Our parents and teachers spend a lot of time and energy enforcing good values on us. The most memorable–and important–is the golden rule:” Do unto others as you would have them do unto you.”
Makes a lot of sense, right? Then why is it often lost in the business world?
In my general observation and experiences, most companies don’t follow this rule. Fortunately there are some fantastic examples (Zappos obviously comes to mind!), so not all hope is lost.
Here’s a few examples:
Do you enjoy receiving unsolicited bulk email? No, you don’t. No one does, so why send it?
Do you like when old high school friends (or whoever) send you mass Facebook messages daily to promote whatever it is their doing but never actually send a personal message? Probably not.
Do you like when someone follows you on Twitter, so you follow back, but then only floods your screen with self-promotional tweets and never engages in conversations? Not likely.
The positive side…
We can also look at it in a positive light:
Do you like being complimented? (I bet you do!) Why not try and compliment someone else every day?
Do you love your tweets being re-tweeted? Take some time to re-tweet whenever you can. (Hint: don’t always re-tweet people like Chris Brogan and Guy Kawasaki. They get lots of love already, look for the hidden gems.)
Do you love having an old contact/friend reach out to you randomly, just to say hi? Why not take the time to re-build some old relationships, you never know where you may end up finding a great business connection.
Just a random thought for the day. I’m sure we all know and understand this, but I think sometimes a little reminder can help us all. What are you doing about it today?
I bet any company who’s fallen into the latter wishes they *had* been proactive…
I’m getting at companies that learn hard lessons from social media: take United Airlines–learning right now. In every one of these cases, (some other notable ones are Dell and Comcast) the company was infamous for bad service, but consumers were helpless. Particularly with United–which is often a cheaper flying option–I suppose United figures that since it has the best prices, it need not worry about offering good service.
A little over a week, and over 3-million views later, and lots of media attention, United has been scrambling to respond to media inquiries to deal with this crisis. More notably however, they have not engaged in social media.
While only dealing with tradional media will help get their message out, the reality is more and more people are accessing news and information online and even through social media (I can be guilty myself sometimes!) United risks not reaching many of those who caught the original story. (In other news, West Jet embraces the opportunity to respond via a Youtube video, though, it gets pulled down, likely because West Jet doesn’t have a perfect guitar track record themselves)
Dave Carroll, the maker of the Youtube video has publicly rejected United’s offer to reimburse for his guitar, and says he plans to make another two videos.
However, lesson learned here is that any company should be at the very least monitoring and tracking what’s going on online. The last thing you want is to be dumbfounded by a customer angry at you. While these types of stories (read: Motrin moms and Dominos) do fade pretty quickly, they still live forever online and likely leave a bad brand impression on many. It’s also a missed opportunity to show the online world you’re savvy and ready for whatever it can dish out.
This is a continuation of a class I did with the Algonquin College first-year PR students (The aptly named “Twitter party”). If you are one of the students–thanks for attending and I hope you’re able to continue to build your brand as well as understand the tools for practical PR application. Also, feel free to leave a comment and let me know what you thought of the presentation, or if you have any questions. If you weren’t there, well my hope is you’ll get value out of these resources anyway. Also, I’d love my readers to drop a comment and add any more resources that will help them excel with Twitter & LinkedIn.
And to recap, here are the 11 things you need to remember to succeed with Twitter.
11. Build a profile
The more information you can put in your profile the better. Try to load up your bio with keywords that will help potential followers identify what you’re all about and what you’ll be tweeting about. Do not worry about having complete sentences–it’s often better not to, so that you can get more info in. Also–put up a photo. It doesn’t have to be a photo of you if you’re camera shy, but at least find an icon or something that represents you.
10. Find people to follow
Once you’ve set up your profile and posted a few tweets, you’re ready to find people to follow, here are some sites to help you out:
Twellow is the Twitter yellow pages. Search for people based on info in their profile (user name, bio, location)
Twitter’s search function can be used to find people who are tweeting about a certain subject or keyword that may be of interest to you. Also you can use the search to follow a hash tag (#) that interests you and follow those people who are tweeting about it.
Mr. Tweet is your personal twitter assistant who will make recommendations on who to follow. All you have to do to get your personalized report is follow @MrTweet
9. Get used to 140 characters
That’s the limit twitter gives you, so you may find yourself editing to get your message across clearly and succinctly. Remember if you want people to retweet you, you may want to keep it even shorter (110 is a good guideline)
Also, if you want to tweet links you may want to use a URL shortening services,
http://idek.net is my favourite because it provides stats about who clicked on your link
http://bit.ly if you’re really serious about tracking and stats, bit.ly lets you create an account and track all your URLs.
http://is.gd creates the shortest links, so if you’re pressed for space it’s a good choice.
There are tons of these services out there, and you can drag them onto your browser bar for easy one-click URL shortening. Also if you do decide to use Tweetdeck, it has URL shorteners built in, so it’s even easier!
8. Listening vs. Tweeting
I recommend you spend 80% of your twitter time listening to what your followers have to say, and 20% tweeting. This will help you get more benefit from those you follow and help you avoid over-tweeting.
7. Ask yourself “Who cares?”
If you are looking to build followers, ask yourself “who cares?” before you post. You want to provide value to your audience with each post. This doesn’t mean you can’t inject a little personality, but make sure you’re providing valuable information.
6. Put yourself out there!
If you want to build followers, don’t protect your updates–if someone doesn’t know you, they will not likely request to follow your updates.
5. Promote cool stuff –and not just your own.
It’s perfectly OK to post links to your blogs, or maybe a cool project you’re working on (so long as it’s of value to your followers) but don’t *only* promote your cool stuff. If someone else tweets something you like, retweet it by putting RT @[their_username] and copying and pasting the original tweet. Also if you happen across a cool web site in your daily life, tweet it!
4. Join the conversation
To reply to another user: type @ before the user name. It will automatically link to his/her profile and show up in the side bar even if he/she is not following you.
If you want to join in a hash tagged conversation, just stick # in front of an established keyword or acronym. If you want to start your own, just stick # in front of a keyword of your choosing. To follow hash tag conversations, go to search.twitter.com and search the tag (note you can search inside Tweetdeck too)
One example of a regular hash tagged discussion is #journchat it happens live on Twitter every Monday from 8 to 11 p.m. EST. You can follow the conversation here–by typing in #journchat into search.twitter.com
3. Learn three ways to tweet
Stuck on what to say? Try these common types of tweets:
Ask a question: Twitter is great for asking question. Ask anything from “What Twitter apps would you recommend?” to “Where’s a good place for lunch in downtown Ottawa?” The larger your twitter network the more answers you’re likely to get.
Share a resource or wisdom – Post interesting facts, tips and quotes, people love them! Also, if you find a great website, share it with your twitter network. These types of posts can really add value for your followers, so go crazy.
Report on news and/or events – If you happen to hear/see something before it hits mainstream media, tweet about it! Some great examples of news stories broken on Twitter include the Mumbai bombings a few months back as well as the plane crash in the Hudson river.
2. Try some Twitter Apps
First and foremost, try Tweetdeck. Tweetdeck allows you to create groups of followers to track separately from your entire stream. For example, you may want to create a PR group that includes your classmates, profs and other PR grads on Twitter.Tweetdeck also allows you to search,
Also you can use Twitscoop to see trending topics via a ‘tweet cloud” (i.e. a cluster of words of various sizes that shows you what’s popular on Twitter)
Also, for a ridiculously exhaustive list of Twitter apps, check out the Twitter Fan Wiki. At least take a few minutes to read through what’s out there. There’s an app to do just about anything with Twitter.
1. Be yourself & have fun! Self explanatory…
Tips for using LinkedIn
I totally agree with Andrea and strongly recommend you also join LinkedIn. Please feel free to connect with me on LinkedIn, and here are some tips to get the most out of using LinkedIn–which unlike Twitter, does not require a lot of time commitment–at the very least sign up, create your profile and just leave it at that, but you can do much more with it if you choose.
Think keywords when building a profile. Like Twitter, before filling out your profile think of keywords that will describe you professionally. For example, don’t just say you’re a public relations student. Say you’re a public relations student interested in media relations, corporate communications and social media looking for work in the nonprofit or private sector. (Or whatever it is you’re interested in)
As a general rule, only invite/connect with people you’ve met/interacted with in real life. Unlike other networks, people like to keep their LinkedIn profiles with real life contacts. Some may allow “virtual” connections, but unless you’ve heard them say it, avoid adding someone you haven’t met.
Give–and ask–for recommendations. Personal recommendations not only help you look better, they help your profile turn up in search results. Also some LinkedIn jobs require you to have recommendations to even apply so it’s not a bad idea to ask for recommendations from former/current employers and colleagues. If you’re too shy/timid to ask, than recommend some people yourself, they just may return the favour.
When sending an invitation to connect, write a personalized message. Unless it’s someone you know really well, take a minute to write a personalized message in the invitation. This is especially key if you’ve met someone at a networking event where they might have also met many other people, if possible mention something you spoke about. (e.g. “Hi Fred, We met recently at the Night of the Roundtables event at Algonquin College. We had a great chat about doing PR in the nonprofit industry. I’d love to connect with you & stay in touch.”)
After collecting someone’s business card, add them on LinkedIn. Personally, I’m famous for collecting business cards and never following up (unless we discussed something to be followed up). However, now I treat LinkedIn as my personal contact database – I add someone after I meet them (with a personalized message) and then instead of digging through business cards if I need to get a hold of someone, I just look them up on LinkedIn. And *yes* almost everyone is on LinkedIn these days.
As we also discussed in class, both these tools are fabulous for promoting events and/or campaigns. However, if you start using them now–and not just when you want to promote something–you’ll be able to build a solid network of influence so that when you do want to promote something, you’ll have genuinely interested people who’ll listen and want to help you out!
Social media events in Ottawa
As great as online communication can be, it still doesn’t beat face-to-face communication. If you’re interested in social media and want to learn more, here are a few local events I’d suggest attending.
Social Media Breakfast happens about monthly and always features an awesome speaker. Costs $10, but well worth it!
Third Tuesday Ottawa – is a PR/social media event put on by Thornley Fallis. It’s free and always a great time. Don’t be fooled by the name though, it rarely *actually* happens on the third Tuesday. Sign up for the meetup group to get alerts when it’s happening.
Social Media Book Club – is put on by me and Scott Lake. About every 2 months we read a book and get together in a bar to chat about it. The good news is you don’t actually have to read the book, but it helps!
Good luck with the last few weeks of your first year!
Times are tough right now and only getting tougher. This means finding a job right now amidst mass layoffs and a tanking economy is definitely not easy. But I’m saying fret not, and use the power of social media to land a new gig.
Whether you’re looking for a job *in* social media or a traditional communications role that probably involves social media, you can definitely use it to your advantage in your job search. In fact, I’ve had great luck with job opportunities through social media and I’ve done the traditional job searching and it’s never worked to my advantage.
Here are some tactics you can start right now which can help you find job opportunities and also to put yourself out there and let the opportunities find you:
This is the first thing I tell anyone who’s looking for a job. Actually I pretty much tell everyone to join Twitter for any reason really. I’m sure you already know networking is the best way to land a job and I consider Twitter to be the ultimate networking tool. If you aren’t sure what to post about (You don’t have to take “What are you doing?” so literally) start by posting articles, blog posts and web sites that you find interesting. Build a profile that includes a real photo (doesn’t have to be a photo of you, but something personal yet professional will work best). Include a brief bio that includes what you are interested and what you like to tweet about. When you’ve got a few posts up, head over to Twitter Search and start searching topics that interest you and find interesting people tweeting about them and follow them. When you start to follow people, reply to their tweets (by starting yours with @[username]) to start a conversation. Once you get going it’s a lot of fun and you’ll meet lots of interesting people. Once you join, follow me and let me know you read my post and I’ll send some interesting tweeters your way. (Oh, and if you’re in Ottawa looking for a job you may want to follow @ottawatweetjobs – my other Twitter account.)
There are literally thousands of active social networks these days and chances are there’s a handful that touch upon your interests or that can help you in your job search. First of all, if you aren’t on LinkedIn, get on and start finding all your past colleagues and acquaintences. Complete your profile and consider asking for recommendations from former bosses and co-workers as recruiters do regularly use the sites to find candidates. I can recommend a handful of others depending on what you’re looking for, so feel free to contact me if you’re having problems finding ones to join.
Build an online portfolio
Showcase your work so it’s not only easy to send to potential employers, but it will come up in Google searches and also allow for others to pass along. If you’re worried about your technical abilities, worry not–just head over to Blogger.com and start a blog as a hosting place for your online portfolio. Put links to social networks you’re a part of (Twitter, LinkedIn, Facebook, if it’s not too personal) and include a link to your resume. For an example, you can see an online portfolio I put together a while back on blogger…
Once you’ve built the portfolio (and tested all your links!) be sure you reference it in cover letters to potential employers and even include the link in your email signature. You never know when a potential opportunity may be hiding in a regular email communication.
If this is all new to you, you may want to start with iGoogle. It is a personalized Google homepage that displays RSS subscriptions as widgets (and you can get other handy widgets like the weather, your gmail account etc.) The City of Ottawa has a fabulous page that explains how you can set up your iGoogle page for RSS. Once you’re all set up, use Google Blog Search or Technorati to scope out blogs that interest you and click the RSS subscribe button (usually a little orange icon).
Start your own blog
If you’re really passionate about what you want to do, and can dedicate the time to maintain a blog, then consider starting your own. Blogging is a rewarding experience in its own, especially if you love to write. Check out my previous post “Social media and community management resources” for links and resources for blogging. Consider joining communities like MyBlogLog or the Bloggeries forum to help learn as you go and to promote your blog.
Tips to succeed in social media
Think you’re ready to go out and conquer social media to help find your dream job? That’s great, but it also involves a lot of ‘putting yourself out there’ and if you’re not careful it could backfire. So here’s a few quick tips to keep you on the path to success:
Consistency across social media – If you’re building a personal brand you want to make sure you get credit for all your effort. Build your own ‘brand’ by developing a user name, photo and brief bio to use across all social networks so that people will recognize you at each and it won’t seem like you’ve developed a multiple personality disorder.
Think before you post – Sometimes when we finally open our mouths, we can’t seem to shut them again! Remember that *anyone* could be reading what you’re writing so you may want to steer clear of controversial topics like religion or politics. Also you’ll want to ensure that you come across as a responsible professional so don’t drink and tweet!
Commit time to do it all – An abandoned profile or blog may give off a negative impression of you, so before you start, make sure you can commit the necessary time to keep it up.
Remember it’s about conversations - Be kind and polite to others, and always try to respond to comments posted on your profile page or tweets or however some one may be reaching out to you… Even if they don’t have a job offer for you.
That’s all I have for now! Have any tips that have helped you land a job? Have you tried something else I didn’t list here? Leave a comment!
Do you get social media, but still wondering how to effectively measure it? Are you in (or planning to be in) Ottawa next week? Well good news for you because there’s a couple of great events happening!
Third Tuesday is happening next Wednesday, November 26, at the Clocktower brew pub on Bank St. (Which brews in-house some fabulous beer, I like the raspberry wheat) but the real treat is the topic (Making the case for new tools in tough times: Measure now, don’t be sorry later) and the speakers, Chris Johnson, President of dna13, Craig Comeau from Radian6 and Parker Mason from CNW Group.
If you can’t make it out on Wednesday, the DigitalOttawa Meetup Group is hosting an event with Radian6 the next day, Thursday, November 27. Unfortunately I can’t make this one as I’ll be at StartupCamp Montreal, where SmartHippo is selected as a presenter! Hope to see you there.
I’m speaking to the Algonquin Public Relations students about social media and community management and I wanted to share a few resources with them. I was going to throw it all in a PowerPoint presentation, but that’s not very Web 2.0. So here it is compiled in a blog post. Of course if you have anything to add, drop a comment! Also, be sure to check the comments for more great suggestions
Groundswell (which I’ve reviewed here before) is written by two senior Forrester Research analysts. It is focused on social media strategy for enterprise businesses. It includes some great case studies of large brands using various social media.
Cluetrain Manifesto does an excellent job of explaining the idea of markets being conversations, and the importance of companies listening to their customers. It clearly details the backbone of social media–and it was actually written 10 years ago! (And hey–the authors are so passionate about their ideas, that the entire text of this book is available on the web site..for free!)
The New Rules of Marketing and PR by David Meerman Scott is next on my reading list, but I feel confident recommending this book because of the great reviews it’s received and because I really dig David’s blog…
Want to get started? Here’s a few blogs to learn more…
Web Strategy by Jeremiah – A ’social computing’ analyst for Forrester and long-time social media advocate Chris Brogan – a well-known expert in social media and community Six Pixels of Separation (blog and podcast) Mitch Joel is “Canada’s Digital Marketing Rockstar”
Prefer to listen? Try these podcasts
(podcasts are simply audio and/or files, which you can listen/view to from a web site, or subscribe to receive each episode in iTunes and listen from your computer or mp3 player)
And finally, some random tools that make your life easier:
Delicious.com – social bookmarking site. Don’t you hate when you’re on a different computer and can’t access your bookmarks? Wish you could share bookmarks with friends? Delicious addresses both these. You’ll never use browser bookmarks again!
Digg is a news site where users vote on the news they like best. The more votes they more exposure the news gets.
MyBlogLog – Promote your blog and find other bloggers
Evernote – If you use multiple computers and a mobile device, this really rich notes program syncs them all. (thanks to @jpblogger for this tip)
Firefox is the essential browser for the social media junkie, because you can get all sorts of add-ons to manage your social media tools efficiently.
StumbleUpon is a fun program that takes you to a random web site based on your interests. Also it’s great for promoting blog posts.
Ning – If you’re really ambitious and passionate about something, why not start your own social network around it?
When I embarked on the exploration of social media monitoring tools, I surveyed my Twitter friends, I posted about it on this blog, I even wrote about it in my LinkedIn and Facebook statuses. Throughout all that, one name that came up again and again was Radian6.
So I was delighted when they offered to give me a demo. One distinct difference between the first tool I looked at, social radar, is that Radian6 is targeted specifically to PR firms (or large multi-unit company). Which is good, because now I don’t feel I have to compare the two.
So if you happen to be a good size PR firm or a large company searching for a social media monitoring tools, than I urge you to check out Radian6. Somehow it’s complex and detailed, yet manages to stay very user friendly. One of its strength lies in the ease and simplicity of managing multiple profiles–something that can be tricky to pull off, but a necessity when you have multiple clients or business units.
Also I love how its layout is based on widget style functionality. So essentially you “build” the tool how you’d like to use it. Very Web 2.0 friendly!
I can go on, but a picture says a lot more, so let’s take a look (click for larger):
The middle boxes top and bottom (behind) are examples of a “river of news” which is essentially the search results for whichever terms you’ve chosen, the river also includes media like microblogging (Twitter, etc), video and podcasts. Very cool!
As well, you can build a tag cloud around your search terms, as viewable in the bottom left corner. Aside from the fact that everyone loves a tag cloud, it visually gives you an idea of what else people are talking about along with your search terms. Very handy!
But wait– how do you know how influencial these people talking about you are? Well they’ve got a widget for that too, which is best explained in this shot:
The middle box shows a list of blogs/web sites that mentioned your search terms, and when you click on one, the dashboard below pops up and tells you all about its links.
So essentially, the dashboard is completely customizable via the widget icons (pictured on the left) you can set it all up the way you like it and leave it as is, or you can switch it up at will. It’s clear these guys understand social media and the specific needs of their target audience. Being a PR gal myself I can easily see how well this could work in an agency as well as how it can also help educate users who may not be totally up to speed with all this social media stuff. (hey it is still pretty new!)
And the final kicker why I really love Radian6–they’re Canadian! Yup, based out of New Brunswick, these guys are taking the social media monitoring world by storm. Keep up the great work!
Every used Radian6 before? Or another social media monitoring tools. Please leave a comment!
**UPDATE**
One really cool thing about Radian6 I forgot to mention is its “Twebinars” which obviously is a webinar that’s discussed in tandem on Twitter! Each one features leading experts in social media. Unfortunately I had to miss the first (silly work getting in the way!) but fortunately more are on the way. As far as I know this they are the first to initiate something like this, so major points for that.
It’s no surprise where I sit in this debate. One need not look further than the address bar! We all type it the same, but some say it differently, so please answer this poll and let me know which you say. AND if you’re really passionate about it, please drop a comment and make your case!
My justification is pretty simple… You don’t say “Google[POINT]com do you?? Dot dot dot. It just sounds better.
I’m posing this question not only because it’ll be helpful for my fellow Canadian readers, but also for myself! I’m currently working on a contract that’s coming to an end soon so I’m thinking about landing a job doing what I *really* love, which (surprise, surprise) is all about online PR, digital marketing and social media.
What I’m really looking for is to identify companies that are looking for, and can truly benefit from, avid and enthusiastic social media users from PR and marketing walks-of-life. Whether it’s a social media strategist role, a community manager, or a more traditional PR/marketing role with a heavy focus on the social media stuff, these roles seem to be few and far between up here in the great white north…
What I’m really looking for as well is Canadian companies who absolutely revolve around the “Web 2.0″ (for lack of a better word here, it’s been a long day!) way of business (think Google & its unique corporate culture). Specifically those that treat each employee as an valuable asset, one that takes an open minded approach to trying new things, and one that’s on the cutting edge of technology and marketing techniques –all the good stuff.
By now these types of companies are a dime a dozen in the US. However, though I’ll admit I haven’t looked *too* hard, I haven’t heard much about Canadian companies like this. Sure some are trying to pass off as this new breed of company, but few actually “walk the walk.”
So without future ado, throw out a suggestion or idea about either sites to find these types of jobs, or some hot companies to keep an eye on. I’ll get it started….
Job Posting Sites
Ok I could taket he time to post a bunch of good ones, but fortunately My Name is Kate has *already* done that for us! However, I will point out again One Degree (which Kate also owns) as definitely one of the best ones, though not a lot of job postings they are often high quality.
Yansarazin, a fellow Ottawan & Twitter buddy recommends sites like TechCrunch & Mashable, which seem to have some awesome job posts–but not many Canadian. (When I first asked on Twitter, I didn’t specify Canadian)
StandOutJobs.com is a Canadian site which caters to the market, probably a good one to keep an eye on.
Jeremiah Owyang has lots of great advice on his site, as well as tips where to find a job, but again it’s very much US-based as well as focused on large enterprises.
Companies to keep an eye on
This is the biggie – and where I’m looking for your help. Drop a comment and tell me about some innovative Canadian companies that fit the bill. (International companies with a strong presence in Canada will do too) I will update this section as I find/hear about them.
Radian6, who’s social media monitoring software I will be reviewing here very soon seems to be a company to keep an eye on & I was pleasantly surprised to learn they’re based in New Brunswick.
Canada.zappos.com Zappos CEO Tony Hsieh is definitely a social media mover and shaker, and though the company is based in Las Vegas, I wonder if it’s Canadian branch has some social media leadership potential? Or maybe they need someone like me around? haha
I can probably think of a few more, but it’s bed time, so over to you! Tell me about some great Canadian companies or how you landed your awesome social media job or whatever’s on your mind…
*UPDATE*
Colin suggests starting your own business to do what you really love. I *love* the idea, but scared about losing the consistent monthly income (esp. after working in the public sector) That’s definitely where I’m headed but a while out. PS-If you need any sort of web marketing–Colin is your guy!
I’m almost embarassed to admit–but I’m just reading the Cluetrain Manifesto now. I’ve long known about the book, and specifically that it is about how the Internet has changed the way business works. Nevertheless, it’s an inspiring book and reaffirms a lot of the theories I’ve always believed, and I’ve also learned some new stuff too. There are two big takeaways I want to emphasize right here and now:
1. It’s not about the tools.
Despite the fact that this blog IS (mostly) about the tools, the whole concept and ideals behind social media are not. It’s about better communication because people are now able to connect, grow, learn on their own, at a faster pace than ever before. And businesses need to adapt. Those who’ve grown accustomed to ‘old’ marketing often dismiss terms like social media, user-generated content etc as a passing fad, or just another tool for the marketing toolkit, but it’s really so much more. Personally I’ve never been a fan of “interruption marketing” or broadcast media, simply because as a consumer, I hate tv commercialsand the fact that over 50% of my magazine is ads and especially those ugly flashing banners on site, they’re all in my way and wasting my valuable time. However, I love when a brand engages me with a fun flash game, or sends me emails with exclusive offers I can pass along, or even follows me on twitter and participates in my (sometimes) silly conversations. I really love it. And while some believe the old marketing is a necessary evil, I don’t. I’m done with it, before I ever really got started…
I started my career as a PR girl working in the email marketing biz. Like marketing, PR often gets a bad wrap, but for different reasons. I was always taught the key to PR was respecting your audiences and giving them exactly what they want in order to acheive your goals and objectives and that honesty, ethical behavior and transparency are absolutely essential. It makes perfect sense to me, and I saw it as very relatable to email marketing, which is probably why it was so easy for me to understand, embrace and tell others about. (BTW I still blog about email marketing, over at Tamara Gielen’s Be Relevant! Blog)
2. Sadly, though the book was written nearly 10 years ago (eons in Internet years…) So many companies still don’t get it.
By “it” I mean the fact that “mass marketing” is no longer effective, that employees are a company’s greatest asset and that open, honest and personal dialogue between a company and its customers is the new key to success (these are the points Cluetrain Manifesto is really driving home). I’m only now realizing the reason I get all this social media/online stuff is that as a teenager I was secretly a big geek–on newsgroups, IRC, early bulletin boards, etc. I loved that I was able to learn and get to know people potentially on the other side of the world. I’m super curious by nature and the Internet has always been my portal to ‘the rest of the world’ outside the suburb I grew up in. Now though the tools have evolved and changed greatly, although Facebook and MySpace and the likes have brought these things into the mainstream, really it’s all the same. In fact, in 1999 I joined a local nightlife website which became my obsession for years, it was membership driven, had bulletin boards, the ability to ‘friend’ other users, share photos and toggle event attendance… It *was* a social network, and it was a huge part of me, before I even knew what the term social network was!
Ok, wait, back to my main point here. The point about companies getting “it” has been proven 100 times over. Take Google for example – have you ever seen a Google TV ad? What about banner ads? How did YOU here about Google?(My mom actually told me about it!) What about its slogan ‘don’t be evil’ and have you taken a peek at the Googleplex lately? It’s pretty obvious Google has evolved into the type of company that embraces new ideals brought on by the communications shift, and I don’t have to tell you it’s working for them. Consequently, not only is Google bringing in bazillions of dollars ever quarter, it’s got hundreds (probably thousands, actually) of brand evangelists walking around–employees that is…Who doesn’t love working with those who absolutely love their jobs?
I haven’t posted in a while, so please excuse my wacky tangents. My time for blogging is tighter than ever, and the hardest part is finding inspiration for writing (I could write for hours on end, so long as I’m inspired)… If you have any great topics, ideas, or suggestions, drop me a line at kelly(at)web2dotwhat.com or, of course, comments are always open!
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