As many other companies, we're looking to find the most efficient way to manage our social media marketing (SMM). SMM can be very time consuming, updating and managing all of the different social media platforms. Imagine, writing a blog, and having that post sent out to all of your different social media platforms, with a link back to your original blog post. Imagine being able to see when people interact with your different social media profiles all from one interface. At Bonsai we're exploring some of the NEW platforms that are out there. If you're interested in the results, let me know and I'll send you what we find.

    As an Interactive Media Designer I often get the question "So Interactive Media…. what exactly do you do?" Up until about 2 years ago I would direct people to various examples of my work on the internet or try in varying degrees of success to tell them what it is I do. Then I did what all tech savvy, geeked out, people in the design field did. I bought an iPhone. The iPhone has revolutionized the way I share my work with people away from a computer. From storing my T-shirt designs in my Photo Library to keeping iPhone compatible versions of my motion graphics projects in my iPod feature, I try to utilize every aspect of the iPhone to turn it into my own mobile portfolio. The biggest upside? It's with me all the time. Even at the bar where I just ran into a business owner who is unhappy with her website's design and functionality and is looking to make a switch.

    I've never met another designer that has taken the time to set up their iPhone to make it work for them. In fact, if you're in graphic design, web design or motion graphics and you have an iPhone and you aren't using it as a personal portfolio and sales piece you are out of your mind. Personal devices like the iPhone that allow you to keep examples of your work at the touch of a finger are going to set you apart from the designer with only a business card that likely gets logged away in a wallet.
    I personally keep my phone branded and positioned to sell my services as a designer, screen printer, and motion graphics animator. I usually have between 3 and 4 wallpaper images that I optimize for display on the iPhone. I can cycle through these images depending on where I'll be and to whom I'll be talking to. That sets the stage. Then I keep a log of all the shirts I have designed, (whether they get printed or not), logo's, website comps, and flyers in my Photo Library. This way if I meet someone who is interested in having a run of hoodies or T-shirts done I have a visual example of what Gryphen Graphics is capable of. I also keep my pricing guide on mobile.me as a .pdf so I can quickly and accurately give them a quote. Next I make sure to have all apps related to the services that Bonsai Media Group offers. Facebook mobile, TweetDeck, YouTube, and Safari usually suffice. This way When I run into the owner of the new bar down the street and get to talking about how he can use SEO, Social Media Marketing, and effective Web Design to drive local business to his bar, I have access to these apps and can demonstrate to him how it's done. Finally when I meet the business man who simply isn't impressed with static images of t-shirts and logo design I open the iPod feature of the iPhone to Videos and show him one of my motion graphics pieces which showcases the versatility and capability of Bonsai Media Group.
    When I bought the iPhone the first week it came out, I knew that it would primarily deal with software upgrades not hardware. In fact it hasn't changed much from what I call the "OG" (1st generation iPhone) to the 3G and 3GS except for the metal casing, which I favor over the latter. The nice thing about the iPhone is when the next one comes out you are not going to have to re-size, re-export or re-encode your files. Once you've got your mobile portfolio library built and optimized it's simply a matter of updating and adding new work.

    These are just 3 examples of ways that you can take casual conversation about your career and transition into the networking side of business just by being prepared to show somebody what exactly it is you do. I would strongly suggest putting in the time to design yourself a great looking business card and please, spend the money to have them done right. Even more impressive after a brief portfolio tour of your work is a business card that they can take with them that they will remember. It's all about separating yourself from the pack, finding your zag and I believe this can be a great compliment to any conversation a designer will have concerning the work they produce.

please feel free to ask questions, there are many ideas behind this strategy that I haven't thought of and for the better of the graphic design community we should hurl our thoughts, ideas and questions into the design-o-sphere.

I'm writing this post because Social Media Marketing is now a standard business practice and business owner's especially need to protect themselves.  It's hard for me to see any reason why any company doesn't have some sort of social media presence.  I am seeing that many companies recognize the importance of social media and have extended their social media duties to become a specific portion of their marketing teams, or have made a single person in charge of the duties, or have contracted it out to agencies or individuals.  Which is really smart.  Social media is a full time job that takes talent and expertise.  Often times the owners of these companies...Presidents, CEOs, founders don't have time to keep up with or learn these mediums, and don't keep track of the daily operations.  They don't want to worry about it.  The problem is this...  Your company’s online presence... for example facebook, is in the soul ownership of one person or agency. YIKES!

WHAT IF THIS PERSON DIES OR THE AGENCY GOES UNDER?  (Ever wonder what happens to a personal page when someone dies....well it's similar with a business page...if there is only one administrator it can cause some serious issues trying to transfer the ownership.)

WHAT IF YOU WANT TO FIRE THIS PERSON OR AGENCY?

WHAT IF YOU HIRE A NEW PERSON OR AGENCY TO RUN YOUR SOCIAL MEDIA PLATFORMS?

DON'T WORRY HERE IS OUR SOLUTION.

1.)  Social Media Marketing Master Spread Sheet: Keep a record on a social media marketing master spread sheet with a list of all your social media sites as well as usernames and logins.

2.)  Record The Culture:  Have the administrators describe their general daily usage and purpose of each social media outlet.  Ex: Many social media outlets revolve around a steady theme (as they should).  Each day status updates on facebook may be industry news, or an industry related quote, or just a general personal message about how the business is doing on that particular day.  It's important that the general and steady activity is documented so it can be easily transferred to the next person or agency. 

3.) Multiple Administrators:  Have multiple administrators.  Facebook especially.  Ideally you would have at least 3 administrators.  The owner of the company whether they make an update never in their lives should be an administrator on the account.  These social media outlets are proprietary and are aspects of your businesses online presence.  God forbid your facebook administrator is suddenly hit by a car, and all of a sudden the your faithful fans have nothing to look forward to.  No new videos, status updates, pictures tagged...nothing until you write multiple letters and petition for access to your OWN facebook page. 

My suggestion.  The owner of the business should be an administrator on these sites no matter what.  I'm not saying the owner should manage them because they might not get the culture of these mediums and might not be the right person for the success of their social media presence but they should have access to them and have a master document that explains how each one is being managed. 

Questions to answer for the Social Media Marketing Spread Sheet:

What mediums are listed on?

What are the passwords and logins to each of these mediums?

How often are you making updates?

What kind of content are you posting?

What is the theme of each of our mediums (Twitter, Facebook, Blog, etc.)

What purpose does each medium serve?

People in your business realm will come and go but your online presence is a permanent aspect of your business moving in to these exponential times and must be taken seriously.  This is 21st century standard business practice.  Approaching your social media administrators shouldn't be an uncomfortable conversation.  You can just tell them...this is standard Social Media Business practice... "Thank you for your cooperation :)"

Gus Zadra

Creative Seattle SEO Marketing

Bonsai Media Group

Turns out he knows a whole lot.  Derek is the CEO of Tatango who specialize in bulk SMS and also the CEO of Derek Media which is a Social Media Consultation company.  He graciously stopped by our office while he was in Seattle after meeting with Microsoft.  It was the first time I've met Derek and it was a pleasure.  He offered a wealth of knowledge to us and a lot of support for what we're doing here at Bonsai.  Derek knows first hand the hustle and grind involved in starting your own business.  Over the past 3 weeks I've met with marketing directors and CEO's of several large companies to help get insight on how we can be more successful. 

One of the overlapping aspects that we've heard from all of them is keeping focused on your core specialty.

Our core specialty is Creative SEO development and implementation, as well as SEO based web development.

Derek reaffirmed what we've been hearing from other successfull business owners.

Lesson learned:  Be focused on your core skills + market accordingling + stake your claim as experts in your niche + nurture those relationships = Success

More soon....

Gus Zadra

President Bonsai Media Group

Creative Seattle SEO Marketing

So Google quietly launched a cool new feature called 'Internet Stats' today.  It's still pretty raw, but, much like a Twitter feed it pulls snippets of data relating to Marketing, Technology, Consumer Trends, Media Consumption and Macroeconomic Trends from across the web and compiles them in one place for users to follow.

Check it out here:  Google Internet Stats

The Shape of Things to Come?

Is this the start of Google's attack on Twitter for up-to-the-second news feeds?  It would appear so.  Although instead of gathering their 'Googs' from users, a la Twitter; they are generated from respected news outlets like The Economist, The Financial Times, Business Week, and Forbes.  Much like Tweets, these posts are limited to a few sentences that sum up the findings.

For Example:         On the phenomenon of "continuous partial attention": over 25% of Internet users surveyed in the UK, FR, DE, IT, US, and Japan in October 2008 said they go onto the Internet at the same time as watching TV "most of the time".      Ofcom, November 2008

You're so wise Google. You're like a miniature Buddha, covered in hair.