Social Media Real Time Counter

19 08 2011

Even though this social media real time counter by Personalize Media‘s Gary P Hayes has been around for a while, it never seizes to amaze me how many new social media content is being shared and created by the second. It’s good to see that Google + has been added there as well. Click on the mobile, games or heritage tabs to see some other interesting numbers.

http://www.personalizemedia.com/media/socmedcounter.swf


Comments : Leave a Comment »
Tags: , , , ,
Categories : Social Media

How To Reach Out To Bloggers

24 01 2010

I have to say, I’ve been following Chris Brogan’s blog for a while now, always finding interesting posts, but after reading his How To Reach Out To Bloggers blog post, he is definitely on my favorite bloggers list. I strongly advise anyone who is in PR and wanting to start reaching out to bloggers to read this one first, it’ll save you from doing some rooky mistakes, but more importantly it’ll help you understand how bloggers relationships should be viewed. After all, this is what PR is essentially all about, creating relationships first and foremost. Moreover, drawing from my sales, marketing and PR experience, creating good and honest relationships on a more personal level with people you interact in your professional life is what will have them be open to hear you out  with their defenses down on what you’re pitching before reaching a decision instead of flat out turning you down before even giving you a chance. People want to talk with people they feel they can trust and who are being honest with them.

I would also definitely read the comments section as there are some good points and additions on there. I’d surely stop to read the comments of jaybaer, Jim “Genuine” Turner‘s response comment, michelledamico, tallulah, Tyler M and postrank among others.

Here is an excerpt of the post which sums up well the initial steps to be considering when trying for a ‘bloggers outreach program’:

Be There Before the Sale

This is something Julien and I wrote about in Trust Agents, and it’s the first part of making your blogging outreach more successful. If you want people to write about you, they should probably know about you first. Quick ways to get that started:

  • Follow them on Twitter.
  • Comment on their blog posts.
  • Set up Google Alerts and comment on related articles.

Is this more work than just blanketing someone with email and hoping a few write about it? Yes. Is it worth it? Yes.

The trick is not to talk about your stuff. You should have started this outreach weeks and weeks before ever needing anything, and it should be genuine. Be interested in the people you hope will take an interest in you.

Here is the link for the post once more How To Reach Out To Bloggers. Happy reading!

tallulah

Comments : Leave a Comment »
Tags: , , , , ,
Categories : Blogging, Digital PR/Marketing, Social Media

2010: Three Simple Predictions

30 12 2009

As with every new year, there are a number of predictions on what will be in stored for us all during the year, as a way of expressing the optimism (or pessimism) a new beginning always triggers. Reading quite a few 2010 predictions blog posts (especially around social media and online vs offline) I did find a lot which pose good, well-rounded points but there are also quite a few that tend to exaggerate, either to spark a good conversation around them or in an attempt to step out of the crowd or, or, or.

Now, I am not going to give you these out-of-this-world 2010 predictions, by trying to give you the insider’s view of what the world will be like in the future, however I will leave you with just 3 very basic points for 2010 by using logic and past precedent:

  • Social media and the online world is and will continue to grow in use and popularity. No surprise there really as there’s too many studies and researches out there which showcase the sharp and ongoing growth of internet penetration, social media use and participation over the past few years, which is not going to end with the close of 2009.
  • The offline world (meatspace for some) will continue to exist and be of importance. We all participate in both the online and offline world so it is highly unlikely for one of the two to disappear within 1 year. Plus, we need both ‘worlds’ to keep a balance in our lives (I am of course speaking about people for whom online is now an integral part of their everyday life which consists of the majority of the developed world population). For those who talk about an online vs offline battle;  it’s not really a competition whereas one of the two worlds will win and where the defeated world will need to cease to exist.
  • Traditional media will not disappear. Yes online reliance on finding news is increasing immensely with traditional news sources dropping in readership, ratings etc, however, a lot of people still like to read the newspaper in paper on their way to work, they still want to watch the news on TV or on the radio and this emotional bond which is part of a sacred routine for some will not disappear within the timespan of 1 year. Let’s not forget also that a lot of the traditional media (especially paper media) are now evolving to keep up with today’s digital times (of course there are ones that are strongly trying to resist the online impact to how people find news, see Rupert Murdoch).

At the end of the day, we can make all the predictions we want and a lot can happen in a year, but no one can know for sure what will be in stored for the world in 2010. After all, in 2007 there weren’t any predictions for a worldwide financial crisis or the Lehman Brothers closing in the next year, but there you go.

Since we can’t know for sure what will happen in the future then there’s no point stressing about it either now is there? Rounded numbers always feel better so let’s hope that 2010 will be a good year.


Comments : Leave a Comment »
Tags: , , ,
Categories : Internet, Social Media

Foursquare Adding 14 European Cities

4 11 2009

foursquare_logo_boy

According to Techcrunch, foursquare will be adding 14 new European cities today, as stated by foursquare co-founder Dennis Crowley. These cities will be Helsinki, San Antonio, Madrid, Manchester, Paris, Prague, Rome and Stockholm and of course continuing with the already available London and Amsterdam.

For those that still haven’t heard of foursquare, it is a location-based social networking site/ game. What you do is “check-in” to the place you are/ going to, along with a brief message and recommendation on the place. Then it pings your friends, letting them know your where you are, as well as lets you know where they are – provided they are using foursquare too and are not hiding from you. What makes foursquare cool is that you can create and share lists of your top places and places you’ve always wanted to go, so guess what, next time a friend is going there and wants to do something nice for you or wants to throw you a surprise party, he/she knows just the place. For the fun-loving competitor friend (or not) in all of us, foursquare has you collecting points for “checking-in” and even becoming a mayor if you have the top score. Be warned however as you can get dethroned by a higher score holder.

For more details on how it works you can read Pocket-lint’s ‘What is Foursquare?‘ or get it straight from the horse’s mouth by clicking here.

For those wondering why ‘foursquare’ and why the boy with the ball on the logo, four square is a real life ball game played with 4 players, 4 numbered squares and a ball of course. The objective of the game is to eliminate other players of higher ranks, advance to the highest ranking square and remain there for as long as possible. (Source: Wikipedia) See the connection now? Huh? Huh?

That’s excellent news foursquare, keep it up.

And who knows, maybe one day foursquare will be available for Nicosia, Cyprus too… well, at least one can dream right?


Comments : 1 Comment »
Tags: , , ,
Categories : Social Media

Social Media – A Business Game Changer

26 10 2009

For those out there still trying to grasp the basics on how social media are changing the business realm, without getting a migraine from the information overload, here is a light read that could help. The article is titled “Social Media – A Business Game Changer”, written by PR Blogger Stephen Davies and published in the latest issue of the Apollo Executive Review, published quarterly by Action Global Communications.

As this is a flipbook, there’s no way to isolate the relevant pages this article is sitting on, but just go to: http://www.actionprgroup.com/flipbooks/apollo/2009Q4/index.html and see pages 18-21 (tip: enter the number 18 at the ‘Go to page’ field on the very top of the webpage and hit ‘Go’).

Apollo Cover Page

Disclosure: I currently work at the headquarters of Action Global Communications, steering their Digital PR initiative.


Comments : Leave a Comment »
Tags: ,
Categories : Social Media

Social Network Sites Asked to Control Hate Groups

18 05 2009

Reuters did a story the other day on how Hate Goes Viral On Social Network Sites, presenting an argument that social media help promote hate and help hate groups flourish, according to a report by the Simon Wiesenthal Center, something that needs be contained by the social networking sites themselves. The report argues that “over 10,000 problematic Web sites, social networking groups, portals, blogs, chat rooms, videos and hate games on the Internet which promote racial violence, anti-semitism, homophobia, hate music and terrorism.” Even though that might be the case (even though talking about terrorism is taking it to the extreme), you can’t blame social media for enforcing this behavior, nor can you ask social media and social networking sites to try and control such context by eliminating it. What revolutionized the notion of social media and what Web2.0 is all about, is the fact that this is not a controlled environment,but instead an environment where people can express themselves freely and build a community around their common interests. Now, I absolutely disagree with people hating other people just because they are different to the degree where they want to eliminate them, but I’m afraid that this is a case where you have to take the bad with the good and let the social media landscape slowly weed out or naturally contain such groups that are potentially harmful to others.

Also, think of it this way, wouldn’t you prefer having such haters venting and consuming their anger in front of a computer screen rather than in the streets onto real life people who have done nothing to deserve such a hateful behavior?


Comments : Leave a Comment »
Tags: ,
Categories : Social Media


Follow

Get every new post delivered to your Inbox.