LotusJump Blog

Today we’re spotlighting the LotusJumper The Jazz Cat:

We asked The Jazz Cat what the inspiration was behind their company, this is what they had to say:

I have loved jazz and created artwork related to Jazz music for the last 12 years. Jazz has been very very good to me and I want to return the favor to Jazz and get more people excited about the history of this American Art Form!

When asked what achievement they were most proud of, The Jazz Cat said:

I created the cover artwork for 15 Jazz  cd covers for a European jazz music label last year!

We asked The Jazz Cat why Internet marketing is so important for their company, this is what they had to say:

It is the best way for me to reach a global audience and much cheaper than direct mail.

We gaveThe Jazz Cat a chance to give a “Creative Marketing Tip of the Day”, this is what they said:

“Play” with all the newest internet technologies so you do not become afraid of it.

Leave a comment if you think you’re worthy of a Friday spotlight, and tell us why!

The incredible power and influence that is now attainable through Twitter is helping connect individuals around the world and is giving businesses opportunities never before thought possible.

However, with power, comes responsibility.

Like with anything that you do online, you’re not invisible. What you do, say, and post is available for just about anyone to see. Forever. Even in the last few months, there have been several cases of “tweets” that, while seemingly harmless, have caused an eruption of social media mayhem. (Read more about the PC Magazine and Ketchum incidents)

So, without further adieu…

Our Top 5 Twitterquette (Twitter + Etiquette) Tips:

1. Give props where deserved. Instead of just copying what someone else has said, re-tweeting gives them credit for coming up with something tweet-worthy and exposes them to a whole new audience.So next time someone tweets something you love, do them a favor and RT … they’ll do the same for you in the future.

2. Keep private conversations private. Instead of holding a meaningless conversation with your buddy via 20 @s, consider DMing (Direct Messaging) instead. Which brings us to our next point…

3. Don’t over-tweet.While there isn’t a definitive number of how many tweets is too many tweets, use your head.  Twitter is considered “micro-blogging”, but there are only so many people who care about every “micro” thing you do (i.e bathroom breaks, laundry, what you ate for lunch …*yawn*).

4. Learn to be concise. You only have 140 characters! (The character count even turns red when you’re about to reach your max) No one likes a ……
(…see what we mean? No one likes a half-tweet!)

5. And remember, EVERYTHING you tweet is HIGHLY visible.Don’t say something that you wouldn’t want your mom, boss, future employer, ex or even posterity to someday read.

Today’s Jump of the Week (JOTW) looks like a whole lotta corporate fun. It’s Wednesday, Friday seems far off…why not hold your own office competition?! [Editors note: LotusJump cannot be held liable for gnarly chair-jumping injuries, or production hours lost to aforementioned activity. Wreak office havoc at your own risk.]

[Every Wednesday LotusJump highlights a Jump of the Week (JOTW). It can be any kind of jump (over tall things, in search engine rankings, through hoops of fire, whatever). Submit your favorite Jump via comment and we'll consider it for future Wednesday JOTW's!]

We’re on a roll over here at LotusJump. Last week our developers published reporting features, and this week I get to announce that we’ll be releasing new LotusJump task types!

That’s right…we’ll be adding to our current arsenal of Buzz, Content, Directory, Q&A and Competitive tasks. All this development work is just part of our commitment to provide the best DIY internet marketing tool on the planet. Please feel free to let us know how we’re doing via comment, or by sending an email to support [at] lotusjump [dot] com!

Today we’re spotlighting the LotusJumper MonoMachines:

We asked Mono Machines what the inspiration was behind their company, this is what they had to say:

Back in early 2006 while in grad school, I was tasked with the job of purchasing a shredder for a small office.  As I searched the web for potential products I quickly and painfully became aware of the web un-friendliness that came along with an old, brick-and-mortar industry.  I had no idea what I was looking for and a flat 2×3 image of a machine that looked like it came straight from That 70’s Show neither appealed to me nor gave me any tangible grasp (or remote hint for that matter) of the capabilities of the machine.  It was like trying to buy a new car without getting to take it for a test drive or even kick the tires.  I wanted to see multiple photos of the machines.  I wanted to see the machine in action.  I wanted to hear what it sounds like to shred a piece of paper into 3/8″ x 1/16″.  Aside from a few poorly lit, dialogue-heavy, machine-centric 10-minute videos, I was left to purchasing a machine with very limited information and I ultimately made a bad decision.  Mono Machines was formed not too long after this moment with the drive to provide the customer with as much pertinent information as humanly possible along with an actual live human being that had previously used the machine.

When asked what achievement they were most proud of, Mono Machines said:

We are proud to say that we have made a commitment to provide video “tours”, “introductions”, and reviews for EVERY product that we sell.  2008 marked the first round of manufacturer videos and 2009 is slated for hundreds more.  We travel throughout the US to manufacturer locations and produce product videos.  If you’d like to see what our videos look like, you can check out the link and then click on the “product video” tab located above the product image.

We asked Mono Machines why Internet marketing is so important for their company, this is what they had to say:

Internet Marketing is not important FOR our business, it IS our business.  As a newcomer to an old game, we have to rely on our net visibility to sell products.  With Walmart down the road and Staples importing cheap knock-offs from China, we must find new and interesting ways to get in front of our potential customers and provide them with a service that they cannot find elsewhere.

We gave Mono Machines a chance to give a “Creative Marketing Tip of the Day”, this is what they said:

Although this is nothing new and most likely why most of you are on LotusJump, I’d say to harness the power of the authorities within your industry.  We all know that Google has turned into a popularity contest and I’m sorry to be the one to break it to you, but Yahoo Answers, Slate.com and LinkedIn are more popular than you are.  Although blogging may seem like what everyone is doing, spend those precious hours spreading your expertise across the web to sources that will actually be seen rather than laboring away at crafting the perfect blog post for your site that receives 1/10,000 of the exposure of the “expert” site

Leave a comment if you think you’re worthy of a Friday spotlight, and tell us why!

Setting and achieving your goals on LotusJump is now easier than ever!  If you haven’t seen the lastest reporting tool that is now available, it’s definitely something you want to check out!

See just how many tasks you’ve completed since beginning site optimization with LotusJump.

A detailed list of completed tasks shows you what types of tasks you’ve completed, what keyword you targeted and when the task was completed.

This diagram shows how many backlinks your website has and tracks progression over time.

Want to know what type of linkbuilding efforts your competitors are doing? This graph shows not only the growth of your website’s backlink profile, but the backlink profiles of your competitors.

So, how can you use the reporting tool to your advantage?

Start setting goals.  It feels good to be able to SEE how you’re progressing, so be realistic in how many you’d like to complete and then hold yourself to it.  Heck,  you can even reward yourself with a little something special when you reach your goal at the end of the month.

Today’s Jump of the Week (JOTW) is pretty rad…Danny Way jumps over the great wall of China on a skateboard. Pretty impressive.

[Every Wednesday LotusJump highlights a Jump of the Week (JOTW). It can be any kind of jump (over tall things, in search engine rankings, through hoops of fire, whatever). Submit your favorite Jump via comment and we'll consider it for future Wednesday JOTW's!]