Get Off the Internet – My Thoughts on the US Government, Google, Facebook and Privacy
Privacy is a Myth on the Internet
Last week news broke globally that the US Government has unfettered access to most social networks and data stored by them. PRISM is a program/mandate that is supposed to protect the USA from outside threats but Germany and many other members of the EU are deeply concerned. This all began with a leaked PowerPoint outlining PRISM.
A screen cap of one of the PRISM slides leaked to the press.
My thoughts on the US Government tapping into Facebook, Google, Email etc. I have always assumed that anything I post to the internet and any device I used to access the internet could be compromised by someone either hackers or big brother. (They could also be subpoenaed at any point and many ISP’s etc. are legally required to keep the data for years even if you delete it locally).
Obama’s own blackberry was taken from him when he first came into office. With all of their technology the US Government still couldn’t stop the wrong people from tracking the Commander in Chief – it was a security threat and it took many months before he got it back. If they can’t make it safe for him, it’s not all that safe for us.
As Canadians we can be spied on by foreign governments – this includes the US – and they can (and do) pass this data onto Canadian authorities and this really violates no privacy laws. India by the way has no such laws – and the mobile carriers can track and use the data of subscribers as they see fit, including GPS information to delivered targeted adds and offers.
We have to stop over-sharing our lives and realize that this “social exhaust” as the UN calls it – leaves a trail. One tweet, one Facebook update, the odd “like” doesn’t mean much… but add up hundreds over a lifetime and they tell a very accurate story of who we are.
American Express can tell when a couple is having marriage problems just by the shift in purchasing patterns. Credit reporting agencies are now looking into social media monitoring is a supplementary way to profile us and the risk (and profits) we represent.
I personally got “served” court documents last year at a Christmas Meetup after announcing my whereabouts on Twitter and Meetup. The gentleman had the decency to be discreet – but it could have gotten awkward. I looked at him and said “I’m surprised it took you this long!” he laughed and let me know that he missed me a few times but was following my FourSquare check-ins.
Get off the Internet
There’s this amazing thing called meeting in-person, if it’s really that top-secret then hop on a plane and meet the person if you have to – leave your phone at home and take an electronic holiday. Take a walk in the park and talk to your friend about their marital problems or that business deal that can’t be leaked until the deal is signed.
If you don’t want people to know about it. Don’t post it on the internet. Buy a paper journal, pour your heart out and then lock it in a safe if you have to.
I am a huge social media fan, I have built a career out if it. It’s for being social, building community, growing ideas into movements and sometimes even into revolutions. Just realize that this whole process is done from within a glass house and act accordingly.
Why Companies Fail at Generating Social Media ROI
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Social Media ROI (Return on Investment), is supposedly a hard thing to prove or measure. The problem isn’t the value of social media, or in many cases our approach to getting results – it’s about commitment – a good old fashion work ethic and focus on the longterm.
Today’s social business podcast discusses the dilema and the needed shift in consciousness required of leaders to win in the social media space.
Social Media ROI takes time and most people – even really smart people in leadership positions (who come from a different era) have a tough time planning more than 3 months into the future these days. When you build a social media presence it becomes an asset, one which increases in value over time but really requires no more input on your 18th month than it does on your first day (solid strategy required of course).
“Social media” as a term sucks. The minute we put the word “media” beside something we start to measure it like our latest newspaper campaign or radio blitz. Most media is disposable and impermanent. The radio ad, print as or email blast has a very finite window for generating results and then that money, well spent or not is gone. We spend our $20,000 for a month long campaign and then to drive more business we have to spend it again next month.
In this podcast we are going to discuss three types of media:
- Bought media
- Owned media
- Earned media
Failing to understand the difference between these three types of media and having the foresight and commitment to build a true media asset for their business is in my opinion one if the single largest roadblocks for most businesses social media success.
Marketing Events Using Social Media #Podcast and #InfoGraphic
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Marketing events using social media and amplifying events using social media are two powerful ways to maximize our online and off-line marketing results. In our book Sociable! Stephen Jagger and I talk about the importance of using social media to get off of the internet and build relationships. At Socialized Communications we have developed an entire system and process to do this effectively. We have mapped out the key steps in this social media infographic and podcast to help you succeed at event marketing using social media. If you have some success in applying the steps and principles please let me know! You can download the PDF version of the Infographic here. Please note: LinkedIn events have been discontinued BUT remember to post your event to relevant groups, business pages and the profiles of key people in your organization.
Click Image for Full Size High Res InfoGraphic
Influence Marketing Book Interview with Danny Brown
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This week I had the great opportunity to interview Danny Brown on his new book co-authored with Sam Fiorella called Influence Marketing. Danny in my opinion is a Thought Leaders’ Though Leader – an awesome no BS resource for what really works in social media marketing.
The book launched yesterday globally and you can get it on Amazon in hardcover or Kindle format. According to HubSpot Danny Brown’s blog (DannyBrown.me) is the #1 Marketing Blog on the planet. Danny and I have been Tweeting and emailing each other for almost four years and we finally got to connect and do this podcast together
Here were some of the key take-aways from the podcast interview with Danny Brown:
- Most concepts of influencer marketing (especially through social media) are incomplete or focused on the wrong audience
- Good influencer marketing doesn’t start with social media gurus or big influencer, it starts with mapping out what your customer persona is and then identifying who impacts your customer buying decisions
- Klout and the many apps like it are great for identifying macro influencers but in many cases aren’t helpful identifying the actual micro influencers that directly impact your customer’s buying decisions
- 5 steps to to start doing your influence marketing right
We covered so much in this podcast that you’re just going to have to listen to it to get all the information.
Here’s a great InfoGraphic on Influence Marketing Sam and Danny just released that really demonstrates how many organizations are struggling with or don’t understand the importance of Influence Marketing (Click here For the High Res Version):
This Week’s Top Tweeted Guerrilla and Ambient Marketing Pictures
Guerrilla Marketing as Jay Levinson and I discussed in our book Guerrilla Social Media is defined as achieving conventional marketing goals by unconventional means. Ambient marketing is a spin-off of Guerrilla Marketing – you may spend the same dollars but it involves morphing the media and blending the environment and community blurring the lines between ad and viewer making them active participants in in the marketing activity. A couple of these photos may offend… but remember guerrilla marketing focuses on human emotions and depends upon them to take action.
Become a Certified Sales Professional Langara College Online Course
I wanted to personally introduce you to a program that can immediately help you boost your company revenues and personal career. It’s said that nothing happens until someone sells something. We teach a lot of companies how to use social media to build brand, community and drive leads to that business… but someone still needs to know how to sell to turn that into revenues.
Working with Langara College, international speaker Bill Gibson of Knowledge Brokers (South Africa) and our team here at Socialized we have put together the ultimate sales training program for new sales professionals and professionals that want to add a revenue generating toolkit to their repertoire. The methodologies in this program have been successfully used and implemented by major sales organizations including BMW, ABSA Bank, Gestetner, Vodacom, Siemens and Ford to name a few.
Here’s a quick video we shot where Shane Gibson (me) facilitator of the program walks you through what you will learn.
Our next program starts soon and here are the dates:
Successful Selling Strategies
(50203) Jan. 14, 2013
Persuasion, Communication & Relationship Building
(50204) Feb. 12, 2013
Motivation, Closing & Keeping Clients
(50205) Mar. 11, 2013
Sales & Planning Toolkit
(50206) Apr. 8, 2013
Each course is 18 hours in duration held over a six week period and consists of weekly reading, presentations, group discussions and live webinars. If participants can’t make the date and time of the live-webinar there will be an opportunity to watch a recorded version. All courses have testing built-in and each participant must have a passing grade in all courses to be eligible for the certificate.
- Successful Selling Strategies
- Persuasion, Communication & Relationship Building
- Motivation, Closing & Keeping Clients
- Sales & Planning Toolkit
Why Community is Still Number One in Social Media Marketing
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Community in social media is still number one. I posted the following tweet a couple days ago on Twitter and it received quite a bit of feedback and a few retweets:
Social Media Tip: social media scales through community, community grows by relationship building. Focus on people.
I then realized that I needed to expand on the topic. Here’s the basic outline of what I cover in todays podcast:
- Why community is vital if you want to leverage your social media marketing efforts and get your content and marketing to expand well beyond your own sphere of influence.
- Relationships build community, numbers alone don’t make a community. People who have an emotional connection with you and your brand are more likely to share your content and interact with you.
- Focus on people, even PR has changed. Bloggers and community influencers have now become gatekeepers of communities and your content won’t flow into those communities until you connect with those gatekeepers.
6 Reasons You’re Silently Failing in Social Media
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Most social media failures aren’t big public train-wrecks on the internet. They’re silent failures, people and brands that never rise above the noise and get noticed. Today’s podcast focuses on 6 reasons you may be silently failing and what you can do to turn things around.
The 6 Reasons You’re Silently Failing in Social Media:
1) Your content strategy is too safe
2) Your reach is minimal
3) Your conversation strategy is weak
4) The right people don’t know who you are or they don’t care
5) You have no social media plan
6) You’re not integrating social media
7 Steps to Building a Social Business
I have been a little too busy over the past 3 months. 20 seminars and training sessions, a half-dozen new clients for our social media agency and of course family time! I have a number of new podcasts in the que for you over the next 60 days but I thought I would re-ignite my blogging efforts by sharing a new video I just posted called “7 Steps to building a Social Business.” Also you can also check out our Socialized! Agency Blog for new and breaking news on the social media space. Enjoy!
Also Consider Gannon University Online MBA Programs as another way to build success in the business world. Before you get social a business foundation really helps.
5 Social Media Lessons From Wizard World Comic Con
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At Socialized! our Social Media Agency we have had some incredible opportunities over the past year to work with brands such as the Ford Dealers Association of BC and Alberta, the Certified Management Accounts, CGA BC, CGA Canada and the Make-a-Wish Foundation. However…even producing the week long event “Social Media Week Vancouver” did not prepare us for the passionate, loyal and often opinionated fans at Wizard World Comic Cons. This is a relatively new adventure for us but this podcast reviews 5 social media lessons I have learned (or re-learned) so far:
5 Lessons (Listen to the podcast for a full explanation):
- Tapping into a Tribe is much better than building one
- When people know you’re listening they talk, share, tweet, like and follow
- Amplify the moment
- Run contests to find influencers
- Partner to expand influence
Here are some of the links and resources mentioned in the podcast:
Wizard World Comic Con Sites and Resources
- Wizard World Event and News Site
- Wizard World Comic Con Blog
- Wizard World Facebook Page
- Wizard World on Twitter
Social Media Monitoring:
Socialized! Social Media Agency
- Socialized! Blog
- Socialized! Team on Twitter
- Shane Gibson – Chief Social Officer on Twitter
- Tris Hussey – Chief Geek and Pixel Washer on Twitter
- Anthony Caridi – President on Twitter
Ford Dealer Social Media Success Story – Lebanon Ford Podcast
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Social Media Podcast: Ford dealers across North America are executing some amazing social media strategies. While catching up on my reading and best-practices I stumbled across a great case study on how Lebanon Ford (Ohio) has had some incredible success. They don’t just have a great social media team, they have built a truly social culture in their dealership that has resulted in a 260% year-on-year increase in Internet sales of vehicles and a significant increase in walk-ins and revenues overall.
I asked Zack Bello, Marketing and Communications Manager at Lebanon Ford to share with me how they have built such a great social enterprise that drives real business results using social media.
Quick Links:
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