One of the delights of this new communication landscape is how easy and quick it is to set up and use the tools.

Equally, one of the dangers of this new communication landscape is how easy and quick it is to set up and use the tools – it can be all too easy to shoot one’s own career or one’s client/employer in the foot/head.

In this video I explain why thinking through your strategy *before* you start using the tools is so important.

The video was shot at the beautiful St Vincent’s Marina, Wirrina Cove, at sunset on a very windy day, when talking was hampered by not being able to get the words out the wind was so strong.

JESS3 / The State of The Internet from Jesse Thomas on Vimeo.

There are now 2.5 billion photos uploaded to Facebook every month, YouTube serves 1 billion videos per day, the average person watches 182 online videos per month and there are 200 billion spam emails sent every day   [which is why I use a spam filter like SpamArrest]

Enjoy the video!

A tip of the digital akubra to DigitalBuzzBlog

I’m toying with the idea as I need some new business cards printed, but some daily poll stats over on the DigitalBuzzBlog are making me wonder if they are a waste of time.

Telstra have released an iPhone app and they were early adopters (as they always are) of them, but I certainly haven’t seen too many of them on bus shelter posters recently here in Adelaide – is anyone else seeing them?

I’ve long held that For Immediate Release is the best (by far) podcast for business communicators; indeed, I was a very early foreign correspondent until work pressures meant I could no longer commit to my regular audio article.

You can listen to FIR (as it is known and loved) via the FIR website, iTunes and via apps like the one that sits on my website.

But now you can get the latest FIR goodness beamed directly to your iPhone or iPod Touch, or the Android OS! Cool!

As Fir hosts Shel and Neville say,

If you have an iPhone, an iPod Touch or a device running the Android OS, there’s now an even easier way to get your podcast episodes with the new FIR app, now available in the iTunes App Store and the Android Market. There’s currently no cost – the app is free to download and use.

For the iPhone, etc, you can find the FIR app in the App Store. But the easiest way to find, download and install it is of course by doing everything via your iPhone or iPod Touch:

1. Load the App Store on your device.

2. Tap the Search button and type FIR.

3. The FIR app should* be the first result you get – as the screenshot shows.

4. Tap the listing, tap the word ‘free’ and then ‘install.’

There you have it – the FIR app installed on your device, ready to go!

Go get ‘em, tigers!

Courtesy of that Canadian chanteuse and Torontonian interrogator Donna Papacosta comes word that Tod Maffin (Gen Y consultant) is compiling a database of tactical case studies in social media use, cunningly titled ‘Case Studies Online’.

As Donna says,

I like the feature that allows you to search by demographic or industry or tactic. As this site evolves, it could become the go-to resource for marketers and others using social media.

Me too.

Natascha Dowsett in Japan, earlier this week

The social media/social networking space is full of interesting developments.

Why, just the other day a lady contacted me with news of her personal campaign to land a job with a digital agency here in Adelaide. Here’s how it pans out:

Adelaide marketing company, Fnuky, has decided to hire through Facebook rather than through traditional avenues and they’ve started a group on Facebook called “Finding Fnuky” to that end.

Local girl Natascha Dowsett saw the job advertisement on Seek.com.au, took the personality test and then decided to take a leaf out of Fnuky’s book and try something completely different in the hopes that it would grab their attention; she started a Facebook group called “Dinner my shout, if you help Fnuky find me”

Natascha has explained that she will give someone a great dinner at her expense if they come up with the nicest and most creative comment about her and post it on her page. Not an onerous task, but one fraught with potential for embarrassment, and all based on the hope Fnuky will take notice and give her a job. As I write this over 200 people have joined the group and apparently at least 11 people are in the running for a free dinner.

Natascha Dowsett just outside the BetterComms Towers office lift, yesterday afternoon

Fraught with excitement, opportunity and danger

Natascha’s foray into digital marketing is of course tremendously exciting for her and the future of job seeking. Equally, it is a risky proposition.

• What if no one knows her well enough to say something nice about her?
• Had she considered using LinkedIn to further her job prospects and garner testimonials as to her skills?
• What if Fnucky have already heard of/seen her Facebook group but decided to decline to take part in her experiment?
• What legislative risks do Fnucky open themselves up to by engaging (or not engaging) in staffing decisions outside of the usual, traditional screening/interview process?
• What if Fnucky interview Natascha and decide that, for whatever reason, she is unsuitable for their agency – where does that leave Natascha and Fnucky in the race for social media credibility and kudos?

Watch Natascha’s group page to see each step of the saga unfold – one to watch to see how it pans out for everyone involved, methinks.

Natascha Dowsett and some chap (unknown) Guy, yesterday lunchtime

The Chief Marketing Officer (CMO) Council invites you to be part of their in-depth assessment of marketing performance in 2009 and the plans, priorities and projections for 2010.

‘Marketing Outlook’ is one of, if not the most, downloaded product each year from the Council’s website.

Take the survey: http://www.cmocouncil.org/programs/surveys/mo_10/

The CMO Council’s fourth-annual Marketing Outlook study is a valuable and reliable barometer of media and marketing spend, as well as a sound indicator of where and how marketers expect to drive campaign effectiveness, efficiency and yield in the months ahead. With CMO Council members controlling over $150 billion in annual marketing spend, you will find their latest Marketing Outlook report a vital and essential tool for planning and decision-making in 2010

Traditional market research is conducted in a very uni-directional manner; the agency asks all sorts of questions of the public, the public in turn responds, but little or no interactivity occurs.

Therefore, important–nay essential–nuances of psychology, language, colour and design are potentially missed elements of feedback. A huge loss to the researching organisation and their client.

But wait! Thankfully someone has finally realised the importance of this missing data and done something about it.

Jennie Beattie and her colleagues over at the Digital Democracy are able to offer the ‘Your Say Cafe’, a online community area where market research can be conducted and interactions can take place using all manner of methods and tools.

“Huzzah!”

If you are involved with market research you owe it to yourself to nip over to the Digital Democracy’s post on the matter and find out more.

• A Collection of Social Network Stats for 2010 « Web Strategy by Jeremiah Owyang | Social Media, Web Marketing
  For the third year running (he did this in 2008 and 2009) Jeremiah Owyang aggregates stats in the social networking space on a single blog post, and update it through the year. Data fiends should bookmark this post for future reference.
  (tags: socialmedia statistics stats research social 2010 marketing owyang)

• Australians are #1 globally in usage of social media: Why? – Trends in the Living Networks
  "Some very interesting data just out from Nielsen on social media usage. The headline is that people in developed countries are spending 82% more time on social media than they were one year ago. However the data point that struck my interest most is that… Australia is #1 globally in usage of social media"
  (tags: socialmedia australia research trends media social stats data)
• Sex Explained By Pens: Pics, Videos, Links, News
  Absolutely brilliant and very funny!
  (tags: sex funny humor image humour cool fun article pens pen)
• socialized blog » Debunking Five Social Media Myths
  "Running a business is a complex affair requiring complex communications. Some companies use Sharepoint and other technologies to manage documents, but many still use e-mail to circulate Powerpoint, Excel, Word and other docs. Could you imagine negotiating a contract 140 characters at a time?"
  (tags: blogging marketing socialmedia)
• 20 Color Combination Tools for Designers | Spyre Studios
  "Being able to select the right colors is key in designing an effective and intriguing design, whether for the web or for print. If you’re able to achieve a good balance within your design, then it’ll communicate a stronger message much more easily to the users or readers because certain colors “activate” certain types of emotions"
  (tags: color webdesign design tools resources css tips colour)
• The Anatomy Of An Infographic: 5 Steps To Create A Powerful Visual | Spyre Studios
  Sneh is a designer from Sydney, Australia. She runs the Little Box Of Ideas Blog. She has great visual ideas – here's how she created a visual for one idea
  (tags: design visualization inspiration graphics tips howto tutorial tutorials visualisation infographic infographics)
• Grant v. Torstar and the defence of responsible communication: implications for bloggers and users of other online media : Law is Cool
  "These new disseminators of news and information should, absent good reasons for exclusion, be subject to the same laws as established media outlets."

  Two landmark cases from Canada with implications for bloggers, podcasters and their kind

  (tags: socialmedia socialnetworking journalism blogging podcasting vidcasting vodcasting law legal media)
• 5 Things Every Business Leader Should Know About Social Media | TerryStarbucker.com
  "It’s the new elephant in the room. Boardrooms and conference rooms, that is."
  (tags: socialmedia marketing blogging business presentations ceo cfo board)
• Trafcom News Podcast: Trafcom News Podcast 93: An intranet that works: An interview with William Amurgis at American Electric Power
  "The AEP Now intranet won an international honour called the Intranet Innovation Award for its Ideas Now effort, which resulted in a cost savings of $8 million over two months, thanks to employee suggestions"
  (tags: intranet donnapapacosta donnapepsicola trafcom podcast interview)
• Tools for Monitor Social Media – Blog – Socialite Marketing
  "We now have the ability to monitor everything as it happens, so are you using those tools? What are your customers saying about you and/or your products? This blog post will cover some FREE tools businesses can use to help monitor what people are talking about through social media!"
  (tags: socialmedia tools monitoring monitor iphone)