I just came from a meeting where I was subject to a few “WOW” moments.  There are a few times in my business where I get to see some cool technologies that revolutionize the way we communicate, or listen, or perhaps the way we drink our coffee.  All of it is related to entrepreneurs that are taking their ideas and making them work.

The same should be for businesses that are already established.  We have been told the quote “innovate or die.”  We heard it as recent as the opening keynote at CES.  That is a mantra that all businesses should be paying attention to in the future.  Innovation is key to keeping your product or service fresh.  People will want to continue to buy if it changes and is better or changes their lives for the better.  I think Ford is doing that with its own innovations in vehicles.

I hope that in the coming weeks, we will be creating some “wow” moments for our clients and business partners.  We can use the “Wow” we are seeing as innovations and implement them into our daily routines to help clients and others change and make their own “wow” or awesome sauce or whatever buzz phrase you choose.

Stay tuned for some magical moments here at One By One Media, as we start on a mission of creating “Wow” and innovating our services.  I challenge all of you to have your own mission of creating “Wow!!”

photo via puliarf

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I have been writing this blog post for the last 5 years.  No, I haven’t been actually writing this post for that long, but I have been preparing to write this post for nearly that long.  You see I have been a strategist a long time in Internet years.  I have put many of those strategies together, and I am happy to say that many of them actually worked, but I must also say unfortunately, some of them and I should say more than I care to admit have probably failed.  I tried most of these ideas and “campaigns” on my own company and used myself as the test subject.  I have always tried them in my own marketing, advertising and public relations and as I said, some work and some don’t. This post is not about the “try” or “the idea”, but the execution.

Many colleagues out there are expert strategists.  Many charge a pretty penny to come up with a strategy.  In fact, I too charge for that, and some would say (you know who you are) not nearly enough, but that is for a another post.  There are some great plans drawn out on the whiteboard of board rooms, and there are some bar napkins that I would like to have in a shadow box case as many of our greatest companies started there.  My company in fact was sort of started as a dare I think one night after having had too many drinks.  Having a good job and a stable company to work for, why would I ever jump into the entrepreneurial pool? I blame the alcohol.

“Build a better mousetrap and the world will beat a path to your door.” ~ Ralph Waldo Emerson

All of us have the best mousetrap. That is our strategy.  We have the best way things can be done and the way that they should be done according to our extensive research and study. For my extensive study and research, (please see the archives here for a start) I have tried and failed and taken those ideas that have been most successful.  Some of it is still theory after all social media has been around less than some of my young children.  Given what we know of facts and how they are applied to each circumstance, all of the strategies seem to be close to the same Plan A or Plan B depending on which consultant or agency you happen to speak with about your company and needs.

I have noticed a trend based on some of the ideas and strategies implemented.  When companies are happy with a certain strategy it is only after the execution stage.  Most of them are all excited and gung-ho when the strategy is discussed and laid out in front of them, but the truly satisfied are not such until after the plan has been put into place and the results come to fruition.  Be it as simple as starting a company blog, setting up a comment policy, providing a podcast, or research on community outreach and providing that service and seeing your first conversion, the elation comes when the plan is executed.  It can be even more rewarding when a multifaceted and long and expensive journey has been commenced.

I am known for providing a sports metaphor now and then and this is not much different so I apologize for this ahead of time if you hate those. If I draw a play in the sand and at the snap of the football all goes to hell in a hand basket, the best laid plan pf x’s and o’s is not going to get me points on the board.  But when you truly make a plan, draw out a play and then deliver the ball to the end zone, all are happy and we get to celebrate with high fives all around.  Seems pretty simple.  The problem has always been execution.  As consultants or strategist are you executing your plan?  When was the last time you were in the end zone?

Tags: Social Media, Better Mouse Trap, Emerson, Social Media Marketing, Social Media Consulting, New Media

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I have been talking about 2009 being the "Year of Listening".  This may be a little ahead of its time as we are still getting sign on for the idea that social media as a doctrine is even worth the space or tab for the business plan or model.  I think that social media gives an opportunity to do more listening and less shouting.  I even do this in the real world.  I tend to sit back and gather intelligence in a situation before I ever enter into the discussion or argument or whatever might be the mode of communication at the time.  I get more accomplished by first hearing what is being said and then contributing.  I tend to learn more about a subject and the people discussing that subject than I would if I jumped into the conversation early.  Many times I have done that I find myself with foot in mouth and backing out of the conversation sooner than later.  My first advice to many companies to to listen.

Now the other side of that coin that is usually the first reason many companies are not quick to sign on to the idea is listening does not convert.  I have heard many an executive tell me, "listening doesn’t sell."  After all that is the bottom line in a company selling your product or your service to the person that holds the money.  I recently spoke to a group and later the owner of the company met me in the hall and said "oh good someone that will explain how social media is going to help us SELL."  That four letter word is the only one I tend to hear from the likes of those looking at the bottom line.  I can assure you if sell is not the goal I will hear other four letter words that will describe certain feelings.  It really is only about the sell so how do you impart listening as a way to get the sale?  Listening does not convert.  Sure that statement might be true but when does your program have the ability to know when someone wants to buy or better yet what they want to buy?

I have been showing some companies that listening actually helps them sell.  I like to use the idea behind the tire swing.

Listening actually gets you to the final image, knowing what it is your customer actually wants.  The problem with that scenario is that the CEO or head of the department or whoever seems to be the decision maker has to be thinking about all the other panels in the cartoon above.  They have learned that making all the other departments happy and still coming in under a budget is what it is actually all about.  This is not listening.  If more of us actually listened for a while to find out what the customer actually wants, we could sell them that product every time.  Perhaps the problem is not that they don’t know what the customer actually wants, its what they can provide the customer from their company.  Maybe they sell jungle gyms and not tire swings.  This is a problem, and not something that social media will help them overcome. Listening converts but only if you actually listen.

Photo via sonyradio.com

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Perhaps that is not as much of a migration as it is a business trip for me.  I am headed to Miami tomorrow to speak at Wordcamp Miami and attend BarCamp Miami and Future of Web Apps ‘09.

I will be speaking at Wordcamp Miami as I did in Las Vegas on "Blogging for A Living", it is a presentation that I have given a number of times and therefore I wont have to prepare more than my usual, but more importantly, and perhaps more fun I will be doing a live radio show from BarCamp Miami courtesy of my client i-Lighter. 

You can follow along and be a part of things as well.  My show Social Mediasphere via Blog Talk Radio will have the live coverage of the event.  This is my first try at doing a live radio show, although I have been on Blog Talk Radio live while I was at Blog World Expo last year.

I’ll be interviewing attendees, speakers and whoever might happen by the table.  I have been sent some podcasting equipment and I will be hopefully not embarrassing myself with my non-technical skills.  You can join in on the fun.  I want to have as many people participate as possible.

After the fun on Sunday at Barcamp Miami, I’ll be attending the fun at FOWA ‘09 or the Future of Web Apps.  This event has some real dynamite personalities that are speaking at the event and hopefully I will get a few of them to stop by and be a part of the live radio show as well.  This show will be done on Blog World Expo Radio via the Blog Talk application as well so I would really enjoy it if you participated.  I will be live blogging the event as I can via the Blog World Expo Blog so stay tuned.

Tags: Barcamp Miami, Wordcamp Miami, FOWA ‘09, Future of Web Apps, i-Lighter, Blog Talk Radio, Blog World Expo, Blogging, Social Mediasphere, Blog World Expo Radio

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It’s not exactly “Live From Las Vegas”, okay it is actually recorded from Las Vegas, but you can get a listen in on an interview that was done of me while I was out at Blog World and New Media Expo in Las Vegas last weekend. I intend to post some other thoughts on the experience, but wanted to give props to the folks at Blog Talk Radio and especially Mr. Daily who did the interview.

Listen to the show.

Feel free to get over to Blog Talk Radio and listen to some of the pre-show interviews I have done with Rick Calvert as well. We will be doing post show interviews of some of the sponsors, speakers and exhibitors as well so stay tuned and we will be providing a lineup of people we intend to talk to and interview about their experience in Las Vegas.

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I’m headed to Austin today and I am typing this post from the airplane trip on the way.  It seems to be a good way to get a post up and I am using Windows Live Writer which allows me to post numerous articles and blog posts from my desktop.  I can draft a number of posts and later when I find wifi or Internet access I can upload them to the blog for posting.  Us professional bloggers can use all the help we can and I recommend that you give it a try.

While in Austin I will be trying to meet as many people as possible.  I have a few appointments set up and I have a few parties on the schedule.  Luckily, I have been asked to be a wingman for Rick Calvert at Blog World Expo which I am looking forward to as much as the trip.  I’m going to be representing Twitterlights while I am at Barcamp as they are a sponsor.  If you have any questions about the application or you want a quick tour, please feel free to stop by and ask me how it works.  I’ll also be helping my friends at Lijit, by connecting them with some of my friends and helping show off their cool Lijit wijit and hopefully get a few of you to download the application and see how it works.  I’ll bet I even have a few stickers to give away too.  I am also helping out a long time client with his company’s new ad feed that they are introducing to everyone from Hostway.  They are hoping to show off their new launch.  Finally, I may even drop in have a meeting with my friends at Photrade as I understand they will be there looking to show off their new photo sharing site.  As it turns out this cool convention where everyone is there to party is turning out to be a lot of work for me.  I suppose this makes up for last year as I got nothing done and spent far too much time at the bar.

If you are going to be at the SXSW Interactive conference, please look me up.  I’ll be the one hard at work, and still having fun.  This after all us the ultimate social networking you can do.  If you want to be introduced to any of the people I’ll be their with, by all means come on up and buy me a drink, or dinner, or just give me the cash…well that’s not a requirement.  Hope to see you all there!

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I have been waiting for the newest release of Firefox as I understand it will help cure my memory woes with the boat anchor*.  I was glad to read on Techeme as reported by CNet News that Firefox has now come out with its latest version in beta.  I ran right over and downloaded the latest version before even thinking of the consequences.  Consequences?  Yeah its the new beta version and all of the extensions and add-ons and even client applications are no longer operable that I had installed.

I assume that companies are scrambling to make their toolbar applications work with this latest version.  I am not sure how hard it will be to update all of those companies like Stumbleupon or others that are no longer on my extensions but I hope they move quickly.  It is funny how we become accustomed to having things work.

The problems with the boat anchor?  Well, I’m sure that those troubles will continue until we have a burial at sea, but for the most part, the memory seems to work a little better. 

*What I like to call this joke of a laptop with little to no memory I am forced to use.

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It’s not often we get to toot our horn around here, but when we can, I like to play it loud and play it often.  I was reading through the comments section of the blog and noticed that Alex has given us a link to a Wall Street Journal article by Sarah Needleman entitled Blog It and They May Come. The article discusses small businesses and their blogging campaigns.  It was a nicely written article and it does point our some of the problems we see from small businesses, this blogging thing is work.

To my pleasant surprise, about half way through the article I saw a familiar name.  I was looking at a past client that used our services and is now being interviewed and quoted in the Wall Street Journal!

Making the Link

Ty’s Toy Box Inc., an online retailer based in Erlanger, Ky., has lured people to its blog about trends in the toy-licensing industry by having other blogs and Web sites link to it. The company arranged a link-exchange agreement in April with TheToyGuy.com, a Web site from toy-industry expert Chris Byrne that features news and product reviews.

“We coordinated it so that occasionally our blog and Chris’s blog are about the same issue, but from different perspectives,” says George Stolpe, vice president of business development and media relations for Ty’s Toy Box. The two blogs link to each other in each post, he says.

Ms. Melberg says the links help boost a company’s search-engines ranking because blogs recommended by external sources rank higher than ones without link referrals.

According to Mr. Stolpe, Ty’s Toy Box pays a free-lance writer to maintain its blog and says the total cost for it is “a very minimal amount.” He says while he can’t quantify the blog’s role in the near-triple-digit average growth in sales every year since its start, he has no doubt it has played an important part.

After seeing that I was proud of Ty Simpson and George Stolpe for sticking it out and seeing the power of blogging.  They paid one of our bloggers for a while and decided on a different path but finally stuck to it in the long run and now they are a feature in the Wall Street Journal.  I’m not saying all of our client’s will be this much of a success, but if I have anything to do with it you can bet I’ll try!

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At least in our company, we get most of our client’s through Google searches done by companies looking for a blogging consultant or looking to hire a blogger for their company.  I ran through our client list to see the number of companies that have contacted us to provide a professional blogger or to consult them on a social media campaign.  One of the things that struck me was that a large number of them that had reached us or found us as a result of a Google search.

The conversation that prompted me to look at this in this light was a phone call from a prospective client.  We had discussed our services and he was happy with our business model and thought that we would probably do business in the future.  He then told that he had a difficult time finding a service such as ours, but eventually had found it through search.  He explained the roundabout way he happened upon our site, and I recognized a common theme to his search.  Everyone of the other clients had a similar story.

As a small business without a corps of sale people and without a huge marketing budget and a advertising team providing our message, we rely solely upon word of mouth, and being findable.  I preach the same to each of our clients.  In order for your business to be successful, it has to be findable.  It’s nice to see the sermon actually works for me as well.

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One of our clients have a great communication tool in their hands with a contact page on their blog.  Many people that have purchased their product can come and get information about the products they sell and the industry news and information about the company.  In this particular case, a consumer had a problem with their product after purchase.  They found the blog on the company website or through a search engine, and used the contact page on the blog.  They could have also used the comment section of the blog as well, but chose to use the contact form.  They explained their problem in the contact page and the blogger was able to immediately help them connect with the proper person to correct their problem or to allow an exchange of the product if necessary.  This all seems very common in many cases, but it also provides a great opportunity to show other consumers that you are on top of customer concerns and work hard to resolve their problems if needed. This scenario offered a chance to post an article about the product problem, the reporting of the problem, and any resolution that has occurred as a result.  This allows other customers to find perhaps the same problem and use the same process for resolution.  A blog can also serve as a great customer service tool, and the resulting service can be used for some very important blog fodder.

[photo by Customers Rock]

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Tris and I had a great time talking about how a business or individuals can get into blogging. We talk about the very basics and things to think about and tips on how to get your company up and blogging.

You can go and listen to the show!

Tags: Blog Marketing, Bloggers For Hire, Blogging 101, Blogs, Hiring Bloggers, Jim Turner, Mediasphere Radio, One By One Media, Professional Bloggers, Social Media, Social Media Marketing, Tris Hussey

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We are proud to announce that a new client of ours, uLocate Communications, recently received an $11 Million round of funding through Venrock, Grand Banks Capital and Kodiak Venture Partners, and they will be using that funding to further their new and exciting mobile platform at Where.com. In addition to the funding, One By One Media and Bloggers For Hire will be providing them a professional blogger to jump into the Where.com application and use it as a consumer and to post about his experiences and thoughts on the application.  Where.com’s platform is very exciting, as is stated from the press release:

WHERE is the first application development platform that addresses the major challenges facing developers and operators in the mobile application landscape. Built on the same framework that powers MapQuestâ„¢ FindMe and Helio’sâ„¢ Buddy Beacon, WHERE delivers the promise of marrying mobile technology with GPS. As a result, consumers have a wealth of content to choose from, effectively personalizing their mobile GPS experience. WHERE helps you find the people, places and things that matter to you.

Walt Doyle, CEO and President of uLocate is also a participating blogger which makes this company a very forward thinking company that I expect great things from them anbd not just because they have chosen our company to assist them in their blogging efforts, that’s was just a bonus.  They understand the power of blogging and want to expose their platform to as many developers and other consumers as possible.  They understand the communication tool that blogging provides and have implemented their online plans to include this powerful tool.  This company is going places, and I’m glad we get to be a part of it.  For further info you can see the full press release.  Follow along and see how Where.com will rock your mobile experience.

Tags: uLocate Communications, Venrock, Grand Banks Capital, Kodiak Venture Partners, Where.com, One By One Media, Bloggers For Hire, MapQuest, FindMe, Helio’s Buddy Beacon, GPS, LBS, Walt Doyle, Corporate Blogging, Social Media, CEO Blogs

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 I’m listening to the recording from Jim’s chat with Denise and Patsi last night (because I missed it myself) and if you haven’t listened to Jim in person–now’s your chance.

Jim is an awesome speaker.  He doesn’t give himself nearly enough credit.

Jim has really got into the ins and outs of what we do and pro-blogging.  Heck we practice what we preach so … give a listen!

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How’s this for a quote:

“The Headset is unique in both design and concept.  It will store conveniently on the back of a cell phone, ready to be used at a moment’s notice. Newton Peripherals’ approach to simplifying the use and storage of phone headsets is novel, and deserving of recognition.” 
Source: Fresh New MoGo Headset: Welcome to the Future » MoGo Mobility Blog

Andrew Seybold liked the MoGo Headset so much he gave it the “Most Imaginative Product” award last night at the CTIA dinner.  Not too shabby I’d say.

MoGo is the kind of client Jim and I love being involved with.  The technology is cool and exciting.  The folks at MoGo understand the Blogosphere and want to be a part of it (expect something on the MoGo Mobility Blog from the CEO Matt Westover and VP of Marketing Jack Corrao soon).

When can you get one of these bad boys?  Soon, I’m told, but little birds tell me there might be some contests soon to win some MoGo products in the near future.

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With all that’s going on right now, it’s easy for Jim and I to forget our successes and wins.  That said we’re excited to announce that today we’re launching the MoGo Mobility Blog.  You know MoGo, they make that awesome wireless mouse that charges in your PC Card slot.

They approached us about a blog some time ago and today it’s live.  We have a couple uber-talented bloggers writing it and, well, Jim and I are just stoked.

Wait a blog all about a wireless mouse?  How interesting can that be?  Ah, you think we’re just going to talk about the mouse huh?  Nope.  Right now there is the mouse, but tomorrow there is going to be announcement about the next item.  Even beyond that we’re going to talk about all the facets of the mobile pro.  Tips, tricks, reviews.  It’s going to be fun.  Go over and have a read.

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