A way to make twitter better

In an earlier post entitled: "To Follow or not to follow, that is the question", I describe how I decide when to follow someone on Twitter who has followed me. Follower updates are sent to me via email. I review each followers Twitter profile to decide if I want to follow back or not.

Over the past two days I've had quite a few people follow me. So, I headed over to learn a bit about who had followed me and I was very surprised at the number followers whose accounts had been suspended due to "suspicious activity".

I'm grateful that Twitter and the Twitter community police jerks and spammer accounts and that these accounts get shut down. Twitter must make sure that these types of people don't ruin the Twitter experience.

I do have a suggestion as to how Twitter can improve. It would be better if Twitter sent me a follower notification once the account as been deemed authentic. Instead of sending a notice immediately they should wait until the account is verified as real.

New book on Professional Services Marketing

I was asked to review Mike Schultz's book "Professional Services Marketing".

There have been numerous reviews already about this book so I'm not going to summarize what the book is about. Instead I'm going to make one recommendation: buy it!

This book is a manual on how to market your professional services organization. It's not a book you read on vacation and then add to your library collection. It's a book you use to market and sell your services.

Some reasons why I believe this book is worth your investment in time and money:

• Mike's firm, the Wellesley Hills Group, through years of practice and results has applied the concepts and tactics outlined in the book. This is not a book based on theory it is based on experience and results.
  
• There are few books out there that focus on the unique realities of B2B marketing and business development. This is the most current and it uses real world research from the field.
  
• The book focuses on the things that matter to the business owner. Increasing revenue and profit.
  
• It provides you with tools you can use in your business in the area of revenue projection and results measurement.
  
• And finally, at MI6 (my agency) we are implementing tactics from this book for our clients. The result? A listening tour that helped a client properly define their value proposition, generate additional sales & a whack load of testimonials.
  

Here are some reviews that may be of interest:

Ian Brodie, who helps professional service firms grow, has a good balanced review. I agree with his assessment of the sales portion of the book.

Chris Brown, a Strategic marketing consultant, reviews it from a business owner's perspective.

Ardath Albee, from Marketing Interactions, provides a detailed overview of what's in the book and what bonus' you get if you buy it.

Have you read the book? What did you think?

Make It Seven Groundswell

It is pretty awesome how Jim Balsillie and his crew are creating a groundswell of support in their efforts to bring the Phoenix Coyotes NHL hockey team to Hamilton. There are over 22,000 fans on their Facebook page, 3000+ folks following each breath on Twitter and I think over 150,000 folks who have registered on their site.

I wonder whether this support will have any impact on the judge who will be rendering a decision this week. I suspect it could. The legal team can point to the fact that there is pent up demand and support for another hockey team in Southern Ontario. The proof is the number of fans, followers and registrants! He can see the vigilant commitment of hockey fans, sponsors and Balsillie himself to the City of Hamilton. In fact, he can enjoy watching a music video too!

I'm sure social media is creating an impact on Balsillies' chances, err...our chances of having a team in Hamilton. By the way mark June 19th on your calendar because that's Make It Seven Day across Canada.

Are they serious?

Below is an embedded conversation from Friendfeed. I'm testing it out. The article is pretty provocative as well...I hope!

[Update: I don't really like the "You" title at the top. Also, to go to the source article you need to click on the picture]

Social Media success and B2B

I'm a perpetual learner, information "pack rack" and in constant pursuit of knowledge and becoming knowledgeable.

The challenge many companies face is not about creating knowledgeable people but institutionalizing knowledge such that more people can become knowledgeable. Also, what I find is missing, is a platform to collaborate that creates "collective knowledge". There are examples such as wikis and Google Wave looks promising. Google wave integrates conversations (email, tweets, IM) and other forms of expression in order to create a collective conversation which can develop into a concept, a research brief, a software spec etc.

In the video below Lee Bryant, from Headshift, talks about the challenges we experience in trying to create knowledge. The answer? Well we're figuring that out..but it's not email!





I believe that B2B companies in particular can use social media to do two things. First, find knowledgeable people and second, collaborate to create, index and institutionalize knowledge.

Why do you use Twitter?

Here's a twist. I'm using Friendfeed to find out why people use Twitter. I use these two social media tools and like many of you I'm figuring out how to get as much value from using them as possible.

Well, why not use social media tools to find out what value we are getting out of them? Below is a new feature I'm using from Friendfeed that allows you to embed a Friendfeed post in your blog.

Using Linkedin to listen and conduct research

Too Much Social Media?

In my journey to find things that matter when it comes to B2B marketing I find myself stretched thin when it comes to social media. I use Delicious, Twitter, Friendfeed and Facebook (a little). I get overwhelmed by the amount of noise but enamored with the potential social media represents. A vicious cycle no doubt. Having said that I'm starting to realize what matters to me.

First, social media starts with People and making meaningful connections with them

I do get a kick out of using these tools and connecting with people. These people, by the way you're one of them, are opening my mind and helping me see how social media can be used for business reasons.

Second, social media leverages online groups

This is the most interesting part of social media to me. In an earlier post I talked about how SBBUZZ is using Twitter to group people together to chat about small business and technology.

Another way that social media is "grouping" people is through the conducting of polls. On May 1st, a Linkedin Poll asked the question: "What is the most important new platform for brands to master?" To date over 2300 people have responded and 73 comments have been posted.

This is powerful! In Chapter 5 of Groundswell the authors talk about how social media can displace market research companies. Here's an example where that is taking place!

In summary

For me, social media is about connecting with people, learning from each other & sharing. It also can group people with similar interests to converse (like SSBUZZ is doing), vote and debate.