Forgive me, for I have not blogged ....

Seems to me that blogging is a habit and it's one that I have got out of. It's 5 months since my last blog and that's not good.

Is it bad, though?

Blogging serves 2 key purposes for me: first, it helps me to get my thoughts in order and when I get my thoughts in order, it makes it more likely that I will be able to do something constructive with them. Secondly, and secondarily, it generates relevant content for SEO which helps to raise my profile.

So I think it's a good habit and one that I will try harder to keep up!

First 10 people get a free pizza

How can Twitter helps a small business?

Here's an for an idea I copied from an AdAge article.

1 - put a sign up saying "Follow us on Twitter and get special offers - Twitter.com/senrabmot"

2 - 20 mins before closing time Tweet "First 10 people to come to the shop and say "senrabmot" get a free pizza."

3 - get ready for the rush!

And I was thinking that Twitter marketing was complicated!

The end of the age of free - NOT!

There is no doubt that newspapers are struggling in the face of the dual challenge of the rescession and the Internet (see blogs below!). And it is certain that the reduction in ad revenue is crippling them and that they will have to change their business model if they are to survive.

Rupert Murdoch says that he is going to do just that. He is "considering charging for [content on] more of his internet sites". This would of course create a new revenue stream, but only if users are prepared to pay.

The challenge facing the newspaper industry (and many others) is that the Internet give everyone access to content from a myriad of sources. News is ubiqitous. And the core news is the same wherever you get it from.

Murdoch will only persuade people to pay if he can (a) differentiate his content from other sources and (b) deliver sufficient value.

But perhaps he is missing the point. Perhaps the change is bigger than that and it needs a bigger solution. Perhaps it is the very nature of the news product that is changing.

These days the big stories don't break first in the papers, or even on TV. They break on Twitter! Any top story is spread through a multitude of websites, including social networks and video and picture sites. Editorial is provided by your favourite blogger and everything is accessed through your mobile phone.

So where do newspapers really ad value in an oneline world?

I think Murdoch has got some serious thinking to do!

(Recommended article: The end of the age of Free.)

Lessons from Microsoft

Microsoft is having a hard time, but how much of it is down to the recession?

While the decline in PC sales is undoubtedly helped by the recession, is that the full story. Or is it that Microsoft's business model has become out-dated?

The Internet has caused 2 key changes that are impacting MS:

1 - Wikinomics would suggest the Internet has ushered in an era of mass collaboration which means that big business is no longer the most powerful force in R & D. The most obvious area in is the development of open-source software as a real alternative to expensive licences. Losing this advantage means that MS can no longer dominate as a monopoly supplier. (Related article.)

2 - Cloud computing is challenging the PC purchasing model where software developments drive the need for more powerful PCs.

Microsoft is certainly keenly aware of the challenge that it faces. It is developing it's own Cloud solutions, as well as diversifying into other Internet business. But at it's heart it is still built on a proprietary solution.

It will be fascinating to see whether it can defend this position, whether it can re-invent itself or whether it will ultimately wither.

Dominos - The power of social media in action

Two Dominos employess thought they'd have a bit of a laugh at the companies expense ...



They created a storm which Dominos needed to quell.

The response ...



By taking it head on and in the same channel, Dominos may have turned a PR disaster in to a success. They'll get plenty of air-time and their MD giving a clear message about the importance of hygene in their shops.

Did they manage to quell the storm effectively, or even turn it into a positive. I guess the question is ...

Are you more or less likely to go to Dominos now? (Personally I wouldn't eat there anyway!)

Getting social

The problem with social networks is that there are so many of them. Not only do you have to work out what each one does, you have to know who is there.

This means that if you want to communicate effectively with all of you target audience, you are likely to need to communicate on multiple platforms. Possibly with different messages (either in style of content) going out on different platforms.

The first step in managing this is to work out the best platforms for you, which must also be the ones that are best for your target audience. 

The second is to work out the best way to manage your content. Either running multiple platforms independently, or controlling your content centrally.

Streetview - amazing and controversial

Google's Street view is amazing. If you haven't tried it, why not start at St Paul's (be patient - it takes a little while to download properly).

It is a very useful tool. A friend just asked if she could leave her bike outside the place we're meeting - a quick look and I can see a bike rack. Amazing!

But it is also a tool for the voyeur. Some people aren't too happy about the infringement on their right to privacy and are literally standing in the way of progress!

Digital 5 v 0 Print

My FT.com newsletter gave a clear illustration of state of play in the battle between digital and print based news. It contained these 2 stories (out of 5 in total)

Thomson Reuters executives in pay boom
Six senior executives of Thomson Reuters have been given share awards that could be worth $61m, after a year in which profits and revenues grew ahead of expectations

US non-profit newspapers
Thank goodness for banks and carmakers. Were it not for them, US newspapers would be in pole position as the nation's most distressed sector

Can the message get any clearer!

NB - you'll notice that most of the story on the second link requires a subscription. This premium content is how the FT is performing well in this sector; it has understood the market and where its value lies. (see previous blog for more)

Printed newspapers are dying (part 2)

The bad news keeps coming for the newspaper industry. What is driving the problems?

Booming on the back of advertising demand over the last decade, especially in the property sectors, the industry took its eye off the ball. When that demand fell its advertising revenues went into free-fall and excecutives realised too late that the "secondary" revenue of the cover price isn't enough to cover the difference, especially as large parts of the audience had now moved online to the land of free news.

In taking their eye off the ball, the newspapers failed to see that the world was changing. They didn't adapt to the digitisation of the news, because they weren't forced to. They are now facing a world that is digital and they need to change radically or accept that they are old news.

The digital world still offers rewards for those that get it right. The FT and Wall Street Journal, for example, are in a strong position, as users are prepared to pay for their premium content. And it's not just the broad-sheets, The Sun has just announced a 25% increase in its online usage. 

Content will always play a key role online. And news will always be important content. The challenge now is for newspapers to understand what it is that their specific audience want, to define their premium content. Once they know what that content is, they need to work out how  and where their audience want to read it. 

Sounds like basic marketing to me!

If you liked this blog, you might also like ....

Printed newspapers are dying (part 1)

Print is taking a bashing

Twittering on

Twitter is the most talked about Internet tool of 2009. Its prevalence is growing, usage is up and so is its profile.

In the US all of the top 10 technology firms have employees using Twitter for their company's commercial gain, showing that it has really taken hold there. In the UK the corresponding figure is only 2 in 10 (story).

Does this show that the UK is lagging behind? Or does is show a reticence this side of the pond to do something without a clear understanding of the whys and wherefores, not to mention the risks. A reflection on communication style, rather that technophobia?

This would support my belief that the contrasting numbers are based on the fact that for most businesses it is not clear where the Twitter oppotunity (perhaps it should be "Twittertunity"!) lies. 

At the moment much of the talk is just talk. How many businesses can really claim that they are using Twitter as an effective tool?

The news that in a recent survey of small UK firms "17% said they were already using Twitter and 25% said they had been persuaded to sign up in the last four weeks", hardly indicates a considered strategic process, more a toe in the water driven either by a fear of being left behind, or curiousity resulting from Twitter's recent press coverage.

Again, people think there's something to it, they just don't know what!

So what should you do about it? For the time being it might be little to lose from experimenting with Twitter and I would encurage it. But before you make it part of your marketing effort, I would strongly recommend a more strategic approach. At the very least you need to understnad why you are doing it.

For a satirical review, have a look at this ...

 

it might even help you to get it!

Firefox usage continues to grow

Firefox has definitely hit critical mass. A recent review of stats put usage at between 21 and 45%. We believe that the 45% figure is heavily swayed by the influence of developers using w3schools monitored site, which means that it is unlikely to reflect overall usage. It does, however, show that Firefox is the browser of choice for the development community.

Google's Chrome has yet to have a significant impact.

Browser stats reviewed are:

www.w3schools.com/browsers/browsers_stats.asp - from the technical community? – 45%

www.upsdell.com/BrowserNews/stat.htm - gives an average of 26% Gecko based (which I think is FF!?)

http://www.spreadfirefox.com/node/355) - from the horses mouth - 21%

Getting to the essence of social networking

Seth Godin hits the nail on the head in the short video.



In summary, it doesn't matter how many friends you have in your network, what matters is the quality of the relationship that you have with them.

Social networks - more than Wispa

A spontaneous the consumer campaign launched on Facebook and Myspace last year calling for the re-launch of the Cadbury’s Wispa bar.

To Cadbury’s eternal credit they sat up and took notice of this campaign and the Wispa bar was re-launched last September - selling 1.2million bars in a single week.

The Wispa is not only still out there but has been credited largely with helping Cadbury buck the recessionary trend with a whopping 30 per cent rise in its profits. By the end of last year Wispa had accounted for a massive £25million in sales - and that was just the last few months of the year.

Your customers are talking about you online, join the conversation and start listening. You just might learn something useful!

(Sotry from The Insider.)

See the power of User Generated Content in action

Jim Beam have launched a user generated content website. They are asking their customers to come up with their own ads for Jim Beam based on the ideas from the current TV ads.

In the first week, there were no entries. The marketing execs must have been getting nervous. Week 1 saw 3. By week 2 there were 7 and the "samples" had been taken down. By week 3 there were 16 (4 had been viewed over 4000 times) and after a month they had over 100 videos, several with 10,000+ views.

And the execs could relax and bask in the glory! 100s of thousands of views, the brand being re-presented by loyal customers and spread by word of mouth.

And not only that, but it also gives huge insight into their online audience. How much would that kind of market research cost.

My guess is that this will continue to grow. It will be interesting to see where it gets to by the close date and what Jim Beam do next.

SME Internet Marketing Toolkit

My company, BarnesGraham, has developed a great toolkit for all companies, but targeted at SMEs, say 10 - 100 employees.

It includes a very powerful content management system, full access to all SEO content, integrated email, plus tracking and Adwords from Google.

It gives you everything you are likely to need and is fully supported. If you've got the know-how you can run it all yourself, or we can provide whatever services you are need.

Have a look .... http://www.smeinternetmarketingtoolkit.co.uk/.

Please let me know what you think of it by leaving a comment.

Printed newspapers are dying

The high street has seen the collapse of some big names, Woolworths, MFI and others. But they were all already struggling, they had no clear place in a changing high street.

Is the same thing happening to print, in the face of the digital revolution. As moeny gets tight and there is less to go around, it is the weak that will suffer most.

Some recent headlines show what's happening in the print world:

Metro International runs out of working capital

Poor quarterly results trigger News Corp share price slide

The Shrinking World of Newspapers

The reduction is advertising has hit to bottom line too much. Google's failure to transfer it's digital advertising success to print shows that it's not just about an out dated approach to advertising, it's a fundamental issue about the meduim.

But this is not the only issue. Just as important is the increase in digital as the first place to look for things that you used to find in print. Some examples:

Google takes on Amazon with mobile book service

Sky Sports sees highest site traffic in January

FT.com launches mobile version of website aimed at young users

The message is clear. Digital not print!

GenerationX lead the way

The differences between Generation X (18 - 32 yrs) and Generation Y (33-44 yrs) give a fair indication of the way that the Internet is moving.

The clearest trends (100% change) concern the growing willingness for active involvement, rather than passive consumption. GenX aren't just going online to find things out, they are keen to engange and are active contributers to the web.

This trend is connected to the growth of social networks, both in absolute terms and in their raised profile in the media. Every other story in the new media news at the moment has a social media angle, as the Tags in my bookmarks attest.

It clearly indicates that social networks and user generated content will continue to grow. The challenge is how to use this trend to your marketing advantage.

	GenX	GenY	Change
play games	50	38	32%
watch videos	72	57	26%
send instant messages	59	38	55%
use a social networking site	67	36	86%
create a profile on a social networking site	60	29	107%
read a blog	43	34	26%
create a blog	20	10	100%

(Figures from Study: Sizing up the Online Generation Gap.)

Dell embraces the big idea

Dell's was coming under attack online. Their products were being criticised and their support was being slated. They tried to ignore it, but the noise grew. So they embraced it and are now reaping the rewards of engagement.

In this video, Dell's "Communities and Conversations" man, Bob Pearson, tells how they are doing it.



It's also worth looking at Idea Storm, their ground breaking site which brings their users into the development process.

Internet is the place to be

OK, so it might be biased, but eMarketer's 7 predictions for the Web in 2009 are positive, leaving little that in media terms, the Internet is the place to be.

1 - No doubt about it, marketers will be cutting back on advertising spending this year.

2 - Among traditional media, newspapers, radio and magazines will see the worst declines.

3 - Advertisers’ pull-back in overall marketing spending, coupled with a serious re-examination of traditional media, will set in motion a series of permanent changes that will affect how media is planned and measured, as well as the media mix itself.

4 - Throughout all this economic shrinkage, the Internet will continue to grow, though at a far more constrained pace. eMarketer projects online ad spending will rise 8.9% in 2009, after an already ratcheted-down rate of 11.3% in 2008.

5 - Despite the general consensus that online will ride out the storm, expect to see a growing contingent of bearish forecasters disparaging its prospects.

6 - Growth in online display advertising will languish—but only in terms of absolute-dollar spending, and the effects will be temporary.

7 - E-commerce, already hammered in 2008, will see growth slip even further, from 7.2% in 2008 to a measly 4.1% in 2009.

For the full story click here.

Print is taking a bashing: is it on the way out?

Print media is set to be one of the major casualties of the recession.

Anyone who watches the media will know that print has been losing ground to the Internet for a long time, but the recession is hastening the process. The Bellweather Report shows a record reduction in media spend and print is being his heavily.

It is clear that this is having a real and lasting impact on the industry. Exchange and Mart has announced it is becoming an online only entity, ceasing it's print publication in February.


Stats from the US paint a sorry picture....



... matched by recent numbers showing that the Internet is now the most popular meduim for access news. Is this the beginning of the end?

Shipton Mill test

I wanted to check to see how quickly this blog gets picked up by my Google alert for Shipton Mill. 

I'll let you know!

Web 2.0 & Social Media

I've been trying to work out how this all fits together and I've come up with the following top level. Any thoughts would be most welcome ...

What is Web 2.0?

Web 2.0 is user generated content. The advances in web technology have made it easy for non-technical users to publish content (copy, photos & video) to the web and they are publishing it in vast quantities.

Where is Web 2.0?

Web 2.0 is in the "social media".  Social media is the websites that allow users to publish this content. It includes blogs and community sites, such as Flickr, YouTube, Facebook and Bebo. 

Why do Web 2.0?

Web 2.0 is about community.  The answer for online communities is the same as it is for any community. Members join for mutual benefit. The benefits for each member may be different (belonging, respect, need) and the price of entry is participation, whether as a creator, critic, collector, joiner of spectator. 

Like I said, your thoughts are welcome ...

Facebook Apps

There are pros and cons to open APIs. Lots of people build helpful applications, but they often don't deliver what they promise. 

My previous entry refers to adding an RSS feed of this Blog to my Facebook page. The idea is to keep my friends informed with what I've posted on my blog and to generate links to it for SEO. You would think that it would be an easy thing to do, after all you are trying to add "really simple syndication" to through the API of one of the largest online properties. 

But a search through the apps fails to find a single RSS app that users actually say works. Very disappointing, if you ask me. 

If you know of one that does work, please comment and let me know. Thanks.