Highway to Hale

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.

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.

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?

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.

When Facebook hit the “destroy competition” button in their control room, vanity URLs arrived.

There has been some controversy about the way vanity URLs have been rolled out based on number of fans and whatnot, but a few big names are off and running with the new ease of accessibility for users.

Have a quick look at facebook.com/vw and facebook.com/cariboucoffee for a few early examples.

I can’t afford a VW and I don’t really like coffee that much, but I love social media possibilities. So, when I saw VW’s Facebook vanity URL at the end of their TV ad, I grabbed a computer and had to see what they were so confident about. I was not disappointed. The landing page didn’t even feel like a Facebook page (unless you wanted to interact). I wanted to be there because it was more interesting than anything my friends had going on. The wall is full of stories about buying or owning VWs and the content is written creatively with a fun edge.

But do you know what VW’s Facebook page doesn’t have? A salesperson asking me to buy a car. Thanks VW.

Volkswagon is cultivating a young community by handing out a fun user experience. I’m not going to Facebook when I want to buy a car, but now I know what to expect from VW and I will consider them an option the next time I am looking for a new car.

Caribou Coffee is climbing a different hill, but they also jumped on the Facebook vanity URL train quickly and intelligently with their “Wild It Up” campaign. The URL can be found draped all over the place because it is clear where it is taking you. Among some suggested popular drinks, a menu, and some other [unnecessarily] forced information, Caribou offers a sort of application for Facebook users to play around with. It is just a silly photo manipulator that encourages users to mess around with photos of themselves drinking Caribou Coffee – but it works.

Have you seen any other examples of Facebook vanity URLs being put to good use? I think we will be seeing a lot more of this kind of interaction if brands are staying smart. Facebook pages can be used in many ways and they can change fairly easily to keep people intrigued. This is a great example of brands getting to where users are and engaging them and Facebook made it easier by making the pages much more accessible.

Everybody Loves a Slinky

It is the distant future: the year 2011 – Twitter. Is. Dead. The URL twitter.com plays host to a 140 Error message. Biz Stone and Evan Williams are appearing on The Daily Show (recently handed over to Rob Corddry) tonight promoting their new book: The Last Big Thing Used To Be The Next Big Thing: The Demise of a Fad. Remember the name Ashton Kutcher? Sounds familiar, but I just can’t place it…

So, Twitter got replaced the same way all of those new web advancements did in the past – just like the “experts” predicted. More important than what went away is what remains. What is it that remains? Social media. The lessons we learned about transparency, customer experience, human interaction, consumer generated content, and permission marketing have only gotten clearer as the dust from some of the first social media applications settles. Consumer empowerment is still one of the strongest tools marketers have in their utility belt. Community development does not necessarily have geographic connotations as it once did all the way back in 2007.

You see the point? Social media is not Twitter, or any set of tools, in the same way that PR is not the telephone, email, or a newspaper.

Let’s snap back to 2009 (you know, back when Jon Stewart hosted the Daily Show). Don’t expect to see the future written above (except for the lessons learned from the current tools). While Twitter is nothing more than a tool, there are plenty of reasons it is going to be around for awhile, but consider this one reason:

Twitter has weaved its way deeply into society in a really short amount of time. You could make the same argument for the Slinky back in its golden days, but CNN didn’t look to the Slinky for the latest on hot topics and I don’t recall any Slinkies flopping their way out of locker rooms with breaking news about steroids and staff changes. Fads tend to infiltrate every corner of society in the blink of an eye, but Twitter has something that leg warmers, bell-bottom pants, scrunchies, and Tomagotchis were missing.

Twitter did not come alone to this society fad party. Twitter brought along countless friends in the form of third party applications. All of the friends Twitter brought along have made it a chameleon. You might not use Twitter the same way I do and neither of us probably use it the same way as @BreakingNews does.

The other simple thing Twitter has going for it is that it is where the people are. I tried Plurk and it is just fine…but there was nobody for me to talk to. I could build a community of interesting people to converse with on Plurk, but I’ve already done that on Twitter. FriendFeed aggregates all of my networks…but nearly all of the updates come from Twitter and FriendFeed apps are just slightly behind in quantity and quality.

I think Twitter will be around for a little while. What do you expect in 2011 – flying cars?

This guy is clearly annoyed.

There is a fine line between staying relevant and getting annoying.

For example, #followfriday used to be relevant and was a great tool for finding new, interesting people. Now, #followfriday is annoying. It has become Twitter’s greatest form of spam. Proponents of Twitter say spam is not possible because you choose which users to follow, but #followfriday changes that theory. Some of the most interesting people on Twitter have become the most effective spammers as soon as the clock strikes 12:01 on Fridays. Another route some have taken is to simply throw every trending topic into a spam tweet. Annoying, but it can be dealt with.

So, how does one become relevant while embracing the idea of Follow Friday? Insert @ArikHanson and @DannyBrown (I’m sure others are doing this too, but as far as I know, these were two of the first). Arik now records a video containing the few people he believes deserve to be highlighted as the best people to follow. He takes a few seconds to explain why each person deserves the mention and he posts the video on his blog – Communication Conversations. Danny does much the same at his blog, but he writes out individual descriptions of each person he highlights rather than filming a video. They have both created categories so viewers can easily distinguish what the person does and why they should be followed. It is a very personal touch and it gives back to readers. I don’t get the sense they are listing names for their own well-being or for the approval of those they are mentioning.

What’s the lesson to be learned here? It is annoying to simply go through the motions. Stop and consider the motive behind actions and you may discover that you can do it better. I was talking to a friend in medical school the other day and she mentioned that many doctors simply go through the motions and it causes a lot of angst in patients. The doctor has seen a million patients with the exact same problem, so they do the standard tests without explanation. It is necessary to consider the motive behind the tests and pass along the knowledge because it is probably the patient’s first time. The information is relevant to the patient.

I have heard graphic designers often run into similar problems with logos. After working on a logo for days or even weeks, the designer sees the final product and quickly tires of it. To them, the logo is old. They have seen it a million times. To them, it is annoying. They must remember that the audience has only seen the new logo a few times. Consumers find constant design changes annoying because they never know what to look for. In this case, you can stay relevant by staying the same.

Relevancy can be achieved by change or consistency. Either way, it comes down to recognizing the motive. Next time you start a project or jump on a bandwagon, consider the reason you are doing such. Consider your unique goals and try to avoid doing something just because that’s how it has been done in the past.

There have been a lot of campaigns lately that have recieved mixed reviews about whether they are relevant or annoying. What are some the recent campaigns you have seen that are relevant and what are some that are simply annoying?

This post comes in response, and with a big thanks, to @DavidSpinks and his post called “Are You Good At Social Media?”

Don't be this kind of tool.

So, you can create a Facebook page? You’ve @replied somebody on Twitter? You read your friend’s LiveJournal?

Would you hire a graphic designer based on their ability to tell you what Adobe Creative Suite is? I hope the answer is no (if you answered yes, call me Scott Hale: Graphic Designer). The same goes for social media – Knowing what Twitter, Facebook, and blogs are does not give you the skills to effectively design a social media strategy. Building a community and cultivating conversation takes more than a username and password on the most mainstream social tools the web has to offer. At this point, knowledge and proficient use of social media tools is more like using your right arm and less like using a tool.

So, what is the most important tool in social media? YOU.

You must have background knowledge in marketing, PR, customer service, human interaction, technology, writing, sociology, and psychology. To this point, education has been concerned with nice neat little packages so everybody can succeed. Social media has reached a point where customization is necessary. Cookie-cutter automation will not work in social media. Nobody can stand in front of a class of students or marketing professionals (or CEOs) and give them the magic bullet to interacting correctly.

The overriding theme of social media is interactivity. When interacting with others, the only tools you have come from yourself. Your ability to read the situation and connect with ideas are central to maintaining conversations and constructing a community. The term “relationship marketing” has been showing up a lot lately, and I believe it describes the goal of social media quite well. Relationships demand loyalty from both sides and the way to engage consumers will be different in every strategy.

Individuals create successful social media strategy. Social media strategies need to be unique. It is not only necessary that campaigns have the ability to be customizable, it is necessary that every campaign be customized. Great customized plans are run by people with a great knowledge of interaction, idea connection, sociological patterns, and flexible strategy.

Are you a tool? I believe I am. If you (or anybody you know) are looking for a social media tool, feel free to contact me.

According to some recent statistics (eMarketer.com/Deloitte), 74% of US Employees agree (50%) or strongly agree (24%) that social media usage CAN damage a company’s reputation. I do not know why anybody would disagree, but welcome to the future of business. Welcome to the age of transparency and accountability.

Employees are accountable for what they say and companies are accountable for the ways in which they treat employees.

Maybe I’m living in a dream world, but if social media can damage a company’s reputation by sharing truth from the inside, it can also promote the company positively. Are there any Google employees complaining about their work environment or their horrible boss? Not that I have seen. Social media has been great for companies that treat their employees, clients and colleagues like rock stars.

What is it that you are doing that you do not want your employees or clients to share? And then why are you doing it in the first place? There is no need to outlaw social media use in the workplace if you are able to hire trustworthy employees and you are able to treat your trustworthy employees well.

This all brings me back to my original thoughts about Facebook. Everybody says use your privacy settings and remove pictures that portray you negatively. I agree, use your privacy settings so there are no surprises about who has been checking you out. But, if the act you are participating in is questionable to the point that you do not want others to see it, you need to ask yourself why you are doing it at all.

Clients are smart. If they can’t find any of your employees on the internet, they’ll suspect something is up. There is no reason to hide anything if you are proud of what you are doing.

Sorry for the delay, but last week got a little crazy. I officially (and successfully) ended my college career (at Augustana College) this past weekend with two Bachelor of Arts Degrees; one with a major in Communications/Business and the other with a major in Psychology. Apparently I already miss classes because all I’ve done is read and thought about (possibly come up with?) the 3Es of social media marketing. Engage. Empower. Exchange.

It seems like acronyms are a divine gift in the marketing world. Someday, a marketing messiah will be born uttering the four P’s as their first words. But today, I bring you my personal (feel free to adapt and slap in a book) Social Media Marketing E’s of Success (SMMES, if you will).

• Engage - A ton of focus has been directed at the idea of engaging communities while using social media. It is perhaps the single most important idea in the social media world. No social media pitch has ended without a mention of engaging customers and building long term relationships. To me, this means beginning conversations and joining customers where they are. This should not take the form of marketing as much as it takes the form of organic conversation. Much of engagement in the corporate instance is offering answers where/when questions are posed.

Consider Jeremiah Owyang and his Web Strategy Blog. His target recently has been to connect online communities in real-life situations. He has been running around the globe and setting up tweetups for users in communities that have not yet jumped on the bandwagon. Jeremiah attends and speaks to as many attendees as is humanly possible in a short amount of time and he is always willing to share his views on the future of web strategy. When questions are asked, Jeremiah does his best to answer honestly as part of an organic conversation (in person, blog, or twitter).

For a corporate example, look to the Minnesota Timberwolves. It’s a big deal when an NBA basketball team invites fans out for a drink or speaks to them directly using social media. So, the Timberwolves do just that (although they have been noticeably more silent since the end of a terrible season) using Tweetups, Twitter, and blogs. Fans WANT to be in a conversation with THEIR brand.

• Empower – Put the power in the hands of consumers. Business people as a group are a pretty controlling handful of individuals. Feeling uneasy yet? Change does that. When customers feel like they have a stake in a brand, they are loyal. Enable consumers to feel confident about your product. Give consumers the means to discuss the product (forums, blogs, etc.). Once you have provided content, turn it over to the public.

Again, look to Jeremiah Owyang’s tweetups. Obviously, he can’t be at every tweetup in the world, so he tasks the community members to follow through once he has started the trend. Owyang’s blog offers tips about hosting tweetups, including possible locations, events, and even conversations. Dan Schawbel even makes a living by empowering the public through teaching personal branding techniques.

Look at Threadless for the ultimate brand example of empowerment in the social media space. Their entire business model is built on user generated content. If you design a T-shirt, users vote on it. If you get enough votes, Threadless pays you and prints the shirt. Users have all of the power. As a result, users are interested and connected to the brand. Twitter recognized how passionate users are when they feel like they have power and the two companies have teamed up to create twitter.threadless.com.

• Exchange – The other day, I asked if it is time to stop calling Twitter a social network and start calling it a social exchange. I believe social media are most closely related to conversation on the media spectrum. Thus far, Twitter has made the largest stride to use social media as a social exchange, but others need to follow suit. There is a reason YouTube offers reply videos and nearly every blogging platform allows comments. Social media/exchange implies that we are using those features. Everything is an exchange. I am expecting something from you (something different from everybody generally), so I had better give you something in return.

As a brand, what do you want? Whatever it is, it deserves something in return. In many cases, it’s as simple as a comment or an answer to a question. Brands have the ability to be valuable members of the online community if they are willing to collaborate. Individuals such as Chris Brogan, Robert Scoble, and David Armano have nailed the idea of social exchange. They are always willing to get out in the community, offer reviews, and collaborate with others to enhance the value of ideas (of their own and others). People will respond to brands that are willing to exchange information rather than simply try to harvest all of the information floating around.

The 3Es can be executed in various forms, but they are all common factors in successful social media usage that I have encountered. When used correctly, they lead to the formation of a strong community built on top of a strong brand. Who knows? Your brand might even be integrated into society and become a verb like Google someday if your online presence is strong enough…”looks like it’s going to sjhalestorm this week.”