As the mobile web and social networks grow in importance, more power is being handed over to users; your customers. Rather than relying on what you tell us about yourself, we are headed to the social web to do our research. What was once the domain of publications like Consumer Reports, is now in the hands of the masses.

As we do our research online, we are seeking out the opinions of others in a variety of places, but mostly from our peers. On Amazon we might read the reviews of a book before we decide to make our purchase. We are less interested in the “official” reviews of professional critics. There was a time when we might check in with Siskel and Ebert before we went to a movie. We might subscribe to a paid service like Zagat to get professional opinions on restaurants.

But now, we’re more interested in the opinions of people just like us. Actually given the choice, we probably would have always valued the opinions of our friends and peers over that of professionals, but those weren’t also quite so handy. But the combination of the Internet, social media, and mobile technology means that the reviews and opinions of “people like us” are just a click away. Sites like Yelp, Urban Spoon and Trip Advisor can be incredibly handy.

This changes the game for those of us who run businesses. On the one hand, it’s wonderful if we get good reviews. Nothing beats positive word of mouth as it travels across the web. On the other hand, though, just one bad review can set us back quite a bit. As a result, businesses begin to panic and look for ways of getting those good online reviews, either to increase their ratings, or to fight back against negative reviews.

As I’ve researched this and worked with local small businesses, and watched what other businesses are doing, I’ve discovered five methods for getting those good online reviews. Unfortunately, only one of them is the correct way.

First, the four methods that I believe are unethical or at least border on being disingenuous.

1. Do it yourself – We’ve all seen this. You read a review on Yelp or some other site and it’s written in such a way that you just KNOW it was done by the owner of the business, or an employee, or the owner’s mom. I’ve even seen marketing and social media consultants review their client businesses without revealing the relationship. This is wrong. Neither you nor employees, or anyone related to your business should write a review. As a consultant, I don’t review my own clients, and if I did, I would point out up front that we have a working relationship. Full disclosure is necessary. Of course, the opposite of this is also true: never write a negative review of your competitors. Either way, you will eventually be found out. Cleaning up that mess will more than undo any good created by your fake good review.

2. Pay someone to write the review – I’ve discovered a few cases where people offer their services to businesses to help them get good reviews. What generally happens is they hire people who have never interacted with the business to write the reviews. This is the long-lost cousin of paying for Facebook likes or Twitter followers. It’s sleazy. Just don’t do it! Seriously, how would you feel about your competitors if you found out that this is what they were doing?

3. Bribe your customers – We have a local business here that offers discounts to those who write reviews of them online. They even promote this on their Facebook page. It’s not illegal, but boy it just doesn’t seem right. Offering discounts is fine to draw people in, but to write a good review? This really toes the line on disclosure and online reviews. Bloggers are required by the FTC to practice full disclosure when writing a review of something they’ve been given for free, such as a book or a trip. But now we are ALL content creators. Even a simple Facebook status update is creating content. There is no way to police this, but every one of us should practice disclosure. Customers who receive discounts or free items should disclose that if they are going to write a review. Little things like that have a direct relation on the credibility of those reviews. If we want to make informed decisions about businesses based on online reviews we need them to be believable, and not colored by special favors.

4. Mislead people – I don’t mind businesses asking for reviews or directing customers to sites where they can write reviews. But if you do, be honest in how you do it. Check out this photo that my friend Adam took awhile back of a sign he found in his hotel room in Indiana.

Besides the fact that it is incredibly unprofessional looking, there are so many things wrong with this sign I’m not even sure where to begin. First off, this screams to me that they’ve been on the receiving end of some bad reviews, and that perhaps the parent company is checking up on them. Second, the whole notion that only 9s or 10s count is false. Every rating you give them counts, but only the 9s and 10s count favorably. Those 3s and 4s count, it’s just that you’d rather not have them. They count against you, not for you.

I never want to hear that you have to use any of these above practices in order to compete. Saying that “everyone else is doing it” is not an excuse. Rise above the fray and resolve to do things the right way; the ethical way.

Speaking of the right way, here’s what I believe is the only proper way to get good online reviews.

5. Do your job well, and encourage reviews – If you want me to give you 9s and 10s, you’d better earn them. The quickest way to a good review is to do your job well, and then encourage me to write a review. Don’t bribe me, don’t mislead me. Just provide quality products and services, combined with great customer service, in a way that makes me want to tell others about you. Then if you suggest to me that I write a review in a way that makes it easy for me, there’s a good chance I will. Treat me well and the folks on Facebook, Twitter, Yelp, and so on will hear about it. Do your job poorly, and I’ll probably let you know as well.

There are no shortcuts. Just do your job, and do it well.

Are you doing your part to get good reviews? How are you encouraging your customers to post positive online reviews?

Related articles

• 5 Quick Tips: Getting More Reviews From Your Customers (swipelyworks.com)
• Yelp And Your Small Business (ychange.com)
• Yelp reviews; keeping a healthy perspective is best (coverboom.com)
• Five Things Facebook Must Do Now that They’re Public (spinsucks.com)

5 Ways to Get Good Online Reviews, Only One of Which is Correct originally appeared on Social Media, Inbound Marketing, & SEO Solutions for Small Business | Lancaster, PA | Inkling Media on May 22, 2012.

When my friend Claudia Scimeca shared this on Facebook from someone else’s feed, I knew I had to share it as well, and also use it in a blog post.

The picture pretty much says it all, but I just love the creativity that some small businesses show, and without the assistance of any marketing consultant. I have no clue where this restaurant is located, but I sure wish I did. I’d love to talk to them, and even check on their Yelp page. And, as Claudia stated when she shared the photo, this is a great example of the old adage,

When life gives you lemons, make lemonade.

But, despite all that, here are a few reasons why I REALLY like what they did:

1. It shows a sense of humor – If there’s one thing I like, it’s a good sense of humor, especially when someone has a sense of humor about themselves. A lot of businesses, when faced with a bad Yelp review, would obsess over it. They’d be paralyzed. Even if it’s in the midst of dozens of very good reviews. Let’s face it, we all hate criticism. How would you react if someone told you one of your kids was “the worst”? You’d want to prove them wrong, right?

2. It shows faith in their products – I’m betting that plenty of customers actually like the meatball sandwich, and order it often. The business owners are stepping out in faith and saying that they stand behind their products.

3. It takes a risk – Most of what we do as small businesses would be categorized as “safe”. Even our risks are calculated risks. We do what is easy. But what if…what if that meatball sandwich really isn’t all that good? This restaurant is walking around with a bulls-eye, taking the risk that others might feel the same way as the one guy on Yelp.

4. It builds community – If I’m a regular customer of this restaurant, and I like their food, I’m going to rally around them. I might just eat there more often as a public declaration that I’m not going to let anyone tell me what to think or like. In times of adversity and negativity, you find out who your friends are, and in this case, your loyal customers might just step up on your behalf.

5. It draws new customers in – If I’ve never eaten at your restaurant, this sign might be just enough to intrigue me. I might just walk through your doors, and if so, I’ll likely order the meatball sandwich. One, because I love a good meatball sandwich, and two, because I’m processing through the first few points of this in my head and I know you think that sandwich is pretty good. If it is, you’ve won me over.

6. It promotes positive online reviews – Taking all of these points into consideration, by mentioning that one bad review on Yelp, the businesses is inviting all of us to check out their Yelp account. We’ll go there looking for the bad review. We’ll want to see what this one guy had to say, and probably chuckle under our breath. And since we are there, we are very likely to leave our own review, and we will probably not only be positive, we might just extoll the virtues of the meatball sandwich.

And of course since this looks like it’s from a small, local business, there’s a good chance others who go there know the guy who posted the review. If they try the meatball sub and like it, guess who they are going to ridicule. Poor guy doesn’t stand a chance. If enough people give him a hard time, he might go back and amend or remove his negative review.

7. It’s free – This didn’t cost the business anything, short of the time it took them to write the sign. I don’t know if they did anything beyond this, but something simple like this can be just as effective, if not more so, than spending a lot of money. And while I don’t know where this business is, I’m betting the person who first posted the photo does. And so do their friends. Facebook has helped get the word out.

It’s a simple little sign, and I have no idea how long they thought through what they were doing, but I’m betting it didn’t take them much time. They just acted, and did so brilliantly. Sure, it could backfire on them a bit, but I doubt it. And they could probably play this up a bit more and expand on their marketing efforts. Would something like this work in a print ad, billboard, or commercial? It just might.

Congratulations to this small business, wherever they are. You did a good job!

What sorts of subtle marketing ingenuity have you seen from small, local businesses?

Related articles

• State of Independence (dannybrown.me)
• How Teens Use Mobile Devices – And What That Means For You (v3im.com)
• Small Business, Google, and SEO: Can We Please Stop the Hand Wringing? (inklingmedia.net)

How One Small Business Turned Lemons into Marketing Lemonade originally appeared on Social Media, Inbound Marketing, & SEO Solutions for Small Business | Lancaster, PA | Inkling Media on May 21, 2012.

The Social Life of Frank & Linh: Market IPO Madness originally appeared on Social Media, Inbound Marketing, & SEO Solutions for Small Business | Lancaster, PA | Inkling Media on May 20, 2012.

My son in the Czech Republic first sent me the link to this, saying, “This almost makes New Jersey cool”.

What I love about this video is that it features two larger than life politicians from New Jersey, both of whom are often mentioned as potential President or Vice President candidates. They have two very different styles in office, and they are from opposite sides of the aisle.

And yet, they clearly have a sense of humor about themselves, as you will soon see. I applaud them both for this.

When Politicians Collide: Video of the Week originally appeared on Social Media, Inbound Marketing, & SEO Solutions for Small Business | Lancaster, PA | Inkling Media on May 19, 2012.

You know your world has changed when the latest update to Google’s search algorithm is breaking news on CNN.

Long story short, Google has released Knowledge Graph, the latest step toward it’s long awaited transition to something known as “latent semantic indexing“. The main gist of this change is that the search engine giant is getting smarter, and search engine results and indexing are now less about they key words that Google finds on your site, and more about the actual meaning behind those words; the context in which those words are found. Like every change at Google, the ultimate goal is for us, the end users, to find what we are looking for as quickly and as easily as possible.

And every time there’s a change in the way Google does things, from Panda to Penguin to Knowledge Graph, we wring our hands and worry about what it means to the SEO we’ve done on our sites. Just this morning I got an email newsletter from a marketer weighing in with his take on this. The gist was that while search is now easier, SEO is more difficult. He goes on to talk about using tags from Schema.org (you can read a good primer on Schema by John Trader over on Spin Sucks), and says that even with a computer science degree and years of experience, it took him two days, with the help of a developer, to add just a few tags to his blog. And then he wrings his hands some more, wondering what small businesses will do since they don’t have developers on staff to help them.

Guess what?

It doesn’t matter. At least not for most of us. So stop worrying.

The purpose of all of these changes at Google is to make search more real. Don’t worry so much about the tags and the SEO. Yes, search is changing, and for the better. But it isn’t making SEO harder. What it’s doing is making what we know as traditional SEO harder. In the long run, I believe it is actually making SEO easier. Just not in the way we’re accustomed.

Why?

Because now more than ever, it’s all about the content. It always has been, but seriously, just focus on creating good, relevant content on both your web pages and your blog. Focus on content that is important to your customers and relevant to what you do. All of that content has real SEO value that sticks. You don’t have to constantly tweak your blog posts as algorithms change. Most of you won’t have to hire someone just to do SEO if you’re creating this content. This is why I’m such a big proponent of business blogging. It does so much for you AND takes care of a lot of SEO tasks naturally.

Two people working two days to put tags on one blog post? How much good content could they have written during that time?

Just create great content and let Google do its thing. You might be surprised at the results.

How are you approaching the changes at Google? Do you worry about SEO or are you letting your content take care of that organically?

Related articles

• Google Launches Knowledge Graph To Provide Answers, Not Just Links (searchengineland.com)
• The Future of Search: An Interview with Google’s Sam Sebastian (contentmarketinginstitute.com)
• Where Do Your Conversations Take Place? (thecontentcocktail.com)
• Writing, the Marketing Cornerstone (v3im.com)
• The Case for Integrating Social into a Larger Marketing Mix (spinsucks.com)

Small Business, Google, and SEO: Can We Please Stop the Hand Wringing? originally appeared on Social Media, Inbound Marketing, & SEO Solutions for Small Business | Lancaster, PA | Inkling Media on May 18, 2012.

Yesterday I had the pleasure of speaking to the members of the Lancaster Council of Volunteer Coordinators. This group represented a large number of local non-profits, and these are the people who work hard to recruit and manage the volunteer “staffs” at their organizations. This was a bit of a new angle for me, so I thought I’d share with you what I shared with them about how to use social media as part of your volunteer efforts.

First, a couple of truths about volunteers, to give context to my thoughts on this topic:

1. They save you money – Because you have volunteers, you don’t have to spend a lot of money on staff, and you are able to free up your resources for a variety of other activities. They also provide all sorts of valuable services.

2. Their importance has grown during this economic downturn – Money is tight. As a non-profit you are competing for a piece of a smaller financial pie. And since it’s getting harder to raise that money, volunteers can really fill in the gaps.

3. Volunteers might be more important than donors – Anyone can write a check and throw money at a non-profit. We all receive pleas to donate and it’s easy to write a check and feel we’ve done our part, whether we care about the non-profit cause or not. But volunteering takes a bit more dedication. We won’t volunteer to help an organization unless we are truly committed to their cause and believe in what they are doing.

4. Volunteers tend to be socially active online – In The Social Side of the Internet, researchers at the Pew Internet and American Life Project found that social media users tend be more active in groups and organizations than non-social media users. Flip that around and it means that those who volunteer with your organization are very likely to be active on social platforms.

5. Volunteers might be among your best brand ambassadors – Combine their online social activity with their passion for your organization, and you have a small army of deeply committed brand ambassadors.

6. Volunteers are a part of your story – In his book, The Non-Profit Narrative, Dan Portnoy talks about the importance of sharing the story of your non-profit, including the “why” of it; why you exist. And while every story has a hero, your organization has multiple heroes, including your volunteers. Your organization exists to change the world, and they are part of how you are accomplishing that mission.

Keeping these things in mind, how are you using social media to work with this incredible group of people? Here are ways you should be approaching social media with your volunteers in mind:

1. Recruit new volunteers – We use social media in our non-profits to solicit donations and tell others about our campaigns, so why not let our audience know about our volunteer needs? If someone connects with your organization on social channels, it shows a certain level of interest in what you’re doing. In marketing and sales lingo, they could be viewed as prospects or soft leads. By making your needs known, you can nurture them along to actually becoming involved as volunteers. Don’t miss out on this opportunity.

2. Manage and engage your volunteers – Despite their importance to your organization, we often treat volunteers as expendable. Remember, they are providing valuable services and are often on the front lines of your work. They may actually know more about what is going on than your executives holed up in offices. Create a private Facebook group that allows you and your volunteers to communicate and dialogue about what is going on at your organization. They are often “out of the loop,” but this shouldn’t be the case. Keep them informed via email, groups, and even occasional video chats on Skype or Google + Hangouts. And invite your staff and executives to join as well. It’s a great way to build community and keep everyone in the loop.

3. Mobilize your volunteers – Remember, the Field of Dreams “If you build it, they will come” philosophy doesn’t work. If you have a social presence, make sure your volunteers are connected with you. You have to tell them and encourage them. Inspire them to share your content on Facebook and Twitter. Encourage them to check-in on Facebook and Foursquare. You’d be surprised how many volunteers (and paid staff!) don’t even know what is happening on their organization’s social channels. They all have their own social graphs; tap into that and have them extend their volunteer influence beyond your four walls. If you’re using an online platform like Razoo to raise funds, get them involved in that process as well. Think of them as a core part of your street team.

4. Make them a part of your social team – Find the right volunteers who might be able to help you with your online presence, perhaps helping out with your Facebook or Twitter activity. Often, volunteers can feel like outsiders, but they are regularly on the front lines of what you do. Have them be on the look out for great stories that can be used as content on Facebook, in a blog, or on video. The only caution I would give is to choose wisely, the same as you would with choosing a paid staffer to help out. And make sure your volunteers are fully aware of, and covered by, your social media policy. You do have one, right?

5. Profile and reward your volunteers – As mentioned before, your volunteers are an important part of your story. They are heroes. Why not let them tell their stories on your blog or via video on YouTube or Facebook? Let them create blog content for you based on their experiences. In a simple video series, Water Street Ministries (client), is sharing how their work changes lives. Not just the lives of their clients, but of those who volunteer. I bet many of your volunteers feel the same way.

You already know that your volunteers are an important part of all that you do. Now’s the time to connect with them online, and give them the tools they need to tell their friends about you.

How are you using social media to grow, manage and mobilize your volunteer team?

Related articles

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• Your Value (dannybrown.me)

Non-Profits, Volunteers, and Social Media originally appeared on Social Media, Inbound Marketing, & SEO Solutions for Small Business | Lancaster, PA | Inkling Media on May 17, 2012.

This past weekend my daughter Elizabeth graduated from college. She and her friends and roommates have gone their separate ways, but unlike my days as a college grad in the eighties, she has the ability to communicate with her friends every day. And she does. Between Facebook, Twitter, and texting, Elizabeth’s life is a near constant conversation with a group of friends that is scattered all over the place.

The other night she and a few of her friends went online and chatted via a Google + Hangout for awhile and I’m sure they had a great time. But the interesting thing about this group of friends is that the Hangouts are the only reason they are on Google+. They aren’t creating content, reacting to content, or sharing content there. That’s what they do on Facebook, not Google+. In fact, the picture of their hangout that I’m using was shared on Facebook. And my daughter? I just checked, and her last post on G+ was more than six months ago. Pretty much the same for her friends across the board.

In the Social Media Marketing class that I taught at Messiah College this past semester, I made sure my students were aware of, and using, various social platforms. Google + was the least interesting for them, and again, the main draw was the Hangouts. No sharing, no content creation, just hanging out on video with a group of friends.

Late last year, Google rolled out what seemed to be a brilliant campaign to draw users to Google +, with a commercial and video featuring the Muppets using Google Hangouts.

It was a great commercial, and it got people talking, and perhaps, signing up for G+. Google knew that the idea of multiple people conversing via video was a real draw. But I get the feeling that many have showed up for that feature, but haven’t waded into the deeper waters of the platform.

And much of this conjecture is bolstered a bit by the latest research from RJ Metrics as reported in the Fast Company article, New Google+ Study Reveals Minimal Social Activity, Weak User Engagement. While the platform is touting numbers in the 170-million range, many are questioning what those numbers really mean. Compared to other platforms, engagement and activity are on the decline. And if a large number of people, especially younger users, are there solely for the Hangout feature, then we need to reinterpret those numbers.

Google calls G+ a social network. Others say it really isn’t a social network, but that it’s real value lies in its integration with search and SEO. But if many users aren’t posting content, reacting to content, or sharing content, then that won’t be happening either. And while my daughter, and my students are only interested in the Hangouts, I know that some older folks feel the same way; they like the hangouts for business purposes, but aren’t using the other features of the platform.

Now I don’t want to make a bold comparison to MySpace, because I think G+ is very different, but with MySpace, the most important feature, the music interface, dominated the platform. Sadly, MySpace waited too long to realize this, and they became redundant because others could easily replicate and improve upon what they are doing. It wasn’t that unique.

Now, with Google +, one of the best features are the Google Hangouts. It can draw people in, but…it might also be the most easily replicated feature. While others can create similar video chat platforms, it’s the search capabilities of Google and G+ that are not so easily copied. This makes Google+ vulnerable.

If Skype or Facebook (or both, since they have already partnered up), were to come up with a similar product that allowed for multiple people in a video chat, they would slow the number of users migrating to G+ for the Hangouts. Plus, many of those users might prefer to hold their video chats on Facebook where there are already 900-million users, giving Facebook greater “time spent on site” numbers. I’m actually surprised this hasn’t been developed and launched yet.

Google + is vulnerable for a variety of other reasons, and so far, I’m still not seeing large SEO benefits from having my content on G+, and I’m getting far more traffic from most other platforms, including Pinterest. That’s just me. But if the Hangouts can be one-upped elsewhere, we may just see a lot fewer accounts, and a lot less time spent, on Google +.

What are your thoughts? Is this something that Google + should be worried about, and others should be looking at as a way of competing? Now that Google + has been around nearly a year, what are your thoughts on the platform?

Related articles

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• Your Value (dannybrown.me)
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How Google + Hangouts Could Actually Hurt the Platform originally appeared on Social Media, Inbound Marketing, & SEO Solutions for Small Business | Lancaster, PA | Inkling Media on May 16, 2012.

When we moved to our current neighborhood about three years ago, our daily walk route took us by a house on a corner that stood out. The very large house had a “For Sale” sign out front, but the yard also prominently featured a large cement lion statue. The first time we walked by, Shadow looked at it rather curiously. When it didn’t move or make a sound, he lost interest. I took a picture of it, and was always fascinated by the lion in front of the vacant house.

Fast forward to 2012. Just last month a “Sold” sign went up in front of the house. Shortly after that, the lion disappeared. I was shocked, because while it wasn’t in the best of condition, it added character to the place. I kept thinking that if I was the one who had bought the house, I would have not only kept the lion, but would have tried to clean it up a bit.

Interestingly enough, I wasn’t the only one who noticed the missing feline. A few days later, a sign appeared on the gate near where the lion had stood:

Big Lion R.I.P.

And in the days that followed, people began to place flowers, real and plastic, and other objects, to show that they missed the lion. The place where the lion once stood has become a shrine, similar to what you see family members and friends erect on a road side where someone has lost their life in an accident.

Yes, the shrine to the lion, complete with a “guardian angel” candle, is a bit silly. But obviously people have noticed, and some are upset by the change. They miss the lion, and they’ve spoken up.

Remember New Coke? Customers noticed, and they spoke up. Businesses have changed their logo, or updated/dropped a mascot, and people have noticed.

In a world dominated by smartphones and social media, people are noticing the things you do in real time, and they are reacting in real time. This doesn’t mean that you should operate in a culture of fear. But you do need to recognize that more than ever, your customers are an integral part of your brand. Many of them have a vested interest in what you do and how you do it. And whether this interest is real or perceived, you need to be ready.

Crowdsourcing can be a tricky thing, and  it certainly is an imperfect part of the equation, but you do need to listen.

Now I’m not suggesting that the new owners of the house around the corner should have polled the neighbors to see how they felt about the lion. That would have been just as silly as the shrine that has appeared. But, they might never have had a clue that some folks felt rather attached to the thing. In the same way, new management of a business, particularly if they are brought in from outside, might act and make changes out of ignorance. It happens.

Keep your eyes and ears open. Social media is an incredible resource for taking the pulse of your customers, both actively and passively. And understand how connected some people are to your brand. After all, that’s what we’re after, right? We want customers who are so loyal that they feel a sense of ownership in what we do. These are the people who will talk about you and tell others how wonderful you are. I would bet that those people who placed signs, flowers, and candles along the fence where the lion once stood, also pointed the lion out to their friends when they drove by:

Look! There’s the lion! Did you see it??

It was something that “belonged” to them, and they were eager to share it with others.

Just understand that that same sense of connectedness and ownership means that they will also tell you what they think. When you make changes and surprise them, they will notice, and they will speak up. Having strong brand ambassadors is a double edged sword.

We need to be ready to not only equip and tap into the power of word of mouth with our customers, but to also to listen to them. They may not be financial shareholders in your business, but they are shareholders with perhaps a more important form of equity.

*Note: since writing this post I’ve learned that the previous owner of the house took the lion with him.

How are you communicating change with your customers? Is there a constant flow of dialogue that you can tap into?

Related articles

• Improve Your Customer Experience: John DiJulius Interview, Part 3 (customersthatstick.com)
• Marketing in the Round: A New Way to Do Business (inklingmedia.net)
• If You’re Spending Money, You Better Be Tracking (thecontentcocktail.com)
• How does a small business move into social media marketing? (businessesgrow.com)
• Marketing Strategy: Channeling The Power Of Purpose (v3im.com)

Your Customers Will Notice, and They Will Speak Up originally appeared on Social Media, Inbound Marketing, & SEO Solutions for Small Business | Lancaster, PA | Inkling Media on May 15, 2012.

You’re gonna hate this book.

No, really, you are. Especially if you’re a marketer. It’s gonna drive you nuts.

Not because it’s a horrible book, or it’s boring. But because you’re gonna read it and realize not only that you’ve been doing it wrong, but that you’re going have to make some pretty big changes if you want to be successful in this digital age.

You’re going to read this and shake your head and say,

“Geez, now there’s something else I gotta do.”

Marketing in the Round by my friends Gini Dietrich and Geoff Livingston (her name comes first because of some legal wrangling and legislation that has been handed down from on high) isn’t just the latest book of, “Hey, look what’s new and trendy in marketing”.  On the contrary, this is a marketing and business book that is grounded in solid research and experience.

Once you read it, you’ll wanna stand up, and in your most presidential of voices, demand:

Mr. Marketer, tear down those walls!

No, you may not like this book, but you’ll love the results. And that’s the spoonful of sugar that will help this medicine go down, as you seek to create a new kind of internal business culture with long-lasting, positive results.

The premise behind Marketing in the Round is that our businesses are hindered by departments that function independently of one another, often with the left hand not knowing what the right hand is doing. And it’s been that way by design with each department suffering from a bad case of #DontBeCreepingOnMyTerritoryosis. It’s only natural to get territorial when budgets and staffing are on the line, but we have to remember, we’re all in this together.

The good news is you’re not alone. The other good news is that Gini and Geoff have written a book that walks you through the process of breaking down those walls and silos in a very practical and actionable way. They will help you create an internal, interdepartmental group which they call a “marketing round”, and move you along to a means of measuring your results.

Think of it as carpooling. You have a group of people, all located in the same place, and all headed to the same final destination. But rather than each of them driving their own cars, they pool their resources and work together to achieve those goals more effectively.

Perhaps one of the most important contributions of this book is that it not only gets you asking questions, but asking the right questions, in order to make more informed decisions about your marketing efforts. You’ll walk away with the tools you  need to analyze your strengths and weaknesses, while taking into account factors like your available resources, and how to properly time and plan your messaging and activities.

The heart of the book draws from the work of 17th century military strategist Miyamoto Musashi and his The Book of Five Rings, and discusses four main approaches to engagement as applied to marketing: direct, groundswell, top down, and flanking. Each of these is examined in detail with specific attention paid to the benefits and risks of each approach. Each chapter also includes very practical exercises you and your team can work through, including forms and charts you can complete.

In the digital age we often have to act and react quickly. The tools and information in this book will help you make informed decisions quickly, without being reactionary and knee-jerk. In our fast-paced culture, it’s too easy to rush to market with a marketing program because it’s the cool thing to do, in a very real-time world.

Anyone who reads Spin Sucks and Geoff’s blog regularly will recognize a lot of the language. Geoff and Gini do a great job of defining the terms and practices within the overall communications realm, and righting many misconceptions based on terminology and how it translates to real world practice, all the while avoiding too many buzzwords (or at least reclaiming and properly defining them). And all of this is firmly rooted in creating and maintaining a “marketing round” that transcends departments and silos, and is part of a fully integrated system and business model.

As you read Marketing in the Round, you’ll have a lot of those “I wish I had written that!” or “Duh! Why didn’t I think of that?!” moments. This is because everything in here makes sense. You’ll love how the authors promote best practices, while also identifying and calling out some of the “worst” practices that have become ingrained in our business culture.

My favorite chapter in the book is the one on “The Groundswell Approach”, mostly because it deals with a lot of the work I do with my clients, but it’s important to remember that none of these approaches exists in a vacuum. The key to the marketing round is that everything is integrated: all approaches, online and offline, horizontally and vertically within the organization.

I really appreciate the work that Gini and Geoff have put into this book, and my positive review here has nothing to do with the fact that I consider them friends. Long before the book I have appreciated their knowledge and wisdom in the areas of marketing and communications. I’m just happy that they’ve worked together to write a book that makes our job easier.  They do a great job of defining some of those tired old industry terms, both for those who might be unfamiliar with them, and for those who absolutely need to be reminded of what they mean. We get into a lot of bad habits over time, and this book has plenty of reality checks for all of us.

This is definitely a book that every business owner or marketing/communications person should add to their library. Not just because I want to help my friends make some money, but because they have something important to say that could truly transform the way we do business.

Oh, and don’t take Shadow’s review of this too seriously. He’s a dog after all; he can’t read. And there was no kibble in the book to hold his attention.

Congrats, Geoff and Gini, on a job well done. And thank you for sharing it with us.

Also, if you’re interested in hearing more about the book, check out the interview Gini and Geoff did over on the Brand Fast-Trackers podcast and posted today!

Related articles

• Putting CMOs In The Cross Hairs Of The Round (pr.typepad.com)
• How to start measuring social media (even if you hate math) (prdaily.com)
• Marketing Strategy: Channeling The Power Of Purpose (v3im.com)
• Public Relations is Everyone’s Business (waxingunlyrical.com)

Marketing in the Round: A New Way to Do Business originally appeared on Social Media, Inbound Marketing, & SEO Solutions for Small Business | Lancaster, PA | Inkling Media on May 14, 2012.

Written & Drawn by Jeff Burkholder.

See previous installments of The Social Life of Frank & Linh.

Related articles

• The Social Life of Frank & Linh: Happy Anniversary! (inklingmedia.net)
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• Failure to Communicate Really Stinks (marijeanjaggers.com)

The Social Life of Frank & Linh: Product Placement originally appeared on Social Media, Inbound Marketing, & SEO Solutions for Small Business | Lancaster, PA | Inkling Media on May 13, 2012.

Our lives are stories.

We are writing new pieces every day.

In my 50 years, my personal story has taken some pretty crazy twists and turns to bring me where I am now, and my story isn’t over yet.

Today,  my little girl Elizabeth graduates from Messiah College. She is finishing off an incredible part of her story, but moving on to yet another chapter which has yet to be written. I have no idea what that will look like, but I do know that she is an amazing young woman and I couldn’t be prouder of her.

While she doesn’t have a job yet, I know that she will be an amazing teacher, and that the lives of many young kids will be changed for the better because of her.

Elizabeth, I love you very much. I am so proud of you. Today is your day.

Welcome to the next chapter in your life!

Writing Stories in Our Lives originally appeared on Social Media, Inbound Marketing, & SEO Solutions for Small Business | Lancaster, PA | Inkling Media on May 12, 2012.

Three of the hallmarks of social media are sharing, discovery, and the power of word of mouth. They are the simple ingredients that make social media what it is, and are the things businesses need to understand if they are going to use social media effectively.

So in order to demonstrate these three things, and have a little fun, I’ve decided to bring back the Friday Music Game, which I started quite a few years ago on my old blog. But I’m gonna add a little twist this time.

Here are the rules, and I encourage you all to participate. This is how we learn more about each other, as well discover some new music.

1. Go to your music player of choice – I’m using Spotify because, well, I love it. But it can be whatever online service you use, or your MP3 player/iPod or whatever.

2. Go to your full library – Don’t just pick a playlist, access EVERYTHING you have in your music library.

3. Hit the shuffle/random setting and hit play – That’s right, it’s like Russian Roulette but with music. Let it roll and see what happens.

4. List the first 5 or 10 songs that come up. No skipping! – and then tell us a little bit about them if you’d like.

And once you’ve done that, here’s the new twist to really get into the sharing and discovery part:

Tell us about one band/musician that you have been enjoying, but that you think the rest of us might not be familiar with.

Alrighty, let’s get started. Here’s my list:

The Autumns - Time of No Reply – beautifully sleepy cover of a Nick Drake tune

The Bird and the Bee - Heard it on the Radio – love this band, but this song is nothing special other than it has the word “radio” in it.

Richard Buckner - Hand @ the Hem – from his landmark 1998 album “Since”. I first discovered Buckner, and this album, when I hosted a live performance of his on KCRW-FM.

Amos Lee – As the Crow Flies – Nice slow song from Philly’s own Amos Lee and his 2012 ep. Some nice soulful folk.

Henry Mancini – The Pink Panther Theme – This was a pleasant surprise, and didn’t remember I had it in there. Brought back memories of watching the Pink Panther movies, and the cartoon, back in the 70s.

Matt Pond PA – Silence – a greatly underrated band with Philly roots. I need to listen to more of this stuff.

Sigur Rós - Sæglópur -

His Name is Alive – Your Bones – Warren Defever creates some amazing music. If you ever just want to relax, throw some HNIA on; it’s great chill music.

Bruce Cockburn – All the Ways I Want You – There was a time when Bruce Cockburn was my favorite artist. Not so much anymore, but he still has a strong hold on my heart. This particular song really tugs at me with its beauty and sentiment.

Ben Roth – Like…Be in Love – Local guy and friend on his first solo disc, produced by my friend Jeremy Bentley. Ben has so much talent and this CD, Doog, has a very moving story behind it. But Ben creates some amazing pop music and it’s a CD I bet could have really done well on indie music stations had the word got out.

Bonus 10 for good measure:

• Talking Heads – Once in a Lifetime
• Robert Johnson – Me and the Devil Blues
• Devotchka – All the Sand in All the Sea
• Laura Cantrell – Two Seconds
• The Appleseed Cast – Ceremony
• Talking Heads – Girlfriend is Better
• Kevin Devine – Tapdance
• Johnny Cash – Oh Come, Angel Band
• Hiram Ring – The Last Tide
• Josh Joplin Group – The Future that Was

And now the band I’m really digging now, that I think you all should check out:

Sugar and the Hi Lows

I’ve been a fan of Trent Dabbs for years, and he creates some amazing music, both on his own and with various bands and partners. I love what he does with his Ten Out of Tenn project. His latest band, Sugar and the Hi Lows is a project with Amy Stroup, and it’s incredible. Just a lot of really fun indie pop. They are on Spotify and a lot of other platforms, so check them out. Here’s one of their videos to give you a taste of what you’re in for…

OK, so now it’s your turn. Play the Friday Music Game. Let us know what you’re listening to, and share one of your new music discoveries. Or, if you feel like it, just do one or the other. It’s up to you! And enjoy what other folks are posting.

Sharing & Discovery: The Return of the Friday Music Game originally appeared on Social Media, Inbound Marketing, & SEO Solutions for Small Business | Lancaster, PA | Inkling Media on May 11, 2012.

Watercooler (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

One of the most common things I hear from small business owners is that they view social media as a time waster. Even within non-profits I hear that employees are discouraged, or even outright banned, from using social media. It’s not uncommon to hear of a business or organization that has the IT department block social networks because they are afraid their employees will waste time chatting with friends, looking at pictures, or perhaps trading cows on Farmville.

Yes, this is a very real possibility, but I find it troublesome. A recent American Express OpenForum article presented the results from several studies about the top employee time-wasters, and not surprisingly, social media, and being social in general, were well represented on the list. In fact, four of the top five are social in nature:

• Social media sites
• Socializing with coworkers
• Excessive or prolonged breaks
• Personal business

The fifth time-waster, and one of my pet peeves, is more employer centric:

• Unnecessary or inefficient meetings

What troubles me about this study is that these things are somewhat lumped in together as always being bad. Secondly, I’m a bit troubled by the answers that are given in the article as ways of curbing this sort of time-wasting, particularly those related to being social. I don’t like a number of the solutions offered in the article, as they seem to feed into the culture of fear and mistrust that already exists in a lot of companies. When you talk about blocking social sites, or using tracking software, you are working under the assumption that you can’t trust your employees. That sort of mindset creates a culture of mistrust on both sides, and reduces worker morale, and, I would posit, productivity.

I believe that a well crafted social media/internet policy can act as both a deterrent to time wasting behavior, as well as a catalyst for greater worker morale and productivity. Use social media as both an internal and external communications tool. A private Facebook group can work wonders as a means of keeping everyone in the loop. Even department specific groups can perhaps take the place of some internal email conversations.

In fact, I even believe having a well thought out social media presence, with multiple employees involved online, can help save a company time and money, as well as create a more positive internal culture. And, of course, that internal culture is very closely tied to how your business is perceived externally. And those internal conversations via social channels might even make it possible to eliminate meetings, or at least streamline them. While some CEO’s say they can’t get their employees to use Social Media, others need to taught of the importance of allowing social media use on the job.

As mentioned in the article, the line between work time and personal time is blurring. Let’s say I work an 8 or 10 hour day. That’s not really 8 or 10 solid, consecutive hours. At times it can be broken up throughout the day. As more businesses find it cost effective to allow for more telecommuting, this will become the norm.

When I was working for others, the jobs that were the most rewarding to me are the ones where I had a job to do, and I was expected to complete my work. No one was watching over me, cracking the whip, but I knew the expectations. Aside from that, they were jobs where we both worked hard and played hard. We had a relaxed enough atmosphere where we got our work done, and more, while still enjoying ourselves.

Isn’t that the way it should be?

Inspiration for this post came from the OpenForum article which someone had posted on Facebook, as well as numerous conversations I’ve had with small business owners and IT professionals.

Related articles

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• For Time Wasters On Facebook (ftwonline.me)

Wasting Time on the ‘Social Media as Workplace Time-Waster’ Discussion originally appeared on Social Media, Inbound Marketing, & SEO Solutions for Small Business | Lancaster, PA | Inkling Media on May 10, 2012.

My wife and I recently had a bad experience at our local post office.

A bad experience with the U.S. Postal Service? I know, right?

Our son is in the Czech Republic for five months and he asked us to send him a few things. We sent the two items he requested in two separate envelopes, the same size, and same basic weight. On a recent Thursday, my wife went to the post office with the envelope, paid the postage, and sent the package on its way.

Two days later, we both went with the second package, which was basically the exact same size. When we presented it to the woman at the counter, she handed us a customs form to fill out. My wife commented matter of factly, “Oh, I didn’t have to do this the other day.” End of story? No.

The woman questioned her, and my wife explained she had brought in a similar package and just paid for the postage. The woman looked at us like we had two heads (that would be four heads between the two of us, for those of you keeping score), and insisted my wife was wrong, and implied that the package might not ever get there, or that my son might have to go to a customs office and pay extra on the other end.

When the woman asked which post office my wife had gone to, my wife responded that it was this same facility. She even pointed to the next counter and told her the name of the person who waited on her, and that her badge also said “trainee” on it.

Now the woman got a bit more indignant, and scoffed at my wife.

“We don’t have any trainees here!”

to which my wife responded

“Well, her badge had her name and said ‘trainee’ on it.”

This went on for awhile with the clerk at the post office insisting that my wife was wrong, and arguing as if her reputation depended on it. She could have let it go, but she was determined to be right. She shook her head at us and scoffed as if we were making things up, or were just plain stupid.

Needless to say, we weren’t very happy with the way we were treated, and they are very lucky my wife didn’t go postal. The only thing that the Postal Service has going for them right now, is that we really don’t have many other options when it comes to sending our mail. For the price, they have a virtual monopoly, so we can’t go anywhere else. But had they been any other business, they not only would have heard about it from us, but they would have lost our business.

Being right isn’t so important that you treat your customers poorly. And I know my wife didn’t pull a name out of thin air and make up the part about the badge saying the woman was a “trainee”. The woman *thought* she knew the truth, but clearly didn’t. Rather than just keeping her mouth closed, she felt she had to keep talking.

All of your employees need to understand the importance of excellent customer service and they should be trained in how to treat customers, especially when things don’t go smoothly. Good customer service is not a trend or an option; it is an imperative. In a socially mediated business culture, customer service will very often become the deciding factor in whether someone sticks with you or goes elsewhere.

Oh, and those two packages we sent? The one we sent on Thursday with no customs form actually arrived much more quickly than the second package, and without any problems.

 How do you feel about a business when one of its employees treats you poorly? Have you talked to your employees about how they treat your customers?

Post Inspiration: a no brainer here. It clearly came from that experience at the post office.

Related articles

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• Don’t Be A Dinosaur (patrickreyes.net)

Going Postal: Never Treat Your Customers as if They are Stupid originally appeared on Social Media, Inbound Marketing, & SEO Solutions for Small Business | Lancaster, PA | Inkling Media on May 9, 2012.

I have never surfed. In fact, I know that if I tried I would probably fail miserably and hurt myself.

I am, however, quite the body surfer. In fact, I am the “World Body Surfing Champion of Ocean Isle Beach, NC” for about 25 years running. OK, so that title and competition don’t really exist, but I do pretty well for an old guy. The key to surfing, and even body surfing, is choosing the proper wave and getting into it at just the right time.

In business, our success, at least in the short term, is often contingent upon which waves we catch and how well we catch them. There was an example of this in the newspaper the other day. It seems a local business, Lancaster Archery Supply, which happens to be the world’s largest archery only supplier, has caught a wave: the Hunger Games wave. As a result of the books and film, there is an increased interest in archery, and the company is now manufacturing bows similar to those used in the movie.

These trends are all around us. In fact, in just a few months we will see it again. Every time there is a Summer Olympics we see a renewed interest in youth soccer around the U.S. And depending on what great stories come out of the Olympics, we might see growing interest in other sports as well.

Some trends are short-lived; merely fads, while others become more entrenched in our culture, lasting for longer than just a season. Just like in surfing, some waves are bigger than others, and some last longer than others. Our job is to keep our eyes open and spot those trends that might be beneficial for us. It might not even be something that is specifically tied to our business category, but with a little creativity we can make it work. And remember, you can’t catch every wave, so don’t even try. Choose the ones that are the best fit for your business.

Here are a few trends that seem to have become entrenched in our culture.  Look at your business and see if there is any way you can incorporate them in what you do. In fact, you might already be incorporating them, but then you need to find a way to communicate them to your customers.

Green and sustainability – The idea of being green in all that we do is becoming more important. Customers now see this as a selling point. What can you do to become more eco-friendly and sustainable? How are you reusing or recycling things? This includes everything from your day to day operations and manufacturing to the types of packing you use. Just make sure you’re being honest; what you might think is “green” might not fit the definitions of others. In our area, we have businesses built on sustainability, and others that at least take some small measures to reduce their impact on the environment.

Fair trade – Consumers are increasingly concerned about where and how their products are being made. Some businesses specialize in selling only fair trade products, that ensure that those making them are earning a decent living wage while working in proper conditions.

Buy Local – Perhaps fair trade doesn’t work for you, but the more you offer from other local businesses, the better your chance of connecting with the community. A number of my restaurant clients make an effort to purchase as much of their food as possible from local farms, thereby helping the local economy.

Buy American – ABC News has been making a big deal out of this over the past year, focusing on how little of what we buy is actually made in our country. This is merely a larger form of “buy local”. The idea is that by purchasing American made goods we are doing more to help our economy. Are you selling products made overseas? Can you easily switch to using more American made goods?

These are just a few of the trends I see having an impact on local businesses. You might already be doing some of those things, but you need to find a way to communicate that as part of your branding and as a selling point. Just remember to be honest in how you add this to your messaging. The moment you fudge the facts, you’ll be called on it.

What other cultural trends or fads are happening that you can tap into? It could be something from local culture, local community pride and history, or even popular culture on a larger scale.

You can’t rely on dumb luck; experience is key. Given the same wave, a professional, seasoned surfer will have a much more impressive ride when compared to someone with no experience. It’s not just the wave, but having the knowledge and skill to know what to do with it.

Then there are a few “trends” that I’ve heard people talk about that aren’t trends at all:

Social media is not a trend or a fad. It is a tool that is here to stay, in some way, shape, or form. if you adopt a proper social media mindset, it can and should become a part of who you are and how you communicate.

Customer service is not a trend. It has always been important but businesses have gotten away from it and are now returning. A renewed dedication to providing great customer service is something you should consider, and you can make it a part of your business model, branding, and messaging.

When it comes to trends, make sure you catch the wave early. Those who are most successful can sense the wave just before it fully forms. Sure you can jump on late, but your ride might not be as good.

How do you spot those trends? By listening and watching. Keep your eyes open for what is going on in the culture around you. Monitor what others are saying in your community, both on and offline. Social media is a great way of keeping in touch with the sentiments of others, both individually and corporately.

What trends have you been able to spot and use as a means of improving your business?

*Inspiration for this post originally came while walking the dog Sunday morning. I was thinking about how fair-trade organic coffee, and the push for “buy fresh, buy local” was a big trend around here. Then I came home and read the article about the local archery supply company and the “Hunger Games”. I connected those two ideas, then spent some time picking the brain of my friend, Liz Jostes about the idea of trends and fads.

Related articles

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Culture Surfing: How Small Businesses Can Ride the Waves originally appeared on Social Media, Inbound Marketing, & SEO Solutions for Small Business | Lancaster, PA | Inkling Media on May 8, 2012.

Mary Poppins had her bottomless carpet bag, out of which she pulled everything from a hat rack and a mirror to a large plant and a tall lamp.

That purple dinosaur had his famous Barney Bag, from which he pulled just about every craft component known to mankind.

Then there was Batman, whose utility belt always had just the right tool for whatever predicament he and Robin were in at any particular moment. And don’t forget the innovative skills of MacGyver, and Jim West of Wild Wild West before him. Those two guys were able to create the most complicated, yet useful, devices out of whatever ordinary objects they seemed to find in their pockets or general vicinity.

If only we had the tools and innovation at our fingertips that those folks had. As a blogger, I’m challenged with the task of creating content on a regular basis. And to create content, I need ideas. I can’t just pull them out of a hat or bag, but I do often jury rig them from what I find around me.

The other week I had lunch with my friend Brandon, and as we were parting, he asked me

“Where do you get all your blogging ideas?”

In some ways, I didn’t have much of an answer, so I told him what I tell everyone:

Everywhere!

And I’ve posted in the past about different ways of generating blog post ideas, but quite frankly, I feel as though I’ve been in a dry spell lately. The posts haven’t been coming as easily or quickly as they normally do. Oh, I’ve still got about 140 ideas in my draft folder, but some days I look at those and they just don’t zing me. What seemed like a killer blog idea that I had to throw in my drafts folder with a few notes now seems boring.

Fact is, we all have that bottomless idea bag; we just need to know how to tap into it. You see, ideas for blog posts can come from anywhere and everywhere, as long as you are looking for them. For instance, last week’s meeting with Brandon, and my drive home for that meeting, were the inspiration for a post on Facebook advice for people who don’t like Facebook. And we all have our own blogging process, and I recently shared my blogging philosophy.

A meeting with a few men, and driving past an Amish buggy triggered the ideas for that blog post about Facebook. Ideas for posts are everywhere. If you’re blogging for your business, open your mind up. Don’t think narrowly about yourself and your business. Don’t blog about what you want, blog about the things that interest your customers. Tell stories.

A blog isn’t a newspaper article. It’s not an academic journal. It’s not ad copy.

It’s you, writing in your own voice, about the things that interest you and your customers, in a way that draws them in and makes them want to read. Just last week I met with a local restaurant owner. His restaurant is what you might drive by and refer to as “just another family restaurant or diner.” But he has a vision for what he does within the four walls of the restaurant, and we’re going to work on a plan to help him share that vision and story in a way that is compelling and will draw people to his website and into his restaurant. He’s thinking beyond the world of restaurants.

Keep your eyes and ears open. Do your research. Find out what your customers are talking about. Think beyond your business category to the lifestyle your customers lead. Ideas might come from experiences, conversations, and things you read or see.

Since a lot of people ask me about the genesis of the ideas for my posts, and my clients are often looking for ideas and inspiration, I’ve decided  to add a new feature to most of my posts. At the end of my posts I’ll be adding a sentence or two describing the inspiration for the post. As someone who has been blogging nearly every day for three years (and less frequently before that), I’ve learned to take ideas from anywhere, and perhaps I can help you or someone else find ideas.

And for those of you who are marketing or social media bloggers, I’d like to challenge you to do the same. We work hard to educate our clients and others, and this is just one more way we can be of service.

Do you have a bottomless idea bag? What are some of the more unusual inspirations for your blog posts?

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The Blogger’s Bottomless Idea Bag originally appeared on Social Media, Inbound Marketing, & SEO Solutions for Small Business | Lancaster, PA | Inkling Media on May 7, 2012.

In case you haven’t seen the latest Internet obsession…

Nothing’s Gonna Stop Me Now

Have fun and enjoy!

Written & Drawn by Jeff Burkholder.

See previous installments of The Social Life of Frank & Linh.

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The Social Life of Frank & Linh: What the Internet is Made for… originally appeared on Social Media, Inbound Marketing, & SEO Solutions for Small Business | Lancaster, PA | Inkling Media on May 6, 2012.

The big news this week is that Facebook is encouraging its users to sign up as organ donors, and then adding their organ donor status to their timelines. Not surprisingly, a lot of people are signing up and the effort, along with widespread media coverage, is making an impact. It’s less about matching people with donors than it is about awareness and building the donor database.

Also, not surprisingly, there are plenty of naysayers who are finding fault with this program for a variety reasons. But despite all that, I think it’s a great thing. Awareness is key for things like this. The more people are given the opportunity to think about an issue, the more they will get involved.

And it also got me thinking about other social platforms, and how they won’t want to be left behind. So indulge me as I muse a little about how they might jump on board with such a campaign. Oh, and I know that some might think me morbid or irreverent, but please just read this in a spirit of fun.

Klout

The whole organ donor thing could be a real boon to this platform. Businesses hire employees based on their Klout score, and it’s not a stretch to think that people might want to request certain organs from people who have a certain Klout score. Especially if we get into brain transplants, you might not be so keen to request one from someone with a Klout score of 7.

And if you’re getting some sort of transplant, you can always check out the Klout score of all the surgeons before choosing the right one for you. Influence is important, you know!

Then of course there are the Klout perks. The possibilities are endless. Of course we don’t want to muddy up waters and make it look like we are being preferential for serious organ transplants, but for things like cosmetic surgery, it might just work!

Oh, and if you want, head on over to Klout and give me a +K in organ donation.

Foursquare

I see a lot of promise here. People check-in whenever they enter a hospital, and then leave a tip as to which organs they are willing to donate…just in case. The hospital can keep track of this as you check-in and be ready in a moment’s notice. And hospitals can respond with different deals. First time check-ins get a free pint of blood, and maybe something special for the Mayor, like an upgrade on surgeons. And living donors can unlock cool stuff like the “Kidney Donor” badge.

And I’ve previously mentioned some new apps that might be cool, like Corpsesquare, where you don’t check-in, but instead check-out, thereby notifying folks of the availability of your organs.

Yelp

In addition to Yelp reviews of area hospitals, how about we write reviews of people we know as potential organ donors. It would be a great new source of business for the platform, and a great service for us as we screen potential donors. I envision it something like this:

“Mary is a really great person, and has a heart of gold, but she drinks like a fish, so you’ll want to stay away from her liver”

I see this as incredibly valuable.

Twitter

Users can include their donor status in the profile, as well as any other important information that might be needed, such as blood type. Then they can log in to an app that shares their status with a national organ donor databases. And when trying to spread the word about someone’s need for a donor, don’t forget to use the all important hashtags: #GotKidney and #ROFL (Remove Organs For the Living).

Groupon

Discount services like Groupon and Living Social could make a killing on some great deals that everyone will want to buy for themselves AND a friend.

Craigslist and eBay

There’s been controversy over the years about people trying to sell organs on the blackmarket through services like this, but perhaps they can find a way to get involved without looking too shady.

I don’t even want to think about how we might use Instagram or Etsy. Or even crowdsourcing and crowdfunding sites like Kickstarter.

But of course, I think the platform that shows the most promise for this just might be…

Pinterest

While I’m having a little fun here and making light of a very serious matter, please understand that I take this very seriously. I love what Facebook is doing in terms of building awareness. You can question their motives, but that’s OK. I like the results that they are already seeing.  I hope that other social networks WILL find ways that they can be a part of saving lives and changing lives in their own little way.  I, for one, am an organ donor, as are my wife and kids. They understand the importance of this.

As I leave you with that thought, I now await the big debate that every social media discussion eventually turns to: the issue of ROI.

Removal of Intestines?

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How Will Other Social Networks Respond to Facebook’s Organ Donor Campaign? originally appeared on Social Media, Inbound Marketing, & SEO Solutions for Small Business | Lancaster, PA | Inkling Media on May 4, 2012.

I want to share two stories with you, both of which are fiction, but could be real.

Story One – Debbie

I went to work yesterday and spent the first hour of my day going through emails and responding to the important ones. My work at the homeless shelter is rewarding, but somewhat frustrating. The 8 a.m. meeting about the $250,000 shortfall for the year went longer than expected, forcing me to re-schedule my 9:30 meeting for the following day. How are we supposed to raise that kind of money in just one month?

On my way back to my office, I had to walk through the housing area to get the latest tally on clothing donations and what was needed. I would need this list to send to all the local news outlets, and I also knew we were running low on canned goods. In the hallway I saw Rita and her little boy, Charlie coming my way. They were regulars here and I’d heard she was doing well with her job training. Rita smiled at me and said, “Hi!”, while Charlie limped over and gave me a big hug. It made me smile.

I got the information I needed, and headed back to the office. I spent 45 minutes updating my fundraising spreadsheets and re-calculating my projections. The numbers weren’t good, so I knew I would spend my afternoon in more meetings, trying to come up with strategies for getting the needed money.

Story Two – Rita

Charlie bounced into my bedroom yesterday morning…well, as much as kid with a bad leg can bounce. He had a big smile on his face.

“Mama, let’s go! We have to get to the center!”

Today was our weekly visit to the homeless shelter where we would pick up some food, and I would have my weekly computer class. While we were there, Charlie would get to spend time with his friends and get some help with his reading. He always looks forward to Wednesdays when we head to the center. We don’t get out much and it gives him a chance to socialize and really feel loved by others.

When we got to the center our first stop was the food pantry, where we could stock up for the week. Charlie wanted to make sure he could get some Spaghetti-O’s, which are his favorite. In the hall we bumped into Debbie who works in the office at the center. I greeted her, while Charlie sped up to give her a big hug. He always went out of his way to find her. She had once given him some extra candy at the center’s Halloween party, and he never forgot that.

As we moved on toward our destination, Charlie said, “Miss Debbie makes me so happy! I wanna be like her when I grow up. She’s so nice!”

When Charlie is happy like that, it makes the days so much better. We don’t have a lot of happiness in our lives, but Miss Debbie and the center really do make a difference.

If you work at a non-profit, which story are you telling?

The first story, Debbie’s story, is the one we get buried in on a day to day basis. It’s what we see, what we do. And when asked to tell our story, we look in the mirror, and just spit it out. But according to Dan Portnoy, that’s not the story we should be telling. In his book, The Non-Profit Narrative, Dan reminds us that our non-profits exist not to raise money, but to change the world.

In a very small way, Charlie and Rita’s world was changed, rocked even, by that chance encounter with Debbie from the first story. Those little moments, wrapped up in the larger work of the homeless shelter, will change both Charlie and Rita forever. The paths of their lives have been changed, and that’s a story that needs to be told. In fact, there’s yet another story; an alternate story for Debbie. If she would just open her eyes, that same encounter in the hallway can and will change her life. Not only is she the central character in her own story, but she has a supporting role in the stories of countless others. There are plenty of stories, all filled with important characters.

I continue to tell others about Dan’s book, because I think it’s an important work, and gets to the core of what we should be doing, both in the non-profit and the for-profit sectors. You can hear more from Dan in How Stories Can Save the World, a podcast he recently recorded with my friends at Brand Fast-Trackers, as he helps you identify the story that you should be telling.

How are you discovering and telling your story? Do you know which stories you should be telling, and which stories your audience wants to hear?

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Nonprofits: Which Story are You Telling? originally appeared on Social Media, Inbound Marketing, & SEO Solutions for Small Business | Lancaster, PA | Inkling Media on May 3, 2012.

I watch and listen to a lot of sports, particularly baseball. In fact, as I write this, I’m sitting and watching the Phillies play the Braves. If there’s a Phillies’ game on, there’s also a good chance I’m watching or listening to the game.

My love of baseball, combined with my love of radio (and radio history), often has me thinking as much about the announcers as about the game itself. Sadly, there are very few announcers left who I can really enjoy. I’ve spent some time studying the greats of the game. I had a chance to interview Red Barber. I spent time with everyone from Harry Kalas to Bob Costas, and a few I don’t even want to mention. I had the great fortune to get to know Bob Wolff, who did the radio call of Don Larsen’s perfect game in the 1956 World Series. And I’ve had the chance to listen to archival recordings of greats like Vin Scully, Ernie Harwell, Russ Hodges, and more.

There’s nothing better than listening to a baseball game with a great team of announcers in the booth.

Traditionally, there are two announcers, one designated as the “Play-by-Play” announcer, and the other the “Color Commentator.” In general, the play-by-play announcer is the one who calls the balls and strikes and all the action in the game. They tell you what’s happening when it happens.This is a role that is much more important in radio than it is in television, since you can see what is happening on television. A great radio play-by-play guy truly paints a word picture as he describes what’s happening in the ballpark.

The color commentator, on the other hand, fills in the gaps. He’s a storyteller. While the play-by-play announcer is describing the play, and rattling off numbers, the color commentator might be telling us a story about the player that adds a level of interest for us, and gives us a more well-rounded picture of the participants of the game.

Both of these are integral to our listening experience, and when done well, we are educated and entertained.

This is the approach we should be taking with our Facebook business pages. Too often I see businesses doing too much play-by-play of what’s going on (merely talking about sales, specials, and constant mentions of how many fans they have. On the other hand, there are those businesses who go a little too far on the color commentary, offering up non-stop “inspirational” quotes and general mundanery (no, it’s not a word, but I’m going to claim it as my own).

A well-rounded approach mixes it up. Tell us what’s going on in your business, while also telling us the stories. Be conversational. Tell us what’s happening, while also telling us why we should care. It’s good to have a consistent voice, but it’s also helpful to have a team where the members can play off one another’s strengths and deliver a steady stream of varied and interesting content. And this cuts across all social channels.

Think about your audience and what will hold their attention and bring them back for more. Both the play-by-play and the color commentary are important. Just play-by-play is boring; “just the facts, Ma’am”. But just color commentary, while interesting, leaves wondering what is going on.

As you approach Facebook and other social channels, how are you allowing both of these voices to have their say?

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Color Commentary and Play by Play: A Well-Rounded Approach to Facebook originally appeared on Social Media, Inbound Marketing, & SEO Solutions for Small Business | Lancaster, PA | Inkling Media on May 2, 2012.