Girl Power: The top 50 most influential female bloggers

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Sisters are doing it for themselves. North X East has just released a list of today’s top 50 most influential female bloggers. (And no unfortunately I didn’t make this year’s list.) In reverse order, the list names the women who are taking the blogosphere by storm in what used to seem like a boys-only playground.

The list gives readers a 30 second rundown of each blogger and why they are the cat’s pyjamas. If you want to know who the blogging world are hailing as the cream of the crop, check it out. And despite what many might think, it’s not all lipstick and handbags…

Measurement Camp - How to measure social media. My take on the event…

I was in the big smoke yesterday at the second instalment of the social media measurement camp organised by Will McInnes. Both Seb and Stuart attended the Chinwag event on measuring social media that inspired Will to set up the camp and have posted about it previously but I thought I would give you my thoughts on this one, especially as it’s one of the first events I’ve been to whilst working in the PR industry.

I really enjoyed the set up of the meeting. It was really informal so and we were split up into groups to discuss issues therefore allowing everyone to make contributions to the discussion.

The key thing I came away thinking was that nobody really had any definitive answers about the best way to measure social media. Nielsen had some good examples of the tools that they use to analyse social media campaigns, however it was clear that these are not necessarily always effective for all the types of social media. Some useful insights into benchmarking by creating snapshots were also shared.

The questions were plentiful and really got me thinking about social media and the practicalities of measuring it. Here are some of the questions that we came up with to get your brains around:

· Should the different types of social media platform be considered as separate media forms? For example should a Twitter campaign be measured in a completely different way to a blogger outreach campaign? My initial thoughts were of course, but then this led to me questioning how you measure a campaign that translates across the different platforms, for example if a YouTube video is uploaded and is then posted on a blog, then added to a group on Facebook?

· From this we started to consider whether the true value of social media is in the story/content rather than where it appears?

· What is the definition of a successful Facebook/MySpace/Twitter campaign?

· How do you identify appropriate mavens and how do you value them (e.g is more people talking more important than influential people talking?)

· How do you measure the effects of your online campaign offline?

One of the key conclusions that I came to after the event is that one of the biggest challenges in measuring social media is defining what makes a campaign successful, especially as this can be specific to each client and to each individual campaign that is created.

I think I definitely have to agree with Stuart and Will again that “understanding is more important than measuring” and that to measure we must understand.

Twitter = get out of jail free card

Avid Twitter fans are more than ten a penny today, with bloggers, journalists and social media enthusiasts using this must have web 2.0 application to communicate with and update others on their daily happenings. But little did we know, Twitter is not only useful for finding answers to burning questions or letting our followers know when we’re making the coffee or bored at work… It seems it is also pretty useful in a sticky situation, say for example getting arrested.

US student James Karl Buck, was covering an anti-government protest in Egypt when he and his translator were arrested. During the commotion, Buck used his mobile phone to update his Twitter status, telling all of his friends and followers in one word, many of which were also in Egypt, that he had been “Arrested”.

This smart move meant that all of his followers around the world instantly knew of his plight and could start the ball rolling in securing his freedom.

Buck also sent updates every couple of hours using his phone, which the Egyptian police had failed to confiscate. Buck was eventually freed but his interpreter’s whereabouts remains unknown. In essence, Twitter helped him find the right contacts to get him out of jail.

So if you ever find yourself in trouble, you know which social network to turn to…

Happy Birthday to us - Wolfstar is one!

Happy birthday to us! It is Wolfstar’s birthday! We are officially one year old today. It was on this date last year that Stuart and Tim launched Wolfstar and the ideas locked away in their heads finally became a reality.

It has been a great first year with some brilliant client wins including 4X Currency, energywatch, Fronter and many more exciting ones in the pipeline. We are all eagerly anticipating the coming year and hope to grow and expand Wolfstar into 2009.

Right I’m off to drink some bubbly with the rest of the team…

Beth races for life

Hello all you lovely kind people out there.

On May 18^th I will be donning my running gear and will be helping to raise some much needed funds for Cancer Research UK by taking part in Race for Life and I really need everyone’s help in the form of sponsorship.

I am running in the memory of a close friend who passed away aged only 19, my friend Jo, who’s Dad recently lost his life to lung cancer and for everyone else who lives have been touched or affected by this horrible illness. I will be puffing my way around the course at Temple Newsham, Leeds and have been running to and from work (on occasions) in preparation (and I need a lot of it!)

Please dig deep and contribute what you can to help me reach my target, as cancer affects so many people across the UK. So please get sponsoring, even if it means one less drink in the pub on Friday night. Just visit http://www.raceforlifesponsorme.org/bethkay to donate.

Events like Race for Life are an important way in which Cancer Research UK is able to fund its life-saving work into preventing, diagnosing and treating cancer. By sponsoring me now you could help more people survive cancer.
Donating through this site is simple, fast and totally secure.

Thanks!!!

Oh and I will post the embarrassing pictures after the event.

Spreading the word, cheerleader style. Word of mouth: the new cool in youth marketing

We keep banging on about Word of mouth and its bountiful possibilities over here at Wolfstar and now it seems that the big brands are starting to catch on to this clever technique.

The LA Times featured an article yesterday about how brands in America, struggling to reach the youth market, have started targeting the influencers in the teen world to spread the word about their products. And who better to shout about the latest stash out then cheerleaders.

“Forces are making it very difficult for advertisers to connect with young people,” said Samantha Skey, executive vice president of strategic marketing at Alloy Media & Marketing, a youth marketing agency. “So advertisers are going into schools, forging new platforms for youth connection.”

Companies like Herbal Essences and CoverGirl have been giving out free samples at national cheerleading competitions and Gatorade sponsored ‘hydration breaks’ at cheerleading camps across the US. And it doesn’t stop there. Old Spice have been targeting high school football players and department store giant Macy’s Inc. sent templates of T-shirts to elementary schools encouraging students to design shirts and enter their designs in a contest.

The idea is that these teens are people that other students admire and look up to and are therefore ‘mavens’ in their own rights. And we all know that teenagers LOVE to talk. Nearly half of teens talk about personal care and beauty products, compared with just 29% of the general public, according to a study by research firm Keller Fay Group.

I personally hope that the trend catches on, most of all because I am a cheerleader myself. Anyone want to give me some stuff to talk about?…Anyone?… Prada?

Don’t trust the Sat Nav, it may leave you feeling blue

How often do you rely on your trusty Sat Nav to get you to your desired location? Even when we don’t know the post code we can punch in the name of a place and (insert the name of yours here, mine is called Oliver) will take you to where you want be. The same is true of taxi drivers. You expect to be able to jump in a cab tell them the name of your destination and off you go. And when the two come together, you are surely in safe hands…

Apparently not.

When Earl Spencer’s daughter ordered a taxi to take her to Stamford Bridge to watch Chelsea’s showdown with Arsenal from their home in Northampton, she expected to whizz the 85 miles to London to be there in time for kick off. Unfortunately for her, she ended up 229 miles away from the blues game in the little village of Stamford Bridge near York.

The blunder came when the taxi driver, not knowing the exact route to Stamford Bridge, typed it into his Sat Nav (like we all do), checked with the controller that this was in fact the right address and set off on his journey… to the wrong bridge.

Yes it may have been the controllers fault but what I find baffling is how Earl Spencer’s daughter failed to notice that she was heading north instead of south for the 147 mile journey!

Blogging without due care and attention

Last week Stuart and I had a chuckle over an article in the Yorkshire Evening Post about how the conservative party have been warned about blogging whilst under the influence of alcohol. Apparently TORY candidates at local elections in Leeds have been warned not to post internet blogs when they are drunk. If they do find themselves writing while under the influence, they have been advised to save a draft and then wait until the morning before deciding whether to send it. I’ve always been told that a little drink can help get the creative juices flowing but I think the principle here is the same as text messaging whilst a little merry. We are all guilty of thinking that posting that blog or message was a good idea when the alcohol strips down our inhibitions and gives us the confidence to tell the world what we really believe but when the morning comes and the memory of the night before comes flooding back its all too late.

I think the whole thing was trying to be a bit tongue in cheek, but bloggers out there everywhere should heed this warning before they switch on their laptops after cracking open that second bottle of wine. In the mean time, I want to see where these drunken Tory blogs lie, as they sound like some interesting reading.

Pakistan bans YouTube

Whilst reading the good ole Yorkshire Post with my morning coffee and toast I read a snippet of news about how the country Pakistan (that’s right the entire country) has banned the use of video sharing network YouTube. The government has banned access to the site because it contains ‘anti Islamic’ movies. Whilst I do not agree with slander, whatever happened to the right of free expression? And isn’t the whole point of religion that you choose to believe despite what anyone else has to say? Having faith in something and living a life by that belief should be a choice rather than enforcement and does banning something not make it more desired? I ask myself what is the government afraid of? That when people see these movies they will suddenly turn against the Islamic religion? What little faith the government has in its people.

I understand that some videos may be offensive to the Islamic religion but there are lots of videos on YouTube that I do not agree with, but I simply choose not to view them. It is surprising that in this democratic country where recent elections spurred hopes for change and development that the government has been so closed minded about an Internet revolution that is taking the world by storm. By banning the site, a taboo will be generated around these videos and they will ironically end up with more views than if they had never been mentioned in the first place.

Social networks graduate top of the class for employers

Having recently graduated from university, a large proportion of my friends (those lazy ones who want to avoid work like the plague) decided to do masters degrees or other courses to prolong their student life. Now that their student lives are drawing to an end these people are now looking for graduates jobs and this topic has filled many hours of conversation when we meet.

Whilst doing some recent research into the business benefits of social media I couldn’t help but notice how wonderfully the two could interact and provide bountiful opportunities for both employers and job seekers.

I believe social networking is one of the crucial ways that employers and prospective employees can make use of the advantages of Web 2.0. The ever growing number of Facebook groups has allowed graduates to gain a more in depth and genuine view of the companies they are applying to, as they can seek advice and information from their fellow Facebook users and also where possible engage in two-way conversation with employers. This type of interaction with employers is however, only possible if the company is also engaging in social networks.

I was particularly impressed with an initiative that T-mobile has been doing to help graduates feel more welcome when they are offered positions at the firm. The company has set up a group on Facebook for graduates who have gained a post at T-mobile, which they join before starting work. The group allows recruits to interact and socialise and arrange house shares and events so that the first day at a new job is not so intimidating.

Social networks created within organisations, particularly large-scale, global corporations allows managers to gain a better insight into the daily activities inside the company. It also facilitates the sharing of global projects and tasks with ease and low-cost.

The emerging graduates are now a generation for whom social networking is an everyday activity and they are now expecting this to translate over to the world of work. Those who fail to catch on to this concept risk missing out on the cream of the crop.

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