I tell my personal story experiencing my family (immediate - who I live with) getting Covid 19.  I also share examples of brands that are sharing content on social media relevant to Corona Virus!

All Social Y'all Podcast

My Family Got Covid 19 Corona Virus & Covid Relevant Social Ideas

Regarding concerns and US users use of TikTok, There is a value based belief system in the US that social media is an avenue for free speech (it’s not just the US either).  The President and the White House Administration is contemplating banning TikTok from American users due to national security risks and collection by the Chinese Gov’t of United State users personal data, as explained in my previous episodes.   I will be breaking this down much further in this episode.  I will help you think further about what it means if TikTok is banned – what it means to you and your business, what is trending in response to the looming changes and what it could mean to Facebook and other social media platforms? On Friday, an alternative solution was announced and that is for Microsoft to purchase the American entity of TikTok.  Huh??   I had the same reaction in 2015 when IBM purchased The Weather Channel. But then I realized it was for data!  Microsoft has the same interest.  Their future business is more and more focused on consumer services data to support advancements in their products like Xbox and future game streaming services.  Furthermore, there are future generations moving up into the workforce and with Googles Gmail for instance, they understand that consumers have other choices today, once they hit the workforce they may not choose Microsoft products. They’re going to become business decision makers as well.  Once they hit the work force they may not choose Microsoft product.s It’s a constrant branding, innovation, differentiation, software as a service company. Microsoft is also serious about AI (Artificial Intelligence) and because TikTok has AI built into it’s tool it could accelerate AI initiatives centered around consumer data.  Same goes as with augmented reality (or AR)….TikTok has filters and ads that are powered by AR.  Their mobile focused capabilities is not something that Microsoft has had success in to date.  And because TikTok is mobile, well they are ahead in that regard as well. Microsoft is not unfamiliar with acquisitions;  Skype, Nokia and LinkedIn to name a few large complicated acquisitions in recent years. There still lies the question of the algorithm tho.  Who’s going to own that? The White House has given TikTok until Sept. 15th to sell or it will ban it’s service to US users.  The President met with Microsoft’s CEO, Satya Nadella. And then out came Microsoft’s formal statement which said, Microsoft fully appreciates the importance of addressing the President’s concerns. It is committed to acquiring TikTok subject to a complete security review and providing proper economic benefits to the United States, including the United States Treasury. So Microsoft is considering purchasing TikTok not in it’s entirety, but in the US, but also 3 other countries and those are Australia, Canada and New Zealand which is 30% of TikTok.   In an article in chinadaily.com, it said that TikTok denied it could be a tool for Chinese intelligence. In a statement on Saturday, (so I’m recording this on Aug. 5th) TikTok US General Manager Vanessa Pappas said the app is staying in the US and is "not planning on going anywhere". The article then goes on to say, “ByteDance (TikTok’s parent co) founder Zhang Yiming also said on Monday in an email to staff that TikTok has always been committed to user safety, platform neutrality and transparency, and the company has initiated preliminary discussions with a tech company to help clear the way to continue offering the TikTok app in the US.” He continued by saying "We do not yet know the exact details of what our end solution will be. Candidly, it is unlikely that the level of interest and speculation around TikTok will cease in the short term, and I recognize that this can be very distracting," and he is talking to his employees. In an article by Forbes this month, linkedin the show notes to all these references, That dataset, in the hands of an adversarial foreign government, is a risk—a very serious risk, in a world where social media is used to push propaganda out to users who tap those platforms as a primary source of news. When TikTok is described as a national security risk, that is essentially what those governments mean. It goes on to say , “The more insidious view,” Thornton-Trump says (no relation to Trump, as far as I know LOL), “is that TikTok and other apps present a danger of mass manipulation and social control and disinformation. The danger may be minimal to the individual but serious for society and democracy.” TikTok is at pains to stress that it has not provided user data to Beijing, that it would not do so if asked. See I wanted to give you perspectives from TikTok, from Microsoft and from the White House Administration. She goes onto say, “TikTok is led by an American CEO, with hundreds of employees and key leaders across safety, security, product, and public policy here in the U.S.,” the company told me (author of this Forbes article) in response to talk of that U.S. ban. “We have no higher priority than promoting a safe and secure app experience for our users. We have never provided user data to the Chinese government, nor would we do so if asked.” As to how to potentially the monetary exchange will look like,if some kind of acquisition does go through, Trump stated in the last week, “But the United States should be reimbursed or should be paid a substantial amount of money, because without the United States they don’t have anything, at least having to do with the 30%.” Now - how this might be possible is very uncertain at this time. I’m not going to speculate.  It has to do with exchange of money between the US Gov’t and a software co inside an acquisition at global scale. In a press conference on Tues. Aug.4th  https://www.whitehouse.gov/briefings-statements/press-briefing-press-secretary-kayleigh-mcenany-8-4-2020/  , a question was posed of Press Secretary, Kayleigh Mcenany – the question was, “the President has argued that the United States should receive money in return for a potential sale, but he hasn’t really explained how. Under what authority could the Treasury collect fees from China, from Microsoft, or from any other U.S. buyer to get this done, as the President demanded?” MCENANY: Okay, so I’m not going to get ahead of the President on any official action, but he has made that point. And he and both Secretary Pompeo have said that the U.S. action — that the U.S. will take action in the coming days on Chinese apps, including TikTok — TikTok, excuse me, due to the national security risk. And we all agree that there needs to be a change, especially with TikTok collecting significant amounts of private data on users. It’s unacceptable, but I won’t get ahead of the President on what those actions look like. Another question was posed, Q Thanks very much. I wanted to ask, also on TikTok, about — Beijing has said that it may hit U.S. firms as a response to sort of slammed — this sma- — you know, smash and grab of TikTok. What do you say to that, in regard to China? That was the question.  This is from the press conference notes. He asks also, “And secondly, China has not complied with its commitments under the U.S.-China phase one trade deal. We’re reporting today that, you know, they’ve only completed 5 percent, for instance, of the energy purchases in this first half of the year. Can you just sort of say?” MCENANY: Yeah, we encourage China to fulfill their obligations in the phase one China deal and to fulfill their end of the agreement. But the President remains keenly focused on TikTok and protecting the private data of millions of people in this country. And PRC’s, the People’s Republic of China’s, laws require Chinese companies to cooperate with PRC’s security and intelligence services, enabling the CCP (Chinese Communist Party) to access foreign-user data. And what this means is that these entities ultimately answer to the CCP, which actively undermines U.S. interests and is hostile to American values and the rights of individuals. And the President will stand firmly against China on this. So much of what I want to offer you here today with this information and back ground, What if TikTok is banned?  What if TikTok is sold? But what if TikTok is banned and let’s start with that? I never urge businesses to put too much stock or reliance into one social media platform.  Many digital marketing and social media marketing leaders say that same!  Don’t put too much stock into one social media platform because it could go away.  We are seeing it unfold before our eyes!  We don’t own our followers.  That’s another reason why you should take building your email list!  Email remains one of the highest, if not the highest, converting method.  Instagram released a feature that competes with TikTok called Reels on Wednesday, last Wednesday, so you can now create 15 sec. short form videos with many of the same features available on TikTok.  Many TikTok Influencers are downloading other apps like Byte, with the unfolding of all of these events and announcements, and or they are putting more investment in Instagram with Reels. It could be viewed as a short term win for Facebook, but look, if it can happen to TikTok (despite the fact they are Chinese owned) it sets a precedent that nations have the power to ban or attempt to force a sale, which would be overall negative for Facebook.  We are in a new era of complex data and privacy considerations, and it’s somewhat of un-chartered territory.  So I hope this helped.  I know sometimes you see news announcements and ask yourself, what is that all about?  Why would Microsoft want to buy TikTok?  Are they just doing this for governmental reasons?  So I wanted to just put together a top level progression to date of information for you to just let you know what’s happening today and how it might impact you, your business and your social media efforts.  Have a great day.  Thank you for being here with us. Music: https://www.bensound.com    

Will Microsoft Buy TikTok and What does it Mean to You as a Consumer

Carey (00:07): Hello, and welcome to Carey Sperry, All Social Ya'll podcast. I'm your host, Carey Sperry and All Social Y'all. We discuss how to employ social, to become truly customer centric. We identify how social is a fuel for business growth. And we talk with some of the best and brightest business leaders, entrepreneurs, and digital marketers, our guests, Sarah inspiring stories and effective tactics to discover, interact, and emotionally connect with customers where they are on social platforms. Carey (00:45): Hello, and welcome everyone to episode 31. And I have such a special guest today. I've been so excited to connect and speak with her. Name is Catherine Caldwell-Harris. She is professor of psychology at Boston University. One of my favorite cities. She specializes in cross-cultural psychology and bilingualism. She was trained at the UC San Diego until 1991 has been a faculty member at BU ever since. Welcome Catherine. Thank you so much for being with us today. Thank you, Carey. Pleasure to be here. Carey (01:26): Can you tell us a little about yourself and your work in your own words? A little more than I I described? Oh, well, I've been, I've done a lot of research on cross-cultural psychology and along with cross cultural psychology comes the issue of what happens when people immigrate to a new country. There's interesting issues of acculturation. Dr. Caldwell-Harris (01:52): There's interesting issues of learning a new language. One aspect of learning a new language is that when you become proficient, you still can feel like you're missing nuances in the language. And bilinguals often report that humor is a real challenge and especially difficult. So that was a topic I was drawn to and has led me to learn more about how humor works in the brain. Carey (02:20): Very cool. And that's what we're going to talk about today is incorporating humor into your social media content strategy and advertising strategy. But as I mentioned, well, I don't know if I mentioned it here to our listeners, but I discovered you from an article in the Boston Globe, you are quoted that "humor is used a lot during war time. For one reason, it has a lot of power to bring people together." And I just thought that was such a great way to put it. Can you tell us kind of what makes you say that? Dr. Caldwell-Harris (03:00): Well, a big theme in human evolution is how we can bond with members of our in group, but also be skeptical and wary of our outgroup. Certainly historically outgroup members would want to exploit us, even enslave us, go to war against us. And a whole group is needed to be united in order to win these battles. So how can you unite people? There's lots of different mechanisms for uniting people. One of them is religion. We can talk about it -- that's a whole topic of itself....sort of feelings of nationalism, anything that can bring you together as a group, but it seems that when you're in your group exchanging jokes, there's this real feeling of bonding and group cohesion and exactly how humor causes this isn't completely clear, but there is evidence that humor generally does something kind of interesting. It does two things at the same time, that sound kind of opposite Dr. Caldwell-Harris (03:54): It activates us; wakes up our autonomic nervous system, so that we're alert. And then it also relaxes us in the sense of making us feel secure and calm. So it's actually a lot like one of our favorite drugs, coffee, which both stimulates us and also makes us feel relaxed. So when we're using humor, it basically helps regulate our emotions. It makes us feel good when we're feeling good, we're starting to feel good about each other. And that leads to the pleasant feelings and a banter that people can have in groups where each person's playing off another person's prior remark. And there's a feeling of good cheer among everyone. Carey (04:33): Awesome. Yes, that is so true. And I didn't thought about it that way, but you know, I always say that social media is a way that people and companies can really just extend the face to face conversation. And that humor is also something that can be found outside of face to face interactions. It isn't just the kids who are making, like in saying funny things on social media to capture the attention of many. I think this might be a shift in culture here in America where we're responding more now than even in 2019 to funny content. And so I urge businesses to think about incorporating it into their strategy where it makes sense. And like the big insurance companies are doing a great job. I've noticed in the TV ads and many other industries as well, but like Jake with State Farm and Progressive with Flow and Allstate has their Mayhem commercials. What are your thoughts kind of around that? Dr. Caldwell-Harris (05:33): Look, I think it's fascinating that humor is such a recent addition to the arsenal of advertising tactics. Why haven't advertisers years ago, figured out how well humor can capture attention, galvanize us and make us think, make us pay attention? I think historically what happened was when advertising began --widespread mass advertising, with radio first, and then soon after in the early and mid 20th century, it was very important for businesses to convince people that advertising was acceptable, that it's actually acceptable to get information from someone you don't know, from a strange leaflet or radio message. And so it was important to be very authoritative and to focus on content, to get people to even accept advertising. Well, that's a century ago now. And of course advertising is part of our everyday life. So it's actually a little surprising that advertisers didn't discover humor until recently, but I kind of understand the historical background to it. That authoritative aspect was so important. Carey (06:40): Yeah. Cool. Yes. And it really captures the attention, which is so tough to do on social media. So that being said, what should businesses keep in mind when they're trying to figure out how to incorporate? Dr. Caldwell-Harris (06:57): Well, I'm a huge fan of using humor and advertising because it is a natural way to get people's attention and humor. So interesting that it rewards us. One problem with a lot of ads is they're annoying. They're just a drag on our attention and we regret and are kind of angry about the time that our brains are captured by advertising. People want to fast forward through, as you know, don't want to pay attention, feel manipulated. The great thing about humor is that humor is inherently rewarding. There are -- one of the main theories of humor involves reward . The idea that during evolution, our brains needed to detect errors in information processing. This is the theory that when our brain detects an error, it’s is a mistake in the conclusions that we've come to. We actually reward -- our brain rewards itself with a squirt of Dopamine into the nucleus acumbens or the reward centers of the brain. Carey (07:55): So humor, when you detect a mistake, you actually get a little jolt of Dopamine. So the way humor takes advantage of this is it sets up a context using just automatic associations where you're going to think that the, the whole meaning is going one direction. And then all of a sudden the script switches, and you realize that your prior assumption was wrong and you have to reconceptualize. The whole idea of what's being said to you being purposely miseading, this is called the incongruity resolution theory of humor. And the idea is that when your brain resolves that mistake you get that burst of Dopamine. So the point that I want to make here is that there's a key theory of humor is that we get rewarded with Dopamine. So to get back to advertising topic, I said, advertising is often exploitative and manipulative when we, we don't like being manipulated, having to watch ads, but when ads use humor, they are giving us a reward. And in way, it's of like this introduces some equality into the interaction. Hey, if you pay attention to me and record my product name, I'm going to reward you with a little joke that will give you a burst of Dopamine. Carey (09:07): Yeah. Sometimes my husband comes up to me with his phone and says, watch this. He replays it. And I mean, you know, cause he wants me to laugh, right? So, so Catherine, that's very interesting. What, what should businesses keep in mind then? Dr. Caldwell-Harris (09:24): Well, as I said, I'm a fan of businesses using humor in their advertising. But one thing to keep in mind is that a key part of humor, one of the key theories of humor is called derogation theory. This is the idea that we get, we feel extra pleasure, an actual award when the joke being made is at the expense of a member of an outgroup, a stigmatized minority or someone that we don't associate with. And that the function of humor in this case is making the in group look good; the idea of putting down the outgroup. This is the basis of ethnic humor. A lot of sexual jokes draw upon putting someone down, which makes ourselves feel good. Dr. Caldwell-Harris (10:03): And because these aspects of humor areso deeply intertwined, all of them are in the works. I want businesses to being very careful when they use humor to avoid falling into the trap of getting, adding in some of the outgroup, - the denigration aspects. Carey (10:22): Hm, yes. Super important. So what, what are some ways to avoid that then? Dr. Caldwell-Harris (10:29): If advertisers can just keep in mind that the main way that humor works is first group cohesion, making people feel good about being member of group, but also keep in mind, incongruity resolution, just focus on the reward aspect of bringing together two opposing scripts and pointing out an incongruity and letting people laugh over them - focus on that. And that can keep advertisers away from brushing up against the putting-people-down aspect of humor. Carey (11:15): How have you noticed with COVID-19 has affected people's sense of humor? Dr. Caldwell-Harris (11:21): Well, early on in the COVID epidemic, it was observed that South Korea was trying to post some humorous ads and actually trying to get teens and young adults to go on social media and use humor to do things like mask wearing and social distancing. And then the teens started picking up on it and making some humorous TikTok and other posts that were actually kind of mean, and that weren't so nice. And there was a lot of discussion over this saying, isn't it bad that these teens are making fun of some aspects of COVID? However, most of the (in my observation), most of the jokes about COVID have been pretty positive and it seems to serve the purpose of bringing the group together and actually encouraging good behavior like the mask wearing and social distancing. Dr. Caldwell-Harris (12:14): So while teens and young adults have been so good at trying to use humor in the COVID epidemic, it's been really important too, to try to find a way to increase group cohesion and make everybody feel like we're all in this together and we all need to work together. But second, when you use humor, you really get people's attention and you're relevant. So when people use social media, they want to get eyeballs, they want to feel relevant. So if COVID is what everyone's talking about, then humor about COVID is going to be a natural outcome. CareySpeaker 1 (12:50): Yeah. I follow this guy on TikkTok that it's more subtle. He is - it's obvious that he's quarantined. Cause he films all his TikTok videos from his home and he's a young adult. I think he's in like his early thirties and he's he plays a dad and he makes funny dad remarks and talking to his kids. And in real life, he's not even a dad, but he it's hilarious. And it just it's like, like you say, it's relevant, but it's around COVID but it's not necessarily in your face, COVID, it's more subtle. So it's done in a lot of different ways. So what you know, around emotion - humor being one emotion. But what are some important aspects of emotion that comes from using language to make someone laugh? I think it's important for business owners and for them as marketers to remember that when advertising or branding it elicits emotion in a buyer and that's really important. Dr. Caldwell-Harris (13:51): So key thing about humor is that it gets us aroused and it wakes us up and makes it alert, alert, and it's pleasurable. So the emotion is basically one of pleasure. Researchers use the word "hedonic" state meaning a pleasurable state. Even even when the humor is denigrating others. You know, if we're in the in-group, we still feel good and we feel good about ourselves. So the emotion of humor actually – hm, let me switch gears. One of the useful things about the emotion that goes along with humor is that it helps our memory. So humor and laughter activates the autonomic nervous system, that's the fight or flight response, and we kind of wake up and we're alert whenever something arouses us whatever's going on then is more easily remembered. So the one thing to keep in mind for advertisers is that humor is a a good way to get memories laid down and strengthened and solidified. There was actually one funny study that my thesis advisor did back in the nineties where a researcher wanted to find out what do students in college classrooms remember from a lecture? Do they remember the main ideas or do they remember the actual literal words? It's like referring to  a surface content versus where the deep content. And so when I asked my advisor about that famous study, she said, you know, we didn't really write this in the results, but the actual main thing that students remembered was the jokes. Carey (15:29): Wow. That was going to be my next question is about learning ....that funny teachers get kids and people more engaged, but there is a lot of social media content that is to teach people things. Right? Dr. Caldwell-Harris (15:43): Right. So humor is going to help with that because humor rewards us. It keeps us staying with the material and wanting to learn more. I mean, so much of the way we learn things today draws on this. The last 15 years or so these political shows, for example, a lot of people's news and information about the world actually comes from learning from John Oliver or Stephen Colbert or some of the other famous talk shows.... People who incorporate so much humor into their content, but actually give you good information at the same time. Carey (16:20): Absolutely. Yes. I've seen some, even financial industry people and other more serious industries, I guess you could say that do short form video - like less than 60 seconds and they are teaching like how to save money or how to make a side hustle and they put it in a light and kind of humorous way. And then not in a way that, like you said earlier, that will annoy people. So it's very creative. There's a lot of ways that if you really sit down and think about it and you map out what is it that challenges my customer or my prospective customer? What is it that I want to teach them and what message do I want to get across to them? And, you know, breaking it down. Some people might say, you know what, I'm not funny, or I can't be funny. Carey (17:16): And I want to help you dismiss that and open up your mind and try to not judge yourself and your team and consider this, consider it because if you don't consider it, other people will and your competitors might get ahead. So, and you might even get (this is kind of a whole nother episode), but I've been reading that corporations are incorporating humor, exercises, team building, and creative sessions to stimulate helping people during their employees during COVID, relax; maybe not feel so stressed at work, maybe being more receptive to teamwork. There's all kinds of stuff that's being done in the corporate world now in the big corporate world. So that's another thing that you might hit two or three or four birds with one stone. So yes, I think it's so interesting. So, we're out of time, but Catherine Caldwell Harris, you have been amazing. Carey (18:24): I can't wait to get the show notes typed out and kind of reread over because you know, you're so knowledgeable. And I think that if people do refer to the show notes as well, that I post with every episode, it might kind of help you have some of these concepts sink in and kind of reflect on them to help you. Thank you so much for being with us today. I so appreciate your time. I know how busy you are. Thank you so much. It's my pleasure. Okay. Have a great day, everyone. Thanks for listening to the All Social Ya'll podcast. For free resources and materials, head over to all social y'all dot com. That's all social Y a L L.com. Also we'd love to hear from you. What subject areas would you like to hear about in future episodes? You can share that with us, by dropping me a comment on our website or in Instagram at all social y'all.  

Integrating Humor into Your Social Media, Video & Advertising Strategy

In this episode 30.2, ? I’m going to elaborate on what is going on with access to the TikTok application or platform and make sure you are aware of the knowledge that we have access to understanding so that you can decide for yourself whether to use TikTok today/for now, or not until more information comes out and I am also going to talk about what other apps are getting more downloads since this news came out and what’s happening there so you can think through what it means to you and your brand now and in the future. TikTok is owned by the Beijing-based technology company ByteDance. In last week’s episode I shared the news that India had banned the TikTok app by requesting Google and Apple take it off their stores for the country of India because of recent military clashes involving soldier deaths in the Himilayan mountains.  The apps have been banned not only as a punishment to China since India is TikTok’s second largest user base, but because of threats to security and privacy.  TikTok might I mention according to analytics, hit the highest number of downloads for any app ever in a quarter – more than 315 million installs globally, so it’s no joke.  TikTok makes a LOT of revenue and India users contribute greatly to their income. Why is TikTok so successful?  Well, people love video, there’s a lot of humorous, yet informative at times content, and it’s user generated which means you don’t have to be famous or be any sophisticated videographer to make videos that people watch, like and engage with.  Then it’s algorithm denotes which videos are getting traction and pushes them out to more people through it’s “For You” feature which I explained in the previous episode 30 -TikTok for Business – Steps and Platform Nuances Don’t mistake this message as political, rather I want you to know so that when you do – if you do – decide to invest further or invest at all in creating content to share on the app that you are aware of this impending possibility. As of today, July 14, 2020 as I record this episode, there remains significant opportunity to reach the younger demographic and some older as well.  That being said, there are valid concerns that TikTok is using data on there to share with the China government.  TikTok has denied this.  TikTok wrote on a blog post published online, "We store all TikTok U.S. user data in the United States, with backup redundancy in Singapore. Our data centers are located entirely outside of China, and none of our data is subject to Chinese law."  Their CEO is an American hired and out of Disney, Kevin Mayer, where he was head of streaming services.  His first day with TikTok was June 1, 2020. TikTok’s policy says, “We may share your information with a parent, subsidiary, or other affiliate of our corporate group.”  Similar to information that Facebook, Google, and Twitter can collect from you using their apps…..which videos you watch, your location, what you’re searching for…that data, they have access to.  It’s how they help make their app better and learn what you like and what they should feed you.  If you give the TikTok app permission it might get your usage and location, say. But know that apps can only access their own data.  It’s not like the data from using the app will open up your other content such as email ok?  A lot of people are freaking out because they think the app can get access to your health data, or your financial data on your phone. No.  That’s technically not how it works. It’s another point to appreciate that Unlike in the US, for the Chinese government to demand data from a Chinese company, they have to give it to them.  Whereas in the US, there are regulations that organizations can fight to refuse to give the government certain information if protected by distinct regulations.  I’m still on the TikTok app.  I’m not an alarmist….but I’m saying we should be paying attention to this. The Gov’t of India published a Press Release stating that “The Ministry of Information Technology has received many complaints from various sources including several reports about misuse of some mobile apps available on Android and iOS platforms for stealing and surreptitiously transmitting users’ data in an unauthorized manner to servers which have locations outside India. The compilation of these data, its mining and profiling by elements hostile to national security and defence of India, which ultimately impinges upon the sovereignty and integrity of India, is a matter of very deep and immediate concern which requires emergency measures.”  They are not talking just about TikTok but about 55 other Chinese owned apps.  The two countries also compete for leading innovation “in tech advancements and a primary market in the digital space.” So in our country, here in the US, Now Pompeo has stated on national television that the US administration has confirmed that it is “considering” not decided yet but “considering” whether to do the same in the US and that they are “looking” at the app..  Adding that it is just one of the several options that the White House is considering to “punish China over the pandemic.” So I mean, Of course they have to consider it.  OF course they have to look at it.  It’s a privacy situation but we also have free speech here.  It’s like balancing it is new, not brand new but we are in a privacy, security volatile environment like never before.  That’s what is happening.  It’s just the FACTS! Since all of these announcements have been released to the public, US included, the apps Byte and Twitch are seeing an uptick in downloads. Have you heard of those? Hmm?  If not I’m going to share with you more of what they are.  Gaming is going up as a trend anyway.  Big content creators who have multi millions of followers and engagement on TikTok and YouTube are being formally approached by gaming management companies like one called TalentX Gaming to capitalize both for themselves (these management companies) and for the creators, to move into gaming.  The creators play the games and share them on video, with dialog and sometimes music on the apps.  This is why it’s important for brands should know:  These gamers, YouTube/TikTok stars - They will be able to advertise as such the games that they play and show ads when they live stream their gaming.  The agencies or gaming management companies need MORE big creators – there’s a shortage - to get into gaming because there is a shortage so if they already have the following and it’s a huge opportunity for brands to reach their – really like a cult-like audiences very quickly.  It is also significant to the creators because the pay is higher due to the shortage.  So they can sometimes literally and more and more often make a very high paying career out of it.  This is being done today on Twitch and YouTube and now TikTok is developing gaming capabilities, Xbox is getting tied in and I’m sure many other companies that I haven’t named here.  It’s the new thing.  It’s coming if you don’t know! ? So what are Twitch and Byte? Twitch is a live broadcasting platform where people can get together to watch eachother by streaming games.  Streaming can also include talk shows, special events that they make, music events and more.  So people watch eachother play while they can socialize – there’s a chat capability that makes it more social; more so than YouTube because it’s a live streamer with live chat.  Streamers that put up content and grow it creatively make money. On Twitch.  Twitch has it’s own monetary program where creators can receive donations or get monthly subscriptions. Now The Byte app is fairly new- It’s come out Q1 of 2020.  It’s a huge competitor of TikTok.  It allows to share 6 seconds long (similar – in fact a sequel to Vine –it is a sequel to Vine -  in fact the cofounder of Vine Dom Hofmann is an exec with Byte) and the Byte app also allows you to loop together these 6 second videos. Dom Hofman created a monetary system for creators, more lucrative than TikTok’s.  TikTok has those token exchanges….if you go live on TikTok you can get Tokens from your Live attendees.  And the creator is like Oh my God thank you!  Shout out to whoever gave it to them. But it’s not as lucrative and TikTok stars make their money in other ways. So that’s it!  I know, I get excited.  This is not something I saw coming withTikTok and India – no - and I hope the conflicts get resolved soon. But I wanted to share with you. I see this type of security and privacy seeping into the social media and network platform world impacting us more- you know whith the bots and the trolls and it being an election year…what’s real and there’s so much happening in the world we have to decipher what is real and what is not.  But it seems highlighted socially, culturally and globally. And it is so tied into our lives.  Remember you never own your followers on a social media platform so it’s best not to put your eggs all in one basket so to speak in the social media digital world and it’s all moving along so so fast. I hope this was helpful.  I wanted to call it 30.2 because I didn’t want any news to come out that the US has banned TikTok and I didn’t give you a heads up as to what is going on.  It’s important to know what’s real and what’s out there. But I also know TikTok is a huge super amazing platform that has a ton of opportunity and the other platforms are going to come out with their own versions of it so if you are on it and you’re familiar with it, - the other platforms are probably going to come out with their own versions of it and these recent developments have probably accelerated that.  I was just talking to a business owner today who told me they just got on it – they have posted a couple few videos and I applauded them because even if they don’t focus on it as a part of their social media strategy, they will be ahead of many other companies because they already know the TikTok – LIKE features and capabilities. Let me know your thoughts on Instagram or Facebook!  Thank you for being here with us.

Episode 30.2 TikTok News Developments

TikTok for Business - Steps & Platform Nuances

TikTok & Alternative Social for Business? How an Investing & Personal Finance for Millennials Company is Serving Audiences on Social Media

Episode 28:  6 Facts, Industry Trends & Predictions to Help Inform whether your business should start a podcast The simple concept of the ability to stream content like talk radio on demand on any device over the internet is gaining mass market appeal or what’s also referred to as “Mainstream”.  The podcast industry is becoming more mature and inevitably is seen to take over radio since 90 to 100 million Americans listen to a podcast every month.  Podcast shows are being made into television, movies and books and the distribution channel lines are being blurred with the evolution of video and audio consumption options. Said by, Cara Meverden of Scout.fm, “Our user studies have shown that tons of people who don’t listen to podcasts listen to YouTube while they drive. YouTube will help this market listen in their cars without breaking the law, and podcasters will start to aggressively jump onto YouTube.”Cara Meverden, Scout.fm Podcast discovery is much easier and widespread After the concept of podcasts being a reality now for 10 years, now the technology companies that are hosting and distributing podcasts, like Stitcher, Castbox, iTunes, and Google Podcasts, are paying attention to discovery like never before.  Google is placing podcasts in search results in effort to reach the 51% of American’s who have never listened to a podcast.  They have rolled out a feature where it will make search placement based not only on the episode and show title, but also the content itself.  In other words, based on exactly what was said in the episode.  From there, Alexa (and Siri?) will read extensive paragraphs from podcasts from audio search technology accelerating. “The market for shorter, bite-sized podcast content will grow, as will podcast consumption on smart speakers.” Tom Webster, Edison Research “More shorter-length sub-five-minute podcasts will be made — these work well on smart speakers, and respect listeners’ time. Expect not just news updates in this format, but others, too.” James Cridland, Podnews Podcasts are Reaching brand new audiences every day 32% of US population listen to podcasts (its was 26% in 2019) iHeart Radio is putting up podcasts every Wed. onto 110 radio stations in effort to reach more people who have never down loaded a podcast app on their mobile device.  Alternatively, radio station NPR launched a podcast early on in effort to reach the 25-34 age segment who tend not to ever listen to radio. A Westwood One 2019 study showed that listening time increased 19% for ages 50-64 between the July 2017 & July 2019 two year time frame. Industries are more often now helping customers by making podcasts available. Last Sept. Delta Airlines made Spotify podcasts available in flight 700 planes. According to Delta, the partnership with Spotify is an effort to bring new offerings to customers so they can make the most of their “me time” in flight.  Right before the busy holiday travel season, Jet Blue expanded its in-flight entertainment options with the addition of podcasts. The podcast content will come as part of the airline’s alliance with Spotify, which will put shows created by its Anchor, Gimlet, Parcast and Spotify Studios into the in-flight lineup. Growth Opportunities Financial Times has an average listen-through rate of 75% and its 2019 audio ad revenue from podcasts tripled in the past year.  They are expanding their audio podcast programming by testing a subscription only podcast rolling out this month, to see what the market will pay for exclusive subscription only content (kindof like a Loyalty Program). The first show in this wave is The Rachman Review, which premiered earlier this month. The program is hosted by popular FT columnist Gideon Rachman. “Consumers start paying for podcasts in a more meaningful way. From Luminary to Stitcher Premium, from Wondery+ to Patreon, consumers will increasingly come to accept that there’s a place for ad-supported and a place for ad-free, consumer-supported podcasts, as they have in nearly every other form of media.” Hernan Lopez, Wondery Gender Opportunities - A 2019 study by Edison Research % 36 women have listened to a podcast in the last month, compared with 39% of men. women are more likely to be currently defined as ‘rookie’ audience members, or people who have listened to podcasts for six months or less. Women account for 53% of that group, compared with just 37% among the ‘veteran’ group, defined as listening to podcasts for three or more years. Despite often being newer to the format, women listen to more podcasts per week on average than men. Women spent an average of 7.3 hours listening to podcasts per week, compared with 5.9 hours for men. Women were more likely to take show recommendations from their friends and family (25% compared with 18% for men). About a fifth (19%) of women found shows based on social media posts, while only 14% of men did. There was also a marked gender divide in discovering shows through Internet searches: 34% for men and just 18% for women. Advertisers are increasingly putting more ad spend to podcasts. Forrester: Data shows Podcasting Could Hit $1 Billion In Ad Revenue In 2020. A May 2019 study by Westwood One called Advertisers Perceptions shows steady growth of Advertisers increasingly putting their dollars to podcast audiences which means there is an audience and targeting is there. 39% are currently advertising in podcasts. That total has grown 2.5 times greater from the inaugural September 2015 result of just 15%. “The audio industry continues to innovate in response to consumer needs, habits and preferences,” said Frank Papsadore, EVP of marketing for Advertiser Perceptions. “Podcast growth is a clear-cut example. Add to their wide range of topics, new media superstars, and provocative, unedited content – the unprecedented growth of new listening platforms like smart speakers…”   Ability for Podcast to help achieve business Goals: BBC StoryWorks, the branded content division of the BBC Global News, commissioned a study by Neuro-Insight researchers into the power of sponsored shows to connect with listeners and achieve business goals. The Audio:Activated study found that the tendency to engage in other tasks while listening to a podcast increased receptiveness to the company’s messaging. The results showed that nearly all (94%) listeners consume podcasts while doing other activities, with chores at home (61%) and driving (55%) the most common tasks. The active group outperformed its counterpart on all engagement measures, including a 40% higher score on emotional intensity related to the branded show. The research observed that brand mentions delivered 16% higher engagement and 12% higher memory encoding than the other content in a branded show. These programs also saw an 89% boost in awareness, 57% increase in brand consideration, at a 14% boost to purchase intent. The study noted that branded podcasts posted better metrics in reaching “ad avoiders” than television…..(a category that go out of their way to NOT watch ads).

Episode 28:  6 Facts, Industry Trends & Predictions to Help Inform whether your business should start a podcast

Hi Everyone, Welcome to Episode 27 – Hiring a Drone Pilot – 9 Basic but not so Basic Things You Need to Know to Save You from Potential Big Business Mistakes This is a continuation of a series (previously episodes 15 & 24) on the many many opportunities with drone videography ad photography with Drones that can be shared on social media, while I share with you my journey to earn my FAA Part 107 Remote Pilot License.  I’m still in study and learning phases!  I’ve competed 25 modules so far and passed all my quizzlets ? So! When you decide to hire a drone pilot to capture video and photography for YOUR business.  It’s a great time to do that for some businesses right now or at least to start planning so let’s get right to it. #1  The FAA looks at drones as a small aircraft and the operator of the drone, the person or co you hire, as the pilot.  In selecting them, of course first and foremost confirm they are licensed or FAA Certified!  The drone also needs to be registered with the FAA and the license needs to be applied to the drone itself.  Then, like any other pilot you would put your hands into, you’ll need to feel comfortable with their professionalism, their aptitude, and even their decision making process.   The FAA does provide a free online portal that you can go to to confirm the pilot you wish to do your job is indeed in their certification database. You can just put their name into the fields and the system will tell you whether or not they are certified.  I’ll put a link to that for you in the show notes. https://amsrvs.registry.faa.gov/airmeninquiry/ #2  There are risks the pilot you choose will undertake and because they are working for you, you take on at least a portion of these risks.  Such as the drone hitting a person, damaging property such as a window or a car which leads to #3 - #3 Ask if they’re insured.  If they do have liability insurance, it should be at least a $1 million and cover bodily injury and property damage. Even to the a highly skilled remote pilot, there are many factors that can contribute to the loss of control of a drone!  For instance, an aircraft part or software malfunction, signal interference (there’s been documented security systems or wifi routers can be strong enough to interfere drone operations), or a strong wind or other crazy weather occurance. #4  Related to #3, It’s kindof a random one, there is a chance that the drone battery could start a fire.  The batteries inside the drones are quite large – they’re anywhere believe it or not, between 6 pounds and 55 pounds.  Drone batteries are LiPO batteries or lithium polymer which are rechargeable and the have a fully charged voltage of 4.2V. And their weight is pretty heavy, it can be equivalent to like 5-10 cell phone batteries They have advantages of ways they can be shaped and sized into different aircraft. There’s different manufacturers that make these drones.  Another thing about them is their lifetime is quite long and they put out a lot of power.  There needs to be care in how they are handled and stored.  The drone pilot has this responsibility as well.  In the event of an accident and the battery gets punctured or crushed, it can start to heat up, it can then smoke, and even flame and start a fire. So it’s good to be aware of! #5  The FAA Part 107 License expires every two years.  So afte I pass my test -  I haven’t set a date – with the terrible stuff going on in the world today, I sometimes get temporarily distracted – do you? Phone conversations with friends or business associates and stuff, and if you go out to run errands it takes a lot longer than you used to do really quickly.  So anyway, I need to set a date that I can aim for when I will take the test but after I pass I will need to re-take the test in two years.  So you don’t want a lazy guy or a lazy gal that is flyin’ around and is like oh I’ll take that test later and doesn’t have their license current. the drone pilots need to keep their licenses current by taking the renewal test and having the certificate current with the drone itself.  Make sure you get proof from your hired operator. #6  The FAA outlines five hazardous attitudes that can compromise a pilot's decision-making: they name them anti-authority, impulsivity, invulnerability, macho, and resignation.  The reason you will want to feel prospective pilots out for these is because it could hamper the outcomes (potentially extreme) if they tend to have these personality and decision making characteristics. In something known as the DECIDE model with decision making, we first detect a change or deviation from our planned action. We then estimate the correction required. We choose a desirable outcome, initiate change by doing something, and evaluate the effect of this action on correcting the deviation. Under normal circumstances our decision making system works seamlessly and without error. But when things go wrong or not as expected, it puts stress on the human operating the remote aircraft. Antiauthority – The words in the pilots head here are “don’t tell me”. this is the attitude of well, the rules don’t or always don’t apply to me. For instance to save a few minutes of time the pilot could cut corners, or violate airspace. Impulsivity – or “do it quickly” These people need to do something, anything or immediately and so they might abandon any rule or checklist preparation Invulnerability – or “it won’t happen to me” they never really feel or believe that they will be personally involved. Pilots who think this way are more likely to take chances and increase risk. Macho: “I can do it.” Pilots who are always trying to prove that they are better than anyone else think, “I can do it—I'll show them.” Pilots with this type of attitude will try to prove themselves by taking risks in order to impress others. While this pattern is thought to be a male characteristic, women are equally susceptible. Resignation: “What’s the use?” Pilots who think, “What’s the use?” do not see themselves as being able to make a great deal of difference in what happens to them. When things go well, the pilot is apt to think that it is good luck. When things go badly, the pilot may feel that someone is out to get them or attribute it to bad luck. The pilot will leave the action to others, for better or worse. Sometimes, such pilots will even go along with unreasonable requests just to be a "nice guy." #7  The location of the shoot, there are several factors your pilot will need to consider – The precise location and span of airspace he or she will need to file a request and gain formal approval known as a “waiver” to fly in restricted airspace zones sometimes 90 days (at least) in advance of the video shoot. There are several classes of airspace that have different rules – Class B near big busy airports, Class C near smaller airports like Jacksonville Fl or Flint Mi for instance, ClassD Airspace which is smaller tan B7C sch as The San Bernadino International California Airport; And Class E.  There’s also MTR or Military Training Routes that have their own regulations, of course. The time of day – I explained in an earlier episode that it is illegal to fly at night and what is the definition to the FAA of “night” The duration of the flight. Many commercial drones cannot fly more than 30 minutes at a time. #8  A Pre-Flight Checklist  Your pilot should be able to fluently discuss how he will go about creating a pre-flight checklist for your mission, let’s say, to capture incredible video to feature your business or to make discoveries for your business – and then be able to share that with you pre-flight.  For instance if you are a realtor or a restaurant let’s say, it may include temporarily turning off electronic security systems in and around the building, home or commercial property that is being captured so as to limit interference.  This pre-flight checklist will give you reassurance that your pilot has prepared, is professional and will limit both of your risk.  In the event something does go wrong, the checklist will also aid in the investigation.  Any time a drone crashes or collides with something a report needs to be filed with the FAA by the pilot. #9  Fees  Ask your potential pilots if they have a contract with fees fully outlined, whether they offer any packages   Thank you so much for hanging out with me.  If you liked this episode, please leave me a review and if you post a comment that you did on Instagram and share with a friend – someone you feel that would benefit, I will give you a shout on LinkedIn, Facebook, Instagram, where everywhere we are on SocialMedia! It’s very stressful world out there June 3, 2020 so if you are listening close to the drop date of this episode please take care – all of you.  No matter where you are in the world….  I am hoping and praying for positive change, unity and peace.  So peace to you – thank you. Sound effects obtained from https://www.zapsplat.com“

Episode 27 – Hiring a Drone Pilot – 9 Basic but not so Basic Things You Need to Know to Save You from Potential Big Business Mistakes

Welcome to Episode 26 How to Incorporate Humor in Your Video Content Strategy and What Humor is Making People Feel and Do in 2020 Open with a played joke from TikTok @careysperry That is a wildly viral and trending audio on TikTok’s social Media right now of people who put dogs around their dining room tables. Laughter is a universal language and although there are cultural Emotional connection with humor.  Humor is everywhere today because there is fear everywhere too and laughter binds us together.  During the pandemic, we see jokes about the frustration with quarantine, family dynamics, exercise, food and drink indulgences, political animations or voice overs….it goes on right?!  In your business it can be aligned to this cultural relevancy either directly or indirectly and this episode I hope will help you piece it together as you think through or include more humor into your video social and advertising strategy. Humor thought of as entertainment, but it can leverage your message. Audiences need to be considered. And it’s worth noting that Not every video benefits from a laugh It makes sense to consider brand advertisements as a backdrop to your video content strategy.  We know that some of the best brand advertisements, such as during the Superbowl, are funny!  Now in a global pandemic, young generations and sometimes all are turning to TikToks of political impersonations, rhythmic dances and adorable child and animal funny instances!  The Boston Globe writes, “…young people are using social media platforms to channel their energy into something a little less serious: creating content that finds the humor — silly or grim as it may be — in the midst of the pandemic.”  The piece points out Catherine Caldwell-Harris, an assistant professor of psychology and a faculty member at Boston University since 1991, she says, “Humor is always going to be pushing the envelope, and we’ve got to kind of give it some leeway for that,” Caldwell-Harris said. “I actually think it’s a neat phenomenon where people are pulling together and having a national conversation about something that’s actually important. Maybe there can be more conversations, you know, income inequality or other things,….” So What is it that Makes Something funny? Well, usually it’s universal in that it goes against what we expect to happen or what we expect someone to say.  I love Bloopers!  I laugh and laugh – why?  Because they aren’t how I expect it to go for whatever they are doing!        There is sometimes a gender difference in “taste” shall I say in humor.  Some women may appreciate what is referred to as a "guy joke", but some find them annoying.  They usually have a shock factor – or a more sexual nature, which isn’t going to fare well in the business world anyway.  But when you are of a certain gender you probably have a tolerance for things that the other gender does not. Culture is another area that will make humor resonate in differing ways. I have to acknowledge there is sometimes Fear in using humor in your content or advertising If used wrong it can offend.  When it is either hostile, degrading, overly aggressive, righteous, of course any of these can be a turn off.  Or like a joke that goes too far – it can do more damage than good.  You’ll hopefully either know where to draw the line because you are vetting out the delivery or you will share it with people on your team or people you trust to share their professional opinion. Remember K-Mart’s ad, “I Shipped My Pants?”  They took a lot of criticism for it sounding like a certain expletive.  Many people thought it was funny and repeated it to their friends and family….others – too much. There are academic Studies out there to help us inform this subject: Recent Studies show that a good laugh can instantly improve mindset and put us in a better mood.  According to Psychology.org, “human emotions such as anxiety, depression, fear, joy, and laughter, profoundly affect psychological and physiological processes.  It goes on to say, “Ronald A. Berk, a pioneer of humor research, from Johns Hopkins University (1976–2006), has published more than 150 articles regarding humor, laughter, and learning.” He proved that “humor can bring dead, boring content to life.” To overcome the challenge of teaching “dead, boring content,”  Might you think if you’re honest with yourself that any of your content, products or services may be perceived as a bit dull at times?  Consider taking a funny twist!  If you are selling something that may have some anxiety associated with it – and there are many – think of financial services, mental health help, relationship related companies like dating or counseling, medical….I could go on…anxiety is at a high level right now with the Pandemic anyway…. Even mild Humor may lower defenses and establish rapport which can increase your persuasive effects. According to a recent Nielsen study on social behavior as it pertains to the TV, as consumers keep close to home and to their TV sets, they’re using social media to stay connected now more than ever.  It further found that, “As more consumers shelter in their homes, they’re turning to social media to pass the time.”  The study was focused on TV, but this closely parallels social media video content and Social Media Lives or Live TV. Neilson also reports that Humorous Advertising themes resonate highest of 16 categories!  They go as follows (and I put the graphic in the show notes) 1 – Humorous 50%, 2- Value Oriented 38%, 3- Real Life Situations 35%, Family Oriented – 33%, 5- Pets/Animals Centered 27%.  The rest of the categories are Health themed, High-Energy/Action, Aspirational, Sentimental, Sports Themed, Celebrity endorsements (which is only 8% in the US), Sexual, and Athlete endorsed. I found A new study by researchers at the University of Michigan and Stony Brook University found that 20 minutes of improv experience causes people to feel comfortable and more tolerant of uncertainty.  In one experiment, improvisation activity was to a control group with social interactions where people picked a friend to talk about, a movie to discuss and physical actions to demonstrate. The improv group improved more in divergent thinking, but both groups increased in feeling good and comfort with uncertainty.  This goes along with the point I highlighted earlier that funny things are what disrupt what our minds and emotions expect.  And it in a very short period of time makes us feel better.  I put a link to this study in the show notes as well. Strategies for incorporating humor into your video content – word play, timing, visual, self-effacing humor or humbling yourself so people feel you are real or authentic/  Also, humor aids in the attraction first of all (just getting their attn in the first place) then sustainment of attention when you are trying to teach someone something. So many brands ARE trying to teach people things and the consumer will execute on learning more or buying the service or product just because you got their attention and kept it – while they were laughing at your message. Let’s highlight some Brand Examples             In Insurance: State Farm – “Who are you talking to?”  “it’s Jake from State Farm” "What are you wearing Jake from State Farm?"  "Uhhhh Khakis?" (laughter) Geico – with the lizard Progressive with Flo and also the half man half motorcycle dude – being a Motaur Product:  Old Spice with Isaiah Mustafa Dollar Shave Club did this ad on a dime….it’s on YouTube and I put it in the Shownotes. The CEO is riding around their ware house…it’s hilarious.  This same also talks on CNBD at iConic Conference in 2017 about how he came about with the co., the ad and how it led him to a $1 Billion dollar acquisition by Unilever. Video:  So we all know hopefully by now that a video strategy will serve your content and marketing strategy well – your viewers/followers and customers want it in short form and long form at times, but so do the platform algorithms. Now How can you Incorporate Humor Into your Video Strategy Here are 6 Steps You can take Today: What will be relatable to your target customer? For instance, I did a video series broken down by ea “episode” targeting authors.  Before Covid, I had a program to help authors with their social media strategy to market their book that included capturing video content for them, editing it and delivering it either straight to their social walls and stories, OR storing it all in a Drop box for them to post. Step 2 – Make a list of challenges or situations that your target customer has. So, using the author persona again – my list included writers block, play with words and I did a meaning of slang word video, sleep apnea…..laying in bed thinking about the book and finishing the book.  Do you follow me? Step 3 – Don’t need to spend a lot of time on this step, but definitely helps to spend a few minutes searching for videos that are targeting the same target as you are. Is anything trending?  Did you find a video funny and now you can make it your own? Out line a script. Depending on who will be in your video(s) besides yourself, you may or may not need to get ultra specific.  The new style of video first revealed in YouTube and now TikTok – I’m referring to the “style” of video, not the purpose of the videos….is multiple quick cuts – back and forth with little delay time if any inbetween. Edit it together – use an app like Slack to merge the clips together and write text over the Add music and even captions…depending on where you are going to post it. On LinkedIn, you really need to have captions on your videos. A bit less important now that people are working from home, but if they are bored in a meeting they often will scroll away on LinkedIn and read the text while watching your video with sound down or off all together. I’d love to hear what’s made you laugh lately?  What brand caught your attention?  What questions do you have about how to formulate a video series?  DM me on Instagram or Facebook @allsocialyall (Audio from @careysperry TikTok Video #1 on What is an Influencer Anyway??)

Episode 26 How to Incorporate Humor in Your Video Content Strategy and What Humor is Making People Feel and Do in 2020

Welcome to episode 25 – How 1 Restaurant sold out in 3 hours online using social media and a committed digital strategy;  What hospitality brands need to do to win in this digital environment. You’ll hear me interview bbq restaurant owner, Shawn Walchef of Cali Comfort Barbeque.   Shawn emphasizes how important it is to have your leadership and employees engaged and contributing to your brand’s social media conversations, We highlight text messaging as the “next” effective way to delight your customers and give them instantaneous 2 way interactions allowing you the ability to convert orders AND! how humanity can be a winning factor in post modern branding;  when you show and express kindness, and you participate with your community it will build connections that go a very long way.

EPISODE 25: How One Restaurant Sold Out in 3 Hours Online, using Social Media & Digital Strategy & What Hospitality Brands Need to do to Win in the Next Digital Age

Use Cases & The Current Opportunities & Realities of DRONES and Drone video footage Today we are DIGGING IN further to the state and opportunity of DRONES.  As I explained in Ep 15 the Drone market is growing to 129.23 billion by 2025, according to a new report by Grand View Research, Inc. The Drone market is growing on an extremely HUGE projectory!  The FAA reports that there are guess how many registered drones in the US?  1.6 Million, 442,000 of which are used for Commercial.  Many pilots own more than one drone it’s worth noting. The fastest growth comes from businesses and civil governments. It is overall impacting a vast majority of industries: Drones are becoming a part of business in Construction, INsurace, Oil & Gas, Police or Fire Force, The Coastguard, Journalism, Customs or Boarder Protection, Real Estate (which I reference specific use cases in both residential and commercial in a bit), Utilities, Energy, Cinematogrpahy (movies which is how many of us think of Drone footage - which is at a 21MILL industry alone – bottom of the $$ projection list hey!) In this episode I also share follow up on My journey to becoming a certified remote pilot of an unmanned aerial vehicle or UAV and the growing Drone market and what it can mean for YOUR business!  For these flying objects - There are some very interesting uses cases being developed. There are unlimited use cases that are virtually untouched.  1 of the more obvious and talked about is delivery.  The FAA is encouraging innovation in package delivery and is organized to facilitate it with industry, local, state and tribal entities.  There is a five phase certification process that companies who want to incorporate a package delivery service. Traditionally, we’ve had UPS, FedEx, The United States Postal Service (where I still have to wait in line to get a package mailed), Uber Eats transports food to our homes and workplaces. On September 27, 2019, UPS Flight Forward conducted its first package delivery by drone with its part 135 certification when it flew medical supplies at WakeMed's hospital campus in Raleigh, NC. Allow me to introduce you (if you haven’t seen it) to a social media post (on Twitter) about a Drone experience serving a customer with excellence! He an Aerospace Ocean Engineering professor. He posted a video of receipt of a store order via a drone while his dog looked upon this odd machine dropping it down into his back yard. His Twitter handle is Shane Ross @RossDynamicsLab Professor @VirginiaTechAOE Aerospace & Ocean Engineering Apr 10 2020 he posted, Drone delivery to me & my dog at home. My 8-month-old Labrador was unperturbed by the drone, but curious and eager to go fetch the package (dog food?). The delivery was from Walgreens via @Wing , & arrived 5 minutes after placing the order. #logistics #dronedelivery #covid19 #dogs Now Grocery Drone Delivery  Speaking of Wing! Bloomberg reported that Wing, which is Alphabets Drone delivery service, is seeing a big increase in orders in the Christiansburg, VA pilot program  it has been running since the Fall of 2019.  In fact, demand has doubled since Covid 19.  Wing partnered with FedEx and Wallgreens to send household essentials to local residents .  They even now have added a local bakery and coffee shop! To expand offerings during the Pandemic.  This drone pilot on YouTube, Dmitri Marian, reversed engineered coffee delivery – during Quarantine because of  Covid19 from his home, ordered a cup of coffee from his local Starbucks and flew his drone that had upgraded antenaes, TO Starbucks, they put his coffee in a bucket attached to the drone and he flew it back.  Dude!  Take a listen and I put the link to the video in the show notes if you want to see it.  It He posted another one on both YouTube TikTok where he orders a cup of coffee from McDonalds.  If you want to watch it and you’re on TikTok he is @dmitritv There is still a lot to figure out before we will see multiple brands doing this….having to do with regulation and safety. Prime Air with Amazon is coming, you may have heard.  It will be a service that will deliver packages under 5 lbs in 30 min or less.  Prime Air has development centers in the United States, the United Kingdom, Austria, France and Israel. We are testing the vehicles in multiple international locations.  The link in the show notes has a few videos – quite entertaining and humorous videos, where Amazon helps you understand how what they call “a miracle of modern technology” will help you understand the conveniences it will offer you and imagine under what circumstances you will be able to use it!  Your child has a soccer game, the dog at one of her soccer cleats – Amazon Prime Air to the rescue! Dominos Pizza has been investing in automous delivery for a few years now.  They tested drone delivery but the automous car will be released first as they have partnered with start up mini manless self driving car, Nuro.  The little bug like cars drive up to 25 mph.  Dominos announced their partnership in 2019.  I have the link to a video featuring the car and the service in the show notes. The service is limited to customers who place online orders in Houston, and they deployed its grocery delivery service in Houston in March. Nuro’s partnership with Domino’s initially will be limited to a single location and will begin in the fall. “We are always looking for new ways to innovate and evolve the delivery experience for our customers,” Kevin Vasconi, Domino’s executive vice president and chief information officer, said in a statement released by the company.  Quoting again, “Nuro’s vehicles are specially designed to optimize the food delivery experience, which makes them a valuable partner in our autonomous vehicle journey." "The opportunity to bring our customers the choice of an unmanned delivery experience, and our operators an additional delivery solution during a busy store rush, is an important part of our autonomous vehicle testing,” the statement added. Now you are Visualizing your product being placed on a Drone. Or let’s back up – how can the order even be placed for Drone delivery? I encourage you to to consider text …I talk about this in an upcoming episode with a barbeque restaurant who is DOMINATING this!  If you’re a restaurant owner, please hear me on this.  Text ordering will help you.  I plan to release that episode explaining it all next week. So! Onto Use Cases in the Medical field Matternet M2 Parcel Delivery Drone Matternet is the world’s leading technology platform for on-demand drone delivery in urban environments. They specialize in very fast accurate delivery of medical items such as blood samples between locations inside of healthcare or hospital systems.  Their drones can carry up to 4.4 lbs and travel twelve and half miles within 30 minutes.  This benefits both patients (customers) and the healthcare efficiencies and man hour costs. A company called Dragonfly has created a model that from nearly 200 feet, their drones can detect several coronavirus symptoms, including fever, blood pressure, heart rate, and breathing rate.  So if one of these drones (you’re standing out on the street) detects Coronavirus of someone else who has the virus you might be glad.  You might be glad if it were you! Or some might feel this is an invasion of my privacy.  I don’t know….it’s so new.  It’s in similar vein of regulating wearing masks – at the time of this recording, states like Massachusetts and NY, NJ and many others are all fining citizens when they are out of their homes without masks on their faces. I don’t live in one of those states right now. There are phenomenal Use cases for Residential and Commercial REAL ESTATE There are results floating around the web claiming that Listings that feature drone photography and videography sell 68% faster! Well a Company called SoldbyAir conducted their own study to be sure of that data, and they report that 83% of home owners prefer to work with an agent who uses drone videography to feature their home.  They also found that high volume agents meaning those that are more successful I guess you could say, selling more homes, or spending more time on the craft – they use aerial footage 3.5x more often than lower volume real estate agents.  Which I thought was really interesting. The footage can be used (the drone footage) for real estate on the listing platforms like Zillow as well as formatted to social media platforms.  Apartments, townhomes and senior living homes can be viewed from a buyers home.   Which is really convenient, and experiential, you know what I mean?  They feel like whoa – there’s music and they start feeling like they are seeing it face to face. For Commercial developers, instead of looking at outdated Google Maps, current drone footage informs a purchase consideration or project preparation.  There’s also something called, Orthomosaic Mapping which is stitched together drone footage that provides a high resolution piece of gigantic perhaps hundreds of acres of property with extreme precision, accuracy and detail.  Commercial realtors know that the maps are a crucial piece to closing on a deal – and these deals are most often very large in price.  The maps – particularly video – help engage the emotional connection to the property.  It helps the realtor demonstrate the market expertise and opportunities of the special area transitions between you know - the various spaces, roads, natural elements like trees etc.  Very powerful!  Jerry Inguagiato, friend of mine, Senior Vice President with CB Richard Ellis, which is a commercial real estate broker or agent, told me “it enhances the visual experience for my clients.”  So he said that very confidently. It is a reality that a drone is yet another moving vehicle – thus the name, “unmanned aerial vehicle or UAV”. With that comes the inevitable accident or collision.  My exam studies this week have covered many aspects of drone pilot safety knowledge so far.  One, you cannot fly at night and there are very specific guidelines around when is considered night.  When is it night? Do you know? They are very specific - How the pilot has to be within 3 statute miles  of the drone from the control station a person standing at the control station of the small UAS must be able to see at a diagonal distance of 3 miles into the sky in order to detect other aircraft that may be approaching the area of operation So much like boat safety, there’s “see & avoid” laws and the pilot cannot be in a moving vehicle or aircraft while operating the drone.  Meaning you can’t be driving something while you are operating the drone which sounds obvious but there are some wild risky people out there!  So there’s rules around this pilot license. So with your business…there may or may not be something that there is an application.  But of all those industries that I listed, it isn’t even a whole set. These are the Questions Thinking of yourself - YOU as a consumer – is often how I urge people to think about it we are all consumers ourselves, put your self in the customers shoes which I know you do pretty much every day – ask will you get great benefits??  With Covid19 we are all needing grocery delivery at times…some of us are using that exclusively, some of us are blending – using it most of the time, while supplementing with “mini trips” and others are doing ONLY mini trips and no grocery order.  So anyway, it’s just a mish mash of how people are going about it depending on their circumstances.  But it’s transforming the industry as well as the customer experience.   So what’s relevant to all of us today is Food – food delivery, restaurant experiences and grocery stores.  And I want you to think about how can your business either have a dotted line to the food business or how can you learn from the essential food business customer experience?  Because this is not just about beautiful  videography right?  It ‘s also about practicality, so it just depends on what it is. ….pause (music) Back to case uses - Another active use case is in Agriculture where our food sources are grown or harvested.  Drones are saving time for farmers, ….they are being used for things like, scouting fields, discovering weeds and diseases that erode growth, they help identify things like water deficiencies! Important stuff to the Ag industry. Now there are 3rd party software that agriculture companies can purchase to create maps on the health of their crops.  Why I highlight this is to connect the technology capability.  The Drone is the capture device and with it, it can inform and VISUALIZE which can then be transmitted into data visualization software to help business owners see and understand realities, patterns, and insights. No matter what your business or industry is, what you can ask – ask yourself these questions: How can I help my customer better visualize my business or offerings? This relates to the video aspect, similar to the real estate examples I gave; What kind of insights can I discover in my business to improve my customer experience? This means discoveries from footage…or engagement or conversations from customer viewership; How many perspectives or discoveries can I make available to either my customer or my management team to help them make informed decisions? This is long term findings and patterns….throught long term patterns to be able to make changes. The Emotional Connection - We are going through the living experience of change with the growth of Drone use – both professionally and the hobbiests flying them….how do you FEEL about the buzz of Drones being around you?   I am talking about the emotional or feelings you might have of them being being a part of our lives? Have you envisioned or FELT this becoming our new norm?  I’ve listened to people share how they are very uncomfortable with Drones being around them.  It’s weird now but do you think it will be like, “normal and fine” after we adjust and reap ongoing benefits? I’ll leave you with that.  Thank you for being here once again.  Please share it with anyone it might help in their business and let me know if you’d like anymore content like this around drones.  I am going to continue to cover the topic through my journey to become a certified pilot myself.  I have a little ways to go!  But I am chipping away at it and I appreciate your support.  Have a great rest of your day or evening.        

EPISODE 24: Use Cases & The Current Opportunities & Realities of DRONES and Drone video footage

EPISODE 23 PART II How Business will Change After Covid19 Coronavirus

EPISODE 22 How Businesses Will Change After Covid 19 Coronavirus with El Sassa Radio and Podcast Host Sassa

This is episode 21 Coach & Athlete Training & Workout Ideas in a Digital Virtual COVID19 Quarantine.  It was so timely because I had noticed the challenges athletes and coaches were going through having to translate the in person experience to digital and virtual.  Coincidentally or by God’s Will, I was invited to be a guest on this podcast, SportsLifeTalk with 4 incredible hosts out of Austin TX. So for middle school, high school and college level athletes transitioning their workouts to the home (gyms have been CLOSED)….may be opening soon but - The areas are the same – cardio, weights, position drills, reps, rest, stretching, diet, mindset, teamwork, sleep and injury care and prevention.  That’s a lot!  Now while at home players all have differing equipment, differing needs, ….strengths and weaknesses to work on, their mental state coping with quarantine….some struggle in school and may or may not have the parental or family support they need…. So we discuss here – where coaches AND parents! can start….what coaches and families can incorporate to achieve better results for the individual athletes and for themselves and the team….and some steps they can take….i list some creative ideas that can increase player engagement in both their own workouts and with team work and accountability.  I share some great Apps – food and nutrition apps, speciality or niche apps, etc.  We talk about some great outdoor set ups and inexpensive if not free stations players can make in their back yards.  Last, I note the childrens online privacy protection act, or COPPA, that adults should be aware of. I have put this tip sheet up on the All Social Y’all Facebook Page Coaches, players and parents can download free so please go there and I’d love to have you comment or ask any questions there or share ideas and pictures of what’s working for you!  I hope you enjoy this episode.

Episode 21 Coach & Athlete Training & Workout Ideas in a Digital Virtual COVID19 Quarantine

EPISODE 20 Improve Your Return on Facebook & Instagram Ads Using Data & Artificial Intelligence (AI) with Jerry Abiog

A podcast that will help you achieve excellence at serving your customers on social media; while putting the customer at the center of your brand experience! Our guests give you the secrets to creating a modern social media experience that supports your business goals, furthers your growth, while remaining authentic to your brand.

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All Social Y'all Podcast

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