Spike to a Standing Ovation

What is the mark of Web success in 2009? A million page views in a week? A spike in Twitter mentions? Both are meaningful indices, but not quite as satisfying as traffic crashing your whole site. It’s the Internet version of a standing ovation.”

via glass.tumblr.com

Flocking fantastic!

Wondering why I’ve been able to blog 3 times today? (And I’ve been busy today) Well, it’s because I’ve discovered a new blogging weapon – Flock.

Actually, that’s not entirely true -
I’ve tried Flock  before. But that was back in 2005 when I first started blogging, and my all-round online addiction. Back then, it was a little buggy, so I gave up on it.

Now Flock has grown up, having recently released version 2.0. I tend to get excited about anything with “2.0″ tied to it, so I decided it was time to give it a another go.

V.G.I.D! Very Glad I Did.

What is Flock? Well, for starters it’s a web browser. Based on the Firefox code-base, it runs just like Firefox. But it’s a whole lot more that just a browser. Flock integrates a whole stack of social networking features, from Twitter to Flickr to Facebook to WordPress, and a whole lot more.

I’m writing this blog post from within Flock’s blog editor. Which means I can publish a blog post without even visiting my blog page. I can also add pictures from my flickr stream directly into my posts, and copy a quote from a site, and simply re-post it. Makes posting a quick blog post easy, without interrupting your flow. You can also post a tweet, check my rss feeds, and my web-based email, all within the browser.

It’s probably not 100% perfect yet – I can already see some improvements that I’d like to see. But I think it’s definitely worth trying out.

ROI and 2.0 don’t mix

I have to say, I agree with DJ Francis. The whole, “What’s the ROI of web 2.0 / Social media?” debate is a pointless one.

My two cents on the issue:

The ROI is in the learning - You’ll gain a whole chuck of return from the learning that you get from just being involved in social media. Return on Investment doesn’t always have to be a financial return on investment.

Marketing is no longer linear – It’s unconventional. You don’t just plug in a strategy and get results anymore. You list. You respond. You make mistakes. You learn. You try again. You keep trying.

Marketing, like it or not, can’t always be measured in a spreadsheet. It’s serendipitous. That’s not a bad thing.

You don’t need a strategy document to listen to your customers – At the end of the day, all of this social media stuff is just a vehicle hear what your customers are really thinking. And if that’s not part of your plan, you’re in trouble.

Social Media keeps you ahead of the game - The innovators didn’t wait around to see if their social media campaign delivered ROI. And as a result, they’re already ahead of the game. Take a brand like @Zappos. They’ve expermented succesfully with social media tools such as Twitter. And now they’re two steps ahead of everyone else.

Who says 1.0 tactics are working, anyway? - Before we start going after social media, let’s not forget that the traditional marketing approach isn’t exactly working its socks off. Does anyone think that Coca Cola actually generate ROI with a new bottle shape or any other futile marketing exercise?

It’s free! – You don’t even need to spend money on this. Just time.

So the question should no longer be, “Is it worth getting involved in Social Media”. The questions is, can you afford not to?

Twitterise … Shitterise

Today I learned about Twitterise, a Twitter Marketing tool that let’s you schedule messages for future publication, for sending out press releases, or advertsing messages.

It completely misses the point.

Here’s what their website says:

Twittertise allows you to advertise on Twitter and track the success of branded communications with your customers.

Using Twittertise you can schedule your communications on Twitter and using URL tracking technology measure the effectiveness of your traffic driving techniques on the platform.

So, what’s wrong with this message? Well, let’s pull it apart, shall we:

1. “Twittertise allows you to advertise on Twitter” – They’ve got it wrong from the first sentence. Anyone who thinks Twitter is a vehicle for advertising doesn’t get it. Advertising does not belong here.
2. “track the success of branded communications” – This phrase just feels slimey. The reason a brand would use Twitter shouldn’t be to track success, it should be to make connections with people. And what exactly does “branded communications” mean anymore anyway.
3. “with your customers” – Twitter is a place for humans to talk to other humans. Start thinking of Twitter as a vehicle for “customers”, and you’re bound to turn them off.

Now on to paragraph 2:

1. “Using Twittertise you can schedule your communications on Twitter” – Scheduling communications? So Twitterise is suggesting you should send out messages when you’re not online? Which, to me, sounds like spamming.
2. “measure the effectiveness of your traffic driving techniques” – Wrong wrong wrong! You should never be posting tweets to drive traffic. And who even talks like this?

Now don’t get me wrong here. I use Twitter to announce news and offers on my site. I’ve got Twitter search feeds set up so that I can be alerted if you’re talking about me. I’m finding it to be an incredibly cool tool to keep in touch with customers, friends, and people I admire.

I’d recommend that big brands do the same. There are definitly good reasons for joining twitter.

But like any other social media tool, the 1.0 approach doesn’t work. It’s not about spamming. It’s not about measuring and tracking. It’s certainly not about driving traffic. It’s about real, human connection. It’s about conversation, individuality, personality.

So if your brand’s Twitter feed is being driven by an automated service, and not a real person, you don’t know a thing about what marketing is about anymore.

Hey Presto! Ponoko!

I’ve always been impressed the make-on-demand website, Ponoko.com.

 

But now they’ve added a new feature to their site which, quite simply, is like magic. Check out their new Photomake service. Here’s a demo:

 

 

With Photomake anyone can make a product without using design software. All you do is hand draw your design using good old fashioned pen and paper – and a digital camera or scanner to upload. Ponoko then create that product using a laser cutter, and the material of your choice.

 

It’s been a long time since I’ve been completely blown away by a website. Ponoko now makes it easy for anyone to create and sell their own products. I like it.

Where do you find the best online marketing blog posts for 2007?

Techipedia, that’s where.

Tamar Weinberg has put together a phenomenal list of over 250 blog posts from 2007, covering everything you need to know about marketing online. Blogging, social networking, viral strategies, social media – you name it.

Here it is - Truly a great list that will have you reading for hours.

2007 has been rather quiet here at my blog, and posting has been scarce. It’s been a busy year for me, changing jobs (on 2 occasions), getting married, buying a house and starting a business. Not sure if 2008 will be any calmer, but I hope to blog more in the new year. Thanks for reading!

Hugh Macleod at PSFK

PSFK have posted another video from their London conference. This time it’s with Gaping Void blogger Hugh Macleod, who talks about his work with the now famous Stormhoek wines, which I have spoken about before.

Hugh was the first person to coin the phrase ‘Global Microbrand‘, referring to a tiny brand that now has easy access to the world because of the internet. In today’s Long Tail world, Global Microbrands are thriving, and this video shows just one of the ways that we can now get a product out to the world with the use of social media.

Click here for the link.

We’re going to see more and more of these, and it’s one of the most exciting things about the state of marketing today: that tiny brands have just as much chance of winning that the big ones do.

Do you use del.icio.us?

I probably spend more time on del.icio.us than any other web application. Tonight, after almost 2 years of using it, I’ve just posted my 1000th link.

Do you use del.icio.us? From the about page:

del.icio.us is a collection of favorites – yours and everyone else’s. You can use del.icio.us to:

• Keep links to your favorite articles, blogs, music, reviews, recipes, and more, and access them from any computer on the web.
• Share favorites with friends, family, coworkers, and the del.icio.us community.
• Discover new things. Everything on del.icio.us is someone’s favorite — they’ve already done the work of finding it. So del.icio.us is full of bookmarks about technology, entertainment, useful information, and more. Explore and enjoy.

del.icio.us is a social bookmarking website — the primary use of del.icio.us is to store your bookmarks online, which allows you to access the same bookmarks from any computer and add bookmarks from anywhere, too. On del.icio.us, you can use tags to organize and remember your bookmarks, which is a much more flexible system than folders.

Del.icio.us truly was one of the pioneering web 2.0 apps. I use del.icio.us to save links, but it’s also a great tool to search for anything on the web. It’s simple to use but stands the test of time. It has changed my life!
Check out my 1000 links if you have the time.

Green Living Toolbox

Just when I was about to put together a comprehensive list of Green Websites (to add to the ones I’d mentioned here and here), Mashable have put together a huge list of  Green sites.

Of the 80+ green websites listed, here are just a few of my favourites:

• Treehugger -  Probably the biggest green news blog out there (and have recently been acquired by the Discovery Channel).
• NetSquared – A interesting online community that is encouraging non-profits to spread their message via the internet and social media.
• Change.org – A social network for activism, including environmental activism.
• Yahoo! Green :: Carbon Calculator – Not the first Carbon footprint calculator, and probably not the last. But it’s good to see that Yahoo! are trying some green initiatives at the moment.
• Electrocity – Looks like SimCity turned green.

It’s a great list … Make sure you take a look.

Facebook Tip #1 – Applications

In a previous post I promised a few thoughts about how you might be able to use Facebook as a marketing tool.

I should start by pointing out – There are no shortcuts in Facebook. Just because Facebook is a viral marketing phenomena, doesn’t mean that you are guaranteed to be just by experimenting with Facebook. As with anything, your business or brand has to remarkable if people are going to remark about it.

A few other key things to remember:

• Friends is the key word – People are on Facebook to connect with friends. So any product or service that you offer has to be useful to users and their network of friends.
• People are here to have fun – People go to Facebook to break up their day with a little fun, so whatever you do, don’t be too serious.

That said, the first thing that I want to look at is Facebook Applications.

Back in May, Facebook opened up their platform to outside developers could build mini-applications within Facebook . Which enables the kids like you and me to share them across your network.

Example Apps

Here are some of the most notable:

iLike – the music discovery website that has had exponential success by building a Facebook app. The iLike app lets you display and share your tastes in music to that of your friends, and be alerted for when your favorite artists will be in town. They’ve also added a fun ‘Music Challenge’ feature – a good procrastination tool if you need one. This app has been a huge success, with over 5 million users signed up since it was launched. And that was just over 2 months ago!

CouchSwap is one of the newer apps, but I think it’s one to watch, because it’s a fun app that lets you offer your couch to friends and travelers, or helps you find someone elses couch to sleep on.

zimride have released a carpooling app, connecting you to other people in your area to share car rides. The greenie in me loves this one, because it connects people together to help the environment.

Lending club allows you to borrow money from other Facebook community members, getting better rates then you would banks. This one is really interesting because it operates solely within Facebook.

The one thing that these applications have in common is that they are providing different ways to link people up within the Facebook community.

I’m not sure that a Facebook application designed purely to ‘sell’ things would work. The most successful facebook apps in my opinion will be the ones that:

1. Provide a real benefit to friendship networks.

I think that online renting websites like Rentoid, or book and CD swapping services would work really well in Facebook, because they are services that are useful for your friends.

2. Are part of an idea that people actually want to spread.

Word of mouth marketing 101 : If you want someone to sneeze your idea, the sneezer has to feel good about sneezing it.

3. Stand out from all the other applications.

There are now over 2,000 applications on Facebook – which means it’s not as simple as launching as application. Nick has a few suggestions on how others are spreading the word about their applications. You’ll need to be creative to stand out.

4. Aren’t overtly commercial or spammy.

Remember, Facebook is about friends, not over the top marketing campaigns. So whatever you do, don’t be overtly commercial, and don’t ever spam anyone, or your application is destined for the scrap heap.

Building your own Facebook Application

“So How do I build myself a Facebook App?”, I hear you ask. Well, you could teach yourself. But with a glut of Facebook app developers popping up, there’s probably no need. Whole businesses are setting up just to develop Facebook apps. In fact, there’s even market of Facebook App developers within a Facebook App. Mental.

Feel free to contact me if you need a hand getting started.