email discussion with a start-up businessman

Here is an email conversation I had with an old friend who wants to start up his own business.
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Tom wrote:


Greg,


I believe that documentaries are a very powerful means of getting an idea across.  If done 
right, you can hold an audience's attention for an hour and impart information coupled with
emotion, truly a powerful tool to make a point.


Having said that, it's also difficult to make and expensive.  So, my idea for a "conservation ad service" (if you will) can use that format but it would be only a small portion of the service (again, I'm still forming ideas).  I'm a big believer in the future power of mobile computing and importance of education, put those two very different things together and might get an idea of how varied of an approach I'm thinking.  Books on iPads, interactive walks in parks, short and long-form TV, tweeting and blog services... an 'ad' agency for conservation that also creates content.


Art and nature go well together and so I think there might be some beautiful opportunities.
One problem I'm still trying to solve is video on an iPhone.  I agree with your assessment that YouTube is a powerful platform but Mac don't do Flash and Mac rules those platforms.  


YouTube ("m" as in "m"obile YouTube) does HTML5 as I understand but I'm still a little shaky on that still.


Speaking of shaky, I'm thinking of teaching myself WordPress as a go to web form for myself and perhaps future clients.  Any thoughts on that?


Thanks.


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from Greg....


Tom,


Facebook: I know that's the buzz, but I would tread carefully and slowly there.


Just today I heard they are closing down the "Tabs" at the top of the pages. A lot of people like those. Too bad for them.


Also, FB does not like people not using their formal ads. Of course, that is now their bread and butter. So, when you see people touting how to market on FB -  "dominate the market" - my reaction is "Yea, right, not so fast". Does that help? Even the formal ad system is suspect at this point.


My experience with Twitter is awful for advertising. But I sell products. You have a service. I think I'd rather have a strong presence on LinkedIn, at least that is what I am hearing out there. People who tout social network marketing are usually people who do not have direct success with that. Everyone is an expert these days, but few have real hard experience. 


If you can find a good case study that disproves me, I'm all eyes and ears.


greg


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from Greg...


Tom,


WordPress....


The initial learning curve is quite low so have at it! But a major value is putting in the "plug-ins" which is very simple once you've done a couple.


If you have more time than money (as a Chicago cop once said to me about going to traffic school for a ticket), then it would not hurt to teach yourself the basics of Facebook. After that, when the train is rolling, you can hire Toby to do what he does:
http://www.themightymo.com  Take a look at the sites he shows there. 


We sell Facebook as a way to unplug the expensive umbilical cord from your webmaster, but in reality they seldom get to that point. They come to an understanding that significant changes are few and far between and can be done for a few hundred dollars a year. IT actually makes sense to have me or Toby or someone else with a lot of experience to make those changes. 


greg
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Greg Cryns
Work At Home Profiles