The only thing that sets you apart is your story. – 4th Avenue Media

By Lucas Mack

I recently met with a musician that’s had a huge career since the late 70′s in Christian music. In fact, he’s in my ipod right now. He rose to the top at blazing speed and became known for his incredible voice and song writing ability.   As we talked for almost three hours, he shared some very honest things with me and I listened to a man who battled with what people wanted him to be and what he wants to be.

It’s amazing that now almost forty years in the music industry he’s still writing and performing and doing what he loves and his fans are finding a renewed spirit from this man.  Taking his ability to write what he deeply feels, this musician has written two books and countless songs and is continuing to knock out great content.

As someone who loves stories, I just listened in amazement to this man, who’s fighting to be heard amongst the clamor of daily life and share for people again his words and songs.

He’s written two books recently and has a reunion album coming out with the band he became famous for in the late 70′s. Although he’s been on top and now trying to define where he is in the music business, he’s still fighting. When most musicians his age have packed up and couldn’t keep their careers going… he’s still doing it and fighting the fight, which I greatly admire.

What I’ve taken from my conversation with him, no matter what goes on in your life, whether it’s going well or going rough, keep fighting! Don’t give up and don’t lose hope. Tomorrow is new and with it comes new possibilities for greatness and victory.  Just like this incredible musician has done for forty years, keep doing what you love and don’t give up on what you are.

Like my friend Bryan Duncan says, “Thanks for letting me share.”

It’s no surprise that when you signed on to Twitter this morning, you noticed that there
are 10 trending topics in Seattle:

#CoffeeSocial

#peoplealways

#ThingsPeopleDoThatGetMeMad

#PanAm

Air Force One

Sydney Rice

Pats

Hawks

Titans

Colts

Considering this is a Monday after a big Seahawk win and many other NFL games, you would expect to see the NFL taking half of the trending topics on Twitter. This weekend in Seattle we also had a special guest, the President, fly into town the same day as the Seahawk game. Hence the Air Force One trend being talked about by people who saw his plane. Did you also know that this weekend there was a shooting at Issaquah High School during the football game? The gunman ran onto the field followed by the police, and was shot dead after refusing to put down his weapons. For the locals around the Issaquah area, this was as big as breaking news. Sadly, no Twitter trend for Issaquah.

Twitter trends are just that; trends that fade in and out depending on local and national events. Reading various blogs about the irrelevance of twitter trends makes me wonder why it is in the first place that twitter users prefer to discuss day-to-day events rather than historical topics. When you look at the purpose of Twitter in perspective however, you see that twitter users aren’t signing on to read about the poverty levels in Africa or ways to contribute to ending world hunger. These issues aren’t trends. You see movies, celebrities, and sports trend often because these topics are always changing. You never see #poverty as a topic of discussion because it’s not an issue that comes in and goes out quickly. But have you noticed that during every Republican debate, all of the candidates’ names are trending? It’s not that twitter users don’t talk about politics or national issues; they do when something current happens. These trends define Twitter in a big way. They show that users like to talk about what’s happening here and now instead of large, grand scheme topics.

As a business owner, following these trends and contributing to them is one of the best ways to improve your customer relations. Most importantly, updating your Facebook and Twitter is how you drive revenue. Need help managing your social media? Give 4^th Avenue Media a call at 425.454.4442

Sources:
http://www.tractionco.com/blog/55-twitter-trends-and-the-evolution-of-a-meme

http://www.atheistmissionary.com/2009_05_01_archive.html

http://blog.twitter.com/2010/12/to-trend-or-not-to-trend.html

By Alexa Carney

If you are a Facebook regular, you’ve noticed the obvious changes to your page and that of others. Is it just me, or does it seem like every time I get used to the new additions to Facebook, the company makes more changes?

Mark Zuckerberg stated in the Facebook Blog (http://blog.facebook.com/) that “Facebook’s mission is to give people the power to share and make the world more open and connected”. With over 100 million users on Facebook posting unlimited information each day, users struggle to sort all of this into individual preferred content. Thus Facebook introduced the “subscribe” button, allowing you to opt in or out of the information you receive. The Facebook team also organizes your newsfeed for you, depending on your interaction with other people. So, what’s the big deal? Why are people so upset about these new changes?

Here’s my theory. Social media can deliver virtually anything you want; content, photos, videos, stories, relationships, and much more. Facebook was originally created for college students and allowed them to network to their friends on campus. In this case, it was a relationship based website that appealed to young people wanting to connect with peers online. And, with the evolution of Twitter in recent years, users have enjoyed utilizing both sites to receive content. Twitter and Facebook are two completely different sites with different intentions, however. People use Twitter to receive content. And most of this content comes from celebrities or athletes; people who we don’t know personally know but would like to hear from. On the other hand, Facebook is a place to connect with your friends. With the updated “newsfeed” and creation of the “subscribe” button, Facebook is trying to give users what they’re already getting with Twitter; a way to hear from people without being their friend. But it appears to be too much for Facebook users. People like to have short updates from the people they follow on Twitter, and long conversations or picture sharing with their real friends on Facebook. Mixing the two becomes overwhelming and cluttered.

This is simply a branding issue. Have you noticed that most of your friends all have something in common with you? That’s because when you met them, they showed you their brand and have remained mostly unchanged throughout your relationship. If one day you met up with them and they have a completely different look with different interests, you may not want to continue the relationship. This same idea is what’s creating friction between Facebook and its users. Your company’s brand relays its consistency and dependability. Here at 4^th Avenue Media, we’ve mastered brand integrity. Check out our site to see how we’ve driven our client’s revenue through reliable branding! www.4thavenuemedia.com