Remember that idea you’ve been sitting on?

I’m here with the swift kick in the pants.

While you’re waiting for the absolute right time to launch that business of yours, someone else is coming up with the same exact idea.

Except they are implementing on it.

Ideas are like water, folks. Really. My first startup, U Sphere, was really not anything new — a portal for college-bound students to connect with colleges.

In my case, the right time presented itself and I launched and didn’t look back.

It wasn’t wildly successful, but that’s okay — I learned a ton. Including what not to do next time. How to test and learn. What type of people to avoid working with — and who to gravitate toward.

Groupon? Nothing new, right? People buy stuff at a discount. One deal a day. Part Woot, part coupon site.

Oh yeah, and they probably hit a couple bumps in the road when they launched. But they were — are — first to market. HUGE advantage. Category killer — even though, again, not really a completely original idea. Beside the point.

You. Have. An. Idea.

Implement. Execute.

Perfect is good. Done is better.

Background: I’m at the bank, and watched a situation unfold. I tweeted about it.

Here’s a blow-by-blow of what I witnessed:

1. Customer comes in, under control but clearly upset, as he had used an ATM to withdraw $400 — but the machine did not dispense his cash, just a receipt.
2. The person at the Information Desk tells him that, since he was not using a card from Chase, he needed to get his own bank to handle the situation.
3. They got his bank on the phone, and he was told he needed to file an online complaint.
4. He was even madder now; since Chase was not offering to rectify the situation.
5. He mentioned that someone behind the counter said “that machine is always broken.”
6. The Chase rep said they couldn’t put an “Out of Order” sign on the ATM.
7. The customer again asked for Chase to give him his $400.
8. The person behind the counter said “No” because it’s not their policy.
9. He asked to speak to the manager.
10. The person behind the counter, the same one who was helping all along, said “I am the manager.”
11. The customer left.

This is what I witnessed; I tweeted about this situation in the hopes that someone would weigh in.

So I ask you, fair readers, “What Would Social Media Marketing Do?”

It’s probably better to ask “What COULD SMM Do?”

(I’m obviously biased in my opinion, but not for a reason you’d think. I was at the bank waiting to get a Notary. I ended up sitting down with a Notary who then introduced a sales guy who wanted to go over my account information. He offered to help me with business stuff; he seemed flummoxed that I was actually working with a very helpful Chase rep in Phoenix, Arizona, on my business account.)

So, Chase (and any other company looking to dip their toes into a pool filled with their own customers, the happy ones and the rabid ones), here are some thoughts:

1. Monitor this stuff. Take one of these sales dudes and make it his job to see what is being said about the company, in real time, online. I’m not just saying Twitter (though that’s a start), but Facebook and YouTube and other places.
2. Get your booty on Foursquare. I don’t use Foursquare but that is beside the point. Location-based marketing is here, and if someone is audacious enough to announce to the world that they are AT YOUR BANK RIGHT NOW…well, saying hello would be a good thing.
3. Want to be my local bank? BE MY LOCAL BANK ON (INSERT SITE HERE). Tweeting from the Evanston, Illinois Chase Branch? Why not. In fact, I’d feel a heck of a lot more comfortable if someone from the bank branch got on and said “Hi from the bank branch, stop by and say hello.” YouTube is great for this stuff. I don’t care if 5 people view the video.

These are just a few ideas — I’d love to hear yours. Banks have a ways to go in this social media stuff, but I’d love to see baby steps.

What do you think?

Received a call here at Area 224 HQ from a dear friend, and here was his question:

Why do I have to jump through so many hoops to get someone’s free report?

In brief, here’s what happened:

Credit: IOC.

1. Friend attended webinar for free.
2. Friend liked what he heard from a speaker, decided to visit a website to get the “Free Report” valued at “some figure that makes it sound really valuable.”
3. When he tried to get the report, he was asked to buy something. He said no.
4. Was taken to another page to download the free report.
5. Was asked to input email address.
6. He was then taken to another page and was asked to buy something else.
7. Meanwhile, the email with instructions to download the Free Report ended up in a Spam folder.
8. He got confused.
9. He emailed the provider of the Free Report.
10. Provider sent out another note saying s/he had messed up, suggested a new approach – new link to Free Report.
11. Friend lost interest, was confused, felt taken, didn’t want to jump through hoops.

Result: Prospect (my friend) moved into “Will Not Buy” category.

This has resulted in my creation of a new style of marketing: Empathy Marketing.

If you think about it, Empathy Marketing is pretty easy to do: make it darn easy for the prospect to get information from you. Especially if that information is FREE.

You see, FREE needs to mean, well, FREE. Not “Free with strings attached.” Not “Free with email address and permission to send you a bunch of stuff.” FREE.

Area 224 has some newsletters of our own. Sometimes we send out an email when we post something neat on the blog, like this. We often tweet about what we’re up to. Etc.

Oh, and our Real SMM product – the one we’re partnering with Socially Mediated’s Jim Alexander on? We have some FREE stuff there. Like a White Paper that’s a FREE Report. Here’s the link: http://realsmm.com/5mistakes.

Jim and I had a 30-second call about this very subject yesterday. “Down with Rhythmic Gymnastics,” I told him. “I wholeheartedly agree,” he said.

So, are you practicing Empathy Marketing, or are your making customers jump through hoops?

We came up with this concept shortly after a chat with Jim Alexander of Socially Mediated. Yes, it’s that easy – come up with a Social Media strategy for your organization and it will be like Manna from Heaven. Wonderful, tasty sweet bread falling from the sky. Social Media Manna. SMM.

Social Media Manna will not fall from the sky.

Remember Seth Godin? Very smart, uber-marketer, always writing another book? That Seth Godin? He hit the nail on the head — here’s a quote from him:

“The reason social media is so difficult for most organizations? It’s a process, not an event. Dating is a process. So is losing weight, being a public company and building a brand. On the other hand, putting up a trade show booth is an event. So are going public and having surgery. Events are easier to manage, pay for and get excited about. Processes build results for the long haul.” – Seth Godin, 2009.

This is where the Manna test fails for most organizations.

Process: Engaging with customers, prospects, clients, friends, the general public.

Event: Setting up a Twitter account.

Process: The quid-pro-quo of social media interaction – quid of sharing information and having conversations; quo of getting valuable insights from clients or consumers and being proactive about making things happen.

Event: Setting up a Facebook Fan Page.

If you look at the PROCESS of Social Media Marketing – that’s what the “M” stands for, “Marketing” – you’ll realize that the skies will not open, and delicious bread will not fall into your lap immediately.

If you invest time into engagement marketing, authenticity marketing, and know that you have to get real — well, you’ll get your slices here and there. And you might just find out what type of bread people really want.

Lesson We Learned: Explaining Art + Science of Social Media…

Area 224 returns for not one but TWO repeat engagements of 3 Weeks to Social Media Success.

Up there on our site you’ll see it say “3 Weeks is Back!” That’s because we did this program in December and, well, we had quite a few people ask us if we’d do it again. So here we are.

PLUS – this is more laser-focused, less sessions, and some one-on-one time and group time and…we’re really excited.

Add to cart

BUT…what about Real Estate? Don’t you guys have something for that, too?

YES…our Real SMM product has 3 Weeks to Real Estate Social Media Success. Real Estate people – agents, brokers, investors, title company, mortgage people…etc., they can all learn from the experts (we’ve been doing webinars like these ALL through 2009).

Add to cart

So, if you ARE in Real Estate, check out the Real SMM site and sign up there. If you aren’t, see more info on our 3 Weeks program right here.

Cheers!

Hi! Back in January, we said we were on a mission. Here’s a recap.

Goal: Stamp Out Social Media Poseurs in 2010.

I’m on a mission. Please join me.

You know what a “poseur” is, right? I don’t have to define it – it’s one of these things, like “art” or good graphic design. You know it when you see it; and, when you see it, in the case of Social Media Poseurism, you don’t like it.

Let’s band together to stamp out Social Media Poseurs in 2010!

If you see any of these 17 behaviors, actions or tweets — report them! Or, better yet, just stop following, unfriend them, and move on. Life’s too short.

Here’s the list:

1. Calling themselves a “guru.”
2. Calling themselves a “rock star.” (Actual rock stars may call themselves rock stars.)
3. Calling themselves a “ninja.”
4. Tweeting the same 15 things over and over again, usually from multiple accounts. [Editor's Note: WAIT, I do that! That's how people saw this in the first place! Must change this, STAT!]
5. Unable to provide an actual business case study for any social media usage – even if it’s from someone else.
6. Saying they were a CEO many times, as if you’re supposed to be impressed. (I’m a CEO, have been a CEO. I’m not impressed by my own title.)
7. 100% self-serving tweets. Twitter is the closest thing to the Social Media Party that your kids warned you about. Talk WITH people.
8. Any automated “machine” approach to any of this SMM stuff.
9. Selling you Multi-Level Marketing Crap via Direct Messages or Facebook Spam. [EDITOR: I still can't stand this stuff.]
10. LinkedIn LIONs who are Social Media Experts. (I have 10,000 people I’m connected to, therefore I am a Social Media Expert.)
11. Anyone who calls themselves a Social Media Expert. See 1, 2, and 3 above.
12. Anyone who has all the answers.
13. Unable to provide a business example where their assistance has added – be it % of sales growth or more leads or added phone calls to the call center. (Thanks, @mattdollinger.)
14. USING ALL CAPS TO GET THEIR POINT ACROSS.
15. WORSE, USING ALL CAPS IN THEIR TWITTER USER NAME. (Sorry, @CHRISVOSS, that’s a foul.) [EDITOR: Guy listed in #15 is also the mayor of a Las Vegas Arby's on Foursquare. I gave him ribbing in the Winter, and nothing.  So I'll rib him again, with the goal of engagement.]
16. On the part of brands, having a “social media expert” on staff and refusing to figure out why they’re there. (Customer Service? PR? Sending out coupons? Have a point!)
17. Anyone who claims to be a “Word of Mouth” expert and is not using Twitter properly. By properly — at least 1000 followers, following the same number, and engaging 10x a day. Thank you.

Okay, 17 reasons could probably be 170 with a little more thinking. The point here – don’t be lame. We’re all trying to make a buck — myself included. Fine, there’s room for a good many of us to explain this Social Media Marketing landscape to those who want to learn it, have to learn it, or are somewhere in between.

Happy New Year! (Even to the Poseurs; just start being real, okay?)

Area 224 announces a new series of Webinars for Social Media Success: B2B Marketers Take Note!

If you’ve missed us during the 3 Weeks to Social Media Success series, that’s okay – here’s your chance to get the industry-specific Social Media Strategies your company needs.

We’re hosting Webinars starting January 5, 2010, and each one is for a different industry:

• Social Media Success for Small Business: January 5
• Social Media Success for Real Estate Professionals: January 6
• Social Media Success for Not-for-Profits: January 7
• Social Media Success for Real Estate Professionals: January 13
• Social Media Success for Business-to-Business Marketing: January 14

Best part – this time around, you can just purchase one webinar seat – depending on your industry – and it’s for one low price that won’t break the budget!

Click here for more info:

Area 224 Webinars.

Too Many Social Media Hucksters? Try This Trick…

We watched a great video from that @garyvee guy today. In it, he says that “social media” is becoming such a worn-out phrase that, in his opinion, it will soon just be called “media.”

Good point.

Here’s another way of looking at it, and another trick you can use to sniff out hucksterism. Or huckstering. Hucksterization. Whatever…

Replace “social media” with the word “email.”

Really. Try it:

John Smith is an email guru.

Wow, those guys over there at XYZ Associates, they really “get email.”

I don’t know if I should trust a PR firm with my email marketing.

Stop thinking TOOL or you’ll soon become one. Start thinking what you’re saying, how you’re saying it, how often you’re having conversations with people, clients, customers, consumers.

(Yes, we’re guilty, too — we say “social media success” on this very site. Guilty as charged.)

BUT, the point here is that companies are rushing to shoehorn social media into their communications strategy — without having a strategy in the first place. Or an objective for even communicating.

Websites were all the rage at one point. Later, Web 2.0. And, while we do maintain that Social Media Marketing — SMM — will soon replace Search Engine Optimization — SEO — as the most important acronym…we don’t want you to forget that what you say and how you say it are so much more important than what tool you use.

Thanks. Now we need to go send a social media. I mean an email.

It is only 9 webinars, after all.

But one thing we’ve heard about Social Media from just about everyone we’ve talked to:

There’s so much out there!

Our goal with the 3 Weeks to Social Media Success program is to do what we’ve been told we do best: demystify. Break the complex down into digestible chunks.

Some of you are trying to translate this for the boss. Others of you need to get social to find the next gig. Maybe you have to sort out the strategy for your company, or you need to see if a Facebook Fan Page makes any sense for your B2B firm.

We can help. And we hope you’ll join us…

Got 3 Weeks?

Area 224 Managing Principal Dave Van de Walle has been part of crisis communications teams at Aon Corp., TransUnion and U Sphere. He was also Sports Information Director at Chicago State University in the mid-1990s. Here are his thoughts on the Tiger Woods accident and the aftermath:

If you think this is a complex crisis communications problem – the one being faced by Tiger Woods, uber-golfer, the first billion-dollar athlete, spokesperson for Gillette, and multi-ethnic role model of epic proportions – you might be under-estimating how complex it is.

There used to be a maxim about crisis communications: “tell it all, tell it early, tell it honestly.” These are organizational communications rules – but not personal brand management communications rules. BIG difference, and one that Tiger must confront head-on.

He’s his own team.

Seriously, as much as you might THINK he and his caddie (Steve Wiliams) are a team, or he and his wife, Elin, are a team – the reality here is it’s just Tiger Woods.

Now that everyone has a theory, what’s the world’s most famous athlete to do?

Tiger issued a statement asking for space, saying that “my family and I deserve some privacy.” Given the fact that golf reporters respect the guy for his class and dignity and how he treats them, I’d be inclined to cut him some slack.

Let’s borrow rather liberally from the playbook of another World-Class Athlete, Michael Phelps. Remember him? When he won all those gold medals, he grew a large Facebook following. VERY LARGE. 2,800,000+. He engaged with them as much as an athlete of his stature can – not a ton, but you felt like he was at least spending some time interacting.

When Michael Phelps had a problem,  he confronted it head-on, through Facebook friends. Apologizing for letting them down. Then he went back to business, and his support kept growing.

He took control of the story, sure; but he engaged the masses where they were. He worked with the Groundswell. Not against it.

[Remember: after Michael Phelps did all this public apology and sorry I let you down stuff, he had a minor fender-bender? He got out in front of that story, too. On Facebook.]

Meantime, back to Tiger. His site is one-way — comment on the site, but don’t talk with Tiger. In fact, the one-way nature of his site is part of the problem: his is a brand, and it’s personal, but it’s not, well, personal. You feel like you’re interacting with a corporation. Which you are.

Not a regular guy who dominates but doesn’t have too much time for the little people.

How to confront this head-on? Through social media? Some advice for Tiger:

Engage. The masses, the little people, your favorite reporter, another golfer. Someone.

Comment back. Please, give us a token “hey Bob129, thanks for your support! Elin and I are doing well, we’re both a little jarred by the accident.”

Tweet. Seriously, Twitter got out in front of this story and it took on a life of its own. You can start taking it back through a verified account, a little interaction, and some honesty. Even if all you want to say is “my face hurts.”

Tiger, I’m with you on the respect for privacy stuff. I’m sorta with you on the “I’m human” stuff. I’d really like to believe your story — when and if you share it. So long as you start talking with the gallery.

The gallery is out here, on Social Media.