10e20 Blog

Guess what?  Social networking online is very similar to social networking offline (in the real world)!  Big surprise?  Believe it or not, for some, it really is a surprise. Whether you are looking to grow your network, influence, awareness and reach or advancing your professional and personal goals it’s important to recognize that being successful in social networking online and offline are very similar.  Most of us know the rules for networking in the real world, but it’s important to remember them for online, particularly if you are making your first moves into online social media and social networking.  The following are tips to become a decent social networker in either medium. Most tips apply in both scenarios.

When Neil H. Borden came up with the Marketing Mix and Professor E. Jerome McCarthy grouped the Mix into “the 4 Ps” they were probably not considering 21st century marketing and promotion channels on the Internet.

After all, this was in the middle of the 20^th century and Google, Yahoo and MSN/Live.com search engines and Internet Social Networks did not exist at that point. Still, this enduring and universal marketing concept applies to the web.

I’m always focused on how the 4 P’s of Marketing apply to Internet Marketing. So how do the 4 P’s apply to the Internet?

The first P in Marketing: Product

I get angry when I see companies buy pricey media such as print, television, radio or outdoor and they don’t take advantage to tie that media buy to the web in an effective way. What do I mean by this?

Take for example a large billboard on the side of the highway that has a message about a specific offer from a company, and the only web address displayed is the company’s main domain name eg, www.company.com I feel that this is a wasted advertising opportunity to have just your main domain name listed. Much in the same way Danielle pointed out when off-line link-bait is often not leveraged properly on-line, targeted messages, spaces, interactivity and landing pages should be created and matched on-line for off-line media buys.

I believe that every advertising buy should have a targeted message behind it and accordingly specific media creatives and goals to go along with it.

I am becoming a big fan of the organic approach to StumbleUpon (SU) and the ways you can connect with members finding like minded users in demographic and interest areas.

The StumbleUpon social tool was built for discovering webpages that are recommended by your network of friends. The site allows for networking and the toolbar allows for finding and discovering new great content on the web. This is a powerful combination of Internet function and social web.

After using SU for a long while it seems that the tool will be able to grow in its use as a localized marketing tool. And though outwardly commercial sites tend not to get a great amount of traffic (rather fail miserably) – it’s all in the approach.

On Tuesday, Seth Godin, author of bestselling books and agent of change presented an informative session call 14 Trends No Marketer Should Ignore. This enthusiastic and informative presentation, sponsored by SEMpdx and Corvent provided a wealth of info on New Marketing.

According to the promos on this session, Seth was going to question if our marketing is out of sync. HE wants us to make the most out of today’s new marketing technologies – without making ‘meatball sundaes’!

I must admit the title of this session was intriguing (albeit a bit disgusting – a meatball sundae – YUCK!) and I was excited to find out what Seth had to say.

Seth started out by telling us that he has discovered that there is a disconnect between the people doing the work and the people writing the checks. The people doing the work recognized that it wasn’t working. They realized that the time was being wasted in meetings etc.

Inc’edIn? Not exactly but it looks like Inc will be launching their new business social network shortly called IncBizNet. Details seem pretty scarce so far but it looks like they are looking to jump in and take on LinkedIn. So the question begs to be asked: is there really room for another one of these? Aren’t LinkedIn and Facebook enough?

It looks like Inc is initially going to be focusing on their built in customer base of the Inc 5000 list. Pretty smart move because which one of these companies wouldn’t join and/or encourage their employees to join. From there they will then likely open up to all private companies and then out to everyone. Could get interesting….

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via PaidContent and screenshot via sdk @ flickr

Every time that I see one of my younger cousins or nieces/nephews I implore them and their parents to get them involved with the Internet right away. Forget having to work at a supermarket for their after school job (nothing against this – I did) but they can be working right from their house, earning good money and more importantly learning skills that will prove invaluable later on. And in many instances companies are looking for younger people to help them understand what their customers want and in many cases market themselves online. This is why I got my 16 year old cousin Kayla involved with my company.

Last February, the Wall Street Journal profiled a bunch of top users from different social networks in a story titled The Wizards of Buzz. The person that got a lot of people’s attention was Adam Fuhrer, not only because of his mastery of Reddit but even more impressive was his age:

At 10e20, we believe that our environment is sacred. We love fresh air, clean water and a healthy ecosystem. We also believe that at the end of the day, a polluted, decrepit and poor environment creates higher business costs and unforeseen external business risks. As such, we’ve decided to take small steps toward Green business practices to contribute in a small way to a better environment. Following are some of the areas that we are beginning to implement as we grow:

Install Compact Fluorescent Light Bulbs: We are replacing approximately 90% of our light bulbs with energy-saving compact fluorescent bulbs. The EPA recommends this, and though there is some debate as to weather or not these bulbs pollute if they are broken, we believe that energy saving benefits outweigh any environmental risks over the long-term.

Do you consider yourself as someone who’s “in charge?” Do you manage and motivate other people to accomplish a task or get work done, other than yourself? If so, you’re probably in some sort of managerial role.

But are you a leader? Believe it or not, there is a difference. Managers, well, manage people. They sort out what it is that has to be done, and then make sure the right people do it. Leaders, however, share a unique vision with people and supply the necessary values and skills to move people to really want to accomplish things; leaders touch people emotionally. If you consider yourself a leader, or are interested in becoming one, you must first understand that becoming a good leader is a process, one that never ends. Here’s a few tips (actually 99 of them) to guide you on your journey to becoming a better leader and manager.

Why nurture a client?There is nothing more valuable to a business than its existing clients; not one thing. First thing in the morning is the client and the last thing at the end of the day is the client. Why? You can generate more business and fatter profits buy nurturing them and taking good care of them. Your current clients are one of the best sales and marketing tools available. Why? 6 words: Word of Mouth and Repeat Business.

By nurturing your client you can improve your ROI on sales and marketing spend by lowering your client acquisition costs (CAC). The more new business that you can generate with current clients, the less you’ll spend on salespeople’s salaries, direct marketing, advertising, PR, media buying, search marketing and client intake / service costs.