Flickr – Small Business Odyssey

May 17, 2012May 17, 2012

Pinterest: Pinlet Magic for Small Business Marketing

Pinterest is a social networking site where people share images and photos by adding them to “pinboards”. It has achieved phenomenal growth – growing faster than Twitter and Facebook during the same early stages of its growth. Pinterest is now the 3rd ranked social networking site behind Facebook and Twitter and is ranked 39th in the world in terms of website traffic.

Some interesting facts for small business owners:

Pinterest is generating more traffic to blogs than Google+, Twitter and LinkedIn combined (www.mashable.com)
Pinterest users are 10% more likely to buy than users who arrive from other social media sites*
Pinterest’s percentage of all social media driven purchases is growing and is expected to reach 40% (while Facebook will drop from 82% to 60% and Twitter drop out of the purchase picture)*
Facebook bought Instagram for $1billion to ward off competition from Pinterest.

* Source: http://mashable.com/2012/04/29/pinterest-interest/

[Image source: Screen capture taken from my Pinterest site: http://pinterest.com/ronpassfield/]

Adding images and photos to Pinterest

Pinterest enables you to create pinboards on any topic and to add pins via upload from your computer or via a pinmarklet tool which is added to your browser toolbar. So you can pin images from any website of your choice but what you have to watch here is the copyright restrictions of the source site. Some websites owners are particularly aggressive about protecting their copyright.

The pinning tool (pinmarklet) is shown below together with the image it creates:

You can see from this illustration that you have a thumbnail image taken from the website, the option to post to one of your established pinboards (using the drop-down menu) and the ability to add comments before you post. Pinterest will automatically pick up the website address of the image source. However, you can also add your website address to the comment section and it will be automatically hyperlinked (made clickable).

Some websites have the Pin Symbol to enable you to easily pin from their site. Popular sites that people pin images from are:

http://www.squidoo.com
http://www.masterchef.com.au/
http://www.wizzley.com
http://www.tumblr.com
http://www.flickr.com (Flickr has recently developed an arrangement with Pinterest to ensure that photos are properly attributed and to prevent the sharing of photos that the originator does not want to share – check out the Creative Commons Attribution option).

Pins are shared by “likes” (as with Facebook) or by being repinned by another Pinterest member. To build up your following on Pinterest, you should like pins and repin images that you are interested in and follow people you admire or who share the same interests/geographic area.

Pinterest, Pinlet Magic and small business marketing

Two types of Pinterest pinboards that are attracting heaps of traffic are quotes and inspiration. What Pinlet Magic brings to Pinterest is the ability to create your own quotes, inspirations and affirmations by using a special purpose Pinmarklet which is also added to your browser toolbox:

When you click on the pinmarklet for Pinlet Magic you see the following image:

Here are some of the features of Pinlet Magic:

you create your own quote or affirmation (in the left box)
you can decide the font, font size and font color
you can add an author name or your website address to the bottom of the quote/affirmation
you can preview the quote as you create and customize it.

Additionally, you can decide the color of your background, the border, add one of the preset colors/templates or upload an image to serve as the background. This part of the Pinlet Magic tool is very flexible:

As you can see from the extract from my Pinterest site in the header image for this post, I have two pinboards covering Inspirational Quotes and Affirmations – and I create quotes/affirmations that are consistent with the nature of my offline human resource development business.

Here’s an example of an affirmation I developed using Pinlet Magic and my own photo (the emphasis is on active listening):

Here’s another example. This time I have developed an Inspirational Quote using Pinlet Magic and my own photo of a Stradbroke Island view at sunset:

Each of these images on Pinterest has a link back to my small business website, Merit Solutions Australia.

When you purchase Pinlet Magic you also receive other resources such as sources for quotes, updates, hints and ideas and free access to a closed Facebook discussion group where a growing community shares their quotes and willingly gives “likes”, repins” and “follows” for quotes they admire.

Pinterest has opened up a new arena for small business marketing and Pinlet Magic provides a great boost to building your personal branding, business brand and website traffic.

December 29, 2011December 29, 2011

Google+: Why Small Business Must Get Involved with Google Plus

Google Plus is Google’s new social network launched in June 2011. Google+ will be an integral element in small business marketing into the future. It will not only enable you to build your personal profile but also build your business brand online. Google Plus membership has already reached 62 Million and is growing at the rate of 625, 000 new users per day.

Why bother with Google Plus?

Google views Google Plus as extending its capability (and value) beyond its traditional search engine focus to social networking. However, these two major arenas of Google’s activity should not be seen as separate. Google has already made it clear by its own words and actions that the Google + social network will feed search engine results. It has also shown the intention to rapidly integrate other Google applications into Google Plus, its new social network.

Google has already integrated Google+ into its toolbar as shown in the images below:

This icon. ‘+Ron’ , provides a direct link to my Google+ account. In the following toolbar image, you can see how Google integrates ‘notifications’, ‘sharing’, ‘profile” (thumbnail photo) and ‘settings/help’ icons for ease of access:

As we progress through my blog posts about Google Plus, you will see that Google is deadly serious about this new social network – it is not just a new ‘plaything’. Wherever you go on Google, including the search results, you will see increasing integration of Google+. Google played around with its early social network, Google Buzz, but has since canned it to build Google Plus – all the time using Buzz as a learning laboratory. If you have any doubts about Google’s long-term commitment to Google Plus, just check out Google’s own announcements re its ongoing Google + updates.

Integrating Google Plus into your small business marketing will no longer be a nice option (initially, Google+ was invitation-only), it will be an essential element. Otherwise, you will see your online marketing progressively vanish into the background as Google takes over the foreground with its Google Plus social network.

As mentioned in my earlier post on the major changes for small business marketing in 2011, Google+ is one of Google’s strategies designed to wrest back the Number One web traffic position from Facebook. The similarities between Facebook and Google Plus will hit you immediately, so this new social network represents head-on competition with Facebook. As a small business owner, you can stand on the sidelines and watch the battle or you can engage with both these giant networks and ensure that you have a sound footing online – this is where the action is and where the people (your customers) are.

What is significant about Google Plus?

Google Plus has already been lauded for its ease of use and flexible privacy settings (addressing one of the key problem areas of Facebook). As Google+ is in its early stages, it is also possible to get access to people you would not normally be able to link to.

So here is a list of key things you can do (explained in detail in later posts):

create a comprehensive personal profile
build ‘circles’ (add people to different circles/groupings and control the access and distribution of your information via your circles)
share photos and videos
develop your ‘stream’ (similar to Facebook’s ‘News Feed’ – integrating ‘status updates’ and content such as photos or videos)
private message other people in your circles
create a hangout (an evolving facility to engage others in live conversation via video and text chat – considered by many to be the real technological breakthrough for Google Plus)
create ‘sparks’ – recommendations
build business pages (sound familiar?).

Some commentators are suggesting that with these features and the growing integration with Google’s own applications, Google Plus represents a combination of Facebook, Twitter and Flickr rolled up into one state-of-the art social network.

How to Join Google Plus

You can join Google+ via a link on the blog/website of a Google+ member. You will see the image displayed at the top of this post and the sign-up box as shown in the following screenshot:

Alternatively, you can go directly to Google Plus and click on the following image and this will take you to the signup page indicated in the above image:

Note: You will need a Google account to join Google Plus (with either sign-up option).

With each advancing day as we move into 2012, Google Plus will become more critical to small business marketing and this will be progressively explained in succeeding blog posts (which symbolically will take us into the New Year).

November 2, 2011November 8, 2011

Social Media for Small Business Marketing

You have to search really hard to find someone who relates social media to small business marketing and does so in an easy-to-understand way. However, Social Media Today has achieved this sharing by assembling a panel of experts who can guide you through the social media maze.

The YouTube video presented above gives great insights into how to use social media to advance the marketing of your small business. They effectively cover Facebook, LinkedIn and YouTube and relate these to small business marketing. The information is really well grounded and focused on “how to” information – it does not go into the technicalities of each of the social media sites.

The video covers the practicalities of social media marketing:

How to use social media to build your small business
What social media to use for small business marketing
How to avoid the risks associated with social media
How to connect with your customers (current and future) through social media
Ways to measure the effectiveness of social media marketing.

Without this kind of guidnace, you can easily waste time, money and resources on social media and inhibit the success of your small business.

Core messages for small business marketing using social media

After watching the video and related Slideshare presentation, I distilled eight (8) key messages that relate to the use of social media for small business marketing:

Social media are designed to build community, not to offer a platform for direct marketing (overt marketing can result in account deletion)
Social media marketing is a form of indirect marketing (unless you use paid advertising on social media sites)
Your goals should be to build connections and relationships with current and potential customers
Unless you have a specific strategy when you visit social media sites, you will waste a lot of time for no productive outcome
The essence of social media is conversation with others and sharing – about yourself, your small business, your interests and information relevant to your niche
Effective marketing on social media requires content creation on your part – blogging, podcasts, e-books and videos
It’s important to personalise your business and your staff – profiles and videos help greatly here (you have to present as a real person, with real interests and real staff)
Profiles are critical – make sure they are relevant to your business, up-to-date and keyword rich (for SEO purposes).

Small business owners can use social media effectively if they follow some basic principles and develop a marketing strategy. The potential of social media is enormous but the realization of this potential requires focus, targeting and discipline.

October 28, 2011October 28, 2011

Using Flickr Images for Content Creation

Flickr photos are often high quality and make superb images for online content creation such as blog posts, e-books, articles or videos. The following discussion provides some ideas on how to use Flickr for content creation for small business marketing.

1. Check license arrangements

Before you use a Flickr image make sure you check the license agreement. You need to be aware whether or not the image can be remixed (to create a derivative product) and whether or not you can use the image (remixed or not) for commercial use. The ShareAlike component of a license means that, “If you alter, transform, or build upon this work, you may distribute the resulting work only under the same or similar license to this one.” The range of licenses looks like this:

Attribution License
Attribution-NoDerivs License
Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs License
Attribution-NonCommercial License
Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike License
Attribution-ShareAlike License

2. Advise when you have used an image

In all the above licenses, you have to make an attribution to the originator in the form they request – usually a hyperlink to their Flickr site showing their username and photo title. Of late, I have been making the habit of commenting on the photo I use and leaving a link to my blog post or other URL where I have used the image. Often, the originator will respond with some form of appreciation.

3. Be creative in your use of Flickr images (within the terms of the license)

There are endless ways you can use Flickr images. A common way is to integrate them in a PowerPoint presentation and make an attribution list at the end. You could use them within an eBook (abiding by the “fair use” rule). Wizzley, a writer’s community, has a built-in module for displaying Flickr photos which provides a range of options. The most frequent use of Flickr photos is in blog posts and a number of the top bloggers illustrate their posts with Flickr photos.

4. Showcase a photographer via Squidoo

If you come across an outstanding photographer or one who is creating images relevant to your focus/niche, you could build a Squidoo lens to showcase their photography. When I was working towards my 50^th Squidoo lens (GiantSquid) I developed a series of lenses focused on the towns/beaches on the Sunshine Coast in Queensland (the home State for my small business). In the process I came across the stunning photography of BarbaraJH on Flickr. Barbara lives at Maroochydore on the Sunshine Coast and at last count had more than 7,700 photos on Flickr with 81 sets. Her photography is exquisite, so I asked her whether she would agree to my building a Squidoo lens to showcase her work. She readily agreed. The lens provides a great insight into the quality of her photography:

http://www.squidoo.com/BarbaraJH-Maroochydore

Barbara’s public comment on seeing the early version of the completed lens was:

Thank you Ron, you’ve made a simply wonderful showcase of my photos, hopefully others will now get to enjoy seeing just a glimpse of the beautiful area in which I live.

Her personal appreciation via email was particularly moving. This is one example of how you can build social equity through your innovative content creation using Flickr. You can imagine that if your small business was located at Maroochydore, illustrating a top Flickr photographer from that area could bring a lot of traffic to your personal profile(s).

Flickr makes it easy for you to create online content with quality illustrations.

October 25, 2011

Flickr – Photo Sharing to Build Your Small Business Profile

Flickr is the premier, dedicated photo-sharing site on the Internet. It provides an ideal medium for personal branding and a great source of images for content creation. So you can approach Flickr, a social networking site, as both a contributor and a consumer.

Why would you bother with Flickr?

Flickr is ranked the 35^th most visited site on the Internet (26^th in theUSA)
Flickr has a PR 9 ranking (Google Page Rank – 9/10)

These statistics highlight the potential of Flickr as a medium for marketing but there are some caveats (warnings) which I will explore shortly.

Demographics of the Flickr audience

Here are some interesting trends in user behavior on Flickr that are relevant to marketers:

Flickr visitors view an average of 9 unique pages per visit and spend about five minutes on the site
Visitors tend to be disproportionately childless women under the age of 35 who are highly educated and view Flickr from work and home (see source below)
Compared to the general Internet population the age groups 18-24 & 25-34 are over-represented on Flickr while the over 55 group are considerably under-represented
Flickr as a source of traffic is ranked higher in thePhilippines,UKandSpainthan in the US (Alexa ranking by country)
US accounts for 29.3% of users andIndia (5.7%), UK (5%) andGermany (4.3%) are the next highest users

Source: (used with some statistical license): http://www.alexa.com/siteinfo/flickr.com

It is important to take these demographics into account when developing your marketing strategy. Does your target demographic frequent Flickr? Alternatively, are there areas of interest to your own customer demographic that you can portray on Flickr? When considering your marketing strategy, you need to remember Google’s universal search focus and the fact that Flickr images rate highly on Google’s image results.

Warning – Flickr’s Guidelines

Flickr has a strong anti-commercial stance and, in this respect, differs greatly from the Facebook’s Fan Pages option. This position on commercial use of the site is stated very clearly and unequivocally in the following Flickr guideline:

“Don’t use Flickr for commercial purposes.

Flickr is for personal use only. If we find you selling products, services, or yourself through your photostream, we will terminate your account.”

This guideline is consistent with the rules covering most social networking sites – they are not designed for direct marketing of a small business or products/services. They are designed to enable you to create connections with people who share a common interest, such as photography, a hobby, sports or a location.

But there are things you can do as a marketer that fall within the Flickr Guidelines and that are a natural consequence of a site which involves sharing photos/videos and personal interests.

If you use direct selling on Flickr, you will stand out “like a sore thumb” and also eventually have your account terminated. People will avoid you as you will have broken the established etiquette of the site.

The secret to credibility on Flickr is to develop quality, topical, non-marketing images. The emphasis here is on quality – because your quality photos lead to Flickr users adding your photos as favorites (for others to see), adding you as a contact (so that your updates are shown to them) and sharing via other social networking sites.

The Flickr site facilitates return visits and enables viral marketing through other people creating online content with your photos. So as always with social networking sites, the idea is to share something valuable and personal. In this way, you can present

yourself as a real person with interests that are shared by others. There is a real synergy when using Flickr where your interests align with your small business focus.

The promotion side is achieved indirectly through your profile and your participation in groups who share a common interest. So your images and your contributions to groups determine whether or not people will explore their curiosity about you and visit your profile.

A key strategy on Flickr is to share photos of the locality of your small business – this enables visitors to relate your business to that location (a form of local business marketing). As 80% of customers for a small business tend to come from within 5 miles of the business location, this could prove to be a productive strategy.

As your profile is your dominant indirect marketing message, it is critical for marketing on the Flickr site. So in the final analysis, Flickr is a great tool for establishing your personal brand – enabling people to get to know you and your interests.