Social Media and Your Company – Twitter

The majority of companies are now using social media to promote their brand and their product(s) in order to increase their global recognition. If you’re not doing this, or even if you’re not using it to your best ability, you’ve already been left behind.

The beauty of social media is that you could be sitting in your office in Abercarn, Wales, click one button and a thought or an idea that you have is now being read by somebody sitting in their office in Paris, New York or Tokyo. Social media levels the playing field. It’s a great advantage for companies (particularly smaller companies), as it no longer limits you to a regional audience – or even a national one.

The question is, which social media outlet works best for businesses? What is the secret to getting the most of out of each? Over the next few weeks we will compare and contrast the three social media giants (Facebook, Twitter and Google Plus) pointing out some of their pros, cons – and maybe letting you in on some of their lesser-known features!

Twitter – fka Twttr (circa March – September, 2006)

By the end of 2014, Twitter had 284 million active users and was available in 33 languages…So, what is it about the multilingual social media enterprise that can help (or hinder) your company?

Pros: – stats from www.adweek.com

• With over 1 Billion users, Twitter is a perfect platform for companies to promote themselves on a large scale.
• By adding keywords and phrases to your Twitter bio and using them in your tweets you can help increase your companies SEO (search engine optimisation). Without that, Google may not know how relevant your tweets and re-tweets are.
• To put it simply, links that are Tweeted and RT (re-tweeted) are likely to have a higher Google ranking (in simple English, this means it’s more likely to show up higher up on search engine results).
• Contented that has been tweeted or RT by an influential member of Twitter, by this I mean a user that has a lot of followers that can see their Tweets and RT’s, is more likely to have a higher Google ranking, due to the fact that they have more followers.

Cons: – stats from www.internetlivestats.com

• With only 140 characters to use, it can be easy to fill the capacity – the key thing to remember when tweeting, is that you want people to respond and RT you – if you don’t leave that space, you won’t get any response.
• If you wanted to add a photo to your tweet, it takes up an additional 23 characters. Unfortunately, this means that companies have to be even more efficient with their posts or do they… (We’ll look at this later).
• It’s easy to see why your Tweet could be lost in a customer’s Twitter feed. If “Person A” follows 200 twitter accounts (including yours) and half of those companies tweet say, three times a day – that’s 300 tweets on that persons feed (sort of a landing page). This makes it virtually impossible for your tweet to be seen by your target audience.

How many tweets are sent (on average). Info-graphic by: Dischro Creative.

• Promoting Tweets (in Layman’s terms), means spending money to make sure your tweet is seen more frequently and by more users than those which aren’t promoted. On Facebook, this is called “boosting”.

Screenshot of Facebooks ‘Boosting’ feature. (Above)

Images courtesy of blog.kissmetrics.com (Below)

Twitter however, has decided to make promoting a tweet a huge time-drainer, especially in contrast to the pop –up window that appears when boosting on Facebook (see above). As you can see from the picture, “boosting” a post on Facebook seems relatively simple, whereas “promoting” on Twitter really isn’t. An added benefit to Facebook boosting is that you’re able to target groups of people based on age, gender, geographical location etc, and then save that targeted group so that you’re able to quickly access it next time. You can also do this on Twitter using what they call “Tailored Audiences”. A “Tailored Audience” can be compiled and saved on Twitter for you to use in any of your promoted Tweets.

From the picture above, you can see there’s a lot more to “promoting” a tweet than “boosting” a post and it can be very time consuming. Facebook decided to keep all of the necessary options on one easy to use pop-out window, Twitter however as you can see do the opposite and lead you through a series of numbered options in order for you to promote your Tweet.

Now for some inside tips and lesser-known features…

1) “Photo Tagging”

Have you ever been frustrated when trying to post a Tweet with a picture and end up exceeding the 140-character limit when you add text? Well, now there’s a way around it. When adding a new photo to a tweet, you can tag up to 10 people/companies etc. who are in the photo. These tags won’t count against your 140 characters.

2) The ‘Mute’ feature

Today, un-following someone on Twitter or un-liking their page on Facebook, is the digital version of cutting someone out of your life …Remember in that episode of F.R.I.E.N.D.S when Phoebe and Monica tried cutting Amanda out? …Awkward!. …But I digress.

Image courtesy of IMDB. ©Warner Brothers. 2003. All rights go to Warner Brothers Inc.

Rather than “un-following” someone, which means you don’t see their content on your feed anymore, you can mute the account for as long as you’d like.

3) “Fast Follow”

The fast follow feature is really handy for accounts that want to send out information about products to the public via Twitter to reach more people. If you have a customer that isn’t on Twitter but would like to know about your company updates then all they have to do is send “Follow [username]” to 40404 and they will start receiving tweets from you on their device. This could be helpful to companies that deal with customers who aren’t very technology savvy, as they could offer the customer the opportunity to follow their latest updates on Twitter without actually signing up for Twitter.

4) The Favourite Star Button.

When you click the ‘favourite’ star on Twitter it not only comes up with a notification for the account that posted what you “favourite” but it also stores that favourite to your account in a reverse chronological order. This is handy as it allows not only you but also (crucially) others to see content that you’ve “favourite”. .

Overall, Twitter is a great outlet for companies wanting to boost their customer list and improve their chances of gaining more sales. Although it has faults (especially when it comes to using Twitter for paid promotion), it can also be really helpful in increasing your SEO.

With roughly 330 million Twitter users active at any given moment – there is amazing scope and potential out there just waiting for you to discover.

So, what are you waiting for? Get out there and join the Twittersphere! …And while you’re at it, check out @DischroCreative!

Dischromatics and Breaking Barriers Team up to produce Personalised DVD for Children.

Breaking Barriers Community Arts specialise in producing Digital Storytelling across all spectrum's of society and is a not for profit social enterprise based in Llanilleth, Blaina Gwent. With grants and other funding becoming more difficult to obtain, they decided to create their saleable original children’s Personalised digital stories on DVD.

Chairman of Dischromatics Ltd, Stewart Spencer sits on the board of BBCA as a business adviser through an arrangement with Arts and Business Cymru, Stewart explains “The board of Breaking Barriers have a duty of care towards the social enterprise and decided to approve the production of the personalised DVD project in order to make up for any shortfall in funding and to allow the staff to continue producing high quality digital storytelling to the benefit of the local community and beyond”.

With all things Breaking Barriers produce, the essential characteristic of the final product was that of quality in every aspect, from the original story and graphics to the unique packaging. The project has been professionally managed and controlled by Natasha James who has had to work to extremely tight time-scales in parallel with many other projects in production at the company. Nevertheless there has been no compromising the quality of the final product and anyone purchasing these DVD’s will be extremely satisfied with the result.

Customers will be able to add the name and upload photographs of their child, choosing from different animal outfits within the story. The story itself is based on the well-known nursery rhyme “Hickory Dickory Dock and is about the clocks losing their “Dock”.

It is envisaged that the latest personalised DVD will not be the last and the theme of producing in both English and Welsh languages will continue and fill a void in the market for such unique products. Anyone interested in reading more about the story can visit the Breaking Barriers or for more information about BBCA email natasha@breakingbarriers.org.uk

Dischromedia Announces Launch of Samantha Link’s Xmas Album “Every Breath”

This week has seen the release of the promotional video produced by Dischro Creative of the new Xmas Album by the highly acclaimed classical crossover singer; Samantha Link called ‘Every Breath’. The video received almost two thousand views on YouTube within twenty four hours and shows the interest generated by the social media activity of many of her fans and others interested in purchasing in time for Xmas.

The video itself was filmed in and around Caerphilly and is only a glimpse of what this fantastically talented artist displays on the CD. The Album, which will be available from the Dischromedia website from Monday and various other outlets, is anticipated to sell well and is the perfect gift for the festive season.

Included on the album are classics like Ave Maria and World in Union with the powerful Titanium and the title track Every Breath You Take, all performed to perfection by Miss Link whose range and quality is fully displayed throughout with more well-known numbers from West End Musicals. 

The Dischro group has been fully involved in this amazing project with Dischromatics designing the CD and packaging as well as providing the CD manufacturing. Dischro Creative produced the promotional video and was able to use a number of techniques including green screen technology used in the Shabbey Road studio in Caerphilly and it was a pleasure to be able to use the beautiful St Martins Church as one of the settings.

The CD has been released under the increasingly popular Dischromedia label who are making a name for themselves in the Classical Crossover genre of music with stars like Mark Llewelyn Evans and Peter Karrie as well as Samantha Link having their music distributed by this forward thinking and artist friendly label.

For further information on the Samantha Link album or any other artist releasing under the Dischromedia label please contact Stewart Spencer on 02920 538944 or write to Dischromedia@gmail.com

The Perfect Combination, Vinyl CD Duplication with Dischromatics 4 Page Printed Digipak

Dischromatics Vinyl CD's are available from small runs to large volumes. We have been receiving orders from as far afield as Switzerland and Spain as well as numerous requirements from UK groups, bands and solo artists. They are ideal for a great retro look and people are amazed at the look of authenticity of this product. For small runs the company provides on-site duplication with ink jet printing.

For larger runs, we use our UK partner Sony DADC. We are the only UK partner of this professional Manufacturer based in Wales, Sony DADC are the largest producer of CD, DVD and Blu-ray Replication in Europe. Orders placed for this product is delivered direct to anywhere in the European Union free of charge.

We are now also finding that we are picking up business from companies who have previously purchased from elsewhere, only to find they are receiving a sub-standard product and they are not even paying much difference in price, if any difference at times, they just assume that because it’s quality product it will naturally be much more expensive, well it isn't!

Vinyl CD’s when fitted into Dischromatics own design Digipaks really do look impressive and we are continually receiving commendations for the quality and therefore, much repeat business. Regarding CD Duplication, because everything is produced in-house, we are able to control the production time-scales and costs. This attractive product is ideal for our music orientated customers and we are continually requested for a quick turn round for their gigs as hand outs or sales opportunities.

We do need to have an IPR form completed to ensure compliance with the law and when the CD has cover versions an MCPS licence is required. Along with this we will require all artwork to Dischromatics spec but customers needn't be concerned as these are available on the website and our staff are more than happy to give advice on any areas where customers need technical support.

So if you would like a sample or no obligation quotation, please call 01495 243222 or email sales@dischromatics.co.uk

Dischromatics Gets Tough with One of its Debtors and Advises Others on How to Avoid Bad Debts.

Under the current credit crisis we are still seeing many companies, large and small going into receivership. On some occasions this is due to their inability to recover money owed to them by their clients.

It is a sad situation we find ourselves in when we see customers treating their suppliers like a credit facility passing on their own debt problems without the slightest tinge of guilt, many of whom eventually fail anyway causing untold misery and suffering to their loyal suppliers, dragging their viable businesses down with them. Worse perhaps, in terms of integrity, are the business owners who hold out paying until the very last minute or not at all, even though they may be cash rich themselves, some even hide behind the fact that they are based in a different country and simply rely on the supplier not being prepared to take the matter further due to logistics and the extra costs involved which may be difficult to recover.

Dischromatics found themselves in this situation with a well-known company based in New York called MBM Records run by an individual called Yan Saquet, who also, according to LinkedIn, claims to be President at Universal Music Brand Management Group. So if such large and well-known companies are prepared to treat a relatively small CD and DVD Duplication company like Dischromatics in this way, who knows where we are headed! It is therefore essential to follow a few simple steps to avoid this scenario but first some background on how this debt occurred and how easy it is to be lulled into a false sense of security.

In April 2012 the company received a rush order for Music CD Duplication for the Lotus F1 team for the Australian Grand Prix from MBM Records, the order was paid for in advance and the job was delivered on time and to the great satisfaction of MBM who even supplied a great testimonial. Dischromatics then received a follow up order in May 2012 for a much larger volume for the same disc. They requested credit saying they would pay once the delivery had been affected and therefore this company agreed bearing in mind the organisations involved. Terms were set and agreed at seven days from receipt of samples in New York.

On receipt of these samples by MBM Records and the rest of the discs to the requested destinations, MBM once again expressed their gratitude and satisfaction on the quality of the product and the service and said payment would be made as agreed. Since that time Dischromatics has dealt with several representatives of MBM including Yan Saquet and Loren Berrier, this has been done via email and directly by telephone and even text messages, none have resulted in settlement of the debt even though MBM Records received their payment from the Lotus F1 team several months prior to the order being placed. Over the following months Dischromatics encountered numerous stalling tactics and empty promises including some of the following comments:

 “My name is Yan Saquet; I am the CEO of MBM Records.  It is my understanding you have been in touch with Loren regarding the outstanding payment of the Manufacturing of the Lotus GP CD project we did with you.  We were very happy with the product, and it has always been our full intention to comply with the agreement we initially made, but unfortunately the situation is that the company has been going through an extended period of cash flow issues.  We would obviously like to avoid any litigation, so can you please let me know an appropriate course of action to resolve this issue”. Yan Saquet 07/08/2012. Dischromatics offered a payment plan but further prevarications prevailed and at the same time MBM were tweeting about acquiring new business deals.

 Here are just a small amount of messages received: “I have just been informed by Yan that the payment will be made on November 1st.  Can you please send the latest amount due”. Loren Berrier 17/10/2012. Statement was sent by Dischromatics immediately.

“Yes, Carl informed me he had spoken to you.  I am working with Yan to come up with a realistic payment schedule that we can adhere to, and will get back to you shortly”.  Loren Berrier 03/12/2012

“As our last conversation, email us a payment plan agreement:  $1,000.00 per month. Then we'll process the first payment Yan Saquet 19/12/2012

“First $1,000 payment will be paid immediately the day we'll sign it”. Yan Saquet 30/01/2013

As a goodwill gesture a payment plan agreement was drawn up with the first instalment due in February 2013 and sent to MBM on 31/01/2013 and received back duly signed by Yan Saquet on the same day. Unfortunately, no money has been received by Dischromatics and all correspondence has been ignored. Naturally no company finds it easy to turn to litigation but there is no choice in order to maintain credibility. Bizarrely, MBM have been tweeting and releasing press releases over the past months on new deals they have concluded bringing further revenue into their company, they are still operating freely using funds from their suppliers with no intention of paying. All correspondence and agreement documentation is available for inspection.

Any small company who has the opportunity to export must sensibly do their homework on the prospective client in the first place to ensure they are viable and able to pay for the goods or services. Furthermore if credit is requested as being the only way they will do business, a letter of credit or other financial safeguard has to be implemented, if this is also found to be unacceptable, the advice has to be to walk away! For trading within the UK always do a credit check before accepting an order and a good tactic is a Director’s Guarantee, never offer credit to a company with a poor credit rating regardless of how much you need the business.

Is the Creative Industry in the UK getting the Support it deserves from the UK GOVERNMENT?

This is a question very close to my heart, as Dischromatics established Dischro Creative last year in order to exploit the undoubted opportunities available to any forward thinking enterprise with the experience, knowledge and wherewithal available. Dischro Creative offers filming forevents, showreels, testimonials etc., graphic design, web design, and app creation. 

I read an article recently in the Director magazine that absolutely hit a chord with me as it mirrored my own thoughts and experiences. The article was based on the views of ex Dragon Doug Richard who certainly has the credentials and credibility to make anyone sit up and listen. His views are that the UK actually leads the world in this area but the UK government only pay lip service to it without giving credible and tangible support.

He goes on to say that the creative industry generates over £70,000 per minute in this country and accounts for 10% of exports and this is still a relatively young sector with huge potential for growth in this hi-tec area of our economy. Imagine what a significant financial boost from our politicians would do for the future economy, creating huge profits with a significant increase in exports and in high paid employment which would in itself have a positive knock-on effect for the whole economy.

Our own experience of the lack of support from our politicians is commonplace. Here in Wales. the Welsh Government continually pay lip service to how important the creative industry is to Wales and they have run a series of ‘seminars’ in the country to give the impression that they are being proactive but the truth is that they are offering very little tangible support to the creative sector itself. As far as the WG is concerned size I everything, they very rarely recognise small creative enterprises but this is where the most significant opportunities arise. 

The past is a painful reminder of how our politicians in Wales fail to recognise the future lies with indigenous small to medium enterprises. It’s always about headlines with politician. The failed bid to establish LG in Newport is a poignant reminder of their incompetence, paying huge subsidies to LG and others for that matter only for us to see them fail and withdraw. I remember at the time, all the Ministers turned out for the photo call when the company moved in but they were not to be seen or heard when they moved out again.

What is needed is a body that includes leaders from a cross section of the Creative Industry, from large and particularly small enterprises together with politicians appointed by the WG who fully understand or who are prepared to learn, to get together to see how, collectively, we can progress in order to expand this valuable area of our economy. Instead of looking for publicity to boost their own egos, we need people who are genuinely interested in making this a success, to have the patience and understanding to learn what is needed, to offer support in whatever area is required ensuring there is cooperation with our universities so that courses can be adapted to suit what is required by our young and vibrant creative sector to the benefit of us all!

Google Returned Searches are not necessarily the Best Companies for your Orders

Having completed some recent research using keywords relevant to my own business, it is surprising how many of the results that are prominent on Google are for companies that are no longer viable or may supply sub-standard product due to their low pricing. It seems that regardless of Penguin or Panda updates or whatever they do, Google just can’t get it right, with some unreliable sites still maintain a lofty position whilst other more quality sites are penalised due mainly to not adopting the black hat tactics of these lesser sites.

Further analysis of some of these sites through our financial checker, shows that they are actually trading beyond their means. They are simply not in a liquid enough state to carry on trading. If their customers are placing orders and paying in advance and they could finish up without product or the cash they paid for the goods because they may just be on the edge of bankruptcy.

One company who appears on the first page for the search term CD Duplication is Duplication Centre LIMITED (05279829), they have the audacity to claim to be the UK’s leading CD, DVD and Blu-ray Duplicator but have a working capital of minus (-£103,907), most worryingly for customers is that they also have a company which was incorporated in May 2007 but is not trading yet called Duplication Centre Service LIMITED (06250953). Not long ago, I was embarrassingly caught out like this by a company call Magellan who I had paid a sum of money to for equipment, they went bust soon after, I lost my money and they started trading again under a very similar name. 

Another company called Max Duplication who also appears on the front page of Google for CD Duplication amongst other keywords they rate highly for has tangible assets of £937 with a working capital of minus -£7316. I wish someone could tell me how this works because the whole thing seems illogical. Yet another on the front page called Xpress Duplication Centre cannot even be found under that name at Companies House. Then there is Amstore who seems to have been dissolved and whose site is down still has a prominent presence in Google. TVV Productions also has a minus working capital!

In conclusion, I know it’s normal that you credit check your customers before offering credit but now you’d better check your suppliers too, especially if you pay up front for your product! Having said all this, there are of course sites that do have a high presence that are quality companies, many of these appear on lower pages too so it’s well worth doing thorough research before placing your order, if a similar product is so much cheaper than rivals, there’s a good reason why and it’s usually because the product on offer is sub-standard.

Dischromatics Limitd - Video is the Best Way Forward for Marketing and Getting Your... - Mynewsdesk

Dischromatics Limitd - Video is the Best Way Forward for Marketing and Getting Your... - Mynewsdesk

Dischromatics Releases Documentary on the Future of Physical Media

With the recent bad news of more store chains like HMV closing on the high street, Dischromatics has commissioned a short documentary film produced by Dischro Creative to investigate this important aspect of our lives.

With the increasing popularity of digital downloading of music and games along with illegal copying, surely the end is in sight for CD’s? We have certainly seen the continual year on year decrease in sales of DVD with advent of Blu-ray discs with the ability to hold HD and 3D films as well as some fantastic games with their subsequent special effects and features so that DVD now has no place in future for movies and high quality games. DVD’s will almost certainly be used solely for specialist markets where low numbers are required and DVD Duplication using recordable media will prevail albeit on a relatively small scale.

The documentary film includes interviews with people in the various industries related to these products including Spillers Records in Cardiff, HMV and Music Wales, as well actual artists and members of the public and gives a most interesting insight into people’s thoughts. Furthermore, their opinions are mixed with a certain feeling of loss if music CD’s ceased to be available. There is a feeling that by having the CD with its packaging in physical form there is an added value and that the playback quality is far better than the quality of the same music downloaded digitally over the internet. Equally, for some the convenience and the ability to store great volumes of music on portable devices like IPods have a better value for them.

Is there a parallel here with vinyl and in fact we are experiencing a similar small revolution when CD’s came onto the market almost obliterating the demand for vinyl. Only for the resurgence in demand for vinyl to re-emerge when not only the purists who remained loyal to the product continued seeking out the vinyl alternatives but new demand was generated from a small but growing group of enthusiasts and once again there are various brands of new decks available to play your records on. 

There has been an undoubted drop in the sales and demand for compact discs but unlike DVD where there is an alternative physical media like Blu-ray, CD’s do not have a physical rival. The decrease in demand is purely down to piracy and digital downloads but there can be little doubt that CD’s will see life continue for a good number of years yet. Cost of downloading music from the internet is of course much cheaper than the physical product but as some of our interviewees have expressed they like to read about the artists, have the lyrics at their disposal as well as having the feel of a CD. Bizarrely, many games downloads are more expensive than the actual physical product.

We see the future of CD changing, where similar to DVD in the short term, orders for lower volume Music CD will be the norm, leaving the only alternative to full manufacture to be CD Duplication, we are seeing many groups and bands looking towards this recordable medium as a way of promoting their music and this is set to continue and increase. Smaller volumes also allow them to produce new albums at less cost with much more flexibility. Dischromatics is well placed to work with all these groups and bands as they have the ability to produce the whole package and help to promote through their creative arm Dischro Creative. Consequently we believe CD’s will be with us for many years yet.

Go to:  http://youtu.be/V5daimJ1rqE to see the Documentary