Tech Trends for 2010: What Had Us All Talkin’?
In the world of social media and technology this year, there were many tools that stood out, or commanded lots of our attention, but we took on the top 5 that we felt really impacted business or had many of us trying to figure out how to be more strategic and effective with them.
Donna Gilliland, of MOST Training, and I managed to keep our chat under an hour. (Hard to do if you know either one of us) We broke it down into 5 segments with each under 10 minutes.
TREND 1: MOBILE FOR BUSINESS
Sometimes referred to as the THIRD SCREEN, our mobile phones, and now tablets and other mobile devices, have made it easier than ever to work from ANYWHERE.
TREND 2: FACEBOOK FOR BUSINESS
Facebook made headlines, it seems like, every day! From ever-changing privacy settings, to the movie, The Social Network, Facebook became more than simply a virtual high-school reunion. From the annoying Farmville gamers to every news station and retail store telling us to connect with them on Facebook. We end the year with a move that just may be the end of email as we know it.
TREND 3: CLOUD COMPUTING FOR SMALL BIZ
While most people still do not know what this term actually means, cloud computing and the apps that many of us use without realizing they are cloud based, have begun to change the way we do business. From storing our photos and slideshows, to sharing and collaborating on documents in the cloud, these tools are saving us time, money and lots of frustration.
TREND 4: VIDEO FOR BUSINESS
The pocket video camera and the 5-year-anniversary of the launch of YouTube have changed the way we search for and share information. We no longer need expensive video production crews to create and share content. This trend is great for business!
Trend 5: iPADS, READERS and TABLETS
2010 was truly the year of the iPad, but overall, the readers & tablets have changed the way, and the frequency in which we consume content. Business is being done on the go and consumers want content they can take with them with ease. We will continue to see these “Magical” devices appear in our work environments for years to come!
What do you think were the top tech trends of 2010? What did we leave out or put in that you don’t agree with? Share your thoughts and predictions with us! Did you notice that the word “Twitter” was not mentioned? It’s still going strong and growing faster than ever, but nothing of great note happened in Twitter Town in 2010 (In my not-so-humble-opinion!).
Gina Schreck
Gina Schreck
Gina is a Social Media and Technology FREAK! Her and the team at SynapseConnecting can help you make sense of today’s technology and use it to build your business and manage your brand! Give us a hollar if we can help- 877-978-0887 or of course on Twitter @GinaSchreck
Gina Schreck
President & Chief Hooligan at Synapse 3Di
@GinaSchreck
5 Tips for Using More Video in Your Organization
YouTube Nation
Our society has an insatiable apetite for video. It has grown steadily over the past 5 and a half years since the birth of YouTube. According to statistics compiled by Website Monitoring YouTube now exceeds 2 BILLION views per day and that people watch an average of 15 minutes of video per day. I might be one of those “average people” since I do tend to watch videos that come my way via blogs, Twitter, Facebook and, occasionally, through an email. If I add in the regular TED Talk videos that I watch, I can probably hit that average.
Kids pass around more and more videos on Facebook and now for the Holiday season 2010, we have Video Barbie getting in on the action~(I do find this somewhat creepy to think little girls will be walking around secretly filming others through Bab’s camera that is embedded into her back and the lens is in her chest.) They could have named her Stalker Barbie! Warning to parents: Pick up those toys in YOUR bedroom before you go to sleep!
Stalker Barbie
YouTube is now the second largest search engine in the world, just behind its parent company…Google. That’s right, people will go to YouTube to find everything from how to install a new toilet or how to speak with a British accent to finding deep intellectual messages through cartoons like Charlie the Unicorn. So what does this have to do with business…besides EVERYTHING?
Take a look at some of these fun images from YouTube’s 5-year journey.
Businesses should be capitalizing on the fact that people are seeking information and learning from videos. With video equipment getting smaller and less expensive, there is no reason why you and your organization shouldn’t be tapping into this insatiable appetite for video consumption.
Here are my 5 tips for getting your community tuned in to your message:
- Be Business Casual- When you over-produce or over-script a video, it feels like you are trying to sell us something. When you turn the camera on yourself and talk authentically, we connect with you. Look at some of the most successful videos on YouTube…they are not shot by a professional production team, they are simple and conversational. What tips can you share via video? What’s on your mind that can be turned into a video blog post? You don’t need a professional set or well written script. Jot some bullet points down and hit that record button.
- Have Great Audio- There are many options now to boost the audio on many pocket video cams with bluetooth microphones and even the Flip Video has finally come out with an external mic port on their latest Ultra HD 8 GB. People will forgive bad video skills as long as they can hear you clearly. Don’t forget that while doing simple editing after, you can adjust and boost sound as well.
The Flip
- Set a Fun Backdrop- Look behind you before you start filming. I have seen videos with bright windows behind the person which turns them into a silhouette, or worse I have seen videos with pictures or lamps behind the person, creating a comical mashup of the person and the object. Instead of sitting with a messy office behind you, create a simple but interesting backdrop that will enhance your video.
- Get the Camcorders into the Hands of the Community and Co-Create- Remember, YOU don’t have to be the star of every video, or of any videos if you’d rather stay out of the spotlight. Put the cameras in the hands of your customers, your learners, your fans and let then tell the stories of your company. Within your organization start a series of WINK videos (What I Now Know) asking everyone from the executive teams to the star employees, “What are 2 or 3 things you know now that you wish you would have known when you started here?” Have your customers create a “Day in the Life of a CUSTOMER!” People love seeing themselves be silly on video. Create opportunities for participants to create content to use in a training program . Give teams the information they need and challenge them to create a fun, short (5 min in length) and content-packed video that will used to explain a new product roll-out to other teams or in a “Popcorn Learning Segment” in your next training program. Pop some popcorn and view the videos as a group with a debrief or quiz created by the same teams!
- And….ACTION! Get STARTED! Don’t let the need for perfection paralyze you. Pick something easy to start with like 5 tips on a topic you have expertise in and just push that RECORD button! You will find ways to get more creative and better with each video you create.
Keep in mind that when you post a video on YouTube, every word you say is transcribed and those words become searchable through Google! Be strategic if you are wanting your videos to become viral or at least be found by a bigger audience! You can post your videos on your blog, website, or a series of video hosting sites (YouTube is only one), like Viddler, Blip.Tv, Vimeo and more.
I love to hear the creative uses people find to incorporate video into their marketing, their learning, or other informative uses for business. How else can we all get creative with simple pocket video? Let us know in the comment section and let’s learn something together!
Happy Filming!
Gina Schreck
President & Chief Hooligan at Synapse 3Di
@GinaSchreck
A 12-Second Lesson on Why You Should Start Your Own Blog
Don't Get Caught with Your Goods Inside
Today I got a notice that 12Seconds.tv was shutting down. If you had never used this service, it was basically Twitter on video. You created a short (well, 12-second) video message using your webcam or mobile phone and it went out to your friends. There were many people who spent a lot of time crafting and creating thousands of these short diddies and many people who created at least a few of them, and now… bye bye. They are allowing folks to download or pull their videos off of the 12Seconds.tv site until October 22. I had signed up for their service when they first launched 3 years ago but never actually used it (that’s probably what did them in! They would have had WAY more traffic had I just gotten on board!)
It is sad to see an innovative company close their doors but it is a good reminder to all of us who post great juicy nuggets of our content on Facebook, Twitter, YouTube and any other site other than our own… that your content is not your own unless it is on your own site. Sure you can post to Facebook and Twitter and every other social site in the universe, but let it also have a home on your blog. How many people thought there would never come a day when MySpace wasn’t king? Who can imagine a time when we wouldn’t be loading all of our treasured memories and content on Facebook? Your photos…your videos…your content. Be sure you have a back up plan just in case Mark Zuckerberg decides to pack it all up and move to Farmville!
Farewell 12Seconds.tv may you REST IN PEACE!
Gina Schreck
@GinaSchreck
Gina SchreckPresident & Chief Hooligan at Synapse 3Di
@GinaSchreck
HELLO? Is Anyone Home on Your Social Media Sites?
A good friend of mine is an expert in his field. He is a great guy and is booked regularly for speaking engagements. He jumped on the social bandwagon over a year ago with a Facebook page and a Twitter account. The problem is he has outsourced the posting of content on his pages to someone who obviously does not know how to LISTEN to the community he has tried to engage.
There are regular info-dump posts with tips or links to his site with information about where he is speaking next, but you never see comments on the Facebook PAGE or replies in the Twitter feed. There is no conversations going on. Why bother? Your website is already playing the role of stagnant information dumping ground (assuming there is no blog). There’s nobody home.
Social engagement tools like Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, YouTube and your blog are about conversations and building relationships. Part of a good conversation is listening and responding to the people you are wanting the relationship with. If you don’t believe me, try maintaining a healthy relationship with someone (significant other, children, co-worker, etc) without responding when they speak to you. That relationship won’t last long.
Here are 3 tips for making sure the lights are on and people know you are home:
1. Mix in questions with your tips and information that get posted. Asking questions shows you care about what your community thinks. For example, your Twitter profile and Facebook PAGE should be sprinkled with great content and conversations.
2. NOW LISTEN and respond to the answers your community posts. Yes this means replying to every single comment. You can bundle your reply to several people at a time but show you heard them.
3. Look at what your community is saying (this is made easier by using a tool like Hootsuite or TweetDeck to filter the flow of information) and jump in on the conversation occasionally with a comment, a LIKE, a ReTweet, or a reply (shoot for 5 times a day to start).
Be sure you are applying these tips to all of the places you have hung your SOCIAL sign out–your blog, Facebook Fan Page, Twitter, LinkedIn, MySpace, YouTube, Flickr, etc. Remember, don’t leave your lights on if no one is home!
Like Tom Bodett, I’m @GinaSchreck and I’ll leave the light on for you~
Join me on our Facebook PAGE (someone’s alway home there)
Why Create Your Own YouTube Channel?
YouTube is the second largest search engine in the world (just behind Google) and since over 85% of Americans watch videos on-line, you want to make sure you are taking advantage of this power-social marketing tool. Do you have tips you could provide via video? Can you teach something in 5 minutes? Don’t worry about the home-made look~ That’s the beauty of YouTube. Using a handheld video recorder or even a cell phone, you can record and upload tips and messages for your fans and have them all collected on your very own channel. You might be asking,”Why do I need a channel? Can’t I just upload my videos without setting up a channel?” Well yes you can , but if you’d like a central place to collect your videos and allow people to subscribe to any new video that is loaded, you need a channel! And besides, it is easy enough that you can be set up in under 15 minutes. Here are the 4 steps to set up your channel:
1. Log into YouTube or sign up if you have never done so. Click on the CREATE an ACCOUNT. If you have a Google account, you can use that same log in information without having to start over (Google owns YouTube).
2. Take some time to fill out your profile and tell folks about your business. You can add links back to your website, blog, Facebook page or anywhere else you’d like to point them. You can customize the colors and choose how you want your videos displayed.
3. The next step is to decide if you want everything shown to the world or if you will keep a playlist designated for family or private videos. Not only are YOUR videos highlighted here, but anytime you see a great video on YouTube you can save it in your playlists or mark it as FAVORITE which will be displayed on your channel.
4. The last step is to tell the world about your channel. Like Facebook or Twitter, your URL is the website with your username following: http://www.youtube.com/GinaSchreck From here you can link your videos to your website, your blog, your Facebook page and more! So what are you waiting for, get that camera rolling!
@GinaSchreck
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