Recently I had a word to a long time client about the fact that she is missing a huge opportunity to further brand herself and by association, her business by not having an appropriate avatar of herself for the various networking sites and platforms that she already is part of or will be part of in the future.
Remember that Social Media is just that social. People want to see who they are dealing with and just as important, they like consistency.
So knowing all this it is very important to pick an avatar that is appropriate based on your target market and by extension the types of sites they are likely to see you on.
This can be done with a standard (2D) picture and in most cases this is what it is.
Occasionally you will see examples of people using humorous avatars from well known TV shows or even 3D avatars from virtual software tools like Second Life (owned by Linden Lab, but again this would depend on how serious you needed it to be.
Suffice to say it is something that is the norm, is expected and most definitely needs to be commensurate with the positioning of your brand and your audience.
What are your thoughts on what a good avatar should be? Feel free to comment.
And until next time, good luck and good marketing.
Daniele.
Friday, May 20, 2011
Saturday, May 14, 2011
Microsoft Buys Skype
After a great deal of recent speculation that the VOIP Skype may be an acquisition target by one of the leading It giants, it has now been revealed that the deal is done and Microsoft has emerged victorious acquiring Skype for a massive $8.5 Billion dollars.
This is an extraordinary amount to pay when you consider that its value remains somewhat speculative given that despite generating revenue of $860 million in 2010, the company made an overall loss of almost $7 million and is saddled with an overall debt of nearly $700 million.
Microsoft recently revealed that Skype now has almost 700 million users of which 9 million are paying customers.
Skype will now be integrated into Microsoft devices and systems such as Xbox, Outlook and the Windows Phone. The company has additionally also committed to continuing its support in developing Skype clients on non-Microsoft platforms
This is an extraordinary amount to pay when you consider that its value remains somewhat speculative given that despite generating revenue of $860 million in 2010, the company made an overall loss of almost $7 million and is saddled with an overall debt of nearly $700 million.
Microsoft recently revealed that Skype now has almost 700 million users of which 9 million are paying customers.
Skype will now be integrated into Microsoft devices and systems such as Xbox, Outlook and the Windows Phone. The company has additionally also committed to continuing its support in developing Skype clients on non-Microsoft platforms
Thursday, May 5, 2011
Facebooks New Marvel: The SEND Button
Facebook's new SEND button is the latest in a long line of recent innovations that continue to be unveiled at break neck speed thus far in 2011.
In simple words, the SEND button now allows Facebook users to send their content to individual friends directly whereas up until now, using the LIKE button they could have sent it to their whole network or specific groups.
And to go along with this, you can now get a combined Like and Send button.
This is an important update and recognises the importance being able to direct certain messages selectively to one particular individual or a few people, as opposed to messages that are specifically written for public and mass distribution.
As the discussion becomes more involved and the various media platforms continue to ramp up their privacy controls in the hope of positively reassuring users, I suspect we will start to see more of this type of innovation, that continues to provide the user greater levels of control.
What about you are their any new buttons you'd like to see Facebook or the other sites add?
Until next time, good luck and good marketing.
Daniele.
In simple words, the SEND button now allows Facebook users to send their content to individual friends directly whereas up until now, using the LIKE button they could have sent it to their whole network or specific groups.
And to go along with this, you can now get a combined Like and Send button.
This is an important update and recognises the importance being able to direct certain messages selectively to one particular individual or a few people, as opposed to messages that are specifically written for public and mass distribution.
As the discussion becomes more involved and the various media platforms continue to ramp up their privacy controls in the hope of positively reassuring users, I suspect we will start to see more of this type of innovation, that continues to provide the user greater levels of control.
What about you are their any new buttons you'd like to see Facebook or the other sites add?
Until next time, good luck and good marketing.
Daniele.
Sunday, May 1, 2011
Press Jack: Another Exciting Desktop Application
This week I have come across what appears to be an exciting new desktop application called Press Jack.
Press Jack allows writers and content publishers of all types to take their content and then simply convert that web content into a digital magazines format.
Currently a beta version of the product is available.
Given the extraordinary focus and popularity of eMagazines and eBooks the utility of this type of application is simple to see and allows web marketers the chance to effectively and quickly convert one type of content into another.
Although there are two paid versions of Press Jack, namely the Pro and Enterprise costing around $500 and $900 respectively, the basic lite package is free and allows a single licensee to publish 5 digital magazines a month at no cost.
Additional information: Ref: www.pressjack.com
Until next time, good luck and good marketing.
Regards,
Daniele.
Press Jack allows writers and content publishers of all types to take their content and then simply convert that web content into a digital magazines format.
Currently a beta version of the product is available.
Given the extraordinary focus and popularity of eMagazines and eBooks the utility of this type of application is simple to see and allows web marketers the chance to effectively and quickly convert one type of content into another.
Although there are two paid versions of Press Jack, namely the Pro and Enterprise costing around $500 and $900 respectively, the basic lite package is free and allows a single licensee to publish 5 digital magazines a month at no cost.
Additional information: Ref: www.pressjack.com
Until next time, good luck and good marketing.
Regards,
Daniele.
Wednesday, April 20, 2011
Work Life Balance
In the last week or so it has been a tough time as two of my best friends fathers have passed away and had their respective funerals here in Melbourne Australia.
And to top this off, I have just heard a little earlier today that a good friend of the family died suddenly of a heart attack and was also buried yesterday.
Now this blog is usually all about business and more specifically about key aspects of marketing sales and social media, buy today I think a more important post is about maintaining a healthy work life balance and ensuring we all give ourselves every chance to maximise our time on this amazing planet with our wonderful families and friends.
For one let's forget about Facebook, segmentation and SEO and think about even more important things.
Until next time, good marketing and good luck.
Regards,
Daniele.
And to top this off, I have just heard a little earlier today that a good friend of the family died suddenly of a heart attack and was also buried yesterday.
Now this blog is usually all about business and more specifically about key aspects of marketing sales and social media, buy today I think a more important post is about maintaining a healthy work life balance and ensuring we all give ourselves every chance to maximise our time on this amazing planet with our wonderful families and friends.
For one let's forget about Facebook, segmentation and SEO and think about even more important things.
Until next time, good marketing and good luck.
Regards,
Daniele.
Wednesday, April 13, 2011
Salesforce.com Buy Radian 6
Interesting news emerged recently that leading social media monitoring software platform Radian 6 has been bought by C.R.M system giant Salesforce.com.
The reported sales price is $326 million dollars.
This purchase underpins the growing need for accurate ROI information and platforms such as Radian 6 provide true insight to clients by way of their various monitoring tools which allow accurate appraisal of sentiment around all relevant discussion.
It's the first big purchase but no doubt not the last and a precursor I suspect of things to come.
Until next time, Good marketing and good luck.
Daniele.
The reported sales price is $326 million dollars.
This purchase underpins the growing need for accurate ROI information and platforms such as Radian 6 provide true insight to clients by way of their various monitoring tools which allow accurate appraisal of sentiment around all relevant discussion.
It's the first big purchase but no doubt not the last and a precursor I suspect of things to come.
Until next time, Good marketing and good luck.
Daniele.
Thursday, April 7, 2011
Incresing Time Spent on Social Media is the Real Proof
In the recently released 2011 Social Media Marketing update report by Michael Stelzner from the Social Media Examiner, we see more proof that people are voting positively on the acceptance of social media by way of their commitment in time to it.
That being said it is interesting to see exactly how much time individuals are devoting to their favorite websites, platforms and blogs day in and day out.
In the report it is noted that, a staggering 58% of marketers are using social media for 6+ hours each week and 34% are spending 11+ hours online each week. And almost 1 in 6 spend above 20 hours per week on social media.
Also of great interest is the observation that as people become more experience on the medium they spend more and not less time on it, with 63% vs. 41% of people spending 10+ hours per month on the internet when comparing those with 3+ years vs. those with between 1 and 3 years.
As someone put it once, "time really is the most precious resource because it's the only thing that no one can give you anymore of." And if this is true than people are using their most precious resource in greater amounts on social media.
Until next time, good marketing and good luck.
Daniele.
That being said it is interesting to see exactly how much time individuals are devoting to their favorite websites, platforms and blogs day in and day out.
In the report it is noted that, a staggering 58% of marketers are using social media for 6+ hours each week and 34% are spending 11+ hours online each week. And almost 1 in 6 spend above 20 hours per week on social media.
Also of great interest is the observation that as people become more experience on the medium they spend more and not less time on it, with 63% vs. 41% of people spending 10+ hours per month on the internet when comparing those with 3+ years vs. those with between 1 and 3 years.
As someone put it once, "time really is the most precious resource because it's the only thing that no one can give you anymore of." And if this is true than people are using their most precious resource in greater amounts on social media.
Until next time, good marketing and good luck.
Daniele.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)