Flying Seeds

The Role of Social Media in Changing Societies

admin — Sun, 11 Sep 2011 00:00:00 +0000

In the past decade or so, social media has changed how people share ideas and information. Even the use of e-mail has had a dynamic effect on how we communicate. Now we can use these applications to keep family members and friends up to date on what we are up to, where we go, and yes even what we eat.

With sites available like Facebook and MySpace, profiles become their own form of social expression. From posing music to your profile picture, it is all a way to show who you are. They even give you a way to coordinate events among your friends on the site so you can meet in real life or announce events that you want to share. Sites like twitter also give you the ability to “tweet” (similar to a small text message) about what you are up to and where you are.

When you are looking for a group of people based on a common interest, Meetup.com is a great tool. People sign up for “meet ups” and the organizers can message the entire group and manage the details from a single page. So managing anything from a monthly dinner group to larger events becomes a lot simpler.

Using Social Media for Mass Communication

admin — Sat, 27 Aug 2011 00:00:00 +0000

There are few ways more powerful than social media for sending out mass communication. For businesses, social media has quickly become one of the more powerful advertising tools in their arsenal for this reason. In addition to getting a widespread message out quickly, social media also allows the chance that the message can be spread to others outside of the immediate list of friends or followers.

Businesses are not the only ones that can benefit from social media. Many users now use social media as one of the top ways to stay in touch with family and friends. This tool can easily be used to announce life events, set up family reunions, or enlist the help of others in times of crises. It only takes a minute to post a message, and once this is done, every friend or follower will be informed.

Social media sites have most definitely changed how we communicate, and most believe that this change is for the better. Mass communication is fast, effective, and offers benefits to both business and personal users. It will certainly be interesting to see how the use of these sites continues to grow and change over the coming months and years.

Innovative Social Media and the Marketing Mix

admin — Sun, 14 Aug 2011 00:00:00 +0000

Most people have heard of social media sites and use them often. But the fact that social media can be excellent marketing tools has not been fully realized by many business owners. Tapping into this relatively new outlet can have significant benefits.

Social media can be used to advertise your business. Posting often lets people know who you are, what you do and how your business can help them. If you think you don’t have enough to say to warrant several posts per week you should consider creating reasons to do so.

Consider writing an article on your area of expertise and then sharing it on social media sites. Volunteer at schools, hospitals or other organizations. Then post the date and details to social networks. Have you recently hired a new worker or added a new service? Let everyone know by publicizing it on your social profile.

Using social media should be a part of your marketing campaign. Inviting friends, relatives and colleagues allows them to follow your business. Follow others also because this makes it more likely they will return the favor. Posting updates from the convenience of your computer will soon become part of your daily business routine.The information doesn’t stop now. Keep looking: The Dark Side of Social Media

Innovative Ways to Use Social Media to Score Deals

admin — Fri, 27 May 2011 00:00:00 +0000

Saving money online is nothing new but since social media got in the mix there are more ways than ever to collect cash on the web. Here are a few of the more innovative ways to use social media to save you green…
Tweet for deals: Oftentimes companies like to see who Tweets about their brand so try the tactic of talking to them. Tweet a company to ask if they have any deals or specials or ask outright for coupons or discounts. It can’t hurt!
Use Facebook to find a good price: If you’re looking for something specific to your area, say, texas electricity rates, send out a Facebook message to people in the same boat asking who they use. You’ll get some creative responses from people you haven’t already talked to.
Coupon codes: Coupon groups like Living Social are all the rage, but whatever happened to good old online coupons? They’re still out there, so ask your social network to refer you to a good place to get coupons for a specific item – you’ll be bombarded by links!

Creative Social Media Development and Design

admin — Sat, 16 Apr 2011 00:00:00 +0000

Social media is becoming more and more popular as a means of promoting a business, service, or personality. One common problem with social media promotions is there is an inherent sameness to the approaches people take. Such a problem should be considered avoidable as there is much creativity which can be employed in a social media advertising campaign.

Here are a few creative and innovative concepts you can employ:

Create multiple profiles that cover different themes and concepts. For example, you could create one profile that promotes a business and one profile that puts a “human face” on those that work for the business. This way, your business is not seen in a one-dimensional manner. Of course, you will want to present links to the various profiles through a central hub.

Integrate creative videos into your profile to add a sense of aliveness to it. While video is used on many social media sites, a large number of profiles do not integrate video. Those that do employ video may end up standing out.

Add educational and news worthy components to the social media site that give it additional value. Such “freebie info” may prove appealing.

The stepa for making a profile stand out and appear innovative are not difficult. All they require is a little bit of thought and effort and solid results will follow.

Social networking the cloud web browsing RockMelt

www.flyingseeds.com — Tue, 16 Nov 2010 18:09:15 +0000

It seems that many social networking sites these days are focusing less on originality and more on trying to outdo each other. It’s rare that a truly revolutionary idea comes along. The new web browser RockMelt is hoping to rectify that by combining some of the biggest buzzwords on the internet today.For one thing, RockMelt backs up all your information to the cloudthe shared software, information, and processing power accessed and located on the Internet. This means that you’ll never be in danger of losing your settings or bookmarks. It also means that your choices will help RockMelt create a better browsing experience for you, regardless of your location: RockMelt is connected to your Facebook, so when you log into Facebook, your personal RockMelt experience will also be reproduced.RockMelt is also built off of the same open source code as Google Chrome, known as Chromium. While some similarities to Google’s product can be seen, RockMelt features two unique columns, one on each side of the browser. The left side features your most frequently used Facebook contacts. Click on one and you’ll have the option to chat with them, post to their walls, or send e-mail. On the right side you’ll find your bookmarks, updated from the cloud.If this all sounds inviting to you (and it should), visit www.rockmelt.com for an invitation, or to watch a video of the browser in action. And if you like it, tell your friendsafter all, social networking is 1/3 of what RockMelt is all about.

Social networking the cloud web browsing = RockMelt

admin — Tue, 16 Nov 2010 00:00:00 +0000

For one thing, RockMelt backs up all your information to the cloudthe shared software, information, and processing power accessed and located on the Internet. This means that you’ll never be in danger of losing your settings or bookmarks. It also means that your choices will help RockMelt create a better browsing experience for you, regardless of your location: RockMelt is connected to your Facebook, so when you log into Facebook, your personal RockMelt experience will also be reproduced.

RockMelt is also built off of the same open source code as Google Chrome, known as Chromium. While some similarities to Google’s product can be seen, RockMelt features two unique columns, one on each side of the browser. The left side features your most frequently used Facebook contacts. Click on one and you’ll have the option to chat with them, post to their walls, or send e-mail. On the right side you’ll find your bookmarks, updated from the cloud.

If this all sounds inviting to you (and it should), visit www.rockmelt.com for an invitation, or to watch a video of the browser in action. And if you like it, tell your friendsafter all, social networking is 1/3 of what RockMelt is all about.

What can “The Social Network” tell us about social media?

www.flyingseeds.com — Tue, 05 Oct 2010 15:30:21 +0000

Think about David Fincher’s reasoning for titling his Facebook founder biopic the way he did. Why not The Accidental Billionaires, after the book on which it was based? Or, why not simply Zuckerbergit’s catchy enough. Instead, the title immediately lets us know what is at the heart of the storythe connections that Mark Zuckerberg makes (and breaks) to get to the top of the web. These include the Winklevoss twins who supposedly came up with the first idea for Facebook, Eduardo Saverin who helped finance the project, and Sean Parker, who helped advise Zuckerberg and was president of Facebook, Inc. before being arrested for cocaine possession.Zuckerberg and co-founder Dustin Moskovitz have publicly stated that the movie is mostly fictional. In a way, that makes it an even better representation of the social media age. Everything is about how we present ourselves to other people, and how Facebook, Twitter, Digg, and other social media websites help us do that. Is the advent of more detail online (for example, geo-location sites like Foursquare which track users’ movements) bringing us closer to reality online, or simply making it more difficult to tell?The strengths of social media sites lie in bringing people together in true, human ways. While The Social Network has several themes at its core, including greed and obsession, Fincher obviously wants us to remember this important fact as well. While there are definitely complexities to Facebook’s creation, they should not keep us from continuing to seek out ways to connect with others, and if the Internet can help us to do that, we shouldresponsibly, cleverly, and emotionally.

Tips for Marketing with Social Media

www.flyingseeds.com — Sat, 02 Oct 2010 10:25:20 +0000

Larger companies have the funds to back extensive marketing campaigns, but smaller companies are also seeing positive results from social media marketing. The sheer number of users makes it worthwhile to get your name out thereFacebook recently registered user number 500 million. As simple an act as registering a Facebook page for your business and stocking it with attractive and relevant information can work wonders. You can also create ads that run on the pages of users in your vicinity.Twitter represents an opportunity to both get to know your customers and to spread more information about your business. By following “trends” (posts containing keywords that you’ve defined), you can find what people are looking for in your respective industry. After you feel more comfortable with the mechanics of the site, you can start “tweeting” about your own company, and urging your clients (and prospective clients) to do the same.When operating in a social media environment, personality becomes more important than ever. After all, the goal is for your customers to want to seek you out in person, right? Charlene Li (author of Groundswell: Winning in a World Transformed by Social Technologies) urges companies to remember this online, and to not only find their own voice but to listen to customers’ reactions as well. She also reminds us that social media campaigns are slow going in the beginning, and that it’s easiest to target people or groups who are already interested in your product. You can find these sorts of people by searching for related online groups.One site which excels at letting interested individuals connect in a professional environment is LinkedIn. Make sure to set up a name for your business, or your name if you prefer. You can explain online why people should hire you, and even get recommendations from people who you’ve worked for in the past.

Starting a blog for your business

www.flyingseeds.com — Thu, 30 Sep 2010 20:53:08 +0000

If the only blogs you’re familiar with are those where people share their poetry or photography, you may be wondering why you need to create one for your business. The truth is that blogging is another way to create a personal connectionthe connection that could tip the scale for users deciding whether to use your business or not.The internet is now the first place many people go when trying to make any kind of decision. If your company has a blog (kept updated and current), it will portray your company as open, trust-worthy, and aware of what people want. Offering a place for users to leave comments on your posts is even betteryour users will be happy and you’ll learn what’s on their minds.You can easily and freely create a blog on one of any blog hosting sites, such as WordPress, Blogspot, Blogger, or any other you find. In fact, setting up the blog is the easy partit’s the updating which takes work. Many companies hire people solely responsible for creating fresh and relevant contact for their sites. Don’t overdo it or people will grow bored and start ignoring your updates, but if you find a happy medium you should be able to create a highly marketable resource.Interacting on other people’s blogs can also be productive for your business. Get your name out there and offer reviews or descriptions of your products on relevant blogs. The goal is to create a successful online presence that users trust and turn to whenever a need arises.