As with any other new initiative, making your boss or organization believe that the company would benefit from
social media engagement
may take some convincing.
Lucky for you, in this week's top inbound marketing story on InboundMarketing.com , Chris Brogan offers a nice little outlined plan to help you get the ball rolling ...
1. Starting Your Social Media Case
Author: Chris Brogan on ChrisBrogan.com
Chris Brogan's plan to convince your boss to consider social media includes five simple steps:
- Do your homework: map out what people are saying about you, your competitors, the space, and where they are
- Research: find a case study that matches the organization's interests
-
Outline
: highlight the main goal, approach, resources/tools required, cost, etc.
- Suggest: describe a "try before you buy" pilot that tests these methods
- Present: organize a brief meeting for management to listen to these parts before they provide feedback
Lesson: Always have a plan.
2. Social Media Consultants: A Call to Action
Author: Jennifer Leggio on PR 2.0
Do you consider yourself a 'social media consultant'? If so, you're one of the many out there. So if you're actually legit, how do you separate yourself from all the so-called fakers out there?
Jennifer's guest post on Brian Solis' blog discusses how the true experts out there can differentiate themselves from the wannabes and prove themselves worthy, specifically by offering proof of experience and demonstrated results (e.g. case studies), demonstrating business leadership (not necessarily thought leadership) and making themselves visible online through promotion and personal branding.
Lesson:
Use results and experience to legitimize your personal brand.
3. Why Blogging is Like the Wizard of Oz...
Author: Kelly Diels on Problogger
Using an incredibly interesting Dorothy-Wizard of Oz analogy, Kelly's post introduces the idea of the Red Shoes Blogger, which she admittedly made up.
Kelly's Red Shoes Blogger isn't someone who pulls out all the stops promoting some measly little piece of content that no one cares about and has no message. No. A Red Shoes Blogger has a mission, something to offer. Kelly's post encourages us, (as content creators, bloggers, what have you) to avoid turn-key blogging and execution unsparked by ideas by creating remarkable content. "Please."
Lesson: If you make an offer, you better have something worth offering, and it better be awesome.
4. YouTube Comes to a 5-Star Realization: Its Ratings are Useless
Author: MG Siegler of TechCrunch
Crowdsourcing has become a common problem solving tactic by many, but does it always work? This article published by TechCrunch comments on YouTube's recent revelation that maybe their five-star rating system isn't really the best way to vote on videos.
With most ratings coming in at either a five (best) or a one (worst), it looks as though votes are only representative of viewers who absolutely love or hate videos. YouTube's proposed solution, a thumbs up/thumbs down voting system, may make a better solution.
Lesson: Crowdsourcing tactics may need modification.
5. Taming Twitter Overload: 'Lists' to the Rescue
Author: John C Abell of Wired.com
Starting to feel slightly overwhelmed by the number of tweeps you're following? (The average Twitter user follows 100.) Looks like Twitter is finally coming out with a tool to help get you organized.
Twitter is currently trying out a way to sub-categorize the people you follow into lists to help you systematically organize and recommend feeds you follow. While right now the new feature is being tested by a select few, it is expected to be be rolled out to the public relatively soon. As put by Wired, lists are definitely a much needed and natural enhancement.
Lesson:
Stay aware of new features and tools to help manage Web information overload.
Webinar: How to Sell Social Media to Your Boss
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Social media guru Chris Brogan explains how to demonstrate the value of social media marketing.
Download the free webinar
to learn how to get your company started with social media.
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