Focus Your Content With Personas
June 21, 2011 OffBuyer Personas are used extensively by marketers and product managers to test and focus their product designs and customer communications. A persona is essentially an archetypal character who could become your fan or customer. More than just a demographic profile of your target audience, a persona is detailed and personalized, usually based on interviews with…
Using Google Reader and Twitter Search to Listen
June 20, 2011 OffSince I began subscribing to RSS feeds, Google Reader has been my organizational tool of choice. I have also used Safari and Mail and follow some feeds with iGoogle, but as the volume of blogs began to grow I settled on Reader. At first, I used it as a blog bucket but soon I needed…
Blogs and Facebook Pages: Creating an Online Magazine
June 19, 2011 OffWhen it comes to Social Media everyone is in the publishing business. Blogs and Facebook Pages are forums for community building. Occasional self-promotion is alright, but your followers will not keep coming back unless you provide fresh, valuable content that encourages conversation. Think like a magazine… With social communication tools you and your company can…
What Is the Unmet Need?
June 11, 2011 OffCompanies are most successful when their products meet fundamental human needs. Focusing on the unmet need creates an environment for product design and communication that speaks directly to human beings. What I learned from wraparound… As a product manager I sensed this intuitively, but I really saw it in action when I worked on wraparound…
Social Norms & Market Norms
May 20, 2011 OffAs behavioral economist Dan Ariely notes in his book, Predictably Irrational, we live simultaneously in two worlds; one ruled by social norms, and the other determined by market norms. If you hire a professional designer to develop a website for you, they expect to be paid in cash. If they invite you to Thanksgiving dinner,…
Understanding & Managing Social Media – Part 1
May 13, 2011 OffGetting Started The rise of the social web has caused profound shifts in the way we consume and share information. Media industries like publishing and music, have experienced devastating disruption. Even if your business has avoided this first shockwave, the relationship between you and your customers has changed forever. If you are not using social…
More from Nancy Baym on Artist-Fan Relationships
May 9, 2011 OffIf you are interested in more of researcher Nancy Baym’s findings on the relationship between artists and fans download this pdf presentation. Good stuff!
Beautiful and Strange
May 8, 2011 OffResearcher Nancy Baym has started an interesting blog collecting insights from around the web on the relationship between artists and audiences. There are also links to her interviews with musicians and other cool stuff. Check it out! Beautiful and Strange
A fresh look at Artist-to-Audience Communication
May 7, 2011 OffIn this video clip from the recent Rethink Music conference in Boston, KU’s Nancy Baym (see her new blog: Online Fandom) makes the point that artist – fan collaborations are creating economic transactions that aren’t generally factored into discussions about declining music revenues. There’s a lot of work that doesn’t have to get done anymore…
Thought Squad – A company that really cares
May 6, 2011 OffThought Squad, a small LA graphic design firm, is a great example of a company that cares for their fans and is truly passionate about what they do. When you meet with them the creativity and energy explodes around you; books, logos, websites, music. If you are a customer you feel cared for. They genuinely…