Where will social media show up next?

Today I attended a funeral and was told that I could have stayed at home and watched live streaming video instead. I turned around and looked. Sure enough, mounted up high on the back wall was a video camera. There really is no privacy any more. You can now attend some funerals from home or anywhere you can grab some wifi.

I am not sure if I am comfortable with that or not, but it does really show that all sorts of businesses are on the “live streaming video” bandwagon. Maybe caskets will someday be covered with advertising like race cars so people viewing will see their logos. How far will it go? No one knows for sure.

Some religious services are also streamed live. Not feeling well? No worries. You can attend services via the internet while sitting at home in your jammies.

If you can stream an event, people will watch, if you get the word out. You can stream events through several sites including You Tube, Livestream and Ustream. Google+ has hangouts, where multiple people can chat live via webcam and millions more can watch. Using this technology can, not only help grow your business, but actually change the way we all do business.

I can remember way, way back when I was in college. A professor told my class about how we would one day have a card, similar to a credit card, that would allow people to travel with no cash. Money would come right out of a person’s checking account. Every business would accept them. Of course, we know that debit cards exist now. But back in the day, that sounded crazy.

Online coupons that are scanned from cell phones at the cash register are already available. PayPal and credit card companies offer gadgets that connect to a cell phone. The business owner can simply swipe a credit card through the gadget. The client signs the phone with their finger to make a charge or payment. Can you imagine what might come next?

I talked to a friend the other day about business cards. He predicts there will be a business card where the image changes and maybe even has video. How far are we from that? There are already animated picture frames, why not a business card?

Even though social media is my business, I am hearing about new apps and sites every day. Some are great, some not so much. But the technology is changing daily. To stay on top of things with your business, you need to change with the technology and not fight against it.

Great content gets great results

Most websites are full of words, but how good is that content? Some sites have SEO (search engine optimization) articles that, while they have all the necessary keywords, the articles either do not make sense or the keywords are over used. The articles seem wordy and walk around the subject, never actually getting to the point.

Conversely, sites with interesting, interactive or unique content will grab the attention of the reader and urge them to read more. People return to those sites over and over again.

One of the easiest ways to grab attention is to change the information on the site. Of course, that is how blogs work. Hopefully, you update your blog often to keep people coming back. Giving high value content entices people to the site.

Content does not have to be words. Everyone loves a good photo or piece of artwork. Add graphics, photos or infographics to your pages, follow up by using Instagram and Pinterest to promote them. You will see more activity on your page.

By using Google Analytics, you can see what social media works for you and what does not. Just add the code to your website and you can start using this tool free of charge. If you use Blogger for your blog, there is a built-in Blogger version of Analytics that is already in use. You can find it in the “overview” section and it is called “stats.” If you use social media, you really need to make sure it is working and if not, change what you are doing.

Iphone issues resolved

After a couple weeks of my iphone acting like it’s lost it’s mind, I am currently restoring it as a new phone. Poof! All of my hours of work on Angry Birds – gone! Poof! All of my work on Stupid Zombies – gone! I’m calling it work, because some of those levels were really hard.

I also feel like I’m having a long distance relationship with my contact at Apple. He’s a very nice person. Last week he was on vacation and I didn’t really want to work with someone else since he’s been so helpful. He would have stayed on the phone with me while my phone does its updating thing. I didn’t want to hold him hostage, so I let him go. He’ll be back. The Apple people actually call back when they say they will.

My issue, if you missed the blog a few weeks ago, was that I upgraded to iphone OS 6.0 and suddenly the icloud is not working. It thinks I still have my old, now defunct, email address. Everything is fine on my computer and mostly everything is fine on the phone. It’s just the cloud, which is one place to backup your data. It’s kind of important.

Please understand that I have had Apple products since the 1980s. I am a huge fan. This is now become my life’s work – to straighten out my phone and not lose all of my contacts, photos and other data. I’m sad that I lost my high scores. But, hey, I did it once. I can do it again! I didn’t lose any apps that I purchased. They will still be there.

I have to say that the people at Apple are extremely helpful when something doesn’t work. I have had problems with PCs, I didn’t even know who to call. Maybe I’m spoiled by fine products and English speaking help, but I think Apple’s customer service is top notch. I have engineers and technical people trying to solve my problem.

If only all of life’s problems were solved with such friendliness and a willingness to help. Sure, that’s what they are paid to do, but have you called a customer service person lately? You are lucky if you can even figure out how to speak to a human being. And, in the case of my cable/internet/phone provider, friendly and courteous service is not always offered.

My iphone is updated. I lost my high scores. I had to reset all of my settings and re-enter my passwords on Twitter, Facebook, etc., but I’m back with my head in the clouds – AKA icloud is working again! All is well once more in the realm of my computer equipment.

Ice Hockey and Social Media

My nephew Jake plays ice hockey for the University of Maryland (Go Terps!) and because it is a club team, they do not have good attendance or recognition for their efforts. Don’t get me wrong, they play as hard as any hockey players. The games are certainly not televised and the webcasts are not the greatest. They have a website and Facebook page and at one time there was a Twitter page, but it did not have a lot of activity.

I believe the wifi is not very strong at the arena. Using a webcam for a wide shot of an entire ice rink is not the best way to shoot a sporting event. But, they use social media to their advantage with the home games webcast from the arena. They basically use a laptop webcam and broadcast on LiveStream, a website that shows webcasts.

Isn’t that a great idea? Why not broadcast your events? Grow your business through webinars.

If you use Google+, you can create a hangout where up to ten people can have a live video conference call and millions more can watch. And it’s all FREE! What if you gave a webinar about your business and had people from all over the world watch, some can ask questions (the ones who are on the conference call). No fancy equipment is necessary. Really, all you need is a laptop with a camera and an internet connection. If you have headphones with a microphone you can get fairly good sound.

Plop a vase of flowers on a desk to gussy it up a bit, and aim the webcam at your face – you’re ready to go! Maybe put a few notes in front of you, but you know about your business. You don’t really need a lot written materials, just enough to keep you on topic – and you don’t want to read from a script.

If you announce and promote the event on your website, blog, email and through social media, put it in your newsletter or ezine – any way you want, you will get results. Encourage people to send questions in advance so that you have time to prepare great answers.

Be sure to offer this complimentary webcast to your ideal clients. Give them good information, stuff they can use. Encourage them to hire you at the end of the talk.

As you are prepare for your webinar, take a break now and then and watch or listen to a Terps ice hockey game!