Pinterest: Believe the Hype, It's THAT Good

Pinterest.com is a new social site that enables members to create, share and comment on online pinboards (organised by their own defined categories of interests) on which they can 'pin' images and videos. Members can upload photos from their computers or mobiles, gather images online using the "Pin It' bookmarklet or 'repin' other people's images to feature them on their own pinboard.

That probably sounds like a whole lot of gobbledegook and at this point you may be thinking, blah blah, another social site, blah blah - but trust me, seeing it is a whole lot better than reading about it. This site is uber cool.

Globally, interest in Pinterest is vast. Statistics I've heard today indicate that membership has grown to 12 million in a matter of months; as much as 97% of users are female; and if you're in business, take notice of this especially - it is said to be driving more traffic to retail sites than YouTube, Google+ and LinkedIn combined. It is rapidly becoming a very big deal and when you check it out you will immediately see why.

It's got lots of applications -virtual recipe book, personal inspiration board, Santa List, planner for special events, house renovations or your new season wardrobe, etc., etc.

For businesses looking to hook into Pinterest, commercial application isn't entirely straight forward. Pinterest is not for 'self promotion' (aka 'advertising') so businesses need to approach their involvement from a "brand" rather than "product" perspective and to be smart and imaginative about how they do it. If you want to find out more about commercial applications for Pinterest, Mashable.com have put together an excellent article. You can read it by following this link:

Pinterest for Brands: 5 Hot Tips

Pinterest is still relatively new and so is still evolving. Membership is currently by 'invitation only'. Go to the website www.pinterest.com to request an invitation or if you know someone that is a member already, ask them to invite you.

A few words of caution:

1. Pinterest is an open network. Privacy may be an issue. Make sure you understand Pinterest's privacy policy before you start uploading your intimate family photos (potentially for the whole world to see).

2. It is cool - very, very cool and potentially very addictive.

Share with us your thoughts and experiences on Pinterest.

The Bevelled Edge Hedge and Having a Point of Difference

This morning I walked the children to school. It turned out not to be the most brilliant of my ideas, as I’m consumed by a cold which, having taken hold of my head, is now continuing its assault towards my chest. As I was labouring along on my way home, to lessen my suffering I turned my mind to what was around me and I noticed as I walked along that a number of hedges on this particular street had been trimmed with a bevelled edge finish, and I recognised immediately the “trademark” edging of a particular hedge trimmer in our area.

I knew this was his trademark edge because of a really important thing – he had told me it was.

About three years ago, a man came onto our property and asked if he could trim our hedges. We didn’t know him but he looked like he’d had a really bad day/week/month/year. He offered a heavily discounted rate for cash on the spot. We were on the verge of saying ‘no thanks’ as we had done to other hedge trimmers that had approached us over time, when a curious thing happened.

Mr Hedge Trimmer started to tell us about his work - what an excellent job he would do on our hedges, how ‘his’ hedges carry his trademark bevelled edges and how we would have seen his work in our local area. His whole demeanour changed as he spoke about his work with pride. You could see it in his eyes and hear it in his voice. Even his posture changed.

We changed with him. We said ‘yes’. He did an excellent job – just as he said he would. He trimmed our hedges to perfection, complete with bevelled edges – just as he said he would. Now, as I walk through my local area three years later, I recognise his work – just as he said I would.

Mr Hedge Trimmer did some things really right that all people offering a service or product should be aware of – he took the time to create a point of difference for himself and his business – the bevelled edge hedge –he perfected his craft, producing clearly distinguishable bevelled edge hedges (pretenders beware, I’m not sure how he does it but there are no others quite as good) – and just as important as the act itself, he spoke with pride when telling his customers about his point of difference, with the effect that it wasn’t easily forgotten (not for us anyway).

What sets you apart from others in your business sector? What’s your ‘trademark’ or ‘signature’ piece that is particular to you that others can easily identify? If you haven’t identified a point of difference for your business offering yet – do it – make it real – and tell everyone about it.

Mr Hedge Trimmer reinforced for me another important lesson in business that is too easily and too often overlooked – don’t forget to leave a business card – but that’s another blog entirely.

Jetstar, you should be ashamed of yourself.

It had been a great day Friday. I had spoken at the closing session of the E-Tourism Conference in Wellington; the theme of my presentation was on the importance of communicating to your customer. My experience that evening when attempting to get home via budget airline carrier Jetstar not only defied customer service logic it seemed to challenge the basic fundamentals of human rights.

Disruption of travel is inevitable, aircraft are complicated mechanical things with safety having to take priority, and I get that. As the plane reversed out of the gate, we were confronted with an announcement that there had been a “computer malfunction” that required us to return to the gate.

This was approximately 7:15 in the evening, and to cut a long story short we ended up still standing in the airport at close to midnight attempting to find a solution to accommodation and alternative travel due to our flight being cancelled. The first indication of this cancellation was the sight of our flight crew heading en masse to the exit while we were left standing around in a now empty and closed Wellington terminal. When I asked where they were going one replied “listen for the announcement" without breaking his stride or looking back.

To give Jetstar their due we did eventually get a hotel and a flight out the next evening. What was hard to accept was how this was handled. After standing around for three hours in the hope they could repair the plane we were told that the flight was cancelled. At no point did anyone from Jetstar come and personally address the passengers - all we got was an occasional intercom announcement. We, as passengers, were left to console a girl sobbing her heart out that she was going to miss her connecting flight to Samoa. We foolishly promised her that Jetsar would be sure she was taken care of.

It was about 11pm, while still standing in what seemed to be an endless line of frustrated and tired people, that we saw a real person come along to address us for the first time. He was a representative of the airport apologising for our situation and ensuring we were aware it was Jetstar’s responsibility, not theirs. After numerous complaints about our basic needs he went away and returned with bottled water (at their expense, not Jetstar's as he was quick to point out).

What I can’t understand is why there were not more people to help out. This, so I have since been informed, is a common occurrence with Jetstar. Surely they should have a workable system in place by now? Is being a budget airline also justification for budget resourcing and service?

Why did we have to stand in a line for two hours to get an accommodation chit when someone could have walked the line and done the same thing in 30 minutes? At least visually it would have appeared that they were making an effort? Why did no-one come along and give us reassurance that things would be taken care of? How can any company that deals with people on a daily basis be so blatantly neglectful to the basic needs and comfort of their paying customer?

They left us wondering what was going on while the same crew who had announced on-board at 7pm that they were there to "help" had left to their meals and beds hours earlier.

Maybe I shouldn’t complain, I was informed that people who were booked on the Auckland flight back were simply told the flight was cancelled and to go away with a refund promised.

Now I’ve unloaded can I offer some solutions. Air NZ, so I’m told, on cancellation of a flight will immediately distribute taxi, meal and hotel vouchers before you even get off the plane. This says to the customer “We are looking after you and despite the inconvenience you have options”. If making your valued customers line up for hours and wait to be served by the only two check-in staff available is your thing then communicating to them costs nothing. You could have a team of on-call grumpy old tea ladies that could move up and down the line handing out stale biscuits and cold tea. At the very least customers would have someone to talk to and someone that could tell them that eventually everything will be OK.

It was OK in the end Jetstar, the shuttle driver was very helpful, the hotel staff very understanding – they even held the restaurant open till after midnight so we could eat… but your service sucked! It is embarrassing to think you are allowed to treat humans that way and still call yourself a service provider.

P.S. Jetsar, I did call your helpline to discuss my predicament. I was prompted that you had an unusually large call load and that I could leave my number and my place in the queue would not be lost, you would call me back. I’m still waiting for your call… that was four days ago.

The times they are a changin.

I haven’t abandoned my blog. In fact I’ve been conducting an experiment of sorts in standing back from my social networks and seeing what effect this has on them. I’ve been watching with interest over recent months the significant increase in spam I’ve received on Twitter, the frustrations Facebook has caused many due to an arrogant approach to individual privacy and the confusion with newly emerging platforms like Google Plus competing for its place on the social media stage.

I haven’t lost my passion for this as a business tool, quite the opposite. I am in awe of how fast things are changing and the opportunities expanding networks and improving collaborative tools bring.

The sale of smart phones and tablets has exceeded shipments of desktop and laptop PC’s. Add to this daily time spent in mobile apps surpasses desktop and mobile web consumption and we have even more to consider when we design and develop our customer engagement strategies.

I’m fortunate this week to be speaking at the Hospitality NZ Conference in Christchurch and the E-Tourism Conference in Wellington on the subject of Social Media strategy. This is the third year I've been to the E-Tourism sessions, it'll be interesting to see how things have changed in that time.

Why You Should be Taking LinkedIn More Seriously

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I received my first invitation to connect on LinkedIn about five years ago. I did what most of us do when we don’t understand the value or implication of such an offer, I ignored it. It wasn’t that I didn’t trust the source of this invitation; it was just that I was busy and had better things to do with my time. Social Media and online networking in New Zealand were still in their infancy and this it seemed, was just another thing to distract me.

In a paper released in May 2011, B2B Magazine reported that LinkedIn is now regarded as the most important social media platform for Business to Business marketing, well ahead of Facebook, Blogs, and Twitter.  LinkedIn, launched in 2003 and often described as ‘Facebook for Business’, recently exceeded 100 million users. Considerable publicity was generated by the public offering of LinkedIn shares, launched on 20th May, with significant buyer interest. This is all well and good, and it’s nice to see someone getting a payday for their entrepreneurial vision, but what does this mean to you? It means that LinkedIn is here to stay.

As a reader of this Blog you are most likely a professional with a network of colleagues and a portfolio of customers and suppliers, many of them professionals in their own right. We all know from experience to get and maintain our customers we have to connect with them on a regular basis to reaffirm our value and to maintain our place in their purchasing decisions. Traditionally we would do this by attending events hosted by professional organisations, visit trade shows, and attend conferences or other occasions that our customers and suppliers frequent.

When we do meet someone that we consider to be of value we perform the age old ritual of exchanging business cards. Now ask yourself, what do you usually do with these cards? It is most likely they end up in a pile somewhere never to see the light of day again, or are occasionally searched through to rekindle a memory of a conversation had long ago. This is where LinkedIn has the greatest and immediate benefit for you. It does require some investment in time setting up what is basically an online CV of your professional experience; however this small investment of time (think of it as free advertising) gives you access to the powerful “friend of a friend” network and a community of professional introductions, referrals and information sharing for free.

No tool is of any use unless it is used well; compare the value and potential of a hammer to a child and then to a master builder. The more it is used and the more that is learnt about its function, the more valuable it becomes. LinkedIn, like the hammer, has some basic functions that will serve you well and, over time and with experience, many other features that can return an income. To begin with get your profile as complete as possible, and connect with colleagues and peers. As a guide, if you would exchange a business card with the person, then they are a suitable LinkedIn connection.

Don’t get caught up in the numbers game. The size of your network is not important. Genuine relationships developed over time will return the greatest value. Simply by keeping your status updated and making occasional modifications to your profile, the well-constructed LinkedIn updates sent to your connections will subtly keep you visible and accessible.

In time, as your familiarity and confidence increases, you should participate in LinkedIn groups. These are either open or invite only forums where a considerable amount of information exchange can take place. Like any form of networking you have to attend to be seen, offer value to be appreciated, and commit time and energy to get a return on investment. Don’t wait like I did - it’s well worth your time. 

RTONZ Hanmer Springs

RTONZ Hanmer Springs, a set on Flickr.

The Harcourts free walking tour of Hanmer Springs.

With only 60 minutes to experience Hanmer we headed out the door of the Heritage Hanmer Springs and across the road to the local Harcourts Real Estate office. Harley the friendly duty agent was more than happy to give us advice on the local attractions, suggesting the services of a local woman as our tour guide for the Queen Mary Hospital (thus proving that local hospitality is alive and well in the South!). He explained that many years ago as a young girl she had moved here to work as a nurse aide and never left, unfortunately due to the beautiful day she was out mowing her lawn and unavailable, so off we went in the general direction of Queen Mary Hospital to explore it for ourselves.

We checked out the local fashion and cuisine on the way and while Craig rediscovered his love of boating we heard a whisper that John Key was in Hanmer Springs!



So as you can see we were slightly misinformed with it turning out to be Don Key, a celebrity in his own right though in this small village.

We continued on our path to Queen Mary Hospital. Set in lovely big grounds, this hospital was utilised in both world wars for the returned soldiers recovery and in later years it became a drug and alcohol rehabilitation centre, closing in 2003 when the government withdrew its funding. The thermal water was famed for its healing properties and no doubt it bought a lot of comfort to many people over the years. Local rumours of haunted buildings didn’t deter us and we continued on our journey, even without our tour guide!

The Hospital grounds are located next to the Hanmer Springs Thermal Pools, it was here that we spoke to some very relaxed tourists recently returned from their OE. Taking some time out and enjoying Hanmer before they headed back to reality, they also mentioned the great mountain biking and walking tracks in the area – mental note must do when we return and have more time! Particularly like the local bikes with return to sender details.

Being social media savvy we checked in at the local four square before heading back to the hotel to launch into the remainder of our workshop, amazed at what we had encountered and enjoyed in just 60 minutes wandering in Hanmer Springs.