Essential Resources on Social Business for Online Marketing
Posted on 13. Feb, 2012 by Lee Odden in Amber Naslund, Blog, edelman, jay baer, Small Business Internet Marketing, Small Business Marketing, social business, Social Media
Attributes of a Socially Optimized Business – Dachis Group
Add “social” to just about anything and you’ll boost interest in your topic by at least 50%. While many consultants appear to be employing that tactic to boost their interesting-ness, it’s not the case with the topic of social business.
As companies work to figure out what role social media will play with external marketing and communications, there’s a rapidly growing trend with progressive companies that are also viewing social media internally. By that I mean, they’re looking at social technologies as platforms to connect people within the company for the purposes of collaboration, tapping into the collective wisdom of the organization and bringing internal social media literacy to a level that enables external communications to scale.
Implications for social business run the gamut of organizational structure from operations to customer service to accounting. And of course, marketing and PR. The fact that social technology can facilitate connections across groups of people world-wide is pretty amazing, especially with Facebook nearing 1 billion users. What’s equally interesting (to me) is the application for surfacing and connecting internal company expertise, collaboration and the multiplier effect of scaling internal resources for external brand social media participation.
If you’re also interested in the topic of social business, here are a few resources I’ve found useful.
Presentations from Altimeter Group, Edelman, Dachis Group, Ant’s Eye View, and IBM.
Also take a look at Rawn Shah’s excellent presentation: Understanding Social Business Excellence.
For those of you who want to dig deeper into the principles and guts of social business, here are 5 excellent books on the topic by authors: Michael Brito, Anthony J. Bradley, Mark P. McDonald, Mike Barlow, David B. Thomas, Jay Baer, Amber Naslund, Dion Hinchcliffe, and Peter Kim.
Books on Social Business
Smart Business, Social Business:
Michael Brito
The Social Organization:
Anthony J. Bradley, Mark P. McDonald
The Executive’s Guide to Enterprise Social Media Strategy: How Social Networks Are Radically Transforming Your Business
Mike Barlow, David B. Thomas
The NOW Revolution:
Jay Baer, Amber Naslund
Social Business By Design:
Dion Hinchcliffe, Peter Kim (Out May 1, 2012)
I will likely update this post with reports, infographics and events in the coming week. So be sure to revisit the post next Monday.
Source: Michael Brito
Even if it has been many years since I studied Sociology and Organizational Development at University, I’d still be interested as a marketer in the trend towards social business. Think of the transformations that have happened across the globe by connecting common interests through social channels. What transformation is possible for companies that could release the same spirit of change and improvement within their own organizations, amongst partners and customers?
Rather than looking at this from a pure OD perspective, I’m seeing the marketing opportunities. As our agency TopRank matures and brings on more consulting expertise, we’re definitely elevating our practice areas to include the marketing and public relations aspects of social business. In fact, we’re already doing consulting in the area of online marketing optimization for social business initiatives right now.
To me, social business is a natural evolution of how companies can internalize the social tools and means of collaborating that are becoming the norm for communications with the next generation. It’s a way to tap into expertise more efficiently and effectively to boost organizational intelligence as well as the ability to act more competently as a brand advocate on social platforms.
When it comes to marketing and communications, one social media manager and a social strategist can only do so much. Most companies don’t even have one full-time person dedicated to their social media efforts. What if a company could educate, train and support internal staff to facilitate certain types of external social media communications and even support ala Best Buy’s Twelpforce?
What do you think? How would your company do in an assessment of organizational social media readiness? Are you already leveraging internal social tools like salesforce.com Chatter or similar applications for internal social collaboration?
You can read about how SEO and Content Marketing affects Social Business in my book Optimize, coming out soon. (Wiley) Get a preview of chapters here.
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Why I’m Not Writing a Book This Year
Posted on 31. Jan, 2012 by Jay Baer in Amber Naslund, Blog, Convince & Convert News, Small Business Internet Marketing, Small Business Marketing, The Now Revolution
I was all set to write another book this year. Solo this time, as my book spouse Amber Naslund has her hands full with her new social business consultancy Sidera Works. I loved writing half of The NOW Revolution
I was ready to jump back into the fire in 2012, with a nifty new topic, interested publishers, and a plan to use this new book as a real springboard to the future. But sometimes, life conspires to make you focus on the present.
On January 6, my life got shaken up like a snow globe. My little brother, Jeff Baer, died in his sleep of a heart attack at age 39. Jeff was my only natural sibling, and even after the services and paperwork and craziness, it’s difficult for me to process and accept that he’s gone forever. As I said in my eulogy, he was a bon vivant. A raconteur. A scallywag. Everyone who ever met Jeff remembers him, and that’s a rare quality in this world.
(Many thanks to the dozens of friends and clients who donated to the scholarship fund in Jeff’s memory. With your support, my parents and I are endowing two, full-tuition Jeffrey A. Baer Memorial Scholarships to the new Arizona State University – Lake Havasu City campus that opens this Fall)
As you might have surmised if you’ve read this blog or followed the progress of Convince & Convert, I’m a hard charger. Type A. Overachiever. Whatever label you want to put on it, you know the deal. And until Jeff died, I had never intentionally done less of anything. But something like that will force you to take a long look at what you’ve wrought.
As my Dad said to me at lunch a few days before the memorial service, “Jay, what are you trying to prove?” I’d never been asked that – even by myself – and the fact that I didn’t have a good answer was telling. It’s not that I’m ungrateful for the life and extraordinary career I’ve cobbled together over the past 20 years – much less my amazing wife and smart, perfect kids. I even have a cool dog, Mr. Cheeto. It’s not so much that I take all that for granted (although I often do). It’s more that I am wired to believe that good enough is not enough. That within my field there is no reason I can’t sell books like Godin, pack the room like Vaynerchuk, and build a large consultancy like Dachis. Maybe it’s ego, or hubris, or folly, but I’ve just never put psychological constraints on what I can accomplish.
I still believe I can do those things, but I’m going to tackle them at a more modest pace, leaving me more time to focus on my health and my family. And that’s where the book comes in. From experience, I know that if you have a busy day job, the book writing happens at nights and on weekends. Once the book is published the real work begins, which is promoting it. Very few business books sell themselves. The authors make them sell, hence the tour Amber and I undertook last year.
So, I’m not going to do it again. Not yet. I’ve got to use my time a bit more wisely for now. Even before Jeff, I had every single genetic and behavioral risk factor for heart disease and so forth (except smoking, which I quit 11 years ago). The last time I worked out with any degree of rigor and consistency was 1985. Yes, Reagan was President the last time I lifted a weight. I’m no expert, but that’s probably a sub-optimal fitness regiment. I have been a recent member of the Bacon-of-the-Month Club….and without irony.
Play time is over for me. I have a personal trainer. A nutritionist. A dermatologist. A new doctor. My payroll is increasing in inverse proportion to my waist line. But it’s worth it – or it will be. I’m joining the ranks of Brogan, Falls, Shankman and others who have decided that paying attention to your health is a worthwhile endeavor.
So, I’m not writing a book this year. I’ll still be plenty busy, of course. We have a ton of great clients at Convince & Convert. A new podcast – Social Pros – that debuted last night. A ton of speaking gigs (just not 65 cities’ worth). And a family that will hopefully see more of me.
I wasn’t always the best brother to Jeff, and that makes me sad – and always will. But I loved him, and he knew it. And he loved me, and I knew it. He gave me countless gifts through the years, especially laughter. I’m hoping his greatest gift will be this one: a wake-up call.
10 Social Media Pros Pick Their Favorite iPad Case
Posted on 08. Nov, 2011 by Jay Baer in Amber Naslund, Ann Handley, Blog, brian clark, CC Chapman, chris brogan, iPad, Jason Falls, scott stratten, Small Business Internet Marketing, Small Business Marketing, social media tools
Given the extraordinary buffet of technology and tech-related options and alternatives available to us, it fascinates me to learn what people I know and trust use on a day-to-day basis.
In this, the debut edition of What The Pros Use, I polled a group of social business and content geniuses to determine what they use to swaddle their iPads. The fact that I didn’t consider for even a nanosecond that any of these folks wouldn’t have an iPad is an interesting circumstance too.
David Armano (@armano)
Executive Vice President, Edelman Digital
David uses the original Apple rubber case for iPad version 1.
“It keeps it as thin as possible, and has a great grip.”
Jay Baer (@jaybaer)
President, Convince & Convert
Apple Smart Cover for iPad 2, but I ensconce the entire thing in the Case SIMPL sleeve. I love Case SIMPL because it turns your iPad (or laptop) sleeve into a mobile office. Room for business cards, a notebook, pens, iPod, and a bunch of other stuff, but still in a small size with meaningful protection. Also, made in Chicago, which is nice.
(Note, Case SIMPL sent me some free samples, so I’m giving away 2 laptop cases and 2 Kindle cases randomly to people that tweet this post.)
Chris Brogan (@chrisbrogan)
Founder, Human Business Works
Chris also uses the Apple magnetic Smart Cover for iPad 2, but is not terribly enthusiastic about that choice.
“I’m using that stupid expensive magnetic lid case for no good reason.”
Brian Clark (@copyblogger)
President, Copyblogger Media
Brian also uses the iPad 2 smart cover, but is branching out with a bluetooth keyboard.
“I just got a Bluetooth keyboard/cover from Brookstone that turns the iPad into a netbook-like device for writing on planes, etc.”
CC Chapman (@cc_chapman)
Raconteur, Co-author Content Rules
Like David Armano, CC uses iPad 1 and the original rubber case, due in particular to its easy folding for typing purposes.
“It doesn’t add much weight. I always looked for a softer leather one, and could never find one.”
Nicole D’Alonzo (@NikisNotes)
Social Media Manager, Porter Novelli
Niki also uses the iPad 2 smart cover, but may be the only person I’ve spoken with who actually likes it a lot.
“The slim design folds nicely to prop-up my iPad while I’m typing or watching videos. It doesn’t insulate the back of the iPad 2, I manage that by slipping it into my laptop sleeve.”
Jason Falls (@jasonfalls)
President, Social Media Explorer
This is not Jason Falls.
Always supporting the local angle, Jason uses the ModulrCase manufactured in Louisville. It’s a multi-functional case that even includes a refrigerator magnet mount!
“You can clip it into a table-top stand, a shoulder strap, a wall mount, and more. The plastic case protects it but it doesn’t add a lot of weight or bulk. I wouldn’t use anything else, and frankly love the hell out of it.”
Ann Handley (@marketingprofs)
Chief Content Officer, MarketingProfs
This is not Ann Handley in repose
A recently purchaser of the iPad 2, exacting Ann has been pondering her case options. After eschewing the Smart Cover and several other candidates, she settled on the DODO Case.
“It’s light, functional, somewhat protective, stylish, and not that pricey (Bonus)!”
Amber Naslund (@ambercadabra)
Vice President, Radian6
Road warrior Amber swears by the Go In Case, which offers multiple integrated screen positions.
“It handles multiple positions with stability, protects it when I drop it (because I do that often enough for it to matter), and in my full-to-bursting laptop bag, can travel in a suitcase without getting crushed.”
Scott Stratten (@unmarketing)
Author, UnMarketing
Scott uses the iPad 2 Smart Cover, but recognizes it may not be a 100% solution.
“It increases my coolness factor by 20%. I like how it turns the iPad off, and it’s thin for easy packing. But, it can slide off when I take it out of my carry-on, and offers really no protection, since it’s just a flap.”
There you have it. What the Pros Use: iPad cases. Lots of market penetration for the smart cover, but not a lot of love for it, really. Several other interesting options to consider.
(Don’t forget that I’m giving away laptop and Kindle cases randomly to people that tweet this post, courtesy of Case SIMPL).
What do you use for your iPad?
Social Media, Pretend Friends, and the Lie of False Intimacy
Posted on 05. Sep, 2011 by Jay Baer in Amber Naslund, Blog, Jason Falls, Mark Schaefer, olivier blanchard, Small Business Internet Marketing, Small Business Marketing, social networks
It’s not an illusion. We really are doing more with each 24 hours, as technology enables (or forces) us to interact and intersect and do and consume with unprecedented volume and vigor. We live our lives at breakneck speed because we can, because we feel we have to keep up, and because every macro and micro breeze blows in that direction.
I remember the days before social media when I would get 20 phone calls per day and 50 or 60 emails, and felt exhausted by the pace of communication. Now we’ve traded the telephone for other connection points (I only get 2-3 calls per day), but the overall number of people ringing our doorbell through some mechanism has ballooned like Charles Barkley.
The number of “inboxes” we possess is staggering: Email (3 accounts for me), public Twitter, Twitter DM, public Facebook, Facebook messages, Facebook chat, Linkedin messages, public Google +, Google + messages, blog comments, Skype, text messages, Instagram, phone, voice mail, and several topically or geographically specific forums, groups and social networks. That’s a lot of relationship bait in the water.
The Lie of Opportunity
How do we justify this? How do we convince ourselves that slicing our attention so thin the turkey becomes translucent is a good idea?
We do it because we believe that more relationships provides more opportunity.
“It’s not what you know, it’s who you know.”
“Social media makes a big world smaller.”
“Linkedin is for people you know, Facebook is for people you used to know, Twitter is for people you want to know.”
All of these chestnuts are passed around like a flu strain because they make intuitive sense. But common among them is the underlying premise that interacting with more people is inherently better than interacting with fewer people. I have always believed this to be true, and in fact have delivered the lines above in presentations and on this blog. But today, I’m no longer convinced.
Instead I wonder, what if we have it ALL wrong?
You Don’t Know Jack
In addition to despair and shock and surprise, what I felt most about the death of Trey Pennington was confusion. I found myself saying over and over “Geez, you think you know someone…” I had a similar reaction when another colleague committed suicide a couple years ago and very few people saw it coming.
The reality is, we don’t KNOW hardly anyone.
I interacted with Trey quite a bit online, and twice spent time with him in three dimensions. Trey was one of the kindest, most interesting, generous people I’ve ever met. He was truly one of the good guys in social media, and his background in theology and storytelling gave him a refreshingly different outlook on all of this. He will be missed, and if the outpouring from the social media community is any barometer, his impact on others was perhaps far greater than he knew.
I considered Trey Pennington a friend. I suspect many of his 100,000+ Twitter followers considered him a friend. Clearly, most of us were not his friends, as his death came as a complete surprise despite the fact that he had a prior suicide attempt earlier this summer, and had been discussing his problems with confidants.
But if you’d asked me yesterday morning, I would have said Trey was a friend. Social media forces upon us a feeling of intimacy and closeness that doesn’t actually exist.
I met Amber Naslund on Twitter and we wrote a book together. But, I’ve never met her daughter.
Jason Falls is one of my closest colleagues in social media, but he’s never been to my home.
Mike Stelzner and I have collaborated on many projects, but we’ve never had a private meal.
I consider these people (and many, many others) to be friends, and I’m thankful that social media has brought them into my life. But in comparison to my pre-social media friends (many of whom I’ve known for 30+ years), I know almost nothing about them.
Is that what we want – spending considerable time building large networks of shallow connections, potentially at the expense of deepening a few cherished friendships upon which we can truly rely?
I recognize this is not purely an either/or scenario, and relationships that began with a Twitter exchange or series of blog comments can flourish into treasured real-world ties. Mark W. Schaefer was a real friend to Trey, and had tried to help him through this difficult period. Mark and Trey met on Twitter, and Mark describes the impact of this connection in his excellent book The Tao of Twitter. (Mark also has a tremendous post about Trey’s death, and Olivier Blanchard’s tribute to Trey is moving and important).
But those situations where we “meet” someone through social media, have the opportunity to interact in real life, and then develop a relationship that creates true friendship are few and far between. And as social media gets bigger and more pervasive, this chasm becomes even more difficult to cross. As my own networks in social media have gotten larger, I’ve ended up talking about my personal life less, because a large percentage of that group don’t know me, or my wife, or my kids, or my town, or my interests. I don’t want to bore people with the inanities of the everyday. (Facebook is the one exception, as I’ve always kept my personal account relatively small).
To some degree, I think this explains the popularity of Google + among people with very large followings on Twitter and/or Facebook. Google + provides a chance for a do-over, to create a new group of connections that are more carefully cultivated.
But that’s just medicating the symptoms, not curing the disease. Fundamentally, technology and our use of it isn’t – as we’ve all hoped – bringing us closer together. In fact, it may be driving us farther apart, as we know more and more people, but know less and less about each of them.
Trey gave us a glimpse of this in his last tweet:
and Trey’s friend Jim O’Donnell underscored it with his message on Trey’s Facebook page:
“To my friend Trey Pennington, one of the worst things about social media is we can be surrounded by so many and still feel completely alone.”
Making Friends Out of Connections
Maybe we should be focused less on making a lot of connections, and focused more on making a few real friends? I’m going to try to work on this, to identify people (including the three above) with whom I want to develop real friendships, and make a concerted effort to do so, even if it means answering fewer tweets and blog comments from a much larger group of casual connections.
We have to take at least some of these social media spawned relationships to the next level, otherwise what’s the point beyond generating clicks and newsletter subscribers?
You think you know someone, but you don’t. And that’s social media’s fault. But more so, our own.
Whew! A NOW Revolution Thank You
Posted on 09. Jun, 2011 by Jay Baer in Amber Naslund, Blog, Small Business Internet Marketing, Small Business Marketing, Social Media Book, social media books, The Now Revolution
Our famous TequilaNOW party at SXSW
Yesterday marked the official end of the book tour for The NOW Revolution. Amber Naslund and I will continue to support the book, talk about the book, do presentations about the book, etc. long into the future. But, the official end of the tour is a milestone that I didn’t want to let pass without saying thank you.
Thanks to each and every person who dodged traffic, work obligations, hail, tornados, and many other obstacles to come see me and/or Amber on The NOW Revolution trail. We ended up in more than 35 cities, and met many thousands of people trying to find a way to make social media about something bigger than coupons and Twitter. Hopefully, we helped in that endeavor.
From Victoria, BC to Montreal, and from San Diego to Boston, I’ve spent most of the past 150 days criss-crossing the continent (and even Europe in Amber’s case). It has been exhausting and exhilarating. I have a newfound respect for traveling circuses, carnivals, rock musicians, and stand-up comedians. It has truly been an experience I will never, ever forget.
In Austin, we learned how to sign books with a Sharpie from our friends Ann Handley and CC Chapman. We learned how to work a giant casino showroom stage from our pal Matt Ridings in St. Louis. In Orlando, I learned to not be afraid of an 80-foot HD screen showing my face. I learned how to be away from loved ones more than ever before, but learned as well how to take comfort in having so many people want to read and discuss what we wrote. I learned about bedbugs at one point, and Amber even learned how to fight off pneumonia during a book tour!
A special note of thanks to my clients who put incredible time and energy into hosting The NOW Revolution events; ExactTarget in Indianapolis and NYC; Off Madison Ave in Arizona; Casacom in Montreal; Standing Partnership in St. Louis; Strategic America in Des Moines; Bailey Gardiner in San Diego; Lovell Communications in Nashville; Babcock & Jenkins in Portland; and Flint Communications & AdFarm in St. Louis, Fargo, Duluth AND Sacramento.
Tremendous thanks as well to friends who put events together out of thin air, or twisted arms to support the book. Jason Falls, Chris Moody, Fred Von Graf, Eric Snelz, Rob Ackley, Chuck Gose, Matt Ridings, Mark Schaefer, Sean Rogers, Abbie Fink….thank you!!
To everyone who bought the book, sincere thanks to you as well. And if you haven’t bought it, but have been meaning to do so, it’s not at all too late. Please grab yourself a copy.
Thanks to the companies who helped sponsor the book tour, kick-off party, and other accoutrements. It couldn’t have been done without Radian6, ExactTarget, Tim Hayden and 44 Doors Sweet Leaf Tea, ThinkGeek, Taylor Guitars, North Social, Swix and many more great companies.
Thanks to Ethos3, who did such an amazing job on the slides for the presentation, which I’ve pasted here below for your use. This is the first time these slides have been made public. I hope you enjoy them.
Thanks to my associates at Convince & Convert; Jess Ostroff, Chris Sietsema, and Jason Amunwa for a lot of toil and trouble on the marketing side of things (and to Chris especially for the great infographics he made for the book).
And of course to Amber, for putting up with me for a year. It ain’t easy. See her fantastic thank you post here.
But most of all, thanks to my wife Alyson and my amazing kids Annika and Ethan for putting up with my many prolonged absences, especially when living in a new city with no support system. Your courage and good humor never cease to amaze me, and I always know that your sacrifices are what allow me the extraordinary opportunity to make a living doing what I love.
Lots more to come about The NOW Revolution and future projects. But today, a celebration of a tour completed.
Thank you one and all.
Speak No Evil – Why Trust Isn’t a 4 Letter Word in Social Media
Posted on 20. May, 2011 by Jay Baer in Amber Naslund, Blog, decentralized social media, rashard mendenhall, Small Business Internet Marketing, Small Business Marketing, Social Business Design, social crm, social media operations, Social Media Staffing and Operations, social media trust, The Now Revolution
Now is the summer of our discontent. It was the best of times, it was the worst of times. For social media, one hand giveth (instant spread of the Bin Laden news) while the other hand taketh away (seemingly daily stories about a company or person doing it “wrong”).
The most egregious occurrence of late was Rashard Mendenhall (running back for the Steelers, for readers who may not be sports fans) firing off a few tweets that were far outside the boundaries of mainstream American thought with regard to 911, Bin Laden, justice, and so forth. The Steelers disavowed his statements, and Mendenhall eventually apologized.
The belief in decentralized social media and every employee being in marketing is taking root in America. The more companies I talk to, the more I recognize that once they have the official company social outposts humming, organizations want to socialize other parts of the enterprise. This is gratifying, as this is the core premise Amber Naslund and I put forth in The NOW Revolution – that social media is about people not logos, and it’s everyone’s job to represent the company on the social Web.
Trust Is Not a Four Letter Word
But there’s a huge obstacle preventing many of these companies from executing on this plan. In short, they don’t trust non-marketers to represent the brand appropriately. The people who oversee social media in companies are afraid that other employees will pull a Rashard Mendenhall and do more harm than good, leaving the “professional marketers” to rush in like a bucket brigade to douse the flames and pick through the smoldering ashes of the brand.
I understand the concern, I really do. But, I have two problems with it as an excuse.
First, it contains a substantial amount of unspoken conceit to presume that marketers are inherently better at social media than non-marketers. Social media success is more about being social than it is doing social, and while knowledge of the tools and tactics are helpful, common sense and good judgement is not the sole property of a department, educational or vocational background, or any other circumstance.
I’ve been in meetings and heard these exact words spoken, “It would be great if we had a lot more people active on Twitter, but we’re scared to death to encourage sales reps to set up accounts.” Seriously? These are the same people that communicate for a living, persuading people to part with hard-earned cash to purchase whatever magic elixir you purport to provide. They build rapport and overcome objections for a living, and given that they often do it in a commission-driven environment, they have more at stake in their ability to do so than most marketers ever will.
Second, nobody is disproportionately bad at social media, it’s just that social media missteps are public. Let me give you a challenge. I’d like you to work with your IT department so that you can read all of the emails sent by your employees to non-employees. Not forever, one day should suffice. I guarantee you will FREAK OUT. Your employees are saying all kinds of crazy stuff via email right now as you’re reading this. Insensitive. Poor grammar. Too salesy. Not salesy enough. It’s all there for you to obsess over. But you don’t because it’s not easy or culturally appropriate to read all those emails. Or to listen in on phone calls, for that matter.
You don’t think Rashard Mendenhall has been sending wacky emails for years, that if published in a newspaper wouldn’t send alarm bells ringing at Steelers headquarters? Wake up and smell the keyboard.
At least on Twitter you only have 140 characters to give people the impression that you’re stupid. In an email you have limitless space to confirm the notion.
As Amber so succinctly and eloquently says, if your employees aren’t “good” at social media, you don’t have a social media problem, you having a hiring problem.
So when you’re ready to expand your social media program beyond @companyname and get everyone on board, set aside your biases, engage in rigorous training with all participants, and recognize that social greatness can come from anywhere.
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