Social Media: A Conversation

Posted on March 30, 2012 by krwatson

“A conversation” truly is the best way to describe social media. Josh Kilmer-Purcell hit the nail on the head when he said that social media has gone from a broadcast model to a conversation model in the March episode of Anchor Chat. “It’s not a broadcast medium. It so damages your brand to not answer every question on your Facebook page,” explained Josh.

Josh Kilmer-Purcell discussing social media on Anchor Chat

So many companies and brands want to use their social media platforms only to crank out press releases, coupons, and other promotions. These things can appear on social media but shouldn’t be the only thing pages post. After all, no one likes That Friend who only talks about himself! Engaging your target market with questions and sharing industry news with them are two simple ways to position your brand as both an expert in your respective industry and a concerned listener.

I cannot stress this enough: Do not delete negative posts. Josh has it right: it damages your brand to delete those concerns. Negative comments are opportunities for your brand to demonstrate exemplary customer service. Let those voices be heard. Answer them. Have a conversation with them. You’ll be glad you did in the long run.

At a Social Media Club Fort Worth seminar in Summer 2011, Social Media Delivered CEO Eye Mayer Orsburn told the crowd that brands should only talk about themselves 20% of the time. The other 80% of posts should be engaging and dynamic content relevant to your brand. Telling fans to constantly “buy this” or “buy that” isn’t as powerful as providing solid content that will make fans want to buy this or buy that. The Beekman 1802 Boys, for instance, try to answer every comment on their Facebook page. When fans feel like their voices are being heard, they’re more inclined to support the Beekman brand by purchasing a product because they feel like the brand is supporting them as a customer.

Do you run a Facebook brand page? Comment below and tell us what your page is, what industry your brand is in, and how you engage your fans in conversation.

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Perception & Image

Posted on March 28, 2012 by bcaldwell

Perception and Image How important is perception? What is perception? How does it relate to one’s image?

Whether we are talking about an individual or a company, perception is everything. As an individual, we want people to think highly of us. As a company, we want our brands to evoke positive responses.

Every action we make is a reflection on our image.

When you dig down to the bottom of it, it comes down to principle and character. Unethical people and businesses can only “fake it” for so long. In time, the truth will be uncovered and the individual will be fired or the business will falter. Alternatively, those who stand on good moral character can be confident that their image is based on a solid foundation.

One of my favorite quotes regards the concept of branding:

“A brand isn’t what you say it is, it’s what they say it is.”

Perception. Image.

What is does your image say about you?

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Fueled by The Beatles

Image

Many people rely on their ear buds, pulsing with their favorite jams to give them the constant brain nourishment and motivation to get through a workout, traffic, boring dinners. Me? I rely on mine to assist me from preliminary to finalized designs for a number of different projects. I find that matching the genre to any given project, really puts me in the right mindset for research and discovery, and finding unique solutions.

Given that I have designed thousands of projects for clients (and have some that I need to complete today) I’ve narrowed down my examples to these, fueled by The Beatles. Enjoy and rock on.

“I’ve got blisters on my fingers!”

@Caldwild

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Fixing it in post.

Posted on March 20, 2012 by randerson

There is this idea floating around that you can fix anything in post production, aka editing. While that is true to some degree, you do not want to use editing as a crutch for poor production.

If you can fix things during your production, you can make editing a lot easier for yourself.

Here are a few things that could be fixed during production to help make post a lot easier on yourself.

Lighting: Lighting is so very, very important. You can light your video a variety of different ways, but the main thing you want is for everyone to see what is happening. If you try fixing this in post you are going to have a grainy video and much of your HD quality will be lost. Seeing what is happening in your video is vital to…well, video.

Audio: Audio is just as important to your video as lighting. Unless you’re making The Artist, you need to be able to hear what people are saying in your video. If your audio is too low, boosting the audio in post you will also boost the room noise and will result in grainy sound.

Acting: You cannot edit around bad acting. If someone is not delivering a line the way you want them to deliver it, it is your job to get them to do it again. Otherwise you are stuck with that bad footage and re-shooting something you could have got the first time around is going to make everyone involved frustrated and disgruntled.

I have experienced all of these editing nightmares and I have found ways to fix them (except for the acting, there seriously is no way around that) but I have found that it is much easier to make sure to correct these things during production rather than fixing it in post.

If you take the time to check to make sure your audio, lighting and acting during production, you will have a much easier time editing everything together as opposed to trying to problem solve and figure out to fix everything.

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Firefox 3D Debug View

Posted on March 15, 2012 by mmunsie

So my life just changed today. Firefox came out with an extension that allows you to inspect your webpages in 3D. That means you can see the all the divs stacked on top of other divs, divs that go outside of your container and basically seem to float in space and time, and overall get a better picture of how your layout is structured. Personally, I think this is the coolest thing since string cheese.

Would you like to try it out yourself? I’m sure you do. Here are a few steps to get the ball rolling.

1. Obtain Firefox. If you don’t have it (shame on you), but here it is: http://www.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/new/
2. Download the extension, https://github.com/victorporof/Tilt/raw/master/bin/Tilt.xpi and drag the file into Firefox.
3. After installing the plugin, goto any webpage and press ctrl+shift+l (for mac users try cmd+shift+l).

If for some reason the plugin doesn’t work, probably because an error message “Could not initialize the WebGL context, your hardware or drivers may not support it” – try the following steps below (taken directly from: http://hacks.mozilla.org/2011/07/tilt-visualize-your-web-page-in-3d/):

1. In Firefox’s URL bar, type “about:config” and press Enter.
2. Click the “I’ll be careful, I promise!” button.
3. Do a search for “webgl” in the Filter field.
4. Check that “webgl.disabled” is set to False.
5. Double-click “webgl.force-enabled” to set it to True.

Here is what our website at Anchor looks like when inspecting in 3D:

If you would like to learn more about Firefox’s awesome new extension, check out http://www.flashstreamworks.com/2012/03/13/firefoxs-3d-debug-view-is-visually-stunning-and-practical/. If you are or have already started using this, let me know what you think and if you find it more useful or not than regular element inspecting.

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A Paradigm Shift in Corporate Talk-ology

Posted on March 13, 2012 by csanders

Everybody hates corporate buzzwords. I’m sorry, not everybody. I’m sure there is at least one person in your office that uses corporate buzzwords all the time. I also am positive you all make fun of that person behind their back. If you are reading this right now and you are not making fun of anyone who uses corporate buzzwords at your office, it is probably you. Stop it.

You see, people hate corporate buzzwords not because they are not good to use, but rather they hate them because they are over used. Okay, you don’t have to completely stop it, but let’s at least establish a few new rules.

Proactive: The word proactive should not be used more than once a week at the maximum. Proactive is a perfectly valid word to use. It is a great way to describe taking action on something before you wait for an issue to arise. People just use this too much. Think of it as that special power in a video game. You only use it every once in a while then you have to wait for it to power up again.

Let’s proactively decide to curb our use of the word proactive.

Action plan: Too many times people use the term action plan when what they really just mean is plan. We should save the term action plan for when we want to describe a plan that specifically involves action.

For example, if you are deciding how to structure a proposal, that is just a “plan”, but if you are planning a movie that has several car chases, a gun battle, and parachute ski jump then you are allowed to use the term action plan. Other than that, just say “plan”.

Outside the box: Every new idea, because it is new, should already be considered outside of the box of standard ideas. Because of this, the term outside the box should not be used to describe new ideas because the descriptor “new” is sufficient. If you wish to use the term “outside the box”, then it should mean something that you have taken it out of an actual box. If not, you’ll be laughed at behind your back by your office coworkers. The only time you are allowed to use outside the box is if you are, in fact, taking something outside of a box.

Mission critical: If you are doing something at your office that is not mission critical then don’t do it. Everything you do should be pushed toward your mission. It should all be mission-critical. If you had to say something is mission-critical that means a bunch of other stuff you were doing was not mission critical. Stop doing that other stuff and get back to work.

I am sure there are a few people who might read this and disagree with the idea that these are overused words and to then I say “Hey, turn around real quick. They are all laughing at you right now…See?”

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Stickam: The Most Social Social Platform?

Posted on March 8, 2012 by krwatson

“Tell your friends that I’m on Stickam every Saturday at 4 PM,” sings Tanner Patrick in a YouTube video promoting his weekly live chat. On Stickam, Tanner talks about whatever his fans want to talk about. The musician has a fierce following on Stickam. To-date, Tanner has had nearly 2,000,000 viewers tune into his chat, earning his live stream the title of #19 Most Viewed – Music.

The most social Platform, Tanner Patrick

stickam.com/tannerpatrick

“Stickam provides a platform that enables anybody to reach their fans from anywhere via streaming live video from their computer or iPhone or iPad,” explains Andy, a Stickam professional. “Thousands of musicians use Stickam to host live band chats, studiocams, or to stream live concerts. Shows that we feature on the Stickam homepage regularly garner over 20,000 views per hour, so it is really a great way to make sure you “pack the stadium” every time you go live.”

The live streaming website is 100% free and combines live video with the popular short-hand chat aspect of Twitter. Users tuning in can watch and listen to the Stickam host responding to their questions in real-time. Stickam hosts can even broadcast from their iPad or iPhone so that they, like Tanner Patrick, never have to miss a scheduled Stickam stream. Stickam, according to the founders, is the future of video on the internet: live and interactive. Stickam even offers PayPerLive: a live video streaming solution for professionals that allows hosts to sell tickets to broadcasts.

Stickam could essentially be used as an instant press conference or focus group. Businesses could use Stickam as a tool to host seminars. When a product is launched or news is announced, companies and brands could turn to Stickam to answer questions and concerns. Actors could discuss episodes with their fans right after the show airs. Social media enthusiasts could use Stickam as a crowd sourcing or think tank tool.

The ability to connect with your fans or target audience on such an intimate level to deliver your message is enticing. Social media is all about having a conversation, and you don’t get more social than live video streaming. The possibilities are endless, yet few are using Stickam for any of these things, which begs the question: Are brands missing out by not using live streaming platforms such as Stickam?

Learn Tanner Patrick’s take on Stickam:

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What’s in a Target?

Posted on March 6, 2012 by bcaldwell

The short answer is, your ultimate success.

Here’s a reality: not everyone cares about your product. I know, it’s tough to believe because your product is so great. However, great products and services are built to solve specific issues and therefore should address their respective niche audiences. So we need to identify who these people are that might care about what you have to offer.

It’s important to conduct your research. Talk to your friends and family and try to learn what it is about your product or service that they would value as consumers. Your sister-in-law may be willing to purchase something that your mother is not. If you can understand why they differ, you are one step closer to making your product successful. Having said that, don’t put all of your eggs in what your sister-in-law has to say about it.

Once you have your theory, test it out, and test it again. See if you can find anyone else who would purchase your product and determine if there are any attributes of that person that match those of your sister-in-law. If you can find some solid comparisons, you may want to use those to sell to the unknown market base.

Some of the major questions you may consider asking are:

Why do you like this product?
How much would you be willing to pay for this?
Why would you buy this when compared to _______ (competitor or alternative solution)?
Do you know anyone else who would be interested in my product?

Consumers make buying decisions all the time for different reasons. We can never know the specifics of what goes through the brain of the purchaser, but through behavioral research, we can get close. Successfully identifying your target market is a step that is crucial to the life expectancy of your business.

Now that we understand some of the basics of how we identify a target market, we need to understand HOW to reach them. That will be coming in a future post, but I would also love to discuss some options in the comment section below if you are so inclined to write me.

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How My iPhone Made Me a Better Designer

Posted on March 1, 2012 by acaldwell

I’m always looking for inspiration. It keeps my designs fresh, my mind creative and my sketchbook full.

Enter my iPhone 4 in 2010, when the ability to take photos and video was clear, crisp and quick! This meant that I always had a camera with me to capture my inspiration within seconds. It became quite a hobby because of it’s convenience, and I found myself snapping up to 100 pictures a day.

I can hardly talk about my new hobby-turned-obsession without mentioning one of my favorite apps, Instagram. Wow. Filters, location tagging, direct upload functions to Facebook, Twitter, Flickr, Tumblr, and other social media outlets. Instagram holds the photos much like a gallery, showing thumbnails in rows and columns. This is when I realized how much my iPhone was helping me to become a better designer.

One day while looking at a screen-full of my little creations, I realized how much my photos were progressing; Compositions were stronger, perspective was becoming more creative and my ability to crop in an interesting way (I must admit Instagram makes that easy by making the area square, but nonetheless I am forced to choose the area) was growing. This prompted me to review the seven design components: the principles of design.

#1 Space