Bluegill Creative

Presentations? There's an App For That, which works...

jfloyd — Tue, 23 Aug 2011 19:23:35 -0400

Clients have asked me on occassion whether there was a good solution for “presenting” with the iPad. While Prezi’s iPad presenter was very innovative, it didn’t fit the medium well. I tried a few other apps that allowed you to control the meeting, but every app seemed fraught with bugs.

Idea Flight seems like a game changer:

Single controller
15 wifi / bluetooth connections
LinkedIn Integration
Free for passengers

Take a look…

(via Mashable)

Are Your Metrics Giving a Map to a Blind Man?

jfloyd — Mon, 08 Aug 2011 11:54:00 -0400

Sometimes I hear people share metrics that are like giving a map to a blind man that is lost in the desert at night. “Great we’re lost as hell, and you’ve given us no idea how to get back on track.”

So, the question is how can you share information that helps people:

Know the destination
Measure progress toward the destination
Stay on track

Metrics are only helpful when they are related to your destination. In an information-rich world, it is so easy to focus on the wrong measurement. If I am driving a vehicle to Los Angeles, knowing my distance from New York City is readily attainable and absolutely useless.

Image used under creative commons license by gjofili. This post originally appeared on Jeremy’s blog.

REPOST: Did Google Stick a + in the heart of Facebook and Twitter?

jfloyd — Tue, 05 Jul 2011 18:45:22 -0400

This post originally appeared on Between You and Me on July 5, 2011.

Like others in the social sphere, I’ve been playing around with Google+ since its release last week (thanks to James Herbert). Like the Google Buzz experiment, I’ve been casually playing with it to see how Google envisions their second stand in the social sphere. So, I’m a bit cautious to make any predictions as to whether it is truly the Facebook-Twitter-All-Things-Social killer. If you can imagine the cosmic dust swirling around the big bang in the world of the social cosmos, you have seen bits and pieces of Google+:

Wave - Do you remember that experiment? The general idea of allowing groups to share information and have a threaded conversation on a particular topic seemed like an enterprise win, but the lack of notifications and nebulous interface made all wave goodbye.
Buzz - It was the Twitter killer, but it ended up being the Buzz kill—for me. The privacy faux pas set Buzz’s first footing on shaky ground. Then the inbox overload was too much. For me, it was superfluous to my twitter stream, so I eventually Buzzed off.
Google Chat - No complaints here. The solid jabber chat interface is a mainstay for our business to stay connected. Adding video chat and eventual Voice integration will make Google Chat a Skype killer.
Google Profile - At first, the Google Profile was a meteor in the cosmic dust. I remember setting mine up in 2009 purely for SEO purposes, but it wasn’t apparent how it ultimately played in the bigger equation.
Social Circle - For some time, Google has been playing with Social Circle to provide more accurate search results. The idea that a friend’s interaction with a site is some predictor of my favor is probably not too far off, but it needs fine tuning.
Picassa - Google’s acquisition of the Flickr competitor seemed to follow the YouTube acquisition as a logical move into multimedia—in my opinion for enhanced search results.
+1 - A few months ago Google’s +1 seemed like an enhancement to Social Circle. Now with Google+ it makes much more sense.

With all of the “circling” social mass, I present to you Google+. I’m not going to recount all of the features and analysis (and trust me there is plenty). For a few nice articles, take a look at Chris Brogan’s 50 and Joshua Michele’s Google Plus, The Great Game and why Social is the One Ring to Bind the Internet OS.

Instead, I wanted to share a few of my initial observations. I think Plus is a nice collection of all of the tools that Google has developed, and I think that there are some features that it offers over the predicted enemies (Twitter and Facebook). But, I’m stuck with “why?” At its genesis, Twitter (more so than Facebook) filled a niche of apparent human need to share in excruciating detail the happenings of one’s life with a very simple interface. It was non-intrusive and non-competitive. Twitter was transparent text messaging for the world to eavesdrop. From any mobile phone, smart or dumb, a person could text about their soup, and then the users and developers built a world around this simplicity.

It seems that ~~Goliath~~, er Google, has developed a very sophisticated platform that combines many wonderful sharing features. My struggle is that it’s not anything New. Ezra Pound once said that “Literature is news that stays new.” By analogy, a social network is something New that becomes Need. Quora was new but it wasn’t needed—not every day. I am struggling to see how Plus is New. For the current users, I believe there is Need.

My second issue at the core has to do with playing nice. Twitter is ubiquitous because it was non-threatening. Application developers were able to sail through the approval of Apple, Android, Web OS, et al. with no problem because Twitter and Facebook posed little threat. Google on the other hand, has experienced dramatic setbacks with many of the applications (namely Voice with Apple). So, if I understand it correctly, Google+ is going to work best as an untethered application on my mobile device. While the HTML 5 application is acceptable on the iPhone, it doesn’t have many of the features that I expect from my social networks (i.e. real-time notifications, competition between developers (for better applications), etc.). Mobile is the key, and any viable network must play nicely with “all” mobile.

Finally, Twitter is by far my favorite social network; I love it because the users have built Twitter’s sandbox. Hash tags were a result of users agreeing how to categorize information. URL shorteners thrived because Twitter users needed a way to share links in 140 characters. Twitpics (and all variations) exploded to allow users to share their images. From the ground up developers and users have tapped ingenuity to figure out how to work within a wonderfully simple sandbox: 140 characters. On the other hand, I sense some suggestion that Google+ has defined the sandbox and I should feel free to play.

It will be interesting to see how this plays out. I have said for years that Twitter and Facebook are the current social platforms, and there will be eventual replacements, but I am more concerned about a thousand more niche “killers” than a single atomic explosion. The coveted designer network Dribbble is a great example of a niche network that is not the 400 pound gorilla but has great loyalty.

Are you on Google+? Connect with me. If not, let me know that you want an invite in the comments, and I’ll email you to confirm the correct email address. Most importantly, let me know your thoughts is Google+ going to be a sea change in social? Also, if you don’t mind, indicate in your comment whether you’re an android user.

"What Does "the Agency" Look Like in 2015?"

jfloyd — Wed, 22 Jun 2011 14:04:00 -0400

A few weeks ago another partner of Bluegill and I spoke with a recent college graduate seeking one of those non-existent, executive level, no-experience, marketing jobs. She had a number of questions for us about the industry, and the opportunities that she might pursue while tracking down a job. Then she asked, “what does the agency look like in 2015?”

My suggestion to her was to start a blog asking that very question and interview partners of marketing firms/agencies from Knoxville to New York, Boston to LA. It would be an interesting blog to track an industry that is in major flux where they think they are and more importantly where they think they are going.

Yesterday, I came across Rei Inamoto’s Fast Company article about a tweet that spawned marketing mahem:

He goes on in the article to describe his desires for the week at Cannes Lions festival: “I’m looking for the ideas that rewrite the formula.” So, among technology, social, game theory, and traditional advertising what are the pieces of the 2015 agency?

As a technologist, I tend to see customer problems through technological solutions, but I am also a realist. The hard and fast “agency” rules of old are blurred. Clients need solutionists that are able to draw on a variety of old-world and modern skill sets.

So what does an agency look like in 2015?

Business needs Artists. An artist is a great observer, communicator, and synthesist. I really like the ideas that Daniel Pink laid out in A Whole New Mind. The agency must be filled with
Now Hiring Multipationalists. Traditional roles are dead. We have exactly zero typesetters on staff now, and we’re not hiring any stenographers any time soon. We do, however, have designers that write copy and programmers that do social media. Having a broad skillset and filling a pinch is one of the most valued employees.
Data Manager. We are generating so much data for our clients, and when you hand it to them it takes minutes for the blank stare to ease. Agencies must become more adept at understanding, interpreting, and communicating client data.
An Ear to the Tracks. In Inamoto’s article, he describes the annually changing landscape. It is not enough know about something 6 months after the beta release. Someone must be charged to have their ear to the ground listening to the changes that are coming, AND they must communicate the changes to the clients.

As I wrapped up the conversation with the budding marketer I told her the same thing that I’ll close this post with: the agency of 2015 will look different. To remain relevant we must embrace change and lead the way into the future with our clients while delivering results.

Buzz Does

bglmain — Wed, 13 Apr 2011 12:54:45 -0400

Bluegill Creative will demonstrate at a national conference how social media can raise awareness and help people in need.

The 400 participants at “Social Slam” will receive from Bluegill a “Buzz Does” hand buzzer during the April 13 conference at the Knoxville Convention Center. Attached to the toy will be a card detailing how a Twitter “Tweet” with the hashtag #buzzdoes will result in a donation to the Red Cross designated for the Japanese relief effort. Bluegill and several other companies including (PYA, Realty Trust Group, Integracon, Commonwealth Orthopaedics, SSN) will make a contribution for each tweet. A website, http://bit.ly/buzzdoes will list sponsors, total amount raised, and will include a live stream of ongoing Tweets. Individuals will also be given the opportunity on the site to make direct contributions.

Jeremy Floyd of Bluegill Creative says, “We are privileged to take part in Social Slam, and we view Buzz Does as a great fit with their goal of measuring the dramatic impact inherent within social media.”

Social Slam is designed for businesses that want to use digital media, measure its impact and increase the bottom line.

More information about “Buzz Does” is available by calling Jeremy Floyd at 865-544-5321 or emailing info@bluegillcreative.com.

Gold for Bluegill in an “Envelope” & Silver in PYA

jfloyd — Tue, 01 Mar 2011 09:00:00 -0500

Bluegill Creative won gold at the 2011 Addy Awards for designing and launching a new website for The Happy Envelope. Bluegill’s work on PYA’s new website was recognized with a silver Addy.

The Happy Envelope designs and produces wedding invitations, birth announcements, holiday cards and other custom printing products. The company recently opened an office at 525 Union Avenue in downtown Knoxville.

A Bluegill-designed billboard for Integracon, a computer support and technology consulting company, and packaging design for Purely Products won bronze medals.

The Knoxville chapter of the American Advertising Federation sponsors the annual Addy Awards.

What's Your Problem?

jfloyd — Wed, 08 Dec 2010 15:26:28 -0500

When you get to the heart of it, most great business ideas set out to solve a problem: make sick people better, sell more widgets, make better widgets, etc.

VCRs brought the cineplex into the living room, and Blockbuster Video made a fortune by allowing people to rent a flick for a few of bucks. Cost prevented ordinary consumers from owning vast libraries of the newest releases, so Blockbuster solved the problem by sharing the titles with its members. Now the Internet is delivering “videos” faster, more conveniently, and more efficiently then even driving up to the closest video store. Despite adding more features to its stores, Blockbuster is solving fewer and fewer people’s problems.

The Internet has disrupted other information delivery “solutions” providers like newspapers, music stores, and bookstores. The “problem” that consumers need access to information has not changed. It is just that the Internet solves that problem more efficiently.

Whether your business involves information delivery or widget manufacturing, customer’s problems are always changing, and solutions to their problems are always improving. While it’s tempting to sometimes try to make obsolete delivery methods more “featured” or widgets more efficient, sometimes you have to go to the heart of the matter and ask, “what problem does my business solve today?”

How Do You Share Your Joy?

jfloyd — Mon, 25 Oct 2010 22:52:36 -0400

Bluegill has been busy lately with the creation of the redesigned site for The Happy Envelope, a Knoxville-based, custom designed invitation and paper goods company. Working with owners Sarah and Ty Pattison has been invigorating for the team of Robby, Caryn and myself. They typify the very clients that we want to help—small business owners that are using the Internet to make their business possible.

Caryn’s design elegantly complimented the style that Sarah used in her letterpress while providing a sophisticated base for Save The Date, Baby Announcement, and Holiday Greeting cards.

The Happy Envelope’s main challenge was building a site that would allow customer’s to customize their cards on the site. The customization allows customers to enter their text using Sarah’s originally designed colors and fonts, upload (and size to fit) pictures. Robby built a custom solution that allowed for a premium customer experience. All of the products can easily be managed through the Bluegill’s proprietary Content Management System, Oatmeal.

In addition, The Happy Envelope is able to manage every stage of the order process from within Oatmeal.

As always, our amazing Bluegill team drew together and helped to finish details to launch the site in the final days. Check it out and let us know what you think, and pick up a few Christmas cards while you’re at it…

Is Your Marketing Like a Steady Stream?

bluegillcreative — Wed, 15 Sep 2010 10:12:00 -0400

Let’s play a game. Name as many “water” figures of speech as you can think of in 10 seconds. On your mark! Get set! Go!

A fish out of water
In deep water
It doesn’t hold water
It is like drinking a glass of water
To throw water on fire
You can lead a horse to water but you cannot make him drink

Since the days of Poseidon, water has been a big deal. Whether discussing everyday life or business, we find ourselves making water analogies several times a week. Funny how well these expressions sometimes fit, but the real thing to remember is that with gentle perseverance a babbling brook can carve out the Grand Canyon.

Marketing isn’t always flash bang, but with consistent and gentle perseverance in marketing and public relations, your company can be a work of wonder. Even when it sometimes feels like you are frantically paddling upstream, remember that the cool and steady waters of the Colorado carved through limestone and sandstone – no explosions, just perseverance.

Social Media Gone Vintage

carynschafer — Wed, 01 Sep 2010 10:04:39 -0400

Can’t help but love these social media ads and their throwback to a vintage print style.

Designed by a Sao Paulo ad agency, Moma, I love the way these ads are treated. They fully embrace the concept of old ads, not just a style. I frequently admire the simplicity of old ads with their strong illustrations, minimal yet clever text in beautiful typography and well planned color schemes. The artistic approach of vintage ads serves up large portions of inspiration for any project.

(ads seen via Design Mom. View originals and a couple more in the campaign on Ads of the World.)

Information is Beautiful

carynschafer — Fri, 27 Aug 2010 14:20:39 -0400

While we’re on the subject of infographics, allow me to direct your attention to a site brimming with eye candy of often boring statistics in simply stunning form: Information is Beautiful.

Thanks to David McCandless and his war against pie charts, I can now view and be inspired by things like a visual breakdown of the much discussed oil spill. And the colors (or colours) of culture around the world. It’s wonderful to see how an overwhelming excel document of columns of data can be transformed into something so beautiful people actually want to buy a print of it!

Thanks to color, shapes and little vector dump trucks, information really can be beautiful.

Jesse Thomas, the CEO and Founder of JESS3, built this...

jfloyd — Thu, 26 Aug 2010 10:00:00 -0400

Jesse Thomas, the CEO and Founder of JESS3, built this infographic demonstrating the usage of universe of “social” media.

So Your Site Has SEO, Now What?

jfloyd — Tue, 24 Aug 2010 10:07:43 -0400

“If you build it, they will come” the voice ominously spoke in Field of Dreams. Often, we think the same about our websites. If we build them, design them well, and maybe even create a Google Adwords campaign, the traffic will come. Unfortunately, traffic doesn’t pay the bills, we need our visitors to do something once they arrive at our site.

Google says the conversion events can be:

Purchase
Sign-up
Page view
Lead generation

Search Engine Journal expands the conversion events with:

Up-sell or Cross-sells
Video views
RSS Subscribe
Forward to a Friend
Social Engagement
PDF Download

Most of these intangible events can more broadly be defined under the lead generation category. Whether Search Engine Optimization “SEO” or Pay Per Click “PPC,” Bluegill focuses efforts for our clients to capture at least some basic information from the visitors to our site (name, telephone number, email address).

But maybe your business is different and you cannot broadly define the capture of that information as a “lead.” Damien Bianchi wrote a nice article this week that assists in the definition of lead results. He offers the following points of clarification:

Understand which activities on the website constitute a lead.

Name these activities and list the pages on which these conversions occur and are tracked.

Understand what happens offline to that lead and whether or not it is tracked.

Is there a monetary value attached to the lead? If so, what is it?

Outside of leads, are there other conversion actions that are valuable to the business? If so, what are they and where (which pages) are they tracked?

What results are you measuring?

Engage, Brian Solis

jfloyd — Sat, 21 Aug 2010 12:28:02 -0400

This week Brian Solis released his book Engage. This experienced tome is crafted from Brian Solis’ work in the trenches of social media.

For anyone in the business of social media, Brian’s exploration of all things social takes a survey of practically all tools in the industry, and if you’re asking just what the industry of social media is, Brian offers this definition: “social media is any tool or service that uses the Internet to facilitate conversations.”

I have just downloaded the Kindle version and will be digging in deeper in the coming weeks. Based on Forrester’s review, I anticipate that this book, like 4 Hour Work Week, will be a wonderful reference to have in the arsenal .

"Please Pull Around...To The Second Window"

jfloyd — Tue, 10 Aug 2010 13:21:55 -0400

Shouldn’t it just be “please pull around?”

At one point, an idea took root, and it changed the structure, staffing, and procedure of fast food business. The idea rang of some hollow notion about efficiency and customer service. “If we just had one person dedicated to the transaction, then we could dedicate a person manning another window to man the order fulfillment.” Or whatever…

Maybe it was a good idea. Maybe it wasn’t. Regardless of the merit, it was certainly sticky enough for competitors around the country to alter their business process and incorporate the second window into their operation.

The problem with the second window is that most sit vacant. I have even seen some that serve as storage. Most restaurants can only afford to staff the transactional window during peak hours, if they can at all. They didn’t believe that the use of the second window was beneficial enough to the business and the proposition of food fulfillment to man it all of the time. They didn’t implement. So now after you place your order you hear the friendly but unnecessary “Please Pull Around…To The Second Window.”

We all have aspects of our businesses that seemed like a good idea at one time or another—a competitor may have released a new feature, and our business decided that we needed to do the same. Or, perhaps, we have heard that it was a good idea to have CRM (customer relationship management) software. But often we make half hearted attempts at implementing the great ideas.

If the idea is worth implementing, it is worth implementing well. If it is not a great idea, then figure out where you’re going to store your second window.

Caryn's aha Moment

bluegillcreative — Thu, 15 Jul 2010 18:48:00 -0400

Bluegill’s own Caryn Schafer was recently interviewed as part of Mutual of Omaha’s aha moment campaign. To our delight, Caryn’s aha moment was when she realized that her artistic and illustration skills could be turned into a career by studying graphic design in college. Bluegill’s clients are reaping the rewards. See Caryn discuss her aha moment at…

http://www.ahamoment.com/pg/moments/view/14534

Fish Bowl

bluegillcreative — Fri, 02 Jul 2010 14:09:22 -0400

The fish brought their “A” games to the Knoxville Ad Federation’s inter-ad agency bowling tournament last night. There was a lot of noise, some trash talk with the competition, a few beers, more noise, a few gutter balls, more strikes, and more noise. The place was rocking.

Bluegill brought home the coveted Gold Megaphone for being the most rowdy - an award we clearly deserved - due in no small part to the twin vuvuzelas we blared at every strike (or just whenever the mood struck us.) If you’re not familiar with vuvuzelas, they’re the plastic horns that are so delightful (annoying) during Word Cup soccer tournaments. Think foghorn crossed with a trumpet.

We also brought home the Bronze Bowling Pin (though it looks suspiciously similar to the color of the spray paint used on the Gold Megaphone, so we’re calling it gold) based on the average of our team’s scores. Clearly, we have some excellent athletes within Bluegill. Steely-eyed concentration. Excellent hand-eye coordination. Cat-like reflexes. Cool under pressure. And, we make rented shoes and bowling shirts look good!

Enjoy the upcoming holiday weekend!!!

Get In the Healthcare Loop with ReformLoupe

bluegillcreative — Wed, 30 Jun 2010 16:51:08 -0400

Bluegill client Pershing Yoakley & Associates has launched a Bluegill-designed, web-based application called PYA ReformLoupe. Unveiled at the American Health Lawyers Association national conference in Seattle, it compiles minute-to-minute developments and commentary on healthcare reform from government, media, and social media sources into one easy to use clearinghouse. I am very proud of the efforts of our team – and at one time or another that was every one of us. Go fish!

Check it out at http://reform.pyaloupe.com/

- Billy

Came across this interesting comparison of social sites from...

jfloyd — Tue, 22 Jun 2010 10:50:03 -0400

Came across this interesting comparison of social sites from CMO.com.

Charlene Li's Open Leadership Hits Shelves Today

bglmain — Mon, 24 May 2010 10:52:00 -0400

Charlene Li’s Open Leadership is set to hit bookstore shelves today, kind of…In a post over the weekend, Charlene is looking for feedback from people around the country to send her feedback on sitings.

If you are not familiar with Li, she co-authored Groundswell with Josh Bernhoff a few years ago. Since that time, Li left Forrester to start Altimeter group. In Bernhoff’s review of Open Leadership, he had the following comments:

1. Sandbox covenants. These are the rules organizations set up to determine what sorts of limits and conventions there are on openness. The book includes a link to social media policies of a bunch of corporations, not yet live, but I am looking forward to seeing that. This discussion, in Chapter 5, goes a long way to helping bridge the gap between social media backers within companies and corporate policymakers.

2. Organizational models for openness. Charlene describes three types of organization: organic, centralized, and coordinated, and shows when each one makes sense. Given all the questions I get these days about organization for social, this is quite relevant.

3. Leadership mindsets and traits. Chapter 7 classifies leaders according to whether they are optimistic or pessimistic, and whether they are independent or collaborative. Anyone who has ever had a boss will find this instructive. This is a fascinating way to look at leadership.

Groundswell is a foundational book in the Social media revolution. I look forward to grabbing the Kindle version once it is released.

-Jeremy