I stole the headline for this article from Scott Stratton, author of UnMarketing: Stop Marketing. Start Engaging., who spoke to the Social Media Club in Dallas the other night (and I'm not giving it back).

Scott was talking about the role of social media in marketing and why it is so important to businesses that are seeing their marketing/advertising costs go up, and their results go down.

We've all heard the truism that people do business with other people they know, like and trust. Scott pointed out that people only look for a business in the Yellow Pages or on Google when they do not already have a relationship with a business they know, like and trust. In other words, only after relationships fail does traditional marketing have to take place.

Therefore all of our advertising, all traditional marketing, even search engine optimization is directed toward people who do not already know, like or trust us (Call me lazy, but I'm shortening that phrase to "KLT" for the rest of this article).

Think about the sheer cost of this problem. Massive amounts of advertising money are spent every day to target the no-existing-relationship potential customers. Would not the cost of marketing be a lot less if we put the focus on building lots of KLT relationships instead?

In contrast to mass advertising, this is the role of social media marketing:
To build KLT relationships with targeted people who may not now have a need for our products or services; so they will know, like and trust us before they need us.

Social media is the ideal tool for gathering lots of people who KLT you. It is an awesome relationship building tool because it works in real time, has a global AND local reach, allows you to mingle with people of like interests, and enables you to show the human side of your company.

But be warned: social media is shockingly ineffective as an overt, in your face, buy-my-product-now, selling tool. It is more like a social event where you can get to know people, talk about Major League Baseball, talk about what your kids are doing, and share helpful ideas and information, than it is the showroom of a new car dealership.

But this is precisely why a lot of business people have trouble warming up the the idea of using Twitter and Facebook to reach out to customers. It sounds warm and fuzzy, but how do you measure it? How do you determine that this dollar brought in this sale?

There are a lot of really good ways to measure social media's impact. You can measure how many people clicked on a link and visited your website, how many people Retweet your messages, how many eyeballs see your messages, etc. But the truth is that the true value of social media is based on common sense.

Erik Qualman, author of Socialnomics: How Social Media Transforms the Way We Live and Do Business, answers the question of what is the ROI (return on investment) of social media by asking, "What is the ROI of your telephone?"

You could never measure the ROI of your telephone. Nor can you measure the ROI of meeting people at networking events, or volunteering to get involved with charitable organizations.

How can you possibly attach an ROI to talking to people?

But we all know that talking to people is extremely valuable. If you were invited to speak to a large group of your target customers, would you show up? Of course you would, but can you put an ROI on that speech?

If you were invited to appear on the Oprah show, would you show up? I'm betting you would make that appearance if you had to push your car from San Diego to Chicago. But what is the ROI of sitting beside Oprah and getting your chance to tell the world about your product?

What is the value of credibility? What is the value of relationships? What is the value of brand awareness?

This is the same challenge PR faces. How do you measure the value of favorable news? If your company is constantly in the news in a favorable light, is that valuable? Of course, but how do you measure it?

Here's the real test. Show me a single top executive that isn't a great networker. I personally know of several top people who readily admit that some of their biggest deals were made or initiated on golf courses, country clubs or at social events.

Harvey Mackay says that he always flies first class because of the people he meets there. The very best business deals are made in non-business settings.

But the real kicker of why social media is so important is not just the KLT relationships you establish directly. It isn't always the person you meet on the golf course or in the seat next to you in first class, or the person you work with on a charity's board.

It is also about the people these people know. It's about the people who know, like and trust the people who know, like and trust you.

No advertisement is ever going to trump a referral from someone who trusts you. Even if that referral comes from an old high school friend your customer has reconnected with on Facebook 30 years after graduation.

The more you are out there on Twitter, Facebook and LinkedIn, the more you can get known, liked and trusted by the friends of the people you connect with. If you want real word of mouth to take place, nothing beats social media.

Here's why:

Something that takes place every day on Twitter is the very visible customer service interaction. A customer has a problem with a brand and tweets about it. From there, one of three things happen.

• First, the issue may be ignored. This company is not on Twitter, is not aware someone tweeted about their brand and the issue never gets resolved. Other people who see this happen think bad things about the company. (Here's an example of what happened to FTD when they failed to respond to a customer on Twitter).
  
  
• Second, the company is on Twitter and does respond, but handles the matter badly. (Scott gave an example of a coffee shop that got snippy with a customer on Twitter, and the incident unfolded before thousands of people who were following either the customer or the coffee shop). Result: the company looks really, really bad and probably loses a lot of business.
  
  
• Third, the company responds quickly and politely. They take steps to resolve the problem, and do so in a very professional manner. Result: thousands of Twitter users see this interaction and think what a quality company this is. And they see this company as an organization they know, like and trust.

On social media, your everyday customer service interactions becomes a powerful marketing tool if you handle them well.

The bottom line is that social media is really a big, big networking event. You don't want to go there to push product and back people into a corner with your sales pitch, but you do want to meet people and build relationships with them. If you build enough KLT relationships, you won't need to spend massive amounts of money advertising to people who do not know, like or trust you.

If you like this article:

• Follow me on Twitter.
• Facebook me!
• Join Me on LinkedIn
• Visit me at Charles Brown on Google Profiles

----------------------------------------------------COPYRIGHT © 2010, Charles Brown Add to Onlywire

The other day I wrote an article about why the concept of cultivating 1000 True Fans involves: 1) Knowing who your audience is (in other words really understanding their "buyer personas," and 2) Adding lots of value to that core group of people.

Today I want to talk about how applicable this strategy is for all businesses, regardless of size or industry.

Tim Ferris, said that the original piece about 1000 True Fans, written by Kevin Kelly, was really the only article on marketing anyone needs to read. I completely agree. As a concept, it applies to small and large businesses, individual professionals, non-profit organizations and even causes and ideas.

Originally, Kelly thought of the 1000 True Fans idea as being specifically for artists, musicians, bands, crafts people, performers, video makers and others who created and sold artistic works.

As he presented it, such a creator only needs 1000 people who will consistently spend about a day's income per year (approximately $100) to support him or herself. This core of 1000 are not the only customers,in fact you can count on the fact that this group will help spread the word and bring in more customers along the way.

So not only are these 1000 True Fans regular buyers, they are also word of mouth marketers for the creator. They are the evangelists we all long for who will help spread our message to others.

But 1000 True Fans has taken on a life of its own as others have grabbed onto the idea and seen that it has application for their work as well. Non artists have adopted the concept and prospered from the strategy.

But it begins with creating content.

Let's face it, most businesses are not likely to attract fans on our own. Unless we sell a product that is truly sexy, like an iPad, Corvette or Gina Alexander Handbags, we need to add something else to the mix.

My friend Bill Hurlbut sells insurance. Now maybe he thinks insurance is sexy (with Bill you never know, he is after all a Republican). But for the rest of us, insurance is one of those things we have to buy but would rather not have to think about it all that much.

But Bill has fans. He has built his fan base upon the ideas and information he willingly shares about things other than insurance. He blogs, sends out a newsletter and speaks about business building tips and ideas. If you are a small business owner (his target market) you will likely become his fan because he shares ideas that can help you succeed and become more profitable.

And oh, by the way, you may even buy insurance from him rather than someone else when you have a need for it. The reason is he stays in touch and unselfishly helps you achieve your own goal of growing your business.

And he creates good, valuable, helpful content. The information he shares has made Bill what I call a "micro celebrity" among small business people in this community.

But what if you work for a very big business? Won't you need more than 1000 fans?

Yes and no. You will surely need more than 1000 loyal customers to stay in business. But remember we are talking about true fans here. We are talking about rabid, excited people who not only buy from you regularly, but who also tell others about you.

These are people who consume your content and share it with others.

If you have 1000 people who are active on Twitter, Facebook or other social media communities, who tweet about you. blog about you, Digg you or post videos about you; that 1000 can create a tsunami of good will.

Central Market is a very high-end grocery store chain here in the Dallas/Fort Worth are where I live. They sell wonderful food you can find no place else. You can buy a complete gourmet meal at their deli counter (although I think of it as more a food court than a mere deli counter). Shopping there is an experience, not just an item to be crossed off your to-do list.

But Central Market has more than customers, they have fans.

And they have fans because, not only do they sell a great product, they also create content and events.

They have a blog called More Please and a newsletter called eFoodie that give die hard foodies a steady stream of information about great recipes and nutritional knowledge.

Some Central Market stores also book bands to play out on their patio, which creates a family event for people to buy ready-made meals from the deli/food court and sit out to enjoy the music.

They have lots of regular classes for budding chefs like me who want to learn to cook gourmet meals.

Of course they are also on Facebook and Twitter as well.

Central Market attracts fans, not just customers, because they create content in the form of their recipes, newsletter, blog and classes. They also create events like the outdoor concerts and classes.

And guess what, all this cultivates fans who Tweet about them or write blog posts about them like I am doing now.

Imagine how effective just 1000 positive blog posts about Central Market (or any other corporation) would be? If each of these bloggers also tweeted about their article, there would inevitably be a large number of retweets, spreading the message virally to a lot more than 1000 people.

The point is that any business, anyone with a message or a unique product can get a lot more mileage from focusing on a few rather than on mass marketing to everyone.

After all, would you rather have fans or customers?

If you like this article:

• Follow me on Twitter.
  
• Facebook me!
  
• Join Me on LinkedIn
  
• Visit me at Charles Brown on Google Profiles

----------------------------------------------------
COPYRIGHT © 2009, Charles Brown
Add to Onlywire

1. It all starts with having your own blog. How can you get your own ideas out there if you don't have an online platform to call your own?
   
2. Be generous. Use your blog and other social media tools to shine the spotlight on others more than on yourself.
   
3. Be an idea person. A personal brand is built on the useful content you provide to others.
   
4. Define who your audience is. Don't try to reach everyone. Determine who your "buyer personas" are.
   
5. Create or link to content that solves problems for your particular audience. Providing problem-solving information makes you a resource (and an expert).
   
6. It should go without saying that you have to be good at what you do. All the personal branding in the world won't help you if you aren't a quality product.
   
7. That said, narrow your niche to what you are already good at. Lead with your strengths.
   
8. Know what your goal is for personal branding: A new job? Moving up in your existing career? Or are you an entrepreneur seeking new clients?
   
9. Get known. Use social media tools like Twitter, Facebook, YouTube, LinkedIn, Flikr and others to let people know about your blog's content.
   
10. It bears repeating: The content you produce IS your personal brand. Can you even think about James Cameron without thinking of Avatar or Titanic? If you are not creating quality content, you are not branding yourself.
    
11. Make friends. Social media is not simply a broadcasting tool, it is a vehicle to cultivate real friendships.
    
12. Be a friend. How can you help, encourage, praise, or even amuse the people you meet online? Think of Twitter/Facebook/etc. as a bunch of friends gathering in a friendly pub after work.
    
13. Practice online random acts of kindness. Do or say something nice to someone who cannot possibly help you or put money in your pocket. An easy way to do this is to spotlight a link to someone else's blog or site.
    
14. Help others grow their number of followers/friends.
    
15. Go offline. Can your blog's content be repackaged as an article, CD or DVD? Shocking as it may seem, not everyone you want to reach is active on social media.
    
16. Get out there and meet your online contacts in the real world. Attend events or Tweetups. Or just arrange to meet someone in a coffee shop.
    
17. Create content that solves problems unrelated to what you sell, but that is very important to your target audience. It isn't about you, it's about them.
    
18. Leverage your growing brand to make contacts with VIPs. Use the power of Twitter and other social media to network your way into elite circles. If you have created good content and been generous, this will be surprisingly easy to do.
    
19. Don't let your old content stop working for you. If an article you wrote 18 months ago is still relevant, send out tweets or Facebook updates linking to it. Make your older stuff available to a new audience.
    
20. Hang out at other people's blogs and websites. Post thoughtful comments and link to their better articles. Don't just swoop down and post stuff on their blogs without first being a reader of what they put out.
    
21. Grow your brand by building up other people's brands. Promote them, spread the word about how much you appreciate this person's information.
    
22. Join or create groups on Twitter, Facebook or LinkedIn that relate to the brand you are building. Be an active participant in those communities.
    
23. Don't just use social media to spread your own message. Listen. You will be amazed at how much you can learn on Twitter, LinkedIn and Facebook.
    
24. After you listen, share what you learn with the people who follow you. It isn't just about sending out links to your own content, link to other sites more often than you do to your's.
    

If you like this article:

• Follow me on Twitter.
  
• Facebook me!
  
• Join Me on LinkedIn
  
• Visit me at Charles Brown on Google Profiles

----------------------------------------------------
COPYRIGHT © 2009, Charles Brown
Add to Onlywire

Not long ago I had a conversation with a real estate agent about how to use social media to market himself. It got me thinking about the old-school real estate marketing practice of “farming.”

The way farming works is like this: An agent will decide on a neighborhood, or subdivision to specialize in and becomes THE expert for that area.

This area is her farm. She becomes an expert on property values in this community and builds relationships with the people who live there. Over time, a certain percentage of these people put their homes up for sale (typically about 5% of the houses in a subdivision are on the market at any given time) and, if the agent has sufficiently established herself, she positions herself as the first real estate agent they think of.

I’ve never sold real estate myself, so I don’t know if farming is still a popular marketing strategy, but I do know that a lot of agents in the past have done very well for themselves using the farming system.

One of the keys of the system’s success is that it begins with the understanding that you can’t market to everyone. It forces agents to specifically define their target markets and focus their efforts on building relationships within that finite group.

I once lived in a subdivision that was one particular agent’s farm and she was apparently quite successful at it. Approximately half of all the For Sale signs that went up had her name on them.

But she really worked her farm. Every summer she hosted block parties, had a paper newsletter that kept people up to date on real estate values and interest rates. But it also had recipes and puzzles for kids to solve.

She also included free ads for garage sales in the community and got local businesses to put coupons and special offers in her newsletter. Teenagers even got to post free ads for their babysitting and lawn mowing services.

She had a recommended list of nearby businesses and kept us up to date on things to do in the area.

She knocked on every door at least once a quarter to introduce herself or reintroduce herself and hand out information about property values and taxes. I know of one instance in which she helped one homeowner fight the city when he was given an unrealistic tax assessment.

Her magnetic business cards graced most refrigerators. Every household in the subdivision received beautiful Christmas cards and calendars every year.

She also taught home buying seminars which helped her have a steady supply of prospective buyers. As a result, it was common knowledge that when she got a listing, her houses tended to move fast. A seller would have to think twice before giving his brother in law a contract to sell his houses.

I’ve long since moved away from that area, but I have to wonder if that agent is now publishing an email newsletter or writing a blog to help her cultivate her farm.

Now what does all this have to do with social media marketing?

Simply this: All successful social media marketing campaigns are a lot like farming. This agent was "social networking" long before it went online.

A lot of business people target everyone who has the means to write them a check. But effective social media marketing begins with the understanding that we can’t reach everyone, and it is a waste of time to try.

Part of my interview process when I begin working with a new client is to ask them to describe their ideal clients. I’m always amazed at how hard this question is for business people to answer.

For example, I met a chiropractor who said that anyone with a spine was his ideal client. Obviously he was partly joking, but not entirely.

If you sell a service that anyone and everyone can use and needs, you still can’t build relationships with everyone. It is far better to narrowly define a specific group of prospects with whom you can build relationships.

Your farm can be people who live in a specific community, or it can be all the out-patient medical facilities within a five zip code area. It can be female dentists in the west side of your town, or it can be high school basketball coaches.

Identify a group you can relate to, and with whom you share common interests. Is there a group you like or share common experiences with? Are you a mother of teenage girls? Then maybe other mothers of teenage girls could be your farm.

Social media makes it easy to find and join all kinds of groups. And if you can’t find a specific group, you can start your own.

For example, go on Facebook or LinkedIn and check out all the groups you can connect to.

Twitter also has a lot of groups you can join.

Or start your own group (aka “farm”).

But joining or starting a group is just the beginning. You still have to “cultivate” your farm like the agent I mentioned earlier. Create events for that group, Facebook and LinkedIn make creating events very easy.

Try to cultivate these relationships offline as well as online. Pick up the phone and make friendly calls to your followers/friends.

Be informative, be a resource. And most of all, be fun.

Over time you will find that you are turning your group into a community (and friends). These people will know your name and know what you stand for.

The lessons here are:

1. Define a finite and specific target market.
   
2. You want a group of people who are both prospects AND who share common interests with each other. Obviously, if you share these same interests yourself, all the better.
   
3. Either find existing groups or create your own. Cultivate ways for the members of the group to network with each other. You want word of mouth going on, as it can bestow "social proof" on you and your business.
   
4. Start a blog and/or newsletter to communicate with your group. Share problem-solving information and resources. Use these platforms to further the goals of the group.
   
5. Find ways to make the group fun. Remember the real estate agent who added puzzles and recipes to her newsletter.
   
6. Become an advocate for group members. If there is a cause they are passionate about or pending legislation that effects the group, you might consider letters to the editor, or helping them organize.
   
7. Practice random acts of kindness. Remember the real estate agent who helped a homeowner fight his tax assessment and allowed teenagers to place free ads in her newsletter.
   
8. Position yourself as THE expert in your field within your group. You don’t have to be the best C.P.A. in the world, just the best known among this group.
   
9. Find opportunities to expand your relationships offline (meetups, tweetups, social events, etc).

And like the real estate agent who farmed my neighborhood, you will position yourself to be the first person they think of when they need your services.

If you like this article:

• Follow me on Twitter.
  
• Facebook me!
  
• Join Me on LinkedIn
  
• Visit me at Charles Brown on Google Profiles

----------------------------------------------------
COPYRIGHT © 2009, Charles Brown
Add to Onlywire

Recently I have been approached by two business people who wanted to know about using social media platforms like Twitter, Facebook and LinkedIn to promote their businesses.

Normally I would suggest that they build a following based on sending informative content that their potential clients are interested in. However, both of these individuals sell insurance, and feel that a lot of their potential clients really aren't all that interested in their topic.

Their is another way to build relationships via social networking.

Since almost every person who drives a car, owns a house or feeds a family has a need for the products they sell, practically EVERYONE is a potential client for these two agents.

But you can't really market intelligently to everyone in the world. A better strategy is to target a niche.

In real life, a business person might join social groups, volunteer for charitable work, or get involved in a group related to a hobby they enjoy.

I once knew a financial planner who was really involved in flying model airplanes. He joined several groups for similar hobbiests. He got involved, attended their events regularly and made friends. He also became a resource for other hobbiests who came to respect his knowledge and advice.

Because he made friends with people who had the same interests he had, it wasn't long before his new friends started coming to him for financial advice. This obviously led them to become clients.

Another financial planner I know is an avid deer hunter. He also joined several groups of deer hunters and outdoorsmen. He also formed several deer hunting excursions and made friends who also became clients.

The same thing can be done online with Twitter and other social media platforms. Facebook and LinkedIn both offer several groups you can join online. Once you've joined these groups, get involved. Be active. Share information and ideas.

Most of all, become a resource.

On Twitter, find a niche of people who would make good clients and who have a specific interest. Then go online and gather information these people want to learn about. Become a knowledgeable source of problem-solving content.

Armed with this information, you use Twitter to "tweet" about this information. Send out messages with links to this content you have gathered.

Gradually, you will make friends, build trust and credibility among the people you are targeting.

But that is not the final step. You still have to reel them in to your marketing funnel.

Now you need to create an email newsletter. In the case of my two insurance agent friends, I might suggest a "Money Tip of the Week" newsletter. Some of the people you have befriended will choose to opt in to your email list.

DO NOT just send out solicitation emails to the people you have met online who have not opted in to receive your emails. The word for this is spam. Don't do it. This will simply ruin your relationships.

You can send them an email that invites them to opt in to receive your "Tip of the Week" or to listen to a free teleseminar as a way to get them to subscribe.

There are a number of reasons not to spam. Spamming destroys whatever respect and credibility you have already built. But even more important, you are much better off targeting people who choose to opt in. These people have self-selected themselves to receive your information. That means they at least have some level of interest in what you do.

(For information on how to make this work for you, check out my updated ebook on email marketing).

As the people who have opted in receive your low-pressure, but educational emails, they will come to trust you more and will likely do business with you when their timing is right.

To sum up, use social media to create and build relationships, trust and credibility. Then invite them to subscribe to your email marketing system. Your emails will gradually give them more and more reasons to do business with you. When THEIR timing is right, they will let you know.

If you like this article:

• Follow me on Twitter.
  
• Facebook me!
  
• Join Me on LinkedIn
  
• Visit me at Charles Brown on Google Profiles

----------------------------------------------------
COPYRIGHT © 2009, Charles Brown

Add to Onlywire

One of my ongoing challenges when explaining how social media can be used as a business tool, is how to demonstrate a strategy that will deliver real results.

There are still a lot of business people who suspect that social media is a waste of time or a distraction from doing real business. And there is something to be said for this suspicion - especially if social media is is pitched as a "magic pill" for all manner of business problems.

To help me better explain social networking (which is the human behavior rather than simply the technology of social media), I put together the flow chart below:

1. Step one is to Follow. I am practically a broken record on the subject of following strategically. The eventual makeup of the people who follow you will largely be based on the people you follow.
   
   Many of the people you follow will, in turn, follow you back. For example: my most recent Twitter stats indicate that around 25 to 33% of the people I follow, will follow me back within seven days.
   
   But by following certain people based on the subject matter of what they write about, you learn more about that topic. You may also re-tweet much of the content these people send out, and will then show up on their radar.
   
   Strategic following can be done by looking for keywords in the Twitter stream, keywords on blogs, or by simply following the people who follow certain "gurus" on your subject of interest.
   
   
2. The next step is Listening. Not spamming. Not telling. Just listening.
   
   Follow certain blogs in your field of interest. Read Faceboook walls of the people you are interested in. Set up keyword search columns on Tweetdeck.
   
   Read what the people you are strategically following tweet about, or make videos about, blog about or post on Facebook and LinkedIn.
   
   Not only will you learn more about your subject area, you will also be better able to contribute meaningful information and insights in a conversation with these people.
   
   
3. The next step is to Gather relevant content. The purpose is to find subject-specific information you can deliver to your own followers that solves certain problems, informs, starts conversations or helps achieve goals related to your field of interest.
   
   Social networking is all about giving others useful and valuable information. You cannot possibly produce enough of your own content to build a reputation as an expert in your field. But you can become an information resource to those who are interested in your subject.
   
   How do you find all this useful information?
   
   Set up Google Alerts to have new web content emailed to you each day whenever new information on your keywords is picked up by Google.
   
   Find blogs devoted to your subject on Alltop.com. Put the really good bloggers on your list to check on each day. Or better yet, sign up for their RSS feeds so their newest posts will be sent to you directly.
   
   You can also search social bookmarking sites like Digg, Stumbleupon, and many others. Just do a regular search for certain keywords and you will likely find a ton of great new articles and videos on these topics.
   
   Finally, search YouTube for great videos related to your field. You will be surprised at how many great tutorials are posted on YouTube.
   
   Whenever you find quality content, tweet about it. Write about it on your Facebook or LinkedIn site or mention it on your blog. In other words, share this content with the people who follow you on your various social media platforms.
   
   Why send out links to other business' websites? Because it will build your own brand as a provider of quality information on your topic. This is almost (notice that I said, "almost") as valuable as being a creator of quality information.
   
   Your goal is to position yourself as a resource, and gathered content works just as well as created content to achieve this goal. Your name will be associated with the quality of information you deliver, regardless of whether it is original to you or not.
   
   That being said, it is still important to create your own content. As important as positioning yourself as a resource is, it is also vital to position yourself as a thought leader. The next section will show how to do this.
   
   
4. Create content. Yes you should also create your own original content. As beneficial as it is to be known as a valuable resource, becoming a thought leader on your subject is the next step to gaining credibility and trust.
   
   Thought leadership need not be difficult. In most cases, creating your own original content can be just a matter of adding your own thoughts and insights to gathered resources.
   
   Some of your original pieces can begin with quotes or references to gathered content, but then you will add your own commentary. What insights can you add to a pieces created by someone else? What do you disagree with? What new direction does this information take you? How can you apply this information.
   
   By all means, make it simple. Create list articles on your blog. What tips or solutions can you offer people trying to solve certain problems.
   
   Create a list of Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs) that answer questions you have either heard or know from your own experience that people should be asking.
   
   How can you help people become better consumers of the type of service or product you offer? Give them quality information that will help them do this.
   
   Don't like to write? Create audio podcasts instead of articles. Record short videos (2 to 3 minute videos work best). Or just compile lists of links as resources for your readers.
   
   Once you have your own created content, do the same thing you do with the content you gather. Tweet about it, blog about it, write it on your Facebook or LinkedIn page.
   
   A good rule of thumb is that you will only send out one of your own created pieces for every ten or so links you send out that were created by others. Even occasional original content can help to establish you as a thought leader.
   
   
5. The final step is to Engage. Create conversations with others who are discussing your subject matter. Comment on blogs, retweet good articles, comment on Facebook entries, comment on YouTube videos, etc.
   
   If you find someone to be a valuable resource or thought leader on your topic, tell your own followers about this person. Compliment that person. Compliment a particularly valuable piece that person created.
   
   Use your social media platforms to ask questions or add your own insights about the things others have posted.
   
   If you have a blog, write trackback articles about another blogger's post that excites you. Don't feel shy about disagreeing, as long as you can do it without becoming disagreeable.
   
   Sometimes people ask questions on Twitter or LinkedIn that you can answer. By all means jump in and give that person your best shot. Send them links that will help them further.

The point here is that social networking really centers around sharing ideas, information and solutions. Add to the conversation but gather or create quality content so you will have something valuable to say.

If you like this article:

• Follow me on Twitter.
  
• Facebook me!
  
• Join Me on LinkedIn
  
• Visit me at Charles Brown on Google Profiles

----------------------------------------------------
COPYRIGHT © 2009, Charles Brown
Add to Onlywire

I talk to business people every day that are intrigued, confused and overwhelmed by social media tools like Facebook, Twitter, blogs, YouTube, LinkedIn and their ilk.

To them, I say "Don't sweat the small stuff."

The real key is not the social media tools, or the technologies, it is the social networking behaviors that smart business people have been engaging in since Grog started his stone wheel dealership and offered to arrange financing.

Nevertheless, time-challenged business people can hardly be blamed for viewing social networking as involving a lot of time in front of a computer. Is this time really worth it?

First, let me repeat: Don't get bogged down with the technology of social media.

You can set up a blog, a Twitter account, upload a video to YouTube, start a Facebook page, or download Tweetdeck to your computer in about the time it takes to microwave a frozen dinner.

Here's a tip to help make getting started on social media easier: Go to YouTube and you can find tutorials on ANY topic. Want to learn how to set up a blog? There's a video for that. Want to upload a video? There are videos for that too.

YouTube can teach you almost anything you want to learn.

But I can hear you asking, "Okay I'm on Twitter (or Facebook, or LinkedIn, etc.), now what?"

Social media platforms are merely tools, but the real emphasis should be on Social Networking.

Social Networking refers to human behaviors. These are the same behaviors smart business people have been engaging in for generations. Things like:

• Making business contacts,
  
• Turning these contacts into relationships (or even friendships),
  
• Focusing on building trust and credibility instead of jumping in and hawking your services,
  
• Listening (REALLY listening) to clients and potential clients,
  
• Building a brand by educating and informing people (regardless of whether they are potential customers or not),
  
• Helping people solve problems or achieve their goals,
  
• Getting noticed by potential clients before competitors even know an opportunity exists,
  
• Enlisting "evangelists" who will tell your story via word of mouth communication.

Let me put this another way: Suppose you had an opportunity to meet with a group of your ideal potential clients for lunch every day. Would you consider it time well spent if all you did during these lunches meetings was listen, educate, help them solve their problems or achieve their objectives - but was never able to pitch your own products or services?

I'm guessing a lot of you would say "yes," this would be time very well spent.

And that is why social networking is so valuable. Social networking is simply a virtual version of this daily business lunch with your ideal prospective clients.

So, repeating myself once again, don't get bogged down with the technology of social media. Learn the basics and then focus on building relationships.

If you like this article:

• Follow me on Twitter.
  
• Facebook me!
  
• Join Me on LinkedIn
  
• Visit me at Charles Brown on Google Profiles

----------------------------------------------------
COPYRIGHT © 2009, Charles Brown
Add to Onlywire

Don't get alarmed, I'm not going to get all political on you. But I would like to explore the business applications of learning how the Barack Obama team used social media to put their man in the White House,

As I write this in September 2009, think back to September 2007, just two years ago.

Assuming you had even heard of Barack Obama, did you honestly think that he had even a remote chance of beating Hillary Clinton for the Democratic nomination - let alone becoming President of the United States?

Come on, tell the truth.

At that time, Clinton looked unbeatable, at least for their party's nomination. She had name recognition, lots of money, a superb organization in place, connections, and experience. Not to mention a Campaigner-In-Chief by her side who understood the process of running for top office better than anyone in their party.

Bill Clinton alone was a formidable asset. He was beloved by the party faithful and was a one man money-raising machine.

But, at the same time, there was a relatively unknown senator from Illinois who was quietly making use of this thing called social media.

Lately I have been reading a book called, Barack 2.0: Barack Obama's Social Media Lessons for Business by Brent Leary and David Bullock. This little book has become required reading for anyone wanting to learn how to use social networking for business.

It's hard to argue with the book's thesis: Without the masterful use of social media and social networking, Barack Obama would not be the President today.

Not only did the Obama team use social media to win votes, it also raised more money than any other campaign in history ($650 million), with the average donation being under $100.

But even more importantly, it used social media to create and energize a volunteer organization of people to knock on doors, make telephone calls and show up for events.

If ever there was an example of the kind of community-building Seth Godin talks about in his book Tribes, the Obama campaign was it.

Barack 2.0 is not a particularly well-written book stylistically, in fact it consists mostly of transcribed podcasts made by the authors as the campaign progressed. But it succeeds in accomplishing what it was intended to accomplish. It is a case study of a hugely successful social media campaign in action.

In addition, it also contains a lot of useful supplemental materials through out each chapter that can be found on the web. It provides links to a wealth of tools and resources that a business person can grab online and start using today.

What it does do very effectively is educate the reader on how to make use of social media for purposes other than running for office. It is, at its heart, a business book that just uses a political story as a case study.

Here are some of the telling facts Barack 2.0 contains:

• About five months into the campaign, the authors got a snapshot of Obama's and Clinton's Twitter accounts and found that Obama had 44,596 followers and Clinton had 4,164. But more telling was the fact that Obama followed 46,252 people, whereas Clinton followed 0.
  
  In other words, Clinton viewed Twitter as a means of telling people her message, but demonstrated little interest in listening to, and having conversations with, other people.
  
  
• Obama was also one of the first people to start using LinkedIn Answers. He posed the question, "What are you looking for in your next president?" and received over a thousand replies.
  
  This is another example of how he viewed social media as a platform to engage in two-way conversations, not just a means of shouting out a message.
  
  
• As of the authors' July 9, 2008 podcast, Obama had 1145 short videos posted on YouTube. These were typically under 3 minutes each. But think of how effective these videos were. It was like he had over 1000 little salespeople online delivering his message day and night.
  
  This is a simple tactic that any business can do that will deliver significant results.
  
  
• Obama didn't just focus on the high profile social media platforms like Facebook and Twitter. In the same week he reached 59,000 followers on Twitter, he also had almost 54,000 followers on migente.com, which caters to a Latino audience.
  
  
• It wasn't just staffers who were using social media on his behalf. Remember Obama's ever-present Blackberry? He was doing a lot of his own tweeting, posting his own updates onto his Facebook page and sending out his own text messages.
  
  Many corporate execs make excuses that they are too busy to engage in these activities themselves, but it's hard to argue that they are any busier than a man running for president. Modern smart phones like Blackberries and iPhones make social networking a breeze.
  

The book goes on an on with examples of what Obama and his team were doing at the time. But more importantly, Barack 2.0 gives readers a lot of advice that they can use themselves to make things happen for them on social media.

It is, as I said earlier, a business book that uses the Obama campaign as a case study.

Let's face it, nearly every business faces a Hillary Clinton: A more established competitor with greater name recognition, more resources and a huge head start in the marketplace.

This book is for businesses that want to overtake their Hillary Clintons. Consider it a game plan that also comes with the tools, resources and actionable ideas needed to implement the strategies it talks about.

If you like this article:

• Follow me on Twitter.
  
• Facebook me!
  
• Join Me on LinkedIn
  
• Visit me at Charles Brown on Google Profiles

----------------------------------------------------
COPYRIGHT © 2009, Charles Brown
Add to Onlywire

I've had several discussions lately with business people who are self-admitted social media skeptics.

They've heard all the "buzz" about how great tools like Twitter, Facebook, blogs, YouTube or Flikr are for attracting new clients, but for them, it just hasn't clicked yet.

Let me start by admitting that social media can become a giant "time suck" if you let it. Like anything else involving the internet, it is very possible to spend more time online than you can actually afford.

Moreover there is the issue of allowing employees the freedom to check out YouTube videos or their Facebook account during business hours. There is always that balance between getting the work done and actually making business contacts that are valuable for the business itself.

That said, I think the biggest barrier is simply not understanding the difference between the "social media" and "social networking."

• "Social media" refers to the technology of the actual sites like Twitter, Facebook, YouTube, etc. These are merely the tools.
  
  
• "Social networking" refers to the human behavior using these tools that is the real reason some business people are finding such incredible success with these sites.

"Social networking," in a business setting, refers to making friends, generating word of mouth, building trust and credibility, positioning one's self or business as an authority within your field, educating potential clients, solving problems, sharing information, giving and receiving referrals, being generous (even when your generosity is directed toward someone who can never put money back into your own pocket directly), and a whole host of other behaviors that enlightened business people engage in every day.

Moreover, "social networking" is actually not new at all. In fact I often tell people that the very best book ever written on the topic of social networking was written in 1936.

You may have heard of it, it is called How to Win Friends and Influence People by Dale Carnegie.

Long before Tara Hunt popularized the word, "Whuffie" in her book, The Whuffie Factor: Using the Power of Social Networks to Build Your Business, Dale Carnegie was also preaching the gospel of building social capital by, well, winning friends and influencing people.

I was very fortunate to speak to a local chamber of commerce yesterday about this very topic, and I was impressed by the fact that many of the business people there who had very little understanding of how the technology of social media fit into their business model, were absolute experts in the area of social networking - even if they had never visited Twitter, Facebook or YouTube.

It was going on all around us. Business people helping others by simply sharing ideas and contacts, or by simply building relationships.

That's really all social networking is. Except that when you throw in the technology of social media, this networking works faster and enables relationship building to reach beyond the limits of local geography.

It's kind of like working a giant room.

The principles Dale Carnegie wrote about in 1936 are still true today on Twitter and its companion social media platforms:

• Be a good listener and encourage others to talk about themselves,
  
• Give honest praise and appreciation,
  
• Become genuinely interested in other people,
  
• Talk about what interests the other person,
  
• Make other people feel important and do it sincerely.
  

Certainly that is still good advice for us today.

In closing, I read a tweet just today that said, "Twitter is a conversation, not a microphone." I think Dale Carnegie would agree.

If you like this article:

• Follow me on Twitter.
  
• Facebook me!
  
• Join Me on LinkedIn
  
• Visit me at Charles Brown on Google Profiles

----------------------------------------------------
COPYRIGHT © 2009, Charles Brown
Add to Onlywire

The most trusted man in America died recently and it has gotten me thinking about trust and credibility.

As a young boy, I wasn't much interested in the news, but I still remember Walter Cronkite. He had that "Uncle Walter" personality that everyone liked and found highly credible.

Flash forward to a recent networking meeting I attended. I met a man who initially expressed an interest in using Twitter and other social media platforms to generate leads and attract new business.

He was, I assume, looking forward to a quick fix, because as soon as I described the concept of building relationships, trust and credibility, his eyes flicked away from me and he lost interest.

Apparently our networking group didn't meet his need for a quick fix either, because he never showed up again.

Which leads me to what I call the "Walter Cronkite Model for Social Networking." It simply means that if you focus on building trust and credibility, you will find your selling becomes a lot easier.

Or to put it another way:

If you put your efforts and focus on building trust and credibility, the sales will follow.

Here's the point: Social media is not terribly effective in making quick, one time sales, which is why people like my new acquaintence aren't interested. But it is VERY effective in starting and developing relationships that involve trust and credibility.

And frankly it just doesn't take that much extra effort and time.

Let's start with this observation: No other tool exists that can enable a business person to make new contacts faster than social media. Twitter, Facebook and YouTube are like magnets for attracting new contacts who have like interests.

But making new contacts is only the first step. The next step is to do all that relationship building - trust - credibility stuff (the stuff a lot of business people are unwilling to do in their quest for instant results) but that offer huge payoffs not very far down the road.

I'll use my networking group as an example of how to build relationships with online social networking. This group encourages us to have "one-on-one" meetings with one another to get to know them as individuals and their businesses. The goal of these meetings is to encourage us to refer business to each other.

That "face time" is what Walter Cronkite did each and every night on his news broadcasts. We got to know him and trust him simply because we brought him into our living rooms every evening. Day by day, Cronkite built up "social capital" with his viewers by being good at his work, offering unbiased news and simply "being there" consistently over time.

Then the time came for him to actually "sell something." This occurred when he departed from his normal practice of just offering straight news and presented his famous commentary on the futility of the Vietnam War. The impact of this editorial was profound BECAUSE it came from Walter Cronkite, a man America knew and trusted, and also BECAUSE he was not someone who offered his own views very often (in other words, he kept his commercial messages to a minimum).

Another example of building trust and credibility is something I read in an article called, "Is “closeness to customer” a new measure of success?" Research has found that companies with larger market share and profitability share a common trait: about five times the employees of the successful firms have direct contact with customers compared to less successful companies.

Specifically, only 5 to 10% of employees of typical companies have regular customer contact. But the more successful companies have about 25 to 50% employees with regular customer contact. The point of the article is simply the fact that being close to your customers pays off.

This sets up a terrific argument for using social media to build trust and credibility in order to make the actual sales process easier. It also points out the error of hit-and-run marketing that seeks a quick fix.

Going back to the man who seemed unimpressed by our networking group, we often have people who show up once or twice and then vanish. But the people who actually get business from such groups are the ones who invest themselves in the groups and each other.

These "quick fix" visitors would be far more successful if they modeled Walter Cronkite and spent more time building trust and credibility and only occasionally offered a sales message (like his rare editorial on Vietnam). When one does this, these rare sales messages have much, much more impact.

If you like this article:

• Follow me on Twitter.
  
• Facebook me!
  
• Join Me on LinkedIn
  
• Visit me at Charles Brown on Google Profiles

----------------------------------------------------
COPYRIGHT © 2009, Charles Brown
Add to Onlywire

This week I read yet another article about Twitter by someone who doesn’t understand Twitter. The article talked about how Twitter has not lived up to its hype as the next business “must have” / “must do.”

One of the telling quotes from the article was:

Twitter is turning out to be like a huge party that everybody RSVP'd for and very few people showed up. You know that feeling you may have had in the back of your mind wondering how interesting it would really be to let everybody know about what you were doing every hour? You may have been right -- it's not interesting at all.

Sigh.

Okay here we go again. Twitter (and other social media platforms) really don’t work well when they are just duct-taped onto old school ways of doing business. But Twitter works quite well when used together with blogs as a means of social networking instead of social marketing.

Here’s an analogy. Social networking is like attending a party. You don’t want to be THAT GUY who goes around the room handing out business cards and trying to steer social conversations toward your business. Yet this is exactly how many businesses try market themselves with Twitter.

This does not mean that you cannot get business as a result of meeting people in social settings, but you have to go about it differently. You have to interact with people as people and not as targets.

Below is a list of 33 ways even larger organizations can use Twitter:

1. Drive Traffic to your company’s blog. Yes, you must have a blog. Twitter, with its 140 character limitation, only allows you to entice people with a brief headline. Then you must send them to a link for more information. A blog enables you to continue that conversation with your readers. It is where you can inform them, show value to them, draw them into a relationship with your company. And ultimately turn them into customers.
   
   
2. Get new content noticed. Whenever you create new content (whether on your blog or static website) tweet about it to attract visitors. Make sure your content is interesting and valuable and not merely self-serving. Link to videos, quality articles, or slideshows.
   
   
3. Twitter is the tip of the sword for publicity efforts. Many traditional journalists aren’t yet paying attention to Twitter. No problem, they are paying attention to bloggers and others who are online thought leaders. Twitter can get you noticed by these people, who will in turn be noticed by traditional media.
   
   
4. Broadcast your PR pieces. As a publicity tool, Twitter can get the word out about something new and can link to online news releases. More often than not, a release posted online is ignored. But what if your release actually contains some really interesting information and not mere fluff? How do you get it noticed? Tweet about it to get those online thought leaders to see it.
   
   
5. Get more mileage out of publicity. If a favorable article appears in small media market or obscure publication, how to get it seen all over country? With Twitter you can spotlight such an article and keep giving it exposure long after it’s news cycle has passed.
   
   
6. Find out immediately when your company or product is in news. if you don’t find out about a news piece right away, your opportunity to maximize exposure from it can be lost. Twitter enables you to find out about these favorable mentions early by having a pre-set keyword search in place.
   
   
7. Offset bad publicity. Get your side of the story out quickly. Because Twitter gives you an early warning whenever someone tweets about your company, you can rebut or present offsetting information about the bad stories before they gain traction.
   
   
8. Use Twitter to distribute white papers and case studies. The trouble with producing great informational pieces is that they have to be read by the right people to be effective. Twitter gives you a way to put them into the right hands.
   
   
9. Humanize your executives. The more your audience can relate to your top people as humans, the better.
   
   For example, Mark Cuban, owner of the Dallas Mavericks uses his blog and Twitter account to talk about his ideas and opinions. Cuban is loved by some and hated by others, but no one doubts that his humanity and passion. He puts himself out there gives his voice and views on a wide range of topics When he puts out a new blog post, he sends a tweet out about it as well to bring visitors to read it.
   
   
10. Humanize your company. Highlight individuals who work hard to create great products and deliver great service. Don't just claim that your company is different, show it.
    
    
11. Showcase customer service “heroes.” What happens in most companies when an employee delivers exceptional service for a customer? Usually they are given a pat on the back and an “attaboy.”
    
    Nothing will convince people that your company has a culture of caring for customers more than showcasing individual employees who go the extra mile for a customer. Not only does this build loyalty from outside the company, it also builds it from within.
    
    
12. Educate your prospects and customers. These days you just cannot go too far in educating people about how to use your products, how to avoid problems, how to solve problems once they occur, etc. Helpful information builds a bond between you and your audience.
    
    Create "news you can use" pieces full of tips, solutions and ideas, and then get them out to people via Twitter.
    
    
13. Highlight your high standards. It’s one thing to claim that you have high quality, it is another thing completely to show your quality control standards in practice. Do you have procedures that demonstrate your fanaticism for producing quality products or insuring great service? Show the world how your company goes the extra mile.
    
    
14. Use Twitter to do good. Support causes, talk about the needs these causes address and show how others can help. Use Twitter to create buzz about needs, issues and concerns you feel are being overlooked. If you know of certain people suffering dire plights, you can champion their cause as a corporate white knight.
    
    
15. Raise money for charity. Going hand in hand with supporting causes, supporting good charities allows companies to bask in the light of their good deeds. Use Twitter to raise money by offering matching donations, or by publicizing a charity's work.
    
    
16. Keep your old content working. Old content need not die out or fade away. Twitter can drive traffic to even old content as long as it is still relevant.
    
    
17. Show how the sausage is made. Add value to your products by using Twitter to highlight pieces on your manufacturing process. Customers like to see the inner workings of how the things they buy and use are made. Not only would a video of your process build more brand loyalty, it also removes pricing barriers to premium products.
    
    
18. Preview launches and rollouts. Get pre-orders in advance of your product hitting the stores. Build excitement and anticipation for the product before it can be bought. Offer beta versions or advance copies to some key people on Twitter to help build buzz.
    
    
19. Create buzz for upcoming events. Twitter can help make sure an event is well attended and gains the maximum exposure.
    
    
20. Get television viewers. If a company executive will be appearing as a guest on a television show, use Twitter to let viewers know in advance. Afterwards, tweet about a video of that appearance.
    
    
21. Spotlight commercials. Let’s face it, your most creative and expensive commercials are probably going to be ignored. Use Twitter to make sure they get more attention than it otherwise might receive.
    
    Create a video of the commercial's production. Give some insights into how the spot was made, who made it, why the message was worded as it was. As a result, a few more people may stay and watch it instead of making a refrigerator run.
    
    
22. Listen. One of the little-known uses of Twitter is that you can learn so much by just listening to the stream of conversations going on. For more on this, check out my article, The Art of Listening on Twitter.
    
    
23. Create evangelists. Using Twitter’s keyword search you can find people who love your products. If you can turn them into “evangelists” (or as Seth Godin refers to them in his book, The Idea Virus, “sneezers”) they will tweet and blog about your company and product.
    
    But how can you reward these people without paying out money? How about giving them inside access to information before it is made public? Such as a review copy of a book before it is released, invite them to a sneak preview of a movie, invite them to take part in focus groups or come to company events.
    
    
24. Group evangelists. Sometimes you find your evangelists in groups. Create new groups around your interest area or encourage existing groups that have aligned interests. Find them on Facebook groups, LinkedIn groups and other places. Just search for groups that exist around your subject area.
    
    Give groups special attention with inside information or access. Invite them to events, ask them to be involved in focus groups.
    
    
25. Get more out of trade shows and conferences. When members of your team will be attending a conference, trade show or forum, tweet about it beforehand. Invite attendees to visit your company booth, attend breakout groups in which your people will be presenting, or just look them up as individuals going to the same event.
    
    
26. Market research. If you build a following of people likely to use your product, send out open-ended questions with a link to a site to leave their responses. Invite them to participate in focus groups and surveys.
    
    
27. Generate leads. Use Twitter to lead people to your opt in page and invite them to subscribe to your email newsletter. Reward them with some “bait piece” like a free ebook, video or report.
    
    
28. Ask what people want to talk about. Let them know you are willing to answer their questions about your company. This can be through your company blog or an online form. Be sure you actually follow up on these questions in a timely manner or word will get out that you don’t really care.
    
    
29. Create two way conversations with your customers. The above invitation to talk can lead to more than a one round exchange. These dialogues can wind up on Google. The people who respond will undoubtedly have a greater interest in your products than the rest of your market. Treat them well and show them respect.
    
    
30. Get testimonials. Inviting people to talk can lead to some very positive feedback which can be used as case studies or testimonials.
    
    
31. Innovative new uses for your products. Customers may find new uses for your product before you do. Think of baking soda. There must now be hundreds of uses that people have discovered. Use Twitter to share these new uses and applications to others.
    
    
32. Gain deeper understanding of your target market. Twitter can enable you to learn what makes your customers tick by getting inside their heads. Using keyword searches allows you to almost read their thoughts as they tweet about things that bug them or excite them. This is valuable intelligence if you use it.
    
    
33. Narrow your target market. Twitter allows you to define your niche with more exactitude. By listening, surveying and eliciting feedback with Twitter, you can learn far more than you could by other means.

If you like this article:

• Follow me on Twitter.
  
• Facebook me!
  
• Join Me on LinkedIn
  
• Visit me at Charles Brown on Google Profiles

----------------------------------------------------
COPYRIGHT © 2009, Charles Brown
Add to Onlywire