Author Archives 
Selena Welz is an associate managing editor at Tendo. She likes cheese, seasonal festivals, and large dogs.
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When should you use a Twitter hashtag?
There seems to be a love/hate thing going on with Twitter hashtags. They have a lot of benefits, like helping to target your audience and categorize your tweets. Some say they even increase the likelihood of getting retweeted, which can help grow your audience through more exposure. And the significance of hashtags is undisputed in… Continue reading
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5 questions to ask before building a tablet app
Regardless of what the pundits say about the future of tablet computers, they’ve already changed the mobile landscape. As reported in this article in The Guardian, analyst firm IDC estimates that by the end of this year, the number of tablet computers shipped will reach 62.5 million worldwide, an increase from its earlier prediction of… Continue reading
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7 ways to maintain authenticity in your corporate blog
A well-written blog should be personal, casual and authentic. Are those the adjectives you would typically use to describe a corporation? No? Me neither. And that’s exactly why a well-written corporate blog can be successful. Authenticity cuts through the, well, corporate-ness. It puts a human face on an otherwise impersonal entity to remind customers that… Continue reading
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3 social media trends for 2010
As an evolving medium, social media is a breeding ground for constant experimentation and continued development. Lots of efforts fall short—in fact, we probably never even hear about them, given the nature of social media. But when something does take off in the social media sphere, it takes off like gangbusters. In that vein, here… Continue reading
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4 tips on free keyword selection tools
Using keywords in your Web pages is the best method for boosting your SEO rankings, which makes the selection of those keywords very important.
A lot of fee-based and highly effective tools exist to help with this task. But for smaller organizations with smaller budgets, fee-based keyword selection tools might be out of reach. Luckily… Continue reading
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Visual design terminology: Talk the talk
Jargon is an expected component of any specialized field. But visual communications is, I feel, a special case. Many of us have to deal with visuals in some aspect of our jobs, even if we aren’t actually designers or users of design tools like PhotoShop.
Unfortunately, I’ve noticed a lot of garbled use of… Continue reading
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How to collaborate better with designers
For many people, the most fun part of creating a website or publication is the visual design aspect. I know it is for me. It’s what I call “fun” creativity (as opposed to “not so fun” creativity, such as trying to transform a product data sheet into an interesting and engaging article for readers).
And yet because visual design… Continue reading
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B2B social media: Is it marketing or what?
B2B social media seems to be on everyone’s minds these days. EMarketer.com reports that B2B marketing activity on social networks is estimated to increase 43.3 percent in 2010, while spending is estimated to increase by $54 million in 2014 (up from $11 million in 2009)[1].
Despite these robust estimates, B2B marketers have lagged behind B2C marketers… Continue reading
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Avoid PowerPoint abuse
Do you have PowerPoint skills? Can you size images and auto-create charts and graphs from Excel spreadsheets? If so, you might say that you indeed possess PowerPoint skills. It may even be listed on your resume as a job qualification. But if your definition of PowerPoint skills doesn’t extend beyond use of the software program… Continue reading
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Good information design can help your brand
Design geeks across the Web were buzzing last month in response to the announcement that Edward Tufte, a statistician and professor emeritus at Yale University, was appointed by President Obama to the Recovery Independent Advisory Panel. The move was seen by many as a much-needed boost to help restore trust—not just in the Obama administration… Continue reading
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If Google ignores keywords, should you stop using them?
It’s finally official: Google ignores keyword meta tags. Here it is from the horse’s mouth.
This may be really, really old news to some (circa 1999 anyone?). But judging from the long string of responses to the Google post, it was indeed news to many people. And the practice of including keyword meta tags… Continue reading
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Top 5 jargon for slackers
With the U.S. unemployment rate at a 26-year high of 9.7 percent, an estimated 14.7 million people are currently out of work. Those are unhappy statistics. Let’s hark back to a simpler time, before the economy was lamented as much as the weather, when slackers could hide out in forgotten cubicles and devise ever more ways of dodging work, ducking responsibility, and wasting company time. The following is our jargon tribute to a dying breed: the slackers. Continue reading
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Put Your Customer First: Focus on Benefits
Listing all of your product features may seem like a marketing necessity, but you’re likely just putting your audience to sleep. Instead, point out the benefits your customers will gain from your product or service. Read on for a few key strategies. Continue reading