Zuni blog

I had such an exciting time last week presenting to an audience of 100+ on how to make sure your personal & professional social networking doesn’t collide. I was chuffed at how interactive & engaged my audience were – there was genuine concern to make sure people and their adventures are kept safe. It made me think about all those online pressures I didn’t have to deal with in my youth. Which got me thinking as I lectured last week and reminded myself of the ol’ Encyclopaedia Britannica (EB), and the fact that I will never get rid of the gold-edged edition I have at home so I can show my children the way I did a school assignment “back in my day”. Did you know that the first EB edition took 3 years to complete?

Because it made me laugh

I think laughing is very underrated. So many people have a more miserable day because they don’t laugh. This collection ought to sort you out then. How about a picnic table that brings the outdoors to you, or a crazy dude’s energy about a double rainbow exceeding 33m views, or a romantic lip-dub wedding proposal that’s smashing it online? Need more? What about turning your cool vintage instagram photos into cushions?

Drink a Guinness & Reveal

We tend to see a lot of useless QR Codes, my favourite has to be one that links to a website only. It’s nice to see Guinness doing something quite cute with a QR Code that’s revealed when you pour yourself a pint of the black stuff. The code tweets about your pint, updates your Facebook status, checks you in via Foursquare, downloads coupons and promotions, invites your friends to join you, and even launches exclusive Guinness content. I only just found out though that it’s the white background that makes a QR code work, so perhaps the pale ales can still activate what’s great about switching to black.

Great SEO/SEM stats

Love stats. Here are some very useful ones collated recently from numerous sources:

• 70% of the links search users click on are organic
• 70-80% of users ignore the paid ads, focusing on the organic results
• 75% of users never scroll past the first page of search results
• Search and e-mail are the top two internet activities
• Companies that blog have 434% more indexed pages
• SEO leads have a 14.6% close rate, while outbound leads (such as direct mail or print advertising) have a 1.7% close rate

Facebook announces App Store

It was only a matter of time, and that time is now, where Facebook announced the opening of their very own app store. If you already have an app, make sure that you’re prepared for the launch. Apps that receive poor user ratings or don’t meet the quality guidelines won’t be listed. If it’s social, it ought to be where 1 billion people hang out together.

Social Dieting

As we gear towards a world of skinny people and more body issues than we can poke Photoshop at, I love than innovation that I believe could really change our behaviour with food. Whilst hugely entertaining as well as practical, this golden social sensory alarm is connected to your fridge. It’s a Fridge Lock – but not just like any lock, it sends an alert to your social stream if it’s opened up late at night. This self-black-mail would definitely work on me – mostly because the chips are in the cupboard, not the fridge.

Need to talk Mobile?

Sometimes it’s tough to find someone to talk mobile with – someone who knows what’s going on, someone to chew the fat with to understand it. Well here’s your opportunity. If you’re in Sydney, get down to Big Beers (small screen) this Friday, 1st June from 5.30pm at The Clock Hotel. The guest speaker is Will Morey, an ICT consultant who can give you the low down on the trends happening in the UK and the opportunities to expand your business. Tell Jen Wilson I sent you and you’ll be looked after. Not by Jen, but by the sponsors buying the drinks :)

JuiceDefender for Android-heads

I’ve found an app that I shouldn’t live without, but with an iPhone I unfortunately do. For all you Android believers out there, you may find yourself needing the JuiceDefender app. JuiceDefender gives you extra hours of precious battery life right when you need it – it runs by itself, is fully customisable and is free. We all love free. By all reports it actually delivers on the promise and is loved by its owners. An alternative though is a phone case that actually charges your phone, complete with built in battery.

Looking for a new job?

I thought that would get your attention. I came across a great new tool for Salary Surveys. I used to use an industry based one, but what’s the point when it only collects information from their members – leaving a huge hole for discrepancy? Firebrand is open to all industries, to all people. The survey information is put there by individuals, not inflated through recruiters. If that’s not a great enough match, what about an app that matches you to jobs based on your professional capability PLUS your personality? Ahuh, the Myers-Briggs personality type is also part of this. How cool is that!