THE PERFECT DATE

Topics CoveredWhat is Social MediaSay hello to Social MediaEveryone is a PublisherA Picture is Worth a Thousand WordsRSSMobile StrategyAccess Model

Is Social Media a Fad?

What is Social Media?Social media is all about enabling conversations.

What is Social Media?You Cannot control conversations, but you can influence them.

What is Social Media?Influence is the bedrock upon which all economically viable relationships are built & Paranoia has a purpose

What is Social Media?It’s all about engagementCommunicationCollaborationEducationEntertainment

What is Social Media?Find and Exploit Your NicheThe Formula for Success: Experiment and Explore

What is Social Media?Self Assessment: Social Media Inside Your OrganizationWould people in your organization be more effective if they could communicate more quickly and precisely with one another?Would people in your organization be more productive if they were able to work in a more collaborative environment?

What is Social Media?Self Assessment: Social Media Inside Your OrganizationDoes entertainment play a role in the way your company operates? In other words, could the environment be improved by increasing the fun quotient?Could employee training and development be improved?Do people in you organization feel as though they are stakeholders? In other words, are they fully engaged in the business’s mission?

What is Social Media?Say Hello to Social Networking

What is Social Media?Social Media Marketing as tacticAdvertisingDirect MailTV adNewspaper / Magazine SOCIAL MEDIA MarketingAdvertisingCommunication

What is Social Media?MyspaceFacebookTwitterLinked InYouTubeJust to name a few

What is Social Media?Myspace.com Fox’s Rupert Murdoch’s News Corporation acquired Myspace for $580million In Aug. 2006 Google signed a $900 million deal with Myspace to provide search and advertising tools.Still a very popular music app2009 became the largest Twitter app

What is Social Media?Linkedin (The Kevin Bacon Effect)Online professional contact database launched in 2007The typical linked in member is 41 years old with an average household income of $109,70464% of members are male81% are college graduates

What is Social Media?Twitter Microblogging140 characters or lessWhat are you doing? Tools to:MeasureTrackCollaborate

What is Social Media?Twitter.com Thou Shalt begin microbloggingThou shalt tweetThou shalt follow twittersThou shalt invite others to follow you

What is Social Media?Google alertsFacebook.com/srch.phpTweetbeep.com Search.twitter.com Youtube searchTweetchat.com

Everyone’s a Publisher

Everyone’s a PublisherMacRumors.comAttracts 4.4 Million people per monthEstimated could be sold for $25 Million or More

Everyone’s a PublisherDailyCandy.comFree Daily Email- In August 2008, Comcast bought Daily Candy for @ $125 Million

Everyone’s a PublisherDivorcingDaze.comPodcast: 10,000 listeners. Advertisers = Hanes, Avon, and HerRoom

Everyone’s a PublisherWhat’s in it for you?Three compelling reasons to think like a publisher:SurvivalIncreased RevenuesHigher Profit Margins

Everyone’s a PublisherSocial Media JudoUsing your opponent’s mass to your advantageCooperation (Trip Advisor / Orbits)

Everyone’s a PublisherMonetize Your ExperienceConvert knowledge / Perspective into contentDetermine how many of your customers are online Car Talk: Most Popular show on NPR

Everyone’s a PublisherContentHow would you develop content around your expertise if you owned a bakery or ran a lumber supply business?Better yet, how will you do it for your current business?

Everyone’s a PublisherBasic PrinciplesFind a voice that can fill a need or solve a problemEstablish Audience Archetypes or PersonasCreate a Community Make it Free

Everyone’s a PublisherEncourage User-Generated Content

Everyone’s a PublisherEncourage User-Generated Content

Everyone’s a PublisherFive Ways Content Engages PeopleThe will willingly become co-producers or content contributors.They will comment on content that you or someone else in the community has created.They will refer your content to friends or colleagues.They will simply read your contentThey will ignore your content

Everyone’s a PublisherMaster the Social Media Press Release

Everyone’s a PublisherCan you really make money?You Can make money with your content and you can help your business survive and thrive, but it’s not accidental. You need to plan for success.

A Picture is Worth A Thousand Words

A Picture is Worth a Thousand Words Photo Sharing“What if a prospect you were trying to land was doing some research on your product and went to Google Images, Flicker, or Photo Bucket and searched for either your trademarked name or a generic description of your product--- and they found photo after photo?”

A Picture is Worth a Thousand WordsGoogle Images

A Picture is Worth a Thousand WordsGoogle Images

A Picture is Worth a Thousand WordsFlicker

A Picture is Worth a Thousand WordsPhoto Bucket

A Picture is Worth a Thousand WordsCommandmentsThou shalt take a lot of photographsThou shalt edit your photographsThou shalt uploadThou shalt use meta tags and descriptionsThou shalt create and join groupsThou shalt comment

Got Video?The evolution of dance

Live From Anywhere --- It’sLive-casting Upstream

Live From Anywhere --- It’sLive-casting Blog talk Radio

Live From Anywhere --- It’sLivecasting Justin.TV

Live From Anywhere --- It’sLive-castingThou Shalt explore live-castingThou shalt get a webcamThou shalt try a webinar or your own radio showThou shalt try a web conference

“Tribes”

“Tribes”LeadersChallenge the status quoeBuild a cultureCuriosity Connect ppl to one anotherCommit Create a movement!

RSSReally Simple Syndication

A way to feed your web pages, blogs, audio, video, photographs automatically to people who subscribe to your feeds.

Social BookmarkingAre Small Icons found on nearly all blogs, websites, news sites, sports sites …

Add This.com

SEOSearch Engine Optimization

SEOTechniques by which you optimize your web pages, photos, and even videos to maximize search engine rankings. When people are conducting an online search for the type of product or service you provide, they will use their favorite search engine. Type in one or two words.

SEOCommandmentsThou Shalt understand your keywords for eery pageThou shalt check your page titlesThou shalt check your meta keywordsThou shalt build your external reputable linksThou shalt never try to trick a spikerThou shalt always have a strong WIIFM

Mobile

What's a Cell Phone for Anyway? Survey of 2,365 adults19% of the people 55 and over say they use the calendar and address book features on their phones.15% say they download ringtones.Vs56% of people between the ages of 18 and 34 who rely on the calendar and address functions.47% of people in that age bracket download ringtones. Also among the survey's findings: Men are more likely to use the extra features on a cell phone than women, and people with a college education are more likely to use additional features than those without a college degree.

Inside the App Economy

Pizza Hut iPhone app generates $1M in sales

The Four Pillars of Social Media Strategy

Four Pillars of Social Media StrategyCommunicationCollaborationEducation Entertainment

What are you reallycommunicating?How is your communication perceived by your audience? How do you measure the effectiveness of your communication strategy? Which particular strategy triggers the most beneficial action, response, or behavior from your audience?Most don’t measure Social Media tools allow measurement & Feedback

In Celebration of CollaborationWhat tools does your company use to foster collaboration among coworkersWhile brainstorming, email, fax machines might be considered collaboration tools.Company Wiki Customer Advisory Committee

Engagement Through Education Big Tony Convert your expertise into content5,000 channel views >@ 200 Subscribers >>One video has 35,000 views >Product Placement

Now That’s EntertainmentDon’t Be afraid to experiment.Be interesting and compelling rather than miss the mark.Don’t avoid humor, just respect it

Don’t Be afraid to experiment.

Be interesting and compelling rather than miss the mark.

Don’t avoid humor, just respect it

Entertain your audience and have them invite their friendsBlog >>>>> Book $300,000 advance >>>> YouTube>>> Through 2008 Blog 51million hits

Entertain your audience and have them invite their friends100 Million YouTube hits

Giving up Some Controland Seeking InfluenceEmbracing social media doesn’t mean you should abandon everything you’ve learned about business, but it does require you to challenge a few of the practices you’ve probably been observing for years.Careful management and protection of your brand. A brand means something to your cust. The relationship between the brand and cust. Needs to be nurtured

Giving Up Control & Seeking InfluenceRule one: Social media is all about enabling the conversations among your audience or market.Rule Two: You cannot control conversations with social media, but you can influence them.Rule Three: Influence is the bedrock on which all economically viable relationships are built.Paranoia in business is good

Determine How Your Content Defines YouYou as PublisherHow do you determine content? Your content consists of:Products and services you promote on the InternetExpertise you package, often to complement your products and servicesThings you allow or encourage your audience to contribute (UGC)Conversations about your content that you enable, influence and archive.

Creating a community around your contentFive Behaviors people will exhibit towards your content.They will become active co-producersThey will comment on contentThey will refer your content to friends or colleaguesThey will simply view your contentThey will ignore your content.

Five Kinds of CommunitiesMetropolis Communities – MySpace Facebook. They have millions of members with diverse interests. People don’t generally join Metropolis Communities because they’re trying to find plumbers, blenders, or mousetraps. They join to have conversations with friends and share moments.Affinity Communities: Some people are passionate about NPR – You can become a member NPR.org and actively engage other members.Intra company Communities.Vertical Communities: Industry or lifestyle specific communities. (Associations)Horizontal communities: Not industry specific, but focus on functional groups or expertise that can cut across industries. Human resources, supply chain management.

Establishing and Managing your CommunityWhat functions and features do I want to have available to my community?What will be the expense of building and maintaining the community?Will I need internal human resources to build and maintain the community, or can I outsource the work?How long will it take to get the community launched?What are my competitors doing in this space and what tools do they appear to be deploying?

Tips for Managing your CommunityAppoint a community manager – someone there to welcome people as they come in the door.Identify community evangelistsAlign your content with audience needsEncourage user generated content

The Access Model

The ACCESS ModelAUDIENCECONCEPTCOMPETITIONEXECUTIONSOCIAL MEDIASALES VIABILITY

THE ACCESS MODELCreate Audience personas for your communityDevelop and validate the concept behind your contentAssess your competitionValidate the execution of your conceptMake Social Media a part of your success formulaAssess your concept’s sales viability

The ACCESS MODELYour Audience is CrucialTerm Audience vs. Market, Market Niche, Market segment, market spaceIn most conversations, you should be able to use the terms audience and market interchangeably.As you develop internal and external Social Media Strategies, you’ll begin to appreciate the subtle differences

The ACCESS MODELIdentifying your audienceAudience - Consumes content and represents an opportunity for an interactive relationshipThe relationship allows you to employ four pillarsCommunicate – Collaborate – Educate – Entertain A Social Media Audience is Quicker than a traditional market to react to things.Your ability to quickly alter a messaging or positioning strategy or the attributes of your offering is enhanced by increased audience reaction times. Hence Your relationship is crucial to your success

The ACCESS MODELIdentifying your audienceDemonstrated behaviors: Frequent shopper card determine purchase behaviors/patternsOnline tracking – Google Analytics Those who join your community by registering or creating a profile are more valuable because you can connect their online actions to personally identifiable information.

The ACCESS MODELIdentifying your audienceSelf Reported Behaviors:“What people say they do and what they actually do are not always the same”Surveys, Virtual Focus GroupsCollaborative tools

The ACCESS MODELIdentifying your audienceAttitudes, Values, Beliefs: Core Values vs. Specific ValuesSpecific values = being frugal, or environmentally focusedBeliefs: are a subjective perception of the degree to which a product or service functions based on key attributesBeliefs and personal values create either favorable or unfavorable attitudes about products and services

The ACCESS MODELIdentifying your AudienceNeeds and Preferences: A Need is a validated requirement necessary to function in a particular environmentYour Audience preferences require you to either ask them or to tap into their demonstrated or self-reported behaviors to find a predictive pattern.

The ACCESS MODELIdentifying your audienceDemographic Data:AgeEducationLocationHousehold income

The ACCESS MODELIdentifying your audienceProfessional, Social, and Service Organizations: People who join organizations tend to be good networkers, connectors, promoters, and influencers of other people.

The ACCESS MODELIdentifying your audienceInfluencers and Promoters: Within in every group, you will find a small number of individuals who have a knack for influencing what other members of the group say.These people have tremendous viral valueGuy KawasakiSeth GodinGary Vaynerchuk

The ACCESS MODELCreating Audience Archetypes or PersonasCreate four or five audience archetypes or personasFind common characteristics that allow you to visualize and interact with each one.Rather than an audience of hundreds or thousands, you’re reaching out to a small group of four or five. (In reality, you are reaching hundreds or thousands, but by using personas you can create the verisimilitude of a dinner conversation with friends)

The ACCESS MODELImportance of Your ConceptWhat is your Concept?Take some aspect of your business and consider the challenges defining the community around it.Think in terms of the needs of your potential community rather than the needs of your business.

The ACCESS MODELImportance of Your ConceptYour business needs to make stuff and sell stuff or provide services that make money.You will not be successful rallying people around your need to generate revenuePeople need to know something about your area of expertise.

The ACCESS MODELConvert your concept into a concept statement“An online community for people who are interested in organic gardening. The community would feature expert advice on how to grow a wide variety of vegetables. The website for the community would feature photos and videos showing the different aspects of starting and maintaining an organic garden. Community members would be encouraged to upload their own photos, videos and share their organic gardening experiences. Community members would also be able to rate and comment on different products available to organic gardeners. This web site would also offer a vegetable exchange center where people can barter and trade their organic produce.” pg. 727

The ACCESS MODELPrepare and test and validate your conceptOpportunity Analysis: Provide more details than your concept statementDemonstrate some sample material to show how you intend to execute upon your concept.Determine what other companies, organizations or individuals may be competing for the attention of your potential audience.

The ACCESS MODELUnderstanding Your CompetitionCompetition is a good thingCompetition means there is an audienceNo competition means there is no audienceThe Key: Understanding your competition well enough that you are able to determine the compelling advantages of your concept over theirs.

The ACCESS MODELUnderstanding CompetitionThe Difference between Knowing and UnderstandingSpreadsheet: create lists -visit sites: Features attributesWhich tools are they using?Consider the quality of their contentDetermine how active their community members are.

The ACCESS MODELEssence of Execution“The devil is in the details”Theories:Simply get your content on the market and accept the fact that it’s not perfect.Note: If your competitors have staked their turf, you can not risk entering with subpar content. 2. Do your research and analysis, take careful aim and fire only when ready.Note: You give up first mover advantage

The ACCESS MODELEssence of ExecutionWhat Exactly is Execution?The sample content that gives your potential audience the flavor and fell of the finished offering. Video, Audio, Photos and more.Demonstrate to your audience that your concept statement can be realizedHighlight at least a few of the comparative advantages of your concept over your competition.

The ACCESS MODELEssence of ExecutionThe Third Theory: The ACCESS Model is the third theory, and it combines the best of the other two theories.Involving your audience in the process of refining and positioning your concept.By asking a slice of your audience to rate and review your concept statement and sample execution you do not run the risk of simply throwing content at them.

The ACCESS MODELSocial MediaOpportunity Analysis: Get a large sample of people to review and comment on your concept statement and sample materials.What you will be presenting to and seeking from those involved in your opportunity analysis: Your 100 – word concept statementFour or five brief samples of content that highlights the execution of your conceptSelf-reported behavior questions that focus on the things they already to relative to your concept. (does their behavior suggest a need for your concept?)

The ACCESS MODELSocial MediaCont..What you will be presenting to and seeking from those involved in your opportunity analysis: Self-reported behaviors questions relative to your competitors. (How do they currently interact with potential competitors?)Attitude, value, and belief questions relative to your conceptPreference questions relative to your conceptQuestions about professional, social, and service organizations to which they belongBasic demographic questions and contact information

The ACCESS MODELThe Wisdom of the Crowd and Crowd SourcingDoing an opportunity analysis is a method of leveraging the wisdom of the crowd – Your Audience.Book argues: Knowledge of a group will often surpass that of any one individual

The ACCESS MODELSales ViabilityWhat are you selling to your community?Six Revenue Models:Products, services, and information: most traditionalAdvertising and sponsorship: Advertising opportunities on your site. Or event sponsorshipTransactions or Commissions: revenue generated by taking a commission or a transaction fee. (i.e. hotels.com Charles Schwab)Subscriptions: Sell subscriptions“Freemium”: offers something for free and an upgraded or premium versionSaaS: “Software as a Service” Survey Monkey, Google Apps.

Evaluate and Organize Existing ResourcesIntroduce the Social Media Awareness Index to others at your organizationAggregate the numbers based on your colleagues’ social media tool scorecardsLocate your social media starting pointDetermine your company’s social media readiness from a technology standpoint.

Your Implementation PlanDefine your personal social media strategyDefine a 12-month social media macro strategy for your businessWork through a six step process for implementing your strategy

Your Social Media Business StrategyStep one: Define a 12-month social media macro strategy.Add a tool each monthSelect your 12 tools

Your Social Media Business StrategyStep two: Engage Your EmployeesUse the tools on a day to day basisStep Three: Get Closer to Customers and ProspectsCreate a public facing blogUse search tool to identify blogs and topics that may be important to your businessCreate a face book account for your companyUse tools such as Go To meetings to engage your customers and prospects

Your Social Media Business StrategyStep Four: Think like a publisher Step Five: Create a communityStep Six: Measure what’s most important

The Social Media EcosystemWild and evolvingMany opportunitiesGo forth and connect!

Special Thanks to: Lon Safko & David Brake Authors Of:The Social Media Bible Wiley publishing

About UsEvent and marketing specialist, Cheryl Lawson is the owner of The Perfect Date event planning and marketing firm.AKA @Partyaficionado, Cheryl uses her years of experience to help clients and students manage their way through the social media universe.Partyaficionado@gmail.com