I've been bending the rules...

After being rained off the golf course this morning I decided to retire to the bath with 'Content Rules', a book by CC Chapman and Ann Handley which I strongly recommend. I thought it would be useful to revisit the book in preparation for the next New Media Breakfast entitled 'Content is King'.

After about 45 minutes I put the book down only to notice the steam from the bath has warped the hardback cover - I suppose you could say I've been bending the Content Rules?

If you would like to come along to the next New Media Breakfast in Glasgow please click here.

We also have the next Edinburgh New Media Breakfast this week - Back to Basics where attendees will be getting some sound advice from the Content Rules co-author, CC Chapman - well worth attending just for that!

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New Media Breakfast Glasgow - CONTENT IS KING - 2nd September

Date: Friday 2nd September 2011
Venue: No.29, Royal Exchange Square, Glasgow

It was CC Chapman's introduction video to the last New Media Breakfast that inspired the topic for the August New Media Breakfast - Content is King; partly because of what he says in the video and, partly because we are often asked the question - "What do we talk about?" Lots of people we talk to, even those who get the whole social media concept, are finding content creation a big challenge.  We may even play CC Chapman's video again!



Content for engagement

• What is content?
• What do we talk about?
• How do we say it?
• Where do we say it?
• How often do we say it?
• How do we make it engaging?
• How do we get people to share it?

These are questions we are asked on a regular basis by people new to social media and experienced users alike. Very often they have got off to a good start but their content has become more akin to "broadcast messages" which are not encouraging people to engage or to share. Other content related issues often relate to where the content is shared and how often they post. The New Media Breakfast will explore these issues and try to help guide you on what is good content.

The challenge for brands will be community retention; people are already asking why they should continue to "like" a Facebook Page or follow a Twitter Feed - what's in it for them? With the imminent arrival of brand pages on Google+ the issue of engagement is going to be even mow relevant; users expect to be engaged by the content a brand creates; broadcasters and advertisers will struggle to keep people in their community.

Content to drive advertising campaigns and SEO
We now know that SEO is being influenced by social media activity; functionality such as Facebook Sponsored Stories relies on user activity to make it truly work for your brand. Advertising on social media channels is an integral part of social media marketing but, the most successful businesses are those who are integrating the ability to share content among friends with conventional advertising to create social media advertising campaigns that tap into the massive power of word of mouth. The New Media Breakfast will look at how good quality content is becoming more important for optimisation and advertising purposes.

Case studies wanted - Good or bad!
In preparation for the Glasgow and Edinburgh breakfasts, we would like to hear from anyone who is struggling with content creation - we might be able to suggest some things to try that we can then use as case studies for the breakfasts.  Likewise, you may be doing well with your content creation and be happy to share your ideas or, you may be working with a client and want to share your experiences; whatever the circumstances, please email me gordon@fatbuzz.com and I will contact you to discuss it.

Venue: 29 Member's Club, Royal Exchange Square, Glasgow
Date: Friday 2nd September 2011
Time: 7.30am for 8am

HOW TO BOOK

Non No.29 Members - £10 +VAT

BOOK FOR NEW MEDIA BREAKFAST GLASGOW HERE:

No.29 Members Go Free – If you are a 29 Member you can attend the breakfast free of charge. Please email malcolm@fatbuzz.com with your membership number and he will add you to the attendance list. We hope you can make it along to this event. If so, I look forward to seeing you on the day.

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My loss may be your gain...or, maybe not!

I was supposed to be in Spain this weekend with my family but easyJet had oversold the flight so when we arrived at the airport there were only two seats left on the flight and three of us flying; since I was only going for two days it was sensible that my wife and youngest son took the seats. One or two people have expressed surprise at a flight being oversold but this has been fairly standard practice for airlines although, I have never experienced it before on budget airlines.

British Airways has done this for years because people buying full fare flights could get a refund if for some reason they couldn't fly so they would always have no-shows for the flight. To counter this they would oversell in order to minimise empty seats on flights.

Anyway, the purpose of this post is not to tell you about my holiday disappointments; I wanted to tell you how I have filled my time preparing for the next New Media Breakfast. I have had peace and quiet to prepare for the "Back to Basics" presentation and, I've had a great time doing it!

I've decided to do something completely different, certainly from anything I've ever seen, to demonstrate how a back to basics approach can help you understand and master social media. I don't want to give too much away but, if it works it will be interesting, fun and, informative. If it doesn't work it will at least be be fun - for you!

So, if you wan't to witness me gliding high or grabbing the nearest parachute you should book for the next breakfast in Glasgow or Edinburgh - I can at least promise we don't ever overbook the seats!

I should point out that EasyJet are issuing a full refund and €250 compensation so if it all goes wrong I can escape to warmer climes!

Glasgow Breakfast - 29th July 2011

Edinburgh Breakfast - 11th August 2011

No.29 Members Go Free – If you are a 29 Member you can attend the breakfast free of charge. Please email malcolm@fatbuzz.com with you membership number and he will add you to the attendance list. We hope you can make it along to this event. If so, I look forward to seeing you on the day.

BOOK FOR NEW MEDIA BREAKFAST GLASGOW HERE:

BOOK FOR NEW MEDIA BREAKFAST EDINBURGH HERE:

 

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Back to Basics - Simplifying Social Media Marketing

7.30am for 8am - 29th July 2011
No.29  Royal Exchange Square, Glasgow.


In September 2009 we held the first New Media Breakfast where we looked at social media in general and explored the various ways to participate; in the past couple of months we have received lots of requests to do an updated version of that presentation.



The July New Media Breakfast will look at social media today and offer a definition and examples of social media marketing - how businesses can use social media to promote their goods and services.  Social Media Marketing is being accepted as an essential part of the marketing mix by the world's largest brands, business are realising the need to engage and communicate at this level and, a bigger share of marketing budgets are being spent on digital channels so, it has never been more important to be aware of social media and understand how it can work for you.

Using what you already know
Sticking to the title theme, we will demonstrate how a complete "back to basics" approach can help you get to terms with social media and help you understand how you can participate effectively.  We will try to show you that using what you already know and do can be easily adopted on digital platforms to help you develop and implement an effective social media marketing strategy.  We believe there is a tendency to over complicate social media activity; yes there are pitfalls and areas of concern but, we believe our 'back to basics' approach will help you identify and understand how to approach most situations you may encounter online.

Social Media Advertising
Social media marketing encompasses engagement, forming relationships and emotional connections but it doesn't stop there; advertising on social media channels is an integral part of social media marketing but, the most successful businesses are those who are integrating the ability to share content among friends with conventional advertising to create social media advertising campaigns that tap into the massive power of word of mouth.  At the breakfast we will take a look at what's new in social media advertising and how you can utilise your community to promote your business effectively.  We will also explore how to utilise the highly targeted nature of social media advertising.

Venue: 29 Member's Club, Royal Exchange Square, Glasgow
Date: Friday 29th July 2011
Time: 7.30am for 8am


No.29 Members Go Free – If you are a 29 Member you can attend the breakfast free of charge. Please email malcolm@fatbuzz.com with you membership number and he will add you to the attendance list. We hope you can make it along to this event. If so, I look forward to seeing you on the day.

BOOK FOR NEW MEDIA BREAKFAST GLASGOW HERE:

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Living in Glasgow or Edinburgh you should get to the Edinburgh New Media Breakfast

How you get your brand across online without the aid of your voice and body language
What do people say about you when you’re not in the room? Whatever it is, that’s your personal brand – and it’s the key to your success.

Because in a world where ‘people buy people’ your personal brand helps them decide whether or not they’re buying into you (and thanks to Google and all things online, that can happen before they’ve even met you). Spark’s Jennifer Holloway will be sharing her insights on personal brand – what it is, how it’s formed, how to define it and how to promote it – to help you tap into one of the most powerful career and business tools you have at your disposal.

NOTE FROM GORDON WHITE

In a similar blog post prior to hearing Jennifer's presentation I suggested that your personal branding is critical to the success of your social media; having heard her presentation I believe this more than ever.   Jennifer's particular presenting style is entertaining, interactive and informative, I don't think there were many people in the 100+ audience who did not enthuse about her and what she had to say. If you need any more convincing please go to Twitter and search #NMBrek, you will soon see what I mean.

I don't think there will be many people who were in attendance who haven't made changes to their online profiles following her presentation.

As a little taster, go to Jennifer's recent blog post and Test Your Personal Brand Here 

ABOUT JENNIFER HOLLOWAY

With a career including 15 years in media relations and PR, Jennifer Holloway knows a thing or two about promoting a personal brand – she did it every time she picked up the phone to a journalist. The result? She stood out from the ‘press office crowd’ and got her stories on the front page. Today, she is a personal brand expert, helping executives to define their personal brand before teaching them how to promote that in everything they say and do.  Known as ‘The Antidote to Yes-Men’ her honest, challenging and practical style has helped leaders discover how, by being themselves, they can be even more successful.

Take a look at Jennifer's Blog
Jennifer Holloway on Linked-In
Follow Jennifer on Twitter

WOULD YOU LIKE TO MEET JENNIFER?
Jennifer is travelling from the North of England and she has kindly offered to have private meetings on the day with any attendee who would like to discuss their personal brand and how she helps people to maximise ther online presence. If you are interested, we stronly recommend that you book a time as quickly as possible so that you are not dissapointed. It will also enable Jennifer to organise her travel arrangements. To arrange a time to have an informal chat with Jennifer please email fiona@fatbuzz.com stating your preferred time - times will be allocated strictly on a first come first serve basis.


Venue: Tigerlily, George Street, Edinburgh
Date: Thursday 14th July 2011
Time: 7.30am for 8am

BOOK FOR NEW MEDIA BREAKFAST EDINBURGH HERE:

 

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Social Media Podcast No 37 The Facebook Edition...and other things!

Let me say from the outset that we made a cardinal error with this podcast - Gordon White, Kyle Murdoch and Iain Murray all gathered to record this episode at the appointed time, sat down to discuss (very roughly) what we would talk about then discovered no one had brought the recorder! Fear not, fatBuzz usually find a fix for such problems and we actually recorded it via one of our large Sony cameras.

The edition does tend to focus a lot of Facebook; largely because we had just completed three "Facebook for Business" New Media Breakfast in the preceding six days! In that period we had all attended the Entrepreneurial Exchange Conference at Gleneagles where much of the speaker's content was about the use of social media in their businesses.

We also discuss the relevancy of your community and the need to develop a following that is relevant to your business and, the usefulness of Twitter and Facebook Lists.

We talk about a couple of influential social media business people, Michelle Mone of Ultimo and Richard McKay of Richard McKay flooring.

Other subjects include:

• Tommy Sheridan blogging from jail (But now he isn't!!!)
• Groupon's timing on going to the market
• Glasgow's Great Deal and Edinburgh's Great Deal
• Facebook Deals
• Facebook Sponsored Stories
• The diabolically bad Facebook Mobile Platforms
• QR Codes - Mitch Joel's blog about how they can create a negative experience for a brand
• Gaynor MacIntyre of MacIntyre's of Edinburgh and her QR Code
• WAZE - An application for traffic management using Geo-Tagging and Twitter
• Cloud Computing, Apple iCloud, DropBox, Google Cloud etc.
• Two Boys Opera and the viral video - Can I be Your Friend?
• Personal Branding Online with Jennifer Holloway
• To book a 1to1 meeting with Jennifer email fiona@fatbuzz.com
• Our new Social Media Podcast Facebook Page

Play the podcast here:

Subscribe/Download Social Media Podcast on iTunes

If you have found this post interesting please share it with your online community using either the Twitter, Facebook and Share buttons below. Thank You.

You can also follow the Social Media Podcast on Facebook now - visit and "Like" the new Social Media Podcast Facebook Page HERE.

Glasgow New Media Breakfast - Your Personal Branding Online

How you get your brand across online without the aid of your voice and body language
What do people say about you when you’re not in the room? Whatever it is, that’s your personal brand – and it’s the key to your success.

Because in a world where ‘people buy people’ your personal brand helps them decide whether or not they’re buying into you (and thanks to Google and all things online, that can happen before they’ve even met you). Spark’s Jennifer Holloway will be sharing her insights on personal brand – what it is, how it’s formed, how to define it and how to promote it – to help you tap into one of the most powerful career and business tools you have at your disposal.

ABOUT JENNIFER HOLLOWAY

With a career including 15 years in media relations and PR, Jennifer Holloway knows a thing or two about promoting a personal brand – she did it every time she picked up the phone to a journalist.  The result? She stood out from the ‘press office crowd’ and got her stories on the front page. Today, she is a personal brand expert, helping executives to define their personal brand before teaching them how to promote that in everything they say and do.  Known as ‘The Antidote to Yes-Men’ her honest, challenging and practical style has helped leaders discover how, by being themselves, they can be even more successful.

Take a look at Jennifer's Blog
Jennifer Holloway on Linked-In
Follow Jennifer on Twitter

WOULD YOU LIKE TO MEET JENNIFER?
Jennifer is travelling from the North of England and she has kindly offered to have private meetings on the day with any attendee who would like to discuss their personal brand and how she helps people to maximise ther online presence. If you are interested, we stronly recommend that you book a time as quickly as possible so that you are not dissapointed.  It will also enable Jennifer to organise her travel arrangements.  To arrange a time to have an informal chat with Jennifer please email fiona@fatbuzz.com stating your preferred time - times will be allocated strictly on a first come first serve basis.

NOTE FROM GORDON WHITE
We have covered many topics in the New Media Breakfast since it first began back in September 2009 and most of them have explored specific tools or platforms that you may choose for your online presence however, this month's topic is different; regardless of how you use the Web, your personal branding is critical. In all of our previous breakfast presentations we have highlighted the need for transparancy and building trust, that is why I believe Jennifer's presentation is a must for everyone who has attended any previous breakfast.  I would encourage you all to book early and come along to this important event.

Venue: 29 Member's Club, Royal Exchange Square, Glasgow
Date: Friday 1st July 2011
Time: 7.30am for 8am


No.29 Members Go Free – If you are a 29 Member you can attend the breakfast free of charge. Please email malcolm@fatbuzz.com with you membership number and he will add you to the attendance list. We hope you can make it along to this event. If so, I look forward to seeing you on the day.

BOOK FOR NEW MEDIA BREAKFAST GLASGOW HERE:

If you have found this post interesting please share it with your online community using either the Twitter, Facebook and Share buttons below. Thank You.