Some of the bigger guns in Social Media have taken a pit stop recently into the more traditional scene and published books on their areas of expertise. Chris Brogan and Julian Smith put out Trust Agents recently (my review of the book coming soon) and Gary Vaynerchuk just released Crush It (currently reading).
Both have gotten a bit of criticism for jumping into a traditional method of disseminating information (the hardcover book) when their ‘business’ is talking about online communities, business, and social media. Furthermore, both Chris and Gary give away an enormous amount of kick-ass information, action items, and insight through both their blogs, and in Chris’ case, much of the basic principles served as the foundation for Trust Agents.
So why did I buy (and why will I continue to buy) their books when I can get a lot of the same content for free, online? First it’s about saying Thank You. It’s the same reason I became a member of my local NPR station. They give away the content, but I find value in it, so I choose to support it. For another reason that made sense to me, I have to bring in Seth Godin. Below check the embed of a talk that he gave to book publishers about the different methods he uses to publish his books and how they were received.
The short of it is that guys like Seth, Gary, and Chris are a bit different since they’re not in the book business. They’re in the building relationship business, the speaking business and the building community business. They give talks, put out great info for free on their blogs, and create experiences. The books are souvenirs. Now, of course for people who aren’t familiar with their online work, the books are a gateway, a CD sampler, an appetizer. But for the rest of us….souvenirs.
It’s part of what Gary V. has called the “Thank You Economy.” and it’s something that I also think is here to stay. So, thanks Chris and Gary for the great content, the videos, the blogs, the interaction and the community.
There’s been a small taxi driver who has been getting a lot of press today on everything from the Huffington Post, to NPR about his novel business idea. Since June, Recession Ride Taxi has been picking up riders and letting them pay what they want. No strings attached. They also have a small cooler in the car where patrons can grab a cold beverage - again, paying whatever they want. Oh, and they have punch cards. Every 7th ride is free.
So how is this working out? Eric Hagen, who is the taxi operator, says he’s never been shortchanged. Of course, people have had a lot of questions, but things have picked up considerably after a quiet couple of weeks. According to the article in the Burlington Free Press, Hagen used to work at the NY Stock exchange and that experience made him look for a different way to do business.
At first I thought it was just a cool and different business idea, and a little gimmicky. But Hagen insists that empowering the consumer to make a decision on cost has created a system that leaves customers feel valued and is profitable. I agree. But I think what this is really about is trust and the building of relationships. He trusts that if given quality service, customers will recognize this and compensate him fairly (interestingly enough, Chris Brogan had a similar experience recently). Eric is a Trust Agent. And trust scales. Trust spreads. And trust is based on relationships. With both parties vested in providing value to the other, I’d argue that this has the potential to create a much more loyal customer base. It creates evangelists, if only out of the initial curiousity.
Anyway, cool story, cool concept and I hope it works out for Eric. Well done.
So, do you think this is a sustainable business model? More importantly when was the last time a business melted your face with their service and earned your trust? I want to know. Show some love and leave a comment.
Chris Brogan had an interesting post the other day about how a health insurance company (Humana in Louisville, Kentucky) is taking steps to make its employees more health conscious - an effort to ‘walk the walk.’ Integrating things like pedometers which are tied to a digital fish bowl, and bike sharing programs are things that I’m sure go a long way towards improving employee satisfaction but are also just pretty cool… Its a great example of being able to make what I would not think of as an exciting industry - lots of fun.
And I hate to bring it all back to business and marketing - but it gives them a story to tell - a fun, engaging story that separates them from competition. That’s not only good for job satisfaction, but I’m sure it is a hell of a great tool for reaching potential clients. How many people talk about how great their insurance co is? I don’t. But if they gave me a story to tell (and provided kick ass service) it would be easy to become a brand evangelist.
That’s the point I want to make here. I’m not saying that your company needs to have a ’schtick’ - but to have something besides your product or service that customers can latch on to will enable customers to turn in to brand evangelists. Let’s face it - people love to talk about ‘why’ they make that kind of purchasing decision. It’s like they need to defend it.
So first - make sure your product or service is kick-ass. Once you feel like you’re getting there, give your employees and customers something to talk about , whether its how your employees focus on wellness (as in Humana’s case) or how your company helps build schools in Africa. Do something that’s good. Do something that’s cool - and your business will be better off.
Chris Brogan has such a great post this week on how to not be ‘That Guy’ in the social media space. You know who he is. The kind of guy that incessantly updates his profile with pointless drivel, the kind of guy who sends out 50 tweets a day about how his services, or abuses e-mail and text messages with repetatitve information, or ‘how I can help your business’ posts?
Problem is, we have all been that guy at some point. Or he’s a a person we really like but wish they never discovered Twitter or Facebook.
Chris’ post breaks is down for us with a great Analogy. The Picnic. Without trying to steal his thunder and risk being that guy, I’ll give you a quick excerpt, but really think you should go read his whole post.
10 Ways to Build Relationships Before You Ask for Anything
Comment on and reply to other people’s observations, posts, and ideas. (Sometimes, just retweeting someone’s status message in Twitter is a gesture that matters to people.)
Share good information freely, such as pointing to great blog posts or articles.
Make virtual introductions when you see obvious like-minded people who could do to know each other.
Create useful media like blog posts or ebooks or videos that help people.
Find mutual interest points and talk about them. (Bonus points to you if they’re off-topic from your business needs, like talking about the Red Sox or Barbecue.)
Remember things about the other person, such as whether they have a big meeting on Thursday, and ask them about it on Friday.
Help when someone is promoting their thing. Spread information for other people liberally.
Find causes and nonprofit experiences to help out. Showing that you’re not just a capitalist pig goes a long way.
Reply to people and build conversations.
Thank people when they’re helpful.
To take Chris’ post just a bit farther - how can we as a community help ‘that guy’ from ruining our picnic? Is there a way to subtley tell them that their constant self promotion isn’t helping, but is really bothersome? Or should you de-friend and unfollow until further notice?
So, like I said, if you have a few minutes, check out his whole post. It may help you if you’re confused about how to interact and market your skills in the social media sphere. Or it may help you help someone else. You know, ‘that guy.’
I’ve been reading a lot about how you can use social media to help manage your brand and was on a great conference call with Chris Brogan and Awareness Networks. Actually, if you want to check out the slides from the presentation hit them up here.
A lot of the metrics I see and the stories I hear talk about how larger corporations are jumping into the social media sphere (perfect example for better or worse was Skittlegate, or JetBlue’s embracing of Twitter) to interact with their customers, solve problems and get feedback. But I haven’t heard a ton about how small businesses are utilizing SM besides having a MySpace page. I do see tons of entrepreneurs really engaging in the medium but so far I haven’t seen a ton of small businesses (at least in my geographic region) get involved (I KNOW there are some of you out there though).
But I would argue that small businesses have just as much to gain by interacting and monitoring SM conversations, as large corporations do. The thing that rocks about Twitter, Blogs, etc, is the accessibility, speed, and most importantly AUTHENTICITY that they help to foster between a brand and customers. That being said, small business owners have just as much to gain in SM because people are always craving accessability and authenticiy - which is something that most small businesses should be built on. Its a natural fit.
I have to ask, who is in charge of the online presence for most major corporations? Is it an agency? An existing front line employee, someone from marketing, or the CEO (and I know this will vary widely)? And is it always someone on the inside?
Todd Defen and Seth Godin had great posts on how Social Media is less like advertising and more like PR and the difference between PR and Publicity. So if you buy that argument (which I do, to a point - I think Customer Service is a huge part of it), does that mean that whoever handles a company’s PR should also handle their SM presence? This is a bone of contention. I posed this question and got a response from @Chris Brogan saying that he’s not a fan at all of Ghost Tweeting (Sending out Tweets for someone else) because it decreases transparency.
And I have to say that I’m on the fence with this one. Is there a market to monitor small businesses online, by helping to run their Twitter Accounts and interacting with customers for someone on an agency level? I would think so. And if that ‘online brand manager’ keeps the client abreast of the feedback coming in (both positive and negative), advising them on how to help and engage customers, are they doing a disservice to the community or serving it? Does that take away from the whole purpose of using SM tools as a method of interacting authentically with others?
Or do most SM ‘experts’ take more of an educational role, getting clients used to using these tools on their own, and hoping for the best. It certainly makes it authentic. But I wonder if a bad online presence is better than NO online presence.
I’m really torn on this and would love to have some feedback from you all.
Wow, I know I’m a day or two late, but this post from Chris Brogan ties in nicely with the conversation that’s been happening here over the past couple of days. An excerpt:
What the social web gives us are tools. How we choose to use these tools is up to us. Are people trustworthy? Does a blog decide that? Are people sell-outs? Does a blog suggest they are not?
We demonstrate by our actions and by whatever trails we’ve left across the web whether we should be considered trustworthy. We attempt to discern trust and belief in people by how they appear and act in context. We do our homework (some of us). We look beyond the immediate. We observe.
Read the Full Post here as he makes some great points about how business fits into social media and blogging.
While I’m at it, if you haven’t signed up for Chris’ Newsletter, I’d HIGHLY suggest it. You’ll get some great tips and insight on social media that you won’t see on his blog.
