Notes from the Hive

When I think about those in business I want to learn from and admire most, I realize it isn’t about how big their company is or what they created or discovered. The common traits that catch my attention are generosity and humility as characteristics I find most appealing.

Great thinkers and determined innovators are certainly worth paying attention to but they may not whom I admire.

The internet has changed the world in so many ways that I dare not attempt to cover them all in this post but what I do want to point out is how it has changed marketing and movie stars.

I lump these two very different entities into one sentence because there is almost no difference today. For the first time in our history, there is a wide range of CEOs, from large companies and small, that have as much star power if not more than most movie stars.

You may have read about a CEO in the business section of a newspaper in the past but more than likely you saw a movie star bigger than life across the silver screen acting in some role that either you identified with or romanticized about. Today, CEOs can take on that same power and build their brands through digital stardom.

Between Youtube, Digital News, blogging and micro blogging, news travels fast and everyone is fair game for exploration and exploitation. The bottom line is that your life is revealed on line with or without you.

As I speak with clients, prospects and audiences about reputation management and social media marketing, sometimes it rings a bell with them and some run for cover. And just so you know, with the Internet in play, there is no cover.

Only revealing the polished version is what holds respect and admiration is a bygone belief. Allow me to share two examples of individuals I consider well worth admiring.

Last week I ran into two individuals at the New York Enterprise Best Advisors Awards event.

Norm Brodsky is not only a successful business man, he is also a best selling author of The Knack and a regular contributor to Inc. magazine with his column Street Smarts. Just before he got up to address the audience at WIBO’s Annual Awards Event, a cap on one of his front teeth fell out. He could have feigned illness and left quickly but instead he chose to stand up and make the best of it. My admiration for this man quickly magnified. He not only shared his challenge but wove it beautifully into demonstrating the meaning in his speech and sprinkled in humor fueled by humility. This made him more lovable to the audience and was a picture perfect example of Grace Under Fire. I was never more motivated than I was that evening. I knew right then and there that what was important to this man was not how he was perceived but what he contributed. This is someone I want to learn from – this is someone I admire and could trust.

A little later that same evening I ran into another individual whom I admire and respect, Matt Weiss. Matt is a successful lawyer who has embraced social media. I believe initially he engaged social media to grow his business, and as a leader in EO (Entrepreneurs Organization) to connect, share, and learn. Matt blogs regularly and some of his posts were inspired by being a father (getting to movies like Toy Story 3 and making the connection to best business practices) and a more controversial post on getting a colonoscopy. Both posts demonstrate fresh thinking and a commitment to being true to himself.

A lawyer discussing a child’s movie and a medical procedure might seem unprofessional to some, but these posts earn him greater respect and admiration. When you decide on who you would want as your lawyer, having someone who communicates that they are in touch with the same world we live in and is open to share challenges in a positive light, well this would be my lawyer of choice.

Why? He demonstrates two key characteristics through his blog posts. First he ‘gets it’ and isn’t that nine-tenths the challenge when we want to communicate an issue or concern and second he reveals himself with honor and integrity.

Now, if only I needed a lawyer.

If you are a CEO or entrepreneur who is in hiding from the world or keeps their company under the digital radar, the only question that comes to mind is just what are you hiding? Are your services or products sub par? Is your company being run poorly? Are you the type of person only your mother could love?

No company is perfect and no human beyond reproach. So if you are committed to being a good business citizen and have some redeeming qualities, you might want to share those so that when there is a mistake or a problem you have a platform to move through it and earn back what ever you may have lost or are at risk of losing.

Get on board, be real, be transparent and lead the way.

Because I spend my days working with social media I sometimes forget that the rest of the world isn’t seeing what I see and so I am always brought back to reality when I hear “I’m B2B so social media isn’t for me.”

I believe that most people in business are aware of the value of social media to engage consumers but haven’t made the leap to understanding the value to business clients. I say ‘leap to understanding’ because as a B2B business (business-to-business) we think of our companies as a body of products or services as it relates to the value of another company. This is where the shift and leap occurs as social media brings B2B into P2P (People to People). Social media puts us in the right places to begin building relationships with the people at those companies that are either making the buying decision or influencing the purchasing process. These people are our consumers.

So, let’s take a quick look at how social media does in fact play a role in the B2B market.

Recently Mashable posted a great blog giving 5 examples of B2B companies that have had great success using social media. These companies range from aviation maintenance, equine dentistry, commercial paper supplier and a paint manufacturer and are successfully using platforms such as Facebook and Twitter. Not the sexy stuff you are used to seeing in headline news is it? Your business doesn’t have to have sex appeal to have social media success. You also don’t have to go for hundreds of thousands of friends, followers and fans to be successful – you just have to get the attention of the eyeballs of those that matter.

This is where strategy becomes important in gaining some traction and success using social media to generate leads and grow your business. Not sales and marketing strategy but engagement strategy.

A client of ours who is in the B2B service industry has been experiencing success getting in-person appointments with key decision makers by first connecting and engaging on Twitter, as well as using video creatively to break down the barriers and getting him invitations into accounts where in the past they never had success. Their activity on Facebook and Twitter as well as video blogging helps to keep their web site at first or second place in Google searches, which in turn generates leads.

Still not convinced?

Recent Hubspot studies support companies that use Twitter have greater success with their blogs, and companies that blog regularly have better results with search engines and those that use video do even better. The power of Linkedin is often times under rated by companies and underused.

There is no silver bullet and no single activity or platform that will bring instant success. It takes time and effort, and like any other form of communications and marketing, the quality of your message and your presence will be the final kiss of glory or death. These are tools – and in the right hands are quite powerful. The better you understand each platform, the better you are at using them, the better you know the audience, the better your chance of engaging with them to earn their attention and their trust, which increases your rate of success.

So get out there and blog, vlog, tweet, post, comment, friend, follow, like, digg, and link and we’ll see you at the top.

I spent last evening at an EONY event where Gary Vaynerchuk spoke. I really wanted to see Gary speak, as he is a marketing person that I respect, primarily because he is a trailblazer and mold breaker. Second reason I really wanted to go is because after reading his book CRUSH IT I knew his vision and wisdom were not to be missed.

Gary’s energy is a turbo boost of reality delivered in passionate and caring verbal smack downs. I absolutely love it! He has a get real attitude about understanding and verbalizing what is in play now and although it might be hard to hear, it is the bucket of ice water that we all need flying in our face.

I want to share some of the points that he made so that you can understand the brilliance of what he has to share. I know that you may not want to hear some of these and may not agree with some of his views but maybe it will sink in enough that you can begin to incorporate this into your marketing and businesses. Also please understand that I am paraphrasing but I am making an honest effort to share his message.

1. SEO is dead and a waste of time. I know that seems hard to believe and you might not just disagree but be bewildered by such a statement and yet if you look at what is going on in the SEO world, it is in complete turmoil. Read my blog post on Google Caffeine.

2. Customer expectations are increasing and customer service is the game changer. Gary speaks to the amazing story of ZAPPOS and how that model of creating a culture where customer service is first and foremost built a business of an unlikely solution – selling shoes on line – to a billion dollar business in less than 9 years.

3. Word of mouth converts 80% while traditional marketing converts at 12%. I have not personally researched those statistics but from my own business experience I know that I close sales faster and more often when it is a referral over any marketing efforts.

4. Small Town Rules is a phrase he used repeatedly. Get up close and personal with your customers and prospects. Treat them well; remember their name, respond, share, and CARE.

5. The Internet is dominating. If you are marketing then you want to be where the eyeballs are and they are on the Internet. He gave an example that if you buy ad space on bus stops; look at the people walking by or standing waiting for a bus. They aren’t even looking up – they are on their mobile phones either emailing, texting, tweeting or doing facebook updates.

6. Mobile marketing has started to take hold and he projects that this is the next big play. This comes as no surprise and yet designs and applications are only now just beginning to emerge to address this issue. Just as interesting, no one ever asks us ‘so how does my website look on a mobile device?’ And few if any folks are getting ready for mobile marketing and advertising in their planning. Yet, look around you and what do you see? That’s right – everyone is on his or her mobile phones.

7. Content – create content daily. He urges that you follow your passion and your brand DNA. If you are a good writer, write a blog daily and write anywhere and everywhere you can. If you are better at talking then it is time for you to start a podcast or video blog. He assures the audience that it is not about the polish it is about the passion.

He passionately urges everyone to start now building your content. He notes that this shift is being underestimated and that if you don’t go out and get it – someone else will!

8. He is driven by gratitude. Be grateful for everything, be open enough to share your gratitude and make it apart of your brand experience any way that you can and instill this into your corporate culture. Not insincere gratitude but genuine passion to care for the customer more than anything else.

And so I suggest you buy his book CRUSH IT and check out his blogs – he has several. Just Google his name, Gary Vaynerchuk and you will find them all. Let it sink in and then pull out your keyboard or your flip cam and get started right away.