But, I have learned a few things that could help you, your business and your brand in creating a successful online engagement experience for your customers.
One of the things I keep on my business card is “Experiencial Design” because I think something that customers of this age look for is not only a good product or service, but a great customer experience.
Take a look at what you’re doing with your current strategy and ask yourself if you are really engaging your customers or just pushing things out there without paying attention to what they’re saying. To find out more, watch my latest episode.
How to Make It Work is also available on Tivo, Roku and Blip.tv
Recently I spoke with +Derek Ross about some of his posts about #Android and why they weren’t getting the type of interaction he was looking for. +Derek is an original content creator and a great resource for all things related to #Android.
After taking a look at some of his posts at the time, I noticed that a lot of things he was posting were unembellished hyperlinks–simply a link to a website and the default snippet without any sort of summary or call to action.
Most of the content that gains traction on the Internet, whether message boards, social media sites like Google+ and Facebook or through e-mail chains (although becoming less popular) has an origin. A lot of people take for granted the fact that someone took the time and effort to create this work. Instead, they share the image with reckless abandon as if it was their own original work.
Now, that’s not to say that everyone that downloads and image to their computer and shares it on a social network is necessarily in the wrong. A lot of the images that are found throughout the web are not copyrighted and are usually “modifications” of existing images. Think of all of the memes where people take an existing image and populate their own text on top. Just because they captioned the image does not make it theirs, per say.
I was approached today by +Bud Hoffman who pointed out that he shared an image he had found on the Internet and was surprised by the amount of interaction and attention it drew. Bud shared an image of two men smoking and standing beneath a mural to make it look as though they were being buried at a funeral.
If you’re just starting a blog or trying to learn how to be a successful blogger on the Internet you have probably read a lot about what you should be doing. Have you considered thinking about what you shouldn’t be doing?
I polled my network of experts on Google+ and got some great responses on this topic. I wanted to feature +C Bret Campbell‘s thoughts as a guest post. Here’s his top ten list of mistakes that bloggers commonly make:
So, tonight, after attending a meeting for speakers interested in +PodCamp Nashville, I went out to dinner with the lovely +D’nelle Throneberry and talked about teamwork and how it relates to social media as a business strategy.
The first thing we talked about is something that “social media experts” are afraid to admit. Social media has grown so much that it is no longer under one umbrella. There are so many aspects of new media that one person can not simply master them all.
Currently the game is being played on a no-frills referral basis in this market. If you’re looking for WordPress, there’s someone for that. If you want to do a Twitter campaign, I can point you in the right direction. Looking for Drupal? There’s a couple of guys in town that do that…
Clearly, what I learned from our conversation and observing the relationships and businesses in this market, I know that everyone is really excited about social media. Especially the people that do it for a living. They are all working independently and love it. Why?
I can understand leaving your M-F 9-5 to become an independent entrepreneur and do what you love, but why do it alone when there is a team of people there all passionate about the same thing?
As this space continues to evolve, more technologies and networks start popping up, we are going to need more than just a few experts. Regardless, though, of how much it grows and changes, all of these things that propagate are all related. There is no reason we should work in silos. That’s why we left Corporate America in the first place, right?
I think that if a group of people with a diversified range of talents band together they will be much more successful than a bunch of people all out doing it on their own.
I don’t care how wide or great your referral network is, there is strength in numbers and if you band together, you can do amazing things. Teamwork is where it’s at.
I just had two incredible conversations with two of my favorite innovators within this space. How did we meet? Google+ Hangouts of course.
Although we might not talk all of the time or keep up with each other on a daily basis, when we feel the need to tap into each others’ creativity and critical thinking skills, we know we are there for each other.
In a world where people connect effortlessly with their computers, mobile devices and tablets, social networks are popping up everywhere. Some of them are geared towards finding and sharing websites (digg, stumbleupon), others are more geared towards sharing what you’re doing in text and photo (Instagram, Twitter), some focus on where you are (Foursquare, Path) while others try to tackle everyone at once (Facebook, Google+). Every day more and more of these networks are popping up like Pinterest and Issuu.
Of course, having a presence in all of these places would expose your business or brand to more eyeballs, but is it really necessary?
We just finished our last night of the #NYCHIRL and all I can say is…WOW! That was one of the most incredible experiences I have had in my life.
If you are new to G+ or trying to get people interested in joining, just tell them to search for hastag NYCHIRL and see the ridiculous amount of fun that a bunch of people that met over the Internet were able to have over one weekend in New York City.
Over the last several months, Google has been pushing its new technology hard. They have been holding concerts in New York City, spending time with the Dalai Lama and hosting celebrities like David Beckham.
Initially these hangouts seemed extremely organic. Such as the one with +will.i.am, where I got a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to hangout with him virtually one-on-one and ask him about social media and where music is going with this new technology. That happened purely by coincidence, I was in the right place at the right time.
That’s how this network works and that’s how a lot of opportunities work.You have to be at the right place at the right time. (more…)
Thousands of people, businesses, brands, products and services create a social media presence every day. Whether its a Twitter account, Facebook page or Google+ page, they want to make sure that you can find their product in all corners of the web.
Creating a social media campaign requires commitment, communication and most importantly, listening.
Have you ever tried having a conversation with a brick wall? Not so much fun, huh? In fact, if you tried talking to a brick wall in front of your friends, people might think you’re crazy.
I’m not a Social Media Expert. 
