3 Comments Posted in Uncategorized January 31, 2009

1 of 10 Commandments to Social Media: Consumers to People

Two days ago I wrote a post about the 10 Commandments to Social Media based on the The Ten Commandments of Branding in the book Emotional Branding by Marc Gobe. The first commandment is called “From Consumers to People.” The point of the next 10 posts is to connect the concepts in Gobe’s book with the strategies of social media marketing.

Let’s dive in.

From Consumers to People

Traditional marketing and communications has created a landscape of constant battling. The board rooms in advertising and marketing firms have conversations surrounded around the concepts of “attacking” and “owning” a particular consumer group. Times are changing with social media marketing as part of the overall marketing strategy. Marc Gobe gives reference to the concept of marketing battles:

“Terminology like “breaking down

… Read more

15 Comments Posted in rant, social media, Social Media Community January 30, 2009

You Need A Job? Get Off Your.. I’m Tired of Helping

I have reached a critical point. I wouldn’t say it is as much of a breaking point as it is a… just being pissed off point. Let me explain.

We all have friends, family, and acquaintances that have lost their job. It is a recession and the economy is not as strong as it once was (back in the day). It makes sense that someone you are connected to.. somewhere.. is going to lose their job. What is the first thing that comes to mind when you think of a friend losing their job?

Right. “How can I help them find a job to provide for their family or themselves.”

Second scenario. You have a friend that asks for help or asks for you to provide assistance to a third … Read more

9 Comments Posted in social media marketing, social media mission, social networking, Social Strategy January 29, 2009

The 10 Commandments to Understanding Social Media

I am obsessed with a book by Marc Gobe called Emotional Branding. It was written in early 2002 and is (in my opinion) a staple to understanding the concepts of emotional branding and marketing. He has a section in the introduction of the book (pg. xxviii) called The Ten Commandments of Emotional Branding. I was reading through the ten steps and realized they fit perfectly with understanding the model of social media and how to use it to better communicate with your clients and potential clients.

The Ten Commandments to Understanding Social Media

1. From Consumers to People.

2. From Product to Experience.

3. From Honesty to Trust

4. From Quality to Preference

5. From Notoriety to Aspiration

6. From Identity to Personality

7. From Function to Feel… Read more

7 Comments Posted in Marketing, small business, social media, Viral Marketing January 28, 2009

This Is Not Easy and It Shouldn’t Be

If you haven’t figured this out already… running a small business is not easy.
Marketing your small business’ services and products is not easy.

Nothing in this world that is worth anything of value is EASY to obtain. Well…unless you grow money on trees or you are just THAT good… The majority of us have not found the seed to grow a tree that sheds Mr. Ben Franklins ($100 bill for the layman) twice a year.

It is hard to get to where you WANT to go in life. It shouldn’t be easy.

I am amazed that people want the easy way out. How do we make this tool easier to use? How can we spend the LEAST amount of time possible to get a project completed? Why do we … Read more

7 Comments Posted in relationship, small business, social media, Social Media Expert January 27, 2009

You Have 500+ On LinkedIN? So What?

We have been through the friend train on Myspace. We have been through the obsessive adding of people trying to get the biggest friend list on the block. I have spoke with numerous people who feel their social capital is built around how many people exist within their network. They take some type of pride in the fact they have over 4000 friends on Myspace or Plaxo.

You know what I have failed to ask them?

So What?

I was reading a blog post by Beth Kanter called My First Grade Teacher Friended Me on Facebook. This post title really has nothing to do with what I am talking about but she makes a great point in the post:

Do you remember the line –  “It’s not

… Read more