What a good breakfast

We had a great turnout for the New Media Breakfast in Glasgow this morning with a fantastic insight to Search Engine Optimisation and Pay-Per-Click advertising from Tim Barlow from Attacat
.

Tim has done a great blog post on the event and taken the time to post some of the many Twitter  messages sent before, during and after the event.

Please take a moment to read Tim's blog post here.

Tim will be doing the same presentation at the Edinburgh New Media Breakfast on the 15th April at The Tower Restaurant in Edinburgh.  If you would like to come along please book here

Want to know the truth about Search Optimisation?

I had a very pleasant lunch yesterday with Tim Barlow and some of the team at Attacat, a great bunch with lots of knowledge, expertise, and enthusiasm. Naturally, the conversation was focused around social media and search optimisation and it occurred to me that perhaps companies could be so wrapped up in adopting new 'sexy' social media tools that they forget about search optimisation.

Search is still the primary method by which someone will find your web site and it shouldn't be overlooked. In fact, you could argue that it is more important than ever; the increase in businesses using social media platforms in addition to their tradition web site could mean it's getting more difficult to be noticed on search engines.

I also think it's a particular area of new media that gets a bad name; everyday I get emails promising me a No.1 listing on Google, how can they possibly promise this? People ask many questions about search optimisation:

• What do search optmisation companies actually do?
• Why do I have to keep optimising my site?
• Can anyone guarantee a No.1 listing?
• How do I decide what to spend on search optimisation?
• Can I do it myself or should I use an agency?

Hopefully we can answer some of these questions for you; Tim Barlow is the next New Media Breakfast speaker, on 26th March in Glasgow and the 15th April in Edinburgh. Tim will give a completely honest and open presentation about search optimisation and, you will have the opportunity to ask him these and any other questions about search optimisation and pay-per-click advertising.

If you would like to attend the New Media Breakfast in Glasgow or Edinburgh please select one of the links below to see full details and booking arrangements

GLASGOW EVENT

EDINBURGH EVENT

Social Media Podcast No.16 now available on iTunes

Google Execs get jail sentence, Gadgets Galore and where to get a Social Media Policy free

Iain Murray from Chardfm makes his debut as our Gadget advisor, we're still trying to give him a name so please let us know your ideas at gordon@podcastmatters.co.uk Iain discusses lots of great gadgets, web sites and mobile apps.

John Mackenzie, Partner at Pinsent Masons the law firm behind out-law.com joins us to talk about the recent ruling in the Italian Courts which led to three Google Execcutives being handed suspended jail sentences. John explains the law behind this case and why it could be a landmark ruling.

Steve Cook from Empire HR http://www.empirehr.com tells us why it's so important for organisations to have a Social Media Policy and the implications for the companies that don't give out proper guidelines to employees.

Download or subscribe to the podcast here

New Media Breakfast Glasgow 26th March - Search Optimisation and Pay Per Click

SEARCH ENGINE OPTIMISATION AND PAY PER CLICK MARKETING with TIM BARLOW, MANAGING DIRECTOR, ATTACAT
8am on 26th March 2010 at No.29, Glasgow

Search engine optimisation and pay per click marketing may be grabbing less headlines in the internet marketing world these days. However, they are still very relevant for businesses and gaining in relevance all the time. Search needs to be an integral part of any online marketing plan.

We'll examine the various different elements that make up the Google search experience and how businesses should go about seeking to appear in each different type of listing including:

• Sponsored links
• Regular "natural" results
• Maps/Local
• Shopping Results
• Video

We'll also examine some of the current trends towards more personalised results and social search.

About the speaker:

Tim Barlow is the managing director of Attacat, the Edinburgh-based search engine and internet marketing firm. Tim has been involved in search engine promotion since 1999 when he managed the first Innogy website for National Power. In 2001, Tim launched Pastures-New, one of the UK's leading rental portals, gaining similar levels of traffic with a marketing budget of £100 a month as Rightmove were then achieving with a multi million pound TV campaign. Attacat was set up in 1994 to take advantage of Tim's knowledge.

Self-taught in the art of search engine optimisation and internet marketing (there simply weren't formal courses in those days), Tim passionately believes that good SEO is not rocket science or a black art but simply the result of effective online marketing and web design. This approach has been proven time and again by Tim and his team achieving long lasting high ranks on competitive one and two word phrases for clients in a variety of fields.

Pay per click (such as Google AdWords) has been a long time specialism of Tim and Attacat. Indeed Tim was one of the very first Qualified Google Advertising Professionals in the world and Attacat has held the company version of the qualification since its inception. Attacat use pay per click (PPC) to drive £10s of millions of business for a variety of clients from classic
e-commerce sites to B2B businesses in niches you probably never knew existed.

Tim speaks regularly at both Edinburgh and Glasgow Chamber of Commerce events.

The New Media Breakfast Glasgow is on the 26th March at No.29,
Royal Exchange Square, Glasgow.

You can book your place below.

COMPLIMENTARY FOR 29 MEMBERS

This event is complimentary to 29 Members - If you are a member you
should email Malcolm to reserve your place.

I look forward to seeing you on the 26th.

Social Media on the move - 140 characters goes a long way

NEW MEDIA BREAKFAST EDINBURGH


19th March 2010 

at 

Tower Restaurant, Museum of Scotland, Chambers Street, Edinburgh. EH1 1JF

Twitter is on everybody's fingertips, status updates are fast becoming a way of life and the corporate world is getting in on the act; this month's New Media Breakfast will examine various web based sites that help you make full use of Twitter and other social media platforms whilst on the move.

We'll also take a look at some of the smartphone platforms such as: Symbian, Android, iPhone,Windows, Linux and Blackberry.


We are delighted to have Iain Murray, a regular attendee at the New Media Breakfast, to present on this extremely topical subject.

Iain is Managing Director of Chardfm Scotland’s fastest growing fm business, delivering multi-skilled fm services through a network of mobile engineers. The business made a significant investment in technology in 2009 which won them two national awards, the PFM Magazine and i-fm.net e-business award and national contractor of the year award from Mitchells & Butlers. During the same year Chardfm secured significant new business including the account to maintain the Co-operative Groups retail and banking outlets.

Iain has a track record of success in business, starting his first fm business in 1992, he has managed significant property portfolio’s including 68 care homes for Highfield Group. In 1999 Iain established Gardiner & Theobald Facilities Management for the G&T Group which grew to be the largest fm consultancy in the UK, delivering fm advice into the UK and NI governments, MOD, British Library and Cabinet Office. Iain left GTFM in 2004 to establish Jenkins & Marr Facilities Management which was sold to SMC Group plc. in 2006. In 2008 Iain joined Chardfm.

Iain is also the Chairman of the British Institute of Facilities Management the second largest fm Institute globally. His two year tenure finishes in June of this year after which he hoping to is join the Board of Global FM, the worldwide association of associations. Iain has been instrumental in moving the Institute towards more use of Social Media and regularly blogs and tweets during his Institute business. IFMA the American fm association recently published an article in their FMJ publication to their 50,000 readers on social media in business penned by Iain.

Iain is a member of the Entrepreneurial Exchange and is working on their behalf with Enlight the venture philanthropy part of the Exchange providing assistance to Skillforce.

Iain has been affectionately known to his friends as ‘gadget man’ for far too long, he has a passionate interest in technology and has a mantra of ‘if it improves productivity it’s not a gadget’, he started using Social Media in 2007 when he took the Chair of BIFM, blogging weekly until discovering and actively using Twitter, his business Chardfm has won awards for its deployment of technology and is actively using Social Media to develop new business. He has regularly tweeted at the New Media Breakfast’s.

To view this event on Connect, please visit Winning Entrepreneurs New Media Breakfast

Future New Media Breakfasts will take place on a monthly basis and there will be 1 topic covered, they will start at 8am and finish at 9:30am. I hope you will be able to join us for what will be an informative and participative breakfast and if you have any queries in the meantime then please contact Belinda Roberts

Social Media Podcast No.16 with Paul Levinson

Social Media Podcast No.16 is now available on iTunes.  In this episode we chat with Paul Levinson, Professor of Communication and Media Studies at Fordham University in New York and author of New New Media and 15 other books.

During the discussion we chat about his book, New New Media, social media in politics, China, Amazon, YouTube debates, Gordon Brown and David Cameron, blocking access in the workplace and other new media related subjects.

As you will hear, Paul loves to talk and his passion for new media and writing is evident throughout the conversation, I hope you enjoy listening to him as much as I enjoyed chatting to him.

By 2013 mobile devices will be the most popular method to access the web.

I've just been corrected by our speaker on Friday, Iain Murray, that mobile devices will become the favoured access method to the internet by 2013 (How quickly things change in Social Media). So, I have decided to repose this blog with the correct heading.


Find out about social media on the move at the New Media Breakfast in Glasgow on the 26th February with Iain Murray for Chardfm and the Podcastmatters team. For full venue, programme and booking details please link here

By 2014 mobile devices will be the most popular access for the internet

Find out about social media on the move at the New Media Breakfast in Glasgow on the 26th February with Iain Murray for Chardfm and the Podcastmatters team.

For full venue, programme and booking details please link here

Busy end to the week...

We're having a busy end to the week at Podcastmatters, just got back from the Inverness New Media Breakfast which went extremely well with lots of questions and discussion and, tomorrow morning we have the re-launch of the New Media Breakfast in Edinburgh with Winning Entrepreneurs.  We will be re-presenting the first two from the end of last year and the third session will focus on "Social Media in the Workplace", with better opportunities for networking this time round.

New Social Media Podcast - Edition 14

On the latest Social Media Podcast we have Scott Allison talking about his trip to Las Vegas to visit the headquarters of Zappos who are renowned for their customer service mainly delivered through the use of Twitter.  Scot tells us how the trip came about and provides a first hand insight about how Zappos operate the company around 10 core values.  It's always useful to look at what successful companies do and even more so when you can hear it from someone who has actually been there and met the people involved.

We were also joined by Iain Murray and Shona Lyttel from Chardfm who talked about Social Media access in the workplace and the forthcoming New Media Breakfast about Social Media on the move.  Iain Murray, MD of Chardfm will present on this subject and on the podcast he told us about some of the tools we will be looking at.

Other topics on Edition 14 include our new iPhone App, our favourite applications, who should you put in charge of you social media activity and the forthcoming interview with Paul Levinson, professor of Communication & Media Studies at Fordham University in New York and author of the book, New New Media.

Download Social Media Podcast No.14

Paul Levinson, author of New New Media

Paul Levinson took time out to talk to us about his book New New Media in a very entertaining and informative interview which will be available soon on the Social Media Podcast.  Paul is professor of Communication and Media Studies at Fordham University in New York and author of 16 books, some fictional and some non-fictional.

Paul talks about his book, social media in politics, blocking social media access, television, China and much more.

Subscribe to the Social Media Podcast to be sure you get this great interview.

Social Media on the move - 140 characters can go a long way

Twitter is on everybody's fingertips, status updates are fast becoming a way of life and the corporate world is getting in on the act; this month's New Media Breakfast will examine various web based sites that help you make full use of Twitter and other social media platforms whilst on the move.

We'll also take a look at some of the smartphone platforms such as: Symbian, Android, iPhone,Windows, Linux and Blackberry.

We are delighted to have Iain Murray, a regular attendee at the New Media Breakfast, to present on this extremely topical subject.

Iain is Managing Director of Chardfm Scotland’s fastest growing fm business, delivering multi-skilled fm services through a network of mobile engineers. The business made a significant investment in technology in 2009 which won them two national awards, the PFM Magazine and i-fm.net e-business award and national contractor of the year award from Mitchells & Butlers. During the same year Chardfm secured significant new business including the account to maintain the Co-operative Groups retail and banking outlets.

Iain has a track record of success in business, starting his first fm business in 1992, he has managed significant property portfolio’s including 68 care homes for Highfield Group. In 1999 Iain established Gardiner & Theobald Facilities Management for the G&T Group which grew to be the largest fm consultancy in the UK, delivering fm advice into the UK and NI governments, MOD, British Library and Cabinet Office. Iain left GTFM in 2004 to establish Jenkins & Marr Facilities Management which was sold to SMC Group plc. in 2006. In 2008 Iain joined Chardfm.

Iain is also the Chairman of the British Institute of Facilities Management the second largest fm Institute globally. His two year tenure finishes in June of this year after which he is hoping to join the Board of Global FM, the worldwide association of associations. Iain has been instrumental in moving the Institute towards more use of Social Media and regularly blogs and tweets during his Institute business. IFMA the American fm association recently published an article in their FMJ publication to their 50,000 readers on social media in business penned by Iain.

Iain is a member of the Entrepreneurial Exchange and is working on their behalf with Enlight the venture philanthropy part of the Exchange providing assistance to Skillforce.

Iain has been affectionately known to his friends as ‘gadget man’ for far too long, he has a passionate interest in technology and has a mantra of ‘if it improves productivity it’s not a gadget’, he started using Social Media in 2007 when he took the Chair of BIFM, blogging weekly until discovering and actively using Twitter, his business Chardfm has won awards for its deployment of technology and is actively using Social Media to develop new business. He has regularly tweeted at the New Media Breakfast’s.

The New Media Breakfast Glasgow is on the 26th February at No.29, Royal Exchange Square, Glasgow.

You can book your place below.

COMPLIMENTARY FOR 29 MEMBERS

This event is complimentary to 29 Members - If you are a member you
should email Malcolm to reserve your place.

I look forward to seeing you on the 26th.

INVERNESS
Click here for full details on the next New Media Breakfast Inverness 18th February

EDINBURGH  

Click here for full details on the next New Media Breakfast Edinburgh 19th February

NEW MEDIA BREAKFAST INVERNESS

We are pleased to announce, due to numerous requests, we have scheduled our first New Media Breakfast in Inverness on the 18th February at the Kingsmills Hotel in association with Empire HR.

You can see full venue, programme and booking details here

News about Edinburgh Breakfast:
We have also posted details of the Re-Launch of the New Media Breakfast in Edinburgh in association with Winning Entrepreneurs. You can see full venue, programme and booking details here

New Media Breakfast Re-launch in Edinburgh with Winning Entrepreneurs

We are pleased to announce the re-launch of the New Media Breakfast Edinburgh. The resounding success of these breakfast meetings has led us to rethink how we manage and run them in the future and we decided that these would run far more efficiently with a local partner in each city (New Media Breakfasts are now in Glasgow, Edinburgh, Aberdeen and Inverness starts on 18th February), we are please to announce that Winning Entrepreneurs will be our partner in all furure Edinburgh breakfasts. This first event starts with registration at 7:45am and will finish at 10:15am. 3 topics will be covered with a 15 minute break at 9am.

As some of you are aware, Pocastmatters ran 2 of these events at the end of last year therefore the first 2 topics covered will re-visit the presentations given previously. If you attended these and a re-cap of those topics is relevant to you then please arrive for registration at 9am. Following on from the presentation, there will be a Q and A session and the opportunity to network with fellow attendees. Each New Media breakfast will feature specific areas of new media and will demonstrate via live examples how commercial businesses and non-profit organisations are using these to market themselves to raise brand awareness, increase brand loyalty and improve customer relationships.

TOPIC 1 - WHAT IS SOCIAL MEDIA ALL ABOUT? 8am

New or Social Media is on everyone’s lips, we hear references to Twitter, Facebook, Linked-In and other new media tools on a daily basis but, do we really understand them or know what they do?

Topics covered include:

• Social networking
• Facebook, Bebo, MySpace etc.
• Niche networking
• B2B, B2C and Non-Profit
• Podcasting, RSS and iTunes - Audio and Video
• Viral video and video syndication
• YouTube, Viddler, Facebook, iTunes etc
• Blogging
• Micro blogging - Twitter, FriendFeed, Facebook Status Updates etc.
• Live broadcasting - Audio and Video
• Virtual Worlds
• Social Bookmarking and Tagging


TOPIC 2 - NICHE NETWORKING & DEVELOPING YOUR ONLINE COMMUNITY
We will look at examples of how some of our clients are using Niche Networks to engage and communicate with existing and potential customers.

This will include B2B, B2C and Non-Profit organisations. We will look at open and closed networks and the ways that companies are growing their communities.

TOPIC 3 - SOCIAL MEDIA IN THE WORKPLACE 9:15am
Exploring the issues surrounding employee access and the use of social media as a communication tool. What are the potential pitfalls if they do? There is no right or wrong answer to this; many factors will influence whether or not it is right for your business. With this in mind, we will explore the topic in order to help you make a more informed decision about allowing access and the use of social media in your business.

• Does enabling social networks in the workplace adversely affect productivity?
• What are the options if I do allow staff to use social networks?
• Are guidelines available?
• What are other organisations doing?
• What are the potential risks and rewards?
• Will it fit with other marketing activities?
• What does it cost?
• What are the common mistakes?
• Can you keep your brand off social media?

To view this event on Connect, please visit Winning Entrepreneurs New Media Breakfast

Future New Media Breakfasts will take place on a monthly basis and there will be 1 topic covered, they will start at 8am and finish at 9:30am. I hope you will be able to join us for what will be an informative and participative breakfast and if you have any queries in the meantime then please contact Belinda Roberts

Podcastmatters App now listed on iTunes

The podcastmatters iPhone App is now fully listed in the iTunes Store. The App allows you to download and listen to the latest Social Media Podcast from Podcastmatters and displays show notes for each episode. You can link to our pp page on iTunes here

Looking forward to a good discussion...

With 83 people pre-booked for the New Media Breakfast at 8am in 29, Glasgow, we're looking forward to some interesting discussion about Social Media in the workplace.

We've got representatives from over 60 organisations and a wide variety of market sectors so hopefully we'll get a real cross section of views.

Watch out for our report and social media podcast.

We've got our own iPhone App!

Podcastmatters now has an iPhone App called "Podcastmatters" (lots of thought went into that). with the App installed you can access the Social Media Podcast directly from your iPhone.  You can also read the show notes for each podcast and share an episode with your Facebook friends.

I created the App in iSites which is a new site that allows you to create you App for $25; you create all the graphics and links and they take care of the iTunes submission for you - it's all very simple.

The company has been inundated with applications, so much so that they sent me an email yesterday saying they intended to batch all the orders and submit 75-100 Apps each day to iTunes.  They also said they have stopped taking payments until they clear the current backlog. I thought I might have to wait a while for the App but this morning I noticed two mentions of our new App on a Google Alert for Podcastmatters - I clicked the link and there it was.

It works extremely well and, not that we've got it listed, we can start to tweek it and improve it.   I have already noticed that the iTunes Store graphic is too small so I've changed it and uploaded a new graphic - it will be interesting to see how long that takes to filter through.

Social Media Podcast No.13 - We are currently at No.2 on iTunes

We released Edition No.13 of the Social Media Podcast on Thursday and it's now at No.2 in the Audio Podcasting section in the Podcast Category. Download it to find out what we did in a car park in Inverurie and what happened to Evan Ratliff...you could just help us to that No.1 spot AGAIN!

Download the podcast on iTunes Click Here

Social Media Podcast No.13 - What we did in a car park in Inverurie!

In this episode we discuss the Wired Magazine article - Vanish. Evan Ratliff tried to disappear for a month, did he conduct a realistic exercise. Can you disappear and maintain a social media profile? Read the article in Wired

We talk to Eddie Gilmour, MD of Spymasters about the exercise and your digital footprint

We also talk about Bakupify which offers a back-up service for all your social media activity

What we got up to in a car park in Inverurie with a cow!

Beans on Toast - We review the Red Laser iPhone App

We also review a couple of other iPhone Apps - AudioBoo and Four Square

Although, we may have referred to Four Square as SquareSpace in the podcast which is something completely different! We will address this in the next podcast (I blame Kyle!)

New Media Breakfast 29th January - Social Media in the Work Place

What happens at a Fake Bake at Home Party?

We recently filmed a FaKe Bake at Home Party to capture what actually happens at these events, what we didn't figure out in advance was how much of the footage we couldn't use on a public channel!!!  I guess that's what happens when 20 women get together in their casual gear drinking wine and champagne!!!

Here's the video footage we could use.