Web Business Woman

By Guest Blogger, Donna DeClemente, Donna’s Promo Talk

Well the folks over at the Ford Motor Company have done it again this week. They’ve used social media in a totally new and different way. Last year they introduced the Ford Fiesta by giving 100 Fiestas to 100 social media enthusiasts to drive around the country for six months and blog, tweet, post videos, photos and update Facebook pages about their experiences. Now they’ve used Facebook as the media to introduce and reveal their new 2011 Explorer. On Monday the live 2011 Ford Explorer Reveal could be viewed from the Ford Explorer Facebook page.

New vehicles are normally introduced first to the press and at Detroit car shows, so this was definitely a “big deal” (as they say in the current Ford Fiesta TV commercial). Ford invited their Facebook fans to join them throughout the day on Monday, July 26, for exclusive video, photos, and live chats with the Ford Explorer team. It began at midnight with a pre-reveal video that included Mike Rowe, the host of Discovery’s “Dirty Jobs,” speaking with Ford CEO Alan Mulally in Herald Square in New York City where they created an outdoor forest environment to showcase the new Explorer which was still hidden under a tarp. Ford has used real people, not actors, in this video along with a very conversational dialog that helps to create the social feeling that this media is supposed to be all about.

At 7:40am Ford revealed the new Explorer by showing a video of clips of various members of the Ford team that created it and then of course the Explorer itself. Throughout the day fans could view different videos and photos, some live some pre-filmed. Mike Rowe was back hosting the live events from the outdoor forest environment they had created in Manhattan.

Ford also launched that day the 2011 Ford Explorer All Area Access Sweepstakes offering a chance to win a brand new Explorer XLT along with a $2,000 Shopping Spree. Twenty-one lucky weekly winners will also receive $50 gift cards. Ford is using their Facebook page to host the sweepstakes which is collecting information and data from their fans. Ford has included a few simple questions on the entry form inquiring if any of them plan to purchase a new vehicle soon and what Ford model they are interested in receiving information about. This is what sweepstakes promotions are all about. Giving a great incentive to consumers for a chance to win and in return receiving contact information and insights in order to create an ungoing dialog with that person.

So if you haven’t seen the Ford Explorer Reveal Facebook page check it out. Let us know what you think of it. Do you think this now may be the way we are going to see brands and companies introduce new products? Over 54,000 people have “Liked” the Ford Explorer Facebook page and Ford dealers throughout the country got to participate by posting comments and photos on the wall. Ford says it was “even more successful then we hoped” and thanked all that participated. I guess we’ll just have to see how sales go.

Cheeseburger Smoothie, anyone? Brilliant video and ad campaign by Jamba Juice.

Who’s in control in your house? Your office? At the park? In the car at a red light? At the grocery store? In the world?

Some folks would have you believe it’s women. I’m one of them. But, how accurate is that assumption? Is it an assumption? I wrote, last week, about women in the world and how we need to stand up and take charge more aggressively. We’re in charge, at least in small places – maybe in our kitchen, or in our car, or in our own minds. Other than that – being in charge is a concept we’re not that familiar with.

Let’s examine – women do influence the buying decisions of more than vegetables, pet food, children’s clothes, and lingerie. We influence buying decisions on appliances, homes, automobiles, health and beauty, fashion (our own and our family’s), travel, and everything else under the sun. Does this put us in charge? Maybe. Maybe not. Some folks believe our teens and pre-teens influence all of that, and more. Who’s right? 

According to a recent article in The Atlantic, women are taking over the world, and men will soon be obsolete. Ok, maybe that’s not exactly what the article said. You can read it for yourself and judge its effectiveness on your own. Meanwhile, Susan J. Douglas, writing for In These Times, takes the article to task for its obvious misogyny.

She says, “The worst aspect of The Atlantic’s recent cover story is its fundamental assumption: that any advances for women automatically mean the emasculation of men.”

This is not a new issue. We’ve been reading about this and discussing this for over…20 years, at least. When my son was a child, there was a lot of chatter about how girls were smarter than boys and society was focusing too much on how to make life easier for girls, thereby displacing and disapproving of the accepted boy-swagger world (where first born sons ruled, where dads knew best; where football and team sports were for boys, preparing them to lead as adults, leaving their sisters on the sidelines waving pom-poms and looking pretty). Back then, it was a doom and gloom for our boys. Prevalent thoughts was that they were being emasculated for sure. Just look at them, now.

Do – look at them now. Aren’t pink dress shirts for men the rage? What about the Old Spice hot dude – isn’t he just a little bit feminine; he’s gorgeous but in a non-threatening, embracing my feminine-side way, isn’t he? Mad Men aside, men today are often portrayed as less smart than their wives, or completely clueless about “life” and family and shopping and business. Men are greedy (look at Enron), men are violent, men are confused. Women, on the other hand are smart, talented, successful, beautiful, desirable, you name it.

Hmmm… I’m a bit confused. Those are all stereotypes. Women and men are many things, sometimes smart, sometimes not. Sometimes clueless, sometimes knowledgable. Sometimes strong, sometimes compassionate, sometimes cruel. We are many things but not all things. And this time, as all times, is a good one, if we but know what to do with it.

I say we stop writing and reading foolish articles about how women are edging men out of the business world or the education world or the ‘head of the family’ world. Let’s stop bashing men for being whatever they are – let’s let women and men be whatever they were meant to be. Because in the end, we are what we think. We are independent beings who have every opportunity to be what we want to be. The influence society has over us may bend us one way or another, but at some point, man or woman, we need to stand up and take charge of ourselves and our lives and not cry about a teacher who liked our sister or brother better than he liked us.

It’s not the school’s fault, or the country’s fault, or our Mother’s fault, or our Father’s fault. It’s our fault. Each and every one of us needs to be responsible for his or her life.

I expect this controversy to go on and on. In a few years, we’ll see it turn back to “society isn’t doing enough to support girls.” Me… I have always said men and women are different; boys and girls are different; how you raise them cannot be homogenous.

Let them soar regardless of gender, however. Encourage them to use their talents (and they all have talent) in creative, innovative ways.

Who our kids are and what they become does not depend on what the article writers report.

Interesting article on women and starting a home business over at YouTube Marketing Coaching.

To sum up, “The number one reason that women seek out home business opportunities is because they are looking for flexibility.”

I like the blog. It shares good tips on how to successfully run a home-based business and how to use YouTube. If you would like more information on women in business, and what the FAQs are, what the FACTS are, visit The Center for Women’s Business Research.

Here are some tips from me:

1. Be tough. Running a business isn’t child’s play no matter how passionate you are about cooking, sewing, writing, pets, kids, the elderly, whathaveyou. Don’t let other people distract you or deny you.

2. Set work hours and stick to them. Mon-Wed-Friday from 8-3. You’re working. Close the door or put a line on the floor and say, “Do not cross this line when I’m working.”

3. Be budget conscious. You need good computer equipment, you need training, a car to meet clients at their convenience, and office supplies. Can you afford them?

4. Don’t drink too much coffee. Seriously. Despite any supposed health benefits, more than 2-3 cups of coffee a day is bad for your stomach. Drink water or switch to tea.

5. Be realistic. Think big, plan big, but stay grounded. You only succeed by doing what you do best. Set manageable goals and stick to them.

6. Learn how to tell stories. Social media is all the rage and it involves telling stories. Sometimes short stories (twitter), sometimes supportive stories of friends and family (Facebook), sometimes the story of you (your blog) and why you are doing what you do. The story of you needs to focus on – your audience. Not on you. Give them reason to get to know you better. Then, get to know them better.

These are things I did NOT know when I started my home-based business. I thought, “I know how to do…XYZ…if I just stick to it, I will succeed.”

Not. I had to learn how to budget and demand my friends and family take my work seriously, and I had to limit coffee intake, and I had to realize that I would not make my million dollar goal overnight, but that I could make it if I invested both time and money. I knew how to tell stories but I had to reteach myself, because telling a story on a blog or twitter is different than telling it in a networking group meeting.

In essence, passion is a good starting place. But, the fundamentals of being in business require you to learn what that means.

By Guest Blogger, Donna DeClemente, Donna’s Promo Talk

Most of us that have spent any time on Facebook have probably been
invited at some point by one of our friends to play a social game such
as the hugely popular Mafia Wars or Farmville. I personally have received
the invites, but have to admit that I haven’t taken up on any one of
them yet.

Social Gaming is growing and is forecasted to become
even more popular, especially with women online. Men have always been
the major players on console games, such as PlayStation and Xbox, but
they are not the dominant demographic playing on Facebook.

Zynga,
the social game company that created Mafia Wars and Farmville, announced
a couple of months ago a new partnership with Yahoo to offer their
games through Yahoo’s portal, including the Yahoo home page, on Yahoo
Games and on Yahoo mail. They also have a similar deal with Microsoft
where the games will be on the company’s online properties including MSN
Games and Windows Live Messenger.

So it didn’t surprise me too
much when I learned that a consumer products company just developed it’s
own social game on Facebook with the intent to promote its own brands. I
am surprised however with the company that launched it.

Reckitt Benckiser (RB) the parent of Clearasil, Lysol,
Woolite and other household brands, is that company and not one that is a
household name by any means. Just launched on July 19, poweRBrands is designed to mirror the
real-life experiences of us marketing folks that work for a consumer
products company such as RB. By joining the “virtual RB” marketing team,
the player progresses through a combination of tasks and teamwork, and
climbs the corporate ladder to eventually become global “President”.

RB’s
poweRBrands was not developed by Zynga, put instead in partnership with
Euro RSCG Riley and Nudge Social Media. They claim it to be the first
Facebook game of its kind, giving the player the unique opportunity to
test their marketing and business ability, learn strategy and
decision-making skills, and be introduced to the unique culture and
challenges that face RB marketers every day.

RB is specifically
targeting the 18-30 year age group and wants to use poweRBrands not only
to create awareness of the company and the brands it markets, but also
as a recruiting tool. Andraea Dawson-Shepherd, RB’s global
communications director, said:  “poweRBrands is part of a serious
initiative to make learning about our industry and marketing both
relevant and fun. It is not a direct recruitment tool, but is a great
way to introduce students and early careers sales people and marketers
to our culture – and we hope that some of them may look further at our
website and other career information.”

As I mentioned I’m not much
of a gamer, however I went to RB’s Facebook page and
downloaded the app to start playing the game. I got through a couple of
screens and made my first decision whether to implement a BOGO (by one
get one) offer or a coupon for a Lysol promotion. So now I’ll see if I
can get any of my other marketing friends to play with me. The Facebook page enables
players to exchange news and provide feedback and tips. 

As of
yesterday I learned from RB that they already had 6,000 downloads of the
apps after the first day. They are planning an online U.S. marketing
campaign that won’t kick off till late-August and will run into
September which will include ads on Facebook, LinkedIn and Yahoo! Hot
Jobs.

I’m interested to hear from both other marketers and women,
especially women marketers. Where do you think this whole social gaming
market is going and how do you think it can fit within a marketing
campaign as RB has done with poweRBrands? I’m also curious to know where
people are finding the time to play these games? So I invite you to
share with us your thoughts.