Twittering Tips for Beginners

We'll be writing more about Twitter in the weeks and months to come. We're also working on a webinar for small and medium-sized businesses on how to use Twitter (and how to tell if you need to be on Twitter). For those of you who want to check it out and don't know where to start, this blog post will give you a good overview. Twitter is both absurdly easy and maddeningly frustrating. People ask me all the time how to use it. Check out Pogue's tips, and let me know if you have questions.

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Twittering Tips for Beginners - Pogue’s Posts Blog - NYTimes.com

Fun on a Friday : The Jingle Generator from Intuit QuickBooks

The makers of QuickBooks were looking for a fun way to increase trial usage of their software so they developed a tool for small businesses to create their own jingle: The Jingle Generator. This could be a nice little distraction on a Friday.

According to Marketing Profs, the Jingle Generator was promoted using a number of new media techniques, including:

• Blogger outreach: Intuit contacted bloggers with whom it already had working relationships to share the campaign story.
• Participation on forums and blogs: The company also joined in conversations on forums and blogs that relate to small-business issues, '80s music, social marketing, etc. Company representatives aim to add value to the conversation when posting responses and do not solely promote the site.
• Social-networking sites: The company posted a video on YouTube, and profile pages for Tommy Silk were established on Facebook, MySpace, and Twitter. Participating Intuit team members help build awareness by adding Tommy as a friend or follower to their personal networks and "re-tweeting" Tommy's posts.
• Shared examples: Early in the campaign, employees were encouraged to create their own custom jingles on the site and forward them to friends and family members, especially small-business owners, who might have an interest in the software.

*Source: MarketingProfs.com, "How Intuit Used Viral Marketing and an Interactive Web Site to Generate Small-Business Leads, Engage Customers" (paid registration required)

The Jingle Generator from Intuit QuickBooks

Twitter’s Massive 2008: 752 Percent Growth

I'm a few days late to mention this but Twitter has grown from this thing used by only hard-core geeks to . . . well, I still don't know how to describe Twitter but a WHOLE LOT of folks are using it now. 752 % growth last year? One million new users in December alone? Wow.

Remember I told you a few weeks ago about a passenger on the Denver plane that crashed tweeted about it? So Twitter breaks news. And you may have heard that the secret to getting anything done with Comcast is to complain about them on Twitter. So Twitter is a customer service/brand management tool. Is it? Or just a simple way to dispatch news of your day to your friends? ("Just watched American Idol. U watching? Did u see bikini girl?")

Like many new media in the digital age, we don't know yet what to call it, how to describe it, and how to use it for business. There are theories, certainly, but there isn't much collective wisdom. Together, we are building a knowledge base of what works and what doesn't and eventually, usage conventions for Twitter will form. Maybe more businesses will follow Comcast's lead. In the meantime, if you want to follow us on Twitter, you can here: New Thought Marketing on Twitter. We'll try to keep the conversation going!

Forrester: Social Web Now Mainstream

New Forrester research indicates widespread acceptance and adoption of social media, with up to 75% of respondents reporting some usage of social media in 2nd quarter of this year. What's included in social media? Well, a lot of the usage is among folks reading blogs. No mention in this brief article on whether or not Facebook and similar social networking sites are catching on with the over 35 crowd, but anecdotally, I can tell you that I'm getting lots more friend requests from old high school and college friends. I've even had a few ex-boyfriends track me down!

From a marketing standpoint, we always tell our clients that more and more of their customers are all over the web and there are some great ways to reach them. We almost always recommend search engine marketing first -- that's a must -- but depending on your customer set, we often look at blog outreach programs, social media press releases (basically, interactive press releases), and social networking. Studies like this simply affirm that more and more of your prospects are hanging out in the social media pool. It's time to start thinking about how to reach them there.

Read more here: Forrester: Social Web Now Mainstream

Use Twitter to Find Gas Stations

Looking for gas in Atlanta? Here are some online sources to help out. (By the way, it's fascinating how the web connects people on subjects like this, and how everyday folks are using web 2.0 tools to help one another out.)

Twitter has a group of folks posting gas station updates here: http://search.twitter.com/search?q=%23atlgas

This fuel price map is updated with times so you know what time someone got gas there:
http://rrtexternalweb.wrightexpress.com/neo_ww/site_locator/list.action?sortByValue=PRICE&sortDirection=ASCENDING&latitude=33.995788&longitude=-84.469766&mapType=Hybrid&mapZoom=3&sorting=undefined&address=&city=&state=&zip=30062&fuelType=Unleaded+Regular&radius=5

Social Networking for Spooks

The government has found a way to use social networking: they have created a MySpace for spies, an online social hub where spies can hook up and share classified data. Social networking in this arena is really a fancy way to say "online collaboration," but it's an interesting marker of how widespread the acceptance of Web 2.0 tactics has become.

Read more here: CIA, FBI push 'Facebook for spies' - CNN.com

Top Social Marketing Blogs

Looking to increase your social media/marketing I.Q.? This list of 142 top social marketing blogs ought to keep you more than up-to-date. (Of course, you can always check in with our blog and we'll try to hit the highlights for you.)

Read more here: Top Social Marketing Blogs

Cartier Becomes the First Luxury Brand to Run MySpace Campaign

I would not have thought of this. Cartier is too expensive and has a reputation for exclusivity. MySpace is sort of the generic, all-purpose -- even "low rent" -- brand of the social networks. So why is Cartier branching out there? Well, according to this article, MySpace has a lot of unique users with incomes over $100,000. And Cartier has tried social networking before, with success.

So what do I know? I'm not sure, but we'll keep an eye out as other luxury brands start trying the more mainstream social networking products.

Read more here: First luxury brand runs MySpace ad campaign - Social Marketing - BizReport

Seth Godin's Genius Ideas For the Kindle

If you're an Amazon shopper, then you've probably been hit by a home page promotion for their reading device, the Kindle. It's a bit pricey -- around $400 -- but full of promise. I love the idea of downloading any book I want on demand, but am not convinced yet that the Kindle is worth the money. Ironically, the deal breaker for me is not the aesthetics or the idea of reading electronically. I already read three major newspapers every morning in bed from my phone -- it's the idea that I have to pay so much to read those newspapers on the Kindle (vs getting them free on my phone) that irritates me.

But I digress. It's a cool idea and Seth Godin has some ideas to make it even better. He notes that this is one of the first technological innovations designed first for WOMEN. (Most tech products are designed for men first, who tend to be the early adopters of new technology, and then they "evolve" for women -- although that "evolution" is still suspect with some products.) The Kindle has a look-and-feel that screams female-friendly, and the most downloaded books for the device are arguably chick books (Oprah Book Club, anyone?).

Seth thinks the Kindle has great promise, but is too linear a device. It's another way of reading a book. That's not disruptive or innovative enough. Seth is suggesting that Amazon should pour some social networking ideas into the device. Imagine being able to comment on passages (or highlight them) for your friends or your book club. Or to be able to scroll through and find out which passages were the "best" as deemed that by your social circle. I, for one, know my best friend Terri and I would love to highlight and share (we already do that with printed books).

That's just one of his great ideas. To read more of his brilliant suggestions, check out this blog entry.

Will Online Advertising Weather a Recession?

Historically, ad budgets are one of the first things to get cut during a recession. These folks predict that traditional advertising will get cut (t.v., print, radio), but online advertising --particularly social media -- will weather the storm.

Then I read this article on how web advertising was up 27% in 2007. The analysts at IDC are expecting online advertising to weather any economic downturns as well:

IDC analyst Karsten Weide said businesses affected by the slowing U.S. economy will slash other advertising budgets before paring their online campaigns. "We think there will be some effect on ad spending overall, but we think online ad spending will almost be unaffected even if there's a depression," he said.

MySpace, MTV team up for one-on-one presidential dialogues

In an appeal to the coveted youth vote in the upcoming presidential elections, MySpace and MTV announced Thursday that they have joined forces for a series of "one-on-one dialogues" with all the major candidates from both political parties--televised and Webcast events in which presidential hopefuls will answer questions from MySpace members & MTV. This follows the YouTube televised debates and is just one of many online events and activities that we'll be seeing in this election cycle. "Web 2.0" is about a two-way exchange of information and ideas; that's what is at the core of the social networking and user-generated content phenomenon. Using the power of social networks, the web is broadening the political canvas. There will always be a place for knocking on doors, eating at diners, and touring the country in a bus. But today's candidates have new tools that spread through individual's online networks of family and friends and these tools are proving to be very powerful. Even if we haven't all figured out how best to use them!

read more | digg story

Is Business 2.0 safe for now?

Earlier, we reported on efforts to save the popular magazine Business 2.0 from being shut down by its corporate overlords (Time, Inc.). A Facebook group was created which now has over 2,000 members including Business 2.0's publisher, Josh Quittner. I joined the group and emailed Josh, asking what we could do. He wrote me to keep the faith, stating that Time knew what it wanted to do (and it seemed they did not want to sell). As of this posting, it looks like they may have changed their minds and are keeping the magazine alive at least through the October issue while they consider offers. Fingers crossed.
Read more.

Can Fans Save Business 2.0?

It worked for "Jericho." Can fans keep a magazine alive? Rumor has it that Time is shutting down Business 2.0 after its Sept. issue due to declining ad revenues (based on a bone-headed business decision to consolidate ad departments) even though circulation figures are strong. There's now a Facebook group dedicated to saving the magazine: http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=2420762508&ref=share.

read more digg story

PR Meets Web 2.0 and the "Social Media Press Release" is Born

Old-school press releases have been a dying breed for a while but the industry is just getting around to figuring out what to do next. Some of the major PR companies are now releasing multi-media releases that include rich media, text, and links and resemble blogs more than news releases. It's about time!

read more digg story

New Way of Making Music

The digital music revolution continues. Last year was the first year that downloaded single sales were greater than CD sales.
Today, we learned that Justin Timerlake’s new label has signed its first artist, Esmee Denters. Guess where he found her? On You Tube! Just like “American Idol” has the power to break an artist, now the social networking phenomenon is enabling artists to generate fan bases before a label ever signs them.

Here's a link to a clip of Esmee Denters on YouTube: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OozOELyx_yY