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.

Blog Indiana, Blog. The Conference.

I am pretty sure it was last Wednesday or Thursday when I received a tweet notification from Noah Coffey and Shawn Plew. The tweet DARED anyone in the Indianapolis area to drop everything and drive to a coffee house where Shawn and Noah were working on the BlogINDIANA conference. The first tweeter/blogger to the coffee shop would receive a free ticket to BlogINDIANA. Being a free flowing spirit I dropped everything and drove to the coffee shop. Lo and behold I was the first one there.

I sat down and talked with Noah, Shawn, and Theresia Whitfield about everything from blogging to Obama. The creators behind blogIndiana have spent hours upon hours perfecting a two day conference that will not disappoint! I encourage everyone in the Smaller Indiana community, as well as, the Indianapolis community to join the conference. Aren’t a blogger? Don’t know the first thing about starting or writing a blog? WHO CARES! There are numerous speakers from the Smaller Indiana community from Douglas Karr to Erik Deckers, Chris Baggott to Scott Abel.

It will be great time. I encourage all of you to visit the BlogINDIANA website and sign up!

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!

Selling Social Media to Your Boss

hat tip to Social Computing for their post

As the millennial generation enters the marketplace there has been an increase in the use of social media tools in the overall marketing strategy for medium to large size businesses. Over the years, business owners attitudes have shifted from out-right against to open yet apprehensive. Their apprehension is intensified when a “social media” advocate cannot fully outline the benefits of using social media for a company. Believe me when I say, It’s cool just doesn’t cut it anymore.”

How do you sell a social media strategy to your employer? Better yet, how do you explain the benefits of social media in a business communication strategy?

Before we get into a list of the benefits of social media there needs to be thought involved in this process. Just because social media, social networking, and blogging are overused in the marketplace does not mean they fit your communications strategy. After reading this post, think long and hard about the positives and negatives of social media and how it relates to your communication strategy.

WHEW. Now that we have that out of the way: How to sell social media to the layman:

Social Computing had a couple good points:

1. Internally, social media tools can be used to help with status information, training, project collaboration. Most tools like blogs, twitter-clones like identi.ca, etc can be set up internally instead of used on the public web, for more privacy.

3. Building a social network group (either on someone else’s platform or around your primary site) encourages customer retention (a huge metric for lots of companies).

4. When you open up your communications platform to blogging and social media you are adding a new depth to your company. Consumers want to know there are people behind the product. They want to know there is something authentic behind the service they just purchased.

5. Use an example of a company who has been successful in this new world. Ex: BestBuys Internal Social Network for Employees.

There a plenty of other examples of the benefits of adding social media to your communications strategy. I encourage the layman and the advocate to get together and discuss. Without discussion and debate the communication problem will grow and manifest from apprehension to aggression.