Blog on Digital Marketing, Social Media, technology and anything else

Some quick bits to read about social media

Paid media to gain traction for earned media. In other words using the YouTube video promotion system to build up traffic for your video and at a certain momentum the viral nature takes over and you don’t have to pay to deliver the video in front of people.

Mobile Internet growth.

Mobile usage is ballooning across the continent and the African mobile phone market – at more than 400 million subscribers – is now larger than in North America. Some countries, such as South Africa, have ‘mobile penetration levels’ – the number of handsets compared with size of population – close to those of Western Europe.

For many people in Africa, mobile telephones are the only way that they will ever get access to the internet because of the poor quality, and often complete lack, of fixed-line networks. Fierce competition has pushed mobile prices down for consumers while many of the latest crop of handsets available in Africa allow easy access to the mobile internet. Web browsers can also be installed on older phones.

Finding the RSS/Atom feeds in Facebook.

Dear 2010. Please.

Please.

No more fucking flash mobs. How out of touch and desperate for attention is a company and their advisors to do something from 2007?

No more virals. Or rather no more “we do virals” or “we will be releasing a viral”.

No more press releases about a company using Twitter. You do realise it’s like announcing you have an email address? AND USING CAPS to do it.

Please do something instead that makes me feel. Create something so wonderful that it makes me stop and turn on my heels and react. The piece of music coming from a busker as you walk down the street that bumps off you, gets absorbed and turns your spine into a xylophone of feeling. Yes that. Give me material for a story to tell or give me a story that I can make my own as I pass it on to someone else.

Creativity should be at the core of business, tech and that social media lark. Not cloning. So please 2010, can we see creativty take the lead in many aspects of life and business?

Instead of sending you a Christmas card…

We did nothing. No email saying so, no stock photography e-card, no donation to a charity, no buying of a goat, no viral video enewslettercastpodogram. Lazy or busy, you decided. We did buy selection boxes at half price today though and if you’re really lucky we’ll send you one, once we explode from too much chocolate.

2009 was a fantastic year for Mulley Comms. We’re more of a we now than when we started and 2010 should be a good year for us and you, client or not. There’s some fun things on the cards and some mischievous things too. This isn’t the last blog post of the year though so check in now and then if you want if you get sick of turkey and ham.

Get your social media certificate

It’s not just certificates in answering the phone, putting the seat up in the toilet (for men), typing and proper use of the telex that employers are looking for these days. Oh no. One needs to know social media in order to do business and a business that wants to do business with a business that wants to do business in a business-like way, needs to do their business in a social and a media way now too. So they need social media.

Years ago it was suggested that bloggers get a badge and accreditation in order to be allowed to blog and as an extension of this we should consider a “driving licence” style regime for social media. Twitter, Facebook and Friendster can be dangerous things in the wrong hands. Would you let your dog drive your car without doing their driving test? NO.

Here at MulleyCorp we’d like to share the top ten secrets to win at social media and if you can say yes to the following list then we think you too can start on the socialpath to social media greatness. We encourage you to download this certificate in social media and fax it to all your clients to show them how you mean business in a social media way.

The Top Ten to earn your social media certificate:

1. Do you have a Twitter, Facebook and a LinkedIn?
b. Do you know how to use hashtags? #hashtags
4. Do you subscribe to Chris Brogan, Gary difficultnamewineguy and Seth Godin?
5. Do you follow the formula on how to appear genuine like Chris suggests? (minute 3.40 onwards)
6. Do you know how to contact a blogger to get them to remove negative stuff about your brand?
7. Do you know how to quote from the most overquoted social media casestudies ever?
8. Do you know how to write a blog for your C.E.O.?
9. Are you listening? Do you use monitoring tools to find social media badvocates?
10. Do you message Stephen Fry on a regular basis on Twitter and inform people of your chat?

Congratulations. You’ve graduated. You may now download your social media certificate.

Remember though, this is just the certificate. The degree course and PhD are on their way. We’d appreciate some links, Tweets and whatnot. We are very very sorry thought that it takes natural talent and neck to be a guru. Some things even we can teach.

(PDF template from here)

ABC – Always Be Converting – Website tips for your business

The over-quoted but underviewed scene in Glengarry Glen Ross where Alex Baldwin rips into the staff has a bit where he talks about the ABCs: Always Be Closing, when it comes to any kind of web presence for a business it should be: Always Be Converting. If your website is not designed to get custom and make contact with potential clients then it’s a vanity exercise.

It’s very interesting to read how Obama’s decision to announce his VP selection via text message came about: They needed more subscribers to their mobile phone database. Simple really. A few 100k were on their list, announcing it via text message ensured that number would jump a magnitude. Getting people to contact you or opt in to updates from you from one of your channels (Email, text, Facebook, Twitter, Youtube etc.) should be a focus for your web work.

So on the front of your site, have contact details, credible ones (not just a mobile number), don’t have just a form on the Contact page. A real postal address and landline helps a lot for that contact page. See this business communications checklist. List your content channels if people look at the site, make a positive (but not buying) decision about trusting you and want to get updates from Twitter or Facebook. Tell them why they get rewarded for doing so. Bargains, discounts, first for new content etc.

And don’t forget to use language that appeals to the person. Conversational, not formal and removed.

And now the same idea with more expletives and a bit of insanity:

That free Online PR Workshop (maybe more than one)

Ages and ages and ages ago, in a Galaxy far far away I committed to do an Online PR Workshop and then time ran out for me and time is still not back. Instead of doing this in August 09 I’ve not got time to do it until January 2010 instead. Saturday January 9th to be exact. At least I’ve stuck the date in the diary. Whoever signed up for this workshop can still avail. If anyone else wants to come along if someone gives up their space or for a second workshop then leave their name here or on the Facebook Page for Online PR in Ireland.

Please do note that this is a test/beta workshop. You’re the guinea pigs!