nate update

Tonight I read on Allfacebook.com that facebook is upgrading the events function, along with some other sharing upgrades. I haven’t tried it yet, but here’s my take on this upgrade…

Good!

Since the latest interface upgrade a few monts ago, I think facebook’s events function got sort of swept under a rug ( even more than they were in the first place). What I mean is – there’s no nice little red alert button (some of my friends hate those, but I like ‘em) on the top navigation, or anywhere else. Currently, event updates won’t go to your inbox – or ever again to a wall except for the minute its created. No – they go to the menu on the left side of the page, under your inbox. Heck, even “I’m stuck in traffic” wall posts can relatively easily get 10,000 impressions in a weekend.

I’m looking forward to posting some new events later this week. I’ll follow up when I do with results.

Want people to read your fan pages? Or – better yet – want people to invest (spend time) in your social pages? Of course. Every company thinks that their message is massively important. Truth is, it’s only a tiny slice of someone else’s day. You don’t get much time to make an impression. This doesn’t mean your message can’t BE massively important. The trick is making it interesting enough that people want to talk about it, not just read it. Isn’t that the idea of social media in the first place?

I read today on the Social Media Examiner that Americans, on average, spent over 7 hours on facebook in January. 4th overall, according to Neilsen. That’s more than the top 3 Parent Companies combined (Google, Microsoft & Yahoo). This is huge news to businesses who are fighting for that split second of time with their consumers, and have already lept into the realm of social media on facebook.

The secret weapon, in my opinion (and I’m not alone): RICH MEDIA. Photography. (In some cases…) Better yet, video.

Here’s an excercise for you to try.

Instead of buying or printing expensive invitations or sale flyers, paying postage, then waiting for RSVPs, try this: Invite people to your next event on a flip cam or an iphone. Upload it to YouTube. Link to it from your fan page via facebook events. Use a bit.ly link and tweet about both. Your invite just cost you a flip or an iPhone’s retail price, if you didn’t already have one. If you did, you’re pretty much out 15 minutes of your time, instead of the $100s you used to spend on invitations, postage, etc. Furthermore, you can answer questions (“Can I bring a friend?”) and even track the number of people who clicked on it via the kick ass bit.ly plug in through Firefox.

New drink at the bar? Show me. New employee? Introduce them. New location? How about a tour? New item on the menu? Show me that, too. Best part: letting people talk about it afterwards.

Watch and see how sales spike, how people know your new staffer, and know their way around the store.

I didn’t have any video on hand, so I thought I’d include this piece from the good people at socialnomics.com. Just because it would be pretty stupid to have a blog post about rich media and not include some, right? One could even argue that I should have posted this via video, huh?

I have to assume that SIRIUS/XM is pretty spooked about Pandora and it’s continual surge in popularity due to mobile apps on iPhones and the like… But trust me – don’t cancel SIRIUS or XM subscriptions yet, use them both, like I do!  I love Pandora. I also pay for SIRIUS satellite radio. Use the link over >>> there and sign up for a trial. You won’t regret it, I promise. Here’s some reasons why I support both.

ADVANTAGE: SIRIUS/XM

1. JASON ELLIS SHOW – Absolutely hilarious daily train wreck combo of comic relief, action sports, and really dirty jokes. “Dude, is it gay?” segment is hysterical. Mayhem Mondays with Mayhem Miller is great, too. See #2.

2. FACTION 28/ XM 52: The Marky Ramone Show is sort of like going to punk rock church and the sermon was given by God on Wednesday nights. Tony Hawk might be the coolest guy in America. Johnny Moseley is up there, too. Bam Margera annoys the crap out of me, but I think that’s the idea.

3. NO FUSS IN THE CAR – No battery issues, cables, worrying about adapters, compatibility, etc. A dream for long-distance drives.

4. PERSONALITIES – Confession: I’m a rock fan. (Old/new/heavy/indie/folk) I’m biased towards Faction, but Little Steven’s Underground Garage, Alt Nation, Boneyard, and Octane (I’m sure I’m forgetting several others) all have fantastic DJs. Frequent guest channels are cool, too. I hear great things about the Hip-Hop channels, and there’s plenty of talk networks for politicial douchebags who like to argue and people that can stand Martha Stewart and Oprah. Hey, more power to ‘em. Gives them something to do with their time to feel important, I suppose.

5. STERN’S NETWORK – Not my bag, but millions of devoted listeners dig the legendary shock jock. Opie & Anthony and Farrell are great.

ADVANTAGE: PANDORA

1. IT’S FREE, DUMMY – And when you run out of free hours, finish out the month for $1.00. A BUCK!

2. DESIGNER CHANNELS – If you hear a song you don’t like, just skip it or delete it. (Perfect for when Nickelback and Linkin Park interrupt your good channels). Imagine, you can make a custom channel with Slayer, Run DMC and John Mayer. Though, it might make you a little schizophrenic. Ask me how I know!

3. YOU CAN SHARE YOUR MIX – the new mix tape? Check out my Pandora Profile here: http://www.pandora.com/people/nate.ludens

4. BEST EVER SOURCE FOR DISCOVERING NEW MUSIC – I love the voodoo formulas that Pandora uses to know what I like.

5. NO HARDWARE MAKES IT OFFICE FRIENDLY – streaming free radio at work makes the world a better place.

BOTTOM LINE: Get them both. You can say you were there when the power in radio shifted from boring, redundant, record-company crap-oganda to the people’s-choice radio, featuring inspiring music you want to hear, when you want to hear it. Without commercials.

Of course they are. But there’s a few no-brainers I want to shed some light on that can help your company save some money and evolve your 12 point piece of paper into a conversation piece, instead of something someone writes notes on.

1. Retail & sales contacts need cards. Back of the house staff don’t. Save yourself some dough and make a company card for those who don’t need a lot of them.

2. Don’t use a template that came with Microsoft Word/Publisher, etc. There’s a reason nobody uses clip art anymore. It’s garbage. Usually these are the wrong resolution, the wrong color mode, and incompatible with any professional software your printer can work with. Pay for a real designer who knows what it means to build a cohesive brand identity for your company.

3. Don’t have cheap cards. If you do, I fully expect you to show up to your next business meeting in sweatpants and a torn, stained white shirt, because you clearly don’t value first impressions.

4. Websites like LinkedIn, Facebook, eLance, etc. won’t kill the business card industry. Why? Not everyone has bump (or an iPhone, for that matter), and what are you going to give people at mixers, bars and golf courses?

Want some cards designed? Email me, maybe I can help.

For some reason, my favorite twitter app gets overlooked in some lists. (Mashable’s recent list can be found here with no mention of Hootsuite, oddly). Friends, I’m here to testify, it’s a damn fine social media tool. If you’re in business social media – you should have this in your arsenal. Here’s why:

Hootsuite is a great twitter application for business social media usage. It’s web-based, not Adobe AIR-based like the very popular Tweetdeck, and therefore it doesn’t rely on calling an external Twitter API. (Which I thought was going away, but still seems to be looming overhead). Since hootsuite is web-based, your column setup looks the same on your Mac, PC, laptop iPhone and your desktop. It doesn’t take long to set your preferred channels, i.e. import and monitor twitter, facebook, LinkedIn, RSS feeds, WordPress blogs and more. One feature that I particularly love is that you can schedule facebook fan page updates. There may be other apps that do this, but I haven’t discovered them yet. (Seesmic, maybe? Can anyone help me out with suggestions – I welcome your comments.)

Tweetdeck is a very decent app, but it just doesn’t have the scale that I need as a corporate social media operator. A couple little nitpicky things that I do like about Tweetdeck: I like the way it counts down, not up, when counting characters, and I like to change out the colors of the interface from time to time to keep it fresh. These are small, but important when you tweet like I do: 30-40 hrs of informative (we hope) tweets to a vast customer base with somewhat diverse interests and as much correspondence as time allows. Some pre-programmed tweets are scheduled on weekends and time-sensitive events & announcements, too.  I have 40+ inches of columns on two flat screens monitoring multiple brands, competitors and keywords in real time every weekday, so its understandable that the real killer for tweetdeck to me is the API call. Regardless, I do have both open simultaneously most of the time.

Today, I’m hearing from Mashable (by way of friend @VegasBill) that there are more new features on the way for hootsuite – integration with mobile apps like foursquare are exciting as well. All the more reason to get on board with hootsuite, if you haven’t already.

If you’re in the creative industry, (unless you live under a rock) you have probably noticed in the last few years or so, most professional Graphic Designers have successfully adpoted the use of quality photography and the way it is utilized in advertising. We rarely see low-resolution photos in print anymore, and more often than not, the images are using correct exposure and beautiful depth of field, therefore lending great imagery to commercial projects.  Now, I’m issuing a challenge on behalf of designers: Photographers, its time to raise your design game.

This is the week the WPPI (Wedding & Portrait Photographers) Convention comes here to Vegas. It’s always a great show.  On behalf of my city, I’d like to welcome some of the best photographic talent in the world.

I have attended the last 3 or 4 WPPI conventions, and it’s clear that my email and mailing address has been cycled through several mailing lists.  Let me tell you – there’s something awry with much of this massive load of photo-promotions. It’s not just email marketing, either. Many of the trade publications, sites, signage, and mail pieces, too. Most of it’s really, really poor.

Look, typography is a science in itself, so don’t be surprised to learn that cute font that came with your wife’s Dell just doesn’t cut it. While you were in the darkroom, Designers were in their second semester of color theory. Look at the “big guys” at the trade show. They have beautiful booklets, great logos and packed booths. Not a coincidence.

Investing in porfessional design shouldn’t be hard to grasp for shutterbugs. And its certainly not meant to sound condescending or offensive. All of us creatives need to check our egos and take a critique from time to time. The experienced Designer’s mantra is identical to yours, Photographers: when your clients hire true, experienced professionals, they get top-notch results. Designers carry the same responsibilities as Photographers, too. Deliver results on behalf of your client, or your phone may not ring again for awhile. In this, the era of facebook and twitter… word gets out about poor service in a short moment.

I’m as aware as anyone of the financial challenges both industries face, so my advice is this: Buddy up. Professional photographers should seek partnerships with Professional Designers and vice versa.  Build it in the budget. Find a way. Work out trade deals, retainers, industry-rates…  hell, issue frequent flyer miles if you have to!