One of the easiest ways to snag a mass influx of followers is running a promotion on your social media networks. But contests, giveaways, sweepstakes, and the like can often bring in uninterested consumers merely attracted by a freebie.
Stepping in front of that Austin audience may not sound hard at first, but public speaking pros warn that being an engaging and helpful panelist takes planning.
“Many people think they can just wing it — I’ve seen it a hundred times — but it’s important to do your homework,” said frequent panelist Nicole Williams, founder and CEO of the career website WORKS by Nicole Williams.
South By Southwest organizer Christine Auten advised, “Look [the panelists] up on LinkedIn and see what groups and organizations they’re part of.” By reading up on interviews they’ve given in the past, you can glean clues as to what they’ll say again and how you can add to that perspective or counter it.
For more tips on wowing the South By crowd, read How to Be a Great Panelist at SXSW (or Any Other Conference). [sub req'd]
Will we see more social networks in the future? Garrett Camp, founder of the discovery engine StumbleUpon, doesn’t think so.
“I think it’s going to be, you’re not on a social network, but you’re using social functionality within existing products,” Camp predicted in our Media Beat interview. “I don’t think there’s going to be as many new social networks pop up as leveraging existing networks like Facebook or StumbleUpon to enhance the experience.”
The discovery engine StumbleUpon helps millions of readers explore the Internet, generating some impressive traffic in the process. Now, they’re offering an alternative to traditional banner ads on the Internet. In this week’s Media Beat interview, CEO Garrett Camp outlined the company’s new ad program.
“Paid Discovery is a way for anyone with interesting branded content to distribute it to StumbleUpon members. We have a community of 15 million people, they’re stumbling, they’re looking to find interesting stuff. Every time they click the ‘Stumble’ button, they say ‘I want to see something cool matched to my interests,’” Camp explained.
“If you have something that you think may be of interest to our community, you can actually become one of those stumbles. The way our system works is that one in 20 stumbles will be a paid placement matched to your interests … Unlike a banner ad network, there is no click. It totally skips the click — it becomes the page you view in your stumble-stream.”
– JASON BOOG
Part 1: StumbleUpon CEO: ‘We Refer Almost As Much Traffic As Facebook’
You can also watch this video on Mediabistro’s YouTube channel.
You wouldn’t expect a book from a music, fashion and entertainment mogul to cover meditation and “succeeding through stillness.” But, in his sophomore title Super Rich, Def Jam Records co-founder Russell Simmons attributes his success to focusing on hard work itself, not the financial rewards it might bring. And even struggling writers, he says, can benefit from that principle.
“If you’re a writer, you write. If you’re a ball player, you shoot the ball, don’t you?” Simmons explained in our @MediaBeat interview.
“The idea of giving is the same idea that I embraced when I put my first record out, ‘Christmas Rappin,’ in 1979… We gave it away until people demanded it and then they decided to buy it. And I think that that’s what a good writer has to do as well. I hope that people know that that’s the process. You give, you know, unconditionally if you can, but if not you trade. But you try to just give.”
@UncleRush also detailed how he launched Global Grind and what aspiring entrepreneurs should know before approaching him with an idea. “It’s very difficult to pitch me, because I almost always have my own ideas most times,” he said.
Part 2: Russell Simmons: ‘It’s Unbelievable That the News Gets Away with Sensationalizing’
Part 3: Russell Simmons on Producing (and Starring in) Reality Television
With the explosion of the Internet, today’s media job seekers have more choices available than ever before. But how do you know if an emerging company is poised to be the next Twitter or just another dot-com bust?
For Google’s VP of consumer products Marissa Mayer, making the decision to become the company’s 20th employee was so difficult that she ended up in tears.
“My friend Andre said to me, ‘You know, Marissa, you’re putting a lot of pressure on yourself to pick the right choice, and I’ve gotta be honest: That’s not what I see here. I see a bunch of good choices, and there’s the one that you pick and make great,’” Mayer recalled. “I think that’s one of the best pieces of advice I’ve ever gotten.”
In the end, she said she accepted Google’s offer for one reason: “I would learn more there failing than I would other places succeeding, and that’s what really drew me to the role.”
Part 1: Marissa Mayer on Google’s Failed Groupon Bid
Part 2: Marissa Mayer: ‘Google Hasn’t Gotten Social Right Yet’
Register for Digital Privacy Forum on January 20 in New York to learn about the business of online privacy and the future of information management.
When your local dry cleaner is asking you to follow them on Twitter, you know social media is big. Yet, in our latest @MediaBeat interview, Google consumer products VP Marissa Mayer admitted that her own company has lagged a bit behind in the space.
“One of the things that we’ve learned is that Google hasn’t gotten social right yet. That said, social is really important; it’s something that we’re working very hard on. I think that we will get it right,” Mayer said. “I think that if you look at some of the main platforms of the Web, it’s search, video, mobile and social. We’ve done really well in three out of those four, and we’re working very hard on the fourth.”
And, although Google is expanding at a rapid rate, Mayer said protecting user privacy is “the core” of its business. “We really think about privacy in all of our products. We focus on transparency, choice and control, making sure that users understand how data is used, giving them a choice as to whether or not to use the service,” she explained.
Watch the full video to find out why Google banned Facebook from grabbing Gmail data and for Mayer’s answer to @knowledgenotebk‘s question about education technology.
Part 1: Marissa Mayer on Google’s Failed Groupon Bid
Part 3: Google VP Marissa Mayer: Learn By Failing
Register for Digital Privacy Forum on January 20 in New York to learn about the business of online privacy and the future of information management.
After incessant buzz that Google was looking to buy Groupon, word finally came that the fast-growing “deal of the day” company had turned the tech giant down. So, does that mean Google might launch its own coupon-type service instead?
“When you look at our overall suite of services, especially around our advertising, we already have some things that are like [Groupon],” said Marissa Mayer, Google VP of consumer products, in our Media Beat interview. “We have things like coupons and offer-extension ads that allow merchants to basically make offers to our users. And, so we’re looking at how can we take that technology and put it to use especially in the location space.”
Mayer also rebutted claims that being acquired by Google might water down a start-up company’s cachet. “I think that we have both a good structure for companies that get integrated into Google… and we also have a new construct called an autonomous unit where we basically will buy a company and leave it very independent.”
Part 2: Marissa Mayer: ‘Google Hasn’t Gotten Social Right Yet’
Part 3: Google VP Marissa Mayer: Learn By Failing
Register for Digital Privacy Forum on January 20 in New York to learn about the business of online privacy and the future of information management.
Back in 2001 when most pubs were still trying to figure out what, if anything, to do with their content online, Andrew Ross Sorkin launched the email newsletter Dealbook as an aggregator of business news for The New York Times. Today, the Dealbook blog has grown into a leader for breaking news and even influences Wall Street legislation.
“Dealbook starts as this email with this just amazing audience. If you were just to look through this subscriber list of just who’s on it, it’s just a who’s who of everybody,” Sorkin said in our Media Beat interview. “It’s really about trying to take that community and really move them online in a different way, and really build around the aggregation a lot of breaking news, fresh analysis and original content.”
While Sorkin couldn’t disclose details about The New York Times‘ upcoming paywall plans, he did have some thoughts on what will make it work for the Dealbook audience.
“However we approach it, we’re going to do it in a way that will actually make it work,” he said.
Part 2: NYT‘s Andrew Ross Sorkin Answers His Critics
Part 3: Andrew Ross Sorkin of The New York Times: ‘Persistence over talent wins every day’
Her Royal Highness is ready to be poked, sort of. As of 8 a.m. today, Queen Elizabeth II is on Facebook.
But don’t expect to see any vacation bikini shots or her latest Farmville score. Rather than listing a personal account, the United Kingdom’s royal house says the 84-year-old monarch approved a series of official pages that will chronicle the daily Royal news and videos of herself as well as other royalty.
Photo credit: New York Daily News
