Conversational Media Marketing

Some of you know I've rolled out a new "brand." I'm calling myself the "social media handyman." Actually, it was a moniker that MarketProfs Ann Handley anointed me with after requesting some help with her A N N A R C H Y blog. Ann said she needed a "handyman" to do some work on the blog. I got the job and the handle stuck. Truth be told it's a perfect fit.

Ann has also extended an invitation (drumroll please) to blog at MarketingProfs Daily Fix as the handyman. I'm pleased to join an illustrious cast of bloggers including Mack Collier, Paul Dunay, Lewis Green, Valeria Maltoni and a number of others. To say that her invitation made my day is a huge understatement and I cannot tell you in just a few words how appreciative I am to be given this opportunity.

Not only that, I'm taking the handyman brand to Active Rain, the phenomenal real estate social network. You may know that I blogged there previously and they have welcomed me back with open arms. Again, I'm very appreciative to be rejoining that group and look forward to the opportunity.

Plans for building the brand also include an email newsletter containing tips and practical advice on using social media for marketing purposes. More to come on that.

I saw this job posting earlier today from Andy Sernovitz at word of mouth marketing agency GasPedal for a full-time blogger/writer/editor to work with them. Don't tell my boss at Bizzuka, but I started salivating when I read it. (No, really, I did.)

Aside from the fact it's located in the often frozen mid-western city of Chicago, it's a dream job to be sure...for someone. Since I won't be applying, maybe it's the one you've been waiting for. And maybe it's waiting for you.

I was asked to help spread a little WOM and link love about an event and Blog Council are sponsoring called BlogWell: How Big Companies Use Social Media.  It's an event where eight well-known corporations present case studies about how they're using blogs and social media. (Hence the title. Heh.)

The companies in question are...

• Cisco Systems
• Graco
• The Home Depot
• Intel
• Kaiser Permanente
• UPS   
• Walmart
• Wells Fargo

"Their goal is to demystify corporate blogging and provide tangible examples for all those companies who haven't gotten started yet," said Blog Council's Michael Rubin.

The even is being held October 28, San Jose Convention Center.

Now, continue reading to hear my thoughts and an idea for an SMB version of this.

A question was asked in the LinkedIn bloggers group, "Do you have a system for creating blog post titles? If so, what is it?"

I responded with this...

My philosophy is that we speak to two audiences with our blog, one human and one machine (i.e., search engines). As such, the post titles have to make sense to both. Creating titles that do the job well is both art and science. And, of course, it depends on whether we really care about reaching either audience, or both as the case may be.

My procedure is normally to incorporate a keyword or keyword phrase into the post title and to frontload it if at all possible. I then repeat those keywords in the post itself a couple of times, depending on the length of the post. Obviously, that's in an effort to appeal to Google. As you are aware, the post title is turned into an HTML title tag, at least in the most popularly used blog platforms. That's important from an SEO perspective.

The art then is to wrap a sentence or phrase around those keywords that make sense to the human reader. I've almost completely abandoned writing "catchy" titles in favor of ones that are more descriptive of the topic at hand. I'll leave the catchy titles to the likes of Seth Godin. He already has plenty of traffic. Me, I need pagerank.

Now, let's suppose one of my posts returns well for someone searching a particular keyword. It increases the likelyhood that one they're looking for and what I'm talking about are going to be a better match. What I don't need is a majority of my traffic hitting the site, then quickly leaving. Not only that, but using a more descriptive title will help the reader vet whether the post is worth their time to begin with.

For example, in this post, , I opted for descriptive and use of frontloaded keywords. I'd like to think the last phrase is descriptive enough for human readers to see where I'm going with it.

Conversely, in this post, A list of things to do before I die , I went for catchy. The former was intended to be more polemic and informative. The latter was a bit more personal.

Anyway, long answer, which I hope made sense.

• Two audiences, humans and machines
• Have to appeal to both
• Use fron-tloaded keywords in combination with descriptive titles
• Leave the catchy stuff to bloggers who can afford the luxury

To say that I'm excited about BlogWorld and New Media Expo this coming weekend would be an understatement of the grandest proportions. It has nothing to do with the fact that I'm speaking, or that I'm getting to go, along with my wife Amie, to Vegas (which is actually more of a treat for her than me as she used to live there a number of years ago).

Instead, it has everything to do with the fact that I'll finally get to meet so many of you, my virtual family and friends. People I've grown to know, admire and deeply respect.

For some, it will be a time of reconnecting. For others, including many I've known via online channels for years, this will be a first opportunity to meet face-to-face. I intend to get very little sleep and wear myself out shaking hands, hugging necks and otherwise meeting and greeting.

There are two very special cadres of people I want to meet and/or see again. One is my Realtor friends, most especially those that purchased Realty Blogging. The other are members of the IBNMA, the blogging and new media organization I have the privilege of serving as president. We're going to have a big ole time together!

Of course, there is always the fear of not making a good impression. Sometimes relationships are best kept virtual. Still, I'm hopeful that I can overcome my social ineptitude, remember when to keep my mouth shut, and make at least a semblance of a good impression.

Regardless, I plan to make the most of the time as I know the weekend will whirl by. And if you're interested in hooking up, just look for the short, bald guy with the silly grin and hint of a southern accent. That'll most likely be me.

For years I've been harping about how I think play well together as marketing tools. Now, a B2B Ask the Expert article aptly suggests email has a place within social media as well. Who'd thunk it!

"E-mail marketing could not be better suited to enhance your social media efforts; in fact, it is the key ingredient in launching a successful social media marketing campaign," states the article. "The rise of social media is pushing the evolution of e-mail marketing from blast campaigns to more personal, one-to-one engagements."

How do most Facebook, Ning and other online communities keep members informed? Email is the obvious choice. For example, I manage the IBNMA and use FB's email messaging component all the time. It's ability to proactively "push" content is the key -- as opposed to the more passive RSS feed.

Speaking of RSS, in spite of the fact it's been around since 1995 (a long time in Internet years), it's rate of adoption among non-techies still pallors in comparison to old-fashioned email.

Those who prophesied email's demise must surely chagrin (if they even remember what they said). Email is far from dead. In fact, I can't see a time when it will die, even with RSS, Twitter, Friendfeed and all the other choices.

The bottom line is that, today, we have multiple options for how we receive information. The fact that email is still one of them - and a significant one to boot - is a good thing.

What do you think?

I'm a member of the LinkedIn Bloggers group where this question was recently asked, "What do you think? Is commenting (on blogs) a dying art?" The blogger referenced this post by a fellow member.

I responded by suggesting the real issue, and one us long-time bloggers may have trouble adjusting to, is the fact that there are now so many other places to comment than a few years ago. For example, I had a Twitter exchange with someone yesterday who read my latest post. He made several comments, none of which ended up on my blog.

I may be playing with a lit stick of dynamite here, but I'd like to know what you think of using online communities (whether of interest or practice) for lead generation? Does that amount to little more than prostitution?

Having come from the "purist" days of business blogging, I really don't want to use online communities for such "prurient" motives as driving marketing and sales agendas. Yet, I can't help but believe there can be a healthy balance between community and commerce, especially when it's possible the reason the community exists is for the sake of commerce.

Not a very SEO-friendly title perhaps, but maybe a bit more attention getting. I'm referring to small-to-medium B2B businesses and their use of social media marketing.

I received today's version of Get to the Po!nt email newsletter from MarketingProfs which rang my bell. It opened by saying, "If you're a small business, you're aware that Web 2.0 offers entirely new channels for attracting and cultivating customers. And in a post at the Acquiring Minds blog, Robert Lesser explains why your diminutive stature might actually give you the social-media edge over your larger (and richer) competitors."

Lesser points out a number of key benefits, including the fact that social media can be an antidote to small (or non-existing) marketing budgets, a problem I face daily. That's one reason I use social media as a marketing tool -- it's cheap!

We interviewed Jason Falls, Director of Social Media at Doe-Anderson, a Louisville, Ky-based brand-building agency, on our User Friendly Thinking (formerly known as Bizzuka Buzz) Blog Talk Radio show today.

Jason is better known though as the author of Social Media Explorer blog. He literally came out of nowhere less than a year ago and has earned a place of notoriety among business and social media bloggers. (Read his blog and you'll understand why.)

We talked about social media and its implications where advertising, marketing, public relations and journalism are concerned. (Plus, a bit of conversation about its application to small business as well.) We dealt with the topic of personal branding to some extent as well.

The program ran past the 30-minute timeframe and we talked for over an hour. It was a great conversation and I'd encourage you to take some time to listen when you can.