Stop It. Stop It Now
I depend on the resources of the vast and endless interwebs. My job requires me to research and visit many sites related to my line of work. I have many resources I love going to. I subscribe to many an RSS feed and spend my mornings reading up on the latest goodies the web has to offer. (more…)
Post The Same Status On Multiple Channels or Not?
To post the same thing on multiple social networks or not?.
I came across this article while in a Google+ thread started by someone in the web/tech community.
Me, I have my Twitter status synced with my Facebook, LinkedIn and various other platforms. I like saying something once and letting the respective audience in each forum comment or not.
Case-in-point: I asked a question on Twitter that yielded 0 responses. That same question was auto-published on Facebook. Again, no responses. Yet, on my Google+ channel, it rendered over over 7 responses on that one question. It lead to suggestions & recommendations and more.
Who is anyone to tell you (or me) where and when I can post. What, you have a blog with millions of readers, get paid $10k to speak at events; congrats – you’re a good marketing professional. Don’t presume to think everyone is of the sheep-mentality and hangs on your every rant.
I like consolidation. Yes, I have different; not by much, audiences on my social channels, but I don’t want to ask the same thing a different way for each place. Ask once, collect the data, move on.
Daily Aggregation with Google Reader
A couple of years ago I was given a book via a LinkedIn promotion by Chris Brogan; a household name in the social media marketing arena but scarcely known by me. The book, Trust Agents, was a great read; I recommend it if you have it already burned through your copies. In his book Chris teaches the reader some of the finer points of becoming a “trust agent”.
In on of the chapters he describes “listening posts” or an aggregation of data about a certain topic, brand or product. Using these “listening posts” as a tool to not only monitor said topic, brand or product but as a tool for daily knowledge consumption.
Since then, I’ve been using Google Reader. The screenshot shows my categorization/folders of how I consume me data across the net. From a “listening post” for various keywords about the company I work for to web comics, bloggers I can stand to follow & politics.
I’m sure many people are using some form of this technique, so I wanted to share my own. Perhaps you see a category you’d like to add or maybe have some suggestions for me to add. I usually spend a few minutes in the morning while preparing for my day to skim over most of the posts – side note: headlines make the difference, I generally won’t read the full post unless the headline grabs my attention – and look for things that are worth sharing on my social channels.
If you like reading a lot of blogs, web magazines or news, I suggest setting up something like this if you’re not already. If you are doing it and have some suggestions for additional places to review, let me know!
Planning a Conference is So Easy!
If you’re planning a conference in Wonderland with unicorns and rainbow fairies, that is. A make believe conference where you have no day job, no family and every possible connection; more so then the Mafia.
What a year it is has been. Since 2008, I have proudly served as a committee member for the Interactive Strategies Conference. This year I was asked to step up and take on the role of Chair and serve on the board for the Houston Interactive Marketing Association (HiMA); the organization that puts on the “IS” Conference.
I learned SO much this year. That’s an understatement. I booked 3 Keynote presenters (ambitious, much?) and lost 3 keynote presenters in the same week (different story). I, along with my awesome committee, brought in thousands of dollars in sponsorships – and more coming in. We got Hugh Macleod (@gapingvoid) as our new Keynote and that’s just awesome in itself.
Now, we’re about 2 weeks out from the conference date (Sept 16 – register now…do it) and the worst thing that could happen…did. I died. No, I’m kidding, really. Our venue, for the last 2 conferences; the Angelika Film Center, CLOSED. Doors locked. Out of business (for now). My reaction on Sunday morning upon receiving multiple DMs on Twitter, email, Facebook, “hmm, I better put the baby down and email some people.” And, I did. I put the baby down and got started on what I felt would be the most stressful time – for the next 2 weeks.
A few dozen emails, phone calls, scouting trips later (in one day) I was able to get in touch with a representative at the HOB (Holy Open Bar…Batman?). Maybe, if you attend 
Our new home for IS2010 is the House of (freaking) Blues! Talk about rocking out! This is a step up! We’re doing what we said we would in my interview with The Overtime Show gals! Making Interactive Strategies bigger and better.
We hope to see as many Houston entrepreneurs, designers, marketing professionals and social savvy media nerds! This has been a great experience being apart of and working with a great team like HiMA and my committee members. Check us out! We’ll be rocking September 16!
Will you be rocking out with us?
Which Came First? Viral or Marketing?
I’ve been asking myself this question lately. The more I read my RSS feed, namely from Mashable, I start to wonder: Did it go viral because Mashable said so?
I’m pretty active on the web. I spend some time watching funny videos as they come to me or as I stumble upon them. But a lot of the time I see an article on Mashable that makes the claim that XYZ video or campaign has gone viral.
That’s when I say, I didn’t see it. Not that I’m the end-all-be-all of viral marketing knowledge. Just because I didn’t see it, doesn’t make it less viral, but ya know. But still, which came first; in some cases, the viral or the marketing?
Is apart of the marketing that asset that makes it viral? Old Spice had a great campaign. One that I saw on TV then the viral aspect kicked in. But some of these stories like Cee-lo’s song goes viral makes me stop and wonder. I would’ve never come across this – most likely – had it not been for Mashable telling me it went viral.
The scene from the Matrix also comes to mind where the Oracle tells Neo not to worry about the vase and he asks, “What vase” then bumps into it and it breaks. She then replies, “…would you still have broken it if I didn’t say anything?”.
Make sense? What do you think?
Photo by: The Wander’s Eye