Tagged: bananas

February 2, 2014

Pinterest for Businesses

Last Sunday was Australia day and class got cancelled, so we had a double symposium on Wednesday to discuss about the structure of the Web, in regards to whether it is random or if there were power laws behind it. Detailed explanation here and here.

We had the privilege of choosing our own topic for our 2nd niki, and decided to go for Pinterest. (partly because it’s the only popular social media site that is still not available in the niki index) We decided to take a business perspective around the topic and while we are at it, describe the features of Pinterest.

Pinterest can play a huge role in content marketing strategy. Since content is king in the online world, Pinterest’s visual aesthetics and brilliant user interface will provide a great boost your online strategy. No small business, entrepreneur, or corporation can afford to miss the boat on bringing what they do beyond words and into images.
People are making purchases online based on what they see. Research by Massachusetts-based marketing software company HubSpot has shown that individuals are 71% more likely to purchase a product or service when it is recommended by a friend via social media sites like Pinterest.
Part of Pinterest’s power is in its stronghold in the game of visual web. (Leland, 2013) It’s visual nature is a great way to connect with customers as your pinboards can showcase your brand’s personality. According to this infographic, 72% of brand engagement in Pinterest is via images alone.
Pinterest can act as a constant source of inspiration for you. 81% of U.S. women online trust Pinterest as a reliable source of information and advice. Artists, photographers, and other creative artists use Pinterest as a sort of online muse – and you can too.
Great business brands are about telling compelling, congruent stories, and Pinterest is at its core about storytelling in pictures. As a business, your pictures and pins will eventually attract like-minded people and these like-minded people will repin your images to their boards and it will keep going on. If your customer likes your content, your brand’s message will propagate on it’s own!

January 27, 2014

The Encounter

This happened to me a while back, but it is still as vivid like it happened just yesterday.

So there I was, waiting on the street for my friend to pick me up. I was less anti-social back then, so I didn’t really distract myself with music or games. Instead, I just looked at my surroundings. It was basically just people going on about their daily routines, and me pondering on whether they liked their job, their life…

Two pigeons on the curb, just picking up some dropped bread crumbs from a passerby’s Subway sandwich. One was happily eating it’s way through, the other, however, was picking up the crumbs and throwing them on the street. “Such an ass.” I thought, even if you didn’t want to eat, at least leave it as it is. After a few minutes of taking and throwing, the other bird was already on the street. Just then, BAM, a car runs over it. It took me a whole minute to realize what I saw – a masterfully executed murder. It was cold. Ruthless. Why would a pigeon do such a thing?

When I was trying to digest the whole process, I noticed someone, or something, staring at me. It was the murderer. It didn’t move; it just stood there. It knew I saw. Just when I started to think that a psycho-pigeon is scheming to cut off loose ends, my friend arrived. It was a really unpleasant wait. When I looked back, the pigeon was gone.

Or was it?

January 21, 2014

How to: Add a gif

*For dummies: A gif is a moving image file.

Before this, make sure you have your gif file saved locally on your machine.

Some important notes:

Make sure the dimensions of your gif file are not altered. If the gif file is scaled, it will be uploaded, but it will not be displayed as an animated gif file on your blog/website, but instead, it will be a still image.
Make sure your blog template dimensions fit the dimensions of the gif file that you are going to upload. Lets say your blog’s width is 740, 500 would be a safe dimension for your gif. Otherwise, your gif will not work.

1) Under your post, select Add Media.

2) Once you have uploaded your gif file, select it and click Insert to Post.

3) There you have it.

4) If still unsure, here is a video tutorial.