North Coast Media, LLC

Friday Favorites: Golfdom

Best of 2015, as picked by the editors

The issue: Golfdom, September 2015

Selected by: Editor-in-chief Seth Jones

This is a tough choice for me as well, there were a few issues that stood out to me…

If I had to pick one issue though, the September issue my favorite of the year, partly for what it is, and partly for how it came about.

First, how the cover story, “Friends in High Places,” came about: I needed new golf clubs.

Seriously. I needed new sticks, and I asked my golf pro where he suggested I go to get them. He suggested Wolf Creek, about 45 minutes from my front door. Sounded good to me. Then he asked if I’d like to meet the superintendent there. Sure, sounds great. Then he mentions that they just did an interesting little project there… it might make for a good story. Yeah, OK, it might. Then he mentioned, after an hour of me hitting golf balls — maybe if I had time, I could also meet Tom Watson while I was there… I told him, “Jeff, if Tom Watson is ever available to meet, at whatever time, I’ll be there.”

The next day I was having lunch with the World Golf Hall of Famer.

The story was a fun one, too. It has maybe the best ending of any story I wrote this year. And everyone loves a happy ending, right?

Other fun things about the issue: I was able to give a shout-out to Jeff the golf pro in my column that month, as well as run a photo of him with my son… and I took the cover photo myself, and was happy with the quality of the image, especially for an amateur photographer like me.

It’s not everyday you find a good story like that right in your own back yard. And it’s certainly not every day that I get to have lunch with a legend of the game, either.

Don’t sacrifice design — or impressions

By Allison Barwacz | Digital Media Content Producer

The perfect design isn’t always easy to create. And it can’t be constructed in five minutes.

When you’re in a time crunch, sometimes you have to prioritize your duties. But that doesn’t mean you need to sacrifice your design.

This is where Canva comes in.

Canva is a graphic design platform. Sure, there are a number of design programs out there, such as Photoshop, but here’s the kicker: It doesn’t require any software. It’s free and requires no previous design experience.

Canva allows you to choose the type of design you want, with preset dimensions for social media sites, as well as a custom dimension option.

Then you’ll be presented with a variety of pre-made layouts, each of which you can configure to meet your own needs — based on font type, color, etc. — or keep the same.

Once you’re finished with your design, you can either directly share your image or download it.

What’s Canva best used for?

Fortunately, Canva isn’t a single-purpose website. However, there are some business-oriented purposes Canva can serve. Here are some ways we’ve used Canva at North Coast Media:

Social media

Canva offers layouts specifically designed for certain social media outlets, including Facebook and Instagram. And visual content on social media — it’s more important than ever.

“A whopping 66 percent of all social media posts are or includes images,” said Neil Patel in an article on Content Marketing Institute. “More than half of all Internet users have posted original video content or reposted visual content.”

Canva’s an excellent outlet for making creative, visually appealing social media content in five minutes or less (see the Steve Jobs quote card I created above). A simple Canva design on your Twitter feed can mean the difference between five clicks or none.

Website posts

Web articles are another way to showcase visual content. Before posting an article without an image, consider how you’ll be able draw your audience in to read it. Without an image, your audience is less likely to read the article.

“Content with images gets 94 percent more views than content sans images,” said Patel in the same article. “It doesn’t matter what industry, topic, niche, or specialty, images matter.”

So, you don’t think you have the time to add visual content to your posts? Think again. More visuals converts to more views. Use Canva to ramp up your images and grow your audience — the five minutes will be worth it.

Monday Night finish epitomizes Cleveland Browns football

By Kevin Yanik | Managing Editor, LP Gas/Pit & Quarry

Only the Cleveland Browns can line up for a game-winning play and find a way to lose on the very same play.

That’s how this week’s Monday Night Football matchup between the Browns and Baltimore Ravens went down on the lakefront. The Browns lined up for a game-winning 51-yard field goal attempt with a few seconds to spare. In Browns fashion, the kick was blocked and scooped up by a Ravens player, who improbably scampered along the sideline and into the end zone.

In a flash, a potential victory that would have satisfied the masses during one of the most disastrous Browns seasons in recent memory turned into yet another logic-defying loss — the kind that only happens in Cleveland.

The football mess in Cleveland has piled up considerably over the last 17 years, ever since the NFL rushed the Browns back to Cleveland following the franchise’s 1995 move to Baltimore.

There were times since 1999 when the city was simply happy to have a football team back in Cleveland. The fans wouldn’t have cared during those years if the Browns never won a game. Having a football team wear the brown and orange again was enough.

Over the course of this new Browns era, though, satisfaction has given way to years of frustration and despair. The football debacle in Cleveland has been going on for nearly two decades — more than half my lifetime — and the escape from the losing is nowhere in sight.

Comments from a couple of my North Coast Media colleagues about Monday night’s loss illustrate how low morale has gotten in Cleveland over the Browns.

“Sitting at [First Energy] Stadium last night and watching the blocked field goal and the return for a touchdown was unreal,” says one colleague. “I just sat there and laughed. It appeared as I watched all of the fans leaving the stadium that they now totally expect something like this to happen. I saw more people laughing and shaking their heads as opposed to being upset. We are so jaded now.”

Adds another North Coast Media colleague about the latest loss: “I was shaking my head as we lined up to kick a field goal. I thought: ‘We’re going to blow the first pick of the draft to win this completely meaningless game.’ I was clapping when the Ravens blocked it and scored.”

Fandom would be more tolerable if the Browns would simply field a respectable football team and lose with grace. Instead, the team regularly makes headlines for non-football reasons and plays in losses that defy football logic.

Like my one colleague, a number of Browns fans are eyeing the top pick in next year’s draft as the turning point to steer this franchise right. But this is Cleveland, and by year’s end the Browns will likely find a way to not be the best at being the worst.

5 dos and don’ts of social media

By Joelle Harms | Senior Digital Editor, North Coast Media

Social media is a blessing and a curse.

Promoting valuable and relevant content through personal, professional social media channels — Twitter, LinkedIn, Facebook and others — will help drive traffic to you or your company’s website, increase demand for your content and raise your visibility.

“Social media was once thought of as a mere pastime for teenage procrastinators,” writes Sports Marketing Surveys in a blog post. “It then developed into a dubious marketing scheme whereby businesses barely considered it viable and worthy of considerable time and resource. Today it is a huge promotional machine that no real business can do without.”

There’s no clear strategy to managing a personal social media account, especially when using it professionally, but there is a way to avoid social media disasters.

Keeping up with best practices and techniques for effective social media can be a challenge, but it’s very rewarding. Social media is indispensable. You can view social media as a free tool for you or you or your company to gain awareness, respect, attention and, most importantly, community.

Below are a few tips to keep in mind when posting to social media.

Dos

1. Post often. Staying active raises your credibility and allows you to share your passion with like-minded peers.

2. Use photos. I’m not talking about your average selfie. We love seeing your work, we love seeing your dog and we love seeing what you did after work. Yes, we love all of the visuals.

3. Share your successes. People do want to see you shine. Sharing successful results may motivate others to improve or could give them the answer they are looking for.

4. Mix up your content. Try new social media channels. Some superintendents are even trying out Vine!

5. Ask questions. If you have a question and no solution, chances are someone in the Twittersphere has the answer.

Don’ts

1. Brag. It’s one thing to show us the result of hard work that’s paid off, but no one cares about your trillion-dollar budget. An easy way to alleviate bragging is to share what others are doing by retweeting or posting a link to a cool blog.

2. Complain. Social media is not a forum for you to complain about life. It’s OK to bring up concerns you may have, but also be open-minded to what others are trying even if you don’t agree with them.

3. Be obnoxious. Liking and sharing others’ posts shows you’re interested, but don’t go on a “liking” spree on Instagram to make it seem like you’re interested. Liking a photo or tweet from 63 weeks ago is a red flag. It’s generally easy to tell if someone genuinely likes your post or if they’re just one of those “likers” who “like” everything.

4. Show us your wild (and I mean wild) side. It’s nice to get a glimpse into your personal life, but some things are not meant to be posted to social media. If you have to think twice about whether it’s appropriate, it’s probably OK to post, but if you have to think three times about it… I’d steer clear.

5. Take it easy on the selfies… and meals. Met LeBron James? Cool! Post that selfie you and him took together, but not the selfie you took of yourself holding a thunder stick in the crowd — we get it, you’re at the Cavs game. Have an amazing Thanksgiving? Cool! Don’t post your dinner plate — trust me, we’re all eating the same thing.

If you have any questions about social media best practices or how to make your accounts shine, I’m here to help. Email me at jharms@northcoastmedia.net for more tips and ideas.

Top 10 social media guidelines every company needs

By Diane Sofranec | Managing Editor, Pest Management Professional

If your company has a presence on social media, guidelines for what your employees post will help reduce the likelihood a legal or public relations nightmare will occur.

Even if you’re not the owner of a restaurant chain that has its share of workers behaving badly, having a plan in place will ensure employees know what is and is not acceptable behavior when using such sites as Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn and Instagram.

Your social media guidelines should spell out how you expect your employees to behave. Consider providing solid examples that illustrate what you mean. Here are 10 points every company should address:

1. Social media goals.

Establish a reason for your company’s presence on social media. Do you want to spread the word about your products or services, engage with customers and potential customers, or obtain customer feedback? A goal will help you determine how you want your employees to represent your company.

2. Social media mavens.

Decide whether you want one person from your company to post on all social media platforms, or several to split this task. Consider appointing a responsible and trusted employee who knows the company’s brand well and can intelligently convey it’s messaging.

3. Spokesperson in times of crisis.

Appoint an employee to be the sole spokesperson in the event of any crisis that affects your company. Make it clear to employees that they are not to comment during this time; the idea is to reduce the likelihood of conflicting or incorrect information.

4. Acceptable content.

Think about the information you want to keep confidential. Many companies do not reveal financial figures, client lists and impending promotions. Let your employees know what is and isn’t fair game.

5. Unacceptable content.

When crafting your guidelines, be as specific as possible. You may think it’s unnecessary to explain the meaning of unacceptable, but trust me, it’s best to provide clear examples. Obscene language, discussions of politics and religion, and racist or sexist remarks are just a few bad behaviors.

6. Professional presence.

Although social media is meant to be informal, remind employees they are representing your company. Correct spelling and proper grammar are a must.

7. Think before you post.

Stress the need to maintain your company’s professional reputation. Remember: The content your employees post will remain online forever.

8. Legal issues.

Follow copyright laws and fair use policies regarding content and photos from other sources your employees may post.

9. Identification.

Require employees to be upfront about whom they work for when responding to comments about your company in chat rooms, on message boards and in posts.

10. Ramifications.

What will you do if an employee does not follow your guidelines? Clearly state the consequences and take action if necessary.

There’s no denying the appeal and popularity of social media. So distribute your guidelines to all employees, not just those whose job it is to be the company mouthpiece.

Friday Favorites: Pit & Quarry

Best of 2015, as picked by the editors

The issue: Pit & Quarry, August 2015

Selected by: Editor-in-chief Darren Constantino

If I have to pick one, I’d say it’s the August Pit & Quarry, with its focus on Technology. The cover story was on the use of drones, which was something very different for us. Also, Managing Editor Kevin Yanik did an interesting feature on load scanning, and we had a story called “Virtual Reality,” about aggregate-plant simulation software. It was one of those issues where I learned many new things myself during the process of proofreading and editing.