Why a Social Media Day?

Do we need another Hallmark-ufactored holliday?

Do we need to make another guilt trip to a drugstore at the last minute to buy a card as an appeasement for not calling or paying enough attention to: _____(fill in blank: Mom, Dad, Lover, turkey...)

No, we don't.

But, Social Media Day, as it happens is not a Hallmark day but a Mashable day (and we're not talking potatos here).  It sprung from the creative and entrepreneurial brain of Peter Cashmore, founder of  Mashable, one of the preminent social media resources and blogs on the internet.

Admittedly, I was a bit cynical when I first heard about this idea.  The new media community can tend to be a bit self absorbed; sometimes degenerating into one big circle jerk with early adopters and social media marketing gurus backslapping each other over clicks and followers.

However, I believe social media will change the world. The bigger picture is that it affects more than marketing and new technologies. So I'm happy to hype it even more.

Tonight there will be over 600 Mashable Meetings happening in over 93 countries in the world.  Social media affectionados will get to meet their media mates in person to:

"...acknowledge and celebrate the revolution of media becoming social. A day that honours the technological and societal advancements that have allowed us to have a dialogue, to connect and to engage not only the creators of media, but perhaps more importantly, one another." @Vadim Lavrusik (Mashable)

In a recent blog post Mike Laurie lists some of the ways that we have been changed: (paraphrased)

1. Child literacy: The National Literacy Trust observed a correlation between children’s engagement with social media and their literacy.

2. Ambient Intimacy: Lisa Reichelt, a user experience consultant in London coined the very pleasant term “ambient intimacy.” It describes the way in which social media allows you to “… keep in touch with people with a level of regularity and intimacy that you wouldn’t usually have access to, because time and space conspire to make it impossible.”

3. Knowledge Was Power: The more you understand about life, the more chance you have at success. These days, Wikipedia and Google have democratized information to the point where anyone is able to acquire the knowledge they may want.

4. The Reinvention of Politics: Social networks may be encouraging younger people to get involved in politics. You only need look at Twitter’s recent impact on the Iran elections, the Orange Revolution in Ukraine, and even the election of Barack Obama to see that more and more people are getting involved in politics and are feeling they can make a difference.

5. Marketing Flux: Marketing and advertising is transforming itself from an industry reliant on mass market channels to one which must embrace the power of the consumer and engage in conversations.

6. News as Cultural Currency: We’re no longer lazy consumers of passive messages. Instead we’re active participants. We now get news through the network we’ve created, and the news we pass to one another says something about us.

There are skeptics out there that think this whole social media thing is just hype and will be replaced by the next big thing.

Yes, it is hyped and if you're like me, that was a put-off.  However, as the saying goes, "don't cut off your nose to spite your face". 

The truth is that social media is changing your world whether you are listening or not.

How has it changed your life?

I'd Love to Change the World -Ten Years After

11 Must Dos For The Serious Blogger - Jay Baer

I admit, I'm a "list" guy. I work best with a guide and one of my favourite social media "guides" is Jay Baer.

I found this to be a very helpful refocussing exercise.

11 Must Dos For The Serious Blogger

View more presentations from Jay Baer.

Getting reconnected with social media

Love this project and especially am impressed with the intergenerational approach. I have always felt that social media has the ability to make real change in how we interact with each other.

In regards to people who find themselves isolated, be they older, infirmed or simply physically distant, learning the basics of Twitter, Facebook or Blogging goes a long way towards having them connect to their family, friends and the world in general.

This is a very worthwhile project that I hope will be replicated everywhere.

Parkway Seniors 'Get Connected'

Living the "4 E's" of social media

Summertime and the living is E-asy.

A Conceptual Map of the Social Web by Ryan Turner

My passion for social media stems from what it can offer not from what it can sell.

I have a post-it note above my monitor with the four words:
ENGAGE - EMPOWER - ENTERTAIN - EDUCATE

Engage - Listen and recognize contributions
Empower - Create a space to encourage active role
Entertain - Have some fun, make someone smile
Educate - Enrich, bring something new to the table

This is my social media mantra. These words represent not only what I want to achieve in each blog that I write or tweet that I send but in each personal or professional interaction that I have.

As someone who is not a marketing professional, I use my many years of experience in managing arts organizations and restaurants to provide the context from which to execute a social marketing campaign.
And while I believe you don't have to be a marketing expert to practice social marketing, there are some basics that you have to understand.

Take the four "P's" for example: Product / Price / Place / Promotion; they've been around since the "Mad Men" were slapping secretary's asses and still form the bedrock of modern marketing practice.


Trade you 4 "P's" for some "E".*

From an outsider's perspective, it seems that some Marketing and PR firms are having trouble navigating this new landscape. You still see lots of  broadcasting out there. On the other hand, there are some Marketing industry visionaries out there leading the way; interpreting for us the very complex language of the media 2.0.

Social media is still very new, so I'll keep my mantra handy and hope that by using it as a guide, I'll find my way out of the maze.
  

*disclaimer: Any double entendres are purely coincidental and do not represent the habits or preferences of the blogger.

Here is a video of Jeffrey W. Hayzlett, past CMO for Eastman Kodak on his own four "E's":

Still think you can't measure Social Media?

Great update of video showing what employing social media can do for marketing.

 

 

Social Media ROI: Socialnomics

Now ain’t that just Perfect!

“A man would do nothing if he waited until he could do it so well that no one could find fault.” ~John Henry Newman

I listened to C C Chapman’s pod-cast about perfection this weekend. It seems that whenever there’s an issue surrounding social media and/or marketing, either C C Chapman, Mitch Joel or Jaffe Juice  read my mind and then run to their mikes to rain upon me their little aural gems of wisdom.

I’ve always wanted to be a writer but self-censorship and self consciousness provided convenient excuses that led me to procrastinate for a few decades.

Instead of practicing my craft by just doing it, I stored away post-it notes to be resurrected later and be metamorphosed into that great Canadian memoir or play.

Fear of making mistakes, fear of not being perfect has robbed me of living to my potential.

Maybe it’s the maturity that comes from being on the far side of the hill, but by opening the Pandora’s Box of social media, I have rediscovered  passion and promise in myself.

I know now that making a mistake doesn’t diminish me as a human being - It makes me more human. It took me a long time to understand that.

“Congratulations! You're not perfect! It's ridiculous to want to be perfect anyway. But then, everybody's ridiculous sometimes, except perfect people. You know what perfect is? Perfect is not eating or drinking or talking or moving a muscle or making even the teensiest mistake. Perfect is never doing anything wrong - which means never doing anything at all. Perfect is boring!” ~Stephen Manes

Believe in Yourself!

Twitter? What do I do with this Twitter?

That question was recently put to me by a perspective client who kept coming back to Twitter when I began listing some available social media tools.

Face Book didn't seem to faze him as much. Perhaps it was due to the recent profile it received in the news regarding its privacy issues.   


As for You Tube or LinkedIn, I didn’t make it that far - we were "twipping" over Twitter.

"I don’t have time to go to the bathroom let alone twitter about it.  And how’s it gonna make me money, anyway?"

Twitter has got a bad rap; time to go into witness protection and get a new name.  It’s like introducing "Bunny" as the CEO of a Fortune 500 company – difficult to take seriously (apologies to any Bunny execs out there)

As much as social media is not about the tools, the tools are what people see and how they define it.  Yes, the use of Twitter can be vacuous, but so can the  telephone:

“Hi, what’cha doin’?”

“Nothing, what you doin’?”

“Nothing much... (insert Harold Pinter pause)...you there?”

“Yeah, … what you listening to?” etc.

Early Twitter application:

There’s a great post from Barry Davis today that gives 4 examples of why people are cynical about social media: 4 Reasons You Should Avoid Social Media

1.      It’s just a fad

2.      It takes a Geek

3.      It’s a digital black hole

4.      We’re already too busy 

The last point is the one that I find myself having to address the most often. 

How do you reply to someone, especially in the service industry, who says that they’re too busy to use social media?

Are they too busy to speak with customers?  Are they too busy to listen to customers?  Are they too busy to build their brand and reputation? 

Having managed restaurant before, I can totally empathize with the owner/manager. But he doesn't run the company by himself and there maybe staff who are already on social media; the maitre‘d? The Bartender?, The sommelier?

Twitter is the least time intensive application and, especially for restaurants, the most spontaneous.

Just as there are many tools in the social media toolbox, there are just as many applications available that can maximize their efficient use. 

As long as you have a clear idea of what you want to say and who you want to say it to, a solid media plan will be worth the investment in time. 

Going back to the original question, with Twitter you can check out the competition, find out who's talking about you, listen to client feedback and provide a megaphone for your fans to spread the word about you.

What you shouldn't do with Twitter is this...

 

 

Will Social Media change Your Company?

Will the philosophy of engagement and trust building that drives social media marketing find its way into your organization?



You've chosen to embark on a social media campaign to enhance your place in the market and build a network of loyal clients. By doing this, you represent a fundamental change in the traditional corporate mindset represented by Dilbert and Mad Men.

Your customer no longer represents solely a business transaction or opportunity but a source of innovation and feedback.  This new relationship, nourished with constant and immediate interaction, will be integral to the successful development of your company.

Now turn this around and apply this mindset internally. What if you treat your staff as you do your social media network? What if you listen to them; address their concerns; encourage their participation?

How will this change how they relate to you? How will this affect your employee morale and productivity?

By engaging clients through FaceBook, Twitter and blogs, you  open yourself  to new partners; by engaging your co-workers; you inspire your current ones.

Are you a Social Media Specialist?

So I'm at my desk.  It's my first day as a "blogger".  I can say that now because I no longer have a day job, and therefore can't hide behind the excuse that it's just for fun;  therapeutic.


One of my biggest dreams as a kid was to be a writer and/or an ad man like Darrin Stephens in Bewitched. (Pardon me, my age is slipping)

While I did some creative  writing for theatre and copy writing during my years in arts administration, life, work and cowardice provided ample diversions from realizing my dream.

Although I've been blogging for just over a year (mostly on my personal site: arayinthelife) I have now decided to make blogging and social media my life.

In preparation for this momentous milestone, I have been immersing myself in all things BLOG and SOCIAL MEDIA.  I just completed my first online social media summit: Social Media Success Summit 2010 or #smss10 as we tweetheads refer to it.  I scan my Google Reader each morning and pray at the altar of Seth Godin and Chris Brogan.  I figure I should be all set to go.  But no!


It's not enough that I'm committed to engagement and building trust, I must chose a specialty so that those with whom I wish to build relationships can find me.  I must pepper my blog with keywords and Google friendly phrases; I must become an expert on one thing and my blog posts shouldn't deviate from it.

Well, if I had known that at sixteen, it would have saved me a lot of grief.  Blessed are those who know exactly what they want for they shall inherit followers.

In this blog, I write about social media; how it relates to my life, how my journey of discovery is progressing and reasons why I believe social media will change how we connect and communicate in every facet of life.

I am not a marketer, nor have I worked in e-commerce or multimedia organizations. I don't have marketing expertise to give but what I do have is the wisdom that comes from a history of communicating with fellow artists, audiences, restaurant customers, employees and corporate and government bureaucracies.

So am I a specialist? No.  We have too many specialist. Ever try to find a GP in your area?