Typography titles for Pinterest Success

The blogger from Half Price Books did something very clever on their blog recently so they deserve all the click through and traffic to their site. I came across this pin on Pinterest the other day, and was linked to a blog page titled: '40 books  you won't be able to put down' .

The  post was made of a collage of  famous book covers and was exceptionally inviting for me to pin away. Because Pinterest is all about sharing visual content, this blog post creates potential for Half Price Books to share 40 pins of popular books- resulting to link referrals as people forage to find a good read.


Typography speaks louder than words
Lesson learnt here is that creating blog titles with good typography can be a smart way to drive traffic to  your website. Have you noticed how many motivational typography quotes have been circulating Pinterest? I sure am a sucker for them. Words are made more meaningful by creative typography, so blog titles and even your twitter thoughts can be played around with in Adobe Illustrator.

Have you heard of the term, “visual language”? The article, When Typography Speaks Louder than Words, explains how visual language is achieved when a designer can create typography that transcend a  voice onto plain text. Certain design elements can influence how a person reads and interprets the text- maybe it can motivate them to engage in your message? Feel inspired by your brand and most importantly spread the word for you.

Social media - politeness costs nothing and gains everything.

 

Badge from beanforest @Esty

The saying: "politeness cost nothing and gains everything" just nails it, not just in real life but in the world of social media. Being polite has high return on investment and it is a skill that should be practiced in everyday life as well as when you are online. As we become more active online it is highly relevant to not forget about the value of being polite on a public forum.

While on Facebook or twitter you should not underestimate the importance of maintaining a respectable online identity. A thank you mention or a quick reply goes a long way - lets remember that today media never stands alone and a huge aspect of it is "social". People who are great at social media know how to translate real social etiquette while they are online. They are polite and they make it a priority to cater to their followers and offer them meaningful content. Being polite online can encourage viewers to appreciate you for your ideas and support them by "following" you, which like real life social influence is great.

Here is some proof for return-in- politeness investment: In the world of social media politeness proves to be effective when communicating on twitter. Dan Zarrella from Hubspot conducted an analysis of how certain words, phrases or characters increased click-through rates.

And it is not surprising that when the word 'please' was tweeted viewers were likely to click on the link. The click though rate is 3.57% with the word please and only 2.1% without it- a significant gain for simply saying 'please'.
 
Acknowledging the original tweet by using the word 'via' also resulted to an increased CTR. This method of retweeting encourages users to click links, mainly because of your considerations to reference another user and adding credibility to the link.

So remember the way you interact online should mimic real life socialising, be polite and sensitive to other peoples thoughts and ideas.

Dan has other great insights into what motivates user in social media interactions- be sure to check out his work @ danzarrella.com

Airtime - All you need is a Facebook account and a webcam.

 

Airtime blog Launch

Last week on the 5th of June, Airtime introduced itself as the first live video network service to create shared experiences online- all you need is a Facebook account and a webcam. From the Airtime Blog, its creators Sean Parker and Shawn Fanning were enthusiastic to deliver something fresh and new to “re-humanize” the internet. Airtime is said to not only be a product but a network service.

The service allows you to share live experiences through content, and expand beyond your social graph to discover new people through similar interests in an environment that is collaborative, fun and safe.

My first thought was how is it different to Skype? Well that was cleared up very quickly - Airtime shoves Skype aside and leads as the new and completely confident new kid. It is positioned as a social network that will empower users with fun and  personal shared experiences. Unlike Skype Airtime facilitates a interactive social environment for two people to watch content based on shared interests


The value in meaningful interactions
From a marketing perspective, Airtime is creating a niche for meaningful online interactions that mimics real life. Parker and Fanning launch blog post was short but had a succinct value proposition. Airtime is all about 'sharing the experience' in a way that is intuitive and somewhat more real. It will be exciting to see if this value proposition can stand apart from existing video chat services such as Skype and Google hangouts.

However the company does have some strategies to differentiate themselves from the pack. With its intelligent profile analysis techniques Airtime analyzes its users’ Facebook profiles, stores their ‘likes’, to find common interests between two people and match them into a video chat. This matching system  allows users to talk about their interests and experience meaningful interactions. To ensure quality of the conversation there is a points and badges program, where Airtime  awards users a points know as  'applause' for the quality of their videos. When users are matched with someone that they do not know, both can gain points based on the quality of the conversation.

Airtime's positioning strategy will be crucial in how the company succeeds in the niche market. Airtime can be the next big thing if it can occupy a clear, distinctive value perception in the mind of its users. With a solid effort for security measures and continual focus to foster quality online relationships, Airtime does offer an appealing alternative to video communication. 

Engaging the Masses- Simple but effective Social Media campaigns that we should learn from

As a final year uni student  there should be a time when you come to really appreciate what you're studying- no more of the; 'get the degree over and done with' attitude. It's a time to be practical with what you see in the world and develop a critical point of view- that is applying the theory.

I'm so excited to finally be able to do this and interpret the text book stuff with real life context.  Recently I have been observant of companies and their Integrated Marketing Communication strategies. Everything just makes so much more sense! Just stop and think about how the advertisement caught your eye or how you got so engaged in a brands social media efforts. How are they integrating that message across their Facebook page, twitter and website?

An effective IMC strategy is getting a creative message across in a consistent and compelling way. The message is strategically exposed through different communication channels to achieve the 3 following goals:

 Create audience engagement.
 I say engagement because its one step further from just getting an audiences attention. As social marketers we are pass that - getting attention from an IMC message is something that a good marketer can achieve, but creating engagement is what a great marketer can create.Creating such engagement in itself is creating a social offering. The next step after the establishing the product offering and generating attention through exposure, marketers now need to come up with a social offering that generates attention around the product. Social media campaigns begs the question; What is worth sharing?

An awesome example of creative IMC that created engagement through twitter is the

 Kraft Macaroni & Cheese Jinx campaign.

This campaign was hugely successful and allowed Kraft to not only generation word-of -mouth buzz but also a in a sense interactive engagement with their (v.simple) product - mac and cheese. The campaign worked on the principles of the game Jinx.


Streamlined across social media channels
When two people tweeted 'mac & cheese', Kraft would send a link to each of them - first person to reply back gets a free T-shirt and hey hey some mac and cheese - to eat obviously but maybe to share with friends and talk about it on Facebook? a very likely scenario to very clever campaign. Facebook was the partner in crime for this campaign, it drove the message a step further and facilitated an interaction system for both the winners and losers of the mac jinx game.

Create a brand image that is bigger than it really is
The underlying success for this campaign was that the marketers were able to create a larger than life appeal for Kraft's mac and cheese. It is only mac and cheese- but then you can argue after all this buzz that NO! IT  it is not JUST mac and cheese its more than that and I LOVE it!

To top off a splendid IMC strategy, that message is on giant mac and cheese (literally bigger than life) reaching the masses and creating more conviction to buy it because: "you know you love it"

Postcards I've scattered on Pinwheel

Painting By Numbers

Its safe to say that my last job interview did not go too well and the absent call back set that in stone. So with this rejection comes a stage where you have to access what went wrong - what I did well, what I didn't do and most importantly what will I do next time. This process applies to all learning -for the  first couple of days rejection will hurt your self esteem but then an uplifting surge of acceptances comes and life goes on. For this case I noted that painting by numbers helped me to get perspective.

"These shapes often don't make sense individually, nor look like anything "real", but put together as a group they create the image. " Paint By Numbers

How does this apply to my interview failure? Maybe because I wasn't able to perform the minor techniques that brings the interview together.  If I broke by interview up and really critic and fix the minor techniques, mayby next time my interview will be a complete flowing conversation of my strenghts and skills.Every sentence that describes how i think, solve problems and react underpressure will be strong and succint.

So at the moment I'm working on this Under the Sea painting by numbers kit and I work really hard to fill in each number- getting the tones and shadows right. Them I step back and see creatures would  immerge. I realise that minor details are key to unifying a painting, design work and helping me nail my next job interview.

I'm not the greatest student but I am a great learner. There is a difference

I'm not the greatest student but I am a great learner. There is a difference.

In the context of university, getting High Distinction grades reflect that you are are great student- attending all lectures, tutorials and dedicating extra study time. Students are good at learning theory and applying it in written reports and perform well in exam conditions.

Learners are just ok at this - they somewhat may lack the patients but are nevertheless seeking other ways to learning and improving. For learners personal management and finance are gained  through part-time work, cultural studies at the uni bar and drama in the Role Play Club. Learner are students that can't sit still in a three hour exam, they know the work (or maybe not) but feel exam conditions restrict creativity with questions that ask you to strategically plan and put forth recommendations to a fictional company and their fictional problems.

So if your not a great student its not the end of  the world. Be a life long learner, always seeking ways to improve yourself -your own way.

What makes Pinterest so Interesting.

I've just added the 'Pin It' button to this blog and feel that everything about Pinterest is just so easy . The social pinboard is growing fast and strong with pinners simply installing the browser  plugin - the pinboard becomes a very efficient bookmarking tool. The site drives more traffic than LinkedIn, Google+ and Youtube COMBINED.

Piterest's immense popularity is driven by the our changing lifestyle and the demand for quick information. Again the site makes everything sooo easy- a click of the pin-it button. One pin says a thousand words. Everyone is taking advantage of this, and if you're not, then get going. At the very  lease everyone can get a quick fix on the Humor Pins.

This info graphic by Sandbox goes into details.

InTRO Graphics. You saw it here first.

This is my Intro Graphic. An visual representation of the highlights on my resume. I made this because I was told that you have 30 seconds to leave an impression and get the attention your resume deserves.

 You'll be noticed because you put in the time to save them time.

People are busy so if you can save them the effort of reading a cover letter then you're one step ahead.

It directly becomes your portfolio piece.

By making this intro graphic it shows that you can translate a paragraph of text into one picture. The intro graphic is there to see -its tangible and it proof that you can creatively highly your strengths.

So start picking out the highlights of your resume and show it visually, simply and creatively.

Teaching Timmy

Let me introduce you to Timmy. He is a three year old cutie who just amazes me by how he learns. Timmy was at my house recently and he runs up and down the hall way to my room to show me objects that he  finds around the house. Everything just amazes him and he is enthusiastic to share it with anyone who will  give him the attention. Timmy's curiosity leads him to venture all around the house and away from this mother, yet occasionally he would be worried that she would leave him.

As I observed Timmy I was witnessing a the dual display of the 'wonder and worry' mechanisms. While Timmy was being naturally curious he was also keeping an eye out for danger and  threats.  In the article,
Wired to Wonder by professor of psychology Todd Kashdan discusses how curiosity and threat detecting systems work together to equip us with optimal decision making skills. 


What happened next demonstrates that under threatening circumstances the combination of both curiosity and its worry counterpart allowed excellerated learning. In this case Timmy learnt very quickly how to open a door. Prior to this Timmy would  continuously demand my attention, grabbed my hand and lead me towards the door to open it for him. At first I did not  mind but Timmy kept returning, close the door behind himself and later annoy me to open it for him. After the fourth time I refused to open it for him. Instead I demonstrated how he would open the door by showing him the hand movement as I opened an imaginary door. Timmy's curiosity had spurred creativity and he knew the context of my acting. As he became worried about he's mum leaving he made the choice to learn. 


He watched me, then thought about it  and even moved his hand the way he had observed me doing it. On his first attempt he was not successful -pulling on the handle without turning it. I showed him again this time emphasising how to turn the handle. On his second attempt he was close but was frustrated, even fearful that his mum had abandoned him. There was little chatter between the parents outside indicating to him threatening situation. On this third attempt Timmy opened the door. After jerky movements he was able to do what he had seen. Observation learning allowed  him opening this door. In other literal sense this type of learning will open many other doors for him in the future. 

One reason children are such fast learner is because they allow themselves to be curious, over being cautious.Timmy's urge to explore overpowered his worries and demonstrates that  although our brains are hard wired to worry  it is important also let ourselves be curious. Being curious creates opportunities to acquire new knowledge and skills. In observing Timmy, I noticed the fine balancing act between the worry-wonder mechanisms. While curiosity creates new situations, the threat detecting system is there to prompt us to act accordingly and make that new situation into an memorable experience.

So always be curious and embrace uncertainty, because our worry-wonder nature blesses us to be great learners.  

Telling stories to Learn

I enjoyed playing the game Articulate the second time. The first time I just could not articulate the word ;'writing'. Although simple and clear in my mind I struggled to describe it outloud. And I reflected on why I did so badly and it was because I wasn't confident with expressing things in their most simple and natural form- things had to be complicated to be right. And that proves to be wrong. Things should be said in simple terms and I think that this applys to writing and articulating your story.

I am very new to all this and you can tell. I change my stance during the post, I get confused then I pick up the courage to say something bold then I shy back in regret. But I have been trying to be bold lately because I still strive to create a post once in a while to help me tell a story. Everyone has a story to tell and we connect and learn through stories. 

So excuse me while I find my voice.
I'm just trying to articulate myself through writing because I believe it helps me to learn. Even though I stumble on my arguments sometimes I'll always build up the courage tell  my story.

Frugal not Minimalistic

When I was comfortably employed I neglected to notice the term 'frugal'. It sounds sort of weird too- 'FRU-GUL'.

Side note: The EmbedPlus site does the word justice. The site is stepping up from traditional dictionaries and providing a platform where the user searches a word, hears the pronunciation and then watch it in a real situation on youtube. A fantastic learning tool, and should get noticed as soon as possible.

Frugulity is defined as "the tendency to acquire goods and services in a restrained manner, and resourceful use of already owned economic goods and services, to achieve a longer term goal". Being frugal is simply making smart economical choices. Althought the term can intersect with minimalism, the words shouldnt be confused as being the same thing. Adopting a minimalistic lifestyle is require many changes, while being frugal is adopting a attitute change focuced on financial goals. I've adopted only 2 things to teach myself about frugality, and at the moment it is all I need to be in control of my financial circumstances.

In midst of self employment, I finally understand to appreciate being resourceful and economical. My financial insecurities were peeping their ugly head and without a plan there will be tears.
To stretch the dollar I tried the following things:

1. Got on Ebay.
The process of selling on Ebay was a great learning experience. You pay a small sellers fee, but the support is great. It teaches you to think about profit considering postage, how to write to create interest for your product, taking the right photo angles to make your shoes look the best they can. So far I have not made a sale but I'm optimistic- you gotta be in it to win it.
With reference to the quote above, selling things on eBay is 'resourceful use of already owned economic goods ..for long term goal'.

2. Be a Purposeful Buyer
There are two stages which I have been implementing recently and have learnt to do it reasonably well. At first  I asked myself the following questions:
Q1.'Do you really need it?' and
Q2. 'What can it do for me ?'.

Later on I refined the questions. These questions allow you to match your needs with the purpose of the product. No match, No buy. 
New Q1 :'Can i survive without this product?'
NewQ2 : What can it do for me today?' .

The difference in these questions really does make a huge difference. The first forces you to access your needs based on survival, and yes, most likely I will be fine without a new pair of shoes. I'll just end up selling them on Ebay in two weeks when I get desperate for more survival needs, such as food !
The second question forces you to consider immediate needs -addressing your needs today.

Minimalism  is a big merging trend at the moment and Leo Babauta creator of  Zenhabits, talks about 'finding simplicity in the daily chaos of our lives'. Zen habits talks about some big idea in uncomplicating your life, however I've noticed that doing so can be somewhat  boring. So currently I'm only being frugal as a solution to my financial situation- and not getting too involved with the mimimalism hype. I might take interest in it when im older, but now I'm embracing the whirlwinds of technology and the dramatically busy city life - I  may even be overwhelmed by it- but its too early for the minimalistic lifestyle.

How to make a lightbox

DIY projects are great because they allow you to be creative and resourceful. Doing things yourself will let you to make mistakes then solve them. If you have some spare time, take a look around to see if anything can be improved through DIY. Undertaking little projects always give me a real buzz and I am excited to be able to post, how to make a DIY lightbox.

Note: Especially in unsteady economical times, doing DIY projects saves money without compromising the results. This post is an addition to my notes on being frugal - introduces ways to be  resourceful and get around spending unnecessary expenses.

This light box can help you to take more professional looking photos of small objects, by providing the right amount of lighting to aid with focus as well as eliminating background light interference.

Gather the following tools:

• Stanley knife
• Scissors
• Glue stick
• Ruler
• Masking tape

To get started you will need the following materials:

3 pieces of A4 paper. Don't worry about getting a quality paper, it should be thin and opaque to filter the light.

3 pieces of A3 paper

A cardboard box approximately 30cm x 30cm x 35cm.

2 table lamps.

1 clip light

For the best results use light bulbs that imitate natural light. These are call 'full-spectrum' lights.

Instructions: 

1.  If the cardboard box has a lid, remove the lid with a standley knife. Position the box like the image above.

2. To cut out the openings, draw a guideline on the side of the box with the following measurement:

width: 20cm and height: 25m. Using a standley knife carefully follow the guide to cut of the cardboard.

3. Cut outs are done on the left, top and right sides of the box.

4. Place a sheet of A4 paper over the cut out openings and tape the paper in place with masking tape.

5. Line the bottom of the bottom and back of the box with A3 paper. Make sure you cover all gaps to avoid them showing in your photos.

6. To set up the light box, place the box in an area that has moderate amount of natural light.

Here I have used a scent holder to position the clip lamp - be resourceful to find a way that works for you.

7. Place the box between the two table lamps, directing the light to shine through the A4 paper area. The A4 paper will filter this light to diffuse it and prevent shadows and reflection.

8. Position the clip lamp above the box, directing the light to shine through the A4 paper area.

9. Place a small object inside the box, and shoot from the front with your flash off. 

10. For the best results adjust the position of the lamps depending on the amount of light required. 

Do this by playing around with the lighting according to your environment. If you are shooting where that is limited natural light, place the lamps closer to the paper to increase the light that filters through.

Here are some shots that I captured inside my light box. I was extremely pleased with the clarity and sharpness of these photos. For the shoot I used the Nikon D3100 camera. Which I might add is a gem, perfect for entry level shooting.

Hope this post is helpful.

Instant gratification from Multitasking

I was talking with friends about the capabilities of their mobile phones and was asked:
Does your phone multitask? Can you read your emails while making a tweet?


Some people are very passionate about this, they stress that  its very important  for a phone to multitask so it does not lag when you open another app while waiting for another to load. With technology at our dispense, we are able to do more things at the same time to gain instant results. This is known as instant gratification- the inability to delay the pleasure from what he or she wants. With the powerful pull from social media platforms,instant gratification has affected us all. It influences us to instantly act on the urges to be involved in celebrity drama and be well connected on Facebook. 
Example sayings from someone with poor impulse control or high need of instant gratification are;
I want the information now!
I can't wait 4 seconds, this website has lost my business.
I'll multitask and open another 2 tabs to Google the weather and find out what Kim kardashian is doing. 


"Instant gratification is not soon enough" - Meryl Streep 
Not soon enough leads to us doing more things at the same time to save time. This has lead us to being a generation of multitaskers. Multitasking was once seen a valuable skill, but science is merging to prove the brain struggles to multitask. In his book Brain Rules, molecular scientist Dr John Medina states that 'the brain can not multitask'. This raises some social concerns about the culture of instant gratification. 

This culture influences the workplace and education systems to adopt multitasking, and even hails it as a solution to a time poor situations. However, there should be consideration of the science that is proving multitasking to be ineffective and even damaging to the brain. Todd Oppenheimer a journalist and the author of The Flickering Mind, talks about how the Multitasking Mentality  can impair the brain to ' superficially process' tasks. This means that while you are constantly task switching, you do them mindlessly without focus or a directed result.  


Multitasking = more time.

To be exact,.Dr John Medina confirms that it takes four times longer to complete a task when it is interrupted. 

When I look at my little Huewai IDEOS (cheapest android phone on the market) Im glad that it can't handle rigorous multitasking. This curbs my urges for a media fix, and teaches me appreciate the benefits of delayed gratification - also known as patience and self control. This unlike mindless multitasking can also be adopted into how I complete tasks at work.


While writing this blog post, I observed the way I work and  notice that I am a flustered mulitasker, who is easily distracted.  This blog post took me 2 weeks to finish because I was overwhelming myself by opening 8 tabs in the browser every time I got started.


So next time when you catch googling, facebooking and chatting while in a lecture - cut down on your tasks and save time and your brain. Seriously  your mental health depends on it.

Bomb Dives

It took 4 days after new years day for me to sit down, clear my desk and start writing. Having the initiative to do something for the first time is always truly the hardest. It's hard because you dipping you toes into cold water, unknown of it's depth and whether you will like the feeling. You assess your surroundings to see if its safe, appropriate and worthwhile.

I have been thinking long and hard about taking my first step into web freelancing. Before jumping in I took notes and researched associated risks:

Will I be safe? 
Mostly likely I will not kill myself whilst undertaking projects. However there is consideration of stress on the mind, body and bank account.

The web freelancing industry is definitely growing , with graduates breaking away from traditional employment  while others join as web companies down-size staff. This observation shows a fair deal of competition that can affect financial stability. However the challenges of a competitive market, forces for new strategies and innovation. Im hoping to reduce stress by focusing on business and marketing efforts- especially in the social media arena and networking for win-win business relationships with bigger web companies.

Appropriate?
Yes. Considering the amount of accumulated HECS fees, it is very appropriate to launch into something that I have dedicated so much time and money for. Doing web design caters to my strengths that I have been honing through gaining my pieces of paper.

Worthwhile?
Worth a great deal because the lifestyle of a  freelancer offers me the freedom and independence that I crave. This may prove to be a naive plan,  but the appeal of self employment always manages to creep back and tempts me with all its risk taking and challenges. Watching myself adapt to these changes (and taking notes of how I stay afloat and survive in the business) is worthwhile.

My conclusion is to do a massive bomb dive into this pool, make the biggest splash I can. Why? because its 2012, its summer and the sooner the start-up the more time I have to fail, get myself up and try again.