By Curtis D. Tucker, Enid Buzz | Updated: Wednesday, June 1, 2016
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ENID, Okla. - Welcome to EnidBuzz.com! In Enid, Oklahoma, we're the premiere source of information, events, lifestyle news and entertainment through social media! EnidBuzz.com was born in 2005 as a small blog and has grown into a full fledged media source since 2012. We are family run and family owned.
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The Written Rules of Enid Buzz
These rules apply to ALL Enid Buzz properties.
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- Enid Buzz is run by a single individual. Sorry, there's no boss you can speak with.
- Enid Buzz is an independent media source. No corporation, board or commission.
- You are free to Like, Follow, Read or Participate on or in Enid Buzz.
- All Enid Buzz updates, information & mobile app downloads are currently free!
- Advertising is our only income. Please support our advertisers & their ads.
- I try to answer 98% of every question I'm asked, so ask away!
- You are free to your own opinion & all sides of an issue are appreciated, if done respectfully.
- Using the George Carlin list of dirty words will get you blocked & then banned.
- Belittling others will most likely get your comments hidden or deleted.
- Avoid being the complainer. Think positive! Point out the good or give solutions.
- Every reader & follower is much appreciated & I will try to provide you with the most up-to-date info.
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On to the Interview: This is an interview with Enid Buzz conducted by Enid Buzz. I'll ask myself many of the questions that you have asked me and some that I think you may be curious about. Please enjoy the answers and let me know if you have more questions. Ask at buzz@enidbuzz.com.
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1. Who created and runs Enid Buzz?
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I'm Curtis D. Tucker, cartoonist and entrepreneur, and I created Enid Buzz as a blog about Enid in 2005. I'm male, a 1981 EHS grad and most of the time I work alone. I run the Buzz completely independent with the help of Granny Ann Tucker who updates the Google calendar, fills in information and snaps random pics around town. In March of 2012 I decided to increase my efforts to make Enid Buzz a viable media source and a self-sustaining business. With that in mind my duties include updating the posts, blog and website, answering comments, responding to emails, returning messages, talking on the phone, selling ads, taking event photos, videoing, attending functions, writing stories, researching information, building new web pages, searching for old photos and many other undetermined duties.
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2. Who does the posting of things on Enid Buzz?
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Curtis D. Tucker does ALL of the posting on Enid Buzz. I do not have an employee and no other person as of July 2014 has ever done a post other than me. Enid Buzz does have regulars that comment on many posts expressing their opinions. They do not speak for Enid Buzz and they are not posting for Enid Buzz, they are simply commenting like any other reader is able to do. If you have a problem with a persons comments please contact them directly, I do not have control over their comments.
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3. Does Enid Buzz censor people?
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Not if I can help it. I've only deleted or censored a comment on Enid Buzz for three reasons. If a person uses the "f" word, if a spammer posts a link to a spam website or if a competitor uses the comments of a paid ad to promote their own business. That's it. I'm pretty easy going and would like everyone to be able to express their opinion.
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4. Who owns and financially backs Enid Buzz?
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Enid Buzz is completely family owned and run. We have no affiliation or backing from the City of Enid, the Enid News & Eagle or the Enid Convention & Visitors Bureau. As of May 2013, the only backing of Enid Buzz is through the sales of advertising space on the website and traffic from the Facebook Page. The only way Enid Buzz can continue to be a viable source of this amount of information gathering is to become a legitimate business which means it needs to create a revenue stream.
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5. Why are there ads on EnidBuzz.com and Links to ads on Facebook.com/EnidBuzz?
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As stated above, the only support for Enid Buzz at this time is the sale of advertising space on our properties. The time that is spent on updating Enid Buzz could never be accomplished without an income coming in. We understand the frustration with advertising but as with every other media source it is a necessary evil. We are exploring other avenues of creating an income such as a paid subscription service, a corporate sponsorship or grants. We've tried merchandise sales and suggesting donations but neither have amounted to one days pay. The amount of advertising on Enid Buzz is no more than any other media source and actually less. We have no pop ups or pop unders. Please remember your newspaper contains ads, your television programs contain ads, your news station runs ads, your public radio station contains ads, websites contain ads, search engines contain ads, Facebook contains ads, etc. Almost any informational or entertainment source is funded by advertising.
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6. There are more business mentions on the Facebook Page, is it going to fill up with links to ads?
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No! The number of commercial linked updates on Enid Buzz honestly is not that many per day. The number of business mentions on the Facebook page will rise and fall depending on seasons and advertisers on EnidBuzz.com. Our ads not only keep Enid Buzz going but also allow small businesses and entrepreneurs to advertise economically, giving them an outlet for their services at a cost that only Enid Buzz offers. Mainstream and traditional media continues to shrink and yet their rates continue to rise. Most start-up companies cannot afford to advertise which may cause them not to grow. Enid Buzz is a very affordable avenue to announce a new business and get the word out. Many of our ads are actually informational and help people find things they normally would not know about.
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7. Is Enid Buzz trying to be a news source?
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Kind of. We're actually trying to be an information source. Our goal has not been and will not be to chase down stories about crime or scandal. Only on rare occasions do we post news about fires, wrecks and crimes. The original goal of Enid Buzz was to bring together in one spot all of the information local residents were searching for. That information includes weekend activities, live music, store openings and closings, plays & concerts, school events, city alerts, baseball games, dining information, history, photographs and more. Over the last year we have also become a great resource for information on weather conditions, store & school closings, power outages, economic questions and all job related activity. And we now publish obits. On top of that Enid Buzz is one of the best sources for photographs around Enid, Oklahoma including vintage pictures and the most current snap shots of the city.
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8. Will you post something for me on the Facebook Page?
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Maybe. I think part of the charm and unpredictability of Enid Buzz is the random posts I run from time to time. Many times I'll grab something out of the blue and post it to be funny, helpful or different. With the large number of readers we now have, that usually leads to a flood of other people wanting me to post similar things which would quickly fill up everyone's newsfeeds. Examples would be fundraisers, lost or found dogs, garage sales, classes and church activities. Once a subject pops up that I get inundated with, I'll create a page on EnidBuzz.com and simply list your information there. I then direct traffic to that page from Facebook and am able to disperse much more information at once. So, if you are submitting something that would fit one of these pages I've created, I'll most likely post your information there rather than on the Facebook page. If you have something you really need to get the word out about, quickly and to more people, you might consider a paid blog post. These paid posts reach our website audience and we drive traffic to them from the Facebook page. They also help fund Enid Buzz and keep us going. There are many things that I post for free. Most of the time they are family friendly, include a large variety of our audience, aren't just for profit activities, are educational or happen to be free events. Send your information to buzz@enidbuzz.com and I'll let you know where I can post it.
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9. What is your biggest Pet Peeve?
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Without a doubt, it's hearing people be negative about everything. Criticism is great but praise is also just as great. Take time to point out some of the good when you're being negative. Not everything in life is a conspiracy, some things just are what they are. If you have a criticism please also a have solution or offer an intelligent response based on fact. Please do the research, stop believing everything you hear online or at the barber shop.
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10. Why do you keep asking us to comment on Facebook?
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Facebook is run on an algorithm. That algo decides what Page status updates get shown in your newsfeed. Facebook is slowly blocking more and more Page status updates from reaching your newsfeed. The only way to keep the Enid Buzz updates in your newsfeed is to comment from time to time. Commenting also helps our updates reach more people. If we stop reaching enough people there won't be any reason to continue updating the Facebook Page and we'll just update our website, mobile app and newsletter.
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11. Can I use your photos on my website and Facebook page?
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Not without asking. Many of the modern photos on Enid Buzz are copyrighted by us and cannot be used without our permission. We watermark most of the old photos we find so that people will know where to get more info on the photo should it pop up on another website or in an image search online. We also watermark the old photos because of the time we spend finding them, digitizing them, cleaning them up and then posting them online. We do not want other websites to copy all of the photos we've taken years to collect. There are multiple copies of many of the photos and postcards that we find but we believe we have one of the largest collections online. We also receive many photos directly from the owners and are given permission to post them on Enid Buzz exclusively.
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12. Will you post my fundraiser, lost dog, garage sale, etc.?
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Due to the high volume of requests for posts about pets, fundraisers and others, we've had to cut back on the free postings just due to shear volume. Our solution was to create a new classified website that allows you to upload your own information! We have created many categories that allow you to upload many kinds of info and many categories are free. We are driving traffic to this new website every day from our Facebook page and website. Visit www.enidads.com to list something.
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13. Can I advertise something on Enid Buzz?
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Yes! Advertising your business or events is what keeps us going. Please contact me at buzz@enidbuzz.com for more information. Please be patient as I am currently working alone.
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14. Is Enid Buzz just a Facebook page?
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No! Enid Buzz is way more than a Facebook page. Check out all of the current Enid Buzz Media properties below. We've even got more on the way. Enid Buzz reaches a large number of people each and every day.
WEBSITE
EnidBuzz.com had over 80,000 pageviews in April 2017. EnidBuzz.com has a very detailed event calendar, an up-to-date business directory, an informational blog, a restaurant guide, real estate section, obits, a vintage photo gallery, the best job listings in Enid, weather, school news and lots more! We have one of the most extensive collections of old Enid photos in town.
Enid Buzz has the most popular informational Facebook page in all of NW Oklahoma with 28,000 Likes (05/17) and growing! We routinely have the most actively engaged page in all of NW Oklahoma. We reached 30,000 people daily in April 2017.
MOBILE APP
The free Enid Buzz mobile app has been downloaded 11,100 times (05/17) inside dozens of countries. The app had 40,000 pageviews in April 2017. The app includes a news feed from our website blog, event calendar, weather, obits, jobs, school news, classifieds, real estate, photos, videos, daily coupon deals, podcasts, Facebook, Twitter and a mobile business directory. The mobile app can be found in the Apple iTunes Store and Google Play.
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4737 followers (05/17) and growing. We have one of the best collections of modern photos of Enid online. We use our Instagram account to chronicle the many events and activities that we attend. Check out our gallery of 811 local photographs.
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Our Twitter account currently has 3,324 followers (05/17) but we're just gearing up with it. We do not post duplicate info that is on our Facebook page but keep our Twitter feed more independent. Look for our goofier side to come out on Twitter.
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YOUTUBE & ENIDBUZZ.TV
We are recording and uploading more video each year. We've also started a few online shows including the interview show e-Talk. We upload video and live streaming events to our YouTube channel. Our online channels then feed these videos to EnidBuzz.TV. You can also watch many of our informative videos on our free mobile app.
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ENID CLASSIFIEDS
Enid Buzz moved it's classified section to a brand new website at www.enidads.com. We were getting so many requests for fundraisers, lost dogs, running races, for sale items, garage sales and more that we created the stand alone website to allow for customer uploading of information. All listing categories are now free for 30 day listings.
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EMAIL NEWSLETTER
We're just getting started on our email list with just under 500 subscribers (July 2014). We'll be promoting this newsletter as times goes on and will begin with a weekly mailer.
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15. How do I find anything on your website?
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Enid Buzz is a large website with hundreds of pages and posts. The quickest way to find something is to use the tactics listed below: Popular Sections - easily find major web sections by using the navigation bar at the top of each page. Search Box - find a page on our website using a keyword in our Google search box. Site Map - we've listed many, but not all, of the most popular pages of our website in the site map. Blog Stream - read the latest blog posts and look for the "read more" link at the bottom of each page. Footer - many of our informational pages are linked to at the bottom of every page in our footer.
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