Archive for 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.

Pop Quiz

// November 24th, 2009 // No Comments » // Blog

Dachis Group's Social Media Wiki

Dachis Group's Social Media Wiki

The Dachis Group just published a comprehensive list of social media companies. How many of these do you already know?

WTF is Google Wave?

// October 15th, 2009 // No Comments » // Blog

Google Wave is awesome. But trying to explain exactly how it will make things better is really hard. If you’d like to understand how brilliantly simple it is, click here to see a 2 minute YouTube video.

Just as I suspected

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


Prospective clients have been knocking on Digital Influence Group’s door in record numbers this year. As much as I’d like to claim it’s solely due to the impressive expertise and experience we’ve accumulated, even a brilliant message can fail to be heard if the timing’s off. These SmartBrief poll results seem to indicate that many clients are ready to take out the ear plugs. According to SmartBrief, customer advocacy of their brand is on the radar screen of 83% of the 864 participants in this poll.

YouTwitFace Frankenstein

// September 23rd, 2009 // No Comments » // Blog

I’m too busy working on social marketing projects for clients to write blog posts these days. So I’ll be brief. Has anyone else noticed in the last few weeks that alll of the Social Media channels are starting to mush together? Facebook has @replies; YouTube is adding a “do you know these people” button. If each of these social media channels has a distinct purpose, why are they all starting to look and act alike? Will this stitching together of body parts be a good thing? It didn’t work out so well for Frankenstein…

Social media metrics that matter

// September 3rd, 2009 // No Comments » // Blog


How should clients measure the impact of social media, given that it doesn’t necessarily create, as experts are fond of saying a straight line from A (your product/service) to B (your audience) to C (the cash register)? According to the Smart Pulse poll above, featured in the August 26th SmartBrief on Social Media eNewsletter, the metric that matters most to advertisers is “virality”, or how much their message is shared. “Sentiment” or how people feel about your brand, came in a close second. Interestingly enough, the effect Social Media has on a company’s bottom line came in third.

« Older Entries
Newer Entries »