BL Ochman – The Twitter 20 Interview about Social Media and Blogging

BL Ochman, author of the What’s Next blog, and a veteran of digital marketing since 1996 and a public relations powerhouse before that, agreed to withstand the crucible of a Twitter 20 interview (20 questions live on Twitter). Here are BL’s thoughts on blogging, email, social media, and getting the job done right online. 1. […]

Think Bottom Line, Not Top Line, on Social Media ROI

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There’s been a lot of conversation lately about social media ROI but the hand-wringing about it is totally misplaced. True ROI (return on investment) calculations are possible in cause/effect marketing scenarios where you can isolate tactics and variables to determine incremental revenue generated. Today, the only marketing programs that can semi-reliably generate “real” ROI calculations are SEO, […]

The Power of Truth, Woot-Style

On a recent trip to New York, I was pondering the future of the in-flight magazine and bemoaning its general editorial shoddiness when I stumbled upon an extraordinary interview with Matt Rutledge from Woot about their policy of telling the truth and acknowledging mistakes. (hat tip to US Airways Magazine) Since the first caveman painted […]

An Amazing True Story of Cars, Bribes, and Customer Service

(Originally posted on Off Madison Ave blog) Earlier this year, I received a FedEx envelope unexpectedly. It was from Infiniti (Nissan Motors USA). I purchased an Infiniti EX in late December, 2007. Turns out, according to the letter enclosed in the FedEx, the window sticker on my vehicle listed a “rollover sensor” as standard equipment. […]

Jason Falls – The Twitter 20 Interview about Social Media and Public Relations

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Featuring Jason Falls, the head of social media at branding agency Doe-Anderson, author of the Social Media Explorer blog, and all-around social media nice guy genius. Jason submitted himself to the rigors of the Twitter 20 interview (20 questions live on Twitter) on November 14, 2008. Excellent questions and comments from viewers throughout, too. Thanks to […]

My Mom Thinks Chris Brogan Plays Hockey

I saw my mom the other day. She’s a pretty hip lady for 64. She was a high school teacher for about 30 years, and was always a student fave. Stylish. Knew the music. Knew the scene. Thought Patrick Swayze was hot. Now, in her semi-retirement, she’s the editor for an online-only newspaper. She takes […]

The Paradox of Social Media Control

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As discussed recently in “Why Are We So Scared of Our Customers?” and “Presto, How Social Media Makes Bad News Good” I’m seeing the fear of negativity preventing more companies from embracing social media. The typical social media objection is that if the company has a conversation with consumers in a public forum, the company […]

3 Reasons the Recession is Great News for Social Media

This recession is looking worse than Sylvester Stallone all roided up for that recent Rambo 14 (Rambo goes to the buffet for the Early Bird Special with some pals) movie. It’s going to be bad. But for social media, it just might be the best possible circumstance. Here’s why: 1. Smart Buying Consumer confidence is […]

Why Are We So Scared of Our Customers?

Many companies and even agencies are reluctant to engage in social media because they are afraid that some sort of consumer backlash will occur, doing damage to the brand. Certainly, there are a few noteworthy examples of social media missteps from brands like Wal-Mart, Coca-Cola et al. But in most cases, those shortcomings were due […]

Presto! How Social Media Makes Bad News Good

In corporate conference rooms, a major complaint about social media is that it forces companies to get involved with dissatisfied customers in a public forum. The historic imperative has been to ignore complaints publicly, and deal with them privately via form letters and an occasional telephone call from a customer service representative. The rule of […]

Scott Monty – The Twitter 20 Twinterview about Social Media at Ford

Live from Marketing Profs Digital Mixer Scott Monty, the head of social media for Ford, participated in a Twitter 20 interview on October 23 and answered a wide range of questions about social media at big companies, and his ideas for the future of conversation marketing. Scott and myself and 248 other lucky folks were […]

How Huffington Post and Obama Killed the New York Times Online

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AdAge revealed recently that the New York Times reported a steep 17.9% decline in ad revenues for July. Not unexpected, as many print behemoths are getting pummeled in this economy. (See related post “Is Digital Marketing Killing Magazine Ads”) However, NYTimes.com and the company’s other online efforts grew only .9% in July, compared to double […]

Bloggers: Who Is In Your Fab Five?

Thanks to Jason Falls for the inspiration (okay, it’s a straight rip-off) for this post. Jason pointed out five lesser-known bloggers that he reads regularly (including Convince & Convert). His post seems to have triggered an a-ha moment, as several other excellent social media bloggers including Mack Collier and Amber Naslund have posted similar lists […]

Why the Murder of Old Media is PR’s Best Chance

Since the advent of the printing press, professional opinions have helped shape our own. From Hearst to Murdoch, from Cronkite to Brokaw. Huge companies that employ thousands of trained journalists have helped us understand what’s good and bad, and whom to embrace or fear.  Not for long. This is not a flesh wound. The Internet […]