17 New Social Articles on Business 2 Community |
- Is This My Blog or Your Blog?
- Online Community Decision: Public, Private or Hybrid?
- What is Bounce Rate and How Can I Reduce It?
- Your Online Communities and Freedom
- Domo Arigato, Mr. Roboto: Writing The Blogs That Nobody Wants To
- Social Media and NFL Football – Do NOT Drop the Ball
- Your Right to Comment Here
- Why Your Social Media Presence Needs To Be Vetted By A Social Media Attorney
- Lost in Translation: Social Media and Outsourcing
- SMEs – It’s Time to Build Some Strategy Around Your Social Media Output
- Deathbed Confessions – Part 1: Fear, Bullsh*t and Truth
- We Don’t Need Aggregators. We Need Distributators.
- You Shoot, Klout Scores! But Are They Scoring It Right?
- The Social Web. Where Dreams Really Do Come True.
- Chris Brogan’s Blog Topics Suck! You’re Welcome, Chris.
- Klout Discovers a Renowned Sheep Expert in Mr. Danny Brown
- How To Lie, Cheat & Steal Your Way To A Bigger Social Graph
| Posted: 16 Jan 2012 03:50 PM PST
It was such a breath of fresh air from the corporate high tech, late night spin sessions, writing corporate speak, helping top executives spin their decks and personal platforms for the latest high tech craze of the dot bomb era. Oh those were the days and I wouldn't trade them for anything. However, when I took the driver seat behind the keyboard of my own blog, the freedom was indescribable. I found that the more I shared about myself and my own personal feelings, the more people read and followed my blog. The same went for Twitter. The more I shared of me, the more they followed, tweeted, retweeted, talk to and inspired me. It was truly my readers who empowered me to be me. For me, blogging came easy. I have never been a woman short on words. It's crazy to think I started this blog just over a year ago. I started with our agency blog. It was my readers who pushed me to having my own blog, separate from the agency. It was crazy the result once I made such a step. In less than a year my blog made it to the AdAge Power 150, Technorati Top 100 Small Business and more. I am not telling you this to brag, but telling you this because you can do the same thing. However, you can only do it if you speak and blog as "you" not what the world wants you to be. Stuck in a rut Yet, without thinking I let the "me" fall out of my last couple months of posts. I am not stating I didn't still try to rock out the best content I possibly could. I am simply stated I hit a wall and was not able to crank out as much content as I could before, because of the "pleasing" mentality. I made the mistake of falling prey to the mean bullies who have commented and informed me of how I was using social media or auto follow tools that I didn't know existed. Yes, I had one guy literally tell me that I use such a tool. However, that's a whole other blog post in itself that I am not going to give such person the glory of spending the time to write myself. Our business is growing like crazy. We're going global, going deeper local and rolling out a whole new and enhanced set of services. With such craziness I have to admit I got lazy and started taking the easy way out by writing the content that is more likely to please everyone. Yes, the blog traffic is doing great considering I have only had time to write maybe one to posts a week. However, I am not as fulfilled as I should be after I write and post a piece.
It is one of my favorite things about being a member and proud supporter of Triberr. Because I read every post I tweet from each and every tribe member it opens my eyes to other insights, opinions and hearts I might not take the time to hear or feel if it wasn't for such. It is the original vision that Dan Cristo and Dino Dogan had when they started Triberr. They wanted to give the "little" guys (and gals) a chance at more eyeballs. I have so loved seeing people's business and blogs soar as a result of their hard work. So Triberr and all my Tribe mates I want you to know that even if I have been an overall bad tribe woman lately with such little time to spend with you, please know you still are helping me grow and I appreciate you. I hope I am doing the same for you! Taking my blog back! For those that know me you know I welcome a good debate. I have met some amazing people via the social world that started off with a heated debate that I am proud to now call friends in real life. I am not asking you to hold back your opinions even if they completely disagree with my thinking. I am asking however, that you do so in a way that is respectful to me, our community and yourself. Don't pretend to know the tools that I use, the tools I don't use or the reasons I keep or delete my connection to any influence measurement system, social network or blogging platform. I will do as I have always done which is tell you the truth and back up my opinions, claims and recommendations. I hope you like them. However, if you don't, then don't read them. There are plenty of other blogs you can read and hopefully find one that you like and can support versus simply finding blogs to pick fights and gain attention for yourself. An even better recommendation would be to maybe start your own blog or start blogging more to focus on your own voice and community building. I also ask that if you see me starting to hand my blog back over to the bullies and status quo pleaser crowd that you please call me out on it, please! I promise I will do the same to you. Deal? Your TurnWhat are your thoughts? Do you stay true to yourself on your blog? Have you ever fallen into such a trap for a season or two? When you hit writers block is it maybe for the same reason, that you have lost yourself somehow? I would love to have a healthy and forward moving discussion on this. I think we can all help one another stay true to the reasons why we started our blogs in the first place while still providing value to our readers.   |
| Online Community Decision: Public, Private or Hybrid? Posted: 16 Jan 2012 12:30 PM PST Your organization has decided to develop an online community to serve your customers. Congratulations! This is an important step towards building a social business. As the team gathers in the conference room with whiteboards, markers and lots of coffee, you start by talking about other online community examples the organization might want to emulate, or those that have caught your fancy. Features, content, look and feel are usually a major part of this discussion. But chances are you haven't considered a fundamental but critical question: will the online community be public, gated or a hybrid (largely public with a private, members-only area)? This is one of the most important decisions you will have to make, one that shapes virtually every aspect of how your community will operate and, in most cases, determine its success. The decision to make the community public, private or hybrid depends in large part on the characteristics of the audience you are trying to serve. At Leader Networks, we call this “The Engagement Model.” It states that “The who and why of your community will dictate the what and the how.” For example, if your organization seeks to reach a wide audience, such as a technical support community — chances are a public community is the right format. If your audience is small and focused, such as prospective customers of an airplane manufacturing company, a private, gated community is probably a better fit. Serving multiple audience types or needs may require a hybrid format. So what are the benefits, drawbacks, revenue models and other distinguishing factors for each type? Public Online CommunitiesPublic communities are open to anyone on the web who would like to join the community. While the community may — and probably should — require password-protected member registration to join or post a message, anyone with an email address and a web browser can have access. Organizations trying to engage a large audience of consumers or customers (B2C or B2B) with content and conversation online will usually choose a public community. Audience
Growth
Focus
Common Features
Revenue Models
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Private Online CommunitiesPrivate online communities are gated, often invitation-only communities serving a highly targeted audience. Many B2B professional organizations have private communities. There are membership standards, which can include subscription fees, in-depth profiles, vetting or current member recommendations prior to member acceptance. A gated community can create greater sense of trust and intimacy among members with more information about individual members and shared acceptance criteria. This can lead to more open and substantive engagement and collaboration between members and the sponsoring organization. Content and member contributions are considered privileged and not shared outside the community. Audience
Growth
Focus
Common Features
Revenue Model
Benefits
Risks
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Hybrid Online CommunitiesHybrid online communities have both a public and a gated or private area within the overall community infrastructure. They provide the features of both options at a single destination. Access is determined by the member’s role. For example, a hybrid community might have an open, public area for consumer visitors with private, gated areas for suppliers or executives. Hybrid communities often evolve after an organization is successful with one of the two models (public or private) but then discovers a business need to serve a different audience or segment using the other engagement model. At Leader Networks, we discourage trying to launch both at once; the complexities of initial messaging to prospective members and operational difficulties make this choice very risky. Instead, determine the best model for launch, then evolve the community. Leverage the learning from the first successes to improve the next phase. Audience
Growth
Focus
Common Features
Revenue Model
Benefits
Risks
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| What is Bounce Rate and How Can I Reduce It? Posted: 16 Jan 2012 12:15 PM PST On a recent blog post "How to Promote Blog Content for 1st page Results" I received a comment from someone asking how to reduce bounce rates on his blog. Having done plenty of research and taken action on this myself I thought I would share my findings. Now before I do, I thought it would be best to explain what is bounce rate and why is it important? See the Original Blog Post "How to Promote Blog Content for 1st Page Results" Here! What is Bounce rate?Bounce rate is the numeric term for the number of visitors that find your site by whatever means; search, paid advertising, inbound link, or anything else, and when they land on your page click straight out again without taking any action. Action being defined as interacting with your website, clicking on a further link, going to a different page or clicking on an advert. If that person leaves straight away they become classified as a bounce and this will show up in your bounce rate stats. So for example if 100 visitors reach your website and 65 leave straight away without taking any action then your bounce rate will be 65%. Why is Bounce Rate Important?Bounce rate is important because if you have a high bounce rate then it suggests that people are not finding what they are looking for when they arrive at your site. For example, if you click on an advert for red tennis rackets and you land on a page that is advertising purple squash rackets, then the information provided was not what you were looking for. There is a lack of congruency and due to that you leave the page immediately. This is important to the website owner and in particular to the search engines. If the search engines are giving your website high organic rankings for Red Tennis Rackets and people are bouncing at an incredibly high level then the search engines will look at that high bounce rate and say "well actually we are sending a lot of traffic here and in fact no-one is finding this useful so we will downgrade that site and move something else up in its place." The search engines' goal is to provide the user with the best possible results for their search query. If your page is not providing the search engine customers with that service then they will find someone that will. What can be done to reduce Bounce Rates?Below I have listed a few ways that I would recommend on how to reduce Bounce rates
Understanding what is bounce rate and how to improve it is vital in today's online world. If today you have 1000 people visiting your site but only 50 are staying and engaging with your content and looking to take action by buying your products or subscribing to your email list, then imagine the possibilities of having four hundred or even six hundred staying. That is why bounce rates are very important and taking action to assess and do something about them will be a real advantage to your business. I am always keen to here your comments, let me know your thoughts on how to improve bounce rates in the comments box below.   |
| Your Online Communities and Freedom Posted: 16 Jan 2012 12:10 PM PST  Image by theopie via Flickr One of the biggest fears that a business has when creating a presence is online, particularly in Social Media, is that they are opening themselves up to attack. If all you have is a website, an email address, and a phone number, the worst people can do is attack you in private. But once you start a blog, or create a Facebook page for your business, you have a problem. On the one hand, you want as many people there as possible. That's why you're there: to attract customers and grow your online communities. On the other hand, these platforms are two-way. Not only can you talk to your customers, but they can talk back. That opens up a can of worms and creates a whole new level of vulnerability for you. It's public. Whatever they say can be seen by others. As a result, there's a temptation to find ways to minimize the danger by closing doors and limiting the activities of your community members. This reminds me of a story from my youth involving one of my dogs, and that's the topic of today's video. Enjoy!   |
| Domo Arigato, Mr. Roboto: Writing The Blogs That Nobody Wants To Posted: 16 Jan 2012 12:00 PM PST
If you blog, you're likely inundated with the new and latest tips for writing SEO optimized content. Use keywords. Use meta tags. Use headings. Stand on your head and recite the Google algorithm backward. Oh, and don't forget that actual people might be looking at what you're writing, so it needs to be readable. Ready? Set? …headache. Secret, Secret, I've Got A Secret If you feel overwhelmed when you open your WordPress to write, you're not alone. It can be difficult to figure out where the human heart and the IBM brain can meet in blog nirvana. Of course, nobody's going to be able to hand you the answer on a silver platter. Google keeps the method to their madness a secret, and for a good reason – if we all figured out how to effortlessly blog for SEO as well as human entertainment, we'd all be doing it. So while we might not be able to Ponce de Leon ourselves into the Fountain of Perfect Blogging, there are some things that we can do to help us better balance our responsibilities to our readers and our unending thirst for SEO.
Keep these tips in mind, and you'll have a livelier, more active blog that can please both humans and machines. And that's something everybody can be thankful for.   |
| Social Media and NFL Football – Do NOT Drop the Ball Posted: 16 Jan 2012 11:45 AM PST I have spent the last weekend doing diligent "research" for today's sports blog
We do not want to drop the ball in social media and have our company and our brand lose. What are examples of dropping the ball in social media? I give you three examples:
A robust monitoring tool can protect against all three scenarios described above. You can even measure sentiment and track mentions across topics. You can aggregate mentions and tie them to different internal calendars (promotional/marketing, financial reporting, product release/recall). A full monitoring solution goes beyond tracking numbers of mentions and fans/friends/followers. By tying sentiment to topics and events, it takes your company to the next level in using social media as a proactive component in both marketing and customer service strategies. Is your company dropping the ball? Perhaps it is time for a rousing "halftime speech" to get your company's head back in the game. By the way, I'm great at rousing halftime speeches   This posting includes an audio/video/photo media file: Download Now |
| Posted: 16 Jan 2012 11:00 AM PST Photograph by Matthew Hull. You have the right to say whatever you want online. You can say it in the comment section below or you can say it on your own blog. You can visit an internet newspaper and comment there too. But you do not have the right to expect a response. Do you know your rights?Think about your rights for a moment. Reviewing my year-old thoughts on anonymity, I questioned whether anonymity/pseudonymity was anachronistic. I wondered if people should write online as "John Smith" or as "FatJohn," and you shared your thoughts. I wrote on my civic blog that residents have the right to write comments using whatever names they felt most comfortable, and that it is our choice to read and respond to their pseudonymity, regardless of the vitriol therein. Vitriol is protected speech under the First Amendment. Slander is not. Should newspapers and blogs require persons use their real names?With the jury out, I am reminded of a 2011 ruling protecting you. Said the Illinois Court of Appeals: Putting publishers and website hosts in the position of being a 'cyber-nanny' is a noxious concept that offends our country's long history of protecting anonymous speech. On this blog, you are welcome to write a comment using any name you choose. If you want people to respond to you as "John Smith," be John Smith. But if you prefer to be "FatJohn," don't let me stop you. Beyond your name, write whatever sentences you want in your comment. Be nice or be mean, the choice is yours. All I insist is you adhere to the comment policy and your comment will never be removed. I want you to be free here. OK?   |
| Why Your Social Media Presence Needs To Be Vetted By A Social Media Attorney Posted: 16 Jan 2012 09:00 AM PST
1. A non-profit company, Hispanics Union of Buffalo, Inc. ("HUB") was ordered to rehire 5 employees that it fired for complaining about a co-worker on Facebook, and pay them back pay. The costs of this social media misstep can be quite high, especially when you factor in attorneys' fees. In the case of HUB, HUB had not hired replacement workers, but for many businesses the firing of employees, who had engaged in protected concerted activity (complained with other co-workers about employment conditions, salary, benefits, or a manager), would also mean salary or overtime to get the work of the fired employees done. Cost-saving alternative: Adopt a social media policy that reflects the National Labor Relations Board's recommendations on how not to have an overbroad policy. Implement the policy so you are not chilling or interfering with social media conversations that are considered protected concerted activity by your employees. 2. Facebook and Google have recently entered into consent decrees with the Federal Trade Commission ("FTC") in order to avoid expensive, drawn out litigation concerning business practices that the FTC alleged were outside the scope of the social media sites' privacy policies; and violated their own privacy promises to consumers. These consent decrees include: (1) having to pay for periodic audits conducted by independent third parties for the next 20 years to assess their privacy practices; and (2) having to obtain affirmative consent from their users before making changes that override users' privacy preferences. Cost-saving alternative: Have the disclosures on your website reviewed by social media legal counsel to ensure that the "Terms of Use," "Privacy Policy" and other links for users to accept are up to date, transparent and understandable with users agreeing to their terms before using the site. 3. Just as parties in litigation have to produce emails and other electronically stored information ("ESI") that may be relevant or lead to relevant information in the legal dispute, courts are imposing sanctions on parties who do not preserve this ESI, and are including in the universe of ESI that must be preserved the social media activity of the parties as well. In a sad twist to an already tragic story, a widower and his attorney were sanctioned three quarters of a million dollars in a wrongful death action. The widower had received an award of $10 million dollars against the truck driver whose truck had overturned and killed his wife. The judge also cut in half the jury's award of $10 million dollars. It is reported that the widower on the advice of his attorney deleted pictures from his Facebook page, and later concealed the fact that he also deactivated his Facebook account based on more bad (and unethical) advice from his attorney. This destruction of evidence and pattern of deceptive and obstructionist conduct resulted in the discovery sanctions award. While the facts here were especially egregious, courts are increasingly sanctioning parties who fail to preserve discoverable evidence through a document retention policy. Cost-saving alternative: If your business does not already have one, adopt a document retention policy. Alternatively, update the policy you do have to ensure that social media activity is being captured as well, and maintained for an appropriate period of time depending on the subject matter of the activity. There are vendors who can help your business archive its social media activity so that even posts or comments that are deleted at some point in time will be captured, and can be produced should your business need it. These are only a few examples of how it makes sense to integrate a social media attorney into your social media marketing plan so you can make sure your business is taking the path of cost-saving alternatives. Are there other examples that you know of where a business tried to cut corners and ended up spending more money to fix the problem? What do you see businesses doing on social media that you think may result in legal problems for them, or hurt their brand with consumers? Share your thoughts in the comments below.   |
| Lost in Translation: Social Media and Outsourcing Posted: 16 Jan 2012 08:00 AM PST I don't recommend outsourcing one's social media. Such a statement makes sense since I work as a writing coach and consultant. My business is helping people to author and manage their own messages. If those people outsource their writing efforts, which include social media ones, I lose business. Fair enough, but before I'm accused of being a self-centered, egotistical maniac, let me explain. I used to be a person to whom social media was outsourced. I know firsthand about the pitfalls of it. I think that the cons of outsourcing far outweigh any pros. Even if everyone is on board with the social media strategy, outsourcing leaves something to be desired. If a business doesn't own its own social media, it can't control what happens – even with policies and procedures in place. That business is placing all its trust in a single person or entity. What happens if that person decides not to manage the business' social media? It's not as though the person has a vested interest in the business except in terms of monetary compensation. Will the business take responsibility for those social properties if its outsourced social media manager disappears? Will it be prepared to do so? I also think outsourcing leads to problems in translation. I can follow the instructions I've been given to the letter, but even that is a translation. Is it correct? Is it what the client wants? It might be in some cases, but a translation never is as good as the original. It simply isn't. I learned that lesson while taking a literary theory class about the problems encountered with translations. As good as a translation may be, it varies from translator to translator, and it never says exactly what the original text does. Do I appreciate those translations? Of course I do, but I still wish I knew French, Spanish, German, Greek, and other languages so that I could read the original texts. I know that some people might argue that an outsourced social media presence is better than no presence at all. They might even suggest that a translation is worthwhile. I don't know that I can refute those points. I simply think that a better way exists, and it exists in each business taking ownership of its online presence. That might mean a business works with an agency, which can be different from outsourcing; then again, it could mean that that business works with a consultant and becomes an active participant in its own marketing. How are you handling your social media presence? Do you outsource or handle everything in house? Or is it a combination of the two?   |
| SMEs – It’s Time to Build Some Strategy Around Your Social Media Output Posted: 16 Jan 2012 07:20 AM PST You don't need to be told that your business should be engaged with the major social networks. The chances are you already have a presence on Facebook, Twitter, Linkedin and Google+. You might even be the Mayor of your workplace on Foursquare. But this does not mean you have a social media strategy. I meet with clients every day who tell me they want to utilize their social networks to greater effect but struggle to gain any real traction other than wasting their own time and, quite frankly, boring the life out of anyone daft enough to follow them. In my experience there are four main reasons why an SME should want to engage in improving their social media activity. These are:
To maximize your coverage across of these four points will take a little bit of planning and preparation but this shouldn't put you off. Building a solid social media strategy is easier than you might think and will help stand the rest of your business's marketing and PR efforts in good stead. Eight Golden Rules for Building a Social Media Strategy 1. Content is Still King: Concentrate on producing great blog posts, white papers, product-related landing pages, YouTube videos, etc. etc. before you begin trying to broadcast your opinion socially. There is a place for re-appropriating other people's content via the social networks but it is only by broadcasting your own content that will validate your position as a thought leader.   |
| Deathbed Confessions – Part 1: Fear, Bullsh*t and Truth Posted: 16 Jan 2012 06:35 AM PST Three completely unrelated things came together this past week that individually weren't all that fascinating but together formed a something I think needs to be given form to. 1. Fear. I was a guest panelist at Greenville's Switching: Leaving Freelance for the Corporate ladder and vice versa event. My fellow panelists and I shared insights about the pros and cons of working either inside the corporate machine or outside of it. (Really great topic, by the way.) Because many of the folks who attended were in the midst of a transition – some going back into the corporate world and some coming out of it – one of the themes during the event's discussions was the role that jobs and job titles play in our self worth. Some of that can be pretty negative so we'll talk about that in Part 2. 2. Bullshit. Discussions about my last 4 posts (The Last Year, R.I.P. Personal Branding, and the last two bits on how to avoid becoming a cog in the social media / marketing bullshit machine) started to sound very similar: There's what's real and there's what's made-up. We all increasingly feel pressure to keep up with our peers, to put on appearances and to appear more successful and happy and normal than we really are: Everyone's a best-selling author now. Everyone's an award-winning expert. Everyone has worked with Fortune 500 companies and major brands. Everyone is launching startups and raising millions of dollars in funding. Right. Except no. A lot of that is just smoke and mirrors. It's spin. But because so many people are doing it and because it is amplified by the 24/7 onslaught of self promotion, link-bait SEM content and personal branding on Twitter, Facebook, Google+, Youtube, Quora, Foursquare, Klout, blogs and five dozen other overlapping platforms, every little bit of spin and bullshit gets amplified to the point where it becomes not only believable but overbearing. We'll talk about that and the impact it is having on all of us, on the business world, on politics, right down to the state of the economy. Bullshit affects everything, and never in a good way. Look around. It's like someone's open the floodgates. How's that been working out? If bullshit helped get us in this mess, do you really think more bullshit will help dig us out? 3. Truth. This: The top 5 regrets people make on their death beds. Read it. (It's short.) When it all falls away and there's no one left to impress, when you would give anything for another few hours of life or maybe a chance to do it all over again, all that will be left to contemplate is the truth. You want a glimpse into those last few hours of your life when you'll look back and consider what you really spent your life doing? Here is a stripped down version: 1. I wish I'd had the courage to live a life true to myself, not the life others expected of me. When people realize that their life is almost over and look back clearly on it, it is easy to see how many dreams have gone unfulfilled. Most people had not honoured even a half of their dreams and had to die knowing that it was due to choices they had made or not made. 2. I wish I didn't work so hard. This came from every male patient that I nursed. They missed their children's youth and their partner's companionship. [...] All of the men I nursed deeply regretted spending so much of their lives on the treadmill of a work existence. [...] By creating more space in your life, you become happier and more open to new opportunities. 3. I wish I'd had the courage to express my feelings. Many people suppressed their feelings in order to keep peace with others. As a result, they settled for a mediocre existence and never became who they were truly capable of becoming. Many developed illnesses relating to the bitterness and resentment they carried as a result. We cannot control the reactions of others. However, although people may initially react when you change the way you are by speaking honestly, in the end it raises the relationship to a whole new and healthier level. Either that or it releases the unhealthy relationship from your life. Either way, you win. 4. I wish I had stayed in touch with my friends. When faced [with approaching death] [...] it is not money or status that holds the true importance for them. They want to get things in order more for the benefit of those they love. [...] It all comes down to love and relationships in the end. 5. I wish that I had let myself be happier. Many did not realise until the end that happiness is a choice. They had stayed stuck in old patterns and habits. The so-called 'comfort' of familiarity overflowed into their emotions, as well as their physical lives. Fear of change had them pretending to others, and to their selves, that they were content. When deep within, they longed to laugh properly and have silliness in their life again. When you are on your deathbed, what others think of you is a long way from your mind. Hat tip to Zsofia Tallai for sharing that link. We're going to talk about that article as well. Those three pieces are connected, and this week we're going to talk about all of that. No ROI discussions. No social business focus. Just this. Because the problems we are dealing with right now, the reasons why the value of social business is still not clear to so many executives and decision-makers (let alone ROI), the reason why world economies are in shambles, the reason why so many people are divided and out of work and stressed out of their minds is this: We're addicted to both fear and bullshit. We're stuck in cycles of fear and bullshit. Everywhere we go, it's there and we can't escape it, and it's a serious problem. Stay tuned for Part 2. * * * The social business building textbook for executives. Now available everywhere:
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| We Don’t Need Aggregators. We Need Distributators. Posted: 16 Jan 2012 06:30 AM PST Last week I went on a rampage against Pete Gimme Morecash, ahhh, I mean Cashmore; of Mashable fame. He gave a speech to a group of -what had to be- thawed Encino Men about the "future" of technology. The highlight? Aggregator platforms which deliver content from on high to huddled masses which ought to be grateful that major media channels are finding better, faster, more "convenient" ways of reaching our wallets. Why Pete?I don't have anything against Pete, per say. But I have EVERYTHING against what Pete represents. And here it is. Pete Morecash represents a mouthpiece for the large media channels. They rent his clout to present the hords with "the next best thing" as per the desired outcome. The outcome being "shut up and listen while we tell YOU what's gong on…oh, and btw, give us your money". I submit to you that we DON'T need more ways to pull-in information. We need more ways to DISTRIBUTE our own information. Being on Facebook and Twitter is a start but it won't do. Mashable and other attention-hogs are there as well. They have 100s of thousands of eyeballs while we have dozens. Did I mention that Mashable rips off content from other sources? No really. That's their "publishing" model. They "aggregate news" from around the web. Which basically means "we take what's already out there and re-publish it". If you and I did that we'd probably get sued for copyright infringement by now. Yup…rules are different for the Mashables of the world. How Come There Are No DistributorsSmall publishing houses (you and I) get squeezed out of the blogospheric equation the way Wallmarts of the world squeeze out mom and pop shops out of our neighborhoods. Never mind the fact that small shops offer superior product and better service. But it makes sense to spend time and effort (read: money) on figuring out ways to distribute content from on high to the consumer. Except, now consumers are makers of content as well. So, lemme ask you…
Quality Vs EqualityI am convinced -because I see it every day- that small time blogs can create more authentic, more original and more useful content than Mashables of the world. But our fight is not for Quality. We win on Quality every time. Our fight is for Equality. As long as the blogopshere's attention is skewed towards top "blogs", Mashables of the world cash out on the inequality of the system. But what if we stopped looking up, and started looking to our right and our left? There's a lot of amazing content to the right and to the left that deserves to be shared with your audience. And those who are standing beside you will share your content in turn, simply because human species thrive on reciprocity. Let's flip the blogosphere on its head. I've already started doing my part.   |
| You Shoot, Klout Scores! But Are They Scoring It Right? Posted: 16 Jan 2012 04:45 AM PST I sit down with Megan Berry, the Marketing Manager at Klout to ask her questions that are on everyone's mind. Is Social Influence going to soon replace the need to check people's credit scores? Don't dismiss it too fast, not too long ago, there was no FICA and your Social Standing was the only clout you had. Megan and I discuss this, and much more. You will also get to find out why I'm not a fan of Klout and why I AM a fan of Magen. She tried converting me, did she succeed? Find out and much more… Here are few of the topics we cover:
And much, much more. Watch the video.   |
| The Social Web. Where Dreams Really Do Come True. Posted: 16 Jan 2012 04:30 AM PST This story starts with a song. A sweet, funny song. To understand this post, you should really hear it. By the time it was over, I had a lump in my throat. Here it is: (If you cannot view this video, you can see it HERE. My daughter Lauren is friends with Chelsea Gill, the young lady in this video who admits her fondness for writer/producer/actor Jason Segel, and she alerted me when the video started going viral. But that was just the beginning. It was a wild week for Ms. Gill: Jan. 03: Chelsea posts her video (link) on YouTube and all her friends spread it through Twitter, Facebook, etc. Jan. 04: Chelsea is featured on Buzzfeed and various other websites and Jason Segel tweets in response to the video. Jan. 05 10:30AM: Chelsea's story appears on the front page of Huffington Post Entertainment and she is interviewed by news shows. Jan 05 2:30PM: The songstress is featured on Entertainment Weekly online and Perez Hilton's site. The video tops 40,000 views. Jan. 06: Video now has 80,000 views on YouTube. Jan. 07: Less than a week after the video was posted, Jason Segel takes Chelsea and her twin sister to the Chicago Film Critics Association Awards (Where he won the Commedia Extraordinaire Award). The actor tweeted a backstage photo with his dates: Chelsea Gill (who wrote the great song) and her twin sister and I at the Comedy awards. I'm not sure which is which Here's to Chelsea, social media, 200,000 views of her video, and the power to make dreams come true: Mark Schaefer is a marketing consultant, author and college educator who blogs at {grow}. You can also follow him on Twitter: @markwschaefer.   |
| Chris Brogan’s Blog Topics Suck! You’re Welcome, Chris. Posted: 15 Jan 2012 08:00 PM PST Few weeks ago, I had the pleasure of guesting on Kitchen Table Talks, hosted by Joe Sorge and Chris Brogan. One of the questions raised by Joe was regarding the criticism I've received over Triberr. Chris also chimed in regarding the criticism he received for selling blog topics. Chris mentioned that whenever he gets a bad review for his blog topics, his sign-ups spike up. Turning Sh*t Into GoldSince Dan and I started Triberr back in March, we've dealt with the fair amount of criticism and Joe wanted me to talk about how I really feel about it. I said it then and I'll say it again. I love criticism. Lots of really cool Triberr features have been developed as a direct response to criticism. So, bring on the criticism. Beware of PickpocketsLot's of things may seam counter-intuitive at first. In London subway stations, police would routinely put up signs that say "Beware of Pickpockets". People seeing the sign would then unconsciously proceed to touch the pocket where they keep their wallet to ensure it's where it's supposed to be, inadvertently telegraphing the location of the wallet to the pickpockets observing at a distance. So a post that was supposed to act as a deterrent (beware of pickpockets, Brogan sucks, Triberr is weird, etc.) ultimately has the opposite effect. It is for this reason (and few others) that I embrace criticism. How to deliver criticismThere are ways and then there are ways. Many years ago, I've read something in an interview with one of my favorite boxers, George Foreman, that has stayed with me to this day. He said, and I paraphrase. I refuse to work with people that tell me what I' doing wrong. Instead, I only work with people who tell me HOW I can do something better. That's a whole different kind of ballgame, isn't it? My grandpa always used to say: I used to have opinions, but then I started doing shit. Anyone can criticize. I know. I've done it. But it takes a deep kind of knowing to tell someone HOW to improve. It shows you understand what you're criticizing, it shows that you've thought about the big picture, and perhaps most importantly, it shows that you care. So next time you criticize, make sure you care. Your turnWe've all been on both ends of criticism. What do you make of all this?   |
| Klout Discovers a Renowned Sheep Expert in Mr. Danny Brown Posted: 15 Jan 2012 07:00 PM PST Mr. Danny Brown, a renowned sheep expert (according to Klout) visits me on the set of Talk is Sheep and discusses two different fur types sheep have in Scotland, best ways to avoid rash in the undercarriage area and more importantly, avoid domestic disturbances with the female partner. He also issues a threat to Shepard Johnny's Ointment – a creme responsible for curing many a jock itch- who apparently stole the formula from Shepard McJohnny Jock-Jock's creme. I had no idea that Shepard Johnny's Ointment was such a rip off but I guess this is one of the reasons Klout has discovered the sheep-genius in Mr. Danny Brown. All sheep enthusiasts must watch this interview and don't forget to give Mr. Danny Brown a +K on the topic of sheep.   |
| How To Lie, Cheat & Steal Your Way To A Bigger Social Graph Posted: 15 Jan 2012 04:10 PM PST No one in my industry is going to like what I'm about to share. I’m not a fan of "buying followers" or trading follows in social media. But if you want quantity and you don't give a damn about quality, then consider this your guide. In the interest of transparency, I'll tell you straight up that social media (SEO, content, online media buyers) professionals want you to believe there’s no way to you could possibly do what we do. But that’s a lie. It might be more accurate to say there’s no way you could possibly do what we do as WELL as we do it. One baseline measure is hiring a company to increase your “F3″ – or your “friends, fans and followers.”
Despite the negative connotation of "vanity numbers," this could be helpful for some businesses. If a company has not done any social media communication with their customer base, it's hard to break into the pack and look competitive with eight Twitter followers. So you might want to take this approach initially to get some visual clout. I know some of you think these methods are cheating, and I agree. I also say that he who has not lied to improve their product, brand or message can cast the first stone. We’re a capitalistic society that puts importance on numbers. The more you have, the higher your perceived value. I think this is bullshit, but that’s another story entirely. So now I'll show you how the magic tricks work. TweetAdder – This is an automated tool that follows people within a given search criteria. If you follow that account back, then they have gained a follower. The tool often will return to the new follower and "unfollow" them to create the illusion that the initial account is more desirable to follow. Many industry professionals frown on this application, but it does have an array of amazing features. I recommend looking at it for legitimate traffic aggregation as well. Fiverr – A community of hundreds of people will perform small tasks for $5 per job. Tasks include design, following, music and countless other actions. Follow Backs – If you include #followback, #followsback and other hashtags in your Tweets and your Twitter profile, you’re advocating that you will indeed follow anyone who follows you. This is initially often the case, but beware they will frequently unfollow you, too, without your knowledge. Buying Connections – Call it what you want, but if you Google “buying followers,” you’ll see there are a ton a services willing to give you crap. Automation Tools – All social media professionals probably are sitting in front of one of the following tools. And while they’re all very good it can also be said that the "automation" of these tasks is cheating. But hey, feel free to waste your life away posting to every social account. Who am I to judge!?! Things to know – You can buy followers from the United States and Canada, but if you want a cheaper way to inflate your numbers, they will more than likely come from India and the Philippines. When purchasing Twitter traffic, there are services that require your username and password. But for an upgrade fee, you can avoid letting anyone have even temporary access to your account. People will ask me after this post why I (as a social media professional) would let everyone peek under the skirt. I say this to you: There’s a dark side to every industry. And while I don’t agree with it 99.5 percent of the time, it’s better to be educated than to think a service provider does what they do with potions and spells. And with this bit of education, it might make some customers aware that if they hire a sub-par agency, they might simply be paying for these basic services that are marked up 1,000 percent. The only way to get real traffic is to earn it. Genuine talk, conversation and humble advocacy are the ways to win. Should you use a professional agency? Absolutely if you really want the fans and followers to be actual people you can nurture into loyalists. We plan, research, engross ourselves in your brand and your competitors, and have the experience and strategic mindset to win at a very hard game. That being said, above all I recommend that businesses understand what they’re doing. And if someone promises you 10,000 followers, it might be true. But the likelihood that it will render a river of revenue is highly unlikely.   |
Anybody who blogs can remember your first post, second post and the empowerment you experienced. The empowerment I felt after leaving behind a career of fifteen years in the corporate world to pursue my dreams as an entrepreneur and being free to write about what I wanted to write about was beyond words. I remember getting those little butterflies as I hit send and would wait to see if anyone read those early posts. I still remember the first nice man who commented on my first 
A Wake-up Call
One of the most challenging aspects of content generation is figuring out balance for blogs. If you're writing for a business, you might find that you're walking a precarious tightrope: do you write for the man, or do you write for the 
. My hometown Denver Broncos lost to New England, and they are a small part of my story. However, Green Bay and New Orleans gave me plenty of hard evidence that confirms a simple truth: You drop the ball, you lose!
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!SPOILER ALERT! – The following information will indeed allow you to cheaply increase your numbers, but most of them are what we consider “junk numbers.” These connections will be nothing more than numeric padding to make you look good. These WILL NOT be quality leads that result in new business. They WILL NOT offer any real communicative value, nor will they serve you in any way except to say, “Look at me! I have more followers that you." These are vanity numbers, pure and simple.| You are subscribed to email updates from Social | Business 2 Community To stop receiving these emails, you may unsubscribe now. | Email delivery powered by Google |
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