The Capitalization of Social Media
Posted by admin in Social Media on September 8th, 2009
I came across this web article about Birmingham City University of the U.K. offering a degree in Social Media. Really? If you ask me this just sounds like a way to ploy money out peoples hands. I can see value in educating people on Social Media but to turn it into a 4 year degree program. Come on.
What’s that going to cost someone? I’ve got to imagine several thousand at the least. Take your money and save it people. Buy yourself a computer, plop yourself down in front of a computer for hours, days, weeks at a time. Once you’ve gotten your seat on (cyclists know this term very well) then you can keep plugging away behind the screen, digging and digging and digging.
I don’t think people need to be caught up in getting a degree in Social Media, they just need passion and a drive to learn on their own. You see you can learn everything you need to know for FREE, online. Oh my did I say FREE? Yes, that’s right you can educate yourself for FREE by reading articles, postings online and being a part of the conversation. That will make you a professional more than any schooling ever will.
That last sentence kind of reminds me of going to college and be inspired and wowed by the whole education thing. Yah, I got my degree and then I met the real world. Let me just give you a peace of advice, where education and reality meet up are worlds apart. Go buy yourself a Mac and a good 21+ inch monitor. Pay for that Comcast bill and spend some time behind the computer, online, engaging with the world via the Blogs, Facebooks and Twitters. That is social media. That’s where you will learn.
I won’t dispel buying books either. There are some very note worthy characters out there that have a lot to offer. Here are a few recommendations:
“What Would Google Do?” by Jeff Jarvis
“Twitter Power” by Joel Comm
“FREE” by Chris Anderson
Cost of reading this article, FREE, cost of interacting with people online in blogs, facebook & Twitter, FREE, educating yourself online and becoming a Social Media guru, Priceless.
Merchant Circle Snafooooo!
Posted by admin in Social Media on September 8th, 2009
I received an invitation today from Merchant Circle (MC) to participate in an online survey and in exchange for my input and time they would give me an annual subscription for FREE (valued at $50). I figured why not, I’ve never payed them anything for the services they have provided me. If you don’t know what Merchant Circle is, I suggest checking it out if you are a small business owner. In short MC is a mix of Yellow Pages meets Social Media.
So I began the survey and answered all the questions. I thought they were good questions that are obviously going to provide MC with some insight to what small businesses are looking for to help leverage themselves in the online marketplace. I got done with the survey, thought I was almost there and then BAM! they tried getting my Credit Card (CC) info. I stopped right there. I was like no way are you getting my CC info for a product that you just offered for FREE.
So I tried to find an email to email someone (from the email they sent me) of course it was a no-reply email. This seems to be an ongoing theme with web based companies and let me tell you Google is the worst of the bunch! Thats right Google! I like Google and all they are doing to revolutionize the world as we know it, but the customer service gets a big fat goose egg. Anyway, I found that MC had a forum to post to and what better than to have somewhere to provide feedback. So I did.
Wow! It didn’t take long for someone from MC to respond. Respect. Along with it came a windfall of other customers frustrated with the same process. My reasoning for this post isn’t to scold MC. In fact there quick response to my concern is. I think that given todays connected world things can go wonky very quickly, like they did for Comcast and Dell a while back. MC was all over this and that deserves some respect even if the process to get their FREE product was a bit mis-leading.
Another thing to note is the important role Social Media should play in your business structure and the way you interact with your customers online. This is not just a fad, and you better believe this stuff is going to be around for some time to come. Give yourself the gift of opportunity by being a part of the conversation, because now with the click of a button one bad statement can be heard around the world.
You can see the original post here.
Is Social Media Just a Fad?
Posted by admin in Social Media, Web Design on September 5th, 2009
Kids today don’t understand Fred Flinstone, The Dukes of Hazard or Under Dog. No, kids today understand anything and everything online based. They eat it up likes its rock candy. Are you still printing those newspaper ads? Why? Aren’t most buyers under 40? What person under 40 do you know reading a newspaper? I’d love to hear it. Do you know how much more cost effective social marketing can be for your dealership? Take that ten grand you just plopped down on a weekend ad and spread it out over the entire year? You just got yourself an entire year of social media & marketing integration with Fresh Input.
You want to know something even better. We can track that campaign with cold hard numbers with lots of pretty graphs too. What newspaper does that for you? As online communities grow in ever-increasing numbers, are you a part of the conversation or standing on the sidelines? Social media sites such as Facebook, MySpace and Twitter allow you to engage your customers outside the dealership and develop relationships that drive repeat and referral business.
Plain and simple, social media isn’t just a fad for todays kids. Older generations are now flocking to these social media sites. Heck I recently got my 50 year old uncle to sign up on Facebook and now I hear him talking about it all the time.
If you don’t believe me check out this video for some mind blowing facts!
Auto Web Design & Social Media
Posted by admin in Automotive, Social Media, Web Design, Web Solutions on August 26th, 2009
Ask yourself if your auto web design company is providing the right tools for the job. How many accounts do you have to manage to get things to work? How many accounts do you have to manage to get your marketing message out? Now think about how much time you are wasting! Fresh Input Design looks to provide our dealers with the most powerful and efficient automotive web solutions. Think about having the power to get your marketing message across to many social media channels via just your website. We have a solution that can provide just that. Contact us today to find out how we can help you integrate all of the social media channels into your website. By coming up with an integrated solution, you no longer have a broken solution!
HCS-HD
Posted by admin in Automotive, Web Design, Web Solutions on August 22nd, 2009
Fresh Input is sprung from the ashes of what I call HCS-HD or Horrible Customer Service – Horrible Design. Its a tad long winded and with HD being such a popular word these days I figured why not.
It has become apparent that in this day and age the big auto web solution companies have become complacent. After all, they have landed deals with the corporations and forced cookie cutter designs upon the dealers. The user interfaces by some of the biggest auto web solutions companies have become so difficult to navigate, so time consuming with waste and such lack of efficiency that it is no wonder people aren’t shopping online at the American automotive company websites.
I personally have tried using websites for GM, Chrysler & Ford having struggles even as a seasoned veteran of the internet. Ford by far takes the cake (as the most user friendly) over GM & Chrysler but still I wonder who is actually guiding the ship when it comes to user interface. It isn’t until recently that Ford departed from the maddening Flash campaign that has been going on for the last several years.
Ideas are good, but board members, VP’s & CEO’s should not have the final say on the design solutions for their automotive websites. I run into the same issues at the dealer level but go the extra mile to educate my clients as to why things do and don’t work on the web. Just because it sounds like a good idea, doesn’t mean it is. The clients that work with me understand and trust my judgement, after all I have 15 years of experience running the gauntlet of being formally trained and have 10 years of hands on experience in both a dealership and automotive web solutions.
Ask yourself when you are talking to other automotive web solutions companies, no I take that back, ask your sales person what formal and on hand experience they have. If they need to think for even a second or ask someone at the company for an answer, you should be running in the other direction. Fresh Input has dedicated professionals that are in the trenches working day in and day out with many years of experience to make your dealer website work for you and provide a return on investment (ROI) that few other automotive web solutions companies can match.
We take pride in real world results and real numbers to look at. We don’t sell, we get the job done!