Direct Marketing Observations

MAY 22, 2012

The beauty of social media isn’t in the online connections. No the beauty of social media is in it’s potential. Going to a conference and meeting that person that you have had tens of twenty or hundreds of conversations with on Twitter or Facebook or blog comments. That’s the money shot.

Social Media 178

Social Media Avatar Journal Conference 178

Direct Marketing Observations

MARCH 9, 2010

My last few posts have been about the darker side of social media and thus I wanted to clear something up. I am the biggest champion of social media that you will find and here’s why. The confluence of PR and social media ain’t no coincidence. 5) Need a good email marketing company ?

Social Media 196

Social Media Meeting Social Networking Conference 196

Direct Marketing Observations

AUGUST 17, 2011

If you talk at any length to any large corporations these days, they are all excited about the possibilities that social media might bring to their organizations, except that they are scared to death of the risks that social presents. Cisco is a good example of a company doing it the right way.

Social Media 159

Social Media Buy Handbook Policies 159

Direct Marketing Observations

AUGUST 24, 2011

If you’ve been in this business for any length of time, then its time to take your collective aggregate knowledge of social media and add it to the overall mix of what you know and do. We’re at least five years in and I want you to quit being a social media specialist, because you aren’t one any longer.

Social Media 199

Social Media Skills SEO Aggregator 199

Direct Marketing Observations

FEBRUARY 5, 2010

To say that it was a successful tweetchat is an understatement, but what really pushed the chat over the top was the last question in which she asked for quick tactics to encourage corporate social media adoption. 1) Create a Social Media case study of who is talking about your company both in good & bad ways.

Social Media 177

Social Media Case Study Crowdsourcing Hashtag 177

Direct Marketing Observations

MAY 20, 2011

It’s sexy to say that the recent valuations of social networking companies and platforms is very similar to the dot com bubble valuations. Except, it was easy to see back then ( or is that now?)

Social Media 176

Social Media Social Networking Buy Sites 176

Direct Marketing Observations

OCTOBER 5, 2011

I’m the biggest proponent of social media that you could possibly find but I am also the one that told my daughter that she doesn’t need Facebook. I also told a group of 400 parents and educators that anyone under the age of 16 doesn’t need to be on a social network. She’s 14. Why the flip-flop?

Social Media 152

Social Media Aggregator Loyalty Social Networking 152

Direct Marketing Observations

JUNE 17, 2010

That’s what a lot of companies and people do. According to ESPN the Indians have established a 10-seat section in left field for bloggers and social media users in an effort to engage fans and further the Indians’ brand in the social media space. It’s called the Tribe Social Deck.

Social Media 166

Social Media Sports Policies Press Release 166

Direct Marketing Observations

JULY 2, 2010

The conversational divide… I have a couple of quick questions: Does social media allow customers to get their issues resolved quicker than if they were to use traditional means? Does whining via social media move you to the head of the line? Social media is my ally. Absolutely! I say screw that.

Social Media 159

Social Media Nielsen Company Issues 159

Direct Marketing Observations

DECEMBER 8, 2011

We also decided to create a killer, award winning, website thanks to developer Terry Mckyton that would captures all of the conversations in real time and even allows you to tweet from the site, but other than that, we were ready to go have Tweetchats. When Jason first called me, he was looking for ways to brand his previous company.

Social Media 218

Social Media Hosting Hashtag Collaboration 218

Direct Marketing Observations

JUNE 28, 2010

Below is an email response I gave to someone I did not know who is determined to reinvent themselves and reposition their very talented skills in the social media arena. But before you can start selling yourself as a social media consultant. Don’t do that. Be transparent. Be authentic. and try some different things.

Consultant 171

Consultant Social Media Posterous Authentication 171

Direct Marketing Observations

JUNE 18, 2010

Take for example the Forrester “social maturity&# survey which wants to know which companies are ahead of the curve in implementing social technologies for both external use (i.e., I had been thinking pretty hard lately that the more that I talk to various companies of various sizes one thing is becoming quite clear.

Buy 159

Buy Social Media Survey Social Networking 159

Direct Marketing Observations

MARCH 18, 2010

I knew they were still trying to wrestle with the alternative options that social media might provide. But coupled with wrestling whether to make the leap or not, was the notion that commitment to social media is labor intensive. They already wear a lot of hats and now they have to somehow integrate social media?

Social Media 168

Social Media Tweetdeck LinkedIn Social Networking 168

Direct Marketing Observations

JULY 6, 2010

Traipsing in and bellowing to anyone who will listen, that the tranformative nature of social media will change the way you do business for the better, is a lofty claim. What if you could only use one “social solution&# ? Let’s say you’re a consultant, which social media solution would you suggest and why?

Social Media 143

Social Media Wiki Social Bookmarking Flickr 143

Direct Marketing Observations

APRIL 26, 2010

The majority of companies today are not set up to handle this new consumer. Decades of closed systems and legally approved content are getting in the way of companies trying to interact with the consumer. Even though consumers are changing their behaviors by the second, companies can not move that quickly.

Social Media 173

Social Media Radian6 Apple Marketing 173

Direct Marketing Observations

JANUARY 11, 2010

Everyone’s talking about integrating social media into our everyday business. Whether you have a small local business or are a global enterprise, everyone is interested in the best way to incorporate social media practices in some way to solve their business challenges. So where does that leave companies?

Social Media 100

Social Media Compete Tweetdeck Small Business 100

Direct Marketing Observations

JANUARY 20, 2010

I thought it was just me and thus I wrote about the rise of the transactional conversation of Twitter on Monday. Then yesterday David Binkowski threw a post up on Shamable about gaming social media. The conversations have eroded into flat out pimping, so has the spirit of what all of us celebrated no less than a year ago.

Sentiment 189

Sentiment Twitter Microblogging Hubspot 189

Direct Marketing Observations

JUNE 19, 2012

Other things that gnaw at me but at a more “come to a boil type” nature, are the current and future states of social media. Like it or not, the conversations are NOT solely about social media any longer and I’m cool with that. Hell, I even got tired of my own stuff that I used to write about social media.

Mashup 176

Mashup Mobile Consultant Microsoft 176

Direct Marketing Observations

NOVEMBER 8, 2010

Recently I had 3 conversations with a cab driver, a plumber and a CEO. Each conversation revolved around the customer experience. I want to share with you the gist of each conversation. But the conversation I had with him was as much enlightening as it was a relative fact with all SMB’s. It’s not social media.

Conversation 189

Conversation Social Media Resources Course 189

Direct Marketing Observations

APRIL 27, 2010

If you’re a social media consultant like Jay Baer , or a larger organization like Accenture for instance, one of the constant constants in social media is the amount of education required to get people all on the same page, before anything can really be accomplished. Social media validates my feelings and actions.

Social Networking 204

Social Networking Flash Mob Forums Communities 204

Direct Marketing Observations

MAY 5, 2010

Y ou start the conversations! But if you were expecting to “turn on&# Twitter and see this wellspring of opportunities and conversations and companies and customers talking about your company-Guess what? Tags: SEO/SEM Twitter microblogging social media. You may have to add hashtags that matter.

Microblogging 184

Microblogging Twitter SEO Hashtag 184

Direct Marketing Observations

JANUARY 25, 2012

The difference between a friend, an acquaintance and the friends and acquaintances we have met online is blurring…Social media would seem to dictate or would assume that I’m supposed to develop or have developed these deep online, networked, connections, i.e. That I have met them. A phone conversation?

Social Networking 212

Social Networking Avatar Meeting Fashion 212

Direct Marketing Observations

NOVEMBER 8, 2011

Does it mean that you know digital marketing/ social media marketing? I’m having a conversation with a friend right at this moment in which he’s saying that the only thing constant in life is change. I agree, especially in social media. People who run companies cannot do it all.

Social Media 182

Social Media Products Conversation Questions 182

Direct Marketing Observations

FEBRUARY 19, 2010

He felt rushed by the experience, felt like there was a lack of personalization and their representative didn’t really grasp the intricacies of SEO, social media or even their brand. Especially in the social media space. If I can’t find out anything about you and your social presence , what does that tell me?

Social Networking 138

Social Networking SEO Social Media Organization 138

Direct Marketing Observations

DECEMBER 6, 2012

To make money and to sell product or be social ? We call it social media but is social a means to an end that has nothing to do with being truly social? and what’s that “media” part of the term supposed to refer to? What is being “truly social” even mean?

Price 182

Price Buy WordPress Meeting 182

Direct Marketing Observations

DECEMBER 2, 2011

I might be a dinosaur when compared to “digital strategists” of the modern day new media, but some things will never change. You might proclaim to the customer that you have the “golden ticket” to traffic, conversions, and “conversations”, but you still get “the look”. But this much I do know; I am your target audience.

Content 184

Content Banking Skills Software 184

Direct Marketing Observations

APRIL 19, 2010

If you’re the average person, you don’t have time for paid monitoring tools; and furthermore, you really don’t want to mess with complicated social media monitoring tools or setup either. So what do you do if you want to monitor your space, your company, your name and your competition? Set up time: 7 minutes.

Tools 179

Tools Analytics News Google 179

Direct Marketing Observations

DECEMBER 14, 2011

Last week in a very thought provoking Tweetchat hosted by Lisa Petrilli , the discussion, though swirling around how an introvert uses social media, somehow segued into driving website traffic. Is it conversational? It’s why people go into business, it’s why companies sell stuff. Interactive?

Brands 176

Brands Discount Sites SEO 176

Direct Marketing Observations

NOVEMBER 23, 2010

Google has changed and redefined what search is for you, me and all the companies that rely on it for business. Online social networks are redefining our offline relationships both casual and personal. Social networks are not what they used to be. Search and social have migrated to the mobile device. We will define it.

Mobile 177

Mobile MySpace SMS Yahoo 177

Direct Marketing Observations

JUNE 28, 2010

The mine field is littered with companies that have not done a good job in this area. When customers and people are upset and have been wronged, they can take to social networks and the power of viral socialness and vent and complain and create momentum to make a difference and affect change. The most recent is obviously BP Oil.

Groups 122

Groups Groups Policies System 122

Direct Marketing Observations

FEBRUARY 15, 2010

Listening is the first step in social media (everyone says so). Frankly, I think everyone says that just to buy a little time before they have to really figure out what to do with social. I’m not going to get into the depths of all things social media monitoring because that would take all day. No way, Jose!

Sentiment 143

Sentiment Analysis Aggregator SEO 143

Direct Marketing Observations

OCTOBER 6, 2014

First I want to quote a paragraph from the abstract of a 2011 paper by danah boyd , a renowned expert on teen culture and social media at Microsoft Research. Not much different than what adults and companies do, but what one has to question though, is the impact. Social media extends the drama for students involved.

Back channel 228

Back channel Social Media Class Education 228

Direct Marketing Observations

FEBRUARY 11, 2012

Infographic by – Conversion Rate Optimization Company Invesp.

Social Networking 176

Social Networking Statistics Trends Conversation 176