Business Blogging

January 13, 2009

Leili McKinley, a blogger you should be reading

Leili_mckinley If you are at all interested in social media marketing, especially as it relates to branding, there is a blogger you should be reading, Leili McKinley.

I found out about Leili via a comment she left in response to my post, Does social media have to be either marketing or pr? I had not heard of her previously, but the import of her comment caused me to investigate her further. And what I found literally floored me. 

Here is a blogger who is obviously well-acquainted with her subject matter and who has the unique ability to convey a lot of information in relatively few words. In fact, none of her posts exceed more than a few paragraphs.  

A famous quote attributed to Blaise Paschal says, "I have made this letter longer than usual, because I lack the time to make it short." Leili has that unique ability to concentrate her thoughts and communicate them succinctly and clearly. Not many people I know are blessed with that gift.

I used to think that, if someone could write reams about a given subject, that must mean they're truly knowledgeable. Now, I think the opposite is more in keeping with the truth... that is if Leili McKinley is any example. 
 
You know I don't often rave about bloggers, but Leili is one I've added to my list of must reads. You should as well. 

PS: Leili is managing partner of  business consulting firm Soaring Phoenix.

January 06, 2009

Corporate blogs, trustworthy or not. Depends on who you ask.

Which is true?

Consumers trust company blogs less than any other channel.

or

Blogs have long had an avid following, but corporations are finding that blogs can be a secret sauce to building solid relationships with their customers.


Depends on who you ask, Forrester or eMarketer.

The first statement comes from a hotly-contested Forrester survey on corporate blogging. The other from an eMarketer article which based its conclusion on studies done by BuzzLogic and Jupiter Research.

The Forrester survey goes on to say that, "Not only do blogs rank below newspapers and portals, they rank below wikis, direct mail, company email, and message board posts" and "only 16% of online consumers who read corporate blogs say they trust them."

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Conversely, eMarketer states "[B]logs have more impact on purchasing decisions than social networks. One-quarter of readers said they trust ads on a blog, as opposed to 19% who trust ads on social networks."

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Continue reading "Corporate blogs, trustworthy or not. Depends on who you ask." »

December 31, 2008

Five years at business blogging and counting

Birthday-candle

Yesterday, I read that December marks five years that Top Rank Marketing's Lee Odden has been at the business of blogging. (Congrats Lee!)

That post jogged my memory and caused me to realize that this month marks my fifth year as well. I started in December 2003 using a Typepad blog for the Internet marketing consultancy I owned at the time, Radiant Marketing Group.

Blogging has not only been a game-changer for me, but a life-changer as well. It's led to a career in Internet marketing, blog and social media consulting, a book (and another to be published in 2009) and the opportunity to serve as president of IBNMA.

More importantly, it's led to the development of a network of friends and connections that literally spans the globe. For a country boy who grew up at Rural Route 1, Hickory, Mississippi, that ain't too bad. Not bad at all.

Unlike Lee and many other veteran bloggers from the class of 2003 and 2004, my blogging path has been a bit eclectic (shall we say even "schizophrenic") While Lee, Toby Bloomberg, Yvonne DiVita, Denise Wakeman, Wayne Hurlbert and many others have "plowed the same field" on one blog for years, I've had the privilege to ply my trade at quite a number:

IOWs, just about everyone but b5media. Like I said, a bit schizo! :-) (Chalk it up to a short attention span.)

If I had more time today, I'd create a list of favorite posts, events, etc. Unfortunately, my day job won't allow and, besides, we're about to close shop for the day and my wife and I are headed to celebrate the holiday with relatives.

To my fellow veteran business bloggers who have persevered over the years, here's to you. May blogging be very good to us in 2009 and bring us all continued business and personal success.

December 23, 2008

Social media marketing predictions for 2009

If you've yet to read Joe Pulizzi's you should because it contains some eye-opening predictions from leading marketing professionals.

While, as you might expect, there is a wide range and divergence of opinion, some themes emerge.

  1. Advertising will gradually be replaced by information.
  2. Content and conversational marketing strategies will converge.
  3. Social media marketing will continue to gain acceptance

Let's take these one at a time.

Continue reading "Social media marketing predictions for 2009" »

December 22, 2008

Early Christmas presents from Trulia, Top Rank Marketing and Blog Squad

"Yes, Virginia, there is a Santa Claus," said Francis Church, and I know of at least two of his elves: Frances Flynn Thorsen, Community Manager at Trulia, Lee Odden, CEO of Top Rank Online Marketing.and the Blog Squad's .

Fran surprised me (pleasantly) by inclusion as one of the Top Ten Real Estate Speakers of 2009 which, considering that I'm not a Realtor, is a pretty phenomenal thing if you think about it. I join the likes of Bernice Ross, Ilyce Glink and Jeff Turner. It's an esteemed group to be sure.

Here is Fran's rationale...

Paul Chaney is a social media and blog evangelist with all the vim and vigor of the Baptist preacher that is Paul in another life. Paul is the founder of International Blogging and New Media Assn. Co-author of Realty Blogging, the first book about real estate blogging, Paul is a favorite among the Kool-Aid drinkers in real estate – diehard bloggers and social media geeks. He preaches to the choir … and it’s the masses of unconnected real estate professionals who need to hear his message.

A second present, one received by not only myself, but Bizzuka CEO John Munsell, is inclusion by Top Rank Marketing's Lee Odden on a list called Best Podcasts on Social Media for Bizzuka's User Friendly Thinking Radio show which airs every Friday at noon central on Blog Talk Radio. (BTW, though I'd never come right out and ask you to do it, there is the option to vote for your favorite, uh-hum.)

Last but not least, Denise nominated me for a Shorty Award. (And I think she meant the one for micro-content, not actual height. Considering I'm only 5'8" and that's on a good day, I suppose it's reasonable to think she could have meant it either way. :->)

Though there's a good likelyhood I'll see coal in my stocking come Christmas morning, these are serendipities I didn't expect. On that other hand, maybe I've been better this year than I thought. If that's not the case, don't tell Fran, Lee or Denise please.

Social media is a tool and a mindset

A recent post by my good friend *John Jantsch asserts that "social media is a tool, it's not a religion, there are no real rules and we are experimenting every day."

While I tend to be zealous about the use of social media for marketing purposes and very evangelistic its promotion, I do agree with John that social media is a toolset. Where I do find myself at variance with his assertion is when he says these are "just" tools.

As with any tool, those associated with social media must be used in accordance with their design. You don't use a hammer to screw in a bolt and you don't use a saw to drive a nail.  Similarily, there are certain "rules" that govern social media engagement and John hits the nail on the head (pardon the pun) with this declaration: Don't be rude. Don't be boring. Give to get. 

However, there is a fallacy and even subtle danger in suggesting, especially to those either uninitiated or newly initiated in social media, that it's just tools. There is more to it than that. 

Social media is also a mindset. 

I have to go back to the "bible" of social media, the Cluetrain Manifesto, and reference the very first of the 95 Theses - "Markets are conversations." 

What I'm seeing, especially with Twitter, are some disturbing trends: 
  • Automation - This includes autoreplies and scheduled posts. 
  • Old-school, direct marketing-oriented "pitching."
The worst of the worst is when those two trends are combined. The auto-response subverts the need for real human interaction and the upfront pitch subverts any need to build real, human relationships (to whatever degree that's possible in Twitter). 

Both fly in the face of what social media is all about and I'm grieved that the most conversational and human of all social media tools, Twitter, is being turned into nothing more than a marketing machine. (Same with Facebook too, for that matter.)

I like what blogger David Risley had to say on this matter in a post from a few months back...

"There will always be some who will flock to a new social media site in order to game it for cash. They see it as a huge pool of eyeballs that need to be driven to their website. And, of course, Twitter is a good medium for that. But, it has to be used PROPERLY and with social tact. You need to be a good community member first, and marketer second."

I don't mean to be unreasonable or over-reactive. It's just that bad things happen to good technology when marketing people get involved. Look at the evolution of blogs over the years. What was once referred to as the "last form of honest advertising" is now an untrusted medium, according to Forrester. 

A medium built on the stalwarts of "authenticity" and "transparency" has de-evolved to something that is, at times, farcical (see here and here) thanks to marketers. Now, something similar is happening with Twitter.

I'm not suggesting that, other than Twammers, people have surrepticious motives. Rather, they are either misinformed or ignorant of social media mores and folkways. They just don't know any better (And, if they do, then shame on them.) and it is incumbant upon us "kool-aid" drinkers to help them get it. 

Call me a purist if you wish, the fact is, old-school marketing doesn't work in social media. Dare I say it again, "markets are conversations" and "participation is marketing." If you're unwilling to adopt that mindset you have no business trying to ply your wares using these tools. 

I'm not opposed to experimenting with the medium. However, I am unwilling to prostitute it simply to generate a more favorable ROI. 

(One suggestion: If we're going to experiment, let's find a way to do so in a more controlled environment than in the full-on entirety of the blog or social media spheres.)

Bottom line:  Social media is tools, but  not "just" tools. It's also a mindset. If you're going to use the tools, do so in the way the way they were designed and intended to be used. 

*=Just to be clear, I have the utmost respect and appreciation for John and his point of view. He was a recent guest on Bizzuka's User Friendly Thinking radio show and we enjoyed a great conversation. He is a man who has the utmost integrity, honesty and authenticity. He is my friend and has been for years. I have learned a great, great deal from him and am deeply appreciative of all that he has taught.

December 15, 2008

Creating a new brand, User Friendly Thinking

HdrLogo

At "Bizzuka Labs," we're creating a new social media marketing brand called User Friendly Thinking. While still in the process of clarifying the brand message, essentially it's a place where "technology and creativity intersect."

We refer to User Friendly Thinking as a "social media" brand, mainly because that's the channel through which it's being deployed.

Currently we offer:

UserFriendlyThinking.com
We're "eating our own dogfood" and have built a multi-blog, multi-author site using our own blog component, which is part of our overall CMS. While it's a work in progress, and certainly not on par with WordPress, Movable Type or WordFrame, we're rather proud of it. For the time being, contributors are members of the Bizzuka staff. We plan to invite outside contributors in the not-too-distant future.

User Friendly Thinking Radio
Every Friday at noon central we interview social media movers-and-shakers. Past guests have included Jason Falls, Ben McConnell, Anita Campbell, Charlene Li, Mack Collier, Toby Bloomberg as well as an assortment of Web designers, developers and our own staff.  The show is beginning to catch on too. Last week's episode with Mack was one In the near future our guest will include Wayne Hurlbert, John Jantsch and Michelle Miller among others.


This was a group started by our SVP of Global Sales and Business Development, Charles Lauller. Currently, it numbers some 167 members and growing everyday. We are getting our share of spammers though and figuring out ways to deal with it. We'd like to invite you to join if you're interested.

Plans for the future include a Twitter handle, video channel, Facebook group and online community.

The endgame here is to use UFT as a social media and content marketing "magnet" to introduce Bizzuka to a wider audience, but do so by focusing on the topics of Web design, development, content management and marketing rather than on Bizzuka itself.

As you can see from the UFT site, references to Bizzuka are minimal and non-invasive. We plan to keep it that way. It's "marketing by participation" that will drive the brand, not "hey, over here, look at us!!!!" forms of interruption.

I'd love to hear your thoughts on this idea along with any advice you'd care to share. It's an experiment and we can use all the input we can get. Do you think we're on the right track? What suggestions would you have for future development?

November 25, 2008

BrightTALK's Conversational Marketing Summit in full swing

BrightTALK's Conversational Marketing Summit is still going on and there are very recognizable personalities in the presentation queue: Anil Dash of SixApart and Marcel LeBrun, CEO of Radian6 among them.

My presentation, Conversations Create Customers, went well I think. At least those who left ratings seemed to think so. Whoo-hoo!!

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You can listen to the archived version by clicking here.

November 17, 2008

MarketingSherpa report on real estate blogging, social media

Back in June, I was interviewed by MarketingSherpa reporter Natalie Myers for a report she was writing dealing with real estate online marketing strategies.  The report is now available as the second of two-parts: Online Strategies from Real Estate Marketers – Try Blogs, SEO, Social Media

I regard MarketingSherpa with the same esteem as MarketingProfs. For years, CEO Anne Holland and her crew have been creating high-quality content to benefit marketing professionals and I'm honored to have the privilege of participating in this report.

October 20, 2008

New marketing becoming mainstreamed

Last week I, along with Bizzuka CEO John Munsell and SVP of Sales Charles Lauller attended the New Marketing Summit up in "Bahston." Bizzuka was a sponsor and exhibitor.

The experience brought with it a number of key takeaways, but the one that sticks with me the most is the impression I get that "new" marketing (i.e., social media marketing) is "becoming mainstreamed."

Note, I did not say "has become mainstream" or even "becoming mainstream." Social media marketing tactics and tools are coming into more popular use to be sure, but I think full integration is still at least a couple of years away if not longer.

For example, when you consider that only 15 percent of Fortune 500 companies incorporate blogs into their marketing/PR mix, that's telling.

That's in spite of the eMarketer article which, based on report, suggested that " the lines between blogging and the mainstream media have disappeared." (You should read Read Write Web's assessment, which outlines in detail why blogging is yet to be mainstream.)

What I learned from the New Marketing Summit is that social media is coming alongside other, more traditional marketing channels
to serve as an adjunct, not a replacement.

I believe the summit was designed to not only generate awareness of the need for and benefits of using social media, but to help formulate an understanding of how it fits into the overall marketing mix. And speaking of mix, MarketingProfs Digital Marketing Mixer, being held later this week in Scottsdale, will likely echo that same refrain.

Bottom line: The evolution taking place in the marketing world is not that new media is strictly a disruptive force, but that it is maturing to the point of becoming both accepted and expected. As I said, "becoming mainstreamed."

What's your assessment? Do you agree?

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