Yes… Yes… It’s morning and I am up and I know I have LOADS to do…
Now go away!!! *covers head and hides*
What??? I’m not a morning person… Night shifts rock!!!!

Carpe Diem!

Today I want to talk a little about WHY should you bother to engage.

Fact is that all the tools needed to run them can be found online.  Twitter, Facebook and blogging are THE BEST TOOLS your company can have today to spread the word, showcase news, services and products… and of course… Perform market research.

There is no big secret… Do you want better way to connect to your public than Twitter? With it you have direct access to their opinions on anything you do. People will talk anyways, bad or good, so you might as well LISTEN and engage to know what is being told about you.

That works not only for companies, but for bloggers, artists, politicians… well… anyone that has something to say and wants/needs to be heard. Twitter is also the fastest way today to make your message be delivered world-wide (imagine that… it only takes one follower from another country for your message/business to go global) . But you need to create a personal connection with your followers.

The one thing most companies don’t realize is that for that to happen you have to stop talking corporate jargon and stop being so single minded going on and on and on about your products and services and actually start talking a little rubbish…

And now is the time where you say I have gone insane, right?!?! Well… No…

An awesome guy I had the opportunity to meet a couple of weeks back called Euan Semple says so… (if you don’t know who I am talking about, he was was one of the first to introduce what have since become known as social media tools into a large, successful organisation: the BBC)

Yes, you need to manage the amount of rubbish you talk about online. Keep it tidy, but not too tidy… Produce guidelines and then blog/tweet the hell out of it within the guidelines!

Engaging in “mundane conversation” (aka rubbish) on social media is a powerful way to connect with your public! To show that you speak their language.

Don’t believe me? Choose one person on twitter… a real/normal one… then take a look at their timeline. What will you find there? Things will go from what they had for breakfast to chat about the weather, or what is on on the latest Apprentice of XFactor episode…

You see how I am focusing on Conversation here, right?! Yeah… This is the key word for this century…

It stated with word of mouth, newspapers, radio, the TV, websites… Strategies to use those communication means, like everything are like bubbles, one day they will pop and give space for the next big bubble…

Our current Corporate culture is about to pop. Public culture is the new bubble and like everything else, Social Media is a bubble that will eventually go away too, but that is a bubble that will take around 50 years to pop… Can you afford stay out now? And More to the point… you can get in now and easier than a big brand can (they need time to adapt their whole machinery and huge body of professionals to it…)

And yes… Managing your Online presence can be almost a full time thing… But it has become one of the indispensable tools for your company to be noticed out there. As I said before, your competitor is already there… Why are you not?  If you don’t have the means to do it yourself it might be worth paying a company (Like for example… ahem… UrbanVox Limited) to do it for you.

Just don’t stay out of the bubble.

I do hope I managed to pass some good info through this post…And if you have any questions, please give me a shout on Twitter. (@urbanvox) or ask away on the comments so more people can benefit from it. (and by all means… share this post… )

Next week I’ll be talking abotu the Tech you need to successfully run Social Media Presence!

Carpe Diem!

Living and learning they saw… I couldn’t agree more…

I learn a little bit every day with my sons. And they are invaluable lessons in every subject you can think or imagine.

My latest lesson learned with the Little One for example is that the more you do something that scares you the more you learn to enjoy it… To a poing where it becomes second nature… It’s weird how the brain works isn’t it? Same day I took this photo I spend a good half an hour trying to convince him to go down and toddler’s slide… the he saw the multi coloured one (which was quite a few times bigger than the one I was trying to convince him to go down on a) and I could see the little light in his eyes as my step-dad picked him up and slid with him from the top… his heart was racing so much when he got to the bottom… bit he had that incredible giggle face of his looked at him and said “AGAIN!”

We took turns going back up the slide and going down with him. Even the Big Birthday Monkey left his friends aside a little while to join the fun a few times. Then his mum had a brilliant idea: To sit him beside her and tell him to go… He didn’t think twice, wriggled his bum and went! And that was the beginning of at least another 20 solo slides… And me going up and down with him… just to make sure…

Not too long ago the Little Monkey was stumbling around learning how to walk (and he still spends quite a lot of his time on the floor from one bump to the next… lol…) and now he is full time daredevil little me.

And what do I learn with that? Simple… Scary things can become incredibly fun once you learn to enjoy them… Do something that scare you a few times and eventually it will stop being so scary… There are LOADS of things I could do with a little push down the proverbial slide… Both in my personal and professional life…

*wriggles bum and inches forward*…

Life is a scary place… But if we don’t say YES and lt go sometimes we’ll never know how it was to have lived through it instead of surviving through it… So… well… say yes more often… What’s the worst that can happen?!?!?

*pushes forward and slides down the big slide*

Carpe Diem!

A small round down on what’s to come on the UrbanVox HQ over the next few weeks!

Toooootally worth watching if nothing else to laugh at me looking like a monkey on speed! ROFL… Guess that’s what I get for recording at 2am when already in a hyperactive mood!

Carpe Diem!

It’s no big secret really what I’ve been planning to to do with UrbanVox.Net for the past couple of months and I’ll make it 100% clear soon… But let’s just say that it is DEEPLY involved in Social Media… My baby is growing up…

Last week I’ve attended to the launch event of  LoveSocialMedia in London which most definitely renewed my enthusiasm in working in the area, and actually being part of the next big thing at it’s beginning.

Why? Well… Simple: Social media has caused  THE BIGGEST change in marketing strategies since they invented TV.

There is a book written about 10 years ago called The Clue Train Manifesto (if you haven’t read it… do it) that describes in 101 facts what would be the next trends in the market (which are happening now).

There are 10 things that we can single out if you want to go ahead and take your place on this new market (be it in your company, blog, events, etc) and if you are not taking notes then go and get pen and paper.

Go on… I’ll wait for you…

Ready???

1 – Markets are Conversations

Simple fact: People will use Social Media to talk to other people (and to you) about your company or services. We all do it…  If you don’t react to those conversations your company will lose market value… Conversation opens new highways for new opportunities.

We are part of a generation that is used to interactivity. You can’t control conversations about your company/brand if you don’t engage in conversation.

2- Social Media Enables powerful forms of social organisation and knowledge exchange.

Cue to Market Research… Do you know a better way to know what your target needs than listening to what they have to say? and it works both ways too… same time you can hear what your future readers/clients/buyers have to say, they also find out you are about to make available something they want… If you don’t… someone else will… Just saying…

3 – There are 2 types of conversations going on…

Social media works outside a company AND on the inside… Let clients speak to people on the company not just the people in your Customer Care Service… If you are doing things right then there is no better online Public Relations exercise… Just make sure you are having conversations with the people that work with you too… Two reasons: You don’t want secrets leaking… and you don’t want people talking about something they don’t understand… do you?

4 – These 2 conversations want to talk to each other. They are speaking the same language, so why not?

Another fact about the generation we are living in… Your clients ate not interested on going to your website, so YOU need to go to them!!!! Twitter/Facebook/YouTube/instagram/LinkedIn etc Are you there yet?

5 – We wonder why you’re not listening. You seem to be speaking a different language.

Big corporations seem to not listen… Or engage much in conversation… Have you noticed that?  So if you can listen you have more chances than then. Turn tables!!! It will take them about 15 years for them to change to the new generation of coms… To adapt to the new market… YOU can do it now!!!

6 – The inflated self-important jargon you are using is old…

Need I say more? Why are you adopting a big corporation communication model if you don’t have to? And more to the point… why are you adopting it if they are working on changing it themselves????

7 – We like this new market place much better!!!  In fact we are creating it, shaping it.

It’s much more “fun” to talk to clients via twitter/Facebook/etc. Am I right? Of course I am!

8 – You are invited, but it’s our world, take your shoes at the door.

Let’s face it… Your company is entering your public’s world now… not the contrary… Remember that the people you are reaching for holds the rules of the Social Media Game… And You need to respect them.

9 – Companies that don’t belong to a community of discourse will die.

Your competitors will participate of that community. Can you afford not to?

10 – We as people are waking up and linking to each other.

We are watching but not waiting. Make sure you are linked to it too!!!!

The biggest issue with adapting to this new Market is that Companies are venturing into social media but they don’t know why…

If you know why then you are ahead!

I’ll be brushing the  Social Media subject often and wide from now on… if you thing what I just wrote is interesting give me a shout (I LOVES comments, you know?!?!? ) There is some more coming up soon… And a few surprises along the way so stay tunned… hehehe…

Carpe Diem!

Another weekend and another night staying up Till Late!!! This photographing Egg’s Birthday Party at Kings Cross in London.

Nights like last night that remind why I love to do what I do so much. It’s the chance of meeting – and photographing – people from all tribes and walks of life. The cowboy DJ, the performers, models, the photog crew, bloggers and vloggers and and the fab PR chicks (some PR guys are awesome too… don’t take me wrong… but not fab like the chicks… sorry guys…).

Yes… I know I am clueless and half the time I have no idea who’s the person I am photographing – like it happened a couple of times at the London Fashion Week last year… AKA Rihanna and that chick that presents E4… oops –  but it is fun nonetheless! lol… And that is all I am all about… you should know that by now…

Go on… You gotta admit… Beats the hell outta sleeping doesn’t it?

Next stop: World Burlesque Games on Tuesday… Did I ever tell you I love my job?

Carpe Diem!

I think it is the reason why I love working with people so much… one of the reasons why I love photography and one of the reasons I am such a social butterfly and am always at ease with meeting new people… Someone told me something beginning of the week that made me love people a bit more. We were talking about how the time of the year you are born at can affect your personality and star sign compatibilities etc (apparently I am a TextBook Arian in all my personality traits)… and She told me something I remember thinking:

“I know at least 9 people that share my birthday and we are all incredibly different from one another in every single way”

It is THAT thing that fascinates me in people. No matter how much we share similarities and tastes with other people we will never truly be 100% likeminded. We are a so very incredibly diverse it is scary! Stop for a moment… Right now, there is no one exactly like you in the world… is’t that just awesome?

I know I am being very random in my rantings here again… This totally not what I had planned to blog about today, but I’ve been sitting for about an hour at Starbucks (drinking Decaf before I get told off) and looking at people come and go… The Loud Italian Family that was sitting right beside me being generally loud (typical… love Italians), The girl with the gorgeous boobs sitting right opposite to me that after a while realised that she was showing a bit too much than what she first intended and looking at me with a smile covered them up a little… but still left enough for the imagination and kept looking up from her book and smiling… hummm… Tease… lol

A few types in suits that come and sit and open laptops and spreadsheets trying to prove a point to their colleagues, the loved up couple by the window and the cute geeky chick sitting in the corner wearing her glasses and blogging on her pink shoes yeah… I noticed she has WordPress open… loads of notes all over her table too…. )

There is also the asian guy thatwas sitting right int he middle of the room and moved to a corner table, put headphones on and hid whatever he is browsing about and keeps looking over the laptop lid with shifty eyes… probably browsing porn… lol

I have always been an observationist, a beholder of the human condition… Voyeur thy name is Yuri… lol

Is it bad that I am sitting and looking at everyone around and giggling? Or is marvelling the right to be used here…

I don’t that anywhere near often enough… How about you? What are you up to?  ;-)

Carpe Diem!

But for now, I guess I can start showing a bit of why I’ve been so busy lately huh?Well… One of the things Keeping me up late too often for the past couple of weeks is a little partnership with tilllate.com

I’ve been covering a few events for them like the Copyright Gig at McQueen’s in Shoreditch last week and the BalkaNation event at Review Bar in Birmingham last night and those are 2 events of many to come in the future.

I’ve also been busy photographing the gorgeous Kimmy Spreadbury (which I found out later was wone of the 13 final girls on Britain and Ireland’s Next Top Models… I am so clueless) for a catalogue for a new up and coming online clothing shop (which I am also designing) that is about to be inaugurated next month and which, Of course, I will make very visible at UrbanVox.net

I’ve also been playing with funky little toys for grown ups like the Twizy, Renault’s new EV which is about to be released to the UK market.

And I’ve been all over the place meeting up some INCREDIBLE bloggers/twitter peoples recording my LifeShorts project which is a series of short documentaries giving a little insight over who are the unique people behind the @s on twitter (if you want to be part of it give me a shout! it’s an ongoing project and I’m planning to have it going on and on and on… )

There are other 3 projects under wraps as well… but I’ll come tell you all about the when it is time for them to be unwrapped.

Yeah… Kinda feels UrbanVox is going full circle and heading back to the roots… With a few new things under the hood…

And it FEELS GOOD!!!!

Carpe Diem!!

PS: What you up to?????

It’s been 3 days since I last had a coffee.

And even then I’ve had only 2 cups! which is a huge difference from the constant coffee drinking that used to happen in my life. All day, and most nights you would find a full cup of the miraculous brew on top of my desk…

Yeah… Sleep is fo the weak!!!!!

Fact is that I’ve been trying to cut down on the awesome black stuff for a while. It’s been interfering quite a lot with my sleep patterns (not that I need any encouragement to stay up late… I am a nocturnal creature by nature… something soothing about the silent nights…) and doesn’t help either when I am at gigs like the last one for tilllate.com where I got home at 4am and actually only managed to sleep for 20 minutes because I was too wired to turn off.

Yes… Coffee has been my faithful companion for the whole of my professional life  but I think it might be time to go decaf… which is the worst part as I don’t see the point on having coffee that won’t give the kick your brain so badly needs…And I LOVE coffee… And Decaf SUCKS… And like any other addicted person I NEED my fix one way or another.

There are days like yesterday that give me the encouragement to get on with it. I’ve slept for over 12 uninterrupted hours!!!! TWELVE! This is more than I slept for the whole of last week! And all in all am feeling so much more productive today than I’ve been for the whole of last week! (and they say the 3rd day is the hardest…)

Yes… Sleep might be for the weak but I am loving it! lol

Apparently life without caffeine (or at least with less of the stuff) is possible  and apart from the withdrawal symptoms (damn it that headache sucks!!!) I now believe it is doable!

It’s been 3 days since I last had coffee. I even sat on a Costa Cafe with someone and didn’t get any… Well yeah… That was mainly because I’ve been TOLD I wouldn’t get any because she knew I’m cutting down on coffee but that is beside the point right?!?!?

Next issue to tackle in the road to a more healthy life: Exercising!!!! *sighs*

How about you? What are you addicted to that you could do with cutting down on?

Carpe Diem!

Yuri: At age 77 you will be struck by lightning while trying to move the antenna beside your mobile home in order to pick up late night adult movies.

Yeah… we all know that is not gonna happen… I mean… could you really see me playing with an antenna outside in the middle of a thunderstorm? And more to the point… Everyone knows I get my porn from the internet (WHAT? everyone knows the internet is for porn… And yes I know where to find awesome porn of all types and for all tastes… Someone on twitter even considers me an expert having come to ask me where they can get some to watch with someone special… YOU KNOW WHO YOU ARE! And TRUE STORY! LOL!)

But all jokes apart… did you ever stop and wonder how will it be that you snuff it? I have… More than a few times actually… It’s crazy I know… but considering all the options part of me would probably love it if it was in my own terms. Control Freak Much? Nah…

Heart stopping while sleeping is top of the list… Everyone knows I am awful with painful stuff…

One thing I know: I don’t want to live forever… well… not if I am not able to enjoy life anymore. So if I ever become a vegetable or anything like that you know what to do! Turn that bloody machine off!

I truly don’t understand why so many people are afraid of talking about death… way I see it, i’ts part of life… is it not? Well… at least until we learn how to download our brains into computers and create bionic bodies and live forever that way… although… wouldn’t live lose a bit of it’s purpose if we had unlimited time to walk this universe?

Do your thing! Make sure you enjoy what you are doing, if you don’t then find out what that is and go for it. Live life as best as you can and as long as you can enjoy it… Is that too hard to do?

I think I’m gonna die of something heart related… Consequence of wearing my heart in my sleeves… And I’m okay with that…

Yeah… Nuts…

I think I might be rambling a bit now…

But I am curious: Did you ever wonder how you would die? Go on… be honest! Or am I the only freak that thinks of things like that and actually admits it?