Archive for year 2011
Meet the growtoonists Kacy Maxwell and Joey Strawn
Oct 21st
During a recent visit to Nashville I had the opportunity to catch up with two of my favorite guys for the very first time — the growtoonists!
Kacy Maxwell and Joey Strawn add a fun and unique flavor to {grow} each Friday with their nutty social media cartoons.
I thought you would like to join the fun as we got to know each other a little bit over a beer at Swanky’s Tacos.
They are both very fun guys who contribute a lot to the entertainment value here at {grow}. Agree?
Are there any ethical bloggers left out there?
Oct 20th
With your kind support, {grow} has become a fairly popular blog. With this distinction, I’m deluged with requests to do sponsored posts (companies offering to pay for their promotional content to show up as a blog post).
The scams seem to be getting more aggressive and extreme and I recently pointed out the example of a guy who flat-out lied to me just to get a back-link on this blog. It makes me wonder … if there are so many people trying to pay me to turn {grow} into their advertisement, they must be having enough success to make it worth their while, right?
There must be a critical mass of influential bloggers out there accepting money for blog posts, otherwise these people would go away!
What follows is a word-for-word transcript of messages exchanged between myself and an actual company seeking a paid placement on {grow}. I’ve only changed the real name of the writer and her company because I don’t need to embarass this person …
Hello Mark!
I am interested in content advertising opportunities on your site, Schaefer Marketing Solutions,because of its great pool of write-ups.
By the way, this is Susan Rafstein and I work for Synchristic Hosting.com.
Our company is one of the most reliable guides for webmasters and website development in the market. We offer in-depth reviews of various hosting providers and other web-related tutorials.
Are you interested?
Susan
Susan,
Thanks for connecting with me.
If I am reading your inquiry correctly, you are looking to advertise on my blog. Specifically, what do you have in mind?
Mark
Hi Mark!
You got that right. Actually, I’m looking for a possibility if you can do a review of our company, Synchristic Hosting.com. Tell me how much would it cost us for you to publish the review in the blog area of your website.
Hoping you’ll consider.
Susan
Susan,
Maybe this appears old-fashioned but I think being paid to do a positive review is unethical.
Mark
Mark,
I’m sorry if that didn’t sound right to you Mark. That was just merely a suggestion–didn’t say that the review is gonna lean towards the positive side. But I bet that incase you do you it, we will do good.
Anyway, what about we do a guest post?
Susan
Susan,
In all due respect, you are approaching this “pitch” in a disastrous way.
If I am unwilling to be paid to promote your company through a blog post, why would I do it for free? And how does one “review” a hosting company any way?
I have built my blog and my community on excellent content and I’ve built trust, in part, by not allowing outside companies to convert these great people into sales leads.
Occasionally I do have guest posts from individuals who are active members in the community. I invite them to do posts because they have great ideas or to help them get some exposure for their own work.
However, I’ve never heard of you or your company before so it’s unlikely that I would unleash you on a community of people who have also become my friends.
I would invite you to read my blog, get to know the folks around here, and show up through comments before asking me to promote your content.
This is probably the same reaction you will receive from other trustworthy bloggers, or at least I hope so! If you do a search on “how to pitch to bloggers” I think you will get much of the same advice I’m providing here.
Best wishes, Mark
Hi Mark!
Again, my apologies if I’m sounding a bit off in your standards. Thanks for the advice and I will take note of that.
I’ve been doing this for quite some time now and honestly, you’re the only one who had that reaction. But there’s a first time for everything, right?
Anyway, I’m concluding this as a negative response from you. Thanks for your time.
Susan
P.S.: Just in case you change your mind, you can send me an email anytime.
Another variation on paid content is paying for backlinks. I am routinely being offered $100 per link, even if I sneak them into old blog posts. And while it’s unlikely that many people would ever know about this, I would know about it and it seems … unethical. Or is it? Does anybody out there really care any more or are most bloggers link whores?
I’m also seeing a growing number of bloggers routinely featuring their customer in blog posts. Are they directly or indirectly being paid for these posts and links, or simply being polite? Do blog readers notice this like I do? Do they care? Are we just getting numb to it? Or is it smart business?
When I get inquiries like the one above, I wonder if I am that much out of step with the times compared to other bloggers. Am I simply idealistic? Stupid? Surely I can’t be the only one taking a stand on this kind of graft, right? What do you think? Would you take the money?
7 Ideas for Advanced Social Media Education
Oct 18th
For the past three years I have been teaching college or graduate level classes in social media marketing. Executives are clamoring for the next level of education in this area and so I’ve been wondering … what would an Advanced Social Media Class look like?
What new skills and ideas would go into the next level of social media education? Where do we go beyond the basic frameworks and strategies?
This is a real, live opportunity and I would love to have your input. In fact PLEASE help out with your ideas in the comment section. Let me prime the pump … here are some ideas I might include in an advanced social media class:
The politics of social media. Many companies are “checking a box” and doing social media (i.e. “we have a Facebook page”) but they are not being social because they have not adapted their traditional broadcasting culture to one that is real-time and reactive. Making the cultural change to really connect with stakeholders at the point of need is extremely difficult and it has to start at the top. Tactics to do this would make for an interesting class, don’t you think? How do you organize to optimize?
Internal applications — Last year I predicted that internal applications for social media would be the next big wave of opportunity for large companies and based on some of the successes we’re seeing this is probably coming true. Yet, this is an under-developed topic in most traditional discussions on social media. I think an exploration of how companies are realizing measurable returns on these programs would be energizing.
Exploring the Digital Divide — I’ve been touring North America with a new speech about the digital layers between companies and customers. A few years ago, every customer interaction was only between real people. Then as we started dumping customer self-service functions on to a website, we created the first digital divide between ourselves and our customers. Today, many customers prefer to be met in the social space instead of a website, creating a second digital divide and further fragmenting marketing efforts. In my speech I articulate four more layers beyond social media and we will need to meet customer needs in all these spaces. I’m working on a blog post on this topic but am having trouble keeping it short!
Return on Influence – In the post “Why Klout Matters” I presented an argument that the ability to create content, move it virally on the social web, and measure reactions to that activity represents an unprecedented opportunity. In the history of sociology, psychology, political science, and marketing, we have never been able to measure this thing called influence. Current measurements like Klout are imperfect, but they are good enough for companies like Disney, Audi, and American Express to use in new word-of-mouth influencer campaigns. This is a big deal and certainly something that should be included in an advanced class.
Integration — Combining social opportunities with traditional advertising seems like the next evolution in marketing but for reasons I don’t totally understand, it’s not gaining traction as fast as I thought it would. I remember watching the Super Bowl ads last year and thinking, “OK, this is going to be the breakthrough event for social and traditional integration,” but there was nothing. Literally nothing. In fact, has there been anything that comes close to the brilliant Old Spice initiative? Are companies keeping these efforts siloed? What are some case studies and best practices?
Beyond Business Marketing — I think it would be interesting to examine social media best practices in areas like HR, PR, politics, government, education, and non-profits. Could probably spend a whole day just on that. There are enormous opportunities in all of these areas.
International — The biggest brands are leaning hard into regional social media platforms such as Renren, Grono and Mixi. How do you navigate the increasingly complex world of fragmented national, regional … even local … sites?
OK, it’s your turn! If you attended a class in advanced social media considerations, what topics would you want to explore?
Now connecting with the sexiest bloggers is easy
Oct 16th
Klout just got sexy. And I called this one … Unfortunately.
A year ago in the first article I wrote about Klout (Get Ready. Social Scoring Will Change Your Life), I predicted that social scoring systems would fragment along different demographic lines:
“Forget about Klout scores, there will be competitive rating systems for everything and it will be available to anybody at a push of a button. Wouldn’t it make sense to assign numbers for single people on the dating scene based on user ratings?”
Well, it is happening. I spit coffee on my computer keyboard when I read this announcement:
CrushBlvd, a startup based in Silicon Valley and purveyor of eye candy, launches a new social networking site for beautiful people. CEO Tina Lee points out the highlights of her new venture, “Looking at and connecting with beautiful people is fun, but it’s hard to find and socialize with them on an everyday basis. CrushBlvd solves this problem by creating a beautiful community that encourages social interaction.”
CrushBlvd uses a Crush score, which combines a Klout score and social networking features into a unique measuring tool, to determine members’ level of influence according to their looks and their ability to engage others. The higher the score represents the higher the popularity and attractiveness of the member.
Lee believes that the best way to connect with beautiful people online is not by another agonizing dating site, but through a pain free social networking site. “We are proud to have created this wonderful niche, so users can have easier access to connecting with our attractive members regardless of their relationship status,” she said.
Purveryor of eye candy? Excuse me. I am going to be sick now.
Congratulations to Tina Lee, who has just cornered the market on vacuity.
And this is just the beginning folks.
Here are my next business model predictions:
PolitiK — Merging Klout scores with political activities. Wouldn’t finding people via influencer topics be an outstanding way to connect with supporters and potential donors? So much easier than recruiting at rallies and you could find backers in every community.
UKlout — Connecting topic influencers on college campuses. Why not do semantic analysis to find people who are like you on your college campus? A useful tool, especially for freshman trying to find friends.
Teenie Tweetie — Teen agers are civilization’s greatest raters and comparers. When wil they have their own Klout-style rating system?
BOUNCE* – Bloggers: Overweight, Under-paid, Neglected, Cuddly, and Erudite. I am the charter member. I’m developing my top secret algorithm that accounts for girth, income and the number of infographics per tweet. Very complicated. I am also working on Bounce Perks. For my Bounciest members, I will send weekly graft from all my rich advertisers. Once I get them.
Who among you will start these companies? Who is going to join CrushBlvd and admit it? Bounce on {grow} community. Bounce on.
*This is a joke. I know humor doesn’t translate across cultures sometimes. So to be clear, I’m not really doing this!
Welcome to {grow}
You’re in marketing for one reason: Grow.
Grow your company, reputation, customers, impact, profits. Grow yourself. This is a community that will help. It will stretch your mind, connect you to fascinating people, and provide some fun along the way. I am so glad you’re here.
-Mark SchaeferFollow Mark
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