The Common Craft Way, In Plain English

Posted by AcktiveMedia on Mar 23, 2010 in Blog | 0 comments

I’m a big fan of Common Craft and have mentioned the company at various business meetings, conferences, and blog posts from time to time. An amazing simplistic approach to explaining the most complicated concepts. If you never heard of them or their “In Plain English” videos, do yourself a big favor and go to their website at http://commoncraft.com. I had a chance to communicate with Lee LeFever about their company and how they got started. Here’s the Q&A.

Q: When did you start actively using the internet to build your business?
A: 2003, when I founded the company.

Q: How have you seen your company grow using the power of community building?
A: We make videos and we’ve been able to use our blog and YouTube to create fan community. Our videos have been viewed over 10 million times, partially because of links being shared in the social media world.

Q: What specific “social media” tool do you think best contributes to your
success? i.e. blogs, videos, comments,etc
A: Our blog, YouTube and Twitter.

Q: Why do you think digital media and the internet contribute to your
success?
A: Free distribution, marketing and communication. We’re in the business of selling digital downloads of our videos and thanks to web based tools – we have no middlemen. We create, edit, market, sell, distribute and support all from a small home-based business run by 2 people.

Q: What would be your recommendation to businesses wanting to go online with
a product or service?
A: Small is beautiful. Always look for ways to simplify, streamline and reduce. Stay agile and be ready to change some of the ideas you’ve held for years.

Q: What is your average number of comments and commentors?
A: 20 comments on a blog post maybe?

Q: What is the average traffic to your site? Pageviews/visitors
A: Pageviews: 300k per month; Uniques: 125k

Q: What changes have you seen since going online?
A: We’ve always been online, there was no offline Common Craft. Lately we’ve seen a lot of demand from organizations who are very serious about communicating differently (internally and externally). Like consumers, they are tired of all the jargon and buzz words. They want and need people who can help them get across big ideas and concepts.

Great insight from a company that never existed before the internet but yet is making a huge impact in the world through the use of digital media. My thanks to Lee LeFever for taking the time to answer my questions.

Commoncraft Videos

Understanding Social Media

Posted by AcktiveMedia on Mar 5, 2010 in Blog | 0 comments

So what is this stuff called social media and why should I care?” is a question I get asked quite frequently. Now, I’m pretty good with analogies, so inevitably I start replacing social media with every other form of communication we’ve had in history like email, cable, tv, radio, mail, phone, newspaper, stone tablet, well you get the idea but then I say imagine doing all of that, instantly, sitting in front of your computer. Sharing with people who are interested in the same things you are and want to share with you. That’s social media. Sometimes, some of my clients need a visual and more often than not, I refer them to Lee and Sachi LeFever at CommonCraft.com. Take a look at the video below if you’re still grappling with the concept of social media. These guys do a phenom job when it comes to explaining things. So what do you think, did they do a good job or what?

Want to Learn More, Here are some related articles:

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Who Would You Trust?

Posted by AcktiveMedia on Mar 5, 2010 in Blog | 0 comments

Would you take medical advice from a doctor who smokes?
Would you take nutrition and diet advice from someone overweight?
Would you buy a Ford or Chevy from a salespeson that drives a Nissan?
Would you buy a PC from someone who works on a mac?
Would you take business advice from someone unemployed?
Would you listen to someone give advice on social media that doesn’t use twitter or facebook?

Top 5 Phrases a Small Business Needs Help

Posted by AcktiveMedia on Apr 11, 2009 in Blog | 0 comments

Down economy? That’s not what you hear from small business owners. What I found out while asking them if they’re looking into new ways to find customers or build better relationships was baffling. Many of them are saying things like
“business is great,” “we’re doing okay,” or “we’ve got a full staff and couldn’t be happier.”

Huh? Did I miss the latest news bulletin about being in a recession. If you’re a business owner, and have prepared wisely for the weak economy…this is the best time to market even more to your customers and potential clients. And if you didn’t… you’ve got no choice but to market your stuff. Nobody knew you existed before the fall and they’re not going to know you if you don’t engage them now. The idea of expressing outward success publicly while sitting behind the business curtain gritting your teeth when the latest revenue reports comes in seems silly.

Of course, I will concede that exposing any weakness as a small business could start a stampede of recently laid off marketing/advertising account executives to your doorstep. Like lions looking for some fresh meat, they’ve got to eat too.

But what if they’re bringing you some ammo for your next marketing campaign.A tidbit about social media or want to help you start a blog, shoot your picture for a startup online mag. The truth is many small business are reading the writing on the revenue wall and facing a bitter-sweet reality of a trickling money stream.

The hard nut to crack… is that even when there are online apps and technologies that are free…again…FREE why are small businesses unwilling to take a chance and listen?

If you’re talking to a business owner or office manager and any or all of these phrases come out…you know there’s more going on behind the great curtain and an opportunity to help is at your doorstep:

We’ve already done all our marketing for the year.
Somebody else does our website.
We’re in real estate when don’t need any of that online stuff.
I’m not interested in free marketing opportunities.
We don’t do any marketing in town, we’re a satellite office.

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Children and Digital Media

Posted by AcktiveMedia on Jan 7, 2009 in Blog | 0 comments

We’ve heard the warnings about keeping children safe on the internet and how to protect them from online predators but I just saw a disturbing post by Mitch Joel on his Six Pixels of Separation blog referencing a recent study about children and what they’re sending people online.
The biggest takeaway for me was this startling statistic…
“One in five teens has sent sexually explicit messages.”
ONE IN FIVE! I would have never thought that number would have been so high!
So what does this mean to you? If you have kids, explain to them what is appropriate and what is not. They need to understand that anything they send online can be seen by everyone in the world. Today and in the future. There is no privacy when you start sending and posting content online. There is a unique transparency quotient that is factored into the world we know as digital media. This could have lasting consequences when they go to apply for a job or try to build a network on online relationships. Social media applications like twitter, facebook, myspace, etc. are powerful in that way but they are equally powerful in the realm of transparency. One misguided upload to youtube, flickr, or a myspace account and your child’s reputation could be tarnished for a long time if not permanently.
So what if you don’t have any children ? We all need to take notice and understand the limitless and timelessness of the digital space. Online, there are no boundaries. Only the boundaries that are self imposed. Time does not exist. Only space. Digital space. Massive amounts of mathematical data that can be retrieved at any moment and consumed ad nauseam. This by itself should give you pause the next time you upload a photo or comment on a post.