Tin Shingle’s Blog Of All The Latest in Media, Money, Your PR and Marketing Strategy and Life as a Small Biz Owner
Tin Shingle Member Blix Bike has been killing it with their Instagram. Though they sell a handful of products - a variety of models of ebikes and accessories like a basket and touch-up paint - their Instagram feed is always fresh and new. One way they do it is to show customer photos of how customers are enjoying the bikes. See how these two bikes fit into this mini car!
Google+ is/was Google’s social network for people. Google+ launched in 2011, and wasn’t the first social network that Google tried to create to compete with Facebook. Led by Vic Gundotra and Bradley Horowitz, the philosophy coming out from them back then about social media was: “we believe online sharing is broken,” as stated in this TechCruch article. This was back in 2011. Imagine what they think now. Super broken on many levels, from broken data security to human behavior. Both of these reasons contributing to the expedited and now immediate shutting down of Google+.
Google+ was a place where you could share articles, share photos, connect with people who were your friends or random people you’d never met. You could organize them by “Circles,” which was at first neat, but then became laborious as you kept organizing and micro-organizing your connections. You could chat with others, message, and just play like you would in a social network.
For SEO (search engine optimization) purposes, Google+ was great. Because it was a product of Google, the leaders of how SEO works, you had some faith that articles shared on Google+ would get higher treatment in search results. For instance, posting an article I wrote to Google+ would be part of my digital content strategy, because that post would show up in search results, thereby taking up space on Page 1 of Google search results to elbow out my competitors, especially if my actual article was already ranking highly. In fact, according to Google+ Support: “there's no way to make the content you share not searchable.” Hurray!
Google+ is much more than SEO, however. Google recognized that people like sharing documents, conversations and photos with each other, so they built a Google+ enterprise tool where companies can use it internally on private networks. The enterprise version of Google+ will continue to live.
Two reasons: people just weren’t using it, and a data leak impacting 52.5 million people.
Despite myself knowing the high value of Google+, even I stopped using it years ago. Of all of the hundreds of articles I’ve ever written, I’d only shared/posted maybe 20 to my Google+ account. Google+ was just so clunky to use. Normal things to do, like sharing an article, or connecting with someone, was so hard to figure out how to do. The user experience of its ecosystem seemed discombobulated - disconnected - sliced and diced.
Developers at Google and these big social/data companies seem to spend most of their focus on creating new tools, and then creating more tools on top of those tools. They seem dedicate less time to studying and understanding how their users are actually using and interacting with their tools.
When Google first announced the shutting down Google+ (aka “sunsetting,” which is the sexy and friendly version of “shutting down”), they marked “poor usage” as a driving factor. They finally did a very deep dive in October 2018 into how their users used the tool, and found that most people actually didn’t.
But in that deep dive, Google also found a data leak. Impacting 52.5 million people. Eeps. That’s when Google announced that they were shutting down Google+, and would do it gradually, ending in August 2019.
However, they announced in December 2018 that they were speeding that up, and were starting everything now, and would end in April 2019, with some connections ending on March 7, 2019. 9to5Google laments the shutdown, and alerts people to different API failures that will begin happening if developers don’t update their tools to stop using Google+.
Creators at Google believe in sharing. That’s why the Google search engine was created in the first place. To share the world’s content. Google has also been known to respect its users and their privacy (I know - debatable as they have all of our data - but they’ve arguably been the most proactively protective about it). An “open source” market was born, which means that developers (i.e. people who code and make things work on the internet), could design things that would connect with Google+ and work with it. These are called APIs.
The ability for developers to connect into Google+ using an API to grab your data for some reason (like to log into something to make your life more convenient) was exposed. Google patched that, but got spooked, and have expedited the shutdown. There are probably more vulnerabilities, and for a tool that nobody is using, what’s the use in maintaining it. As they said here in their announcement.
One less thing for you to do! You don’t need to share there, and you don’t need to know how it works anymore. Hurrah.
For the SEO reasons, and for the “let’s not depend on Facebook to share our information” reasons. If Google’s shutting down has a theme song, it would be Tiffany’s: “Could’ve Been.”
Social media is run by Facebook and Twitter right now. It used to also be run by Instagram, but since those co-founders resigned in late 2018, implying too much meddling by Facebook, it’s down to Facebook and Twitter (Facebook owns Instagram). Oh right. Pinterest, LinkedIn, Twitch, and a few others. But really, it’s just the first two.
The Facebook and Twitter founders approach life very differently. We have Jack Dorsey at the helm of Twitter, trying to keep it going and steering it in the turbulent sea of trolls and bad human behavior and data privacy. Jack gets very philosophical and thinks deeply about the social product and how it impacts people.
In the other corner, we have Mark Zuckerburg, who is nobody’s favorite, and maybe nobody’s friend despite his high friend count on Facebook, who is snarky and condescending when appearing before Congress and in any news interview, yet still remains relevant because people keep using Facebook.
There are other social networks, and each one will be tested by the trials that Google, Facebook and Twitter are currently enduring. People have asked: “Can’t someone just create a new social network so that we don’t need to use Facebook?” But can we wait for each of these new social networks that pop up to prove themselves and carve their belief system and actions to back that up?
Google was a big daddy that has flaws, but is a leader in (trying) to do right by its users. Google grew so big, working in so many different fields (healthcare, cars, phones), that they renamed to Alphabet (their website is abc.xyz - cute), and Google is a fraction of what they now offer to the world.
Google+ could have been a social network for people to turn to after Facebook burns down. But it just wasn’t designed visually very well, and there were no signs that that would have improved.
After 12 years on the air every Sunday morning, after what was supposed to be a 6 month run, Your Business with JJ Ramberg has ceased production in December 2018. You can look at their first show announcement over at Ad Week when they were just babies in 2006!
According to a comment down in the show’s Facebook page, the sponsor did not renew for 2019. Which is a stinker because one would think there would be other sponsors out there. According to Wikipedia, American Express OPEN was the sponsor.
JJ Ramberg showcased many small businesses - small and large - including a few Tin Shingle Members - on her show over the years. During that time, she got married and had three kids, who she brought to work at times (see them in the show’s last highlight reel). She also has a podcast, Been There. Built That, that reveals details on journeys to success, what it took to build companies, and turn a No into Yes. The last episode, however, was released in December 2018.
She’s unstoppable, so is sure to pop up again somewhere, in probably a big way. The show had a loyal following of small business enthusiasts. JJ knew that small business is personal, and talked about that often in her segments. Your Business was the longest running at MSNBC after Chris Matthew’s Hardball.
JJ is the co-founder of Goodshop with her brother. Goodshop “has the most powerful coupons in the world.” They provide the best shopping deals on the internet, but they also make a donation to the nonprofit or school of your choice for almost every purchase you make. “You also give, at no extra cost,” is their motto.
Goodshop is connected with over 114,000 nonprofits and schools. You can shop for your cause no matter the scale: whether it be your local animal shelter, or a national cancer research organization. If your nonprofit or school isn't listed, you can add them to their list.
Over the past nine years, Goodshop has helped organizations do everything from medical research, to buying books for local libraries, to helping clean up pollution from city rivers. Through deals and coupons generated from the website, Goodshop has raised over $13 million dollars.
We are looking into JJ Ramberg’s next steps for our members-only Media Contact Research Center. If you have a tip, email it into us!
Consider Poppy Harlow’s podcast Boss Files with Poppy Harlow. There is of course her show that she co-anchors on CNN, but you should also pursue the podcast. Contact details and ideas for Poppy’s podcast can be found in Tin Shingle’s Media Contact library.
Happy Money Monday!
Another Monday, another chance to stay ahead of it. As painful as it may be, stay ahead of it today by paying a bill. Maybe two. Pay an invoice. Send an invoice. Be kind in your correspondence. Have faith in others and feed them encouragement. Your team will stay strong with you clear headed and hopeful.
Push through it. You got this.
Hello!
While New York doesn’t have the coldest numbers of the way below freezing polar vortex temperatures, we are having school closings in the most unusual way, which does impact our live broadcast delivery of the TuneUp. Being that we’re a family friendly company, when a school calls a snow day one day, followed by a 2hr delay the next day, followed by a phone call just as you’re taking your kids to school that says: “Just kidding! There is an early dismissal, you’ll be back in 2hrs to pick up your kids!,” followed by another 2hr delay the next day, your work-game is going to be a little off.
So. Deepest apologies for not broadcasting the TuneUp on Wednesday, but know this: it is happening. We are rescheduling it and will have new registration links shortly. We will also have new a new signup session for the Member-Only TuneUp, where Tin Shingle Members can come onto the call either by video or phone, and have a group strategy session.
Thank you again for your patience!
Wishing everyone warmth and safety.
Tin Shingle Members are getting Media Hits! Laura Borland, developer of Vyllage, the app that makes getting package deliveries easier by connecting neighbors, has been pitching and getting hits. Her latest is at The Story Exchange and a local news TV station.
Laura credits pitching to her success - pitching a lot. We asked her how she did it:
Repetition and Intensity. I followed your advice (from the Members-Only TuneUp) and made a commitment to send my pitch to at least 25 journalists everyday, and used your PR Planner and Tracker to know who I had contacted.
When I started looking at pitching to South Florida media, Local 10 was the only channel in which their journalists have an email address listed versus a Twitter handle. I’m also familiar with the types of stories that reporters on that station tend to cover. So, I sent my pitch to 10 recently hired reporters because I’m sure they could use the content.
Within 15 minutes, I received a response from a reporter, who asked if I had pitched to any other stations and I responded that I had not. He then requested an exclusive interview. We shot the footage the day before Thanksgiving and it first aired one week later and was in rotation for 5 days!
See who else is getting press in Tin Shingle’s Press Portfolio!
Join Tin Shingle today to up your PR game and have fun with us! You can do big things. Tin Shingle gives you the resources and support to believe and make it possible.
Right now as we speak, the Media Contact Database at Tin Shingle is getting a total refresh and shakeup. With the media landscape changing so quickly as more magazines are abandoning traditional 12 month publication cycles for 10 months or no months at all, we are finding more and more valuable freelance writers and editors, as well as regular contributing writers at magazines and other forms of media, including podcasts, TV programs and even business websites that offer services but have invested in a content campaign.
Our focus on the individual person working in the media profession is strengthening, as we want to highlight the different Media Outlets that these people work in. Therefore, we putting all of the Media Outlets onto the person’s page that they work for, write for, produce for, or host.
For example: From Tin Shingle’s Media Contact Database, let’s look at Mandi Woodruff. Mandi works in the personal finance world. She is the executive editor at LendingTree.com, and the host and founder of the podcast, Brown Ambition, a show about money, career and business. She’s a gold nugget, and most likely, a pretty good person to pitch about money, business, and careers.
We tag each Media Contact with a unique identifier we call “Area of Interest.” When you’re searching through our lists, you can search by “Area of Interest.” Mandi has been tagged with: Finance, Personal Finance, Black Media, Black Voices.
As a recommended Media Contact in Tin Shingle’s members-only database, you’ll find Mandi’s bio (as she wrote it from her Brown Ambition About Us page), as well as both of her job roles: one at LendingTree.com, the other at Brown Ambition. If she has different social media handles or email addresses that she may have recommended you use (or if she doesn’t recommend an email address, then we usually guide you to the writer’s Contact Us page on their website - those pages really are pretty effective).
Here’s Mandi’s bio:
Mandi Woodruff has been reporting on finance and business for more than seven years. She joined personal finance startup MagnifyMoney in June 2016 as Executive Editor of their personal finance content. Less than a year later, the company was acquired by LendingTree.com. In her newly expanded role as executive editor, she leads a team of 20+ freelance writers, two full-time reporters and two editors to create stellar personal finance content for half a dozen LendingTree.com-owned websites. Mandi was previously the personal finance editor at Business Insider and a personal finance reporter for Yahoo Finance, where she hosted the weekly web series “Money Minute” and “The Payoff”. She’s an alumna of the Grady College of Journalism at the University of Georgia (go Dawgs!) and an active member of the National Association of Black Journalists, the New York chapter of NABJ, the Society of American Business Editors and Writers, and the Journalism & Women Symposium.
The update to the Media Contacts is underway now, but you can still access them and dig around for your research. Thank you for your patience, and you encounter anything amiss, please Contact Us about it! If you’re not a member yet of Tin Shingle, join today for instant access to our media research lists! See what others have to say about their membership.
Tin Shingle Members can log in for details and click on the PR Leads tab, but here’s the gist:
Seeking Galentine's Day Gifts for a big gift website.
QUALIFICATIONS:
Must be $100 and under.
Before you submit - be honest with yourself - is the product you are thinking of really good for a girl gifting her friend?
If selected, the final photo must be sent in a high resolution with an all white background.
Due Saturday.
INCLUDE IN THE PITCH
Name of Product.
Pretty picture of it (get it on a white background if you can, or it can have a cool backdrop). Keep this picture a low resolution so that it can email easily. Use the high resolution if you get chosen.
Link to specific offering.
Cost of product.
2-3 sentences about what it is and why it's a great Galentine's Day Gift. Keep this super short! Seriously - you are basically texting this to the media person.
Good luck and keep us posted!
People have been seeing the magazines in our Instagram feed and blog. The print. The physical books. And they’ve been asking: “What do you do with your old magazines? Can I have them?”
Answer: I KEEP them! Proud magazine collector over here. How you gonna collage with no pages? You can’t collage your Instagram! Unless you print it. And that’s work. Where you gonna find the easy amazing pictures? What inspiration are you going to hang on your walls? Subscribe! Get them to your door! At this point, they are a dollar. an. issue.
Will this help the big magazine industry stay afloat? Will this help journalists, artists and production people stay in their jobs? Maybe. Probably not because corporate thinking at magazines - excuse me - “brands” - are behaving erratically and cutting off their arms by stopping printing magazines. You know what? The indie magazines are going to do well (if they market right) while these corporate leaders at magazines like Glamour, Seventeen and Redbook get confused and cut their arms off.
Prepping for today’s TinShingle TuneUp: practicing what I’m about to preach during the Inspiration section: unplug from computer at least 1 Morning a week to do Morning Work. This means kid’s forms and #magazining. One of my 2019 Resolutions is to read more magazines and Media Monitor. This is how it’s getting done.
Tune in today with me at 3pm EST to hear action steps for Polishing Your Brand During the Winter. Now is the perfect time to lose the old and replace with new content, new designs, new bold moves. Sign up for in the TuneUps section, or here: tinshingle.com/tuneup
