Take a vote … what do you do for mobile marketing and have you tried any mobile apps?

http://polls.linkedin.com/p/69091/tbhgt

The problem with doing research on social media and mobile marketing is the overwhelming amount of noise you get from doing searches on Google, Delicious and Twitter.

Here are a few links of really useful and easy to consume ‘research’

best ‘inspirational’ video on social media

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sIFYPQjYhv8

map of social media world
http://www.flickr.com/photos/wasabibratwurst/3128711125/sizes/l/

top 100 companies by media spend
http://adage.com/globalmarketers09/

So I have had to rebuild my Mac running OS X 10.6 Snow Leopard 3 times in the past 2 days after having problems with a t-mobile usb modem which corrupts the hard drive.

Here’s the short list of my favourite, can’t live without em, just got to install them apps:

Best Apps for your Mac

1. ClamXav – still the best and most recommended free virus protection for your mac
2. Adium – pronounced like stadium, this is the multi chat application for the mac
3. Skype – for free calls to the office and home
4. Dropbox – for sharing files between the office and clients
5. Mac Office 2008 – word, powerpoint and to some extent excel, because all my templates are Office based and the guys in the office use PC’s.
6. The Unarchiver – the Mac compression utility is great, this just goes a step further
7. Google Quick Search Box – this is only slightly better than Spotlight and its a fork of the Quicksilver code
8. VLC – plays any videos you throw at it
9. Firefox – the better browser for the mac

PrefPanes and System Tools

AppTrap – deletes the unwanted files from your Mac when you delete an app

Geektool – embeds calendars, notes, the time, temperature in your desktop. Better than Dashboard

Tinkertool – use this if only for the setting to disable the dashboard

Temperature Monitor – from the same guy behind Tinkertool, you’ll want this for the Geektool

Sounds like good news in the UK market ‘opening’ up to more distribution channels for the iPhone. Tesco’s annouced it plans to start selling the iPhone by the end of the year and promised to add value to the market, where prices are stagnating between O2 and Orange.

What this means is that Tesco will be just another distributor like the Carphone Warehouse — and so at first, it didn’t seem clear if customers will have a choice of O2 or Orange. Now we know that Tesco will be a distributor for O2.

It would be more exciting in the UK if Tesco had made their own deal with Apple to distribute the iPhone and allow customers to connect to the Tesco Mobile ‘the MVNO’. What happens now with Tesco and pricing will depend if they can adjust the pricing. What could be worse for Tesco is if they have a supply problem which some staff at Carphone Warehouse say is continuing.

There’s no better sound than the reassuring ‘Beep at the Checkout Register’. So now you have your own Android mobile phone …here’s a few barcode scanning things you can do at home or in the shops.

First you need the best Android Barcode Scanner – which now has integration with Google search on the mobile.

1. Add a book to your Amazon Wishlist – just snap the barcode and save to list
2. Catalogue your books at home using Anobiit from Anobii
3. Catalogue your CD’s with Kooaba
4. Look up reviews of that Wine you’ve just been drinking – Wine by the Bar is the perfect app for you
5. Compare prices for that Electrical Gadget – Scan the Barcode and search online for it
6. Create your own Barcode – After installing Barcode Scanner, open your Android Contacts .. everyone now has a 2D code
7. Look up tourist guides from 2D barcodes -
8. Find something new to put on your phone – Androlib.com will help you then turn on the barcode scanner and point it at the 2D code on the screen

To get the Barcode Scanner … go to Android Market on your phone or go to Androlib.com on your PC

DROID sales in the USA and the robo-promotional ads from Verizon has boosted Android sales, so much so that hits on my blog have started to double since the new phone went on sale.

Stats are good – Top searchs on Best Apps are going to my posts for Top Android Apps and 2 top Android apps from Google.

Should you be worried that you don’t have an iPhone app? Do you know if you’re website works on a mobile? what about mobile SEO? It is very important for CEO’s and CMO’s to add mobile to their communications and marketing strategy.

The fact that most companies have yet to build a mobile website shows you are not alone and many companies want to know what they should do first. Build an app. Build a mobile strategy or do something. Considering each three …

Build an app

Answer Yes to these questions and you’ll know that building an app is right for you:

1. Is your company always first to market?
2. Do you want to get some PR effect?
3. Interested in winning a Mobile or Advertising industry Award

Choosing iPhone is the natural option for good PR or awards material. We build apps and games for iPhone and any other smartphones

Build a strategy

Want to understand mobile better, then consider how ‘mobile’ fits in your marketing mix. Could you get better PR? Leverage a viral campaign? Link mobile to your social media approach? Or want smartphone users to find your brand. We then suggest you build a mobile website and maybe build an app too.

Do something

Yes actually, doing something is a strategy – build a mobile friendly site, build an app and start to learn from them. Stay motivated and maybe expect the same results as the early web pioneers. Once you’ve done something you’ll still need to promote it.

Sony Ericsson delivered a blow to Microsoft on Tuesday when it unveiled its latest Xperia handset, which unlike its Windows-powered predecessors is based on Google’s Android operating system.

Called X10, the flagship smartphone comes with a new Sony Ericsson-designed user interface that aggregates the user’s contacts and communications from the likes of Facebook and Twitter into a single address book.

The system is akin to HTC’s Sense interface, and Motorola’s Motoblur interface, both of which feature on the respective companies’ new Android phones.

“It’s time for Sony Ericsson to put more focus on the smartphone market and Android is a good platform for them to do this,” said Roberta Cozza, principal analyst at Gartner.

source: http://www.totaltele.com/view.aspx?ID=450402&mail=128&C=0

With the boom in the number of apps in the App Store (over 100,000) and total downloads in excess of 2bn … someone has got to be making money … right?

In part, the iPhone does offer a better platform for apps – it’s about to overtake RIM as the leading consumer smartphone, sold more than 34 million units and got some of the highest mobile internet usage rates we’ve seen so far.

It’s not fair to say that Developers, Ad agencies or Brands are making money out of the app store.

The problem is discovery – you have to do a lot to get your app to the Featured or Popular lists and that has got to start with spending money on good PR and a Viral / Word of Mouth campaign. For small time developers and startups, who might not account for these costs – they do expect GOOD PR and WoM to equal GREAT results.

Whatever you spend on building the app and promoting the app is not going to be made back in app revenue, consider that the majority of apps are given away for ‘free’. How does anyone make money?

I attended the NMAlive workshop in London last week which looked at Why You Need an App … I agree with all the presenters, which is you have to do something mobile … but expecting it to be a new revenue stream from Day 0 is misleading.

Excellence in customer service is one thing that Turkey can be proud of. As a direct result of years of high unemployment businesses and individuals are finding ways to ‘add value’ and earn a few Lira. There are many positiv arguments for employing people in ‘low paid’ jobs that improve everyones living.

It’s been 2 years since I was living in Istanbul. I’ve returned for a week and was looking out for signs of the impact of the ‘credit crunch’. Some things haven’t changed and going the extra mile to give good service is still very evident. Here are a couple of examples we can all learn from:

1. Car Park Minders – not meters and wardens.
It’s very normal in Istanbul to find Car Park Minders … This is a legitimate business. You drive up, park where you’re told, pay them and when you come back your car is there. Smiles for good service

In the western world … what happens … you park, you try to pay but the meter is broken, you come back to find your car broken into or worse ticketed, clamped or taken away by a zealous tow-truck drive.

On the negative side – we pay meter people to fix and mend the machines, we pay parking wardens to issue tickets and they probably all get at least minimum wage. I’d assume the people in Istanbul get paid less than minimum wage but probably get tips for service above the fees.

Guess what service I like more? Car insurance companies should fund this, we could all benefit from knowing the car is being watched and could reduce premiums.

2. Petrol Stations – full service forecourts
A friend of mine tells a tale of an adventure in America. He had to fill up the oil. Driving into the service station, no one was there to help him. The guy has never changed a tyre, checked oil or possibly even used a petrol pump. He goes into the store and asks for service – of course the response was no way.

So in Istanbul, you drive in to the station and a Boss person comes up and asks what you want then 2 or 3 others come do the service. This makes you feel like a pit stop at the F1 … you hand over the cash and then drive off without dirty hands.

what’s your experience of business in Turkey?