Mon, 29 June 2015
What happens to your anxiety level and blood pressure when you think about Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn and Instagram going away? Does it rise? Does it stress you out? If Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest or Snapchat were to drop off the face of the earth tomorrow what would happen to your business? Would your business be negatively impacted? Would it thrive or would it crumble under algorithm changes and paid media models being aggressively implemented by every social network that hits prime time. Are you building your business on digital property that you own? Or are you too dependent upon the social networks and larger social ecosystem for your business success? Are you building your business on rented land? Are you building your business on social land that is far from a solid foundation to build your life and business upon? Building your business foundation on digital and social networks you don't own puts your business at much risk. You have no control on what these social networks do, what happens with their product roadmaps or how your audience and ideal customer react to their upcoming changes in the future. Simply take a look at Facebook, Twitter and any social network for that matter and you'll see how quickly they are changing. Facebook organic reach is in the tanker. Brand and digital marketers who put all of their social eggs in the organic Facebook basket are being hit incredibly hard. Don't let this happen to you. You need to build your own plan, strategy and integrated platform that inspires, attracts, engages and nurtures your ideal customer. You need to look past the numbers and market segment statistics and connect with real human beings in real ways on your owned digital property. |
Fri, 26 June 2015
You have put your time, resource, sweat, sleepless nights and maybe even some tears into your product or business and are ready to take it to market. It's an exciting time. It feels like your baby. You want to shout from the mountain top to the world how awesome it is. You look at all the millions and billions of people on Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, Instagram, Snapchat, Periscope and the list goes on. You want to tap into the power of community. You want some social buzz. You want people to be talking about your brand. Slow down there my friend. I know you are excited but how you enter the world of social media is very important. Remember you only have one chance to make a first, second and third impression. You don't want to lose people at the first 140 character hello because you are all about yourself. Even though you may be new to some of these amazing social networks, the millions of people who are already living and breathing them daily more than they want to admit are not new to them. They have behaviors they are accustomed to. They have certain ways they like to communicate with people and brands. You can't just plop onto Facebook or Twitter and announce your new product or mobile application has launched expecting to build instant community and fame. You need to develop a solid plan and strategy for how you will integrate social media into your business and launch for real result. You need to think it through. You must start long before you launch, not the week before or morning of. Take a listen to the 143rd episode of the Social Zoom Factor podcast where I share with you 5 foundational elements you must have to launch your business or product using social media. I also provide 10 simple ideas and tips to integrate social media into your launch immediately. Take a listen and be sure to subscribe to the entire series on iTunes, Stitcher or SoundCloud! In this 30 minute podcast you will learn:
Direct download: SZF_143_Launch_Strategies_Final_mixdown.mp3
Category:general -- posted at: 12:13pm EDT |
Wed, 24 June 2015
What is the first thing that comes to mind when I ask you define social media? Is it Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, LinkedIn, Periscope, or Snapchat? What if I told you that you should not be thinking about the technology first? You should be thinking about people. You should be focused on your ideal customer. Think DNA, not tools. How can you get in the head of your customer and inspire and connect with them? Your mission with social media is to figure out where your ideal customer is hanging out online and then determine how you can have the most relevant conversation with them possible. You need to be where your ideal customer is, not just where you want to be or even necessarily where you feel comfortable. Do these questions found familiar?
If this is you, then you definitely need to listen to the 142nd episode of the Social Zoom Factor podcast. I explain in plan english why you must quit focusing on the technology, and instead focus on how you can connect with real human beings. How can you best serve them value? You must know where you are going and why. Take a listen and be sure to subscribe to the entire series on iTunes, Stitcher or SoundCloud! In this 25 minute podcast you will learn:
Direct download: SZF_142_SocialMedia_Technology_mixdown.mp3
Category:general -- posted at: 12:29pm EDT |
Fri, 19 June 2015
Many digital marketers scramble and fight for attention every day to get their message heard on the social networks. They may fall to spammy tactics such as tweeting 24 hours a day with automated tweets, automated direct messages, blasting Facebook business pages with too many updates, constant cat photos and word puzzles. They often dilute their brand with these silly tactics when they could be increasing brand equity and building a thriving community who is on the edge of their seat waiting for every word they say. There is also another group of smart digital marketers who know the value of an email list. They create epic and compelling content offers that inspire, educate, delight and help their ideal customer and audience solve their greatest problems. They earn their trust and email address. They are then able to more easily nurture relationships with a captured audience who WANTS to hear from them. Unfortunately many business leaders and even smart marketers don't understand the value of email marketing. They don't know how to integrate email marketing into their programs and business. They don't know how to grow an email list and write off email marketing all together. Did you know that 88% of B2B marketers cite email marketing as their most effective lead generation tactic? If you are not using email marketing to inspire, connect, delight, entertain and serve your audience you are truly missing out on opportunities to grow your brand and business. Take a listen to the 141st episode of the Social Zoom Factor podcast to learn 10 tips to grow build and nurture your email list. These are the exact same tactics we have used to grow our list from 12,000 to over 50,000 people over the past 18 months! Be sure to subscribe to the entire series on iTunes, Stitcher or SoundCloud! In this 30 minute podcast you will learn:
Direct download: SZF_141_EMailSubscribers_Final_mixdown.mp3
Category:general -- posted at: 12:52am EDT |
Mon, 15 June 2015
Business leaders and digital marketers all over the world are struggling every day with how to stay up to date on the latest trends, technology, social networks, methodologies and more. Even with the large number of people we see of embracing change and having a genuine desire to "be the change" as change agents, there is very little real change happening in regard to mindset. There is very little that most people are doing to truly help people take action and move their business and life forward. Instead people are getting stuck on social media buzz from their own community and wind up in a dangerous swirling, whirling echo chamber. It's easy to get stuck in a box. Does any of the below sound familiar?
The truth is there is far too much talk and not enough action being taken in the world of digital marketing, social media and online marketing. Answer this...
It is my belief many are living and embracing the echo chamber. It's time we get out of the box. It's time to quit arguing about semantics. It's time for the masses to start delivering value, real value. Take a listen to the 140th episode of the Social Zoom Factor podcast for some real talk on how we can get out of our box and move the industry forward. Be sure to subscribe to the entire series on iTunes, Stitcher or SoundCloud! In this 15 minute podcast you will learn:
Direct download: SZF_140_Stoparguinsemantics_Final_mixdown.mp3
Category:general -- posted at: 11:32am EDT |
Fri, 12 June 2015
Many brand and digital marketers are poorly confusing influencer marketing with earned media. Some of these marketers may be making innocent mistakes. However, some very well know the difference but are pretending that they don't. As a result they are negatively impacting their brand perception and damaging relationships with the people who they claim they want to embrace and invite closer to their brand. Yes, this is the elephant in the room for many brand marketers and the influencers, thought leaders and people who they are reaching out to begging for tweets, likes, free blog posts or even days spent at an event on behalf of the brand with zero compensation. The brands make themselves foolishly believe they don't need to compensate the influencer for their time since they are bucketing the engagement into "earned media." Let me put this very simply for you. If you are paying for travel, accommodations, fancy dinners and entertainment it is not earned media. Earned media is media that you earn. It's not media that you pay for. It's not dependable. It's not something you can wine and dine an influencer for and expect to get measurable results. Learning how to integrate earned, paid and owned media is key to success for digital marketers. Check out the 139th episode of the Social Zoom Factor podcast for some real talk on why brands must quit confusing earned media with influencer marketing now. I share with you a story of how one of the largest car manufacturers in the world reach out to me asking for 5 days of my time at an event without any compensation and claiming they couldn't compensate for time as it fell into the category of "earned media." Seriously people, let's get real on this topic. It's time we make the leaders in this industry accountable. They need to walk the walk,not just talk the talk. This episode is part of a new “in a nutshell" mini-series of the Social Zoom Factor podcast to do a deep dive on the 3 types of media you must understand if you want to be successful in the online world and with digital marketing. I provided a quick overview of paid, earned and owned media in episode 138 of the Social Zoom Factor podcast. Be sure to subscribe to the entire series on iTunes, Stitcher or SoundCloud!
Direct download: SZF_139_Earned_Media_Notearned_Media_Final_mixdown.mp3
Category:general -- posted at: 12:19pm EDT |
Wed, 10 June 2015
Remember the days of simple media and mass communication? The days marketers would simply buy an ad, tv commercial slot, throw out some direct mail, a few magazine ads, radio spots, measure the response and get on w/ their day job of herding cats, taming elephants and locking up the crazy monkeys in-house begging them for everything under the sun ;) Joking but you get the point. Media is not simple anymore, not that it ever was, but now it’s even more complex. It’s not just the explosion of social media, but the fact that according to a Nielsen study that confirmed the most trusted source of info in all countries surveyed world wide is earned media, also described as what use to be known as word of mouth. The issue is that many are confusing earned media with paid media and owned media. They are blurring them all together and as a results wasting millions of dollars, ticking off their audiences, ruining relationships with thought leaders and influencers and the list goes on. Today we are kicking off a new “in a nutshell: mini-series on the 3 types of media you must understand if you want to be successful in the online world and with digital marketing - paid media, owned media and the favorite earned media. This mini series is part of a larger “you are the media” and “influencer marketing” series. In today's episode we will cover in detail the definition of paid, earned and owned media.
Direct download: SZF_138_Media_Paid_earned_Owned_mixdown.mp3
Category:general -- posted at: 5:19pm EDT |
Fri, 5 June 2015
Twitter can be very overwhelming to even the smartest and most social savvy business leaders. Many people find it frustrating to sort through the chatter and noise to get to the people, content and conversations that matter to your business and life. Twitter lists are a great way to organize the people you follow and also help you organize conversations to get a grip on the clutter and noise so that you can truly leverage Twitter to rock your business and brand. Twitter lists enables you to organize people you like to follow so that you can better read, engage and even curate content you want to share with your following. Lists can help you keep track of potential clients, clients, partners and even competitors. Take a listen to the 137th episode of the Social Zoom Factor podcast for 15 business use cases to maximize your use of Twitter by utilizing Twitter lists. They are 15 use cases you can begin implementing today! My blog and our agency site is loaded with information to help you with all aspects of social media, marketing and business. I encourage you to first listen to the podcast and then download our free resources listed at the bottom of this blog post including the Twitter Persona Worksheet. In this 15 minute podcast you will learn:
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Wed, 3 June 2015
If you haven't heard about the latest live video streaming apps on the market, Periscope and Meerkat, you must have been hiding under a rock. Periscope won the hearts of the social community and hit 1 million users in only 10 days! Periscope and Meerkat are grabbing attention of everyone from celebrities to geeks, pastors, journalists, marketers, moms, dads, teens and more. Meerkat stole the spotlight at the SXSW event in Austin Texas in April. Twitter quickly announced the launch of their recently acquired mobile live streaming app, Periscope. Twitter then immediately shut down the API for Meerkat putting a damper in the quick growth Meerkat was experiencing. Live streaming is not new. However, the ability to so simply live stream directly from the palm of your hand via a mobile device is what these two new apps have to offer that is unique. With these two apps you have the ability to potentially launch your own TV channel from your mobile device. Crazy opportunities are in front of us if you really think about the ways we can use this technology. It's not news how addicted TV and online video viewers are to reality TV. Now you can host your online daily reality show straight from you car, bedroom, front porch, or local coffee shop! The biggest question marketing and business leaders have in regard to using these two new live streaming apps is how can they use them for business? Take a listen to the 136th episode of the Social Zoom Factor podcast for 10 use cases for how you can use Periscope and Meerkat for your business starting immediately! Also included is a succinct overview of these two exciting platforms! Be sure to subscribe to the entire series on iTunes, Stitcher or SoundCloud! In this 25 minute podcast you will learn:
Supporting Resources:
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Mon, 1 June 2015
Failing to plan is planning to fail. When it comes to anything in life or business, you get what you put into it. Although many smart marketers and business leaders know what they need to do to achieve real business results when it comes to marketing and integrating social media into their business, the truth is far too many are still searching for the easy button. Unfortunately too many marketers are simply being lazy. They are too busy self promoting themselves, chasing shiny objects, bashing their competition and focusing on problems versus solutions. As a result they have no time put time and effort into the right things that could bring the highest return for their efforts. Check out the 135th episode of the Social Zoom Factor podcast to hear the top 10 stupid marketing tactics you must stop today!
In this 25 minute podcast you will learn:
Direct download: SZF_135_StopMktgTactics_Final_mixdown.mp3
Category:general -- posted at: 11:07pm EDT |