This article from mashable shares some of the great online tools that are available for small business – as many of them are free and access to them is online, it means that you can access them any computer with internet access and that you dont have to purchase and install expensive software on your computer.
A client I met the other day gave me a name of a great tool to use for resizing images.. its free and easy to use its a starnge name but works great – check out Minh’s Stupid PhotoResizer
As I travel frequently and always need access to my files – I carry around a portable hard disk, however there have been occassions when it has failed, or worse I could have lost it. I have found and started to use some of these online tools which make them readily available as long as I have an internet connection available.
I just spent $4.80 on 1 scoop of boysenberry ice cream and could have gotten a 1L tub for the same price at the super. Logically and rationally I can see now that this was probably not an wise economically decision but when I was looking at the price list at the counter:
The small was the most value add option. Behavioral economist Dan Ariely, author of best seller Predictably Irrational, delivered a talk at the TED Conference in 2008 on how we make decisions, and how these decisions are not necessarily the logical choice.
I
Have you ever been under prepared for a power point presentation? I know I have found myself trying to talk through a complicated flow/ strategy diagram, often without much success. The power point presentation is something most people have had experience with, whether in having to prepare them or present them as well. Some people can deliver them on the fly with minimal prompting notes, and others require two dress rehearsals.
How would you feel if you were asked to give a presentation on a topic that you didn
To escalate his goal to get News readers paying for online content Media tycoon Rupert Murdoch recently announced that New Corps will begin implementing susbscription measures into all their online papers. “Quality journalism is not cheap, and an industry that gives away its content is simply cannibalizing its ability to produce good reporting,” Murdoch said.
The details around payment options were vague suggesting a mix of online subscriptions, charging fees to read single stories and selling content on new platforms such as mobile reading devices.
However be prepared for these measures to come in soon; ”We’re thinking in terms of this financial year,” Mr Murdoch said.
Two years ago, with Ad Dollars still flowing strongly through News Corp, Murdoch maintained that online content would remain free for users; a sustainable model given the steady flow of Advertising revenue. Since then however the Global Recession has seen advertising budgets halve and clients demanded performance media buys, online inventory has devalued into Click and Acquisition based pricing models. All media publishers including News Corp have been unable to withstand the financial repercussions and last week they posted a USD 3.4 billion loss to 2008.
The Wall Street Journal, one of Murdoch’s most prized publications, is currently running on a subscription basis. It
I was just in a store and heard a song that shot hot liquid brass out of the speakers into my nerves, and 2 hours later I’m here the proud downloader (from iTunes that is) of two of the band’s album. They are the Hypnotic Brass Ensemble and are a Chicago based nine-piece brass band. I had never heard them before today and from a few Google Searches I’ve discovered that they have been gigging for years in subways and street corners, realeasing trickles of singles and lives sets. Their self titled album was released in the US earlier this year and is their first professionally produced album and promises every shade of brass, from rust green bronze to platinum gold, with the power to hypnotise.
So what does this have to do with Marketing.
1. I converted twice in the span of an hour with out any prior brand contact
2. I’m listening to it on repeat
3. I’ve just posted a rave review with a link to the album
These three things are exactly what any product marketing team is hoping their traffic will do, and these three things are exactly what make a brand successful.
This band nor their record label ‘Honest Jon’s Records”, have the funds or industry influence to get much commercial radio play or do the PR, Talk Show circuit and so must rely on their fan base; from individuals telling their friends directly and bloggers/ music reviewers writing pieces on the group – as their primary acquisition channel, which is fairly daunting. However for many smaller companies, bands, designers, artist, NGO, etc – this is the only option they have to work with. But if you can get this to work not only will it provided the strongest ROI, it will also provide you with a long lasting and genuine relationship with your customers.
If you are planning on going for a more grass roots style pull strategy the most important requirement to get you high off the launching pad is amazing product and good timing (find the right people at the right time).
Apple have done this time and time again, from the first PC to iPod’s and iPhones. Mozilla are another example of a no budget advertising campaign that have today achieved them over 1 billion downloads. These organisations not only have quality product to offer they more importantly have a loyal fan base that will taut their tunes for them.
A new study released by Webpaint and the Altimeter Group on the use of Social Media channels by brands has come to a surprising conclusion:
“While much has been written questioning the value of social media, this landmark study has found that the most valuable brands in the world are experiencing a direct correlation between top financial performance and deep social media engagement. The relationship is apparent and significant: socially engaged companies are in fact more financially successful.”(Engagement db Report 2009)
The study evaluated each brand by not only the number of channels they engaged with but how deeply they were able to interact with their audience through them. Each brand was classified into four engagement profiles:
Mavens: Brands that engage with seven or more social networking channels and show high depth scores
Butterflies: Brands that similarly run on a high number of social media networks but their audience engagement is shallow.
Selectives: Brands running on fewer social media channels but show greater depth on their key focus channels.
Wallflowers: Brands that show both lower presence and depth in their engagement with Social Media.
Of the rankings Mavens Starbucks, Dell and eBay achieved the highest scores followed by Google because of the way there were able to tie in Social Media initiatives with their larger scale marketing strategies.
Overall Mavens showed the most growth in the last twelve months in Revenue and Gross Margin compared to the other engagement profiles. The study also provides Best Practices Case Studies on Starbucks, Toyota, Dell and SAP.
Webpaint and Altimeter Group have also launched an accompanying website that lets companies index their own social media use for further research. You can read the full report here.
The release of Office 2010 has been confirmed by Microsoft and to start generating some early PR buzz around the new edition they have invited Dennis Liu, infamous You Tuber from Traffik Film Works to create their promo video.
The result is a cyber-crime thriller style movie teaser about the government on the hunt to find a rogue font released by a hacker that has the ability to hypnotize readers into agreement. It even mentions ex Microsoft assistant ‘Clippy’ the animated paperclip that would sit that the bottom of the Office application screens with helpful hints.
My last post was also on the campaign around IE7 featuring ex Superman Dean Cane suggesting the beginnings of a trend in the tech software sector around marketing. Both of these campaigns take a humorous approach, and combine both tech language with more broad appeal for the mass audience.
Back to the Office 2010 product however, there is no real mention of any technical detail on the Office movie teaser but you can sign up to be on the waiting list to go to the technical prevew next year.
