Fine Print

For my own professional knowledge, and because I’m a Brit, I keep a close eye on the social media scene in the U.K. I want to know how their perception of marketing and networking differs to North America. From my own personal experience, I know that they tend to play catch-up — and lack of connectivity doesn’t help things at all.

A post on dot.life quotes a small business owner who lives in Herefordshire. That is not rural at all, but because he can’t get broadband by the normal ADSL route, he has to pay for satellite broadband. That costs him 70 UK pounds (around $140) a month, and only for a 512Kbps connection speed! So why would that guy spend hours of his valuable connection watching videos, live-streaming webinars, uploading photos to social networks and the whole shebang of social media engagement, when he really needs to run his business instead and make a living?

And, from further afield, I’ve been communicating with a “Chief Buzz Officer” (his words) in Australia who helps corporate and small business owners develop their personal brands.

From what I can gather, the small business market there is totally oblivious to social media and the benefits. I won’t quote any more, as I now plan to move to Sydney and set up my own social media consultancy, but having been to Australia for a while I think it’s because they are sociable in a face-to-face way, rather than online. There’s a lot of beach/BBQ/bar activities there, and maybe that’s where a lot of the interaction takes place? I dunno. I’m not an expert, but it’s very useful to connect with people from other countries who work in the same industry I do and pick their brains.

Talking of brains, JO has a pretty active one, so I highly recommend you read his insights on mommy bloggers and how brands can approach them. Having researched that demographic a month ago, this is a great “with hindsight” read that is bookmarked.

So, in a totally related segue to brands, my colleague Larissa Marks sent me this story in today’s Toronto Star about how bad customer service can get even worse once you piss off a customer.

And if that customer is influencer Jeff Jarvis, then you are really — drumroll please! — screwing the chihuahua.

~ John Carson, Senior Digital Media Specialist, GCI Canada