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ketchupismy911-blog · 7 years

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Some weird info on german

1. Germans are direct

In the business world and in general, Germans are known as straight shooters and not the most diplomatic bunch. This tendency can sometimes come off as downright rude, especially in cultures where there is a stronger emphasis on indirect communication.

The reason is that Germans tend to be very goal-oriented in their interaction. They want to get right to the point, and not beat around the bush. Germany also doesn’t have as big a small-talk culture as for example the US, where it is much more common to talk to strangers on the street.

The upside of this tendency is that there isn’t that much to decode. A yes is a yes and a no is a no. It’s not meant as an affront or insult but merely serves to state the actual conviction of the speaker.

2. Germans love rules, organization, and structure

Germany has an abundance of laws regulating all aspects of life (see, for example, the German beer law below) and its people like to obey them. This tendency is one of the many leftovers from the values propagated by the Prussians. Prussia used to be a German kingdom known for its unusually well-organised and effective army.

The amount of over-regulation in Germany can sometimes lead to a certain inflexibility. On the other hand it is the Germans’ ability to organize and create structure which has earned them their reputation for being efficient.

This love of rules manifests itself in many ways. For example, crossing the street as a pedestrian at a red traffic light is frowned upon, even if no car is coming. Every house has at least four different garbage cans: plastic and metal, paper, organic waste, and general garbage. Plus, there is even a government office called Ordnungsamt, which literally translates to “office of order.”

3. Germans are punctual

Being on time is considered a virtue in Germany. They would rather be too early than too late. Punctuality is seen as a sign of respect to the person you are meeting. It does not mean that every German is good about this, but they will apologize if they arrive past the agreed-upon time.

On the same line of thought, train and bus schedules are given in exact minutes and yes, people do expect transportation services to be true to their schedule. However, the Deutsche Bahn (German rail service) has a reputation that their timetable is merely an approximate reference for when trains will arrive or leave the station.

4. Germans love football (soccer, that is)

“Football is a simple game. Twenty-two men chase a ball for 90 minutes and at the end, the Germans always win.” – Gary Lineker

By a wide margin, football is the number one most attended and practiced sport in Germany. It is so popular that it could be considered a national pastime. The German Football Association consists of more than 26,000 clubs and 178,000 teams. There are more football fan clubs in Germany than any other country.

In addition, the German football league, the Bundesliga attracts international superstars and is followed by many people outside of the Germany. The country’s national team is strong in international contests and has won four world cups. Did you catch their most recent victory? In recent years, women’s soccer has also been getting more attention as the women’s national team has two world titles to boast.

5. Germans are well-insured

Germany is a land of insurances. You can secure yourself against almost anything. Personal liability insurance, household insurance, legal insurance, life insurance, travel insurance, pet insurance, car insurance, bicycle insurance, unemployment insurance, you name it. Whether that is due to a special Teutonic need for protection and security is up for debate.

While it definitely makes sense to be insured for some fundamentals (health insurance and car liability insurance are mandatory in Germany), foreigners might think the fact that many Germans have their own personal insurance adviser is taking the whole thing a little too far.

6. Germans are distant

You may have heard that Germans are often described as being a little standoffish and cold. That might be because people’s personal space bubbles are larger here than in other countries. Therefore, Germans have a tendency to treat strangers rather formally, especially at first encounters and – as mentioned earlier – are not always big on small talk.

Though sometimes this might seem like they have sticks in places where they don’t belong, it just means they take a little longer to warm up to others. As a consequence, close friendships with Germans don’t necessarily happen overnight, but when they do form they are generally very genuine.

Germans

love to drink beer

Hell yeah they do! And why wouldn’t they? They’re good at it.

Germany has over 1,300 breweries and more than 5,000 different brands of beer. The country even has a law about which ingredients may be used in the production of the beverage. The beginning of the so-called Deutsches Reinheitsgebot dates back to 1516. Talk about taking brewing seriously.

That being said, it’s no wonder that in 2009 the country ranked second place for beer consumption per capita in Europe, eclipsed only by the Czech Republic (and they invented Pilsner). Germans like beer so much that one of the first things they did after establishing colonies in China was build a brewery. To this day, Tsingtao is China’s second largest beer producer.

Apart from that, every German is able to open beer bottles with anything but a bottle opener (and we are not not talking twisty caps here).

8. Germans know how to bake bread

First, let’s make something clear: German bread is awesome. The variety, the taste, the quality, the fact that it is not squares in a plastic bag meant to be placed in a toaster all make it baking heaven. Studies say that lack of proper bread is the number one reason for homesickness among German students abroad.

Okay, that last fact was completely made up, but baking does have a long-standing tradition in Germany and bread is a big part of the traditional cuisine. Bakeries have tons of shelves full of all kinds of different loaves and rolls (which count as bread in Germany). Dark, white, sweet, savory, crunchy, soft, plain, or with all types of seeds – you can have it your way, any day!

A lot of bakeries will even open on Sunday morning just so that people can get fresh bread for their breakfast, even though, by law, all shops are usually closed on Sunday. I still think one could make a fortune by selling German-style bread next to every international student dorm at engineering colleges outside of Germany.

9. Germans love sausage

Unless you like living off potatoes and staple foods, traditional German food is an insult to vegetarians. Meat in general is a mainstay of German cuisine. However, sausage, or Wurst as it is called here, seems to have a special place in the heart of German meat eaters.

Don’t believe me? Watch this: Bockwurst, Wiener Wurst, Blutwurst, Cervelatwurst, Bratwurst, Currywurst, Weißwurst, Brühwurst, Kinderwurst, Sommerwurst, Rostbratwurst, Mettwurst, Teewurst, Fleischwurst, Jagdwurst, Leberwurst.

And that was just from the top of my head.

As a foreigner and newcomer to German culture, it can be hard to sift through the true and false ideas about traditions, customs, and behaviors. You certainly have to be careful with stereotypes, but now you at least know some of the truer stereotypes you can expect to encounter on occasion in Germany. Now that we’re done playing our little game of true and false, let’s play another game: I double dog dare you…to make some German friends, learn more about their country, and confirm or adapt your ideas about German culture through firsthand experience.

Download: This blog post is available as a convenient and portable PDF that you can take anywhere. Click here to get a copy. (Download)

And One More Thing…

How would you like to explore authentic German culture while learning German at the same time?

FluentU takes great videos and turns them into language learning experiences so that you can learn real German as people really speak it.

You can start enjoying the same content that native speakers actually watch, right now. We’ve got everything from Volkswagen commercials to funny YouTube videos, scenes from “Guardians of the Galaxy” and the hit song “Let It Go” from “Frozen.”

#german #funny #lol

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fourtuneshare-blog · 5 years

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Social Media Marketing 101: Stop Procrastinating Once and For All!

Believe it or not, the social media marketing world has now become a reality:

You need to be different and unique to get out of the crowd!

Maybe you’re applying for a scholarship, finding a new job, or doing a charity fundraising… No matter what it is, people need to know and trust you, and the easiest way to do it is to create your own social media marketing strategy!

Social Media Marketing for Businesses: The ONE secret that is holding you back from getting sh*t done!

You may wonder: What is Social Media Marketing and is it really that important?

“Oh no no,… it’s too complicated for me!”, “I don’t like sharing my personal life, I’m scared!”, or “I don’t know where to start, there are so many social networks sites to create!”

Now what I shared with you might change overtimes, because just like you, I STILL DON’T KNOW how to do any strategic social media marketing correctly and effectively!

But I believe social media is all about Genuine and Authenticity.

Yes, there are ads and marketing websites all over the place, yet this is still where you share and spend time on hobbies, families, and personal stuff…

So what you need to do is not really about taking notes or learning courses (it’s totally crucial, but that’s the next stage of it)

What I’m saying here it’s about you sharing your stories, your activities, and your desires!

So the ONE secret that holding you back from making your social media strategy is no other than NOT TAKING ACTION!

The ONE secret that holding you back is no other than NOT TAKING ACTION! @fourtuneshare

Not only for Social Media Marketing, everything great requires time and massive efforts!

So start rolling your sleeves and get sh*t done, and I’ll walk along with you on this path!

Why Marketing on Social Media?

Maybe you’re still wondering:

“But would I have to share everything outside the world? That would be so personal and rude, somehow…”

That’s absolutely correct! But remember, this is your marketing for social media, so you don’t have to do all those things.

The main reason you want to invest time on social media marketing websites is to help you be recognized and respected in your field, in your community.

I don’t like Social Media either. But I choose to follow where the attention goes. Dan Lok — The King Of High Ticket Closer

“I don’t get it, what does that mean?” — I’ll explain furthermore to you.

When it comes to Personal Branding, no matter what or where you want to promote, you ALWAYS want to find where the attention gathered.

Because attention gives you the awareness within a certain community (the positive way, of course) and thus, enhance your personal appearance.

Hence, consistently valuable sharing is what you need to invest in your social media marketing strategy!

I’ll show you my personal branding examples below (and you will make for your own, too!)

Step 1: Find your Social Media Marketing’s Ideal Audience

Now you’re ready to kick-off, the first thing you must do first (even before creating any social media sites) is to really understand who your ideal audience is.

A lot of times, even with CEOs or Executives, they seem to be so vague about their targeted audience on social media websites should look like.

And have you ever heard these kinds of complaints like this:

Everyone is our customer!

I want to attract as many as possible leads to this particular campaign.

Ideal customers? Um… anyone who’s willing to buy our product right away!…

But it’s NOT their fault, and it’s not anyone’s fault.

Just remember this: If you’re serving for everyone, no one is your customer!

If you’re serving for everyone, no one is your customer! @fourtuneshare

Also a quick tip before kicking off.

Whether you’re an employee or a freelancer, if you’re in charge of a certain task: Be PROACTIVE and TELL your manager why you do that in the first place!

Business is an intellectual sport. And that requires communication. A lot of it!

Imagine you’re positioned for this task, so there is no reason why they should micro-manage on your expertise.

Therefore, speak up and show them the proofs of your ideas!

By doing this, they’ll much better understand what you’re doing is in good intention and they’ll be self-reminded about the reason they’ve hired you in the first place.

Make sense? Okay, and here we go!

Crafting your Ideal Audience

When you’re justing getting started, you really DON’T NEED a marketing MBAs or any formal educational certificate at all.

If you’re a solopreneur (you’re doing everything by your own) or if you want to learn and gain more knowledge, start small is always recommended when it comes to attaining skillsets.

Start small is always recommended when it comes to attaining skillsets. @fourtuneshare

[Bottom Line]

To be clear, I’m not any social media marketing guru or expert.

I’m just someone who is willing to persuade you to start getting our sh*t done because quality will eventually improve overtimes.

So it’s up to you to leave from here, but if you’re still believing me: Great, it’s gonna be hell outta ride!

“Picturize” your Ideal Audience Persona

What is a persona?

For short, it’s your customized character with similarities to your ideal audience, in term of personality, hobby, behavior, etc.

You should start with ONE ideal customer, after a while, you can increase your personas and test them more overtimes.

1. What age should they be?

There are 4 main age groups, include:

Adolescent;

Teenager;

Adult;

Elder.

You can be more specific about your persona, depends on the niche and the marketplace (gender, age range, demographic,…)

But this is just your new beginning, so it’s ok to make mistakes and f*cked up, you’ll get good overtimes!

(You can use a note-taking online app or just simply pen and paper to do this exercise with me)

[PRACTICE] — Fourtuneshare’s Age Group:

Teenager. Specifically? College Students and Fresh Post-graduates. Adult. Specifically? Entrepreneurs, Business Owners, Recruiters, or anyone who wants to learn about Internet Marketing.

You done? Good, you’re doing great!

2. What are their “hidden” pain points?

As a copywriter, I noticed that this easy-but-less-known tip will help you tremendously to identify those:

The “Story-telling” Technique

Now you may hear about this marketing/business term, but again, we don’t want to make it too “savvy-required”.

So if you’re selling some physical product, SaaS (Software as a Service), or Personal Branding (like I do), you have to answer this question CLEARLY:

Why You’re Doing This In The First Place? @fourtuneshare

You see, the social media marketing world is becoming more and more generic now, meaning that your customers can’t separate you from other people in your niche.

As human, we are emotional creatures. Therefore, people are more likely to remember (and buy) from those they like and trust.

And nothing can outrank that more than your unique story-telling!

With this simple technique, you’ll find yourself some pieces to craft a personal-valued story towards your ideal audience

Telling about how you got started is a great way to start and help you define a decent story that already distances you from a bunch of crappy services.

Ideally, 2–3 paragraph is more than enough!

3. Apply Your Story-telling

[PRACTICE] — Fourtuneshare’s Story:

My family is broke. So in my early ages, I had no other ways but working long hours to change our lives. And I realized while I am working relentlessly for my no-money-worries lifestyle, unfortunately, my friends and colleagues don’t: They don’t know what to do next! That’s why I create Fourtuneshare: “Fourtune” symbolizes for Robert Kiyosaki’s Cashflow Quadrant, and it’s my “Fourtune” to share with you my experience and mistakes on freelancing and entrepreneurship, so you’ll save your time from making stupid mistakes as I did in my entrepreneurial path. Via Fourtuneshare, I want to show YOU that SUCCESS doesn’t give a shit about AGE: Self-esteem is the ONLY thing that will lift your life into another level!

Now what you want to do is to take out the terms within the story that your ideal audience may have similarities to (noticed the underlined words)

That will be your ideal customers’ pain points!

[PRACTICE] — Fourtuneshare’s Pain Point Terms:

“no-worries-life”, “don’t know what to do”, “experience and mistakes on freelancing and entrepreneurship”, “save your time”, “success”, “age”

*Tip for Physical Product*

Here’s what I suggest.

Let’s say, Daniel is selling coffee makers, so what he can do is building something like this:

[PRACTICE] Daniel’s Age Group:

Adult — Office Workers

Daniel’s Story:

Remember those massive project that requires your long hours and extra-shifts in office? What did you do? For me, a cup of instant no-sugar double-shot cappuccino could save me from having those deep dreams resulted in me being kicked out of the job, oh man… But waiting for late-delivered cups is annoying! It’s not really about drinking, because it all started with the very 1st second you sniff that mind-blowing caffeine aroma that awakes you all along the way! So why not consider Daniel’s coffee maker? By a blink of your sleepy eyes, your double-shot cappuccino is instantly up front, right away, ready to save your day and hence, lift up your career to another level. Buy now today with a comfort discount of… blah blah blah Daniel — The Coffee-maker Guy

Some sort like that, then you take those terms out as Pain Points:

“long hours and extra-shifts”, “waiting for late-delivered cups”, “mind-blowing caffeine aroma”, “upfront”, “right away”

And now you have your persona’s Pain Points!

Isn’t that fascinating that you’ve done all of this by yourself? Great, I’d that you’re enjoying it!

If you want to research more on your persona, you can check these in-depth guides here:

The Complete, Actionable Guide to Marketing Personas — Buffer

Buyer Personas: A Beginner’s Guide for Marketers — Search Engine Journal

How to Create a Concrete Buyer Persona (with Templates & Examples) — OptinMonsters

The Customer Value Journey Explained in 800 Words — Digital Marketer

Step 2: Identify Different kinds of Social Media Marketing Content

Nowadays there are various types of content for social media promotion, includes:

Readable Content: blog post, article, case study, ebook

Listening Content: podcast, recording,…

Visual Content: photo, meme, infographic, graphic design,…

Motion Content: Video, gif,…

Based on your niche or your marketplace, you will compile these content into a “Content Variation” for your social network sites.

But for you and me, as beginners, this is what I would like to recommend you testing with:

One piece of quality and in-depth niche-based Readable Content (blog, article, or case study);

Different types of Visual Content made from that Readable Content (blog cover, infographic, quote pictures,…);

A Youtube video based on that Readable Content;

Short videos that contain meaningful and valuable tips on Instagram;

Turn the video into audio content to create podcasts, etc…

Step 3: Create your own Social Media Marketing “Content Variation”

If you noticed carefully, there are so many Content Variations that can be made from these kinds of content towards your audience.

Once you figured out the correlation between them, your Social Media Marketing will turn into a completely different level!

Let’s see how Daniel — the coffee maker guy can create his own Content Variation.

[PRACTICE] — What Content Variation can Daniel make for his Social Media Marketing?

Self-film a Youtube video on how to make a cup of double-shot cappuccino at the comfort of his own home;

Cut that video into bite-sized tips of making a cappuccino on Instagram;

Take the video and convert it into audio files to create a podcast episode;

Take the video and convert it into written words, then edit to make a new blog;

Create EVERY PIECES of Visual Content for the above material: Youtube thumbnail or Instagram/Podcast/Blog Cover (with illustrations and infographics for blogging)…

You see how effective and plentiful that can be?

REMEMBER: We’re just getting started, so testing is important, and it can be frustrated at least in the first 3 to 6 months, or even for a year.

But that is Personal Branding and it requires time if you want to build something great and solid.

So what you can do is keep testing and be consistent with your social networks, but always be genuine about yourself!

People admire someone with authenticity, and only being YOURSELF can give you that power!

Once you have been familiar with your Social Media Marketing, you’ll overtime get credited and be considered as “Expert” from your fans and your community.

From no-one to Social Media Marketing Expert: UNBELIEVABLE, right?

But before publishing any kinds of content, it’s necessary to have some base on different kinds of social media sites!

To be continued…

#social media #step by step #digital marketing #marketing #facebook #twitter #pinterest

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