1 Comment Posted in social media, Social Media Community, social media marketing, social networking, twitter May 30, 2009

Is Your Boss Wet-Behind-The-Ears?

I have been really enjoying NPR recently while I am sitting in the office and they have a show on Saturday mornings that is all about the origin of words and phrases. On the show they talked about the phrase: Wet-Behind-the-Ears.

We all have some idea of what the phrase means.. we have probably been called that on numerous occasions. The original orignin from the Phrase Finder:

Origin: The ‘wetness’ is supposed to be from just being born. Ie. you still have the fluid from your mothers womb behind your ears.

The idea of the phrase is that if you are “wet-behind-the-ears”.. you are a beginner.. or a novice..

Many business owners are wet-behind-the-ears when it comes to social media and using it for their marketing purposes.. it is a … Read more

2 Comments Posted in social media, Social Media Community, social media marketing, Social Strategy May 29, 2009

The White House Might Understand Social Media

I was listening to NPR while driving home from work and the reporter was talking about the government and the new open information website that the Obama administration has launched called the Open Government Initiative. The basics of the site is an open protal of government information and a communication platform for citizens to give opinions on current policies.

Personally… I did not vote for Obama but I am giving him more and more credit throughout the first 100 days he has been in office. It is a brilliant move to elect a Chief Information Officer for the country. Now there is a huge difference between a move and an actual event happening. I would like to see the open portal start showing information that was not readily available … Read more

11 Comments Posted in small business, social media, social media marketing, social networking, Social Strategy May 28, 2009

Why Businesses Fail in Social Media

Do you want to know the most important step in implementing a social media strategy for your business? The first step?

Listening and then responding.

What most businesses fail to realize (those who just jump in to social media without a plan) is that the social media sphere would rather be listened to before the communication begins.

The consumer is now in control of the conversation. We are in control of how we respond, interact, and praise/degrade every brand underneath the sun.

Businesses who jump into the conversation and broadcast a message but fail to interact are failing miserably at the art of marketing within social media. It is important to realize the potential of what David Armano calls micro-interactions where you the brand are responding only after you have … Read more

4 Comments Posted in social media, social media marketing, social media mission, social networking May 27, 2009

Getting True Value Out of Social Media

My company, Brandswag, had the pleasure of sponsoring an event that brought Jason Falls to town for a speaking engagement. I really enjoyed listening and meeting Jason for the first time and I will do it again in a heartbeat. Jason talked about the importance of offline networking being a worthy counterpart to social media. I couldn’t agree more.

If I were asked to divulged what I thought was the most worthwhile asset in social media… it would be the relationships forged in the offline environment. As a small business owner you will never understand the true potential of Twitter, Facebook, or LinkedIN unless you make the effort to meet your connections offline as well as online.

Next time you are on your network… set up a … Read more

5 Comments Posted in Marketing, My Life, small business, social media, Social Media Community May 27, 2009

What Zig Ziglar Can Teach You About Social Media

I follow Tom Ziglar (the esteemed son of Zig Ziglar) on Twitter almost relentlessly. He posts many one lined thoughts from his father and also some of his own musings that get me thinking on a daily basis. Last night he had a “tweet” with the simple line:

“Happiness is not where or when; it is here and now.” Zig Ziglar

It is amazing to me how simple quotes can unlock an amazing wealth of information from your head… forcing you to think past the daily routine… forcing you to realize the potential of your activities.

Of course… being a marketer obsessed with social media… I had to apply Zig’s thoughts with what we talk about on a daily basis.

When we are debating the use of social … Read more