Highway to Hale

Due to some traveling and catching up with old friends, this #followfriday recommendation is not only late (unless you are on the west coast), but it will be shorts as well. So, you know the drill – let’s get to it.

My first and only recommendation this week has been called @dudetodad, @deepbench, @fiestahugh, and @mrsdudesfund (among other things), and is somebody I was lucky enough to build a friendship with while I was in school. Despite being one of the busiest people I have ever met, @hughweber was never shy about finding time to meet with me and talk business…or Miley Cyrus. Hugh obviously has a lot going on and he always wants to share it with the world. Time after time, talking to Hugh has energized me and given me confidence in myself and the business world. In fact, Hugh was one of the first people I met in the business world that showed me certain people really do want to help each other succeed.

Hugh is a rare innovator located in a region that is generally stereotyped as a community far behind the leading edge, and his drive to work, play, and do good is inspiring to those around him. His best work is often done between the hours of 2am and 7am, so you might want to grab a cup of coffee if you plan to see Hugh’s wheels turn at full speed.

So, give Hugh a shout and prepare to get smarter. You might even find yourself at a 24 hour diner knocking out plans to run a one week blitz campaign for breast cancer called Mrs. Dude’s Boob Fund.

It seems fitting that I would put the finishing touches on this post as the clock gets ready to strike 1am. I’m off to the mountains tomorrow for some golf, I hope you have a great weekend.

We all have limits. There are things we are simply not good at. We can work to improve our skills or mask our inabilities (although I would not suggest the latter if the former is possible). But what is the most unforgivable weakness in every field?

Not knowing your own limits.

To think you have no weakness is the greatest weakness of all. An unknown weakness will inevitably rip you apart from the inside and you will have never seen it coming.

This blog post is going to be a bit of an experiment. It will be driven by your comments about your greatest weakness and how you overcome that weakness.

Maybe it is a little dangerous to write a blog post about a weakness while still on the hunt for a job, but I think it is necessary to understand yourself; furthermore, doing so is probably more valuable than assuming you can do anything.

I’ll start by expressing a weakness of mine – I need to have multiple things going on around me to stay focused. Seems strange right? But as I write this post, I’ve read seven articles from my Google Reader (and have 20 more queued), refreshed and caught up on my Tumblog three times, tweeted a couple times, and made a late lunch. I probably seem very unfocused.

To combat this weakness of seeming to lack focus, I have harnessed the ability to think about things actively while engaging in other activities. I found out I could do this in school when I would write a sentence of a paper and leave it for days at a time. When I came back to the paper, I could sit down and build on that one sentence quickly and accurately with the ideas I had conjured up in the time I was away from the paper. Now, when I start something, it stays in my mind and grows until I can release it.

In the age of social media, brands never go to sleep. It always needs to be in the back of your head and on the tip of your tongue. You also have the ability to research your competitions’ strengths and explore your own weaknesses to minimize them. Don’t let a weakness that you did not recognize tear your brand apart.

So, go ahead. What is it? What is your personal weakness and how do you use it to your advantage or minimize it? Like I said above, this post will really be pushed forward by your comments and your willingness to improve your strengths. I hope you trust the community to be honest and help you build your abilities.

What time is it!? #followfriday time! This past week, two people caught my attention as the people you need to follow on Twitter if you want to realize the complexities of social media. It seems like people have been trying to simplify social media for awhile now, but these two fellas tell it like it is – social media is part of a complex set of marketing skills.

My first recommendation is somebody that has a handle that explains it all – @unmarketing (Scott Stratten). Since the Un-Marketing Blog does such a great job of explaining what Scott considers “un-marketing”, I’ll just copy and paste it here:

“It’s all about positioning yourself as a trusted expert in front of target market, so when they have the need, they choose you. That’s UN-Marketing.” – Scott Stratten

I happen to agree with this method pretty heavily and Scott has another project that I support – Thank Goodness It’s Monday. The basic idea is that nobody should let something as trivial as the day of the week determine their attitude. Wonderful. On Twitter, Scott is always passing along helpful advice about tweeting and he is another one of my favorite no-BS tweeters. Scott enjoys interacting with his followers and truly wants to help others…plus he has a great name.

My second recommendation is, without a doubt, one of the smartest people I follow on Twitter. The writing at his blog, the links he shares, and the information he pushes make for a pretty unbeatable combination of intelligence sharing. When @leeodden passes on content, it’s always worth listening to. Lee is the CEO at Top Rank Online Marketing and does a great job of relating SEO and social media. At a time when many people are putting the two in opposite corners, Lee is explaining how they can be related most effectively and putting them both in their respective place without having to emphasize one at the cost of the other (also without annoying everybody in the process). Lee has a strong affinity for objective data and ideas that continue to stay ahead of the game.

These guys are the top in my book of putting the intricacies of social media into perspective. Now, go follow them and learn for yourself, and enjoy the weekend.

I wrote this on Posterous after returning home from a tweetup in Sioux Falls.

I grew up in Omaha. I spent four years at school in Sioux Falls. The Internet and group functions have allowed me to socially network heavily with individuals in Minneapolis.

When I send a resume to an Omaha company, a return email systematically lets me know that the company is not currently looking for entry-level employees.

In Sioux Falls, members of a close-knit professional community (from CEOs to Account Executives) will sit down for lunch or coffee and discuss possibilities in the area and speak candidly about employment opportunities as they see fit. Personal introductions are often the chosen method for passing along names, information, and recommendations.

Is the difference simply due to size? I don’t think so.

When I send a resume out in Minneapolis, the recipient indicates they have read the email and at least glanced at the attached document. If they are unable to help through employment, they offer to forward the information to colleagues and keep an ear open for possible opportunities. I’ve run into very few companies in Minneapolis that simply turn a cold shoulder without staying in contact and offering assistance.

How does information flow in your community? Like Omaha: the ‘Black Hole’ model [information that goes in never gets out]? Like Sioux Falls: the ‘Cheers’ model [where everybody knows your name]? Or like Minneapolis: the ‘Collaborative Potential’ model [our community can benefit from solid work and solid workers]? Maybe something completely different.

After driving 200 miles to meet with some great people in Sioux Falls, I began thinking about a post concerning the physical relation to one’s community. I would ask how far is too far to travel for a good community? And what do you do when you move out of a stellar community?

There is something more important than the geographic relation you have to your community. When I ask how far you will go for your community, I mean what will you do to show your community that you are one of them?

Scribnia community manager, David Spinks, does a great job of letting the community know that he belongs with them. He is every bit as likely to be nominated as Blogger of the Week as he is to choose the award. Furthermore, David makes it easy for bloggers to join the community by creating the skeleton structure of their page that they can fill in and claim when they choose to do so.

So, what can you do to show your community that you are a valuable component of the group? How will you show your community members that you belong with them and that you are willing to improve the community? It is commonplace to say go the extra mile for clients/communities/friends/coworkers.

Well I say – Go the extra 200 miles.

Happy Friday – let’s get right to it. These are the people I think you would get the most use out of following on Twitter or reading their blog. Each of these recommendations have spent about one year in the professional world working in the Internet Marketing Industry.

My first recommendation is a former classmate of mine. I believe he was the first person to introduce me to Twitter. To this day, he is still thinking at the forefront of the social media industry. He recognizes trends and loves to try new things. With a passion for reading and writing engaging content and telling the truth, conversations with @mikebilleter are never dull. Mike genuinely wants to help those around him. If thought-provoking conversation on Twitter isn’t enough, you can find more writing by Mike at the Deep Bench blog or on his personal blog – Mikebilleter.com. In just one year, Mike has positioned himself as a well-known professional in Sioux Falls with a knack for networking.

My second recommendation is part of a team that really showed me that social media marketing can be a successful career. At a time when I wasn’t sure what kind of careers would be available to somebody with a passion for social media, @kareemy was kind enough to take some time to offer some insight on his career. He even let me come in to his office, introduced me to others working in the social media field, and gave me a straight forward look into a career path I could see myself traveling. If there is anybody that can be described as a “go-getter” it is Kareem. I doubt I’ve met anybody with the same drive to get things done. Kareem’s straight-to-the-point posts can often be found in the Risdall Marketing Pie and a more personal twist can be found at Kareem’s personal blog – The Chemicals Between Us. In just one year, Kareem has become a familiar name in the Minneapolis area and he has built a strong reputation as a fun-loving, hard-working go-getter with the ability to implement ideas.

My final recommendation is actually somebody I have featured before in a Follow Friday on this blog. But when you consider the changes a first professional year can make, it would be silly to leave out @jasondouglas. In fact, Jason just wrote a “Social Media Now and Then” post at the Sypder Trap Blog today. By listening to Jason, it would be hard to assume he has only been optimizing websites for search engines for a single year. Jason recognizes opportunities and understands the value of hard work to achieve such opportunities. In just one year, Jason’s confidence as an Internet marketer has increased unimaginable amounts while maintaining a healthy dose of humility.

Where will you be by next year? I would be proud to accomplish what each of these three Internet marketing professionals have done in the first year of their career. Their potential is staggering, so do not expect them to slow down any time soon.

Image Credit: Tara Hunt (flickr.com/photos/missrogue)

By now, you have all at least heard of the case in which United Airlines reportedly ruined the $3,500 guitar of country musician Dave Carroll. If not, join over 2 million viewers in watching the music video Dave created about the situation. If the video doesn’t do it for you, feel free to read the story from Dave’s perspective on his website.

Hero?

Dave has been lifted to near hero status among social media circles in the past couple weeks due to his band’s catchy viral video, but has Dave exposed the dark side of social media heroism? When I first heard the story and watched the video, I thought it was great. I knew Dave had been wronged by United Airlines and I was happy that somebody had the ability to take a shot at a corporation that ignored his customer service needs. Blog posts jumped up all over the place praising Dave’s destruction of the United Airlines image and support rolled in through comments about never flying United again.

Villain?

Whoa, slow down a minute. I know it looks bad for United at this point, but take a second to consider what they were dealing with. There is probably no excuse for giving somebody a run-around for nine months, but United might have a case here. First, we all know that airlines claim that they are not liable for lost, stolen, or damaged luggage every time they get a chance. But if Dave saw the handlers throwing his instrument around, there must be an exception. If not, there should be – so we’ll stay on Dave’s side. After Dave claims to have seen the handlers throwing his guitar case, he picks the case up at baggage claim and goes to his hotel. Seven days later (after a Nebraska-wide tour), Dave returns to United and says they broke his guitar. Why didn’t Dave check his guitar at the airport if he saw it being tossed around? Dave says the case looked fine and they were tired.

Implications

Again, there is no excuse to send a customer from employee to employee for nine months basically avoiding response to his claim. But United might be on the receiving end of the dark side of social media. Dave and his band are less-than-famous and have created a viral sensation on the internet at the expense of United’s reputation. I would like to believe that Dave honestly knows that United broke his guitar, but it seems like he has a lot more to gain in this situation than a repaired guitar.

Does this case indicate that a certain amount of publicity, whether with good intentions or not, will result in a desired outcome? The most common solution I have seen is that United could have avoided this by fixing the guitar. Do you really want business to work that way? If you make a claim, they bend over and accommodate your demands? Whether wrong doing has occurred or not, publicity would dictate the outcome. Imagine United did not break Dave’s guitar, but to avoid confrontation they replaced the guitar. Yes, $3,500 is a relatively small price to pay to save your reputation, but what other expenses would United have opened themselves up to?

I feel bad for Dave, his guitar, and United. But I’m still on the fence about whether this is a shining moment for social media or a dark realization, what do you think?

It has been a quick-feeling week, but the social media world packed in some great content. These three #followfriday recommendations harnessed the power of conversation quite well this week – and it was no surprise to those of you following them on Twitter or keeping up with their blogs.

My first recommendation is a person that has made me consider moving to Canada so I could hangout with him. He is funny, intelligent, engaging, helpful, and considerate. His blog is always informative and/or helpful, humorous, concise and thought-provoking. What can’t @DannyBrown do? I am not sure…but I will let you know if I find out. Danny is the head of a program called 12for12k that has set out to raise $12,000 for a different charity every month of 2009. Danny never shies away from a conversation on Twitter and his blog offers great content on which to converse. He understands how a community should work and treats everybody like a valuable member of his community.

My second recommendation is another person that has a knack for stirring up some great conversations. You would never guess @DavidSpinks is only 22 years old based on his knowledge and ability to write engaging material (often at The Spinks Blog). David is the community manager for the blogging community, Scribnia. The great part about David is that he uses his position at Scribnia to pass along great information he comes across and highlight really intelligent bloggers. Like Danny, you will never find David sitting on the sidelines during a great conversation. It just so happens that many of the great conversations over the past week (and prior) have come from the content David has provided.

My third recommendation is somebody that hosted the best conversation I was able to find this week. Unfortunately my personal interaction with @dmullen has been limited, but that has obviously been a mistake. If you don’t believe me about the best conversation of the week, check out Mullen’s blog – Communications Catalyst. On Twitter, Mullen can be found with incredible insight right in the middle of the most interesting topics. You can bet Mr. Mullen has found his way into a pretty exclusive group in my TweetDeck in the past few weeks. I’ve been reading David’s blog for awhile now, and I’m looking forward to getting to know David a little better by catching more of his tweets.

So, go out and follow these three kings of conversation and have a great weekend.

Photo Credit: Derek Baird

Before you get too excited, I should tell you that I am not giving anything away.

Now that the Moonfruit Twitter hashtag giveaway has ended and the Squarespace contest has reached a finale, it is time to start discussing whether this was good or bad for the integrity of Twitter, trending topics, and social media in general.

Without discussing what each of the previously mentioned companies actually do/offer, I commend them on offering very high quality prizes with some relevance to their own product. Unfortunately for both companies, giving away their own product would not have made nearly the same splash in the Twitterverse as giving away products from Apple.

Understandably, Squarespace gave away iPhones because they had just launched a new iPhone app that makes mobile usage of Squarespace easier. Slightly less relevant was the prize of MacBook Pros from Moonfruit – yes, they do offer a web-based product, but there is no way they would have received as many entries or as much attention if they weren’t giving away Apple products.

Let’s be honest, Apple was the big winner in this situation. Nobody Very few people wanted to promote Squarespace or Moonfruit, they wanted an Apple product for free. To this day, the majority of ‘opt-in contestants’ do not have a clue what either company does. On the other hand, it is pretty obvious what you will be giving away if you want to get noticed.

Combined, Squarespace and Moonfruit topped Twitter’s trending topics for the better part of 30 days. Iran and Michael Jackson are the only notable topics that were able to push the contest entries down the list for any significant period of time.

Did Squarespace and Moonfruit spam Twitter? Or did they offer value to Twitter users and get rewarded by those thankful for the value? Twitter seems to have considered Moonfruit’s Trending Topic Takeover as spam because they apparently removed the term from the list in favor of less popular subjects (according to Moonfruit).

In the future, look for more of these contests, because this obviously got some publicity. For companies planning on trying this type of campaign, consider giving something away tied to your product or service. Yes, people start flooding in the door if you give away popular consumer goods, but they won’t stay inside once the party is over.

Twitter may begin systematically censoring trending topics that do not come about organically if these type of campaigns diminish the value of real-time monitoring of the public. I believe Twitter should use that power if necessary, but I do not believe it will be necessary. As we saw with Iran and MJ, contests cannot overtake organically driven news that deeply interests the public.

It may be a day off in the work world, but the show must go on. It’s Friday again which means it’s time for me show some love for those I enjoy following on Twitter. Here are my Follow Friday recommendations for Friday, July 3.

My first recommendation goes out to somebody that most of you already follow. He is kind of a big deal, but let me tell you why I follow @ChrisBrogan. I originally started following Chris because he was recommended to me when I was first getting started in my adventure with social media. Little did I know how much I could learn from him and how much his work would energize me with new ideas. Chris recently estimated that he shares about 91.5% of his writing away for free via his blog. That is quite a gift that speaks to the shift in knowledge sharing and idea generation that he promotes and believes in. You wouldn’t expect much interaction from a man as busy as Chris, but he does a great job of engaging his followers on Twitter by carrying conversations about his work and his personal life.

My second recommendation is a leader from one of the leading social media cities in the world. There has been some debate about which city holds the title as the greatest social media city, but @JaredRoy is one of the reasons that Minneapolis is in the debate. He is the creator of Social Media Breakfast in Minneapolis and you can always count on him to share the best ideas that come out of his events. Jared’s blog, The Wah Report, plays host to a constant mix of his personal interests (a lot of cyclocross) and his social media knowledge. You can always count on Jared to live-tweet Minneapolis’ premier social media events and you can always count on him to be brutally honest (he once tweeted that if he can’t find you on the internet, you don’t exist).

I’m going to stick with two recommendations this Friday. Have a great Independence Day weekend and enjoy following these two people that I respect and have taught me a great amount.