Why I love Pocket.

I’ve recently discovered a new app that has made saving webpages of interest 100 times easier to keep tabs on. What app, do I hear you say?

No, it’s not WhatsApp.

It’s a little magic gem called Pocket.

Pocket is a fairly new app that allows you to save an article, or page of interest by the click of one button. Rather than fiddling about with drop down menus, and moving your mouse across the computer screen, only to yet again click another button. Pocket, asks no questions. It just saves.

Integrated with over 300 apps, including Flipboard – One of my favourite ways to sift through a bunch of content. Pocket certainly makes life easier, and simplifies a process that computer makes complicated.

Who has time to wait four seconds before a page can be saved, or cares enough to title every page they want to save and decide where on my overcrowded desktop, it should go.

In some respects this is similar to Evernote, however; I find pocket a tad more user-friendly, with a better finish. With pocket you can also access your bits of information and pages later, from any smart phone or tablet device.

Well, I’ve found a new love. What about you? Have you heard of Pocket before? If not, you can check it out right here. Let me know your thoughts on this newbie.

Three useful apps that every business should have

I’ve recently been spending a lot of time on my iPhone, and today I thought I’d share with you a rundown of my top three useful apps at the moment.

1. Instagram – This is the app that most of us may have heard of, and is also a personal favourite of ours. The photo sharing network allows you to take your favourite snaps, and apply them against a range of digital filters, to give them a different look; and make them look extra pretty. The app, originally released on Apple’s App store, has recently expanded into the Android market, where it hit over a 1 million Android users within 24 hours! The app does more than make your pictures look pretty too. With Instagram you can connect, and share with your friends from Facebook, Twitter, Email and Phone contacts, and basically anyone with an Instagram account. There is room to like, comment on each photo, and share with the rest of your friends on other networks.

2. Evernote – This takes notepad to a whole new level. I find Evernote is great for capturing those random pieces of information. When all I need is to record a phone number, the URL of a website, a photo, or a quote from a very long article; Evernote is a great way to capture, store and organise those random pieces of paper you have dotted around your desk, home, or car. And the best part of all is, you can access them from any smart phone, or computer.

3. Flipboard – Is an aggregation service that serves up current, and relevant information from across several social networking platforms, and websites. This is a sleek, and effective way to view social content from various places, and condense them into one. The magazine format adds to this streamline interface, which allows you to flick through your social content at your own pace. I particularly love the ability it has to re-tweet, respond and share directly to my linked profile. Although the choice of platforms are currently limited, all the main ones are there (including Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, Instagram, Tumblr, Google reader). It is limited to download on Apple devices only, at the moment, however; I imagine this is something they will be expanding on in the near future.

The great thing about all three apps, is that they can help your business run smoother, and more effective regardless of the industry, or background you find yourself in. They are free, user-friendly, and most of all a great way to stay organised, relevant, and up-to-date with what’s going on in the sphere of social, and beyond.

 

People don’t have journals anymore, they have profiles

For anyone who says they don’t journal, I beg to differ. Over 800 billion people are active on Facebook, over 90 million users on Google+, which I imagine has taken a sharp rise since the announcement, Search Your World was made by Google, back in January; and lets not forget Twitters big news this week, as it reached its 500th million user mark on Wednesday.

We may not write in our traditional leather bound journals anymore, but we are recording every day via our timeline, twitter feed, sharing, liking, following and of course our SEO friend +1′s. All of which is taking place before we create a blog; or ‘online diary’ as they are often referred too. Everything we do, like, know, smell or touch today is being documented online via our computer, tablets, and or smartphones – and it’s not just the devices either, but the social platforms we participate in.

This can be a good thing, and it can also be a bad thing depending on who’s looking at it. The truth of the matter is we are all documenting more about our lives online today than ever before. Whether that information is being recorded by you, or by someone else about you or your company that’s a matter for another blog…

Please leave your thoughts, comments down below or hop on over to our Facebook page, and  hello!

Pinwheel: The latest pin on the block

Have you heard about Pinwheel yet? – The new way to find and leave notes all around the world??

I stumbled across this earlier today, and felt the burning desire to blog about it today.

Pinwheel, which appears closely related to Pinterest, (and in fact has no relation) is the news venture of Caterina Fake; who is also known as one of the co-founders of photo-sharing site Flickr, which she sold to Yahoo back in 2005 for a mere £22 million.

The site, which is about to open up in beta will be made available to a selected few, who will get to test drive the site across its web and mobile web platforms. Caterina invited those wishing to be first in to leave their details via a link on her blog, which you can find here.

User will be able to send notes public, private, shared with an individual, in a group or with the whole world, explains Caterina.

“You can follow people, places and sets. And in the future, you will get notifications on your phone from who and what you choose.”

Wondering how this will create profit? Yeah, I was too. It seems that Pinwheel will take the route of sponsored notes, and inviting businesses to sponsor them. The idea is that these notes will operate as a direct mapping system, pointing customers in the direction of those stores, or indeed opening the possibility to promote products in specific locations.

This is one to watch, and a timely invention given the rise in location-based marketing.

Think before you cross

For quite a few years now, the UK Government have been running a series of ad’s to promote child safety when crossing the roads. Randomly the one that seems to have lodged itself in my memory is King of the Road. Take a look, and click on the link.

The connection I’m trying to make here is this… Just like the video promotes us to be careful when crossing the road. The, ‘Stop, Look, Listen, and Live’ tagline could also be used to promote, and prompt us in the grown up world of online, internet, media and marketing; To stop, and think before we post, and click.

 

 

Connectors

One of the greatest things about my job is the people I get to meet, and interact with.

Who are you connecting with today? One of the best parts social media has to offer, for me, is the ability to connect with all kinds of people, from all four corners of the earth.

So today’s post is a very short, and snappy one. I’m busy working on a value project, which I hope to bring to you soon.

Just to leave you with one thought. Who are you connecting with? Please remember, social media isn’t some magic formula that will automatically give you a ROI by logging on to Facebook. Social media is a tool, and a tool that has the power to connect you with your target audience.

If you have any marketing questions that you’ve been thinking about for a while, or you would like more information on social media strategies then please feel free to connect with me on Twitter @leemac85.

 

Three reasons why social media is a worthwhile investment.

According to a report published by The Drum, “34% of marketers have no plans for social media advertising. Unconvinced of it’s ROI”

A nice little article, but I find the figures astonishing as the most powerful tool in advertising is word of mouth; social media is the digital tool that provides marketers direct access to pools of consumers in a wider scale than ever before. For those who cannot see the ROI in this by now, I sympathise because this is the year where those who do understand Social Media will make thrust forward and out of sight of those who don’t.

So I thought I’d try give a few brief reasons why social media is a worthwhile investment;

1. Social media is a low costing marketing tool.

You don’t need to pay to have a presence on social networking sites like Twitter, Facebook, Google+ and LinkedIn; you just need to be there.

2. Social Media is a gateway to your market

Engage in conversation, building relationships, and being genuine in this (I’m not promoting manipulation by any means). Just be yourself, and share who you are with others. Helping others solve their problem naturally increases the potential of someone wanting to help you out, or buy your product.

3. Social media is a great way to increase your market reach

With over 800million viewers on Facebook, 1.6 searches made on Twitter every day, and 135 million users on LinkedIn alone. How can this not be a returnable investment.

The ROI comes from relationships, word of mouth, making a difference. The only cost you will pay is time, and depending on the size of your company, resources. I fully believe the investment far outweighs the return, if only for the sheer richness of opportunities, knowledge and interest it presents.  Yes it costs time, but there are simple steps that can be taken for those without the budget or resource to hire someone from outside. This is one opportunity no business can live without – in my humble opinion.

I could go into this in so much more detail, but in the interest of keeping my blog post short and readable, I won’t. Any questions, feel free to drop me a message and I will answer.

The social busker

Tis was the eve of Christmas eve, and whilst strolling merrily down one of Glasgow’s busiest shopping streets I couldn’t quite help, but stop to applaud and appreciate the young talent that lined  with festive spirit and a smart and savvy sign, which read along the lines of; ‘find me here’ followed by a list of YouTube, Twitter and Facebook contact details.

These ain’t just any young buskers! These are social savvy buskers of the twenty-first century buskers, who have without question clearly embraced what the concept of social media; and indeed the social revolution of which we are all becoming accustomed too.

As a social media enthusiast myself, I feel unexpectedly proud of their courage and marketing technique.

Take note people. These budding champions are a far cry from the generation of buskers gone before them; who spent hours outside, in all kinds of weather, showcasing their talent upon the streets of Glasgow City Centre. Budding stars in the making – whatever they go on to do.

Merry Christmas everyone!!

Social networks get revamped in time for Christmas!

For many tis the season to be jolly, buying presents, sending cards, Christmas parties and fending of the forces of winter, (for some of us).

For social networks it seems the perfect time to produce a makeover. This week Facebook rolled out their new streamline profile, Timeline, revealed back at their annual developers conference in September. The new Frictionless experience will only be available in New Zealand for now, but will be rolled out to the rest of the world in the coming weeks.

Let’s not forget our blue bird friend, Twitter, who took the plunge and introduced two new feeds, @(username) and Activity, which in essence is the equivalent to Facebook’s notifications feed. Despite the changes being introduced back in August, we have only seen these roll out in the UK in last month.

Following closely behind, StumbleUpon introduced us to their new redesigned website earlier this week, featuring a brand new logo and greater focus on placed on it’s visual content and appearance.

So, it seemed only natural for the ball to fall back to the Twitter nest once again who have now decided, “Out with the old, and in with the new!” Adding four new features this time, all part of their new Fly Twitter project to make Tweeting on Twitter a richer experience.

“We’ve simplified the design to make it easier than ever to follow what you care about, connect with others and discover something new,” via the Twitter Blog.

Check out the video, it’s much more exciting!

Oh, and if your the lucky bird with an iPhone or Android mobile you can upgrade your mobile app now. I’ve upgraded today and I have to say on first appearance it looks miles better than the old app, which personally found a little confusing to navigate (from my iPhone). What do you think?