Today’s podcast is not about some of these global examples but a very local one I had the privilege to be part of. In a 24 hour period Anthony Caridi of KasuFunding.com and I along with a very committed social media community here in Vancouver raised over $12,000 for the Make a Wish Foundation. Almost 100% of the donations came from Twitter or FaceBook connections.

Here are 10 things we discovered that worked (some of them we implemented and others we will implement next time):

1)   Organize your collateral material early for each stakeholder group

2)   Make your content easy to share, cut and paste

3)   Integrate the offline with the online and get influencer buy-in early

4)   Have multiple platforms for RSVP’ing for events

5)   Get donors with big lists and big reach to not just cut a check but use that influence and reach to promote your cause

6)   Contact people individually and ask them to do something easy

7)   Use a fundraising platform like KasuFunding.com that makes it easy for people to Tweet, share and forward information about the cause.

8)   Work close with the Charity

9)   If you are a charity leverage your stakeholder groups when social media marketing instead of using internal resources

10)  Keep your message really simple.

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Special Thanks to:

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Social media is not just another tool. It can be, but it’s a lot more for those organizations that embrace it. The challenge is it’s also not just about learning a new technology, it’s about changing the way we communicate with customers, stakeholders and staff.

This is a corporate cultural change, it’s also about embracing one of the most powerful word of mouth tools ever invented. There are huge inherent risks and opportunities presented by this. For that reason social media or online engagement initiatives in general have to be driven by the C-suite, the people who can hold others accountable and sponsor change in their organization.

In today’s social media podcast I talk about the following:

1. Senior executives and their need for buy-in
2. What and who to invest in
3. The importance of a corporate social media policy
4. How soft steps lead to ROI
5. Why most social media marketing fails:

• Lack of a goal
• Poorly defined market
• No listening
• No real launch plan
• Quitting too soon

The bottom-line is that social media is too important to compartmentalize or see as a pet project.What do you think?

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Photo Credit Terry Chay

Today’s podcast is an interview with Larry Chang author of What They Don’t Teach You At Stanford Business School. Larry is also a seriously Sociable! guy and can be found organizing after parties at some of the biggest social media and cultural events from South by South West to conferences at major universities across North America. In fact Larry may be the 3rd best party guy and networker I have met. (Sociable! Book Launch Party). In this interview Larry and I talk about topics you don’t learn in business school such as Man Charm, how to land a super star mentor and sales skills.

Larry’s book sold out it’s first printing on Amazon but you can register for updates at Amazon by clicking on the book below:

What They Don't Teach You at Stanford Business School

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Amacus

Today’s podcast is with sales technology thought leader John Cousineau who is President of Innovative Information the creators of Amacus.  John and I have had a number of coffee chats and debates around why and how to use technology and social media to improve sales performance and customer experience. The nexus of sales and social media seems to be happening in the CRM and Social CRM space.  The question is it happening fast enough and making things more efficient or is it just giving sales people more buttons and buzzwords to worry about.

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10 Things That Will Not Change About Social Media in 2010

1. It’s about the conversation
2. It belongs to everyone
3. It can’t be controlled only lead
4. It works best integrated
5. It doesn’t fit in the marketing ROI box
6. It’s an investment
7. It’s never been about the tools but those who wield them
8. It’s not going away, it’s not a fad
9. Experimenting with your clients money is a bad idea
10. Success belongs to the storytellers

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Looking for a social media speaker for your next conference?

You can contact us or take a look at Shane Gibson’s bio.

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More information on the seminars here:

Seminar Details

“Leading and collaborating with stakeholders and employees in a hyper connected marketplace.”

With employees, customers and stakeholders equipped with technology that allows for mass collaboration and rapid communication we as leaders need to understand how to harness this technology and the crowds we are connected to.

Today’s workplace is not a homogeneous one. As leaders we have to lead teams that are made up of Baby Boomers, Generation X and Generation Y.  This coupled with diverse cultures and values in the workplace make leading both exciting and challenging.

In this session Shane Gibson will cover core trends, leadership tools and opportunities that are associated with today’s digitally connected and diverse marketplace.

Key topics include:

• New rules for engagement in a digitally transparent era.
• Web 2.0 collaboration and learning tools.
• Creating an environment that is productive and engaging for the millennial / Gen Y.
• Tips and approaches for recruiting staff using tools like Facebook, Linkedin and Twitter.
• Using technology to break down silos and create collaboration within your organization.
• How to apply timeless leadership principles to this new work and business climate

CMA Testimonial

“I found the seminar (Partnering & Stakeholder Relationships, November 2009) very beneficial. Shane did a great job on the presentation and communicating the message. I would highly recommend his sessions to my fellow CMAs.”

Sanjeev Lal, CMA, Abbotsford

Register for Victoria, December 2nd 2009 Seminar

Register for Vancouver, December 3rd 2009 Seminar

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1. Immune to hype:
   There is a lot of hype around social media. The Guerrilla searches for truth, verifies information and executes with dependable tools and strategies.
2. Curiosity:
   Penicillin was invented serendipitously.  Guerrillas aren’t afraid to experiment, make mistakes or try new things to gain a competitive advantage.
3. The ability to sprint:
   There will be small windows of opportunity and the Guerrilla is always ready to exploit them with all of their energy passion and resources.
4. The ability to run marathons:
   Many battles are battles of attrition. Guerrillas know how to wear their competition down and build a presence through consistency.
5. Transparent:
   A Guerrilla knows that truth, empathy and integrity are keys to social media marketing, and they build trust and loyalty through transparency.
6. Community focused
   A Guerrilla builds, connects and helps the community.  Within that community are other Guerrilla Allies that will be their assets.
7. Profit driven
   A Guerrilla measures success by profits, not clicks, visitors, or any “cool factor.”
8. 8. Tech hungry
   Technology is the Guerrilla’s Social Media Marketers core weapon and competency. They are always learning more about technology.
9. Self-developer
   A Guerrilla knows that technology and business moves fast. They are constantly learning more to stay ahead of the competition.
10. Leadership mentality
    A Guerrilla observes the community and gathers intelligence but they are always thinking about what is next. They create trends, unique solutions and are thought leaders.

Copyright 2008-2009 Jay Levinson and Shane Gibson
Guerrilla Marketing Official Page

Promote Your Page Too

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1. Pensamiento de SM: El no escuchar a tus clientes es un Homicidio a tu marca, ¿tu ya  cuentas con una estratégia para escuchar en Social Media?
2. Tip de SM: Una vez que encuentres una conversación acerca de tu marca, incita a que continúe creando y facilitado espacios para el diálogo.
3. Tip de SM: Una estrategia social para escuchar, viene antes de una estrategia de contenidos de social.
4. Tip de SM: La mayoría de los esfuerzos de social media son abandonados antes de que los resultados puedan ser mesurados.
5. Moda de Social Media: Mas gente se esta dando cuenta que el exito en Social Media tiene que ver más con liderazgo y no con tecnología.
6. Moda de Social Media: Traducción simultánea en sitios de micro-blogging y colaboración en plataformas.
7. Moda de Social Media: Aplicaciones Sociales móviles agregando redes múltiples y AV en un mismo lugar.
8. Tip de SM: Agrega a tus listas de clientes y prospectos y desarrolla nano-conversaciones para cada nano-segmento.
9. Tip de SM: Social Media puede ser usada para retener, desarrollar y prospectar clientes en todos los aspectos de el ciclo de ventas.
10. Tip de SM: Sal de lo ordinario de tu industria cuando desarrolles una estrategia. Observa usus de Social Media que puedan ser adaptados.
11. Tip de SM: Instruye a tus clientes acerca de Social Media, ayúdalos a tener una presencia online. Esto crea mas diálogo y oportunidades.
12. Tip de SM: Traslada todo a la realidad al menos dos veces por semana. Conocete offline y en persona con tus contactos.
13. Tip de SM: Investiga y prueba las últimas plataformas, pero no caigas en situaciones complicadas o bizarras.
14. Tip de SM: Enseña a la gente, los principios de liderazgo antes de mostrarles como usar Twitter o Blogs.
15. Tip de SM: Meetup.com es mejor cuando es usado para organizar eventos comunitarios. Usarlo para promover tu comañía o producto tendrá resultados mínimos.
16. Tip de SM: Tu gran idea para un blog post ya esta siendo escrita en 10 idiomas diferentes ahora mismo por otras personas.
17. Tip de SM: Cualquier sistema o compañía inclinada a ser exclusiva mas que inclusiva, esta destinada a fallar.
18. Tip de SM: En lugar de escribir encabezados, escribe algo que te vincule con tus lectores.
19. Tip de SM: Como líder, haz que la jornada sea entretenida y comparte tu goce. Las otras personas, querrán seguir tu camino.
20. Se dice en Social Media: “Nada pasa hasta que alguien hace un tweet de ello”
21. Tip de SM: Ser un líder de pensamiento es contribución desinteresada y diálogo único.
22. Tip de SM: No tienes que usar o te tienen que gustar todas las herramientas para ser exitoso.

@shanegibsones traducción de @tyamdm.

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Here’s some of the core thoughts

1. We no longer can broadcast, or niche market, we need to nano-cast to small groups of people, often smaller than the entire tribe.
2. Nano-casting isn’t enough, we need to employ Listening 2.0 strategies and have intimate conversations.
3. You must be adept at being a nomadic social media tribalist, your ability to move from tribe to tribe and adapt as you market is vital.

I really would like your feedback on this concept. Make a comment below, Tweet me, or find me on Google Wave (closingbigger@googlewave.com).

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1. Social Media Thought: Not listening to your customer = Brandicide (Brand Homicide) do you have a social media listening strategy?
2. Social Media Tip: Once you find a conversation about your brand encourage it to spread by creating and hosting places for dialogue.
3. Social Media Tip: Social listening strategy comes before social media content strategy.
4. Social Media Tip: Most social media efforts are abandoned long before their results can be measured.
5. Social Media Tip: Integrate your tools in your marketing but also measure the effectiveness of each tool individually.
6. Social Media Trend: More people realizing that social media success is about leadership not technology.
7. Social Media Trend: simultaneous translation in mirco-blogging and collaboration platforms.
8. Social Media Trend: Mobile social apps aggregating multiple social networks and media into one place.
9. Social Media Tip: Aggregate your client and prospect list and develop nano-casts for each nano-segment.
10. Social Media Tip: Social media can be used for retaining, developing and prospecting clients, all aspects of the sales cycle.
11. Social Media Tip: Get out of your industry vacuum when building strategy. Look for SMM concepts that can be adapted.
12. Social Media Tip: Want to make good connections? Make value added, thoughtful comments on their blog.
13. Social Media Tip: teach your clients about social media, help them get online. It creates more dialogue opportunities.
14. Social Media Tip: Make it real at least twice a week. Meet offline in person with contacts.
15. Social Media Tip: Research and test the latest platforms but don’t go down the rabbit hole.
16. Social Media Tip: Teach people the principles of leadership before teaching them how to use Twitter or blogs.
17. Social Media Tip: Meetup.com is best used for community events. Using it just to promote your product or company will have minimal results.
18. Social Media Tip: Your great idea or blog post, is being written in 10 different languages by other people right now.
19. Social Media Tip: Any system or company bent on being exclusive versus inclusive will fail.
20. Social Media Tip: Instead of writing headlines write engagement lines.
21. Social Media Tip: As a leader, make the journey look fun & share your joy. People will want to follow the path.
22. Social Media saying: “Nothing happens until someone tweets something.”
23. Social Media Tip: Being a thought leader is just as much about selfless contribution as it is about unique dialogue.
24. Social Media Tip: You don’t have to like or use every tool to be successful.
25. Social Media Trend: Brands now need to think global social etiquette when planning their social media strategy.

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Photo Credit: Dr. X’s Vintage Photo Blog

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Aquí les present mis 25 Tips Sobre Medios Sociales (PDF):

25 Tips sobre Medios Social

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South America and Mobile Social Networks:

South America ( and other regions like Africa and South East Asia )has the potential in my opinion to leap frog North America’s lead in the social media space with mobile internet applications.  As more and cheaper smart phones hit the market here it will quickly ramp up the number of active users on social networks.  North Americans have adopted social media primarily through the web browser on their computer, it wasn’t really until recent introductions of the iPhone, and smarter Nokia’s and Blackberry’s that we really began to network and create social media in a mobile fashion.

North Americas still working on un-tethering tehmselves from phone and cable lines.  South American’s on the other hand have greater access to mobile networks than they do terrestrial internet connections.  In comparison to Canada for instance  mobile handsets in South America are more advanced and their data plans are more reasonable than those of companies like Canad’s Rogers Communications.  When millions of people come online via mobile devices I believe that Latin Americans will be an important force and community in the social media space.  Marketers, and application developers will begin to turn their focus on this massive market. (Thanks multi-cultural marketing maven Cindy King for this insight)

Social media adoption rate is growing fast:

South America has 132,385,340 Internet users as of Feb 07/09, with a 34.0 % Penetration Rate (World Internet Stats), and according to data from Comscore the use of social networking sites alone in South America has increased by 33% in the past 12 months bringing the total number of users to over 53,000,000 unique visitors to social networking sites. (There were just over 40,000,000 last year.)  From an anecdotal perspective, my search on Twellow for users in Colombia, and Chile in particular in March 2009 showed very few businesses or professionals in that region using the tool. My recent search turned about hundreds of business tweeters who are now actively using the tool. (Twellow for Chile, Twellow for Colombia). One prediction I will make is that FaceBook will overtake almost all of the other social networks used in South American within the next 24 months.  Even in Brazil where Orkut has a large portion of the population using it we have seen FaceBook go from almost zero market penetration to over 1,000,000 users in 13 months.

Marketing to and from South America with Social Media:

As South Americans continue to populate social networks and become adept at using social media tools they will have a very in-expensive and effective way to reach markets globally.  Through Twitter, FaceBook, YouTube channels and dozens of other social media tools (that are free) Latin American brands and companies can begin to build some really social connections with previously hard to reach markets.  If you want to establish connections and business in the region these tools provide the same opportunity.  One of the challenges with doing business internationally is local competitors, they get to talk to your clients and foster relationships in a very personal way.  With social media, it is now possible to be in contact and keep our brand and personal message top of mind anywhere in the world. From far away, you can have a very local feeling relationship.

When marketing to any international region using social media it’s not enough to just translate your blog, or twitter content. Think about regional cultures, business protocol and expected levels of formality as well.  Find a local partner in the region (or with previous experience) and get their feedback on how your social content may need to be adapted; and then TAKE THEIR ADVICE.

Disclaimer: I consider myself a very enthusiastic social media amateur,  I have only begun to understand social media and the opportunity it provides both for South American’s and those marketing in that region.  I’m hoping that this week in Bogota, Colombia will provide me with more in-depth first hand knowledge of how Colombian (and other South American) marketers, entrepreneurs, and sales people are using social media. As I learn more I will continue to update this post with more stats and trend information.  If you have data, anecdotes or information to share kindly post it in the comments section of this blog.

More Social Media in South America Links:

• Social Networking Growth Worldwide (Comscore)
• Social network statistics for Latin America 2009
• So Who Owns the LATAM Social Network Space?
• Stats on Global growth of mobile bandwidth
• Is Sonico The Top Socnet In Latin America? Not Even Close, Says Hi5

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1. It’s a conversation – As marketers in the past we have been awarded based upon our ability to craft messages and broadcast to an audience, a niche or a market segment.  People no longer want to be talked at.  In fact their conversations with each other on Twitter, Facebook, or even the videos they post on YouTube impact and define major brands.  As social media marketers we need to get involved in those conversations if we want to effectively brand and market online.
2. It’s a listening tool – More than a conversation, social media marketing is about listening.  We need to be listening for opportunities to engage with people that are talking about our brand.  Social media gives us the opportunity to engage at the instant someone is talking about us (if we’re listening), and have relevant, personal and authentic conversations with our customers.  Use tools like Twitter search, Google Alerts, and SocialMention.com to monitor those conversations.
3. Social media belongs to everyone, which is good and bad, it forces you to be different to win – As a marketer you no longer have control or a monopoly on a medium.  Social media tools are in everyone’s hands.  This is great news for anyone who wants to create a brand and generate revenues online.  This is also a bad thing, because it creates a lot of noise. You must have a distinctive message, offering and leadership style if you want to get noticed online.  To win you must be more engaging, add more value, and be more creative than everyone else if you want to rise above the noise.

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The End of Social Media

Yes I have consumed the social media Kool-Aid. In fact I have opened my own roadside stand.  Social media is an exciting disruptive technology.  But the ride is almost over, the hype will die down after everyone has found everyone on Facebook and when even our dog has a blog. Marketers and the community at large will ask “Now What?”

Social media will come to an end.  The ride is not over yet, we have a few good years ahead of us but the writing is one the wall.  My podcast today is about the end of social media and what it means to marketers, bloggers, business owners and the community as a whole.

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Shane Gibson Speaker Video

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Social Media Tips:

1. Unique, brief sound bytes produced consistently can yield great results.
2. Once in a while ask your FB and Twitter friends for help. See who steps up. This will tell you a lot.
3. Make a list of people who support you online. Develop a strategy to reciprocate.
4. Use your experience in social media to predict areas of growth in new regions and niches. Then pay it forward.
5. You may be awesome blogger but does the world know? SEO, social networks, offline promotions are needed.
6. Make your events that you promote about the community. Education and collaboration trump pitches.
7. “Think what’s in it for me?” from your target market’s perspective.
8. Using more than one channel / stream shortens your brand engagement curve.
9. Defining your target market and goals is easy, engaging them is the challenge.
10. The numbers are exciting but they’re just numbers until you make it real and build good relationships.
11. Engagement is not just about listening; it’s about empathy, rapport, and making people feel heard.
12. Engagement is the goal, social media are the tools.
13. Thank people who comment on your blog via e-mail or twitter. Let them know you’re listening.
14. Search engine optimization can help you rapidly grow your network and connections. Get good at it.
15. Develop a list of your top connections/influencers and make sure you’re connected on multiple networks.
16. There is a Trend: Condensed writing, short videos all getting shorter.
17. Blogging tip. Pick a theme or topic for the month. Plan 7-10 blog entries that build up to 1 core message, event, or action.
18. Have a series of steps planned and measured to track and develop relationships.
19. One of your final steps in the social media sales process is to connect offline, on the phone, or at least one on one virtually.

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Questionnaire for Colombia Newsletter

Shane Gibson Social Media Speaker

Q: How are Social Media turning traditional marketing habits around?

A: In the past we could dominate the marketplace with advertising, direct mail, and other forms of traditional media marketing. Today consumers are much more powerful marketers than companies are, with their ability to publish information to the web, they outnumber us. Their conversations about our brand, company, products and services are now “branding” us. They can blog about our company, they can share their opinion on our product on Orkut or Twitter, and they can post a Youtube video praising or condemning us.

Marketers now have to not just broadcast, they have to listen to what conversations are going on out there, and then they have to connect and interact with the marketplace in order to direct the conversations about their brand.

Today the customer owns our brand.

Update August 31 2009 (Watch a 7 minute speaker video addressing this question):

Q: Do you think these tools will replace well-known Marketing complex software such as CRM, for example? Why?

A: These tools are changing the way sales professionals and marketers interact with the marketplace. In the past we would build a database of customers in our CRM and proactively drive the sales process through constant contact. Social Listening tools that allow you to track conversations about your company or what your target market is doing are allowing marketers to pinpoint customers at the very moment they have a challenge or need for what we sell. There is also a new breed of CRM tools called Social CRM (SCRM) software that is just beginning to be available in the marketplace.

SCRM will allow you to pull in all the information about a contact, based upon permission from them (they tell you what data you will get), and your sales process will become driven by the daily activities and events in the lives of the customer. SCRM will make your database come alive with by the minute updates on what your best clients and prospects are posting on social networks and publishing in social media.

Q: What are the main benefits of including Social Media in Marketing and Sales strategies?

A: Social media success is built through a series of genuine interactions with the marketplace. The key is to create valuable content, resources, build community and connect in personalized ways with your market. Unlike traditional marketing and advertising most of the best social media tools are free. They need a time investment, and you have to train your staff to use them, but after that you can generate results with a significantly lower on-going investment financially. Also if used right, you can turn almost any staff member in your company into part of your marketing and customer service team, all they need is a Smartphone or a computer with web access. Social media expands your customer service and marketing capabilities.

Q: (Any real life examples as to how much money companies can save you can mention?)

A: My co-author Stephen Jagger (Sociable! Book Site) runs a company called Ubertor which has several thousand clients. His clients are real estate agents who use his real estate software to drive their websites. Steve was originally a client of mine. He had 10 sales people, and over a dozen other staff including computer programmers, management and support staff and a very large office. In order to service these clients he also needed a lot of telecommunications tools and phone lines.

Steve and his business partner Mike over a period of time began to replace telephone customer service with Web based Live Chat service and Twitter. He then decided to use Meetup.com to hold events with guest speakers on social media and technology use for his target market instead of sending sales people out top real-estate offices (he no longer needs salespeople). The next step was to close the office and have staff work virtually. They moved their phone system to Google Voice, which is free and use Gtalk and a tool called Yammer to communicate all day with each other. Steve’s blog and his Youtube videos are used to communicate to his clients, and post solutions to problems and information on the software updates and functionality.

The result? Significant business growth with a significant decrease in business costs. Steve is saving thousands of dollars per month in business costs, far fewer staff and has actually improved his customer experience.

Q: What are the main obstacles firms face when implementing Social Media in their Marketing and Sales strategies?

A: One of the obstacles is techno-phobia or as I call it Social Media Phobia. A lot of people don’t feel confident in experimenting or trying to use these new tools. They’re also worried about negative comments or someone using their blog or FaceBook to attack their brand. The reality is this technology is new, and we are all learning. Now is the best time to experiment and get good at social media, while your competitors are still watching on the sidelines. In addition to this, the only way we can insulate our company and brand from negative comments or competitor behavior online is to get involved in social media. Build a community of raving fans around your brand. You need to get social to win.
Related Posts:
Social Media Seminars

Developing a Social Media Policy and Guidelines

Social Media Speaker Shane Gibson on Social Media Etiquette

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Reachd training founded by Stephen Jagger (co-author of Sociable!) is putting on several great courses on everything from online video, to social media, search engine marketing training. Use the discount code CLOSINGBIGGER when you register.

Training in Wichita Kansas

• August 13th – “Market Like a Sniper with Adwords”
  Learn to use Google Adwords to promote your business and test your marketing strategy
  More details about the
  Adwords Class in Wichita
• August 17th – “1 Hour Web Marketing Intro”
  If you are not marketing your business online but would like to start, this 1 hour fast paced session will give you a great overview of some of the resources available for online marketing
  More Details about the Web Marketing Intro in Wichita
• August 20th – “Build a Website Google Loves”
  3 hour introduction to the in’s and out’s of search engine optimization. Most web activity originates with some sort of search, you need to ensure that your website shows when your visitors are searching
  More Details about the SEO Class in Wichita
• August 27th – “Broadcast Your Message with Online Video”
  There is no better way to build relationships with your web visitors then through online video. In this 3 hour course each participant receives a FREE Flip Video Camera.
  More Details about the Online Video Training Class

Training in Vancouver BC

• August 6th – “Market Like a Sniper with Adwords”
  Learn to use Google Adwords to promote your business and test your marketing strategy
  More details about the Adwords Class in Vancouver
  
• August 11th – “Explode Your Growth with a Blog”
  Blogging is the cornerstone of Social Media and a great tool to use to help fill your website with relevant content
  More Details about the Vancouver Blogging Course
  
• August 18th – “Build a Website Google Loves”
  3 hour introduction to the in’s and out’s of search engine optimization. Most web activity originates with some sort of search, you need to ensure that your website shows when your visitors are searching
  More Details about the Vancouver SEO Course
  
• August 25th – “Broadcast Your Message with Online Video”
  There is no better way to build relationships with your web visitors then through online video. In this 3 hour course each participant receives a FREE Flip Video Camera.
  More Details about the Online Video Training Class
• August 27th – “Social Media Guided Tour”
  Learn to use Twitter, Facebook and LinkedIn to build your brand and grow your business
  More Details about the Vancouver Social Media Training

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Here’s how 28 Days to Better Selling Works:

1)    A daily task that you can easily implement to improve your sales and business
2)    A succinct daily lesson to help you make the improvement

By the end of the 28 days you will have looked at 28 ways to fine tune and improve your sales process and business.  The daily lessons will be in written, video or audio format and will take less than 10 minutes each to review.

Day1  The ABC’s of Targeting

Day 2 Targeting the Right Referral Sources

Day 3 Prospecting in Person

Day 4 Networking Strategy

Day 5 LinkedIn Prospecting

Day 6 Investigative Prospecting

Day 7 Lead Nurturing

Day 8 Don’t Be A Boring Salesperson

Day 9 Listening in Sales

Day 10 Needs Analysis in Sales Part 1

Day 11 Needs Analysis In Sales Part 2

Day 12 Twitter for Sales Part 1

Day 13 Twitter for Sales Part 2

Day 14 Keeping Commitments

Day 15 Selling Benefits and Results

Day 16 Preemptive Objection Handling

Day 17 Sell the Price Different Not The Total Cost

Day 18 Vital Signs

Day 19 Preparing For a Sales Call

Day 20 Team Selling

Day 21 Just Thinking About You

Day 22 Team Players Make Efficient Sellers

Day 23 Day of Rest, Chill Out and Reflect

Day 24 Influencing Top Level Decision Makers

Day 25 Key Skills and Strengths for Selling Intangibles

Day 26 Reducing Anxiety and Worry

Day 27 15 Ways to Close A Sale

Day 28 Operationalizing Your Sales Process

Want to Close Bigger Deals? Buy the Book:

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Resources by Topic:

Why Blogging is An Important Part of Social Media Strategy [Video]

Integrating Social Media Into Your Sales and Marketing Process [Podcast/Blog]

Making Social Media Part of What You Do [Video]

Developing a Social Media Calendar and Implementation Plan [Podcast/Blog]

Sample Social Media Policy [Blog]

What is Social Media Etiquette [Video]

5 Ways to Build a Twitter Following Organically [Blog]

Twitter for Sales and Marketing [Video] Part 1 and Part 2

Social Media ROI [Podcast]

The Future of Sales and Marketing Social CRM [Podcast]

Slides from Today’s Presentation:

View more presentations from shanegibson.

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Social Media Speaker Shane Gibson on Social Media Etiquette

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Blogathon 2009 for Vancouver Food Bank

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To Donate the the Vancouver Food Bank Click here or the image below. Every bit helps!

Blogathon 2009 for Vancouver Food Bank

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To Donate the the Vancouver Food Bank Click here or the image below. Every bit helps!

Blogathon 2009 for Vancouver Food Bank

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Momentum is a progression of movements that are created just like an ocean wave. You can become part of the flow of momentum and be caught by the wave and ride it to create the momentum that you desire in any aspect of your life.

The key to creating momentum, in reality, is to recognize the extraordinary movement in your life or in your organization and to take small steps each and every day towards your desired outcome. Determine where you are at and where you are going and stay focused, using your time and talent, until you feel totally congruent with your desire.

My martial arts instructor, Sensei David Harris, would always share with me the importance of daily activities towards a desired goal.  If, for any reason, you feel that you are at a plateau you can continue your level of progression by reading a book on the subject that you are pursuing, or you can watch a video on the related subject, maybe you can attend a seminar or you could mentally rehearse your desired outcome for your success.

It is important is to do something, regardless of how small or how large. By taking action daily you create the motion towards your desired achievement.

Stay focused on the end result, be realistic in your approach, and take a step-by-step progression that leads you to your ultimate goal.

There is a Hawaiian saying: “When the surf is high, go surfing and when the water is calm, wax your board.”

Timing is of the essence when riding the wave of momentum. If you hop on too early, you might crash. If you hop on too late, you miss the wave. By timing the wave correctly, you enjoy the ride all the way to the beach.

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The topic Ronald chose was: What It Takes and/or How to Become a Thought Leader?

This is a great question, have a listen to this podcast to hear about becoming and influencing thought leaders.

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This podcast is about becoming a community building and marketing maven.  How long have you invested in yourself and your people?

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#1) Raul in his happy place (He’s blogging for charity tonight too)

#2) This guy I met in Yaletown, his daughter neglected to brush the cat until it’s hair was in knots, the poodle groomer was cheaper. He should be arrested… and shaved.

#3) Doolins Irish Pub at Lunch time. You should see dinner.

#4) This was a joke gift but he chose to wear it in public.

#5) I can’t really top #4 so this post is done.

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In our book Sociable! Stephen Jagger and I talk about some of the do’s and don’t’s of social media. One thing we talk about is wherever you are, there’s a camera, and at 2:00 am that funny twitpic might not be so funny when your boss or your best client sees them.

Steve and I have not learned this by standing at the pulpit looking down at people making silly errors or posting things they shouldn’t have. We learned this by doing it ourselves (okay actually most of the dumb things that have been documented were done by me).

I also believe in not deleting, people will catch you and make things worse. So I leave these errors in judgment up, why you might ask? Mostly because they weren’t really errors, it was me, my real personality doing these things. Blame it on my Celtic East Coast sense of humor. So in the spirit of full transparency and for charity (please donate) here’s some pictures from the last few years that probably should not made it on the internet (better me than someone else posting these!):

#1) Kyle MacDonald (The guy who traded up “One Red Paper Clip” for a house) and I after we left a conference we were speaking at. This is is us at 3:00 am after we emptied a Keg. Kyle is really Superman because he did a fantastic radio interview 4 hours later. (Seriously itemized beer bill).

#2) Everyone who left the Mother of all Meetups at Christmas time left their tags with me (so to speak)

#3) I sorta crashed a womens’ only conference for social media after party/tweetup (invited by Colleen), this is what ended up on Twitpic. I look so sincere.

#4) This was just a bad mistake, I wanted a pic of the hat on me but the preview didn’t show the bloke in the background (nice personal branding).

#5) No man should ever walk a dog dressed like this. Yes that’s my dog.

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Encouraging comments and discussion

Comments are what keep blogging going. The dialogue and feedback that helps you not only grow as a writer, but also ensures that you stay on track. Through comments you learn, interact, and gain inspiration. I’ve written entire follow-up posts based a comment from a post. I’ve also received cease-and-desist letters because of comments as well. Part of getting comments is writing to encourage comments. First step is to make sure comments are enabled (aka turned on) for all your posts. Nine times out of ten the default setting for blog engines is to have comments on, but sometimes they get turned off so just double check. Whether or not anyone can post a comment or if there is some kind of moderation in place is up to you, and I’ll get to that shortly.
With comments turned on, the next part is subtler: getting people to leave comments. There isn’t a “magic formula” for you to get lots of comments. Sometimes I pull it off, sometimes I don’t. In any case here are simple things you can do to help encourage comments:

• Leave examples out on purpose. People love to feel that they are contributing by adding to your post.
• Ask open-ended questions
• Ask for comments directly
• Take a contrary or controversial stance to the status quo

Even with these tips, including out-right asking for comments, sometimes a great post just doesn’t get any comments. Don’t worry, this happens with even the best posts. Sometimes it’s the posts that you don’t expect to receive any comments to be the one that gets the most. Sometimes you just never know.
Once you do get comments, to keep the flow going you have to respond to the comments you receive. Be open and willing to be proved wrong or challenged. Engaging in a healthy dialogue makes your blog a place where people will go for ideas and inspiration—which means that you will also gain inspiration as well. Every blog, no matter what the topic is, is made better with comments.

This is an excerpt from Tris Hussey’s upcoming book on blogging “6 Easy Blogging Projects” published by Pearson. Follow Tris on twitter.

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#1) They need to master the art of Rapport Building

#2) They need to get good at Needs Analysis Selling

#3) They need to understand how to sell what people buy, and it’s not features, price or technology

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Twitter For Sales Part 1

Twitter For Sales Part 2

What the Heck is a Tweetup?

Social Media is Turning Sales and Marketing Upside Down

How Hard is it to Video Blog?

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Have a listen to this podcast to hear my thoughts on the subject.

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Linkedin Groups by Richard McLaughlin (@_McLaughlin )

There are many social media groups out there and I have come to the decision that LinkedIn has the best possibility for connecting with people of your niche. There are over 340,000 groups so everyone can be reasonably sure to find at least one group that find your niche. For example, there are over 1000 groups related to social media.

When you when you go to join LinkedIn groups make sure you choose a combination of small niche groups and larger groups. Don’t join a group on firefighting, with the intention of writing about knitting. That may seem like something that goes without saying but there are a lot of people that will join the groups with the most members and post garbage. MLM posts in a technical group. Maybe they are right to try, the numbers are more in their favor. The problem is that many group members ask to have people that make posts like this banned from groups, which can lead you to a site-wide ban.

On the front page of linked in there is a section where you can have questions posted for you to answer. Take advantage of this by answering the questions and remember to include a link back to your site. I have IT questions posted on my LI home page, I answer those there are really related to me. I avoid answering the open questions that do pop up (”what’s better black or white…”) because opinion questions in a forum can be too time consuming.

Once in a group, write a post specifically about the niche that the group covers. I mentioned MLM people posting in inappropriate groups and this example holds true for any group. Do ask questions. If you find a site that has not been listed in the group, then list it. Groups have job openings listed in one section and I have even found a way to get traffic by making useful posts for job hunters based by region.

With over 340,000 groups, the opportunities are close to limitless. By the time you have run through all the existing groups for your niche, you can be pretty sure that someone else will have made another group. And if no one has made a group, then you should consider making one yourself.

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Jay Levinson has sold over 20 million books on Guerrilla Marketing making him the top selling marketing author in history.

Jay Levinson shared with audience the 19 secrets of Guerrilla Marketing. In essence a formula for effectively executing this brilliant grass-roots type marketing. Guerrilla marketers measure success based upon profit, not sales volume, web traffic or how well a name is recognized. With my experience in Social Media and sales I thought I would share with you how you can use this formula to effectively execute a Guerrilla Social Media Marketing Campaign. I have shared these tips three at a time on my blog as series. Today I’m putting them all in one place.

According to Jay if you memorize these secrets, you will exceed your most optimistic expectations in business. All of these secrets end in “ent”:

1. Commitment – Mediocre will win over brilliant. The key lesson here is stay the course. Your social media efforts, whether it is blogging, video podcasts, twitter or a combination of these tools must be executed with a one to two year commitment. Stick with it, it will pay big.
2. Investment – Guerrilla marketing is a recession proof investment. It will pay better than any traditional financial investment. The key thing is you will need to invest in Social Media. This will come not in dollars but time, energy, ability, money, reputation
3. Consistent – Don’t change your identity. Brands, relationships, trust, and technology all take time for adoption and acceptance. Be consistent with your message and on-line social media identity.
4. Confident – You must be confident and instill confidence in the customer. Use social media to listen to your customers. Jay says, “Service is anything the customer wants it to be.” Listen! He goes on to say, “Quality is what customers get out of your product. “ This is great information that can help you provide specific, on topic, brilliant solutions to your target market’s pains.
5. Patient – Be patient. Be patient with yourself, it will take you time to master the Guerrilla Marketing “Weapons of Social Media.” Be patient as you build a community online, build roots and a foundation that will be un-shakable. Be patient with your target market, they will rush in to use and engage in social media, but they will do it in their time-frame.
6. Assortment of Weapons – Use a diversity of tools. Start with a blog or highly socially enabled site. Then use and master all of the major tools. You will identify over time which ones you have a talent for using, and which ones your market responds to best. Today these tools may include:
   • Blogging
   • Video Podcasting (YouTube, Viddler etc.)
   • FaceBook
   • Linkedin
   • Flickr
   • Twitter
   • Forums
   • Ning.com
   • Digg
   • StumbleUpon
   • FriendFeed
   • Google Profiles
   • Tumblr
   • Ubertor (for Realtors)
   • Meetup.com
7. Convenient – “Time is money is a lie. Time is life, don’t waste their time.” – Jay Levinson. This is critical, don’t make people work hard to find your information or consume the great content you create. Also don’t waste their time with 10 minute videos when you could say it in 3 minutes or even better, 3 Twitter tweets. Brevity is key in Guerrilla Social Media Marketing
8. Subsequent – Always know what’s next, don’t write an e-book, write a series of e-books. Don’t just solve one customer pain, be in search of the next big thing that can help those who are connected with you.
9. Amazement – “Tell stories because stories are not boring.” – People love stories, that’s why they follow you on Twitter, they are following the story of your personal brand at 140 characters at a time. Stories spark passion, get good at using social media to tell stories.
10. Measurement – Measure your success, use tools like Google Analytics to track the traffic and behavior of those arrive at your site as a result of your social media activities. Don’t just measure profits either. Look at happiness, education, network growth, and positive community impact these are all other forms of profit.
11. Involvement – Listen and engage, or even better give them platforms to communicate and share. Then jump into the conversation and let them know that you hear them. This could be building a Ning.com social network for people who are in your industry. It may be starting a new LinkedIn or FaceBook group. You can also use a tool like Meetup.com to get your online community to meet offline and cement relationships.
12. Dependent – “The guerrilla’s job is not to compete but to cooperate with other businesses. Market them in return for them marketing you. Set up tie-ins with others. Become dependent to market more and invest less.” Begin to blog, do interviews and profile your cooperative competitors online and many will reciprocate and help you grow your following and client base.
13. Armament – Arm yourself with all of the social media tools that your customer consumes or uses. Also find new markets through arming yourself with new social networks and mediums.
14. Consent – Permission is number one if you are going to be a Guerrilla Social Media marketer. Take time to build trust and relationships and never overstate or overstep your relationships online with pitches and unsolicited messaging.
15. Content – “Substance wins over style” Give real value, unique content and do it often with multiple social media weapons. If you want to dominate your marketplace using social media give more, and give more often. Your community and Google’s robots will reward you!
16. Augment – Augment your attack; audit yourself and your strategy constantly. The world of social media is growing by the millions of members every month. You have to stay up on the tools and on the demographics of each medium. NHL Superstar Wayne Gretzky attributes his success on the ice to always knowing where the hockey puck was going to be versus where it was in the moment. He was always ahead of the game. You need to be the same way in the social media space. Ask: “What’s next?”
17. Congruent – Make sure that all of your tools and messages work together. You should be layering each blog entry, twitter update, or FaceBook post like bricks in a building. They all are valuable but contribute to a greater masterpiece, your brand and reputation.
18. Experiment – You will have little failures before you have one big success. Constantly test and be curious about the psychology behind what motivates and engages your customers, prospects and the online communities you participate. Remember that penicillin and gun powder were both invented by accident. Have fun, be engaging and bold and most importantly observe everything.
19. Implement – The world belongs to those who are willing to implement. Put a solid marketing calendar together that includes core social media disciplines. Blog at least 3 times per week, update your Twitter status five or more times per day, spend at least 30 minutes a day pro-actively listening to your audience. Constantly devour information on how to hone your skills as a Guerrilla Social Media Marketer.

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Authors Charlene Li and Josh Bernoff of Forrester Research have put together a no non-sense practical guide to winning in a world transformed by social technologies.  Published by Harvard Business press this book is packed with comprehensive proof that social media is here to stay, and it has transformed how people need to market, lead, and interact with their clients, customers, and community.

A groundswell is “A social trend in which people use technologies to get the things they need from each other, rather than from traditional institutions like corporations.”  This trend can be seen on e-Bay, Facebook, blog networks, Twitter, and Craigslist.  Some businesses according to Charlene Li and Josh Bernoff aren’t eroding away because of this trend, in fact they are winning by using these tools to engage the customer like never before.

The comprehensive Forrester Research around consumer and corporate behavior in the social media space makes it hard to argue with their hypothesis. In fact it gives business leaders real data and motivation to jump in to this space and profit. There are several topics covered on how to listen, talk, energize, and embrace the groundswell as a force in business. Packed with case studies and practical tribal stories of business success and failure within the groundswell, this book should be a requirement for all executives’ libraries.

The core message is “Within a few years a company that doesn’t engage in this sort of activity will look dated.”  As a business leader embracing the groundswell is a key “must-do” if you want to further leverage your network and fully engage your staff, clients and community. The groundswell blog and community can be found at http://groundswell.forrester.com

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Here it is:

Can You Use Social Media To Get International Sales For Your Business?

As a small business owner based in France targeting North American clients, social media makes good sense for me. And it works my business. Why? Because there are no significant barriers created by cultural differences between the social media I use and the people I connect with.

If you want use social media to develop your international business, there are two things you need to remember.

Sales Techniques

You will need to develop strong international sales negotiation techniques.

This comes with practice. But you must be willing to put in the personal effort needed to develop these skills.

Adapt Your Business

Have a look at the 5 different cultural scales outlined by Geert Hofstede:

· High versus Low Power Distance

· Individualism versus Collectivism

· Masculinity versus Femininity

· High versus Low Uncertainty Avoidance

· Long versus Short Term Orientation

What are these scales? They are an attempt to categorize and explain cultural differences.

I will not go into them here, but click through the link above. It is a very interesting table. You will see scores for a long list of countries for all 5 of these scales. And you can choose your country and another one to see how the two sets of cultural differences compare.

Although these 5 scales seem complex and they have their limitations, it is easy to understand why you need to approach people from different cultures differently.

And International Social Media?

Read the news and open your ears. Social media has hit the world everywhere. Here are a few points to remember:

· There are different social medial platforms in different countries

· What is popular in one country may not be popular in another one

· People use social media differently

It is not easy to get international social media statistics. And I am not sure I would even begin trying to get a comprehensive world vision of social media.

I suggest another approach…

Instead of taking on the whole planet, simply because social media is “free’:

· Keep your business in mind.

· Choose one country and jump into their social media environment.

Do not start with social media marketing. Instead:

· Start with social media networking

Get to know how people use social media in their country and then work on finding out how to adapt marketing your business in this new country.

There are some international social media networking scenarios where it is easy to create business relationships from a distance.

If you have any international social media stories to share, I would love to hear them. Please leave a comment below and tell me how you have used social media within part of your sales process.

Cindy King is a Cross-Cultural Marketer & International Sales Strategist based in France.  She uses her dual background in sales & marketing to help businesses improve their international sales conversion and develop country-specific international sales guides. Connect with her on Twitter @CindyKing

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22 Types of Updates You Can Post on Twitter:

1. Where you are physically located at that moment.
2. A link to a picture of an event you are at (using Twitpic.com)
3. A question about a business challenge
4. A question about a popular topic in the news
5. Share a link to your most recent blog entry
6. Share a tip on your area of expertise
7. Share a link to a breaking news story
8. Retweet someone’s update that your followers would find useful
9. Answer someone’s question
10. A link to a picture of a social outing (using Twitpic)
11. A link to an image of a diagram that would explain a business process or ideas
12. A link to an event that you are promoting or that is happening in the community
13. A link to a community event of value
14. A link to a sale or business promotion that will save people money
15. Promote a person who just joined Twitter
16. Promote and thank some of your favorite people on twitter
17. Thank someone who has linked to your blog or retweeted your updates
18. Upload a photo of a sunset or your natural surroundings
19. Praise someone for great content they have created.
20. Review a restaurant, movie or business in 140 characters or less.
21. Share some of you favorite quotes from authors and famous people
22. Share a link to a whitepaper or press release

This is blogathon entry #4.

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Now lets look at a screen cap of the following this Techcrunch Entry titled Our Reaction To Your Reactions To the Twitter Confidential Documents Post

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The irony for me is using an image called “Ethics 101″ but it’s an image of the book cover “Ethics 101″ cutting off the authors name and without attribution.  I know this is minor, but as a “blogging 101″ lesson for anyone; don’t take images that are not yours and give credit where credit is due.  I wonder if after ones blog gets huge and you have 1000’s of visitors per hour if you no longer have to obey common blogging and attribution etiquette? (I could be wrong, maybe they used the exact font etc. and layout and this is a total coincidence, but well I don’t think so.)

I’d love to hear your thoughts on this?

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1. Polish your work too long and someone will move first with a less perfect work but they’ll get the credit. Publish first.
2. One day we will look back at “social media” as a buzz word. But the best practices will still be in use.
3. Seeing someone as a competitor is old economy, seeing them as a peer and a fusion partner is key.
4. Talk and listen to small nodes or groups of people in your larger niche network. Niche broadcasting is not enough.
5. Contribution, help and kindness are your social currencies which can get you access to great people and great networks.
6. Want to implement your social media plan fast? Think collaboration not committee
7. All the details, plans and tools don’t mean much unless you understand people.
8. A sense of curiosity and willingness to experiment can lead to some positive serendipitous discoveries.
9. Stop focusing on being a social media rock star, focus on building a community and a list.
10. Develop an understanding of the Long Tail http://longtail.com
11. Think variable not universal when building strategy. Nano-casting and the “Long Tail” are key.”
12. Types of social media ROI include: improved staff engagement, quicker response to business challenges, increased frequency contact with clients.
13. Social Media results could also be: increased revenue, more customer data, increased store (real world) traffic, press, improved customer service.
14. Looking to hire a social media expert? Look for proof that they have done more than just build traffic and followers.
15. Words to use in a social media job posting: track record, business experience, well networked, project management experience.
16. There is a lot of hype. Look for truth, verify information and execute with dependable tools and strategies.
17. Use give away’s that have real value with a variety of paid options to upgrade to. Think customization and options.
18. Permission to connect has put the power in the consumers’ hands. Seek and then treat that permission like gold.
19. When I join your facebook page, give you my e-mail or follow you on twitter those are examples of “permission to connect”
20. Some people like lengthy whitepapers, others learn best through video, audio or text updates. Use variety.

Like these Social Media Tips? You may want to pre-register to learn more about the new Book written by Stephen Jagger and I Sociable! due to be released this summer.

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1. Agree goals (Buy-in)
2. Pick your Platforms
3. Assess Resources and Allocate them
4. Social Media policy and guidelines
5. Listening strategy and tool implementation (includes analytics, alerts and social search)
6. Populate and customize build platforms
7. Content development and roll-out calendar (Think notes in a symphony)
8. Train and teach internal contributors
9. Recruit or connect with external contributors (Encourage conversation and contribution)
10. Train and develop external pro-active contributors
11. Marketing and exposure for social media destinations
12. Blogger and press outreach
13. Spin-off Marketing Stage

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Here’s the video of the interview

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Free version of Free the Future of a Radical Price

Free the Future of a Radical Price Downloads and Versions.

In my seminars I often refer to the fact that the best tools on the internet are free.  So is some of the best content, lessons, and guidance. So when I heard Chris Anderson (author of The Longtail) on the Managing the Gray Podcast talking about his new book I was pretty fired up. Today (thanks to a heads up from Fred Shadian) Chris has released several free versions of his book prior to the book launch of July 9th.  I’m watching Chris closely as giving out free versions of Sociable is part of Stephen Jagger and my plans for our book launch later this Summer and it’s nice to have someone blaze the trail for you!

Chris’ strategy on charging for abridged versions is interesting, he says:

Why is the whole book free in audio form, but half the book is $7.49? (FREE ABRIDGED VERSION HERE) [note from Shane] Because, as the Audible.com listing explains,“Get the point in half the time! In this abridged edition, the author handpicked the most important and engaging chapters and points, cutting three hours from the length without losing key concepts. Time is money!”

Here are the versions available now:

MP3 Download of Free the Future of a Radical Price (Zip file)

Listen to it on Wired.com

Or read it on Scribd.com

FREE (full book) by Chris Anderson

What are your thoughts on his strategy? I like it, a lot.

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1. Identify Your Goal
2. Identify Your Target Audience
3. Pick the Right Platforms
4. Map out Social Etiquette
5. Implement Listening and Engagement Strategy
6. Know Core Pains
7. Uniquely Communicate Pills Mixing Marketing and Community

Related posts:

22 Social Media Tips Under 140 Characters

Twitter for sales tutorial video Part 1 & Part 2

The Future of Sales and Marketing Social CRM

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