Techno//Marketer - Matt Dickman on Digital Marketing and Social Technology

Wham, bam, "thank you" spam

Online etiquette is a fine line. Etiquette in social media is an even finer line still. I've noticed a particularly annoying trend emerge over the past couple of months and I wanted to bring it up to get it out there and get your take on it. It's thank you spam.

I am seeing thank you spam more and more as people connect with me in social networks like Twitter, Facebook and LinkedIn. Here's how it plays out on Twitter.

1. A person follows you on the service and that sends you an email
   
2. You click on the email and go to their Twitter profile page
   
3. After vetting the person to your satisfaction you follow them back
   
4. Shortly thereafter you receive a direct message from that person with a greeting and link to their site
   
5. This direct message lands in your email and SMS (depending on how you set it up)
   
6. You are summarily annoyed
   

The reason it is annoying is that I am not asking for the pushy marketing message. I checked their profile, clicked through to their link and followed them. I don't mind people sending direct messages saying hello (though a short reply would suffice and not hit me visa SMS or email), I think it's quite nice. However, the push to a link turns it from a conversation to a sales pitch. This same type of pitch happens to me on Facebook and LinkedIn too. Those people are quickly blocked and/or decoupled.

I try to interact with people online as I would with you in person. The real life example of this type of introduction is when you go to an event, meet someone and they are immediately telling you all about themselves (usually while looking around for the next victim), not listening to a word you are saying.

Just so you can see what I am talking about, take a look at the following direct messages that I've received over the last month+. The images and names have been obscured to protect the individuals. (They know who they are.) Keep in mind, this is the very first contact that I am having with these people on Twitter.

What are your thoughts on this? Am I off base? What are your Twitter/social media etiquette tips?

UPDATE: Loic Lemeur is also seeing this trend.

Technorati Tags:
Facebook, Matt Dickman, micromedia, social media, social networks, Techno//Marketer, Twitter, thank you spam, LinkedIn

Reader poll results; what has your attention?

Many of you who read this blog through the feed don't come back to the site on a regular basis to check out new features in the sidebar. One of the features that I am really coming to like is the T//M Reader Poll. I am going to update the question once every two weeks and then report the findings in a post like this one.

The last question that I asked was "What service has your attention in the next six months?". I thought the results were pretty interesting. Twitter had a commanding 76% of the vote showing that the hype is still there and people are watching it very closely. Google Open Social was a distant second at 14%. BrightKite and FriendFeed brought up the rear with 7 and 3% respectively.

Since this is on your mind, I'll keep Twitter front and center for you and keep you posted on new tools and applications that relate to it. The newest poll question is related to the Fleishman-Hillard Digital Influence Index study that I posted about yesterday.

Take a second and weigh in when you have a chance. I'd love to hear what you think.

Technorati Tags:
FriendFeed, Matt Dickman, Techno//Marketer, Twitter, poll results, Open Social

Goal setting for a successful new year

Just a quick note to all of you, my friends, to have a very happy, successful and healthy new year. 2007 was a very rewarding year for me (started the blog and met lots of interesting people). 2008 has some pretty big changes in store for me, but I'll tell you more about that next week. Trust me, it's all good!

Now, every year I sit down in this last week and set goals for the next year. This process takes a mental and emotional investment to make sure the goals are reachable and that I'll be able to successfully achieve them. A couple of days ago, I found a great post by Keith Ferrazzi, author of the outstanding book "Never Eat Alone". Keith's company has put together a simple little Facebook application to help you make and set goals.

The part of the post that I like the most is his mention of the S.M.A.R.T. method of goal planning. Specific, Measurable, Attainable, Relevant and Time-bound. Using this method for your goal setting, either for your personal goals or goals for your professional life or even your digital marketing efforts, is extraordinarily helpful.

I mentioned Keith's Facebook app (called Goal Post) and I think it's a good example of how to create an tool that users get value from and use the power of the community. If you add the app to your profile it allows you to go in, create goals, set time deadlines and then (this where the community comes into play) you set your accountability buddies. These are friends of yours who you tell your goals and they help to hold you accountable. I think it's quite brilliant and extremely valuable.

Another great post I came across the other day was Chris Brogan's "Hitting your target for 2008". He suggests a couple great books and some even better advice. Chris recommends setting 3-5 targets and are attainable. Make these targets into simple maps and post them where you can see them.

I hope those two items give you some great thought starters for your goal setting in 2008. I hope you make it your best year yet.

Technorati Tags:
Matt Dickman, Techno//Marketer, Chris Brogan, Keith Ferrazzi, goals

What I'm really thankful for, is you!

On this US holiday of Thanksgiving, it gives me a chance to reflect on the past year and count my blessings. I have a fantastic, beautiful wife, two hilarious dogs, a great family and marvelous friends.

On top of that, though, I have you guys. My readers. Without you there is no reason to blog. You give me fabulous insights, cheer me on and call me out. I look forward to waking up every morning and creating content so I can get your thoughts.

So, no matter where you are in the world, I send you my thanks! You guys really make it all worth while.

Here is a quick video (featuring the dogs):

Technorati Tags:
Matt Dickman, Techno//Marketer, thanksgiving

The blogger, journalist divide

This post is a little off-topic for Techno//Marketer, but I think it's an important issue to address concerning social media and it happened in my hometown. (This post is not, and will never be, political in nature.) The local newspaper here in Cleveland, The Plain Dealer, took a fairly progressive step and created an area of their site dedicated to political debate and hired four bloggers to create the content. Two covered things from a liberal perspective and two from a conservative under the banner "Wide Open".

As of November 2, 2007 the project has been cancelled in the midst of quite a bit of controversy. Here is how things played out. These four bloggers were hired by the paper to present their opinions as bloggers. One of the bloggers openly attacked a politician's policies and stated that he had contributed to the campaign of that politician's opponent. The politician who was attacked complained to a Plain Dealer reporter who relayed his concerns to the PD's editor. The editor asked the blogger to refrain from covering that candidate and when the blogger refused, he was fired. Subsequently, one other blogger quit the project in protest which led to its suspension.

According to the blogger who was let go, he (and the others) were hired as just that. Bloggers. Not reporters. The bloggers were being paid, which is where I think this gets a little gray and his contribution to the opponent's campaign just adds to the fire.

So let me turn this to you, my readers and get your input on the crossroads of blogging and journalism. Here are some important questions to ponder:

• Can a newspaper include blogger content and have editorial separation?
  
• Are bloggers and journalists separate anymore?
  
• If they are, are they bound by the same code of ethics?
  
• Does paying the bloggers create the conflict of interest?
  
• Do you think the Plain Dealer would have pulled an editorial piece under pressure from a politician?
  
• Can traditional newspapers survive against pressure from citizen journalism?
  
• What if no money had changed hands and the bloggers just contributed? Does that change things?
  

Let me hear what you think! Can we all just get along?

Technorati Tags:
Cleveland, Matt Dickman, Techno//Marketer, Plain Dealer, Newspapers, Journalism, Blogging, Ethics

The Radiohead experiment; a fan's view

I am sure that if you read this blog, or other blogs with a similar focus, you've doubtlessly heard about British band Radiohead's new, open pricing experiment. If you have not, here is the overview. There is no price for their new album "In Rainbows". You as a user choose the price that you are willing to pay for the album and there are no limits. If you want it for free, it's yours. If you want to pay $100, they'll take your money.

While this has been covered by every newspaper and blogger from here to Timbiktu, I want to add a slightly different take on things. I want to tell you about my viewpoint as a FAN. I love Radiohead. I've seen them in concert 5+ times (they don't tour a lot) and I own every album they have produced. When this situation came up, I immediately thought about my valuation of their album using past experience and emotional connection to the band.

So what am I going to pay? $25 (USD). That's more than I've ever payed for a single release album. Why am I paying so much? Here is my thinking. The band has provided me countless hours of enjoyment over the years, set memories to music and given it their all from the CD to the stage. I also know that in the past when I purchase one of their albums, the band gets completely hosed. I remember reading at one point that only about $.50 from each album sale goes to the band members, so this is a chance to make sure they get what they deserve.

I think there are a number of loyal fans that will pay top dollar for this release, but I know there are many who will pay less or take the album for free. (Not sure how it will pan out financially for the band or how they'll be tracked on the charts.) Free isn't necessarily bad though. I guarantee the next time they come to town a lot more people will know who they are and will attend the show, because they'll have their music on their iPod.

Radiohead is a fairly broad-reaching band, but they're not in the mainstream like a U2 or Dave Matthews Band. That would be the ultimate social experiment...can this open pricing model work on a mass, global scale?

This could signal a fundamental shift in the music industry where the content will be the giveaway/promotion as bands make their money touring? What's more profitable, making $.50 a copy or introducing millions of people to your brand?

[UPDATE:] Check out Mack's post with some results and more thinking on this topic.

Technorati Tags:
innovation, marketing, Matt Dickman, social media, Techno//Marketer, Word of Mouth, Radiohead

Gartner's grasp of the obvious is uncanny

I saw this post come across on Mashable's Twitter feed titled "Gartner Report Warns Against Brands in Second Life". It got my attention because of the danger posed to the big B-word. Brand. Like I did, you may look at the title and think to yourself "Wow, if Gartner says it, I better just stay away". Here is a link to the Gartner release.

Here is the real point of the story. If you are a company (any company) and you open SL to your internal network, or if you transfer sensitive data in SL, you are at risk. Pretty brilliant eh? (This is the case with any web-based/enabled application by the way.) Good IT people can work around these challenges and protect you from nefarious, evil doers.

As the anti-SL hype builds, please take my advice from my post on this last week. If your audience is using virtual worlds, you should consider it. We're very early in the life cycle of virtual worlds and it's ONE platform, not THE platform. Keep an open mind, start small and build as demand increases. Plus you can call me and I'll personally walk you through getting up and running.

P.S.: Here are some other headlines that Gartner could pick from to equally scare marketers into buying reports, send checks payable to me if you will:

• Gartner report warns brands against hiring apathetic people
  
• Gartner report warns brands against giving employees access to any of your data
  
• Gartner report warns brands against blogging
  
• Gartner report warns brands against websites with feedback forms
  
• Gartner report warns brands against paying too much for data that you could have found yourself someplace else like say Google (I kid...or do I?)
  

Any touch point with a customer can have an impact on branding. SL is no different.

Technorati Tags:
marketing, Matt Dickman, second life, Techno//Marketer, technology, Gartner, virtual worlds, security

Social media is a marathon

My wife is going to run the Chicago marathon in early October. Before she started training, however, I had not really thought about what is involved in getting ready to run 26.2 miles. The race is about three months away and she's already running 12 miles one day a week. As with most things in my life, I thought about this in terms of marketing and technology. More specifically, I thought about how social media is like a marathon.

A big problem that a lot of companies face is thinking social media is a sprint. Sprinters concetrate on pure muscle strength sacraficing endurance, where marathoners have to build strength with a balance or endurance as well as mental toughness. Here are some parallels that I see in how marketers are approaching social media.

Sprinters:
Social media sprinters may take on too much from the outset. Social media takes time and energy and pace is a key. You've all seen it, a company launches a blog to much hoopla and posts are steady through weeks 1 and 2. Week 3 sees a slight drop off on content followed by similar decreases in subsequent weeks until the blog is on life support.

This is a waste of the company's time as well as the readers. Long-term sustainability is crucial. Some social media sprinters don't have the mental toughness. Creating content and interacting with customers and visitors is tedious and time consuming. Sprinters don't see through those challenges to the end vision nor do sprinters fully understand the space. Most likely they are just looking for a little press and in the end everyone loses.

Marathoning:
Marathoning is all about steady build-up towards the end goal. In the case of social media the end goal is adding value to the community. If press is your main goal, this may not be for you. Social media takes dedication, passion and the ability to place the community above self. So how do you start? You need a training plan of course. Here is a sample training plan to get in the game:

Think, plan and dream. Set big goals. Picture what you want to see in one and two years.

Start slow and build over time. Use the space to listen to other social media experts. Leave comments, send emails, make phone calls. Soak up everything you can. Make notes of what you like and don't like.

After listening for a while, you should get the nerve up to jump in. One good way to test the waters is to take a test drive. A few services offer 30 day trials (Typepad) or are completely free (Blogger). The only expense will be your time (and a lot of it, don't kid yourself). Kick the tires. Post every day for two weeks and see how it feels. Keep the posts private for now, but invite some trusted friends to read what you have going and give you feedback.

If after two weeks you are comfortable, let the public have access to the blog. Start pinging services like Technorati to let them know you are there and to get into search results. Reach out to other bloggers by commenting on their sites. Keep those trusted friends engaged, they know you and can tell you if you stray off course. Keep in touch with other bloggers and invite them to read what you've written if it applies to them and ask for feedback. Use services like del.icio.us, flickr, YouTube, Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter, etc. to get your content out there and engage in other networks.

The most important part of the process is to have patience. It can be frustrating to create content that nobody is reading, but keep on it. Reach to create better content. Tap other resources to engage their networks. As in marathon training, you have to keep the end goal in mind. It's easy to quit, but trust me you will miss out on the best experience of your marketing life.

If you stick with it the possibilities are endless. You'll meet new friends, become a better marketer, become a better writer and be able to take advantage of new technology to reach more customers and grow your business.

Social media is challenging. It's time consuming, but in the end rewarding. Stick to your plan and keep creating content. Never before has the phrase "if you build it they will come" been more apropos if you put in a little effort. If you do, you can harness this space to grow personally and professionally.

Technorati Tags:
marketing, user generated content, social networks, social marketing, blogs, Twitter, Flickr, tagging, Techno//Marketer, Matt Dickman, Facebook

Blast from the past

Patrick Schaber at The Lonely Marketer and Matt McGee over at Small Business SEM have started a nice little meme where bloggers go back into the archives and pull out a couple of posts that recent readers may have missed. Thank you for looping me in Patrick.

Here are a couple of my posts that I quite liked from a few months ago. Let's see what you think:

• 20 common mistakes of eager bloggers - Met an old hero (Marshall Goldsmith) and a new hero (Valeria Maltoni)
• Mobile marketing 101: Yes means no (until you say it twice) - One of my favorite mobile posts
• "Stealth marketing" is NOT marketing - Too many marketers use underhanded tactics and it's giving us a bad namec
• Dell finally creates real conversation - Good feedback from a lot of sources on this post.
• More great environmental, interactive advertising - Good to see some advertisers get it and tailor ads to the environment.

Along Patrick's line I will also use this post to tip a couple of blogs. Here are a
few that I've subscribed to and read each and every day:

• Mark Goren's Transmission Marketing: Mark and I met in NYC a while back and I read his blog religiously. A super smart and very well written blog.
• Anna Farmery's The Engaging Brand: Anna is a super connector, and instantly warm. Check out her podcasts or her writing and you'll see what I mean.
• Iain Tait's CrackUnit: Iain exudes creativity and passion, plus he works at one of my favorite shops Poke London
• Ryan Karpeles' Living Lightbulbs: Ryan's fresh on the scene, but wise beyond his years
• Helen Keegan's Musings of a Mobile Marketer: Helen is super smart and on the leading edge

I hope you enjoy the posts and new blogs. I'd encourage each of those bloggers to pull up some of their favorite content from the past for the education of recent subscribers and to share their most recent favorite blogs.

Hey bloggers, wanna get social?

In the past I've had the great fortune to personally meet the people behind some really great blogs. That experience is among the most powerful I've had in my time blogging here at Techno//Marketer.

This power of personal connection led CK and Drew McLellan to have an idea. What if there was an event for bloggers centered around being social? Not around keynotes and breakout sessions. They came up with the core ideas for Blogger Social '08. The idea of this weekend gathering is to get marketing bloggers together in one place at one time and let them get to know one another.

Per CK:

The thinking is to descend upon a designated city with a weekend full of events where the only thing on the agenda is that there really isn't an agenda--just a series of events designed around getting to know one another. Better still, there would be plenty of free time in-between the handful of (amazing!) events for everyone to make time to meet with the people they want face-to-face and one-on-one time with.

And that's when Drew said, "Well, when do we do it?" This is what I love about Drew, he goes right into action-point mode. Ah, a man after my own action points. So the idea behind 'Blogger Social' was born.

What we're brainstorming is 3 main events over a weekend: think a casual party on Friday night (from 7p - 1a), a big BBQ or ride on a boat around the city on Saturday afternoon (from 12p - 3p) and an absolutely fantastic GALA (!) event on Saturday evening that goes from dusk well into dawn.

So bring jeans, shorts and a cute little black number (and females should also bring a cute little black number ;-). But please leave your computer at home (or in your hotel room). Because this weekend...for one especially social weekend...we don't type, we talk. More important, we laugh. A lot.

If you are interested in this event, please take five minutes to head over to a survey and share your opinion (thanks to Cam for setting this up).

This is a fantastic way to get to know people on a personal level. Bonds are formed very quickly I assure you plus bloggers are cool. What more do you need? Feel free to copy this logo (Luc from MindBlog did a great job on it) and promote it yourself. Let's get social!

Mark Goren will be there. So will CK, Drew and Cam. Will you?

Technorati Tags:
Techno//Marketer, Matt Dickman, Bloggers Social 08