The photo above taken in 2005 is the announcement of the new Pope, Benedict XVI. Below the 2013 announcement of Pope Francis earlier this week. Yes, the technology is drastically changing the way we communicate, everyone is a self-publisher.
Photo: Michael Sohn/AP
If you are on LinkedIn you will more than likely have received the email celebrating them reaching their 200 million members milestone and that you are one of the most viewed profiles (before you feel too special, that email went out to 20 million people). The company’s operating model sees advanced users paying for their profile and the most targeted options available to advertisers across any platform. LinkedIn also has the highest gross margin at a staggering 85%, when compared to Google (65%) and Facebook (75%).
To me the value in the platform is the level their audience sits, no other social platform allows you to target the C-suite as effectively as LinkedIn, with the relevance of their content and explosion of new member growth (two new members every second), I’d say we are only seeing the beginning of the LinkedIn generation.
I recently acquired my Google Adwords Certification by taking the fundamentals and advanced display network exams. Every week I presented to a group of individuals the course materials, with the open book exam these presentations serves as a great reference point for the exams.
Sign up for the exams and view the full course material here –
https://adwords.google.com/professionals
If you are about to take the exams, good luck!
A few great marketing trends for 2013 in a short snappy vid from Trend Hunter
I’ve done some research into understanding the news cycle, check out my post on the Fleishman-Hillard SA blog.
I believe that being creative and innovative is hard work, it also takes a concerted effort and time. To the annoyance of many I start my day reading blogs on Google Reader ahead of opening my inbox (the biggest creativity killer). I finally caught on that meetings at my desk are unproductive and taking a 10 minute break to watch cats on YouTube can actually be helpful in your productivity.
What do you do to help your creativity?
Image from Thingamababy
Something I feel is getting lost in the 8 hour desk job work shifts is the importance of play. 90% of people believe it’s important to play, but only 50% find the time to.
Inspiring quotes from the JWT Intelligence report on Play as a Competitive Advantage:
“Pay isn’t a luxury—it’s a necessity. Play is as important to our physical and mental health as getting enough sleep, eating well and exercising. Play teaches us how to manage and transform our ‘negative’ emotions and experiences. It supercharges learning, helps us relieve stress and connects us to others and the world around us. Play can also make work more productive and pleasurable.”
—GINA KEMP, MELINDA SMITH, BERNIE DEKOVEN and JEANNE SEGAL, “Play, Creativity and Lifelong Learning: Why Play Matters for Both Kids and Adults,” Helpguide.org, February 2012.
[Our culture] is not really what I would call conducive to play, so you’d have to make a conscious choice to have fun, and that’s very hard. And oddly enough, it takes a lot of discipline, because you have to give yourself permission.” —BERNIE DEKOVEN, game designer, fun theorist and author.
The question that drives [Millennials’] work is ‘What do I need to respond to?’ rather than ‘What should I create today?’ They swat emails that fly at them, sit in meetings that they unthinkingly agreed to two months earlier, take phone calls seeking their approval or advice. But they don’t build. They don’t sit and think.” —PRIYA PARKER, founder of visioning and strategy firm Thrive Labs, CNN.com, March 2012
According to research from Dunkin Donuts PR and marketing folk are the second heaviest caffeine addicts, second only to scientists. What’s the chances that there is a correlation between coffee and creativity?
In part of a larger training session to the agency I included a few of the very basic tips to search engine optimisation. The images are from Shuttlestock, yes I realise they are atrocious.
Online ‘gurus’ are constantly popping up with lists of ‘things you are not allowed to do on social media’ from the 10 don’ts of Instagram to the 15 things not to do on Twitter to 5 things to post on Facebook.
The revolution of social media cuts down the gatekeepers and breaks the mould of social norms. If you want to post a picture of what you had for lunch on Instagram or check-in to the gym on Facebook everyday that’s ok. You more than likely won’t have thousands of fans or followers, but again that’s ok too! All the fans that you will have choose to follow you and read your seemly mundane updates.
After all having no rules is the beauty of social media!
This is exactly how I feel after reading the comments on my client’s blog
January 20, 2013 0 Comments Short URL Blog, comments, Feeling Uncategorized