Andrew Carnegie on Social Media
Sep 12th
I grew up in Pittsburgh and so naturally learned a lot about American industrialist and philanthropist Andrew Carnegie. A reporter once asked him the secret of his phenomenal business success. His answer was simple:
“I have the courage to surround myself with people who are smarter than me.”
This has always been one of my favorite “life quotes.” It marked my managerial style in corporate America and I think it is a valuable piece of wisdom for those engaging on the social web, too … especially blogs.
This favorite quote came to mind as I read the comments on my blog post this week, “Blogging – The Ultimate Team Sport.” I began to wonder, is the community on {grow} the team, or are they the leader? : ) Maybe a little of both!
The big point is, so much value can be created on the social web by surrounding yourself with brilliant people and then having the confidence and wisdom to turn over the conversation to people who really know what they’re talking about! That’s when the magic happens, whether you’re making steel or creating ideas.
Can Twitter read your mind?
Sep 11th
I saw an inventive little advertisement from Volkswagen - you type in your Twitter handle and it recommends a car for you based on your tweets. One friend tried it and said it recommended the very car she was going to buy.
Other, playful sites (contributed by {grow} community member Nancy Scott) provide psychographic profiles on demand: Tweetpsyche and Personas.
Now these clever apps may seem like cute carnival tricks, but the point is, marketers can learn a lot from your tweets. A new crop of apps is being developed with their own secret sauce to glean personality information from slicing and dicing what you say and who say it to.
And it’s all out there … for free.
The other day a Nielsen representative tried to call me for a survey. I was in a particulalry busy period trying to keep the world safe for blogging and couldn’t be bothered. They tried contacting me three more times before giving up. I guess I was just feeling curmudgeonly.
Mr. Nielsen, why not just look at my tweets? You can probably find almost anything you’re looking for right there. The music, TV and movies I like. Books, politics, romance. Attitude and gratitude.
The social media consumer research applications being developed right now represent the most exciting, dynamic aspect of marketing I have seen in my career. Your tweets are certainly going to turn into marketing gold.
Blogging is the ultimate team sport
Sep 10th
Writing this blog is like laying down a fresh canvas for you to paint on every day. At about 10 p.m. each night I stand back and look at what you’ve “painted” through your ideas and comments and think, “Wow … look at what we’ve created here! This is VERY COOL!”
In one of my former jobs I led a new product development effort for a $2 billion brand. It was one of the most rewarding professional experiences because I saw in powerful ways how surrounding myself with excellent people can turn a good idea into a great idea.
I’m getting that same rush all over again. {grow} is a great community. We’re driving new ideas, challenging current paradigms, inspiring and supporting each other. Do you feel this happening too?
I’ve decided that it’s time to step it up, push a little more. Try some different things. Based on your comments, here are some things I’ve been thinking about:
>> The value of this blog is clearly a “conversation starter.” How do I facilitate this even more effectively?
>> Through some of your comments I can discern a need for future blogs topics. For example, you wanted an article on how to “sell” social media to your boss, so I wrote about that. But how do I really know what’s going on with my audience? How do I collect your ideas in a more formal way?
>> I’m frustrated about the transitory nature of blog posts/comments. After about 2-3 days we move on to the next post and the next idea. But how do I index and make these amazing conversations available to others in the future (like next week!). I have read a ton of blogs but have not seen a best practice in this area. What do you think?
>> Many of the blogs I read cover the same subjects ad nauseum. Somebody wrote that they like my blog because I’m not in the “echo chamber.” That’s a great compliment! How do I generate consistently excellent and compelling content to keep it that way?
>> We’re getting a lot of hit and run commenters (i.e. they are anonymous or comment once and never return). How do I/we provide so much value that they can’t wait to come back and contribute again?
I appreciate you so very much for visiting and contributing to {grow}. Some of you are even becoming close friends and business colleagues. Thanks for making this blog so rewarding and fun! What are your ideas about taking this to the next level? How do we grow {grow} together?
Illustration: This is supposed to be a peacock. I never claimed to be an artist. : ) Did ANYBODY get it?
Twitter as super hero
Sep 9th
My friend Dr. Jerri Yates passed this story along illustrating the amazing power of Twitter. It’s from a mommy blog and it’s a tale worth telling, or in this case, summarizing, because the original post is LOOONG!
In this Twitter as hero tale, the star is blogger Heather Armstrong, who purchased a new washing machine to keep up with the diapers of her propitiously-pooping newborn. The brand-new $1,300 machine didn’t work. After several weeks of botched service calls, Heather vents on Twitter:
“So that you may not have to suffer like we have: DO NOT EVER BUY A MAYTAG. I repeat: OUR MAYTAG EXPERIENCE HAS BEEN A NIGHTMARE.”
After a few similarly-scalding messages, the magic began. She received messages from Maytag competitors offering to help. Then she received a phone call from an executive at the Maytag corporate office who contacted an alternate repairs service, had the appropriate parts over-nighted, and had the machine repaired in less than a day. And Bosch offered to give her a free washing machine, which she accepted and donated to a local shelter.
If this doesn’t help you understand why your company needs to be in the thick of social media, you must be brain-dead.
A) It’s where your customers are (and that includes B2B, too mister!)
B) It’s where your customers speak to you
C) If you don’t listen and respond, your competitors will!
Illustration: Monkey Works
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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