39. “No matter how much you plan, it is
tenacity, unyielding desire to succeed, and the
ability to cope with change that will eventually
prevail.”.
Perry Payne (born 1966), Rugby Player, Father, Executive
TENACITY
65. Social Networks
Data and charts of our Facebook and Twitter account performance via http://export.ly
66. Social News / Bookmarking
http://news.ycombinator.com, http://delicious.com, http://stumbleupon.com and
http://reddit.com have historically performed best for us, but you should test results
71. Involve a Sharing-Incented Community
The brilliant strategy by http://www.urbanspoon.com made them one of the biggest players in
the local restaurant business and got them acquired by IAC
72. Design Like an “Award Winner”
Check out http://google.com/search?q=css+gallery for tons of great galleries and inspiration
87. Q+A
SCB2012
60 days to play w/Mozzers
(…and kick off your own community!)
• Twitter: @SEOmom
• Blog: www.seomoz.org/blog
• Email: gillian@seomoz.org
Editor's Notes
The era of traditional sales is officially over
People all over the world are declining to watch, listen to, or be persuaded by ‘in your face’, one-way communications and ‘pushy’, interruptive ads.
From Raving Fans…
to Conversation Marketing
and Friends-of-Fans marketing
we are witnessing a huge shift in the marketing and buying consideration process
Someone brilliant told me recently that Social Media does not create or change the story of a company
It merely increases the speed with which the message travels
…and the breadth of the coverage of the message
The common conversation around Social Media is mired in tactical advice
Select platforms
Target markets
Likes are the new links
Depth + breadth of engagement = ROI
Etc. And these conversations ARE important… and we’re going to hear a lot about the tactics that work and those that don’t from amazingly transparent and generous marketers of some pretty powerful brands here today. In advance, I’m going to say, “thank you.” What you share today will not only improve the professional lives of us in your audience, but elevate your brands in our eyes.
To kick things off this AM, I’m going to talk about the Nature of Social Media – what it does and how it does it…
So that the trains leaving your station
carries the message you want it to carry
What is the ‘truth’ that Social Media is spreading so efficiently? It’s the truth about the nature of a company or brand. That’s what it’s spreading
The nature of a company can sometimes be found in its guiding principles
But whether it’s nature is codified in written tenets or not
The nature of a company is always found in its processes
Here’s the story of how SEOmoz built the world’s largest brand in search marketing software using Social Media - Inbound marketing.
1981. I opened a small consultancy
I raised 3 children under my desk
I teach the children, “If you share, you will get more”.
Later this same sentiment became popularized by a movie called, “Pay It Forward” We built a company based on that premise.. And darn, if it didn’t work out well!
In 1993, I became involved in a web startup
In 1999, Rand joined the company; we added websites to our corporate identity work
Rand was already searching for the idea that would make his mark in the new economy
Yes, it IS personal!He wrote in his first online bio on our website:The future of the Internet is as unimaginable today, as the future of flight at the turn of the last century. We have the opportunity to populate this new universe, unfettered by the laws of physics. I take that opportunity as an obligation.”I cried. I (kid) down. Two to go.
In 2001, the dot-com bubble burst and I wet out to make the rain fall while we continued to search for our BHAG.
We designed, authored, developed, deployed, managed, marketed, and maintained our clients’ websites. We made our living by taking a percentage of adjusted gross online sales.
That meant the sites had to be found in the SERPs.We farmed out the SEO project to 4 companies, none of which could do the job.
So Rand studied the subject.He learned it so well, that a competitor of one of our clients posted this help wanted ad:Anyone who wants to go head to head against Rand Fishkin for the term Hard Money, apply here.
We climbed out of ‘The Dip’, into profitability
2003 Rand begins to write SEOmoz.org to share what he’s learning about SEO with others. Opening comments and allowing others to blog generates interest from intelligent, capable SEOs
“No matter how much you plan, it is tenacity, unyielding desire to succeed, and the ability to cope with change that will eventually prevail.”.Perry Payne (born 1966), Rugby Player, Father, Executive
2002. Rand blogs every day
2003. Rand continues to blog every day
2004. Rand continues to blog every day
2004. Rand continues to blog every day
2005.Danny Sullivan invites Rand to attend SES NYC
MysteryGuest suggests wearing Yellow Shoes
@SiFish joins Rand in NYC.
November, 2005. A colleague suggests Newsweek interview Rand and SEOmoz. Issue: Dec 2006
2006. Rand publishes SEOmoz income numbers on the blog.
2007.Brand of Rand Fishkin / SEOmoz.org increases and gets on VC’s radar and the company is funded.
REPUTATION IS STICKY2011. People still remember this amazing transparency. When Rand ‘live blogged’ our 2010 and 2011 failed forays into additional investment, people around the world remembered the first publication of our SEO consultancy numbers and applauded our continued transparency.
Rand increases his social reach
SEOmoz’ basic stats – without placing a single ‘paid ad’ until late 2010.
Tactics.
We accomplished it through ALL the pieces of inbound marketing. This includes SEO and email marketing as well as what we’d now call ‘traditional’ social media marketing.
Pssst… these are the MONEY SLIDES!
Mozcation, Post-It Wars, and RogerBot are all demonstrations of the FUN concept at SEOmoz. Be sure you mindfully create representations of the message you’re trying to portray.
Mozcation, Post-It Wars, and RogerBot are all demonstrations of the FUN concept at SEOmoz. Be sure you mindfully create representations of the message you’re trying to portray.
Mozcation, Post-It Wars, and RogerBot are all demonstrations of the FUN concept at SEOmoz. Be sure you mindfully create representations of the message you’re trying to portray.
Mozcation, Post-It Wars, and Roger Mozbot are all demonstrations of the FUN concept at SEOmoz. Be sure you mindfully create representations of the message you’re trying to portray.
Linkscape, the thing that could not be done – the BHAG. IMO, for an esoteric B2B company, having all the ‘fun’ elements without having some serious game under the hood would backfire.We have fun with the product launchAnd we get as ‘salesy’ as we’ve ever been.
2010 – We attempt to raise money and share how we do it. That was easy.
2011 – We blow it again. And share it again. That’s not so easy.
2010. Jen doesn’t feel well. Corporate policy, having nothing to do with the quality of the product will affect brand viability… and social media spreads that words really efficiently, too.
Build the dot-org first. Keep it silo’d. Connect it when you’re ready.
If you start your community as a for-profit company, consider creating a ‘pirate ship’ inside your organization to create the community around it.
Be the center of the conversation. Since the blog must be of the highest order (Exceptional Work), we created YOUmoz to accept the ideas and research efforts of our community. We use ‘game theory’ to vote up and promote excellent posts to the main blog. Keep it fluid. Your community manager must have discretionary power.
Your corporation should be known for building personal brands, increasing skills, and providing a ‘ladder’, internally and externally, for all your team members. If there isn’t a place for a team member to grow inside your organization, they WILL move to grow outside it. Be supportive; pay it forward. It WILL bring you ‘more’.