Liz Strauss at Successful Blog

Thinking, writing, business ideas … You’re only a stranger once.

July 14, 2008

Connecting with Customers: A Conversation with Mack Collier

ME Liz Strauss wrote this at 2:00 pm

A SERIES in the quest to know more about the offline world

Part 1 in A 2-Part Interview with Mack Collier

Recently, I asked Mack Collier. if he’d talk about connecting with new customers. He was more than generous in sharing how the clients he looks for and how he interacts with them. This is part one of that interview with Mack.

Hi Mack, I can tell by what you write that you meet many folks who are just figuring out that the web has something going on. How would you describe the most likely candidate to move toward the Internet these days?

I think the people that are successful in social media moving forward will be the ones that remain curious. This space is just changing so quickly that you have to keep an open mind and be receptive to the changing landscape. The people that write social media off as a ‘fad’ and refuse to learn more about how these tools work are the ones that are really going to be at a disadvantage in the coming years.

What do most new clients ask for your help with? What misconceptions do they bring?

Most are wanting help with blogging. And many are viewing a blog as a more frequently updated website. They want to use the blog to make ‘announcements’ and even view it as something to be search-optimized, as they would a website. Many can tell me what keywords they want targeted in their blog posts, but haven’t given any thoughts to a comment policy. But this is just a byproduct of unfamiliarity with the space.

Where do you usually start them out?

Usually a potential client will start off with “Well I know I need to be blogging…”, and I’ll ask them to back up and explain how they know that. They usually offer that they just assumed that blogging is the logical starting point. So what we’ll do is examine their business goals and see if blogging, or any other social tools, make sense for them. But before they launch any type of social media strategy, I want to get them started monitoring online conversations about their company. To me, monitoring and properly responding to what current and potential customers are saying online about your company, is the natural foundation of any social media strategy.

As companies begin to do this, they become more familiar with social media tools, and how to interact with customers online. All of this results in greater success for any social media initiatives they later launch.

. . . Tune in Wednesday. We’ll be discussing what happens when folks back in the office aren’t as keen as the client who connects.

Thanks, Mack!

–ME “Liz” Strauss
Work with Liz!!

Hear the social web. Have a voice!


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16 Comments to “Connecting with Customers: A Conversation with Mack Collier”

  1. July 14th, 2008 at 2:26 pm
    Lewis Green said

    So what we’ll do is examine their business goals and see if blogging, or any other social tools, make sense for them. But before they launch any type of social media strategy, I want to get them started monitoring online conversations about their company.

    Excellent point. I would add that they need to integrate social media or social networking with their traditional media efforts. Different communications spread across various channels is confusing to employees and customers and can be detrimental to a brand’s health. That’s not good for anyone.

    Good interview, Liz.

  2. July 14th, 2008 at 3:37 pm
    Amber Naslund said

    Mack hits it on the head that listening is the important first step. It’s nearly impossible to understand how to make the most of social media and integrate it into your communication efforts unless you know where you’re starting from.

    Looking forward to part 2. Thanks, Liz!

  3. July 14th, 2008 at 3:41 pm
    Paul Chaney said

    I’d be interested in knowing more about the clientele Mack services. Are they SMEs, corporate, within certain verticals…???

  4. July 14th, 2008 at 5:55 pm
    Beth Harte said

    Hi Liz, great interview with Mack! I find smaller companies are open to implementing social media strategies…but, they are still timid when it comes to listening, commenting on other blogs, etc. To Mack’s point, I like to ask, ‘how can you be comfortable with your own blog if you aren’t making time to listen and getting comfortable commenting on other blogs?’ It makes them think a bit and slows down that mad rush to create a blog just for the sake of it.

  5. July 14th, 2008 at 8:46 pm
    mack collier said

    Lewis I love how you always tie social media back to having to make sense for the business! We definitely need more of that!

    Amber I agree, I always tell businesses that the listening is the foundation that MUST be in place before you can move forward!

    Paul it’s mostly SMB so far and B2C. I expect that to continue as most of the speaking I will do in the coming months will be to audiences composed mostly of small business owners.

    Beth that’s a great point. I try so show them that there is ALREADY feedback out there about them, they can either ignore the conversation that’s already happening, or add their voice to the mix. When you explain it to them that way, many businesses would rather have a chance to ’speak their peace’, then have the conversation be completely controlled by others.

  6. July 14th, 2008 at 8:56 pm
    ME Liz Strauss said

    Lewis,
    I’m glad you bring up the reference to the overall mix — too often folks act as if the Internet and their offline plan are two different things.

  7. July 14th, 2008 at 8:58 pm
    ME Liz Strauss said

    Amber,
    I agree with what you’re saying. This afternoon I told a client that the crucial start is to determine what we know already.

  8. July 14th, 2008 at 8:59 pm
    ME Liz Strauss said

    Paul Chaney!
    Welcome! Great to see you here!
    I’ll ask Mack to tell us more about the folks he finds are adopting.

  9. July 14th, 2008 at 9:09 pm
    ME Liz Strauss said

    Hi Beth!
    Welcome!
    Thanks for the insight! It’s a great point that folks want to write and wait for an answer. It seems so much easier than “Putting themselves out there.” But you say it so well that if they don’t go out to listen, how will they have an idea of what they’re doing?

  10. July 15th, 2008 at 3:54 am
    Cath Lawson said

    That’s interesting Liz. I think too many companies are rushing into blogging without thinking about why they want to do it.

    The worst ones are those who just try to sell their product in each post and don’t deal with customer criticism or complaints well (or worse still delete them altogether).

  11. July 15th, 2008 at 7:43 am
    ME Liz Strauss said

    Hi Cath,
    It’s a sensitive issue when a client comes wanting to blog and they obviously haven’t thought past the rush to do so. It takes a bit of tact to get them to stop to consider the place blogging has in their mix and toward reaching their goals. Those that do are far more successful — at least in my experience and observation. :)

  12. July 16th, 2008 at 12:37 pm
    Lorelle said

    Excellent points in the interview, Liz. There is the issue of knowing where you are first before you can know where you are going, but also knowing where you want to go, and what you really need, in order to put your energies and focus on what will really get the best return on your investment. Too many companies are taking the buckshot approach to online social media and marketing. By working with a professional, like you, Liz, and Mack, they can save a lot of time, money, and energy by having the experts in the field help them narrow their aim and hit on what works. The online world is confusing and it’s great that companies have such experienced experts to help lead them in the right direction.

    Something we all need to learn. :D

  13. July 16th, 2008 at 12:56 pm
    Connecting with Customers: More Talk with Mack Collier - Liz Strauss at Successful Blog - Thinking, writing, business ideas . . . You’re only a stranger once. said

    [...] I shared the beginning of a conversation with Mack Collier about connecting with new customers. This is part two of that interview with [...]

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  16. February 25th, 2009 at 8:07 pm
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