I Don’t Care About Your Clients. I Care About Their Friends.

Here is a quick thought for your Monday morning. I always try to get a point across in all of my seminars surrounding the concepts in social media and the Internet. it goes something like this..

“As a marketer in this age of online communication.. I don’t care about your clients… I care about their friends.”

This concept has been gaining importance according to the rules of viral marketing and online marketing. When we are focusing on lead generation through social media it is extremely important to understand what SELLS your product or service. What story do you tell the end-user that pulls people toward your brand? How do you get people involved passed the direct mail piece or the tweet you sent out yesterday?

You get your current customers to tell the story for you.

You train your happy clients to tell their version of your story!

It is a fact of nature right? We tend to have friends that are similar to us… your friends… your business contacts… your important professional network… the closest people tend to have the same type of values.

We want to our clients to sell our story. Referrals are the best way to gain business leads and social media has created a platform to make that sharing… so much easier.

Education and the ability to teach your customers the art of sharing is and will be… extremely important to growing your business in this new age of online communication.

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Social Media Enhances Personal Experience in Business

Why do we tend to shorten experiences? Why… as a society… do we keep inventing new ways to make things faster, harder, stronger, and compiled. Information flying this way and that, overloading everyone from the iPOD Millennial to the AM Radio Baby Boomer (sorry stereotyping is a spiritual gift of mine). Technology has managed to help our society do more in less time. But (hat tip to Seth Godin on this one) the “do more in less time” philosophy has taken the personality out of the every day encounter. Seth makes a brilliant example in his post, Old Marketing with New Tools:

Cost and speed pressure means that when you get your car serviced, it’s unlikely you’ll be greeted by the mechanic himself, wiping his hands on a greasy rag, telling you exactly what he did to your car. Instead, you’ll get a difficult to decipher printout.

In some cases, new technology has taken out the face to face interaction with the business to the client. BUT we have seen an increase in social interaction (both online and off) in the realm of social media.

I overheard a gentleman talking about a social network (whether Facebook or LinkedIn it doesn’t matter). He was making reference to social networking on the Internet as impersonal and stupid. First off, I about flipped out of my chair and set him on fire. I understand that online social networking is not for everyone but the least someone can do is recognize the fact that it has VALUE. I turned around thinking I would be face-to-face with a twenty-something year old. Unfortunately he looked around 50 with his real age probably being closer to 35.

The simple fact that a gentleman/business owner was implying that social networking was impersonal is completely ridiculous. If you do it right.

The right way to make social networking work for you is two fold.

1. Join a social network (preferably a geographically local network). In order to know and be productive in the different social networks refer to my post: How To Be Productive in Social Media.

2. Use the social network to meet members of that specific network off-line.

Combine face-to-face networking with your online social networking experience. I use Smaller Indiana to meet new business owners/creative individuals in the Indianapolis community. This does not replace my off-line business networking with groups like Rainmakers but it does add value in meeting people who usually do not attend networking events.

The combination of off-line and online social networking is a powerful tool you can utilize for YOUR business. Try it out. Spend a few minutes on a local network and set up a meeting. If it doesn’t work. TRY AGAIN. If that doesn’t work. Third times s charm?

Also, if you ever hear anyone degrading social media, please call me. I’ll bring the blow torch. You bring the gasoline.

The Only Thing That Matters Is Your Story

We are experiencing a change in the world of customer communication. It is no longer the company that is controlling the brand management but the consumer. Forget the concept of social media… we have been witnessing this transition for the past decade… and it is increasing exponentially since the inception of the Internet.

Customers are now talking about you at a staggering pace using sites like Twitter, Facebook, Myspace and LinkedIN… and the list goes on. I was watching TV today and taking note of the increasinly terrible advertising that is taking place on the cable networks. I began to realize that I (along with millions of others) are no longer making buying decisions based on traditional advertising. You can take the definition of traditional advertising any way you want but in my terms it means old ways of doing business.

A great book to read is Made to Stick (from the Heath Brothers) which talks about the concept of creating a story to push your company into the next decade of communication. I have read, reread, and read again the excellent points made throughout the book and began to realize one thing… if you do not create a story that your customers can retell and share.. you will lose market share steadily over the next couple of years.

We might not be seeing a steady decline because social media and the Internet is still bleeding edge when it comes to market penetration in a global sense. My question is simply this: What happens when we do reach the peak of market penetration for social media? What happens when your customers ARE using the tool and using it effectively? What do you do when you reach the point? Are you ready for the onslaught? Is your communications department familiarizing themselves with the tools?

All that matters is your story. You are going to be creating a story based on a marketing process but we might come to the point where it doesn’t matter what you want your story to be… your customers are going to create a story anyway. Experience is the key to the future of marketing and customer communication. They (your customer) are going to be talking NOT about your sales or PR release but how they personally experienced your product or service.

Are you preparing yourself for the new age of communication?

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Only the Passionate Survive

I’m going to be completely transparent with you right now… not because it is something all of us “preach” in the world of Internet communication… but because this is where real and meaningful content is created.

I’ve been dragging through my life the past couple of months and I’m trying to put my finger on it… put my finger on the pulse that has been slowly fading… trying (like many people) to figure it all out.

I’m not dragging because a lack of great business. I’m not dragging because a lack of business or professional recognition. Everything is good in the world of business and I am blessed.

Maybe I just need a reboot? Maybe I just need something to push me into the realm of satisfaction? Maybe the key is… I’ll never be satisfied… and maybe I am okay with the notion of never stopping.

Maybe it is just the stress of owning a small business… but maybe I am okay with that as well!

Through my life I have read countless business books. I have had the pleasure of reading everything from Losing My Virginity by Richard Branson to Made to Stick by the Heath brothers and there seems to be a central theme in every book:

Passionate individuals

Richard Branson LOVED music. The Heath brothers taught us the art of telling stories about the things we LOVE to do. The central theme creeps through every page… the theme of only the passionate surviving.  Seth Godin’s recent blog post talks about passion in the workplace:

“I don’t think there’s a relationship between what you do and how important you think the work is. I think there’s a relationship between who you are and how important you think the work is.”

It is truly only the passionate that survive through owning businesses, economic downturn, and competitive environments. It is only the passionate that are creative enough to push into new territories, use new technology, and create new products.

You have to be obsessed with what you do… up to the point of it becoming a true passion.

What does it mean to have true passion?

1. You have the ingenuity and drive to create new products and offerings for your clients.
2. You don’t hesitate at change and welcome diversity.
3. New technology and communication techniques are implemented… always.
4. Your employees love what they do… they are the direct reflection of yourself.
5. You are known as the go-to-person in your location and industry because people can sense the passion in your eyes.

You could create an endless list but I am set on the idea that creativity and innovation are a sign of true passion.

I am going to make a conscious effort to rediscover that true passion and push past the worthless space of “not-knowing.” Life is way to short not to know what you want to do.

And if you are not feeling the “passion.” Find another way.. find another route.. find that diamond in the rough.

5 Ways to Not Be a Complete SAP on Social Media

Maybe… I am just in a bad mood. Maybe… I am just upset because the Colt’s lost the Super Bowl last night. Maybe… I am just being honest and open with my opinions… whether right or wrong. Either way… I have a bone to pick with a certain group of people that use social media. I am going to preface this  by saying that I have also been guilty of this activity and have been trying to change my ways…

There are a certain group of tweets, status updates, and posts that are sent out every day that consist of what I call “The Tony Robbin’s Smile Tweet-Post-Update.” If you are familiar with Tony Robbins… you can understand where I am coming from here… Here are some examples:

“Let’s have an awesome week! Lot’s of great stuff planned and new clients rolling in. Good luck everyone!”

“Just believe in yourself and all your wishes will come true!”

“If you don’t climb the mountain, you can’t view the plain.”

“Just talked to @abdcd and it was the best conversation ever! So Awesome!

Now… the last one in that list is not necessarily bad because you might truly think that the person was awesome  (I’ve done it) but does it really have to be every person you have a phone conversation with… and do I  need to know… every… time? There should come a time when you strive, yearn, and want to create something more…There should come a time when you want to create content and updates that make people think and strive to be more both intellectually and emotionally…

Where do you draw the line as a person and as a brand? I think the issue I am having with so much irrelevant content is that… it is not new… it is not fun… if I wanted an ego boost I would turn on Joel Osteen or Tony Robbins. And most of all… it is not real. So let’s talk about how we stray away from terrible human development content and get down to creating content that will be extremely beneficial to your life, business, and social media tribe.

1. Share thoughts and emotions surrounding an experience.

“This weekend’s funeral left me pondering: Do you celebrate the life lived, or mourn for what is gone and what will never be?”

This is an important development in the world of social media. You can share business and info about your company but you can go to an entirely new level with an update like the one listed above. (This is more for the personal business account than a company account) It is a tasteful update that will get a response and bring the community closer together.

2. Do NOT re-tweet, re-share, or re-post every quote on God’s green EARTH.

I am okay with one or two quotes a day but when I keep getting “live your best life now” or “this is the first day of the rest of your life” quotes it gets fairly annoying. I do appreciate the individual trying to pump me up but I don’t need self-help gurus in my face every day.

3. Share quality content around your company, service, or life.

If you are a self-help coach… I understand the concept of sharing thoughts and ideas about self improvement… when you are not in the self-help world and everything is absolutely (over-the-top) positive that flies off the keyboard… it strikes me as a little fake. I want to know real. I want to know substance! I want to know how life is being led… treated… and dealt with… We can all grow if we are honest with our positions.

4. Don’t share about every success, new client, or project development in your company.

It is okay to celebrate with your community but there is a fine line between blatant self-promotion and excitement…. because the truth of the matter remains… If you were actually signing all the clients and success under the sun… you wouldn’t have the time to use social media 14 hours a day.

5. Be real. Be real. Be real.

It is important to share information and content that excites and drives you through life. If you want to share gobs of emotionally insignificant content… that is your prerogative… but remember that the best strive to be real, honest, and raw. I want to know about the little things in life… I want to know when a community member is upset because an individual flipped them off on the road.

I want to know when they are hurt, exhausted, and emotionally raw.

I think it comes down to the point of not going over the top… everything is okay in moderation… do not share every pain and do not share every success… just be who you are… period.

The Only Way to Business Success

I was in a meeting with a potential client… a company called Fanimation… and we were discussing the different parts of our proposal process. At Brandswag we have a 50/50 policy where half of the 12 month social media campaign is paid by the client and the other half is pay-by-performance. So.. long story short… if we do not hit the goals for the client in the last 6 months of the contract… we do not get paid.

(Side note: If you have a couple of minutes after reading this blog post… check out their website. The products Fanimation creates are absolutely unique and AWESOME… no joke… If you are a sucker for product design… check them out)

Nathan Frampton works for Fanimation and said something extremely peculiar to me… “I just want to write you bigger checks.”

I have owned a company for almost three years and have never had a potential client say that to me. I proceeded to ask Nathan what he meant by writing me bigger checks. I had a vague idea of the concept but wanted to hear it straight from him.

It is an easy concept to comprehend… do great work and you will be rewarded. There is always a base pay but if you create marketing vehicles, promotional campaigns, and tell the story of the company with enough gusto… you sell product… and when you sell product… you get paid. It reminds me of something that Barry Labov (owner of Labov and Beyond) told me recently… “You know you have done a good job for a client when they send YOU gifts.”

But let’s be honest with ourselves…is it really that easy of a concept? It hit me like a ton of bricks even though it makes complete sense after I thought it through..

Deliver and grow with a client… deliver what they need, want, and desire… THAT is the only way to business success.

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Blubbering Blogger

Today’s guest post is by Melissa Mattingly. Melissa is a graduate from Depauw University in 2007 and works for the Indianapolis Convention & Visitors Association in the membership department. She is a cheer coach at Speedway High School and lives within walking distance to the Indy 500 withhusband Eric, and crazy mutt, Knuckles.

It takes me approximately 4 minutes to decide what I want to order when I go to McDonalds even though the dollar menu is probably my favorite “cookbook.” Sit me down in a fancy restaurant; you can bump it up to 15. Put me in a department store fitting room and you’d think I might have been taken hostage. Holy cow, it can take me an hour to decide what I (@MelMatto if you’re interested) should tweet!  Ask me to write a post about social media and the blog might be extinct by the time I’m done. Alright, I’m not that bad – but when Kyle said my timeframe for completion was “as soon as possible…450 words or less” I almost fainted.

Within this past year I thought I really wanted to start a blog. The problem I ran into is that I didn’t know why. Was it just for myself? Was I hoping to throw insight to helpless followers? I didn’t know what I wanted out of it and I still feel like that should be rule #1 when starting a blog. If you can’t even fill out the “about” section how are you suppose to have a successful blog?  I know some people just wing it and as the blog ages, it grows into something with meaning – but I’m way too OCD for that. I’m more of a step-by-step kind of gal. Give me a recipe; I’ll bake you a cake. Give me instructions; I’ll build the best Lego castle you’ve ever seen. But simply throwing food and Lego’s at me will only result in one colorful, crunchy lump of dough.

I even went as far as creating a page (seen here) but never started because I knew when I started I would have to keep up with it and what if I ran out of ideas? What if – gasp! – no one cared what I had to say but my mom. Most importantly, does the web really need another blogger? Does the web really need another so called “professional” to give their opinion on a topic they may have minute experience with? I remember around 10 years ago when the only bloggers were tweens with an open heart diary. Now there are so many conflicting opinions to process it’s turning into a psychological disease. “Information Overload,” according to Wikipedia, states: “As the world moves into a new era of globalization, an increasing number of people are connecting to the Internet to conduct their own research and are given the ability to produce as well as consume the data accessed on an increasing number of websites. Users are now classified as active users because more people in society are participating in the Digital and Information Age. This flow has created a new life where we are now dependent on access to information. Therefore we see an information overload from the access to so much information, almost instantaneously, without knowing the validity of the content and the risk of misinformation. When the individual is plunged into a fast and irregularly changing situation or a novelty-loaded context … his predictive accuracy plummets. He can no longer make the reasonably correct assessments on which rational behavior is dependent.”

Now again, Wikipedia (in a sense) could be seen as another blogger so maybe this statement has no warrant to some of you but where does it stop? I’m proud to be an American and believe in free speech to its’ fullest but can blogging dumb people down? Does it cause people to rely too much on what others say instead of making their own decisions? I, for one, honestly don’t have any answers. But if I do – maybe that would be a good topic to start my blog.

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My Top 20 Posts of 2009

I know.. a little egotistical right? That’s why I am splitting it down the middle! My top 10 posts from 2009 and my favorite post from the REAL geniuses of social media.

Just trying to showcase the more popular (community driven) posts from 2009. I am going to be taking the rest of the week off in the beautiful San Luis Obispo, CA to be with family. I can’t wait to hook back up in 2010! Have a restful and joyous holiday week!

My Favorite Posts of 2009

1. The Magic of Dynamic Pricing from Seth Godin
2. The Four Spheres of Social Media Strategy from Jason Falls
3. 11 Must-Dos for the Serious Blogger from Jay Baer
4. Sometimes, You Need To Fire a Customer by Lorraine Ball
5. So What’s Facebook Good For? from Chris Baggott
6. User Experience is Not A Check Box from Travis Smith
7. Are You An Elephant or a Butterly? from Douglas Karr
8. The Top 100 Twitter Publishing Tools and Services by Brian Solis
9. Becoming a Social Business from Shannon Paul
10. Death of the Brochure and more Verbal Masturbation by Duncan Alney

My Top Posts of 2009

1. 20 Ways to Drive Leads Through Social Media
2. Customers Are People First. Marketers Are Fundamentally Flawed.
3. 10 Ways to Build Trust with Social Media
4. When Should Business Engage in Social Media
5. Balancing Perception and Reality in Social Media
6. 10 Tips to Integrating Social Media with Marketing
7. Is Out Sourcing Social Media Okay?
8. 5 Things I Have Learned as a Generation Y Business Owner
9. The Three E’s of Social Media: Embrace Educate and Empower
10. Twitter Usage Plan for Success

A Look Back at 2009 and One Prediction

I know. I know. Everyone writes a post like this..blah blah blah.

Looking back at the last year… recanting exciting testimonials of accomplishing goals and just being generally… excited!
There is nothing wrong with “looking back at the year” posts which is why I am writing this today.

I can be a cynic and a little negative but not during the Holiday!

Speaking of accomplishing goals…

This post is actually number 500 on this blog. Crazy right? 500 posts about everything from Twitter marketing, Liberty Tax girl I almost hit with my car, music, and grammar in blog writing.

First off, thanks to everyone who reads, comments, and joins in the overall human think tank known as the Internet. I absolutely love everything about social media and the thought process behind community engagement!

I am going to be taking the next week off to be with my family and to recharge for 2010. I thought I would post the top 5 blog posts from 2009 for the next week.

Top 4 Things from 2009

• We have had a great year over at Brandswag with Brandon Coon, Amy Rowe, Stephen Coley, and Austin Wechter. Thank you to all of our wonderful clients
• I wrote Twitter Marketing for Dummies (with the help of Erik Deckers and the wonderful staff at Wiley Publishing
• Finally broke into the top 150 Ad Age Blogs… but it fluctuates all the time.
• Was humbled to be able to present at Re/Max Indiana Sales Rally, MBO Conference,  and Hoosier Hospitality Conference

We are blessed to live and be able to create content and conversation in this age of technology. Remember that. BRING IT ON 2010!

And my one prediction: Google is going to buy Twitter.

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Quality, Service, and Expertise Do Not Matter

I am currently in a sales training class at Trustpointe, a Sandler Sales Company, who I highly recommend  to anyone looking for sales training and expertise. We were talking about the idea of quality, service, and expertise not mattering when involved in marketing communications. I have been wrestling with that concept over the past 48 hours and decided… who best to ask?

I have been under the assumption that it is absolutely idiotic to use “best customer service” in marketing communications. I’m still convinced that you have to be a little more creative  to gain the attention of a consumer base when using traditional marketing… even more when using social media marketing.

Plain and simple… everyone has quality, service, and expertise. What makes you different from everyone in your industry? If I get hit with marketing that says “Best Quality since 1889
“… Do I really care? No. I don’t.

I care about how you personally take care of your customers. I care about how you go about your daily routine.

Seth Godin has always said that people have come to expect that you have quality, service, and expertise… you do not have to keep telling us… show us.

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