Today I have to share a personal story with you & I ask each of you stop after reading this post and ask yourself, “how can I make a difference…today.”

Like almost half of American families, my parents were divorced and my loving mother took on the burden of raising her two boys by herself ever since I was 3 and my brother 5. She worked two jobs for as long as I could ever remember & her parents (my grandparents) chipped in as much as possible to make sure we were raised with good morals and ethics while she supported us financially. Ultimately, my brother & I had everything any two boys could ever want throughout our childhood – more love than most kids could ever ask for, a stocked fridge, new clothes on our backs and a role model for the ages. My mother didn’t just support our family financially and emotionally, she was also a “serial philanthropist” and was always donating her time and effort to a new cause in the community, for area churches and families in need.

My life suddenly changed my freshman year in college as she was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer and had a tumor removed the size of a volleyball. Doctor’s said she would be fortunate to live another 3 months given the magnitude of the cancer & tumor. Two years later she had another tumor removed the size of a medicine ball (I believe this is in the medical record books…or so we were told by the doctors). Through it all, she was planning the first festival of its kind in my hometown…which ultimately raised several thousand dollars for local charities. The summer after my graduation & almost 3 years after the doctors told her she had 3 months to live, the fight ended at the tender age of 53.

The reason I share this story with you isn’t for sympathy or sadness but to remind you that we are all put on this earth for a mission and purpose. Although we all have our specific passions in life, I believe that EVERY person has a desire to give back & help others in some way, shape or form. My mother faced adversity in the face – being a single parent, working multiple jobs to keep her family together, and constantly giving back to the community all while fighting the illness that ultimately took her life. 

In the spirit of my mother & belief in the power of social media, today I am making it a personal goal to recruit at least 250 people to join a cause that I know will make a huge impact on a number of people’s lives called 12for12K. The goal is quite simple:

• 12 months
• 12 charities
• 1,200 caring people
• $10 per person each month
• $12,000 per charity

We are all looking adversity in the face today with these challenging economic conditions. However, I would ask that each of you dig a little deeper to ask yourself if you could do without just one of the following each month to change someone’s life forever?:

• 2 Starbucks coffees;
• 8 gallons of gas;
• 2 Subway sandwiches;
• 2 Happy Meals from McDonalds;
• 1 ticket to the movies;
• 1 DVD;
• 1 CD;
• Etc……

Please take a minute to think about how you could support 12for12K…and pass on the legacy someone your life who has inspired you to do good for others. Thank you in advance for paying this message forward to others!

Before networking events, business luncheons, after-hours socials and our beloved social media platforms…there were three-martini lunches. I remember a story my grandfather told me soon after I first entered the business world. He talked about when he was an executive at WGN and would take a prospective client out to lunch. By the time they wrapped things up…several cocktails and stories later…they would undoubtedly have a new client (not to mention a killer buzz).

This story recently popped up in my memory this week as I was trying to pinpoint my feelings about why the “doubters” (specifically business folks) should join the social media party. I’d like to make a claim that social media can be a lot like three-martini lunches for the following 3 reasons:

• Let’s Just Talk: (Three-martini lunch) Grab a drink, relax, kick back and let’s get to know each other. We can talk about anything from sports & family to passions & interests. Ultimately, we hope to find a common ground. (Social media) We share many great conversations on Twitter, become friends on Facebook & find out that we have many things in common.
• Loosen Up A Little: (Three-martini lunch) After a drink or two we’ve loosened our tie, let down our business facet & seemed to forgetten that we were even here to talk business…and that’s okay. (Social Media) Although we all have information about our respective professions on our Twitter bios, blogs and LinkedIn pages, we find ourselves connecting with others because of who they are…not where they work.
• I’m Glad We Got To Know Each Other: (Three-martini lunch) When “lunch” is through, we’ve shared stories & laughes, advice & perspective, and stumble out of the restaurant with a new level of comfort and understanding for each other. (Social Media) We’ve shared pictures & links, posts & comments and at the end of the day we shut down our computers having made new connections…and friends.

So the next time you have someone poo-poo social media as a “new fangled technology” or any of the other “10 Most Common Social Media Myths,” just invite them to pull up a stool and allow you to pour them a drink:).

Do you have a good analogy that you use when educating the “doubters” or “skeptics” about this social media experience I like to call the world’s largest cocktail party? Cheers!

Today, TIME published a story by Jay Newton-Small called, “Congress’s New Love Affair with Twitter, for Better or Worse.”

I encourage you to read the story for yourself, but here is a quick summary…the story begins by sharing a story about Representative Pete Hoekstra from Michigan (@petehoekstra) and how sent tweets about his recent trip to Baghdad. Congratulations Rep. Hoekstra! Here’s to a new generation of political leaders truly engaging with their constituents – transparent, engaged in conversation & readily available!

Following this pattern (next generation of politicians), the story leads into President Obama’s remarkable use of social media during his presidential campaign. Surprisingly, the story suggests that there are a total of 65 Representatives on Twitter but most have various staffers managing these profiles (perhaps more of a one-way conversation than preferred).

The story continues on to share the various ways that Twitter is being used by various political entities and politicians. During the recent closed meetings with President Obama & Congress to discuss our nation’s stimulus package to the recent Alfalfa Club Dinner attended by Gov. Sarah Palin, President Obama & SC Chief Justice John Roberts. Such a great story concluded by this paragraph:

“Of course, if you’ve ever spent any time on Facebook or Twitter, you know that much of what people post is simply the boring minutia of daily life. Did we really need to know what Iowa Senator Chuck Grassley was doing for New Year’s? (“I didn’t stay up to see Ball drop. I will watch Hawkeyw ftball. Otherwise read. Not a very exciting new year celebration but tradition for me.”) Or that McCaskill broke her diet on Saturday and had a chocolate mousse with raspberry sauce? Probably not, but if Americans really want an unvarnished look at their elected Representatives, perhaps such mundane details are the price of admission.”

I applaud each politician actually leveraging Twitter & encourage each of your to ask your Representatives to join the party:)

Every since jumping on the Twitter train (my first tweet) the one ongoing question I’ve continued to hear is, “how do I leverage Twitter for my business?” In fact I recently wrote, “Mixing Twitter & Business – Congrats Dell!” Also, here is an awesome post from Chris Brogan (@ChrisBrogan) entitled, “50 Ideas on Using Twitter for Business.”

Like with any other business initiative, I would always recommend that you define your goals – in this case how you will be using Twitter or social media in general. In the spirit of being transparent, here’s why I’m here:

1. Engage in the social media experience to increase my knowledge and understanding of each platform;
2. Establish and foster relationships with individuals who might be able to add value to myself and my business;
3. Assist others and their business or clients in any way I can.

As a result of this ongoing question, I’ve spent some time asking many of my friends and followers which businesses they admire on Twitter. I’m following each and I plan on pulling this conversation into this blog and other social media platforms as I see great examples of businesses using Twitter (and other SM). Here is my shortlist:

@Zappos
@ComcastCares
@1800Flowers
@TheHomeDepot
@Threadless
@JetBlue
@Nordstrom
@CarlsJr

Also, Chris Pitre (@ChrisPitre) provided me with this awesome site that is an index for all different businesses and resources on Twitter – http://www.socialbrandindex.com/ (NOTE: just because a business is on this list it doesn’t mean they are doing a good job utilizing Twitter – i.e., following 6 with 20,000 following them).

Which businesses might you add to this shortlist? How do YOU leverage Twitter for your business or clients? I’m looking forward to your input as I’m treating this as a little side project/experiment:) Thanks!

I’ve constantly been impressed with President Obama’s marketing and PR savvy.  From David Axelrod to his new Commerce Secretary, Senator Judd Gregg, President Obama has coined a new term in marketing called, “poli-marketing” (or at least the first time I’ve heard of the term).

FOX News (The FOX Forum Blog) & John Tantillo came out with a great story yesterday about just this topic entitled, “THE FIRST 100 DAYS: Look Out, Washington, There’s a New Brand In Town.”

I’m continuing to read more on his various marketing tactics but I’ve really been enamored by his leverage of social media techniques throughout his campaign and now the various other marketing/PR moves he’s made in his role as President of the United States.

Proud to be an American. Proud to be a marketer:)

Ever since I’ve been participating in the Twitter arena, I’ve seen numerous questions (tweets) from corporate marketing teams, agencies, and business owners about how to leverage Twitter for your business.

So I’m reading through my news headlines today and I see 20+ stories about Dell (@DellOutlet) offering exclusive deals to their Twitter followers. Here is a story on CNET today entitled, “Dell cozies up to its Twitter followers.”

I think this is a great example showing how B2C companies can really benefit and leverage Twitter for actual sales and customer interaction. My only slam on Dell is they aren’t following customers back which means they are stuck in a one-way dialog…which isn’t ideal for the customer. Nonetheless, they see value in this channel if for no other reason but to offer great deals to consumers.

Other great examples of companies using Twitter for the good include:

Zappos – @Zappos - This is actually Zappos CEO…great move!

Comcast – @ComcastCares - Frank responds to upset customers faster than their customer service line…

Whole Foods – @WholeFoods – Very active and following almost 42K on Twitter…

I would love to hear other great examples of companies effectively using Twitter & to get your feedback and thoughts on this subject.  Thanks!

I’m not sure how you are, but whenever I’m traveling to a new market, representing a new industry or even curious about a new technique, I typically read up on the subject at hand as much as possible. After sticking my toe into the social media pool several times over the past 2-3 years, I finally hurled myself into a cannonball and I’m now immersed in this pool!

As I’m sure to do with most things new and based on a number of recommendations, last night I started reading “The New Rules of Marketing & PR” by David Meerman Scott (2007). Although I started reading late in the night, I immediately began to realize this was going to be complimentary to my instincts about social media & PR as David says, “In PR, it’s not about clip books. It’s about reaching our buyers…Instead of spending tens of thousands of dollars per month on a media relations program that tries to convince a handful of reporters at select magazines, newspapers, and TV stations to cover us, we should be targeting the plugged-in bloggers, online news sites, micro-publications, public speakers, analysts and consultants that reach the targeted audiences that are looking for what we have to offer. Better yet, we no longer even need to wait for someone with a media voice to write about us at all.”

Just to caveat David’s thoughts on these “New Rules”, he does clearly point out throughout the book that there is still value in traditional media relations.

Although I haven’t yet finished this book, I thought I’d provide you with David’s “New Rules of Marketing & PR” as I would love to hear your thoughts and to learn about what YOU are doing to address this new channel:

• Marketing is more than just advertising;
• PR is for more than just a mainstream media audience;
• You are what you publish;
• People want authenticity, not spin;
• People want participation, not propaganda;
• Instead of causing one-way interruption, marketing is about delivering content at just the precise moment your audience needs it;
• Marketers must shift their thinking from mainstream marketing to the masses to a strategy of reaching vast numbers of undeserved audiences via the Web;
• PR is not about your boss seeing your company on TV. It’s about your buyers seeing your company on the Web;
• Marketing is not about your agency winning awards. It’s about your organization winning business;
• The Internet has made public relations public again, after years of almost exclusive focus on the media;
• Companies must drive people into the purchasing process with great online content;
• Blogs, podcasts, e-books, news releases, and other forms of online content let organizations communicate directly buyers in a form they appreciate;
• On the Web, the lines between marketing and PR have blurred.

These were all great reminders to me that the way we do media relations, PR or marketing in general have all changed and are currently changing as I write this post. In fact, this book was published in 2007 and I’m sure as I get into the tactical recommendations, they will have already been replaced by something better. Regardless of this evolution, I think these “rules” are still very true today.

Please let me know what you are doing different today and if your answer is “more of the same” I would LOVE to hear why these rules aren’t applicable to your practice of marketing & PR today.  Have a great Monday!

Admittedly I have to credit the U.O phrase to David Armano who I had the pleasure of meeting and hearing his presentation on Thursday at the Chicago Social Media Club meeting (thank you Kelly Olexa for this video link):

As marketers we are so often charged at the opportunity to leverage new mediums for our clients. I can remember when direct mail was all the rage yet folks were seeing an average return rate of 2-3% (according to the Direct Marketing Association). Yet we continue to seek out new avenues for our clients to receive a leg up on their competitors.

Along comes “social media” and yet a new medium to stoke the marketing ambers we so desperately want to turn into a raging fire. To continue rolling with such an analogy…my word of caution to marketers is to ease into the social media space or watch your clients go down in flames.

The advice I’ve learned from the very best in this social media space are to walk before you run and crawl before you walk…but do it immediately and consistently. In addition to David Armano, I’ve been reading Chris Brogan’s blog and following him on Twitter for some time. Chris has numerous blog posts on the subject of “personal branding”or as David Armano puts it – U.O.

Quite simply, before you start running with various social media strategies (if even relevant for your business or clients), work on creating a brand for your self, an experience that you can then share with your client in this space. Otherwise you’re sure to misstep in a space where there are no do-over’s.

For example here are the 5 tips I’m following as I plunge into social media & U.O:

1. Get professional guidance – I was fortunate enough to have met Kelly Olexa early on in my social media learning process. I immediately knew that Kelly would serve as a terrific advisor as she was savvy and versed in social media but also had a strong business foundation. In other words, she was “geeky” enough to know her stuff but professional enough to know how to advise business owners or executives on its value for self and business.

2. Set your personal goals – Why are you participating in social media? What are you looking to achieve? How are you going to accomplish such goals?

3. Let down your guard - As you begin dipping your toes into social media such as Twitter, blogging, Facebook, etc., you will instinctively have some resistance or hesitation interacting with strangers. You must remember that people know people and even if someone doesn’t “appear” to be an ideal connection…they might know others who are. You have to let down your guard if making the switch to social media.

4. Be yourself & be transparent – This might seem logical, yet so many people jump into social media and become something so much different than themselves. Here is a great blog post from Ignite Social Media on “5 ways to be yourself online.”

5. Build some credibility for yourself – It’s really easy to think that you’ve got social media down and you’re ready to do anything in this space. Take the time (several months) to build credibility for yourself through conversations, blog posts, blog comments, etc.

I’m certainly not an expert but I believe in sharing what I’ve learned from others who are true thought leaders, influencers, and experts in this space. I’d love to hear about any advice or tips you’d like to share about entering the social media space and/or creating U.O. Looking forward to our conversations!