrators can rearrange the following apps to feature as they please. A total of 12 apps can be shown on your page. Here is how ours appears below.
HINT: there are some amazing apps that can be created for organisations to showcase their services and expertise. To take a look at Nutcracker's click here or if you would like more information give us a call 01384 455 141
4. New icons...'star, hide and pin'. You will notice that when you place the cursor over individual stories that you can make them wider or use the pencil icon to hide things from your Timeline. Important posts can be highlighted using the star icon - great for pointing out special offers or company successes. To 'pin' a specific story means that a chosen post can be placed at the top of your Timeline for up to 7 days. Specific posts which you feel are important wont therefore get lost amongst more recent updates.
5. Displaying your company 'Milestones'. This new feature allows page administrators to display some of their organisations biggest accomplishments such as the year their company began, acquisitions, awards, product releases, etc. The milestone images are 843 x430 pixels. Milestones are created by using the status update box where you are prompted for information.
For more information on what packages are available from Nutcracker for the customisation of you Facebook Page click HERE.
Facebook Pagesallow businesses to build connections with people. They also allow organisations the opportunity to tell their story on Facebook.
There are several reasons for businesses to engage with and maintain a presence on Facebook. Below are just a few:
To get found by individuals who may be searching for your companies products or services
Interact with current and potential customers
Create a on line community and awareness for your business
To promote other content that you create, such as webinars, blog articles, or other resources
Encourage and stimulate leads for your business
You may have noticed that Facebook recently introduced a new Timeline feature for personal profiles. This has also now been rolled out for businesses. Companies now have endless opportunities to refresh their social media strategy. Sounds overwhelming, doesn’t it? Let’s break it down.
Some of the prominent changes include a new layout with cover photo, highlighting features and the ability to edit and update without navigating to a separate page. Timeline will automatically go live for all brand pages Mar. 30
One of the most exciting features of timeline is the large image featured at the top of the page. Facebook has given a lot of real estate to this image, and businesses should use it as an opportunity to feature something powerful and captivating. Businesses can leverage the image by changing it frequently and giving people a reason to like your page. The possibilities are endless, so start thinking of what you want people to see when they visit your Page.
There are certain restrictions regarding what you can put on your Cover Photo. In a nutshell these restrictions are that cover images must be at least 399 pixels wide and may notcontain:
Price or purchase information, such as "40% off" or "Download it at our website"
Contact information, such as web address, email, mailing address or other information intended for your Page's About section
References to user interface elements, such as Like or Share, or any other Facebook site features
Calls to action, such as "Get it now" or "Tell your friends"
All cover images are public, which means anyone visiting your Page will be able to see the image you choose. Covers must not be false, deceptive or misleading, and must not infringe on third parties' intellectual property. You may not encourage or incentivize people to upload your cover image to their personal timelines.
Once you have posted an update, you have the option to highlight this particular post. This will make the update into a widescreen format and the post will be treated with a higher importance.
If you have a post that you would like prioritized you can “pin” this post so that it is displayed at the top of your newsfeed. pinning a post to the top of Timeline allows it to precede any other content. A pinned post is distinguished by a small, orange flag. Brands can pin only one item at a time, and the pinned item then exists in two locations — as the top item on the Timeline itself, as well as within its chronological place. Once unpinned (which happens automatically when a new item gets pinned, or the item has been pinned for more than seven days), the post remains in the chronology of Timeline posts, but there is no visual history that it was pinned in the past.
Recommendation:
Since you can no longer create a default landing Page, pinning items to the top of the Timeline will become every marketer’s go-to strategy for highlighting new and interesting content. We will begin to see savvy brands design posts specifically to be pinned, whether images, a well-designed call-to-action, a statement about brand value, or a message calling for the user to click one of the tab panels under the cover photo
Admin Panel
The admin panel is a fantastic feature that lets you view all of the recent traffic and notifications through your Facebook page, you can even respond to messages. It’s also really easy to close by clicking the ‘hide’ button in the top right corner. Another key point to note is that this channel will only be visible to the Page admins, non-admins won’t even see the channel.
The admin panel is broken down into 5 sections
Notifications
Messages
New Likes
Insights
Page Tips
No Default Landing Page
With the new Timeline Page format, you will no longer be able to set a default landing Page, a favoured feature for many savvy brands. The option was one of the primary ways to control the first (branded) impression a user encountered. Since there are no more tab Pages, there is no way to set one as a default. This will drastically change user impressions when they first visit a brand’s Timeline Page.
You will now need to pay particular attention to all the top messages in the Timeline, as they will be the first objects seen by visiting users. Likewise, Facebook ads for brands will become ever important, as ads will be one of the major ways brands on Facebook can control a user’s experience. Setting up an advertising campaign for a Facebook promotion or new application will be the only way to guide new and clicking users directly to that application (as landing on this Page cannot be achieved by default).
However if you already have a customised 'Welcome Page' or 'Tab' you can still directly link to this from your website icons.
Tab Visibility
The new Timeline format does not have the left-side panel of links, which could include hundreds of different tabs. While applications still exist, they’ll display differently, in rectangular panels underneath the cover photo (please see below image). Photos are set by Facebook to automatically feature as the first element. The width of the Timeline and the space allocated for native apps like Photos means that only three tab panels are viewable at any given time. To see more, users must expand the tab panel by clicking a drop-down box as shown in the image below.
For marketers, this major change means that the three above-fold tab apps need to be considered carefully — this will be one of the first things users see when interacting with your brand on Facebook. Brands will want to switch up which tabs are visible “above the fold,” according to current company objectives or project popularity. A good Page analytics tool will be useful for determining which tab to promote on a day-to-day basis.
If you are still bit unsure how this works then please watch the above 'Introducing Timeline - A new kind of profile' video.
Private Messages Between Brands and Users
Finally, brands will be able to send and receive private messages with users. This allows for much deeper consumer interaction, and will also enable Page managers to take extended customer enquiries off the Timeline and into a private message.
Well now it's time for your to check out your Facebook Page! Have fun exploring all of its new features and if you get stuck at any point or would like some more information then give Nutcracker a call on 01384 455 141 or send us an email by clicking HERE.
Nutcracker are proud to be the official sponsor of Miss Emily Wilson who is competing in the Miss Birmingham 2012 final, which is a direct heat into the Miss England 2012 final. I'm sure you will agree how stunning Emily is, and we would encourage you to share the information and make Emily the winner!
Here is a bit of background information about Emily;
“It is fabulous that nutcracker design and marketing have chosen to sponsor me in my venture to become Miss Birmingham 2012. I won a local beauty pageant and am the face of Miss Full Length and Fabulous.
I am currently studying for my A levels and have future aspirations to become a doctor. I like to stay in top shape by using the gym and competing as a top British amateur in classical sequence ballroom dancing.
I would like to enter the promotional model world to help fund my way through university. I have entered Miss Birmingham 2012 to prove to people that in the beauty world there is intelligence and not just pretty faces.
I believe we get out of life what we put in and it is also important to me that I use my talents for the benefit of others whether it be my future work or fundraising for charity.”
We need your help for Emily to win Miss Birmingham 2012. Please can you text for Emily to win Miss Birmingham 2012 text... 'MISS BIRMINGHAM28' to 63333. Texts costs 50p plus 1 standard network text! Thanks everyone would be great if you could.
Whether you or single or in loved up bliss it is that time of year again when hearts and flowers in abundance. One thing you can count on for Valentine’s Day is a love themed Google Doodle.
It was in 2000 that Google introduced its first Valentine’s Day inspired Google Doodle and since then other classic designs have followed.
Take a look at some of the romantic themed logos that Google has shared with us over the past 12 years.
Are you one of the thousands of companies who have invested in a website for your company and after it’s been built paid it very little attention, yet still expect it to generate interest and income?
Here is a simple test that you can do to measure the effectiveness of your website:
Take a step outside of the box for a second. If you were searching for your product or service what ‘keywords’ and phrases would you type into a search engine such as Google?
Now go onto Google and type in one of those phrases-
1.Where do you appear? 2.Are you on the first page? 3.How many of your competitors are above you? 4.Which link would you click?
If your product or service is not showing on the first few pages of any search engine, the chances are that you have just lost a potential customer to your competitor.
Gone are the days when people search through the yellow pages to find what they are looking for. It’s all about the internet whether it be from a PC or through a Smartphone.
Give us a call today to arrange a meeting and we will sit down with you and discuss what the search engines are looking for and the ways in which you can help your website get the best position possible for relevant key words. Or simply ask us a question and enquire here.
