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The official FPinfomart blog.

This blog has moved!

Posted by Jennifer Stein on March 8, 2012

As part of our recent rebranding, this blog has moved to our new website, and will no longer be updated here (blog.fpinfomart.ca).

You will find new posts, as well as our complete history, at our new home:  www.infomart.com/blog

If you receive our posts by e-mail, you will need to sign up again at the new blog.  Visit the blog and use the email subscription box to subscribe – make sure you never miss a post!

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Subscribe to automatically receive each new post by e-mail.

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“#” VS “@” – The Gr8 Deb8

Posted by LushHouse on March 2, 2012

Thanks to contributor Maram Aoudi for this post.

Your guide to understanding Twitter and the difference between a “#” and “@”

 #Tagging

When you “#tag” something you are doing it in order to join a trending topic or a conversation. It’s extremely useful to join the trending topic because it gives you exposure to people talking about the same thing you are. When you #tag (sometimes called hashtag), it becomes clickable (a hyperlink), and when clicking the #tag, it will show you everyone else engaging in the same conversation about that certain subject.

For example if you tag #coffee, then by clicking on the link, you can see what everyone around the world is saying at that moment about coffee, and join in on the conversation. This will help you increase your exposure and following because it allows your tweet to be seen by everyone who is talking about #coffee. Other people who are talking about coffee may see your tweet, enjoy it and ultimately start following you. It also allows you to join the conversation and engage with others on Twitter. If your tweet does not have a #tag in it, then it is only being seen by your followers; it does not allow you to engage the twitter realm and make new contacts.

 @-ing

When you “@” someone you are tweeting to get their direct attention. You are engaging that person/company into a conversation. When you @ a person/company it drives potential traffic to that user’s account. The product or person must have an account in order for you to do this.

For example you can tweet @Starbuckscanada, and by doing so, the person controlling that account (and all your followers) will directly see that tweet. You are tweeting to get the attention of Starbucks Canada. Unless Starbucks Canada responds to your tweet or retweets you, only they (and your followers) will see it. Once they respond to you, then their followers and everyone who stumbles on their account will see your name.

# and @ – Try it out

You can include a #tag and an@ in the same tweet, for example:

I had @starbucks this morning their #pumpkinspicelatte is delicious!!!

This drives traffic to Starbucks and allows you to join the conversation about pumpkin spice lattes. It is also a benefit because for the people searching pumpkin spice latte, they might also see your account and decide to follow you.

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Re-branding preview

Posted by Jennifer Stein on February 28, 2012

What do you call us?  FPinfomart?  FP Infomart?  Or just Infomart?  Our brand has evolved several times over the years.  Depending on when you joined our family of users, you may think of us in different ways.

Big things are under way at Infomart.  Our workspace is being renovated.  We’ve got amazing product upgrades in the pipeline.  And (in case you haven’t guessed by now), we’re re-branding.

In the coming weeks you’ll see a new logo at the top of our product page.  You’ll notice we’re going back to our roots – Infomart.  (You probably noticed we switched our Twitter handle from @FPinfomart to @infomart several months ago in preparation for this change).  We will continue to offer the same suite of media monitoring and FP Advisor tools that you rely on.  Cosmetic and functional changes to the Infomart product will roll out in future, but for now, it is only the brand that is changing.

New Infomart Logo

We’re pretty excited around here – this is the first in a series of fantastic changes to come.  The new brand won’t change your daily workflow – but we think it’s a better representation of our core strengths, and an excellent description of what we do.

If you have any questions about our new brand, please don’t hesitate to contact us.  Please note that this blog will be moving to our new domain – infomart.com – in the coming weeks.  We will provide lots of notice and instructions, so keep an eye out for messages.

We look forward to having you along for the ride with us!

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Your Online Brand: Where Personal Meets Professional

Posted by LushHouse on February 27, 2012

Please welcome a new contributor to our Blog!  Maram Aoudi is a member of our Social Media and Professional Services team.  This is her first post on our Blog, and we look forward to sharing her insights with you.

By now, you must have heard that social media is an invaluable asset to a company. Social networking is the fastest way to connect with your clientele and find out what is being talked about in your industry. People of all demographics are online, all the time, making it the best way to find your audience and launch targeted campaigns in a time of need. The catch is that the industry is trickling down and impacting the relationships between future employees and employers. The truth is, the internet never forgets–it will always remember the mistakes and successes you create on its many faces.  Because of this, employers are turning to the internet to find out more about potential future employees. Branding yourself online is necessary in order to grow and stay up to date with your industry of interest. Determining your brand can be difficult at first, but it is important to always practice safe online etiquette.

Why is online branding important to employers?

The number one thing employers do is “Google you.” This makes it easy for an employer to see what your online engagement is like. You might speak eloquently in your interview but if your online presence does not speak to the company or employer’s brand, that can be the deciding factor between you and your competition. If you are applying to work for an environmentally friendly company that is constantly advocating against animal cruelty, then you probably don’t want to blog about your new fur hat.

Manage your Facebook

The ultimate decision is yours: is your Facebook account a way for you to connect with friends or find employers? If it’s a tool you use mainly for socializing with your friends, be sure to manage your privacy settings and make sure that you are not easily searchable. At the end of the day, an employer does not want to hire a person whose Facebook account seems unprofessional.

Blog Positively

It’s always great to blog; it’s a way for you to connect with the world and share your personality online. Blogging positively is important because you get to tell people a little bit about yourself and pass your positive outlook on to others. If you are going to blog under your own name, make sure to do it in a professional way. Future employers and readers relate to positive tones and messages more than negative ones. As people look to others to engage and communicate in the social space, blogging positively makes you approachable and will help you gain followers and return readers.

Past mistakes

Maybe you made a mistake a couple of years ago. You didn’t realize that a post you had written would actually get read or perhaps your views have changed since. The best thing to do is create more content online in order to bury and outdate your mistake post. Keep writing articles, blogging and be active in the social space. The more information you get out there about yourself the more content people will able to find about you. For example, if the post you are ashamed of is on the first page of Google, just write more content so you can outdate and push the content down to page 4. An employer will look at your most recent work and/or the first 2 pages of material. If at an interview the post you are ashamed of is brought up, address it like an adult and explain how you have grown since then and now realize the importance of online branding.

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Meltwater News being sued by AP, Canadian publishers

Posted by fpinfomart on February 16, 2012

There was a lot of chatter yesterday about copyright after The Associated Press, one of the largest news organizations in the world, announced that it was suing Meltwater News for copyright infringement.

In a press release distributed on Feb. 14, AP alleges that Meltwater “styles itself as a modern-day electronic clipping service with a guarantee of ‘no copyright fees.’”

In the words of Tom Curley, president and CEO of The Associated Press, “[Meltwater] has a significant negative impact on the ability of AP to continue providing the high-quality news reports on which the public relies.”

In its press release, AP goes on to claim that “Meltwater is not a typical news aggregator,” most notably because “Meltwater is a closed system sold only to subscribers for a fee, and not a means of expanding public access.”

The Associated Press’ filing came the same day as ruling from the United Kingdom Copyright Tribunal. The tribunal said Meltwater’s users must still pay license fees to the U.K.’s main news publishers.

The Copyright Tribunal decision follows a recent U.K. Court of Appeal ruling. The Court of Appeal ruling held that “the receipt and use by an end-user of Meltwater News will constitute an infringement of the copyright of the Publishers in either or both the headlines or the articles on their websites.”

Here in Canada, a group of Canada’s biggest news publishers including Postmedia Network Inc. (which owns FPinfomart), The Globe and Mail Inc., Toronto Star Newspapers Ltd., Sun Media Corp. and Le Devoir Inc. initiated a lawsuit against Meltwater in June of last year, alleging copyright infringement and breach of the terms of use of the websites.

In the statement of claim, Postmedia contends that Meltwater does not have a license to use Postmedia content in its service and is, therefore, not entitled to use content from such newspapers as the Vancouver Sun, Calgary Herald or National Post in its service. None of the allegations have been proven in court.

For more on this story, please see:

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Halifax Chronicle-Herald now available on FPinfomart

Posted by Jennifer Stein on February 14, 2012

Halifax Chronicle-Herald logoWe are excited to announce that effective immediately, the Halifax Chronicle-Herald is available for search and monitoring on FPinfomart.  This newspaper publishes Monday through Saturday, and our coverage begins February 1, 2012.  You can add this source to your Personal Profiles, search it in the Archives, or browse recent issues in Latest News.

Along with the addition of the Chronicle-Herald, we have also added two other Halifax papers, the Halifax Community Herald (publishes Mondays), and the Halifax Sunday Herald (publishes Sundays).

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FP Dividends – Annual Record & 10-year Price Range – 2011 edition

Posted by fpinfomart on February 9, 2012

The latest book available for purchase in our series of printed publications is the 2011 edition of FPdividends – Annual Record & 10-year Price Range. FPdividends cover

Considered the definitive resource on dividends in Canada, FP Dividends ensures you have a complete record of distributions, in cash or in kind, by companies and trusts which are listed on Canadian stock exchanges for 2011. Whether you’re managing a corporate portfolio, trading professionally, or investing privately, you’ll find this book to be an invaluable source of information.

In the Annual Dividend Record section, you get a complete record of dividend-paying companies for 2011. In the 10-Year Price Range, historical prices are fully adjusted for any stock splits or consolidations – and details of the consolidation or split are appended.

A benchmark reference on Canadian dividends and stock price history, FP Dividends – Annual Record & 10-Year Price Range also provides data on corporate changes, new stock listings, delisted securities, rights offerings, and much more. It’s one of the most reached-for investor resources available.

Information includes:

  • Foreign currency dividends
  • Lists federal, provincial, municipal and corporate issues by maturity
  • Dividend Reinvestment Plans (DRIPs)
  • Dividend changes
  • Complete record of all dividend-paying companies for 2009
  • Summary of 2009, 2010 and 2011 payments
  • Comprehensive coverage of Canadian mutual fund distributions
  • New listings, delistings, suspended stocks, name changes
  • Detailed stock symbols for all listed securities
  • Exchange listings
  • Dividend changes
  • Highs and lows for nine previous years
  • High, low and close prices for 2011

Pricing and ordering information are available on our FP Dividends page but please note that bulk discounts are also available.

To order, or for more information, please visit our FP Publications page.

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More Americans Using Social Media and Technology in Emergencies

Posted by Jennifer Stein on February 6, 2012

I recently became aware of a 2011 American Red Cross study which examined respondents’ attitudes toward social media and emergency assistance.

The study showed that Americans are relying more and more on social media, mobile technology and online news outlets to learn about ongoing disasters, seek help and share information about their well-being after emergencies.

Some of the key findings included:

  • Followed by television and local radio, the internet is the third most popular way for people to gather emergency information with 18 percent of both the general and the online population specifically using Facebook for that purpose;
  • Nearly a fourth (24 percent) of the general population and a third (31 percent) of the online population would use social media to let loved ones know they are safe;
  • Four of five (80 percent) of the general and 69 percent of the online populations surveyed believe that national emergency response organizations should regularly monitor social media sites in order to respond promptly;
  • For those who would post a request for help through social media, 39 percent of those polled online and 35 of those polled via telephone said they would expect help to arrive in less than one hour.

While we often focus on social media as a component of customer service, competitive intelligence, and dissemination of information, it is interesting to note that it is becoming such a pervasive avenue for communication that expectations for emergency assistance have come to incorporate social media.

This survey consulted American respondents, but I would expect that the implications for Canada are quite similar.

via More Americans Using Social Media and Technology in Emergencies (or view a nice slide-show style summaryof the survey results [PDF]).

Posted in General, Social Media | Tagged: , | Comments Off

FPinfomart Monthly Newsletter – January 2012

Posted by Jennifer Stein on February 1, 2012

Our monthly newsletter was sent by e-mail yesterday afternoon. A PDF copy is attached here.

If you do not already receive our newsletter and would like to be added to our distribution list, please see our information page.

FPinfomart Monthly Newsletter January 2012 [PDF]

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New Web Page View for Postmedia online content

Posted by Jennifer Stein on January 26, 2012

Since 2009, for select newspapers, you will have seen a thumbnail image of the full page on which an article you are reading was printed.  The purpose of these “pageview” images is to provide visual context to the article you are reading. It is often helpful to understand where on a page an article was placed; the size of the headline and/or font used; the placement of images within the story; the proximity to other articles on the page; and the presence of any advertisements on that page.

Effective this week, you will find a similar “pageview” image for online content originating from Postmedia-owned major daily news websites (list below).  A similar use-case for Web Page View applies here:  it can be helpful to see a visual representation of how a story appeared in its native context – where on a webpage it was placed; what other content also appeared on the page; what ads were present.  This point-in-time screenshot can also be critical in the ephemeral world of online content, where webpages are fluid.  Online content changes and disappears, and these pageviews capture what the story looked like at the time it was indexed by our database.

The full page images are sized large enough for you to get a sense of the page's layout, but are not intended to be large enough to read the text of the articles.

You may click the Web Page View thumbnail to view a slightly larger version of the image.  There is no additional charge for accessing these images.

Websites for which Web Page Views are currently available:

  • calgaryherald.com
  • canada.com
  • dose.ca
  • edmontonjournal.com
  • leaderpost.com
  • montrealgazette.com
  • nationalpost.com
  • ottawacitizen.com
  • theprovince.com
  • thestarphoenix.com
  • vancouversun.com
  • windsorstar.com

Images from additional websites will be added as we receive permission from publishers to do so.

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