For me, the past 12 months have been about growing my personal and business network online with the help of Twitter and less about attending local business networking events.

Social-Media-Campaign
Originally uploaded by Gary Hayes

On the face of it, micro-blogging sites like Twitter or Plurk are seen by some senior executives as an indulgence with no real benefit, but if they took a closer look they’ll find a whole new business world, where distance and corporate gatekeepers don’t really matter.

My poison of choice is Twitter. Arguably the biggest and best, but the main thing for me is I’m engaging people with similar interests and tastes – welcome to my new improved personal and business network.

A personal and business network stretching across borders, oceans, cultures and industries. A personal and business network without a glass ceiling or that discriminates due to social status, business title or where you live. A personal and business network designed to give you the freedom to connect with people you like and have a chat.

Read the rest of this entry »

Yellow Pages & SEO
Originally uploaded by Si1very

For Australian advertisers, 2009 is the year of return-on-investment and the first thing advertisers should do is to throw that old telephone directory out – it’s a dinosaur.

The best way to save money and help people find you is too use search engine optimisation (SEO).

Seriously, Yellow Pages print directories may have been a staple for advertisers in the past, but times have changed, people don’t search that way anymore. People are more tech savvy, reaching for their mobile phone or computer first.

However, most Australian advertisers really haven’t recognised this yet, spending more on Yellow Pages print directories than online search and directories. But the facts are straightforward – Australia has over 14 million online users and each month approximately 8 million of these users hit one of the various search engines EVERY DAY.

And depending upon the source it is generally accepted that between 50-80% of all searches in Australia is commercial-in-nature.

Read the rest of this entry »

After the wonderful victory by Senator Barack Obama many respected political and marketing commentators attributed much of his successful campaign on the use of social media.

Here in Australia, the press and social media advocates like myself have been talking up the prospect of Aussie elections now being won and lost online…

But is there any credible signs of Aussie politician's embracing social media and connecting with ordinary people…

Department of Broadband, Communications and the Digital Economy has a blog in 'Trial Consultation'. Lindsay or Stephen…please explain, what does 'Trial Consultation' mean?

Kevin Rudd Prime Minister (@kevinruddPM) and opposition leader Malcolm Turnbull (@turnbullmalcolm) have Twitter accounts, but where are the others? And have they started to listen rather than broadcasting.

Will Aussie politicians get social media?

Or is the Australian democracy stranded in a two party political system where policitians are prevented from speaking freely, closed off from the general public and made to 'tow the partyline'.

I suspect social media may open-up our political scene…I do hope so!

wherethebloodyhellareyou
Originally uploaded by travelling.steve

It always easier to criticise a failing or failed advertising or marketing campaign, because there isn’t any recognised rules to test the success before its launch.

But, when Tourism Australia invested $40 million in a global advertising campaign supporting an unreleased movie called ‘Australia’ – the alarm bells started to ring.

My question for Tourism Australia is ‘What came first, the chicken or the egg?’ Or what should have come first? Tourism Australia’s promoting the movie ‘Australia’, hoping it’ll be successful or waiting for the movies successful global release and then, taking advantage of the hype by investing in an advertising campaign.

Well, we all know the answer…Tourism Australia elected to spend $40 million on supporting the egg hoping it would reveal a beautiful chicken.

Read the rest of this entry »