Simon Mainwaring

We First provides consulting and training to help companies tell the story of their good work in ways that build their business

Social media

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And with a simple snip with the ceremonial ribbon-cutting scissors…voila!…my new website is live. Phew! Like a proud parent I wistfully thumb through the mental photo album of my online brand. I chuckle at my clumsy first steps using Mac’s iWeb template. I smile proudly at the adolescent ambition of my first logo and brand […]

And with a simple snip with the ceremonial ribbon-cutting scissors…voila!…my new website is live. Phew! Like a proud parent I wistfully thumb through the mental photo album of my online brand. I chuckle at my clumsy first steps using Mac’s iWeb template. I smile proudly at the adolescent ambition of my first logo and brand …

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My first post in the series focused on conceptual and design fundamentals when planning to build an online community. These came from my experience with brands like ONE.org, Brine and the E.I.F. This post ranks design priorities and outlines the role of the landing page. Ultimately, the success of an online community turns on whether …

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For the last few weeks I’ve been working on the Entertainment Industry Foundation’s ‘I Participate’ campaign. Having worked with several non-profits, I’ve found they face a similar challenge. While raising awareness for a cause, issue or initiative was vital, getting people to actually do something was the real challenge. It’s been my experience that raising …

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Too often online efforts raise awareness but fail to motivate behavior. Yet that’s what brands need to do whether they want to sell more widgets or change the world for the better. And when those efforts fail, brands understandably become disillusioned, cynical or suspicious of online community building. Yet they have never experienced the power …

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Last week’s post about digital intimacy generated some great debate about how our lives have been changed by social media. It seems appropriate to look back and have some fun with what we might have lost on the way: I miss losing touch with you. I miss the challenge of trying to distil the last …

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There’s no doubt social media makes the world smaller – friends and family across the country and around the globe are only a click away. There’s also no doubt that as frontrunners like twitter and facebook monetize their business plans, social media will prove to be a goldmine for those left standing. What is often …

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