By: Rebecca Rubin

How businesses can leverage the new social bookmarking phenomenon for digital success

Jumping from 40,000 to over 3.2 million users in the last year, niche social bookmarking website, Pinterest.com, is growing fast.  Nicknamed a “Visual Twitter”, the invite-only website allows users collect and categorize images from around the web onto labeled “pin boards” and is on a mission “to connect everyone in the world through the ‘things’ they find interesting.”  As the platform continues to expand (it was just named a Top 10 social networking website by Experian Hitwise), businesses are taking notice.  Here’s a step by step guide for implementing Pinterest into your existing marketing campaign to grow your online presence:

Step 1:

Request an invite either right on the website or get a friend or colleague to invite you.  It is also possible to request an invite on Facebook, Twitter or other social networking platform.  Once you’ve been invited, sign in using an existing Facebook or Twitter account to easily connect with friends/followers from those platforms.

By Jamie Fernandez

Google launched a new program in January 2011 aimed at helping digital agencies, webmasters, web designers, SEO experts, and marketing consultants maximize their returns on Google AdWords.  This resource–rich program is named Google Engage. Google has always been proactive about providing training on how to use their various web applications and products through online tutorials, web forums, and webinars. Now Google Engage takes these efforts offline, bringing a rare human element to the world of Google platforms and digital advertising.

Always a step ahead of the curve, the Blue Water Media Marketing team was able to grab passes to a Google Engage Master Class held in New York City.

By Jamie Fernandez

Money and its progression has always shaped our consumer-based world.  First there was barter, then coins, paper, plastic, PayPal, and now, phones? NFC, or Near Field Communication, is the new revolution in mobile, and ultimately, offline commerce. Devices with NFC chips completely replace your credit cards and lighten your wallet. These NFC devices have a sensor that only activates within 4 centimeters, so we’ll be waving our magic mobiles at something to buy groceries by year’s end.

Google Wallet is a mobile payment system that was released on September 19, 2011, which will make use of NFC to make payments at stores, and is sure to be a game-changer. Simply put, Google Wallet uses Near Field Communication to “make secure payments fast and convenient by simply tapping the phone on any PayPass-enabled terminal at checkout.” Inside the app are virtual replicas of your physical credit cards, so the card information will be stored in the app and will be used to make the transactions.

By: Jitter Garcia

We are past the point where social media and technology are used for solely keeping in touch and sharing pictures with friends and family. We have seen it used to announce the birth of a child from inside a hospital room. We have seen it used to boost a business’ customer relations. We have even seen social media used as a medium to overthrow dictators. These are good things—great things, even. But as we all know, good cannot exist without the alternative. Social media is not just a little outlet where teenagers post their feelings in less than 140 characters. It is a powerful tool that can build or destroy relationships, reputations, and lives.