LinkedIn: Gone Phishin'

One of the problems with automated platform emails is never knowing what you're going to get on the receiving end. Sure, there are plenty of people on my contact roster whose first name is "John" and others with the last name of "Smith", but the "John Smith" character simply does not exist. Maybe someone at LinkedIn thought it was clever way to add connections this way. What makes it weirder is the language of the email which reads:

"Your contact, John Smith, just joined LinkedIn
Help welcome John and get connected"

2014-03-12, mobile screenshot
of LinkedIn notifications email

If he's already a contact, presumably farmed from the LinkedIn ecosystem, wouldn't he by default be in my network already? It makes me think this is a phising email since I don't know any John Smiths. And none exist in my LinkedIn connections nor among the apps that share contact data with LinkedIn.

Klout and Unnatural Ranking

Klout started a while ago as a reputation ranking tool for users (and corporations) of social media. I only have one social property tied to Klout and as such, my Klout score is pitifully anemic (holding steady at 41, for just signing up and doing nothing much at all). I started looking at the scores of public figures and companies and then it dawned onto me that these entities have teams and a multitude of people contributing to and managing this score. Which really seems vastly unfair to those of us who represent small businesses. Sure, there might be a tinge of anger in this post; but I assure you it's for good reason.

Klout does nothing for my business. It doesn't help me generate leads or create new business opportunities; nor does it do anything for my clients who share the same online space on social media platforms. Klout doesn't even help a business gauge how well they are liked by customers who have purchased products or used their services. It's a useless "reputation" score that's generated by how frequent you post to your social network across multiple social networks. Seriously, neither I nor my followers and readers need that level of spam in our lives.

What bothers me is the inconsistency of how scores are calculated. It begs the question of today's random sceenshot:

How many tags does it take to get the phrase "Being a Mom" associated with Microsoft's Klout score? That's what I want to know.

About.Me - Push My Buttons

The only time I hit the about.me website is when I see it featured on a new acquaintance's LinkedIn profile or business card. While I get an occasional product update email from about.me, I hardly take the time to look at it in detail. What gets me tickled is that my profile (about.me/mktgurl) has gotten 1,190 profile views. This is significantly more than what I get on LinkedIn where I actively manage the profile. How people find me is a mystery. I don't advertise this profile url much. It's tied to Google+ and Facebook. Other than that, I don't expect social engagers from either social platform to refer traffic to about.me.

What about.me does is the same as Vizify, a non-portfolio-centric view of yourself. I suppose you could go route, but why bother when other comparable alternatives exist with far better tools and frills.

The connectivity content push has never been easier than now for end-users of these services.

About.me: easy steps to add links to a profile

About.me has simplified the act of typing with its quick button-oriented profile add-ons. Does it work for you?

Home Depot: Gardening Club News

Home Depot's Gardening Club newsletter has always been a favorite of mine. This is where regional news really comes into play and why regional targeting of this type of content marketing really works. When I lived in California, it was sunny nearly all year and the overnight lows really never got below 40 degrees F. In the Pacific Northwest where we can have hail and snow as late as April, it's nice to see that this newsletter is aware of that and makes suggestions as to what can be planted at this time. It's a really good resource for both new and current subscribers. There's a lot going on in this basic spring email, and it is all relevant to the store, the brand, and the customer.

2014-02-19, Home Depot Garden Club email

Vizify's Twitter Video

This neat tool allows Vizify users to create a short video clip of what makes up your Twitter feed. I used my @nwfood calendar feed to create this one:

The biggest downside to this is not being able to share the video directly to other social media platforms, like say Google+, Facebook, or practically everywhere else outside Vizify's ecosystem.

LinkedIn: Profile Suggestions

At this rate, I won't even have to think about what to add to my profile to get the extended network to click onto it. Looks like a new "analytics" rollout from LinkedIn that shows you a little bit more about "Who's viewed your profile". Seriously, I don't think I'd get "up to 3%" more views per click that I add to the profile. Seems like a lot of the suggested skills aren't skills but keyword phrases used by my peers in the management consulting industry. This is almost as bad as getting a skill recommendation from someone who behaves online as a 2nd or 3rd degree connection. What do you think?

2014-02-12, LinkedIn Profile View Suggestions

The view for updated stats available to basic accounts has been upgraded. This is what it looks like now instead of the former tiny line chart and a raw number count.

2014-02-12, LinkedIn Profile Views Dashboard

GoPro: Be a Hero

Once upon a time, a recruiter at Amazon asked where on Amazon's homepage the Kindle should be advertised. GoPro takes this one step further with a leap from suborbital space and an intro video that covers their entire homepage that is pretty darn amazing to watch.

2014-02-08, GoPro's Homepage

For about $200 a video camera, GoPro enables everyday adventurers to shoot extraordinary scenes that used to be in the domain of the professional videographer. And, having sold 2.3 million of them the company has decided to go IPO. Personally, I think it's so the original investors and the founder can cash out of the company and move onto other projects. The camera itself is pretty darn cool.