Kyle Thomas

The Website of Kyle Thomas (KyleWith)

KyleWith: Michelle MacDonald on Social Media and Podcasting

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Welcome back to the KyleWith Podcast. It has been a long time since we had a new episode of the show, almost 3 years in fact.

Now recorded out of my awesome mobile recording camper, the show will feature different creative and entrepreneurial people from around Yellowknife, the North and the world.

However, on a reoccurring basis we will have a regular guest on the show. Michelle MacDonald is a friend of mine and also a big advocate for Social Media communications. Her musings can be found at ykuptowngirl.com. When Michelle is on the show we will be talking about different topics regarding social media, digital communications and website and how they affect small businesses and organizations.

This first introduction episode with Michelle is a little rough. It was our first time recording and we went in without a plan. Don’t judge our skills on this episode. Listen, laugh and then hang on for the next episode where we really get into a groove.

Thanks for listening and don’t forget to Subscribe via iTunes.

Facebook users LIKE photos

These images below are from two completely different Facebook Ads for different Facebook Pages. While they have different reach there is a similarity that can not be missed. Everyone who has interacted with the ad has also gone through the photos on said page.

People love photos. More to the point, people like connecting with a visual element. Why do you think memes are so funny. They are pictures with captions. 

Screen Shot 2012 08 30 at 9 45 32 PMScreen Shot 2012 08 30 at 9 45 27 PM

So if you are a manager of a Facebook page, put the effort into posting more photos. Even if you are still sharing a link. Your post with a photo is going to get more reach than just the link by itself. 

Try it and you’ll see what I mean. (Mashable does a really good job at it and I’ve started to do it with YkOnline.ca)

Even Yellowknife has Online Brand Ambassadors

I should be putting on a Chamber of Commerce after-hours presentation about why every retail business in Yellowknife should be on Social Networks, even if it is just to monitor what is going on.

Just this evening I saw the below conversation unfolding. A local customer was upset about their product and other residents defended the store.

So even though the store wasn’t on Twitter themselves there was still people willing to defend their brand. #brandloyalty

Screen Shot 2012 08 22 at 9 41 57 PM

Could you imagine of the store had of been watching and listening on Twitter. They could have approached the person with the problem right away and turned this negative post into a positive one. So simple.

Lighting my Social Media Fire, again!

No doubt over the last 6 month my Social Media usage has gone down and I have lost interest. I have an awesome job but it does not directly involve Social Media full-time at the moment, this will eventually change.

So for me attending Social Media Camp has relit my Social Media Fire again! It is something I believe in, something I see the benefit of but it is also something I think is fun. Creating content, blog posts, photos, podcasts and the community I am involved with.

More so I just finished an interview with a guy(sorry I forgot your name) from WebmasterRadio.fm about Social Media in the North and by north I mean the Northwest Territories.

For a long time I have considered myself a Social Media Evangelist for the north, but like I said I lost that mentality. Just doing that interview though, that was directly related to Social Media in the north, brought back all that passion I have for it.

I remember back in early 2008 and how there were only 5-6 of us on Twitter and Facebook had only been around for a year. We have a come along way and again I want it to grow.

There are barriers, like technology. A lot of the NWT communities doesn’t have high-speed internet of support for smartphone, but you know what! Back in 2008 I rarely used Twitter and Facebook on a smartphone and when I did it was via Text Message, which all the north has.

So my new goal, which is what has me fired up and getting the NWT connected via Social Media. I don’t know how yet but I believe a good start is creating NWT content.