As mobile continues to grow and more people are now using smartphones – the opportunity to leverage their multi-function applications for marketing of your brand products and services – has become increasingly important. As our world continues to be more connected with social media the ability to use your phone – as your roaming computer – has made information available to you  instantly. I am sure you have seen or heard about QR codes. The black and white matrix embedded in a box shape. By using your camera to take a picture of the matrix – it allows you access to websites, images and text. Read the rest of this entry »

PR has been a priority for most major corporations whether they retain a team inside or hire an agency outside of the business. “According to the Chartered Institute of Public Relations (CIPR), public relations is about reputation – the result of what you do, what you say and what others say about you. …” In some cases PR specialists were some of the first to embrace social media, in other cases PR specialists have stuck to their more traditional means of fostering relationships with key media in respective areas of print, radio, television and used the news wires to distribute their press releases with follow-up to their ongoing contacts to whom they have formed relationships. Read the rest of this entry »

We are back from taking a break with our posts and look forward to connecting with you again weekly – as we have done over the last few years. It is always interesting to hear how many companies are still fearful – of leveraging social media and use negative responses from customers as a reason to not dive in. As you have seen via many large companies Nestle, Motrin, Boeing to name a few – avoiding those customers who are complaining and or unhappy – can create issues that may become far bigger than they ever began. If you think of how you personally feel – when you are unhappy about something, speak up to that business immediately and they then find a way to fix the situation – you usually walk away not only satisfied – but far more passionate about that business or brand then you were prior to that particular situation. Read the rest of this entry »

Muhammad Ali

We talk about social media and engagement on our SHARE blog – as key touch points – to understanding how to best leverage social media tools for your customer while building- honest and truthful mutually beneficial relationships. We talk regularly to our clients both new, current and potential about understanding your target market. One size does not fit all. It is understanding who you want to connect with and how they want to connect with you that is vital in serving your customer via social media. Read the rest of this entry »

Networking is the epicenter for new contacts, sales leads, friendships and new clients. Social media has been a magnificent platform for networking and sites such as Linkedin – have created a community – that has been a well respected platform for businesses and professionals. Twitter has now also become a great place to connect for all genres of interest both business and personal and lets not forget Facebook! Read the rest of this entry »

Remember those delicious Girl Guide Cookies? Or the Avon and Mary Kay representatives that used to come door to door – with their catalogs back in the day. They would have a bag of samples of products for you to try, you could leaf through their catalogs make your selections and then your representative would come back to your home and hand deliver your order. None of those things have disappeared – but like everything the methods for which some of those salespeople are now not only finding new customers, but communicating and engaging with their current customers is via social media online. Read the rest of this entry »

In light of the world cup soccer FIFA – taking place as I write this in South Africa – I thought it might be fun to write about sports and social media. As many sports fans know ,there are many sports that have embraced social media from NBA basketball ( which is in the midst of a nail biting finals), hockey congrats to the Chicago Black Hawks who won the Stanley Cup after a record draught of 49 years! WOW that is worth the celebration that took place on the streets of Chicago! Yes my beloved tennis just finished the French Open and all of these sports have embraced social media. Read the rest of this entry »

That tag Ideas Worth Spreading is attached to TED Talks. It has been a while since I have posted one of their fabulous lectures. I find them to be innovative, creative, shocking, funny, inspiring and a place where the unimaginable ideas make really great sense. I try to go the site regularly pick a random topic – listen and learn! You can find them at http://www.ted.com. I recommend you make the visit if you have not. You are sure to find some of the people you know, Steve Jobs, Bill Gates and those you may not know such as Joanna Blakeley.

As we all know I not only began my career in fashion – but to this day love it as much as my days as a 3 year old – sporting my mothers jewelery, bags and shoes. I just listened to a lecture by Joanna Blakeley that I am going to post – that uses the free culture of fashion and copying to show how many businesses – including the business I work in now – that the freedom leveraged from fashion from not having legal right to copy rights and trademarks – can be a very lucrative business for all. Both designer and mass market. The ideas she SHARES and the analogies she uses from one of my most favorite things – give great pause for thought – for many industries. By the way “we all need to cover our naked bodies as she says” and as you will see in the presentation the ROI is nothing to sneeze at!

Open source for the digital world has certainly taken on this idea of not only SHARING ideas but copying those that were great and putting a new twist on them……how are you free in your industry to SHARE your ideas? IF not – maybe it is time to look at this wonderful video that talks about how creative industries can learn from fashion’s free culture.

Enjoy.

Best Nicole

I was in a meeting a few weeks ago and one of the executives in the meeting mentioned -that many of her clients are not using social media. Big corporate companies in some cases are not – but IF you think for a second that it is not being used by every industry you can think of – think again! Almost everyone I know and that YOU know has a Facebook profile or knows someone who does. From your local grocery store, to your local news station, to the boutique who sells your favorite shoes all have a presence on Facebook! Read the rest of this entry »