Idea Paint’s Approach to Social Media

By Mark Evans in Social Media 1 Comment Tags: , , ,

There’s so much talk about social media and the tools that can be used, it’s refreshing to see how a company actually leverages social media to drive awareness and sales.

Here’s a video that I discovered in which Marcus Wilson, Idea Paint’s head of marketing, talks about how the company’s blog is the engine that drives it social media efforts, which, in turn, drive people to a variety of landing pages, which, hopefully, leads to happy customers. In less than two minutes, Wilson provides some great real-world insight.

Is the High-Tech IPO Really Back?

By Mark Evans in M&A, Venture Capital No Comments Tags: , , ,

The high-tech IPO is a mysterious beast. It’s attractive, seductive and irresistible. But it’s also fickle, temperamental and not always well-behaved. Still, investors have a difficult time resisting the high-tech IPO even when the fundamentals aren’t solid or even exist.

In the coming months, it looks like investors will get another opportunity to test their obsession with the high-tech IPO as companies such as Skype and Hulu prepare for public offerings. If these IPOs are successful – and there’s plenty of indication they will be enthusiastically received – it could open the floodgates for all kinds of IPOs.

The question facing investors is whether Hulu and Skype are anomalies, or whether the high-tech IPO has really come back from the dead. Hulu and Skype are solid well-established businesses with revenue, subscribers and track records. They are market leaders in markets experiencing rapid growth, which makes them strong IPO candidates.

These are the kind of IPOs that, frankly, were few and far between during the dot-com boom when anything with traction was sucked into the IPO machine. Of course, many of these IPOs bombed because the companies that did them were more projects than businesses.

As much as Skype and Hulu have investors excited, I’m concerned they are the cream of the crop, and that the high-tech IPO landscape is pretty limited. For all the talk about how costs are lower so high-tech businesses can get started with less capital, the reality is the business landscape is dominated by free and freemium. This makes the marketplace volatile and uncertain because there are competitors willing to charge little or nothing to attract customers.

The companies that succeed in attracting users and revenue will no doubt be attractive and could do an IPO if they’re not acquired but how many of these kind of companies actually exist? Probably not as many as you would think.

But the other reality is there’s a lot of venture capital that has been tied up in start-ups. The VCs sense an opportunity to cash out so there will be tremendous pressure on start-ups to do an IPO. This could lead to a glut of public offerings, including many companies that probably don’t have solid enough fundamentals.

If investors should remember anything from the past decade, it’s caveat emptor because not everything with a pretty IPO bow on them is going to have a wonderful present inside.

For more on the IPO landscape, check out this story in the Financial Post.

Why Social Media is Still a Corporate No-Go

By Mark Evans in Social Media 3 Comments Tags: , , ,

I wrote this post for the Sysomos blog earlier this week but wanted to share it with MET readers.

For those of us in the social media, digital marketing or online service worlds, social media is pretty much a no-brainer. It’s a new and different way to connect with customers, employees, partners, the media/bloggers and investors. The various social media tools let companies expand their marketing, communications and sales arsenal to support their strategic and tactical objectives.

Given the potential of social media, it is surprising that many companies are still reluctant or downright dismissive of it. As hard as it is to believe, some companies believe there is no need for social media, including companies that directly deal with consumers. As far as they’re concerned, there’s no role for social media even as a new way to supplement their existing activities.

In a recent blog post, Mitch Joel suggested that one of the keys and challenges for companies considering social media is determining if there’s a cultural fit.

It’s an interesting thesis because it explains why social media can be so difficult for companies to embrace. Social media is the new kid on the block but many decision makers, who play a key part in establishing corporate culture, are not that social media savvy. As a result, they have difficulties understanding the benefits of social media and how it could become an integral part of their company’s operations.

As Mitch pointed out, corporate culture is difficult to change because many companies don’t want to change. In many respects, social media means you have no choice but to change your stripes. Companies need to be willing to be more transparent and open about who they are and what they do, which can be a challenging exercise.

It is important, however, for companies to realize that social media is changing the business landscape, and will continue to do so as the tools and practices evolve and become more mature. There is a danger in dismissing social media simply because it doesn’t look like a good fit.

A lot of things seem uncomfortable when you first put them on but after awhile they become more comfortable. So think of social media as a new pair of leather shoes: For the first few days, your feet ache like crazy. But pretty soon, you’re walking around pain-free and loving how you have become so fashionable.

Five Questions With: Take My Mac

By Mark Evans in Apple/iPod 2 Comments Tags: , , , ,

Earlier this week, I came across a new and cool service called Take My Mac, which purchase Apple hardware (iPhones, MacBooks, iPads, etc.). As someone with a lot hardware sitting in my office (and an environmentalist), it struck me as a great idea so I fired off five questions to Take My Mac’s Andrea Bebirian

Q: How did Take My Mac Get started?
Take My Mac was actually inspired through my own love of Apple electronics. Apple is one of the most successful and innovative companies in the electronic market. With Apple always coming out with newer technology that excites the consumer market, many people often want to upgrade their current device or desire to gain quick access to cash.

I took the time to talk to some people I knew who always bought the latest iPhone model. I asked what they did with their older iPhone. One of them told me, “Right now, I’m holding off from selling my other iPhone. I seriously don’t have the time to sell it. I have to go to Chicago for 2 weeks, and then I’m flying out again to visit some family. I’m just going to upgrade and get it over with since I just need that new iPhone now.”

The other person told me, “I dropped my phone by accident and the screen shattered. Who would want a broken iPhone? It’s wasn’t worth much anyway since it was pretty battered up, so I tossed it.” (YIKES!)

I thought about what those people told me that night. One person just tossed their phone aside, while the other one contributed to e-waste… I knew there had to be a solution for these two examples. That’s when I thought, “To please the consumer market by providing them an easy to use service to sell their popular Apple devices and to cut down on e-waste, I could open a company to eliminate the hurdles of the lengthy and sometimes frustrating selling and recycling process.”

Q: How does Take My Mac work?
Take My Mac works so easily. All you have to do is visit http://takemymac.com and click on the “get started” tab. From there, choose your device and fill out a form to provide details about your electronic device. Through email, the consumer will receive an excellent quote for the device and has the option to either accept or decline the offer. If the owner of the device accepts, a prepaid label is sent to them to ship out their device. Therefore, they aren’t charged for shipping!

Once Take My Mac receives the device, it is inspected, and all personal and non-personal data is removed in a secure manner, if necessary. Once this process is complete, the previous owner of the device gets paid – and they’re done!

Q: What happens after a product is purchased?
3. With all the devices Take My Mac receives, they go towards good use. For instance, affordable laptops will be openly available to schools who are in need of technology upgrades, while iPhones are pitched to aspiring startup companies looking for an inexpensive way to connect with their employees and customers. In addition, other electronics are placed into “second homes” to be reused again to their full potential. Other electronics that have no value are recycled completely – guaranteeing absolutely no waste in order to keep the earth clean to reduce the increasing rate of e-waste.

Q: What’s been the response so far?
4. Our response has been growing a bit. We are really trying our hardest to get the word out about our company. We are hoping that with much interest and exposure, we will have a huge boom for our quality service, loyalty, and high satisfaction rate. No surprises yet – but we have one coming up in the future! ;)

Q: Why do you think so much computer hardware isn’t recycled or refurbished?
5. In my personal opinion, many people may not think twice about what their electronics can do to the environment. In 2007, 205.5 million computers were disposed, with only 18% being recycled. Moreover, 140.3 million phones were trashed, with only 10% of those units being recycled. Because of these statistics, hazardous waste has driven the United States to spend millions of dollars to recover harmful elements within landfills to avoid harming the environment. Many of these devices that contain cancer causing agents such as chromium, lead, and cadmium are extremely harmful to our health when they are trashed.

We as consumers should definitely be aware of the impact we could make if we could recycle and sell our electronics towards good use. Just by recycling our electronics, we are protecting our health and the environment, conserving natural resources, supporting the community, and we can create more recycling jobs to regulate the economy. As for companies, they are steadily catching onto the “green” movement, and Take My Mac is delighted to see this trend rise. We are hopeful other companies who do not fully practice green methods will catch onto the trend.

The Monetization of Twitter

By Mark Evans in Social Media 2 Comments Tags: , , ,

Twitter has been a mystery wrapped inside an enigma when it comes to turning the corner from cool project to revenue. Until recently, the company’s founders seemed content to focus on user growth rather than creating a business model that would generate revenue.

Of course, this is easy to do when venture capitalists are pounding down the door with offers to invest.

These days of blissful ignorance are quickly becoming history. The signs are obvious Twitter is intent on turning on the monetization engine in a variety of ways. It will be interesting to see how this changes Twitter the company, as well as Twitter the business.

Perhaps the biggest indication of the new Twitter (Twitter 2.0?) is the hiring of Adam Bain as President, Revenue (a new and cool corporate title). Bain drove revenue at News Corp. so his hiring clearly shows Twitter (and its investors) wants revenue to go from zero to 60 at a pretty quick rate.

For Twitter users and companies that have leveraged Twitter’s API to build services, the new Twitter will likely be a different beast. I expect that relevant, contextual advertising will become a bigger part of the landscape, deals with developers will evolve as access to the Twitter “fire hose” becomes as much a financial process as a technical one, and that more partnerships will be struck to create win-win revenue scenarios.

In many respects, it’s about time that Twitter took major strides forward to become a business. It has been a great ride being the belle of the social media ball but at some point, Twitter had to turn the corner from project to business.

Twitter’s evolution mirrors Facebook, which focused on growth before Mark Zuckerman finally decided the time was right to turn on the monetization engine. With 125 million global users, Twitter has decided now is the time to focus on revenue.

Long live, Twitter 2.0. RIP Twitter 1.0.

I Love the iPhone But….

By Mark Evans in Wireless No Comments Tags: , , , ,

Over the past couple of years, I have slowly, but surely, become part of the MacNation – armed with a MacBook, MacBook Pro and iPhone3.

And while the iPhone is terrific, I have come down with a bad case of smartphone envy after spending some time checking out the Legend HTC, which features Google’s Android operating system.

The Legend HTC impressed me with its functionality, features and, most important, its speed. All of of its applications opened and worked quickly, and the Web browser was impressively fast. This was a contrast to my iPhone3, which has become old and slow even though it’s less than two years old.

For anyone who might point to the strength of the iTunes store as a differentiator, the HTC Legend came with a variety of applications – Facebook, Twitter and YouTube – that met most of my needs. It also came with a GMail app, which performed quickly – again, a contrast to the iPhone’s sluggish Mail application.

I was also impressed with the Legend’s keyboard, which performed well for a touch-screen, although the keys are fairly small. The device itself is sleek, well-designed and comfortable to use.

If I wasn’t an iPhone user or tied into a contract for another 18 months, I would seriously consider getting an HTC Legend or, for that matter, an Android-powered smartphone.

After using the HTC Legend, it is easy to see why Android has gained some much traction in the smartphone market. The bottom line is the smartphone market now has three strong players: Android, the iPhone and the Blackberry.

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