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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I often share this content on Google+ or Twitter. But, the real-time speed of these information streams makes locating content an oftentimes fleeting exercise.
The Premise / Goal / Timing of This New 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.
Kirshbaum saw this publishing revolution coming (looks like around 2005).
Direct article quote from a successful author: "Publishers are selling drinks on The Titanic."
Article demonstrates how Jeff Bezos is cut from the same cloth as Steve Jobs as both a strategic visionary and an as a shark-like competitor.
2. (The New York Times) The Bookstore's Last Stand: The timing of this article's publication signals an ongoing public relations battle between Amazon and the New York City publishing dynasties. This piece positions Barnes & Noble as the last major ally the major publishing houses have against Amazon.
Publishers fear that Barnes & Noble store may become just cafes and digital connection points.
Barnes & Noble commands 27% of the eBook market. Amazon holds a commanding 60%.
A Telltale Sign: The company plans to eliminate the dedicated sections for music and DVDs within two (2) years.
3. (TechCrunch) Why Every Entrepreneur Should Self-Publish a Book: A great article by James Altucher. Altucher goes into great detail about the many lessons he's learned both as a self-publisher and as an author who's worked directly with the aforementioned publishing houses.
The entire thesis of his article is "to pick yourself." His how-to commentary covers a lot of ground:
Why self-publish than use a traditional publisher
Why entrepreneurs should self-publish
How does one go about self-publishing (the insights on createspace.com ROCK)
Your Feedback Please!
I'd like to experiment with this type of post for the next two to three months. Let me know what you think (especially if this idea sucks):
How can I improve the value of these weekly posts?
Is my initial timing choice for publication okay with you (e.g., middle of the week versus the end of it)? If not, please tell me.
What content are you reading?Please share your links with our community in the comments section!
Sony will release the DVD for Moneyball, starring Brad Pitt and Jonah Hill, on January 10, 2012. The 2011 film recounts how Billy Beane, the Oakland A's general manager in 2002, employed sabermetrics statistical analysis and research in his player evaluation and acquisition strategy.
Moneyball's Unsung Hero: Bill James. Mr. James is the creator of sabermetrics who now works as a Senior Adviser of Baseball Operations with the Boston Red Sox. His self-published Baseball Abstracts from 1977 to 1988 influenced Billy Beane's decision to operate on a different competitive dimension: identifying undervalued and overlooked talent from non-traditional baseball metrics (i.e., on-base percentage) and data analysis versus traditionally accepted baseball scouting methods and metrics (i.e., batting average).
Bill James's Background (e.g., he wasn't always affiliated with the Red Sox)
Why / How He Questioned Conventional Baseball Talent Evaluation
His Motivations as a Writer
Inspiring Lessons in Leading, Self-Publishing, and Questioning Conventional Wisdom. James inspires me as an aspiring blogger because of how he started and cultivated the influential and powerful sabermetrics tribe before the benefits of the modern-day Internet. And, he continues leading via his work at Bill James Online and several published books.
Questioning and disrupting the status-quo establishment
Self-publishing to spread ideas (i.e., social media: blogs, social networks)
Writing about and sharing what moves you
Leading a tribe that flourishes into an industry-wide movement
Ignoring the limits of a "current" full-time job description
1. Write About What You Love
You Can't Fake Passion.The Bill James Baseball Abstracts are famous for their quality and quantity of statistical analysis and data. But, more importantly, James made this new form of baseball knowledge interesting and accessible to all passionate, hardcore baseball fans.
And, his love of writing and baseball is why he explains both the science and art of sabermetrics better than anyone. That's why Bill James is the sabermetrics authority. Here are direct quotes from Moneyball (the book) describing his passion for both writing and baseball:
"I think about baseball virtually every hour of my life."
"I'd probably be a writer if there was no such thing as baseball, but because there is such a thing as baseball I can't imagine writing about anything else."
"I learned to write because I am one of those people who somehow cannot manage the common communications of smiles and gestures, but must use words to get across things that other people would never need to say."
"If it doesn’t move you emotionally, don’t write it (realize emotion is relative – it doesn’t have to move every member of your audience, but if it moves you then you’ve done it right: it’s going to impact someone else that way too)."
2. Write Because You Love It (Not to Get Paid for It)
"The first Abstract, in 1977, sold 75 copies, at $4 a copy. In 1978 sales edged up to all of 325 copies. Undaunted, James slogged ahead, checking the boilers, working on his numbers and producing editions of the Abstract. Sales passed 600 copies in 1979 and 750 last year, but the readership, while small, is enthusiastic, and James has become something of a cult figure. Esquire magazine assigned him to do season previews, and he even received an order of for the Abstract from Norman Mailer, which left James, a literary hero-worshipper, feeling both honored and abashed. He sent Mailer a copy but returned the writer's check. Mailer sent it right back with a note saying, 'If ever an author earned his five dollars, you have.' The price has climbed since then (to $13 for the 1981 edition), but James has yet to break the $10,000 barrier. 'It's been discouraging." he says, 'but not as discouraging as having to get out of bed in the morning and go off to work.'"
How Are You Going to Monetize Your Blog? One of my closest and most trusted friends posed this question when I started blogging two years ago. My response: "I don't know, yet."
But, after publishing 100+ posts, I know now. I Plan Making Zero Money (Ever)
Ask these questions about whether or not you really love blogging or writing:
* Are you willing to invest the significant time required to research and write individual posts either before or after putting in a full-day's work at your "real-world" job (and usually at a time when the rest of your family is asleep)?
* How much do you enjoy commenting on other blogs to build relationships and add to the conversation?
* Are willing to confront and push through The Dip after the initial excitement of starting your blog ends (i.e., around the first six (6) months?
* Is getting paid how you'll ultimately measure or determine whether or not you're a successful writer or blogger?
Discipline, Conviction, Belief, and Courage. If you answered "No," "I don't or not a lot," "I'm not," and "Yes" to any of the aforementioned questions, invest your scarce, valuable, free time in something else. Why? Because, blogging or writing is a long haul endeavor. Individual discipline, conviction, belief, and the courage "to consistently put yourself out there" drive the long-term outcome.
3. Lead a Tribe by Expressing YOUR Point-of-View
Because That's The Unmet Opportunity. James's research and scientific sabermetrics analysis challenged major league baseball's conventional wisdom in player and talent evaluation. But, it's his writing and unique point-of-view (e.g., his art) that distinguishes him as THE trusted sabermetrics authority (aka The Sabermetrics Tribal Leader).
"But once again, the details of James's equation didn't matter all that much. He was creating opportunities for scientists as much as doing science himself. Other, more technically adroit people would soon generate closer approximations of reality. What mattered was (a) it was a rational, testable hypothesis; and (b) James made it so clear and interesting that it provoked a lot of intelligent people to join the conversation."
A Tribal Leader Lurks Inside Us All. Study this Ted Talks Video from Seth Godin. In February 2009, Godin introduced his ideas on Tribes. His points describe how James built and led his tribe. And, how the same leadership opportunity is available to all of us:
6:50 to 12:09 - The Concept of Tribes and Leading One that Becomes a Movement
12:10 to 14:17 - Heretics Look at The Status Quo & Say I Don't Like It
16:00 to 17:27 - The Common Traits of Tribal Leaders
They Challenge Everything
They Build a Culture
They Connect People to One Another
They Commit to The Cause
4. Define Yourself Through Your Art (Not Your Full-Time Job)
A Former Night-Watchman Became Major League Baseball's Foremost Authority in Scientific Sabermetrics Analysis and a Senior Adviser of Baseball Operations With the Boston Red Sox. When Bill James started self-publishing the Baseball Abstracts, he worked full-time as a night-watchman in a Stokely Van Kamp pork and beans factory in Lawrence, Kansas:
(From Moneyball (the book)"It was while guarding Stokely Van Kamp's pork and beans that James stumbled seriously into putting his thoughts down on paper, in response to having things he absolutely needed to say that he was unable to convey any other way."
(From Daniel Okrent's Sports Illustrated article) "Later, he worked for a time as a boiler attendant--a watchman of sorts--in a food-packing plant in Lawrence, which turned out to be an ideal job for James. 'I'd spend five minutes an hour making sure the furnaces didn't blow up,' he says, 'and 55 working on my numbers.'"
And, The Boston Red Sox ended an 86-year championship drought by capturing World Series Championships in 2004 and 2007.
Technology and The Internet Don't Care About Your Current Job Title. Anyone reading this blog post has the same opportunity to lead, influence, and access a global audience. In the following interview, Seth Godin states the case for why technology levels the playing field:
* Your Laptop Is The 21st Century Factory (0:40 - 1:56). Now, you own the means of production. But, the driving question is what are you going to do with your laptop to make something that changes the world? That "something" could be:
A Web Page or Website
A Blog
An E-Commerce / Online Retail Site
* You Can Globally and Directly Connect (2:17 - 3:54). The Internet enables your global connections to promote your work and do business (and vice versa). Marketing is no longer a game of who shouts loudest. It's a game of competing for and earning "the whisper-time" of your target audience in their social networks.
* You Can Spread Ideas Via Social Media Connections (3:55 - 4:58). Developing these connections (or knowing people who have them) is vital. Why? Because, social media influencers determine:
The ideas that get a head start
The ideas that spread
It's Our Turn To Lead. We’ve all got something inspiring inside of us. Share it in your blog, your column, a self-published eBook, Twitter, Facebook, YouTube, LinkedIn, or Google+.
Bottom Line: I highly recommend studying Newsjacking. It's informative, quick-to-read, and filled with insightful how-to-examples. In fact, both books are required reading for any marketing/PR executive, business owner, or brand manager who wants to capitalize on media opportunities generated by the real-time Web.
And, We All Can Do It! David defines "newsjacking" as publishing your personal angle, ideas, or perspective into a breaking news story / event to earn media coverage for your company, brand, or products / services.
Help Journalists Write Their Second Paragraphs. When hot news strikes, journalists scour the Internet via search engines (i.e., Google) and social media (i.e., Twitter, blogs, etc.). Why? They're seeking additional content (e.g., details, opinions, etc.) that can differentiate the point-of-view in their individual news stories.
That differentiating point-of-view or compelling content is the "second paragraph." Journalists seek second paragraph material that:
Delivers credible, authoritative, and valuable information / perspective
Describes "why" something happened
Interprets the event's impact and future implications
Credible Second Paragraphs Can Earn Massive Media Attention. Be fast, use targeted keywords, and provide valuable context in your Tweets and blog posts so journalists can find your contribution to a story with Google searches. Quickly writing an informative blog post and shrewdly publicizing it with Twitter may take an hour or less.
And, the impact can be huge:
"With a single hour's work many people manage to generate more media attention than a whole year's return on a substantial PR budget."
"I've been a marketer for two decades now, and I have never seen a technique as powerful as newsjacking."
2. Newsjacking Favors Faster, Smaller Players
Real-Time Speed is a Newsjacker's Bread and Butter. Speed, decisiveness, and execution drive successful newsjacking. And, you must respond within the hour of a breaking news story. That's why fast movers are great newsjackers.
David Can Trump Goliath. Plus, smaller firms can outplay their larger competitors. The Fortune 500 has the same opportunity to successfully newsjack as any other organization or individual. But, their corporate hierarchies and approval processes are handicaps.
Therefore, smaller firms can outplay their larger competitors:
"What's abundantly true is that newsjacking is easier for nimbler players than its is for the lumbering giants of the corporate world."
"To successfully newsjack or fend off a newsjack, you can't wait for approval. You just have to do it."
Newsjacking Lives and Dies by Speed. The graphic below describes the newsjacking process. Notice how speed drives the entire newsjacking process:
Tracking and staying on top of breaking news
Deciding quickly on your response
Publishing / Publicizing the response instantly
3. Chapter 6 - Ka-Ching: CEO Bags a Cool Million with a Single Blog Post
A Classic, Must-Read Newsjacking Blog Post. Joe Payne is the CEO of Eloqua, a company specializing in marketing-automation. When he learned and verified Oracle entered his industry space, he quickly wrote this blog post: Oracle Joins The Party.
There are multiple reasons why this blog post and the surroundingcircumstances make it a classic, newsjacking case study:
The post provides a valuable and quotable industry perspective
Payne crafted and posted this blog post quickly
The blog post contains verifiable details and statistics
He outflanked a larger competitor (e.g., Oracle) using new media tools
Payne's Blog Post Earned Major Media Attention, Credibility, and $1 Million. When industry analysts and journalists searched Google for news about Oracle, they found Payne's content-rich blog post. And, they quoted it verbatim.
In the following examples, I attached the hyperlink to the actual media coverage if the page still exists:
Business Week - Eloqua Guarantees Success for Market2Lead Clients Affected by Oracle
The aforementioned media coverage (and other coverage) increased Eloqua's credibility. In addition, Payne and his team combined the blog post's media coverage with immediate, next-morning business development follow-up. These combined activities brought Eloqua software deals worth $1 million in new revenue among six (6) new clients.
That's a great outcome especially without the luxury of a multiple phase PR campaign or massive advertising budget.
4. Chapter 7: Become the Go-To Gal (or Guy) in Your Industry
Blogs Are Powerful Newsjacking Assets. Long form content achieves four (4) things:
Provides keyword rich content for search engines to index
Increases the probability journalists will find your blog post when searching Google
Delivers context rich details (hard to do in Twitter and Facebook)
Positions newsjackers as reputable and credible reputable industry authorities
Here's a direct quote from David: "If a blog develops a reputation for serving up informed, insightful, authoritative, articulate, quotable and timely commentary on issues in your industry, journalists will learn to seek you out when issues arise."
Knowing Your Issues / Topics Cold Leads to Long Term Credibility. Newsjack the issues and topics in which you are well-informed. That knowledge will make your newsjacking perspective valuable, credible, and authoritative.
Long term credibility is vital in building an authoritative reputation and relationships with journalists. Even more importantly, that credibility and reputation dictates why journalists may or may not seek your input in future news stories.
Why Amdocs and Jeff Barak Are Telecommunications Billing and Customer Care Industry Authorities. In Chapter 7, David describes how Amdocs and Jeff Barak used their company blog to comment on regulatory changes in their industry. Barak wrote this blog post, No Need to Be Bill Shocked, while the FCC conducted meetings in late 2010 to discuss legislation about bill shock.
Journalists searched Google for the latest news about this FCC legislation and found Barak's blog post. His post earned coverage from industry publications (like this one from Penton Media's Connected Planet blog post -- Not Being Shocked by Bill Shock).
5. Learn from Newsjacking Mistakes: The Golden Rules
The Golden Rule Objective (Direct Quote)."When intervening in a news story you should add value - information or insight that contributes to the public's understanding of the situation."
The Four (4) Golden Rules. Kenneth Cole didn't have the benefit of David's advice before sending out that tweet. We now have that luxury:
* Be dignified and statesmanlike. See the Joe Payne / Eloqua Case Study Above (#3)
* Be positive and upbeat, never mean or vindictive. Again, see the Joe Payne / Eloqua Case Study Above (#3)
* Write articulate text in full sentences without chatty slang, industry jargon, corporate-speak (i.e., mission-critical or cutting-edge) or social media shorthand (e.g., IMHO)
* Don't get too cute or clever -- especially where human suffering is involved. See aforementioned Kenneth Cole tweet
6. Newsjackers Monitor News 24/7 Via RSS Feeds
RSS (Real Simple Syndication) Feeds Are a Newsjacker's BFF. David describes how setting up RSS feeds to your favorite news sources, analysts, industry publications, and blogs enables real-time news monitoring. And, staying abreast of leading news events gives you the competitive advantage to respond fast. David mentions these RSS services in his book:
Google Reader
Newsfire
Fast Responders Earn Attention. Here's a how-to video I made two years ago on using RSS (e.g., your iGoogle Home Pages) to monitor postings of your favorite blogs to increase your chances of being an early commenter on new posts. Why? Early commenters earn the author's attention (especially if you're the first commenter).
The same principle applies when monitoring news sources in real-time and responding quickly to capitalize on a newsjacking opportunity:
7. Learn How to Maximize Twitter's Real-Time Capabilities
A Newsjacker' Must-Have Weapon For Monitoring News Flow. Twitter's real-time capabilities make it the ultimate rapid response, news monitoring tool. You can find great second paragraph content and breaking news stories by:
Catching key phrases by creating columns in Tweetdeck and HootSuite
Using Twitter's search function
Setting up a "news" column in Tweetdeck or HootSuite (i.e., a dedicated news column focusing on all the news sources you follow)
A Powerful Fast Response Distribution Channel. When it comes to publicizing and "pushing out" newsjacking blog posts quickly, Twitter rules. Remember, journalists search Twitter to find differentiating second paragraph content.
Use Twitter Hashtags (#). Therfore, include hashtags (the pound key - #) in your tweets to mark them with the unique identifier about a particular subject (i.e., #Cairo). Remember, the hashtag, makes it easier for journalists to instantly locate in Twitter all references to a particular topic. Plus, tweets with hashtags are curated in reverse chronological order (i.e., most recent first).
Twitter Can Help You Directly Contact a Journalist. Most journalists provide or publish their Twitter ID (i.e.@firstnamelastname). Verify their Twitter ID with a quick Google search. Then, include his/her Twitter ID in your tweet so you can directly point him/her to your blog post.
I studied Six Pixels of Separation by Mitch Joel from cover to cover. And, I loved every word. My one regret: I didn’t start reading / studying it sooner.
An Important and Valuable Book. Don’t make my mistake. Six Pixels of Separation belongs in the digital marketing and leadership library of any Fortune 500 executive, small business owner, or entrepreneur who is driven to forge an organization on the principles of trust and community.
This review focuses on seven (7) pearls of wisdom from the book. But, there are so many more.
I hope this review inspires you to:
Purchase the book and study it
Share it with your family, friends, and colleagues
A 3-Pronged Approach: Building, Differentiating, and Auditing Your Personal Brand. Chapter 7: You Are Media (pages 124 – 142) is the most important chapter of the book. It focuses on how individuals can create, promote, and differentiate their personal brands by publishing digital content.
Mitch provides detailed guidance on these key branding activities:
Build a 3D Personal Brand (pages 134 – 135)
Differentiate Your Personal Brand Via a 15-Point Personal Brand Questionnaire (page 129)
Audit Your Personal Brand in the Online World (pages 139 – 141)
In the following video (timestamp 1:53 to 3:10; note there's a short advertisement in the beginning), Mitch describes how organizational brands or individual brands can market themselves in online channels by:
Participating in online conversations
Providing valuable content
Helping other people connect and engage with others
You Are a Broadcast Network. Page 137 states why we are all individual media companies:
“Individuals are creating content; the individuals are the media. The media they are creating are also a form of advertising.”
“It made me wonder: why would Robert Scoble accept a “friends invitation” from people he does not know? Why do you want to be connected to people you don’t know and alert them to stuff you’re doing? And then it hit me! Robert Scoble is media. He’s building his own broadcast network. He understands that media is completely fragmented and, by participating in all these new social communication vehicles (blogging, Twitter, Pownce, Facebook), he’s aggregating readers and viewers, thereby increasing his penetration and his worth as media.”
2. We Are All Intrinsically Connected
Six Degrees of Separation Applies to Traditional Media. On page 4, Mitch explains that today's technology and digital channels enable people to know everyone because:
“We are all intrinsically connected through technology, the Internet, and our mobile devices.”
“We are all a click (or pixel) away from one another.”
“This means that building relationships and turning those relationships into an online community is more important than ever before.”
He describes the Six Pixels of Separation Concept in the following video (timestamp: 0:08 to 1:37; note there's a short advertisement in the beginning):
Geographical Boundaries No Longer Apply. Watch the following video. It describes the true story of how the rock band, Journey, found its new lead singer via YouTube. The new lead singer lived in the Philippines (and didn’t speak a word of English). The story starts around 40 seconds into the video:
3. Digital Marketing Is About Being Slow
In Praise of Slow. Pages 31 – 34 contain my favorite Six Pixels quotes. Why? All of the lessons reinforce a long-term approach / attitude in building a credible digital presence. The misconception about digital marketing versus traditional marketing is digital results could be achieved faster and cheaper:
“Yes, you can make fast decisions, see fast results, and optimize and change things on the fly, but real tangible results take time. You can’t quickly start a blog and get results right away. It takes time to build your content, find your voice, develop a community, and earn trust and respect.”
Time Invested Drives New Media Opportunities. On page 5, he describes how the time invested in building online communities and reputations determines success in online channels (not how much money is dumped in advertising and PR):
“The new online channels will work for you as long as your are working for them by adding value, your voice, and the ability for your consumers to connect, engage, and take part.”
Eight (8) Years of Blog Posts and Hundreds of Podcasts. Mitch started publishing the Six Pixels of Separation Blog in 2003. At the time of the book’s 2009 publication, the Twist Image Team published 200+ podcasts.
On pages 184 to 185, Mitch comments on the time and and work invested:
“None of this was easy to accomplish. It was (and is) hard work and very time consuming, but we have achieved great results from these efforts, and it has differentiated us and brought us out of the bloody red sea of interactive agencies and into a blue ocean (even though, on some days, it feels more lie a pond) of what the agency of the future should look like.”
Watch This Interview About In Praise of Slow (time stamp 2:30 to 5:00). Pay special attention to what Mitch says about In Praise of Slow along with his blog’s role in lead generation and client acquisition:
4. Influencers of Content Value: Time, Search Engines, Linking, and Sharing
Content’s Slow, Steady Process and the Link to Search Engines. Page 33 contains an important lesson on how content earns favorable search engine rankings:
“The older the content, the longer it has been online and searchable through the engines, the more people who have linked to it, shared, and tagged it, the more valuable it is. Content that ranks at the top of Google does not get there because of how new and fresh it it is. Content rises to the top of Google based on how long it has been available and how valuable it has been to the online community.”
“It’s a slow and steady process that makes content rise to the top of the search engines.”
Speed Is a Search Engine Optimization (SEO) Tactic. Page 33 discusses why speed is important in online publishing. Key points about speed include:
* Speed gets your content is indexed in search engines as fast as possible.
* The sooner your content is available through search, the sooner people will find it, and the sooner it will become valuable.
* Posting your content fast means you can gain the efficiencies of content’s slow, steady process faster.
5. Attention Does Not Equal Trust
They’re Not the Same. Think about celebrities, politicians, athletes, etc. who garner significant attention. Do you trust them? Probably not. Being the center of attention is not a sustainable long term strategy.
Digital Marketing Is Not a One-Night Stand (page 34). It’s about TRUST. It’s about building real, genuine relationships with both your current consumers and potential consumers.
“There’s no such thing as an overnight sensation. Everything you’ve seen in business as an overnight sensation was, in effect, decades in the making.”
“The digital social spaces are built on trust and trust alone.Trust is always built slowly over time.”
Earning Trust. Pages 167 to 169 discuss earning and sustaining trust once your online participation receives attention. Mitch writes “to use the Web in a human way.”
* Be Helpful. Helping others online is how you turn attention into trust. Remember, the Web is built on reciprocity.
* Be Sincere. Helping others without expecting anything in return is the right attitude. Helpful and sincere people are valuable community members – just like in the real world.
6. Traffic Does Not Equal Community
Be Wary of The Mass Media Complex. Driving more traffic is good. But, the ultimate goal is not solely about achieving large numbers.
In the following video, Mitch discusses the mass media complex (e.g., appealing to everyone or trying to attract millions). Pay attention to his explanation from time stamp 0:40 to 0:57 (especially about how Six Pixels of Separation targets the digital marketing and social media community):
Focus on Building Community. The thought here similarly applies to the one about attention does not equal trust. On page 166, Mitch writes:
“Keep in mind that many people who have lots of traffic really don’t have much community at all. In fact, hunting for the traffic can be a game of diminishing returns. To really evolve and maintain, focus on the five new community members (who will, we hope, become lifetime customers) versus the 55,000 who might float in and right out simply because of an orphan link that someone posted somewhere. Namely, they were interested in your content for about five seconds, but now they are gone.”
“The long-term game of sustainability in the online channels is one of quality versus quantity.”
7. The Golden Rule
Say Thank You. Pages 41 to 42 and 210 to 212, reinforce the importance of (1) monitoring mentions of your product / service AND (2) expressing thanks to the people sharing your content:
If someone mentions you, it is now your duty -- at the very least -- to leave a comment back on their blog (or email them directly), letting them know you are reading, paying attention, and most importantly, appreciative of their mentioning you.
As much as you physically can, respond and be thankful to everyone who takes the time to mention you.
Make this your golden rule, and make a commitment that you will never break it.
It Shows You're Human. Practicing The Golden Rule shows others you're listening, responsive, and appreciative. In all human interactions, isn't that the goal? Make it the norm not the exception in your digital interactions.
And, Mitch Joel is a Man of His Word. These acknowledgements from Mitch show how he practices The Golden Rule:
In addition, this post represents installment number three (3) of a blog series on real-time capabilities and its impact in online media. In case you're interested, the other related posts are:
The data analysis describes our digital news consumption habits particularly by time-of-day. Here are some key insights (particularly pertaining to mobile and tablets).
Mobile Internet and Tablet Consumption Dominated When News Coverage Spiked on Sunday, May 1st
Shifting Viewing Habits? The breakdown by digital device during the Sunday evening, May 1st news cycle peak (e.g., 10 PM ET) is as follows:
Mobile Internet and Tablet Traffic Continues Peaking During Our Morning Commutes
But Computer Consumption Won During Our May 2nd Workday. First, I hope none of these people were driving. Second, notice how the mobile internet activity peaks again from 7:00 AM - 9:00 AM. Third, look how computer news consumption accelerates around the same time (i.e., steepest slope of curve). Fourth, computer consumption primarily takes place from 10 AM to 4 PM.
Conclusion
If the Content is Important, We'll Find a Way to Access It. Mr. Lipsman's analysis provides consumer insights applicable to not only news consumption but also content consumption relevant to marketing and public relations activities:
* We're multiple device consumers. We may not necessarily be seeking a one-device-does-it-all-solution (at least not yet).
* Content loading speed / page loading speed will make or break you with mobile internet devices. Optimizing the content for fast loading and optimization on any type of screen is a competitive differentiator (e.g., hand-held, tablet, etc.). The lack of page loading speed in my plodding, iPhone 3G is already causing me cravings for the rumored iPhone 5.
* Business professionals are more accessible early morning or late evening. Reaching targeted consumers (i.e., business professionals) is optimal during the early AM or late evening (e.g., no work distractions). Unless, you can deliver something earth-shattering to divert their attention.
I checked my laptop's Twitter stream around 10 PM Sunday evening for real-time news feeds. And, that's when Twitter informed me of Osama bin Laden's death in real-time.
Our Consumption and Participating in Real-Time News Drives a Traditional Industry's Transformation. I've reflected on the media activities of the past 48 hours. The picture above symbolizes more than the aftermath of September 11, 2011.
It galvanizes how we are both consumers and participants in the transformation and reinvention of a traditional industry (especially how we interact with news content):
#1: Social Networks are Our Real-Time News Channels
More People Found Out About bin Laden's Death Via Twitter and Facebook.Mashable conducted a poll with 20,000+ respondents. Twitter and Facebook easily outdistanced television. Even broadcast television lacks the real-time impact of online media platforms.
Facebook's News Function Goal-- Become "The People's Newspaper." I mentioned earlier how I consult Twitter for real-time news updates. It's no coincidence that Facebook also recognizes real-time news as a competitive differentiator.
Journalists on Facebook Page.The Journalists on Facebook Page is part of the company's strategy to build relationships with journalists. Notice how several status updates pertain to the bin Laden story:
#2: Mobile Devices are the Accepted Real-Time Publishing Platform (Especially the Smartphone)
Urbahn Broadcasted the Tweet From His Smartphone. I'm not surprised Urbahn broadcasted the news on Twitter. But, notice the news broadcasting platform -- his smartphone. Maybe, I'm old-fashioned in thinking the publication of a major news event requires a computer keyboard and wireless Internet connection.
Looks Like Page 29 of David Meerman Scott's Real-Time & Marketing PR Book. Here's the graph from the TechCruch article. Notice how the spike in Google search queries correlates with the real-time announcement on Twitter and eventually trails off:
#4 The Real-Time Marketing & PR Law of Normal Distribution
Notice how this graph shares several real-time attributes David Meerman Scott describes in his book (my notes are in red text):
Breaking News
Triggers
Excitement
Peak
Old News
Done
#5: The Blurring of Trusted, Traditional News Sources
Non-Traditional "Hard News" Sources Provide Diverse Points-of-View. Each of these organizations or individuals is a trusted news source pertaining to technology and online media. Their points-of-view blended their niches with this traditional "hard news" story:
An Important Historical Artifact. The TechCrunch article further states this image is probably the fastest viewed photo on Flickr. The image achieved its viewer volume in less than 38 hours.
Conclusion
How Did You Learn About the Osama Bin Laden Announcement? Were you on Twitter, Facebook, or another social network? Did you head right to Google News or did you go straight to a traditional news source (i.e., New York Times, BBC, Wall Street Journal, CNN, Bloomberg, etc.)?
I would love to understand your views on how the news unfolded.
A Historic Moment. This event marks an important time in United States history. Its unfolding in real-time portrays how we choose to publish, search for, and share historical events.
And, our use of social technology during this event reinforces the forever-changing, transformation of all media.
Members of the Social Media ReInvention Blog Community understand I'm an enthusiastic student and fan of David Meerman Scott. In numerous posts, I've referenced David and his latest book, Real Time Marketing & PR.
1. The New Competitive Advantage is Speed & Agility
Leverage and Respond to Real-Time News Events. Companies and individuals who leverage current news events to instantaneously communicate with customers (as these events unfold) hold a distinct competitive advantage over larger, bigger budget rivals. These larger rivals value size and scale (not speed). And, that distinction provides significant opportunity for competitive differentiation.
Real-Time Responsiveness Differentiates Important Service Capabilities. Applications of real-time competitive differentiation include:
Using direct and swift communications in customer service
Preparing for and moving quickly in crisis communications (aka disaster recovery situations)
Developing and testing new products / service offerings
Creating an organizational culture valuing speed and open communications
The Link to Important Business Objectives. All of the aforementioned capabilities achieve one or several of the following business objectives:
Acquiring new customers (e.g., enabiling additional lead generation)
Strengthening existing customer relationships
2. A Mindset of Real-Time Competitiveness
The Real-Time Mindset Means Thinking Differently. Here's my graphical interpretation of David's description of the real-time mindset (page 34):
Blink and You've Lost the Advantage. Gaining (or losing) the competitive advantage depends on WHENyou react/respond to breaking news events. Pages 29 thru 31 explain why ultra-fast, first movers win in real-time deployment:
The Real-Time Marketing & PR Power Law
The Real-Time Law of Law of Normal Distribution
3. Select Your Real-Time Platforms Carefully
Real-Time Differentiation and Capability Isn't Always Obvious - Just Ask Twitter Co-Founder Evan Williams. I conducted a back-of-the-envelope analysis of the real-time tools most often cited in Real-Time Marketing & PR. Hands-down, the real-time winner is Twitter.
"We didn't know what we were at first. I think it's pretty clear now that Twitter is a real-time information network (e.g., any previous confusion about Twitter being a social network or Facebook is now over)."
Throughout his book, David provides several examples describing how Twitter, TweetDeck and HootSuite are used for important real-time functions:
Monitoring conversations
Responding directly to current customers or new, potential customers
Directing Twitter audience members to long form channels (i.e., the company blog or YouTube) for more details
The New Media Life Cycle Helps in Evaluating the Right Real-Time Platforms (and Avoiding the Wrong Ones). Pages 131 to 135 highlight input and data from Andrew Davis, Chief Strategy Officer at Tippingpoint Labs. Davis explains the New Media Life Cycle as the adoption of any platform (blogging, microblogging, photo sharing, or live video streaming) or content distribution channel (YouTube.com, Slideshare.com, Flickr.com, or Twitter.com).
The New Media Life Cycle openly tracks and analyzes an online platform's current life cycle phase in seven (7) distinct phases:
Experiment
Adopt
Gestate
Escalate
Monetize
Consolidate
Maintain
Early Adopters / First Movers Win. Early adopters understand The New Media Life Cycle, and exploit it to their competitive advantage. They know participating early in an emerging social network matters. Page 134 expains the secret to becoming well known on a social media network is to participate in one that's growing quickly, but is still in the early stage. A perfect example is the fast-growing Empire Avenue - The Social Media Exchange.
Remember Second Life? They're not a Real-Time Player (but Twitter is). Tippingpoint Labs and Google Insights provide data driven examples showing why Second Life is already past its prime (page 134). But, Twitter continues growing and is an outstanding real-time platform (page 135).
4. Managing Crisis Communications Means Real-Time Speed
The Money Insights of Real-Time Marketing & PR. The insights shared on crisis communications and disaster recovery are worth the purchase price alone. Why? The situations described in the book can happen to all of us. No one is immune in a digital age.
In my opinion, these sections require careful study:
Chapter 7: Crisis Communications and the Media (pages 71-81)
Chapter 8: What are People Saying About You This Instant? (pages 92-94)
Build Your Media and Journalist Contacts NOW. David explains how too few organizations (particularly the larger ones) fail to build media and journalist relationships before they need them (i.e., contacts with analysts, editors, and reporters).
Credibility and Trust with Media Contacts Requires Time. A communications crisis requires speed and focus (so you have little to no time). In addition, you compound risk by introducing yourself to your media contacts for the first time.
Five Ways to Build Media and Journalist Relationships. Build your media and journalist relationships before you need them. David provides the following suggestions:
Follow the Publications and Its Journalists
Comment on Their Stories and Blog Posts
Introduce Yourself Via Email
Follow Journalists on Twitter and Engage Them in Conversation
Earn Their Respect by Providing Valuable Content and Information (e.g. No Spam)
When Disaster Strikes, Refer to the Real-Time Communications Checklist. David provides a 9-Point Crisis Communications Checklist. All of his suggestions should be implemented before the crisis hits:
Assigning a crisis communications team
Gathering and storing key contact information inside and outside your organization
Delegating who's the organization's lead communicator
Responding through multiple real-time, online channels (i.e., company blog, Twitter, Facebook, etc.)
IMPORTANT: Respond in the same online medium spawning the crisis. If the event happened in YouTube, respond with your own YouTube video.
5. Real-Time Organizations Have Communication Guidelines
Developing Real-Time Communications Guidelines and Roles in Your Organization. Pages 171 -172 provide an 8-Step Checklist for creating and implementing guidelines. In addition on pages 175 - 176, David introduces his take on a new senior executive position: Chief Real Time Communications Officer. On page 176, he explains the job description in a 14-point bulleted list.
IBM, The U.S. Air Force, and Telstra Succeed as Real-Time Communicators. Pages 161 - 173 describe how each organization uses real-time communications, empowers their employees, and publicly shares their guidelines. IBM's guidelines are shared on pages 162 - 170.
Here are hyperlinks and titles of the communications guidelines for these organizations:
Fortune 500 Executives Please Read This Book. Real-Time Marketing & PR is essential and required reading for C-Level executives, communications, marketing, and public relations professionals. As stated earlier, the disaster recovery and crisis communications advice shared makes it a worthwhile investment (especially if you hold that responsibility for a Fortune 500 organization).
Leaders of Small or Medium-Sized Can Outflank the Fortune 500. David describes how small and medium-sized businesses are practicing real-time communications and ringing their respective cash registers. Their commitment to real-time marketing and PR is how they're outflanking their larger Fortune 500 competitors.
Have You Read This Important Book? If you haven't, you're at a key disadvantage relative to competitors. If you have, I'd love to read your comments. Please let me know what you learned (especially the points I failed to capture in this review -- there are so many)!
The embedded video previews the longer Carillo-King interview televised by HBO in late January 2011. I enjoyed this interview because it provides relevant lessons on:
Personal Reinvention Via Social Media Technologies
The Significance of Trust and Reputation (Professional & Online)
The Power of a Relentless Work Ethic
Lesson 1: Reinvent and Adapt to Change
A Traditional Print Journalist Who "Gets" Online Media. King started Monday Morning QB (MMQB) with SI.com 13 years ago. He told Carillo he's better as a new media journalist because he understands:
1. Real-Time Marketing & PR: The importance of immediacy because speed wins
2. Content Quality: Volume is great but it's worthless without quality
3. Content Volume: The Internet rewards high volume (but always remember #2)
He Understands Social Media's Hub-Outpost Model. King's Monday Morning QB functions as his online home base while Twitter and Facebook serve as outposts. Both Twitter and Facebook point his readers back to Monday Morning QB. Here are links to his social media channels
If You Want People to Trust You, Directly Engage Them. King inspires a loyal, tribal-like audience.As I write this post, here are the latest online stats on Peter King and Monday Morning QB (and counting):
503,193 Twitter Followers
5,902 Facebook Fans
3 million weekly page views (according to the Real Sports longer interview)
Look how he answers selected readers' email questions with their names. The selected readers seeing their names and questions published in King's column must feel great!
In the embedded video, King shows Carillo how he alerts his 500K+ Twitter Followers via TweetDeck when the latest edition of his column goes live. It's Social Media Engagement and Content Promotion Strategy 101!
Relationships Founded on Trust and Respect. Former Super Bowl-winning NFL coach and NFL executive, Bill Parcells, described to Mary Carillo why NFL coaches, players, and executives want to work and engage with King. They Trust Him.
In the longer interview, Parcells explained how he respected and admired King's work ethic and integrity. He witnessed how King would do anything to get a story but not at the expense of compromising himself personally.
King has invested 26+ years in building his professional network and reputation. That vast network and stellar reputation provides access to A-List NFL coaches, executives, owners, and players. This makes King's Twitter Feed the place for breaking, real-time news events in NFL Football.
Lesson 3: Unrelenting Commitment
Be Relentless. Peter King covered the NFL for New York Newsday from 1985 to 1989. To succeed, he had to build professional trust with Bill Parcells (then the New York Giants head coach). This was no easy task considering Parcell's sometimes antagonistic relationship with the New York sportswriters.
But, King persevered and won Parcells over. How? Parcells told King he'd be willing to help him if he'd come to the Giants practice facility before 6:30 AM. After that time, Parcell's focused solely on Sunday preparation.
King's solution? Arrive at the Giants facility before Parcells. Parcells remarked how King would greet him at 6 AM (sometimes earlier) at the facility gates. King consistently demonstrated this work ethic and desire to Parcells.
And, he eventually won and earned Parcells' respect and trust. That's why Parcells nicknamed King, "Relentless."
Be Commited. The embedded video doesn't give full justice to King's required weekly, workman-like commitment in publishing MMQB during the NFL season:
1. Completes Sunday evening work on NBC Football Night in America around 10:30 PM
2. Works on MMQB's initial drafts from 11 PM to 5:30 AM
3. Boards the 6 AM Amtrak train to Boston
4. Refines / Posts final draft before 8 AM SI.com deadline
Wow! And, that doesn't include all his other professional and personal responsibilities ...
Conclusion
Inspiring Success Stories Like Peter King Don't Happen Overnight. Members of this community know Successful Social Media Marketing Is Neither Free Nor Easy. There's nothing free in social media. There's nothing free about achieving success.
Peter King achieved his stature over the course of a 26-year career. He's invested significant time in:
Adapting to change (i.e., building new skills to compete in online media)
Building professional and online trust (i.e. integrity and authenticity)
King continues developing new technology skills married with hard-won journalistic instincts. Every MMQB post represents how he sees and seizes online media opportunity.
He epitomizes earning audience attention in a digital age. He masters blogging, tweeting, and facebooking as both journalistic mediums and competitive differentiators.
What are you doing to competively differentiate yourself or your organization? How are you earning audience attention?
* Martin Giles, The Economist, US Technology Correspondent. Martin moderated the October 2010 panel discussion. In David 's aforementioned blog post, he notes how Martin Giles is the best moderator he has ever worked with. After viewing and studying this video, I understand why.
* Chris Brogan, President of New Marketing Labs, popular blogger and co-author of Trust Agents and author of Social Media 101.
* Charlene Li, Founder and CEO of Altimeter Group, popular blogger, and co-author of two (2) books, Groundswell and Open Leadership.
* David Meerman Scott, popular blogger and best-selling author of the two (2) books The New Rules of Marketing & PR and Real-Time Marketing & PR.
The discussion topics covered the following issues relevant to social media strategy, emerging trends, and several case study examples of its successful execution (or in some cases, unsuccessful):
* How should organizations build a social media presence?
* Who within the organization should own the social media function?
* How can organizations measure and analyze the value of social media?
* Who are the model organizations of modern social media management and strategy execution?
Part 1 represents the first piece of a multiple-post blog series describing the insights shared in this video. My goal is to publish the posts from every Saturday morning until completion (but please bear with me if I slip on a date). Part 1 will be the A to Z Executive Summary provided by Martin Giles at the end of the panel discussion. In the future posts, I will publish the deep dives generated from the panel's discussion. And trust me, there's a lot of substance in this panel discussion because I recorded 20+ pages of notes.
Martin's A to Z Executive Summary starts at 1:01:57 of the video. His Executive Summary recapped Chris', Charlene's, and David's insights from different parts of their hour-long conversation. Where appropriate, I sprinkled in my point-of-view (I hope you don't mind).
Executive Summary: Social Media Strategy from A to Z
* A = Analytics. Understanding the value and ROI your social media initiatives produces requires analyzing the data with analytics tools.
* B = Brogan and Boeing. Chris did a great job as a contributing member. Boeing showed it was listening to the conference's live Twitter Feed by acknowledging David Meerman Scott's positive comments citing Boeing as a model organization in social media strategy and execution. Here' the tweet, Boeing sent to David: @dmscott thanks for citing us during #pbls10. Here's the air show effort DMS mentioned. http://bit.ly/dkQEqC
* C = Control. Control in social media means you have to give it up. Learn to lose control.
* D = Disaster Recovery. Mistakes will happen in your business. Have a disaster recovery plan in place to address these mistakes through the right social media channels. For example, if an irate customer makes a highly publicized complaint via their blog, respond quickly by commenting on that customer's blog. Responding via a press release is a mistake.
* E = Earpiece and Earning Credibility. Martin made light of having to constantly readjust his earpiece during the panel discussion. He also pointed out how much of the discussion focused on "earning credibility" through your social media efforts versus the traditional advertising mentality of "buying credibility."
* F = Facebook and The Future of The Web (two highly debated topics among the panel members).
* G = Grab Audience Attention. On the World Wide Web, you have to creatively think of ways to grab audience attention. Martin also said G stands for Go Giants because he lives in San Francisco.
* H = Human. Be human and don't be afraid to put real human beings on The Web to support and implement your social media efforts.
* I = Innovate and Influencers. Identify the online influencers in your impacting your organization's online reputation and think of innovative ways to reach them.
* J = Journalists. Martin noted The Internet's impact on traditional publishing and how he may be searching for a job soon (so please hire him). Also, David suggests organizations bring journalists into their social media operations because of their storytelling abilities and gift for creating share-worthy content.
* K = KPIs (Key Performance Indicators). Carefully think about and select your KPIs and how they can inform your decision-making.
* L = Charlene Li and Listening. Charlene Li contributes great insights to the panel and cites many different examples particularly in the Fortune 500. Martin thanks the live in-person and online audiences for listening. Most of all, he cites how organizations need leverage social media in listening to their respective online audiences.
* M = David Meerman Scott, Modeling (a humorous reference to David's former career as a male model in Japan), and Measurement. An ongoing and important future trend in social media is understanding how to best measure its impact.
* N = Need to Respond Quickly. Martin notes how he and his fellow journalists are online 24/7. Learn to respond in real-time because if you're not, there's a problem.
* O = Open Leadership and Ownership. This is the title of Charlene's recently released book (I purchased my copy this past week). Her book describes the required organizational and leadership attributes required to effectively compete and successfully engage audiences in today's World Wide Web. In addition, her new book discusses how to determine, manage, and execute the right open leadership strategy for your organization. Ownership is for who's going to own and execute your social media strategy (and what's the best way to do that).
* P = People and Paris Hilton. As Martin says, I'll stop right there ...
* Q = Questions. Pose better questions to your audience because we've discussed numerous examples of how really smart companies benefit from seeking audience feedback.
* R = ROI and Real-Time. The panel shared examples where companies have achieved ROI and how they measure it. Furthermore, companies who learn or take the initiative to respond and act in real-time will have future competitive advantages in areas ranging from product development, interacting with the media, and capitalizing on real-time events impacting your industry.
* S = Sharing. Social media is about sharing great content so be willing and generous in sharing it.
* T = Twitter and Trusted Advisor. The panel provided a number of examples of using Twitter to generate revenues, enhance customer service, and promote content. Consistency, commitment, responsiveness, and a genuine attitude to help customers make better, informed decisions described organizations developing Trusted Advisor reputations online.
* U = Understand Customer Insights. A lot of these insights come from "L" Listening and "A" Analytics.
* V = Virality. Whatever you're publishing on the World Wide Web, learn to accept that your content will flash across at the speed of light.
* W = Word-of-Mouth. That's the real goal here. If you get existing customers and potential customers to talk about you to one another, you've created a fabulous success story.
* X = X Marks the Spot. Martin joked this is what he figured what the audience was wondering for what he would write for "X."
* Y = You. Martin also joked "you" (as in the audience) must be wondering "when I'm going to shut up."
* Z = Zero. Zero because Martin had zero time left.
Conclusion
Watching and studying this video was a labor of love. How many times do you get the opportunity to learn from thought leaders like Brogan, Li, and Meerman Scott interacting on the same stage. I personally want to thank SAS for publishing and sharing the videos from The Premier Business Leadership Series. By allowing thought leaders like David Meerman Scott to share this content, everyone in the social media community benefits.
Thank you for reading and if you watched the video, please let me know in the comments. What did you enjoy and learn? I would love to hear from you.
Please stay tuned for next Saturday's installment -- The Business Value Behind Social Media: Part 2 - Open Leadership, Guidelines, Process Discipline, and Goals.
