Erik Qualman's Blog, page 696

Amazon Prime for $79 is a "no-brainer" with free movies

Amazon Prime members received a nice note from Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos.

"We're excited to announced a new benefit of Amazon Prime: unlimited, commercial-free, instant streaming of 5,000 movies and TV shows."

Personally speaking, if you aren't already signed up for Amazon Prime you should do it today.  It costs $79 per year and you'll make this up in a month with all the free shipping you will receive.

Quick Tip:  You can share the Prime account with up to four members of the same household.  It's a rare "no brainer."  Simply go to your Amazon account and click "Manage Prime Account."

For years I've been touting it as too good to be true and then this week Amazon Prime somehow got even better.

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Amazon Announces Free Movie and TV Streaming

Amazon Prime members received a nice note from Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos.

"We're excited to announced a new benefit of Amazon Prime: unlimited, commercial-free, instant streaming of 5,000 movies and TV shows."

Personally speaking, if you aren't already signed up for Amazon Prime you should do it today.  It costs $79 per year and you'll make this up in a month with all the free shipping you will receive.

Quick Tip:  You can share the Prime account with up to four members of the same household.  It's a rare "no brainer."  Simply go to your Amazon account and click "Manage Prime Account."

For years I've been touting it as too good to be true and then this week Amazon Prime somehow got even better.

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Bieber Haircut via Twitter

Justin Bieber's new haircut will be a hot topic on Twitter (photo: TMZ)

Twitter, not Justin Bieber's basketball skills won him the MVP of the All-Star Celebrity Game in Los Angeles.  Bieber's baskeball skills resulted in eight points, two rebounds and four assists.  His team lost.

Bieber missed a shot that would have tied the score with just 30 seconds left on the clock.  Despite the miss, Bieber still won the MVP voting as his legion of Twitter followers voted via text to secure the title for him.

About his teammate, Rick Fox said, "He has the softest hair."  The former Laker reportedly patted Bieber on the head midway through the game.

This hair has since been chopped in an effort to raise money for charity.  "I just got sick of it," Bieber told TMZ Monday about his hair. "It was like in my eyes, and I just wanted it kind of out of my face. So, I just kinda wanted to change up."

For Bieber's latest video director John Chu took direction from Twitter on what the fans wanted.  This is smart since Bieber is a child of YouTube and Twitter.  It's important for Bieber to remain close to what got him here and it certainly wasn't his jump shot.

(Video: Watch this video on the post page)

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Bieber New Haircut and Bieber Basketball via Twitter

Justin Bieber's new haircut will be a hot topic on Twitter (photo: TMZ)

Twitter, not Justin Bieber's basketball skills won him the MVP of the All-Star Celebrity Game in Los Angeles.  Bieber's baskeball skills resulted in eight points, two rebounds and four assists.  His team lost.

Bieber missed a shot that would have tied the score with just 30 seconds left on the clock.  Despite the miss, Bieber still won the MVP voting as his legion of Twitter followers voted via text to secure the title for him.

About his teammate, Rick Fox said, "He has the softest hair."  The former Laker reportedly patted Bieber on the head midway through the game.

This hair has since been chopped in an effort to raise money for charity.  "I just got sick of it," Bieber told TMZ Monday about his hair. "It was like in my eyes, and I just wanted it kind of out of my face. So, I just kinda wanted to change up."

For Bieber's latest video director John Chu took direction from Twitter on what the fans wanted.  This is smart since Bieber is a child of YouTube and Twitter.  It's important for Bieber to remain close to what got him here and it certainly wasn't his jump shot.

(Video: Watch this video on the post page)

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GEO Beyond Foursquare and Gowalla

SCVNGR, Glympse, TaskAve and more; Mathew Latkiewicz, managing editor of Zengage,  looks into lesser known geo location tools for SmartBlog.  Latkiewicz points out that by  some estimates there are over 6,000 location-aware applications available for the iPhone; 900 for Android.

Messaging: Glympse – This app tracks you on a map where you are.  Similar to the Mauder's Map in Harry Potter. Web, iPhone, Android, Windows Phone 7



Productivity: Task Ave —  With Task Ave. you can assign to-do items to spots on a map.  Want to remember to pick up milk when you are out today?  Drop a reminder on your grocery store; when you get near the store, Task Ave pushes out a reminder: "Hey, you are near the place where you can get milk!" iPhone

Creativity: Intersect — Whether you are in New York or New Mexico, you can attach a story to your location on the map; as well as see the other stories which have been dropped there.  I expect to see a lot more of this sort of location aware narratives, stories and art in the near future.  Web,  iPhone

Adventure/Gaming: SCVNGR — Increases gamesmanship of checking in by giving you little 'challenges' wherever you are – take a picture of your food, for instance; or high five the barista.  You win points for these things; points lead to rewards.  iPhone, Android

Discovery: Abandoned As they write on the iTunes store: "Explore modern day ruins from empty mental asylums to shipwrecks under the Great Lakes. Discover the history and location of dead amusement parks, overgrown hospitals, forgotten hotels and creepy ghost towns." Yep,  it will show all the abandoned structures around you, along with photos and a community of other abandoned building enthusiasts.   iPhone

Full article by Mathew Latkiewicz can be found here on SmartBlog

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Egyptian Child Named "Facebook"

As reported by , a man in Egypt has named his newborn daughter "Facebook" in honor of the role the social  network played in the recent revolution.

Egyptian newspaper Al-Ahram repports that Gamal Ibrahim gave his daughter the name "to express his joy at the achievements made by the  youth."

People of Egypt credit Facebook, Twitter and other social media outlets for the successful revolution. One man was so happy that he named his daughter Facebook.

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"Facebook Me" is the new "Can I Get Your Phone Number"

Whether you are trying to get a new date after Valentine's Day or are a company trying to stand out; having a unique name will help you dramatically. Check out my thoughts in the above video. Oh, and Facebook Me or Tweet Me nicely.

By Erik Qualman

China Social Media: 6 Critical Sites

Twitter, Facebook, YouTube, Google and others are blocked in China. Roughly 30% of China (1.3 billion) is online vs. roughly 75% in the U.S. This equals 390 million Chinese online, more than the entire U.S. population (310 million).

6 Important Chinese Sites:

Weibo: The Twitter of China. China blocked Twitter and other micro-blog technology (Fanfou.com) in 2009 when riots started in the Western region of Xinjiang. The government could foresee Twitter enabling the revolutions we are seeing in the Middle East (by the way, Malcolm Gladwell, you were incorrect, the revolution was indeed tweeted). Weibo remains and is growing.  Interestingly enough, 140 characters maximum isn't as limiting in Chinese as it is in English. Each Chinese symbol expresses so much more than each English character. Owned by publicly traded Sina Weibo means "microblog."

RenRen: In 2006, Oak Pacific Interactive bought Xiaonei for around $4 million. It has since renamed it RenRen (in August 2009), which literally translates to "everyone." With an estimated 120 million users, it is trying to become the Facebook of China. RenRen users are primarily high school and college students with Café Internet access.

Kaixin001: Literally means "happy" in Chinese. This social network is cleaner and has an older, white-collar demographic than its rival RenRen. Think Facebook (Kaixin) vs. MySpace (RenRen) circa 2007. Kaixin even has a knock-off of FarmVille called Happy Farm. Interestingly enough, users can use the same log-in to access RenRen and Kaixin001.

Youku and Tudou: Think YouTube/Hulu marriage. Less stringent copyright enforcement enables as much as 70% to be professionally produced (often pirated foreign content). This differs from American YouTube, which is dominated by shorter, user-generated videos. While Americans watch less than 15 minutes of YouTube videos per day, the youth in China spend up to an hour on these sites.

Taobao: "An online Walmart." Popular among the youth of China. It is similar to eBay in that sellers offer used or new items either via an auction or fixed price. Most items are new merchandise sold at a fixed price. Started in 2003 by the Alibaba Group (partial Yahoo ownership), Taobao is closing in on 400 million registered users and has more than 800 million product listings. Large Fortune 500 companies have opened Taobao stores – finding it easier to sell their product here than on their company sites.

If you plan to do business in China, you will need to understand these social sites.  Get someone "in-market" to assist you in setting up strategy and executing. While these sites appear akin to Western counterparts, they certainly have their own nuances.   The culture differs dramatically too.

By Erik Qualman

Hat Tip: Fast Company:  "The Social(ist) Network" by April Rabkin | About.com: "Social Media in China, the same but different" by Thomas Crampton, Thomas Morffew (RenRen)

Group Moan?

Consider this. You buy a Groupon worth $60 for $30 for 'Hot Crab' Malay restaurant. Lets assume you go to the extent of grinding through their menu online to confirm that the 'Satays' and 'Kueh Teow Thon' are reasonably priced. But remember, Groupon parts with only a currency, and there is no guarantee on how much the currency is worth when you exercise your Groupon. The prices on the menu could be very different and you could end up getting lesser value.

Scan through the 'Yelps' and the 'Zagats' of the world. It is not unusual to come across stories of how close to impossible it is to get an appointment/reservation if you are Groupon laden.

A good example is this cleaning company with the capacity to clean 6 houses a day ending up selling 1008 Groupons! At that rate if I were the last guy to be considered, I would be serviced after 6 months! For all you know I needed a clean house this weekend. Make no mistake, small and medium businesses often find the response overwhelming.

The instances of treating Groupon customers differently is also on the rise. As Groupon negotiates hard with small businesses, margins are wafer thin. Very often establishments deny prime time/real estate to this 'cattle class'. Disgruntled, despondent Groupon holders who feel like second class citizens are being more emphatic on the social media.

To make matters worse, the promise on the site 'If you ever feel like Groupon let you down, give us a call and we'll return your purchase – simple as that.' Is nowhere close to being straight forward. Groupon does not refund – it credits, which means you are possibly forced to use the currency for something that you hadn't thought of purchasing even in your wildest dreams.

Don't get me wrong, consumers find real deals, which is why Groupon clocks $3.5 Million on an average every 3 days (That's slightly lesser than eBay's yearly revenue when it went in for an IPO!). But like most technological phenomena, this too has incidental flaws that needs to be corrected.

And now here is a story for Valentines day:

Sam and I were driving back home in his car, and Sam was visibly petrified. His expression was a combination of how you would look like when you are mugged and then when the mugger asks you stay fixed to avoid 'consequences' (When he says consequences, you are pretty sure he does not mean a treat at Taco Bell!). I could see Sam's sweaty hands slipping on the wheel, which is when I thought I should possibly converse to lighten the…well situation.

Me: "So what if you bought a Groupon to the upscale Vietnamese restaurant instead of the reservation you were asked to make at the therapeutic spa? You know..Valentine's day is not about where you are, its about who you are!" (Authoritatively, with an intense look, animatedly)

Believe me, I have no clue what I meant when I said that last line, but I really couldn't think of a smarter line.

Sam, was panicking about his wife's response to his Groupon vs. what she wanted. He had forgotten to grab the deal while it lasted and was left with this Vietnamese thing.

Hoping to see some possible signs of 'recovery' I continued:

Me: "Romantic couples massages are passé…but international cuisine is in vogue, trust ME!"

Ha! Trust me? Wish I said that with more conviction! Sam was silent, but his visage was speaking loud.

We drove into his garage and Anne walked out to greet.

After the usual (In this case short lived) niceties through which Sam managed to stay alive.

Anne: "Arun, so Sam and I have booked an appointment for a couples massage at this spa, we are really looking forward to it."

I smiled innocently and pretended to be elated for Anne and her 'soon-to-be- slaughtered' husband.

Sam: "Actually honey……"

I wished I wasn't sitting bang in between them, you know just so that possible projectiles don't become the reasons for me being physically challenged for life.

Sam stuttered: "You know I found this fantastic deal on Groupon, $40 worth of Vietnamese gourmet, only for $20." "Why don't we do that instead of the …you know…kinda overpriced massage? "

I wanted to give Sam a massage seeing the stress he was undergoing.

Anne: "Did you forget to buy the Groupon yesterday dear?" "Can I have a word with you inside"

Anne walked into the bedroom, following her like a child was Sam.

I was hoping that Sam came out of the irreconcilable 'Groupon' war alive.

The incidental implications of some otherwise incredibly innovative ideas sometimes cant be fathomed. Groupon is no exception.

As for Sam, he paid a full price for a therapeutic massage and ended the Valentine's day with a Vietnamese 'Groupon' dinner! Win Win?

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Written by Arun Varma

Follow me on Twitter: @varmaarun

Mail me: arunvarma100@gmail.com

Arun is a digital marketing professional who previously worked with Google in India and is currently an MBA student at HULT International Business School in Cambridge. He also is a business quiz enthusiast and has hosted and conceptualized several of them.

Video: How Social Media Saved Valentine's Day

We thought the above video "Social Media Saves Valentine's Day" would be a great reminder for all of us that Valentine's Day is right around the corner.

Top 7 Social Media Tips to be a Valentine's Day Hero:

LinkedIn Look up your significant other's work address and send them flowers.  Getting flowers at home is nice, but getting them in the office where co-workers can be jealous is even better.
GroupOn/Living Social: There will be incredible Valentine's Day deals coming from these players and others (Daily Candy, Travelzoo, etc.). Great for a last minute planner, and if you are reading this now you are last minute.
Yelp:  Make sure that the restaurant you selected is indeed romantic.  Check what others are saying about it and how they rate it.
TripAdvisor with Facebook Connect: Make sure you are logged into Facebook and the site will tell you others that have stayed at a hotel and that are also friends with you on Facebook. It's a good way to find out if the hotel is truly romantic.
Twitter:  Tweet the restaurant or hotel ahead of time and you can usually get special treatment when you show up.  Make sure you get the person's name and ask for them when you arrive. Also, if your significant other is on Twitter make sure to schedule a Tweet wishing them a Happy Valentine's Day!
Facebook: Make sure to post Happy Valentine's Day to that someone special.  And also look to see if anyone else has wished them a Happy Valentine's Day.
eHarmony: Good place to find a date.

It's a new world, but people on Valentine's Day have always wanted to be recognized and appreciated…social media makes this simple.  Enjoy the video and Happy Valentine's Day!

Amazon Kindle: Valentine's Gift

By Erik Qualman