When I officially accepted my admission to UC Berkeley in 2006, I didn't go out to celebrate. Instead, I celebrated my achievement like any twenty-first century teenager would: I made a Facebook profile.

Back in the day (which was just about five years ago), Facebook was limited to colleges, and a relatively exclusive number of schools at that. We all loved it because it was a refreshing change from having to deal with the middle-aged guys who had begun invading MySpace in droves. It was addicting, and despite startling changes like the introduction of the newsfeed (yes, it led to groups like "Petition to Facebook Against Adding the Newsfeed"), everyone in college quickly became a devoted user. Sunday mornings were now reserved for pouring over hilarious photos and riotous status updates of the previous two days' escapades. "Studying for finals" soon came to mean spending hours checking out friends' profiles, before maybe deciding to crack a book come 2 am.

And then, the unthinkable happened: Facebook was opened to the public. In hindsight, it started going downhill from there... at least in the eyes of Facebook's early adopters. Suddenly, everyone had a Facebook profile, from your elderly Aunt Mary to your ten year-old brother. Companies began targeting advertisements based on "likes" and "dislikes" listed on profiles, lines between business and pleasure were blurred as bosses joined Facebook and "friended" their employees, and, perhaps most importantly, our sense of privacy began to become less and less... well, private. As the Facebook demographic began shifting towards the Baby Boomer generation, those of us who had been users since its early days felt disenchanted and frankly, disenfranchised.

What had been our exclusive online world was now open to anyone and everyone, and no longer held the same appeal it once had. It should come as no surprise, then, that many Facebook users in my age group are deactivating their accounts, or at the very least, visiting the site less often. We're moving on in increasingly large numbers, favoring social gaming, Tweeting, and blogging; many of us eagerly await the next site that will provide the online niche for the needs that Facebook used to satisfy. Personally? I keep my Facebook profile for event pages, photo albums, and the occasional surprise of discovering a high school classmate who's gotten married. However, Facebook has lost its original luster. If we originally used the site because it was exclusive to the college social melieu, what good is Facebook when it has surpassed the 500 million user mark?

How should Facebook react to the growing exodus from their site? I think the answer lies in bringing back some of the original exclusivity and interactivity, the two features that drew us to the site in the first place. I still remember the thrill of receiving an email notification that someone had written on my Wall or that someone I'd met in class had added me as a friend. These are the elements that brought people clamoring to join Facebook in the first place; maybe it's time for a return to the beginning?

Is Facebook still relevant? What does it still offer us in our daily lives besides the ability to waste time and reinforce connections we've already made in the "real world"? Comment below and let me know how you view Facebook's current status--no pun intended--in the world of social media.

About the author: Lindsay Goldner is a UC Berkeley graduate working as the Social Media Coordinator at Gemvara. When she's not Tweeting, Facebooking, or blogging, she loves do-it-yourself home decor projects, reading novels, Broadway musicals, and exploring her new home, Boston!

Every once in a while, a company comes along that just gets it. They don't just entice you with a flashy website--they actually deliver a quality product at a competitive price, and enhance the customer experience with outstanding support. Recently, I discovered a company called Inkd, which fits that exact description. I was looking for some last-minute graphic design work for a flyer, and Inkd gave me some of the most personalized care I've ever received from an online merchant.

Inkd provides original graphic design templates for flyers, brochures, business cards, and much more. Due to a last-minute change in the scope of a project, one of my clients needed a two-sided flyer designed as soon as possible. Not to worry, Inkd had me covered. They took on the project and turned it around in no time, thanks to super-designer Chelsea and her team. A proof was ready for me in a few hours. Brilliant!

Their site is remarkably easy to use: browse the available templates, pick a great design for your flyer/business card/brochure/etc., and tweak it as necessary (if at all) to make it your own. The whole experience was easy, and whenever I had questions, Chelsea and the Inkd staff where there for me.

Inkd makes it easier for the producers and consumers of design work to connect. Even if you regularly work with a graphic designer, it's possible that they may not accept last-minute projects. Inkd took on my project at a good price and allowed me to finish other work simultaneously. Added bonus? Inkd doesn't use cheesy templates that make you think about dot matrix printers and Betamax machines--all of their designs are fresh, modern, and look 100% custom.

As a business owner, it's a relief to know there are companies like Inkd out there. Their personalized and efficient service has made me a fan!

The benefits of using Inkd:

- Stylish templates for a wide array of projects

- Designs that reflect a more modern aesthetic

- Excellent, personalized customer care

- Quick turnaround

- Fair pricing

Many of you have been asking when the song "Chain Reaction" (from the Grasshopper video I produced) will be available via multiple music sites. Well, some good news: it's finally available for purchase on iTunes (in addition to Amazon and other sites).

Carly Comando created this incredible track, and she was really a pleasure to work with--enthusiastic, poised, and responsive. She composed "Chain Reaction" based on the script I wrote and my sometimes annoyingly specific feedback about the sound I needed for the video. She ended up producing one of the most evocative tracks I've ever heard. It really completes the "Entrepreneurs Can Change the World" video.

Grab the track on iTunes today!

A copywriter can do wonders with your website in addition to providing content that's attention-getting and sales-oriented. They can also give you a fresh perspective on your company's image and provide helpful feedback about how they interact with your site.

If you're writing copy for your company's website, it's pretty hard to generate objectivity about your copy because you're steeped in your own rhetoric. However, if you must go it alone, don't fall prey to what I call "My Top 5 Copywriting Pet Peeves."

#1 - Your homepage looks like a content bomb went off. Words are everywhere, from the top navigation to way past the fold. Worst of all, you've got to read through everything to figure out where to go next. Instead of stuffing your homepage with keywords, do a little research into SEO, and ask yourself what you would want to see first when you visit your own site. This will give you a clue about what others want to see, too.

#2 - You use tons of exclamation points. Adding multiple exclamation points is unnecessary. Limit yourself to one exclamation point per sentence--if you use more, you run the risk of making your site look like a teenager's text message. And remember, exclamation points are used to call attention to something--if they're everywhere, you'll render important points meaningless.

#3 - You didn't bother reading through your work before publishing it. Big mistake. Even if you think you're perfect, you've got to read through what you've written before you publish it on your site. It's not cute when there's a mistake in your copy, especially when customers are considering buying your product or service. Mistakes make you look sloppy and unprofessional.

#4- You like to use the 'ellipsis', and stick four or five on sentences. Remember the "rule of three" when it comes to the ellipsis (singular) or ellipses (plural), those little dots after words or phrases that signal something has been omitted that the reader can infer. Most of the time, ellipses should only come in sets of three (not four, not ten). Most people writing web copy won't encounter a situation that requires a more complicated use of ellipses, but if you're interested, check this out.

#5 - You don't have any copy on your site. Yes, this is an obvious one, but still worth mentioning since I've seen some sites that attempt to sell a product, but don't provide copy to describe it. If you're going to have a website, you need to be able to update it with content to both help visitors and search engines find your website (for SEO). Don't write very well and have no idea what SEO is? Hire a copywriter. If not, do your best to at least provide simple, error-free information about your product or service.

I don't normally write blog posts about work I've done for specific companies, but I've permission from the wonderful folks at Grasshopper (formerly GotVMail) to write about what they've done because I find it so inspiring.

On Monday, the company that was GotVMail launched a pretty bold campaign to re-brand themselves as Grasshopper. Change isn't always easy, but when there's a great idea behind it, it's a lot easier to galvanize support. That's the case with Grasshopper. While the company has always been a champion of entrepreneurs, the re-branding is all about inspiring entrepreneurs to change the world, and taking innovation to a whole new level. And we could all use some inspiration right now.

I was fortunate to be involved in several aspects of the re-branding but I'm really proud of one piece of work in particular: the company's inspirational video, "A Single Brilliant Idea." Producing and writing the video was amazing because I got to work with two incredibly talented individuals during production, one being Carly Comando, who created the original score. Carly is best known for writing the score for the Noah Kalina "Everyday" viral video and for music she's provided for the NBA's "Where Amazing Happens" campaign. Ben White was the motion designer on the project. I feel so grateful to have found Ben, because he understood what I was going for with the video, and he brought a lot of passion to the project. I feel fortunate to have collaborated with these two creative people.

UPDATE: Many people have been asking for the name of the track Carly created for the Grasshopper video. It's called "Chain Reaction" and it will be available for purchase on iTunes at the end of June or early July.

Without further ado, I'd like to share the video with you:

I don't have to buy your product. In fact, I can turn to your competitor(s) at any point before a transaction--or after one--if I'm not satisfied with the customer service you offer. Since customer service requires communicating with customers, it's important you create effective content for all the stages of customer engagement. From the first time customers visit your website to when they send you comments or questions via email, you have the opportunity to make a lasting impression on prospective buyers. If you use an automated email response that doesn't acknowledge you've even read a customer's questions, or if when you do respond, you're short and you don't thank someone for considering your product or service, they're not going to buy anything from you.

You'd think the aforementioned rules of sales engagement would be obvious, but for some online companies, it's clearly not. I was reminded of this recently when I contacted a company about a product that was out of stock on their website, but available for "pre-order." The website offered very little information about how the pre-order process worked. Since I was interested in the product, I sent an email requesting more info (this site had no contact phone number--that should've sent up a red flag for me). After I sent my first email, I received an automated response that in no way answered my question, and didn't even indicate I'd be getting a real response anytime soon. To make matters worse, when I pointed out my question wasn't answered through this form response, I received a reply without a greeting, and only a short, rude note. Needless to say, no matter how much I liked the product, I won't be purchasing it from this online retailer.

The point of this post is to emphasize one simple rule all businesses (small or large) should keep in mind: good content (copy) is a sales tool, and you shouldn't skimp on it when interacting with customers off your website, either via email or even Twitter. This is especially true for small businesses just starting out. Treat customer communications not only as a situation in which you're obligated to answer questions, but as a valuable opportunity to sell your company and make me buy your product.

And for any business owner that thinks customer email interaction is a "waste of time," you might want to consider supplying informative and adequate content on your website to avoid a flood of questions via email later on.

Why is a copywriter telling people to stop caring about how they sound? Here's why: because when you think your business should sound one way, and you put all of your resources into "sounding" like something other than yourself, you lose an opportunity to tell your unique brand story with authenticity.

C.S. Lewis once said, "[N]o man who bothers about originality will ever be original: whereas if you simply tell the truth (without caring twopence how often it has been told before) you will, nine times out of ten, become original without ever having noticed it." This piece of advice applies to creating almost any kind of content, especially copy for young, small businesses still searching for their true voice. In short, when you try too hard, people can tell.

If you're a new company, or an old company just setting up your presence on the web, and you're writing the copy yourself, don't bother with making your language "pretty" at first. Tell your story in the simplest of terms, and after you've completed an entire draft, go back and do some "wordsmithing" if possible--edit for style and clarity and see what you come up with. This exercise will be helpful even if ultimately you decide you need a professional copywriter to take the reins. By giving the copywriter the story of your company from your perspective, you'll give him or her insight into your business. A copywriter will take your story and run with it, finding new and eloquent ways of highlighting the "big ideas."

I'm not saying that you shouldn't take risks with your copy--in fact, I'm a strong advocate for finding new ways of communicating with your customers. But it's important to know when your copy is at odds with your overall strategy. For example, sometimes people become preoccupied with sounding "clever," or "tech-savvy," but if you're a luxury home builder, sounding anything but professional and trustworthy on your website might hurt your business, even if you're appealing to a young, trendier market.

If you're just starting out trying to tell your company's story through a new website or on a social networks such as Facebook or Twitter, think of what C.S. Lewis said, and just tell it like it is. Maybe it requires a few tweaks by a talented copywriter to bring it all together in the end, but the bottom line is that you should always be yourself.

Seth Godin's recent blog post, "The difference between PR and publicity," outlined the difference between simply generating publicity and telling your brand's unique story. Godin stated that "[p]ublicity is getting unpaid media to pay attention, write you up, point to you, run a picture, make a commotion," while true "PR" is actually about telling stories--specifically, your brand's story. I couldn't agree more.

So how do you craft your brand story? If your company has been doing its homework, you've likely collected customer testimonials or found a way for your customers to share their success stories with your product/service. You've also been paying attention to the common themes present in your organization over time. You can create great marketing campaigns with this kind of material because it tells you exactly how your product/service speaks to customers on a human level. It seems like a no-brainer, but it's often hard for people to notice subtle themes like this. Bottom line: it's important to give the creative people that work for you--full-time staff or contractors/freelancers--access to material like this in order to craft your brand story.

What else can you do to further your PR efforts? Collaborate. As Godin points out, you won't get the results you want if your PR team can't work with stakeholders/leaders on the project. This is especially true when it comes to copywriting (what I do). It doesn't mean you've got to duplicate your efforts, but you should view copywriting as more than just finding some words to fill a space. Trust your copywriter to get the message across. If used properly, and in tandem with a full-scale effort geared towards creating a good brand story, copy can be a very powerful tool in your marketing strategy.

Good writing is just one part of the puzzle, though. You also need to move beyond the press release to engage people on multiple levels. Godin doesn't see press releases as the route to good PR, either. He's not alone. Cameron Herold, speaker and former Chief Operating Officer of 1-800-GOT-JUNK, also points out the problem with press releases in his presentations about getting free PR. Herold's take is simple: you shouldn't be sending out press releases all day, hoping a reporter will see your story and run with it. Instead, he implores companies to generate their own leads by suggesting specific angles to reporters--essentially planting the seed of a real story--and then letting the reporter take it to the next level.

Here's Cameron Herold giving a presentation about this:

Today I sat in on lectures at Princeton, MIT, and Yale. Oh, and how could I forget--there was that one about entrepreneurship at Stanford, too. So how did I criss-cross the country to sit in on some of the best classes? One simple answer: I was on Academic Earth, where you can watch videos of lectures from prestigious universities around the United States--for free.

Farhood Manjoo described Academic Earth the best when he said that it's essentially "Hulu for nerds," but you could also describe Academic Earth as YouTube for overachievers. Whatever you call it, the business, founded by Yale alum Richard Ludlow, allows the average person to learn about everything from game theory to American literature.

According to Manjoo's article on Slate, Ludlow hopes that by posting lectures he'll lower the cost of education around the world--even by running Academic Earth as a for-profit venture. He plans to add videos from think tanks and run advertising alongside it, but he won't run ads with any videos from educational institutions (as of right now).

I think Ludlow's concept is a great one, and like Manjoo, it seems more accessible than Google's Knol, since video from a classroom best approximates the experience we've all had listening to teachers over the years. Google Knol is great for random research, but Academic Earth provides a context for learning. Even though I like it a lot, I hope that Academic Earth isn't limited to just "big name" schools like Harvard, Yale, and MIT. There are tons of great professors out there doing interesting research, and they don't all teach at Ivy League institutions.

Academic Earth also seems really interesting because it finally scales the "ivory tower" and throws open the doors to the general public. It's really refreshing to see universities, especially Harvard, welcome the association with something so very modern, and web 2.0. It surprises me because it's been my experience that many academic and other institutions take a passive role when it comes to incorporating new media and technology into their plan for remaining relevant--it's only when they're faced with complete irrelevance that they make the foray into this sort of venture. I hope universities and other institutions remain open to the concept of collaborative learning.

Check out this great video about communication from Yale: