I recently started using the social bookmarking website del.icio.us and I’m beginning to thoroughly enjoy it. For those who haven’t heard of del.icio.us, it’s a web page where you can store all your ‘favourites', rather than saving them to your browser. It means that you can access your bookmarks from anywhere – without having to be on your home computer. It allows you to share them with friends, family, and other del.icio.us users. It’s a great tool for collaborating with co-workers on research projects.
Besides the benefits of access, flexibility, and collaboration, the next greatest advantage for me is that I don’t have to assign each bookmark to a folder. There are no folders. Instead I use tags (or ‘descriptive words’) and I'm able to choose which and how many tags I want to use. To make it even more simple, del.icio.us displays a list of ‘popular’ and ‘recommended’ tags I can choose from – or I can make up my own that are more relevant or meaningful to me.
del.icio.us also has a search tool, and I love having the option of using it when I know exactly what I’m looking for. My searches always turn up results comprised of my links and links (classified ‘public’) from other del.icio.us users. Generally, people bookmark sites they are especially fond of, and so the ability to share, pick, and choose sites from other people’s lists by subject category, is so efficient.
As I become better acquainted with del.icio.us I’m sure I’ll discover even more uses and benefits. You can visit my page and see my public links at http://del.icio.us/juliebudd.
For those of you who currently use del.icio.us, how do you use it, and what do you like or dislike about it?
24.7.07
11.7.07
Search marketing and your brand
"Memo to brands: fear the wiki," states Sandeep Krishnamurthy frantically. I don't agree.
Krishnamurthy's point is that when you search your brand, one of the top results is the Wikipedia entry. And Wikipedia, given its aim to be the online user-generated point of reference encyclopedia, might say something you don't want to hear about your brand. After carefully crafting your image, turn of phrase and vivid brand personality, the supposed objectivity and authority that Wikipedia exudes can "muddy" your brand's waters.
Well, yes, of course the brand waters are muddied. You might create your brand, but you don't own it. Your customers, clients and the public at large do. Say, for example, you put a lot of work into a new wordmark, colour choice, motto. But your customer service people don't stay on message when they answer the phone. What is your brand then? "Nice logo, shame about the folks on the phone." That's your brand.
Your brand's Wikipedia entry can be an excellent research tool. It can tell you what matters about your goings-on in the world. Read it, engage with it. And work on fixing what Wikipedia says is broken through a combination of pro-active communications and changes to the fundamentals.
Krishnamurthy's point is that when you search your brand, one of the top results is the Wikipedia entry. And Wikipedia, given its aim to be the online user-generated point of reference encyclopedia, might say something you don't want to hear about your brand. After carefully crafting your image, turn of phrase and vivid brand personality, the supposed objectivity and authority that Wikipedia exudes can "muddy" your brand's waters.
Well, yes, of course the brand waters are muddied. You might create your brand, but you don't own it. Your customers, clients and the public at large do. Say, for example, you put a lot of work into a new wordmark, colour choice, motto. But your customer service people don't stay on message when they answer the phone. What is your brand then? "Nice logo, shame about the folks on the phone." That's your brand.
Your brand's Wikipedia entry can be an excellent research tool. It can tell you what matters about your goings-on in the world. Read it, engage with it. And work on fixing what Wikipedia says is broken through a combination of pro-active communications and changes to the fundamentals.
29.6.07
Why wait? Web 2.0 is here to stay.
My colleague Tim and I recently attended an intensive one-day course in Montreal on the subject of social media marketing and Web 2.0. It was instructed by Mitch Joel, Owner of Twist Image (a digital media company in Montreal), and social media guru. I thought it was extremely well presented, and the content was a perfect mix of explanations and examples. I emerged at the end of the day feeling energized and excited to share all I had learned with my coworkers, not to mention, the rest of the world ;)
Web 2.0 seems to be all we’re hearing about these days - and rightly so. Mitch explained that this industry (marketing, advertising) has changed more in the last 2 years than it has in the last 20. He gave some startling statistics on web use – who is using it, how they are interacting with it, what they are doing and why. The hard numbers make it all very difficult to ignore, and hearing it inspired me to make a point of absorbing everything I can on the subject from here-on-in. Did you know that in 2006, Canadian online advertising exceeded $1 billion?! (IAB Canada)
Here's a brief list of things that I feel are definitive of the Web 2.0 concept, and what social media marketing is all about:
- Hands-on (user-generated content ie/YouTube, and virtual worlds ie/Second Life)
- Wikipedia
- Blogging
- Podcasting
- Wikis
- Syndication
- Tagging (ie/ Del.icio.us)
- Social Networking (ie/ facebook, MySpace, Linkedin)
- Viral Marketing
- Mobile devices
Participation, as opposed to push or pull, is the name of the game. Consumers want to feel a part of your brand, and so by allowing them to contribute by creating - they are helping to shape it. This also prevents your marketing campaign from fading into the background and from fading too quickly – if people are interacting with it you can be sure it lives on!
If there was ever a time that cookie-cutter approaches fail - it's now - today and tomorrow. We all must start to embrace Web 2.0 and make the necessary transition in the way we approach marketing our products and services.
Web 2.0 seems to be all we’re hearing about these days - and rightly so. Mitch explained that this industry (marketing, advertising) has changed more in the last 2 years than it has in the last 20. He gave some startling statistics on web use – who is using it, how they are interacting with it, what they are doing and why. The hard numbers make it all very difficult to ignore, and hearing it inspired me to make a point of absorbing everything I can on the subject from here-on-in. Did you know that in 2006, Canadian online advertising exceeded $1 billion?! (IAB Canada)
Here's a brief list of things that I feel are definitive of the Web 2.0 concept, and what social media marketing is all about:
- Hands-on (user-generated content ie/YouTube, and virtual worlds ie/Second Life)
- Wikipedia
- Blogging
- Podcasting
- Wikis
- Syndication
- Tagging (ie/ Del.icio.us)
- Social Networking (ie/ facebook, MySpace, Linkedin)
- Viral Marketing
- Mobile devices
Participation, as opposed to push or pull, is the name of the game. Consumers want to feel a part of your brand, and so by allowing them to contribute by creating - they are helping to shape it. This also prevents your marketing campaign from fading into the background and from fading too quickly – if people are interacting with it you can be sure it lives on!
If there was ever a time that cookie-cutter approaches fail - it's now - today and tomorrow. We all must start to embrace Web 2.0 and make the necessary transition in the way we approach marketing our products and services.
14.6.07
Coffee Break for BSL staff
The BSL staff got a little treat this afternoon after our Controller, Don Austin, won a ‘Stress-Free Coffee Break’ from the good people over at 98.5 FM. So thanks for the mugs guys, it’s very much appreciated.
13.6.07
iPhone isn't as flashy as I'd hoped
Coming out of WWDC are reports that Apple has officially admitted that the Apple iPhone will not support Adobe's Flash plug-in in Safari.
Flash support has been a long unanswered question about the Apple iPhone. Steve Jobs had made comments early on that we might see Flash in iPhone according to David Pogue:
Markoff: “Flash [in the iPhone]?”
Jobs: “Well, you might see that.”
Of note, Jobs did say that Youtube support would be in the iPhone... but by sidestepping Flash altogether:
Jobs: “Yeah, YouTube—of course. But you don’t need to have Flash to show YouTube. All you need to do is deal with YouTube. And plus, we could get ‘em to up their video resolution at the same time, by using h.264 instead of the old codec.”
Funny; this ad tells us that the iPhone version of Safari provides "the real internet" and not a "watered down" version. For me, that includes a Flash plugin....MX at least.
Source: Mac Rumors
Web 2.0 - the other revolution
I held a couple of round-table discussions on Web 2.0 at the Marcom conference in Ottawa this past week. I spoke about Web 2.0. I began my discussion by defining the concept and talked about how Web 2.0 is both a set of tools and a change in attitude among consumers. We had a great discussions with some great folks in the public and not-for-profit sectors. Almost all of them are planning the next generation of their web presence to take into consideration the immense opportunities that Web 2.0 tools support.
I came away with as many questions as I had tried to answer in the conference. If the tools have changed, and end user attitudes have changed, what needs to change inside an organization to make the most of it? How do people and organizations move from considering their websites as a technical issue toward a platform for dialogue? Could this be the other Web 2.0 revolution?
I came away with as many questions as I had tried to answer in the conference. If the tools have changed, and end user attitudes have changed, what needs to change inside an organization to make the most of it? How do people and organizations move from considering their websites as a technical issue toward a platform for dialogue? Could this be the other Web 2.0 revolution?
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