MackCollier.com

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Want to Read Think Like a Rock Star Now, For Free?

My publisher, McGraw-Hill has added Think Like a Rock Star as one of the books available on NetGalley.  NetGalley is a site that lets book reviewers have access to advance, uncorrected copies of books.  It’s intended primarily for members of the media and bloggers that frequently review books on their site.

So if you want to read an electronic copy of Think Like a Rock Star, go to NetGalley and create a free account, then request to review Think Like a Rock Star.  Now I cannot stress this enough, it’s up to the publisher whether or not you are granted access to the book.  And if you have written 2 blog posts this year and have never reviewed a book on your blog, well you’re probably not going to be approved.

If you are approved, you can either read the book on your Kindle, or read it on your Mac or PC.  If you want to read it on your Mac or PC, first go and download this e-reader from Adobe.  Then you can download the book and read it.

That’s it!  Now there is another option if you want to access the book now:  You can always join the Think Like a Rock Star Street Team.  You’ll be approved for access to the book now, but there are certain responsibilities to being part of the team, so make sure you review them at the post.

Finally, if you want to pre-order the book (it comes out in five weeks) then Barnes and Noble currently has it for $11.28 and Amazon has it as an e-book for $9.99.  The e-book will likely be released in 2-3 weeks.

BTW thank y’all SO much for your support of Think Like a Rock Star.  I had a marketing call with McGraw-Hill last week and they did their first sales projections for the book and although they wouldn’t tell me the exact numbers yet, they said the projections were ‘VERY good’! Thanks to everyone for your continued support, I think this book is going to really help a lot of companies better connect with their most passionate customers, and create amazing experiences for them!

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Announcing the Think Like a Rock Star Street Team and Free Benefits For You

NOTE: The Street Team is now full, thanks for your interest!

As we talked about on Monday, I don’t like to ask for help.  But I am going to do so now because I need your help to make Think Like a Rock Star as successful as possible.  I need you to join the Think Like a Rock Star Street Team.

The TLAR Street Team will help me get the word out about Think Like a Rock Star to other people.  This team will be limited to 25 people, and if you agree to join, you will get special benefits that are only available to this team, including:

  • An electronic copy of the book now, 6 weeks prior to it being available in stores.  This will be available on a site online for you to read.  Other than a few select marketers that I requested feedback from, you will be among the first 25 people in the world to read Think Like a Rock Star.
  • A special Marked N Remarked copy of Think Like a Rock Star will be mailed to you in May.  Your copy of Think Like a Rock Star will be signed and numbered and each copy will be marked up with notes, sketches, underlined key points, etc.  No one else in the world will have a copy like this.
  • You’ll receive a free 30-minute phone call with me sometime in 2013.  We can discuss your social media strategy, how your company plans on connecting with its fans, advice on setting up a blog or Twitter chat, literally anything in world you need help with.  I normally charge $150 for a 30-minute consulting call.
  • A 25% discount for the remainder of 2013 on any TLAR-related products or services I offer.  This includes speaking and workshops.

Now here’s what I will expect from you if you join the Think Like a Rock Star Street Team:

  • You agree to post a review of Think Like a Rock Star on Amazon no later than April 19th or the date it first goes on sale on the site in paperback form, whichever comes first.  A big part of my launch strategy for Think Like a Rock Star is to have as many Amazon reviews as possible up by launch week for the book.  You are encouraged to write reviews on other online booksellers as well, but you must agree to write one on Amazon by the end of the book’s launch week.
  • You agree to help promote Think Like a Rock Star to your online networks now through the end of the book’s launch week (tentatively set for April 19th-25th).  This includes sharing links to buy the book on Amazon, B&N and other etailers.
  • You agree to participate (as you can) in future #rockstarchats every Weds at 1pm Central on Twitter
  • You agree to give me constant feedback and advice on how we can better spread Think Like a Rock Star’s message to more people.

That’s it!  Now if you have already pre-ordered a copy of Think Like a Rock Star and want to join the Launch Team, do-so and what I’ll do is write a guest post for your blog and we can giveaway the copy you pre-ordered (since you’ll be replacing it with a S&Ned Marked N Remarked copy ;))

If you want to join the TLAR Street Team, then please email me and let me know.  I will need your email address so I can get you online access to Think Like a Rock Star (you’ll need to sign up for a free account on a 3rd party site, but otherwise it’s a painless process).

I really need your help with this, thank you so much!

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#RockstarChat Recap: Should Brands Connect With Their Fans and How Can They?

This afternoon we had the first #RockstarChat, and it was such a smart conversation!  The topic was Should brands connect with their fans?

Everyone was in agreement that brands should be connecting with their fans, but what happens if a brand can’t connect with all of their fans?

 

I love Bob’s thinking here, by taking all your fans and breaking them down into lists or buckets, it becomes a more manageable process.  But that raises another question: How do you decide how to create the lists/buckets and which fans go where?

 

Now we’re getting somewhere!  A big reason why many brands don’t connect with their fans is that they don’t really have a process in place for doing so.  There’s no roadmap.  But first, Bob says you should create sublists or buckets of fans to make the connection process more manageable.  Then Kristy builds on that, saying that the criteria for connecting with your fans should tie back to your business goals!  For example, if you want to raise awareness of a new product, or boost trial signups, factor those goals into your connection efforts with your fans.  Let that be a sort of qualifier to decide which fans you connect with.

But then again, let’s remember that our fans are passionate people that love our brand, so maybe we don’t even have to look for them?

 

I love Jennifer’s point here, often our fans will reach out to us!  Look for handraisers, these are often fans that want to help you and connect with you, which is why they are initiating contact.

And as Kelly reminds us, it always pays to be listening:

So those are a few key takeaways I saw from today’s #RockstarChat.  If you joined, what were your favorite points that I missed?  And BTW, here’s a preview of next week’s #RockstarChat topic:

 

Next Weds at 1pm Central we’ll be chatting about how to deal with dissatisfied or even angry customers and convert them into fans! Hope to see you then!

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What Amanda Palmer Teaches Us About Asking For and Receiving Help

I was delighted to see that TED posted Amanda Palmer’s talk from last month on its site.  Amanda is one of the main music case studies in Think Like a Rock Star, and it’s because she does an amazing job of not only connecting with her fans, but asking her fans for help and support.  She is constantly giving her fans free and secret shows, then again she is constantly asking her fans to help her, either by providing her with an item she needs, or by supporting efforts like her record-setting Kickstarter project.

But the core lesson of her talk was about the power of asking for help.  This is a topic that resonated with me because it’s one I struggle with.  As Amanda said in her talk, asking for help makes us vulnerable.  A lot of people don’t like being vulnerable or being put in a vulnerable position.  But the upside of this is that it also makes it easier for others to connect with us when we are vulnerable.

Every week during #Blogchat I will have people tell me that they get so much value from the chat.  That’s honestly a big reason why I continue doing it, because I know it is helping so many people become better bloggers.  I love that I have created a way for hundreds of people to come together every Sunday night and help each other.  But I absolutely hate the idea of bringing on sponsors for #Blogchat, because I hate asking for help.  Honestly, I rarely push for sponsors unless there is a perfect fit, or if I really need some extra money.  Otherwise, I simply hate doing it because it feels like I am trying to monetize something that we all create together.

But with my book, it’s a completely different story.  I love promoting the book, because I don’t see it as asking people to help me, I see it as asking people to support an idea.  People have asked me over the last year ‘How can I help support YOU and your book?’  I clam up when I hear that, because I don’t want these people to support me, I want them to be excited about the idea behind the book.

So in light of Amanda’s talk, I found that dichotomy interesting between my reluctance to ask for help personally, versus my wanting help spreading an idea I am passionate about.  I’m interested to hear what you think about it.

Here’s her TED talk:

[ted id=1682]

And in light of her talk, I wanted to make it the focus of our first #RockstarChat on Wednesday at 1pm Central on Twitter.  We’ll chat about how brands can do a better job of asking their fans to help and support them.  Hope to see you then!

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Announcing #RockstarChat!

RockStarChatIf you are subscribed to my Think Like a Rock Star newsletter, you got a heads-up on this announcement yesterday.  Starting next month, I will be launching a new Twitter chat, #RockstarChat!  This chat will be about helping you cultivate fans and connect with them.  It will be focused on many of the same lessons in the book Think Like a Rock Star, but the goal is to help you cultivate a fan-centric brand or organization.

Now as for the day and time, the day will be every Wednesday.  The time is probably going to be early afternoon around noon or 1pm Central.  But if another time, like 7 or 8pm Central like #Blogchat is would work better for you, let me know.  I will say that unless there is overwhelming support for having the chat at night, it will be during the day.

Next Wednesday the 6th will be the first #RockstarChat, and it will be for one hour, just like #Blogchat.  The idea behind both the Think Like a Rock Star newsletter and #RockstarChat is to create resources that can help your company or organization’s efforts to connect with your fans.  Think Like a Rock Star isn’t just a book, it’s about creating a movement of helping brands become more fan-centric.  In the next few weeks I’ll announcing additional ways that I hope to help you in these efforts.  And if you have any ideas on how I can help your company better connect with its fans or what else you would like to see offered, please email me.

So please leave a comment letting me know if you would rather have #RockstarChat at noon/1pm Central on Wednesdays, or at 7/8pm Central.  I’m SO excited about this chat, it’s going to be an absolute blast!

Also, if you are interested in having me present Think Like a Rock Star at your event, please email me to lock in your date.  I am very close to announcing multiple new stops on the Think Like a Rock Star Book Tour, and dates in April and May especially are starting to fill up.

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The Key to Creating Content That Resonates Online

social media, companies, marketing, ceo

Create content that’s written from the point of view of the person it is intended for.

That’s the simple answer.  Figuring out exactly what that means is a bit more involved, but it’s still not as difficult of a process as we make it out to be.

First, it’s great to focus on making your content more ‘shareable’ via social media.  Or to optimize for search engines.  Such tactics are very smart and they help your content become more accessible and findable.

But, those efforts shouldn’t fundamentally change the content you create.  Your underlying goal should always be to create content that’s written from the point of view of the person it is intended for.

The problem is, too often we write content from our own point of view, without even realizing it.  Here’s an example:  Let’s say we are blogging for a company that creates digital camcorders.  If I am in the market for a digital camcorder to record myself speaking, which post is more valuable to me?

Post A – “Ten Reasons Why the Zoomia 3000 Is the Perfect Digital Camcorder For Your Every Need”

Post B – “Ten Steps To Shooting the Perfect Indoor Video, in Any Type of Lighting”

The second post addresses my needs.  The problem with most content that comes from brands is it focuses moreso on the product versus the actual thing we want to do with the product!  My problem isn’t that I need to know why I should buy a Zoomia 3000, my problem is that I need to find an affordable solution to shooting a high-quality video of myself speaking.

If your brand wants to instantly make it’s content more valuable to its customers, then create content that focuses on how your customers are using your product, versus the product itself.

Graco doesn’t blog about its products, it blogs about parenthood.

Patagonia doesn’t blog about its products, it blogs about the environment and outdoor activites.

Red Bull doesn’t create videos about energy drinks, it creates videos about athletes engaging in extreme sports.

Find the Bigger Idea behind your content, and blog about that.  You can still blog about your products, but instead you’ll be creating content that focuses on the ‘bigger, cooler thing’, as Kathy Sierra puts it, that your product is a part of.

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Attention Brands: Sounding Human Makes You More Likeable

JeepTweetSo this week a few high-profile brands apparently had their Twitter accounts hacked, including Burger King and Jeep.  Burger King tweeted to Jeep that they were glad they were back, and Jeep tweeted the above.

And everyone goes apeshit saying they love it and how awesome it is that the brands are showing a sense of humor and sounding human.

Jeep2TweetPeople relate more to brands that speak in a voice they recognize: Their own.  We are all vulnerable, we all make mistakes.  The brands that win are the ones that speak in the same voice as their customers with the same flaws and human imperfections.

People buy from brands that they can relate to and relating becomes easier when brands show their human side.  Hopefully exchanges like the above will become the norm so we can stop gushing about them when they happen.

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How Maker’s Mark Avoided a Social Media Firestorm By Listening to Their Customers

Maker's MarkAlthough I am not a drinker and haven’t consumed a drop of bourbon in my life, I am a big fan of how Maker’s Mark strives to have a close relationship with its customers.  In fact I did an extensive case study on the company’s excellent brand ambassador program for Think Like a Rock Star.

Recently the brand got into some hot water with its customers when it announced that it was diluting its product from 45% alcohol by volume, to 42%.  Obviously, this is not a decision that customers of a brand that makes whisky would be excited about, and Maker’s Mark’s customers quickly took to social media and email to voice their displeasure over the move.

And not surprisingly, Maker’s Mark quickly reversed course, and announced on its Facebook page that their customers were right:

While we thought we were doing what’s right, this is your brand – and you told us in large numbers to change our decision.

You spoke. We listened. And we’re sincerely sorry we let you down.

Notice how Maker’s Mark not only apologized to their customers, but acknowledged that ‘this is your brand’.  If you were a customer that was upset about Maker’s Mark’s decision, how can you stay mad at the brand after reading this?

There’s two very important business lessons here:

1 – Remember that Maker’s Mark has a robust brand ambassador program in place.  It’s one of the largest in the world, and numbers over a hundred thousand.  This gives Maker’s Mark a direct feedback channel to its most passionate customers.  Sure, it’s one thing when ‘drive-by’ customers are slamming you on Facebook, but it’s quite another when people that have been members of your ambassador program for a decade or more, suddenly tell you that your latest move will cause them to stop giving you their business.  THAT’S when you know it’s serious.  Maker’s Mark got feedback on this move almost immediately from its most passionate supporters, and that helped the brand make an informed decision.

2 – Whether or not a social media firestorm happens is always dictated by how the brand responds to its customers.  It’s never the company’s initial action that creates the firestorm, that’s just the spark, then you have upset customers voicing their concern to the brand.  THEN it depends on how the brand responds.  If Maker’s Mark had ignored their customers, or worse yet, told them they were wrong, then the flames would have been fanned, and the anger would have gotten worse.  But Maker’s Mark didn’t do that, they listened to their customers and admitted that their customers were right.  The potential firestorm was diffused because the brand listened to its customers.

Remember, it’s never the company’s initial action that determines if there will be a social media firestorm, it’s how the brand responds to its customers.  Maker’s Mark just gave us a textbook example of how to properly respond to angry customers.  HT to Jackie for this story.

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What’s Your Motivation?

MP900438966I was just on Facebook and fell down a bit of a digital rabbit hole.  Someone had linked to a new blog post from a blogger I hadn’t read in years, so I checked out their blog.  I started looking at their blog roll, and noticed several blogs I hadn’t read in years.  I clicked on one, and noticed the most ‘recent’ post was from 2010.  I started backtracking, she had written a post every few months, one post was announcing that she was ‘back’ to blogging, and that blogging was a great way to build your reputation online, establish thought leadership, etc.  Then she didn’t blog again for several months, then again several months later, which was her last post.

Let’s be honest, if you are a blogger that wants to use your blog as a tool to build your influence/thought leadership, etc., you are going to be asked to give a lot more than you get.  That’s pretty much how you build a name for yourself, you continuously provide smart and helpful content, and over time, people start to notice.  Then in an ideal world, opportunities open up to you.  Maybe you get a job offer, or work offers, maybe a book deal, perhaps you are asked to speak at an event.

But it’s sometimes very easy to ask ‘what’s in it for me?’  It can be tough to stay motivated to spend 5 hours every week on your blog, if no one is commenting and no one is subscribing and you are getting no business from it.

I’ve known countless bloggers that have launched blogs as a tool to grow their business, or to promote themselves, and they toss in the towel after a few weeks because they didn’t see the immediate results they were looking for.

On the other hands, I’ve known many bloggers that toiled away year after year with little to no recognition, then suddenly in year 5 or 6, it all takes off and suddenly everyone notices them and loves them.

What’s the difference and why do some bloggers quit while others press on?  I think it comes back to motivation.  From what I have noticed, most of the truly successful bloggers are motivated by helping others be better at something.  When that’s your source of motivation, then you stop carrying that mental balance sheet of how much you are ‘giving’ your readers versus how much you are ‘getting’ back.  Or at least it doesn’t matter as much.

For the first two years that I ran #Blogchat, I made a grand total of $800 directly off the chat.  If I had launched #Blogchat because I wanted to make money off it, I would have likely killed it after a month or 2.  But my motivation in starting and continuing the chat has remained the same:  Helping other bloggers become better at what they do.  That’s it.  I see the chat as a way of ‘giving back’, because blogging has given me so much, I am happy to create a way to help other bloggers achieve some of the success I have.

What’s your motivation for blogging?

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Why Most People Totally Waste Their Money (and Boss’ Money) at Conferences

SXSWCrowd08

A few years ago I was at a conference, and I was doing a special session where attendees got 15 minutes to ‘Ask an expert’ about their blogging questions.  A girl came up to me, and told me about a problem she had with her blog at work.  She slumped as she told me the problem, and her body language screamed ‘I have no idea what to do!’

So she told me her problem and I said ‘Here’s what you should do:’, and she immediately perked up, sat up straight, and grabbed her pen.  I started telling her exactly what to do, and she started scribbling furiously.  I gave her the exact advice she needed, and after about 2 mins of furious writing, she announced ‘Ok…thanks!’, and got up and left.

As soon as she started writing, I made a mistake.  What I should have told her was ‘No, put the pen down, and listen to me.  Because you aren’t going to understand what I am telling you otherwise.’  This is the mistake that most people make when they attend conferences, they go, take copious notes, and come back to work on Monday with pages of hastily scribbled chicken-scratch that makes no sense to them because they don’t have the speaker there to interpret the mess for them.

The first social media conference I ever attended (and spoke at) was SXSW in 2008.  It was ah-mazing.  Actually, the conference itself was terrible.  The sessions were boring and I got almost no value from them.  But what made the trip so valuable for me was the conversations I had with other attendees, either in the hallways, or at dinners, parties, etc.  And not just the attendees, I got to speak with speakers as well.  All along the way, I was getting to talk to experts and peers about my exact problems.  I got exact advice on the issues I was dealing with, and I was able to share advice as well.

‘The magic happens in the hallways’.  That idea always stuck with me.  Attendees seem to get the most value from an event when they put down their pens, stop taking notes and actually listen to the speakers and their fellow attendees.  And the event creates more value when its less about lectures, and more about interactions among the speakers and the attendees, and especially the attendees themselves.  Then about it, if you have a blogging question, what solution works better for you, listening to me tell you how another company solved a similar problem, or having a group discussion about how we can solve your problem?

We took this into consideration when we designed the agenda for BlogHOT.  We wanted the focus to be on teaching you how to be a better blogger.  The agenda is set up so the majority of the time you will be in a session where you are interacting directly with the speaker, and other attendees.  That means you will be getting specific solutions to your blogging problems.  It also means you will be interacting directly with other people that have dealt with the exact same blogging issues that you have.  So you’ll be getting the exact solution to the problems you are facing today, but you’ll also get advice on how to avoid tomorrow’s problems as well.

The goal of BlogHOT isn’t to tell you how to be a better blogger, we are going to teach you how to be a better blogger.

What typically happens when you get back from most blogging or social media conferences?  You probably take all your notes, type them up, and distribute them to your team to discuss at the next marketing and/or social media meeting.  And then you remind everyone of the blogging issues that you went to the conference to get help with, and then ask them to refer to a particular paragraph of your notes that covers the solution to that problem.  Right?

The difference with BlogHOT is that when you return to your office after attending, you are going to show your team what you learned. You aren’t going to give them notes, you are going to teach them how to solve the problems that your team needed help with.  You are going to open up the blogging dashboard and show them how to write a more captivating headline.  You are going to go to Google Analytics and show them how to determine if the blog content is creating engagement and leads.

You are going to be the teacher, not the note-distributor.  That’s why your boss is going to thank you for asking to go to BlogHOT 😉

Now BlogHOT is not cheap, it’s a big investment.  But it’s just that, it’s an investment.  That investment is going to pay off because you are going to get the exact answers to your blogging questions, and the blogging efforts of your company will immediately improve as a result of you attending BlogHOT.  And as a bonus, if you register by Friday the 15th, you’ll get a $100 discount off the regular registration price.

Need help convincing your boss?  No problem, we’ve even created a Letter to Management, just download it, fill in the costs and your information, and send it on!

BlogHOT is March 25-27th in Los Angeles, I hope to see you there, if you’ll be attending please leave a comment so we can connect, and make sure to follow the #BlogHOT13 hashtag on Twitter to see who else is going plus keep up on the latest event news!