As we start to move from friends, follows and connections to adding people to our Google+ circles, I remembered the old elementary school song used to immunize school children from the feared cooties.
Circle, circle.
Dot, dot.
Now you got your cootie shot.
How will you use your circles to create a new [better?] online social experience for yourself? Will it save you from the feared cooties? Help you with easy-to-use privacy settings?
I'm slowly starting to play around on Google+, but going to give Google some slack before forming an opinion on whether I hate it or love it. They've still got a lot of kinks and features to roll out and improve.
Until then, I leave you with this:
Ever wish that The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants applied to your fashionable friend's closet? Well, new flash sales site decktOut is kind of like that, except with a focus on purses. Pre-owned authentic luxury handbags to be exact.
So why would you want to buy and sell used purses online?!
Because decktOut founder, Liza Adams is all about making your life easier. After experiencing the annoyances of trying to sell some of her designer purses on eBay (getting only $100 for what should've gone for $800), she started to envision decktOut. She especially hated the hassle and research involved in trying to find authentic purses online. That's why she built her business model around honesty and customer service.
I had a chance to chat with Liza on the phone recently and learn more about decktOut. Here's the scoop:
Liza originally launched decktOut in October of 2010 and is relaunching version two of the site on March 15th. After living with her best friend last year, she continued to trade clothes with her even when they weren't living together. Knowing that lots of ladies could relate to her penchant to change up her look and long for something in a friend's closet, Liza decided to focus decktOut on designer purses because, after all, they are one size fits all. (Sure, that's debatable based on what you lug around everyday, but the logic still holds).
I asked Liza, what's in a name? Why "decktout?" She explained,
"Realistically, every girl would love to be decktout in Louis Vuitton designer clothes or at least accessorized in designer [pieces]. I wanted it to be something for any girl out there to own something that makes her feel good."
So who are these girls? decktOut is focused on women ages 25 - 55.
"It could be the girl who is just starting out professionally but isn't making enough money yet. Maybe she has only one professional looking bad. Or it could be older ladies who are crazy about bags and like to switch around bags every few weeks. They're the ones who have more money to play around with and are looking for a good deal to keep up with their habit. [Both audiences] are crazy about fashion and designer goods and appreciate good customer service," continued Liza.
How does the website work?
"The new version of decktOut is like Gilt Groupe for pre-owned [luxury purses]," revealed Liza. "Previously, the site solved the original problem of the hassle of selling on eBay or consignment stores, but we've expanded by eliminating a point system. Now its just cash and we'll have flash sales for the bags. If you're selling a bag of your own we'll only take 20% cut of what you make. You'll be able to keep in your decktOut account and buy something [to replace it]. Shipping is free both ways; we want to make it very very easy for users. We're still bag focused, but we'd love to see expansion to other items at some point."
How are you utilizing social media?
"Social media has been a place for true feedback," said Liza. "When you put a version out there and get people you don't know to give you feedback, that's what really helps. Version one of decktOut was strictly a swap site, but I soon learned through customer feedback the system should be more. [For instance,] I kept getting requests for picture of the inside of the bags, so I added that."
Liza added, "The new product pages will have Twitter and Facebook links so users can share the deals. I'd also like to see the Stay Fabulous blog go [more in-depth] into the history of the bags we have coming in and ask users for feedback of what designers they like. I'd use this for leverage and try to get more bags by a specific designer for the community."
Okay, that may not be true for all start ups, but it is for decktOut. In this case, it's founder Liza Adams. Liza went to art school at the New England Institue of Art and has done design work since. She loved it for a few years until it wasn't fulfilling enough. She had always thought of starting her own business and had a lot of ideas, but for her it was about mustering up the courage to go after one and not be afraid of failing. She explained,
"A lot of people have a fear of failing. They think 'what if I do this and fall flat on my face?' Sure it's a ton of work but you have to never give up and if you don't every try to do it, it won't work."
She is currently an interactive designer in Boston, but plans to devote herself to decktOut in the near future.
A little depth behind the fashionista:
"A cappuccino from Starbucks. I've always been a die hard Starbucks person and was really inspired by Howard Shultz's book. I actually wrote him a letter telling him how he inspired me as an entrepreneur and then he actually called me! He left me a voicemail a month after I sent the the letter. It was a three minute voicemail telling me to follow my dreams and that he would love to get to meet me some day!"
It's fun, I promise.
After all, who doesn't want to look like a cute nerdy green robot? Here's how it works:
Yours truly androidified:
Kudos to @ZachCole for his PicPlz post about Androidify!
Why?
Why is the most common question continuously pestered by young children and adults alike. Even after we've graduated from questions like "why is the sky blue?," we continue to be curious knowledge-seeking beings. After all, we're told there is so no such thing as a stupid question.
When I was growing up asking the simple whys, my parents turned my inquisitive mind to The Big Book of Tell Me Why. Honestly, it was just a children's encyclopedia of commonly asked questions. But every time I turned the pages of the book to find what I thought was a definitive answer to my burning question, I felt satisfied. Of course that was the answer. No more discussion.
But now I'm prone to follow-up questions which quickly lead from one topic to another. And that's where my love for the plethora of information on the web (googling everything, seriously) plus relying on social recommendations comes in. So next up on the radar to answer my whys is Quora, the Q&A site with a lot of buzz this week.
So for a quick breakdown: today's Quora is yesterday's encyclopedia + Big Book of Tell Me Why + Google search + social search all neatly packaged in one. Or at least that's what they want it to be.
Will you be using Quora? Tell me why. Have you found any valuable insights and discussions there that you couldn't find elsewhere? Personally, I've browsed, but kept quite for now. Though, I am looking forward to Quora answers being indexed by Google so they come up in results soon.
I guess curiosity didn't kill the cat after all.
That's not to say I stopped thinking. That would just be sad. I suddenly stopped sharing "doses" of my thoughts here and instead shared only 140 character or less snippets here.
But on to the good news: I'm back! [Cue: Backstreet Boy's Everybody (Backstreet's Back)].
Lots has changed since I was here last. For starters, I'm full-time employed now! After a long year of applying for internships and jobs, networking, living the college life, graduating, moving home, missing the college life, interning, interviewing, buying an adult wardrobe, visiting college friends, getting a full time job with a real cubicle, and going on my first business trip, 2010 is over. Phew.
So onwards and upwards, here's what you can expect of me both personally and professionally in 2011 (in no particular order):
Online/Digital:
Offline:
I'm sure there are a ton of other goals I have floating around my head, but this is what I've got for now. And with that, I leave you with Leonardo da Vinci's popular quote:
"It had long since come to my attention that people of accomplishment rarely sat back and let things happen to them. They went out and happened to things."
Love to brag about the deal you got on your latest purse purchase? Wish you were buying what's in season now, rather than what's so last year? Then welcome ToVieFor into your life.
Dubbed "entertainment shopping," ToVieFor mixes the lure of high-end sales sites like Gilt Groupe with a chance of luck and risk. To play, users must buy site credits and use them as entry fees into purchases. As more people enter into a sale, the price of the product begins to decrease; players can lock in the sale at any time.
Sound confusing? ToVieFor's How it Works video explains it all step-by-step:
During a phone interview with co-founders Susanne Greenfield and Melanie Moore, we talked about fashion 2.0 and the movement toward entertainment shopping.
Susanne defines fashion 2.0:
"Fashion 2.0 goes beyond straight e-commerce. It's not just about putting an item in your cart online. It's a form of mixing internet elements to create innovative integration."
Melanie defines entertainment shopping:
"Entertainment shopping is the new trend. Shopping is no longer just about going to the store, getting pampered and spending a ton of money. People like competitive shopping like sample sales. This is where the market is going."
Susanne added, "It's kind of like a Groupon element. A couple of people getting a real great deal."
The duo described the ideal ToVieFor user as "an aspirational and contemporary woman who loves fashion and often makes purchasing decisions emotionally rather than rationally." Capitalizing on the emotions, ToVieFor is initially focusing on the game mechanics to ensure it is actually a fun experience for users. Susanne and Melanie foresee plans for growth by expanding the merchandise into other verticals including: men's, children's, footwear and apparel.
To bring a social community element to the company, the two plan on experimenting with asking users what products they want to see on the site. Susanne elaborated,
"We want to engage our users. Instead of us telling them what they want, we want them to tell us what they want."
To foster the community from the start, ToVieFor has a presence on Twitter and Facebook. They also have a dedicated portion of their site to highlight sale winners.
So who are the savvy fashionista brains behind ToVieFor?
Susanne Greenfield and Melanie Moore met as college students while interning at Merrill Lynch in New York City. They instantly became friends and kept in touch for the years following. Melanie explained:
"After all, in the male-dominated environment there weren't that many cute perky blondes to befriend!"
Early on in their friendship, the pair discussed the desire to break free from working for the man. Then a little over a year ago, Susanne and Melanie sat down one evening and created the beginnings of what is now ToVieFor. They drew their inspiration from a hybrid mix and analysis of existing sites like Swoopo and Gilt Groupe. As frustrated online shoppers, the duo created their own solution: "We thought: Why isn’t there a way for us to buy the new Marc Jacobs Stam Quilted Satchel for half the price? Thus, the idea for ToVieFor was born…."
A peek into the pair's personalities:
Favorite blog or website:
Susanne: "BothSidesofTheTable.com. It's written by a venture capitalist who gives great information for the first time entrepreneur."
Melanie: "Truthfully, I visit New York Magazine most often. It has a great layout and features with bursts of news and fashion. I use the restaurant search feature too. It has all the things I value."
Favorite fashion designer:
Susanne: "Christian Louboutin. I probably own way too many shoes!"
Melanie: "I like something elegant like Alexander Wang's fresh designs or Christian Siriano's really innovative looks."
First designer purse purchase:
Susanne: "My first one was a baby Dooney & Bourke little shoulder bag. It was the most expensive purchase I had ever made at the time!"
Melanie: "Mine was a Kate Spade in junior high school. At the time I thought it was the coolest thing ever!"
Most cherished accessory:
Susanne: "My Birkin. I'd give my life and a limb to keep it!"
Melanie: "Classic diamond stud earrings that I can use in a lot of different contexts."
Starbucks order:
Susanne: "Skinny cappuccino."
Melanie: "Black with two sugars. I just need an IV of caffeine!"
Superpower choice:
Melanie: "To be able to stop time!"
Susanne: "No! That's mine! I think it would be a blessing and a curse."
Melanie: "I would never get anything done though because I would always be stopping time to do something else."
Get in on fashion's new secret soon and be envied by your friends. Or even just the onlookers who take a double take at you on the street.
Personally, I have yet to make a purchase. Will you take a fashion risk and enter into a ToVieFor sale?
In the meantime, read up on The Envied blog for fashion tips, tricks and news.
Brands and marketers alike want consumers to read, view, watch, tweet and like their content. While vying for a piece of the consumer's attention and subsequent action, they have neglected the key ingredient: content.
According to recent research conducted by Forrester, while social networking is on the rise, content creation has stayed merely steady and slightly stagnant.
Forrester breaks down social network users in to the following categories:
While social media is popular, many users are joining the bottom ranks to read and find news important to them while jumping on the bandwagon of social networking. In the mean time, social media content creators (defined by Forrester as those who blog, upload videos and write articles) decreased slightly from 24 percent of the U.S. online population in 2009 to 23 percent this year.
So what should brands and marketers do? Aside from creating more valuable content for consumers, they should encourage the joiners and collectors to become critics and conversationalists. Ask consumers to write reviews and create user generated content. Get them involved, but give them a legitimate reason to do so. Once social media users get more comfortable in the space, they will organically start to curate their own content.
Have any suggestions to help increase content creation? Leave a comment.
Read more about the Forrester study on Mashable and TechCrunch.
Photo via WeHeartIt
This week I'm at Optimization Summit learning mass amounts of insights about social media strategy, tactics, best practices and more.
Quick snapshot of the topics discussed:
Day 1 Word Cloud:
*Update: Day 2 Word Cloud:
Follow the #optsum hashtag on Twitter to follow along.
Look for an in-depth post in the next few days!
Hey -- Mariam here!
Rundown of the deets:
*recent graduate of Boston University's College of Communication
*call Texas home and like to use the word ya'll
*love chocolate, shoes & good design
If you feel so inclined, you can find me on Twitter, Linked In and SlideShare or check out an aggregation of most of my digital ink here. Don't forget to subscribe to blog updates!
You can find other articles and posts I find interesting on my
Shared Google Reader.
Props for the header image go to Tsevis.
