Archive for Blog

Socially confused

// February 26th, 2010 // No Comments » // Blog

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 with our new business team.  :)

How human is your brand?

// February 17th, 2010 // No Comments » // Blog

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:

  • Control your message or share your brand’s personality?
  • Sell stuff or listen first, then talk about what people want to hear?
  • Provide a service  or provide personal service?
  • Have the best price  or have the best values?
  • Push one message to many  or engage each person individually?
  • Stonewall when there are issues  or respond openly to issues?
  • Know who you are or know who your customers think you are?

Blog well

// February 11th, 2010 // No Comments » // Blog

Smithsonian image c/o Creative Commons

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 RSS-able. Let readers subscribe to your posts and/or blog.
• Be shareable. Make it easy to pass along your posts and blog.

Pushing too hard

// January 20th, 2010 // No Comments » // Blog

I’m working on a SlideShare presentation about how to sell social media up the company food chain. The final presentation will probably have charts and statistics, etc. But a key slide came to me c/o something Brian Babineau said in a meeting last week. There was a time when you could devise a digital “push” mechanism — build a destination site, run text and/or ad banners and people would come to you. Why is that no longer effective? Because behaviors have changed. Now you need to demonstrate your value in the places where people are already having conversations. Once you do that, you’ll be able to “pull” them in and convince them to come to you. (I love that this came from DIG’s VP of Media.)

Creative Commons Image by stephendepolo

Go forth and blog

// February 11th, 2010 // No Comments » // Blog

Creative Commons photo c/o The Smithsonian

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 RSS-able. Let readers subscribe to your posts and/or blog.
• Be shareable. Make it easy to pass along your posts and blog.

Content drought

// January 15th, 2010 // No Comments » // Blog

Creative Commons Image provided by noluck

What keeps clients from diving into the social media pool? Fear of losing control. A lack of resources. Politics. Denial.

One very real show stopper is a lack of distributable content. I wish I had a nickel for every time a client said: “we’d love to do (fill in the blank with your dream project) but where will we get the content”.

I’m just a writer. But my gut (and a few real-world examples like Apple’s Media Arts Lab and rpa’s in-house production of everything from TV spots to websites) tells me that creating, producing and managing your own compelling content could be an effective way to boost your brand and marketing ROI.

How do you help your clients discover or create the content they so desperately need to populate their community, blog, YouTube channel, LinkedIn group or Facebook fan page?

You too can blog

// January 4th, 2010 // No Comments » // Blog

Most clients think blogging is beyond them. “I don’t have time. It’s too hard. I can’t write. I’m not creative.” So why are there hundreds of millions of blogs? Because anyone can do it. Anyone. To prove my point, here are just a few of my favorite blogs: a blog about giving up city life, a fashion blog that’s 99% pictures, a blog that alerts you to the best furniture finds on craigslist, a food blog, a short blog, a pet blog, a political blog, a charity blog. A social media blog. And a blog about blogging.

Still think you can’t blog? I’m writing a white paper on blogging for Digital Influence Group that will lay out everything you need to know. Don’t want to wait? Then think of some blog post topics and get writing, following these three simple rules: be interesting, be brief and be consistent. Blog on.

Image: Mike Licht, NotionsCapital.com, via Creative Commons

Blogfeedfoliofacelinkedintwitstreaming

// December 21st, 2009 // No Comments » // Blog

In case you haven’t noticed, this site is a mess. That’s because I’m working on bringing together my entire digital existence: my blog, photostream, portfolio, videos, twitterstream, Facebook, LinkedIn, etc.

Wish me luck.

Bring the web to you

// December 14th, 2009 // No Comments » // Blog

Google Reader in Plain English

Many of my friends and family members (you know who you are) have no idea how to find and aggregate (a fancy word for gather) the most interesting stuff on the web. Here’s a simple video that explains how Google Reader can help bring all the juicy bits to you. And let you share them with your network.

Moustache for money

// December 1st, 2008 // No Comments » // Blog

Jefferson Burruss aka Ned Flanders

One of my favorite charities is movember.

This charity event got its start in Australia in 2003. Its purpose, aside from providing thousands of potential blackmail photos of hirsute males is to promote an annual, month-long celebration of the moustache, highlighting men’s health issues – specifically prostate and testicular cancer.

The “Mo Bro” I sponsored this year (featured in this photo, front & center) is Jefferson Burruss, aka Ned Flanders.

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