(www.inkthinkerblog.com) — I’m at SOBCon09 in Chicago with @lizstrauss and @starbucker. I’m taking notes as people talk, so there will be typos; deal with it. KD Paine (@kdpaine) is going to talk about the ROI (return on investment) of relationships.

You can’t manage what you can’t measure.

Reasons people don’t measure:

• You’re afraid it will show that what you’re doing doesn’t work.
• You’re afraid of what you’ll hear, but if you don’t listen, your enemies will hear.
• You’re afraid you can’t justify your existence, but it’s not about justifying so much as improving.
• You’re afraid you’ll be fired for presenting the wrong numbers… but if you present the wrong numbers you should be fired anyway.

Now it’s not about just one-way communication. It’s about listening to your customers. All research and measurement are are listening better. [continue reading…]

(www.inkthinkerblog.com) — I’m at SOBCon09 in Chicago with @lizstrauss and @starbucker. I’m taking notes as people talk, so there will be typos; deal with it. I totally checked out for session 3 on e-commerce. I heard that the tension in the room was palpable. Best to check out the Twitter stream for #SOBCon for the dirt. Anyway, this session is on integrating online and offline customer outreach, with Geoff Livingston (@geoffliving).

Integrating social media into the larger communications mix. Using any type of communication to achieve our target result; it just comes down to which set of tools we’re going to use. SM is great for getting people to talk, but not great for getting people to do anything else unless you have a really great integrated campaign. Does a shiny object necessarily help us achieve a result? A lot of people are suffering from shiny object syndrome.

But social media can’t stand alone. Most people handle marketing in silos. 1.0 website, check. Ads, check. Press releases / PR, check. Social media, check. Blog, check. You need to get companies to adapt to both the cultural and linguistic change that goes with integrating marketing. Silos are industrial-era corporate structures. We’re not there anymore. Single-track silos don’t conform to the way people consume media. They are absorbing communications and messaging sent to us left and right all over the place and SM just happens to be one form of that.

We want to engage stakeholders, we want to do it for free, and then we want to get them to do something. We need a call to action. Calls to action get people to have a relationship with you.

Outbound = Identity, sales opportunities, loyalty

• Emails
• Webinars
• Events
• White papers
• Offers
• AdsPobalist ativities

Inbound = Socialprise

• More information
• Participation invites
• Feedback loops
• Harneess group intel, activity (PM)
• User-generated content

Social media is just about communicating with people. It doesn’t have to be sales and marketing. You can use it to create a give mindset rather than just a single-track silo. At least add the social URLs to your old-school marketing materials.

New-School Examples

• Twestival
• Copyblogger’s simple blog design – affiliate sales, content marketing, e-mail and RSS sign-up
• LOLCatz – busy but delivering with lots of calls to action, ugly but it works
• B2B Example – AccountingWeb.com

See the slide presentation here.

Contents Copyright © 2006-2014 Kristen King

(www.inkthinkerblog.com) — I’m at SOBCon09 in Chicago with @lizstrauss and @starbucker. I’m taking notes as people talk, so there will be typos; deal with it. Kali Evans-Raoul on being seen, heard, and understood.

Eighty percent of our success is attributable to presence and exposure, because we are programmed to think that what we see is what we get. Performance will keep you in the game, but it doesn’t make you win. What separates the winners from the players is the speed of information transfer. People buy the messenger first, the message second, and the product third.

The consultant dilemma is that you do the work and people are buying you. But what happens when you need to grow and scale and you are no longer doing all the work. Who are you? What is your brand? What is the essence of you? Identify 3-5 attributes that capture the essence of you and your brand, whether yourself or your business. Liz’s are authentic, creative, irresistible, loving, and one more I can’t remember. Sorry!

How do you make sure you look, sound, and behave in line with your attributes? Living the brand is the challenge. Ideally, your personal brand and your professional or company brand should have some overlap. If they’re dramatically different, the business needs to change. Unless you are a spy, it does you no good to walk into a room and go unnoticed. It’s better to be hated for who you are than to be loved for who you’re not. But the real tragedy is to not give people the choice of whether to love or hate by not being your true self.

The purpose of the attributes is to define core values. Everything else is the manifestation of those values. Without the articulation of the core values, it’s nearly impossible to know what direction to go in. Be aware when you’re blocking yourself. We’re afraid of playing big. If I really looked like and sounded like and acted like I say I am online, it’s the “Holy sh**” factor. What would happen if I were out there actually being who I say I am online?

“Impostor syndrome” is normal and how we grow. It’s how you let the world grow you.

TIPS

• Have a firm handshake – Don’t be wishy-washy, don’t hurt them, don’t linger too long.
• Biz card etiquette – If you want to stay in touch, ask for THEIR card. Don’t give them yours unless they ask for it.
• Edit your phone email signature – Let people know that you’re sending e-mails from your phone like “Sent from my handheld; please forgive brevity and potential typos.”
• Have an enrolling 10-second elevator pitch.
• Get a steamer because it’s easier than ironing.
• Love your outbound voicemail greeting.
• Make sure your personal and professional space articulate your brand values.

When you’re not using the physical you when you’re out in the world, you cannot count the loss of that.

Contents Copyright © 2006-2014 Kristen King

(www.inkthinkerblog.com) — I’m at SOBCon09 in Chicago with @lizstrauss and @starbucker. I’m taking notes as people talk, so there will be typos; deal with it. First on Saturday, discussion panel. But I’m tired and it’s hard to keep keep track of who’s talking, so I kind of gave up about 10 minutes in. But basically, this was the gist of it. Honest.

Chris Garrett — Uber ProBlogger / author

Lucretia Pruitt – Social Media Strategist

Jason Falls — Social Media Explorer

Zena Weist — Brand Strategist

The better you are at the traditional stuff, you can translate it over to this othrer medium but you still have to do this traditional stuff. There’s a lot more behind this than just doing it, than just learning the lingo. You still have to get the business part of it right.

Social Media’s Value Targets

• Keep my faith in humanity
• Make me laugh (or sing)
• Inform me
• Teach me
• Inspire and challenge me
• Sell me

Most people should start more or less from the outside and work their way in.

Jason: Your central goal should be whatever your organization is trying to accomplish. “I don’t think Twitter is a marketing platform. I don’t think people should market on Twitter.”

Lucretia: Twitter can’t be a primary marketing tool, but if you’re building a long-term relationship with someone, there’s the repeat sale. It’s soft-skill marketing.

Chris: It’s marketing in a wider sense, of market creation. It’s not a direct sales tool. It’s a really good free focus group; people give ou opinions whether you ask for it or not.

Zena: It’s customer service, product research, continuing to build on that relationship. It’s more of a covnersation.

Jason: Conversational marketing is really what social media is. It’s a fantastic customer service platform.

Chris: Social media adds to the funnel you already have. “I have to pay a mortgage. I have to feed my kid.” Social media is addictive, fun, and chatty, but it does not replace good business.

Contents Copyright © 2006-2014 Kristen King