Work the room

Last week I attended a networking event coordinated by the Technology Association of Iowa.  Dubbed Pitch and Grow and well attended by University of Iowa types, the event centered around entreprenurship in tech fields and featured a discussion panel followed by groups of concurrent presentation sessions.  The sessions gave startups and early-growth companies an opportunity to present a pitch to seasoned serial entrepreneurs. Some pitches were of the does-this-idea-have-legs variety while others were more if-I-were-asking-you-to-invest-would-you-buy-it type.  While all sessions were mock – not actual requests for support – they gave the presenters opportunities to get their sea legs when presenting to a crowd as well as test their preparedness to describe their business idea and its viability. It was also a great time to network and gain new ideas to twist and apply to our own businesses.

Thumbs up; thumbs down

I attended two vastly different pitch sessions.  Session B was presented by a software development company and was superb, top down.  Well planned, well rehearsed, and the content covered all of the fundamentals (market overview/the product/why its unique and needed/delivery models/revenue streams/needs assessment/etc.).  The speaker was very comfortable speaking with the group; I walked out wanting a piece of that, big-time (and aren’t those involved with start-ups the wild-eyed, big-hairy-idea-minded kind? mavericks?).  That fledgling company is really on to something; they described a market, its opportunities, inroads plowed to date, and their nuts-and-bolts work to solve a real-world problem as well as their earnings potential.  In a word, wow.

Session A was…well, precisely the opposite.  I can discount the presenter’s nerves (been there). I can be generous and even discount the quality of the actual slides (although maybe I shouldn’t; much has been written about building and delivering presentations that work and potential investors would surely yawn at it).  But I’m having a hard time understanding why this person had a stage with the audience at all.  I fear the company will perpetuate every misconception and malignment ever grumbled or groused about social media’s value for business.

Lipstick on a pig

Near as I can tell, the speakers’ company started as an IT consulting business. Someone then saw an opportunity ($$) to layer on tactical elements of social media marketing for SMB’s. Sure, because *that* makes sense (?!). What these guys are really doing is setting up accounts on Facebook, Twitter, and YouTube for local businesses.  Maybe slapping on a poorly Photoshopped background or avatar outside of any kind of brand planning. Unless I misunderstood, the company will help local businesses acquire fans/followers, too – the mass “Will you like this new client of ours on FB?” kind of pandering.

The presentation spoke of plans to develop social media marketing strategies and a proprietary process along with software tools to “implement social media messaging and collect/analyze SM feedback using data and text mining.”  I say hooey.  Fancy words. No projected time frame. And that stuff already exists, too. Until those wish-fors become part of an actual product release – will settle for alpha – there’s nothing there for clients to latch onto. Seriously, social media account setup is not a long term viable business model in and of itself. And by the time the value-add stuff got latched on (assuming it was), the train will have long left the station. We’d be in the next stage of evolution and adoption.  I began to wonder if the company was plying snake oil. The question was, did they even know it? They mouthed some of the right key phrases but then talked about Will It Blend views on YouTube. From 18 months ago. Binkety-blink.

When the time came for Q&A I had a notepad of questions.  No, I didn’t want to skewer anybody – it wasn’t a popularity contest and I’m not into finger pointing.  But I really hoped I missed some vital parts of the preso during my autonomic blinking process (or the search for gum in my purse). I wanted to understand just what these guys hoped to bring to market. I was anxious to dig into some  social business concepts. Eager to learn more, I asked a few ground ball-type questions:

• How do you help clients tie social media activity to their business goals? Map out a social media strategy? Do you also coach them through integration?  Just what are some of your clients’ goals?
• So you perform keyword research? How do you interpret and use findings? How do the findings bring about change? Got any case studies?
• The content you say you’ll help clients share via SM tools – describe the development and curation process and your best practice recommendations. Is that managed internally?
• How does reputation management fit into your service model? That’s what I think of when I hear “analyze SM feedback.”
• How will your as-yet-developed social software differ from existing products like Radian6, Techrigy, Scout Labs, Social Mention. Or any other SaaS priced more competitively for a SMB?

Next!

Suffice to say the responses offered to me were vague and incomplete.  He spoke of numbers of fans; I wanted to hear about shares, interactions, traffic changes, time on site and new customer inquiries/referrals (more, please!).  Maybe that’s a whole layer of “Why are we doing this?” that his clients to date hadn’t gotten to yet.  If that’s the case, which is the worse offense – that the clients didn’t grasp how social media could affect their business in direct, tangible, measurable ways? Or that the consultant hadn’t educated (nay, considered how) his clients about what what social media strategy and execution  could deliver?

What’s the most tragic example of social media convolution you’ve run across?  How do you propose we turn the tide?

That is, unless you win a free book (and I have one to offer some lucky duck). But you’ll probably want multiple copies, so you still need that shiny green card. Share the knowledge wealth.

Once you dive into Jay and Amber’s book, you’ll be flooded with warmth.  The clouds will part, and someone, somewhere will sing.  You may even be bathed in golden light if you’re sitting near a south-facing window.

Euphoria will bloom because you will have found the social business book you’ve been waiting for. The one you hope your boss reads. And takes to heart.

The authors deliver an incredibly readable discussion (we expected no less) about the state of business today and the radical changes – mindsets, tools, policies, channels, expectations, and procedures – ahead, the likes of which we’ve only glimpsed the past 3ish years (is that all its been?).

This isn’t a book about how to get more followers or friends, or design the snazziest background or custom tab.  It’s a holistic look at the reorganization of business operations, the restructuring of process, and the re-engineering of attitudes, assets, and strategies.  It’s a frank acknowledgement that the world we operate in, the place where we manage people and their activities, is evolving in response to and along side of a rush of enabling technology and shifting consumer expectations.  We can’t mistake what’s happening as a passing fad or fancy, or chalk it up to something our 16 year-old niece does when forced to attend family functions.  This isn’t about Facebook, people. You’ll miss the point and be left holding steadfast to a rapidly shrinking market.  Perhaps still surviving, but certainly not thriving.

The duo’s book, titled The Now Revolution: 7 Shifts to make your business faster, smarter, and more social is one every executive,manager, and rank-and-file should read.  If you’ve spent much time in the workforce, then you’ve likely seen the changes technology has brought about in the way people communicate, collaborate, solve problems and nurture new ideas.  Beneath a tweet or a status update, check in or sticker, a fabric of information, accessibility, and reach is being woven.  This new connectedness unites peers and friends; it also influences service delivery, marketing dynamics, internal culture (which translates out to brand identity and position, and shapes offerings) accepted doctrine and so much more.  Toss out the old business plan template, there’s a new game in town.

The arrival of personal computers, email, fax machines, web sites and PDF files was straight out of Wyle E. Coyote; the boulder tipped over the edge and began to gather steam downhill before anyone  computed its path, distance, force or trajectory. In the 90’s, we thought we gained a few fancy machines and a new kind of Rolodex, but it was really so much more.

Businesses gradually purchased or instituted those newfangled means, but it took longer before their widespread use and implications fully filtered through all the layers of people and remixed indoctrinated processes.

Social business is kind of like the same story all over again, but with new twists and flavors. And you eat it family-style, along with everyone else.

Consumers will change how you operate your business

The book covers the implications consumer adoption of the tools – where lines run deep behind forerunners Facebook and Twitter – will have on how business enterprise is organized, roles and responsibilities are defined and dispersed, and the manner and speed in which digital communication enables and empowers. Are these internal shifts in response to external drivers?  Or is the changing business environment fueling further market innovation as well as consumer expectations? Both, I think.  The marketplace isn’t a vacuum, although enterprise may resist the cries for change based on fear, lack of understanding or appreciation for the opportunity brought by their publics.  Resistance or rejection is futile, a path that only leads to obsolescence.

But I’m out of control here.  You should read the book and think about how you’re going to help reshape the company you own or the place you work.

How to win a free copy of The Now Revolution

If the book is so good, you might ask, why am I giving it away?  Because I snagged a spot on the book review team.  Nanner, nanner.  Don’t fret, though. You could share in the goodness, too.  I have a copy to give away! Many thanks to Jay and Amber for sharing with me.

Head on over to the Insights & Ingenuity Facebook page and click ye ole LIKE button.  I promise we share good content links. While  you’re there, post a message on the wall covering these two things:

• Describe the biggest business challenge you face today.
• Tell us what you’re doing to change it.

Zuckerberg doesn’t give you a lot of room to post on the wall before the message gets truncated, so parse it carefully.  Bonus points to anyone who can cover both items in 140 characters or less.

You have through end of day Friday, February 25 to “like” the page and post your message.  I’ll choose the best answer and make the announcement, then get that book over to the winner pronto.

Good luck!  My next book review will be Enchantment by Guy Kawasaki.  Keep an eye out on your RSS feed so you do’t miss out! What? Not yet an RSS subscriber yet?  Better get on that!

I just finished watching my 8-year old son play his first games of the travel season. We visited a neighboring city and played two intense games of mite level hockey. As a mom I love watching my son (who is also a good student) play competitive sports. Along with building friendships and advancing game skills, he is learning about teamwork, the value of commitment, personal conduct, respect for the contributions of others, and how to respond to the heartbrake of failure as well as the thrill of the win. Today his team won one game (4 to 3) and lost one (2 to 1); he scored one goal and an assist.

Our opponants were good skaters who, in the second game, had a yen for redemption. They were scrappy and hustled down loose pucks. Their single-mindedness resulted with a good number of their players copping a squat in the penalty box for tricks like hooking, icing, and even slashing. They won that game, and in the process opened up our kids eyes to new tactics and game mentality. The kids may not wholly register that feeling of dawning surprise and ire as one of life’s cold lessons:

• Not everyone plays fair.
• Sometimes bad behavior is rewarded…for the moment.
• The path you take to achieve your goals may not be traveled by others.

Our kids were thrilled with the early season win and the Halloween suckers distribted at the end. They’re not mired in the disappointing loss or holding on to a righteous sense of indignation for the dirty little tricks and tacky showmanship. Its just fun game, and cool to play like the big guys with a gravel-throated announcer and rock music blaring between plays and periods. Take a high level view of things, though, and you may be surprised at what you learn.

• In social media, not eveyone plays fair. I’ve seen some use bait tactics or resort to antagonization to stir the pot and get reactions and mentions. I’m not talking about taking a direct position on a topic and supporting it with citations, then encouraging open discourse; I’m talking about clever seeding, ambiguous questions and contrarian maneuvering.  Humor, when used to mock or belittle others while insinuating your own superiority, isn’t funny. It’s a passive-aggressive ploy.
• As with the game (those little turkeys threw elbows!), sometimes the short-term win goes to the self-promoter. The loud one making the claims, whooping it up and assuming priviledge. I believe that in the long term, though, the ones with the biggest hearts and strongest passion for the people and the movement of offering solutions will institutionalize social media for business.  Those are the people who will normalize the use of social media in customer service, direct marketing channels, retention strategies, lead development, and a host of other ways we haven’t conceived yet.
• Self-serving tactics and pomp aside, there are indeed many ways to succeed with social media. From small business to big business, their next-stage goals, resources, readiness, and operations capacities all vary, thereby all but ensuring social media is no one-size-fits-all solution. Like our team of mites, we need to celebrate our wins and stick to our chosen path while staying mindful of the environment changing around us.

In what ways do you think social media has gone the way of the tricky opposing team described above?

But what if you’re Ashton Kutcher? An acclaimed actor whose charm and charisma precedes him? Well then you “…use [Ashton's] your brand as a syndication system,” as commented in the latest issue of Fast Company by Sarah Ross, Kushton’s New Media Director at Katalyst, a media and production company. Kushton strives to become the first next-generation media mogul, using his brand as a springboard.

Well, sure. If only the rest of us were so well hooked up, it’d be a breeze to get the board to drink the Kool-Aid and put the kaibosh on the hairy eyeball Linda in operations keeps giving you when you speak of humanizing the brand.

In a chicken-and-egg move, it’s Ashton’s fans that garner the interest of big-league brands like Nestle and powerhouse Publicis Group. They see an instant audience and a persuasive, dynamic figurehead to drive interaction. And it’s the exposure and resources (of these brands) that afford Ashton (or any public figure) the very opportunity to build fan (read: customer) rapport to begin with (well, sure, there are additional ingredients as well).

Ashton’s plans to dominate the Web aside, how can the average company expect to adopt a viable social plan, infuse it throughout an organization, support the effort internally and externally, and continue to build new strategic imperatives as milestones are reached?

That’s a tall order made taller by the mixed apprehensions and opinions of many business executives. There are those that scream “That junk’s useless! We know our customers best!” And equally so, there seems to be a rise in those who say “How quickly can we get a fan page put up?” Oy vey.

Championing a social mindset to further business value is tough enough without someone getting their milkshake spiked, car towed, or fearing the citation-toting faux policeman.

Surely, there’s business success for the rest of us in an increasingly connected, accessible, approachable, media-rich world. Let’s figure out how to get, keep, and grow customers and share, shall we?