I'm crushing on infographs like this one that use great visual design to make complex data simple and relateable.
I can't get enough of PDFs from sites like GOOD.is that show which brands are spending big on advertising, who's who in the Mexican drug wars or videos that illustrate the value to society of investing in a 12-year-old girl.
So if you stumble across an awesome infographic, please feed my addiction and send it my way.
There's a saying that one man with an idea is a madman. But a thousand with an idea is a movement. Is that what's going on in Egypt right now? A movement? Or is it simply "chaos"? Wait a minute, I can't think of a revolution that wasn't chaotic? Can you?
The truth is, I don't really know what's happening there. I'm watching the sound bytes and reading the New York Times. I'm also keeping an eye on Tweetdeck, but the tweets are pouring in faster than even Evelyn Wood can read.
Something is happening. That's for sure. But maybe we should hold off labeling it as "chaos". Because sticks and stones might not break any bones. But words can influence outcomes.
Photo c/o Google Images/Creative Commons/MSoli
Fashionistas rejoice! Now you can be your BFF's stylist by creating a clothing collage of what she should wear to her interview, big date, or girls night out with Polyvore.com
Your friends get your fashion advice. And you get to pretend you're Stacy London. So what's in it for fashion designers? They learn from what you and millions of others in effect vote most "choice" and can stop production on what's quickly becoming bottom of the barrel.
Now the question is: which of your friends do you want to return the favor?
My husband just started a new job. So far, most of his colleagues are pretty welcoming. Which is unusual. Because New Englanders have a reputation for being "crusty" and only liking their "own kind". So if you're not "from here", you're an outsider -- unless a local vouches for you.
Which makes me wonder: does the average person use social to open the door to new ideas, opinions and relationships? Or to tighten the circle around those they already know?
How do you use Facebook? Is it strictly to connect with friends & family? On Twitter, do you exchange new ideas and learn from strangers who share your interests? When a friend of a friend who's in the same industry invites you to connect on LinkedIn, do you accept?
Where do you draw the line? Do you use social to expand your horizons or to mark your boundaries?
Build relationships. Nurture your relationships. Relationships. Relationships. Relationships. That's all we hear about these days. Why the big push to commit?
Because one night stands suck. No one feels good about being used or using someone. And friends with benefits rarely remain friends.
So if you're a commitment phobe, you're in trouble. If you don’t have solid relationships with your friends and family, when the going gets rough, guess who's gonna get dumped?
And if you're a commitment phobe and a CMO, you're really fucked. Because hell hath no fury like neglected customers.
Need to do more in 2011 with fewer marketing dollars? Time to shift some of your money to social. When you do, keep this mantra in mind: Be Generous.
Provide real value. Focus on what’s in it for your customers and you won’t go wrong. Here’s how.
Be easy to find.
Got a website or blog? Great. But why spend money trying to make your customers come to you when you can be where they are. Are they on Facebook, YouTube or Twitter? Are they addicted to their smartphone? Or do they spend their time at LinkedIn or reading industry blogs? Follow their lead to develop a social presence that makes it clear you have a lot in common.
Be active.
Don’t “set it and forget it”. Monitor your social presence. Reply to comments. Answer questions. Give advice. Take part in conversations. Above all, be helpful. Build relationships by giving your customers the support and information they need, not by pushing your products and services.
Be an early responder.
You can avoid PR crises by admitting goof ups early on. If you notice negative comments or complaints, address them right away. Then make it right as quickly as is humanly possible. Reward customers who help you do better.
Be thankful.
You’d be surprised how many of your competitors fail to demonstrate that they appreciate their customers’ business. Look for every opportunity to say thank you and to pass on savings, partner offers, free samples, coupons and advice.
Always be “on”.
Be there for your customers whenever they need you instead of being there only when you have something to sell. If you’re “always on”, chances are that when they’re ready to buy, they’ll think of you first.
Being generous is good business.
What will you gain by being generous? You’ll earn your customers’ trust – the kind of trust that makes them want to seek you out time and time again. The kind of trust you can't buy and that lets you stop funding “Launch and Leave” campaigns.
Which means you can do more with less marketing dollars and have a record new year.
I just got back from a MITX Social Listening event. Afterward, it occurred to me that the answer to the question "Why should brands use social platforms to listen?" is really quite simple. Brands should use social to listen to their customers, employees, vendors and competitors because they can learn valuable things they might not know otherwise. What happens when companies don't listen? Dell didn't ask its customers what color they wanted their new Inspiron laptop to be until the company had already manufactured it in 8 different colors. To Dell's credit, before they launched the Inspiron, they asked some customers which of the new colors were their favorites. As it turned out, the majority of customers wanted white. Dell sold out of that color. But, they could've saved a bundle by manufacturing only 1 color instead of 8. As reported by the New York Times, a confidential survey of workers on the Deepwater Horizon in the weeks before the oil rig exploded showed that many of them were concerned about safety practices and feared reprisals if they reported mistakes or other problems. If BP had created an environment where the workers felt their concerns were heard, could the Gulf Coast oil disaster have been averted? If the SEC had listened to Harry Markopolos in 2000 when he tried to alert regulators to Bernie Madoff's ponzi scheme, the biggest investment fraud in U.S. history might never have occurred. If banks had listened to home loan applicants closely instead of rubber stamping their mortgage applications, we might not have record foreclosure rates. So what happens when brands do listen? Avaya follows up 1 lead on Twitter that results in a $250,000 sale. A community of 12,000 fans helps NASCAR reduce research costs by 80%. The American Red Cross uses Twitter and text messaging to raise $32 million worth of aid for Haiti. Relationships are built. Sales are made. Opportunities aren't missed. Crises are responded to. Listen. Because you can't engage or shape the conversation unless you're part of it. Because your competitors are listening when you're not. Because these days there has to be something in it for everyone. And everyone will tell you exactly what that something is. All you have to do is listen.
From October 4-8, 2010, throughout Boston, dozens of FutureM panels, summits, roundtables, user groups, virtual events, demos, and parties showcased leading ideas, thinkers and companies – all focused on what’s new and what’s next in Marketing. Larry Weber, Chairman of W2 Group, hosted a FutureM event on October 8th, titled “Tomorrow’s Ecommerce: Mobile Marketing and Digital Couponing” at the Cambridge Innovation Center. A panel of representatives from Zipcar, TripAdvisor and Digital Influence Group joined Weber to discuss how mobile is becoming increasingly transactional. Lesley Mottla, Vice President of Member Experience of Zipcar, described why the car sharing company released its first iPhone 1½ years ago. “We have to be proactive or our members would force us to be.” The current Zipcar app lets members locate cars, unlock them, toot their horns and call Zipcar for help. What could a future Zipcar app look like? Mottla imagines an app that lets members make hyperlocal transactions and interact with their social network – all from the car. Michael Putnam, Senior Mobile Product Manager of TripAdvisor, believes that whether they like it or not, companies have to be mobile because customers are engaging that way. “Customers are already viewing your website on their mobile. If it’s not mobile friendly, that's not helping you.” He spoke from experience — TripAdvisor’s first mobile effort (on Palm) was less than stellar. The company recovered quickly, retooling its mobile offerings and is now capitalizing on a market where bookings from mobile devices are at 3% (2X 2009) and is expected to double again in 2011. While combining location, mobile & coupons “gets interesting” when 80% of hotel bookings are made the same day, “the payoff is worth it,” he said, “since payment and coupons with devices will continue to present big opportunities for marketers.” How big? According to Scanbuy, mobile barcode scanning is up 700% in 2010. Juniper Research projects that mobile coupons will generate $6 billion in global redemption values by 2014. Nearly one-third of Smartphone owners want coupons that can be saved and used on their phones at a later date, as well as access to applications that include bar code scanning. “Our clients are demanding to play in the mobile space,” said Steve Brennan, Senior Vice President, Technology at Digital Influence, which focuses on helping its clients make the most of the social shift in marketing. DIG thinks social and mobile marry together quite well. “After all, mobile is as social as it gets. You’re sharing with Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter and location-based services. That’s huge on the couponing side and the commerce side.” So where should marketers start? Putnam advised starting with an app on one of the smaller mobile platforms before rolling out to iPhone and Droid. “Expect to create layers that allow users to indicate which types of offers they’re interested in. Be extremely careful how you talk to customers and try not to interrupt.” Mottla added: “Don’t forget to test and measuring all along the way.”
Image c/o Maly LOLek based on Image: UPS MaxiCode via Wikimedia Commons
Here's what I think about privacy: I'm an air force brat, so I've never had any. There was a dossier on me the day I was born. When I lived abroad, my mail was opened, my phone calls were wiretapped and my community was rife with spies. On the social web, whatever I share can reach far and wide. Just because I've always lived my so-called private life in a pretty public way doesn't mean that I don't bother to set my privacy preferences on Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, Google Reader or Delicious. And neither should you. Don't just bitch about the lack of privacy. Actively set your preferences. And draw the line where it's appropriate. Don't do your banking in an airport via an app on wi-fi. Pay attention to your online bank statements, bills and credit rating. And don't post "look at me, I'm shitfaced" photos you wouldn't want your future boss to see. Doh!
Creative Commons photo c/o Axel Buhmann
The #140conf is a traveling conference created to share the effect the social web has on business and society. Attendees are immersed in a day-long marathon of micro-presentations and panels on a variety of topics that reflect the industries and trends of whatever city the conference happens to be in. Produced by Jeff Pulver who is part philanthropist, part "American Internet Entrepreneur", the #140Conf has been held in major cities all over the globe– New York City, San Francisco, Barcelona, Detroit, Tel Aviv... The conference will make its way to Main Street on November 1st with its first #140conf Small Town. I recently attended the #140conf in Boston and found it to be both stimulating and a bit overwhelming. The speakers and subjects changed with dizzying speed – every 15 minutes. If you can hang in, you can absorb a massive amount of new information in record time. And if it all becomes too much, you can always beat a hasty retreat (as I did) to the Boston Public Library for a lunch hour of complete silence. Or, you can take advantage of the free yoga session. Ommmmmmmmm The topics and speakers at the Boston conference varied wildly from health care to music to law enforcement to politics to nonprofits. As a result, the auditorium was continuously awash with tweetable quotes. Videos and pics of the entire day are archived here. Some of the juiciest tweets are right here: @cspenn on the good you can do with social: “You can be a Superhero. Are you ready?” @johnbaloney on Deschooling the state of now: “Technology can rescue the learning experience.” @bhsprincipal @sanmccarron @baldy7 on Real-Time Education and the lack thereof: “It’s bordering on malpractice how much schools are not using technology & social tools.” @universalhub, @dabeard, @mleccese, @kordmiller and @tmcenroe’s on the effect of the Real-Time Web on News Gathering: “Twitter is what the hell journalism.” @cc_chapman’s on why marketers should pay more attention to daddy bloggers: “Why isn’t there an Amazon dad program?” @jeffcutler on citizen reporting vs journalism: “Social media can’t make you a journalist unless you’re practicing journalism.” @dewittn on his story of being a “disappeared child” in war-torn El Salvador and reuniting with his family through social: “The only way my parents could change the world was to pick up arms. You have social tools.” @JessicaRMurray @andydixn on how 30 Nashville volunteers launched YouthTurns, a non-profit that helped keep kids out of prison with a 24-hour design-a-thon: “Changing the world is in our hands.” @amandapalmer @cyperpr @matthewebel @spinaltap Music Panel on how the social web has changed the music industry’s business model: “Access is replacing ownership.” “Musicians will be able to fire their agent, manager and record label.” @CarissaO @healthyjack @shwen on How the healthcare industry is leveraging the real-time web: “Patients are taking control of their health and connecting with their peers around it via the social web.” “Providers use social to share accurate health information and to learn.”
I heard a great discussion via NPR that was meant to be an economics lesson, but was also a great lesson in how to serve your own interests by serving the greater good. In the late 1700s the UK was sending its prisoners to Australia -- which was happy to have them. So much so that the government paid a tidy sum for each convict. Unfortunately, the survival rate wasn’t great. In fact, on one ship, 1/3 of the UK prisoners arrived DOA and those who did survive were in rough shape. This meant that the Australian government wasn’t getting what it paid for. And the poor convicts didn't have a chance. How to up the survival rate? Lemons for scurvy; better pay for ship captains; faster shipping routes? None of these made a difference. What did? It turned out that what was needed was a different incentive. Instead of being paid for each prisoner who got on the ship, the captains were paid for each prisoner who got off. Lesson learned: when you align your self interest with the social interest, everybody wins.
Image courtesy of Imageafter.com
Yesterday I heard a segment on NPR that made me pull over so I could crib a few notes for this post. The segment was about Travelodge, a hotel chain that has a policy of returning all items left behind by its guests. The items in question aren't the usual phone chargers, sunglasses or jacket. They're stuffed animals. Left behind by adults. Turns out that based on the items left behind, the hotel estimates that fully 35% of its guests sleep with a stuffed animal. Think that all of these stuffed animal lovers must be women? Not so. 25% of them are men. I find this fascinating. Because if you did a survey of road warriors, I'm fairly certain that 1 in 4 of them would not fess up to traveling with their beloved teddy bear. So the next time you think "social exaggerates the need to stay connected", just imagine a road warrior clutching his teddy as he drifts off to sleep in his business hotel room.
I've been helping people connect to each other and to the things that make their lives better for decades. Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter, etc. have made it easier to help friends, family and colleagues find jobs, homes, products, services, insights and each other. But unfortunately, social networking hasn't improved the way some people go about asking for help.
Here are 3 common sense rules to follow when seeking assistance:
Rule #1 Give me the information I need to help you get what you need, whether it's an introduction to a potential employer or client, a pensione recommendation in Barcelona or a copy polish of your website, a reputable cat shelter or a recipe, or even advice on how to manage your social reputation. Help me help you by telling me as much as you can in your initial request. I'm doing you a favor. So please don't expect me to dig for the details. And don't be surprised if I decline to pass your nebulous question along. Because I refuse to spam my entire social network with a half-baked request.
Rule #2 Don't wait until the last minute to reach out to me -- unless it's an emergency. Just last week, a friend sent me a cryptic note asking if I have any entertainment contacts because her boss has a contract in China and needs "diverse" performers. I received this message on Friday. She needed the information by Monday. This friend is near and dear to my heart. So I spent 2 days digging the necessary details out of her so I could connect her to a Casting Director. I hope it works out. And I also hope that the next time she asks me for a favor, she gives me a bit more information upfront. And that she does her homework first.
Which brings me to Rule #3. Help yourself. If you're connected to me, chances are my entire network is at your disposal. My life is pretty much an open book. You can access almost everyone and everything I know. My LinkedIn contacts are open for you to browse. My Delicious bookmarks are public. My Flickr and Twitter streams are on the front page of this site for all the world to see. Mi casa es su casa. So while I'm happy to help you get to whatever or whoever you need, please do a little research on your own before contacting me in case what you need is already at your fingertips.
Our Siamese cat has asthma. We have to give him an inhaler. Have you ever wrapped a clawed creature in a towel and tried to get it to breathe through a ridiculous mask apparatus thingy? It’s a risky maneuver that takes 2 people to execute. But we love the damn cat, so we cope. What I can’t cope with is the cost of his medication. The same inhaler that costs me a $15 co-pay costs almost $200 for the cat! When my vet suggested I order the inhaler from a company in the South Pacific called 4cornerspharmacy that offers the meds at half-price, I thought "Vanuatu veterinary meds? Seriously?" As it turns out, nothing could be easier. I ordered the inhaler online. I immediately received an email confirming my order, then another confirming the shipment. The inhaler arrived as promised. Unfortunately I ordered the wrong one. My mistake. I sent customer service an email. They replied within 12 hours letting me know they’d ship the replacement inhalers immediately. They didn’t ask for my credit card number again. They didn’t give me a 13-digit Official Return Number. They didn’t give me any runaround at all. In fact, they shipped the new inhalers before I even had a chance to get the wrong ones in the mail. Sadly, this experience isn’t likely to be repeated often. The products we consume are all the same. (O.K. occasionally a waterbobble pops up.) The service we receive is uniformly mediocre. My fondest wish is that someday my health plan will provide 24/7 support and won’t let paperwork get in the way of my health; I’ll fly an airline that feeds me, and gets me there on time, with my luggage in hand; and I'll shop at an organic market that refunds my money with no questions asked if I’m less than satisfied with the lettuce. Until then, I’ll always have Vanuatu.
This is for all my client friends who aren't sure which social media channel to use for what.
Facebook is strictly personal. It requires a deeper level of interaction to participate and shape any conversations that are already going on. Keep in mind that the parameters of those interactions keep changing. So stay updated on Facebook's latest rules & tools.
Why do we need Twitter when we already have email? Because email takes awhile to arrive. Twitter is instant. It's 1 to 1, making it the perfect place to offer on-the-spot expert advice, share time-sensitive deals, track what's going on at an event, respond in real-time to customer service issues or in crisis situations.
Linkedin is the be all and end all of professional networking sites. So use it accordingly. Make new contacts. Start a group. Ask and answer questions. Conduct informal market research. Post job openings. Or get creative and tap into "life events".
Many clients use YouTube to share brand content. A word to the wise, unless that content is hilarious, or ridiculously useful, keep it on your brand site. Instead, use YouTube to let your customers create their own videos. How do you get them to generate content for you? You don't seriously think I'll give away all my trade secrets... Ping me and I'll hook you up. :)
Why are some brands more successful than others in social media? Because they put a face on the logo. Find out if your brand has human DNA by asking yourself the following questions. DO YOU:
Why are there so many blogs? Because everyone has a story. And you don’t have to be a writer to write a good blog. So what makes a blog good?
• It’s interesting
• It’s brief
• It’s consistent
A good blog talks about what matters. It’s juicy, but easy to digest. And there’s a somewhat predictable rhythm to when new posts appear. When writing your blog, here are a few more things to keep in mind.
• Be informative. Provide value.
• Be creative. And whenever possible, be entertaining.
• Be visual. Apply attributed, royalty-free imagery liberally.
• Be topical. Stay on top of what’s happening in the world.
• Be conversational. Ask questions. Pose thoughts. Provoke dialogue.
• Be honest. About who you are and where you get your ideas. If you “borrow” an idea or story, credit the source and if possible, link to it.
• Be personal. Be you. Not the meeting the pastor on Sunday you. The having a smashing time at the cocktail party you.
• Be responsive. Welcome comments and feedback and respond quickly to them.
• Be helpful. In addition to providing valuable information, share links to related insights, topic experts, etc. Facilitate connections when possible.
• Be respectful. Never insult or underestimate your audience.
• Be skim-able. Make your posts easy to read at a glance.
• Be generous. Give credit, attribute, admire. Share the stage.
• Be shareable. Make it easy to pass along your posts and blog.
Smithsonian image c/o Creative Commons
