Monthly Archive for March, 2010

Invest In Korea Social Media Tools

Published
by
Ian Smith
on March 31, 2010
in Author-Ian Smith, Economic Development, Investment Attraction and Web 2.0 Strategy
. 0 Comments

On the heels of our recent post, “Invest In Sweden Social Media Tools” that discussed the use of web 2.0 tools to promote a region for foreign direct investment, we were informed on the LinkedIn Group, Foreign Direct Investment - FDIexecutive about the Invest In Korea economic development 2.0 initiative.

Invest In Korea seems to be slowly building their presence on some of the popular social media websites.  Using the UK Trade & Investment integrated approach with Invest In UK as a model, Invest In Korea is promoting their region by means of the following tools:

1) Twitter Feed

INVESTinKOREA is a source of information regarding the foreign direct investment entering the country.  This evident by the use of the hashtags, “#FDI” and “#Korea” in the posted tweets as seen in Figure 1.

InvestInKorea Twitter Feed

Figure 1: INVESTinKOREA Twitter Feed With Appearances Of Hashtags, #FDI and #Korea

2) YouTube Channel

The InvestinKorea YouTube Channel has a collection of  multilingual promotional videos.  Below is a  clip that combines a listing of world rankings for Korea in terms of economic factors, top sectors and key locational factors.  To reinforce the message that Korea is the best place to invest, brief testimonials from CEOs of companies that are in the country are used.

Using subtitles throughout the video allows the promotional clip to be effective without the audio track.

The use of the two tools are solid building blocks to add to in the future.  Will we see a Facebook Fan Page?  Stay tuned!!!

Using LinkedIn Answers For Competitive Intelligence Research

Published
by
Ian Smith
on March 29, 2010
in Author-Ian Smith, Competitive & Internet Intelligence and Web 2.0 Search
. 1 Comment

Intelegia is always seeking out ways to using social media applications to gather information on sectors, companies, products / services and individuals.  LinkedIn is an efficient tool, if use correctly, to collect competitive intelligence data as seen in the posts, “Competitive Intelligence Research With LinkedIn - Who’s Hiring?” and “Using LinkedIN People Search To Profile A Company“.  Here is a look at applying LinkedIn Answers to access strategic information.

LinkedIn Answers is a database of questions and answers by business experts that are on LinkedIn.  The questions and answers are organized by topic however; users can conduct a basic or an advanced search query.  Figure 1 is image of the index page of LinkedIn Answers.

LinkedIn Answers

Figure 1: LinkedIn Index Page

Case Scenario:

As a competitive intelligence researcher in the biopharmaceutical sector, you are asked to find the prevailing trends in the diagnostic kits market.

Solution:

As an alternative to conducting an extensive web search or purchasing a report, you may attempt a search using LinkedIn Answers to gather insights from industry experts.

Figure 2 captures the input process to query LinkedIn Answers using the Advanced Search function.

  1. Keywords entered:”diagnostic kits” and “trends”
  2. Keywords match in: Questions and Answers
  3. Category: “Marketing and Sales” -> “Business Development”

Figure 2: LinkedIn Answers Advanced Search Form With Keywords

Figure 3 is a screen shot of the result given by LinkedIn Answers.


Figure 3: Result For Keyword Search, “diagnostic kits” + “trends”

If the search application furnished more than one page of results, you are able to sort the results by:

  • Degrees of separation away from the expert(s) answering the question
  • Relevancy
  • Date

Clicking on the results will allow you to access the full text of the question and the 10 related answers. Figure 4 is an image of the initial posted question and Figure 5 provides a look at two answers.  (Please Note:For the purposes of this blog post, the names of the individuals that posted the question and answers are not revealed.)

Figure 4: Question Posted To Linked Answers

Figure 5: Answers Posted By Experts

As seen in Figure 5, LinkedIn Answers will highlight the best answer in green.  In the case above, the best answer was provided by a Business Manager, Sequencing and Microarrays, Roche Applied Science, Asia Pacific at Hoffmann-La Roche.    Reading further down on the page, other experts tackle other trends in the diagnostic kit market.

LinkedIn Answers is available at www.linkedin.com/answers

Social Bookmarking With Google Bookmarks

Published
by
Ian Smith
on March 26, 2010
in Author-Ian Smith and Internet tools
. 1 Comment

Here’s a tip for individuals who still find themselves constantly emailing hyperlinks to colleagues and or friends.  Google Bookmarks is an application that allows individuals to store their collection of internet links on the web.  As a result, the bookmarks can be accessed from any computer that is online.

There are two ways that bookmarks can be placed on the application. I) Importing from existing internet browser and II) Entering the links manually.  Figure 1 illustrates the start of the process of putting a bookmark on Google Bookmarks by clicking on the “ADD STUFF” button.

Google Bookmarks

Figure 1: Adding URLs To Google Bookmarks By Clicking On “Add Stuff”:
Click On Image To Enlarge

A simple “copy and paste” procedure is sufficient to post the link on the application.   As the link is added, Google Bookmarks will suggest related links to add to the list.  The suggestion is posted the “You might also like” section of the page.  Occasions when a URL is not handy, individuals can enter a title of a website and by default, the application will provide a list of sites matching the title as seen in Figure 2 for the site, “Leapfish“.

Google Bookmarks

Figure 2: Adding Leapfish To Google Bookmarks By Keyword
Click On Image To Enlarge

The social element of Google Bookmarks can be seen when individuals allow others to access their list of hyperlinks.  This is done by creating lists of bookmarks and then setting a level of access for others.   Figure 4 presents the interface in which individuals must use to create and publish their lists for others to consult.

Google Bookmarks

Figure 4: Naming and Setting Visibility For Lists

To share the list, the “Share” button located in the right hand side corner of the page must be clicked on to complete the form as seen in Figure 5.

Google Bookmarks

Figure 5: Form To Add Individuals For Sharing Lists

An email will be sent to the individuals with a short note about the list and its respective web address.

Google Bookmarks is available at www.google.com/bookmarks

Invest In Sweden Social Media Tools

Published
by
Ian Smith
on March 24, 2010
in Author-Ian Smith, Investment Attraction, Social Media Marketing and Web 2.0 Strategy
. 0 Comments

E&B DATA, Intelegia’s parent company, conducted a benchmark study of the top investment attraction websites on the internet in 2009.  In the study, Invest In Sweden ranked amongst the top sites.

Intelegia revisited the website to see if there were any new aspects to aid the Invest In Sweden Agency in promoting Sweden as the place for foreign direct investment.  The agency selected to add a Twitter feed, a Facebook Group and a blog.

Twitter Feed

InvestInSweden is a bilingual Twitter feed (Swedish and English) with relevant messages regarding the investment climate in Sweden.   Figure 1 is a screen shot of the Twitter page.

InvestInSweden Twitter - Tools For Thought

Figure 1: Invest In Sweden Twitter Page

Facebook Group

The agency decided to use a Facebook Group instead of a Fan Page.  The  resource is a closed group that individuals must submit a request to join.  As a non-member, the group page is rather empty as seen in Figure 2.

Invest In Sweden's Facebook Group

Figure 2: Invest In Sweden Agency Facebook Group

Blog

InvestICT is the blog created by the Invest In Sweden Agency specifically targeted to the information technology and telecommunication sectors.  The objective of the blog is to provide information on investment opportunities in the two industries across the country.  Figure 3 illustrates the front page of the blog.

Figure 3: Index Page Of InvestICT Blog

Links to all three tools are hidden on the Invest In Sweden website in the “Stay In Informed” section.

Real-Time Search With Social Mention

Published
by
Ian Smith
on March 22, 2010
in Author-Ian Smith and Web 2.0 Search
. 0 Comments

Real-time search has become an essential aspect of competitive intelligence research.  From our recent post, “Social Media Monitoring With Radian6” to our archive of Web 2.0 search tools, Tools For Thought is always seeking out search applications to retrieve user-generated content on a regular basis.  Social Mention is a tool that we came across last week.

Social Mention allows users to conduct a keyword search query to find information from such sources as:

  • Blogs
  • Microblogs
  • Networks
  • Bookmarks
  • Comments
  • Events
  • Images
  • News
  • Video clips
  • Audio clips
  • Questions

Figure 1 is a screen shot of the results for “Comments” using the keyword, “Toyota Prius”.

Figure 1:Results for “Comments” using the keyword, “Toyota Prius”.

In addition, the tool offers an array of Web 2.0 applications in which users can select to discover relevant information.  Figure 2 presents the list of Web 2.0 applications that Social Mention may use.

Figure 2: Web 2.0 Applications on Social Mention

Some of the key features that Social Mentions has to offer competitive intelligence researchers include:

  • RSS feeds of query results
  • E-mail alerts of results
  • The ability to export results in CSV/Excel files
  • Analysis of sentiments (i.e., positive, negative and neutral posts)

Social Mention is available at www.socialmention.com

Thank You Readers Of Tools For Thought

Published
by
Ian Smith
on March 19, 2010
in Author-Ian Smith, Competitive & Internet Intelligence, Economic Development and Social Media Marketing
. 2 Comments

Last week, Intelegia published its 300th post.  From the first post, “Users of Wikipedia - Now Read This!!!” to “Competitive Intelligence Research With Google Squared? “, the objective of Tools For Thought was to provide readers with an outlet to learn about tools and practices for competitive intelligence research, social media marketing and economic development initiatives.

We are honored that we have such loyal readers from around the world.  In January 2010 to February 2010, readers came from over 75 countries, specifically, from approximately 800 cities as illustrated in Figure 1.


Figure 1: Locations of Tools For Thought Readers (January 2010 - February 2010)

From search tools to the use of Web 2.0 applications for economic development purposes, Intelegia looks forward to every Monday, Wednesday and Friday in providing its readers with the relevant resources to be efficient users on the web as a research or communication tool.

Some of the popular posts so far in 2010 include:

We welcome your feedback on each post that is placed online.  Feedback will be used as discussion points in future posts.  If you feel that we are not dealing with an important aspect of competitive intelligence research or economic development, please let us know.

Once again, thank you for dropping by Tools For Thought and your continued support.

Best Regards,

Isabelle Poirier and Ian Smith

Site Selection Tool Puts Indiana On The Map

Published
by
Ian Smith
on March 17, 2010
in Author-Ian Smith, Economic Development and Investment Attraction
. 2 Comments

Here is a look at a new web application that will facilitate the site selection process for investors interested in the state of Indiana.

The Indiana Economic Development Corporation launched StateIN.ZoomProspector.com at the beginning of March.  The tool will allow investors to gather relevant information to make the best decisions regarding site selection and business investment.

Figure 1:StateIN.ZoomProspector.com

Users of the application can simply enter their specifications in terms of what they are looking for their location needs.  ZoomProspector will provide results from the database as illustrated in Figure 2.

Figure 2: Results From StateIN.ZoomProspector.com

It shall be interesting to see if other regions around the world will take a cue from the state of Indiana to rethink how to cater to site selectors’ needs for information.

StateIN.ZoomProspector.com is available at StateIN.ZoomProspector.com

Social Media Monitoring With Radian6

Published
by
Ian Smith
on March 15, 2010
in Author-Ian Smith and Web 2.0 Search
. 0 Comments

With the overwhelming amount of strategic intelligence that is available on social networks, competitive intelligence professionals must have access to a reliable tool that will gather information and organize it in a manageable format.

Radian6 has announced their Engagement Console application, a social media monitoring service which tracks brand mentions across the web specifically on Web 2.0 network accounts.  This can be managed all in one screen.  Figure 1 is an image of the user interface of the Engagement Console.


Figure 1: User Interface of Radian6 Engagement Console

By using the console, user can track content from sources such as:

  • Flickr
  • Google Buzz
  • LinkedIn
  • Facebook Fan pages
  • Public discussion groups
  • Mainstream news sites
  • Blogs
  • Videos
  • Forums
  • Boards
  • Twitter

One of the key functions that users will benefit from is the ability  to save conversations on social networks with others.  This is especially handy for companies who use Twitter and Facebook to engage customers in discussions about a product or service for market research and branding intelligence purposes.

You may access a demonstration of the application at www.radian6.com/register-for-a-demo/

Searching Google Buzz With Buzzzy

Published
by
Ian Smith
on March 12, 2010
in Author-Ian Smith and Web 2.0 Search
. 0 Comments

In case you have missed the news, Google introduced Google Buzz, a social networking application similar to Facebook and Twitter.  Users can post content in the form of photos, videos, hyperlinks and text on their Google Buzz accounts.  This is yet another avenue for individuals to expand on the amount of information that is available on Web 2.0.  As a result, another search tool is available to find information on Google Buzz and other social media platforms. Enter Buzzzy. (Yes, with three zs.)

Buzzzy is an online search application that retrieves real-time content to harvest “the buzz” on platforms such as:

  • Google Buzz
  • Google Reader
  • Digg
  • Twitter
  • Flickr
  • NewsFit

Figure 1 illustrates the results via Google Buzz that Buzzzy provides for the query, “Toyota Prius”.

Figure 1:Buzzzy’s Results Via Google Buzz  For Search Query, “Toyota Prius”
Click On The Image To Enlarge

Users have the ability to refine their results on the basis of:

  • Time (i.e., day or week)
  • Source (i.e., specific platform as listed above)
  • Media (i.e., images, videos, links)

Figure 2 is a screenshot of a refined search for “Toyota Prius on the basis of the source (i.e., Twitter) and the media (i.e., links).

Figure 2: Refined Search - Twitter & Links - For Search Query, “Toyota Prius”
Click On The Image To Enlarge

Buzzzy is available at www.buzzzy.com

Economic Development Groups On LinkedIn

Published
by
Ian Smith
on March 10, 2010
in Author-Ian Smith, Economic Development and Web 2.0
. 0 Comments

Part of having an economic development 2.0 strategy is participating in discussion groups on social networks such as Facebook and LinkedIn.  The benefits of being members of groups related to economic development are:

  • Expanding your network beyond your region and areas of expertise
  • Sharing your expertise with other professionals in the field
  • Learning from others located around the world

Below are a few groups that are on LinkedIn that the team at Intelegia are members.

  • Business Retention & Expansion International (BREI) - This group is composed of economic development professionals that are dedicated to investment attraction initiatives.  Some of the common issues that serves as discussion points are incentives programs, business retention strategies and marketing initiatives for regions.
    Level of access: Open
    Number of members (as of March 9th, 2010): 129
    Owner: Ernest Strickland
  • Economic Development Network - This group is a collection of professionals from around the globe who are concerned about the engagement of research organisations with the economy.  Recent discussion topics include the use of social media marketing applications, marketing strategies and strategic planning issues.
    Level of access: Open
    Number of members (as of March 9th, 2010): 347
    Owner: Steven Brown
  • Economic Development Professionals - The Economic Development Professionals Linkedin group is geared towards individuals who wish to share and learn about best practices in field of economic development.  Lately, members have exchanged thoughts on subjects such as website design issues, search engine optimization strategies and incentive programs.
    Level of access: Open
    Number of members (as of March 9th, 2010): 2 468
    Owner:Gary Knight
  • Foreign Direct Investment - FDIexecutive - This LinkedIn group brings together professionals from all points around the globe in the field of foreign direct investment.  Issues such as attraction strategy, competitiveness, location selection and decision making are the major themes that members discuss.
    Level of access: Open
    Number of members (as of March 9th): 442
    Owner: Douglas van den Berghe
  • Next Gen Economic Development Marketers - As the name suggests, this group is meant for professionals focused on marketing in regards to economic development.  Members include economic development officers and consultants that talk about such issues as social media tools, website design and branding initiatives.
    Level of access: Open
    Number of members (as of March 9th): 171
    Owner: Ben Wright

Are we missing some other LinkedIn groups?  Let us know by leaving us a comment on this post.

Looking for an efficient way to manage your contacts on LinkedIn?  Read Intelegia’s tutorial, “Tag Function In LinkedIn“