How Schools Can Use Social Media…

Posted on September 3, 2009 by marc meyer

To build social proof with social media, you need to do three things.

1) Increase your follower counts. The more people you have following you on Twitter, subscribing to your RSS feeds, or becoming a fan of yours on Facebook, the more important your school will seem.

2) Get your school’s message to spread online. The more your school’s content is Re-Tweeted, emailed back and forth, voted on, Digged, or StumbledUpon, the more “popular” your school becomes.

3) Have people talking about your school in the real world. When the story you spread about your school is so great that it has people talking about your institution outside of the World Wide Web, then you know you’ve succeeded in generating positive social proof.

via socialmediaschools.com

1) the more important your school will seem??? Seriously?

2) The more “popular” your school becomes.??? Forget tradition and curriculum..

3) Have people talking about your school in the real world..whoa..

Posted via web from marcmeyer’s posterous

14 social media and marketing podcasts worth listening to.

Posted on September 2, 2009 by marc meyer

You know what I love about podcasts? They are archivable, searchable and hands free. Which means that I can listen and learn while I’m doing other things. In the social media and tech space, I think its critical from a business standpoint to continue to grow and learn and stay ahead of the curve.

With that being said here are 14 social media , marketing, and new media podcasts that do just that-allow me/you to learn. Coming from some of the true leaders of thought and innovation, these should help you achieve what you need most in this industry. Knowledge.

1) Quick-n-Dirty-Brought to you by Jennifer Leggio (@mediaphyter) and Aaron Strout (@aaronstrout) they talk about social networks and social media case studies, and talk with social media thought leaders- as well, they bring their certain style and panache to each podcast. Smart.

2) User Friendly Thinking interviews subject matter experts and industry thought-leaders on topics related to web design, content management, Internet marketing and social media. The show is hosted by CEO John Munsell and marketing director Paul Chaney from Bizzuka.

3) Diva Marketing Talks What can I say about Toby Bloomberg that hasn’t already been said? Add a great podcast to the mix and just be a sponge and learn about social media marketing.

4) Dishy Mix You want content? You want variety? This site and Susan Bratton brings it to you.

5) FIR is a twice weekly podcast covering new media, technology and PR,
provided by Neville Hobson and Shel Holtz, this podcast is very current and will always keep you in the new media loop.

6) Marketing Over Coffee Wait long enough and John Wall and Chris Penn are likely to talk about anything, however they do focus pretty heavily on the tech, digital media space. Great variety here though.

7) Managing the Gray All around good guy, C.C. Chapman uses his podcast to help business professionals and individuals stay up to date on what is happening in the world of social media.

8. Marketing Voices I’ve been a big fan of marketing voices and Jennifer Jones for awhile now. Jennifer interviews leading marketers and business executives who are changing, or trying to change the marketing landscape.

9) Twist Image Mitch Joel is pretty dialed in. Don’t think so? Look who he has on and look at the topics he chooses to tackle. Plus his sight is bangin.

10) Jaffe Juice One of my faves, each week marketing dude and extremely tongue in cheek provacateur Joseph Jaffe discusses the world of new marketing, media and PR.

11) The Marketing Edge, is one of the longest running marketing and PR podcasts. Be sure to check out the great summary posts by host Albert Maruggi

12) Find and Convert Wait till you see the list of topics and guests that Bernie Borges has on. Great topics and great content are a winning combination.

13) School of Social media Focused on Web2.0 marketing strategies, the show is produced by Ken English, the BlogTalkRadioGuy, and the Niche Prof, aka Dr. Ron Capps, for the School of Social Marketing and the Social Radio Network.

14) Connected World David Jacobs provides Connected World Radio, produced every Tues and Fri, featuring a quick thought about an aspect of social or new media.

Have I missed some that might be a great addition to this list?

Share this Post

Social Media Conundrum #62 False assumptions.

Posted on September 1, 2009 by marc meyer

I was in a meeting yesterday with a highly respected group of people running a very notable local organization. It was a follow up meeting to a social media marketing pitch made by a business associate from another company. I was enlisted as the wingman. In a sense, I was the muscle, or the validator, or better yet, the street cred. The initial meeting with this group could not have gone any better. The plan(s) and the views offered in that first meeting were warmly embraced. There was a caveat though. They wanted more. They wanted specific details on how to roll it out. Fair enough. All positive signs.

Then I relaxed and let me friend down.

I assumed she had it under control; when I should have helped her to dig deep and develop a detailed more specific and actionable social media marketing plan. I didn’t.

Our meeting was pushed back, which pushed it further out of my collective conscience. Out of sight, out of mind, right?

I should have had her back. I was her wingman right? No excuse on my part. I should have really looked at the follow up document that she had crafted, and picked holes in it, but I didn’t. I should have thought about and anticipated the “push back” from the group, but I didn’t.

And they pushed back. As nicely as they could. But they pushed. They essentially came back with saying, “There’s not enough here”. And then they talked about ROI…and how they wanted to see it. And we, me? her? Didn’t map back precisely enough on what we were going to measure and how it was going to be measured. I assumed we’d get there, after they had said yes…

Could I have jumped all over their ROI concern? You betcha. And clearly here was my chance to pounce. and I didn’t. Because in a sense it was right there for the taking. I just assumed…

The bottom line is I barely uttered a word. Part of me wanted to and I sort of said something, but it was barely audible. I needed to be her calming voice in the storm of measurable ROI. I wasn’t. Subconsciously, I didn’t want to dominate her show, but I also didn’t want to engage in a lengthy discussion in the conference room at that time over the merits of social media measurement. Or maybe that is the place and time to have that discussion?

No it isn’t. It would take too long. And, in a sense, they were right. It will be the case of every single encounter that one has when trying to pitch and trying to win social media marketing contracts.

What are you going to do? How are you going to measure it? and what will be the results?

Assume nothing.

Share this Post

Opportunity Cost of Twitter

Posted on August 28, 2009 by marc meyer

I can pick up the phone and make a cold call and talk to someone who I might be able to get business from; or I can create a Twitter account and follow people who I might be able to get business out of.

The next best thing that a person can engage in is referred to as the opportunity cost of doing the best thing (more desirable) and ignoring the next best thing to be done.

So which is the best thing? Which is more effective?

Opportunity cost is a key concept in economics because it implies the choice between desirable, yet mutually exclusive results. Which is desirable? Making a cold call or reaching out via Twitter to someone you might get business from? Which is a more effective use of your time? Are the results mutually exclusive? Maybe. But not immediate.

The notion of opportunity cost plays a crucial part in ensuring that scarce resources are used efficiently. If I have 2 phones and 2 computers with 2 Twitter accounts-which will be more efficient in the long run? Or the short run for that matter.

You see, opportunity costs are not restricted to monetary or financial costs: it can be the real cost of lost output or lost time. Twitter can be quite inefficient when it comes to working it into the prospecting flow of your work day and treating it like you would your outbound marketing. You have to know how to use it correctly. It compliments, but it doesn’t replace.

Try selling that to an SMB

Why Social South Worked

Posted on August 25, 2009 by marc meyer

Of all varieties of fopperies, the vanity of high birth is the greatest. True nobility is derived from virtue, not from birth. Title, indeed, may be purchased, but virtue is the only coin that makes the bargain valid.
– Robert Burton

Did you know I have a tattoo on my arm with the saying “Virtus sola nobilitas.” on it? It’s part of my family crest. As cool as that is, what’s more important is what the words mean. Essentially, it means that virtue is the only coin that makes the bargain valid.

Why do I bring this up? Because the words mean a lot to me. They resonate. I like people who carry themselves without pretentiousness. Especially when they so easily could. I think it’s an amazing quality to possess. Humility. Especially in today’s personal branding, all about me world.

At Social South I was amongst the most unpretentious, unassuming, group of high profile social media thought leaders assembled in one place at one time. Sure, I could have gone to a half dozen “larger” more visible cities and had just as many social media thought leaders assembled. And I have. But I would have gotten the attitude thing along with the assumptive title of social media thinker, high brow, I’m better than you, thing.

There would be none of this at Social South.

Beyond a list that included the incredibly down to earth Beth Harte, the humble Mack Collier, the classy Toby Bloomberg, the social media handyman Paul Chaney who has a book coming out, the incredibly smart Jason Falls, the genuine Christina Kerley, the effusive Kellye Crane, the solid Tom Martin, the refreshing An Bui, and of course the giving Lionel and talented Richard from Dell, There were a host of “other” people that deserve recognition in their own right.

From Andrew Keen, Dave Barger, Mitch Canter, Robert French, David Griner, Tammy Hart, to Dana Lewis, Andre Natta, Phyllis Neill, Will Scott, Jeff Vreeland, Stacey Hood and of course Ike Pigott all of them brought value, humility, a sense of community and a sense of “leave the ego at the door and lets learn from each other.” You don’t get that at 95% of the conferences that you attend. That’s why Social South worked.

Of course I would be remiss to not bring up 2 more people. The first is as finest an individual that I’ve met from practically meeting for the first time. This person essentially pulled Social South together and shaped it into the conference that it was and did it in a way that it was seamless and looked effortless. Scott Schablow you rock.

Esra’a Al Shafei

What can I say. This person gave one of the most riveting non-keynote keynotes I have ever heard. And it was via Skype. The night before Scott Schablow mentioned that every time he heard her speak, it gave him goose bumps. I had no idea what he was talking about. Yet, this was no exception. Not only did it give me and everyone else goose bumps, it also reduced more than half the audience to tears and the rest were giving her a standing ovation.

Esra is the founder and Executive Director of MideastYouth.com, and what she did was she showed the crowd gathered at Social South the true power of crowdsourcing people for the cause of freedom and human rights via social media, via video, via the internet and really any other means possible. She showed what’s possible. What is possible.

In short, it was the perfect keynote for a group of people who were so into what they were doing. People who were so genuine, that it made perfect sense for them. As I said, you don’t get that at other conferences. You hope to, but you generally don’t. And That’s why Social South worked. Thank you #Soso!

I could go on, but it might take days to highlite everything! But one more thing before I go, here is that tattoo and remember,”Virtus sola nobilitas.” 🙂

Share this Post

Social Media conundrum #714. Are relationships campaigns?

Posted on August 24, 2009 by marc meyer

Maybe some of you are missing the point.

I think some of you are thinking that social media is this:

If you build it…blah, blah, blah…

But if we look at the offline equivalent of online relationships, you wouldn’t do this.

Waiting for the phone to ring?

The same holds true online and in social media. Whether you are connecting or you are creating, or you are immersing yourself in culture. It takes work. It takes a leap of faith and it takes a belief that it’s all worth it. And once it starts, it doesn’t stop.

But decide right now. Whether you are a company or a small business owner or an individual. What is your commitment going to be? And, what do you want to get out of it? We all have a notion of what we want to get out of any engagement. Social media is no exception. Beth Harte has put together a wonderful Slideshare of this thought which she presented to a packed room at Social South this past week. Essentially saying, social media requires planning and measurement.

But couldn’t you say that about relationships? You don’t enter into a relationship blindly, and you certainly have expected or anticipated outcomes of your involvement and committment to that relationship. Right? Look at Slide #13 of Jason Falls presentation on The Marketing of Unmarketing and see if you can figure out what these people are referring to.

Once people get past the…