Friday 28 October 2011

FatBuzz Wear it Pink!

It's 'Wear it Pink' Day and things have certainly went pink in the FatBuzz office! We have joined our neighbours Orb Group to raise money for Breast Cancer Awareness.

Everyone has come to work today sporting their finest pink garments, Kyle went that one step further with his favourite pink bobbed wig! Our loyal mascot Vince has even turned pink for the occasion!



There are pink sweets, pink slippers and rumour has it pink fizz for after work! It's Friday after all...

Although we are having fun (and laughing at Kyles wig), the events of today are for a very worthwhile cause. Wear it Pink Day sets out to raise awareness of Breast Cancer and everyone taking part is making a difference to 'BE PART OF THE CURE'.

Is your office is taking part in the nationwide event? We would love to see you photos of 'Wear it Pink' day so post them on our page and the best one will win a wee FatBuzz prize...





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Email Marketing - Are you making the most of your email? - November New Media Breakfast



DATE: Friday 25th November 2011
VENUE: No,29, Royal Exchange, Glasgow
PRESENTER: Kiril Bunin & David Clark

Email Marketing is often overlooked when it comes to discussing new media but it is still one of the most effective marketing tools available to businesses today.  Likewise, there are some common mistakes in Email Marketing that render campaigns useless or, ineffectual.

This presentation will take you through some of the things to avoid and some of the common pitfalls of Email Marketing.  It will also share some valuable tips and tricks that will help you to get greater success from your email campaigns in the future.
Here are some of the area that will be covered at the New Media Breakfast:
  • Are you unsure how to measure the performance of your email marketing?
  • Have you optimised your subscriber list?
  • Do you have a plan or strategy in place?
  • Are you using the right email platform for your business?


The Speakers
Kiril Bunin
The foreign variable in the Attacat equation.  Kiril is our resident conversion rate optimiser and  self confessed ‘scientist’, his passion for enhancing  conversion rates through a process of stringent testing & optimisation has been put to great use within Attacat.




David Clark
David joined Attacat from a background in sales and retail and with great experience of dealing with customers he knows exactly what they are looking for. He has wide management experience in food retail and furniture sales with teams both large and small. He also has a great knowledge of the self catering property market.

Now an AdWords qualified professional, David likes to keep up to date with all the internet marketing goings on that keep the Attacats busy all day.
Venue: 29 Member's Club, Royal Exchange Square, Glasgow
Date: Friday 25th November 2011
Time: 7.30am for 8am
HOW TO BOOK
Non No.29 Members - £10 +VAT

BOOK FOR NEW MEDIA BREAKFAST GLASGOW HERE:

No.29 Members Go Free – If you are a 29 Member you can attend the breakfast free of charge. Please email malcolm@fatbuzz.com with your membership number and he will add you to the attendance list. We hope you can make it along to this event. If so, I look forward to seeing you on the day.

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Sunday 23 October 2011

QR Codes - They don't need to be boring

QR Codes don't need to be strange little black and white boxes inserted as an "add on" to your page or advert; they can be the focal point of the advert.

Neither do they have to link to the home page of your web site (in fact, they probably shouldn't), they can link to any number of things like videos on YouTube, Podcasts on iTunes, specially created pdf files, Google Maps, your Skype account - the possibilities are endless.

    



And, because there are so many options, QR Codes offer endless potential to businesses, charities, events, individuals, brands, etc. etc. So, make sure you dont miss the next New Media Breakfast all about this exciting way to promote your activities. (Full details below)


DATE: Friday 28th Otober 2011
VENUE: No,29, Royal Exchange, Glasgow
PRESENTER: Jim Devine

We have been asking people for suggestions for topics for the New Media Breakfast and one in particular keeps coming up - QR Codes. At the October New Media Breakfast, we are delighted to announce that Jim Devine will share his knowledge and experience of QR Codes and demonstrate how they can be used for your business development in the future. We look forward to Jim's presentation and some of the case studies and examples that demonstrate the endless opportunities QR Codes offer businesses today.

In the words of Jim Divine, creator of the Cyberlogo the QR code phenomenon has been a long time coming. These little black and white patterned grids have been on our radar for a few years, but you may be surprised to know that they have been a part of everyday life in Japan for over a decade yet are only now getting the exposure and recognition they deserve in the west. Why has it taken us so long to embrace this technology and realise its marketing potential?More importantly, how can it create value in your business?  Jim will show you how to incorporate QR codes into your marketing and day to day business through examples and case studies.

ABOUT THE SPEAKER
Jim Divine first started in the advertising industry in 1985 with Marr Associates, winning many international awards for creativity. He stayed with Marr for 15 years before starting his own business 21nine in 2000. He discovered QR codes in 2007 while working with the comedian Bill Bailey and has since been spending his life educating the masses and finding more creative ways to make the technology more digestible.

Venue: 29 Member's Club, Royal Exchange Square, Glasgow
Date: Friday 28th October 2011
Time: 7.30am for 8am

HOW TO BOOK
Non No.29 Members - £10 +VAT
BOOK FOR NEW MEDIA BREAKFAST GLASGOW HERE:


No.29 Members Go Free – If you are a 29 Member you can attend the breakfast free of charge. Please email malcolm@fatbuzz.com with your membership number and he will add you to the attendance list. We hope you can make it along to this event. If so, I look forward to seeing you on the day.

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Sunday 9 October 2011

What's going on Facebook?

I originally posted the blog post below on the 26th September, at that time I had just claimed the username for the Kittoch Chair page with only one single "Like". This week we have been claiming usernames for clients and on some occasions we have been able to do it with less than 25 "Likes" and in others it will not allow us - truth is, we don't know what's going on!

I have found reference to this on Facebook which suggest you still need 25 "Likes" however, we have managed to do it this week with less than 25.  So, it is still worth trying to claim it as soon as possible but, if you are unsuccessful please remember to go back to Facebook Usernames and claim it as soon as you have 25 likes on your page.

It appears that you no longer need to get 25 "Likes" before you can claim your username on a Facebook Page.  Yesterday I managed to get the username for a new page we are working on with just one single "Like" - mine!

If you go to www.facebook.com/KittochChair you will see there are only 7 likes on the page (at the time of writing this post). By the way, please "like" this page, we're going to do some fun things centred around these wonderful tartan armchairs - you should find it will be an interesting case study. (You will also be doing me a personal favour!)

So, there's no excuse for anyone not to have there own username for their Facebook Page - just go to www.facebook.com/username and follow the instructions.

If you have found this post interesting please share it with your online community using either the Twitter, Facebook and Share buttons below. By sharing this post you will help us spread the word about our team charity challenge, meaning there is more chance of us reaching our target. Thank You.



You can also follow fatBuzz on Facebook - please click here

Wednesday 5 October 2011

When words have to matter

So you’ve taken the advice in my last Fatbuzz blog, got your personal brand crystal clear and now you’re using all the internet has to offer to spread the word about how fantastic you are. Congratulations...give yourself a Tufty Badge.

Now it’s time to turn your attention to what you’re saying online, because when you’re relying on the written word to get your brand across (as opposed to doing it in person or on video) it’s worth understanding what you’re up against.

Way back in the 1970s when I was but a child (I know, I know - I don’t look old enough) the psychologist Albert Mehrabian discovered that, when people give us messages, we take only 7% of our information from the words they speak. Instead, it’s their tone of voice (38%) and body language (55%) that give us the lion’s share of what we need to know.

If that’s true, and 93% of your impact disappears when you’re online and you’re there in mind but not body, it’s even more important to make your words count. So here are 5 quick tips:

  • Reflect your tone of voice in your writing so you re-introduce 38% of the impact of your communication – don’t be too stiff and starchy. 
  • A good rule of thumb is to use the same conversational language you’d use if you were talking to the person face-to-face, tempering it slightly for the channel ie LinkedIn is more ‘office chat’ compared to Facebook’s ‘down the pub chat’.
  • The quickest way to building a positive personal brand is to use positive language. Beware of words like ‘can’t’, ‘don’t’, ‘won’t’, and instead concentrate on using ‘can’, ‘do’ and ‘will’.
  • Personal brand is all about building relationships, so don’t forget to be inclusive – it’s not all you, you, you, so ask how others are doing too. This is especially good on Twitter where you’re likely to get responses from your followers that turn into a conversation. 
  • Remember that irony is especially prone to misinterpretation so if you’re using it consider adding emoticons to clarify your message. There is such as thing as too many emoticons though (no, I’m not being ironic) so don’t overdo it.

Do that and you’ll prove Mr Mehrabian wrong and have people taking more from your messages than a measly 7%!

About Me
You may remember I presented at the Glasgow and Edinburgh New Media Breakfasts earlier this year on the subject of personal branding. It's a pleasure to be guest blogging on the fatBuzz Blog, hopefully I can bring you some useful information in the future. Meantime, you can read more from me on my own Spark Branding blog here.

Alternatively you can contact me via Linked-In or Twitter at the links below or via Fiona MacDonald fiona@fatbuzz.com

Follow me on Twitter
View my Linked-In profile

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