Time to view social media differently

Posted on January 14, 2009 by marc meyer

Last night I could not help but pause and think after every sentence of Peter Kim’s most recent blog post. Even more compelling were the comments that followed. I’d suggest you read it. Because of this and because I had been thinking that it was time to change the way I viewed and written about what I have experienced in marketing and social media marketing, I have decided to turn it upside down.

I want you to start thinking like that now. Instead of repeating everything that you read and just slapping a new title on it and linking to everyone else. Give me your thoughts with perhaps just one or two links. Forget about link juice for a minute and write what you really think about Twitter- Does Twitter piss you off? Are you tired of bullshit tweets? Well tell me. Don’t like what Chris Brogan says? Then say it. I’m not asking you to completely look for the flaws and problems in everyone and everything, I’m asking you to step outside of that and look at things from 3 feet instead of 30,000 feet, and then give me your real thoughts and your perspective. If I’m full of it? Fine, tell me why, and if it makes sense then I will adjust.

It’s time for our discussions and our thoughts to be elevated. I would think that now might be a really opportune time for fresh thinking, what do you think? And for the record, Peter I may be echoing what you have just written but the more people that can spread that sentiment of less echo and more thought, the better.

Self discovery in social media-10 questions to ask yourself.

Posted on January 13, 2009 by marc meyer

Hey you, yea you. before you go and read or write another post that is about another post that is about another post, that chances are, was about another post, lets ask ourselves some questions. Better yet, before you go and tell someone what you “do”, and before you fold the term “social media” in to that, at least ask and answer these questions.

Are you willing to admit that social media is no longer the darling new kid on the block? It’s not new, you are.
Are you tired of being the “me too” person/ or are you tired of that person? or do you even know that you are? How could you be different? What makes you, you?-Bring THAT to the table please.
What does a social media junkie mean exactly? That you spend an incessant amount of time online? We need something better than someone who likens themselves to a junkie.
Why do you follow the people that you follow on Twitter? To learn, to emulate, to share, to echo, to stalk, to sell to? Is there a rhyme or reason/ or are you just glad to be playing in the sandbox? Contribute.
What are you hoping to get out of social media? To learn, to emulate, to share, to echo, to stalk? Is it a business reason, family, personal? How are you using the tools that define social media to define you?
What original thought if any, are you bringing to the table? What is your opinion? I know what theirs is, so I don’t need to hear it from you.
If you truly believe social media is about Facebook and Twitter, then be sure to fix your bio that says that you are a social media expert, enthusiast, consultant or other..
What do you think social media is? Right now…today. In your own words.
What are you telling people? If they asked you, what would you say?
If you could change one thing about it, what would it be?

Ask these questions, if not for yourself, then at least for the others out there that are struggling with trying to keep the client focused on what is possible and what is real and what is “doable” with social media. SMB’s hear the buzz but they also need to hear the skinny.

Social Media could be the savior for SMB’s

Posted on January 6, 2009 by marc meyer

6 days into 2009 and I’m sure we all have our goals set or we’re busy finalizing what we are going to do. I make these lists and I write down thoughts at a furious pace and still, in the back of my mind, I’m constantly wondering what everyone is collectively thinking right now. By everyone, I’m really referring to small and medium sized business owners. The economy sucks and business is wayy down..

They have to be wondering where the business is going to come from or how they are going to get business utilizing their existing forms of advertising, sales, and marketing. The problem is, how effective do those continue to be? Were they ever? Do they know they are not working? Do they utilize metrics or do they fly by the seat of their pants to measure their effectiveness? Do they understand that there is more for less out there right now? Or is it less for less? Their heads have to be swimming. I know mine is.

Initially I would have said No, SMB’s are not aware of their advertising, sales and marketing effectiveness, but in that sense I was referring to “as it pertains to social media”, as in how effective could all these initiatves be if they were using social media, and that is completely true. SMB’s do not know much about how social media might be able to turn the tide.The power. The effectiveness. The impact.

But they do know plenty about what is and what isn’t working in regards to their sales and marketing initiatives. I love what Christian Maurer says about this:

In today’s business climate, sales organizations think that they have to increase their activities to counteract the increased reluctance of customers to buy. These increased activities will however not necessarily be rewarded by higher revenue.One might end up trying to get more juice from an already squeezed out lemon

So enter Social Media. The darling of the last few years. We go from product centric to customer centric. But how do you articulate that social media could be just what the doctor ordered? Well I could wax eloquent on that question for awhile but I’d like to refer you to Kyle Lacy’s 4 part series on social media marketing for the small business as a primer. It’s a wonderful piece and more so, it exposed me to a great blog for small business called The Marketing Spot. I highly recommend you add it to your list in 2009.

Ok so back to you Mr. and Mrs. SMB how do you go about learning whether Social Media is the cure for what is ailing your business? And how do you do it quickly because you don’t have time to ramp something like this up. WHAT DO YOU DO FIRST?

-You could try and learn about “It” on your own but you need to know what “it” is. This might help.

-But then after you figure out what it is, you then need to know who you can trust or what to look for in a social media consultant, because you don’t have time to be doing this, right?

-Once you figured out what to look for, then you need to decide “who to look for”

-So now that you have “that” person or agency selected, now you have to have a strategy and they have to share that with you, so that you know exactly what they are trying to do for you and your business.

–A blueprint of how that person works is a good thing to have, it lets you know exactly how they work and it is a key component that we talk about all the time and that’s transparency in social media. Amber Naslund does a great job of discussing her “blueprint” in this post.

-Now that we have the strategy and the blueprint, it’s time to implement. Don’t worry though, your accomplished social media strategist knows just what to do.

OK, so you know what it is, you know what to look for, you know who they are, you know what they’ll do and you know how they’ll do it. But the last thing we have to do is we still have to measure what they’ve done.

-We talk all the time about how to measure social media but here’s a simple framework for measuring it’s effectiveness.

With that in mind, I end with this; As long as you know upfront what you are trying to accomplish and you adhere somewhat to these steps above, you may just have figured out how to incorporate social media into your SMB marketing plan! But don’t stop there and don’t rely solely on your social media expert/strategist. Take the time to learn as much as you can as you go, so that you can understand the sea change that is happening within the worlds of PR, marketing, advertising and communication.

–

Being human is what will change the playing field in 2009

Posted on December 26, 2008 by marc meyer

I’ve been thinking a lot lately about what might be the defining “thing” that could change the tide for companies that are ready to embark on their own social media journey. Well, this morning as I was reading greg verdino’s blog, he has a section in there that points to the topics he speaks about, and one of the topics is called “are you ready?” he essentially is saying the following and I quote:

You can — but only if you’re ready to move beyond the old ways you’ve always done things, ready to rethink the fundamentals of how business happens, ready to embrace change and ready to take action.”

Great topic to talk about, but as I was thinking about it more, I’d like to add 3 more words to it, and it’s this.

“Are you ready to be human“?

Are you ready to leave your unending, take no prisoners drive, your ego, and your self serving ideals at the door and act like a human who can speak normally and speak one on one with your customers, with your employees and with your prospects? Sometimes we feel like we have to do this dance and we have to “act” like something that is completely alien to us. So let me ask you, when you want to make friends with someone, do you act the same way you do when trying to get a new client or new deal or contract? No..You act like a human, you act like yourself. Remember transparency? We talk about it for a reason.

Be Human. it works.

The top 10 blogs to read in 2009

Posted on December 23, 2008 by marc meyer

Yep add my blog post as one of those end of year “lists’. But as I’ve stated, I’m going to scale back what I read. I’m going to hone in on quality. With that being said here is my list with reasons why. They also are in no particular order either.

Paul Chaney’s Conversational Media Marketing blog always has an interesting post or content. It’s light, it’s a good read and it’s insightful.
Shannon Paul’s Very Official Blog is always in the sweet spot. Her stuff is short, generally, always to the point, and it resonates on many levels.
Lee Odden’s Online Marketing Blog is a no brainer. It’s updated daily and it’s chock full of content that makes you better at what you do. Even if you don’t do “it”, it’s worth reading.
Chris Brogan is our Grand Poobah”. Now I know he’s taken hits lately but look, Chris gives away 10 times more than he takes, and thus he should be a blog that you check in on from time to time. He’s a content creating fool.
Valeria Maltoni true to her tag line, “connects her ideas with people”, and will make you think. When I read her stuff, that’s what happens. Her blog is another that I dip into every once in a while for perspective. She’s current, always on point and she’s eloquent.
I like the Ignite Social Media Blog but it might be because it’s very vertical for me. I’m entitled to one or two of these, and this is one of them.
Ok, so something about Joseph Jaffe makes me want to read his stuff. It’s funny usually, and underneath it all, there’s generally some sort of marketing theme or message.
Beth Harte is one smart cookie. She says it in a straight shootin way. She’s respected, she’s connected and she knows all things marketing. You will love her perspective.
Brian Solis is a good read, he churns out content, it’s not over your head, it’s current and it’s useful. Boom.
Mashable is the source or the site you would go to if you needed information, if you need updates and if you could only go to one site. This is it. Check it out.

Honorable Mentions

Here are 10 more that I read because they are prolific in cranking out content that is in tune with the issues of marketing, PR, social media, and life. You didn’t think I could just read 10 blogs a day did you? Well neither will you, not with this much quality out there!

Like I said, it’s quality over quantity, though all of these people churn out some pretty good quantities of content. I could only hope to do the same. I look forward to continued learning from all of them.

Discontinuous change in social media marketing and marketing for 2009

Posted on December 19, 2008 by marc meyer

In 2009 you have a choice you can either do what you did in 2008 or you can look at 2009 as a chance to get it right. Everything is upside down, including the way we used to market to consumers and the way consumers used to listen to marketers.

If you’re relying on the way you “used to do things” then stop. If you think you have a robust social media marketing presence, because you have a lot of “friends” and “followers” then stop. Seth Godin likes to quote that this is the “imitation of turbulent activity” .You are in the echo chamber and your clients (if you have any) aren’t in there and chances are they not listening to you anyway. But you wouldn’t know that because of your personal social media involvement-and the fact you might have your self important blinders on.

You’re “moving for the sake of motion” as my friend Jason Breed over at Neighborhood America would say. And that will get you nowhere. We need you to change. You need to change and you need to adapt now to even newer rules of marketing that are evolving before our very eyes. Realize the current situation for what it is.

Your goal for social media marketing and marketing in 2009

Posted on December 18, 2008 by marc meyer

Today I talked to 1 clients, 2 prospects, 1 partner and 1 colleague. All very distinct and different conversations about marketing, social media and the client customer relationship. None of these individuals know each other and yet in so many words, all 5 of us agreed on the same exact thing. Here it is.

The way you market to your clients, the way we market to clients is not the same as it was 1 year ago and 6 months ago. Now you might be thinking, “I know that”. But do you really? Do you really know that these are different and challenging times? Lay off’s every day. Numbers down with all companies of all shapes and sizes across the board, and you might be pitching the same way you did 6 months ago? Forget 2008.

You need to take more time now with the client, the customer and the prospect, than you have ever done before. You need to understand their pain and their challenges before you can even think to market with them. Notice I said with, and not to. And you’re going to try and get the client to utilize social media marketing? Ha! Put yourself in their shoes. They don’t know social media, and in fact what they really care about is getting warm bodies thinking about their service or product.

So the question is, what are you going to do about it? What is your plan? 2009 is almost here. You have to have a plan that is going to separate you from the echo. Be different.

Good or Bad..7 things about me.

Posted on December 11, 2008 by marc meyer

I have been tagged by my friend Beth Harte to share seven things about me that you might not know (or want to know). I would say this though, as much as we all are about transparency, choosing 7 things can be tough without challenging The Communications Decency Act. But here goes.

1. In college I majored in Political Science and I hate politics. I just don’t have the passion for it like others, but there was nothing else that interested me or perhaps I didn’t try hard enough to find the right fit. Though I did minor in French…Why?

2. Because I was born and raised in New Orleans, and spoke french throughout my childhood; as it was taught in school and I had lots of cajun friends. My Family moved completely away a year before Katrina, but it still took a heavy toll on me personally. I lived nearby the fairgrounds which is home of the Jazz Fest which I would highly suggest attending if not for the food, then for the music of course. i could hear the music from my front porch.

The house in N.O. 5 minutes from the Jazzfest

3. Speaking of music, I have a tremendous passion for it. Perhaps because of my heritage and the fact that though I couldnt get into the bars on Bourbon St. until I was 16, I still would catch a bus and go down and listen to the music emenating from the bars for hours on end. With that being said, I have about 600 cassettes, 800 CD’s and roughly 2,000 songs on my ipod. It was this love for music that prompted me to…

4. Sell concert t-shirts for almost 5 years. After I graduated from college, I realized that my degree was pretty worthless, so I decided to go to Graduate school for a masters in sport management. While in school I met a guy that sold concert shirts, not just any kind, they were bootlegs. That’s right, the guys outside the arenas and stadiums, hustling. It was the perfect college job. I just didn’t know it would suck me in for 5 years. There is a book forthcoming of what I saw and experienced. BTW, I have gone to over 500 shows from Hawaii to NYC. But once I got done with my degree, was pretty much fried from all the travelling and realized that the business of sports paid nothing if you wern’t a “playa”, the internet had arrived. Thank god.

5. So I decided to create 2 websites, one devoted to concert t-shirts and the other devoted to music reviews. I learned as much as I could and built them from scratch. One tanked and one thrived. The review site thrived and I started receiving demos and samples and tons of music from the major labels and the indies. I just couldn’t keep up. Though I loved doing it. A shell of it’s former self is still up, but it is so neglected and I still don’t have time to manage it which is a pity. The original business plan was so before its time too…oh well. But that initial experience led to more tech related jobs, so I thank music for getting me started.

6. In between tech jobs I also was the Dir. of Mktg for a now defunct alt. music radio station in Pittsburgh, PA. The gig lasted less than a year. Why? As stations are wont to do, they changed formats from alt. rock to smoooth jazz. Oh and they did it while I was on my honeymoon in Greece. I came back and my stuff was in a box with 2 weeks severance and the smooth sounds of Kenny G wafting through the hallways. Sweet. Oh did I mention I moved to Pittsburgh right after college? Guess not. Try melding a New Orleans/Pittsburghese life into some sort of twisted “Yat-Yinzer” accent. But I love Pittsburgh, which many might not know, but hey that’s what the point of this is right?

Lastly, 7) I have 2 kids who rock, a wife who I married because when I asked her what her favorite music was, she answered that it was the blues, when I pressed her to elaborate, she said, “Stevie Ray”. At that point, she had me. When we met, I had insanely long hair and I owned a motorcycle. I also have roughly 11 strategically placed tattoos as well, but you would never know. One of the tats is an image from an Alexander Calder painting I own that I bought with my college student loan money that was supposed to go towards a class…By the way my 8 year old son just asked me how to play the blues…:)

Now that that’s out of the way I’m going to tag the following people:

Here are the rules:

Link your original tagger(s) and list these rules in your post.
Share seven facts about yourself in the post.
Tag seven people at the end of your post by leaving their names and the links to their blogs.
Let them know they’ve been tagged