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Cool tools making it easy to communicate with shoppers

SmartyPants — Fri, 25 May 2012 14:09:33 GMT

There are so many cool toys out on the digital market that are making it easy to communicate with your friends, influence each other and provide useful facts about your interest, that one day Facebook will seem like a pin cushion for spreading your words you share. Though its a community aggregate, allowing you to talk about your favorite shoe designers and sales you are running, it allows smaller businesses to jump on board easily. The trick is, to focus on building your communities around similar demographics. Reading up on the topic in blogs wouldn't hurt either.

Staying on twitter topics trending is only a slice of the work involved with social commerce. The fifteen minutes of fame, now reduced to 3 minutes ( which is the extent and average user spends watching online videos ), harvests a multitude of creative marketing wizards on youtube and you think you could be one of them some day too, right? Yeah, but if you think all you have to do is make a cool video, think again. To spark the interest of your online shopper, you gotta think ahead. The average gal trolls the internet for a yellow dress, ( my fav seasonal color as of this past fashion week ), isn't wasting her time shopping through many sites. Finding technology that helps you access your shoppers needs could be easier for her to discover your business. Because Instead, she'll Google something shes seen before and never stumble upon your site. Hence, shop owners need to figure out how to connect with them and and access your e-commerce sites. Think about your demographic, where she goes, how she feels about herself, where she spends her time at lunch ( on the computer ) and do this all before you start populating sites, and liking general sites you like without a serious campaign strategy.

Enough said from this lover of clothes and shopping stalker.

Social is not free - Mix and Match data

SmartyPants — Wed, 16 May 2012 19:53:58 GMT

Finding your audience and catering information to them has been realized to only touch the cusp of online marketing. Bloggers are usually the first people to share the audiences reactions and sentiments which means they are not only a valuable set of influence-rs but brand advocates. Meanwhile, advertisers and marketers are also now listening to third party informants. Usually big data miners try to work selling this information and on packaging this to ad sales and networks for farther reaching audiences. But bloggers are still and will continue to be the most important part of the bigger lexicon of social. Everybody says social is not free. Its true. This is due to, in part because companies with large marketing budgets can pay for all of the audiences including yours as well as real time data. In other words, as a smaller company, or emerging brand, you have to now be aware of where you sit and where large companies sit in their position to drive more traffic. Regarding new learned skills during internetweek, Mashable's Pete Cashmore shared what they do at their offices. To his point about their mission, it changes all the time. And, they were completely self funded. Make decisions about your brand with the idea that your audience is not just about targeting the benefit of advertisers. Its about the benefit of the community as a hole. It is your responsibility to be the gatekeeper of professional redistribution to your audience.

At IAB lab on Monday, we learned more about Data and demystifying its eco system along Predictive vs. Descriptive sources of enrolling audience which made for a lengthy afternoon. Ironic that at the last hour they reveal that finally big brands with big data are unwilling to share their best practices. Not surprised, the audience listening here ( consisting of mostly marketers and advertising execs) have all known that everybody else keeps their information to themselves. Sharing to outside entities is not supported within most any organization. Though the cool thing is that we all learned that nobody is doing anything that anybody else is doing better. The value of that data is up to you. And, what you do with that data and suddenly question where it comes from, where you lead it and spend on it, is no better than your competitor. If creating content either to keep relevant to your audience or to just keep an open door for new business, targeting audiences, it is an opportunity to build what you have already and take action on your own data. IAB lab is providing very powerful seminars and hosting relevant discussions through their lab. This is especially good and useful information for the online businesses of fashion or life style brands that are setting out to define who they are, as this industry tends to have high levels of competition. And, where there is little opportunity to sit at the top of the heep in Search or Facebook paid ads...Stay tuned, no one knows how to get there or where it will take us. On the exhilarating frontier of internet here in New York, and while at the Head Quarters of #IWNY, we are all in the bigger picture. There, we share bits of information, make introductions and encounter the future break throughs' as we are all on the journey of messages, ad buying, and Real time Bidding followed by my personal favorite, taking the real human experiences and simulating it online.

The art of networking and law of attraction

SmartyPants — Mon, 07 May 2012 14:24:04 GMT

New York City offers thriving technology and finance industries. That along with Advertising houses coupled with fashion design firms, there should be no reason businesses are out of touch with helpful elements in helping learn, prosper and create areas of productivity. Growth in your personal development is part of every individuals assets to any industry. We belong to a culture of rapid information and relying on our communication of a computer, but at a recent networking event held at the Javitz center in Manhattan called the New York Small Business Expo, I sat in on top notch speaking engagements that, regardless of what business you are responsible for, could gain smart advice. Leaders in both SEO and operations management best practices provided clear and concise events.

Maisha Walker, an eloquent speaker, offered evidence of touch points that are critical to your SEO best practices. She started off by telling the audience of over 200 people that SEO may not be for everybody... Meaning if you own a business, first ask yourself what is my budget and how much time and energy am I willing to spend on this area of my business and who is on SERP that is looking for me. Then she set out to illustrate the simple terms regarding SEO. I agreed with her and put into practice for both myself and clients' the 9 elements that makes your SEO work for you, so that it does not become a challenge and time wasting. She spoke on Search Engine Optimization: How to Get a Page 1 Listing in GoogleHer book covers website check list and website marketing tips. Whats more impressive aspect of her speaking is that she actually cares about her clients and she does try to answer everyone's questions.

The other fantastic speaker that was a must attend was Smart Phones, Social Media, Email and You: How to successfully manage your time and our communication. Powerful speaker and Chief Organizing Expert Andrew Mellen provided a seal proof way to live productively. And, the one piece of advice I liked most was: To be effective and efficient, you have to do your most creative piece of work during your sweet spot. Let nothing else get in the way of that. For me that is late morning. And, let go of trying to do a list of things for your day..which spawns guilt and stress. Curating the day is more important. I also like his mention of not reading emails when you aren't ready to respond because it causes stress and frustration. Disturbing emails can disrupt the flow of your day. Incorporate and Seek Successful literature and find time to incorporate reading and writing with a pen or pencil because it stimulates the other side of your brain.

Current Vintage - a comeback draws large audiences

SmartyPants — Tue, 01 May 2012 04:57:28 GMT

Who'd a thunk that some day 80's music, literature and fashion would have eventually become hip again?

The likes of "TheFixx's - Stand or Fall, Modern English's "Stop the World", Siouxsie and the Banshees " Spellbound" and The Payolas' ( there is a reference to that name but if you aren't music industry savvy- never mind ) "Eyes of A Stranger"are all making a comeback thanks to good ol fashion TV syndication - TV Guide Network keeps replaying "Pretty And Pink". Turning the past into cool. It is giving a new audience the lovely melodies of new wave ( my teen years ) a greater appreciation for our inspiration. As a young woman wearing too much black eye liner, striped black and white tights and spiked hair appreciates the era, as I took my ques from Siouxsie Sue. She was my idol. Wearing an Arabic style Pallazzo pant, and an Afro with an electric metallic leatherette as a corset. She rocked. Yet, much can be said good and bad about taste... But, the fact is that the movies "Fast Times at Ridgemont High" (look at how Danny Elfman has transformed the sound track of film and television industry now ) and "Valley Girl" depicted for us - hope. And both share something in common. They spoke to the teens and were the voice of a generation...they gave us an outlet. They spoke to those who felt anxious about where the country was headed post tearing down the Berlin Wall... We wanted something new, and we appreciated technology to transform us for the better. We wondered if Windows would be forever and finally make it....IBM and Apple were just on the edge. Prairie blouses were the rage, while synthesizer were the newest inventions. So old school. who'd a thunk. The latter would change the way we thought about our music, fashion and distribution of both.

Alas, the early 1990's helped 20 something year old's, such as I, embrace newness easily. I have fond memories of the art that influenced me while yearning for something that reminded me of why I believed that we could change the world...And this past weekend, I found myself at a recent poetry reading with Major Jackson as a guest of the Museum of Modern Arts' special Pop Rally Poetry Jam, along with host Terrence Hayes,event. Wow. Mr.Jackson is now a professor of NYU and published author. He read from the semantics of spoken word referring to racism and the movement which would have seemed like it was all the same as our ancestors' and asks us if things really have changed over time? Meanwhile he adds references of Arrested Development and Digable Planets with a beautiful rap style.... As a Cal grad, he was the voice of my generation - indeed. So, is it truly different from our parents perspective? Now, we are in charge, so what are we going to do with our victory of becoming the thought leaders and provokers of change? Is this a moment to say Eureka?!

Business Inspiration and single handed tactics

SmartyPants — Mon, 23 Apr 2012 21:15:55 GMT

Where do you go for help when business is in a slump? I talk to plenty of entrepreneurs yet they refuse to discuss candidly about their failures. This is most peculiar to me as every once in a while we all suffer from lack of support or feel the pain of less than stellar / unsuccessful strategies .

Of course not everyone is as guarded about their tactics and insecurities. I chose to focus this weeks post on single handed innovation in picking up business. Speaking recently at a conference, one of my CAL Alums- JP Morgan's Chief Investment Officer, Irene Tse mentioned, as a younger associate at Goldman Sachs, she had to self realize her own mistakes and deal with a public, and a very embarrassing lack of communication with her internal teams. So, she decided to pick up the newspaper pages and then learn how to verbalize her friendships through sports.

But what if you are a charismatic human being but just can't seem to close a deal? Introducing yourself to a new environment such as bar-tending at a posh watering hole would prove worthwhile. A celebrity stylist said that when he found himself working harder than he wanted too and renting a chair at a salon proved too costly, he decided to work at a top level restaurant / bar in Atlanta to find new customers. As he explained, every woman sitting at a bar in groups talk about their hair and beauty products. Walla. Instant customers.

Thinking outside of your comfort zone becomes painfully real but the outcome could be the best opportunity to try something you can control.

Rewarding yourself for job well done

SmartyPants — Fri, 06 Apr 2012 02:09:48 GMT

Why is it so rewarding to dissect a melon? Is it the art of slicing and peeling away the skin? Or the smell from the first cut into halves? Or is it the art of cleaning out the seeds and piecing into a bowl? I think its all of the above. I get the same feeling when I paint my own nails. The satisfaction is worth every breadth of each nail bed getting precisely the same amount of coats....ah yeah is right! The notion of rewarding yourself after a long day with self indulgence makes entrepreneurship worth it. Whether it is after working with smarty pants engineers that are too cool for school, meeting investors' expectations or just fighting to keep awake long enough to figure out why your website isn't working properly, the idea of taking care of yourself seems unlikely. But the truth is...treating yourself well, eating healthy and enjoying the smaller things in life allows you to just let go. It lets you decompress. And, it is part of what makes taking on a project bigger than you, worth it.

I think mothers in suburbs may have the same stress, but lets face it, busy women have to allow for sexism in the work place, so lets not cry about it and put your big girl panties on - deal with it productively. But, when you are securing tucked in at home after a tough day, we gotta just be normal. And we have all been there. For me, I love nothing more than peeling my own fruit. I don't like buying pre-packaged green-groceries. Instead, let me do the work. It allows me to think and peel away any mistakes I have made throughout my day. I get to cut into an unopened untethered item. Partially why I like to do this act myself is because it brings thoughts back and allows me to re examine them, and instead of destroying myself with "I should have done this", to just allow my decisions to be left in the there own peels, seeds and now, all I can do is polish it off. Thus, all mine to be eaten.
( painted with NailEZEE - Sun-Kissed) @redlightpr.com
Much the same happens to me as I paint my nails...I paint my fears away through each stroke. Its not easy to be either sex, but women in business, technology or whatever do have to work harder to prove themselves worthy and I don't care who you are, its true. Ever ask yourself why Hillary Clinton finally decided to step down after her term as Secretary of State? Maybe its exhausting maybe she needs to just paint her own nails for once. We should not have it easy and get away with our mere good looks, but we are also held to to be better than our male peers.

Investing in Fashion by Nicole Richie

SmartyPants — Mon, 26 Mar 2012 19:25:12 GMT

Timing around fashion content couldn't be better so get your e-commerce business together and roll out. I am secretly watching our ideas on multiple screens - television, mobile and tablet's online to see what can I take away from these surprise successes for my first ever digital fashion project entitled Digishon.com. Fashion is a star, finally. Not surprising is that the "Fashion Star" television series captured the wears, and not the designer to invest in this time. NBC's Fashion Star banked on Nicole Richie because she has tons of followers. I also Googled blogs specifically with her name on the title and found that Ms.Richie has over a dozen dedicated bloggers covering her fashion sensibilities. Why? Because she speaks to the young fashion enthusiasts and shoppers with a carefree attitude. And, she doesn't care if she insults any of the contestants on the show she co-hosts along with forgettable designers. Clearly, Nicole Richie is the star here, though she is not supposed to steal the show, I bet many a young woman are watching this just to see her force another smile to the awful designers ( no apologies here)...She maintains a smart approach which is to not come off being too friendly. Nicole is either going to some day wear any of these garments because she obviously is in love with the design, or not say anything just to be liked. Best of all, she offers constructive criticism to her subject designers. I like her style, but more, I think she goes against the grain of politeness and discreetness, and this makes her cool. I would like to see her collaborate with our Digishon.com and Missoni for more boho chic.

Meanwhile, Yellow wardrobe on H&M buyer was gorg...and the as always,...John Varvatos has a good classic eye. I also like the out takes on the official NBC website for the behind the scenes because the buyers say exactly what is on their minds. Too bad Macy's, Sak's and H&M payed to make this show and have to remain composed on camera.. Thus, if this show teaches you anything? Open up a fashion business because you believe in your journey, and are capable of good hard criticism. But, if you aren't? Then stay in your apartment and paint pretty pictures

Stylish Classics - a race against time was Kali Ranks

SmartyPants — Mon, 19 Mar 2012 15:03:21 GMT

Art and invention should eventually become known as classic content. Digishon.com covered a topic about the start of my career as a wardrobe stylist in 1995 for hip hop video recording artist Kali Ranks of the title song: "Kill Dem All" from Def Jam Records. It was a race against time.

While waiting for Vogue to come calling, I was asked to costume design and style a Hip Hop Artist. As a young and dumb newly graduated fashion enthusiast, my first reaction was anything but happy. I had moved to New York for a career in High Fashion. And, I had in-visioned a career with Super Models and runway shows. So, I took the gig and did my best to re-interpret my ideals of how Hip Hop's message was portrayed. To me, it had become silly and fluff, and I was challenged to change that. I considered myself a serious Art and Fashion Historian. So I pulled my resources from Military shops I had visited, and I did something no one had done before. Using the first ever Slicker WWII German Military wardrobe for a black artist. It worked. And whats amazing about this decision that nobody at the time was happy about? That my work was copied many times over from stylist's such as June Ambrose. Whether she or her subjects and/ or directors saw my video and decided to copy it, it is both an honor and a problem.

When you are the first out of the box to design and invent something new, you get people that say " Wow" while others say, " I want to do that exact and better". So, as is the case, my competitor won by getting a larger paying client to broadcast their work in a larger scale. Our song, and video was a wonderful testimony to creativity, ingenuity and pride to do something new, raw yet sometimes getting shot down...This video is considered a classic now. The style, tone and message has become the anthem to many young people who feel disappointed with the state of our economy, authority, government, etc..But, it stands the test of time in terms of Classic Hip Hop musically and stylistically.

So be it, copycats such as Dribble to Daivd Bushells LoveDsgn Story, happens all the time. We have to happy that we were the first one's to spawn the conversation and invention. Such will be remembered after he shuts down his wonderful website.

Surely we both have plenty of ideas starting up new websites, designing new things, and using the latest ideas...because artists just need a little bump on the road to become the next problem solver.

Virtual overusage in Social Media - spreading the brands

SmartyPants — Mon, 05 Mar 2012 17:25:58 GMT

The time has come for fashion brands that are entertaining or have already become fashion stars all on their own through gifting suits at red carpet functions to set limits, but also get involved with controlling the amount of information they leek to bloggers and industry leaders for public consumption to destroy. Social Media is a vital asset for any company to monitor quality of customer services and merchandising. I advocate social media, but for fashion brands both retailers and designers, I ask,and / or pose an opinion. What is missing for them to succeed, is at the core element to its formation - the mystery which was most intriguing in the early years of runway shows from the 1950's through the 1990's. Brands more than ever, have to keep tabs on what people are saying about them, but now its imperative to find ways to relate to the public, socially and economically as a hole through transparency and fairness. This is good and bad.

Good because small businesses can come up and snag that velvet rope right off the carpets by producing beautiful works for us to enjoy, shop and gaga over at red carpets, while dutifully employees in the USA, made with Eco friendly textiles and get involved with social causes locally. Small businesses need only to have a slammin ecommerce site, or get a strong online partner such that aggregates pools of designers in one shot. Well, not so fast.

Fashion enthusiasts are treated to so many cool sites ( Flash Sites, Aggregates, and Virtual Assistants ), but does it help that in one area of a site you see curated shops catering to super hip unique items, while on the same platform Luxury brands YSL and Gucci get to travel through but obviously with more exposure? Obviously they paid more to get their one way or another...so they sit there in the same company, thus it becomes an unfair playing field. Large companies leave their marks with more visibility everywhere and have bigger punch through killer talent but also with killer budgets in ad spends by paying their wears to be negotiated by Stylists to celebrities for Oscar Fashion as well. For an average consumer she shops online and naturally wants to see what the expensive items are and tries them in her virtual closet. As a consumer, they need to rethink what they are doing in our online open closet virtual shopping aids by becoming aware of the information they are providing to anyone that pays for clicks. For the big brands--it becomes a win win, as they also get to show at beautiful New York Fashion Shows, and provide large marketing budgets to pay for bloggers, engineers, and other nerds to provide information about what is being said and to also write nice things about them. (I know of this to be true having worked at Social Media agencies that managed this entity).

On the contrast, a small business not only doesn't understand the sweeping changes in Facebooks' timelines as well as all their other social media feeds, but more importantly they can't get their data information organized, nor handle and manage Analytics. Thus, they pay even more money to a company like Buddy Media, only to find out that they have to have someone as an expert in house to monitor the hole game. Small brands don't stand a chance at staying in business if you just keep trying new solutions. Social Fresh known for providing insights and technology support to companies put together a cool webinar panel which included tech VP's to help us better understand this.

What can we all learn from this? Lets have a conversation about moving into the new Millennium while bringing it back to Art and commerce. I am not suggesting that Elites-ism is the way to go, but the fact that Henri Bendels, the purveyor of hip sold out to open branded brown and white bags across the country and now only sells Accessories, and that Derek Lam had to close his fabulously designed Soho shop on Crosby Street in Manhattan, isn't a sign? To speak nothing of the bigger more established brands? They are turning into unstoppable power machines spreading their logos everywhere, yet who fathoms them as cool anymore? Surely the kids graduating from Universities in 2020 won't own a Louis Vuitton or Burberry, because they won't be able to afford it and they value or rather embrace having any type of job that allows them to pay rent.

Don't mistake that fashion lovers, including me loves high fashion brands that produce extraordinary works of what I consider wearable art, but it has become too accessible and no longer has its own identity to stand alone as a legend such as Coco Chanel crafted. #justsayen.

What comes around again, an homage to the old- Art as finery

SmartyPants — Wed, 29 Feb 2012 18:06:09 GMT

The Dada movement started in Germany as a protest against the crazies stirring up trouble at the point of Pre-World War 1. Some of their extraordinary work was destroyed during the wars but the few that survived can be seen in our NYC art scene. The Neue Galerie gives us an idea of the innovation and experimentation between 19 c through 1940's by artists in Germany and Austria. Isn't it ironic that we see ourselves as they had? And, at the same point of frustrations with our Occupy movement, and businesses having been disrupted by the ever changing technology available? As with publishing, fashion forms new identities through bloggers and trends seen around the world. Much like the Occupy Tshirts, tweets from areas of the middle east carry a lot of weight. So, why hasn't art been affected? Or has it? Protests continue to influence our lives as does fashion moving us to be individual. Maybe its our nostalgia for everything old, Ala ninety-thirties silent films becoming popular again with "The Artist" sweeping the Oscars ( as I predicted ). The film makers relied on simple film styles but the big difference between the Best Motion Picture of 2011 and their competitors? They didn't need special effects to establish themselves as a phenomenal piece of Art. Everything comes back in fashion.

Fine Art today is no different. Fashion finery has its stories though most designer share one thing in common which is they are always looking for approval elsewhere. They want to seem like they discovered it by themselves. Chances are, they saw someone walking down the street and took a picture of them. As does where artists discover their inspiration. Probably the disgust they have for their social economical climates. At the turn of the century, artists hated their rulers and dictators, ( we know who they are...), hence pasted together quick photographs and newspaper clippings while painted over other works of art. Then, differently, Klimt painted lovely fabrics from his fashion icons. The Industrial Revolution changed how we fought wars. That didn't effect the artists' point of views. So, lets take a look back how we channel the minds of artists to decorate our own lives and share our modern thoughts....
First Dada and Klimt
and an unknown artists such as myself was given an assignment to feature velvet fabrics as realistic as possible through graphite pencil:

Portraits by Mildred Brignoni 1987
or Motion Picture Costume Illustration for a circus scene our lead actress was to wear.