Click image to visit the site

The YazTalk site is also is taking an “educate before you take legal action” approach to legal marketing.  I cannot share any data points legally,  but I can say Social Media has been effective at extending the Sokolove brand.

Click image to visit the site

I am happy to speak further about these sites offline.

Share This Post

With this knowledge in mind and Valentine’s Day having just passed, I would like to acknowledge the people who have been instrumental in my development, are true mentors, peers and friends and most importantly- really are experts and guru’s. Folks who think about SM with hardened business objectives in mind. We have grown together in a fledgling space and I feel fortunate to have worked with these people and continue to share, rap, learn and grow professionally with them today.

My “Social” Mentors, Peers & Friends

1)      Mark Wallace: Mark has been instrumental in my growth as a professional. He taught me a great deal about sales, business, being crisp and thinking about every action from a dollars and sense point of view. I worked with him at DCI-Shared Insights-Mzinga from 1999 on. Today, his Commonground Community won the Forrester Groundswell Award in 2009.

2)      Jim Storer: Jim was talking “community” back in 2001. His vision then was to create a stable of IT professionals to go direct to market too with new events. DCI was a IT conference event company. Frankly- his vision for the future of the business was dead on back then. Jim and Mark both asked me to leave the sales world, and do what I was doing in my personal life (running an online community for the music industry) for Shared Insights. This move was instrumental in a career shift that has served me well to date. He is one of the founders of the highly successful Community Roundtable where Social Practitioners meet and continue to grow and learn together in an ever evolving space.

3)      Aaron Strout and Heather Strout: This brother/sister combo are not only SXSW veterans, they are very social savvy. Aaron is a go getter that has travelled far in the space by being tireless in speaking engagements to drive both the Mzinga brand and the Powered brand today. Heather was my peer at Mzinga when we were both “Consultants”. Heather to this day is a voice of reason for me and is always there to bounce ideas off from. I have learned that perspective comes in the number of questions you ask- Heather is never short on answers!

4)      Pauline Brannigan: Pauline is one of the few sales professionals that understand how to map the use of Social to the hardened business objectives that result in real ROI. She too has challenged me on many occasions to think about strategies from a different angle. Today she works for a fantastic enterprise social computing solution called INgage. Check em out and hit her up on Twitter to learn more!

5)      Barry Libert: In 2004 Barry Libert said in a meeting “when you give your customers what they want, when they want it, and how they want it- you will win their business over and over again.” He went on to say that technologies in the not too distant future will enable the business to engage the consumer real time and for much longer life cycles. That conversation changed my professional life and made me realize that the future of business was shifting and the consumer would be empowered like never before.

6)      Tom Humbarger: Tom is what I would call a “knowledge sponge”. He soaks up everything applies it to his consulting business- smart! That way of “sucking and applying” has served me well and to this day,  I don’t let a day pass where my Netvibes page doesn’t educate me or open my eyes to new strategies and new ideas. Thank s Tom!

7)      I would also be remiss if I did not mention Chris Brogan and Jeremiah Owyang.  Although they are not my friends, I mention them because no matter how large their brand expands, they still respond to personal requests and DM’s as if they are your neighbor up the street. Exactly the point of Social! Even the smallest voice is heard with the “big guys”. They are practicing exactly what they preach to large organizations far and wide. Listen and react to everyone!

Social Media Suggestion:

Just because you buzz, doesn’t mean you are an expert! Listening is the key to knowing! Many people feel as though the more they talk, the more they are heard, the more of a “guru” they are. When in reality the more you listen, the more you are open to opinion, the more you react based on the feedback of the “we”- the more of a Social Media adopter you are. Brands and experts need to stop putting out fluff to flood the marketplace purely for exposure. Instead they need to write something of value that will penetrate a niche marketplace and help educate. If it is not of value, then don’t bother because you are hurting your brand creating content  solely to be heard.  Stop Tweeting just because a certain #hashtag is trending. If you don’t know about the subject, eat some pie- listen and learn. The people I mentioned above listen and learn as much as they teach- which is why they are successful. Just a suggestion based on their actions.

Listen, strategize, apply, create and don’t be afraid to be  a mentor is the message of this post!  Thank you to the folks mentioned on this list for being who you are and for what you are doing in business today!

Share This Post

The last month I have been inundated with Twitter followers who include me in business offers in public Tweets. Instead of inspiring me to click on the link, it instead prompts me to go on a rampage of “offing  them!”  No, not putting on my Tony Soprano leather jacket- just unfollowing and blocking them!

So these two observations got me thinking about the importance of brands to be engaging but not intrusive! Three suggestions:

1. Don’t use technologies like Thread that impose your will on people. It will do you no good- trust me! Make sure that you have unique nuggets of value within each channel. What does that mean? Read point 2.
2. Don’t create a Facebook fanpage and just replicate blog and webinars from another location. Create unique content for that presence- otherwise you are simply creating another push channel. Give it value for your target audience!
3. Ask questions of others & join the conversations important to your brand! This is for those organizations on Twitter that are well….completely obtrusive and turn my into digital Tony Soprano!

Lastly, be wary of new technologies moving forward. Be morally aware of how obtrusive or obnoxious they are before using them. It is ok to share value, but pushing your sales message is a no no! Some of new technologies make it easy to spam – you don’t want to be known for that! Err on the side of caution- if you feel like you are being intrusive and spammy- then you probably are. Have a gander at this…

1. Blog Ranked 11,725 in the world of Alexa.com
2. 4,865 friends on Facebook
3. 103,325 followers on Twitter

When I look at those numbers I think “critical mass”. Chris has in fact reached critical mass! Any brand that builds and maintains a following such as above is sure to have success. Yes, getting up at 5AM is necessary, but at what cost? Your family, your passions, your time on this earth? It is one thing to work hard (I work many 12 hour days), but I also feel like I do well by the people I care most about- including myself. Which leads me to why I wrote what I wrote to Chris. Success is balance. Not only in life, but also your profession. We live in a complex world where technology is invading our humanity if we let it. It is up to us to focus on the bottom line which is making a living with Social Media being the enabler.

These observations got me thinking about the obvious need to having a brand strategy. Burnout can happen if you don’t set:

1. Project  benchmarks (what do when you have critical mass)
2. Map every action to qualified business objectives
3. And once you have critical mass- focus only on your bottom line which is new recognized revenue and reaching attainable business goals

From where I sit, Chris has reached critical mass and should only be spending time where his valuable time is paid for. And maybe that is the case, maybe he is getting up after 3 hours of sleep and the next 18 hours he is getting paid for. Who knows, but the valuable lesson is Social Media takes time, commitment, resources, unique content, a plan (realistic benchmarks and business objectives), execution and inevitably the need to find qualitative business value – or recognized revenue or business opportunities. If you and your organization execute on all of those items, I suspect you will be able to find the balance I alluded to already. If you don’t, your life can be lost upon you and you spend much too much time working when you should be enjoying being young and capable. Trust me, I have worked late and on weekends, more then I would like to admit. I have yet to find the balance either, but I at least can recognize that my success benchmark is balance. A novel goal for any business or professional working with the social business realm!

Do yourself the favor and spend some time with the people closest to you today. As for Chris, best wishes buddy- hopefully we can plan out that Trust Agents book signing at the Andover Bookstore. I know how you love your indie bookstores! Be well and safe travels.

Share This Post

Reznor (@trent_reznor )says:  “The reason no record label knows how to market anything to new media is they don’t live there. They don’t get it because they don’t use it. What you’ve seen happen with the marketing and presentation of NIN over the last years is a direct result of living next to you, listening to you, consuming with you and interacting with you. Directly. There’s no handlers or PR people here, it’s me and my guys – that’s it. There’s no real plan, even – it’s just trying to do the right thing that respects you the fan, the music, and me the artist. That’s the goal – a mutual and shared respect.”

He is right! In a perfect world he could engage his fans transparently and be free and clear of negative sentiment. But the fact remains- transparency will lead to as much negative as positive. But to combat it, businesses need the resources to answer to both the negative and the positive. Reznor’s comments are nothing more than a call for help- not a white flag!

Here are 5 action items that Trent can do to remedy his troll problem and create a solid foundation fora  true Social Media Strategy Plan:

1. Hire a Social Media Director – I am sure there are a great deal of recent college grads that would kill to put Nine Inch Nails Social Media Director on their resume. I am also sure this person would work on the cheap! They would be in charge of monitoring, responding, engaging, and consistently push/pulling relevant content to Nine Inch Nails. Essentially being the overseer of the NIN brand in Social Media channels. Instead of Trent doing it, this person will carry out  tedious tasks and put the most important content in front of Trent daily to respond to. Everything between the good ideas to negative sentiment!  This essentially removes the trolls and lets Trent focus on making great music. Lastly, this person will work under NIN’s PR folks.
2. Purchase a Social Analytics tool- these tools help track, reply, document and recognize real ROI. For $500-$750 per month a business can have a birds-eye view of their social media presence. I recommend Techrigy – although the marketplace is becoming flush solutions. I would suggest demoing several and deciding what would work best for a music artist.
3. Migrate to Modlife: Because Modlife is fee service for fans to join, it eliminates trolls and allows musicians to create almost their own safe market research community. They can share, test, and interact with passionate fans. My suggestion is to utilize Modlife as a musicians center location, and use Myspace, Twitter, Facebook and Social Bookmarking sites to push information, take information- but most importantly to draw in the “real fans”. The innovators if you will- NIN’s very own market research community. Look no further then what Angels & Airwaves have done here: http://modlife.com/angelsandairwaves Perfect for NIN!
4. Create a Recognition Rewards Program- Use meet and greets as a way to build a group of online body guards. Dangling a “meet Trent Reznor opportunity” is a stellar reward for being a pro-NIN presence that pushes the band in the social channels. This is enabling and empowering and can be done with nothing more than a bit of organizing and a brief shining of the spotlight on these do-gooders electronically. It is amazing what a simple tweet from rock star can do from an ego perspective.
5. Build a Content Schedule & Engage- Start doing chats on TinyChat. Conduct monthly webinars and podcasts where fans get to hear new material or offer feedback on what artists NIN should tour with. The content schedule should be focused on the business goals of  fan feedback and innovation to their voice. When you give your customers what they want, you will win their business repeatedly. Once again, the content schedule is geared towards enabling, empowering and organizing NIN’s own market research community. It is no different then what Barack Obama did to get elected.

My life as a social media consultant consists of creating plans such as these-although much more in-depth than this blog. But every business is different in their needs, desires, and objectives. In fact, how each business measures ROI is vastly different.  In Trent Reznor’s case, his ROI is to be able to engage Social Media effectively so he can listen to his customers (the fans) and innovate his music based on their feedback. His desire is no different than a billion dollar corporate empire- to be able to go direct to consumer with new products-thus lowering marketing churn, while having a product that is created based on the voice of the customer. Trent just needed a strategy plan….

Technorati: hjfhkfu8v5

MyFoxBoston has been diligent about Twittering and using Facebook to this point. But what I found really exciting is how my friend Mark Parkinson (@sparkythepit) has been effectively using Social Media to driving brand awareness and brand affinity on Facebook and now Twitter. Sparky (known to many as Mark Parkinson) is the overnight cameraman for WFXT-FOX25 News here in Boston. He began posting updates to his Facebook wall for his wife and friends to follow what he was up to over night. He follows exciting stuff like rolled cars, fires, and even some of the more dramatic items  like shootings and drug busts. What happened was he started posting (in real time) what he was following and his friends and other friends started commenting on his live news updates. So it occurred to Sparky that it makes sense to Twitter those updates, connect his Twitter posts to his Facebook status and organically share the news – real time! No more having to wait till the morning show to know what is going on in the greater Boston metro.

For the news buffs it is a great way to “stay in the know”. Instead of listening to police and fire scanners you can follow your friendly neighborhood camera man for the latest news in real time. But what does it mean for the news industry? I think it is inevitable that that the future of news has already begun! Look no further than CNN’s iReport-news and opinion from the masses. As Mobile technology becomes more prevalent and easier to use, the ability to share happenings in real time will change the way news is delivered. What traditional news and print agencies need to do is find a way to mobilize a fleet of writers and iReporters to deliver the news and opinion to one online destination that updates news within seconds-instead of within hours. Move television and print advertising money to this new entity. Sadly the casualty of this new shift is the presence of reporters. The reporters will be the camera men & women, the writers, and you and I. That team coupled with the a second to none mobile upload and blog experience will transform both national and local news to a scalable and cost effecitve news organization for the next generation.

Sparky is simply doing what seemed natural to him. Telling the people that matter to him what he is up to. But what he didn’t realize is that he matters to many more people then he thought-the Social News world. I have no doubt that he will garner a huge following in the Boston area and be a trailblazer in the evolution of the delivery of news through Social Media. So the question now, who will be the first sponsor of his Twitter posts?

• Innovate
• Build brand recognition & trust
• Drive new sales
• Create new business partnerships

Here is how we did it:

eBook-Communicate Better With Social Media Marketing

Our eBook was created as the byproduct of the entire company collaborating and writing parts of it. We would then go over each other’s work with a second and third set of eyes. The end result was a collaboratively written eBook with a strategy that was created based on real life demographics that would match our hypothetical coffee company.

The book has received some solid reviews thus far. Although I don’t agree with the strategy as a whole, I do agree that the demographics of the tools fit the demographics of a coffee drinker. The eBook also effectively gives newbies to Social Media the education they need to strategically think about how to launch their presence.

Results: Since we launched the eBook two days ago I have seen a fantastic spike in interest in our Social Media Consulting services and new sales as a direct result. Additionally, the book has put our brand on the map for folks who would otherwise not have known about us. Because we put the effort in to create the book, it has helped create a sense of trust in our organization.

Download the eBook for FREE here.

Facebook, LinkedIn & Blogging

We started the following presences:

Authority Domains Facebook Fanpage
Authority Domains Social Media & SEO Consulting
Authority Domains Blog

Our goal was simple. Dangle carrots of lessons learned, best practices or share links to content that we found to be relevant, effective and helpful.

Results: The results have been organic business opportunities, brand awareness, enhanced brand affinity, and yes new sales. Give a little to get a little is the name of the game. The more you knowledge you bestow-the more trust, respect and ultimately business you will get back!

Website

A couple of weeks ago I asked my respected peers to offer feedback on the existing Authority Domains website. The result was some well thought out feedback that has resulted in what our new website will look like in the not too distant future. Have a looksie at the comp:

As always, if you have feedback we take your comments VERY seriously.

Results: We applied the feedback from our friends, prospectus customers and respected thought leaders and applied as much as possible to our Version2. The absolute net result is innovation and evolution based on the feedback of our customers. We have no doubt the new website will serve not only us well-but all of our constituents well. How can it not? They and you created it!

Partnership

Because of the actions above we have been able to forge very strong ties and Partnerships with companies, resulting in the Social Media Services Group. Thank you to Jeremiah Owyang for the call out and for taking the time to listen to our story.

Results: A solid partnership with great companies and even better people. We also have a compelling solution to help both service providers and singular organizations achieve true Social Media success with a cost effective-white label solutions.

Summary

I hope that this blog helps organizations, new to Social Media, think about how it can dramatically affect their business, while fulfilling true business objectives. Please feel free to share this case study as you see fit.

Twitter- There were as many spam follows from Twitter in my Inbox this AM, as there were birds chirping outside my window. What is Twitter going to do about this? They claim they are taking steps to remedy the issue, but are they really? I had a self proclaimed “porn star” follow me yesterday morning. I don’t think it is working! Just a point, when people have a username spelled out it makes them more accountable. Twitter should encourage people to not create aliases and use their name as their business brand.

Jeremiah Owyang & Mzinga – I am still waiting for the official post from Jeremiah in regard to his meeting with Mzinga this past Monday. Hmm…..

Am I the only person that likes the new Facebook structure? I could care less about changing it back? Although it is important for all Social Networking companies to listen to their users, I feel like this is a case of people getting comfortable. The bottom line is the new structure makes the fan pages far more sticky and I have found myself spending less time, but doing more on my personal page. That is a good thing! This is my request to Facebook to keep on…keepin on!

Authority Domains Contest – I am working with the rest of the design team at Authority Domains to rework the website. So far so good! However, the beauty of Social Media is to ask your peers what they would like to see. Use the wisdom of the masses to craft your vision is simply smart! Have a gander and comment here on what improvements you would suggest. The best idea will net a $20.00 ITunes gift card!

Baseball Predictions – With baseball starting soon, here is my 2009 predictions:

American League Division Winners:

Red Sox

Twins

Angels

Wild Card: Yankees

National League Division Winners:

Phillies

Reds (yes I said the Reds)

Dodgers

Wild Card: Mets

We will have a classic Dodgers/Red Sox Worlds Series. I think the Dodgers & Red Sox have a great blend of youth and veterans. I think the Mets will be good, but are one stud starting pitcher short. Oh, Manny will have revenge on the Sox in 7 games. I almost forget that very important prediction.

Home- The General page harbors access to my blog page, weather, stocks, Facebook, LinkedIn, Youtube, and Twitter. Although I use Digsby for my IM, Facebook, LinkedIn & Twitter needs, it is nice to be able to click on a tab and see all services from a birds-eye view.

Social Media – I have a social Media tab that holds all of the fine folks I follow on a daily basis. I additionally added the RSS feeds of keywords that are of interest to me on Twitter. I highly recommend this course of action through: http://search.twitter.com I also, have key Twitter folk RSS’d.

News – I love the CNN news widget. I also have a FOX widget up to get the conservative perspective. Slate has a stellar widget that is quirky and different. I am also very fond of WorldNews.com, and immediately added Whitehouse.gov to watch what Obama is up too. I have a Reddit widget that keeps me informed of hot topics being bookmarked. Wallstreet Journal widget is there too!

Sports- I have the ESPN Widget and the RSS feeds for the Mets, Giants, Islanders, Celtics and Duke Basketball from Sportspyder.com

TV, Movies & Music – I won’t bore you with what I have here. But I have organized all the nerdy sites I frequent into one spot. One nerd site I should mention is Aintitcool.com. If you are a movie buff it is a fun site that is not politically correct.

Tools & Technology – I loved the Wired and Techcrunch widgets. I have a few other RSS feeds that are interesting to me, such as platform providers, etc.

The net sum is:

1. The assortment of widgets that Netvibes provides is robust and they all work splendidly.
2. It takes a 30 to 45 minutes to set up.
3. I save at least an hour a day being able to read only what I want- instead of having to surf to see what is new at the destinations that are important to me.
4. As I mentioned earlier, Netvibes is the perfect birds-eye view of what is important to me online.

I hope this recommendation helps folks become more productive with their day! It certainly has deeper functionality than Google Reader does. Thanks AJ!

There will always be a place for face to face interactions. After all, we are social beings! But as the economy goes in the tank and alternative forms of communication become the norm, conference companies are on the verge of joining the endangered species list. What about the popularity of Tweetups? Everyday my administrative assistant, Digsby- lets me know about Tweetups all over the country. With that realization and my past successes setting up social communities around conferences, I decided to post a series of blogs on the topic.

The following is part 1 outlining how conference creators can utilize social networking to not only stay relevant, but be the leaders of much needed change.

Pre-Event Best Practices

• Create a destination community attached to the conference website-same branding. This requires an investment in a vendor provider. The free services just cannot offer the security your constituents demand and should expect.
• Select a vendor that has an idea share tool.
  1. Empower the attendee and speaker base to create session ideas for the upcoming event.
  2. Be flexible with the tracking to accommodate popular session ideas.

• Create a Community Manager position that is exclusive to being the leader of the online event experience-not the face to face experience. I cannot stress enough, this does not come as an add-on from the existing resource pool.
• Seed message board threads with questions attached to event threads. Meaning each session should have its own message board thread.
• Encourage the speakers to be proactive within the community by asking questions. Make it clear what the benefit is for them; deeper conversations onsite with the introductions already out of the way.
• Use the member profile as a way to ask (optional) business intelligent questions to enhance the user experience.
• Open channels of communication. Create groups on Facebook, LinkedIn, MeetUp and yes…Tweetups.
• Engage the vendors to open their marketing channels in return for additional exposure on the community.
  1. Conference companies can sell sponsorship for Ideashare for example, or trade out the real estate for exposure.
• Create a Content schedule
• Create a Recognition Rewards program for 3 groups:
  1. Attendees
  2. Speakers
  3. Vendors

These are the first steps of transforming the conference experience from a three day event (on average) to a 365 day experience. It will also help in acquiring brand loyalty, market intelligence, innovation and alignment with recent social networking trends.

In Part 2, I will talk about transforming the face to face experience to not only include your social networking community-but make it the centerpiece of the conference value proposition. I always welcome comments with additional ideas to include in a summary at a later date.