Personal Branding - June New Media Breakfast

    

  

PERSONAL BRANDING
Optimising and projecting your personal brand online
Date: Friday 26th June 2015
Venue: 29 Member's Club, Royal Exchange Square, Glasgow
Time: 7:45am for 8:00am

Personal branding has never been more important. Everyone now needs to project the right image online. More and more orgnisations are paying special attention to the personal branding of the people they deal with, both internally and externally.

If you're looking for advancement in your organisation, a change of career, or to develop your own business, you need to ensure you project an image that is able to achieve your goals.

Do you want to be know as Mr Dependable, or Mr Remarkable? Whould you like people to descrbe you as 'hardworking", or "highly acclaimed"? It is entirely possible to shape your personal brand and encourage people to talk about you in the way that you wish - it all starts with how you present yourself online.

The June New Media Breakfast will explore what you need to consider about your personal brand, how to optimise your profile online, and how to get people talking about your skills and expertise in the way that you want them to.

Personal branding applies to everyone with ambition. People buy people, and to make sure they buy you, you need to create emotional attachments with them - you need to present your value proposition. Moreover, you need to get others to endorse what you say about yourself. We will explore how you can do all of this at the June breakfast.

We will also look at the various tools you can use to enhance your personal brand and how to use them to your full advantage.

ABOUT THE SPEAKER…
Gordon White, Managing Director, fatBuzz will present this session.

HOW TO BOOK

Venue: 29 Member's Club, Royal exchange Square, Glasgow
Date: Friday 26th June 2015
Time: 7.45am for 8:00am

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 fiona@fatbuzz.com with you membership number and she 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.

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.

    

  

Social Media Podcast Episode 73 - Up or Down Periscope?

In Social Media Podcast 73, Gordon hands over hosting duties to fatBuzz account managers Liam Cutkelvin and Cameron Wilson, as they discuss the latest news and topics in social media.

In this episode we discuss the latest new social media app Periscope and share our thoughts whether does it merit being heralded as the next big thing in social media. We also discuss its potential for businesses and coin the phrase “scoping”...

As always we bring you some of the best news from the world of social media. Including the latest rumours circulating around Google’s potential acquisition of Twitter, will the tech giant finally have it’s jewel in the social media crown? We also discuss the latest reports detailing how teens are abandoning Facebook in favour of other platforms, as well as one recent viral sensation that begs the question - how do you deal with annoying serial posts on Facebook? Here are the main topics and links relating to them from this episode:

• 01.03 - Rumors that Google are planning to buy Twitter - Further reading 
• 09.01 - New mother receives letter attacking her for constant baby posts on Facebook, too far or representing frustrations of many boiling over? - Further reading 
• 14.41 - New report details that more young people really are ditching Facebook because of Mum and Dad, should brands do the same? - Further reading 
• 29.09 - Main discussion - Periscope - the next big thing? - Further reading 
• How Periscope works - Further reading 
• Copyright issues have already been raised - Further reading 
• How can your business utilise Periscope? - Further reading 

If you would like to share your thoughts on any of the topics, suggest a topic, or be featured on an upcoming podcast, please get in touch at hello@fatbuzz.com with the topic “Social media podcast”. For more updates follow us on Twitter @fatbuzz

You can also reach those on the podcast from the fatBuzz team at:

Gordon - gordon@fatbuzz.com - Twitter @gordonwhite
Cameron - cameron@fatbuzz.com - Twitter @wildsunn
Liam - liam@fatbuzz.com - Twitter @carmylite

Play the podcast here:

Subscribe/Download Social Media Podcast on iTunes

Would you like a presentation on social media and customer service?

We're offering a range of bespoke or generic presentations on the topic of social media and customer service, if you would like to find out more please go to the following link: Are you prepared to lose control?

Have you listened to the digital copyright podcast?

We continue to see people using images, video content and other files taken from the internet without consideration to potential copyright issues. We would encourage all of our listeners to download Social Media Podcast 50 which clearly outlines what you should and shouldn't do with images sourced online. Find it on iTunes now.

WHAT WOULD YOU LIKE US TO TALK ABOUT?
If there is a specific topic you would like us to cover in a future podcast please let us know. You can email gordon@fatbuzz.com or send us a message on Twitter @MediaPodcast or, you can post it as a comment on the Social Media Podcast Facebook page.

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.

Twitter and other associated tools - May New Media Breakfast

    

  

Making the most of Twitter and some associated tools...like Periscope

Date: Friday 29th May 2015

Venue: 29 Member's Club, Royal Exchange Square, Glasgow

Time: 7:45am for 8:00am

This month's New Media Breakfast will take a look at Twitter and how to get the most you can for your business from this amazing tool.

Now 9 years old, Twitter has around 300 million active users, but how many people are actually putting it to full use for their business?

PERISCOPE...

We will also take a look at some of the associated tools you can utilise with your Twitter account, and we will take a special look at the latest offering from Twitter - Periscope.

As outlined in an earlier blog post, Periscope is set to become one of the very biggest Apps. It provides the opportunity to live stream video and engage with your live audience, something that will be very useful for lots of marketing applications.

Find out more about this brand new offering from Twitter, and find out how it might be useful to your marketing in the future. 

This session will look at Twitter, Periscope and other associated tools and what can be done with them. We will look at: 

• How to build a community, locally, nationally, and internationally 
• Using hashtags (#) effectively 
• Twitter Advertising 
• Management tools like TweetDeck and HooteSuite 
• Twitter Analytics 
• Tracking individual Tweets 
• Using video - Vine 
• Live streaming with Periscope 

So, if you would like to brush up on Twitter and find out what's happening with the platform and what you can be doing to maximise your Twitter strategy, please come along to the New Media Breakfast this month.

ABOUT THE SPEAKER...

Gordon White, Managing Director, fatBuzz will present this session.

HOW TO BOOK

Venue: 29 Glasgow, Royal Exchange Square, Glasgow

Date: Friday 29th May 2015

Time: 7.45am for 8:00am

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 fiona@fatbuzz.com with you membership number and she 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.

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.

    

  

Up Periscope... for an amazing view of the world!

    

  

I've been playing around with Twitter's new live video streaming App, Periscope, and I have to say I think it is the next big thing.

The ability to see who is watching, and to communicate with them while you are broadcasting is extremely powerful, and I can see lots of potential marketing uses for it in the future.

Right now, there are lots of 'trial' broadcasts with users clearly playing around with the App in order to familiarise themselves with how it works and what it can do. Like all new platforms, this is bound to happen but I think it will settle into an extremely popular and powerful tool.

Periscope is linked to your Twitter account, so the 'noise' now will be coming from your current followers who are using the platform. Therefore, if like me you have kept your followers to those relevant and interesting to you, you should start to see some useful video broadcasts starting to emerge.

On Saturday morning I was intrigued to see author and entrepreneur, Guy Kawasaki broadcasting as he walked around a motor museum in Berlin. I commented via the onscreen texting facility that he was highly unlikely to see a Tesla among the old Bentley's Ferrari's and Astons and he immediately acknowledged and agreed with my comment via the audio on the broadcast. Amazing!

By simply tapping the screen to make little love hearts appear from the bottom of the page, I could tell him I liked the broadcast. The more I tapped, the more he knew I liked the video.

It is an incredibly simple App to use and I can see many marketing uses for it in the future. Posting live from events, testimonials with clients, interviews etc are all highly possible and potentially powerful on Periscope.

How about a product demo video with the ability to ask the demonstrator relevant questions during the broadcast? The possibilities are endless!

No doubt, there will be some issues to iron out with regard to copyright; what if I live broadcast a Sky football match? However, these problems faced platforms like Pinterest when they launched and they managed to resolve them.

Perhaps a bigger worry is the pornographers; what's to stop live sex shows? Remember, it is your choice who you follow, and you can identify all the people who have been viewing the broadcast, so hopefully porn will not thwart its progress.

Other concerns are the ability to broadcast without a WiFi signal, although I did manage to engage a dozen or so people from the first tee at the King's course, Gleneagles on Sunday. Battery life too, it really does noticeably drain your iPhone, so keep your videos short and snappy or you could be left with a dead phone!

Personally, I'm excited about the possibilities with Periscope; I think it can be a very effective way to create very credible video content (each broadcast can be saved to your camera roll). I'm looking forward to playing around with it some more, and perhaps putting it to good use for a few of our clients.

Currently, Periscope is only available on IOS, but I assume it will be launched for all other devices in the very near future.

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.

    

  

Social Media Podcast 72: The Apple Watch finally arrives

It’s a full house in Social Media Podcast 72 as Gordon is joined by three members of the fatBuzz team, Cameron Wilson, Zara Cameron, and making her podcast debut, MJ McNally, for more discussion around the latest news and topics in social media.

In this episode we discuss how more brands are turning to Instagram for better reach, with more and more users turning to alternatives to Facebook, we ponder what is next? 

As always, we also discuss the latest and curious news surrounding social media. 

Everything from Facebook’s new takedown guidelines and what our take is on the social networks latest step to remove any potentially offensive material appearing on your news feed, Twitter’s new quality filter feature, the removal of the “feeling fat” emoji, Facebook’s ever changing algorithm and we also get Gordon’s thoughts about the Apple Watch replacing traditional watches! 

Here are the main topics and links relating to them from this episode:

• 01.35 - Facebook revamps its takedown guidelines, what posts are now deemed offensive by the social media giant? - Read more... 
• 06.26 - Twitter introduces a new quality filter button, is this taking away the original appeal of a non-censored platform? - Read more... 
• 14.41 - Twitter turns 9, what have they changed about social media in that time? Read more... 
• 18.25 - The Apple Watch, with long battery life and more integration into wearers lives what does this mean for businesses using social media? 
• 27.50 - The teams take on Facebook removing its “feeling fat” emoji” - Read more... -
• 29.52 - Facebook has tweaked it’s algorithm once again, what does this mean for the type of content you create? Read more... 
• 33.30 - Main discussion - More brands are turning to Instagram for better reach, what next? - Read more... 
• 51.30 - Tinder users are falling in love, with this brilliant piece of viral marketing… Read more... 

If you would like to share your thoughts on any of the topics, suggest a topic, or be featured on an upcoming podcast, please get in touch at hello@fatbuzz.com with the topic “Social media podcast”. For more updates follow us on Twitter @fatbuzz

You can also reach those on the podcast from the fatBuzz team at:

Gordon - gordon@fatbuzz.com - Twitter @gordonwhite
Cameron - cameron@fatbuzz.com - Twitter @wildsunn
Zara - zara@fatbuzz.com - Twitter @myfascinationZC
MJ - MJ@fatbuzz.com - Twitter @JaryMulie 

Play the podcast here:

Subscribe/Download Social Media Podcast on iTunes

Would you like a presentation on social media and customer service?

We're offering a range of bespoke or generic presentations on the topic of social media and customer service, if you would like to find out more please go to the following link: Are you prepared to lose control?

Have you listened to the digital copyright podcast?

We continue to see people using images, video content and other files taken from the internet without consideration to potential copyright issues. We would encourage all of our listeners to download Social Media Podcast 50 which clearly outlines what you should and shouldn't do with images sourced online. Find it on iTunes now.

WHAT WOULD YOU LIKE US TO TALK ABOUT?
If there is a specific topic you would like us to cover in a future podcast please let us know. You can email gordon@fatbuzz.com or send us a message on Twitter @MediaPodcast or, you can post it as a comment on the Social Media Podcast Facebook page.

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.

As Google Search Goes Mobile Friendly, It's Time You Did Too

We've been saying it for some time, now Google are saying it loud and clear - you need to think mobile.

How your website ranks on Google search is vitally important these days, and their latest announcement is going to be significant in how your website should be developed in order to rank highly.

The company has announced their plans to expand on their use of mobile-friendliness as a ranking signal, so from April 21, if your site is not optimised to be mobile-friendly, you are going to to be severely impacted. If your website is not developed to support mobile browsing, then you are going to be missing out on traffic and engagement.

These changes have been brought in to make sure that users will be able to easily get relevant and high quality websites that are optimised for their device when searching. It makes sense seeing as 80% of internet users now own a smartphone or mobile device.  It also applies to websites worldwide and to any language, so it will affect your global reach as well.

It has been a long time coming, but the news that Google will be changing it’s search engine results to favour mobile-friendly websites is comes as us as no surprise.

fatBuzz has been at the forefront of developing websites that are responsive and optimised to be mobile-friendly for years now. We have been doing it this way as Google’s algorithm favoured sites that had these features before, so our clients can be rest assured that they won’t fall off in search rankings.

Responsive web design is what our team specialize in, and this is what our Director, Kyle Murdoch, believes gives fatBuzz an advantage in developing websites:

“Since day one, fatBuzz has went that extra mile in making sure that every website we design is responsive and optimised for mobile devices.”

“We recognised early on that most people use a mobile device to browse the internet, whether its a smartphone or a tablet, it's the most common way people access online content these days, and it lead to our focus on developing mobile-friendly sites that are responsive and user-friendly.”

“I think that our experience in developing websites this way is a huge advantage to us, we have built up a vast knowledge with what works best and can create sites for our clients that not only work well on mobile devices, but also look fantastic.”

We have studied Google’s mobile friendly guide, which you can find here, and it will allow you to take their own test to see if your website meets their criteria.

How can I make sure my site is mobile-friendly?

Google have also outlined some top tips for you to consider when working with your developer to make sure your website is optimised, so lets take a look at some things you can do to make sure your website still ranks highly

Check your websites SERP appearance

Checking your websites appearance on the search engine results page (SERP) is a good starting point. On a mobile device, simply search for your website on Google, if it shows, then you’re ahead of the game! It means your site is mobile friendly and will be fine on April 21.

    

Make sure your site is mobile friendly

This step has been made really simple thanks to Google’s mobile friendly test, which you can find here. Simply input your sites URL and it will let you know if your site is mobile-friendly, if so, relax! If not, then it is time to consider getting your site developed to be so.

Find a developer who can make you a mobile-friendly site

fatBuzz can develop you a website that is fully optimised, responsive and mobile friendly. With Google now changing their algorithm to actively put more mobile-friendly sites into search results, the need to have a more responsive site is simply stronger than ever.

Google have outlined a number of factors to consider when working with a developer, and our team will satisfy all the requirements to create you a truly responsive mobile-friendly site.

A perfect example of this can be found with our client pcr, where we recently developed a website that is responsive and mobile-friendly.

If you would like to discuss how we can create you a website that will be mobile-friendly and responsive, then please get in touch with us by calling 0141 427 0727 or emailing us at hello@fatbuzz.com

We are also offering free consultations with your website, so we can check to see exactly if your website will be ready for the changes coming to Google search and can advise you on what you will need done to bring it up to what is required over a quick chat and a coffee, so please don’t hesitate to get in touch.

For more tips, updates and news about web design and social media follow fatBuzz on Facebook and Twitter, as well as right here on our blog!

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.

    

  

What marketers should learn for the 7-Day Week NHS debate…

    

  

We are hearing many promises from the various political leaders in the United Kingdom this week about creating a 7-Day Week for the National Health Service. Personally, I can easily see why they are aiming to achieve this, after not all people just get sick Monday – Friday!

This got me thinking about my recent presentation on Blogging, and specifically how to get your blog posts shared.

I was suggesting it’s time for businesses to breakaway from the current Monday to Friday - 9 to 5 culture, especially if they’ve adopted a digital approach to marketing.

In an increasingly digital age, consumers are not necessarily engaging Monday to Friday - 9 to 5; they want to connect with you when it suits them. Invariably that will be sometime other than Monday to Friday, 9 to 5, and there is an increasing expectation that you will be available to them.

Admittedly, the expectations vary depending on the business; there’s a general acceptance that traditional businesses, operating regular office hours, will answer your query during the next business day (but even this is changing).

However, if you are reaping the benefits of online trading and generating revenue 365/24-7, consumer’s expectations have already changed; they want to be able to engage, especially at a customer service level, whenever it suits them.

Good online traders have embraced these new shopping trends, offering exceptional customer service when their customers need it. Even though I haven’t personally used them, Zappos in the USA has achieved legendary status in terms of customer service, and it’s a 100% online business.

I’ve spoken before about using data to establish where your customers want to engage; if you customers were largely using Twitter to engage with you, it would be folly to concentrate your efforts on Facebook.

Likewise, if your customers are largely contacting you between 8pm and 11pm, why are you continuing to share content Monday to Friday between the hours of 9am and 5pm? Use the data to fine tune when you share the content – the best time is when they are online, and good analysis of your data will reveal when that is.

Marketing support agency, TrackMaven published some interesting results to a survey on sharing which demonstrate the need to rethink the Monday to Friday - 9 to 5 culture.

Analysing over 4600 blogs with a combined 1,167,426 posts they found the following:

• 87% of posts were published during the working week 
• Posting drops to 6.3% on Saturdays and 6.8% on Sundays 
• Although posting drops to 13.1% over the weekend, they achieved 32.6% of the total shares for the data set 
• Saturday was the most successful day to share content – 6.3% of the posts achieved 18% of the total shares for the week 
• The majority of the posting was done between the hours of 9am and 6pm, however social shares are at their highest for these posts between the hours of 9pm and midnight 

These findings clearly show the need to experiment with the time you post your content.

It is worth noting that your customers have day jobs too, they are most likely to engage out with these hours when they have the time to do so.

It might not be a case of life and death as it could be in the National Health Service, however if you want to healthy return on your investment, start share your content at the optimum time.

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.