social media

4 Ways to Better Reach Mobile Audiences

I can’t imagine life without my smart phone.

If I have a question, I simply look it up via the browser. If there is something I want to photograph it, I use the camera on the phone. I’ve got an app so that I can swipe and go when I’m at Starbucks.

Don’t take my word for it, though. A December 2011 report indicated that consumers now spend 94 minutes on their mobile versus 72 minutes for the Web. Smart devices such as smart phones and tablets now outsell desktops and laptops.

What does all this mean? Communicators need to think about how they are conveying information, says Mike Hart, president of ComDesigns. Here are four tips to do just that:

  1. Write better headlines that immediately convey the focus of the content.
  2. Provide info-graphics, which makes the information more easily understood.
  3. Offer compelling videos. It’s true, a picture is worth a thousand words.
  4. Write fewer words. People aren’t going to scroll to find information and they don’t want lots of background.

Cool Twitter Accounts to Follow

At a recent social media conference, we started talking about unique or cool Twitter sites. We weren’t talking about the ones that shared about life’s mundane events. Rather, these were ones that provided information in a unique way.

It’s amazing what can be shared in 140 characters – the maximum amount that a tweet is allowed to have.

Here are three that fascinated me:

  1. @cookbook: Maureen Evans is the author of the Eat Tweet cookbook. She tweets tiny recipes that serve 3-4. At first it’s a bit daunting but with the aid of the glossary she provides, it soon becomes simple. The New York Times called tweeted recipes quite possibly the “first great recipe innovation in 200 years.”
  2. @RealTimeWWII : This one features World War II tweets from 1940 and will continue for six years. Alwyn Collinson is an Oxford history graduate who tweets up to 40 times a day. He uses eyewitness accounts, photographs and video to make it feel as if you are there.
  3. @TVGuide: If you’re like me, you spend a lot of time channel surfing in search of your favorite show. I use TV Guide’s official page for TV news, scoops and live event coverage.

Do you have a favorite? If so, please share it so we can all enjoy it.

iPad Today Co-host Shares Social Story

Early in Sarah Lane’s career she thought she would be a mathematician since she was good at math. But the co-host of iPad Today, the Social Hour and Tech News Today at TRiT.tv, discovered she liked a few other things, too.

Sarah Lane, co-host of iPad today and other shows, enables her audience to know about the stuff that is important to them. (Photo by Cynthia Price)

“I like being social. I like talking,” she told an audience at a recent social media workshop in Idaho Falls, ID. As a result she studied broadcasting at San Francisco State. As an intern she worked on a documentary about San Francisco in the 1980s. At the time there was no social component of the internet, Sarah said. Her research was conducted in a basement reviewing tapes. 

She would go on to work for TechTV on a show called “The Screen Savers” for which she produced the “Blog Report.” Showing the audience one of her early reports, she noted how frightened she looked. “I was frightened that I would say something just a little wrong and the audience would pounce on me,” Sarah said.

Today, she said, her “skin is a mile thick.”

She found her passion – talking technology with others who love technology, which she does through online TV. She describes “This Week in Technology” or TWiT as “almost like sports talk.” Success is measured not on the number of views of the show but on the number of downloads. “We’re successful, although we don’t have American Idol numbers.”

Another show Sarah works on is The Social Hour, which she co-hosts with Amber MacArthur. Ironically, the two have never met. Sarah is in San Francisco and Amber is in Canada. Sarah noted, “ We all have the same amount of tools; it’s just what you make of it.”

Her role, she said, is to spend her days and nights trying out new services. “You don’t have time. You just want to know about the stuff that is important to you.”

National Columnists Day

Today is National Columnists Day, which recognizes the importance and value of newspaper columnists. It was established in memory of the day columnist and Pulitzer Prize winner Ernie Pyle was killed in World War II.

I grew up reading Dave Barry (just going to his website makes me laugh out loud), the late Erma Bombeck and Bob Greene (whose career had a tragic twist). The columns were funny, moving, candid, and I could never get enough of them.

At one point in my newspaper career, I was given the opportunity to have my own column, which I called “Off the Cuff,” a recommendation from my father. It allowed me to write on most any topic. I enjoyed that freedom.

Columnist Nancy Wright Beasley, who writes a monthly column for Richmond Magazine also enjoys having the opportunity to choose her subjects. She says. “It is a privilege to be a columnist because you have the opportunity to shed light on special people who do wonderful things and are often not covered by the daily media.”

Another columnist, Ann Allen notes, “I love being a columnist. It’s more creative than reporting the who, why how, when and where.”

In later years, I was drawn to the columnists at the Richmond Times-Dispatch. My friend Julie Campbell reminded me of those great writers, who included Steve Clark, Betty Booker and Jann Malone. When I was at the Roanoke Times & World-News I enjoyed reading Ben Beagle. In researching this column, I found The World I Never Made, which is a collection of his columns.

My tastes and genres have evolved. And thanks to blogging, opportunities are everywhere for reading about issues that matter to me and sometimes just reading good writing. I asked my Facebook friends who they are reading. Here’s a sampling:

Why not make time today to read your favorite columnist? And while you’re at it, add a comment to this blog letting us know who you are reading.

Social Media Tidbits

The social media platform continues to evolve. In the past few weeks, I’ve read several good articles and found some helpful apps. I’ve collected several of them in this blog to share with you.

Linkedin Follow Company Buttons

Companies will be adding this button to their websites, making it easier for any consumer on the web to begin following companies of interest, on LinkedIn. Whether you are looking to stay up-to-date on company news, career opportunities or industry trends, following companies on LinkedIn is a great and easy way to gain insights and stay connected.

Copyright Issues and Pinterest

I love Pinterest. It’s fun to get inspiration. For the most part I’ve been pinning photos I’ve taken, but I’ve repinned photos of others that I liked. I don’t always know the copyright of those photos, and I suspect you don’t either. And that’s a problem. Pinterest’s Terms Of Use itself requires that “you either are the sole and exclusive owner of all Member Content that you make available through the Site, Application and Services or you have all rights, licenses, consents and releases that are necessary to grant to Cold Brew Labs the rights in such Member Content as contemplated under these Terms.” Megan O’Neill wrote a clear piece on the problem for Social Times.

Telling a Story Using Video

I started my career as a print reporter. A photographer was assigned to capture an appropriate image to accompany the story. When I moved into PR, I took my own photos for newsletters. I had studied photography so it wasn’t too much of a stretch, although I would have preferred a professional photographer on staff. Today, I have to think about videos to go on my company’s blog, Facebook page and website. I do the same for my personal blog. If you want to learn more about how to tell a story through video, Poynter has an article with 9 helpful steps.

Favorite Apps

Trello organizes all of your projects and tasks.

Trello organizes all of your projects and tasks and who is assigned to them in an easy-to-view format. Even better, the mobile and web versions contain the same features.

Now that the weather is getting nice, my trainer is encouraging me to get outside and run. I want to know my distance so MapMyRun is my go-to app.

I’m always finding articles to read. Sometimes I go down scary rabbit holes and forget what I started off searching for. Now I use InstaPaper, an app that lets me bookmark interesting web pages for later reference. The best part is I can read it on my phone when I’m waiting for an appointment or stuck in line.

What have you read lately that’s worth sharing?