Have you ever had a brilliant idea but known in your heart that convincing your bank manager to finance it might be harder then climbing Everest?  Well, don’t put your dreams of owning a Cat Café or starting a toddler fashion line in a draw just yet. Instead enter the world of crowdfunding.

For the uninitiated the idea is simple – an entrepreneur, inventor or group create a page about their project on the crowdfunding platform of their choice and ask patrons to give small (or large amounts) of money to help the product reach its next stage of development. The projects can be almost anything – from a home business entrepreneur seeking funds for expansion to a community funding a lunar mission (this one is literally happening right now.)

The great thing about crowdfunding versus traditional finance is that all patrons who contribute to the project are offered ‘rewards’ for their donation, usually in line with the value of the contribution, and are able to take home something that reaffirms the positive feelings they gained by helping someone else achieve their dreams.

That said crowdfunding is not all sunshine and unicorns. Like any finance model there are costs associated with it that might outweigh its benefit to your cause.

For example, some platforms won’t actually give you the promised donations unless you reach your funding goal. Even a few dollars out and you lose the lot. Or it may be there’s a need to spend money up front on videos, advertising or social media campaigns to help your cause stand out from the literally thousands of other projects seeking funding.

Personally I love crowdfunding, and wait eagerly each month for email updates from websites like Pozible, Indiegogo and Kickstarter to see what new and inspiring projects people from all over the world are funding.To me it’s a sort of mixture of discovery, invention and human ingenuity, unrestricted by standard financing practises or high-risk investments.  Forget needing a wealthy patron or a loan from a bank, modern artists, investors and farmers can now get funding from ten or thousands people who then get to watch or participate in seeing the project come to life as part of their ‘reward’.

If Thomas Edison, Leonardo da Vinci or Shakespeare were working in our post GFC landscape, I think it would be safe to say they would be crowdfunding.

So do your research – look into every different kind of crowdfunding that exists, because there is almost bound to be a model that suits your bright idea – and who knows, if your idea is bright enough, the sky may well be the limit.

Here are five great crowdfunding ideas:

Robot Development Kit – https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/710470832/alan-the-robot-development-kit?ref=category_featured

Grove Ecosystem – https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/grove-ecosystem/grove-ecosystem-grow-fresh-food-in-your-home?ref=category

Membus Tour – https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/880674476/membus-tour-creating-the-worlds-first-video-dictio?ref=category

Hemingway’s Hamburgers – A Cookbook Of Writer’s Recipes https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/gainsayerpress/hemingways-hamburgers-a-cookbook-of-writers-recipe?ref=category_recommended

Give a Cluck Free Range Eggs – https://www.pozible.com/project/200042

Whilst, as a social media commentator, I don’t really want to pour scorn on any idea, I did think this one was worth pointing out for its amusement value:

www.kickstarter.com/lets-get-twerkout-all-over-the-world
 

You can contact Lucy Birchley on: lucybirchley

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The fact is that every website and social network is crammed with people trying to tell or sell you something, I’m sure you’ve noticed that.  The constant bombardment can get tiring after a while, making it even harder for us to figure out what, if any, messages we should be paying attention to.

As a digital marketer I spend whole days designing campaigns that ask customers to listen to for a few minutes while I pitch them an idea. I sit through numerous meetings with clients who say things like, “just make it go viral, okay”, as if it is just a matter of waving my magic wand.

Like everything in this world, my work is a system of trial and error. I’m sorry to burst your bubble but there isn’t a sure fire way to grab people’s attention, for every Ice Bucket Challenge or One Dollar Shave video there are literally thousands of campaigns that don’t get millions of views. That said there are some rules you can follow to give your campaign the best chance of success.

Do Your Research

This is possibly the most important step and one that a lot of people easily skip over. Knowledge is power, or in this case; knowledge is a well-executed video of a really cute animal that gets millions of views on YouTube.

Before you can create a viral video or internet meme you need to understand your audience. When researching it’s best to be thorough and specific, collect key indicators, or metrics, to help you build an audience profile.

For example let’s say that your audience is a group of 40-62 year old men who work in blue-collar jobs, have an interest in dog breeding, are not computer literate and shave on Tuesday afternoons.

While these might seem like a random collection of facts the more information you have on your audience the easier it is to tailor your campaign. Now you know that there is no point in running YouTube ads if your blue-collar workers never use a computer.

Make Great Content

Sounds easy right? Well maybe not. The first place to start is to think about what great content looks like to you. Look at what others before you have done, could you apply some of those ideas to your own campaign? Watch videos, read articles and then get down and brainstorm. Whether it is alone or with friends or colleagues write down every crazy idea that pops into your head, talk them over and eliminate the ones that are not going to work for this campaign.

Don’t be afraid to get creative with your ideas or execution. In a crowded marketplace it’s important to stand out from the swarm.

Share and Share Alike

Viral campaigns can have vastly differing life cycles, some become popular within a few hours and burn our just as quickly or they can start slowly and last for several years. The key factor that keeps a campaign alive is its ‘shareability.’

When designing a campaign for shareability it is important thing to consider what makes the audience want to share your message with their friends, family or social networks? Think about the last news article, video or piece of content you shared with your network. What drove you to click the share button?

At the root of most sharing decisions is emotion. If the content creates a strong emotion within the audience then they will feel compelled to share it with their networks. Just remember that sharing decisions are not limited to empathy or sadness, happiness and humour are also very effective.

To discover more about how emotions can directly effect sharing watch this great video by You Tuber CPG Grey – https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rE3j_RHkqJc

Spend Some Cash

Unless you have friends who are willing to do you a solid and spend hours designing your full page ad or appearing in your three minute video it is probably best to spend some time and money on your project.

Higher production values speak for themselves and audiences give more attention to content that is well presented. That said spending thousands of dollars is not a guarantee of success, sometimes being original, thoughtful or creative can have a bigger impact on your campaign then the amount of money you spent on it.

Timing Is Everything

Any marketing guru you speak to will tell you the same thing. Marketing equals getting the right message to the right person at the right time.

If you want people to talk about your product or idea you need to think about when to share it with the world. How can you generate the most buzz around your idea, are there power users or influencers you can target, or a major event that you can piggyback off?

A wonderful example of this is the Superbowl. As one of the most watched sporting events in the USA advertising during the game costs a small fortune but companies who can afford the cost make sure they advertise at that specific time for two reasons – one they have a captive audience of millions of people and two the hype around the ads which are aired during the Superbowl create a lot of free media meaning that they are able to attract new audiences.

Sure not all of us have millions of dollars, so what should we do? Think about simular events or opportunities that are happening in your industry or local area, can you recreate the Superbowl experience on a much smaller scale?

For example are your blue-collar workers going to be at the same industry event? Could you use the event’s hash tag as a method of spreading your content? Or maybe have a special presentation where you show you’re soon to be viral video?

Sure there are no guarantees about making content go viral, but being original and creative, knowing your audience and timing it can have a huge impact on your campaign.

Find out more about Lucy Birchley on: lucybirchley.com

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Verandah Magazine’s digital marketing expert Lucy Birchley looks at the world-wide explosion of rainbow all over our digital media in support of same sex marriage during the last week.

People all over the globe are celebrating the American Supreme Court’s decision to legalize same sex marriage in all 50 states. In the last week the Internet has almost  exploded in rainbows. Facebook profile photos have become multi-coloured flags, conversations about marriage equality are trending on Twitter and millions of people are sharing videos of pride parades.

Every social media platform has become an explosion of colour as brands, buildings, people and organisations show their support for same sex marriage. It’s been a beautiful thing to watch, but the question I want to pose is whether this rapid change in public opinion have been possible without social media?

I think it’s easy to forget the sheer magnitude of the change that the Internet has brought to our lives. I believe a link could be made between the growth of people championing marriage equality and the growth of global communication through both social networks and the Internet in general; although I’m unaware at the moment of anyone who might have already started this research.

What I can tell you is that American research company Pew Research conducted a poll in 2001, which shows that 57% of Americans opposed same-sex marriage. In 2015 that number has dropped to just 39%.

I can also tell you that it took American President Barrack Obama only minutes to tweet to his 2.99 million followers on his @POTUS account in support of the Supreme Court’s decision. And in the following four hours 6.2 million tweets made mention to the landmark decision worldwide. Which works out to roughly 20,000 tweets per minuet according to Twitter.

While a lot of opinion pieces focus on how the Internet alienates us, makes us less social, poorer communicators, grumpy, sad or mad, this incredible rainbow wave of support would I believe suggest that social media at its best is a tool that spreads ideas and ignites conversations.

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Since Japanese company Sharpe released the first camera phone in 2000 a revolution has occurred in the way we document our lives, writes Verandah Magazine’s Social Media columnist Lucy Burchley.

The intervening 14 years has seen the rise of social media, the selfie and citizen journalism. We now record what we eat, what we think and the events around us to share with our respective networks.  While this might seem like the attention seeking antics of a group of narcissists I believe that we can plot a direct link between the rise of camera phones (and social media) to the uncovering of a deep seeded problem in our society.

In the last few years’ public transport seems to have become the chosen platform for racial and sexual abuse. I’m thinking along the lines of the tirade launched upon ABC journalist Jeremy Fernandez while travelling with his daughter on a Sydney bus in 2013. Mr Fernandez took to his twitter page to describe the unprovoked verbal attack, which he coined as his ‘Rosa Parks moment’, referring to African-American civil rights activist who was arrested in 1955 after refusing to give up her seat to a white passenger. A fellow female passenger on Mr Fernandez’s bus launched a verbal tirade against, calling him a “black c—“ and telling him to “go back to my own country.”

Unfortunately these stories are all too common and as these accounts of abuse become more publicised so to are the unique ways commuters on public transport (and people in their everyday lives) are developing to deal with the onslaught of hate. Over the last few weeks’ two stories in particular have appeared on social media, in which travellers use song to shut down or drown out real life Tolls.

First there was Rob Maiale, a copy writer and actor who sang ‘I’ve Got a Golden Ticket’ from Willy Wonka at the top of his voice to drown out the anti-gay rantings of a religious fanatic on the New York Subway.

Check out the video here:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=azZc4heoEGs#nf

And then earlier this month Chicago based writer Olivia Cole was riding the train to work when a man began aggressively harassing another female passenger for her phone number. How the other passengers reacted was brilliant and Olivia shared it with her followers via Twitter.

So what’s the take away from this situation? If in doubt sing ‘No Scrubs’ by 90’s girl band TLC to your harasser and hope that the other passengers know the words. (You can learn them here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FrLequ6dUdM)

While trolls are an accepted part of ‘online’ life and unfortunately I am not talking about the dolls with multi-coloured hair and jewels in their bellybuttons, we sometimes forget that abuse in all its many forms happens offline as well. This issue is far ranging and complex and I am by no means an expert but I feel that this behaviour reflects an acceptance of abuse in our society at large. How often do we stand by while people around us are targeted? Fearful to step in for fear that we might in turn be abused.

So maybe it is time for us to legislate a national repertoire of songs that can be used to let abusers know that their victims are not alone. Such a list might include Respect by Aretha Franklyn, Independent Woman by Destiny’s child or Shake It Off by Taylor Swift.

Regardless of how we as a society choose to handle online or offline trolling social media continues to play in important part in capturing these random acts of bravery and disseminating the message that victims don’t have to stand alone and we don’t have to accept abuse.

To contact Lucy Birchely for Social Media consultations go to her website: lucybirchley.com

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Lucy Birchley, our social media commentator and respected ‘Netizen’ examines the Machiavellian marketing techniques behind the world’s biggest content juggernaut…

The Internet. Welcome to the online jungle where every website is fighting for your attention and only the most compelling content will win. Why? Because of money. That’s why.

There are a lot of websites out there that make great content – thousands of bloggers, news sites, commentators and online personalities – but none have the devoted audience or pulling power of Buzzfeed.

If you spend any time on the internet, and are aged between 10 and 35, you’ve probably taken at least one Buzzfeed quiz or glanced at one amusingly entitled article. (Although the word ‘article’ is probably gilding the lilly somewhat.) With over 200 million readers and an impressive YouTube presence, which in the last three years has swelled to 3.3 million subscribers, Buzzfeed is the online content juggernaut that is changing the way content is developed and consumed on the web.

But is this a good thing?

As an average Netizen (Internet Citizen) I rarely consider my viewing habits or what quirky/compelling headlines draw my attention. I’m too busy consuming videos entitled ‘10 Cutest Cat Moments’ or taking quizzes about ‘Which Disney Character are you?’ to notice.

To me, and I am sure most people, these kinds of content are a great way to procrastinate when I should be working on my next column, but little do we realise that every piece of content we consume is actually created, developed and crafted as part of a clever marketing tool.

Which brings us to Native Advertising. Never heard of it? Me either. (Actually I have, I just didn’t want you to feel left out.) Native Advertising is the latest marketing craze which basically is catch-all term for digital advertorial (when an advertisement looks like an article), search engine advertising (you know those ads on the side of Google) and promoted posts on social networks like Facebook and Twitter (and now Instagram – sigh).

A good example of Native Advertising is this video, ‘People Vaporize Alcohol For The First Time’ – https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BSWryl-O2N8, which seems innocuous enough but is clearly a sponsored advertisement for Vapeshot which stands in the foreground of the video looking shiny and fun. As this video has the same look and feel as numerous other Buzzfeed videos you could be forgiven for not recognising it as the sponsored piece of content it clearly is. And these pieces of content are big money for producers, while I have no concrete figures, it is easy to imagine that a website like Buzzfeed could charge upwards of $50,000 to Vapeshot for this one video.

While Native Advertising as been around for a long time, Buzzfeed is one of many sites that have managed to make it merge seamlessly with its other unsponsored content. And while no amount of standing on the sideline pointing this out is going to change anyone’s viewing habits, certainly not mine, it is interesting to be aware of the tactics that are being used to make us buy more stuff.

If you would like to find out about the social media services Lucy Birchley offers go to: lucybirchley

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You’ve heard of hijacking, and if you’re social media savvy you should have heard of newsjacking – perhaps you’ve even done it yourself.  If not, Lucy Birchley explains all in this apparently simple, occasionally complex way to bring attention to yourself or your business…

Newsjacking. Yes it is a real thing and you’ve probably seen it a thousand times without even realising it. Mostly found on social media platforms such as Twitter, and popularised by online marketing strategist David Meerman Scott, newsjacking refers to content specifically created to piggyback off breaking news or events to increase its normal audience.

‘Kate Winslet was staying with Sir Richard Branson at a private retreat in the British Virgin Islands when lightning struck the home, setting it on fire. Branson’s elderly mother was in the home, and Winslet carried her out of the fire to safety.

Pretty amazing, right? News outlets certainly thought so, and the story was picked up worldwide. But you know who else thought it was amazing? The London Fire Brigade who, within a few hours of the story’s release, wrote a story for their website in which they offered Winslet a chance to train with their firefighters at their local training center. They let reporters in on their offer, and with little or no money the London Fire Brigade had tons of site traffic, inbound links, and media exposure to do with as they pleased. And that, my friends, is newsjacking!’

Corey Eridon, HubSpot, 2012

While it might sounds like something cooked up by an evil PR spin doctor trying to leverage off someone else’s tragedy, newsjacking can actually be a positive experience. Take for example, Duracell’s positive approach after Hurricane Sandy. In the wake of the disaster, which brought down countless power lines, Duracell set up mobile charging stations for people to charge their smartphones so that they could contact family and friends. Of course once most of the recipients had their phones turned back on they were able to take photos and Tweet about the kindness of the battery brand. Not bad for a few days work.

These days brands are trawling for interesting news stories and then creating clever campaigns often using humour or shock to fashion content that is instantly consumable and shareable. Take for example this ad by Lynx, which was released after naked photos of Prince Harry in Vegas were printed.

Essentially this means that newsjacking can give brands immediate impact on social media putting them out front of new trends or evening making them a significate instigator of one. And let’s face it who doesn’t love being a trend setter? Just ask the Joneses.

However, newbies beware, newsjacking can be a double edged sword and has its risks. Done well a clever social media user can increase followers, grow engagement, build brand awareness and generally make their brand look super cool. Unfortunately as with all things published in the public domain when newsjacking goes wrong it can be a total horror show.

A brand that recently felt the effects of bad newsjacking was DiGirorno Pizza. Usually lorded for their excellent comedic instincts and brilliant handle on real-time tweeting, unfortunately on this occasion DiGirorno failed to follow one of the most basic social media rules, check what a trending hastag is about before you use it.

Back in September in response to a viral video of American football star Ray Rice punching his then fiancée Janay Palmer, women took to twitter to discuss their own experiences of physical and emotional domestic violence by using the hashtag #whyIstayed. With an outpouring of tragic stories and shared experiences the hashtag itself went viral and DiGirorno was quick to respond with a humorous, but contextually offensive, quip “#whyIstayed You had Pizza.”

Needless to say that the backlash was instant, overwhelming and DiGirorno’s social media team had to do a lot of scrambling to do in order to negate a titanic sized brand melt down that they had unwittingly created.

So what is the lesson here? Well, newsjacking in itself is an easy and inexpensive way to increase followers on social media by using a little creativity and humour but as with everything we post online it’s better to eat your pizza than have it thrown in your face.

Happy tweeting!

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Verandah’s own social media expert, Lucy Birchley, takes a look at the eagerly awaited iPhone 6, and suffers a severe dose of underwhelm.

On September 19th Apple’s iPhone 6 was made available to the world and with four million presales in just 24 hours it would seem that Apple devotees are excited. I’m just not one of them.
For the past five years I have been thoroughly Team Apple. I got on board with the brand back in 2009 when I bought my first iPhone 3Gs and I was blown away by its beautiful and easy-to-use design. I couldn’t believe that such a lightweight phone could have so many functions or that every morning I could check the local weather and plan my outfit for the day. Genius!
Quickly I joined the ranks of the initiated, joyously expanding my collection with each new technological marvel to include a Mac Book Pro, iPad and iPhone 4s. It felt so cool to be a part of this trendy community. My friends and I would sit in cafés sipping our soy lattes with our pink Converse resting on the coffee table as we casually showed off our cutting edge Apple products. But the love affair which started with such passion has, predictably, begun to dwindle.
Despite this week’s wave of expected media hype around the new offering from the temple of Apple, the bad boys of Silicon Valley are missing their usual swagger. The shine is gone. From where I am standing this technology giant – that was once at the forefront on innovative design – has taken the colossal leap forward and delivered their devoted user base… a bigger version of the iPhone 5.
Really? That’s the best you could do?
Yes they have provided a bigger screen, a thinner design and promised more efficient battery lifespan (I’ll believe it when I see it) but the response from the wider Apple going audience seems to be one of confusion and or indifference.
The new iPhone 6 Plus appears to be the major focus of confusion. As a ‘Phablet’ – a cross between a phone and a small tablet computer – the sheer size of this device, at 5.5 inches, has most people either shaking their heads in bemusement or laughing outright. Show me a man who is brave enough to hold a tablet computer to his ear in public and I will show you – well, I’ll leave you to guess.

So with the sad and untimely passing of Steve Jobs has Apple lost its mojo or is it just a case of what goes up must come down?
If the cringe worthy product announcement on September 9th by Apple CEO Tim Cook is anything to go by then it might be time for them to go back to the drawing board. Despite Mr Cook’s attempts to create a vibe of ‘seminar fever’, with the never ending parade of ‘look over here at this shiny thing’ presenters, I couldn’t help but squirm in my seat with embarrassment at the lack of innovation. To top it all off prehistoric rock group U2 performed at the end of the presentation, a band that could not have less relevance to today’s Apple concert-going audience if they tried, and if that were not enough they forced their new album onto unsuspecting iTunes users for good measure.
So what is my real problem at the end of all this?
Apple. You used to be cool. I miss you.

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After ten years surviving the chilly winters and climbing the heights of Melbourne’s marketing landscape Verandah’s social media expert, Lucy Birchley, opted for a tree change recently moving to Byron Bay with her partner – where she shares her Social Media know-how with anyone who will listen (us for starters) and writes books in her free time. 

For a lot of people the idea of using Social Media is daunting. If you’re not ‘tech savvy’ the jumble of acronyms and words like ‘hashtag’ and ‘meme’ can leave you feeling completely bamboozled. But the thing about social media is it’s not as complicated as it first appears (I promise) and if you run a small business it can be a great investment of your time.

A recent US study found that 72% of all adults online are using social media and that Facebook alone has over a billion users worldwide. From a marketing point of view there is no time like the present to start leveraging one of the fastest growing areas of online social interaction and a vibrant landscape for new customers.

Most people, especially those who run their own businesses, have limited time. So where should you be focusing your attention? Whether you’re catching up with friends or securing your next business deal it’s important to choose the right social media platform for your needs.

There are lots of Social Media networks out there but the ‘Big Four’ are still Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and Pinterest. Each provides a different experience and can be used for different purposes; some can even be used alongside each other for maximum effect.

Facebook

What is it good for?  Connecting with family and friends, finding old school mates or building a ‘community’.

Facebook is generally the most widely used social networking platform. From what began as a local network for college students in the USA, it has grown into a worldwide phenomenon. Simple user-friendly design has guaranteed its success with all demographics and its principle function of connecting you with family and friends makes it a great starting point for any new social media user.

From a business perspective Facebook has, in the past, been the perfect tool for fostering a loyal community of customers through its Page function, however as the network’s influence and user base has grown, the introduction of paid advertising has handicapped small businesses’ ability to have their content reach even a tiny share of their natural audience.

That said Facebook is perfect for those with at-home businesses or people beginning community groups online.

Twitter

What is it good for?  Instant news, finding interesting blogs and articles to read and getting updates from your favourite brands.

Much like a news service Twitter allows you to ‘follow’ people or brands creating a custom feed of content that is suited to your tastes. Some famous Tweeters include Stephen Fry, Barack Obama, Justin Bieber and God.  The great thing about twitter is that you don’t have to follow the crowd. If you have a set of specific interests say, travel, philosophy and science then you follow people like, Lonely Planet, Philosophy Tweets and Neil deGrasse Tyson and filter out all of the content you don’t want to see.

For business this is a good platform for B2B and B2C interactions. It is also great for news worthy updates and customer service, however as it is styled as a news service it requires an investment of time as things move quickly.

Instagram

What is it good for?  Style watching – seeing pictures of beautifully styled and delicious food, fashion, makeup, celebrities and lifestyle.

Like taking photos? Then Instagram is for you. Directly attributed to the rise of the ‘Selfie’ (taking a photo of one’s self), this platform is for the artistic at heart.

It is also fantastic for people or businesses that create products as it is ideal for product shots. Much like Twitter you can ‘follow’ other users who share your interests as well as like and comment on their posts. Unlike other social networks Instagram is solely mobile, meaning it can only be used on smartphone and tablets and adding links and reposting someone else’s picture is very difficult.

Pinterest

What is it good for?  Organising events, parenting tips, clothing, exercise routines and motivation, recipes and travel.

Pinterest can be most likened to online scrapbooking.  The basic idea is to collect interesting visual content from around the Internet and share it with the people who follow you. Very easy to use and actually quite a lot of fun once you get going, Pinterest is fantastic for people who love organisation and visuals.

What makes this platform so interesting is its ability to collaborate and organise ‘pins.’ If you are planning an event, such as a wedding and trying to find the perfect dress/location/decorations/food, you can create a board (say ‘My Wedding’) where you pin all of the items that fit your desires in one place. Other users can then like, comment or re-pin your content to their own boards. Each pin requires a description and in many cases a link back to the original webpage which means this is a great tool for driving traffic back to your website or blog.

Social media is fun, easy to use and a great investment for your brand. With such a huge portion of adult users online it makes sense from both a person and business perspective to join in.

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