Conversational Media Marketing

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.

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.

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.

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?

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 recall in September 2005 following Katrina's landfall doing nothing but blogging about the storm and issues related to it for two solid weeks. I even started a blog to post about Katrina-related jobs. That was then, this is now.

Gustav brought with it many more options to keep friends and family updated about our status or for use in sharing news about disaster response.

• FEMA widget - Note the widget in the sidebar. That's something Homeland Security put together.
• Twitter - Many people used Twitter to and . (Ready.gov also used .)
• Utterz - Knowing I'd have limited internet access I broadcast messages to Utterz via my cellphone.
• Ning - This easy-to-use social network platform was used to share information about Gustav.
• Social bookmarks - The Weather Channel uses social bookmarking with alerts on its site.
• RSS feeds - TWC also uses for updates. (So does Accuweather, and the NWS.)
• Blogs - All the major weather sites - Weather.com, Accuweather and Wunderground - have blogs.

Louisiana emergency preparedness sites still stuck on stupid Web 1.0

I was disappointed to see that none of Louisiana's emergency sites offered any type of social media tools. Not one! These include Gov. Jindal's office, the state's emergency site, Louisiana Homeland Security & Emergency Preparedness, GetaGamePlan.org, Louisiana State Police, Louisiana Recovery Authority, Louisiana.gov, or the American Red Cross, Baton Rouge chapter.

There's no excuse for this in my opinion, not when so many options abound. I mean, heavens, add RSS feeds at least. The Get a Game Plan site should absolutely offer these. It's not like Gov. Jindal doesn't know about social media tools either as he used a number of them during his campaign.

With hurricane season still heavy upon us, unfortunately there will likely be other opportunities for social media technologies to be utilized for emergency response, news and status updates. I'm glad they exist, for that reason and many others.

(Lastest computer tracking models as of 10:23 p.m. Friday.)

For those of you interested in following, I am providing updates via my Utterz and accounts. I rarely use them for anything else and they seem well-suited for such. Let me invite you to subscribe to the RSS feeds. Hopefully, I'll provide both regular and up-close (but not too up-close) and personal accounts.

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!