I figured while flying to Austin for South by Southwest interactive conference that I would use it as an opportunity to recap the last few weeks. It has been 3 weeks since I've had a chance to write here.
And those 3 weeks have been quite a whirlwind. We made the last minute decision to take the family on the Allure of the Seas for a 7 night cruise. Out of 20+ cruises I've been on, this one was the best yet. Taking my 4 year old daughter on her first cruise was special. We created memories that will last a life-time on the biggest, most innovative cruise ship at sea.
Here are my two blog post about the cruise loaded with tips:
While on the cruise, my NY Times interview hit news stands. They recommended subscribing to CruiseSource the cruising blog I started several year as a way to get the best deals on cruises. As I have stated before, good content consistently over an extended period of time wins – you do have to combine the good content with a little bit of hustle.
Last night, I was interviewed by Charlotte's own Dion Lim from WCNC about the NY Times article and Cruise Deals for North and South Carolina residents. That story should air some time next week in Charlotte, so be on the lookout.
As I mentioned earlier, I'm currently on a flight down to SxSW to geek it out with other digital marketers and techies. I will be attending 4 days of mostly Interactive Marketing sessions. This is my 3rd year going to the conference. Most likely, I will be the sole representative from the cruise industry and one of the few from travel. I'm fortunate to work for a company who has seen the value in social media marketing since 2008 when people laughed when you said 'Twitter'.
For those interested, I will be posting notes from SxSW right after each session on my Google+ account: http://gplus.to/richtucker
That's it, a quick update. If you're in Austin this weekend, hit me up on Twitter: http://twitter.com/richtucker - we can have an old-fashioned Tweetup.
In the last 4 years, I've been on close to 20 cruises - many of them have been social media event cruises that I've hosted. 2 years ago for Spring Break, we took Dylan, 8 years old at the time on his first cruise.
It was the Celebrity Solstice... my personal favorite class of ship, but not exactly built with an 8 year old in mind. It's a stylish premium cruise ship that doesn't have a slide, rock-climbing wall, or Dreamworks characters. While Dylan loved his first cruise, he definitely was envious of the slides and rock climbing walls of the other ships we docked beside.
Cobi, our 4 year old daughter has yet to cruise. Most kids want to go on a cruise... but Cobi, unlike most kids has had to deal with me going on cruise ships for "work" her whole life. She's had to deal with watching me post photos and videos to the internet of me experiencing everything the ships have to offer like the one below. [hey, it's my job] So, she has had cruising thrown in her face for 4 years... and tomorrow thanks to a last minute opportunity we get to take her on the Allure of the Seas. Royal Caribbean's newest ship which happens to be the biggest, most innovative cruise ship at sea. Allure of the Seas has Flowrider, Rock Climbing walls, Ice Skating rink, Dreamworks characters, etc... it is the ultimate family cruise experience.
Cruise Ship Safety
I was asked by a good friend, in the wake of the Costa Concordia incident if I felt it was safe for them to be bringing their kids on an upcoming cruise. I'd just written an article about a conversation I'd had with ABCnews 20/20 about cruising being 8x safer than crossing the street in New York City. I told my friend that we were planning on taking our kids for spring break and that there is truly no safer way to travel.
Since then, 2 Princess Cruise Ships have had to return back to port early due to Norovirus. Norovirus is a stomach virus that happens to be the 2nd most common illness in the US. Just as it soemtimes spreads through schools, college campuses, or entire cities... it sometimes happens on cruise ships. Washing hands with soap and water is the key to not getting the iNorovirus or other illnesses.
We are about to drive 12 hours from Charlotte to Fort Lauderdale this evening. This is the most dangerous part of the trip... All my thoughts are focused on getting safely to the cruise ship. Once we are there the rest will be a fun, relaxing vacation. Our kids are my whole life... I cruise all the time... if I was at all concerned about safety, I would not be taking them on a cruise.
The reality is that Jess and I are so excited to see the cruise experience through the eyes of our 4 year old daughter. While dreading the drive... this is the most excited I've been to go on a cruise - can't wait!
No matter what type of travel you are doing, you need to be smart. I'm not going to lie, nothing is 100% safe. I have recommended buying travel insurance for years... because you never know what may happen and that travel insurance protects you from many of the unkowns. For our trip, I know the drive is the most dangerous part. So we need to stay alert and pay attention while driving. Click: 7 safety tips for your next cruise vacation and scroll down for 7 tips with several that apply to all travel.
Hopefully, this post didn't jinx our trip :) make sure to follow along on Twitter to see how it all turns out!
As I've written in a previous post, those of us who are Twitter enthusiasts need to support businesses on Twitter who use it well.
Several businesses shined this weekend by participating in the 2nd Annual Panther's Purrsuit.
The Panther's Purrsuit is an interactive mobile challenge hosted by the Carolina Panthers. 26 teams of 2 raced across Charlotte using QR Codes, Video, Twitter, FourSquare, etc in an attempt to win a trip to the Indianopolis Colts game. The Purrsuit is the brainchild of Scott Hepburn, Founder of Media Emerging and President of Social Media Charlotte.
I competed in the Panther's Purrsuit with @RoyMorejon. We had to kick a 30 yard field goal, act like we were buying a house from @AllenTate, play Pepsi Pong at Circle K, host a cooking show at Queen City Appliances, complete an obstacle course at Classroom Central, guess food prices at Harris Teeter, complete a timed scavenger hunt searching for classroom materials through a South Boulevard Subaru SUV, and several other challenges.
While the other teams drove themselves around Charlotte for the Panther's Purrsuit, Roy and I raced from challenge to challenge in the comfort of a Limo from @UptownLimoServ. I contacted Charles, owner of Uptown Limos, at 4:30 pm the day before the event. As I quickly told Charles about the event, he saw the value of participating in such an innovative social media event, so he hooked us up with an awesome deal.
We were not the only team that added our own touch to the event. @AdsparkPromos arrived on a firetruck, @Yarby & @BillVoth dressed up in pink and blue tuxedos, @utkevdawg dressed up as the Honey Badger, and a few other teams showed their Panther Pride. It was a fun geeked-out day that ended with an after party at Whiskey River.
We had time to add an extra stop to our Purrsuit. So we stopped by Dilworth Billiards for a quick drink. Why did we stop at Dilworth Billiards? We stopped there because Dilworth Billiards is constantly experimenting with new ways to use social media to interact with their clients and bring in new customers. Over time with consistent involvement, businesses go from supporting the social media community to actually being part of the community. That is how I feel about Dilworth Billiards, Allen Tate, & the Carolina Panthers[thanks to @Mahoney].
Events like the Purrsuit are not possible without business participation and sponsorships. The success of the Purrsuit is a big win for all of us who play in the social media sandbox in Charlotte, NC. It draws attention to the potential power of social media. The creativity behind the event will spur other ideas for future interactive events.
I think it is important to note that many businesses turn down the opportunity to participate in these social media events because they don't feel the value is there. Those of us in the social media community need to show them the value is there by rewarding the businesses who do participate with our business & referrals.
Post written by @RichTucker [the bald guy outside the limo]
This week I'm attending the 3 day Search Exchange Conference in Charlotte, NC. Today, the Conference sessions were focused on Paid Search.
Here is the list of Top 5 things I learned at Day 1 of the Search Exchange Conference
#1: Remarketing Campaign Google Adwords: Timothy Seward, ROI Revolution
It is a good idea to setup the java script for Google Remarketing now even if you are not planning on runningremarketing campaigns today. You can remarket to site visitors within 540 days from their last visit. Once you have the remarketing script on your site, you'll start putting cookies on site visitors computers for the purpose of remarketing to them via the Google ad network. You can put site visitors into lists based on pages visited on your sites. These segments can be advertised to differently based on their actions and value to your business. You can't see the actual individual in the lists, but these lists are assets that you should be creating today.
#2 Buying Branded Terms in Google PPC. Lee Price
Many times I've been curious, 'why pay for your branded term in paid search?' Turns out that there are several reasons that you should be buying branded terms. One thank to relevancy and higher CTR you will pay a lower cost per click. Taking up valuable real estate from competitors buying your branded keywords. The more your brand shows up on the Google Search for your brand establishes leadership.
#3 One Day Mobile optimized sites will get preference in Mobile Search - Jeff Campbell, Resolution Media
In the future, websites that display better on mobile devices [Mobile Optimization] will get served up higher in organic mobile search results on Google.
Resource for Local Search with a diagram fo the complexity of the web of interlinking and listing services: http://Getlisted.org
#4 The future of Mobile & Tablet Google Searches John Sutton, Red Ventures
2015 there will be one mobile device for each person on the planet. 7.1 billion. In 2015, 788 million users will only access the internet via mobile only in 2015. Smartphones & Tablets shipments surpassed PC and Laptops in Q4 2010. By 2013 tablets + Smartphones impressions on google will surpass Desktop and Laptops. Devices get used a different times of the day... tablet users late in evening. Desktop usage peaks midday while at work. Your campaigns need to take into consideration devices and timing.
With Mobile Google PPC Ad Extensions, you can make your add call only, which that when the ad is clicked on it will call instead of going to the website. Currently Tablet users are more valuable demographic vs. mobile because of their credit worthiness. Verizon and AT&T carriers for mobile are the highest quality user segments in the mobile space.
The biggest issue we have is tracking offline action with online advertising. Once someone picks up the phone to make a purchase, we are not able to track them back to PPC, Social Media, Organic Search, etc. Call tracking is crucial, but expensive. David shared how to Roll your own Call Tacking Solution using Twilio and Google Analytics. David gave props to seOverflow for the original post on this subject. Read the full post on how to create your own call tracking solution.
Twitter is in the process of rolling out the 'Activity Stream' to all their users. When you click on the Activity link from the Twitter web interface, you'll see all the recent activity of the people you follow. This means that Twitter is broadcasting to all your followers everytime you follow new people, favorite a tweet, or add people to a Twitter list. I'm a big fan of the new activity stream. It will help favorited tweets get more attention and it will help find new people and lists to follow.
But, with all the positives... the minute I scrolled down the activity stream for the first time, the negative of this new stream became apparent. Who you follow on Twitter has always been publicly visible, but it is rare that people take the time to look at who you follow. Now when you follow someone new it is being broadcasted to everyone who follows you. When I looked at the stream for the first time, I noticed someone recently followed 7 new accounts all with avatars that were close ups of bare butts. I couldn't miss it. His Avatar had a picture of him and his kid while his profile talked about his loving wife. Who he was following couldn't have been a bigger contrast to his profile...It did not look good.
Unfortunately, many Twitter users do not have the activity stream yet so they do not realize all of their activity is now being broadcasted to their followers.
So, going forward who you follow and what you favorite will be more important. Screenshot of the new activity screen:
Programs like Tweetadder that helps you increase your relevant followers by Auto-following and unfollowing accounts based on search criteria work well for increasing relevant followers. But now that the new people you follow is broadcasted to your followers, those who use the automated programs for their personal or business account may need to rethink it. Automated following could end up with your account being tied to accounts that are not a good representation of you or your business.
We are halfway through the #walkthewalk challenge put on by @NoFizzUSA to raise awareness for the importance of daily exercise.As you can see from the video below, prior to the challenge I was talking a big game.In the first 14 days, I've been kinda slack - and I'm not fan of being slack...but life continues to get in the way – conferences, work, watching the kids, work, etc. I've fallen behind the other #WalktheWalk Competitors and now have a lot of work to catch up. Currently, I'm at 140K steps and the leader is at 179K steps.
My daily average for the first 14 days is 10,731 steps per day. My high is 21,000 steps which is the only time I've broken 14,000 steps.
Not only an I not winning the challenge, I've raised $0 for NoFizzUSA, an organization that I fully believe is worthy of donations.
I have a proposal:
In order to have a chance to win, I'll need to walk 20,000 steps for the last 15 days of the challenge. 20,000 steps is about 10 miles. I know there is no way I'm walking/running 10 miles per day for the next 15 days without some additional motivation.
I need motivation to wake up 2 hours earlier in the morning to run/walk to get in most of my steps before I go to work. The only day I was over 20K during the challenge, I was sore the next day. I'll need motivation to walk/run through the soreness.
So, I'm in search for $20 pledges that will be paid to NoFizzUSA.org if I walk/run 20K steps each day for the next 15 days.20K for 15 days will not be easy... so feel free to pledge more than $20.If you can only pledge $5, that's fine too... each pledge will motive me to accomplish the goal of walking/running 10 miles per day for the next 15 days!
Of course, I will post pictures and updates daily on Twitter so you can see that I'm legit.
Please leave a comment with the amount of your pledge and your Twitter ID if you have one.
As Twitter enthusiasts and consumers - - we have to make it a point to passionately reward the businesses who use Twitter correctly.
I can hear people now - - "there is no right or wrong way to use Twitter."
I say bullshit. yep... I said it.
I'll use 2 examples from today. Today, it happens to be @Yarby, @Axismg @Joetolley @Mcbrides and My wedding anniversaries. @Dilbilliards was "listening" to the Twitter stream and jumped in the conversation to congratulate us. --- No other business in #CLT did this. I immediately wanted to do an impromptu tweetup at Dillworth Billiards to grab a drink with friends before Jess and I went to get dinner. Turns out Dillworth Billiards is closed today. So they were getting into the conversation without any possible way to benefit today. THIS IS TWITTER DONE RIGHT... Listening... responding... building relationships. As twitter enthusiasts we should want to passionately reward these types of companies.
Example #1:
Serioulsy, example #2 is not to pick on this business. I can point out companies all day long who do a poor job with Twitter, which is why we should want to reward businesses like Dillworth Billiards. In my tweet, I included the restaurant where we planned to eat. If this was my biz account, I would have responded in minutes - but @EnsoCharlotte will never respond. My opinion is that if you are not going to respond to Tweets with your Twitter account in it... then get off Twitter. You are doing your business more harm by being on Twitter and not responding.
Example #2:
So comparing @Dilbilliards and @EnsoCharlotte's Twitter use is night and day. @Dilbilliards actually cares enough about me to follow my conversations and participate in the conversation. This makes me want to grab 20 friends and go up there and celebrate my anniversary. @EnsoCharlotte's non-response upsets me that we are eating there... As a Twitter enthusiast, I'd rather spend my money somewhere that cares enough to repsond to @ replies.
Lets rewards the local businesses investing time and money in Twitter. They deserve it and it will make the other companies start to take notice. If we do not reward the Dillworth Billiards with our business... then those who suck at Twitter will continue to suck at Twitter... and the Dillworth Billiards may leave.
In the comments, please give me some good examples of businesses who actually listen and respond to @ replies.
The #SeaTweetup that I am planning with several in South Florida's social media community has went global with the media coverage. It sets sail for the Bahamas for 3 nights from Miami on November 18th, 2011.
With all the coverage, I have found some in the media do not fully understand the purpose and value of a Tweetup. It's also become pretty evident that Twitter has grown so fast, that most users have never even been to a Tweetup. Meeting tweeps [peeps on Twitter] offline at Tweetups has played a vital role in all of my social media successes.
What is a Tweetup?
A tweetup is gathering of Twitter users for the purpose of creating more meaningful relationships. It the old-fashioned pressing of the flesh, starting the process of solidfying an online relationship into a true friendship. Tweetups are a unique networking event because after the event, everyone stays in real-time contact on Twitter. Tweetups are typically open to the public and promoted on Twitter.
I went to my very first Tweetup, one week after getting signing on to Twitter. @93octane dragged me out to #BtynBiz lunch Tweetup. I was not to hip on the idea of meeting these people in real life. Back in 2008, they were discussing the future impact of Twitter on Business - it was one of the most intelligent conversations I'd ever listened too. I was sold on Twitter and on the power of Tweetups. In Charlotte, #Btynbiz still meets bi-weekly to informally discuss social media for business.
Who Attends Tweetups?
It blows me away, but most of the people who attend Tweetups are the ones who least need to attend Tweetups. It's just like the gym; you rarely go to the gym and see a bunch of overweight people. You see a bunch of fit people. The same goes for Tweetups... the movers, shakers, innovators, and hustlers attend tweetups. The people with the strongest online networks are at Tweetups. Others sit at home trying to figure out what makes Twitter so great. The secret is Tweetups.
The leaders in social media understand that there is a lot of noise on Twitter and the way you "slice through the noise" as @JasonKeath would say, is to meet in person.
Basketball anyone?
Tweetups come in all different kinds and sizes.
In many cases, Tweetups bring together people on Twitter who share a common interest. In Charlotte, we have our weekly South Charlotte Hoops Tweetup. As with most Tweetups, it is open to the public and is promoted on Twitter. We have been playing together for over a year now. #SCLThoops has brought together 30 - 40 guys via Twitter to play basketball weekly. This takes Twitter to the next level. You learn a lot about people when you play sports together. You learn who is reliable by showing up each week, who hustles, and who is a team player. Business relationships naturally form because not only do we play ball weekly, but we stay connected throughout the week on Twitter. So much has come out of these relationships that #SCLThoops was featured in the Charlotte Observer.
In Charlotte, @GenevieveJoost oganized a Laser Tag Tweetup. 20 of us showed up to act like kids and chase each other around in the dark...Sharing unique experiences like this builds strong friendships. Friendships that translate into future business partners, referrals, and supporters when we are down.
Also in Charlotte, @CLTrunup has started running tweetups for all levels of runners. I have seen Beerups, Burritups, Sky Diving Tweetups, Hiking Tweetups, Tweetups for dog-lovers etc. A tweetup is a great way to find Twitter users who share common interests and to strengthen your network. Twitter is great for establishing lots of weak connections - you have to meet offline to make them strong connections.
A Tweetup is an opportunity to do something different and fun with your online Twitter friends. Tweetups encourage meeting new people who you are not following yet on Twitter. This is how you quickly strengthen and expand your online network. The most successful, self-made Twitter personalities use Twitter as a catalyst to meet as many people as possible face to face.
#SeaTweetup - Tweetup at Sea
Studies have proven that Twitter users more social than those not on Twitter. Cruising is the most social form of vacationing. Take a group of Twitter enthusiasts on a cruise and you have a recipe for FUN. he relationships you return home with will be invaluable as most who are dranw to these type of events are the leaders, hustlers, and innovators.
I am working with some cool, smart folks in the South Florida Social Media community along with Norwegian Cruise Line to plan the #SeaTweetup. The number one purpose of #SeaTweetup is to spend 3 days sharing a once in a life time exprience with other Twitter enthusaists who will stay connected via Twitter after the event. From my previous experience of cruising with Twitter personalities, I know everyone who attends will go home with a much stronger geographically dispersed network.
So, the point of this post is not to get you to go on the #SeaTweetup - but it is to get you to got to a tweetup. No tweetups in your area? Create one. Twtvite is a great tool for inviting others to your Tweetup.
In this picture, Cozumel Tweetup for Social Fresh Cruise. Everyone had free wi-fi, but as you can see very little tweeting was done:
Don't Be fooled by the name:
The biggest misconception about Tweetups is the amount that people tweet while at the Tweetup. Obviously, when we are playing basketball at #SCLThoops we are not tweeting. Even at the #BtynBiz lunch Tweetup, we are all so involved in the conversation that very little tweeting happens during the event. At my favorite Tweetups, the focus is on the activities and getting to know the other attendees. I do use Tweetups for future content by taking pictures, video, and writing down ideas for blog posts. Event organizers and venues want you tweeting as much as possible and some tweetups do generate more tweeting... but the best tweetups for strengthening your network usually generate the least tweets.
The Tweet: @RichTucker It's by Pappas Lanes - 15 North Montford Dr - - Will only be seen by @JosieMazz's followers who also follow @RichTucker. Twitter made the decision a couple of years to limit who see these tweets because they said that the only people who would care to see a tweet such as this one are Josie's followers who also follow me. Which makes sense in the case.
But, there are conversational tweets that you want all of your followers to see. Here is an example from a tweet I made with @CruiseDeals:
Using the @CruiseDeals account I was in a conversation with @footluce helping her research her next cruise vacation. When I tweeted an incredible deal that I thought may be of interest to other @CruiseDeals followers, I put the period in front of the @ symbol. Without the period, then only @cruisedeals followers who also follow @footluce would have seen this tweet.
So if someone asks you a question on Twitter and you want all of your followers to have an opportunity to see your answer, then you need to put a character in front of the Tweet like a period.
Putting a period in front of tweet that is a conversation also allows others to join in the conversation. People who are new to Twitter do not get much conversation in their stream because very few people who they follow, follow each other so they never see @ replies in their stream. So they think that all everyone does on Twitter is push out information because they are missing out on 80% of the best users Tweets. The users of Twitter are conversational, but newbies don't get to emulate their use of Twitter. They see how celebrities & news sources use Twitter and think that's how you use Twitter.
Prior to Twitter made this change, I used to find new people to follow based on who the people I follow were tweeting with... the only way to do that now is to go to their profile page. I liked it better when all @ replies were in my stream.
Go to http://twitter.com/richtucker - any tweet that starts with an @ you would have missed out on if you do not follow both of us.
I think that we would improve how others use Twitter by allowing others to see more of our relevant conversation by putting the period in front. But DO NOT put a period in front of tweets like the example I used of Josie's because obviously that Tweet was only relevant to me.
Love to get your thoughts on this in the comments. Thanks for reading!
I've been on Google+ since June 28th. I have logged a total of 3 hours. Honestly, I've invested so much time making real friendships personally & building an audience for my business accounts on Twitter & Facebook that I have not been looking forward to having to do it all over again on Google+.
Chris Brogan, top ranked social media leader for small businesses & Social Fresh Cruise alum, was never sold on Facebook for businesses. He has already logged 250+ hours on Google+ and he is calling Google+ the next big thing for businesses & networking.
Corey Creed, local CLT search guru, has never really been sold on social media for business marketing. Corey got a little excited when Facebook allowed people to use Faceook as their business pages when interacting with other pages, but overall Corey has not bought into the social media hype, especially for small businesses.Corey has now put his sign up on Facebook that he has moved to Google+.
The fact that these two among millions of others are excited about Google+ has me convinced that Google+ deserves my focus and time for the next few days. The best news is that they are both excellent educators and they are both offering Google+ sessions this week.
Chris Brogan is offering a 2 hour Google+ session that he is selling for $47.Knowing Chris, you are going to learn a lot more than just Google+… and if this saves you 4 hours of self-learning then it is well worth the $47.You gotta hurry, this webinar starts at noon today.
For those in Charlotte, Corey Creed is teaming up Brandon Uttley of Command Partners to discuss Facebook pages and Google+ on Thursday night.This is FREE… but only 5 spots remain.Click here to RSVP.
For those who like to read, here is the Complete Google+ Guide written by Ben Parr of Mashable:
IMPORTANT NOTE: I am not paid for any of these recommendations… I've seen people trying to take advantage of others with webinars in the $100s - $1000s… and wanted to share my trusted recommendations.
