Marketing Talk

Given that I am sitting here writing post number 15 for The Engagement Series, you might have a few assumptions about how I manage my Social Media presence. There are a few givens. For example, there are millions of people on Facebook and Twitter and in the blogosphere, and even the squishiest of the squishy can’t engage and be friends with everyone. Second of all, as we discussed a couple of days ago, one must always be ready for the growth potential of an online community.  It may even be likely  that I actually believe that engaging with people online is pretty important.

So, with all of that mushed together, you probably would go to Vegas and bet on the fact that I have lots of Twitter lists and Facebook filters that help me keep everyone organized. As the subject of this post might preview, you would lose that bet in a landslide.

[Read more…] about The case against Twitter Lists and Facebook Filters

One of the things we talked about yesterday was determining what your follow-back policy will be on Twitter. Many of you pointed out quite correctly that this is one heck of a hot button issue in the world of Twitter, and you’re 100% correct.

I’ve always taken a sort of “middle of the road” approach to following people on Twitter. I’ve never made it a habit to go out and follow tons of people at a time. I gravitate towards people who I start talking to or who I meet in chats. If someone starts following me, I look at their profile. I look at how they are engaging with other people.

But how I do things on Twitter is not how other people do things on Twitter. It may not be how you want to do things on Twitter. So, instead of me blabbing at you about how I would do things, I thought I would give you a sampling of the ongoing conversation about the art of Twitter following. Take a look at these posts and see which resonate the most with you, and let us know what you find out.

Sound good?

[Read more…] about Who do you follow?

Have you ever watched the Ken Burns series The West? It’s a marvelous series, especially if you are a history buff like me. There are so many insights into American history, but one of my favorites is somewhat late in the story. The US has been connected East to West with railroad tracks, and settlements and cities are growing like never before. The development of one such city is explored in a bit of detail. A news reporter noted that the ground breaking ceremony for the city’s town square actually happened far away from where the people were living at the town.

“I thought you would want your square to be in the center of your town,” He said to one of the organizers.

“Oh, this is where the center of the town will be after we have grown and expanded,” the organizer responded.

When it comes to your online community, which you are building based on all of these engagement techniques, growth is the ultimate goal, or at least, presumably, one of your goals. But are you planning for that moment in the future right now? Here are some things to think about.

[Read more…] about What will you do when your community grows?

Sometimes, lessons can come from the most unexpected of places. When you think about Judd Apatow, you may think about Freaks ‘n Geeks. Maybe you think about Anchorman or Knocked Up or Forgetting Sarah Marshall. Whatever you think about, you probably do not think of particularly sage advice. However, if you look at how Apatow’s career has developed over the last decade or so, there actually is a lot you can learn about how to evolve your engagement strategy online over months and years.

Here is what I think Judd Apatow would say to you were you to ask him (in the highly likely event) how you should build your engagement online.

[Read more…] about The Judd Apatow Guide to Engagement

I’m trying to create more organization of my posts here in my home sweet home. I thought I would start in the most obvious way, which is to group my posts about books together, and then create a Book Reviews category where all of those posts will go.

The first book review I ever posted to the blogosphere was of Trust Agents. I did a chapter by chapter review back in June.

I’d like you to explore some of those posts, and there are two reasons for it.

First, I’d love to be able to discuss the book with you.

Second, for those of you who are new to blogging and who think I might take my comments and tweets for granted, I want you to look at how many comments I was getting less than a year ago.  I want you to see how confused I still was by Twitter in June. I want you to see that I was frustrated and dismayed. Less than a year later, things have gotten a lot better.

Don’t give up.