Archive for the ‘Uncategorized’ Category

“A Very Special Brain”

By Mary Beth West, APR

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Those were Apple Co-founder Steve Wozniak’s words in likening the late Steve Jobs to such historic geniuses as Isaac Newton and William Shakespeare, this morning on the “Today” show. 

Jobs wanted to make “a dent in the universe,” and for those of us here on Planet Earth, he did just that. 

Speaking in those terms, while some people can see the forest for the trees, Jobs could see the universe for the galaxies.  He operated on that scale.

For us, Steve Jobs will remain forever iconic not only for the vast swell of innovative technology he delivered to the global marketplace but also for the unique brand of entrepreneurship he embodied in his leadership.

There were many twists and turns in his career.  From what has been documented about him, not everyone embraced his leadership style.  So many of the true creative geniuses of our world face fierce criticism or rejection because of facets of their personalities that others find difficult, which also can be a part of what makes them great.

The world will sorely miss what would have been so much more future potential of Steve Jobs’ life, cut short by his illness.  In the wake of the loss, we can still be inspired by what he accomplished, how he accomplished it and what he shared.

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The Google+ Grouch

By Mary Beth West, APR

Do I have time for this?!  I mean, @#^&$#%! 

That was my bad attitude this past week as I started trying to set up my Google+ profile. 

I know that this admission flies in the face of who/what I’m supposed to be as a marketing communications professional.  When it comes to all things social media, I’m supposed to be early to the game and quick on the draw.  But this week, I had to lay claim to my humanity.

Perhaps it was the timing.  August 1 was the first day of school for my kids with all the associated chaos, we had several new-business pitches in play, and if I didn’t have enough perspiration issues already, it’s been about 100 degrees outside.  Trying to figure out the Google+ social media interface and where everything fit in just wasn’t jiving for me.

And that’s part of the challenge Google+ may be up against as it continues its launch.  Folks know Facebook.  They know where the buttons are and what they do.  It’s hard to change . . . or at least to give a stab at a new-kid-on-the-block social media presence that may seem like a mere duplication of what Facebook already does quite nicely, thank-you-very-much.

But not so fast.  I’m going to have to give myself an “F” on attitude and remember that I had a similar perception of Facebook back when I was still milling around on MySpace four years ago and someone first sent me a FB friend request. 

Que sera.  It’s almost a new week, so I’ll start taking my own advice: don’t get overwhelmed with analysis-paralysis.  Enjoy the process of discovering this new social media gizmo . . . it should be fun seeing where it leads.

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Hootsuite: A New Twitter Dashboard Application

Hootsuite is a dashboard application for Twitter that allows you to go beyond the average Twitter activities.

Hootsuite allows you to spread messages to numerous social media networks, track statistics and easily explore results, collaborate with multiple contributors without loosing privacy, manage your Twitter account on the go with any mobile devise, and it internationalizes your account to make you feel comfortable with other languages.

However, a few weeks ago, Hootsuite introduced an application that social media gurus are raving about. It added a publisher function. This function allows you to schedule tweets for specific times throughout the day. It also lets you view your planned tweets for the next day, week, or month in a very organized way.

This new application will make it easier for us to market ourselves and our clients by allowing us to plan what we would like to share with our followers. The excuses of being too busy or forgetting to tweet are no longer viable with this new application that allows you to plan tweets in advance.

Chris Brogan’s article and video (below) on Hootsuite’s new application are very helpful in understanding how to use this new tool and how it can be beneficial.

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Twitter Image-Sharing a Notable Feature

By Mary Beth West

Twitter announced this past week new photo-sharing capabilities directly on their platform, without having to link through a third-party source. 

We found this article on social media photo-sharing stats interesting, and it certainly speaks to the value of a visual experience tied to social media posts.

We’ve always advised our clients to seek out visual opportunities to tell their stories and to integrate those images in the social media space, such as:

  • Who their people are and what they actually do day-to-day in their jobs
  • Events that they participate in, whether trade/business, community or philanthropic in nature
  • Interesting places where the company finds itself doing business, interacting with customers and serving the community
  • What new products are just now on the shelf or coming off the assembly line

As image sharing capabilities expand, so will consumer desires and expectations of their favorite brands.  Keep thinking of ways your organization can respond.

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My Summer Reading List: The WSJ Recommended Reads on IT, Sharing

By Mary Beth West, APR

The Wall Street Journal published a very worthwhile section last week on Information Technology (IT) issues that the CEO, and everyone else for that matter, needs to know in this day to be functionally literate on technology matters vital to moving a business forward.

Included was a pretty darn intriguing list of fairly recent books covering “how businesses can harness technology to make the most of information.”

All of them are now on my summer reading list (to which my husband chuckles, since with my dawn-to-midnight schedule I read books about as fast as I can write one).  But to the point, I recommend you check it out if you’re interested in brushing up on this subject matter, as most of us should.

One book on the list that caught my attention on the social media front was “The Mesh: Why the Future of Business Is Sharing,” by Lisa Gansky. 

The WSJ sums it up by saying “This is an important book, in that Ms. Gansky helps us name an important trend that will shape our culture—and therefore our technology products—over the next several decades. She argues that the companies that will win will be the ones that enable sharing, via community participation and trust.”

Here-here!  This is exactly the message Tori and I promote heavily to our clients, and it’s certainly the truth.  Social network creation and management is all about sharing . . . finding things to share that are interesting and share-worthy, finding the right people to share with, etc. 

And speaking of sharing, if you think this post will shed some light for others, share it as well!  Happy reading.

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Facebook’s new “Deals” feature set to launch today

Facebook’s new Deals feature is set to launch today in San Francisco, Austin, Dallas, Atlanta and San Diego. This is a feature that will compete with Groupon, where users will be able to buy a “Deal” for a certain good or service at a major discount, typically half off its retail price, then redeem it later. Users will also be able to “Like” and “Share” Deals with friends.

Any Facebook user can sign up for Deals notifications on the feature’s landing page. Users in the five test cities will be able to see and use Deals today.

Check out this Mashable post for a first glimpse of how those offers will look and function.

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