What do Google, Facebook and the Huffington Post have in common?

The recent knowledge that Google is going to rename their Blogger (very special to us!) and Picasa to Google Photos & Google Blogs is some interesting news for out tech readers but we also have a bit of business side to us as well so I think a mention of the importance of branding to an organisation needs to be mentioned.

Blogger and Picassa are already strong brands in their own right but Google has been ranked fourth by Interbrand best global brands with a "brand value" of over $43bn. We realise that it can have a lot more attraction to a larger market and we understand that Google is making a lot of changes to accomodate Google+, most recently their Realtime feature went down. Reported that this was because their contract for the twitter firehose ran out but also to work on developing it for Google+. The point is that these brands contribute a large part of the valuations of many of our big online names such as Facebook.

Another "brand" is Huffington Post and they have just launched their UK version, will they have the same success in the UK and will they get it right?

Tell us what you think...

QR codes - big business?

Quick Response Codes more commonly known as QR codes. They allow people with QR readers which anyone with a smartphone now holds, to be able to use their camera to access websites straight from their phone. I haven't really seen many QR adopters yet and with a growing number of smartphone users is it more likely business should start looking to QR codes.

Why not just type it in? its more fun to scan and see where it takes you :/

I can see a number of problems for some people who may not what to stop in the middle of the street to scan a QR code especially a busy one. However if we started to see them on adverts could it encourage customers to engage with your brand and perhaps take them to a site where they could review your business. Another function could be to get customers on your website whilst their out and I think that could be good for offering deals which once scanned they receive a coupon code to take to a local store. Customers could also find out more information about your company from an visual advert.

http://qrcode.kaywa.com/ - A QR code generator and they have an APP! (QR Code's CSI Moment below)

Would like to know what you think...

What will IPO's mean for us users?

With a number of IPO's in the pipeline from many of the major online services we use, are we going to see less user targeted features and more shareholder "profit making" features. Just  recently we have seen Linkedin go public on the 19th May this year and they have profits of just over $15m for the 12 months ending 31st December 2010. Shareholders are probably happy at the moment though - LNKD share prices are holding on the NYSE.

However with some of our other future IPO's such as Groupon later this year and also Facebook expected next April - these companies are said to not be making profits. A little consideration needs to be taken in to account at whether these organisations will come under pressure from their shareholders to give them a return. Will we see any changes in the user experience for the products we use online? I'm not saying they are all going to start charging monthly subscription but perhaps more adverts.

Let us know what you think...@snaksocial

YouTube - Search and they will find!

YouTube is a real cool tool for businesses and many have adopted the platform as part of their online marketing campaign.YouTube is a search engine in its own right and is the second most used in the world after Google. This makes it a very important part in the online presence of any business because of it’s viral capabilities. YouTube was bought by Google in 2006 for $1.5bn - they recognised potential.

So create a video and upload it to YouTube make sure the description, title and tags are what your audience would be looking for - but not false. You can find what your less competitive keywords with Google insight so that your video’s will often pop up in Google’s first page.

Few facts before your example...YouTube is third on the Alexa ranking(top sites used in the world) and Mashable reported "YouTube has 490 million unique users worldwide per month"

Anyway...I recently advised a start up business about the use of video and they have found it really helpful in explaining their idea to people who like visual concepts. Blendtec used this idea by putting objects that wouldn't usually go into a blender, into a blender and the video went viral. Another business called bluQube which makes software used it by starting a contest among some yachtswomen.

Let us know what you think...

Growth in Enterprise

Their are a rising number of young people starting businesses since the Internet has been around and its cheaper to get started. I know that it is widely reported when a young person makes a success of their business but I have noticed that their are problems with the education sector and socially. We are improving with courses such as National Enterprise Academy but their is still a strong push for grades, work still needs doing.

Firstly the education sector, especially the one's I been with are really focused on grades that will get them a Job or into next level education and the league tables. Secondly the social expectations from parents and family pride putting pressure on the younger generation to find work, however work has dried up over the last few years( I won't bang on about the recession).

What changes need to happen? Change the league tables in to a long term goal for education to monitor students post education making sure that they are either choosing to stay in education or the student is in work (including running a business). This will show show a fundamental change in allowing education to prove its worth for the student and their future. In a nutshell a league table which works for both those who wish to continue their education and those who wish to work. Then I think we will start to see education provide better facilities for growing students to work or run a business.

Tell me what you think...