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Beaujolais Nouveau wine

That’s Some Hip Wine

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Came across this wine the other day, and the hip hop graffiti label caught my eye. Typically, wine bottle designs are more conservative so this one stood out.

Beaujolais Nouveau

Checking the back label, this wine has a QR code along with the link to its Facebook page. That’s some hip wine.

The Secret of Social Media Success

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I attended the Social Media Summit Hawaii 2011 and gleaned the secret of social media success. Do you want to know what the secret is? Do you? Are you ready for it?

Okay, here goes. The secret of social media success is hard work.

What?! That’s it? That’s what you learned from a day-long seminar with social media elite you ask? Well, yes, but not in those exact words.

In this post, I am not going to recap topic sessions. You can harvest the power of Twitter for that by searching for the hashtag of #SMSHI (or #HISMS). Mari Smith taught the audience How to Build a Large, Loyal, and Profitable Network, Erin Blaskie explained how companies can outsource their social media, NEENZ provided her insights about building communities, Mike Prasad presented self-experienced case studies, and Yancy Unequivocally Jim convinced the audience to create viral presentations. These sessions I attended were filled with tips and insights, but one underlying lesson resonated from each speaker and each topic – you have to invest hard work to realize success.

Hard work includes discipline. Do you reach out to your social media communities every day, every week, every month? NEENZ does.

Hard work includes consistency. Are you consistently listening to your clients, customers, and audience and consistently using their feedback? Mari Smith implores you to do so.

Hard work includes organization. Do you use a project management system such as Basecamp to organize your social media replies and conversations? Erin Blaskie recommends it.

Hard work includes dedication of time. Do you spend 60-80 hours of work and research to create a one-hour presentation slide deck? Yancey Unequivocally Jim of Empowered Presentations does.

Hard work includes being methodical. Do you dissect your target audience into focused seed groups? That’s what Mike Prasad did for Kogi BBQ and sold over $2M of $2 fusion tacos.

So success doesn’t hinge upon the social media tools, tips, or resources. The differentiator is the hard work you bring, and that my friends is the secret of social media success.

Thanks to the Social Media Club Hawaii for organizing a great event!

Bonus

About the tools and resources mentioned during the Summit? Here are a few I jotted down:

Double Bonus

Here are just a few random shots taken from the event and venue.

Free Trip to Japan Anyone?

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How about this use of social media to win back travelers to Japan? Japan’s Tourism Agency is asking for a billion yen to pay for the airfare of bloggers and social media influencers to visit the land of the rising sun beset by problem after problem.

To qualify, you have to outline your travel plans and what you hope to get out of your (free) trip. You still have to pay for lodging and food, and of course, you need to document your experiences online.

This, indeed, is an interesting proposition, but the Yahoo article doesn’t make it very appealing saying this:

The number of foreign visitors to Japan has dropped drastically, since a catastrophic earthquake and tsunami triggered a nuclear disaster at the Fukushima Dai-ichi Power plant in March. Nearly 20,000 people have been confirmed dead, while more than 80,000 remain displaced because of radiation concerns.

Umm, yeah, that’s definitely a killjoy. You going?

Gowalla on Vacation

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Sometimes technical problems just get you. When it does, keeping a sense of humor helps pass the frustration. You have to chuckle at this Gowalla service outage.

20110921-070443.jpg

What Has Google+ Done?

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Are you on Google’s new social startup simply called “Google+“? It’s basically similar to Facebook and Twitter, combining elements from each and also implementing its own feature set. With the popularity of Twitter and Facebook, is there room for yet another social network? Surprisingly, yes.

Maybe it’s just me, but I’ve seen a recent disruption in the social media circles that coincides with the launch of Google+. I never thought any service could supplant Facebook and Twitter, and I’m not yet saying Google+ has, but it has definitely made an impact.

Being a Google service, people took notice with a flurry of signups and activity, but how does it differ from Facebook and Twitter? On Twitter, I’m following over 1000 users and my Timeline is constantly updating. I learned a long time ago that Twitter is NOT email and don’t try to read unread tweets – ain’t gonna work. But with this flood of tweets, finding the “good stuff” isn’t easy. I get personal stuff, business stuff, tips, sales, articles, you name it.

For me, Facebook is somewhat similar to Twitter though I follow much less users. I still “like” pages for businesses and organizations so I do get duplicate content from Twitter. There’s more person-to-person interactions on Facebook, mainly since I know the people I friended on Facebook.

Now here comes Google+. This is a fresh start, a clean slate, a blank piece of paper. Of course, you see the same early adopters you met on other social networks. But with Google+ circles, you have a better way of managing people, personas, and content. And like Facebook, the use of real names dictates more civil behavior online (in general). With these new mechanics in play, users can more easily see and acknowledge the shortcomings of Facebook and Twitter.

So really, what has Google+ done? It’s caused a rift, a pause, and it’s made you think. Google has finally broken the hold of Facebook and Twitter and created a fissure that gives opportunities to Google+ or the next big thing.

Connected Through Social Media

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The connectedness provided by social media continues to amaze me. I’ve mentioned our kitchen and bathroom renovation here and there, and I’ve already gotten several suggestions and recommendations.

From Namesake, I got feedback about flooring for kitchens.  On Facebook, I got a message from a classmate who’s a talented architect who offered some suggestions.

Most recently, this tweet fed into my Facebook timeline, and I was told to check with 808 Stone.

[blackbirdpie url=”https://twitter.com/geewhy/status/75451784939831296″]

No, 808 Stone doesn’t have soapstone (which I think is rare in Hawaii), but they do fabricate and install granite countertops.  No promises, but looking good so far working with this family owned business.  Keeping fingers crossed…

Researching Group Buying Payment and Tracking Apps

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Who doesn’t like the deals and discounts offered by group buying services like Groupon, Living Social, Play Hawaii, et alia? What I don’t like is tracking my purchases and redeeming my coupons from these services.

I have to check out some group buying iPhone apps to ease these pains. I’m talking no vouchers to print then forget at home. I not only want to see my purchases, but also be able to redeem my coupons when I visit the physical store similar to Starbucks Mobile Card.

The search begins…

Las Vegas Scavenger Hunt

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So my cohort, @abaggy, is living the life in Las Vegas. Why should he have all the fun? Why can’t we virtually enjoy the sights of Sin City? So here are a few challenges I’ve posed.

  1. Three pictures of food he’s scarfing down (buffet or not).
  2. Two pictures of major sights on the Strip. We’re talking the fountains of Bellaggio, the rides of the Stratosphere, the Sirens of Treasure Island, or even the Eiffel Tower of the Paris hotel.
  3. A Foursquare or Gowalla check in at Caked Las Vegas. Bonus: Picture of the goodies.
  4. A check in at a shopping mall.
  5. A report on the weather.
  6. A tweet about his winnings or losings.
  7. One picture inside a dimly lit night club.
  8. A picture of tickets to a Vegas show.
  9. Bonus: A visit to a dude ranch.

Can he complete this scavenger hunt?

Update

How’s he doing? Let’s see…

  1. Three pictures of food.

    2. Partially devoured steak and eggs on Twitpic

  2. Two pictures of major sights on the Strip. Close enough, I’ll count the picture of the bowling alley and the sideways picture of the Stratosphere. Complete.

    3. Bowling at the Orleans with a bunch of crazy classmates on Twitpic
    .@geewhy a view of the stratosphere from the room we're ... on Twitpic

  3. A Foursquare or Gowalla check in at Caked Las Vegas. Bonus: Picture of the goodies.  Not sure if what to make of this since it ain’t Caked.

    4. [blackbirdpie url=”https://twitter.com/abaggy/status/57495015613677570″]

  4. A check in at a shopping mall.  Complete (close enough).

    5. [blackbirdpie url=”https://twitter.com/abaggy/status/57491663601410048″]

  5. A report on the weather. Complete.

    6. [blackbirdpie url=”https://twitter.com/abaggy/status/57033798319222784″]

  6. A tweet about his winnings or losings. Complete.

    7. [blackbirdpie url=”https://twitter.com/abaggy/status/57587179303612416″]

  7. One picture inside a dimly lit night club.
  8. A picture of tickets to a Vegas show.
  9. Bonus: A visit to a dude ranch. I might have to count this. Sounds like codespeak for kicking it with a bunch of Asian dudes.

    10. [blackbirdpie url=”https://twitter.com/abaggy/status/57312571434348544″]

  10. Bonus #2: I have to give props for this one.

    11. [blackbirdpie url=”https://twitter.com/abaggy/status/57585059057770496″]

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