Tag Archives: Blogging

by | January 24, 2013 · 5:33 pm

52 Tips on Content and Community From the Top New Media Experts

If you are in a marketing, communications, digital media, or any other role within the marketing mix, I can recommend downloading this eBook entitled “The New Media Rat Pack – 52 Tips on Content & Community From the Top New Media Experts.”

52 Tips on Content and Community from the Top New Media Experts

Launched by Top Rank Marketing in advance of NMX 2013 (formerly BlogWorld) – an event that was held in Vegas early January 2013 – it’s a worthwhile read. Essentially it’s a top level overview of all of the new (and some old) marketing solutions available today, and includes commentary from 52 of the world’s experts in this field. It’s not deep content, and the focus (including the research) tends to be focused on the US, however by reviewing each of the sections, it gives you the opportunity to assess what is of interest to you, and then you can dig deep.

I think a lot of marketing folk in Asia Pacific could benefit from this eBook and the ideas shared, as in many areas, we remain in our infancy in regards to embracing the real business opportunities these solutions offer. B2B or B2C – it is relevant for both.

The topics covered include:

  • Branding
  • Blogging
  • Social Media
  • New Media Law – everyone needs to understand this!
  • Mobile
  • Content Marketing
  • Video
  • Podcasting
  • Websites

One of the great aspects of the book is the research shared. As I said, much is US focused, but here are the highlights that stood out for me.

Branding

Highlights

  • 95% of consumers now use at least one social network
  • 44% more likely to purchase based on positive brand exposure
  • 44% consumers more likely to recommend the brand to a friend

Source IDG Group

Blogging

Highlights

  • 92% of companies who blog several times per day have acquired a customer from their blog
  • The average budget spent on company blogs and social media increased from 9% in 2009, to 21% in 2012

Source HubSpot

  • Over 65% of business blogs haven’t been updated in a year or more
  • 81% of businesses agree having a blog is useful or critical to their business
  • But less than 35% blog more frequently than once per month

Source Jeffbulla.com

Social Media

“Social media is helping brands build trust, loyalty, and brand recognition.”

Highlights

  • 92% of global consumers say they trust earned media above all other forms of advertising
  • 58% of [respondents] trust [the] message on company Websites
  • 50% find content in emails they consented to receive to be credible

Source Nielsen

Mobile

In Asia Pacific, mobile penetration is significantly higher than the rest of the world, so this is a core focus area for marketers moving forward in this region – a mobile marketing strategy must be a top priority. Check out this blog “Tablet Strategies for Content Marketing” based on the IDG Connect white paper entitled “iPad for Business Survey 2012” I published last year to get an idea of the figures in AP.

Highlights

  • The average response time to an email is 90 minutes. The average response time to a text message is 90 seconds
  • 61% of people said that if they tried to access a website that wasn’t optimized for mobile, they would visit the website of a competitor
  • 1 out of every 8 smartphone users will search for better pricing on a product or service while at the store

Source Social Media Tips

Content Marketing

A subject after my own heart, this chapter covers four key areas:

  1. Blogs
  2. Social channels
  3. Press Releases
  4. Email marketing

However it also extends to mobile apps, events, gamification and more.

Top quote – “92% of US adults read content online, spending more than seven hours per week looking for content.”

Highlights

Top B2B Content Marketing Tactics:

  • 87% – social media
  • 83% – articles
  • 78% – eNewsletters
  • 77% – blogs
  • 71% – case studies

Source Content Marketing Institute

Top Goals for Content Marketing:

  • 51% – lead generation
  • 38% – brand awareness
  • 34% – thought leadership
  • 77% – sales
  • 71% – customer acquisition

Source BtoB Research Highlights 2012

And an important point to remember

“83% of all learning is visual,” John Meyer, Lemon.ly

Video

“Americans viewed nearly 11 billion video ads in October 2012”

Highlights

  • 70% of B2B content marketers use videos
  • Use of video has risen from 52% in 2011 to 70% in 2012
  • 58% rate videos as the most effective content marketing tactic

Source Content Marketing Institute and MarketingProfs

Podcasting

Highlights

  • The podcasting audience has migrated from early adopters to more mainstream media consumers
  • Podcast consumers prefer content on their desktop, but mobile phone media consumption is surging
  • Those consuming podcasts index [was] very high for social networking

Source Edison Research

Websites

The only statistic worth noting here is this:

“97% of websites fail at user experience, according to Forrester Research.”

97%!

“A great website design must cater to the needs of the user.”

Further Highlights

9 common ecommerce Website usability issues:

  1. No cost estimate before checkout
  2. Too much info for registration
  3. Missing auto-fill on forms
  4. Absent left rail filter
  5. No instruction for input format
  6. Poorly optimized search
  7. Messy top navigation
  8. No user reviews
  9. Registration required to purchase

Source measuringusability.com

There you go. If nothing else and you don’t read the eBook, the stats could provide useful information if you need to sell the advantages of any of these ideas to your bosses.

Like I said, this book doesn’t go into great depth – as that is not its goal. Its goal was to tantalize the reader into attending an event, and if I was in the US, it would have worked. But it does give a broad-view of the new marketing solutions available today and the core focus areas for anyone in marketing. Furthermore, I enjoyed another aspect of the book – it consistently linked the story back to the original Rat Pack of the 1960s – a group of entertainers most of us know and love to this day – which made it a delightful read as well.

I thought my peers in Asia Pacific would appreciate being aware this book is available and hope the above homework I’ve done helps as well. Let me know what you think if you read it?

Cheers

Andrea

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by | January 17, 2013 · 3:16 pm

Content Marketing in Asia Pacific Slow to Evolve

I’ve been a bit slow off the mark this New Year and hope everyone is already blazing into 2013. I haven’t been idle on my break however, as I’ve spent a lot of time assessing where my experience and value fits in the region. I’ve done this to understand how I can achieve more of my professional goals and make a real contribution in Asia Pacific.

One area I’ve been thinking a lot about over the last month is where Asia Pacific is in regards to readiness for content marketing? My conclusion is – not very far along at all. Everyone is talking about the need to do more content – launching a blog, creating more long-form-high-value content, etc… but not many are actually executing. As a person who has built a business around this field, it has obviously been frustrating.

However, one conclusion seems clear. The significant challenge faced in Asia is a shortage of skills and knowledge. Content marketing (or Inbound Marketing) is a new way of thinking about marketing. It’s got nothing to do with what a company wants to tell the world and everything to do with what the customer needs to know to help them be more successful in whatever field they are in – right across the board.

Content Marketing Asia Pacific

Essentially, content marketing is a requirement for businesses to become publishing houses for their customers, which means presenting stories that will make their customers more successful, and by default, loyal. This is not a new thing, with some of the global giants committed to the story telling path – Coca-Cola, Pepsi, Red Bull, SAP, Cisco, Intel, HSBC, and more. Here’s a blog on the Inc. 500 fastest growing companies and the content marketing focus.

It’s a dramatic change in mindset and we have a long way to go in Asia Pacific – but it‘s a very worthwhile path for organisations to take, and in the age of social media, it’s also vital. To address this challenge, the most important asset a company needs internally is someone who can manage an effective content marketing campaign – and that’s what we don’t have. We have people who’ve done marketing or PR the old way, but new marketing requires a complete change in mind set. Check out Hubspot’s “8 Ready Made Job Descriptions to Recruit an All Star Marketing Team.“

The most important skill this person needs? The ability to understand customers – what drives them, what information they need, their buying cycle, their pain points, what they care about, and so on. If you don’t understand what motivates and drives customers, the effort will be wasted – and it is a lot of effort.

Once you have the person who has this important skill and understanding of customers, they need to drive content creation across the organisation – whether it’s internal creation or outsourcing it to professionals. Insourcing or outsourcing is both do-able, (although check out this Hubspot blog on insourcing versus outsourcing) but it is an internal and talented communications professional, who has a real understanding of your customers, that is best suited to drive this function.

Content Marketing Asia PacificThe sort of activities they’ll manage include creating the content publishing schedule, defining the educational themes to wrap your stories around, managing the writers and digital content creators, launching and managing the corporate blog, positively inspiring internal customer-facing champions  to contribute to the campaign, running brain-storming workshops with executives and sales, finding content everywhere in the organisation and re-purposing it, capturing and building out stories shared over innocent conversations during coffee breaks, and so on. That is the difference between everyone in Asia wanting to do content marketing, and actually doing it successfully – a single person who really gets that core understanding of customers and of course, they have to be an excellent communicator and story teller as well.

I’m seeing a lot of companies in Asia start and fail, which is a shame because it makes them tentative to try again. But get that person on board who can really make this happen, and then we’ll see some magic. I can’t wait because I know that time is coming.

What do you think is lacking in Asia that is contributing to such limited success in content marketing? Or do you know of any local success stories that are worth sharing?

Cheers

Andrea

PS I’ve included a bunch of links here to previous SAJE blogs, as well as industry blogs on the topic. I share great articles across the spectrum of content marketing on the SAJE Facebook page - like it if you’re interested in this topic. We’re just sharing here, nothing for sale.

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by | December 31, 2012 · 10:15 am

2012 in review

This is one of the many reasons why WordPress is cool – I just received this report. If you’re thinking of launching a blog in 2013, WordPress is a great place to start.

Happy New Year

Andrea

The WordPress.com stats helper monkeys prepared a 2012 annual report for this blog.

Here’s an excerpt:

4,329 films were submitted to the 2012 Cannes Film Festival. This blog had 33,000 views in 2012. If each view were a film, this blog would power 8 Film Festivals

Click here to see the complete report.

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by | November 26, 2012 · 1:05 pm

Start-ups Asia Pacific – 7 Ideas to Get Media Coverage

Startup.comI’ve just read this great article – How To Get Media Coverage For Your Start-up: A Complete Guide by Leo Widrich, co-founder of Buffer. One of the things I’ve noticed, having worked with start-ups in the US, EMEA and Asia Pacific, is companies’ in this region do not dedicate the same amount of budget or time to this process as the international competition. For example, when I worked in the US at the end of the 90s/early 00s, a start-up typically spent US$25-35,000/month just on its PR agency. How many start-ups in Asia Pacific are even spending $5K? I appreciate that time and money are of the essence with start-ups, but to become a truly global player – as many of the companies I’ve met want to be – or even a dominant regional player, investing in some level of content marketing can make all the difference.

The other challenge with start-ups in Asia Pacific is finding and attracting the right talent. It’s not just a skills-gap (although that is a strong reason), but culturally, start-ups do not appeal in this region – for a number of reasons. Therefore, perhaps making a bigger publicity splash can also help address the people challenge – because it will certainly appeal to potential employees’ egos? It’s something to keep in mind.

The article covers seven areas:

  1. Have your own start-up blog, learn to tell stories
  2. How to get to know writers via Twitter and Facebook
  3. Do your best to avoid the Alexias and Sarah Lacys
  4. The art and timing of sending that pitch off and getting in touch with reporters
  5. A story about your start-up is written and published now what?
  6. Four completely different types of stories you can pitch
  7. How to make getting covered a habit, not an accident

I think this is a great, straight-forward, common-sense article and many start-ups in Asia Pacific can benefit from it. Also, as Leo Widrich suggests, just do one thing at a time and build from there.

Start-ups Asia PacificHowever, having helped a number of start-ups get a corporate blog off the ground, can I please suggest that if you start this, you KEEP IT GOING no matter what? The start-stop-start-stop activity I have seen around blogging is frustrating for me – because I know what it is costing a company – and the budget is always the reason cited. If you can’t afford to outsource this, find someone within your organisation who has a flair for content and get them on the case. However, the best approach is to find the budget to bring in a professional who can get you going in the right direction – defining the stories your business needs to be telling your customers – and this professional can train your internal team to maintain it. You never know, you might find an internal content champion you didn’t know existed. Whatever happens, just keep it going!

I KNOW it’s hard, I KNOW you’re wearing multiple hats, but I also KNOW it’s vital for your business to succeed!

What do you think? Do you agree that start-ups in Asia Pacific could benefit from this information? And any thoughts on why you don’t think start-ups are culturally attractive in this region?

Cheers

Andrea

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by | November 23, 2012 · 2:48 pm

Asia Pacific Social Media Stats – Australia, China, India and Japan

It’s a pretty-much well proven fact that the world has changed and marketers must focus on where their audiences are interacting and work to influence them within that environment – yes?

The stats tell the story…

  • Nearly 80% of Internet users conduct product research online
  • There are more than 10 billion online searches a month
  • 50% of Internet users read blogs
  • 64% of Facebook users are fans of at least one company
  • 70% of links clicked are organic – i.e. not paid
  • Companies that blog get 55% more Website visitors
  • 57% of businesses have acquired a customer through their company blog

Source HubSpot

This week HubSpot released an ebook – ’62 Social Media Tips From Around the World’ (you can get it here) which highlights popular channels and trends in markets across the world, but for Asia Pacific they focused on four – Australia, China, India and Japan. It would obviously be great to see this information for every country in Asia Pacific, but the four markets are interesting never-the-less – including the sort of information that resonates. In Brazil it’s all about video, whereas in India, they love photos and games. Therefore we must know our audience, what’s appropriate, what’s not and it is definitely much more than just translating content – as you can see in this blog on marketing to the billion+ Muslims in Asia.

Here’s a snap shot of HubSpots findings:

 Australia Social media statistics Australia

  • Top social networks – Facebook, LinkedIn and Twitter
  • Focus on endorsements as 71% of Aussies “read other consumers opinions and discussions about brands online”
  • 24% of Aussies use social media to make purchasing decisions, and don’t forget to optimize for mobile as 26% are on mobile devices (although that isn’t as high as the rest of the region)
  • Post at night – and remember time zones – as one in five Australians are online between 6-10pm
  • But know what makes them tick – Australians are quick to cease engagement if you get it wrong

China Social media statistics China

  • Top social networks – Qzone, Tencent Weibo and Sina Weibo – China is not a country that welcomes non-Chinese social media platforms
  • Encourage user-generated content – “Chinese users are three times more likely than Americans to make a purchasing decision based on user-generated content on social networks, such as blog posts or comments”
  • I’d add, work hard to understand what is politically and socially acceptable

India Social media statistics India

  • Top social networks – Facebook, LinkedIn and Orkut
  • Night-time is primetime, between 6-10pm
  • Indians love games, apps and photos – so leverage this trend in your marketing outreach
  • “Together Facebook and Orkut cater to about 90% of Indian social media users”

Japan Social media statistics Japan

  • Top social networks – Facebook, Twitter and Mixi
  • Interestingly, it wasn’t until after the earthquake in March 2011 that Facebook and Twitter started to really gain a foothold in Japan – with Mixi dominant before this – and even though penetration is currently low (10%), both are growing rapidly
  • The Japanese use Yahoo rather than Google+, so it’s not recommended as a priority for this market

United States social media statisticsBy comparison, here are some highlights from the US – trends I believe many businesses in Asia will seek to follow, because that is what usually happens here:

  • Top social networks – Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn
  • Use YouTube to entertain and engage your audience – also great for SEO as it’s owned by Google
  • LinkedIn is better for B2B, while Facebook and Twitter are better for B2C
  • Post content to G+ for SEO
  • Engage on Quora – “browse questions to identify needs and answer them to position your company as an industry thought leader.” If you haven’t done it yet, I do recommend getting on Quora and having a play around with it. I’ve only managed to answer one question – regarding a cure for a hang-over – but ended up getting pummelled because people thought I was encouraging drinking, sigh. I just recommended milk thistle before and after!

It would be great to get this information for all of Asia, but it’s good knowledge to keep in mind. Today we have to plan more strategically on how to approach each market based on where the audiences are, and design our tactics around how content is consumed.

Any other recommendations/advice for the major growth markets in South East Asia – Malaysia, Thailand, Indonesia, Vietnam and the Philippines?

Alternatively, are you seeing something different working in these four highlighted markets?

Cheers

Andrea

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by | November 16, 2012 · 2:12 pm

Your Personal Professional Profile is Vital

In today’s social world, one thing I’m not seeing enough of in Asia Pacific is people investing in their own personal professional profile in social media-land. I certainly have some connections that do a fantastic job at this – consistently focused on building their profile as experts in whatever field they are in – and I hope to be considered amongst this gang in my own personal investment in the medium. However, I have to say, the majority of professionals I know in Asia Pacific do not do a good job here – still approaching social media in voyeuristic fashion.  I am curious about this, because why aren’t people taking care of themselves? Are they shy? Don’t know where to start? Overwhelmed? Don’t understand the importance of the investment for their career potential? What is it?

Professional social media profile

The idea for this blog came to me recently when I was speaking with a lovely young lady who is the daughter of a friend. At 24, she’s incredibly bright and talented, has a very successful career already, and has some big goals and clear ideas she’s working towards. So I said: now is the time to get going on building your professional social media profile – make it known who you are and what you represent in your industry. She responded that she’s already doing social media for her employer, running the Website upgrade project, etc, etc, etc… BUT this wasn’t what I was talking about. I was talking about her, and that has nothing to do with her employer at all. Let’s face it, long term employees are rare these days and employment security more-so.

We’ve all got to take care of ourselves, and in the future, what you do in social media will count a lot. Therefore, for young people just starting out this is a massive opportunity, but it’s equally important for those a little longer in the tooth.

A first step

Do a Google search on yourself – are you on the front page? If you’re not, you need to be, although if you have a name like Dan Brown you might struggle. I appear on the front page, along with an American actress and another lady of the same name who recently killed herself – a sad story. But if I search for Andrea Edwards SAJE or Andrea Edwards content marketing, I own the first page. You’ve got to get to that point, because future employers will search for your presence.

Next divide your presence on social media into professional and personal. Facebook is my personal space, where I connect with people I’m close to. I share anything here because it’s my community and people know me. LinkedIn is totally professional, Google+ is a mish-mash for its SEO, Twitter isn’t my hot spot but I still have three handles, and my Pinterest account is getting more attention, with a SAJE board, as well as lots of other personal boards. As such, if someone wanted to check me out online to “know me” from a professional point of view, it’s all there and it could go for or against me, but being true to myself remains a priority.

It’s definitely important to segment yourself and be conscious of what you share and where you share it – for example it’s not wise to bitch about your boss on LinkedIn, save that for Facebook if you must. Segmenting your personal and professional presence is necessary today – especially if you’re in a conservative industry.

Now you’ve done this, what can you do to build your own professional profile? Easy…

  • Launch a blog – I’ve got to start with the obvious because it is so powerful! Blogs are not easy for some, but it is one of the BEST ways to establish yourself as a person of knowledge and worth in your field, whether you’re a musician, scientist, marketer, or brain surgeon – it doesn’t matter. Aim to write something once a week minimum and you can write detailed blogs (like mine typically are), or go for a more Seth Godin short-sweet-sharer-of-wisdom-kind-of-blog. How you blog is up to you and your growth in readers will tell you if you’re getting it right. So what do you share? Well, what do you care about? Get a focus, come up with some content ideas on what you’d like to do and get going. You don’t even need to share your blog straight away if you’re feeling shy. But get going, build your confidence and you’ll have a great career tool behind you I promise. With blogging, remember:
    • Create a blog theme on the career path you want to follow, so if that’s not what you’re currently doing, that’s OK – it will help you get on the path you want
    • You do have something to say – everyone has something to say – so spend a couple of weeks observing your professional life, your thoughts, your frustrations, when people respond positively to what you say, etc… – this will help you get direction
    • Be positive. Criticism can be positioned positively too, but there’s no need to be critical and you won’t succeed if you are
    • Unless you’re in a gossip industry – aka Perez Hilton – don’t bother with unnecessary gossip, unless that is the career path you want to take, and if so, gossip away
    • Can’t write? Do video logs or VLogs, or take photos and put a couple of sentences under each. If you’re an artist, photograph your art and write a small explanation with the image. A designer the same. Many people are trying to define the blogging “rules,” but think of a blog as your space to share your knowledge in whatever way works for you. Also define the rules yourself, because the reality is, much of what will be possible in the future isn’t even known yet
    • Find bloggers in your field and look for inspiration. If there are none, start your own revolution because your “competition” will soon be looking to you for inspiration

I could go on and on, but every professional has something to say – seriously – so create your own online presence and get cracking.

However, blogging is a massive investment in time, thoughts and emotions, which not everyone has the inclination to do, so here’s some easier ways that won’t take as much effort.

  • Share knowledge – as a simple rule, follow five great publications or blogs that really resonate with you and every time you read something you agree with, share it on your social media channels – LinkedIn, Facebook, G+, Twitter, etc… If you don’t agree with an opinion, that is equally valid to share, just keep the criticism sweet and explain why you don’t agree – this will gain respect. I follow Hubspot, Content Marketing Institute, Jeff Bullas Blog, Eloqua, and Forbes as a general rule. There are others, but these are my top five that I share on a regular basis. By doing this, I am establishing myself as a B2B content marketing expert. Trust me, if nothing else on this list, you can do this
  • Support your mates – one of the most important things you can do to build your profile and lend a helping hand as well, is support your friends who are active on social media – especially bloggers. I wrote a blog about this recently, because business people in Asia Pacific are not as supportive of each other as professionals in other regions, especially North America. There are so many talented people in this region, sharing awesome information, so why not support them and build your profile too? A final important point here - if you help others, they will help you when you go public
  • LinkedIn Groups – if you’re like me, you’re probably swamped with LinkedIn Group emails. I find it hard to manage all of them, but my suggestion is target two groups that really hit the spot with you and participate in the discussions. This will help to build your reputation within a targeted community that reflects your career aspirations. Additionally, if there is no relevant group in your sector, why not create one? As a side note: LinkedIn has changed a lot recently, and you can do a lot more now to elevate your own profile and your colleagues. It’s worth investing the time in
  • Twitter discussions – I’m not a great Twitter user – it just doesn’t jive with me, but I use it to an extent and know I could use it a lot more. My suggestion is do more than me, join the conversation, and maybe join two Tweetchats a week on a regular basis. Tweetchats are another way to build your profile (and following) within a targeted community
  • Google+ chats – the same goes for Google+ chats or “Hangouts” although, again, I am not doing this, but you can’t do everything
  • Support your competition – I know right? But this is a really cool thing to do, because let’s face it – it’s all coopetition these days anyway. If someone from a competitor company shares something really terrific, why not praise the content and share it? They could be your boss one day or a future employee on your team

Just a few ideas, but I was inspired to share these thoughts because I don’t think people are taking care of their professional careers in the way they can these days. The reality is, if you don’t do this, others will and when it comes down to the top five candidates for a job, the person who has invested in their personal professional social media profile is going to win, because that’s the world we live in today.

What other suggestions do you have about enhancing your digital professional profile? I’d love to hear some more, because this is only scratching the surface.

And finally, just take care of yourself OK? That’s the main thing I wanted to get across here.

Cheers

Andrea

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by | September 14, 2012 · 5:06 pm

How a Different Approach to Blogging can set Asian Subsidiaries Free

I’ve recently had two discussions with friends working within subsidiaries of global IT companies – and both have been pretty interesting. The one thing that was top of mind? They are frustrated by their lack of ability to influence the global discussion taking place online, because the content is being completely controlled by US headquarters. This means they are not able to influence how their company interacts with regional customers – and this is obviously not good in the ‘social age.’ Everyone needs their piece of this pie – the ability to pull customers to them so they can engage directly – especially with the increasing ROI seen from content marketing (or inbound marketing).

For anyone working in a subsidiary, this is not a new issue. In fact, it’s been an issue since the Web became the norm. However, there’s a solution, and I believe Asian subs of global companies can really benefit here – and that, of course, is through blogging.

But I’m referring to blogging in a different way to how it is generally discussed; because it is my prediction that blogging is set to evolve and change dramatically. I believe blogging is merely a platform for the distribution of customer-centric and relevant content, and the appropriate content for your blog is much broader than the advice you’re probably getting.

I advise all of my customers to use their blogging platform more extensively – as a medium for all communication – as opposed to just distributing blogs the way it is being defined by the social media ‘gods.’ The blogging platform, quite simply, enables companies to distribute customer-centric content very simply (without relying on Webmasters), and is no longer just about sharing opinions – although this is definitely an important aspect. I could certainly be wrong, but if companies keep the content customer-centric at all times, this approach makes so much sense to me, and becomes a much more valuable tool for business. A broader approach might also spur more take-up in Asia – which I’d love to see as well. Great opportunities are being missed in this region!

The reality is, if you get the content wrong and make it too “you” focused, you will lose readers, and ultimately, customers. If you get it right – based on my suggestions below – no matter how big or small you are, you are going to fly.

The steps regional businesses can take to set up a blogging platform THEY control, includes:

  1. Choose a blogging platform that works for your business – I recommend WordPress for professional-looking blogs – but there are lots to choose from and adapt
  2. Have your blog designed to look like the global HQ Website
  3. The tabs on your blog page should be linked directly to the Corporate Website. This ensures readers feel your blog is part of the global Website – which is important for a global company. Additionally, the global site should also include a tab to your page
  4. Don’t forget to set up specific regional links or sub-pages – such as customer successes, press releases and educational content like white papers. You can do these as tabs on top, or in a side-bar on the blog, taking your readers deeper into your regional content
  5. Title your blog News & Views or Opinions & News or News & Thoughts – or whatever resonates – as opposed to just Blog (I actually predict the word blog will disappear). The benefit of including News in the title is you’re telling readers the content will cover multiple things, not just blogs. This is important for setting expectations

Now you’re set up with a Blog/Website you can control, here’s how I suggest you utilize this space:

  • Company blogs – on any topic relevant to your customers, whether it is a problem you solve or not. Consider yourself a publishing house, and your goal is to provide valuable information to your readers to help them be more successful, and your content can be on any topic or issue relevant to them and your company/sector. Do not mention what you offer or try to sell them anything, because they will not come back to your site if you do. Your primary role is education, entertainment and inspiration. If they become loyal to you because of the quality of content you provide, they have a higher chance of researching your products and the sales will come
  • Executive blogs – you might have willing bloggers or it might be like pulling teeth getting participation. If you have executives with great ideas who won’t/can’t make time, capture their ideas whenever they speak and write a blog on their behalf, ask them to review and approve – sending it out in their name. Do whatever it takes to capture the genius in your company and get it down in words. Another option is a VLog – if they’re speaking anyway, record it, or set up a quiet space where execs can do quick VLogs. An executive blog should feature any great thinkers in your company, especially those in customer facing roles – the ones who know the customer issues
  • Blogs from your entire team – who’s already blogging within your company? Is it relevant to your business? Or is it more personal? There may be a surprising number of bloggers in your company already – know who they are and what they’re blogging about. At least include them on your blogroll if the content is appropriate to your corporate image
  • Guest blogs – there is a lot of blogging activity going on in every industry, and if someone is writing blogs that are relevant to your audience, republish and share this content on your site. The blogger will appreciate the extra exposure, your readers will appreciate the insight, and it’s an extra steady stream of content for you
  • Customer-facing presentations – whether your executives are speaking in front of 10 customers or 1,000 customers – RECORD IT! It doesn’t have to be 100% professional quality, but do the best you can afford to do. The reality is – a lot of small cameras do a great job today, just make sure you can see and hear the speaker.  With the video and audio recording, you can do multiple things:
    • Write a short blog talking about the presentation, what it covers and why it’s worth spending the time to watch/listen to it
    • Upload the video onto your company YouTube page and link to the blog – make sure you insert so viewers can watch from your blog page (YouTube links are also great for SEO)
    • If the presentation is VERY long, do a shorter highlights version – also uploaded on YouTube – giving your audience the choice of the longer or shorter version
    • Post a downloadable Podcast, so your audience can download and listen to it at a time convenient to them. Podcasts are expected to take off in Asia – see this article for background 
    • Upload the PPT on SlideShare and include in the blog – some people prefer this format for information digestion
    • And finally, if one of your executives does a really great presentation on a hot topic, give the recording and PPT to a writer that understands this topic, get them to capture the essence of the presentation and build out the discussion. Then you’ll have a classy mini-whitepaper/opinion document to share a couple of weeks later – also on your blog – which is “authored” by the speaker an a great sales tool – nice right?
  • Global press releases – any time a global announcement is issued, write a short blog on why customers in your region will be interested in this news. Include a link to the press release on the corporate Website. Remember, what you write here has to be all about the benefits your customers will experience because of this announcement. Propsects can get the company positioning from the press release if they’re interested in delving further
  • Whitepapers – whether authored internally, sponsored whitepapers or partner whitepapers, any great whitepaper content can be blogged about, with a link to the downloadable document on your site – including a form for their information. This blog needs to discuss why it is worth their time to download – what’s in it for them? You have an opportunity to get prospects excited and increase the chances of your whitepaper being downloaded, which means more leads for your sales team
  • Customer success stories – every company has success stories to share, and when you have a freshly published story, promote it through your blog – “we just wanted to share a customer success story from blank company who experienced business benefit one, business benefit two, and business benefit three after adopting XYZ.” It doesn’t have to say much, just focus on how a customer reaped great business benefits, or solved a problem because of your solution. PLEASE make sure your customer success stories are business benefits/problem solving focused and NOT about your technology/solution if you really want results – pretty please?
  • Regarding customers – if you are enabling customers to do something remarkable in the world – say providing a technology in remote areas that is saving lives – video it in action! And in the case of saving lives, interview the doctors, nurses, patients, or whoever is involved and showcase your work with feedback from those most impacted. Yes it’s a little bit expensive to do this well, but think of the benefits of showcasing your company as one that really makes a difference? There’s also a great opportunity to go viral if you pull on heart strings. Again this story can also be written up, featured as an advertorial, as a customer success story, as a blog, etc – there really are multiple ways to utilize great content – and all of them are great social media content
  • Published articles – any time your company is featured in the media, write a mini-blog summarizing the story and include a link to the story – this is good SEO. Alternatively, get permission from the publisher to publish the article in full on your site
  • TV appearances – when executives are featured on TV, the clip should be up on your site with a brief blog talking about the interview and focus of discussion
  • Employees – let’s not forget the most important people in your company – is anyone doing anything really amazing? Competing in iron man competitions, running for charity, doing amazing humanitarian work, rescuing animals, or helping kids to read? Find out who is doing this remarkable work and video them in action (if they’re happy with that) or take some photos and tell the story – people love feel-good stories and it’s a lovely way to honour your employees. The same goes for charitable, environmental, etc.. stories your company as a whole supports – how are you making a difference?
  • More on employees – if you are in a people business – and let’s face it most of us are – do an employee feature every week – employees from all walks of life, across multiple countries – and honour them in a lovely way. Define a creative list of questions you do for all of these interviews so you have a common feel to the interviews, but be fun and creative – some companies that do this are boring! And again, both employee ideas are great social media fodder
  • Q&A/FAQ – a really important opportunity – Q&As/FAQs are gold dust for content ideas. What are the main comments and questions your company is asked – in any forum? Answer these questions in blog posts. It is great practise blogging around questions/comments your readers contribute and helps pump up the editorial calendar to boot. Keep track of discussions in relevant social media groups – such as LinkedIn – and answer those questions as well
  • Search words – once you get going, you’ll see which search words attract people to your site. As an example from my blog – messaging, mission and vision statements attract high traffic to my site, so I write blogs around these topics if I feel inspired. But these terms are obviously not popular search words, so I’ve naturally gained high SEO for this topic. Alternatively the blog you’re reading right now on blogging will not show up in my search terms as much, and that is because the competition is fierce – everyone is writing on blogging. I’ll still write on the topic – because I’m passionate about it – but to really gain a profile, I need to spend a bit of money with Google if I want to get higher in search. There are many tools to understand search words, SEO, etc.. and this recent article provides great insight to maximize your investment. The important reason to understand this element from a content perspective, is focus on the content your readers are interested in

Other thoughts, ideas and benefits…

  • To gain maximum benefits – your blog should offer easy access to all high-value content in your market – a one-stop shop for everything your customers need
  • If you create a high-value site for customers and prospects, this is a great tool for sales, BDM and marketing to push out to customers
  • By having your own ‘site’, you can see who is commenting, making sure the appropriate person in the region responds, as well as keeping close track of trends and issues. BUT make sure you respond! Remember today is about creating opportunities for two-way dialogue
  • It’s also a great lead generation tool – especially if readers are required to supply certain contact information when downloading a high value document – such as a whitepaper
  • Don’t make customers provide information for everything. Give most away for “free” and when you deliver something outstanding, include a form. HubSpot are a great example of how to do this, as well as providing terrific guidance on content marketing.

Right, ooops! This was going to be a really short blog, but as I got into it, more and more ideas tumbled out – and there’s many more rattling around… Therefore, if you got this far, thanks I really appreciate it.

I could keep going with ideas, because this is only a start, but to conclude, remember:

  • Make sure all content is focused on the customer – don’t tell, share, educate, entertain and inspire
  • Include a picture for significantly higher attention and better social media sharing
  • Keep it short and sweet if you can - but that’s not a fast rule in my opinion, as you can see with this blog :) . However my regular readers know I write long blogs, so they typically come back to read blogs of interest when they have time. That’s my style, it doesn’t have to be yours
  • Ensure the quality of writing or production is as good as you can afford
  • Be creative in how you approach blogging because it’s a new world and YOU CAN define it. The amount of times I’ve been asked to create a Seth Godin-inspired blog on behalf of a customer… why? It’s been done already – do something different, because copy-cat does not make anyone a champion. In my opinion, the apparent “rules” are suppressing this medium and creating a lot of fear. As long as the focus is right – i.e. on the customer – you can’t lose
  • Be PATIENT! It really does take time to build your profile/credibility before turning that into wins. But you’ve got to do your bit and that is a commitment to consistently sharing brilliant content

As you can probably tell, I believe there are many more ways we can be utilizing the blogging platform to enhance our inbound marketing efforts, AND it’s a way to set companies’ free when bound by headquarter control. The tools are available for companies to relieve this frustration and I just don’t know why more companies aren’t jumping on the bandwagon in Asia? Perhaps it’s the intimidation caused by the very idea of launching a blog? If so, maybe these ideas will inspire a different approach?

I don’t know everything about anything, so what have I missed? Any more great ideas? And do you think my prediction on the future of blogging as a platform is right?

Cheers

Andrea

PS: if you can think of anyone you think might enjoy reading this post, we’d sure appreciate you sharing it!

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by | July 27, 2012 · 2:32 pm

What is Inbound Marketing?

There’s a lot of talk about Inbound Marketing versus Outbound Marketing these days, and more and more people are asking me what the difference is between the two. As there seems to be a fair bit of confusion, I figured it was worth putting together a blog (an Inbound Marketing tool), as well as some really useful links to great articles that should help.

Inbound marketing is the art of earning the attention of your intended audience, including making yourself easily found, by drawing customers to your Website with cracking content. The sort of content includes blogs, whitepapers, eNewsletters, ebooks, videos, podcasts and social media commentary – which includes contributing opinions on other blogs and joining in conversations, such as LinkedIn groups – to name a few. Inbound marketing also includes SEO (as this is part of being easily found) so having an effective SEO strategy is core to success. Fundamentally, Inbound Marketing exists because of the proliferation of social media and its influence, as well as the comprehensive way we now communicate through the Web – essentially Web 2.0.

Outbound marketing is the more traditional marketing – such as cold calling, telemarketing, advertising, press releases, product brochures, and so on.

If you look at the Wikipedia definition, “inbound marketing was defined by three phases: Get found, Convert and Analyze. A newer model illustrates the concept in five stages:

  1. Attract Traffic
  2. Convert visitors to leads
  3. Convert leads to sales
  4. Turn customers into repeat higher margin customers
  5. Analyze for continuous improvement”

Inbound Marketing is where you “earn” your stripes, by providing prospects with awesome information relevant to helping them solve a problem, which over time, makes them loyal to your brand. The core strategy with Inbound Marketing, as I see it, is to ensure the information you produce is focused on a prospects’ challenges. It is not about what product or service your company offers, but about how you understand your customer.

When developing great Inbound Marketing content, ask yourself this question – what challenges are my customers/prospects facing – not just the ones I solve, but all challenges? If you can identify these challenges, then create a content marketing campaign to help them solve them. It’s about feeding them with information they want, which gets them coming to your site, and ultimately making them act – i.e. buying your product or services. Essentially, big business today is starting to claim it’s in the story telling business – with Cisco and Coca Cola in the lead – so now you’ve got to work out how to get your organisation on board, and how you deliver it.

Off the Top of my Head

Here’s an example I heard recently. A number of banks in Asia have told a colleague in the digital media arena that they want to launch a blog but don’t know what content to include. As I’ve said, Inbound Marketing isn’t just about blogging, but in this specific case, here’s a few ideas off the top of my head these banks could blog about:

  • Independent investment advice in Asia, maybe specifically focusing on new opportunities, such as Myanmar?
  • Retirement advice
  • Holiday destinations in Asia – luxury, family, and for the financially strapped
  • Mortgage advice
  • What the global economy means to you
  • Luxury goods reviews – focusing on high wealth customers
  • Major events of interest to customers – The Grand Prix, Major sales, Concerts, etc…
  • Student vlogs  
  •  SME strategies for success
  • Etc, etc, etc..

These stories could be segmented by customer audience – i.e. large business customers, SMEs, high wealth individuals, normal customers, students, etc.. And of course, as far as topics go, I could go on.

In the case of B2B, I believe it is the same. What challenges are your target market facing? How can you help them overcome these challenges? My advice, educational content discussing how they can overcome core issues should be the primary goal of your Inbound Marketing campaign – even if your company does not offer a solution for these challenges. You are building loyalty and appreciation with prospects – something that goes a very long way today.

Cost and Time

The fundamental challenge of inbound marketing is cost and time. The time it takes to create the relevant content, as well as the cost of production, is seen by many, as prohibitive. The next objection is typically – but we don’t have the people to write the stories! No problem.

There are lots of terrific freelance writers/journalists looking for work, and you could partner with leading digital and traditional publications to contribute content as well. Also find the great bloggers in your market, writing on topics relevant to your customers and publish their content on your site. They’ll appreciate the extra dollars as well as the awareness it will get for them. If students are a target for your business (today or in the future) get them to run a competition, videoing the results – the top 10 get included on your site and the winner gets a prize. There are many ways it can be managed, with a little bit of imagination. The important thing is to start thinking like a publishing house – because that is what the future is about. Making your business a one-stop-shop for useful information that will help your customers enjoy a better life!

If you’re still not convinced, I think the statistics are proof enough, including the issue of cost. These stats are all from HubSpot’s 2012 State of Inbound Marketing Report:

Cost and Budget Statistics

  • Inbound leads cost per lead 61% less than outbound leads.
  • The average cost-per-lead for outbound-dominated businesses is $346.
  • The average cost-per-lead for inbound-dominated businesses is $135.
  • 89% of businesses are either maintaining or increasing their inbound marketing budgets.
  • The average budget spent on company blogs and social media increased from 9% in 2009 to 21% in 2012.
  • The average budget spent on telemarketing decreased from 10% to 5% in 2012.
  • In 2012, small businesses plan to spend 43% of their budgets on inbound marketing, while large businesses plan to spend 21%.
  • In 2012, small businesses are only giving 14% of their budget to outbound, while large businesses are allocating 33%.
  • In 2012, small businesses plan to spend dramatically more of their budgets on social media and blogs than large businesses.

Lead Quality and Sales Statistics

  • 57% of companies with a blog have acquired a customer from their blog.
  • 92% of companies who blog multiple times per day have acquired a customer from their blog.
  • 62% of companies using LinkedIn have acquired a customer from the network.
  • 70% of marketers indicate that they blog at least weekly.
  • 77% of B2C companies report that they have acquired a customer through Facebook.
  • 65% of B2B companies report that they have acquired a customer through LinkedIn.

What’s Important to Marketers

  • 62% of companies report that social media has become MORE important as a source of leads.
  • 51% of companies reported that direct mail has become LESS important as a source of leads.
  • 25% of marketers report that their company blog is “critical” to their business.
  • Over 40% of marketers report that Google+ is useful to critical for their business.
  • 81% of businesses reported that their company blog is useful to critical for their business.

Examples and Resources

One of the great content marketing companies is HubSpot who have both defined the term – Inbound Marketing - and use it extensively in all that they do. Here is a HubSpot blog discussing Inbound Vs Outbound Marketing, and it is definitely worth signing up for its blog and marketing literature – especially if you are a content marketer, or want to know more about it.

The Content Marketing Institute, who published one of my articles recently, also provides great information on this topic. If you’re struggling to get buy-in from the top, this article is great “Explaining Content Marketing to the C-Suite,” as well as an interview with Marcus Sheridan “No Excuses Content Marketing” – also a worthwhile read.

For more insight, here’s an article that appeared on Mashable, another on Business2Community, and one from my old colleague, Chris Fell, in Australia of g2mSolutions.

Plenty of great information to get you going right?

So is Inbound Marketing a focus area for your business? Let me know?

Cheers

Andrea

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by | June 20, 2012 · 2:51 pm

Authenticity has never been More Important in Business

In my early 20s, my first job after graduating from University was becoming a Musician in the Australian Army – it was a VERY interesting chapter in my life. After two years as a Musician, I had the chance to unofficially move to the Defence Public Relations Department – an opportunity I snapped up and from which I’ve never looked back. During that time I also enrolled in a Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology (RMIT)  public relations certificate program, where I was able to learn the fundamental principles of PR, as opposed to operating from my gut – which is what I’d done previously. Both experiences set me up and have shaped my career for the last 20 or so years.

I don’t think there’s a better example of authenticity today than Lady Gaga – of course, many will disagree with that!

During the PR course at RMIT – being run for the first time – the lecturer asked me to write an article for RMIT’s student magazine, providing feedback on the course. I was thrilled to be asked and eagerly put together an article for the magazine. As I was young and new to the game, I decided to ask a Defence PR colleague (and former journalist) to look over my article, because I just didn’t have enough confidence in myself back then. My friend made significant changes to the article, and what I submitted to RMIT was not my work.

The lecturer – who I got on with exceptionally well – was disappointed. I could see it on her face, and while she never said anything to me, I learnt a very important lesson. She asked me to write the article, not because she liked me, but because she liked my style, and she wanted this article to be from me and by me. As a result, I have never let anyone else edit my work into an unrecognizable style again.

A few years later I inherited as a direct report “the troubled child” at a PR firm in London. This guy was on final warning, and basically the message was clear – get him into shape or he’s gone. It took me no time at all to realise this guy was awesome and we worked together very happily for quite a few years and remain in touch to this day. I couldn’t work out what the problem was (apart from him being a pain in my arse sometimes J), until he started sending client emails to me to review before sending them out. I’d read them, add a comma here or there and sent them back to him – I just figured that was how it was done in my new company.

He finally said to me: “don’t you want to change it more?”

To which I replied why would I? It’s not how I’d write it, but you’ve got the basic point across, said what needs to be said, so just pay attention to the details and get it out the door. Apparently his prior boss had rewritten every word he wrote. How can someone grow and gain confidence if you do that to them? This guy flourished from there, and not because I’m a super boss, but because I created the space for him to find his own voice.

Wikipedia’s Definition of Authenticity – be faithful to internal rather than external ideas

In this new world of information and content marketing, being authentic has NEVER been more important. You’ve got to find your own voice and share it with the world in an appropriate way that gains maximum results for you or your business. You can’t be someone you’re not. You can’t speak in your boss’s voice. You can’t write or communicate in any other way than what is true for you. If you try to be someone else, you will not come across as authentic – and this has never been more important than it is today. Authenticity is what determines success or failure, because your target audience is not stupid.

Sure you can bring in the key messages your company wants to get across. But when you create and share information, you need to integrate everything you know and understand, then bring it forth from the core of your true, authentic self. Do you know who you are and what you want to say? Then say it. Do you think you need to temper yourself? Get advice from people who KNOW you. And of course always ask your boss if you’re unsure – because you don’t want to be one of those examples of a major faux pas in social media-land. However, the message remains – don’t let anyone change your communication into a style that is not you. Good judgement is vital, but so is being true to yourself.

I was very lucky to get this lesson early on in my career, and for some reason I started pondering it today – I think it was a thought unknowingly inspired by my friend Jenny McDonald? I know it’s not easy in the junior ranks expressing your true self – in fact, sometimes it can feel very alone being authentic. But if you want to get ahead and win in this new world of communication, you’ve got to dig deep, believe in yourself, and find it. In fact, this is true for life, full stop.

Sometimes the road of authenticity gets bumpy – because it challenges people who are not true – but at least you can sit back and say I was true to myself – something not too many people can say at the end of their careers I assure you.

Anyone else get any good early career lessons they’d like to share relevant to business communication?

Good luck and be authentic!

Cheers

Andrea

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by | May 30, 2012 · 12:52 pm

Like it? Share it…

I’ve had some thoughts rattling around in my head recently, thinking about how the cultural subtleties of Asia Pacific impact the ability for people to be successful in social media. It started when I asked some leading digital media folks who their favourite business bloggers were in AP, apart from me of course :) . Surprisingly (or maybe unsurprisingly) the majority said they predominantly followed US bloggers… On the one hand, I understand it’s hard to get word out in Asia Pacific because it is a vast region and cannot be packaged up together, especially with so many languages in play; on the other hand, I think it has a lot to do with traditional culture.

I’ve had many conversations with people in this region about the way Americans do things. Oftentimes Asians find the US high-five-pat-yourself-on-the-back style very confronting – it’s just not the way things are done in these parts. However, when social media – specifically blogging – took off, I believe it was this very aspect of American society that turned bloggers into mega stars. As a general rule, Americans are terrifically supportive of folk – especially in business. When someone you know writes a blog, you tweet it, G+ it, Facebook it, etc… because that’s what it’s all about – supporting each other to be successful. I really enjoyed this aspect of American society when I lived in Boston and NYC about 12 years ago. It’s lovely because it feels like everyone has your back.

In Asia, it’s not like that. People are more understated and humble. Don’t get me wrong, Asians are certainly not quiet or conservative, they’re just not loud and in your face. It’s hard to explain, but it’s different here and when you bring social media into the mix, I think these cultural aspects are having a big impact on people succeeding (or not) in Asia. I can’t tell you how many conversations I’ve had with people who said I started blogging, but couldn’t get any support so I gave up. I feel devastated when I hear this. It’s a HUGE effort to blog, not just making the time to write it, but putting yourself out there in the public domain, so the thought that people aren’t “making it” because they’re not getting support is tough to hear.

But it’s true. I started blogging in 2006 (a family type blog) and got very serious about it just over two years ago, with three very different blogs in the market today. To start with, I got a few friends saying they loved it, keep it up and that was it, but I kept going, linked one of my blogs into a global community, created two Facebook pages, and essentially just kept at it no matter what – because that’s what I want to do, write for a living, so I suppose I’m more motivated than most. Slowly, slowly people are sharing my blogs, digital publishers are picking them up and republishing them, and between all of my blogs, I’m close to 40,000 hits. That’s good for me. But it’s been a long, slow process and I certainly haven’t done everything I can to get greater exposure because I just don’t have the time. I’m also not the type of person who is going to ask people to promote me – it’s just not me and all along I’ve been hoping that people will do it because they like what I’m doing. In Asia, that’s not enough.

So a few ideas for everyone reading this, whether you blog or not – and if you blog, perhaps share this with everyone you know as a kick in the bum to get them sharing your work? I’d love to see Asia Pacific being more successful in this genre, but we’ll only get there if we support each other.

My tips:

  • If you read a blog and you like it – share it with your community – please don’t tell me you don’t have time, it’ll take you a minute and trust me, the blogger will be eternally grateful to you for taking the time to do this for them. Remember there are lots of platforms to share it on, so do the lot when you get a free moment. My sharing typically goes to:
  • If you know you are going to launch a blog in the near future, start sharing other bloggers work now on your social networks – that way, when your time comes, they’ll support your blog – supporting gets supported
  • Create a community of support around you with other bloggers like yourself trying to build a profile. Share each other’s work with your communities whenever you can and help each other out. I’ve got a great small community and we all share each other’s work, but someone has to start the sharing for others to follow. This is a really important tip for individual/SME bloggers. Feel free to Tweet your blog to @sajeideas and I’ll be sure to retweet it
  • Bloggers in big companies definitely have an advantage over individuals and SME bloggers, but not always. My suggestion, find out who your company bloggers are and actively support them. The best way is to sign up for their blog and when it’s emailed to you, make sure you take a minute to send it out on your social networks – especially if you like it. Also support individual/SME bloggers, because it’s harder for them to do this and run a business. I suggest find out who’s writing on your industry and if you like them, actively support them
  • Write comments on people’s blogs whenever you can take the time. If you like what they’ve blogged about, tell them. If you’re not so keen or don’t agree, that’s fine, but be respectful and offer an alternative point of view – comments are definitely appreciated because sometimes you feel like you’re sending your work out into the stratosphere and it’s just disappearing… But don’t be an arsehole – there really is no need for that at all. You don’t agree, fine, but be kind
  • This is not just about blogging – there are plenty of other ways you can support the people you respect in a social world. For example like G+ and Facebook fan pages, put them in your Twitter lists, like LinkedIn company pages, etc… How many “Likes” a page has gives it credibility and it’s no skin off your nose to like a page. In the last few days, three friends have sent new Facebook pages to me to like. Even though I may never use their services, I like every request I get, because I know how it feels to get support – numbers matter!
  • There’s another type of social person – those who share lots of awesome information but don’t create their own original content. I love these people because they give me great fodder to share. Certain people are consistent in sharing great stuff, so I always try to acknowledge them – even in small ways with a comment. Therefore I suggest why not say thanks, an awesome article BEFORE you share it? It’s a great way to make them feel that what they’re doing is worthwhile and they’re giving you great information too – to read or to share
  • What have I missed?  

But there is something in it for you too. One way to build your professional profile is to share the great information doing the rounds, because if you build a reputation for sharing great information, over time, people will read what you share because they value what you read. So AS IT IS GOOD for you TOO, how about making sure bloggers and content creators in Asia Pacific are part of your sharing agenda?

We all know we are living in a social world where people share information to their communities from very different mediums. I think this new social world is great for everyone, and it’s a way to give thought leaders in Asia Pacific a voice on the global stage. There’s AMAZING things going on in this region, how about we all work towards supporting the business story tellers?

Do you agree we need to do more to support our own? Well SHARE this! :)  

Cheers

Andrea

 

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