Conversational Media Marketing

I'm pleased to announce that Wiley Publishing has contracted with me to write a book on social media marketing, to be called The Digital Handshake: Seven Proven Strategies to Grow Your Business Using Social Media.

It's set for publication in September and I have three months to write it.

I won't bore you with the minutiae of how all this came about, just happy that it did. I do, however, want to address some questions.

Another book on social media marketing?!? Isn't the market glutted with them?

In case you might be asking why Wiley would want to publish yet another title about social media, I admit I asked the same thing. It's not like they haven't cornered the market already with the likes of David Meerman Scott's New Rules of Marketing and PR, Dave Evan's Social Media Marketing an Hour a Day and Joseph Jaffe's Join the Conversation, just to name a few. (Oh, let me not forget Larry Weber's Marketing to the Social Web, soon to be released in its second edition.)

Not only that, they have several new social media titles set for publication the early part of this year: Content Nation, Social Influence Marketing For Dummies and The Social Media Bible.

Of course, all of these are in different divisions and intended for different audiences, or so I suppose. Mine, btw, was originally considered for the professional and technical division, but is going in the business division. (Not sure who I have to thank for that, but a couple of people do come to mind.)

The bottom line is, while I'm aware the market is glutted, who am I to turn down such a wonderful opportunity? After all, it's not my place to determine for Wiley how many books they publish on the subject of social media...just as long as they publish mine. :-)

Why Wiley?

Considering the number of titles Wiley is producing, you might think I would have been better served to go with a publisher who doesn't have as many.

There are two reasons I chose Wiley. First, I have a long history with them dating back to 2005 having served as technical editor on a number of For Dummies books. I know several editors there and believe Wiley to be a company that has my best interests at heart.

The second reason, they are the ones who offered me a contract! I did have the book in front of some other publishers, one of whom showed great interest, but in the end, money talks.

What sets this book apart from the rest?

That was a question asked by the editor in trying to determine the positioning of the book.

At its heart, this book is "a practical application of principles." It's focus is on providing principles, explaining the tools (not everything, but the ones in most common use) along with an understanding of how to use them, accompanied by concrete examples and case studies of how they're being used in real world settings, mostly by SMBs. It culminates with a four-prong strategy for social media engagement.

It is a comprehensive treatise whose target are those just getting started in this space and those needing to learn more about social media itself and its application where business is concerned.

Practical application of principles written in language everyone can understand and that everyone can deploy. That's it in a nutshell.

Why the title The Digital Handshake?

That was probably the eighth or ninth title suggested. The original, Conversations Create Customers, was not liked by any publisher who looked at the proposal.

We went through a litany of other ideas including:

• Handyman's Guide to Social Media
• Social Media DNA: Are you changing your mindset or just changing your tactics?
• The Fifth P of Marketing: Participation
• Common Sense Social Media: What really works, why and how
• Making Sense of Social Media
• Making Dollars and Sense of Social Media

They didn't bite on any of them. Nibbled on a couple, but no bites.

Finally, a light turned on in my head and I submitted the title that was ultimately chosen, The Digital Handshake.

The title builds on the idea that relationships tend to start with a handshake and grow from there. In the virtual world, social media is a way of extending a "digital" handshake. There are certain unwritten, yet accepted rules of engagement. Don't push, pull. Use the power of attraction. Take a Dale Carnegie type approach and express interest in others first. A "seek first to understand, then be understood." That's the spin this book will have.

The editor LOVED it! (emphasis hers)

Last question, why me?

Of all the questions I asked myself about why Wiley or any other publisher would choose to take on this project, the one asked most often was "why me?"

I mean, I can think of at least a dozen or more people much more qualified to do this than I. Still, the same refrain echoes in my head, it's not for me to question, just be grateful the offer and opportunity was extended.

So, there we go. I'm going to be a hermit for the next three months and my dear wife, Amie, will be a widow. BTW, she's in complete support of this. After all, she's been through it once already with my first book, Realty Blogging. Honestly, I could not do this without her help and I'm extremely grateful to have it.

Years ago I remember The Blog Studio's creative director doing a series on how people in different industries could use blogs. (I attempted to find the series but was unsuccessful in my attempt.)

I thought it was a good idea then, and, now, considering that Twitter is the next form of blogging, I'm starting a similar series called "If I were a _______________, I'd use Twitter to..."

However, instead of coming up with my own ideas, I'd rather crowdsource the whole thing.

My first attempt at this is, "If I were a restaurant, I'd use Twitter to..." If you'd like to answer that, please do so via Twitter. If you're not following me, I'm .

To answer the question of why I'm doing this, one word: Book.

Pretty much everything I'm doing these days social medially speaking has to do with my book on social media marketing that's coming out in the fall of 09. However, I may also print the replies to this series in an ebook along with a credit to each of the contributors (or screen shot of your tweet). So, please, do reply.

"If I were a restaurant, I'd use Twitter too..."

Some time ago I mentioned being selected, along with some 274 others, to participate in the sequel to the wildly successful The Age of Conversation. The sequel is something Todd Andrlik called "the most massive authorship undertaking in history. We’re talking Guinness Book baby!"Needless to say, I was more than happy to participate.

The book officially launches tomorrow today, Wednesday, October 29, and is available for purchase at Lulu.com. The goal is to raise over $15K for charity. Why don't you be one of the first to pick up a copy.

Following is a tidbit of my contribution to the book...

This week Bizzuka CEO John Munsell, SVP of Global Sales Charles Lauller and I will be heading to Boston for the New Marketing Summit. Bizzuka, the company I serve as internet marketing director, is a sponsor and John will be speaking on a panel dealing with content management systems. (Bizzuka is a CMS provider designed for use by SMBs.)

It is no small feat for Bizzuka to be there, as it is the first time the company will appear on what, essentially, is a national stage paired next to other well-known CMS companies such as Ektron, Crownpeak and Sitecore. (Well-known to some at least.)

The beautiful thing about it all is that we would never had the chance had it not been for our engagement in social media circles. That's the only way the folks at CrossTech Media, the company hosting the event, would have known about us. So, score one for social media and one for Bizzuka as well. (Chris is also the emcee for the conference.)

Keynoting at this year's event are none other than David Meerman Scott, author of The New Rules of Marketing and PR, Paul Gillin, author of The New Influencers and the soon to be released book, Secrets of Social Media Marketing, and well-known blogger Chris Brogan. (Chris is also serving as emcee for the event.)

If you happen to be in the Boston area, why don't you make plans to join us. The event takes place Tuesday and Wednesday, October 14-15, at Gillette Stadium. Visit GoNewMarketing.com to learn more.

I hope to blog the event, perhaps via Utterli, but we'll see.

Joe Pulizzi, founder of Junta42, quite literally wrote the book on content marketing. Some time back I asked him to write a guest post explaining the difference between conversational marketing and content marketing. He was gracious to oblige and here's what he had to say...

Over the past year, I've had more than a few requests to define the difference between conversation marketing and content marketing. It's an important question, since most people consider them the same thing. It's also not easy, since the two are very closely related and sometimes can be confused for one another. First, let's look at the definitions.

Conversation Marketing

According to Wikipedia, Conversation Marketing is defined as "the engagement of social media by a corporation to promote their product or brand. It differs from traditional forms of 'customer touch' because the company may enter into an online dialogue which is stored publicly in a forum or blog. The company may also take the conversation offline."

Conversation marketing is an activity, or even marketing tactic. It's customer service through Twitter. It's creating loyal fans via Facebook. It's building a customer dialogue via blogs and forums. It's setting up listening posts to better understand customer behavior.

Conversation marketing is about employing and leveraging new technologies to develop and further relationships, which will then (hopefully) lead to off-line conversations and business transactions.

Content Marketing

Also according to Wikipedia, Content Marketing "subscribes to the notion that delivering high-quality, relevant and valuable information to prospects and customers drives profitable consumer action…products frequently take the form of custom magazines, print or online newsletters, digital content, websites or microsites, white papers, webcasts/webinars, podcasts, video portals or series, in-person roadshows, roundtables, interactive online, , events." Distribution of content should also include social media channels as well and wherever/however customer and prospects want/need to consume your information.

The way I see content marketing and conversation marketing intertwining is this: If a company creates a solid content marketing strategy, this should lead to successful conversational marketing tactics.

Whenever I explain social media during my speaking engagements, I refer to it in this manner: Don't get bogged down with a big term like "social media". It's really quite simple. If you are having a conversation with another person and you have something of value to contribute to that conversation, both sides benefit and the relationship will most likely continue. If you are talking to someone else, but are pitching your products or just talking about yourself and how great you are, why in the world would someone want to continue the conversation? The relationship most likely ends there.

Now take that scenario online. If you (as a person or company) are continually creating valuable, relevant and compelling content, targeted to your customers and prospects, they will want to have a conversation with you. Successful conversation marketing is predicated on a sound content marketing strategy. If you don't have the valuable content to share in the first place, your conversational marketing tactics just won't work.

So, content marketing comes first. It's all about understanding the informational needs and pain points of your target audience, and then creating information that solves their pain points. That means valuable and compelling "storytelling" as part of your website, white papers, blogs, eNewsletters, eBooks and so on, which then leads to social media distribution.

The sharing of that "story" creates the opportunity to communicate with customers and prospects and does one very important thing. It generates trust. You become a trusted content provider, which in my opinion, is THE single most important thing you can do for your business today. Once someone trusts you and wants to have a relationship with you because of that trust, business transactions soon follow.

Joe Pulizzi is an author, speaker and evangelist for content marketing. Joe founded Junta42 Matchhttp://blog.junta42.com. Contact Joe at joe[at]junta42.com or check out his content marketing book, Get Content. Get Customers.

I've been chomping at the bit to make this announcement. I've decided to write a second book and, would you believe it, two publishers are interested.

Talking points:

• I'm not ready to get too specific about the topic, except to say that it's on social media marketing and that it's targeted to small business and marketing professionals.
• Two publishers have expressed interest in accepting proposals; the two shall remain nameless for now, but are names you'd recognize.
• If neither accepts the proposal (which, btw, I've targeted to finish on my birthday, Oct. 13) I will either look for another publisher or self-publish; either way, the book gets written.

Actually, that title is a little melodramatic. While there are a number of things I'd like to do before my time is up, most of which have nothing to do with work or business, here's a short list of things that are:

Write another book, or two, or three - I'm working on a proposal right now in fact.

Find ways to monetize around the book - Seminars, speaking engagements, teleclasses, online courses; I want to take a lesson from people like Denise Wakeman and Patsi Krakoff who understand how to do this and do it well.

Provide marketing services to the home stagers - This is an burgeoning cottage industry that is underserved so far as marketing services are concerned. I think in the next three to five years we'll see an outbreak of growth. It doesn't hurt that my wife is a home stager.

Start a online marketing agency which emphasizes social media - I keep pitching my CEO at Bizzuka that we should branch out and start a new division to provide such services. Like the constant drip of Chinese water torture, I'm determined to wear him down.

Bring my company Bizzuka to a place of national prominence and use social media marketing to do it - Right now, we're a small, regionally-focused business, but one with a large vision. That is to become an industry-recognized Web content management provider used by small business and creative professionals alike. If I can use social media as the catalyst, that's all the better.

Become known as the "social media handyman" - I let that domain get bought out from under me, but think it's still a useful moniker and fits well with my tactical approach to social media marketing. The high-level strategy stuff I can leave to others. I'll teach you how to do it and help you along the way.

Lay a strong foundation for IBNMA and see it reach maturity - I'm deeply committed to seeing IBNMA reach its potential and unwilling to entertain any thoughts or notions to the contrary.

That's it. At least that's all I'm willing to commit to for the moment. It's enough to fill most every waking hour for the next few years, don't you think?

I met John Jantsch via the blogosphere several years ago when there weren't that many of us small business bloggers. He was promoting a referral marketing program called Duct Tape Marketing via his blog and Web site.

It began to gain traction among small business owners and, before you knew it, DTM was a book, and a best-seller at that. John was on his way to becoming a household name within the small business marketing community. His approach was practical, hands-on and something that could be put to use immediately.

Now, he's taken Duct Tape Marketing from blog...to book...to software. He has been working with Palo Alto Software for about a year and today announced that Marketing Plan Pro powered by Duct Tape Marketing is ready to go.

Here are some links to give you background on the rollout:

• Press release annoucing the launch
• Tour of features of the program
• Palo Alto founder Tim Berry talks about the program
• Palo Alto announces launch on blog
• Announcement on John's blog

I know many of you are fans of John's system. If not and you're a small business owner or entrepreneur you should be.  Anyway, congratulations to John. His is an American success story and the stuff entrepreneurial dreams are made of.

I finished reading Groundswell last night, the book co-authored by Forrester analyst Josh Bernoff and former analyst Charlene Li. I have to say it's one of the most important books on the subject of social media that I've read this year.

Research - The opinions shared, suggestions made and advice given are based on solid research. What else would you expect from Forrester, right? Everything is well-documented and appended.

Case studies - Charlene and Josh support the research with real world examples showing how organizations both in the for-profit and non-profit sectors are using the tools of social media to accomplish marketing and business communication purposes. They showcase larger organizations like Dell, Best Buy and M. D. Anderson Cancer Center, but do include a few references to small business.

Writing - The book is very well-written. Again, you'd expect no less from Forrester analysts.

I've been selected, along with some 274 others, to participate in the sequel to the wildly successful The Age of Conversation, a book about emerging media and marketing, collectively written by more than 100 authors from around the world.

Todd Andrlik calls the sequel "the most massive authorship undertaking in history. We’re talking Guinness Book baby!" It's not often one gets to help make history. Needless to say I'm very honored to take part.

In a subsequent post, I'll explain the purpose of the sequel in further detail. For now, I want to mention that tomorrow, Saturday, March 29, is what's being called Age of Conversation Bum Rush.

The idea is to generate as many touch points around the web as possible so that it will be hard not to spot the Age of Conversation activity.

So, we need you to...

1. Buy the Book & send others to buy the book. This is the #1 call to action, because this is where we want to see the most impact. NOTE: Please buy 1 copy at a time because Amazon counts bulk orders once, and please use this affiliate link, which will help us in tracking sales. Remember, all the proceeds from the book sales and referrals will go to charity. 

2. Blog About It - Make sure you have a prominent link to the Amazon listing so that readers can easily purchase the book. (Remember to use the affiliate link above. All of these earnings will go to charity as well.)

3. Twitter Commentary - You can follow @Freshpeel, @DrewMcLellan, @servantofchaos for tweets on this tomorrow. Also, any tweets you do on the topic, please use code #AOC so that it can be picked up by Twemes.com.

4. Trackback or Comment on the post that Chris Wilson leaves on his Fresh Peel blog March 29, at 12am CST, so that everyone can follow the conversation and help promote exposure on social sites (Digg, StumbleUpon, Del.icio.us, etc.)

5. Digg the posts listed on Chris' site and send emails and shouts to friends requesting Diggs.

6. Stumble the posts listed & tell friends to do the same.

7. Bookmark your posts on Del.icio.us

8. Add your post to other social media outlets ( Technorati, Ma.gnolia, Furl, BlinkList, Newsvine, Facebook, etc.)

9. Send an email to your friends about the Bum Rush for AoC.

10. Keep talking - Get on ooVoo, iChat, Aim, or where ever you like to talk, and start talking.