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The Social Press | August 2015 |
www.newmediaangels.com
The Social Press
10 Business Planning What it is and what it is not 11 How Online Marketing Supports Your PR And Printed Marketing
03 Top Stories 04 Editor’s Letter
13 5 Steps To An Awesome Blog
06 Tool Review
15 “The ULTIMATE SOLUTION” To Innovating Your Business In 3 Simple Steps
07 Angels On The Loose
20 Interview Preparation
08 Cartoon Of The Month
23 Other News
09 Innovation Box
24 Finding “Your Thing” in Business
05 Quote Of The Month
26 Our New Angel 27 Did You Know?
2015 ....................................................... August .
TOP Stories
Facebook follows YouTube in offering revenue split to video creators Facebook is following in YouTube’s footsteps by offering select video partners a 55% share of ad revenue from its “Suggested Videos” feed. Initial partners include Fox Sports, Tastemade and the NBA. “We’ve heard consistently from media companies and other video creators that if they were able to make money from their videos, they would publish more,” said Dan Rose, Facebook’s vice president of partnerships. http://www.fastcompany.com/3048160/fast-feed/ facebook-to-start-sharing-ad-revenue-with-videopartners
Brands are getting serious about GIFs Marketers are using GIFs to craft visual messages for social media platforms. Paramount Pictures is employing GIFs as part of its promotion for “Terminator Genisys,” in part to attract younger audiences not familiar with the franchise. http://www.smartbrief.com/s/2015/06/brands-aregetting-serious-about-gifs
By Cemanthe
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EDITOR’S Letter
These few months have been busy as usual; with new clients, meetings with former clients, finalising projects and starting new ones. We’ve had new Angels on the team and lots of social media training clients. I’ve also started doing training sessions across Kent, so far both in Gravesend and Ramsgate. Next hopefully the Caribbean haha ;) I’ve also blended a photoshoot with LinkedIn training, and as always, the Angel team have been working hard on social media management, PPC and ads for our clients. Have a lovely summer, Cemanthe
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QUOTE Of The Month
Don’t believe everything you read on the internet just because there’s a picture with quote next to it.”
-Abraham Lincoln
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TOOL Review
August Tool Review:
Dropbox
You may have heard that cloud storage is the new “in” thing (well, it has been for a while now), and it’s great for access from anywhere. There are lots of tools out there that you can use, Google Drive and Dropbox being my personal favourites. The beauty of these tools is that, wherever you go you can access your important files and documents as long as you are near a WiFi hotspot or using 3G/4G. Why is this so important for businesses?
How can this help our retail clients?
For us, it means that whenever a client needs a certain document that we have created, or when we go to meetings about social media management, we can have to hand
If you sell products online, you need to be able to show them off. This can’t always be through your website or at your showroom, as you may meet people who want to know more. Thanks
the information required, without having to remember it and print it off (unless we want to of course!). Another great thing about Dropbox is that you can share files or folders with people, so they can view what you have been getting up to, as well as send you documents you require for projects.
to Dropbox you can show them images of your favourite products, and even share product information with them, so they can go ahead and order what they want.
By Hannah
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All in all, an online storage tool is excellent for the business owner and their team, to share important files and documents, as well as saving them in case of a technology breakdown, so you don’t lose your important files.
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ANGELS On The Loose
In the months of May and
June we’ve been working on
our current client accounts
as usual, signing up new clients for Reputation Management (the opposite to SEO - when you want something off of google) and social media
training, and finishing off some bigger projects.
I’ve submitted a print for a charity show raffle,
celebrated Dickens Week in
Broadstairs, and pitched our service to the Playboy Club!
Mabel has gone rainbow for
the new marriage legislation in America to show her support for equality,
I’ve also done some Linkedin headshots for clients.
It’s been busy as always
and looking forward to the summer.
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CARTOON Of The Month
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INNOVATION Box
Artist creates nanosculptures smaller than a human hair A sculpture so tiny that it cannot be seen by the naked eye is claimed to be the smallest sculpture of the human form ever created. Measuring a picayune 20 x 80 x 100 microns, artist Jonty Hurwitz’s tiny human statue is part of a new series of equally diminutive new sculptures that are at a scale so infinitesimally miniscule that each of the figures is approximately equal in size to the amount your fingernails grow in around about 6 hours, and can only be viewed using a scanning electron microscope. The sculpture “Cupid and Psyche: The First Kiss” (Photo: Jonty Hurwitz) The sculpture “Cupid and Psyche: The First Kiss” on the head of an insect (Photo: Jonty Hurwitz) Close up of the sculpture “Cupid and Psyche: The First Kiss” on the head of an insect (Photo: Jonty Hurwitz) The sculpture “Intensity” compared to a human hair (Photo: Jonty Hurwitz) See more: http://www.gizmag.com/artist-nanosculpturessmaller-human-hair/34813/
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AUGUST 2015
Business Planning What It Is And What It Is Not
I am sure this is not the first time that you have heard about business planning... I can’t remember the first time I heard about it. Logically, planning should be the first thing you do whenever you think of starting a new business. I congratulate
Unfortunately, when many business people sit down to do their business planning, they do so to come up with a business document, because “that is one of those things that there must be”. Take good note of this; a business plan is not
those who have taken this step and I know it is one sure thing that each entrepreneur must do if they are to have a successful venture.
document. It is a plan; something that is created to be followed. Of course no one can create a perfect business plan so once it is ready, you will need to regularly review and maybe correct it.
But what exactly is business planning? Have all entrepreneurs done it right? Planning for your business involves creating a set of long term goals that you believe are attainable within the set period of time. You should also state why you believe that these goals are attainable and go on to describe what you plan to do in order to achieve them. The plan covers each and every aspect of your business, right from operations, through marketing, finance, human resource to legal issues. It details the time plan for every activity, and stats who will be in charge of each of them. It includes a clear explanation of where the business capital is to come from, how it is to be used and how the business progress will be measured. Anything short of this falls below what a business plan is meant to be.
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Business planning is not strategic planning. I don’t mean strategic planning for a business is not good but if you replace a business plan with a strategic plan, you will have left out what holds that plan together. It is also not something created for the bank in order to get funding. This would only do that; get you funding, yet funds are not all you need to run a successful enterprise. Planning for your business operations, or marketing or creating an annual plan is also not what we should call business planning. These are only parts that should come together in the process of business planning.
By Dominica
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AUGUST 2015
How online marketing supports your PR and printed marketing. In the days before social media, companies had to use only PR and printed marketing to get their brand noticed. To say it was a tough world out there, is an understatement! Now, thanks to the wonders of the internet, we can build our brands using relationship and community management online, whilst building it offline with the PR and printed marketing tools of old.
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How can these all work as one to build your brand awareness? The great thing about all forms of marketing is that they all work to help you build your business. Whether it’s getting your story into a fantastic magazine with all of your target audience, or having a conversation with a person who is interested in purchasing from you on Twitter. These marketing tools work alongside one another for the same ultimate goal – to get you found. The main thing with all forms of marketing is that they should all sing from the same hymn sheet. When someone sees you in a newspaper, then on Facebook, then in a branded flyer, they should be able to know straight away that it is your brand, and not be confused by the message. To help to achieve this, we suggest bringing together the teams / people that do each part of your marketing, and ensure they are focusing on the same messages, the same voice and even the same promotions.
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Ensure your marketing team know what you want to be seen as, what your USPs are and who you want to connect with. This ensures that no matter where a person sees you, they will know who you are and your brand is once again noticed. Another way online marketing supports your traditional marketing is by getting the word out there about your achievements and where to read articles about your brand. The same goes in the opposite way, ensure you share your social media profiles within your offline marketing, so people can connect and get to build a relationship with you. If you are unsure about how to get this started, we highly suggest a promotional calendar, shared with your whole team, who can then focus on the same marketing efforts as each other, so your brand message always sounds the same.
By Hannah
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By Hannah
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“The ULTIMATE SOLUTION” To Innovating Your Business In 3 Simple Steps.
Believe it or not, your very first marketing opportunity comes down to what you offer the market as a business. In other words, what is it about your company that is unique and distinctive that gives your customers or clients a reason to buy from you instead of any one of your competitors.
because the best way to come up with a USP, or unique selling proposition, is to innovate your business, service, or product, and to give the marketplace exactly what they want. In addition, once you come up with something truly innovative, it’s incredibly simple to write headlines for that innovation.
Some people call this a Unique Selling Proposition, or a USP. The idea here is that you need something that is legitimately unique about your business that makes people feel like they should buy from you. Something that lets people know that you are not just a commodity and that you are not just like everybody else.
Here are a couple of examples. Lets say you innovated the car and you created a car that runs on water instead of petrol, diesel or electricity. So what would you say in your ad? What would be your headline?
However, we call this a business innovation,
How about “efficient and environmentally friendly?” No, of course not! It is utterly ridiculous, boring and says nothing about
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your great invention. But that’s basically the equivalent of what most companies today are doing. They are building great businesses with incredible products and services and then telling the marketplace that they are “efficient and environmentally friendly.”
Here’s an incredibly important point that you must always remember: The amount of money somebody is willing to give you is directly proportional to their confidence in your ability to provide them with the goods and services that they want or need. Full stop.
No, writing a headline for innovative products and services is easy. You simply make the innovation a big, fat headline. For example, in the case of a car that runs on water. You use a headline that says “This Car Runs on Water!” Exclamation mark! I’d probably add the sub headline, that says “Seriously!” Therefore, the headline and sub headline would be huge and it would say, “This Car Runs on Water! Seriously!”
You’ve heard before that the way to increase profits is to increase the value or perceived value that you offer to your customers or clients. However, I’m here to tell you that this type of thinking is antiquated, outmoded, and just flat out wrong. And by wrong, I mean that it is missing a critical element. The missing element is CONFIDENCE. This is actually what people buy. Not value. Value is a result or consequence
of course there will be a picture of the car there.
of confidence. In other words, the more confidence I have in your ability to provide me with the goods and services that I want or need, then the more value you have in my eyes, and the more money I’ll be willing to give you.
Now that’s an oversimplified example using an extremely innovative concept, but lets break it down in your world. To come up with an innovation, you simply have to ask yourself one simple question: What does my marketplace want or need that nobody is offering them? It’s that simple. But here’s the catch, you must answer the question without regards to your ability to fulfil on that need. Just ask the question and answer it. Don’t tell yourself, but my company can’t do that because it’s too expensive, or we don’t have the manpower, or the experience, or whatever. Just answer the question. Once you have the answer, figure out how to give it to your customers. You might not be able to give them 100% of what they want, but even if you give them 50%, it’s better than anybody else and makes you innovative.
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Too many people think that the way to increase prices and perceived value is to add additional products and services, or to reduce prices. But this is the wrong methodology. Invest your time, energy, and resources in to increasing people’s confidence in your products, services, and company, and your price points and profits will increase. The key is confidence. Here is the other example. Would you buy a Big Mac at McDonald’s for £20? No, why not? Because you know it’s not worth £20? What if McDonalds added value to the Big Mac by adding a large fry and a coke for FREE. Now would you buy the Big Mac for £20? Of, course not. What if they added more value by giving you a FREE happy meal toy? Still, the answer is no. Why? Because you know that no matter what additional FREE stuff they add, its still not
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worth £20. But would you buy a Filet Mignon steak from a major steakhouse like Hawksmoor, Goodman, or Black & Blue for £20? Of course you would. What a deal! Why, the Big Mac is made out of 100% pure beef, right? So is the filet mignon? So why are you willing to buy one and not the other. Because you are confident that one of them is worth more than £20 and the other is not. It’s that simple. Winning in the game of business and sales is an issue of confidence. Perception and value are both consequences of confidence. So, invest in building your market’s confidence in your company, your products, and your services and you’ll be on your way to dominating your market. The principle here is to provide something innovative to the marketplace that they actually want or need. Now it is possible that you already have something innovative. If that is the case, then it’s incredibly important that you present this innovation as something unique to the marketplace. You should name it, trademark it, and make it exclusive to your company. This reminds me of a quote by Peter Drucker the legendary business management consultant. He said, “The purpose of business is to create a customer, the business enterprise has two– and only two–basic functions: marketing and innovation. Marketing and innovation produce results; all the rest are costs. Marketing is the distinguishing, unique function of the business.” Here is how to use the “Ultimate Solution” tool amongst many to create your own business innovations in three steps. It’s remarkably simple, yet powerful. Here’s all you need to do:
Step 1.
Write down on a piece of paper a negative situation or potential negative experience/s that your customers could or would have when doing business with a company in your industry.
Step 2.
Then ask yourself this killer question; “If your customers had the power to change anything in your business to solve this problem, what would they do to alleviate the problem?” In other words, what would the ultimate business do to ensure that this problem never existed? What is the ultimate solution?
Step 3.
Brainstorm answers to this question with everybody. Just let it flow—write everything down on paper. Do not exclude ideas just because they’re not practical. If at least 50% of your ideas are NOT impractical, you’ll never innovate anything significant. Once you have innovation, the next thing to do is to market that innovation to help you standout in your marketplace.
Now, for example purposes, let’s innovate the dentist using “The Ultimate Solution” tool. The negative experiences people have or potential negative experiences people would have with dentists can be problems relating to fear, or pain, or cost, or problems with insurance payments, or the problem of waiting too long, or something else. So now let’s use the three steps to solve problem of waiting too long.
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Step 1: PROBLEM People have an appointment and they show up on time, but then have to wait 10 to 20 minutes before they are seen.
Step 2: The ULTIMATE SOLUTION Here are some innovations from the brainstorm session: • How about a guarantee that if you are not seen within 5 minutes of your scheduled appointment, you get a free teeth cleaning. • Or how about getting a free massage while you wait for your appointment. • Or how about this: 50 different magazines in the waiting area, in all categories, with current issues, • OR wireless internet connection for your laptop, Computer stations with internet, instead of a waiting room, • Have a home theater setup playing IMAX documentaries all day, • Or at least have leather recliners, or snacks and drinks for free, or video games and simulators, • Or how about a live band? Well maybe this one is too out of this world, but there you go.
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Step 3: Deliver the Innovation/s to the clients We will deliver the second innovation of giving free massage to clients as they wait for their appointment. - Say Dentist buys 5 Massage chairs @ £170 each = Total £850 - Normally Charges £40 for teeth cleaning, now increased to £50 with Innovation - Let’s say 10 clients per month (teeth cleaning) x £50 per month (for teeth cleaning) = £500 per month -In 12 months = 500 x12 = Total 6000 - £850 (cost of 5 massage chairs) = £5150 Extra per year based on one simple innovation
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What if this dentist increase price of other treatments, would they get more clients and increase their profits further? You bet, they would. I’ve asked attendees of my live seminar if they would pay £10 extra for teeth cleaning with their dentist who has a massage chair and they all said they would. They also would recommend that dentist to their friends and family.
Contributor
Felicity Okolo So, there you have it.
Marketing Consultant and Co-founder of Ubiquity Marketing Consultants
I’d like you to remember that your end in mind is to ensure that the business innovations you come up with build your customer’s confidence in your ability to provide them with the goods and services that they want or need.
Ubiquity is
an
Marketing Innovation,
Advertising
agency
Consultants Marketing based
& in
London. Contact by emailing info@ ubiquitymarketingconsultants.com.
Remember also that innovation is not just a business function; it’s actually a core part of your marketing program. Simply put, if you want to dominate your sector of the market, you must be innovative. You cannot expect to win the lion’s share of the marketplace by being just like everybody else. Furthermore, you can’t just be different for the sake of being different. Your innovation must address real and legitimate wants and/or needs of your target market.
Feel free visit their website www. ubiquitymarketingconsultants.com
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Interview Preparation Years ago you could accept a job with an organisation and almost be certain to work there throughout your entire career. Times have changed. Job security is a thing of the past. People entering the job market today can expect several career changes, not always of their choosing, during their working lives.
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Very few people now stay with one employer for the duration of their career. Hence interviews, and your performance at them, can profoundly affect your career development. Some people are ‘naturals’ and excel at interviews but for many the task is onerous and nerve wrecking. Whether we like it or not we are judged by how we perform and what the interviewers see. You may have the best CV but if you do not perform at the interview your chances of success will be greatly reduced. There are three ways you can improve your performance at interviews and thereby your success in obtaining a job offer - preparation, preparation and preparation! Preparation
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can be broken down into two parts - general preparation, which is required for any interview, and preparation that is specific to a particular role. General Preparation Many candidates state that they do not know what type of questions they will be asked at their interview and begin to panic. It is however possible to predict a significant number of questions that you will be asked. You are almost certainly going to be asked a series of questions about your life and career to date. Look at your CV and starting from your education, anticipate questions covering every significant decision you have made. The questions will all begin with ‘why?’. Having posed the questions, spend some time formulating answers. The process is best committed to paper with the objective of allowing you to describe your life and career to date as a series of logical decisions. It does not matter that, with the benefit of hindsight, you made a wrong decision. You should come to perhaps the most important question of them all. Why are you attending this interview?
Another set of questions is likely to be about your professional experience. Ensure that there is nothing on your CV than you cannot convincingly substantiate. Anticipate being challenged on any skill or experience you claim to possess. What are your objectives and ambitions? What are your strengths and weaknesses? This exercise may take a little time. Upon completion, critically evaluate your answers. Put yourself in the position of an interviewer and address any contradictions. If you have done exactly the same job for 10 years why should you suddenly become ambitious? If you are not impressed with any of your potential responses, it is unlikely that an interviewer will be. Share your thoughts and ideas with other people, particularly those who appear to have a good track record of being successful at interviews. The benefit of this preparation is that there will be few questions that will take you by surprise; you will sell yourself more effectively. Being prepared for the questions and providing rational answers will improve your confidence and your ability to succeed.
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Specific Preparation Prior to attending an interview, you need to do some specific preparation. Find out as much as possible about the organisation and the position. If you have not worked in a particular industry sector before, find out what the major issues are. Time spent learning about the industry sector, the organisation, the role and the relevance of your background and experience is never wasted. Consider any deficiencies in your experience and the ways that these can be overcome. This type of preparation enables you to ask insightful and informed questions. Furthermore, it shows that you have taken the time to prepare for the interview. The type of person who demonstrably prepares for an interview is highly likely to be the same person who adequately prepares for professional assignments. The Basics Plan the logistics - plan your journey e.g. location of interview, map, car parking facilities etc. Plan what you are going to wear and dress appropriately; a business suit is always acceptable. Be punctual – arrive at your interview with sufficient time to allow you to relax beforehand and gather your thoughts.
method in the recruitment selection process. Failure to understand and react to the demands of the process can seriously blight your career. For advice on how best to improve your interview skills, contact us for a free informal chat……………..……………together YOU can!
Contributor Patrick Ebbs MBA, Grad CIPD, MCMI, CFIIA, CMIIA, MIC Patrick
is
Managing
Director
of
ChangEnable. He has performed various roles at a senior level in FTSE100 and FTSE250 companies such as J Sainsbury Group and RAC plc. Prior to ChangEnable, Patrick was Managing Director of TRAC Operations, a consultancy with prestige clients such as Vodafone, Centrica and McDonalds. Patrick is a qualified Life Coach and past President of a Speakers Club, part of Toastmasters International. And contact details: ChangEnable………together YOU can Email: ican@changenable.com Phone: 01372 467933 WWW: www.changenable.com
Conclusion The key to a successful interview is preparation, practice and performance. For the foreseeable future interviews will continue to be the principal
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OTHER NEWS
Charging goes wireless at Starbucks
Very clever and up to date use of emoticons in an advert, showing that they’re marketing to those under 30.
I was very interested recently to see a new initiative at Starbucks stores There’s a power ring embedded in the counter, with charging rings on a small hanging shelf. Basically you pick your charger for your phone, plug it in, then lay the ring on top of the embedded ring, and there you go - charge!
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Finding “Your Thing” in Business Something You Know Really Well And Love To Do Passion is the fuel that burns to take a business to the heights that the owner would like it to go. Yes, it is almost impossible to achieve success when doing something that you do not love, and I say “almost” because I would just like to give it the small benefit of doubt that everything
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deserves. Otherwise my believe is very strong on this issue; remove passion from a business and you will have taken from it the very backbone of success that it would ever have. So what is “your thing” in business? What is
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it that you know really well and love to do? Whenever I talk about this issue with my clients, many people ask me “But how do you know ‘your thing’ in business”? You probably have the same question. Here is what you need to do to discover it. The first thing that you should look at to find your passion is your lifestyle. Ask yourself what you would like your life to be like. Would you like to be out there meeting new people and seeing new places or you would rather spend more time at home being with your family? When you decide on what your business will involve, it should be something that is in line with what you would like your life to be. For example, if you are the person who loves being out and finding new things, a business that would require you to stay in an enclosed office answering mails from clients and business partners is just not the thing for you. Secondly, look back in your life at those moments that you were happiest. What is it that you did
that made you so happy? This does not need to be an entire job description. It could be just a part of something that you were doing. You may not have liked everything; that’s okay, just focus on that single thing that thrilled you. If you find many of these things, you could bring them together to form a complete picture of what you would love to do. Finally, you should also look at what you believe that you can do to make a significant difference in life, in the larger perspective. I mean, when history is written long after you are gone, what is that single thing that you would like to be remembered for? Some of the most successful people in the world have built their success on such a principle. You can also build your own business empire by basing it on the same principle. It should be something that you yearn for, something you can give your all in order to achieve.
By Dominica
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MEET
OUR NEW ANGEL
Clement
has moved from copywriting and journalism positions to full time social media management. Since making the switch, he’s worked with a wide variety of clients including worldrenowned restaurants and music festivals. His strengths lie in creating solid social media plans, then putting them into action. Clem will be specialising in estate agents, restaurants and hospitality venues for New Media Angels. Likes: Reading. Writing. Free food and expensive beer. Dislikes: Having nothing to do.
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? DID YOU KNOW Did you know that we offer video? Yes! We do. It’s one of our favourite things to do. We can do promotional videos, interviews, cartoon and doodle videos. Here are some screenshots of what we’ve done: If you would like a video that showcases your services, products, or you in your best light, then contact us for pricing and more information.
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Absolutely love the professional pics you took of me Cemanthe! I’ve had them done before but nothing I liked as much as these. I have so many favourites.
Working with you I felt really comfortable and relaxed in front of the camera (doesn’t usually happen when I know the shots need to be good!) and I really enjoyed the process.
People I’ve showed these to have said you’ve really captured ‘me’ i.e. in looks AND personality,
which often gets totally lost in professional pictures. Thank you. I would definitely recommend you to anyone looking to have professional pics done!
Kristie West, KRISTIE WEST GRIEF SPECIALIST I was overwhelmed & confused by the world of “business social media”, Cemanthe has quickly cut through all the bull out there and helped me understand what I need and how to achieve it, fantastic value for money.T hanks.
Jon Denoris, CLUB 51 I am writing to say how enjoyable and useful I found your seminar on Social Media for Business at the Westminster Central Reference Library today. I felt you demystified the whole area of Twitter, Facebook, blogs and so on and made a powerful argument for getting into it – that is where our customers are! I will certainly take you up on at least one of your Power Hours, and look forward to attending another of your workshops or courses. Thank you! David
David Marks, BULLRODGER
Our services: Social Media Management Social Media Training SEO (Search Engine Optimisation) Design and Illustration Web Design Video Contact details: What we stand for: https://youtu.be/I1ennL4mK-E Web: www.NewMediaAngels.com Email: cemanthe@NewMediaAngels.com Direct Tel: (+44) 07886 593 076 Networks: Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/NewMediaAngels Twitter: https://twitter.com/newmediaangels Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/cemanthe Pinterest: https://www.pinterest.com/newmediaangels/ Google Plus: https://plus.google.com/+NewmediaangelsLtd/ Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/user/newmediaangels