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SharePoint Online: A great tool for Small and Medium Enterprise

November 2, 2014 Tags: , , , Stewart Dawes

SharePoint Online is a Microsoft cloud service included as part of Office 365 or separately as SharePoint Online. It provides a comprehensive framework for integrating internal communications, content management, document management and enterprise search working seamlessly with Microsoft Office products.

SharePoint Online is tremendous value for business with 2-10 employees as it addresses the price point issue, it offers enterprise level software on per user per month subscription. It includes several features perfect for small or medium size businesses as it can grow with your business and does not require an upfront investment in infrastructure or licenses.

Reasons why SharePoint Online is great for Small and Medium Enterprise
1. SharePoint Online requires minimal startup costs. SharePoint Online does not sit on your own servers, does not require an enterprise license, and does not require Client Access Licenses (CALs). The cost structure is simple and does not include the hardware needed. Also, if your company is a nonprofit, you might get a significant discount from your local SharePoint and Office 365 partner.
2. Ease of Deployment – there is a significant amount of development needed up-front for your SharePoint implementation but anyone with basic HTML experience will be able to create and maintain pages. It is easy to customize the entire site with colors and fonts. There is no need to install and configure SharePoint like you would need to on your own server, it comes pre-configured with a single site collection ready to go, out-of-the-box.
3. SharePoint is best to be used as database – it allow organizations to create spaces online to upload and share important documents. SharePoint Online enables your employees to access their documents from anywhere using any mobile device. It’s particularly useful when your employees need to work remotely or from home.
4. Easy integration with existing system, the possibilities are almost endless with SharePoint online. It removes the need to email documents around or keep multiple versions of the same file – the old versions of a document are always available.
5. SharePoint Online in Office 365 now includes the ability to operate a simple public facing website. This allows you to build a very simple website using SharePoint. It’s particularly of great value to small businesses currently without a web presence. With SharePoint Online, your employees can create mini-sites and use them to share documents securely over the internet.
6. SharePoint Online (and Office 365) makes it easier to collaborate with suppliers and customers, which increase the ease of communication between businesses. This result in more business and return on investment.
7. SharePoint Online makes a low cost and simple option for creating and managing your company’s intranet. The tools for managing content are simple to use and familiar to all Microsoft Office users. Your tech savvy users can make use of more sophisticated features like content query web parts, calendar apps, news and announcements.
8. The licensing model of Office 365 and SharePoint Online, allows SMBs to just pay a fixed price per month for the number of users that are working on their SharePoint Online environment. If the business grows then they can just purchase more user licenses against a fixed price per month. So at the end, the price is very low for the use of an enterprise platform. The bottom line is that Office 365 lets Small and Medium Businesses have access to an Enterprise Platform at SMB Pricing.

Large or small, every business has a different way of working. WebVine can tailor a SharePoint solution to meet the modern needs of your business, your demographic and your industry. Contact WebVine today on 1800 022 990 for a free SharePoint consultation.

Using Social Media to Attract Phone Sex Clients

October 29, 2014 Tags: Christine
social media phone sex industry

The far reach of social media has changed the way the phone sex industry solicits business. In 2003 where social media was in its infancy, there was no such thing as Facebook or Twitter, but by 2008, phone sex companies and operators have acquired as much as 25% of their clients from these channels. Technology has transformed the phone sex industry into an online business and it’s never been the same since then.

It should be no surprise that the phone sex industry uses social media the same way other businesses do to find new customers and build a brand. Phone sex companies and workers are openly using Facebook, Twitter and other social media networks to openly advertise their services. Sex sells, that’s a fact, and for the phone sex industry, attracting attention from a lot of potential clients through social media has been a successful undertaking.

But social media has a highly competitive social environment and using it to market you as a product or service is more involved than one may think. Keeping customers and users engaged can be a full-time job and in order to truly succeed in social media, you cannot afford to have a boring social media presence – especially when you’re in the business of phone sex. It’s crucial to have attention-grabbing imagery and sharp, content-rich posts to grab the clients’ attention. It’s also important to know the audience and figure out how to best reach out to them – know what they’re interested about, what messages resonate with them. Engagement is crucial here so any enquiries and comments should be answered, showing a concern and care to clients and potential clients alike.

Phone sex company Girls of OZ utilizes social media to promote their brand. Their Twitter account is where most of the engagement is done and it also features photos and videos of their phone sex babes give their clients a peek of what’s in store for them if they use their service. They also have a YouTube account you can subscribe to plus a Google+ and Vidme accounts you can follow.

Social media has become a vital part of marketing and is now an essential part of building a business. So, don’t forget to pay attention to the digital life because it’s here to stay. It’s an opportunity you wouldn’t want to miss.

Best New Social Media Platforms

August 5, 2014 Tags: , , , Stewart Dawes
Best_new_social_media_platforms

Social networking sites are constantly expanding, new applications are announced everyday. Most people who find Facebook and Twitter too limiting are moving on to newer and cooler social media sites. These mobile based new social media platforms has a lot to offer from secret sharing to being paid to post. Check out the best new social media platforms to watch out for:

1. Secret

Secret_new_social_media
Secret is an app which is available for iOS, Android, and web platform. It allows people to share messages anonymously within their circle of friends, friends of friends, and publicly. It is intended primarily for sharing with friends. Secrets are posted by your friends, you just don’t know who. Popular secret from around the world can read and labeled only by their point of geographic origin. It has proven to be addictive especially with teenagers. Secret is working on new tools to make users feel more confident about what they post.

2. Shots

Shots_new_social_media
Shots is an iOS and Android social platform designed basically for selfie lovers. This app allows users to take and post selfies using front-view cameras. Users can only take pictures through the app. It does not allow users to upload previously taken pictures. Shots does not allow users to directly message other members but can “reply shot” which let users respond to followers through selfies instead of comments. Members can add captions to their own photos and use hashtags, but there’s no way to search for hashtags. Shots does not have a public comment feature over concerns about cyber-bullying and does not post follower counts.

3. Snapchat

Snapchat_new_social_media
Snapchat is a photo messaging app for iOS and Android where users can take photos, record videos, add text and doodles, and send them to a controlled list of recipients. It also introduced Snapkidz for users less than 13 years of age, allowing children to take snaps and draw on them, but they cannot send snaps to other users. “Snaps” or photos and videos can be sent to friends but it only allows users to set a 1 second to 10 second expiration of the photo. Once the photo message is sent, the receiver has the time set by the timer to look at the photo before the message is hidden from the recipient’s device and deleted from Snapchat’s server.

4. WeChat

WeChat_new_social_media_platforms
WeChat is a mobile text and voice messaging service app available on Android, iPhone, Blackberry, Windows Phone and Symbian phones. WeChat covers many options in one application as it is a platform for chatting, shopping, gaming, and even banking. It provides text messaging, hold-to-talk voice messaging, broadcast (one-to-many) messaging, sharing of photographs and videos, and location sharing. It’s unique messaging service allows users to send quick voice messages. WeChat is free to download for every user, registration is completed through Facebook Connect, email, mobile phone SMS/VM, or Tencent.

5. We Heart It

WeHeartIt_new_social_media_platforms
We Heart It is an image based social networking app for inspiring images, available for both Android and iOS devices. It is “A home for your inspiration” and a place to “Organize and share the things you love.” Share images and express who you are and find like-minded users to share great content from across the web. Users can “heart” and tag others users in photos and “heart” their favorite images to share with friends and organize them into collections. Roughly 80% of We Heart It’s monthly users are under the age of 24, compared with Pinterest users who are over the age of 24. This younger user base, and the types of content that come with it, are what separate We Heart It and Pinterest.

6. Tinder

Tinder_new_social_media_platforms
Tinder is a mobile dating social network , an app that is available for both Android and iOS devices. This online dating app is available in 24 languages. This app connects with your Facebook profile to provide basic information to match possible candidates who are most likely to be well-matched, based on geographical location, number of mutual friends and common interests. Users can swipe “yes” or “no” anonymously to potential matches who are nearby. If two users like each other and it’s a match then Tinder introduces the two users, opens a chat and they can now start messaging.

7. Medium

Medium_nes_social_media_platforms
Medium is a micro blogging platform, perfect for business professionals to attract new spectators. This app lets you share articles through Twitter, Facebook and email. It’s linked to Twitter but designed make you create a regular content or blog article beyond the 140-character Twitter limit. This app also allows you to read stories on Twitter, it tells you how long it will take you to read each story and if you get bored you can swipe to the next story. Medium is a place to post essays using a highly visual publishing platform, without having to commit to starting a blog or building an independent audience.

8. Vine

Vine_new_social_media_platforms
Vine is a video sharing service available for both iOS and Android devices. It lets users create and share six second looped videos which can be published through Vine’s social network or shared on other services such as Facebook and Twitter. You can set what kind of notifications you want to receive from the app. Settings tab comes with options to show likes, comments, re-vines, or mentions, and also has a ‘tailored for you’ option. Users can also switch on/ off notifications for messages, new contacts, milestones for loops, likes and followers.

9. Bubblews

Bubblews_new_social_media_platforms
Earning money on social media work is now possible with Bubblews. It is a social media platform available on iOS and Android that allows users to make money by writing content of their choice that attract advertisers and traffic. Users can only post in English, and each post has to be a minimum of 400 characters. It also allows users to create posts (bubbles), follow friends, and “like” and comment on other bubbles. Users are paid a penny per click, per comment, and per like on their posts.

10. Whisper

Whisper_new_social_media_platforms
Whisper is a social media platform available for both iOS and Android devices that allows people to anonymously share secrets, receive replies or just chat. It’s a home to different kind of confession. Post messages are displayed as text over an image similar to greeting cards. You can show appreciation to a post by tapping the heart icon. Users don’t have a public identity in the app. You can respond to a message publicly or privately by choosing a public anonymous post or a private pseudonymous chat. There’s no way to contact users except through the messages they post online.

Irish Companies Succeeding on Social Media

July 11, 2014 Stewart Dawes
Irish-companies-succeeding-on-social-media

Irish companies have quickly grown to understand the power of social media and used it to their advantage. Today businesses are using different social media platforms like Facebook, Instagram, Pinterest and Twitter to build business relationship with customers, establish brand and improve online visibility. The challenge lies in utilizing social media correctly. Here are examples of Irish companies succeeding on social media.

Lidl Ireland
An Irish Supermarket awarded Facebook Page for a Business by the Social Media Awards 2014. Their Facebook page was set up on June 2010 and today they have 383,094 likes on their page. Lidl is using the page to interact and respond to customer’s needs in the discount retail sector.

Barry’s Tea
Irish Tea Company founded in 1901 and the largest tea supplier in Ireland. Barry’s Tea Facebook page has 121,481 likes. The people behind it regularly interact with people by keeping their page fresh with exciting content and promotions. The success of their Facebook page has also helped the brand go global recent messages show recruited fans from different parts of the world.

Eason
Ireland’s leading retailer of books, magazines, stationery and lot more with over 60 outlets throughout the country. Eason is the first Irish brand to bring its presence to Pinterest, using it to highlight its business and product range. Eason is using Pinterest to show off its range of books. It has 46 boards and 1,106 followers. Pinterest plays a big role in the overall e-commerce strategy of the company.

Irish Jewelry Company
Irish company based in New York making Irish jewelry and gifts perfect for any occasion. Irish Jewelry Company showcases their craft on Pinterest with 47 boards 3,032 followers. They have learned that Pinterest is a great way to show and promote jewelry because when someone sees your pins and re-pins it, it become endless.

Taste Ireland
Australia’s prime source for buying Irish goodies, groceries and gift hampers online. The company use Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and Pinterest to communicate with customers and Irish communities in Australia. The community driven success of their Facebook and Instagram accounts can be attributed to fresh contents on their page with community news and information on Irish Events in Australia. On July 12, 2014 Taste Ireland will be hosting a Customer Appreciation Day in Sydney. Event like this is promoted to different social media platforms to guarantee engagement and success.

Spin 1038
Dublin Independent Local Radio station awarded Best Business Twitter Account in Marketing by the Social Media Award. Spins digital presence on Twitter saw the listenership explode for the station. Promotions and competitions ran on Twitter proved how Spin thinks outside the box when it comes to their social media engagement.

Eircom
Ireland’s largest telecommunications company controlling majority of fixed line telephony. The company used Twitter as a customer service channel to understand where the customers were and what they wanted. Their social medial team was open to respond to queries, even offering customers their services during off peak hours to help them. Using Twitter as a customer service channel is useful; it enhances the customer’s ability to contact the company while informing new and existing customers about new offers, promotions and news related to the services.

 

Social Media Management for Sydney Furniture Stores

June 24, 2014 Tags: , , , Christine

For small industries, to introduce themselves using expensive advertising campaigns and splashy PR stunts would not be much of an option. Small business owners face the challenge of presenting and building brand awareness while keeping their costs down.

The good news is there are a number of efficient marketing strategies and tools which companies can use to build awareness among their target customers. One of the best ways is using social media which when used strategically can give direct engagement to the target audience. There are social media platforms such as Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest and Instagram which have proven to be great channels giving an access to an immense number of people.

Our client Habitat Furniture is a boutique furniture store in Sydney’s Inner West. It’s a small family business with over 20 years combined experience in the industry. Their products range from living room furniture, dining room furniture to bedroom furniture.

We have been commissioned to do Habitat Furniture’s social media management. Our main goal is to help raise awareness to their brand, create engagement which then results in driving revenues to their business.

Facebook, Twitter and Instagram are powerful marketing tools to market brands, products and services which is why we employed those 3 tools into Habitat Furniture’s social media management.

We have created accounts on each platform making sure their company identity is branded well with a consistent tone so that people clearly understand who they are and what they do.

Facebook has 1.28 billion active users and that statistic alone tells us how great of an opportunity it is for marketing. Habitat Furniture’s Facebook page is a platform we use for interacting with customers and keeping them up to date with the latest furniture styles Habitat Furniture has in their showroom. This has proven effective as they have gotten more clients over the years through the promotions and updates we have made on their page.

twitter page habitat furnitureThere are 255 million twitter subscribers in the world today and it’s one of the quickest ways to brand and connect. We know that consistent conversations go a long way and connecting with Habitat Furniture Warehouse’s target market is the key. We use Twitter to cultivate relationships with their followers which has resulted into sales. We also make sure to do regular tweets, promote products and answer any enquiries making sure Habitat Furniture has an active and healthy profile.

 

instagram post habitatInstagram is a great way to expand a brand’s reach. Instagram is almost entirely photo-based making it more personal. Habitat Furniture’s Instagram account is not only used to build their brand recognition and consumer loyalty. We try to make it as personal as possible so that their followers can see their fun side making a good balance between work and play. We also cross post Instagram photos to Twitter to inform people of their Instagram account.instagram post habitat

Habitat Furniture Warehouse are makers of high quality Australian-made timber furniture and supports the local Sydney furniture makers. If you’re looking for modern furniture Sydney or furniture Sydney, You can find some of the best from Habitat Warehouse.

 

Linked In Training Sydney for CEOs Corporations Business & Government

June 23, 2014 Stewart Dawes
LinkedIn-Sydney-Training

LinkedIn has developed as a professional social media and networking site. Created in 2003 it has 3,650,000 users in Australia today. LinkedIn operates the world’s largest professional network on the Internet with more than 300 million members in over 200 countries and territories. LinkedIn was created for an older, more professional audience. If your business targets adults over thirty, then LinkedIn is tailor-made for you.

If you’re a CEO or a Manager in a corporation or government, having your entire workforce use LinkedIn could be an asset to your organization.  Start Linked In training for your staff and reap the benefits from a focused program.

Improve Employee Morale – blocking LinkedIn access send message to your employees that you don’t trust them. Online praise and recognition on LinkedIn groups are powerful rewards for great work.

Increase Brand Visibility – Employees are 70% more likely to engage with your company updates. When your employees “like” , “share” and “comment” on content, they make them visible to their contacts too.

Employees are consistent Brand Ambassadors – employee’s personal profile not only speaks of their personal brand but your company too. If you help your staffs build compelling profiles you’re sending a message about your company brand to everyone who visits their profiles or interacts with them.

Higher page ranking – companies with a greater number of employees on LinkedIn tend to have more followers on their company page. The more company page followers, the higher your page will rank in LinkedIn search results.

Understanding how the Linked In demographic differs from other social media platforms

84.4% of LinkedIn members use the free version
61% of LinkedIn users worldwide are male.
47% of B2B companies actively use LinkedIn
77% of LinkedIn members use the site to research people and companies. 69% to reconnect with past business associates and 50% to build new networks.
53% of LinkedIn users join 10 or more groups.
43% of employers use social media to recruit – of those, 88% use LinkedIn, 46% Facebook and 22% Twitter.
There are 7,610 searches on LinkedIn per minute.
65% of B2B companies report that they have acquired a customer through LinkedIn.
LinkedIn drives 9 times as many applications for employment as Facebook and 3 times as many as Twitter.
LinkedIn has the highest visitor-to-lead conversion rate (2.74%), almost 3x Twitter (.69%) and Facebook (.77%)
52.2% spend 0-2 hours on LinkedIn.

 

Creating a LinkedIn Profile
Your profile is your LinkedIn page that describes you: your career history, education, interests, and other related content you may want to publish.

1. Create your LinkedIn profile by going to www.linkedin.com
2. Get started by registering your First name and Last name, Email address and Password and clicking the “Join now” box.
3. Choose your country, enter your Zip code, Employment status, your company then click “Create My Profile.”
4. Confirm your account through your email address.
5. Connect with people you know in LinkedIn
6. Invite people from your contact list.
7. Connect with people who have LinkedIn account you want to stay in touch with.
8. Get the app for every device you carry.
9. Select the account that works best for you. Basic account is free
10. Edit your profile (Experience, education, photo, skills and expertise, details, see your improved profile)

 

Setting up a Business Page on LinkedIn
Set up a LinkedIn Company Page to raise brand awareness, promote career opportunities, add valuable back-links to your site, generate leads and connect with your target audience on LinkedIn.

Requirements:
1. Personal LinkedIn account.
2. Profile strength must be listed as Intermediate or All Star.
3. Your profile list your position in the company.
4. Company email address with unique company domain name.
5. Your personal profile must have several connections.

Set up your Business Page:
1. Log in to your LinkedIn account.
2. Click “Interest” at the top of your homepage then click “Add a Company”
3. Enter your company name and email address
4. Confirm your email address. Follow the instructions in the email to finalize the initial setup.
5. Complete the Company Page overview to set up your Business Profile. Provide your business information type, size, website URL, industry, operating status, and year founded.
6. Include a company description (250-2000 characters including spaces), and company website URL.
7. Add a banner image and logos. Image – Minimum 646 x 220 pixels, maximum 2 MB. Logo – 100 x 60 pixels, maximum 2 MB.
After you’ve filled everything out, click “publish.” Your page will now be live.

 

Using Linked In to stay in touch as a Group
Establishing a LinkedIn group can be a great way to stay in touch and help you connect with people in your industry.

Start discussions – use LinkedIn group to start professional group discussion with other group members.
Create subgroups – by creating subgroups you can keep your members up to date especially if you are working a project with other group members. Start new discussion visible only in this subgroup.
Connect with other members – expand your network by taking a look at the profiles of other group members and discover other people with the same field of interest. Connect with them or follow them.
Build relationship – your LinkedIn group will allow you to establish strong relationship with active members.
Group messaging – LinkedIn group allows you to send group message to people you’re connected to.

 

Improving your visibility on Linked In via relevant & interesting posts, comments, share & like.

Like
Like option on LinkedIn functions like a retweet in Twitter. Clicking “Like” immediately forward the update to all your 1st level connection where it will appear in their update stream on their homepage. If someone has already seen the original message, they don’t get the whole message again but just add your name at the bottom to indicate you have liked it.

Comment
Clicking the “comment” is a tried and tested way to develop a conversation. It allows you to comment on someone’s update – this sends a message back to them and pushes the comment and the initial update out to your 1st level connections.

Share
Sharing is a two stage process, it allows you to either redistribute the article as an update to your 1st level connections, post it to a group or multiple groups, or forward it in a message to your connections which then arrives at their inbox on LinkedIn.

Improve your online visibility on LinkedIn by joining groups. Join groups by simply clicking the “join” button. You can join a maximum of 50 groups join groups that your ideal clients are members of. Look for groups that have a large number of members.

If you’re a member of 50 groups and each of those groups have 1,000 members your content will go out to 50,000 people. Many groups have more than 1,000 members to your reach may be even greater. Share your content and post to a list of groups and your update will show up in the discussion area of each group. Try this and increase your visibility by sharing relevant content with enormous number of people and watch your business grow.

Escorts on Twitter & Social Media

June 17, 2014 Tags: , , , , , , , Christine
twitter for escorts

Are escorts on twitter? And what other social media do they use?

The social web is an influential marketing tool for businesses to effectively reach target consumers. A lot of people and businesses now understand the power of the social web and one of the earliest adopters, the sex industry has quickly embraced this new and exciting technology.

Sex sells and some men and women are willing to go to the extent of buying it. There’s a sheer volume of sex services advertised on the internet and one need not look far and wide just to find what they’re looking for.

Sex workers use social media to their advantage. The best social media platform for the sex industry is proving to be Twitter. Most escorts use Twitter because it is pretty open to adult entertainers using their service.

Take a closer look at Twitter’s policy regarding adult-themed content and you’ll be quick to learn that nudity or images of a sexual nature are not prohibited, lewd or pornographic images on your profile photo, header photo, or user background however is prohibited. So as long as you keep your private bits off those three areas, you’re good to go.

Other social media platforms may not be the best place for escorts as they have stricter guidelines. Facebook for instance have a strict policy against the sharing of pornographic and explicit sexual content and also enforces limitations on the display of nudity.

Twitter is a great place for escorts to make personal connections with customers and possible clients. By interacting with them in a more casual context, escorts can show their personality and character. Escorts can also keep their old and new clients interested by tweeting naughty messages and sensual photos.

Twitter has also provided escorts a place where they can build relationships with their fellow escorts, a place where they can share their insights, have conversations, provide help and support, share advice and get helpful information.

The sex industry has been quick to grasp the strength of creating and fostering a community on the social web. In the escort industry, the social web provides people looking for pleasure a sneak peak of what they want with a degree of confidentiality.

You can find escorts in each capital city of Australia by using these directories:

https://myplaymate.com.au

http://www.escortss.com.au

Other similar links:

http://escortsdiary.com

http://www.brothels.com.au

http://www.sexaminer.com.au

Most Searched Terms: Escorts on social media, hookers on twitter, sex workers sexting, adult services in sydney, sex workers melbourne, escorts brisbane, sexual services on the internet.

Social Media Management Profile: Glen Fredericks

February 13, 2014 Tags: , , , , , , , Stewart Dawes
social media management glen fredericks

Last week CHRISTINE BUHAY caught up with Glen Fredericks, a graphic/web designer, video editor and social media manager extraordinaire. He shared his views about social media management and social media platforms, particularly Facebook and Instagram. Here’s what he said …

A Bit about Him

I work at Barbeques Galore Maitland, one of the franchises owned by the Newcombe family. I run the Facebook page Shushbbq and also the Instagram account @grillporn.

I have a Facebook drumming page called @drummingco.

I started working in the Barbeques Galore Maitland store just a little over four months ago. I do a variety of tasks, from graphic design, managing their mailing lists, video and photography. I work in the office. I don’t deal with customers at all.

What I am doing on the social media front is the Shushbbq Facebook page, which is for the “Shush! BBQ Book” that the family has self-published.

His Work

grillporn imageInstagram, as you’d already be aware, is a powerful tool, so we started the @grillporn profile – choosing “grill” because we are aiming at the American market and “porn” because of my experience with “drumporn” on Instagram.

Any word associated with porn on Instagram doesn’t come up with tsunami of pornographic results, but of people who have an intense interest in whatever the subject matter is. So be it #foodporn or #drumporn or even #cloudporn.

drummingco imageI started instagramming photos of drums back in August 2012 and then in January of 2013 I started the Facebook Page @drummingco which is now up to 6,000+ Likes. The hardest thing has been to drag those Instagram followers over to Facebook. It would appear that your numbers are skewed towards Instagram as well.

I had a Facebook Event called Hug A Drummer Day. I announced it two months prior. I wasn’t going to make a Facebook Page about it, but with the publicity being generated (it was in the Newcastle Herald and I was interviewed on 2HD) I figured I better in case someone squatted on the www.facebook.com/hugadrummer and capitalised on my hard work. Within a week, it has grown to 2,500 Likes with 6,000+ joining the event (I anticipated 5,000 so I’m quite happy with the result).

So I totally have the whole drum industry side of things covered. And while it is a hobby, it’s something that has opened up opportunities for me. It certainly didn’t hurt in helping me get this job. In addition to my graphic design, web design and video editing capabilities.

I also took over the reins of the Barbeques Galore Maitland Facebook Page. After a week the people “talking about this” went from 100 or so, up to 3,000. I don’t expect it to stay that high, if it hovers around 25% of the Likes I’ll be happy. I’m doing about 4 posts per day (I’m only doing 1 a day on Shush BBQ) so it gives me plenty of opportunity to engage with the audience.

The Differences between Instagram and Facebook

Instagram allows you to find and connect with an audience in a way that Facebook doesn’t. With Facebook you’re pretty much waiting for people to find you. On the other hand, with Instagram you can find people who have the same interest as you simply by doing a hashtag search. Instagram’s strength is in its ability to connect with people, and for Facebook Pages it’s the sharing.

toilet drum for drummingcoJust a couple of weeks back I took a photo of my toilet and posted it on a new Facebook Page I made and that photo has had over half a million views possibly making it Australia’s most famous toilet on the internet?

The funny thing is the practice pad, the stand and the bass pad were all pulled out of the dumpster at the back of the @thedrumshop last year. Those things went from being thrown out and heading to landfill to becoming loved and shared over 5,500 times.

To Wrap It Up

That’s a bit of background on me and what my aims are with the Facebook and Instagram accounts I am running for the business. I am starting from scratch with the barbeque industry, but as I have found with the drum industry, networking with other pages certainly helps.

To contact us re doing social media management work for your business email stewart@atomicdigital.com.au or call 1300 321 814.

 

Social Media Marketing Ideas

January 21, 2014 Tags: , , , Stewart Dawes
Social Media Logos

2014 started as an exciting year for Social Media and it is essential to stay on top of things for new social media marketing ideas you can use in your own strategies.

Social Media Marketing is big business and we thought you could get some insights from our list of the 20 Social Media Marketing Ideas for 2014.

Google +
People may have ignored Google+ but it’s definitely something to pay attention to. With Google+ being backed up by the giant search engine, and its increased user base, there’s no doubt of it becoming a dominator in the social media scene. If you don’t have a business account on Google+ yet, I suggest you make one now as it’s going to be much bigger in 2014.

Images and Photo Sharing
Images are going to get even hotter this year. Visual content will stay on top of ruling the world of social media and social media networks will utilize them even more as they become an important part of any strong content strategy.

Content Sharing
Most everyone is expected to do social media this year as social media awareness has reached and is embraced by almost everyone. Getting your content shared will definitely help your search rankings.

Investments in Social Media
Businesses nowadays will not be complete without an online presence. Sharing and spreading the news about your brand or product has never been easier with the help of the different social media platforms around. Businesses add social media in their marketing strategy as it has become a necessity in keeping their businesses on the social market.

Image Sharing Sites
Image sharing sites will continue to be a hot item and you’ll see new ones pop up everywhere. Images compliment the written context and they are more likely to be shared than just something with text only. So be on the lookout for the newbies that could be giants and incorporate them in your strategy.

Mobile
More and more of your audience will consume your content on their mobile devices. Your blogs and images have to be viewable on smartphones and tablets. You also need to be comfortable with how your social networks operate on smartphones or tablets and this is a new comfort level that you need to have.

Blogging
Creating great content to drive back traffic to your site is going to remain a great way to generate new leads. Blogging will continue to generate new business for you.

Video Content
Consumers will still turn to video content to watch and learn about almost anything. Include them in your marketing plan as we expect many more viral videos to hit the web, especially now that they are easy access on mobile phones and tablets.

Customer Service
More customer service will be handled via social media. It is not going to go away and it’s only going to get bigger. Expect more interaction from customers via social media platforms like Facebook and make sure that you are there to respond promptly to all their queries and comments.

No Spammy Contents
Google started it and now Facebook is following suit. Spammy content will not get you anywhere, and the big sites are smart enough to know this now. Always create valuable and informative content that customers will appreciate.

Social Channels
Treat each of your social channels as a separate unit. Take note of your follower demographic on each channel and make sure your content appeals to them.

Game Plan
Having a game plan is vital in achieving your goal. You need to have a strategic social media marketing plan to succeed in this business. Never stop learning and researching on new ideas which you can combine with your own strategy.

Manage Your Social Media Accounts
Social media management platforms like Hootsuite, Buffer and Tweetdeck can help you manage your social media accounts. Scheduling posts, monitoring and managing your social feeds will give you more time to accomplish other duties.

Check Your Stats
Make time to review your metrics. It’s very important to know what and what’s not working on your social media accounts. This will help reduce major headaches, wasted time and more importantly, money. You need to be able to know which social media does not work and spend time on the ones that are actually bringing people to your website, or the ones that may convert sales or customers in some other way.

Reviews
Consumers rely on social networks for review before making a purchase. Listen to what people are saying about you and look for opportunities to engage with your most loyal fans whenever you get the chance.

Ambassadors and Online Influencers
One of the most influential ways to get in front of customers is through word of mouth marketing. Your customers can be your biggest brand advocate and when your loyal customers spread the word for you, it opens up doors for a new audience who might be potential customers.

Focus On the Audience You Have
Understand your audience and connect with them. Focus on your content and grow your audience organically.

Find Prospects Online
Don’t overlook the unexpected online opportunities for prospects. Research and understand where you’re most likely to find prospects which you can use to your advantage. Twitter for instance is an excellent resource for finding prospects online.

Provide Value
Providing value to your customers is what matters today. In order for people to stay engaged, they have to recognize value from your brand.

Customer Appreciation
Show customers you care by providing words of appreciation. Don’t forget to thank your customers for their loyalty and make sure to use their feedbacks as guides for improvement.

Rupert Murdoch on Twitter

January 9, 2014 Tags: , Stewart Dawes
rupert murdoch twitter
Recent interview with our social media management director Stewart Dawes by Farz Edraki of Crikey.com.au …
1. How would you assess Murdoch’s Twitter performance? 
Love him or loathe him, Murdoch is one of the few people helping Twitter remain vaguely interesting. Twitter has become a dead platform for hundreds of thousands, if not millions of people as the massive migration of focus onto Instagram and also sadly back to Facebook continues. Murdoch is using it true-to-type – old school editorialising where instead of full-column newspaper editorials, his key messages are reduced to just 140 characters. He’s giving us bite-size daily opinions perfect for our fast-food constitutions.
Murdoch’s tweeting seems like an extension of his thrill for greater engagement with people-at-large which I suspect was spurred by his TV performance in the phone-hacking scandal. Twitter gives the irascible, table-thumping Murdoch of that enquiry a means by which to ongoingly explain himself to the audience who chooses to regard him as relevant, even fascinating. I don’t think it’s a coincidence that his parliamentary TV appearance was in 2011 and he started tweeting in 2012.
If he offends a few groups along the way, all the better for News Corp. It gives the corporation an edgy, human face and moves discussion ever-further away from 2011’s embarrassments.
What tips would you give him if he came to you for advice?
While it would be more pleasant for the twitterati if Murdoch engaged in conversation, like most celebrities he pretty well uses it for one-way expression only. Understandable as he would likely receive thousands of tweets directed at him daily. So there’s very little scope for him to change his broadcaster approach.
Overall my advice to Murdoch would be to not change at all. We’re getting this one-off glimpse of an influential 82-year-old tycoon, still working when most his age have passed away – an ever-more lonesome icon of the 20th Century having a last series of rages at the dimming of the light. His messy double spaces after fullstops, or spaces before commas add to the chaotic tone. What’s he going to tweet next? No idea, though it will be cantankerously right-of-centre.
Given the fact that Murdoch has rarely been the most loved of human beings, I’d hardly be advising him to bother being more loveable.
2. Murdoch’s quite open on Twitter. Does that help his personality and profile? Are there any associated risks?
It’s a great opportunity to show the public that behind the monolithic News Corp and Fox brands is a thinking, fearless human being who regards himself as a newspaper man first-and-foremost, and a commercial tyrant second. His profile was so poor after the News of the World scandal he could hardly make it worse, so bizarrely Twitter is helping him rehabilitate his public image prior to his passing from this world. Maybe we’ll remember him more for his tweeting than the ugly hackings done under his watch?
As for associated risks, some shareholders at News Corp probably have the occasional sleepless night, but overall Murdoch is using a cut and thrust approach to public discourse to both defend his realm, offer bouquets to those he supports, and stir newfound loathing against perceived adversaries. I don’t see any offended Scientologists, “BBC lefties”, Rudd sympathisers or Muslims bothering to throw a pie in his face, or worse finish him off, when they’re figuring nature will do the job for them eventually.

3. Are there other media personalities – who are also uninhibited – that you could compare Murdoch to?

Not for my mind. Murdoch is fascinating for a variety of reasons but the aspect that makes him most unique, sorry to return to the subject again, is surely his octogenarianism. There’s a much shorter time-frame that he’ll be tweeting for. The Murdoch-tweeting phenomenon has that one-off historical quality to it. Myspace was an out-of-the-box Murdoch train-wreck, Murdoch on Twitter is feeling like a train wreck in extreme slow motion.

4. Do you see Murdoch’s twitter use as signalling the rise of “tweetorialising”?

Twitter put tweetorialising in the hands of the everyday person so I don’t see that tweetorialising is on the rise thanks to Murdoch or anyone else. We mere mortals on twitter dreamt that our thoughts could be something more than random suburban blips, we dreamt of hordes of followers lapping up our latest opine. But it was all too democratic. The white noise became unbearable. Now the everyday Joe or Jo is leaning towards visual mediums like instagram to glorify our anonymous existences in visual form. It’s mostly just celebrities and journalists who are still locked in a mortal dance on Twitter, feeding off the radiance of each other. It’s a shame because Twitter was thrilling at its peak, but it’s extremely dead compared to what it once was. No wonder Twitter’s hurrying to the stock exchange to get what illusory value it can before the lustre falls away.
So to me Murdoch’s late-adopter use of Twitter is symptomatic of the decay of the platform, the gloss is coming off its 140-character limitation and the forgettable nature of the billions of ideas traded in its abridged space. Instagram and Facebook both provide a lot more room for narrative and we humans are returning to our love of a well-told tale.