I'm giving a talk for the South Glos Branch of the Federation of Small Businesses tomorrow night, 26th August, (non-members are welcome to attend as well). It's at the Aztec Hotel, just off the M4/M5 interchange in Bristol, networking at 7pm, talk starts at 7.30pm & promises a gallop through social media marketing & how it can help your business. (flyer with more info here)
Hope to see you there.
Christina
Tuesday, 25 August 2009
Monday, 17 August 2009
Social Media Tames The Dragons
Lat week's Dragon's Den episode featured Carol Savage & her recipe sharing website www.mydish.co.uk. For the first time ever in the history of Dragon's Den, she was offered twice the investment she came in for, in the end settling for a £100k investment in return for 15% of the business.
What was interesting for me was seeing how the 5 different dragons reacted to the pitch. Some clearly just didn't get the concept & couldn't see the scalability of social media. Others couldn't see clear revenue streams. Deborah Meaden however was quick to latch on to the potential of the idea. Unusually for a web start-up, Carol had a number of clear potential revenue streams from the site, some of which were already up & running. When she mentioned the functionality within the site to shop fror the recipe ingredients from within the site, via Ocado & Asda, I was very very impressed. It's logical, makes a change from relying on advertising revenue & has the potential to be very lucrative for Carol & her investors. Great idea!
What was interesting for me was seeing how the 5 different dragons reacted to the pitch. Some clearly just didn't get the concept & couldn't see the scalability of social media. Others couldn't see clear revenue streams. Deborah Meaden however was quick to latch on to the potential of the idea. Unusually for a web start-up, Carol had a number of clear potential revenue streams from the site, some of which were already up & running. When she mentioned the functionality within the site to shop fror the recipe ingredients from within the site, via Ocado & Asda, I was very very impressed. It's logical, makes a change from relying on advertising revenue & has the potential to be very lucrative for Carol & her investors. Great idea!
Thursday, 6 August 2009
where did it all go wrong for friends reunited?
ITV have announced the sale of friends reunited at a price of £25 million, taking a £145 million hit from the price the paid of £170 million in 2005.
Undoubtedly facebook took a big slice of their market when it opened to the general public but friends reunited was very slow to fight back. It took them a long time to drop their subscription model, which restricted you from contacting old friends through the site unless you paid up. They were also very slow to embrace social networking functionality. Apart from your profile, there was little user generated content & certainly nothing that could be updated on a frequent basis by users. Add to that a clunky site design & it's no wonder the site began to lose ground.
I do think it's a wasted opportunity & perhaps something the new owners are going to try & rectify. The one big advantage that friends reunited has is that it anchors you geographically, to your old schools and workplaces. As a result, for the less tech-savvy, it's much easier to find people on friends reunited than it is on facebook.
Undoubtedly facebook took a big slice of their market when it opened to the general public but friends reunited was very slow to fight back. It took them a long time to drop their subscription model, which restricted you from contacting old friends through the site unless you paid up. They were also very slow to embrace social networking functionality. Apart from your profile, there was little user generated content & certainly nothing that could be updated on a frequent basis by users. Add to that a clunky site design & it's no wonder the site began to lose ground.
I do think it's a wasted opportunity & perhaps something the new owners are going to try & rectify. The one big advantage that friends reunited has is that it anchors you geographically, to your old schools and workplaces. As a result, for the less tech-savvy, it's much easier to find people on friends reunited than it is on facebook.
Friday, 31 July 2009
Twitter Tips
Just a quick post this morning about some twitter resources
Don't forget to download my article on Top 10 Tips For Twitter In Business if you haven't already & here's a nice little video from Mark Shaw on using twitter in business
Finally, don't forget to follow me on twitter @christina_jones
Don't forget to download my article on Top 10 Tips For Twitter In Business if you haven't already & here's a nice little video from Mark Shaw on using twitter in business
Finally, don't forget to follow me on twitter @christina_jones
Saturday, 25 July 2009
A really positive impact
I read today about a really fabulous initiative called Colalife. Here's how the website explains it:
ColaLife is a campaign to get Coca-Cola to open up its distribution channels in developing countries to save lives, especially children’s lives, by carrying much needed ’social products’ such as oral rehydration salts and high-dose vitamin A tablets. For the latest on the campaign, please visit the blog. ColaLife is an independent and purely voluntary movement backed by thousands of supporters on its Facebook Group. ColaLife is not an organisation.
It was launched by Simon Berry, who had an idea while working on the British Aid programme in 1988:
What about Coca Cola using their distribution channels (which are amazing in developing countries) to distribute rehydration salts? Maybe by dedicating one compartment in every 10 crates as ‘the life saving’ compartment?
Having made no progress with the idea for 20 years, Simon decided to try once more but this time using the convening power of the internet. Since floating the idea on his blog in May 2008, he has managed to create a huge community around the campaign, through a Facebook group and appearances on Radio 4’s iPM programme. He is now in discussions with Coca-Cola and is looking to engage with an international NGO to move the project forward.
I think it's a great idea & am sad that it's taken 20 years for Simon to make an impact with it but the power of social media has finally started to make some noise. Please take a moment to visit the colalife website & join their facebook page.
ColaLife is a campaign to get Coca-Cola to open up its distribution channels in developing countries to save lives, especially children’s lives, by carrying much needed ’social products’ such as oral rehydration salts and high-dose vitamin A tablets. For the latest on the campaign, please visit the blog. ColaLife is an independent and purely voluntary movement backed by thousands of supporters on its Facebook Group. ColaLife is not an organisation.
It was launched by Simon Berry, who had an idea while working on the British Aid programme in 1988:
What about Coca Cola using their distribution channels (which are amazing in developing countries) to distribute rehydration salts? Maybe by dedicating one compartment in every 10 crates as ‘the life saving’ compartment?
Having made no progress with the idea for 20 years, Simon decided to try once more but this time using the convening power of the internet. Since floating the idea on his blog in May 2008, he has managed to create a huge community around the campaign, through a Facebook group and appearances on Radio 4’s iPM programme. He is now in discussions with Coca-Cola and is looking to engage with an international NGO to move the project forward.
I think it's a great idea & am sad that it's taken 20 years for Simon to make an impact with it but the power of social media has finally started to make some noise. Please take a moment to visit the colalife website & join their facebook page.
Friday, 24 July 2009
Reflections
As my baby brother hits the job market as a freshly minted engineering graduate & engages in a whirl of interviews it makes me reflect on my "career" so far. Both my siblings are heading the more conventional route, gainfully employed in a corporate structure with an easily defined job title, unlike their older sister!
I'm firmly in the slash category (which is getting more common for generation Y according to this article) or as Ian Sanders would put it, a juggler.
Although it causes endless confusion at family gatherings & networking events (I have a nifty "elevator speech" but the general consensus is often that I play on facebook all day) for me it is the strength that underlies everything I do.
It means that every day is different, no danger of being bored & offers a wider take on things than normal. The fusion of a very traditional wholesale business & a new media consultancy is great. I have my own lab to test new ideas & projects on a daily basis & it also means that underneath all the fun web stuff is a need for effectiveness, increased sales & staying in business. Not very web 2.0 I know in the land of the crazy valuation but I would say more realistic for 99% of companies.
I'm firmly in the slash category (which is getting more common for generation Y according to this article) or as Ian Sanders would put it, a juggler.
Although it causes endless confusion at family gatherings & networking events (I have a nifty "elevator speech" but the general consensus is often that I play on facebook all day) for me it is the strength that underlies everything I do.
It means that every day is different, no danger of being bored & offers a wider take on things than normal. The fusion of a very traditional wholesale business & a new media consultancy is great. I have my own lab to test new ideas & projects on a daily basis & it also means that underneath all the fun web stuff is a need for effectiveness, increased sales & staying in business. Not very web 2.0 I know in the land of the crazy valuation but I would say more realistic for 99% of companies.
Tuesday, 14 July 2009
twitter - positives & negatives
Interesting article in thelondonpaper about the instant effects of twitter. The film Bruno saw a big slump in sales between the first friday of release & the saturday. Negative twitter reviews are being blamed. The real time effect of twitter & social networking in general means that they can have a very quick impact on sales, in a positive or negative way.
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