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Face Value

November 30, 2009 By David Jacobs

David JacobsI have been fortunate enough to attend a few really great social media conferences in the past few months and while there I noticed something very interesting. It’s something I had experienced in years past as well. Several people that I came into contact with were familiar with me because of Facebook or Twitter and my profile picture specifically helped to jog that recognition. One person even commented how much he enjoyed my picture on Facebook as it includes my new baby Capella on my shoulders. He said it makes him smile every time he sees it pop up in his Facebook stream.

That’s a kind of brand awareness that you can’t purchase for anything. Traditionally we think of brand awareness as it is associated to a logo like the Nike swoosh or Apple’s Apple with a bite out of it. Logo branding is still a powerful tool and I help many customers crate or revitalize their logos but in this increasingly social world there is also a power in your own face. I guess they don’t call it Facebook for nothing.

Don’t underestimate the value of your face. Think carefully about all those profile photos on Twitter, LinkedIn, Facebook and everywhere else. If you’re into this for building business and brand value, here are some tips to remember:

  • Make sure your picture is a good one. A clear close up view of your face. Make sure the exposure is good and the pose is comfortable and positive. Something that captures a little of your personality is always great.
  • Don’t use cartoon characters or other logos. If it is an account that represents the entire company, a company logo would be appropriate for that.
  • The background should be as clean and clear as possible. You don’t want anything to obscure or take focus away from what’s most important, your face.
  • Don’t change your picture often. You can change it now and again, especially if you get a better picture to use, but try to remain as consistent as possible.

I would not appear with anyone else in your photo with the exception of your kids. This could even be a debated point, but I chose personally to have Capella in my Facebook profile for a few reasons. My personal Facebook account is a little less business and more personal. My Connected World Media Facebook page uses the company logo. My kids are also a big part of my life and so much of who I am, I don’t mind showing that. That being said, I have recently changed my LinkedIn photo to a photo of just me and my Twitter profile pic is the same one although my Twitter custom background has the Capella and me photo on it. I try to use the same photo across all networks as much as possible, again for consistency sake.

As with most things there are no hard and fast answers. You have to discover what works for you and your company, but I hope I have given you some things to think about. As always if you want help in this or any other social media regard, don’t hesitate to contact me. I would love to work with you on your brand image online.

Filed Under: Blog, Marketing, Social Networks Tagged With: , , ,

Twitter=Instant Feedback

November 18, 2009 By David Jacobs

Kristen Stewart of Twilight fame has an interview on the Today show in the morning and by the early afternoon there is an article on cnn.com about the Twitter response, which was not kind to her. In the never ending question of what is Twitter good for anyway, it is now a real-time feedback mechanism for anyone in the public eye. Celebrities, politicians, or anyone speaking at an event attended by an audience, there is now a Twitter stream of comments about you and your performance as it is happening. When could you ever step off stage or camera and know exactly how you did within seconds? And not from random polling, but directly from the people who watched you. There is no more raw or real feedback than that.

I wonder how long it will take for publicists to catch on and start offering their clients real-time gauges like a simple thumbs up or down based on how the Internet is responding. People could make corrections on the fly, if for example, someone held up a card that said “smile more”. General reactions to the Kristen Stewart interview was that she was dour and not friendly.

If you have an executive who has given a big speech and he asks you how it went, now rather than generically saying it went well because nobody ran out of the room, you can give him/her much more quantitative results. Some quotes and exactly how many positive and negative things were said.

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Apple, Verizon, LTE and the iPhone

October 2, 2009 By David Jacobs

File part of this story firmly in the rumor category, but it does give us an interesting look at the future of mobile communications. Currently the world is split between two main wireless cellular technologies; GSM, used by AT&T and T-Mobile among others and CDMA, primarily used by Sprint and Verizon. It looks like the next generation of technology beyond the current 3G, the so-called 4G technology will be LTE or Long Term Evolution. LTE is being rolled out currently by Verizon and has acceptance from AT&T, T-Mobile and most other vendors. For the first time ever, we may be on a single standard.

Part of the problem with the iPhone is that it is a GSM technology phone, so it will not currently work with Verizon or Sprint. Apple would have to develop a new handset altogether. If the new generation iPhone is LTE, however, this would open up a world of possibilities as it would be technologically compatible with most vendors. I think at this point we may see the ending of the long standing exclusive arrangement with Apple and AT&T. And if Apple ships the phone before AT&T can roll out it’s LTE network, AT&T stands to loose a great deal of customers. AT&T has been running at least a year behind Verizon technologically for the past several years, so I see a dark future for AT&T. AT&T’s customer satisfaction has also been plummeting lately due to their inability to handle the iPhone as it is today.

Bottom line: Apple and its’s customers stand to be big winners and AT&T stands to be a big looser unless AT&T can latch onto another phone that knocks the iPhone out of the box.

Filed Under: Blog, Mobile Computing Tagged With: , , , ,

Carnival Dream to Feature Onboard Social Networking

September 21, 2009 By David Jacobs

When it comes to cruise ships it seams as if bigger is better. Cruise ships keep getting larger and as the population on these floating cities continues to grow so do the services. On-board Internet is nothing new as many ships provide connections and even terminals at cafes shipboard and in room as well. The disadvantage is these connections are often very expensive. But what about the thousands of people who are already onboard with you?

Carnival is the first company to address this with a first of it’s kind on-board social network. From the various terminal points or from your very room on the new Carnival Dream you can connect to an exclusive online social network. There are typical features such as your own profile and the ability to invite friends to activities both on and off ship. I actually think this makes sense because of the enormous number of people on any given ship these days. As a marketing move it’s very smart as younger customers, very familiar with social networks, will appreciate the high tech touch as well as the easier ability to connect with others that share similar interests.

The one thing I see missing is the ability to take your connections with you when the cruise ends. Why not allow this network to continue to function with customers get home? There is no reason customers would not want to continue to communicate with their new friends, especially of they are nearby. There is also an increased chance they may want to take another Carnival cruise together, even allow them to plan the trip right on the network. It’s a community that Carnival is creating with this network and that’s one of the most powerful things a company can do. It’s very much in Carnival’s interest to keep the community going and even extend it to others who have taken Carnival cruises. Your profile could list all the Carnival cruses you have been on with your comments and reviews on each one.  At first blush this feature might looks like a gimmick but it has the potential to be much more than that.

Filed Under: Blog, Social Networks Tagged With: , , , ,

Chasing Fireflies and Social Media Value

September 15, 2009 By David Jacobs

We are living in a most exciting time. Innovation from the technology sector continues to flourish, even in our hard economic times. It is the great upside of the massive tech bubble that burst in late 2001. From those ashes, new smarter and less expensive technologies were born enabling all manner of new Internet businesses to grow without the large sums of investment required during the bubble years. As a result of this growth in innovation is wide smattering of products and services being released weekly. For those of us who follow this space carefully, it can be exhausting to keep up with. I do it for my customers because I am trying to find the business value for them in all this. But you have to be careful not to be chasing fireflies. There are so many bright shiny objects floating around, it’s easy to be attracted to all of them. I see this daily in the social media sphere. Certain applications are all the rage and then fade away in favor of the next one. The average life of a firefly is 2 months, strangely enough which is about the same lifespan of the average bright shiny social media object.

I try not to spend my time chasing fireflies. I try to zoom in on business value. Could this be of use to any of my customers and if so, how? Because an application is “cool” or is even fun doesn’t mean it has business value. Time is precious and you should be careful not to invest too much time in things that are just not going to make it. Now that’s a tough call to make sometimes. After all, I didn’t think Twitter had any value when I first saw it. But that’s why my ear is always to the ground and my eyes are always open. When I saw Twitter continue to flourish, I jumped back in and went deep with it. I found the value. An open mind the flexibility are critical aspects of surviving in this new chaotic time.

Beware of bright shiny objects. Focus on real business value. Focus on your customers.

Filed Under: Blog, Technology Tagged With: , , ,

Technorati Claim

September 5, 2009 By David Jacobs

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Filed Under: Blog

What is Your Passion?

August 16, 2009 By David Jacobs

I read, listen and watch a great deal of content about success, business, marketing and new media. What I hear over and over again is you will be most successful pursuing your passion. This is especially true in the new media world. It gets me thinking about my own passion which I have outlined before, but I will do again. I don’t think it hurts to revisit this topic to further refine and crystalize it.

From as early as I can remember, I have been most passionate about three main things. Technology, media, and communications. Media and communications could be considered one in the same and they predate technology so let’s take that first. I love media, all kinds of media. Print, radio, tv, magazines, all of it. I was a big fan of the “zine” trend that I first connected with in the 80′s. Enabled by new technology like personal computers and the first laser printer, ordinary people started producing their own magazines, often about very niche topics and distributed them online and via small indie bookshops. Some people still used the even older school technology of manual paste up and copiers to produce zines. This was one of the first examples of regular people using technology to produce their own media for a specific audience. It was the beginning of the media disruption. I produced my own zine using Quark Express and Adobe Acrobat. It was digital only and was briefly distributed on a website of mine. I only did one issue but it was a fun experiment. What distracted me was the web. But I digress.

I also grew up a great lover of radio. In Los Angeles, I was fortunate to have some of the best radio personalities to listen to. This was also a time of greater creative freedom in radio before the industry started killing itself with computer programed playlists and robot dj’s. We had radio greats like Jim Ladd, Mary Turner and Frazer Smith. Sports radio legends like Chick Hern and Vin Scully were better to listen to than watch the tv broadcast. Finally, CBS Radio Mystery Theatre brought dramatic productions to light during the late night hours. I can’t count the number of nights I fell asleep listening to these stories.

I am old enough to remember life before cable tv. I very clearly remember the day we got cable installed. The man finished and there we were watching Australian rules football from Australia. It’s hard to describe how amazing that was. I was there to see firsthand when MTV was truly revolutionary.

Then, my friend’s mother brought home a Commodore PET computer from her school for us to play with on the weekends. This computer was so ancient that it used cassette tapes to load programs. But it had a great Monopoly game which we played all the time. Don’t let anyone tell you games are not a valuable experience. It was these early video games that fueled our continued interest in technology. It was a few months later that my personal tipping point happened. I convinced my parents to get me an Apple //e and I installed a modem into it. When I first dialed out on that modem and connected to my first old school BBS is when my life changed forever. I could connect on this computer. I could connect to people locally and around the world. I could connect to people with similar interests that I would never have the opportunity to interact with otherwise. I love people, I love discussion and interaction. This intersection of communication and technology is where my passion truly lives. I love any kind of gadget or gizmo that enhances our ability to connect and communicate. Obviously the web was a watershed event for me as has been the explosion of connected mobile technology.

These are the forces that lead me straight into the social media world. And so it made sense for me to form Connected World Media and make it my career. Another one of my passions is helping people understand technology better so I have made training a cornerstone of the business. I’ll be working harder on in person training and online screencast training videos as we near the end of this year. As always, I’d love to work with you or your company on social media strategy, training or media production. Don’t hesitate to contact me and we can talk about how I may be of service to you.

So, what is your passion? Are you pursuing it actively? It’s something worth spending time thinking about.

Filed Under: Blog, New Media, Technology Tagged With: , , , , , , , ,

See You At Gnomedex

August 15, 2009 By David Jacobs

gnomedexlogoI’m very excited to be attending my first Gnomedex conference this year. I’ll be there Aug 20-22 in Seattle. If you are going to be there, please contact me via Twitter or Email and let’s get together. It’s been several years since I’ve spent time in Seattle and I’m looking forward to it, it’s a great city. Gnomedex, if you’re not familiar, is one of the premiere social media conferences, hosted by Chris Pirillo. Many of the industry heavyweights will be there as well as hundreds of other not so known but equally as smart folks. I look forward to two days of great learning and insight as well as connecting with new people .

Filed Under: Blog, Marketing, New Media Tagged With: , ,

Social Media is not a Broadcast Medium

August 6, 2009 By David Jacobs

Martha Stewart recently announced she is giving up on Facebook in favor of Twitter. More bang for the tweet she says. Bill Gates also has stopped using Facebook citing difficulty keeping up with friend requests. I hear this from clients as well. Facebook takes more work than Twitter. There is also more nonsense going on with Facebook apps like Pirate games and thrown snowballs. There is nothing quite like the raw simplicity of Twitter. Also with Twitter, you can gain followers without having to do anything. They follow you by choice and you do not have to follow them back. No management required. I understand all this, but don’t underestimate Facebook.

For one thing, I find that more of my non-geeky so called “normal” friends use Facebook much more and sometimes exclusively over Twitter. If your goal is to reach a less bleeding edge audience, Facebook is really the way to go. Also, it’s a fairly easy to thing to get your Tweets to automatically populate Facebook, so there is really no need to completely abandon it.

As far as the reciprocity of Facebook friends go, that brings me to my second point. I wish I had the problem of having to manage more friend requests than I could handle. But it brings up the larger point that many of these stars aren’t interested in reciprocity. They don’t want to listen or converse, they want to talk. Look at Martha’s Twitter and you will find over a million followers but she only follows 35 people. Her tweets rarely if ever include conversations to other people and when they do it’s mostly to other stars. This is common for most big stars on Twitter. They are using Twitter like another broadcast medium. This, of course, is inherently wrong and against the very spirit of social media. They don’t call it social for nothing. It’s disappointing to see this because these stars have an unbelievable  access to their greatest fans. With a million people following you, I’m sure it’s hard to talk to everyone but I see no reason why they cannot at least make an effort  and do what they can.

Facebook takes more work than Twiter because it does more, but Twitter takes work to if you’re doing it right. It’s something my clients often don’t want to hear, this stuff takes work. But marketing your business takes work too and this kind of marketing can pay off in a much more powerful and long lasting way for all that effort.

Filed Under: Blog, Marketing, Social Networks Tagged With: , , , ,

Twitter Marketing with Twibbon

July 27, 2009 By David Jacobs

There many interesting and innovative ways to market on Twitter, but here is one of the more interesting ones I have come across lately. Twibbon is a program that overlays a graphic of your design onto Twitter profile pictures. Your profile picture shows up to the left of your every Tweet. It was originally started as a cause marketing system for people wanting to promote things like Cancer research or the current Iran political situation. You can still see this today in profiles that have the green tinting to them. Green is the color of the opposition leader in Iran. Twitter users must opt in and choose to display the overlays on their profile picture. Users can just as easily remove or change the overlay.

More recently, I am seeing marketers pick up on this trend and design overlays for their products and services. Even fans of certain products are creating Twibbons like this fan created overlay for the HBO show True Blood. Now that’s real user generated marketing. If you can convince enough people to use your overlay, there is the potential to get your brand image in front of tens of thousands of people. Plus it’s free and easy to do.

One problem I see for users is how much will this obscure your own profile brand and how many of these things are you willing to layer on top of your profile? I’ve already seen people with multiple overlays. If you are a brand and you are using Twitter for marketing I would not use any other Twibbon other than your own. I don’t think it hurts to have one but make sure your design is tasteful and doesn’t block too much of the original profile photo. Anything that looks bad or that takes over too much of the photo will probably not be used much. Also, as always, monitor the conversation and if you find people mentioning how annoyed they are  by your overlay, get rid of it.

Filed Under: Blog, Social Networks Tagged With: , ,
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