So as some of you know, I started a new thing not long ago where I try and meet somebody in my Twitter world in the flesh every week. I have dubbed it Meet a Tweet a Week. Most of the time I have hit this aim and I have become all the better for it. I thought I might start sharing who some of these people are right here. So here goes….
This week I met Fiona Adler – Co-Founder of WOMOW – Word Of Mouth On the Web.
Fiona is nothing short of inspirational. This lady has utterly sqeezed a heap into the last 5 years including completing an MBA, founding and selling a very successful IT business to Sensis (Invizage), climbing Mt Everest and having not one but TWO children.
There is a mass of cliché analogies particularly with the mountain climbing, I could pull out here but put simply – I get a real buzz from people that take it beyond where everyone else stops. This was certainly a characteristic I needed to bare witness too this week.
Fiona now heads up WOMOW – Word Of Mouth On the Web and its a website that helps people find recommended businesses, and helps good businesses promote themselves with word-of-mouth.
So what is the value in such a concept? People no longer pay attention to advertising. Our eyes glaze over like a child doing a wee in a pool – Ha! That is a post for another day!
So I am back from Vietnam and I had such a blast. I was profoundly impacted by this country, particularly the day to day lives of its people. I was travelling around with me trusty iPhone and managed to create a website on the fly with Tumblr. You can view it here…..
Trade is bursting with enthusiasm and no shortage of people hoping to serve you in some way.
In the mayhem I managed to spend some time with a local shop owner in Hoi An and go through her marketing strategy. It was a thrill and I am now seriously thinking that we do a series of trips back to Vietnam to provide free marketing coaching to some of the local business people. So watch this space! Learning Vietnamese at University is finally about to mean something. It was so obvious from the moment I got oout into Ho Chi Minh streets why I was there. Such a great feeling!
I am presenting on this topic tonight, so I thought I might share this excellent example. Trendwatching.com asked people if they had to choose between their phone or their car – What would it be? Almost all chose the phone!
If you asked me, I would have to say I agree. If I lost my phone, I am sure I would cry. I am convinced, if I lost my car on the other hand, I would just call RACV and move on.
So why the relationship with our phones? I think it is because of our unique personalisation’s. My music library, my unique combination of apps, my conversations, maps etc. Some will say it is our connection with the world. Maybe I agree a little with that too.
I know people that express themsleves through their cars. As a result they only take them out on weekend drives, won’t park them at a train station or shopping centre. This defies the purpose they were built for.
It is a perfect little gadget that holds snapshots (be it literal) of our lives and has changed the way we live them.
