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It’s like any rambling conversation. Don’t try to read it all. Jump in whenever you get here. Just go to the end and start talking. EVERYONE is WELCOME.
The rules are simple — be nice.

There are always first timers and new things to talk about. It’s sort of half “Cheers” part “Friends” and part video game. You don’t know how much fun it is until you try it.

Do you have sleeping dreams that you remember? Weird ones, scary ones, ones that could be made into a movie? Ever had a recurring dream that came back over and over, or dreamed about the first person you loved years ago?

Tonight it’s about weird dreams and nightmares:

dreams that stick with you after you wake up
dreams that move you to action
dreams that you knew you were sleeping while you dreamed them
dreams that came true or told the future
ahem . . .

And, we’ll talk about whatever else comes up, including THE EVER POPULAR, Basil the code-writing donkey . . . and flamenco dancing (because we always get off topic, anyway.)

Oh, and bring links about weird dreams and nightmares to share!

–ME “Liz” Strauss

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What is Tuesday Open Comment Night?

Image source: sxc.hu – standard restrictions

Open Mic 7pm Chgo Time: Let’s Talk About Weird Dreams …

July 15, 2008 by Liz

… and Nightmares

Weird ones, scary ones, ones that could be made into a movie. Ever had a recurring dream that came back over and over, or dreamed about the first person you loved years ago? We might talk about sleeping dreams that we remember, and whatever else comes up, even flamenco dancing.

Oh, and bring links to share — about weird dreams and nightmares.

The rules are simple — be nice.

Do be nice. 🙂

–ME “Liz” Strauss

Related article
What is Tuesday Open Comment Night?
blog_promotion, discussion, letting_off_steam, living-social-media, Open_Comment_Night

Social Media and Promotion: How to Get Your Network Pulling for You

July 15, 2008 by Liz

Think Teamwork, Not Self-Promotion

A friend emailed me asking if I would pass along information about a product just coming out. The email was a sale pitch I could pick up and pass on. The rest of the message was over the top for me — kind of pushy and kind of “wink, wink, nudge, nudge — you help me and I’ll help you later.”

I didn’t find that compelling. What I found was a way to say, “I’m sorry, not this one.”

It takes time to build a network. No one wants to abuse theirs, but wasn’t investment partly for support when we need it? What’s the right way to enlist the support of the people we call our colleagues?

I asked a few friends . . . they led me to these steps.

In his blog post, War Paint and Promotion, Todd Jordan offers these words of wisdom . . .

ItÃ¢â¬â¢s partially about having something great to say, but itÃ¢â¬â¢s equally about sharing your story and making them a part of it.

Keep them as you read through these.

0. Seed the garden. As Dave Navarro said, ” . . . Spend time either a) getting *their* name out or b) helping them move forward on their site goals … well before you need promo.” via Twitter.

1. Offer something worth sharing. Sure I love you, but if your product is bad or boring. I’m going to find it hard to pass it on to the other friends in my network. < 2. Show confidence and courtesy. If you get nervous, self-conscious, or overly humorous, It makes it seem like your products can’t stand on its own.

3. Let me opt in! Tell me about what you have in a way that leaves me lots of room to choose for myself. If you hang your promotion on our relationship, you might find that our relationship wasn’t strong enough to carry it.

4. Make it easy to talk about you — have a simple message. You can offer me the way to say what your point is, but don’t give me a speech.

5. Give me a way to feel proud. I’m going to be sharing your message with other folks I care about.

And Don’t forget . . .

what. Martin Neumann said.

–ME “Liz” Strauss
Work with Liz!!

Lost Creativity and Inspiration

July 15, 2008 by Liz

inspiration.

Over-organization has taken me.

A week of little things, tiny things, and chasing about has put my organizational mind in control — creativity has temporarily gone missing.

I spend a silent conversation with a cup of coffee, wondering why I’m stuck with some sort of boring, straight-in-a-line, ordinary run-of-the-mill, deadly, cliche thinking. I try for the switch to turn on the electricity, but the current is more static than energy.

I pick up a pencil and start listing — literally and figuratively. Things to do are what I start writing. I put the pencil down and check around for something more rewarding.

Then I look out the window to catch that first second of sunlight spilling into the harbor.

Light-spilling-into-the-harbor-by-Liz-Strauss

It’s a light going on. It’s a sparkle of ideas set out before me.

Inspiration shows up just when I need it.

What a relief that is.

Who, what, where has inspired you lately?

–ME “Liz” Strauss
Work with Liz!!

Get your best voice in the conversation!

Connecting with Customers: A Conversation with Mack Collier

July 14, 2008 by Liz

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!!