fatBuzz - A big FAT year!

It's been a really busy year for fatBuzz and now that we are moving into another year we thought we would highlight some changes that have taken place over the past 12 months.

NEW ADDITIONS
Since our re-brand, we have moved to a smashing new office space in Kinning Park that acts as home to our ever expanding fatBuzz family.  Although the office is bigger than we were used to, the bigger space is needed as there are a few new faces that have been added to the fatBuzz family. This is in response to the development of relationships with existing clients in marketing, social media, design and events and, the addition of many new clients throughout the year.

In June Kirsty joined the team as our new Social Media Account Manager and only weeks ago we welcomed David, our new Web Developer. We also have Emma, our intern, working with us every Friday afternoon.

We would also like to thank Jennifer Holloway who has contributed some extremely popular content to this blog during 2011, we look forward to more insights into personal branding from Jennifer in 2012.

NEW CLIENTS AND NEW RELATIONSHIPS
We've had the pleasure of working with many new clients including, Blackwood Foundation, Colordarcy, CommsWorld, Cumbernauld College, Grant Property, Kirkwood Fyfe, Miascape, Mister Singh's, Mitchells, Morton Fraser, QD Events, Scotland Rugby League, SecuriGroup, The Booking Room, The Golf Lounge and, Today's Great Deal. We are really looking forward to working with each of them in the new year.  In addition, we have around six new relationships to announce early in 2012.

We are also really delighted to see our existing clients developing their design and social media activities; an excellent example of this is evident in a recently written post about one of our clients, Deans. They have decided that with our initial help, support and guidance they are now confident and knowledgeable enough to take their Social Media Management in-house. It’s not the end of the relationship between fatBuzz and Dean’s; it’s the start of a new relationship - read the post to find out about our approach to guiding clients in social media.

DESIGN 

Many people forget that as well as providing Social Media strategies to businesses, fatBuzz offer a full range of design expertise including Branding, Print Design, Web Design and Web Development. Things have been going particularly well with our design clients, so much so that David our new Web Developer has joined us to help with the hectic schedule and we are really excited about developing our list of clients in Web Development and Design in 2012.

Some of design projects that we have worked on throughout the year: John Dick & Son, Minoan Group, The Partners Suite, Vision OS, Orli Designs, The Beauty Cellar, Empire, Encore FS, With Kids, Gormac Coachworks,  Cancer Research UK and, With Kids

NEW MEDIA BREKFAST
The New Media Breakfast has gone from strength to strength and we are really delighted with the previous 12 months and we are excited about the forthcoming year. Thank you to all our guest speakers with a special shout for Mitch Joel, CC Chapman, Paul Levinson and Donna Papacosta, all of whom contributed video content for the New Media Breakfast. The biggest thank you is of course reserved for all of you who attended a breakfast during the year, your support is greatly appreciated. We're looking forward to seeing you in 2012 for more bacon rolls, coffee and discussions on New Media developments and how they can be integrated into your business.

GORDON SPREADS THE SOCIAL MEDIA LOVE!
Not only have we been really busy with design, events and social media but Gordon has also been busy with a number of speaking engagements including SIE, The Entrepreneurial Exchange, The Event Organisers Conference, Elevate's Integrated Marketing Communications Seminar, Grampian Food Forum and B2BShowcase, Glasgow.

SOCIAL MEDIA PODCAST
Our Social Media Podcast has enjoyed lots of success this year with subscription numbers continuing to increase and episodes reaching No.1 in the Audio Podcasting category on iTunes on more than one occasion.  A special thanks to Sallie Goetsch who has generously contributed to the podcast during the year. The series has reached an epic 41 episodes with our latest Christmas Episode available here. Gordon and Iain are STILL struggling to agree on anything! Will they ever?

EVENTS
It has been a busy year within our events department having organised numerous Charity events including the St Patrick's Day Ball and With Kids' Mid Summer Ball.

2012 is set to be another hectic year as we are planning St Patrick's Day 10th Anniversary Ball, The Rotary Club of Scotland's centenary Ball and we are delighted to have been appointed to organise 3 events for With Kids during 2012 - watch this space for more information on these and other events..

fatBuzz FLOWER

Our beloved fatBuzz Flowers continue to put smiles on our clients faces. Don't worry if you haven't yet received one, we haven't intentionally left you out... we'll get to you eventually! If you feel that you have been missed out, give us a nudge by letting us know on our Facebook page.

So it's fair to say it's been a pretty busy year for fatBuzz and we have enjoyed every second of it!  Here's to 2012 and all it has to bring. We would like to wish everyone a very Merry Christmas and a truly wonderful New Year!


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Why you should invest £1.49 ($2.30) in a QR Code Reader

QR Codes are becoming increasingly popular and brands are starting to realise the potential they offer for delivering something special to the user. There is generally a greater understanding and acceptance that the QR Code landing page has to deliver a positive experience for the user; QR Codes that simply take you to the landing page of your regular web site are generally a bit of a let down. However, a code that takes you to a relevant piece of video, discount voucher, podcast, free download, or something to do with a specific campaign will usually be a positive user experience.

Brands are also catching on to the ability to customise their QR Codes and make them more visibly appealing. However, there is a problem that may stifle creativity, sub standard QR Code Readers, or sub standard mobile devises or, a combination of both.

QR Codes can be altered substantially which allows us to be fairly creative with design and colour combinations however, it is frustrating that we have to design codes within the limitations of the hundreds of free QR Code Readers that simply don't do the job.

We generally test each code on eight different code readers; seven of them are free applications and one is a paid application (Optiscan) and we are not happy to release a design unless it scans on all seven of the free code readers. Invariably, we have to amend the design to ensure this will happen and in doing so we usually have to compromise our design.

It is also interesting to note that we have never seen a QR Code that doesn't scan in the paid app that does scan in the free apps. It is also worth noting that one of these free apps; i-nigma usually matches the performance of the paid app.

Here's a simple demonstration; we recently created the QR Code below as an experiment - the one on top scans perfectly using Optiscan and i-nigma but not the six other free apps. The one beneath it shows how much we had to "dim down" the design in order for it to work on the six other free apps. Try it on your scanner.

Therefore, you have a choice - invest in a decent QR Code Scanner such as Optiscan or, at the very least, get i-nigma.

Below you will see a selection of QR Codes we have created recently, if you would like to see them and others in more detail please click here to see them in out Facebook gallery.

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

Take 2...4...6...8 - time to get Auto Cue

Not everyone is a natural in front of the camera and this is something we at fatBuzz know only too well. Video production is an increasingly popular service that we provide to our clients and it is something we use a great deal ourselves.

It is a really effective method of engaging with customers as it gives the person viewing the video a real idea of who the people are behind your business. It also gives you the chance to get an engaging message across.

While filming our "Quick Buzz" series, we realised that we talked a big game, but were rather hopeless at some points, some of our team members soon saw how it was in some ways a lot harder to be infront of the camera, than behind it.

With this in mind, we came to the conclusion that creating our video content would be much easier if we had some sort of autocue equipment and software, so that we weren't trying to memorise every line. Malcolm and Kyle then sourced all the autocue equipment, which is incredibly easy to use, and makes our video footage even easier to capture.

To prove to you that we're not as perfect as you all may think, we have created our very own outtakes video, hope you enjoy...

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If you have any questions regarding video production or would like to use our Auto Cue service, please feel free to contact us. 

Social Media Podcast No.41 available now - Lots of Christmas banter and Edward Reid's single

Taking part in Social Media podcast Episode 41 we have Gordon White,  Kyle Murdoch Kirsty Hunter, and Iain Murray.  This is the "Christmas Episode" and, whilst we do go "off theme" once or twice, it is generally a Christmas edition.  There's the usual lively debate and a very special treat at the end - We have Britain's Got Talent's Edward Reid's Christmas Single recorded for Aberlour Child Care Trust.

We've put the single on the podcast so that you can listen before you buy!  Yes, we want you to go to iTunes and download the single - every single penny raised will go to help the children supported by the great work done by Aberlour.  So, as a favour to the Social Media Podcast team, please buy a copy of the single (or the full EP) it's well worth the money.

Buy the Aberlour Choir featuring Edward Reid here.

As with recent episodes I have listed the topics in a slightly different way the feedback seems to be that you liked this method of highlighting the various topics we argue about.

On Social Media Podcast No.41 we discuss the following:

• The New Twitter Business Pages 
• @SantasPage - a fatBuzz experiment
• Twitter - Are brands truly engaged with their Twitter followers?
• Twitter - the new mobile App
• Google - The new home page layout
• Google+ - The new fatBuzz Google+ Page
• The "Big" Storm - #HurricaneBawBag
• Heineken's Christmas Tree - The giant TV Tree in Singapore
• John Lewis and Waitrose - A collaboration with QR Codes
• Christmas Apps - "Deck the Screens", Charlie Brown & Christmas List
• The Story of Christmas - A Social Network Christmas
• Iain's 3 stupid gifts - Listen and judge for yourself!
• Iain's new Samsung Galaxy - and the much better iPhone4S!!!
• Adobe - No further development of Flash Player on mobile devices
• Monitoring Social media during the holidays
• The fatBuzz Winter Gift - we reveal what it is
• Android open a store - in Australia! 
• Portable North Pole TV - ideal for the kids this Christmas
• Aberlour Child Care Trust - the Christmas single with Edward Reid

We hope you enjoy the podcast, if you have any comments to make or topics you would like us to discuss please leave them here on the blog or on our Facebook Page.

Play the podcast here:

Subscribe/Download Social Media Podcast on iTunes

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

Quick Buzzin' for Christmas

Here we have brought you latest addition to the Quick Buzz Series. "Quick Buzz" is a series of 30-60 second videos clips by fatBuzz bringing you news, events and updates from the world of Design, Marketing and Social Media. You can find these videos on our YouTube Channel, Facebook Page and of course our Blog. 

Here we have the newest member of the fatBuzz team, David, our new web developer. David tells us that it is important to not only make sure that your website is nice to look at, but easy for the visitor to use as well.

Here Kirsty takes us through one of the new changes to the business Facebook pages. During a normal day's work, Kirsty stumbled across a new app for facebook business pages. This app allows you to create discussion forum on your page.

Finally we have Gordon talking about how it is important to manage your linkedin content responsibly and courteously. In this video, Gordon gives a good example of a situation he was in, regarding his linkedin content, so he talks us through the correct process of dealing with your profile properly

That's all for now but keep and eye out for more Quick Buzzes from the fatBuzz Team.

If you have any questions about the topics mentioned above, or you have suggestions for a topic you would to hear in a future Quick Buzz, please let us know on our Facebook Page, and member of the team will get back to you. 

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As the Giant Pandas arrive in Scotland, Dean’s is released into the wild…

Travelling North on Thursday I listened to the news story about the long awaited arrival of two giant pandas in Scotland, I wondered if we would ever see the day that a panda cub is released into it’s natural habitat to enjoy life in the wild. I realised the purpose of my trip had striking similarities to that scenario; I was going to visit Dean’s to start the transition from fatBuzz managing their social media to them doing it internally.

Dean’s now feel comfortable about managing their social media presence and I am confident that they will manage it and, continue to grow their highly engaged community. Dean’s is a great client, they listen to advice, they have embraced social media, they opted for an organic growth and, they committed to the plan – now they are reaping the rewards.

The main thrust of their social media presence are the blog, Facebook page and, Twitter. However, they are now starting to enjoy success with video content on YouTube and phenomenal download numbers from their video podcast on iTunes. They have also adopted tools such as QR Codes; they have perhaps one of the best examples you’ll see in their recently published Recipe Book (Try scanning this QR Code lifted from the Scottish Scones page in the book).

Dean’s opted for an organic growth in order to build a relevant community that wants to engage with the brand. Yes, we did run the odd competition but only if it was relevant to Dean’s product range. They were patient in the development of the community and they trusted the plan to attract fans and followers with good, interesting, relevant and, regular content; they avoided big giveaways and irrelevant promotions and that will now pay dividends.

Visits to the blog are very healthy and growing, “likes” on their Facebook page are increasing everyday, followers on Twitter are multiplying but the team at Dean’s are not overly concerned with numbers; they are rightly concentrating on relevance and engagement rather than big numbers. The number of shares, likes, tweets, re-tweets, tags and, comments are the important figures for them. They are open to suggestions and willing to try things; likewise, they have made great suggestions based on their increased understanding of social media and how it works. They are not afraid to try things, neither are they overly concerned if not all of the initiatives are a resounding success.

It’s not the end of the relationship between fatBuzz and Dean’s; it’s the start of a new relationship. Much like a wildlife expert may tag a newly released cub in order to track it’s progress and keep a watchful eye, fatBuzz will adopt a “watching” brief, helping them if they require it. Moreover, we will continue to provide social media marketing ideas and keep them abreast of new tools as they emerge.

A year ago when we first met Dean’s, we said our aim was to get them to a stage where they could manage their own social media; it’s something we say to every client and we mean it. The client will always be more knowledgeable and passionate about their product than we can ever be, our role is to show them how build a community and how to transmit that knowledge and passion in an engaging manner. We are genuinely happy that Dean’s have reached this stage and that we have played a small part in helping them on the road to social media success.

I am increasingly frustrated at the numerous reports, surveys and, “research” that suggest businesses are not benefiting from social media. Certain people seem all too ready to report failure – but we don’t conduct surveys or commission research because many people fail their driving test, what’s the difference? They’ve done something wrong and they’ve failed. I firmly believe any organisation that claims social media participation was a failure has done it badly. Usually, they didn’t understand it or have a clear reason for doing it, they didn’t have a strategy and, they weren’t truly committed to it.

Fortunately, more and more brands like Dean’s are emerging and they will be the winners and here’s why:

• they have a clearly defined strategy
• they have adopted social media as part of their overall communications strategy
• they have an excellent content strategy

These are the reasons why Dean’s will succeed and, why they are now ready to be released into the very natural habitat that is social media.

Oh, I almost forgot, they have a great team and a world-beating product range - I wonder if pandas like shortbread!

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fatBuzz just keeps getting fatter!

It's busy busy busy in the fatBuzz office, so much so that we have a welcomed new addition to the fatBuzz family. We are absolutely delighted to welcome David, our new web developer.

Let us introduce David:

"I've had a huge passion for the web and graphic design from a young age. For the last four Years I have worked on many freelance projects for web, apparel and identity for a selection of clients that include musicians, small companies, photographers and journalists.

I am very excited to be part of the fatBuzz team because I believe they provide an excellent service to their clients in all aspects of design, marketing and social media. I look forward to bringing fresh, innovative ideas to the web developing division of the team.  My main aim is to provide the clients with a unique, user friendly website that is aesthetically engaging and stands out from the rest; ensuring them a prominent presence on the web."

We would like to take this opportunity once again to welcome David to the team and we're all looking forward to what exciting new ideas he will bring to not only fatBuzz but our clients as well. 

It's been two weeks since David's first day in the fatBuzz HQ, and he has already proven to be a great addition to the growing fatBuzz team.

If you have any questions for David regarding web development, please don't hesitate to email him. 

And be sure to keep an eye out for some new and exciting websites very soon. 

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QR Codes, Video and Negative Comments...

We're back with more episodes to add to the "Quick Buzz" series. 

"Quick Buzz" is a series of 30-60 second videos clips by fatBuzz bringing you news, events and updates from the world of Design, Marketing and Social Media.

In the first video we have Kirsty talking about how to deal with negative comments online. We often see that when companies have a negative comment posted on one of their social media channels, their first reaction is to delete it. This is the wrong thing to do, so take a few minutes to listen to Kirsty's wise words on how this situation should be approached.

We had extra fun filming this first video as Kirsty was the first member of the team to test our new Auto Cue !

Here we have Malcolm making his first appearance in the "Quick Buzz" series, where he talks about how important it is to use the right embed code, when embedding video on to your website. But also not to forget to upload your video content to as many relevant channels as possible to raise awareness of your brand. 

Finally to round off our latest "Quick Buzz" update, Gordon talks about how important it is for your business to be using QR Codes. But sometimes just using them, simply isn't enough, you want to make your code stand out from the rest, you want people to have a reason to scan your code instead of your competitor's. You can do this by customising your QR code to match your company's branding. 

That's all for now but keep and eye out for more Quick Buzzes from the fatBuzz Team.

If you have any questions about the topics mentioned above, or you have suggestions for a topic you would to hear in a future Quick Buzz, please let us know on our Facebook Page, and member of the team will get back to you. 

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Social Media Podcast Edition 40 is now available - Google+ may conquer the World (slowly) and, Apples may be cheaper next year

Taking part in Social Media podcast Episode 40 we have Gordon White,  Kyle Murdoch Kirsty Hunter, David McKinlay and Iain Murray.  This episode seems to have lots of laughter and plenty of the usual disagreements between Iain and Gordon - we may need another referee to decide who's right with some of these topics!

David McKinlay is our latest recruit at fatBuzz, he was thrown in at the deep end with this one because he only started his new role as developer the same day as we recorded this podcast - a big welcome to David, we look forward to his contributions in the future.

As with the last episode I have listed the topics in a slightly different way the feedback seems to be that you liked this method of highlighting the various topics we argue about.

On Social Media Podcast No.40 we discuss the following:

• Google+ - flop, success, slow burner? - we discuss this at length 
• Google+ Business Pages - could this be the making of it?
• Facebook - the new Timeline
• Social Media Privacy Settings - an even greater need to take control
• Google Music and Google Video - the latest news
• Google App Store, iTunes and iCloud - what's been happening
• Spotify, NetFlick,ILoveFilm - they all get a passing mention
• Steve Jobs - A sad loss
• Social Media Strategy - why you must have one
• QR Codes - A look at Dean's new Recipe Book and QR Codes
• Touchnote - they're doing Christmas Cards
• Banjo App - Iain explains what it does
• SiRi - why it can't find www.fatBuzz.com
• UVoucher - Iain gets cheap Pizzas
• CardMobili - Iain explains this pretty pointless App
• AA Safety Cameras and Cams Ahoy - Why Gordon doesn't need such Apps
• Sky+ and SkyGo - what's happening with these new versions
• Smartr and Xobini - how the curate your engagement
• Aura PR - We answer Laura's question about using video for business
• iPad - Should Apple go cheap to protect market share - a good argument to finish

We hope you enjoy the podcast, if you have any comments to make or topics you would like us to discuss please leave them here on the blog or on our 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.

Exclusive offer to New Media Breakfast attendees

Here's an exclusive offer to anyone attending the New Media Breakfast in Glasgow on Friday; we will evaluate some of your recent HTML Emails FREE OF CHARGE!


In order to keep the presentation as interesting and relevant as possible, we would like to feature email campaigns that have been used by attendees so, if you would like us to take a look at your html emails please email David at david@attacat.co.uk

We have done this in the past and I can assure you that the guys will offer a very fair appraisal of your campaigns and they will suggest ways to improve what you're already doing.  It also makes it much more interesting for the other attendees if they can use examples of campaigns  and possibly get some background information about them beforehand.  So don't be shy, get your examples over to David.

For those of you who haven't yet booked, here are the details of the next Glasgow New Media Breakfast.
 

DATE: Friday 25th November 2011
VENUE: No,29, Royal Exchange, Glasgow
PRESENTER: Kiril Bunin & David Clark

Email Marketing is often overlooked when it comes to discussing new media but it is still one of the most effective marketing tools available to businesses today.  Likewise, there are some common mistakes in Email Marketing that render campaigns useless or, ineffectual.

This presentation will take you through some of the things to avoid and some of the common pitfalls of Email Marketing.  It will also share some valuable tips and tricks that will help you to get greater success from your email campaigns in the future.
Here are some of the area that will be covered at the New Media Breakfast:

• Are you unsure how to measure the performance of your email marketing?
• Have you optimised your subscriber list?
• Do you have a plan or strategy in place?
• Are you using the right email platform for your business?

The Speakers
Kiril Bunin

The foreign variable in the Attacat equation.  Kiril is our resident conversion rate optimiser and  self confessed ‘scientist’, his passion for enhancing  conversion rates through a process of stringent testing & optimisation has been put to great use within Attacat.




David Clark

David joined Attacat from a background in sales and retail and with great experience of dealing with customers he knows exactly what they are looking for. He has wide management experience in food retail and furniture sales with teams both large and small. He also has a great knowledge of the self catering property market.

Now an AdWords qualified professional, David likes to keep up to date with all the internet marketing goings on that keep the Attacats busy all day.
Venue: 29 Member's Club, Royal Exchange Square, Glasgow
Date: Friday 25th November 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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Keep taking the tablets

Everyone has a personal brand, whether they realise it or not. It’s the picture that people build up of you in their minds eye as they collect ‘clues’ to who you are. Some of those clues will come online (they’ll Google your name, check out your LinkedIn profile, see what you’re tweeting, browse your Facebook updates, watch any YouTube clips).

And some will come offline (they’ll shake your hand, see what you’re wearing, hear how you’re speaking, check out what you’re driving.)

But there’s a place where both online and offline clues come together, and that’s with your choice of tablet.

It’s something that’s come to my attention recently; I popped into the Apple store on Regents Street with the aim of asking a few questions about an iPad – nothing more. But I got caught up in the buzz and ended up walking out £499 lighter, clutching my iconic plastic bag.

When I got to my next meeting, the person said, “Oh, you just got an iPad, my husband loves his.” The same happened at the meeting after that, “My boyfriend bought it for me and now I couldn’t live without it.” And all of a sudden, I was a member of ‘the club’ and those people bought into my personal brand a little bit more. (The subconscious thinks along the lines of, “We have something in common - I have an iPad and I’m a good person, so it follows that she’s a good person.”)

But then something happened…I took the iPad back. Now just stop a minute and take note of your reaction to that.

If it’s anything like the ones I’ve received from iPad owners, you’ll think I’m mad and perhaps some of the buy in I had will disappear. Because people seem genuinely disappointed when I tell them I just couldn’t get on with it. And telling them I now own a Samsung Galaxy 10.0 instead doesn’t seem to cut the mustard. I’m officially ‘out of the club’.

But then I realised something: that’s exactly where I want to be. Because the biggest motivator of my own personal brand is ‘doing things my way’ (which usually means doing things differently from the majority). Reports that Apple has 73% of the tablet market and that, among would-be buyers, only 6% plan to buy the Galaxy mean the niche club I’m currently a part of is likely to stay that way…which suits me fine! So the tablet I chose does indeed give the right clues to my personal brand.

So what clues do you give about your personal brand with your choice of tablet? And what clues to you get from others’? Leave a comment to let me know.

About Me

You may remember I presented at the Glasgow and Edinburgh New Media Breakfasts earlier this year on the subject of personal branding. It's a pleasure to be guest blogging on the fatBuzz Blog, hopefully I can bring you some useful information in the future. Meantime, you can read more from me on my own Spark Branding blog here.

Alternatively you can contact me via Linked-In or Twitter at the links below or via Fiona MacDonald fiona@fatbuzz.com

Follow me on Twitter
View my Linked-In profile

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Team members make their Quick Buzz debut

Since our last post on our series of Quick Buzz videos, other team members have decided to make their first appearance in front of the camera.


If you have seen these videos before 'Quick Buzz' is a series of 30-60 second videos clips by fatBuzz bringing you news, events and updates from the world of Design, Marketing and Social Media.

The first video is by our newest member of the team, Kirsty. In this edition Kirsty gives you her first Quick Buzz about Facebook pages.

The next part of the series is from Marion of fatBuzz, where she share's her extensive knowledge in event management on how to run a success event.

Here we have Gordon,talking about how it is important to be yourself on social media as it will create more engaging conversation.

Finally we have Cecilia, our senior designer, gives us a very useful tip on how it is important to adapt a square format of your logo so you can make it work with social media.

These videos will be syndicated to our various social media platforms, such as Facebook, Twitter, Blog, YouTube and you will also be able to find them on the fatBuzz website. Be sure to look out for the next Quick Buzz with other members of the fatBuzz team. We would be interested to find out what you would like to see on future 'Quick Buzz' episodes, so please don't hesitate to tweet or facebook us.

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.

    

With Kids Charity Race Night

One of our chosen charities at fatBuzz, are trying to raise money by holding a race night this month. We would really appreciate it if you took the time to read this post. With Christmas just around the corner we know this time of the year can be especially hard for deprived families in Glasgow's east end. With Kids are a great Glasgow based charity that provide many different services to these families.

The Courtyard Bar are very kindly organising and sponsoring the With Kids Charity Race Night on the 23rd November. They are helping them raise funds for Christmas and we would love for you to join them for a great night. With Kids have recently written a post regarding our Christmas Appeal highlighting how vital donations and fundraising is to the charity at Christmas time.


The Race Night is a welcomed addition to their fundraising efforts to help in the lead up Christmas. This time of year is a tough time financially for many and through fundraising events and kind donations they aim to make sure no family is left with nothing at Christmas.

Join everyone at The Courtyard Bar, 84 West Nile St. 7.30pm on 23rd November. There will also be live entertainment, Tombola and Raffle Prizes.

If you would like to make a donation or help With Kids with donating anything to their Christmas Appeal, they would love to hear from you. Contact With Kids on 0141 550 5770 or email us.

You can keep up to date with what With Kids are up to on their Website, Blog, Facebook Page or you can follow them on Twitter.

Thank you for taking the time to read this post, so please help us spread the word about the event by sharing this with your online friends using the share buttons below.


 If you have found this post of interest then the chances are your friends will too. Thank you!

Edinburgh New Media Breakfast - QR Codes and making them work for your business

QR Codes don't need to be strange little black and white boxes inserted as an "add on" to your page or advert; they can be the focal point of the advert.

Neither do they have to link to the home page of your web site (in fact, they probably shouldn't), they can link to any number of things like videos on YouTube, Podcasts on iTunes, specially created pdf files, Google Maps, your Skype account - the possibilities are endless.

    

And, because there are so many options, QR Codes offer endless potential to businesses, charities, events, individuals, brands, etc. etc. So, make sure you dont miss the next Edinburgh New Media Breakfast all about this exciting way to promote your activities. (Full details below)

QR Codes - How to make them work for your business

DATE: Thursday 10th November 2011

VENUE: Tigerlily, George Street, Edinburgh

PRESENTER: Jim Divine

We have been asking people for suggestions for topics for the New Media Breakfast and one in particular keeps coming up - QR Codes.

At the November New Media Breakfast we are delighted to announce that Jim Devine will share his knowledge and experience of QR Codes and demonstrate how they can be used for your business development in the future. We look forward to Jim's presentation and some of the case studies and examples that demonstrate the endless opportunities QR Codes offer businesses today.

In the words of Jim Divine, creator of the Cyberlogo the QR code phenomenon has been a long time coming. These little black and white patterned grids have been on our radar for a few years, but you may be surprised to know that they have been a part of everyday life in Japan for over a decade yet are only now getting the exposure and recognition they deserve in the west. Why has it taken us so long to embrace this technology and realise its marketing potential? More importantly how can it create value in your business?

Jim will show you how to incorporate QR codes into your marketing and day to day business through examples and case studies.

ABOUT THE SPEAKER
Jim Divine first started in the advertising industry in 1985 with Marr Associates, winning many international awards for creativity. He stayed with Marr for 15 years before starting his own business 21nine in 2000.

He discovered QR codes in 2007 while working with the comedian Bill Bailey and has since been spending his life educating the masses and finding more creative ways to make the technology more digestible.

Venue: Tigerlily, George Street, Edinburgh
Date: Thursday 10th November 2011
Time: 7.30am for 8am

HOW TO BOOK

BOOK FOR NEW MEDIA BREAKFAST EDINBURGH HERE:

 

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FatBuzz Wear it Pink!

It's 'Wear it Pink' Day and things have certainly went pink in the FatBuzz office! We have joined our neighbours Orb Group to raise money for Breast Cancer Awareness.

Everyone has come to work today sporting their finest pink garments, Kyle went that one step further with his favourite pink bobbed wig! Our loyal mascot Vince has even turned pink for the occasion!



There are pink sweets, pink slippers and rumour has it pink fizz for after work! It's Friday after all...

Although we are having fun (and laughing at Kyles wig), the events of today are for a very worthwhile cause. Wear it Pink Day sets out to raise awareness of Breast Cancer and everyone taking part is making a difference to 'BE PART OF THE CURE'.

Is your office is taking part in the nationwide event? We would love to see you photos of 'Wear it Pink' day so post them on our page and the best one will win a wee FatBuzz prize...





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Email Marketing - Are you making the most of your email? - November New Media Breakfast

DATE: Friday 25th November 2011
VENUE: No,29, Royal Exchange, Glasgow
PRESENTER: Kiril Bunin & David Clark

Email Marketing is often overlooked when it comes to discussing new media but it is still one of the most effective marketing tools available to businesses today.  Likewise, there are some common mistakes in Email Marketing that render campaigns useless or, ineffectual.

This presentation will take you through some of the things to avoid and some of the common pitfalls of Email Marketing.  It will also share some valuable tips and tricks that will help you to get greater success from your email campaigns in the future.
Here are some of the area that will be covered at the New Media Breakfast:

• Are you unsure how to measure the performance of your email marketing?
• Have you optimised your subscriber list?
• Do you have a plan or strategy in place?
• Are you using the right email platform for your business?

The Speakers
Kiril Bunin

The foreign variable in the Attacat equation.  Kiril is our resident conversion rate optimiser and  self confessed ‘scientist’, his passion for enhancing  conversion rates through a process of stringent testing & optimisation has been put to great use within Attacat.




David Clark

David joined Attacat from a background in sales and retail and with great experience of dealing with customers he knows exactly what they are looking for. He has wide management experience in food retail and furniture sales with teams both large and small. He also has a great knowledge of the self catering property market.

Now an AdWords qualified professional, David likes to keep up to date with all the internet marketing goings on that keep the Attacats busy all day.
Venue: 29 Member's Club, Royal Exchange Square, Glasgow
Date: Friday 25th November 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.

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.

    

QR Codes - They don't need to be boring

QR Codes don't need to be strange little black and white boxes inserted as an "add on" to your page or advert; they can be the focal point of the advert.

Neither do they have to link to the home page of your web site (in fact, they probably shouldn't), they can link to any number of things like videos on YouTube, Podcasts on iTunes, specially created pdf files, Google Maps, your Skype account - the possibilities are endless.

    

And, because there are so many options, QR Codes offer endless potential to businesses, charities, events, individuals, brands, etc. etc. So, make sure you dont miss the next New Media Breakfast all about this exciting way to promote your activities. (Full details below)

DATE: Friday 28th Otober 2011
VENUE: No,29, Royal Exchange, Glasgow
PRESENTER: Jim Devine

We have been asking people for suggestions for topics for the New Media Breakfast and one in particular keeps coming up - QR Codes. At the October New Media Breakfast, we are delighted to announce that Jim Devine will share his knowledge and experience of QR Codes and demonstrate how they can be used for your business development in the future. We look forward to Jim's presentation and some of the case studies and examples that demonstrate the endless opportunities QR Codes offer businesses today.

In the words of Jim Divine, creator of the Cyberlogo the QR code phenomenon has been a long time coming. These little black and white patterned grids have been on our radar for a few years, but you may be surprised to know that they have been a part of everyday life in Japan for over a decade yet are only now getting the exposure and recognition they deserve in the west. Why has it taken us so long to embrace this technology and realise its marketing potential?More importantly, how can it create value in your business?  Jim will show you how to incorporate QR codes into your marketing and day to day business through examples and case studies.

ABOUT THE SPEAKER
Jim Divine first started in the advertising industry in 1985 with Marr Associates, winning many international awards for creativity. He stayed with Marr for 15 years before starting his own business 21nine in 2000. He discovered QR codes in 2007 while working with the comedian Bill Bailey and has since been spending his life educating the masses and finding more creative ways to make the technology more digestible.

Venue: 29 Member's Club, Royal Exchange Square, Glasgow
Date: Friday 28th October 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.

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.