It’s More About the Social Than It Is About the Media
Sure, the gadgets and gizmos and the apps and androids of social media make it more convenient for us to interact with one another, and with brands. But it’s not really about the bits and bytes and data and Dick Costolo, is it? It envelopes us, but technology is only the third most important “ly” […]
3 Reasons To Dig Deeper In Social Listening
Guest post by Connie Bensen, the Director of Community Strategy and Social Media at Alterian, which provides leading marketing products for the enterprise. She also blogs at http://communitystrategist.com. Brands have realized that social networks offer an opportunity to interact directly with consumers. They create pockets of communities where like-minded people share information and seek advice. […]
11 Whys I’m a Social Media Addict
Connectivity Social media brings me closer to people with whom I ordinarily would seldom interact. Family, friends, colleagues. As my co-author Amber Naslund put it once “with social media, my relationships aren’t bound by geography or circumstance.” Exactly. Humanity People always slam Twitter for people talking about “what they had for lunch” but the blending […]
Online Community With Purpose and a Plan
Lisa Beatty was at a cross-roads. This 40-something Florida Mom found herself undergoing several simultaneous life shifts, and realized that products and the communication about them didn’t resonate with her any longer. Companies didn’t seem to understand where she was, who she was, or what she wanted. So, Lisa Beatty build JaneNation.com, a new opinion, […]
Turn the Tables on Social Media with NutshellMail
Keeping tabs on your social media connections these days is like bar hopping, without the cocktails or pool tables with stained felt. You run over to check your Twitter account. Then you dash to Facebook to see what’s going on there. Then Linkedin. Maybe your blog. All the while you’re feeling like you’re playing catch-up, […]
The Social Impact of Friendships and Lies
Do you trust me? Social media relies on the premise that we’ll believe what people tell us more readily than if we were told the same thing by a nameless, faceless company. That’s why brands go to great lengths to humanize themselves on the social Web. But, a new study by Edelman (whose digital arm […]
Don’t Lose Your Social Media Joy
Watching the mini-mites play hockey at today’s tournament in Durango, Colorado, it struck me that these kids play for the pure joy of it. They don’t care who wins, who scores goals, who gets to be goalie. They care about having fun, and what the post-game snack might be. And as social media matures, I […]
What Do Twitter Lists Say About Your Personal Brand?
Taking a long overdue page from the Seesmic and Tweetdeck playbook, Twitter.com recently launched Twitter lists, enabling you to segment the people you follow on Twitter into groups. This is particularly useful in organizing people by industry, geography, or even the type of content they typically tweet. But what’s more interesting is that Twitter Lists […]
Imitation and Obsolescence – Facebook Guns for Twitter
Join me and 21 other speakers for Facebook Success Summit 2010, a Webinar series with everything you need to know about Facebook for business. Sessions start October 5. Go to http://bit.ly/facebooksuccess to save 50% for a limited time. Revenge is a dish best served via status updates. When you look in the rearview mirror, you […]
Can Social Connectivity be Taught? My Thoughts on Trust Agents
Trust Agents, the new book by Chris Brogan and Julien Smith is storming the bastille of business wisdom, shooting up the NY Times bestseller list. (A rarity these days for a book not about vampires). The book has been reviewed by a ton of smart people, including Christopher S. Penn, Amber Naslund, Jason Falls, Eric […]
11 Timely Social Media Takeaways
Thanks very much for your support of Convince & Convert while I was on vacation in Denmark and Norway. I really appreciate the readership, tweets, and comments about the fantastic guest posts that ran during my absence. Great job by the excellent team of guest bloggers. It just goes to show, Convince & Convert isn’t […]
Building Your Blog Community: It’s a Matter of W FACT
Are you building a community, or an audience? In the last couple weeks, I’ve had two experiences that really shook me up on the topic of community. First was Chris Brogan’s simple but devastatingly effective post about the difference between audience and community being the direction the chairs are facing. Second, was a conversation I […]
Build Thought Leadership Through Social Networking
Remember, social media is about people, not logos. That’s why the most powerful form of social capital is personal, not corporate. That was the theme of my day-long workshop for the Association of Management Consulting Firms last week in New York. My friend and client Elizabeth Sosnow of BlissPR co-presented with me. Titled “You’re a […]
Why Twitter Needs Its Bottom Spanked
I see Twitter being in real danger of becoming MySpace and SecondLife. Do you? If Twitter doesn’t get it’s act together and improve customer experience for the masses of new users signing on, it’s going to end up as an irrelevant, niche community for a self-referential subculture. It doesn’t surprise me in the least that […]
Twitterati Says Email Isn’t Dead Yet – 6 Findings
Every conference I’ve been at, and at least 10 blog posts I’ve read this year have proclaimed the death of email. Social network messaging, and its 1:1 relevancy and real-time immediacy will inexorably make email the Edsel of digital communication, goes the theory. It’s not true. Firstly, this isn’t a zero sum game. The notion […]
Closing the Gap with Social Media
I moved to a smallish town (60,000) from a big city (3 million) nearly 5 years ago. I used to work in an office with 50 people. Now, when I’m not traveling to conferences or to see clients, I work from home. Usually half-dressed. Staring out at a forest. Other than our cat that I […]