Archive for September, 2009
Written by Mhairi Petrovic, September 30th, 2009
I’ve been a bit lax over the summer with our regular month end new media reasons to be cheerful post, not because there are no reasons simply because the sun was too blinding. Now that it has gone away, it back to business with a longer than usual list of the gems discovered this month.
Wibiya – I’ve just activated my Wibiya beta and am trying out their toolbar for blogging. It promises to add great functionality.
Aviary – online tools that let you edit audio clips, images and more.
Free Press Release – an alternative to traditional PR promotion, this tool allows you to submit press releases online.
Boxee – a new way to watch TV
Blogcrowds – for some great blog templates.
Twitterjobs – search for or post a job on Twitter.
Marketing Profs – I continue to find value in this online resource for marketing types.
Slim Timer - I love their tagline: make love not timesheets.
Naked Alarm Clock – a free online alarm clock
TinEye – Find out where an image came from.
Flickr – is an ongoing source for pictures that make me smile, like this one byRerinha – thanks!.
Because if life doesn’t smile at you, then your breakfast will!
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Written by Mhairi Petrovic, September 28th, 2009
As more and more businesses begin to use Facebook to actively tap into an audience of over 300 million registered users there is some debate over the best aspects of Facebook to use to reach your intended audience. Companies can use Facebook groups or pages (or both) to build their social networking presence in this forum. Here is a resume of the advantages of each – to help you decide on your best approach.
Facebook Groups versus Pages
Advantages of Facebook Pages over Groups:
- A page is more “corporate†and gives you more control of your brand. It is the official page of the company on Facebook.
- Having a Facebook page gives you access to tools that allow you to track traffic to and interactions with your page.
- With a Facebook page can add applications like You Tube Box, Flickr, Twitter feeds to your page to make the content richer and attract more fans.
- Using Pages gives you increased exposure via fans – their friends see any actions they take on your Facebook page and your potential audience is larger.
- Fan pages stand out better on profiles – better branding.
- Unlimited news/updates to fans (Facebook groups are limited to 1000-1500 per message.)
- You can create Facebook Ads if you have a page- these ads are used to:
a) build more fans and followers in Facebook;
b) advertise company services and presence in this forum;
c) promote the your company to end users.
Advantages of Facebook Groups:
- Good way to engage stakeholders and interested parties;
- Groups are easier to find by Facebook users;
- A Facebook group is like a forum or discussion area where you are more of a participant so this can lead to enhanced loyalty;
- Groups are discussion or event centred and this can be a great means to attract feedback from customers as well as potential new customers to enable you to improve your offering.
With different options available to you in terms of Facebook Groups and Pages, its always best to start by asking the question who you want to reach, why and what your goals are? Knowing these will help you determine the most appropriate route.
There’s no reason, off course, not to have both a group and a page if you have time and resources to use these effectively but its always best to start with one and build from there – especially if you are newcomers to social media – that way your message won’t get diluted.
Thanks to DodogoeSLR’s andLemonTwist for the great Flickr images.
Written by Mhairi Petrovic, September 25th, 2009
This week one of my favorite tech cartoons was highlighted in PC World. To celebrate locally based Noise the Signal posted the cartoon’s greatest hits (so far) on their blog. These are all really funny but this is the one that resonated most with me. Enjoy and thanks to Rob for entertaining us with his doodles!
Written by Mhairi Petrovic, September 23rd, 2009
Having a social media presence is vitally important these days. With 300 million users on Facebook, over 20 million on Twitter, not to mention millions blogging, it really gives you access to a wide audience.
A social media presence is an important addition to any marketing arsenal but the key to successfully using social media to build business is not in the technology itself but in the relationships you build and how you use these tools.
Social media is all about connections, about being social. The more social you are (with the right people in the right way) the more successful you are likely to be.
Social media allows you to:
- Reconnect with old colleagues, friends and business partners – to build awareness of what you do now;
- stay in touch with existing members of your network – helping you maintain awareness of what you do and get to know these people better, forging stronger relationships;
- Build new relationships with peers in your industry, prospective partners and customers – to identify and connect with new people you would like to do business with or even learn from.
As with any marketing or business development effort, using social media to build relationships should be done in a strategic and targeted way. You should know :
- the types of businesses or people you want to work with (i.e. old kindergarten friends may or may not be your best prospect so check them out first).
- the industry segments – what type of industries are they in (are they companies you would like to work with?).
- the target geography – i.e. connecting with people in Asia/Europe might not be the best use of your time if you don’t have a business presence there or if you don’t speak their language.
The bottom line is that your social media efforts should reflect your basic marketing strategy in terms of your target audience and your offering: always always bear that in mind.
Perhaps the biggest factor in successfully using social media is interaction. There’s no point in having thousands of followers if you simply push information out to them all the time, interacting at them rather than with them. You will simply appear automated and this will damage your efforts. Join the conversation. Read others’ posts to see which questions you can answer and how you can add value. Share information that is valuable to others by linking to it via your social networks. By thinking about how you can assist people you will find that these people are more likely to remember you and think of you when the time is right.
Finally, when using social media, remember that it should not be the sum and substance of your marketing or business development efforts. Social media is at its best when it complements and reflects your real world networking, marketing and business development efforts .
Thanks to Luc Legay for the image.
Written by Mhairi Petrovic, September 21st, 2009
In our last 2 posts we talked about how to use blog technology internally. An important part of adopting blogs within an organisation is communicating to your staff and internal audiences appropriate blog procedures and policies so that they know what the expectations and limitations are.
Procedure and policy should be documented for every internal blog and should include:
The topic of the blog - what is the topic area that the blog will include?
Audience – who is intended to read the blog and why?
The purpose of the blog – what are you hoping to achieve from using a blog and why?
Who can post to the blog - is it a free for all or limited to certain contributors? Who are these contributors and how will they add value.
Comments – who can comment and how the comment process works. Often companies chose to have a moderator to make sure content is appropriate. Its best not to allow anonymous comments making people more accountable.
Language – it goes without saying but posts and comments should always be professional with no profanities. Include this in your policy just in case!
Tags and Categories – Instructions to those who post on the appropriate use of tags and categories so that posts are organised effectively and can be retrieved appropriately.
Content guidelines – what images and video content can be uploaded.
If you communicate the who, when, what, why and when of an internal blog to users in advance of its launch the blog is more likely to succeed. A strong blog policy and procedures document will give users more confidence to use the blog effectively (as they will understand the blog’s intended use) and will make them more likely to adopt the blog as a communication medium within the organisation.
Written by Mhairi Petrovic, September 17th, 2009
Blogs are very versatile and can be used both externally and internally to communicate information, images and video content easily and effectively. The technology provides a great forum to spread information to specific groups of people across internal networks as well as external. They can be accessible via login only to those you want to see.
Here are some examples of how companies are using blog to improve internal communications channels:
Humanization – blog technology is being used by many corporations to communication messages from the top. When senior managers blog to employees, the effect (as long as it is indeed them who are blogging) is humanising. Employees realise that their superiors are indeed real people after all (or at least that is the intent).
Communication across departments – ever been in a situation where a project involves many people from different departments? A blog is a great way for team members to communicate about the project, issues that might arise as well as requests and procedures so that other team members (sometimes in different locations, timezones) to build team and enhance productivity.
Human Resources – a blog is a great way to communicate changes to corporate and personnel policy and as a way to document these policies and answer any related questions. It also really effective to let staff know about company events.
Building Corporate Culture - a blog is a great way to communicate and build corporate culture and to help staff get to know others in the company. By allowing and encouraging any and all staff to contribute, it can help workers get to know others within the organisation and build camaraderie.
Investor and Partner Relations – another group that might benefit from better corporate communication is its shareholders. Communicating press releases and company announcements to these can be done using blog technology.
Customer Blogs – another great way to use a blog is to allow customers to subscribe to product updates, announcements. This is especially valuable in the product development phase when customers can provide feedback in the comments section providing invaluable information that can enhance new products and make them even better for their intended audience. This use of blog technology is even more valuable when you consider the benefits in terms of customer loyalty that can result.
Related posts:
The Inside Scoop on Blogging
Written by Mhairi Petrovic, September 16th, 2009
Here at Out-Smarts were always extolling the benefits of blogging as a means to promote your business to the outside world. External blogs, however, are often perceived to be risky for a number of reasons and may not be right for every company. That doesnt mean that these organisations cant take advantage of blog technology to enhance communication channels internally.
Over the last decade or so we have seen a move towards openness and transparency and a blog is a great way for a company to openly communicate its policies. news and developments. However this might not be appropriate for a company with sensitive products or services, those that are still in development or those with limited resources.
Some companies see external blogs as risky because it exposes them to negativity in the form of blog comments and they risk losing control of their image. Whilst some might argue that rather than exposing your company to negative feedback, it allows it to identify and address these concerns proactively and dispel them in the public forum, we still have to respect the fact that external blogging might not be right for all companies.
For small organisations blogging for an external audience can take up valuable time and they might not have the appropriate resources or expertise to do so.
Whatever the reason, just because you dont blog for an outside audience doesnt mean you cant take advantage of the benefits blogging brings. Blogging is first and foremost a communication tool. What message you communicate and who you communicate it to is entirely up to you. Just dont rule it out simply because your not ready to expose a blog to the public.
In our next blog post we will take a look at Internal blog uses and their benefits.
Written by Mhairi Petrovic, September 14th, 2009
In the early nineties when I was a rookie sales rep selling software practically the only way to communicate with our head office across the Atlantic in Toronto was to pick up the phone after 2pm and call them. Today, with the ubiquity of the Internet, communication is much easier. We have other instant options open to us like email, chat, Skype and social networks making communication much easier. Virtual communication is a breeze. Or so I thought before I embarked on my recent transatlantic trip. What I forgot to factor off course was reliable Internet connectivity.
Here in Vancouver I take this for granted: every coffee shop has access, I have a wireless connection in the office and at home – its simply not something I give too much thought to and I expected the same to be the case in Europe. Not so. My plans for uninterrupted connectivity were thwarted more than once.
I am not sure what its like for visitors coming to North America but as a business tourist in Europe reliable connectivity was a challenge. I should make it clear that if I was a “traditional” traveler, staying in hotels, my experience would have been different but that was not the case.
First stop on arrival – the Vodaphone Shop where I was pleased to learn that with the aid of a dongle I would soon be wired (as long as I had a credit card and a permanent UK address for the credit check which being Canadian I didn’t). Nice Vodafone guy advises me to go to 3. Hiho, hiho its off to 3 I go. I do indeed have more luck there and walk out with dongle in hand and 3Gb connection for a small outlay (and a very reasonable one at that) – I am well pleased. Soon I am connected, via a very slow 2 bar connection but I am in no position to complain.
Next stop on the trip, I try to connect. I am in the centre of Scotland, one of the most populace areas in Europe surely a reliable signal isn’t too much to expect. 3 fails me and its off to the Internet cafe pound coins clutched in hand but its shut. When I do finally get online at my folks place the connection reminds me of the days of dial up surely it can only get better in Spain….
Fast forward to Catalonia and indeed the 3 dongle shows four bars despite the fact I am in the middle of nowhere (more than I ever had in Scotland). I try to connect via the 3 partner but get a warning message that it might cost up to a pound and 25p per Mb for partner roaming which sounds reasonable. I click okay and get taken to the 3 site which tells me my credit card is not on file and that I should have provided this up to a week before leaving the UK.
I close my laptop and give up. Time perhaps to wean myself off of social media at least for a few days and take a well earned break. Thanks 3 for the vacation and to all of you who missed my blog posts or Twitter updates, I am back and what is more I have speedy wireless Internet connection (which I will never take for granted again) and intend to make up for lost time!
Written by Mhairi Petrovic, September 04th, 2009
Our latest podcast introduces Jose Uzcategui, a new and very valuable addition to the Out-Smarts Marketing team.
In this podcast Jose talks about our latest initiative to help those wanting to increase visitors to their sites, an SEO for WordPress online course. The course will teach the basics of SEO so those who run their websites or blog with this popular publishing tool can optimize their site.
The course is for those who want to learn more about SEO. Even if you dont use WordPress, the material in the course will be helpful.
Jose has a diverse background in online marketing focused on Search Engine Optimization. You can learn more about Jose in our “about†section.
[audio:http://www.out-smarts.com/podcast32.mp3]
