As we speak...

Someone is blushing their hearts out

Someone is sharing their deepest secrets 

Someone is getting the proposal they've been waiting for

Someone is making intimate love

Someone is eating their favorite food

Someone is lost blissfully in music or prayer

Someone is playing merrily with their child or pet

Someone just saved a loved one

Someone just saved themselves from something unnecessary

Someone, somewhere is writing a beautiful book

Someone is doing their life's best work

Someone is recapitulating their 70 years of life with a gentle smile

Someone is celebrating a special moment, a special day

Somewhere there's a little festival happening

Someone, somewhere is planning a little surprise for a loved one

Someone is simply being grateful

Someone is having a beautiful dream

Someone just discovered something cool

Someone just bought a lovely dress they saved up for

Oh and somewhere, someone is singing and dancing to glory.

Marketing Tools for Young Marketeers & Startups #2

Posts i never published in 2015 #2

Hello!

It has been a pretty busy week and last week was dedicated to #Mangalyaan & #MakeInIndia

Also, i hope the Marketing tools i penned down in part 1 seemed interesting & relevant
here's jotting down five more

1. Canva - Be it making a quick cover picture for FB or a header for Google+ Canva lets you create amazing creatives with ease! A must try!

2. Dare to Compete - Are you running a contest in your company? Need a platform to promote it for free. Here's where you should park your ad. It's for free. Techies will find this very useful! 

3. World-o-Meters - Have a quick presentation to make? Need to dazzle people with numbers? Them, here's your one-stop destinations! So many interesting stats being updated in real time. Worth it!

4. Sound Cloud - Wish to record a quick interview and upload it on your company's social channels? This is a great tool for it. Ofcourse, you can do limited recordings, but that limited part is free! So, go try!

5. Crazy Egg - As crazy as the name sounds, this tool is epic! It lets you view exactly which parts of your website your customers & clients are clicking on. It generates a heat map for you, so you could exactly focus on what's really important and no more live in assumptions

Have i experimented with this yet? Oh no! once i get a budget for my own marketing, i will! For now, i am just sticking to what the company has in mind

Business Lessons from the most unanticipated

Posts i never published in 2015 #1

I was once travelling by train and with lots of time left to oneself, i unconsciously started off my favorite pastime: Observing! A train journey is  very entertaining if you could observe a bit more that usual! 

You see a beggar ask you for some money: your mind quickly processes the incoming request! If it's a yes, you give'em some money and ignore and if it's a no, you just do the ignoring. But have you ever taken some time to observe the beggar's activities?

I know this sounds too weird but just read a bit more before you start judging! The beggars adopt many, oh so many ways to get money: 

1) Have a differentiator: Each beggar had a different story to tell, a different talent to deliver! One man whistled in multiple ways, to an extent that he even had a tune for the ones who did not give him money! There was a sister and brother duo who kept jumping in and out of a loop effortlessly as if they had no bones in them. While some were physically affected, some were portraying their singing talent! There were no two beggars who had a same reason to ask for money! That's the kind of effort they put in to be different and convincing!

2) You think begging is down marked and a poor man's activity! But have you ever taken the time to notice the kind of energy and effort they put into it? They are open to criticism,  insult and more importantly they never give up: no matter the response, they keep trying. Now how do you bounce back in life with full force, despite rejection, i think we ought to learn that from them.

3) How many times do you prefer to bounce back and do the same action that just got you embarrassed  Well for many, the answer is a clear NO MORE. But what if the situation demands? This may quite often happen at our colleges or work places, and that's when we start cursing life. Well then here are the people who have no option but to get back to their routine of getting embarrassed over and over again just so that they can earn their living. 


Some great man/woman said that the seriousness of an employee or employer is directly proportional to the kind of books one reads. Oh so are you saying that if i read all the great Business books in the world, i will become the next Bill gates? The point is we often invest a lot of time, effort and money into learning things in life the complicated way when they could easily come to us through one simple skill : observation! 

Short films, big enough to succeed

Fast-paced life isn't an expression anymore. It's a reality - the one we all live in
But that's no reason to miss out on entertainment. Is it?
We moved to an era of what we call the "Snackable Content"- content that is short and precise enough to be meaningful and quick.

Shorter blog posts, instead of full news articles, Social Media updates, instead of full TV/news coverage, etc. We are always looking out for best tangibles in the shortest time! This is Snackable Content. 

Short Film is one such element of Snackable Content. Entertaining, fun and quick! Also, they can be watched anytime, anywhere on any device. This is not a new concept though. Films per se started off as short films, but later went on to become bigger. It was in the 70s that the craze for short films plumetted. They once again took off in the 90s with the arrival of handy digital equipment. Read the history of Short Films here (Source: Telegraph)

Short Films, today are not just about fun and entertainment. They have become an interesting way of auditioning for bigger films and building a real time portfolio (for both makers and  actors). MR productions is one such amazing Short Film production house based out of Andhra Pradesh. It was a fun hobby picked up by two friends; Dheeraj (left) & Subash (right) that opened up the Silver Screen gates  for them
                                                    

With an office in Hyderabad, they have successfully completed 100 short films and they are a very well known short film maker in the South (especially among the Telugu speaking crowd) Enough of me, let's now hear Subhash, speak ! 

(A glimpse of their 100th short film)

1. Is MR Productions a startup? or is it just a team of friends making films for fun?

We started off with friends being part of our Production as actors and artists. We are proud to have friends who encouraged us right from the beginning without expecting anything. I can't say if it's a company now but, we are planning to remain as a production house and encourage new talent by promoting their short films

2. Tell us about your team. Who are your stars?

Dheeraj came up with the very idea of making short films. We teamed up and launched MR.Productions with no proper vision. Later on we grew with our Production, learnt from our own mistakes and had friends encourage us by being a part of it. Now, we have a large family bound by passion. Yes, I said Family because in this journey, we never felt as if we are working with a team

 3. What in your opinion makes MR productions unique? There are many others out there. What makes you guys special?

At first, we didn't make films to attract audience. We made them because we like making films. Later on, we found out that even others were liking them and were getting entertained We concentrated on Pure Entertainment. We kept our films real short and crisp, filled with entertainment in those few minutes. Also, we are very concerned about the quality. We will never compromise on it.

4. What was your inspiration to start this production house? Tell us your story

 As i told before, Dheeraj came up with the idea of making a short film for a college level film festival. We paired up and made our first short film 'Success- the story of a street boy' in December 2008. We stood third in the film festival and continued making short films ever since. Inspiration came from movies. We both love to watch movies and may be that's where it all started. We started our production house in Vizag. We picked the letter M from MVGR college and R from Raghu college where we were pursuing our B.tech and created MR. Productions

5. One of your stars has recently done a film! "Uyyala Jampaala" So, are you planning to enter the film industry too?

Yes, we are working on a script for our first Feature film. It is likely to be hitting the sets by end of this year or start of next year. We are looking forward to it

6. How long does it take on an average to finish a short film?

 It depends on the script. We made shorts films in just an hour and also made short films in 10 days(1 month) including Dubbing and Music

7. Are you planning to make short films in other languages too? or will you just stick to Telugu?

We made all our films in Telugu and we will remain a Production house for short films for now. If we like a script in other languages and think a team can do it, we will support/produce the short film and release it online through our channel

8.What is your vision? A couple of years down the line, where do you see your team heading?

We want to be film makers, who make films that'll be remembered by people as Good films. We are planning for a Family entertainer as our first feature film. Audience liked us as short film makers, we want them to extend their love towards our Feature films too.

Thank you Subashfor the interview

Watch their short films here
Image Courtesy - MR productions|Collage Courtesy - piZap

How to make Corporate events fun using Digital Marketing Tools?

As young Marketeers, we might have to run events and handle Digital Media for them. Here's putting together what can make your Corporate event look very cool on your Social channels

I recently took care of Digital Marketing for a corporate event and that's when i explored a couple of Marketing tools that let you single-handedly (This is true for an event not expecting more than 100-200 people)run your promotions in a fun way with ease For bigger events, you might need a hand or two.

All you will need is a computer (for ease), a Mobile phone equipped with a good Camera and Internet!

I chose Twitter as my central platform. We created a nice little hashtag that was relevant to our event and started getting people aware of it prior to the event. What can be done differently on the day of the event? Here are a couple of them i tried my hands on

1. Audio Boo - As people enter your event venue, you could get sound bytes from them. Yes, just like those fancy Movie functions. Now, Audio Boo is a great tool that lets you record sound bytes, include a picture and have them directly posted onto your social media handles. These sound bytes can be played from the very post. The best part is, you can get all of this done using one single tool. You may also choose to record sound bytes from your phone and upload them here. This is a very easy to use tool. It's free and all you need to do is sync your Twitter profile here/login

2. TweetWally - Now that you have encouraged your employees to tweet LIVE from the event, you might want them to see that appear on your feed Real time. TweetWally is yet another impressive tool that lets you do just that. Configure your Twitter profile here and choose your options like, what kind of tweets you want up there. For example, you may choose to display all tweets with #BigData2015 There are also a few interesting combinations (of exceptions) you can key in. Once you have your Tweet wall ready, you just project it on your event screen.

                                     

3. piZap - Images are the most appealing when it comes to posting live updates from events. Sometimes, it's hard to pick the best instantly. In that case, our age-old "Collage" is the best option. While there are many tools that let you make collages, PizAp is my pick! No signing up, no cost. Also, it's just too easy to use. There are different layouts you can choose from (a lot of them). You can also quickly edit each of your pictures here. It's the best tool when you need to be on your feet, updating pictures from the event 

4. Canva - This is the best tool i discovered in 2014. It has been my favorite ever since. When it comes to events,you might want to make instant posts for your social media channels, be it, Invitations, Header Images, Display Pictures and others. One thing most Digital Marketeers suffer from, is getting the dimensions right! Not always can you have a designer seated next to you to help you out. Canva can be that guy for you. Choose what you need, upload your picture and fit it into the frame. Voila! your post is ready to be shipped! Canva has several other options, that you might want to explore even after you are done with your event . Designing a flyer, a Business Card, Google+ cover and so much more is just a click away with Canva! The "Design School" element of Canva offers great learning to Marketeers who have an eye for design

There are many other tools serving similar purposes. But, with these tools, Speed is the essence, while you are operating LIVE from the event venue. You should try them too! Feedback is welcome.

Note: This is NOT a sponsored post. It is an outcome of my experience and search for useful tools.

The Social Media Dilemma

Digital is a big thing now. Every business is looking at Digital, because their customers are there. It's become a touch point you cannot ignore. But i always end up thinking some brands just over do it, especially when it comes to social media. 
In my opinion, there are two primary reasons for why you, as a business may choose to go the social media route (unless you are promoting films or events, for whom promotions are essential, given their short lived digital presence)

1. You are a brick and mortar player wanting to share news and updates about your business, assets, workplace, employee culture, work culture, etc. You do this so that when the customer is looking for you, he can find you all decked up and follow you - Brand Awareness is the objective here
2. You are an e-commerce player and social media is your playground. This is one of your digital ways to get business. Lead Generation is the objective here

It's good to know which one's your category. There could also be an overlap sometimes. What's common to both of them is that they have a clear objective. When you don't have a clear objective, Social Media gets overdone. We always end up counting the number of likes, shares, followers and what not, because getting those numbers to spike  makes us look good right? No! Making sure you have a relevant and efficient touch point built for your customer is the agenda. Think about it. Recently, i got asked by a friend to suggest a few social media campaign ideas for a Milk brand. It was fun doing it. But, when was the last time you heard someone buy milk because the brand had a fun campaign on their Facebook page? That's exactly what i am talking about. 

I opine that Category 1 (the Brand Awareness guys) should be more honest and simple in their digital content. Keep letting people know about you and hear them out too. 
Focus should be on your business. If what you do is good, people will like you and talk about you. Yes, you become newsworthy. I am not judging, but who got us into believing that you should keep posting updates and running campaigns just for the sake of it? Is it because a lot of others are doing it? We know of organizations that do not even have official social media pages and we still see people talking about them. So, i am just asking you. Why are we over doing it? 

In Category 2 (the Lead Generation guys) digital should focus on showing how different their product/service is. The difference could be big or small, local or global in nature. But, there is always someone looking for it. That's why your business started in the first place right? So, base all your updates, campaigns and contests around this simple truth. Also, give customers enough opportunities to tell you what they think about you. Positive Testimonials will grab more business and negatives will help you improve.

You either do 1 or 2. Instead, if  you try to throw carrots at people through random contests, remember they are there only for your carrots and will leave soon. Social Media is a great touch point. However, it's just one of the touch points. Invest only as much as you can handle. Let me know what you think about this post. Have a happy new year ahead :)

Pitch Smart.

Hello All,

Here's introducing Micro e-books. The shortest e-books, quick and useful

Pitch Smart is the first such creation. 

Agencies have such a tough time dealing with the corporates, true? First impressions are such a herculean task? Well, here's trying to make that process slightly easy. Talking from the other side of the fence (from a corporate's point of view), Pitch Smart tells you things that matter, acts that fetch brownie points and make your pitch perfect. 

Happy Reading!

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