News & Events

February 05, 2009

Guest on Blog Business Success Radio with Wayne Hurlbert talking about the power of social media

You think I stuffed enough keywords into that title?! 

I'm a guest tonight on Wayne Hurlbert's Blog Business Success radio show which airs at 7 p.m. central, 8 p.m. eastern. 

We're going to be discussing the power of social media and I will share ideas for getting the most out of your social media experience. 

Topics will include how to use Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn and more to build lasting relationships that will grow your business, and we'll go beyond the "how" to discuss the "why."

Join us or listen to the archived version. It ought to be a full hour. 

February 03, 2009

Namecheap real winner in GoDaddy ad debacle?

GoDaddy CEO Bob Parsons reports that "Go Daddy's 2009 Super Bowl campaign results shattered prior records for both new customer sign-ups and total orders, with 10 percent more new customers joining than last year's Super Bowl Sunday." 

Despite the salacious nature of the ads, Go Daddy knows its customer base and, in the domain name registrar bowl, it appears they are the clear winner. 

Or maybe not...

I think there is a sleeper that, thanks to their  along with some creatively conceived and well-timed marketing campaigns, gained a measurable degree of marketshare as well. Certainly, they garnered plenty of buzz. If nothing else, they saw a 32% increase in traffic, according to , social media marketing consultant for whom Namecheap is s client.

Who is this sleeper? Namecheap.

Look at this Blogpulse trend graph comparing Network Solutions, Namecheap and Dotster:

20090202231537zGsCkFVgB0tup2Kpdrjj 

You'll note how Namecheap and Dotster were in a dead heat for second place well behind Network Solutions. However, thanks to their seizing an opportunity when it appeared, Namecheap was able to break out and place themselves in contention more closely to NetSol.
 
For example, the day of the Superbowl they created a "Make the Superbowl 43 Switch" campaign which asked, "Not happy with your current registrar or their advertising models?" The company offered a switch to their service for $6.99 per domain. 

If that's not enough, a few days prior to the game they came up with their own answer to GoDaddy's expensive Superbowl ads by creating the Namecheap Big Game Video Contest

Commercialfail

"We are asking you, the NameCheap customer, to come up with a funny NameCheap commercial around the same time," says their pitch. "We can't air it during half time, but the ones we like will be published for others to see in our blog and of course, to our YouTube channel. Feel free to browse through them while drinking beer, eating chips and queso, and arguing offsides calls with your friends."

They went after user-generated content to build buzz and, while it's a spoof, the campaign is creative and fun. The contest winner gets the Creative Vado HD pocket video camcorder, a prize valued at $225. Not too bad for less than one minute's worth of video.
 
Finally, on game night and the day following they maintaned a strong presence on Twitter promoting the switch campaign and coupon code.

It will be worthwhile to track whether Namecheap can hold the ground they've gained. They spiked before in recent months, according to Blogpulse, but receded to previous levels of notoriety in terms of buzz created in consumer-generated media.

What do you think of my surmise? Is Namecheap a "sleeper" winner in the registrar bowl? 

February 02, 2009

Interview with Shashi Bellamkonda regarding Network Solutions' response to GoDaddy ad debacle

9407ba9e-dd67-43ba-9830-906b433fcf22Shashi Bellamkonda SEO 2007 I had the opportunity to do a quick phone chat with , Network Solutions' "Swami of Social Media," earlier today to get his reactions to the GoDaddy Superbowl 2009 ad debaucle. 

My intent was not to sensationalize or stir up controversy, but to try and view this issue through Shashi's eyes as well as to see what lessons could be learned and best practices gleaned. 

To give you some background, GoDaddy rolled out their usual tasteless, cheap, tawdry, tittilating, sexist, demeaning to women, <insert adjective of your choosing> ads, which featured Indycar driver Danica Patrick and other females showing off certain parts of their anatomy. (BTW, Patrick is an Indycar driver, not NASCAR driver.) A few years ago, it had shock value... you know, the first time they tried it... but, now, not so much.  

In fact, what it did was unleash a groundswell of negative sentiment within the social media sphere, namely Twitter. (Mack Collier did a pithy synopsis that I think best sums up the prevailing attitude, so I'd ask you to visit his post to learn more.)

Seeing Shashi on Twitter, I and a number of others (, and to name a few) suggested he to encourage people to transfer their domain to NetSol. Apparently, lots of people are taking him up on the offer too. 

2009-02-02_1315

To be clear, Shashi didn't "opportunize" this of his own accord. He responded to requests and suggestions being made by others he knew and respected. Not saying there's anything wrong with seizing an opportunity, mind you, which is why I suggested he do so. 

In response Shashi created a for anyone wanting to transfer. 

2009-02-02_1320

Then, he waited and watched to see if the groundswell would respond in his favor, and it did. The post got retweeted numerous times (see ). Shashi's hope was that, rather than him tweeting about it, others would do so on his behalf and that hope seemed to be realized. 

Not only that, mentions of Network Solutions, which average between 6,000 - 7,000 per month normally, went up 10 fold, according to Shashi. 

Now, if you're a small business, you can pretty much do these types of things at a moment's notice. Not so if you're Network Solutions. 

Shashi had to alert his customer support and call center staff as to what was going on. Imagine the left hand not knowing what the right hand was doing? Happens all too often in online vs. offline world. Shashi made sure that base was covered. 

There's something else he did that I appreciate. He didn't trash the competition just to drive traffic to his offer. Nor did he need to. This is a situation where a measured response was all that was called for. "Discretion is the better part of valor," as they say and Shashi certainly displayed that characteristic. If that is also the character of Network Solutions, I applaud them. 

It is too early to determine if there will be any discernable positive ROI for NetSol, or the adverse for GoDaddy. In tracking Twitter mentions of the two, GoDaddy is receiving tons more. However, most of those are of a negative tone and the conversation is beginning to morph over into GoDaddy's alledgedly poor customer service.  

If you think all this is overblown, I would remind you of what happened a few years with a small bicycle lock company called Kryptonite. (See for background if you're unfamiliar with the story. It still lives to haunt them to this day.) Also, consider the Motrin Moms controversy as another case in point. 

If you think the same thing can't happen again, you're mistaken. It can and in spades. 

The saddest thing of all is that GoDaddy has at least one staff person assigned to monitor Twitter, , who, at the time of this writing, had yet to respond to any of the commentary.  I think that's inexcusable! One thing is for certain, Twitter users are . 

I suspect there is much more to come before this issue becomes yesterday's news. Perhaps it is the controversy du jour, but I believe there are lessons that can be learned that having bearing on how companies do business in the era of the social web. 

January 29, 2009

Five key takeaways from OMMA Social from a Silicon Valley outsider

Before I get to the meat of today's post, let me pubicly thank Cathy Taylor for putting together what proved to be a great event, OMMA Social. It was by far one of the best conferences I've attended to date; well-coordinated, solid content from industry experts and delicious food/drink. The event seemed to come off without a hitch too.

Now, to my obersvations...

The keyword of the day was "listening." 
Listening is the new marketing, or so it seems. It's a shame companies like Radian6 or Techrigy weren't there to take full advantage of the opportunity for them to speak to the issue from a sponsor/exhibitor standpoint, or at least as attendees, especially considering the room was full of agency people. Kudos to  from Crimson Hexagon, another social media monitoring company, for being in attendance. (I joke with Perry that their company name sounds like a 60s Bay-area rock band.)

Gauging what constitutes "influence" in social media is a huge issue. 
led an outstanding panel on what was referred to as "personal CPM." Essentially, the panel discussed how to measure influence in social media. It's a topic you'll hear discussed a lot this year. 

When marketers do figure out how to reward users for access to their influence, I hope it doesn't bring complete and total prostitution to an otherwise authentic medium. (Sorry, Perry Hewitt. Guess that's 5 demerits for using the term "authentic.") I can imagine a mad gold rush by socmed users to up the anty on their personal CPM in order to profit. 

Measuring the ROI of social media is another issue that must be dealt with in 2009.
Given this economy, if it can't be measured, it won't be taken seriously by many, if not most. We're at a point now where we're faced with the task of proving this medium can produce pecuniary value.

OMMA Social was a seminal event.
Matters that were introduced at the conference will become fodder for much discussion around social network water coolers in the weeks and months to come. 

The Twitter business model was a hot topic.
While those of us serving on the Twitter business model panel were not exactly considered experts on the topic, the viewpoints expressed were well thought out and not necessarily naive or ill-conceived. Certainly, they sparked some measure of discussion by the audience. Whichever direction Twitter decides to go in terms of a monetization strategy, one thing is for sure, it will be the topic of much discussion and analysis.

Again, kudos go to Cathy and her team for putting together such a well-coordinated event. I hope to attend next year whether I'm on a panel or not.

BTW, Cathy has put together her own list of takeaways over at Social Media Insider. In addition, David Berkowitz did a complete run-down (well, almost... he left off the Twitter panel) of the event over at The Marketer's Studio.

January 26, 2009

Twitter business model to present at OMMA Social

OMMA Social

Today is the big day when I and three other hand-picked contestants present our Twitter business plan ideas at OMMA Social. As a refresher, here's mine: Twitter should offer a premium version for biz use, similar to Yammer. Create private networks. Charge based on # of users.

I've given this idea more thought, obviously, and fleshed out additional details. (If you recall, Cathy wanted these in 140 characters or less.) This is what I've come up with.

TWITTER BUSINESS MODEL

Twitter should offer a premium version of the platform similar to Yammer, but with a twist -- Twitter sells the service as an OEM solution. They license part of the application for use by third-parties like Tweetdeck and Twhirl as well as enterprise users. These third-parties resell the service to businesses and organizations based on either a per-user fee (per "seat" license), message volume or combination of both. 

The essential ingredient is the ability to create private groups (an intranet) in which members can message others individually or the group as a whole. There would also be the ability to create sub-groups within groups (Departments, project teams, etc). 

Why this model? 

A premium services model offers several unique advantages to others, advertising and usage fee models in particular.

Advertising
An ad-based model is fraught with problems. First of all, it's, well, advertising. We all know ads have not bode well in social media. Click-through rates are low, CPM rates are declining and ads are interruptive. Our love affair with them ended long ago. 

Usage fees
Charging users a fee is an equally bad idea. Twitter has been around for almost three years and has always been free. While hard-core users like me would be willing to pay a fee, I think a lot of people would be pissed off and defect to apps like Plurk. Certainly, it would dissuade casual users from becoming more active and will slow the growth/adoption of the application. 

Why offer it as OEM?

The problem with Twitter creating something they offer directly to consumers is that no one uses Twitter's interface. (Not anyone who's been using the service for any length of time.) 

Keep in mind, part of the problem faced by services such as Yammer is that they run independently of Twitter. Another profile/login is required and another interface is necessary. 

The genius an OEM solution provides is that the premium functionality is built right into the client interface. Tweetdeck, for example, would be perfect for such an integration. 

The other part of the "secret sauce" is that the wealth is shared (President Obama would approve.) Twitter wins by providing an OEM solution, service providers win by being able to monetize their offerings, and users win because they don't have to deal with ads or pesky usage fees.  

So, that's what I came up with during the several hours on the plane from New Orleans to San Francisco. I'm sure there are other things relative to this model I"ve not considered. If so, please feel free to offer your suggestions. But, do so before 4:00 pm pacific time, because that's when the panel ensues.

January 23, 2009

FeedBurner, which was acquired by Google in 2007, is now forcing a migration of its feed data into Google and anticipates completion by February 28. (See Google's to learn more.) To say people are unhappy about it would be an understatement. For example...

Many, many people, including TechCrunch's Micheal Arrington, reported losing some or all of their subscribers. You may have noticed similar problems.

If you have a Feedburner feed tied to any of your blogs, in true handyman style this post outlines what you need to do in order to make the transition. It's really pretty painless.

Step 1: Log into your Feedburner account.

Step 2: Note the following statement. Choose "Move your account now." (As if you really have any choice.)

Step 3: Sign in using your Google account. (You do have a Google account right? If not, you'll have to set one up.)

Feedburner transition screen shot


In all likelihood you're already signed into the one you want, so click the "Next" button and you will be presented with this screen. (Well, of course it will have your feeds listed, not Bizzukas.)

Feedburner transition screen shot 2


Step 4:
Click the "Move feeds" button. FeedBurner's server will start talking to Google's server and you should see this screen.

Feedburner transition screen shot 3


If all goes well, and it will (fingers crossed), you will next see this screen.

Feedburner success screen

You will receive a detailed email from Google confirming that the transaction has taken place, along with other information relative to the matter.

Once you've made this transition, you can never go back to the old FeedBurner account. (Awe!!!) From now on you will log in via the Google version, . Well, actually, you can go to Feedburner.com for the time being, but it will redirect to this new URL. After February 28 that won't be the case.

If you happen to be a Blogger user, you are at an advantage. Because Blogger, like FeedBurner, is owned by Google, they offer a one-click migration. Everyone else has to follow this routine.

Lastly, there is a new URL for the feeds, http://feeds2.feedburner.com/yourblogname. You may want to go ahead and change the URL on your blog. However, Google does indicate in the FAQs that they intend to maintain backwards compatibility as long as the service exists.

In a second post, I'm going to discuss some of the proposed benefits from making this transition and offer my opinion on alternative solutions. For now, I'd go ahead and make the transition. No need to wait to the last minute.

Get the Complete Guide to Twitter for Business, only $9.95. This 35-page ebook equips you with everything you need to know to begin using Twitter to grow your business. Order today!

January 19, 2009

Writing a book for Wiley Publishing on social media marketing

The Digital Handshake: Seven Proven Strategies to Grow Your Business Using Social Media 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.

January 14, 2009

Panelist at OMMA Social on Twitter business model

OS_hd03

UPDATE: Here's Cathy Taylor's post at her Social Media Insider blog at Mediapost announcing the winners. Four of us made the cut and there are some interesting business models presented. I still think mine is the hands down winner tho. Heh.

Great news, for me at least. I've been chosen to be a panelist at OMMA Social on the topic of creating a Twitter business model. 

I know, I know. You're asking how that came about. I mean, Chris Brogan I ain't. The fact is , a columnist for Mediapost and the person overseeing this event, held a contest asking those interested in doing so to submit an idea for a business model for Twitter. The prize, participation as a panelist. 

Here was my entry... 

Twitter should offer a premium version for biz use, similar to Yammer. Create private networks. Charge based on # of users. Def. winner!

{Note: It had to be 140 characters or less. It was for Twitter afterall.)

To be honest, I never thought I had a chance, but very happy to be chosen. It's an awesome opportunity and I'm grateful to Cathy and Mediapost for extending the offer. 

OMMA Social is designed to guide marketing and media professionals through the terrain of social media. This one-day conference will address social marketing challenges and provide insights into how to make social networking work for companies now, and in the future.

This year's event features such notables as , , Rob Key, , and , to name but a few. 

Here's a link to a video from last year's OMMA Social. (No embed code available)

January 08, 2009

Marketers "sick" of Web 2.0 says MENG survey

A newly released survey done by Marketing Executives Networking Group of top marketing trends of 2009 indicates that "twice as many marketers are 'sick' of hearing about Web 2.0 and related buzzwords such as 'blogs' and 'social networking' compared to last year’s survey."

Meng-marketing-trends-buzz-words-tired-hearing-2009  

The survey goes on to say that "marketers still admit they don’t know enough about it" and that " 67% of executive marketers consider themselves beginners when it comes to using social media for marketing purposes."

This represents real opportunity for true social media marketing consultants, so long as they can make this stuff palatable and speak in layman's terms.

Ning1 One person who does this very, very well is , a veteran marketer who recently started her own agency, Harte Marketing and Communications. Beth has the good sense to see where social media fits into the overall marketing spectrum, and I believe her's is a well-reasoned, studied approach. (Doesn't hurt she's an adjunct professor at a local university.)

In a recent post, Beth asks, "Is social media the same as marketing?" To which she answers...

"I have said more than a few times that I am not a fan of the term 'Social Media Marketing.' Maybe it’s just semantics. Maybe I am just being staunch in applying the marketing and communications definitions and principals that I learned long ago and have implemented for ages.

"The issue at hand, as I see it, is that a lot of people are adding Social Media Marketing as part of their service offerings, but they haven’t spent a day doing the marketing part and because of that they struggle with implementing social media as part of an overall marketing strategy. Maybe it’s just me, but I don’t consider a company being advised to set up a LinkedIn or Facebook group or to have a Twitter account marketing (and in some cases, it’s not social media either). There’s much more to marketing (like product, distribution, pricing)."


As you can tell, Beth has some strong opinions on the subject and I highly recommend you read the post referenced above. Whether you agree with Beth or not, it will spur some critical thinking.

Another thing you should consider doing is joining us tomorrow, Friday, January 9, for User Friendly Thinking Radio, where Beth will be our guest. We're going to discuss this and other issues of importance to marketers today. The show airs at noon central and lasts for 30-45 minutes.

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.

»

Site Sponsor

My Photo

My Other Accounts

Ning StumbleUpon

Twitter Updates

    Blog Directory for Lafayette, LA