Postcards From My Life

Dear Reader,

I LOVE spring in Tennessee. On top of some of the most beautiful weather in the country, the afternoons are warm enough to sit out in the back forty and read while smoking my pipe. Spring and summer are when I get most of my reading done for that very reason. I don’t read a lot in the winter because if I am inside, I feel the strong draw of the keyboard.

I have resigned myself to the fact that I am mostly a marketer disguised as a developer. I still get to write code every now and then but most of what I write these days are blog posts, articles and presentations. Having come to this realization, I decided that if I am going to get any better at it, I need to learn something about marketing, thus a trip to the local bookstore was in order. (Ok, a trip to the local bookstore is always in order in our family.)
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Dear Reader,

No, I’ve not abandoned my new project, I did, however, have to put it on hold for a few weeks while I finished DPC09. Now that it’s over, I am back on the job.

Looking back, my last update was quite some time ago. Here’s what has been happening since then.
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Dear Reader,

Of late I’ve watched several companies start to use twitter without a clue or a strategy. Here are my Five Twitter Rules of Engagement that will help companies get the most value out of twitter. (or at the very least keep them from embarrassing themselves.)

1. Do not ask for advice that you are not willing or unable to act on.
   I see a lot of companies asking “Tell us how we can make it better”. If you say that, really mean it. If you ask me how to improve your cell-phone design and I tell you it needs to be 1/2 its current size for me to like it, don’t argue with me about it, you asked my opinion. If you can’t make it’s 1/2 the size or worse yet, if you have no intention of making substantial changes in the product based on solicited feedback, just don’t ask.
2. Be sincere
   This is closely related to #1. When someone criticizes your product, sincerely thank them for taking the time to review your product. Even if all they say is “I f’n hate product X” At least they took the time to look at your product. If you really want to know why, ask them but ask sincerely. If you know why and are already fixing it, let them know. If you know why and can’t/won’t fix it, ignore them. You will not change their mind by arguing for your product in 140 chr. bites. Just let it go, you can’t please everyone.
3. Engage with a purpose
   Again, closely linked to point #1, make sure that you have a reason to engage someone publicly before engaging. Defend your product and its honor when necessary. However, don’t feel the need to engage or even acknowledge every public tweet. Engage someone when you can make a positive difference in the situation.
4. Do not argue
   Nobody who seriously wants to engage with your company is interested in arguing with you. If you argue publicly there are really only two outcomes.
   1. The person you are engaging bests you and you look like a fool
   2. You best person you are engaging, they feel like a fool, and they never do business with you.

   If I am your customer and I say your product sucks, don’t argue the point with me. Obviously, I have a reason for thinking this and you need to engage me constructively to find that reason and see if you can correct it.

5. Move it off-line quickly
   This one is the most important of them all. When someone says that your customer service sucks, don’t publicly acknowledge it, privately acknowledge it and ask how you can help. If you can’t find an email address or IM account for the person, then publicly reply asking them to follow you so you can DM them. Get it out of the public timeline and engage the person one-on-one. If you can solve the problem, do so. Once it is completely solved and you’ve made a new friend, then if you are comfortable with the person, ask them to tweet that they got the problem resolved. Chances are, they are so surprised that they have already done this but you need some closure on the issue publicly. If they don’t feel comfortable announcing the resolution then you can but it has more impact if they do it.

None of this is rocket science so it always astounds me that companies don’t know this stuff. PR departments already know these things but the line level employees don’t. Here’s a clue, the responses from line-level employees are much more effective than the ones being regurgitated out of the PR/Marketing department. Don’t try and clamp down on these people, train them, teach them how to respond and teach them who to go to with issues. Most importantly, teach them these rules of engagement.

Until next time,
(l)(k)(bunny)
=C=

Dear Reader,

Most of you who know me know that I spend way too much time on twitter.com. During all that time, I’ve learned a lot about twitter and the twitter community. I’ve seen companies succeed using it to talk to their customers and seen companies fall flat on their face. I even recorded an episode of Sixty Second Tech on the subject and even wrote a blog post about it.

Recently I started wrapping everything I’ve learned up into a single document. By the time I finished, it was 20 pages long. I sent it off to several reviewers, marketers and others, took their feedback and refined it over time and am really happy with the results.

So if you’ve ever wondered what works and what doesn’t when marketing on twitter, “Twitter for Marketers” is for you.

Until next time,
(l)(k)(bunny)
=C=

Dear Reader,

Did I miss a memo? Scott Sigler, the author who has replaced Steven King as “guy I don’t want in my dreams” has started a marketing blog, “Does It Sell Stuff“??? Wait, that’s not the punch-line; the punch-line is that it’s GOOD! While Scott posts on his new venture infrequently (6 posts since August of 2007) the posts are always well written, insightful and always cover the burning question all of us trying to make money with Social Networking are dying to know, “Does It Sell Stuff?”. Here’s an excerpt from the first post.

This blog will not talk about the latest and greatest social media tool. For that, you just can’t beat Robert Scoble and TechCrunch. It won’t talk about manifestos, paradigm shifts or up-and-coming strategies. If you’ve got that kind of time, go check out people like Solis and Brian Oberkirch.

Me? I’m boring. I just want to know what works. Stay tuned to this blog, and I’ll share that information with you.

Dammit Scott, seriously, you have a full-time job, best selling books and great podcasts; leave some room for the rest of us, ok?

Seriously, if you are into “new media”, “social media” or what we used to just call “trying to make money on the web” Scott’s new venture is a must read. Thankfully, there are no chicken sheers involved.

Until Next time,
(l)(k)(bunny)
=C=