Archive for October, 2009
Three Questions on Soci@lbyte
My good friend Elaine Ellis sat down with me and asked me a few questions about social media. You can find my answers on Socialbyte.net – a new site started by a bunch of great local (Denver area) social media people. I felt honored that Elaine thought of me and glad that I could be a part of the new site.
That brings me to the main crux of my answers on to the three questions: relationships. While I know Elaine in the real world – social media allows people to be brought together to form a collaborative atmosphere. Seeing how people who, in many other businesses, would be deemed competitors help each other out is why I love to be involved in social media. If I make any mark in my career, I want it to be that I helped everyone I could as much as I could. That’s how the best relationships are built…
G & V Episode 6: The Search for Episodes 4 + 5
With the snow keeping us inside, V and I decided to film the next episode of the G & V show. We couldn’t keep track of exactly what episode it was – so we just called it Episode 6 (It’s actually episode 4, but whatever). We talk about a bunch of things so here’s some link love:
Dr. Horrible’s Sing A Long Blog
Facebook/GeorgeGSmithJr (be my friend)
Goodbye, Geocities
When I was a high school student, I created a virtual study group on line at this place to build free web sites called “Geocities.” It was a novelty then – as I coded html pages to share study notes (and the answer to the homework) – and my web design was crude and disgusting – the kind of things that were rampant then but universally mocked now. Little did I know then that I so much of my life would be digitized. Geocities existed before terms like “digital native,” “social media expert,” “web 2.0″ and even “blogging” were around. Geocities was just a simple service for the common person (who could program html) could build a web page for themselves.
My Geocities site progressed over time. And while I used other services, Geocities was always the ubiquitous site for personal websites. I would journal back then – editing the entire html page – long before there were things like WordPress, Blogger, and even Livejournal. As my knowledge grew, I moved away from Geocities. New technologies made things easier. And, over 10 years later, I finally see that Geocities has died – closed down by Yahoo! in a cost cutting maneuver that was probably long over-due. Still, I can’t help but want to pour out a bit of the proverbial liquor for a lost friend. The site where I took my first baby steps in what is turning out to be a career on the internet. Geocities is where this digital native was born – right with IRC rooms, newsgroups, and the various other primordial web interactions that I was involved with. So, with that, I say goodbye to Geocities. If you’re someone that used the service, I would love to hear your stories in the comments below. I wish I still had screenshots of my old Geocities sites. I would probably puke in my mouth looking at them, but it would be very nostalgic.
Offline is the New Online. (or DUH, Where Have You Been?)
One of my favorite things to say is that online is just the aggregate for offline behavior. This came to me after a thorough examination of my behavior – what blogs I read, what links I click on, what friends I interact with – and the answer came down to the simple fact that if someone is actually doing something in “meatspace,” I am far more likely to engage with them.
So – it’s not a shock to me that Digital Media Buzz is catching on to the trending of “Twitter parties” as a marketing strategy. It’s more a long the lines of, “Where have you been?”
So many companies work on wooing celebrities and superstars to come out to events like store openings, product launches, etc but tweet ups and other social media influenced offline events can often drive engagement that – while it might not engage as many eyeballs as a Kardasian – it converts at a much higher rate. Offline engagement has been driving marketing endeavors for most successful social media companies. Scott Monty seems to throw a Tweet up whenever he is in a city – drawing engaged followers and creating opportunities to generate that word of mouth buzz both offline and on at very little cost. (Not to mention Ford having test drives with bloggers and the Fiesta Movement cars out there driving real people to give real opinions on the vehicle) Having worked with Jyl Johnson-Pattee of MomitForward.com – they drive lots of action through their digital #GNO campaigns and now have offline events centered around campaigns like Office Max’s A Day Made Better (Slideshow below is from the Denver event. Photos via Greeblemonkey). Flying Dog Brewery has sponsored Tweet ups in the Denver area with much success. Twestival – the twitter inspired charity drive – has created events in over 200+ cities. It’s been done and done and done – it’s not a trend, it’s an established and successful strategy.
As social media becomes more directed at offline behavior (think Foursquare, Whrrl, and other mobile apps of that sort), companies are going to need to embrace the fact that these online influencers that they’ve pursued via the internet are now creating large networks of offline influence. The innovators are already on this and, as usual, other companies are just waiting to play catch up…
(FTC Stuff: I have a HUGE ball of rubber bands that I got from an Office Max “A Day Made Better” event in Denver. I have a crush on Jyl from Mom It Forward – but to be fair, I also have a crush on her husband who is a fellow Yankee fan. My buddy Jeremy Tanner is a Ford Fiesta Agent and has driven me places – which means “Uncle Scott” picked up the tab for gas. A few friends that work at Whrrl have bought me beers at bars during events like SXSW, BlogHer, and Blog World Expo. I’ve received a free keg of Flying Dog for an event that I put together in Boulder called Kegs and Kites. While the ball-o-’bands, free gas and beer, and platonic crushes are amazing – it doesn’t change anything I would have written in the above post. I appreciate the trust my readers have in me – so thanks for reading!)
Question: Why Do You Blog?
Growing up, one of the few lessons from childhood that I retained was that my father always encouraged us to ask, “Why?” After all, this question is at the crux of all innovation – it is the curiosity that inspires new thought, new horizons, and new adventures. So – as I spoke on a panel at Blog World Expo, and was asked to summarize the best way that a blogger can help themselves grow – I told them to ask, “Why do you blog?”
For me, that answer is easy. I do it because it is the best venue for me to express myself. Whether it’s thoughts on Social Media that I haven’t found a venue for internally, my appreciation for art and fashion, music reviews – whatever it is – my blog serves as a centerpiece for those conversations. Because of that, it has become one of the best representations of my personality – catering to each unique interest I have while also staying grounded to who I truly am. For me, I could not function without my blog and I write every single post – whether the long format ones here or the ones pulled from my posterous account – with a passion that I hope inspires others.
So, when I had a chance to sit down with some bloggers that I’m friends with – I asked them that simple question. Every blogger had a different answer, but in the end it came down to personal passions. It often came down to community as well – whether that’s a community of moms or a family – and that, to me, is a beautiful thing.
Watch this video and, in the comments below, let me know why you blog.
I want to thank the following bloggers for taking the time and sharing my stories – not all of them were able to be included in the video:
Amanda at HighImpactMom.com
Ann Marie at ThisMommaCooks.com
Beth at ThePlusSizeMommy.com
Drew at BenSpark.com
Danielle at ExtraordinaryMommy.com
Christine at FromDatestoDiapers.com
Monica at MommyBrainReports.com
Melissa at ConsumerQueen.com
Kim at CraftyMamaof4.com
Katja at Skimbacolifestyle.com
Debba at Girlfriendology.com
(Editor’s Note: Not sure why my comments aren’t working on this post. I’m trying to troubleshoot. Sorry for the inconvenience. If you can comment though, leave one. I love hearing why people blog…)
(Editor’s Note 2: Comments are back up – please comment on why you blog!)
The Public Option: A look at Moveon.org’s new advertisement
(Editor’s Note: I am not going to get political on this blog. I don’t have the time to actually have long debates in the comment section and I do not want my thoughts and ideas to be taken out of context. I do write about marketing a lot though, so when I saw this advertisement for the public option – featuring actress Heather Graham – I wanted to post it here.)
There are a lot of subtleties to this ad that make it very effective. The closing message: “Some people say this is unfair competition, but competition is as American as Apple Pie” is the type of simple line that can be repeated in debates centering around one of the central arguments that people have over the public option.
The entire video seems to try to target the white conservative male voters. Start with the casting – the Insurance companies that get the most screen time are played by minorities. The public option, is of course, Heather Graham – who is a beautiful blonde white woman. The contrast is subtle – unless you’re looking for it, you don’t see it – but it definitely is a play to those white male voters. Even in the scripting, there are things meant to prey on those white males. There’s a bit of phallic symbolism (and an attempt to conjure up homophobia?) with the champagne bottle. All of this is done purposefully and, together with the simple tagline, creates a well constructed piece of political advertising that garners attention without creating much controversy.
(Editor’s Note: Again – this isn’t a political statement or a pledge to support certain beliefs. If you do ever want to get into a political discussion with me, feel free. I love debates if both parties are open minded and respect the opinions of the other person.)
Thoughts on Customer Service
Grocery stores are an amazing spectacle if you really think about it. I mean, you can walk down an aisle and see a bunch of different companies who get their livelihood off of the same product. It’s almost as if there is an infinite amount of choices in the simple task of picking out groceries in a store.
Choice is an important variable. We live in a world of infinite choice – for whatever product you’re looking for; you have your choice of companies to spend your money with. The days when companies could egotistically ignore customer service are gone. In fact, with the rise of social media as a public complaint mechanism – I would say that the most important thing for a company right now is Customer Service.
Zappos is infinitely more famous because of their dedication to customer service (at least pre-Amazon merger). The company built their following on those lines and nothing I write here would provide any new glimpses into that methodology.
What I want to know is the translation of money lost to companies that continually get dumped on for the customer service. I don’t have access to that information but with things like United Breaks Guitars, Dominoes, Dooce’s Maytag experience – how has that translated into lost sales? Is it marked or is it something that is barely noticeable and just seems louder through the ears of Social Media.
As more and more people take to the digital streets to proclaim their customer service problems, it will be interesting to see how companies react. If there are no lost sales, will they continue to let the halls ring with bad customer reviews? In this world of infinite choice, you would think that providing great customer service would be one of the easiest ways to differentiate your product from anothers. Still, I find it funny how so many companies are unwilling to adopt better customer service – which, ultimately tells me that my question about the lost sales must have been figured out to be nil. Still – I would love to delve into this subject at another time. Customer Service to me is holy – and I want to learn more about the statistics behind it.
