Nic’s blog
I write about building businesses, failing and building a life, not a legacy.
How I use social media to build brand and sell socks
Since launching NicSocks we've been lucky to have many people visit the site, follow us on our various social media platforms, buy socks and actually sign up for our subscription sock offering.After reading Gary Vaynerchuck's Crush It! I decided that I should really focus on communicating with people through basic channels and converting every opportunity to into a sale.Here are some things I've discovered about the different social media channels that I've been experimenting with over the past few months.
Joined: October 2012Followers: 167Tweets: 248Following: 99I only really started tweeting in November when I launched NicSocks. Since then I have made it my goal to engage with people on Twitter about socks and sock-related fashion. All in all I find Twitter to be a great tool to interact with people about my brand, their concerns, questions and feelings towards what we sell, how we sell and where we sell.Most of my interactions are with people who have just discovered our brand of sock and want a bit more information.Numerous sales from direct interactions with people as well as retweets and references on Twitter.
Joined: November 2012Number of posts: 63Likes: 133Here's a quick little "Insights" graph from the NicSocks FB page:
Massive highs and lows. Half of the likes I've received to the page are from friends and the largest reach I've had from a post was a picture of an article that was written about NicSocks in Entrepreneur Magazine.I have received zero sales from my Facebook page and continue to receive likes from people who I know are already fans of the page and have purchased socks. I have focused a lot of my attention of Facebook thinking that it would be a great way to build the brand. I think that in the long, long run that may be the case but the last four months have seen very little actual impact on NicSocks from the page.I've said this a lot in my professional life but what exactly does one do with a "like" on Facebook? In my experience so far, nothing.Zero sales from Facebook.
Joined: February 2013Boards: 6 (Boards NicSocks created)Pins: 113 (Things NicSocks has pinned)Likes: 54 (Things NicSocks liked)Followers: 12Following: 54It took me a bit of time to realise that Pinterest was a social network that NicSocks would slide right into and could really do well on. With that said, once I joined Pinterest I wasn't really sure what to do next. I decided that Pinterest would be a great place for NicSocks to begin positioning itself as a Men's Fashion Brand.I created 6 boards and began pinning things that were relevant to Men's Fashion starting with pairs of NicSocks and things that Nic wore every day. I expanded into Statement Items, Shoes, Fashion tips and Outfits.So far it has been a very hard slog on Pinterest. Lots of work uploading things, repinning, following people and liking other pins with very little return. But I think this one takes time to build so I'm sticking it out.Zero sales from Pinterest.
Google+
Joined: January 2013Followers: 3Google+ is an absolute mystery to me. I've googled "How to build a page on Google+" with no luck. I've spent time looking at other pages and adding content, I've posted, shared circled and linked all without any joy. 3 followers and that's about it.Zero sales from Google+
Joined:Followers:Following:Here's a quick snapshot of my Instagram:
Numerous sales from Instagram, globally and in South AfricaTumblrIt's not really even worth entering details around Tumblr. I found that this particular platform was one too many for me. I had a website, a blog, a twitter account and Facebook. All I was doing was reposting on tumblr to try and build an audience that was probably not going to notice I was there.I started my Tumblr and about a month into it I gave up. Too much work to repost via mobile on so many different platforms. Tumblr was the one to get the chop.Zero sales from Tumblr.
Blogs
The NicSocks blog is a pretty important part of the social media strategy. It's where I post all of my content first, it's where all of my social media links back to when I want to direct users to a message or a specific topic that requires discussion. For this reason I feel like there is great value in having and using the NicSocks blog.I don't have a massive readership yet via the blog but it's something that I am building slowly, organically and using the various social media platforms you read about above.They blog definitely hasn't resulted in direct sales however it leads readers to my website, to sign up to my newsletter and to browse our shop so there is massive value.Social media is a nebulas pit of tricks and tips and effort and time. If you're willing to put in the time and effort to figure out the tricks and tips for yourself then you'll gain the value. If you think social media is a quick way to make a name for your brand you're hopelessly incorrect.
How quiet is too quiet? I have recentl...
How quiet is too quiet?I have recently been chastised at every turn for "falling off the radar" so to speak. By "the radar" most people are referring to that of the social media world; blogs, twitter, the book of face and many others.But here's my question, How quiet is too quiet? I don't feel I've dropped of the radar too dramatically. I completely agree that I am blogging less but I think that's because my paradigms are shifting a bit.I no longer believe that the web is the best place to throw down your thoughts and hope for some response. I no longer believe that my blogs are the best way for me to spend my time online. I have a job that pushes me to my limits almost every day and fulfills my need to constantly be innovating, creating and developing within a new and uncharted territory. So what do I need blogs for?Don't get my wrong, I love my blogs and they are a great outlet for me to do precisely what I am doing right now, a dump of mental thoughts (moughts?) running around my head that help to keep my very few readers up to date with the direction of my thinking and life. That's it.SA Rocks serves an entirely different purpose so that's not really worth discussing in the same context.Regarding Twitter, the book of face, the space of my, linked in, last fm and any (every) other social network I belong to, I am fast feeling that they are all relatively useless to me. I don't understand the value of Facebook. Linkedin is a network worth keeping alive, but just barely and the others were great for me when I wanted to keep abreast of the latest tech out there. But right now, I am in a different paradigm that has very little to do with the web and how social it can be right now.So I think I am being the correct amount of quiet up in here.
Searching for social media, high-end man...
Searching for social media, high-end management people is a tough job. Something has to give when asking for applicants.Something like this frustrates and confuses me to no end:
This appointment requires you to have: • Marketing or Communications related qualifications • at least five years’ work experience in project management • an effective social network profile • a good understanding of WEB2.0 applications for business purposes and an understanding of the international media world and its many challenges.
I don't think I know a single person with "AT LEAST five years' work experience in project management" and "a good understanding of WEB2.0" and "an effective social network profile". Are you joking?You might be able to find a project manager with 5+ years of experience who has no clue how to spell "WEB2.0" (if anyone's using that terminology any more), or you might find a candidate with a social network profile, a great understanding of social media, convergence and innovation with a 2 years of experience.Finding a combination of the three is one helluva task.This frustrates me because there are many young, talented individuals who could jump at this job with open arms and do it effectively who would not be able to apply (or would be dissuaded from even applying) because of the experience. Or a very experienced, gung-ho candidate who needs a prod in to social media who is intimidated by the application standards who you lose out on.I think that the job description of "Innovation Project Manager" is enough to entice people of a certain caliber that you can then filter yourself in the interviews. Don't knock out the applicants before you even see them.
What was sprite thinking? Let me hazard...
What was sprite thinking?Let me hazard a guess:
Sexy German Sprite Ad - BJ from Max Isaacson on Vimeo.
Could it possibly be that Sprite took a risk and wanted this advert to be banned? Could it possibly be that Sprite is illustrating a movement in to the social media and "viral" space through controversy?I think that Sprite made use of the German standards to benchmark a campaign that would expand much further than the initial launch of the advert in Germany. I think they were banking on their advert being banned from Germany, finding it's way online and spreading across the world.Did anyone notice the new can in the adverts? I did. It could even be said that Sprite is rolling out a world wide relaunch of their brand and this is the mechanism they have chosen to introduce users to this new brand. Perhaps.
The DA, social media and the masses
I need to say this out loud and as bluntly as I can. It's cool that the DA are trying to get social with social media and a newly launched website but are we "social media experts" all so far up our own arses that we can't see that in the big picture of the 2009 elections the DA's social media campaign is relatively insignificant.What the DA is trying to do is actually COMPETE IN THE 2009 ELECTIONS. I am extremely curious to figure out how the DA's social media campaign fits in to the bigger picture of their general election campaign.I'm not convinced that social media is going to make much of a difference in the numbers that the DA is looking for as the official opposition for the 2009 elections. I think that it's essential that they are in the space of social networks, mobile activity and engaging with an online community. But let us get real here for a second, when we say "engaging with an online community", who do you think we are talking about? Is it 500 000 South Africans with broadband access? I don't think so. My 20 or so friends who aren't particularly active online have never seen or engaged with DA online. So what's the point? When we talk about engaging with social media we are probably, effectively talking about 20 000 or so people at an absolute push. I stand to be corrected here, these numbers are thumbsucked so please correct me if you know the figures.Why should we be criticising the DA, analysing their every move and be excruciatingly anal about the things they do and the way they do it online? It's actually ridiculous.I asked Helen Zille a question online a few days back on twitter. I was wondering what her stance is on Cope integrating politics and religion. I didn't receive a reply. But let's be honest Helen Zille is competing in one of the most important elections since our democracy came in to existence, what the hell difference does it make if she answers my question? I want her to do the best job she can do in POLITICS not in social media to be perfectly frank.And don't try and pull the Obama card here. We are not the USA, we cannot claim to be and we should try to be. This would lead us in to all sorts of confusion and trouble. We are, majority of the SA population, without Internet and in need of some very distinct things, one of which is not social media let me tell you. The important things right now, in the build-up to election day 2009 (22 April) is to keep the focus of this election on the people, the rights, the voting, elections, masses and not on social media unfortunately.Many people have covered, blogged and written about the DA and what they are doing online. It's quite interesting to me that there isn't much hype, noise or talk around the other political parties. Yet the DA is getting it in the neck. It's like we, the online community, are berating one of the few political parties who bothered to actually make an effort. Why are we not giving the other parties hell as openly as the DA? Why does it matter? Surely our countries democracy is more important than proper use of Facebook, social tools and multimedia?I am interested to know how much money has been put in to the DA's social media campaign and what sort of return of investment they have and will receive? I wonder if in our country that money could not be better used somewhere else? Marketing the DA differently to a wider audience? Because let me tell you, if we all praise and hail the DA as the online guru's in politics but they get trumped in the election then I will feel betrayed by social media and so will they.Walter wrote that the DA's response has him puzzled well my response is simple, in South African politics I would be more concerned if the DA was spending more time answering the social media folk than concentrating on their political campaign. We, as social media people, need to get over ourselves and look at all of this in context.I want democracy, I want a viable opposition and I want leaders who can engage without being sidetracked from what is important. I also want politics and religion to be separate but that's another story that shall be told at another time.
Crowdsourced police work - catch the cat abuser
If you haven't seen the video on youtube that was posted by two mentally unstable (surely?) teens in the USA then best you watch the news report below.I am not mad about pets, they just aren't my cup of tea, however i am well aware of animal abuse and it sickens me. I don't understand how the abuse of an animal aids or assists the assailants in any way, shape or form. It's ridiculous and uncalled for.But the thing about the video above that absolutely intrigues me is how anti-animal-abuse people online who saw the video banded together and figured out exactly who was behind the mask in the video.Watch the video again and notice how people jumped online, searched for the youtube users name and aliases online, gather images from the web relating to the user and pieced them together to factually define who the person was and where they were in the country.Now this is a chicken and egg situation. Sure if there was no YouTube then the video wouldn't have been online and one could argue that the act of abuse wouldn't have taken place. But let's assume that these unstable cowards are just that, unstable. Chances are they would be abusing animals with or without a platform to display their barbarous behaviour. So without the internet these animals (not the cat) would still be abusive. With the internet they were caught thanks to the dedication and keen eye of a few social media users and the tools at their disposal.The future of social media is endless, the applications of the technology are endless and the potential to use these tools effectively is endless.
2oceansvibe FINALLY adds comments and joins in on the blog fun
I have moaned about 2oceansvibe for a long time but more recently have been in touch with Seth and am enjoying reading his brashness.I must commend him on finally placing blog comments to his posts. Many times I've wanted to bash him in a comment, commend him on his arrogance or leave a general comment but to no avail.I can now do that. And this year there will be no controversy if he wins an award at the SA Blog Awards because he can now be classified as a blog.
Does elitism stifle growth?
Recently there have been waves of anger, lashing out, disdain and open disrepute online amongst a very, very small percentage of Internet users in SA.The main focus of this disdain has revolved around the concept of elitism. One blogger today wrote that there are less than 200 active social media users in SA. Huh?Anyways, that's not my point. I want to ask the question: "Does elitism actually stifle growth and development?"My immediate answer is no and I think it's one that I am going to stick to forever. Why? Simple. It's because the "elitism" that "everyone" is talking about is simply providing a driving force for so many to push themselves harder, faster, futher and aid in their growth and development.I don't know about anyone else but when someone excluded me, told me I couldn't, shouldn't, wouldn't, I did, evertime. And not only did I do what they told me I couldn't or shouldn't but I made sure that I creamed them at it. I made a point of standing up and having people notice me.Now if something as silly as a perceived elitism is going to get under your skin, knock you down and make you go home and give up then maybe you should just become an employee at someone else's company. There's nothing wrong with that. Not everyone can be evangelists, leaders, gurus, geniuses, experts and the like... or can they?