Posted in Marketing

1 comment

7/05 2009

The Key to Selling is Imagination

Shama Hyder is a brilliant Gen Y blogger who has a video blog talking about all things social media and marketing. She has a video (which you see below) that talks about the importance of using your skills to help a potential client “imagine” the possibilities of working with you or your company. Brilliant stuff. Thanks Shama!

It is important to remember that imagination should be used in every aspect of your business. After all, we are all trying to tell a story to another individual. Marketing is storytelling and imagination is very much involved.

Confident Marketing: Free Access To Seven Audio Tutorials (krishnade.com)
10 Good Tips For Any Business (thecustomercollective.com)
Boomers (Heart) the Internet Too (debaird.net)
Social Media Marketing Industry Report (free!) (biztipsblog.com)

Posted in Corporate Strategy, Marketing, Reputation Management, branding, innovation, relationship, small business, social media, social media marketing

1 comment

7/05 2009

The Strange World of Social Media

The majority of us are strangers right? I mean… we talk on a regular basis and exhange links but there are few that you can actual call “trusted friends.” And yet we love what we do.

I love getting up in the morning and having multiple conversations with people all over the world. I love sharing content with enlightened minds just trying to understand concepts of design, marketing, social media, the Internet, and life.

The majority of us are strangers but we share a common bond: interest. There is a common thread that ties all of us together: the social web. Our interests keep us coming back and keep us in the loop.

When marketing and creating relationships with customers over the web it is important to remember this… the killer of all.

Your customers want to relate to you and in the strange world of social media it has become easier to relate, share, and communicate.

After The Social Media Marketing Sugar High (marketing.blogtanker.com)
Ubiquity on the Internet (performancing.com)
Analysis of a wiki of social media marketing examples (beingpeterkim.com)
Why Banks Need Social Media Monitoring (techrigy.com)

Posted in Marketing, Social Media Community, social media

1 comment

6/05 2009

Social Media is Viable. Like it Or Not.

(this post is sparked from Jason Falls post on social media sustainability. Found here.)

When does a communication reach the point of being viable.. sustainable… business driven? If we look at some of the other mediums (radio and tv) you could say that the peak came when it was adopted by people as a worthy form of either entertainment or communication.

Social media is no different.

We can think of social media as a tool, a communication platform, or simply.. another bright, shiny object… but the truth remains that when millions upon millions of people adopt it as a form of communication..

The viability and sustainability of the medium becomes a reality..it has the potential to grow, to prosper, and to live.

We will continue to have years of grueling death matches between the business world and social media (the same thing happened with radio and tv). This is a fact. It is very apparent to me that people have a hard time adapting and changing when faced with a new thing… a paradigm shift.

The truth is going to be in how you adapted. How did you take your employees… your product… your company… and evolved to fit the changing landscape of customer communication on the web?

How are you going to use this new medium to drive business? Your customers are using it… isn’t it about time for you to step in?

How To Monetize Your Blog; A Gary V Post You Must See! (blogworldexpo.com)
When did mom start making ads for Facebook? (mediabullseye.com)
There’s a Story in here somewhere… (mediabullseye.com)
5 Posts Every PR Professional Should Read (kylelacy.com)

Marketing, small business, social media, social media marketing

2 comments

5/05 2009

Number One Rule for Realtors Using Facebook

I stumbled across this video today (via Ribeezie) from CyberHomes. It is a simple (shockingly simple) video that describes the number one rule for realtors using Facebook.

Do not lead with advertising. Get to the heart of the individual. Let them know that you care about what they think. They could care less about a home offer, or a discount, or a new showing. They care about the person behind the message. Period.

Advertising, Viral Marketing, twitter

16 comments

5/05 2009

Betweeted: A New Form of Twitter Advertising?

There was a new service released upon the Twitter world a couple of weeks ago from a firm in Indianapolis. Betweeted. Here is the scoop from their website.

There’s not much to tell, really. Carter and Company, LLC is a marketing firm based out of Indianapolis, IN. We started down the path of blogging for clients several years ago, then that evolved into other areas of social media. Most recently, we decided to come up with a faster, better way to help companies be heard through social media while still keeping spam to a minimum. I think we’ve struck gold.

Yeah, you might have a lot of questions spinning through your head. Is this acceptable? Is it spamming? Can I, in good conscience, introduce my followers to links that I get paid to share? I would encourage you to read our FAQ. If you have any more direct questions, by all means, email us. Believe it or not, we read them.

I have been checking out BeTweeted for two reasons.

I know and like the owner and developer of the app and company
I’m skeptical of paid advertising and sharing on a social platform.

I wanted to send this out over the waves of social media to get some feedback about what people thought about the new service. I think it is a good idea and could amount to some pretty terrific marketing.

As long as you keep the personality involved.

So what do you think? Is the business model viable? I think so.

Why Banks Should Listen to Social Media (kylelacy.com)
Twitter users saved from spam overload (vnunet.com)
How To Increase Your Chances of a Twitter Follow Back (johnchow.com)
If You Use MyCorporation From Intuit, Will You Get Spammed? [Buyer Beware] (consumerist.com)

My Life, blogging

1 comment

4/05 2009

One of My Favorite People in Social Media

There comes a time when you start to get tired of reading the same things over and over and over again.

…2302 Steps to Twitter Amazement…
…Social Media at its Finest…
…Will Google Take over the world?…
…Wait? Where is Friendfeed?…

We have all reached that point and if you haven’t.. kudos. What is so interesting is that right when you start to drag through your rss reader you come across a post that changes everything.

I have been following Katie Paine for a couple of months now. Her insight into social media and public relations measurement could never be rivaled… anywhere. She is a genius when breaking down the concepts of social media and communication on the Internet.

But that aside…

She had a post recently entitled Back To My Origins. Simple put, she talks about her life and the memories she has had through Central Park and living in New York.

Katie has exhibited what it means to become transparent in a world of technology. She may have hundreds and thousands of posts surrounding PR measurement but the simple posts about life… reasonate farther than anyone can imagine.

If you want to take anything from the post today it is this..

We are all striving for something in life. Most of us work and play in the same realm and yet we have no idea where we come from… When you are writing content and pushing a message it is important to remember this simple rule..

Something that Katie does so well..

Be real. Be human. Be transparent.

Great Ideas: PR Measurement (michsineath.com)
Social media services – the farm team league for Facebook ideas (inquisitr.com)
Mikes state of social media (techwag.com)

Public Relations, Reputation Management, relationship, small business

3 comments

4/05 2009

6 Posts Every PR Professional Should Read

There has been a lot of talk in the public relations world about social media and for good reason. I thought I would put together a list of the top 6 blog posts I feel every PR professional should read.

1. Public Relations Activities that Affect SEO
By Lee Odden of the Online Marketing Blog

2. Social Media is the Responsibility of Public Relations
by Jason Falls of Social Media Explorer

3. Social Media is Transforming Public Relations
by PodTech

4. Is Social Media Killing PR?
by Kara Swisher at All Things Digital

5. PR and Social Media Evolution Continues
by the BuzzBin

6. A Social Public Relations Survey
by Jennifer Leggio at ZDNet

That is your PR and Social Media reading for Monday. Take a look and digest ALL OF IT. Cheers!

Marketing, Micro-Blogging, ROI, Social Media Community, productivity, small business, social media, social media marketing

6 comments

4/05 2009

Is Email Marketing Better than Social Media?

I was thrown into a conversation through the Understanding Marketing blog surrounding the concept of email marketing being better than social media… or vice versa.

I tend to agree with the editor over at Understanding Marketing when they say:

“So there’s a big conversation on which one is better. Here’s what I say – Who cares!? They both serve your audiences in their own way.”

I couldn’t agree more. There shouldn’t even be an argument over which medium is better. You should be using both mediums to develop your marketing strategy. Email has been successful over the years to drive valued buyers to a landing page, website, or phone. Social Media is used to build a brand, tell a story, and start a conversation.

They are two different mediums.. two different uses.. two different outcomes. If you are wanting an idea about how to combine the two mediums… Here is something to chew on:

1. Social Media is available to start building brand awareness around a specific product or service. It is also there to truly empower your employees and clients to talk about your company.

2. Email is the second tier of communication. Once a potential client buys into your conversation through social media.. Email can be there to deliver relevant and sales material to push the sales across.

These are just two uses for the HUGE mediums of email and social media. How do you combine both strategies?

Don’t Shoot the Measurer (thecustomercollective.com)
Creating an Actual Social Media Marketing Strategy (revenews.com)
Intelligent Traffic That Converts? (battleandbounce.blogspot.com)
The Glass is Half FULL (slideshare.net)

Corporate Strategy, Marketing, Social Media Community, business, innovation, small business, social media

4 comments

3/05 2009

Business Is Always About Connecting

I was reading a post over at SmartBlog on Social Media and it had a quote by the Mzinga CEO Barry Libert:

“GM never thought of themselves of being in the business of connecting people, which is why they’re going bankrupt,”

Pretty valid thought if you ask me. Should all businesses be involved in connecting people with each other? Better yet… should businesses search for that lofty goal of connecting people who use their services to people who do not?

My opinion… Yes they should.

Business has always been about connecting. If you look back into history there has always been some type of connection between two people that created a company…

whether it was a deal that was signed or an idea sparked out of thin air.

The Internet has given way to a landslide of communication. You now have the ability to connect with every demographic on the face of the earth. What is your company doing to connect?

I am not going to sit here and say that the demise of GM was based around their inability to connect… but it is a valid point.

What are you going to do tomorrow to make it easier for customers and potential customers to connect?

How Obama Did It – Lessons for Bloggers and Webmasters (advancingwomen.com)
Running Your Business Like a Community (socialmediatoday.com)
The future of e-learning is social learning (slideshare.net)
Three Business Lessons From The Success Of Barack Obama (usnews.com)

Advertising, Corporate Strategy, Marketing, corporate blogging

1 comment

1/05 2009

Why the Breakdown of Communication?

We are evolving.

I have probably used the word 50000 times since starting this blog. The concept of evolution is not new. As a human race we evolve on a daily basis. So why the breakdown in the evolution of communication?

Marketing departments are dying.. and it is not a slow death.

The professional marketing world is quickly flipping… churning.. burning through old thought patterns… and (hopefully) emerging on the better side of customer relationship management.

You are managing your customer relationships using communication.. you also gain customers by using marketing. We all know that every facet of your company is a marketing vehicle… from the delivery boy to the CEO.

It is important to embrace new forms of communication from the newspaper to the radio… the television to the Internet. This is no longer about “social media” this is about adapting to the changing environment.

The last question posed is this…
What happens when you don’t evolve?
You die.
What’s the next step?