Wednesday, July 21, 2010

Being social ...

Meet with clients and networking.

Social Media is about being social and making contacts.

I explained to a new client today that using social media is about reach. You never know who will be interested in your business and why.

It could be a work at home mum, a graphic designer, a CEO of a huge business, a person who wants to start their own small business and any of these people (and thousands of others!)  who just like what you do or the kind of business you have.

It could be anyone from anywhere and if someone asks them, do you know a business who makes cards or does social media for small businesses or does PR, then you can say yes I am a fan of theirs on Facebook, follow them on Twitter, I read their blog posts and I really like what they do. Or I like their blog posts, their Tweets, what they say, their passion for their work ... it is surprising why people follow each other.

Social Media is about communicating and making connections. It is about building up a profile and making contacts. Some businesses use social media to attract new customers and consumers and others use it to reach as many people as they can.

The money will come, it's more about being authentic and genuine and building up fans and followers. You will learn how to write updates, how to submit links to social media sites, how to add photos and do all the networking, promoting and marketing under the social media platform.

You become the master of your business, the captain of your business's soul.

And the reach of social media is extraordinary.

Thursday, July 15, 2010

Man - Off ...

Two gorgeous men, advertising products and then becoming social media phenomenons.



First Fabio of Perfecto Italiano with his strange yet compelling Perfecto Italiano ads on YouTube and TV and now the newest and most innovative social media sensation Old Spice with Isaiah Mustafa.


For the past 24 hours Old Spice on Twitter, Facebook and YouTube, including Yahoo has become a social media phenomenon. The original advert I linked above won the Film grand prix at the Cannes Lions.


It's not just about advertising and making a good compelling advert. It's what Old Spice did next.


Not only did he respond to celebrities' and companys' queries, he or rather the Old Spice marketing team and writers made a video for every clever question he received on his Twitter account. To date over the past 24 hours they have made in response to queries on Twitter, over 116 videos and the videos have been the most viewed and accessed today.


It's every advertising company's dream. Here is an agency which is using and maximising social media. By responding to all users from Alyssa Milano to making one of his fans really happy through a marriage proposal



Old Spice is all over the news, on blog posts, PR sites and has been cited by Mumbrella as the best use of social media yet.


I think it has been an original and inventive campaign and not an easy one to pull off. It needs excellent writing skills, a good representative and great response from the team.


I don't think many advertising or marketing companies could or would put so much effort and work into an advert and there is still debate about the product itself. Has Old Spice as a product changed? Some people don't seem to like Old Spice and what the product smells like and despite making the advert a social media phenomenon, I am wondering how many people are buying the body wash for themselves or for the men in their lives.


And as for Fabio and the Perfecto Italiano advertising, it looks like it is man vs man on two excellent adverts and subsequent social media phenomenons.


I can say that using humour in advertising and sort of making fun of themselves has worked brilliantly for both brands - both focusing on the perfect man or getting a woman to hope that her man smells like Isaiah.


An update ... Alyssa Milano asked the Old Spice Man to donate money to to assist a wildlife fund and they did. Impressive.

Thursday, July 1, 2010

Social Media Day

The world (well social media people) celebrated Social Media Day on the 30th June.

There were more than 600+ meetups in 93 countries today with thousands of attendees.

The day honoured the technological and societal advancements that have allowed people to have a dialogue, to connect and to engage not only the creators of media, but perhaps more importantly, one another.

I believe in Social Media, in the fact that businesses can connect with their clients and consumers. And that business people and users are learning to connect on levels and in ways we have never dreamed of.

I have started Aware Net Connect to have discussions about Social Media and connecting with like minded people and discussing how advanced social media is. If you want to attend a discussion follow Aware Net Connect on Twitter.

Social Media is here to stay. And social media will become as normal as websites and emails.

It is so exciting and wonderful. I aim to educate people on how to be Internet wise and savvy.