Latest posts from Danny Brown

Enjoy the latest posts from Danny Brown, and feel free to add your own thoughts in the comments after the post.

The Art of Patience

We’re an impatient bunch.

We always want the new; the shiny; the next big thing. And we want it now.

As consumers, we want the latest and greatest to show off to our friends and family. As businesses, we always want to be first to market to get a jump on the competition.

The problem is, being first doesn’t always mean the best or the shiniest.

The business world is littered with examples of companies that were first to market but were superseded by competitors who learned from the path beater’s mistakes.

On the consumer side, homes are filled with gadgets and contraptions that are no longer needed by the buyer, nor supported by the company that made it (HD-DVD, anyone?).

There’s nothing wrong with wanting to be first. Just make sure it doesn’t end up being the last thing you’re remembered for.

Does Your Blog Embrace Mobile Browsing?

Some interesting figures about mobile browsing and user activity:

38 percent of web users in the U.S. access the web from their phone (or 89 million people).
53 percent of Americans using their phones to go online do so at least once a day.
65 percent of mobile users aged between 18-29 use their phones to go online.
43 percent of mobile users aged between 30-49 use their phones to go online.

And these stats are just for American users. Across the globe, mobile browsing is continuing to grow at a huge rate and, as you can see from the image at the top of this post, it’s expected to overtake fixed (or desktop) browsing within the next 2-3 years, going by current trends.

Which begs the question – is your blog or website mobile-friendly? And if not, how do you make it more mobile-friendly?

Defining Mobile Friendly

Depending on who you ask, making a blog or site mobile-friendly is as simple as asking the question, “Can I view it when I open my phone’s browser?” (or tablet, as the likes of the iPad and Playbook continue to grow in popularity).

While this might help, it’s not really looking at the bigger picture, and the differing experiences of the various mobile browsers that are in use. Apple uses a different browser from Android uses a different browser from BlackBerry and so on. Then you also have older phones that don’t have the features of a smartphone, and this makes the experience even more different.

So to define mobile browsing, let’s work with the meaning of “compatible with as many mobile browsers as possible”. It might look better on some than on others but at least it’s available on more than just the latest smartphones.

So now that’s kinda cleared up, how do you make your site or blog mobile-friendly? It depends on the experience you want to offer and how much you want to spend (if anything).

The Build It Yourself Approach

The most intensive way to mobilize your site is to give it a full mobile makeover. This can be by yourself with some recoding, or by hiring a professional to do the work for you.

Depending on how much you want to make your site mobile-friendly and still interactive, the cost can run into several thousands of dollars.

Other ways you can bootstrap and make immediate changes include:

Use a fluid width design. This is a fairly straightforward approach and just involves modifying your CSS style sheet to allow your site to change widths depending on what browser it’s being viewed on. Make sure you make a back-up of your site and refer to any manuals before progressing with this option.

Centre your content. If you’re reading this blog on a desktop browser, you’ll see that the content is pretty centred, as opposed to being full-width and starting on the left. This means I don’t waste any content in the sidebars, and keep the main post area as the one that’s always front and centre.

Friendly Links. A lot of websites and blogs use contextual links, so when you hover over them a box opens up on-screen and shows you an ad or similar (think Kontera and Apture). Great for desktop browsers, not so much for mobile. Consider making all your links simple and mobile-friendly too.

Easy and Complete Navigation. When you’re on a site and you can’t find what you’re looking for, then it’s either a choice of searching (if it has that option) or simply leaving (never a good scenario). For mobile browsers, it can be even harder to implement a search option for such limited space. So make sure you have a clear, uncluttered navigation option, and have the most important pages you want your visitor to view upfront and centre.

Brevity is King. Depending on what browser a mobile user comes in on, the load time of a page filled with content can be nasty, and put them off. Counter this and have a short, punchy page each time – the easier the experience (including load), the more likely a repeat visit.

The Plug-In Approach

While the most comprehensive way to mobilize your site is by in-depth optimization, like I say this can be pretty expensive (though definitely worth it for larger sites). For blogs, though, it can be less expensive, because generally most blogs only worry about the post content, and not other sales pages, etc. This means you can choose a simpler option, and there are a ton of these available. Note – these are for self-hosted WordPress blogs – there are options for Blogger and other platforms.

WPtouch Pro. Probably my favourite out of all the mobile plug-ins for WordPress, WPtouch Pro offers a great-looking and customizable app that supports all the major mobile browsers. You can even add less popular browsers through the excellent WPtouch Pro documentation. There is a free version – but it’s definitely worth investing in one of the premium licenses. I use WPtouch Pro on this site – if you have an iPhone, iPad, Android or similar, check it out. You have the choice to switch between mobile and desktop view.

Wapple. Wapple is another excellent option, and one that I’ve used previously on this blog. It’s hugely in-depth and really lets you set up the mobile version of your site to replicate a lot of the desktop version. Again, it offers a free trial, but it’s the premium options that stand out. I prefer the simpler approach of WPtouch Pro, but Wapple would be my next choice for sure.

WordPress Mobile Edition. Built by the guys that developed the popular Carrington framework, the WordPress Mobile Edition automatically detects what browser is on your site, and offers a straightforward user experience based on simplicity. It’s probably the least “graphic” of the three plug-ins here, but its ease-of-use and simple set-up make it one to check out. Oh, and it’s completely free!

So these are the two main ways to make sure your site and/or blog is mobile-friendly. Some are more in-depth and expensive than others – your needs will determine how much you need to spend.

But with mobile browsing become more popular by the day, it’s a small cost to pay compared to losing readers and customers, no?

Note: A version of this post originally appeared on For Bloggers By Bloggers, the free blogger resource centre from Bonsai Interactive. It’s reproduced here to give you an idea of the daily tips on offer to help you grow your blog. If you enjoyed the read, feel free to drop on over and check us out.

Social Media Gurus, Real Work and Diversity

This is a guest post by Olivier Blanchard.

Earlier this year, Danny wrote a post about social media diversity, that received a fair bit of conversation both on his blog, and away from it.

Maybe diversity has nothing to do with it, though. Maybe the answer is far simpler than that.

From where I stand, it says something about 30-40 year old white dudes that so many of them feel compelled to spend all day talking about social media and how to get better at social media, and how to make more money with social media and how to get more followers on social media and how to be more time-efficient on social media and how to measure their influence on social media and how to get jobs through social media and how to become speakers and experts and gurus and f***ing ninjas on social media, and everyone else doesn’t.

Maybe the fact that no one else does this is because most other people out there in the real world are more concerned with solving real problems than becoming the next Seth Godin?

And because these folks are out there doing real work instead of pontificating about Google + or investing in one another on Empire Avenue, they neither have time nor feel the need to create idealized versions of themselves on the interwebs (you know, a version in which they are brilliant and cool and successful instead of being your garden variety slob.)

No Diversity? Think Again

I could be wrong, but from where I stand, there is no diversity problem in social media. I see every religion, nationality, ethnicity, culture and community represented in the social web. You know why? Because I, like you, see beyond the glow of our own little imaginary twitternet stars. The guys I learn from are in Asia. In Africa. In Europe. In the Middle East. In Latin America. They aren’t just SxSW and Blogworld speakers. They aren’t experts or gurus either.

The only real problem touching on diversity I see in the “social media space” is this: About four dozen assholes in the US and Canada making up an imaginary social media “industry,” who suddenly realized a week ago that with all the navel-gazing and ego projection fueling their “thought leadership,” they have mostly managed to cater to people who conveniently look and sound just like them. Wow. How did THAT happen?

By the by, if they ever manage to pull their heads out of their asses long enough to get some oxygen back into their brains, they will either meet or remember having met – among hundreds of thousands of other social media users who are not pre-midlife crisis white dudes – Rohit Bhargava, Maz Nadjm, Jeremiah Owyang, Gabrielle Laine Peters, Karima Catherine Goudiam, Bonin Bough, Liva Judic, Monika Melsha, Guy Kawasaki, Chris Penn, Danielle Lewis, Peter Kim, Charlene Li, CD, Hajj Flemings, and many, many, MANY more who, last time I checked, contributed more to the social media world than all of their “white” social media guru blog posts combined, and managed to do so while being other than strictly caucasian.

So. What’s the next big topic for the “we’ve run out of things to talk about social media guru” crowd: Why aren’t there more foreigners involved in social media?

Someone really needs to pinpoint the exact moment when “social media expert” became synonymous with “dumbass” so we can add that to Wikipedia.

Note: This was originally a comment by Olivier on my post about diversity. I just thought it would be a great standalone post to complement the original, and Olivier kindly agreed to let it run as such.

About the author: Olivier Blanchard is Principal at BrandBuilder, Inc., an East Coast-based New/Social Media consultancy and Marketing management firm. He’s also the author of the book Social Media ROI, and owner of The BrandBuilder Blog. Follow Olivier on Twitter at @thebrandbuilder.

image: doughaslam

The Power of a Great Idea

When he was pre-planning Nintendo Wii video game?Disney Epic Mickey, gaming legend?Warren Spector?(creator of classic games?System Shock?and?Deus Ex) took a slightly different approach to how the game would pan out.

Instead of having his best designers, scripters, coders and creatives brainstorming ideas, Spector got a bunch of interns together from the Disney Interactive Studios intern group. He then let them have free range over coming up with ideas on the game’s look, feel and plot.

The result is one of the most unique and successful games from last year’s holiday period, with a great twist in gameplay mechanics. It’s also proof in Warren Spector’s belief in the power of a great idea: you don’t have to have years of experience to come up with greatness.

Now think how your business can transfer a video game’s approach to your overall one.

Age is a Fallacy

As Spector’s use of interns show, age doesn’t always equate to experience. Sure, the older you are, the more experience you?have?of things. But this generation has grown up with the web as a standard; who do you think would be the best people to have brainstorming a web project, for example?

Think of the people you have versus the people you need?- they’re not always the same thing.

Ears Are Better Than Eyes

The first step to any sales success is listening to what the market needs. Sure, as marketers, our job is to provide what the market wants (or at least make the market want our products). But sometimes we really do just need to listen to what the market needs. Our eyes can see trends and results of action; but our ears can get the real story behind the trend (or even before it happens).

Listen more – don’t just rely on sight. Listen to your employees; your customers; your sales team; your competitors. Don’t just accept what you see;?interpret what you hear.

Greatness Never Ends

Just because you have one big hit that pays the bills for the next ten years, don’t accept that that’s necessarily all you need to do. Royalties are great but times change – your great idea from last year might be next year’s black sheep.

Continue to push yourself and ask what worked; why it worked; what didn’t; how it can be improved. Acknowledge the great ideas that others have had, and ask how you can adapt to your own needs. Ideas only stop when you’re dead.

How about you – how are you powering?your?great idea?

image:?Abdulrahman’photographer

“Haters Gonna Hate” Or A Lame Assed Cop Out?

Opinions are great. They allow people to share their thoughts on something, and contribute to a conversation that otherwise may have passed them by.

Opposing opinions are even better, as they stop us from becoming too ego-centric and full of our own bunkum. Opposing opinions can make us re-evaluate our viewpoints with fact and make us better people for learning new ideas.

Of course, the problem with having opposing opinions to something is that, often, the people you’re questioning don’t like it. So they get snarky. Or, if that person’s a blogger, their adoring fans respond to your comment with a “Haters gonna hate” reply.

Seriously, what the f*ck does that have to do with anything?

Because someone doesn’t have their nose up your demigod’s ass too, all of a sudden that makes them a hater? Get real.

You want hate? Try being gay in Jamaica. Or try being ethnic in some parts of Canada. Or try being a woman in Afghanistan. Or try expressing your civil rights in Equatorial Guinea.

That’s hate, right there. Where your life is about as valued as dog crap. The people living in these places and experiencing that hate every day would laugh in your face if you said an opinion on a blog post, or an online thought, meant you were a hater.

The sad thing is, it’s becoming more common to use the “haters gonna hate” excuse for countering a different opinion. I’ve seen social media leaders use it, or not do anything to discourage it in their readers, and I’ve seen people use it more when someone expresses a valid opinion or counter-point.

Here’s the thing though – the “haters gonna hate” exuse? It’s just a lame cop out by people that have usually been called out on crap, and have nothing valid to respond with. It means your ass has been handed to you, and all you can come up with is the person that just handed you your ass is obviously a hater.

Trouble is, others see that you’ve been called out too with a valid counterpoint. And coming back with a “haters gonna hate” soundbite just makes you look as lame as the term itself.

Especially when you put it into context alongside real hate in the world…

image: kenfagerdotcom