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social media consultancy
based in huddersfield,
west yorkshire, uk
home
about
someone at design58.com
+44 [0] 7906 3968 58
design58
social media consultancy
based in huddersfield,
west yorkshire, uk
home
about
someone at design58.com
+44 [0] 7906 3968 58
design58
Linked In self,
meet Facebook self,
meet Twitter self,
meet all the others.
Don’t reserve different platforms
for different parts of your personality.
Your social media “selves”
should be congruent,
accurate
and alive.
Are we all still using Google or is Bing [or other] a better provider of answers?
Do you care which search engine you use?
I am asking this after a conversation regarding reclaiming the internet. A trusted colleage suggested stopping using Google to get away from what’s called the Google Bubble, something Google see as positive others see as negative. Another contact was also concerned about this and has stop using as much of Google as he could, which becomes problematical when trying to delete Google Apps on a phone.
Facebook are also workiing on a better than ever search engine [ http://mashable.com/2012/03/30/facebook-social-search-engine/ ], sure to cause the usual conern. But one thing Facebook it has in its favour is a larger connected community. Searches will be fed from our contacts in the future and that’s what both Facebook and Google want to conquer.
We still need open searching now, so we can find the thing we know nothing about? I was pointed at Duck Duck Go which like Bing is being referred to as a search engine that does what Google originally did - help you search.
What are your thoughts, do people stick with search engines like banks and doctors?
Here’s a thought from Duck Duck Go on the bubble: http://dontbubble.us
http://dontbubble.us
In business and in life, people remember the mistakes long after they remember the positives. Are you falling on the right side of the equation? You’re in business – you have competitors. They make a similar product, similar price – how can you separate? How about great service, great follow-up, great proactivity? How about attracting the non-fans through acknowledging the other service as a solid competitor? People watch; take notes, mental and physical. People remember. They remember how you work; how you react; how you talk. Professionalism is more than just being professional to the person directly in front of you; it also means being professional about who’s around you. People watch; take notes. It just takes one note to start a book on your approach. Want to be a bestseller or a bargain-bin leftover?
FULL Article by Danny Brown http://dannybrown.me
This came in response to a question about QR codes on Linked In, they have been around ten years or so, whether those early users [Japan] have moved on or not is to be seen.
To cut to real focus, rather than marketers and developers talking about how they provide them. I think we should ask if there is an audience for them. I know there are stats to verify this, percentages in stats prove only that 50% can mean one of two people. So I don’t always believe stats are helpful.
I personally haven’t scanned a QR code and don’t see people doing this on buses, trains, next to posters/billboards, shopping malls and plazas or anywhere I go. I definitely don’t see groups of younger supposedly more tech savvy people in town and city centres scanning QR codes.
I have no quarrel with QR codes just see them as not being relevant to me if I am out and about, I absolutely wouldn’t scan a code of someones business card whilst talking to them or others at a meeting but would pass the card to my pocket and review later. Passing billboards always seems an odd one should I stop or carry on? They have to be relevant but also deliver more information than what I can see on a poster, and as I am mid way through shopping should the shop window QR code stop me and should I scan it or would I read 30% off my favorite product and be far more likely to interact.
So for me where relevant there is a need, but QR codes seem to be the necessary stepping stone to a more workable solution. Whatever that is, more than likely something that is smaller and more accessible. Consider the end user first though and not the technology, if talking to them is easier do it, if adding a signpost to get more information do that.
PS: Please don’t use them on screens where a link will be far more appropriate, or as an avatar like the ‘fun’ tie it doesn’t make you interesting just invisible :)
Pinterest is a platform that has crept up on many and now they are trying to work out is it hype, myth or mystery and how can they monetize it. Forget the financial gain look at using Pinterest initially for you as a bookmarking site. Digg, Delicious, Stumbleupon etc have never grabbed me as interesting and easy to use naturally. Pinterest is simple, logical, natural and enjoyable [fun actually].
If you do start with the focus to simple collate things you like you become far more interesting for other users as you aren’t doing that me, me, me thing trying to sell you. People can see more about you and your likes than just your promotions. This will gradually make you understand it and other people on it better. Seems simple but some business people jump past this.
It is a fantastic place to show you are a person and accessible, so if you can do this personally you can as a business BUT don’t forget not to become bland and corporate. Be real and inviting and natural, re pinning will get more interaction for other sites than liking will. Why should you help others/ because you want them to re pin your posts, simple as i said but important to share not just push out your stuff. Like any social platform being a resource beats being a broadcaster who doesn’t engage.
Pinterest has value for people in all industries not just creative or female, the stats for UK are 56% male to 46% female. Doesn’t matter one bit though the most important factor is that you use it as a two way channel. For interviewers it will become a great tool to get a balanced view of people who apply for jobs unlike Facebook where they can be private - they will be able to check for Linked In CV activity and Pinterest for lifestyle background.
What each person can gain in benefit and value from Pinterest will be different and down to what they do where they do it and how. The most important thing is to actually use it and fill boards [don’t overfill] with things they want to easily remember and re use and provide a well cataloged resource for others to share and view.
That’s a starter there is a lot more and a few pieces of interest on the following links:
Pinterest Drives More Traffic Than Google+, YouTube and LinkedIn Combined [STUDY]
http://mashable.com/2012/02/01/pinterest-traffic-study/
12 Most Smart Business Uses for Pinterest
http://12most.com/2012/02/06/12-smar-business-pinterest/
Can Pinterest Help Your Job Search?
http://mashable.com/2012/02/12/pinterest-resume-job-search/
Have an interest in Pinterest?
http://lemon.ly/slider/have-an-interest-in-pinterest
What Marketers Can Learn From Whole Foods’ Organic Approach to Pinterest
http://mashable.com/2012/02/23/pinterest-whole-foods/
Have fun and find what I like here
http://pinterest.com/marklongbottom
This is an open group on Linked In with the following aims:
To provide a platform for open discussion on the use of social media.
To share thoughts and experiences of online and offline networking.
To encourage engaging activity between members and to have a good time.
Visit and join the group here » Let’s Talk here
This post was put out on a Linked In discussion about Twitter Tips and Techniques:
So important not only to be relevant but to be you as well, being someone else will not work when conversations start, easier to be yourself and people will appreciate that. Otherwise you have to remember what character you are everyday.
One of the main focuses should be to stop using twitter as if marketing or promoting, but to integrate it into your overall strategy it works wth marketing but not as marketing. With content being informative rather than a broadcast show problem solving not discounts, deals and offers. Build up follows who want to bookmark you as a resource not a source of your own ‘awards’ scheme stating when you have finished jobs or got clients, instead show them how your work can benefit them in their work.
Within all the informing and authentic content that shows you have knowledge and experience in your industry start to talk to people, rather than just push your business at them all the time. Start conversations and join them too. Talking is the most natural thing to do, but the last thing many think of doing. Share your thoughts and experiences regarding something that doesn’t have anything to do with what you do, you are then not a threat but a genuinely interested person.
Never look for sales, instead engage and build relationships the trust and loyalty that comes from a relationship can go on forever. Unlike a sale that stops everytime you seal the deal and then you have to start shouting again about your product or service. let your loyal followers and friends who may never buy from you become your connected community, unless they know about you they can’t tell the people they haven’t met yet.
It’s only natural for us to share information with the people we like, trust and know so get to know people. You may never meet them but you will learn from their experiences if you are talking to them.
Here’s an interesting article and infographic about timing and getting more clicks from your tweets: http://socialmouths.com/blog/2012/01/26/how-to-increase-clicks-on-your-tweets/
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Over your head - Once the water is deep enough that you must swim to stay afloat, does it really matter how deep the pool is?
Seth Godin
"http://sethgodin.typepad.com/seths_blog/2012/01/over-your-head.html
"Social media doesn’t make a business bad or good, it amplifies what they already are.” Scott Stratten"
