Location and You- Checking In to Profitability

The thing with Location Based Service like Foursquare and Whrrl, is the thing with all social media marketing initiatives.  Most people don't consider how their customers are going to use it, how it will integrate with their business model, and how it will do the one thing we're all in business to do: MAKE MONEY.  That's why I was so excited to participate in a panel with John Kim, of Whrrl, to discuss how we did just that.

In a day filled with frustrating people who. while running LBS companies, could not articulate the ROI of marketing in the space, I was really happy to be in a panel that was doing just that.  Check out our presentation for the run-down on what Whrrl and Murphy USA have seen in terms of measurable ROI on location based networks.

What's in a name?

Whether you are SassyChick76 or something more professional, the names we choose to represent us online say alot about us.  For isntance, if managed to score your first name as a twitter handle, it says alot about you, as a status symbol, on the social network.

I just changed my twitter handle.  I signed up for the service in early 2008...not exactly the earliest of adopters (although I recall when Leo Laporte was the twitterer), but certainly not a late-comer.  I used the same email username I have used for years - caseyp80.  BORING.  But I wasn't very sure of Twitter as a service, or of my intention to stick with it.  I couldn't certainly gotten a better name back in 08 than I could today.  But nevertheless, I felt like it was time to ditch the name+number signature, and go with something slightly more descriptive.

Unfortunately, I settled on @thatgeekcasey.  It was late.  And I had typed in at least 40 different usernames that I preferred...and it at least seemed easy to remember, unlike 2nd Place Contestant: @Ctl_Alt_Casey.

Like I said . . . it was late.

Now with that out of the way, I've begun reconsidering all of the names that I use for services.  Some are insignificant - but of particular interest is my email username.  I may have stuck with CaseyP80 for years, but I can't help but think there's probably a better way to represent myself online.

I can't tell you how many resumes I've received in the past with contact information containing email addresses like, "seniorsassypants@hotmail.com."  The names we use to present ourselves to people affect their perceptions of us.  More online than anywhere else.  As I've just discovered - this can be a serious problem if you're attempted to create a name somewhere like Twitter or Gmail TODAY, and not years ago.  Anything resembling a professional looking name is probably taken.

With email, we can change or create our own domain.  But what of services like Twitter - once they reach critical mass, it's nearly impossible to get any name you would hope to get.  Clearly, there needs to be a better solution - but what would that look like?  It's an interesting question.  A question whose answer will hopefully shape the usage of social networks in the future, and play into future updates of services we already use.

Jesus Needs New Marketing

This post began as a disjointed and rambling series of thoughts on the modern evangelical church, and the state of evangelism in it.  It hasn't changed much, so please excuse me if my thoughts trail off.

I actually began teaching on this subject some in my church, when asked to fill in for people.  I think I might provide a "different" perspective on what evangelism and witnessing is and should be.  In my Marketing 101 class in college, a definition of "marketing" was given that has stuck with me for several years:  the study and act of connecting people with needs, wants, and desires with the goods, products, and services that will meet those needs, wants, and desires.   Or at least it was something to that effect.  I think we, as Christians, can learn a lot from marketing concepts, when it comes to how we connect with people around the Gospel.

The methods by which the Gospel has been shared have changed very little over the last several hundred years.  In that time, the culture itself has changed so dramatically, so many times, that what was relevant to the average person in the 1600's is totally foreign to the same average person today.  I'm not talking about the Biblical methodology of salvation, found in Romans 10:9,10, and 13.  I'm talking about the way we connect with other people, and share the message of Jesus, personally.  I'm sure we can name tons of programs, gimmicks, and special events that churches have used for centuries to get people to come into the church, and hear the Gospel, and accept Jesus.  Some have seen amazing successes in their day, but in an era when the most successful messages are preached around seeker-sensitive talking points, and sin is never mentioned, it's difficult to find a modern counterpart to any of those that actually works.

I think we can learn a lot from how the business world approaches these same changes, and an incredibly important lesson is that during times of true cultural changes, the business world is not afraid to throw out the old and irrelevant methods of reaching people, and adopt new methods.  Since the industrial revolution, we've seen amazing changes in the way businesses sell and market their products.  Once upon a time, what mattered was that you built the best of something, and people would "beat a path to your door."  We've been through times when sales were push-centered, and ads focused mostly on "selling" a product on features and benefits.  We came through the pull-centered era when marketing worked to built interest and desire, and encourage people to come looking for your product.  And now ... well who knows what works.  The internet is in the process of revolutionizing the ways we connect and  communicate socially, and businesses want to be involved in the change.  The problem is, no one really knows quite what it will look like once it really comes into maturity.

During those same times, the message of the Gospel has largely stayed the same.  We're still attempting to reach people using methods and practices that may have worked 200 years ago, but haven't changed in respect to the cultural shifts, and changes in societal attitudes towards Christianity.  We have a relatively secularized society today, where few people "judge' you for indulging in any kind of sin, however not that long ago, you could very easily be a social pariah in some areas for being a pregnant teen, or a light drinker.  As society and cultures change,what is "relevant" to people hearing the Gospel changes as well.  Jesus was a master at making the Gospel relevant for his listeners, by telling parables that related to them and their daily lives.  But we're still trying to reach hi-tech, text-messaging, and connected young people with a message intended for pre-industrialized agrarian peoples.

We have a very real problem . . . and these ridiculous Christian Rock Bands, and skateboard ministries are far from a relevant Gospel - they are hokey imposters.  The problem is this:  in order to remain relevant, the Church has been trying to become more like the world, hoping to attract more people, but has made itself impotent and ineffectual in the process.

I'm hoping that we can begin to rethink how the Gospel is shared, while maintaining the integrity of the teachings of Holiness that can show us how to be sold-out, on-fire Christians who live a life of service to God, and not ourselves.

SXSW Finds: SlideRocket

I left desktop apps behind awhile back.  I love Google's apps, and except for at work where Office is the standard, I use Google Docs, Calendar, etc, for everything.  Everything except Slide Presentations.

I use slide shows a lot at work, and I'm a pretty heavy user.  I like to use animations and special effects, and if I needed to show to be portable, Powerpoint is the de facto standard, and a USB drive could move my presentation into any setup.  Google Docs "Presentation" is woefully inadequate in that regard, and to share, it requires someone to have a google account, or requires me to sign on to what might be someone else's computer to display it.

Amidst about 1,412 booths at SXSW, hawking various social media analytics tools, SlideRocket was a pleasant find.  It's really easy to use, and allows both imports and exports from PowerPoint.  Some Most animations didn't transfer over, and had to be rebuilt, but it does at least allow for great interoperability if the situation calls for it.  For a visual geek like me, it has a number of unique animations and effects that aren't in the standard PowerPoint toolbox, and, unlike about 75% of Powerpoints, they don't come off looking cheesy in a business presentation.

Ready for your presentation, but you have to present from a different computer?  SlideRocket allows your shows to be published to a public link, or even embedded on your website or blog.   

... wow.

For me, the extra online features, and unique styling makes SlideRocket an EVEN MORE compelling product than anything from Microsoft thus far.  Of course, not everything is free.  They have free and paid accounts, depending on your needs.  The one feature I think my experience with SlideRocket leaves me begging for is an online presentation mode, that allows me to walk someone else through my slideshow as they view it.  90% of what I see on GotoMeeting and the like are PowerPoint presentations, and with that feature, I could drop that service as well.

So seriously, try it out and see how it works for you.  I'm amazed at how far web apps have come, these days, and for anyone who makes presentations regularly, you'll be glad you gave it a try.

SXSW Days 3 though um. .. friaglal49348 eleventy1

Where are you?

For the last 4 years, Twitter and Facebook have been asking the question, "What are you doing?"  But in 2010, location is King, curation is Queen, and context is the bratty kid.  I've made my share of jokes about how often the word "location" was used at SXSW this year, but the rise of location-aware apps and services is truly remarkable, and is maturing to the point where I think we can really begin to visualize a world of persistent, relevant, and contextual information.

The real gem for me from SXSW was Whrrl.  A relatively small player, and one that gets no respect from the major sites like Mashable, it seems to be the service that "gets it."  There's some room for improvement, but so is there in Foursquare and Gowalla.  But the things it does right . . . it does them so, so right.  On my first day at SXSW, I was approached by a Whrrl street team member in front of Downtown Burgers, the only place I could find to eat that day.  If I checked in with Whrrl, then I would get 50 cents off my order. . . and a T-Shirt.  Which I never got.  I'm still upset about that.

Anyway, I downloaded the Whrrl app on my iPhone and checked in.  It immediately looked quite a bit different than Foursquare, but I didn't spend much time wondering at it.  I forgot about it until day 3 . . . or 4?  Who can remember... it all just bleeds together into one giant location-techy buzzword festival of colossal proportion.  I had the pleasure of meeting some bloggers that work with Collective Bias, and were Whrrl afficionados.  When I checked in and discovered that each of us check in together could upload pictures to create a joint story ... a shared photographic and commenting experience, I began to see just what Whrrl offered that was so unique.  

I kept playing with the app, and the website, and after getting a friend to try it out on a recent geocaching expedition, and embed it in his blog, I have to say - Whrrl is on to a winning formula here.  They want to help stop Facebook Rut, and I have to say, the gameplay is fun, the collaborative story-telling and sharing experience is so compelling, I've found myself interacting with people in new ways on a daily basis, and getting them to sign in to my Whrrl check in also.

With our society seemingly more and more pulled into accepting the relational placebo of online social sites, these kinds of apps are a breath of fresh air that actually help spark conversations and shared real world experience with other live human beings again.  The uses are impressive, and I've found myself, more than once, trying a new restaurant, or ordering something I wouldn't normally get because of recommendations from other Whrrlers.  I'm excited in general, about where these kinds of services are taking us in the future, and the ability to find new things based on my location, preferences, and social graph . . . and out of all the services I've tried, Whrrl definitely was the one that stood out the most at SXSW.  Now if only it can get the users that Foursquare has, to build up the community to match.

 

 

Actually Learning at SXSW: Days 1 &2

The first couple of days at SXSW have been pretty crazy.  The very first panel I wanted to see was packed out, and I began to worry if this would be a theme for the rest of the conference.  Luckily, most people are not actually here to work or learn, and most panel rooms are significantly larger than the grave mistake of a room that the Social Marketing panel was in on Friday.  

I suppose it could also have something to do with the fact that no one was yet drunk.

For those of us who did attend to actually glean information from experts to take back and improve our careers with, there were some great panels to see.  I've been really impressed by a couple of panels I've been to, especially the Content Strategy FTWsession today with Kristina Halvorson, and I'll be writing soon about how I'm implementing those ideas professionally . . . but for now, I will suffice with this list of things I've learned about SXSW.

Things I've learned about SXSW:

 

• If you want traffic, you need boobs, kittens, and top 10 lists (perhaps I should've made this a top 10 things I learned?)


• Screenburn Arcade only has 2 booths with a game to play, and lots of people learning to draw half-naked ladies - for use in high-fantasy RPG's, one would assume


• No one actually knows anything about how to make money blogging


• The most promising panels are the most likely to get distracted and talk about memes for 45 minutes


• Google Employees are arrogant know-it-alls with a god-complex

 

On a tangential note, Aloft Hotels have walls made from paper.  Do Not Want.

Oh, and Capybaras are backseat drivers.

A nice surprise to start my #sxsw trip!

via tweetie

Posted via web from caseyp's posterous

Things that catch my eye.

I'm a bit of a social media enthusiast.  I don't mean that in the sense that I have tons of friends to connect with . . . I mean that in the sense that I find the technology compelling, and enjoy finding ways to interact with the friends I do have in new and interesting ways. 

Recently, I've been pondering between devoting time and energy towards populating my Posterous or Tumblr accounts.  I've been running a Wordpress server for quite some time...and I'm very used to the . . . robustness that Wordpress provides.  It's a set of tools and a unique community that even Squarespace pales in comparison to.  However...I barely have time to write anything . . . ever.  I certainly don't have the time to poke around with code, update plugins, etc etc.  Wordpress is a troublesome child, or a needy puppy.  If you have the time and energy, it is very fulfilling . . . if not . . . well, what business do you have using it anyway?

Before turning off my server, I exported my blog to a free Wordpress.com account. . . for posterity.  Posterous allows easy importing (albeit it imports very janky versions of your original posts), but Tumblr really allows for a custom user experience, and also has a pretty passionate community.  I simply don't get the use out of a for-pay site.  And I hate Blogger.  Love Google...just not Blogger.

Tumblr is an information silo, to me.  I can't import my old posts (which are of questionable quality anyway) and I can't export.  

Anyone have other suggestions?

The Importance of Communication

It may seem that I’m stating the obvious, but it’s very difficult to over-emphasize the importance of a business’s communications with their customers.  Whether your business is blogging, web design, or shoe manufacturing, there are a few hard and fast rules of marketing communications:

1. 
   

   Find the channels of communication your customers use

   
   


2. 
   

   Speak to them through those channels

   
   


3. 
   

   Do it often

   
   

 Many “old-world” businesses, one of which was a past employer, find themselves languishing in the world of Web 2.0, when it comes to marketing trends.  Understandably so.  Shampoo or Antacids are of little interest to the stereotypically young, tech savvy netizen.  We imagine them spending all day surfing sites like Digg and Mashable, eating up info about even the most doomed of web startups, and see no way to monetize on a “tech trend.”  But we’re missing the big picture.

 As a result of this Web 2.0 revolution, customers are starting to expect increasing levels of transparency from the business they patronize, and increasing levels of communication.  Sure they eat up every tweet from the Boxee Development team, but hair care tips from their favorite shampoo brand - tons of women would love that.

 There are plenty of channels of communication for you to connect with your customers: Facebook Pages, Twitter, blogs, etc.  Most of these are even free.  This where rules 2 and 3 come in.  You have to communicate with your customers.  A web consulting client of mine voiced an opinion I think a lot of people have: “We figured we’d make a lot of money off selling our stuff online, so we put a website, but nothing is happening.”  Goody for you . . . a website!  Your potential customers are inundated with branding and marketing messages from 100’s of businesses per day.  You have to bring some sort of “value added” service to them.  This may mean having a blog with golfing tips and secrets, if you make golf club covers, or skin care tips, if you make lotions . . . or it may just mean keeping an open channel of communication open with your customers, having an upper-level exec responding to comments and questions, and using customer input for future product revisions. 

 The real marketable secret of Web 2.0 is that it makes everyone “special.”  Bloggers are Pulitzer Prize winning journalists in their own minds.  Fans report on the latest X-Box cheat code like reporters covering the Iraq war.  If you give fans and customers a space to be heard, and a real and reliable voice to an industry that they personally care about, then they’ll respond by giving you their loyalty and trust.

 

Here’s a (fictional) example, using the Shampoo idea from a few paragraphs up:

 Fu-Fu Hair Shampoo is a mid-to high end shampoo, sold predominantly in salons and beauty shops.  They want to capitalize on their currently dormant online presence, so they open a Facebook Page for their product.  They upload customer testimonials, and before and after photo shoots of satisfied customers, and models (shot as customer shots...hey..this is marketing) and encourage their users to do the same.  They make a few friends, and encourage them to recommend the page to all their friends, and so on.  Fans vote on the most drastic hair transformation, once a month, with the winner receiving a small gift basket of free Fu-Fu Hair Shampoo and Conditioner products.  Fu-Fu places a link to their facebook page on their home page, and integrates the company blog with the Facebook API (ask your tech person about that) to cross promote both channels of communication.  Web traffic starts to pick up, and the internet is slightly a buzz about the promotional giveaways.

 Then . . . bad news!  A customer used Fu-Fu Hair Shampoo and got a pretty nasty rash, and a flakey scalp.  Upon closer inspection, she realizes that Fu-Fu Hair Shampoo uses an ingredient that is a common allergen.  She sends in a complaint.  Old world response would be to apologize, ask to cover an doctor bills, make sure she’s okay, refund her money, and then conduct a small study to find out what percentage of people suffer from similar allergies, and whether or not it is beneficial, cost wise, to address this ingredient.

Web 2.0 Response:  A company executive posts this complaint letter on the company blog and facebook page, with the promise of an immediate end to the use of that ingredient.  The company executive goes on to say that Fu-Fu Hair Shampoo is now introducing an allergen-free “green” shampoo, and asks for community input on what the ultimate in hair-care would be for them.

2-3 months later, the company posts a blog outlining the most requested features of the new shampoo, and introduces the new product: created by fans.  This new product is available a nice premium to the regular product, and has a vastly increased profit margin.

Company makes money.

 You can now add in tons of different scenarios to really capitalize on the PR side of this event - but needless to say, there are news outlets that would eat it up.  The Web isn’t about a site, or page, or anything of that nature.  It’s about communication.  Using it as a way to stay in touch with your customers will only increase your loyalty and sales.

I am clean. (Flash is dirty)

Web design is like crowd-sourcing dating advice: everyone has a different opinion about what is pretty, and what you should be looking for.  We can all think of a pretty and fun site rendered totally in flash, and many sites seek to copy that . . . to be talked about and remembered for their eye-candy.  And for some sites, and in some industries, that's expected, and totally fine.  

For instance, graphic designers - they should love flash.  It shows off the pretty things they can make and animate.  But business sites, especially sites with brick-and-mortar should shy away.  The fact is - flash is a burdensome beast that will slow even higher-end computers to a crawl at times; and flash is totally inaccessible via mobile phone.  And let's be clear - there are more internet-ready mobile devices than there are computers on the internet.

One of the reasons I restarted this blog here, with this design, is to find my "web-zen."  I prefer text, and all my pretty buttons in HTML, instead of graphics and flash.  If you come to my site, you come to experience the content - which, at this point, is largely text.  The photos, audio, or video you may encounter here should load quickly, and be easy to navigate.  

I like clean.  Flash, on the other hand, is anything but clean.  The animations make it slow to navigate, and if the content you're wanting to reference is 3-5 clicks in, it's just obnoxious.  At my current job, we have very little flash on our site - and I'm on a mission to squash what is there.  It's counterintuitive to any business that wants to sell or service anything other than pretty graphics and animations.  Make your sites simple, easy to navigate, and make the most important content to your users  easily accessible in intuitive ways.

Apple scored a hit with their iPhone because of those key points - oh... and the iPhones don't have flash either.

Rethinking me.

TheLimitless.com, the current URL, has been around in some for or fashion for nearly 10 years. I've generally used it to tell a singular story - my own story, and recently others', of rethinking our preconceived ideas about God, taking our mental limitations off of him, and allowing him to work in our lives.

Over the last two years, I attempted to create a Christian blogging community around this notion. I only had two people register for blogs. Heh. The fact is, there are tons of great free blogging services out there, and some even better ones available for pay, and I had little to offer. I've blogged very seldomly during that time, since most of my time was spent building the site, and I think the site, and I, suffered a little for it. Lately I've been rethinking where this site fits in my life, and what types of things I want to share. I may never have the readership and the income of other blogs, but I plan to discuss things that interest me, basically. And I think those things will interest a few of my readers. If not... Well this site is all about me anyway.

On a separate site, I wrote occasionally about Online Marketing and how to do it. I'll probably bring that content here, and continue blogging about the church and how we can use these new social technologies to enhance some outreaches. And of course you'll probably see a few political posts as well.  And you're just as likely to hear my thoughts on a recent comic book as you are to find a podcast here one day.

Thanks for sticking around through my crazy journey. I look forward to sharing more with you all soon.

Bobs Diner

Super excited about eating the food at this little dive.

Posted via web from caseyp's posterous