Marketing Talk

A few days ago, my pal Jason Konopinski and I were talking via “The Twitter” when we suddenly started swapping quotes from the Princess Bride. Jason suggested that I write a blog post encapsulating some of the wisdom we were hitting upon in that conversation, so here is my best shot. I hope you enjoy!

1. “I do not think this word means what you think it means.”

When Vizzini, Fezzik, and Inigo Montoya are stealing away Buttercup, Inigo Montoya keeps noticing that the “Man in black” is following them, to which Vizzini responds repeatedly, “inconceivable.” Vizzini seems like a wise man, but Inigo is just not quite sure that this word is being used 100% properly.

I don’t want to be a jerk, but using this quote online could come in handy.

2. “Yes, you’re very smart. Shut up.”

Little Fred Savage keeps telling his grandfather that he has a pretty good grip on the plotline. At one point he even uses those dreaded words, “See, I told you!” His grandfather says the above quote in response.

Again, I think this could come in handy at times. Sometimes people say things as if these observations are the most profound thoughts in the world. Smacking them down in a firm yet funny way isn’t a crime. Right?

3. “Do you have six fingers on your right hand?” “Do you start all conversations this way?”

Sometimes, especially via Twitter direct messages, I get really weird introductory comments or questions. People sort of act like they’ve known me for a million years, yet in trying to give that sense they actually show how really far off they are. I think I’m going to start responding with, “Do you start all conversations this way?”

4. “Life is pain, princess. Anyone who says otherwise is trying to sell something.”

Now, sometimes people who say otherwise are just trying to cheer you up, but I always crinkle my nose at least a little bit when someone tries to tell me that there are unicorns flying around outside. Now you can get flying unicorns too, for just $150 a unicorn!

5. Buttercup, after kissing the king’s cheek: “Because you have always been so kind to me, and I won’t be seeing you again since I’m killing myself once we reach the honeymoon suite.” The King: “Won’t that be nice. She kissed me, ha, ha, ha!”

Have you ever encountered people who don’t *really* seem to read an entire blog post but have a response they really want to leave for you? Or maybe you say something to someone and they respond with something that seems entirely about them and maybe entirely out of place? Yeah. That.

6. Prince Humperdink: “That may be the first time anyone has DARED to insult me.” Westley: “It won’t be the last.”

I have noticed over my tenure in the online world that the people who feel they are most above reproach are actually the ones who tend to get their butts handed to them the most, whether it’s on Twitter or via the dreaded bloggy call-out. Prince Humperdink certainly thinks he is too good for this world, and Westley most certainly does not let him feel that way for long.

7. “He’s only *mostly* dead.”

This of course is a quote from Mad Max, and I think I’m going to use this retort throughout 2012 whenever someone notes that email, print, television, mobile, the interwebz, or anything else is dead. It’s only *mostly* dead. Which means, of course, that it’s partially living.

8. “REOS’s? They don’t exist.”

Westley tries to comfort Buttercup regarding her fear of rodents of extraordinary size by convincing her that they don’t really exist. Of course, he has already spotted the REOS that is stalking them, so his effort to comfort or help Buttercup actually results in her being blind-sided by the attack. Similarly, I feel sometimes that “experts” in the social media world guffaw at potential dangers in order to comfort their friends or clients when in reality the best move is to prepare them for the fight.

9. “People in masks cannot be trusted.”

Do people wear masks in the online world? Well, an avatar is a mask, is it not? It looks the same no matter what is going on in your real life. Does that mean you should avoid trusting anyone? Of course not. Does it mean you should automatically consider everyone you talk to your 100% best bosom buddy ever? Eh…maybe not. I’d think about it, anyway.

10. “Never go against a Sicilian when death is on the line!”

Despite all of the rumors to the contrary, there really are experts who happen to use social media platforms to communicate. I highly advise you not to try to convince these folks that you know more than them, most especially if you really don’t. It really can make you look bad, and it can also expose the fact that you actually know a lot less than what you had presented. Now that’s a real bummer!

These are the quotes I thought of. What would you add?

Image credit: http://www.flickr.com/photos/megadem/1339257745/ via Creative Commons

The end of the year for an agency (and for most businesses, really) is not so much ending a year as getting ready to begin a new year. I wanted to let you know about a new e-newsletter plan that our agency is rolling out for 2012. We’re starting a new format that blends 3 ingredients we like in e-newsletters…curated content, original written content, and a chance to interact with the sender. We’re calling it The Claymanite 411 because we’ll be curating 4 articles, writing one, and including 1 survey question.

I’m showing the editorial calendar for the year here. If this looks interesting, you can opt-in and look for the first installment on January 4th (Wednesday). No catches – just wanted to let you know what we’re up to!

January:

1. Economic update/outlook

2. Global economic trends

February:

1. Learn to love content marketing

2. How to generate engaging content

March:

1. Generating Leads

2. Nurturing Leads

April:  

1. Catching up on mobile

2. Mobile Marketing

May:

1. Aligning marketing and sales

2. Integrating your agency into your team

June:

1. Updates on SEO (like Google Plus making searches private)

2. Do you need SEO?

July:

1. How is your customer service?

2. Ways to give more value to your customers

 August:

1. The Power of Referrals

2. How to increase your referrals

September:

1. It’s not just a marketing plan

2. Planning your follow-up

October:     

1. Social Media Updates

2. Integrating Social Media into your sales and marketing channels

 November:  

1. Looking at ROI over the last year

2. How to know that something worked

December:

The best and worst of 2012

If you do decide to opt in, you will not be surprised by any unwanted selly content or things like that. This is the plan, and the plan this is.

Thanks for listening!

Image Credit: http://www.flickr.com/photos/digitaltree515/4002439444 via Creative Commons

I can’t really say that doing something one year is the stuff traditions are made of, but once you do something for two years, well, there’s a chance it might catch on.

With that in mind, I present you, for the second year in a row, with my favorite blog posts of the year. This year, presented in no particular order or categorization (uncharacteristically for me!). Enjoy, and Happy Holidays!

 

I hope you enjoy this list. I know I didn’t include every post that touched me this year. But these are a good solid handful.

Image Credit: http://www.flickr.com/photos/funadium/553343932/ via Creative Commons

Pretty early on in my online career, like, a year ago, I was fortunate to meet a lot of great people, mostly because of all of the chats I participated in. I found a way to tie these people together on a daily basis so that they evolved into my online community, and a great community it was! And is, I should note. However, something interesting happened with this particular group of people. They started sort of clotting together into different groups. In the online world we call them tribes a lot of times. In the world of Twitter they’re grouped together under the same hashtag.

As these individual groups started growing, I noticed that people who used those hashtags all of the time stopped talking to me as regularly as they once had. I noticed that I seldom saw them tweet anything without that hashtag after it. For awhile, I played along, but then I realized that once you start participating in a tightly knit group like that, you stop looking at your home feed. Your primary focus is just on that hashtag. Who is entering it, who is contributing to it – these things become your primary focus. If people don’t use that hashtag, you simply don’t see them anymore.

I didn’t like that idea.

For a little while after I made that realization I would occasionally pop in and use the hashtag to converse with people. But then something even more interesting happened. The community that had been building so closely under that hashtag started to become really overpowered with drama, direct messages, rumor mills, and general unpleasantness. I found myself not wanting to be affiliated with the hashtag because it was starting to feel like a symbol of general chaos and ickiness, as sad as that was. So, I basically stopped using the hashtag altogether and worked to maintain my individual friendships with the people that had gotten involved with the group.

In a different dimension

A year later, I have absolutely no regrets. This is not to say that these online tribes are bad. In fact, a lot of these communities build around really great ideas and really great messages. But here’s what I want you to consider.

In a different dimension, if I had started using just that hashtag at the exclusion of most other things and then gotten disenchanted with that hashtag, as I likely still would have, what would I have done? It’s the old case of putting all of your eggs into one basket. Yes, when you are in a tightly-knit community there are tons of advantages. Your posts may get shared more often. You can band around people who are having a hard time. You know there is a force out there supporting you. But if you put everything you have into just that community and that community later falls apart, what do you have left?

People in the online world do not stick around waiting for you to come back and say, “Hey, let’s be best pals.” A day is practically an eternity in a lot of ways. Abandoning the world at large in favor of a single group is painting yourself into a corner.

Hidden Agendas

There is another caution I’d throw out there when it comes to online groups or “tribes,” especially as they exist on Twitter. I’ve seen it happen a lot. As a group starts to get big and get noticed, suddenly it’s not just a group of friends. Suddenly there is a sense that maybe this is something that could give people fame and notoriety. Maybe this is something that could get you on a social media panel at a big show. Maybe this is something that could help your brand and/or your business. When these thoughts start going through peoples’ heads, the idea of community moves on back to the rear of the vehicle. A power struggle ensues and the community gets confused about what is going on. What is this power grab all about? A lot of people can get hurt, and again, if the community is all you banked on, you can end up out in the Twittery cold.

Sometimes too, a person will be promoted within the group or excluded from the group because of one person’s feelings. Is that what adults who are professionals in the great big world need to be worrying about? To me, participating in these close-knit groups is an invitation for trouble just because of the way people are and the way people work within the online world.

Just like high school

I know that some people will take issue with this, but to me, the concept of “tribe” in the online world is really quite similar to the high school clique. Each community or tribe gets its ringleaders, its traditions, its little idiosyncrasies that make it different. If you don’t want to go along with the dance, you will be subtly blocked out. If you opt not to participate in these groups, you will not get the same kind of support that people in those groups get. Like everything in life, it’s a question of what you want to have and what you’re willing to trade.

I have always been happy as the floating friend. I can jump into and out of a lot of groups and yet not remain tied to them. I can offer exchanges with all sorts of people because I keep my view of the online world big and unlimited. Is it the right way to go? No, I can’t say that. Is it the better way to go? Can’t really say that either. Would I advise you to take this road?

Yes, I would.

What do you think?

Image credit: http://www.flickr.com/photos/aigle_dore/4044211790 via Creative Commons