Duct Tape Marketing Missed: Part 2

Okay. So.

Blogging can sometimes be a humbling experience. I wrote a post yesterday about John Janstch post, If You’re Not Participating in Social Media. I am not going to link to my post.. just scroll down. Long story short, I went off on John for throwing out numbers instead of talking about writing authenticity and using a corporate blog as a communication tool rather than a social tool. John commented on the post:

A couple points of clarification – selling to “older” employees are your words, not mine – I simply said to folks who were not convinced social media made sense for an organization. Second, I agree with your point completely and have written about it often – so, in that context what I was saying was use the data to convince people that it’s worth developing a strategy around.

Okay, I will be honest. I felt a little bad. I decided to go back and research the Duct Tape Marketing Blog,to find examples of where John talks about being authentic in the social media/blogging world.

He has many posts talking about authenticity, “humanness”, and the importance of strategy/clear objectives in blogging.

Here are the excerpts:

Engagement Without Volume Is A Lot of Work

John: What matters always, always is the completion of meaningful long term strategic objectives. So, the discussion of who’s blog readers are more engaged or if 500 hyper engaged readers is better than 50,000 kinda engaged readers somehow starts sounding a bit like the discussion of the best college football team every year. Until there’s a playoff, and everyone has the same goal, the discussion is silly.

The Ultimate Social Marketing Question

John: When planning your social marketing strategies, tools and tactics the ultimate question you must ask is this – “What do I want the relationship with my customer to look and feel like?”

7 Ways To Get More Blog Comments

John: Show some humanness – No matter what your blog topic is readers like to know that the author is a human being. It’s okay to let that show and to add personal thoughts. Only you can determine how far to go with this, but I know that your readers will connect the more they know your story.

John caters more toward the small business market when it comes to blogging and online marketing ideas but his ideas can still resonate at the corporate level. Believe me, they resonate.

Why have I been neglecting Friendfeed!?

I started using FriendFeed around 2 months ago. For around a month it turned into an all out obsession! I remember spending four hours constantly updating my feed until 3am. I would like to think I was discovered by Louis Gray through FriendFeed and I started making some great connections in the social media fanatics circle.

Recently I have dropped off using FriendFeed. I though about it tonight while working in Starbucks. I ask myself, “why have I not been posting on the feed?”

There are a couple of reasons that could be playing into my lack of FriendFeed usage,

1. I was burned out on the information overload of constant use for a month. This doesn’t say much for someone who calls themselves a social media fanatic.

2. Business has really picked up in the last few months. Bringing on employees in two locations and trying to learn how to manage people has taken my time down to nil.

3. I don’t receive updates via email other than a feed recount. I am inundated daily from other networks on updated and friend additions.

All of the above could be contributing to my lack of use but I haven’t quite put my finger on it. I need to make a more conscious effort to spend more time on FriendFeed. I love the platform and find it extremely useful when it comes to information and blogging content.

This is my apology to FriendFeed. I will use you more. I will. I swear. Has anyone else experienced this? If so, please tell me how you overcame your lack of use.

The Life of a Social Media Advocate. Part 1

Corvida from SheGeeks had an interesting post titled, “Why Are “We” More Willing Than The Mainstream?” The post is a brief breakdown of her thoughts on why the mainstream world is less inclined to dive into social media. She lays out three reasons: Interests, Time, and Productivity. I wanted to add a fourth level to the mix: Ego (social recognition).

Every person on this planet has some type of social need. Most of us have a desire to be recognized. Recognition could mean a lot of things. Recognition from your spouse. Recognition from your boss. Recognition from your peers. It is not a shameful thing to say you want a fair share of ego boost. You want your “balloon” filled but not POPPED.

The mainstream world (non-social media users) get their egocentric needs filled in other means. Instead of trying to get noticed by Scoble, they are trying to push to the Chamber of Commerce.

Why do we do what we do?

Interest: We love the concept built around technology and social media.
Time: Some of us do it for a living. We try to spend as much time as possible online.
Productivity: Are we really? haha
Ego: The social recognition of being a “thought-leader.”

Online Social Networking. Impersonal?

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 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 an older gentleman degrading social media, please call me. I’ll bring the blow torch. You bring the gasoline.

The Philosophical Comparison Between Marketing and Social Media

There can be a correlation drawn between the changes in the philosophy of marketing and the philosophy of social media. From push to pull, bomber tactics to niche groups, they relate more than we know.

The Social Media world has been slowly switching from a single massive community to a niche community with a smaller membership status.

Myspace and Friendster blew up on the scene as massive social networks with the potential of connecting to hundreds of thousands of people. The best part about the massive networks was you weren’t limited to location to find “friends.”

With the advent of Facebook we saw the social media community moved to more of a nice, locale based system. You were catering to a friend base that may already exist in a specific geographic or social region. Facebook moved to a social interactive platform rather than a massive social community spread over a huge land base.

Now we have seen the power of NING unleashed upon the Internet world. With the introductions of NING came other sites like grou.ps. NING gave any layman the ability to create a very specific and niche social networks based around group specific ideas. Let’s say you were in a biking accident in Colorado. Try NING, I’m sure you will have a home.

Facebook has become increasingly more niche focused with application development and demographic/geographic targeted advertising. My definition of geographic would be the relation to a friend or connection. More often than not, they are in the same geographic location.

The philosophy behind marketing has moved in the same focus. What was once a bomber approach mentality of hitting as many people as possible to gain a sale. Is now switching to a more personal and direct market approach. We are not pushing a sales message at a demographic. We are now designing niche messages and a targeted story to PULL people toward us. Sell people on our offering.

Social media has followed the same path. Moving from a massive, no holds barred, network to a more niche community based system.

What is next? We have had discussion on Smaller Indiana around the concept of Web 3.0. What does Web 3.0 look to you? Is there a web 3.0? Maybe not.

Instant Gratification. A Misnomer on the Web.

There are a few blogs I read that I absolutely love and Seth Godin is one of them. Everything he writes is so simple and yet completely mind blowing. He wrote a post yesterday entitled, The Secret of the Web (hint: it’s a virtue).

Patience.

The main problem people have with social media is the time involvement.

“You are meaning to tell me I have to spend an hour a day on four different sites? Plus my blog?”

“It can be a half-hour but if you want to succeed. Yes”

Seth brought it all into perspective for me this morning by writing:The irony of the web is that the tactics work really quickly. You friend someone on Facebook and two minutes later, they friend you back. Bang! But the strategy still takes forever. The strategy is the hard part, not the tactics.

A teaser. You can have all the friends in the world on Facebook but if you don’t have a strategy to cultivate the relationships, it is a waste of time. You can check out my post on how to be productive in Social Media here. But the main purpose of the post is this:

Don’t get caught up in the instant gratification of someone following you, commenting on your blog, or adding you to friendfeed. The fleeting moment of importance will be good for a day and then it will vanish. You will be swallowed up into the hole of web turnover. Whether personal or business make sure you have goals set before entering the social media arena.

It is like everything in life, more often than not, purpose can justify chaos. The web is chaotic and a tease. Tame the beast with patience and strategy.

My Thoughts on BigTreeTop.com

I received an invitation recently to a social media community site called BigTreeTop.com . Being a curious social media advocate I decided to join the site to experience what it was all about.

When joining it asks you to sign up, the usual drab of sign on name and password, we all know the drill. The site then asks you for a specific topic you would like to discuss in the BigTreeTop Community Platform. I chose blogging. You proceed to another box where it asks, “What goal do you have pertaining to your topic.” I filled it out: Have an under 500,000 Alexa ranking for my blog.

The community itself is centered around different tree tops. A tree top could be any type of community centered environment whether a store or a county. A user has their own personal tree-top, as well as community tree tops you can join.

A business can create a site where their customers and employees can join the treetop and make suggestions or ideas for the store. The users can then rank the suggestions good or bad, thumb up or thumb down. In this sense BigTreeTop is mashing ranking and social media into one page for content creation. A good way to stay connected to your customers.

Splinters of BigTreeTop
The user interface of the site is a little hard to handle. The ideas of aggregating posts and comments of your friends onto your page (much like Twitter) is a good idea but is designed haphazardly. I was slightly confused on who and where some of the comments were coming from.

I received the invitation from a friend in Indianapolis but the problem I found with the site is that it is based primarily in Bloomington, Indiana. The creators are based in Bloomington and the site was launched with businesses in the Bloomington area but there doesn’t seem to be much push outside of the original location.

When you join the community information about the site and using the site is scarce. There is a 120 second video you can watch which basically talks about the benefits of using BigTreeTop.com. I disagree with some of the stuff the video talks about: (I would have posted the video but there was not an embed link. Problem? Yes.)

Joe realized that more and more people are connecting and doing things over the Internet. Joe has a website and has tried blogging. Joe has even tried to join social communities. The problem is that none of these other services really help him connect his community in ways to really help his business. They take up too much of his time and they don’t give me any real insights into how he may be able to make his business better.

The video goes onto say that Joe created a BigTreeTop account and now he has a blog, website, and social community all in one spot. Here is the biggest problem I have with that idea:

Customers are inundated daily with new social media platforms and social communities. Facebook and Myspace led the charge in the social community war and new sites are coming out daily. Why create another site a customer has to join? Why not join the community they are already a part of? There are plenty of ways to connect with your customers on existing sites whether it is an application or a featured page.

Why not create an application for Facebook where customers can rank and add ideas to your profile page? Your customer base already spends time on social communities, reach them where they hang out!

The Good of BigTreeTop
The creators of BigTreeTop have an interactive kiosk a store owner can place in their location that syncs directly with BigTreeTop.com. A customer can add ideas and rank ideas/experiences while in the store. GREAT IDEA! The interactive kiosk may be the saving grace for BigTreeTop.com. Creators and members of social communities are always trying to find new ways to connect to each other. At the location seems to be the best idea yet!

I’m not sure whether the cost of the kiosk outweighs the benefit but the idea of interacting inside of the location is a great one!

Overall the site is designed efficiently and well maintained. I enjoyed the goal setting and topical questions when you joined the community. If BigTreeTop can spread outside of their current locale they may have some stomping power in the state of Indiana.

Anderson University Launches Successful Social Community. How?

I have been involved in some behind the scenes consulting on a new Alumni social community launched by my alum-mater, Anderson University. Hat tip to Bart Caylor of Brainstorm on the design and functionality of the site. They did an awesome job!

The site was in beta testing for a couple of months before launching on August 1, 2008. They are already approaching 700 members!

I want to examine the reasons why I feel they have been successful in gaining members to the community. There are a couple of reasons why people have joined the Anderson Alums network, making the site a reality.

1. Pre-Launch Traditional Marketing
2. WOM Viral Marketing by Creators
3. Brand Loyalty
4. NING Network Not Facebook

Pre-Launch Traditional Marketing

In general, social media communities have a hard time finding the resources to push a traditional marketing campaign. Most of the time a beta relies completely on word-of-mouth through blogs, email blasts, and micro-blogs (thank god for tiny-url). Anderson University happened to have the resources to send out a direct mail campaign to alumni. I received a letter (an invitation to join), a magnet to place on my fridge, and a car sticker. I would be interested to see how many people joined the network because of the direct mail campaign. Survey Monkey anyone?

Our alumni magazine also featured a HUGE section on social media and how it is changing the landscape of communication. The articles touted the new social community sporadically through the writing.

When it comes to producing, marketing, and maintaining a social community catered to a more niche group. Sometimes it works to tack on a traditional marketing strategy prior to the launch date of the community. Traditional Marketing with Social Media? Seriously? YES. Seriously.

WOM Viral Marketing by Creators

Chris Williams and Ben Davis did an excellent job in talking up and promoting the social network. They allowed for some influential members of the community to join the network before the launch. This applied the “ego-stroking” technique. I have always agreed with the huge role ego plays in building social capital. Show loyalists preferential treatment and they will push the network to their friends, family, and contacts. Word-of-mouth marketing at the finest.

Brand Loyalty

Higher Education can have fairly significant brand loyalty among the alumni. The 4-6 (or more) years you spend in college are some of best years of your life. For most, the amount of emotional development experienced in college is off the charts. You create friendships for life and memories that will last a lifetime. I would also be curious on how many people joined for experiencing the memories again, if only as a small amount.

Ning Network not Facebook

Being a graduate of 2006 it is hard for me to imagine another form of communication other than Facebook. Facebook became extremely popular in the “higher education” environment around my freshman year of college. Most, if not all, of my classmates are on Facebook and we use that for communication between each other.

What the NING platform brings to the table is a new experience for the older alumni generations. This is an open platform with ease of use design. If the alumni network was launched on Facebook we would have seen an increase in membership from classes of 2004-2009. Most of the Gen X and Baby Boomer generation wouldn’t have touched an alumni network on Facebook. The Anderson Alums network on NING brings a fresh look and ability to touch other generations.

Moving Forward: The Added-Value

I am under the assumption that professionals in the social media world like Robert Scoble, Louis Gray, and SheGeeks would agree with me when I say: Membership (bulk number of members) isn’t important, it is about the content creation. A social media community is not worth spit unless the members are active and creating content. I am interested to see if the Anderson Alum network can take the 700 members and push them to create content.

A social media community becomes important only when it has an added-value proposition to an individuals life. What is Anderson Alums added-value? For me, it is connecting to older alumni who I never met in school. Other professionals who have become successful in business and in life. My added-value will only become a reality if the other side of the coin is active.

Beware of Blogging Fatigue. Just Relax.

(hat tip to Louis for his post here)

Louis Gray has a recent post talking about a new concept to me, a Internet disease called “Blogging Fatigue”. To many of us “novice blogger” it is easy to understand the concept of blogging fatigue. I have experienced it myself. In order for me to full understand and contemplate this phenomenon I will but a definition to it (this is not FDA approved):

Blogging fatigue:
A systematic breakdown of an individuals mental state with a range of afflictions, varying from burning sensation in ones eyes and fingers, a cold (I have nothing to talk about) sweat, followed by a gnashing of teeth and a manic scroll through Friendfeed.

Cure: Louis Gray, Colin Walker, Douglas Karr, SheGeek

Now, don’t be alarmed. If you are suffering from blogging fatigue just relax. Louis Gray has pointed out some blatant facts for many of the novice bloggers (including myself).

The truth is that unless you’re being paid specifically to blog:

* You don’t need to blog every day.
* You don’t need to post more than once a day.
* You shouldn’t feel guilty about “gaps”.
* You don’t have to explain yourself to anyone.

Usually when I am talking to an individual interested in blogging I relay four key TO DO’s to get started in the blogoshpere:

1. Start a Google Reader Account. Search for topical blogs and subscribe. Make it a point to read your Google Reader daily, much like the morning news. Google Alerts works too.

2. Make a schedule for a set amount of content created for the week. Ex: Monday, Wednesday, Friday at 7am before work I am going to post content.

This allows you to create content on a normal basis. It also helps with forming the habit of reading content and posting content on a regular basis.

You will also find yourself posting randomly around the allotted days. The best posts happen at random.

3. Make sure you link to other bloggers. Find some of your favorite bloggers and link to them. Warning: Don’t link for no apparent reason. You need to link because you enjoy their content creation. Don’t be THAT annoying kid.

4. Have fun. Start blogging because you want to create content. Everyone has something to say, so say it. If you decide to start blogging make sure you are doing it for the social flavor, as well as, the business.

Start out slow and enjoy yourself.

I Have Also Been LOUIS GRAYED! BAM!

This post could be categorized as blatant self promotion but I was just too excited! I have been chosen as one of five “Hot Bloggers of the Month” by Louis Gray of FriendFeed. (This is an example of what not to do in blogging. Do some research before you post facts. Sorry Louis!)

Everyone should go check out the post found HERE.

Four other bloggers were chosen for the month of August:

1) Chris Baskind / ChrisBaskind.com (www.chrisbaskind.com)
Top Post

2) Mona N / Pixel Bits (pixelbits.wordpress.com)
Top Post

3) Kyle Lacy / KyleLacy.com (www.kylelacy.com)
Top Post

4) David Griner / The Social Path (www. thesocialpath.com)
Top Post

5) Justin Korn / Justin Korn’s Blog (blog.justinkorn.com)
Top Post

Thank you so much Louis! I am extremely honored.

Cheers!