Archive for reallyusefulgroup(tm)
Now that’s what I call a bookshop
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When I grow up I want to build a bookshop just like this one.
It’s the Livraria Lello in Portugal.
Opened in 1906, Livraria Lello is one of the most beautiful bookstores in Porto and the world. It is the flagship store for one of the most important Portuguese publishing houses. Co-owner Antero Braga is usually around, knows the Portuguese book market in and out, and will be glad to help you find exactly what you want even when you don’t have a clue about what that may be.
It’s like something from a Harry Potter book – magical. I could imagine getting lost in there forever.
More photographs of other wonderful bookshops here. While you’re there take a look at the stunning architecture of some amazing libraries.
Image owned by stuckinha [cc license]
Remember this pyramid?
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Take a quick look at this and you’ll be reminded of Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs.
This one is called ‘The Hierarcy of Disagreement’. I’m printing it out and sticking it close to my computer monitor.
What level do you reckon our politicians operate at? Would the country be in a better position if they moved up the hierarchy and started listening and then doing rather than talking all the time?
[Via Garry Tan]
‘Free’ by Chris Anderson for Free – Save €25
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The new book by Chris Anderson, "Free: The Future of a Radical Price", is now available to download for Free in the Sony eBook store for a limited time.
I’m about 1/3 through the book myself and it’s a really interesting read. Anderson argues that the digital age is pushing the price of all things "made of ideas" downwards.
The costs associated with the growing online economy are trending toward zero at an incredible rate. Never in the course of human history have the primary inputs to an industrial economy fallen in price so fast and for so long. Just think that in 1961, a single transistor cost $10; now Intel’s latest chip has two billion transistors and sells for $300 (or 0.000015 cents per transistor–effectively too cheap to price). The traditional economics of scarcity just don’t apply to bandwidth, processing power, and hard-drive storage.
To download the book you will need to sign up for an account at the Sony eBook Store (free), and download the eBook software (free). The book can be read on screen with the software or you can download it to your eBook reader.
Don’t delay though – it is only free for a limited time. If you bought the dead tree version in Eason it would cost you €25.
PR – There has to be a better way
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I’ve thought about this a number of times in the past but never put my thoughts down about it. Reading Twitter this morning put it in my mind again.
Darragh Doyle Tweeted a link to a list of PR companies with no online presence other than a website. It IS shocking that so many of them aren’t making their presence felt online. Seems like a missed opportunity. Online is THE place for word of mouth marketing – the most powerful way to get your message across.
The problem with any PR agency in Ireland engaging consumers online is that it’s an absolute minefield. Tweet the wrong way, blog the wrong way, do a Facebook campaign the wrong way, email people the wrong way – and you’re toast.
As a blogger, I would love to be on the radar of PR companies who are representing Irish companies that have a good story to tell. I’d like to tell others about it if I can. I might blog or Tweet about it. I don’t have a lot of influence, but there’s a lot like me out there and the combined power of that network is huge.
So, how do I get to know about the stuff PR companies are doing? I hear about it from others who, quite a lot of time, are acting as filters. They get a lot of stuff passing through their email inbox and make a judgement on whether or not it is, in their view, worthwhile. Maybe there is some really cool stuff they could share, but choose not to because of the way a PR agency delivered the message. And this is a pity, because it’s the business or product that ultimately suffers.
Another way I get information is from Irish Press Releases. Although I’ve used the service for a couple of press releases in the past, it is far too PR like to make it interesting for the average blogger to take any notice.
So, how DOES a PR company (or indeed any business) get people talking about their product, service or event online? Right now in Ireland, as far as I can make out, you need to have the ear of someone already embedded in the online world who has a reasonably large following. One Tweet or blog post from that person ripples outward and is received by an already engaged group of followers/readers.
Their recommendation is sometimes enough to kick start the word of mouth effect. One big assumption is being made here though – that the product, service, event is noteworthy. Irish Press Releases suffers from the “Company XYZ wins €x million contract to supply ZYX company” effect. Puff pieces which detract from some genuinely good stories on the site.
AN IDEA THEN
What if there was a website where any business or PR company could get their message out to the online audience.
100% Irish focused
No filters from social media experts
No filters from main stream media
No jargon or PR bullshit
Genuine “we’d like to do business with you and here’s why” type stories
No pushy sales talk
Less me, me, me – more you, you, you
I guess something like Digg without the spam and Press Releases Ireland without the PR speak. I’m thinking like a simple form which allows a business or PR company acting for a business to really work on their message and make it relevant. i.e. REALLY understand their target customer. Everyone should know that “everyone is our customer” is a bad strategy. The message needs to be short – people don’t have the time to read a wordy press release. A pre-requisite would be to provide links to Twitter, Facebook and a blog. This would show the person reading it that they really want to talk with you rather than at you.
We keep trying to tell PR companies how to engage with the online community. Maybe providing an easier, more relevant solution will help them grow their clients business and do so without a flame war erupting if they make an honest mistake.
Image owned by aslakr [cc license]
Crowdsourcing an iPhone App – 101 Things to do in Ireland
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Kieran Murphy wrote a very good article about a gutter piece of journalism that appeared in the Sunday Times recently. I didn’t read the piece in the paper myself, but from the description of it given by Kieran I’d have had the very same reaction.
We see it quite a lot online too. You know the kind of thing I’m talking about – the blog post about a company that screwed up and it "goes viral". Had a bad meal in a restaurant – oooh – I’m going to blog that. The Ryanair "lunatic blogger" debacle is probably the best example I can think of that typifies this. Everyone knows what Ryanair are and they got priceless publicity out of it. That prompted me to set up the Opposite of Ryanair – to highlight companies that are providing good product and service. It didn’t get very far as you can see. My hopes for a deluge of good stories coming in didn’t materialise, but I thought it was a good way to turn the Ryanair story around on them.
I’m not naive though. I know it’s human nature to (generally) tell more people about a bad experience/story than a good one. There is just so much of it online that its no wonder the label "lunatic blogger" is applied with such ease by the likes of Ryanair.
Anyway, brain working since I read Kieran’s article and thought I might try something again.
The idea is to create a "101 things to do in Ireland " iPhone Application with crowdsourced content on what Irish people recommend to do in their locality.
If someone planning a trip to your home town / city in Ireland were to ask you “What’s good to do locally?”, what would you say?
101app is a project which asks you to suggest the best things to do in your locality.
What sites should they make sure to see?
Where is good to eat/drink?
When is the best time to visit?
What is the “hidden secret” only the locals know?
101app asks you to put on a tourist guide hat and point out the best things to do in Ireland. The best of the best will then be compiled and published as an iPhone Application. The application will be available to download by millions of iPhone and iPod touch owners worldwide, helping the visitor make the most of their time in Ireland.
I’ve set up a Twitter account and I’m working on the website at the moment.
I have zero skills in creating an iPhone Application but I’ll find a way of making it happen (secretly I’m hoping the power of Twitter and other bloggers will help find the way).
So, that’s the idea. This is ground floor – let’s see where this ends up.
