How to get more re-tweets on Twitter

1. Make it interesting: people don’t retweet things for the hell of it
2. Make it short: if you expect people to add “RT @YOURUSERNAME” then make sure you have got enough room for that, and maybe a short comment like “cool! RT @Username” (so like 100 characters tops)
3. Help me, help you: like an emotional bank account — your influence over others is driven by the support you give to others. Be nice, and people might be nice back.

And, well that’s about it.

Courtesy of Wooster Collective

McDonald’s has announced a new partnership with Weight Watchers that will promote some of the Maccas menu (including chicken nuggests!) as suitable for dieters.

The Sydney Morning Herald reported today that three meals marked with the Weight Watchers logo are now on sale in New Zealand and we are told Aussies can expect to see them here later this year. Apparently the deal enables McDonald’s to use the Weight Watchers logo on its menu next to chicken nuggets (1560 kilojoules), Fillet-O-Fish (1390kJ) and sweet chilli chicken wraps (1640kJ). The deal will also see Weight Watchers promoting McDonald’s to their dieters!

It seems the Heart Foundation tick was no longer marketable enough for McDonalds so the fast food giant had to go to even more drastic lengths to overhaul their image and bring new customers into their store. I like to think consumers are savvy enough to see through this latest marketing ploy and hope the Weight Watchers dieters don’t have their good intentions hampered by a big, greasy Fillet-O-Fish burger.

Live Facebook stream

Very pleased to see the live Facebook connect stream next today’s world record attempt.    The live discussion from around the world while watching the stream brings people together makes for a far richer experience.

Facebook or Twitter live streams aren’t an overly difficult addition to a page, and can be a very effective social media tool.  Yet another way to improve your on-site social media.

Surfing the web

The term surfing the web has never meant so much with Quicksilver launching an iPhone app that enables live webcast and heats on demand.

It’s pretty cool to watch the worlds best surfers, surfing, live, on the world tour, whilst sitting on the bus on the way to work…The Quiksilver Live Application features live results, photographs, videos and everything else a ‘surf addict’ needs, and is, quite frankly, the best app I’ve ever downloaded. Now, back to work…

On-site social media optimisation

On-site social media is one of the most overlooked and under resourced parts of the website.  We’re all getting better with off-site (Twitter profiles, engagement etc) but that’s really only half the picture.

We’ve all seen those little social media icons. They’re everywhere. But you know what? They’re not always that effective. We can all take note of the guys who put together the Dragon Age: Origins site – nice big tabs, integrated into their site.  You may also notice our integration with our content from Twitter and Flickr directly on each and every page on our site.

So, here’s 5 tips on how to promote your social media activity

1. Integrate social media links into the main navigation on your home site: don’t rely on simply icons in the footer
2. Display dynamic social media content via widgets and dynamic HTML on your site
3. Track performance of click-throughs, page views and engagement: then revise and continue

Tracking is incredibly important to make sure what you’re doing is working for your audience — this is a simple way to ensure social media is making an impact on your business outcomes.

SEO Tip: Dynamic content is also a good way to improve site ‘freshness’ and support your SEO strategy

Social networking users happy with more ads, won’t pay for access

More than two thirds of consumers would be willing to accept more advertising rather than pay to use their social networking site according to new research from Dynamic Logics. – Digital Media

We’re working with a number of clients with Facebook and we’re quite clear with the need for targeted Facebook Ads to get things started and keep them going. Interesting to see the stats behind this latest survey.

Simon Baker is the ex CEO of RealEstate.com.au, now taking his skills and money, he is now involved in some new ventures (14) in which we wish him well. What is insightful from Simon is how simply he can articulate the models of the businesses in which he wants to be involved.

Each (business) has got an underlying mantra, which hopefully makes money while we sleep; it’s born global; it has inherently high EBITDA margins and is relatively difficult to knock off once you have momentum around.

Simple hey?

Read the rest of the interview with Simon at smart company

Image from tboard