Sep 11
16
Investing in Social Media
This video makes me so happy. Because I realize instantly that I am not the only one dealing with the struggle of having to prove the value of social media. To those in the know, it seems shocking to have to prove the value of social media. In my mind it is something like the transition from riding around on horses to riding in automobiles. Clearly the difference is extreme. Yet, there is always tremendous resistance to change. Companies refuse to invest in creative and knowledgeable employees who live and breath social media. Unfortunately, companies that continue to carry ancient beliefs won’t be around in five years. Companies that think that social media is something that they can just throw at college interns or recent college graduates are extremely mistaken. However, companies that invest with justified employee salaries and resources will reap the benefits 1000 fold.
If you are a publishing company or a company with any sort of content on your websites and you do not have at least the basic social sharing features set up on your site then you might as well have the functionality and worth of a website from 1996. Basic social sharing features are options for your readers and visitors to share each and ever article or page on Facebook and Twitter. More advanced sharing options include sharing on LinkedIn, Tumblr, and other social sites.
I have been preaching this for years. Those who listen understand the value of social marketing. Those who have not listened have a scary future. This is basic stuff and yet some web directors still haven’t figured this out.
Don’t believe me?
Check out this post from more than a year ago in Folio Magazine.
http://www.foliomag.com/2010/want-increase-your-facebook-community-leverage-button
Aug 11
31
Good Interview from RJ
Jun 11
24
Over Information
As a creative professional we are constantly being bombarded by too much information. We must learn to be the gatekeepers of what information we need to know and that which we don’t. It seems to be coming at us from all angles … email, magazine articles, websites, videos, blogs, articles posted on Facebook or Twitter, apps and texts. Learning how not to waste your own time with the wrong information will not only help you maximize your time it will help you become more excited about the important content that you do take the time to read.
Trying using these tips to streamline your incoming information.
1) Sources - Learn to recognize the sources of information that you trust and those that you do not. If you are getting information daily from annoying sources, take the time to remove yourself from their subscriber list.
2) Protect Your Email Address - Don’t give out your email address unless you really want the information. A great example is when you are at a store buying something. Those old enough can remember a time when they asked for your home phone number, and then it moved to zip code, now it is often your email address.
3) Google Alerts - Google Alerts is a great tool, but if you are no longer interested in the topic, why waste your time sifting through daily emails about a topic that you were focused on three jobs ago. Go to Google Alerts and edit what is coming to you.
4) Recommendations - Be selective with the contacts that recommend that you read something. Some people just pass along articles after reading the first sentence. Learn who is a valued source and who is not.
5) Pay It Forward - Don’t pass on bad information and links that waste others time.
6) Designated Deletes - Create a designated time in your work week to delete junk mail. I have gotten so good at recognizing what email is junk and what is important that I usually never open the junk mail and delete it once a week.
May 11
25
Brand Responsibility
Mar 11
16
Print Mail Marketing Is Not Dead
This weekend I was going through a stack of junk mail. I saw an envelope from one of my favorite magazines Inc, with some copy on the envelope that eluded that this was a not to miss exclusive opportunity for me. Even though this publication is great, I couldn’t help but think, there is nothing in this envelope that is going to cause me to act.
Right it down folks, I was wrong, dead wrong.
Inc. magazine had a special experimental offer, a year full of print issues for the insanely low price of $5. If that wasn’t enough, I could opt for 3 years of issues (30 issues) for $10. I was sold instantly.
Still I wasn’t about to waste time writing a check and mailing it back to their offices in NY. The key to this promotion was an easy to follow link.
I believe it expires soon so if you are interested here it is
http://www.inc.com/keyword/ordernow
Feb 11
9
The New Arms Race
Too Many People Focused On Social Networking Numbers And Selling To An Audience
Seriously people, social networking is not just about numbers of fans and followers. Yes, of course you want to see growth in the number of “Likers” and “Followers” but if you just focus on this then your audience will be worthless.
When I mange social networking campaigns I focus on clean lists, rather than strength in numbers. Unless your brand is Coke or Home Depot, numbers are not what you should be seeking out. What you absolutely should be focused on is the number of likes that your posts get and the number of impressions that they receive in the news feed.
Seek Out Quality Interactions
Most brands should only be seeking out followers and fans that are in their industry. This will ensure that your lists are clean. Try to write status updates that only encourage interaction. If your audience is not interacting, you are wasting your time and you are just posting noise. Ask the audience questions that they will want to answer, get their opinions, be real and honest, not fake and scripted. Fake and scripted will always appear that way.
Don’t Use It As A Sales Tool
Social networking is not a sales tool. Have a tab on your fan page that sells your products, but don’t overwhelm your audience with plugs for buying your products. After a while this will destroy your impact. People on facebook don’t want to be sold, they want real and true interactions. If you really want to piss you off your audience just right FU, we don’t care about our audience. It will have the same impact as using facebook as a sales tool.
Avoid Too Many Status Updates
Try your best to avoid status updates more than once per day. The rise of mobile devices has made multiple updates per day from one source extremely annoying to people who check facebook or twitter on their smart phones. If you have two status updates in the same scroll on my phone I am highly likely to block you and never see one of your updates ever again.
It is not just mobile phone users that you will piss off by posting too many status updates for your brands. Bottom line, you do not want to alienate the people that love your brands. Treat them with respect and dignity and don’t just blast something out to them for the sake of blasting it out. Each status update is a unique opportunity to reach your audience and create relationships that move out of social networking and into the real world.
Watch Who You Make An Admin
This is crucial to any social networking program. You have worked hard getting every single one of your fans to click that famous LIKE button. All it takes is one wrong person in your company or organization to become an Admin to your Facebook fan page to deathly destroy all of your hard work. Make sure that anyone who is an admin is well versed in the importance of not selling directly with your facebook status updates. Hopefully for you, your company or organization appreciates that you are a student of this new media and trusts your opinions or your social campaigns will all fail, and fail hard.
Use the Nav Bar To Sell
You can sell your audience subtlety on facebook without pissing them off. Use apps to create customized nav bars promoting your products and services. If they are on your page they will find them.
Jan 11
23
Do You Think About Your Goals Daily?
I am not talking about your short term goals, like cooking a duck for dinner tonight. I am also not speaking of your company’s goals? What are your personal and professional goals for yourself? How are you working towards these goals every single day? How are you cutting through the clutter of life and finding time to lend towards getting your goals accomplished and out of the day dream realm.
It’s something that we should all dedicated time and energy to thinking about often.
Have you created your life plan or updated it recently? And if not, try starting it or updating it today.
Jan 11
20
Gearing Up For A Re-launch
I have been very busy lately doing a lot of planning. This planning has me excited and anticipating great things for the near future. We are drafting a plan to re-launch ProLong Magazine (www.prolongmagazine.com). Our plans will completely redefine how and when we deliver content to our audience. Our dedication to our readers is in the forefront of our daily thoughts and plans.
For those that don’t know ProLong Magazine is an online publication that focuses on what we believe are the five key elements in life:
Mind
Body
Soul
Relationships
Career
Our goal has always been to help readers increase the life in their years. We believe that a successful life takes work and dedication in these five elements, and that they often work together.
We still have a lot of planning to do before we unveil the new and improved brand, but we look forward to sharing it all with you soon.
A lot of people have asked me why I have so much interest in moving my career from an editorial based career into a marketing based career. It is not because I have something against words, nor do I hate the editing process. I believe that writing and editing are excellent skills to hold and I am grateful to have the last 10 years of writing and editing experience behind me as a foundation for the next phase of my career.
I have thought long and hard on this subject and I think it boils down to the fact that at the end of the day I believe that for me and my individual career, there is more passion, job security, opportunity and growth by utilizing my skill set in the field of marketing.
I personally find that I thrive on creating campaigns and ideas for projects focused on increasing audience and revenue and most importantly bringing those ideas to life. I enjoy the research of finding out what works and what doesn’t for a brand and anticipating what will work in the future. Every company needs marketing, and marketing is in everything aspect of a business.
For example in the publishing world:
marketing is in everything from house ads, driving circulation, eblasts, video, websites, blogs, mobile sites, microsites, print mailings, magazines and journals, events, webcasts, supplements, social networking, social media, customer service and more.
Every touch that a company has with its clients or customers involves the art of marketing.
When it is done right, you just don’t notice it.
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