Adjustment to 4-TouchPoints Model of Social Media
I spoke with Lorraine Ball this morning about the 4-Points model I talked about in my post, Being Productive with Social Media.
She had some excellent ideas that rounded out the model to perfection. Anymore thoughts would be greatly appreciated.
We have rounded out the four touch points to a more “proactive” arrangement: Business Interaction, Business Productivity, Social Development, and Education/Information. An example of each can be seen below:
The Death of Marketing and Sales: Open Source
(hat tip to TechCrunchIT for the story)
Recently Sun Microsystems announced the layoff of 1,000 employees (with the potential layoff of 2500) at their main headquarters, Menlo Park Campus, and employees in Colorado. According to TechCrunchIT’s post, Sun will be laying off 60-70% of Sun’s sales and marketing departments.
60-70% cut from their marketing departments? As a professional in the marketing arena it is hard for me to believe that a company would actually cut a department that drives revenue into the company. Cut marketing and sales for the betterment of the company? Does it make any sense? According to Sun CEO Johnathan Swartz, it makes a lot of sense.
I have always related the Sun name to their open source offerings (MySql and ZFS). The company boasts a 70,000 a day download rate from the technology they have leverage in the open source community.
From TechCruchIT:
Schwartz pointed out that even though there were users of Sun products in those areas, it was accomplished without requiring Sun sales or Sun marketing in those countries or cities.
Are we seeing a paradigm shift in the world of traditional marketing and sales for technology and Internet companies? Will companies like Sun Microsystems continue to cut departments that have always been known as the revenue drivers of the bottom line? Will budgets be focused more toward technology development and customer service rather than marketing and sales?
Is this concept suicidal for Sun Microsystems and their other product offerings? OR Is a paradigm shift about to happen?
How to be Productive with Social Media!
Lifehacker had a great post where they interviewed social media expert, Steve Rubel. Steve had three steps to making social productive, I have outlined them below and added a couple of my own.
Step 1: Set A North Star
(Keep it real and be honest. Why are you using social media? Apply social media to reach your goals. How can you use it to accomplish your goals?)
Step 2: Apply the Pareto Principle
(80% of the value comes form 20% of the content. Use tools to aggregate great content and make the most of your time spent using social media)
Step 3: Face-to-Face Newton
(Make time for being social. Face-to-Face Interaction)
Steve Rubel makes some great points in the interview. I thought I would add a couple of points that helps me stay productive in the Social Media world.
Step 1: Use the 4-Points Model
When using social media you should keep in mind the 4-points model. There are 4 points social media applications should touch in regards to your daily life: Business, Local Business Networking, Social, and Information. Choose four main networks where you spend the most of your time.
I use LinkedIn for business applications, Smaller Indiana for local business networking, Facebook for social application, and FriendFeed for information. LinkedIn can be described as my connection rolodex. Facebook is to keep me updated on my friends and acquaintances from college and high school. FriendFeed is a wonderful information aggregation tool where you can follow influential people and the information they share. Smaller Indiana is a great place to connect to local professionals and share ideas on how to make Indiana a better place.
Step 2: Commit Yourself
You get what you put in. How many times have we heard that? When using social media commit to a set amount of time a week to using your applications. You will find yourself spending to much time on your applications if you fail to designate a certain amount during the week.
I try to designate an hour of each day to information sharing (writing blogs, commenting on blogs, perusing my Google Reader) and an hour a day to using my other networks (Facebook, LinkedIn, and Smaller Indiana).
Step 3: Be Authentic
I get numerous e-newsletter in my inbox everyday, most of them vary from mundane to outright boring. When posting on your social media applications, try to add some authenticity and personality to the information you are sharing. When I am reading blogs and posts on social applications the last thing I want to read is an impersonal e-newsletter. I want to know that the keystrokes behind the information is an actual person. Be personal. Be Authentic.
There are the three steps I use to get the most out of Social Media. Cheers!
Indiana Chamber Suing Christian Chamber
Oh the woes of networking groups.
I am not quite sure how long this battle has been going on between the two chambers. I was alerted of the unfolding situation by the IBJ and a forum post in Smaller Indiana.
Excerpt from the IBJ article:
The Indiana Chamber is basing its Web site arguments on the Federal Anti-Cybersquatting Consumer Protection Act, as well as Indiana law. It also argues that the Christian Chamber, by infringing on its protected trademark, committed criminal conversion. The counterfeiting and forgery allegations stem from the Christian Chamber’s attempts to publicize itself.
The Indiana Chamber became concerned after state legislators expressed confusion about overlap and assumed an affiliation between the two groups, said George Raymond, the Indiana Chamber vice president of human resources, labor relations and civil justice.
The article goes on to state that the Indiana Chamber contacted the Christian Chamber multiple times since the inception of the group last year.
“Your failure to respond to our earlier letter suggests that you have no intention of complying with our requests and resolving this matter in an amicable fashion,” Taylor wrote. “Several alternatives to the name ‘Indiana Christian Chamber of Commerce’ were offered to you as being acceptable to ICC, to which you have not responded.”
The article makes it very clear that the Christian Chamber failed to respond to multiple inquiries made by the Indiana Chamber of Commerce. It is a shame that this dispute has been taken to the legal level.
Whether or not the failure on the Christian Chamber’s side has been blown out of proportion, they do have a long battle on their hands. There is some merit to the Indiana Chamber’s claim of copyright infringement, as well as, the Cybersquatting Act.
I am not going to sit here and take sides. I just wish the matter had been resolved behind closed doors before it was taken to the courts.
Would it have been out of the Christian Chamber’s control to change their name?
For those of you who know me, I am not a supporter of the Indiana Chamber of Commerce. It is my humble opinion that the Christian Chamber made a misstep when they started outwardly promoting their brand despite the warnings of the Indiana Chamber. Even if the Indiana Chamber is incorrect in their legal assumption, it would have been in the best interest of the Christian Chamber to settle the matter before things got out of hand.
Screw OpenID. Screw It.
I am impatient.
I am a millennial that gets pissed off when something takes longer than 5 minutes to figure out.
You can call me an idiot. You can call me an OPENID hater. That’s fine because, at the moment, it’s true.
Whether or not there is an easier way around the OpenID comment feature on the Google/Blogger platform it doesn’t matter to me. I couldn’t figure it out. Chalk it up to being 12:00am at night or maybe it is because I have a splitting headache.
I have been attempting to post a comment on Anthony Juliano’s post, “Two Great Reminders of What Works.” Good post Anthony! I scrolled down the page and clicked “Post a Comment.” I wrote the comment and scrolled down again. It asked for my Google/Blogger name or an OpenID login.
“Well, I don’t have an OpenID login name… Maybe I should create one.”
After 5 minutes of scrolling through the OpenID site and then scrolling through the ClaimID.com site. I still didn’t have it figured out.
Why can’t things be simple?
Write the comment.
Post the comment.
I would then bask in the glory of another successful attempt at providing content/comments on the web.
Call me impatient. I just wanted to post the comment.
I will still read Anthony’s blog because I like it.
New Zealand Takes On YouTube.
We have been talking extensively on Smaller Indiana about using social media in the political forum. Mashable had a great write up about New Zealand using the YouTube platform to promote their soon to be election for the 49th New Zealand Parliament.
I have been preaching the value of using social media in the political forum and THIS another reason to start investing.
Call me stupid but people crave authenticity when it comes to politics. I do not need some Jo-schmo schmuck telling me what is good for the country. I want someone that is authentic. I want someone that comes across as a real human being.
Social media provides a platform for politicians to express who they really are, if they are even wanting to. Authenticity is king on social media. It should be the same for politics.
Microblogging=Money? Assetbar Thinks So.
Major props to Louis Gray for cluing me into a new development in the world of making money on the Internet. In his post titled Assetbar Launches Fanflow for Premium Messaging and Content, Gray talks about a new service offered from Assetbar called FanFlow. Long story short, it allows for the monetization of content from the developer to the reader.
There has been major strides in growing content on the Internet. Information is shared and updated by the second on millions and millions of pages. We have a way to create the content (ie Google Reader ) but we do not have a way to sell the content. I agree with Louis when he says:
One of the major issues hindering the growth of many Web services today is that users are not willing to pay. We don’t want to pay for using their service, we don’t want to pay for content, and we usually don’t want to see or click through ads.
I see it daily when it comes to growing social networks. Many people choose not to spend time developing content on social networks because they cannot place any value on the time they spend developing profiles and content on networks. When I am out talking up a new network or a new development project I usually get the response:
My time is worth (some dollar amount). I don’t have the time to spend joining and developing sites like Facebook, Myspace, LinkedIn, Smaller Indiana, and Plaxo. How can I place a value on something so intangible?
Visibility is king for me when it comes to creating content and joining multiple networks. Though I have recently been conscious about how much of my time I spend on sites that do not create added value to my pocketbook.
Have we reached a breaking point on the Internet? Has growth been hindered because of the amount of time needed to spend on developing content doesn’t pay out?
Has Assetbar created a means to place a monetary value on time and effort in creating content? I think so. I am interested in seeing the development play out.
Blog Away Mahmoud Admadinejad.
I trust everyone had an excellent 4th of July!
After enjoying a robust display of fireworks in the wonderful city of Peru, Indiana I decided to sit down and hit up Google Reader for an RSS update.
Mashable had a great post recently regarding politics and social media/blogging. I was surprised to find that Iranian president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad has a personal blog. Now, I assume that many of you have known this for awhile but it was new to me! I decided to take a look and read some posts from the Iranian President. I have come to couple of conclusions.
1. After reading a couple of posts from Iran, I realized how small the world has actually become. I can sit at a Martin’s grocery store in Logansport, IN, click twice, and automatically be reading posts from the Iranian president.
2. There are comments from all over the world on this blog. Unfortunately most of the comments from America range from “bullet in the head” to “die slowly.” I am not defending Iran but many comments from this side of the world show the sheer ignorance and stupidity of some Americans. Why isn’t intelligent thought put in some comments?
3. The Internet has allowed for political thought of all nations to be posted for all to read. Who knows whether or not Ahmadinejad is actually writing and posting on his personal blog? Who knows if he actually means what he has says? The simple fact remains, information is being shared and we, the American people, have a place to debate.
I can’t say I agree with anything Mahmoud Admadinejad has posted. It could be a political hole of lies but I give him credit for recognizing the importance of the Internet and the sharing of thought and information.
I have further realized that Thomas Friedman was right when he said:
It (the Internet) created a global platform that allowed more people to plug and play, collaborate and compete, share knowledge and share work, than anything we have ever seen in the history of the world.
I say, “Blog away, Mahmoud Admadinejad! We will either find out you are a bold faced liar or there may be some thread of truth in all of this. “
Friends Review of Wall-E
Thanks to Collin Trent for this excellent review of Wall-E.
“First, I didn’t fall asleep in the theater. You all know this is an accomplishment for me. The movie started at 9:00 PM, so it wasn’t exactly an early showing.
Second, the animation is great. I wouldn’t expect anything less from Pixar , though. A few of the shots in the opening scene look very realistic. There’s also quite a few nods to Apple. I’m not exactly sure of his title or position, but Steve Jobs has his hands in Pixar; he may be an exec or on their board, not sure.
Third, the comedy used and script are pretty catchy. Though there’s not a terrible amount of dialogue, because the two main characters are essentially robots, it’s pretty funny.
Lastly, the plot is amazing. The social and political underlying themes are awesome. I don’t want to give anything away, and though it may be a little extreme, it’s a great representation of today’s society, the dangers of conformity, etc.
The reviews I read prior to last night were all very positive. I wasn’t expecting to be impressed like I was, though. Rotten Tomatoes give it a rating of 96, which from what I understand is pretty high. Disney & Pixar have done a great job at creating an adult (oriented) movie and marketing it towards children.
If you see the movie in the theater, make sure you’re there on time for the previews. There’s a great short-film before the feature.”
