Jules of Nature
Mike Driver
One Nice Bug Per Day
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@theartofmadeline
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PR's Tumblrdome
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we're not kids anymore.
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Janaina Medeiros
art blog(derogatory)
YOU ARE THE REASON
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@thefbeye-blog
You can be so bad at so many things… and as long as you stay focused on how you’re providing value to your users and customers, and you have something that is unique and valuable… you get through all that stuff. - Mark Zuckerberg
http://venturehacks.com/articles/being-bad
Focus on the goal, not the obstacles.
(via 9 Ways To Prevent Burnout)
EntreLeadership Bonus Features Chapter 11: Don't Shoot Your Wounded (by daveramsey)
United Breaks Guitars the Sequel?
United Airlines made social media infamy when United Breaks Guitars was recorded by Dave Carroll. You can read his story and watch his video if you are out of the loop on this one.
Now an even more horrible allegation has been made against United Airlines by Jim Stanek, a three time Iraqi war vet. An investigation is underway to verify Jim's claim that his service dog was kicked and he was asked if he was a "retard". I sincerely hope this is false.
According to this article from MSN, the employee was not aware that Jim has a Traumatic Brain Injury and PTSD from his service in Iraq.
Not an excuse. Kicking dogs and calling people names is not acceptable beyond the age of three.
I am curious to see how United will remedy the situation if it is found to be true.
Photo: freedigitalphotos.net
The Problem With Social ME-dia
When using social media for business there is a risk of making it all about you and what you are selling.
Except it is not about you.
Traditional marketing consisted of promoting your business in the newspaper, on the radio, or on TV. It was about the business, product, or service and it was directed at the consumer. Of course you still have the option of doing this.
If you want your social networking to be successful you should take an entirely different approach. It should go something like this:
This is my company, how can I be of service to you? Then actually give them something. For free. Meet their needs. Not sure what your customer needs? Ask! Provide them with the information they need that your organization can provide. Build up a relationship. Stay and chat for a while.
Not everyone will do business with you, and that is OK. Some people will.
Networked: The New Social Operating System (by PewResearchCenter)
”People aren’t hooked on gadgets, they’re hooked on each other.”—Lee Rainie
Are You Pinterested Yet?
When I recommend Pinterest to people for business (or pleasure for that matter) I often hear something like this: " I signed up, but I just don't get it. I just Pin stuff? Then what?"
Let me tell you what.
According to this article from Ragan's PR Daily, Pinterest "...is now driving more traffic than Google+, LinkedIn, and MySpace combined." Pause here for a moment and just let that sink in.
Pinterest is easy to use, and visually appealing. I personally like it for business because I can literally see what the company has to offer. It beats reading through a lot of text; I do enough of that already. Then when I see something I like, I pin it, and maybe even plan on buying it.
As with other social media there is a right way to do it and a wrong way.
YES:
Include a picture of yourself. If you are representing your business, it should be professional looking.
Write about yourself in the about section. Also write about your business.
Label your boards accordingly for the content they contain.
Check your pins to make sure they include a correct source.
Pin frequently, but not excessively. Do a little each day if you like.
NO:
The default pictures are boring. Also avoid pictures of text, landscape photography, your pets, or anything you do not want your employer, grandma, or kids to see.
Leaving the about section blank, using inappropriate language, misspellings, or using the area for a sales pitch will turn a lot of people off.
Having 300+ boards with one pin per board or having several boards dedicated to the same thing is frustrating to navigate. For example, if you have five boards titled Puppies!, Doggies!, Woof-woof!, Man's Best Friend!!!!!, and I Love Dogs! all with pictures of dogs, that is called overkill. You are better off sorting them differently. Maybe by breed, or size.
Please refrain from labeling a board one thing and filling it with something unrelated, or even worse a plethora of 4000 random pins.
Never take credit for something that is not yours.
The bottom line is, I tend to follow Pinners who have good content that is accessible. If I follow your food board and you start pinning handbags there, I will unfollow you.
Pinterest is a great resource for your business when done correctly. So what are you waiting for? Get Pinning!
Characteristics of the future enterprise, based on digital transformation—
Sustained innovation: increased specialization
Relationship-based: open & collaborative
Fading hierarchy: diminished command & control
Adaptive: flexibility in operating and business models
Engagement driven: Experiential versus transactional
Insight driven: Prescriptive
Design principles: Mobile first and Context-aware
Business Technology driven: NOT Information Technology
The broader view of digital, represented by traditional web channels, Social, Mobile, Cloud, Big Data, Consumerization, and the Internet of Things, forms the foundation for the future Enterprise. Via Frank Diana’s blog
Can We Ultimately SEO Ourselves Into Obscurity?
If you want to be found on the internet, you will likely be told that SEO is your golden ticket. However, as more and more organizations optimize their SEO and therefore get better search engine placement where does this end? At what point is every site so finely tuned, that most of us are all back at square one?
Lost in virtual obscurity.
When I do a keywork search, I get 10-14 results on page one. I am not interested in going beyond page two when I search for anything. This means I will only ever look at a maximum of 28 search results, and I will click on maybe three of those.
I cannot help but wonder if there is an equally viable option being overlooked because we are too busy optimizing our webpages. Not that there is anything wrong with that.
I think of it as something like this:
It's black Friday. I want the gadget that is 50%. So do 10,000 others. I doubt the store has 10,000 of them. People are lined up at the front door positioning themselves to get to the front and score one of those incredibly priced gadgets. Do you battle the masses, risking life and limb? Or, is there an alternate entry?
Image: FreeDigitalPhotos.net
Becoming bilingual opens up a whole new world of different people, different cultures, and different emotions. It also takes a huge time commitment—one that many of us can't dedicate to.
[Your Business] for Good
I was working outside in my yard this weekend and praying, which are activities that I frequently combine. I find there are many gardening lessons that can be applied to my life. When weeding, I pray about things in my life that I should weed out. Things that are of no value, like too much TV (which I rarely watch anyhow), too much Facebook, computer games, or whatever else may eating up valuable time.
When gardening, I don't just weed things out, I plant things that add beauty and value to my yard. I realized in that moment, I can also plant things in my life to add beauty and value to my marriage, my community, and my business. This really got me thinking, and praying even more. Is God asking me to add something of beauty and value to my "business as usual"?
My suspicions were confirmed yesterday morning at church when the pastor delivered his sermon. It was the first in a series about Proverbs. King Solomon and his wisdom. For those of you unfamiliar with King Solomon, here is a quick and dirty:
King Solomon, son of King David, was known for his extreme wisdom, extreme wealth, and complete peace in his reign over Israel. People came to visit from all over, most notably the Queen of Sheba, to marvel at this man and his kingdom. How did Solomon get this way? This is really interesting. God appeared to Solomon in a dream and told him he would give him anything he asked for. Solomon asked for wisdom. God was so pleased with his answer he was blessed with not only unprecedented wisdom, but unprecedented wealth.
Now, I am no Solomon, but this sermon was a call to ask God for wisdom in all of our daily activities, including our business. As I listened to this, I felt like there was a spotlight shining right on me and God was tapping me on my shoulder making sure I was listening carefully. OK, so now that God has my attention it is up to me to turn over the reins and open myself up to something different.
I am no longer focused on starting a business, I am focused on building something really special. I have no idea where this is going to go, but I am up for an adventure.
Here are some immediate thoughts, many of which may not be very novel at all:
- Commit to giving 10% off the top of your income to church or charity.
- Tell your clients that a certain percentage of what they pay will go to charity...let them choose the charity.
- Invest in your community. Do business locally, support your schools, sponsor Miss (whatever city you live in) candidates, surprise someone with flowers, promote the business you like publicly on Facebook, or Tweet something really nice about a client.
- Get creative, and commit do doing something once a week that may radically change your community or office.It doesn't have to be big or expensive. Little things accumulate.
No matter who you are, where you have been, or where you are going you have something you can give. Give it and don't worry about looking silly. People are going to criticize you anyway. Figure out what you care about and support the heck out of it. I believe that if we all stopped fighting against something, and started fighting for something there would be unity in place of division. I also suspect that if we all fought for what we cared about, everyone's needs would be met and everything would be taken care of.
When you genuinely put others first and operate your business with excellence and wisdom you cannot fail.
The Future of Advertising on Facebook
If there were a Guinness World Record for lawsuits, I think Facebook could potentially be a shoe-in. However, there isn't so I guess they are just out of luck on this one.
As reported by Reuters and TechCrunch, Facebook settled for $10 million dollars to be given to charity following a dispute over their "Sponsored Stories" feature.
Sponsored Stories went something like this: I "like" a certain brand of shoes. One of my Facebook friends would then see an ad pop up that might show my picture with a message that, "Maggie likes ABC Shoes!"
This type of Ad may be uncomfortable for some people, but consider who you trust. Who do you go to for a referral when you need shoes, a babysitter, when your doctor is retiring? Your friends! Sure you could Google "babysitter" or "family practitioner" or dig through the yellow pages but wouldn't you rather ask your friends? I would guess this was Facebook's plan and it was a good one.
However, as costly as this may be for Facebook, I do believe that Zuckerberg, et al have the ingenuity to work around this and come up with an even better plan.
photo source: collider.com
Problems For Monetization: Lawsuit Forces Facebook To Let You Opt Out Of Sponsored Story Ads | TechCrunch
