03/01/2008 - 04/01/2008 | Scott Monty

Conversation is Like the Weather

<div style="text-align: center;">"Everybody talks about the weather, but nobody does anything about it." <div style="text-align: center;"> - Mark Twain </div></div> <a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://bp1.blogger.com/_Wgi7DTsDt2g/R_G1K8bf1ZI/AAAAAAAAAwo/bQMnmDmPDc4/s1600-h/175_AOCTalkBubble.jpg"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5184123845704930706" src="http://bp1.blogger.com/_Wgi7DTsDt2g/R_G1K8bf1ZI/AAAAAAAAAwo/bQMnmDmPDc4/s200/175_AOCTalkBubble.jpg" style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer;" /></a>Well, that's not entirely true - there are a committed group of marketers, writers, citizens, and passionate people who are not only talking about conversation, but they're doing something about it. Last year, I was among one of 102 other individuals who were hand-picked by <a href="http://www.drewsmarketingminute.com/">Drew McLellan</a> & <a href="http://www.servantofchaos.com/">Gavin Heaton</a> to co-author <a style="font-weight: bold; font-style: italic;" href="http://stores.lulu.com/ageofconversation">The Age of Conversation</a>. If you haven't bought a copy of this book yet, I highly recommend that you do. Just last Saturday, through the enterprising <a href="http://www.freshpeel.com/">Chris Wilson</a> and the support of the community, the book managed to rise to #262 on the Amazon.com charts. We'll soon know how much money was raised for the book's cause: Variety, the Children's Charity. After that successful (but stressful) venture, the pair are at it again, but this time, they've outdone themselves. Not only have they gotten a majority of the original authors to return for Volume 2, but they've recruited almost three times as many: 275 people will be putting fingers to keyboard to crank out <a href="http://www.drewsmarketingminute.com/2008/03/age-of-conversa.html">The Age of Conversation: Why Don't People Get It?</a> (that is, why they don't get the concept, not the book - we hope they'll get that) Now you can imagine that with nearly 300 <strike>cats to herd</strike> authors to organize, asking them to write on a single topic might be a recipe for disaster. Instead, there's been a bit of self-organization that Drew & Gavin foisted upon us. We've each been asked to select one of the following sub-topics: <ul><li>Manifestos </li><li>Keeping Secrets in the Age of Conversation </li><li> Moving from Conversation to Action </li><li>The Accidental Marketer</li><li> A New Brand of Creative </li><li>My Marketing Tragedy</li><li>Business Model Evolution</li><li>Life in the Conversation Lane </li></ul>I'm very excited about this - there's some really great potential here, between the topics and the authors, new & old, who have signed on to the project. What's more, I'm looking forward to developing a kinship with my co-authors, as this is a very special initiative that bonds us together. If nothing else, the Age of Conversation has the ability to get us all talking with and learning from each other. My fellow Conversationalists: <a href="http://www.adamcrowe.com/">Adam Crowe</a>, <a href="http://www.zeusjones.blogspot.com/">Adrian Ho</a>, <a href="http://www.fallontrendpoint.blogspot.com/">Aki Spicer</a>, <a href="http://www.conversationmayhem.com/">Alex Henault</a>, <a href="http://www.shapingyouth.org/">Amy Jussel</a>, <a href="http://www.minutefix.com/technicianblog">Andrew Odom</a>, <a href="http://www.andynulman.com/">Andy Nulman</a>, <a href="http://www.damniwish.com/">Andy Sernovitz</a>, <a href="http://www.nowincolour.com/">Andy Whitlock</a>, <a href="http://www.angelamaiers.com/">Angela Maiers</a>, <a href="http://www.annhandley.com/">Ann Handley</a>, <a href="http://www.theengagingbrand.com/">Anna Farmery</a>, <a href="http://www.asourceofinspiration.com/">Armando Alves</a>, <a href="http://www.arunrajagopal.com/">Arun Rajagopal</a>, <a href="http://www.no-mans-blog.com/">Asi Sharabi</a>, <a href="http://www.customersrock.net/">Becky Carroll</a>, <a href="http://www.smallbizsurvival.com/">Becky McCray</a>, <a href="http://www.panthercitybicycles.blogspot.com/">Bernie Scheffler</a>, <a href="http://ubereye.wordpress.com/">Bill Gammell</a>, <a href="http://thecorner.typepad.com/bc/">Bob Carlton</a>, <a href="http://flacklife.blogspot.com/">Bob LeDrew</a>, <a href="http://www.wordsellinc.com/">Brad Shorr</a>, <a href="http://www.bradleyspitzer.com/">Bradley Spitzer</a>, <a href="http://thecword.typepad.com/thecword/">Brandon Murphy</a>, <a href="http://www.branislavperic.com/">Branislav Peric</a>, <a href="http://www.itsjustbrent.com/">Brent Dixon</a>, <a href="http://www.brettmacfarlane.typepad.com/">Brett Macfarlane</a>, <a href="http://www.thinkingaboutmedia.com/">Brian Reich</a>, <a href="http://www.cc-chapman.com/">C.C. Chapman</a>, <a href="http://www.chaosscenario.com/">Cam Beck</a>, <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/nakedcomms_cph/">Casper Willer</a>, <a href="http://cathleenritt.blogspot.com/">Cathleen Rittereiser</a>, <a href="http://www.creativesage.com/">Cathryn Hrudicka</a>, <a href="http://www.cedricgiorgi.com/">Cedric Giorgi</a>, <a href="http://coolmarketingstuff.blogspot.com/">Charles Sipe</a>, <a href="http://www.1goodreason.com/blog/">Chris Kieff</a>, <a href="http://successcreeations.com/">Chris Cree</a>, <a href="http://www.freshpeel.com/">Chris Wilson</a>, <a href="http://www.ck-blog.com/">Christina Kerley</a><a href="http://www.ck-blog.com/"> (CK)</a>, <a href="http://flooringtheconsumer.blogspot.com/">C.B. Whittemore</a>, <a href="http://exitcreative.net/blog/">Clay Parker Jones</a>, <a href="http://www.brandandmarket.com/">Chris Brown</a>, <a href="http://www.canuckflack.com/">Colin McKay</a>, <a href="http://www.conniebensen.com/">Connie Bensen</a>, <a href="http://www.everydotconnects.com/">Connie Reece</a>, <a href="http://www.marketinghipster.com/">Cord Silverstein</a>, <a href="http://organic-frog.com/">Corentin Monot</a>, <a href="http://www.mediahunter.typepad.com/">Craig Wilson</a>, <a href="http://danielhonigman.com/">Daniel Honigman</a>, <a href="http://www.abrandnewmonday.com/">Dan Goldstein</a>, <a href="http://personalbrandingblog.wordpress.com/">Dan Schawbel</a>, <a href="http://www.danavan.net/">Dana VanDen Heuvel</a>, <a href="http://www.idea-sellers.com/">Dan Sitter</a>, <a href="http://www.socialhallucinations.com/">Daria Radota Rasmussen</a>, <a href="http://www.darrenherman.com/">Darren Herman</a>, <a href="http://www.pattersons.net/">Darryl Patterson</a>, <a href="http://www.thoughts-illustrated.blogspot.com/">Dave Davison</a>, <a href="http://www.mrorigano.com/">Dave Origano</a>, <a href="http://darmano.typepad.com/">David Armano</a>, <a href="http://zeroinfluence.wordpress.com/">David Bausola</a>, <a href="http://www.marketersstudio.com/">David Berkowitz</a>, <a href="http://www.journamarketing.com/">David Brazeal</a>, <a href="http://www.mokummarketing.com/blog">David Koopmans</a>, <a href="http://www.webinknow.com/">David Meerman Scott</a>, <a href="http://digitalbiographer.com/">David Petherick</a>, <a href="http://www.reichcomm.typepad.com/">David Reich</a>, <a href="http://dsinsights.blogspot.com/">David Weinfeld</a>, <a href="http://www.davidzinger.com/">David Zinger</a>, <a href="http://whythulc.wordpress.com/">Deanna Gernert</a>, <a href="http://www.allwriteink.com/">Deborah Brown</a>, <a href="http://www.retailsmart.com.au/">Dennis Price</a>, <a href="http://derrickkwa.com/">Derrick Kwa</a>, <a href="http://www.chromainc.typepad.com/">Dino Demopoulos</a>, <a href="http://doughaslam.com/">Doug Haslam</a>, <a href="http://nextup.wordpress.com/">Doug Meacham</a>, <a href="http://www.mitchgroup.com/">Doug Mitchell</a>, <a href="http://www.serviceuntitled.com/">Douglas Hanna</a>, <a href="http://www.douglaskarr.com/">Douglas Karr</a>, <a href="http://www.drewsmarketingminute.com/">Drew McLellan</a>, <a href="http://www.bandwidthcamp.com/">Duane Brown</a>, <a href="http://shakegently.com/">Dustin Jacobsen</a>, <a href="http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=193100555">Dylan Viner</a>, <a href="http://edbrenegar.typepad.com/">Ed Brenegar</a>, <a href="http://www.influxinsights.com/blog/">Ed Cotton</a>, <a href="http://thedailyandthenotso.blogspot.com/">Efrain Mendicuti</a>, <a href="http://www.brainbasedbusiness.com/">Ellen Weber</a>, <a href="http://www.conformistsunite.com/">Emily Reed</a>, <a href="http://leadershipramblings.blogspot.com%20/">Eric Peterson</a>, <a href="http://nehrlich.com/blog">Eric Nehrlich</a>, <a href="http://www.erniemosteller.typepad.com/">Ernie Mosteller</a>, <a href="http://farisyakob.typepad.com/">Faris Yakob</a>, <a href="http://www.linkedin.com/pub/2/9a5/325">Fernanda Romano</a>, <a href="http://francisanderson.wordpress.com/">Francis Anderson</a>, <a href="http://www.annansi.com/blog">G. Kofi Annan</a>, <a href="http://www.garethkay.com/">Gareth Kay</a>, <a href="http://www.garycohen.net/">Gary Cohen</a>, <a href="http://www.gauravonomics.com/blog">Gaurav Mishra</a>, <a href="http://servantofchaos.typepad.com/">Gavin Heaton</a>, <a href="http://brandopia.wordpress.com/">Geert Desager</a>, <a href="http://ivebeenmugged.typepad.com/">George Jenkins</a>, <a href="http://blogs.jobdig.com/wwds">G.L. Hoffman</a>, <a href="http://www.bizandbuzz.blogspot.com/">Gianandrea Facchini</a>, <a href="http://themarketer.typepad.com/">Gordon Whitehead</a>, <a href="http://www.customerthink.com/user/graham_hill">Graham Hill</a>, <a href="http://gregverdino.typepad.com/">Greg Verdino</a>, <a href="http://www.channelvmedia.com/">Gretel Going</a><a href="http://www.channelvmedia.com/"> & Kathryn Fleming</a>, <a href="http://www.jacksonfish.com/">Hillel Cooperman</a>, <a href="http://www.linkedin.com/in/hughweber">Hugh Weber</a>, <a href="http://www.jerikpotter.com/">J. Erik Potter</a>, <a href="http://www.jchutchins.net/">J.C. Hutchins</a>, <a href="http://t4w.blogs.com/spinningaround">James Gordon-Macintosh</a>, <a href="http://wishiels.typepad.com/walkon/">Jamey Shiels</a>, <a href="http://blog.wonderwebby.com/">Jasmin Tragas</a>, <a href="http://jasonoke.wordpress.com/">Jason Oke</a>, <a href="http://themarketingspot.blogspot.com/">Jay Ehret</a>, <a href="http://www.writersnotes.net/">Jeanne Dininni</a>, <a href="http://www.principledinnovationblog.com/">Jeff De Cagna</a>, <a href="http://www.thescienceofmarketing.com/">Jeff Gwynne</a>, <a href="http://www.journeyguy.com/">Jeff Noble</a>, <a href="http://www.linkedin.com/pub/0/179/919">Jeff Wallace</a>, <a href="http://www.jenniferinc.com/blog">Jennifer Warwick</a>, <a href="http://www.linkedin.com/in/jennymeade">Jenny Meade</a>, <a href="http://blog.3rdmartini.com/">Jeremy Fuksa</a>, <a href="http://www.heilperngroup.com/blog">Jeremy Heilpern</a>, Jeremy Middleton, <a href="http://www.copypaste.co.uk%20/">Jeroen Verkroost,</a> <a href="http://indexed.blogspot.com/">Jessica Hagy</a>, <a href="http://www.confidentwriting.com/">Joanna Young</a>, <a href="http://blog.junta42.com/">Joe Pulizzi</a>, <a href="http://joetalbott.com/">Joe Talbott</a>, <a href="http://www.chaosscenario.com/">John Herrington</a>, <a href="http://www.ducttapemarketing.com/blog/">John Jantsch</a>, <a href="http://www.brandautopsy.com/">John Moore</a>, <a href="http://www.stopwatchmarketing.com/blog/">John Rosen</a>, <a href="http://www.thewhetstoneedge.com/">John Todor</a>, <a href="http://jburg.typepad.com/future">Jon Burg</a>, <a href="http://levite.wordpress.com/">Jon Swanson</a>, <a href="http://www.digitalstreetjournal.com/">Jonathan Trenn</a>, <a href="http://www.telltenfriends.com/blog">Jordan Behan</a>, <a href="http://www.thedozenblog.com/">Julie Fleischer</a>, <a href="http://flowercast.net/">Justin Flowers</a>, <a href="http://www.brandmilitia.com/">Justin Foster</a>, <a href="http://www.myspace.com/karlturley">Karl Turley</a>, <a href="http://www.mynameiskate.ca/">Kate Trgovac</a>, <a href="http://katiechatfield.wordpress.com/">Katie Chatfield</a>, <a href="http://www.getfreshminds.com/">Katie Konrath</a>, <a href="http://www.linkedin.com/in/kennylauer">Kenny Lauer</a>, <a href="http://www.supperthymeusa.com/">Keri Willenborg</a>, <a href="http://www.enable-usability.com/">Kevin Jessop</a>, <a href="http://crossthebreeze.com/">Kris Hoet</a>, <a href="http://www.bizgrowthnews.com/">Krishna De</a>, <a href="http://writenowisgood.typepad.com/">Kristin Gorski</a>, <a href="http://www.pistachioconsulting.com/">Laura Fitton</a>, <a href="http://blogtillyoudrop.wordpress.com/">Laurence Helene Borei</a>, <a href="http://lgbusinesssolutions.typepad.com/">Lewis Green</a>, <a href="http://blog.foghound.com/">Lois Kelly</a>, <a href="http://modadimagno.blogspot.com/">Lori Magno</a>, <a href="http://frontlineresults.blogspot.com/">Louise Barnes-Johnston</a>, <a href="http://www.iassmarts.com/">Louise Mangan</a>, <a href="http://www.thehumanimprint.typepad.com/">Louise Manning</a>, <a href="http://mindblob.typepad.com/">Luc Debaisieux</a>, <a href="http://www.thekaiser-edition.com/">Marcus Brown</a>, <a href="http://vellandi.wordpress.com/">Mario Vellandi</a>, <a href="http://www.markblair.org/">Mark Blair</a>, <a href="http://herd.typepad.com/">Mark Earls</a>, <a href="http://transmissionmarketing.ca/">Mark Goren</a>, <a href="http://www.holycow.typepad.com/">Mark Hancock</a>, <a href="http://www.planningfromtheoutside.com/">Mark Lewis</a>, <a href="http://www.wishfulthinking.co.uk/blog/">Mark McGuinness</a>, <a href="http://www.markmcspadden.net/">Mark McSpadden</a>, <a href="http://technomarketer.typepad.com/">Matt Dickman</a>, <a href="http://www.mattjmcd.com/">Matt J. McDonald</a>, <a href="http://engineerswithoutfears.blogspot.com/">Matt Moore</a>, <a href="http://www.managermike.blogspot.com/">Michael Hawkins</a>, <a href="http://www.alldaybuffet.org/">Michael Karnjanaprakorn</a>, <a href="http://www.michellelamar.com/">Michelle Lamar</a>, <a href="http://www.mikearauz.com/">Mike Arauz</a>, <a href="http://www.grassshackroad.com/">Mike McAllen</a>, <a href="http://www.converstations.com/">Mike Sansone</a>, <a href="http://www.twistimage.com/blog">Mitch Joel</a>, <a href="http://mmwright.blogspot.com/">Monica Wright</a>, <a href="http://net-savvy.com/executive/">Nathan Gilliatt</a>, <a href="http://thesnell.com/blog/">Nathan Snell</a>, <a href="http://neilperkin.typepad.com/">Neil Perkin</a>, <a href="http://www.nettiehartsock.com/">Nettie Hartsock</a>, <a href="http://www.nick-rice.com/blog">Nick Rice</a>, <a href="http://h.ua/profile/58299/">Oleksandr Skorokhod</a>, <a href="http://www.marketallica.wordpress.com/">Ozgur Alaz</a>, <a href="http://www.conversationalmediamarketing.com/">Paul Chaney</a>, <a href="http://www.incentive-intelligence.typepad.com/">Paul Hebert</a>, <a href="http://paulisakson.typepad.com/planning">Paul Isakson</a>, <a href="http://www.brandsoapbox.typepad.com/">Paul Marobella</a>, <a href="http://www.heehawmarketing.com/">Paul McEnany</a>, <a href="http://www.linkedin.com/profile?viewProfile=&key=4590528&trk=ia_muli_name">Paul Tedesco</a>, <a href="http://blogger.com/%20http://www.idea-sandbox.com/blog">Paul Williams</a>, <a href="http://www.petsgardenblog.com/">Pet Campbell</a>, <a href="http://www.buddyblog.com/">Pete Deutschman</a>, <a href="http://www.advercation.com/">Peter Corbett</a>, <a href="http://philgerbyshak.com/">Phil Gerbyshak</a>, <a href="http://www.democracylondon.com/blog">Phil Lewis</a>, <a href="http://www.phil.soden.com/">Phil Soden</a>, <a href="http://www.gettingpeopletodothings.be/">Piet Wulleman</a>, <a href="http://adver-whatever.typepad.com/">Rachel Steiner</a>, <a href="http://lap31.com/">Sreeraj Menon</a>, <a href="http://www.elementaltruths.com/">Reginald Adkins</a>, <a href="http://www.adliterate.com/">Richard Huntington</a>, <a href="http://gumpdesign.blogspot.com/">Rishi Desai</a>, <a href="http://beeker.typepad.com%20/">Beeker Northam</a>, <a href="http://www.ad-pit.com/">Rob Mortimer</a>, <a href="http://middlezonemusings.com/">Robert Hruzek</a>, <a href="http://www.copywritingmaven.com/">Roberta Rosenberg</a>, <a href="http://brainbasedbiz.blogspot.com/">Robyn McMaster</a>, <a href="http://blog.creativethink.com/">Roger von Oech</a>, <a href="http://rohitbhargava.typepad.com/">Rohit Bhargava</a>, <a href="http://marketingroi.wordpress.com/">Ron Shevlin</a>, <a href="http://ryanbarrett.typepad.com/">Ryan Barrett</a>, <a href="http://ryankarpeles.blogspot.com/">Ryan Karpeles</a>, <a href="http://collaborativeideation.com/">Ryan Rasmussen</a>, <a href="http://www.leveragingideas.com/">Sam Huleatt</a>, <a href="http://www.purplewren.com/">Sandy Renshaw</a>, <a href="http://scottgoodson.typepad.com/">Scott Goodson</a>, <a href="http://www.scottmonty.com/">Scott Monty</a>, <a href="http://www.creatingcontent.blogspot.com/">Scott Townsend</a>, <a href="http://www.brandidentityguru.com/wordpress">Scott White</a>, <a href="http://www.craphammer.ca/">Sean Howard</a>, <a href="http://www.twofortyeight.com/">Sean Scott</a>, <a href="http://www.ad-vocate.com/">Seni Thomas</a>, <a href="http://elgaffney.com/">Seth Gaffney</a>, <a href="http://www.afterthelaunch.com/">Shama Hyder</a>, <a href="http://www.sheilascarborough.com/">Sheila Scarborough</a>, <a href="http://www.pinkheartsproductions.com/">Sheryl Steadman</a>, <a href="http://simonpayn.typepad.com/">Simon Payn</a>, <a href="http://remarcom.typepad.com/remarkable_communication/">Sonia Simone</a>, <a href="http://www.brainsonfire.com/blog">Spike Jones</a>, <a href="http://branddna.blogspot.com/">Stanley Johnson</a>, <a href="http://www.acidlabs.org/">Stephen Collins</a>, <a href="http://www.dubstudios.com/">Stephen Cribbett</a>, <a href="http://www.findsubstance.com/">Stephen Landau</a>, <a href="http://www.hdbizblog.com/blog">Stephen Smith</a>, <a href="http://www.sbannister.com/blog">Steve Bannister</a>, <a href="http://www.creativegeneralist.com/">Steve Hardy</a>, <a href="http://www.portigal.com/blog">Steve Portigal</a>, <a href="http://www.allthingsworkplace.com/">Steve Roesler</a>, <a href="http://www.minorissues.be/">Steven Verbruggen</a>, <a href="http://www.stickyfigure.com/">Steve Woodruff</a>, <a href="http://www.facebook.com/people/Sue_Edworthy/791975720">Sue Edworthy</a>, <a href="http://www.wf360.typepad.com/">Susan Bird</a>, <a href="http://www.womenonbusiness.com/">Susan Gunelius</a>, <a href="http://www.directmarketingmba.com/blog">Susan Heywood</a>, <a href="http://lenski.com/">Tammy Lenski</a>, <a href="http://blog.veritycu.com/">Terrell Meek</a>, <a href="http://www.directortom.com/">Thomas Clifford</a>, <a href="http://www.dydimustk.com/">Thomas Knoll</a>, <a href="http://tiffanykenyon.typepad.com/blog">Tiffany Kenyon</a>, <a href="http://usefullunacy.typepad.com/">Tim Brunelle</a>, <a href="http://lab.netx.com.au/">Tim Buesing</a>, <a href="http://www.livinginadigitalworld.com/">Tim Connor</a>, <a href="http://masiguy.blogspot.com/">Tim Jackson</a>, <a href="http://www.timlonghurst.com/">Tim Longhurst</a>, <a href="http://tim.mannveille.com/">Tim Mannveille</a>, <a href="http://www.strikeachord.com.au/">Tim Tyler</a>, <a href="http://carpefactum.typepad.com/">Timothy Johnson</a>, <a href="http://freetraffictip.com/">Tinu Abayomi-Paul</a>, <a href="http://bloombergmarketing.blogs.com/">Toby Bloomberg</a>, <a href="http://toddand.com/">Todd Andrlik</a>, <a href="http://www.troyrutter.com/">Troy Rutter</a>, <a href="http://www.troyworman.com/">Troy Worman</a>, <a href="http://www.conversationagency.wordpress.com/">Uwe Hook</a>, <a href="http://www.conversationagent.com/">Valeria Maltoni</a>, <a href="http://www.vandanaaa.blogspot.com/">Vandana Ahuja</a>, <a href="http://www.leadernetworks.com/">Vanessa DiMauro</a>, <a href="http://rabuteau.blog.ouestjob.com/">Veronique Rabuteau</a>, <a href="http://lifeloveandlearning.com/blog">Wayne Buckhanan</a>, <a href="http://www.azaroff.com/blog">William Azaroff</a>, <a href="http://ief.typepad.com/">Yves Van Landeghem</a>

Conversation is Like the Weather

"Everybody talks about the weather, but nobody does anything about it." - Mark Twain Well, ...

Launching a Book via Social Media

<a href="http://rohitbhargava.typepad.com/weblog/2008/03/book-launch-the.html" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5183710790110139778" src="http://bp0.blogger.com/_Wgi7DTsDt2g/R_A9f8bf1YI/AAAAAAAAAwg/9hyZLMpJo1o/s200/PNI_InterviewSeries.jpg" style="cursor: pointer; float: left; margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt;" /></a>Book launches are commonplace. At least that's the thinking of Rohit Bhargava, author of the new book <a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0071545212?ie=UTF8&tag=thebakerstree-20&linkCode=as2&camp=1789&creative=9325&creativeASIN=0071545212">Personality Not Included: Why Companies Lose Their Authenticity And How Great Brands Get it Back</a><img alt="" border="0" height="1" src="http://www.assoc-amazon.com/e/ir?t=thebakerstree-20&l=as2&o=1&a=0071545212" style="border: medium none ! important; margin: 0px ! important;" width="1" />. 
 
Rohit opined that the usual tactics - PR releases, Facebook groups, live events, online mob flashes - while effective, are not necessarily the best at creating a conversation, which is his ultimate aim. Over the next few weeks and months he plans to discuss on <a href="http://rohitbhargava.typepad.com/">his blog</a> why personality matters. 
 
So, in an effort to be innovative and conversational, Rohit reached out to a number of bloggers and asked each to submit five questions about the book or personality and he would answer them, providing a customized interview. All of the interviews that he does will be <a href="http://rohitbhargava.typepad.com/weblog/2008/03/book-launch-the.html">linked on his site and you can vote on the best one on Monday, March 31</a>. 
 
So here's my exclusive interview with Rohit Bhargava: 
 
Scott Monty: Why a book? Why now? After all, the lightning speed with which our industry is evolving would seem to preclude anything with a 8-month lead time. 
 
Rohit Bhargava: Great question, especially coming from a fellow blogger. Two reasons. First, because I felt that I had a big idea with the concept of the book and writing a book is still the best way to get an idea like that out there. I also believe that the concepts in the book will have a shelf life of longer than 8 months because I don't focus on one particular microtrend or technology that is likely to get outdated. The premise of the book is a strategic idea, instead of a tactical one, and that tends to have a longer relevance. 
The second reason is that when it comes to building a career, there is no credential quite like being an author. I would never do an MBA as I don't feel its worth the time away from work or the expense. Writing a book essentially gives you an even more powerful credential ... and even better you don't have to pay someone else $50,000 for that privilege. 
 
SM: What would you say to someone who requested, "Teach me to be authentic." (That's not a joke. Someone asked me that once.) 
 
RB: It's not that difficult. Mean what you say and say what you mean. At the very basic level, that's all that authenticity is about. 
 
SM: Who designed the dust jacket, and why is the one on your blog & Facebook group different from the one on Amazon? Which is the "real" version? 
 
RB: Good question, the difference is actually due to the lag time between Amazon putting the new cover on the product page and us sending it. Apparently, they don't update that often. The one on my blog and the Facebook group is definitely the real version. I worked directly with the designers at McGraw-Hill (my publisher) to design it. We worked on concepting together, and then they designed and executed it. 
 
SM: When you think about yourself, what do you consider yourself first: author? speaker? marketer? guru? blogger? something else? Why? 
 
RB: Great question - that one makes me think for a while as they all apply. Let me go with one not on your list ... father. I've got two little boys (age 3 and 4 months) and I'd love to say that the first way I define myself will be as their father. Second to that, when it comes to business ... before the book I would always have said marketer. Now that I'm published, I might have to go with author (especially since I shared that was one of the reasons for writing the book in the first place!) 
 
SM: American Idol: which are you - Simon, Randy or Paula? 
 
RB: Definitely Simon, because he's authentic. Authenticity to me means not blowing smoke up people's behinds when you think they are stupid. I don't give false compliments to people, so when I offer a compliment, praise or feedback - I always mean it. Otherwise I usually don't say anything. 
 
If you're intrigued by what you've read here and by what you see on Rohit's site, get on over to <a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0071545212?ie=UTF8&tag=thebakerstree-20&link_code=as3&camp=211189&creative=373489&creativeASIN=0071545212">Amazon and order a copy of his book</a>. I've been reading Rohit's blog since I started mine, and he's definitely got a personality that you should get to know more.

Launching a Book via Social Media

Book launches are commonplace. At least that's the thinking of Rohit Bhargava, author of the new book Personality Not Included: Why Comp...

How to Update & Automate Your Blogroll in 5 Easy Steps

<a href="http://bp2.blogger.com/_Wgi7DTsDt2g/R-00JMbf1XI/AAAAAAAAAwY/fURfULBB2Hk/s1600-h/blogroll.jpg"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5182856078733333874" src="http://bp2.blogger.com/_Wgi7DTsDt2g/R-00JMbf1XI/AAAAAAAAAwY/fURfULBB2Hk/s200/blogroll.jpg" style="FLOAT: left; MARGIN: 0px 10px 10px 0px; CURSOR: hand" /></a> I had noticed that my blogroll in my sidebar was horribly out of date. I've discovered many new voices over the last 6 months or so (the last time I think I updated it) and I wanted something to reflect my current reading - AND something that didn't require a manual update. So I checked out my <a href="http://reader.google.com/">Google Reader</a> and found that I could tag the blogs that I'd like to share and create a blogroll directly from my OPML file. This is in addition to the individual articles that I share through my reader. You'll find it over in the sidebar, as well as below. Here's how I managed to update my blogroll in 5 easy steps: <ol> <li>Log into Google Reader <li>Select any blog you'd like to share and add a tag (I used "Blogs I Like") <li>Then click on "Manage subscriptions" at the bottom of the page</li><li>Select the blogs you'd like to include and tag them</li><li>Under the Tags tab, click on "add a blogroll to your site"</li></ol> From there, you can format it and do what you need to do using your blog's platform. Happy reading! <center><script src="http://www.google.com/reader/ui/publisher-en.js" type="text/javascript"></script> <script src="http://www.google.com/reader/public/javascript-sub/user/08079150229015335854/label/Blogs I Like?callback=GRC_p(%7Bc%3A%22blue%22%2Ct%3A%22Blogs%20I%20Like%22%2Cb%3A%22true%22%7D)%3Bnew%20GRC" type="text/javascript"></script></center> Photo credit: <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/drp/3562074/">drp</a> via Flickr

How to Update & Automate Your Blogroll in 5 Easy Steps

I had noticed that my blogroll in my sidebar was horribly out of date. I've discovered many new voices over the last 6 months or so (th...

This Saturday Only!

<a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1847992994?ie=UTF8&tag=drewmclellan-20&linkCode=as2&camp=1789&creative=9325&%20creativeASIN=1847992994" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5182243891274831186" src="http://bp0.blogger.com/_Wgi7DTsDt2g/R-sHXMbf1VI/AAAAAAAAAwI/camt_vbJQ54/s200/aoc_banner_2.jpg" style="cursor: pointer; float: left; margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt;" /></a>Almost a year ago, I was approached by <a href="http://www.drewsmarketingminute.com/">Drew McLellan</a> and <a href="http://www.servantofchaos.com/">Gavin Heaton</a> - two very inspiring marketers - and asked to be a co-author of <a href="http://www.ageofconversation.com/" style="font-weight: bold;">The Age of Conversation</a>. Naturally, I jumped at the chance. 
 
The resulting effort was a book with 103 chapters, one from each author, on a single topic: conversation. The bonus was that when the book went on sale as an e-book, paperback and hardcover, the proceeds went to <a href="http://www.usvariety.org/">Variety, the Children's Charity</a>. It was a huge success. 
 
As we begin to prepare for <a href="http://www.drewsmarketingminute.com/2008/01/calling-all-aut.html">The Age of Conversation 2</a>, <a href="http://www.freshpeel.com/">Chris Wilson</a> has done something extraordinary. Without the benefit of having authored the first volume, he has suggested that we do one final push for AOC this Saturday, March 29 and bum-rush the book on Amazon. 
 
If you'd like the full story on the plans, please <a href="http://freshpeel.com/2008/03/aoc_bumrush_march/">read Chris's post</a> about how you can help. In short, please <a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1847992994?ie=UTF8&tag=drewmclellan-20&linkCode=as2&camp=1789&creative=9325&%20creativeASIN=1847992994">buy the book this Saturday on Amazon (using this link)</a> and tell everyone you know to do the same - use whatever tools you'd like to spread the word. The goal is to get the book to the top of the sales chart for the day (and to continue to raise money for Variety). 
 
Note: if you're buying more than one copy of the book, please be sure that you order each one separately. When computing rank, Amazon counts orders placed, not individual copies. 
 
Special thank/full disclosure: the term "bum-rush," while not original to the social media space, was <a href="http://www.financialaidpodcast.com/2007/02/17/bum-rush-the-charts-pay-for-college/">first used in these parts</a> in conjunction with a promotion that <a href="http://www.christopherspenn.com/">Christopher S. Penn</a> was doing between the band Black Labs and his employer, the Student Loan Network. 
 
Update: Chris Penn tells me (via his comment below) that credit for the origination of the concept goes to Mark Yoshimoto Nemcoff and Mike Yusi, hosts of <a href="http://www.pacificcoasthellway.com/">Pacific Coast Hellway</a>. I knew they were involved in some way - thanks for clarifying that, Chris.

This Saturday Only!

Almost a year ago, I was approached by Drew McLellan and Gavin Heaton - two very inspiring marketers - and asked to be a co-author of The ...

I Owe You. Big Time.

You're busy. You have many demands on your schedule. Which means that the time you spend glancing over my mutterings and thoughts is valuable time indeed.
 
 Thank you for choosing to spend some of your day with me. Your participation here and in other forums where you link to my posts or talk about a concept I've brought up means a great deal to me.
 
 A few months ago, I was seriously injured and in dire need of help. <a href="http://www.scottmonty.com/2007/12/project-for-my-community.html">I asked for your assistance</a> - one of the hardest and most humbling things I've ever had to do. I was embarrassed to ask anything of you, but I was in an incredible amount of pain with no end in sight. But you were very supportive, both emotionally and financially, in my effort to raise money for a snowblower. In the end, you came through remarkably well and donated a remarkable $1,065.
 
 I can't tell you how much your collective concern and gratitude helped me get through a tough time. You made it possible for me to make it through the rest of the winter so that I could recover. As of the end of February, my back and ribs were nearly back to normal. There's still some residual pain, but I was able to literally weather the storms for the rest of the season.
 
 Here's a Seesmic video that I recorded in direct response to your kindness:
 <center><object height="238" width="320"><param name="movie" value="http://seesmic.com/Standalone.swf?video=q5M8BWqQfs"><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"><embed src="http://seesmic.com/Standalone.swf?video=q5M8BWqQfs" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowfullscreen="true" wmode="transparent" allowscriptaccess="sameDomain" height="238" width="320"></object></center>
 
 And as I said in the video, I'd like to continue to pay back the kindness. I've done so in a variety of ways, supporting other charitable causes that <a href="http://twitter.com/scottmonty">my Twitter network</a> has notified me of, suggesting the <a href="http://www.frozenpeafund.com/">Frozen Pea Fund</a> as the charity of choice for <a href="http://www.myoovooday.com/">My ooVoo Day With</a>, and trying to be helpful and responsive as my community has asked for it (yes, I do owe a couple of colleagues some blog posts - stay tuned).
 
 Also, some time in the next week or so, I'll be posting about a way that I'm planning to give to my community on an ongoing basis. I think it's a method that you'll want to read about, as you may be able to do the same thing yourself. Stay tuned.
 
 Finally, here's some evidence that I didn't run off to Vegas or something:
 <center><object allowfullscreen="true" data="http://blip.tv/scripts/flash/showplayer.swf?enablejs=true&feedurl=http%3A%2F%2Fscottmonty%2Eblip%2Etv%2Frss&file=http%3A%2F%2Fblip%2Etv%2Frss%2Fflash%2F780700&showplayerpath=http%3A%2F%2Fblip%2Etv%2Fscripts%2Fflash%2Fshowplayer%2Eswf" height="255" id="showplayer" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" width="350"><param name="movie" value="http://blip.tv/scripts/flash/showplayer.swf?enablejs=true&feedurl=http%3A%2F%2Fscottmonty%2Eblip%2Etv%2Frss&file=http%3A%2F%2Fblip%2Etv%2Frss%2Fflash%2F780700&showplayerpath=http%3A%2F%2Fblip%2Etv%2Fscripts%2Fflash%2Fshowplayer%2Eswf" /><param name="quality" value="best" /><embed src="http://blip.tv/scripts/flash/showplayer.swf?enablejs=true&feedurl=http%3A%2F%2Fscottmonty%2Eblip%2Etv%2Frss&file=http%3A%2F%2Fblip%2Etv%2Frss%2Fflash%2F780700&showplayerpath=http%3A%2F%2Fblip%2Etv%2Fscripts%2Fflash%2Fshowplayer%2Eswf" quality="best" width="350" height="255" name="showplayer" type="application/x-shockwave-flash"></embed></object>
 </center>
 <div style="text-align: left;">
 Thank you.
 
 </div>

I Owe You. Big Time.

You're busy. You have many demands on your schedule. Which means that the time you spend glancing over my mutterings and thoughts is val...

Typing Personalities: How Do You Stack Up?

<a href="http://bp1.blogger.com/_Wgi7DTsDt2g/R-SytMbf1UI/AAAAAAAAAwA/TDqwTQhO7-Q/s1600-h/IBM_selectric.jpg" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5180461960883328322" src="http://bp1.blogger.com/_Wgi7DTsDt2g/R-SytMbf1UI/AAAAAAAAAwA/TDqwTQhO7-Q/s200/IBM_selectric.jpg" style="cursor: pointer; float: left; margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt;" /></a>Sometimes I have a tendency to be competitive. Not in a malicious, destructive way. But I like to know how I'm doing with respect to the competition. But most of the time, I'm curious. I'm genuinely interested in what other people think, what makes them tick, and what they're up to. I like to ask questions and get facts, opinions and answers. 
 
In this case, it's a bit of a combination of the two. 
 
I remember being in high school and taking a typing class - from the very same old-school, hair-in-a-bun teacher that my father had a generation before. We learned all of the basics on the old <a href="http://www-03.ibm.com/ibm/history/exhibits/vintage/vintage_4506VV2122.html">IBM Selectric</a> and I remember driving Mrs. Christian crazy by rrrrriping the paper out of the feed roller. But most of all, I remember her drilling into us how to learn to type with 10 fingers, without looking at the keys. 
 
But these days, I wonder how the digital natives are learning proper keyboard technique. The Blackberry crowd is all about using their opposable thumbs, and the untrained typically use the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hunt_and_peck_typing#Hunt_and_peck">hunt and peck</a> method. How well will the next generation fare without training? 
 
So my competitive nature challenges you to take the <a href="http://speedtest.10-fast-fingers.com/">Speedtest</a> to see how fast you can type and let me know. 
 
<center>
<a href="http://speedtest.10-fast-fingers.com/" style="-moz-background-clip: -moz-initial; -moz-background-inline-policy: -moz-initial; -moz-background-origin: -moz-initial; background: transparent url(http://speedtest.10-fast-fingers.com/img/badge1.png) no-repeat scroll 0% 50%; color: #009933; display: block; font-family: Times New Roman,Arial,serif; font-size: 40px; font-weight: bold; height: 100px; padding-left: 60px; padding-top: 50px; text-decoration: none; width: 300px;">85 words</a></center>
<a href="http://speedtest.10-fast-fingers.com/">Speed test</a> 
 
 
But the curious side of me wonders: how did you learn to type? And more importantly, how do you see the next generation faring - not only in the absence of typing training, but in other once-necessary skills that may still be relevant today? 
 
Oh, and by the way: I must drink too much coffee. 
 
Thanks to <a href="http://www.searvantofchaos.com/">Gavin Heaton</a> for suggesting this site.

Typing Personalities: How Do You Stack Up?

Sometimes I have a tendency to be competitive. Not in a malicious, destructive way. But I like to know how I'm doing with respect to the...

Thank You and Welcome

I'm going to get personal on you for a bit - but with good reason, so I hope you'll bear with me. Today was a big day for me, as I was mentioned in the Wall Street Journal for the first time (that's right, I said "first time." I'll be back.) I was interviewed about the "<a href="http://www.myoovooday.com/">My ooVoo Day With</a>" program that we at crayon developed and executed on behalf of our client, <a href="http://www.oovoo.com/">ooVoo</a>. The resultant article, <a href="http://online.wsj.com/article/SB120526706660828097.html?mod=loomia&loomia_si=t0:a16:g2:r1:c0.173909">Attention, Bloggers</a> by Shelly Banjo describes how small businesses can use nontraditional marketing methods, such as blogger outreach, to build awareness. We were very pleased that ooVoo got a nice mention. But at the same time, I got some surprising press as well - Ms. Banjo asked me for a list of recommended reading material to complement the article that was part of the Small Business edition of today's Journal Report. I ended up with my photo included in <a href="http://online.wsj.com/article/SB120534841865230991.html?mod=JR-Small-Business-March-2008">Marketing with Social Media</a>, along with books, podcasts and blogs that I consider to be top-notch. Click the link to see the full list and a line about why I think each is worthy of your time. <a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://bp3.blogger.com/_Wgi7DTsDt2g/R99HIBqGf7I/AAAAAAAAAuI/BDABnRiK9hw/s1600-h/WSJ_WSM.jpg"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5178936299708907442" src="http://bp3.blogger.com/_Wgi7DTsDt2g/R99HIBqGf7I/AAAAAAAAAuI/BDABnRiK9hw/s400/WSJ_WSM.jpg" style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer;" /></a>(Full disclosure: I had also included <a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0470137320?ie=UTF8&tag=thebakerstree-20&linkCode=as2&camp=1789&creative=9325&creativeASIN=0470137320">Join the Conversation</a><img alt="" border="0" height="1" src="http://www.assoc-amazon.com/e/ir?t=thebakerstree-20&l=as2&o=1&a=0470137320" style="border:none !important; margin:0px !important;" width="1" />, <a href="http://www.jaffejuice.com/">JaffeJuice</a> and <a href="http://www.mediabullseye.com/mb/">Media Bullseye</a> in my list, but the editors removed it.) The "thank you" I referred to in the title of the post goes to all of the friends, colleagues and connections who were kind enough to congratulate me on this bit of good fortune. I appreciate your thoughtfulness and support and I hope I'll continue to earn it. And the "welcome" is for anyone who is happening by this blog as a result of the article. I do hope you'll consider subscribing - it's completely free. I hope you'll take the time to look around, comment, provide me feedback, <a href="http://twitter.com/scottmonty">join me on Twitter</a>, and let me know what's on your mind. While the editors only had space for 8 -10 recommendations, there are many more than could have been on there. While I feel like I follow many (too many!) such blogs out there, I'm sure there are some that I'm missing - and my blogroll needs some updating. So here's your chance to help me out: what are your favorite blogs? Leave a comment below and I'll take a look at them. Who knows? They might even end up on my blogroll or feedreader.

Thank You and Welcome

I'm going to get personal on you for a bit - but with good reason, so I hope you'll bear with me. Today was a big day for me, as I w...

Using New Media to Respond to Customer Feedback

Here's a video that captures the essence of why companies should be thinking about social media with regard to customer issues. And it's from no less an old media bastion than the <a href="http://online.wsj.com/article/SB120467937489712025.html?mod=djm_HAWSJSB_WelcomeSkip">Wall Street Journal</a>. Interestingly, they advocate for blogging to come from all levels of the organization, citing the oft-quoted fact that people like to hear "from people like them." So, it's not just for the CEO to blog anymore. And it doesn't just end with customer relations, it's also can help with employee relations. For the full scoop, click on the video: <center><embed src="http://services.brightcove.com/services/viewer/federated_f8/452319854" bgcolor="#FFFFFF" flashvars="videoId=1442385226&playerId=452319854&viewerSecureGatewayURL=https://services.brightcove.com/services/amfgateway&servicesURL=http://services.brightcove.com/services&cdnURL=http://admin.brightcove.com&domain=embed&autoStart=false&" base="http://admin.brightcove.com" name="flashObj" seamlesstabbing="false" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" swliveconnect="true" pluginspage="http://www.macromedia.com/shockwave/download/index.cgi?P1_Prod_Version=ShockwaveFlash" height="312" width="386"></embed></center> Via <a href="http://blog.holtz.com/index.php/weblog/new_thinking_from_traditional_sources/">Shel Holtz</a>.

Using New Media to Respond to Customer Feedback

Here's a video that captures the essence of why companies should be thinking about social media with regard to customer issues. And it&#...

Corporate Blogging - How the Pros Do It

<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://bp3.blogger.com/_Wgi7DTsDt2g/R9fXkBqGf4I/AAAAAAAAAtw/lsDx8wnwdZM/s1600-h/sxswinteractive_icon.gif"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5176843310605959042" src="http://bp3.blogger.com/_Wgi7DTsDt2g/R9fXkBqGf4I/AAAAAAAAAtw/lsDx8wnwdZM/s200/sxswinteractive_icon.gif" style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer;" /></a>Has this ever happened to you? When you're at a conference that offers many tracks, all of the really interesting sessions are at the same time. It happened a number of times to me during <a href="http://www.sxsw.com/">SXSW</a>. Only I typically missed all of them, due to making personal connections and discussing topics of mutual interest with colleagues in the hallway. The good news is that on my final day, I didn't have to make that decision. The first session of the morning was one that I was really looking forward to. Called "<a href="http://2008.sxsw.com/interactive/programming/panels_schedule/?action=show&id=IAP060536">The Future of Corporate Blogging</a>," it was a panel discussion between <a href="http://direct2dell.com/one2one/default.aspx">Lionel Menchaca</a>, <a href="http://mariosundar.wordpress.com/">Mario Sundar</a> and <a href="http://overtonecomm.blogspot.com/">Kami Huyse</a>, moderated by <a href="http://moblogsmoproblems.blogspot.com/">Mack Collier</a>. There's no question that this was a worthwhile session - with two living case studies of corporate blogs that really work, rich examples of how to do things well, and some of the very individuals who made it happen. Add in a consultant's view of measurement and tools, and an insightful moderator who operates in this field, and you've got a great mix. So, on with the summary! An introduction from the experts Lionel is the Chief Blogger at Dell's blog <a href="http://direct2dell.com/one2one/default.aspx">Direct2Dell</a> and Mario is the Community Evangelist at <a href="http://blog.linkedin.com/">LinkedIn</a> - and these are two great examples of corporate blogs. Both were founded in response to a particular problem that needed to be solved; the prevailing thinking was not "we need a blog." Note that. The blogs were part of an overall communications strategy; blogging itself is not a strategy. Kami is the principal at <a href="http://myprpro.com/">My PR Pro</a> and is widely respected in the field of communications measurement. She rightly observed that if you want to figure out where to connect with your customers, you need to know something about them: namely how they communicate. How and where are they most likely engage with you? Do they use Facebook? Are they on Twitter? Do they read blogs? You should also find out what they need. When you meet needs in the place they're most likely to be, you'll find a wealth of engagement. Then you can decide what to measure. A quick word about measurement It seems like the holy grail of social media marketing is around measurement & metrics. I think it keeps coming up because there is no one-size-fits-all approach. Invariably, at the beginning of every campaign or project, you should be asking yourself "What would we consider a success?" The panelists offered the following suggestions as a rough set of guidelines of measuring your blog or establishing a set of social media metrics for your efforts: <ul><li>Use tools to benchmark yourself against the competition; track the number of blog posts of your company on a week-over-week basis </li><li>Track the tonality - positive/negative posts or comments over time; track against major announcements or events </li><li>Engagement - the word that is almost as over-hyped as 'conversation,' engagement can mean whatever you define it to mean: analytics, number of subscriptions to your blog, number of comments per post </li><li>If one of your purposes for blogging is to drive sales (personally, I don't recommend this as the primary purpose behind blogging) you can do conversion tracking or even use good old fashioned surveys</li></ul> Kami actually put together a number of links on her del.icio.us page for reference: <a href="http://del.icio.us/kamichat/sxsw2008">http://del.icio.us/kamichat/sxsw2008 </a> You've got a blog. So what? Mack raised an excellent point: customers probably don't care that you have a blog. How do you make it relevant? Dell makes it relevant by adhering to a social media framework: Listening, analyzing, taking action. The first thing Dell realized is that there were lots of conversations going on about Dell on the Web. In fact, when the corporate blog started, about 50% of the comments that came in were negative. But, thanks to their openness and action, now 80% of the comments are positive. Lionel noted that taking action is the most important step, and Dell has addressed this in a couple of ways. First, they've empowered every employee to apologize. Think about it. A huge corporate behemoth has stepped away from its usual scripted customer "service" language and allowed the company to become human for it a bit. That's a huge step right there. Next, Dell established a way for customers to share product development ideas through <a href="http://www.ideastorm.com/">IdeaStorm</a>. A core team looks at new ideas that come in, assesses them, and then figures out a way to incorporate those into the business. Dell has received about 9,000 ideas from the community, with over 600,000 comments. An example of one idea is getting Dell to integrate Linux. To show you how effective it was, Dell put out a survey and in 8.5 days received 100,000 responses from customers. Now customers are aware that they can influence product development at Dell and it's resulted in the development of a community of loyalists. LinkedIn wanted to help users better understand the site and the technology. Mario noted that the company's vision was to establish conversations - a "playground of ideas" - on the site. The best way to teach customers how to use the site was to show them how to use the site, through demos. The next best way is to provide them with excellent customer support. Overall, the panelists agreed that relevance lies in how easy you make it for your customers to interact with you. A surefire way is to create multiple touchpoints that meet the goal of reducing the amount of time between the identification of a problem and a solution. Sometimes you can find answers in unexpected areas. Despite our focus on the new shiny "2.0" things, forums are still a great place to mine for information, feedback and problems. And in order for social media strategies to take root, the panelists noted, a company's culture needs to change. It's a step-wise process that can take years with layers of tools, technologies, and management that get more complex the longer you're in the game. But not all is lost, even if you're in the most change-resistant environment. You don't need a fully-formed answer before you respond to concerns you identify by listening. Just be human and reach out - think of it as a conversation, where you add incremental value along the way and learn more about the person, the problem and the processes along the way. And if there are any doubtful managers or executives in your company, sometimes seeing these conversations helps to dispel the myths/fears around negative comments. It's essential to demonstrate this on an ongoing basis, especially in a large organization, in order to show how direct communication with customers really matters. New tools Each of the panelists was asked about which new tools they'd recommend trying out. Mario recommended trying Twitter as a customer service tool, for monitoring and response. He also had this cool idea: try setting up a livestream (video) as a response to users. He suggested that you use whatever tools you can find that allow you to answer problems or questions in the shortest amount of time. Kami observed that blogs can be a platform for all of these tools. In some ways, she said that a blog could almost become a home page for the customer, where they're offered a more rich experience. The only caution she noted was that we should be aware that expectations are changing: as you give more, customers will expect more. And Lionel reminded us that internal collaboration should not be ignored in this process. Piecing all of these activities together within the enterprise is essential, in order to capture all of the value. The best advice for this was "Get it off of email." If you establish a wiki, you'll be able to share more information with everyone within the organization. Questions The panel had time for a few questions from the audience. 1. How do you keep your personal brand separate from your corporate brand? Mario referenced Hugh McLeod's post about <a href="http://www.gapingvoid.com/Moveable_Type/archives/001607.html">the porous membrane</a> - step out of the way and let users speak directly with product development, to keep each separate. That way, you can maintain your own brand and let the people at your company do what they do best. 2. How do you help employees understand the value of & support a corporate blog? Dell established an internal blog (behind a firewall) at the same time they established Direct2Dell, with the same structure & setup, in order to capture value internally. LinkedIn encourages employees to read and contribute to the corporate blog. 3. What's behind the fear of blogging in the corporate world? On the surface, there's the fear of getting flamed by negative comments and not knowing what to do. But you know what? It's happening anyway. It's better to capture these conversations and show how you can interact with your customers. An example is when Dell launched its blog on July 5, 2006. About a week later, Lionel wrote <a href="http://direct2dell.com/one2one/archive/2006/07/13/431.aspx">a post about the now famous flaming laptop</a>. He said that within minutes, got calls and visits to his cubicle with questions like, "What the hell are you doing?" He rightly observed that people were talking about it and it was all over the Internet already; he was acknowledging it and joining the conversation. It led to 1.3 million battery recalls, but more importantly, it also led to a documented process for interacting with customers. As I noted at the beginning of the post, this was a great session and I'm really glad I had a chance to attend. If the conference organizers recorded it, I'll be sure to share that here.

Corporate Blogging - How the Pros Do It

Has this ever happened to you? When you're at a conference that offers many tracks, all of the really interesting sessions are at the sa...

Creating Social Strategies

I'm sitting in on Charlene Li's session on Creating Social Strategies at SXSW. Here's a brief overview of her very thoughtful and comprehensive presentation. 
 
Straight off, Charlene defined "groundswell" - the social trend in which people use technologies to get the things they need from each other, rather than from traditional institutions like corporations. 
 
According to Charlene (and from my own experiences), most companies are aware of this, but don't truly understand - they just don't get it. So how to go about getting a social strategy planned, created and adopted within an organization? 
 
A word about radicals/revolutionaries 
Are you going to be a radical like <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thomas_paine">Thomas Paine</a>? He sparked the American revolution, then continued to foment revolution in France. He became so radical that no one respected him any more. 
 
Or a revolutionary like <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thomas_Jefferson">Thomas Jefferson</a>? A more respected leader, even though he was a staunch defender of Thomas Paine - he worked with others, put plans into place and brought ideas to life. 
 
 
POST - the process to create a social strategy 
<ul>
<li>People - assess your customers' social activities</li>
<li>Objectives - decide what you want to accomplish</li>
<li>Strategy - plan for how relationships with customers will evolve</li>
<li>Technology - decide which tools/technologies to use</li>
</ul>
People 
The ladder of participation (see below) is made up of creators (18% adults/39% youths), critics (25%/43%), collectors (12%/14%), joiners (25%/58%), spectators (48%/66%), inactives (44%/26%)<a href="http://bp3.blogger.com/_Wgi7DTsDt2g/R9QXSxqGf3I/AAAAAAAAAto/_0XIKZ-KPig/s1600-h/groundswell_ladder.gif" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5175787483090550642" src="http://bp3.blogger.com/_Wgi7DTsDt2g/R9QXSxqGf3I/AAAAAAAAAto/_0XIKZ-KPig/s400/groundswell_ladder.gif" style="cursor: pointer; display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center;" /></a> 
Age is a major driver of adoption. For a more detailed breakout of these numbers and fuller descriptions of each category, see <a href="http://blogs.forrester.com/charleneli/2007/04/forresters_new_.html">Charlene's original post</a>. 
 
Objectives 
Traditional roles are changing under the groundswell, from more unidirectional to bidirectional. Some examples: 
Research --> listening 
Marketing --> Talking 
Sales --> Energizing 
Support --> Supporting 
Development --> Embracing 
 
 
How are revolutionaries doing it? 
<ul>
<li><a href="http://www.blendtec.com/">BlendTec</a> - used YouTube videos for the now famous <a href="http://www.willitblend.com/">Will It Blend</a> series. George Wright, BlendTec's VP of Marketing spent $50 to get this started.</li>
<li>Dan Black, director of recruiting for Ernst & Young used Facebook to connect with students. But he did so in a different way. Lots of questions were asked on E&Y's wall, and he wrote back in a very personal tone. Realized that this was one of the few channels to have a direct conversation with students.</li>
<li>Gary Koelling & Steve Bendt at Best Buy decided to start <a href="http://www.blueshirtnation.com/">BlueShirtNation</a> for Best Buy employees. It turned out to be a great support system for employees.</li>
<li>Josh Bancroft at Intel - created an internal wiki for employees: Intelpedia. He got it done quickly and without the usual corporate red tape. Demonstrated that people were already using it/contributing to it by the time management got back to him to discuss the idea.</li>
</ul>
 
How to get it done 
Lionel Menchaca at Dell.com was a product tech guy, had been there for 17 years - he was knowledgeable and he was a connector. He realized that customer service + product development + blog = getting Dell out of hell. He got direct support from Michael Dell to keep going, personally address concerns & negative comments. Very quickly, the culture within Dell changed: 
<ul>
<li>In the course of 2 months, they took customer suggestions and launched a new product.</li>
<li>DellShares - the Investor Relations team of Dell is now blogging.</li>
</ul>
 
Find & support your revolutionaries 
<ol>
<li>Find the people who are most passionate about developing relationships</li>
<li>Educate your executives - teach them about the benefits, and actually get them involved in them</li>
<li>Put someone in charge - someone who has authority</li>
<li>Define the processes & policies - yes, the legal department may need to be involved, but it's best to outline it up front</li>
<li>Make it safe to fail</li>
</ol>
 Final thoughts: 
<ul>
<li>Make it stick with frameworks</li>
<li>Start small, think big</li>
<li>Make social strategy the responsibility of every employee</li>
<li>Be patient - cultural change takes time</li>
</ul>
 
 
Update: If you'd like to see Charlene's slides, they're available on <a href="http://www.slideshare.net/charleneli/social-strategies-for-revolutionaries/">SlideShare</a>.

Creating Social Strategies

I'm sitting in on Charlene Li's session on Creating Social Strategies at SXSW. Here's a brief overview of her very thoughtful an...

The Suxorz: Worst Social Media of 2007

<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://bp2.blogger.com/_Wgi7DTsDt2g/R9MbaxqGf2I/AAAAAAAAAtg/O6YYfDeo53o/s1600-h/nosegirl.jpg"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5175510543599304546" src="http://bp2.blogger.com/_Wgi7DTsDt2g/R9MbaxqGf2I/AAAAAAAAAtg/O6YYfDeo53o/s200/nosegirl.jpg" style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer;" /></a> I'm here at <a href="http://2008.sxsw.com/interactive/">SXSWi</a> - South by Southwest Interactive - in Austin, TX and I just sat in on a panel called "The Suxorz - the Worst of the Worst in Social Media Marketing for 2007." The panelists included Charlotte Selles (brand perspective), <a href="http://www.google.com/url?sa=t&ct=res&cd=1&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.buzzmachine.com%2F&ei=6RLTR-zwLpqYoQS30vjuDA&usg=AFQjCNEWFjhPsF9EgAiaR3NKI-sfts5QoA&sig2=epse8NizkuOTTKSgjm1qIg">Jeff Jarvis</a>, <a href="http://www.clickz.com/showPage.html?page=3622545">Rebecca Lieb</a>, <a href="http://www.adrants.com/">Steve Hall</a>, and the moderator was <a href="http://www.google.com/url?sa=t&ct=res&cd=1&url=http%3A%2F%2Fweblog.blogads.com%2F&ei=ghPTR8SzIJewgQOsudDODg&usg=AFQjCNEWIYHGXVzbOaGEAwr0wU-ghg-zpw&sig2=TwCDGQQ2hT2Yk4zTk-iAUQ">Henry Copeland</a>. While this may not seem like a who's-who of the social media industry, they did come at it with a pretty broad perspective of advertisers & marketers using common sense. You'll see a number of selections that were based on poor opinions of creative execution, as well as those that don't follow good social media practice. Here's how the session worked: each panelist nominated a campaign; after three rounds, the "winner" was selected. Round 1 <ul><li>Selles: Molson asked individuals to use Facebook to share pictures of themselves using the product; the winner would get a trip for 5 to Cancun.</li><li>Lieb: <a href="http://youtube.com/watch?v=Mv5U0W8FDDk">Carlton Beer "big ad" video</a> - it's just a bad ad. This is the type of ad where you remember the activity within the ad, but not the product. So much so that people didn't even get the name of the product right in <a href="http://youtube.com/results?search_query=carleton+beer&search_type=">some YouTube videos</a>.</li><li>Jarvis: <a href="http://www.buzzmachine.com/2007/06/12/pay-per-spam/">HP PayPerPost</a> - mom accepts $1000 to have her kids destroy a Fuji camera in favor of HP. Got moms to use their kids as shills to make a splog. Just. Plain. Evil. </li><li>Hall: <a href="http://www.businessweek.com/bwdaily/dnflash/content/oct2006/db20061009_579137.htm">Wal-Marting Across America</a> used a real journalist and real photographer, but set them up as simply Wal-Mart fans, traveling across America, parking their RV at Wal-Mart parking lots. </li></ul>Round 1 voting: HP wins Round 2 <ul><li>Selles: <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Mackey_%28businessman%29">Rahodeb</a> - Whole Foods CEO John Mackey uses an alias to ding detractors on forums</li><li>Jarvis: <a href="http://www.cisco.com/web/thehumannetwork/index.html">Cisco's Human Network</a> - wrote all Cisco-related Wikipedia entries; had vloggers try to write about the Human Network. Got themselves to #2 in Google organic search. </li><li>Hall: Mentos/Diet Coke - the extension campaign that Coke undertook after the original video was not nearly as authentic and spontaneous as the first </li><li>Lieb: Vespa's corporate advertising "blog"</li></ul>Round 2 voting: Cisco's Human Powered Network wins Round 3 <ul><li>Lieb: <a href="http://www.scottmonty.com/2006/08/when-we-quit-we-quit-silently.html">Agency.com going to work for Subway</a> - "when we roll, we roll big". Made a laughingstock of.</li><li>Hall: <a href="http://www.startribune.com/business/11987331.html">Target Rounders</a> on Facebook - shhh! Don't tell anyone you're a Rounder, but be a Target fan.</li><li>Selles: Sony PSP - <a href="http://kotaku.com/gaming/sony/all-sony-wants-for-christmas-is-a-better-marketing-company-220727.php">all I want for Christmas is a PSP</a>. 550+ negative posts on this blog that was created by their marketing agency, but professed to be a real fan blog.</li><li>Jarvis: Giuliani campaign - he wasn't afraid of terrorists, but his MySpace page was closed to friend adds.</li></ul>Round 3 voting: Subway/Agency.com wins The winners of the three rounds were put against each other and the final winner was selected: Hewlett Packard. According the the panelists, some of the criteria they used in judging what qualified as a "bad" social media campaign: <ul><li>Advertisers acting like asses</li><li>Out and out lying to customers</li><li>Corrupting authentic voices</li></ul>Steve Hall concluded with this statement, which I think more marketers should keep in mind: "It's not hard to tell the truth; if you don't, it's just a matter of time before the public finds out." Agencies typically take the fall for the client ("the client didn't know about this") because they don't want to lose the business. The bottom line, according to the panelists is: treat people as people, not as a mass. You'll be forgiven if you're honest with people. What do you think? Do these campaigns represent the worst of the worst? Are there others that you might nominate? Do you think there are other criteria to consider or other lessons to be learned? I'd love to hear your thoughts.

The Suxorz: Worst Social Media of 2007

I'm here at SXSWi - South by Southwest Interactive - in Austin, TX and I just sat in on a panel called "The Suxorz - the Worst of...

Watch Your Frickin' Mouth

When you have kids, you naturally censor yourself when you're around them (or at least you try to - sometimes you just let an expletive slip out). But when you're in marketing, is there an obligation to keep it rated PG? Racy ads, like some more mature prime time shows, have traditionally been reserved for after-bedtime hours. But with the advent of so many social media tools for sharing video content or photos, marketers can bet that their ads will pretty much been seen any time of the day. The reason I bring this up is that there's a billboard campaign by the regional convenience store chain <a href="http://www.sheetz.com/">Sheetz</a> that's <a href="http://www.worldnetdaily.com/index.php?fa=PAGE.view&pageId=57619">created quite a stir</a>. Evidently, a Harrisburg, PA family took a look at this billboard and balked, claiming it contained offensive language: <a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://bp2.blogger.com/_Wgi7DTsDt2g/R8y9Jz3JzlI/AAAAAAAAAtE/lmpXfcF0VLE/s1600-h/frickinchicken.jpg"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5173718048179867218" src="http://bp2.blogger.com/_Wgi7DTsDt2g/R8y9Jz3JzlI/AAAAAAAAAtE/lmpXfcF0VLE/s320/frickinchicken.jpg" style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer;" /></a> Having been raised in a household where the offending word was banned, I can understand how this might have ruffled a few feathers. They claim it's an approximation of another word that has an 'F' a 'C' and a 'K' in it. Whether you agree or not, you have to admit two things: (a) how pervasive foul (fowl?) language has become these days and (b) how easy it is to get more mature subjects into younger hands. Every website that contains a signup process, whether it's a social network, newsletter, etc. typically has language asking to verify that you're 13 years of age or older. This is in cooperation with the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Children%27s_Online_Privacy_Protection_Act">Children's Online Privacy Protection Act</a>. But when we create portable or distributable content (to say nothing of billboards), there has to be some acknowledgment that this content, however edgy it may be, could end up in the hands of an unintended minor. While I snickered at Sarah Silverman's "<a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wnVJZkDuVBM">I'm F*cking Matt Damon</a>" on late-night TV, it was quickly and widely distributed over the Web within days (current count of this version: over 7.8 million views). Jimmy Kimmel came up with the rejoinder in his equally as funny/disturbing "<a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sIQrBouWRiE">I'm F*cking Ben Affleck</a>" (currently at just over 4 million views). So, this content isn't remaining in the sole domain of late-night viewing. There are always going to be sensitive eyes & ears about any variety of things. The politically-correct movement is always trying to change our phraseology so no one gets offended, but the reality is, someone is always going to be offended by something. My question is: with the ease of syndication, embedded videos, and widgetized content, is their anything we can do to minimize the exposure of tiny eyes and ears to this stuff? Or is doesn't it matter any more? As to the above, I guess this family won't be eating chicken fricassee any time soon. At least they won't be putting with with any more Sheetz. Maybe they'll be frickin' Jimmy Kimmel... Whoops! Can I say that here?

Watch Your Frickin' Mouth

When you have kids, you naturally censor yourself when you're around them (or at least you try to - sometimes you just let an expletive ...

Acquiring My Attention in Communities

<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://bp0.blogger.com/_Wgi7DTsDt2g/R8ujfbpaLDI/AAAAAAAAAs8/7EWw80bCYMI/s1600-h/mzinga-logo.gif"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5173408357357857842" src="http://bp0.blogger.com/_Wgi7DTsDt2g/R8ujfbpaLDI/AAAAAAAAAs8/7EWw80bCYMI/s200/mzinga-logo.gif" style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer;" /></a>In case you haven't heard, there's a social media acquisition in play. Community builder <a href="http://www.mzinga.com/">Mzinga</a> has announced that it's acquiring white label social networking company <a href="http://www.prospero.com/">Prospero</a>. This is certainly a newsworthy item from a business standpoint: a leading company in the communities space, Mzinga has a number of major entities as clients, including AOL, ABC, ESPN and many others that aren't acronyms. Barry Libert, one of Mzinga's founders, co-authored a book that speaks to the wonder of communities - <a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0132244799?ie=UTF8&tag=thebakerstree-20&linkCode=as2&camp=1789&creative=9325&creativeASIN=0132244799">We Are Smarter Than Me: How to Unleash the Power of Crowds in Your Business</a><img alt="" border="0" height="1" src="http://www.assoc-amazon.com/e/ir?t=thebakerstree-20&l=as2&o=1&a=0132244799" style="border: medium none ! important; margin: 0px ! important;" width="1" />. And Prospero is equally as impressive, having built social networks for the likes of iVillage, Comcast and the New York Times. You can <a href="http://www.mzinga.com/en/AboutUs/News/Press/20080303_Mzinga_Acquires_Prospero.asp">check out their press release</a> for more details. As I looked over the announcement, one of the things that struck me about this is how many of the players I know in this exciting development: <ul><li><a href="http://www.wearesmarter.org/Blogs/Blogastrout/tabid/1645/BlogID/156/Default.aspx">Aaron Strout</a> & <a href="http://wearesmarter.org/Blogs/Blogjstorerj/tabid/1657/BlogID/164/Default.aspx">Jim Storer</a> are both at Mzinga and are a couple of top-notch social media guys, both of whom I recently saw at Boston's Social Media Breakfast (and Jim was one of my co-presenters)</li><li><a href="http://forums.prospero.com/n/blogs/blog.aspx?webtag=prosperoblog">Colin Browning</a> of Prospero lives in the next town, and I've been following his Northern & Southern Hemisphere tweets for a while</li><li>PerkettPR is handling Mzinga's public relations - I've gotten to know <a href="http://www.diecastaudio.com/">Jeff Glasson</a> & <a href="http://perkettprsuasion.com/">Christine Perkett</a> through various social media & tech functions in Boston</li><li><a href="http://www.doughaslam.com/">Doug Haslam</a> works for Topaz Partners, Prospero's PR firm</li></ul>And, to make things even more interesting, Aaron, Jim and Colin are basically holding a press conference on Twitter at 8:30 a.m. to discuss online communities. Since Twitter is a community of sorts, it's entirely appropriate. If you'd like to get in on the discussion, you need a <a href="http://twitter.com/">Twitter </a>account (it's free) and you should follow everyone I mentioned above. Here are their Twitter IDs/links, just in case: <ul><li><a href="http://twitter.com/astrout">@astrout</a> - Aaron Strout</li><li><a href="http://twitter.com/jstorerj">@jstorerj</a> - Jim Storer</li><li><a href="http://twitter.com/crbrowning">@crbrowning</a> - Colin Browning</li><li><a href="http://twitter.com/missusp">@missusp</a> - Christine Perkett</li><li><a href="http://twitter.com/jeffglasson">@jeffglasson</a> - Jeff Glasson</li><li><a href="http://twitter.com/DougH">@DougH</a> - Doug Haslam</li><li><a href="http://twitter.com/scottmonty">@scottmonty</a> - what the hey, if you're not following me yet, you should be</li></ul>I'm not only looking forward to seeing how this little Twitter experiment turns out, but I'm expecting some great things to come from the combination of these two social media powerhouses.

Acquiring My Attention in Communities

In case you haven't heard, there's a social media acquisition in play. Community builder Mzinga has announced that it's acquiri...

Scott Monty - Strategic Communications & Leadership Advisor