Paul Chaney

July speaking opportunities - digital summer camp and a cruise

I have two speaking opportunities in July that I wanted to make you aware of. The first, because, if you're in the real estate industry, you should consider attending. The second, because it's too cool for words.

 

Houston Association of Realtors Digital Media Summer Camp

This is a day-long boot camp for members of HAR which takes place on Wednesday, July 22nd. I'm doing the session on Twitter. Other RE.net notables include Jeff Turner, president of Real Estate Shows, and Jay Thompson, known as the Phoenix Real Estate Guy. (There are others, I just don't know them personally.)

From what I can tell, you have to be a HAR member to attend either, just be willing to pay the $49 registration. The summer camp kicks off at 8:30 that morning and concludes 4:00 p.m. Lunch is provided and there will be a happy hour following.

Fosterfest Cruise

My Bizzuka | Interact marketing associate Brian Bille and I have been invited by Foster Marketing, a Lafayette and Houston-based marketing agency, to go a five-day, four-night cruise to Mexico. It's not all fun and games though. Brian and I will be presenting a three-hour workshop on social media to the staff. (On second thought, considering the topic, it IS all fun and games.) 

The cruise is set to leave New Orleans on Thursday, July 30 and return, Monday, August 3rd. Would you join me in praying that no hurricane will inhabit the Gulf of Mexico during that term. :-)

Has social media matured to the point of codification?

In her post at SmartBrief on Social Media, blogger Merritt Colaizzi states, "If you have a brand people know, Facebook is a great place to be. If you’re trying to establish your brand as a leader, blogging might be the way to go. If you’re trying to drive foot traffic, Twitter is proving to be a great way of doing that." 

At a recent gathering of B2B marketers, well-known technology marketing blogger Paul Dunay said, "We’re using Twitter as a ‘teaser’ channel, Facebook as a hub of information, forums as a type of help desk and blogs as our corporate voice."

Each has a different take on how various social media channels might be used, but both have definite ideas. 

Do the above references indicate we've reached a point in the growth and maturity of social media that we can "codify" how certain channels could or should be used? 

Rather than take a position myself at the moment, let me ask you, in 25 words or less, to talk about how you're using Facebook, blogs, Twitter, forums, LinkedIn and/or any other channel of social media. With enough input, we might be able to see some trends. In addition, if you can cite some case studies, that would be even better. 

Alternatively, answer the question in the title fortified by your reasoning: Has social media matured to the point of codification?   

When is outsourcing social media okay and when is it not

A controversial post on the topic of outsourcing social media recently published in the SmartBrief on Social Media blog said, "Entrusting your brand’s voice to a bunch of strangers-– or anyone not directly integrated and passionate about your brand-– is risky business. The idea behind social media is to be authentic– for it to really BE YOU."

I've often said that the two chief cornerstones of social media are "authenticity" and "transparency," but I reject the notion that outsourcing social media makes that an impossibility. I do agree, however, that bringing social media in-house is a best case scenario. I futher agree that, as Jackie Huba suggests, it should not be the purview of unsupervised, unpaid interns.   

So, when is it okay to outsource social media and when is it not? 

It's okay when...

A company needs social media consulting - Let's face it. Some companies just don't get social media and need help from a qualified expert in getting started. 

The goal of the new social media consulting practice we've started at Bizzuka is to train a client in both the social media "mindset" and "toolset." 

I'm finding a lot of companies get overwhelmed (or enamored) in dealing with the tools of social media without first understanding the culture associated with it. 

We start from a more strategic perspective, which includes a social media readiness audit, then seek to understand the company's marketing and business communication objectives, as well as what marketing approaches they're already using. Then and only then do we make judgments about how social media might fit in the marketing mix. 

While we often help with implimentation, we stop short at actual operation. We provide training on technique, ethics and best practices, then turn the program over to the company to run themselves and provide ongoing coaching to insure they're making the most of the engagement.

A company needs outsourced blogging - Again, it's best if a company can find resources in-house, but in the case of small businesses that's not always possible. In that event I recommend finding an outsourced blogger using an established, trusted agency like Jim Turner's Bloggers For Hire. Jim, a highly-regarded social media veteran, has been provideding talented, well-trained, experienced bloggers to companies for years. 

For this to work successfully two factors must be in place: 

• The relationship between blogger and company must be disclaimed. I don't believe that someone should pretend to be who they are not. If you're not an employee, don't pass yourself off as one. (No faux anything)
• There must be a strong channel of communication between the blogger and someone inside the company.  

Outsourced blogging tends to work best when the blog is topically-focused as opposed to company-focused. It's also conceivable to let the blog live outside the company Web site in a "sponsored" environment. 

A number of years ago I worked with a fitness equipment manufacturing company and set up a blog strictly focused on fitness. Every now and again there were posts about the company and its products, but for the most part, posts dealt with how to stay in shape. I hired a blogger who had a background in fitness and experience blogging. 

A company needs help setting up a social media resource - Not every company has in-house staff capable of designing a blog or creating a Facebook Page. In those events, as with Web design, it's perfectly acceptable to use an outsource agency. 

It's not okay when...

It comes to ongoing operation - With the exception of blogging (and that only in certain cases), I believe a company should keep social media in-house. Even though some would consider it a form of blogging, I don't like the idea of outsourcing tweeting, for example. A blog that retains a topical-orientation is one thing, but tweeting is too representative of the brand itself. In the case where the latter is being done, I say you must disclose the relationship. No "ghost tweeting."

In conclusion, I'm okay with outsourcing training, design, setup and blogging in some respects. I draw the line at the operational level though. 

Here's what some of my Twitter friends had to say when asked that question:

My Twitter Mosaic

Get your twitter mosaic here.

Facebook Fan Page invitations the new spam

Since Facebook Fan Pages have become all the rage these days, I'm getting lots of requests that look something like this: "Facebookuser became a fan of FacebookPage on Facebook and suggests you become a fan too." 

Look familiar? I know it does to some because, like me, they're blogging about it. 

Case in point, in his post Facebook Fan Pages: The Difference Between Asking and Earning, Todd Carpenter states...

With the advent of fan pages, savvy real estate agents are adopting Facebook as a marketing tool and using these pages to promote their business. I think this is a great idea. However, asking me to become a fan of your page puts the cart before the horse.

What have you done to earn me as a fan? You asked? That’s not enough. I don’t think I’ve ever responded to one of those e-mails.

Emphasis on numbers rather than relevance

The emphasis seems to be on building a large fan following (i.e., numbers) rather than building one based on relevance. Even worse, some people are pimping their own Pages! 

For example, I received one such message from someone suggesting I fan a Realtor in California. While I have nothing against said Realtor, I live in Louisiana! Last time I checked, real esatate was local, even hyper-local. I saw no relevance, so I didn't bite.

Of course, the rush is on because people want to hit the 100 fan mark so they can reserve their vanity URL. I understand that, and am willing to cut people a little slack for it. But, that does not negate the need to generate a relevant fan base. 

I've always felt that, in social media, it's not how many eyeballs are reading your stuff, but who those eyeballs belong to. You can' gauge influence merely based on numbers. Like the old adage says, "It's not the number of seeds in an apple that counts, but the number of apples in the seed." 

Facebook Page growth principles

I'm in the process of creating two such Pages for myself - one related to my new book, The Digital Handshake, and one for me, the "social media handyman." What am I going to do that's different than others? I mean, is there a proper protocol? Here are a few ideas:

Lay a foundation with solid content - There's nothing worse than visiting a Facebook Page where little content exists. While it would be great to have 100's of Fans contributing Wall posts, status updates, commenting on Notes, answering poll questions, etc, in the beginning no one else is going to be there except you. Therefore, just like when you started blogging, it's imcumbent upon you to create some solid foundational content. 

That would include an Info page, some discussion questions, maybe a poll question or two, some photos or videos, Twitter and blog feeds pulled in, Wall posts and status updates. 

You have two goals. First, when visitors come to the Page you want them to feel as if there is activity already taking place (even if it's all from you at the beginning). Second, you want to entice them to interact with content of their own.

I've said it before, I think the Facebook Page apps from Involver are highly useful to achieving this goal. Even though they charge $29 per month for use of the entire suite, it's worth it in my opinion. 

Erect a framework of Fans by inviting trusted friends - I think it's okay to reach out to a few trusted allies who you know like you and would welcome the opportunity to become fans. Encourage them to invite others. Grow your fan base via world of mouth, not self-promotion. I bet, if you think about it, you have 20-30 good friends who would help you. Even with this group, relevance is a key concern.

Be a welcoming host - You're in the process of building a community. The only way to do that effectively is to reach out to people and welcome them. I recall when authors Ben McConnell and Jackie Huba first began to build The SWOM, an online community around the topic of word of mouth marketing. 

I was invited by a trusted friend, liked what I saw, and joined. It wasn't long before I received a welcome from Ben. That encouraged me to reach out to others and invite them. It felt good to be an early member of what I knew would be a vibrant, community of marketing professionals. 

I don't see that a Facebook Page is any different. (Well, maybe a little different.) Even thought people are becoming "fans," it's still a community that's forming around whatever you happen to be promoting. You need to spend some time getting to know those people on a more or less personal basis. At the very least, friend them via their personal profile. 

Focus on relevance rather than numbers - Chances are, your Page is pretty niche-specifc. It might relate to a specific locale, business, book, personality or product. Regardless, it's better in the long-run to attract those for whom it makes sense to be there. That's going to mean you're Page may not get as large as someone elses, but at least those who are there have a reason for being so. 

That's not to say you shouldn't put any focus on building numbers, just that it should be the primary motivation.  

Once you've started, you can't stop - Social media is about building long-term relationships, not about getting a quick "fix" or "rush" from getting 100's of Fans. It's not an ego trip, or even a marketing tactic. 

You have to continue contributing content, encouraging participation and getting to know members. It's best to have a servant's heart and understand that this is really and investment of time, energy and resources in other people. Keep their best interests uppermost and lose the rockstar mentality. If you find you can't do that, it's best not to start. Count the cost before attempting to construct the building. 

I know I'm pointing a finger at you when I say these things, but keep in mind, in so doing there are four pointing back at me!

One more point...

Before you do any of this, ask yourself how creating a Facebook Page is going to help you reach your marketing and business communications goals and objectives. Where does it fit in? Which of those specific goals will it help you accomplish? 

I'm concerned we're going to see a lot of Facebook Page "ghost towns" due to people not realizing the amount of work involved and the need to keep content fresh. Plus, I wonder how many are doing it just because. 

Regardless, I think if more people would take these factors into consideration, we'd probably see less "Soandso has become a fan of..." don't you think? 

More evidence the destination era of the Web is over

My latest post at MarketingProfs...

When I wrote about the experiment Mars did with its Skittles.com site a few months ago, some people turned up their nose considering it little more than a rip-off of something advertising agency Modernista tried a year earlier.

Basically, Skittles.com itself is a "widget." Links in the primary navigation go to Facebook, YouTube, Wikipedia and Twitter search. In other words, it links to sites other than itself and does so as part of its architecture.

Guess what, it's not a rip-off, it's a trend, and at least two more such sites have entered the landscape: Sharpieuncapped and Building43. 

Read full post at MarketingProfs

Are you eligible for a Facebook Page vanity URL

If your Facebook Page has more than 100 fans, you can register a custom username/URL for your Page. For example, the Bizzuka Page URL used to be www.facebook.com/pages/Bizzuka-Web-Content-Management/19205216136. Now, with the vanity URL, it's simply facebook.com/bizzuka.

If you're a Page administrator, you can set your custom username at www.facebook.com/username.

What are you waiting for? Go see if your Page is eligible for a vanity URL!

Business blog icon Steve Rubel quits blogging - the end of an era

Steve Rubel announced yesterday that he has set aside blogging in favor of lifestreaming. Steve has been blogging at the very popular Micropersuasion for years, since 2004 if memory serves me correctly.

He's a veteran in this space whose influence has literally helped shape it. He is also someone tasked with the responsibility of looking down the path to determine what's next. In one of his last posts at Micropersuasion, he said this...

"My job at Edelman is to remain at the cutting edge and to advise major marketers on what's next. This means I must experiment and evolve or I will die." 

Evolve or Die

"Evolve or die" must be the mantra for many of we "veterans." I'm talking about people like Toby Bloomberg, Denise Wakeman, Yvonne DiVita, Debbie Weil and others who, like me, have been doing this a long time, but who, if we don't watch out will get ourselves pigeon-holed in the past and outpaced by younger, more nimble personas who don't carry the baggage of years gone by. 

Maybe I'm wrong, but blogging has been around long enough that there is an "old school" mentality. I think I'm a victim of it. Hardly a day passes when I don't look back to 2005 and think of it as the "good old days" of business blogging. 

Truth be told, Steve's jumping ship on blogging, which he says "feels old," has shaken me about as much as the news of Michael Jackson's death. That may sound silly to you, but I've invested my life in this enterprise for the past five years, so this is a big deal. One of business blogging's icons is leaving blogging behind in favor of something new, lifestreaming. 

(When I refer to Steve as an iconic figure, that's not hyperbole. You recall the cover story from BusinessWeek magazine in May 2005? It featured Steve.)

The Old is New Again

Back in the day, before social networks like Facebook and MySpace were popular and long before Twitter was on all but the most avant-garde's horizon, we "lifestreamed" on our blogs. Everything went there because that was about the only place content could go! Robert Scoble is a perfect example. He'd post mulitple times a day about all sorts of things. If you wanted to know what was going on with Scoble, you read his blog. 

While he still maintains his blog, now there's Building43, a new project he's doing in concert with Rackspace, his new employer. It's supposed to be a mashup of video, Twitter, Friendfeed, etc. (explanation here)

The more I think about it, I wonder if tools like Posterous and Tumblr aren't the "new" blog platforms, just better suited for today's bent toward incrementality. Could it be that the old is new again? Perhaps so, and Steve figured that out more quickly than the rest of us. 

What Happens to Long Form Blogging?

More than once I've referred to Brian Clark's statement about value blogging. Essentially, blogging has morphed from being the "shoot from the hip, speak from the heart," extemporaneous form of expression to something more well-researched, full length and almost article-like. Even Scoble refered to his blog as long-form.

I still think there's a place for that. It's not going away anytime soon. Even as long as blogging has been around (more than a decade), it's still catching on. A friend of mine is even writing a "blogging 101" book. Can you believe it? A basic, how-to blog book in 2009?! Incredible as that may seem, I'd venture to guess thousands of copies will be sold. (At least my friend hopes so.)

What Does the Future Hold for Business Blogging?

In 2004, I asked the question on my blog, what's the future of blogging? A number of notable people chimed in to respond. One of those was Steve. Unfortunately, that particular blog has long since gone the way of the albatross and the content from that series is lost (something I chagrin to this day). 

I wonder, though, if it's not time to ask that question again. What do you think? What does the future hold for blogging, particularly business blogs? Does Steve's move away from blogging signal a shift? Or, is there room for both lifestreaming and long-form blogging? I'd love to hear your thoughts. 

PS: Micropersuasion is a treasure. Truly, it's a chronicle of the evolution of the Internet, the social Web and of blogging itself. I'm grateful he's leaving it live for archival purposes. 

Involver Pro Facebook Page apps are here

I'm completely gaga over Involver.com's Facebook Page apps which include everything from Twitter, YouTube and RSS integration, to photo galleries, file uploads, polls, coupons, the works. They are easy to install and, best of all, they work! (and work well) Every Facebook Page I set up includes as many of their apps as it makes sense to use. I like them...a lot. 

The company just announced the introduction of Involver Pro, which offers even more features and functionality. While I'm excited about these enhancements, something the email announcement said concerns me:

"You are currently using one or more features that have become part of the pro package. Unfortunately we will no longer be supporting this feature for free users. 

"Since we know that the involver apps have become an integral part of many Facebook Pages, we've given you an automatic 14-day free trial of Involver Pro as you evaluate whether you'd like to upgrade to the pro product or be downgraded at the end of the trial period."

I don't know what "no longer be supporting this feature" or "downgraded" entails. Does that mean some of the features currently available in the free version will no longer be? I'm checking with Involver now to get clarification. 

UPDATE: Tyler Willis, Involver's director of marketing indicated that means "only 2 [free] apps allowed, no custom branding and no use of coupons or polls in the free version; non-paid users will be set to that."

So, that's a bit disconcerting. While I was aware they were rolling out a Freemium model, I wasn't aware punitive measures would be applied to users of the free version. 

To ease the pain of transitioning to the premium version, however, current Involver app users get a special discount. If you purchase the app suite before July 5th, you get it for $29 per month for the remainder of 2009. And, it's free for 30 days, which gives you plenty of time to decide if you like the service or not. (I can't imagine you won't.)

If you're developing a Facebook Page for your business or organization, let me encourage you to take a look at what Involver has to offer. Let me tell you, at $29 per month, this is a steal! 

(DISCLAIMER: This is NOT a paid endorsement. I have no financial incentive or motive for promoting Involver's products. I'm truly a fan. That's it.)

LinkedIn business development best practices

Recently, I was asked by a friend new to LinkedIn how to make the best use of it for business development. My response went something like this:

LinkedIn is your business suit, in that it's designed strictly for business. The one exception is the Status Updates feature in the newsfeed that, in my opinon, does not fit the business tenor of the site. 

LI offers a number of business development features:

Individual Profile - That's the base of operations for any social network, but it's particularly important where LinkedIn is concerned. It's vital, therefore, that you fully complete the profile, something LI helps you do via the profile progress bar. LI's search feature enables you to find prospects with whom you can connect. 

Recommendations - Part of the profile includes getting recommendations from co-workers, vendors, clients, etc. The more the merrier so far as I'm concerned. 

Groups - There are now over 300,000 groups on LinkedIn where professionals are discussing, sharing news and collaborating with each other. This is a great way to network with prospective clients and colleagues. LI just announced an additional feature, sub-groups, which they define as being akin to "breakout sessions at a conference." 

LinkedIn Answers - This feature gives you the opportunity to prove your worth as a knowledgeable resource. Respond to questions that fit your area of expertise. 

That covers the feature set, but doesn't get to the heart of how to build relationships that lead to business transactions. For that, I turn to a co-worker, Charles Lauller.

Charles Lauller's LinkedIn Strategy

Charles Lauller, Bizzuka's SVP of Sales, is a LinkedIn member who pro-actively uses the network to connect with others on a daily basis. His first attempts proved fruitless, however, because, to quote Charles, he focused on “pimping my company and its products.” 

He quickly learned what author David Meerman Scott teaches, that "no one cares about your company but you," and changed his tactics to something that was much more of a comfortable fit given his generous nature, that of expressing sincere interest in learning about others and offering help. 

That altruism turned things around. “Eventually they run out of things to say about themselves, and start asking me about my business,” says Charles. The result is he gets between two-five warm leads per week which, according to him, is about the equivalent benefit of making 200 cold calls. “And no one slams the phone in your ear either!"

I asked Charles to outline his approach to building business on LinkedIn and he said:

• Drop all of the bogus I'm pimping me and my company bologna.
• Be yourself. Honest, sincere, authentic (assuming that's you) But, whoever you are you will likely attract individuals like yourself to your network.
• It's cliche, but “seek first to understand,then be understood.” I always (when seeking to expand my network and connect with people) learn about them from their profile, and ask how I can help them. I've found that when I continually ask others how I can help with recommendations, referrals and/or introductions, they usually want to reciprocate.

I would be interested in learning more about how you use LinkedIn for marketing and business development. Please feel free to comment.