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3 reasons to why the new facebook profile rocks! (According to the users)

December 11, 2010 By Leave a Comment

Do you remember all the comments, groups and pages that used to be when every Facebook made any significant changes? With the home feed o the profile? When they moved, added or removed things? Which made the users have the relearn what they knew. There have been quite a few of them.

This time, however, I have seen none. I’m talking about the introduction of the new profile. This could have been because people just got used to not having an impact on the development of the network, but I don’t think this is in. I thing it is because of the changed roll-out logistics. Instead of changing profiles in bulk (And let the swedes wait ;) they let the users decide on when they wanted to update their profile. Which have lead to people actually asking on how to make the change.

This is how twitter did it too a while back when they started rolling out the new layout. But as their changes have rarely (since I got on twitter at least) caused any big fuzz, this way of changing did not make as big of a difference on the reaction.

So what conclusion can we make from this? Quite a few, letting the users make the change have quite a few advantages:

  • The geeks (me) that are not in the first bulk change does not feel left out.
  • We do not risk any crash by rolling it out to everyone at the same time.
  • And bet of all the users that is normally skeptical towards changes, feels like they are the one making the change.

Of course there is other time when this can be applied even when we are not talking about the bigger social networks. It could be a good thing when launching a website or a new product. – Add the new, but have the old one there for a while in the beginning.

Filed Under: Social Media, Web development Tagged With: , , , , ,

YouLive – Can you digitalize a live-experience while going global?

November 28, 2010 By Leave a Comment

As I told you in the last post I planned to recapture some of what I learned from the Showcase at Primegroup last Friday. And what is better to start with than the project that was the last one I was involved in before my internship ended.

First I will tell you a little bit about the project and later about what I think was the key features which made it work.

YouLive

This was a really cool project, which in Swedish was called “Livelöpet”, but they translated it to ”YouLive”. Basically the idea was to host live concerts online. You had to book your ticket, it only happened once and you could interact with the artist during the show. The artist on their hand could see the audience reactions on a graph in front of them and also what song the audience wanted next.

In order to make the experience more exclusive there was limited seating and also if you booked your (free) ticket fast you could get better tickets, because they offered a few HD-tickets.

So how did it go? During Robyn concert there was 800,000 interactions. Totally there were over 2,4 million interaction on the concerts. They had 45 000 visits in a 105 minutes. And website traffic increased with 300 %.

Successful, Yes!

Facebook

How many pages are you fans on now? How many of them do you actively visit? How many of the pages post do you see on you feed? How many do you read?

A year ago a good Facebook page was fantastic. Having reached many fans was impressive and the more interaction the better. Today, everyone have a Facebook page. People are fans on a whole bunch and do not visit them as frequently. We tend to get better at screening. Therefore the best way to reach out on Facebook is by having the users post material on their wall, which you would otherwise post on the page wall.

I’ve told you before about the combined project between 7-eleven, GB glass and Mobicon, I think. They gave a way free ice-cream to everyone to let their friends now that they received one. This made them hand our 5000 ice-creams in about 4 hours if I remember correctly.

This is the same concept. You get the virtual ticket and publish that on your wall.

When one of your friend share something like this it becomes more valuable because:

  • You trust the source of the information.
  • You know that your friend own the product/is going to the concert etc.
  • You count on your friend not to recommend you crap
  • You might not have read/cared if you got the info elsewhere.

Exclusive, interactive and social

But even if Facebook had a big part in spreading the concept it a lot of other key features with lead to the success.

Exclusive

The concert was a one time only event, which was not published online after. Of course there where some home videos, but not the real thing. Also, the fact that you needed a ticket to get in made the event more exclusive. People wanted be part of the first live streamed concerts.

Interactive & social

The audience could interact with the artist and also with their own friends. If you connected to Facebook, you could hang out with your Facebook friends if they attended the concert too. So in the audience you could clap, make out with people, take pictures, throw a ball and more. Just like a real experience.

Sum-up

To sum up, there was many contributing factors which made Livelöpet a success, I say that the people at Primegroup was the key, they are extremely creative and inspiring, and I would recommend them in a heart-beat.

Filed Under: Social Media Tagged With: , , ,

Never a Business Lunch – Always a Brainstorm Lunch

October 12, 2010 By 3 Comments

I’ve always heard people speaking about business lunches. They meet new and potential client for a bite to eat and discuss something work related. I’ve been on business lunches and sure it is a good way to meet up under relaxed circumstances and I get a little bit more time over at my desk to complete other assignments, but all in all they are not very efficient. At least not from my experience, but please share your tips on successful business lunches if you have any.

Instead I’ve come to love the concept of brainstorming lunches. You meet with someone, a friend, colleague, someone in the field you’re in or basically anyone. Then one of you puts an idea, a problem or a dream on the table for discussion. I cannot begin to count how many ideas that have been generated on lunches like these in the last few weeks.

And another benefit is that you come back to your desk completely refreshed. Filled with positive energy and the feeling that anything is possible.

Photo by: Boetter

Filed Under: Social Media Tagged With: , , , , ,

3 Things That Would Improve Twitter Suggestions

July 31, 2010 By 3 Comments

Today Twitter added a new interesting feature which is common on other networks like Facebook and LinkedIn, where you are suggested who to follow. According to the twitter blog the suggestions are based on several factors, including the people you follow and the people they are following.

I find this feature very interesting, especially for twitter users who are still new and who have not yet got a hang of it. It has sometimes been difficult to find interesting people to follow that you do not know from before. At least from my experience I usually follow the writers of the blogs I read and the people that I meet in real life. I rarely sit on twitter and try to find people to follow. But maybe that is just me?

Twitter also added the feature “if you like this person, you might like these as well”. Interesting, but I wonder what will happen if it starts suggesting organisations and people that you don’t want to be associated with.

Anyway, in the right menu you can see the users suggested, and you can also press “view all” and see come to a new page where you see a longer list of suggested people. In the right menu you get to see their name and a picture and have the option to follow them in directly from the right menu. Most of the time these features are in beta when they are first published, so they might have more coming on this one. But here are three things which I would like to see in the feature which would make me use it even more.

1. Tweeter rollover – displaying; location, latest tweet, bio, followers, website etc.

In the “normal” feed you can get more information about the tweeter by rolling you mouse over his/hers screen name, this I feel is very useful when you want more info about the person you are following. This is even more important I feel when it comes to people that you are not following and that you might want to learn more about to follow. If I’m going to follow someone by pressing follow in the right menu, I want this info there as well.

2. The reason – why should I follow this person?

Twitter says that the suggestions are based on several factors, I want to know which one. Am I recommended this person because we live in the same city? Or because my friend follow her? Or is it because she tweets about the same subjects as I do? I think this information would make me more interested in following this person.

3. Variables – give me an option to choose what people to are shown – perhaps depending on language.

I rarely, or almost never follow people because they are from the same city as me or live close to me. So I would like the option to turn of that factor. On the other hand I love to listen to people who tweet about social media, marketing and business development, so then I would be nice to have the option to be suggested people two tweet a lot about this keywords.

So far the best thing with this feature, if it works, is that if you “click “hide,” and we’ll try not to suggest that user again.” However, could this could be bad if you click it unintentionally and cannot find the person again.

Filed Under: Social Media Tagged With: , , ,

Updated: 7 (5) beginner mistakes to avoid in social media & blogging

July 28, 2010 By 19 Comments

Everyone makes mistakes, and those who have made them, tend to have a desire of not wanting others to do the same. Personally I’m some where in between when it comes to blogging and social media. I’m still learning but I’m experienced enough to teach others. So I thought I would start by sharing a few things about what NOT to do. Some are mistakes I’ve made myself and others are mistakes which I see other making.

Creating accounts that you don’t use

When it comes to personal accounts most people are very forgiving when they find account that people don’t use. It usually says more about the network than the person. The problems start how ever, when you leave accounts that you have been using without a word. For example an old twitter account, people might not realise that you have stopped tweeting and is wondering why you don’t answer. Which puts you in a bad light, this goes for emails and everything else. Be careful with “looking active” where you are not. I have also seen this done by companies which I find even worse.

Not having any contact information

This one I’ve stumbled upon a lot since I’ve tried to get to know the people behind the blog etc. But many ‘forget’ or choose to not put up a contact form or an email address. I wonder just how many opportunities are lost that way.

Automated messages

Automated messages is one of the things which I really oppose. First of all you “represent” things that you cannot control. Second, people think that you are around and you might not answer. Third, people might start questioning your motives if you just send out a feed. If you want to be around in social media, make sure that you are around and not some robot version of who you are.

Not follow up on replies

This goes for both social networks and blog comments and any other communication online. If people are trying to communicate with them do not leave them hanging. Even if you don’t reply until a few hours later, make sure that you do reply because people will remember. I have unfollowed people that I’ve tried contact who have not answered many times. With some it is understandable because they have too many followers, but for the people like me, I find it as rude as not responding to a hello when you meet IRL.

Promoting yourself to much

This is one of the lessons I read about most. And which I’ve been good at following because you can read it in any book about social media and personal branding. People wont listen to you if you only talk about yourself. There is not much more to that point. Try to promote other peoples stuff and to talk with people and not only write and share your own content.

After talking with a few people on Twitter about this posting I figured I would add two lessions to this post.

1. Be careful with information related to employers or clients

This suggeston came from Gert Lambers on Twitter, and I could not agree more. It is important to seperate your own opinions from your employeers. Either you can state it in a sentence “my opinions on twitter does not reflect my employer”, but also make sure you think twice when you post something which has any relevance to your work.

@GertLambers  “Being careful with info related to employers or clients would be wise, 1 should make sure to be compliant with employers rules”

2. Listen more than you speak

The second tip came from Adrian Chira, who says it all, we have 2 ears and 1 month and should use them accordinly. Listen more than you speak. And I would says that listning twice as much as you speak is not an exaggeration at all.

@adrianchira I would add that we have 1 mouth and 2 ears and we should use them accordingly so first try to listen more than you speak

Filed Under: Social Media Tagged With: , , , , ,

Updated: 7 (5) beginner mistakes to avoid in social media & blogging

July 28, 2010 By 19 Comments

Everyone makes mistakes, and those who have made them, tend to have a desire of not wanting others to do the same. Personally I’m some where in between when it comes to blogging and social media. I’m still learning but I’m experienced enough to teach others. So I thought I would start by sharing a few things about what NOT to do. Some are mistakes I’ve made myself and others are mistakes which I see other making.

Creating accounts that you don’t use

When it comes to personal accounts most people are very forgiving when they find account that people don’t use. It usually says more about the network than the person. The problems start how ever, when you leave accounts that you have been using without a word. For example an old twitter account, people might not realise that you have stopped tweeting and is wondering why you don’t answer. Which puts you in a bad light, this goes for emails and everything else. Be careful with “looking active” where you are not. I have also seen this done by companies which I find even worse.

Not having any contact information

This one I’ve stumbled upon a lot since I’ve tried to get to know the people behind the blog etc. But many ‘forget’ or choose to not put up a contact form or an email address. I wonder just how many opportunities are lost that way.

Automated messages

Automated messages is one of the things which I really oppose. First of all you “represent” things that you cannot control. Second, people think that you are around and you might not answer. Third, people might start questioning your motives if you just send out a feed. If you want to be around in social media, make sure that you are around and not some robot version of who you are.

Not follow up on replies

This goes for both social networks and blog comments and any other communication online. If people are trying to communicate with them do not leave them hanging. Even if you don’t reply until a few hours later, make sure that you do reply because people will remember. I have unfollowed people that I’ve tried contact who have not answered many times. With some it is understandable because they have too many followers, but for the people like me, I find it as rude as not responding to a hello when you meet IRL.

Promoting yourself to much

This is one of the lessons I read about most. And which I’ve been good at following because you can read it in any book about social media and personal branding. People wont listen to you if you only talk about yourself. There is not much more to that point. Try to promote other peoples stuff and to talk with people and not only write and share your own content.

After talking with a few people on Twitter about this posting I figured I would add two lessions to this post.

1. Be careful with information related to employers or clients

This suggeston came from Gert Lambers on Twitter, and I could not agree more. It is important to seperate your own opinions from your employeers. Either you can state it in a sentence “my opinions on twitter does not reflect my employer”, but also make sure you think twice when you post something which has any relevance to your work.

@GertLambers  “Being careful with info related to employers or clients would be wise, 1 should make sure to be compliant with employers rules”

2. Listen more than you speak

The second tip came from Adrian Chira, who says it all, we have 2 ears and 1 month and should use them accordinly. Listen more than you speak. And I would says that listning twice as much as you speak is not an exaggeration at all.

@adrianchira I would add that we have 1 mouth and 2 ears and we should use them accordingly so first try to listen more than you speak

Filed Under: Social Media Tagged With: , , , , ,

3 ways of using Yammer as meeting support

July 7, 2010 By 7 Comments

For those of you who have not tried it, Yammer is an internal microblogg. This means that only people with the same email can see each other microposts. Just like twitter you can also send DM and Reply messages to the people in the network, so they are very similar in that way, which is very helpful when you are introducing other people to the network.
Either way, so far I’ve only used this tool at a smaller company which I worked for and in smaller groups, but it is very interesting, and I’ve found one time when it is particularly useful, if it is frequently used. That one is meeting support.

When you are in a meeting, Yammer can be a great, “silent”-way to communicate with the rest of the office, both to ask questions and to see what is going on. 

Three ways of using yammer in meetings:

  1.  When you need to ask a question, “yam it” – then you can ask the question without interrupting the meeting by making a phone call.
  2. Let people contact the meeting – Let people contact the meeting without interrupting by sending a message.
  3. Now what is going on outside the meeting – If you are in longer meetings for project groups check office status on yammer in the breaks.  
Filed Under: Social Media Tagged With: , ,

The communication balance – what is too little and what is too much?

June 29, 2010 By 1 Comment

Sometimes there is a thin line between communicating two little and two much. Below, I will share to common situations online where this is particularly evident; with opt-in/confirmations and with newsletter lists.

 Opt-ins and confirmations

Nowadays we are used to getting some kind of confirmation when we sign up for a service, a newsletter or what it might be. An opt-in och something else.  we don’t get this confirmation, regardless of what it is for, many of us begins to question if we did it all right. Did I really order that service or not?

On the other hand, if there are to many steps, email we might refer to them as this time, we get annoyed. We feel “spammed.” For example, if you opt-ed in for a service and then receives a thank you email with no more useful information than that. This might be received a spam instead of the second confirmation that it was intended as. For some services it might be necessary to have a double opt-in, or some other type of double confirmation.

The suggestion here, seems to be, what ever confirmation/opt-in that brings some kind of value for the receiver is granted. Could be more security or a easier adaptation to the service.

Newsletter lists

From experience I rarely sign up for newsletters before I now what I will receive. For example a company who says “product info, new etc” but not gives any indication on how many times they send them, I would never accept. Mostly, because many companies seem to have problems with the “unsubscribe” button. The same goes for companies who offer a whole list of newsletters that they have for different subjects.

However, a few weeks ago, I tired one of those lists and signed up for a few newsletters that I found interesting. BIG MISTAKE! It turned out that each of the newsletters is delivered once or more per day, which was never said in the list. Which means that I now barley even check the box that they comes to, because I want to start reading but it is too overwhelming.

Conclusions

Ask your subscribers what they think works and don’t work with your communication. This way they will feel more included, and you limit the changes for you to be viewed as a spammer or that they feel like you fooled them. Be honest and share! But not to much ;)

Filed Under: Social Media Tagged With: , , , ,

How To: Create an event which has it all > in one day > #SMMUK10

June 17, 2010 By Leave a Comment

I cannot describe in words how thankful I’m for the opportunity to attend #SMMUK10 in London and most of all taking the opportunity. I flew here from Sweden last night and is going back again tonight.

One day:

15 presentations & 22 presenters/discussions all on social media marketing = #SMMUK10

Now, I have to admit that these many opinions and lecture might be seen as information overload and to many opinions, but it hasn’t been! Instead the even organizers have managed to wrap it all up.

We have heard/seen

  • examples
  • ideas
  • case studies
  • strategies
  • what to do/what not to do
  • crash courses

And best of all, since many of the presenters have listened to each other all day they actually have mentioned each other when they have brought up similar subjects, which have given the listeners a great perspective!

Filed Under: Social Media Tagged With: ,

How To: Create an event which has it all > in one day > #SMMUK10

June 17, 2010 By Leave a Comment

I cannot describe in words how thankful I’m for the opportunity to attend #SMMUK10 in London and most of all taking the opportunity. I flew here from Sweden last night and is going back again tonight.

One day:

15 presentations & 22 presenters/discussions all on social media marketing = #SMMUK10

Now, I have to admit that these many opinions and lecture might be seen as information overload and to many opinions, but it hasn’t been! Instead the even organizers have managed to wrap it all up.

We have heard/seen

  • examples
  • ideas
  • case studies
  • strategies
  • what to do/what not to do
  • crash courses

And best of all, since many of the presenters have listened to each other all day they actually have mentioned each other when they have brought up similar subjects, which have given the listeners a great perspective!

Filed Under: Social Media Tagged With: ,
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