Marketing Talk

Are we the good guys?

A few days ago, I watched The Road, based on the book of the same name by Cormac McCarthy. It is a dark, dark film about a post-Armageddon world, and it follows the path of a father (played by Viggo Mortensen) and his son. They are trying to survive in a world where there are no animals, no plants, and where most of the other people have become cannibals in order to survive.

As the father and son trudge towards the coast, where they hope to find some relief, the son’s moral compass becomes more and more skewed and confused. “Are we the good guys?” He asks his father. The father responds in the affirmative, of course, but as the movie wears on, you become less and less sure what being “the good guy” means in that kind of world.

It kind of made me think about the world of Social Media.

Women and Social Media: Amber’s Post is Live!

by Margie Clayman

Do women tend to support people online and in the real world more than men? This is the question that Amber Cleveland explores in her contribution to the Women and Social Media series. Amber suggests that women are more naturally inclined to care, and that it has been a long-established fact that if you strengthen the women, the entire community will be strong.

Are men equally supportive of each other or of all people?

Visit Amber’s post, which is called Women and Social Media: Supporting Others, and weigh in!

For the rest of the series so far:

Here is an overview of the series, and please give a visit to the following posts:

A Glass Ceiling in Social Media? By Daria Giron, aka @mominmanagement

Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, Oh My! Baby Boomer Women Transition Careers Through Social Media, by Chanelle Schneider aka @writerchanelle

On Facebook, Women Just Want to Have Fun. by Heidi Cohen, aka @heidicohen

25 things you need to know about Social Media

by Margie Clayman

It’s time I give you some truths about Social Media. Some of them are tough to swallow. Some of them are kind of comforting. They are all things I wish I would have known when I started this journey. I hope that you find them helpful if you are beginning your journey or I hope that you enjoy them if you are reflecting on from whence you came.

1. Social Media is not easy.

2. No one is obligated to help you.

3. No one knows your objectives.

4. You need to have objectives.

5. You need to have a plan.

6. Your plan needs to be flexible.

7. You are expected to give back whatever you get.

8. You have to put in a lot of time.

9. You have to make sure you control your time.

10. You have to read.

11. You have to always keep your mind open to learning.

12. There will be incredibly tough times.

13. There will be times of elation.

14. In the end, it’s about you and your goals.

15. In the end, you can’t succeed without others.

16. Promoting others can be more fun than promoting yourself.

17. There’s no rhyme or reason, most of the time.

18. People will love your least favorite content.

19. People will be silent about your favorite content.

20. Your brain will get tired.

21. Your soul will be challenged.

22. You will make unexpected friendships.

23. You run the risk of making unexpected enemies.

24. You are accountable for everything you type.

25. It’s a roller coaster, not a merry-go-round.

What would you add to this list?

Ten Ways to Build Engagement with Blog Comments

by Margie Clayman

A lot of people talk about blog comments based on the incoming traffic they can provide. The story goes, as Brian Clark noted in a popular post a while back, that if you leave tons of comments everywhere, you’ll be golden. It’s probably worthwhile to note that Brian’s post also points out that primarily, this story is more myth or legend, especially if all you’re doing is leaving one-word comments everywhere.

The fact is that commenting on blogs in a meaningful way can be one of your most powerful engagement tools. However, one needs to emphasize “in a meaningful way.”

With that said, here are ten ways you can use your blog commenting strategy to help you increase your engagement with other bloggers and blog readers.

Ice Cube or John Mellencamp: What would you do

by Margie Clayman

When I was a kid, rap was (in my opinion) at its very best. It was kind of funny that I liked rappers like Ice Cube, Eazy-E, Ice T, and their crews. I couldn’t have been more separated from the worlds they were rapping about, and I certainly was not keen to become a gangsta myself. Ice Cube in particular seemed to be from a world that was scary yet kind of daring and exciting. I wondered how a guy named O’Shea Jackson could be so darned angry.

Of course, right around the same time, John Mellencamp (who had a cougar in his name) was also huge. His message was…well…slightly different from that of Ice Cube. John sang little diddies about Jack and Diane and I’m pretty sure that he bled red, white, and blue. He was the Midwest personified, but a bit less corny. He wore white t-shirts, blue jeans, and seemed like he was the kind of person you could run up to to get an autograph.

Why being a hero is good for business

by Margie Clayman

One of my favorite parts of Enchantment is where Kawasaki discusses the role of the hero in the world of engagement. Now, to illustrate the point, he uses the example of the firefighters and policemen who strove to save people on 9/11. That kind of heroism is in a world of its own. But in the online world, there are tons of ways to be a hero to someone. It requires very little risk, can benefit you a great deal, and often takes a very small amount of time, too.

To understand how playing the hero online can be good for business, we need to talk about the idea, from the natural world, of imprinting.

Marketing Talk

Footer