2 The Next Level

Archive for February, 2010

I have been a Facebook enthusiast for about 2 years now and was really happy with my growing legion of friends. I was well on my way to having over 4000 friends until a huge revelation came over me. I did not know who 90 percent of my Facebook friends were!

I like most of you, bought into the program that the more friends you have the better. I believed this whole heartedly up until this past Christmas. What happened to me this past Christmas you may ask? Well I got a new smart phone that had a special software included to keep me up to date with most of my Social Networking services like Facebook and Twitter.

MOTOBLUR is the name of the service created by Motorola.  MOTOBLUR will push Facebook and Twitter updates to my phone without having to download an application or go to their websites. It is a great feature to have when you want to keep up to date with all the people you follow on Twitter or have as friends on Facebook. This was a feature I thought would be a great asset to having this new smart phone. Boy was I right and wrong.

Too Much of a Good Thing.
Some times too much of a good thing is just that, TOO MUCH.  After setting up MOTOBLUR to grab both my Facebook and Twitter something strange happened. My cell phone got really slow and sluggish in responding. At first I thought it was just a defect of the phone but I then realized that it was the thousands of updates downloading to my MOTOBLUR service. It got so bad I almost thought I made the wrong choice in cell phones.

Mass Exodus Deletus
After getting all these status updates from people I didn’t even know or care about I finally made the decision that this was ridiculous and trying to keep up with all these people on my phone made no sense at all. It was bad enough trying to keep up with all of them online with my computer. So I decided to delete all unknown friends. This took me a few days because Facebook does not have any kind of mass delete button. You have to delete each person one at a time.

Quality Not Quantity
I am currently down to about 650+ friends and I am still finding some that I don’t know. I will continue to delete these friends that I don’t know or that don’t directly know someone I know. Some of you may have already figured this out and will keep your friends to a minimum. Those of you who are currently stockpiling friends as though they were a heard of cattle should think twice on what you are doing.  Facebook should be used to build and maintain quality relationships between family and true friends not be a free for all numbers game.

Facebook Fans vs Friends
Now that I have my Facebook Friends under control I am now looking to build up my Facebook Fan pages. If you would like to know more on why you should create a Facebook Fan page over another Facebook profile please see my blog post “The Facebook Insider’s Guide to Viral Marketing is a Solopreneurs Dream Come True“. In the mean time please join one of my two fan pages. One is geared toward using Web 2.0 technology optimization to better your business. The other “JB Speaks” is centered around my love of speaking and training.

How many Facebook friends do you have?

Are you Facebook friends just numbers, or are they true friends?

Do you have a Facebook Fan page? If so, please list the url in our comments below.

If you don’t have a Facebook Fan page and would like one for your business, please email or call us to assist you in setting one up.

All the best

JB

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First of all, I want to congratulate the Who DAT Nation for winning their first Super Bowl. With that said I have to give my review of some of the Super Bowl Ads.  Ok if you didn’t know it I am a man and I have to say some of the ads were quite sexist to say the least. I won’t harp on how tired the Godaddy ads have been getting but from what the business model say they have been effective.  The the two ads I am going to focus on are both sexy and sweet. These two ads made the most impression on me because they were done with both the audience in mind as well as the audience at large.

The Audience in the Mind of a Male

The first ad was the Motorola MOTO Blur Ad featuring Megan Fox.  Ok now for the disclaimer.. I own a Motorola MOTO Blur phone but I am not being paid for this review…  This ad used the popularity of Megan Fox’s sexuality to bring a point home on what would happen if she were to send out a picture of herself taking a simple bubble bath.  If you have not seen the ad please take a look below and then read on.

This ad uses humor and the power of a man’s imagination run wild. I watched this ad with my wife and we both laughed and agreed that it was very effective. Now here comes the tech part. At the same time of this ad’s airing, I got a text from, who esle Motorola on why I should go to their website to watch the rest of the commercial. I then went to http://www.motorola.com/super-bowl and saw the rest of the ad and I laughed even harder.  This ad was built for the audience in mind which for the most part was primarily male. If Motorola was smart they would be quick to hire Megan Fox to be the MOTO Blur spokes person and do a series of ads that play off this same idea.

The Audience at Large brings Love

Google did an excellent job of not only promoting their search engine but it told a story of how to use Google search to find love. Please view the video below if you have not seen the commercial and then read on.

This ad helped us learn how to use Google search while in Paris. In this case the user wanted to impress a girl who thought the user was cute.  This ad clearly connected to both male and especially female viewers or the audience at large.  I thought this ad was very effective in not only telling but showing  us why we should use Google as our main search tool.  Google has a series of videos called Google Search Stories. Parisian Love was shown on Youtube over 2 months ago and  just repacked by Google just in time for the Super Bowl.  It is now the most viewed of the series at just over 2 million views.

And the Winner Is….

Even though I am a big Motorola fan, I am going to have to go with Google on this one.  Goolge’s ad was more appealing to a much larger audience.  It not only told the story,  it showed you how to use their service and even better why you should use their service.  It was one of the most low budget yet highly effective ways to produce a Super Bowl ad.  All Google needed was a screen capture software, some music and a few sound effects. Motorola on the other hand had to pay for the services of all the actors plus pay Megan Fox. Google can clearly reuse this ad over and over again like it did for the Super Bowl and it will still have just about the same effectiveness.

Although I picked Google over Motorola, I am a MAN and have to say that I look forward to the next series of MOTO Blur ads featuring Megan Fox.. There I said it.. I will now sit my sexist self down…;-)

No offense to the Colts and the Saints but I clearly had more fun watching the Super Bowl Ads this year.

What was your favorite ad?

All the best

JB

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Ok the reviews are all in and the iPad has impressed us all when it was finally unveiled by Apple CEO Steve Jobs on January 27th. All the hype finally came to an end when Mr. Jobs gave a run down of all the great features the iPad has to offer its users. I was just as impressed with many of the specs of this long awaited device.  I have read many reviews that were Good, Bad and even down right Ugly when it comes to the iPad, so here is my take on those reviews.

The iGood
iPad reviewed by Ben Parr of Mashable.
Apple iPad: A Comprehensive Guide

This review is the most comprehensive of the reviews I read. It is very detailed and well thought out. Ben does a great job of first giving an overview of the iPad by showing the introduction video that is also featured on the Apple website.  Ben goes on by breaking down all the specifications of the iPad. He then gives you the pricing, the availability, the closest competitors to the iPad and then finally what the iPad lacks.

Please click here to see Ben’s full review of the iPad.

The iBad
iPad reviewed by Bianca Bosker of The Huffington Post.
Apple iPad Review (PHOTOS): 9 Worst Things About The Apple Tablet

This review gives you a breakdown of all the things that are not so good about the iPad. I like this review because it uses pictures to tell the story of why you may want to think twice before you run out and pre order the iPad. It starts with the fact that Apple chose to name their new device iPad instead of one of the rumored names like  iTablet or iSlate. This review then goes on to criticize all of the many things wrong with the iPad that include the lack of mutitasking, a camera, flash capability and a USB port just to name of few. I thought this review was very creative in bringing more attention to the weaknesses of the iPad.

Please click here to see Bianca’s full review of the iPad.

The iUgly
iPad reviewd by Michael Arrington of TechCrunch.
iPad v. A Rock

This was the funniest review and the most harsh, hence “The iUgly” term used.  Michael goes so far as to compare the iPad to an actual Rock.  Even though this review makes fun of all the things the iPad does not do, it gives  you a cut and dry understanding of why we should not have played into all the hype.  And get this, the  rock almost wins in this side by side comparison.

Click here to see the full story.

The Verdict

When first hearing about and then seeing all the cool stuff the iPad could do I was convinced this device would be the first Apple product I would choose to own. Unfortunately after then hearing about all the things the iPad could not do, I am going to give it a PASS for the wish list this Christmas. Their were a couple of deal breakers but the ones that sealed it were the lack of USB and SD ports on the device without an adapter or docking station, the lack of multitasking and the lack of compatibility with the T-mobile 3G network. I just signed up for T-mobile and even though the iPad is sold unlocked it will not connect to my cell phone carrier. I guess I will have to wait for the iPad II or see what the HP Slate has to offer when it debuts some time this year.

Will you, get an Apple iPad?

If so please let us know why.

All the best

JB

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