I taught a fun class at the University of Houston's Small Business Development Center today on social networking for small businesses. Little did they know, they got a lesson in the art of Storytelling as well as a walk through of some of the more relevant social networks.
Thanks so much to all who attended - we had a full house and lots of great questions. Can't wait to hear from you again :)
sale, wet
Originally uploaded by Dreamer7112
I like this Rainmaker's Credo (found on the 800-CEO-Read blog) as it addresses the importance of humility, knowledge sharing and really taking on the burden of compassionate communication with your customers and prospects:
People buy stuff and services from other people; companies and biz dev teams that treat sales relationships as actual human relationships go very far in my book. What are some of your people-focused rainmaking tips/tricks/gems?
File this under 'teeny tiny little things that may or may not make a huge giant difference'.
Stephen Anderson has a great simple post on the semantics of collaboration. He points out what could possibly be the difference between cooperative, successful teamwork and destructive, defensive anti-teamwork.
Okay, so words are words. We speak them without thinking quite frequently. But the impact here is really in the intent behind the words.
We've all worked with co-workers or classmates who had one heck of a time actually contributing, but zero problem accepting all the glory. Yeah, those dudes. And we've all probably bitten our tongues during a presentation or review session - completely ready to whack the offending non-contributor on the head with a handy textbook for being such a lame-o.
One of the hardest lessons for me to embrace (although I've always understood it, but accepting it is a bear) is that for much of life -- in school, work and personal projects -- it's less about the WHO, it's more about the SUCCESS/AWESOMENESS.
I want to succeed and I'm not going to let anyone get in my way of success. Stuck working with me on a project? We'll get it done together and giggle the whole time, but if you slow me down because you're not pulling your weight I'll make it happen with or without you.
Maybe that's one of the reasons that I love Social Media so much. Even though much of the Blogosphere is an echo chamber (hello?? like this post right? :) ), the Community is pretty darn good at weeding out the folks who take credit for ideas/work that aren't their own. The job gets done, the knowledge is transferred and the link love is beautiful.
Lovely image from Stephen original post - his blog is chalk full of 'em!
This is a recent presentation I did for an Internet Marketing for Small Business class at the UHSBDC last week. It's always a challenge to know exactly what a varied audience is looking for when discussing Blogging for Business 101, so this presentation gave a wide overview of companies making a success of it in different ways and the tools they use to get there.
This particular presentation has a few general points on defining a Blog's success (the message primarily being that you need to be creative, pro-active and diligent in finding a definition of success and measuring it - lots of pre-launch evaluation action):
Not a comprehensive list, of course - but a basic starting-out kind of thing. I look forward to running classes where the Social Media training is more hands one versus example-driven and theoretical. Fun to really get your hands dirty, whether with clients or passionate marketers diving into the Social Media world.
The AMA Houston Tech SIG hosted a great Blog Forward presentation today with 3 panelists of various Blogging heritages including myself (www.happykatie.com and Schipul), Greg Price (of PKF and www.fromgregshead.com) and Michael Berry (of Ops Manager at Clear Channel and of KTRH blogs).
Many thanks to Rob Roberts and the AMA Tech SIG crew for hosting the event. I'm hoping that participants walked away with some actionable Blogging ideas for their own business online marketing adventures. Scroll to the end of this post to view my presentation slides or visit me on Slideshare here.
In the end, it's all about the right people and the right content. Once you have those right, the possibilities are limitless. Recruit from within, grow your peoples' personal brands and BLOG!! I highly recommend checking out this article by Ed Schipul on what to do when starting a Social Media program for additional background.
In case your geekery meter hasn't overloaded yet, here are some links that I shared while on stage:
Blogging Tools
Blog Analytics Tools
Link Grab Bag
Thanks to all who participated - I look forward to seeing you on the Blogosphere :) And, of course, feel free to drop me a line sometime: happykatie at gmail.com. Photo thanks to Ed Schipul - click here for more AMA Houston pics!
Cool beans, I got a mention and a couple of photos in the Houston Chronicle yesterday. Thanks to Imelda, I got hooked up with a really super reporter named Cori Shropshire who was looking for random ways that older (= non-college aged) people used Facebook.
We emailed and chatted on the phone a couple of times, which mostly meant me subjecting Cori to a lot of Facebook happiness and Schipul personal branding blabbing. This is what she got:
Katie Laird, a 25-year-old Web marketing consultant, jumps on and off the site all day, helping her clients, many of whom are older and less tech-savvy than she is, boost their Internet visibility. "I love it when gray-haired men ask me if I'm on Facebook," she said.
There, "you get more done and have more fun," she said, after conceding that really only about 40 percent of her Facebook time is purely work-related.
"Sometimes ... we have big marketing pushes. I'm on there for business all the time, and other times its 100 percent random personal stuff," Laird said.
"So much of my personal is also work stuff ... there's no black and white these days."
That fuzzy gray area is Facebook's appeal, users say, since the site's features allow them to be themselves. Enthusiasts say LinkedIn.com is too stodgily professional and MySpace is a circus, although several say they use both.
Facebook, said Laird, is a more pleasant alternative to the wild-and-crazy days spent ... well, perusing other social networking sites.
"Facebook is far less time-consuming than YouTube," she explained. To be productive, she suggested limiting Facebook check-ins to twice-a-day. "Everything in moderation," she said, then laughed. "Must leave time to blog, too."
Chocolove
Originally uploaded by cknlomein
Packaging matters to me. A lot.
Unique touches and good design sway me greatly in my purchasing choices - I will be far more likely to spend a little more cash if a product is thoughtfully constructed. Yes, I'm a sucker like that.
Here are 2 swell examples of unexpected packaging that made me sublimely happy this week:
~ A silk black strappy tank top from Talla (a birthday present from my mom :) ) had a nice size-card attached to it by a white silk cord that told me this:
'May you have enough happiness
to make you sweet, enough trials
to make you strong, enough sorrow
to keep you human and enough hope
to make you happy.'
~ A dark, dark Chocolove bar flavored with hot chilies and sweet cherries was housed in a wrapper that brought us the voice of Oscar Wilde, quoting his poem In the Gold Room: a Harmony - full excerpt after the jump:
Her ivory hands on the ivory keys
Strayed in a fitful fantasy.
Like the silver gleam when the poplar trees
Rustle their pale leaves listlessly,
Or the drifting foam of a restless sea
When the waves show their teeth in the flying breeze...
I like it when my purchases speak to me, thank me, befriend me and joke with me. That's why I'm also a huge MOO cards fan, Threadless lover and Jones Soda junkie. Those brands love me; they tell me so regularly and that makes me want to give them part of my paycheck :) There's a reason they call them Lovemarks!
So you've probably noticed that I'm a pretty big Helio fan these days. My Helio Ocean is great, my customer service experience with them has been fantastic and now I'm hooked on their blog: Heliomag.
Talk about a company doing that Social Media hat dance right - Heliomag is actually a place that real people like to visit and doesn't try to bore me to death with thinly veiled corporate policy blahblah and other ridiculousness.
Heliomag gives you cool interviews, sweet art exhibit and creative news, tips and tricks for your Helio, music reviews and oh yes -- a link to the DVORAK zine. dOOd. In short, their company Blog is a universally interesting place that offers regularly updated unique content, which in turn makes Helio look cool and informed, which in turn makes me - the consumer - feel cool and smart for giving them my money.
I like feeling cool and smart - how about you?
Corporate Sony JUST joined in on the Blog action this week (surprisingly late) and so far the results are lackluster. Here's why I'm not excited:
Popgadget interviewed Marcy Cohen from Sony on their foray into Social Media Land, who said:
"With the growth and impact of the internet, we realized we needed to be more proactive and have a dialogue with the customer " says the 6 and a half year veteran of the company. "It gives a face to the company and also helps us learn about the customer through unfiltered comments. Besides comments and feedback, we'll have regular contributors ...guest bloggers. Ultimately, we expect it will benefit the consumer."
Ya' think? Ho freaking hum. Hope things pick a bit, although it was interesting to hear a little more about Sony's DSLR plans. Hopefully they'll take a hint from the PSP Blog and make it a little more snazzy and connective.
Russ Capper and Erica O'Grady were cool enough to invite me back to the Business Maker's Radio Show to try out an HP Advantage technology tip vignette recording. Check it out here!
