When you are done with twitter come tumble on Tumblr!

Social media has long been dominated by Facebook, Twitter and Linkedin but there are thousands of social media platforms and micro blogging sites out there.
A social media platform with no one else on it is no fun, no matter how well built it is (as evidenced by Google+). People are not quite as narcissistic as some social media sites would have us believe. Users require inspirational content to feed off and respond to and Tumblr provides that as well as giving users an element of social interaction.

There are loads of other platforms that are well worth trying that will have people with similar interests on it even if your real life friends are not on it. Tumblr is one of the best and fastest growing alternative micro blogging sites. Favoured by industry insiders for its clean design and easy to use interface. In October 2011 Tumblr became the first blogging platform to host Obama’s blog.

Tumblr has also been championed by online magazine “The Next Web” in their “Tumblr Tuesday” posts and mashable have followed celebrities as they use Tumblr.

While Tumblr is best for visual blogs and is populated by artists, photographers, fashion industry insiders, graphic designers amongst others. It’s real appeal is how easy it is to use and the ability to share your Tumbr posts with Wordpress. 

The popularity of Tumblr is set to grow as it allows celebrities, brands and musicians to share aspects of their lives and interact on a more personal, intimate basis, without having to give up too much of their personal privacy.

Is social media working for your business?

Facebook has come out on top of other social networks as the most popular social media platform for businesses in a recent survey. However while companies are interested in social media a fear that it is difficult to measure ROI is the main reason for not adapting a full social media strategy for their business. While this may have been an issue even a few  months ago the improvements in Google Analytics and the introduction Facebook Insights have meant that social media marketing is now trackable on a day to day basis. 

Analytics now gives up to the minute reporting which allows you to track the effect every online post is having on your website traffic. 

Facebooks insights also allow users to track the effectiveness of their facebook posts and now you can also track negative feedback, who blocked or hid your comment.  To do this go to your Insights in the left menu of your page, for each post there is a column for Engaged Users, click that number and a pie chart pops up along with the amount of negative feedback

The availability this information means it is now easier for companies to track and monitor their social media marketing and find a system that works best for them and avoiding possible wasted effort and expense. 

For tips and training on how to get social media working for your business check out our courses running in 2012. 

Le Web 2011 and Kaiser Karl

Karl Lagerfeld seemed an unlikely guest for “Le Web ’11” in Paris yesterday as he has in the past publicly announced that he shuns e-mail and some other modern technology.

Lagerfeld does have more than a fondness for his iPad using them as sketchpads, diaries and photobooks. Karl is working on an illustrated book using only sketches done on the iPad. While on stage he demonstrated his iPad sketching and showed a sketch of Steve Jobs he had done that morning.

 Karl was also joined on stage by Natalie Massenet founder of Net-a-porter and pioneer of online fashion retailing. Together they announced a new collection which will be designed by Karl Lagerfeld and will be sold exclusively online avoiding the usual procedure of sending samples to fashion pr and off-line advertising. The direct to consumer approach means prices are lower and the designer is not restricted to the usual seasonal retail drops.

 It will be interesting to see if a big fashion house taking this approach will work. It is usually a method used by smaller fashion houses, propelled by necessity rather than a desire to do something new and different.

A blog about a blog.

In the same way a bricks and mortar shop attracts buyers as they walk by, an online shop can generate traffic by becoming a must-read blog or online magazine.

Small independent retailers are not the only ones to use content heavy blogs and magazine site to increase their online presence. Saks have just launched their online fa

shion site. However the bar has been sent high by the likes of online magazines on sites like Net-a-porter and the Saks version looks like a poor imitation.

When selling online your site becomes a shop window and it needs to represent an image or mood like a street shop window does. Adding a blog to an online shopping site can help create an online image or mood. Not many business can compete on an online level with the likes of Saks and Net-a-porter but that does not mean that you should rule out the idea altogether.
Here are a few reasons why adding a blog to your site can help your online business.

Creating an online voice:

There is nothing more off putting than feeling like you are being bullied into buying something by a pushy sales person. The same is true when selling online. Many brands set out to use social media to sell and while naturally this is the end goal, a hard sell attitude does not work in social media any more than it does in real life. The role of social media and blogging should be to create and online voice much like an in-store sales person.

Become and expert:

Direct selling though blogging is a not a good idea. No wants to read and advertisement however giving the story behind products is extra information a customer may like. Sharing your knowledge of your industry as a whole increased consumer confidence in what you are selling.

Creating content :

Creating interesting content in an online blog give readers another reason to visit your site, increasing the probability they will buy online. Sharing your blog with other sites opens your expertise and your online site to new potential customers.

Coder Dojo Drogheda

There are bunch of us techies in town starting a free computer camp for kids of all ages but starting with TY/5/6 year students in secondary schools.

This is 'Coder Dojo' Drogheda!