October 30, 2009
October 29, 2009
October 21, 2009
HUGE: Microsoft Inks Deals With Twitter and Facebook to Put Status Updates in Bing
Microsoft’s latest effort to gain relevance in the search wars is about to get a whole lot more interesting.
According to All Things Digital, the company is set to announce deals with both Twitter and Facebook (
) to integrate status updates into its Bing (
) search engine.
Details are expected to be announced later today at the Web 2.0 Summit, but the stage has been building for this for some time. Microsoft invested $240 million in Facebook back in 2007, and has since signed search and advertising deals with the social network.) has been known to be exploring search partnerships for at least the past month, though it’s long been suspected that the company would eventually eye significant revenue in this space. Although Twitter has been said to be willing to offer a full stream of tweets to search providers on a non-exclusive basis, it would appear that Microsoft has beaten Google (
) to the punch in making it happen.
In All Things Digital’s latest report, both of the leading social sites are said to be talking to Google, so Bing’s advantage may be short lived, though it will be “weeks, if not months” until we see any actual integration go live.
More to come …
via mashable.com
This is truly huge news. Everyone has been wondering since Twitter was created how it was going to make money. Ladies and gents we now have an idea. I'm just surprised that Google didn't get it first.
5 Small Businesses Successfully Using Social Media // are there any churches?
Lauren Fisher is the co-founder of Simply Zesty, an online PR and social media agency based in Dublin. She blogs regularly on Simply Zesty on social media and online communications.
New research by Citibank reveals that social media has yet to penetrate the small business world, finding that 76% of the 500 organizations surveyed have not found social media useful in generating business. Maria Veltre, Executive Vice President of Citi’s Small Business Segment says, “Our survey suggests that small business owners are still feeling their way into social media, particularly when it comes to using these tools to grow their businesses.”
On the surface, that’s not very encouraging news for small businesses, however there are plenty of small businesses doing some amazing things with social media. The five companies profiled in this post show that making a splash using social media isn’t about the size of your budget and that the only limit is your creativity.
Kogi BBQ
Kogi BBQ is a mobile Korean BBQ trust that travels around Los Angeles selling Korean tacos. They’ve built up an impressive 45,000 follower base on Twitter (
) by tweeting where their truck is going to roll up next. The company also recently ran a crowdsourced t-shirt competition, with fans voting on their favorite t-shirt design.
The story behind Kogi BBQ is decidedly home-grown, showing that with a personality and a good product you can build up a loyal community. The now-famous taco truck has basically reached cult status and is an excellent ‘how-to’ for any business who wants to get involved with Twitter.
Lesson: Kogi have shown that social media is about taking the mundane and making it remarkable. On the face of it, a mobile food truck isn’t all that innovative. But a mobile food truck that tweets its way through Los Angeles? That gets people engaged and importantly, the end result is boosted real-world sales.
The Marsh Cafe
With a simple poster in their window, The Marsh Cafe in San Francisco, have seriously demonstrated that they’re ahead of the social media curve. This summer they put up a sign that promoted ‘Foursquare (
) mayor drinks for free!’ The cafe has received lots of coverage for their innovative marketing campaign, including on mainstream media outlets, such as CNN.
Cari Turley, the manager of The Marsh who runs their social media presence, explains that she is an active user of social media including Foursquare, which is how she came up with the idea for the promotion. She says, “Already, a dozen or so people have written to me about how ‘cool’ the offer is, and really, in the Mission District, cool is the best thing you can be.” As for the impact on business? Since starting the offer, The Marsh cafe has a seen a surge in demand and has hired extra staff and extended opening hours to meet it.
Denis Crowley, co-founder of Foursquare, even contacted the cafe after the promotion and worked to develop a special box application that promotes the offer.
Lesson: By being right at the forefront of new technology, The Marsh has demonstrated how something as simple as an offer for a drink can garner attention and create conversations around your brand. Because the staff at The Marsh are heavy social media users themselves, they know what works and what doesn’t work — and this is invaluable.
Duke of York’s Cinema
The Duke of York’s is an independent cinema tucked away in Brighton, England with a cult following. They’ve successfully brought this following online, through actively engaging with key social media channels. Their Twitter account has grown to over 1,200 followers and they have a regularly updated Facebook Page with over 700 fans. Jon, the manager at the cinema is responsible for their social media activity and is concentrating on Twitter as a channel that is gaining momentum for the business. He explains that it is important to “remain a living presence in people’s lives no matter where they go.”
They’ve recognized that a lot of their clientele are young professionals using new technology, so they adapted their marketing to suit that demographic. Their Twitter account contains a good mix of interaction with followers, as well as links to film teasers, exclusive announcements and special offers. Amidst all this work, Jon also finds the time to run the Splendor Cinema blog, which has also gained national recognition.
Lesson: The Duke of York’s show that they are committed to regularly engaging with their community and keeping the focus on their product. They’ve integrated different social media channels which are all consistently communicating the Duke of York’s brand. They’re using their expertise around different films to generate a conversation around the brand with content that is always fresh.
Wiggly Wigglers
Wiggly Wigglers is an excellent example of a real local company making it big online. Wiggly Wigglers is a rural store specializing in garden equipment and worm composters, which on the face of it, is not the sexiest of products. But the store has demonstrated how to make their content come alive online. In addition to an impressive social media presence, they’ve also integrated social media into their site.
Their “cinema” page hosts great video demos showcasing their latest products, and they’ve gone even further by recording a regular podcast, where each week you can settle in on the ‘wiggly sofa’ and listen to the program. The company is also using Twitter to post garden tips and updates from the farm, with a distinctive personal touch.
Heather Gorringe from Wiggly Wigglers is active across the company’s social media accounts, sharing her expertise on topics like worm composting, and posting ‘wiggly deals of the day.’ They’re sharing a vast amount of specialist information both on and off their site, which has established them as experts in the area. Their social media activity has brought credibility to their brand and this is priceless for any company.
Lesson: In the case of Wiggly Wigglers, it’s clear that it is ultimately the people that are the face of the company online. Customers engage with a faceless Wiggly Wigglers business account on Twitter, but with Heather herself and it is this which keeps people talking about them.
Howies
Howies is a UK clothing company specializing in activewear. By any standards their site is incredibly social and packed full of sticky content. Howies has succeeded in giving their brand a real personality by making sure visitors get to know the individuals within the company. The howies blog is regularly updated by staff members Tim, Ruben, Ben, Pete, and Jon, and each of the authors has a distinct personality which comes through their posts, The blog’s content includes the right mix of product updates, such as t-shirt of the month, and quirky posts, such as Pete’s decision to sell his BMX.
There’s barely a social network that Howies doesn’t have a presence on — they’re even on Last.fm, maintaining an active company playlist. And they’re sharing an impressive amount of content on these channels, having built up over 2,000 fans on Facebook (
). They’re also clearly communicating expertise in their area, by joining niche social networks such as Rumplo, where members share artistic t-shirts from around the web. There isn’t an inch of their site that isn’t communicating their quirky personality and it’s certainly working to connect people to the brand.
Lesson: By creating an incredibly social website, Howies demonstrates an understanding of the full social media landscape. It’s one thing to work hard at building an external community on social networking platforms, but the key is retaining this traffic on your own site and creating a social experience for the user that will (hopefully) lead to sales.
These examples hopefully show that it’s not about the monetary investment you make in social media, but how you use these channels to communicate and build a community. Find what it is you have that can add something of value to the conversation online. In today’s connected world, it is the story and personality of a company that will stand out and small businesses are in a great position to take advantage of that.
More business resources from Mashable:
- 5 Advanced Social Media Marketing Strategies for Small Business
- Top 5 Business Blogging Mistakes and How to Avoid Them
- 4 Ways Social Media is Changing Business
- 6 Must-Follow Steps for Selling in Any Economy
- 5 Easy Social Media Wins for Your Small BusinessImage courtesy of iStockphoto (
), mattjeacock, The Marsh Cafe photo via:
via mashable.com
Here is another great article found on Mashable.com. I know that I've been using their material a lot lately but when it's good why not use it?
Of course this is focused on how small businesses are using social media. You can apply the same values to churches. What churches are doing a great job?
October 19, 2009
YouTube to Live Stream U2 Concert
YouTube is continuing its push into the live video streaming realm, despite assurances it gave last year that it wouldn’t enter the space because it was too expensive.
The Google-owned video website has streamed the Outside Lands concert and an Obama press conference in recent months, but now it’s going to stream the Rose Bowl concert of one of the world’s most popular bands: U2
The live streaming event, which begins on Sunday, October 25th at 8:30 PM PT, will be available in 16 countries. The live feed will be available on the U2 Official Channel, and feature a live Twitter () feed of chatter about the concert, exactly like what the company did for its full-length viewing of Taxi Driver.
The world’s largest video website, in a conference call earlier today, explained that it is seeking to experiment in live video. Clearly, YouTube (
) sees some type of potential in this emerging market, as live video players Ustream (
), Justin.tv, and Livestream have started to prove the viability of this market.
A U2 concert is one of the best events to live stream, in our opinion, given the band’s massive popularity. The question we’re still asking is: What exactly is the company’s plan with live streaming? In the meantime, we want to know: will you watch the concert? Let us know in the comments.
via mashable.com
Being a huge U2 fan I'm there. I just wonder if they are going to live stream it to the iPhone as well? I know that YouTube has said that it is to costly to do this on a regular basis but really? Come on... If there is any company that could do it then it would be YouTube.
Are you going to watch it?
Glo : Experience the Bible Like Never Before
via bibleglo.com
I currently use Youversion.com as my digital Bible. This does have options and features that Youversion doesn't have. What do you think?
October 15, 2009
WifFi Direct Coming in 2010. Watch out Bluetooth.
By mid-2010, you could be transferring files, making phone calls, and printing your pictures from your camera, all without wires. That’s because Wi-Fi connections about to get a big upgrade that will allow millions of devices to talk directly to one another through the popular wireless standard.
The Wi-Fi Alliance, the trade group governing Wi-Fi, has announced a new specification: Wi-Fi Direct, formerly Wi-Fi peer-to-peer. Any device certified as Wi-Fi Direct will be able to communicate with each other directly, without the need for a wireless hub. Watch out, BluetoothBluetooth
– you’ve got some big competition now.
The new standard will be available in mid-2010, according to the Wi-Fi Alliance. It should be available as a software upgrade for older products and included in newer Wi-Fi devices.The potential impact of this new Wi-Fi standard could be far-reaching. Not only will devices be able to “speak” to each other, reducing or even eliminating the need for wireless hubs, but this could be what makes cell phone and gadget makers add Wi-Fi to their own devices. Imagine being able to send videos straight to your TV from your computer or sending instructions from your netbook to your favorite gadgets.
Get your imagination revving, because Wi-Fi Direct looks to be a huge shift in not only wireless technology, but how we will use our gadgets, computers, and phones into the future.
via mashable.com
This is huge news. Secure connections like Bluetooth but with the devices that we already have and no need for wireless hubs. Now we are talking.
Layar: Augmented Reality App Featuring Twitter and Wikipedia Now on iPhone
It’s a big news day in the augmented reality department, with Urbanspoon just launching its iPhone AR feature earlier and now this. Seminal AR app Layar has been available for Google’s Android platform, and today sees its free launch for the iPhone.
You choose a filter or “layer” to overlay on top of your real-world view — Wikipedia (
) entries, bars and nightlife nearby, Twitter (
) users nearby, etc. — and point the camera at your surroundings. You’ll get a visual overlay of relevant results close to you, determined by a range filter you can adjust in your settings.
Part of what makes Layar one of the most interesting augmented reality apps to date is its breadth: it’s not just a one trick pony. New types of layers featuring different types of data are launching all the time thanks to a strong third-party developer platform. The app helps you find and filter the best by collecting featured and popular apps together in their own tabs, as well as providing a search mechanism to find new layers.Another popular AR app, Wikitude, is taking a crowdsourced approach to gathering its data points. It will be interesting to see which approach fares better in the realm of augmented reality apps: the Apple-style third-party developer community or the Wikipedia-style wisdom of the crowds strategy.
Have you had a chance to use Layar yet, either on Android (
) or the iPhone? What layers have you found to be the most interesting or useful?
[via Gizmodo]
via mashable.com
Very nice implementation of augmented reality. I can't wait until I go to New York in November to really put apps like this to the test. It's just no the same here in Cincinnati.
October 14, 2009
Godonomics: What would God say to Adam Smith? by Chad Hovind Senior Pastor at Horizon Community Church
Our Senior Pastor at Horizon, Chad Hovind, is trying something new. He has started a series at our church called Godonomics where he looks at the role of money and Christianity. During this series he is also uploading his sermon material in a sit down conversation style video to YouTube. This first topic of "What would God say to Adam Smith?" is broken down into 4 parts. Enjoy the videos and let me know what you think. Chad said he is open to any and all feedback.
October 12, 2009
Ministry Monday: Shift book review
(Full Disclosure: I was sent this book in the mail for free but not expected to review it)
Brain Haynes has written a book entitled Shift: What it takes to finally reach families today. Brian works for Kingsland Baptist Church in Katy, Texas as their Associate Pastor. I finished this book this past week and have read many reviews. My favorite reviews are here and here. You can find a full collection of reviews here.
This book review will try and answer 3 questions that I had before starting to read it.
1. So why is this book important to Children's Ministry, Student Ministry, and Family Ministry as a whole?
My answer: Simply put, it furthers the conversation. As churches and ministries try to figure out how to work together better to reach the entire family this book should be in the conversation. It will not end the conversation or in my opinion be the full strategy of the church but it does give a great glance into what is a piece of the strategy. Just like Reggie Joiner has his strategy of Orange which furthers the conversation but doesn't complete it either. There will be many more strategies that come forward over the next couple of years.
2. What is the Family Ministry Strategy of Shift?
Basically Brian breaks down a person's life from child to adult into different milestones. These milestones are well defined, maybe named weird, but he does a very good job in defining each. Once you know the milestone then the church can come along side the family to help build faith skills. I like the idea of having key times in someone's life where they are more open to God and open to furthering their relationship with God. I agree with Gina McClain though that it does seem to miss the times between the milestones.
3. Can I do what the Family Ministry strategy of Shift?
Yes I can come along side families during milestones in a person's life. Yes I can partner with other staff members to make we are thinking about these milestones. Yes I can quantify and qualify each step. The problem with this strategy is that I have been doing that for almost 5 years now and don't feel like my family ministry is where it should be. I think that there has to be another solution. More conversations will continue and more books will be written.
So there is my 2 cents on the book Shift. I would recommend that if you are in Children's Ministry, Student Ministry, or Family Ministry to give it a read. It is short and worth your while.
FCC inquiry wants to know: Is Google Voice a phone service?
FCC inquiry wants to know: Is Google Voice a phone service?
http://usat.me/?36488690 To view the story, click the link or paste it into your browser. Copyright 2009, USATODAY.com I just want the app on my iPhone.
http://usat.me/?36488690 To view the story, click the link or paste it into your browser. Copyright 2009, USATODAY.com I just want the app on my iPhone.
October 11, 2009
October 5, 2009
A Small Business (or Church) Guide to Wikis (via @mashable)
This post originally appeared on the American Express OPEN Forum, where Mashable regularly contributes articles about leveraging social media and technology in small business.
Streamlined communication, collaboration, and information sharing are all vital aspects to building a successful small business. You need to build ideas as a team, record past successes and failures, and have your employees keeping each other informed on their current work so your company can avoid overlap.
Social technology has risen to meet this challenge over the last few years. And while there are a lot of social tools to choose from, one type stands out for this type of collaboration: the wiki. The unique communication model inherent in the wiki makes it ideal for becoming a central business tool for your entire team. The following is an overview of using wiki software for small business:
What Exactly Is a Wiki?
A wiki is web software that allows you and others to create and edit interlinked web pages. This means that you can very quickly create a page (let’s say “New Ideas”) and then add information. The key is that anyone can edit the page (or in our case, add and comment on new ideas), which makes it a very powerful collaboration tool.
What Are the Benefits to Small Businesses?
1. Sharing information: Anyone can edit a wiki, thus one person can add an idea while others refine it and add their expertise. The result ends up being one cohesive idea by the group rather than a series of scattered thoughts.
2. Tracking revision: You’ll always be able to see the history of any idea or page.
3. Archiving Information: You find that, as you build up a wiki, you are creating a repository of information. This means you can add legal documents, old memos, and anything else that might be useful to your team in the future.
4. Easy to use: Once you understand the syntax, it’s much easier to create a new wiki page than a new web page or blog post.
What Options Exist?
While there are hundreds of wiki software choices available, a few are better suited for business. Some recommended wikis include:
- MediaWiki: the software that runs WikipediaWikipedia
- PbWorks: a full collaboration and wiki site
- Twiki: has been used by major companies including Yahoo
If none of these suits your needs, a comprehensive list of wikis can be found on Wikipedia.
Additional Tips
While there is no right or wrong way to use a wiki, it’s best if you learn the ins and outs of the software, especially the syntax. Be sure to get your entire team on the same page as well – wikis stagnate if they are not embraced by the entire company. Finally, be sure to keep it organized by using indexes and tracking changes. If you want to learn more, the O’Reilly guide to wikis is a recommended read.
Image courtesy of iStockphotoiStockphoto
, joxxxxjo
via mashable.com
The church can still learn a lot from small businesses and not be a business. This article is a prime example of how the two have very similar needs in sharing information. There are many overlaps between the two and this just happens to be one of them.
Is your small business or church utilizing this tool?
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