Leveraging Social Marketing for Business, Sales and Startups

Following on to the post last month on leveraging social networks to build Web traffic, courtesy of YourBusinessChannel, filmed while in the UK with Ecademy, three more short videos have surfaced from our extended interview on the impact that social media tracking and activity can have for companies big and small on the Web - be it through connecting with potential customers, or simply expanding their brand. The three videos are embedded below - proving to me that I sound as tired as I felt, having just completed a five-hour presentation following the San Francisco to London Trip the day before.


Social Marketing Strategies a Boon for Business

Sales Advice for the Social Web


What Can Social Marketing Do for Startups?

Video: Leveraging Social Networks to Build Web Traffic

Courtesy of YourBusinessChannel, filmed while in the UK with Ecademy, some of my comments on how being active in social networking can aid business and Web sites' search engine visibility. (Apologies for looking and sounding tired. I was.)

International Man of Social Media? Would You See that Movie?

As previewed on Tuesday, I spent the last few days in London, England, meeting the Ecademy team and talking about what we called "social media for business" and "world-class blogging" for a changing Web. Although I was wary of the prospect of speaking to a roomful of people with differing knowledge bases and goals, for what was an intimidating five hours, it seems the day went well Thursday. Through a good mix of prepared slides and flow, social networking demos and fielding questions, the time was filled, without having people feel it fell short.

Though I made the long flight back from London this afternoon and have made it back home to the Bay Area (and my wife and twins), the trip is not fully left behind, as I felt very comfortable with Thomas Power, Penny Power, Glenn Watkins, William Buist and the many dozens of Ecademy members I met when on the other side of the Atlantic. As my visit coincided with the official launch of Penny's book, "Know Me. Like Me. Follow Me.", I had the pleasure of seeing her introduce it and talk about the importance of community and networking for business owners. And the more I spoke with the team, and traded business cards, I knew this would not be the last time I would be working with Ecademy, nor the last time I would be making long-distance flights to engage with their team.

In April of this year, I said to stretch me thinner, adding that I was saying "yes to everything". Included in this open-ended proposal was the opportunity to extend the discussions from this blog and the various social networks and take them to dedicated events, workshops or to companies that needed the help.

While I am very much reticent to throw my hat in the ring with the gajillion Twitter and Facebook users who call themselves various words like "social media expert" and "social media guru" (my thoughts here), I have found that the systems I use which I take for granted are still unfamiliar to many, and I remain open to offering my help. Ecademy took a chance on me - extending the offer for me to speak with their team in a way I had never tried before, and judging by the responses in person, on Twitter, and on the Ecademy site, many were reinvigorated in terms of their own approach to blogging and social media.

What did I say? Much of what I talk about here often. Know the tools and the networks. Learn to have a comfortable and consistent pace, and a well thought-out data flow. Make sure not to overshare, and participate where your customers are. The more often I say it, the more comfortably it flows. That's why there will be no sequel to the "International Man of Social Media" with the word "Mystery" anywhere near the title. It just makes sense.

If you want access to the presentation, send me an e-mail. Given that Ecademy members paid to attend, the deck won't be available for free, but I do want it in your hands for the right price. You can also find me on Ecademy here.

Photo Illustration: Courtesy of Johnny Worthington via FriendFeed.

Increased UK Demand for PowerPoint Slides Prompts Trip

In an hour's time, I'll be boarding a flight to London, England, in preparation for a Thursday presentation to Ecademy, highlighting social media for business, the rise of the real-time Web, and how the world of blogging has changed over the last five years. The schedule, as I am often reminded by e-mail and through promotions on the Ecademy site, is going to be a full one. Thursday shows 2 hours of presentation, followed by a break, and then 3 more hours in the afternoon.

In preparation, I've concocted a detailed presentation outline, with plenty of slides. Internally, I wonder if it is too many or too few, or if the focus is right. How does one plan ahead for a room full of 80 people with differing needs and knowledge bases when it comes to social networking and blogging? What if the WiFi cuts out and I lose the ability to demo any of the Web services which feature so prominently in the deck - and are planned to chew up a good amount of the presentation time?


The flight should literally take all day - starting at noon and arriving in London at 6 the following morning. The flight should be oversold, and I wonder as to the amount of power available to the laptop, should fancy strike me to update the slide deck. It's enough to make me pray that Google immediately admit me to their holodeck program, in beta, and skip ahead.

I am looking forward to meeting with the Ecademy team, and hope to deliver value to those who attend - be it with slides, Web or discussion. We'll know in two days if it was a success.

Ecademy Revamp Brings Real-Time to Social Network, Blog Platform

On Friday, Ecademy, the business-oriented social network whose roots span back to 1998, revamped its Web site, highlighting members updates in real-time, much like its much younger cousins, Facebook and FriendFeed. The new revisions serve to better highlight updates from around the Web, activity on the site from logged in members, and the newest blogs - which can be hosted within the site instead of requiring a third party network. Ecademy, which preceded Web 2.0 when it debuted in the late 1990s (see Web Archive from early 2000) hasn't been on the tip of everyone's lips, like many of the newcomers have, but the site has a wide array of features - not to mention leadership that takes a different look at the value of connections than most based here in Silicon Valley do.


A Recent Blog Post I Added to Ecademy
Ecademy, like many other social networks, enables users to connect to one another to send direct messages, and highlights updates made natively or from Twitter. But the network, unlike FriendFeed, Twitter, Socialmedian and other sites, also enables users to post native blog entries directly to the site, including "likes" and comments. In fact, the site probably has more raw features than just about any other network - ranging from personal profiles that show the basic biographical data, contacts and external sites to search engine optimization, testimonials on users' behalf, a marketplace, groups, and a personality profile that suggests how you can best be approached, following your taking a short survey. (My profile can be found here and my blog posts are here)


Ecademy's NetNews Updating In Real-Time
In the wake of Facebook's acquiring FriendFeed, there are open questions as to the future of that network, which was among the first to bring real-time to its core. In the meantime, Ecademy's newest introduction provides a constant flow of updates through what it calls "NetNews" which shows all activity from all contacts, and a running count of how many members are actively using the site. (2,594 as I type this - and you can expect that to rise and fall with the sun over the British Isles) And everywhere I turn in the site, I find that it is as connected to other networks as any I have seen.


The Latest Blog Posts On Ecademy
For one thing, every blog post lets you share to other networks, but also, if you have connected your account, the sheer act of liking a post preps a box, complete with TinyURL, to post a link to your followers on Twitter. Each profile shows my most recent activity, both on Ecademy and other networks, not to mention displaying the most recent members to "like" me or my activity, or those who have viewed my profile.


If I Like a Blog On Ecademy, I Can Tweet It
The Ecademy community is also very different than other communities where I have spent a lot of time. FriendFeed for me has been about communicating with fellow geeks, but also finding personal relationships which can have a wide range of topics. Facebook has been as much about connecting to friends and family as it has been for connecting to online peers. LinkedIn has typically been about real-world business relationships, colleagues and partners. Ecademy, so far, is about driving business and experimenting with social media. The community is vibrant, and as I read in Penny Power's book "Know Me. Like Me. Follow Me.", the majority of Ecademy users own their own business. Premium accounts, which gain more access to members and meetings, called "BlackStar", even pay $140 a month for the privilege, making Ecademy a serious revenue generator.

I have gotten to know Ecademy mainly through the efforts of its co-founder Thomas Power, who is active on practically every network, and has become a good friend online. It is through knowing him that I will be meeting with a small group from Ecademy this week in London for a full day's presentation on the hot topic of social media for business. That Ecademy revamped the site the week before I ventured to London is sheer coincidence, but a great opportunity to see how the product is improving.

This September, I'm Headed to London to Speak With Ecademy

If you promise not to tell anyone, I'll let you in on a little secret. I've never been outside North America. Despite having lived three years in Guadalajara, Mexico at a very young age, the rest of my life has been spent locked up in the United States. I've never even been to Canada. I haven't gone to Europe, to Asia, Africa, Australia... you name it. Traveling has never been my thing. But this year, at least one of those will be crossed off the list, for I'm headed to London in September to talk to a room full of professionals looking to learn more about blogging, social media, and how to take on the new world or real-time information flow. A guest of Ecademy, and its founder, Thomas Power and his wife, Penny, a full day's agenda is set to take place on September 17th, which I am really looking forward to - even more so than flying East over the Atlantic Ocean.

In the last few years, I've gotten to know Thomas a bit through seeing him on the social networks, primarily including FriendFeed, Twitter and Facebook, in that order. But in parallel, Thomas has developed his own business-oriented social network, called Ecademy, which, if his own connections are any indication, is more than 50,000 strong.


Thomas Power and the "Law of Big Numbers"
Thomas, who recently put up an interesting video on YouTube showing why he chooses Quantity over Quality, has made some choices when it comes to Ecademy. There are a tremendous amount of options for connections, messaging, direct blog posting to the site, but yes, it's not the most polished and doesn't have a glitzy Web 2.0 look. But the network is full of fervor, of people who are eager to learn - as I have especially found once he introduced me, and I gained more than 8,000 contacts in the space of two weeks.


My Ecademy Profile: Connected, But Raw
A small subset of these connections are going to meet with me on September 17th to start with the basics and then race through what should be a jam-packed day. If you are in London and would like to attend, you can find the event here:

http://www.ecademy.com/module.php?mod=meeting&mid=28677
(Disclaimer: Thomas' description of me is very positive - and I didn't write my bio)

The full agenda for September 17th (GMT) is below.

9.30am Registration and Networking

10.00am - 12.00pm Morning Program

• Harnessing the new world of real-time
• How to use RSS Feeds, Google Reader, Twitter, Friendfeed, Facebook and Socialmedian

12.00 - 2.00pm Lunch and Networking

2.00pm - 5.00pm Afternoon Program

• Participating and Broadcasting
• Blogging
• Microblogging
• Social Aggregation
• Best Practices
• Tips and Tricks
• Using these tools for business
• Keeping your business and personal identities separate
• What is oversharing?
• Quality over quantity

I am looking forward to the opportunity. If you are interested in my speaking on these topics, or any close to it, for your group, you know how to reach me. If the opportunity is incredible enough, like Ecademy, I'll travel the world to be there.