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SOB Business Cafe 08-27-10

August 27, 2010 by Liz

SB Cafe

Welcome to the SOB Cafe

We offer the best in thinking — articles, books, podcasts, and videos about business online written by the Successful and Outstanding Bloggers of Successful Blog. Click on the titles to enjoy each selection.

The Specials this Week are

Social Media Explorer
Social CRM is being hawked by monitoring services, market research firms, traditional sales software and — if you can believe it — Twitter applications. Brand managers, marketing managers and agencies everywhere are anxious to get them some of that social CRM, by golly. Sadly, most of them don’t even know what CRM stands for.

Understanding and Implementing Social CRM

Smart Blog on Social Media
When the song does come on my iPhone via shuffle, I quickly skip it and move to the next. So why do I get so excited when a song I can listen to anytime comes on the radio? The answer is that someone else, with a far greater reach, has chosen to share one of “my songs” with their audience.

5 ways to spotlight your audience and extend your reach

OPENForum
We multitask at work – flitting between 12 browser tabs, chatting on IM, taking phone calls, processing our inboxes. We multi-task in the car – driving, texting, listening to the radio. We multi-task in the kitchen – talking to our partners, chopping vegetables, checking our Blackberries or iPads. Yet, multi-tasking has been proven time and again to be a miserable failure.

So how do we fight back?

8 Ways to Reclaim Your Focus at Work

Mack Collier
Let me clear up front: If you are going to use social media, you absetively should have a strategy driving your efforts. Totally.

But simply creating a social media strategy and executing it doesn’t mean you are using social media correctly. I can create a blogging strategy for your company and tell you exactly what to do, but that still doesn’t mean you’ll have a successful blog.

Having a strategy doesn’t make you social

Blog for Profit
Should your blog’s domain name be a brand or your own name? Or should it contain search keywords? Grant and I get this question all time from our clients. The answer may surprise you.

How to Choose the Right Domain Name for Your Blog: Keywords vs Branding

EConsultancy
You can measure a thousand different metrics and still fail at social media, because you’re ignoring the hundreds of different methods involved. If you want to create true engagement, then you’ll need to drop any preconceptions you might have about market behaviour and take time to speak personally to each customer.

Engagement: why social media numbers don’t matter

Related ala carte selections include

Chris Pirillo
I spend probably 80% of my working time writing things. I communicate with people across social networks. I compose missives to be sent to various people. I occasionally author books and articles. I draft items to send to potential sponsors. I dash off the quick email
or hundred. The one thing I do not do is write a letter. Who needs to do such a thing in this day and age of 140 characters or less?

Write a WHAT?!

Sit back. Enjoy your read. Nachos and drinks will be right over. Stay as long as you like. No tips required. Comments appreciated.

–ME “Liz” Strauss

Buy the Insider’s Guide to Online Conversation.

I’m a proud affiliate of

third-tribe-marketing

Filed Under: SOB Business, Successful Blog Tagged With: bc, Great Finds, LinkedIn, small business

Steve Shorts: ReTweets and Cranking on Gmail?

August 27, 2010 by Liz

Proud to Introduce you to Steve’s Shorts

A simple few minutes where a guy who is brilliant makes an observation about social media that you might have already been thinking. This column brought to you by the evil conspiracy that is Steve Plunkett and Liz Strauss.

Why I Don’t Thank for Retweet
by Steve Plunkett.

cooltext467743303

When people say “Thanks for the RT,”, I always shoot back, “Thanks for the good info”.. I read it, I may have even blogged it. It was good info, so I passed it along, you don’t need to thank me for sharing and trusting your credibility. Believing in you enough to click on a link? That you earned anyways via engagement and professionalism. But you are welcome, again, thanks for the info. When you retweet me, you are saying “Thanks for the info”.

A Short Look at … What’s Next?

steve-crank-gmail

Hope you enjoyed these moments with Steve’s Shorts.

steve_plunkett

M/C/C’s Director, Search, Steve Plunkett, is responsible for all aspects of search engine optimization (SEO) and Internet user behavior. Plunkett’s competitive personality makes him a perfect fit in the competitive world of SEO. As a child and a gamer, he worked hard ensuring that it was his initials at the top of every arcade game unit in his neighborhood. Today, he uses SEO to ensure his clients appear at the top of the search engine results –and offers an array of optimization services that are scoring big for those clients.

Buy the Insider’s Guide to Online Conversation.

I’m a proud affiliate of

third-tribe-marketing

Filed Under: Marketing /Sales / Social Media, Successful Blog Tagged With: bc, LinkedIn, Steve's Shorts

Questions to Get Closer to You Question 26

August 26, 2010 by Liz

Get Closer to You

This is a series of questions, I don’t know how many. They are the ones I ask when I help folks get closer to their personal identity.

What sort of thinkers and advisors are the best to test your decisions?

I’ll answer first to get things started.

–ME “Liz” Strauss
Check out the Work with Liz!! page in the sidebar.

Buy my eBook and your best voice in the conversation!

Related< Branding: 5 Ways to Help You Find Out Who You Are

Questions to Get Closer to You: Question 25
Questions to Get Closer to You: Question 24
Questions to Get Closer to You: Question 23Branding: 5 Ways to Help You Find Out Who You Are

Questions to Get Closer to Your Brand: Question 1
You’ll find the entire series of Questions to Get Closer to you on the Successful Series page.

Filed Under: Business Life, Successful Blog Tagged With: bc, business advice, LinkedIn, questions

Win Brand Loyalty and Get Free Word of Mouth at the Same Time

August 24, 2010 by Liz

cooltext443809602_strategy

Research proves that customer investment and word of mouth marketing are most effective business development initiatives any company can have to build a brand, to build sales, to build lasting value. It’s true that a word from a friend we trust makes a huge difference in what gets our attention.

Getting my attention doesn’t mean I’ll buy.

If you want me to buy your product or service, show me

  • how it makes my life smarter, faster, more efficient and you’ll win my thinking.
  • how it makes my life more fun, more entertaining, more meaningful and you’ll win my emotional investment.
  • how it seamlessly and easily integrates into my life and you’ll win my participation.

It’s the last one that most products and services leave out. Build a great product that’s meaningful or fun, but make it hard to get to, too expensive to buy into, or just plain something that doesn’t fit into what I already do — I might remark on it, but it’s unlikely that I’ll use my discretionary income to try it out. A chance at converting me into a loyal fan is a far stretch.

551663_jp_tj_2_fit_easily

If your product makes me feel smart, makes me feel better about myself, and fits easily into my already crowded life, chances are great that I’ll buy if I can. And if your product lives up to those promises, chances are even greater that I’ll be telling all of my friends. That’s free word of mouth from a new evangelist. And when I bring my friends back with me to try out your product the cycle will happen again.

How can you make what you’re offering fit more easily into your customer’s life?

–ME “Liz” Strauss
Work with Liz on your business!!

Buy the Insider’s Guide to Online Conversation.

I’m a proud affiliate of

third-tribe-marketing

__________

Filed Under: Marketing /Sales / Social Media, Successful Blog Tagged With: bc, LinkedIn, Strategy/Analysis

33 Twitterers Answer: How Do You Recognize a LifeLong Friend?

August 21, 2010 by Liz

The LANGUAGE of SOCIAL MEDIA

Words have a deep effect on
how we interpret and interact with the world.
The words we use and how we define them
reveal our interests, concerns, and values.
This series explores the words of social media.

twittericons

friends

We meet people in all facets of our lives online and offline. We meet our online friends offline at gatherings, conferences and meetups. We invite people we know offline to connect with us at sites where we spend our time online as well.

People online and offline make up our communities and the networks that provide our learning and our support. We call these people our colleagues, our coworkers, our families, our acquaintances, our pals, buddies, BFFs and our friends. But occasionally some one in that community of people we reach out to bring closer a smaller group stands out because we begin to know they’re in for the longer haul.

We call those people friends for life. They are the people for whom we would drop everything and fly around the world to help solve their problem. They are the ones for whom we’re always ready to answer the 2 a.m. call.

Recently on Twitter, I asked this question … 33 people answered.

How do you know a lifelong friend when you meet one?

  1. @ashleykingsley
    The way yoiu can laugh together.
  2. @@inyourfacebook
    similar sense of humor/values
  3. @AbbieF
    immediate connection. If you have to ask might not be.
  4. @ashleykingsley
    The way yoiu can laugh together.
  5. @IsCool
    You don’t.
  6. @Chris_Eh_Young
    I imagine that would be a singularly self-evident revelation. 🙂
  7. @those2girls
    YUP RT @Chris_Eh_Young It’s something U feel.
  8. @cdnmortgage
    It really is! RT @Chris_Eh_Young: It’s something you feel.
  9. @Illig
    I imagine that would be a singularly self-evident revelation. 🙂
  10. @swoodruff
    I can sometimes intuit that level of connection when I meet someone. Lifelong friend status takes time.
  11. @mkohpotts
    the difference between a friend for life and a friend for now
  12. @ISLfinancial
    You don’t have to say one word but if you do – it is the right word!
  13. @Miss_Dazey
    You just know, Liz! 😉 // Sometimes you just know a good friend by the way she tweets or blogs.
  14. @EmmaLTaylor
    you don’t always know which is why you should give them a chance
  15. @rmclin
    When you are active in a relationship for life. The ones that are there for you when you need help unconditionally.
  16. @GlendaWH
    You just know, Liz! 😉
  17. @ScottMonty
    To me, it’s about being able to have differing views but with the same value system.
  18. @Joe Manna
    when you can call or txt them anytime and they’re there for you. (And vice-versa.)
  19. @asandford
    You never know if someone might be a forever friend. I try to treat every friend as if I’ll have them forever!
  20. @debng
    They don’t ask me who I’m with.
  21. @esgarg
    Intuition.
  22. @debmorello
    I think you just know. The give and take the same, values, the same?
    p.s. unconditional
  23. @tabarnhart
    it’s the secret handshake.
  24. @slines
    Some times u don’t have 2 meet them in person; u know they care
  25. @CateTV
    when they positively talk about/lift/promote someone else up other than themselves during first conversation w/o asking
  26. @mkohpotts
    I don’t know. I have been wrong enough.
  27. @morgetz
    It’s immediate recognition of friendship.
  28. @Briddick
    I think you just know. Esp when you can talk to someone for hours and it seems like time flies!
  29. @TimJackson
    sometimes you don’t- which is kinda wonderful. Sometimes it happens over time & w/o warning. Others- there’s a spark, like love. . . . and I have some lifelong friends who I’ve yet to ever meet in person- modern friendship is an amazingly bizarre blessing.
  30. @SuzeMuse
    I walk away with a smile on my face.
  31. @lyksumlikrish
    Easy. You can’t stop the conversation!
  32. @ReallyJeannie
    When it feels like a miracle.
  33. @JasonFalls
    The fact they give me $1000 … or an open mouth kiss. Heh.

Lifelong friendship is a bond of trust and loyalty. We communicate with our lifelong friends without the filters that make us stop to consider what they might be thinking about us. I am proud to follow all 33 of these folks on Twitter. @LizStrauss

I’ve made a TweepML list of 33 Twitterers Who Recognize a LifeLong Friend in case you want to follow them too.

How do you recognize a lifelong friend?

SEE ALSO:
What Is Social Media?
What Is Social Networking?

Got more to add? C’mon let’s talk.

–ME “Liz” Strauss
Work with Liz!!

Get your best voice in the conversation. Buy my eBook.

Filed Under: Marketing /Sales / Social Media, Motivation, Successful Blog Tagged With: bc, friendship, LinkedIn, Twitter

Thanks to Week 252 SOBs

August 21, 2010 by Liz

muddy teal strip A

Successful and Outstanding Bloggers

Let me introduce the bloggers
who have earned this official badge of achievement,

Purple SOB Button Original SOB Button Red SOB Button Purple and Blue SOB Button
and the right to call themselves
Successful Blog SOBs.

I invite them to take a badge home to display on their blogs.

muddy teal strip A

alexis-neely
job-life-architect
served-fresh-media
the-paper-chase
working-knowledge

They take the conversation to their readers,
contribute great ideas, challenge us, make us better, and make our businesses stronger.

I thank all of our SOBs for thinking what we say is worth passing on.
Good conversation shared can only improve the blogging community.

Should anyone question this SOB button’s validity, send him or her to me. Thie award carries a “Liz said so” guarantee, is endorsed by Kings of the Hemispheres, Martin and Michael, and is backed by my brothers, Angelo and Pasquale.

deep purple strip

Want to become an SOB?

If you’re an SO-Wanna-B, you can see the whole list of SOBs and learn how to be one by visiting the SOB Hall of Fame– A-Z Directory . Click the link or visit the What IS an SOB?! page in the sidebar.

–ME “Liz” Strauss

Filed Under: SOB Business, Successful Blog Tagged With: bc, blog-promotion, SOB-Directory, SOB-Hall-of-Fame, Successful and Outstanding Blogs

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