How to Fine-Tune Your Social Accounts for Mobile Users

Your company had conducted an exhaustive and rigorous social media analysis and had tuned in into different channels. Social media moderation has never been off your radar as well. You’ve done your homework. You have been hovering like a hawk on your laptop to monitor your tweets, shares and likes for so long, you’ve forgotten the tiny gadget in your pocket.

We’re referring to your smartphone. The small rectangular device that an average user checks 85 times a day, according to Daily Mail. Why does it have anything to do with your brand promotion and selling?

Ever heard of social media mobile marketing where, according to socialmediatoday.com, “68% of companies have used it as a part of their overall marketing strategy”?

Have you checked your company’s social accounts on your mobile phone? What does it look like? Is the mobile experience of your audience with your brand gains rave reviews? Did you know that “57% of users say they won’t recommend a business with a poorly designed mobile site”?

Could your mobile presence reach about 2.1 billion smartphone users worldwide?


This figure is based on eMarketer as shown in the image below:

Smartphone has been likened to a digital “Swiss Army knife” of this modern age, Time says. The common activities we can do with this small gadget are accessing emails, text messaging, internet search, social networking, getting news alerts, playing games, listening to music, reading, watching videos or movies and even getting directions, according to MarketingCharts. No wonder we can’t live without it. A piece of device that has been integrating itself into our waking lives and haunts us awake just as we’re about to sleep.

Businesses should take advantage of this immensely. So, how do you fine-tune your social accounts to be mobile-friendly?

Facebook
Fact Check: As of the last quarter of 2015, the mobile-only monthly active users of Facebook were 823 million. -VentureBeat

Fine-tune it by:

The leading social networking site had been adaptive for business ever since. They also made sure it can be accessible via mobile:

• Use call-to-action buttons like this:

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image-url: Source: urbanrenstrom.com

Here is a short tutorial from their site.

• Add one or two new pages on your profile such as the Shop section (retail businesses) and the Service section.

• In a blog on Mashable, it tells us that Facebook is planning to put ads on their Messenger app. Sweet, right?

Twitter
Fact Check: It has 83% active users on mobile. -Twitter

Fine-tune it by:

Engage with your followers real-time and keep them updated with your latest promos and offerings. Here are a few nuggets of advice:

• Make your tweets searchable on search.twitter.com by using keywords relevant to your business.

• Use Twitter app cards to promote your brand on mobile, advised by Social Media Week.

• You can posts tweets via text messaging by doing these steps. Even without data, you can do business via Twitter!

YouTube

Fact Check: The average number of mobile YouTube video views per day is 1 billion. –Statistic Brain

Fine-tune it by:

It seems internet users today are hungrier for visual content and marketers are getting caught up with this trend. In fact, based on an infographic by wideo.co, “65% of consumers watched videos longer than 30 minutes.” How can your business join in the bandwagon?

• Use Bumper ads. TechCrunch defines it as “video ads that are only six seconds long and better-suited for smartphone video watchers.” It is quite challenging for the content creators, though.

• YouTube also introduced ‘Shopping ads’. Businesses can advertise their products directly on the video by clicking the info icon on the upper right corner. 

          https://tctechcrunch2011.files.wordpress.com/2015/09/shoppingadsonyoutube.gif

          Source: techcrunch.com

• Optimize your videos to be responsive to smartphones by applying this simple trick.

Instagram

Fact Check: “Over a third of Instagram users have used their mobile to purchase a product online. -Brandwatch

Fine-tune it by:

The power of virtual storytelling is evident on Instagram and every company has its own story to tell. But how can it be utilized for business? Social Media Examiner suggests the following:

• If social media moderation is not enough, you can use trackable links instead of posting the full URL of your website to track traffic by shortening it using Bitly or goo.gl.

• Showcase your products and services through the images and videos you upload.

• Use 10-15 hashtags. This is appropriate because, as stated on the site, “this will help increase your reach, engagement, and overall visibility.”

By applying these techniques, you can adapt your company’s social channels into mobile technology almost seamlessly. Indeed, social media plus mobile marketing is a powerful combination; it’s just a question of how far you’ll push the envelope to reach your customers.

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How to Handle Expansion Joints in Piping Systems

image-url: Source: triadbellows.com

Expansion joints are of great use in the Philippines especially in piping systems. According to Pumps and Systems, expansion joints or bellows can “absorb all directional movements, reduce noise and vibration, resist shock, relieve pipe and anchor stresses, compensate for misalignment and provide access to piping and equipment.” Aside from piping systems, it can be seen in buildings, bridges and roads.

There are also types of expansion joints, and these are free type, guide rod type, reinforced type, universal type, hinge type, gimbal type, straight pipe pressure balanced type, and bent pipe pressure balanced type. It allows pipes to be flexible due to movement and thermal expansion. It should be able to adjust to axial movement, lateral deflection, angular rotation, torsional rotation and pressure thrust.

But for expansion joints to last, proper care and maintenance should be enforced. Ramachandran explained how to do this in his paper entitled “Metal Expansion Joints/Bellows.”

Bellows should be properly stored. The area should be dry and clean and free of work traffic. Keep it away from weld spatter, molten metal, and heavy and sharp objects. The primary ‘enemy’ of metal expansion joint is corrosion. Cover it with water resistant sheets and place it in an enclosed space. The protective coating in the packing should be intact and don’t stack it above another.

Several things must be kept in mind in order to retain the original shape of the bellow. The shipping brackets with yellow coating should remain in place. The surface or ground is smooth and flat. But don’t let it touch the ground directly or on bare earth; rest it on a weld end pipe or flange.

Treat bellows with utmost care during installation. Conduct a thorough inspection before installing the expansion joints. It should not have damages like broken hardware, loose shipping bars, dents and scratches. Check also the accessories or components of the bellow such as gaskets, fasteners and removable liners.

Mind also how the expansion joints are lifted and handled. Pick it up using the lifting lugs, and avoid using chains or any other handling devices. Do not use the shipping bars because this is not designed as handle bars of the expansion joints. In addition, do not lift an unrestrained bellow.

The shipping bars must remain in position and only remove it after installation is complete. In cleaning bellows, avoid using cleaning chemicals containing chlorides, caustics or sulphides. These substances may corrode the expansion joints. If the bellow needs to be insulated, apply it with chloride free insulation material. It is not just chemicals that may harm bellows. Avoid abrasive tools such as wire brush and steel wool.

Assign a construction personnel who is well-trained and knowledgeable in installing expansion joints. One of his basic tasks is to ensure the piping fits the bellows. The personnel should inspect if the system drawings are strictly followed. After installation, make sure any damage had not been made; no expansion joint is misaligned; the shipping bars are removed and ensure it is free of foreign materials. A pressure test should also be performed.

Expansion joints in the Philippines are not just simple commodity based on the preparations that should be done before and after installation, and even on how it should be stored. Every unit should be handled with care or it will lead to irreparable damage.

An article by: GCK 

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Mid-Year Fiscal Updates that will Surely Affect Healthcare Outsourcing

The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Office of Inspector General just released the mid-year update for the fiscal year work plan for 2016. It laid out some important information that will be useful in predicting the direction of several undergoing and planned legal and investigative initiatives. Some of the note-worthy contend of the mid-year update that might affect healthcare outsourcing are the following:

Outpatient Outlier Payments for Short-Stay Claims
Office of the Inspector General will start to determine the extent of potential Medicare saving in cases wherein hospital stays were ineligible for an outlier patient. The purpose of the outlier payment is to ensure beneficiary access to services by having the Medicare program share in the financial loss incurred by a provider associated with individual, extraordinarily expensive cases. Prior OIG reports have concluded that a hospital’s high charges, unrelated to cost, lead to excessive inpatient outlier payments.

National Background Checks for Long-Term-Care Employees
The Office of the Inspector General will also review the procedures implemented by participating states for long-term-care facilities or providers to conduct background checks on prospective employees and providers who would have direct access to patients and determine the costs of conducting background checks. These analyses will determine the outcomes of the states’ programs and determine whether the background checks led to any unforeseen consequences. This mandated work is expected to be issued in fiscal year 2019, in accordance with section 6201 of the Affordable Care Act.

Medicare Home Health Fraud Indicators
The Office of the Inspector General will describe the extent that potential indicators associated with home health fraud are present in home health billing for 2014 and 2015. They will analyze Medicare claims data to identify the prevalence of potential indicators of home health fraud. This will help prevent cases in which the Medicare home health benefit from being exploited leading to fraud, waste, and abuse. OIG has a wide portfolio of work involving home health fraud, waste, and abuse.

Oversight and Effectiveness of Medicaid Waivers
The Office of the Inspector General will determine the extent to which selected states made use of Medicaid waivers and if costs associated with the waivers are efficient, economic, and do not inflate federal costs. Oversight of state Medicaid waivers will also be assessed. More states are using waivers to alter their Medicaid program in significant ways, and oversight of these programs presents challenges to ensure that payments made under the waivers are consistent with efficiency, economy, and quality of care. This initiative is expected to be issued in 2017.

Implementation of Recommendations Regarding HHS’ National Security Program
The Office of the Inspector General will assess whether applicable classification policies have been adopted, effectively administered, and followed, based on a 2013 report. The Reducing Over-Classification Act of 2010 requires that the Inspector General of each Federal department or agency with an officer or employee who is authorized to make original classification decisions conduct two evaluations. This mandatory review is expected to be issued in 2016.

There are also a handful of completed items in the OIC fiscal plan. Most of which are focused on Medicare as a result of the governments continue campaign for affordable healthcare.

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