Monthly Archives: November 2008

Viral Question: 20 Things I can do without

Posted on by

I just read a post where someone wrote about 100 things you should buy while you still can, and I decided to go the other direction. I’m going to make this a semi-viral tweet as well and see how many I can get from Twitter. 100 would be cool. If I don’t get 100 thats’ ok, its another fun twitter experiment. I’m going to give it the #100 hashtag. Bad idea since it applies to wine. I’ll continue to compile as we go as well. 

  1. How to make money online pitches-the only ones making money are the shills pitching it.
  2. Another report on our failing economy-enough already
  3. Another company laying off workers-when does that end?
  4. Another forclosure-the pain is large.
  5. Another Bailout-Why is it on our dime?
  6. About half the clothes in my closet-They need to go to someone who really needs them
  7. Premium cable channels-you can watch them online.
  8. Snacks, thanks Seth Godin
  9. The social media echo
  10. People that don’t get it-on lots and lots of different levels.
  11. Professional sports teams that continue to dole out money to athletes in times like these.
  12. Bad news
  13. I could do without the motrin echo on Twitter
  14. I can do without somali pirates
  15. I can do without the perceived “giving back” of wall street execs
  16. I can do without retweeting bad news
  17. I could do without watching peoples lives go up in flames in california 
  18. I could do without the economic forecasters and their always pleasant news
  19. I could do without people leaving this earth too soon
  20. I could do without shameless self promotion on Twitter

What could you really do without?

ROI vs. ROE -I did not do a good enough job selling social media.

Posted on by

I had my biggest challenge of trying to sell ROI for a social media project this past week and I lost. Passion lost. Clarity of message lost, and the power of the conversation lost out to the following unspoken sentiment, “I can’t pay for something where I can not see a clear 1:1 ratio of money spent and money earned.

I’ll be honest, my my own private little thought cloud right then and there was,”Oh yea? What did I spend? Hours of work, sweat equity if you will, on learning everything I could on why social media would make sense for you, mister client, and the irrefutable argument that went with it, and you can’t see it?”

On a side note: There is not a social media practitioner, marketer or evangelist out there, who would not agree that this person and their current business model would not have benefited from a solid injection of web 2.0 sensibilities.

Not only did I do my homework but I also spent hours on the phone with the conduit/project manager, who not only had bought my vision, but had also in the same process, drank the social media Kool-ade. I educated him to the extent that he totally got what I was saying. He GOT IT. Which to a lesser degree is a huge win. Why? Because we met through a 140 character conversation on Twitter. That’s right, this whole process and opportunity came about because of Twitter. The conduit in Austin, me in Naples, and the client in Phoenix.

At the end of the day though, after the nearly 2 hour Saturday conference call with the prospect, it became painfully obvious that he was not willing to spend what it would take to transform his personal brand and what he does for a living, into something more viable, accessible, and transparent- he wanted solid ROI. Not the hope of notion or perceived ROI. His thing was, “lets sell something that makes money, and I’ll pay you if I make money”.

All was not lost. First, I made a friend in Austin, who has passion, vision, and Get’s it. And whenever you meet someone who gets it- the potential for more opportunities like the one mentioned above will always exist.

Second, I learned some more lessons. I say more because I’ve been learning a lot of them lately. Failing forward if you will. I’ve been given some great indirect lessons from my peers through blog comments and tweets, individuals like Jim Storer, Paul Chaney, Valeria Maltoni and Jason Breed. Some lessons that are human and tangible. Lessons learned on the client side and lessons learned from the community. A win win..

So here’s the thing- Ultimately, I have to ask myself, did I do a good enough job of presenting tangible proof on why social media makes sense? I don’t know. I may be too close to the subject to answer that objectively. But The question does arise and will arise again; and this was a concern Friday night when I had completed the proposal and had attached a dollar value to it. Did I show enough proof? A proof of concept to justify the cost that would eventually increase ROI through engagement?

The bottom line is I guess not. Because the bottom line right now is very prominent, very front and center. Managers want to see ROI. They need ROI. I think what they don’t understand, is that if I’m going to embark on a social media campaign for a client, it involves a time suck and a commitment from the client and the person rolling out the project- the cost is labor and time, both of which I think are measurable and ultimately can be charged for. I’m sorry but I value my knowledge and my time and I’m going to charge for it. Ok… I’m starting to get a little fired up again so I’m going to stop here. But here are my parting words-

When you pitch the social media project of any scope and scale, Be thorough, and understand that all managers are going to really, really focus on the investment and the return, no matter how well YOU get the big picture. But you know what? One loss does not define a season. They’ll be more and I’ll do better.

Apologies to the social media community

Posted on by

Here’s the thing, yesterday I posted a snarky, bitter, pessimistic post about how I didn’t want to talk about marketing in a bad economy using social media. And that was wrong. really wrong. In fact you know sometimes when you think you nailed a post and you feel all happy and proud. Well I actually did feel that way yesterday, and man that was wrong too. I used the wrong language, the wrong approach and the wrong forum. I even engaged some of my peers in the social media community on Twitter to read my greatest latest post. Wrong. Wrong. Wrong. I’m so very sorry.

You see the deal is we need to fail forward right now. we need to try anything and everything right now and we need to share it, we need to keep trying and tweaking how we utilize social media marketing in a bad economy. Its funny, all it took was a simple question for me to see the light and to that I want to thank Jim  Storer of Mzinga for asking me-“Do you want us to wait till it’s figured out before using social media”? Touche Jim, and thanks for helping me see the light. I also want to apologize to Adam Cohen. I value Adams opinion and went to him like a proud puppy happy because of the crap I just produced. I’m sorry Adam, that was not something I should have shown you. It was poorly written, and It ignored the spirirt of social media and social media marketing. The spirit to try and communicate and take chances and be willing to share those experiences with the community. If we preach about the conversation, and about being transparent and authentic- in a bad economy you do ALL of that and more, and you keep trying and you listen. In my previous post, I basically said, stop listening.  and that couldn’t be more wrong. We need to be listening now, more than ever before. And that my friends is how we use social media marketing in a bad economy.

Social media marketing in a bad economy-this ought to be good.

Posted on by

trust

A) Don’t trust a single article about marketing in a bad economy, unless the writer has concrete proof. and B) If someone writes an article about marketing in a bad economy using social media- read it and then run the other way.

Puff pieces notwithstanding. Unless the person is making up the rules as they muddle through these ridiculously bad economic times, there is no template on how to use social media marketing correctly to market a business, product or otherwise, right now.

Why, you might ask? Because social media has not been around long enough. Sure there are case studies and examples of how companies and corporations are using social media right now to extend their product and brand, but that was then-this is now. We are in the motherfuckin moment. Excuse my language but… THESE ARE NOT NORMAL TIMES!. So anything that you knew or know about how to use social media and marketing to drive traffic and eyeballs and users and adopters to your site/product, all of it, is not as it seems.

The Rules are changing before your eyes. So I don’t want to see anymore of the “How to use social media marketing in a bad economy” blog posts or articles or stories yet. YOU DON’T KNOW HOW YET. You cannot sit here and tell me that the mindset of the online user and consumer is the same now as it was last year at this time. I dare someone to say that it is. And if you’re pitching to companies and business’s in that vein, that’s bullshit, shame on you.

I do know that they are starved for answers and solutions and business- And SOCIAL MEDIA MARKETING MIGHT BE A VIABLE SOLUTION, I’m just not sure that social media and social media marketing don’t need to be tweaked and morphed and melded into something that is creatively different right now. Just don’t promise social media as the cure-all for what is ailing businesses right now. But you can still pitch it.

We all need to figure it out (and we are) as we go. Please let’s document what we do, how we did it, what worked, and what didn’t. Then we can write all the posts we want on how to market and use social media in bad economy. Hopefully though, we won’t need to refer to them anytime soon in the not too distant future.

The Long Tail of Twitter

Posted on by

tweet

Ok Much has been written or much was written yesterday about Twitter. I’m not sure why yesterday, but for whatever reason, yesterday was that day, my post included. So I found myself embroiled both via blog responses and via Twitter, defending in some cases what I see as the best way for me to use Twitter.

Here’s a quick recap of what was written.

Guy Kawasaki’s post just flew totally in the face of my post, but he did mention some things that you should do regardless of your ultimate goal on how you’re going to use Twitter. But his post is more about being the Uber-Twitter user, and I just can’t do #4 Which is follow everyone who follows me- I’m sorry but I would like to get to know “some” of the people I’m following. I think Guy and I have a different perception of definition of what Twitter is or should be used for., Though I do admit, that I follow some of the social media whores-not sure why, but I do.

Alan Wolk has totally nailed his post which speaks to why he thinks Twitter is going to be cluttered with N00bs, more experts, and gaggles of clueless wannabe’s and everything in between. Which means my Twitter post makes even more sense!

Business week has written about how ubiquitous micro-blogging and Twitter have become, which means a vertical version only makes sense right? And then we have Information weeks article on Twitter tools to turbocharge your microblogging Wow, didn’t know I needed to turbo charge it! Here’s Computer World’s 5 ways to tap the power of the tweet which actually are pretty close to what you should do and not as self serving and indulgent as Guy Kawasaki’s directives. And then we have the Top 10 ways to attract followers on Twitter which is a total link bait link juice article.

If you really want to know all things Twitter, and don’t feel like waiting for the next piece of hyperbole then go to Laura Fitton’s site, she blogs about all things micro-blogging and she actually brings some sanity to it all- Though I can’t stop thinking about what a tweet is worth, knowing full well that that is where this is all heading. Transactional conversations are coming, trust me.

Ok so I’m going to sum up one of the best ways to get the most out of Twitter, do you know how search marketing experts and Chris Anderson talk about the Long Tail? Well why would you want to follow 5000 people who all tweet at once about 5000 different subjects and 5000 different links? When you could follow 1000, or 750 or 500 people, get to know who they are and what they’re all about, and develop a vertical relationship?

I’m going to quote Chris here and splice/blend his words and my thoughts to make my point about Twitter:

The long tail aspect of Twitter does exist, but the data tells us that there may really be no head or body when it comes to following thousands upon thousands of people without any focus or reason. When it comes to Twitter, everyone is hell bent on following as many people as possible, but the fact of the matter is, Twitter traffic has the potential to be long tail and the word “long” doesn’t do the length of the tail justice. The long tail of Twitter is vertical.

Thanks Chris.

Twitter, Stay vertical-Stay relevant

Posted on by

twitter

OK before I go any further you can find the video of what I’m about to write here, on Seesmic and also know that this vlog supported blog post was inspired by Beth Harte, who got the ball rolling with her vlog. Beth has about as fresh a perspective of all things marketing and social media marketing related, as anyone could have right now and I strongly suggest you add her blog to your reader.

With that being said,  I want you to tell me your process for how you utilize Twitter and how you decide who you follow, and who follows you.

Before I jump in, answer me this: Why did you sign up for Twitter? I’ll tweet this. but I’m curious. Ok I digress.

Here’s my Twitter process: I go through the email alerts and click on the persons name.1) I then look at their number of followers,  2) the number of people they are following, and 3) the number of tweets. 4) I then look at their Bio. and the link on the Bio. 5) I need to determine why this person is choosing to follow me. What is the reason? 6) Are they wanting me to look at their website. 7) Are they promoting something 8) Are they just following as many people as possible 9) Do they even care what I have to say? and 10) Do they bring value? 11) Do they offer value? 12) what kind of tweet quality do they have? 13) How often do they tweet? 14) Are they even in my space?  15) Are they vertical enough?

Once I ask myself these questions then it’s fairly easy to decide whether this is a relationship I want to take to the next level. You see, at the end of the day, I want us to be able to share, and learn from each other. I want you to share something with me that I previously did not know. And I want to do the same for you. I want it to be mutually satisfying for both of us. I know this sounds like we’re dating but I want it to make us both better at what we do. As with all other social media tools, it’s a 2 way street of communication. It’s a dialogue not a monologue, and I value as much from what I learn from the people that I follow, as to what I give them in return. Value begets Value.

So… are you using Twitter the right way?

Every follower can be a thought leader

Posted on by

leadership_1_

I was inspired to write this last night after “I started thinking” that we all are capable of being “Thought leaders” in our right. This meme came from a couple of posts that I read over at Amber Naslund’s and Valeria Maltoni’s blogs. Amber had touched on this week about reputation and branding, value propositions and being personal, While Valeria listed 25 ways to fail and come out on top. I highly suggest after reading this short post that you head over there to read what they have to say.

While both Amber and Valeria have taken different approaches to the same topic, the message to me is quite clear. I’m going to sum it up for you. Right now, you read our blogs for pleasure, for business, for insight, for research or for shits and giggles. The reasons are many, but what I want people to realize and what Amber and Valeria are saying in oh so many words is you can be the thought leader or the influencer who inspires us. With that being said, I am a firm believer in empowerment, I think it creates more leaders and less followers and more original thought in doing so.

We talk about thought leaders in social media all the time. But what you need to realize is that all of us, thought leaders and influencers included, are starting from the same point. We start with nothing and we build from there. I tweeted earlier today that everyone can make the new rules. I thought that, because I read and hear all the time about the new rules of marketing or the new rules of media, or social media marketing rules of engagement.  And I get that. But guess what? You can make your own rules too! Wanna know why? Because we’re all still figuring it out ourselves. We always will be. But you can be the one that shows us the way, just as much as the next person.

Be the one that makes or breaks the rules. There is no reason why YOU can’t be the thought leader.

Are you in for the Long Haul?

Posted on by

long-haul

I’m going to start with a sports analogy here so bear with me. It’s not so bad that you won’t be able to understand where I am going. So here goes. Almost a year ago (December 12th 2007, to be exact), the Auburn University football team hired an offensive coordinator-the person or coach who would call the plays from the sidelines. At the time, much was made of this person’s background, pedigree and the potential and the excitement that he was going to bring to the program. High expectations, to say the least, were the only acceptable and assumed result. The football team needed something or someone that was going to generate offense, touchdowns, and wins. There was major Buzz. Sound familiar?

Not 10 months later, on October 8th 2008- Auburn fired the offensive coordinator. Why? Because they were not seeing the expected results quick enough. They were not getting what they thought they should get and what everyone told them they were going to get. Their expectations were not met.

Here’s what might have happened. Maybe they didn’t give it long enough? Maybe they grew impatient. Or perhaps Auburn’s head coach grew weary of hearing others tell him that it just was not working and they need to change it. Or maybe he wanted to try something else, or go with someone else that promised that they could deliver results too? Or maybe he wasn’t fully committed? Maybe, just maybe he wasn’t in it for the long haul?

Now let’s tie this into marketing, and social media marketing in particular. If you don’t give it a chance and you don’t embrace it from the outset then you are doomed. if you don’t coddle it and show it the attention it needs it will fail. If you don’t water it, it will whither away and die. Social Media requires commitment and I think a lot of people become impatient when they do not see the results. You see, we live in an instant gratification world and for some, if they ain’t seein’ it in the first day, they are fricken outta there. WRONG. You can’t treat social media and social media marketing like that. Wake up!

You need to ask yourself right now, are you in this for the long haul? Are you willing to commit to what it takes? Don’t bail before it becomes a success? Don’t be the thousands of companies and people that did not give something a chance. Be the few that were willing to stay the course, believed in their skills and trusted that they were doing it right!

11 thoughts from the last 3 days

Posted on by

So every once in awhile I have these stream of consciousness moments that I need to share on a larger scale instead of just the Twitter platform. Here are some good ones from the past couple of days, at least I thought they were good:

-How many of you understand that one of the true underlying features or aspects of social media is that it really boils down to reciprocity?

-Raise your hand if social media is transforming the way you do business.

-What level of “digital intimacy” would you say we all share via twitter? We’ve all gotten to at least first base here, right?

-The whole election process is a macro-conversation that in the end, boils down to a micro-interaction between you & the candidate. David Armano your thoughts?

-What has been the effect of social media on this year’s election?

-In the looming age of measuring all things related to social media-how transactional should your conversations be? Or how transactional will they eventually become?

-Sacrifice usability at the altar of sexiness-I have to credit Avanish Kaushik for that one, but I love the meaning of it.

-4 things you will struggle with throughout your life : saying no, saying goodbye… saying I can’t, and saying I don’t know.

-Valeria Maltoni is the definition of class. she cares and she is deeply insightful… and she is a game changer.

-The difference between communities is not people but individuals but social media is about individuals being authentically individual.

-The network based on trust begets value which in turn brings a higher ROE return on engagement

Feel free to blog about these, or use them as topics for discussion. I’d love to see all of them become blog posts one day but alas, that’s up to you! Words of advice, keep the yellow legal pad close by!

Does social media consume you?

Posted on by

I was listening last week to a football coach being interviewed on the radio. I can’t remember the college team he coached, but he had a law degree and he was talking about something other than football-so it was turning into a good interview-because it was free of cliches. He was telling a story about his mentor in law and he asked his mentor if he liked law. His mentor responded that he “thought about law at all hours”. He said that it consumed him, but in a good way. He said that in life you should “do” what consumes you.

I thought about that as I drove. Beyond your family, What get’s your motor running? What can you talk about with relative ease? It can be your passion. But even more, it’s easy for you to think about it. It’s a no brainer. The more I thought about it, the more I’m starting to realize that I spend an inordinate amount of time thinking of the ways that social media can be used in all walks of life, in social settings, and in work environments.

To me, I see social media as a way to connect, to solve problems, to communicate and to converse on a scale that we have never seen before. That consumes me. That possibility. That challenge.

So…. What Consumes You?