Jill MacRae and her husband Kyle are the founders of social media marketing agency Blether Media. We spoke to Jill about the rise of social media and her new project, Blether Video.
So, what exactly is social media?
Social media is about people coming together and talking online. In essence having a good blether – hence the name of our company Blether Media. Nothing more complicated than that. For businesses it represents a huge shift from the old broadcast style of communication where you advertise and control your message, to a form of communication that has to be honest, transparent and open to criticism. With social media your business or brand is what people say it is.
How can it benefit businesses and individuals?
Every day millions of people are passing on tips and recommendations, asking for advice, sharing content, looking for and offering work, and they are doing all of this in massive social networks. If you have captured people’s attention, delivered a great service or added value to their lives in some way people will talk about you in their networks and so your name and your brand spreads. This network effect is incredibly powerful, but beware! If your product is rubbish or you deliver a poor service people are going to talk about that too.
What’s your favourite social media tool?
The tool I couldn’t do without right now is Tweetdeck, as it offers a really easy way to manage my Twitter, LinkedIn and Facebook profiles, and allows me to set up searches and track key words that I am interested in. For sheer simplicity and effectiveness though I really love Posterous – a free tool that will have you up and blogging in less than 5 minutes.
You were the original founder of Scoopt – the world’s first citizen journalism picture agency. Can you tell me a bit about that?
The Asian Tsunami in 2004 demonstrated the value of amateur photographs to the world’s media, and the arrival of mobile phones with built in cameras meant that people could snap a breaking news photo if they found themselves in the right place at the right time. My husband Kyle and I saw an opportunity to create an agency to sell amateur news photographs to the press and we set up Scoopt in 2005 to do just that. Scoopt was in fact an early, successful experiment in social media as we built an international brand on a marketing budget of virtually zero. We did it by listening and engaging online, by adding value to relevant conversations, by offering first-class user support, by exploiting media interest, and by making it easy for supporters to evangelise the business to their friends and contacts. We sold Scoopt to Getty Images in 2007.
What was the best scoop you ever had?
A Scoopt member working in a Manhattan office block sent in a photo they had just taken of a light aircraft that had crashed into the building opposite. The pilot had been a well known American football player, and because the event happened just as the UK papers were going to print it was a real ‘hold the front page’ moment. The photo made several front pages and sold worldwide.
Can you tell me a bit about your new project, Blether Video?
The internet is a very crowded and noisy space and people’s attention spans are short. To grab attention quickly and communicate effectively online you need video. We are about to launch www.BletherVideo.com to meet this need and provide businesses and charities with affordable and original online videos.
What was your first job?
My first Saturday job was in a shoe shop that was owned and run by three generations of the same family. It was there I learned the importance of really looking after and valuing your customers. My first ‘proper’ job was as a graduate trainee for what was then the Burton Group, where I worked in the buying and merchandising department.
Can you tell me a random fact about yourself?
I created the Race for Life and organised the very first 5K event way back in 1993, when I was National Events Manager at what is now Cancer Research UK.
Describe yourself in three words.
Creative, Inquisitive, Determined
Where’s your favourite place to relax in Edinburgh?
The Chinese Hillside in the Royal Botanic Garden.
You can email Jill at jill@blethermedia.com and follow her on Twitter @jillmacrae
