10. "Twitter is a great place to get blog ideas" @TDefren
9. "Talking to a real person from a company can actually win my business. It creates emotional ties that wouldn't otherwise be there." @MandyBee
8. Comcast does care. Really.
7. "How to say more with less" @tjpip
6. Twitter is a lot better at breaking news than the main stream media.
5. Summize is a great tool for tracking conversations.
4. Twitter is a great place for finding coupons for just about any major online retailer.
3. Sometimes I do care what people have for lunch. I've seen some great recommendations on twitter.
2. Gary Vaynerchuck. I first learned about him when someone posted a link to his web 2.0 keynote address. I'm a dedicated Vayniac (I think that is the correct term)
1. It is an incredible learning tool. Follow the right people and they will deliver some very valuable insights whatever your passion might be. A solid list of people to check out can be found here.
What have YOU learned from Twitter?
Friday, November 7, 2008
Thursday, November 6, 2008
The Death of Cable
According to CNET, YouTube will be featuring full-length movies within 30-90 days. This news comes shortly after YouTube started streaming full-length TV shows from CBS.
Why now?
TV shows need to be online. I'm sure they don't want to be. TV shows can make a lot more money off TV ad revenue than online ad revenue (fewer commercials online). They are going pirated and put online regardless, so it is advantageous for the parent company to distribute them legally with ad revenue.
Why the shift from cable?
Many people are feeling stressed from the economy. They are starting to look at what is expendable in their daily lives. Three monthly expenses immediately come to mind for most people: tv, internet, cell phone. With the age of online video, the standard television is becoming more and more obsolete. It probably won't ever become entirely obsolete, but the internet is pushing it in that direction.
Take a look at what people on Twitter have been saying:
It comes down to this: why buy the cow (Cable) when you get the milk for free (TV shows)?
Read more about movies going online here.
Why now?
TV shows need to be online. I'm sure they don't want to be. TV shows can make a lot more money off TV ad revenue than online ad revenue (fewer commercials online). They are going pirated and put online regardless, so it is advantageous for the parent company to distribute them legally with ad revenue.
Why the shift from cable?
Many people are feeling stressed from the economy. They are starting to look at what is expendable in their daily lives. Three monthly expenses immediately come to mind for most people: tv, internet, cell phone. With the age of online video, the standard television is becoming more and more obsolete. It probably won't ever become entirely obsolete, but the internet is pushing it in that direction.
Take a look at what people on Twitter have been saying:
It comes down to this: why buy the cow (Cable) when you get the milk for free (TV shows)?
Read more about movies going online here.
ATTN Journalists: I Feel Your Pain
In the PR Industry, we often hear about PR flacks sending out mass emails to reporters hoping that a few people will pick up on their boring pitch. I have always tried to avoid spamming reporters with untargeted pitches, but I've never truly been able to empathize with them until now.
What happened?
A few weeks ago I decided I wanted to start up my own website. I purchased a domain, but then soon realized I would need some HTML and CSS help. I decided to put up a short and specific ad on Craigslist with what I wanted: HTML design help and a flat rate of $50 for the work put in.
What did I receive?
To date, I've had over 50 responses to the brief ad...and most of them are entirely irrelevant to what I posted. As they came pouring in I was left wondering "Didn't these people read my ad? Why are 90% of these emails copy & paste jobs?"
Most responses:
I would estimate that about 90% of the respondents saw that I was looking for web design help didn't read the rest of the ad. They copy and pasted their pitch and sent it on over to me. Most of them charge anywhere from $300 to $3000 per web page built. Does that sound like something I would be interested in? Also, a few of these people who sent me bad pitches followed up with again after I didn't respond to them. If I was interested in a $1500 web page, believe me I would have responded.
Another 5% sent me an email that was literally spam or completely irrelevant. Only 5% of the emails I received were actually genuine people who read my ad and responded sincerely.
The moral of this story should be obvious to all PR people: don't spam journalists. Keep crying wolf by sending journalists untargeted pitches and by the time you have a solid pitch for them, you will probably be on the black list.
Take this advice from Peter Shankman, which he gives before you join his HARO list:
Next: This is really the only thing I ask: By joining this list, just promise me and yourself that you'll ask yourself before you send a response: Is this response really on target? Is this response really going to help the journalist, or is this just a BS way for me to get my client in front of the reporter? If you have to think for more than three seconds, chances are, you shouldn't send the response.
In the end, we could probably all stand to do this a bit more, huh?
Wednesday, November 5, 2008
Social Media is Not Free
I was so excited, completely ready to boast the conveniences of social media platforms in the midst of dwindling ad market value to those companies knocking at Axiom’s door. And then it hit me—almost to the point of regurgitation. Social media is not free? What?! It may seem like a priceless avenue, but it takes A LOT out of you.Consider those who are “Twitter whores" (not my words, Twitter’s) and how much time it takes them to become an elusive Twitter whore. Yes, the account set-up was free, but now they find themselves tweeting incessantly and not getting any work done (or are they?). I have Twitterberry and seldom use it for fear that I will have two ball and chains, integrated at best.
Not surprising at all but many companies are now searching out the most influential Twitter users—and perhaps they might hire them to “tweet” with a “twosse” on a freelance basis. Anyone know Pierre who sits for four hours at the local Starbucks and tweets about fashion sense on behalf of clothing retail clients? I do. He lives in New York City and gets paid handsomely.
One platform of the many platforms out there, Twitter is a free device that has a future; optimism touted among the Silicon Valley entrepreneurs of society, and a glass-half-empty mentality donned by PR peeps looking for real value.
Correct me if I’m wrong and if you'll excuse me, I'm going to go read a lengthy dissertation on why businesses should be on Twitter by GeekPreneur.
Last Night, Facebook became Twitter
Did you notice something last night on Facebook? I did. A lot of people were updating their statuses frequently while the election results came in. It reminded me of something else....oh yeah, Twitter.
I would estimate that about 98% of my Facebook friends are currently not on Twitter, so this was very interesting to watch. A few people commented on how much fun they were having checking the updated statuses of everyone. This furthers my belief that Twitter will eventually go mainstream. It is still with the early adapters, but I believe it is nearing the tipping point.
When the status feature of Facebook was first introduced, it was mocked just like Twitter is by some people, "Why do I care what you had for lunch?" But eventually people have embraced the status feature, which is what I believe will soon happen with Twitter. There is value in both, but it is up to you to find where the value is.
I would estimate that about 98% of my Facebook friends are currently not on Twitter, so this was very interesting to watch. A few people commented on how much fun they were having checking the updated statuses of everyone. This furthers my belief that Twitter will eventually go mainstream. It is still with the early adapters, but I believe it is nearing the tipping point.
When the status feature of Facebook was first introduced, it was mocked just like Twitter is by some people, "Why do I care what you had for lunch?" But eventually people have embraced the status feature, which is what I believe will soon happen with Twitter. There is value in both, but it is up to you to find where the value is.
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