ThinkFast!

Taptu for your Social news reading

noreply@blogger.com (DMurrow) — Fri, 27 Jan 2012 17:41:00 +0000

Call me a Taptu fanboy. Never heard of it? It's a great mobile app for newshounds like me.

Taptu is a social news feed reader that lets you add, remix, search and share streams from your favorite web sites, blogs and social networks like Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn. You can add your favorite sources and topics directly from our StreamStore (including importing from Google Reader), DJ them on StreamStudio and finally share the ones you like the most. It's available for Android and iPhone users.

The company recently announced its launch for the Samsung Bada platform, helping Taptu in its expansion to feature phones, to its dedication to a cross-platform, global strategy with apps on iOS, Android, Barnes & Noble NOOK Tablet, Amazon’s Kindle Fire and now Samsung Bada phones.

On a recent trip, away from my laptop, I used my phone to graze over my Taptu headlines early and often. The beauty is that the content owner allows either a little or a lot of a particular piece. If you want to read more, you click through to their content website for the full piece.

Reviews are mostly positive for Taptu.
VentureBeat: “...a deeper news reading experience than most competitors, in particular because I was able to easily combine news sources. The app also does a great job of recommending stories.”

The Register: “A good news aggregator should be able to pull information from a broad range of sources, present it in a clear and easily navigable format, and make it as easy as pie to find, add, remove and edit feeds. For me the app that best ticks all those boxes on Android is Taptu.” –

Android Police: “Taptu: Social Media + News + Eye Candy = Success: Overall, this is probably the best news reader I’ve come across on Android. It looks GORGEOUS, is incredibly smooth, and integrates my social networking on Twitter and Facebook.”

Taptu the company started as a privately held company, founded in Cambridge in 2007 and is backed by funding from Venture Capitalists including DFJ Esprit and Sofinnova. The company is based in Cambridge (UK) and Denver, Colorado.

If you're a Android user, give Taptu a download from the Android App Store.

For iPhone users, find Taptu at iTunes.

Google Search, plus Your World

noreply@blogger.com (DMurrow) — Wed, 11 Jan 2012 17:10:00 +0000

Google is moving more and more into the social search space, apparently to Twitter's chagrin. The company announced yesterday a new search paradigm called Search, Plus Your World, which aims to include A LOT more of your social interactions into your search results.

Google wrote at its blog:
"We’re transforming Google into a search engine that understands not only content, but also people and relationships. We began this transformation with Social Search, and today we’re taking another big step in this direction by introducing three new features:
- Personal Results, which enable you to find information just for you, such as Google+ photos and posts—both your own and those shared specifically with you, that only you will be able to see on your results page;
- Profiles in Search, both in autocomplete and results, which enable you to immediately find people you’re close to or might be interested in following; and,
- People and Pages, which help you find people profiles and Google+ pages related to a specific topic or area of interest, and enable you to follow them with just a few clicks. Because behind most every query is a community. Together, these features combine to create Search plus Your World."
But the new Google Search won't include your Facebook and Twitter feed friends info. Search guru Danny Sullivan wrote:
"Search Plus Your World doesn’t cover content on Facebook. Or Twitter. Or Flickr. Or any social network or place where content might be shared to a more limited audience. Currently, “Search Plus Your World” would be better described as “Search Plus Google+”

And that's pissed some off of the other social companies. WSJ Blog wrote:
"At issue is how Google rolled out a new social search that completely ignored other social services such as Twitter and Facebook. The search giant defended its actions saying that it did not have access to crawl content on other sites, including Twitter."

I do like what Google is doing around searches for communities. If you're a leading voice in a certain community, it's likely that your search rankings will rise for your, erm, 'thought leadership'. Google writes:
Starting today, if you search for a topic like [music] or [baseball], you might see prominent people who frequently discuss this topic on Google+ appearing on the right-hand side of the results page. You can connect with them on Google+, strike up meaningful conversations and discover entire communities in a way that simply wasn’t possible before.

It's an exciting time for the Web, connecting people and places rather than links and websites. Watch Google's entertaining video on its search 'transformation':

Gary Vaynerchuk Says "Please, Get it Right - It's 2012!"

noreply@blogger.com (DMurrow) — Tue, 03 Jan 2012 21:42:00 +0000

Happy New Year! It's been awhile since I blogged here (I suppose it's worth it to mention that I've been doing a fair share of blogging for companies and clients, just not here).

So today, I want to change that. With a simple piece of advice from the always straight-up and sensible Gary Vaynerchuk. Gary shares a video (embed below) with his viewers that he can't believe he even had to make in 2012! In it, he implores those of you (us?) working in social media and more for companies and brands to GET IT RIGHT!

Gary himself writes:
"I hate to call out OWN, I mean no one has done it better than Oprah, that said this Tweet just embodies EVERYTHING that is wrong with the way Corporate America and most businesses and brands for that matter are handling Social sites, it is 2012, it has to STOP, has to. Am I wrong?"

Don't just use these channels to force things down your feed's readers eyes and ears. Use these tools to engage, provoke, enhance, enlighten and ultimately deliver. Nuff said. Well said, Gary.

Where are you spending your social media time?

noreply@blogger.com (DMurrow) — Wed, 21 Dec 2011 01:22:00 +0000

SAI's chart of the day shows that most of online users are spending time on Facebook. Is that true in your world?

Business Insider writes:
"Facebook accounts for 95% of social networking time on the web in the U.S., according to an analysis of comScore data provided to us by web publisher Ben Elowitz of Wetpaint."

Facebook proposed settlement with FTC over privacy breaches

noreply@blogger.com (DMurrow) — Mon, 05 Dec 2011 22:02:00 +0000

This news skipped my notice last week, but I saw it today (thanks to the timely blog post by @Jason).

The Federal Trade Commission offered a proposed settlement with Facebook Inc. over its many breaches of personal privacy for its users. The announcement from the Feds read:
"The social networking service Facebook has agreed to settle Federal Trade Commission charges that it deceived consumers by telling them they could keep their information on Facebook private, and then repeatedly allowing it to be shared and made public. The proposed settlement requires Facebook to take several steps to make sure it lives up to its promises in the future, including giving consumers clear and prominent notice and obtaining consumers' express consent before their information is shared beyond the privacy settings they have established."

You remember all the hiccups and curve balls that Facebook implemented without user consent over the last few years, don't you? Well, the FTC ruled that Facebook has to change its practices. It cited:

Specifically, under the proposed settlement, Facebook is:

- barred from making misrepresentations about the privacy or security of consumers' personal information;
- required to obtain consumers' affirmative express consent before enacting changes that override their privacy preferences;
- required to prevent anyone from accessing a user's material more than 30 days after the user has deleted his or her account;
- required to establish and maintain a comprehensive privacy program designed to address privacy risks associated with the development and management of new and existing products and services, and to protect the privacy and confidentiality of consumers' information; and
- required, within 180 days, and every two years after that for the next 20 years, to obtain independent, third-party audits certifying that it has a privacy program in place that meets or exceeds the requirements of the FTC order, and to ensure that the privacy of consumers' information is protected.

Audits for the next 20 years! That's more than a slap in the wrist. Click here for the FTC attorney's more editorial opinion of "Where Facebook Went Wrong." The short of it? "The agency’s 8-count complaint boils down to this: Facebook’s privacy practices often flew in the face of its stated policies and, as one count alleges, the company made material retroactive changes to its privacy practices, without getting users’ consent."

I wonder if this will stifle further innovation at Facebook. Mark Zuckerberg and his corporate communications team crafted this response at the FB blog that reiterated their company stance that in the past 18 months, Facebook has enacted "20 new tools and resources designed to give you more control over your Facebook experience", as well as to announce the establishment of new jobs (Chief Privacy Officer, Policy and Chief Privacy Officer, Products).

There is a bit more to come, as well. According to the release, "The Commission vote to accept the consent agreement package containing the proposed consent order for public comment was 4-0. The FTC will publish a description of the consent agreement package in the Federal Register shortly. The agreement will be subject to public comment for 30 days, beginning today and continuing through December 30, 2011 after which the Commission will decide whether to make the proposed consent order final."

So I guess we'll learn more in the coming weeks. Watch for THAT announcement to come likely on Christmas Eve around 11:30pm.

Where next for Social Media?

noreply@blogger.com (DMurrow) — Wed, 23 Nov 2011 22:50:00 +0000

Last week's Social Media AZ or SMAZ conference, yielded great tips and good insights into the business end of using social media for brands and business.

I wrote a little more extensively on the day's activities, presenters and sponsors over at the Mint Social blog. Check the link there for more on specific presentations.

One of the highlights for me was a panel on Google + and how that's growing for brands and businesses. As I wrote at the Mint Blog...
"Later in the afternoon to wrap up the conference was a panel session about Google + for brands. While one of the panelists spoke of Google + as 'just another part of Google’s moat around the castle,' and another called Google + 'a better bar where none of my friends are', most in the audience confirmed they are experimenting both individually and for clients how Google + can become a useful part of a company’s overall marketing strategy."

Increasingly, it's obvious that social media has outgrown its simple friend-to-friend beginnings a few years ago to become a massively influential part of nearly every business relationship and transaction. Attendance at SMAZ was far down from the past few years, and even the more local Phoenix-based PodcampAZ has thrown in the towel, declaring the recent gathering as its last (under the current format).

So what's next? We all know that social media is sexy, but where do you take social media next as a going concern when it's become bigger than an industry? It's more a way of life, now. It's human relations! And that's hard for any conference to reign in for a keynote topic. :-)

SOPA - The Internet Blacklist Bill

noreply@blogger.com (DMurrow) — Wed, 16 Nov 2011 19:11:00 +0000

From ReadWriteWeb today:

"If you've been living under an Internet-free rock the past couple of weeks, you might have managed to miss the steady drumbeat of opposition to HR 3261, the so-called Stop Online Piracy Act (SOPA). Then again, if you've been living under an Internet-free rock, you've already had a preview of what we're facing if SOPA goes into effect. AmericanCensorship.org has pulled together an infographic that explains in very basic terms the services and sites that are at greatest risk from SOPA. This includes Facebook, Reddit, The Onion Router (TOR), Alternative DNS services and a lot more. DNS blocking, which is what the proponents of SOPA want to use to block any site that might be considered infringing – before a court has even ruled – is also used in China, Iran and Syria to try to block political sites.

Social Media AZ: Social media conference, Friday Nov 18

noreply@blogger.com (DMurrow) — Wed, 16 Nov 2011 18:39:00 +0000

It's time for Social Media AZ - the one-day conference on all things social media happens this Friday, November 18 in Tempe, AZ.

SMAZ is the premier business focused event to help companies understand and learn the latest techniques in digital marketing and social media. Presenters from top social media firms and agencies in Arizona will provide presentations and focus on real world experiences to share what really works and why in social media circles.

Among the presenters are:
- Scott McAndrew, VP of Strategy at Terralever
- Matthew O'Brien, Founder/President, Mint Social
- Pamela Slim, professional speaker/business coach
- Matt Simpson, Director of Interactive Marketing, Bulbstorm

and many more.

Time is short - register for Friday's conference today. And SMAZ is offering a special 35% off discount for LinkedIn users - use the code "LinkedIn35" at the registration link.

Social Commerce History

noreply@blogger.com (DMurrow) — Thu, 10 Nov 2011 16:28:00 +0000

This awesome infographic on the history (so far) on social commerce comes from the cool kids at Useful Social Media, who write:
"Social Commerce has been one of the hottest terms in social over the past year. Mark Zuckerberg commented, "If I had to guess, social commerce is the next area to really blow up." As corporations worldwide try to wrap their hands around social commerce, we here at Useful Social Media with the assistance of Infographic World, felt it would be more than 'Useful" to create an infographic timeline detailing the very brief history of social commerce; as we have yet to see much content about its development through its early stages."

Click the link to also read an informative Q & A with Sudha Jamthe, Social Media Strategist, Social Commerce at Ebay, about her views on social commerce.

The 'verbs' we use on Facebook

noreply@blogger.com (DMurrow) — Mon, 07 Nov 2011 03:49:00 +0000

How often in a day do you look over to your Facebook friend feed that runs down the right side of your screen, and see that friend 1 "hiked at..." or friend 2 "ate at..." or friend 3 "ran..." so many miles. These 'action verbs' words are becoming the new social glue that connect us in our networks.

That's what I learned today reading Robert Scobles fine post about a missed Facebook business opportunity called "Mark Zuckerberg is Leaving $40 Billion on the Table".

Robert writes:
"First, what’s a verb? Every time you comment, like, read, run, or do other things you are creating data that gets turned into a verb and pushed into Facebook via an API. You can see the results of these verbs on the new ticker that runs on the right side of Facebook.com. On my screen right now it says "Erik Lammerding read..." or "Verizon Wireless added..." or "Katherine Goldstein likes..."

The article then goes on to portray Facebook as missing out on a golden opportunity to monetize this 'verb' action into something great.

Scoble continues, with the call for Facebook to make this 'verb' data a two-way flow, in and out. [Ed. Like most excellent things in life...]
"This is a new kind of advertising and there’s going to be BILLIONS of dollars spent on this kind of 'people-centric' advertising. But first Mark Zuckerberg has to open up the verb wall and start passing VALUE back through that wall out to third-party developers. If he does that, oh, boy, you will see a TON of innovation unleashed as developers build new kinds of apps for mobile developers. First, though, Mark will have to blow open the verb wall. So, Zuckerberg, this is all my way of saying "tear down this wall."

Fascinating, right? Every small iteration that Facebook launches brings about a new paradigm of behavior, and those smart enough and quick enough to smell the coffee can turn a small Facebook product launch into a money-generating service support business.

Have America's Largest Companies Reached a Social Media Plateau?

noreply@blogger.com (DMurrow) — Tue, 01 Nov 2011 17:43:00 +0000

The blog post title above is the title of a new report by a team of marketing researchers at University of Massachusetts at Dartmouth.

The report's full title is "The 2011 Fortune 500 and Social Media Adoption: Have America's Largest Companies Reached a Social Media Plateau?" and the team's researchers looked at the country's biggest companies and found that their use of blogging, Twitter and Facebook leveled off in 2011.

The team's researchers found that:
"The adoption of blogs, Twitter and Facebook in the 2011 F500 appears to have leveled off with no significant change in the past year. Twenty-three percent (114) of the 2011 F500 have corporate public-facing blogs. There has been a slight increase in both Twitter use (60% in 2010, 62% in 2011) and use of Facebook (56% in 2010, 58% in 2011).

These results may signal a leveling off and possibly retrenchment when it comes to the adoption of social media among the 2011 F500. There is also evidence of change in the adoption of these tools by industry and a clear sign from some companies that these are not part of their communications strategy. Given that the F500 are the titans of American business, we may be seeing the slowdown in business adoption of social media. At the very least, this group appears to have slowed or stopped its adoption of the three most prominent tools – Blogging, Facebook and Twitter."

For a full read, download the full report here (PDF).

Textbook learning with Inkling and the iPad

noreply@blogger.com (DMurrow) — Fri, 21 Oct 2011 16:04:00 +0000

The more my kids age and go through elementary school, the more it drives me nuts seeing the lack of tech innovations in a normal classroom. Sure, there have been fits and starts over the years to bring in e-chalkboards, laptop learning and more. But when the kids are bringing home so many paper assignments and related paper crafts projects to go along with those assignments, it's time to wonder how technology can and will play a more essential part in my kids' future schooling.

That's what seemed to have driven Matt MacInnis, Founder and CEO of Inkling to develop a tablet-based textbook learning method. His 2-yr. old San Francisco company is is trying to change the way students learn by developing an interactive iPad-based textbook learning platform. Inkling describes itself this way:
"We started with a vision for a better textbook: one that was interactive and engaging, one that took advantage of the opportunities afforded by new media like iPad. But we aren’t just reinventing publishing, or reinventing the book. We’re reinventing the way people learn."

Besides helping to eliminate the outrageous costs involved in buying textbooks and lugging them around to classes, Inkling's technology is also helping to foster new thinking about how kids learn and other challenges. CEO MacInnis spoke to technologist Robert Scoble a few weeks ago and shared this:
"I knew even then, before there was an iPad, that something had to give,” explains MacInnis. “We had to reinvent this physical, static, heavy textbook that everyone was still using and replace it with something that was more dynamic, something that connected people rather than isolating people from one another, something that was way more akin to the way that students spend their lives outside the classroom everyday anyway, and that’s really what we’re trying to build with Inkling.

Watch the enlightening 15-minute interview clip on the 'textbook of the future':

Read more at VentureBeat and the Central Florida Future student paper for more insights into the way Inkling is disrupting a ages-old process with new thinking. Or just click over to the video at Inkling's home page.

Apple stock since iPhone launch

noreply@blogger.com (DMurrow) — Fri, 14 Oct 2011 22:07:00 +0000

Business Insider's chart of the day is a graphic of Apple's stock rise since it first launched the iPhone. Stunning, ain't it?

BOLO Conference - Oct. 9-11, Scottsdale

noreply@blogger.com (DMurrow) — Thu, 06 Oct 2011 22:31:00 +0000

Next week is the third annual BOLO conference, aimed at agency pros working in content marketing, digital marketing, social media and more. The conference starts Sunday night and runs through Tuesday at the Hotel Valley Ho in Scottsdale, AZ.

Bolo 2011 writes:
"BOLO 2011 champions the marketing stalwarts, showing you how to take the Switch Up and leverage it for economic advantage. It's not elitist to digital agencies nor the more full-service ones. We all have our rightful place, yet we can all learn from one another at the same time. Same's true for your role - be it a principal or a hands-down, in-the-trenches worker - you are welcome and will find tremendous value in the content."

Check out some of the topics, including seminars on social listening, newsfeed optimization, analytics, useability, content marketing and more.

There is also a side track for CEOs, heads of agencies and other decision makers to understand more fully about:
- Better leveraging one another when competing with large agencies and holding companies
- Creating environments that foster the entrepreneurial zest of our best employees, and in doing so, keeping them longer
- Creating a digitally-immersed culture where digital media is something every department knows and loves, not just the interactive director sitting in the corner
- Setting yourself up for the increased competition coming from other agencies, in-house departments and media companies.

Click here to register for BOLO in Scottsdale, October 9-11, 2011.

Otixo for your cloud files

noreply@blogger.com (DMurrow) — Tue, 04 Oct 2011 21:00:00 +0000

Here's a cool new tool for you on the go: Otixo ("Your doorway to online file integration") lets you access all your online files in one app. Connect your favorite cloud services like Google Docs, Dropbox, Box.net, MobileMe, FTP, etc., into one Finder-like interface. Whether you are on the road or at your desktop, Otixo consolidates your online tools to make your "stuff" easier to find and use. Otixo maintains all your different cloud application connections, needing only one password. Nice, right?

From Netted.net today:
"Once you’ve found the files, you can delete them or share them across platforms and services without complicated downloads and uploads—right from the Otixo dashboard. It even generates links so you can share files with friends, family and coworkers for thirty days."

Otixo is still in beta, but you can follow the company on Twitter for news and updates. Or check out this earlier review on the service from The Next Web. Or watch the trailer below.

Oh How the Internet Will Grow!

noreply@blogger.com (DMurrow) — Mon, 03 Oct 2011 22:37:00 +0000

Here's an infographic display below how the Internet is expected to spread out across the world. It illustrates the how the Internet will continue to change as it spreads across the globe, and provides statistics for current Web use and usage prediction in the coming years.

Among the highlights:
- The Internet will grow to double its size in 2012 from where it is today.
- Increasingly, the Internet will be accessed via a mobile device
- Increasingly, the Internet will have more services in the Cloud

Organizing all your Social Media

noreply@blogger.com (DMurrow) — Thu, 29 Sep 2011 17:01:00 +0000

Smart Brief on Social Media today a post from Tricia Smith, who attended this week's Disruptathon conference in Washington, DC, and forwarded on the following tips for those who like to stay on top of their game.

"The largest category of the night seemed to suggest that what the social media landscape needs most is a way to organize all existing social media, with myriad apps and services that aggregate the flood of information. Trendspottr pulls trending topics from various platforms and can project the viral future of a certain topic. Awesomize allows a user to manage all personal and professional profiles from one place. Local Response uses aggregated check-ins to deliver mobile advertising in real time. Pixable collects photos from across the Web to let a user see friends’ images in one spot.

With the pervasiveness of social media, these companies are smart to adopt the philosophy of “If you can’t beat them, join them.” Trying to replace Facebook or Twitter probably won’t lead to much success, but giving people a way to access data from all of their accounts could be a winning strategy."

Check out the links above to take a new step toward organizing your inputs on the social graph.

Kutcher's tech investments on his laptop back

noreply@blogger.com (DMurrow) — Wed, 28 Sep 2011 18:07:00 +0000

Ashton 'Chris' Kutcher, good looking actor and web company investor, used his laptop on this week's "Two and Half Men" episode, in which he stars as a wayward Internet billionaire. In the show, there were some stickers of the names of various web companies on his laptop back, clearly in view of the mega audience watching on Monday night. And guess what? He's an investor in those companies! Ha.

Let's have Yahoo tell the story:
Did CBS get "punk'd" by Ashton Kutcher? The actor used his massive exposure on the sitcom "Two And A Half Men" to stealthily promote his personal tech investments. Kutcher, who replaced Charlie Sheen on the show, plays Internet billionaire Walden Schmidt.

In this week's episode, Kutcher's laptop was covered in stickers for the tech companies...
* Foursquare (the location "check-in" site),
* Flipboard (the iPad news aggregator),
* Hipmunk (the travel searcher), and
* Chegg (the textbook rental service).

Well, it just so happens that those are all companies that Kutcher has invested in. Coincidence? CBS thinks not. It's not happy about the product placement because the companies got it for free. A lot of eyeballs saw those stickers. That episode alone drew 20 million viewers, a huge number, though down from the 28.7 million viewers who watched last week's premiere.

Using Your iPad - The Launch 'Pad Conference

noreply@blogger.com (DMurrow) — Tue, 27 Sep 2011 23:27:00 +0000

In which ways are you using your iPad or comparable tablet? Silicon Valley (and Alley) hustler and good guy Jason Calacanis says the iPad's changed his life in the following ways:

1. Over 50% of content I consume is now on my iPad.
2. I watch an equal amount of video on my iPad as I do on my television set.
3. On business trips I use the iPad as often as I use my laptop.
4. My 20-month old daughter and I use my old iPad one to read interactive books together, to learn her A-B-Cs and 1-2-3s -- literally!
5. When away from my desktop, I use my iPad to read email more often than I use my Blackberry.
6. I download five to 10 apps a month -- most of which are paid (in other words, I spend $25 a month on apps, or $300 a year).
7. My father has never used a computer before, but he now uses an iPad.
8. While on vacation in Paris and Venice this year, my wife and I used the stunning Zagat iPad app to quickly find two of the best meals of our lives.

Because this change is so profound to him, Calacanis has just announced that he's hosting a one-day tablet computing conference on October 21st in Mountain View, CA called "Launch 'Pad" devoted to seeking out all the new ways that tablet computing will change our lives in the coming months.

The agenda for the one-day event:
a) See demos from the 20 most important startups/products in the tablet space. This will be rapid fire, five-minute demos followed by insightful Q&A and debate.
b) Figure out the impact these devices will have on television, movies, education, news, books, health and entertainment.
c) Figure out what products will succeed on which platforms, and why.
d) Discuss the coming Android-based Kindle that blew MG Siegler away, what the iPad 3 will be like, Sony’s tablet which Walt Mossberg said was "no iPad wannabe" and that Microsoft's Windows 8 could be the competition in the tablet space that pushes Apple.
f) Have lunch at 20 tables of 12 (or so) with one or two of the founders from each of the 20 companies presenting.

Sound cool - only 250 tickets are available and if you're a developer of tablet apps, Jason wants to invite you in for free. Jump on the wagon.

Forbes' cover story w/ 'genius' Sean Parker

noreply@blogger.com (DMurrow) — Thu, 22 Sep 2011 22:08:00 +0000

The big buzz in mag pub circles is the awesome Forbes cover story on Internet tech impresario and investor Sean Parker, written by Steven Bertoni. You can read the whole story on this tech billionaire at the link above, but what's almost as interesting is the behind-the-scenes tale told by reporter Bertoni to his Forbes colleague Lewis D'Vorkin in the clip below.

Have a watch, and enjoy the story.

The New Breed of Social Startups

noreply@blogger.com (DMurrow) — Thu, 22 Sep 2011 16:13:00 +0000

"For the first time, social-networking use reached half of all U.S. adults and 65% of adult Internet users, according to a survey conducted in April and May by Pew Research Center's Internet and American Life Project. Pew has conducted the survey since 2005.
"The social Web is turning into the merchant Web: The first company to merge the two is the real winner," says Harry Weller, a general partner at New Enterprise Associates and an early investor in Groupon. "Facebook maybe? Google perhaps?"

But with so many companies floating out there in pursuit of digital riches — did you know there are four companies with a variation of the name "my" and three with "face"? — do consumers even have time to use the services and products?"

USA Today has a fine article showing the challenges facing young social media startups and the steps they need to take to move ahead of other competitors.

Mentioned within are a number of quotes from industry observers, and a look at startups like Zynga, Bizzy, BranchOut, Payvment and others.

Tips included are for startups to:

- align with Facebook

- Make a distinct product

- grab a slice of big, established market

- diversify revenue

For further insights, watch this preso from Claude Penland from earlier this year:

Download document to PC

Upcoming AZ Tech Events

noreply@blogger.com (DMurrow) — Mon, 19 Sep 2011 22:12:00 +0000

Here's a snapshot below of scheduled Phoenix-area social, tech and business events for the next few weeks. Plan ahead!

September 27 - The Phoenix Business Journal is hosting a 'B2B Social Media' event, featuring insights from an attorney, a PR executive and a new media specialist on how social media can be an effective client retention, brand management and public relations tool in an overall marketing strategy. (Tues. Sept 27, 5pm, Phoenician, Scottsdale)

September 28 - The Phoenix Business Journal is also hosting 'Mix, Mingle and Bowl' at the Lucky Strike lanes at CityScape in downtown Phoenix. It's your opportunity to connect with other business leaders to grow your professional network, develop partnerships, and identify new client leads. (Wed. Sept 28, 5:30pm, CityScape, PHX)

October 3 - Business leaders looking to export and grow globally should look to attend the 3rd annual AZIGG Grow Globally Phoenix Fair, which features top global executives in Arizona and visitors from California and across the Southwest. It's a Who's Who of Global Business together in one place, one time a year. (Monday, Oct 3, 4:30-6:30pm, Skysong, Scottsdale)

October 7 - The Social Media AZ event (SMAZ) is once again the place to be for workers and thinkers in the social media marketing space. AZ companies like Infusionsoft, KEO Marketing, Bulbstorm, Mint Social and others are all participating. (Friday, Oct 7, 9am-4pm, Madcap Theater, Tempe)

October 13 - Social Media Club Phoenix meets every 2nd Thursday of the month in downtown Phoenix. At the monthly meeting last week, discussion centered around the value and interest of the social media influence site Klout. October's topic is not yet announced, but you can reckon it'll be among these listed at their site.

And the winner is.... Facebook!

noreply@blogger.com (DMurrow) — Mon, 12 Sep 2011 19:00:00 +0000

Where do you spend most of your web time? Browsing sports sites? Checking out new music? Reading general news?

Well, that's what research company Nielsen wanted to know too, so the company surveyed Web users for its State of the Social Media Report Q3 2011. It learned from the report's results that you (and me) devote more time to social media and blogs than to online games, email and search combined. According to this article in Huffington Post, Nielsen found:
- 22.5 percent of the time people spend online is given over to sites like Facebook, LinkedIn, Tumblr and Blogger;
- 9.8 percent is spent playing games online;
- 7.6 is spent on email; and
- 4 percent on search.

In addition, U.S. Internet users now devote more time to Facebook than any other website, spending a total of 53.5 billion minutes a month on the world's largest social networking site. Wow.

I have found that my own time on Facebook increased dramatically in 2011 than in 2010, when I found Twitter to be a far more engaging tool. Though recently I've tapered back on Facecbook, after realizing my children need some face time too...:-)

How about you? What keeps you busy online these days? Reply in the comments!

Canv.as for image sharing

noreply@blogger.com (DMurrow) — Wed, 07 Sep 2011 17:04:00 +0000

Click over to Canv.as.com and you read this:
"What is Canvas? Canvas is a place to share and play with images. Explore new content created by other users, vote on your favorites, and even make your own image remixes with the in-browser editor."

The site is run by some young New Yorkers, who see a niche in bringing a more fun social aspect to sharing photos. You can comment on pictures, remix images, add stickers to pics you like and more. Could be a fun thing, for those who have the time!

Irreverent and fun seem to be the guiding principles. But the tech market likes innovation and will pay for it. So far, the founders of the site have brought in $3.7 million in funding, per VentureBeat, which also writes...

"Canv.as is trying to remove that technical barrier to entry by making it simple to edit images. It doesn’t require users to purchase (or pirate) larger image-editing programs like Photoshop. And so far it seems like a pretty vibrant community, with hundreds of original images appearing on the site daily. I’ve been using the site for several months and it looks like it has done a good job replicating the same rogue-ish feel the 4chan website originally had, but with a more approachable vibe.

The site lets users moderate content by voting up original and popular submissions with “stickers” and quickly reporting offensive content — and down-vote unpopular content with stickers as well. Poole’s team regularly changes what kind of stickers are available depending on the pop culture flavor of the month. For example, when Internet celebrity Rebecca Black was popular, a custom sticker was made that poked fun at her song “Friday.” The site also encourages participation by handing out a limited number of “#1″ stickers that they can award funny images."

Takeaways from the Marketing Technology Summit

noreply@blogger.com (DMurrow) — Sat, 27 Aug 2011 15:22:00 +0000

photo via P. Gilbert

Valley technology and marketing professional learned at Thursday’s Marketing Technology Summit 2011 in Scottsdale, AZ about the benefits of using QR codes for marketing, how to get a brand’s fans more engaged online and how to align a company’s CRM strategies with online activities.

A packed room of nearly 400 people attended the afternoon conference, hosted by Arizona Tech Council and Business Marketing Association. The summit featured two panel sessions, one exploring insights and experiences about what’s working in digital and mobile marketing, and the other on trends in marketing automation for sales and marketing teams.

Panelists and speakers included Christina "CK" Kerley, a B2B marketing specialist, CKB2B; Bob Rinderle, communications manager for GE Healthcare; Laura M. Ramos, VP, Industry Marketing for Xerox Corporation; Brian E. Kardon, CMO for Eloqua; Greg Head, CMO for Infusionsoft, and John Kennedy, VP of Corporate Marketing, IBM.

There were insights for startups (differentiate your company from the competition, and use smart SEO tools) and benefits for using QR codes (helps at trade shows, cut down printing costs, and helps potential customers get to URLs quickly). While discussing trends in marketing automation, Eloqua’s Brian Kardon and Infusionsoft’s Greg Head reflected on the rapid changes in web marketing (‘an explosion in the available marketing tactics to reach people’), using more video marketing rather than text marketing, and how marketers should look at the idea that marketing technology *is* business transformation, not simply tool implementation.

Kennedy put across some details about IBM’s recent applications of its Watson computer; how technology is transforming IBM’s business systems and marketing processes, and how IBM is connecting their system processes together and promoting new initiatives with instrumentation, interconnectivity and intelligence.

Overall, the theme that seemed to resonate most during the summit was that online customers want interactions to be unique/personal, and that marketers are encouraged to manage these interactions with the advantage of new and smart technology tools. Indeed, the roomful of marketing pros seemed fully subscribed to this thinking.