Join Us for the Art of Transition Summit and Creative Awards, a complimentary day-long celebration of Durham Region’s creative economy, showcasing our rich culture and history, dynamic attractions, and innovative business community:
https://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=131159030320222

Today, Google webmaster tools has launched a new message alert to let site owners know when a particular URL doesn’t appear because Google sees it as duplicate of a URL on a different domain. In the blog post announcing the feature and in an in-depth help topic, they provide details on how they identify duplicate clusters of content and choose a “canonical” version of that cluster to display in search results.

via Do You Have Duplicate Content Issues Across Domain? Google Will Now Alert You.

Who’s using YouTube?   Businesses—lots of them. Is yours?
In my October social media column in the Durham Business Times, I suggest plenty of ways to make this fast-growing marketing tool work for your business. But seeing is believing.

Consider these viral video successes. The Old Spice Guy’s rich “Hello, Ladies.” Home Depot’s easy how-to’s. T-Mobile’s “Welcome Home” flash mob. You’re probably familiar with at least one of these runaway hits.

But not every great application needs a big business budget. Right here in Durham, the Bowmanville Zoo uses YouTube to provide an intimate, bars-free visit with some of their beautiful but dangerous critters.

So let’s put our heads together. Has your organization found a creative or effective use for social media video? Post the link here. Have you seen great examples on the web? Share them with us. Comment on why they work. Let’s see how many outstanding videos we can post.

On October 15, I’ll do a random draw from everyone who shared a link. One lucky winner will win a free ticket to the social marketing webinar of his or her choice ($50 value.) The winner will be announced in my November social media column which explains how to incorporate and optimize your company’s videos.

Visit www.laurielafrance.com to see more cool art!

Try not to become a man of success,
but rather try to become a man of value.
- Albert Einstein