Seems like an innocent question, right? But go ahead and ask 10 random friends and see what they say.
- Some are confident and know that the top results are their own website, or a LinkedIn page or Facebook.
- Others have a popular name, and thus can’t quite make it to the frontpage.
- Some have positive results come up, such as a listing at a conference or something with the college alumni, but nothing special.
- For the unlucky, an unflattering photo or comment appears near the top of the list.
- And for some segment of people nothing comes up, and they don’t care.
Facebook continues to be the social media giant. It’s funny to look back at Episode 105 eighteen months ago back in May 2010 when I wondered whether recent privacy events could signal the fall of Facebook, and I went through 7 reasons the mighty giant might fail.
Needless to say, they’ve recovered from some of the issues I posed, including privacy concerns and revenue generation. In fact, the New York Times and Wired ran a stories about a group of students that were taking on Facebook with a new product called Diaspora, and it gained some pretty good buzz.
Where are we 18 months later? Well, Diaspora seems to be in alpha release still and in retrospect, was just a tiny fly on the back of a Rhino. And that Rhino would be Google Plus, which Facebook seems to be going head-to-head with and still winning.
Of course by now if you’re a brand, you have already have a robust Facebook page. You’ve updated some graphics, built up your following, and have widgets on your website to drive people to Like you on Facebook.
But now that you have fans on Facebook, how do you engage with your audience?
A funny thing happened after HP killed the touchpad.
- They offered them at a fire sale price of $99
- This created huge demand
- It become a “must-have” item for geeks
- People were waiting in line, with even stories of suburban “stampeding”
- They got huge buzz on the internet
- Great story by Wired’s Tim Carmody
- The Kindle has competed against the iPad. And the Book. But not much else.
- Leading to the quote: ‘There is no tablet market, just an iPad market’
“Gizmodo published the stats yesterday to illustrate the fact. The iPad totally eclipses all other tablets in sales. Apple has made 281 times more profit from the iPad 1Â alone – in just three market quarters – than all other ‘tablet’ manufacturers have made from all their models, across all their brands, combined.”
Today I speak with Shaun Sanders, a graphic designer specializing in infographics. I met Shaun through our mutual friend Alexis Ohanian, who hired Shaun to produce some awesome infographics for Hipmunk.
Listen to the podcast for the full interview, but here are the highlights, thoughts, and things that we discussed:
Definition of infographics
I view infographics as another option in a marketer’s social media arsenal. Surprisingly, there are a lot of people that don’t know what the term means when I told them my plans for doing one.
The easiest, old school comparison I make is like the USA Today “Snapshots” that would appear in the newspaper, using cartoon-esque images to represent data. You know, like the quantity of pasta consumed:
Shaun jumps in to give me us a more purist definition: Data visualization
The key: Crossing data visualization with fun, color, and additional elements
“Infographics work because most people will look at them vs sending them a long text article. Because it comes across as fun cartoon, they are more likely to check it out, as well embed it and share it on Facebook.”
When it comes to working out, there are questions that come up time and time again:
- We all know we SHOULD work out, what can be done to make sure I DO work out?
- How can I find the time to work out on a crazy schedule?
- How do I keep from getting bored with my workouts?
- How can I keep better track of my results?
- Why do personal trainers cost so much?
- How do I see results once I’ve reached a plateau?
And for the Apple fans out there…
- My iPhone can do just about everything, but can it make me look better naked?
On this week’s podcast, I spoke with Nick Gammell, the CEO and Founder of Gain Fitness in his attempt to answer all of those questions.
He comes from a good pedigree of brains and brawn… a lifelong athlete and former college football player to address the workout side of things, and an analytical brain with experience at Deloitte consulting and a little tech company named Google to fuel the technology side.
After chatting for just a few minutes, it became clear that I was the perfect demographic for his product.
- I enjoy working out but don’t have a lot of time
- I generally do the same workouts so need variety to get out of a rut
- I like to track my progress and see results
For those that know me or have been listening for awhile, you know that I always have multiple projects going on, whether it be this podcast, my work at Wired, my teaching at NYU, or my book. I’ve decided I want one central hub for all these projects to live.
And while some “social media experts” just “talk the talk,” I prefer to “walk the walk” with the podcast and take my readers/listeners through actual new media events that I am doing myself. So since building this website is on my radar, and I always preach about controlling your own brand presence, I thought this would be a great opportunity to walk people through what goes into setting it up.
As always, listening to the full podcast is the best way to get all the info, but here is a summary of what I cover.
Questions you need to ask when creating your own personal website.
Some people spend their entire careers building toward that one, life-fulfilling, amazing job.
Others will look back as they retire and be able to point to some good jobs, some great jobs, and a few missteps.
But in looking at the career path that 27-year-old Soraya Darabi has already taken so far, it could serve as a blueprint for “How to develop a well-rounded social media resume in the digital age.”
In fact, it is interesting enough that going through her career progression was all that was needed in terms of structure for this interview. As time ran out on us, I knew I wouldn’t get to address a topic that she explores often — the challenges women face as entrepreneurs and the advantages of being a woman in business.
Thus, we didn’t get to delve into what it was like being featured as one of the young rising female stars on the cover of a prominent business/technology magazine, but hey, I’d already been down that road before.
Ironically, we glossed over her first job where we briefly worked together, when she was a Communications Coordinator at CondeNet (now Conde Nast Digital).
And while no job is perfect, here is why Conde Nast is such a great place to work… you get exposure to so many aspects of a business that you can’t leave here without furthering your career.
The overarching mothership has its roots in the publishing industry for sure (making it great for writers, editors, designers, and fashionistas), but their drive into the digital space has been prominent (and in some cases, dominant), giving Generation Y a playground for web designers, writers, and engineers, not to mention iPhone, iPad, and social media platforms. For someone looking to work in PR/Communications, the strength of Conde’s brands goes a long way.
Jim interviews Byron Bennett, owner of a NYC chocolate shop about how a small business uses Facebook, Twitter, QR codes, Websites, and his experience with Groupon.
It’s one thing for media companies to be on social media, but lately I’ve been fascinated with how small businesses are doing this. I met with Byron Bennett, the owner of The Chocolate Library, a small-business in Manhattan’s East Village and we discuss the challenges he faces.
Besides, he just happened to bring along some of his amazing inventory of chocolates from around the world. He tells me that 97% of people enjoy chocolate.
Count me in as one of them.
Summary of Topics covered:
BACKGROUND
- Byron’s background at a wine store before he started this business
- Why wine stores and supermarkets need a kiosk to help shoppers
- The similarities between wine and chocolate
- The effect of luxury goods during a recession
- The story behind the “library” classification in his store, and how he ended up on The New York Times.
Today I interview Joanna Penn of The Creative Penn and self-published author of the religious thriller, Pentecost.
- Download the podcast via iTunes
- Download the podcast to your computer (Right click, Save As) - Play it below:
For the full interview — a must-listen for anyone wanting to self-publish their own book — please listen to the podcast.
Summary of Topics covered:
Joanna’s amazing journey
Joanna Penn has had quite an amazing journey from the UK and a Theology major at Oxford (hence the religious thriller), all the way to New Zealand and Australia, and now back to the UK.
As a full-time IT employee, she started her writing career with non-fiction books such as How To Enjoy Your Job and the basic ways of marketing.
She once tried to do the full-time author route and take an extended period of time off in order to write “The Great American (Australian?) Novel,” and tried signing on with traditional publishers, but it didn’t pan out.
Intrigued with the rise of digital publishing, print-on-demand, and using social media as a marketing platform, she started a blog and podcast called The Creative Penn. Joanna immersed herself in everything going on in the industry, and became a trusted source for information, while also interviewing dozens of authors.
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On this week’s podcast, I spoke with Nick Gammell, the CEO and Founder of 
