If all your friends jumped off the roof, would you?

I’m sure many parents have said to their kids something along the lines of “if all your friends jumped off the roof, would you?” I know I heard that growing more way too many times…I did lots of stupid things.

Posts like this make people me me unpopular. Why? Because I question what seems to be becoming “conventional wisdom”, a lemming-like rush to embrace new media, marketing techniques and anything that gives a glimmer of a chance to strike pay dirt.

Most of the professionals I know are very busy people. Many are small business owners or self-employed. A 40-hour work week is rare. Time is precious and there just isn’t enough of it. All want to succeed, most don’t have a lot to bet on new methods of doing so.

I’m increasingly asked about “new” buzzwords in the marketplace. Words such as “social media” or “twitter”, “facebook”, or one of the myriad of options out there. People are being told “if you’re going to make it, you MUST be using this, that or the other and if you don’t you’re not making the most of new technology and you’re a loser.”

Now, it may not be quite that nasty, but I’ve read enough blog posts that are barely a step away from that. There appears to be a new class of self-appointed “social media” and “marketing” “experts” who have found the magic beans that will grow the beanstalk to untold riches.

Some of these people are the same ones who have been pontificating about the “death” of print media and the absolute need to move online and in elitist little circles such as Twitter. Even on sites such as ActiveRain, there are self-titled “gurus” who people just appear to follow blindly, hanging on every word…and I just don’t get it.

This isn’t, by the way, just a rant from someone who is a frustrated social media or marketing “wannabe”. What I am adverse to is a “one size fits all” approach that “experts” are preaching and the negative impact it’s having on businesses across the board.

Every tool has its place and its uses, I’m the first to admit. But, though you may have a hammer in the toolbox, you may question the wisdom of using it to, say, clean a window.

Every new or recycled marketing tool (and don’t be fooled, when social media is applied to business, that’s what it is) has worked for some and not for others. The same went for print ads, flyers and who know what else. To some, the community and client base will dictate the technology. Email flyers are about as much use as an ashtray on a motorbike if your clients live in an area that doesn’t have Internet access.

I’m not adverse to trying new tools and techniques. I think playing around with things like Twitter, Facebook, Myspace and others is essential, if for no other reason that to determine if it’s going to work for you. I am adverse to the “must be part of this” mentality. Social media, like other forms of marketing takes an investment. It may be time rather than money, but a return on investment needs to be evaluated. Will time be better spent elsewhere?

As a marketing “guy”, and I say that because I don’t want to call myself a consultant, expert or guru, I work with my clients to determine what’s right for them. I say to someone, almost on a daily basis, “do three things well, not ten badly”. Time is as important as money. Invest it wisely.

Just because everyone else is running in one direction doesn’t make it the right direction. I think back to the Poseidon Adventure with Gene Hackman and his little band that went against the flow of opinion and ultimately got out of the ship. What may work for this person, may not work for that one and I wish that more people would realize that and that more marketing “experts” would help their clients decide on the right course of action and not the most popular.

I also have to question a social media application that has it’s own version of the Oscars for the best short message…something seems very wrong to me about this. But then I also read a lot of social media blogs in which they poke fun at people who don’t use SM the “right way” or laugh at those who “think it’s just about blogging.”

But I suppose I’ll continue to believe that old-fashioned “meet and greets” are a good idea, that not all paper marketing is dead, that spam emails of property listings is rude and annoying and that social media has a place and isn’t the be all and end all of marketing.

I don’t think I’ll jump off that roof just yet.

Social Networking in 2009

The growth of social media has been explosive in 2008, there’s just no other way to describe it. Whether you use Twitter, ActiveRain, Blogger, WordPress, Facebook, LinkedIn or another or all of the social networking tools, you’ll have seen unprecedented growth in all of these and, with any such growth, come two very real risks: overkill and marginalization.

Email was hailed, and still is, a communication revolution. Like the telephone before it, email allows quick, almost instantaneousness transfer of information. Unlike the telephone, it can be more readily-accessible, in most cases free, allows the attachment of files and distribution to a wide audience in a relatively short time and can cause more headaches

Spam is to the emailer what solicitors are to phone users. Sometimes the two can be just as dangerous. Scams from get-rich-quick schemes to worms and viruses have been a constant threat and continue to fuel the security arms race that underpins the Internet. Unlike telephone solicitation, it’s not quite as easy to join a “do-not-email” list, although there are such things. Many emails come from parts of the world where local laws don’t apply. Email can come from many more channels that phone calls and the majority of email users have at least two accounts

Over 90% of email traffic is spam, according to many studies. I use that number conservatively because I believe it’s much higher. That means that 90% of the messages “out there” are junk, unwanted, unsolicited, wasting bandwidth and disk space. Some people predict(ed) the possible end of email unless we can get a handle on spam

Social media networking has the potential to follow the same route. Like email, and the telephone before it, when used properly, blogs, instant messaging and business relationship networking tools can be invaluable in building and maintaining connections. Social media has given everyone the opportunity to reach a potential global audience without the enormous cost of production or printing.

But therein lies some of the problem. At the risk of offending people: there’s a lot of junk out there. I remember a quote from a move (The Krays) “you’ve got nothing to say and you’re saying it too loudly”. When it comes to social media, there are many people who haven’t got a lot to say, so they flood the “e”waves with rubbish, often in the hopes that someone will pick it up and run with it.

Unlike email, we have an easier option when it comes to blogs: we can bypass and not read what we think isn’t worth it. On networks such a Twitter, things can be a little more difficult if one is “following” someone, because one is potentially inundated with tweets and retweets. But, environments such as Twitter give us the option of removing someone from a “follow” list and thus relieving our electronic ears of their babble

Sorting the wheat from the chaff can be difficult. When there is so much out there, how on earth do you find what’s worth reading? And, if you plan to be part of this growing phenomenon, how do you do so without being part of the problem?

The answer is: tread carefully. Many people filter their incoming phone calls and emails, ignoring, blocking and marking unwanted messages (or calls) as junk and blocking future messages. The same diligence is needed on social networks when it comes to picking out the worthwhile from the rest.

More importantly, what you say is just as relevant. There are whole books written on subjects such as blog marketing, guerrilla marketing, social media marketing etc that strongly urge you to get involved. If you want people to visit your site, your blog, you have to interact so they’ll know you exist. Trouble is, how do you do that? Leaving simple “nice post” messages isn’t going to get you readers or followers. Engaging in dialogue will

The leading bloggers have an ongoing discourse with their readers. The most successful engage in two-way conversations that address the good and the bad. It’s a dialogue and dialogue can be interesting and that interest can lead to new followers with similar, or differing, viewpoints.

Social networking takes effort. The results take time. How many emails do you see from mass-emailing sites that you either delete or ignore? Dozens? Hundreds? As social media evolves, people are going to get better at quickly determining what is worth following and what is not

I actively encourage my clients to blog. It can be one of the best and free marketing tools out there. For those that think that no one would be interested in what they do, I encourage them to write about something they find interesting that’s got nothing to do with what they do. Everyone has an opinion about something. A conversation that is genuinely of interest to both parties almost be default, builds a relationship

Write about what you care about. Start a blog. It’s easy and free. On places such as ActiveRain, you can select specific groups to post to. Just don’t post for the sake for it. Especially when replying and trying to engage others in a dialogue, be courteous. You don’t have to be a linguist, and it’s okay to say “nice post”, but tell the poster why

Imagine being at a social event, a party for example. You overhear someone talking about something that you’re interested in, but you have a different take on it. Do you say something? That depends on you. But it’s unlikely you’d just stand there and say “I agree” or “that’s rubbish” without having something to add as to why you feel the way you do. You’d probably also not stand there and shout out (to no one in particular) “hey, my website is cool, here’s the address…”

You may be shy and not say anything. That’s okay too, but remember you get back what you put in

That may not be the best analogy, but I think it makes my point

If you have an opinion, by all means share it. Engage.

In 2009, be part of the social networking (r)evolution. That’s what social media is all about

Does convenience trump thoughtfulness?

Maybe it’s just the time of year or perhaps it’s the spell for rather chilly weather we’re having here in the “Valley of the Sun”, but (as you can tell from previous posts), I’ve been thinking much about electronic communication of late.

When email and instant messaging first debuted on what was then a fledgling Internet, there was some debate as to the social acceptance of these communication methods. Firing off an email is quicker and easier than writing or typing a letter. It’s also cheaper and timelier. More often than not, you can even tell whether it’s been received and read.

Yes the pervasion of these rapid forms of communication have, to some degree, added an air of casualness (is that even a word??) to discourse. What was once considered socially unacceptable has become the norm. By that I mean abbreviations, spelling, typos and grammar. This is a double-edges sword. E-communication has allowed the expansion of business and social networking like nothing before. Some would say that the removal of old fashioned “rules” is a necessary part of an evolution in how we communicate. Others would mourn the lowering of acceptable standards. I’m sure rain forests would agree on the side of evolution.

Apart from the ease with which we now converse and the debate over acceptability of presentation, many electronic systems have made life easier. Beyond email and instant messaging, we now have blogs and social media sites such as ActiveRain, LinkedIn and Twitter. It’s possible to conceive a thought, put it into words and publish it to the world almost instantly. Go back just a decade and consider how far we’ve come.

Yet has this ease of communication come to the detriment of thoughtfulness?

There are some who would consider the purchase of a gift card to be an easier and less thoughtful present than purchasing an actual gift. Others would see it as giving the recipient the option to choose what they would like. By the same token, could buying something online , having it wrapped “automatically” and sent directly to the recipient, be considered as less thoughtful than going to a store, buying, wrapping and shipping a gift?

Taken a step further, is sending a greeting card using an online service, less meaningful than hand-writing each card, affixing a stamp and mailing it?

For the record, I do all of the above. I am a regular shopper at Amazon.com. Most of my family lives overseas and it’s both easier and cheaper to shop on a localized website (i.e. Amazon in the UK) and have the gift wrapped and shipped instead of having to do it from here.

I use Send-Out-Cards for greeting cards. I can keep my address book online, select a card, “write” my message and send it without leaving my computer. The recipient gets a card with a nicely hand-written-esque font.

Does this mean I care less than I should? Am I taking the easy way out?

From my side of the fence I think not. I could understand all the arguments opposing my view. It’s a matter of perspective. Electronic communication, in all it’s forms, whether email or electronic-to-physical card, has made life more convenient. It has, for me, made me more reliable. I want to send greeting cards and gifts. I still take the time to pick them out. I choose my words carefully (most of the time – see my email post). I know that I care.

It’s the thought that counts after all, isn’t it?