We all know about the iPad – the poorly named tablet from Apple that is basically a large iPod touch with a bit of Mac power added in. But, just today, Samsung unveiled their new tablet – the Galaxy – which they are hoping will not only be a strong competitor, but the iPad Killer.

Haven’t heard about the new Galaxy? Check out the launch video:

I think if everything they promise actually works, and you can get it with Verizon service, there is a very good chance that the nickname “iPad killer” will be true!

So what do you think? Is the iPad untouchable or will the Samsung Galaxy have a chance of taking over some of the market share? Which would you prefer

Time – that illusive thing we all wish we had more of. Unfortunately, we can’t make more time, but what we can do is make better use of the time that we do have. So, next time you have 10 minutes to dedicate to something that can help you to build your business, try one of these:

• Send a personal thank you note to a recent client
• Write some notes on a new blog post
• Check on the conversations on twitter
• Ask a question on your business facebook page
• Review the copy on your site, make sure it’s up to date
• Organize your office so you can find things easier
• Share a link to an interesting article with your followers
• Make sure all important emails have been responded to

What else can you do in 10 minutes to change the flow of your day and improve your business?

We’ve talked a lot about brands, how they choose to promote their products, and how to avoid brand nightmares. We also covered the (partial) re-branding of GM – or at least what we think they should have done!

Most companies will be lucky, they will never have to go through the process of a complete re-brand. But, there are a few who will have to…and then there are those that choose to. Of course, re-branding an entire company is not easy, and should be given the time and respect it deserves.

Which is exactly what Gro Baby did when they re-branded everything and became GroVia. Their story is explained in detail on the Fox Small Business site, but the most important details of how they made a successful re-branding happen are below:

• In the earliest stages, brainstorm. Ask yourself these simple questions: Who are we? Who are our customers? Where is our company going?
• Be absolutely certain you are working closely with an intellectual property attorney while choosing names. You are going to want to choose a name that can be registered.
• Enlist the help of a PR firm starting in those early stages, and start planning how you are going to launch your rebrand to the public.
• Know your competition. Does your rebrand set your product apart from others on the market? This is your chance to update your image; don’t try to fit in with your competition–take a risk!
• Budget accordingly. Rebrands are expensive, no matter the size of your company. Be certain you have allotted enough for a strategic public relations campaign (from press releases to interviews and events) and aggressive marketing following the launch of your brand.

Have you ever had to re-brand your business? What other suggestions do you have?

Reading Brian Stelter’s story in the New York Times was a little unbelievable, but completely inspiring. And made me wonder what we could do through twitter – or how his story could help other companies.

The basics: Brian Stelter started a twitter account specifically to help him lose weight. Every day, he would tweet what he was eating, when he was working out, and how much he had lost. It was a chance for him to be held accountable and have a cheering section. He said he thought about trying weight watchers and other programs, but none would keep him motivated…so he turned to twitter. The post talks about the success he has seen, and the results he is experiencing. One of the most impressive results were the number of people who supported him, sent him messages and even called him. He in turn became motivation for others, who joined in his weight loss goals!

So how can a business learn from what Brian did? What are the take-aways from his twitter plight to lose weight?

1. Have something compelling to talk about. Brian found a group to follow him because he was putting himself out there and giving people a real chance to connect with him. Businesses need to be open in the same way. Provide answers, help and be available for your consumers and finding a follower base will be easy.
2. Create a community. The followers liked Brian’s account because he created a community around his weight loss. Others could comment, share their stories and be involved. Giving people a place to share a common bond will create a stronger network.
3. He stuck with it. Just like his weight loss, he also stuck with twitter. He didn’t ignore it, or worse, do it for a month and then give up. His accounts reliability meant that others were willing to follow and be a part of it. People don’t want to follow accounts that will disappear overnight.
4. He talked about things everyone understands. If you try to be too technical, or share content that only a small percentage of people will care about it is hard to gain followers. People want to be able to respond and understand – so give them content that is on their level. Stay away from the technical jargon.

Many companies try to over complicate what it takes to find success through social media. Brian’s account and results show that there are better ways. Open lines of communication, sharing real stories and being honest to your followers will deliver the best results.

What else can we learn from his twitter account and how he managed it?

Facebook: It started as a social experiment by a college kid and his friends (we’ve all heard the Zuckerberg story, and soon, we can watch it!). Now, it is powerful, huge and definitely here to stay for at least the next 5 years (really, who knows what’s going to happen after that?). But, Facebook is no longer just about college kids and chatting with friends. Facebook has become the new it place for businesses to build branding and reach out to their customer base. By the thousands, companies are setting up groups and fan (like) pages in order to have one more way to send messages and reach out to customers, and potential customers.

While there are many just taking the leap and going head first, many are unsure of what to do. It is intimidating to take the leap into something new, especially when there are so many businesses already doing it – many very well, and many, not so much. The ones that do it well have found great results – even without having to create completely custom FBML coding. A great example of page with tons of fans, tons of comments and a simple page? Buffalo Wild Wings! With over 2 million fans, they are really doing something right. They run contests, ask questions, people share pictures and have created a really awesome community. While I can’t tell you if it has improved their business fiscally, I have a hard time believing it hasn’t had at least some effect!  But not everyone can (or will) do this.

It is because of the fear of failure, and the desire to succeed that we are often asked the question: How do I know if I need a Facebook Business page?

So, we have put together a list of 10 reasons your business might want a facebook business page. These reasons are fairly basic, as need to be delved into much further before actually making the leap, but they give you an idea.

1. You sell a consumer product.
2. You sell a service that is tangible.
3. You create something people like to share.
4. You are in an industry that people get involved.
5. You have a business that people can gather around.
6. You want to create a feeling of community around a subject.
7. You want to open lines of communication.
8. You want a place to share with your audience.
9. You want to give away prizes and specials.
10. You understand that people want access to you.

As I mentioned, not all businesses are right for facebook pages. It takes the desire and effort combined in order to make it work. You must dedicate time and energy to build it, just as you would any other marketing tool!

Do you have a facebook business page? Does it work for you?

Yesterday, I got a real, honest-to-god printed invitation to an event next month. It is for a new location of a business, who is very active in the twitter and facebook community and has a solid following. It was well done, very elegantly put together and seemed like they put a lot of effort into it – but what surprised me was the fact that it was mailed to me.

In the last few months, I have received over a dozen beautifully designed event invitations, sent through twitter, facebook, evite and even my rss feed. All of the invitiations wanted email responses, or a virtual reply. This was the first time I had received an event invitation (other than for a family event or wedding) that was not sent via the web. What was even more strange was that they wanted a virtual reply to the mailed invite…I couldn’t just click yes, or reply, I had to actually create a new email, make sure to type the email address correctly and send out a reply. I guess I am just a little surprised that with the ease of use of a facebook event, twitter invite, evite or even creating a blog invitation, a company would spend the money (and waste the paper) to create and mail this invitation – when they already have twitter and facebook at their fingertips.

Do you still use the mail for invitations or have you moved it all to the web?

At the end of July, Twitter announced that they would be rolling out a new tool – a suggestion engine that suggests people you’d like, based on your followers and who they dollow. It has been slowly added into most of the twitter users accounts and is available on the sidebar of your twitter page.

When you login, you will see two names and pictures now under your name and picture. These are just two of the people twitter suggests – you can click view all to see more, or just refresh the page (it cycles through).

This is much like the “recommended friends” on Facebook – but I think it is going to be much more successful. Facebook (at least for most of us) is more personal than twitter. We tend to only add people that we really know, not just friends of friends. Whereas on twitter, we follow those people regularly, which is why this tool will do so well!

So far, I have added about 15 people that it suggested and noticed an increase in the number of people following me per day, which I can only equate to more users starting to use this tool – and think that this trend will continue as more users figure it out.

Have you tried out the new “who to follow” tool on twitter? What do you think?

50 years ago, if a new product was introduced into the market, it was advertised through the newspapers, magazines, word of mouth and radio ads. Ad directors needed to be creative – really think through exactly what they were putting to paper, since it wasn’t cheap to run ads. They included all the details they could – people actually read the ads, curious to see the new specs and why they should be interested. These ads sold cars! I remember talking with my grandparents about old advertising – and how much they loved it. It was true – the companies put everything on the line, and their eggs in one basket. They needed these ads to work or they weren’t selling their products. They also remember the door to door salesmen – everything from the vacuum cleaner to steak knives, brought and demonstrated in home to show the public just how amazing the products really were. It was a different time for ads – and branding.

Now, we have TV, the web, social media and advertising has changed dramatically. While print advertising still exists, it has become less and less prevalent as traditional media slows. It is still necessary for branding, but print alone will not market your product. You now need to add in television, radio, social media and new technology. Of course, this is a double edged sword. While it does allow companies to diversify their marketing and  increase the touches to the customer, it can also allow for more branding problems and the need for a better strategy. You can’t just jump on twitter and be a success, just like facebook and blogging won’t save a bad business. True branding still requires the same thing it did 50 years ago – a good message, quality products and a strong brand.

Which brings me to today’s question: If you were to release a new product into the market today, how would you do it? Which tools would be the most important? The least important?

Share your thoughts!

I love twitter with a passion – it is a great tool that a business can use to listen, share, converse and build a stronger brand. It is also a lot of fun and it allows you to meet tons of interesting people. But, twitter has its share of jerks, and if you don’t want to be considered one of them, I’d recommend following these 10 simple rules:

1. Don’t argue on twitter. It’s okay to share your opinions, but if the tweets start getting out of hand – stop. Move to email, phone or dm. The world doesn’t need to see the battle.
2. Don’t send auto dm’s. They are obnoxious and pointless. Send a personal dm if you want to say hello privately.
3. Don’t just spit out link after link. It’s boring, and obnoxious.
4. Don’t use every other tweet to sell me stuff. No one cares about your business as much as you do. Have conversations!
5. Stop sharing other peoples quotes. One or two a month are fine, but when every other tweet is something someone else said it looks like you have no original ideas.
6. Don’t send the same tweet to 50 different people. We can see your stream, it isn’t conversation if you’re just sending the same tweet.
7. Don’t forget to personalize your bio, page and picture. We want to know who you are, not what the stock twitter bird looks like.
8. Don’t complain about twitter on twitter. Sometimes it goes down, get over it. It’s a free service. Stop complaining.
9. Don’t tweet your every waking thought. There is such thing as too much tweeting, and too personal to share.
10. Don’t think you know everything. There is always time to learn something new about twitter!

What other tips can you share to help people avoid being a twitter jerk?

Last week’s article from the Washington Post on the new 6 bladed razor from ShaveMate was one of the funniest (and most ridiculous) articles I have ever read. Luckily, it wasn’t the Washington Posts fault. The humor and laughter can all be blamed on those who were interviewed – The Tomassetti brothers who created this razor and Damon Jones of Gillette. Let me share with you some of the best pieces of the article…

WP asked why they felt the razor needed 6 blades (the most blades on any available razor), and the Tomasetti’s responded,

“It’s not just the blades,” says Lou Tomassetti who, along with his brother Peter, invented the Titan. “It’s really everything you need in one.” The Titan, he explains, also comes with shaving cream in the handle and a moisture strip.

“If you go out and try to buy equipment for shaving today,” Lou continues, “it’s very complicated.”

“You might have to buy batteries,” Peter adds.

“ShaveMate is really a lifestyle change” from all that, Lou says. “It’s a shaving revolution.”

Really guys? Shaving supplies are so complicated that you had to put everything into one? I’ve seen my husband shave…it really doesn’t look all that tough. So, maybe it’s just these guys thinking shaving is difficult. Certainly the Gillette gentlemen, the ones who first started the trend of adding more blades did it for a better reason? Nope…apparently to them, it is very technical science!

“It’s a scientific approach called ‘progressive geometry,’ ” says Damon Jones of Gillette. “It’s scientifically proven that multiple blades” will cut closer than just one. Shaving with a three-bladed razor is equivalent to shaving three times with a single blade — but, Jones says, even smoother.

“We use technology that’s used in the semiconductor industry and the automotive industry to get the spacing just right between blades,” he says. (Note: Maybe this is why the Mach ads featured cars?) “We’re talking microns,” Jones says. “It’s a very deep technical science.”

Okay, now you’ve got to be screwing with me…you use the automotive industry to get the spacing right?! Now I am really laughing.

Chime in guys – what do you think? Do you really need a 6 bladed razor?