MackCollier.com

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An Open Letter to Cathryn Sloane From Someone Over the Age of 25

Dear Cathryn,

Wow, it’s been a rough couple of days for you, hasn’t it?  I think almost every person over the age of 25 working in social media has linked to your article on ‘Why Every Social Media Manager Should Be Under 25‘.  And while I think everyone over the age of 25 knew what the reaction to it would be, it seems to have caught you by surprise.

And that’s what I wanted to talk to you about.

Your core message, that ‘your generation’ is familar with social media because you’ve always used these tools, is a good one.  As are your thoughts that as such, ‘your generation’ has much to offer on how companies can and should be using these tools.  A very good and valid message.

Unfortunately, due to the tone of your article that wasn’t the message that 99% of your readers heard.  Here’s what most people thought your message was:

“Dear Old People Over the Age of 25,

You are screwing up Social Media.  Stop it.  Companies stop hiring these clowns to do social media, because they have no idea what they are doing.  Hire ‘my generation’.  We are smart, we are hip.  Besides, we have always had these tools, so we should be the ones using them, not these old farts over the age of 25.

Signed,

Recent College Graduate Under the Age of 25 That Gets It”

To be honest, the first time I saw your article I blew it off as being simply linkbait.  I assumed that there was no way you were serious, and that the inflammatory tone of your article was purposely used in an attempt to draw attention to yourself.  In fact, there’s two reasons why your article is still receiving a ton of negative feedback:

1 – The tone.  It is purposely inflammatory.  Whether you realize it or not (and you obviously didn’t when you wrote it), HOW you say something is just as important in social media as WHAT you say.  You had a good core message, but you framed it terribly, and in a way where the only possible reaction was the one you got.  And the fact that you apparently did NOT see this coming doesn’t make the case that you or ‘your generation’ knows how to handle social media.

2 – You haven’t publicly addressed the backllash that the post has caused at all.  What’s the one rule we always tell companies when facing a crisis situation?  Address the situation head-on as soon as possible, and using the same tools as the people generating the negative feedback.  Those of us that have actually worked with companies and have helped them deal with crisis situations via social media marketing, understand this lesson.  It seems you do not, which again, undermines your article’s core message that ‘your generation’ gets social media.

So I would advise you to write another article Monday morning where you address the criticism head-on.  You can start by admitting that you didn’t frame your article as neatly as you could have.  You should also acknowledge and listen to the points raised by your detractors.  You don’t have to apologize for your core message that ‘your generation’ gets social media, but you should admit that it was pretty silly to claim that anyone older than you does not.

Another thing about social media and such firestorms is that we all tend to move on quickly.  In another day or so most of us will have moved onto something else and your time in the spotlight will be over.  So you can still do a lot to determine what our opinion is of you after we move on.  A little humility and understanding goes a long way.

Signed,

Someone Over the Age of 25 That Works in Social Media and Has Said Stupid Stuff Before Too

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Live #Blogchat is Coming Back to the MarketingProfs B2B Forum!

Hey y’all, a quick update on some of the speaking, etc. that I’ve got coming up in the next few months.

First, I’m happy to announce that Live #Blogchat will be coming back to the B2B Forum in October!  The B2B Forum will be back in Boston on October the 3rd through the 5th, and the Live #Blogchat will be at the end of the day on the 4th.  As most of you know, I’ve always been a big fan of MarketingProfs’ events because they bring a lot of great speakers in and give attendees actionable ideas they can take home and implement immediately.  Few events can match the value that MarketingProfs creates.  As usual there will be a killer speaker lineup, including Kami Huyse, Chris Penn, Tim Hayden, Lee Odden, Amber Naslund, Matt Ridings, Joe Pulizzi, DJ Waldow, Sam Fiorella, Lou Imbriano and the one and only CK!  This is also a great chance to network as the MP speakers are very accessible.

For those of you that have never attended a Live #Blogchat event, it’s just like Twitter, without all the Twitter 😉  We have a great and interactive discussion about a particular blogging topic and instead of tweeting our thoughts to each other, we actually TALK TO EACH OTHER!  Shocking 😉  But it’s a great experience, and honestly I think the discussions at the Live #Blogchats are better than what we see during #Blogchat on Twitter.  And MarketingProfs has arranged to let y’all have a $200 discount off the basic rate for registration, just use code BLOGCHAT when you register!

Also, if you are interested in sponsoring the Live #Blogchat, email me and I’ll put you in touch with MarketingProfs to discuss details.

Also later that month I’ll be presenting Think Like a Rock Star at the Social Brand Forum.  I’ll be keynoting along with my friends Ann Handley and DJ Waldow.  Nick just expanded the speakers lineup, and this looks to be a great event!  Oh, and the first 100 tickets sold will also get a copy of Think Like a Rock Star, along with DJ’s new book The Rebel’s Guide to Email Marketing!

Finally, a few of you have been asking about the progress of Think Like a Rock Star.  The writing is going well, and the first-draft of the manuscript is due to McGraw-Hill in about 5 weeks.  For the last month or so I’ve spent most of my time ‘tightening’ the first half of the book.  I’m really pleased with the progress, and I can’t wait for y’all to read the finished product!  The official on-sale date is now set as April 19th, 2013.  The book is scheduled to be available for pre-order sometime next month, and I will definitely let y’all know when it’s up 😉

As for the Think Like a Rock Star book tour, I honestly haven’t spent a lot of time trying to lock down new dates, because I have been focusing on writing the book.  But if you want to have me present Think Like a Rock Star at your event, here’s the quick n dirty way to make that happen:

1 – Book my travel for me, including 2 nights hotel, flight and cab fares.

2 – Pre-order 100 copies of Think Like a Rock Star from Amazon and email me your receipt at least a month before I am set to speak.

That’s it!  Here’s a list of the confirmed dates so far.

Hope y’all have a wonderful weekend, oh and this Sunday’s #Blogchat topic is discussing our favorite plugins!  Hope to see you there at 8pm Central on Sunday!

 

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Startup Needle Seeks to Let Brands Turn Their Fans Into Customer Service Reps

Last week’s post on how brands connect with their fans drew some interesting conversation and a few people that thought that I didn’t ‘get’ that businesses are in business to make money.  I totally get that, what I don’t think some brands and marketers get is that there ARE other profitable ways to work with your fans other than simply turning them into ‘walking billboards’.

I just learned about Needle, a startup that works with brands to help them turn their fans into virtual customer service representatives.  Needle lets brands find and identify their most passionate and knowledgeable fans, so they can bring them on board as virtual extensions of the brand’s customer service team.

This is EXACTLY what I was talking about when I said that brands and marketers need to look beyond simply utilizing their fans to promote the brand.  A model such as this is a win-win-win:  The brand wins because it can provide better customer service.  The customers win because they now have access to better customer service.  The fans win because this lets them connect with other customers and help them make a purchase decision.  Which is what the fans wanted to do anyway.

And oh BTW, a byproduct of this model would be increased sales for the brand.  See, it all works out in the end?  There is huge untapped potential for brands to utilize their fans to provide customer service, one of the companies I profile in Think Like a Rock Star saved over $300,000 in costs from deflected call center calls by simply creating a way for its existing customers to help new and potential customers with their questions.

It’s NOT just about sales when it comes to connecting with your brand’s fans.  It’s about connecting with your fans and helping them do what comes naturally to them.  If your brand can do that, it will reap the rewards.

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Sunday’s #Blogchat Will Be Co-Hosted By C.C. Chapman!

This Sunday I’m super-excited to have C.C. Chapman join us to co-host #Blogchat!  Our topic will be How to Create Content For Your Blog During a Family Vacation.  I wanted C.C. to co-host on this topic because he does a LOT of traveling and gets to play with a LOT of cool content creation tools, so he can give us some great insights into both areas!

Here’s how the topic will break down:
1 – From 8:00pm CT – 8:30pm, we’ll chat about planning your trip so you have enough time to do everything you want, but also think about opportunities to create content.

2 – From 8:30pm-9:00pm, C.C. will talk to us about some of his favorite content creation tools.  I’m really excited about this because C.C. is constantly using the newest and latest toys, and is a great photographer.  So if any of you have any questions about taking better pictures, make sure you ask C.C.!

BTW this is great timing for C.C. to be co-hosting #Blogchat as his new book, Amazing Things Will Happen is now available for pre-order!  Looks to be another great book from C.C., and I’m looking forward to checking it out!

And if you aren’t already, don’t forget to follow C.C. on Twitter!

And don’t forget that Club Med will be sponsoring #Blogchat for the entire month of July.  And the best part for you is that at the end of the month they will be giving away a 7-night stay for 4 at one of their resorts! The winner can choose to take their stay at either Sandpiper Bay in Florida, or Turkoise in the Caribbean.  In order to be eligible to win this trip, you need to do two things:

1 – Follow @ClubMedOfficial on Twitter.

2 – Participate in every #Blogchat in the month of July.

That’s it!  If you do those two things, you’re in the running to win the trip, and the winner will be announced shortly after the July 29th #Blogchat ends!  If you have any questions, please tweet @ClubMedOfficial, and look for them during #Blogchat as they are super nice and helpful!

Hope to see everyone on Sunday at 8pm Central!

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Coke Is the Latest Brand to Totally Misunderstand the True Value of Brand Advocates

Coke’s CMO Joseph Tripodi recently spoke on Facebook and the value of brand advocates at the Cannes Lions Festival of Creativity.  Here’s a quote from Mr. Tripodi:

“When you think of the continuum of a business, you go from local, to multi-country, to international, to global, but the highest order is network and network advantage is about having brand advocates telling stories for us.”

In other words, the scope of Coke’s vision when it comes to placing a value on their fans is that they can be walking billboards for the brand.  

Unbelievable.  And to be fair, almost every brand thinks this same way, Coke is hardly alone in this line of thinking.  The ‘have our customers tell our stories for us’ line is a rallying cry for marketers everywhere to explore the potential of connecting with their brand advocates.

Question:  When is the last time you heard Taylor Swift or Lady Gaga or Coldplay say that they love connecting with their fans because it gives their fans a chance to tell the rock star’s story for them?  Why aren’t the world’s most successful rock stars talking about how awesome it is to use their biggest fans as marketing vehicles?

Because most rock stars have an emotional relationship with their fans, while most brands have a transactional relationship with their customers.

The first thing that pops into most brand’s minds when it comes to their advocates is ‘How can we leverage this connection to result in a sale?’  The first thing that pops into most rock stars’ minds when it comes to their fans is ‘How can I show them that I appreciate them?’  And shockingly, rock stars cultivate fans with ease, fans that ironically go out and promote their favorite rock star and literally do become walking billboards for these artists.  While brands struggle to find customers that are willing to be their fans and promote them to their friends.

Rock stars cultivate an emotional relationship with their fans.  Ones where the rock star typically goes out of their way to communicate to the fan how much they appreciate and even love them.  As a result, this encourages the fan to appreciate the rock star even more, and to go out of their way to promote their favorite rock star to other fans.

So brands, if you truly want to cultivate fans of your brand, stop thinking about ways to leverage those connections into a sale.  Start thinking about ways you can reward and thank your fans for their support.  Treat them not as a new potential marketing channel for your brand, but as the special people that they are.

That’s how you win and cultivate fans for your brand.

PS:  Want more tips for creating fans of your brand?  Check out my new post at Paper.Li’s blog.

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#Blogchat Topic This Sunday – How to Drive Sales With Your Blog

This Sunday’s #Blogchat will discuss how blogging companies can drive more sales from their blog!  This is a big concern for many blogging companies, as they are struggling to get sales or leads or donors or whatever from their blog.  Companies want to see that their blogging efforts are creating value for their business and although there are many ways to do this, cash is still king 😉

So as we are discussing this topic on Sunday, one thing I want us to do is put our customer’s hat on, and think about the things that are keeping us from buying from most blogging companies.  What could a company change about its blog that would make you more interested in buying from them?

Better product information?  Better contact information?  More valuable and relevant content?  Maybe if the blog did a better job of asking for the sale?  Be thinking about some of the areas where most blogging companies could do a better job of earning your business, and we’ll talk about that on Sunday!  BTW for those of you that are looking for advice on how to monetize your blog, this will be the perfect topic for you to pick up some pointers!

Also keep in mind that Club Med is sponsoring #Blogchat all month, and they are giving away a trip for 4 at the end of the month!  In order to be eligible to win the trip, you must follow @ClubMedOfficial on Twitter, plus participate in #Blogchat each week.  That’s it!  Looking forward to seeing everyone on Sunday at 8pm Central, 9pm Eastern!

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Alexis Grant Co-Hosts #Blogchat on Sunday Talking Writing Guest Posts For Blogs!

I’m so excited to have Alexis Grant join us this Sunday as #Blogchat co-host!  One of the topics that is constantly suggested by #Blogchat participants is how to get guest posts accepted by other bloggers.  Alexis is perfect to help us with this as one of the many professional hats she wears is that of editor for the site Brazen Careerist!  Alexis reviews the constant stream of guest post submissions that come to her, and she’ll walk us through how we can get our guest post ideas published!

And to get us started, Alexis has already written a prep post for this Sunday, 7 Tips For Placing Guest Posts on High-Traffic Blogs!

As you know when we have co-hosts, we break the main topic down into 2 sub-topics, which we discuss for 30 minutes each.  Here’s our schedule for Sunday with Alexis:

1 – From 8:00pm Central – 8:30 pm, we’ll discuss the elements of a great guest post.  Alexis will show us what should be included in our guest post in order to get it accepted by the blogs we are targeting.

2 – From 8:30pm – 9:00pm, we’ll discuss how to pitch our guest post idea, what we need to focus on, how to present our idea, etc.

That’s it!  To prepare for this Sunday’s #Blogchat, please make sure you are following Alexis on Twitter!

 

Finally, Sunday begins Club Med’s sponsorship of #Blogchat for July!  As I announced earlier this week, Club Med will be sponsoring #Blogchat for the entire month of July.  And the best part for you is that at the end of the month they will be giving away a 7-night stay for 4 at one of their resorts! The winner can choose to take their stay at either Sandpiper Bay in Florida, or Turkoise in the Caribbean.  In order to be eligible to win this trip, you need to do two things:

1 – Follow @ClubMedOfficial on Twitter.

2 – Participate in every #Blogchat in the month of July.

That’s it!  If you do those two things, you’re in the running to win the trip, and the winner will be announced shortly after the July 29th #Blogchat ends!  If you have any questions, please tweet @ClubMedOfficial, and look for them during #Blogchat as they are super nice and helpful!

Hope to see everyone on Sunday at 8pm Central!

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Disagreeing Versus Being Disagreeable Online

A few weeks ago, I found a post on Snarketing 2.0 where Ron focused on a post I wrote, and disagreed with several points I raised.  What I really appreciated about Ron’s post (and comments) was that he focused on the IDEAS he disagreed with, and wasn’t disagreeing with ME. Too often in this space, it seems disagreements stem not because someone disagrees with someone else’s ideas, but rather that they disagree with the person presenting the ideas.

Ike found the post and tweeted the above.  Several people either RTed Ike, or chimed in that the back and forth between Ron and I was a great example of disagreeing in the comments of a blog.  That troubled me a bit, because how Ron and I handled our disagreement in the comments (focused on points vs people) is how EVERYONE should handle disagreements online.

And before anyone thinks I am trying to prop myself up as being the master when it comes to handling disagreements, I have plenty of experience causing and participating in trainwrecks online.

Unfortunately, it seems that too often the disagreements we encounter, at least in the ‘social media circles’ seem to be focused on the people versus the ideas.  And it seems that we have far too much agreeing.  It’s almost like we’ve forgotten how to constructively disagree with each other.  Here’s the basic rules for debate that I try to follow online:

1 – Be respectful to the other person’s opinion and understand that they have a unique perspective that shapes their opinions.

2 – Disgree with the idea, but NOT the person expressing the idea.

3 – When I disagree with someone’s ideas, I try to explain WHY I disagree.  Saying ‘Your idea is wrong’ helps no one.  Learn to say ‘Here’s why I think your idea is wrong..’

4 – Know when to walk away.  I honestly struggle with this one a lot, but when our ideas are challenged, it’s far too easy to dig in and keep charging ahead.  It’s best to know which battles are worth fighting, and when it’s best to wave the ‘agree to disagree’ flag, and move on.

 

But again, I think as a whole, this social media marketing/branding space has far too little disagreement and challenging of ideas.  And the disagreements we do see are often centered on the person versus the ideas.  Folks, we learn via disagreeing.  When someone says ‘I’m not sure I agree with that, Mack, how about this?’, it not only gives me a new perspective to consider, but it challenges me to re-examine my own ideas.  So I benefit from having my ideas challenged, and we all do.  My fear is that a lot of potential disagreements are stifled because the person that disagrees decides not to air their disagreement because its with someone that has a larger following or readership than they do.  I am afraid they believe that the person with the larger following must know what they are talking about, else why would they have more Twitter followers? 😉

Just remember, there’s nothing wrong with disagreeing, just try not to be disagreeable 😉

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#Blogchat Adds a Sponsor Plus Two Special Co-Hosts For July!

I have three BIG announcements for #Blogchat in July!  The first is that Club Med will be the official sponsor for #Blogchat in July!  Club Med offers vacation resorts in several locations around the world!  Club Med is also considered the original all-inclusive resort, and one of the most recognizable brands in the world!

Club Med, Sandpiper Florida

So I know what you’re thinking, ‘So Mack, does this mean Club Med is going to give away a trip to one of its resorts? ;)’

Uh yeah, that’s exactly what it means!  As part of Club Med’s sponsorship of #Blogchat in July, they will give away a 7-night stay at a resort for 4 people!  ONE lucky winner will receive a stay at their choice of two different Club Med resorts:

Sandpiper Bay, Florida – This resort is located in Florida and perfect for families and offers plenty of sports and family-related activities.  It also has the only L’occitane Spa in North America.

Turkoise in the Caribbean –  This resort is for singles and couples and located on the island of Providenciales, in the Caribbean Sea.  It is known for its beautiful beaches and snorkeling.

The winner will be responsible for travel, and can claim the prize for up to one year, or till July 31st, 2013.  In order to be eligible to win the trip, you need to do two things:

1 – Follow Club Med on Twitter

2 – Participate in #Blogchat from 8pm-9pm Central each Sunday in July.

That’s it!  On July 29th shortly after the OPEN MIC #Blogchat ends, we’ll announce the winner!  So please follow @ClubMedOfficial on Twitter and participate in #Blogchat in July, and you’re in the running to win a trip to either Turkoise or Sandpiper Bay!

And now it’s time to cue the cheezy cable informercial guy voice: But wait, there’s MORE!

In July we will have not one but TWO special co-hosts!

The July 1st #Blogchat will kick off Club Med’s sponsorship, but it is also the night we will welcome Alexis Grant as co-host to help us learn how to Get Your Guest Posts Accepted!  This is a topic that y’all have been asking about for a while, and I said I wanted to wait till I found the perfect co-host for us!  Alexis fits the bill, as she is a digital strategist, but also the editor of Brazen Careerist!  Alexis gets pitched constantly from bloggers that want to write guest posts for Brazen Careerist, so she’ll walk us through how to craft the perfect pitch for our guest post submissions, plus how to decide what to write about!

Then on July15th, we welcome back C.C. Chapman as co-host!  Our topic on July 15th will be How to Create Content During Your Family Vacation.  I think this will be a very interesting topic as C.C. does a lot of traveling with his family, and he’ll give us some tips for not only creating content during our vacations, but also how to balance our time between recording our memories, and making those memories!  Of course, C.C. wrote THE book on content creation along with the fantabulous Ann Handley, The Content Rules!

The topics for July 8th and 22nd haven’t been set yet, but I’ll post them on Twitter and #Blogchat’s Facebook page as soon as they are!  I’m so grateful to have Club Med on as sponsor and so excited that Alexis and C.C. can join us PLUS for the topics they’ll be teaching us about!  And very happy that one of you will win a very kickass vacation!

So it looks like we are in for a big July with #Blogchat, and guess what, there’s more big #Blogchat announcements coming soon 😉

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Two Quick Tips For Building Online Engagement Like a Rockstar

One of the great things about writing Think Like a Rockstar is that it’s giving me an even deeper understanding and appreciation of how Rockstars cultivate their fans.  And it’s no coincidence that Rockstars have made excellent use of Social Media to better connect with their fans.  Here’s two quick lessons you can learn from Rockstars if you want to build more engagement around your Social Media Marketing:

1 – Use the tools in the same way that your audience does.  Rockstars like Amanda Palmer do an excellent job of using social media tools to connect with others and share content.  When we see that our favorite Rockstar uses Twitter and Facebook just like we do, it makes it much easier to relate to them, and connect with them.  And for the Rockstar, this can have real benefits…

Amanda Palmer, Kickstarter, Think Like a Rockstar

Understand who your audience is, and how they use/consume/share social content.  Once you understand their behavior, then you can follow their lead, and create the type of content they are looking for, and share/use it in the same ways they are.  Which will make it that much easier for your audience to engage with you.

2 – Don’t be afraid to be real.  Lady Gaga created a bit of a buzz recently because she tweeted a picture of herself without any makeup.  What’s the big deal?  Gaga did this because she knew it would make her fans more comfortable connecting with her, and it would make her seem ‘more real’ to them.  It’s also a sign of letting her guard down for her fans, and that makes it easier for them to trust her.

Lady Gaga, no makeupMost brands have never really understood this, but your biggest fans WANT to go behind the curtain.  They want special access and to see what happens behind the scenes.  It helps them better connect with you.  When Gaga tweets a picture without makeup, she’s saying to her fans ‘See, I have to go through putting makeup on just like you do’.  Again, it’s all about helping fans feel more connected to their favorite Rockstar.  Years ago when he was at Microsoft, Robert Scoble took a videocamera around and interviewed Microsoft employees as they were doing their jobs.  Sure, sometimes their Windows-based PCs crashed, but you know what?  It worked because it helped to humanize Microsoft.  We got to see the real faces of Microsoft’s employees, and in doing so, Microsoft went from being a huge brand that we can’t connect to, to one that has real people working for it, and once we could attach faces and voices to that brand, it was easier to connect with it.

So there’s two quick tips for helping you build engagement around your brand’s (personal or company) social media efforts.  I’ll be sharing many more tips and lessons like this in Think Like a Rockstar.  If you’d like to join the Think Like a Rockstar Book Tour, here’s details.