How #techkaraoke Helped Us Get Work
August 21, 2009
Since it’s the end of the week, I thought I’d take a few minutes and share a story of one of our clients (we, as policy, do not reveal our client list publicly – it’s usually a term of our engagement) and what helped win them.
One of the tenets of working online – especially social media – is “walking the walk.” And that means really engaging (not just Twittering quotes – if you’re tweeting quotes all day, you’re saying nothing yourself, and are a dead giveaway that you’re “clocking it in” instead of really participating), being yourself and then be willing to share that. And if all you can comprehend or comfortable sharing is by loading up Hootsuite with a series of quotes, you might want to consider finding another line of work. This space may not be for you (and that’s okay).
A few weeks ago, I was honored to be crowned #techkaraoke Detroit (heads up – link is to Facebook, login would be required) champion by Brandon Chesnutt and Brian Ambrozy. For those who don’t know, #techkaraoke is a great chance to get together with other online-connected folks and have fun either belting out your favorite songs or being a backup dancer. It was a fun night.
But how does that work with winning one of our clients, some of which are NOT in our space? It was held up as specifically as an example of “walking the walk.” Not only do we espouse the brand and business benefits of social media, but we’re actively engaged online in different spaces as well as keeping connected with some of the smartest people in the space. And oddly enough, not because we’re hoping for work – it’s because it’s the right thing to do and the people who on a variety of levels are, as a friend says, “Awesome Sauce.”
Many, many folks talk and talk about engagement – but when it comes to actually doing it, they don’t. They have the same fear that they’re telling their clients to get rid of.
Did #techkaraoke win it alone? Nope. But it’s a combination of factors for every single interaction you make. And if you’re going to talk authenticity, you should do it. It might just give you that edge.
One might say that I’m “spilling the beans” on how to win and be successful in the space. But I’m not – because I can tell you all day, but if there’s anything I’ve learned, the difference between talk and action is great.
What are your stories of authenticity benefitting you online?
This Post Sucks!
August 12, 2009
Guest-written by Beverly Cornell – Check her out at her Global Business Blog – Follow On Twitter
Where are all the Social Media women in Detroit.. or anywhere for that matter?
I don’t want to write this post – really, I shouldn’t have to write this post. However, I’ve read an article this morning that confirms what I’ve known for 2 years, or really most of my life.
After all, women are around 50% of social media users.
I am not a mommy blogger or social media blogger – I blog about an unpopular topic, especially in Detroit (an historically union town) globalization. I know, it’s a niche, and reading my Twitter DM’s many think I should be tarred and feathered for living in and encouraging a global world.
I accept that I talk about the elephant in the room so I’m not as popular as others. But why do I feel frustrated that more women aren’t present and accounted for? Even better, why are women not leading the way? Are there not the invites from the social media conferences? Are women not branding themselves to get noticed? What does it take to get noticed?
Historically speaking, aren’t we the gender that supposedly “gets” relationships, the very basis for social media? Oh I know there many wonderful women in this space – to name a few, Amber Naslund, Ann Handley, Katie Paine, Shannon Paul – but where are the social media femme rock stars, especially in Detroit? Do we need a social media Lilith Fair?
To be clear, I don’t usually spend a lot of my time in women’s only groups. I think it is great to support each other and I do some mentoring but I enjoy spending time at the table where all decision makers not just women hang out. And to be really honest, I like men. I like their straightforward no nonsense approach to business and often times find myself the only woman present and for that I am actually quite grateful. My offline business relationships with men are respectful, engaging and insightful. I feel welcome at the party!
I know that women have long battled the conservative boys club in this automotive town – so is social media equality too much of a cultural shift? Are we just not ready for the stage? Or is the world not ready for us?
Is there a place at the table for educated career driven women who understand social media and use it and have some modicum of success in the space.. but aren’t “in” social media?
After all.. I’m so excited to be in this space. Sometimes I feel like the kid in the back of the room with their hand up, saying, “Pick me! Pick me!”
Facebook is the Microsoft of Web 2.0
August 10, 2009
With the acquisition of Friendfeed, it’s clearly obvious (if it hasn’t been for awhile) that Facebook is the Microsoft of Web 2.0.
From patterns like buying innovation (Friendfeed, Parakey) to adopting the features of it’s perceived competitors (recent change of status updates to being more of a “feed” like Twitter), Facebook is acting a lot more like Microsoft – or any large corporation. At the end of the day, the rules of business still apply whether you’re wearing Brooks Brothers or Birkenstocks. Let’s talk about that.
You think there wouldn’t be such focus over a company that only had $150 million in revenue last year (notwithstanding that the whole vociferous internet community uses them). To give you an idea, local (to us) computer services company Compuware has 1.2 Billion in annual revenue as of 2007 and cleared what Facebook makes all year… in profit. Salesforce.com did one billion in revenue in 2009.
In short, Facebook isn’t a true financial success… yet. But that’s like Microsoft, too.
Facebook hasn’t found their “key” product yet – but there’s a lot of venture capital money saying it will. Microsoft didn’t make their first operating system – and it wasn’t their hit product – until five years after the creation of the company. Their success in operating systems came a year later – from a product they bought from someone else and renamed (again, not in-house innovation). Facebook is at about that stage in it’s lifecycle.
Lessons To Takeaway – And More Reasons Mark is Like Bill
There’s some lessons we as business owners or watchers of business should takeaway.
1) Overnight Success is almost never overnight.
It’s amazing how many people think companies like Facebook or Microsoft or any other of the “hits” look like they came from nowhere. But the reality is, it’s years of work to find the right mix. Very rarely does a company “hit it big” off the bat. Friendfeed is almost two years old already, after all.
2) “Innovate and get arrows.” It’s a waste of money to be the developer of what someone else is going to do for you. Move into spaces where there’s already been innovation and capitalize on it.
Rarely, also, does the first with an idea or the first to popularize an idea succeed. The ones who usually succeed from a business/revenue perspective are the ones that see an emerging market and invest/move in at the right time. Too early, and no one gets it. Too late, and you’ve missed your shot. Facebook is like Microsoft here, too. Friendster and Myspace were both ahead of Facebook (as well as others) – but Facebook found the right mix and had the right timing to dominate and built off of their innovative success, leaving them behind holding the bag.
Is The War Over?
I personally believe there will NOT be another Facebook, and the space is now closed for new entrance success. The last thing I would invest in is another social network that aims for supremacy – the market is going to stabilize, and there will always be niche plays to jump in on, but Facebook is here to stay as top dog.
What do you think? Am I wrong? Am I right? Where do sites like Twitter (big on buzz, but comparably small on users) fit in?
Being Successful, If Not Popular
August 5, 2009
I had to laugh when I saw Leo Laporte (@leolaporte), probably the most influential technology journalist out there, tweet the following:
Sponsored tweet = instant unfollow from me. That's the last thing I need in my stream.
Why laugh? Because it’s a beautiful and succinct display of what many people we talk to feel.. And he owned the #izea hashtag for quite awhile and he typo’d it.
Look, I’m all for people trying new things to “monetize.” Everyone’s gotta eat – and people I respect are on the board of Izea – but one thing I’ve learned first hand as a businessperson is trying to create a market, or serve a need that doesn’t exist, is begging for pain. I feel like a lot of my fellow social media folks are constantly looking for problems to solve with their products or services. It’s like a gold rush – the ones looking for gold, for the most part, aren’t going to be the ones who get rich, it’ll be the modern equivalent of Levi’s selling the tools and accouterments to the miners (hello Radian6, et all?).
Izea’s Genius
On that point, Izea’s business genius is creating something that requires very little work. It doesn’t have to be wildly successful to make a lot of money; what work is there is running an automated system? (Yes, I know there’s work, but it’s multiplying power of effort is great). I’m going to unfollow (and have consistently) folks with sponsored tweets – but ironically enough, I follow @starbucks, @rackcloud – and a host of other brands where I am interested and get value. I sign up KNOWING what I’m going to get.
What I don’t want to have is the digital equivalent of the Obama commemorative coin sales pitch popping up from my “friends” on Twitter (I get enough of that on the street). Who makes the money? Not usually the guy selling the commemorative coins, but the guy who got that person into the business. But that’s me. I know that just because I (and many other advertising-resistant folks) won’t buy in doesn’t mean other people won’t. But I also call out (privately) Sandler sales system people – I didn’t go through it, but I smell a reversal a mile away when someone’s pitching me.. but it DOES work on some folks. And that’s their market. It’s not me. It’s a small percentage of the mainstream, and that’s all they need.
There IS Opportunity
I do think there’s great business opportunities with Twitter. There’s examples of relevant, in-market Twitter streams driving traffic and sales. Also, brand building with individuals and conversations.
But the great thing? It can run it’s course. You CAN just unfollow. Or not. The ironic thing is that we, in some ways, can ALL be right.
What A Bad Email Newsletter Headline Looks Like – And How To Correct It
August 1, 2009
Mistakes are only failures if you don’t learn from them.
So let’s learn from this one. I have deliberately removed the company name because we’re not about insults, we’re about learning.
Below you will see an image (I’ve scaled it down, click it to see in a full, readable size) that shows what I got in my inbox the other day from a local company.
Here is the text (I made up a company name – the bold is the sender name):
Innovative Company Inc: News From Innovative Company Inc – Survey Header 2009 – Innovative Company Inc July 2009 Newsletter In The
This email is doomed before it even begins.
The sender is fine – you need to display who it’s from. I personally like names of people if you can segment your list by who their representative is and then send it through their addresses, but it’s not a deal breaker.
But this is where the train goes off the track. This speaks to the axiom that few actually care about your company news. This is really difficult for hard-working PR and marketing people to swallow, but you are not your customer’s number 1 priority. You need to, in your first few words of your subject line, show some value to get folks to click in. There’s not a bevy of people who are going to interrupt their day to see your news. And, depending on the email client, there’s only going to be a few words shown.
A Chance For Redemption
Let’s say, like I do in my email (but not my mobile), you’re lucky there’s a few more words to use. Maybe there’s a chance for redemption in the next lines – but that’s squandered as well. It looks like spam, with bad alt image code showing up as part of the subject line, then some repeated nonesense about it being a newsletter (calling it a newsletter is about the most boring way to engage).
You Deserve Better
You, or your support company you’re paying, is putting a lot of effort into a newsletter when you do them. It does take time, creativity, and resources. Don’t squander that by making the critical mistakes outlined above, and do take the below tips to improve in the future.
- Test your message in all kinds of email clients (Gmail, Yahoo, Hotmail, Outlook 2007 and 2003, Thunderbird, Mail.app).
- Give it to someone else. Put yourself in the reader’s shoes, and see if it is interesting. It’s very easy (I’ve done it too) where you are in your realm, and think to yourself “Of course this is interesting!” but in reality it’s only interesting to you because you live and breathe it.
- WIIFM – What’s In It For Me. Always ask not only the interest part above, but the value proposition. Why is your prospect going to take five minutes and see your message? They can just as easily delete you or worse, mark you as spam.
- Don’t over saturate - this takes some research, but make sure you’re not being too noisy – or conversely, too quiet prospects forget about you
- Keep the conversation going AFTER you they buy – it really helps retain clients to know that they’re still important. And of course, consider unique content for those who have bought – they’re part of the club now!
Hope these tips help and would love to hear what your experiences are.
