Ab Originals found on the web

Hallelujah to Radio! Listen to this....

Thu, 24 May 2012 09:17:00 -0700

Ever since I discovered radio broadcasting I have been fascinated by the power of it. The idea that you talk into a microphone, play a record (vinyl in my days yes) and that the output of the soundmixer was fed into a transmitter and then into an antenna. As a result people could here your broadcast miles away! It felt like magic and it still does. I started to get involved with radio since I was 17 with Weekend Radio Decibel in Amsterdam (1979), followed by WAPS Radio Amsterdam (1984) followed by Global Dance Radio (1999) and today I am addicted to webradio in general. In fact, when I am at home, it is the only source for radio I use. There are so many stations for so many people, and the best news today is that radio as a mediatype is in the Top 3 of most used and respected media. Yeah, that's good for some friends that are still working in that field. Radio is an emotional attachment, isn't that beautiful said?

Ab Kuijer

Thursday, May 24, 2012

Radio Is An Emotional Attachment

According to Jacobs Media’s new study of core radio listeners, the high-tech revolution continues, but broadcast radio’s pathway to success may turn out to be more high-touch. The elements that often matter to audiences transcend gadgets and platforms.

Jacobs Media President, Fred Jacobs, says “... the data from the study suggest that focusing on connecting emotionally and meaningfully with listeners is radio’s best avenue toward remaining relevant and vibrant in the face of new digital competition...”

The study covers the entire spectrum of media, digital, and social activities, several key findings emerge from the study...

Media Usage Pyramid 2012 (% Population Using Media Weekly or More)
*Medium*	*% of Population Using*
Cell phone	96%
Internet	93
AM/FM radio	92
TV	92
Social networking	85
Facebook	79
Text	76
Mp3 player	60
Stream video	58
Smartphone	52
Groupon subscriber	48
Internet radio	38
Public radio	30
Tablet	24
Twitter	22
Pandora	18
Satellite radio	15
In-car entertainment system	9
HD radio	6
Source: Jacobs Media Tech Survey, May 2012

While “favorite songs” and local personalities are the highest ranking elements in considering the benefits of AM/FM radio, there are four emotional triggers that listeners value:

Having a radio on while they work
Helping them get in a better mood
Providing a feeling of companionship
Offering an escape from the pressures of everyday life

Pandora is the most popular pure-play Internet option, as 45% of “streamies” listen to some extent, easily besting competitors like iHeartRadio (19%), Spotify (7%), TuneIn Radio (7%), and Slacker Radio (5%). Pandora’s mobile app is the most popular among radio-centric applications, followed distantly by iHeartRadio’s app and the individual apps that stations commission.

Pandora Fans of Alternative, Contemporary Christian, Country, CHR, and Variety Hits are more apt to think of Pandora as “radio,” but users are split as to whether the Internet pure play should be considered radio, with 43% saying yes and 49% no.

The survey found that 9% of the respondents drives a car with a digital dash, and among them 48% have connected their smartphone or mp3 player to the dashboard. Fans of news-talk and sports formats were more likely to turn to their phone seeking streaming content. Pandora was the most-used streaming app, followed by iHeartRadio, Spotify, TuneIn and Slacker.

57% of core radio listeners start their day with another medium or gadget rather than turn on a radio at home or in the car. Television is a close second to turning on a radio at home. The 18-34s are more likely to engage with email or Facebook for this “First Occasion” of the day

First Media Activity of The Day (% of Respondents)
*Media Activity*	*20-30%*	*10-20%*	*5-10%*	*<5%*
Radio at home	x
TV	x
Radio in car		x
Check email		x
Facebook			x
Texting				x
Other				x
Newspaper print/online				x
Websites				x
Satellite radio				x
Pandora				x
Source: Source: Jacobs Media Tech Survey, May 2012

52% now own a smartphone, and 93% download apps. Partisans of Alternative, CHR, Rock, and Sports/Talk stations have a greater propensity to own a smartphone.

Tablets are becoming a significant part of the digital story. 24% say they own one, and iPad has a big lead over all other competitors. To underscore how tablets appeal to many different types of consumers, devotees of Hot AC and News/Talk radio stations are most likely to own a tablet.

Eight of ten of these core radio listeners are on Facebook. CHR, Alternative, and Country fans are most apt to be daily Facebook users.

Access Time on Facebook
*Access Time*	*% of Radio Listeners*
Constantly	13%
Hourly or more	10
More than once a day	42
Couple of times a week	19
Weekly	4
	5
Hardly ever	8
Source: Jacobs Media Tech Survey, May 2012

More than one-fifth use Twitter, and Sports/Talk emerges as the format where Twitter rules. By far, sports-centric listeners are most likely to follow a sports station or personality on Twitter.

For more information from Jacobs Media, please visit here.

N.B. The Research Brief "Online Window Shopping... " posted on May 22nd., has been corrected to reflect appropriate attributation notations.

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Radio Shack is pushing the right buttons for Social Media Interactions.

Tue, 22 May 2012 03:02:12 -0700

See the full gallery on Posterous

Want A DIY Kit For Social Media? Try Radio Shack

By Bob Garfield Monday, May 21, 2012

In college, one of my pals bought an 80-watt Dynaco stereo control amp kit and painstakingly built it over four months. That fall, he pulled a 0.2 GPA – a lost semester that cost him, after figuring in his $30 savings on the amp, about two thousand 1974 dollars. I bought the identical model, pre-assembled, and listened to music while he soldered.

The point of the story? One is to beware of false economies. The other is that I’m no DIY boy.

I happen to follow Radio Shack on Twitter, but not to get the latest deals on capacitors or some such. I do almost nothing myself, and if I could hire someone to brush my teeth I would. Truth be told, I only started following Radio Shack because I was trying to do some work for the now-departed CMO. But the tweets still pop up on my screen, and the other day one captured my attention:

“The ability to stop time exists... if you calibrate a camera’s frame rate to match the frequency of water vibrations http://shack.net/LPEIPX”

Hmm. Unusual. I’ve grown accustomed to seeing Radio Shack tweets about deals on new products and promotional offers. (Example: “RT if you're ready for a new phone. @RadioShack will give you $5 to let us check your eligibility. http://pic.twitter.com/c3hEoySJ”)

And on Friday, when TechCrunch reported that Facebook engineers had rewired the NASDAQ opening-of-trading button to instantaneously share the company’s moment of truth as a story on Mark Zuckerberg’s Timeline – and used Radio Shack components to do it – it was a no-brainer for Radio Shack to retweet. (“RT the most epic button push ever. NASDAQ button hacked w/ @RadioShack parts to update Mark Zuckerberg’s FB page. http://shack.net/KIUDy3”)

But water vibrations? Why pass that along?

Here’s why: because it was cool.

The link led to a Gizmodo post of an amazing video, appearing to capture flowing water droplets suspended in time and space. The effect was accomplished by passing the tube of flowing water over a loudspeaker, vibrating at a certain frequency. This was photographed by a digital videocam whose refresh rate had been adjusted to match the speaker vibration. The resulting playback was super totally fascinating in every way.

No deal on stereo speakers was promoted. Or digital cameras. Or anything else to do with the Radio Shack brand. The only connection to Radio Shack was the brand’s natural connection to a community that would find this video worthwhile. Look, if it was cool to me, can you imagine how it played to the geekosphere? Better than “Game of Thrones.”

Isn’t that how social media is supposed to work? Or else they’d call it “sales media.”

“Having a conversation is not just pushing products all the time,” says Billy Roberts, who handles Radio Shack’s Twitter presence for a third-party agency. “We obviously have a lot of scheduled messaging : ‘Here are the promotions, here are the products that are coming out.’ But as much as I can, I try to share things to engage the audience, which is what the social media space is for, if you ask me.”

How subversive. Treating the people in your social circles like friends you like to share stuff with. Being thoughtful. Strengthening connections. Cultivating relationships. Weird.

“I try to do at least four or five of those sorts of posts a week,” Roberts says. “They tend to be DIY projects that Radio Shack customers have built. Where I find this stuff, is I personally subscribe to a lot of RSS feeds for blogs where people upload their projects.”

Mind you, Roberts does devote the lion’s share of his tweets to Radio Shack-specific matters, and – hand it to the guy – when invited to grouse about clients abusing the social space as a virtual Advo bag, he doesn’t take the bait. The precise question was: “Billy, shouldn’t the majority of tweets be there not to sell but to cultivate common ground?”

“That’s not exactly what we’re here for,” he replied. “We’re here to help the client get the messaging across that they want to on their channels, so what we try to do, as much as possible, is marry the two worlds. We want to engage the audience And make the client happy and then everybody wins.”

Maybe. Or maybe he was just being diplomatic. (In tracking him down, I was a bit surprised the work wasn’t done in-house. Alas, I can’t mention Roberts’ agency because, as it turns out, it is one I do business with.) But having recently spent a day with social media execs at major multinational brands, I have the distinct impression they would like their management to stop thinking of Twitter and Facebook as “messaging channels” and start embracing them for what they are: places to share with fans, friends, potential friends, casual acquaintances and total strangers, so that the brand might be liked, trusted and maybe even admired.

Sending something cool to people who you suspect will find it cool is cool. Using Twitter, et al, as a medium for free advertising is a fantastic method for boring or scaring people off. As my college pal learned the hard way, it is ruinous trying to save money by assembling something you don’t understand.

I found this for you at http://www.mediapost.com My name is Ab Kuijer, ceo and creative director of JuniorSenior, the international youth marketing agency. I am a 'right-brainer' and allround marketing and communication consultant. I help companies and organisations to understand the new media landscape and how to get the best out of their message if they want to connect with the next generation customers. #TSGB http://www.jr-sr.com/think-small-grow-big/ To share my way of living at the French Riviera a.k.a. Cote d'Azur, I recently launched www.livingatthecotedazur.com. A social media marketing service for real-estate agencies in the South of France.

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Listen to this ol' chap! One third of Brits now read marketing emails on mobiles.

Fri, 18 May 2012 03:22:00 -0700

One third of Brits now read marketing emails on mobiles

The increasing impact of smartphones on how consumers interact with companies looking to

market their products and services is revealed today by a report showing that over one third (36%) of UK consumers now read marketing emails on their mobile devices. This rises significantly to over half (55%) of 18-34 year olds.

A crucial finding in terms of the implications for the marketing industry is that one third of people who read marketing emails on their mobile do so to screen them, to read later on a PC or laptop.

Consequently, the report, published by digital agency STEEL London, highlights how brands need to rethink their email marketing strategies to find the 'sweet-spot' that maximises consumer interest across both types of screens - mobile and computer.

Andy Hinder, STEEL's CEO, said: "Consumers are increasingly using their mobile as their preferred media and communication device. Because of this, the mobile has become the gatekeeper for further action and engagement with emails. With better targeted marketing emails, and

the growth in mobile commerce, it is essential for brands to look at how they further adapt their email marketing strategies for mobile."

The power of mobile is highlighted by the fact that over two thirds (69%) of people who read marketing emails on their mobile have immediately acted on it in some way. The most common action being clicking through to a website (42%) followed by making a purchase (30%). Again, 18-34 year olds are the most likely to do these activities; over half (52%) of them who read emails on mobiles have clicked through to a website while over one third (35%) have made a purchase.

However, there is a large degree of consumer dissatisfaction about reading emails on mobiles. Consumers' pet hate is that there is "too much scrolling", cited by 42% of all consumers - jumping significantly to 89% of consumers over 55 years old. Emails having the "wrong layout for

mobiles" are the next strongest area of dissatisfaction, cited by 29% of all consumers - jumping to 45% of 18-34 year olds - followed by "too much content" (27%).

Hinder added: "Marketers must also bear in mind when and where the consumer is receiving their communication. This has massive implications for how they create the right messages for a highly personal device, and how they want consumers to react to, and interact with those messages."

As a result of the findings, Hinder recommends five simple steps for marketers to find where emails work on mobiles, laptops and PCs:

Simplify the emails: reduce the number of categories, sub-headings, links and images
Limit calls to action and make them obvious: use a small number of obvious buttons instead of numerous links. Clickable areas should be no smaller than a fingertip (44x44 pixels)
Use a clear, methodical hierarchy and keep it short: create a clear headline, followed by secondary messaging with smaller tertiary content towards the bottom. Keep the length of the email as short as possible
Use capitals in titles to distinguish text and content areas
Stick to one or two columns of content: if using more than one column centre the text in each column to maximise the visual space between them and improve legibility.

The full report - based on a nationally representative sample of consumers recruited and surveyed via a Toluna online panel as well as STEEL's work with clients such as Debenhams, Betfair and TalkTalk - is available here.

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First movie completely shot at 35.000 feet: Departure Date

Mon, 14 May 2012 12:24:28 -0700

Virgin: Departure Date

Love at 35,000 feet.

Ok, so we've seen airline movies before, but have we seen any that were actually shot mid-flight? The Virgin Airlines trifecta--America, Atlantic and Australia have teamed up for the first time on a multiplatform branded entertainment campaign out of Eleven centered around a short film, Departure Date. The film was shot on three commercial flights across three continents within 20 hours, and claims to be the first short actually shot at 35,000 feet. Written and directed by director Kat Coiro (Life Happens, While We Were Here) and starring Ben Feldman (Mad Men) and Nicky Whelan (Hall Pass), it tells the story of two strangers who fall in love on a Virgin flight. The campaign aims to promote Virgin's inflight experience in the L.A. market and showcase the airlines global frequent flyer partnership.

The film will be screened in June in Los Angeles to help kick off Film Independent's 2012 L.A. Film Festival, hosted by the Virgin Airlines, Virgin Produced, the L.A. Film Fest and AEG. A teaser for the film is available at Flyvirgin.com.

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Are you on Pinterest? Pin this and learn how to be successful.

Tue, 08 May 2012 08:32:31 -0700

sponsored by: Spredfast

Pinterest Beyond the Basics: A Marketer's Guide to Successful Pinning

by James Medd

Published on May 8, 2012

In this article, you'll learn...

What type of content marketers should pin, and how
How to integrate email campaigns with Pinterest

Pinterest, the popular image-driven social network, is one of the hottest topics du jour. In the past year, traffic to the virtual pinboard site has shot up more than 9,000% (source: Compete). Companies are jumping on the Pinterest bandwagon, and your brand, too, can benefit from what is now one of the world's largest social networks.

The following are tips—beyond the basics—on how to use Pinterest to get results.

1. Don't be the dullest kid on the block

After signing up for Pinterest, you might be tempted to hurry through the boring set-up stuff and skip right to the pinning. But you won't be doing yourself any favors in terms of "searchability," both within and outside of Pinterest. Make sure you complete your profile and include links to your other social network profiles and accounts.

The first impression you make should not be one that shouts, "I am marketing at you." Pinterest presents a great opportunity to show a more personal side of your company or brand than what can be found on your corporate website.

Demonstrating a little personality will help you stand out. For example, instead of posting your logo, post a picture of your staff or even an image that presents what you do in a more creative way. You can also create interesting boards on your profile that represent your company's values or aspirations as opposed to just its core products.

2. Keeping it interesting... one board at a time

With Pinterest's recent profile-layout change, you have more control of how boards look on your profile. Boards now feature one large image, which users can select, followed by four smaller thumbnails that appear below it.

Because users can have more than one board, those who don't plan on regularly pinning should have a few good-looking boards populated with five carefully selected images. Doing so will enable those users to develop an interesting presence without the need for constant upkeep.

If you're looking to use Pinterest on an ongoing basis, you should still consider developing a few inactive boards alongside the active ones. A mix of the two can help keep your important boards looking great while affording you a place to pin great new content.

3. Conduct equal opportunity pinning

When pinning, always consider your source. You can use various methods to pin images to your boards. But, if your objective is to drive traffic to a specific website, do you know the best way to pin relevant images and cultivate interest?

For example, you have the perfect image saved to your hard drive. You know, the super fun image that you used in a brochure? Yes, you can upload the image directly from your desktop. But what happens when a user clicks on it? Well, the image leads to a dead end. So, although desktop uploading works, it won't necessarily deliver the results you want.

Enter Pinterest's add-on, Pinmarklet, which makes grabbing images online a breeze. Once installed in your browser, Pinmarklet provides a "Pin It" button that allows you to grab an image from any website and add it to one of your pinboards.

Sounds easy enough, right? Well, not quite.

Websites have not yet been designed to accommodate Pinterest. Some images, therefore, won't render properly. They might appear blurry, or they might be cut off, or they just won't look good. But if you're using only Pinmarklet, you have no choice. You have to use the images that are available on the source URL to which you want to drive traffic.

Never fear, a workaround is near! Trumpets blow, and the angels sing...

By customizing a URL and pasting it into your browser's address bar, you can pin the exact image you want—from anywhere on the Web—and specify both the description and its location.

Here's a step-by-step procedure:

Choose the image you want.
Right-click on the image and select the source URL.
Paste the following URL into your browser bar, inserting the appropriate text and URLs where indicated:
http://pinterest.com/pin/create/button/?url=REPLACE_WITH_DESIRED LINKBACK_URL&media=REPLACE_WITH_ORIGINAL IMAGE_SOURCE&description=REPLACE_WITH_DESIRED DESCRIPTION
When you click "enter" with the revised URL, you will be redirected to Pinterest, and the button will be ready for you to pin to your board.

Now you can start populating your boards with great creative that directs interested users to a specific landing page. As a channel, Pinterest will have suddenly brought you a little closer to achieving your marketing targets.

4. Aim to rank high in Pinterest search

At the moment, no one outside of Pinterest headquarters has a clear idea of how the site ranks search results. Are results ranked by number of likes? Upload date? Number of shares? At the moment, all signs point to a combination of how recently an image was uploaded and what keywords were attached to it. That makes pinning often and writing descriptions of images really important.

If you're pinning an image of a product, options in the description field allow you to add a price. Take advantage of that feature! Simply add "$" or "£" followed by the amount in the description. Voila! Your pin is now automatically added to the Pinterest Gifts section.

Also, hyperlinks can be used in descriptions to generate traffic. Hashtags, too, can be used for linked Pinterest searches.

5. Integrate to make great email marketing campaigns

Email marketers are thinking of creative ways to integrate their email campaigns with this new, hot social network. Some are integrating social buttons into their messages (including ones that lead to their Pinterest page), but is doing so truly sufficient?

What email marketers really want is higher open rates, more clicks, and more people viewing their campaigns. We at Emailvision have picked up on this trend, having developed "Pin Your Inbox," which allows marketers to "pin" their email campaigns with links to the online version of that campaign.

6. Vote! Like! Share! Win!

Remember, on Pinterest (and, really, in life... no?) in-your-face self-promotion is not looked upon kindly. But creative marketing can be. Is your campaign new, different, and clever enough?

Emailvision, for example, is running a competition in which email marketers and subscribers are invited to share their favorite email campaigns on Pinterest. The competition not only drives traffic to the submitted campaign but also elicits constructive feedback from peers (users are encouraged to vote via "Likes" for their favorites).

Of course, a contest requires a prize, and that's another big plus: The most popular campaign will win custom-design services from Emailvision's in-house creative team.

James Medd is social media marketing manager at Emailvision, where he is responsible for managing the company's online presence via social networks. He is co-founder and organizer of Social Media Paris, which hosts networking events where enthusiasts can meet to discuss the latest in social, tech, and the Web.

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Mobile is leading the e-mail revolution.

Wed, 02 May 2012 07:05:13 -0700

Mobile To Become Top Email Platform

by Mark Walsh,

Return Path projects that mobile will overtake Webmail and the desktop PC to become the leading platform for e-mail by year’s end. Email readership on mobile devices accounts for 30% of all opens, up from 10% a few years ago, according to a new study by the email certification and reputation monitoring company, Return Path estimates that proportion will reach about 35% by June, eclipsing Webmail services like Yahoo Mail, Hotmail and Gmail, and roughly equaling email opens on desktop clients like Outlook by mid-year. “What we’ve seen over the past year and a half is that mobile is really eating away at the share of Webmail views,” said Tom Sather, senior director of email research at Return Path. (A Webmail service accessed within a phone’s native email program would be counted as a mobile view in the study.)

That’s not welcome news for the Webmail providers. Email ads that might appear in a traditional Web browser will not show up in a native mobile email reader. "For Gmail, Yahoo and Hotmail, if their readers are moving away from a Webmail view, where they can monetize it, they’re losing out, too,” said Sather. The share of desktop email clients led by Outlook, by contrast, have held relatively steady because people continue to use them mainly at work on the PC. Mobile email opens overall jumped 82.4% in just the last year, as of March. Driving that trend is the proliferation of iPhones and iPads, with Apple devices accounting for 85% of all mobile email opens, according to the data collected from 500 clients using Return Path’s analytics tools.

Sather said email opens are probably split about evenly between Google’s Android and Apple’s iOS -- the two dominant smartphone platforms -- when allowing for technical differences in tracking that led to an overrepresentation of the Apple operating system. New data from comScore on Tuesday showed that Android was running on 51% of smartphones in the U.S., compared to about 30% for iOS. More broadly, smartphone penetration has reached about 50% in the U.S., while 15% to 20% of mobile users now have tablets. The Return Path study showed that email readership on the iPad, in particular, had grown quickly -- up 53% from a year ago.

Despite the sharp rise in mobile email use, the company found that nearly half (48%) of marketers don’t know how many mobile subscribers they have. That can be a problem if people are getting email messages that haven’t been optimized for the mobile screen. “If you have a poorly crafted email experience for mobile, people can just get frustrated and delete it,” said Sather.In practice, that means email messages aimed at mobile users should be formatted so they render properly, at least on iOS and Android devices. Sather said new technologies are emerging that allow email marketers to see how their desktop or Webmail messages render on different mobile platforms to help avoid problems when launching campaigns.

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Funny: The 10 Most Unexpected Media Placements We've Seen

Tue, 01 May 2012 07:14:24 -0700

From Urinals to the Bottom of a Shoe, Ads Have Been Cropping up in Some Unusual Places

By:

At a time when consumers are inundated with advertising while driving, using their phones, on planes or at the movies -- or in other words, every waking hour -- how does a marketer cut through the clutter? One solution to overcome ad overload is to throw an ad at them where they least expect it. With creative efforts now appearing on urinals, straws and shoes, here are 10 of the weirdest yet smartest media placements from the past few years.

1. Lowe Belgium tacked on a little something extra next to an everyday Emergency Exit sign to demonstrate the Axe Effect.

2. Billboard Magazine made a bathroom trip interactive by installing seven strings and an amp inside a urinal so that people could make music with their pee.

3. Publicis Mojo Auckland made clever use of a ketchup packet and the sauce inside for a campaign against landmines, in this 2006 Cannes Lion-winning effort.

4. Using BuyMyFace.com, a service that helped broke students get some cash, Ernst & Young planted its logo on kids' faces.

5. Body art goes commercial. New Zealand clothing store Suprette and DDB Auckland put metal plates onto benches, so an ad would be "pressed" onto people's bare legs when they sat down.

6. The Supra brand shoe has a sole that can double as available ad space, a novel idea from Horizon media.

7. Besides covering gaping craters in the streets, this is the best use of a manhole cover we've ever seen. Folgers Coffee put a sticker on top of them so they looked like a steaming cup of coffee.

8. Leo Burnett Shanghai made clever use of a drinking straw's accordion hinge to promote the Y-Plus Yoga Center in Shanghai.

9. Mr. Clean bought just one stripe at a zebra crossing to illustrate how effective its cleaning powers are.

10. A few months ago, Federico Bosch, a creative at Leo Burnett, Iberia, got a tattoo of a QR code on his arm. Now, that QR code is up for sale as a media buy, through an auction on eBay. The winner of the first auction gets to use the QR code as a gateway to any kind of content they want, for a month. It's a recyclable tattoo -- of a kind.

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3 room high class appt with seaview and secured parking in Cannes

Mon, 30 Apr 2012 08:07:00 -0700

Cannes Exclusive ! At an amazingly beautiful and luxurious location we offer a 3 room apartment with 2 bedrooms with a fantastic view of the Iles de Lerins. Both rooms have a private shower. High-speed Internet. The apartment offers every luxury you can imagine. You will feel at home in Cannes and very safe. The building is equipped with day and night surveillance. Including the parking place, so you can park your Lamborghini and sleep like a baby. Tarifs - Cannes Filmfestival 11 tot 22 mei 2012 5400 euro - Juni 2012 2400 euro per week - Juli 2012 2900 euro per week

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Smart Ways to Find New Clients Fast.

Thu, 26 Apr 2012 07:08:00 -0700

You are as good as your last job. That's how it works these days in the not so glamourous world of marketing and advertising. And if creativity is not in your DNA you will struggle to find work because clients can think 'marketing' and they save money by handling their own projectmanagement. But what if you are creative and you could do with some extra more projects? Here are some great tips, I found them for you at Dzineblog.com

Good luck!

It’s no secret that some freelance designers struggle more than others to find new gigs.

If you’re one of them, if you’re one of those freelancers who is always struggling to find their next project, then you may wonder what other freelancers know that you don’t. Why is it that some freelance designers are always busy? Are they a better designer than you?

The answer is simple. Some freelancers have more work because they know where and how to look for work. That’s really all there is to it.

In this post, I’ll share some smart methods for finding clients that many freelance designers overlook. If you enjoyed this post you’ll probably also like Five Simple Tactics to Find New Clients.

3 Smart Methods for Finding New Clients Most Freelancers Never Use

The freelance designers who get the most gigs and seem to stay really busy aren’t afraid to use these three smart tactics to find work:

Ask for Referrals. Tell everyone you know–friends, family members, acquaintances, past and current clients–that you are looking for freelance work. Tell them often. Even with good intentions, people tend to forget about your freelancing business. Ask your connections if they know of anyone who could use your services. Some freelancers even pay a small finder’s fee to those who refer projects to them.

Contact Past Customers. When a project is complete, you’re done with the client too–right? Wrong. Even after you finish a project, you need to keep in touch with that client. Don’t assume that a former client will automatically come to you with their next project just because they were satisfied with your work in the past. You’ve got to remind them that you are out there. You’ve got to ask for more work.

Cold Call. You are probably ignoring your most promising prospects. Did you know that your most promising prospects are those who live within calling/driving distance? It’s been shown over and over that local clients are more loyal and pay more. Yet, for some reason most freelancers absolutely refuse to make cold calls in their local market. Don’t be one of them. Don’t overlook the lucrative local market.

If you’re sharp, you’ve noticed that all of these methods for finding freelance work have one thing in common.

Be Bold: the Surprise Common Factor to Finding More Freelance Work

What all of these methods for finding freelance work share is that you’ve got to be bold to carry them out. You’ve got to be unapologetic. You can’t be too timid when it comes to promoting your freelancing design business.

There are many reasons why a freelancer may lack of boldness. The freelancer could be afraid of rejection. They could lack confidence. Or, they could simply be timid.

Sadly, many freelance designers are not very bold or very proactive when it comes to finding more work. They either:

Wait for more freelance work to come to them
Apply for the same advertised gigs that everyone tries to get

Neither of these methods works. Waiting and applying for the same old gigs simply isn’t enough if you want to stay busy as a freelancer.

Come on folks! You already know that being timid doesn’t work well in the business world. If you’re timid and it isn’t working it really shouldn’t be a surprise.

What to Do Now

Commit to being bold when it comes to looking for freelance work. It’s the smart thing to do, so do it today. Make a promise to yourself and follow through.

Now, spend the next month taking the three bold steps that I outlined earlier. Take these steps every chance you get.

Ask for referrals.
Contact all of your past customers.
Make those cold calls.

Try being really bold this time when it comes to looking for more freelance work and you will begin to see some real results. With the right effort, you may even become one of those freelance designers who is always busy.

Your Turn

Are you bold enough when it comes to looking for more freelance design work or are you timid instead?

Share your best methods for finding more work.

Did you take bold steps to promote your freelancing business? How are things going?

Image by Looking Glass

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Today I Think I Shall Blog in My Underwear.

Wed, 25 Apr 2012 06:50:11 -0700

Mon Apr 23, 2012

Odd as it may sound the title to this post isn’t really odd at all. In fact, most days I blog before the sun comes up and most days I wear whatever I feel like while doing so.

One of my favorite bits of Hugh MacLeod inspiration

Now, that doesn’t mean I’m not serious about my blog. It is quite easily the most important business asset I’ve built. Today’s post title, however, is a nod to the freedom that my blog and the Internet in general have created for my business over the last ten years.

This week, my friend and long time blogger, Hugh MacLeod releases his 3rd book, Freedom Is Blogging In Your Underwear, a sharp tongued tribute to the freedom we now have to work how we want, where we want and with whom we want. Hugh’s humor and wit, expressed through his unique characters and drawings, is one of the most inspirational romps anyone in the world of business can enjoy.

Hugh credits his blogging habit with altering the course of his business and personal life and creating the flourishing business that allows him to work at his craft.

A few words from Hugh:

I wrote the book as a love letter to the blogging, as it were. Blogging matters. Sure, the apps are good things. Sharing photos and finding out new restaurants is a definite positive. But as an artist, I come from a background where getting your work seen and heard was REALLY HARD. Gatekeepers galore. Had blogs existed back when I was a kid, a lot of my creative peers wouldn’t have given up their dreams in order to go do some bill-paying government job.And what’s true for artists is also true for ANYONE who gives a damn about their work. Too many voices, lost unnecessarily.

I too would make a similar claim. While some are quick to rush in and hail the next new online tool as the death of blogging, I would suggest that blogging is never going away. Blogging is the underpinning that launched a revolution of sorts in business and the only thing that will kill that off is a radical retreat in our desire to work in ways that allow us to control our destiny.

See, it’s not really about the tool; it’s about the behavior it unleashed. It’s about the fact that anyone, with any roots, experience, or desire could freely publish information directly to the audience they wished to influence. And that the stories, images, opinions and ideas shared would stand on their own merit and be consumed and shared by others regardless of what the established media, gatekeepers and experts said about it.

And for me it’s not even about the exposure my ideas enjoy. I wrote my first blog post in 2003 and knew immediately it was something important. It’s not that I knew blogging would become an essential tool, but I did sense that the act of blogging would change my business forever.

There are a few about blogging I did not know at the beginning, however, and it is these things that have produced the most profound and lasting benefits.

Blogging would make me a better thinker – (understand that better is relative!) In an effort to create content for a blog that is succinct, reveals new ways to look at common things, or apply simple solutions to seemingly complex problems, I believe I now think about business much differently.
Blogging would make me a better listener – When I engage in conversation or listen to radio interviews, I listen with a writer’s ear and often find my head filling up with blog post ideas by simply listening to others discuss sometimes unrelated subjects.
Blogging would make me a better writer – The fact that I practice writing daily has made me a better writer. It doesn’t mean I’m the world’s greatest writer, but practicing something makes you better at it – hard to deny that. Of course writing publicly like this also allows for community reaction to help you get better faster.
Blogging would make me a better salesperson – I write like I speak and often I write to sell an idea or even a very specific tactic. It’s amazing, but I find that clearly stating idea pitches in writing has improved my ability to quickly articulate them in a selling or interview setting. It’s like you build up this reserve bank of pre tested discussion points.
Blogging would make me a better speaker – This one falls nicely from the previous point but I’ll also add that working through blog posts on meatier topics, those that readers weigh in on, has produced some of my best presentation material to date.
Blogging would keep me focused on learning – The discipline required to create even somewhat interesting content in the manner I’ve chosen requires that I study lots of what’s hot, what’s new, what’s being said and what’s not being said in order to find ways to apply it to the world of small business.
Blogging would allow me to test out ideas – I’ve made some incredible discoveries about some of my ideas (okay, and had a few flops too) based on the immediate and sometimes passionate response from readers. Many of the ideas in my upcoming book were tested and molded here.
Blogging would make me a better networker – I have developed hundreds of relationships with other writers that provide me with ideas, tips and resources to share and who willingly pass on my ideas, tips and resources. Some of these relationships remain professionally on the surface, but some have evolved into very strategic and fulfilling personal relationships as well. (Sharing a beer at a conference helps that along)
Blogging would allow me to create bigger ideas – This one is related to testing out ideas, but the habit of producing content over time also affords you the opportunity to create larger editorial ideas that can be reshaped and repurposed for other settings. I’ve taken a collection of blog posts on a specific topic and turned them into an ebook more than once.

So Hugh, thanks for the inspiration and to all the bloggers, readers, commenters, linkers, sharerers and grammar defenders that stop by, thanks for collaborating on the canvass that gives me the freedom to practice what I feels like art.

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Sorry, Spotify Won't Make You Cool

Tue, 17 Apr 2012 22:10:27 -0700

Friedman: Sorry, Spotify Won't Make You Cool

April 13, 2012

MarketWatch media columnist Jon Friedman visits Mean Street and he has issues with musically inclined social media site Spotify. In fact, he points out, Spotify does not make its users cool. Photo: AP.

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Two Old Ladies Now Running Social Media for Kraft Mac & Cheese

Thu, 12 Apr 2012 09:08:00 -0700

CP+B launches 'Old Birds, New Tweets' By

Tim Nudd

Old people are funny. They don't understand what's going on! This is an advertising truism going back to Clara Peller and beyond. Now, Kraft is getting in on the action, handing over the Twitter andFacebook pages for its Macaroni & Cheese brand for a couple of days to two humorously out-of-it octogenarians—Frankie, 87, and Dottie, 86. Some of the tweets so far seem suspiciously perfect ("just learned about planking. anybody know what it means?"), but I suppose we have to take them at their word. A fun piece of an ongoing great campaign by Crispin Porter + Bogusky. More videos after the jump. Here's more from the agency: "As part of the 75th anniversary celebration of KRAFT Mac & Cheese, we're turning our social network—Twitter, Facebook and YouTube—over to two 'Old Birds' we hired who've been eating Mac & Cheese for 75 years. They will be our temporary social media managers, having started yesterday, Tuesday, April 10, and going to Thursday, April 12. They'll be Tweeting, posting pictures/videos, commenting on trending topics, RTing and responding to @replies. During the three days, anyone can interact with the two ladies, named Frankie and Dottie, by Tweeting to @kraftmacncheese or using #oldbirdsnewtweets."

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Why Instagram got 1 billion dollars from Facebook.

Thu, 12 Apr 2012 06:29:37 -0700

Fairy tales still exist in the social media hype and the founders of Instagram are the living proof of it: they got $ 1 billion (cash and shares) for their iPhone application. But what is so special about it ? I have 4 photo editing tools on my iPhone of which Hipstamatic is the funniest. The Instagram filters can be made with a little Photoshop so why did Facebook pay so much money ? It's not just the database of users (27 million) but what the users do with Instagram: everyone shares his or her location and that is something only Foursquare is really successful with. And since Foursquare is mainly used by men as a digital version of the ancient 'land fight' (this is my bar, understood?!) Facebook is becoming more and more a female thing and it feels the rise of Pinterest that is mainly used by women. At the end it's all about money (sigh...) and Facebook needs to offer something special to advertisers. And that is "location-based advertising. Facebook now knows the locations of the Instagram users, and that makes it easier to deliver a tailor-made commercial message to users and visitors. They take your location, view your surfing attitudes, add demographic information as well as the number of Likes of certain brands and Facebook comes very close to Direct Marketing 3.0.

This is technically all very nice and obviously very valuable because advertisers will pay more for a better result than just clicks. Every advertiser wants to make sure that the message is delivered to the right target and preferably also generate 'store traffic' to a store close by the customer. But does it work? Many people do not like advertising. Advertising might be the art of seduction, but placing a commercial in front of a movie on Youtube is most annoying. Do you watch those commercials completely ? Too much advertising (and also too close/nearby) at a moment when people do not ask for it (in the mailbox, during that exciting movie, text on your phone, etc) will backfire. Brands should build their sales and growth with their existing customers and give them the best service available. From there you can create loyalty and use the social networks to increase revenues. For now, the race for the advertising budget goes on and the nerds and the geeks get their money first. Consumers are being hunt and should soon start making choices: whether you live further off-line and share absolutely nothing with nobody. Or you choose advertising from brands you are happy with and give them permission to inform you. With "Advertising On Demand ' brands and telecom providers will send you push messages on mobile, blutooth, FB messages, e-mail and whatever based upon your mobile location and your Facebook Likes. There is a lot of work to be done for companies that are not yet bonding with their customers.

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Trust in On-line Advertising is Growing but Friends Have More Credibility Than Brands.

Thu, 12 Apr 2012 06:29:00 -0700

A third of the people believe advertising. Is that good or bad?

You tell me!

by Aaron Baar
According to Nielsen’s Latest Global Trust in Advertising Survey, 92% of respondents in 56 different countries said they trusted word-of-mouth recommendation from their friends and family above all other forms of communication. That’s up 17% since 2007.

Consumers are also increasingly likely to trust the voices of strangers over those of a corporation. Online consumer reviews are the second-most trusted form of communication (cited by 70% of consumers, up 15% since 2007).

At the same time, trust in paid traditional media (including television, magazine and newspaper ads) has steadily declined since 2009. (Trust in television is down 24%; magazines, down 20%; and newspapers down 25%, according to the survey.) Overall, 47% of consumers worldwide said they still trusted those media, although the drops are substantial.

Meanwhile, trust in online advertising is growing. Thirty-six percent of consumers trusted online video ads, and 33% believed online banner ads -- up from 26% in 2007. Paid search engine advertising was deemed trustworthy by 40% of consumers, up from 24% in 2007.

Only 58% of consumers trust “owned media” such as company Web sites, while only 50% said they found content in e-mails they received from brands (by consent) to be similarly credible. Only 40% of global respondents found product placements credible, about the same levels as radio ads (42%) and pre-movie cinema ads (41%).

“While brand marketers increasingly seek to deploy more effective advertising strategies, Nielsen’s survey shows that the continued proliferation of media messages may be impacting how well they resonate with their intended audiences on various platforms,” said Randall Beard, global head, Advertiser Solutions at Nielsen, in a release. “Consumers around the world continue to see recommendations from friends and online consumer opinions as by far the most credible.”

I found this for you at http://www.mediapost.com/publications/article/172180/friends-have-more-credibility-than-brands.html?edition=45618#ixzz1rpd0WniP

My name is Ab Kuijer, ceo and creative director of JuniorSenior, the international youth marketing agency. I am a 'right-brainer' and an allround marketing & communication consultant. I help companies and organisations to understand the new media landscape and how to get the best out of their message if they want to connect with the next generation customers. Two years ago I wrote a book about Social Media www.tinyurl.com/thinksmallgrowbig and how to understand and implement that changemaker. #TSGB http://www.jr-sr.com/think-small-grow-big/ To share my way of living at the French Riviera a.k.a. Cote d'Azur, I recently launched www.livingatthecotedazur.com. A social media marketing service for real-estate agencies in the South of France.

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Waarom Instagram 1 miljard dollar krijgt van Facebook.

Wed, 11 Apr 2012 01:58:14 -0700

Sprookjes bestaan nog in de social media hype en de oprichters van Instagram zijn daar het levende bewijs van; zij kregen 1 miljard dollar (cash en aandelen) voor hun iPhone applicatie. Maar wat is er zo bijzonder aan; ik heb wel 4 fotobewerkingtools op mijn iPhone waarvan Hipstamatic het grappigst is. De Instagram filters kan je met een beetje Photoshop ook zelf aanbrengen, dus waarom betaalt Facebook zoveel geld? Het gaat duidelijk niet alleen om de database van de gebruikers (27 miljoen) maar vooral om wat zij met Instagram doen: iedereen deelt nl. zijn of haar locatie en dat is iets waar alleen Foursquare succesvol mee is. En aangezien Foursquare voornamelijk door mannen wordt gebruikt als een digitale versie van het oeroude 'terreintje afbakenen' (dit is mijn kroeg ja!) wordt Facebook steeds meer een vrouwending en heeft het ook nog eens last van de opkomst van Pinterest dat voornamelijk door vrouwen wordt gebruikt. Uiteindelijk draait het allemaal om geld en moet Facebook aan de adverteerders iets unieks kunnen aanbieden. En dat is 'location-based' advertising. Nu Facebook de locaties weet van de Instagram gebruikers, kan men makkelijker een tailor-made advertentie voorschotelen aan de gebruikers en bezoekers. Je neemt de locatie, bekijkt de surfvoorkeuren via Facebook, voegt de demografische gegevens toe plus het aantal Likes van bepaalde merken en je bent heel dicht in de buurt van Direct Marketing 3.0. Dat is technisch leuk en uiteraard heel veel geld waard omdat een adverteerder straks meer gaat betalen dan alleen maar clicks of views. Iedere adverteerder wil zeker weten dat er raak wordt geschoten en bij voorkeur ook nog eens 'store traffic' genereren naar een winkel bij de toekomstige klant in de buurt. Maar gaat het werken? Veel mensen vinden reclame helemaal niet leuk. Reclame is weliswaar de kunst van het verleiden, maar zoals je nu voor ieder filmpje op Youtube een commercial krijgt te zien is hoogst irritant en dom van de mediabureau's en hun adverteerders. Kijk jij die spotjes weleens helemaal uit? Teveel reclame (en straks te dichtbij ook nog eens) op een moment dat mensen er niet om vragen (in de brievenbus, tijdens die spannende film, op je telefoon, op Youtube etc) zal averechts werken. Merken doen er goed aan om zelf een band op te bouwen met hun bestaande klanten, de loyaliteit te onderhouden en via het sociale netwerk van hun klanten op termijn de omzet te verhogen. Voorlopig gaat de race om het advertentiebudget vrolijk door en profiteren de nerds en de geeks er als eerste van. De consument wordt verder opgejaagd en moet straks keuzes gaan maken; of je leeft 'off-line' verder en deelt helemaal niets meer met niemand. Of je kiest voor reclame van merken die je graag mag met 'Advertising On Demand'. Hierbij geef je toestemming aan merken en telecom providers om je via je mobiele locatie en je Likes op Facebook je push berichten te sturen. Werk aan de winkel voor bedrijven die graag met hun klanten een band willen opbouwen. Anders heb je straks wel bereik maar toch geen ontvangst.

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ATP Monte Carlo, Riviera Rock Festival, Antibes Yacht Show and Ballet Mediterranee. This is the French Riviera Today!

Fri, 06 Apr 2012 08:16:20 -0700

Finally it is weekend! Time to listen to the Mattheus Passion, colour some eggs with the kids, seach for the chocolate eggs and make sure they do not melt in the sun!

I wish you all a long and sunny weekend,

greetings from the French Riviera

ps Looking for a sunny place to stay this summer? Go to www.livelikealocalinfrance.com

What's On Round-up - Happy Easter!

Welcome back to another FR2DAY weekly round-up, bringing you a selection of some of the very best things to do on the beautiful Cote d'Azur. We have a great line up of activities to keep you busy over the following action-packed seven days ...

The ATP Monte Carlo Rolex Masters Rolls Into Town

Organised by the SMETT (Societe Monegasque pour l'Exploitation du Tournoi de Tennis), the Monte-Carlo Rolex Masters, which will take place from 14th to 22nd April 2012 in the legendary setting of the Monte-Carlo Country Club, is the first major ...

Watch out Antibes! It's the Amp It Up Riviera Rock Festival 2012

The Amp it Up organizers are offering young local rock bands from the Cote d'Azur, the chance to be Rock Stars, with the winner supporting award winning Jean-Louis Aubert on the big stage on 26th July, as part of the Amp it Up Festival ...

The Ballet Nice Mediterranee Celebrates Two Russians in Paris this April

George Balanchine (pictured above) and Serge Lifar are without doubt two of the greatest choreographers of the twentieth century. If the former be mostly remembered as the co-founder and ballet master of New York City Ballet, and the latter ...

Proud to be Nicois? There's a slogan for that!

The name Nice, as we all know, comes from the Greek work Nikaia, meaning Victory. The City Fathers have decided that they would like the local Nicois(es) to come up with a slogan that defines Nice for you. Something that signifies what the city means ...

Top Marques 2012 is back in Monaco

Top Marques Monaco is regarded as the world's most exclusive supercar show where you can experience the latest state-of-the-art machines with test drives on the Formula 1 circuit - mere weeks before the famous race takes place. The 2012 show...

Don't Believe The Hype is back in Valbonne

DBTH5 or Don't Believe The Hype Electronic Music Festival is back in Valbonne for the fifth year on 13th and 14th April 2012. This edition, billed as The Filth Anniversary, promises to keep the town awake and on edge again for 2 days and nights of ...

The Antibes Yacht Show and Crew Lounge 2012 - Double the Bang for your Buck!

It's that time of year again, when we start dreaming of big boats and blue seas! The first major yacht show of the season takes place in Port Vauban in Antibes, from Thursday 12th to Sunday 15th April 2012. The show is dedicated to the brokerage and ...

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De Apple Coach laat je slimmer werken met je Mac.

Thu, 05 Apr 2012 02:43:29 -0700

Voor iedereen die met een Apple werkt en daar nog sneller mee wil leren omgaan, is er nu de Apple Coach.

Superhandige gast die elke week een tip naar je mailt. Meld je hier aan voor zijn nieuwsbrief!

Ab pel

http://applecoach.nl/nieuwsbrief

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1 april, kikker in je bil: The best April Fool's day Jokes by Brands.

Mon, 02 Apr 2012 08:19:31 -0700

April Fools' Day 2012: Best of the Brand Hoaxes Google,

YouTube, Skype lead this year's pranks By Rebecca Cullers

Sadly, for those marketers who build April Fools' Day into their plans, it falls on a Sunday this year, so most of you will probably be reading about their shenanigans on Monday. After the jump, it's our yearly roundup of April Fools' Day pranks by brands:

• Google has been the winner for the past several years, and it's won again by teaming with Nascar and creating Google Racing. The effort pimps its latest technology offering, the self-driving car, and even stars co-founder Sergey Brin. But wait, that's not all! Google Japan's maps have gone 8-bit for NES. In Australia, Google has announced Street Roo kangaroo-operated street cams. Gmail is offering Gmail Tap, which lets you enter Gmail in Morse code from your smart phone. Oh, and check the Really Advanced Search.

• YouTube is offering the YouTube collection on DVD, which mocks all that former, inferior technology we used to rely on for information. Add the feedback pack, and mail your comments to the video's creators.

• Check out new Skype for String, another throwback, low-tech solution.

• Flickr is also taking your photography back in time.

• Lynx (aka Axe) body spray has created an app that lets you spray yourself with your phone.

• Every April Fools' Day, Think Geek test drives insane products, and if you like them enough, it makes them a reality. This year, you can enjoy Hungry Hungry Hippos for iPad, a technomancer wizard hoodie, Minecraft Marshmallow Creeps, and an Admiral Ackbar singing bass that mocks McDonald's famous Filet-O-Fish commercial.

• Virgin has announced Virgin Volcanic and says Tom Hanks will be accompanying Richard Branson on the first journey to the center of the Earth.

• Honda is offering the new Anti-Theft Negotiator, which negotiates with car thieves.

• BMW has a series of newspaper ads (yes, newspaper ads) and press releases announcing BMW's driverless running coach, an offer to build your own Mini from 29,762 parts, the Mini Camper, and the Mini Amphibious Yatchsman. See Mini's past gags here.

• Peugeot has a cooler car gag, with a nice video for its new mood paint. The color changes with your mood.

• The Register is reporting that Apple has patented the rectangle. Which goes well with Stuff.tv's report of a 42-inch iPad.

• Hawk and Gamble has announced Assassin's Creed for the Kinect.

• NPR is claiming that tweets will now be 133 characters.

• And what April Fools' Day would be complete without someone suggesting an alien invasion? Thanks, Digital Journal, for boring us.

• And finally, completing the list of low-tech products from high-tech marketers, Microsoft's Windows Phone proudly introduces the Windows Pager.

Also, check out some classic hoaxes from past years.

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Weekend line-up for some fun at the Côte d'Azur!

Fri, 30 Mar 2012 06:53:35 -0700

What's On Round-up - Poisson d'Avril time again!

Welcome back to another FR2DAY weekly round-up, bringing you a selection of some of the very best things to do on the beautiful Cote d'Azur. We have a great line up of activities to keep you occupied over the following action-packed seven days ...

Flamboyant Mika to Kick off Crazy Week Festival 2012 in Nice

The flamboyant American-Lebanese pop star Mika will come back to Nice this summer, two years after his concert at the Nikaia, to kick off the Crazy Week festival. Currently working on his third album, tentatively titled 'The Origin of Love' ...

The Ligurian Palm Frond and how it found its way to Rome

Known throughout Italy for its palm trees, Bordighera lays claim to the legend that the seeds of date palms carried across the sea from Egypt first took root in European soil here. The palm trees create a verdant canopy that extends up the hillside ...

My Riviera by Kimberlee Smith

Kimberlee Smith is American and has been a frequent visitor to these shores over the years. She tells us that she loves her life here, where she divides her time between the Cote d'Azur and just across the border on the other Riviera in Italy.

Have a Swinging Time in Valbonne with the ICR Golf Outing!

The April outing of the International Golf Club will take place on Thursday the 12th, rendezvous at 10.00am. This month the venue is the Victoria Golf Club, Domaine du Val Martin, in beautiful Valbonne. As always, everyone is more than welcome ...

In&Out, le festival du film Gay et Lesbien de Nice, est de retour!

Les Ouvreurs ont le plaisir de vous convier du 24 avril au 3 mai a la 4e edition des Rencontres cinematographiques In&Out, le festival du film Gay et Lesbien de Nice / Nice Queer Film Festival, qui placent les questions de genre «Gender trouble» ...

The 2012 Career and Lifestyle Exhibition in Sophia Antipolis

The 3rd Career and Lifestyle Exhibition is coming once again to the French Riviera. It will be held on Friday 30th of March at the Hotel Mercure in Sophia Antipolis. If you are looking for a new career, need a new look or just want inspiration on ...

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The Ultimate List Of Twitter Tools.

Tue, 27 Mar 2012 08:53:47 -0700

I was looking for a nice little tool to measure the reach of your Tweet and stumbled into this extensive list.

Wow, thanks social media guide!

http://thesocialmediaguide.com/social_media/the-ultimate-list-of-twitter-tools

The Ultimate List of Twitter Tools

by Matthew Tommasi

The ultimate list of Twitter tools and Twitter applications.

This is the biggest list of Twitter related apps on the internet. Over 760 Twitter tools!

~140 Characters

140it - Makes Your Tweet Less Than 140 Characters
Tweetcontd - More than 140 characters
Twonvert - Convert your tweets to 140 characters or less
Twitlonger - When 140 characters just isn’t enough
Tweetshrink - Helping shave those few extra letters off a tweet that has exceeded the 140 character maximum
TwitBlogs - Allows you to add more words and also upload pictures and videos
Twerbose - Post longer tweets on Twitter
Tweet140 - The closer to a 140 character average, the better your score
RTweeter - TweetLonger than 140 characters, shorten URLs, share your location

Twittertise - Advertise on Twitter
Twitterad - Monetize your twitter profile
TwitterCard - Place a 125×125 TwitterCard on your Blog or as an Advertisement
Twitterribbons - Twitter Ribbon Ad generator
TwitterKnowHow - Twitter ribbon ad generator
BeaMagpie - Be a Magpie is an ad network for Twitter
TweetTornado - Fully automated advertising software
FeaturedUsers - FeaturedUsers is a Twitter application ad network

Backgrounds and Buttons

Twitbacks - Create free Twitter backgrounds
Twitrounds - Twitter Backgrounds
TwitterBackgrounds - Twitter Backgrounds
TwitterBackground - Twitter Backgrounds
Twtbg - Twitter background checker
Twitter-images – Twitter Backgrounds
TwitterGallery - Free Twitter themes
PrettyTweet - Free Twitter backgrounds
DoctorTwitter - Twitter Backgrounds and Twitter layouts
Go2Web20 - Twitter follow badge for your site
TwitterButtons - Free Twitter buttons
LogoTwitter - Create a logo similar to the Twitter
MyTweetSpace - Brand your Twitter profile
Peekr - Click to view Twitter backgrounds
TwitterBackgroundsGallery - Twitter backgrounds gallery
Twitter My Site – Get custom buttons for Twitter
Twitter Patterns – Background patterns for Twitter
TwitButtons - Twitter buttons
TwitLogo - Generate your own Twitter logo
TwitterImage - Custom Twitter backgrounds
WishaFriend - Twitter backgrounds
SweetTweet - Twitter backgrounds, buttons and layouts

Backup

Tweetake - Back Up your Twitterings
TweetBackup - Backup for your Twitter

Browser Plugins

TwitterFox - TwitterFox is a Firefox extension that notifies you of your friends’ status on Twitter
TwitterBar - Post to Twitter from your address bar
Power Twitter – Makes Twitter better
TwitterLine - Twitter headline extension for Firefox
Twitter Search – Twitter search
Tweetfox - helps you to post excerpts from the websites you visit with a click of the button and attach a short URL to the source page.
StockTwits - Links stocktwits tagged ticker on Twitter back to StockTwits
Twitzer - Lets you post text longer than 140 characters on Twitter
TwitterJobSearch - The world’s first job search engine to harness the power of Twitter
TweetIE - Twitter IE plugin
AddATweet - AddATweet’s mission is to make every page on the Internet commentable.
Instant Tweets – Instantly send pages, pictures and tweets to Twitter from any where on the web
Tweecious - Listening to your twitter feed and submitting all the links to your delicious account
TwitKit - TwitKit is a Twitter sidebar
TwittIE - Make your Internet Explorer tweet
Twitbin - Allows you to keep up with all of your Twitter conversations right from your browser sidebar
DashBlog - Lets you collect videos, images, text, songs and screenshots from any web page and publish them to your blog or twitter
Social Whale Extension – Create short URLs for use on Twitter
shortText - Twitzer is a Firefox extension which lets you post text longer than 140 characters
TwitThat - Post current page to Twitter via twitthat.com
Song.ly – Lets you share music links on Twitter
TwittyTunes - Allows to post your currently playing songs to Twitter
Tweetstalk - The simple way to stalk Twitter users without having to follow them
Yoono - Yoono simplifies your social life by centralising all your social networks and instant messaging in one easy to use browser sidebar
Twippera - Twitter widget for Opera

Business

CoTweet - Designed for businesses using Twitter to engage existing customers and attract new ones
TwtBizCard - Twitter business card
ComTweets - Twitter + business
twtQpon - Create Twitter coupons for your business
Twtvite - A simple event manager twitter app
Twitzu - Promote your events on Twitter
TwitRobot - Twitter marketing tool
TweetManager - Twitter app for complete Twitter automation

Causes and Charity

Adcause - Saving the world one tweet at a time
EarthTweet - What are you doing to help the planet
TipJoy - Simple social payments for great people, causes & content
Twibbon - twibbon.com is the easiest way to promote awareness of your cause on twitter
TwitCause - Support causes you care about
Twonate - Giving is good
TweetsForACause - One tweet one voice

Celebrity

Celebrifeed - Celebrifeed allows you to follow and interact with your favorite celebrities on Twitter
CelebrityTweet - Stalk celebrities on Twitter
CelebritiesThatTwitter - Celebrities that twitter
Celebritwee - Fresh Tweets about Hollywood A-Listers
FollowCost - Is that Twitter celebrity worth the pain
TwitterTracker - Keeping you in the know with all the celebrity sweet tweets

Clouds

Tweetcloud - What’s being said
Tweet Cloud – View Twitter timeline as a tag cloud
Twittospheric - See tweets as if you were in the Twittosphere
Cloud.li – Twitter clouds
Search Cloudlet for Twitter – Inserts smart tag clouds into Twitter interface to help you search faster
Tweetclouds - Make a word cloud
Twittersheep - See a tag cloud from the ‘bios’ of your twitter flock

Dating and Love

Flirt140 - Flirt140 is a site that helps Twitter-ers find each other for dates and more
MyTweetHeart - Twitter singles looking for friendship, romance, and love
Radaroo - The simple and free Twitter dating system
Twitcrush - Which three tweeple do you <3 the most
Textgasm - Twitter secrets
PornstarTweet - Stay up to date with your favourite pornstars
TwitYa - Twilationships

Desktop & Web Clients

Tweetdeck - TweetDeck connects you with your contacts across Twitter, Facebook and more
Seesmic Desktop – Desktop client connecting you to Twitter and Facebook
Destroy Twitter – DestroyTwitter is a compact though robust Twitter application built to run on Mac, Windows, and Linux
Twhirl - Twhirl is a social software desktop client
Chirpr - Windows sidebar gadget for Twitter
Accessible Twitter – Web accessibility for the Twitter web application
Pwytter - Multi-platform Twitter client written in Python
Mixero - The new generation Twitter client for people who value their time and are tired of information noise
Snitter - A Twitter client for Mac and Windows
TweetMyPC - TweetMyPC lets you shutdown/restart/LogOff your windows PC remotely
Posty - Posty simplifies your microblogging
Sideline - Watch, search and monitor the Twitter public timeline in real-time
Twitexplorer - The most efficient Twitter client on the Web
T-messenger – A simple to use, powerful, intelligent Twitter client for every-day users
Nambu - Social messaging streamlined
Tweetie for Mac – Twitter client for Mac
Teletwitter - Twitter client for Windows
Digsby - Digsby is a social networking tool that alerts you of events like new messages
Twitteroo - Send Twitter tweets fromyour PC
Twinja - A desktop client Twitter built on AIR
Tweeter - A java desktop client for Twitter
Feedalizer - Twitter, Facebook adobe air app
Gwibber - Gwibber is an open source microblogging client for GNOME
TwInbox - Use Twitter directly from Outlook
MadTwitter - Twitter for Windows
Spaz - An open-source Twitter client for Mac OS X, Windows and Linux
Twitteron - A robust, easy to use, free twitter client for all operating systems
Tweetr - Twitter client for Mac / PC
Twittm - Twitter for desktop
Jata - Just another Twitter app
Spreadtweet - IT’s Twitter disguised as a spreadsheet
Blu - The Vista Twitter client
bDule - Twitter client for Windows
Statuzer - Twitter client running through Air
Buzzom - Twitter Account Management Tool

Dictionary

Twittonary - a Twitter dictionary
Twitter Customer Service – The ultimate list of stores on Twitter
Twittords - Find Twitter words here
HashDictionary - A dictionary for Twitter
SocialBrandIndex - Define your brand and connect with your community
GovTwit - The government Twitter directory

Drawing and Painting

TwitDraw - Draw graffiti on Twitter
TwitPaint - Paint graffiti on Twitter

Email

Tweetbeep - Twitter alerts by email
Topify - replaces the email notification you receive from a new Twitter follower, with a visually enhanced email
TwitterMail - Post to Twitter by sending an email to a specific TwitterMail address
Twilert - Twitter search alerts via email
Tweetshots - Enables you to take tweets to tumblr, embed in blogs or send to email
NutshellMail - Send tweets, DM, reply, retweet and follow all through email
Sigpad - Email signatures for Twitter
Twimailer - Twimailer is a free service that delivers that information right to your inbox
Follows - Get changes to your followers list emailed to you
Twitter2Mail - @replies to your inbox
Replies - Get tweets containing @your_username in your inbox without revealing your Twitter password
Twply - Have your @replies forwarded to an inbox
Ravishare - The Easy Way to Share Your Files via Twitter
Twtmailer - Get @replies straight to your inbox

Favourites

Favrd - FAVRD lists interesting things that show up on Twitter, based on the number of times an item has been declared a favorite
FavTweets - Get you friends or your fav tweets
DivVoted - Divvoted lets you vote for your favourite sites with Twitter
Favstar - Recent tweets with 100 favs or more
Twitfav - Twitfave looks at twitter users favourites to tell you about the most interesting tweets and who favourited your tweets
Feedly - Feedly weaves your favorite content into a fun, magazine-like start page
Favotter - A collection of popular tweets from your favorites on Twitter
FavTwits - Find your Favorite Tweeters

File Sharing

Tweetcube - Allows you to share files on Twitter
Acamin - Share files with your Twitter friends
Filetwt - File sharing on Twitter
FileSocial - FileSocial allows you to share any file through your Twitter account
TwitDoc - The easy way to share your documents on Twitter

Filtering

Twalala -You can filter tweets out of your stream by keywords and phrases or mute individuals who get a bit too chatty
SiteVolume - See how many times a word appears on a site
TweetVolume - See how many times a word appears on Twitter
ConvoMonitor - Where to track things on Twitter
justSignal - Social media without the noise
Twhanel - Create your own Twitter channel
Monitter - lets you “monitter” the twitter world for a set of keywords and watch what people are saying
ListOfTweets - Create a list of tweets
Twitterel - Find Twitter users with related interests
Followize - Cut through the noise, follow the conversation
Tweetree - Tweetree puts your Twitter stream in a tree so you can see the posts people are replying to in context
Twups - Twups is a twitter aggregator, pulling the most popular twitter topics into one place
Qapture - Captures and ranks the links being shared right now by some of the most interesting folks on Twitter
Filttr - Tool for filtering
TwitZap - lets you subscribe to realtime Twitter channels based on your interests
TwitterHawk - Targeted marketing on Twitter
Twitterwall - Build your own Twitter wall
Tweetchat - TweetChat helps put your blinders on to the Twitter-sphere while you monitor and chat about one topic
TrackingTwitter - Twitter Tracker is a real-time listing of the top media, entertainment, and consumer product feeds
TweetChannel - TweetChannel makes it possible to create channels by Twitter
TwitterDigest - Pick the usernames you’d like to generate a digest for, and you will see all updates made by them
Tweader - Read Twitter conversations
TweetIQ - TwitIQ is an enhanced Twitter interface that provides insight into your Twitter stream and Twitter followers
TwitterFriends - find out the hidden network of Twitter contacts that are really relevant for you
Twitterpipe - The Twitter information pipeline
RealTimeChatterbox - Twitter Search: Filtered, Moderated, Managed
Tweetrak - Track tweets

Finance

Twitpay - Send payments via Twitter and fund those payments via PayPal
WhatsYourTweetWorth - Get a feel for how valuable you are on Twitter
SuperChirp - tweets so good they’re worth paying for
Twtmarket - Offer what others need
TweetWhatYouSpend - Cash tracking made simple through Twitter
StockTwits - Real investors, real ideas, real time
Twinancial - Twinancial brings you all the latest personal finance tweets from around the globe.
Chart.ly – Share stock charts on Twitter
Twollars - The currency of appreciation
Tazaar - Your Twitter bazaar
CheapTweets - Twitter deals
Tweetbucks - Shorten any URL and make money
TweetValue - How much is your Twitter profile worth
Tweba - The social marketplace

Follow and Unfollow

Flashtweet - Bulk follow/unfollow tool for Twitter
Twittangle - Untangling the mess of too many friends
Refollow - Refollow helps you discover, manage, and protect your Twitter social circle
TwitsLikeMe - Find new friends on Twitter
Doesfollow - Find out who follows whom on Twitter
Twitroduce – Connect on Twitter
MyCleenr - The best way to clean your Twitter contact list
TweeterGetter - Get new Twitter followers
TwitterLamp - The SMART Way To Follow People On Twitter
TweetSum - Follow and unfollow people via drag and drop
TwitterForBusyPeople - Friends at a glance
Twitter Karma – Find out who is following and unfollowing you
TweepMe - Get Twitter followers
Twitterless - Get updates when someone stops following you on Twitter
Twiping - Twitter contact management software
Qwitter - Qwitter e-mails you when someone stops following you on Twitter
TwitterRatio - Twitter follower/friend ratio
FriendOrFollow - Who are you following that’s not following you back? Who’s following you that you’re not following back?
Twitseeker - Who you are looking for by what they are talking about
TweepDiff - Find out who you are missing on Twitter
Twollo - Twitter auto-follow
Twittermass - Twitter management and optimiztion services
Twitnest - Visualisation of your followers and theirs
Twitter100 - With Twitter100, you can see your followers at a glance (up to 100)
Tweepler - To follow or not follow that is the question
Who follows whom - The quickest way to see who several Twitter users have in common

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~140 Characters

Ads

Backgrounds and Buttons

Backup

Browser Plugins

Business

Causes and Charity

Celebrity

Clouds

Dating and Love

Desktop & Web Clients

Dictionary

Directory

Drawing and Painting

Email

Favourites

File Sharing

Filtering

Finance

Follow and Unfollow