3 Metrics that Will Change the Way You Market on Facebook.

Yes that’s right, businesses not only need to look at metrics for their own website but need to track their social media proliferation via social metric measuring tools like Facebook’s Insights tab.

So what does this mean for business owners… we need to have another meeting, pull everyone in the room and to discuss social media metrics and how we just “do better”.

Not the case. Most small business owners are far too busy doing their job to put another variable in the laundry list of sub routines that are already running in the back of their minds. It just needs to be managed.

The best strategy I’ve found is a small group, maybe two people. A developer and a “media minded” individual. Think small two person teams for the task of managing your facebook and twiiter. No need to pull everyone into the meeting room unless there is a problem. Like a twitter #Bashtag campaign springing up because of stupid aggressive marketing. It’s a fine line!

Producer Delton Childs talks about some of the things that new administrators of business Facebook pages might get tripped up on, that make a big difference.

This Episode:

• Intro — It’s the first one ya know!
• Mashable.com (great site)
• Lynda.com (New Effective E-Mail Marketing Tutorials)
• Lynda.com (PayPal Essential Training)

Another COOL new web analytics tool from Google.  I don’t see it in my administrative panel yet but can wait to see what insights it helps bring out!

I grew up in the Texas media industry.  My father, Robin Flores, has worked in radio all my life, both as an on air personality and as a programming director.  My Dad is always concerned about the character of the station in the eyes of the listener, how the listener interacts with the station and what type of interaction that is.  That interaction takes place thought media in it’s various forms, TV, Radio, On-Line.… and its a tough industry.  It’s fast passed, looks matter and how things sound is key.  Media is where the rubber meets the road between the customer and marketing.  One of the little nuggets of marketing genius my father was able to pass down to me was, “if you stole it from me, you stole it twice”.  Just wait, this is going somewhere…

I have been very lucky.  When was being instructed on professional video techniques the company, Border Media,  actually hired a professional photographer to come and give me one-on-one sessions for a week at a time spread out over a few months.  I was given a Panasonic DVX-100b (awesome cam) to start out with and an unbelievable lighting and audio kit (wireless, lighting, packs to tote it all, the works).  I had more tools than I knew what to do with and I needed to use them.  The photographer the company brought in was  Andrew Hudson.  Andrew is one of those special people you get to work with in your life that has an uncanny eye for beauty and skills that reach beyond their years of experience. One of the things Andrew told me was, “Steal from the Best and Make it Your Own”.  Along with a lot of other things Andrew said… that line has stuck with me.

Stealing Is OK ?! Thanks Dad! 

What Andrew said reminded me of the phrase my Dad always half jokingly said, “If you stole it from me, you’ve stolen it twice”.  I’m no Taratino, but I can shoot some video.  Andrew and my father, as media mentors, have encouraged me to look at what the market is doing, take the ideas, parts and pieces I like and that work for my purposes and put them into my own work… and make it better.  While shooting video even though I don’t have a million dollar set I have a professional video kit and still reproduce (try at least) the quality and technical beauty seen in well shot and produced TV and Cinema.

You don’t always have to steal.  I like to call it integrating!  There are good books written on design, best practices, post production techniques.  We live in an age of information now and I don’t have much trouble finding inspiration on the web.  There are resources like Lynda.com, Kelby Training, MacProVideo.com and many more.  One good book is Before and After: How to Design Cool Stuff, you can check them out at Before & After.  In this book, and on the site, they give you design tips but always in the context of a larger conceptual philosophy like rhythm, motion, or as I’m writing this I got sucked into an description of the concept of “continuation” and how to lead the viewers eye on a real or imaged path, which is something I need to keep in mind when I take photographs and piece together graphical compositions… did I just steal that idea?

A Final Thought: 

One of the things I like most about stealing/integrating good ideas from other videographers and designers is that it requires a lot of planning.  If you’re going to attempt to reproduce something someone else did you often have to think about how you can use the tools you already have in a different way.  Trying the things I’ve seen has pushed me into what I can only describe as paradigm shifts in the way I produce and design.  Before you know it, you’re looking back at your work remembering the techniques that characterized your style of production at the time, whatever type of media it may be.

The argument is that these on-line retailers have an unfair advantage, because consumers get an almost instant %10 percent discount because they don’t have to pay Sales Tax (but don’t we have to pay shipping?).

I was wondering how this might effect us here in Texas and found this article from Daily Finance stating that amazon has offered to invest in $300 million in the state and help create 5,000 jobs in return for putting off making a similar bill law in Texas!   All this is still on the table as I understand it right now, as far as Texas goes, but to my understanding not all the on-line affilites Amazon “cut-off” were big companies. Many of them were mom and pop stores that relied on business from Amazon.com to help pay their bills, at least that’s what Fox’s “Amazon to California” article painted a picture of.  What if 10,000 or more (it a big state) lost income due to a similar tax law.

There are a lot of ways you can look at this problem… there are a lot of articles that can help you hash out who you think is right.  But another good point my a buddy of mine made when I was telling him about the epic tale was that when you shop on-line… the break you get is because it’s not convenient… not as convenient as they’re painting it out to be.  You have to wait a week or more to get what you want.  Much different than walking into Wal-mart and walking out within an hour (if you can get out that fast).

They’re making it sound like on-line shoppers are in their cushy recliners getting instant gratification but the reality is that most on-line shoppers, me at-least, plan, wait and hunt.  It’s not as convenient as they’re purporting.  May the Gods smile upon our on-line purchases… for if we have a return… who knows what we may have to endure.

It’s a mixed bag!  And it doesn’t help when you hear that this sales tax legislation for on-line purchases is being backed by Walmart…  and the rabbit hole goes deeper.

Here are a few articles in case you want to check it out:

Amazon Offers Texas A Big Deal

Amazon to California: Read My Lips, No Online Sales Tax

Amazon Drops 10,000 California Partners

Amazon Fights CA Sales Tax, Threatens to Ditch Affiliates

Web Premium Upgrade Option

Something designers, artists, developers, and companies large and small might be interested in knowing.… in case you haven’t visited the Adobe website to look into purchasing some extremely expensive software lately, the company is now licensing their software on a month to month or year to year basis as opposed to purchasing the (expensive ) software bundle and then upgrading yearly.  To my understanding you can purchase any skew of the Adobe Creative Suite, I can’t name them all but they range from a few hundred dollars to a few thousand in price, so be careful which one you order!

Web Premium CS5.5 enough to make your head explode!

While I can’t really get into all the price points for all the differing skews of the creative suite, I’d like to touch on the one I use the most. The Adobe Web Premium Creative Suite. I use all the core components at least on a weekly basis and it just so happens I have a fresh install of CS 5.5 on a laptop a great buddy of mine is letting me take for a whirlwind tour over the extended 4th of July Holiday.

Adobe Web Premium is $1799 out the door, but now Adobe is offer a 1 year subscription for “89.00 a month” which sounds good but comes to about $1068 at check-out I’m sure. Unless your contracted in for a year at 89.00 monthly, which I doubt. The other option Adobe gives you is the $135 “month to month” subscription which comes out to $1620 for the year.

Web Premium (Full Version) — but worth every penny

A $552 penalty for not giving Adobe your cash up-front but still cheeper than purchasing the suite out-right. Knowing that an upgrade from CS 5 to 5.5 is about 399.00 and from CS4 to CS5.5 $649.00 for Web Premium, if the upgrades hold or ballpark around the current price… I’m not all that sure it makes sense to purchase the software I’ll just have to keep frustratingly upgrading at huge unexpected cost… I had no idea 5.5 was launching… heck… I’m still in love with some of the CS4 tools.

But hey… if you’re a creative professional… sometimes you have a hard month… and not having to worry about your software license… not having to worry about  loosing your bread and butter, your ability to produce… might be worth shelling you the $1799 to rest easy knowing.… I own this.

Let me start first by saying I was very disappointed in the event promotion, specifically the website(…just wait, things get better).  I’m a web developer… and a comic book fan so I have to say something.  It’s hard to beleive that a comic book convention would have a hard time getting together a good website.  Aren’t web coders and comic book fans the same group of people?  I’m one of them!  I couldn’t really find much on the web about comic con other than a website filled poorly formatted pages and very little info.    As a web developer… I say it was a disaster.  But like I said, things get better.

Delton & Kris (Event Management)

Texas Comic Con — San Antonio Admission is $15 and half price for kids.  I couldn’t find this info anywhere on the web and it almost deterred me from going, I’m glad I went.

Comic Con was good. As soon as I walked in folks were smiling.  I should have known I’d have a blast.   I have to take this opportunity to say that I believe the people who love Sci-Fi and comic books tend to be good company.  I was greeted by event managment.  I have to thank the event organizer Kris for helping me out with my media credentials.  Eveyone was friendly as can be and I saw some amazing things.  When you first walk in you’ll see rows of vintage and hard to find collectables from current and decades past.  I can imagine some very happy men walked away with some brand new toys this weekend… some of them vintage and still in the box.

Sombraro Superman Taylor James Johnson

There were statues of characters so finely crafted I couldn’t believe my eyes.  Storm Troopers and Jedi Abounded.  Imagine my surprise when I spot San Antonio Film Maker and Jack Riccardi Show Producer Taylor James Johnson participating in all the festivities.  Out shooting of coarse.

There was a full size R2 roming around and for the life of me I couldn’t find the person controlling it, either this thing was a big rumba that wasn’t doing it’s job or there was some guy hiding who knows were having the time of this life watching everyone freak out when they turn around and there is a full size R2 bleep blopping at them!

R2 Roaming the Floor at Texas Comic Con San Antonio

The comic book culture is alive and kicking in San Antonio… apparently.  No matter how poorly promoted on the web.  The comic culture came out gather, be with one another and celebrate our favorite characters and stories.  Good Times!