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Learn From Fashion Industry Pros How to Navigate Social Media

on September 16, 2009 in Social Media

Style Hop Fashion Website

In the fashion industry, designers have traditionally been pretty far separated from actual consumers … stories of reclusive designers secretly creating their latest masterpieces and waiting for the red carpet or the runway to unveil them abound.

But, as with just about every other industry out there, Social Media sites are changing the game for the fashion industry in a big way. Now more than ever, designers can talk directly with their clients in real time. The same challenges exist in terms of balancing proprietary information with connecting with their clients, and the rules are being written as you read this on how they’re doing that.

If you are interested in fashion – or your business is in the fashion industry – here are several fashion-related Social Media sites you should be aware of:

ShopFlick – combines video and shopping in a fashion-related community setting.

USTrendy – designers can post their portfolios, and fans can rate and review them.

StyleCaster – provides individualized fashion advice – similar to Amazon in how they learn your preferences as you use the site.

Sense of Fashion – a great place for new designers to display their designs with an eBay-like auction function for sales right on the site.

Sense of Fashion Website

Est. Today – a site for young girls to design, display and purchase their own clothes.

Style Hop – combines fashion and gaming; allows visitors to decide on the popularity of different brands.

Even if you’re not in the fashion industry, it’s always interesting to learn what others are doing to navigate the new waters of Social Media!

Caroline

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Social Media Conundrum: What Would YOU Do?

on September 11, 2009 in Social Media

New Blog Featuring Photos of Oddly Dressed Walmart Customers

Social Media tools like LinkedIn, Facebook, Twitter and YouTube can be tremendous boosts to your business in terms of bringing you new clients and opportunities — it’s hard to miss the stories in the media and seemingly everywhere you turn about this, so it’s not a secret.

One of the beautiful things about Social Media is that it democratizes the publishing and sharing of information — anyone can say anything, anywhere and at any time. And while that levels the playing field for small and mid-size business owners without huge advertising budgets, it also means that your marketing message is no longer within your complete control.

There have been numerous examples where large companies have experienced this very publicly … Google the term, “Dell Hell” and you’ll find over 1.5 million results for a term coined by blogger Jeff Jarvis as he posted about his trials and tribulations with his new Dell computer – even though it happened back in 2007. (This story had a happy ending, as Dell used his feedback to re-engineer their customer service and have turned public opinion around as a result).

The most recent example that I’ve seen is happening right now with Walmart — the website, PeopleOfWalmart.com, was created in August of this year by 23-year-old Andrew Kipple, his 25-year-old brother Adam and their 23-year-old friend, Luke Wherry. The site is a blog that lets visitors view, rate and comment on photos posted of oddly dressed Walmart customers and their vehicles.

Since launching, the site has gone incredibly viral, to the point where they have had to move to bigger servers (with still some outage problems during peak times).

While not necessarily directly negative to the Walmart brand, this site (while funny in some aspects) is not exactly positive for the brand either. It IS a great example of the power of social media and how important it is for Walmart to be out their online telling it’s story (so that any type of site like this that does go up without their control is balanced by the conversation they want to have with their customers online).

So what should Walmart do in this situation? File suit against the founders of the site? Demand it’s removal through cease and desist orders? Make the site even more popular by adding their (powerful, well-funded) voice to the mix? Or, as some have suggested, do nothing and wait for the storm to pass by; when the novelty wears off, the site will die it’s own natural death.

What would YOU do if you were Walmart?

Caroline

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Sarah Palin – Brilliant Strategy or Winner of the “Iquitarod”?

on July 6, 2009 in Social Media

(Soon to be ex) Alaksa Governor, Sarah Palin

Among other big news stories over this past 4th of July weekend was the story about Alaska Governor Sarah Palin’s decision not to seek another term as Governor, and her resignation 2-1/2 years early from her post as Governor.

While the media and folks in politics debate whether this is either a brilliant strategy or a terrible mistake on her part, my point is not to discuss her politics – but rather to bring to light the way she is choosing to get the word out about her decisions and her plans for the future utilizing the same social media tools that are available to all of us.

Her Facebook page shows that she currently has 600,428 fans (or supporters) and she is actively using Twitter (@akgovsarahpalin) to send updates and keep people posted (she’s added about 30,000 followers since making her announcement last Friday).

In the last election, President Obama famously implemented social media as a key piece of his campaign strategy (obviously, with much success).

Like Obama, (and other “celebrity figures”), Palin has had the opportunity to attract many more “fans” or “followers” than those of us mere mortals could do in a similar timeframe. Because of this, the conversation has just exploded rapidly on both of these sites with both supporters and detractors weighing in.

It’s going to be fascinating to watch her use of these social media tools as she leaves her official office and moves on to whatever she has planned next.

Caroline

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Social Media is for Kids (and for All the Rest of Us!)

on June 11, 2009 in Annual International Conference & Business Expo, Social Media

As an Internet Marketing Consultant and specialist in Social Media, I’m frequently asked a variety of questions related to marketing a business on the web. But the question that I get asked the most often is: “Aren’t social networks just for kids?” or the cousin to that question, “No one who would buy my products/services uses social media – do they?”

These questions stem from the myth that Social Media (blogging, or sites like LinkedIn, Facebook, Twitter, etc.) are used only by “kids” for “goofing off online.” Nothing could be further from the truth! In their 2009 Women and Social Media Study, BlogHer, iVillage and Compass Partners found that:

There are 109 million women in the U.S. ages 18 – 77
With Internet penetration at 72.5%, this means that there are 79 million women online, aged 18-77 years
42 million of these women participate in some form of social media at least weekly, and the time spent on social media continues to increase
48% of the women in the study indicated that they are spending more time online researching purchases in this economy

Now that’s all great information – but it doesn’t answer the central question posed earlier in this post. If you check out the actual study, the real gem is tucked away on the very last page of the report. This is where the results get really interesting!

You might be surprised to learn the percentages, by age group, of the women who participate in social networking online:

Millennials (aged 18-26): 83%
Generation X (aged 27-43): 65%
Boomers (aged 44-62): 41%
Matures (aged 63-77): 25%

So what’s the bottom line? Social media is far from being “kid stuff” — adoption rates of using social media sites online are growing at a rapid pace.

Are your future customers or clients women between the ages of 18 and 77 years old? Then you need to be using social media in your business! Not sure exactly how you could use social media to grow your business, or unsure about implementing social networking as a marketing strategy? Great news! This year’s eWomenNetwork International Conference and Business Expo is all about technology and using social media – the right way – in your business.

We’re going to go through real case studies that will show you examples of real businesses just like yours who are putting social media to work — you’ll get to see exactly what they are doing, learn about what’s working (and the things they tried that didn’t work so well, so you can avoid making costly and time consuming mistakes).

What better way to get started on the path to social media success than to learn from the experts who are already succeeding – and who want to share their secrets for success with you?

I Hope to see YOU at this year’s Conference!

Caroline

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