The Social Network

I got invited to a special sneak preview of "The Social Network," the movie about the early days of Facebook and how it came to be the powerhouse that it is.
Early rumors had said it was going to be very critical of Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg.  I think he came off as brilliant but socially inept most of the time - although a couple of incidents are hinted at that might make him sinister.
The person who comes off the worst is Napster founder Shawn Fanning who got involved just as Facebook was starting to get big.  He's the big bad guy.
A word of caution here.  The movie was released by Sony and Columbia - both of whom own record companies and have lots of reasons to hate the first big file sharing website's founder.
Overall, I liked it - and the rest of the audience seemed to as well.  If you're a Facebook user (and with 500 million users its a safe bet that you are), you might like to know more about the site that everyone loves to hate - at least a little bit.  Go see it!.
BTW, thanks to Andrew at Underdog Studios for the tickets.

Scottsdale Innovators BNI Chapter picture

A picture of some of the members of the <a href="http:www.scottsdaleinnovators.com">Scottsdale Innovators BNI Chapter</a>. We meet every Tuesday at the Rock Bottom at Desert Ridge.

Scottsdale innovators of BNI

A picture of the members of the Scottsdale Innovators BNI Chapter.  We meet every Tuesday at Rock Bottom in Desert Ridge.

The Medium is the Massage - a bad advertising decision

I should have turned around a taken a picture. Let me set a mental picture instead. It's 106 degrees - a warm day for late
September in Phoenix. I'm driving back to the office from a meeting. Up
ahead on the right there is a sign spinner. Local businesses hire people to
stand by the road and direct people to their business. He's not as active
as some of the really talented sign spinners, but he's holding a sandwich
board type sign and pointing at his employer's office.
As soon as I get close enough to read the sign, I know this guy is doing
more harm than good. He appears like he's homeless. I don't see his
clothes because of the sign, but his hair is showing & it hasn't been washed
in several days, he's got a grizzled beard and, while he might be a nice guy
looking for work, he appears to be someone you might cross the street to
avoid walking past.
The business he's spinning for: a therapeutic massage business.
My immediate thought connected the perception of this guy spinning the sign
with the idea of getting a nice relaxing massage. It wasn't a pretty
picture.
So many times we look at marketing as tasks that need to be accomplished (I
need a sign spinner from 4-6pm) rather than the perception we need to
generate (I have a clean professional office where you can relax and escape
the worries of the day).
I just thought it might be hurtful to the sign spinner to publish his
picture with this kind of rant, so I skipped the camera.
By the way, Google "The Medium is the Massage" for some marketing thoughts
from Marshal McLuhan.
If you need some nice signs made for spinning, I've got a couple of creative
contacts both here in Phoenix and in Sioux Falls. Drop me a line or contact
me through the McMarketingMedia home site

Hunting and Farming

Hunting and Farming - Reach and Frequency - Chamber and BNI

Some important thoughts concerning Social Media usage in your small business internet marketing.

I spent my morning in a training class for BNI.  I’m the outgoing president of my group, the Scottsdale Innovators.  I’m moving over to be a support team member now, and needed a refresher class to make sure I’m up to speed on my new duties.

In response to a question about what BNI was, someone in the class said it was a place the “meet and get to know” other business professionals who would help them grow their business.

“Meet and get to know”

If you’ve never heard of it, BNI - Business Networking International, has 125,000 members worldwide who meet every week in groups averaging 21 members.  Every week, these same people meet in the same group to trade referrals.  The interesting thing is: the longer you’re in the group, the more your response grows.  Compare that to a big group like the Chamber.  Go to a mixer with 300 people and you have to “work the room” to collect cards for followup.

In advertising it’s called Reach and Frequency.  If you’ve got a great offer and put that message out one time, you’ll “reach” that media’s audience once and, if the audience is huge like network TV, you’ll get a decent return on investment.  If you use a media like local radio, you won’t reach as many people, but the prices are less so you can run more ads.  Your initial response might not justify the expense.  But if you keep at it consistently, your response rates will grow dramatically.

In real estate sales, smart agents will stake out a neighborhood and become the “expert.”  It means that they advertise over and over to the same people in the knowledge that as people “get to know” them, they will eventually call them when it’s time to sell their home in that neighborhood. They call it ‘farming” as opposed to “hunting” for people in the market right now. 

Both systems work.  Hunters eat tonight.  Farmers will starve in the short run, but their pantry will be overflowing when the harvest comes in.

Social media is definitely a farming/frequency type of media.  If you’re going to get into social media be prepared to wait for your efforts to payoff.  The good news is the surveys I’ve seen show that companies that  are in it for a year or more say they are planning on spending more in the future – which is a good indication that their investment is beginning to pay off.

P.S.  One other thought.  Social media is more like small group networking than advertising.  It’s a two way street.  Unlike regular advertising where you “broadcast” a message to the masses, social media is a “get to know” media where you talk and then…listen.  If you skip that second step, you’ll find it hard to be successful in the new media future.

The First Rule of Internet Marketing

If you're investing in internet marketing, Rule #1 is: Keep Your Website On.

For the third time this year, I have had a client let their website expire and the site go dark.

The Three Parts of the First Rule of Internet Marketing:

1.      Print, then save in a file, all of the receipts from your domain registration service, your hosting company and your web designer. Include all of your passwords for the various accounts.

2.      Put your anniversary dates into your planner so you’ll know when things are about to expire.

3.      Keep your hosting company, web designer and domain registration service accounts up to date. In particular make sure each has your active email, one that isn't tied to your domain name (if it expires, your email will, too).

4.      Don't ignore emails from any of the above. In fact, your webmaster would love to get a forward from you asking “Is this important?” rather than go through the process of trying to get your site back up after the files have be removed.

Lets give a little link love to my custom kitchen designs client: Top Shelf Interiors.

An added note. Unless you hired a large established agency to build your website, don't count on them being there next year...or even next month. When your site goes live, get a full copy of the site files in CD or DVD to put into the file folder with the account information. It's good insurance in case your designer or your hosting company goes away.

Click here to download:

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