marți, 7 august 2012

Celebrating 3,000,000 @WhiteHouse Twitter Followers

The White House

Your Daily Snapshot for
Tuesday, August 7, 2012

 

Celebrating 3,000,000 @WhiteHouse Twitter Followers

The White House uses Twitter to connect with citizens around the country and keep our followers up-to-date on the latest news from the President and the Obama Administration. This past weekend, the White House Twitter account reached 3,000,000 followers!

To celebrate, we put together some of our favorite @WhiteHouse tweets, and we want to hear from you: Tell us why you follow @WhiteHouse on Twitter with the hashtag #FollowWH, and we'll highlight some of our favorite responses on WhiteHouse.gov.

Check out some of our favorite Twitter moments.

3,000,000 @WhiteHouse Twitter Followers

In Case You Missed It

Here are some of the top stories from the White House blog:

President Obama Discusses the Shooting in Oak Creek, Wisconsin
President Obama takes a question from reporters about the shooting in Oak Creek, Wisconsin.

Curiosity Takes Us Back to Mars
NASA lands the Curiosity Rover on Mars, where it will investigate whether conditions have favored development of microbial life on the Red Planet.

Happy Birthday, President Obama
In honor of President Obama's 51st birthday, we thought we’d share 51 of our favorite pictures of the President in the White House.

Today's Schedule

All times are Eastern Daylight Time (EDT).

11:00 AM: The President receives the Presidential Daily Briefing

12:30 PM: Press Briefing by Press Secretary Jay Carney WhiteHouse.gov/live

4:15 PM: The President meets with the White House Rural Council to discuss ongoing efforts in response to the drought

4:30 PM: The President meets with Secretary of Defense Panetta

5:20 PM: The President attends a campaign event

6:20 PM: The President attends a campaign event

WhiteHouse.gov/live Indicates that the event will be live-streamed at WhiteHouse.gov/Live

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Seth's Blog : Long-term manipulation is extremely difficult

Long-term manipulation is extremely difficult

In the short run, it's easy.

It's easy to fool someone or lie to them or give them what they think they want. It's easy to write a great block of copy, to sell on credit, to grab the attention of the mob.

Not so easy: to build mutually profitable long-term relationships that lead to satisfaction, trust and work worth doing.

Lincoln was right about fooling people, but along the way we often forget that while trickery is easy, the longer path of keeping your promises is far more satisfying and stable.



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luni, 6 august 2012

Damn Cool Pics

Damn Cool Pics


The Greatest Books of All Time [Infographic]

Posted: 06 Aug 2012 12:44 PM PDT

When 125 great writers were asked which authors had earned their homage, they had plenty of suggestions; in fact, enough to fill the book The Top Ten: Writers Pick Their Favorite Books. Since we don't have space to feature all 544 works mentioned, we'll stick to this short and sweet infographic from Flavorwire highlighting the best of the best.

Click on Image to Enlarge.


President Obama on the Shooting in Wisconsin

The White House

Your Daily Snapshot for
Monday, August 6, 2012

 

President Obama on the Shooting in Wisconsin

In response to yesterday's shooting in Oak Creek, Wisconsin, President Obama released this statement:

Michelle and I were deeply saddened to learn of the shooting that tragically took so many lives in Wisconsin. At this difficult time, the people of Oak Creek must know that the American people have them in our thoughts and prayers, and our hearts go out to the families and friends of those who were killed and wounded. My Administration will provide whatever support is necessary to the officials who are responding to this tragic shooting and moving forward with an investigation. As we mourn this loss which took place at a house of worship, we are reminded how much our country has been enriched by Sikhs, who are a part of our broader American family.

Readout of the President's Calls on the Wisconsin Shooting

At 4:30PM EDT [on Sunday], the President convened a call with FBI Director Bob Mueller, Chief of Staff Jack Lew, and Homeland Security Advisor John Brennan to receive an update on the tragic shooting in Oak Creek, Wisconsin. Following that briefing, the President called Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker, Oak Creek Mayor Steve Scaffidi and trustee of the Sikh Temple Charanjeet Singh to express his condolences for the lives lost and his concern for those who were injured.

During the briefing, the President was informed that the situation at the Sikh Temple was under control and that the lone gunmen was killed by an Oak Creek police officer.  The President also was updated on the condition of some of the victims of the attack, and he directed that the federal government assist as appropriate in the investigation into the shooting. The President said that he wanted to make sure that as we denounce this senseless act of violence we also underscore how much our country has been enriched by our Sikh Community, who are an integral part of our broader American family.

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Generate Great Ideas by Connecting with Customers

Generate Great Ideas by Connecting with Customers


Generate Great Ideas by Connecting with Customers

Posted: 05 Aug 2012 07:53 PM PDT

Posted by Kate Morris

simple business ideasThe simplest ideas can be the best link building ideas. If you spend a few hours really thinking like your customers, stop thinking about competitors, and stop being yourself (executive, SEO, etc.), there are a number of ideas out there that can turn into multichannel success stories for your marketing program. This inspiration came from my time spent in marketing classes.

Who here took a marketing class in school? *waits for hands*

If you were a marketing undergrad like myself, you want to shoot the next person that says "pick a company and build a marketing plan for them." For those of you that were spared the annoyance of hearing about Starbucks year after year, count yourself lucky. (Don't get me wrong, I love Starbucks, check my credit card statement.)

Marketing students are well versed on how to develop out of the box ideas for companies all over the world. Know why? They don't have to implement any of them! It is amazing how everyday politics and budgets can hinder the ability to brainstorm really good ideas.

Creating a marketing plan out of the blue is something everyone should try. It is truly amazing how many great, yet simple ideas come out of starting fresh and thinking not as an employee, but as an outsider. The key is getting out of your own head to generate fresh ideas.

Forget Yourself and Find Them

The first step is to get out of the office. For consumer facing industries, it's time to go find your customers. If you have the ability to visit a retail location, do that. You don't need hundreds of customers, you just need a few. If you are an online retailer, look up some of your clients and ask if you can visit them. Find real people and ask for 15 minutes to chat with each of them.

No, I am not kidding. This might be difficult, but it's worth the time.

If you are not a retailer (more B2B), do as the online retailer does and look up your clients to go visit a few. Flying across the country does not work for many businesses, so you'll need to get creative. If all else fails and all of your customers are far away, ask to Skype chat with a few.

You need to enter their world. Don't come to the meeting with questions prepared. Don't take more than the time they give you, and try to be brief. Simply chat with them about their day. Ask them how their life is and how your company fits in. You don't want company specific feedback, you just want to see how you fit into their life and what is on their mind at the moment. Really get to know them.

Take notes. Give them a $5 giftcard and sincerely thank them for their business.

(PS: you probably have a customer for life now)

Get Outside of Your Box

Now that you are in the mind set of your customers, don't go back to work. (Believe me, your boss will understand when they see these ideas.) Instead, find one of those co-working places in major cities. If you aren't in a major city, visit somewhere that isn't home or work. It can be a coffee shop, but try to pick somewhere you can be creative and productive for a few hours. If that means the local library or a friend's office, then cool.

Now, sit down and think like your customers. What would they say your marketing plan should be? What makes your company/client the place to go to for your products/services? You want to be the favorite place your customers go online and offline when they need something related to what you do. How do you make your company that important?

Don't be you, be your customer. What would you want done differently in your company? Find a whiteboard, a notebook, a computer, or similar. Write down everything that comes to mind.

Most Important: Answer Without Abandon

Take those questions and just answer. Don't think about what is plausible. Don't consider what other people will say. You want the ideas that you don't have to implement, which is what makes this exercise fun and awesome. Don't consider cost for ideas, just get them all out there. Your only concern should be how to make your customer happy. Don't think about selling them more, getting links, shares, or email sign ups. Just make them love you.

Do they already love you? Woo! Now, how do you get more people to love you?

Other questions to ask yourself if you are stuck include:

  • Where would potential customers go to find out about our products or services?
  • How do they know they need us?
  • How can we solve their problem faster and more efficiently for THEM? (Stop thinking about shipping and costs, this is about them.)
  • How do we make ourselves available to them whenever they need us?
  • What can we do to make them LOVE us?

The Result: Great Ideas

The above is a brainstorm that turned into a marketing plan for Dick's Drive-In in Seattle. The key take-aways were to have a spokesperson, "Dick," that had a van he drove around in to drum up love and business. If any of you have Uber in your city, think the ice cream truck promotion. They would also give away t-shirts in addition to yummy deluxe burgers. By the time these guys were done, everyone in that room was hungry.

The kicker here is that Dick's is not a client at Distilled. They a well-loved local eatery. Everyone knows who they are and how to get a yummy burger. They probably don't need help online, but they can get help with this 30 minute brainstorm and marketing plan by people who do not work for them. And the idea was fantastic. I was not a part of this team, but I can only imagine the applications.

Ahem, Links?

I mentioned that these brainstorms can turn into major successes for you, including link building ideas. I can't promise that every idea you come up with will result in killer link building, but I have faith that if these ideas are actually customer focused and impactful, any number of them can get the attention of the media and make your customers want to share your business with their friends.

More specifically, let's use the ideas above for Dick's Drive In.

  • Spokesperson "Dick"
    Depending on the success of the branding and the events around Dick, this could mean interviews (links) and social shares. If developed right, a meme could develop around a particularly funny photo with captions.
  • Van with Slogan "Dick, the man with the Van"
    This has Reddit written all over it. There are some possible reputation issues with families and what a van might mean to parents (think abduction vans), but you get little to no reward without some risk. This would do great with the festivals in Seattle and online. Think about how many people would tweet and share photos with Dick and the Van? All of these mentions and shares can have a positive impact on your search metrics. And Redditors would be all over talking about this promotion.
  • T-Shirts
    Depending on the slogan, the shirts could be sold on the website. If good enough, they could drive people to the site via friends. How many times have you asked or been asked about an awesome shirt? The shirts themselves can be link bait. Check out this post from Shoemoney linking to Acquisio for the fact they had an awesome shirt.

What are the great ideas you have had in the past to grow your business? I'd love to hear them and maybe I can give some ideas of how I would turn them into link building ideas.


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Seth's Blog : There isn't one shark

There isn't one shark

Happy Days is famous for jumping the shark. In an episode near the end of their run, the writers ran out of ideas and want so far to please the masses that they wrote a script in which Fonzie, wearing a leather jacket, rode water skis up a ramp and over a shark.

Since then, the kind of people who like to say, "no one goes there anymore, it's too crowded," are happy to point out when a popular organization jumps the shark.

The thing is, there isn't one shark. There's your shark, my shark and their shark. The masses have a different shark than the early adopters do.

For some, Apple has already jumped the shark. A new upgrade or a new TV commercial might be a step too far, and they walk away, sad that yet another cutting edge organization has succumbed to mass mediocrity. For others, they're just feeling safe enough to take a shot, and the shark is nowhere in sight.

The insight is to have the empathy not to confuse your shark with the shark of the kind of person you're hoping to delight. Choose your customers, choose their shark.



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