Twitter | Martin Print Blog

April 23, 2013

THE PEAK OF SOCIAL MEDIA
Is Australian Social Networking on the Decline?

“Well, that’s it then. Looks like Facebook is on the way out. It didn’t take long for Australia to get bored with the whole idea, did it?
“Ah well. It’ll be interesting to see how we’re all going to waste our time in the future.”

I hadn’t really expected to hear this kind of talk when I popped into Smokey Joe’s Small Business Bar for a quiet drink.
In fact, I almost spat out my Fizzy Apple Cocktail in surprise.

Facebook on the way out? That couldn’t be right, could it?
I certainly hoped not.
I’d just come up with a couple of really funny status updates and images for later on this week.

“Yup, it’s all in there,” said Sharp Simon, slamming a few reports down on the bar as he joined me for a drink.
“Facebook, Twitter, everything really. We’re falling out of love with Social Media sites in general. The kids of today are getting particularly bored with it, which hardly bodes well for the future, does it?
“A pity, really. I’m kind of regretting spending all that money on Facebook advertising now. I didn’t realise it was all going to be over so quickly.”

Hmm.
So, is Social Media really falling out of fashion so soon?

I finished off my Fizzy Apple Cocktail, and thumbed through the reports on the bar.
There certainly seemed to be some grains of factual truth in the rumours of a decline in Social Media.
But maybe it’s just a matter of looking at the whole scene from the right perspective…

Information Services Group Experian has been conducting mind-bogglingly vast research into global internet habits, collecting data from 25 million internet subscribers worldwide – including no less than 3 million Australians.

Whilst the popularity of Social Media platforms such as Facebook and Twitter might appear to have been increasing rapidly over the last few years, you might be surprised to learn that Australians are actually spending less time on these sites than we used to.

Send to Kindle

Posted In April 2013, Archives, Business Clinic, Creative Marketing, Entrepreneur Zone, Facebook, Marketing Secrets, Newsdesk, Offline Marketing, Online Marketing, Social Media Marketing, Technology & The Web, Twitter

March 26, 2013

COVER PHOTOS AND PROFILE PICS
How to Choose the Best Images for Your Social Media Business Pages

“Aaargh! The stupid thing keeps chopping my legs off!”

Hmm. I always get a bit worried when I hear this kind of thing coming from Old Bert’s new little office just down the corridor of Martin Print H.Q.
It tends to bring back memories of that awful accident he had last year with the nail gun and the solar powered bird sweeper.
It still makes wince in sympathy even now.

However, on this particular occasion, there was really no need for me to go barging into his office in blind panic with a first aid box and a folding medical bed.
It turns out that Old Bert was simply having a spot of bother with the dimensions of his new Facebook Cover Photo…

Our friendly resident caretaker has taken rather a shine to Facebook since Josh helped him to get up and running with a personal profile a little while ago.
After having just returned from The Bi-Annual Australian Grandmaster Caretakers Conference, Old Bert was keen to update his Timeline with an allegedly fascinating photograph taken at the event.

But he was dismayed to discover that his chosen image couldn’t really be squeezed into the unusual dimensions of the Facebook Cover Photo without giving the impression that he and his pals were all just disembodied heads.
In the end, he gave up and reverted back to his boring old Cover Photo of his favourite mole wrench…

Whether you’re using Facebook, Twitter, Google+, LinkedIn, Pinterest, or YouTube, choosing the right images for your Social Media Business pages can be a tricky business in itself.

Exactly what kind of images should we be using to proudly promote our products and services? What are the exact dimensions that we need to consider for every unique Social Media platform, and where are we supposed to find all these attention-grabbing images anyway?

Here are four top tips to help you cook up the perfect pictures for all your crucial Business Pages on Social Media…

CONTINUE READING

Send to Kindle

Posted In Business Clinic, Creative Marketing, Entrepreneur Zone, Facebook, Google+, How-To's and Tutorials, Marketing Secrets, Online Marketing, Pinterest, Social Media Marketing, Twitter

February 12, 2013

TAKING THE WRONG TURN IN CYBERSPACE
Avoiding the Pitfalls and Busting the Myths of Online Marketing!

“Yes, if I admit it myself, I’m pretty much on the cutting-edge of business marketing. It’s all online these days, you know. Did you know that?

“Yep, the internet is the future of great business and I’m proud to be a part of the new digital revolution. Traditional marketing is a thing of the past. You need to be online like me if you want to start pulling in the results these days.”

Oh dear.
I’d popped in for a quick quiet drink down at Smokey Joe’s Small Business Bar, but the peaceful ambience had been rudely disturbed by the noisy arrival of Flash Harry.

Don’t get me wrong, he’s not a bad bloke, really. But he’s one of those slightly annoying people who talks at you instead of talking with you.
He very rarely absorbs anything you have to say to him. I’m not entirely sure that he even remembers what it is that I do for a living.
Whilst it’s very thoughtful of him to sit right next to me and give me woefully vague advice on the power of online marketing, he’s probably forgotten that I’ve been running an easy online printing company for over ten years.
Maybe he thinks I just pop into the Small Business Bar every now and then to help Smokey Joe fix the jukebox.

Another problem with Flash Harry is that he likes to think of himself as a world-leading expert on everything, despite his painfully obvious lack of deep knowledge or insight on his chosen topics.
For example, he was now attempting to deliver a fuzzy lecture on how he had become the Grandmaster of online marketing, and why his internet-based business was so incredibly successful.

But to be honest, I wasn’t entirely convinced.
The thing that really gave the game away was when Flash Harry asked if he could borrow some money to buy a few drinks, as business had been a little slow over the last few months…

I’m sure every Martin Print Blog reader is already acutely aware of the importance of building up a strong online presence for your brilliant Small Business.
But do we sometimes overlook a few of the finer details of great online marketing?
And are far too many Business owners making the same common mistakes and falling into the same black holes of Cyberspace?

Send to Kindle

Posted In Business Clinic, Creative Marketing, Entrepreneur Zone, Facebook, Google+, How-To's and Tutorials, Marketing Secrets, Online Marketing, Running a Business Website, Search Engine Optimisation, Social Media Marketing, Starting a New Business, Technology & The Web, Twitter, Website Building

February 04, 2013

THE FASTEST GROWING SOCIAL MEDIA PLATFORM IN THE WORLD
Which Social Networking Site Saw the Biggest Rise of the Year?

Is your Small Business taking every advantage of the fastest growing Social Media platform in Cyberspace?
And exactly which one of the many Social Networking sites made the biggest and most dramatic leap in active users over the last year?
Place your bets now. The answer may just surprise you…

I posed this very question down at Smokey Joe’s Small Business Bar over the weekend, and offered a free drink for the first person to come up with the right answer.
As you can imagine, hands suddenly started flying up all over the place as everyone began to shout out their answers in a frantic bid to win the prize.

A few younger members of this entrepreneurial crowd felt sure that the crown for the Biggest Rising Social Media Site of the Year would naturally belong to one of the relatively new platforms which still had a lot of growing-up to do.
Perhaps the much-hyped Google+ or the visual innovations of Pinterest?
But they were wrong.

Most of the regular drinkers at the Bar concluded that it was more likely to be the kind of platform that had been around for a little while and was already a huge success in its own right, without ever really reaching the interstellar heights of something like Facebook.
This line of thinking included such notable names as LinkedIn and Tumblr.
But they were wrong.

One shrewd entrepreneur was certain that he knew the right answer.
In fact, he felt that I’d thrown everybody a bit of a trick question.
We all know that Facebook is the undisputed leader of the Social Media pack by several million miles…but this guy reckoned that Facebook had gained even more ground over the last year to further widen the gap.
He was so confident of triumph that he oven ordered his winning free drink at the Bar.
But he ended up paying for it himself, as he too was wrong.

Facebook may still be the King of Social Media, and of course it does continue to grow in popularity every day.
But in terms of the biggest and most significant growth of active users over the last year, Facebook could only manage second place.

So, which Social Media platform is now the official fastest growing success story on the planet?

Well, the answer is…

CONTINUE READING

Send to Kindle

Posted In Archives, Creative Marketing, Entrepreneur Zone, February 2013, Marketing Secrets, Newsdesk, Online Marketing, Social Media Marketing, Technology & The Web, Twitter

January 29, 2013

STRIKE A POSE!
How Instagram Could Capture Sharp New Results for YOUR Business

Smile!

Hang on, step back a little bit. Little bit more. Are you still smiling? Back a little bit more, I still can’t see your face.

Ok, that’s nearly perfect. Keep smiling. Back a little bit more. Are you sure that’s a smile? Alright, I was only checking, just looked a bit funny from this angle.
Ok, just one more tiny step back, so that you’re right at the very edge of the cliff and….hey, where did you go?
Whoops…

Disregarding potential photographic blunders and mishaps just for the moment (it happens to the best of us, right?), is your Small Business using Instagram to quickly engage your Social Media audience in captivating style?
And exactly what kind of images should we be capturing and sharing anyway?

To be honest, it seems impossible for me to innocently wander around the Martin Print office these days without getting a mobile phone shoved into my face.
It’s ever since Josh, our youngest and hippest designer, signed up for an Instagram account.

I guess this is how celebrities must feel when they’re being relentlessly hounded by the paparazzi.
Whether I’m getting a drink from the coffee machine, eating a bowl of Froot Loops in the canteen, or trying to make a discreet visit to the bathroom, I can guarantee that Josh will be in my path, clicking furiously on his mobile phone, and demanding that I pretend to look happy.
This behaviour has really got to stop. I dread to think of some of the nightmarish images that Josh’s Facebook friends are being subjected to on a daily basis…

If you’re completely new to the concept of Instagram, then I should just very briefly explain that it’s essentially a free and fun service which makes it easier than ever to share the images you capture on your Smartphone.
With just a few quick clicks of a button, Instagram users can take a photograph from their mobile phone, add a funky filter effect for extra impact, and then instantly upload the snazzy new image to their Facebook, Twitter, or Tumblr accounts.

Send to Kindle

Posted In Creative Marketing, Entrepreneur Zone, Facebook, Marketing Secrets, Online Marketing, Social Media Marketing, Technology & The Web, Twitter

January 24, 2013

CRAZY SURPRISES IN BUSINESS ENTERPRISES
Why You Need to Spice Up Your Social
Media Pages with Totally Random Ingredients

Here’s a little riddle to get your business brain into gear;

Can you spot the crucial connection between a hover board, a penguin licking a fish-flavoured lollipop, a toilet seat featuring the face of Santa, an anti-theft lunch bag covered in fake mould, a rabbit pushing a tiny shopping trolley around a supermarket, and a baby being dispensed from an office photocopier?

Hmm. It’s a tricky one.
Did you get it?

A sensible answer from a rational and sane person would suggest that there’s clearly no connection at all.

But in fact, every one of the above random and bizarre mental images have popped up on the Martin Print Facebook page at some point over the last few months, and have actually helped to play a small but very useful role in my Small Business marketing.

We are usually advised to follow the path of logic and reason when cooking up a powerful Small Business strategy.
But could you really attract a bigger and healthier audience on your Social Media Business pages by regularly throwing in an assortment of totally random ingredients which don’t have even the slightest bit of relevance to the services you provide?
It sounds crazy, but it just might work…

A good friend of mine, Hugo, was recently taken by surprise when he created a little Social Media splash for the very first time without even really trying.

Send to Kindle

Posted In Business Clinic, Creative Marketing, Entrepreneur Zone, Facebook, Google+, Marketing Secrets, Online Marketing, Pinterest, Social Media Marketing, Twitter, Weird & Wonderful

January 10, 2013

OFF THE GROUND WITHOUT A BANK LOAN
How the Rising Crowdfunding Trend is Helping to Kickstart Your New Business Projects!

Got a winning idea for a new product, a new service, or even a completely new business venture, that simply can’t fail?

You’ve got the incredible concept. You’ve got the business brainpower. You’ve got the determination and motivation.
Now all you need is a big chunk of cash to get this brilliant new project off the ground…

Hmm.
These pesky minor details always get in the way, don’t they?

But could a Crowdfunding platform deliver the perfect opportunity to kickstart your cash-strapped concept without the need for a bank loan?
And is Crowdfunding set to reach new heights throughout 2013 as it rapidly develops into the business fundraising solution of the future?

Not so long ago, the hopes and dreams of a new business venture in urgent need of cash would largely depend on the mood of your Bank Manager.
If you were lucky, you might just walk away with a spring in your step and a hefty debt on your conscience.
If you were unlucky, you might sulkily stroll out of the building under a dark cloud of rejection, as you silently raged against the injustice of the bank manager’s narrow vision, silly haircut, and frankly ridiculous tie.

Thankfully, the digital age has now dished up an intriguing alternative which takes away the power from the stuffy old Banks, and puts it right back into the hands of the people…

The concept of online Crowdfunding has been around for a little while now, but has recently started to catch on in a big way right across the globe, and looks set to soar in popularity over the next year or two.

The idea is relatively simple;
By signing up to a reputable online Crowdfunding community such as Pozible (currently Australia’s biggest Crowdfunding platform) or Kickstarter (a US-based company now emerging as the leader in the global field), you can post up the details of your new project plans and invite your friends, followers, and other interested users of the community to make a pledge to help you reach your target goal.

This is certainly no Dragon’s Den.
These Pledgers aren’t looking to invest in your business, or indeed make a single cent out of the whole venture.
Nor is this a high-interest loan of any kind. Nobody wants their money back here.

Send to Kindle

Posted In Business Clinic, Cashflow Management, Creative Marketing, Crowdfunding, Entrepreneur Zone, Facebook, Finance In Focus, Google+, Online Marketing, Social Media Marketing, Start-Up Funding, Starting a New Business, Technology & The Web, Twitter

September 20, 2012

NUMBER CRUNCHING WITH GOOGLE+
But How Does Google’s New Platform Compare with Facebook Now?

Regular readers of the Martin Print Blog will know that I’ve been keeping a close eye on the rise – or perhaps even the fall – of Google’s new social network Google+.

When it was first launched last year, there were strong expectations in some quarters that a new social networking site driven by the mighty power of Google would eventually grow so big that even Facebook might just start to get a little worried.

But now that the dust has settled, does Google+ really still have even the slightest chance of developing into a serious rival for some of the other dominating Social Media platforms such as Facebook or Twitter?
Or is it simply destined to join the ranks of those other notable Google flops in recent years, such as Google Buzz or Google Wave?
It’s worth remembering that even the seemingly invincible giants of the internet don’t always get it right…

Well, Vic Gundotra, the Senior Vice President of Engineering at Google, recently announced some seemingly encouraging new figures on the current status of Google+.
Gundotra actually posted a message from his own profile page on the platform to tell the world that Google+ now has a whopping 400 million members.

But is this quite as impressive as it first appears? How does that figure compare to the number of users on Facebook? And should we even be comparing them quite so closely in the first place?

Send to Kindle

Posted In Entrepreneur Zone, Facebook, Google+, Newsdesk, Online Marketing, September 2012, Social Media Marketing, Twitter

September 18, 2012

SPREADING OUR
AUSTRALIAN WINGS ON TWITTER
New Twitter Tool is Designed to Help Aussie Tweeters in Our Search for New Contacts

It’s pretty amazing to see that there are now nearly 2 million Australians using Twitter.

However did such a simple concept with such a restricting message capacity take off in such a big, big way?
Maybe all the very best ideas out there are rooted in pure simplicity…

Unfortunately, this hugely popular and convenient platform has never really hatched a quick and easy way for us 2 million Aussies to sniff each other out and connect.

That’s not to say that Twitter doesn’t do a cracking job of helping us to make healthy new connections in so many other ways.
Every budding Tweetaholic regularly receives new recommendations for who they should be following in the future, largely based on whoever they happen to be following in the present.

You can also make use of the excellent Search Feature to try and hunt down useful new contacts in the Twittersphere based on your specific keywords.
This is terrific, but it does lack some focus and can return results that are perhaps a little broader than you would ideally like to see.

Wouldn’t it be better if there was a more specialist version of this Search Functionality, uniquely tailored for the Australian market?

BuzzNumbers believe they have just developed the perfect solution with AussieTwitterSearch which has been specifically designed to help narrow down your search and deliver the most fruitful results for Australian business.

So how does it work? Is it any good? And why would we even need it?

Send to Kindle

Posted In Archives, Entrepreneur Zone, Local Marketing, Newsdesk, September 2012, Social Media Marketing, Twitter

August 23, 2012

FISHY FEATHERED FAKES
Following an Alarming New Twitter
Trend that Seems Far From Genuine

They used to say that you could always judge a person by the quality of their friends.

But in the age of Social Media, it would seem that today’s generation are far more interested in being judged on the quantity of their friends.

Here at Martin Print H.Q, our youngest designer Josh seems strangely proud of the fact that he has now accrued over 3,000 close ‘friends’ on his personal Facebook account.

He seems to think that if it ever came down to it, these 3,000 people would gladly fall in battle, defending the honour of Josh’s good name.

When I turned up to his birthday party last week, I was half-expecting to have serious difficulty in getting through the door, as I imagined that his apartment would already be bulging from the weight of over 3,000 lively guests.

I was a little surprised to discover that, in fact, only seven people had bothered to turn up – and one of those was just Old Bert, who sat grumpily in a corner for the whole night, complaining that all this modern music was just ‘noise’.
I can only assume that the other 2,993 people were busy washing their hair that night.

But it’s interesting to observe just how much importance we place on our number of ‘friends’, ‘fans’ and ‘followers’ in Social Media – even if that number can turn out to be anything but genuine.

A new report has revealed that the dubious practice of buying and selling bogus Twitter followers now seems more popular than ever….and these devious dealings are even being conducted by some high-profile names who really should know better.

But why would anybody want to buy or sell hundreds or thousands of fake followers who don’t even exist? Is there any way of spotting a slightly suspect Twitter account with a long list of fictitious followers? And is something even more fishy beginning to emerge from the murkier backwaters of Facebook?

Send to Kindle

Posted In August 2012, Business Clinic, Entrepreneur Zone, Facebook, Newsdesk, Online Marketing, Online Security, Social Media Marketing, Technology & The Web, Twitter