Chromjuwelen Magazine X Flipboard

Just because we are working hard on the relaunch of chromjuwelen.com doesn't mean we stopped publishing our web finds or selected stories from our Contributing Network. Of course, at the moment we don’t produce lots of Chromjuwelen reportages, but our social branches like Tumblr are busier than ever. Regarding Tumblr (Chromjuwelen, Chromjuwelen Motor Öl) we are looking forward to set a new record soon: 15k followers. Yeah!

Furthermore, we are gaining new experiences with another curation tool: Flipboard. So if you are a user — tell us in the comments what you think! Here's our Chromjuwelen subscription link.

Chromjuwelen.com: WHERE'S THE BEEF?

"Your stories, your international network, your multidimensional brand Chromjuwelen — DUDES, YOU ARE SITTING ON A GOLDMINE!" — that's what Chris and I often have heard since we launched Chromjuwelen.com back in 2005. But as stated in "It’s time to get focussed" we suspect that we buried — faced with so many funky and irresistible interweb opportunities — our Unique Selling Proposition — STORYTELLING. So it’s high time for digging. First of all for our USPs, then for gold.

We decided we'll to do it publicly, with opened visor. In short: We'll use storytelling to hack our broken storytelling. Virtually as a a self-prescribed therapy. To illustrate our mission, we'll borrow Wendy’s famous claim as our battle cry. 'Cause "WHERE'S THE BEEF?" hits the nail on the head. Especially these days, where the media scene seems to explode and everybody affirms he's making millions. We don't believe the hype.

We've got a long list of topics we would like to discuss, including things like money (of course), reach, trendsetters, language and culture — just to name a few. So stay tuned and let us know in the comments what you think. And of course, we still speak Deutsch. So don’t hesitate.

Google+ Communities

"Google+ Communities" is the new kid on the block. And although a lot of people think Google+ is dead, we think it's worth a try. As of shortly Google's tools felt clunky and geeky, but in the meantime that has changed. The web-interface is smart, and the new mobile app is a killer. No more fiddling with different apps, just one intuitive and snappy client.

Beside from that the quality of communications quality on G+ is very high. Which is perfect for our intention, as we aren't interested in just another blinged and artistically-filtered food porn flash in the pan. Our intention is much more to create cultural (Think: Motorkultur!), long-tailed storytelling.

You wanna join the party? Follow this link!

Google+

A few days ago Google rolled out "Google+" and we are honored to be part of it. At the moment it is still a kind of closed beta. "Kind of" because sometimes it seems to be possible to invite other people, but most of the time it fails. 

Due to our concerns for Facebook we are thrilled what this will do to the whole "Social Media" circus. Will it be a game changer? Or a geeky non-starter? It seems Ford (FoMoCo, Ford Europe) tries to find an answer as well.

Be that as it may — our first steps on Google+ feel very good. The whole interface (web/mobile) is excellent designed and fun to use. If you are on Google+ — let's get in touch! 

Social media is not "cool." MAKING MONEY IS COOL.

If you are making your money in the publishing-/marketing- or agency business, you've got to have an idea regarding "Social Media". There's no getting round it, Social Media is the big hype these days. And as there are no instruction manuals how to use Social Media, it is just a big trial and error. So do we, by the way. I post regularly about our defeats and successes.

Today I came across an article from Peter Shankman (Business Insider), which is perfect for all of those, who are just thinking about hiring a so called "Social Media Expert". Read it. And think again.

My favorite quotes (except the borrowed statement which I used as headline):

[...] Being an expert in social media is like being an expert at taking the bread out of the refrigerator. [...]

[...] Social media is just another facet of marketing and customer service. Say it with me. Repeat it until you know it by heart. Bind it as a sign upon your hands and upon thy gates. Social media, by itself, will not help you. [...]

[...] "It’s not about building a website anymore! It’s so much cooler! It’s about Facebook, and fans, and followers, and engagement, and influence, and…" Will you please shut up before you make me vomit on your shoes? [...]

Sure, some statements in Peter Shankman's article may sound radical. But there's some truth in it.

Tumblr Cars: Ranking Position #1 and #9

How weird. I just apologized for my inabilty and stated I still have to learn how to use Tumblr. But something must have went right: Tumblr just ranked two of my blogs in their "#cars" top ten (link only works for logged in users). The Dodge Charger III Concept—source: Amcar Guide—went on first place, the 1970 Pininfarina Modulo, which I found at Flavien Dachet's always inspiring "Karznshit", ended up on position nine.

This is funny. I started using Tumblr as my personal scrapbook and moodboard, used it later as a workaround to collect inspiring sources for our Chromjuwelen Grid, but never checked whether my articles are liked by the Tumblr community. All the more I am surprised to find my articles in Tumblr's "Popular Top Ten".

But to make it clear: It was the Amcar Guide, who wrote the article about the Dodge Charger III Concept. And it was Flavien Dachet, who presented the Pininifarina Modulo. This means: The kudos belong to them!  

I failed at tumblr

I just received an e-mail from one of my best-loved blogs, Just A Car Guy, that I reblog articles without quoting the sources right. I am a loser.

One of the biggest and outrageous blogging mistakes is not naming the sources—blogs, flickr, profiles—where you dig your stuff. I hate it when people are doing this with my stuff. But this is exactly what I did, so it seems.

I use my tumblr to dig articles which inspire me. We import those articles to Chromjuwelen.com as well. I relied on my workaround that everything would be fine. But it is not.

With this post I would like to apologize for my failure.

Guy Kawasaki: Enchantment

Tenshun—this is offtopic. Sorry for the interruption. It hasn't to do either with cars, nor with Motorkultur. But it has do with media. And this is at least our other passion.

A few weeks ago Guy Kawasaki sent me his latest book: Enchantment. If you are into (internet) media, you'll probably know Guy Kawasaki. Guy is a Silicon Valley venture capitalist and best known for his marketing campaigns in the early days of Apple. We got in contact over Guy's Alltop.com, where we contribute our Chromjuwelen articles.

I am just reading Enchantment, and I think it's a must read for everyone who tries to set up so called "Social Media" campaigns. Btw, I think in the meantime everyone is sick of hearing the expression "Social Media", but unfortunately it describes this Twitter-Facebook-Tumblr community clutter best (for the moment). Especially in Germany. Where still a lot people try to sell "Social Media" concepts to agencies and companies.

Guy is noted for "having brought the concept of evangelism" (Wikipedia). And this is exactly, where are lot of modern campaigns lack. In an automotive industry, where not uncommonly ideas are driven by the (private) interests of marketing decision makers and don't reflect customer needs or product visions.

To keep it short, here's a movie.

I am a loser

First runner up is the first loser. No, I am just kidding. I am totally thrilled Cision picked me and my neurotic ralfbecker.com-blog as No. 2 in their "Top 10 Automobil Blogs Deutschland". It seems like we did a couple of things right throughout the last five years. And it seems like our work has enriched automotive media and marketing as well. Which is awesome!

For those who don't know Cision: 

"Your Story. Covered. You have a story to tell. That much never changes, but the way you get it out does. Every day brings new technologies, outlets and contacts. And every media response can change your public image, for better or worse. Whether you're a communications professional or a member of the media, Cision brings together all the elements you need to find the right leads and sources, target the right editors and publications, get coverage and achieve measurable results. Cision - where the media and PR connect."

If you want to know more about Cision's blog ranking methodology — here is a short overview.

Oh ... did I mention I am thrilled?

SEO, SMO and Motorkultur. Err ... what?

As I mentioned before, I've just fallen in love with Tumblr. I know—under SEO (Search Engine Optimization) aspects it isn't really clever to share your stuff on several platforms. But as we all just learned: SEO isn't everything, in lieu thereof SMO (Social Media Optimization) becomes more and more important. Especially if you deal with a special interest topic like car passion.

Imho SMO is CRUCIAL if you want to reach the right people. To speak from my own experience: I follow a lot of "trust agents". Which means: I read their blogs and follow their Twitter. In short: Really awesome and inspiring stuff isn't brought to me by search engines. And as my partner Chris philosophizes: "It can't be the interest of search engines that everyone out there is writing/producing search engine "correct". It must be more in everyone's interest that search engines digg really inspiring stuff—which is seldom SEO correctly produced. Or—btw—don't you ever have had that creeping feeling that you only find stuff via search engines which is produced by companies with big SEO budgets? Well, I do. Every day.

Any way. Buzzword bingo switched off. I just changed the template on my Tumblr, and with that new (free!) layout comes a tiny archive button. This function was new to me, but what I found behind that link really blew my mind. It's a thumbnail mosaic of my tumblered articles. Ok, the pages takes a moment to get loaded, but it's a nice little feature which I would love to have on my other—really content heavy—site(s) as well. It just gives you an intutive approach to content, which I actually miss on several sites. Especially when I am en tour with my iPad, where a "nornal" hypertext navigation hits the wall.

Maybe this doesn't impress you, but it exactly matches with some thoughts about an all-embracing Chromjuwelen.com weight-loss program. Also it solves another problem: Thumbnails are language independent, so you don't have to read my German School English any longer ...