There has never been a better time for businesses in Ghana to harness the power of technology or social media than now. The amount of information criss-crossing national borders every second is simply amazing and if you are an entrepreneur like myself and you arent taking advantage of what social media has to offer to the growth and development of your business then...na wa oh! There is a rising increase in #startupsinGhana currently. If you dont believe me check Facebook. I can get as many as 5 requests a week from friends to like their business page which most often has to do with the creative industry. That is cool. But then i wonder if these new startup owners are really tapping into the social media gold mine or are just relying on Facebook for sharing of content. Although the most popular (alongside Twitter) Facebook isnt the only social media application that can boost your reach to your target market. There are so many useful apps that goes to promote brands, increase content and market share in businesss by enabling sharing of content from one platform to another.
One of those apps is Flipboard. I find it interesting that many of my friends with smartphones and tablets have never heard of Flipboard and if they have, are yet to try it out. Like seriously? So recently Flipboard updated its app enabling its users to be able to create their own personal magazines. Now how cool is that?
How can creating a magazine on Flipboard promote my brand or content?
With the update came the ability to flip articles, videos, photos which interest you into your personal magazine. All you have to do is to connect the various social media accounts (YouTube, Flickr, Instagram, Facebook, Twitter, Google+) which are currently showcasing your work to Flipboard.
Connect your social media accounts
Once this is done, you can flip each article into your magazine. Example, the business page you have in Facebook or the website which currently displays your handiwork can be flipped into your magazine. By conducting a search, Flipboard will pull searches related to the keyword. Once you have flipped this into your magazine, your readers will see this content and they can also like, comment or flip into their magazines.
Conduct a Search on Flipboard
Tap on the '+' to flip
So assuming you have 500 readers on your magazine, that means at least half of these readers will read or decide to share your content unto their magazine and remember each of these readers have their own readers who have their own readers who have their own readers who have their own readers..........catch my drift? This is how your magazine will look like when you have flipped into it.
Within an hour the number of people who would have shared your content would be viral. Remember this also connects them to your Facebook page which will give you more Likes and a higher potential for people to contact you on how to buy your product or service. Isnt that cool? And its also a great way to promote and increase readership of your #blog! Flip your blog articles into your magazine ( if it falls within the description of the mag of course)
So how is it done?
Its easy. Trust me.
First things first.... Create a Magazine
Once you download the app from the
You can search for articles, people, videos, photos etc from Twitter, Facebook, Inside Flipboard, Google+ , etc on whatever topic you are interested in. When the article opens up, tap the '+' button, this will give you the option to add article to an already existing article or to create a New Magazine.
What will it be about? (Name & Description)
I found out later that how you name your magazine can bring you more readers and more subscribers. So lets say you have a craft business. Which could mean you are generally into all kinds of craft or you specialize in handmade bead jewellery/ pottery/ carvings etc. You could choose HandMade Crafts, Crafts, Beads, Art of Pottery, Wood Crafts, Cool Carvings, etc as the name of your magazine. Any reader who comes across your magazine, would immediately know what your magazine is about. The next section asks about a description of your magazine. My best advice? Keep It Simple Sweetie! You can boldly declare it to be 'The Best Craft Works in the World' or 'Best Collection of Craft DIY's'. People will be drawn to your magazine with such a description. Done!
Naming Your Magazine
What happens now? Your magazine is available for all to read. You can share your articles on on Twitter, Facebook, Google+, email, iMessage, Pocket, etc. How is that for promotion of brand?
I have four magazines currently: Living (Lifestyle), The Photographer, Hair Stylin' and Fashionista. When i started it was so frustrating! I wasnt getting readership. Fashionista initially was named Baobab because i wanted to focus entirely on African fashion, i got 3 readers! Shocking! Then i changed it to The Closet, nothing was happening. Then i changed it to Fashionista to encompass all fashion trends (cool ones of course) , fashion fails and galleries. Now i have 853 readers..whew! My best magazine so far is
Hair Stylin' which has almost 11,000 readers
and 633,976 flips with 226 articles I have flipped into. Cool huh! I also get notifications when someone likes, comments, flips or reflips my articles or subscribes to my magazine. I love it when people subscribe because it shows on their Flipboard timeline all the time.
Technology is moving at a fast pace and as we are more of tech-users in Ghana, i would encourage all startups and current businesses to jump unto the social media wagon before they are left in the dust! Dont get comfortable with only Facebook. Hire a #socialmedia manager if you must. :)
Have you created your own #Flipboard magazine already? How are you finding it? Share your thoughts on it, i would be glad to know them. :)
P.S- Please subscribe to my magazines just in case you come across them :)