Bikes, Babies and Blogs

A couple of months ago I started this blog to share some of my experiences with social media as I went through my assignments of my last module in the Marketing Certificate from UC Berkeley.

After those weeks I can say that I still hate social media! Not the tool, but how it is used sometimes. The constant useless updates with everything a person does or thinks still drives me crazy! I reinforce here: I’d rather ride!

On the business side though, it really makes sense if used correctly. The sense of community created around a brand and the ease of getting messages across are really great! You can get your product advertised to you by your customers by creating a buzz through the social media channels used in your marketing strategy. I can definitely see myself using some of the tools social media and web 2.0 offer to leverage results in my area of responsibilities at work.

The motorcycle market has a great example of good use of social media. Harley Davidson has over 2 million fans on Facebook versus a little over 100 thousand of Honda and Yamaha combined and this also reflects on their sales of motorcycles and accessories. Harley was able to create a great online community through their social media pages and also website, coordinating events and rides all over the US. One of them was an attempt I had frustrated by the weather a couple of weeks ago.

This past weekend though, I changed my point of view again. Last Saturday a beautiful baby girl called Julia was born into our home bringing great joy to me and my wife. Now, when it comes to blogging or using social media, I’d rather ride. But if the choice is between spending time with my baby or going out on a ride, I’d much rather stay.

I can say now that this should be the last post I make on my blog and that my bike should spend long weekends on my garage. It is all about priorities, and mine now is to spend quality time with my family.

I tried

After all of the frustration with the weather forecast last Thursday, I talked to a few friends from work and we decided that we would still give it a try if it wasn’t raining in the morning.  There was a light at the end of the tunnel… I checked the hour-by-hour forecast and the chance of rain was down to 50% for the morning and early afternoon.

Saturday morning, alarm goes off and for my joy I looked out the window and even thought the weather was overcast it WASN’T raining! Got my breakfast, changed my clothes, put on all my gear and off I went. My wife even took pictures to register my last ride before Julia comes.

To cut the story short I arrived at the restaurant we were supposed to meet and at 10:00 AM sharp a friend and his wife showed up letting me know that the other guys backed down and decided not to go. No problem, we can still go! I was just finishing up to top off my gas when it started to rain… We looked at each other and then and for my sadness decided to cancel the ride.

I guess I really can’t catch a break! At least we decided to get inside and have something else to eat. We had a nice hot chocolate, spent some good time talking and went back our separate ways. At least I got a few things done around the house and studied a little bit!

Tonight I checked online and found a few pictures of the Chili Cook-Off they had in Jamestown Saturday.  It would have been a great compliment for that cold and wet Saturday. Maybe next time! Here are the pictures from Jamestown http://www.facebook.com/JamestownHarleyDavidson?v=app_2344061033&ref=ts#!/album.php?id=119216431436340&aid=49785

Can I catch a break?

Last year I started taking classes for a Marketing Certificate at UC Berkeley and with the extra effort to take two classes at a time I did not find too much time to ride on the weekends. It was a very weak season for me. The odometer barely changed compared to previous years going out almost every weekend plus week long trips to Southern California and another one to Seattle. 

This year I know it will be the same but for a good reason! My wife and I are expecting our first baby and she is due in the next 3 weeks! And especially for that reason I have been anxiously waiting for a little break to take my last ride before my life changes forever. Don’t take me wrong, I couldn’t be happier with the arrival of our first baby, but I NEED TO RIDE!

All the plans were in place for this weekend since last week and now I look at the internet and the forecast is for rain!

Can I catch a break?

Who knows? Maybe I can take the time and stay home updating my Facebook page! hahaha

Start your engines!

The weather is finally getting better, no more rainy and cold days outside… And this could only mean one thing: Motorcycle Season is about to start!!! I am finally going back on the road! I couldn’t wait any longer! The first ride is to Valley Springs-CA with some friends from work.

There is only one thing I’ll miss then… how will I be able to check my Facebook page? What about my tweets? How can I enjoy the scenery if I know I am going to missing on what everybody is saying online?

Just kidding! I couldn’t care less about it! One thing I have to admit though, Harley Davidson has a very good community page on their website and you can see their next events in your area. In our area we have a great chili cook-off in Jamestown on the 19^th. You can check it out at http://www.harley-davidson.com/EX/HTR/ecal/events/EventDLRDetails.asp?locale=en_US&bmLocale=en_US&HDCWPSession=ynTJN3vb21k4qg2nGYMvFyTnsndWTmKyLHTnSWJ03B2nzRglWkJJ!48482708!1076861165&id=19893&type=D&dealer=0

Riding with an avatar

Even though I try, the more I learn about social media the less I like it! Like I said before, I understand the benefits of social media as part of a good marketing strategy, and if you use it correctly you can reach your target market with the right message at the right place.

At the last module we were discussing another piece of the social media puzzle: second life. I think the name makes perfect sense… If you prefer to create a digital representation of yourself and spend hours online living on an alternative reality you really need a second life because YOU DON’T HAVE ONE! Why would you go online to visit a bar, go to a concert, meet people??? What happened to enjoying the taste of a cold beverage at the bar? Interacting with someone face to face? Really living?  

I would never imagine myself creating an avatar to go on a motorcycle ride online. There is nothing that replaces the sensation of being out on the road, feeling the wind on your face, enjoying the scenery at every curve. There are so many beautiful places around us to explore, new people to meet, friends to visit… and they are all out there. Not online.

 Let’s get our bikes out on the road and RIDE!!!

TOO MUCH INFORMATION!!!

Last week, after procrastinating a lot, I finally decided to create my profiles at three social media websites. Yes, not one or two, but three!!! Facebook, MySpace and Twitter!  

 During the process I realized why I had been waiting for so long… I HATE IT! It is not that I had never tried before, I have! Who remembers Orkut? A long time ago, after moving from Brazil to the US, I decided to create an account to keep in touch with my family, post pictures, share some thoughts…  I knew then that I wouldn’t like and I was right. I posted maybe ten pictures on the first week and those are the same ones that are still there three years later! It is just TOO MUCH INFORMATION!!! Who has the time and patience to get in a read about what everybody is doing, thinking and let them know about your every single step! I’D RATHER RIDE!

 Back to 2011, the quest starts again!

 I started with Facebook, took some time to choose a good picture (after all I wanted to make it work!), updated my profile, looked for some friends and good! I’m on! And now, after a week I have 51 friends!  How sad!

 Twitter… Same picture, profile, found a few people / companies to follow… done! I even have followers! A total of eleven souls, one friend, three classmates (who are graded for participating on other’s social media activities!) and seven others that I never heard of! And I only made one stupid tweet!

 Finally MySpace… How frustrating! I didn’t know anyone! I guess my friends are like me and don’t like social media!  For a whole week I had ZERO friends and now I have two friends from my class!

 And the great thing is that after a whole week trying to get in everyday to “manage my social media activities” I found out that I did everything WRONG! I should have created profiles related to my project and my blog! Long story short I had to create new profiles on all of them and started from scratch! My Facebook page now has one person that likes it… and she really doesn’t! It is just my wife trying to give me moral support!!!

 While I struggle trying to improve my social life online, I look out the window and the weather is looking great! How I wish I were out there riding!

 ANYONE UP FOR A RIDE?  

Motorcycles and Social Media

This weekend, as part of my assignment, I had to make an analysis of the social media efforts made by a certain industry. Without even thinking twice I chose MOTORCYCLES!

It was actually kind of fun when you research and follow something you like… I compared Yamaha, Honda and Harley Davidson.  The first two were lagging a lot with respect to the use of tools available with Web 2.0 but Harley had a really good strategy in place.

Their website had lots interaction, sharing and collaboration. You could customize your bike and buy accessories from their website (the others you could only print a list and go to the dealer), upload pictures from your rides and have access to their events calendar, ride plans and even schedule a tour to their manufacturing plants! You could really feel the sense of community! And on top of that, all of their social media websites were integrated. You could become a fan on Facebook, MySpace, check their YouTube Channel with lots of cool videos… And that’s probably one of the reasons they have over two million fans on Facebook (I am one of them now!) versus less than 40 thousand from the other two combined.

If you analyze it from a business perspective it really makes sense! I could see the benefit of social media… Now, when you look at my personal use… what a waste of time!!!  Next time I’ll share my experience creating my profiles!