Week 2: Social Media Mission 2008: Adam Small

I had the pleasure of meeting Adam Small after “running” into him at Smaller Indiana.

What do you love about social media?

The opportunity to meet other people.

What is your favorite tool to use when connecting to other people?

The only real social tools I use are Twitter and Smaller Indiana. Smaller Indiana is more of a site than  a tool. If we are speaking on social media tools it would be Twitter.

Have you met any of your followers on Twitter?

Yes.

Okay. So who is the most memorable?

James is someone that I have met off twitter. Patrick Welch is also another follower I have met off of Twitter.

What did you like about meeting him?

We have similar interests in technology.

What do you do in the offline world?

My wife and I own a mobile marketing company. The company is called Connective Mobile. What we do is we help our customers and clients reach their clients using text messaging.

Give me an example of a client that you have helped?

One of the best clients we have helped is Noodles & Company here in Indianapolis. They have a different text club for their stores here and in Bloomington. They have managed to grow them to a couple hundred.

What does that mean to you? Growing to a couple of hundred?

What does that mean? More revenue for us. When we see our client gaining more following in their text messaging clubs it means that the whole process is working.

What do you love about what you do?

I’m a tech guy and I like to make things work for people. I love to create innovative solutions for my clients.

What is your favorite Spam bot on twitter?

I got one the other day that I thought was Spam: kyleplacy and firstdaddy

Funny.

What I am Reading RIGHT NOW!

It has been an extremely busy time around the office of Brandswag Corp. I have unfortunately not been able to contribute to my blog in the way I would like and I haven’t been getting on FriendFeed (the biggest sin of all).

I thought I would post a couple links of people I have been reading recently which I find extremely interesting. Their point of view on social media is deep and crosses all points of the model.

Andy DeSoto: The Social Tug of War:

Best Line from the post: “…the unfortunate truth is that online social media pulls us away from being truly social, and in this game of tug of war, the only loser is often ourselves.”

Alexander van Elsa: Free is not dead. It’s the accompanying advertisement model that needs to be killed

Best Line from the post: “I prefer a business model where the user gets value, and you monetize on that value.

Brady Wood: People Matter: Manage Knowing This

Best Line from the post: “I know we are in a new age, however nothing can replace a top executives face to face acknowledgment, or encouragement, and coaching.”

Erik Deckers: Politics Make Loud Bedfellows

Best line from the post: “Really?” I thought. “You’re college educated and presumably informed about state politics, and all you got is ‘haircuts?’ What’s next, a shot about her shoes?”

Corvida: Twitter ReDesign Finally Goes Live

Best Line from the post: FYI: TechCrunch copied and pasted practically my entire post about this. (FYI I love Crovida)

So there is a quick look at what I have been reading today. If you haven’t subscribed to the people listed above I suggest you do… and STAT!

Have a great Friday and an amazing weekend!

Blasting the Technology and Marketing Elite

Occasionally I will write about certain posts that Seth Godin has thrown up on his blog. I am a huge advocate of his ideas and strategies surrounding the world of marketing and communication. Yesterday, Seth had a blog post entitled: The small-minded vision of the technology elite.

The blog post immediately caught my attention because I know Seth and a couple of the “technology elite” are not the best of friends. The post talks about the narrow outlook of innovation (Chris has some amazing ideas toward the innovation of Social Media, this is clearly a link to define what true innovation could look like) and advancement that some of technologically savvy individuals possess. From his post:

Take a look at the geek discussion boards and you’ll see an endless list of sharp-tongued critics, each angling to shoot down one idea or another. And then take a look at the companies that show up at the various pitch shows, and you’ll see one company after another pitching incremental improvements based on current assumptions.

The problem with getting stuck in an innovation paradigm is rampant over every area of business whether social media or marketing. When something works we will always see a huge entry into the market of products and services that are enhancements of the original creation.

We can fall into the trap of rejecting new ideas because of what works at the given moment. I  see it  happening on a daily basis in the social media because I have been guilty of doing it myself. When new services are being launched daily, it is hard to balance trying the innovative idea with being productive.

I tend to rely on the technological elite to give me information on new services being introduced into the market. Whether you are following Louis Gray, Mike Fruchter, Hutch Carpenter, Douglas Karr, or Mashable (the people I rely on) it is easy to categorize what works and what doesn’t.

My only warning: Keep an open mind. When testing new social media services don’t get caught up in opinions and reviews. I suggest trying it out for yourself. It may take 15-30 minutes of your day but at least you will know it either is innovative or it failed.

I am not an early adopter. I am an adapter. I will follow and collaborate with people who are better at social media adoption than I could ever be.

That is where the truth is hidden between the lines of every service. Does it work for me?

Small is the New Big in Social Media: Smaller Indiana

My fascination with social media has grown leaps and bounds (through Myspace, Facebook, and now FriendFeed) since I graduated college and entered the work force in Indianapolis. Enter Smaller Indiana.

Smaller Indiana is a NING network created by Indianapolis locals Pat Coyle and Douglas Karr. I have been a part of the community since its inception in late 2007. The purpose behind Smaller Indiana:

Smaller Indiana makes creative people and innovative ideas easier to find. This is the place for you to share your ideas and engage with Indiana’s most creative and inspired souls…working together to build community,culture and commerce.

Smaller Indiana has become a breeding ground for creative individuals to collaborate to make Indianapolis a better place to work, live, and (frankly) exist. I have become intimately involved in all the processes feeding in and out of this network and have been amazed by the success it has garnered in the community. The Indianapolis Star and Indianapolis Business Journal have written frequently about the social network site catered to Indianapolis professionals. Talk about a great way to get social media into the minds of non-users!

As you can see to the right we have decent traffic, in the month of August, for a site with 3200 members. The growth of the site has been steady and the overall membership was built from a starting point of 30 people.

Smaller Indiana was also involved in the organic/viral marketing push for Indianapolis to become the site of the 2012 Superbowl! As many of know by now, we got it! Smaller Indiana members blogged about the benefits of hosting the Superbowl in Indianapolis and also posted comments on the main Superbowl committee site.

I get a lot of information from other sites on the net including FriendFeed and LinkedIN. I do not, however, get the local flavor and community building that Smaller Indiana has offered me through the past 8 months.

If you want to gain offline connections through your social media experience I encourage everyone to find a geographically based social network like Smaller Indiana.

Unique Brand Identity Has Failed In Social Media

My first passion: Social Media

My second passion: Branding

I love everything about the concept of branding in the marketplace. I am completely obsessed with how a brand grows over time and gains new followers/evangelists.

I have been disappointed with the lack of brand identity in the Web 2.0 community.

You can argue that the technical advantages of a social media platform has more to do with the brand than design and I would agree with you.  That does not negate the fact that good design is a MUST in the creation of a brand identity.

There is a huge difference between the brand identity of a product or  service and the brand. Social Media has done a great job in the overall brand development of certain services because of one thing: the community. In the Web 2.0 world a brand is built on the customer evangelists surrounding the community.

The Web 2.0 world has become a mundane assortment of bright colored, reflective, and odd word images sporting as successful brand identities.

What do you think? Is the Web 2.0 world ignoring good design? Am I beating around the bush? Is it even important?

The Deciding Factor of Becoming a Social Media Expert

The business world has its share of experts and/or consultants. You can find a wide array of professionals in practically every business topic imaginable.

The Social Media world also has a fair share of “experts” and it can be difficult at times to figure out how the title was earned (self-proclaimed or not). Recently, Steve at Social Media Soap Box decided to investigate whether or not the term “expert” can be attributed correctly. He makes some great points on why some of us still “shirk” at the idea of a social media expert. One of the four determining factors from Steve’s Post:

“I think it’s safe to say that there are few things that evolve as quickly, as dramatically, and within such short time frames, as social media.  It’s hard just to keep up and understand the implications of these changes, much less build a foundation of knowledge and experience that one would traditionally need in order to be considered an expert.“

Louis Gray and Chris Brogan have also weighed in on the topic of what it takes to be a  social media expert.

In his post, Social Media Experts are the New Webmasters, Louis states that the individual’s “efforts to rebrand as social media experts will be short-lived and futile.” Louis encourages the self-proclaimed social media experts of the world to stick with their traditional expertise (marketing, communications, PR) and add social media into the mix as a foundation builder.

In the post What I Want a Social Media Expert to Know, Chris Brogan calls upon the self-proclaimed SM experts to focus on the strategic and tactical aspects of social media. A social media expert should be familiar with everything from “how your role ties to marketing, PR, advertising, R&D, finance, HR, sales” to having at least “five stats worth knowing for any blog/website.”

I have been debating on the concept of a social media expert because, frankly, I have wanted to give myself the title. What I have come to realize… there is one factor you need in order to be properly titled a social media expert.

1. The True ROI Expert

If you are touting yourself as a social media expert you are either:

• A. Selling your expertise in a B2B relationship
• B. Selling your expertise in a B2C relationship

Whether you are categorized in the A or B category it is extremely important that you can show potential clients a return on investment in social media. How do you do this? Gain success with current clients. The concept is simple but the process can be hard.

Have you helped a company or individual gain success in the social media world? Have you been able to map an increase of sales based on a communications strategy in social media? Have you seen increased visibility and traffic to a clients website?

You can have a wealth of knowledge in platforms and applications but if you cannot create success for your clients…. your title is a mute point.

Create success for a current client or even in your own business. Use it as the foundation to support your social media “expert” title.

If you can use social media to create success… you deserve the title of social media expert.

Thank you to Michael Fruchter for turning me onto the Social Media Soap Box.

Online and Offline Networking: Connect the Two

The past couple of posts at KyleLacy.com have been about the value of a relationship driven model of social networking. The process of connecting to individuals on and off the web is an extremely important idea that needs to be embraced.

Chris Brogan has always done an excellent job at giving tips on connecting to your readership, as well as, social media friends and acquaintances. He wrote recently on the Five Ways to Connect and Add Value to your networking practices. I thought I would add my own spin on connecting on and offline.

1. Combine Online and Offline Connections

In any business centered social networking group in an offline environment being a connector is a huge priority to most members. In Indianapolis we have Rainmakers, the Chamber of Commerce, and BNI (plus many more).

Personally, I am a member of the Rainmakers Marketing Group. We have hub meetings all over the state of Indiana and we are approaching 3000 members in the community. The group has recently launched a social media platform for the members called: Let’s Make It Rain. The community has allowed for members to network online and move the relationships to an offline meeting (whether lunch or coffee). This has increased the potential for strategic relationships because of the power of connecting 24/7 in an online environment.

I use the sites Let’s Make it Rain and Smaller Indiana to align myself with professionals I may not meet at a Rainmakers Marketing event. If you can use both networking mediums (web and events) to grow your network you have a better chance of connecting with the right people!

Combine the two models to get the most out of networking (whether business of personal).

2. If You Want To Be Interesting, Be Interested

This follows the second guideline on the Chris Brogan post, Connecting Other People. A fellow FriendFeeder, Mona N. (check out her blog), posted a feed that had this image.

This image speaks volumes when pertaining to the concept of the value of connection in social media and networking.

If you want to be interesting to other people you need to be conscious of what they are needing in return. If someone sends you business, write them a note or send them a gift card!

Always be thinking about the individuals who helped you get to where you are today. In the small business world and even in social media this is the most valuable concept you can and SHOULD remember.

Pay it forward. Always, pay it forward. Take interest in what your friends are posting. Take interest in what your clients are doing (other than your project.

Be Interesting. Take value in what others are offering. Connect with your online friends in an offline environment. Make the community a rich combination of community and influence.

Social Media has huge potential to help companies all over the world connect with each other. It is our place to help that dream become reality.