Social Media Marketing Maverick

I think I have a slight case of Facebook Fatigue… If I get one more group message inviting me to an event 4,000 miles away I don’t really want to say what I will do, it’s not polite for ladies to say such things (as my mother would say).

Please (she ducks) don’t throw rotten tomatoes at me just yet…I think Facebook is still the most “fun” social network for business I’ve ever seen.

It just also has the ability to quickly fritter away MEGA time (a nice way of saying “time-suck) if you don’t have what my friend Kevin Nations calls a “Profit Strategy”. In other words, a real business model, with a sales system that can turn all that socializing into bottom line dollars and cents - eventually, after you’ve established your social hierarchy, trust and likeability.

Because at the end of the day, we all know that people buy from people they know and people they like - and how can you not like someone who has the audacity to throw Paris Hilton at you? (umm, yep, I’m talking to you Rodney Rumford, FaceReviews Guru ;-))

It’s been my observation over the past 4 years of working with mega-entrepreneurs (John Assaraf, Les Brown, Scott Martineau, most recently, Jerry Conti, my Purpose Posse over at HUB - Humanity Unites Brilliance) that the truly successful 7 & 8 figure + business owners create the sandbox and invite others to play with them, not the other way around.

In other words, they throw the party (or seminar) and collect 50% from the people they put on the platform in front of their audience.

Or better yet, they are the ONLY ones speaking on their platform, it’s their platform, and they aren’t afraid to use it. When you think of it, when have you ever seen Tony Robbins share his stage with someone else? VERY seldom. And if he does, they’re usually delivering his programs, not theirs.

There’s something to be said for continuity and a gated community.

I’ve been quietly playing over at Ning.com, where you can create your own social network with ease.

Now I’m “easing” several of my clients into developing their own private online communities where it’ll be all them, all the time. And, as Lady Fortune (or Law of Attraction would have it, my “Diamond Rolodex” delivered the ideal connection once again - a client introduced me to my new best friend, who is a “Ning Ninja”, and very good friends with Ning.com co-founders…if that isn’t attraction in action, I don’t know what is!

What’s really cool about Ning is the fact that you can private label it for your business - use your own domain name, display your own ads, and even remove their branding. The main consideration in setting it up is what your strategy will be to:

• Get people to come (for what will they come?)
• Get them to engage (why will they stay?)
• Get them to come back
• Get them to tell their friends

Another way to use the private label function is to use it as your own membership site - I know of at least one very well known spiritual teacher who is doing this with great success. She charges a monthly subscription that includes weekly audio, a monthly teleseminar and ongoing access and conversations.

And she gets their full attention, because they’re paying her for what she has that they want. Can we say “social network profit model”?

Works for me. What say you?

Technorati Tags create a social network, create your own social network, facebook, michelle price, ning, roi social media, social media profit model, social network

Google’s been hot to really get in on the social media game and you know they don’t play around. They’ve been acquiring Web 2.0 social media sites (like YouTube for $1.6BILLION) for a while now.

This just in, and almost ready for prime time - Google Friend Connect.

According to Google, Google Friend Connect lets you grow traffic by easily adding social features to your website. I just watched the WHOLE video below…and it blew me away.

(and for those of you who know me, you know that’s NO mean feat - most folks can’t talk fast enough or get to the point fast enough for me to watch very long

I also think it might be a woman thing - any women out there who prefer to watch a looooong video online?

Anyway. Essentially, it would appear that Google Friend Connect provides you with a variety of tools that  turn your static, boring, flat website into a full-blown social scene that lets your users interact with each other with ease.

Visitors will be able (should they be compelled by your content) to log-in and “be sociable” using accounts they already have with Google (of course!), AOL Screen Names, Yahoo! and OpenID (see mine at http://www.ClaimID.com/michelleprice )

Once they do, all their friends in their other networks will be able to see what they’ve found, and can follow them to a new resource (you!).

And this is just the tip of the iceberg, dear friends.  We are on our way to a truly connected web - Global Mind - the question is, what are you going to do to make sure you are in the loop?  Check it out:

Technorati Tags global mind, google friend connect, killer app, open social, social media trends, social network

Talk about moving the free line!

Peter Shankman didn’t start out thinking that he’d be giving the well-known PR service ProfNet a run for their money when he decided to post emails he was already getting from reporters asking if he had sources for their stories to his Facebook Page. He decided to call this free service “Help a Reporter” - it helps hungry reporters looking for sources connect with hungry sources looking for publicity.

What is interesting is that he was already getting reporters emailing him to help them find sources, so he has some credibility and influence with this audience. They have recognized that he is skilled using a new resource - social media - which makes him attractive to say the least. (Let’s face it, besides us information marketers and life-long learners, most people would rather not learn something new, they just want the answers.)

So he decided to take action to help them by exposing them to his existing network, using his already existing Facebook profile. Free to use, simple to execute - reporters emailed him their queries, and he posted them on his profile. A lot easier than answering them all one on one.

Then word hit the street - freelancers (who obviously must have been a part of his network) started telling friends, then publicists (also probably already in his network) realized these were prime opps for additional ways to spread the word about their clients. He created some buzz by buzzing it on his own blog, shankman.com. An A-list NY Times blogger wrote a nice post (notice, at this point he still hasn’t asked anyone to actually help him promote this service)

The free service got so popular he had to move it off of his Facebook Page and onto it’s own site at www.HelpAReporter.com.

Now, here’s where the story takes a counterintuitive twist…because it’s STILL FREE!

He clearly could have monetized it, because it’s clearly meeting a huge want in the market - which he says doesn’t surprise him that reporters are seeking an alternative to ProfNet. He says they get tons of queries from their posts there, but so many of them are “misguided”. (and he firmly says he will dump list members who don’t send a response that is on target in his welcome email)

Reporters report that they get a lot more on-target answers from Shankman’s list. Another plus is they get fresh faces from many of the smaller PR folks and even entrepreneurs themselves who can’t necessarily afford the pricey ProfNet service.

Maybe at some point in the future he will start to charge. However, my guess is that he’s getting a lot more visibility and more business doing what he really loves to do anyway this way.

There’s a lot more meat to this story here:
Tired of ProfNet? Start Your Own PR-Journalist Service

What could you do that would provide a similar effect to your target audience? I’ve got some ideas now myself that would help my expert authors…stay tuned!

Technorati Tags free pr service, helpareporter.com, journalists, peter shankman, profnet

This just in my inbox from my friend Ben, (oops, I mean Howard Campbell).

I told him I thought it would be fun to share and I was going to post this onto my blog. Hey, where else could you get a $4,000 Stanford University syllabus for Facebook for free, become a world class expert on the psychology of Facebook, AND audit the class using their Facebook group, BUT online?

That’s why I love the internet.

Here’s the email:

Michelle,

Can you keep a secret?

This is a $4,000 course and I’m
letting you in the back door…

Psychology of Facebook
is being taught at Stanford

“For ten weeks we will focus
on persuasion psychology in Facebook.”
~BJ Fogg, Stanford University

If you put together
a college-level course
on social networking
what would you call it?

At Stanford, they call it Psychology of FaceBook.

Get the Stanford syllabus here…

( MP: Better look quick, before they find out)

If you are already a member of FaceBook,
then you can join their group online…

Join the Stanford class group on Facebook Here

The kids in this class paid roughly $4,000 each
and you can audit the class for free.

If they ask, tell them Howard Campbell
told you where to look. Shhh.

Ben
aka Howard Campbell

Technorati Tags bj fogg, facebook, social media strategy, stanford university

Okay, I’m borrowing a phrase from my good friend and colleague Mitch Axelrod. Caveat Vendidor is one of the tenets that underpin his philosophy “The New Game of Business”. He says that instead of the old game, where it was “caveat emptor” or “Let the buyer beware”, it’s now “caveat vendidor” or “let the SELLER beware”.

Case in point. Walmart.

The interesting thing about this David vs. Goliath WalMart story is that this is a case that Walmart won, and then an appeal actually went to the Supreme Court, who refused to hear it.

The Short Version: Walmart continued to proceed in it’s attempt to recoup $470k in medical costs for a now-brain damaged former employee because it’s policy allows for that if the person gets a settlement of any worth. However, in this case, the settlement ended up funding a trust to take care of this former employee who will never be able to work again.

So…somehow this came to light and one blog post, begat another post (you know the old shampoo commercial “she told one, and then she told one”?) begat a call for a boycott against and before you know it, Walmart bows down to the power of the citizen journalist.

To repeat: Walmart won this case. They let the family appeal it all the way to the Supreme Court and then bowed down to the bloggers! (See http://walmartwatch.com/)

And to think, I found this story on CNN, through following a Reuters Oddly Enough text ad link in my Gmail inbox “Children Find Woman’s Head on Beach” story (You know, I just can’t resist the power of a good headline sometimes- no pun intended!).

And now, for the rest of the story…

Wal-Mart: Brain-damaged former employee can keep money - CNN.com

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Technorati Tags blog-o-sphere, citizen journalists, social marketing, social media, walmart

Gotta love the guys and gals at MarketingVox.com - they vet all of the info and only give you news you can use.

Who are these wealthy consumers? They average 287k in income and have a net worth of 2.1Million, according to the Luxury Institute.  (and for the more skeptical among you, these survey results are weighted to match demographic and net worth profiles of the same audience according to the latest Federal Reserve survey of consumer finances.)

As overachievers, being connected is natural for them, their participation increased 5 times, to 49%,  they average membership in 2.8 (can we just say 3? How do you participate in .8??) networks, and have about 110 connections.

• 16% MySpace (really? how interesting - that site drives me nuts with it’s busy-ness and blaring musical profiles
• 13% Linkedin (per LI, a large percentage of CEOs visit daily)
• 11% Facebook (one of my favorites, it’s very interesting to see what my creative friends are up to - however, please stop inviting me to events in Australia, I’m NOT coming, but feel free to visit me when you are in Sunny San Diego, CA)

Most rapid acceleration is in the over 55 crowd (you know what they say about us boomers, we refuse to grow up LOL!)

For the rest of the story and links, go here:

Six in 10 Wealthy Consumers Online Use Social Networks - MarketingVOX

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