OttoPilot’s Alexandra Gibson must have done something wrong in her past life to invoke some bad Google karma. On July 1,  2013, Google will be shutting down her beloved Google Reader in order to consolidate and commit its focus toward other Google projects. In all seriousness, many of us were fans of Google’s feed reader and will be sad to see it go. Luckily, Google is giving us over 4 months to find a worthy RSS feed aggregator alternative. Today I’ve taken the plunge to find the best Google Reader replacement out there, and here is what I have found, along with [...]

As a woman, who wouldn’t aspire to be Sheryl Sandberg?  As COO of Facebook and the richest self-made woman in the US, she really defines the term having it all. She believes in leaving the office every day at 5:30 pm to have dinner with her kids, and that a work-life balance is necessary. Wait…. is this for real? So how does a woman become a career icon of a generation (besides the fact of having a net worth of about $1.25 billion)? The answer is easy – break gender stereotypes and speak out against workplace discrimination. So take note ladies [...]

As of January 16th, you, your child, and your dog could all become models. Who’s the agency? Instagram. What does it pay? Nothing. Who’s the client? Anyone Instagram wants to pimp you out to.   Yesterday, Instagram released its new cavalier privacy policy that states “You agree that a business or other entity may pay us to display your username, likeness, photos (along with any associated metadata), and/or actions you take, in connection with paid or sponsored content or promotions, without any compensation to you.”   Wow. At first I did not mind the thought because I assume my Instagram [...]

A new book by our writing and speaking colleagues, Tom Searcy and Henry DeVries, was released today, titled How to Close A Deal Like Warren Buffett. [read more about this new book below] Warren Buffett didn’t become one of the world’s wealthiest individuals on his investment instincts alone. Buffett is a master dealmaker. As a dealmaker he has built his company, Berkshire Hathaway, into an empire that includes Burlington Northern Santa Fe Railway, GEICO, Fruit of the Loom, and dozens and dozens of other companies. How to Close A Deal Like Warren Buffett – Lessons from the World’s Greatest Dealmaker is a [...]

Tonight Vice President Joe Biden and Representative Paul Ryan will face off in the first and only Vice Presidential debate of the 2012 Presidential race. Everyone is a buzz about what will happen, especially after last week’s Presidential debate outcome between Barack Obama and Mitt Romney. It waits to be seen who will come out the victor tonight. Let’s look at each candidate in the Twittersphere to see who is currently #winning on the interwebs! [Click infographic to enlarge] We can see in this infographic that Vice Presidential candidate Paul Ryan is ruling it in the Twittersphere. Are you monitoring your success [...]

This month, LinkedIn announced that its Company Pages would be getting a makeover. Mike Grishaver, from Product Management and Monetization at LinkedIn, states that these changes will provide “a more powerful way to build relationships with your target audience.” Although LinkedIn isn’t making any drastic changes to the overall content of its Company Pages, they are certainly taking a turn to the visual. The new appearance places emphasis on design, navigation, and customization, which allows business to focus on expressing their brand’s look and feel more accurately to their LinkedIn followers. Through these changes, your followers’ experience on your page [...]

Shock waves were felt throughout Charlottesville on Sunday, June 10th when Rector Helen Dragas sent a vague email informing Jefferson’s University that Teresa Sullivan would step down from her position as President of the University of Virginia. As a member of the University of Virginia community still living and working in Charlottesville, I felt the immediate punch packed by Dragas’ email. Outrage, confusion, and doubt pulsated throughout grounds. I quickly turned to where I get much of my information–my Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram accounts–to spread the word of the startling news surrounding U.Va.   Photo: The Washington Post Outstanding numbers of [...]

  Everyone is talking about Google’s recent and upcoming search changes. Okay, maybe not everyone, but the techie world is certainly buzzing, and with good reason. Google recently announced several immediate and future changes to the Google search algorithm. Every SEO-conscious business owner should be paying attention to these changes. They will change SEO best practices for small businesses and large businesses alike, and they will also change your content creation strategy. These search changes can be broken down into two categories: making search results more direct and making search results more social (Photo: Google).  Google is striving to make their search results more direct and intuitive- what does [...]

  If you’ve been following my conversations on Twitter (or @mandaleebee’s conversations for that matter), you know that I am already tremendously excited for my first SXSW (South-by-Southwest) Interactive experience.  As a newbie, I’ve been relying on my seasoned SX friends and new Twitter friends to guide us in the right direction. {For those of you who are not familiar with SXSW it is a three part conference/festival in Austin, Texas every March that celebrates music, film, and interactive} I mean, what do I wear?  What should I bring?  What parties are cool and what is a “can’t miss” event?  What is a [...]

  If you are in the marketing business, you likely know the importance of learning from and networking with other businesses in your area. And, if you are a Charlottesville marketing business, you know that Charlottesville is home to a plethora of innovative small businesses and driven business professionals. This year, Charlottesville will be hosting a huge variety of events and conferences, and some of these will be very helpful to online marketing businesses. As you plan your year ahead, make sure to mark your calender for the these Three Charlottesville Marketing Events in 2012   1. Quadruplicity What it is: Quadruplicity is [...]