Archive for October, 2007
Written by Mhairi Petrovic, October 31st, 2007
It has been a good month for discovering new ways to social network with 3 of this month’s reasons to be cheerful coming from that area. There’s lots of activity on that front as the on-line community continues to grow and evolve (see map below).
Tazzu is a new social network I discovered this month. Its aimed at providing a forum for online business, technology and knowledge networking professionals to collaborate. Tazzu is developed locally.
Ning – is a neat site that allows you to create your own social network. It would be a great way for a sports team for bookclub to share comments, photos and updates.
FreeWeb – Interested in building your own web page that takes advantage of Web 2.0 technology? Then this is a great resource, add your own blog, chat and pictures.
Keyword Density – how often does a key work appear on your pages? Find out.
Map of online communities – a tongue in cheek map of the on-line world.
November looks to be exciting with new discoveries in mobile marketing on the horizon. In the meantime, why don’t you share your new media reasons to be cheerful here too.
Written by Mhairi Petrovic, October 30th, 2007
According to a Gartner report, corporate spending on Web 2.0 is set to increase. Companies are catching on to the benefits of Web 2.0 and these technologies are set to gain a bigger share of the corporate budget in coming months.
Web 2.0 is the ineractive web. It gives companies the ability to go full circle in their on-line relationships with clients (it closes the feedback loop and turns it into a constant cycle of communication as well as an invaluable source of research). Web 2.0 also has applications within the organisation allowing widely dispersed teams (for example) to communicate more effectively and work better together thus positively impacting productivity rates.
When it comes to Web 2.0, collaboration is key and any area of your business that will positively benefit from enhanced collaboration and communication could potentially benefit from implementing a Web 2.0 strategy.
Written by Mhairi Petrovic, October 26th, 2007
I’ve just been on MySpace for the first time in a while and they have a completely new look to their pages. All the rap they were getting about their cheese factor and the growth of Facebook has obviously been taken to heart. The new look is much cleaner and the layout more contemprorary but the basic functionality remains the same. For diehard MySpace fans, the old look hasn’t gone – its just been categorised as “Classic”. It remains to be seen whether these changes will encourage users in business communities other than the entrenched music and youth market companies to join but I fear the service doesn’t have enough substance to warrant this.
Written by Mhairi Petrovic, October 25th, 2007
Almost daily people tell me they don’t see the point of blogging or that social networking is just for personal purposes. I say baloney! These are great tools to use to get your company’s name out there and publicise your expertise. Here’s just one example of why I truly believe that being active in the blogosphere and in social networks is a great tool for business development:
I had an interesting experience this week when a company got in touch with me to find out more about Out-Smarts services. “Big deal” I hear you say, “people get in touch with companies all the time”. You’re right there but what is interesting about this is not the fact that they got in touch but how it transpired. They had been referred by a colleague who knew me through comments I had made on that company’s blog. I had never met this colleague before and the only previous contact I had had with that company is through a Facebook contact who works there. I had no connection with them in the real world and yet the opportunity came my way by virtue of my presence in the virtua world. This is a perfect example of what I like to call “Internetworking” or in other words business networking on the Internet. Every company should be putting Internetworking to good use. It is a free and effective way to publicise your offering!
Please share your “Internetworking” successes with our community too.
Written by Mhairi Petrovic, October 23rd, 2007
I was going to keep this one for our Reasons to be Cheerful post for October but its too good to wait. I am always looking for examples on the web of innovative companies that are using Web 2.0 and its collaborative capabilities in really innovative ways. I came across an example of a web site that really does this well called Threadless. This T shirt design company that truly engages clients online by:
- encouraging visitors to design their own T shirt or order from the catalogue of unique and popular shirts;
- promoting participation by using blog technology so that visitors can share tips on design, opinions on T shirts and other hot topics;
- hosting an ongoing competition that draws visitors back by having them vote on the best designs submitted this month – winners get a cash reward;
- building a loyal following that shares photos of T-shirts and wearers building loyalty;
- having users sign up as members of the “Street Team” and begin promoting the Threadless web site to earn T Shirt credits and virally spread the word.
Threadless uses Web 2.0 to market its offering very effectively – go take a look and be inspired!
Written by Mhairi Petrovic, October 22nd, 2007
Its easy to get started with Google AdWords. For a small monthly fee your company could take advantage of the Google search engine to advertise to your targeted audience. Perhaps the only challenging part of the set up is deciding which flavour of Google AdWords is right for you: Starter or Standard Edition.
Starter Edition – If you are an Internet advertising neophyte, Starter is the obvious choice and the one recommended by Google itself. It is aimed at companies with a single product line operating in a single geography. The service is simplified to let users easily set up a campaign and device appropriate keywords. Starter comes with analytics and reporting capabilities that are less complex: ideal for someone just getting up to speed.
Standard Edition – is the full blown all you can eat AdWords suite. It is definetely for the more seasoned Internet advertising professional advertising multiple products across many regions. It brings advanced planning tools that lets you put complex ad campaigns into effect and complex reporting functionality that lets you monitor the results. Standard provides a hole slew of other neat add-ons to let you assess keywords and come up with more effective ones.
Both services are simple to sign up for. If you’re not sure which one is best then go with Starter and work up to Standard once you have developed an understanding of the basic functionality.
Written by Mhairi Petrovic, October 18th, 2007
One of the biggest challenges for corporate bloggers is attracting visitors and getting them to come back. I found a blog post from Australia while on StumbleUpon today. The site I stumbled is dedicated to driving on-line loyalty through great content and it has some of that. But it was the name attracted me first: Skelliewag – its sounds mischeivous – I had to find out more. I discovered a valuable resource for bloggers.
A recent post talks about ways to turn new visitors to loyal readers. Tips include: Always welcome, thank and establish rapport with commenters; ask questions; stick to core topics and visit and comment in the blog of your commenters. There’s 14 more great tips in the post.
Written by Mhairi Petrovic, October 17th, 2007
Last night was the third Third Tuesday to be held in Vancouver and again the event brought a great crowd of new media savvy people. Unfortunately, the guest speaker was in absentia but it gave us the opportunity to share experiences. One of the attendees was a local writer Monica Hamburg who has a great piece on viral marketing “How to Catch the Bug – A Crash Course on Viral Marketing”. It is really informative and gives some excellent examples of campaigns that have taken off in cyberspace.
Written by Mhairi Petrovic, October 15th, 2007
Blogging has long been dismissed by traditional print media as being unprofessional, not “real news” or too subjective. It would appear that these opinions are changing. Newspapers in particular are altering their perspectives and looking to blog posts to rekindle the flagging interest in their editorials. Our local rag, the Vancouver Sun now boasts several staff writers who publish blogs regularly under categories such as business, news, features and so on with varying levels of response. The Sun is using the blog tool to reach a younger, wider audience.
There is a lot to be learned from a businesses perspective from this. Blogs are associated in many people’s minds as on-line journals and many question how that relates to business. A corporate blog isn’t a company diary, its a way of communicating your message more effectively, establishing your expertise and like the newspapers are learning – its a way to reach a wider audience.
Written by Mhairi Petrovic, October 12th, 2007
Back in July I posted a blog piece that talked about the long tail effect on social marketing. In it I talked about Facebook being the “mass hit” rather than the long tail but pointed out that social networks are beginning to pop up catering to diverse communities as are communities within social networks like Facebook. It would appear that I am not the only one that believes this. Read Chris Anderson‘s own blog this week contesting that Facebook apps are not long tail either. He concludes this following detailed analysis conducted by Web 2.0 guru Tim O’Reilly.
