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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Says Chrysalis spokesperson and counsellor Jane McGowen: “We are presenting a photographic exhibition/community forum that addresses the pressures and consequences often experienced by young people who are engaged in social media that many of us who are not ‘in the loop’ often know little about.”

What the counsellors at Chrysalis have discovered is that one of the most challenging things about working with teens is witnessing the pressure young people are under to post sexualised images of themselves via FB, Instagram, Snapchat and the subsequent consequences of those actions to themselves, their peers and the wider social culture. They are also concerned at the increase in the sending and receiving of sexually explicit material between children below the age of 16, the consequences of which last many years, and can include bullying, self-harm, anxiety and depression, shame and humility.

Over the past few months the Chrysalis program has been taking all 90 of their girls out in groups to the local rainforests and water holes in the Northern Rivers to eat and cook food, do yoga, meditate on the rocks, engage in nature therapy, play dress ups and have fun. “They also take photos of themselves that they feel are true to who they uniquely are,” says McGowen.

Their exhibition/conference hopes to educate and inform parents, healthcare professionals, teachers, young people and all interested about the impacts of social media in a creative and open forum.

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#The Healthy Selfie is on November 24, 2015 @ 5:00 pm – 7:30 pm in the Cavanbah Room (upstairs) at the Community Centre, 69 Jonson Street, Byron Bay.  This is a free event.

For more information on Chrysalis contact:

Jane McGowen
Sexual Assault Counsellor
Indigo House, poBox 419 Lismore 2480
0266202970
0428112197

Or go to: amiedreyer

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Whatever Apple does affects everyone in the modern connected world whether you use iPhones or other brands, or whether you use a Mac or a PC. It is so influential not because it has class leading hardware and software integration or the newest features – indeed other platforms often add new features faster than Apple does. But it has a unique influence because its users spend more money on their devices than anyone else’s users. Much more money, almost EIGHT times as much on iOS devices than Android/Windows according to Forbes, the money people.

Which means that it is taken more seriously by commercial interests like software developers than other platforms. Apple leverages this influence into power in its negotiations when making deals and acquisitions with media companies. So what Apple does affects you whether you use their devices or not.

A huge amount of Apple’s profits, currently 76%, come from iPhone sales, but what happens when everyone has them and revenue tails off? Although the iPhone bubble shows no sign of bursting in the short term, global smart-phone sales are declining. They can’t rely on ever increasing iPhone sales without diversifying, or they will go the way of Nokia and Blackberry who rigidly stuck with their existing business models into oblivion.

Apple may not have the largest share of the mobile phone market – but they have the most profitable, and where they lead, others follow.

At this point Apple have barely dipped their toe into the Digital Content business apart from gradually building up iTunes into a business generating US$5 billion per quarter. Digital Content being all the different media we consume on our various devices, computers and TV’s, but currently excluding cinemas. If you consider that they have the money to buy outright any number of media conglomerates with a ready portfolio of movies and TV shows you have to agree they are taking it slowly. They aren’t always the first players but when they do act it is with market-changing effect. There were smart-phones before the iPhone became the default standard and started the smart-phone revolution.

With their war chest of US$155 billion Apple can make serious waves. When they do move into a media area a sizeable part of their user base will move with them. They have the largest database of active credit card users in the world, well over half a billion. It’s much simpler to convert those users to a new service than it is to recruit new users, even when that growth is going along quite nicely thank you, with tens of thousands of new users joining iTunes every day.

They could create or buy their own movie studios and begin making feature films and TV shows which would be initially exclusive to Apple users. Could do. What they will do remains a secret that they keep to themselves until the moment they are ready to make the move.

January 24, 1984 – Steve Jobs introduced the new personal Apple Macintosh computer. He may be gone, but the product – and the blue jeans – live on.

Their move when it comes would threaten existing media businesses much like the current Spotify/Pandora versus Apple Radio battle over streaming music which is panning out over the next few months. We can imagine similar battles with Neflix over movies, BlockBuster over video and of course the big one – sport. Apple have the clout to outbid anyone and grab, say, the next World Cup, the next Olympics, the so-called World Series of Baseball and even the biggest sporting weekly global TV event, English Premier League Football. Apple could quickly control that most reliable regular TV income generator much as Fox has done to date, and, of course, you could subscribe via iTunes!

Other digital media companies like Samsung have to keep an eye on what Apple are doing and tailor their offerings accordingly so Apple does actually have a much greater effect than statistics like total handset sales might imply. They lead and others have to follow so whatever device you use Apple has a disproportionate influence upon it whether you like it or not.

Stories about Apple’s research into other areas, like cars, may be premature, but don’t rule out one day driving an Apple car to work listening to your iPhone play through the car’s sound system having spent the previous evening watching your favourite TV show on your Apple TV. Your partner is in the passenger seat watching the rest of the show on the car screen because he/she fell asleep during the last 10 minutes last night and the show has automatically loaded into the car so he can finish it.

This Big Brother is quietly spoken, with immaculate taste and always seems to wear blue jeans…

To contact Tom Hain or find out more about his services go to: https://mrmacintosh.com.au/

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We’ve all being using Google for so long that it’s become a verb, ubiquitous. We so loved the search giant with its ‘don’t do evil’ motto that we didn’t really notice the changes that had crept into our search results: advertisements. And as seems to happen with even the best relationships, we now have to make decisions where before we just trusted.

There is a tendency in humans to leave well alone, as in ‘if it ain’t broke don’t fix it’. A homily that masks the reality that there is so much to deal with in modern life that being able to rely on something means one less item on the To Sort Out list (which is why I drive a Toyota). Google has for ages been happily off that list. Sure a few adverts crept into the top of our search queries but hey, we can deal with a few ads right? Been dealing with Nigerian spam for years even before the Russian hacker stuff showed up, we have history and experience on our side.

Then there was the beginning of privacy concerns with Street View in Google Maps where we were told that Google cars were routinely gathering any data they could from un-protected WiFi routers as they drove past. That didn’t seem so cool, particularly when they then had to be coerced by the courts into deleting said information. What did they want with the data anyway? But we let it slide, not enough to put them back on the To Sort Out list, which has plenty of more pressing items on it…until we reached our current situation where there are more ads than regular search results on our search page! Where the collection of private data from our search and browsing habits is the norm and not unusual at all in companies such as Microsoft and FaceBook as well as Google, and is in fact what you agree to when you click to Allow a bit of software to install our your internet device. That’s modern public arena ethics for you.

The problem arises because if advertising is how you generate your revenues then you have to move towards optimizing those revenues by always increasing advertising, which we search users don’t really like!

At this point there is a surprise. The other modern giant who has moved from cult computer company to The Biggest Mob in the World steps in. Apple’s policy is to collect no personal data, (this is of course apart from your iTunes account details allowing you to make purchases) a surprise from a huge company who aren’t exactly squeaky clean in other areas, like the working conditions for overseas workers for example.

And they don’t do search – or do they? Installed on all almost 1 billion Apple devices worldwide, both Mac computers and iOS devices like the iPhone or iPad, is Spotlight the built-in search software which has had embryonic internet search features added gradually over it’s last few iterations. Arriving imminently is a new operating system for computers and more importantly i-Devices, with greatly advanced Spotlight capabilities so that you won’t need to visit Google at all. Just a touch command to open Spotlight and you can search right from whatever you are doing on the device. Search with no ads and no data collection. So those of us with Apple devices can sidestep the issues with Google and still not have to add them to the To Sort Out list! Result. We also can rest easy knowing that as Apple doesn’t generate revenues from search results – and that isn’t about to change. The new iOS system will also allow ad-blockers to be installed in browsers like Safari for the first time. I sense a war a-brewing as Apple’s moves begin to eat into Google’s revenues.

The fast changing pace of tech companies shows no sign of letting up and can both drive change and perhaps cause their downfall as consumers move with the tides as well. Who could have foreseen Microsoft fall from its seemingly impenetrable status of a decade ago to being the also ran which it currently is in the internet area. Who would foresee Google tumbling from their great height? But perhaps this is what we are witnessing as this world of rapid changes throws up other surprises.

The difference with tech battles is that we are directly affected compared to more remote battles between say, big oil or finance companies. We are using these devices every day so we care and influence the battles outcomes.

Meanwhile if you want to make a change to your search while waiting for the dust to settle in the war of the big guys try DuckDuckGo duckduckgo who offer search with no data collection. They are an Open Source company who decided early in their life to offer Search with no personal tracking, no collection or sharing of your personal information. They’re a built-in search page option in Safari and Firefox, but not of course in Google Chrome!

Tom Hain’s business Mr. Mac is well known in the Northern Rivers: mrmacintosh.com.au

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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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 Are you confused by Social Media?  Don’t know which ‘platform’ you should use?  Never fear, help is near – Verandah Magazine is bringing social media guru Susie Sullivan from Infront Communications for a special one day workshop.  We will also be ‘sharing’ our own personal Social Media tips so whether it’s just for you, or to build your business, we can de-mystify social media for you.

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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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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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