As a web worker, I have clients who are always looking for new and more affordable ways to market what they do. I’m also faced with the constant need to better promote what I’m doing to continue to grow my business. The landscape on the web is undergoing a deep and vast transformation because of social media, and it is affecting the way we market what we do. Public relations will never be the same.
Two years ago, a company called Shift Communications introduced the concept of social media releases that incorporated social networks, microblogs, audio and video elements into text releases. A year later, they expanded their concept to include social media newsrooms, spiffing up the traditional text-heavy online newsroom with more multimedia bells and whistles. PitchEngine is a freemium Web app and hosting service that helps non-techies - and even non-PR-types - to build their own social media releases and social media newsrooms.
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How many social networks and Web 2.0 tools are enough? I clearly don’t know when enough is enough. What if the one I don’t join is the one that will truly change my life/work/future?
1. Checked Twitter. This is like my first cup of coffee, standing by the watercooler, with my Twitterfriends.
2. Went to Upcoming. I was curious what kinds of conferences my friends had listed so I could consider attending a few this year. Ended up adding a dozen new friends to my account.
3. Looked at Facebook. I wanted to see who had RSVP’d to my Second Life event and a real world event I’m promoting. I also used Evite for the real world event because the potential attendees aren’t all on Facebook.
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I can’t get the Who’s song “Going Mobile” out of my head, and it is driving me crazy.
The other day I came across VentureBeat’s MobileBeat 2008 list of companies and have been stressing out ever since. Combine that with attending the latest BlogHer conference and watching several power mobile device users in action (Blackberries implanted in hand, fingers flying at breakneck speed), and no wonder I am starting to feel the pressure of change.
As a Web worker, I can see that my industry is already moving toward being at the forefront of adopting mobile technologies, but I’m not sure exactly what that mobile work looks like.
I’m even less sure how to equip myself properly to handle the technical requirements of mobile work as I’m still trying to get my mobile communications equipment up to snuff. I think I need a technology consultant who can assess my current devices, suggest affordable upgrades, and provide me with a strategy that can help me avoid penalties and too many additional fees from my telecommunications companies not to mention some advice on how to adapt to mobile work. Otherwise, this move toward mobile is going to break my bank not to mention blow my mind.
Can I really go mobile?
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The next time you get one of those whiny alumni spam pitches for money, pause for a minute before tossing it. It just might be hiding a slick social network-powered backchannel to get your next job.
Affinity Circles provides white-label social network sites for over 140 universities and various professional and fraternal organizations. It’s an effective way to layer an online social network onto one of the most ubiquitous traditional offline social networks - alumni associations.
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