So… would you like an Apple or a Doughnut?

Posted on December 3, 2010 by Steve Mordue

If I were to ask if you would prefer me to give you an apple or a doughnut… in three weeks time, most of you would say an apple. However, if I were standing in front of you right now with an apple in one hand and a doughnut in the other, most of you would take the doughnut.

It is one thing to know what is good for us, and to truly believe that we aspire to these things as a “future” goal, but when faced with the immediate choice, most of us do the opposite. And so it is with Social Media for your business <-clumsy segue.

I have yet to meet a business owner who does not agree that their business needs to embrace social media to survive: “Oh yes… I’m definitely going to do that”. But most fail to act and simply continue doing what they have been doing. Just like the majority of the population, the majority of businesses are obese slobs lumbering on to an early death.

We know at our core that the health food nuts, vegans and fitness junkies will outlive us all. Business owners who are on a steady diet of Social Media will outlive their competition, and we know that as well. So why don’t more of them act on the health of their enterprises?

Oh, they know alright, as of this writing I just sold out an event titled “Social Media Business Strategies”. Fifty people signed up in less than four days. They too will be like many people I see at my events; busy taking copious notes, nodding like dashboard dogs, asking insightful questions, and generally “fired up” to get involved. However, which I know is rare for a speaker, I keep track. I make a habit of checking up on my attendees a month or so after my events. Out of some warped need for validation I desperately hope to see someone who has actually taken steps. But just as the salesperson at LA Fitness knows, most people who take the gym tour, will never come back. No matter how convincing they appeared in their plan to actually get in shape.

Fortunately, a small percentage do commit to implementing Social Media into their business plan. It is for these people who I resist the temptation to run my slides upside down just to see if anyone notices. Just as it is no secret that exercise is good for you, the value of Social Media is denied by few, but avoided by most.

So would you like an Apple or a Doughnut?

Did I just Facetweet in all CAPS? Get over it!

Posted on November 3, 2010 by Steve Mordue

Obviously, as in any private club there are rules. Rules created by the elite members and founding fathers of the club.

Guess what? Social Media ain’t your club. It Never was.

You early adopters simply had a head-start on the rest of the world which gave you the illusion that the space was yours to craft into a private Utopia.

I received a message from a Facebook friend a while back telling me that if I don’t stop face-tweeting, they will un-friend me because they don’t use Facebook like that. I thought to myself “Why should I give a shit about how you use anything?”

I recently helped Derrick Brooks sort out his Facebook page. One of the things we did was to connect Twitter to his page. Of course, why wouldn’t we? This step is even recommended by Facebook during the setup. I started following Derrick’s tweets as a result. As many of you know, Derrick is a guaranteed lock for the NFL Hall of Fame, an eleven time Pro Bowler and a Superbowl ring wearer. Personally, I feel privileged to be able to hear his thoughts through his tweets. Now Derrick is far from a Social Media elitist and he frequently tweets in all caps. Why? Because he feels like it. Occasionally, some nobody jackass will feel compelled to tell Mr. Derrick Brooks that he is doing it wrong. According to who? The idiot below actually felt so strongly about it that he tried to enlist Warren Sapp to support his cause. Warren told him to pound sand by the way.

I got news for the social media snobs. It ain’t your playground. Social Media is a public park were everyone is invited, like it or not. So gird yourselves for the onslaught of faux pas that will continue to leave you seething behind your lattes realizing you have lost control of the teeter-totters to the new kids.

Of course, one of the nice things about most social media is that we all have a choice of who we want to follow. If you are bothered by the way someone uses the tools, you can easily stop following them and the MADNESS WILL END for you. But, I suggest that you simply give into it. You really don’t have a choice anyway, there are way too many heathens over that rise.

Social Media Masturbation

Posted on October 26, 2010 by Steve Mordue

Ha, a friend of mine, Joe Malinowski, used the word “Masturbation” in a post title and it blew up… what a bunch of freaks you are. I had been kicking around the idea for this post for a while and the title Social Media Masturbation actually seemed appropriate, so I stole it from Joe.

So, you’re at a networking event with friends, having a wonderful time. There are jokes, quality banter, laughter, and occasional insider info shared that only years of bonding together at these events can bring.

A stranger awkwardly stands behind you, as if wanting to be part of your conversation.

He seems familiar – you think you know him from somewhere, but have never met until now. Being a good networker, you invite him into your circle of connections and strike up a chat.

But he doesn’t seem to be interested in answering any of your questions, or listening to a word you or your friends are saying. All he does is talk about himself and his business, like some kind of robot.

It’s about this time that you’ll politely ignore that person for the rest of the event – and, if you’re lucky, the rest of your life.

And yet, most businesses are approaching social media with the exact same finesse. I think whoever coined the term “Social Media” has done us all a disservice.

Why? Because businesses tend to focus only on the ‘media’ part, and completely ignore the ‘social’ part. It’s become all ‘transactional’, and not enough about relationships.

For example, I often hear business owners ask how they can build up a large social media following so they can blast out more coupons and offers (just in case their target customers didn’t see the TV ads, direct mailers, websites, text messages, or e-mails).

Not only that, they want the communication to be one-way: they don’t actually want to respond back to customers (“just drive them to our website!”). To them, it’s just another media channel like all the others.

There may be a sense of déjà vu for many industry veterans, as ‘customer interaction’ was a war-cry of the early dot-com days. Social media should be a natural extension of that, so why have the lessons not been learned? In truth, social media is probably more the love child of Public Relations and the Internet, a fluid mixture of influencing conversation and the interactive Internet.

So there are some lessons learned that should apply if you want to use social media effectively. Here are five very basic concepts to get you going:

1) Listen. Before you even start talking, have you taken the time to understand what the conversations are about? Do you understand the setting, the context, and what is appropriate for the situation? If so, then…

2) Respond. Having a social media presence is not the same as a billboard or TV commercial; you are actually expected to be “social”. You may not always have all the answers, but at least giving genuine acknowledgment is a start. Which leads to…

3) Being human. Businesses are easy to hate: large, faceless corporations that care only about money. Humans however, have thoughts, feelings, emotions, dreams, hopes, and desires, and form communities around those. Humans also make mistakes – and they can be forgiven when acknowledged. Your behavior online determines what you are. To be more human, you should…

4) Have something interesting to say. Yes, I know, a business in a social media setting can only mean one thing – they’re here to sell something. That’s understood, and accepted. But it’s the way you go about it that determines if I want to buy from you or not. If your social media presence is the equivalent of talking to an automated phone system, or something I can already get from your e-mail newsletters, then I have no need to follow your social media presence. Here’s a clue though – people who do follow you are probably interested in the category of products or services you sell. Surely you have something interesting to say about your industry? If so, great! You should…

5) Share. Every company wants a viral campaign (usually because it’s the code word for maximum reach with lowest cost). But there is a simple word that lies at the heart of every great viral campaign: ‘kudos’. It’s the currency of the social world – whoever finds the coolest, funniest, most interesting information first and shares it gets credit for it. So don’t hoard information – make it interesting and set it free.

As a final word, not everyone goes from wallflower to life-of-the-party overnight. It takes is a lot of practice and a genuine love of conversation with others. If that doesn’t sound like you…well, there’s nothing wrong with hiding behind your computer and doing it.

19 Experts Predict the Future of Marketing

Posted on September 30, 2010 by Steve Mordue

Like most of us, I get emails and tweets about reports, surveys, blog posts and all sorts of crap that for whatever reason I am a target. Occasionally, among the pile of promotions disguised as useful data… some useful data is actually there. Maybe “Useful” is too strong… “Interesting” might be better.

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