RonAmok!

Mitch Joel of Six Pixels of Separation – The Twist Image Blog started an interesting project to gather the best practices of Social Media Marketing. Here is the one that I tell all my clients.

Social Networks are places for people to gather, share ideas, experiences, learn and have a little fun. Companies, on the other hand, have a hard time with these motives because they only know one way to market — using war analogies. They traditionally:

• “target” their demographics,
• “launch initiatives” at them
• “orchestrate campaigns” against them,
• and “blast” them with messaging.

Unfortunately, companies that rush pell-mell into these Social Networks with traditional marketing guns a blazin’, end up at the wrong end of a firing squad.

Therefore, I remind my clients that it’s better to ease their way into an online Social Network the same way one would with an offline social event. Be a wallflower for a little while, simply observing. Look around. Listen to the conversations. Try to understand the overall vibe of the place.

Then, after you begin to understand the vernacular and can feel the rhythm of the conversations, ask yourself the following question: “How can I help make this community better?”

Be useful. Seek first to help, even if (especially if!) it has nothing to do with your product or service. Soon, as members see that you are willing to invest in the community and its members, they will likely reciprocate, in more powerful ways than you can imagine.

Tags: social media marketing best practices project ronamok mitch joel new media evangelist ron ploof

Within a few short months, The United States will choose a new President. And not long after that, the President will choose his Cabinet — close advisers who’ll help him make important decisions.

And that got me to thinking. Who’s in YOUR Cabinet?

• Who have you chosen to help you make decisions?
• What do you expect out of your Cabinet? Facts? Opinions?
• Are Cabinet members acquaintances or do they need to be friends?
• What did each member do to gain your trust? Proven track record? Best out of five?:-)
• And lastly: Is it possible for a vendor, someone who is trying to sell you something, to become a trusted member of your Cabinet?

I believe that every source is credible, if we know where they are coming from. If a company is writing about their products and services, of course their opinion will be biased. But that doesn’t negate everything that they say! Instead, it’s buyer beware. It’s important for a consumer to take transparently-biased information with a grain of salt, and to seek other sources. The onus of credibility falls on me, because ultimately, I am making the decision.

As I think through my list of trusted advisers, I see that my Cabinet is filled with friends, family and acquaintances — some who I only “know” through New Media. For example, I have a presentation coach by the name of Garr Reynolds. Oh, I’ve never met Garr in person, but I’ve bought his book, I read his blog, and I look to him to sharpen my presentations skills. Garr is a member of my Cabinet, and therefore, I take his recommendations just as seriously as I do with my other Cabinet members.

In a blog posting last week, Garr recommended that I purchase a new presentation book called: Slide:ology, by Nancy Duarte. Does it matter that this book was written by his friend? Perhaps. Does it matter that he’s selling it through his affiliate program with Amazon? Possibly. Did I still buy the book? Yup.

As a matter of fact, I bought two — one to give away. Why? Because I’ve found that every time I listen to his advice, my presentations get better. I balanced his biases with the results I’ve gotten in the past from taking his advice and I made a decision.

I’m halfway through Nancy’s book and have found it more amazing than I had imagined. My Cabinet has come through for me once again.

So who’s in your Cabinet?

Just came back from the orthopedic surgeon’s office and snuck this photo with the cell phone. Not as clear as I’d like, but fine for guerrilla tactics.

And yes, those pins go all the way through the bones in my finger. Pretty cool eh?

Looks like they’ll be removed next Thursday at 11:15 a.m. Unfortunately, I’m gonna be AWAKE!