On slide 10, almost 90+% of the respondents reported that individual marketers or their teams work on writing / blogging:
Slides 14 and 15 described "What Tactics Do Marketers Employ." Of the 26 tactics measured, respondents cited these SEO tactics as the most employed:
Social: Set up / ran a Facebook business profile
Analytics: Analyzed / tracked site speed and page-load times
Competitive: Analyzed competitors' back links
Competiitive: Analyzed competitors' content
Content: Started a new blog or invested heavily in blogging
Blog Posts Are The Number One Type of Inbound Marketing Content Produced
On slide 15, "blog posts" received the highest % of responses as the type of inbound marketing content produced. Social media (e.g., tweets, statuses, etc.) ranked second:
Blogging Isn't Dead (Especially If You Love Writing)
"We've come to a place where those who were never going to stick it out with blogging for the long haul are busy on Twitter and Facebook, where they can share without the burden of having a passion for writing. So, in the end, maybe what's new for blogging is a place where the real bloggers step in and create a new type of copy for the world to consume. A place where more and more creative thinkers get to tinker with words in new and interesting ways. It's a place where you (and everyone else who wants to write and have a voice) gets to be free to try it out and see what kind of audience their words, images and even video connects with. Blogging - as a platform - may never have anything new to show for itself. Blogging - as a creative white space - is still in its early days."
The admiration, respect, and friendship expressed to people who've meant so much to your professional career moved me. You wrote those letters with such honesty. And, you had the courage to publish them online.
A professional colleague gave me your book, Six Pixels of Separation, as a gift around four years ago. She knew I wanted to learn and understand the impact of new media in marketing. Your book and David Meerman Scott inspired me to pursue blogging and to participate in social networks.
Two concepts from your book continue influencing my approach to blogging and social networking:
In Praise of Slow
The Golden Rule (e.g., Saying Thank You)
Whenever I write about blogging or personal branding, I usually describe and cite the relevance of these concepts.
I remember my fear of promotingmy book review of Six Pixels of Separation on Twitter (because I included your Twitter handle in the tweet). It was one of the few reviews I'd written at that time.
Self-doubt consumed me. Negative thougts ran through my mind like "if Mitch reads this post, what if he thinks it sucks." Or, "what if he thinks I'm misrepresenting his work."
But, you wrote the nicest comment on my post. And, you shared the book review with your Twitter followers.
Your gesture and generosity meant so much. It gave me confidence to keep blogging. I started believing I was on the right path. It reinforced I was doing things the right way (e.g., the approach you described for building a credible reputation).
And, the books and articles you read and share -- Wow! I love how you share your love of reading (especially the diversity and number of books you annually consume).
I can't wait till you publish Ctrl Alt Del in Spring 2013. I know it will be great. I love the ironic play on words (because I and your legions of fans know how much you love writing with your MacBook Air). When you to made the full conversion to Apple products, that was my tipping point to invest in a MacBook Pro.
My biggest regret: not discovering, reading, and studying your book and your blog sooner. I'm not making that mistake twice. I read and study your blog every day. It's required reading in my continuing education to understand where marketing is heading.
Plus, your podcasts demonstrate why you're "the Charlie Rose" of New Media. The conversational insights and your access to New Media's A-List are beyond compare. My personal favorites are your recent conversations with Seth Godin and Ken Wong.
Your writing teaches and inspires me how to write. Every time I read your blog, I say out loud: "Man, I wish I could write like that. I don't care how long it takes -- I'm going to learn to write like that."
Letterman described how "he needed a target" (because he needed something to shoot for). His ideal was Carson.
When I write, you're my target. You're the standard I shoot for.
Thank you for inspiring me (and countless others).
All the best,
Tony Faustino
Note: Austin Kleon's book, Steal Like an Artist and Mitch Joel's public fan letters inspired this post. Pages 108 to 109, "Write Fan Letters," and Chapter 2: "Don't Wait Until You Know Who You Are To Get Started" from Austin's book are amazing. After reading Austin's book and Mitch's aforementioned posts, I made a public fan letters list of my heroes.
Please indulge me as I periodically publish these fan letters on this blog.
From page 109 of Steal Like an Artist: "Maybe your hero will see your work, maybe he or she won't. Maybe they'll respond to you, maybe not. The important thing is that you show your appreciation without expecting anything in return."
This post focuses on the smart people and the thoughtful comments they share in the thriving Start-Up of You LinkedIn Discussion Group / Community. As of the publication of this post, the community boasts 1,200+ members.
Business Function Demographics Chart (as of 6 AM Central Time, April 5th)
Seniority Demographics Chart (as of 6 AM Central Time, April 5th)
What Differentiates The Start-Up of You LinkedIn Community?
* People Genuinely Do and Want to Help Each Other. This group epitomizes how "giving is better than receiving."
* No Blog Pimping. This unwritten code is enforced by the group and its managers. How? Those who've tried posting links to their posts without contributing something to the group INSTANTLY LOSE CREDIBILITY. Their submitted discussion posts are ignored and buried in the stream.
Start-Up of You Community Members are smart and discerning. They know and identify self-serving BS quickly.
* The Group Practices the IWe (I to the We) Principle (direct quotes from the book):
"The nuanced version of the story of success is that both the individual and team matter. "I" vs. "We" is a false choice. It's both. Your career success depends on both your individual capabilities and your network's ability to magnify them."
"Think of it as IWe. An individual's power is raised exponentially with the help of a team (a network). But just as zero to the one hundredth power is still zero, there's no team without the individual."
"This book is titled The Start-Up of You. Really, the "you" is at once singular and plural."
People To Follow and Learn From. I follow a number of people in this great community. I wish I could highlight them all (but there's only so much time to write).
Here are X people I closely follow within The Start-Up of You LinkedIn Community because they're smart, interesting, helpful, and generous. Every time one of these members submits a comment or discussion topic, I pay closer attention and focus a little harder.
Why? Because I know an opportunity to learn something new and insightful is approaching. And, I don't want to miss it.
Ben is the co-author of The Start-Up of You with Reid Hoffman. He's a successful entrepreneur, New York Times best-selling author, and world-traveler. He's also the owner of The Start-Up of You LinkedIn Discussion Group.
I look forward to his group contributions because of his intelligence and thoughtfulness. This is another way of saying whenever I read one of his comments, I'm always left thinking: "Wow, I wish I would have said that ..."
"To broaden the conversation a bit to how people can learn new skills generally: one model I'm intrigued by is the "coach" model. That is, hiring a coach to work with you intensely to develop a specific skill, like programming or public speaking. Atul Gawande wrote an interesting piece about this topic a few months ago in the New Yorker:http://www.newyorker.com/reporting/2011/10/03/111003fa_fact_gawande
As he points out, elite athletes and singers have coaches. Tiger Woods is one of the best golfers in the world, yet he still has a swing coach.
Why don't more top-flight professionals have coaches to work with them on specific parts of their skill portfolio? Why don't all of us? How does coaching compare to other models of learning? What's the value of a hired coach vs. informal coaching done through your network? Ruminations..."
Here's a great video of Ben being interviewed about The Start-Up of You. During the interview, he shares personal lessons learned as a lifelong entrepreneur:
Ian is a Start-Up of You marketing team member. He recently hosted the live Q&A webcast with Reid Hoffman and Ben Casnocha. And, he did a phenomenal job in managing some of the technical problems that arose during the webcast.
In reading and following Ian's discussion group comments, I always think: "This guy is wise beyond his years." He's smart, a talented writer, and always makes me think.
"One thought: if you have difficulty taking small steps toward a new opportunity, it's worth acknowledging this honestly rather than continuing to struggle toward a goal. I spent almost a year wanting to teach myself programming, struggling to make progress, until I discovered another subject that was easy for me to take small steps toward mastering — finance and trading. It's not to say that I couldn't have changed my approach to make learning programming more enjoyable, but my point is small steps aren't always easy but, perhaps, they should be."
"Let me start by saying that I am probably not the best person to be answering this question because I never second-guessed my choice to go to college nor do I have ambitions to start a business.
What I do know is that it's important to get many different perspectives on a question like this and always keep in mind who is giving the advice. I, for example, would probably say that college is a good choice, but I always liked school and didn't have to take on debt to attend a private college. My parents would definitely recommend it, because they are old school and don't realize that these days many of the most sought after skills (eg: programming) aren't even taught in college. Someone who didn't go to college might advise you not to go without even considering how he or she is different from you.
Out of all of this, you'll need to abstract the "objective" benefits and drawbacks of going to college.
Objectively, or at least as objectively as I can, I would say that there is a huge networking benefit to go to college - it's a chance to meet a lot of smart people. But, at the same time, you could go to dozens of conferences a year for less than tuition. Still, it's a built-in network and 4 years provides plenty of time to build lasting relationships.
Those are my somewhat jumbled thoughts. Hope it's helpful!"
Brett is also a Start-Up of You Marketing Team Member. Reid Hoffman cites Brett in The Acknowledgments Section of The Start-Up of You for his contributions in research, content refinement, and organizational support.
"To Ian's first point from the Quora thread, I might recommend a publication that comes out weekly as opposed to daily - like The Economist - which offers analysis as well as the history of what's happened in the previous week.
Another interesting idea I read about in Steven Johnson's Where Good Ideas Come From is "deep dive reading vacations," which is something that Bill Gates plans once a year - he goes off the grid and surrounds himself with all the information he can on one topic."
Matt was the first person to contribute to this discussion. His responses demonstrated his smarts, creativity, and technology savvy. If you read his many contributions to other discussion threads, I think you'd conclude (like I do) he's a great guy. He's the type of genuinely good person you'd enjoy talking with over a couple of beers.
Here are some of Matt's thoughts in the aforementioned LinkedIn discussion thread:
"I am building out a series of marketing pieces for myself. I am thinking of it like this: If I had my own marketing department, I would feed them the data and they would make this collateral for me.
I would describe the piece I am working on right now as a high level mailer that gets its own webpage instead of snail mail. Think of it as one of those glossy, multipage advertisements for a new credit card but online with a bit of interactivity.
@Travis - I have been looking at it from the other direction. Up until now my blog has been a place for posting updates and media for my daughters grand parental units. Except for the occasional coding tip or emacs command that I want to remember I haven't put much professional thought out there for public. I have put things there but they are not polished enough that I want to put those, professionally related thoughts out there. If I polish them up and put them out there I can tweak the tags or categories so that it can serve both my personal and professional interests. But it takes time to polish and organize thoughts that bridge the personal and professional divide so I haven't done it.
I have a feeling that the value in soft assets like a blog are a reflection of the amount invested into it. Much like I first noticed that Apple was different - even in the way the packaged the first computer I bought from them (A still running PPC G5 :-), I notice personal site that the author has either put a lot of time into personalizing. I wonder if it is the process of personalizing your site/content/message that is equivalent to submitting a cover letter printed on red paber except that the red cover letter only gets seen by a few people at best and your digital footprint is always there."
Join The Community. The people in this LinkedIn Group share great content, advice, and opinions. Their insightful discussions force me to think differently and open my mind to different solutions and possibilities.
Isn't that what learning is all about?
The people in this community add tremendous value by sharing how they're applying and learning from the book's lessons.
The Premise / Goal / Timing of This Weekly Feature
Premise. If you like the content in this blog, maybe you'll also like the content I regularly read, study, and curate from the Web.
Goal. On a weekly basis, I'm going to publish links to three (3) articles I find interesting. I'll include a brief explanation why I decided to curate them.
1. Why The PC Will Die Soon (Fast Company). I suppose the real question to ask is "what do you mean by soon." I'm not completely sold that the PC or MacBook will completely go away (at least not yet).
But, I acknowledge consumers' desires to be "untethered" (I'm one of them). Consumer demand will continue driving advancements for better mobile and cloud applications enabling "heavy-lifting" content creation from a tablet (maybe even our smartphones someday).
Why I haven't purchased an iPad? Convenience in content creation is the determining factor.
I purchased a MacBook Pro about a month ago (and I LOVE IT). My MacBook Pro provides the essential capabilities for heads-down content creation (i.e., word processing, spreadsheets, infographics, presentation slides, etc.) that an iPad can't conveniently deliver (at least presently).
Plus, my MacBook Pro:
Is mobile and light (I bring it on business trips with my work computer)
Comes with an easy-to-use keyboard for typing lengthy documents
Includes a 500 gigabyte hard drive
Allows off-line usage
Is always "on and connected" (as long as I have access to a WiFi spot, I'm golden)
Has a DVD drive
Yes, I'd love to read my favorite technology content from The Wall Street Journal, The New York Times, Fortune, Fast Company, and Wired all from an iPad. Plus, I'd look really cool at the airport or a coffee shop by doing that with an iPad 3.
But, my laptop already does all of the above.
2. P&G To Slash $10 Billion in Costs Over Five Years (Advertising Age). Unfortunately, this decision includes 5,700+ jobs (including fewer P&G marketing executives). Chairman-CEO Bob McDonald says P&G will shift investments away from traditional vehicles like TV to digital channels (e.g., mobile and social media):
"To cut costs without sacrificing impact, Mr. McDonald said P&G is using technology to shift spending from more traditional vehicles like TV to digital and mobile advertising and more efficiently target consumers, "allowing us to build one-on-one personal relationships with every consumer." He also expects to use more multibrand efforts to spread spending more efficiently among brands. He cited the kickoff of P&G's Summer Olympics program in January, which he said delivered more than 2.5 billion impressions in traditional and social media the first month alone and produced a bigger overall impact than the brands could have had by spending individually."
Here's a direct quote and Key Conclusion #5 from the 2012 State of Inbound Marketing Report:
Businesses are increasingly aware their blog is highly valuable. 81% of businesses rated their company blogs as “useful,” “important” or “critical.” An impressive 25% rated their company blog as “critical” to their business.
And, there are more fact-based conclusions in the 2012 State of Inbound Marketing Report. Here are seven (7) reasons from HubSpot's data supporting the continuing relevance of blogging.
1. Blogs Are and Remain the Most Important Marketing Channel
Look Who's The #1 Social Media Channel in Terms of Importance. It's Blogs! LinkedIn, YouTube, Facebook, and Twitter all ranked in lesser importance. The hub-and-spoke social media strategy model works with a website or your blog as the center. Social media platforms like Facebook and Twitter are short-from outposts guiding customers back to your website or blog (the long-form hub).
3. Blogs Have the Lowest Cost-Per-Lead of Any Marketing Channel
52% of Respondents Say blogs are "Below Average" in Cost Per Lead. Blogs are the most cost efficient lead generation channel (inbound or outbound). Not surprisingly, trade shows are considered the most expensive.
Here's a direct quote from the respondent survey:
"The worst thing we did in marketing last year was attend several trade shows and events with low yield and ROI."
4. Blogs are Second Only to LinkedIn In Acquiring Customers
57% of Respondents Say Their Company Blog Acquired Customers. LinkedIn ranked first in customer acquistion. 62% of respondents validated its effectiveness. Interesting how "the two least sexy social media channels" ranked first and second respectively.
And, Speaking of Social Media Sexy - Blogs and LinkedIn Outdistanced Facebook and Twitter in Customer Acquisition. Don't believe the hype that long form content is dead. Or, consumer attention spans last only 140 characters or less.
HubSpot's 2012 Data Shows a Direct Correlation Between Post Frequency and Customer Acquisition. At a minimum, post at least once-per-week. But, increasing post frequency from weekly to twice per month provides significant benefits:
50 posts a year goes to 100 posts (that's the equivalent of 100 indexed web pages in Google)
An extra 50 posts, means double the number of keywords increasing SEO relevance
50 more web pages mean 5o more opportunities to earn inbound links (and increase Google authority)
6. Blogs Are Consistently Effective for Either B2B or B2C Companies
At a Minimum, Your Social Media Strategy MUST Include a Blog. The data shows blogs rank second in customer acquisition for either B2B or B2C companies. Number 1 for customer acquisition depended on business-type:
B2B: LinkedIn
B2C: Facebook
A Killer Social Media Strategy Incorporates at Least Three Customer Acquisition Platforms. The companies succeeding in social media are the ones who view these channels as customer acquisition weapons. Based on this data, a three-channel approach geared to customer acquistion by business-type would look like the following:
B2B: LinkedIn, Company Blog, Facebook or Twitter
B2C: Facebook, Company Blog, Twitter
7. Blogs Level the Playing Field for Small Companies
Small Companies Allocate Almost 4x the Marketing Budget to Blogs Versus Large Companies. Social media or inbound marketing channels are where small companies invest their marketing budget (i.e., social, SEO or organic search, and blogs). Large companies prefer outbound channels (i.e., trade shows, PPC or paid search, or direct mail).
On February 23rd, I attended a great social media networking event hosted by Ben Smith and Social: IRL. The Taste, Tweet, Meet With Boulevard Brewing Company event was exceptional.
But, it wasn't for the usual reasons that I found this event so enjoyable (i.e., the personal camaraderie of social networking connections in Kansas City, the privilege of personally meeting these wonderful people sometimes for the first time, etc.).
Discuss how she's continuously informing Boulevard's customers / fans about this ongoing process
She openly fielded numerous questions. Plus, she patiently spoke with individual attendees about specific questions after concluding her presentation. I was one of those folks (more on that later).
Julie openly sharing this presentation and Boulevard's ongoing efforts in addressing the Chocolate Ale product recall demonstrates:
Leadership Lesson #2: When You Say You're Sorry, Mean It
Don't Cram Rehearsed Corporate Management-Speak / Public Relations-Speak Down Our Throats. Julie's presentation included the following YouTube video with John McDonald, Founder and President of Boulevard Brewing Company, and Steven Pauwels, Boulevard's Head Brewmaster:
Why This Apology Is Genuine. Why It Is Human. I asked Julie whose idea was it to produce and publish this video on the Internet. She said it was hers. And, she convinced Boulevard's top two leaders of immediately and publicly addressing this communications crisis.
"Speak From Your Hearts." The reason why this video resonates with me and Boulevard's many fans is because it's genuine. Julie told me McDonald and Pauwels did this video without a script.
Her only instruction: "I need you guys to speak from your hearts."
If Boulevard's fans and consumers don't consider this video a genuine and heartfelt apology (and it comes from the firm's highest leadership), I don't know what is.
Every Fortune 500 CEO in America could learn from McDonald's and Pauwels' plain-spoken example to inform its consumers of bad news (and the subsequent actions to make things right).
Weldon talked about Johnson & Johnson's apology and how it was working to regain consumer trust in May 2011 during an interview with Geoff Colvin, Senior Editor-at-Large of Fortune Magazine. Unfortunately, repeated and multiple product recalls over a two-year period upended Mr. Weldon's otherwise outstanding career (he was regarded as one of the most respected leaders in the pharmaceutical industry before these product recalls):
Closing Thoughts
Pride In Your Organization. Pride in Your Products. Pride in Your Community. Boulevard Brewing Company is a Kansas City Community Crown Jewel. And, I'm proud to not only be a HUGE FAN of their beers but I'm also a HUGE FAN of Julie Weeks and Boulevard's leadership because of their actions.
(Around time stamp :25 of the YouTube Chocolate Ale Announcement from John McDonald) "We're a proud brewery and we want to do the right thing ..."
A Vital Kansas City Civic Principle. Boulevard Brewing Company embodies a vital Kansas City civic principle: Kansas City is a proud community built and driven by the resourceful and creative entrepreneurial spirit of people like the John McDonalds, the Henry Blochs, the Ewing Kauffmans, and the J.C. Halls:
And, that entrepreneurial spirit continues to thrive because of the leadership of people like John McDonald, Steven Pauwels, and Julie Weeks.
Hang In There Julie! As I conclude this post, I know Julie Weeks is working today, tomorrow, and how ever long it will take to address the Chocolate Ale situation. She takes TREMENDOUS PRIDE as Boulevard's online ambassador.
Julie, if you see / read / monitor anything remotely negative about Boulevard Brewing Company, please remember these four (4) things:
Your social media friends and colleagues are rooting for you
You're doing a fantastic job as Boulevard's Online Ambassador!
The Premise / Goal / Timing of This Weekly Feature
Premise. If you like the content in this blog, you may like the type of content I regularly read and study on the Web.
Goal. On a weekly basis, I'm going to publish links to three (3) articles I find interesting. I'll include a brief summary with some bullet points explaining why I think the content is worth consuming.
Timing. I'll publish this content every Wednesday / Thursday.
2. The Three Laws of Future Employment by Daniel Jelski: This is a THOUGHT-PROVOKING article commenting on individual competitiveness in today's dynamic employment market. Jelski's three (3) laws and subsequent conclusions are important:
Law #1: People will get jobs doing things that computers can't do (i.e., jobs requiring human-human interaction)
Law #2: A global market place will result in lower pay and future opportunities for many careers (but also in cheaper and better products and a higher standard of living for American consumers)
Law #3: Professional people will more likely be freelancers and less likely to have a steady job
Ben Smith, the leader of Social IRL, is one of the most valuable and generous members of the Kansas City Social Media Community. His hard work and dedication delivers outstanding and valuable educational content via hosting social media conferences in our region.
Here are my five (5) takeaways from Valeria's outstanding and thought-provoking presentation.
1. Understand and Determine the Organizational Focus
Start With Your Organizational Focus. You have to pick the organizational capability or competence that will drive and differentiate your company's brand and business outcomes:
Apple: Innovation
Virgin: People
Procter & Gamble: Research and Development
Coca Cola: Distribution
Valeria demonstrated how organizational focus impacted each company's share price. And, the data showed how executing that focus is linked to long-term financial performance.
2. Focus on Your Brand Promise
Valeria defines a brand as:
"The sum of promises, promises kept, and the unbounded expectations market."
Delivering and Executing the Brand Promise are Crucial. Why? The stock price represents public trust / confidence in your brand. And, that public trust / public confidence determines the discount or premium to "trade" with individual consumers. Higher consumer trust / confidence means a higher premium for your company's goods and services.
Or, it can reflect a lack of trust / confidence. See the stock price performance of Yahoo, Microsoft, or Eastman Kodak.
3. Prioritize and Focus on theDifferentiating Brand Asset(s) Driving Your Consumer Trades
Brand Assets are Your Unique Consumer Trade Currency. The digital age redefines the brand assets most valuable to individual consumers before, during, and after the point-of-sale. The Internet's real-time speed coupled with one or more of following brand assets is a killer combination:
Reputation
Knowledge / Information / Data
Relationships
Influence
Ticketmaster Prioritized Knowledge / Information / Data. Therefore, organizations need to pick the brand asset they will focus on for their unique trades with individual consumers. For example, Ticketmaster focused on knowledge / information / data to better inform consumer decisions (i.e., local-centric information, fan reviews, personal buying history suggestions, etc.) by making that brand asset easy to share (i.e., Fan Reviews are easily shared with a single-click via Twitter or Facebook).
Financial Outcome: Each "share of information" results in a $5 increase in incremental revenue.
4. The Unmet Social Media Opportunity: Empowering Individual Consumer Filters and Feedback Loops
Consumer Filters, Feedback and Intent. Valeria defines consumer intent as:
Providing the right information at the right time when someone is making a decision (and that decision may or may not be a "buying decision")
The consumer's perception of value inherent with the brand promise
How the consumer defines the "wisdom of the trade" (i.e., was the time spent gathering information / data a worthwhile investment)
Therefore, influencing how the consumer defines the "wisdom of the trade" is vitally important. This is why brands need to focus on consumer "filters" and "feedback loops":
Consumer Filters:
Culture
Language
Values
Beliefs
Attitudes
Expectations
Intentions
Consumer Feedback Loops:
Evidence
Relevance
Consequence
Action
5. Ford Motor Company Case Study in Leveraging Brand Assets, Filters and Feedback Loops
The Ford Case Study. Valeria believes brands need to do more in making individual consumers more influential. We still don't do enough here.
The process for making consumers more influential can be systematically achieved (e.g., there is a process):
* First, prioritize, and focus on the business problems most vital to your organization. Example: When Scott Monty became head of social media for Ford Motor Company, he focused on corporate reputation. This brand asset choice was particularly important when the entire auto industry came under fire for receiving government bail-outs.
Ford leveraged social media to permeate the strategic position that it was the only domestic automaker who chose not to receive receive government financing.
See this example of how Alan Mulally, CEO, positions Ford as different from other US automakers because Ford is "requesting access to bridge financing just in case something bad happens" versus "receiving direct government assistance." (see 2:26 to the end of this video).
* Second, after addressing #1, pivot your social media marketing strategy to focus on consumer filters and feedback loops that can grow a product / service:
Increase the Influence and Reputation of Your Influencers (see 1:39 to 2:52 of this video describing Ford's succsssful Ford Fiesta Social Media Campaign):
* Third, continue actively demonstrating "we're listening, we're listening, we're listening." Watch how Scott Monty and Alan Mulally work together in answering and responding to consumer tweets. It's a brilliant public relations play:
Ashley Mahoney's SocialIRL Recap. Check out Ashley Mahoney's blog post, Social: IRL Conference in a Nutshell. She does a great job summarizing key points from other presentations I didn't address in this post.
Important Note #2: My lack of notes during specific presentations wasn't due to a lack of interest (far from it). During the conference, I received an important client email requiring immediate action (so I missed some of the presentations).
That meant piecemeal, back-of-the-room listening (i.e., Kevin Magee, Director of Sales at Expion, shared some great insights on the current / future implications of localizing and managing social media marketing efforts but I was unable to take detailed notes).
The Wall Street Journal Careers Section published the following articles on January 24th describing the challenges and sense of futility job candidates encounter when applying to a prospective employer:
Both articles highlight relevanttrends in personal brand differentiation and demonstrating digital strategy / digital marketing expertise.
Bottom Line. Becoming an expert is one thing. Demonstrating that expertise online to a potential client or employer is another. Because, it doesn't matter if you're trying to earn a digital marketing or social media marketing position or another position in an unrelated industry.
Either way, your online presence must be FINDABLE and HUGE.
Clients or Employers Conduct Online Due Diligence
Is Your Online Presence Visible or Invisible? Clients and employers use online search and social networks in hiring evaluations. Key themes emphasized in both Wall Street Journal articles included:
How The Internet Reinforces a "Show-Me-What-You-Got" Mindset
Why Clients and Employers Want to Understand How You Think
Too Many Job Candidates / Self-Proclaimed Experts, So Little Time
How Employers / Clients are Using the Internet Evaluate Talents and Skills
Your Online Activity Represents How You Think. Your resume does not. The opening paragraphs of the No More Resumes, Say Some Firms article reinforce this growing notion especially among employers:
"Union Square Ventures recently posted an opening for an investment analyst. Instead of asking for résumés, the New York venture-capital firm—which has invested in Twitter, Foursquare, Zynga and other technology companies—asked applicants to send links representing their "Web presence," such as a Twitter account or Tumblr blog. Applicants also had to submit short videos demonstrating their interest in the position."
"Union Square says its process nets better-quality candidates —especially for a venture-capital operation that invests heavily in the Internet and social-media—and the firm plans to use it going forward to fill analyst positions and other jobs."
"Companies are increasingly relying on social networks such as LinkedIn, video profiles and online quizzes to gauge candidates' suitability for a job. While most still request a résumé as part of the application package, some are bypassing the staid requirement altogether."
"A résumé doesn't provide much depth about a candidate, says Christina Cacioppo, an associate at Union Square Ventures who blogs about the hiring process on the company's website and was herself hired after she compiled a profile comprising her personal blog, Twitter feed, LinkedIn profile, and links to social-media sites Delicious and Dopplr, which showed places where she had traveled."
"We are most interested in what people are like, what they are like to work with, how they think," she says."
Rage Against the Machine
A Two-Front War: Other Candidates and the Company's Online Applicant Tracking System. The accompanying WSJ video shares why optimizing a resume for keywords is vital. Your resume can be unfairly weeded out by a machine's keyword algorithm (even with internal referrals).
Show Clients and Employers Differentiating Content
"A friend of mine Eric Friedman tells the tale of his job interview with renowned VC firm Union Square Ventures in New York. During a pivotal second round interview Eric sat down with one of the partners, Brad Burnham and presented his resume. Brad told Eric to hang on to it as he just wanted to chat. When Eric pressed him as to why, Brad responded with something remarkable which went like this: “You can work really hard on crafting a well written, organized, resume with bullet points of accomplishments – but you can’t fake 500 blog posts.” On the web, it’s “show me, don’t tell me.”
Therefore, achieving this goal requires more effort. And, I'm reminding myself to focus on one thing at time.
Because, starting is everything.
Your Turn. How are you going to show your expertise / your art to a potential employer or client? How are you going to differentiate yourself among the masses?
Please share your thoughts in the comments. And, I hope you'll return next week for Part 3.
(Direct Quote from the Fortune Article): "Here's the scary part: Roehm rarely misses a chance to talk about how delighted she is with online advertising. Last year she spent 10% of the budget online; this year she is allotting closer to 18%; next year, she says, she will allocate more than 20%. Do the math: In 2006 roughly $400 million of Chrysler's money that used to go into TV, newspaper, and magazine ads will be spent on the Internet. Says Roehm: 'I hate to sound like such a marketing geek, but we like to fish where the fish are.'"
A 34 Year-Old Marketing Executive Publicly Declares a $400 Million Bet on Digital Marketing ROI. Wow! Here's a gutsy, young, rising, marketing executive superstar who's publicly stating her $360 million and $400 million bets to achieve digital marketing ROI in the next two years! Not only did this quantitatively trained University of Chicago MBA convince a highly conservative executive management team to think and invest differently but she also commanded their $2 billion global marketing budget.
Fast Forward to After a Highly Publicized Departure at Walmart in December 2006. After numerous high profile promotions and industry accolades, Ms. Roehm abruptly found herself at a personal and professional crossroads. Starting in 2007, her short tenure as a Senior VP of Marketing at Walmart was her last full-time, executive marketing position for the next five years.
She wanted back in the C-suite. But, as articulated by Fast Company, Corporate America wasn't willing to take on "damaged goods."
How Did Julie Roehm Recover and Reinvent Her Personal Brand?
The Governing Question. And, here's how I will attempt to answer it:
Examine how Ms. Roehm leveraged social media technologies to reinvent her personal brand
Offer my opinion on her multi-channel social media strategy and individual channel tactics
Conclude why I think her move to SAP fits from a social media perspective
What This Post WILL NOT Attempt. A lot of content exists online about Ms. Roehm's departure from Walmart. I couldn't avoid it while conducting the research for this post.
Therefore,
I will not rehash any of that online content and provide my personal opinions on it
I will not pass any personal judgment on Ms. Roehm in relation to that online content
If you're looking for a sensationalistic piece, please click to a different website / blog. Because, you're wasting valuable time by staying here.
If you're interested in answering the previously stated governing question, I hope you'll please stick with me for just a little while longer ...
1. Roehm Crafted a Personal Social Media Strategy First
A Home Base Personally Branding Julie Roehm.juliearoehm.com is her personal website where she controls every positioning aspect of her personal brand:
Brand Persona Attributes: C-Suite Executive, Marketing Expert, Smart, a Likable Personality
Targeted Buyer Persona: C-Suite Executives in Marketing, Branding, and Public Relations
Target Industry Expertise: Retail, Financial Services, Automotive, New Media
Online Assets Focusing on a Cohesive Brand Message. And, she showcases these personal brand attributes by delivering and linking a cohesive and consistent marketing message among each of these online, personal branding assets:
Her Personal Blog: "I'm an authority who publishes insights on marketing strategy."
Videos (especially from Fox Business News): "A major news network has me regularly comment because I'm a marketing strategy authority."
The Julie Roehm Twitter Feed: "I read, study, and share interesting content on marketing strategy."
LinkedIn Profile: "I've held several marketing strategy authority positions or consulted for large organizations as a marketing strategy authority."
A Multi-Channel Hub and Spoke Model with Both Long-Form and Short-Form Context. The multiple channel strategy executed here is worth highlighting in this age of real-time streams via Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, and Google+:
1. The Marketing Pull. Her website, blog, and videos contain the long-form context demonstrating her expertise to the target audience. These online properties give her the runway to provide more details and examples of why she's a bonafide marketing authority in her target industries.
2. The Marketing Push. Her LinkedIn, Facebook, and Twitter contain the short-form context to share content she's provided on her "pull assets" (i.e., a recently published blog post or tweeting an article link relevant to a specific industry or area of marketing expertise).
2. Roehm Leveraged Online Video to Her Advantage
The Julie Roehm Personal Branding Killer App. Ms. Roehm leverages online video brilliantly. These videos demonstrate her personal strengths as well as different views of her personality:
Articulate and Smart
Subject Matter Expert
Thinks Quickly on Her Feet
Confidence: e.g, she knows this stuff cold
Humor: e.g., she pokes fun at herself and doesn't take herself too seriously
Plus, notice how each video positions her as one of the following:
Julie Roehm, Consumer Analyst and Marketing Expert
Julie Roehm, Marketing Strategy Consultant
Julie Roehm, Marketing Expert
* Example: Leveraging Online Media in Branding Strategy
Note: I provided the Fox Business News videos this way because (1) Fox doesn't allow the use of video embedding in external sites and (2) The URL in one of the videos produces funky-looking "duplicates" on my published blog post. Sorry for the inconvenience.
3. Roehm and Her SAP Senior Marketing Executive Colleagues Share a Common Ground: Think Like a Publisher
Both Her New Boss and a Senior Marketing Executive Colleague Self-Publish a Blog and Use Twitter. Ms. Roehm, her new boss, and one of her senior marketing executive colleagues agree on an important aspect of a global brand's marketing strategy: self-publishers win in social media.
How can I make that type of a statement? Her SAP senior marketing executive colleagues also actively self-publish online content:
And, during the interviewing process, I'm sure Ms. Roehm showed this online content portfolio to her SAP colleagues to make the case for her knowledge, expertise, and creativity in executing a successful social media strategy.
Thinking Like a Publisher Means Creating "Show-Me" Content. Ms. Roehm started actively blogging in March 2009 and opened her Twitter account in May 2007. That's given her significant time to create, publish and build a sizable online content portfolio. To her credit, she aggressively self-published content for the past five years to position herself for senior marketing executive positions.
"She now ranks cultural fit -- geographic and corporate -- at the top of her list, adding that her 'aggressive-aggressive' personality, as she describes it, doesn't jibe with the 'passive-aggressive' politeness of the South. 'I wanted to be able to show that I can adapt anywhere, I can do anything. The thing I learned about myself is that I'm not a full-on chameleon, and there's nothing wrong with that."
I have no knowledge of SAP's corporate culture. But, I do know these three (3) things after analyzing her personal social media strategy:
1. Julie Roehm maximized her online personal branding opportunities.
2. She strategically self-published content that's tactically distributed via multiple social media channels.
3. Her content delivered and reinforced a consistent brand message highlighting her marketing strategy capabilities and expertise.
Did her online activities alone win her this new professional opportunity? Of course not.
But, her online content strategy significantly contributed to winning her new senior executive postion at SAP. I look forward to tracking Ms. Roehm's progress because she's always been someone to watch.
The opinions blogged herein represent only those of Tony Faustino and do not reflect those of his employer, persons or companies mentioned herein, or anyone else. The posts on this blog are provided "as is" with no warranties and confer no rights.
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