Here’s a video that attempts to explain Google Wave.

It all sounds pretty cool but I wouldn’t know because I haven’t got an invite. Anyone want to invite me?

Clever move from Google making Google Wave so exclusive. I feel like I’m queuing outside a hot new club wondering if I look ‘cool’ enough to get in.

Read more of Monique‘s blog posts here.

Facebook continues to evolve and tailor functions to make sure the social networking site maintains popularity with users. The latest revamp has made Facebook groups look and function similarly to fan pages.

It’s good news for administrators of groups who felt they lacked the means to engage with members. Previously group activities only appeared in the group but now group activity should show up in the news feeds of members. Groups now have publisher enabling members to share group content with their friends via a message or post to their profile like one can do with the fan page.

Trying to choose between a fan page and a group for your brand? The fan page vs. groups debate continues but one function may make all the difference… page insights. In a previous post about Facebook fan pages I noted that fan pages allow administrators to view market insights or ‘page insights’ from the number of page views received to the general demographic segmentation of fans. This is the real difference between groups and fan pages… for now.

Source: Giving Groups a Stronger Voice by Knot Pipatsrisawat.

Read more of Monique‘s blog posts here.

Are you a fan? Do you follow a Facebook fan page for your favourite band, TV show, cool drink or celebrity? Have you ever thought that a fan page could benefit your business?

If you would like to know how you could use this social networking site for your brand or business, read this article. Find out what a Facebook fan page is, what makes it an attractive option for marketers, why content is so important and what it takes to make a fan page work.

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Quest is a leading South African staffing solutions company with the vision to be the leader in meaningful employment; setting candidates and clients up for success.

Brief

The war for talent is fierce. South Africa’s skills shortage and high unemployment make attracting and selecting the right people an ongoing challenge.  Power of 9 has been a strategic partner of Quest’s for 6 years. This partnership has allowed us to develop a deep understanding and strategic insight not only in the Quest brand, but in the Quest business and their strategic objectives. Power of 9 is proud to claim many of the Quest brand initiatives as proactive proposals rather than responses to briefs.  Our proposed candidate acquisition strategy is one such case.

Background

The X & Y Generation use social media to network and socialise every day. They hold the opinions, recommendations and comments of their peers in high regard. They thrive on collaboration and networking, are independent and sceptical thinkers and decision makers and not only embrace technology, but are the creators of it in its most modern form.

They also make up the majority of the Quest candidate base.

Social networking is the fastest-growing billion-dollar industry in the economic history of mankind.

Missy Quest

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If you read, subscribe or follow South African news you more than likely feel bombarded  by negative news about our country (as I do). Strikes, riots, police brutality, murders, asylum seekers, child abuse, SA soccer bosses squabbling over the big seat on the FIFA bench and let’s not forget the gender debate which turned into a race debacle… The list can go on and as a result even religious news readers are tuning out.

So what’s the solution? It is a concern of many that the Films and Publications Amendment Act (2009) will mean our news will be censored. I believe the media should be free to report and reflect our society in its entirety because not only do we have the right to know but the obligation to care.

The answer could be to simply to subscribe to a more holistic view of our country, the good as well as the bad. I’ve decided to follow some proudly South African positive tweeters.  If you would like to balance out the bad news with reasons to celebrate our country, here are five tweeters worth the follow…

@sagoodnews highlights South Africa’s progress and positive developments. It ‘s all about finding solutions, not problems and that is something every country needs. Visit their site for the good news.

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This month is Arbour Month. What started out as a day back in the early 80′s, turned into a week and now we have a whole month to plant trees. With so many tweets about social-this-and-that-media , it’s a breath of fresh air to read some tweets about saving the world, Al Gore style… one tree at a time. Release your inner ‘greenie’ and follow these tweeple.

@ftfa is the organisation known as Food & Trees for Africa,  the first and only South African social enterprise addressing greening, climate change action, food security, sustainable water and soil use and management. The section 21 social enterprise facilitates tree planting in South Africa.

@JuanitaSAfrica is Juanita Welgemoed who describes herself as a person that enjoys animals, nature, outdoors and sport. As a hiking blogger posting on Our Hiking Guide, she qualifies as a green tweeter and with World Parks Day on Saturday 19 September, it’s appropriate that  her blog will inspire you (as it has me) to celebrate our green spaces.

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Tweeple (AKA people on Twitter) know that Friday is not another day in the week… its #FollowFriday! It’s the day when you can unashamedly pimp the tweeple you follow so that others will follow them too. It sounds silly now that I put in words but its fun, and hey on Fridays we all need a bit of silliness! Here is my week’s Friday Follow pimp list.

@10and5 is a showcase for the South African creative industry who post links to creative events, news and stuff to awaken your inner artist. Love it!  Check out their site for a colourful commercial break between all that ‘work’ you pretend to do.

@walterpike (Walter Pike) is the founder of the AAA Digital Marketing Academy. He doesn’t tweet every hour of the day but when he does it’s usually useful social media/marketing/brand links to quality articles like this one…

“A changing attitude of acceptance towards social media by big business. http://bit.ly/3hW9r3”

Check out his site at http://walterpike.com/

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A loyal customer base is the Holy Grail for all businesses, especially in tough economic times. All businesses will benefit from putting themselves in the mind of their target market and finding platforms in which to speak to them. Some brands find that social media is that platform and use it to help boost their word of mouth marketing.

There are few more personal brand choices than choosing a hairstylist. I needed a new hairstylist. I texted a few girl friends and, being a social media junkie, I posted my search on Facebook. Here’s what happened…

One of my friends recommended a hairstylist in response to my Facebook status and invited me to join the hairstylist’s Facebook group. I had already booked an appointment with another stylist recommended via SMS (Do we ever just talk to each other anymore? That’s another article altogether).

Lesson # 1: Word of mouth is still the number one marketing tool.

The first cut was great, I felt like a new person. My second appointment was also a success although I was double-booked. I recommended the hairstylist to my mother and sister. My mom was charged more than what she was quoted, but she overlooked it in the name of good hair.

Lesson # 2: If you offer great service most of the time, customers may overlook the odd slip-up.

Waiting for her next appointment however, held her captive for an afternoon, this time, the result of triple booking. Then the friend who originally recommended the hairstylist told me that she was ‘shopping around’ after being quoted low, charged high and made to wait over two hours for a trim.

Lesson # 3: Word-of-mouth can work both for and against your brand. Obviously customers’ tolerance for broken promises lessens as your service standards drop.

I took heed and made my next appoint for 8 am on a Saturday morning and was thrilled not having to wait. I thought my hair was cut and blow-dried perfectly… little did I know what a good blow-dry can hide…

Last Monday morning after a home wash and blow-dry, I realised that I had was a mullet! You know the kind, Billy Ray Cyrus’ business in the front and all party at the back! I didn’t even phone my hairstylist to complain or make a fix-up appointment.

Lesson # 4: Most customers will not complain about bad service, but they won’t leave quietly … bad news travels fast.

I went back to Facebook, to the recommended hairstylist’s group. Here I found the contact details, saw photos of the salon, read the group wall and then called to make my appointment. In my lunch hour my mullet was reshaped into a neat bob, and I had found a new stylist. Mission accomplished!

Lesson # 5: Brand loyalty is quickly won with honest and consistent delivery on your brand promise.

That evening I joined the stylist’s Facebook group and invited a few girlfriends along with my personal endorsement. Did someone pay me to promote this brand? No. Do I gain anything by telling my friends? Maybe style kudos but that’s it.

Final result: Good old fashioned brand basics + social media presence = fans for your brand (both online and off).

For those of you that are looking for a great hairstylist, check out the Facebook group of  French Fusion, I am a brand fan.

Read more of Monique‘s blog posts here.